Tons of wood chips stand in a fuel hall where turkey litter will be soon be dumped when the new $200 million, 55-megawatt Fibrominn power plant in Benson, Minn., goes into full operation. Construction manager Chuck Wagoner, second from right, said the plant will be much cleaner than a coal plant. Plant manager Jack Jones is at right. Associated Press photos

Smoke billows into the sky during a huge fire at a deserted oil well near the Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

London's historic Trafalgar Square is covered in grass turf to highlight the city as one of the greenest capitals in the world.

Michael Moore responds to a comment from the audience following a special screening of his new film 'Sicko' Tuesday May 15, 2007 in New York. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

Vote for your favorite "Michael" Photo

In this undated handout photo provided by The Weinstein Company, filmmaker Michael Moore, right, walks with unidentified subjects of his new documentary, 'Sicko', on location in Cuba. Moore's latest documentary takes aim at the U.S. health care industry, private insurance and pharmaceutical companies and HMOs while praising socialized medicine in other countries. (AP Photo/courtesy of The Weinstein Company)

Morning Papers - continued ...

Michael Moore Today

“Sicko” trailer

How do you pre-approve an emergency ambulance ride with your insurance? This and many more questions are sure to be raised when Michael Moore's documentary 'Sicko' takes on the health care industry.

http://us.video.aol.com/player/launcher?pmmsid=1911879


Michael Moore CNN Sicko

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoBxTGc6iHI


Chat with Michael Moore about 'SiCKO'
by Michael Moore
Mon May 21, 2007 at 08:57:06 AM PDT
Hello! I'm blogging from Cannes today. Things are pretty crazy around here.
The response to "SiCKO" has been overwhelming. I wanted to take this opportunity to say thanks for all the support I received last Friday when I posted my letter to Secretary Paulson here, regarding his attempt to go after me for shooting a scene from "SiCKO" in Cuba. Leave it to those knuckleheads in the Bush administration to once again use our government agencies for political purposes.
Anyway, I promised I would be back to chat, so here I am.
Okay, here we go!
Before we begin, I would like to comment on some recent developments that have occurred regarding the Bush Administration’s investigation of ‘SiCKO.’
I offer these thoughts more in sadness than in anger.
Yesterday, the New York Post indicated that the Bush Administration is now investigating the individual 9/11 workers featured in ‘SiCKO’ for getting medical attention.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/5/21/11576/5857



May 22nd, 2007 10:43 am'
Sicko' spawns Moore fever in Cannes
By Jill Lawless / Associated Press
CANNES, France - In Cannes, Michael Moore is a rock star — mobbed by fans, assailed by cameras and forced to wolf down a plate of pasta between his latest interview and his next live TV appearance.
Moore's documentary "Sicko" — a ferocious attack on the U.S. health care industry — is the talk of the film festival, and he is hot property. Moore caught his breath Monday to tell The Associated Press about the urgent need to reform America's health system, and why he thinks the Bush administration is out to get him.
"It's a government that's funded by the pharmaceutical companies and the health insurers, so I'm not surprised they're coming after me," said Moore, who is being investigated by the U.S. Treasury Department for traveling to Cuba for one of the segments in his film.
"I'm surprised they're doing it so soon. I didn't think they'd want to draw attention to the movie this early on."

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinthenews/index.php?id=9825


May 22nd, 2007 10:01 am
Is There a Docu in the House? Moore Unspools a Second Opinion
By William Booth / Washington Post
CANNES, France, May 21 -- Michael Moore, hero or antichrist, punching bag/gas bag, Bush hater or truth teller. We're not going to settle this one today. And that's the point. The revolutionary filmmaker, who shattered all box-office records for a documentary with his last effort, "Fahrenheit 9/11," has returned to the Cannes Film Festival with another log to throw on the bonfire, his new film, "Sicko." Perhaps the most improbable 116 minutes ever conceived, it is a film about . . . health insurance!
"It's crazy. Like, what were we thinking? Like, 'Honey, it's Friday night; why don't we go down to the mall and watch a movie about Blue Cross coverage?' Or a guy asking some girl on a date, 'Hey. Hey. I got us two tickets to a health-care documentary, wanna go?' It's about hospital waiting rooms -- in Canada."

