Bombing in central Baghdad kills 17
BAGHDAD – A parked minibus packed with explosives blew up Tuesday afternoon in a busy section of central Baghdad, killing 17 people and injuring 53 others, police said.

Iraqi Refugees Turn to the Sex Trade in Syria
As a group, prostitutes represent one of the most visible symptoms of an Iraqi refugee crisis that has exploded in Syria in recent months.

Hamas rockets fall, Israel eyes escalation
Hamas kept up rocket fire into Israel on Monday in defiance of a ceasefire call by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli threats to escalate military strikes in the Gaza Strip.

Misery doubles in refugee camp as many flee violence
Conditions at the northern Lebanese camp have deteriorated over the past week as refugees fleeing gunfire between the army and Islamic militants have taken shelter here doubling Beddawi’s population and placing more burdens on the already cramped camp.

13 killed in Afghan protest: witnesses
Thirteen people were killed and 35 wounded in Afghanistan on Monday when police opened fire to break up a violent protest against a provincial governor, witnesses said. Separately, Taliban militants ambushed U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces escorting supply trucks in southern Afghanistan

Ex-China drug regulator to be executed
BEIJING – China’s former top drug regulator was sentenced to death Tuesday in an unusually harsh punishment for taking bribes to approve substandard medicines, including an antibiotic blamed for at least 10 deaths.

Japanese Minister Hangs Self Amid Scandal
A Japanese Cabinet member hanged himself just hours before he was to face questions in Parliament over a growing scandal involving accounting practices, bid rigging and political contributions.
Our politicians, on the other hand, blame others for their wrongdoing.

Brazil to subsidize birth control pills
SAO PAULO, Brazil – Just weeks after Pope Benedict XVI denounced government-backed contraception in a visit to Brazil, the president unveiled a program Monday to provide cheap birth control pills at 10,000 drug stores across the country.

Human rights in Iraq: a case to answer
Revealed: How Lord Goldsmith advised Army chiefs to deny detainees ‘full’ legal protection

US to impose new sanctions on Sudan
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States plans to slap fresh sanctions on Sudan over the Darfur conflict on Tuesday and seek a tough new UN Security Council resolution punishing Khartoum, top US officials said.

Candidates set aside politics, praise fallen soldiers
Presidential candidates joined in praising fallen soldiers and left partisanship aside on Memorial Day despite their differences over the war in Iraq.

Sessions: Time to draw down troops is coming
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), a loyal supporter of President Bush, indicated Sunday that Republicans will be ready by September to look at bipartisan efforts to draw down the troops that were part of the surge to help secure Baghdad.

Military leaders seek to redefine Iraq success
Officers doubt that top goals set by the White House will be achieved before the September assessment.

Analysis: The Bush take on U.S. opinion
WASHINGTON — Confronted with strong opposition to his Iraq policies, President Bush decides to interpret public opinion his own way. Actually, he says, people agree with him.

Democrats in Washington want to keep impeachment off the table
The push to impeach President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney is gaining a hearing in some parts of the country, but not in Washington. More than 70 cities and 14 state Democratic parties have urged impeachment or investigations that could lead to impeachment.
Democrats, you would lose your shirts playing poker.  You never, EVER take anything off the table before you even sit down to play.

The Overseer: Rep. Henry Waxman
Rep. Henry Waxman, who more than any other politician is fulfilling the Democrat’s election promise to bring good governance and oversight back to Washington, tells Truthdig about Iraq corruption, the tragedy of post-traumatic stress disorder, and why it’s only a matter of time before Congress—Republicans included—pulls the plug on the war.

Bush’s Monica Problem
Gonzales, the president’s lawyer and Texas buddy, is twisting slowly in the wind, facing a vote of no confidence from the Senate.

Email Raises More Questions about Rove’s Role in U.S. Attorney Appointment
It’s been apparent from very early in the U.S. attorney scandal that Tim Griffin, the former aide to Karl Rove who was appointed the U.S. attorney for Little Rock, was different from the others. Emails show that White House and Justice Department officials worked together for months to install Griffin, dating back to last summer. Rove’s aides in the White House Office of Political Affairs were intimately involved. Up until now, however, there had been no evidence of direct communication between Rove and Griffin about the appointment. But an email contained in documents released earlier this week shows Griffin directly emailing Rove and his deputies in the White House Office of Political Affairs

U.S. workers face new screening
A controversial system to verify employees’ legality is key to Senate’s immigration bill.

