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Morning headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoryBush visits California wildfire victims
ESCONDIDO, Calif. - President Bush had a message Thursday for Southern Californians weary and frightened from five days of wildfires. "We're not going to forget you in Washington, D.C.," he declared in an eerie echo of what he once told Hurricane Katrina victims. Pollyticks
The WorldIraqi parliamentary speaker threatens to cut off oil to Turkey
DAMASCUS, Syria: The speaker of Iraq's parliament warned Turkey on Thursday that his government would cut off the flow of oil from northern Iraq if Ankara followed through on its threat to level economic sanctions against the country.
Turks Say US Pressure Won't Stop Attack
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - Turkey warned Thursday that U.S. objections will not stop its troops from crossing into Iraq to pursue Kurdish separatists, while a steady stream of U.S.-made Turkish fighter jets roared across the skies along the border.
Iraq revokes security contractors' immunity
BAGHDAD (AFP) - The Iraqi government announced on Wednesday that it has decided to formally revoke the immunity from prosecution granted to private security companies operating in the war-ravaged country.
Khatami hints at comeback with censure of president's 'lies'
Iran's former president Mohammad Khatami has fuelled speculation of a possible comeback by bluntly accusing his successor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, of peddling false statistics to hide rising inflation and unemployment. Mr Khatami, who was regarded as a reformist, said Iran's worsening economic woes did not tally with the rosy picture painted by the government, and warned that officially endorsed "lies" would destroy Iranians' trust in the Islamic system.
Hmmm… Sounds awfully familiar.—Caro
Israel plays down Mideast conference
JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert prepared for a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday, a day after saying an upcoming Mideast peace conference would not result in a final deal with the Palestinians and may not take place at all.
Troops attack stronghold of cleric
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Security forces opened fire Friday on a stronghold of a militant cleric in northwestern Pakistan, sparking a fierce gunbattle near the scene of a suicide attack on a military truck that killed 20 people, police said.
Russian navigation satellites launched
MOSCOW (Reuters) - An unmanned rocket carrying three Russian GLONASS navigation satellites took off from the Russian cosmodrome at Baikonur in Kazakhstan on Friday, news agencies reported.
Putin warns Europe ahead of summit
MAFRA, Portugal (AFP) - Russia's President Vladimir Putin made a new warning to Europe over the Iran nuclear standoff and Kosovo's push for independence ahead of a summit with EU leaders Friday.
Japan to take fingerprints, photos of foreigners
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is to fingerprint and photograph foreigners entering the country from next month in an anti-terrorism policy that is stirring anger among foreign residents and human rights activists.
South Korea says U.S. troops to stay after peace deal
SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. troops will remain on the Korean peninsula even if the North and South reach a peace deal to replace the armistice that ended their 1950-1953 war, South Korea's foreign minister said on Friday. The NationU.S. Plays Its ‘Unilateral’ Card on Iran Sanctions
After 18 months in which the Bush administration has touted the virtues of collective action against Iran, the new sanctions mark a major turn toward unilateralism.
Iran Sanctions Are Meant to Prevent War, Bush Aides Say
In approving far-reaching, new unilateral sanctions against Iran, President Bush signaled yesterday that he intends to pursue a strategy of gradually escalating financial, diplomatic and political pressure on Tehran, aimed not at starting a new war in the Middle East, his advisers said, but at preventing one.
And up is down. Night is day. Greed is good.—Caro
Dodd Speaks Out on Unilateral Sanctions Against Iran
Senator Chris Dodd today released the following statement in reaction to the Bush Administration's announcement of an unprecedented package of unilateral sanctions against Iran, absent any corresponding diplomatic measures. "… I am deeply concerned that once again the President is opting for military action as a first resort."
Strike on Iran Would Roil Oil Markets, Experts Say
A U.S. military strike against Iran would have dire consequences in petroleum markets, say a variety of oil industry experts… The small amount of excess oil production capacity worldwide would provide an insufficient cushion if armed conflict disrupted supplies, oil experts say, and petroleum prices would skyrocket. Moreover, a wounded or angry Iran could easily retaliate against oil facilities from southern Iraq to the Strait of Hormuz.
