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Edited on Fri Jan-11-08 11:08 AM by Caro
Today’s headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoryU.S.: Voices on Recording May Not Have Been From Iranian Speedboats (ABC)
Just two days after the U.S. Navy released the eerie video of Iranian speedboats swarming around American warships, which featured a chilling threat in English, the Navy is saying that the voice on the tape could have come from the shore or from another ship.
Official Version of Naval Incident Starts to Unravel (by Gareth Porter, historian and national security policy analyst)
The dramatic version of the incident reported by U.S. news media throughout Tuesday and Wednesday suggested that Iranian speedboats, apparently belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard navy, had made moves to attack three U.S. warships entering the Strait and that the U.S. commander had been on the verge of firing at them when they broke off. Typical of the network coverage was a story by ABC's Jonathan Karl quoting a Pentagon official as saying the Iranian boats "were a heartbeat from being blown up".
GOP candidates trip over themselves to cheer on war with Iran (by Chris in Paris at AMERICAblog)
Despite the changing story with the "incident" in the Strait of Hormuz, the Republican candidates are all doing their best to out-macho one another with the exception of Ron Paul, who suggested caution and further review. The others are ready to throw fire and brimstone to kill 'em all and ask questions later. Great. Just what the country is demanding after WMD in Iraq and too-many-to-count "terrorism" threats in the US conveniently announced during troubled times for the Bush administration. (Think, Miami Seven, for example.)
Germany overturns Nazi-era conviction
BERLIN - Prosecutors said Thursday they have formally overturned the conviction of a Dutch communist who was executed after the Nazis accused him of torching the Reichstag parliament building in 1933.
Hitler used the Reichstag fire as his excuse to assume dictatorial powers, which led to World War II. It’s because of incidents like that, like the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam, and perhaps like this Strait of Hormuz incident that we must always ask questions first and shoot later.—Caro Left 'Toon Lane
The WorldMassive U.S. Airstrike Hits Baghdad
U.S. bombers and jet fighters unleashed 40,000 pounds of explosives during a 10-minute airstrike, flattening what the military called al Qaeda in Iraq safehavens on the southern outskirts of the capital.
Commanders tout success of Iraq strikes
BAGHDAD, Iraq - One of the largest bombing campaigns of the war destroyed extremists' "defensive belts" south of Baghdad, allowing American soldiers to push into areas where they have not been in years, a top commander said Friday.
Iran: Tehran-IAEA cooperation in 'new phase'
Iran's cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog has entered a "new phase", a top Iranian nuclear official said Friday after International Atomic Energy Agency chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, arrived in Tehran for talks concerning Iran's disputed nuclear program.
Musharraf Warns U.S. Not To Trespass
Pakistan's beleaguered president Pervez Musharraf has again warned the U.S. to keep troops off his country's soil. In a new interview, Musharraf says American troops would be regarded as invaders, and would "regret" the trespass.
Sri Lanka rejects Tamil rebel call to revive cease-fire
Sri Lanka's government Friday rejected a call by separatist Tamil rebels to revive a 2002 cease-fire, a week after Colombo officially withdrew from the truce.
Burma official: Pro-democracy leader meets with junta
Detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with a representative of the ruling junta Friday for the first time in nearly two months, a government official said.
2 hostages freed by Colombian rebels
CARACAS, Venezuela - Helicopters sent by Venezuela's president picked up two hostages freed by Colombian rebels in the jungle Thursday and flew the women across the border in a mission that could open a new path to freedom for dozens of captives.
Europeans watch U.S. elections with heightened interest
You'd think they were electing their own president the way Europeans are following the U.S. presidential primaries this year.
Sudan apologizes for shooting at UN
KHARTOUM, Sudan - Sudan acknowledged Thursday that its troops shot at a United Nations convoy in Darfur, reversing an initial denial, but it in part blamed the peacekeepers saying they should have notified Khartoum of their movements.
Kenya opposition to resume nationwide protests
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's opposition said on Friday it would restart nationwide protests against President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election after African Union (AU) mediation failed to end the country's political crisis. The NationBush: US should have bombed Auschwitz
JERUSALEM - President Bush had tears in his eyes during an hour-long tour of Israel's Holocaust memorial Friday and told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the U.S. should have bombed Auschwitz to halt the killing, the memorial's chairman said.
The man has bombing on the brain.—Caro
AP Poll: Bush, Congress remain unpopular
WASHINGTON - President Bush and Congress retained their dismal levels of popularity and huge majorities are unhappy with how things are going in the country, according to a poll released Thursday.
IRS opens e-file season Friday
WASHINGTON - Taxpayers who file their returns electronically may begin sending those files on Friday, the Internal Revenue Service said.