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinthenews/index.php?id=9823


May 20th, 2007 9:42 am
Michael Moore makes triumphant Cannes return with provocative documentary 'Sicko'
By Jill Lawless / Associated Press
CANNES, France --"Sicko," Michael Moore's attack on the U.S. health care system, got a warm welcome at Cannes Saturday that marked the director's triumphant return to the film festival and a respite from the controversy his work has started at home.
More than 2,000 people applauded loudly after the film's first Cannes screening at the packed Grand Theatre Lumiere, the main festival auditorium.
"I know the storm awaits me back in the United States," said Moore as he absorbed the enthusiastic response of critics and journalists.
The movie doesn't open until late June, but it has already been criticized by conservative politicians in the United States over scenes in which the filmmaker takes ailing 9/11 rescuers to Cuba for treatment.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinthenews/index.php?id=9820



Michael Moore hopes 'Sicko' disgusts you
The documentary filmmaker wants Americans to change the healthcare system.
By John Horn / Los Angeles Times
CANNES, FRANCE — Michael Moore and his movies have always been hard to miss. But with "Sicko," his acidic new documentary about healthcare, there's suddenly less of the filmmaker and his usual methods.
Not wanting the limelight, Moore is forgoing the competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival, where he won the top prize with 2004's "Fahrenheit 9/11." In "Sicko," he isn't chasing down insurance and pharmaceutical executives for confrontational interviews. The famously outsized filmmaker, having spent several years studying healthcare, even has lost 25 pounds — "One way to fight the system," he says, "is to take better care of yourself." But what's most striking about "Sicko" is that Moore's current target is much harder to pinpoint.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinthenews/index.php?id=9824


May 20th, 2007 8:02 am
Rose Ann DeMoro: "Sicko" Diagnoses a Cure for the Nation
By Rose Ann DeMoro / HuffingtonPost.com
Perhaps the exponents of expediency just haven't met the rescue heroes of September 11 still plagued by debilitating respiratory illnesses, but unable to get the healthcare they need in the country they volunteered to help in our hour of despair.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinthenews/index.php?id=9818


May 12th, 2007 4:05 am
Moore blasts Bush over film-trip probe
By David Germain / Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Filmmaker Michael Moore has asked the Bush administration to call off an investigation of his trip to Cuba to get treatment for ailing Sept. 11 rescue workers for a segment in his upcoming health-care expose, "Sicko."
Moore, who made the hit documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" assailing President Bush's handling of Sept. 11, said in a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Friday that the White House may have opened the investigation for political reasons.
"For five and a half years, the Bush administration has ignored and neglected the heroes of the 9/11 community," Moore said in the letter, which he posted on the liberal Web site Daily Kos. "These heroic first responders have been left to fend for themselves, without coverage and without care.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinthenews/index.php?id=9786


American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 3431

http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/


Public Punditry Contest!

http://freewayblogger.blogspot.com/2007/03/public-punditry-contest.html


The Nightwatchman

http://www.nightwatchmanmusic.com/


Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
by Jeremy ScahillMarch 2007 - ISBN: 156025979

http://www.nationbooks.org/book.mhtml?t=scahill


Dishonorable Deceptions (The Grandmotherly Type) – A Journalist Investigation

Army Recruiters Caught on Hidden CameraThe United States Army insists that it's not so desperate that it would recruit the mentally ill. But now an exclusive NewsChannel 5 investigation has the Army investigating three of its recruiters.

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/category.asp?C=99556



The Fargo – Moorehead Forum

River tours delayed for high water
High water has forced River Keepers of Fargo-Moorhead to delay S.S. Ruby boat tours on Memorial Day.
Once water levels drop, the boat tours and canoe and kayak rentals will be available.
S.S. Ruby, which debuted in 2001, is a custom-designed pontoon tour boat that travels several miles of the Red River, according the River Keepers’ Web site.
The boat, nicknamed “The Gem of the North,” is owned and operated by group.
No date has been set to start the tours.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=166621&freebie_check&CFID=35758604&CFTOKEN=38600091&jsessionid=8830a7bf6b3096168523


Fargo to enact watering restrictions

Beginning Memorial Day and ending Labor Day, Fargo residents’ water use is restricted because of high demand, city officials said in a news release issued this morning.
“We need residents to help conserve our water supply, especially in the summer months when the demand for water rises significantly,” said Ron Hendricksen, water plant superintendent, in a press release.
Residents whose street address ends with an odd number can water their lawn on odd-numbered days. Those with addresses ending in even numbers can water on even-numbered days.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=166620


Cuba could buy N.D. spuds
Jon Knutson, The Forum
Published Thursday, May 24, 2007

North Dakota officials are optimistic Cuba will agree to buy potatoes grown in the state.
But several barriers - including obtaining travel visas for Cuban inspectors who would come to North Dakota - must be overcome first.
State Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson is in Havana, Cuba, with an 18-person delegation of state officials and agricultural producers who hope to sell potatoes and several other ag commodities to the Cubans.
Cuba wants to diversify its source of imported seed and tablestock potatoes by buying North Dakota spuds, Johnson said.
America's 45-year embargo stops most trade between the two countries.
Read more about the trade trip in Friday's Forum.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=166619


