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3/6/08
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THE BEST DAILY NEWS SUMMARY |
Top Story
McCain wins Bush endorsement
WASHINGTON —
Arizona Sen. John McCain returned to Washington in triumph on Wednesday,
receiving the endorsement of President Bush and moving to integrate his campaign
with the Republican National Committee.
This is McCain’s
payback for promising that a McCain administration would be a continuation of
the Bush administration.
The World
US forces kill 9 in northern Iraq raid
BAGHDAD - U.S.
and Iraqi forces killed nine suspected insurgents and detained eight others in a
raid targeting al-Qaida in northern
Iraq,
the U.S. military said Thursday. Three Iraqi troops were killed in the
operation.
Case Is Dropped Against Shiites In Sunni Deaths
BAGHDAD, March 3
-- Two former high-ranking Shiite government officials charged with kidnapping
and killing scores of Sunnis were ordered released Monday after prosecutors
dropped the case. The abrupt move renewed concerns about the willingness of
Iraq's leaders to act against sectarianism and cast doubts on U.S. efforts to
build an independent judiciary.
Gaza militants kill 1 Israeli soldier
KISSUFIM
CROSSING, Israel - Palestinian militants ambushed an Israeli army jeep
patrolling the Gaza border, then attacked a rescue crew that rushed to the
scene, killing one soldier and wounding three in a brazen cross-border attack,
according to military and witness accounts.
Gaza conditions at 40-year low say British aid groups
JERUSALEM (AFP) -
British humanitarian agencies on Thursday said the situation in the Gaza Strip
was the worst in 40 years and urged the European Union to hold talks with Hamas,
which runs the impoverished territory.
Egyptian police hold leading Islamists in crackdown
CAIRO (Reuters) -
Egyptian police detained 26 Muslim Brotherhood Islamists on Thursday including
three leading members in a growing crackdown the opposition group says is meant
to block them from contesting local elections in April.
U.S.: Iran reneged on pledge to quit supporting Iraqi militias
BAGHDAD — The top
two U.S. officials in Iraq said this week that Iran was still training Iraqi
Shiite Muslim militias, in violation of its promises to Iraqi leaders. Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promised Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki to
halt all support of extremist Shiite militias, Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S.
commander in Iraq, told McClatchy on Wednesday. But Petraeus said the American
military continued to capture Iranian-trained militants and to sustain attacks
from insurgents using Iranian-made weapons.
Iraqi official: US-Iran talks postponed
BAGHDAD - A
meeting brokered by Baghdad between Iran and the United States over Iraq's
security was postponed Thursday, an Iraqi government official said, a day after
Washington insisted no such talks were planned.
Bhutto party delays Pakistan PM decision
ISLAMABAD (AFP) -
The party of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto delayed nominating
Pakistan's next prime minister on Thursday, casting the nuclear-armed nation
deeper into political limbo after elections.
Pakistan's Karachi blacked out over unpaid bills: officials
KARACHI, Pakistan
(AFP) - A row over unpaid bills sparked a huge power blackout in Pakistan's
biggest city that left most of Karachi's 12 million residents without
electricity, officials said Thursday.
UN envoy to return to Myanmar
YANGON, Myanmar -
A U.N. diplomat sought to coax democratic reforms out of Myanmar's military
rulers Thursday in his third trip to the country since a deadly crackdown on
anti-government protesters last year.
China in efforts to bridge U.S., North Korea differences
BEIJING (Reuters)
- China is in discussions with the United States and North Korea on how to
bridge differences and restart talks on ending the North's nuclear ambitions, a
senior Chinese Foreign Ministry official said on Thursday.
Tainted Evidence
The Canadian
government is no longer using evidence gained from CIA interrogations of a top
'Al Qaeda' prisoner who was waterboarded. According to documents obtained by
NEWSWEEK, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), the country's
national-security agency, last month quietly withdrew statements by alleged Al
Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah from public papers outlining the case against two
alleged terror "sleeper" operatives in Ottawa and Montreal.
Quebec separatists soften idea of break with Canada
OTTAWA (Reuters)
- The leader of a separatist party in French-speaking Quebec said on Wednesday
she wants to scrap the movement's commitment to seek a quick break from the rest
of Canada if it wins power.
Ecuador, Venezuela demand condemnation
CARACAS,
Venezuela - Venezuela is starting to block billions of dollars in Colombian
imports and investment under orders from President Hugo Chavez, threatening
economic havoc in both nations in response to a Colombian military attack on
rebels hiding in Ecuador.
Colombia worried rebels seek uranium
BOGOTA, Colombia
- Colombia is worried about a document on the laptop of a slain rebel leader
indicating the guerrillas were trying to obtain uranium, but has no evidence
they intended to use it as a weapon, the vice president said Wednesday.
Ugandan army clashes with rebels in Sudan: military spokesman
KAMPALA (AFP) -
Ugandan troops clashed with rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army inside
neighbouring Sudan,
an army spokesman said Thursday.
