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Morning headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoryExpectations low for U.S.-Mideast peace talks
JERUSALEM — It might be called the Incredible Shrinking Middle East Peace Summit. After months of U.S. diplomacy and Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, expectations for peace talks next week in Annapolis, Md., have fallen so low that everyone is already focusing on The Day After. What once was seen as a chance to build an anti-Iranian coalition of moderate Arab nations by jump-starting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks now is viewed as little more than a launching pad for future negotiations.
Another Bush/Rice failure.—Caro My Stolen Nation
The WorldUp to 30 militants killed in latest Pakistan offensive: army
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Up to 30 more militants loyal to a pro-Taliban cleric were killed in clashes with Pakistani security forces in a remote northwest tourist valley, the army said Tuesday.
Pakistan election set for January 8: officials
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan will vote in general elections on January 8, officials announced Tuesday, setting a schedule for polls which the opposition has threatened to boycott amid the crisis over emergency rule.
General says N. Iraq most violent region
WASHINGTON - Despite a decline in violence in Iraq, northern Iraq has become more violent than other regions as al-Qaida and other militants move there to avoid coalition operations elsewhere, the region's top U.S. commander said Monday. Army Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling said al-Qaida cells still operate in all the key cities in the north.
Chavez, Ahmadinejad to work against US
TEHRAN, Iran - The presidents of Venezuela and Iran boasted Monday that they will defeat U.S. imperialism together, saying the fall of the dollar is a prelude to the end of Washington's global dominance.
China cautions about new Iran sanctions
UNITED NATIONS - China's U.N. envoy expressed caution Monday about imposing new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear ambitions, but dismissed U.S. accusations that Beijing was dragging its feet on a new resolution against Tehran.
Conservative Anglicans shun Canada for S. America
OTTAWA (Reuters) - As more sections of the Anglican Church of Canada move toward blessing gay marriages, a group of conservative Anglicans has started pulling out of the Canadian organization and putting themselves under the authority of the main Anglican branch in South America.
France faces massive protests as strikes combine
PARIS (Reuters) - Nation-wide strikes hit French schools, train services, post offices and airports on Tuesday as a seven-day long transport strike combined with a walkout by public sector workers.
Yar'Adua against US African military command in Nigeria says official
LAGOS (AFP) - Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua will not allow his country to be used as a base for the proposed US African military command AFRICOM, officials said. The NationU.S. attorney being moved to Washington
Rachel Paulose, the embattled U.S. attorney for Minnesota, will be leaving the post to take a position at the Justice Department in Washington, the department confirmed Monday.
If you’re a Bush toady, you can only fail up.—Caro
DHS Erred in $475 Million Contract Given to Native Firm
The Department of Homeland Security improperly awarded a half-billion-dollar, no-bid contract in 2003 to a little-known company to maintain thousands of X-ray, radiation and other screening machines at U.S. border checkpoints, incorrectly designating the firm a disadvantaged small business, according to a report by the department's inspector general.
US prison system 'costly failure'
The US prison population has risen eight-fold since 1970, with little impact on crime but at great cost to the taxpayer, researchers say. There are more than 1.5 million people in US state and federal jails, a report by a Washington-based criminal justice research group, the JFA Institute says.
Loophole keeps FDA in the dark on tainted food imports
About 150 imported food shipments a month are tested at a San Francisco laboratory for contaminants consumers shouldn't eat... At least 10% of the time, the lab finds the shipments contaminated, says David Eisenberg, chairman of Anresco Labs. Most of the time, the lab tells no one but the importer who's paying for the test, Eisenberg says. The Food and Drug Administration is none the wiser.
College criticizes invitation-only political rallies
A Pennsylvania college that was the scene of a protest against Vice President Cheney is trying to start a movement to ban politicians from holding closed meetings restricted to supporters on all campuses in the nation.
California suing Nebraska voting machine maker for $15 million
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen sued a Nebraska voting machine company on Monday, seeking fines and reimbursements of nearly $15 million from the firm for allegedly selling nearly 1,000 uncertified machines to San Francisco and four other counties.
Calif. Sues Over Lead-Contaminated Toys
California Attorney General Jerry Brown sued 20 companies, including Mattel Inc. and Toys "R" Us, claiming they sold toys containing "unlawful quantities of lead."
Hate crimes rose 8 percent in 2006
WASHINGTON - Hate crime incidents rose nearly 8 percent last year, the FBI reported Monday, as civil rights advocates increasingly take to the streets to protest what they call official indifference to intimidation and attacks against blacks and other minorities.
Wall Street Plans $38 Billion of Bonuses as Shareholders Lose
Shareholders in the securities industry are having their worst year since 2002, losing $74 billion of their equity. That won't prevent Wall Street from paying record bonuses, totaling almost $38 billion.
