Boo! Scientists help us cope with fear
As Americans revel in all things scary on Halloween, scientists say they now know better what’s going on inside our brains when a spook jumps out and scares us. Knowing how fear rules the brain should lead to treatments for a major medical problem: When irrational fears go haywire.
Yes, those right wingers who see an Islamofascist under every bed could really use some help.

Mo Paul got it right in 2001

Iraq bill would lift contractor immunity
BAGHDAD - The Iraqi government approved a draft law Tuesday to lift immunity for foreign security companies including Blackwater USA, a bid to overturn a decree imposed more than three years ago by the U.S. official who ran the country after the American-led invasion.

Major powers to meet on Iran this week
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Major powers plan to meet in London this week to discuss new sanctions on Iran amid a spat between Washington and the U.N. atomic energy watchdog over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, U.S. officials said.

20 Taliban killed in Afghan operation
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - An operation in southern Afghanistan involving 200 Afghan police working alongside Western troops killed 20 Taliban fighters, officials said Tuesday, in an area where the militants largely had been kept at bay in recent years.

Myanmar monks hold first march since crackdown
YANGON (Reuters) - About 200 Buddhist monks marched in central Myanmar on Wednesday for the first time since soldiers crushed monk-led protests against the ruling military junta last month.

In Myanmar, child soldiers said to be bought and sold
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Myanmar is filling the ranks of its depleted armed forces with children as young as 10 and may try to capture even more boys after the recent crackdown on pro-democracy protests, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.

China to Build New Space Rockets
BEIJING (AP) - China will build a new family of rockets, state media said Wednesday, a move that would boost the country’s capabilities to put satellites and space stations in space.

US envoy in talks with NKorea ahead of nuclear disablement
BEIJING (AFP) - US nuclear envoy Christopher Hill was due to meet his North Korean counterpart for final discussions on Wednesday before Pyongyang begins disabling its nuclear programmes.

Australia’s Howard fights back but still faces election defeat
SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian Prime Minister John Howard and his government have clawed back some support but still face a likely defeat in elections next month, a new opinion poll showed Tuesday.

Flush with cash, Canada plans to slash taxes
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada’s Conservative government vowed on Tuesday to slash corporate and personal taxes and still pay down C$10 billion in debt this year, but any speculation that the plan would trigger an election was quickly doused.

Victory confirmed, Argentina’s president-elect faces challenges
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Final results confirmed Monday that Argentine first lady Sen. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner won election to replace her husband as president, setting off speculation about how she’ll govern a country that’s emerged from a deep economic crisis but hasn’t yet found its footing.

U.N. votes against U.S. embargo on Cuba for 16th year
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to urge the United States to lift its four-decade-old embargo against Cuba in a resolution adopted for the 16th consecutive year.

Anti-terrorist court to deliver verdicts in Madrid bombings trial
MADRID (AFP) - Tight security was in force Wednesday as Spain’s anti-terrorist court prepared to hand down verdicts against 28 suspects in the 2004 Madrid train bombings, which killed almost 200 people and were claimed in the name of Al-Qaeda.
And we have suspects still languishing at Guantanamo after four years, with no trial dates in sight.  And these people were tried in regular courts.

With US help, ship crew defeats pirates
NAIROBI, Kenya - A U.S. Navy destroyer helped sailors who retook control of their vessel Tuesday in a deadly battle with pirates after the North Korean-flagged ship was hijacked in the piracy-plagued waters off Somalia, the American military said.

Did West blow chance to halt Iran’s nuke plans?
Atif Amin says that as a U.K. Customs agent in 2000, he uncovered evidence that Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan was running a nuclear black market. But the United States and United Kingdom waited more than three years to take action to shut down the Khan network, which supplied Libya, North Korea and Iran with gas centrifuge technology to enrich uranium. Had they moved against Khan sooner, Amin believes and some critics agree, Iran might not have as many as 3,000 centrifuges today and be threatening to become a nuclear power.

