Necessary News

All you need to know to sound brilliant

Gearing Up For Bali

• So, in a nutshell, here’s the deal: Delegates from 190 nations will gather on the resort island of Bali on Monday for the largest global warming conference ever, bringing more than 10,000 people together for two weeks of marathon discussions, including Hollywood stars, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, fishermen and drought-stricken farmers. Sounds fun, eh? [USA Today]
• The purpose of the conference is to reach an agreement that will replace the Kyoto Protocol, which will expire in 2012. Among the most contentious issues will be whether emission cuts should be mandatory or voluntary and how to help the world’s poorest countries adapt to a worsening climate.
• Flashback: The United States and Australia were the only two countries who refused to sign the Kyoto agreement. The U.S. has claimed that it’s been eager to get to Bali to re-start negotiations, but has been campaigning against mandatory cuts. Meanwhile, Australia’s prime minister-elect, Kevin Rudd, has put signing the Kyoto pact at the top of his international agenda.
• In other words: Things could get ugly for the U.S.
• And the international community’s getting worried. UN leaders say any agreement hammered out by a massive United Nations climate change conference would not make sense without the participation of the United States, the world’s top emitter of greenhouse gases.
• A new agreement must be concluded within two years to give countries time to ratify it and to ensure a smooth, uninterrupted transition. But much of what will happen behind closed doors in Bali will revolve around nuances, with debates over words like “commitment” versus “mandatory.”

Let’s get ready to rumble.

Reason #837 The English-Only People Don’t Talk Sense

• You’ve heard the rabble-rousers in the anti-immigration movement warning immigrants are threatening the very fabric of our English-speaking society. The only answer, they say, are English-only laws.
• Nonsense.
• Don’t take our word for it – check out the findings of a new study conducted by the non-partisan PewHispanicCenter, a project of the PewResearchCenter. [LA Times]
• Finding: While many people who’ve moved here from other countries may remain partial to their native tongues, the children of immigrants learn and speak English. By the third generation, Spanish has decidedly faded into the background.
• Rubén G. Rumbaut, a UC Irvine sociology professor: “There is no way English is being threatened by immigrants. . . . The switch to English is taking place perhaps more rapidly than it has ever in American history.”
• 23%: Number of adult, first-generation Latinos who can carry on a conversation very well in English.
• 88%: Number of second-generation Latinos who can carry on a conversation very well in English.
• 94%: Number of third-generation Latinos who can carry on a conversation very well in English.
• 89%: Number of Latinos who say they recognize they need English to succeed in the U.S.
• 46%: Number of Latinos in the United States who say language is the leading cause of discrimination against them.

How do you say “mean people suck” in Spanish?

The Military’s Prescription Drug Problem

• Turns out, that soccer mom down the street isn’t the only one popping Xanax with questionable frequency. Instead of providing proper counseling and care for Iraq war veterans suffering from physical and psychological pain, too often the U.S. military is trying to medicate the problem away, according to drug counselors and therapists. [ABC]
• Often times, the problem can start in Iraq. One soldier interviewed by ABC describes how he was given “a Ziploc bag with no instructions” that was filled with a wide assortment of muscle relaxers and painkillers.
• It gets worse: Often, addictions to legal substances will lead soldiers to use illegal substances, such as crystal meth, to cope.
• Medication isn’t enough to treat issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Talking through the problems is necessary, say experts. Unfortunately, the resources just aren’t there.
• Results from the DOD (Department of Defense) Task Force on Mental Health released in June 2007 find that “the military system does not have enough resources, funding or personnel to adequately support the psychological health of service members.”

Uncle Sam wants you to pop an Ambien.

War Is Hell...And Really Expensive

• War is hell, but it’s also really, really expensive. Here’s a look, thanks to the blog Raw Story, of what we could have bought with all the money we’ve sunk into Iraq. [Raw Story]
• $196.4 billion: Amoutn the White House has spent on the Iraq war (counting President Bush’s additional $45.9 billion request this past October.) That could have sent 3.6 million kids through college.
• $230 million: Amount the Senate requested to buy three V-22 Osprey helicopters. It also could have provided health insurance to all 230,000 California kids who currently lack it.
• The amount of money we spend in Iraq in one hour could treat 817,000 of the world’s malaria cases. (The World Health Organization estimates malaria kills two children every minute and more than a million people every year.)
• The amount of money we spend in ten months in Iraq could pay for daycare for every single kid whose family lives under the poverty level for a year.

