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Edited on Thu Aug-30-07 07:50 AM by Caro
Morning headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoryBush Ramps Up Iran Rhetoric, Warns of “Nuclear Holocaust”
For those who may have missed it, in a speech before the American Legion (Tuesday), President Bush continued his rank fear mongering and made clear that he plans on confronting Iran regardless of what the American people or Congress have to say about it.
Click through to watch the video.—Caro The Heretik
The WorldSadr Suspends His Militia’s Military Operations
The surprise declaration was widely taken as a tacit acknowledgment of the damage done to the Mahdi Army’s reputation by two days of Shiite in-fighting.
Maliki: I won't resign, can't be forced out
BAGHDAD — Looking tired and pale but speaking firmly, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki told McClatchy Newspapers Tuesday that he has no intention of resigning despite rising U.S. criticism of his government.
Hezbollah denounces watchdog's report
BEIRUT, Lebanon - A human rights group issued a report Wednesday accusing Hezbollah of firing rockets indiscriminately at civilian areas in Israel during last summer's war, prompting swift condemnation by the militant group and even its Lebanese opponents.
Musharraf Said to Agree to End His Army Role
Gen. Pervez Musharraf would resign as army chief and serve another term as president and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto would return to Pakistan.
China defense chief tries to soothe Japan's fears
TOKYO (Reuters) - China tried to ease Tokyo's worries over its ballooning military spending in a meeting on Thursday at which the Asian rivals' defense ministers agreed to stage the first-ever visit by a Chinese warship to Japan.
Chinese parents fight forced abortions
QIAN'AN, China - Yang Zhongchen, a small-town businessman, wined and dined three government officials for permission to become a father.
Chavez tries role as Colombian mediator
BOGOTA, Colombia - Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is taking on a risky role as a mediator in Colombia's hostage standoff, stepping squarely into his neighbor's civil conflict and provoking optimism among the families of those long held captive by rebels.
Poland may soon finalize US anti-missile talks
WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland and the United States may be nearing a breakthrough in talks to locate parts of a U.S. anti-missile shield on Polish soil, Poland's deputy foreign minister was quoted as saying on Wednesday. The NationCongress report finds Iraq failing on goals: report
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iraq has met only three out of 18 goals set by Washington for political and security progress, according to a draft of a key report being prepared for Congress, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.
Bush seeks to be portrayed as antagonist-in-chief.
U.S. News reports, “White House insiders don’t want to encourage expectations that President Bush will turn into a born-again accommodator in the final year and a half of his administration.” The insiders express “concern” that there is an expectation that Bush will be more “conciliatory.”
Point, Click ... Eavesdrop: How the FBI Wiretap Net Operates
The FBI has quietly built a sophisticated, point-and-click surveillance system that performs instant wiretaps on almost any communications device… (Steven Bellovin, a Columbia University computer science professor and surveillance expert says) the architectural changes to accommodate easy surveillance on phone switches and the internet can introduce new security and privacy holes.
Clarification: National Guard story
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The Associated Press reported on Aug. 25 that Puerto Rico's governor earned a standing ovation when he called for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq during his speech to a conference of National Guardsmen. The story should have made clear that Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila was given a standing ovation at the end of his speech, which covered various military issues, rather than immediately after his call for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.
Sen. Craig gives up four Senate committee seats; colleagues call for resignation
WASHINGTON — Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s political support eroded by the hour today as fellow Republicans in Congress called for him to resign and party leaders pushed him unceremoniously from senior committee posts.
Gallup: Public agrees that it's wrong to take money from lobbyists
Presidential candidates who refuse to take campaign contributions from lobbyists and say that those lobbyists have too much influence in Washington "are closely in tune with American public opinion," our friends at The Gallup Poll write today.
CEO pay and benefits on the rise: report
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top executives at major businesses last year made as much money in one day of work on the job as the average worker made over the entire year, according to a report released on Wednesday.
Number of Americans without health insurance hits new high
WASHINGTON — The continued loss of job-based coverage helped push the number of Americans without health insurance to 47 million last year, the highest total on record and the sixth straight year that the ranks of the uninsured have grown.
