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Juli Weiner / Vanity Fair:
In Memoriam: Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011 — Christopher Hitchens—the incomparable critic, masterful rhetorician, fiery wit, and fearless bon vivant—died today at the age of 62. Hitchens was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in the spring of 2010, just after the publication of his memoir …
Discussion:
Power Line, The Moderate Voice, Michelle Malkin, Conservative Commune, Scared Monkeys, Catholic Bandita, Balloon Juice, Media Decoder, The Spectacle Blog, Datechguy's Blog, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Hot Air, Big Journalism, The Lonely Conservative, FrumForum, neo-neocon, The Daily What, newsfeed.time.com, Outside the Beltway, Belmont Club, The Mahablog, The American Mind, Little Green Footballs, Ed Driscoll, US Politics, Feministe, Wonkette, Naked Politics, Ace of Spades HQ, BizzyBlog, Taylor Marsh and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
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William Grimes / New York Times:
Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011: Christopher Hitchens Is Dead at 62 — Obituary — Christopher Hitchens, a slashing polemicist in the tradition of Thomas Paine and George Orwell who trained his sights on targets as various as Henry Kissinger, the British monarchy and Mother Teresa …
David Folkenflik / NPR:
Writer Christopher Hitchens Dies At 62 — This graphic requires version 9 or higher of the Adobe Flash Player.Get the latest Flash Player. — Writer Christopher Hitchens was a critic of personalities, politicians and religious figures. — The influential writer and cultural critic …
Discussion:
Newshoggers.com, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Booman Tribune
Graydon Carter / Vanity Fair:
Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011: In Memoriam — Christopher Hitchens was a wit, a charmer, and a troublemaker, and to those who knew him well, he was a gift from, dare I say it, God. He died today at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston, after a punishing battle with esophageal cancer, the same disease that killed his father.
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Atlantic Online, Poynter and Truthdig, more at Mediagazer »
Matt Schudel / Washington Post:
Christopher Hitchens dies; Vanity Fair writer was a religious skeptic, master of the contrarian essay — Christopher Hitchens, a sharp-witted provocateur who used his formidable learning, biting wit and muscular prose style to skewer what he considered high-placed hypocrites …
Discussion:
CNN and Michael Totten
BBC:
Christopher Hitchens dies at 62 after suffering cancer — Vanity Fair's editor said those who read him felt they knew him — British-born author, literary critic and journalist Christopher Hitchens has died at the age of 62. — He died from pneumonia, a complication of the oesophageal cancer he had, at a Texas hospital.
Discussion:
Simply Left BehindThe …
Anthony Boadle / Reuters:
Atheist intellectual Christopher Hitchens dead at 62
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
Darren Samuelsohn / The Politico:
GOP wins light bulb fight — The shutdown-averting budget bill will block federal light bulb efficiency standards, giving a win to House Republicans fighting the so-called ban on incandescent light bulbs. — GOP and Democratic sources tell POLITICO the final omnibus bill includes …
Discussion:
Pirate's Cove, Outside the Beltway, Althouse, americanthinker.com and Instapundit
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Washington Post:
Congressional leaders reach spending deal to avoid government shutdown — Congressional negotiators signed off Thursday evening on a $1 trillion spending agreement for federal agencies, just 28 hours before a deadline that would have led to a government shutdown.
Wall Street Journal:
Lawmakers Hopeful on Payroll, Spending Deals
Discussion:
MyFox Philadelphia, Political Mojo and MarketBeat
Andrew Restuccia / The Hill:
Omnibus spending deal blocks funding for light bulb efficiency standards
Discussion:
The Lonely Conservative
New York Times:
Gingrich Duels With Challengers at Iowa Debate — SIOUX CITY, Iowa — The leading Republican presidential candidates largely shelved their contentious attacks on one another to deliver their closing arguments on Thursday night at the final debate before the nominating contests begin …
Discussion:
Iowa Caucuses, GOP 12, Washington Post, Associated Press, The Caucus, Los Angeles Times, The Other McCain, NY Daily News, ABCNEWS, Taylor Marsh and The Page
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Josh Lederman / Ballot Box:
GOP debate: Gingrich's electability at issue
Discussion:
CNN, Outside the Beltway, Politifact.com Truth … and The Politico
Jonathan Garthwaite / Townhall.com:
Gingrich wins Townhall/HotAir Primary; Conservatives still not completely sold that Gingrich is the last man standing
Discussion:
Hot Air
Robert Stacy McCain / The Other McCain:
SIOUX CITY IOWA DEBATE TONIGHT
Discussion:
Althouse and Rush Limbaugh
Chris Stirewalt / Fox News:
High Stakes, High Drama for Final Debate Before Voting Begins
Discussion:
Fox News
Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:
Air Force Vet Ron Paul Drops Bombs On Newt Gingrich for War Deferments — Air Force veteran and presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul. R-Texas, has opened up a new line of attack against former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. — Interviewed by Megyn Kelly on Fox News Channel …
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Jeffrey Lord / American Spectator:
The Ron Paul Newsletters — Yesterday, during a discussion on Ron Paul with Sean Hannity on the latter's radio show, Hannity brought up with me the impossible-to-get around subject of the infamous Ron Paul Newsletters. — As Hannity quite correctly pointed out, with the other GOP candidates having received …
Discussion:
Catholic Bandita, American Power, Riehl World View and The Other McCain
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Can Ron Paul win?