Parliament to mull Kenya peace deal
NAIROBI, Kenya -
President Mwai Kibaki urged lawmakers Thursday to pass the laws needed to
enforce the country's new power-sharing agreement, as Parliament was set to
convene for the first time since the deal was signed.
Witnesses: 5 killed in Somalia attack
MOGADISHU,
Somalia - A firefight between Islamic insurgents and Somali police at a
checkpoint outside the capital has left five people dead, witnesses said
Thursday.
The Nation
Nato says cyber warfare poses as great a threat as a missile attack
Nato is treating the threat of cyber warfare as seriously as the risk of a
missile strike, according to a senior official… Kevin Poulsen, a former hacker
who is now an editor with technology magazine Wired, has accused politicians and
the media of overplaying the fear factor… Despite the lack of hard evidence on
the nature or identities of cyber terrorists, however, the threat is deemed
serious enough for the White House to allocate $6bn (£3bn) for strengthening its
systems against attack. Those plans have been characterised by critics as a
potential invasion of civil liberties. Bush administration officials say they
are a necessary defensive measure. Homeland security secretary Michael Chertoff
has called it "one area where we have significant work to do".
More FBI Privacy Violations Confirmed
WASHINGTON
- The FBI improperly used national security letters in 2006 to obtain personal
data on Americans during terror and spy investigations, Director Robert Mueller
said Wednesday. Mueller told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the privacy
breach by FBI agents and lawyers occurred a year before the bureau enacted
sweeping new reforms to prevent future lapses. Details on the abuses will be
outlined in the coming days in a report by the Justice Department's inspector
general.
FBI chief: Lack of legal shield won't halt telecom spy partnerships
As Congress
debates whether to wipe out lawsuits accusing telephone companies of allegedly
illegal wiretaps, the Bush administration has argued such cooperation is key to
keeping Americans safe from terrorists.
DOD set to boost spending for communications, electronics, and intelligence
Leaders of the
U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) propose spending $29.16 billion in fiscal year
2009 for procurement and research in communications, electronics,
telecommunications, and intelligence (CET&I) technologies, which would represent
an 8.5 percent increase from current-year enacted levels.
Charges finalized against Gitmo detainee
SAN JUAN,
Puerto Rico - The
Defense Department said Wednesday it has finalized war crimes charges against a
Sudanese citizen accused of working for Osama bin Laden, paving the way for a
war crimes trial at
Guantanamo Bay.
Bush officials: Congress irrelevant on Iraq
The Bush
administration says the 2002 congressional authorization to go to war in Iraq
gives it the authority to conduct combat operations in Iraq and negotiate
far-reaching agreements with the current Iraqi government without consulting
Congress. The assertion, jointly made Tuesday by U.S. Ambassador David
Satterfield and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security
Affairs Mary Beth Long, drew an incredulous reaction from Democrats on a Joint
House committee during a hearing on future U.S. commitments to Iraq.
The Man Between War and Peace
(by Thomas P.M. Barnett, Esquire)
As head of U. S. Central Command, Admiral William "Fox" Fallon is in charge of
American military strategy for the most troubled parts of the world. Now, as the
White House has been escalating the war of words with Iran, and seeming ever
more determined to strike militarily before the end of this presidency, the
admiral has urged restraint and diplomacy. Who will prevail, the president or
the admiral?
BC Law School will not bestow honor on Mukasey
Boston College
Law School will not award its highest honor to US Attorney General Michael B.
Mukasey when he speaks at its May commencement, amid sharp criticism from
students, faculty, and alumni over his invitation… Some alumni and students at
the Jesuit school saw the move as a compromise to appease critics of Mukasey's
controversial refusal to declare that an interrogation technique known as
waterboarding constitutes torture.
Agencies' merger spawns tension, arrests
Bribery. Drug
trafficking. Migrant smuggling. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is supposed
to stop these types of crimes. But instead, so many of its officers have been
charged with committing those crimes themselves that their boss in Washington
recently issued an alert about the ''disturbing events'' and the ``increase in
the number of employee arrests.''
More screening set for private planes
The Homeland
Security Department will soon require advance information on private flights to
the United States
to prevent a terrorist from smuggling a nuclear bomb into the country.
US senator wants Iraq oil funds used for rebuilding
The chairman of
the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee said on Tuesday he may try to require
Iraq to spend more of its oil revenue on reconstruction instead of investing the
money in foreign banks.
Kucinich wins Ohio primary
Rep. Dennis
Kucinich (D-Ohio) prevailed in the Democratic primary against a insurgent
primary campaign from a well-funded Cleveland city councilor, Joe Cimperman and
three other Democratic challengers.
I’m glad to see
this. Kucinich is our conscience.
Ohio vote shows importance of economy
WASHINGTON
- Focus on the economy. Don't lose sight of working-class whites. And remember
the November presidential election will bring in a whole new set of voters than
those who troop to party primaries.
Clinton sees new race; Obama talks tough
WASHINGTON
- Hillary Rodham Clinton declared Wednesday that her primary victories in
Ohio,
Texas and Rhode
Island had reordered the Democratic presidential race in her favor. A resilient
Barack Obama countered with fresh pledges of support from superdelegates and
said his lead remained intact.
