Good Morning! - Morning Headlines

[Caro]

Morning headlines brought to you by

Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com

Top Story

Bush makes tour through tornado-ravaged Alabama, Georgia
President Bush handed out hugs to residents who survived killer tornadoes that ripped through Alabama and Georgia and offered encouraging words Saturday at Enterprise High School where students grieved the loss of eight classmates.

Buck Fush

The World

9 U.S. Soldiers killed in Iraq bombing
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Nine U.S. soldiers died in two separate incidents north of Baghdad, the military said Tuesday.

Official: Olmert, Abbas to meet next week
JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet next week for their second summit in a month, but this one will focus on humanitarian matters rather than the core issues of the Mideast dispute, an Olmert aide said Tuesday.

U.S., North Korea open historic talks
NEW YORK - The United States and North Korea began landmark talks on establishing diplomatic relations, but a State Department official cautioned against high expectations during this week's meetings.

Northern Ireland's old enemies struggle to bury hatchet
BELFAST (AFP) - Protestant firebrand Ian Paisley and Catholic former IRA leader Martin McGuinness must ditch their mutual enmity to share power in Northern Ireland following Wednesday's elections.
Please don’t ever forget that this victory over the use of violence to make one’s political point was brought about by NEGOTIATION, not by bullying. —Caro

The Nation

Dems alter plan to restrict Iraq war
Senior House Democrats, seeking to placate members of their party from Republican-leaning districts, are pushing a plan that would place restrictions on President Bush's ability to wage the war in Iraq but would allow him to waive them if he publicly justifies his position.
This is a copout, Democrats. Bush is already supposed to justify his positions, and he never does. —Caro

Bush OKs aid programs for Latin America
WASHINGTON - President Bush, facing criticism he has ignored Latin America, said Monday the region's grinding poverty is a scandal that has caused some to question the value of democracy. He said the United States will spend tens of millions of dollars to improve education, housing and health care across the region.
He’s headed there for a visit, so he has to announce some aid. But Bush’s record on following through on these kinds of promises is severely lacking. —Caro

'It Is Just Not Walter Reed'
Stories of neglect and substandard care have flooded in from soldiers, their family members, veterans, doctors and nurses working inside the system. They describe depressing living conditions for outpatients at other military bases around the country, from Fort Lewis in Washington state to Fort Dix in New Jersey. They tell stories -- their own versions, not verified -- of callous responses to combat stress and a system ill equipped to handle another generation of psychologically scarred vets.

Privacy board clears U.S. spy programs
WASHINGTON - A White House privacy board is giving its stamp of approval to two of the Bush administration's controversial surveillance programs — electronic eavesdropping and financial tracking — and says they do not violate citizens' civil liberties.
A White House board whitewashes the White House. That’s news? —Caro

Media

Coulter: Edwards' Campaign Manager 'Fronting for Arab Terrorists'
NEW YORK Ann Coulter, fresh from implying that John Edwards is a "faggot," now has a statement on her Web site saying Edwards campaign manager David Bonior "is fronting for Arab terrorists."
But all the hate is on the left, according to the mainstream media. —Caro

Companies to pull ads from Coulter's Web site
At least three major companies want their ads pulled from Ann Coulter's Web site, following customer complaints about the right-wing commentator referring to Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards as a "faggot."

WHEN YOU READ DOWD, YOU’RE RIDING WITH COULTER
The nation’s big papers and pundits have been exceptionally dainty about Ann Coulter’s latest… (W)hy should pundits criticize Coulter when she describes Dem males as big “f*ggots?” It’s very similar to the gender-based “analysis” their dauphine, the Comptesse Maureen Dowd, has long offered. In Dowd’s work, John Edwards is routinely “the Breck Girl”(five times so far—and counting), and Gore is “so feminized that he’s practically lactating.”

Charges of political interference in U.S. attorney firings not reported by networks' evening newscasts
Many news reports on the firing of eight U.S. attorneys have suggested political interference in the justice system, but none of the broadcast networks' evening news programs has even mentioned the case.

Technology & Science

China bans new Internet cafes for a year
BEIJING (Reuters) -- Fearful of soaring Internet addiction and juvenile crime, China has banned the opening of new Internet cafes this year, state media reported on Tuesday.

Scientists try to predict intentions
BERLIN - At a laboratory in Germany, volunteers slide into a donut-shaped MRI machine and perform simple tasks, such as deciding whether to add or subtract two numbers, or choosing which of two buttons to press. They have no inkling that scientists in the next room are trying to read their minds — using a brain scan to figure out their intention before it is turned into action.

Sea Squirt Regrows Entire Body from One Blood Vessel
Our closest invertebrate relative, the humble sea squirt, can regenerate its entire body from just tiny blood vessel fragments, scientists now report.

NASA can't afford asteroid hunt
NASA officials say the space agency is capable of finding nearly all the asteroids that might pose a devastating hit to Earth, but there isn't enough money to pay for the task so it won't get done.

Environment

Following the Crowd to Save the Planet
Better take out the recyclables—your neighbors are doing it. That's the “follow the crowd” mentality that often turns residents into planet huggers who make these green decisions, new research shows. Rather than statements that scare people into Earth-friendly behaviors, one scientist says a better approach would be to play to a person’s herding tendencies.

For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com.

[mmonk]

1. Thanks again Caro.