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Morning headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoryBoo! Scientists help us cope with fear
As Americans revel in all things scary on Halloween, scientists say they now know better what's going on inside our brains when a spook jumps out and scares us. Knowing how fear rules the brain should lead to treatments for a major medical problem: When irrational fears go haywire.
Yes, those right wingers who see an Islamofascist under every bed could really use some help.—Caro Happy Halloween!
Mo Paul got it right in 2001
The WorldIraq bill would lift contractor immunity
BAGHDAD - The Iraqi government approved a draft law Tuesday to lift immunity for foreign security companies including Blackwater USA, a bid to overturn a decree imposed more than three years ago by the U.S. official who ran the country after the American-led invasion.
Major powers to meet on Iran this week
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Major powers plan to meet in London this week to discuss new sanctions on Iran amid a spat between Washington and the U.N. atomic energy watchdog over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, U.S. officials said.
20 Taliban killed in Afghan operation
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - An operation in southern Afghanistan involving 200 Afghan police working alongside Western troops killed 20 Taliban fighters, officials said Tuesday, in an area where the militants largely had been kept at bay in recent years.
Myanmar monks hold first march since crackdown
YANGON (Reuters) - About 200 Buddhist monks marched in central Myanmar on Wednesday for the first time since soldiers crushed monk-led protests against the ruling military junta last month.
China to Build New Space Rockets
BEIJING (AP) - China will build a new family of rockets, state media said Wednesday, a move that would boost the country's capabilities to put satellites and space stations in space.
US envoy in talks with NKorea ahead of nuclear disablement
BEIJING (AFP) - US nuclear envoy Christopher Hill was due to meet his North Korean counterpart for final discussions on Wednesday before Pyongyang begins disabling its nuclear programmes.
Australia's Howard fights back but still faces election defeat
SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian Prime Minister John Howard and his government have clawed back some support but still face a likely defeat in elections next month, a new opinion poll showed Tuesday.
Victory confirmed, Argentina's president-elect faces challenges
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Final results confirmed Monday that Argentine first lady Sen. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner won election to replace her husband as president, setting off speculation about how she'll govern a country that's emerged from a deep economic crisis but hasn't yet found its footing.
U.N. votes against U.S. embargo on Cuba for 16th year
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to urge the United States to lift its four-decade-old embargo against Cuba in a resolution adopted for the 16th consecutive year.
Anti-terrorist court to deliver verdicts in Madrid bombings trial
MADRID (AFP) - Tight security was in force Wednesday as Spain's anti-terrorist court prepared to hand down verdicts against 28 suspects in the 2004 Madrid train bombings, which killed almost 200 people and were claimed in the name of Al-Qaeda.
And we have suspects still languishing at Guantanamo after four years, with no trial dates in sight. And these people were tried in regular courts.—Caro The NationDid West blow chance to halt Iran's nuke plans?
Atif Amin says that as a U.K. Customs agent in 2000, he uncovered evidence that Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan was running a nuclear black market. But the United States and United Kingdom waited more than three years to take action to shut down the Khan network, which supplied Libya, North Korea and Iran with gas centrifuge technology to enrich uranium. Had they moved against Khan sooner, Amin believes and some critics agree, Iran might not have as many as 3,000 centrifuges today and be threatening to become a nuclear power.
Zogby Poll: 52% Support U.S. Military Strike Against Iran
Most see Clinton as the presidential candidate best equipped to deal with Iran, followed by Giuliani and McCain—but many express uncertainty
Is the Fourth Amendment Precatory?
US Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey has written a very lawyerly letter to the Senate Judiciary committee… If you read the letter with any care … you will see that it very carefully refuses to say that — even in the face of the FISA legislation occupying the field — the … law can place any limits on a President who decides to wiretap US citizens, in the US, without a warrant, so long as he decides he wants to and is willing to wave the bloody shirt of national security.
Clinton, Obama, Edwards oppose Mukasey nomination
The three leading Democratic White House contenders on Tuesday opposed President George W. Bush's nomination of Michael Mukasey to be attorney general, citing concerns about how the retired judge views torture.
Davis Grills Tanner on Minorities "Die First" Comment
(DOJ voting section chief John Tanner tried to defend) his conviction that voter ID laws actually discriminate against whites… "You're a policy maker, sir," (Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL)) said. "You're in charge of enforcing the voting rights laws in this country.... If you are basing your conclusions on stereotypes rather than facts, then it suggests to some of us that someone else can do this job better than you can."
Leahy to White House: Thanks for Nothing (by Paul Kiel at TPM Muckraker)
Last week, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) pronounced himself pleased that the administration had handed over four "previously undisclosed documents" relating to the administration's interrogation policies… After months of stonewalling, it was a new day! Well, not so much. Apparently three of the four documents, called "previously undisclosed," in the committee's press release at the time, were already in the public domain.
