The Wire: January 19, 2011

Technology
9:00 p.m.
Trial ordered for Mich. mom who faked son's cancer
A Michigan woman accused of drugging her 12-year-old son to make it appear he was a cancer patient will stand trial.
Technology
9:00 p.m.
Giffords able to stand up as she readies for rehab
Less than two weeks after surviving a bullet through the brain, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords stood up and looked out the window of her hospital room Wednesday as she prepares to move to Houston to begin an arduous journey of intensive mental and physical rehabilitation.
Technology
9:00 p.m.
Giffords to relearn basic skills in Houston rehab
Less than two weeks after surviving a bullet through the brain, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is to be moved to Houston to begin an arduous journey of intensive mental and physical rehabilitation.
Technology
9:00 p.m.
Bill would make Coloradans organ donors by default
Some Colorado lawmakers say their state should be the first one where people become organ donors by default, even though other states’ efforts have been halted by worries about making such a personal decision automatic.
Technology
9:00 p.m.
Summary Box: FDA stops short of med tech overhaul
SMALL OVERHAUL: The Food and Drug Administration announced updates to how medical devices are approved, but backed away from broader changes opposed by industry.
Technology
9:00 p.m.
FDA plans modest changes to medical device system
The Food and Drug Administration is laying out plans to update the 35-year-old system used to approve most medical devices, which has been subject to increasing criticism by public safety advocates.
Technology
9:00 p.m.
Family: Giffords will move to Houston rehab center
The family of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords says they plan to move the wounded congresswoman to a rehabilitation hospital in Houston to begin the next phase of her recovery from a gunshot wound.
Technology
9:00 p.m.
Hemorrhagic fever claims 3 lives in western India
An Ebola-like hemorrhagic fever has killed three people in western India and dozens of doctors will screen a community of about 16,000 people in efforts to contain the disease, a state health minister said Wednesday.
Basketball
9:00 p.m.
Nets owner tells team to drop Anthony deal
Cross another superstar off the New Jersey Nets’ wish list, and let the pursuit of Carmelo Anthony begin anew.
Basketball
9:00 p.m.
Cavs' Williams out indefinitely
Cavaliers starting guard Mo Williams could be sidelined for several weeks with a hip injury, another blow to the NBA’s worst team.
Basketball
9:00 p.m.
Mystics F Monique Currie tears left knee ligament
Mystics forward Monique Currie is expected to miss the entire 2011 WNBA season after having surgery for a torn ligament in her left knee.
National
8:09 p.m.
Giffords able to stand as she readies for rehab
Less than two weeks after surviving a bullet through the brain, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords stood up and looked out the window of her hospital room Wednesday as she prepares to move to Houston to begin an arduous journey of intensive mental and physical rehabilitation.
Commentary
1:56 p.m.
TWT
PRELL: China: U.S. No. 1 no more
”If China becomes the world’s No. 1 nation … .” That was the headline in the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, The People’s Daily, on the eve of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s state visit to Washington. The article went on to boast how “China’s emergence is increasingly shifting to debate over how the world will treat China, which is the world No. 1 and has overtaken the U.S.”
Commentary
1:16 p.m.
TWT
LEAVITT: Preventing the next Tucson
Television programming is interrupted by a breaking news story unfolding someplace in the United States. A deranged shooter has opened fire on everyday Americans at a school, shopping mall or public meeting. We are at first dazed, then incredulous and finally grief-stricken. It just keeps happening - but why - and more importantly, what can be done to prevent tragedies like the one in Tucson, Ariz.?
Politics
12:15 p.m.
TWT
Thorny issues surface in Hu visit
The closely structured pageantry of a state visit was unable to mask simmering issues between the United States and China on Wednesday, as President Obama prodded Chinese President Hu Jintao to revalue the Chinese currency, the yuan, and Mr. Hu acknowledged “a lot still needs to be done” on his country’s human rights record.
World
8:58 a.m.
TWT
Saudis walk away from effort to end Lebanon's political crisis
Saudi Arabia has abandoned months of behind-the-scenes efforts to resolve Lebanon’s political crisis over the international tribunal investigating the 2005 murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Commentary
5:58 a.m.
TWT
BOOK REVIEW: Playing doctor and diplomat
“What are you going to tell me about him that I don’t already know?” This question from a friend, writes Ron Reagan, author of this book marking his father’s 100th birthday on Feb. 6, “is entirely legitimate if a bit disquieting.” It should be disquieting, for the answer is, nothing much.
