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Today’s headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoryAnalysis: Iowa votes for change
DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa sent the country a message Thursday night: We want change! Des Moines Register
The World3 U.S. soldiers killed, 1 wounded in operations in Iraq
Two U.S. soldiers were killed in military operations in the province of Diala while a third was killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) south of Baghdad, the U.S. army in Iraq said.
Suicide bomb at Iraq checkpoint kills 4
A suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint in the city of Baqubah on Wednesday, killing four people, including the Sunni leader serving as the main liaison there between the U.S. military and neighborhood volunteers helping to fight Al Qaeda, Iraqi police said. Some officials put the death toll as high as 10. As many as 23 people were injured in the blast.
Mideast violence mounts on eve of Bush visit to region
Violence between Israel and the Palestinians had recently mounted amid preparations for the visit of U.S. President George W. Bush to Israel and the region next week, where he is scheduled to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to push forward the peace talks between them.
Israeli strikes kill 11 in Gaza
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli troops on a night mission in the Gaza Strip killed two Hamas gunmen early Friday as Israel responded to Palestinian rocket fire with strikes against militants that left 11 dead in 24 hours.
4 detained after Turkey bombing
ISTANBUL, Turkey - Police have detained four people after a bomb attack targeting Turkish soldiers killed five civilians and wounded 68, a prosecutor said Friday.
Next few days to see date for meeting with Iran – Crocker
The U.S. is having contacts with the Iraqi government to set a date for holding the fourth round of talks with Iran, U.S. ambassador in Baghdad Ryan Crocker revealed on Friday.
19 Killed As Afghan Violence Continues
Roadside bombs and military operations in Afghanistan killed 19 people, including 14 Taliban fighters, as the record violence that Afghanistan saw in 2007 continued into the new year, officials said Wednesday.
British team joins Pakistan Bhutto probe
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - British anti-terror officers came to Pakistan Friday to join the investigation into Benazir Bhutto's assassination, a day after President Pervez Musharraf dismissed allegations his government may have had a hand in the slaying. The Scotland Yard team will provide forensic and technical expertise but will not be allowed to go on a "wild goose chase and create a political disturbance," Musharraf told a news conference late Thursday.
Wild goose chase. Yeah, that would involve asking too many questions.—Caro
North Korea still hopes for nuclear deal
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea said Friday the country still hopes for a smooth implementation of an aid-for-disarmament deal with the United States and other countries, after failing to meet a year-end deadline to declare its nuclear programs.
Kenya opposition calls for new vote
NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenya's opposition party called for a new presidential election to settle a dispute over the vote that has sparked days of deadly riots, and police hurled tear gas to scatter more than 1,000 protesters in the coastal city of Mombasa Friday. The NationBush exploring economic stimulus package
WASHINGTON - Amid new worries about a possible recession, the housing slump and rising oil prices, President Bush is exploring an economic stimulus package to reinforce the U.S. economy.
MORE tax cuts?—Caro
Lawmaker Told CIA Not to Destroy Tapes
"Even if the videotape does not constitute an official record that must be preserved under the law, the videotape would be the best proof that the written record is accurate, if such record is called into question in the future," Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., wrote in a Feb. 10, 2003 letter to then-CIA general counsel Scott Muller. "The fact of destruction would reflect badly on the agency."
FDA Set to OK Cloned Meat: WSJ
While many consumer groups still oppose it, the FDA declaration that cloned animal products are safe would be a milestone for a small cadre of biotech companies that want to make a business out of producing copies of prize dairy cows and other farm animals. Because of the price tag -- cloned cattle cost $15,000 to $20,000 per copy --most of the cloned animals will be used for breeding, and it will be three to five years before consumers see milk and meat from their offspring.
Surely this isn’t much different from the genetic manipulation we’re already performing by breeding.—Caro
U.S. Curtailing Bids to Expand Medicaid Rolls
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is imposing restrictions on the ability of states to expand eligibility for Medicaid, in an effort to prevent them from offering coverage to families of modest incomes who, the administration argues, may have access to private health insurance.