Private guards a weak link in security
WASHINGTON – Legions of ill-trained, low-paid private security guards are protecting tempting terrorist targets across the U.S.

A widow fights for the ‘widow’s mite’
Deanna Salie, widow of Sgt. David Salie, fights ‘to overturn a law that affects an estimated 59,000 military spouses who have one particular life insurance policy that offsets another.’

Obama calls for universal health care
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Seeking to add heft to his presidential bid, Democrat Barack Obama is offering a sweeping plan that would require every American to have health coverage and calls on government, businesses and consumers to share the costs of the program.

Donors giving to more than one presidential candidate
A Texas trial lawyer, a Hollywood studio head and the founder of a private equity firm all have the same dilemma: They can’t decide on a presidential candidate for 2008 so they’re spreading their wealth to more than one.

Who’s Afraid of Democracy?
Believing that “people are rational as consumers and irrational as voters,” many conservatives would favor free markets without democracy

Stocks seen opening higher; eyes on data, M&A
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – U.S. stock markets looked set to open higher on Tuesday after an extended weekend, with eyes on merger and acquisition (M&A) action as well as a raft of economic data.

China to catch up with US economy: world poll
WASHINGTON (AFP) – China is on course to catch up with the United States and join the front ranks of world economic powers, but that is little cause for concern even among Americans, a global survey said Monday.

A cyber introduction
For many young people, an internship may not mean being stuck in a cubicle fetching coffee as more firms offer online experiences.

Permanent link to MTA daily media news

Talk Hosts Blast Immigration Deal: May 13 – 18, 2007
If Capitol Hill was divided over the compromise agreement on a new immigration bill, the talk show world seemed to answer with one unified voice. And that answer was “Boo!” Meanwhile, there’s continued unease about the makeup of the Republican presidential field, and Jerry Falwell’s death wasn’t that big a story.

Thom Hartmann — Air America’s Renaissance Man Talk Show Host
With this interview with Thom Hartmann, who replaced Al Franken on the Air America Radio network, BuzzFlash is beginning a series of talks with some of the  progressive radio hosts who are favorites of our readers… We’ll be providing, in our nationally recognized BuzzFlash interview series, a forum for you to meet some progressive talk show hosts.  It’s your job to listen to them for awhile (and we guess that at least 1/4 of our readership has), and decide which ones you want to listen to regularly.

Al Gore slams ‘trivialities and nonsense’ in news media
Former US vice president Al Gore on Friday criticized the “trivialities and nonsense” of celebrity gossip in the media and called on people to focus instead on issues like Iraq and climate change.

FAIR Media Advisory: Coup Co-Conspirators as Free-Speech Martyrs: Distorting the Venezuelan media story
The story is framed in U.S. news media as a simple matter of censorship: Prominent Venezuelan TV station RCTV is being silenced by the authoritarian government of President Hugo Chávez, who is punishing the station for its political criticism of his government.

‘Achievements ‘
Today we live in Iraqi’s achievements time, I’m talking about the fictional achievements that our government try to persuade us of its existence by using statements, signs, or even using brain washing to make us believe of these achievements.

Knowing When It’s Time to Go
It’s not clear how much longer Bush will override Congress’ Iraq timetables. But in doing so he is flagrantly ignoring public opinion.

Mellow Nello
Over a five-course lunch last week, Nello Balan, proprietor of the celeb-infested Madison Avenue lunch spot Nello, was discussing with friends how to address the news, printed in “Page Six,” that he sent $1,000 in cash to the gossip column’s editor, Richard Johnson. Until now, Nello has been publicly silent on the matter. “If I did, so what?” he wondered in his Romanian accent between bites… “It’s ridiculous. There are so many other allegations” about the practices of “Page Six” and Post editors: “Parties, strippers, $50,000 trips, and what everybody focuses on is that Christmas gift in 1997. It’s impossible that I was thinking if I give a Christmas gift that would influence someone’s opinion of me or do something for me. There’s nothing behind that Christmas gift. It’s not an obligation. It’s a thought.”

Artists to the war
David Carr of the NY Times writes about tight Pentagon restrictions on war coverage in Iraq. No photos of wounded without their permission, and tighter rules about soldiers’ blogging. … I’m thinking that maybe news organizations should send artists, like the ones who work at trials, to send back images from the war. Either that, or the papers could Photoshop out the faces or other distinguishing features of the soldiers. There must be some way to respect their privacy while giving us a true look at what’s going on.

