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Morning headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoryUS Attorney General Gonzales resigns
WASHINGTON - Alberto Gonzales, the nation's first Hispanic attorney general, announced his resignation Monday, driven from office after a wrenching standoff with congressional critics over his honesty and competence. The Heretik
The WorldU.S., Iraqi Forces Kill 33 Insurgents
BAGHDAD (AP) - Hundreds of U.S. and Iraqi forces backed by helicopters and jet fighters attacked and killed 33 Sunni insurgents who were holding back the water supply to the Shiite town of Khalis, the American command said in a statement Tuesday.
Iraqi holy city calm after pilgrim clashes
KERBALA, Iraq (Reuters) - Pilgrims gathered peacefully in Iraq's holy city of Kerbala on Tuesday to mark one of the holiest days of the Shi'ite calendar after clashes between pilgrims and police overnight killed at least six people.
Iraq Weapons Are a Focus of Criminal Investigations
An investigation into the purchasing and delivery of billions of dollars of weapons has already led to several indictments of Americans, with more expected.
Iran resolves plutonium issues under atom pact: IAEA
VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has resolved U.N. questions about tests with plutonium, a key fuel for atomic bombs, and the International Atomic Energy Agency considers the matter closed, according to the text of an IAEA-Iran accord released on Monday.
Afghan fights kill 8 coalition soldiers, 29 militants
Fighting between NATO troops and Taliban fighters killed eight soldiers including six Westerners in eastern and southern Afghanistan, where insurgent attacks are running at their highest level since the U.S. invasion, officials said Monday.
Second Record Level for Afghan Opium Crop
Opium cultivation in Afghanistan grew by 17 percent in 2007, reaching record levels for the second straight year, according to a United Nations report released Monday.
Venezuelan funding to Latin America
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's government has pledged more than $8.8 billion in aid, financing and energy funding in Latin America and the Caribbean so far in 2007. Bandes is a Venezuelan state development bank. Below is a list of pledges sorted by type.
Vatican airline takes to the skies
ROME (Reuters) - While some passengers only turn to prayer when jolted by turbulence, the Vatican made it standard on Monday by launching the world's first airline for Catholic pilgrims.
God is their copilot.—Caro The NationBush touts Iraqi agreement
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - President Bush on Monday said an agreement among leading Iraqi politicians is a promising sign of political progress, but that the pact on some issues that have blocked national reconciliation is not enough.
Flashback: Chertoff’s Incompetence At DHS Prompted Repeated Calls For Resignation
The media are reporting that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is the frontrunner to replace (former Attorney General Alberto) Gonzales. Yet it’s not clear that Chertoff will be any more independent or competent… (I)n the past, Chertoff’s incompetence as DHS head has prompted bipartisan calls for his resignation.
If you think Bush cares what anybody thinks about Chertoff, get ready for Operation Ram It Through. See below.—Caro
Recess Appointment
Judged by the standards of our history, a recess appointment to replace Alberto Gonzales sounds like an incredible proposition. But don't be so sure. Just as we saw with the 'pardon scooter' movement, the word seems already to have gone out to the folks on the right to start preparing the ground for just such a move by the president. I've already heard a few just this morning saying it would be the right thing for the president to do. Watch for it.
Outsourcing intelligence
Given the often shocking record of what US intelligence officials have done over the years, why does it matter if such activities are carried out by contractors? The answer patently goes to the question of accountability. Public servants who are bound by oaths to the Constitution and the law understand what the measure of behavior must be, even if they fall short of it… Private parties, bound by contract, operate at remove from such limit and accountability, which may be why borderline activities like interrogation or rendition are increasingly farmed out to them.
Comparing Congresses
An op-ed in the New York Times by Brookings Scholar Thomas Mann compares the legislative workings of the current 110th Congress with the Republican Revolution from 1994 -- he finds that the current Democratic-controlled body has gotten a lot more done. This congress has conducted far more oversight than did its 94 counterpart, and has passed more legislation as well. Perhaps most importantly, the 110th Congress has had almost twice as many bills signed into law by the President than did the 94 Congress.
Gonzales departure won't end probes
WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' resignation Monday after months of draining controversy drew expressions of relief from Republicans and a vow from Democrats to pursue their investigation into fired federal prosecutors.
Good, now stick to your guns, Democrats!—Caro
Break-In Is Reported At Dodd's Hartford Office
Hartford police are investigating a burglary reported Saturday night at the office of Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn… Police would not say what, if anything, was taken. The burglars left something behind, police said.
Sen. Larry Craig Caught With His Pants Down
The Nation -- Republican Idaho Senator Larry Craig is the latest Conflicted Conservative in Crisis to be caught with his pants down. According to Roll Call, Craig was arrested in June at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men's public restroom. He has pleaded guilty to the charge.
He pleaded guilty, but it’s all a misunderstanding.—Caro MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
There may need to be a PBS ombudsman just for Moyers
Michael Getler says he'd rather not spend so many of his columns on one person, but Bill Moyers (left) keeps on providing material that viewers react to and that the PBS ombudsman hears about. The latest flap: Moyers' editorial on Karl Rove. "Although there are undoubtedly large numbers of viewers who applaud Moyers' perspective, all the letters that came to me were uniformly critical (with one exception)," writes Getler.
Sounds like the right wingers are campaigning against Moyers. We’d better start a counter-campaign, or we’ll lose him.—Caro
A Tale of Two Anchorwomen
Christiane Amanpour, the erudite, cosmopolitan correspondent who used to signify CNN -- but who somehow didn't get a show when Nancy Grace and Glenn Beck did on cable cousin Headline News -- ran a well-considered, compelling three-part documentary, "God's Warriors," that returned CNN to its reporting and ratings legacy. The first two nights upended the cable news race, beating the usually unbeatable Fox News Channel and the halting MSNBC's momentum by delivering a .33 and .42 in the demo. True, that's less than half the rating of "Anchorwoman." But after this week, at least it's a start.