Zogby Poll: 52% Support U.S. Military Strike Against Iran
Most see Clinton as the presidential candidate best equipped to deal with Iran, followed by Giuliani and McCain—but many express uncertainty

Bush balks at revised child health bill
WASHINGTON - President Bush told Republican lawmakers on Tuesday he will not agree to legislation expanding children’s health insurance if it includes a tobacco tax increase, a decision that virtually ensures a renewed veto struggle with the Democratic-controlled Congress.

Bush nominates new Veterans secretary
WASHINGTON - President Bush said that retired Army Lt. Gen. James Peake, chosen on Tuesday to head the embattled Veterans Affairs Department, will work to end months-long delays facing hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops trying to get treatment and benefits.

Is the Fourth Amendment Precatory?
US Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey has written a very lawyerly letter to the Senate Judiciary committee… If you read the letter with any care … you will see that it very carefully refuses to say that — even in the face of the FISA legislation occupying the field — the … law can place any limits on a President who decides to wiretap US citizens, in the US, without a warrant, so long as he decides he wants to and is willing to wave the bloody shirt of national security.

Clinton, Obama, Edwards oppose Mukasey nomination
The three leading Democratic White House contenders on Tuesday opposed President George W. Bush’s nomination of Michael Mukasey to be attorney general, citing concerns about how the retired judge views torture.

Davis Grills Tanner on Minorities “Die First” Comment
[DOJ voting section chief John Tanner tried to defend] his conviction that voter ID laws actually discriminate against whites… “You’re a policy maker, sir,” [Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL)] said. “You’re in charge of enforcing the voting rights laws in this country…. If you are basing your conclusions on stereotypes rather than facts, then it suggests to some of us that someone else can do this job better than you can.”

Leahy to White House: Thanks for Nothing (by Paul Kiel at TPM Muckraker)
Last week, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) pronounced himself pleased that the administration had handed over four “previously undisclosed documents” relating to the administration’s interrogation policies… After months of stonewalling, it was a new day! Well, not so much. Apparently three of the four documents, called “previously undisclosed,” in the committee’s press release at the time, were already in the public domain.

FBI investigates Sen. Stevens’ fishing bills.
The federal investigation into Sen. Ted Stevens’ (R-AK) potentially corrupt relationship to an Alaskan oil company has expanded to include his ties to the fishing industry. Investigators issued “subpoenas throughout the industry last year” asking whether Stevens “pushed seafood legislation that benefited” his son Ben, who is a state lobbyist and politician. One fisherman provided the FBI with a taped conversation indicating that Ben Stevens told a client, “I’ll get Dad to fund you guys, too.”

Career prosecutors opposed Siegelman prosecution.
Alabama GOP operative Dana Jill Simpson recently charged that Karl Rove and his allies pushed the Justice Department into prosecuting former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman (D) prior to a major election. Harpers’ Scott Horton now reports that the “most experienced and senior career prosecutors” opposed the Siegleman prosecution, yet the Justice Department pushed the case forward “with blunt political force”:

New GAO Report Indicates U.S. Trade Policy Neglects Public Health Issues
Rep. Henry A. Waxman and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy release a new GAO report that finds that U.S. trade policy under the Bush Administration has paid little to no attention to public health and access to medicines.

Lethal injections may stop until ruling
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court’s decision to halt an execution in Mississippi is the latest indication that most, if not all, executions by lethal injection will be halted until justices rule on a challenge to the procedure.

Court reviews child pornography law
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court explored Tuesday whether it could limit the reach of a child pornography law so that it would not apply to legitimate creative expression, vivid adolescent imaginations or innocent e-mails with provocative headings.
Good luck defining vivid adolescent imaginations, Justices.

Rivals Target Clinton At Debate
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton ’s chief Democratic rivals criticized her candor, consistency and judgment Tuesday in a televised debate more pointed than earlier presidential forums.

Kucinich questions Bush’s mental health
PHILADELPHIA - Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich questioned President Bush’s mental health in light of comments he made about a nuclear Iran precipitating World War III.

Ralph Nader sues Democratic Party
WASHINGTON - Consumer advocate and 2004 independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader sued the Democratic Party on Tuesday, contending officials conspired to keep him from taking votes away from nominee John Kerry.