Gasp prices
Lindsey Heilman wants to drive home to Bismarck during the Memorial Day weekend, but gas prices are just too high.
“I’m sick of ’em,” said the 21-year-old Minnesota State University Moorhead student. “I would like to go home more often, but I just can’t.”
Gas prices nationwide have reached record highs, even after adjusting for inflation.
Statistics show North Dakota’s gas prices normally hover at or below the national average. But as of Wednesday morning, North Dakota’s average price of $3.36 per gallon was the 12th-highest of all states.
That level was also 4 cents above the national average, according to GasBuddy.com, a Web site that keeps track of daily gas prices across the United States.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=166596&section=news


Gas expense comparison tool (page down to heading Gasp prices)

http://www.in-forum.com/index.cfm

or page down to find on this page

http://www.in-forum.com/specials/




Wahpeton soldier mourned
WAHPETON, N.D. – Friends of Army Staff Sgt. David Kuehl remembered the 1999 graduate of Wahpeton High School on Wednesday as a quiet, hardworking man who got along with everyone.
He was also devoted to being a good soldier, they said, a job Kuehl was fulfilling when he was killed in Iraq, according to a statement released by his family.
“We prayed this day would never come, unfortunately, we were notified Tuesday that David lost his life during combat while bravely serving his country,” the family said in a written statement.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=166594&section=news


Power of poultry litter
Benson, Minn. - The gray, sandy mix of turkey droppings and other bits and pieces flowing through Greg Langmo’s fingers back onto the floor of his barn isn’t just funky dirt, it’s fuel.
With 16,000 hens gobbling around him, Langmo is standing on a 15-inch layer of turkey litter – some 750 tons of the stuff – that represents a new source of energy.
It will help fuel a $200 million power plant due to begin full-scale production next month. The
55-megawatt Fibrominn LLC plant will be the first poultry litter-fired power plant in the United States, tapping a novel source of renewable energy to produce enough power for 50,000 homes. Its developers are planning similar plants in other major poultry states.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=166568&section=business


Parents warned about movie ratings
The big movies this summer may not be the best for young eyes.
While “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Spider-Man 3” action figures and school supplies dot store shelves, both movies are rated PG-13. According to the Motion Picture Association, a PG-13 rating indicates parents should “be very careful about the attendance of their under-teenage children.”
While some parents may think the latest blockbuster is too violent for their children, others may decide it’s OK. Either way, they should take an active role in their child’s summer movie schedule before the film rolls.
“I would definitely keep in mind the rating system, but use additional resources to look at those ratings as well as the content of movies,” says Rachel Blumhardt, a counselor with the Village Family Service Center in Fargo.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=166558&section=valleyrr


‘Bug’ should be squashed
“Bug” is a different kind of woman-in-peril movie starring Ashley Judd, which has long been its own specific genre.
Judd is indeed in peril here once again, following “Kiss the Girls” and “Twisted” and the like, but she gets to prove she can actually act with some depth, and not just look pretty under strain. Whatever unexpected ability she shows in the early scenes of this paranoid thriller go utterly to waste, however, as the film spirals ridiculously out of control by the end.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=166567&section=valleyrr


Heffelfinger speaks about balancing priorities by U.S. attorneys
By AMY FORLITI Associated Press Writer The Associated Press - Thursday, May 24, 2007
MINNEAPOLIS
A day after testimony in Washington revealed that party politics were a factor in the hiring of Tom Heffelfinger's successor as U.S. attorney for Minnesota, he said Thursday that U.S. attorneys need to balance federal and local priorities while remaining unbiased in order to be effective.
"An effective U.S. attorney must maintain his or her focus both on the national priorities and their local federal needs," he said. "To do otherwise would either undermine the national public safety, local public safety or both."
The testimony Wednesday of former Justice Department White House liason Monica Goodling also revealed that there was concern that Heffelfinger may have been spending too much time on American Indian issues.
Heffelfinger's speech, before members of the Hennepin County Bar Association, came a week after the public learned that his name was on a January 2006 list of U.S. attorneys who might be considered for removal.
Heffelfinger announced in February of last year that he would resign, and has maintained that it was a personal decision and he was unaware of any concerns the attorney general might have had with his performance.
"I did spent a lot of time on it," Heffelfinger said Wednesday of the American Indian issue. "That's what I was instructed to do" by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft. Given the higher rates of violence suffered by American Indians, Heffelfinger said, the time was warranted, but it didn't take away from other priorities.
Heffelfinger oversaw his office's investigation into the 2005 shooting that claimed 10 lives on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in far northern Minnesota. He said Wednesday he wasn't surprised by Goodling's testimony.
"I was very pointed in my dealings with main Justice to continually bring to their attention the need for focus on Native American public safety issues, because of the level of violence," Heffelfinger said.
George Goggleye Jr., chairman of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, said he believes Heffelfinger is an honorable man who fought hard to reduce crime on native lands.
"Not all the high profile crimes happen in Indian Country, but when they do, yeah, he gave us attention because that's his job," Goggleye said. "To be criticized ... as a result of it, that really raises some eyebrows in Indian Country."