Hillary came in 3rd, but she still got almost twice as many votes as Huckabee (by John Aravosis at AMERICAblog)
Huckabee won Iowa with nearly 36,000 votes. Hillary lost Iowa, and came in 3rd, with 29% of the vote. A projected 220,000 people turned out to vote in the Democratic caucuses, meaning Hillary got 29% of those voters, or an estimated 63,800 - nearly twice the number of votes that Huckabee got… So our 3rd place candidate beat their first place candidate by almost a factor of two.
Entrance Poll: The Second-Prefs Winner Was ... Edwards (by Eric Kleefeld at TPM Election Central)
If we assume that the final state delegate numbers actually approximated the votes of the caucus participants, this means John Edwards was the big second-choice winner, as he boosted his final score by seven points, compared to only three points for Obama and two for Hillary. It was enough to just overtake Hillary for second place, but not enough for first — because it turned out that Obama entered as the clear winner from first choices alone.
White House runners dash to New Hampshire
CONCORD, New Hampshire (AFP) - Just hours after both parties were rocked by upsets in the first-voting state of Iowa, White House hopefuls hit the ground in next-up New Hampshire Friday, hoping to ride momentum to a presidential nomination.
McCain in NH: Would Be "Fine" To Keep Troops in Iraq for "A Hundred Years" (by David Corn, writing at Mother Jones)
The United States military could stay in Iraq for "maybe a hundred years" and that "would be fine with me," John McCain told two hundred or so people at a town hall meeting in Derry, New Hampshire, on Thursday evening.
Kucinich Files Lawsuit With U.S. District Court
Thursday, Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich found out he's off the Texas ballot. That's because the Texas Democratic Party said his application was "defective." There was a hearing in federal court about this controversy around 11 a.m. Thursday. On the application, candidates must sign an oath that requires them to support the Democratic nominee, whoever that shall be.
Dodd and Biden both drop out of race
U.S. Sens. Chris Dodd and Joe Biden withdrew from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination tonight after each recorded scant support in the leadoff Iowa caucuses.
Election Software Lost in Transit
More than a hundred computer chips containing 'voting' machine software were lost or stolen during transit in California this week. Two cardboard shipping tubes containing 174 EPROMs loaded with voting machine software were sent via Federal Express on December 13th from the secretary of state's office in Sacramento to election officials in San Diego County for use in optical-scan machines made by Diebold Election Systems. But on Monday, the two shipping tubes arrived empty.
Business growth is not an end in itself (by Samuel Brittan, Financial Times)
(In a) no-growth new world, people could enjoy the fruits of technological progress with a mixture of increased leisure and a more congenial and relaxed working life. The reduction in labour input would be voluntary and completely different from what happens in an economic slump. Some political economists have looked forward to this state of affairs…Even if demand for conventional consumer goods were to peak, there might still be demand for more public services and more expenditure to relieve poverty at home and abroad… Economic growth need not just consist of trinkets or lavish parties for billionaires.
Do we really NEED all those Wiis?—Caro MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
I will be a guest on Tony Seton’s America Back on Track today at 3:30 PM ET. Listen to Tony from 3:00 to 4:00 PM ET every weekday on the Quality News Network.
Huckabama Wins, a Few Observations (by Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins at Mashable)
Patrick Ruffini’s Twitter efforts once again proved that using Twitter for major event coverage will give you a substantial lead over anything the mainstream news can do with their efforts, and for substantially less money invested… Somehow, without even turning on any cable news networks, I was able to get minute by minute coverage of the caucus results from actual primary sources with a high degree of accuracy and interesting analysis. Friends, bloggers, countrymen - lend me your ears. Citizen journalism is here and it works. The MSM is officially on notice.
Obama Still Answering Questions About His Religion From Voters Who Don't Know He's Christian (by Greg Sargent at TPM Horse’s Mouth)
Mark Halperin has posted a press pool report that recounts a scene in Iowa today where Barack Obama faced still more questions about his religion from voters who have no idea that he's a Christian… E-mails have circulated in recent weeks saying Obama is a Muslim or an atheist or took his oath of office on a Quran instead of a bible, none of which his true… This could only get more pressing, not less… If Obama becomes the Dem nominee you can bet that the rumors of his shadowy Muslim past will ratchet up a thousand fold.
