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Morning headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoryMukasey won't rule out expansive action in war on terror
WASHINGTON — Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey refused Thursday to rule out a controversial method of interrogating overseas terrorism suspects and declined to place limits on President Bush's authority to eavesdrop without warrants. Buck Fush
The WorldIraqi Sunnis press to delay hangings
BAGHDAD - Iraq's leaders grappled Thursday over the death sentences for three former Saddam Hussein regime heavyweights — including the notorious enforcer known as "Chemical Ali" — amid warnings the hangings could enflame sectarian violence and derail efforts at reconciliation.
UN taking action for Syria error
UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations said Thursday action would be taken against the interpreter responsible for an erroneous report that Syria has a nuclear facility and expressed regret at the incident.
Palestinians: no crisis in Israel talks
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian negotiators on Thursday dismissed claims that momentum for peace has stalled, saying Israel and the Palestinians still have their sights set on framing a shared vision of peace.
Blasts near Bhutto kill 126 in Pakistan
KARACHI, Pakistan - A suicide bombing in a crowd welcoming former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto killed up to 126 people Thursday night, shattering her celebratory procession through Pakistan's biggest city after eight years in exile.
Russia Launches Ballistic Missile
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia on Thursday carried out a successful test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. The Topol RS-12M rocket hit its intended target on Kamchatka near the Pacific Ocean, the Russian Strategic Missile Forces said in a statement.
Power in China still flows from the party
In China, the Communist Party ideologues who served Mao Zedong and demanded blind loyalty have been replaced by colorless technocrats, including current party chief Hu Jintao. Hu and other leaders paper over the contradictions between the party's Marxist roots and the capitalist frenzy driving the world's fastest-growing economy. They pursue cautious policies intended to keep the economy booming while preserving social stability — and guarding the party's monopoly on power.
Taiwan Leader Dismisses Hu Overture
President Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan denounced a peace overture from President Hu Jintao of China that has received a cautious welcome from both of the candidates to succeed him.
Sudan government fails to reconcile
KHARTOUM, Sudan - The president and his estranged vice president failed Thursday to bridge a government rift threatening a 2005 peace agreement that ended two decades of civil war between Sudan's north and south. The NationDayum! (by Melissa McEwan)
Let no one say that Democratic Representative from California Pete Stark didn't go down fighting on the SCHIP bill. "The Republicans are worried that we can't pay for insuring an additional ten million children; they sure don't care about finding two hundred billion dollars to fight the illegal war in Iraq. Where you gonna get that money? You gonna tell us lies, like you’re telling us today? Is that how you're gonna fund the war? You don't have money to fund the war or children—but you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the President's amusement."
We need more Democrats like Stark. The right wingers are sliming him, so go to his website and give him some love. And we need more like Leahy, if he really follows through. See below.—Caro
Exclusive: Senator Chris Dodd Will Put A Hold On Telecom Immunity Bill
Senator Chris Dodd plans to put a hold on the Senate FISA renewal bill because it reportedly grants retroactive immunity to telephone companies for any role they played in the Bush administration's warrantless eavesdropping program, Election Central has learned. Dodd will send a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid this afternoon informing him of his decision. Dodd also plans to put up a page today at his campaign Web site where opponents of the immunity provision can register their opposition.
Please click through and help Senator Dodd oppose this insanity.—Caro
Health deal sought after veto upheld
WASHINGTON - The Democratic-controlled House failed to override President Bush's veto of a politically popular children's health bill, and the White House instantly called for compromise talks on a replacement.
Like he really wants to compromise. But some people will believe it, just because they saw the headline.—Caro
Senate committee to move quickly on global warming bill
WASHINGTON — With the introduction Thursday of broad legislation to curb global warming, a key committee is hoping to move the bill for Senate consideration by the end of the year. "Today will be remembered as the turning point in the fight against global warming," Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said on the Senate floor, hailing the introduction of the compromise bill sponsored by Sens. John Warner, R-Va., and Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut independent.
Boxer, Warner, and Lieberman? That should be a great bill.—Caro
No cut in money for abortion providers
WASHINGTON - The Senate blocked a bid by anti-abortion forces Thursday to cut off money for clinics that provide family planning and other health services in addition to abortions.
Criminal probe into U.S. Embassy in Iraq construction
WASHINGTON — A mortar shell smashed into the hulking new U.S. Embassy that's under construction in Baghdad last May, damaging a wall and causing minor injuries to people inside the building. It also exposed enormous problems in the management of what's become a $592 million government construction project.
