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Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com

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Congress to call for troop withdrawal beginning in October
WASHINGTON - Democrats in Congress put finishing touches Monday on the Iraq war-spending bill that they expect to send to President Bush later this week - including a call to withdraw most American combat forces starting no later than Oct. 1.

The Heretik

The World

Iraq suicide bomber kills nine US soldiers
A suicide car bomber struck a US military outpost north of Baghdad, killing nine soldiers and wounding 20 others, in the deadliest attack on American ground forces in 16 months.

U.S. reconsidering plan to wall off Baghdad neighborhoods
The future of a U.S. military plan to erect concrete walls around Baghdad neighborhoods was in doubt Monday amid a growing outcry from Iraqis who said the barriers would fuel sectarian discord.

Al-Maliki support eroding in Iraq
A broad range of prominent Iraqi lawmakers say they have lost confidence in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's ability to reconcile the country's warring factions. A leading Kurdish lawmaker said al-Maliki should resign.

Iraqi students saddened by Virginia Tech
BAGHDAD - Students in Baghdad, where universities have been hard hit by violence, said Monday they were saddened by last week's massacre at Virginia Tech and hung up a banner to express their solidarity with "our brothers in humanity and in pursuing knowledge."

Hamas: Rockets fired at Israel
Hamas militants on Tuesday fired rockets and mortar shells toward Israel, causing no damage or injuries, but undercutting a fragile cease-fire along the Gaza border.

Iran sees 'no reason for negotiation' over enrichment
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran said Tuesday that it sees "no reason for negotiation" over its nuclear programme if the European Union continues to insist that Tehran suspend its uranium enrichment activities.

The Nation

Senate Democratic Leader Reid Calls Bush in `State of Denial' Over Iraq
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said President George W. Bush is in a ''state of denial'' about the Iraq war, and the Democratic majority in Congress will push ahead with trying to end U.S. involvement in the conflict.

Lawmaker: Listen to military on Iraq war
WASHINGTON - As Democrats head toward a showdown with President Bush on Iraq, a leading Republican warned that they are making an all-too-familiar mistake: not listening to seasoned commanders.
That’s a very good idea, Republican lawmaker. Let’s sit the generals down before a congressional committee, make them swear to tell the truth, and ask them what they think about Iraq. Every indication we have is that the generals agree with the Democrats, not Mr. Bush. —Caro

Bush's 'Confidence' May Not Amount to Job Security for Embattled Gonzales
For the third time in five weeks, President George W. Bush said Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has his full confidence. That may not be good news for Gonzales.

Counsel to probe political activities led by Karl Rove
The investigation, which will examine attorney firing and missing e-mails, could create a substantial new problem for the White House.

Former congressional aide expected to plead guilty in Abramoff case
A former aide to Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, is expected to plead guilty Tuesday to a federal conspiracy charge in connection with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Mark Zachares, who was part of Young's transportation committee staff from 2002 to 2004, was named in charging documents Monday alleging a pattern of rewards and favors that he and Abramoff termed their "two year plan."

Contracts questioned in Katrina recovery
WASHINGTON - FEMA exposed taxpayers to significant waste — and possibly violated federal law — by awarding $3.6 billion worth of Hurricane Katrina contracts to companies with poor credit histories and bad paperwork, investigators say.

Media

Don’t miss Bill Moyers tomorrow night!: BILL MOYERS JOURNAL, Series premieres Wednesday April 25 at 9 PM ET, BUYING THE WAR. According to those who have read some of the transcript, it's a devastating expose of our media's complicity in starting a war based on lies.

http://www.mediachannel.org/out.php?url=http://www.mediachannel.org/wordpress/2007/04/23/tv-turnoff-week-2007-april-23th-29th/">TV-Turnoff Week 2007 April 23th - 29th
Children watch estimated 18,000 murders on TV by age 18 and over 200,000 acts of violence.

