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Morning headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoryBergner: Rocket associated with Iran
BAGHDAD - A fatal attack launched two days ago against the headquarters garrison of the American military in Iraq was carried out using a 240 mm rocket — a type of weapon provided to Shiite extremists by Iran, a U.S. general said Thursday.
Sadly, we have no idea whether we can believe what U.S. generals say about Iran—or about Iraq, for that matter.—Caro All Hat No Cattle
The WorldGunmen Ambush Iraqi Cops, Kill 6
Six Iraqi police officers have been killed in an ambush at a checkpoint near Mosul. Four cars full of suspected al Qaeda-linked Sunni insurgents surrounded the police, opened fire, and then got away. The area has seen increasing violence.
Compromise on Oil Law in Iraq Seems to Be Collapsing
BAGHDAD, Sept. 12 — A carefully constructed compromise on a draft law governing Iraq’s rich oil fields, agreed to in February after months of arduous talks among Iraqi political groups, appears to have collapsed. The apparent breakdown comes just as Congress and the White House are struggling to find evidence that there is progress toward reconciliation and a functioning government here.
Israel stages limited Gaza incursion
JERUSALEM - Israeli ground troops entered the central Gaza Strip Wednesday night, a day after rocket fire from the Palestinian territory wounded dozens of Israeli soldiers. But the military described the incursion as routine and said it was not part of a large-scale mission.
Israelis face New Year with new concerns
JERUSALEM - Israelis ushered in the Jewish New Year on Wednesday evening amid new fears of war, following fresh rocket attacks from Gaza and reports of an Israeli airstrike in Syria.
As Ramadan begins, Palestinian factions bicker
The rival Palestinian governments in the West Bank and Gaza argued over mosque sermons and collection of donations during Ramadan, but agreed to start observance together on Thursday in a rare note of unity for the holiest period for Muslims.
Turkish troops kill 4 Kurdish rebels
ANKARA, Turkey - Turkish troops killed four Kurdish guerrillas in a southeastern province Wednesday, a day after police defused a bomb in the capital that authorities believe may have been planted by separatist rebels.
Iran leader denies interference in Iraq
TEHRAN, Iran – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday rejected the congressional testimony of the top U.S. officials in Iraq accusing Iran of interfering in its war-torn neighbor.
Saudis may skip Middle East peace conference
Saudi Arabia will probably skip a Mideast peace conference called by President Bush if it doesn’t tackle substantive issues such as the status of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees, the kingdom’s foreign minister said Wednesday.
Fierce fighting in Waziristan as Negroponte visits Pakistan
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The Pakistan army said it has killed scores of militants in a tribal region during two days of fighting that has coincided with a visit to Islamabad by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte.
U.S. accused of letting al-Qaida spread
A respected think tank concluded Wednesday that the United States has lost influence as a result of failings over the Iraq war, encouraging its detractors — including Iran and Russia — and jeopardizing stability in Asia and the Middle East. The NationBush set to endorse limited troop cuts in Iraq
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Thursday is expected to endorse plans for limited cuts in U.S. troop levels in Iraq but will offer little else to skeptical Americans looking for a change of course in the unpopular war.
Democrats Push Toward Center on War Policy
Party leaders hope incremental proposals will attract enough moderate Republicans to pass legislation aimed at changing direction in Iraq.
How many times do I have to say this? The majority of Americans want us out of Iraq. That means GETTING OUT OF IRAQ IS THE CENTER POSITION, BY DEFINITION!—Caro
Woolsey calls for attacks on colleagues
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) is encouraging anti-war activists to find challengers to centrist Democrats, with the aim of moving the party to the left and ramping up opposition to the war in Iraq, to the chagrin of top Democratic aides. “You folks should go after the Democrats,” Woolsey said in response to a suggestion from an activist during a conference call last month organized by the Network of Spiritual Progressives. “I’d hate to lose the majority, but I’m telling you, if we don’t stand up to our responsibility, maybe that’s the lesson to be learned.”
Rep. Chris Shays: We’re there for the oil
On C-Span’s Washington Journal yesterday, Rep. Christopher Shays has a rare Republican moment of non-talking point candor. When asked by a caller why we are still in Iraq, Shays admits it’s because we just can’t let any other country control that oil.