Giuliani Still Working at Firm He Promised to Leave
Ten months into his presidential bid, Rudolph W. Giuliani continues to work part time at the security consulting firm he promised to leave this past spring to focus on his pursuit of the Republican nomination… Several of the firm’s employees do volunteer work for his campaign. And Giuliani did not decide until mid-June, six months after he entered the race, to bill his campaign for the cost of the security detail traveling with him on campaign trips; before then, the firm paid the expense.

Wall St lower on economic data
Wall Street stocks were weaker yesterday as another fall in house prices and a sharp decline in consumer confidence depressed sentiment on the outlook for the US economy.

Data add to gloom on US economy
A raft of bearish data fuelled fears of a US economic slowdown on Tuesday as consumer confidence slumped to a two-year low and house prices in major cities suffered the biggest drop in 16 years.

Warren Buffett Sees “Fairly Significant” Chance U.S. Going Into Recession
In this excerpt from an interview with Buffett on the return flight to the United States, he talks about the probability of a near-term recession in the United States and why he’s a bull on “mankind’s long-term possibilities.”

Fed expected to cut rates for 2nd time
WASHINGTON - With oil prices soaring and the housing market sinking, the Federal Reserve is likely to combat the economic turmoil with more interest rate cuts.

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Permanent link to MTA daily media news

OUR SIDE STILL DOESN’T GET IT: (by Bob Somerby at the Daily Howler)
Why aren’t neo-cons and Republicans on the defensive? In large part, it’s because they get puffed—and Democrats get jeered—within the sprawling public discussion constructed by the “mainstream” press. Democrats are constant figures of ridicule—and Republicans simply are not. This framework is being extended today, even as liberals like Josh [Marshall] refuse to discuss it. In large part, that’s why it’s easy for scum-bags like Giuliani to go around mocking Big Dems. And that is why it’s much, much harder for Dems to return the favor.

Mega-donors prepare for ‘08 battle
Sources involved in the nascent effort said representatives of Democratic powerhouses like MoveOn.org and the Service Employees International Union, along with super-wealthy individuals like the fund manager George Soros, are hashing out the details of a planned independent effort that could finance tens of millions of dollars of television advertisements. But when they meet after the two-day conference of the Democracy Alliance in Washington, D.C., this week, the donors will aim not to repeat what they see as the mistakes of the last presidential campaign.
Think about what they’re doing.  They’re putting more money in the pockets of the very media moguls who pay their minions so well to say nothing good about Democrats while puffing up Republicans as much as possible.  These donors are paying for the destruction of the belief system they profess to support.  How I wish I could get some of these people interested in funding a media infrastructure of our own!

Don’t let them fool you: GAO: Reduction In Violence Due To ‘Ethnically Cleansed Neighborhoods’ In Iraq
Violence is “down significantly from last year,” declared President Bush. In a hearing before the House Appropriations Committee [Tuesday], Joe Christoff of the Government Accountability Office stated that this recent reduction in violence should be taken with a grain of salt, as it coincides with increased sectarian cleansing and a massive refugee displacement.

War protests: Why no coverage? (by Jerry Lanson)
Boston - Coordinated antiwar protests in at least 11 American cities this weekend raised anew an interesting question about the nature of news coverage: Are the media ignoring rallies against the Iraq war because of their low turnout or is the turnout dampened by the lack of news coverage?.. That most Americans oppose the war in Iraq is well established… Given that context, it seems remarkable to me that in some of the 11 cities in which protests were held – Boston and New York, for example – major news outlets treated this “National Day of Action” as though it did not exist.

B.S. Detector: DOJ Statement on Blackwater, just out … (by Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo)
[DOJ statement:] “… any suggestion that the Blackwater employees in question have been given immunity from federal criminal prosecution is inaccurate…” A highly knowledgeable responds … “[A]s a practical matter if the Blackwater folks got use immunity, there is virtually no chance they will be tried or convicted for any crime…Bottom line: DOJ’s statement is a very careful bamboozle. Don’t be fooled.”

