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Morning headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoryBush marks Veterans Day in Texas
WACO, Texas - Marking his fifth Veterans Day since the invasion of Iraq, President Bush honored U.S. troops past and present at a tearful ceremony for four Texans who died there. Humor Ink
The WorldUS: Rocket, mortar fire in Iraq at low
BAGHDAD - Rocket and mortar attacks in Iraq have decreased to their lowest levels in more than 21 months, the U.S. military said Monday.
Good. Bring the troops home.—Caro
Broken Supply Channel Sent Arms for Iraq Astray
By all accounts, … Kassim al-Saffar, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war, … turned the (Baghdad Police Academy) armory into his own private arms bazaar with the seeming approval of some American officials and executives… “This was the craziest thing in the world,” said John Tisdale, a retired Air Force master sergeant who managed an adjacent warehouse. “They were taking weapons away by the truckload.”
Experts: Danger of nuclear-armed Iran may be hyped
(T)he White House and its partisans may be inflating the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran, say experts on the Persian Gulf and nuclear deterrence. While there are dangers, they acknowledge, Iran appears to want a nuclear weapon for the same reason other countries do: to protect itself. Bush, by contrast, has suggested that a nuclear-armed Iran could bring about World War III.
US-led troops kill 18 in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S.-led coalition troops battling suspected militants in southern Afghanistan lobbed a grenade that destroyed a house and killed 15 militants as well as a woman and two children, the coalition said Monday.
Canadian troops hand strategic base to Afghan army
GHUNDEY GHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Canadian troops handed control of a strategic base to the Afghan army on Friday, a first step in a long-term exit strategy for foreign forces helping Afghanistan battle the Taliban in the volatile south.
Pakistan opposition blast election plans
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's opposition called on President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to lift a state of emergency, saying Monday that upcoming parliamentary elections would be a sham unless citizens' rights were fully restored. Several parties were mulling a boycott.
U.N. rights envoy arrives in Myanmar
YANGON (Reuters) - United Nations human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro arrived in military-ruled Myanmar on Sunday, his first visit in four years, to investigate alleged abuses during September's bloody crackdown on democracy protests.
UK politicians censure EU satellite project
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain must try to prevent a European Union satellite navigation system from going ahead until its costs, risks and benefits have been thoroughly assessed, lawmakers said on Monday. The NationDems question latest anti-war strategy
WASHINGTON - Rank-and-file Democrats expressed dismay on Friday over their party's latest anti-war strategy, with some members reluctant to vote around Veterans Day to bring troops home.
Admiral Fallon's words of wisdom
Admiral William Fallon, head of U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, has heard plenty of war-mongering rhetoric from the right when it comes to Iran. He's come to an important conclusion: it's not helping. “‘None of this is helped by the continuing stories that just keep going around and around and around that any day now there will be another war which is just not where we want to go,’ he said.“
The uninvited guest: Chinese sub pops up in middle of U.S. Navy exercise, leaving military chiefs red-faced
American military chiefs have been left dumbstruck by an undetected Chinese submarine popping up at the heart of a recent Pacific exercise and close to the vast U.S.S. Kitty Hawk - a 1,000ft supercarrier with 4,500 personnel on board… The Americans had no idea China's fast-growing submarine fleet had reached such a level of sophistication, or that it posed such a threat.
Who could have known? That’s been the administration’s mantra every time they’ve been caught with their pants down. But they’re still the ones who will protect us! They’ll tell us about every BOGUS threat they can think of.—Caro
Suitcase Nuclear Bomb Unlikely to Exist
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Members of Congress have warned about the dangers of suitcase nuclear weapons. Hollywood has made television shows and movies about them. Even the Federal Emergency Management Agency has alerted Americans to a threat - information the White House includes on its Web site. But government experts and intelligence officials say such a threat gets vastly more attention than it deserves. These officials said a true suitcase nuke would be highly complex to produce, require significant upkeep and cost a small fortune.
Intel official: Expect less privacy
WASHINGTON - As Congress debates new rules for government eavesdropping, a top intelligence official says it is time that people in the United States changed their definition of privacy.