Mukasey's Nomination Runs Into Trouble
WASHINGTON -- Judge Michael Mukasey's nomination for attorney general ran into trouble Thursday when two top Senate Democrats said their votes hinge on whether he will say on the record that an interrogation technique that simulates drowning is torture. "It's fair to say my vote would depend on him answering that question," Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., told reporters late Thursday.
White House offers eavesdropping papers
WASHINGTON - The White House sought to speed progress on legislation to legalize President Bush's eavesdropping program Thursday by allowing the Senate Judiciary Committee to view classified documents its members have demanded.
See what happens when you play hardball, Democrats? Now do it more, and keep on doing it.—Caro
House passes revised SCHIP bill.
The House just voted 265-142 to approve revised SCHIP expansion legislation, but fell short of the two-thirds needed to uphold a veto by President Bush. Twenty-seven members didn’t vote. The bill would “add $35 billion to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program” and “addressed critics’ concerns about participation by adults, illegal immigrants and families able to afford health insurance.”
Democrats Reintroduce Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Legislation
Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), along with Reps. Marion Berry (D-Ark.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), on Tuesday reintroduced legislation that would require the federal government to negotiate prices directly with pharmaceutical companies for medications under the Medicare prescription drug benefit, CongressDaily reports. The bill would allow Medicare to establish a formulary that would give HHS leverage in negotiations.
Privatizing The Constitution (by digby)
(T)he Bush administration wants the people of this country to grant (communications companies) immunity from lawsuits brought by ordinary Americans because their lawyers took the word of the Bush administration that they weren't breaking the law by eavesdropping on their customers without a warrant… What a precedent this sets. The government can "privatize" spying on citizens --- or any other unconstitutional activity --- and promise the corporate contributors who get the contracts that they will be granted retroactive immunity for the laws they've broken.
Anti-gay voter fraud on video: Massachusetts woman earns up to $1200 a day scamming citizens into signing a homophobic petition.
Massachusetts voters are being fooled into believing they are signing a petition about grocery store products, but a conservative group is actually gathering signatures - in a bait and switch scam - to ban same-sex marriage. The Massachusetts Family Institute is responsible for the petitioning.
Rudy's Pants On Fire
In a recent broadside deriding the Clinton administration's response to Al Qaeda, Rudy Giuliani told an audience at Pat Robertson's Regent University: "Bin Laden declared war on us. We didn't hear it. I thought it was pretty clear at the time, but a lot of people didn't see it, couldn't see it."… (But a) 15-page "memorandum for the record," prepared by a (9/11) commission counsel and dated April 20, 2004, quotes Giuliani conceding that it wasn't until "after 9/11" that "we brought in people to brief us on al Qaeda.
Thompson Downplays Iraq Insurgency: ‘A Bunch Of Kids With Improvised Explosive Devices’
Speaking during a stop in South Carolina today, former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN) downplayed the Iraq insurgency as child’s play. The insurgency is made up of “a bunch of kids with improvised explosive devices,”… The core of Thompson’s machismo argument for remaining in Iraq appears to be that we can’t lose to “a bunch of kids.” His “analysis” is detached from the reality of what troops face in Iraq.
Click through for a link to the video.—Caro MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
Poll: One Out of Three Believe in Ghosts
SPOOKY BELIEFS: Those things that go bump in the night? About one-third of people believe they could be ghosts. And nearly one out of four, 23 percent, say they've actually seen a ghost or felt its presence, finds a pre-Halloween poll by The Associated Press and Ipsos. OTHER HUNCHES: About one out of five people, 19 percent, say they accept the existence of spells or witchcraft. Nearly half, 48 percent, believe in extrasensory perception, or ESP. WHO: The most likely candidates for ghostly visits include single people, Catholics and those who never attend religious services.
