|
Morning headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoryCheney pushes Bush to act on Iran
The balance in the internal White House debate over Iran has shifted back in favour of military action before President George Bush leaves office in 18 months, the Guardian has learned. The shift follows an internal review involving the White House, the Pentagon and the state department over the last month. Although the Bush administration is in deep trouble over Iraq, it remains focused on Iran. A well-placed source in Washington said: "Bush is not going to leave office with Iran still in limbo." The Radical Fringe
The WorldBombs kill 11 in eastern Baghdad
BAGHDAD - A series of roadside bombs exploded early Wednesday in separate areas of east Baghdad, killing 11 people and wounding more than a dozen, police said. The U.S. military reported three more American soldiers had died in action in the Iraqi capital.
Saudis' role in Iraq insurgency outlined
BAGHDAD — Although Bush administration officials have frequently lashed out at Syria and Iran, accusing it of helping insurgents and militias here, the largest number of foreign fighters and suicide bombers in Iraq come from a third neighbor, Saudi Arabia, according to a senior U.S. military officer and Iraqi lawmakers.
Taliban growing stronger in Afghanistan: report
LONDON (Reuters) - NATO countries are not giving the international force securing Afghanistan enough support and there are worrying signs that the Taliban are growing stronger, a detailed study by Britain's parliament has found.
NKorea said willing to disable nuke programmes
BEIJING (AFP) - North Korea is willing to disable all nuclear facilities this year, disarmament negotiators said Wednesday, just hours after UN experts confirmed its main reactor site had been shut down.
Diplomatic clash looms with US over BAE arms sale investigation
A potential diplomatic collision with the US is looming over the corruption allegations against the arms company BAE. The department of justice in Washington has formally demanded that Britain hand over all evidence of secret payments the company made to members of the Saudi royal family to secure huge arms deals.
Anxious wait in Libya for reprieved medics
TRIPOLI (AFP) - Six foreign medics reprieved from a death sentence in Libya after an eight-year ordeal over the infection of hundreds of children with HIV-tainted blood were facing an anxious wait on Wednesday as the world called on Tripoli to send them home. The NationThe Sins of Affluence
The function of the government, in principle, is to foresee … dangers, and avert them. The powers of the government exist to permit the mobilization of resources required. And only government can hope to do the job… Plainly the destruction of government—the turning over of regulation to predators, military functions to mercenaries, the Justice Department to a vote-suppression racket, and the Supreme Court to fanatics—has been the price of tolerating the Bush coup of November 2000. Soon we will face the aftermath of all this, with the fate of the earth in the balance. Therefore: government will have to be rebuilt.
Don't We Have a Constitution, Not a King?
Bush has issued a directive that would place all governmental powers in his hands in the case of a catastrophic emergency. If a terrorist attack happens before the 2008 election, could Bush and Cheney use this to avoid relinquishing power to a successor administration?
Rorschach and Awe
America's coercive interrogation methods were reverse-engineered by two C.I.A. psychologists who had spent their careers training U.S. soldiers to endure Communist-style torture techniques.
Democrats stage all-night debate on Iraq
WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats staged an all-night debate on the Iraq war in a dramatic attempt to wear down Republicans who refuse to vote to begin to bring troops home by fall.
The NIE and Iraq: What's Missing from this Picture?
An April 2006 NIE, which remains classified, plainly said the war "has made the overall terrorism problem worse," as one intelligence official told the New York Times… Yet the declassified key judgments of the (most recent) NIE don't address Iraq -- except for a few bizarrely constructed sentences. What gives with the NIE's weaselly wording?
Al-Qaida likely to attack US, intel says
WASHINGTON - The terrorist network Al-Qaida will likely leverage its contacts and capabilities in Iraq to mount an attack on U.S. soil, according to a new National Intelligence Estimate on threats to the United States.
So if it doesn’t mention the role of the Iraq war in promoting terrorism, can we believe this prediction?—Caro
‘Mildly profane’ Bush ‘crashes’ Republican meeting on Iraq.
Fox News reports that “President Bush shocked Capitol Hill staffers and Republican leaders Monday when he crashed a meeting at the White House. … His message: the policy on Iraq isn’t changing. He is not backing down and no one on Capitol Hill should be confused into thinking he is letting up.”
Click through to watch the video of the report.—Caro
Pace: Another troop buildup possible
The U.S. military's top general said Monday that the Joint Chiefs of Staff is weighing a range of possible new directions in Iraq, including, if President Bush deems it necessary, an even bigger troop buildup.
Pentagon balked at pleas from officers in field for safer vehicles
Years before the war began, Pentagon officials knew of the effectiveness of another type of vehicle that better shielded troops from bombs like those that have killed Kincaid and 1,500 other soldiers and Marines. But military officials repeatedly balked at appeals — from commanders on the battlefield and from the Pentagon's own staff — to provide the life-saving Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, or MRAP, for patrols and combat missions, USA TODAY found.
