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Morning headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoryKyl-Lieberman Iran Amendment Passes By Huge Margin
The Kyl-Lieberman Iran amendment -- which ratchets up the confrontation with Iran by calling for the designation of its Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization responsible for killing U.S. troops -- just passed overwhelmingly, 76-22. Buck Fush
The WorldDozens die in car bombings as Iraqi violence surges
BAGHDAD — Car bombs and other attacks killed at least 56 people in Iraq on Wednesday and wounded another 103 in a day of mayhem that heralds an annual surge in violence during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Iraq's Sunni VP meets top Shiite cleric
BAGHDAD - Iraq's Sunni vice president held a rare meeting Thursday with the country's top Shiite cleric to seek support for a 25-point blueprint for political reform, the latest effort by both Islamic sects to promote unity amid unrelenting violence.
Iraq insurgents slam US help in Anbar
CAIRO, Egypt - An Iraqi insurgent group accused Iraqis who help the U.S. military of being criminals and bandits, referring to Sunni tribes fighting al-Qaida in the western Anbar province, according to a new video posted Wednesday.
Shootings by Blackwater Exceed Other Firms in Iraq
WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 — The American security contractor Blackwater USA has been involved in a far higher rate of shootings while guarding American diplomats in Iraq than other security firms providing similar services to the State Department, according to Bush administration officials and industry officials.
Pentagon probes security contractors in Iraq
WASHINGTON — The Defense Department announced Wednesday that it's sent a team of investigators to Iraq to look into how the U.S. military monitors private security contractors in the wake of a Sept. 16 incident in which security guards working for the State Department killed at least 11 Iraqi civilians. Pentagon officials also said they've sent a memo to commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan reminding them that they can court-martial private security guards working under military contracts who violate U.S. military law.
11 Palestinians killed in Gaza fighting
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli forces killed two Gaza militants in a missile strike early Thursday, bringing the two-day death toll in Gaza fighting to 11, hospital officials said.
Red Cross kidnappers 'surrounded': Afghan officials
GHAZNI, Afghanistan (AFP) - Security forces on Thursday surrounded the abductors of four Red Cross employees, two of them foreigners, and the hostages were expected to be freed soon, an Afghan official said.
Georgia and Russia clash at U.N.
UNITED NATIONS - Georgia's president told world leaders Wednesday that Russia continues to interfere in its domestic politics and engage in "reckless and dangerous" behavior, the latest in a series of conflicts between the two countries.
Myanmar soldiers fire weapons into crowd
YANGON, Myanmar - Soldiers fired automatic weapons into a crowd of anti-government protesters Thursday as tens of thousands defied the ruling military junta's crackdown with a 10th straight day of demonstrations.
Hungry Somalis still share
JOWHAR, Somalia - Some days, Lul Haji Adam listens to her youngest son wail with hunger as she scrupulously divides up the food she has scraped together between the 65 members of her extended family. The NationBush asks Congress for billions more for Iraq
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration asked Congress on Wednesday for $42 billion more next year for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan… The Iraq war's total cost is approaching that of the 1964-73 Vietnam War's estimated total of $518 billion, in 2007 dollars. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the total for Iraq didn't include indirect costs such as veterans' care or the ultimate costs of long-term involvement, which the Congressional Budget Office has said could exceed $2 trillion.
Veterans still getting shoddy treatment
A government report being released (Wednesday) concludes that wounded warriors are still getting the runaround from the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs despite big promises of change after last February’s revelations about scandalous conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Bills to aid hurricane-prone homeowners face White House opposition
WASHINGTON — Two federal efforts aimed at lowering the cost of homeowners insurance in coastal states are heading to the House of Representatives floor but face opposition from the White House, some sectors of the insurance industry and lawmakers from states not prone to hurricanes.
The SCHIP Hits the Fan
Bush not only remains dead-set on vetoing the popular child health-care initiative, he's once again pushing a dead-on-arrival proposal to give tax breaks to people who buy private insurance. Even some leading Republicans are agog.
Dems to try to pass hate crime measure
WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats are trying to force President Bush to sign hate crimes legislation he has threatened to veto by attaching it to a massive bill funding the Defense Department and the Iraq war.
Cheney heads to Utah for a private speech on Friday
WASHINGTON _ Vice President Dick Cheney will speak to a super-secret,conservative policy group in Utah on Friday during his second trip to the state this year. Cheney will address the fall meeting of the Council for National Policy, a group whose self-described mission is to promote "a free-enterprise system, a strong national defense and support for traditional Western values." The organization -- made up of few hundred powerful conservative activists -- holds confidential meetings and members are advised not to use the name of the group in communications, according to a New York Times profile of the group.