Right-wing blogger geniuses expose another journalistic fraud!
The genius investigators in the right-wing blogosphere — who serve as our Watchdogs over the Corrupt “MSM” — made a major, major discovery this weekend. Last Wednesday, former CIA agent Larry Johnson published a Memo … sent from the U.S. Mission in Iraq which advised troops and other military personnel in Iraq of a “theater-wide delay in food delivery” which would likely limit the available food supply. As has been true for the last four years, right-wing bloggers simply shut their eyes and refused to believe that any news reflecting poorly on the Leader’s War could be real. Just as was true for news reports of civil war and a growing Iraqi insurgency, this Memo just had to be a fake, so they declared it to be such.

Sony rolling out HD Radio products
Sony says it will introduce its first HD Radio products in July, joining the growing group of companies seeking to make the next-generation digital radio technology a standard feature in audio products over the next several years. HD Radio is new form of digital radio broadcasting that allows radio stations to deliver extra music content on up to four side channels that piggyback on the frequency it already uses.

Taking Care Of Business
The indie band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah sold 200,000 copies of its debut album, a big enough success to draw the attention of major record labels. But the group turned down their offers and are going it alone. Why? They’d ask, “Why not?”

“Jeopardy” teams-up with Google
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – “Jeopardy!” has answered the question of how to integrate the online world with America’s classic game show with the Jeopardy! Google Daily Challenge.

The Sign Of The Times? Increasingly, It’s A Digital Display
Digital displays are fast replacing printed signs, maps and menu boards in stores, hotel lobbies, restaurants and elsewhere. And that’s creating opportunities for tech companies, advertisers and marketers.

Stark disparity in firms’ tracking of website visits
In the chaotic world of modern marketing, the Internet is touted as the best medium for determining the effectiveness of ads. So why is there so much controversy over a measurement as simple as how many people visit a website? The independent firms that measure online traffic have been accused of undercounting minority Web surfers, overestimating visitors by more than double and ignoring Web users at work.

Twenty Questions Even a Caveman Can Ask
It is time again to ask 20 questions about advertising, marketing, the media and popular culture.

Hong Kong cracks down on spam
HONG KONG (AFP) – Hong Kong spammers will face big fines and a long jail terms under a new law to control unsolicited advertising, officials said Monday.
How come I never see any results from all these crackdowns?

Doctors Group Posts Prices Online
TORRANCE, Calif. (AP) – A Southern California physicians group has become one of the first and largest health organizations in the nation to make prices for procedures easily available to the public. HealthCare Partners put an itemized price list on its Web site last week, with little fanfare.

Researchers Craft HDTV’s Successor
High-definition TV may still be far from the norm in many countries, but that isn’t stopping engineers at Japan’s public broadcaster from pushing ahead with development of Super Hi-Vision, a system they hope will eventually replace HDTV.

Market grows for portable ultrasound
As ultrasound machines become more compact and their image quality more precise, doctors have begun carrying the body-imaging technology to rural U.S. hospitals and developing countries.

Man’s Best Friend Joins the Fight Against Cancer
New canine tumor tissue bank will help save dog and human lives, experts say.

Weird science
Science can explain many strange phenomena, but it doesn’t have an answer for everything. From hairy beasts to humming deserts, these mysteries go unexplained.

Astronomers discover 28 new exoplanets
Astronomers have discovered 28 new planets outside of our solar system, increasing to 236 the number of known exoplanets, revealing that planets can exist around a broad spectrum of stellar types — from tiny, dim stars to giants.

Lawmakers Push for Big Subsidies for Coal Process
The push for coal-to-liquid fuels reflects a tension between slowing global warming and reducing dependence on foreign oil… With both House and Senate Democrats hoping to pass “energy independence” bills by mid-July, coal supporters argue that coal-based fuels are more American than gasoline and potentially greener than ethanol… Environmental groups are adamantly opposed, warning that coal-based diesel fuels would at best do little to slow global warming and at worst would produce almost twice as much of the greenhouse gases tied to global warming as petroleum.

Inuit crash through ice to death as warming bites
BELIZE CITY (Reuters) – Global warming has made life more dangerous for Inuit hunters in the Arctic as they increasingly fall to their deaths through thinning ice sheets while pursuing seals and polar bears.

