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Morning headlines brought to you by Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com Top StoryPakistan police clash with lawyers
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Legions of police firing tear gas and swinging batons clashed with lawyers Monday as security forces across Pakistan blockaded courts to quash protests against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's declaration of a state of emergency. At least 350 were detained.
State Dept. happy that Pakistan is distracting the public.
Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s decision to suspend the constitution, seize emergency power, and round up leading opposition figures is bringing quiet joy to the State Department. “Thank heavens for small favors,” an aide to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, referring to Musharraf’s actions. Compared to Pakistan, “Iraq looks pretty good.” Humor Ink
The WorldDespite warnings, Bush officials couldn't stop Musharraf
WASHINGTON — The imposition of emergency rule on Saturday in nuclear-armed Pakistan underscores how little influence the Bush administration has on events in a country that has become the bulwark in the U.S. fight against terrorism.
Rice fails to ease Turkey's anger over Kurdish rebels
ISTANBUL — Turkish officials indicated Saturday that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had failed during two days of talks to persuade them not to send troops across the Iraqi border to attack Kurdish rebels based there.
Iraqi official gunned down in Baghdad
BAGHDAD - Two carloads of gunmen ambushed a top aide to Iraq's Finance Ministry on Sunday in Baghdad, killing him and his driver, police said. The two were among 15 people killed or found dead in Iraq.
Report: Hezbollah stages maneuvers
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Thousands of Hezbollah guerrillas staged secret military maneuvers without weapons or uniforms near Israel's border in southern Lebanon, a pro-Hezbollah Lebanese newspaper reported Monday.
Experts: No evidence of Iranian nuclear-weapons program
WASHINGTON — Despite President Bush's claims that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons that could trigger "World War III," experts in and out of government say there's no conclusive evidence that Tehran has an active nuclear-weapons program. Even his own administration appears divided about the immediacy of the threat.
Taliban capture third western Afghan district
HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Taliban insurgents have captured a third district in western Afghanistan, local officials said on Monday, defying Western assertions the rebels are unable to mount large military offensives.
UN envoy seeks Myanmar reconciliation
YANGON, Myanmar - A U.N. envoy hoping to broker talks on political reform in Myanmar met with two Cabinet ministers Sunday but was unlikely to see the top leader of the military government because of its rift with the United Nations, diplomats said.
NKorea to begin disabling Nuke facilities
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea is expected to begin disabling its nuclear facilities Monday, marking the biggest step the communist country has ever taken to scale back its atomic program.
Italians urge expulsion of immigrants
ROME - Opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi urged Italy to close its borders to Romanian workers and a conservative ally called Sunday for the expulsion of tens of thousands of immigrants amid public outrage over a wave of violent crimes blamed on foreigners.
Ethiopian rebels claim killing of more than 270 troops
NAIROBI (AFP) - Ethiopian rebels said Sunday they had killed more than 270 government troops in a week of attacks in the volatile Ogaden region, where the army is attempting a crackdown. The NationBush pushes Hill foes, allies to the max
WASHINGTON - President Bush enters a new phase of government-by-minority this month, issuing a veto certain to draw the first override of his presidency, and testing even his most loyal allies' limits on spending issues that will dominate the fall agenda.
75 percent:
Number of Americans who are “eager for a change in direction from the agenda and priorities of President Bush,” according to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll. With just 24 percent of the public believing the Bush administration is leading the nation on the right track, it is the “lowest public assessment of the direction of the country in more than a decade.”
Mr. 25% threatens Dems over Mukasey (by John Aravosis at AMERICAblog)
Will the Dems cave now that Bush has called them bad names? Okay, I made myself laugh. Of course the Democrats will cave because they have no spine. It's time we started setting up some loyalty votes on key issues that matter, and telling Senators, and House members, that if they don't get in line they lose their committee assignments next go around. It's what Gingrich did. And for all his foibles, he wasn't herding the group of useless cats that we call a party.