Do-over in Michigan and Florida?
Officials in
Michigan and Florida are showing renewed interest in holding repeat presidential
nominating contests so that their votes will count in the epic Democratic
campaign.
NYC Police probe Times Square explosion
NEW YORK - An
explosive device caused minor damage to an empty military recruiting station in
Times Square early Thursday, shaking guests in hotel rooms high above "the
crossroads of the world."
Bush endorsement may be risky for McCain
WASHINGTON -
Beware, John McCain. The money comes with a price. Sure, President Bush will
raise millions of dollars for your Republican presidential campaign and GOP
candidates. But he'll also give you the aura of a presidency tarnished by
painful gasoline prices, a sagging economy, the threat of recession, a blemished
U.S.
reputation around the world, turbulence in the
Middle East
and many more problems.
Clinic May Have Sickened Thousands
Nearly 40,000
people have learned that a trip to the doctor may have made them sick. In a type
of scandal more often associated with
Third World
countries, a Las Vegas clinic was found to be reusing syringes and vials of
medication for nearly four years
Economy & Finance
Futures slip after mortgage lender defaults
NEW YORK
(Reuters) - U.S.
stock futures dipped on Thursday as the financial sector was hit by yet another
blow with news of a default at Thornburg Mortgage Inc , but
stronger-than-expected sales at Wal-Mart Stores Inc could offset losses.
US economy sputtering on several fronts: Beige Book
WASHINGTON (AFP)
- The US economy is struggling on several fronts, with housing, manufacturing
and retail activity losing steam, the Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book
survey Wednesday.
Dollar stumbles to another record low against euro
NEW YORK
(AFP) - The dollar slumped to fresh lows against the euro Wednesday as traders
digested a glum assessment on the
US economy in the Federal
Reserve Beige Book and braced for a potentially weak report on Friday.
Retiree couple needs $225K for medical
A couple retiring
this year will need about $225,000 in savings to cover medical costs in
retirement, according to a study released Wednesday by Fidelity Investments. The
figure, calculated for a couple age 65, is up 4.7 percent from the $215,000
estimate for 2007, the Boston-based financial services company said.
Buffett world's richest man, Slim second: Forbes
NEW YORK
(Reuters) - Warren Buffett, the famed
U.S. investor who heads
Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N), replaced his friend and Microsoft Corp founder
Bill Gates as the richest man in the world, Forbes magazine said on Wednesday.
Fraud compounds woes of housing crisis
As the U.S.
housing meltdown forces hundreds of thousands of Americans from their homes, the
extent to which fraud was a factor in the crisis is just coming to light.
Job discrimination complaints jump
WASHINGTON
- Federal job discrimination complaints by workers against private employers
rose by 9 percent last year, the biggest annual increase since the early 1990s.
Media
Permanent link to MTA daily media news
5 years Ago: That Fateful Press Conference
Five years ago
tonight, on March 6, 2003, President Bush conducted a televised press conference
-- less than two weeks before he would order the U.S. invasion of Iraq. It was
the media's last chance to press him on the need to go to war at that time. And
they failed.
Debate swirls as Clinton softens Florida, Michigan stand
WASHINGTON —
Democratic members of Congress from Florida and Michigan met Wednesday evening
in search for a solution to the thorny issue of what to do about both states'
delegates to this summer's Democratic convention as it becomes increasingly
clear that neither Barack Obama nor Hillary Clinton are likely to gain enough
delegates to win their party's nomination. Meanwhile, Florida Democratic Party
officials said they would begin discussing with both candidates' campaigns the
possibility of scheduling a new vote that would pick delegates that could prove
to be the tie-breakers in the closely fought nominating battle.
Democrats In Disarray
(by dday at Hullabaloo)
Now that the press beat up on Barack Obama for a few days it's Hillary Clinton's
turn. The WaPo runs an inside baseball piece about internal hatred among her
staff, which is not really germane for A1, but certainly germane to push the
narrative that this extended race is dooming the Democrats.
So just how
doomed are the Democrats, Washington Post? See below.
Republican McCain trails Clinton and Obama: poll
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain trails
Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in hypothetical matchups, according
to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released on Wednesday. Illinois Sen. Obama
leads McCain by 12 percentage points -- 52 percent to 40 percent; New York Sen.
Clinton leads McCain by 6 points -- 50 percent to 44 percent, the poll found.
But remember what
Rasmussen says, as I reported yesterday. See below.
Electability, again
(Paul Krugman)
Rasmussen has started running a tracking poll on head-to-heads against McCain,
with numbers running back about a month; I haven’t seen people mentioning it.
All the usual caveats, blah blah. But for what it’s worth, I’ve calculated an
Obama electability advantage index ™ — (Obama minus McCain) - (Clinton
minus McCain). Here’s what the Ras numbers say:
Basically, through much of last month this tracking poll showed Obama winning comfortably against McCain, but McCain winning comfortably against Clinton — which is more or less the narrative of many Obama supporters. But if you believe Rasmussen, Obama has collapsed since then, while Clinton has improved.
