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Edited on Wed Oct-10-07 08:31 AM by Caro
Morning headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoryTop US court rejects CIA kidnap case
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Supreme Court Tuesday threw out a case against the US government brought by a Lebanese-born German, alleging he was kidnapped by the CIA and tortured for months before being freed without charge. The Illustrated Daily Scribble
The WorldSecurity firm kills 2 in Baghdad
BAGHDAD - Guards with an Australian-owned firm that provides security for a company contracted by USAID fired on a car as it approached their convoy Tuesday, killing two women civilians before speeding away from the latest bloodshed blamed on the deadly mix of heavily armed protection details on Baghdad's crowded streets.
Turkey says ready to send troops into N.Iraq
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's prime minister gave the green light on Tuesday for possible military action in northern Iraq to crush Kurdish rebels there, drawing a warning from the United States, which fears wider regional instability.
Only the United States is allowed to create wider regional instability in the Middle East.—Caro
Lebanon seeks help from Russia, China
UNITED NATIONS - The leader of the anti-Syrian majority in Lebanon's parliament on Tuesday called on Russia and China to use their influence to stop disruptive elements from interfering in his country's upcoming presidential election.
Fighting resumes in northwest Pakistan
MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan - Shelling resumed early Wednesday in an area of northwest Pakistan where battles between troops and militants have killed up to 250 people and sent thousands more fleeing, witnesses said.
Pakistani tribesmen bury dead after air strikes
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) - Thousands of Pakistani tribesmen offered funeral prayers as they buried 50 people killed in military air strikes after days of heavy clashes near the Afghan border, officials said.
Time to prepare for transition in Myanmar: U.S. envoy
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said on Tuesday it was time to prepare for a government transition in Myanmar but conceded that the ruling military would continue to play a role in the country's future.
Japan opposition refuses to budge on Afghan mission
TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's main opposition leader refused to budge in his bid to end a controversial naval mission supporting US-led troops in Afghanistan, saying Tokyo should not simply follow Washington.
U.S. and Russia clash at U.N. over Kosovo
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States and Russia clashed anew over Kosovo on Tuesday, as Washington's U.N. envoy said Serb-Albanian talks needed to end in two months while Moscow's called for them to carry on until agreement.
A top Algeria al-Qaida affiliate killed
ALGIERS, Algeria - Algerian security forces identified a radical Islamic militant slain over the weekend as the No. 2 leader and explosives expert of al-Qaida's North Africa affiliate, reports said.
At least 45 killed in army attack on Darfur town
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A Sudanese army assault killed at least 45 people in the Darfur town of Muhajiriya, where bodies littered the streets between burned out buildings, forces who control the area said on Tuesday. The NationLeak Severed a Link to Al-Qaeda's Secrets
A small private intelligence company that monitors Islamic terrorist groups obtained a new Osama bin Laden video ahead of its official release last month, and around 10 a.m. on Sept. 7, it notified the Bush administration of its secret acquisition… By midafternoon that day, the video and a transcript of its audio track had been leaked from within the Bush administration to cable television news and broadcast worldwide. The founder of the company, the SITE Intelligence Group, says this premature disclosure tipped al-Qaeda to a security breach and destroyed a years-long surveillance operation that the company has used to intercept and pass along secret messages, videos and advance warnings of suicide bombings from the terrorist group's communications network.
Why Are We Outsourcing Intelligence Activities?
The story in (Tuesday’s) Washington Post, that self-interested leakers inside the White House just compromised a major Al-Qaeda intelligence asset, is bad news…. But the question is, why exactly is this little private intelligence startup getting more information than the federalized, tax-funded intelligence agencies?
Watchdog agency faults Iraq program
WASHINGTON - Government auditors have concluded the Bush administration's program to help provide essential services to the Iraqi people is marred by a lack of "overarching direction" in Washington and corruption and a lack of skills in Iraq.
DOJ Official: Voter ID Laws Discriminate Against Whites
This is just unbelievable. John Tanner, chief of the DOJ Voting Rights Section, not only argues that voter ID laws discriminate against whites, but here's his explanation as to why: “It's probably true that among those who don't (have photo ID), it's primarily elderly persons. And that's a shame. You know, creating problems for elderly persons just is not good under any circumstance. Of course...that also ties in to the racial aspect, because our society is such that minorities don't become elderly. The way white people do. They die first.”