Would they be Bush lovers, too, do you suppose?—Caro
America Could Have Killed Usama bin Laden — But Didn't (by Col. David Hunt, FOXNews.com—yes, you saw it right)
We know, with a 70 percent level of certainty — which is huge in the world of intelligence — that in August of 2007, bin Laden was in a convoy headed south from Tora Bora. We had his butt, on camera, on satellite. We were listening to his conversations. We had the world’s best hunters/killers — Seal Team 6 — nearby… Unbelievably, and in my opinion, criminally, we did not kill Usama bin Laden. You cannot make this crap up; truth is always stranger and more telling than fiction. Our government, the current administration and yes, our military leaders included, failed to kill bin Laden for no other reason than incompetence.
Maybe it wasn’t incompetence. The PR Administration surely recognized the value of having bin Laden around as a boogeyman. If they’d killed him, we wouldn’t be blessed with tapes from the man every time Bush needs to bully Congress into passing one of his totalitarian measures.—Caro
Al-Qaida takes issue with Al-Jazeera
CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida sympathizers have unleashed a torrent of anger against Al-Jazeera television, accusing it of misrepresenting Osama bin Laden's latest audiotape by airing excerpts in which he criticizes mistakes by insurgents in Iraq.
Endorsing Irresponsible Journalism (by David Sirota)
(Regarding the media’s coverage of Hillary Clinton’s fundraising numbers over Barack Obama’s foreign policy speech, David) Broder offers not a single sentence of criticism for the choice. The Dean of the Serious Washington Journalists just notes it - as if that is the natural, acceptable way of things - as if his fellow reporters deciding to cover the horserace over covering a war is just AOK and totally responsible. In fact, it's actually worse - this Dean of Serious Washington Journalists doesn't just note it - he actually praises a Democratic candidate as "exquisite" for exploiting his media colleagues' irresponsibility and for manipulating the press that is supposed to be a watchdog against such underhanded tactics.
Love Me!!! (by Josh Marshall)
The student paper at GW interviewed Horowitz on 'Islamofascism Awareness Week' and he seems to have let the cat out of the bag about the goal behind the event. "'I'm a prominent conservative but no one is inviting me to speak at their campuses,' Horowitz said in an interview with The Hatchet. 'I had to create an event.'" The conspiracy against me is revealed by the fact that despite my popularity and prominence no one wants to have me come and speak at their campus.
A Catastrophe Foretold (by Paul Krugman)
(T)he laissez-faire ideologues ruling Washington … were and are men who believe that government is always the problem, never the solution, that regulation is always a bad thing. Unfortunately, assertions that unregulated financial markets would take care of themselves have proved as wrong as claims that deregulation would reduce electricity prices.
From Old to New Media: Blog Begets Publishing House
Dzanc (Books) is growing at a time when there are few independent publishers left, and the remaining ones were hit hard by the recent bankruptcy of Advanced Marketing Services, a major distributor. "We do not intend to fall into the potholes that sent the hubcaps of our predecessors flying," says co-founder Steve Gillis. "We are not caught in the old template of how publishing has been done." Director Dan Wickett has gone from amateur blogger to publisher, reversing the traditional flow from old to new media.
Star Wars' Yoda gets his own stamp
WASHINGTON - Buy these stamps, you will.
YouTube guerrillas target on Australia's election
CANBERRA (Reuters) - A YouTube clip of Australia's Prime Ministerial hopeful Kevin Rudd as a Chairman Mao-figure in a spoof Chinese propaganda film is spearheading a guerrilla video campaign undermining the major parties' election advertising.
Web video should be regulated, finds poll
Twenty-nine percent of those surveyed said Internet video should be regulated just like television content, and another 24 percent said the US government should institute an online rating system similar to the one used by the movie industry, according to the poll… Only 36 per cent of respondents agreed that government regulation of Internet video would raise constitutional issues.
Will Unethical Editing Destroy Wikipedia's Credibility?