The Delicate Dems
(by Michelle Cottle at The Plank, The New Republic)
Democrats' problem is that they have two candidates who are firing up the
electorate, as seen in the consistently high turnout at the polls and the
jaw-dropping fund-raising figures. ($30 million and $50 million in just one
month? John McCain would kill for that kind of trouble.) And when did we all get
so damn delicate about campaign ads and critical fliers?... All things
considered, this has not been an ugly primary. There is still plenty of time for
it to get that way--especially if the party can't figure out a sensible way to
address this Florida-Michigan delegate nightmare that it brought on itself. But
we ain't there yet. So everyone just buck up and stop acting as though the
Democrats were somehow entitled to a smooth nominating process.
Let 'em duke it out
(by Walter Shapiro, Salon)
The real problem facing the Democrats is … that the party has almost completely
run out of primaries just as the battle between Barack Obama and Clinton has
become the greatest entertainment value since the movies did away with double
features… The Project for Excellence in Journalism, which monitors media
coverage, found that last week the Democratic race generated four times the
attention of the Republicans… So rather than fantasizing about a soporific and
conflict-free nomination fight, the Democrats should recognize the value of what
they have stumbled into. The contest between Obama and Clinton -- this battle of
historic firsts -- has the entire nation hanging on the edge of their seats. Who
with any sense of show business would think of pulling down the curtain when the
audience is shouting for more? But, then, if the Democrats had any sense of what
the public craved, George W. Bush probably would not be in the White House.
Why did CNN
replay and replay its Democratic debates, even after there had been a ton of
them already? Because people wanted to see them.
Gallup: Clinton Retakes
National Lead
Sen. Hillary
Clinton has moved ahead of Sen. Barack Obama in national Democratic nomination
preferences, 48% to 44%, according to a new Gallup tracking poll. "The latest
three-day average primarily reflects Democratic attitudes before the outcomes of
Tuesday night's primaries were known. National Democratic preferences began to
shift in Clinton's
favor on Sunday, gained momentum on Monday, and remained favorable to her on
Tuesday."
Zogby, Zogby, Zogby
(by David Kurtz at Talking Points Memo)
Two days before the
Ohio election, Zogby
had Obama ahead. The day before the election, he had it as a dead heat.
SurveyUSA's final poll, released Monday: Hillary ahead by 10 points, 54-44.
Hillary won Ohio
54-44. It's almost an exact replay of the
California primary, where
Zogby and SurveyUSA were at opposite ends of the spectrum and SurveyUSA nailed
the exact final vote.
Limbaugh may not have swayed Texas vote
(On Politics, USA Today)
"I've been doing a number of radio interview(s) this morning," Tom Bevan writes
at Real Clear Politics, "and the question keeps popping up: did Rush Limbaugh
put Hillary over the top in Texas?" Limbaugh had, after all, encouraged his
listeners to "Vote Hillary!" But Bevan has crunched the numbers and come to the
conclusion that in
Texas at least, Republicans who crossed over to vote for
Clinton
"may have given her a point or two bump in the end, but it seems unlikely they
were the deciding factor for Clinton."
What if Democrats Had
Winner-Take-All Primaries Like Republicans? The Results are Startling
(by Andy Ostroy at the Ostroy Report)
Obama would be sitting with 1233 delegates. The down-but-certainly-far-from-out
Clinton would be enjoying a 482 delegate lead with a total of 1715, just
310 shy of the 2025 needed to snag the nomination. With a few more wins under
her belt, like Pennsylvania, the race would soon be over and Democrats could be
unified and begin preparing for the big battle in November against the GOP's
Sen. John McCain. Instead, this archaic, flawed system will result in a
knock-down, drag-out battle all the way to the August convention in Denver.
But as we saw
from the poll above, it looks as though Americans like a good fight.
It's Not About The Math
(by Taegan Goddard at Political Insider)
There are many still undetermined factors that can change the math quickly for
either [Democratic] candidate: What do the superdelegates do? What about the
add-on delegates that haven't even been picked yet? What about
Florida
and Michigan? What about John Edwards' delegates? Will Al Gore play the role of
impartial party elder? In fact, the ultimate Democratic nominee may be
determined through negotiation. As Craig Crawford notes, "They might have to run
together, whatever the order and whether they like it or not."
Never Underestimate a
Clinton. Hillary's Wins Puts ObamaMania on the Ropes (by
Andy Ostroy at the Ostroy Report)
Hillary had a great week. Obama did not. I wrote earlier this week that we
should never underestimate a
Clinton. They're fighters.
They know how to win. As a friend and ardent Obama supporter said unwittingly to
me Tuesday, "they play dirty, like Republicans." Bingo! There it is. That, in a
nutshell, is what I like about Hillary's chances, not only against Obama, but in
November against McCain. A Democrat who fights like a Republican is exactly what
we need for Pete's sake. Haven't we learned from the past 14 years of Republican
ass-whippings?
To me, it depends
on what “dirty” is. Telling the truth about your opponent isn’t dirty. But I
agree wholeheartedly with Andy that we need a fighter, not a conciliator, as our
candidate.
