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Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com

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Mideast Peace Talks End, No Progress
A summit between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Israeli and Palestinian leaders has come to an end with nothing to show in the way of progress.

All Hat No Cattle

The World

Car bombs kill 11 people in Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Car bombs killed at least 11 people in Baghdad on Tuesday as militants show increasing defiance to a major security operation in the capital.

Brazen Pre-Dawn Attack on U.S. Outpost in Iraq Kills 3, Injures 17
BAGHDAD, Feb. 19 -- A U.S. military facility north of Baghdad was targeted Monday by suicide bombers and other armed men who killed three American soldiers and wounded 17 in an unusually brazen attack. The facility, a former Iraqi police station in the town of Tarmiyah, came under attack shortly before dawn.

Hamas official: U.S. 'sowing sedition'
DAMASCUS, Syria - A senior Hamas official on Monday accused the United States of "sowing sedition" among the Palestinians hours after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held a rare summit with the Israeli prime minister and Palestinian president.

Suicide bomber targets Afghan hospital
KABUL, Afghanistan - A suicide attacker disguised as a health worker blew himself up at a hospital opening ceremony in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, wounding at least two NATO soldiers and a hospital staffer, the provincial governor said.

Pakistan dismisses "absurd" Qaeda report
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan has dismissed "absurd" US claims that Al-Qaeda has established compounds in a remote tribal area to train small groups of operatives for possible attacks on the West.

India, Pakistan seek peace after bombing
DEWANA, India - Leaders of India and Pakistan pressed ahead Monday with their peace process, hours after twin bombs — apparently intended to disrupt their relations — sparked a fire that killed 67 people aboard a train that links the two rivals.

North Korea: And There's More! A Deal That Hard-Liners Hate
Hard-liners already loathe the new deal in which Kim Jong Il's regime has agreed to halt activity at its main nuclear plant in return for emergency oil supplies. John Bolton, who recently departed as U.S. envoy to the United Nations, told NEWSWEEK: "We violated the principle that we don't reward bad behavior."

Moroccans lured to fight in Iraq
In the Arab world, Tetouan, Morocco, is about as far as you can get from Iraq. But for many young men here, the call to join what they view as a holy war resonates loudly across the 3,000-mile divide.

Sudan president to hold Libya talks with Darfur rebels
KHARTOUM (AFP) - ) - Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir is to travel to the Libyan capital for talks with Darfur rebel factions that refused to join a 2006 peace deal for the restive western region, official media announced.

Witnesses: 12 killed in Somalia shelling
MOGADISHU, Somalia - Mortar rounds and rockets hit Somalia's capital early Tuesday in a series of attacks that killed 12 people, including a 4-year-old boy, and wounded more than 40 others, doctors and witnesses said.

The Nation

Despite setback, Democrats vow to pressure Bush on Iraq
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Senate Democrats, thwarted in their bid to force a debate on President George W. Bush's planned US troop buildup in Iraq, were expected to step up their pressure on the administration in order to force it to change its strategy in the war.

Bush vows cooperation on health care
Hoping to gain support for his health care proposal, President Bush pledged Saturday to reach across party lines to reform the nation's medical insurance system so more of the 46 million uninsured Americans can afford coverage.
Cooperation? Really? See below. —Caro

Conservatives to Bush: Issue More Executive Orders
Some conservatives argue that even if Bush somehow regains his political footing, whatever he might work out with the Democratic majority in Congress wouldn't be very good legislation, so he should go the executive-order route and bypass Congress altogether.

McCain: Rumsfeld was one of the worst
BLUFFTON, S.C. - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Monday the war in Iraq has been mismanaged for years and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will be remembered as one of the worst in history.
And we all remember, Senator McCain, how bravely you criticized Rumsfeld’s mismanagement for all those years. Not! —Caro

Giuliani praises conservative judges
RICHMOND, Va. - Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani, who favors abortion rights, said Friday if elected in 2008 he wouldn't hesitate to appoint anti-abortion conservatives such as Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito to the federal bench.

