Today’s Headlines

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Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com

Top Story

Bush mostly down in polls
In February 2001, President Bush delivered an economic address to a joint session of Congress; in subsequent years he presented his annual State of the Union address. A look at his approval rating in the Gallup Poll around the time of each speech.
_February 2001: 62 percent approval.
_January 2002: 84 percent.
_January 2003: 60 percent.
_January 2004: 53 percent.
_February 2005: 51 percent.
_January 2006: 43 percent.
_January 2007: 36 percent.
_January 2008: 32 percent.

Humor Ink

The World

Big blaze sweeps through Iraq's central bank
A large fire ripped through Iraq's central bank building in Baghdad in the early hours of Monday, causing material damage, police said. The fire erupted in three floors of the bank's building on Rashid Road in the centre of Baghdad, a security source told the Voices of Iraq news agency.

Baghdad blast kills 3
A roadside bomb has struck a minibus in southeastern Baghdad, killing at least three passengers and wounding five, police say. The bomb apparently was meant for a police patrol but missed its target and blew up near the bus, which was carrying a coffin to a funeral, a police officer said.

Sadrists seek to end cease-fire
BAGHDAD - Influential members of Muqtada al-Sadr's movement have urged the anti-U.S. Shiite cleric not to extend a cease-fire when it expires next month, officials said Monday, a move that could jeopardize recent security gains.

Lebanon calm again after riots kill 7
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Shiite Muslims began burying their dead on Monday, a day after seven protesters died in rioting and clashes in Beirut's southern suburbs that were reminiscent of Lebanon's 15-year civil war.

Israeli 'Economic Warfare' to Include Electricity Cuts in Gaza
Saying they were waging "economic warfare" against the Gaza Strip's Hamas leaders, Israeli officials told the Supreme Court on Sunday that the military intends to start cutting electricity to the Palestinian territory and continue restricting fuel.

Hamas, Egypt work to reclose border
RAFAH, Egypt - Egyptian security forces and Hamas militants strung barbed wire across one of the openings in the Egypt-Gaza border Monday — a sign that a days-long breaching of the frontier may be nearing an end.

Turkey says U.S. nuclear policy strengthens Iran
U.S. ally Turkey said on Saturday Washington's efforts to isolate Iran over its nuclear programme were undermining reformists in Tehran and bolstering Iranian influence across the Middle East. Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said the United States was failing to win broad support for tougher sanctions against Iran, and called instead for dialogue and diplomacy.

Iran to Retaliate in Case of Invasion
IRGC commander says his forces would retaliate against the US military bases in the Persian Gulf if they are involved in any possible future attack on Iran. General Mohammad Ali Jaafari, commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, told Arab language Al-Jazeera television on Saturday evening that it is Iran's "natural right to respond'' if attacked by land or air.

Top agents in secret trip to Pakistan
The top two U.S. intelligence officials made a secret visit to Pakistan in early January to seek permission from President Pervez Musharraf for greater involvement of American forces in trying to ferret out al-Qaida and other militant groups active in the tribal regions along the Afghanistan border, a senior U.S. official said.

Musharraf rejects CIA bid to hunt Taliban
President Pervez Musharraf has rejected an offer of greater American involvement in hunting down al-Qa'eda and Taliban militants in Pakistan, it has been reported.

Pakistan says its nukes are safe from terrorists
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan — The nation's nuclear chief Saturday dismissed concerns that Pakistan's nuclear weapons might go astray, saying that crack squads have a foolproof grip that would never allow bombs to fall into the hands of Islamic militants or rogue military officers. "Pakistan's nuclear weapons ... are absolutely safe and secure," said Lt. Gen. Khalid Kidwai, chief of the nation's nuclear programs.
Trust him!—Caro

Chavez: Pull reserves from US
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez urged his Latin American allies on Saturday to begin withdrawing billions of dollars in international reserves from U.S. banks, warning of a looming U.S. economic crisis.

The Nation

US shift seen to Pakistan, Afghanistan
WASHINGTON - In a shift with profound implications, the Bush administration is attempting to re-energize its terrorism-fighting war efforts in Afghanistan, the original target of a post-Sept. 11 offensive. The U.S. also is refocusing on Pakistan, where a regenerating al-Qaida is posing fresh threats.

