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Morning headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoryC.I.A. Official in Inquiry Called a ‘Hero’
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 — At a conference in El Paso in mid-August, Representative Silvestre Reyes of Texas, the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, heaped praise on a man whose exploits, he joked, had been the inspiration for the television show “24.” From fast cars to fine wines, Mr. Reyes said, the appetites of the man, Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., are the stuff of legend. Then turning serious, Mr. Reyes … called Mr. Rodriguez an “American hero.” Four months later, Mr. Rodriguez’s role in the destruction of hundreds of hours of videotape of harsh interrogations of two operatives of Al Qaeda is at the center of an inquiry by Mr. Reyes’s committee on Capitol Hill.
CIA, Justice Dept. open videotape probe
WASHINGTON - The Justice Department and the CIA's internal watchdog announced Saturday a joint inquiry into the spy agency's destruction of videotaped interrogations of two suspected terrorists as the latest scandal to rock U.S. intelligence gathered steam.
Biden wants special counsel in tape case
WASHINGTON - A Senate Democratic leader said Sunday the attorney general should appoint a special counsel to investigate the CIA's destruction of videotaped interrogations of two suspected terrorists.
I’m with you, Sen. Biden.—Caro The Heretik
The WorldMortar shells hit Iraq prison, killing 7
BAGHDAD - Mortar shells slammed into an Interior Ministry prison on Monday, killing at least seven inmates and wounding 23 while they slept, police and a hospital official said.
Iraqi bombing kills at least 12 in revenge attack
BAGHDAD — A woman bent on avenging the deaths of her sons strapped explosives to her chest Friday and blew herself up outside a meeting of Sunni Muslims who'd turned against the militant group al Qaida in Iraq, killing at least 12 and wounding at least 17. The explosion in Muqdadiyah was one of three violent acts Friday in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, that left at least 24 people dead and 21 wounded.
Trade minister says Iraq must cut food rations in 2008
Iraq will have to cut food rations in 2008 because of insufficient funds, Trade Minister Abdul Falah al-Sudany said.
Israel says Iran could have nuclear bomb by 2010
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel believes Iran will have the resources to create a nuclear weapon by 2010 despite a U.S. intelligence report that it was not building an atomic bomb, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday.
Israel considering strike on Iran despite US intelligence report
Senior Israeli officials warned today they were still considering the option of a military strike against Iran, despite a fresh US intelligence report that concluded Tehran was no longer developing nuclear weapons.
Coalition forces retake Taliban town
KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan and international forces have retaken a southern town held by Taliban militants since February, the Defense Ministry said Monday. A Taliban spokesman said the militants fled to avoid civilian and Taliban casualties.
Australia to scrap contested refugee policy: minister
SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia's new government, making its second big policy shift in just a week in power, began Monday to scrap a controversial scheme which sent refugees to remote foreign islands for processing.
Bolivian president's allies approve proposed constitution
LA PAZ, Bolivia — After 16 tumultuous months of debate, allies of Bolivia's leftist President Evo Morales hurriedly approved nearly all of a new constitution Sunday morning in a marathon overnight session. The proposed constitution grants more power to Bolivia's indigenous majority, abolishes the opposition-led Senate; imposes more state control over natural gas, minerals and other natural resource; and permits presidents to be elected to two consecutive five-year terms, a proposal that Morales's opponents call an authoritarian power grab.
South America launches rival to the IMF, World Bank
Six South American presidents on Sunday launched the Bank of the South, the region's answer to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund as a source for development funds. Presidents Nestor Kirchner of Argentina, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Nicanor Duarte of Paraguay, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Evo Morales of Bolivia and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela -- all political on the left or left of center -- signed the bank into being.
Brown calls on Google to help world's poor
As a UN report released today shows limited progress in hitting goals intended to tackle poverty, education, health and sanitation, (British) prime minister (Gordon Brown) has been holding talks with the internet and telecoms giants as well as other international companies including Goldman Sachs and Wal-Mart in an attempt to find ways of increasing growth in poor countries. The NationArmy leaders push to shorten Iraq tours
WASHINGTON - As security improves in Iraq, pressure is building to reverse one of the most onerous decisions Defense Secretary Robert Gates made to enable President Bush's troop buildup to go forward this year: extending the tours of active-duty soldiers from 12 months to 15 months.
