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Morning headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoryAnalysis: New Law Gives Government Six Months to Turn Internet and Phone Systems into Permanent Spying Architecture
The bill, known as the Protect America Act, removes the prohibition on warrantless spying on Americans abroad and gives the government wide powers to order communication service providers such as cell phone companies and ISPs to make their networks available to government eavesdroppers. Mo Paul 
The WorldU.S. troop deaths up after drop in July
BAGHDAD - Four more U.S. troops and a British soldier have died in attacks, military officials said Tuesday, in a possible sign that extremists are regrouping after a drop in American deaths last month.
Iraqi leader arrives in Iran
TEHRAN, Iran - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki arrived in Iran on Wednesday for talks expected to focus on bilateral relations and improving the security situation in his wartorn nation.
British forces failed in Basra, says US official
A senior US intelligence official in Baghdad has said British forces lost control of Basra by pulling out troops too quickly. The result has been a security vacuum which has allowed the city's religious, tribal and criminal factions battle it out for control of the streets. "The British have basically been defeated in the south," the intelligence official told the Washington Post.
Russia Pressures Iran On Nukes
In a new blow to Iran's nuclear ambitions, Moscow has warned Tehran it won't deliver fuel to a nearly completed Russian-built nuclear reactor unless Tehran lifts the veil of secrecy on suspicious past atomic activities, a European diplomat said.
Russia explorers snub critics in North Pole row
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian explorers who planted a flag beneath the North Pole returned to a hero's welcome in Moscow on Tuesday and shrugged off foreign criticism that their mission had been a crude land grab.
Georgia: We have proof on Russia missile
TBILISI, Georgia - Georgia said Wednesday it has proof that Russian jets violated its airspace and released a missile that landed near a house. Russia has denied the claim.
Taliban stages rare, direct attack on U.S. base.
A day after Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai declared the Taliban “defeated” and “hiding,” “a group of 75 Taliban militants tried to overrun a U.S.-led coalition base in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, a rare frontal attack that left more than 20 militants dead, the coalition said in a statement.”
Venezuela's four-legged mobile libraries
The idea of loading mules with books and taking them into the mountain villages was started by the University of Momboy, a small institution that prides itself on its community-based initiatives and on doing far more than universities in Venezuela are required to do by law… Somehow there is already a limited mobile phone signal here, so the organisers are taking advantage of that and equipping the mules with laptops and projectors. The book mules are becoming cyber mules and cine mules. The NationBush down to his base of support
WASHINGTON - To see the type of person who still backs him, President Bush need only look in the mirror. The president fits the composite of today's Bush supporter: a conservative, white, Republican man, an evangelical Christian who goes to church regularly.
Bush says US, Pakistan to track al-Qaida
CAMP DAVID, Md. - President Bush said Monday the U.S. and Pakistan, if armed with good intelligence, can track and kill al-Qaida leaders. He stopped short of saying whether he would ask the Pakistani president before dispatching U.S. troops into that nation.
Bush keeps flip flopping on Pakistani sovereignty.—Caro
Court says terminally ill patients have no constitutional right to experimental drugs
WASHINGTON -- Terminally ill patients do not have a constitutional right to be treated with experimental drugs, even if the medicine is not likely to be approved before they are dead, a divided federal appeals court said (Tuesday)… The full court (said) in an 8-2 ruling that it would not create a constitutional right for patients to assume "any level of risk" without regard to medical testing.
We can’t let them put themselves in too much danger. Even if they’re dying.—Caro
Clinton, Obama Take Heat At AFL-CIO Forum
Under fire from their Democratic rivals in Chicago, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama defended their stands on terrorism and corporate influence. The candidates agreed the nation should invest more money in infrastructure and less on the war in Iraq.
Richardson Offers Health Care Plan
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson on Tuesday called for universal health care, offering a plan that would expand preventive coverage to help offset a package costing more than $100 billion.
Clinton proposes mortgage market crackdown
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday called for penalties against mortgage brokers who engage in predatory lending and a $1 billion federal fund to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.
Neocons aiding '08 Republicans
Most Americans disapprove of the Iraq war and of exporting democracy by force, yet neoconservative proponents of those policies advise the leading Republican presidential hopefuls. "There is an overwhelming presence of neoconservatives and absence of traditional conservatives that I don't know what to make of," said Richard V. Allen, former Reagan White House national security adviser.
Early-childhood program pays for itself (many times over), study finds
(T)he gains in terms of reduced social-welfare costs already have far exceeded the program's $5,000 per student-year cost to the Chicago public school system. "By the time they're 65, a conservative estimate would be a 10-to-1 gain," (professor Arthur J.) Reynolds said, considering reduced societal costs for remedial education, health care, incarceration and underemployment.
Not to mention the reduction in human misery for all concerned. The first time I heard Howard Dean speak, I think it was in early 2003, he spoke of a similar program he started in Vermont, which showed great success, as well. I was sold on the program and sold on him. We have to start doing what makes sense, not what’s dictated by anyone’s ideology.—Caro MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
I will be a guest today on the Tony Trupiano Show, at 1:00 PM ET. Listen to Tony’s show every day between noon and 3:00 PM ET on listener supported RadioPower.org.
Study: More Time Spent With Paid Media
NEW YORK (AP) - A study finds that U.S. consumers are increasingly shifting their attention away from traditional, advertising-supported media in favor of entertainment such as the Internet, video games and cable TV, which consumers pay for. As a result, the boom in online advertising is expected to continue.
It’s an opportunity for online advertising, but it’s also an opportunity for a subscription service that could give its members some clout in demanding accurate news coverage.—Caro
Bloggers show they can stage a better debate than MSM
The weekend's Yearly Kos convention in Chicago "showcased what politically obsessed amateurs can accomplish," says Will Bunch. "And what bloggers often do best is work the 'micro' elements of political debate, finding the statement that doesn't jibe with known facts or past remarks." || Joel Connolly: Seven Democratic presidential contenders at Yearly Koz got a lot more interesting questions than they'd get on "Meet the Press."
