Today’s Headlines

[Caro]

Today’s headlines brought to you by

Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com

Top Story

The Growing Power of Petro-Islam: In Saudi Arabia, Bush encounters a force more powerful than democracy. (by Michael Hirsh, Newsweek)
Just a day after his speech in Abu Dhabi–and two years after declaring in his second inaugural address that “it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture”–the president made time for a tour of Saudi Arabia’s National History Museum but not for a meeting with Fouad al-Farhan. Farhan, Saudi Arabia’s most popular blogger, was arrested in Jidda last month for daring to defend a group of Saudis who wanted to form a civil rights group.

36 percent:
People around the world who were not living in freedom in 2007, according to a new survey by Freedom House. Last year was the second consecutive year that the percentage declined, and nearly “four times as many countries showed significant declines during the year as registered improvements.”

All Hat No Cattle

The World

Female suicide bomber kills 8 in Iraq
BAGHDAD - A woman wearing a vest lined with explosives blew herself up near a popular market and Shiite mosque in turbulent Diyala province Wednesday, killing eight civilians — the latest in a growing number of female suicide attacks.

Iraqi Official's Convoy Runs Over School Children, Killing 5
Five school children, ages 6 to 10, were killed Tuesday when a car in the convoy of a top judicial official accidentally ran them over while on their way to school in a central Baghdad neighborhood, police and hospital officials said.

U.N. says Iraq lacks spirit of reconciliation
PARIS (Reuters) - Iraq lacks any true spirit of reconciliation despite parliament's decision to let former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party return to government jobs, the United Nations' Baghdad envoy said on Wednesday.

Faction pulls out of Israel government
JERUSALEM - A hawkish faction in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's coalition pulled out of the government on Wednesday, weakening him at a time when he needs broad support to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians by the end of the year.

Beirut attack on US embassy car kills three
At least three people have been killed in a bomb attack on a US embassy car in the Lebanese capital Beirut, bringing a bloody end to a week-long Middle East visit by President George W Bush.

Nasrallah warns against US Iran attack
Hizbullah's leader said Tuesday that any US attack on his patron Iran would be "the biggest folly" in American history. Sheik Hassan Nasrallah's comments came as US President George W. Bush toured the Middle East on a trip used in part to drum up Arab opposition against Iran, which Bush called "the world's leading state sponsor of terror."

7 Pakistani troops killed, 20 missing
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan - Islamic militants overran a military outpost close to the Afghan border in a battle that killed seven Pakistani soldiers and left 20 missing, the military said Wednesday. It claimed 50 attackers also died.

Taliban plan to attack Kabul restaurants
KABUL, Afghanistan - The Taliban said Tuesday that its suicide bombers would attack restaurants where Westerners eat in Kabul, an ominous new threat that forced American and European workers to restrict outings in the Afghan capital.

Bus attack kills 25 in Sri Lanka
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - A bomb and shooting attack blamed on Tamil separatists ripped through a packed civilian bus Wednesday, killing 25 people in southeastern Sri Lanka as the government officially withdrew from a tattered cease-fire with the rebels.

Opposition vows mass protest against Mugabe's rule
HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwe's main opposition on Wednesday vowed to stage protests in the capital Harare next week to demand free and fair elections and a resolution to the country's mounting economic crisis.

Opposition figure heads Kenya parliament
NAIROBI, Kenya - Legislators chose an opposition member as parliament speaker in a close vote Tuesday, giving a victory to foes of Kenya's president as they prepared for mass protest rallies that raised fears of new violence over last month's disputed election.

Kenyan police clash with protesters
NAIROBI, Kenya - Police fired tear gas and bullets to disperse protesters in several Kenyan cities Wednesday at the start of three days of opposition demonstrations over disputed presidential elections.

The Nation

Bush departs Mideast with few apparent gains, experts say
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — President Bush wraps up a weeklong tour of the Middle East Wednesday, leaving many Mideast political observers mystified as to the purpose of the visit and doubtful that the president made inroads on his twin campaigns for Arab-Israeli peace and isolation for Iran.