National
3:53 a.m.
American Scene
The family of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said it plans to move the wounded congresswoman to a rehabilitation hospital in Houston to begin the next phase of her recovery from a gunshot wound.
Politics
3:23 a.m.
House votes to repeal health care law
The Republican-controlled House has voted to repeal the health care law President Obama signed last year.
World
3:12 a.m.
TWT
Lawmakers rip reception for China's visiting president
As Chinese President Hu Jintao lunched Wednesday at the State Department on a sugar plum-themed menu, members of Congress expressed concerns that the leader of an unfree country would be feted so lavishly.
World
2:58 a.m.
TWT
Split from north Sudan favored by south
Officials in Sudan said Wednesday that early results for a referendum on splitting the country in two show that more than 98 percent of voters in and near the south’s capital of Juba voted for independence from the north.
Security
2:49 a.m.
TWT
Thou shalt steal, al Qaeda tells militants in cash quest
The latest edition of al Qaeda’s online, English-language magazine includes an article offering an Islamic justification for extremists to steal from non-Muslims to finance their activities. Analysts say this shows that the U.S. and its allies are succeeding in drying up sources of terrorist funding.
National
2:34 a.m.
TWT
Ward 5 group steamed over D.C. strip club
A strip club that a community group says was illegally relocated and is creating an appetite for prostitution in Northeast Washington is co-owned by a major Democratic Party donor and local developer who contributed to a controversial charity run by D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr., who represents the area.
Politics
2:32 a.m.
TWT
Lieberman's exit sparks Senate conjecture
The retirement of independent Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman marks the third such announcement in recent days and has sparked widespread speculation on which other senators might also bow out in the face of tough 2012 re-elections bids.
World
2:24 a.m.
World Scene
The head of the Arab League told the region’s leaders Wednesday the upheaval in Tunisia is linked to deteriorating economic conditions throughout the Arab world, warning them that their people’s anger has reached unprecedented heights.
Inside The Beltway
2:11 a.m.
TWT
Inside the Beltway
“Will the Senate resolve to listen to will of the American people?” asks Jenny Beth Martin, a founder of the 15-million member Tea Party Patriots.
Politics
2:08 a.m.
TWT
House pulls plug on health care law
House Republicans on Wednesday scored their first victory in their long-shot bid to scrap President Obama’s health care overhaul, delivering a repeal bill to the Senate and a stiff rebuke of White House policy that will help shape the political landscape over the weeks, months and years to come.
National
2:04 a.m.
TWT
Cosby joins Boehner in drive for more school choice
With Congress and the White House gearing up for a major battle over the future of education policy, Bill Cosby added his voice Wednesday to that of House Speaker John A. Boehner and others who want to give parents a bigger say in their children’s education.
Basketball
11:51 p.m.
Bucks drop Wizards to 0-20 away from home
Keyon Dooling scored a season-high 23 points, Corey Maggette added 21, and the Milwaukee Bucks dropped the Washington Wizards to 0-20 on the road with a 100-87 victory on Wednesday night.
Football
10:30 p.m.
Obama promises Super Bowl trip if Bears advance
President Barack Obama is promising he’ll be at the Super Bowl if his beloved hometown Chicago Bears make it in.
National
9:29 p.m.
Federal grand jury indicts Ariz. shooting suspect
A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted the suspect in the deadly Arizona shooting rampage that wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
Basketball
7:57 p.m.
Nets owner tells team to drop attemps to land Anthony
New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has told the team to end discussions on the Carmelo Anthony deal.
World
7:56 p.m.
Vatican responds on abuse letter
The Vatican launched a new round of damage control Wednesday about priestly sex abuse, saying a letter it sent to Irish bishops on Rome’s concerns about their reporting abuse to police had been “deeply misunderstood.”
Local
7:50 p.m.
National Zoo will keep pandas for five more years
Chinese officials say they have reached an agreement with the National Zoo to keep a pair of giant pandas in Washington five more years.
World
7:43 p.m.
Hello, Africa, India's calling
Millions of mobile-phone subscribers in Africa saw the icon on their phone screens change from the Bahrain company Zain to the Indian company Airtel last fall. The change means little to the average customer, but for the continent, it’s another sign that India is moving in.
World
7:35 p.m.
Return of cleric complicates '11 Iraq withdrawal strategy
Iraqi politicians face the contentious question this year of whether to ask U.S. troops to stay beyond an end-of-2011 deadline for their departure. That decision has become far more complicated with the return to Iraq of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Politics
7:34 p.m.