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8PAU8O80


Conn. AG accuses Best Buy of overcharging customers
Connecticut's attorney general announced a lawsuit Thursday against Best Buy Co. Inc., accusing the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer of deceiving customers with in-store computer kiosks and overcharging them.
The lawsuit accuses Best Buy of denying deals found at the company's Web site, http://www.BestBuy.com. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said store employees charged customers higher prices found on a lookalike internal Web site.

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8PAT8CG1


Target shareholders reject disclosure of political contributions
The Associated Press - Thursday, May 24, 2007
MINNEAPOLIS
Target Corp. shareholders on Thursday rejected a proposal that it disclose political contributions.
The proposal by the pension for firefighters in Kansas City, Mo., won 23 percent of shareholder votes at the company's annual meeting on Thursday.
The company had opposed it, saying it already follows federal, state, and local laws for disclosing political contributions.

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8PATR080



N.C. Judge OKs Witness Oaths Using Quran
By STEVE HARTSOE Associated Press Writer The Associated Press - Thursday, May 24, 2007
RALEIGH, N.C.
Witnesses and jurors being sworn in at state courthouses can take their oath using any religious text, not just the Bible, a judge ruled Thursday.
Judge Paul Ridgeway said both common law and state Supreme Court precedent allow witnesses and jurors to use the text "most sacred and obligatory upon their conscience."
The ruling came after the American Civil Liberties Union argued that limiting that text to the Bible alone was unconstitutional because it favored Christianity over other religions.

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8PAUVI02


Study Questions Analysis in JFK Slaying
By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press - Thursday, May 24, 2007
HOUSTON
New testing on the type of ammunition used in the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy raises questions about whether Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, according to a study by researchers at Texas A&M University.
However, lead researcher Cliff Spiegelman stresses the study doesn't necessarily support the conspiracy theorists who for decades have doubted Oswald was the lone gunman.
"We're not saying there was a conspiracy. All we're saying is the evidence that was presented as a slam dunk for a single shooter is not a slam dunk," said Spiegelman, a Texas A&M statistics professor and an expert in bullet-lead analysis.
The Warren Commission concluded in 1964 that Oswald fired three shots at Kennedy's motorcade from the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas. The U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations agreed in 1979, and found that the two bullets that hit Kennedy came from Oswald's rifle.
The committee's findings were based in part on the testimony of former chemist Vincent Guinn, who said recovered fragments came from only two bullets. Guinn testified the bullets Oswald used, Western-Winchester Cartridge Co. Mannlicher-Carcano bullets, were so unique that it would be possible to distinguish one from another even if they both came from the same box.
But Spiegelman and his fellow researchers, who tested 30 of the same type of bullets, found fragments were not nearly so rare and that bullets within the same box could match one another. One of the test bullets also matched one or more of the assassination fragments…

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8PAUSE80


Leak Shuts Down Newly Restarted Reactor
By JAY REEVES Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press - Thursday, May 24, 2007
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.
A burst pipe forced the shutdown of a nuclear reactor Thursday, two days after it was restarted for the first time in more than two decades.
The pipe caused 600 gallons of fluid to spill at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant. The liquid was not radioactive and posed no public-safety threat, and no one was hurt, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.
The Tennessee Valley Authority restarted the Unit 1 reactor Tuesday following a 22-year shutdown over concerns about safety and management. The reactor is not generating power during testing, but the plant's other two reactors remain online at Browns Ferry, on the Tennessee River in far-north Alabama.

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8PAUHO01


Angry Atheists Are Hot Authors
By RACHEL ZOLL AP Religion Writer The Associated Press - Thursday, May 24, 2007
The time for polite debate is over. Militant, atheist writers are making an all-out assault on religious faith and reaching the top of the best-seller list, a sign of widespread resentment over the influence of religion in the world among nonbelievers.
Christopher Hitchens' book, "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything," has sold briskly ever since it was published last month, and his debates with clergy are drawing crowds at every stop.
Sam Harris was a little-known graduate student until he wrote the phenomenally successful "The End of Faith" and its follow-up, "Letter to a Christian Nation." Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion" and Daniel Dennett's "Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon" struck similar themes - and sold.

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8PATDP00


Advocates Worry About Proposed Fines
By GIOVANNA DELL'ORTO Associated Press Writer The Associated Press - Thursday, May 24, 2007
ATLANTA
Illegal immigrants could fall prey to loan sharks and other unscrupulous lenders if they have to pay $5,000 in fines and thousands more in fees and back taxes as required under the immigration reform measure now before Congress, some advocates are warning.
Many immigrants work low-wage jobs and have virtually no assets. As a result, they often have poor credit and are forced to borrow on the street.
"We're real concerned about the potential for fraud," said Beatriz Ibarra, who studies Hispanic finances for the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Hispanic advocacy group and a tepid supporter of the draft legislation. "They'll find a way to pay, but how?"

