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Morning headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoriesBush: Give Iraq Plan "A Chance To Work"
President Bush, confronting a skeptical Congress and American public, struck back at opponents of his troop buildup and declared that "America must not fail in Iraq." He insisted his plan offered the best chance of success.
I don’t call this striking back. I call it begging. The President of the United States is reduced to begging. —Caro
Dems To Bush: More Diplomacy For Iraq
Responding to his State of the Union address, Democrats blistered President Bush's war policy, challenging him to redeem the nation's credibility - and his own - with an immediate shift toward a diplomatic end to the bloody conflict in Iraq. The New York Times (thanks to All Hat No Cattle) 
The WorldIraqi politicians on both sides of sectarian divide see little new in U.S. State of the Union
Iraqi politicians on both side of the sectarian divide saw little new in U.S. President George W. Bush's State of the Union address in which he urged critics to give his plan to increase American troops in Iraq a chance, saying a political solution also is needed to quell the violence in Iraq.
5 Americans killed in Iraq copter crash
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. security company helicopter crashed Tuesday as it flew over a dangerous Sunni neighborhood in the central Baghdad where insurgents and Iraqi security troops fought a prolonged gunbattle, and a U.S. official said five American civilians on board were killed.
3 killed, scores injured in clashes as strike aims to topple Lebanese government
Hezbollah-led opposition protesters paralyzed Lebanon Tuesday by burning tires and cars at major thoroughfares in and around the capital, sparking clashes with government supporters amid a general strike aimed at toppling U.S.-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.
Iranian president derides U.S. threats
TEHRAN, Iran - The United States is incapable of inflicting "serious damage" on Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday, as a second U.S. aircraft carrier group steamed toward the Gulf as a warning from Washington for Iran to back down in its attempts to dominate the region.
Russia, India agree arms deals on eve of Putin visit
NEW DELHI (AFP) - India and Russia agreed two arms deals to bring bilateral military ties into a new era, a day before Russian President Vladimir Putin's arrival here for a two-day summit.
China Sticking to One-Child Policy
BEIJING (AP) - China will not loosen its one-child policy, despite a top family planning official's acknowledgment Tuesday that it was partly to blame for a worsening problem of too many boy babies and not enough girls in the world's most populous nation.
Japan's defense minister calls Bush 'wrong' on Iraq
TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's defense minister has said US President George W. Bush was wrong to invade Iraq and warned that Tokyo could not automatically renew its air force mission to the war-torn country.
N.Korea shows flexibility on nuclear talks: Seoul
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea appears more open to U.S. and South Korean incentives to scrap its nuclear weapons program, Seoul said on Wednesday, providing further hope for progress in talks on the communist state's atomic ambitions.
Aussie refused entry to jet over shirt
MELBOURNE, Australia - A man was removed from a Qantas flight to London because he would not take off a T-shirt with a picture of President Bush and the slogan "World's No. 1 terrorist."
Throngs in Venezuela protest Chavez plan
CARACAS, Venezuela - Blowing whistles and waving flags, hundreds of Venezuelans protested Tuesday against a congressional measure that would grant President Hugo Chavez the power to pass laws by decree in areas from the economy to defense.
Good for the Venezuelans. No one should have dictatorial powers. —Caro
Ex-Chavez confidant a critic in Venezuela
CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez's political mentor — who once persuaded the fiery leader to seek power through elections after he led a failed coup — now says the regime has "all the characteristics of a dictatorial government."
Ban to press Sudan president on Darfur
UNITED NATIONS - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will pressure Sudan's president next week to speed up the peace process in Darfur, which has been delayed by months of wrangling over the makeup of a larger peacekeeping force, U.N. officials said Tuesday. The NationDemocrats put the burden of Iraq on Bush
WASHINGTON - After all the pomp and rhetoric, President Bush wasn't about to budge the new Democratic congressional majority from its two primary pursuits — isolating him on Iraq and seizing control of the nation's domestic agenda.
Bush reintroduces school voucher plan
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is calling on Congress to make changes to the No Child Left Behind Law, including placing more emphasis on science and giving poor students private school vouchers.
Energy plan seeks better gas mileage
The energy portion of President Bush's State of the Union speech Tuesday included some eye-popping numbers that would amount to a boon for the ethanol industry and could begin boosting the fuel economy of cars and trucks as soon as 2009.
Wife: Johnson 'touched' by Bush remarks
WASHINGTON - Ailing Sen. Tim Johnson watched the State of the Union address from his rehabilitation unit at George Washington University Hospital, his wife said after the speech Tuesday night.