Democratic-Led Congress Breaks Record For Highest Number Of Roll Call Votes In History
Conservatives have repeatedly criticized the Democratic-led Congress for not passing enough legislation… But a new Politico analysis finds that this 110th Congress has had more roll call votes this year than any other Congress in history… Much of the lack of progress can be traced back to obstructionism by conservatives.
But what good does all that activity do us? Not much. See below.—Caro
Debate on troop withdrawals put on hold
WASHINGTON - Congressional Democrats have put on the back burner legislation ordering troops home from Iraq and turned their attention to war-related proposals that Republicans are finding hard to reject.
Democrats Seem Ready to Extend Wiretap Powers
WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 — Two months after insisting that they would roll back broad eavesdropping powers won by the Bush administration, Democrats in Congress appear ready to make concessions that could extend some crucial powers given to the National Security Agency.
Bush pushes Congress on 'No Child' law
WASHINGTON - President Bush said that he's open to new ideas for changing the "No Child Left Behind" education law but will not accept watered-down standards or rollbacks in accountability.
Supreme Court leans toward business in fraud case
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court justices on Tuesday tilted toward business as they heard arguments in a crucial case pitting corporations against investors. The case will determine how far legal liability extends when corporations deceive investors. It became apparent Tuesday that conservative, business-friendly justices want to restrain investors' ability to sue third parties such as banks and equipment suppliers.
I know you’re as surprised as I am.—Caro
Clinton proposes new retirement plan, costing billions
WEBSTER CITY, Iowa — Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., on Tuesday proposed a new multibillion-dollar retirement plan — billed as a universal 401(k) plan with federal matching funds — to supplement Social Security for middle-class workers. Such "American Retirement Accounts" would cost the Treasury $20 billion to $25 billion a year.
Oh, Lord!—Caro
Obama Says He Will Vote for NAFTA Expansion
Hot off the presses from MSNBC: "Obama said he would vote for a Peruvian trade agreement next week, in response to a question from a man in Londonderry, NH who called NAFTA and CAFTA a disaster for American workers. He said he supported the trade agreement with Peru because it contained the labor and environmental standards sought by groups like the AFL-CIO…." The voter's "protests to the contrary" are exactly right. The AFL-CIO does not support the bill expanding NAFTA into Peru, and the much-trumpeted labor/environmental standards leave enforcement up to the Bush administration.
Four Dem Hopefuls (But Not Clinton) Tell Michigan to Count Them Out of Early Primary
Five Democratic presidential candidates have withdrawn from Michigan’s Jan. 15 presidential primary, the latest effort by the party’s contenders to assist the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in its attempts to rein in the aggressive “front-loading” of the presidential nominating schedule by individual states. MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
http://www.mediachannel.org/wordpress/2007/10/09/the-publics-right-to-know/">The Public's Right To Know
By a 15-to-2 vote, the Judiciary Committee approved legislation to grant reporters limited protection against being forced to reveal confidential sources in federal court.
Keith Olbermann found a link on last night’s show between the FISA bill introduced yesterday and the administration’s announcement that al Qaida is trying to establish a terrorist cell here in the U.S. Is the administration trying to scare Congress into passing it, as they did the last time? The transcript isn’t available as of this writing, but should be available here later today.
Petraeus adviser: Petraeus’ testimony ‘potentially misleading.’
In his column yesterday, New York Times Public Editor Clark Hoyt examined “the confusing world of statistics from Iraq.” As TPM’s Greg Sargent notes today, Hoyt quotes one of Gen. David Petraeus’ own advisers, Stephen Biddle, saying that the Petraeus’ September testimony to Congress was “potentially misleading” because it emphasized “isolated points” rather than “broad trends”:
Charlie Savage: Cheney Plotted Bush’s Imperial Presidency ‘Thirty Years Ago’
The Bush administration has long held that President Bush’s expanded executive power is justified due to 9/11… But in his new book, Takeover: The Return of the Imperial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy, Boston Globe reporter Charlie Savage reveals that Cheney has been on a thirty-year quest to implement his views of unfettered executive power.
Williams: ‘Thank God’ Cheney was in office on 9/11.
For his new book, Reality Show, Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz conducted “extensive interviews with journalists and executives at all levels of ABC, NBC and CBS” about their networks’ coverage of the Iraq war and the post-9/11 era. In one of those interviews, someone revealed to Kurtz that on 9/11, NBC anchor Brian Williams found relief in the fact that “that Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld and Colin Powell were on the team”.