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8PATAB00


Other Views: By any name, it’s amnesty
By Cal Thomas, Published Thursday, May 24, 2007
I wish I could believe the president and those senators who claim their agreement on immigration legislation will “fix” the problems of open borders and illegal aliens. I can’t, because the public has had no input into the measure; the last time Congress “fixed” the problem, it got worse; and it appears Democrats and Republicans care more about harvesting votes for their respective parties than doing what’s best for their fellow citizens.
The bill would allow for the hiring of 18,000 additional border patrol agents, construction of 370 miles of fence and 200 miles of vehicle barriers, ground-based radar, camera towers and aerial vehicles. Employers would have to electronically verify new hires within 18 months and all existing employees within three years. The priority of border security first, legalization second sounds good.
Only after the border is secured, say the senators and White House, will the guest-worker program kick in. Again, I wish I could believe this, but when it comes to immigration, I don’t trust either party. It’s a safe bet that once the U.S. government legalizes the illegals, many will not abide by the conditions. What then?

http://www.in-forum.com/Opinion/articles/166550


Hundreds Mourn Eldest of King Children
By ERRIN HAINES Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press - Thursday, May 24, 2007
ATLANTA
Hundreds gathered Thursday to mourn Yolanda "Yoki" Denise King, the eldest daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. who carried his legacy through her art and activism.
Her sister, Bernice, and brothers Martin and Dexter each lit a candle in her memory. Several veterans of the civil rights struggle attended, including Rep. John Lewis, former Atlanta Mayor Andrew and the Rev. Joseph Lowery.
Yolanda King died May 15 in California after collapsing.

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8PAT4J80


Ohio Executes Man for Killing Cellmate
By JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press Writer The Associated Press - Thursday, May 24, 2007
LUCASVILLE, Ohio
An overweight inmate was executed by injection Thursday after a delay of more than an hour while prison medical staff struggled to find suitable veins in his arms.
The execution of Christopher Newton, who had killed a cellmate in 2001 and insisted on the death sentence, had been set to begin at 10 a.m.
But members of the medical staff at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility struggled to find veins in each arm, said Leo Jennings, a spokesman for the attorney general.

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8PASFN80



Forum Editorial: Clean up ag imports from China
Published Thursday, May 24, 2007
Americans are facing an unprecedented food crisis because of lack of controls on raw food products and processed foods from China. The federal Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture are so far behind the Chinese imports curve that only a tiny percentage of food coming from the world’s most populous country is inspected before it hits the grocery shelves.
The inspection system is so inadequate that even pet food containing Chinese ingredients and processed in Canada got into the United States and sickened or killed hundreds of animals. The pet food was infused with melamine, a toxic substance that indicates the food contains high-quality protein. Pet owners in the United States bought top-name food for their animals and got poison. Just this week Chinese toothpaste sold in Central America was found to contain a deadly chemical. No word yet if the toothpaste is marketed in the United States.
But it’s not just about pet food and toothpaste.
In recent weeks livestock originating in China has been quarantined either for disease or chemical contaminants banned in U.S. livestock. A report a few weeks ago found catfish fillets from fish raised in China’s giant aquatic farms were tainted with bacteria and heavy metals.

http://www.in-forum.com/Opinion/articles/166549



Scott Fergen, Fargo, letter: Loss of businesses serious for Moorhead
Published Thursday, May 24, 2007
It would seem to me that if people like Lauri Shanks (Moorhead city councilwoman) and Rep. Morrie Lanning, R-Moorhead, are going to promote a smoking ban in bars in Moorhead that they could come up with some out-of-the-box thinking to support the loss of business that will unquestionably be felt by these businesses. It’s been a long time since Moorhead business had any representation.
Just look at downtown Moorhead compared to downtown Fargo. Downtown Moorhead looks like a ghost town, and it’s about to get worse.
I would be willing to bet that Moorhead representatives and lawmakers end up supporting those downtown Fargo smoke-filled restaurants at some point. It might be the only option.