House votes to condemn MoveOn's 'Betray Us' ad
By a 341-79 vote, with all "nays" being Democrats, the House this afternoon passed a resolution condemning MoveOn.org Political Action's "General Betray Us" ad… After today's vote, MoveOn PAC executive director Eli Pariser released a statement saying that "with every passing day, America's frustration with politicians in Washington drops the approval ratings for this Congress to new lows. Congress is fiddling with an ad while Iraq burns. We will continue our ad campaign to accuse the Republicans who are blocking an end to the war of a 'Betrayal of Trust.' "
GAO: PRESIDENT’S 2005 SOCIAL SECURITY TOUR COST TAXPAYERS MILLIONS (pdf)
In 2005, the Bush Administration launched an initiative to increase support for the President’s efforts to privatize Social Security, including campaign-style events featuring the President and top administration officials and the creation of a “Social Security Information Center” in the Department of the Treasury… At a minimum, the White House effort in support of privatizing Social Security cost more than $2.8 million … an underestimate of the true costs, as it does not include the cost of staff time, Secret Service protection, and other expenses.
Pace’s comments on gays elicits loud protests.
In March, Joint Chiefs Chairman Peter Pace declared, “I believe that homosexual acts between individuals are immoral.” Today, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) … offered Pace, who was attending his final hearing before resigning his post, an opportunity to clarify his remarks… Pace’s response created such an outrage from the audience that Chairman Robert Byrd (D-WV) was forced to temporarily adjourn the hearing: “Let us clear the room!” he shouted, as chaos erupted.
Click through to watch the video.—Caro
2 Patriot Act Provisions Ruled Unlawful
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Two provisions of the USA Patriot Act are unconstitutional because they allow secret wiretapping and searches without a showing of probable cause, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken ruled that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, as amended by the Patriot Act, "now permits the executive branch of government to conduct surveillance and searches of American citizens without satisfying the probable cause requirements of the Fourth Amendment." MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
Political ads likely to run up $100 million tab
Presidential candidates, the political parties and interest groups will spend at least twice as much as they did in 2003-04 on TV ads before nominees are chosen, campaign advertising experts say. A record $100 million or more will likely be paid to put campaign ads on the air by the time the Republican and Democratic races are effectively over, likely some time in February. And the allure of posting ads for free on YouTube and at campaign websites won't replace broadcast TV because that "old media" is better suited for reaching voters, the experts say.
Bud.tv Gets Another Year to Prove Itself
Anheuser-Busch has announced that they will continue to fund their struggling online video site, Bud.tv, for at least another year. This news comes as a surprise to some as it is estimated that the site is only attracting approximately 50,000 unique visitors a month. With the site already costing the company between $20 - $30 million, you have to admire their tenacity to stick by a site that is not providing a large return on investment.
Man! What I could do with $20 to $30 million! There would be a media revolution.—Caro
Huffington Post Raises Another $5 Million (by Stan Schroeder, Mashable)
The cool thing to do if you have a famous blog, it seems, is raising funding - and more funding. The Huffington Post, world’s 5th most popular blog according to Technorati, has raised another $5 million in its second round of funding. The investors are the same as in the first round: Softbank Capital, Greycroft Partners, CEO and co-founder Ken Lerer as well as Bob Pittman’s Pilot Group. This rounds it up at $10 million of funding total - not bad for, you know, a blog.
Give me $5 million, and I’d STILL mount a media revolution.—Caro
Huffington Post doesn't have plans to pay its bloggers
"That's not our financial model," says co-founder Ken Lerer. "We offer them visibility, promotion and distribution with a great company." He says the Huffington Post will be profitable next year, when its audience could double, thanks to interest in the 2008 election.
And I would PAY my CONTRIBUTORS, by damn.—Caro
Technology puts Myanmar protests in international eye
BANGKOK (AFP) - Myanmar's swelling protests are in the global spotlight with the help of hi-tech gadgets in the era of YouTube -- a stark contrast to the 1988 uprising in the pre-Internet age.
FAIR Media Advisory: Disappearing Antiwar Protests
Hundreds of thousands of Americans around the country protested the Iraq War on the weekend of September 24-25, with the largest demonstration bringing between 100,000 and 300,000 to Washington, D.C. on Saturday. But if you relied on television for your news, you'd hardly know the protests happened at all.
Scoop for Spanish Daily: Transcript of Private 2003 Bush Talk Promising Iraq Invasion
NEW YORK El Pais, the highest-circulation daily in Spain, today published what it said was the transcript of a private talk between President George W. Bush and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar on February 22, 2003… Bush purportedly said he planned to invade Iraq inf March "if there was a United Nations Security Council resolution or not....We have to get rid of Saddam. We will be in Baghdad at the end of March." He said the U.S. takeover would happen without widespread destruction. He observed that he was willing to play bad cop to British Prime Minister Tony Blair's good cop.
Countdown: Rep. Harman Gives More Details On Bogus Terror Threat On Capitol
Keith Olbermann talks with Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) to get more details on the revelation that the Bush Administration used bogus intelligence in order to frighten lawmakers into voting for last August’s expanded FISA bill. Harman says that after much digging she found the classified intelligence document in question and the document clearly stated that the intelligence community did not deem the source to be reliable.
