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Morning headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoryDiplomatic convoys curtailed in Iraq
BAGHDAD - The United States on Tuesday suspended all land travel by U.S. diplomats and other civilian officials in Iraq outside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, amid mounting public outrage over the alleged killing of civilians by the U.S. Embassy's security provider Blackwater USA. The Heretik
The WorldU.N. urges more help for Iraq refugees
UNITED NATIONS - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday that countries involved in the Iraq war have a "moral obligation to do more" to accommodate the growing number of Iraqis fleeing their homeland.
Adm. Fallon presses case against Iran
MANAMA, Bahrain - The top U.S. military commander for the Middle East is pressing Arab allies to form a more united front against Iran, seen by Washington as the region's long-term threat.
Syria, NKorea deny nuclear cooperation
DAMASCUS, Syria - Syria and North Korea denied Tuesday they are cooperating on a Syrian nuclear program, and they accused U.S. officials of spreading the allegations for political reasons — either to back Israel or to block progress on a deal between Washington and Pyongyang.
Taliban's demands stall Afghan talks
The Afghan government is ready for peace talks with the Taliban but will not accept preconditions demanded by the Islamist rebels such as the withdrawal of all foreign troops, a presidential spokesman said on Tuesday.
Karzai pleads with Canada: Don't pull out troops
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai pleaded with Canada on Tuesday not to withdraw its 2,500 troops when their mission ends in early 2009, saying to do so would only help deliver his country back to the Taliban, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported.
China's military tests sophisticated real-time data system
BEIJING (AFP) - The Chinese military has begun a two-day drill testing a system that provides commanders real-time battlefield data, signalling the continued modernisation of the nation's massive armed forces. The NationAmericans back Petraeus Troop Withdrawals, Oppose War
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A majority of Americans approve of U.S. plans for limited troop withdrawals from Iraq but are not more optimistic about the war after testimony last week from a top U.S. general, a new poll found on Tuesday.
Democrats won't temper Iraq legislation
WASHINGTON - After weeks of suggesting Democrats would temper their approach to Iraq legislation in a bid to attract more Republicans, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared abruptly Tuesday that he had no plans to do so. The Democratic leader said he will call for a vote this month on several anti-war proposals.
Webb’s Iraq bill inches closer to 60
Four new Senate Republicans signaled Tuesday that they may vote for a Democratic amendment aimed at giving U.S. troops in Iraq more time at home between deployments, helping Democrats inch closer to a rare victory on the conduct of the Iraq war.
Dems take fewer dollars for kids program
WASHINGTON - Democratic lawmakers have settled on a $35 billion increase for a children's health insurance program, a move they hope will enhance the prospects for overriding a veto.
Senators seek retirement, health care reforms
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate's top budget overseers on Tuesday joined forces to tackle escalating costs of retirement and health care programs they say threaten to bankrupt the government, but they would wait until after next year's elections for recommendations to be made public.
Senate passes mental health parity bill
WASHINGTON - The Senate passed legislation Tuesday night that would require equal health insurance coverage for mental and physical illnesses when policies cover both.
DC and Utah lose bids for House seats
WASHINGTON - A bill that would have given District of Columbia residents their first-ever member of Congress died in the Senate on Tuesday, dashing hopes of finally gaining full voting rights after a 206-year wait.
House votes to aid struggling homeowners
WASHINGTON - The House on Tuesday approved a plan to expand federal backing of mortgages in hopes of helping struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure. Despite some White House objections, the Bush administration and House Democrats took conciliatory stances pointing toward resolving their differences.
Commission would address federal deficit
WASHINGTON - Two of the Senate's top budget hawks began a bipartisan bid Tuesday aimed at reining in a budget deficit that's expected to skyrocket because of spending on federal retirement programs.
State Department under Hill scrutiny
WASHINGTON - A congressional committee has launched an investigation into the State Department's inspector general, alleging that he blocked fraud investigations, including potential security lapses at the newly built U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
Billions In Aid Wasted In Afghanistan?
Public Health Expert Documents U.S. Failures In Reconstruction
From Philippines To Iraq, Money Talks
The Defense Department is urging Congress to extend a counterterrorism tool that gives Green Berets and Navy SEALs up to $25 million a year to pay for information, buy guns for allied forces and hire fighters willing to battle al Qaeda.
Maybe we should just have someone stand on the tallest building in every country and throw our money to the winds.—Caro MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
The milk just dried up (by John Aravosis, AMERICAblog)
There's been a marked recent increase in the number of people asking me to write about their organization, campaign, or client. Whether it's a non-profit with some new-fangled incredibly-esoteric project, a politician promoting their latest highly-interesting-to-them but-kind-of-boring-to-you policy proposal, or a public relations firm being paid big bucks to push the lame ideas of yet another client, the volume of "give me free publicity" requests has skyrocketed of late. Interestingly, at the same time, the number of ads these same groups are running on blogs has plummeted.
Welcome to my world, top bloggers. Maybe now you’ll see some merit in having us all join together to work toward better funding for progressive media.—Caro
What community foundations can do for journalism
A few of Dan Gillmor's suggestions: * Provide seed funding for a network of local blogs and other community sites. * Pay the salary of an investigative journalist at a local newspaper. * Help get local and regional governmental data online in ways that anyone can easily use for a variety of purposes.