Tagine a taste of Africa
A tagine is a Moroccan stew. It may be made of meat or poultry and vegetables cooked with preserved lemons, olives, garlic and spices. But there are also vegetarian versions. All are most often served with couscous.
The vessel in which tagines are made is also called a tagine. It is composed of plate below with a high lid that curves upward. Some are decorative and just made for serving. Others are made for use on the stovetop and in the oven and still others must be used only in the oven.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=166465§ion=columnists&columnist=Andrea%20Hunter%20Halgrimson


Rev. Falwell’s undeniably divisive but successful legacy
Jane Ahlin, The Forum
Published Sunday, May 20, 2007
Jane Ahlin teaches English as an adjunct faculty member at MSUM. A former commentator for KDSU (ND Public Radio), she has written for The Forum opinion pages since 1989. Her column appears Sundays in The Forum.
A few years ago while talking to a young couple with a pre-school-age daughter who were from the South, the subject of TV programs for kids came up. We were laughing about a few that were new since the time the young couple (and my children) were kids, such as “Dora” and “Barney.” Then I mentioned “Teletubbies,”and I saw a quick look pass between the two of them
“We don’t let her watch ‘Teletubbies,’ the husband finally said. “It’s got some hidden stuff that’s not good.”
Nothing more on the subject was said, but I couldn’t help thinking, “Score another one for Rev. Jerry Falwell.” Although I didn’t “get” why Falwell, who died this past week, insisted Tinky Winky, a purple blobby figure with a triangle on its head and a red bag on its arm, was a covert public television attempt at foisting off a “homosexual agenda” on children, it was clear the young couple did. What I saw as homophobic silliness, they saw as threat. And we were all too polite to discuss why we saw things so differently.
Decrying Tinky Winky wasn’t the most outrageous of Falwell’s remarks over the years, of course. In melding politics with pulpit, his legacy includes truly offensive things. For instance, his remark after 9/11 about God lifting protection from America because of feminists and gays, etc., was bizarre and hateful.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=166262§ion=columnists&columnist=Jane%20Ahlin




Sydney Morning Herald

Water crisis 'may hit energy supply next year'
THE impact of the long drought on the security of Australia's electricity supply will be discussed at a meeting of energy ministers today where a detailed report will be presented by the national body responsible for electricity marketing.
The report is expected to spell out the risk to power supplies posed by water shortages for cooling power generators and hydro-electricity in all the eastern states, including NSW.
The water crisis could cause some power shortages next year unless action is taken, according to forecasts by the National Electricity Marketing Management Corporation.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/water-crisis-may-hit-energy-supply-next-year/2007/05/24/1179601579582.html


Saving energy: homes to lead way
Home » Environment » Article
Saving energy: homes to lead way
Wendy Frew Environment ReporterMay 25, 2007
AdvertisementAdvertisement
A PROJECT being launched in Wollongong today is aimed at showing that big energy savings can be made in homes, taking pressure off the electricity system and cutting power bills and greenhouse gas emissions.
The program, which includes more than $100,000 in household rebates for energy-efficient appliances and electricity systems, comes as state and federal energy ministers meet to discuss the impact of the drought on power supplies.
The Home Energy Challenge, run by Big Switch Projects and funded by the NSW Government's Energy Savings Fund, is offering residents in two Wollongong suburbs, Woonona and Bulli, rebates and discounts on energy products and services.
As many as 1000 home owners will be affected.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/saving-energy-homes-to-lead-way/2007/05/24/1179601579591.html


Leslie pair aid men in Abu Dhabi
THREE eastern suburbs businessmen are at the mercy of the strict United Arab Emirates court system after being arrested for drug use, intoxication, indecent exposure and sexual harassment offences on a flight to Abu Dhabi.
And in a sign of the legal and public strife the men may face, their lawyer, Ross Hill, and spokesman, Sean Mulcahy, are the same men who acted for the model Michelle Leslie during her trial on drugs charges in Bali two years ago.
Two of the detained men, Jeremy Snaith, 37, and David Evans, 39, are directors of Jupiter Mines, an Australian minerals company. The identity of the third man is unknown.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/sydney-businessmen-held-in-abu-dhabi/2007/05/24/1179601579632.html


Torrential rains wreak havoc in Spain
Huge hailstones pummeled villages in central Spain and torrential storms wreaked havoc in much of the country, damaging crops, disrupting rail services and killing one person, officials said.
A string of intense downpours has also flooded tunnels and streets in Madrid and forced the evacuation of hundreds of people since the bad weather started early this week.
A man died in Pontevedra in northwest Galicia province when a wall collapsed on him.
The rain has been most intense in Madrid and the surrounding area, and in the regions of Castilla-Leon to the north and Castilla-La Mancha to the south.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Torrential-rains-wreak-havoc-in-Spain/2007/05/24/1179601580361.html