New U.S. audit questions efficacy of Iran sanctions
The economic impact of U.S. sanctions against Iran is unclear and Iran has signed about $20 billion in energy contracts with foreign firms since 2003, said a U.S. audit report… "Without an overall assessment of the sanctions' impact and subsequent reviews on a periodic basis, the Congress and the administration will continue to lack important information for developing effective strategies to influence Iran's behavior," said the report.
If sanctions don’t work, will bombs follow?—Caro

US sees Europe as main threat for extremism
LONDON (AFP) - Europe is increasingly seen as a staging post for potential attacks on the United States, the US Secretary of Homeland Security told the BBC Wednesday, indicating tougher checks on travellers.
HUH???!!! Honestly, you get whiplash just listening to these clowns.—Caro

Capitol Hill fight over foreign food aid
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is fighting congressional efforts to slash the amount of emergency food aid the United States provides around the world, saying the cuts could hurt as many as 8 million people in dire need.
That’s odd. Usually it’s Bush who wants to keep food out of the mouths of those in dire need.—Caro

NTSB finds design flaw caused Minneapolis bridge collapse
Undersized gusset plates in the Interstate 35-W bridge in Minneapolis were "the critical factor" in the bridge collapse last year that killed 13 people and injured 100, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday. Chairman Mark Rosenker said the plates, which connected steel beams, were roughly half the thickness they should have been because of a design error. Investigators found 16 fractured gusset plates from the bridge's center span, he said.
It’s terrible when we can’t trust our government. I hope this is true, but it could be a Republican ploy to keep us from worrying as much as we need to about our crumbling infrastructure, and reduce our willingness to tax ourselves to fix it.—Caro

Official Says Had 'Implicit Support' From CIA Lawyers, Officials to Order Tapes' Destruction
(Jose A. Rodriguez Jr.) consulted CIA lawyers and officials, who told him that he had the legal right to order the destruction. In his view, he received their implicit support to do so, according to his attorney, Robert S. Bennett. In a classified response to the station chief, Rodriguez ordered the tapes' destruction, CIA officials say. The Justice Department and the House intelligence committee are now investigating whether that deed constituted a violation of law or an obstruction of justice.

Conyers Requests Special Prosecutor for CIA Tapes Probe (by Paul Kiel at TPM Muckraker)
House Judiciary Committee Chair John Conyers (D-MI) thinks it's nice that the Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation of the CIA's destruction of its torture tapes, but it's not good enough… Conyers wrote Mukasey (Tuesday) to formally request that he appoint a special counsel. 18 Democratic members of the committee also signed on. Conyers has consistently called for a special prosecutor to be appointed.

Court rules against investors
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday against investors who sue businesses that help manipulate stock prices of publicly traded companies.

Michigan ties boost Romney
DETROIT - Mitt Romney capitalized on his Michigan ties Tuesday — especially among voters who made up their minds in the past week — while John McCain found far fewer Republican primary votes among the Democrats and independents who keyed his victory here eight years ago, an exit poll showed.

Exit polls: Economy was top issue for Michigan voters
The economy was foremost on voters' minds Tuesday as they cast their ballots in the primaries in Michigan -- a state with one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. More than half of Republican voters ranked the economy as the most important issue, exit polls showed. On the Democratic side, 61 percent rated the economy as the most important issue in the Michigan primary.

Huckabee: Amend Constitution for God
"What we need to do," (presidential candidate Mike Huckabee) said, "is to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than trying to change God's standards so it lines up with some contemporary view of how we treat each other and how we treat the family."

Charges of dirty campaign tricks fly in South Carolina
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charges of dirty tricks flew once again in South Carolina Tuesday as supporters of Republican Sen. John McCain's campaign described as "absolutely despicable" a flier claiming that he turned his back on fellow prisoners of war in Vietnam. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney's campaign attacked a McCain mailer that criticized the former Massachusetts governor over charges that one watchdog group called "misleading."

Democrats lay groundwork for stimulus plan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday began laying the groundwork for an economic stimulus plan of about $100 billion that likely will include tax rebates to help stave off a possible recession.

CBO touts benefits of Dem stimulus plan
WASHINGTON - Economic stimulus proposals favored by Democrats, including tax rebates, extended unemployment benefits and a temporary increase in food stamps, are cost-effective ways for Congress to try to boost the economy, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday.

Media

Permanent link to MTA daily media news

Pelosi Begins Discussions on Stimulus to Economy
WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi met on Monday with the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, to discuss potential action by Congress, the White House and the central bank to jump-start the economy and try to shorten the slowdown that many economists say has already begun to take hold… The Democrats are insisting that Republicans not inject their desire to extend the tax cuts into negotiations of a short-term rescue package intended to dampen the impact of a recession. But in interviews, several Republican lawmakers said they could not imagine a debate not involving long-term tax policy.
Okay, bipartisanship buffs, where’s the bipartisanship here? Republicans don’t give a damn about doing what’s right for the economy. Their ideology and servicing their benefactors are all that’s important to them. How do you negotiate with people like this?—Caro

Paul Krugman

Clinton is the Big Winner Last Week in the Race for Coverage (PEJ)
Senator Hillary Clinton’s poll-defying Democratic primary victory in New Hampshire helped make her the leading campaign newsmaker last week, but the resurrection in the Granite State of John McCain’s once-dead campaign did not translate into similar largesse of media attention, according to a new study of media campaign coverage.

