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Morning headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoriesGeneral: Shrine attack may light fuse
BAGHDAD — The bombing of a major Shiite shrine could unleash a new wave of sectarian bloodletting throughout Iraq, the commander of U.S. forces there said Wednesday.
Several Sunni mosques in Iraq attacked
BAGHDAD - A handful of Sunni mosques were attacked or burned Thursday, but curfews and increased troop levels kept Iraq in relative calm a day after suspected al-Qaida bombers toppled the towering minarets of a prized Shiite shrine.
Petraeus says security crackdown working
BAGHDAD — When Gen. David Petraeus drives through the streets of Iraq's capital, he sees "astonishing signs of normalcy" in half, perhaps two-thirds of Baghdad. The Heretik
The WorldPentagon: Violence in Iraq rising despite ‘surge’
WASHINGTON - Violence in Iraq, as measured by casualties among troops and civilians, has edged higher despite the U.S.-led security push in Baghdad, the Pentagon told Congress on Wednesday. The required quarterly report, which surveyed violence from Feb. 10 to May 7, found that the average number of Iraqi civilians killed or wounded each day was more than 100, nearly double the daily toll from the same period one year ago. The number of daily U.S. casualties was about 25, slightly higher than a year ago.
Iraqis Are Failing to Meet U.S. Benchmarks
Just three months before progress reports are due, Iraq’s leaders have failed to agree on nearly every key law.
Bomb blast kills lawmaker in Lebanon
BEIRUT, Lebanon - A bomb ripped through a vocal anti-Syrian lawmaker's car near the popular waterfront in the Lebanese capital Wednesday, killing him and nine other people in the latest assassination of a Lebanese opponent of Damascus.
Hamas close to controlling Gaza Strip
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hamas fighters overran one of the rival Fatah movement's most important security installations in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, and witnesses said the victors dragged vanquished gunmen from the building and executed them in the street.
Kurdish rebels kill Turkish officer
CIZRE, Turkey - Kurdish guerrillas killed a Turkish army major and injured two other soldiers Wednesday in a roadside bomb attack in southeastern Turkey, the governor's office said.
American jailer freed in Afghanistan
An American imprisoned in Afghanistan for running a private jail for terror suspects has left the Afghan prison where he was held for almost three years and departed the country, the warden said Wednesday.
Soon to be hired by the Bush administration. It has openings for enterprising privateers to run its secret prisons. —Caro The NationRepublicans abandoning Bush
As President Bush attempts to revive the controversial immigration reform bill he supports, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that Republicans are abandoning the president, which has dropped his job-approval rating below 30 percent -- his lowest mark ever in the survey.
Bush's fundraising dinner raises $15.4M
WASHINGTON - President Bush says polls don't matter to him, but his slumping popularity appears to be influencing fellow Republicans in a way that hurts — money. Bush's yearly fundraising dinner for Republican congressional candidates on Wednesday generated $15.4 million — no small amount, but almost half as much as the $27 million the event brought in last year… The take at this year's annual gala benefiting the national Republican Party also took in much less than usual.
New Bush Aide Has Extensive Corporate Lobbying Ties
Ed Gillespie, named Wednesday as the next White House counselor, is a partner in Quinn Gillespie & Associates LLC, a lobbying firm whose clients include: Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI), which needs antitrust approval to acquire a rival; Qualcomm (QCOM), which wants Bush to veto a federal agency's ban on imported cell phones made with its chips; and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a trade group trying to limit drug industry regulation.
Transportation Dept. caught lobbying Congress.
House oversight chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) wrote Transportation Secretary Mary Peters today requesting information about “apparent efforts by the Department to lobby Members of Congress to oppose efforts by California and other states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles.” In a voicemail message received by a member of Congress, an aide at the Transportation Department acts as an auto lobbyist, urging the member to take a stand on tougher state emission standards because “‘this would greatly impact the auto facilities’ in the member’s district.”
Big polluter lobbyists again visit White House on impending smog decision
For the second time in a week, lobbyists for big polluters visited the White House last Friday in an effort to influence the US EPA’s upcoming proposed standards for smog (ozone). It looks like a full-court industry press.
BAE faces criminal inquiry in US over £1bn payments
The US department of justice is preparing to open a corruption investigation into the arms company BAE, the Guardian has learned. It would cover the alleged £1bn arms deal payments to Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia. Washington sources familiar with the thinking of senior officials at the justice department said yesterday it was "99% certain" that a criminal inquiry would be opened under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Such an investigation would have potentially seismic consequences for BAE, which is trying to take over US arms companies and make the Pentagon its biggest customer.
I don’t believe it. I think this is a sham, another instance of the administration saying one thing and doing another. Bush would never approve a real investigation against his BFF Prince Bandar. —Caro
Earmark-Loving Conservatives Threaten To Shut Down Congress
For the second day in a row, the House of Representatives was “held hostage” today by conservative leaders threatening to block vital homeland security and domestic spending bills because they disagree with the new process for handling earmarks. Led by House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), this is the same crew that oversaw that “extraordinarily irresponsible explosion of congressional earmarking that began shortly after the Republicans gained control of the Congress in 1995 and lasted until the voters tossed them out this past November.” They now claim to be champions of good government.
Doan expected Rove aide to give ‘motivational speech.’