EU presses climate case with Asians ahead of G8
HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) – EU foreign ministers urged Asian countries on Tuesday to join the fight against climate change after hearing China argue that protecting the environment had to be balanced by the right to develop.

Canada declines to enter G8 climate change fight
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada declined on Monday to take sides in a dispute among Group of Eight members over climate change, saying merely it wanted to build consensus on the question of how to fight global warming.

Pelosi: Climate Change Is a Reality
BERLIN (AP) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday she led a congressional delegation to Greenland, where lawmakers saw “firsthand evidence that climate change is a reality,” and she hoped the Bush administration would consider a new path on the issue.

China Embraces Nuclear Future
Looking for answers to global warming, China embarks on nuclear-plant construction binge.

Japan’s compromise whaling plan dismissed at talks
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AFP) – Japan offered a compromise on Monday to break an impasse over its controversial plan to lift a 20-year moratorium of commercial whale hunting but it was flatly rejected by the other key powers.

U.S. deaths near grim Memorial Day mark
BAGHDAD – Americans have opened nearly 1,000 new graves to bury U.S. troops killed in Iraq since Memorial Day a year ago. The figure is telling — and expected to rise in coming months… U.S. commander Gen. David Petraeus on Saturday acknowledged the increase in casualties as a result of the American surge in forces to regain control of Baghdad. “We’re doing heavy fighting. This is a fight. There’s a war on out there,” he told reporters at al-Asad Airbase in western Iraq.

Associated Press

Troops free 42 Iraqis held by al-Qaida
BAGHDAD – U.S. and Iraqi forces freed 42 kidnapped Iraqis — some of whom had been hung from ceilings and tortured for months — in a raid Sunday on an al-Qaida hideout north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

U.S. and Iran begin talks in Baghdad
BAGHDAD – Iran and the United States resumed public diplomacy Monday for the first time in more than a quarter century. The meeting in Baghdad between ambassadors on security in Iraq could produce a chapter in world history for its success or a footnote for its failure.

Olmert Vows To Step Up Attacks On Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised to continue attacks on Hamas after a Palestinian rocket attack killed an Israeli man in southern Israel. A 10-day campaign of Israeli airstrikes has killed nearly 50 Palestinians, most of them militants.

Iran says EU talks back on schedule for Thursday
TEHRAN (AFP) – Iran’s top nuclear negotiator and the EU foreign policy chief will hold key talks on Thursday, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said, after earlier saying they had been postponed.

Nine dead as Afghan police clash with protesters
MAZAR-E-SHARIF, Afghanistan (AFP) – Nine people were killed and 32 wounded Monday in northern Afghanistan when police opened fire to break up a violent protest, a doctor and a witness said.

6 bombs wound 10 in southern Thailand
Six bombs ripped through a key commercial district in restive southern Thailand Sunday, wounding 10 people, police said.

Obstacles remain for Australian Aborigines 40 years after historic referendum
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) – Australia on Sunday marked 40 years since a historic referendum granted Aborigines citizenship, but celebrations were muted by stark reminders of the hardships facing the continent’s original inhabitants.

Recruiters corrupt guestworker program
MONTERREY, Mexico – Standing in the baking sun outside the U.S. Consulate in Monterrey, hundreds of Mexicans wait anxiously for temporary work visas. But even before they were fingerprinted and interviewed for the permit, many had already paid recruiters thousands of dollars in hopes of easing the way.

Chavez shuts Venezuelan TV station
CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuela’s oldest private television station went off the air following President Hugo Chavez’s decision to pull the plug on the popular channel harshly critical of the government, a move that sparked violent clashes between protesters and police.
Dictatorship can come from the left or from the right.  That’s a warning, Venezuelans.

Blair wants to give UK police more anti-terror muscle
LONDON, England (Reuters) — British Prime Minister Tony Blair plans to push through a new anti-terrorism law before he steps down next month giving “wartime” powers to police to stop and question people, a newspaper reported on Sunday… The “stop and question” power would enable police to interrogate people about who they are, where they have been and where they were going, The Sunday Times said. Police would not need to suspect a crime had taken place.

Spanish police arrest Islamist terror suspects
MADRID (AFP) – Spanish police arrested several suspected Islamist militants in anti-terrorist dawn raids across the northeast Catalonia region on Monday, a police spokesman said.

