|
Morning headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoryDemocrats praise military progress WASHINGTON - One senator said U.S. troops are routing out al-Qaida in parts of Iraq. Another insisted President Bush's plan to increase troops has caused tactical momentum. These are not Bush-backing GOP die-hards, but Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin, Bob Casey and Jack Reed. Even Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee, said progress was being made by soldiers. With all due respect, Democratic senators, would you please just STFU? You’re just encouraging the Bush administration to push us deeper into the desert quagmire that is Iraq.—Caro Dubya’s WorldThe WorldRoadside bomb attacks in Iraq reach an all-time high Roadside bomb attacks on American troops in Iraq reached an all-time high last month, accounting for more than one third of all combat deaths.
Brits expect U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. The Guardian reports, “British officials believe that Washington will signal its intention to reduce US troop numbers after a much-anticipated report next month by its top commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, clearing the way for Gordon Brown to announce a British withdrawal in parliament the following month. An official said: ‘We do believe we are nearly there.’”
Studies: Suicide bombers in Iraq are mostly foreigners WASHINGTON — Suicide bombers in Iraq are overwhelmingly foreigners bent on destabilizing the government and undermining American interests there, two independent studies have concluded. Most of the suicide bombers in Iraq are from Saudi Arabia. Most of the 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. Osama bin Laden is from Saudi Arabia. Why aren’t we talking about attacking Saudi Arabia, instead of talking about attacking Iran?—Caro
Leader: Iran, Iraq must work together TEHRAN, Iran - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that Tehran and Baghdad share a "heavy responsibility" in establishing peace and security in the region, the official IRNA news agency reported Thursday.
Musharraf allies scotch talk of emergency in Pakistan ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's beleaguered President Pervez Musharraf has no plans to impose emergency rule, contrary to widespread reports that he was about to announce the authoritarian measure, the president of the ruling party said on Thursday.
Russia accuses Georgia over missile "stunt" MOSCOW (Reuters) - Georgian allegations that Russia dropped a missile on its soil are aimed at discrediting Moscow, Russia's most senior soldier said on Thursday as the United States appeared to back Georgia in the row.
China penalizes firms in US toys scare BEIJING - China banned exports by two toy manufacturers whose products were subject to major recalls in the United States because they were decorated with lead-tainted paint, the government said Thursday.
US: Sudan must accept non-African troops WASHINGTON - Sudan will have to accept non-African troops in a U.N.-authorized peacekeeping force for Darfur or face the prospect of new United Nations sanctions, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday. The NationFirst Father: Tough Times on Sidelines These are distressing days for the Bush family patriarch, only the second former president in American history, after John Adams, to see his son take the White House. At 83, he finds it tough to watch his son get criticized from the sidelines; often, he likens himself to a Little League father whose kid is having a rough game. And that’s the exact problem, sir. Your son is responsible for perhaps as many as a million unnecessary deaths, and you compare him to a Little League player. You still don’t understand the enormity of what he has done.—Caro
Bush says he'll veto children's health funding WASHINGTON — President Bush vowed Wednesday to veto bipartisan legislation that would sharply increase funding for a popular health insurance program for poor children… Bush also shrugged off Wall Street volatility, discounted fears that credit is drying up in the U.S. economy, said the housing-sector's problems still point to a "soft-landing" and opposed any bailout for homeowners or lenders.
USDA agency launches inquiry into lobbying e-mail The head of an Agriculture Department agency said Wednesday that she was prepared to take "appropriate action" against any employee who is found to have used government equipment to lobby against pending legislation. (A)n e-mail circulated last Thursday within the agency urging recipients to contact their senators to express their opposition to a provision in the House version of the Farm Bill that would reopen thousands of discrimination claims by black farmers.
FISA bill boosts conservatives’ morale. Robert Novak reports, “With congressional Republicans’ morale in a steady decline, the adjournment for the August recess found the GOP in high spirits thanks to winning the anti-terrorist eavesdropping bill. That trumped Democratic passage of an energy bill in the final House session last Saturday night. The importance is that Democrats still flinch when they come face to face with President George W. Bush on terrorism.” Being able to bully somebody makes conservatives feel good.—Caro
Higher gas tax proposed to fix bridges WASHINGTON - The chairman of the House Transportation Committee proposed a 5-cent increase in the federal gasoline tax to establish a new trust fund for repairing or replacing structurally deficient highway bridges. Higher fuel taxes would begin to solve more than one problem. However, it will take a Constitutional amendment to make sure the proceeds don’t get ripped off for some new Republican war.—Caro
Clark County GOP chairman quits amid investigation No charges have been filed against Glenn Murphy Jr., who announced Tuesday that he was resigning as Clark County's GOP chairman and as president of the Young Republican National Federation because of a new business opportunity that would prohibit him from holding a partisan political office.. (But) a 22-year-old man told investigators he awoke after the party at a relative's house to find Murphy, who also had attended the event, performing a sex act on him.
