memeorandum: Cooking Under Pressure, That's Reality (Frank Bruni/New York Times)

4:18 AM ET, February 1, 2007

Top Items:

Syndicated columnist Molly Ivins dies at 62 — Best-selling author, sharp-witted Texas liberal succumbs to breast cancer — Syndicated columnist Molly Ivins poses for a portrait at her home Sept. 22 in Austin, Texas. She died Wednesday at 62 after a long battle with breast cancer.

Discussion: Associated Press, skippy the bush kangaroo, Liberal Values, SteveAudio, The Democratic Daily, The Agonist, Outside The Beltway and Lifelike Pundits

John Moritz / Dallas Star-Telegram:

Columnist Molly Ivins dies — AUSTIN — Molly Ivins, whose biting columns mixed liberal populism with an irreverent Texas wit, died at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at her home in Austin after an up-and-down battle with breast cancer she had waged for seven years. She was 62.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Booman Tribune, The Sideshow, Dean's World, The Mahablog, The American Street, On Deadline, My Left Nutmeg, Liberty Street, Romenesko and Pharyngula

Joe Holley / Washington Post:
Columnist Molly Ivins, 62; Poked Fun at the Powerful

Discussion: Gun Toting Liberal ™ and democracyarsenal.org

Pundit Review Radio / BLACKFIVE:

A hearty F*** You to William Arkin — Update: Marc Danziger, the Armed Liberal over at Winds of change is much less hyperbolic about Arkin than I am and check on Fuzzy Bear's stuff too. — Apologies for the F bombs bursting in air, but...well just read on.

Discussion: Riehl World View, Captain's Quarters, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Blue Crab Boulevard, Andrew Olmsted dot com, Gun Toting Liberal ™, Wizbang and Instapundit.com

Hindrocket / Power Line:

THE PERIL OF NEWSPAPER BLOGS... ...is that a reporter might say what he actually thinks before an editor catches up with him and makes him stop. A case in point: William Arkin writes on "national and homeland security" for the Washington Post. Yesterday morning, in his blog titled Early Warning …

Discussion: Redstate and BLACKFIVE

Michelle Malkin:

WaPo math: Troops=mercenaries — Here's Washington Post national security reporter/blogger William Arkin's screed against NBC's report, which quoted troops who want Americans to support their mission. An excerpt from Arkin's unhinged diatribe: … Is he auditioning for a Daily Kos diarist spot?

Discussion: Flopping Aces

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
WaPo blogger to U.S. troops: Be thankful we don't spit on you, mercenaries

Discussion: Op For, Ace of Spades HQ, QandO, Brutally Honest, Little Green Footballs, Hang Right Politics, The Sundries Shack, Media Blog and Jules Crittenden

Anne Flaherty / Associated Press:

Senate foes of troop buildup join forces — WASHINGTON - Two senators, a Republican and a Democrat, leading separate efforts to put Congress on record against President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq joined forces Wednesday, agreeing on a nonbinding resolution that would oppose the plan and potentially embarrass the White House.

Discussion: Think Progress, Donklephant, AMERICAblog and BobGeiger.com

Washington Post:

Senators Unite On Challenge to Bush's Troop Plan — Revised Warner Language That Protects Funds Is Embraced for Bipartisan Appeal — Democratic and Republican opponents of President Bush's troop-buildup plan joined forces last night behind the nonbinding resolution with the broadest bipartisan backing …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, DownWithTyranny! and Daily Kos

New York Times:

Senate Allies of Bush Work to Halt Iraq Vote — The Bush administration's allies in the Senate began a major effort on Tuesday to prevent a potentially embarrassing rejection of the president's plan to push 20,000 more troops into Iraq. — With the Senate expected to reach votes …

Discussion: The Raw Story, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Washington Post, TalkLeft, Cato-at-liberty, Brilliant at Breakfast, Thomas P.M. Barnett, AMERICAblog, TPMmuckraker, DownWithTyranny! and On Deadline

WCVB-TV:

TV Network Takes Responsibility For 'Hoax Devices' — BOSTON — Turner Broadcasting plans to take responsibility for the "hoax devices" that were found at several locations in and around Boston Wednesday that forced police bomb units to scramble throughout the area.

