November 29, 2005

Today's Reading List

Today's Reading List is back after an unplanned hiatus...

The War: The London Telegraph reports that Iran is secretly training Chechen rebels in sophisticated terror techniques to enable them to carry out more effective attacks against Russian forces. ... "Just as they have orchestrated attacks against British troops in Basra to pressure Britain to drop its opposition to Iran's nuclear program, so they are trying to put pressure on Moscow by backing Chechen fighters," said a senior intelligence official. And the mad mullahs of Tehran - the world's largest exporters of Islamist terror - are working feverishly to build nukes. Your best source for daily updates on Iran is the Regime Change Iran blog, which recently reported on Iran's attempt to censor blogs.

Also in war news, the Democrats have signed on to President Bush's Iraq policy, while pretending, for political reasons, to criticize it. Jon Henke explains...

Politics: The Tennessean offers up a preview of the state legislature, which convenes in six weeks (or sooner if the governor calls a special session on to reform the legislature's ethics rules). The story looks at a handful of the estimated 4,500 bills that will be introduced, including a "taxpayer's bill of rights" likely to be pushed by state Rep. Glen Casada and state Sen. Jim Bryson. I'm glad Casada and Bryson are planning to push the concept, though I'd design the legislation differently. ... Also today, the Tennessean calls for the legislature to probe the Tennessee Highway Patrol, "because it appears a climate of political patronage exists in the department." ... Also today, the Nashville City Paper reports that a certain Nashville state senator's refusal to schedule a committee hearing has put the future of dozens of state agencies in limbo.

Media: Jeff Jarvis takes on Yahoo and Google over RSS feeds - and wins. ... Adam Groves links to a piece in Roll Call (via a blog) that says 2006 will see a rise in state and local blogging Roll Call says many blogs that specialize in state or local political coverage are "starting to gain a following, not to mention the respect of state and local media outlets and politicians." ... Also worth reading today, Terry Heaton has a long essay on why media should trust its audience - and why that doesn't sit well with traditional modern media, which descended from the elitist "we know what's best for you" foundation established by its philosophical creator, Walter Lippmann.

Technology: Doug Petch looks at the slow progress of a federal program intended to encourage the growth of rural broadband in areas of the country that truly are rural.