Sunday, December 30, 2007

Nuclear Power Gets Boost from CandidatesExcept for Edwards, top contenders in the GOP and Democratic races consider it a possible energy solution.. WASHINGTON - On the brink of a nuclear power resurgence in America, the once-vilified industry is buoyed by a slate of presidential candidates who seem ready to embrace — or at least consider — a nuclear energy future. Already enjoying strong support in the White House, nuclear-fueled electricity is championed by all of the Republican [...] [CommonDreams.org » Headlines07] 8:45:54 AM    comment []

Vatican to Train More Exorcists. ROME - The Catholic Church has vowed to “fight the Devil head-on” by training hundreds of priests as exorcists. Father Gabriele Amorth, 82, the Exorcist in Chief, announced the initiative amid church concerns about growing worldwide interest in Satanism and the occult. Under plans being considered, each bishop would have a group of priests in his [...] [CommonDreams.org » Headlines07] 8:45:05 AM    comment []

Tapes by CIA Lived and Died to Save Image. Scott Shane and Mark Mazzetti, reporting for The New York Times, write: "If Abu Zubaydah, a senior operative of Al Qaeda, died in American hands, Central Intelligence Agency officers pursuing the terrorist group knew that much of the world would believe they had killed him." [t r u t h o u t] 8:43:37 AM    comment []

Harry Shearer: The Road Home: Punishing the Self-Reliant. New Orleanians get no shortage of hortatory messages about self-reliance from other parts of the nation they thought they belonged to. So Sunday's Times-Picayune sends the message right back. Here's a story full of as many touchstones of self-reliance as one can bear--a Charity Hospital nurse, a widow who raised nine children, children who came to her aid when the floods struck, children who rebuilt their own home and rental properties with no government assistance. Read the journey, if that's what you can call it, this 69-year-old woman took through the torturously Kafkaesque world that the state's "Road Home" program has become, and recall it the next time a lecture on self-reliance begins forming itself in your mind. This is what happens to people who, in the old Clintonian formula, go to work every day and play by the rules. [The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com] 8:41:55 AM    comment []

Ground War: Iowa Sees Largest Turnout Effort In History. John Edwards has the practice, having placed second in the last Iowa caucuses and visited more counties than anyone else. Barack Obama has the buzz, which has translated into an unmatched volunteer army. And Hillary Clinton has the machine, a formidable alliance of the state's leading political minds and institutional backers. The three leading Democratic presidential contenders head into the Iowa caucuses Thursday with distinct approaches to winning. But with just five days left, all their fates now hinge on the same thing: How good their painstakingly built ground organizations - the deepest and biggest in Iowa history - perform when it counts. The extremely tight race - the most recent polls show a virtual tie among the three - means the victor will probably be the candidate not with the best stump speech but the best network of local precinct captains. Or the sharpest voter-mobilization campaign. Or the smartest baby-sitting arrange ments for caucus-goers with young children. Or perhaps even the biggest push by unions and other "independent" groups - particularly for Clinton and Edwards. [The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com] 8:37:25 AM    comment []

The Free Market: A False Idol After All?. FOR more than a quarter-century, the dominant idea guiding economic policy in the United States and much of the globe has been that the market is unfailingly wise. So wise that the proper role for government is to steer clear and not mess with the gusher of wealth that will flow, trickling down to the [...] [CommonDreams.org » Headlines07] 8:11:53 AM    comment []