Orders from the top
In a statement (Erie County Judge Michael E.) Dunlavey provided to a U.S. Air Force lieutenant general investigating FBI reports of detainee abuses at Guantanamo Bay, Dunlavey explains that as leader of interrogations at Guantanamo, he reported directly to President Bush and then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. He acknowledged the use of loud music and dogs and shackling prisoners in the fetal position during interrogations, but stressed repeatedly that the standard was to treat detainees humanely.
Use of loud music and dogs and shackling prisoners in the fetal position is treating detainees humanely? And this guy is a judge? The book is "Administration of Torture: A Documentary Record from Washington to Abu Ghraib and Beyond". Buy it from this link, and MTA gets a cut.—Caro
Retired JAGs On Waterboarding: ‘It Is Inhumane, It Is Torture, And It Is Illegal’
(I)n a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), four retired Judge Advocates General (JAGs) — the judicial arm of the U.S. military — sharply criticize Judge Mukasey’s legal hedging. They unequivocally state that waterboarding is torture.
Bush to Congress on water bill: You're all wet
WASHINGTON — President Bush vetoed a $23 billion water-projects bill on Friday, calling it a "pork barrel system ... where a project's merit is an afterthought" and triggering what's likely to be the Congress' first successful override of a Bush veto. "Americans sent us to Washington to achieve results and be good stewards of their hard-earned taxpayer dollars," the president said in his veto message. "This bill violates that fundamental commitment."
You’ve broken every single commitment you’ve made to this nation, Mr. Bush. You betrayed your oath of office to protect the Constitution. You’ve broken laws. You’ve broken the bounds of common decency. How DARE you lecture anyone?—Caro
Democrats Plan Veto Overrides
"Democrats are plotting a rapid override of three expected vetoes of spending bills by George W. Bush, who did not veto a single bill until his sixth year as president," according to Robert Novak. "The first override of Bush's presidency is certain on the water projects bill, a favorite source of pork for Congress that passed this year by the usual overwhelming margin. Democratic leaders plan to keep passing bills to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program until enough shaky Republican House members succumb to get the two-thirds override vote."
I do hope Novak is right. Democrats so far haven’t shown the kind of courage it would take to carry out this strategy.—Caro
Librarians Say Surveillance Bills Lack Adequate Oversight
A little-remarked feature of pending legislation on domestic surveillance has provoked alarm among university and public librarians who say it could allow federal intelligence-gathering on library patrons without sufficient court oversight.
Weed It and Reap
Americans have begun to ask why the farm bill is subsidizing high-fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils at a time when rates of diabetes and obesity among children are soaring… For the first time, the public health community has raised its voice in support of overturning farm policies that subsidize precisely the wrong kind of calories (added fat and added sugar), helping to make Twinkies cheaper than carrots and Coca-Cola competitive with water.
Democrats seek better care for veterans
WASHINGTON - A Democratic senator on Saturday accused President Bush of "hollow talk" in support of U.S. troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and said the Bush administration has not done nearly enough to provide veterans with the care they need.
D.C. Madam Seeks to Subpoena Senator
WASHINGTON - Alleged D.C. Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey wants to force Sen. David Vitter to tell a judge about his experiences with her escort service. Palfrey has filed court documents seeking to subpoena the Louisiana senator to testify in an upcoming hearing. MediaPermanent link to MTA daily media news
From "Informing" to "Empowering" (by Mitchel Resnick, writing at MediaShift’s Idea Lab)
For the past 20 years, I have been designing new technologies … with the explicit goal of shifting away from a "broadcast" model of education, to a more decentralized model in which learners actively construct knowledge in collaboration with one another. I see the recent rise of blogging and citizen journalism as a parallel trend. In journalism, as in education, new technologies are facilitating a shift from a broadcast model to a more participatory model.