Discussion:
Pirate's Cove, The Daily Dish, Political Mojo, Liberal Values and iOwnTheWorld.com
Darren Samuelsohn / The Politico:
Allen West: Goebbels would be proud of Democrats — Tea party favorite Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) said Thursday that Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels would be “very proud” of Democrats for shifting public sentiment against Republicans, and he blamed the press for helping spread their message.
Discussion:
Pew Research Center …, The Buzz Florida Politics Feed, The Raw Story, Daily Kos and The New Republic
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Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Rep. West: Joseph Goebbels would be ‘very proud of the Democrat Party’
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
Josh Lederman / The Hill:
Tea Party leader arrested with gun at NY airport — A major leader in the Tea Party movement was arrested at New York's LaGuardia Airport on Thursday after he tried to check in for a flight while carrying a gun. — Prosecutors charged Mark Meckler, the co-founder of Tea Party Patriots …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland and CNN
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Jennie Rothenberg Gritz / The Atlantic Online:
Hitchens: ‘People Need Ritual, and Probably Particularly Funerals’ — A never-before-published excerpt from a 2007 interview. Read the rest of the interview here. — Reuters — You say that there's a harmony and beauty inherent in the laws of physics. Can you say more about that?
Steven Jiang / CNN:
‘Batman’ star Bale punched, stopped from visiting blind Chinese activist — DONGSHIGU VILLAGE, China (CNN) — As Christian Bale approached an impromptu checkpoint leading to this tiny village in eastern China, four men blocking the narrow path started marching toward him in menacing unison.
Discussion:
News Desk, Washington Post, msnbc.com, Guardian and The Daily What
Scott Peterson / Christian Science Monitor:
Exclusive: Iran hijacked US drone, says Iranian engineer — In an exclusive interview, an engineer working to unlock the secrets of the captured RQ-170 Sentinel says they exploited a known vulnerability and tricked the US drone into landing in Iran. — ISTANBUL, TURKEY
Discussion:
Washington Post, americanthinker.com, Tehran Times, CNN, The Lede, msnbc.com, Israel Matzav, Danger Room, Guardian and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, more at Techmeme »
Lymari Morales / Gallup:
Fewer Americans See U.S. Divided Into “Haves,” “Have Nots” — The majority would put themselves in the “haves” category if they had to choose — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans are now less likely to see U.S. society as divided into the “haves” and “have nots” than they were in 2008, returning to their views prior to that point.
Discussion:
American Spectator, Campaign 2012 and Via Meadia
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Nikki Haley to endorse Romney — South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, one of the most sought-after remaining Republican endorsements, will come out for Mitt Romney Friday morning, POLITICO has learned. — Haley will offer her formal endorsement on Fox and Friends, giving Romney an important boost ahead …
Discussion:
Reuters, GOP 12, CNN, Wall Street Journal and Ricochet Conversations Feed
Rebecca Evans / Daily Mail:
Saviour of 2,000 Afghans who saved a baby's life executed by the Taliban — Dr Karen Woo was with nine others in the Kuran Wa Munja district of Badakhshan when they were killed — A British doctor shot dead by the Taliban was part of a humanitarian mission that had helped 2,000 Afghans, an inquest heard yesterday.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
Byron Tau / The Politico:
POTUS on the GOP: 'Anything that Obama's for, we're against' — In an interview with ABC News' Barbara Walters, President Obama accused Republicans of grinding the government to a halt over personal animosity toward him — as well as an inability to compromise.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
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Devin Dwyer / Yahoo! News:
Obama faults Republican ‘lurch into extremes’ for DC gridlock
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
Larry Kudlow / National Review:
Keystone Blue-Collar Blues — The payroll-tax-cut debate is not really about the payroll tax, which is a very weak-kneed economic stimulant and a lackluster job creator because of its temporary nature. Without permanent incentives at lower tax rates, these rebates don't do anything for growth and jobs.
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