Action Point with Cynthia Black 12-30-2007: The Reference Shelf

Today's article and item links:

• HEALTH ALERT: CDC Works to Track Down 44 Passengers Who Flew With TB-Infected Woman: Six degrees of separation: do you know any one of these people?

• SPEECHLESS: Insurer won't pay for colonoscopy anesthetic: Having had one of these nasty tests myself I can assure not using anesthetic should only be visited upon anyone MAKING THIS DAMN STUPID DECISION!!!

• Campaign Issue 2008: Iowa Saturated by Political Ads:

  One week before Iowa kicks off the presidential nomination contest, the campaigns are spending three times as much money flooding the airwaves and the Internet as candidates did in 2004, hoping to sway the huge number of undecided voters after months of on-the-ground appeals. And: Latest Polls Show Democrats in Dead Heat in Iowa: Similar to polls released last week, the latest Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll shows the Democratic contest between Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Senator Barack Obama of Illinois to be neck-and-neck in New Hampshire, but in Iowa they are in a locked into a three-way tie with former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina.

• Fun, Snarky, Weird & Cool: Hello, Your Plants are Calling!: I kid you not:

  Botanicalls allows plants to place phone calls for human help. When a plant on the Botanicalls network needs water, it can call a person and ask for exactly what it needs. When people phone the plants, the plants orient callers to their habits and characteristics.

• ENVIRONMENT: EPA Prepares to Provide Documents on California Greenhouse Gas Decision:

  The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday signaled it is prepared to comply with a congressional request for all documents — including communications with the White House — concerning its decision to block California from imposing limits on greenhouse gases.

• MUST READ: The Path to a National Popular Vote: another excellent piece from David Sirota:

  Right now, many are frustrated about Iowa and New Hampshire voters having such oversized influence in Americas presidential elections. In a few months, as the general election campaign unfolds, we will be similarly frustrated about Ohio and Florida. Who arbitrarily gave this handful of states the disproportionate power to determine our national political path?

• "I Just Want to Tear Out My Hair" UPDATES: The Torture Tape Cover-Up: How High Does It Go? and SIEGELMAN PURGE:

  On January 10, we are asking friends and supporters of Gov. Siegelman to flex their muscles and focus the House and Senate's attention on the outrageous events that have occurred in the Political Prosecution of Gov. Siegelman;

• INTERNATIONAL: Police abandoned security posts before Bhutto assassination:

  Police abandoned their security posts shortly before Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto's assassination Thursday, according to a journalist present at the time, and unanswerable questions remain about the cause of her death, because an autopsy was never performed.

• Blogs I Like: ATHEIST REVOLUTION: No comment.

• Speaking Of Torture: Psychologist: Gitmo detainee to be released is 'broken into pieces': "

  In some very restrictive regimes, and Guantánamo Bay will fall into that category, the environments are actually designed to break people down," said Ogloff. "There's no long term goal of rehabilitating people or having them return to the community. So the issues that the individual faces is, in fact, being broken into pieces and having to really be put back together."