CREW to Department of Education: Investigate why "No Child Left Behind" funds are being spent on Neil Bush's company
A three-month long investigation by CREW raises serious questions about the use of NCLB funds to pay for products sold by Neil Bush, … who has no education background, (and) is best known for his role in the failure of Silverado Savings and Loan, which cost taxpayers $1.6 billion. CREW is asking the IG to discover why federal money is being funneled to a company with no proven track record of effectiveness, but so happens to be run by the president’s brother.
Boy leads protest over deported mother
An 8-year-old boy whose mother was deported to Mexico led a chanting crowd of about 150 pro-immigration activists through the halls of Congress on Wednesday. Capitol Police arrested two demonstrators for disorderly conduct.
Dems Would Block Olson Nomination
A Ted Olson nomination for attorney general will run into stiff resistance from Senate Democrats. "I intend to do everything I can to prevent him from being confirmed as the next attorney general," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said (Wednesday).
Yes, please.—Caro
Senate rejects proposed Amtrak cuts
WASHINGTON - Ignoring a veto promise from the White House, the Senate on Wednesday passed a $106 billion transportation and housing bill rejecting President Bush's proposed cuts to Amtrak, housing programs and community development projects.
Senate panel reduces missile funding
WASHINGTON - A Senate panel voted Wednesday to reduce the funding the Bush administration requested for a planned U.S. missile defense system in Europe, making it more likely that construction on the project will be delayed.
Presidentialist Lawyers in Black Robes (by Charlie Savage)
In 2005, when President Bush nominated John Roberts, Harriet Miers, and then Samuel Alito to fill the first two Supreme Court vacancies in a decade, observers outside the executive branch largely evaluated the nominees through the lens of social issues such as abortion rights. Lost amid the hubbub … was what I believe to be an essential factor behind all three nominations… They had each spent years marinating in disputes over expanding executive powers from the White House’s perspective, and were thus likely to bring a very deferential attitude to the bench when future lawsuits arose over aggressive claims of presidential authority.
And they will turn on a dime when a Democrat becomes president. Suddenly the president will have no power at all, especially if the Republicans ever gain a majority again in one or both houses of Congress. You can count on it.—Caro
Judge says campaign regs are too lenient
WASHINGTON - A federal judge struck down campaign finance regulations Wednesday that govern when candidates and independent groups can coordinate their political messages. The judge called on the Federal Election Commission to write stricter rules in time for the 2008 elections. (U.S. District Judge Colleen) Kollar-Kotelly said the FEC regulations too narrowly apply to coordinated advertising that takes place within 90 days of a congressional election or 120 days before a presidential election. The regulations unreasonably ignore advertising run outside those windows, the judge said.
Incomes lagging behind home values
WASHINGTON - An Associated Press analysis of new census data provides insight into the reasons for the slumping housing market: Since 1990, homeowners have faced a growing gap between their incomes and the price of their homes. MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
Action Alert: Skippy the Bush Kangaroo is following up on Media Bloodhound’s reporting on how badly ABC, Time, and the Washington Post are treating Dennis Kucinich. Click here and scroll down for the contact links.
GOP Leader Boehner: If We Defeat Al Qaeda, "We" Will Have Paid "A Small Price" In Iraq (by Greg Sargent )
Okay, if this isn't portrayed as a major gaffe, with wall-to-wall condemnations from the pundits, it'll be stunning. (Editor's note: That was meant to be bitterly ironic.)
Of course it was meant to be ironic. If MoveOn said those exact words, the right-wing smear machine would rev up into overdrive.—Caro
Deaths of Soldiers 'Brings It Home' For 'NYT' Editorial Page Editor
"It brings it home and it reminds you how distant most people are from this war," said Andrew Rosenthal, who said the seven soldiers -- two died this week in Iraq -- sent the soon-to-be-famous column critical of the war unsolicited to the paper. "It would be ludicrous to say this war has now touched us, but it has in a way. These are guys who had been more public."
