Necessary News

All you need to know to sound brilliant

Bush Administration Tries To Alter War Crimes Act

• Huh, and we thought that with June’s Supreme Court decision, there wouldn’t be any more problems between the U.S. government and the Geneva Conventions. Silly us.
• The Bush administration has drafted amendments to the War Crimes Act that would eliminate the risk of prosecution for political appointees, CIA officers and former military personnel for humiliating or degrading war prisoners. [Washington Post]
• The amendments would alter the U.S. law, passed in the mid-1990s, that criminalized violations of the Geneva Conventions
• What would change? The draft amendments would narrow the scope of potential criminal prosecutions to 10 specific categories of illegal acts against detainees during a war, including torture, murder, rape and hostage-taking.
• Left off the list would be what the Geneva Conventions refer to as “outrages upon the personal dignity” of a prisoner and deliberately humiliating acts.
• These include forced nakedness, the use of dog leashes, and the wearing of women’s underwear. Sound familiar?
• That’s probably because these were the types of outrages the world witnessed at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq in 2004.
• As usual these days, international admiration follows American actions. The plan has provoked concern at the International Committee of the Red Cross, the entity responsible for safeguarding the Geneva Conventions, who even felt the need to send someone to speak at the Pentagon and the State Department to voice their objections.

And here we thought we were supposed to be better than our enemies, not like them.

FEMA Contracts Balloon To $3.4 Billion

• BREAKING NEWS! FEMA CRITICIZED FOR MISMANAGEMENT! BREAKING NOW! [Washington Post]
• We know. It’s shocking. Turns out that four no-bid contracts awarded by FEMA to house Katrina evacuees have ballooned in value from $400 million to $3.4 billion, igniting a new wave of criticism against the already-battered agency.
• The contracts were shelled out to construction and engineering firms to provide 150,000 trailers for displaced hurrican victims.
• The DHS’s insepctor general is reviewing the contracts for a second time, as FEMA is poised to award at least another billion dollars for similar housing contracts within days.
• Needless to say, Congress ain’t pleased. Members complain that FEMA doesn’t respond to complaints and warnings about mismanagement.
• Outside analysts aren’t painting a better picture. They say that FEMA’s reliance on outside contracts, coupled with staffing shortages feed an unhealthy cycle which eventually results in the agency’s inability to successfully carry out its missions.
• The clincher? In the St. Bernard Parish of New Orleans, nearly 1,200 families are still waiting to get into trailers that sit locked on their home sites but need utilities or other services; an additional 400 families waiting for trailers have none at all. [AP]

Insert “how many FEMA employees does it take to change a lightbulb” joke here.

Say What? Stem Cell Limits Confusing, Limiting Scientists

• Talk about lost. Since President Bush executed the first veto of his administration against the widely-supported stem cell funding bill, American scientists have been left feeling confusing and limited by heaps of restrictions. [Los Angeles Times]
• “A logistical nightmare for science.” Due to legal restrictions, scientists who study both federally approved and unapproved stem cell lines are being forced to buy duplicate equipment to conduct experiments.
• That’s not all. Often times — on top of spending cash on duplicate equipment — scientists have to come up with elaborate schemes to make sure work is kept completely separate. For instance,take biologist Meri Firpo, for whom the controversy over human embryonic stem cells boils down to pens. Literally. In the privately funded research office, she uses ball point pens. In the federally funded office, she uses flexigrips.
• Many scientists say the cumbersome system puts them at a disadvantage. Legalities and red tape steal precious resources that would otherwise be used to make important medical breakthroughs.
• “It is just obscene that the government establishes a policy that not only restricts our ability to do valuable medical research, but then doesn’t even help us interpret the policy in a way that allows us to stick to it,” said a UC San Diego researcher. “Everyone is making judgment calls.”
• The numbers: a new report by the Center for American Progress has found that 86% of states’ funding has gone towards building infrastructure, training scientists and attracting researchers to the state, not on actual research. [American Progress]

Say it with us: “we told you so.”

Good News, Bad News

A new research suggests that a cat parasite may have an effect on our behavior and mood. Apparently, half the people on the planet have been transmitted the parasite, but here’s the fun part: infected women tend to be more warm, outgoing and attentive to others, while infected men tend to be less intelligent and a bit boring. Let’s look at the pros and cons. [ABC]

GOOD NEWS

We always hated cats — and here’s one more reason not to get one.

BAD NEWS

Wait. Only half the men in the world have been infected?

Quote Of The Day

“She claims that kindergartners were being schooled in sex education classes in adult sexual practices. And that does sound shocking, she’s made the claim in the book and on television. When you look at the New York Times article that she cites for the case that kindergartners are being exposed to this what you find is a 20-year old article that says that actually adult students at DartmouthCollege were getting instruction in sex education and AIDS prevention.”

— David Brock, busting Ann Coulter for fabricating the truth again. (ed note: How pervy, Ann, even for you!) We have the audio:

Speed Round

IRAQ

Marines arrest 4 Iraqi men in connection with the kidnapping of American journalist Jill Carroll. [AP]

AUDIO: Christian Science Monitor editor on the capture.

AUDIO: Maj Gen William Caldwell on the capture.

MIRACULOUS

We like happy endings. A construction worker survives a major building collapse in Arizona. [AP]

PROTESTORS

A federal judge decides that protesters cannot stay near Bush’s Texas ranch, ruling that a camping ban is constitutional. [AP]

MIDDLE EAST

No end in sight. Israel’s security cabinet votes to push the military campaign deeper into Lebanon. [CNN]

IRAQ

A new poll shows that 60% of Americans oppose the war in Iraq. That’s a new record, ladies and gentlemen: it’s the highest level of disapproval since the commencement of the war in March 2003. [CNN]

RUNOFF

You go, girl. For the first time, two women are in a runoff to be the president of the Navajo Nation, whose reservation is the largest in the country. [AP]

SCHOOLS

Sigh of relief: two teens caught, found guilty in plot to attack school. [AP]

GAS

You’re all crazy: high gas prices aren’t affecting the habits of that many drivers. [New York Times]

COAST GUARD

Coast Guard to allow (some) religious clothing. [AP]

ALASKA

Because we know you were thinking of moving there: Governor of Alaska institutes hiring freeze. [AP]

ETHANOL

Ethanol gas station owner wants to cut prices, but the man’s keepin’ him down. [AP]

SCANDAL

Another day, another corporate scandal. Comverse Technologies slapped with accusations of fraud. [New York Times]

SAD

30% of Americans can’t remember what year the 9/11 attacks took place. [AFP]

AIRLINES

A Pakistani pilot is suing JetBlue for discrimination, claiming the airline rescinded a job offer and told him it was because of his background. [AP]

AFGHANISTAN

Tough gig: Hamid Karzai, the country’s first democratically elected president, strongly hints that he will not run for a second term in office. [AP]