Romney speaks up for sons' decisions BETTENDORF, Iowa - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on Wednesday defended his five sons' decision not to enlist in the military, saying they're showing their support for the country by "helping me get elected." Romney … did not serve in Vietnam due to his Mormon missionary work and a high draft lottery number
After Four Years of Certainty, McCain ‘Not Positive We Can Win’ In Iraq During debate in the Senate last month, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) attacked his colleagues who demanded a strategic redeployment out of Iraq by asking, “The terrorists are in this war to win it. The question is, are we?” It appears McCain’s answer to his own question is no. At a fundraiser for his presidential campaign last night, he conceded, “I’m not positive we can win this fight”. MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
WITH YOUR HELP, WE CAN GIVE PUBLIC RADIO HELL! Thanks to those of you who helped Chuck Mertz of “This Is Hell” get to the third round of voting in the Public Radio Quest Talent Search. Please help him go further. Chuck is a true progressive and a great interviewer. Click here, register if you haven’t done so already, then click on the picture of Chuck Mertz, then click on the right-most star. It’s complicated, I know, but it’s worth it. Trust me. Please ask everyone you know to vote for Chuck.
WTF? Fox News RECYCLES 2-year-old Terror warning Be very afraid, says Fox News, quoting Israeli "Counterterrorism expert Juval Aviv": "U.S. Terror Attack — 'Ninety Days at Most'" Now, that's nothing new - quite literally, because there's something very strange going on here: World Net Daily was running literally exactly the same interview, with exactly the same person, two years ago, on July 9th 2005. I don’t know this site, but the links are included, and when I looked, the articles were as advertised.—Caro
MySpace Partners with The Onion: Finally, Credible News from Fox MySpace is putting out a tongue-in-cheek press release (Wednesday) to announce that comedy news purveyor The Onion is partnering with the “fledging” social network to bring “journalistic integrity and correct puntcuation(sic)”. The Onion’s video offering will appear on MySpace TV, and The Onion gets a MySpace page.
After Propagating False Iraq Intel, NYT’s Michael Gordon Now Echoing Bush Claims On Iran In (Wednesday)’s New York Times, reporter Michael Gordon uncritically reports that the increase in “attacks on American forces” is the result of “a lethal type of roadside bomb said to be supplied by Iran.” Gordon’s piece relies primarily on a single military source, fails to challenge the source’s information, and casually dismisses contrary opinions as the complaints of “some critics of Bush.”
Fake News For Jesus (On) last Sunday's Meet the Press … the round table included a "journalist" from the Christian Broadcasting Network. You know, the one run by screaming nutball, Pat Robertson?... (T)here is … a problem with having a "reporter" on the panel who works for a "news" network that broadcasts crazy Armageddon fantasies and endless lies. CBN actually makes FOX look professional.
Google Indexing Cornell University Library for Online Access Cornell University is digitizing much of its content at its Mann Library, and this will be accessible on the Internet with Cornell’s partnership with the Google Book Search Library Project… Only texts that are out-of-copyright will be made completely available for online access, and everything else will be scanned for basic info, similar to what you’ll find on Amazon, along with information on where the book can be purchased or borrowed.
NewsMarket Adds VideoCafe Just for Bloggers The NewsMarket, an online resource for video news content, is launching VideoCafe, which is a service specifically for bloggers that need quick access to footage. VideoCafe will operate as a stand-alone website, offering video clips for bloggers that need more content for their sites… This puts bloggers and traditional media reporters on a more even playing field. Technology & ScienceUS shuttle carries first teacher into space CAPE CANAVERAL, United States (AFP) - The US space shuttle Endeavour orbited Earth on Thursday, carrying the first teacher in space 21 years after the Challenger explosion ended the dreams of another "educator astronaut."
San Francisco Wi-Fi issue goes to ballot SAN FRANCISCO - This freewheeling city can't seem to agree if free wireless access to the Internet is such a great idea.
Computers for 3-Year-Olds Toy and PC makers are rolling out computers and digital tools for the youngest audience yet
Dell Offers Virtual Path to Linux on Desktop Dell Inc. hopes to push the open source Linux operating system into the corporate desktop environment using virtualization so alternative Linux operating systems can more easily be run alongside Windows systems from Microsoft Corp.
Low-Cal Sweets Might Still Make Kids Obese Taste is a cue to overeat, research suggests
Bad bosses get promoted, not punished? NEW YORK (Reuters) - How do people get ahead in the workplace? One way seems to be by making their subordinates miserable, according to a study released Friday… "The fact that 64.2 percent of the respondents indicated that either nothing at all or something positive happened to the bad leader is rather remarkable -- remarkably disturbing," wrote the study's authors. Anyone who has worked in corporate America is intimately familiar with this phenomenon. Scott Adams has made a fortune documenting it.—Caro EnvironmentTrees Won't Fix Global Warming Scientists at Duke University bathed plots of North Carolina pine trees in extra carbon dioxide every day for 10 years and found that while the trees grew more tissue, only the trees that received the most water and nutrients stored enough carbon dioxide to offset the effects of global warming.
Bush Climate Meeting Draws Doubts about Action A U.S. summit in September on climate change, one of at least four international meetings set for this year, is already raising doubts about any action being taken before President Bush leaves office.
Warming Temps Killing More Sierra Trees Trees in the Sierra Nevada are dying faster than usual as temperatures rise and bring summer droughts with them, the U. S. Geological Survey says. USGS scientists have observed a rise in the tree death-rate across a wide variety of forest types in the Sierra Nevada mountain range over the past two decades, as summer temperatures also rose.
Stylish Gadgets Run On Solar Power The solar panels that you see on gadgets — including those inexpensive, light-powered calculators — use a photovoltaic cell that converts sunlight into electricity. The more direct sunlight it gets, the better the charge. For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com.
|