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Morning headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoryBREAKING: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
– Luke 2:8-14 Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Merry Winter Solstice!
The Carter Center
The WorldTurkish warplanes bomb northern Iraq for third time
The Turkish military says its warplanes have bombed separatist Kurdish rebel targets inside northern Iraq. It is the third confirmed cross-border attack in less than a week.
2 killed in violence in northern Iraq
A car bomb and gunfire killed two people in Iraq's northern province of Nineveh on Sunday, local police sources said.
2 die in Baghdad bombing
BAGHDAD - A bomb hidden inside a minivan exploded near the Baghdad governor's office on Monday, killing two people and injuring six others, the latest violence to mar a relatively calm holiday season in the capital.
Iran 'restraining Shia militias in Iraq'
Iran has decided "at the most senior levels" to restrain Shia militias in Iraq, causing a sharp drop in roadside bomb attacks in recent months, according to a senior US diplomat.
In a Force for Iraqi Calm, Seeds of Conflict
The Awakening movement, a predominantly Sunni Arab force recruited to fight Sunni Islamic extremists like Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, has become a great success story after its spread from Sunni tribes in Anbar Province to become an ad-hoc armed force of 65,000 to 80,000 across the country in less than a year… The Americans are haunted by the possibility that Iraq could go the way of Afghanistan, where Americans initially bought the loyalty of tribal leaders only to have some of them gravitate back to the Taliban when the money stopped.
Olmert Rules Out Truce Talks With Hamas
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday ruled out cease-fire talks with the Gaza Strip's Islamic Hamas rulers, vowing to press ahead with a "true war" against Palestinian militants who attack southern Israeli communities with rocket and mortar fire.
Israel to spend $230m on defence shield
Israel is to spend $230 million over the next five years to develop a defence shield against rockets and short-range missiles. Israel's Security Cabinet has confirmed funding for the project that has been dubbed "the Iron Dome."
Jeb Bush to arrive in Israel for private visit
Two weeks before US President George W. Bush is scheduled to arrive on his first visit to Israel as president, his younger brother Jeb Bush is scheduled to arrive Monday for a private visit.
Which missile shield defense contractor do you suppose Jeb is working for?—Caro
N.Korea must come clean on uranium project: Seoul
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's chief nuclear envoy on Monday called on North Korea to come clean about its suspected program to enrich uranium for weapons, which has been a sticking point in an international disarmament deal.
Rudd visits Iraqi PM (Sydney Morning Herald)
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, on a surprise visit to Baghdad (Saturday), assured Iraq of a long-term partnership but stressed his combat troops deployed here would head home by June next year.
But the Australian Broadcasting System reports that “Mr Rudd … says Australian soldiers will remain in the country for what he calls ‘the long haul’", and that a professor interprets that phrase to mean at least ten years.—Caro
Blair called for BAE inquiry to be halted
Tony Blair's personal role as prime minister in halting the Saudi arms sale bribery investigation is revealed in court documents which the Guardian is publishing in full on its website. Government memos stamped "Secret" reveal that the then attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, twice tried in vain to stop Blair interfering in the criminal investigation.
Child soldier recruitment up in Congo
KINSHASA, Congo — Boys and girls are being recruited in record numbers to act as soldiers, spies and sex slaves in Congo and children have been spotted marching in formation in the war-wracked east of the country over the past week, international charity Save the Children said Monday. The NationSIMON SAYS.... (by Kevin Drum at Political Animal, The Washington Monthly)
In the annals of unconvincing excuses, this one is now quickly rising into gold medal territory. The question is why the CIA never turned over its interrogration videotapes to the 9/11 Commission: “A C.I.A. spokesman said that the agency had been prepared to give the Sept. 11 commission the interrogation videotapes, but that commission staff members never specifically asked for interrogation videos.”
CIA chief to drag White House into torture cover-up storm
Jose Rodriguez, former head of the CIA’s clandestine service, is determined not to become the fall guy in the controversy over the CIA’s use of torture, according to intelligence sources… Vincent Cannistraro, former head of counterterrorism at the CIA, said it was impossible for Rodriguez to have acted on his own: “If everybody was against the decision, why in the world would Jose Rodriguez – one of the most cautious men I have ever met – have gone ahead and destroyed them?”
The torture tape fingering Bush as a war criminal (by Andrew Sullivan, writing at The Sunday Times, U.K.)