Gen. Petraeus’ Spokesman Denies Sending Angry Email — Plot Thickens
A critical email allegedly sent by a top U.S. military spokesman to a leading blogger this past weekend is starting to draw mainstream attention. But the colonel had sent an equally hot note to E&P in May defending the general — without reading the report in question.

Huckabee Is Lying (by tristero at Hullabaloo)
[Republican Presidential candidate Mike] Huckabee worked hard to release a convicted rapist from prison for one reason only: because extreme rightwing operatives believed that Bill Clinton had unfairly persecuted an innocent man - possibly even ordering the rapist’s castration - in order to advance his career. Nothing could be further from the truth.

A test case for the media (by Paul Krugman)
OK, Rudy Giuliani has just released an ad claiming that the survival rate from prostate cancer is much higher in America than in Britain, thus proving the failure of socialized medicine. The problem is that his claim is just plain false. In fact, mortality rates from prostate cancer are almost the same in America and Britain.  So, will this get as much attention as, say, the Edwards haircut or the Hillary laugh? Will it get any coverage at all?

Stephen Colbert’s joke is on the press (by Eric Boehlert)
[T]he Colbert candidacy becomes a distraction only if the press allows it to. And the sad fact is the press already has allowed it to, because the press literally drives itself to distraction on the campaign trail. That’s not an unfortunate side effect of the process. That’s the goal.

Right Wing Talkers Blame Congress For Not Defining Waterboarding As Torture (by Logan Murphy at Crooks and Liars)
[On MSNBC’s Dan Abrams’ show,] Pat Buchanan actually says that Congress needs to pass a law banning it and Michael Reagan chimes in on the same point. Hey Buchanan and Reagan, ever hear of the Geneva Conventions? We need to pass a law saying we’re going to honor an international treaty?
Click through to watch the video.

House Republicans: We Opposed SCHIP Program Because Dems Were Mean To Us
This is pretty amusing. House Republicans have concocted a new explanation for why they voted against the SCHIP children’s health care expansion despite the fact that it had bipartisan support in Congress and was backed by strong majorities of the American people. The latest rationale: They voted against it because Democratic leaders were nasty to them. That’s what angry House GOPers have now told Dem leaders in a private meeting on the Hill.

Norman Podhoretz: Anyone Who Doesn’t Want To ‘Bomb Iran’ Is Appeasing ‘Hitler’
On the PBS Newshour with Jim Lehrer [Monday] night, Commentary Magazine editor-at-large Norman Podhoretz, who is also a foreign policy adviser to Rudy Giuliani, repeated his claim that there is “only one terrible choice” left with Iran, which is to “bomb” their “facilities” and “retard” their nuclear program. When Newsweek’s Fareed Zackaria asserted that deterrence was a viable option, Podhoretz repeatedly accused him of “an irresponsible complacency” that “is comparable to the denial in the early ’30s of the intentions of Hitler”.
Click through to watch the video.

George Will Wants Those Lazy Seniors Off The Dole
[George Will:] “Sixty-five days from now, the first of 78 million baby boomers begun (sic) to retire. Most Americans who collect Social Security begin to collect it at age 62, which is absurd. We have the public subsidizing increasingly long and comfortable retirement of people for a third to a half of their adult lifetime. Now. That’s why one in four voters in 2004 was over 60 years old. The elderly have the biggest stake in the welfare state, which exists to transfer wealth to them.”
My payments to Social Security over many years mean nothing to this man.  I’m on welfare as far as he’s concerned.

Theocracy Now! (by Max Blumenthal)
On October 20 and 21st, I attended the Value Voters Summit… Rev. Lou Sheldon, dubbed “Lucky Louie” by his former paymaster Jack Abramoff, told me that homosexuality is a “pathological disorder”… Star Parker, a former welfare cheat who had multiple abortions, claimed to me that abortion is the leading cause of death among African American women between the ages of 25 and 34. Then she described her wish for the forced quarantine of all “sodomites.”
Click through to watch the video.