Nigeria’s outgoing VP to boycott swearing-in of new president
ABUJA (AFP) – Nigeria‘s outgoing Vice President Atiku Abubakar plans to boycott Tuesday’s swearing-in as president of Umaru Yar’Adua, saying the vote last month was rigged.

Rwandan rebels kill 17 in Congo village
KINSHASA, Congo – Rwandan rebels attacked villagers in neighboring eastern Congo with machetes, spears and hammers on Sunday, killing 17, wounding 28 and taking up to a dozen hostages, a local rights worker said, citing survivors’ accounts.

What Congress Really Approved: Benchmark No. 1: Privatizing Iraq’s Oil for US Companies
On Thursday, May 24, the US Congress voted to continue the war in Iraq. The members called it “supporting the troops.” I call it stealing Iraq’s oil – the second largest reserves in the world. The “benchmark,” or goal, the Bush administration has been working on furiously since the US invaded Iraq is privatization of Iraq’s oil. Now they have Congress blackmailing the Iraqi Parliament and the Iraqi people: no privatization of Iraqi oil, no reconstruction funds.

Military chiefs give US six months to win Iraq war
An elite team of officers advising US commander General David Petraeus in Baghdad has concluded the US has six months to win the war in Iraq – or face a Vietnam-style collapse in political and public support that could force the military into a hasty retreat. The officers – combat veterans who are leading experts in counter-insurgency – are charged with implementing the “new way forward” strategy announced by president George Bush on January 10.

1,106 IED deaths on Bush’s head
1,106 US troops died since the time they begged George Bush for IED-proof vehicles, vehicles that actually exist, and Bush ignored them because he didn’t want to spend the money (or because he wanted to use the IEDs as an excuse for war with Iran?).

CBS Poll: 76% Say War’s Going Badly
A CBS News/New York Times poll shows the number of Americans who say the war in Iraq is going badly has reached a new high: 76 percent. A record number also say it was a mistake for the U.S. to get involved in Iraq in the first place.

US unit created to pressure Iran, Syria disbanded
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration has dismantled a special committee that was established last year to coordinate aggressive actions against Iran and Syria, State Department officials said this week… State Department and White House officials said the dissolution of the group was simply a bureaucratic reorganization, but many analysts saw it as evidence of a softening in the US strategy toward the two countries.
But then again, this announcement may just be more PR.  Or, the committee may no longer be needed.  See below.

Bush endorses CIA plans for regime change in Iran
Washington: President George W Bush has given the CIA approval to launch covert ‘black’ operations to achieve regime change in Iran, intelligence sources have revealed. Bush has signed an official document endorsing CIA plans for a propaganda and disinformation campaign intended to destabilise, and eventually topple, the theocratic rule of the mullahs.

Group: Terrorism not focus of Homeland Security
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Claims of terrorism represented less than 0.01 percent of charges filed in recent years in immigration courts by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, according to a report issued Sunday by an independent research group… “The DHS claims it is focused on terrorism. Well that’s just not true,” said David Burnham, a TRAC spokesman. “Either there’s no terrorism, or they’re terrible at catching them. Either way it’s bad for all of us.”
Maybe they’re watching the wrong people.  See below.

Ala. terror Web site angers activists
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Alabama Department of Homeland Security has taken down a Web site it operated that included gay rights and anti-war organizations in a list of groups that could include terrorists.

Report: IRS poor at finding terrorists
WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service does a poor job in identifying tax-exempt groups that may have links to terrorists, according to a report released Friday.

Edwards calls ‘war on terror’ an ideological doctrine
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on Wednesday repudiated the notion that there is a “global war on terror,” calling it an ideological doctrine advanced by the Bush administration that has strained American military resources and emboldened terrorists.

Obama: Improve mental health care
CONWAY, N.H. – Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Sunday the country is not providing enough mental health services for active duty troops and veterans. He proposed spending hundreds of million dollars more each year for better care.

Officials Say Justice Dept. Based Hires on Politics Before Goodling Tenure
The Justice Department considered political affiliation in screening applicants for immigration court judgeships for several years until hiring was frozen in December after objections from department lawyers, current and former officials said [Friday]. The disclosures mean that the Justice Department may have violated civil service laws, which prohibit political considerations in hiring.

Critical Care Without Consent
The federal government is undertaking the most ambitious set of studies ever mounted under a controversial arrangement that allows researchers to conduct some kinds of medical experiments without first getting patients’ permission. The $50 million, five-year project, which will involve more than 20,000 patients in 11 sites in the United States and Canada, is designed to improve treatment after car accidents, shootings, cardiac arrest and other emergencies.