U.S.-IRAQ: Fallon Derided Petraeus, Opposed the Surge
(At) their first meeting in Baghdad last March, according to Pentagon sources familiar with reports of the meeting. (CENTCOM chief Admiral William) Fallon told Petraeus that he considered him to be "an ass-kissing little chickenshit" and added, "I hate people like that", the sources say. That remark reportedly came after Petraeus began the meeting by making remarks that Fallon interpreted as trying to ingratiate himself with a superior.
But MoveOn.org is RILLY, RILLY bad for asking if General Petraeus is General Betray Us.—Caro
“The Insurance Hoax” and the Business Press
Somehow, national outlets devoted to business news, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, Business Week, and the Financial Times barely notice that 2005—year of the worst-ever insured loss in the history of the world—was also the most profitable insurance year ever, by a long shot. No one asked how that could be so. No one asked, moreoever, how it could be that, according to State Farm Insurance, Allstate Insurance Co. and Nationwide Financial Services Inc., Hurricane Katrina caused no wind damage—none at all—in thousands of cases. Commonsense alone calls that assertion into question. Worse, though, Forbes and The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page both mischaracterized the nature of the dispute between insurers and Katrina policyholders.
Are Oil Prices Rising or Is the Dollar Falling?
At mid-day, the NYT business section has headlines, one above the other, saying that the "Oil Hits Record" and "Dollar Reaches New Low Against Euro." While these are presented as distinct stories arguably they are the same story. Imagine that the price of oil stayed constant in euros and the dollar fell by 4 percent against the euro (roughly what it has done over the last month, depending on the dates chosen.) Then we would expect that the price of oil would have increased by 4 percent in dollar terms.
If Couric's trip to Iraq was a ratings stunt, it didn't work
"CBS Evening News" tied a record low with just under 5.5 million viewers last week when Katie Couric traveled to Iraq and Syria.
CBS Defends Katie Couric’s Iraq ‘Puff Pieces’: Bloggers Are ‘Not Intelligent’
Last week, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric reported from Iraq, but her stories largely repeated the Bush administration’s talking points… A MoveOn.org member recently wrote to CBS, expressing the opinion that Couric’s reports appeared to be “puff pieces scripted by the institutions it purports to be investigating.” CBS’s response questioned the “intelligence” of the person, adding that he or she probably found the “information from a blog somewhere”.
Click through to read the entire email message.—Caro
Keith Olbermann’s Top 9/11 Story: The Promotion Of Failure In Bush Administration
Countdown’s #1 story on (Tuesday’s) special 9/11 edition was some of Keith Olbermann’s best work to date. In this clip, he runs down the astonishing and outrageous list of Bush administration lackeys who, instead of being demoted or fired for their failures surrounding the September 11th attacks and the subsequent invasion and occupation of Iraq, were promoted and awarded medals for those failures.
Click through to watch the video.—Caro
U.S. Viewers Watched an Average of 3 Hours of Online Video in July
RESTON, VA, September 12, 2007 – comScore (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its comScore Video Metrix report for July 2007, revealing that nearly 75 percent of U.S. Internet users watched an average of three hours of online video during the month. Google Sites topped the July rankings with both the most unique video viewers and most videos viewed.
Get an early taste of the new fall shows
The fall TV season has yet to begin, but that won't stop networks from unveiling some new shows early. They're just doing it elsewhere. CBS this week started streaming the pilot for sitcom Big Bang Theory online, and this month it is showing both Bang and soapy drama Cane on American Airlines flights for an estimated audience of 4 million captive passengers. Several hundred thousand online viewers saw Fox's K-Ville… And this week, would-be fans can catch the opening episode of Nashville, a reality series about country music hopefuls, on multiple sites.
Out-of-print tunes get new life in digital world
Hank Thompson last had a hit song in 1983, but people have more access to his music now than they've had in years. Last month, Capitol Records made 18 of the Country Music Hall of Famer's albums, recorded from 1948 to 1964, available as downloads. Technology & ScienceSprint to offer online shopping on cell phones
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sprint Nextel Corp customers can now use mobile phones to shop for everything from shoes to televisions in a new service the No. 3 U.S. wireless company has launched to boost revenue.