Audit: FBI's lapse in paying phone bill snips wiretaps
Telecommunications carriers cut off covert surveillance lines established by the FBI because the bureau failed to pay its bills on time, a Justice Department review found Thursday.
Republican incompetence can be a good thing—once in a while.—Caro
US to unveil key license rules Friday
WASHINGTON - Americans born after Dec. 1, 1964, will have to get more secure driver's licenses in the next six years under ambitious post-9/11 security rules to be unveiled Friday by federal officials.
Millions of young abusing cough medicine
WASHINGTON - About 3.1 million people between the ages of 12-25 have used cough and cold medicine to get high, the government reported Wednesday.
Report: oil, LNG tankers vulnerable
WASHINGTON - The Coast Guard lacks the resources to adequately protect tankers carrying liquefied petroleum or crude oil from a possible terrorist attack, congressional auditors reported Wednesday.
Kucinich asks for New Hampshire recount in the interest of election integrity (thanks to the Brad Blog)
DETROIT, MI – Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich … has sent a letter to the New Hampshire Secretary of State asking for a recount of Tuesday’s election because of “unexplained disparities between hand-counted ballots and machine-counted ballots… Serious and credible reports, allegations, and rumors have surfaced in the past few days…It is imperative that these questions be addressed in the interest of public confidence in the integrity of the election process and the election machinery – not just in New Hampshire, but in every other state that conducts a primary election.”
Lennar's New Homes Fetch 60% Less as U.S. Market Slump Deepens
Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Lennar Corp.'s November sale of 11,000 properties in eight states set a price that may mark the bottom for the U.S. housing market: 40 cents on the dollar. That's how much Morgan Stanley Real Estate paid for an 80 percent stake in the 32 communities, 60 percent less than the price at which the properties were valued just two months earlier. That's also what some investors say they would pay for distressed land, condominiums, homes and whole developments, whether it's now or later this year.
Dirty Deeds
The mortgage crisis has blighted the landscape with boarded-up houses. Now a few cities are holding giant lenders accountable for what foreclosure leaves behind MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
@ CES: Interview: Beth Comstock, President, Integrated Media, NBCU: ‘Advertising Not The Only Model’ (by Staci D. Kramer at Paid Content)
“Right now, everyone’s talking about advertising as the predominant model. That’s what we see. But I personally don’t think advertising is going to be the only model going forward. We’re betting on the fact that there will be multiple business models that emerge. For the sake of digital’s healthiness, they have to.”
As I’ve been saying. Somebody ought to start listening.—Caro
"Astonishing" number of Americans detect bias in the news
A Sacred Heart University poll finds significantly declining percentages of Americans saying they believe all or most news reports. In the current national poll, just 19.6% of those surveyed say they believe all or most news media reporting -- down from 27.4% in 2003. Just under one-quarter, 23.9%, in 2007 say they believe little or none of reporting while 55.3% suggest they believe some media news reporting.
The media needs to learn to not trust polls (by Steve Adubato, MSNBC)
Not only were the polls wrong, but they once again graphically demonstrated that our use of polls is not calculated correctly because many voters change their minds at the last minute. We become so caught up in the horse race that we often don’t pick up on the nuances as well as the unpredictable makeup of voters. We realize that many voters both in New Hampshire and across the country are on some level trying to send a message to the media that they are simply too powerful — and that we in the media are too impatient with the voting process.
The Politico's Loud Mea Culpa (by Greg Sargent at TPM Horse’s Mouth)
Credit where credit's due: The Politico's top two editors have published a lengthy and comprehensive piece cataloging the multiple failures that have been marring the nation's political coverage -- and they didn't spare themselves, either… The piece ticks off a litany of journalistic failures: Addiction to horse race coverage; slavish adherence to arbitrarily created narratives; a willingness to let coverage be tainted by the preference for certain outcomes; an eagerness to be led around on a leash by Drudge; etc., etc. It concludes: "There is generally one good answer to excesses and hype in political journalism: Respect the voters. That means waiting to find out what they really think."
Here’s a link to the Politico piece.—Caro
Brokaw: "Too Many Hours To Fill And Too Little Imagination To Fill Them Creatively" (by Gail Shister, TV Newser)
Tom Brokaw is no M.D., but he diagnoses as "cancerous" the networks' chronic urge to project winners before polls have closed. "We stage all these rules not to call an election before the returns are in, based on exit polls, and then we say, 'It looks like a slam dunk,'" Brokaw says in an interview Wednesday.
How bashing Hillary backfired (by Joe Conason, Salon)
Does anyone still doubt that many of the most influential members of the national press corps dislike Hillary Clinton and treat her accordingly? Bias is far too mild a term to describe the bullying she has endured on cable television as well as in print. Indeed, prejudice against her is evidently so ingrained in the culture of the political media by now that the most inflamed commentators and journalists no longer feel constrained to conceal their emotions in the name of objectivity. During the current primary season, the disparity in her treatment compared with that of her rivals -- especially the indulgent and even adoring coverage of Obama -- became simply too obvious to ignore.