Heck, we’d be happy just to have the cash the White House gave to all those contractors now accused of waste, fraud, abuse and just plain not doing their jobs.

White House Slashes Money For War On Terror

• According to the White House, the War On Terror is the most important issue in America…until it comes time to pay for it. Then all bets are off.
• According to budget docs obtained by the AP, “The Bush administration intends to slash counter-terrorism funding for police, firefighters and rescue departments across the country by more than half next year.” [ABC News]
• The Department of Homeland Security says it needs $3.2 billion to help keep cities and states safe in 2009. In the documents, the White House says you’ll get $1.4 billion and like it.
• Under the axe: “outright elimination of programs for port security, transit security, and local emergency management operations in the next budget year.”
• The White House would also cut the money for cities under the greatest risk of terror attack in more than half.
• And the White House isn’t planning to put its money where its mouth is. The White House recently promised it would fund state and local information-sharing centers. Yeah…not so much. In next year’s budget, they’re cutting those grants.
• Congress isn’t amused
• Sen. Barbara Boxer (D., CA): “This budget proposal is dead on arrival.”
• Rep. Peter King (R., NY): “This would be a very grave mistake, and I will do all I can to stop it.”

So when it comes to letting the White House tap our phones, the war on terror is very important. When it comes to funding port security, not so much.

Good News, Bad News

Kids these days: According to a new Pew research pol, a full 41% of Gen Nexters (those ages 18-25) say it is okay for other people to smoke marijuana; among Gen Xers and Boomers, 35% agree. Seniors, however, take a dimmer view of marijuana indulgers; just 11% find it acceptable for others to smoke pot. Let’s check out the pros and cons. [Pew]

GOOD NEWS

Doritos sales skyrocket.

BAD NEWS

Ladies and gentlemen: The future.

Quote Of The Day

Bill O’Reilly: So when we last left you in 1990, you were arrested by the U.S. military. Were you tortured by the military?

Alf: No! It was a TV show, man! Get a grip on reality.

— Unaware that puppets aren’t real, Bill O’Reilly interviews Alf about the military and torture. Next week, the Fox News pundit grills on Elmo and immigration.

Speed Round

LOWER DEATH RATES IN IRAQ

Only 718 Iraqis were killed last month, the lowest monthly death toll since 2006. Ponder how tragic it is that the killing of “only” 718 people can be considered positive news. [USA Today]

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte Sunday tells Iraq they need to make political progress during this brief window of opportunity provided by the surge, adding, “If progress is not made on these fronts we risk falling back toward the more violent habits of the past.” [NY Times]

HOSTAGE UPDATE

The guy who took hostages in Hillary Clinton’s New Hampshire campaign office “filed a lawsuit in 2002 alleging that he had been molested 20 years earlier by a Catholic priest in Massachusetts.” [Salon]

BAD MAN

Meet Robert Joseph Thom, the former federal worker who faked cancer to get some time off. We’ve heard of calling in sick, but this is ridiculous. [CBS News]

WAR ON DRUGS

“Anatomy Of A Failure”: Rolling Stone has a lengthy expose into America’s War On Drugs and why, after 35 years and $500 billion, drugs are still for sale on your corner. [Rollling Stone]

12,000

Number of American flags on D.C.’s National Mall this weekend, as part of a “3-day salute” honoring the “12,000 members of the United States military who have been discharged under the practice of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’” [Think Progress]

BACK TO SQUARE ONE

Iran’s new hardliner in charge of nuclear negotiations announces “all proposals made in past negotiations were irrelevant and that further discussion of a curb on Iran’s uranium enrichment was unnecessary.” [NY Times]

BAD NEWS

The U.S. estimate of new HIV infections per year is about to go up by 50%. [NY Times]

IT’S A DEAL!

Congressional Democrats come to an agreement about the fuel efficiency standards in new energy legislation; get ready to boost vehicle fuel efficiency by 40%. [CBS News]

THE RUSKIES

Putin’s party wins big in Russia’s elections. [AP]

ANYONE?..ANYONE?

At Pomona college, a speech by Alberto Gonzales is canceled over fears that no students would attend. [Student Life]

COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE

Four more gay men describe sexual encounters they had with Larry Craig. [Idaho Statesman]

HELLO, WINTER

A deadly storm pounds the East coast. [AP]

TEACHER IN TROUBLE

Sudan’s president is set to meet with the British teacher imprisoned for allowing her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad. [AP]