President Bush to Curtail Congressional Earmarks
Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush will begin ``unprecedented steps'' to trim billions of dollars earmarked by lawmakers for pet projects, a White House spokesman said.
He’s got to scrape up every penny he can find for his foreign wars.—Caro

Bush presses Congress on FISA (by: Mike Allen, Politico)
The White House told Democratic congressional leaders Saturday that President Bush opposes a 30-day extension of an expiring eavesdropping law… “The president would veto a 30-day extension,” a senior administration official said… Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called the veto threat "shamefully irresponsible" and "simply posturing in advance of Monday’s State of the Union address." "There will be no terrorism intelligence collection gap," Reid said. "But if there is any problem, the blame will clearly and unequivocally fall where it belongs: on President Bush and his allies in Congress."
I want to believe, Sen. Reid, I really do. But I just haven’t seen any evidence of Democrats fighting back, or even putting the blame where it belongs.—Caro

Mukasey: I may never say if waterboarding is torture. (Think Progress)
Earlier this week, ThinkProgress noted that two months into his tenure as Attorney General, Mike Mukasey still would not answer whether waterboarding is torture. The New York Times reports that yesterday, Mukasey hedged even more. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t answer it,” he said at a news conference. “I didn’t say that I would.” When asked about the nomination of torture advocate Steven Bradbury to the Office of Legal Counsel, Mukasey said, “Steve Bradbury is one of the finest lawyers I’ve ever met. … I want to continue working with him.”

South Carolina Supreme Court Allows 20 People Who Flunked Bar to Pass — Including Children of Powerful Attorneys (by Jonathan Turley)
In a positively mind-blowing decision, the South Carolina Supreme Court decided to allow 20 people who flunked the bar to become lawyers rather than inform one individual that he had been incorrectly told that he had passed… (T)wo of those (twenty) people were the daughters of two powerful bar members: S.C. House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Harrison, R-Richland, and longtime Circuit Judge Paul Burch of Pageland. Both men admit that they contacted court officials after learning that their daughters had flunked.
Is anyone else reminded of the 2000 election?—Caro

Obama Wins in South Carolina, Clinton Places Second
Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Illinois Senator Barack Obama won the South Carolina Democratic primary by a more than 2-to-1 margin over New York Senator Hillary Clinton, claiming a crucial victory in his race for the party's presidential nomination.

What the Exits Say (by David Kurtz at Talking Points Memo)
Starting to get a look at the vote breakdown: Blacks made up 53% of voters, and Obama dominated, winning 82% of black men and 79% of black women. Edwards won among white men, with 43%. Hillary won white women with 44%. But Obama fared better with white men than perhaps expected. Hillary barely beat him among white men, 29% to 27%.

HUGE Turnout for the Democrats in SC tonight -- surpassed GOP vote from last week by wide margin (by Joe Sudbay at AMERICAblog)
Today, Democratic turnout far surpassed the GOP's performance. With 98% of precincts reporting, over 520,000 Democratic votes were counted.

Texas Justice (American Constitution Society)
After a grand jury returned an indictment against (Texas Supreme Court Justice David) Medina (for arson and other crimes), the Harris County District Attorney's office dropped the charges, claiming insufficient evidence to go to trial. The District Attorney, Chuck Rosenthal, is also under investigation for allegedly sending campaign-related, pornographic, and racist emails through his work email account as well as allegedly deleting 2,500 emails ordered released as part of a civil rights lawsuit against the county's Sherriff's Department.

To Build Confidence, Try Better Bricks (by Robert J. Shiller is professor of economics and finance at Yale, thanks to Economist’s View)
While a temporary tax cut and interest rate cuts are good ideas, they don’t address the underlying crisis of confidence. If these measures succeed merely in making people consume more, running to the malls and making the already-negative personal saving rate even more negative, they won’t restore faith in the financial markets… It won’t be easy, but the first step would be to set up a national study commission and to pay for serious creative research on how to adapt important ideas, like deposit insurance and securities regulation, to a modern financial world.