Blackwater won't allow arrests
A defiant Blackwater Chairman Erik Prince said yesterday he will not allow Iraqi authorities to arrest his contractors and try them in Iraq's faulty justice system. "We will not let our people be taken by the Iraqis," Mr. Prince told editors and reporters at The Washington Times.
Above the law, are they?—Caro
White House cools Iran warning
WASHINGTON - The White House said Thursday that President Bush was simply making "a rhetorical point" when he suggested that if Iran obtained nuclear weapons, it could lead to World War III.
Tough Punishment Expected for Warhead Errors
The Air Force has decided to relieve at least five of its officers of command and is considering filing criminal charges in connection with the Aug. 29 "Bent Spear" incident in which nuclear-armed cruise missiles were mistakenly flown from North Dakota to Louisiana, two senior Air Force officials said.
Most fake bombs missed by screeners
WASHINGTON — Security screeners at two of the nation's busiest airports failed to find fake bombs hidden on undercover agents posing as passengers in more than 60% of tests last year, according to a classified report obtained by USA TODAY.
Thomas rejects notion he follows Scalia
ATLANTA - Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas condemned suggestions that he follows the lead of fellow conservative Antonin Scalia, telling an audience Thursday the notion is based on a racial stereotype.
(Laugh track here)—Caro
The New Billionaire-Criminal Class (by Russell Mokhiber)
In (Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (And Stick You with the Bill), New York Times reporter David Cay) Johnston seeks to afflict the comfortable top one tenth of one percent of Americans--the 300,000 men, women and children who last year made more money than the bottom 150 million Americans... Much of the wealth transfer upstairs has come at the hands of corporate welfare artists who have shifted billions from the middle class to the billionaire class… But the current crop of corporate candidates will likely ignore it so as to not offend the funding class. MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
"Osama card" gives Bush, Republicans clout
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush may be a lame duck and his Republican party a minority in Congress, but they showed this week that with deft use of the "Osama card" they can still wield a powerful political hand.
The Democrats really do deserve what they get (by John Aravosis)
(H)ow is it that the Republicans are still effectively using Osama - the guy who they let go - as a cudgel against the Democrats?... We have a very serious problem in our party. We have … too many people with power who do not understand the basics of playing hardball. The basics of public relations. The basics of running REAL issue campaigns. The basics of how to give the other guy a black eye and not stop pounding until he cries uncle, and even then you hit him again. Far too many people running our party and our movement have no idea how to play the game. And if we don't figure out how to make them fear for their political lives, or finally, if we have to, run them out of town, nothing is ever going to change.
New research concludes that the sensationalism sweeping local news is bad for ratings
Viewers, the study found, are perfectly willing to watch stories on education policy or tax debates - in many cases they'll tune in to those stories but flip away from a segment on a celebrity divorce or a deadly highway pileup. And they'll consistently reward in-depth reporting with higher ratings than more cursory stories, no matter what the topic. The findings suggest that the shift to violence and voyeurism has left everyone worse off.
Media Executives Arrested in Phoenix
Two executives from Village Voice Media were arrested Thursday night in Phoenix on charges that a story published earlier in the day in The Phoenix New Times revealed grand jury secrets.
Get ready for the War on Christmas.
Thanksgiving is still a month away, but WorldNetDaily is already selling “Christmas-defense kits,” with tools to help you “fight back” against the “the American Civil Liberties Union grinches.” Included in these kits are magnets, “Operation: Just Say ‘Merry Christmas’” bracelets, and various bumper stickers.
Reliable Sources: Transcript for October 14
CNN host (Howard) Kurtz baits a right-wing guest into questioning whether Al Gore's winning of the Nobel Peace Prize "invalidate(s) the integrity of that prize" with the story of "a British judge finding this week that there were nine factual errors in An Inconvenient Truth in a lawsuit in that country." But as one writer explains on his Deltoid science blog, "error" means something else in this narrow legal context—it pertains to balancing perspectives, not to the science or factual errors.
Instapundit attacks journalists’ patriotism.
Responding to an op-ed by Wall Street Journal deputy editor Daniel Henniger today about media coverage of Iraq, Glenn “Instapundit” Reynolds lobbed an ad hominem attack on the patriotism of America’s “political and journalistic classes,” saying they “lack sufficient patriotism“… Since 2003, 160 media workers have been killed in Iraq, including two Americans and 48 who were working for international news organizations.
How many Instapundits have died in Iraq? Zero.—Caro
Hewitt’s ideological double standard for journalists.
