Necessary News

All you need to know to sound brilliant

For The First Time In 14 Years, More Teens Are Becoming Mommies

• For the first time in fourteen years, there’s been a rise in the number of teenage mommies. Thanks, Abstinence-Only education! [CDC]
• According to a new analysis by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the teen birth, which had been dropping since 1991, jumped 3% from 2005 to 2006.
• “The largest increases were reported for non-Hispanic black teens, whose overall rate rose 5 percent in 2006. The rate rose 2 percent for Hispanic teens, 3 percent for non-Hispanic white teens, and 4 percent for American Indian teens.”
• CDC analyst Stephanie Ventura: “It took us by surprise.”
• Us? Yeah, not so much.
• We knew Chlamydia cases reported in the USA have topped a million for the first time, with the highest rates among adolescent girls. Gonorrhea and Syphilis cases are on the rise, too. [USA Today]
• And we know, thanks to a study in the American Journal of Sociology, that teenagers in abstinence-only programs are more likely to have unprotected sex when they do start having it.
• And a recent study in the British Medical Journal found abstinence-only programs didn’t make “any significant difference in preventing pregnancy, reducing unprotected sex, or delaying sexual initiation.” [NY Times]
• See, the 14-year decline in teen pregnancies wasn’t because randy teenagers suddenly stopped having sex. “Approximately 14% of the decline in teen pregnancy between 1995 and 2002 was due to teens’ delaying sex or having sex less often, while 86% was due to an increase in sexually experienced teens’ contraceptive use.”
• A better way: A study released by the nonpartisan National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy found that while abstinence-only efforts appear to have little positive impact, more comprehensive sex education programs were having “positive outcomes” including teenagers “delaying the initiation of sex, reducing the frequency of sex, reducing the number of sexual partners and increasing condom or contraceptive use.” [AP]
• Instead, we spend $200 million a year to prevent kids from learning about condoms and contraception through abstinence-only. Is it any wonder “the United States has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the developed world (about the same as Ukraine’s)”? [NY Times]

We still can’t get over the CDC’s “surprise.” Somebody needs to start reading more Mic Check!

Homeland Security Is For Sale

• You’re not safer, but Bush’s cronies are richer. [CREW]
• A new study by the Center for Responsibility in Ethics in Washington finds extensive cronyism, “massive failures and billions wasted at the Department of Homeland Security.”
• Some lowlights:
• $24 billion for the Coast Guard’s “Deepwater” program that “turned into a fiasco that has set new standards for incompetence, and triggered a Justice Department investigation” [CBS]
• $2 billion loss on the SBInet “virtual fence” border program
• $1.3 billion on the US-VISIT program which was never implemented
• $600 million for border radiation scanners that don’t work
• The report also uncovered a pile of smaller abuses: “DHS purchased iPods for “data storage,” dog booties for hurricane recovery and designer rain jackets for munitions training, only to learn the iPods were lost, the booties unused and the firing range closed during rain.” [CREW]
• As CREW director Melanie Sloan writes, “The stories about the agency would be comical if only our national security were not at stake.”
• Read the full report here: [CREW]

Step riiiight up! Get yer hot, fresh useless government contracts here!

In Bali, U.S. Balks At Global Warming Action

• Not that this was unexpected, but things aren’t going so well at the U.N. Bali summit on climate change.
• It comes down to this: “The world’s largest historic emitter, the United States, has not signed any binding agreement to reduce emissions, and it has no intention of doing so as long as President George W. Bush is in office.” Oof. [American Progress]
• And while we’re all crossing our fingers for a change of heart, the US’s stubbornness is casting a pall over the whole event.
• As one commentator writes, “Despite the millions spent on airfares, hotel rooms, taxis, and resort meals, it won’t deliver a dime to poor or rich countries to mitigate the impacts of climate change.” [Asia Times]
• It doesn’t have to be this way.
• Short from signing Kyoto, the United States Senate could pass “America’s Climate Security Act,” which would “ensure a 15 percent reduction in global warming pollution by 2020, and a 63 percent cut from 2005 levels of emissions by 2050.”
• In addition, the energy bill now before the house would improve vehicle efficiency with alternative fuels and require renewable low-carbon power such as solar and wind to provide 15 percent of our nation’s power.
• Bottom line? By passing this legislation, America could show “the rest of the world that we are serious partners in addressing this global problem.”
• Predictably, despite bipartisan support in the Congress, Bush has threatened to veto both pieces of legislation.

