Top Items:
James Cowie / Renesys Blog:
Egypt Leaves the Internet — Confirming what a few have reported this evening: in an action unprecedented in Internet history, the Egyptian government appears to have ordered service providers to shut down all international connections to the Internet. Critical European-Asian fiber-optic …
Discussion:
Arabist.net, The Moderate Voice, CNET News, Bloomberg, The Huffington Post, alicublog, newsfeed.time.com, Examiner, BGPmon.net Blog, Outside the Beltway, DCist, Danger Room, ReadWriteWeb, Guardian, Mashable!, Threat Level, Telegraph, Wake up America, Cato @ Liberty, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Booman Tribune, Sky News, Gizmodo, Mish's Global Economic …, Global Voices in English, Associated Press, Mediaite, TechCrunch, Hit & Run, Open Left, Instapundit, Jay Currie, Pajamas Media, FP Passport, Discourse.net and The Other McCain, more at Techmeme »
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Guardian:
Egyptian government on last legs, says Mohamed ElBaradei — Exclusive: Mohamed ElBaradei says he is sending a message ‘to the Guardian and to the world’ — The Egyptian dissident Mohamed ElBaradei warned President Hosni Mubarak today that his regime is on its last legs …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, The Daily Dish, Fausta's Blog, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Confederate Yankee, Verum Serum, The Awl and Hot Air
Dan Murphy / Christian Science Monitor:
Joe Biden says Egypt's Mubarak no dictator, he shouldn't step down... ... and wonders what the Egyptian protesters want. — Vice President Joe Biden spoke to the PBS NewsHour tonight with the most direct US governent comments yet about the gathering Egypt protests against President Hosni Mubarak's 29-year reign.
New York Times:
Cables Show Delicate U.S. Dealings With Egypt's Leaders — WASHINGTON — It was Hillary Rodham Clinton's first meeting as secretary of state with President Hosni Mubarak, in March 2009, and the Egyptians had an odd request: Mrs. Clinton should not thank Mr. Mubarak for releasing an opposition leader from prison because he was ill.
wikileaks.ch:
VZCZCXYZ0003 RR RUEHWEB DE RUEHEG #0079/01 0151524 ZNY CCCCC ZZH R 151524Z JAN 09 FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1372 INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC — C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 000079 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA, DRL/NESCA …
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, Political Punch, Guardian and Runnin' Scared
msnbc.com:
Egypt sends in army to quell ‘open revolt’
Egypt sends in army to quell ‘open revolt’
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, The Gateway Pundit and FrumForum
Michelle Malkin:
Uprising in Egypt — An iconic Egyptian protest image reminiscent …
Uprising in Egypt — An iconic Egyptian protest image reminiscent …
Discussion:
The Jawa Report, Mediaite and New York Times
Wall Street Journal:
Egypt Deploys Military On Cairo's Streets
Egypt Deploys Military On Cairo's Streets
Discussion:
Hot Air, Time, Pajamas Media, American Power and The BLT
Associated Press:
Egypt Nobel laureate ElBaradei under house arrest
Egypt Nobel laureate ElBaradei under house arrest
Discussion:
CNN, The Huffington Post, iOwnTheWorld.com and Guardian
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Biden: Hey, Mubarak's not a dictator
Biden: Hey, Mubarak's not a dictator
Discussion:
Reuters, Political Punch, Time, CBS News, Crooks and Liars and National Review
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
THE ODIOUS GOP PLAN TO REDEFINE RAPE.... Last week, after a rather pointless vote to repeal the entirety of the Affordable Care Act, House Republicans announced their second major initiative: the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.” — It was additional evidence that the new House GOP majority …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and Balloon Juice
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Nick Baumann / Mother Jones:
The House GOP's Plan to Redefine Rape — Drugged, raped, and pregnant? Too bad. Republicans are pushing to limit rape and incest cases eligible for government abortion funding. — Post Comment — Rape is only really rape if it involves force. So says the new House Republican majority as it now moves to change abortion law.
Discussion:
Shakesville, Democratic Strategist, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Daily Kos
Elizabethe Holland / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Furor at Washington U. nixes Bristol Palin appearance — Anger over a decision to pay Bristol Palin several thousand dollars in student fees to talk to Washington University students about abstinence led to a decision Thursday night to nix Palin's appearance on a panel here next month.
Discussion:
Right Wing News, Wonkette and The Gateway Pundit
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USA Today:
TNT apologizes for Tracy Morgan's lewd comments on Palin — UPDATE: TNT sponsor AutoTrader.com is complaining to the network about being stuck in the middle, literally, of Tracy Morgan's lewd remarks about Sarah Palin on last night's edition of Inside the NBA.
Discussion:
PopEater, iOwnTheWorld.com, Salon, AOL News and JammieWearingFool
Jason Millman / The Hill:
Obama vigorously defends Dems' healthcare reform: ‘Granny is safe’ — In his most vigorous defense of the healthcare law since Republicans took control of the House, Obama fired back Friday at GOP claims that the law deprives essential care for seniors and balloons the deficit.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Associated Press
Jonathan Allen / The Politico:
Republicans terrified of tea — When Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann was named to the House Intelligence Committee earlier this year, one of her Republican colleagues responded this way: “Is that a punchline?” Another simply said, “Jumbo shrimp. Oxymoron.” — Neither dared to attach his name to his comment.
Discussion:
CNN, Grim's Hall, The Blotter, The New Republic and FrumForum
Patrick Hynes / New Hampshire Journal:
Top Dem: We will ‘hang’ Republicans — Amidst a national dialogue about softening political rhetoric, members of an Obama-affiliated organization are threatening to hang Granite State Republicans in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, according to a news story in the Citizen of Laconia.