FBI investigates Sen. Stevens’ fishing bills.
The federal investigation into Sen. Ted Stevens’ (R-AK) potentially corrupt relationship to an Alaskan oil company has expanded to include his ties to the fishing industry. Investigators issued “subpoenas throughout the industry last year” asking whether Stevens “pushed seafood legislation that benefited” his son Ben, who is a state lobbyist and politician. One fisherman provided the FBI with a taped conversation indicating that Ben Stevens told a client, “I’ll get Dad to fund you guys, too.”
Career prosecutors opposed Siegelman prosecution.
Alabama GOP operative Dana Jill Simpson recently charged that Karl Rove and his allies pushed the Justice Department into prosecuting former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman (D) prior to a major election. Harpers’ Scott Horton now reports that the “most experienced and senior career prosecutors” opposed the Siegleman prosecution, yet the Justice Department pushed the case forward “with blunt political force”.
Court reviews child pornography law
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court explored Tuesday whether it could limit the reach of a child pornography law so that it would not apply to legitimate creative expression, vivid adolescent imaginations or innocent e-mails with provocative headings.
Good luck defining vivid adolescent imaginations, Justices.—Caro
Warren Buffett Sees "Fairly Significant" Chance U.S. Going Into Recession
In this excerpt from an interview with Buffett on the return flight to the United States, he talks about the probability of a near-term recession in the United States and why he's a bull on "mankind's long-term possibilities." MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
OUR SIDE STILL DOESN’T GET IT: (by Bob Somerby at the Daily Howler)
Why aren’t neo-cons and Republicans on the defensive? In large part, it’s because they get puffed—and Democrats get jeered—within the sprawling public discussion constructed by the “mainstream” press. Democrats are constant figures of ridicule—and Republicans simply are not. This framework is being extended today, even as liberals like Josh (Marshall) refuse to discuss it. In large part, that’s why it’s easy for scum-bags like Giuliani to go around mocking Big Dems. And that is why it’s much, much harder for Dems to return the favor.
Mega-donors prepare for '08 battle
Sources involved in the nascent effort said representatives of Democratic powerhouses like MoveOn.org and the Service Employees International Union, along with super-wealthy individuals like the fund manager George Soros, are hashing out the details of a planned independent effort that could finance tens of millions of dollars of television advertisements. But when they meet after the two-day conference of the Democracy Alliance in Washington, D.C., this week, the donors will aim not to repeat what they see as the mistakes of the last presidential campaign.
Think about what they’re doing. They’re putting more money in the pockets of the very media moguls who pay their minions so well to say nothing good about Democrats while puffing up Republicans as much as possible. These donors are paying for the destruction of the belief system they profess to support. How I wish I could get some of these people interested in funding a media infrastructure of our own!—Caro
Don’t let them fool you: GAO: Reduction In Violence Due To ‘Ethnically Cleansed Neighborhoods’ In Iraq
Violence is “down significantly from last year,” declared President Bush. In a hearing before the House Appropriations Committee (Tuesday), Joe Christoff of the Government Accountability Office stated that this recent reduction in violence should be taken with a grain of salt, as it coincides with increased sectarian cleansing and a massive refugee displacement.
War protests: Why no coverage? (by Jerry Lanson)
Boston - Coordinated antiwar protests in at least 11 American cities this weekend raised anew an interesting question about the nature of news coverage: Are the media ignoring rallies against the Iraq war because of their low turnout or is the turnout dampened by the lack of news coverage?.. That most Americans oppose the war in Iraq is well established… Given that context, it seems remarkable to me that in some of the 11 cities in which protests were held – Boston and New York, for example – major news outlets treated this "National Day of Action" as though it did not exist.
B.S. Detector: DOJ Statement on Blackwater, just out ... (by Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo)
(DOJ statement:) "… any suggestion that the Blackwater employees in question have been given immunity from federal criminal prosecution is inaccurate…” A highly knowledgeable responds ... “(A)s a practical matter if the Blackwater folks got use immunity, there is virtually no chance they will be tried or convicted for any crime…Bottom line: DOJ's statement is a very careful bamboozle. Don't be fooled.”
A test case for the media (by Paul Krugman)
OK, Rudy Giuliani has just released an ad claiming that the survival rate from prostate cancer is much higher in America than in Britain, thus proving the failure of socialized medicine. The problem is that his claim is just plain false. In fact, mortality rates from prostate cancer are almost the same in America and Britain. So, will this get as much attention as, say, the Edwards haircut or the Hillary laugh? Will it get any coverage at all?