Iran: destroying Iraq . . . except when it's not(by A.J. Rossmiller at AMERICAblog)
Over the weekend, General Petraeus increased the belligerent rhetoric against Iran, claiming that Iran could be the biggest long term threat to Iraqi security. Iran, he explained, is getting weapons into Iraq, sending military and political officials into the country, and coordinating with militia groups… But leaving aside the hypocrisy, on the *very same day,* news came out that Iran had helped broker a peace deal between the two major Shia militias
Beck cites ‘Law and Order’ to advocate war with Iran.
Yesterday on his CNN Headline News show, Glenn Beck stated, “War with Iran is no longer a question of ‘if,’ I believe it’s a question of ‘when.’” He pointed to the tv show Law and Order as evidence
Resource: Bush Scandals List
I’ve been hoping that someone would start a complete list and keep it updated. Looks like this is it.—Caro
Judgment Daze (by digby)
(Rush Limbaugh on Tuesday:) “This 12-year-old kid (Graeme Frost) that the Democrats used in the Saturday radio address to whine and moan and cry to President Bush about the SCHIP children's health program, it turns out that the family of this kid sends its kids to "one of Baltimore's expensive private schools." This family owns a house in a neighborhood of homes valued in the $400,000 to $500,000 range. This family bought commercial property in 1999 for $160,000.”… As most of us who read blogs know by now, it's Rush who has just lied his ample ass off. (The true facts are here.) But now millions of half crazed wingnuts will think that this family has been scamming the government when it just isn't true.
But Rush got it from a post on FreeRepublic.com! How could it not be true? This is another one of those lies that will NEVER, EVER die. It will be brought up over and over and over again, careening around the nutosphere, alighting from time to time in the mainstream media, for the rest of eternity.—Caro
When Rhetoric Meets Reality (by John Cole at Balloon Juice)
If you look through (the Frost) family’s dossier, it appears they are doing everything Republicans say they should be doing- hell, their story is almost what you would consider a checklist for good, red-blooded American Republican voters… I simply can not believe this is what the Republican party has become. I just can’t. It just makes me sick to think all those years of supporting this party, and this is what it has become.
Welcome aboard, John. Some of us began to notice in the early 90s the takeover of the Republican Party by fifth graders.—Caro
Enforcing Corporate Responsibility, Conservative-Style (by Melissa McEwan )
I've got a new piece up at The Guardian's Comment is Free about the wingnuts going apeshit over Google's logo: "(I)t appears that Google had the unmitigated temerity to honor the 50th anniversary of the Sputnik launch last week, by replacing its second "g" with a drawing of the satellite. But it's not just their honoring of dirty Communist space junk that has conservatives questioning the patriotism of The Google—apparently those search engine scumbags also failed to do some silly rubbish with their logo on the US public holidays of Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Oh, the humanity!"
Rudy Keeps Telling Same Fib About Hillary -- Because Media Won't Call Him On It (by Greg Sargent)
Rudy uses (a) line on Hillary frequently (that)s an almost comically dishonest distortion of what Hillary actually said in a 1996 interview with Brian Lamb. In that interview, Hillary quoted another author saying that the unfettered free market had been radically disruptive, not destructive, and actually went on to praise free markets, saying "that the market is the driving force behind our prosperity ... but that it cannot be permitted just to run roughshod over people's lives as well." Yet Rudy continues to use this distortion with abandon.
HuffPost exec's no-pay-for-bloggers remark floors Dumenco
Coming right out and saying that Huffington Post bloggers will never be paid takes cojones, says Simon Dumenco. "Not since the Pets.com sock puppet scored a deal to write his memoir (published in 2000 as 'Me by Me: The Pets.com Sock Puppet Book') has there been a more tellingly, creepily poetic new-media moment."
Bloggers rave about restaurant after getting a free meal
Why is Dine restaurant in Chicago such a hit with Yelp reviewers? "One thing that probably didn't hurt: It fed many of the reviewers free," writes Katy McLaughlin. Dine spent about $1,500 on an event for nearly 100 Yelp members. They were treated to an open bar, duck roulade appetizers and red velvet cupcakes for dessert -- then were given certificates for discounts on subsequent meals.
Second Life, IBM in open borders for virtual worlds
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - IBM and Linden Labs, the operator of the Second Life virtual world, said on Tuesday they will work on ways to eventually let people use the a single online persona in different online services.
