Thursday Morning News

Red text is the "real" story buried in the news.
Blue text is my own commentary.
Violet text is the blog quote of the day.

AFRICA (...once again, the first news about Africa comes late in the week. This is the most under-reported genocide story since the Biafran holocaust...)
The International Criminal Court on Wednesday issued its first arrest warrants in Sudan's Darfur conflict, for a government minister and a former militia leader accused of war crimes. Sudanese officials, however, said they would not hand over the pair, who are charged with dozens of counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The court alleges that the Sudanese government joined with militia groups in systematic attacks against civilians in Darfur as part of an effort to combat rebel movements. More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2 million displaced in the four-year conflict. (...those are "conservative" estimates...) The Sudanese government denies backing the militias, commonly known as janjaweed. The move by the Hague-based court is a strong indicator that it believes the Khartoum government is unlikely to fulfill its promise to prosecute the pair under its own judicial system. The court can step in only when a country fails to put suspects on trial.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-sudan3may03,0,2839093.story?track=ntothtml

BUSH WARS
Republicans, fearing massive 2008 election losses, begin to turn on Bush
Distressed by the violence in Iraq and worried about tying their political fate to an unpopular president, some Republicans on Capitol Hill are beginning to move away from the White House to stake out a more critical position on the U.S. role in the war. These lawmakers are advocating proposals that would tie the U.S. commitment in the war to the Iraqi government's ability to demonstrate that it is working to quell the sectarian conflict. As Democrats start work on a new war spending bill to replace the one President Bush vetoed, at least three Republican senators who opposed the Democratic withdrawal plan said Wednesday that the new bill should include so-called benchmarks for the Iraqi government to meet.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-warfunds3may03,0,7640493.story?track=ntothtml

Which brings us to the blog quote of the day, thanx to Larry Johnson's "No Quarter" regular contributor "Leslie," posted by "Susan UNPC"
"Days after Bush acknowledged that Congress had a legitimate authority to include timetables in its Iraq supplemental bill, King George has since vetoed the bill arguing that Congress has infringed on his Constitutional role. By vetoing the bill, Bush can blame Congress simultaneously for denying the troops support, which his veto denies them, and for violating the prerogatives of the Commander-in-Chief. But we won't hear Bush say this publicly, however. It's attached to his veto statement. Check out "The Veto Statement -- Not Surprisingly, the President Claims a Constitutional Prerogative." (..how about "Constitutional Crisis"???) The House attempted to override the veto today and failed. The vote was 222-203, short of the two-thirds necessary to override."
http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/05/king_george_is_.html

Iraqi Oil at the center of Bush's failure-mode
Kurdish and Sunni Arab officials expressed deep reservations on Wednesday about the draft version of a national oil law and related legislation, misgivings that could derail one of the benchmark measures of progress in Iraq laid down by President Bush. The draft law, which establishes a framework for the distribution of oil revenues, was approved by the (Shi'ite dominated)Iraqi cabinet in late February after months of negotiations. The White House was hoping for quick passage to lay the groundwork for a political settlement among the country’s ethnic and sectarian factions. But the new Kurdish concerns have created doubts about the bill even before Parliament is to pick it up for debate. The issue comes at a delicate moment for Mr. Bush, who on Wednesday began negotiations ("began negotiations" ...is that the new term for "veto"?) with Congressional Democrats over a new war-spending measure. (... is Malaki trying to give all the oil to the Shi'ites?)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/world/middleeast/03iraq.html?th&emc=th

White House Investigates ("warns") top Iraq Contract Inspector The inspector general who uncovered cases of waste, fraud and abuse in the U.S.-led reconstruction effort in Iraq is under investigation by a presidential panel, according to the White House. Stuart W. Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, is under investigation after complaints were made by former employees about his work habits and work he required employees to perform. The investigation is headed by the integrity committee of the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency, (...now there's a joke of a committee, lots of pots calling all the kettles black...) which is made up of inspectors general appointed by the president. (...with all the other whistleblowers coming out of the woodwork, is it any wonder they want this very strategically positioned appointee to remain very, very silent???) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/02/AR2007050202714.html?referrer=email

Canada collaborating with U.S. to track down American soldiers who have fled (and the apologists say this isn't Bush's Viet Nam!) The incidents have sparked allegations that Canadian law enforcement has been collaborating with U.S. officials to help track down American soldiers who have fled to Canada. Some critics, including a left-leaning member of Parliament who represents Nelson, say they believe it is a campaign of intimidation. "Our concern is that there could be other Kyle Snyders in Canada," Alex Atamanenko, the parliamentarian, said following Snyder's arrest on Feb. 23. "Are there those that are being apprehended now?" In a formal letter of complaint to the Conservative Party Cabinet ministers responsible for public safety and immigration, Atamanenko noted that Snyder was apprehended without a search warrant or permission to enter the residence. "Has Canada ever raised official objection to the U.S. about the operation of U.S. police, security, intelligence or military officials in Canada?" Atamanenko asked, adding, "It is important for Canadian citizens and visitors to our country to know that our Canadian sovereignty is respected." (Oh, Canada! When will you learn, BushCo has respect only for outsourcers, off-shoreres, no-bidders and book cookers) http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/05/03/awol_in_canada/?source=newsletter

DOJ SCANDAL
TESTER CALLS FOR MERCER TO RESIGN (thanx to TPM for this link to the WaPo) Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) called yesterday on a top Justice Department official to resign his U.S. attorney's post after revelations that he worked to alter federal law so that he and a handful of other senior aides could escape residency requirements that governed their assignments as federal prosecutors. Since 2005, William W. Mercer has served as acting associate attorney general at Justice Department headquarters in Washington as well as being the U.S. attorney in Montana, where he spends just three days a month. That has drawn the anger of a Montana federal judge who contends that Mercer is violating a federal law that requires him to live in Montana. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/02/AR2007050202353.html?nav=rss_politics

On Nov. 10, 2005, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales sent a letter to a federal judge in Montana, assuring him that the U.S. attorney there, William W. Mercer, was not violating federal law by spending most of his time in Washington as a senior Justice Department official. That same day, Mercer had a GOP Senate staffer insert into a bill a provision that would change the rules so that federal prosecutors could live outside their districts to serve in other jobs, according to documents and interviews. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/01/AR2007050101961.html

IF MERCER AND GONZALES CONSPIRED TO CREATE THIS LIE, IT WOULD CONSTITUTE HIGH CRIMES, NOT MISDEMEANORS!