In May 2005, someone at a Wal-Mart IP address changed a sentence in the Wal-Mart entry about employee wages… (from) “Wages at Wal-Mart are about 20% less than at other retail stores”… to “Wages at Wal-Mart are about 20% less than at other retail stores.”… There are two problems with these changes, and neither of them has to do with the facts. The facts are accurate, and that's actually part of the problem.
But why can’t both of the comparisons be posted? I’m no fan of Wal-Mart, but shouldn’t both advocates and detractors be able to make the comparisons they see, as long as they’re accurate? Then the reader can decide which comparison is more important to him or her.—Caro
'Gray Googlers' strike gold
The Internet may be a young person's medium, but the retired and those nearing retirement have found that they can work the Web. In return for placing its ads on websites and blogs, Google pays Web publishers every time one of its ads are clicked. With that, "Gray Googlers" can live a richer, more financially rewarding life than when they were supposedly working.
I wish I knew their secret. I make almost nothing from my considerable daily efforts to bring you the important news.—Caro Technology & ScienceBecoming A Victim Online May Take Time
Becoming a victim of sexual predators on the Web is not a result of being online. It is, very often, says CBS News technology analyst Larry Magid , a result of online and offline behavior that carries hidden danger.
Hounded by spyware charges, DirectRevenue shuts down
San Francisco (IDGNS) - Notorious adware maker DirectRevenue has closed shop.
Scientist retires from NY research lab
NEW YORK - James Watson, famous for DNA research but widely condemned for recent comments about intelligence levels among blacks, retired Thursday from his post at a prestigious research institution.
’55 ‘Origin of Life’ Paper Is Retracted
Alarmed that a 52-year-old paper was stoking the arguments of creationists, a chemistry professor has retracted a paper on the origins of life.
Gene switch altered sex orientation of worms
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Altering a gene in the brain of female worms changed their sexual orientation, researchers said on Thursday, making female worms attracted to other females.
Brain Region Tied to Amphetamine Addiction
When the insula was switched off, rats lost the craving, scientists say
Brain's 'Reward Chemical' May Help Spur Obesity
Fewer dopamine receptors on cells could prompt overeating, study suggests
Some Neanderthals Were Redheads
Like bringing to life a naked mannequin, scientists are using genetic and physical evidence found in fossils to clothe the skeletal remains of our closest hominid relatives, the Neanderthals.
First Land Creatures Saw in Vivid Color
The first prehistoric fish that clambered onto land glimpsed its new world in full color and could even see wavelengths of light that our eyes can't, a new study suggests… Australian lungfish are thought to be the closest surviving relatives of the first land animals. The "living fossils" have remained virtually unchanged since first appearing in the fossil record 135 million years ago. They still live in Australian rivers.
Astronauts begin space construction job
Astronauts aboard space shuttle Discovery and the international space station joined forces Thursday, linking their ships and kicking off the biggest construction job ever attempted by a single team in orbit.
Hundreds of 'Missing' Black Holes Found
Hundreds of "missing" black holes have been found lurking in dusty galaxies billions of light-years away.
Defect Suspected in Fabric of Space-Time
An enormous cold spot in our universe could be explained by a cosmic defect in the fabric of space-time created shortly after the Big Bang, scientists say. If confirmed by future studies, the finding, detailed in the Oct. 25 issue of the journal Science, could provide cosmologists with a long-sought clue about how the infant universe evolved. EnvironmentFires' Long-Term Impact On Environment
The wildfires scorching the California landscape could leave a legacy of environmental devastation that will be evident for years to come, especially in areas that have been burned several times. Some of the damage may never be reversed.
U.N. says world in dire straits
LONDON (Reuters) - Two decades after a landmark report sounded alarm bells about the state of the planet and called for urgent action to change direction, the world is still in dire straits, a U.N. agency said on Thursday.
Climate Change's Uncertainty Principle
Scientists say they can never be sure exactly how extreme global warming might become, but that's no excuse for delaying action
Canada sets largest freshwater conservation area
OTTAWA (Reuters) - The largest freshwater marine protected area in the world is being set up off the northern shores of Lake Superior, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced on Thursday. For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com.
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