During an interview with Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz, right wing radio host Hugh Hewitt attacked the objectivity of MSNBC’s Chris Matthews and Tim Russert, saying the “clowns” have “damaged” NBC “ideologically” because they “worked for two Democratic politicians close to twenty years ago.” Later in the interview, however, Hewitt struck a very different tone when discussing Diane Sawyer’s past employment for Richard Nixon.
Did threats from Limbaugh get Corliss to soften a profile?
Rush Limbaugh says he once told a magazine writer who was profiling him: "We're going to find out where your kids go to school. We're going to find out who you knocked up in high school. We're going to find out what drugs you used." Limbaugh says those threats (and others) "changed the tone of the story by about 60 percent, I would say, from what it was going to be." Who is the writer? David Edelstein thinks it's Richard Corliss, who wrote a "rather gentle" 1995 Time cover story on Limbaugh.
Robert Novak Is Concerned About 0.00003 Percent of the Budget (by Dean Baker)
The Washington Post columnist dedicated his column today to a $1 million earmark (0.3 cents per person) for a museum dedicated to Woodstock. This may well be a waste of taxpayers' money, but it is wrong to imply that such waste amounts to a big factor in the budget or budget deficit. (For another comparison, the $1 million is approximately equal to what we'll spend in 3 minutes on the Iraq War.)
Poll or Prophecy? (By Michael Meyer)
Nearly two weeks ago, The Washington Post and ABC released pointing out that every candidate since 1980 “who has gotten majority support in polls taken the year before the election has gone on to win the nomination.” But while the stated significance of polls lies in their ability to detect public interest in a candidate, it is too often left unsaid that these polls also help to create that interest.
Coremetrics: redefining clicks
Joseph Davis, ceo of Coremetrics, just stopped by. He explained why the company is phasing out contracts tied to "page views." Increasingly, Web surfers are visiting a page and doing all sorts of things on it. They're interacting. So instead of counting page views, Coremetrics has implemented what Davis calls "element tagging," and is counting "server calls." This helps distinguish fly-by page views from more meaningful visits. Technology & ScienceWant to Go to Mars? Crews Wanted for Mock Missions
The Mars Society is currently taking applications from the general public, educators, and students to develop the skills necessary to thrive in a regime analogous to The Red Planet. Crews of dedicated volunteers work in full simulation in the canyonlands of Utah in order to conduct field investigations in the physical sciences and engineering.
Come on, all you astronaut wannabes, sign up!—Caro
Secret to Stress Revealed in Mice
Results of a new study, published in the Oct. 19 issue of the journal Cell, uncover chemical differences in certain brain regions of stress-resilient and stress-vulnerable mice that could explain the different adversity responses of both rodents and humans. Mice that tend to stress out produce too much of a certain chemical, apparently causing them to overreact.
Neanderthals May Have Had Gene for Speech
The archaic human species possessed a critical gene known to underlie speech, according to DNA evidence.
Elephants Know Good People from Bad
Elephants can apparently smell and see which humans might be out to get them, research now suggests.
Something Very Fishy Revealed about Human Fingers
A gene responsible for the development of fins in a primitive fish also helped shape the hands, feet and wings of every land animal alive today.
Origin of Vision Discovered
Hydras, a genus of freshwater animals that are kin to corals and jellyfish, measure only a few millimeters in diameter and have been around for hundreds of millions of years. Scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara studied the genes associated with vision (called opsins) in these tiny creatures and found opsin proteins all over their bodies. Though they don't have eyes or any specific light-receptive organs, researchers think that the light-sensing proteins concentrated in the mouth area of the Hydras help them to use light sensitivity to search out prey.
There you go, creationists. Eyes didn’t spring from the forehead of God.—Caro
Nobel Winner Issues Apology for Comments About Blacks
James D. Watson, who won the Nobel Prize for helping decipher DNA, apologized “unreservedly” Thursday for comments reported this week suggesting that black people, over all, are not as intelligent as whites.
Missions mark giant leaps for womankind
As one female astronaut commands the shuttle Discovery, another will assume the leadership post on the space station When space shuttle Discovery blasts off as early as Tuesday, the astronaut in the commander's seat will make history and also represent the likely end of an era. EnvironmentExpert: Warming Climate Fuels Mega-Fires
A leading fire ecologist tells 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley more and hotter forest fires due to global warming could cause the loss of half the forests in the West.
Ex-CIA Head: Biofuels Help Security
The U.S. has become dangerously dependent on foreign oil, and developing fuel from agricultural products is in its national security interest, former CIA director James Woolsey told a biofuels conference. For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com.
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