“The Largest Tax Increase in History”: They’re So Cute When They Say This (by Dean Baker)
The NYT … quoted Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney as saying that [Rep. Rangel’s tax] proposal is the “largest increase in the history of America.” It would have been worth mentioning that this is not true since some readers may not be aware of this fact. It also would have been appropriate to point out that charging that a particular tax increase is “the largest in history” is a Republican ritual. There have been many proposals that they have labeled the “largest tax increase in history” over the last two decades.

Media Matters for America headlines

Media outlets uncritically reported White House claim that it does not “employ” fake reporting

MSNBC’s Carlson falsely claimed he does not “touch” Bill Clinton’s “sex life”

NY Times quotes 2005 blog post claiming Obama compared himself to Christ

Matthews, Blitzer uncritically cited Giuliani ad without noting his use of “meaningless” stat, according to cancer expert

Buchanan: Obama is “not what you would expect from a black guy from the South Side of Chicago”

Time’s Halperin further distorts poll results mis-cited by Hannity, attributing to “the Democrats” the view that U.S. better off if Iraq war is lost

Sally Bedell Smith characterizes as “absolutely fair” Russert’s suggestion that Hillary Clinton to blame for 40 million uninsured

Ex-Gov. du Pont claimed “[t]ax rate reductions increase tax revenues” — several Bush administration economists disagree

Blitzer did not challenge Huckabee’s claim that Saddam “said that he had” WMD

Katine: Guardian’s Unique Take on Crowdsourcing
If you have ten minutes today, check out Katine: it starts with a village. With this project The Guardian is doing something very special indeed with crowdsourcing, interactive storytelling, and journalism itself.

Clear Channel is attempting to silence Bruce Springsteen (by John Amato at Crooks and Liars)
Here we go again. The Dixie Chicks redux! Bruce has the #1 record in all the land called ” Magic,” but… “sources tell [Roger Friedman at Fox News] that Clear Channel has sent an edict to its classic rock stations not to play tracks from ‘Magic’.”… Republican owned corporate media once again is attempting to silence progressive positions.

What would critics say if Couric hosted “Saturday Night Live”?
Ed Bark thinks Brian Williams is “pushing it” by appearing on “Saturday Night Live” Nov 3. “Maybe this is finally what Katie Couric needs,” he writes. “Because seriously folks, how can anyone question her gravitas or hard news acumen after Williams submits to ‘SNL’ and becomes the first incumbent news anchor to host it? …Imagine the reaction if Couric instead were taking the ‘SNL’ plunge.”

Web wit livens up Australian election campaign
SYDNEY (AFP) - The Internet is proving both a blessing and a curse for the major players in Australia’s election campaign, as online satirists gleefully mock politicians’ carefully-crafted messages to voters.

Bloggers beware: Confirmed: Selling Links Will Hurt Your Google Page Rank
Last week we saw quite an uproar when a number of prominent blogs had their Google Page Rank (Google’s measure of a site’s authority) dramatically lowered, presumably for engaging in the practice of selling text links to other sites. Today, Matt Cutts of Google has confirmed that the company does indeed penalize web sites that engage in the buying and selling of text links.

When Brand Companies Become Media Companies: Serious Implications
Have you noticed? More and more brand and other companies are becoming part-time media companies. This, of course, is yet another “unpleasant” development (from the media company perspective) inspired by the Internet that makes it harder to sell advertising. Is there a silver lining?

Online Marketers Joining Internet Privacy Efforts
People will soon be able to sign up for do-not-track lists, which will help shield their Web surfing habits from marketers eager to deliver specific ad pitches to them.

Is U.S. stuck in Internet’s slow lane?
NEW YORK - The United States is starting to look like a slowpoke on the Internet. Examples abound of countries that have faster and cheaper broadband connections, and more of their population connected to them.

‘Daylight’ false alarm: So, what time is it?
Some Americans are finding themselves behind the times thanks to a daylight saving shift that is confusing people and electronics. Daylight saving used to end on the last weekend in October. But Congress changed it to the first weekend in November this year in an effort to save power.

How AT&T Provides the FBI with Terror Suspect Leads
Anyone can read the documentation first hand, but the layman’s explanation seems to be that by use of several seemingly simple data-mining algorithms, they scan through call logs made on AT&T’s network that scan the connections between phone numbers. The process seems to work like a game of “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” game, where folks are judged by what the paper calls “guilt by association.”