CIA has recruited Iranians to defect
WASHINGTON -- The CIA launched a secret program in 2005 designed to degrade Iran's nuclear weapons program by persuading key officials to defect, an effort that has prompted a "handful" of significant departures, current and former U.S. intelligence officials familiar with the operation say… Intelligence gathered as part of that campaign provided much of the basis for a U.S. report released last week that concluded the Islamic Republic had halted its nuclear weapons work in 2003.
Gee, those guys ought to know. I say good work on this, CIA!—Caro
Spies relying more on 'open sources'
WASHINGTON - Governments have long prized intelligence gleaned by spies, satellites and wiretaps. But senior intelligence officials said key findings in a new intelligence report on Iran's nuclear weapons hinged on intelligence that was hidden in plain sight — on the Web, in newspapers and in non-governmental reports.
Hill Close To Deal on War Funds
If the bargain were to become law, it would be the third time since Democrats took control of Congress that they would have failed to force Bush to change course in Iraq and continued to fund a war that they have repeatedly vowed to end. But it would also be the clearest instance yet of the president bowing to a Democratic demand for more money for domestic priorities, an increase that he had promised to reject.
Border issue moves into landowners' yards
The Bush administration warned landowners along the southern border Friday that it would seize their property if they refused to cooperate with federal efforts to build a fence meant to slow illegal immigration.
Embattled State Department inspector general resigns
WASHINGTON — Embattled State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard, under fire for allegedly impeding probes into problems with construction of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and with security firm Blackwater Worldwide, submitted his resignation Friday… In testimony to the House panel, Krongard initially disputed that his brother had ties to Blackwater. But he changed his position after speaking to him by phone during a break in the hearing. The revelation demoralized his Republican backers.
US Supreme Court to take cases of Americans detained in Iraq
The US Supreme Court said Friday it will review in coming months the cases of two Americans detained in Iraq, who want their cases handled under American law.
Is Breyer floating a Guantanamo solution?
In Wednesday’s argument before the high court in the case of Boumediene vs. Bush, the latest attempt by detainees to win their release, Justice Stephen Breyer … seemed to suggest to Solicitor General Paul Clement that long-term detention might pass muster with the Supreme Court under “some special statute involving preventive detention and danger, which has not yet been enacted.”
Except that Congress DOES NOT have the power to abrogate the Constitution, and the Supreme Court CAN’T GIVE Congress that power, whether the justice suggesting it was appointed by a Democrat or by a Republican.—Caro
Henry Paulson’s Priorities (by Paul Krugman)
(Treasury Secretary Henry) Paulson’s actions reflect the priorities of the administration he serves. And that, ultimately, is what’s wrong with the mortgage relief plan he unveiled last week. The plan is, as a Times editorial put it yesterday, “too little, too late and too voluntary.” But from the administration’s point of view these failings aren’t bugs, they’re features. In fact, there’s a growing consensus among financial observers that the Paulson plan isn’t mainly intended to achieve real results. The point is, instead, to create the appearance of action, thereby undercutting political support for actual attempts to help families in trouble.
The trouble with the Paulson plan (by Clive Crook, Financial Times)
As (Barney Frank) points out, the (Paulson mortgage relief) plan bizarrely confines its promised assistance to borrowers with poor credit histories… Merely to address the most obvious anomalies in the new arrangements, more comprehensive and more generous assistance seems likely before long. In other words, the massively distorted and mismanaged US housing-finance market is going to get more so. And taxpayers had better prepare to be mugged. MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
BigCarrot’s Crowd-Sourcing Approach to “Venture Capital” Funding (by Kristen Nicole at Mashable)
BigCarrot is … currently testing in private beta, for an ongoing project that looks to provide a way to offer funding for ideas, and spur innovation from individuals and groups. This looks to be very similar in concept and execution to ThePoint. BigCarrot does so by letting the community put money into the pool in order to fund particular ideas. It works in a slightly different manner than most funded projects: it starts with the idea, and leaves it up to the community to present someone to make the idea a reality.