Murdoch's 'WSJ' Greets New Year -- With Front-Pager on Kucinich's UFO (Editor & Publisher)
NEW YORK It's too early to say what changes are really afoot at the Wall Street Journal, in its first weeks after the Murdoch/News Corp. takeover, but a front page article today might raise a few eyebrows. Was there really any pressing need to cover Dennis Kucinich's old, and much laughed over, UFO encounter, especially with him about to poll about 1% of the vote in Iowa?
HOORAY FOR IOWA!.... (by Kevin Drum at Political Animal, The Washington Monthly)
On CNN, Bill Bennett … celebrated the Iowa caucuses because there's been "no violence, no killing." That's way better than Kenya! Anderson Cooper agrees, telling us that Iowans have invited strangers into their very own homes and.....haven't killed them, I guess. CNN sure sets a low bar for extolling our fabulous electoral system, don't they?
Flufftacular! (by Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo)
If Hillary only gets a third of the vote in Iowa it's a "resounding rejection." If McCain gets 18% he's a hero ...
Click through to watch the Chris Matthews video.—Caro
Lovin' That Strategy (by Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo)
Seems Ron Paul has pretty much smoked Rudy in Iowa. With about 2/3 reporting, Paul's got about 10% and Rudy's bringing up the rear with a healthy 4%. Will Fox let him debate?
Does the mass-media have political influence? (by Esther Duflo, Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics in the Department of Economics at MIT, thanks to Economist’s View)
Rupert Murdoch’s ultraconservative cable television channel. Fox news was launched in the USA in 1996. In 2000, it was available to 20% of American homes. (A study taking advantage of that timing difference concluded) that Fox News caused an increase in the Republican vote of about a half percentage point, or 200,000 votes, enough to change the result of the 2000 presidential election.
What about the printed press?... Receiving a free subscription … upped the likelihood of voting in elections a year later by about 3.5%... (V)oters who had received the (Washington) Post were 11% more likely to vote Democratic than the group that hadn’t received any newspaper subscription. But strikingly, even the voters who had received the Right newspaper (the (Washington) Times) were even more likely than the control group (7%) to vote Democratic. And the political opinions of the two groups, in both cases, shifted towards the left (in comparison to the control group). This study therefore concluded that readers don’t let themselves be influenced by the given stance of a newspaper, also receiving a newspaper does increase the chance that they are active in politics…
Another more worrying possibility is that newspaper readers know how to decipher messages, while television viewers let themselves be manipulated.
It takes work to read a newspaper. You have to pay attention. You have to sift through what you’re reading and decide what makes sense and what doesn’t. You have to consider why the writer is saying what he (because it’s usually a he) is saying. Unfortunately, though, newspaper readership is declining. It would be good to know whether people are bringing this same level of discernment to their internet reading. I’d also like to know more about the psychological makeup of people who only get their information about the world from watching television vs. those who read, as well.—Caro
Missing In Inaction: Why An Opposition Party Matters
How can we expect the wider public to adopt a given understanding of their world – especially a radically disconcerting one which says that the person supposed to be keeping them safe in fact lied about national security – if somebody in a ‘legitimate’ leadership position isn’t serving that alternative reality up for their consideration?... The American public was actually skeptical about attacking Iraq up until near the invasion date. It took a massive Madison Avenue disinformation campaign to ultimately sell the war… (W)hat if the leadership of the opposition party was boldly arguing the alternative case, with, as it turns out in this scenario, a massive helping of truth on their side?... The same is true across the board of policy issues… (We could have had) a million Iraqis and thousands of Americans still alive today, a semblance of fiscal sanity, a revived New Orleans, a start on solving global warming, and much, much more – had there been an opposition party actually resident in America these last years.
The O’Reilly Fatuitousness: Billo and Norm MacDonald on “Secular Progressive Heaven” (by Nicole Belle at Crooks and Liars)
“BO: That’s the liberal platform. They like that drug stuff. That’s secular progressive heaven you just described there, Norm. That’s what they want! Come on! It’s diversity, man. It’s diversity!”… FOXNews’ Bill O’Reilly talking with Hollywood actor and comedian Norm MacDonald, substituting for former Hollywood actor and comedian Dennis Miller on the Iowa caucus today and what they perceive as the Secular Progressive Heaven.
