|
Morning headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoryAl Gore tipped to win Nobel
THE environmental campaigner Al Gore is being tipped as a favourite to win the Nobel peace prize in Oslo this Friday in a controversial move that could place saving the planet above saving people from war and conflict. Gore, a former American vice-president and failed presidential candidate, has reinvented himself as the “Goracle” with a rock star following after presenting last year’s Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, about the dangers of climate change. All Hat No Cattle
The WorldCar bombers strike across Iraq
BAGHDAD - Two nearly simultaneous car bombs targeted a local police chief and a prominent Sunni sheik working with U.S. forces against al-Qaida in Iraq in a northern city on Tuesday, killing at least 18 people, authorities said.
Forever (by Josh Marshall)
Writes the (Washington) Post, "Iraqi leaders argue that sectarian animosity is entrenched in the structure of their government." In other words, the strategic goal of the Surge -- creating the breathing room for political reconcilation -- is one the Iraqi government no longer appears to believe is either credible or realistic. So what we've signed on for is being the permanent armed mediator in the Iraqi domestic quarrel, or perhaps protracted divorce.
Britain to cut troops in Iraq to 2,500
LONDON - Britain will halve its remaining troop contingent in Iraq next spring, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Monday. A British official later said they could not guarantee that any troops would remain in Iraq by the end of 2008.
Iraq seeks Blackwater ouster
BAGHDAD - Iraqi authorities want the U.S. government to sever all contracts in Iraq with Blackwater USA within six months and pay $8 million in compensation to each of the families of 17 people killed when the firm's guards sprayed a traffic circle with heavy machine gun fire last month.
Iraq to charge anti-corruption judge
BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraq's government announced Sunday it will take legal action against the former head of an anti-corruption committee who told US lawmakers this week that rampant graft is blocking progress in Iraq.
Israel signals shift on Jerusalem split
JERUSALEM - Two senior Israeli politicians, including the prime minister's closest ally, talked openly Monday about dividing Jerusalem, signaling a possible shift in Israeli opinion about one of the Mideast's most contentious issues.
U.S. Calls Iranian Official Part of Elite Force
The accusation that Iran’s ambassador to Iraq is an undisclosed member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard came as the arrest of three suspected Iranian agents was announced.
Iran reopens border with Kurdistan as standoff with U.S. continues
SULAIMANIYAH, IRAQ — Iran opened its border with the Kurdistan region of Iraq again Monday after closing it for two weeks in retaliation for the U.S. military's arrest of an Iranian man in a Kurdistan hotel… Kurdish and Iranian leaders had maintained that he was a businessman who had traveled to Iraq with an invited trade delegation.
Tehran Students Protest Ahmadinejad Speech
About 100 students chanting "death to the dictator" scuffled with supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad outside a hall where the Iranian leader was giving a speech on the campus of Tehran University.
Musharraf's military heir apparent takes up post
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf installed a loyalist and former spymaster as deputy army chief Monday, handpicking his successor as leader of the military in a key step to restoring civilian rule.
Myanmar Reaches Out to Dissident
The military junta in Myanmar said that it had named its deputy labor minister to act as a liaison with the opposition leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Sudanese troops attack Darfur rebel zone
KHARTOUM, Sudan - In a widening offensive, Sudanese forces on Monday attacked a southern Darfur town controlled by the only rebel group that has signed a peace deal with the government. The NationGates v. Cheney on Iran?
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is reportedly the administration’s “chief opponent of air strikes and is the main reason President George W.Bush has yet to resort to military action.” The UK Telegraph reports: “Pentagon sources say Mr Gates is waging a subtle campaign to undermine the Cheney camp by encouraging the army’s senior officers to speak frankly about the overstretch of forces, and the difficulty of fighting another war.”
The People vs. the Profiteers
Americans working in Iraq for Halliburton spin-off KBR have been outraged by the massive fraud they saw there. Dozens are suing the giant military contractor, on the taxpayers' behalf. Whose side is the Justice Department on?
Bush Administration Launches National Ad Campaign Promoting Abstinence
4parents.gov is a government website run by the Department of Health and Human Services that is meant to provide parents with “information” to help “teens make healthy choices.” But this “information” is not grounded in science. A recent federal report concluded that abstinence-only programs have had “no impacts on rates of sexual abstinence.” Yet the latest public service announcement by 4parents.gov “encourages parents to talk with their kids about waiting to have sex.”