Campaign to help homeowners begins
WASHINGTON - An alliance created to combat a rising flood of mortgage foreclosures began a nationwide mail campaign Monday, offering help to homeowners who may be having trouble meeting their mortgage payments. MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
Donors Launch Liberal "Mutual Funds"
Wealthy liberal activists are bringing a part of the financial world, the mutual fund, to politics as they attempt to increase the number of people giving to a select group of 37 Democratic-leaning organizations.
Still nothing for a coordinated media effort, however. Still shortsighted.—Caro
Employees at CBS News Vote to Authorize a Strike
The vote enables the guild to call a strike at any time, although a walkout is not imminent. A strike could affect CBS television and radio newscasts, both nationally and in four local markets.
CMU algorithm produces new blog ratings (by Stephen Baker at Blogspotting, Business Week)
Just got a release from Carnegie Mellon about a new algorithm that rates the blogs we should read "to be most up to date." Interestingly, if we have only time to read 100 blogs, Instapundit ranks first. (Since it's an academic exercise, it uses 2006 data, and focuses on variables such as inlinks, outlinks, and posting frequency.) But if we have time to read 5,000, the list changes dramatically.
A HUNDRED blogs, much less FIVE THOUSAND??!! Who has time? And Instapundit??!! Sounds like a kinky algorithm to me. To be best informed, read MakeThemAccountable every day.—Caro
Scott McClellan's Book Coming in April -- Admits Wrongdoing in Clearing Rove and Libby in CIA Leak Case
NEW YORK To no one's surprise in a world where top White House aides with any president eventually write a book about it, former Press Sectetary Scott McClellan will be coming out with his volume in April. (From an excerpt:) "I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice President, the President's chief of staff, and the president himself."
Fox host 'for Tasing anyone in Code Pink' after Hillary heckled (by David Edwards and Nick Juliano at The Raw Story)
A Fox News morning host has a novel idea to handle those pesky Code Pink protesters who disrupt political events and Congressional hearings: 50,000 volts of electricity. Brian Kilmead shared his ever-so-evolved views on crowd control Monday morning in a Fox & Friends discussion of a Code Pink-disrupted Hillary Clinton speech. His answer to annoying anti-war types? Tasers or Billy clubs. “They should Tase this guy,” Kilmead says. “At one point with security so high and tensions on edge, don’t you think they’re going to get at the very least Tased or beaten to a pulp by somebody? These people look threatening.”
Mythbuster: Basic Instincts: The Science of Evil
In ABC News' version of the Milgram experiment, we tested 18 men, and found that 65 percent of them agreed to administer increasingly painful electric shocks when ordered by an authority figure. 22 women signed up for our experiment. Even though most people said that women would be less likely to inflict pain on the learner, a surprising 73 percent yielded to the orders of the experimenter… Our subjects had an unusually high level of education… The group was also ethnically diverse.
We haven’t learned a damned thing since the original experiments in 1961 through 1963. What we should have learned is to teach people to be skeptical of those who appear to be authority figures, and to strongly criticize those, like Kilmead in the excerpt above, who legitimize and even glorify our worst impulses.—Caro
O’Hanlon Teams Up With AEI’s Kagan To Advocate Pre-Emptive Strike On Pakistan
In the wake of the recent crisis in Pakistan, Iraq escalation architect Frederick Kagan of AEI and Brookings analyst Michael O’Hanlon penned a column yesterday urging the U.S. to weigh a military option in Pakistan to secure its nuclear stockpiles.
Are these people completely crazy?—Caro
Fine-Tuning the Sell Job for the Next War (PR Watch)
"The basis of the whole thing was, 'we're going to go into Iran and what do we have to do to get you guys to go along with it,'" said Laura Sonnenmark, a participant in a recent focus group apparently funded by the Republican-associated lobbying group Freedom's Watch. Sonnenmark, a "focus group regular," said the moderator "used lots of catch phrases, like 'victory' and 'failure is not an option.'" She added, "I've never seen a moderator who was so persistent in manipulating and leading the participants."
The Clinton News Network Holds a Vladimir Putin Debate (by Brent Budowsky at The Hill’s Pundits Blog)
Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Bill Richardson and Dennis Kucinich have close to a hundred years of significant government experience and very significant things to say about the campaign, but have been treated in these debates like the opposition to Vladimir Putin are treated in the state-controlled Russian media. It is a disgrace and a sham and a disrespect not only to those candidates but to the very idea of an informed citizenry choosing our next leader in a democratic election.
Prediction: Rove, Moulitsas won't surprise us in Newsweek
Newsweek pieces by Karl Rove and Markos Moulitsas will no doubt be linked on plenty of political blogs, allowing the magazine to claim success, says Paul McLeary. "But I would be shocked if either one writes anything that isn't utterly predictable or that falls outside the narrow realm of the worlds inhabited by their ideological fellow-travelers. And in that, the hirings will have failed the magazine's readership."
