Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Horrific scene in Nebraska: “A gunman killed eight people and wounded five others Wednesday at the popular Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, before apparently turning the gun on himself, police said. ‘We do not believe that we have any other shooter,’ said Sgt. Teresa Negron. The shooting took place at the Von Maur store inside the shopping complex, which was locked down, the Nebraska State Patrol said. Shoppers and employees walked out of the building with their hands up. Some described hiding in clothes racks and dressing rooms after hearing the shots.”
* As always, the devil will be in the details: “The Bush administration has hammered out an agreement with industry to freeze interest rates for certain subprime mortgages for five years in an effort to combat a soaring tide of foreclosures, congressional aides said Wednesday. These aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the details have not yet been released, said the five-year moratorium represented a compromise between desires by banking regulators for a longer time frame of as much as seven years and industry arguments that the freeze should only last one to two years.”
* Blackwater to face oversight? “Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top United States commander in Iraq, and Ryan C. Crocker, the American ambassador to Baghdad, have agreed on the details governing the operations of Blackwater and other private security contractors there, American officials said Tuesday. The agreement requires all State Department convoys in Iraq to coordinate their movements with the military’s main operations center in Baghdad, sets minimum standards for training the contractors and outlines when armed guards may use force in self-defense.”
* In light of Mitt Romney’s latest immigration troubles, National Review’s Kathryn Jean Lopez, without a hint of irony, said, “My question is: Do we really have to stake out presidential candidates homes?” John Cole offers Lopez a few compelling thoughts in response.
* The WaPo’s awful piece about Muslim “rumors” and Obama continues to spark controversy. Columbia Journalism Review’s Paul McLeary wrote that the Post’s front-page piece “may be the single worst campaign ‘08 piece to appear in any American newspaper so far this election cycle.” The Post’s Peter Baker mounts a defense, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense.
* Let’s all pause to recognize the sterling success of Republicans’ abstinence-only policies: “In a troubling reversal, the nation’s teen birth rate rose for the first time in 15 years, surprising government health officials who had no immediate explanation. The birth rate had been dropping since its peak in 1991, although the decline had slowed in recent years. On Wednesday, government statisticians said it rose 3 percent from 2005 to 2006.” (thanks to LM for the tip)
* The American Enterprise Institute is not “a nonpartisan group.”
* I’m deeply disappointed that Beliefnet, the best faith/spirituality site on the web, has been purchased by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. What a shame for a terrific resource to get gobbled up by such a malevolent media mogul. (thanks, reader CA)
* On a related note, having Lou Dobbs’ rant against immigrants on CNN seemed like more than enough exposure for the blowhard, but apparently, United Stations Radio Networks doesn’t agree — Dobbs will now have a three-hour daily radio show.
* Whaddaya know, Senate Republicans are whining again. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said yesterday that he wants to pass an AMT reform package, but Bush “is the man that’s pulling the strings on the 49 puppets he has here in the Senate.” Arlen Specter complained today that the GOP caucus do not “take it lightly to be called ‘puppets,'” and suggested Reid may have violated chamber rules that state that no senator “directly or indirectly, by any form of words impute to another senator or to other senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a senator.”
* And finally, do you have a background in tourism? Well, have I got the opportunity for you. The Bush administration will pay you up to $144,000 — plus a 35% “danger pay” premium — to improve Iraqi tourism, which apparently hasn’t been going well. As Al Kamen explained, “[O]ne of your jobs will be ‘recognizing and reporting on obstacles to business development’ — small-arms fire, roadside bombs, for example — and to be ‘a catalyst for new ideas.'” Applications are due by Dec. 12, so act now.
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.