On Poverty, Maybe We're All Wrong (By Steven Pearlstein)
(M)aybe the point at which people are most willing to work hard, save and play by the rules isn't when they are very poor, or very rich, but in the neighborhoods on either side of the point you might call economic sufficiency… And if that is so, then maybe the best way to break the cycle of poverty is to raise the hopes and expectations of the poor by putting them closer to the goal line… (A)fter a decade of welfare reform, budget cuts and calls for individual responsibility, poverty is still very much with us. Maybe it's time for liberals to regain the upper hand in the debate by arguing that the vicious cycle that needs to be broken isn't one of dependence but one of declining expectations.
What the Dutch Can Teach Us About Weathering the Next Katrina
A 1953 storm that killed 1,835 people forced the Netherlands to change the way disaster protection is done. The same can't be said of the U.S., where innovation has been stymied by pork-barrel politics. MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
Study: Democrats get more A.M. airtime
A conservative media watchdog organization charged Wednesday that the network morning news shows have spent considerably more time this year on Democrats running for president than on Republicans. Network news executives rejected any suggestion of bias, and said they have a considerably harder time getting Republican candidates to appear on their shows.
I’ve sent this to Media Matters to get their reaction.—Caro
Why I hate The New Republic (By Kathy G. at Ezra Klein)
TNR plays a unique role in the development of policy and politics. Its circulation has always been low (and in recent years has declined drastically), but many of the people who read it are very powerful: media elites, D.C. lobbyists and activists, and policymakers in the White House and the Senate, and on Capitol Hill. If TNR supports a particular policy or idea, that carries serious weight, especially when what it supports is conservative. It enables the right to say, “Even the liberal New Republic endorses X,” and that has tremendous credibility and resonance. It doesn’t matter if 19 out of 20 articles in a given issue are liberal; the one wingnutty one out of the 20 will, by virtue of its setting, be all the more influential.
STODDARD KNOWS SCRIPT! A. B. Stoddard recited a script—a script with a long, ugly history
According to Stoddard, there’s an idea about in the land—an idea that the Clintons “cannot stop taking money from illegal sources.” That’s the script—and she’s sticking to it! Has Clinton done anything wrong in this case? Stoddard doesn’t know—but she does know the rules. You don’t clarify, caution, apply brakes or explain. You don’t correct your host’s misstatements. You don’t warn your viewers about the shortcomings of a highly speculative report. You don’t offer context from recent history.
Tucker: I assaulted a man who ‘bothered’ me in a bathroom.
Yesterday on MSNBC, Tucker Carlson said “it’s really common” that men accost one another in mens’ rooms… “I’ve been bothered in Georgetown Park,” in Washington, D.C., “when I was in high school.” When asked how he responded to being “bothered,” Carlson asserted, “I went back with someone I knew and grabbed the guy by the — you know, and grabbed him, and … hit him against the stall with his head, actually.”
Click through to watch the video.—Caro
Man recounts Union Station sexual encounter with Craig
The Idaho Statesman, which (Sen. Larry) Craig blamed for his woes in his news conference yesterday (ha!), has a transcript up from its interview with the man who says he had oral sex with the senator in a Union Station restroom.
Beck’s solution for New Orleans: More guns.
As the pace of reconstruction in New Orleans slows, the crime rate in New Orleans has increased. Rather than focus on addressing the horrible conditions facing the region’s residents, right-wing pundit Glenn Beck offers an alternative solution: give them guns. “There’s not enough guns in New Orleans,” Beck claims.
Richard Jewell found dead; natural causes cited
Richard Jewell lived for more than a decade with the shame caused by being wrongly linked to the 1996 Olympic bombing. The former security guard died Wednesday without closure with the newspaper he accused of starting the frenzy… After he was exonerated, Jewell sued the Journal-Constitution and other media outlets for libel. Several news organizations settled with him but the Journal-Constitution did not… Jewell's attorney, Lin Wood, told the Associated Press he expects to pursue the case for Jewell's estate.
Media Showers
Big media and big politics are all flying through an electronic meteor shower just now, and not all will survive. But, like "Star Wars," it'll be fun to watch the carnage.