Lam claims coersion, attempted cover-up conspiracy...
In a strongly worded defense of her four-year tenure as U.S. attorney in San Diego, Carol C. Lam told congressional investigators that she was constantly given conflicting instructions from Washington and was expected to bring more prosecutions with fewer resources. According to written statements released Wednesday — her first public comments since testifying two months ago about her firing — Lam also said she was given just weeks to clear out of her office and was informed by Justice Department officials that her ouster was "coming from the very highest levels of the government." And, she said, Washington wanted her to pretend (... "lie for us...") as though it was her decision to leave office. When Michael A. Battle, then a Justice Department supervisor for U.S. attorneys, called her in December to tell her she was being terminated, she said, "He advised me to simply say publicly that I had decided to pursue other opportunities." (..doesn't that "advice" constitute the hub of a conspiracy?)
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-testimony3may03,0,5926250.story?track=ntothtml

Goodling gets "warned"
The Justice Department said Wednesday that it had launched an internal probe into whether a chief figure in the U.S. attorneys affair had violated policy — and possibly federal law — by injecting party politics into the selection of career prosecutors. The investigation of Monica M. Goodling, once the Justice Department's White House liaison, widens the probe (...is Rove at the end of all these probes???) into allegations of partisan hiring and firing at the agency and complicates the Bush administration's efforts to weather the scandal. (...so how do they weather an F-6 political perfect storm?)
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-usattys3may03,0,6205687.story?track=ntothtml

IRS RECORDS HINT AT BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S SYSTEMIC PROTECTION FOR OFFSHORE OUTSOURCERS (how many small business will be audited this year?) The Internal Revenue Service is curtailing audits of many people who use offshore tax havens, even when agents see signs of tax evasion, because agents fear they cannot meet a three-year deadline for finishing an examination, Congressional investigators have found. In a report to be released on Thursday, the Government Accountability Office found that I.R.S. agents are so hobbled by “dilatory tactics” by offshore taxpayers and other problems that it takes almost two and a half years to complete a typical audit. Many I.R.S. agents told the G.A.O., the investigative arm of Congress, that the “safest way” was often to stop an audit prematurely and sometimes to refrain from starting one in the first place. The I.R.S. reported that almost $300 billion in investment and business income was moved out of the United States in 2003. (UNDER COVER OF WAR!!!) Analysts at the Joint Committee on Taxation have estimated that the annual outflow has shot to more than $400 billion since then. (...anyone else interested in how this all relates to "The New World Order"???) http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/business/03tax.html?th&emc=th

WOLFOWITZ GAL-PAL SCANDAL COMING TO A HEAD
Members of a World Bank board committee investigating the conduct of Paul D. Wolfowitz, the bank president, are leaning toward finding that he violated the institution’s rules against conflicts of interest when he arranged a pay raise and promotion for his companion, bank officials said Wednesday. A conclusion that Mr. Wolfowitz broke the bank rules and the terms of his own contract, which bars conflicts of interest, would be likely to increase the pressure on him to resign despite his vow not to do so in the face of such charges.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/washington/03wolfowitz.html?th&emc=th

THE ENVIRONMENT
Southern California air regulators cannot require railroads to shut down idling locomotives or obey other local laws designed to clean up deadly diesel pollution, a federal judge ruled this week. The decision invalidates action taken last year by the South Coast Air Quality Management District to reduce a major source of air pollution in the Southland. Locomotives are responsible for more than 32 tons per day of pollutants, an amount equal to that produced by 1.4 million cars, according to figures compiled by state and regional agencies. The state air board estimates that 5,400 premature deaths annually in Southern California can be linked to air pollution, and studies have found that the sooty particulates put out by trains are particularly harmful... Two railroads and a trade group filed suit, saying that under special exemptions passed by Congress more than a century ago, (...time to revisit some of these exemptions?) they do not have to abide by local laws that could interfere with interstate commerce.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-rail3may03,0,7418155.story?track=ntothtml

At the Habersham Gardens nursery, (in Atlanta) where well-heeled homeowners choose their spring seedlings, a spiky-leafed, sultry coastal oleander has been thriving in a giant urn. “We never expected it to come back every year,” said Cheryl Aldrich, the assistant manager, guiding a visitor on a tour of plants that would once have needed coddling to survive here: eucalyptus, angel trumpets, the Froot Loop-hued Miss Huff lantana. “We’ve been able to overwinter plants you didn’t have a prayer with before.” (you won't see Glenn Beck reporting this news...)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/science/03flowers.html?th&emc=th

Healthcare

The Food and Drug Administration ordered drug makers yesterday to add warnings to antidepressant medications, saying the drugs increase the risk of suicidal thinking or behavior in some young adults. (..ever wonder if the political climate over the past few years has contributed to this endemic suicidal depression??) The drugs' labels, which have included similar warnings for adolescents and children since 2005, will apply to people under 25. The expanded warnings, which will appear in a black-ruled box displayed prominently on the prescribing information... http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/05/03/drug_makers_to_widen_suicide_risk_warning/

Monday Morning Carry-over

This will be a slim week on Between the lines. Got to go to KC for a couple days, so I won't be lining up the headlines every morning. But readership here is still small. I hope that, eventually, my daily perspective encourages many of you to come here for a morning overview, a quick red-letter synopsis of the daily news that you can skim for THE hot headlines and other curiosities that I have marked in red text, to help find your own daily talking points. JEP
Red text is the "real" headline buried in the article.
Blue text is my own commentary.
Violet text is the blog quote of the day.

AFRICA
once again, the most important story of the day, Africa, is absent from the morning headlines in all the standard media email newsletters. Seems to be a REGULAR "Monday" thing, though, there's a pattern here...