How about we change your administration, not our definition of privacy?—Caro
In Death of Spy Satellite Program, Lofty Plans and Unrealistic Bids
The story behind perhaps the most expensive and spectacular failure in the history of U.S. spy satellite programs.
Farm bill remains in limbo as Senate barters over amendments
WASHINGTON — Senators can't seem to get off the dime, so a $286 billion farm bill remains stalled. Following a week of sluggish debate, the Senate has yet to consider any of the dozens of farm bill amendments that lawmakers have authored. The political gridlock and a presidential veto threat raise the prospect that Congress could simply punt this year. "Here we sit," Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, conceded Thursday.
Excellent. I’m not in love with that farm bill.—Caro
Judge Allows Suit Against Abu Ghraib Military Contractor
Judge Robertson rejected CACI's argument that it should enjoy immunity on account of having served under the U.S. military, partly on the grounds that CACI maintained a separate chain of command and may not have answered directly to military authorities.
Lose billions, make millions (by Chris in Paris at AMERICAblog)
While it's only normal to lose your job after such losses - something the Bush team never could comprehend - the payouts on Wall Street are eye popping. Merrill Lynch is forking out $161 million and now Citigroup is giving away $40 million to their failed CEO. It's just friends taking care of friends and they'll just find a way to throw the costs onto small customers.
Accounting for the Cost of Health Care in the United States (McKinsey & Company, thanks to Mahablog)
The United States spends more of its income on health care than other developed countries and that share is rising. It is an arresting statistic that the U.S. now spends more on health care than it does on food. In this new report MGI finds that the United States spends approximately $480 billion ($1,600 per capita) more on health care than other OECD countries and that additional spending is not explained by a higher disease burden. (Emphasis added.)
Think about this: We taxpayers subsidize the foods that make us obese and give us diabetes, causing the need for more medical care, which we subsidize less. MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
Once upon a time in the blog world (Lance Mannion)
Carolyn Kay, of Make Them Accountable---which is over at the top of my blog roll in the To Be Read First Thing In The Morning group, because it's one of the blogs I read first thing in the morning, and so should you---has posted a link to a post of mine from June of 2005 (A little jello wrestling, a little cheesecake, and, voila! Problem solved) … In it I was trying to suggest ways of calling more attention to the smaller blogs that were at the time being ignored by many of the A list bloggers… I appreciate the link, and many thanks to Carolyn for posting it, although I can't help wondering why she chose that one now. A lot has changed since I wrote it, in the blog world and about this particular blog.
Thanks for the good words, Lance, and I’m ashamed to say that I don’t remember where I got the link to your post. It was embedded in a more recent post, and although I usually credit the post that led me to another post, I failed to do so this time. I didn’t notice the date, and if I had I would have noted that it was written earlier, but I still would have posted an excerpt and a link. Because although things have changed, I don’t think they’ve changed enough. And it’s not just the blogosphere that maintains a gender imbalance.
As I documented (and got severely slammed for) more than a year and a half ago, males outnumber females in all areas of progressive media. I’d like to see that change, and I’m not sure that it will, until we bring further notice to the problem. If someone knows of a wiki that includes the ability to post, and have all maintain, a spreadsheet, please let me know (caro-at-makethemaccountable-dot-com). I’ll post the number of males vs. females in the various areas of progressive media, and then everyone can have at it.
Disprove my thesis, if you can, everybody. I think this issue cries out for further discussion.—Caro
Democratic politics manipulates truth: But there’s a way out (By George Soros, thanks to Economist’s View)
The United States remains a democracy governed by a constitution and the rule of law, with pluralistic media, yet there are disturbing signs that the propaganda methods Orwell described have taken root here… We need to introduce new ground rules for political discourse. These cannot be identical to scientific method, but they should be similar in character, enshrining the pursuit of truth as the criteria on which political views are to be judged.