Any reasonable person examining all the evidence we have - without any bias - would conclude that the overwhelming likelihood is that the president of the United States authorised illegal torture of a prisoner and that the evidence of the crime was subsequently illegally destroyed… It’s a potential Watergate. But this time the crime is not a two-bit domestic burglary. It’s a war crime that reaches into the very heart of the Oval Office.
Hoover Planned Mass Jailing in 1950
A newly declassified document shows that J. Edgar Hoover, the longtime director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, had a plan to suspend habeas corpus and imprison some 12,000 Americans he suspected of disloyalty… “In order to make effective these apprehensions, the proclamation suspends the Writ of Habeas Corpus,” it said.
What a loss to history that Hoover’s secretary destroyed his personal files after he died. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know what goods he had on so many powerful leaders that they let him run rampant for so many years?—Caro
U.S. Officials See Waste in Billions Sent to Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — After the United States has spent more than $5 billion in a largely failed effort to bolster the Pakistani military effort against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, some American officials now acknowledge that there were too few controls over the money.
Schools see limits on medicaid payments
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration issued a new rule Friday that eliminates Medicaid reimbursement for certain transportation and administrative tasks undertaken by schools on behalf of students with disabilities.
Why does George Bush hate children?—Caro
Family adopts slain son's military dog
A military working dog wounded in Iraq during a rocket attack that killed its Marine handler was adopted Friday by the slain Marine's family. Cpl. Dustin Lee's family planned to take home the bomb-sniffing dog — named Lex — on Saturday after the 8-year-old German shepherd was granted early retirement… A part of Dustin is in Lex," said the fallen Marine's father. "To have Lex at home is a part of having Dustin at home."
Click through to see the photograph. It’s wonderful.—Caro
Family sues insurer who denied teen transplant
GLENDALE, Calif. - The family of a 17-year-old girl who died hours after her health insurer reversed a decision and said it would pay for a liver transplant plans to sue the company, their attorney said Friday… Attorney Mark Geragos said he plans to ask the district attorney to press murder or manslaughter charges against Cigna HealthCare in the case. The insurer “maliciously killed her” because it did not want to bear the expense of her transplant and aftercare, Geragos said.
Visions of health care (by Paul Krugman)
(T)he VA seems to show the enormous advantages of an integrated health care system over piecemeal shopping for medical services. Meanwhile, Ezra Klein tells us about the philosophy behind Republican health care plans. Basically, they want less integration, and more piecemeal shopping for medical services.
Unpaid credit cards bedevil Americans
SAN FRANCISCO - Americans are falling behind on their credit card payments at an alarming rate, sending delinquencies and defaults surging by double-digit percentages in the last year and prompting warnings of worse to come.
Inequality denial (by Paul Krugman)
Yes, over the centuries economic progress has reduced some gross disparities… But the question isn’t whether society is, in some sense, more equal than it was in 1900. It’s whether it is radically more unequal than it was in 1970. And of course it is. (And there) is the downplaying of poverty. Seventy percent of the poor have cars! They must be doing fine! Except that they often can’t afford medical care, sometimes can’t afford enough food, and usually can’t find a way to get their children a decent education.
Rush Limbaugh says our poor are rich! They have color television sets, for gosh sakes! I’m not going to link to him, but do a Google search on ("rush limbaugh" poor "color television"), without the brackets, to see the link.—Caro
Best Careers for a Changing Job Landscape
Last year, because U.S. News readers tend to be college educated, we included only careers that typically require at least a bachelor's degree. This year we've added four careers that don't. Why? More and more students are graduating from college at the same time that employers are offshoring more professional jobs. So, many holders of a bachelor's degree are having trouble finding jobs that require college-graduate skills. (Emphasis added.) MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
AIRING THE DIRTY LAUNDRY.... (by Kevin Drum at Political Animal, The Washington Monthly)
In an interview with David Brody, Mike Huckabee talks about the private contempt that the moneycon-driven Republican Party has for evangelicals like him… Republican elites … are willing to pander endlessly for evangelical votes, evangelical money, and evangelical organizing zeal, but once the elections are won they think of them, in Peggy Noonan's recent words, as "the idiot vote." Unless evangelical interests coincide with the moneycon wing of the party (as they do with judges, for example), they get little more than a few symbolic bones tossed their way.
