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[Caro]

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Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com

Top Story

Sensing a Shift, Reid Will Press for an Iraq Exit
Sensing momentum from the new Republican defections, (Harry) Reid and other leading Democrats intend to force a series of votes over the next two weeks on proposals to withdraw troops and limit spending. Democrats are increasingly confident they can assemble majority opposition to administration policies.

Napoleon Queeg:
The Illustrated Daily Scribble

The World

Iraqis urged to take up arms for defense
BAGHDAD - Prominent Shiite and Sunni politicians called on Iraqi civilians to take up arms to defend themselves after a weekend of violence that claimed more than 220 lives, including 60 who died Sunday in a surge of bombings and shootings around Baghdad.

No-Confidence Vote Looms Over Iraq's PM
CBS News exclusive: On July 15, Sunni politicians representing the Iraq Project plan to ask the Iraqi parliament for a vote of no-confidence in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Arab League sending delegation to Israel
JERUSALEM - For the first time in its history, the 22-nation Arab League will send a delegation to Israel this week, with the mission of discussing a sweeping peace initiative as well as the threat posed by Hamas and other Islamic extremists.

Last-ditch bid to end Pakistan mosque siege
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf met top officials Monday to consider an assault on Islamic militants holed up inside a mosque, as clerics made a last-ditch bid to end the week-long siege peacefully.

Suharto faces $1.54 billion lawsuit
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Prosecutors filed a civil lawsuit Monday against former Indonesian dictator Suharto, seeking $1.54 billion in damages and funds allegedly stolen from the state during his 32 years in power.

Blair defied cabinet doubters over Iraq war: diaries
LONDON (AFP) - Former prime minister Tony Blair's cabinet colleagues had severe doubts about his decision to take Britain to war against Iraq, his former press chief revealed in diaries published Monday.

The Nation

White House Debate Rises on Iraq Pullback
Officials say that (Secretary of Defense Robert) Gates has been quietly pressing for a pullback that could roughly halve the number of combat brigades now patrolling the most violent sections of Baghdad and surrounding provinces by early next year. The remaining combat units would then take up a far more limited mission of training, protecting Iraq’s borders and preventing the use of Iraq as a sanctuary.
Congress returns, ready to battle Bush
WASHINGTON - Congressmen returning from their Independence Day break are ready for battle with the White House, with Democrats decrying President Bush's commutation of former aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's prison sentence and fighting Bush's latest claim of executive privilege.

Powell tried to talk Bush out of war
THE former American secretary of state Colin Powell has revealed that he spent 2½ hours vainly trying to persuade President George W Bush not to invade Iraq and believes today’s conflict cannot be resolved by US forces. “I tried to avoid this war,” Powell said at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado.
Just shut up, Secretary Powell. You should have resigned when Bush went ahead with this war despite your advice, and you definitely shouldn’t have told his lies to the U.N.—Caro

White House expected to block aide from testifying
The attorney for a former White House aide told Congress on Saturday he expects the Bush administration to try to block the aide from testifying on last year's firings of U.S. prosecutors, as the White House and Congress appeared headed for a court battle.

Senators Say They Will Call On Patrick Fitzgerald To Testify
(Sen. Arlen) Specter said he wanted Fitzgerald to appear so he could press him to justify the CIA leak investigation. “Why were they pursuing the matter long after there was no underlying crime on the outing of the CIA agent?” Specter said, echoing the common right-wing talking point. “Why were they pursuing it after we knew who the leaker was?” (Sen. Patrick) Leahy, on the other hand, is apparently more interested in learning more about Fitzgerald’s interviews with President Bush and Vice President Cheney.
Click through to watch the video.—Caro

Conyers: Reprieve may have quieted Libby
WASHINGTON - The Democrat probing President Bush's decision to erase the prison sentence of a former White House aide said Sunday there is "the suspicion" the aide might have fingered others in the Bush administration if he served time.

Cheney Fatigue Settles Over Some in GOP
Cheney's relentless advocacy of the Iraq war, his push to expand presidential authority and his hard-line rhetoric toward North Korea and Iran are raising concerns even among former loyalists now worried about the GOP's chances in 2008. It seems Cheney fatigue is settling in some Republican circles.
I feel REAL sorry for ‘em.—Caro

Thompson had hidden Watergate role
(President) Nixon was disappointed with the selection of (Fred) Thompson, whom he called "dumb as hell." Nixon did not think Thompson was skilled enough to interrogate unfriendly witnesses and would be outsmarted by the committee's Democratic counsel… "Oh, s---, that kid, " Nixon said when told by his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, of Thompson's appointment on Feb. 22, 1973. "Well, we're stuck with him, " Haldeman said.

Media

Permanent link to MTA daily media news

Clear Your System of Nasty Media Toxins (No Colonics Required!)
I've developed my own regimen called The Manhattan Media Diet Detox, which I'm shopping around to publishers. Coincidentally, I, too, posit that we all consume so much junk -- unhealthful media that is poorly prepared and laced with toxins -- that in order to shock our systems back into "wellness," a drastic plan of action is required. (The good news: Unlike with the Martha's Vineyard Diet Detox, colonics are generally not required.)