Click through to watch the video.—Caro
Clinton rips right wing for ‘feigned outrage’ over MoveOn ad.
In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, President Bill Clinton said there was something “completely disingenuous about the feigned outrage” from conservatives over the MoveOn ad. Clinton noted that many of the same conservatives who expressed outrage had likened Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA) to Osama bin Laden and had smeared Sen. John Kerry’s (D-MA) war record.
From a man who was attacked relentlessly by that same right wing. Click through to watch the video.—Caro
Republicans gripe about Jackie Kucinich's political reporting
At least one high-ranking Republican has refused to be interviewed by The Hill's Jackie Kucinich -- daughter of Dennis -- because he questions her objectivity. Kucinich's editor, Hugo Gurdon, says: "Her reporting is not influenced by her father being a presidential candidate and longtime politician, except perhaps that it means she grew up in the political world and understands it well."
But if her name were Jackie Bush, she’d be touted by Republicans as a perfectly objective reporter, whether she was or not.—Caro Technology & ScienceVonage Patent Ruling Partly Upheld
NEW YORK (AP) - For the second time in two days, Internet phone company Vonage Holdings Corp. was hit with bad legal news Wednesday when a federal appeals court upheld a jury verdict and injunction against it for patent infringement.
Coming Soon: Make VoIP Calls Using an iPhone
TruPhone, a VoIP services provider in the UK, is reportedly developing new software that would enable iPhone users to make calls over WiFi. In turn, this means users would be paying to make calls over the Internet as opposed to over their mobile network, which is generally considerably less expensive. When not in range of a WiFi network, the service would place the calls through the SIM card, as is the case with all iPhone’s (and most other mobiles) today.
Kids' Vaccine Ingredient Not Likely Linked to Neurological Problems
CDC study finds no clear association between thimerosal, mental woes.
Music Training Helps Gets People Talking
It affects brain to enhance verbal skills, study finds
Close Friends Protect Teen Girls From Abusive Boyfriends
Teenage girls who stick close with their circle of friends are less likely to take abuse from the boys they date, a new study suggests.
Food Tastes Boring to Anorexics
Food tastes more bland and boring to anorexics than it does to people without eating disorders, finds a new study. Furthermore, the inability to enjoy food might last even after people recover from the disease.
High HDL Levels Protect Heart Health
Reduced risk of cardiovascular trouble even when LDL levels were low, study finds.
Fruits, Veggies Won't Lower Colon Cancer Risk
Study finds no link, but these foods do fight other health woes, experts say
Quantum communication: atoms talk long distance
CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. physicists have coaxed tiny artificial atoms into communicating in an advance that may lead to super-fast quantum computers, the researchers said on Wednesday.
NASA Rover Reaches First Stop Inside Giant Martian Crater
NASA's Mars rover Opportunity has arrived at its first stop inside an expansive crater, where it is poised to reach out and touch what may be the ancient remains of the red planet's surface, mission managers said Wednesday. EnvironmentImpact of Arctic heat wave stuns climate change researchers
Unprecedented warm temperatures in the High Arctic this past summer were so extreme that researchers with a Queen’s-led climate change project have begun revising their forecasts.
Global Warming Fix: Help the Earth Cure Itself
James Lovelock, environmentalist, futurologist and creator of the Gaia hypothesis and its view of Earth as a huge organism, proposes that we help the planet "cure itself" by artificially ramping up ocean mixing, which would stimulate the growth of carbon-munching algae, thereby sinking more carbon dioxide into the ocean.
Poll: Many Pessimistic About Environment
People want their leaders to move boldly to help the environment but give them dismal grades for their actions so far, according to a poll released Wednesday that highlighted rampant pessimism on the issue.
Bush climate goals marked by bureaucracy
WASHINGTON - The United States is lining up with China, India and the world's other biggest polluters in opposition to mandatory cuts in Earth-warming greenhouse gases sought by the United Nations and European countries.
Brazil Claims First With Carbon Auction
Brazil's largest city sold millions of dollars worth of carbon credits at an auction Wednesday in a deal that experts said paves the way for developing countries to make money fighting global warming.
Big Oil's Big Stall on Ethanol
Even as it pockets billions in subsidies, it's trying to keep E85 out of drivers' tanks
Jane Goodall says biofuel crops hurt rain forests
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Primate scientist Jane Goodall said on Wednesday the race to grow crops for vehicle fuels is damaging rain forests in Asia, Africa and South America and adding to the emissions blamed for global warming.
Waste Management to Build 60 Landfill Gas to Energy Facilities
COLUMBIA, S.C., Sept. 27, 2007 -- Waste Management Inc. plans to make a major investment in renewable energy by building 60 more landfill gas to energy facilities across the U.S. in the next five years. For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com. |
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