New Rules (by digby)
Come 2009, if a Democrat wins the presidency, the Village (Beltway insider) press will finally wake up from its 8 year somnambulent drool and rediscover its "conscience" and its "professionalism." The Republicans will only have to breathe their character assassination lightly into the ether --- the Village gossips will do the rest. And if this new president resists in any way, a primal scream will build until he or she is forced to appoint a special counsel to investigate the "cover up" and grovel repeatedly in forced acts of contrition in response to manufactured GOP hissy fits and media hysteria. We're going forward into the past… Reforming politics isn't enough. Reforming the media is just as important.
Ms. Digby, you’ve been cordially invited a number of times to join me in working together to reform the media, and I have never heard from you.—Caro
Tom DeLay targets US liberals in media war
(Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay) will this month launch a national grassroots movement to combat the liberal activists who he believes outfoxed and outmanoeuvred Republicans to win the 2006 mid-term elections… Funded by undisclosed Right-wing backers and inspired by the successful tactics of his liberal foes, thousands of recruits to the Coalition for a Conservative Majority (CCM) will be trained and mobilised to wage political war in meetings, online and in the media.
Right wingers can never admit that they lose elections on the merits. They was always robbed. Who pays for their crazy accusations? We do. See below.—Caro
Loss Leader: Terror War Dividends From Pakistani Breakdown (by Chris Floyd at Empire Burlesque)
(T)he Bush-Mush (Musharraf) alliance was not really aimed at fighting terrorism or quelling extremism or establishing democracy, but had much more to do with, say, the nearly $10 billion in arms that Bush has given his friend -- a pass-through of American taxpayer money to the war industry cronies of the White House. A slice of that pork is then funneled back into the operations of the corporatist-militarist political machine (and its various bootlicking media and "think tank" subsidiaries).
ALL-TIME WINGNUTTIEST BLOG POST CONTEST.... (by Kevin Drum)
The fourteen finalists for the worst, most embarrassing, most risible wingnut blog posts of all time are listed (at the page linked to in the title). You can vote for up to five. So take a trip down memory lane and then vote for your favorites. Remember: It's your civic duty… (Example:) John Hinderaker: "It must be very strange to be President Bush. A man of extraordinary vision and brilliance approaching to genius...."
Plan: Use wounded troops if diplomats refuse service (WorldNetDaily)
Responding to reports that State Department officials are refusing to serve in Iraq because it's too dangerous, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., has proposed a novel plan to President Bush – to bypass the agency and recruit from among U.S. military troops discharged after suffering injury. Hunter, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, told talk-radio host Glenn Beck today he met with Bush just 30 minutes prior to the interview and gave him a letter outlining the plan.
Get those lazy wounded shirkers off their butts and put ‘em to work!—Caro
Presidential Campaign Staffs Dominated By Men: Giuliani The Worst Offender(by Zephyr Teachout and Kelly Nuxoll, thanks to media girl)
The campaign of Republican Mike Huckabee achieves the closest gender balance at a near 50% division between men and women on all measures (it is also the smallest of all the major campaigns). The campaigns of Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bill Richardson, and Republican Mitt Romney are also fairly balanced, with Clinton's somewhat favoring women and Richardson's and Romney's somewhat favoring men. The most gender-skewed campaign, in contrast, is that of Rudy Giuliani.
Click through for a link to the numbers. Alas, a blog has graphs. It’s not just political campaigns for so-called progressives that can’t seem to find qualified women. The problem extends to so-called progressive media, as well.—Caro
In an Amazing Coincidence, Joel Stein’s Column Happens to Exactly Resemble a Concept from a Blog Post Published Two Weeks Earlier (Patterico’s Pontifications, thanks to skippy)
Here’s Joel Stein, November 2: “Just how easy is it for Coulter to offend someone? Would any words from her mouth do the trick? To test this theory, I developed the Ann Coulter Mad Libs.™” It’s a good thing he used that ™ mark. He wouldn’t want anyone to steal his concept. Oh, look! Here’s Media Bloodhound, October 18 (two weeks earlier): “In honor of Ann Coulter’s influence on American media and politics, the Penguin Group (USA) … is releasing a special edition of Mad Libs titled Ann Libs. Technology & ScienceStudy ties time shift, pedestrian deaths
WASHINGTON - After clocks are turned back this weekend, pedestrians walking during the evening rush hour are nearly three times more likely to be struck and killed by cars than before the time change, two scientists calculate.
