Good Morning! - Morning Headlines

[Caro]

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Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com

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Bush: Democrats 'irresponsible' on Iraq
WASHINGTON - President Bush denounced "irresponsible" Democrats on Tuesday for going on spring break without approving money for the Iraq war with no strings. He condemned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria, too, accusing her of encouraging a terrorism sponsor.
Why so shrill, Mr. Bush? —Caro

The Heretik

The World

Britain calls for direct talks with Iran
LONDON - Britain called for direct talks with Iran to resolve a dispute over 15 captive Britons Tuesday after its first contact with the chief Iranian negotiator. The announcement followed the sudden release of an Iranian diplomat in Iraq that raised new hope for resolving the standoff.

Abducted Iran diplomat freed in Iraq
A top Iranian diplomat seized at gunpoint in Baghdad two months ago has been released, as Iraq confirmed on Tuesday it was still working to secure the release of five other Iranians held by US troops.

U.S. could strike Iran but not win: Russian general
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The United States cannot inflict a military defeat on Iran and any attack would be a huge political mistake, Russia's top general said on Tuesday.

Lorry bomb kills children in school
A newborn baby was one of at least 14 children and adults killed when a suicide bomber detonated a lorry laden with explosives close to a primary school in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk yesterday. The latest massacre of Iraqi children came as 21 Shia market workers were ambushed, bound and shot dead north of the capital. The victims came from the Baghdad market visited the previous day by John McCain, the US presidential candidate, who said that an American security plan in the capital was starting to show signs of progress. (Emphasis added.)
Thanks to Thom Hartmann. —Caro

N.Korea unlikely to meet nuclear deadline: report
TOKYO (Reuters) - Pyongyang is unlikely to meet a mid-April deadline to shut down a nuclear reactor as the United States and North Korea remain divided over a transfer of the North's funds in Macau, a Chinese envoy was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

Australia says Hicks free to speak
SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia will not enforce a US-imposed gag on Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks despite it being a condition of the plea bargain that secured his release, Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said.

The Nation

Anguish Over Iraq Shakes Public's Faith in Military Solutions
Public Agenda and its partner Foreign Affairs today made public the fourth edition of the Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index (CFPI). The new research provides striking evidence that Americans' anguish over Iraq is spilling over to other areas of foreign policy -- with serious potential effects on the policy options available to current and future leaders.

U.S. strategy on Iran may have backfired
TEHRAN — It seemed like a good idea at the time: Increase the military, diplomatic and economic pressure on Iran to get the country to bow to the international community on its nuclear enrichment program and curtail its alleged troublemaking in Iraq. But now, with 15 British sailors and marines held captive and Tehran threatening to withhold its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, that strategy has apparently backfired.

Pelosi meets with Syrian leaders
DAMASCUS, Syria - U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met Syrian government officials Wednesday for talks criticized by the White House as undermining American efforts to isolate the hard-line Arab country.

Pitts in Syria before Pelosi
While U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's upcoming visit to Syria has caused the White House to bristle, a little-publicized rendezvous took place Sunday between Syria's president and Lancaster County's congressman. And though Bush administration officials have been criticizing Pelosi, it's not clear what role the White House and the U.S. Department of State played when U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts and two other Republican congressmen met with Syrian President Bassar Assad.

Media

MySpace to Hold First-in-Nation Presidential Primary
LOS ANGELES, BUSINESS WIRE -- MySpace today announced plans to hold America's first Presidential elections in advance of the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries. The virtual election, to be held on January 1 & 2, 2008, will be open to all members of the MySpace community in the United States. Today's announcement comes on the heels of MySpace's recent Impact Channel launch and political programming continuing through the 2008 presidential elections.
Just a reminder, MySpace is now owned by News Corp., which is owned by Rupert Murdoch. Therefore, Rupert Murdoch is in charge of the first U.S. presidential primary for 2008. —Caro

Fox News Rents the Congressional Black Caucus
Why would the Congressional Black Caucus co-sponsor presidential debates with Fox News? How much does it really cost to rent the CBC Institute? What else is for sale? How much worse than the rest of mainstream media is Fox News? And what does the CBC-Fox News scandal tell us about present-day corporate funded black leadership?
In case you’ve been living in a cave, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. also owns Fox News. —Caro

The Real Fox News Democrats
(T)think of most of the Fox Democrats, at least those who appear on the opinion shows, which take up half the network's airtime, as one of three types. They are either scary liberals, losers or enablers. Representatives of each type may score some points for Democrats when they appear on-air, but ultimately they help further Fox's larger narrative about Democrats and liberals and what they stand for.

ABC News' bizarre "scoop" on Iran's nuclear program
(W)ithin less than 24 hours, a completely shoddy, unreliable and vague ABC News report translates into a straightforward statement at the President's Press Conference that "Iran will be capable of building a nuclear bomb within two years."
Watch the video. (It takes a while to load, after the commercial.) —Caro

CNN reported on Pelosi's "bad trip" to Syria
On the April 2 edition of Lou Dobbs Tonight, CNN ran an on-screen graphic reading "Pelosi's Bad Trip?" throughout a report about a congressional delegation visit to Syria led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)… While Dobbs, unlike some of his colleagues, did report at the end of the segment that Pelosi had responded to criticism from the White House by noting its silence regarding the Republican-led trip, in subsequent reports, CNN persisted in leaving out any mention of the GOP-led delegation or the White House's inconsistency.

Self-described Nobel Peace Prize "accredited nominee" Limbaugh: "I don't even know why Gore's qualified for this"
On the March 30 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, after noting that Ole Danbolt Mjos, the chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize committee, reportedly "praise(d)" former Vice President Al Gore's efforts to draw attention to global warming, Rush Limbaugh declared: "I don't even know why Gore's qualified for this. ... I have done more for world peace to promote liberty and freedom than Al Gore has."

Technology & Science

Microsoft patches Windows vulnerability
SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. released an emergency security patch Tuesday to plug a hole in several versions of Windows — including Vista, which the software maker has touted as its most secure operating system ever.

Oops! Giant Particle Collider Magnet Self-Destructs
GENEVA (AP)—A 43-foot-long magnet for the world's largest particle collider broke "with a loud bang and a cloud of dust'' during a high-pressure test, and officials said Tuesday they are working to find a replacement part. The part that failed March 27 was in a super-cooled magnet designed to focus streams of protons so that they collide and allow scientists to study the results of the collision, giving them a better understanding of the makeup of matter, according to Fermilab, based in suburban Chicago, which has an accelerator of its own and is helping build one deep beneath the Swiss and French countryside outside Geneva.

Environment

NASA: Arctic Meltdown Threatens Ice Cap's Stability
Perennial sea ice in the Arctic is melting faster each summer than it can be replaced during winter, a new study confirms. A study released last year found that perennial sea ice—which is at least 10 feet thick and remains throught the seasons and through the years—dropped 14 percent from 2004 to 2005. The new study, detailed today in a NASA statement, finds that the ice is not being replaced, threatening the overall stability of the Arctic summer ice cap, which other studies have predicted could disappear completely by 2040.

Oh, Chicken Feathers! How to Reduce Plastic Waste
Poultry farmers could soon be the source of much more than buffalo wings and omelets. Chickens byproducts could be used to make biodegradable plastics and cheap energy, two new studies find.

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