Alito speaks to Seton Hall grads
NEWARK, N.J. – Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. on Friday issued a plea for religious tolerance, and said the nation must guard against returning to days when a notion prevailed that people of some faiths were unfit for office.
Actions speak louder than words, Justice Alito.  Let’s see how you rule on religious issues.

HR 811 would require a paper trail
Some in Congress, like Rush Holt, are calling for stringent vote security measures for states that use electronic voting machines, to be in place by 2008.

Every generation does better? Don’t count on it
A generation ago, American men in their thirties had median annual incomes of about $40,000 compared with men of the same age who now make about $35,000 a year, adjusted for inflation. That’s a 12.5 percent drop between 1974 and 2004, according to the report from the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Economic Mobility Project… To be sure, household incomes rose during the same period, but only because there are more full-time working women, the report said.
I’ve long wondered if women entering the job market in such great numbers, starting in the 1960s, helped depress wages for all Americans–in the same way that unrestricted immigration depresses wages.  You’d think employers would be encouraging women to work by helping with child care and elder care.

Stocks rise ahead of holiday weekend
NEW YORK – Wall Street rose smartly in a quiet session Friday as investors adjusted positions ahead of a long holiday weekend and tried to determine whether a lackluster week presaged a departure from the market’s months-long run-up or merely a temporary pause.

Existing home sales fall in April
WASHINGTON – Sales of existing homes fell more than expected in April while prices slid for a record ninth consecutive month, indicating further troubles ahead for the housing market.

Lawsuit Cites Plane Trips for Clintons
A longtime Clinton benefactor used corporate jets to fly the former president and Hillary Rodham Clinton on business, personal and campaign trips that a lawsuit brands as wasteful company spending.

Permanent link to MTA daily media news

Online Video Site Break.com May Be First To Charge Fee
Break.com, an early player but an also-ran in the online video arena, needs a break to stand out — and it’s trying to make its own breaks.
We absolutely have to think about a subscription model for paying for online content, to complement the advertising model.  If we banded together, as I have suggested in my “Progressive Subscription Service”, we could have a huge impact on truthfulness and honesty in news reporting and punditry.  Pleasing advertisers and currying favor with politicians would no longer be the only motivations of the editors and publishers.

The complete myth driving our Iraq “debate”
In Newsweek, Jonathan Alter has a long article defending — as lamentably necessary — the decision of the Democrats to fund the Iraq war without any limitations… Both of the premises which Alter sets forth here are correct: (a) de-funding does not even arguably constitute “endangerment or abandonment of the troops,” but (b) “Americans have been convinced that it does.” And therein one finds what is the most extraordinary and telling fact of our political landscape. Namely, our Iraq war policy was just determined, in large part if not principally, by a complete myth: that de-funding proposals constitute an abandonment or, more ludicrously still, “endangerment” of the troops.

Memorializing the Deadly Myth of John Wayne
On the 100th anniversary of John Wayne’s birth, falling as it does on Memorial Day weekend, Truthdig presents two pieces connecting the hype of the celluloid “war hero” who never fought to the hard human costs of war.

Al Gore v. the media
“My position is that all television is bad except my network, Current TV, and The Daily Show, and whatever show I happen to be watching at the time,” Gore joked, before adding, “But in all seriousness, the television news programs have probably spent a lot more time on Britney Spears’ shaving her head, and Paris Hilton going to jail, and Anna-Nicole Smith’s estate lawyers and Joey Buttafuoco, and all this stuff, than they have spent giving us the facts — for example, telling us before the invasion of Iraq, that actually Iraq had nothing whatsoever to do with the attack of 9/11.”
Click through to watch the video of Gore’s appearance on the Daily Show.

Wolfowitz blames media for resignation
LONDON – Departing World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz in a radio interview broadcast Monday blamed an overheated atmosphere at the bank and in the media for forcing him to resign.

EU probes Google over privacy concerns
BRUSSELS, Belgium – An independent European Union panel has launched an investigation into whether Google Inc.’s Internet search engine abides by European privacy rules.

Exclusive: AOL to Launch User-Generated Site Across All Platforms Next Month
AOL’s UnCut, the consumer generated service that has been in beta for a about a year, but little talked about, will launch next month, Fred McIntyre, chief online video executive at AOL told Beet.TV. The new service will be implemented on many of AOL’s platforms including AIM, AOL and it’s growing social network service, Fred told me.