Africa must get broadband to grow economies, summit says
KIGALI (AFP) - African countries must get broadband Internet connections if they are to attract foreign investment, a pan-African technology conference said Tuesday.

Cell Phone Radiation Suckers
The Aulterra Neutralizer sells in packs of three for $25 on the Web and at health-conscious stores such as Whole Foods, where the clientele—at least according to market research—is said to possess above-average intelligence… Physicists argue that Arm & Hammer baking soda would work equally as well at not soaking up radio waves, and at a fraction of the cost.

MIT researchers improve `tractor beam’
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Taking up the sci-fi staple of “tractor beams,” scientists have developed a way to use light to grab and move minuscule particles on a microchip. The research could lead to fine-grained biological sensors and other precisely built nanoscale devices.

Younger Veterans at Greater Suicide Risk
Study also found that post-traumatic stress disorder had a ‘protective’ effect

Vitamin D Won’t Help Prevent Most Cancers
Major study did find possible protection against colon tumors, however

Virus Shows Some Cancer-Killing Abilities
Results are promising but preliminary, experts caution.

Quality of Life Predicts Lung Cancer Survival
It was the single most important factor, researchers say

Almost 2 Million U.S. Vets Lack Health Insurance
Income levels bar many from VA health services, researcher says.

The Truth About Deadly ‘Superbugs’
[W]here do the harmful, drug-resistant nemeses come from? Experts think the answer lies in how we combat diseases with antibiotics.

Stolen artifacts returned to Greece
A stolen collection of about 100 artifacts dating back more than 7,000 years — including what appear to be very early human portraits — were displayed in Greece Tuesday, for the first time since being smuggled to Germany.

Melting Glacier Reveals Ancient Tree Stumps
Melting glaciers in Western Canada are revealing tree stumps up to 7,000 years old where the region’s rivers of ice have retreated to a historic minimum, a geologist said today.

Experts discover rare amphibian imprints
DENVER - A rock that sat untouched in a Pennsylvania museum’s fossil collection for years has rare full-body imprints of not just one, but three, ancient amphibians.

Oldest Known Jellyfish Fossils Found
The oldest known fossils of jellyfish have been found in rocks in Utah that are more than 500 million years old, a new study reports.

Space Station Solar Wing Rips in Orbit
HOUSTON — Two spacewalking astronauts reattached a massive solar power plant of the International Space Station (ISS) today, and inspected gears that orient its wing-like arrays toward the Sun.

Rare Event: Easy-to-See Comet Holmes
Skywatchers throughout the Northern Hemisphere report the newly visible Comet Holmes is a remarkable sight even under city lights. The comet, described in glowing terms by many observers, should continue to be visible to the naked eye for at least the next few weeks.

US astronomers spot biggest stellar-mass black hole
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US astronomers have discovered the biggest black hole orbiting a star 1.8 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia, with a record-setting mass of 24 to 33 times that of our Sun, NASA said Tuesday.

LA fire started by boy with matches
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. - A boy playing with matches started a fire in north Los Angeles County that consumed more than 38,000 acres and destroyed 21 homes last week, authorities said Tuesday.

Commuters Inhale Heavy Dose of Pollution
Driving is more hazardous than anyone knew: A heavy commuter inhales more pollution while driving than in the entire rest of the day, a new study finds.

Citigroup Report Says Automakers Can Profit from CAFE Standards
WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2007 — Anticipating legislation that will boost required gas mileage for cars in the United States, the banking giant has released a report showing that the auto industry can improve mileage and improve profits at the same time.

Merkel asks India to do more on climate change
NEW DELHI - German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged India, one of the world’s biggest polluters, to do more to combat climate change on Tuesday, saying her country was willing to help New Delhi make progress. Merkel, a former environment minister who has pushed global warming to the top of her international agenda, said rich nations and emerging economies needed to strike a balance over the amount of responsibility they need to shoulder to prevent climate change and not fight over it.