THE MEDIA, THE INTERNET, AND THE BLOGS
Blog quote of the day, from "Media Matters"
(don't miss the rogue's gallery photo bar that accompanies this article, it's the best photo-synopsis of deceptive spinmeisters I've seen so far, minus Malkin, Coulter and Drudge, why are these women missing from the line-up?)
On April 11, NBC News announced that it was dropping MSNBC's simulcast of Imus in the Morning in the wake of the controversy that erupted over host Don Imus' reference to the Rutgers University women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos." The following day, CBS president and CEO Leslie Moonves announced that CBS has fired Imus and would cease broadcasting his radio show. But as Media Matters for America has extensively documented, bigotry and hate speech targeting, among other characteristics, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and ethnicity continue to permeate the airwaves through personalities such as Glenn Beck, Neal Boortz, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage, Michael Smerconish, and John Gibson. (some of the most egregious violators of the 4th Estate's once-noble calling!)
http://mediamatters.org/items/200704120010

Stewart and Colbert viewers are more news-savvy than Fox viewers!!! (I'm not surprised, free thinkers tend to discern the truth much better than brainwashed bozos, thanx to Huffington Post for the link) Other details are equally eye-opening. Pew judged the levels of knowledgeability (correct answers) among those surveyed and found that those who scored the highest were regular watchers of Comedy Central's The Daily Show and Colbert Report. They tied with regular readers of major newspapers in the top spot -- with 54% of them getting 2 out of 3 questions correct. Watchers of the Lehrer News Hour on PBS followed just behind. Virtually bringing up the rear were regular watchers of Fox (we report, you believe) News. Only 1 in 3 (Fox viewers) could answer 2 out of 3 questions correctly. Fox topped only network morning show viewers.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003571876

Is there any tag team capable of doing more damage to the truth than over-eager warbloggers enlisting with gossip guru Matt Drudge? The two factually challenged camps joined forces last week in an effort to slime CNN's Iraq reporter Michael Ware by spreading the bogus story that he'd heckled Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) during a Baghdad press conference. It actually took less than one day for the malicious falsehood to be debunked. And in the end, Drudge and the warbloggers -- those bitter, pro-war, dead-enders -- simply made April fools of themselves for peddling the concocted tale. (Eric Boehlert is always spot-on and definitely worth a regular read...) http://mediamatters.org/columns/200704100023

... case shows that the Internet has become a virtual training camp and operations center replacing the Al Qaeda bases in Afghanistan and Bosnia that produced a legion of fighters, formed them into cells and launched them at targets. The soldiers of this looser network were more technologically and culturally agile than the grim fanatics who executed attacks in the past, according to trial evidence, court documents and interviews with investigators, defense lawyers, family and friends. They spoke more English than Arabic and listened to the rap of Kanye West along with the harangues of Abu Musab Zarqawi. Their Western ways enabled them to communicate and cross borders with ease. And investigators say they had a youthful disregard for life. (anyone else see some anti-blog propaganda leakin' out of this story? The Kanye West reference smacks of provocative-ism, surely these Bosnians also listen to Gorecki, but he never spoke truth to power like Kanye does.)http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-net16apr16,0,2180207.story

The two private equity firms seeking to buy Clear Channel Communications have sweetened their offer, fearing that their initial bid may be rejected by shareholders. In a letter to Clear Channel’s board, Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners have proposed raising their $26 billion offer, including debt, for the nation’s largest radio company, people briefed on the negotiations said yesterday. The letter proposes several alternatives, including letting shareholders co-invest in a small part of the deal, in what is known as a stub. That would allow the investors a greater return, should the deal prove successful. (more proof they only used these media forms for propaganda purposes, the robber barons don't want these low-profit enterprises if they don't produce the political results intended... the question now is, what type of people are the new owners? I can't imagine that they could be worse than the old owners, but then I didn't think W had a snowball's chance in hell in 1999) http://www2.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=352464978493976133&postID=3530095826776302687

Google will begin selling advertisements across all of the stations of Clear Channel Communications, the No. 1 radio station owner in the United States, at the end of June, the companies will announce today. Google has been working for months to expand its ad sales operation into traditional media like newspapers, radio and television. To do so, it needs traditional media companies to allow it to sell some of their ads, and it had seemed to be making little progress in radio. But the partnership with Clear Channel represents a step forward (and to the right) for Google. The deal will run for several years, and will give Google access to just under 5 percent of Clear Channel’s commercial time. That will include 30-second spots on all of Clear Channel’s 675 stations during all programs and all times of the day, executives at both companies said in interviews yesterday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/15/AR2007041500855.html?referrer=email

Microsoft said yesterday that Google's proposed purchase of Internet advertising company DoubleClick raises antitrust and privacy concerns that deserve careful review by authorities.
Executives at the software giant said they talked over the weekend with AT&T, AOL and Yahoo about similar concerns. Microsoft had bid for DoubleClick but lost to Google. The $3.1 billion acquisition, announced late Friday, would combine the largest providers of online advertising and create a dominant force, Microsoft said. Spending on Internet advertising rose 17 percent last year from 2005, to $9.8 billion, far faster than advertising for traditional media, according to research firm TNS Media Intelligence. http://letters.washingtonpost.com/W3RH02D12A2CFE0C6446D300D38620

EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY
The report doesn't claim to speak for the multitude of products being used in classrooms, and more studies are in order, she said. Yet the inescapable conclusion, she added, is that despite all the time students spent sitting before computers, the data didn't show more than a blip of increased learning. "I don't think anyone expected it would come out so flat," she said.Actually, Don Knezek, who heads the International Society for Technology in Education, would have predicted just that outcome."There's been," he said, "a deliberate effort to discredit and eliminate technology in schools…. We've clearly seen our Department of Education and this administration sit back while we've fallen behind on the world stage in education." (more "anti-tech" mentality as the information age continues to replace the industrial age.) http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-schoolme16apr16,0,1868398.story?track=ntothtml

THE BUSH WARS
(George) Tenet is not going to get too many Christmas cards from Vice President Cheney's office after they read "At the Center of the Storm." Folks from down the river at the Pentagon, including former deputy secretary of defense Paul Wolfowitz-- a guy who's already going through a rough patch -- and former defense undersecretary Douglas Feith, might also get some heartburn...Former secretary of state Colin Powell comes out fine. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was President Bush's key adviser in engineering the Iraq invasion, doesn't come out so fine. Not fine at all.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/15/AR2007041500653.html?


Levin said Democrats remain committed to sending Bush (just impeach him, and Cheney, for God's sake, and stop negotiating with these neocon terrorists!) a compromise package with the withdrawal language intact, to express the strong concerns among Democrats and some Republicans that the Iraq war is exacting too high a cost for the country to continue. That language is likely to track closely with the Senate approach, which sets a goal instead of a hard date. "We're going to send him, first of all, hopefully, a very strong bill which would say that we're going to begin to reduce troops in four months as a way of telling the Iraqi leadership that the open-ended commitment is over," Levin said.