Romney photo-op was with staffer's mom (Politico)
Local and national media outlets, including Politico.com, reported that (Mitt) Romney was the picture of empathy as he sat at the Marshall, Mich. kitchen table of 51-year-old Elizabeth Sachs, a single mother of two who lost her job as a retail manager – as well as her health insurance – and is running out of money as she tries to sell her house to move to Florida. What wasn’t reported – and what the Romney campaign did not reveal at the time – was that one of Sachs’ sons, Steve Sachs, is a paid employee of Romney’s campaign, organizing five counties in Michigan.

Romney’s ‘Unemployed Single Mom’ Photo-Op Fakery (by billw at Crooks and Liars)
After all of the fuss the media and the rightwingnutosphere made over Sen Clinton’s campaign coaching a questioner in Iowa, I wonder how much attention this will get?
It also reminded me of Bush’s praise of the single mother working three jobs to support a disabled child. In every other industrialized country, that woman would receive help from her government, but not here. She might start EXPECTING her government to help her, and we can’t have that! For that and other quotes that reveal Bush for the narcissist that he is, visit “The Real George Bush”.—Caro

NBC Wins Battle Over Debate
The Nevada Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that MSNBC is not required to include candidate Dennis Kucinich in its scheduled Democratic presidential debate. The seven-member court overturned Monday’s ruling by a Nevada district court judge.
Pitiful. Just plain pitiful.—Caro

The Crat Pack (by digby)
I just had the weirdest thought watching the Las Vegas debate. The three remaining candidates all more or less agree with one another on policy, are all superstars in their own right, but have very different styles. Tonight they look as if they are all even having a bit of fun. They are like the three core members of the rat pack. Hillary is Sinatra, huge celebrity, major scrapper. Obama is Dino, cool and smooth as silk. John Edwards is Sammy, the all around entertainer. (MSNBC wouldn't let Joey on the stage tonight.)
Clinton's new theme song: "My Way"
Obama: "That's Amore"
Edwards: "I Gotta be Me"

Just Shoot Me (by digby)
(Rachel) Maddow just made an interesting point. She said the difference between the three candidates is how they define change: …”Democrats are being asked whether they believe in party, in which case they should be for Hillary, if they believe in power they should be for Edwards and if they believe in personality, they should vote for Obama.”

Limbaugh gets a “spade” and “hoe” parody done on Obama! (by John Amato at Crooks and Liars)
“Limbaugh:…Obama is holding his own against both of them–doing more than his share of the ‘spade’ work. Maybe even gaining ground at the moment. Using not only the spade ladies and gentleman—that when he finishes with the ‘spade’ in the garden of corruption planted by the Clinton’s, he turns to the ‘hoe.’ And so the spade work and his expertise using a hoe.”
Click through to listen to the audio.—Caro

Beck: FDR ‘was one evil son of a b*tch.’
(Tuesday) on his CNN Headline News show, Glenn Beck went on a rant against former President Franklin D. Roosevelt, blaming him for making the Great Depression “go on and on and on for a decade.” He then added: “… I love my grandfather, but I just want to slap himself across the face for liking FDR. I think that was one evil son of a bitch.”
Click through to watch the video.—Caro

John Solomon: Washington Times Is An "Extraordinary News Brand" (by Greg Sargent at TPM Horse’s Mouth)
Fishbowl DC reports that (John) Solomon has now sent an introductory memo to WashTimes's staff. Check out his effusive praise of the Moonie rag: “… (Y)ou have built an extraordinary news brand that delivers insightful analysis, cutting-edge investigative reporting and diverse coverage to a marketplace craving such reporting… The next several years offer an unprecedented opportunity to liberate all of our products from the confines of two-dimensional story telling.”
You know, all that bothersome stuff like having to have actual FACTS in your reporting.—Caro

Miami Herald decides against outsourcing editorial work
The Miami Herald and parent McClatchy have dropped plans to experiment with outsourcing some production of the Broward Neighbors sections to an India firm. "The more we looked at the prospects of editing and layout from outside the newsroom, the more it was clear these skills involving news judgment and experience are not likely to work well from afar," says Herald editor Anders Gyllenhaal.
And will those editors now stop advocating outsourcing for everyone else? Probably not.—Caro

New Services Help Bloggers Bring in ad Revenue
If you're not making money off your blog, 2008 might be the year. As more people see potential in earning money off the Internet, there is a quickly expanding array of advertising services and tools for bloggers that go well beyond the standard pay-per-click text ads or display ads. Many of the most widely used programs are adding features to allow users to customize the appearance and placement of ads on their sites. Some also are introducing newer money-making mediums such as audio and video ads.