There’s Got To Be a Morning After
(by dcmediagirl at No Quarter)
At least I heard one bit of sanity [Tuesday] night on CNN, provided as usual by
Paul Begala, who had the temerity to point out that he’s seen negative
campaigns, and this Clinton-Obama matchup, when measured by the gold standard
that is the Republican South Carolina primary in 2000 (and the smears directed
against Max Cleland and John Kerry), this is a powderpuff fight.
Clintons K.O. Their Favorite Foe: The Media
(by David Von Drehle, Time)
Press critics can decide how much truth is in Clinton's claims that the media
put its thumb on the scale for Obama. But taking the fight on purely political
terms, the verdict is clear:
Clinton's
jabs at the media gave her a focus and energy she lacked through Obama's long
string of February victories. The battle fired up her supporters, it offered an
explanation for her losses, and it may have inspired some journalists to turn up
the heat on her opponent to prove their fairness. (It didn't help that in the
days before Texas and Ohio, he responded to that heat with a surprising lack of
aplomb.) Obama stopped rising in the polls. Clinton stopped falling. The latest
Gallup tracking poll once again has the race a dead heat. The question is: What
took her so long? Biographers have traced Hillary Clinton's beefs about press
bias back more than 30 years
Did ‘SNL’ really help produce media change?
(by Steve Benen at Crooks and Liars)
A couple of weeks ago, as most of the political world knows by now, “Saturday
Night Live” did a skit mocking the perception that news outlets were tougher on
Hillary Clinton than Barack Obama. The
Clinton campaign loved the
skit, promoted it heavily, and
Clinton
began referencing it frequently, including in a nationally televised debate. But
could one skit — which, if ratings are any indication, was watched live by a
small percentage of the population — really have a significant impact?
Apparently, so. The NYT reported [Wednesday] that this one comedic bit put
journalists on the defensive.
Sen. Obama, time to call us about Rezko: (312) 321-2417
(Chicago Sun-Times editorial)
Jury selection began Monday in the trial of political influence peddler Tony
Rezko… For months, Sun-Times investigative reporters have had a standing request
to meet with Obama, face to face, to get answers to questions such as these:
How many fund-raisers did Rezko throw for Obama? Obama is donating $150,000 to
charity that Rezko brought into the campaign. But how much in all did Rezko
raise? Did Rezko find jobs for Obama backers in the Blagojevich administration
or elsewhere? Why did Obama only recently admit -- after Bloomberg News broke
the story -- that Rezko had toured his South Side mansion with him in 2004
before he bought it? Dribs and drabs of people's lives have a most unfortunate
way of coming out in trials.
Rezko In Debt $50 Million; How Did He Afford Obama Lot?
(The Blotter, ABC News, thanks to
No Quarter)
Accused Illinois
fixer Antoin "Tony" Rezko is in debt by $50 million and relies on "family"
handouts of $7,500 a month to pay monthly costs, according to a previously
sealed court transcript reviewed by ABC News. Rezko's bleak financial picture
raises the question of how the Rezkos were able to buy a vacant lot adjoining
the home of Sen. Barack Obama in 2005, at a time Rezko says he was already in
deep debt. Rezko also reveals in the testimony, before Judge Amy St. Eve on
Jan. 16, 2007, that
he already knew he was under federal investigation at the time of the land
purchase and had hired a criminal defense attorney to deal with the "feds."
Obama says he sought Rezko's help because the house he wanted to buy in
Chicago's Hyde Park came with an adjoining lot the seller wanted to sell at the
same time.
MyDD has the
most complete writeup of the home purchase.
Saul Friedman: Mainstream Black Columnists and Barack Obama
(Nieman Watchdong, Harvard University)
If race is not an issue in this presidential contest (and I believe it is and
will be), then how come virtually every mainstream black columnist has been
effusively and unabashedly supporting Sen. Barack Obama, and highly critical of
and even caustic towards Sen. Hillary Clinton? Columnists have every right to
their views, even if they are one-sided. They are and should be free to give
their points of view. But it’s the unanimity that bothers me, for journalism and
columnists are supposed to provide a vigorous marketplace of ideas. They’re
supposed to be suspicious of the conventional wisdom. And they’re supposed to do
some critical reporting along with their commentary. Haven’t we learned anything
from the conventional uncritical rush to war by our leading papers, and
columnists?
My comment: You
should take a look at
The Black Agenda Report,
The Black Commentator.
McCain wins Bush endorsement
Have I told you
lately that I love McClatchy?
Bush endorsing McCain at the White House
(by Joe Sudbay at AMERICAblog)
I'm not naive. I know a lot of politicking goes on at the White House. But, to
use the White House as a backdrop for a partisan political endorsement seems
wrong. But that's what's happening today according to AP:…I just don't remember
such a blatant political campaign event being held there. They're treating
McCain like he's a head of state instead of the head of the GOP. It's just one
more way for Bush to show his contempt for the White House.