Romney defends position on stem cells
SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Monday defended his opposition to most embryonic stem cell research despite its scientific promise to cure diseases like multiple sclerosis that afflicts his wife, Ann.

Campaign Strengthens For a Voting Paper Trail
Efforts are intensifying in Congress to pass legislation that would require electronic touch-screen voting machines used in federal elections to provide paper trails that could be checked in the case of a recount. The new momentum is the result of lingering concerns about the machines as the 2008 presidential primaries fast approach, as well as strong support for changes by the new Democratic majority, with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chair of the Rules Committee, taking a leading role.

Walter Reed's Former Aid Director Investigated
While Michael Wagner was being paid to provide a vital service to wounded soldiers, he was also soliciting donations for his own new charity.

Closing arguments set in CIA leak case
WASHINGTON - Prosecutors who spent more than three years on the CIA leak case, like the defense lawyers on the other wide, have been given just three hours to make their final arguments to jurors.

As New Jersey Opens Door to Civil Unions, Couples Rush In
Couples around the state have been waiting with a New Year’s Eve like anticipation for 12:01 a.m. Monday since Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed the law allowing civil unions, though many were still disappointed with the term, preferring “same-sex marriage” or “spousal union.”

Economy & Business

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Are Little Changed; GE Falls, XM Climbs in Europe
U.S. stock-index futures were little changed before a report this week that may show whether inflation slowed last month.

Oil Trades Little Changed After Falling on Mild US Weather
Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil was little changed in New York after falling on speculation US fuel inventories are sufficient to meet late-winter heating demand in the world's largest energy consumer.

E*Trade launches pilot global trading platform
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Online bank and brokerage E*Trade Financial Corp. said on Tuesday it has launched a pilot global trading platform that gives U.S. retail customers electronic access to foreign stocks and currencies in international markets.


In JetBlue's wake, a push for fliers' rights
Thousands of passengers were stranded in New York. Flights were scrubbed at airports around the eastern US But the biggest fallout from JetBlue Airways' monumental meltdown over the last week may land on Capitol Hill.

Media

'Post' Gets Results from Walter Reed Hospital Probe
A nation's shame: Front page stories in The Washington Post on Sunday and Monday exposef dreadful conditions, and neglect, at the supposed "crown jewel of military medicine"-- Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Now, in Part III on Tuesday, the reporters say they've produced some action.

When the 'Surge' Might Have Been Stopped -- Editorial Pages Punted
Six weeks ago, when the Iraq escalation might have been deterred, newspapers failed to take a stand. Now many oppose it, when it's way too late.

Unbearably, painfully, depressingly funny
pretty much sums up what has happened to our country for the last six years. Evidence and information which reflects poorly on the Leader is suspect because it comes from the likes of Dana Priest, and things cannot be believed until Fox News' Geraldo Rivera -- currently on "the Anna Nicole beat" -- is able to look into things and tell us the real story.

The FOX News War on America: Teachers Unions more dangerous than Al Qaeda.
While the FOX News conservatives endlessly complain about liberals and Democrats “undermining” this country by exercising their Constitutional right to dissent, there’s no smear too disgraceful for a conservative to throw the other way. Last night on Hannity & Colmes (2/19/07), FOX News fave Neal Boortz announced that teachers unions are more dangerous than Al Qaeda.

Tribune sues Fox News over new "Red Eye" late-night show
Tribune says the new Fox News show and its website "contain nearly identical content" to Tribune's free weekday RedEye tabloid and its website. "Viewers are likely to assume Fox and the RedEye products owned by Tribune are collaborating, thereby causing confusion," says Tribune's suit.