It's A PayGo Christmas (by digby)
The Fox Greedhead Scrooges (where) apoplectic (Saturday) morning, screeching for ten solid minutes because Hillary Clinton's Christmas ad doesn't say where she's going to get the money to pay for her "gifts." (She's treating us like children! She's bribing the public!) If you want to see a war on Christmas, watch these guys in action. Market fundies think Christmas is nothing more than a socialist redistibutionist scheme.
And how did the Republicans pay for their wars and their giveaways to the rich? Why, by taxing future generations, of course.—Caro
NY Times' Dowd echoed Healy's misleading account of Clinton interview
Summary: Echoing an article by New York Times reporter Patrick Healy about President Clinton's appearance on PBS' Charlie Rose Show, Maureen Dowd wrote, "He got so agitated with Charlie Rose -- ranting that reporters were 'stenographers' for (Sen. Barack) Obama (D-IL) -- that his aides tried to stop the interview." But neither Dowd nor Healy noted Rose's actual on-air comments on the matter, indicating that the interview had gone "over" time -- not that the aides were concerned about the content of the interview.
Witnesses Back Up Mitt Romney On MLK (by Eric Kleefeld)
It's looking like Mitt Romney might have been judged too quickly on the Martin Luther King business. Two witnesses have now come forward to The Politico, insisting that they saw the late Gov. George Romney (R-MI) make a surprise appearance alongside King in 1963. The campaign has also posted a collection of citations — including a contemporary account from the Detroit Free Press — attesting that it happened. There's one lingering question, though: … Why all the parsing about what the word "saw" meant, and the business about "march with" being figurative?
Siegelman on "60 Minutes," part 2 (by Tommy Stevenson, an associate editor at The Tuscaloosa News, thanks to Larisa Alexandrovna)
TUSCALOOSA | CBS is reportedly still working hard on a "60 Minutes" segment on former Gov. Don Siegelman's trial and incarceration, despite some suspicions that political pressure had forced the network to back off. Some of those in Alabama who have been cooperating with the CBS crew said they thought the report would air this month, but now it looks like it will be on some time in January.
Right-Wing Pundit: Give The CIA Official Who Destroyed The Torture Tapes ‘A Medal’ (Think Progress)
Prominent conservative commentator Linda Chavez writes that Jose Rodriguez, the CIA official who reportedly undertook the destruction of the torture tapes, “deserves a medal.”… Given Bush’s past record of distributing medals to individuals who carried out the White House’s disastrous policies (see George Tenet and Paul Bremer), Rodriguez would indeed qualify… In November, Fox pundit John Gibson said the White House deserved a medal for outing Valerie Plame. Conservatives have made a mockery of the “presidential medal of freedom,” turning it into a symbol for absolving the Bush administration’s illegal behavior.
Reagan officials: Charlie Wilson’s War is ‘left-wing myth.’
The Washington Times writes that, “Conservative officials who served in the Reagan administration are upset by the left-wing slant of the new movie” — Charlie Wilson’s War. They “said the movie promotes the left-wing myth that the CIA-led operation funded Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda and ultimately produced” the 9/11 attacks. “The officials blamed the anti-Reagan slant of the film on the movie’s screenwriter, Aaron Sorkin.”
The History Channel has a documentary, “The True Story of Charlie Wilson’s War”. Look for a replay, or buy the DVD.—Caro
The NYT Invents “Basic Economics” To Hide Upward Redistribution (by Dean Baker)
There is no dispute that there has been a massive upward redistribution of income over the last quarter century. There is dispute about the causes. The NYT is anxious to tell us that a big part of the upward redistribution was just “basic economics.”… The fact is that CEOs and other highly paid workers have seen their pay explode in ways that is not matched by the most highly paid workers in Europe, Japan, and other wealthy countries. Perhaps it is “basic economics” that allows an incompetent CEO at Home Depot to walk away with a $210 million severance package, but there are alternative explanations, like crony capitalisms in which the insiders get to rip off the company to fatten their wallets.
Rove lands a book deal. (Think Progress)
After a three-week bidding period, Karl Rove has signed a deal with conservative Mary Matalin’s publishing imprint, Threshold Editions, to publish his memoirs. (Emphasis added) The bidding reached at least $1.5 million, but Threshhold would not disclose Rove’s final payment. When bidding began on Dec. 6, industry experts predicted Rove would get offered $3 million, though a publisher at Alfred K. Knopf said Rove “doesn’t have the personality” to land a major deal for his memoirs. UPDATE: Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) recently signed an $8 million deal for his memoirs.