Pope admits crimes of Christian colonisation
CONFRONTED with continued anger in Latin America, Pope Benedict has acknowledged that the Christian colonisation of Indian populations was not as rosy as he portrayed in a speech this month in Brazil.
The Pope did not apologise, as some indigenous and Latin American leaders have demanded. However, he did say it was impossible to ignore the dark "shadows" and "unjustified crimes" that accompanied the evangelisation of the New World by Catholic priests in the 15th and 16th centuries.
"It is not possible to forget the sufferings and injustices inflicted by the colonisers on the indigenous population, whose fundamental human rights were often trampled upon," the Pope said in his weekly public audience in St Peter's Square on Wednesday. "Certainly, the memory of a glorious past cannot ignore the shadows that accompanied the work of evangelising the Latin American continent."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/pope-admits-crimes-of-christian-colonisation/2007/05/24/1179601579676.html


Court says exiled islanders can go home
HUNDREDS of Indian Ocean islanders driven from their homeland by Britain 40 years ago have won a battle that could see them set sail for an emotional return within days.
The Court of Appeal in London on Wednesday found the British Government guilty of "abuse of power" for trying to prevent the Chagos Islanders from reclaiming land leased from under their feet by Britain to the US in the 1960s.
Three judges upheld a ruling in the islanders' favour last year, and ordered the Government to pay their legal costs.
Lord Justice Sedley wrote: "Few things are more important to a social group than its sense of belonging, not only to each other but to a place. What has sustained peoples in exile, from Babylon onwards, has been the possibility of one day returning home.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/court-says-exiled-islanders-can-go-home/2007/05/24/1179601579670.html


Bush spins old tales to back rationale for war
THE US President, George Bush, has offered two-year-old intelligence about Osama bin Laden's links to al-Qaeda agents in Iraq to try to bolster his long-held contention that Iraq is a central front in the "war on terror".
Bin Laden had told his operative, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, to form a cell to conduct attacks outside Iraq, with the US as his "No. 1 priority", Mr Bush said. There was also intelligence that one of bin Laden's deputies, Abu Faraj al-Libi, speculated that if the effort was successful, "al-Qaeda might one day prepare the majority of its external operations from Iraq".
Mr Bush's remarks at the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut on Wednesday are part of an apparent campaign to portray the violence in Iraq as primarily a function of al-Qaeda, as fighting terrorists is seen as more acceptable than policing a civil war.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/bush-spins-old-tales-to-back-rationale-for-war/2007/05/24/1179601579650.html


Waterfront site still seeping chemicals
GROUNDWATER around the site where the State Government is planning a $2.5 billion expansion of the city is contaminated with cyanide and carcinogenic chemicals at levels exceeding national guidelines for the protection of aquatic systems.
Documents obtained by the Herald under freedom of information laws show several studies have already been made of an old factory where the Australian Gas Light Company turned coal into gas to illuminate the city streets.
They show maps of where materials classed as hazardous waste are still buried in gas holders underneath Hickson Road, next to the wharves of East Darling Harbour, below Millers Point.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/waterfront-site-still-seeping-chemicals/2007/05/25/1179601585776.html


Modern day slavery scandal rocks New York
A millionaire couple accused of keeping two Indonesian women as slaves in their luxurious New York home for years - viciously inflicting abuse for perceived offences - have been indicted on federal slavery charges.
Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, 35, and her husband, Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, who operate a worldwide perfume business out of their home in Long Island, New York, with factories in Singapore and Bahrain, were arrested last week after one of their servants was found wandering outside a doughnut shop.
Naturalised US citizens from India, they had their passports confiscated when they were arrested.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/05/24/1179601521848.html


Two-way radio resurfaces as lifeline for trapped miners
IT HAS been sitting on the shelf, unwanted, for years. But now, in the wake of an American disaster that claimed 12 lives, the technology is tipped to earn Australia $100 million over the next decade.
The CSIRO announced yesterday that it had signed a licensing deal to develop a commercial version of the world's first effective two-way radio that will allow coalminers trapped deep underground to contact the world above. Existing underground communication systems either depend on cables that can be cut by cave-ins, or are one-way systems only allowing the surface to call the miner.
In 2000 radio physicists and electronic engineers at the CSIRO's Wireless Technologies Laboratory, at Marsfield, completed initial work on a far more sophisticated two-way radio.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/twoway-radio-resurfaces-as-lifeline-for-trapped-miners/2007/05/24/1179601579563.html


China coal mine blast kills 13
A coal mine explosion in southeastern China has killed 13 miners believed to have been intoxicated by poisonous gas, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Local officials had said 36 miners were underground when the blast occurred at the Xinglong Mine in Sichuan Province, but that more than 20 were rescued, Xinhua said in an earlier report.
"We rushed to the scene and set up rescue teams. In the afternoon, about 30 rescuers went down the shaft," Xinhua later quoted Xiao Ronghua, Party Chief of Luxian County, as saying.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/China-coal-mine-blast-kills-13/2007/05/24/1179601582947.html


