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Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com

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Romney continues assault on Democrats
Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney took aim at Democratic rivals on Sunday, calling them all unprepared to lead the country and comparing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's economic plan to that of Socialist Karl Marx.

When he’s not engaging in hate speech himself, Romney shows his approval for the hate speech of his fans.
TMZ.com (posted with permission)

The World

3 car bombs kill 12, injure 19 in Iraq
BAGHDAD - Three parked cars exploded in a predominantly Shiite area in Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 12 people and wounding 19, police said.

Iraq explodes in celebration of its soccer team
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Police danced at checkpoints and gunmen fired their weapons in celebration Saturday as thousands of jubilant Iraqis poured into the streets of Baghdad after their national soccer team's 2-0 victory over Vietnam in a quarterfinal match of the Asia Cup in Bangkok, Thailand. The impromptu citywide parade lifted the capital's wartime gloom and let Iraqis forget momentarily the daily frustrations of their lives.
Maybe that’s the answer to the sectarian strife. Make sure they have a good soccer team.—Caro

General seeks troop cut in northern Iraq
BAGHDAD - In a move that could portend a strategy change, the commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq said Sunday he has proposed reducing his troop levels and shifting next year to missions focused less on direct combat.
It’s much more likely to be a head fake than a strategy change.—Caro

Iraq minister: New U.S.-Iran talks set
BAGHDAD - A new round of U.S.-Iran talks focusing on the deteriorating security situation in Iraq will be held Tuesday in Baghdad, the Iraqi foreign minister said.

Mob wars hit new heights in Israel
JERUSALEM - When an explosion goes off on a busy Israeli street these days, it seems as likely to be a mob hit as a Palestinian attack.

More than 20 Taliban killed in Afghan clash: US coalition
KABUL (AFP) - The US-led military coalition in Afghanistan killed more than 20 Taliban militants in a prolonged clash Sunday in troubled Helmand province, a coalition statement said.

Pakistan kills 19 militants, denies Osama bin Laden claim
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) - Pakistani troops killed 19 militants in clashes near the Afghan border, the army said Sunday, as Islamabad denied a US claim that Osama bin Laden was alive in the same lawless area.

New Leaders Say Pensive French Think Too Much
In the country of the Enlightenment, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government advocates hard work, not musing.
Oh yes, thinking is very bad. They should just go with their gut. Like George Bush.—Caro

The Nation

Senator Feingold To Introduce Bush Censure Resolution In Senate “Soon”
Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) spoke with Tim Russert on this morning’s “Meet The Press” and stated he plans to introduce a resolution to censure President Bush in a few days. When asked if the Senate Democratic leadership is supporting him, Feingold only went so far as to say that he has spoken with them and that they are working with him to put the resolution together.

Reid: GOP Protecting Bush Not Troops
After Republicans senators blocked a vote on setting a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, D-Nev. said they are in effect, supporting President George W. Bush's policy in Iraq.

Senate tied in knots by filibusters
WASHINGTON — This year Senate Republicans are threatening filibusters to block more legislation than ever before, a pattern that's rooted in — and could increase — the pettiness and dysfunction in Congress. The trend has been evolving for 30 years. The reasons behind it are too complex to pin on one party. But it has been especially pronounced since the Democrats' razor-thin win in last year's election, giving them effectively a 51-49 Senate majority, and the Republicans' exile to the minority.
Click through to see a graph.—Caro

Official takes blame for passport mess
WASHINGTON - The current passport mess is rare among government foul-ups: A top federal official has publicly taken the blame and expressed regret.
Yes, but will he be executed? That is the question.—Caro

Lawmaker presses OSC chief to hand over e-mails
In a letter Friday, Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, asked Special Counsel Scott Bloch to hand over certain e-mails sent from his personal AOL account that relate to official OSC matters. The e-mails would help determine whether Bloch conducted work through personal e-mail or engaged in prohibited lobbying, Davis said.

National Intel Director: Bush Admin. Manipulated Iraq Intel ‘Because They Didn’t Like The Answers’
In Stephen Hayes’s upcoming biography on Dick Cheney, he writes that the current Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell appears to side with “those who believe that the administration manipulated intelligence on Iraq for political purposes before the 2003 invasion.”

Sagging ratings may not hurt Dems
Dismal approval ratings for the Democratic-led Congress even worse than President Bush's don't seem to be a threat to the party in next year's elections.

Donors give to multiple candidates
WASHINGTON - Several thousand political contributors have donated to two or more presidential candidates this year, an overlap in giving that tilts decidedly to the Democrats.

Economy & Finance

Federal minimum wage to rise on Tuesday
WASHINGTON - Fast-food waitress Fawn Townsend of Raleigh, N.C., knows exactly what she is going to do if her salary goes up with Tuesday's increase in the federal minimum wage: start saving for a car so she can find a second job to make ends meet.

CBO: Tax Cuts’ Impact Has Faded
The stimulative effect of Bush’s tax cuts has worn off and the supply-side benefits are “small,” the Congressional Budget Office says… It currently expects this year’s deficit to be between $150 billion and $200 billion, implying that without the tax cuts, the budget would probably be in surplus this year.
Get that?

Rich nations backlash against globalisation
Large majorities of people in the US and in Europe want higher taxation for the rich and even pay caps for corporate executives to counter what they believe are unjustified rewards and the negative effects of globalisation. Viewing globalisation as an overwhelmingly negative force, citizens of rich countries are looking to governments to cushion the blows they perceive have come from the liberalisation of their economies to trade with emerging countries.

Media

Permanent link to MTA daily media news

If you are coming to YearlyKos and want to get together, let me know. I won’t be attending the convention, but I live in downtown Chicago, and would love to meet you.