Technology & Science

Global Advances Challenge U.S. Dominance in Science
The United States remains the world leader in scientific and technological innovation, but its dominance is threatened by economic development elsewhere, particularly in Asia.
This is a VERY serious problem, friends.—Caro

New material pushes the boundary of blackness
CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. researchers said on Tuesday they have made the darkest material on Earth, a substance so black it absorbs more than 99.9 percent of light.

FDA says cloned animals safe is food
WASHINGTON - Just over a decade after scientists cloned the first animal, the last major barrier to selling meat and milk from clones has fallen: The U.S. government declared this food safe Tuesday.

How cloning works
When scientists explain the practice of cloning livestock, they describe clones as genetic twins born at different times. Cloning companies say it's just another reproductive technology, such as artificial insemination.
I don’t see a problem with cloned food.—Caro

Why Stress Is Deadly
If you're worried about your health, stop. You're only making it worse. Stress takes its toll on your body, and new research reveals it is even more dangerous than thought.

Nature And Nurture Are Both To Blame For Depression, Study Says
ScienceDaily (Jan. 16, 2008) — Depression is one of the most common forms of psychopathology. According to diathesis' stress theories of depression, genetic liability interacts with negative life experiences to cause depression.

Findings Point To Molecular 'Achilles Heel' For Half Of Breast Cancer Tumors
ScienceDaily (Jan. 16, 2008) — Researchers at Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center have shown why a protein known as cyclin D1 may be the Achilles heel for breast tumors that are estrogen receptor positive (ER+) − which is the most common type of breast cancer.

ER Wait Times Getting Longer
Even those needing most urgent care are waiting more, study finds

Researchers find old Mexico time capsule
A time capsule was found atop a bell tower at Mexico City's Metropolitan Cathedral, where it was placed in 1791 to protect the building from harm, researchers said Tuesday. The lead box — filled with religious artifacts, coins and parchments — was hidden in a hollow stone ball to mark the moment on May 14, 1791, when the building's topmost stone was laid, 218 years after construction had begun.

Black holes spin near speed of light
Supermassive black holes spin at speeds approaching the speed of light, new research suggests. Nine huge galaxies were found to contain furiously whirling black holes that pump out energetic jets of gas into the surrounding environment.

Environment

2007 was the warmest on record for Earth's land areas
2007 was another sizzling year for the planet the warmest year ever recorded for the Earth's land areas, federal scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center reported Tuesday, with an average temperature about 1.84 degrees above the long-term average.

Greenland suffers from extreme ice melt
An international team of scientists, led by Dr Edward Hanna at the University of Sheffield, has demonstrated that recent warm summers have caused the most extreme Greenland ice melting in 50 years. The new research provides further evidence of a key impact of global warming and helps scientists place recent satellite observations of Greenland's shrinking ice mass in a longer-term climatic context.

Warming seas bad for fish food, study finds
Certain fish could disappear from restaurant menus and our plates at home by 2100, as global warming changes ocean food webs, a new study suggests.

Climate Registry Gains 54 New Members
WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 16, 2008 -- Big names such as Alcoa, Shell, National Grid, and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. joined the coalition of states and municipalities that will track, verify and publicly report their emissions.

EU lawmakers seek more time for car CO2 cuts
Automakers should be given more time to cut carbon dioxide emissions from their cars under legislation proposed by the European Union's executive arm, EU lawmakers said on Tuesday.

BT- and Cisco-Sponsored Paper Says Sustainability Breeds Innovation and Profitability
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Jan. 16, 2008 -- "A New Mindset for Corporate Sustainability" emphasizes that a focus on sustainability leads to innovative activities as well as commercial success.

Wind Power and M&A: A Moveable Feast
Multi-billion dollar renewable energy enterprises seem to have sprung up full-blown practically overnight, providing investment bankers, venture capitalists and financiers with their latest moveable feast. Wind power projects and companies were among the first to attract serious attention and capital. While solar and biofuels have likewise come to the fore, wind power investment continues to grow at a healthy clip, constrained more by a lack of key materials than by lack of capital, opportunity, industry or even political will.

Auto Companies Need to Work Together on Battery Technology
Plug-in hybrids - PHEVs - could revolutionize the impact cars have on the environment...if only they had the right battery.

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