Click through to watch the ad.—Caro
U.S. considered radiological weapon
WASHINGTON - In one of the longest-held secrets of the Cold War, the U.S. Army explored the potential for using radioactive poisons to assassinate "important individuals" such as military or civilian leaders, according to newly declassified documents obtained by The Associated Press.
Democrats to Offer New Surveillance Rules
House Democrats plan to introduce a bill this week that would let a secret court issue one-year "umbrella" warrants to allow the government to intercept e-mails and phone calls of foreign targets and would not require that surveillance of each person be approved individually. The bill is likely to resurrect controversy.
“Controversy” is right. Congress can’t give away my constitutional rights, and it frightens me greatly that its members seem to think it can.—Caro
Survey of Iowa Voters Reveals Surprising Results and Attitudes
The state where voters have the first say in U.S. presidential primaries has also weighed in on a critical 2008 campaign issue: health care. According to a survey conducted by a national, nonpartisan citizens' group, a solid majority of Iowa voters agree the current health care system is broken-and they don’t trust politicians to fix it.
How Clinton has built her lead
(Hillary Clinton) has built a political base -- reflected in polls -- of voters who dominate the Democratic nominating process: seniors, women and blue-collar voters… Still, a Clinton nomination is far from a foregone conclusion. In Iowa, whose voters are first in the nominating process, the race is effectively a toss-up among Clinton, Obama and Edwards.
Clinton: Trade Deals Should Be Rejudged
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) - Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton told union leaders and Iowa voters her economic leadership should be judged by how well the middle class fares - and that trade agreements should be rejudged to see if they're helping or not.
Obama Proposes Reducing US Gas Emissions
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) - Democrat Barack Obama is calling for sharply reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and forcing power companies and other businesses to pay for all of their pollution.
Democrats positioned to widen majority in Senate
With Republicans dogged by retirements, scandals and the Iraq war, there's an outside chance Democrats will gain as many as nine seats in the 100-member Senate in the November 2008 elections, which would give them a pivotal 60. That is the number of votes needed to clear Republican procedural roadblocks, which have been used to thwart the Democrats' efforts to force a change in Bush's policy on the Iraq war, particularly plans to withdraw U.S. troops.
The Republicans won’t stop, though. They’re relentless. They’ll keep picking off Democrats from conservative states to work with them to block legislation. And Democrats will keep caving. Remember where you heard it first, when it starts happening in the next Congress. Until Democrats become as dogged and committed and relentless as Republicans, Republicans will continue to block whatever they want to block.—Caro
A Nation of "Haves" and "Have-Nots"? (Pew Research Center)
Over the past two decades, a growing share of the public has come to the view that American society is divided into two groups, the "haves" and the "have-nots." Today, Americans are split evenly on the two-class question with as many saying the country is divided along economic lines as say this is not the case… Of equal importance, the number of Americans who see themselves among the "have-nots" of society has doubled over the past two decades, from 17% in 1988 to 34% today.
Abused Workers Fight Back by Slacking Off
Employees toiling under an abusive supervisor often rebel quietly and indirectly by slacking off on the job and handing in sloppy work. MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
Military returns tape it took from AP
BAGHDAD - The U.S. military returned a videotape and digital camera memory card Monday that American soldiers had seized last week from an AP Television News cameraman.
Field Web Access Can Help Live Event Coverage
This weekend 436 people were arrested in Copenhagen when young activists tried to occupy a house. Modkraft.dk, which has always supported activists, launched two tools to help publish eyewitness reports to a wider audience. The first is a Google map on which small figures moved around to show the positions of eyewitnesses moved. The second tool is a simple list of text messages. The site reported from six to nine hours about police movements, various demonstrations, and sub-groups of activists that tried to penetrate police barriers.
Joe Wilson: "Chronic Liar" Robert Novak Is "Going Straight To Hell" (by Greg Sargent)
(F)ormer Ambassador Joe Wilson … angrily disputed Robert Novak's latest assertion about the outing of his CIA operative wife, adding that if the columnist isn't going to confession, "he's going straight to Hell." Wilson's angry over a story (Monday) in The Hill which quoted Novak saying that Wilson did not forcefully object when Novak spoke to him before publishing his now infamous column naming his wife, Valerie Plame… Novak claimed (that) Wilson was primarily focused on not being named in Novak's article solely as an opponent of the Iraq war. "He's lying," Wilson responded a few moments ago when I reached him on his cell phone.
