Today’s edition of quick hits.
* I suspect there are going to be a few folks in DC who find this alarming: “Iran has made important strides toward transparency about its nuclear activities but key questions remain unresolved and it has significantly expanded uranium enrichment, a U.N. report said on Thursday…. The International Atomic Energy Agency said it remained unable to verify Iran was not militarizing enrichment at secret sites still denying inspector visits to anything but the few facilities of its declared civilian atomic energy program. ‘Iran’s cooperation has been reactive rather than proactive,’ IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei’s report said. ‘Iran’s active cooperation and full transparency are indispensable for full and prompt implementation of the work plan.'”
* On a related note, the Bush administration has a new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran, but they don’t want others to see it. Kevin Drum describes the broader dynamic nicely: “The NIE’s key findings, which are normally released, are being withheld because (a) they contain dissents Dick Cheney doesn’t like, or (b) because they might expose U.S. intelligence capabilities. If you choose (b), I have a subprime loan you might be interested in taking a look at.”
* It’s hard to imagine how this guy keeps his job much longer: “The State Department’s embattled top fraud investigator, who recused himself from probes into Blackwater Worldwide security contractors over conflict of interest charges, has relinquished even more authority but remains at his post, officials said Thursday. In addition to removing himself from all queries related to Blackwater, Inspector General Howard Krongard has given up his role in looking into corruption allegations involving the construction of the new U.S. embassy in Baghdad, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.”
* Here’s a Republican sex scandal that might linger a while: “The ‘D.C. Madam’ served a subpoena Tuesday on Sen. David Vitter, R-La., requiring him to testify about his use of the Washington, D.C., escort service federal prosecutors say was a prostitution ring. The subpoena calls on the freshman senator to testify at a federal court hearing Nov. 28 looking into the business operations of the $2 million escort service Deborah Jeane Palfrey operated in the nation’s capital for 13 years…. Vitter declined to say whether he would honor Palfrey’s subpoena or challenge it.”
* And here’s a Republican sex scandal that might not linger at all: “A leading national gay rights advocacy organization is pressuring Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Senate Ethics Committee, to drop an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho). As a result, Democrats may question the merits of pushing the embattled Republican out of Congress.” (thanks to reader E.B. for the heads-up)
* Are those lasers on their heads? “How to get Baghdad cars out of the way of diplomatic motorcades? The old answer — an escalation of force beginning with thrown water bottles and ending with rifle fire — clearly isn’t in the cards after Nisour Square. So what’s left to try? The State Department is experimenting with an idea to make the Baghdad streets both safe and stylish. Convoy drivers will be fitted with — yes — laser helmets able to emit a beam of bright light to blind errant and potentially dangerous motorists.”
* Something to consider during tonight’s debate: “According to a November 9 Broadcasting & Cable article, former NBC News anchor Campbell Brown will ‘make her debut’ on CNN as a ‘panelist’ during the November 15 Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas, moderated by CNN host Wolf Blitzer. Brown, who was hired by CNN in July, is married to Dan Senor, a former adviser for the now-defunct Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq who is now reportedly serving as an adviser to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.”
* Something else to consider during tonight’s debate: “A full-page advertisement in today’s New York Times states that the debate is being sponsored by the ‘clean coal’ industry.”
* You tell ’em, Warren: “For years, Warren Buffett has been urging Congress to keep the federal estate tax. Now, he’s suggesting how the government should use the money: a $1,000 annual tax credit for the 23 million U.S. households with incomes under $20,000. The billionaire investing guru told the Senate Finance Committee that many of those families face a marginal payroll tax rate of 15.3%, higher than the current top rate on capital gains, dividends and carried interest for assets held long term. In contrast, repealing the estate tax would help families of the richest Americans who have seen their wealth take off like a ‘rocket ship’ in the last two decades.”
* I can’t quite figure out why House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) cries quite so much.
* Next year, Netroots Nation (the conference formerly known as Yearly Kos) will be in Austin, Texas. I’ve heard good things about Austin.
* I find it disconcerting that Matt Yglesias doesn’t know what the Everglades are.
* AP: “Congress yesterday approved a five-year Head Start bill minus the provision sought by the Bush administration to allow religious groups participating in the preschool program to hire and fire staff members based on religious affiliation. The bill, championed by Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, would expand Head Start to more low-income families, improve teacher qualifications, and take steps to see the program is well run. The House passed it, 381 to 36, and the Senate vote was 95 to 0.”
* And finally, Bill O’Reilly won’t be able to blame secular progressives for this one: “Santas in Australia’s largest city have been told not to use Father Christmas’s traditional ‘ho ho ho’ greeting because it may be offensive to women, it was reported Thursday. Sydney’s Santa Clauses have instead been instructed to say ‘ha ha ha’ instead, the Daily Telegraph reported. One disgruntled Santa told the newspaper a recruitment firm warned him not to use ‘ho ho ho’ because it could frighten children and was too close to ‘ho’, a US slang term for prostitute.”
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.