Microsoft sues alleged stock scammers
Hoping to tackle the growing problem of pump-and-dump stock scams Microsoft has quietly filed lawsuits against at least three alleged perpetrators who it says used its MSN Hotmail networks to promote stocks.

Researchers turn Web blather to books
PITTSBURGH – A few simple keystrokes may soon turn blather into books. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have discovered a way to enlist people across the globe to help digitize books every time they solve the simple distorted word puzzles commonly used to register at Web sites or buy things online.
Brilliant idea.  Absolutely brilliant.  It reminds me of the SETI project that I participated in.  I let them use my computer when it was idle.

Attensa unlocks knowledge with RSS
Attensa’s software works by pushing RSS or managed Web feeds to specific users and groups behind the firewall, allowing knowledge workers in the enterprise to cherry-pick just the info they want. On the back end, the Linux-based Attensa Feed Server gathers feeds in the background, and gives IT administrators control of where those feeds go.

Virtual tours offer trips through time
CINCINNATI – Kathy Choi touches a kiosk screen, then looks up at a larger wall screen to see digitally created yellowish-brown mounds snaking through bright green grassland dotted with brilliant blue rivers and lakes.

Back-to-back disasters show cell gaps
WICHITA, Kan. – The response by emergency workers following a tornado that ripped through Greensburg recently shared at least one thing with the reaction to a massive ice storm in January that downed power lines for days in the same region.

Researchers find big batch of breast cancer genes
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A genetic mutation that raises the risk of breast cancer is found in up to 60 percent of U.S. women, making it the first truly common breast cancer susceptibility gene, researchers reported on Sunday.

Autism’s Rise May Reflect Broader Definition, Better Diagnosis
Experts weigh in on possible causes for the mysterious disorder.

Viking longship to sail across North Sea
ROSKILDE, Denmark – On the skipper’s command, deckhands haul in tarred ropes to lower the flax sail. Oars splash into the water. The crew, grimacing with strain, pull with steady strokes sending the sleek Viking longship gliding through the fjord.

Flippah? Flipper? Study finds dolphins speak in dialects
Dolphins living off the coast of Wales whistle, bark and groan in a different dialect from dolphins off the western coast of Ireland, scientists have discovered.

Tracks show dinosaurs were swimmers
Newly discovered fossilized claw marks paint a picture of a carnivorous dinosaur pedaling its hind legs as it swam against a strong current and struggled to maintain a straight path.

Scientific reticence and sea level rise Scientific reticence and sea level rise (thanks to Climate Progress, Center for American Progress)
J E Hansen, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies: I suggest that a `scientific reticence’ is inhibiting the communication of a threat of a potentially large sea level rise. Delay is dangerous because of system inertias that could create a situation with future sea level changes out of our control. I argue for calling together a panel of scientific leaders to hear evidence and issue a prompt plain-written report on current understanding of the sea level change issue.
You may remember that I’ve said the rebuilding of New Orleans could be used as a laboratory for the kind of preventive and protective work that will have to be done for all coastal areas, due to global warming.  But who listens to me?  Just call me Cassandra.

Global warming-hurricane link spurs controversy
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Climate scientists agree there have been a lot of strong hurricanes lately. They agree that warmer seas have given these storms some extra punch. But they disagree how much global warming is to blame.

Wind power runs into zoning rules
MELISSA, Texas – An orange flag marks where Gary Lisle planned to put up a 33-foot windmill behind his house. But that’s about as far as his green idea got in this Dallas suburb.

Indy 500 Goes From Gas to Green
The Indy 500 is hardly the place you’d expect to find anything “green,” outside the starting flag. The cars in the race average 220 mph and 2-3 miles per gallon. But this year, they’ll be burning rubber on ethanol.

Do Trees Make It OK to Drive an SUV?
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – If you plant some trees, is it OK to drive an Escalade? The question isn’t as silly as it sounds. People worried about global warming increasingly are trying to “offset” the carbon dioxide – the leading greenhouse gas – they spew into the atmosphere when they drive, fly or flick on a light.

Biofuel boom raises beer prices in Germany
Like most Germans, brewer Helmut Erdmann is all for the fight against global warming. Unless, that is, it drives up the price of his beer. And that is exactly what is happening to Erdmann and other German brewers as farmers abandon barley the raw material for the national beverage to plant other, subsidized crops for sale as environmentally-friendly biofuels.

