Among American newspapers, only the Boston Globe, apparently, thinks its readers might be interested to know that there is a proposal on the table that could bridge the gap between Iran's insistence on its right to enrich uranium on Iranian soil and international concern that Iran's enrichment program would increase the capacity of Iran to develop nuclear weapons in the future.

On the Globe's website, the article is filed under "education." Apparently, if you live in the Boston area, you get to learn about this not because a deal could prevent war between the United States and Iran, not because this proposal suggests that, contrary to the claims of the Bush Administration and Senator McCain, it might be possible to draw an enforceable line between Iran having an enrichment program and Iran having a nuclear weapons program, but because several people who have worked on the proposal are on the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Perhaps the MIT folks could expand their team to universities in New York and Washington, so that Americans outside of the Boston area may read about it.

       ***Reprint of March 13, 2008 diary***
The Honorable Gentleman for the 7th District of Massachusetts
Mr. Edward Markey has worked for the people of America in Congress since 1976 without fanfair or taking on airs of grandure. If you choose to look at Mr. Markey's record at some place like The Washingtom Post (http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/m000133/) I think you'll be well pleased.

Today Ed Markey introduced a new House bill to stop ISPs from filtering or prioritizing Internet traffic, and he needs our help to make this bill a law.

ISPs are increasingly coming under pressure from copyright holders to filter internet traffic (read: the information you and I send on the internet to each other).  At a recent conference, NBC, Microsoft, AT&T and others all talked about filtering content in the near future.  Already, some ISPs are engaging in what is called "traffic shaping" to prioritize some traffic over others.

The House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming recently heard testimony concerning the polar bear's status as a threatened species.  The Bush administration has been delaying the listing of the polar bear under the Environmental Protection Act because, of course, it would likely designate habitat that his oil buddies would rather destroy for profit.  While climate changes continue to shrink the available habitat for the polar bear, the EPA and the Department of the Interior have been reviewing data for nearly a year and a half.  The review period has expired with no report forthcoming, but the comment period seems to remain open as long as the science overwhelms big oil propaganda.

The Committee's Chairman, Edward Markey, has introduced legislation to protect the polar bear while the EPA and the DOI languish over an easy decision.  You can sign a letter to the Secretary of the Department of Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, at the World Wildlife Fund.

I wanted to share a few video clips from the wildfire hearing. I asked the question raised in Wednesday’s discussion about global warming expanding the areas at risk of wildfires, and what is being done to educate the public in those states.

Welcome to the Overnight News Digest.

Top Stories

• Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said "You do not want to give additional argument to new crazies who say, ‘Let’s go and bomb Iran’ ...I wake up every morning and see 100 Iraqis, innocent civilians, are dying." ElBaradei told the BBC that one could not "bomb knowledge." When asked who the "new crazies" were, he said: "Those who have extreme views and say the only solution is to impose our will by force."

• The "taller, wider" flood barrier that replaced the ones that burst and flooded New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward during Hurricane Katrina have been rebuilt. However, they cannot handle a Katriana-sized storm.

• Speaker Nancy Pelosi "is planning an announcement soon on an independent ethics commission that will help police members’ conduct."