I think it’s more
than that, Joe. It shows McCain ALREADY IN THE WHITE HOUSE. As I’ve said
before, every symbol, locale, and function of government will be used to put
McCain in that house for four years. It has to be Bush’s top priority to keep
himself out of prison, which is less likely if a Democrat is the next president.
Glenn Beck: McCain’s buddy Hagee Reassures Beck That Obama Is NOT The
Anti-Christ
(by Nicole Belle at Crooks and Liars)
That’s right…you have a religious leader on your show who has spouted off such
crazy, hate-filled rhetoric and is endorsing the other party’s candidate, and
the thing foremost on Beck’s mind (such as it can charitably be called) is
whether Rev. “End Times” Hagee envisions a Democratic candidate as the
fulfillment of the prophecy of the Apocalypse. Nice to see him contributing to
the national dialogue in such an uplifting way, isn’t it?
Click through to
watch the video.
Cohn: Like Bush, McCain’s health care plan is a ‘disaster.’
(Think Progress)
In a new article, Jonathan Cohn, the New Republic’s resident health care wonk,
examines “the disaster that is McCain’s health policy.” Cohn writes that “the
reform plan he unveiled back in October” indicates that McCain will act “a
little like George W. Bush” when it comes to health care policy. By embracing
the same ideas as Bush — such as changing the tax treatment of health benefits —
“for Americans who are sick or poor or both, the McCain plan could mean fewer
insurance choices than they have now — or no choice at all.”
Allen: Katrina was ‘best thing to happen to New Orleans.’
(Think Progress)
Writer Charlotte Allen responded to questions today about her Washington Post
op-ed from last Sunday, which argued that women “are kind of dim.” In an online
chat with readers, Allen restated a claim she’d made in 2005…: “I said Katrina
was the best thing to happen to New Orleans because it finally opportunity to a
huge number of New Orleans residents living in passive dependency on welfare to
get out of New Orleans and change their lives for the better. Thousands of them
did exactly that–which is why there hasn’t exactly been a huge flood of those
former residents flocking back to live in passive dependency and do just that.
New Orleans itself now has a chance to change into a more self-reliant city.”
How did they do
it? By making sure their most vulnerable citizens can’t return. Of course, it
only means those citizens are someone else’s problem now. But isn’t that the
American way?
Half of New Orleans Poor Permanently Displaced: Failure Or Success?
(by Bill Quigley, human rights lawyer and professor at Loyola University New
Orleans, writing at Countercurrents.org)
Government reports confirm that half of the working poor, elderly and disabled
who lived in New
Orleans before
Katrina have not returned. Because of critical shortages in low cost housing,
few now expect tens of thousands of poor and working people to ever be able to
return home… Those who wanted a different
New Orleans
rebuilt probably see the concentrated displacement as a success. However, if the
test of a society is how it treats its weakest and most vulnerable members, the
aftermath of Katrina earns all of us a failing grade.
Click through for
some very sad statistics.
Media Matters for America headlines
· Fox News "body language expert" found possible meaning in Clinton's use of left hand to drink beer
· Wash. Post's Weisman: "I think McCain has" released his tax returns -- he hasn't
· Vieira falsely suggested Clinton didn't say Obama is not a Muslim
· Luntz: "Jimmy Carter was the first female president"
· Fineman called Clinton's comments on Obama's religion "positively Nixonian"
More FBI privacy violations confirmed
WASHINGTON - The
FBI acknowledged it improperly accessed Americans' telephone records, credit
reports and Internet traffic in 2006, the fourth straight year of privacy abuses
resulting from investigations aimed at tracking terrorists and spies.
Senator: Overturn Media Ownership Rule
Sen. Byron Dorgan
(D-N.D.), a critic of media consolidation, is introducing a resolution to
overturn a decision by regulators that loosened media ownership restrictions in
the 20 biggest U.S.
cities. People "will not be happy" that big media will be allowed more mergers,
he says.
WP has received over 1,000 comments about "How Dumb...?"
Laura Rozen asks:
"Where is the letter from the editor explaining what happened and why the paper
chose to run the 'lighthearted' but utterly unironic 'women are stupid' piece
and what he thinks in its aftermath?" || "The story seems to me a pretty clear
case of page-view sellout" (CJR)
Star-Ledger newsroom will be spared in latest downsizing
Keith J. Kelly
says one reason for that is that the Newhouse family -- the Newark paper's owner
-- long ago offered lifetime guarantees that spare editorial workers at its
newspapers from cutbacks for economic reasons -- provided the journalists do not
join a union. "It's been that way for decades," says Star-Ledger publisher
George Arwady.
A request for NYT ombud to look into Seltzer hoax coverage
"Peggy Seltzer's
book got the kind of ride from the Times that authors dream of," writes Colin
McEnroe. "One has to think it has something to do with Seltzer's editor, Sarah
McGrath, who worked for three years on this book without ever noticing that it
was 100 percent hooey and who is the daughter of Times editor-at-large Charles
McGrath. McEnroe wants ombud Clark Hoyt to answer this: "To what degree did
family connections put this book on the radar screen, where it never belonged?"