Activists: U.S. to Reject Climate Deal
LONDON – The United States is preparing to reject new targets on climate change at a Group of Eight summit next month, dashing German and British hopes for a new global pact on carbon emissions, according to a document released by environmentalists.

Africa feels the warming it didn’t cause
Global warming isn’t just a matter of melting icebergs and polar bears chasing after them. It’s also Lake Chad drying up, the glaciers of Mt. Kilimanjaro disappearing, increasing extreme weather, conflict and hungry people throughout Africa.

Victim of Climate Change, a Town Seeks a Lifeline
The permanently frozen subsoil, known as permafrost, upon which many Native Alaskan villages rest is melting.

Pollution is Turning the Tower of London Yellow
A moat and fortified walls have protected the Tower of London from vandals for almost 800 years, but against the ravages of pollution, the iconic royal palace doesn’t stand a chance. The entire complex is turning yellow from the exhaust of cars and trucks, according to a new study. The discoloration is most noticeable at the complex’s White Tower, the original square fortress built by William the Conqueror in 1078.

Support MakeThemAccountable.com

CONTRIBUTE!

Quote of the Day (thanks to Pensito Review)

The truth is often a terrible weapon of aggression. It is possible to lie, and even to murder, with the truth. It is easier to fight for principles than to live up to them.
— Alfred Adler, Austrian psychologist

Bluebird of happiness instead
Satirical Political Report

Washington Post

Analysts’ Warnings of Iraq Chaos Detailed
Senate Panel Releases Assessments From 2003

By Walter Pincus and Karen DeYoung                   
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, May 26, 2007; Page A01

Months before the invasion of Iraq, U.S. intelligence agencies predicted that it would be likely to spark violent sectarian divides and provide al-Qaeda with new opportunities in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a report released yesterday by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Analysts warned that war in Iraq also could provoke Iran to assert its regional influence and “probably would result in a surge of political Islam and increased funding for terrorist groups” in the Muslim world.

The intelligence assessments, made in January 2003 and widely circulated within the Bush administration before the war, said that establishing democracy in Iraq would be “a long, difficult and probably turbulent challenge.” The assessments noted that Iraqi political culture was “largely bereft of the social underpinnings” to support democratic development…

[For a complete rundown on the lies about Iraq, visit Mother Jones’ Lie by Lie timeline.—Caro]

Think Progress, Center for American Progress

Experts Charge Bush Ignored Contradictory Intelligence Reports In Coast Guard Speech

In his commencement speech at the Coast Guard Academy this week, President Bush discussed “2-year-old information, declassified by the White House a day earlier,” which asserted that Osama bin Laden had instructed al Qaeda in Iraq to attack the United States. Using the intel to stoke fears of terrorism, Bush argued for the continuation of his stay-the-course policy in Iraq, claiming “Al Qaeda’s leaders inside and outside of Iraq have not given up on their objective of attacking America again.”

As ThinkProgress noted, President Bush has a history of selectively declassifying intelligence that works to his political advantage. Counterterrorism experts now tell Newsweek that “the president’s characterization of the intelligence may have been incomplete” and that he appears to have “ignored contradictory reporting about what actually happened.”

Posted by Matt May 26, 2007

Danger Room, Wired

Military Dragged Feet on Bomb-Proof Vehicles

By Sharon Weinberger May 22, 2007

The Marine Corps waited over a year before acting on an “priority 1 urgent” request to send blast-resistant vehicles to Iraq, DANGER ROOM has learned. 

According to a Marine Corps document provided to DANGER ROOM, the request for over 1,000 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles came in February, 2005.  A formal call to fulfill that order did not emerge until November, 2006.   ”There is an immediate need for an MRAP vehicle capability to increase survivability and mobility of Marines operating in a hazardous fire area against known threats,” the 2005 “universal need statement” notes…

Despite the stark language, however, that request was not acted upon. Instead, the Marine Corps waited until November, 2006 to issue a formal request for proposals to buy approximately 1,200 MRAPs…

“This is what happens when industry isn’t put on a war footing,” [says Paul Rieckhoff , executive director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America]. “It’s like the military families are at war, and everyone else is out shopping.”

[So why did we go to war, if we weren’t ready?—Caro]

Judge’s Opinion