It’s not going to happen by magic, Mr. Soros, not considering how corrupt the system is. You could change the rules. You could make it happen. I wish you’d put some of those many millions you spend promoting democracy in Eastern Europe to work promoting democracy through alternative media here in the U.S.—Caro
J-PAL course in Nigeria promotes science-based approach in poverty fight (also thanks to Economist’s View)
J-PAL is dedicated to fighting poverty by ensuring that policy decisions are based on scientific evidence. As part of that effort, J-PAL undertakes, promotes the use of and disseminates the results of randomized evaluations of poverty-alleviating programs. Randomized evaluations provide clean, simple and reliable estimates of impact that can help policymakers determine what works, and what doesn't work, so that resources can be directed towards effective projects that improve people's lives.
Wouldn’t it be loverly if all policy decisions were based on evidence derived using scientific methods, rather than on perverted ideology sold to the public by propagandistic techniques?—Caro
So Happy Together (Mark Hosenball, Newsweek)
Last July, the former president sat down with a billionaire impressed with the William J. Clinton Foundation's campaign against AIDS in Africa. The two men chatted amiably over lunch for more than two hours, and the visitor pledged to write Clinton's foundation a generous check… NEWSWEEK has learned that the billionaire so eager to endear himself to the former president was Richard Mellon Scaife—once the Clintons' archenemy and best-known as the man behind a "vast, right-wing conspiracy" that Hillary Clinton said was out to destroy them.
Sure, It's Admiration (by tristero at Hullabaloo, regarding the article above)
Most likely, it's abject fear. My guess is that Scaife sees a Hillary Clinton presidency as very possible, He expects Clinton to wreak revenge for what she and her husband endured… Alternatively, Bill Clinton requested the meeting and read Scaife the riot act, telling Scaife that if he tries to repeat history and eagerly funds another smear campaign, Clinton will show no mercy.
I do sincerely hope that President Clinton read Scaife the riot act. There’s absolutely no excuse for how that man behaved against the Clintons.—Caro
Bolton Smears El Baradei As Iran Apologist, Says ‘Even A Stopped Clock Is Right Twice A Day’
(Sunday) on CNN’s Late Edition, neconservative warhawk John Bolton (smeared the the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Mohamed) ElBaradei as “an apologist for Iran” and said the United States is “paying the price” for not opposing him more vociferously. When host Wolf Blizter reminded Bolton that El Baradei correctly warned prior the Iraq war that there was no evidence of a nuclear weapons program, Bolton derisively dismissed his warnings by claiming “even a stopped clock is right twice a day”.
Yes, but it’s Bolton who’s the stopped clock.—Caro
Condi Rice: U.S. Is OK With Iran Having Nuclear Power: Updated! (by Logan Murphy at Crooks and Liars)
The Bush administration has taken a staunch “no nukes” approach to Iran, rarely differentiating between nuclear power and weapons, but when asked about Iran’s nuclear program this morning on This Week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice claims that the U.S. has absolutely no problem with Iran having nuclear power, they just need to give up their goal of producing nuclear weapons.
Click through to watch the video.—Caro
FNC Commentator Suggests Violence in Iran (YouTube, via Freedom’s Phoenix)
Fox's Brian Kilmeade advances the notion that the way to fight a state sponsor of terrorism is - state-sponsored terrorism.
Click through to watch the video.—Caro
Late Edition: Armitage on Leaking Plame’s Identity and Smart Power (by Nicole Belle at Crooks and Liars)
What an amazingly refreshing and grown up admission from a former member of the Bush Administration. When shown a clip of Valerie Plame Wilson castigating him for revealing her identity to Robert Novak by Wolf Blitzer, former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has really only one thing to say: She’s right.
Click through to watch the video.
Gender Bender (by digby)
(Tucker) Carlson believes that women shouldn't be allowed to vote if they like the idea that a woman may become president and vote for her partially on that basis, but it's not irrational for (white) men vote against a woman because they irrationally feel she "despises them."… It's like having everyone assume that the "normal" state of being in this world is male and this strange idea of appealing to women is some sort of illegitimate pander to an extreme, fringe interest group.
Mythbuster: Big governments and globalisation are complementary
In a recent paper … we have uncovered suggestive microeconomic evidence in support of the view that government expenditure can boost support for free trade. Using survey data for 18 countries in Europe and Asia, we found that those who were more risk-averse were most opposed to trade. However, this effect was considerably weaker in countries where government expenditure accounted for a higher share of GDP.