Civil Rights Tone Prompts Talk of an Endorsement
WASHINGTON — Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, the highest-ranking African-American in Congress, said he was rethinking his neutral stance in his state’s presidential primary out of disappointment at comments by Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton that he saw as diminishing the historic role of civil rights activists… “We have to be very, very careful about how we speak about that era in American politics,” said Mr. Clyburn.
What Hillary Clinton said about civil rights is true. It was Lyndon Johnson who implemented at least part of Martin Luther King’s dream, which Dr. King was never in a position to do. We really have to learn to distinguish between valid criticism, even if the candidate is black, and truly racist statements like Andrew Cuomo’s (see below).
I’ve been accused of hating hope for daring to point out legitimate criticisms of Obama. We really don’t want to go down the road of making it impossible to criticize certain candidates while allowing criticism of others. The truth is that Obama talks like a progressive when he’s running for office, but starts to act and sound like a DLCer once he actually gets there. We’re allowed to call Hillary Clinton a triangulator and a manipulator, but the Clintons aren’t allowed to point out what they, and I, consider manipulations by Obama? Please.—Caro
Tucker Mimics Cuomo On Obama: “You Can’t Shuck And Jive At A Press Conference” (by Logan Murphy at Crooks and Liars)
The topic of race has been a hot one the past few weeks and now it appears that veiled (or not so veiled) racial comments about Barack Obama will be an issue in the 2008 Democratic primary race. During this segment today on Tucker, the subject of racism came up and Tucker Carlson had the bad taste to frame it using this statement by NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, in regards to Obama: “You can’t shuck and jive at a press conference.”
Cuomo has tried to explain, but there is no explanation for this kind of use of language. Click through to watch the video.—Caro
Do Bloggers Threaten Democracy? (by Carl Thoma at Economist’s View)
Would a world with absolutely no polarization be optimal, or is some degree of polarization - diversity of opinion and disagreement - better?... It is assumed that blogs and the internet cause increased polarization. But I suppose one could also ask if blogs do, in fact, cause a significant increase in polarization over and above, say, Fox News and the Washington Times and ask for some justification for that assertion beyond a single study of ten groups of six people. But I don't have any additional evidence one way or the other, so I'll leave it at that.
It seems to me that blogs are an outgrowth of existing polarization, not a cause. We pre-bloggers (those of us who got involved on the internet before the existence of blogging software) and bloggers became active because we saw the Republicans running roughshod over all of us and neither the Democrats nor the media standing up against them.—Caro
Mythbuster: Despite Failure To Meet Bush’s Original Goals, McCain And Lieberman Declare ‘The Surge Worked’ (Think Progress)
Though violence in Iraq has diminished in the tail end of 2007, these “fragile” security gains have not been accompanied by sufficient “progress on any of the key political benchmarks so critical to bringing Iraq together.” In fact, as we enter 2008, Iraq is “even more bitterly divided along ethnic and sectarian lines than it was at the start of 2007.” Despite the failure of the surge to meet its political goals, war hawks are rushing to declare victory. Writing in the Wall Street Journal (Thursday), Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) declare that “the surge worked.”
Click through for some examples of the claims vs. reality.—Caro
The Comeback Continent (by Paul Krugman)
According to the anti-government ideology that dominates much U.S. political discussion, low taxes and a weak social safety net are essential to prosperity. Try to make the lives of Americans even slightly more secure, we’re told, and the economy will shrivel up — the same way it supposedly has in Europe. But the next time a politician tries to scare you with the European bogeyman, bear this in mind: Europe’s economy is actually doing O.K. these days, despite a level of taxing and spending beyond the wildest ambitions of American progressives.
Atheists See God (by Dean Baker)
The news articles today all report on how the country's leading economists now believe that we currently are in, or soon will be in, a recession. This is big news, in fact it's bigger news than the reports suggest. As I've written in the past, economists have an enormous bias against seeing recessions… Reporters should regularly remind their audience that their economic experts have an enormous bias against seeing recessions. It would allow them to place their assessments of the economy's prospects in better perspective. Technology & ScienceReview: Eee Laptop PC Shreds the Rules
Taiwanese computer parts maker Asus obviously didn't get the memo. Didn't Asus know notebook computers need hard drives? Or that they're supposed to run Windows - and the pre-loaded software must bloat the boot-up process to the length of a long weekend?
Will Boeing's 787 be safe from hackers?
SEATTLE - Before Boeing Co.'s new 787 jetliner gets the green light to fly passengers, the aircraft maker will have to prove that offering Internet access in the cabin won't leave the flight controls vulnerable to hackers and hijackers.