Debates to Connect Candidates and Voters Online
The first of a new kind of presidential debate is scheduled for tonight, one in which members of the general public pose questions to the candidates via homemade video… CNN and YouTube are sponsoring the debate, which will take place among the eight Democratic presidential candidates. They are sponsoring a similar debate for the nine Republican candidates on Sept. 17.

Topic for discussion: Testing social policy
(W)hy don't we do randomised controlled trials on social policy?... A while ago we (in Britain) introduced Drug Treatment and Testing Orders, under which offenders attend a clinic for rehabilitation instead of serving a custodial sentence… But because there was no randomised trial to see if they faired better than those sent to prison nobody really knows whether DTTOs work or not, for reducing re-offending, or drug taking, or anything.

Frameshop: Secret "Madison Ave" Iraq Report Will Enrage Public
(R)ather than looking for ways to get out of Iraq, bring our soldiers home, and redeploy the military for smarter national security--the Pentagon is ignoring the will of the American public altogether and seeking ways to re-brand the occupation. If ever there was a piece of writing that should enrage Americans, this report (on marketing the Iraq War) is it.

Mythbuster: NBC’s David Gregory: The Angry Left Is Not ‘Very Serious And Tough’ On Iraq
Gregory is echoing the conventional, but deeply flawed, thinking that it is only the “angry left” who want to change course and redeploy from Iraq. In fact, 68 percent of Americans support withdrawal from Iraq within a year. Gregory suggests that progressives have not been thinking seriously about how to transition responsibly out of Iraq. In fact, the Center for American Progress introduced such a plan in 2005, and has recently adapted the plan to respond to the deteriorating situation in Iraq.

Mythbuster: Hip replacement hoohah
(Last) Monday, Paul Krugman pretty much left the iconic “hip replacements in Canada” story for dead. Yes, Americans have a somewhat shorter wait than Canadians, he said—but most of those operations are done as part of our own Medicare system! “That's right,” Kruggers explained. “(T)he hip-replacement gap is actually a comparison of two government health insurance systems… The alleged virtues of private insurance have nothing to do with it.”

Clinton's Letter to the Pentagon...
(S)everal mainstream outlets joined in grossly misreporting what Clinton said in her May 23 letter to the Pentagon, falsely accusing her of demanding that the Pentagon draw up plans for withdrawal… In fact, it's not even close to what Clinton said in her letter, which makes me wonder if any of the reporters actually bothered to read the letter in question.

Bob Woodward vs. David Brooks on Iraq Pullout
On "Meet the Press," challenged on an assertion that 10,000 Iraqis will die every month if the U.S. pulls out, The New York Times columnist admits he just picked the number "out of the air."

The Ivory Tower
David Ignatius wrote in 2006 that the media's failures in the run up to the Iraq War were excusable, as "the media were victims of their own professionalism," if you can believe that. He explained that "journalistic rules" prevented them from challenging the administration's claims… Two weeks ago, however, Ignatius decided that the country would be better off if the Democrats and Republicans stopped disagreeing. "Political disharmony," he wrote, is bad for America… That would leave it up to us, but David Broder followed Ignatius with a column explaining that any criticism the public might have should simply be ignored, again, for the good of the country. In other words, the view from the ivory tower at the Washington Post is that nobody should question the president. This president.

Technology & Science

Big subsidies for big phone companies
A decade-old telephone tax intended to help bring affordable service to rural areas has instead turned into something quite different: a bottomless and politically protected well of cash for cell phone companies that do big business in rural America.

Commontales.com Enhances Web Site For Creating Digital Time Capsules
Brothers Tom and Michael Kane run Commontales.com, which allows families and groups of friends to preserve their history for future generations.

Microchips in humans spark privacy debate
News that Americans have, for the first time, been injected with electronic identifiers to perform their jobs has fired up a debate over the proliferation of ever-more-precise tracking technologies and their ability to erode privacy in the digital age.

New Fingerprint Technique Could Reveal Diet, Sex, Race
A victim might not care if a murderer is a smoker or a vegetarian. But having such knowledge could help police solve a case. Details like this could one day be at their fingertips if a new fingerprinting technique pans out as expected.

In-store Clinics Give Doctors Heartburn
In June, the American Medical Association prepared to make life tough for the medical clinics cropping up in supermarkets and drugstores around the country… But instead of calling on the government to create regulatory roadblocks for in-store clinics, many health experts and consumer advocates believe doctors should take lessons from them.

Simple Lifestyles Changes Can Produce Big Payoffs
FRIDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- By now, everyone knows the drill: Quit smoking, eat better, exercise, and you'll get healthier. Now, two new studies uncover the wisdom in that tried-and-true advice. And they find that success may come quicker than most people realize.

Environment

Organic Farming Can Feed the World
Researchers from the University of Michigan found that in developed countries, yields were almost equal on organic and conventional farms. In developing countries, food production could double or triple using organic methods.

Study Shows Plug-In Hybrids Could Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
If motorists used rechargeable "plug-in" hybrid-electric vehicles in large numbers, the U.S. could see a significant drop in greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century, says a study released Thursday.

FPL Energy Signs Deal With Citrus Energy For First Of Its Kind Ethanol Plant
FPL Energy, LLC, a subsidiary of FPL Group, has announced that it has signed a letter of intent with Citrus Energy, of Boca Raton, FL, to develop the first ever commercial scale citrus peel to ethanol plant.
Bagasse, left over from sugar production, could also be used to make ethanol. And the stalks and leaves of other agricultural products. The use of the trash, instead of the food, could help subsidize food prices, instead of increasing them.—Caro

Spain approves installation of offshore wind farms
MADRID (AFP) - The government of Spain on Friday approved legislation that will allow offshore wind parks to be set up along the nation's vast coastline in an effort to boost the use of renewable energy sources.

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