Top Items:
Joe Stephens / Washington Post:
Obama Got Discount on Home Loan — Shortly after joining the U.S. Senate and while enjoying a surge in income, Barack Obama bought a $1.65 million restored Georgian mansion in an upscale Chicago neighborhood. To finance the purchase, he secured a $1.32 million loan from Northern Trust in Illinois.
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Christopher Hitchens / Vanity Fair:
Believe Me, It's Torture — What more can be added to the debate over U.S. interrogation methods, and whether waterboarding is torture? Try firsthand experience. The author undergoes the controversial drowning technique, at the hands of men who once trained American soldiers to resist—not inflict—it.
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Scott Shane / New York Times:
China Inspired Interrogations at Guantánamo — WASHINGTON — The military trainers who came to Guantánamo Bay in December 2002 based an entire interrogation class on a chart showing the effects of “coercive management techniques” for possible use on prisoners, including …
Discussion:
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Drudge Report:
LIMBAUGH SIGNS THROUGH 2016; $400 MILLION DEAL SHATTERS BROADCAST RECORDS — The American broadcast industry is rocked, realigned and blasted into a new orbit, yet again, by Rush Limbaugh, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. — In what is being described as an unprecedented radio contract …
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Brian Maloney / The Radio Equalizer:
Rush Limbaugh In Sunday NYT Cover Story, Big New Radio Deal — MEGASPLASH, MEGADEAL — Rush In NYT Cover Story, Stunning Contract Renewal — *** WITH EXCLUSIVE DETAILS *** — *** CONTRACT INCLUDES UNPRECEDENTED NINE-FIGURE SIGNING BONUS *** — *** ONCE AGAIN, YOU SAW IT FIRST AT THE RADIO EQUALIZER ***
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Hispanic Voters Solidly Behind Obama — Few demographic differences evident among Hispanics — PRINCETON, NJ — Hispanic registered voters' support for Barack Obama for president remained consistent and strong in June, with Obama leading John McCain by 59% to 29% among this group.
Nico Pitney / The Huffington Post:
McCain Backer's Firm Pleaded Guilty To Funding Terrorist Group In Colombia — The co-host of a recent top-dollar fundraiser for Sen. John McCain oversaw the payment of roughly $1.7 million to a Colombian paramilitary group that is today designated a terrorist organization by the United States.
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David Paul Kuhn / The Politico:
McCain game plan worries insiders — Four months have passed since John McCain effectively captured the party nomination, and the insiders are getting restless. Top GOP officials, frustrated by what they view as inconsistent messaging, sluggish fundraising and an organization that is too slow …
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Financial Times:
Obama camp signals robust approach on Iran — The prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran is the biggest threat facing the world, according to one of Barack Obama's senior foreign policy advisers. — He also signalled that the US Democratic presidential candidate would push Europe to agree tougher sanctions against Tehran.
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Warren P. Strobel / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Iran ‘seriously considering’ new international nuclear offer
Iran ‘seriously considering’ new international nuclear offer
Ynetnews:
3 killed as Palestinian bulldozer driver goes on killing spree in Jerusalem — (Video) Bulldozer driven by Palestinian resident of east Jerusalem tramples over pedestrians, cars in central Jerusalem; driver shot dead by police officer; three women killed, dozens injured in attack.
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Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
The Wrong Stuff — On the way back from Unity, N.H., Friday evening, Barack Obama's plane got diverted by bad weather. Instead of landing at Reagan airport, it landed farther out at Dulles. — Before he got into his S.U.V., Senator Obama walked hesitantly toward the press, who were standing nearby.
Fareed Zakaria / Newsweek:
We Need a Wartime President — It's Still a Shooting War: American soldiers take cover during fighting in Baghdad's Sadr City earlier this year — George W. Bush is fond of describing himself as a “war president.” And he has made many decisions involving soldiers and battle.
Discussion:
Commentary
Peter S. Goodman / New York Times:
Deepening Cycle of Job Loss Seen Lasting Into '09 — As automakers dropped their latest batch of awful sales numbers on the market on Tuesday, reinforcing the gloom spreading across the economy, the troubles confronting American workers seemed to intensify.
TigerHawk:
“Dig it!”: A short video about Barack Obama's friends — Paul Budline, a Princeton-based writer and producer of documentaries, got to thinking this afternoon about Barack Obama's friendship with Chicago radicals Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn. Out came this crisp little video, “Dig it!”.
Marc Ambinder:
A Subliminal Message In McCain's Ad? — Check out this frame, about 25 seconds in to McCain's “Accountable” ad. — Unless I'm mistaken, the woman McCain whose hand McCain shakes is wearing an Obama tee-shirt. I think the footage comes from McCain's appearance at the Lorraine Motel on the anniversary of MLK's death.