The man is still, obviously, very ill. —Caro
More Republicans doubt Bush Iraq policy
WASHINGTON - One by one, even the most senior Republicans in the Senate are expressing doubts that the administration's new war policy in Iraq will work.
House lawmakers deny pensions to felons
WASHINGTON - Lawmakers convicted of crimes such as bribery, fraud and perjury will be stripped of their congressional pensions under legislation the House passed Tuesday in the latest effort by Congress to refurbish its scandal-scarred image.
Libby: White House sacrificed him for Rove
Top White House officials tried to blame vice presidential aide "Scooter" Libby for the 2003 leak of a CIA operative's identity to protect President Bush's political strategist, Karl Rove, Libby's defense attorney said Tuesday as his perjury trial began and the first witness took the stand.
Libby lawyers attack witness credibility
WASHINGTON - Attorneys for former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby say the testimony of the government's first witness in the CIA leak trial may have been improperly influenced.
It will be the O.J. defense. I did it, and I was framed. —Caro
Attorneys set to argue DeLay charge
AUSTIN, Texas - The prosecution of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay could be stalled for weeks or even months while Texas' highest criminal court decides whether a dismissed conspiracy charge against him should be reinstated.
Watergate figure Hunt dies at 88
E. Howard Hunt, who helped organize the Watergate break-in that led to the greatest scandal in American political history and the downfall of Richard Nixon s presidency, died Tuesday. He was 88. Economy & BusinessWall Street advances on oil spike
NEW YORK - Wall Street rebounded Tuesday, rising moderately as crude oil surged more than $2 a barrel and triggered a rally among energy producers. Investors regained their optimism about corporate profits after a series of positive earnings reports.
U.S. Dec leading index rises, tops forecast
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A key forecasting gauge for the U.S. economy rose by a larger-than-expected 0.3 percent in December, the private Conference Board research firm said on Tuesday, suggesting moderate growth in the months ahead.
Automakers cool to Bush plans to cut gas consumption
DETROIT, United States (AFP) - Automakers reacted coolly to US President George W. Bush's pledge to improve fuel economy standards, as part of a plan to cut gasoline consumption by 20 percent over the next 10 years.
They always object. Then they get down to work and beat the deadlines. —Caro MediaNo More 'Freedom' for Bush Web Tool Analyzes State of Union Speech]
For President Bush's State of the Union address on Tuesday night, The New York Times launched an interactive tool on its Web site that counted the number of times certain words, such as Iraq, have been used in his recent SOTU speeches. For example, looking at Iraq-loaded words, the number of times he used "victory" dropped from five last year to two this year. "Democracy," used eight times two years ago, was only mentioned half that number this year. "Bin Laden" dropped in usage from two times to once since last year.
The Fine Line Between Hype and News
In the name of an "exclusive" with the man charged with kidnapping a Missouri boy and suspected of kidnapping another and holding him hostage for more than four years, the New York Post has brought journalists, and questionable ethics, into the limelight.
Financial Services: What Happened to Free Trade]
Pointing out the double standard apparent in a New York Times article about a report warning the U.S. "could lose 4 to 7 percent of the global financial services market over the next five years" if it doesn't "improve its legal and regulatory environment." The article doesn't include the views of any economist touting the gains from international competition. Why should we be any more concerned about losing market share in financial services than in steel or apparel]
Sen. Bernie Sanders: If You Are Concerned About Health Care, Iraq, the Economy, Global Warming You Must Be Concerned About Corporate Control of the Media
The newly elected U.S. Senator from Vermont tells media activists of his belief that we are reaching a moment when critical mass is kicking in. "Because of your efforts, because of a growing grassroots movement all over America, what I can tell you is that not only in the House is there a media caucus where this issue is now going to reach a higher level than ever before, I can tell you that it's going to happen in the Senate as well. I can also tell you, absolutely, that we will not succeed unless you are there, unless there is a strong grassroots media, which demands fundamental changes in media today and the end of corporate control over our media. We've got to work together on that."
Gore 'thrilled' by Oscar nominations
Who says politics is show business for ugly people] "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore's film on the perils of global warming, scored two Oscar nominations Tuesday — for best documentary feature and best original song.
SPECIAL REPORT: Can Online Ads Save Us]
Print revenue is sliding and a lot of it won't be coming back. This puts enormous pressure on Web advertising. The Web has already proven it can make up at least some of that gap. The question is: How long will it take for newspaper Web sites to grow enough muscle to really bolster -- or even carry -- the business]
Google close to buying video game ad provider
Google Inc. is on the verge of buying a company that places ads within hundreds of video games, according to a source and a published report. An anonymously-sourced story in Saturday's Wall Street Journal identified the firm as Adscape Media Inc., a San Francisco-based provider of "the only proprietary two-Way connection between in-game ads and the real world," according to its Web site.