But providing a safety net isn’t the only reason to tolerate powerful government. As I would write in my book, if I could ever find a publisher, “The right wing has convinced far too many people that government is always bad and business is always good. We must have a healthy skepticism about both government and business, and to be effective in protecting our interests, government must be at least as powerful as the most powerful combination of corporations.”—Caro Technology & ScienceIntel launches new chips with smaller circuits
Intel Corp , the world's biggest microchip maker, unveiled fast new processors on Sunday made with new techniques that can etch circuitry nearly 200 times smaller than a red blood cell.
One Laptop Per Child: the dream starts to deliver
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Low-cost computers meant to usher poor children worldwide into the digital age are being mass produced in China as US nonprofit One Laptop Per Child strives to deliver on its promise.
Ban human clones or expect them soon, U.N. says
The international community faces a stark choice: outlaw human cloning or prepare for the creation of cloned humans, researchers said.
In DNA Era, New Worries About Prejudice
Research is exploring how DNA explains racial differences, but it could give discredited prejudices a new potency.
The Ministry of Sexy Walks (by Jeff Fecke at Shakesville)
“(A) new study suggests that the way a woman walks changes during her monthly cycle, and that the most seductive wiggle occurs when she is least fertile… If she flaunts herself too openly at fertile times, she could be made pregnant by an unsuitable man…” In the end, this is a silly, pointless, and unconvincing study that … reinforces the idea that women are sexual objects, there literally for the taking, and that their only recourse against rape is subterfuge; the study, taken directly, says that women are going to get raped, and the best they can hope is to not conceive due to rape.
World’s First Image Taking of the Moon by HDTV
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) have successfully performed the world's first high-definition image taking by the lunar explorer "KAGUYA"… The image shooting was carried out by the onboard high definition television (HDTV) of the KAGUYA, and it is the world's first high definition image data acquisition of the Moon from an altitude about 100 kilometers away from the Moon.
Click through to see some of the photographs. They’re amazing.—Caro
Cosmic Illusion: Mars to Move Backward
We're now coming into the home stretch of the last good apparition of Mars until 2016. Now blazing in the late-evening east-northeast sky like an eye-catching yellowish-orange "star," Mars is less than six weeks away from its closest approach to Earth during this apparition.
New Measurements: The Universe Weighs Less
The universe just got a little bit slimmer. Revised calculations indicate the universe contains less normal and dark matter than previously thought, resulting in a "weight loss" of 10 to 20 percent. EnvironmentCriminal probe opened in Bay oil spill
SAN FRANCISCO - The entire crew of the cargo ship that sideswiped a bridge, causing San Francisco Bay's worst oil spill in nearly two decades, were being held for questioning as part of a criminal investigation, a Coast Guard official said Sunday.
Russia tries to contain oil spill and save seamen
NOVOROSSIISK, Russia (Reuters) - Russian authorities launched a major rescue operation at the northern mouth of the Black Sea on Monday to save missing seamen and contain environmental damage after a storm sank at least four ships and split open a small oil tanker.
Experts Discuss Engineering Feats, Like Space Mirrors, to Slow Climate Change
At a conference on “geoengineering,” scientists examined artificial techniques to cool the earth, a subject that many experts have been reluctant to discuss.
Australians march against climate change
Sydney - Australians concerned about climate change marched Sunday in a bid to pressure political parties to adopt tougher carbon-emissions reduction targets. Nature Conservation Council spokeswoman Cate Faehrmann said 150,000 people had marched in 50 towns and cities in the second annual Walk Against Warming.
How Companies' Climate Plans Affect Financial Performance
Laying the groundwork for new investment products, Innovest releases the first study relating how companies manage climate change risk to their financial performance.
Fighting Fat and Climate Change
WASHINGTON (AP) - America's obesity epidemic and global warming might not seem to have much in common. But public health experts suggest people can attack them both by cutting calories and carbon dioxide at the same time. How? Get out of your car and walk or bike half an hour a day. For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com.
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