Bloggers Rejoice! We’re Now Covered by the Freedom of Information Act. (by Kristen Nicole at Mashable)
At the tail end of 2007, President Bush signed into law the “Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act of 2007.” Cut that down to size and what you get is an amendment to the Freedom of Information Act. You know, that legal documentation that protects the likes of Perez Hilton when he decidedly scribbles all over images and posts them on the web. Well, even if that legal document didn’t entirely protect the likes of Perez Hilton, it does now, thanks to this long-winded amendment made to the FOIA.
Click through to read the specifics.—Caro Technology & ScienceCongestion Causes Text Message Slowdown
NEW YORK (AP) - Geeta Citygirl just figured something was wrong with her phone when she realized the greetings she was sending as the ball dropped New Year's Eve weren't getting through. In Los Angeles, a half-dozen New Year's text messages bounced back to Reggie Cameron on Wednesday
Man using GPS drives into path of train
A man driving a rental car drove onto train tracks Wednesday using the instructions his GPS unit gave him. A train was barreling toward him, but he escaped in time.
Almost Half of Doctors Have Prescribed Placebos
Many physicians believe the mind can affect the body's health, researchers say
We need to be studying the placebo effect.—Caro
High Altitude Soccer Teams Have Significant Advantage Over Lowland Teams
ScienceDaily (Jan. 4, 2008) — Soccer teams from high altitude countries have a significant advantage when playing at both low and high altitudes, finds a study in the Christmas issue of the British Medical Journal… (T)he high altitude teams also had an advantage when playing at low altitude, so benefiting from a significant advantage over their low altitude opponents at all locations.
Watch for all sports training to move to the mountains.—Caro
Stomach Flu Spread By Contaminated Computer Keyboards
Norovirus can live on surfaces for several days, experts say.
Importance of teaching evolution noted
WASHINGTON - Scientific advisers to the government emphasize in a report the importance of teaching evolution in public schools.
Advanced life created in two ancient explosions
Complex life on Earth may have blossomed during two "explosions," not one, a new study suggests.
Scientists find hot spot on Saturn's chilly pole
LONDON (Reuters) - Saturn's chilly north pole boasts a hot spot of compressed air, a surprising discovery that could shed light on other planets within our own solar system and beyond, researchers said on Thursday. EnvironmentAsset manager says bet on future scarcities
Over 9 billion people are expected to compete for the globe's resources by 2050, up from a population of around 6.6 billion currently, according to the United Nations.
New Certification Scheme Aims to Protect Socially Responsible Companies
More and more businesses across the globe are finding that they can be successful while also being environmentally and socially responsible. But in some cases, the companies are so successful that they end up being bought out by larger conglomerates, some of which then cut out the socially beneficial aspects of the original business. So how can consumers and investors tell which companies are truly responsible?
2008 to be in top 10 warmest years say forecasters
LONDON (Reuters) - 2008 will be slightly cooler than recent years globally but will still be among the top 10 warmest years on record since 1850 and should not be seen as a sign global warming was on the wane, British forecasters said.
Biggest U.K. Supercomputer Can Be Used to Model Climate Change
UNITED KINGDOM, Jan. 4, 2008 -- HECToR operates at up to 60 teraflops and can be used to model climates, financial markets and biological processes.
Ecofashion wins on runway, helps farms
SAN FRANCISCO - In a workshop in the city's Mission District, Ally Beran's team of fashion designers is sprawled out over buttons and spools of thread, hoping to stem global warming by stitching new outfits from thrift store finds.
China's top chemical firm plans no-pollutants emissions
Beijing, Jan 4 (Xinhua) China's largest chemical firm has said it is working on a 700-million yuan ($96 million) technology upgradation project to achieve the target of zero pollutants in the industrial effluents discharged by its plants.
Sugarcane ethanol: Brazil's biofuel success
Thirty years ago, when one litre of ethanol was worth three times more than one litre of gasoline, most nations would not have considered investing in it as a biofuel. But Brazil took this path, and now produces the cheapest ethanol in the world. Brazil's favorable conditions and tradition for culturing sugarcane — the most efficient raw material for the production of ethanol — were essential for developing the sector.
Burning biofuels may be worse than coal and oil, say experts
Using biofuels made from corn, sugar cane and soy could have a greater environmental impact than burning fossil fuels, according to experts. Although the fuels themselves emit fewer greenhouse gases, they all have higher costs in terms of biodiversity loss and destruction of farmland. For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com.
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