memeorandum: Things Are Swell in Baghdad (Larry Johnson/The Coffee House)

3:08 AM ET, August 16, 2007

Top Items:

Rush Interviews Karl Rove — BEGIN TRANSCRIPT — RUSH: I would like to introduce you all to Karl Rove. Karl, welcome to the EIB Network. I cannot tell you how great it is finally to have you here with us. — KARL ROVE: Well, thanks, Rush. I'm honored you'd ask me and delighted to be with you.

Discussion: JammieWearingFool, New York Times, Media Blog and Connecting.the.Dots

David Postman / Postman on Politics:

A newsroom reprimand at The Times — Seattle Times Executive Editor Dave Boardman wrote today in one of his morning notes to staff that there had been "an awkward moment at yesterday's news meeting." That's the meeting where editors and other staff from throughout the newsroom talk about the stories planned for the next day's paper.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and UrbanGrounds

Editor and Publisher:

UPDATE: Seattle Editor Declares, Keep Political Views to Yourself — Then Responds to Reaction — NEW YORK No matter what you think of Karl Rove — or anyone else in politics — please keep it to yourself, or at least falrly quiet. That was the message in a note sent to staffers …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Sister Toldjah, NewsBusters.org and Blue Crab Boulevard

The Columbus Dispatch:

Pryce won't run again — Veteran lawmaker will announce decision Thursday — WASHINGTON — Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce of Upper Arlington will announce Thursday that she will not seek re-election to the congressional seat she has held since 1993. — Pryce has scheduled a news conference for 11 a.m. in Columbus.

Discussion: The Rothenberg Political …, The Politico, MyDD, Swing State Project and Ankle Biting Pundits

The Hill:
Pryce set to retire, GOP sources say

Discussion: Washington Post, DownWithTyranny!, The Impolitic and The Influence Peddler

Joby Warrick / Washington Post:

Domestic Use of Spy Satellites To Widen — Law Enforcement Getting New Access To Secret Imagery — The Bush administration has approved a plan to expand domestic access to some of the most powerful tools of 21st-century spycraft, giving law enforcement officials and others the ability …

Discussion: The Gun Toting Liberal™

Robert Block / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. to Expand Domestic Use Of Spy Satellites

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Amygdala, Corrente, ThreatsWatch, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, The Democratic Daily, Secrecy News, Booman Tribune, Discourse.net, The Newshoggers, The Swamp, TPMmuckraker, The Atlantic Online, Brian Beutler, Truthdig and Liberty Street

Siun / Firedoglake:

FDL Demands Apology - Calls on Collins to Fire Dutson — Firedoglake has issued the following press release today: — Collins Campaign In Sexist Attack on Leading Blog — Firedoglake Calls for Apology and Firing of Collins Campaign Blogger — Washington, DC August 15, 2007 …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, DownWithTyranny!, The American Mind, Crooks and Liars, skippy the bush kangaroo, Ian Schwartz, My Two Sense, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos and Maine blog

Tom Groening / Bangor Daily News:
Collins to Allen: Call off tracker

Discussion: Firedoglake, NewsBusters.org, Sister Toldjah and skippy the bush kangaroo

MSNBC:

Magnitude 7.9 earthquake jolts Peru — Lima shaken; 17 reported killed in coastal city; tsunami warning canceled — LIMA, Peru - A powerful earthquake shook Peru's coast near the capital on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people and injuring 200 as it toppled homes and caused many residents to flee buildings.

CNN:
Deadly earthquake strikes Peru

Discussion: Blogs of War and PoliBlog (TM)

Pauline Jelinek / Associated Press:

Army Suicides Highest in 26 Years — WASHINGTON — Army soldiers committed suicide last year at the highest rate in 26 years, and more than a quarter did so while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a new military report. — The report, obtained by The Associated Press ahead …

Discussion: MoJoBlog, TalkLeft, Greatscat!, Winds of Change.NET and Donklephant

Washington Post:

An Early Clash Over Iraq Report — Senior congressional aides said yesterday that the White House has proposed limiting the much-anticipated appearance on Capitol Hill next month of Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker to a private congressional briefing …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and The Reaction

Faiz / Think Progress:
Petraeus' September Report Will Be Written By The White House

Discussion: MoJoBlog, The Reaction, Horses Mouth, The Influence Peddler, Say Anything, DownWithTyranny!, rochesterturning.com, Cliff Schecter, Redstate, Confederate Yankee, PoliBlog (TM) and My Two Sense