Japan turns away from PCs
The PC's role in Japanese homes is diminishing, as other gadgets encroach on its once-awesome monopoly on processing power.
More lean, less cancer
A new study offers six steps you can take to help reduce your risk of cancer, including keeping lean and eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. The question is, how to get people to adopt these steps?
Chocolate Has Sweet Effect on Blood Flow
Arteries function better when the dark delight is consumed, study suggests
New Measures Improve Heart Care
Programs that simplified treatment choices led to better outcomes, research shows.
Tutankhamun's 'beautiful' face revealed
LUXOR, Egypt (AFP) - The true face of ancient Egypt's boy king Tutankhamun was revealed on Sunday to the public for the first time since he died in mysterious circumstances more than 3,000 years ago.
China dam plan threatens world's oldest irrigation system
BEIJING (AFP) - The world's earliest irrigation system is being threatened by a hydroelectric project to be built in southwest China, state press said Friday, citing critics of the project.
Guts of Ancient Spider Revealed in 3-D
Digital wizardry has allowed scientists to see the insides of a 53-million-year-old fossilized spider in 3-D. The male spider is about the size of a pinhead (or a stack of three salt grains) and lived during the early Eocene epoch, from about 55 million to nearly 34 million years ago.
Teary farewell for shuttle, station astronauts after successful repair
Still on "a major high" from their successful solar wing repair, the 10 astronauts aboard the linked shuttle Discovery and international space station cried as they hugged goodbye Sunday and closed the door between them.
Comet draws scientific, amateur interest
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - A comet that has unexpectedly brightened in the past couple of weeks and now is visible to the naked eye is attracting professional and amateur interest. EnvironmentThink Tank: Climate Affects Security
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- Climate change could be one of the greatest national security challenges ever faced by U.S. policy makers, according to a new joint study by two U.S. think tanks. The report, to be released Monday, raises the threat of dramatic population migrations, wars over water and resources, and a realignment of power among nations.
Poll finds most would pay to curb climate change
LONDON (Reuters) - Millions of people around the world are willing to make personal sacrifices, including paying higher bills, to help redress climate change, a global survey said on Monday. The survey found 83 percent of those questioned believed lifestyle changes would be necessary to cut emissions of climate warming carbon gases.
Mayors, Looking to Cities’ Future, Are Told It Must Be Colored Green
A summit convened by the U.S. Conference of Mayors presented two main themes: the federal government must do more to fight global warming; and in the meantime, cities must take up the slack.
World's Coal Dependency Hits Environment
TAIYUAN, China (AP) - It takes five to 10 days for the pollution from China's coal-fired plants to make its way to the United States, like a slow-moving storm. It shows up as mercury in the bass and trout caught in Oregon's Willamette River. It increases cloud cover and raises ozone levels.
Building A Better Solar-Powered Home
It's a surprising but true fact: the number one cause of global warming isn't cars, but buildings. The Solar Decathlon tries to change that by building homes that don't pollute at all.
Peace lures wildlife back to south Sudan
OPEKOLOE, Sudan - The hippos had fled to other islands in the White Nile, driven away by one of the few forces that can dislodge a large herd of these fierce beasts — an even larger herd of elephants. And there they were: some 50 elephants, massive black figures peacefully grazing on their newly reclaimed territory on the Nile island of Opekoloe. For more headlines, visit MakeThemAccountable.com.
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