Discussion:
Citizen.com, JustOneMinute, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit and Right Wing News
Rick Maze / Air Force Times HOME:
Bachmann plan would cut veterans benefits — Tea party favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., has unveiled a plan for cutting $400 billion in federal spending that includes freezing Veterans Affairs Department health care spending and cutting veterans' disability benefits.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Raw Story, TPMDC and Minnesota Independent
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Their Own Private Europe — President Obama's State of the Union address was a ho-hum affair. But the official Republican response, from Representative Paul Ryan, was really interesting. And I don't mean that in a good way. — Mr. Ryan made highly dubious assertions about employment, health care and more.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Prairie Weather
Charles Lane / Washington Post:
Cold truths about electric cars' cold-weather shortcomings — Count me among the many thousands of Washington area residents who spent Wednesday night stuck in traffic as a snowstorm sowed chaos all around us. Being car-bound in sub-freezing weather for six hours can make a guy think.
Discussion:
Right Turn and Betsy's Page
Jason Millman / The Hill:
Some healthcare waiver requests denied even as HHS approves 500 others — While some 500 groups got waivers for a healthcare reform provision setting annual coverage requirements, about 50 requests for such exemptions were denied, the Department of Health and Human Services told The Hill Thursday.
Discussion:
protein wisdom
Ezra Klein:
Too young not to work, too old to get a job — Pew's new report on long-term unemployment is sobering stuff: … The interplay between age and unemployment really worries me. On some level, we have a rosy view of “structural unemployment”: It's a guy in Reno, Nev., who has skills better suited …
James Fallows / The Atlantic Online:
How America Can Rise Again — Is America going to hell? After a year of economic calamity that many fear has sent us into irreversible decline, the author finds reassurance in the peculiarly American cycle of crisis and renewal, and in the continuing strength of the forces that have made the country great …
Discussion:
Ezra Klein
Ezra Klein:
Wonkbook: Filibuster reform dead — So why did Senate Democrats agree, in principle, that simple majorities can't change the Senate's rules, and even exceedingly modest changes to the filibuster are out-of-bounds? Easy: They're a simple majority now, but someday soon, they'll be a simple minority.
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Plum Line, Mother Jones, RedState and The Politico
Aleister / American Glob:
PROPAGANDA: Reagan And Obama On The Cover Of TIME — TIME Magazine's new February 2011 issue has a cover that features Ronald Reagan with his arm around a jovial Barack Obama. You can see the image below. This is propaganda. Plain and simple. — Anyone who knows anything …
Discussion:
Big Government, No Sheeples Here, Reuters, Wonkette, PR Newswire, The Gateway Pundit, sisu, Fox Nation and CNN
Vicki Needham / The Hill:
Johanns bill to repeal healthcare law's 1099 provision reaches 60 co-sponsors — A bipartisan bill in the Senate that would repeal the unpopular 1099 provision in the healthcare law garnered 60 co-sponsors on Thursday, giving the legislation its best chance at passage so far.
Discussion:
Right Turn
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
A big warning sign for Mitt Romney — An array of Republican heavyweights who backed Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential bid are not yet committed to - and in some cases, downright skeptical of - the former Massachusetts governor's all-but-certain 2012 campaign.
Discussion:
FrumForum
Michael Stott / Reuters:
Rich corporations “must share wealth” to avoid unrest — (Reuters) - Poverty and unemployment reared their heads at the World Economic Forum on Thursday, with speakers urging the elite audience to bridge a growing gap between booming multinationals and the jobless poor.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Questions and Observations and Suburban Guerrilla
Leslie Horn / PC Magazine:
NASA Marks 25th Anniversary of the Challenger Disaster — NASA is remembering three major tragedies in its history this week, starting with the 25th anniversary of the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger on Friday. — “This year marks the 25th anniversary of the loss of the Challenger …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice and protein wisdom
Rachel Rose Hartman / Yahoo! News:
Biden thinks The Onion's spoofs of him are ‘hilarious’ — A mock photo of Vice President Joe Biden washing a Trans-Am shirtless. Strange? Distasteful? Crossing the line? — Not so, Biden says. — “I think it's hilarious,” Biden told Yahoo! in a wide-ranging interview Thursday.
Discussion:
TPMDC
New York Times:
Seizing a Moment, Al Jazeera Galvanizes Arab Frustration — The protests rocking the Arab world this week have one thread uniting them: Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based satellite channel whose aggressive coverage has helped propel insurgent emotions from one capital to the next.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Daily Dish, RubinReports, msnbc.com and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »
Lbentzterp / CNN:
Bush takes swing at former press secretary — Washington (CNN) - Former President George W. Bush is landing a stinging jab at his former longtime aide and press secretary, Scott McClellan, saying the man who served as the public face of his administration for three years was irrelevant.
Discussion:
The Political Carnival
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Former Rep. Hoekstra weighing 2012 run against Sen. Debbie Stabenow — Former Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) said Friday that he's considering challenging Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) in 2012. — Hoekstra, a former nine-term congressman who retired in 2010 to pursue an unsuccessful gubernatorial bid …
Jerry Bowyer / The Great Relearning:
The American Nomenklatura — This week, as President Obama has been busy consolidating his alleged pivot to the center, I've been reading Joshua Berman of the Shalem Center in Jerusalem. His 2008 book Created Equal contrasts the Hebrew Scriptures, particularly the Torah …
Discussion:
The Foundry and Chicago Boyz
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
HOUSE GOP WEIGHS MEDICARE PRIVATIZATION.... To help finance the Affordable Care Act and ensure health care reform didn't add to the deficit, Democrats committed to $500 billion in cost savings from Medicare. Republicans, who've always been hostile to the system of socialized medicine, feigned outrage.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Raw Story and ThinkProgress