But Rove has already dropped a bombshell, Paul. See below. So what is it that makes you such an expert on the media?—Caro
Rove refuses to even use Bush's name in Newsweek piece (by John Aravosis at AMERICAblog)
In discussing how the GOP candidate can beat Hillary in the general election (assuming she wins the primary), Rove … (painfully) avoids using Bush's name, and it even implies that Rove is distancing himself (and therefore the candidate) from the Republicans as well - by saying "the Republican candidate" it's almost as if Rove is implying that the Republicans are another party that he and the current GOP candidate aren't connected to. Rove's most important lesson on "How to Beat Hillary (Next) November" is in what he doesn't say: Stay far away from George Bush and the Republican brand.
Novak Attacks Buffett As ‘Hypocrite’ With A ‘Phony Message’ Who ‘Should Be Ashamed Of Himself’
Last week, billionaire investor Warren Buffett urged Congress “to maintain the estate tax, saying that plans to repeal the tax would benefit a handful of the richest American families and widen income disparity in the United States.”… This weekend on Bloomberg Television, right-wing pundit Bob Novak fumed over Buffett’s altruistic testimony, attacking him as a hypocrite who “should be ashamed of himself for putting out that phony message.” Bloomberg’s Al Hunt responded, “Bob, there’s only two differences between you and Warren Buffett: $40 billion and a conscience.”
Click through to watch the Novak-Hunt video.—Caro Technology & ScienceJajah Direct. No Internet Connection Necessary.
Jajah is taking its VoIP service to the next level, by offering access sans an Internet connection. It’s new feature is called Jajah Direct, which lets you call local numbers directly from any phone in order to make global calls. With options for direct-dialing local access numbers, there’s one more step that’s removed for users in the act of making cheap calls on a global scale.
Laser Zaps Viruses
Is it possible to shine a light on infected tissue, and only kill the viruses, leaving healthy tissue intact? A father-son team combined physics and biology to prove that it is indeed possible.
Slime City Reveals How Bacteria Cooperate
A miniature city for microbes constructed in the lab could shed light on how the buggers naturally form drug-resistant communities.
Researchers Spot Link Between Heart Disease, Income
As paychecks declined, blood markers of inflammation rose
Older Workers Less Stressed (Find Out Why)
With age come wisdom and less stress. Older individuals say they experience less work-related stress, according to a new survey that indicates the secret could be the absence of children at home.
Romulus and Remus cave may have been found: experts
ROME (Reuters) - Italian archaeologists believe they have found the cave where a she-wolf suckled Romulus and Remus, the twin founders of Rome, according to legend.
Ancient jade study sheds light on sea trade
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Over 100 ancient jade artifacts in museums across southeast Asia have been traced back to Taiwan, shedding new light on sea trade patterns dating back 5,000 years, researchers said.
Despite Flash, Males are Simple Creatures
New research on fruit flies, detailed online last week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds males have fewer genetic obstacles to prevent them from responding quickly to selection pressures in their environments. "It’s because males are simpler," said lead author Marta Wayne, a zoologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville. "
Spacewalkers leave station to power up module
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - A pair of spacewalking astronauts floated outside the International Space Station on Tuesday for the first of a two-part outing to complete installation of the newly arrived Harmony connecting module.
Future NASA Astronomy Budgets Expected To Mirror Inflation Rate
As astronomers gathered at the Space Telescope Science Institute here for three days of talks about the big missions they would like to tackle from 2020 onward, NASA's astrophysics chief warned them not to get stars in their eyes as they envision future budgets. EnvironmentClimate Bill Proving Vain Pursuit as Lobbies Roil U.S. Congress
Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- When Senate Environment Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, Republican Senator John Warner, the nation's largest environmental groups and General Electric Co. join forces to push a U.S. cap on global-warming emissions, it should be an unbeatable team. Not in the 110th Congress. The alliance is running into resistance from an unlikely collection of environmental activists, big oil and coal companies, labor unions and Congress's sole socialist.
Technology Won't Stop Global Warming, Economists Say
Greenhouse gas emissions in the United States may grow faster in the next 50 years than they have in the past 50, and higher energy prices will curb the problem better than technology, two economists say.
Proposal: Suck Carbon Dioxide Out of the Air
Emerging technologies could pull carbon dioxide straight from the air to potentially attack global warming directly… "The technology to do this is going through major advances, moving toward detailed designs," said environmental engineer Frank Zeman at Columbia University. "It's becoming more and more efficient—we've cut the electricity requirements by well over half."
New Carbon Standard Brings Integrity and Transparency to Carbon Offsets
LONDON, Nov. 20, 2007 -- The Climate Group, the International Emissions Trading Association and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development launched a new global carbon offset standard at the London Stock Exchange to increase participation and confidence in the global voluntary carbon market.
Kyoto backers can exceed 2012 climate goals: U.N.
But it cautioned that emissions had risen since 2000 in many nations -- especially in former Soviet bloc countries where economies were picking up after the collapse of smokestack industries in the early 1990s.
Most Green Marketing Claims Aren’t True, Says New Report
READING, Penn., Nov. 19, 2007 -- The overwhelming majority of environmental marketing claims in North America are inaccurate, inappropriate, or unsubstantiated, according to a comprehensive survey released today. For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com.
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