A tale of two headlines: AP, “Iran agrees to reveal nuclear info”; Reuters, “Iran resolves plutonium issues under atom pact: IAEA”.
What do the “surge” and the “Anbar Awakening” have in common
Not much
‘Hearts and minds’ campaign insults Afghans.
On Friday, the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan distributed footballs as part of its “hearts and minds” campaign to win over “support from the local population.” But the footballs instead “kicked off a storm of protest” because they were illustrated with the flags of several nations, including bearing “Koranic verses as part of the flag of Saudi Arabia.” Protestors said it was “insulting for texts from the Koran to be put on the ground and kicked.”
Would that be one of Karen Hughes’ campaigns?—Caro
Civility
After playing a concert clip of guitarist Ted Nugent profanely urging Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to respectively "suck on" and "ride" his fake machine guns, Fox's Sean Hannity tellingly describes the video as "friend and frequent guest on the program Ted Nugent expressing his feelings." When a Democratic guest recalls the outrage of right-wingers like Hannity when the Dixie Chicks' "said something about George Bush which was mild compared to this," and asks if Hannity is "prepared to disavow this," the host flat out refuses, saying "No, I like Ted Nugent, he's a friend of mine."
Facing a draft, Nugent bravely wet his pants
That Nugent, he's a man's man. He talks the talk and walks the walk, right? Except when it was time to register for the draft during the Vietnam era. By his own admission, Nugent stopped all forms of personal hygiene for a month and showed up for his draft board physical in pants caked with his own urine and feces, winning a deferment.
Olbermann's NBC Ratings
We've received the Nielsen fast-national ratings (not the actual national ratings) and have a sense of how last night's Countdown with Keith Olbermann did in its premiere on NBC. The upshot: in total viewers it beat "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?" on Fox. But finished behind "60 Minutes" and "America's Funniest Videos." 4,146,000 total viewers watched.
There was much more celebrity “news” than Olbermann usually has, and Mo Rocca was on for much too long. Mo is cute, but he just isn’t funny.—Caro
Vint Cerf, aka the godfather of the net, predicts the end of TV as we know it
Thirty years ago he helped create a technology that has revolutionised millions of lives around the world. But yesterday the man known as the "godfather of the net" laid out his vision of where our online future might be, including a time when we download entire TV series in seconds - and even surf the web from Mars.
Hippy Bloggers of the World Unite
So apparently October 15th is Blog Action Day, a day when bloggers will unite to blog about the environment… Thank goodness the top politicians who have the power to divert resources to this stuff are experts on blogs and the Internet; otherwise this one would be a complete waste of time. It’s also great to see bloggers taking real action, instead of just sitting around blogging all day. Technology & ScienceBack to School Means Backpack Safety
Help protect kids from stress and strain, experts say
And if you’re REALLY paranoid, you can get bulletproof backpacks for your kids.—Caro
Through Analysis, Gut Reaction Gains Credibility
German social psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer, regarding his new book Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious”: My research indicates that gut feelings are based on simple rules of thumb, what we psychologists term “heuristics.” These take advantage of certain capacities of the brain that have come down to us through time, experience and evolution. Gut instincts often rely on simple cues in the environment. In most situations, when people use their instincts, they are heeding these cues and ignoring other unnecessary information.
Yes, but our gut feelings can also lead us astray. Therefore, they have to be checked out against reality, and that’s where George Bush goes wrong. He only accepts evidence that bolsters what he’s already decided. We’ve seen how well that’s worked out.—Caro
Stereotypes turn girls off to math, science
The days of sexist science teachers and Barbies chirping that "math class is tough!" are over, according to pop culture, but a government program aimed at bringing more women and girls into science, technology, engineering and math fields suggests otherwise.
New study finds married men do less housework than live-in boyfriends
(T)he key finding of the study is that it suggests the institution of marriage changes the division of labor. Couples with an egalitarian view on gender—seeing men and women as equal—are more likely to divide the household chores equally. However, in married relationships, even if an egalitarian viewpoint is present, men still report doing less housework than their wives.
Obesity Rate in U.S. Still Climbing
New findings show no state posted a decline in adult rates last year.
Trapped Chinese miners survive on coal, urine diet
BEIJING (Reuters) - Two Chinese brothers who tunneled their way out of a coal mine collapse after being trapped for nearly six days survived by eating coal and drinking urine, a local newspaper reported on Tuesday.
A Daddy Longlegs Tells the Story of the Continents’ Big Shifts
These sesame seed-sized creatures carry a record of hundreds of millions of years of geological history.
Einstein's Warping Found Around Neutron Stars
Einstein's predicted warping of space-time has been discovered around neutron stars, the most dense observable matter in the universe. The warping shows up as smeared lines of iron gas whipping around the stars, University of Michigan and NASA astronomers say. EnvironmentEnergy efficiency seen easy way to aid climate: U.N.
VIENNA (Reuters) - Energy efficiency for power plants, buildings and cars is the easiest way to slow global warming in an investment shift set to cost hundreds of billions of dollars, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
Forecast for solar power: Sunny
Solar power has long been the Mercedes-Benz of the renewable energy industry: sleek, quiet, low-maintenance.
Engineers Perfecting Hydrogen-Generating Technology
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers at Purdue University have further developed a technology that could represent a pollution-free energy source for a range of potential applications, from golf carts to submarines and cars to emergency portable generators.
Cyclone Power Technologies Tests Fuel Made From Oranges
Cyclone Power Technologies announced today that it has burned a bio-fuel derived from orange peels in the high-performance fuel injector of its Green Revolution Engine. For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com. |
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