Media

Permanent link to MTA daily media news

'Politics of unity' won, Obama team says
"This was a great repudiation of the politics of divisiveness and an affirmation of the politics of unity," David Axelrod, the top political strategist in Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign, just told USA TODAY's Fredreka Schouten. He was talking, of course, about Obama's win in today's South Carolina Democratic presidential primary.
Keep on believing. Believe in belief. Hope for hope.—Caro

Unity isn't all it's cracked up to be (by Ezra Klein, writing at the Los Angeles Times)
(H)earing all these presidential hopefuls pledge to end gridlock is a bit like having a friend promise to fix my toilet by checking under the hood of my car… There are a variety of fixes for a filibuster-happy minority. The media, for example, could start accurately reporting the cause of the gridlock, shaming the relevant senators and increasing political pressure to compromise. The voters could eject politicians who refuse to compromise, laying down an electorally enforced preference for a functioning government. The Senate majority could change the rules, essentially eliminating the filibuster. Groups such as Unity '08 could arise and, rather than wasting everyone's time with idle fantasies of ever more dreamy executives, could campaign against Senate rules that are undemocratic and hostile to progress. But the president can't do this, not on his or her own. Unity means nothing in the face of obstructionism, and problems can't be solved if legislators refuse to solve them.

Winning Large (by digby)
So, this ugly race is over and it looks like all the racial talk was overblown and overplayed. The voters, once again, made their voices heard and the politicians will have to heed them. I would hope that the media will take a little breather as well. Watching the concern trolling about Democratic racial divisiveness among people like Peggy Noonan, Joe Scarborough and Bill Bennett is enough to make me sick and should give progressives pause. As I wrote last night, I don't think this helps Senator Obama any more than it helps Clinton.
Yes, well, good luck with that, Digby! The media love to hate the Clintons, and they love to be in love with somebody else.—Caro

Craig Crawford: "(T)he evidence-free bias against the Clintons in the media borders on mental illness" (Media Matters)
Summary: On Morning Joe, Craig Crawford stated: "I really think the evidence-free bias against the Clintons in the media borders on mental illness." Crawford went on to assert, "I mean, we've gotten into a situation where if you try to be fair to the Clintons, if you try to be objective, if you try to say, 'Well, where's the evidence of racism in the Clinton campaign?' you're accused of being a naïve shill for the Clintons." He later added: "I really think it's a problem."

Is Mary Katherine Ham serious? (by John Amato at Crooks and Liars)
I’m not sure how the Reliable Sources crew let this ignorant statement by Mary Katharine Ham, blogger and managing editor of townhall.com get by. “HAM: Well, I think Clinton has a duality. You know, he’s the charming guy, he’s the nice guy, but he’s also a guy who’s prone to eruptions and some falsehoods… When he was president, he was not subjected to quite as much scrutiny, and I think he got a lot of passes, and now he’s mad he’s not getting them anymore. Was she even a little bit conscious during his presidency? Apparently not.
Click through to watch the video.—Caro

Lessons of 1992 (by Paul Krugman)
(T)hose who don’t want to nominate Hillary Clinton because they don’t want to return to the nastiness of the 1990s — a sizable group, at least in the punditocracy — are deluding themselves. Any Democrat who makes it to the White House can expect the same treatment: an unending procession of wild charges and fake scandals, dutifully given credence by major media organizations that somehow can’t bring themselves to declare the accusations unequivocally false (at least not on Page 1). The point is that while there are valid reasons one might support Mr. Obama over Mrs. Clinton, the desire to avoid unpleasantness isn’t one of them.

OBAMA vs. CLINTON.... (by Kevin Drum at Political Animal, the Washington Monthly)
Reader MDS thinks I'm overreacting: “Please, I beg you, reconsider. You were the only blogger making any sense on the Obama/Clinton front, and now you've jumped ship, too? Trust me, I live in Chicago, I've met Obama, I voted for him for Senate, I think he's great ... but he's just not up to running for president. Yes, the Clinton campaign said some stupid stuff. But no matter how much that turns you against Hillary, the way the Obama campaign has cried about it should turn you even more against Obama. Having watched him up close, I can tell you, Obama is an inspirational guy who doesn't have a clue how to campaign. If it's Obama vs. McCain, we're in for six months of Swift Boating followed by four more years of a Republican in the White House.”
I think this business about Obama being a political naïf is pretty naïve. His only political experience has been in Chicago, and his chief strategist is also Mayor Daley’s chief political advisor.—Caro

Worrying about Obama (by Dan Payne, writing in the Boston Globe)
BARACK OBAMA has a realistic chance to be the Democratic nominee for president. As the only white employee at a Detroit civil rights organization years ago, I am moved by this remarkable moment in our nation's history. But as a media consultant to Democrats, I am worried. I want to know more about Obama. And I want to know it now, not in the fall when the Republicans and their thugs in "independent" groups start slinging the sludge.