Google Download: No iTunes for Books
Since March, Web search titan Google has been trying to strike agreements with major publishers that would give users of the Google Book Search tool access to entire books over the Internet. Talks have progressed to the point that, on Jan. 18, Google felt confident enough to share with 400 publishers more of its vision for the future of the book.
Microsoft's Wikipedia Oops!
"We were very disappointed," says Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales at word of Microsoft's offer to pay a blogger to correct what the software giant said are errors in some postings on Wikipedia's online encyclopedia.
Microsoft has a long history of paying people to boost its online image. It started back with the bulletin boards in the 80s. —Caro
Reuters in IM Partnership with Yahoo
Reuters is set to announce a partnership with Yahoo to provide interoperability between the two firms' instant messaging systems. The deal would give Reuters IM users access to Yahoo's 70 million subscriber base and help Reuters compete against a rival service of Bloomberg.
Politicians Realize the Potential of Web Video
The already-underway 2008 presidential campaign is likely to be remembered as the point where Web video became central to the communications strategy of every serious presidential candidate. The candidates and their staffs see Web-based video as an inexpensive and potentially significant tool for telling their campaign story without the filters of the traditional media.
Boston Globe to Close Foreign Bureaus
The Boston Globe is closing its foreign bureaus as part of the newspaper's efforts to trim costs. The Globe, which opened its first foreign bureau in the early 1970s, now has bureaus in Jerusalem, Berlin and Bogota, Colombia. The four reporters in those bureaus will be offered jobs in Boston. The Globe will continue to send reporters and photographers overseas on special projects and for certain major events.
Report: Murdoch Entering Battle for Tribune Co.
News Corp. founder Rupert Murdoch has joined the Chandler family's bid for Tribune Co., according to a published report. Murdoch is particularly interested in a stake in the Tribune publication Newsday, one of the company's largest publications, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. Science & TechnologyReport: Global Warming's Smoking Gun is on the Table
Human-caused global warming is here, visible in the air, water and melting ice, and is destined to get much worse in the future, an authoritative global scientific report will warn next week. "The smoking gun is definitely lying on the table as we speak,'' said top U.S. climate scientist Jerry Mahlman, who reviewed all 1,600 pages of the first segment of a giant four-part report. "The evidence ... is compelling.''
New Threat To Big Easy: Global Warming
Engineers are rebuilding a stronger levee system in New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, but scientists say global warming is more dangerous than hurricanes. Byron Pitts reports that rising sea levels could hurt the city.
I’ve been saying since Katrina that we could use New Orleans as the laboratory to learn how to protect the coastlines. Half of Manhattan is going to be under water, friends. You’d think the rich landowners there and in Los Angeles and San Francisco would be jumping on this with both feet. —Caro
More Polar Bears Giving Birth on Land
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Pregnant polar bears in Alaska, which spend most of their lives on sea ice, are increasingly giving birth on land, according to researchers who say global warming is probably to blame.
Ancient spell may be oldest Semitic text
A magic spell to keep snakes away from the tombs of Egyptian kings, adopted from the Canaanites almost 5,000 years ago, could be the oldest Semitic text yet discovered, experts said Tuesday.
Another Fountain of Youth Runs Dry
Growth hormones, the broadly touted fountain of youth for aging baby boomers, have proven themselves good at growing something after all: joint pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, male breasts, glucose intolerance, diabetes and cancer. As researchers at Stanford University reported last week in the Annals of Internal Medicine, human growth hormone (hGH) is weak on benefits but heavy on side effects. Most of us would be better off skipping the treatment, which can cost thousands of dollars.
Drug helps mice with muscular dystrophy
A widely used blood-pressure drug reduced muscle damage in mice with the most common form of muscular dystrophy, researchers report. A team at Johns Hopkins University found the drug losartan seemed to improve muscle regeneration in mice with Marfan syndrome and with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Kids Offer Advice to Stressed-Out Parents
Working parents might think they leave it at the office, but kids know better. Whether adults realize it or not, their job-related stress affects their children, scientists said here this week at the annual meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association. Over the past 30 years, time spent at the office has jumped 10 hours a week. And one in three employees in the United States reports feeling chronically overworked, said Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute in New York.
Anxious? Talk it Out
Psychotherapy, or talk therapy, that identifies and corrects distorted thinking is effective at reducing symptoms in people with serious anxiety, a new review of research shows. |
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