BAQUBA, Iraq; The Sunni guerrillas and extremists who now overshadow this city demonstrate a sophistication and lethality born of years of confronting American military tactics. While the “surge” plays out in Baghdad just 35 miles to the south, Baquba has emerged as a magnet for insurgents from around the country and, perhaps, the next major headache for the American military. Some insurgents have moved into Baquba to escape the escalation in Baghdad. But the city has been attracting insurgents for years, particularly after American officials in Baghdad proclaimed it and surrounding Diyala Province relatively pacified (seems like every time one of our McCains or Hunters declares that the war is really "going well", or some territory is declared 'pacified,' the terrorists do something deadly to prove them wrong. But unfortunately for all of us, Iraqis and Americans alike, the terrorists just don't understand yet that these neocons do not know how to admit they are wrong...) over a year ago and drew down their troop presence. http://www.nytimes.com:80/2007/04/16/world/middleeast/16insurgency.html?th&emc=th

A key Shiite Muslim bloc in Iraq's government pledged Sunday to quit over Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's refusal to set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops, (..you mean the Iraqis want a timetable too??? Who'd a thunk it.) a move that would further weaken the country's leadership at a time of soaring sectarian violence. The threat came on the heels of another bloody day in the capital, where at least 37 people died in bombings that underscored the failings of a U.S.-Iraqi security plan now in its third month. The victims included 17 Iraqis killed in a crowded market (John McCain's 'casual' market walk seems more and more fantastic every day) in a Shiite-dominated neighborhood, where two car bombs exploded nearly simultaneously. As people fled the chaos, mortar rounds rained down on them. Fifty people were wounded. Nine more people were killed as they stood surveying the damage from a roadside bomb that had exploded in Baghdad's central Karada district. The bomb caused no casualties, but another one went off shortly afterward outside a popular smoothie shop, near where the crowd had gathered, causing the deaths and 17 injuries. Five people also were killed in Karada when a minivan exploded, and six were killed in a Shiite neighborhood in southwest Baghdad when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a taxi. The incidents all bore the hallmarks of the car bombings and suicide attacks blamed on Sunni Arab insurgents. Political parties loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr blame the U.S. troop presence for the ongoing bloodshed. Maliki faces a major blow if he loses their backing. The bloc holds six Cabinet positions and about 30 seats in the parliament, where it has greatly bolstered the prime minister's Shiite-led alliance.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq16apr16,0,4430303.story?track=ntothtml

The review is designed to serve as an "independent sounding board," according to a Defense Department memo, and will be co chaired by Eric Evans , an electrical engineer and director of Lincoln Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Paul E. Funk , a retired three-star Army general who publicly doubted that Iraq could be easily stabilized by military force. (another General who knew better? BEFORE the war? And how many Generals equal one Feith or Perle, when it comes to credibility in the neocon sphere of self-delusional war strategy?) Before US troops toppled Saddam Hussein in March 2003, Funk derided top Bush administration officials in several media interviews as thinking "all wars are small and will be over quickly." He also warned that US forces could be in Iraq "for years," believing that the United States did not have sufficient forces to pacify the country and would probably face years of resistance from home-grown forces. http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2007/04/16/war_strategy_critic_to_review_ied_office/

GONZALES-GATE SCANDAL GROWS EVER MORE COMPLEX
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales offered a measured apology for his mistakes in the dismissal of eight United States attorneys, but said in testimony prepared for a Senate hearing on Tuesday (what sort of Anna/Imus red herring will the MSM fish up for us this week to cover Gonzales' continuation of this perpetual pattern of patent deception) that he had “nothing to hide” and that none of the prosecutors were removed to influence the outcome of a case. In his testimony, which was released Sunday by the Justice Department, Mr. Gonzales provided an account of his actions that was largely consistent with his past assertions that his role was very limited and his recollection fragmentary. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/16/washington/16attorneys.html?th&emc=th

The former Justice Department official who carried out the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year told Congress that several of the prosecutors had no performance problems and that a memo on the firings was distributed at a Nov. 27 meeting attended by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, (recorded historical chronology is a bitch, when you lie about it there's just no way to go back change it to match your lies) a Democratic senator said yesterday. The statements to House and Senate investigators by Michael A. Battle, former director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, represent another potential challenge to the credibility of Gonzales, who has said that he never saw any documents about the firings and that he had "lost confidence" in the prosecutors because of performance problems.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/15/AR2007041500548.html?referrer=email

WOLFOWITZ WORLD-BANK ROMANCE SCANDAL ESCALATES
Paul D. Wolfowitz’s struggle to remain as president of the World Bank was dealt a crippling setback on Sunday when its most powerful oversight committee delivered an unusually public rebuke of his leadership, expressing “great concern” about the institution’s future and the need to preserve its credibility and staff morale. Mr. Wolfowitz, responding at a news conference, vowed to stay on at the bank... The extraordinary exchange between Mr. Wolfowitz and the oversight committee, which consists of 47 of the world’s finance ministers and leaders of other international organizations, deepened the uncertainty over Mr. Wolfowitz. His future had earlier been thrown into doubt by the disclosure that he played a direct role in granting a pay raise and promotion to a female companion when she was transferred in 2005. (you're doin' a heckuva job, Wolfie, so just hang-in there!!)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/16/washington/16bank.html?th&emc=th

The reason Paul Wolfowitz should resign as president of the World Bank has nothing to do with Iraq, or his last job as No. 2 in Donald Rumsfeld’s Pentagon, or even his clashes with the bank’s directors and staff. He should resign because he made clean governance his main cause at the bank and has fallen far short of his own standards. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/16/opinion/16mon3.html?th&emc=th

IRS TARGETS MIDDLE CLASS, IGNORES CORPORATIONS AND WEALTHY REPUBLICANS
Since 2000, authorities at the Internal Revenue Service have nearly tripled audits of tax returns filed by people making $25,000 to $100,000 as part of a broad change in audit strategy. Audits of these middle-class taxpayers rose to nearly 436,000 last year, up from about 147,000 returns in 2000. For these 61 million individuals and married couples, who make up nearly half of all taxpayers, the odds of being audited rose from 1 in 377 to 1 in 140. (this is exactly what happened under Daddy Bush, creating thousands of snoopy new auditors, as the middle class got the shaft while the billionaire Republicans cheated with impunity. You might call this part of the whole Bush family legacy.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/16/business/16tax.html?th&emc=th

THE ENVIRONMENT
Inuit hunters are falling through thinning ice and dying. Dolphins are being spotted for the first time. There's not enough snow to build igloos for shelter during hunts. As scientists work to establish the effect of global warming, explorers and hunters slogging across northern Canada and the Arctic ice cap on sled and foot are describing the realities they see on the ground. Three of them recently spoke to The Associated Press. "This is really ground zero for global warming," said Will Steger, a 62-year-old Minnesotan who has been traveling the region for 43 years and has witnessed the effect of warming on the 155,000 indigenous people of the Arctic.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/311757_ice16.html

