memeorandum: World's Languages Dying Off Rapidly (John Noble Wilford/New York Times)

3:10 AM ET, September 19, 2007

Top Items:

Kerry Should be Ashamed, and the Cop Who Tased Andrew Meyer Should be Jailed — By now I'm sure you've seen the videos of University of Florida student Andrew Meyer being attacked and tasered by university police at a John Kerry speaking event. If not, here's one, here's another, and here's another.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Ocala Star-Banner, Preemptive Karma, GainesvilleSun.com, PSoTD, The American Street, Galley Slaves, Hot Air and The Mahablog

CNN:

Cops put on leave after Tasering student — (CNN) — Two University of Florida police officers have been placed on leave with pay after using an electronic stun gun to subdue a student who was questioning Sen. John Kerry at a campus forum, the school's president said Tuesday.

Discussion: Salon, Patterico's Pontifications and Hot Air

Michael Goldfarb / Weekly Standard:

(Updated) "Don't Tase Me Bro" — Michelle Malkin has the most comprehensive coverage of the taser incident at the University of Florida. — And here's Kerry's statement: … I don't know how Kerry could have missed the shouts of "don't tase me bro," but I'm not sure what his response should have been anyway.

Discussion: CBS News, BeldarBlog, Blue Crab Boulevard, Right Wing News, Daily Pundit, Balloon Juice and The Road to Surfdom

Will / Attytood:

Meet the future savior of journalism: "FamousWriterMan@aol.com", a/k/a Taserman "The Andrew Meyer" — It figures. — He's a journalist. — In fact, now 21-year-old University of Florida student journalist Andrew Meyer — or "The Andrew Mayer," based on his personal Web site …

Discussion: NYT, Mercury Rising, Wake up America, The Democratic Daily and The Jawa Report

Rick Klein / Political Radar:

Kerry Condemns Heckler Arrest — ABC News' Rick Klein Reports: Sen. John Kerry on Tuesday comdemned the arrest of a University of Florida student at one of his speeches, saying that he was engaged in a "good healthy discussion" with 21-year-old Andrew Meyer when he was Tasered and taken into custody.

Associated Press:
Student Zapped With Taser Caught On Tape

Discussion: The Impolitic, The Democratic Daily, The Reaction, Macsmind, The Huffington Post, Jon Swift, Attytood, Comments From Left Field, Neptunus Lex, Liberty Pundit and Truthdig

Naomi Wolf / The Huffington Post:
A Shocking Moment for Society: Tasering at University of Florida

Discussion: Powell's Books and Lonewacko

Jerusalem Post:

'Dozens died in Syrian-Iranian chemical weapons experiment' — Proof of cooperation between Iran and Syria in the proliferation and development of weapons of mass destruction was brought to light Monday in a Jane's Defence Weekly report that dozens of Iranian engineers and 15 Syrian officers were killed in a July 23 accident in Syria.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Israel Matzav, Israpundit, Gates of Vienna, Hot Air, Blue Crab Boulevard and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

The Big Trunk / Power Line:
A SERIOUS SYRIAN WORK ACCIDENT

Discussion: Israel Matzav and TigerHawk

Ynetnews:
Report: Dozens dead in Syrian chemical weapons experiment

Discussion: WILLisms.com

Agence France Presse:

Mystery illness strikes after meteorite hits Peruvian village — LIMA (AFP) - Villagers in southern Peru were struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite made a fiery crash to Earth in their area, regional authorities said Monday. — Around midday Saturday, villagers were startled …

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Middle Earth Journal, Blue Crab Boulevard and The World Wide Rant

MSNBC:
Villagers fall ill after fireball hits Peru

Discussion: Guardian, Wonkette and The Belmont Club

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:

GOP Senator Warner "Reconsidering" Support For Webb Troop Bill — Just when it looked as if Senator Jim Webb's troop readiness bill might pick up enough GOP support to reach the magic number of 60 filibuster-proof votes, we're now getting word that Senator John Warner is reconsidering his backing for it and may vote against it.

Discussion: Washington Wire, Open Left, Hullabaloo, Cliff Schecter, DownWithTyranny! and Daily Kos

Digby / commonsense.ourfuture.org:
Webb's Righteous Amendment

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Taylor Marsh, Hullabaloo and DownWithTyranny!

Matt Stoller / Open Left:
Light 'Em Up for the Webb Amendment

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Eschaton

Bryan / Hot Air:

Hot Air TV: Rep. Jack Murtha confronted about Haditha accusations Updated — We've just obtained video of Rep. Jack Murtha being directly confronted over repeatedly accusing the Haditha Marines of murdering Iraqis "in cold blood." I'm editing and processing it now, so we should have it online before too long.

Discussion: Reuters, The Hill, Take Our Country Back, Power Line, Redstate, UrbanGrounds, Jeff Gannon, michellemalkin.com, The Oxford Medievalist, The Jawa Report, JammieWearingFool, Gateway Pundit and QandO

USA Today:

Poll: Public not swayed by Petraeus — WASHINGTON — A plurality of Americans say Gen. David Petraeus' proposal to begin withdrawing some U.S. forces from Iraq is on the right track, but his long-awaited testimony to Congress last week failed to change fundamental attitudes toward the war.

Discussion: MyDD, Daily Kos and Greatscat!

The Politico:

Democrats chuck Iraq compromise — Senate Democrats, who have spent weeks trying to woo Republicans to help end the war in Iraq, have taken a hard turn against compromise. — They now believe their best political strategy is to continue to play to a stalemate and blame an intransigent President Bush …

Discussion: CNN Political Ticker, Hot Air and New York Times

Eric Black Ink:

Paulose under investigation by feds — The federal Office of Special Counsel is investigating allegations that Rachel Paulose, U.S. attorney for Minnesota, mishandled classified information, decided to fire the subordinate who called it to her attention, retaliated against others in the office …

Discussion: Obsidian Wings, TPMmuckraker, Talking Points Memo and Rook's Rant

Roxana Tiron / The Hill:

Stevens, Inouye top defense earmarks list at over $180M each; Byrd next at $166M — Sens. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) are among the biggest winners in the 2008 Appropriations defense bill, according to data gathered by The Hill and the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS).

Discussion: TPMmuckraker and Talking Points Memo

Noah Shachtman / Danger Room:

Iraq Diary: Jammers Beat Bombers (Which May Be Bad News) — Radio-controlled bombs used to be the biggest killer of American troops in Iraq. Now, they've been rendered all-but-useless. Good news, right? Like so much else in Iraq, it's not quite that simple.

Discussion: Total Information Awareness, American Prospect, The Atlantic Online, Weekly Standard and Washington Monthly

Sarah Garland / New York Sun:

Cleric Turns Against Al Qaeda — A prominent Saudi cleric once praised by Osama bin Laden has published an open letter condemning Al Qaeda's violence. — In the long letter published on an Arabic Web site, Cleric Salman al-Awdah calls on Mr. bin Laden to end the killing of innocent Muslims …

Discussion: TigerHawk and Classical Values