Phony iPhone Upgrade Hides Malware
Computer security experts say the "iPhone firmware 1.1.3 prep" is designed to dupe people into downloading it as the Macworld Expo show opens next week.
Embryonic stem cell lines created without destroying embryo: study
CHICAGO (AFP) - In a bid to sidestep the ethical debate over the use of human embryos in medical research, scientists have developed a way to derive viable stem cell lines without harming the embryo. They did so by extracting a single cell from the embryo -- as in vitro fertilization clinics do when they test for genetic defects -- and introducing a common molecule called laminin to keep it in a stem cell, or pluripotent, state.
'Electrospray' Droplet Research Yields Surprising, Practical Results
ScienceDaily (Jan. 11, 2008) — Chemical engineers at Purdue University are the first to mathematically describe precisely how droplets form when liquids are exposed to electric fields, an advance that could have applications in areas ranging from manufacturing to medical diagnostics.
Eat Less Or Exercise More? Either Way Leads To More Youthful Hearts
ScienceDaily (Jan. 11, 2008) — Overweight people who lose a moderate amount of weight get an immediate benefit in the form of better heart health, according to a study conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. And the heart improvements happen whether that weight is shed by eating less or exercising more.
The 5,000-Year-Old Origin of Ice Skating
Finns looking to cut back on travel time were the first to use ice skates about 5,000 years ago, a new study suggests. The southern portion of Finland is the only place icy and flat enough to make traveling by skates – at that time made of animal bones – worth the energy, scientists discovered.
Skiing was also developed as a means of transportation. Now, it’s only for sport and entertainment.—Caro
Down To Earth Remedies For Chimps: Eat Mud
ScienceDaily (Jan. 11, 2008) — The deliberate ingestion of soil, or ‘geophagy’, has important health benefits for chimpanzees, according to Sabrina Krief and her colleagues from the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris, France. Far from being a dysfunctional behavior, geophagy has evolved as a practice for maintaining health amongst chimpanzees. In this particular study geophagy is shown to increase the potency of ingested plants with anti-malarial properties.
They seem to know which plants to eat for some diseases, as well.—Caro
Four stars found in a very tight bunch
A quartet of stars has been discovered in an intimate cosmic dance, swirling around each other within a region about the same as Jupiter's orbit around the sun.
Even Thin Galaxies Pack Hefty Black Holes
AUSTIN, Texas — A half-dozen hefty black holes hide out where they are least expected, in relatively skinny galaxies. The discovery implies galaxies don't need bulging bellies to harbor monstrous black holes. EnvironmentUN weather agency aims to beef up climate change monitoring
Geneva - The UN weather agency (WMO) said Friday it planned to expand its use of the world's satellites to provide more accurate weather forecasting and to monitor climate change better.
Report: Green Investments Creating First Sustainable Economy
WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 11, 2008 -- Worldwide Institute's latest report looks at the growth of investments in sustainable efforts while encouraging further efforts for the betterment of the world.
2007 clean energy investment up from 2006
Clean-energy funding increased in 2007, said London-based New Energy Finance. The amount of new funding injected into the clean energy sector rose by 41 percent in 2007, according to an international research report.
Human Body Heat To Power Cell Phones? Nanowires Enable Recovery Of Waste Heat Energy
ScienceDaily (Jan. 11, 2008) — Energy now lost as heat during the production of electricity could be harnessed through the use of silicon nanowires synthesized via a technique developed by researchers… The far-ranging potential applications of this technology include DOE’s hydrogen fuel cell-powered “Freedom CAR,” and personal power-jackets that could use heat from the human body to recharge cell-phones and other electronic devices.
New Device Turns Air into Drinking Water
All around the world, we're dealing with a severe water shortage. An entire continent, Australia, is so dry that cities have set up "water police" to rat out residents who use their garden hoses a single moment longer than they're meant to. For years, Israel, too, has been dealing with a tremendous drought; the water sources that still exist in the arid country are often so polluted that the water is undrinkable. Luckily, there's one resource we've still got plenty of: Air.
Wal-Mart faces hurdles in green electronics
A campaign to reduce packaging has been a success for Wal-Mart Stores "green" campaign, but a move toward environmentally friendly electronics is proving that changing the mechanics of a TV is much more complex than changing the mechanics of a cereal box.
Cell Phone Recycling is an Easy Call
(Washington, D.C. - Jan. 8, 2008) The nation's leading cell phone makers, service providers, and retailers have teamed up with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to answer America's call for easy cell phone recycling.
Australia takes tip from China on plastic bags
Sydney - Environmentally unfriendly Australia hopes to follow China and ban plastic shopping bags this year, next year or some time in the future, Environment Minister Peter Garrett said Thursday. For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com.
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