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Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com

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Bush signs terrorism law
CAMP DAVID, Md. - President Bush on Sunday signed into law an expansion of the government's power to eavesdrop on foreign terror suspects without the need for warrants.
Problem is, I don’t think the law specifies that the eavesdropees have to be either foreign or terror suspects. Bush can listen in on anyone he damn well pleases. Bush bullied the Democrats, once again, to cover his behind. And they did, once again.—Caro

The Heretik

The World

U.S. troops kill Iraq shrine bomber
BAGHDAD - U.S. troops killed the al-Qaida mastermind (according to the U.S. military) of the latest bombing at a prized Shiite shrine, and at least 13 people died when mortars rained down on their Baghdad neighborhood, officials said Sunday.

Iraqi power grid nearing collapse
BAGHDAD - Iraq's power grid is on the brink of collapse because of insurgent sabotage, rising demand, fuel shortages and provinces that are unplugging local power stations from the national grid, officials said Saturday.

PKK rebels kill Turkish villager for denying food
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A villager was killed by Kurdish guerrillas in southeastern Turkey after refusing to give them food and supplies, state news agency Anatolian said on Sunday.

Iran demands right to nuclear technology
BERLIN - Iran might eventually consider suspending uranium enrichment but Tehran's right to the technology must be recognized, Iran's top nuclear negotiator said in an interview released Saturday.

Afghanistan poppy cultivation skyrockets
Afghanistan will produce another record poppy harvest this year that cements its status as the world's near-sole supplier of the heroin source, yet a furious debate over how to reverse the trend is stalling proposals to cut the crop, U.S. officials say.

China says faces arduous food safety task
BEIJING (Reuters) - China faces a long and difficult task to improve food safety, but global cooperation is the only way to do it, official media said on Sunday after yet another week of global anxiety about the quality of Chinese goods.

British livestock exports halted
The strain of foot-and-mouth disease found on a farm in southern England was identical to one used at a nearby laboratory, Britain's environment agency said Saturday. Britain banned exports of livestock, meat and milk Saturday after the outbreak of highly infectious foot-and-mouth disease.

UN chief: Momentum building in Darfur
UNITED NATIONS - Momentum is building in the effort to find a political solution to the violence in Sudan's Darfur region, but until hostilities on the ground cease, the quest to find a political settlement "will not succeed," Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a new report.

The Nation

Weapons Given to Iraq Are Missing
The Pentagon has lost track of about 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005, according to a new government report, raising fears that some of those weapons have fallen into the hands of insurgents fighting U.S. forces in Iraq.

House approves taxes on oil companies
WASHINGTON - Declaring a new direction in energy policy, the House on Saturday approved $16 billion in taxes on oil companies, while providing billions of dollars in tax breaks and incentives for renewable energy and conservation efforts.

House approves Pentagon funds, holds fire on Iraq
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives early on Sunday approved more money for the Pentagon but not the unpopular Iraq war, which is expected to be the subject of a major legislative clash this fall.

Gonzales still at odds with Congress
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales late Friday declined to provide his congressional critics with information on whether he misled Congress in sworn testimony related to his department's purge of federal prosecutors.

Nunn seeks independent candidate
WASHINGTON - Former Democratic Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia said Friday he is frustrated with the direction of the presidential race and acknowledged talking with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and others about an independent challenge to the major parties.

Giuliani’s former anti-terrorism chief voices stern criticism.
Rudy Guiliani’s former emergency management director, Jerome Hauer, blamed the former mayor for “locating the city’s crisis control room in the World Trade Center complex, even though it was a known terrorist target after the 1993 truck bomb attack which killed six people at the site.” Hauer said Giuliani rejected a facility in Brooklyn in favor of because “the mayor himself made clear that the site had to be walking distance from City Hall.” He added, “Rudy would make a terrible president and that is why I am speaking now.”

Even in Minnesota: When Domes Attack
Groundbreaking for (Carl) Pohlad's monument to corporate greed and political graft was supposed to be on Thursday, August 2nd, but the plans were hastily scuttled. The irony was simply too much for even these assorted scoundrels to bear. To celebrate the fleecing of the public to the tune of half a billion dollars - over 300 dollars out of the pockets of every man woman and child - while bodies have still yet to be recovered from the fallen bridge, would have been monstrous.