Stephen Colbert's joke is on the press (by Eric Boehlert)
(T)he Colbert candidacy becomes a distraction only if the press allows it to. And the sad fact is the press already has allowed it to, because the press literally drives itself to distraction on the campaign trail. That's not an unfortunate side effect of the process. That's the goal.
Norman Podhoretz: Anyone Who Doesn’t Want To ‘Bomb Iran’ Is Appeasing ‘Hitler’
On the PBS Newshour with Jim Lehrer (Monday) night, Commentary Magazine editor-at-large Norman Podhoretz, who is also a foreign policy adviser to Rudy Giuliani, repeated his claim that there is “only one terrible choice” left with Iran, which is to “bomb” their “facilities” and “retard” their nuclear program. When Newsweek’s Fareed Zackaria asserted that deterrence was a viable option, Podhoretz repeatedly accused him of “an irresponsible complacency” that “is comparable to the denial in the early ’30s of the intentions of Hitler”.
Click through to watch the video.—Caro
George Will Wants Those Lazy Seniors Off The Dole
(George Will:) “Sixty-five days from now, the first of 78 million baby boomers begun (sic) to retire. Most Americans who collect Social Security begin to collect it at age 62, which is absurd. We have the public subsidizing increasingly long and comfortable retirement of people for a third to a half of their adult lifetime. Now. That’s why one in four voters in 2004 was over 60 years old. The elderly have the biggest stake in the welfare state, which exists to transfer wealth to them.”
My payments to Social Security over many years mean nothing to this man. I’m on welfare as far as he’s concerned.—Caro
Theocracy Now! (by Max Blumenthal)
On October 20 and 21st, I attended the Value Voters Summit… Rev. Lou Sheldon, dubbed "Lucky Louie" by his former paymaster Jack Abramoff, told me that homosexuality is a "pathological disorder"… Star Parker, a former welfare cheat who had multiple abortions, claimed to me that abortion is the leading cause of death among African American women between the ages of 25 and 34. Then she described her wish for the forced quarantine of all "sodomites."
Click through to watch the video.—Caro Technology & Science'Daylight' false alarm: So, what time is it?
Some Americans are finding themselves behind the times thanks to a daylight saving shift that is confusing people and electronics. Daylight saving used to end on the last weekend in October. But Congress changed it to the first weekend in November this year in an effort to save power.
How AT&T Provides the FBI with Terror Suspect Leads
Anyone can read the documentation first hand, but the layman’s explanation seems to be that by use of several seemingly simple data-mining algorithms, they scan through call logs made on AT&T’s network that scan the connections between phone numbers. The process seems to work like a game of “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” game, where folks are judged by what the paper calls “guilt by association.”
Vitamin D Won't Help Prevent Most Cancers
Major study did find possible protection against colon tumors, however
Virus Shows Some Cancer-Killing Abilities
Results are promising but preliminary, experts caution.
Quality of Life Predicts Lung Cancer Survival
It was the single most important factor, researchers say
Stolen artifacts returned to Greece
A stolen collection of about 100 artifacts dating back more than 7,000 years — including what appear to be very early human portraits — were displayed in Greece Tuesday, for the first time since being smuggled to Germany.
Melting Glacier Reveals Ancient Tree Stumps
Melting glaciers in Western Canada are revealing tree stumps up to 7,000 years old where the region's rivers of ice have retreated to a historic minimum, a geologist said today.
US astronomers spot biggest stellar-mass black hole
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US astronomers have discovered the biggest black hole orbiting a star 1.8 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia, with a record-setting mass of 24 to 33 times that of our Sun, NASA said Tuesday. EnvironmentLA fire started by boy with matches
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. - A boy playing with matches started a fire in north Los Angeles County that consumed more than 38,000 acres and destroyed 21 homes last week, authorities said Tuesday.
Commuters Inhale Heavy Dose of Pollution
Driving is more hazardous than anyone knew: A heavy commuter inhales more pollution while driving than in the entire rest of the day, a new study finds.
Citigroup Report Says Automakers Can Profit from CAFE Standards
WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2007 -- Anticipating legislation that will boost required gas mileage for cars in the United States, the banking giant has released a report showing that the auto industry can improve mileage and improve profits at the same time.
Merkel asks India to do more on climate change
NEW DELHI - German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged India, one of the world's biggest polluters, to do more to combat climate change on Tuesday, saying her country was willing to help New Delhi make progress. Merkel, a former environment minister who has pushed global warming to the top of her international agenda, said rich nations and emerging economies needed to strike a balance over the amount of responsibility they need to shoulder to prevent climate change and not fight over it. For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com. |
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