HEMP LAWS CONFOUND ECONOMIC REASON AND SOCIAL LOGIC
Consider this: From 1982 to 2005, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration's Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression program seized over 103 million marijuana plants. In recent years, an average of over 33,000 cultivation sites per year have been eradicated, representing a massive investment of law enforcement dollars and effort. The result? According to federal government estimates, in roughly the same time period, annual U.S. marijuana production increased from 1,000 metric tons to 10,000 metric tons. To put this in perspective, a study released late last year (based entirely on government figures) found that marijuana is America's number one cash crop by a whopping margin. With an estimated value of $35.8 billion in 2006, our marijuana crop exceeds the value of corn ($23.3 billion) and wheat ($7.45 billion) combined. (And keep in mind, that is just the toker's take, imagine if industrial hemp was a legal cash-crop, then ALL the farmers could profit from it, and we would have a serious renewable alternative for paper, textile, biofuels and building products. This is the reason their wholly owned MSM continues to vilify it as a "drug." Considering this much maligned plant's historic versatility, it is no wonder the dead-tree, oil and cotton industries, not to mention the pharmies and private prison industries want it kept in the shadows, creating an unprecedented prison culture of otherwise innocent, law abiding, tax-paying American citizens.)
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/04/13/drug_enforcement_pipe_dreams.php

Wednesday's news

Red text is the "real" headline in these stories and articles.
Blue text is my own personal commentary.
Violet text is the blog quote of the day.

AFRICA (still the most important stories of the day)
Sudanese Janjaweed militiamen killed as many as 400 people in the volatile eastern border region near Sudan, leaving an "apocalyptic" scene of mass graves and destruction, the U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday. The attacks took place March 31 in the border villages of Tiero and Marena, about 550 miles from Chad's capital, N'Djamena. Chadian officials initially said that 65 people had died but that the toll was certain to rise. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001775.html?referrer=email

As a former accountant and stockbroker, Father Paul Spellman knows money talks. So when he found out last month that his retirement funds could be contributing to bloodshed in Sudan, he decided to send a message. His target: Fidelity Investments, which manages the retirement plan for the 350 priests in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and is one of the leading U.S. shareholders in PetroChina Co., part of a company involved in one of Sudan's largest oil projects. Oil revenues fund Sudan's military, which is accused of arming militias whose four-year battle against rebels has killed more than 200,000 people and left millions homeless.(it sure worked in South Africa)
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-sudan11apr11,0,1417586.story?track=ntothtml

The acknowledgment by Ethiopia of its role in detaining terrorism suspects prompted officials in Washington to speak more candidly about American interrogations of the captives. Those officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak publicly, said Tuesday that American intelligence agents had questioned several of the detainees in Ethiopian jails over the past several months. But they denied that the United States had played any part in transferring or detaining the prisoners, and denied that the prisoners were part of a covert rendition program in which suspects are captured by American forces and flown to another country to be interrogated. In the past, many rendition suspects have been taken to countries where torture is routine.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/world/africa/11ethiopia.html?th&emc=th

While the Bush administration is dispatching another top envoy — this time Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte — (another round of the El Salvador solution?) to deliver another strong message to the Sudanese government about the killing in the Darfur region, critics say the diplomacy is allowing Sudan to play for time as the death toll mounts.The administration has been trying to come up with a way to make good on repeated threats that the United States will hold President Omar Hassan al-Bashir accountable for the violence in Darfur, where 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2.5 million displaced. But even now, Democrats are demanding a plan to address the Darfur crisis, and suggesting their own proposals, including one to impose a no-flight zone over Darfur, and another to authorize American states to divest from foreign companies invested in Sudan. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/washington/11darfur.html?th&emc=th

President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria likes to present himself as the man who led his country toward democracy. But his reputation — and that of his country — will be deeply marred unless he moves quickly to rein in the chaos and corruption threatening this month’s elections. With regional elections scheduled for this Saturday and national elections a week after that, hundreds of election monitors have yet to be accredited, and several leading opposition candidates have been barred from seeking the presidency for dubious reasons. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/opinion/11wed3.html?th&emc=th

blog quote of the day once again goes to Christy at FDL
"Any person who has ever worked with law enforcement knows that all it takes is one rotten apple in an investigative unit to stink up the entire place. The rules and regs are there for a very, very good reason — because you cannot tinker with essential notions of liberty and the rule of law without seeing some very grave consequences on the back end of that. Good cops and prosecutors take that very seriously, because with substantial power also comes a substantial responsibility to use it with great care." So what do we do when the whole basket of apples turns rotten?
http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/04/11/secure-the-blessings-of-liberty/

ROVE WATCH
The poll also found that 74 percent of the public (and 49 percent of Republicans) think that Karl Rove and other White House aides should testify before Congress under oath. (thanx to Paul Kiel at TPMMuckraker) http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/

VOTER FRAUD STUDY SKEWED BY REPUBLICAN PARTISANS
Panel Said to Alter Finding on Voter Fraud
A federal panel responsible for conducting election research played down the findings of experts who concluded last year that there was little voter fraud around the nation, according to a review of the original report obtained by The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/washington/11voters.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

MEDIA, THE BLOGS AND THE INTERNET
Viacom said yesterday that it picked Yahoo as its online advertising partner in a multi-year deal that could help Yahoo become a more formidable challenger to Google -- Viacom's opponent in a legal squabble over video copyrights. Small text-based ads will appear next to search results and other relevant content on 33 Web sites owned by Viacom, including MTV.com, VH1.com, ComedyCentral.com, Nickelodeon.com and BET.com. The deal is a victory for Yahoo, which has been losing ground to Google in the online advertising business. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001488.html

DOJ SCANDAL
In 2001, the RNC bestowed computers and other equipment on Rove and other presidential aides in an apparent attempt to avoid the questions that dogged the Clinton administration about the use of government resources for partisan political purposes. Now Democratic critics of the Bush administration say the electronic back channel was used to transact government business without creating a historical record. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said the dual system may violate the Presidential Records Act. Waxman may be right, at least about e-mails that dealt with governmental matters. But whether or not the Presidential Records Act was violated, Congress is entitled to at least some of these messages as part of its oversight role. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-email11apr11,0,887927.story?track=ntothtml

Two former administrators at a Texas Youth Commission lockup were indicted on felony sex charges Tuesday, almost two months after allegations that they had preyed on incarcerated teenage boys ignited a statewide corruption scandal. The development came as the West Texas prosecutor who did not file charges after learning of the accusations in 2005 was named in two ouster petitions and he filed one against his chief local critic, the county attorney. (this mess may well have started with Gonzales' negligence, SEE BELOW) http://letters.statesman.com/W3RH02DDC47A4E458372E30195D7A0