And some of those ideas can be borrowed for progressive organizations to support progressive media.—Caro
Is ‘Do Unto Others’ Written Into Our Genes?
Where do moral rules come from? From reason? From God? Some suggest morality can be found buried deep in evolution.
This research has implications for messaging. It complements other research that I’d write a book about, if I could find a publisher.—Caro
Rachel Maddow, Another Progressive Talk Show Host Well Worth Listening To
A BUZZFLASH INTERVIEW: On mainstream political reporting: "... the entire way the arc of the story is told ... it never ever looks into the merits of anybody's claim on either side. ... You never, ever, ever assess the merits. You describe them. You compare them to other things. And then you bring in an expert. And every single story has that same formula. ... It's up to citizen journalism and populist journalism, like we're doing online and in progressive radio, to do basic, basic, basic reporting. It's embarrassing."
Trending Towards Inanity (by Ezra Klein)
(Chief Hillary Clinton pollster and strategist Mark Penn’s new book, Microtrends,) is our first opportunity to observe, at length, how adroitly Penn handles raw data. And the answer is stunning, even to a doubter like me. Mark Penn cannot handle numbers. If this book were turned in as the final to an entry-level statistics class, Penn would not only be failed, but the professor might well retire in shame.
NYT: A Note to Our Readers
We have ended TimesSelect. All of our Op-Ed and news columns are now available free of charge. Additionally, The New York Times Archive is available free back to 1987.
Murdoch hints (again) that WSJ.com will become a free site
Rupert Murdoch made the comment at the Communacopia conference, where he was asked about Wall Street's fears that News Corp might make another big, costly move. "Well, I might make another good move," he said, referring to MySpace and Fox News, both of which were initially deemed foolish ventures.
MoveOn.org and the media mess (by Eric Boehlert)
(A)mong the four all-news cable channels (CNN, CNN Headline News, Fox, and MSNBC) last week, there were just two mentions of the nine dead soldiers, according to TVEyes.com… Among the same cable news channels, there were more than 500 mentions of the MoveOn ("General Petraeus or General Betray Us?") ad last week. According to the decisions being made at cable TV news, the advocacy newspaper ad was 250 times more important than a rash of American fatalities in Iraq.
Unshackled
Why one reporter left a newspaper to write books
The main reason Linda Perlstein couldn’t have written her book Tested while working for the Washington Post is that the Post has a conflict of interest in the area of school testing. Funny that she doesn’t mention that in this article.—Caro
ABC Radio Networks Cuts Back on News/Talk
Since Citadel took over ABC Radio Networks earlier this year, the once dominant syndication operation has cancelled about half of their news/talk radio shows and now it appears they have bailed out of the satellite radio business.
Click through for the specifics.—Caro Technology & ScienceAirline to test Wi-Fi for passengers
SEATTLE - Alaska Airlines said Tuesday it will be the first U.S. carrier to test a satellite-based in-flight wireless Internet service next year and may equip its entire fleet.
Earth-imaging satellite travels to space
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - A rocket carrying a next-generation Earth-imaging satellite blasted off Tuesday on a mission that promises to zoom in on objects as small as 18 inches across.
Eyes Can't Resist Beautiful People
Whether we’re looking for someone to date or sizing up a potential rival, our eyes irresistibly lock on to good-looking people, a new study finds.
Stem cells show potential to repair lungs in mice
LONDON (Reuters) - British researchers have successfully implanted lung cells grown from embryonic stem cells into the lungs of mice in a move that may one day provide treatments for humans with severe breathing problems.
World’s Languages Dying Off Rapidly
Of the estimated 7,000 languages spoken in the world today, linguists say, nearly half are in danger of extinction and are likely to disappear in this century.
Why Whales Developed Sonar
Some marine biologists think that sonar in toothed whales came about as a better way to find food in the darkness of the deep ocean. But how did the whales, which primarily ate fish, know there was a large supply of food down in the dark?
NASA Begins Hunt for New Astronauts
Astronaut hopefuls with the right stuff have a fresh chance to reach for the International Space Station and, ultimately, the moon, thanks to a new NASA hunt for qualified spaceflyers.
Milky Way companions are newer neighbors
Two dwarf galaxies thought to be our Milky Way's longtime companions are actually relative newcomers to our neighborhood that are just passing through, according to a new study. EnvironmentArctic summer ice thickness halves to 1 meter
OSLO (Reuters) - Large tracts of ice on the Arctic Ocean have halved in thickness to just 1 meter (3 ft) since 2001, making the region more accessible to ships, a researcher said on Tuesday.
U.N. chief: Climate demands action
UNITED NATIONS - The science is clear and the time short, but the political will is lacking to confront global warming, the U.N. secretary-general said Tuesday.
From Ozone Success, a Potential Climate Model
Twenty years after a treaty was signed to end the use of chemicals that destroy the ozone layer, experts meet to discuss the next steps in preventing ozone threats.
A Hole in the Earth, a Hole in a Pocket
A new rail tunnel project through the Swiss Alps is part of an ambitious program to protect the Alps, a Swiss national heritage, from environmental damage. For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com. |
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