The Role of Trusted Human Editors In Filtering The Web (Publish2 Blog)
"By using journalists and serious bloggers as a proxy for trust, We aim to solve the scalability problem. We're going to seed Publish2 with trusted, skilled human editors and then let them decide who else to trust."
But will they pay? THAT is the question.—Caro
http://www.mediachannel.org/wordpress/2007/08/29/the-cost-of-americas-slow-internet-connection/">The Cost Of America's Slow Internet Connection
One might question the importance of broadband speed in America; after all, it’s not as if a webpage takes hours to load. The answer is the possibility for greater economic activity. One study by Dataquest Inc titled “Dataquest: Implementation of ‘true’ broadband could bolster U.S. GDP by $500 billion a year,” claimed the U.S. could add that much because of new jobs, technologies, equipment and software design. Technology & ScienceWill Army's ray gun see action in Iraq?
U.S. commanders have said that many civilian casualties could have been avoided by using a new non-lethal weapon developed over the past decade.
IPhone hackers could face legal battle
NEW YORK - Hackers have figured out how to unleash Apple's iPhone from AT&T's cellular network, but people hoping to make money from the procedure could face legal problems.
Suicide More Common Than Homicide
Actor Owen Wilson's recent suicide attempt shocked many people. Wilson, star of a string of comedy hits including "Zoolander" and "Wedding Crashers" is rich, famous, and has been honored with an Academy Award nomination. He also has been depressed for months… About 30,000 people die by suicide each year in America. It is the ninth leading cause of death in this country, and higher for men than women.
Case Management Cost-Effective Way to Cut Heart Risks
California study shows such visits with patients reduced risk by 10% and also cut costs
Orchid fossil quells evolutionary quarrel
PARIS (AFP) - A bee trapped by a glob of sap inside a come-hither orchid up to 20 million years ago has rewritten the evolutionary tale of a flower with the most fanatical following of any plant in the world.
Take a Deep Breath, and Thank a Volcano
Volcanoes are partly to thank for the air you’re breathing right now, a new study shows. Billions of years ago, Earth had very little oxygen in its atmosphere, in part because most of the volcanoes on our planet were undersea. The mixture of gases and lavas that erupted from these volcanoes scrubbed out any oxygen floating around from the atmosphere and bound it into minerals. EnvironmentGlobal warming could delay next ice age: study
LONDON (AFP) - Burning fossil fuels could postpone the next ice age by up to half a million years, researchers at a British university said Wednesday.
FACTBOX-Draft U.N. study shows climate risks and solutions
(Click through for) highlights of a draft 21-page U.N. report summing up global warming research by 2,500 scientists this year. The report, obtained by Reuters and giving an overview of 3,000 pages of previously published documents by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, will be issued in November in Spain after review by governments.
'Green' house to open doors to show its attributes
A Florida couple is building what they say will be the home of the future, one strong enough to withstand hurricanes yet gentle enough to blend in with the environment.
Scientists Ruminate on Cow Stomach Fluid for Fuel Cells
Fluid from the stomach of cows could help power alternative fuel cells, new research shows. Electricity is generated in the new fuel cells by the breakdown of cellulose, which can be found in waste paper, other wood products and in the corn leaves and stalks that farms generate after a harvest. Using cellulose as an ethanol fuel source has been proposed as an alternative to using corn. Cows come into the picture because the fluid in their rumen (the largest chamber of their stomach) is rich in microbes that break down cellulose.
Driving Economic Growth - Mobility for Development
Mobility is key to economic development. Businesses need road, rail, shipping and air networks to transport goods and services to markets, while people need them to get to jobs and use basic services. Mobility is not solely about vehicles; it is also about infrastructure, communications technology, access to resources and energy, facilitation of trade and simplifying burdensome bureaucracy. It is also intimately linked to the global energy crisis.
Volvo unveils green engines for trucks
Sweden's Volvo, the world's second biggest truck maker, unveiled on Wednesday a line of truck engines adapted to run on renewable fuels and called for more efforts to make such fuels commercially available. The engines are powered by seven types of fuel, ranging from synthetic diesel to a mix of hydrogen and biogas. For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com. |
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