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[Caro]

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Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com

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Iraqis resist U.S. pressure to enact oil law
BAGHDAD — It has not even reached parliament, but the oil law that U.S. officials call vital to ending Iraq's civil war is in serious trouble among Iraqi lawmakers, many of whom see it as a sloppy document rushed forward to satisfy Washington's clock. Opposition ranges from vehement to measured, but two things are clear: The May deadline that the White House had been banking on is in doubt.

Republican senator slams Iraqi government
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top-ranking Republican in the U.S. Senate on Sunday expressed frustration with the Iraqi government, saying Republicans were "overwhelmingly disappointed" with the lack of political progress. "The Iraqi government is a huge disappointment," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told CNN'S Late Edition on Sunday.

Mo Paul

The World

Two attacks kill 8 people in Iraq
BAGHDAD - Gunmen opened fire on a police checkpoint, and mortar rounds struck an outdoor market, killing eight people in Iraq on Monday, police said.

Al-Qaida claims to have 3 missing troops
BAGHDAD - An al-Qaida front group announced Sunday it had captured American soldiers in a deadly attack the day before, as thousands of U.S. troops searched insurgent areas south of Baghdad for their three missing comrades.

Battles continue in Gaza, despite truce
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Gunmen of the rival Hamas and Fatah movements traded fire Monday, killing two Fatah fighters and wounding at least 10 people despite an Egyptian-brokered agreement to end the violence that is jeopardizing a power-sharing deal between the two sides.

Iran vows "severe" response if U.S. attack
ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday threatened "severe" retaliation if the United States attacked his country, which is locked in a standoff with the West over its nuclear programme.

Strikes hit Pakistan after violence
KARACHI, Pakistan - A general strike was observed in Karachi and other major Pakistani cities Monday to protest violence that left 41 dead amid growing discontent over President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's ouster of the chief justice.

Japan takes key step to rewrite constitution
Japan took the first major step Monday toward rewriting its post-World War II pacifist constitution, a top priority for the conservative premier as the country seeks to carve out a larger global role… Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, an outspoken conservative and the first Japanese leader born after World War II, has made rewriting the constitution one of his top policy goals.
Just what the world needs is ANOTHER militarized superpower. —Caro

The Nation

Tucker: Active-Duty Generals Will ‘Revolt’ Against Bush If He Maintains Escalation Into 2008
Appearing on NBC’s Chris Matthews Show this morning, Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Cynthia Tucker revealed that sources within the military are warning of “a revolt from active-duty generals if September rolls around and the president is sticking with the surge into ‘08.” Noting that retired generals such as Gen. John Batiste have already begun voicing their discontent with the president’s strategy in Iraq, Tucker added that the generals “don’t want to fall by the wayside like the generals in Vietnam did, kept pushing a war that they knew was lost.”
Click through to watch the video.

US National Guard chief says funds lagging risks
MUSCATATUCK, Indiana (Reuters) - The National Guard is likely to see an unprecedented level of new funds to fix or replace equipment worn out in Iraq and Afghanistan, but that's still not enough to make the force ready for homeland missions, its chief said.

Stryker losses in Iraq raise questions
BAGHDAD — A string of heavy losses from powerful roadside bombs has raised new questions about the vulnerability of the Stryker, the Army's troop-carrying vehicle hailed by supporters as the key to a leaner, more mobile force. Since the Strykers went into action in violent Diyala province north of Baghdad two months ago, losses of the vehicles have been rising steadily, U.S. officials said.

Voter-Fraud Complaints by GOP Drove Dismissals
Nearly half the U.S. attorneys slated for removal by the administration last year were targets of Republican complaints that they were lax on (non-existent) voter fraud, including efforts by presidential adviser Karl Rove to encourage more prosecutions of election- law violations, according to new documents and interviews… It has been clear for months that the administration's eagerness to launch voter-fraud prosecutions played a role in some of the firings, but recent testimony, documents and interviews show the issue was more central than previously known.

Religious Groups Reap Share of U.S. Aid for Pet Projects
Religious organizations have long competed for federal contracts to provide social services, and they have tried to influence Congress on matters of moral and social policy — indeed, most major denominations have a presence in Washington to monitor such legislation. But an analysis of federal records shows that some religious organizations are also hiring professional lobbyists to pursue the narrowly tailored individual appropriations known as earmarks.

San Diego County hires ex-sales rep for Diebold as registrar
NORTH COUNTY -- A former sales representative for the company that made the county's electronic voting machines has been hired as the county's registrar of voters, county officials announced Friday.

Media

Permanent link to MTA daily media news

California Paper Asks on Mother's Day: How Many More Young Americans Will Be Killed in Iraq?
The editorial page of the Stockton (Ca.) Record has a special message for readers today: Along with the photos of 20 local men killed in Iraq, it poses the questionm "On this Mother's Day we ask: How many more must pay this price? Who will be next?"

Auctioning Journalistic Integrity
The media has been taken over in the past by larger media, by industrial companies like General Electric, by entertainment companies like Disney. Now it is being taken over by tax-avoiding speculators whose monetized mind sweeps aside the fiduciary duties of journalism that is supposed to nurture a trust so important that our founding fathers made it the only business protected by the First Amendment.

Worst Talk Show Hosts of the Week
This week we have a duo of Worst talkers. Opie and Anthony, who have been shocking their radio listeners, for several years now, might have crossed the proverbial line with a bit they performed on their May 10 XM Satellite Show. During the bit they interviewed a guest named Homeless Charlie who fantasized about have sex with Condoleezza Rice, Laura Bush and Queen Elizabeth.

A moment in the demise of "Nightline"
A "debate" over the existence of God reveals the sad state of the nightly news, as guided by the steady hand of Martin Bashir.

Defense Department blocks some Web sites
DENVER - Soldiers serving overseas will lose some of their online links to friends and loved ones back home under a Department of Defense policy that a high-ranking Army official said would take effect Monday.

The High Price of Getting Paid for Content
Video-sharing sites are a valuable asset, but the slice of the ad revenue they dole out to successful producers isn't how you really want to cash in on the Web. In fact, for the truly successful content creators, such sites threaten to steal audience from what really pays the bills: building your own site.

Technology & Science

Skype joins Wal-Mart's Internet marketplace
NEW YORK - Wal-Mart shoppers can now add one more item to their carts: Skype's Internet phones. Handsets, webcams and other gear from Skype, a pioneer in PC-to-PC calling, will be sold in more than 1,800 Wal-Mart stores starting Monday.

Mysterious object probably space junk
A mysterious metallic object that crashed through the roof of a New Jersey home earlier this year was not a meteorite after all, but probably a piece of space junk, scientists said Friday.
This has to start happening more and more. There’s a bunch of junk up there. —Caro

Environment

Spy Chief Backs Study of Impact of Warming
The United States’ top intelligence official has endorsed a study by spy agencies about the impact of global warming on national security.

Climate Change Casts Shadow Over World Agriculture
Global climate change will drastically reshape grain, oilseed and other crop production, but exactly how that will happen remains unclear.

Warming world threatens migratory birds
BONN, Germany - Disoriented by erratic weather, birds are changing migration habits and routes to adjust to warmer winters, disappearing feeding grounds and shrinking wetlands, a migration expert says.

Federal Loans Fuel Push For New Coal Plants
Depression-era program still lending billions to energy-inefficient rural electric co-ops even as Congress tries to limit greenhouse-gas emissions.

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