L.A. Times Posts News to Digital Billboards
Daily to Target
Commuters to Increase Awareness of Local News Content
'Bay Guardian' Awarded $15.6 Million In Lawsuit
A California jury
Thursday awarded the San Francisco Bay Guardian $6.39 million -- which is
automatically trebled under state law to $15.6 million ¿- in the alt-paper¿s
predatory pricing lawsuit against the rival SF Weekly and its parent Village
Voice Media (VVM).
Ziff Davis Media Seeks Bankruptcy; Ad Revenue Down
In filing for
bankruptcy, the publisher of technology and video game magazines cited a
decrease in revenue from print advertising and subscriptions.
Hollywood North says Canada's tax plan is censorship
TORONTO (Reuters)
- Canada's film and television industry is screaming censorship over a
government plan to cut tax credits for productions with graphic scenes of sex
and violence, warning the plan could water down edgy Canadian films.
MPA: Studios settle internet piracy case
HONG KONG - Five
Hollywood studios have reached a settlement with a Chinese Internet company
accused of providing cybercafes with illegal copies of their movies, an industry
group said Thursday.
XM, Sirius Deal Now Appears “Less Likely,” Analyst Says
Government
approval for the pending merger of XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio
“now appear less likely,” Pacific Crest Washington analyst Erik Olbeter said in
a research note this morning. Now 13 months since the original announcement of
their plans to merge, Olbeter says that “prospects for the merger have become
increasingly cloudy.” Olbeter says the long delay in approval “suggests that the
FCC and Department of Justice are having a hard time justifying the deal.”
Olbeter says he hears both agencies “are inclined to approve the merger,” but
that “an argument for the deal that does not set a significant, far-reaching
precedent appears elusive.”
Bank Moves to Withdraw Its Suit Against Wikileaks Site
A Swiss bank
moved to withdraw a lawsuit it had filed against a Web site that it claimed had
displayed stolen documents with confidential information about the accounts of
its clients.
Yahoo tries to delay Microsoft showdown
SAN FRANCISCO
- Slumping Internet pioneer Yahoo Inc. on Wednesday postponed a key deadline in
a looming battle with spurned suitor Microsoft Corp., hoping to gain more wiggle
room as it tries to escape a takeover.
AT&T Plans $1 Billion Network Investment
AT&T will spend
$1 billion in 2008 to expand its IP networks for large businesses, driven by an
“explosive surge” in data, voice and video traffic, the company said.
Sony to launch Skype via PSP in Japan this month
TOKYO (AFP) -
Sony said on Tuesday it will add the Skype telephone service to its slim
PlayStation Portable handheld console in Japan this month, enabling users to
make free or low-cost telephone calls.
Nokia to use Microsoft's Web video technology
HELSINKI
(Reuters) - Nokia said on Tuesday it would add support to Microsoft's
Silverlight Web video technology to millions of its handsets, in the latest deal
between the two technology giants.
YouTube to Improve Usage Metrics
Google's YouTube
will soon give marketers more data about viewership of its videos, so that they
have a better understanding of clips' reach and effectiveness at boosting brand
awareness and sales.
An Ad Agency That Wants to Change the World?
Saatchi &
Saatchi's World Changing Ideas Awards recognize and encourage innovative ideas
that have the potential to make a difference, from a straw that kills germs to a
cap that reads the brainwaves of paralyzed people.
Online Pitches Made Just for You
Alaska Airlines
is introducing a system on the Internet to create unique advertisements for
people as they surf the Web.
Technology & Science
Americans favor cell phones over landlines
Americans have
become more dependent on their cell phones than conventional phones.
Microsoft releases new Web browser beta
SEATTLE -
Microsoft Corp. gave early testers their first glimpse of its next-generation
Web browser Wednesday, and said Internet Explorer 8 will adhere to the same
standards as competitors' programs.
Microsoft entices new users with cash
Microsoft Corp.
raked in tens of billions of dollars selling software last year. Now, it's
giving away a sliver of that — $100,000, plus prizes — to entice people to try a
new, free program.
Robotic Bird Makes First Flight
A micro-aircraft
with feathered, morphing wings showed off its stuff [Tuesday] when the bird-like
craft lifted off for its first flight. And its landing was just as dramatic: The
RoboSwift crashed into a tree.
"Brain Reading" Device Can Predict What People See
A new computer
program can match brain activity with visual images and even predict what people
are seeing, a study has shown. The work raises the possibility that one day
computers could "read" a person's brain to digitally re-create memories, dreams,
or imaginings.
Report finds men pitching in more with chores
American men
still don't pull their weight when it comes to housework and child care, but
collectively they're not the slackers they used to be.
Aromatherapy Falls Short, Study Finds
It didn't heal
wounds, relieve pain or boost immune status
Soaking Potatoes Before Frying Cuts Suspected Carcinogen
Findings show
even a simple washing reduces acrylamide levels by up to 23%
Many Patients Can Reach LDL Cholesterol Goal Through Dietary Changes Alone,
Study Shows
ScienceDaily
(Mar. 6, 2008) — Worried about your cholesterol? You may want to schedule a few
appointments with a registered dietitian, to get some sound advice about how to
shape up your eating habits, according to a new national study led by University
of Michigan Health System researchers.