Australia to Apply Film Ratings on All Commercial Web Content (by Kristen Nicole at Mashable)
Australia’s getting more regulations for Internet content… to protect children from adult content on the Internet, including mobile devices. The new rules take effect January 20, 2008, and will apply to anyone who publishes commercial content on the web in Australia. Technology & ScienceElectronic greetings gain traction
Traditional greeting cards are still the preferred way to send holiday cheer, but electronic cards are gaining this year. Although the Greeting Card Association says 20 paper cards are sent for every e-card, online card volume is soaring.
Give Yourself the Gift of Sleep for the Holidays
Getting an early start on tasks and doing a little each day cuts stress, expert says.
Researchers get embryonic stem cells from skin
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A third team of researchers has found a way to convert an ordinary skin cell into valued embryonic-like stem cells, with the potential to grow batches of cells that can be directed to form any kind of tissue.
Cancer Stem Cells May Be At The Root Of Brain Tumors
ScienceDaily (Dec. 24, 2007) — Stem cells -- popularly known as a source of biological rejuvenation -- may play harmful roles in the body, specifically in the growth and spread of cancer. Amongst the wildly dividing cells of a tumor, scientists have located cancer stem cells. Physician-scientists from Weill Cornell Medical College are studying these cells with hopes of combating malignant cancers in the brain.
Weight Loss Surgery May Help Less Severely Obese
In some cases, people with a BMI under 40 might even benefit more, study suggests
Ancient Tsunami Lore Could Save Lives
Three years after the devastating tsunami that destroyed coastal communities around the Indian Ocean, the exact death toll remains uncertain. But survivors' tales of similarly massive waves sweeping in from the ocean are passed down by elders in certain communities and may be enough to save lives in the event of another disaster like the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, a researcher says.
Towards Cloaking Visible Light: Three-dimensional Metamaterials For The Optical Wavelength Range
ScienceDaily (Dec. 24, 2007) — Last year researchers from Duke University stunned the world when they announced a cloaking device for the microwave range. This device made use of metamaterials that had a negative refractive index for electromagnetic radiation. The metamaterials were carefully designed split-ring resonators with a structure size much smaller than the wavelength. Only 10 stacked layers of metamaterials were necessary to achieve the desired invisibility effect.
http://www.space.com/bestimg/index.php?cat=hst">VOTE: The Best of the Hubble Space Telescope
POLLS OPEN on Space.com! VOTE for your favorite Hubble image of all time!
Fire and Brimstone Helped Form Mars Oceans
The longstanding mystery of how oceans once formed on Mars could be solved by fire and brimstone.
Out-of-This-World Hypothesis: Cosmic Forces Control Life on Earth
The rise and fall of species on Earth might be driven in part by the undulating motions of our solar system as it travels through the disk of the Milky Way, scientists say. EnvironmentHGTV Launches 'Green' Home Giveaway, Spring 2008
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - If your passion for your home is tinted "green," then HGTV, the lifestyle network for all things home has a place for you: a custom built "green home," located near miles of popular beaches and an eco-friendly golf course! HGTV is building its first "green" home in Tradition Hilton Head, a 5,300-acre master-planned community near the popular beach resort of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
$1 Dollar a Watt Solar.
For Nanosolar of San Jose, California - and perhaps the rest of us - December 18, 2007 was an historic day. It was the day the company shipped the world’s lowest-cost solar panel. The company believes it can be the first solar manufacturer capable of profitably selling solar panels at 99 cents per watt.
Hydrogen storage for cars?
An American research team … has now developed a novel hydride that could be a useful starting point for the development of future automotive hydrogen-storage materials. As Jun Yang and his team report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, an “autocatalytic” reaction mechanism causes the composite made of three different hydrides to rapidly release hydrogen at lower temperatures and without dangerous by-products.
Major study concludes that global warming is killing off coral
If world leaders do not immediately engage in a race against time to save the Earth's coral reefs, these vital ecosystems will not survive the global warming and acidification predicted for later this century. That is the conclusion of a group of marine scientists from around the world in a major new study published in the journal Science on Dec. 13. For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com.
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