Good Morning! - Morning Headlines

[Caro]

Morning headlines brought to you by

Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com

Top Story

Senate panel rejects Bush's Iraq plan
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Senate opponents to President George W. Bush's plan to flood Iraq with more American combat troops ignored his pleas for a chance to prove the strategy and rejected the surge in a non-binding resolution.

Off the Wahl

The World

U.S., Iraqi troops kill 30 militants
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi troops battled Sunni insurgents hiding in high-rise buildings on Haifa Street in the heart of Baghdad Wednesday, with snipers on roofs taking aim at gunmen in open windows as Apache attack helicopters hovered overhead.

Bomb explodes in Baghdad market area
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A bomb attached to a motorcycle exploded in a predominantly Shiite market area in downtown Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least four people and wounding 18, police said.

Livni, Abbas to meet in Switzerland
JERUSALEM - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet Thursday on the sidelines of a high-profile conference in Switzerland to explore ways to resume long-stalled peacemaking, an Abbas aide said.

Hezbollah Wont Topple the Lebanese Government, Its Leader Says
Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said Lebanons opposition movement had decided to stop short of toppling the government of Fouad Siniora, fearing civil strife.

Paris donors' conference to raise billions for Lebanon
PARIS (AFP) - An international donors conference for Lebanon will opened in Paris with the United States, France and the European Union set to pledge close to two billion dollars to support the embattled government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.

Iran receives Russian defense missiles
TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian officials said Wednesday that they have taken delivery of advanced Russian air defense missile systems — weapons intended, according to one Russian news agency, to defend Tehran's major nuclear facilities.

Despite U.S. pressure, Afghan government won't spray heroin-producing poppies
Afghanistan's heroin-producing poppies will not be sprayed with herbicide this year despite a record crop in 2006 and U.S. pressure for President Hamid Karzai to allow the drug-fighting tactic, a spokesman said Thursday.

Pakistani Premier Faults Afghans for Taliban Woes on Border
Pakistans prime minister said the root of the problem was the Afghan governments weak authority, not Pakistani support of the Taliban.

Georgian sting seizes bomb grade uranium
WASHINGTON - It was one of the most serious cases of smuggling of nuclear material in recent years: A Russian man, authorities allege, tried to sell a small amount of nuclear-bomb grade uranium in a plastic bag in his jacket pocket.

Australia unveils multi-billion dollar bid to beat water shortage
CANBERRA (AFP) - Australian Prime Minister John Howard has unveiled a radical 10-billion dollar (7.8-billion US) plan aimed at protecting dwindling water supplies in the world's driest inhabited continent.

Poll gives Conservatives a slight lead
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's Conservative government has a slight lead over the opposition Liberals according to a poll released on Wednesday, in an environment in which nobody appears to have a lock on the next election.

Police in Tijuana issued sling shots
TIJUANA, Mexico - The police department has issued about 60 slingshots to officers in the violent border city of Tijuana, where soldiers confiscated police weapons two weeks ago on allegations of collusion with drug traffickers.

Ortega's 'people's councils' approved
MANAGUA, Nicaragua - Nicaraguan lawmakers on Wednesday approved a bill backed by President Daniel Ortega to create "people's councils" that some fear will resemble the defense committees that operated under the Sandinista government of the 1980s.

The Nation

Panel OKs Petraeus As Iraq Commander
A Senate committee on Wednesday approved the nomination of Army Lt. Gen. David Petraeus to command American forces in Iraq, replacing Gen. George Casey.

U.S. Troop Buildup Planned For Afghanistan
With the Taliban staging a comeback, the Pentagon is reinforcing its combat troops in Afghanistan for what is expected to be a spring of heavy fighting, reports David Martin . The total number of U.S. troops fighting there will soon hit 24,000.

U.S. Military Spied on Hundreds of Antiwar Demos
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 24 (OneWorld) - At least 186 antiwar protests in the United States have been monitored by the Pentagon's domestic surveillance program, according to documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which also found that the Defense Department collected more than 2,800 reports involving Americans in a single anti-terrorism database.

Anti-war groups plan Washington rally
WASHINGTON - Anti-war activists, unions and other national organizations promise a large protest rally Saturday against the Iraq war.

Surpluses could be just promises
A day after President Bush pledged to balance the federal budget by 2012 without raising taxes, Congress' budget agency said it probably can't be done. In a report, the CBO projected budget surpluses beginning in 2012 only if current laws and policies remain the same.
Message sent to Mark Thoma of Economist’s View regarding this article: “Please comment on this study, Prof. Thoma. Does it include the cost of Bush's foreign wars? Does "current laws and policies remain the same" mean allowing Bush's tax cuts to expire? How is the FICA contribution surplus taken into account? I just can't imagine how this could be true.” —Caro

Tax breaks sidetrack minimum wage bill
WASHINGTON - Democrats' promise of a quick increase in the minimum wage ran aground Wednesday in the Senate, where lawmakers are insisting it include new tax breaks for restaurants and other businesses that rely on low-pay workers.

New education reforms get mixed reviews
WASHINGTON - Democrats and teachers' unions are criticizing the Bush administration for proposing to let school officials override collective bargaining agreements and state laws in an effort to reshape the No Child Left Behind law.

IRS pushes back tax filing deadline
WASHINGTON - Taxpayers around the country will get an extra two days, until April 17, to file 2006 returns and pay taxes owed, the Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday.