Associated Press:

Dutch bishop: Call God 'Allah' to ease relations — Roman Catholic leader stokes already heated debate on religion — AMSTERDAM - A Roman Catholic Bishop in the Netherlands has proposed people of all faiths refer to God as Allah to foster understanding, stoking an already heated debate …

Discussion: ProfessorBainbridge.com ® and The Belmont Club

Associated Press:
Dutch Bishop Suggests Calling God Allah

Discussion: Once Upon a Time

Michael A. Fletcher / Washington Post:

Rumsfeld Resigned as Defense Secretary on Day Before Elections — Donald H. Rumsfeld, who came to symbolize the Bush administration's problems in the war in Iraq, resigned as secretary of defense one day before last fall's elections, although President Bush did not announce the move until the day after the elections.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and On Deadline

Kristin Roberts / Reuters:
Rumsfeld resigned before election, letter shows

Discussion: Hot Air, Lone Star Times, JammieWearingFool and Wonkette

Extreme Mortman:

Global Whining — Jeff Jacoby has this fascinating opening in today's Boston Globe: … You'll want to click here to read the whole piece. It's worth it. — Turns out, that April 1975 Newsweek is getting passed around more than a cheap metaphor at the end of a sentence.

Discussion: TigerHawk

Jeff Jacoby / Boston Globe: Hot tempers on global warming

Confederate Yankee:

Going to the Well Once Too Often — Photographer Wissam al-Okaili has had quite an interesting summer in Iraq, and apparently made quite a few friends. — In July, he published a picture carried in media around the world, as an elderly Sadr City woman held up a object that she claimed …

Discussion: QandO, BLACKFIVE, Hot Air, Done With Mirrors, Gateway Pundit, The Atlantic Online, Daily Pundit, Blue Crab Boulevard, protein wisdom and Say Anything

Rocco DiPippo / THE AUTONOMIST:
Terrorist Propaganda Picture of the Week

Discussion: minx.cc, Gateway Pundit, Ace of Spades HQ, Solomonia, Captain's Quarters, Little Green Footballs, Wake up America, michellemalkin.com, The Jawa Report, Pundit Review, Neptunus Lex, A Blog For All, snapped shot, Ian Schwartz and BLACKFIVE

Kevin Poulsen / Threat Level:

NSA Judge: 'I feel like I'm in Alice and Wonderland' — Ryan Singel and David Kravets are blogging the U.S. 9th Circuit hearing on the NSA's spying, and AT&T's alleged complicity, reporting live from the San Francisco courthouse. Hit 'refresh' in your browser and scroll to the bottom for updates.

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, Amygdala, The Next Hurrah, Hullabaloo and The Volokh Conspiracy

Mark Steyn / The Corner:

Unidirectional multiculturalism — Andrew's post on Scottish hospitals telling infidel doctors to cut out working lunches during Ramadan and Kathryn's post on Dutch bishops telling European Catholics to call God "Allah" are two small examples of the remorseless incremental concessions …

Discussion: ++ Relapsed Catholic …, Wizbang and Amygdala

Media Matters for America:

Gibson: "The war on Gibson is real" and "it's pursued every day" … On the August 14 broadcast of his Fox News Radio show, John Gibson said he and the show's executive producer, known on the air as "Angry Rich," are "being attacked on a liberal website," referring to Media Matters for America.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Think Progress, The Vanity Press and Hoffmania!

Jonathan Fildes / BBC:

Wikipedia 'shows CIA page edits' — An online tool that claims to reveal the identity of organisations that edit Wikipedia pages has revealed that the CIA was involved in editing entries. — Wikipedia Scanner allegedly shows that workers on the agency's computers made edits to the page of Iran's president.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Biased BBC, EU Referendum and Wonkette

Denver Post:

Russians get day off to procreate, then win prizes — Moscow - A Russian region of Ulyanovsk has found a novel way to fight the nation's birth-rate crisis: It has declared Sept. 12 the Day of Conception and for the third year running is giving couples time off from work to procreate.

Discussion: The Van Der Galiën Gazette

Kathryn Jean Lopez / The Corner:

What Said This? — In 1996? … That would be Rudy Giuliani, who sounded at the time a whole lot like a George Bush type on immigration. — And then there's this, via the Daily News: … Now you can blame this flashback game with Mitt Romney on some key issues, too, of course.

Discussion: MSNBC, The Debatable Land, Blogometer and alicublog