Rabble Rouser
After a target of one of Michelle Malkin’s hate campaigns committed suicide you’d think Little Lulu would show a little restraint. But no; Malkin and others on the Right have formed a full-scale howling mob to attack the family of 12-year-old Graeme Frost. Righties have been calling the Frosts, harassing them with personal questions. Malkin personally drove by the Frosts’ home so that she could describe it to her readers, and she went to a commercial property they own and interviewed one of the tenants. Why? Because Graeme appeared in a commercial in support of the S-CHIP program.
The country started going to hell when they told women they don’t have to just buckle immediately (by Amanda Marcotte)
So, Dr. Helen (at Pajamas Media) has an interview with Glenn Sacks about how all the problems in the world can be traced to bitches who don’t act right and just do as they’re told… It’s a truly nauseating attempt to rewrite reality, starting with Dr. Helen’s mind-boggling implication that the accused in the Duke rape case were found guilty of crimes they didn’t commit and are sitting in jail.
MSNBC: Eager to paint Hillary as a harpy
In an Iowa appearance over the weekend, Hillary Clinton fielded a question on her support for the Lieberman-Kyl Amendment… The exchange has been described as testy or harsh, though it just sounds like she got annoyed and accused Rolph of being a plant. Kudos to Rolph for asking a question the traditional media hasn’t and kudos to Hillary for not relying on pre-approved audiences and questions like our current president. But … MSNBC covered the same non-issue no less than 3 times in the course of an hour, with such charming descriptions as “shrill” and “fishwife-y”.
Click through to watch the MSNBC video.—Caro
http://www.mediachannel.org/wordpress/2007/10/08/is-the-economy-out-of-the-woods/">Is The Economy "Out Of The Woods?" (by Danny Schechter)
Can We Trust The New Jobs Report That Has Led To Rosy Forecasts?
Gallup: Republicans remain more skeptical of media
Republicans "remain deeply distrustful of the national news media -- in sharp contrast to Democrats, who have a great deal more trust in the media's accuracy"… "Only about a third of Americans today say that the news media are 'just about right' when it comes to ideological balance," (Frank Newport) writes. "More than twice as many Americans say the news media are too liberal (45%) rather than too conservative (18%)."
Showing once again the success of the right wing’s 35-year assault on the media. Too bad progressives don’t see the need to confront that propaganda in a comprehensive fashion.—Caro
Rush makes $2 to $3 million a month. (via email, Inside Radio daily newsletter, no link available)
That's according to monthly filings Rush Limbaugh has been required to fill-out for the Florida Department of Corrections. Now in his final weeks of probation, agents say Limbaugh hasn't broken any rules in the 18 months since he's been under watch under a plea deal on drug charges. Limbaugh tells the Palm Beach Post "This whole thing has made me a better person."
From Steve Sinton, one of the creators of Air America Radio: “Down from the $4M+/mo in the $50/5 yr deal Clear Channel signed him to before pleading out to the drug charges that have decimated his audience. Actually, the calendar decimates his audience. His number 1 demo is ‘Dead.’ Huge 70+. Try selling that someone other than Gold Bond. If you believe the American Legion, 5000 of his listeners die every week.”—Caro
Internet radio: Potential is great, listeners are few.
Spring 2007 data shows less than 1% of diaries contain listening to Internet radio. But when listeners do tune-in online, they seem to favor local stations.
Comcast must listen (by Jeff Jarvis)
Here’s my ideal cable company: * I want my cable company to treat me with the respect it would give a business and issue me an SLA (service-level agreement) that guarantees me uptime, speed, and response time to problems on the internet, TV, and phones — with penalties if they fail… * I want my cable company to guarantee that they will not restrict any content on the pipe I pay for…. * I want my cable company to offer wi-fi all over my town and to come to roaming agreements that let me get wi-fi anywhere I travel. I’m willing to pay more for that. But I want it.