Newspapers might just beat broadcast news at its own game
"At their best, the newspapers' online videos are, minute for minute, superior to TV news," says Kurt Andersen. "Given the dumb-and-dumber choices, I can easily imagine newspapers' Web-video portals becoming the TV-journalism destinations of choice for smart people -- that is, in the 21st century, the dominant nineteenth-century journalistic institution, newspapers, might beat the dominant twentieth-century institution, TV, at the premium part of its own game."

Hurdles loom for XM, Sirius combination
NEW YORK - XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., rivals in the fledgling satellite radio industry, have agreed to combine in a deal that investors hope will result in lower costs, assuming it overcomes significant regulatory hurdles.

YouTube Irks Viacom and Seeks IP Attorney
Viacom is up in arms over a new YouTube proposal, and Google is searching for an attorney to help the company tackle the media-sharing issues that the search giant inherited with its controversial YouTube acquisition.

Study: Ad 'Avoider' Demo Tracked, Profiled
Brace yourselves, ad agency folks. Despite the love and pride you feel for your slick 30-second spots, your flashy rich media banners, your brilliant media placement strategies—there are people out there that don’t like your work all that much, and they’ll do whatever they can to avoid it. That’s the take-away from a wide ranging study conducted jointly by Microsoft and Starcom.

Technology & Science

The Most Annoying Things About Windows Vista
From screens that mysteriously black out to search that's limited by default, here are the things that really bug us about Microsoft's new operating system.

Surgeons who play video games more skilled: study
CHICAGO (Reuters Life!) - Playing video games appears to help surgeons with skills that truly count: how well they operate using a precise technique, a study said on Monday.

Psychology erases the idea of children as 'blank slates'
Developmental Science, celebrating its 10th anniversary with a series of free essays, is devoted to overcoming such past misconceptions, looking to childhood for insights into psychology. This edition of the journal explores how evolution and environment affect genetic influences in the growing child.

Genetic clues to autism could lead to treatment
WASHINGTON — Scientists revealed the most extensive findings to date on the genetics of autism Sunday, pinpointing two new genetic links that may predispose children to the disorder. The scientists hope that nailing down the genetics of autism will lead to better diagnosis and drugs. They announced they were launching a new phase in the research to map genes responsible for autism.

Why Humans (and Baboons) Stress So Much
People stress about family, health, jobs and even the future. The average beast, on the other hand, does not worry much about these things. So why do baboons stress? The answer sheds light on human stress.

Being Breast-Fed May Be Key to Success
(HealthDay News) -- People who were breast-fed as babies are more likely to climb the social ladder in adulthood, compared to those who were bottle-fed, British research finds.


Why Women Have Fewer Babies
The number of children a woman in America has in her lifetime declined during the past two centuries, and it's not just because of the birth control pill.

Tiny frog in amber may be 25M years old
MEXICO CITY - A miner in the state of Chiapas found a tiny tree frog that has been preserved in amber for 25 million years, a researcher said. If authenticated, the preserved frog would be the first of its kind found in Mexico, according to David Grimaldi, a biologist and curator at the American Museum of Natural History, who was not involved in the find.

Star shatters spinning speed record
A star found spinning more than a thousand times every second is thought to be the fastest rotating star known.

Environment

World's Largest Science Group Chimes in on Climate Change
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)—The world's largest general scientific society on Sunday joined the concern over global climate change, calling it a "growing threat to society.'' "The evidence is clear: global climate change caused by human activities is occurring now and is a growing threat to society,'' the AAAS said at its annual meeting.

Heat converted to power using organic molecules
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have successfully generated electricity from heat by trapping organic molecules between metal nanoparticles, an achievement that could pave the way toward the development of a new source for energy.

Australia to ban incandescent bulbs
Australia will be the world s first country to ban incandescent lightbulbs in a bid to curb Greenhouse gas emissions, with the government saying on Tuesday they would be phased out within three years.

Tires Meant to Foster Sea Life Choke It Instead
In 1972, tires were used to create an artificial reef off Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but decades later the idea has proved a huge ecological blunder.