Discussion: On Deadline and Reason Magazine

CBS4Boston:

Devices Part Of Cartoon Marketing Campaign — (WBZ) BOSTON The suspicious devices which forced bomb units to scramble across Boston today were actually magnetic lights that are part of a marketing campaign for a television cartoon. — The reports forced the temporary shutdowns of Interstate 93 …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Little Green Footballs, Blue Crab Boulevard, Sadly, No!, Nitpicker and The News Blog

Ken Maguire / Associated Press:
Boston devices a cartoon publicity ploy

Discussion: Outside The Beltway

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

Biden Enters Race for 2008 Presidential Bid — With a jab at the Iraq policy of New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Delaware Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. joined the race for the Democratic presidential nomination today, saying he has more experience than any of his prospective rivals …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Firedoglake, The Reaction, DownWithTyranny! and TIME

Jason Horowitz / New York Observer:
Biden Unbound: Lays Into Clinton, Obama, Edwards

Discussion: Hot Air, newsjournal.com, New York Times, The Jawa Report, Redstate, The Caucus, Political Animal, The Right Angle, CNN Political Ticker, Michelle Malkin, GregsOpinion.com, Macsmind, The Corner and Transterrestrial Musings

Hotline On Call:
Biden Calls Obama To Clarify

Discussion: MSNBC, ABCNEWS, AMERICAblog, Daily Kos, The Moderate Voice, Reason Magazine, Jon Swift and Liberal Values

New York Times:

Chirac Unfazed by Nuclear Iran, Then Backtracks — President Jacques Chirac said this week that if Iran had one or two nuclear weapons, it would not pose a big danger, and that if Iran were to launch a nuclear weapon against a country like Israel, it would lead to the immediate destruction of Tehran.

Discussion: Kesher Talk, Andrew Sullivan and Atlas Shrugs

Sky News:

Terror Plot: Ninth Arrest — A ninth suspect has been arrested by police investigating an alleged Iraq-style kidnapping and beheading plot in the UK. — It follows the detention of eight people at addresses in Birmingham earlier. — Assistant Chief Constable David Shaw, of West Midlands Police …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Sun, Pajamas Media, The Political Pit Bull, On Deadline, Andrew Sullivan, The Belmont Club, Blue Crab Boulevard, Ace of Spades HQ, Hang Right Politics, Power Line, Daimnation! and Wizbang

Dr. Rusty Shackleford / The Jawa Report:
Soldier Beheading Plot Foiled in Britain (Bumped, Updated)

Discussion: The Blotter, It Shines For All, Melanie Phillips's Diary, alphabet city, Hyscience and Hot Air

Rob Hotakainen / Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Franken tells DFLers he's running for Senate — WASHINGTON - Comedian and radio talk show host Al Franken has begun calling Democratic members of Congress and prominent DFLers to tell them he will definitely challenge Republican Sen. Norm Coleman in 2008, the Star Tribune has learned.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Wizbang and Ace of Spades HQ

truthout:

Cheney's Handwritten Notes Implicate Bush in Plame Affair — Copies of handwritten notes by Vice President Dick Cheney, introduced at trial by defense attorneys for former White House staffer I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, would appear to implicate George W. Bush in the Plame CIA Leak case.

Discussion: Andrew Sullivan, All Spin Zone, Wonkette and The BRAD BLOG

Ana Marie Cox / Swampland: Everyone Hates Chris

John Edwards '08 Blog:

New Blogmaster — This is both my first post to the Edwards blog and my announcement that I'm joining the presidential campaign for John Edwards for 2008. I'll be taking over the job of Blogmaster (mistress?) over the course of the month of February. — The main two questions this brings up are: Why me?

Discussion: protein wisdom, Liberal Values, Pandagon, Done With Mirrors, The Sideshow, The Jawa Report, Lonewacko, Vox Popoli, Pharyngula, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and Feministe

CNN:

Al-Maliki: Iraq won't be battleground for U.S., Iran … BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Iraq's prime minister said Wednesday he's sure Iran is behind some attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and he won't allow his country to be a battleground for the two nations. — "We have told the Iranians and the Americans …

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Larisa Alexandrovna's …, DownWithTyranny!, alphabet city, Wonkette and Gay Patriot

Associated Press:

Sunni mosques still show damage in Iraq — BAGHDAD, Iraq - Four Sunni mosques attacked in late November in the embattled Hurriyah neighborhood of Baghdad still bear scars from the attacks and all are now either under Shiite Muslim control or closed. — Immediately after the Nov. 24 incidents …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, Flopping Aces and Confederate Yankee

Emptywheel / Firedoglake:

Libby Live: Matt Cooper Three — This is NOT Cooper on the stand. It's him speaking at Georgetown. In any case, here are some groundrules. I timestamp my posts-that will let you know when you should update (please err on the side of saving the servers). Also, treat this as a liveblog, not a transcript; I'm no court reporter!

Discussion: JustOneMinute and whatever already!