Norway upbeat on backing for CO2 storage aid
Norway voiced confidence on Tuesday it would gain European Union support for plans to fund technology to capture carbon dioxide and store it underground, even if such projects breach the bloc’s limits on public aid. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is seen as a way to cut emissions of greenhouse gasses blamed for global warming but projects are not economically viable without state aid.

Southeast drought leads to spat over lake
LAKE LANIER, Georgia (Reuters) - A large, man-made lake in north Georgia is at the center of a political storm over how to distribute water resources between three states in the face of the region’s worst drought in decades.
This is just the start of battles over water.

Tennessee applies for 2 nuclear reactors
WASHINGTON - The Tennessee Valley Authority filed an application Tuesday for a license to build and operate two new nuclear power reactors at a site in northern Alabama where it mothballed two reactor projects nearly two decades ago after investing billions of dollars.

Iran says documents show U.S. backing “terrorists”
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has access to evidence of U.S. support for terrorist groups in the Middle East, a senior Iranian official was quoted as saying on Sunday… The United States often accuses Iran of backing and training militias responsible for some of the bloodshed threatening to tear Iraq apart. Tehran denies the charge and blames the violence in Iraq on the presence of U.S. forces.

US: Iran seeks nuclear weapons
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States on Monday brushed aside the UN nuclear watchdog agency chief’s warning that there was no proof Iran seeks atomic weapons, and invited him to stay out of diplomacy with Tehran.

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Pollyticks

Secret move to upgrade air base for Iran attack plans
The US is secretly upgrading special stealth bomber hangars on the British island protectorate of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in preparation for strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, according to military sources.

Top U.S. General Wounded in Iraq
A U.S. brigadier general was wounded in a roadside bombing Monday in northern Baghdad, the U.S. military reported. He was the highest-ranking American officer to be hurt since the conflict began in March 2003. Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Dorko was in stable condition and was evacuated to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. His injuries were not life-threatening.

Suicide bombing kills 29 in Baqouba
BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber rode his bicycle into a crowd of police recruits in Baqouba on Monday, killing at least 29 people in a province that has become a battleground among U.S. forces, al-Qaida militants and Shiite radicals.

Iraqi Kurds reject ‘orders’ from Ankara, Turkey pounds rebels
SIRNAK, Turkey (AFP) - Iraq’s Kurdish leader dismissed the idea of taking “orders” from Ankara to crack down on Turkish Kurd rebel bases in his region as Turkey continued Tuesday to pound positions near their border.

Israel can’t cut power to Gaza - attorney general
JERUSALEM, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Israel’s attorney general told the government on Monday it could not cut electrical power to the Gaza Strip as part of its sanctions against the Hamas controlled territory, although he did approve other measures.

Egypt to build nuclear plants
CAIRO, Egypt - Egypt’s president announced plans Monday to build several nuclear power plants — the latest in a string of ambitious such proposals from moderate Arab countries. The United States immediately welcomed the plan, in a sharp contrast to what it called nuclear “cheating” by Iran.

Coalition soldier, Afghan spy chief killed
KABUL (AFP) - A US-led coalition soldier was killed in a military operation in southern Afghanistan Tuesday, while an Afghan spy chief and three colleagues died in a roadside bombing, officials said.

Russia to file Arctic claim to U.N. this year: report
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will file a claim to the gigantic mineral wealth of the Arctic seabed with the United Nations by the end of the year, Russia’s natural resources minister was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

Australia’s Howard claws back election support
SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian Prime Minister John Howard and his government have clawed back some support but are still facing a likely defeat in elections next month, a new opinion poll showed Tuesday.

Envoys to meet Darfur rebels over talks boycott
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Darfur rebels boycotting peace talks in Libya said on Tuesday they would meet envoys from an African Union-U.N. mediation team but specified conditions that gave little hope they would change their positions.

UN: Try or release enemy combatants
UNITED NATIONS - A U.N. human rights expert is calling on the United States to prosecute or release suspects detained as “unlawful enemy combatants” and to move quickly to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.