Activist groups drop suit against Viacom
NEW YORK - Activist groups dropped a federal lawsuit against Viacom Inc. on Monday after the parent of Comedy Central acknowledged it made a mistake by asking YouTube to yank a parody of the cable network's "The Colbert Report."

Broder: Reid Is A ‘Bumbling’ ‘Embarrassment’
David Broder, the sagely insightful “dean” of the Washington press corps, attacked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) today over his claim that the war in Iraq is lost… This is the prototypical Washington “gaffe” which reporters like Broder find so “embarrassing.” It doesn’t matter whether what Harry Reid said was actually true or false, but whether it was impolitic. And what determines whether it was impolitic isn’t the opinion of American public, but whether conservatives got angry and called Reid “reckless” and “disgraceful.” It’s apparently irrelevant that Reid’s views are shared by President Bush’s regular military adviser Henry Kissinger, or senior U.S. military officials, or the majority of the American people.

IT’S TIME FOR (DOWD) TO GO
According to the barely sane Maureen Dowd, John Kerry lost the 2004 White House campaign because he requested Swiss cheese —instead of Cheez Whiz —when he ordered a cheese steak in Philly… Only a fool could think such a thing. And only a fool would make this claim in the manner Dowd does in her column —without the slightest sign of understanding how bizarre such a thought really is.

PBS gave Perle hour to repeat debunked claims about Iraqi WMDs and links to Al Qaeda
On the PBS series America at a Crossroads, former Defense Policy Board chairman Richard Perle, in an April 17 segment titled "The Case for War: In Defense of Freedom," made a series of assertions about the Iraq war that have already been shown to be false. He claimed that "all of the intelligence available to us suggested that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction (WMD). ... We all believed that, which is why I object to referring to some of the things that were said before the war as 'lies.' " In fact, the Bush administration made several statements about Saddam's WMD capabilities that "all of the intelligence available to us" did not support. Perle then claimed that prewar Iraq had a working relationship with Al Qaeda, a claim that has been debunked by the Senate Intelligence Committee. Finally, Perle claimed that Osama bin Laden's "network has been destroyed," even though U.S. intelligence officials' have reportedly said that bin Laden is rebuilding his network.

Technology & Science

Electrodes show early promise in restoring lost sight
Electrodes inserted in the brain may point the way to restoring sight lost to eye disease or trauma.The research in monkeys is in very early stages, but has shown some promise, Harvard Medical School researchers report in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Produce compound may help treat leukemia
PITTSBURGH April 23 (UPI) -- A compound found in many fruits and vegetables as well as red wine selectively kills leukemia cells in culture, according to a U.S. study. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine also found the compound shows no discernible toxicity against healthy cells, offering hope for a more selective, less toxic therapy for leukemia.

New drug may cure genetic disorders
LONDON April 23 (UPI) -- A new pill that can correct faulty genes and cure some genetic illnesses, called PTC124, should be out in Britain within the next three years. The new pill reportedly promises to be able to treat or help thousands of conditions, some of which are incurable, like muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis, The Times of London reported Monday.

Prehistoric Mystery Organism a Humongous Fungus
A giant mystery organism more than 350 million years old has finally been identified as a humongous fungus. The enigma known as Prototaxites, which stood in branchless, tree-like trunks up to more than 20 feet tall and a yard wide, lived worldwide from roughly 420 million to 350 million years ago. The giant was the largest-known organism of its day, living in a time when wingless insects, millipedes, worms and other creepy-crawlies dominated, as backboned animals had not yet evolved out of the oceans.

Environment

U.N. Panel to Lay Out Steps on Warming
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - After two reports predicting a warmer Earth where life is fundamentally changed, a U.N.-sponsored scientific panel next month will issue a third study describing how a united world can avert the worst, by embracing technologies ranging from nuclear power to manure controls.
We definitely need some manure controls. I suggest we start with the White House. —Caro

U.S. Architects Announce 10 Best Green Buildings
The best environmentally friendly buildings in the United States include a visitor center in Texas, a water treatment plant in Connecticut and a house in California, U.S. architects announced Monday.

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