Because what the world needs is more encouragement to escape into fake personas.—Caro
Want a Free Virtual Car?
Acura, Reuters Give Away SUVs to Avatars in Second Life
Because what the world needs is more consumerism in its fantasy life, as well as its real life.—Caro Technology & ScienceLawsuit accuses Apple of unlawful iPhone monopoly
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - A civil lawsuit filed in California accuses Apple of creating an unlawful iPhone monopoly and vindictively releasing a software update that turns hacked devices into "iBricks."
Microsoft plugs 6 security holes
SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. issued six security patches in a regular update Tuesday, among them fixes for flaws that could let hackers hijack computers using a Web browser.
Shopping cart goes high-tech
LONDON (Reuters) - Supermarket shoppers may soon be cruising the aisles with "intelligent" shopping carts that warn them if they're buying too much junk food, technology experts say.
Stressful Jobs Hard on the Heart
High anxiety, low control double recurrent heart attack risk, study finds
Five Myths About Breast Cancer
While pink ribbons are everywhere as a means to raise awareness and show support to cancer patients, a survey commissioned by the National Breast Cancer Coalition reveals that most women know only half-truths about breast cancer, which will claim more than 40,000 lives in 2007. Among the most worrisome misconceptions are that breast cancer is largely hereditary and that it can be prevented.
Click through to read more about the myths. I remember some fool blaming me because I got breast cancer.—Caro
Epilepsy Drug Holds Promise as Treatment for Alcoholism
Topiramate reduced heavy drinking and helped to boost abstinence, study finds
Medicaid Managed Care Seems to Fall Short
Patients don't get same care as those in commercial managed-care plans, study says
Human Urine Safe, Productive Fertilizer
The "yuck" factor aside, scientists who used urine to help raise a bumper crop of cabbages said the practice may not be a bad idea.
Human Ancestors Walked Upright, Study Claims
The ancestors of humanity are often depicted as knuckle-draggers, making humans seem unusual in our family tree as "upright apes." Controversial research now suggests the ancestors of humans and the other great apes might have actually walked upright too, making knuckle-walking chimpanzees and gorillas the exceptions and not the rule.
Moose Elude Prey with Help from Humans
In a strange new twist of nature and adaptability, moose now apparently can take advantage of human development and use it as a shield against predators. When it's time for pregnant moose to give birth in Yellowstone Park, they move closer these days to roads, and therefore people, to protect their newborns from bears, scientists say.
Scientists Use GPS Signals to Measure Earth's Atmosphere
Using a technique originally developed in the 1960s for understanding the atmospheric properties of far-away planets, scientists around the world have been using radio signals from GPS satellites to learn more about the atmosphere of our own planet.
Cosmic Factories Produce Rubies and Sapphires
Like enormous jewel factories in the sky, the chaotic environments around some supermassive black holes crank out prodigious amounts of glass, rubies and sapphires, a new study finds. The inevitable breakdown of these materials into simpler components could account for much of the space dust in the universe-dust that is recycled to make stars, planets, and life. EnvironmentGerman wins Nobel chemistry prize
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Gerhard Ertl of Germany won the 2007 Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for studies of chemical reactions on solid surfaces, research that has advanced the understanding of why the ozone layer is thinning.
U.N. urges preparedness for more frequent disasters
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Amid a dramatic increase in climate-related disasters, international relief agencies are calling on countries to increase their commitment to disaster risk reduction, the United Nations said on Tuesday… "Disaster risk reduction is a key part of the global response to climate change."
Winter heating costs seen up 10 percent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumers will pay 10 percent more to warm their homes this winter, with the seasonal cost for all heating fuels averaging $997, or $88 more, than last year, the government said on Tuesday.
But the winter should be warmer in a lot of the country, reducing the amount of fuel needed to keep warm.—Caro
Heat may kill hundreds of New Yorkers
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The number of heat-related deaths in and around New York City will nearly double by 2050 - and could rise as high as 95 percent -- due to global warming if no efforts are made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a new study shows.
Solar Decathlon is shining example of American ingenuity
As the last truck pulls away and the hardhats come off, 20 solar-powered houses built by university students and associates from around the world will open to the public Friday on the National Mall.
More legal battles loom over pollution
WASHINGTON - A $4.6 billion settlement Tuesday by one of the last holdouts among polluting power companies signals the end of a long legal debate over acid rain — and a tougher battle ahead over carbon dioxide and the use of fossil fuels. For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com. |
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