GSA chief Lurita Doan is accused of violating federal law after she hosted a partisan PowerPoint briefing delivered by top Karl Rove deputy Scott Jennings, and then asked her agency employees to think up ways to help GOP candidates. During her hearing today, Doan claimed she didn’t know it would be a political meeting. “I thought we were going to have a motivational speech,” Doan told Rep. John Mica (R-FL).
Do they realize at all how laughable they are? Click through to watch the video. —Caro MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
Lawmakers pass ´net neutrality´ resolve
AUGUSTA, Maine — A coalition that includes civil libertarians and online businesses said the Legislature´s final passage Tuesday of a "net neutrality" bill sets Maine ahead of other states in taking a stand for nondiscriminatory access to the Internet. The resolve, enacted by the House of Representatives on Monday and Senate Tuesday, instructs the Maine public advocate´s office to monitor state and federal activity relating to Internet access.
States are stepping in more and more where the federal government is failing us. Unfortunately, what that means is that we’re paying taxes at the federal level for government to work against we the people, and paying taxes at the state level for government to undo that damage. —Caro
Tommy Chong on The Colbert Report
After his entertaining appearance on MSNBC last week, Tommy Chong comes on “The Report” to tell Stephen how he would like to punish Paris Hilton.
Please do click through and watch this. Chong made mincemeat of MSNBC interviewer Contessa Brewer, and Colbert shows the clip. Chong’s description of his punishment for Hilton is hilarious. —Caro
Michael Moore Plays The Blame Game
Michael Moore went on GMA to promote his latest movie, SICKO, but the interview became pretty confrontational from almost the beginning… “My point is that had ABC News, NBC News, CBS News been more aggressive in confronting the government with what they were telling us back in 2003 about Iraq, you might have prevented this war. You, this network, the other networks,” Moore said.
Click through to watch the video. —Caro
Mythbuster: The Progressive Majority: Why a Conservative America Is a Myth
Conventional wisdom says that the American public is fundamentally conservative - hostile to government, in favor of unregulated markets, at peace with inequality, wanting a foreign policy based on the projection of military power, and traditional in its social values. But as this report demonstrates, that picture is fundamentally false. Media perceptions and past Republican electoral successes notwithstanding, Americans are progressive across a wide range of controversial issues, and they're growing more progressive all the time.
Most news orgs won't explain how editorial decisions made
That's according to the International Center for Media and the Public Agenda. "Almost across the board the outlets are unwilling to make public their editorial and ethical guidelines," says the ICMPA study. It says the five most transparent news orgs are (in order) the Guardian, New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, NPR and Financial Times.
Gore’s ‘92 speech on Iraq — and why the right has it wrong
Gore said Saddam Hussein was dangerous in 1992. That’s true. Gore said Bush 41 looked the other way while Saddam got more dangerous. That’s true. Gore said the U.S. needed to do more to address the Iraqi threat, and then was part of the administration that disarmed Saddam’s regime. That’s true. Years later, Gore said a war against Iraq was unnecessary and would be a tragic mistake. That’s true. In other words, the right is trumpeting a video clip that makes Gore look better — he’s not only right about Iraq policy now, he’s been right about Iraq policy for 15 years. Technology & ScienceHandhelds can cure kids' summertime blues
Summer getaways and video games might sound like mutually exclusive activities, but handheld games can be an entertaining time-waster while waiting for a plane, getting through a rainy afternoon or passing long hours in the car.
FBI pulls plug on several botnet hackers
WASHINGTON - More than 1 million computers — possibly yours, too — are used by hackers as remote-controlled robots to crash online systems, accept spam and steal users' personal information, the FBI said Wednesday. But the FBI has pulled the plug on several botnet hackers, or zombies.
Quality of Health Care Varies Widely Among U.S. States
WEDNESDAY, June 13 (HealthDay News) -- When it comes to health care, U.S. states are, well, all over the map. A new study finds large disparities in how different states perform in reference to quality of health care, with some states outdoing others by a factor of two or even three.
Cockroaches can learn -- like dogs and humans
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Cockroaches have a memory and can be taught to salivate in response to neutral stimuli in the way that Pavlov's dogs would do when the famed Russian doctor rang his bell, Japanese researchers found.
Mystery solved: Mars had large oceans
Since 1991, planetary scientists have floated the idea that Mars once harbored vast oceans — but some of the evidence didn't quite add up. Now scientists say they've solved one of the big remaining puzzles.
Dual explosions marked death of huge distant star
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two explosions observed in 2004 and 2006 in a galaxy 78 million light years from Earth were part of the fiery death of one of the most massive stars known to exist, astronomers said on Wednesday. EnvironmentGoogle, Intel Launch Conservation Program
A coalition of technology companies and environmental groups led by Google Inc. and Intel Corp. launched an initiative Tuesday to conserve electricity and curb global warming emissions by making the world's computers more energy-efficient.
Senate Democrats want renewable energy
WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats proposed a requirement Wednesday that 15 percent of the nation's electricity be produced by wind, biomass and other renewable energy sources.
Senate Democrats Propose Loans for Coal-Based Fuel Plants
As the Senate began debate on an energy bill, top Democrats were proposing to provide $10 billion in loans for plants that make diesel fuel from coal.
Um, I think this proposal moves us in the wrong direction, Democrats. —Caro
Food grease to fuel cars in California
NEW YORK (Reuters) - French fry grease is getting a second life as a fuel for diesel vehicles in Northern California. For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com. |
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