Medicare audits spark protest that nudges Feinstein
WASHINGTON -- California lawmakers are questioning whether an auditing company in which San Francisco investor Richard Blum, the husband of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, has a major financial stake is rejecting Medicare claims at California rehabilitation hospitals to reap millions of dollars in profits at the expense of patient care.
This article is from back in May, but I missed it then. It’s just like a John Grisham or Charles Dickens novel. Thanks to Bryan Zepp Jamieson.—Caro

Media

Permanent link to MTA daily media news

Under the Bridge
Keith Olbermann had on Air America’s Rachel Maddow to discuss the meta-ramifications of our crumbling infrastructure, as evidenced by the collapsed bridge in MN. “There aren’t Republican bridges and there aren’t Democratic bridges and there aren’t Republican sewers and Democratic levees. We’re a country that, as a whole, is paying this incredible, deadly price for a brand of American conservatism that hates and demeans government… And while they may be benefiting from it politically, we’re all paying the price for it in terms of a country that’s just falling apart. It’s a national disgrace.”
Click through to watch the video.—Caro

On Responsibility, War Guilt and Intellectuals
Noam Chomsky: “Tom Wicker is a famous example, one of the ‘left commentators’ of the New York Times. He would get very angry when critics would tell him he’s conforming to power interests and that he’s keeping within the doctrinal framework of the media, which goes back to their corporate structure and so on. And he would answer, very angrily—and correctly—that nobody tells him what to say. He wrote anything he wanted—which is absolutely true. But if he wasn’t writing the things he did, he wouldn’t have a column in the New York Times.”

NYT on Housing Market Meltdown Scenarios
The New York Times has a nice set of graphics outlining the factors in the housing market that provided the basis for the bubble and how this bubble could deflate in the months ahead. The NYT has been far better than the rest of the media in alerting the public to the dangers of the housing bubble, although its coverage was still not appropriate to the enormity of the problem.

Debts and Deficits: Is the Post a Serious Newspaper?
(A Washington Post) Outlook piece by visiting scholar Michael Zielenziger tells readers that Japan’s “fiscal deficit tops 170 percent of gross domestic product.” Actually Japan’s fiscal deficit is less than 2 percent of GDP… Obviously Mr. Zielensiger was referring to Japan’s government debt, the accumulation of all prior deficits, which is more than 170 percent of GDP… It is worth noting that the mistake is consistent with the demographic crisis story that is a regular feature of the Washington Post editorial and news pages… I would ask whether the Post is as careless when printing columns that disagree with its editorial position on the impact of aging populations, but there really isn’t any basis for making such an assessment.

Stand-Alone News Brands Are Doomed
A News Corp.-owned Wall Street Journal begs a question: In a world where the attention of consumers and hence advertisers is divided among video games, "American Idol" and LOLCats, can a business built solely to deliver news -- especially long, serious articles about complicated topics -- remain independent and successful?

Bridge Disaster Revives a Quiet Web Site, Making It a Source for Original Reporting
When the I-35W bridge collapsed last week in Minneapolis, staff members at nearby Internet Broadcasting revived a nearly defunct Web site to publish their coverage.

Democrats court liberal bloggers
Plunging headlong into the Internet era, Democratic presidential candidates on Saturday fought for the support of powerful and polarizing liberal bloggers by promising universal health care, aggressive government spending and dramatic change from the Bush era.

Wikiversity Gains Momentum
The online collaboration that has made Wikipedia one of the most used sources of information on the Internet is also being used to build a school and offer classes across the online world, and the project is taking off.

Technology & Science

Running It All off the Web
New Web-based Office-like suites let you do everything from your browser, usually free of charge

Think Your Dog Is Smart? Its Collar May Be Even Smarter
Collars with Global Positioning System units, motion sensors or other additions help owners keep track of their pets the high-tech way.

Simple method detects cervical cancer
LONDON - A cheap method to detect cervical cancer using vinegar, cotton gauze and a bright light could save millions of women in the developing world, experts reported Friday.

Dirt digger rocketing toward Mars
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A robotic dirt and ice digger rocketed toward Mars on Saturday, beginning a 422 million-mile journey that NASA hopes will culminate next spring in the first ever landing within the red planet's Arctic Circle.

Environment

Europe: No. 1 in Sustainable Energy
The EC is committed to policies that include subsidies for alternative energy and encourage investment in new technologies

Senators Line Up Behind Economy-Wide Approach to Slow Global Warming
Senators are lining up behind a carbon trading plan to slow global warming, with the aim of cutting 70 percent of U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by 2050.

Environmentalists Allege Political Meddling with EPA Smog Analysis
The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday released an analysis of its new proposal to reduce smog levels that shows higher economic costs -- but potentially more lives saved -- the more stringent the regulation is.

Hot Rock Heat Costs Compared
Hot rock heat mining could provide energy at competitive prices, according to a recent study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The power cost is expected to vary from site to site, depending mainly on geological conditions, experts said.

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