Critics: Obama endorsements counter calls for clean government (Chicago Tribune)
There was little controversy earlier this year when Sen. Barack Obama endorsed Mayor Richard Daley over two black opponents for a sixth term, lending his star power to an inevitable rout. But Obama's record of local endorsements -- one measure of how he has used his nascent political clout -- has drawn criticism from those who say it reflects his deference to Chicago's established political order and runs counter to his public calls for clean government.

OBAMA AND THE PRESS.... (by Kevin Drum at Political Animal, the Washington Monthly)
(Howard Kurtz:) “…Some reporters say Obama seems disdainful toward journalists…” Obama has gotten pretty rapturous press coverage anyway, and Kurtz mentions later in his piece that reporters are just as susceptible to the famous Obama charisma as anyone. Still, the general election is going to be a slugfest, and it's a bad sign if Obama's press operation hasn't been honed to deal with it. What's more, it's also peculiar: why stay aloof from a press corps that loves you? Maybe someone should try to ask him.

Obama Backers Drop Hints About Edwards (Political Wire)
"Illinois Democrats close to Sen. Barack Obama are quietly passing the word that John Edwards will be named attorney general in an Obama administration," according to Robert Novak. The appointment of Edwards "would please not only the union leaders supporting him for president but organized labor in general. The unions relish the prospect of an unequivocal labor partisan as the nation's top legal officer."
Why would the Obama campaign give this scoop, if it’s true, to Robert Novak, and not to Lynn Sweet?—Caro

Why Would Presidents Envy Bad Growth? (by Dean Baker)
The NYT had a piece (Sunday) on President Bush's economic legacy. In the second sentence it tells readers that: "Mr. Bush has spent years presiding over an economic climate of growth that would be the envy of most presidents…" (But although) Bush's growth record is better than his father's, but it is worse than the record of every other president in the last half century. It's not clear why they would be envious. It is also not clear what his political advisers have to complain about.
Click through for the numbers.

Technology & Science

Cell phone can read documents for blind
Chris Danielsen fidgets with the cell phone, holding it over a $20 bill. "Detecting orientation, processing U.S. currency image," the phone says in a flat monotone before Danielsen snaps a photo. A few seconds later, the phone says, "Twenty dollars." Danielsen, a spokesman for the National Federation of the Blind, is holding the next generation of computerized aids for the blind and visually impaired.

Don't Worry, Be Moderately Happy, Research Suggests
ScienceDaily (Jan. 28, 2008) — Could the pursuit of happiness go too far? Most self-help books on the subject offer tips on how to maximize one's bliss, but a new study suggests that moderate happiness may be preferable to full-fledged elation.

Allergy Shots Are Effective Treatment for Symptoms
Immunotherapy works for allergic asthma, rhinitis, conjunctivitis or insect bites

Caffeine ups blood sugar level in diabetics: study
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cutting down on caffeine could help people with the most common form of diabetes better control their blood sugar levels, researchers said on Monday.

Diabetes' Health Toll Hits $174 Billion Annually
Costs have climbed 32% since 2002, study finds

Blind Fish Still Able to 'See'
Blind cavefish whose eyes have withered away may not be so blind after all. Instead, a light-sensitive organ in their brains can detect light, research now reveals.

Thailand tree apes use song as warning
Hamburg - Humans aren't the only big apes who use songs to impress each other. German researchers have found that gibbons in Thailand have developed an unusual way of scaring off predators - by singing to them.
Some of the folks in the American Idol tryouts could scare off predators.—Caro

Wine-carrying ship dates back 2,300 years
Marine archaeologists will begin work in June to uncover the sand-buried hull of a 2,300 year-old cargo ship thought to have been ferrying wine from the Aegean island of Chios before it sank off Cyprus' southern coast, researchers said Thursday.

