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Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com

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White House rejects North Korea talks
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration rejected anew Tuesday direct talks with North Korea and said it would not be intimidated by a reported threat from Pyongyang that it could fire a nuclear-tipped missile unless the U.S. acts to resolve the standoff.

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Mike Lane, Baltimore Sun

The World

Quake raises fears of second nuclear test
A strong earthquake in northern Japan on Wednesday may have led the Tokyo government to suspect North Korea had conducted a second nuclear test.

N. Korean Troops at DMZ Said Bolder
PANMUNJOM, Korea (AP) - North Korean troops in the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas have been more boldly trying to provoke guards on the other side since Pyongyang claimed to have detonated a nuclear bomb, a U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday.

Insurgents attack U.S. ammo dump in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A massive fire at an ammunition dump at a U.S. base in southern Baghdad was sparked by a mortar round fired by insurgents, which set off a series of explosions from detonating tank and artillery shells that shook buildings miles away, the U.S. military said Wednesday.

60 bodies found in Baghdad
Iraq s government forged ahead with a plan aimed at ending sectarian attacks, even as a bombing in the capital killed 10 people Tuesday and officials discovered scores of new death-squad victims.

U.S. troops often need Iraqi approval to act
U.S. and Iraqi military forces battling militias in Baghdad often must seek permission from Iraq's government before launching even routine missions, complicating efforts to loosen the grip of religious violence in the capital.

Oh, so our failures in Iraq aren’t just the fault of the Democrats, they’re also the fault of the Iraqi government. Somehow I just knew the Bush administration couldn’t possibly be to blame. —Caro

Hamas rejects demands in Qatar proposal
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Qatar's attempt to end a growing crisis in the Palestinian territories appeared to end in failure Tuesday after Hamas rejected the plan's key demands that it recognize Israel and renounce violence.

Fresh blast as Philippines blames rebels for bombs
MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine officials blamed a group of Muslim rebels for two explosions that killed six people on the southern island of Mindanao on Tuesday, as another bomb went off on Wednesday without causing any casualties.

Mexico president-elect unveils reform plan
MEXICO CITY - Mexico's president-elect laid out a proposal for reform in Mexico in the coming years, pledging to tackle poverty, create jobs and promote equality.

U.S. partially lifts Haiti arms embargo
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - The United States partially lifted a 15-year-old arms embargo against Haiti, the U.S. Embassy said Tuesday, allowing the troubled Caribbean nation to buy weapons for police battling violent — and often better armed — street gangs.

The Nation

McCain blames Clinton policies for N. Korea woes
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sen. John McCain, a likely 2008 U.S. presidential contender, blamed former President Bill Clinton on Tuesday for failing to stop an unfolding nuclear threat from North Korea in the 1990s.

Study Claims Iraq's 'Excess' Death Toll Has Reached 655,000
A team of American and Iraqi epidemiologists estimates that 655,000 more people have died in Iraq since coalition forces arrived in March 2003 than would have died if the invasion had not occurred. The estimate, produced by interviewing residents during a random sampling of households throughout the country, is far higher than ones produced by other groups, including Iraq's government.

If this study is correct, doesn’t that mean George Bush is responsible for more Iraqi deaths than Saddam Hussein? —Caro

Bush says Democrats would raise taxes
President Bush portrayed Democrats on Tuesday as the party of big spending and high taxes, aiming to give increasingly endangered Republicans an edge in a midterm election debate dominated recently by congressional scandal and overseas crises.

I love the smell of desperation in the morning! Only 1% of the population benefited significantly from Bush’s tax cuts, and they’re going to vote Republican no matter what. So keep playing to THAT crowd, George, the haves and the have mores. You know, your base. —Caro

War, sex scandal sinking GOP in polls
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush and Republicans are sinking under the weight of the Iraq war and the Capitol Hill sex scandal, according to a flurry of polls, endangering their control of Congress in the November 7 elections.

Hastert says those who hid scandal must go
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican head of the U.S. House of Representatives said on Tuesday anyone who covered up a growing Internet sex scandal on Capitol Hill should step down.

In Ohio, values decline as issue
In Ohio, the culture wars are being eclipsed as a voting issue by economic worries and Republican scandals that have altered the political dynamic in striking ways.

Please think about what this headline says. It says that thievery, bribery, and stealing elections have nothing to do with “values” in Ohio. According to MSNBC. —Caro

New voter registration laws leave thousands off the rolls
Some of this year's elections could be decided by those who can't vote. Across the country, new laws restricting who can register and vote have reduced the number of people who are eligible. Some of those laws have been blocked in court. Even so, critics say, the damage has been done.

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U.S. Says Blacks in Mississippi Suppress White Vote
The Justice Department is pursuing the first federal lawsuit under the Voting Rights Act accusing blacks of suppressing the rights of whites.

As we know from Republicans, the best defense is a good offense. —Caro

Voter excitement level highest in years
WASHINGTON - Politics is a water-cooler topic, a dinner-table subject, an issue to discuss after Sunday services, and this year the interest of American voters is at its highest level in more than a decade.

Economy & Business

Dow ends at record high
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended slightly higher on Tuesday, with the Dow reaching a record close and intraday high after a seesaw session, as investors anticipated a strong start to the third-quarter earnings season.

Analysts rethink views on slowing of US economy
Influential voices inside and outside the Federal Reserve are challenging the notion that the US economy is heading for a deepening housing-led slowdown, cheering equity investors and sending bears in the bond market into retreat.

Uh huh. Just before the election, analysts find good news in the economy. —Caro

Study: Small farms miss out on fed money
WASHINGTON - Small- and medium-sized farms are missing out on the largest share of federal research and grant dollars for agriculture, according to a study released Tuesday.

Heating costs for some expected to drop this winter
Winter heating bills are expected to be slightly lower for most families across the nation, with the highest reductions for those who heat with natural gas, the government said Tuesday.

Science & Technology

Singapore plans free wireless Internet
SINGAPORE - Singapore's government said it plans to cover most of the island with public wireless Internet access by next year and offer nearly 10,000 subsidized computers to low-income students to offer digital opportunities to all its citizens.

The whole world is pulling ahead of us. —Caro

U.S. Group Reaches Deal to Provide Laptops to All Libyan Schoolchildren
The project, which is intended to supply computers broadly to children in developing nations, was conceived by a computer researcher at M.I.T.

Microsoft releases 6 patches for flaws
SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday released six patches to fix software flaws that carry its highest threat rating, including three for defects that attackers were already trying to exploit.

US develops software that could track global press
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Department of Homeland Security plans to develop software that analyzes and summarizes opinions expressed in articles, providing a possible tool for better monitoring what is written about the United States in the global press.

Sorry, I can’t believe software can tell whether a written opinion is favorable or not to the U.S. This is another smokescreen. —Caro