Private health plans cash in off Medicare by 'playing the float'
Private health insurance plans catering to Medicare recipients are making millions of dollars by taking money the government sends in advance - but isn’t immediately needed - and using it to make profitable investments, federal investigators say in a report obtained by the Associated Press.
World
7:28 p.m.
Briefly
Tunisia and Switzerland moved Wednesday to track down assets believed squirreled away overseas by deposed Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his deeply resented family, who fled the country amid violent protests.
Politics
7:17 p.m.
Political Scene
The mortgage-servicing industry should fund a new commission to compensate homeowners who may have wrongly been kicked out of their homes, a top U.S. banking regulator said Wednesday.
Commentary
7:03 p.m.
TWT
BURKE & MCCONCHIE: On the day Roe dies . . .
What would happen if Roe v. Wade were overturned tomorrow? Regardless of how far in the future that day might be, states already are preparing for this eventuality.
Commentary
6:59 p.m.
TWT
TYRRELL: Books for the winter blues
I received a call the other day from an agreeable lady at C-SPAN, asking me to do a show with the network called “In Depth.” It will take a lot of time, as C-SPAN wants to interview me on all the books I have written. Also, it will last three hours. That is a marathon. I can hardly listen for three hours, much less talk. Yet I have been a fan of C-SPAN for years, so I could hardly say no. Also, I am an advocate of the printed word. I want it to survive.
Commentary
6:52 p.m.
TWT
On the day Roe dies ... 2011 top 10 states on life issues
1. Oklahoma
Editorials
6:48 p.m.
TWT
EDITORIAL: A Kumbaya Congress
The kumbaya quest for peace and love in American politics has hit a new low. Sen. Mark Udall, Colorado Democrat, has proposed that as a symbolic stab at the “nasty partisanship” in government, members of Congress should abjure the tradition of sitting in party blocks during the State of the Union address and instead intermingle. Perhaps they all should hold hands while the president is speaking too.
National
6:46 p.m.
TWT
Supreme Court upholds background checks
The Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously upheld the federal government’s ability to conduct background security checks of contracted employees, ruling against a group of NASA-contracted scientists and engineers who had challenged the agencies drug-screening process on privacy grounds.
Editorials
6:44 p.m.
TWT
EDITORIAL: Al's missing link
There are those on the left who look at tragedy and spot opportunity. Such is the case with terrible flooding that struck Australia last week, killing at least 22. On Tuesday, former Vice President Al Gore asserted that the root cause of the destruction was not torrential rain, but mankind. “As the earth warms, scientists tell us that we will see more and more extreme weather conditions,” Mr. Gore wrote on his blog, citing an ABC News report on the disaster. “Each of these occurrences further underscore [sic] why we need to take immediate action to solve the climate crisis.”
National
6:42 p.m.
U.S. cites gas, dust for W.Va. mine blast
Faced with a small methane gas fire that couldn’t be extinguished in a highly volatile underground mine, at least two victims of the nation’s deadliest coal mine explosion in decades spent their final moments on a harrowing dash for safety.
National
6:41 p.m.
Pa. abortion doctor killed 7 babies with scissors
A doctor who provided abortions for minorities, immigrants and poor women in a “house of horrors” clinic has been charged with eight counts of murder in the deaths of a patient and seven babies who were born alive and then killed with scissors, prosecutors said Wednesday.
National
6:40 p.m.
TWT
OWCHARENKO: Before and after Obamacare repeal
Americans want health care reform, but not the 2,000-plus page monstrosity known as Obamacare.
National
6:40 p.m.
Pa. abortion doctor charged with 8 counts of murder
An abortion doctor who catered to minorities, immigrants and poor women was charged with eight counts of murder in the deaths of a patient and seven babies who were born alive and then killed with scissors, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Editorials
6:39 p.m.
TWT
EDITORIAL: NASA extremist advocates U.S. decline
Imagine if a former military officer, a traditional-values conservative now an attache at the State Department, wrote for a largely foreign audience to urge an international boycott of U.S. goods. The aim was to ruin the American economy to protest the new policy of allowing open homosexuality in the armed forces. Media outlets and politicians would be screaming for his dismissal. Free speech is one thing, but nobody on the taxpayer dole in a position of responsibility would be allowed to call for the destruction of our economy. One way or another, the man would be forced out.