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, both already under siege for other matters, are now being accused of failing to prosecute officers of the Texas Youth Commission after a Texas Ranger investigation documented that guards and administrators were sexually abusing the institution's teenage boy inmates. Among the charges in the Texas Ranger report were that administrators would rouse boys from their sleep for the purpose of conducting all-night sex parties. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54861

THE BUSH WARS
Unless locals rat out the snipers, we will continue to see US casualties mount while the Iraqi forces hang back and let us be the primary targets. Last month, for example, US forces suffered more casualties than the Iraqi forces. So much for those assholes standing up and taking charge. (by Larry Johnson at No Quarter )
http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Recent graduates of the US Military Academy at West Point are choosing to leave active duty at the highest rate in more than three decades, a sign to many military specialists that repeated tours in Iraq are prematurely driving out some of the Army's top young officers. (so, our best and brightest are just too bright to fight for a worthless cause? Who's surprised? I'm not.) http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/04/11/west_point_grads_exit_service_at_high_rate/

The White House wants to appoint a high-powered czar to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with authority to issue directions to the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies, but it has had trouble finding anyone able and willing to take the job, according to people close to the situation. At least three retired four-star generals approached by the White House in recent weeks have declined to be considered for the position, the sources said, underscoring the administration's difficulty in enlisting its top recruits to join the team after five years of warfare that have taxed the United States and its military. (...just another "personnel" problem?)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001776.html?referrer=email

from the WaPo, via ThinkProgress
Retired Marine Gen. John J. “Jack” Sheehan: Sheehan rejected the offer because he “believes that Vice President Cheney and his hawkish allies remain more powerful within the administration than pragmatists looking for a way out of Iraq.” He stated, “There’s the residue of the Cheney view — ‘We’re going to win, al-Qaeda’s there’ — that justifies anything we did. And then there’s the pragmatist view — how the hell do we get out of Dodge and survive? Unfortunately, the people with the former view are still in the positions of most influence.”
http://thinkprogress.org/

Sunni militants and residents of the Baghdad neighborhood of Fadhil fought a fierce daylong battle with the Iraqi Army and American soldiers on Tuesday in what appeared to be the most sustained confrontation since the start of the security plan to calm violence in the capital. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/world/middleeast/11iraq.html?th&emc=th

THE ENVIRONMENT
The sinking of Ghoramara can be attributed to a confluence of disasters, natural and human, not least the rising sea. The rivers that pour down from the Himalayas and empty into the bay have swelled and shifted in recent decades, placing this and the rest of the delicate islands known as the Sundarbans in the mouth of daily danger. Certainly nature would have forced these islands to shift size and shape, drowning some, giving rise to others. But there is little doubt, scientists say, that human-induced climate change has made them particularly vulnerable. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/world/asia/11india.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=login

Gore and the Live Earth producers had hoped to bring the North American Live Earth show to Washington, but finding a suitable venue here proved difficult. The obvious choice -- the Mall -- was booked for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival as well as a Christian festival called Together One Unity, and a bipartisan resolution to bring the concert to the Capitol grounds ran into Republican roadblocks. A last-ditch effort to find an alternative location in Washington proved futile. So yesterday, Gore and Live Earth Executive Producer Kevin Wall announced that they were going to the Garden State. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001769.html?referrer=email

A federal court ruling on salmon should provoke soul searching within the Bush administration and searching in Congress for systemic solutions. Science needs to be restored to an honest place in the federal government's decision making. In strong and appropriate terms, a federal court has rejected the false ways the administration tried to revise science and the law to ignore the role of four lower Snake River dams in destroying salmon runs. The administration claimed the dams had to be treated as part of the natural landscape. A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled the feds had indulged themselves in "sleight of hand," manipulation and a uniquely "cramped view" of their ability to protect endangered species. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/311018_damsed.html

MEDICAL NEWS
RESEARCHERS have demonstrated for the first time that the progression of Type 1 diabetes can be halted — and possibly reversed — by a stem-cell transplant that preserves the body's diminishing ability to make insulin, according to a study published today. The experimental therapy eliminated the need for insulin injections for months or even years in 14 of 15 patients recently diagnosed with the disease. One subject, a 30-year-old male, hasn't taken insulin since his stem-cell transplant more than three years ago, according to the study in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. (So where has this treatment been hiding the last few years?)
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-stemcells11apr11,0,971736.story?track=ntothtml

MOST OUTRAGEOUS
The chief financial officer of Menu Foods sold about half of his stake in the company three weeks before the widespread pet food recall, Canadian insider-trading reports showed. Finance chief Mark Wiens called it a "horrible coincidence" in the Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper, adding that he did not hear of any problems with the company's products until at least a week later. Wiens sold 14,000 shares on Feb. 26 and 27 for about $90,000. The shares now are worth about $54,000. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001691.html?referrer=email

TUESDAY'S NEWS

Red text is the "real" headline in these stories and articles.
Blue text is my own personal commentary.
Violet text is the blog quote of the day.

AFRICA'S ONGOING CULTURAL TRAGEDY
AT THE END of last year, a slender opportunity opened to stabilize Somalia, a failed state in the Horn of Africa that has become a haven for members of al-Qaeda and for other Islamic extremists. With the assistance of U.S. Special Forces, troops from neighboring Ethiopia launched an offensive that overturned the Taliban-style Islamist government that had controlled the capital, Mogadishu, and much of the southern half of the country. A transitional government backed by the United Nations took over, while diplomats scrambled to arrange for an African peacekeeping force to replace the Ethiopians. Many of the extremists scattered; some were reportedly killed in U.S. airstrikes while others were captured at the Kenyan border. Three months later, the opportunity may have been lost. Heavy fighting erupted in Mogadishu late last month, with regrouped Islamists and their allies arrayed against Ethiopian forces, which have failed to withdraw. Hundreds were killed and thousands were added to the approximately 100,000 refugees from Mogadishu recorded by the United Nations since the beginning of the year. The al-Qaeda leader in Somalia is reportedly back in Mogadishu, as is one of the senior commanders of the former Islamic government. Only 1,200 of the 8,000 planned peacekeepers have arrived, and they are dedicated mostly to guarding the airport and seaport. Once again, anarchy threatens to overtake a country that has not had a stable government since 1991. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/09/AR2007040901103.html?referrer=email