Why don’t we have something like this for progressive media?—Caro
Saber-Rattling Isn't Working (Public Opinion by Ruy Teixeira, Center for American Progress)
Polls show a public against military action against Iran even before the new intelligence estimates, despite administration efforts to garner support.
Did Bush approve CIA leak to embarrass Pelosi? (by John Aravosis •at AMERICAblog)
Sure looks that way. (Sunday’s) Washington Post reports that Pelosi was briefed about the CIA's waterboarding in 2002 and raised no objections… (R)emember, it took place in the first year after September 11 - Bush and the Republicans would have leaked (an objection) to the public (like they just did) and destroyed her career and marked her publicly as a traitor. No member of Congress, no American, could have spoken up about anything in the months after September 11 and survived… I hope this teaches Pelosi and Reid and all the Democrats that no matter what you do, this administration will mark you as a traitor and try to … destroy you. You might as well fight back and try to win, because if you don't, you'll sit back and lose.
On the other hand, see Digby’s take, below.—Caro
Accomplices (by digby)
You simply cannot persuade me that there was no way that people in their positions couldn't have buttonholed enough members of their party in congress to say, "trust me on this. These people have done some things which I can't tell you in detail, but which you need to understand are unAmerican. We must take a stand." Harman and Rockefeller would have been listened to. So would Pelosi and Graham (who says he doesn't remember the briefing and has spoken out vociferously about torture since then.)
It’s time for the Democrats to come clean about everything they knew—about torture, eavesdropping, and every other nefarious activity of this administration. Get it out in the open, and then we can move forward without the administration being able to blackmail Democratic leaders every time they try to accomplish something.—Caro
Admin officials refuse to talk about torture tapes.
On ABC’s This Week, host George Stephanopoulos told his audience, “You should know that I invited the CIA director, the director of national intelligence, and President Bush’s national security adviser to join us today. They all declined.”
CIA Tape Scandal: News Outlets Struggle With Word 'Torture'
As the protests surrounding revelations that the CIA had destroyed tapes that showed brutal interrogations by its agents, most new outlets refused to brand what the tapes likely showed as "torture." But two key editorials embraced the word.
Kristol: Iran Halting Nuclear Weapons Program Is ‘Another Feather In The Cap For Iraq Invasion’
Today in the Fox News Sunday roundtable, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol claimed that the reason Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in mid-2003 was because of the U.S. invasion of Iraq… NPR’s Juan Williams responded by calling Kristol the “iron glove,” asking, “So you want us to start invading everybody everywhere? That’ll stop all nuclear proliferation?” Kristol replied that if it works, it’s “a pretty good thing.”
I think it was Juan Cole yesterday on the Sam Seder Show who said that if this were so, Iran would surely have said something back then, as did Libya. But remember that Iran did make an overture to the U.S. in 2003, and it was rejected. Click through to watch the Kristol video.—Caro
Schooling NeoCons on Intelligence Analysis (by Larry Johnson at No Quarter)
Leave it to Newt Gingrich to believe that providing people with truth is the equivalent of a coup. And John Bolton–a black pot if ever there was one–is angry that intelligence is being used to fix a policy (!)… Folks like Gingrich and Bolton only accept intelligence if it corresponds to their preconceived prejudices. Truth is largely irrelevant in their worldview. Just as long as the story line adheres to neocon orthodoxy, they are happy campers. Where is the “politicization” or “policymaking” in the current NIE?
Mythbuster: All Brains Are the Same Color (by Richard E. Nisbett, professor of psychology at the University of Michigan)
If European genes conferred an advantage, we would expect that the smartest blacks would have substantial European heritage… (But) blood group assays show no association between degree of European heritage and I.Q. Similarly, the blood groups most closely associated with high intellectual performance among blacks are no more European in origin than other blood groups… (And) we know that interventions at every age from infancy to college can reduce racial gaps in both I.Q. and academic achievement, sometimes by substantial amounts in surprisingly little time. This mutability is further evidence that the I.Q. difference has environmental, not genetic, causes. And it should encourage us, as a society, to see that all children receive ample opportunity to develop their minds.