Joe Klein: Bloggers spew ‘anger, vitriol and disdain.’
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, guest host Willie Geist asked Time’s Joe Klein why presidential candidates were “pandering to the blogosphere” this past weekend at YearlyKos. “There’s an awful lot of anger, vitriol and disdain that spews out of some of these blogs,” responded Klein. “And you don’t want to have Kos or one of those other guys ripping you apart everyday.” Klein, who has previously written a column titled “Beware the Bloggers’ Bile,” was conspicuously absent at the “Say It to Our Faces” party hosted by Time.com during YearlyKos.
Click through to watch the video.—Caro
http://www.mediachannel.org/wordpress/2007/08/07/listening-post-rory-oconnor-on-the-present-and-future-of-citizen-journalism/">Listening Post: Rory O'Connor On the Present and Future of Citizen Journalism
MediaChannel's Rory O'Connor reports on the present and future of citizen journalism for the Al Jazeera media program "Listening Post."
SF Chron implements "Journalism of Action" reporting mission
The plan is to take the paper's regular coverage of an event, topic, or issue and expand it to include ways that readers and others can seek changes and improvements. Chronicle editor Phil Bronstein says: "There has been a bit of a tradition of saying, 'Here is the information -- good night, see you tomorrow.' We will deal more with the solutions, get involved and tell people what they can do."
Bill Clinton: WSJ editorial page is ‘more right wing’ than Fox.
At a fundraiser in the Hamptons this weekend, former President Bill Clinton unleashed harsh criticism on the ideologues on the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page. “The editorial page of the Wall Street Journal is even more right wing and irrational than most of the commentators on Fox News,” said Clinton. “And completely predictable…it’s like Pavlov’s dogs.”
TIMESSELECT CONTENT FREED
August 7, 2007 -- The New York Times is poised to stop charging readers for online access to its Op-Ed columnists and other content, The Post has learned.
This article is from the New York Post, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch, and the rumor is that Murdoch feels a rivalry with The New York Times now that he owns the Wall Street Journal, so this article may be a way of fueling that rivalry. I didn’t see anything about it in the Times.—Caro
Keith Olbermann's 'Countdown' grows
More than any other news show on cable, MSNBC's "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" is us… (I)t's the structure of "Countdown," which averaged 721,000 viewers in July, a bump for the show, that seems so savant-like. The form does what CBS tried to do when it hired Katie Couric: It makes news feel like pop culture.
Couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that Olbermann tells it like it is. Nah.—Caro Technology & ScienceSecret Messages Seen Only By Camera Phones
Kameraflage is a display technology that uses a special property of digital cameras to hide messages or other content in plain sight. The hidden content is only revealed when you look at it through your cellphone camera or other digital camera.
Most Americans say ban texting while driving
Ninety-one percent of Americans believe sending text messages while driving is as dangerous as driving after having a couple of drinks, but 57 percent admit to doing it, a poll released on Tuesday said.
Researchers: Take anti-spam fight to the Web
San Francisco (IDGNS) - Spammers may have an Achilles' heel. According to researchers at the University of California, San Diego, anti-spam fighters could really hurt the spammers' bottom line if they target the Web sites used to host their scams rather than simply trying to block the mail server used to send out unsolicited commercial e-mail.
In Japan, world-first fourth generation cloned pig
TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese researchers said Wednesday they had created a fourth-generation cloned pig in a world-first achievement that could lead to new transplant treatments for humans.
Imaging Breakthrough 'Sees' Lung Disease
An Israeli startup has developed a high-tech stethoscope that draws a picture by gauging lung vibrations.
Many Kids With Private Insurance Missing Vaccinations
Plans may not cover a particular shot or its administration, study finds.
Happy days ahead
(I)ndividuals' happiness varies. Studies of twins indicate your genes likely make you more or less optimistic, and the happiness of your parents affects you, said Peter Ubel, a professor of medicine and psychology at the University of Michigan, who has conducted research on happiness… You'd think money would drive happiness. Not necessarily. "Money matters very little to happiness, except at very low levels of money," Ubel said.
Sensory organ holds key to hot mouse sex
Female mice became sexually voracious and tried to mate like males after scientists disabled a small sensory organ, casting fresh light on how gender-specific behavior develops in animals. EnvironmentUN: Weather extremes match forecast
GENEVA - Floods in Asia, a cyclone in the Middle East, and extreme temperatures around the globe since the start of the year have borne out warnings in a key climate change report, an expert with the U.N. weather agency said Tuesday.
UN: Global warming to hit poor hardest
NEW DELHI - Global warming will likely hit food production in developing nations the hardest, increasing the risks of drought and famine in the countries that already struggle to feed their populations, a senior U.N. official said Tuesday.
Coral Reefs Disappearing Faster than Thought
Coral reefs in the central and western Pacific are disappearing twice as fast as rainforests are on land–faster than was previously thought, a new study says.
Cooking Up More Uses for the Leftovers of Biofuel Production
Scientists, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists are becoming increasingly interested in making more than fuel out of the raw materials for biodiesel fuel and ethanol.
US Navy barred from sonar use over harm to whales
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The United States Navy was on Monday barred from using an ear-splitting sonar in upcoming wargames off the California coast alleged to be harmful to whales and other marine life.
New species of bat, frogs found in Congo forests
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Six new species, including a bat and two frogs, have been discovered in Democratic Republic of the Congo in an eastern area off limits to scientists for decades because of violence, a wildlife group said on Tuesday. For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com. |
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