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[Caro]

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Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com

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Judge won't delay Libby prison term
A federal judge said Thursday he will not delay a 2 1/2-year prison sentence for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby in the CIA leak case, a ruling that could send the former White House aide to prison within weeks. U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton's decision will send Libby's attorneys rushing to an appeals court to block the sentence and could force President Bush to consider calls from Libby's supporters to pardon the former aide.

The Radical Fringe

The World

Rockets rain on Baghdad's Green Zone
BAGHDAD - A citywide clampdown emptied Baghdad's streets of all vehicles Thursday in attempts to hold off what authorities dread: a storm of Shiite attacks in revenge for the bombing of one of their main shrines. The tactic appeared to keep a lid on widespread violence, but extremists fired shells into the city's protected Green Zone during a visit by the State Department's No. 2 official.

Iraq plans 2nd meeting with U.S., Iran
UNITED NATIONS - Iraq is planning a second meeting with American and Iranian officials on improving security in the war-torn nation as a follow up to talks last month that broke a 27-year diplomatic freeze, Iraq's foreign minister said Thursday.

Gaza Fighting Kills Palestinian Coalition
A beleaguered Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared a state of emergency and disbanded the Hamas-led unity government after the Islamic militant group vanquished its Fatah rivals and effectively took control of the Gaza Strip.

North Korean funds transferred from bank
SEOUL, South Korea - The U.S. and its allies urged North Korea to act on its pledge to start dismantling its nuclear program after frozen money that had been Pyongyang's main condition to disarm was on its way Friday to the communist nation's accounts.

Mexico AG calls U.S. policy 'cynical'
MEXICO CITY - Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina called U.S. policies on drugs and firearms "cynical" and "absurd," some of the toughest language used by Mexican officials prodding Washington to cut U.S. drug demand and stem the flow of guns they say fuel violence here.

U.S. to Keep Europe as Site for Missile Defense
The move comes despite an unexpected proposal by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to use a radar base in Azerbaijan instead.

The Nation

Bush accelerates border security funds
WASHINGTON - President Bush called for $4.4 billion in accelerated funding for "securing our borders and enforcing our laws at the work site" Thursday, as his administration and key senators struggled to revive controversial immigration legislation.

Senators plan to revive immigration bill
WASHINGTON - Left for dead a week ago, legislation to strengthen border security while bestowing legal status on millions of illegal immigrants is showing signs of life.

Reid: Pace failed on Iraq war assessment
WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid caused a stir Thursday when he said Gen. Peter Pace failed in his job of providing Congress a candid assessment on the Iraq war and that he was concerned Gen. David Petraeus might be guilty of the same.

House GOP promotes earmark openness
WASHINGTON - House Republicans who larded legislation with lawmakers' pet projects when they ran the House successfully forced Democrats on Thursday to be more open about Congress' pork barrel ways.
I’ll take it, even if the motivation is hypocritical. —Caro

DOJ Investigates if Gonzales Tried to Influence Aide's Testimony
The Justice Department is investigating whether Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales sought to influence the testimony of a departing senior aide during a March meeting in Gonzales's office, according to correspondence released today.

Leahy: Missing White House Emails Found, But Still Witheld From Congress
In April, the White House claimed that “it had mishandled Republican Party-sponsored e-mail accounts used by nearly two dozen presidential aides, resulting in the loss of an undetermined number of e-mails concerning official White House business.” They also acknowledged that some of the “missing” emails may be related to the U.S. attorney scandal… Today, during a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, Leahy revealed that the White House does indeed have the emails, but has yet to turn them over to Congress.

Libby Judge Received Threats
The federal judge who oversaw I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's CIA leak trial said Thursday that he received threatening letters and phone calls after sentencing the former White House aide to prison.
Didn’t the threateners realize they would make the judge MORE likely to send Libby to prison while he appeals his conviction? —Caro

Tired Of Gridlock? Pay More Tolls
Sick of sitting in traffic? There may be a solution: To cut down on bumper-to-bumper traffic and improve air quality, charge a fee to use the roads - or even enter the city - during rush hour. Nine U.S. cities are considering such ideas.
Great idea, but it has to go along with better mass transportation. —Caro

Media

Permanent link to MTA daily media news

I will be a guest on Joe Vecchio’s Cup O’Joe Show this morning. Listen to Joe from 10 to 11 AM ET every weekday on the Head On Radio Network.

http://www.mediachannel.org/wordpress/2007/06/14/bill-clinton-issues-media-challenge-at-promax/">Bill Clinton Issues Media Challenge At Promax
Former President Bill Clinton challenged the press to "render complex messages to audiences without turning them into two-dimensional cartoons" as the next election approaches.