New Tactic Alert: Grand Jury in Kansas to Probe Abortion Clinic Practices
The Kansas Supreme Court has cleared the way for a grand jury with subpoena powers to conduct an unprecedented investigation into abortion-clinic practices after a petition drive by anti-abortion activists. Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline … Kline has filed 107 different charges against Planned Parenthood. Peter Brownlie, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, stated, “No health care provider should be threatened with felony convictions simply because elected officials oppose legal abortion.” Technology & SciencePlaying tag (The Economist Technology Quarterly)
Mobile technology: Crossing mobile phones with social-networking sites would help people find friends, and potential friends, nearby
Um, wouldn’t this make it easier for stalkers to stalk you, too?—Caro
Spreading the load (The Economist Technology Quarterly)
Computing: A new wave of science projects on the web is harnessing volunteers' computers in novel ways—and their brains, too
Reality, only better (The Economist Technology Quarterly)
Computing: Superimposing computer graphics on the real world, instead of displaying them on screens, has many potential uses
Hafnium and chips (The Economist Technology Quarterly)
Semiconductors: A new recipe involving a hitherto obscure element is the latest way to make microprocessors even faster
Crystal clear (The Economist Technology Quarterly)
Materials: Photonic crystals embedded in a sponge can be used to make electronic paper capable of displaying images in colour
Making waves (The Economist Technology Quarterly)
Transport: Maritime engineers are already embracing electric propulsion for ships—and electric planes could be next
The eyes have it (The Economist Technology Quarterly)
Medical technology: The techniques used to replace worn-out eye lenses are getting better, making the process simpler than ever
Don't invent, evolve (The Economist Technology Quarterly)
Innovation: The inventor's traditional trial-and-error approach can be automated by software that mimics natural selection EnvironmentGore urges US, China to join efforts to save 'feverish' planet
OSLO (AFP) - Former US vice president Al Gore urged the United States and China to stop blaming each other and join the fight against global warming as he accepted his Nobel Peace Prize here Monday. "Both countries should stop using the other's behaviour as an excuse for stalemate and instead develop an agenda for mutual survival in a shared global environment," Gore said, according to an advance copy of his speech obtained by AFP.
Finance ministers in Bali count climate costs
JIMBARAN, Indonesia (Reuters) - Forty nations held unprecedented talks about ways to slow global warming without derailing world economic growth on the margins of U.N. climate talks in Bali on Monday.
Australia says poor nations must help stop climate change
Both rich and poor nations must commit to slashing greenhouse gas emissions if the world wants to solve global warming, Australia's trade minister said Saturday at a landmark climate change summit.
U.S rejects stiff 2020 greenhouse goals in Bali
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Washington rejected stiff 2020 targets for greenhouse gas cuts by rich nations at U.N. talks in Bali on Monday as part of a "roadmap" to work out a new global pact to fight climate change by 2009.
All UK homes could be wind powered by 2020: govt
Britain has some of the best wind conditions for generating carbon-free electricity in the world but high construction costs and a sluggish planning process has limited its growth.
Group touts seaweed as warming weapon
BALI, Indonesia - Slimy, green and unsightly, seaweed and algae are among the humblest plants on earth. A group of scientists at a climate conference in Bali say they could also be a potent weapon against global warming, capable of sucking damaging carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere at rates comparable to the mightiest rain forests.
NYC to Spend $80M Trimming Emissions, Energy Use
NEW YORK CITY, Dec. 10, 2007 -- Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to slash emissions and consumption by 30 percent by 2017, as laid out in his 10-year plan. The $80 million short-term strategy involves 132 projects located through the five boroughs that are estimated to reduce emissions by 34,000 tons each year.
Nothing But Green Skies
Enterprise Rent-A-Car is one of the nation's top family-owned businesses, a $12 billion behemoth that dominates its industry. But CEO Andy Taylor feared it all could vanish in a puff of CO2. It was time to get greener. And quick. For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com.
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