Congress Must Re-Assume War Powers, Lawmakers Say
(CNSNews.com) - Who has the primary authority to wage war on the behalf of the United States: the commander-in-chief or the Congress? It’s a question that’s been raised several times in history, and one that Congress thought was settled by the adoption of the Vietnam-era War Powers Act of 1973. Now sponsors of a resolution to amend that law hope to settle that question permanently and make it clear that the president must always seek the consent of Congress before getting the nation involved in armed conflict or war.
I agree with these Republican congressmen, and I hope their effort succeeds.  But the Constitution specifically states that the ability to declare war is a function of the Congress, not the President.  So why does Congress have to pass a law saying the same thing?

Abizaid Warns of 50-year U.S. Presence in Middle East
Retired Gen. John Abizaid, the former commander of the U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in a 27-country region that covers much of the Middle East, said Monday that it might take half a century before the U.S. military could leave the region.

Immunity Deal Hampers Blackwater Inquiry
The State Department promised Blackwater USA bodyguards immunity from prosecution in its investigation of last month’s deadly shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians, The Associated Press has learned. The immunity deal has delayed a criminal inquiry into the Sept. 16 killings and could undermine any effort to prosecute security contractors for their role in the incident that has infuriated the Iraqi government.
Do not think for one moment that this wasn’t on purpose.

Bush: ‘That’s How I Work’
[Secretary of State Condoleezza] Rice agreed that “there is a hole” in U.S. law that has prevented prosecution of contractors. But did we really need an apparent massacre to point out this giant loophole and its perils? As it happens, President Bush has been aware of the hole for some time — and deserves some of the blame for not fixing it earlier. Confronted about it in public more than a year ago, Bush literally laughed off the question — and then, tellingly, described his response as a case study in how he does his job.
Click through for links to a transcript of the speech and to the video.

Democrats urge Bush to select VA secretary
Senate Democratic leaders Monday urged President Bush to pick a nominee to run the Department of Veterans Affairs, saying that the agency is without leadership “at a time when the agency needs strong, stable direction the most.”

Bush May Recess-Appoint Homophobic Surgeon General Nominee Who Wants To Cure Gays
President Bush’s Surgeon General nominee James Holsinger appeared before the Senate health committee on July 12, forced to defend his controversial positions on homosexuality. Yet three months later, Holsinger is “no closer to becoming the nation’s next surgeon general.”… Holsinger’s lengthy delay indicates that Bush may be angling to recess appoint Holsinger.

Money? We don’t need no stinkin’ money!
The top official for consumer product safety says his agency doesn’t need additional funds to strengthen the agency. On the surface, it looks like a bureaucrat is rejecting a chance to milk taxpayers. Or it could be an attempt to weaken the agency’s role in protecting consumers. Funny how those things work.

Democrats consider more money for wars
WASHINGTON - Democrats are debating whether to approve $50 billion to $70 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan, less than half of President Bush’s $196 billion request but enough to keep the wars afloat for several more months.

White House faces increased pressure in e-mail lawsuit.
The National Security Archive filed a motion seeking “expedited discovery against the Executive Office of the President to find out what e-mails are missing from the White House e-mail system or backup tapes.” The motion is meant to ensure that the White House cannot “render judicial preservation decisions meaningless.” The nonpartisan watchdog group CREW also has a pending lawsuit against the White House and other executive agencies over the missing e-mails.

GAO Investigation Reveals Gaps in FDA Drug Reviews for Seniors
Rep. Henry A. Waxman and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy [Monday] released a new GAO report on FDA’s inclusion of seniors in clinical drug trials for prescription drugs. The report finds that in several key areas, FDA rules for drug approval fail to guarantee the safety and effectiveness of drugs for seniors.

Court to rule on Exxon Valdez verdict
The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to rule on the legality of the $2.5 billion punitive damages award against Exxon Mobil Corp… The Court limited its review to issues involving maritime law, declining to hear a claim that the verdict was excessive under the Constitution’s Due Process Clause. The Court also refused to hear a cross-appeal, seeking to reinstate an earlier $5 billion damages award.

Muslim says copies of Quran confiscated
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration urged the Supreme Court on Monday to bar a Muslim inmate from suing prison officials who allegedly confiscated two copies of his Quran and prayer rug.