MSN claims online record for Earth
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - MSN declared itself the new record holder for the biggest online entertainment audience, reporting more than 10 million streams Saturday for its coverage of Live Earth.

Gloria Steinem: In Defense of the 'Chick Flick'
So what exactly is a "chick flick?" I think you and I could probably agree that it has more dialogue than special effects, more relationships than violence, and relies for its suspense on how people live instead of how they die… (A)s long men are taken seriously when they write about the female half of the world -- and women aren't taken seriously when writing about themselves much less about men or male affairs -- the list of Great Authors will be more about power than about talent.
And it’s not just in the list of Great Authors that the discrepancy exists. It exists even in so-called progressive media.—Caro

Editor Chronicles Efforts to Help Badly Wounded Troops
Dennis Anderson, editor of a community paper in California who twice worked as an embed in Iraq -- his son served with the military there -- urges the media to speak out for the grievously injured, often ignored, troops here at home.
Who Will Be Last Soldier to Die for Iraq Mistake?
The media ought to ponder this question anew, in the wake of a Republican senator's explanation for why he has turned on the war: Military families now want U.S. troops out of Iraq.

Democrats get advice on how to talk about issues
Both political parties are in a constant search for advisers who can make them winners. Many Democrats think they've found one this year in psychologist Drew Westen, author of a new book on passion and politics. The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation, released last week, has catapulted the Emory University professor from the ivory tower to the political epicenter. And Democrats throughout the capital are listening to his prescriptions and adapting them for practical use.

Paul Krugman: Health Care Terror
”National healthcare: Breeding ground for terror?” read the on-screen headline…. While this was crass even by the standards of Bush-era political discourse, Fox was following in a long tradition. For more than 60 years, the medical-industrial complex and its political allies have used scare tactics to prevent America from following its conscience and making access to health care a right for all its citizens.

And it’s not just health care. They use fear to get their way on every issue.—Caro
“Transcendently Stupid”
Here's Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT), one-time boss of David Safavian, explaining that throwing the book at Scooter Libby has helped heal the nation of the damage caused when Bill Clinton wasn't prosecuted for perjury and obstruction.
Click through to watch the video.—Caro

Technology & Science

Restaurants test table card readers
ALPHARETTA, Ga. - It's become routine for customers to swipe their credit or debit cards at consoles in fast-food joints, gas stations and grocery stores. So why do we still hand over the plastic at sit-down restaurants?

Gut instinct isn't science
(G)ut thinking poses … dangers to science. All too often, it bumps into scientific truth, and when it does, it tends to win — at least in the short term. Ironically, much of the time, scientific findings don't seem immediately logical; if they were, we probably wouldn't need its laborious "method" of theory building and empirical hypothesis testing for confirmation. We'd simply know.

Research Links Lead Exposure, Criminal Activity
Although crime did fall dramatically in New York during (Rudy) Giuliani's tenure, a broad range of scientific research has emerged in recent years to show that the mayor deserves only a fraction of the credit that he claims. The most compelling information has come from an economist in Fairfax who has argued in a series of little-noticed papers that the "New York miracle" was caused by local and federal efforts decades earlier to reduce lead poisoning.

Feeling of hopelessness may be a simple short circurt
(A new) study — published online by the journal Science— suggests that hopelessness is just a short-circuit of a healthy process in the brain… Researchers should just look for ways to fix the hippocampal circuit, rather than concentrating on individual causes behind its disruption, if the team's findings applies to people.

Good Parents Are Good Sports, Too
SUNDAY, July 8 (HealthDay News) -- Sports can be essential to a child's development, and many parents rightfully encourage their kids to participate in baseball, basketball, soccer and other youth league activities. But … parents must rise above their emotions -- and their vicarious expectations -- if their children are going to get the biggest benefit from playing sports, experts say.

Shipwreck teaches students about history
ON THE JAMES RIVER, Va. - Five 13-year-olds in life jackets crowded inside the cabin of a small research boat and stared at a bank of computer monitors.
Where’s the shipwreck cam, so we can all learn?—Caro

Environment

Global warming threatens alternative-oil projects
Los Angeles - Oil-sand, oil-shale, and coal-to-oil projects – alternative fuel sources that could enhance US energy security – have always faced one hurdle. They look good only when oil prices are high. Now, they have another challenge: global warming.

Shell CEO Says Conservation Isn't Enough
Royal Dutch Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer … raised some eyebrows when he simultaneously argued that the world can meet its demand for energy and control greenhouse gases over the next half-century while still relying on fossil fuels to supply 70 percent of the world's energy needs.

EU Experts Urges Faster Implementation of Single European Sky Concept
A group of EU experts on Friday urged the union to speed up efforts to create a unified airspace over Europe in order to cut air travel costs, boost safety and improve the environmental efficiency of air traffic over the continent.

African Farmers Urged To Change Ways Because Weather Is Changing
The rainy season in this largely poor southern African nation, a study shows, has been getting shorter, more intense and more erratic, especially over the last 20 years, symptoms of the longer-term climatic changes occurring across Africa.

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