DEMOCRATS IMPROVE PUBLIC FAITH IN CONGRESS
Public approval for Congress is at its highest level in a year as Democrats mark 100 days in power and step up their confrontation with President Bush over his handling of the Iraq War, the issue that overshadows all others. Yet for all their eagerness to challenge Bush, congressional Democrats so far have failed to attract significant support among independents, a group that helped propel them to power in last fall's elections and now appears more strongly opposed to the war than the general public.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1153AP_Congress_100_Days.html

NO MORE EASY CORPORATE-SPONSORED BALLOT INITIATIVES IN IOWA?!?!
There will be more sunshine on political groups that try to persuade Iowans to vote yes or no on ballot issues such school bonds or a one-cent sales tax.Instead of filing just one disclosure report a year, political committees who do activities such as advertisements, yard signs or pamphlets that expressly advocate for a public measure will now have to file as many as five reports revealing who their contributors are and where they spent their money.The ballot issue campaigns have become increasingly sophisticated and expensive, officials said. Senate File 351 was approved today by the Iowa House; it previously passed the Iowa Senate. It now goes to the governor for his signature.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070410/NEWS/70410018/1001/NLETTER01

MEDIA, THE BLOGS, AND THE INTERNET
WHY THE MEDIA FAILED IN THE RUN-UP TO THE WAR IN IRAQ
It's no secret that the period of time between 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq represents one of the greatest collapses in the history of the American media. Every branch of the media failed, from daily newspapers, magazines and Web sites to television networks, cable channels and radio. I'm not going to go into chapter and verse about the media's specific failures, its credulousness about aluminum tubes and mushroom clouds and failure to make clear that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11 -- they're too well known to repeat. In any case, the real failing was not in any one area; it was across the board. Bush administration lies and distortions went unchallenged, or were actively promoted. Fundamental and problematic assumptions about terrorism and the "war on terror" were rarely debated or even discussed. Vital historical context was almost never provided. And it wasn't just a failure of analysis. With some honorable exceptions, good old-fashioned reporting was also absent. But perhaps the press's most notable failure was its inability to determine just why this disastrous war was ever launched.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2007/04/10/media_failure/

Seven candidates for the 2008 Democratic Party nomination will take part tonight in a live "virtual town hall" forum about the Iraq war, in what is being billed as the largest and most ambitious experiment yet in harnessing the power of Internet technology to reshape participatory democracy. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/04/10/campaigning_gets_a_new_web_version/

BUSH ABUSES RECESS APPOINTMENT SYSTEM, EXECUTIVE PRIVELEGE
IN ELEMENTARY school, recess is a time for fun and games. The same is true, unfortunately, in the nation's capital. President Bush last week took advantage of a Senate recess to appoint three controversial figures to positions — including a major ambassadorship — that ordinarily require confirmation. In the spirit of the playground, Vice President Dick Cheney yukked it up with talk show host Rush Limbaugh about how the administration had gone around the Democratic-controlled Senate, which returned this week. "You go on vacation, this is what happens to you," joked Limbaugh. "If you're a Democrat," Cheney replied. (laugh while you can, Monkey-Boys) http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-recess10apr10,0,3578392.story?track=ntothtml

In the summer of 1974, Richard Nixon bet his presidency on the doctrine of executive privilege, and lost. Nixon’s lawyer, James St. Clair, argued to the Supreme Court that he did not have to give a special prosecutor the Watergate tape recordings of Nixon talking with various advisers. But in the oral argument, the justices were skeptical. Lewis Powell, the courtly Virginian, asked: “Mr. St. Clair, what public interest is there in preserving secrecy with respect to a criminal conspiracy?” Justice Powell’s question cut through Nixon’s central claim: that executive privilege gives presidents an absolute right to keep their communications secret. Barely two weeks after the oral argument, the court unanimously ordered Nixon to turn over the tapes.
Three decades later, the Bush administration is threatening to invoke executive privilege to hobble Congress’s investigation into the purge of United States attorneys. President Bush has said that Karl Rove, his closest adviser, and Harriet Miers, his former White House counsel, among others, do not have to comply with Congressional subpoenas because “the president relies upon his staff to give him candid advice.” This may well end up in a constitutional showdown. If it does, there is no question about which side should prevail. Congress has a right, and an obligation, to examine all of the evidence, which increasingly suggests that the Bush administration fired eight or more federal prosecutors either because they were investigating Republicans, or refusing to bring baseless charges against Democrats.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/10/opinion/10tue4.html?th&emc=th

The Bush administration and the Defense Department are among the winners of the 2007 Jefferson Muzzle awards, given Tuesday by a free-speech group to those it considers the most egregious First Amendment violators in the past year. The Bush administration appears on the list, compiled by the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, for its efforts to discourage, modify and sometimes censor government scientists' reports and studies to be more in line with the administration's political policies, notably on global warming, the center said. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Muzzle_Awards.html

DOJ APPOINTMENTS, THE SCANDAL THAT JUST KEEPS ON GIVING
A federal appeals court last week slapped down a controversial fraud conviction with a swift, blunt decisiveness almost never seen in the legal system. The ruling struck a blow to the credibility of the Milwaukee-based federal prosecutor who brought the case, and to other investigations related to campaign fundraising by Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, said former prosecutors and other legal experts. The investigations have not led to any charges against Doyle or his aides. The federal prosecutor, who was appointed by President Bush, and the state attorney general, a Republican, say they are continuing their probes. But the appeals court has sent a very clear message that prosecutors will need to bring much stronger cases if they expect charges to stick, experts said. A federal spokeswoman acknowledged that the appeals court's forthcoming written decision may affect the handling of the other investigations. The three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago on Thursday overturned a jury's conviction of state purchasing agent Georgia Thompson on charges that she illegally steered a state travel contract to a company whose officials donated to Doyle. Former U.S. Attorney Frank Tuerkheimer said the case stood alone in his more than four decades in criminal law. The ruling was highly unusual, the UW-Madison law professor said, both for the way the judges ordered Thompson released from a federal prison and for the speed with which they did it. "I can't think of any case where an appellate court after hearing oral arguments ordered the release of a person who's confined" the same day, said Tuerkheimer, who was a U.S. attorney under Democratic President Carter. A written decision, which will explain the judges' reasoning, has not yet been issued, but their statements during Thursday's hearing suggest they felt the case against Thompson was threadbare at best. http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=128460&ntpid=2