U.S. Life Expectancy Hits New High
Drops in deaths from heart disease, cancer and stroke fuel the trend.
Education Linked to Cancer Death Rates
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 12 (HealthDay News) -- If you have a college degree, you have up to a 76 percent reduced risk of dying from cancer, a new study found… Education is tied to socioeconomic status and access to medical care, (co-author Elizabeth Ward, the American Cancer Society's director of cancer surveillance) noted. The new study finding makes it clear that many of the factors that influence cancer mortality are preventable, she said. "They are preventable by social policies -- things we can change, such as smoking prevention, access to cancer screening and opportunities to good nutrition and physical activity," Ward said.
Being Overweight is Hard on the Heart
It raises risks even if blood pressure, cholesterol factored out, study finds
Family Dinners Shape Healthier Eating Habits
Routine helps teens make better food choices as adults, study finds
Shrinking kilogram bewilders physicists
A kilogram just isn't what it used to be. The 118-year-old cylinder that is the international prototype for the metric mass, kept tightly under lock and key outside Paris, is mysteriously losing weight — if ever so slightly.
Big climate change did not kill Neanderthals
LONDON (Reuters) - Neanderthals probably fell victim to taller and superior Cro-Magnons rather than catastrophic climate change, researchers said on Wednesday.
Wobbles of Mars Produced 40 Ice Ages
Wobbles in the rotation of Mars swung the planet into about 40 extreme ice ages in the past 5 million years and allowed thick ice layers to remain far away from the poles, an astronomer says.
Small 'Hobbit' Galaxies Made Almost Entirely of Dark Matter
Small, ultrafaint "hobbit" galaxies recently found hovering around our Milky Way are comprised almost entirely of dark matter, a new study confirms. Dark matter is a mysterious substance scientists think accounts for most of the mass in the universe but that is invisible to current instruments.
First known planet to survive red-giant phase found
LONDON (Reuters) - Astronomers have discovered the first known planet to survive its "red-giant" phase, a period when an aging star expands and engulfs bodies orbiting it. EnvironmentGlobal warming impact like "nuclear war": report
Climate change could have global security implications on a par with nuclear war unless urgent action is taken, a report said on Wednesday. The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) security think-tank said global warming would hit crop yields and water availability everywhere, causing great human suffering and leading to regional strife.
Russia, China, India Top Worst-Polluted List
Four of the world's 10 most polluted places are in Russia and two former Soviet republics, an independent environmental group said in a report released on Wednesday. Encompassing seven countries, the top 10 sites may cause some 12 million people to suffer health problems ranging from asthma and other respiratory ailments to birth defects and premature death, the New York-based Blacksmith Institute said.
Europe, Mediterranean at greatest risk from climate change
Climate change is affecting Europe faster than the rest of the world and rising temperatures could transform the Mediterranean into a salty and stagnant sea, Italian experts said Wednesday.
Eating Less Meat May Slow Climate Change
Eating less meat could help slow global warming by reducing the number of livestock and thereby decreasing the amount of methane flatulence from the animals, scientists said on Thursday.
Governors seek action on global warming
WASHINGTON - Governors want to expand state regulation of greenhouse gases in hopes of increasing pressure for federal action on global warming, the chairman of the National Governors Association said Wednesday.
Google to Invest $10M in Companies That Speed Up PHEV Use
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. Sept. 13, 2007 -- As part of its RechargeIT initiative announced in June, Google's philanthropic arm wants to invest $10 million in companies that help speed up widespread use of plug-in hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles and vehicle-to-grid technologies.
U.S. Failed to Boost Produce Inspections
Government regulators never acted on calls for stepped-up inspections of leafy greens after last year's deadly E. coli spinach outbreak, leaving the safety of America's salads to a patchwork of largely unenforceable rules and the industry itself, an Associated Press investigation has found.
Wegmans Reverses Supermarket Supply Chain, Starts Organic Farm
CANANDAIGUA, N.Y., Sept 13, 2007 -- Wegmans, a 71-store supermarket chain based in Rochester, has begun selling produce grown on its own 50-acre organic farm to nearby grocery stores. For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com. |
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