Oldest Horseshoe Crab Fossil Discovered
Two nearly complete fossil specimens discovered in Canada reveal a new genus of horseshoe crab, pushing their origins back at least 100 million years earlier than previously thought.

Dust samples prompt rethink about comets
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Samples of rock dust retrieved from a comet called Wild 2 are forcing scientists to alter they way they think about these intriguing objects that streak through our solar system… A lot of the material detected in Wild 2's cometary dust was formed very close to the sun in the early solar system and was somehow later transported to the outer solar system, the scientists said.

Environment

Global Warming by the Numbers
Global warming is the most serious environmental threat of our time. As these facts show, affordable options are available. And America cannot afford to fall behind any more in the race to invent clean, renewable energy sources.

World Leaders Call for Global Climate Change Effort, Strengthened Public Governance
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 28, 2008 -- Business and foreign leaders called for strengthened public governance frameworks that will boost corporate global citizenship and fuel the fight against climate change.

Fukoda announces fund to help poor meet emission targets
Davos, Switzerland - Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukoda announced Saturday in Davos plans by Japan to launch a 10 billion dollar fund to help developing countries cut their emissions.

World's big polluters meet in Hawaii over climate
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The world's biggest greenhouse gas-polluting countries are sending delegates to Hawaii this week for a U.S.-hosted meeting aimed at curbing climate change without stalling economic growth.

$720 MILLION Per Day (by konopelli at My Left Wing)
For the monetary cost of just one month's occupation of Iraq--say $25 Billion--the USofA could put a solar collector--photo-voltaic or water heating--on the roof of every home in the country, and immediately reduce non-renewable energy use by close to 40 percent. Two 55-gallon barrels, painted black, filled with water and rocks, with conduit and a pump, mounted on the roof is the simplest sort; add a simple system for recapturing the gray-water, and every home in America could be making huge strides to curtail the need for petroleum/fossil fuels. (Such systems are ubiquitous in Mexico and the rest of Latin America.)

Americans to Drink More Treated Sewage
(W)ith water supplies tightening around the country due to growing populations and drought, many communities are considering tapping their sewage treatment plants as a new source of drinking water.

Freeing Intellectual Property for the Good of the Planet (GreenBiz Radio)
With the launch of the Eco-Patent Commons earlier this week, four companies -- IBM, Nokia, Pitney-Bowes and Sony -- agreed to do something almost unprecedented: give up their rights to control inventions that could benefit the planet.

Wal-Mart installs solar power at store
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wal-Mart and SunPower Corp said on Monday that they have completed a 390-kilowatt solar power system installation at the retailer's Sam's Club warehouse store in Chino. The companies said the warehouse club is the first of seven Wal-Mart facilities in California that will receive SunPower solar power systems.

New Techniques Create Butanol, A Superior Biofuel
The fuel is butanol; it can be derived from lignocellulosic materials, which are plant biomass parts that range from woody stems and straw to agricultural residues, corn fiber and husks, all containing in large part cellulose and some lignin. Butanol is considered to be a better biofuel than ethanol because it's less corrosive and has a higher caloric value, giving it a higher energy value. Like ethanol, butanol is being considered as an additive to gasoline.

Design Green Alliance Hopes to Boost Sustainable Furniture
OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 28, 2008 - The newly-formed Design Green Alliance offers sustainable furniture makers and vendors sales and marketing opportunities to increase their presence in the industry.

Bush plans to open 3 million acres in Alaska's Tongass National Forest to logging
More than 3 million acres in Alaska's Tongass National Forest would be open to logging under a federal plan. Environmentalists fear that the proposal will devastate the forest. The Bush regime released Friday a management plan for the forest. The plan would leave about 3.4 million acres open to logging, road building and other development.

Bush's moves in Alaska fail 'red face' test
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced a "delay" in its decision on listing the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act. In the meantime, the Minerals Management Service is getting set, on Feb. 6, to throw open 30 million acres of the bears' habitat to oil and gas development.

For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com.

Caro