Diabetes May Be Disorder Of Upper Intestine: Surgery May Correct It
ScienceDaily
(Mar. 6, 2008) — Growing evidence shows that surgery may effectively cure Type 2
diabetes — an approach that not only may change the way the disease is treated,
but that introduces a new way of thinking about diabetes.
Estrogen Levels in Blood Predict Breast Cancer's Return
Study found women
who had a recurrence had twice as much of the hormone in their system.
Test can tell if you're destined for Alzheimer's, but then what?
This spring,
Smart Genetics begins testing saliva for the only known genetic risk factor for
late-onset Alzheimer's. However, if people carry the variant, there's no
guarantee they'll develop the disease, and, at this point, there's no guaranteed
way to protect against it.
Ancient Tomb Found on Greek Island
ATHENS, Greece
(AP) — Road construction on the western Greek
island
of Lefkada
has uncovered and partially destroyed an important tomb with artifacts dating
back more than 3,000 years, officials said on Wednesday.
Crayfish Never Forget a Face
You looking at
me, crayfish face? It seems that crayfish don't forget a face — at least, not
those of their foes.
Origin Of Hiss In Upper Atmosphere Identified
ScienceDaily
(Mar. 6, 2008) — Scientists have solved a 40-year-old puzzle by identifying the
origin of the intense radio waves in the Earth's upper atmosphere that control
the dynamics of the Van Allen radiation belts -- belts consisting of high-energy
electrons that can damage satellites and spacecraft and pose a risk to
astronauts performing activities outside their spacecraft. The source of these
low-frequency radio waves, which are known as plasmaspheric hiss, turns out to
be not lightning or instabilities from a plasma, as previously proposed, but an
intense electromagnetic wave type called "chorus," which energizes electrons and
was initially thought to be unrelated to hiss, said Jacob Bortnik, a researcher
with the UCLA Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.
From Earth to the Station: Europe's First Space Cargo Ship
A European cargo
ship the size of a double-decker bus is primed for its maiden flight to haul
fresh supplies toward the International Space Station (ISS). Jules Verne, a
massive unmanned cargo ship built for the European Space Agency (ESA), is set to
launch toward the station late Saturday… "It's the biggest spacecraft we've
built in Europe and by far the most complicated," said John Ellwood, ATV mission
manager for the ESA.
Japanese Astronaut to Help Deliver Nation's First Station Module
Japanese
astronaut Takao Doi is looking forward to his country's plunge into human
spaceflight next week when he helps deliver a small storage room for Japan's
massive Kibo lab at the International Space Station (ISS).
Environment
Study: Ocean 'Deserts' Expanding
The ocean's
"deserts," where it is difficult for marine organisms to survive, are expanding
faster than predicted and have been linked to warming ocean waters, a new study
shows. These barren areas are found in roughly 20 percent of the world's oceans
and are within what are called subtropical gyres, or the permanent swirling
expanses of water in the middle of the ocean on either side of the equator.
Turning Glare Into Watts
The world appears
to be on the verge of a boom in a little-known but promising type of solar
power. It is not the kind that features shiny panels bolted to the roofs of
houses. This type involves covering acres of desert with mirrors that focus
intense sunlight on a fluid, heating it enough to make steam. The steam turns a
turbine and generates electricity. The technology is not new, but it is suddenly
in high demand. As prices rise for fossil fuels and worries grow about their
contribution to global warming, solar thermal plants are being viewed as a
renewable power source with huge potential.
Irish government to invest 200 million euros in energy research
Dublin -
Ireland's Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said Thursday that the government will
invest over 200 million euros (306 million dollars) in energy-related research
and development.
Netherlands' 'ugliest' city home to huge solar power venture - Feature
Amsterdam - The
central Dutch city of Almere is to be home to the world's third-largest solar
energy installation, built on a 7,000-square-metre artificial island, and is set
to provide 10 per cent of the city's domestic hot water.
New Zealand to build geothermal plant
WELLINGTON
(Reuters) - State-owned electricity generator Mighty River Power said on
Thursday it planned to build a 132 Megawatt geothermal power station to meet
growing demand. A final decision on building the plant, to be located at
Rotokawa near Taupo in the North Island, would depend on completing procurement
contracts, said Mighty River chairman Carole Durbin.
Carbon group seeks to open U.S. to global offsets
NEW YORK
(Reuters) - A greenhouse emissions business group hopes to shape
U.S.
climate change legislation to include broad use of international carbon offsets,
like wind and solar power farms in developing countries, that are not currently
in the leading climate bill.
Pollution Battle Waged On Capitol Hill
Big industries
are waging an intense lobbying effort to block new, tougher limits on air
pollution that is blamed for hundreds of heart attacks, deaths and cases of
asthma, bronchitis and other breathing problems.
Feds release flood in Grand Canyon
Federal agencies
on Wednesday released a manmade flood aimed at refreshing the ecosystem of the
Grand Canyon.
MSNBC has some
pretty neat video, but I wish someone had gotten an aerial view.