Click through for more good ideas on what we ought to be able to expect from our cable companies.—Caro
DailyMe’s Basic Personalized Feed Reader (by Kristen Nicole at Mashabel)
DailyMe is a news feed aggregator that lets you select the type of content you’d like to receive on regular basis, and then select the delivery preferences for this content. As if you needed another feed reader. The fact that this is yet another feed reader made me wary to even check out the service, but once I created my account, I was happy with how easy it is to choose your content. Technology & Science2 share Nobel for work on hard drives
France’s Albert Fert and German Peter Gruenberg won the 2007 Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for a discovery that lets billions of computer users store reams of data on computer hard drives.
The Economist’s Open Online Debate on Education & Technology
The Economist is holding a debate on Education and Technology, and its asking Mashable readers to take part. Participation is free, and there’s no subscription necessary.
Vonage settles patent suit with Sprint
The beaten-down shares of Vonage Holdings Corp. more than doubled in value Monday after the Internet phone company said it had settled a patent suit filed by Sprint Nextel Corp… Sprint also agreed to license Vonage its portfolio of more than 100 patents on connecting calls between a regular telephone network and a packet-switched network such as the Internet.
Scary games to get you in the Halloween spirit
Don't just watch a creepy movie to get into the Halloween spirit. You can star in one virtually speaking with a handful of video games designed to fright and delight.
Predictify Goes Live Today: Make Money for Being Right
Predictify, the site that lets you earn money by making accurate predictions on various events, has officially launched its public beta today. Founded by an ex-Google product manager along with a former VP at Zazzle, Predictify is going after the wisdom of the crowd to guess the outcome of things like Michael Vick’s prison sentence, and how many iPhones will sell by December 31, 2007.
Futuristic car makes reversing obsolete
TOKYO (Reuters) - For all those drivers that hate parallel parking and anything else that requires the reverse gear, Nissan could one day have the car for you.
The cab of the car can rotate 360 degrees.—Caro
Now Nissan's Pivo concept car can drive sideways too
TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's Nissan Motor Co. on Friday unveiled a new version of its egg-shaped Pivo concept car that can drive sideways and has a small robot to assist with navigation or calm down angry drivers.
Sci Fi No More: Cars That Fight Thieves
Imagine a technology that could make high speed police chases - which killed 404 people last year - a thing of the past. GM is first in line, beginning in 2009, with 20 models that can be slowed down via OnStar if a thief is in the driver's seat.
Could vertical farming be the future?
Rice on the seventh floor. Wheat on the twelfth. And enough food within an 18-story tower to feed a small city of 50,000.
Blood Vessels Grown From Patient’s Skin
For the first time, scientists have successfully implanted blood vessels grown from a patient’s own cells.
3 New Lung Cancer Genes Identified
They are associated with 20 percent of all lung malignancies, scientists say.
Why Men Dominate Math and Science Fields
Most overt discrimination against women in the sciences has been reduced or eliminated in recent decades through legal, academic, corporate and government measures. But a climate that is less than fully friendly to women remains, and its texture is often still so taken for granted that it tends to be invisible.
Chimps Act Like Humans: Mine! Mine! Mine!
People often strangely consider something more valuable once they own it. Now scientists find this same apparently irrational behavior in chimps, a finding that could help shed light on the human mind.
Plants Communicate to Warn Against Danger
Plants chatter amongst themselves to spread information, a lot like humans and other animals, new research suggests. A unique internal network apparently allows greens to warn each other against predators and potential enemies.
Uh oh, what will vegetarians eat now?—Caro EnvironmentScientist: Greenhouse Gas Levels Grave
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Strong worldwide economic growth has accelerated the level of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere to a dangerous threshold scientists had not expected for another decade, according to a leading Australian climate change expert.
Settlement reached in acid rain case
WASHINGTON - Settling an eight-year legal battle, a major power generator has agreed to spend $4.6 billion to reduce chemical emissions blamed for spreading acid rain across the Northeast
UPS Expands "Green Fleet" With 306 Alternative Fuel Vehicles
UPS today announced it was adding 306 alternative fuel vehicles to its "green fleet" by placing an order for 167 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) delivery trucks while taking delivery of 139 new propane delivery trucks in North America.
Greenpeace Urges Indonesia to Stop Forest Destruction
JAKARTA - Indonesia must stop the destruction of its rainforests and commit to a moratorium on conversion of peat swamp forests into farmland, Greenpeace said on Tuesday. For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com. |
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