It’s like he’s not even trying.

Iraqi Refugees: Down And Out With Nowhere To Go

• We’ve told you about how the U.S. government has been “unforgivably slow” in resettling Iraqi refugees, and has failed to coordinate with its Arab allies to address the suffering of displaced Iraqis. In fact, Despite talk of allowing 7,000 Iraqi refugees into the U.S. this year, only 1,608 had been admitted by the end of September and another 450 entered in October. [Washington Post]
• Now, things are looking worse for refugees from the war-torn nation. On Tuesday, the Iraqi government ” urged some refugees not to go back to their homes yet, saying the country was unprepared to accommodate their return.” [Mic Check]
• “The reality is that we cannot handle a huge influx of people,” Abdul Samad al-Sultan, the minister of displacement and migration, said at a news conference to announce a joint plan with the United Nations to help returning Iraqis. “The refugees in some countries, we ask them to wait.”
• The UN estimates that 40,000 refugees and 10,000 internally displaced people have returned to their homes, primarily in the Baghdad area. Still, the country’s government is not advocating the return of displaced Iraqis.
• Thing is, for man Iraqi refugees, it’s a catch-22. In Syria, for example, where the government had once been welcoming to refugees, new restrictions seem to be popping up every day, and the country’s hospitality appears to be running thin, making life more dangerous for Iraqis seeking solace. [Slate]
• The result? Iraqis strive to find the to avoid the least desirable situation. And often times this means attempting to return to an equally dangerous country.

When danger’s the only solution.

SCOTUS And The Case Of The Missing Habeas Corpus

The Story

• Tensions ran high yesterday as the Supreme Court (ok, call it SCOTUS) heard arguments about whether Guantanamo detainees have the right to challenge their detentions in court (habeas corpus). [NY Times] [USA Today]
• In this corner, lawyer for the detainees, former solicitor general Seth Waxman! Waxman argued the detainee case is a fundamental test of our justice system.
• And in this corner, for the White House, current solicitor General Paul Clement! Clement argued the prisoners have no rights.
• Habeas Corpus 101: The right of prisoners to ask a judge to rule on whether or not their detention is legal. The basic right of habeas corpus has been around since before the Magna Carta, which codified it into law in 1215. [BBC News]
• The U.S. Constitution says the right of habeas corpus may only be revoked “when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public safety may require it.” [LA Times]
• The situation: In 2004, the Supreme Court ruled in Rasul v. Bush that the federal courts had jurisdiction over the military prison in Cuba.
• In September 2006, the then-Republican-led Congress passed the Military Commissions Act, a controversial bill that said terror detainees did *not* have the basic right to challenge their detentions in court. [PFAW]
• In February 2007, a DC Court of Appeals ruled the Military Commissions Act stripped federal judges of the right to hear claims from the Guantanamo detainees.
• A majority of the justices “appeared skeptical” of the Bush administration’s arguments. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg put it best, wondering aloud, “I thought this was decided in Rasul.”
• There were three Justices noticably on the side of the White House: Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Samuel Alito, and Chief Justice John Roberts.
• The case could hinge on whether the base at Guantanamo is essentially considered U.S. soil. If so, then U.S. laws would seem to hold. Justice Kennedy argued earlier that “GuantanamoBay is in every practical respect a U.S. territory.
• Almost as interesting as goings on in the Court were the spectators gathered in the snow outside the Court. As if it were a Star Wars premiere, at least 50 hardy souls camped out overnight to try to secure a seat in the Courtroom. Others showed up in full “detainee” costume, complete with orange jumpsuits and scary black hoods.