Mythbuster: Paying taxes, according to the brain, can bring satisfaction
Want to light up the pleasure center in your brain? Just pay your taxes, and then give a little extra voluntarily to your local food bank. University of Oregon scientists have found that doing those deeds can give you the same sort of satisfaction you derive from feeding your own hunger pangs…
Most progressives have neglected this natural reaction, and, sadly, have even come to believe the right-wing mantra that greed is good. Unbridled greed is NOT good, certainly not for societies, and not even for individuals. I’d write a book about it, if I could ever find a publisher. —Caro

Mystery solved: Reid confronted Gen. Pace because no one else apparently will
Contrary to what the Politico reported, Harry Reid didn't call General Pace "incompetent" to a bunch of liberal bloggers. Reid said that he met with Pace and laid out for him, in person, what an incompetent man he was. First, to Reid's credit, he did this in person to Pace's face. Second, considering all the blunders in Iraq, I hope someone is laying out for General Pace (and General Petraeus), just how incompetently this war has been run. Folks can haggle whether Reid called Pace incompetent or whether he explained to Pace how he was incompetent, but the fact remains that no one in this administration is willing to take credit for bungling this disaster of a war. Not Bush. Not Pace. Then who?

Does FOX News have insider info on Cheney and a pardon?
Today both CNN and MSNBC said that Cheney and Bush weren’t speaking about a pardon at this time soon after Judge Walton ruled Libby has to serve his time in jail during the appeal process. However, FOX News said that sources told them Cheney was working like crazy to get Bush to pardon good old Scooter.
Click through to watch the video. —Caro

Official to Limbaugh: We Don’t Have to Do Business with You
A Broward (Ft. Lauderdale) commissioner suggested the county not renew its contract for emergency broadcasts on a station that transmits the wisdom of the fat one, since a lot of people (like me for instance) avoid such stations for that very reason. But Rush and his supporters are crying big, Viagra-enriched tears, saying it just ain’t fair… What do you suppose Rush — in between whining about how mean the commission was to consider taking its business elsewhere — concluded about the matter live on the air? “It’s just amazing to watch liberals in action. They can’t stand competition.”

Savage on the "progressive movement": "the brownshirts of today ... the same rabble that brought Hitler to power"
On the June 12 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio program, Michael Savage compared the "progressive movement" to the Nazi storm troopers who aided Adolf Hitler's rise to power, saying, "(T)hey are the brownshirts of today." Savage added: "(M)ake no mistake about it, it's the same rabble that brought Hitler to power, and we have them today -- and they're all on the left."

Technology & Science

Aluminum lamps could steal spotlight
Cheap, skinny aluminum foil lamps may soon illuminate our lives instead of big, bulky light bulbs… The new light source … is lighter, brighter, and more efficient than incandescent light… The flexible lamps not only have potential to light up homes and businesses, they may help treat diseases too.

Kodak says camera sensor may eliminate flash
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Eastman Kodak Co. said on Thursday it has developed digital camera technology that nearly eliminates the need for flash photography, part of the company's effort to make money from its deep patent portfolio.

'Image Spam' Slips into Inbox
Scam images sent as stationery backgrounds are the latest tactic in ducking antispam filters.

Linux leaders plot counterattack on Microsoft
MOUNTAIN VIEW, California (Reuters) - The high priests of free software have congregated at Google Inc. headquarters this week to debate the future of the movement and face down recent patent threats by Microsoft Corp.

Single Life Bad for Health
(HealthDay News) -- Single life has its charms and freedoms, but adults who never marry may not live as long as their wedded peers, new research suggests. While the protective effect of marriage on health and longevity has been pointed out before, newer research is zeroing in on the never-married folks. Staying single all your life may not be good for your health or your lifespan, University of California, Los Angeles researchers have found.
But what the researchers never seem to question, in studies like this, is which factor is the cause and which is the result. Can it be that staying single is a result of bad health? Or can singleness and bad health both stem from some other cause altogether? All they’ve done here is to find a correlation. They haven’t proven cause-effect. —Caro

Plants Recognize Siblings
Plants can recognize when they are potted with their siblings or with strangers, new research shows. When strangers share a pot, they develop a competitive streak, but siblings are more considerate of each other. “The ability to recognize and favor kin is common in animals, but this is the first time it has been shown in plants,” said Susan Dudley of McMaster University in Canada.
Uh oh, what will vegetarians eat now? —Caro

Environment

Surf's up, Buffalo: The good side of global warming
It's not in Al Gore's PowerPoint presentation, but there are some upsides to global warming. Northern homes could save on heating fuel. Rust Belt cities might stop losing snowbirds to the South. Canadian farmers could harvest bumper crops. Greenland may become awash in cod and oil riches.

Reducing Environmental Risks Could Save Millions of Lives Annually
Tackling air pollution, contaminated drinking water and other environmental problems could save millions of lives annually around the world, the World Health Organization said in a report Wednesday.

Southern Baptists Question Human Role in Global Warming; Say Regulations Hurt Poor
Southern Baptists approved a resolution on global warming that questions the prevailing scientific belief that humans are largely to blame for the phenomenon and also warns that increased regulation of greenhouse gases will hurt the poor.
That’s odd, when did the Southern Baptists care about the poor before this? —Caro

Hertz, Avis plan to boost hybrid fleets
NEW YORK - The increased demand for "green" vehicles is spilling over to the rental car counter, where many more drivers will soon be able to choose a hybrid vehicle.
We belong to a car ownership cooperative, and it has been buying only the most fuel efficient vehicles for the last several years. —Caro

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