By Jack Healy, New York Times, December 16, 2010

BALAD RUZ, Iraq — ....Mr. Muhammad, 31, had a chance to save himself, to continue supporting his widowed mother, to help put his younger brother through college and to watch his three young daughters grow up.

Instead, the officer — a Sunni Muslim — threw himself onto the bomber, blunting the explosion’s impact on the Shiite worshipers....

Within his article, Rieckhoff cited the Senate Roll Call votes on improved medical care for first responders.

I was STUNNED to see that the only Democrat who voted against it was our Majority Leader, Harry Reid of Nevada. Why would he do that? 

Pete Hoeksta and Darrell Issa are having second thought, and cite Wilileaks as the reason.  Joe Davidson notes that:

"The irony here is that as legitimate avenues for exposing not classified information but valid, documented concerns about government operations are blocked, the more attractive routes such as WikiLeaks become."

More than 70 percent of Americans say big bonuses should be banned this year at Wall Street firms that took taxpayer bailouts, a Bloomberg National Poll shows.

An additional one in six favors slapping a 50 percent tax on bonuses exceeding $400,000. Just 7 percent of U.S. adults say bonuses are an appropriate incentive reflecting Wall Street’s return to financial health.

A large majority also want to tax Wall Street profits to reduce the federal budget deficit. A levy on financial services firms is the top choice among more than a dozen deficit-cutting options presented to respondents.

With U.S. unemployment at 9.8 percent, resentment of bonuses and banking profits unites Americans across political, gender, age and income groups. Among Republicans, who generally are skeptical of business regulation, 76 percent support a government ban on big bonuses to bailout recipients, that’s higher than backing among Democrats or independents.

Striking resemblances between BP's Gulf of Mexico disaster and a little-reported giant gas leak in Azerbaijan experienced by the UK firm 18 months beforehand have emerged from leaked US embassy cables.

By Josh Rogin, The Cable @ Foreignpolicy.com, December 15, 2010

...."The QDDR is a blueprint for how we can make the State Department and USAID more nimble, more effective, and more accountable," she said. "Leading through civilian power saves lives and money."

Clinton described her plan to have State Department diplomats lead interagency efforts abroad, to rebuild the internal capacity of USAID, and to adjust to the changing dynamics of a world where power is increasingly dispersed among multiple actors.

But Clinton's speech kept returning to the fact that her ambitious goals of reforming the State Department are facing a Congress that is skeptical of foreign aid funding and looking for ways to trim government spending.....

Xinhua, December 16, 2010

Iran on Wednesday accused the United States, Britain and Israel of involving in the deadly suicide bomb attack in the country which left 39 killed and more than 50 others wounded.....According to media, the Pakistan-based Sunni rebel group Jundallah (God' s soldiers) has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.....

While the GOPer's are busy making both Democrats and Obama look inept...as if that were difficult...the Chinese are busy making inroads on our own home turf. 

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,734323,00.html

By Ned Parker, Los Angeles Times, December 14, 2010, reporting from Baghdad

Fifteen-year-old Ban, a fan of an American goth band and 'Twilight,' accessorizes her school-mandated head scarf and gown with skull pendants, black fingernails and a matching attitude.