Top Items:
Joby Warrick / Washington Post:
To Combat Obama, Al-Qaeda Hurls Insults — Soon after the November election, al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader took stock of America's new president-elect and dismissed him with an insulting epithet. “A house Negro,” Ayman al-Zawahiri said. — That was just a warm-up.
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
THIS EXPLAINS A LOT.... Hilzoy reported on this overnight, but I don't want the news to get lost in the shuffle. It's one of those breathtaking stories that is almost too painful to believe. — Upon announcing his plan to close the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay …
Hilzoy / Washington Monthly:
There Are No Files — From the Washington Post: … Hmm.
There Are No Files — From the Washington Post: … Hmm.
Discussion:
Comments from Left Field
Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
Which Governor Is Wackier? — I love Blago. — I love his beady little eyes. I love his Serbian shock of hair. I love his flaring nostrils. I love the way he jogs through the snow under indictment, like a stork in spandex trying to gallop. I love the way he compares himself …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Don Surber, RedState, Lance Mannion, TalkLeft, Salon, Sisyphus Shrugged, Commentary and New Yorker
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Ben Stein / New York Times:
Deep in Debt, and Now Deep in Worry — NOT long ago, a woman in California called me for advice. She is divorced, with two children, and has a series of interlocking financial problems. — She lives in a lovely home in a stylish inland enclave. It has an interest-only mortgage …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
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Yves Smith / naked capitalism:
Ben Stein Asks Us to Feel Sorry for Wildly Irresponsible People — I have been off the Ben Stein beat for quite some times, since it is ably covered by Felix Salmon and I don't want to encourage Stein by giving him undue attention. But this week's offering is such a doozy that I had to say something.
Discussion:
Portfolio
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
West Wing on steroids in Obama W.H. — President Barack Obama is taking far-reaching steps to centralize decision-making inside the White House, surrounding himself with influential counselors, overseas envoys and policy “czars” that shift power from traditional Cabinet posts.
MSNBC:
McCain won't vote for stimulus as it stands — But Obama economic adviser says the current plan is balanced — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama dispatched his top economic adviser and vice president Sunday to relentlessly press their sales pitch for an $825 billion stimulus package …
Andrea Shalal-Esa / Reuters:
Challenges loom as Obama seeks space weapons ban — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's pledge to seek a worldwide ban on weapons in space marks a dramatic shift in U.S. policy while posing the tricky issue of defining whether a satellite can be a weapon.
Sydney Morning Herald:
Hamas tried to hijack ambulances during Gaza war — In ruins... a masked Hamas militant walks through the devastated area of east Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip. — Jason Koutsoukis in Gaza City — PALESTINIAN civilians living in Gaza during the three-week war with Israel have spoken …
Discussion:
Jihad Watch
Gretchen Morgenson / New York Times:
Time to Unravel the Knot of Credit-Default Swaps — WITH a new administration in Washington, let us hope that there will be an interest in defining the origins of the financial crisis, its abettors and, most important, its resolution. — Any honest assessment must include the role …
Ynetnews:
Pro-Israel rally crashed in Sweden — Protestors gathered to support Israel were pelted with eggs and bottles, then dispersed by police — A pro-Israel rally in Malmo, Sweden was torn apart Sunday by pro-Palestinian residents who arrived on the scene with eggs, bottles, and tear gas grenades which they threw at Israel's supporters.
Discussion:
Atlas Shrugs
BBC:
Israeli PM in war crimes pledge — Rights groups say white phosphorus shells were fired into built-up areas of Gaza — Any Israeli soldiers accused of war crimes in the Gaza Strip will be given state protection from prosecution overseas, the country's PM has said.
Discussion:
Truthdig
New York Times:
Radio Spreads Taliban's Terror in Pakistani Region — PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Every night around 8 o'clock, the terrified residents of Swat, a lush and picturesque valley a hundred miles from three of Pakistan's most important cities, crowd around their radios.