Following the rules of succession at the Justice Department, according to the letter from Assistant Attorney General Richard Hertling, the guy in charge of all that is Solicitor General Paul Clement. So who is Clement? Since 2005, as Solicitor General, he's been the administration's face before the Supreme Court. Legal Times profiled him earlier this year. Can you guess which Supreme Court justice he used to work for?
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, indicating they think there is more to learn about the firings of eight federal prosecutors last year, asked Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales on Monday to turn over additional documents on the terminations and threatened to issue subpoenas if the materials were not forthcoming.Specifically, the four senators want the internal rankings that the Justice Department made of all 93 U.S. attorneys over the years, as well as employment charts that Monica M. Goodling, a top aide to Gonzales, provided to Justice officials as they decided which prosecutors to fire. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-usattys10apr10,0,6662017.story?track=ntothtml

A half-dozen sitting U.S. attorneys also serve as aides to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales or are assigned other Washington postings, performing tasks that take them away from regular duties in their districts for months or even years at a time, according to officials and department records. Acting Associate Attorney General William W. Mercer, for example, has been effectively absent from his job as U.S. attorney in Montana for nearly two years -- prompting the chief federal judge in Billings to demand his removal and call Mercer's office "a mess."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/09/AR2007040901227.html?referrer=email

THE BUSH WARS
BLOG QUOTE OF THE DAY From Larry Johnson's blog, "No Quarter"
"In fact, if imitation is the most sincere type of flattery, then we clearly have a thing for 'Baghdad Bob.' My God! General Caldwell and John McCain are emulating his crazy pronouncements. Even today McCain continues to insist that the media is steering the American people wrong when it comes to assessing progress in Iraq. Bob blamed Al-Jazeera and so does McCain and Bush and Cheney. Sound familiar? Insisting that things are improving and life returning to normal? If you call 20,000+ people marching in the streets, burning our flag, and calling for U.S. troops to leave Iraq "normal," then yes, things are returning to normal. How much more normal can we endure?" http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/04/colonel_boylan_.html#more

A woman with explosives hidden beneath her black abaya detonated them Tuesday in a crowd of about 200 police recruits northeast of Baghdad, killing at least 16 people, police and hospital officials said. The woman walked into the crowd at the main gate of the Muqdadiyah police station and blew herself up, according to a police officer at the scene who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. At least 16 people were killed and 33 wounded in the mostly Sunni Muslim city about 60 miles northeast of Baghdad, said Dr. Abdul Salam al-Jibour at Muqdadiyah General Hospital. Meanwhile, U.S. and Iraqi army forces were engaged in fierce fighting with gunmen in two Sunni-dominated neighborhoods of the capital, Fadhil and Sheik Omar, police and witnesses said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070410/iraq

The Pentagon will send four National Guard brigades to Iraq and may extend the tours of five active-duty Army brigades by as much as four months as it strains to find troops to sustain the buildup in Baghdad through the end of the year.http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-guard10apr10,0,7610558.story?track=ntothtml

Torching American flags and demanding that U.S. troops leave Iraq, followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr gathered by the thousands Monday for a protest that marked the fourth anniversary of Saddam Hussein's fall from power. Shiite Muslims flocked to the shrine city of Najaf in a peaceful show of solidarity with Sadr, whose grass-roots movement has been squeezed by U.S. and Iraqi forces since the start of the Baghdad security plan two months ago. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-protest10apr10,0,4056731.story?track=ntothtml

The Taliban on Monday threatened to kill four Afghan medical personnel and their driver unless the government releases two Taliban commanders, seeking a deal similar to the swap that won an Italian journalist's freedom last month. The threat came a day after the hard-line militia beheaded Ajmal Naqshbandi, an Afghan interpreter seized March 5 along with journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo of the Rome-based La Repubblica newspaper. Authorities had refused an exchange to secure Naqshbandi's release, the Taliban said. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/09/AR2007040901044.html?referrer=email

WAXMAN DEMANDS ANSWERS FROM RICE ON PRE-WAR INTELLIGENCE
Waxman wants Rice to answer questions about what she knew about the assertion that Iraq tried to buy uranium before the U.S. invasion, according to a letter the chairman sent Rice on Monday.The claims, which have since been proved false, were the basis for a now notorious line in President Bush’s State of the Union in 2003 address to justify the invasion of Iraq. That claim eventually led to the outing of Valerie Plame, a covert CIA agent, who has already testified before Waxman’s committee. (thanx to the Huffington Post for this link) http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0407/Waxman_Still_Wants_Rice_To_Answer_Question_On_Niger_Uranium_Claims.html

GOP's NEW "INSIDER" SCANDAL; STUDENT-LOAN BOOK-COOKERS
AFTER 15 YEARS of reporting on the student-loan industry, I didn't think much could surprise me. But even I was shocked last week when I discovered Securities and Exchange Commission documents revealing that financial aid directors at three prominent universities — as well as a senior official at the U.S. Education Department — each had significant personal investments in a private student-loan company When it came to power, the Bush administration — with its reverence for the private sector — rewarded loan industry officials and lobbyists with prominent positions throughout the Education Department. Meanwhile, lenders such as Sallie Mae have showered Republican congressional leaders with hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions each campaign cycle. "Know that I have all of you in my two trusted hands," Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), a top recipient of that campaign cash, once famously told a gathering of student-loan providers...
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-burd10apr10,0,1732640.story?track=ntothtml

The founders of Student Loan Xpress had an explicit plan for corralling a bigger share of the lucrative student loan business: “market to the financial aid offices of schools.” the company says it is the eighth-largest player in student lending — and it found many ways to court university financial aid directors. It put them on a company advisory board, paid at least two as consultants and sold stock in the venture to others, investigators and university officials say. Yesterday aides to Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo of New York provided new details, saying financial aid officers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and Capella University, an online for-profit institution, had served as paid consultants to the lending company.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/10/education/10loan.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

THE ENVIRONMENT
Officials in the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Interior Department appear to believe that the time has come to reclassify the Florida manatee to “threatened” from “endangered.” That “downlisting” would give the manatee — the vulnerable, slow-moving sea cow, which is an environmental icon in Florida — a lower level of protection from its principal enemies, including boats and developers. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/10/opinion/10tue3.html?th&emc=th

There's a growing interest in turning lawns and landscapes into pesticide-free, food-yielding gardens. More urban residents are seeing the potential for growing their own fruit and vegetables, but many don't know how to dig in."We've seen that growth (in gardening interest) and added so many more programs recently," said Kathy Dang, a teacher at Seattle Tilth, an organic gardening non-profit group founded in 1978. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/310831_urbangarden09.html?source=mypi