Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Violence remains a problem in Iraq: “Two suicide bombers posing as army recruits struck an Iraqi base just east of Baquba on Tuesday morning, killing at least 35 Iraqi recruits and wounding 63, according to the Iraqi police and medical officials in Diyala Province.”
* More: “Scattered sandals and overturned bicycles were all that remained hours after suicide bombers struck the Saad military camp. Medical staff had finished unloading the white body bags at the nearby hospital, where the wounded moaned on bloodstained floors and weeping soldiers kneeled over slain comrades. The twin blasts in Baqouba recalled the scenes of mass terror and grief that were almost a daily routine before last year’s steep decline in violence.”
* It’s really a haunting video: “In a video released Tuesday, a 16-year-old captured in Afghanistan cries out for his mother and says he needs treatment for his battle wounds during questioning by Canadian officials at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay. ‘Oh Mommy,’ he cries in despair in Arabic when he is alone in the room, watched only by hidden cameras.”
* He didn’t sound optimistic: “The twin problems of slow growth and rising prices are making it difficult for federal policymakers to chart a course for the economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said today, as he outlined a raft of problems facing the country — including ‘ongoing strains’ at banks and finance companies and a string of recent job losses and declining home prices.”
* We knew this was coming: “Today President Bush vetoed the bipartisan Medicare bill that would have prevented a 10.6 percent cut in doctor pay for Medicare fees…. Congress will attempt to override the veto ‘as soon as possible,’ said Carol Guthrie, spokeswoman for the Senate Finance Committee. ‘There’s no time to waste.'”
* Brit Hume will step down as a Fox News anchor at the end of the year.
* John McCain still thinks Czechoslovakia exists. (That’s twice in two days.)
* TPMM: “The Homeland Security adviser accused of selling access to the White House provided TPMmuckraker with a string of emails that he says prove he did nothing wrong. Stephen Payne says he never meant to suggest that meetings with high-level Bush administration officials were contingent on big contributions to the future Bush library fund.” Take a look and see what you think of his explanation.
* The PEPFAR vote in the Senate is worth watching.
* And keep an eye on this, too: “Barack Obama is taking heat for hinting that he might refine his 16-month timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. But a forthcoming Pentagon-sponsored report will recommend an even steeper drawdown in less time, NEWSWEEK has learned. If adopted, the 300-page report by a defense analysis group at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., could transform the debate about Iraq in the presidential election.”
* Clifford May? On the Broadcasting Board of Governors? (thanks to S.W. for the tip)
* House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel has some explaining to do.
* Some in media are even willing to defend John McCain’s ignorance on tech issues.
* Good: “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday sought to cut off any shift among Senate Democrats toward more oil drilling as an answer to high energy prices, saying a strong majority of the conference remains opposed.”
* This is a really fascinating tool from Google: “Our teams have been working to develop tools to make it easier for people to track election-related information. A few months back, YouTube encouraged everyone to participate in the discussion process through the CNN/YouTube debates, Google Checkout offered an easy and fast way for individuals to make contributions to political candidates, and the Geo team created maps and layers to inform voters during elections. Today, the Google speech team (part of Google Research) is launching the Google Elections Video Search gadget, our modest contribution to the electoral process.” (thanks to R.S. for the tip)
* Quote of the Day: “Let’s be cruel. Things have deteriorated to the point where staffers at People are mystified by the inanity of the political press corps.”
* And finally, remember the initiative in San Francisco to rechristen the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant as the George W. Bush Sewage Plant? It’s running into a little opposition from locals who “felt that this is a facility that does something really quite useful and it would be inappropriate to put his name on it.”
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.