Pentagon approves disputed Iraq costs
The Pentagon approves disputed costs on Iraq contracts at a much higher rate than on military contracts as a whole, Defense Department records show… The low rate of withholding payments to Iraq contractors is evidence the Pentagon is turning a blind eye to waste and fraud, says Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, who has chaired several hearings into Iraq reconstruction problems for the Senate Democratic Policy Committee. MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
http://www.mediachannel.org/wordpress/2007/07/16/color-of-law-why-you-should-be-concerned-about-big-media/">Color Of Law: Why You Should Be Concerned About Big Media
It would seem that the sad state of Rap and Hip Hop and media mogul Murdoch's bid for the Wall Street Journal have very little in common. But there is a thread, which connects these two issues: the media are dominated by a fewer and fewer entities and a handful of corporations control most of what you see, hear and read.
http://www.mediachannel.org/wordpress/2007/07/16/conrad-and-his-media-comrades/">Conrad And His Media Comrades
(L)et’s applaud the conviction of the odious Conrad Black even if he did slither out of the more serious charges. Now it’s time to investigate Conrad’s “comrades” to root out an even blacker plague on our culture: not the rip off of media by avaricious executives but the criminal sabotage and dumbing down of the media itself. This is the real crime against democracy.
The war in Iraq
Perhaps Jack Murtha put it best: The Pennsylvania congressman, among the first to make the cogent argument that staying the course in Iraq was the exercise in futility that indeed the war has become, says President Bush is delusional. Based on the president's recent performance, we could not agree more. "Staying the course" is not simply futile -- it is a prescription for American suicide.
That is an editorial from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, owned by Clinton persecutor Richard Mellon Scaife.—Caro
Novak: Women’s ‘venom’ toward Bush is ’so vicious.’
Appearing on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show (Monday), conservative pundit Robert Novak claimed that “women, particularly,” are making our current political discourse more “vicious”… Novak: … I listen to, sometimes in the car radio, on talk shows, and the venom that comes out of the mouths of some of these women, particularly, I’m not trying to be sexist, but they’re so vicious toward him. And I don’t think that really contributes.
So what DOES “contribute”, Bob? Revealing the identity of covert CIA agents?—Caro
Murdoch's Wall Street Journal will fail in the marketplace
That's because the paper's bright, skeptical readers won't accept Rupert Murdoch's interests, prejudices, and standards as their own, says Jack Shafer. "The upside of the Murdoch acquisition -- which now looks likely -- is that his tenure will serve to revitalize American financial journalism as Journal readers decamp in search of a credible replacement."
There may be a touch of wishful thinking going on here. None of Murdoch’s enterprises have failed, that I know of.—Caro
http://www.mediachannel.org/wordpress/2007/07/16/television-channel-critical-of-chavez-returns/">Television Channel Critical Of Chavez Returns
Venezuela's opposition-aligned television station, RCTV, resumed broadcasting via cable and satellite today after being forced off the public airwaves almost two months ago when President Hugo Chavez refused to renew its licence.
Can the iPhone do double duty as a laptop?
My dream gadget: A handheld device powerful enough to let me leave my notebook computer home and still get things done on a weekend trip without too much difficulty. By “things” I mean that the device must let me get real work done — and be entertained.
iPhone Experience: Good for News Junkies
The iPhone is two weeks old. I have one… Now, instead of crawling to the computer when I wake up, I reach for my iPhone. I check the weather forecast, read my e-mail, and scan the day's headlines -- in bed. So the phone has already begun to change my life. Technology & ScienceEconomists puzzled by irrational eBay buyers
A small group of economists have mined eBay for clues on how people spend their money.
Aggressive Men Turn Down Free Money
In a new study, 26 male Harvard students were presented with ultimatums. Each was offered $5 out of a possible $40 by another person. A student could either take the $5 and leave the rest to the offerer, or both parties got nothing. The experiment was played for real stakes—the students got to keep the money… (W)hile 20 men took the $5 offer, six higher-testosterone men rejected it.
Study: Americans Don't Understand Others
Rugged American individualism could hinder our ability to understand other peoples' point of view, a new study suggests. And in contrast, the researchers found that Chinese are more skilled at understanding other people's perspectives, possibly because they live in a more "collectivist" society. "This cultural difference affects the way we communicate," said study co-author and cognitive psychologist Boaz Keysar of the University of Chicago.
Curry Spice Chemical Could Curb Alzheimer's
Findings support prior work suggesting turmeric fights the disease.
Islamic Creationist and a Book Sent Round the World
An Islamic creationist is mailing a lavishly illustrated, 800-page attack on evolutionary theory to scientists around the world.
Scientists piece together Lucy’s family tree
New jaw fossils might suggest a direct line of descent between two species of early humans, including the one to which "Lucy" belongs.
Humans walk upright to conserve energy
Why did humans evolve to walk upright? Perhaps because it's just plain easier. Make that "energetically less costly," in science-speak, and you have the conclusion of researchers who are proposing a likely reason for our modern gait.
Birds Bend Rules of Flight
Top speed for airplanes is assumed to be limited by simple rules of aerodynamics. But birds seem to break these rules in new research that underscores how complex nature can really get. Environment2007 is second warmest year on record.
The National Climatic Data Center released data today showing that global temperatures in the January-June period in 2007 have been “the second warmest on record for the January-June year-to-date period.” The NCDC report also revealed that it has been “the second driest January-June and driest April-June on record in the Southeast.”
Glaciers in Retreat
Studying Indian glaciers offers a snapshot of the consequences of global warming for India and raises vital questions about how the country will respond to them.
Dozens of problems at quake-hit plant
KASHIWAZAKI, Japan - A long list of problems — including radiation leaks, burst pipes and fires — came to light Tuesday at the world's largest nuclear power plant, a day after it was hit by a powerful earthquake.
This earthquake shows why we shouldn’t be rushing headlong to build more nuclear plants.—Caro
Rooftops Key to Florida Green Energy Goal
Despite its nickname, the Sunshine State, Florida's heavy rains and pricey real estate mean it has never been considered a good place to set up big solar energy plants. For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com. |
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