The Audio

• Seth Waxman: All have been confined at Guantanamo for almost six years, yet not one has ever had meaningful notice of the factual grounds of detention or a fair opportunity to dispute those grounds before a neutral decision-maker.
  Please log in to download this clip.

Fact: The Supreme Court has ruled *against* the White House detention policies three times since 2004.

Good News, Bad News

A social club in England sent one of their members a cease-and-desist letter, saying “after several complaints” from fellow members, from now on he needs to take his “continual breaking of wind” outside or face the consequences. [BBC]

Good News! The article was worth it just to read the following quote: “I think someone has complained about the noise. I am a loud farter, but there is no smell.” — Maurice Fox, age 77.

Bad News! ...for you, lady who always uses the treadmill at the gym next to us! And guy who sits near us on the bus! And coworker-who-shall-not-be-named (you know who you are). We plan to hand this news article out to you and your kind as a little hint from now on!

Quote Of The Day

We are left with only two options here. Either the President of the United States is lying to the American people about what happened during that meeting, or the President of the United States is stupid.

— MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, on President Bush’s claim that Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell told him “we have new information” on Iran’s nuclear program, but “he did not tell me what the information was.”

Speed Round

AUDIO: SECRETARY GATES

In Iraq, the Secretary of Defense asks for what he’s lost the privilege of asking for: patience.

MEANWHILE

An explosion kills 16 in a quiet Baghdad market. [AP]

TRAGEDY

A shooter kills 8 people and wounds 5 others in an Omaha, Nebraska shopping mall before turning the gun on himself. [LA Times]

NATIONAL BOMB PARK

According to a National Park Service committee, the reactor where the plutonium for America’s first nuclear bomb was produced should be declared a site of “national historic significance.” Yay, bombs! [McClatchy]

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS FRIGHTFUL

Just asked the Midwest, where horrific storms have led to a bus crash that has injured 21 people. [AP]

...AND EQUAL RIGHTS FOR NO ONE

In 2003, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft barred DOJ Pride, an organization of almost 200 gay and lesbian employees of the Justice Department, from holding “an annual event celebrating ‘gay pride month’ at the agency’s headquarters” while allowing other employee groups to do so. [Think Progress]

AFGHANISTAN

A suicide blast rocks Afghanistan, killing 13 people. [NY Times]

JUST LIKE HILARY DUFF

Bush wants Iran to “come clean” about the scope of its nuclear activities or else face diplomatic isolation. [AP]

2008

Mitt Romney lands in a little hot water after getting busted for hiring undocumented workers to clean his tennis courts. [Boston Globe]

ROVE ALERT

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy has finally scheduled a vote *today* on whether Karl Rove and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten will receive Contempt of Congress citations for ignoring Congressional subpoenas. [TPM]

THE POLITICO DOESN’T PLAY NICE

“The Politico has forced La Política, an online newsletter dedicated to Hispanic political topics, to change its name because with all their millions they apparently can’t handle the existence of an online magazine that covers topics they completely ignore… even if their name is in Spanish…” [Coconut Caucus]

PROJECT UNSAFE RUNWAY

The runways are not safe! Repeat: The runways are *not* safe! “Air travelers face a high risk of a catastrophic collision on a U.S. airport runway because of faltering federal leadership, malfunctioning technology and overworked air traffic controllers, congressional investigators concluded Wednesday.” [ABC News]

NO WONDER WE’RE FAT

A healthy diet costs more than an unhealthy one. Darn you, McDonald’s dollar menu! [NY Times]

GOOD NEWS

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee overturns conservative efforts and advances a global warming bill. [Think Progress]

UPDATE

8 are killed in a Nebraska holiday mall tragedy. [AP]

YOUR HEALTH

Chubby as a kid? You might have health problems as an adult. [Washington Post]