Justices defend Florida recount decision
WASHINGTON - Three of the five Supreme Court justices who handed the presidency to George W. Bush in 2000 say they had no choice but to intervene in the Florida recount.
Oh, don’t get me started! You certainly did have a choice, justices. The Fifth Circuit refused to hear Bush’s petition, thereby leaving a decision on Florida state law up to that state’s own supreme court. You, on the other hand, jumped into a fray where you had absolutely no constitutional or other legal authority. And just look at the result. The man you installed in office has tried to destroy our country. Lawlessness promotes lawlessness. —Caro

Witness: Libby part of leak plan
Lewis "Scooter" Libby was part of a White House strategy to use press leaks to blame the CIA for faulty intelligence about Iraq's efforts to acquire nuclear bomb material, a former top CIA official testified Wednesday.

Blanco rips Bush on State of Union address
To Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, the hurricanes of 2005 and their effect were conspicuous by their absence in President Bush's State of the Union speech. She angrily criticized Bush on Wednesday for not mentioning 2005's destructive storms.

Economy & Business

Dow at record after tech rally
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose sharply on Wednesday, driving the Dow Jones industrial average to a record high, after profit reports from Yahoo Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc. renewed optimism about tech company profits.

Outsourcing your deposits
Opening an account with a U.S. branch of a foreign bank, say India, could bring you higher yields.

Media

Newspapers See a President Seeking a Last Chance
How did the press cover the President’s State of the Union address? Did it emphasize his domestic policy agenda or did Iraq policy grab the headlines? Did the media focus on his appeal for another chance on Iraq or his defiance on that subject? A PEJ review of front-page headlines on the day after finds the answers.

A Girl's Got the Gavel! But What's She Wearing?
Despite being an accomplished, powerful woman, some members of the press still can't get over the fact that she's, you know, a girl.

Is Being Controversial More Important Than Being Right?
Dinesh D'Souza's new book, which is being skewered by both the left and the right, probably won't hurt his career in punditry.

The new Politico and "balance": The obsessive-compulsive disorder of the American media
The much-ballyhooed political website, the Politico, made its long-awaited debut this morning, and the D.C.-based enterprise -- staffed by refugees from the Washington Post, Time, etc. -- is exactly what I expected: Mildly interesting pieces that you might find on the front page of the WP (Blacks may like Clinton more than Obama! John McCain speaks! Political cartoons…) but nothing that lives on the same planet as edgy.

Running for President? No Press Conference Necessary
Forget press conferences. For the 2008 presidential race, several of the big announcements are bypassing news organizations and going direct to the public, via the Web.

Newspapers: Not Visual Enough for the Future?
Futurist John Naisbitt, author of 1988 bestseller Megatrends, took the stage at this week's Digital Life Design conference in Munich. He discussed the trend toward a more visual culture, and how that might affect text-focused media. In his words, "When we talk about the death of newspapers, we are talking about the death of a certain culture -- not of newspapers necessarily."

Blethen felt like he was mugged at media reform conference
Ryan Blethen left the National Conference for Media Reform feeling good about the future of newspapers despite the bashing of journalism's mainstreamers. "Apparently, mainstream journalists are to blame for the war, for not connecting the Bush administration to 9/11, for the plight of the middle class, and whatever other grievances could be identified. ... Folks are unhappy with the press. I do not blame them. We are living in a divisive time, and the press is partly responsible for our nation's ills and the war."

Editor James O'Shea unveils Web initiative at Times
Los Angeles Times Editor James E. O'Shea unveiled a major initiative this morning designed to expand the audience and revenue generated by the newspaper's website, saying the newspaper is in "a fight to recoup threatened revenue that finances our news gathering." O'Shea employed dire statistics on declining advertising to urge The Times' roughly 940 journalists to throw off a "bunker mentality" and to begin viewing latimes.com as the paper's primary vehicle for delivering news.

"I'm not sure local papers need to cover Iraq," says Welch
Former GE chief Jack Welch, who wants to own the Boston Globe, says that local newspapers should get out of Iraq and focus on news closer to home. "You've got to make the newsroom not control the world. I'm not sure local papers need to cover Iraq, need to cover global events. They can be real local papers. And franchise, purchase from people very willing to sell to you their wire services that will give you coverage."
Sure, we really only need one source for news about Iraq, don’t you think? In fact, the media could save a lot of money by just printing the administration’s press releases about Iraq. Oh, that’s right. That’s what they’re actually DOING. —Caro

Experts: Tribune Moves Back to Square One
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Tribune Co., considering a series of rather modest bids for some of its assets, is probably going to be best served by pursuing the sale of a few non-essential assets and by issuing a bigger dividend to shareholders, newspaper industry experts say. "It's looking more and more like they're going to remain intact, though perhaps by selling off some more of their non-crucial assets," said newspaper analyst John Morton.

Science & Technology

Yahoo's new ad system could boost growth:analysts
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc.'s progress in launching a new Internet ad sales system could be a turning point for its shares as investors bet on faster revenue growth, analysts said on Wednesday.

Expert: U.S. military needs wikis, video-sharing
San Francisco (IDGNS) - The U.S. military should embrace user-driven Web services such as wikis, video-sharing sites, and social-networking sites as its focus grows to include providing more security and reconstruction help, a defense analyst recommended Wednesday.

Wal-Mart Taps Microsoft, Novell For Linux Deployment
Wal-Mart said the Linux deployment will allow it to reduce IT costs by paving the way for a move to lower-cost, commodity servers without sacrificing performance.

OpenOffice, Office 2007 ready to rumble on rival document formats
San Francisco (IDGNS) - On Tuesday, rivals Microsoft and OpenOffice.org both released toolkits that support building applications for their competing document file formats and productivity suites.

Scientists unveil most dense memory circuit ever made
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The most dense computer memory circuit ever fabricated -- capable of storing around 2,000 words in a unit the size of a white blood cell -- was unveiled by scientists in California.

Clean energy seen 50 pct of supply by 2050: report
OSLO (Reuters) - Clean energies could surge to supply half of world demand by 2050 if governments crack down on use of fossil fuels, said a study by the renewable energy industry and an environmental group on Thursday.