28 killed in Siberian mine blast
A gas explosion ripped through a Siberian mine today, killing at least 28 people in the latest in a grim catalogue of Russian mining disasters.
It comes just weeks after a gas explosion in Ulyanovskaya, a nearby mine owned by the same company, Yuzhkuzbassugol, killed 110 people in the worst Russian mining accident in decades.
"Twenty-eight people died and 11 others are missing," a spokeswoman for Russia's emergency situations ministry said following today's blast.
She said 178 miners had been rescued, of whom six were injured.
The methane gas explosion happened during the morning shift at the Yubileynaya mine near the city of Novokuznetsk in west Siberia's Kemerovo region while 217 miners were below ground, officials said.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/world/28-killed-in-siberian-mine-blast/2007/05/24/1179601566945.html



Borat to write travel guide
Borat Sagdiyev, the ever eloquent fictional ambassador from Kazakhstan has a book, with two titles, coming out this autumn: Borat: Touristic Guidings To Minor Nation of US and A. and Borat: Touristic Guidings To Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
"There is one and only Borat and we are honoured to have him join our pantheon of international writers," Suzanne Herz, publisher of Flying Dolphin Press, an imprint of Random House, Inc's Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group, said in a statement yesterday.
"There is no doubt he will deliver a brilliant book."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/books/borat-to-write-travel-guide/2007/05/24/1179601544829.html


Sun Princess becomes permanent resident
Showing how popular cruising has become, Princess Cruises has announced it will base its superliner, Sun Princess, here in Australia full time.
The 77,000-ton Sun Princess will be the largest cruise ship ever to be based here when she arrives in Sydney in November.
Carrying 1,950 passengers, Sun Princess will offer cruises from three home ports - Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle - including the longest ever round-trip voyage from Australia, a 75-night Grand Pacific World Cruise.
The decision to base a ship fulltime in Australia was a first for the US cruise company. The Sun Princess, which is usually based in Alaska, had originally been scheduled to sail from Australia for a five-month summer season only.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/sun-princess-becomes-permanent-resident/2007/05/24/1179601543726.html


Tourist 'greenhouse levy' slammed by industry
The tourism industry has slammed a suggestion by a think tank that airline passengers be slugged with a $30 greenhouse levy to help offset emissions.
A report by the Australia Institute said airlines were a major contributor to climate change due to increasing amounts of greenhouse gases being generated by a growing air travel market.
"We have projected aviation emissions out to 2050 and we found that if we don't do something about aviation, aviation emissions could account for up to half of our emissions in 2050," report author Andrew Macintosh told ABC Radio.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/tourist-greenhouse-levy-slammed-by-industry/2007/05/23/1179601477718.html


Annual whale migration begins
A pod of whales seen frolicking off Tasmania's east coast has marked the start of their annual migration to warmer water.
Six southern right whales and one humpback have been spotted since last week on their way to mainland coastal areas in eastern Australia to breed.
Tasmania's Department of Primary Industries and Water (DPIW) said both species swim thousands of kilometres each year from their summer feeding grounds in Antarctica.
DPIW spokesman Warwick Brennan said Tasmania was the first part of the Australian coastline to witness the spectacle.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/annual-whale-migration-begins/2007/05/23/1179601471991.html


Warm winter expected for Queensland
Cold weather has finally arrived in southern Queensland but meteorologists are still predicting a warmer than average winter for the state.
Brisbane and surrounding areas recorded their lowest temperatures so far this year - up to seven degrees celsius below average in some areas.
"It's the first touch of winter we've had but it's no biggie," a Bureau of Meteorology spokesman said.
Stanthorpe, south-west of Brisbane, recorded the lowest temperature in the state with minus-two degrees, while minimum temperatures of seven and eight degrees were recorded at Logan, south of Brisbane, and Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast respectively.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/warm-winter-expected/2007/05/23/1179601474325.html


Mum falls 400m short of Everest summit
Adelaide mother-of-three Katie Sarah's on her way down from Mount Everest after falling 400m short of becoming the fourth Australian woman to stand on the summit.
The 38-year-old reached 8450m before turning back for base camp after heavy snowfall and high winds.
Ms Sarah was part of a group of five adventurers led by Adelaide mountaineer Duncan Chessell.
Mr Chessell and fellow climbers Chris Nagel from NSW, James Bingham from the UK and American Eric Remza have made the final journey while Victorian doctor Rob North has also turned back.
Ms Sarah's husband Tim says his wife will be proud regardless having only become interested in climbing five years ago.
AAP


Cheney plays happy grandad to lesbian daughter's son
US VICE-PRESIDENT Dick Cheney's daughter Mary has given birth to perhaps the most anticipated baby in contemporary US politics — her first child, Samuel David Cheney, whom she will raise with her long-time lesbian partner Heather Poe.
The 3.8-kilogram boy is the sixth grandchild for Mr Cheney. The Vice-President and his wife Lynne, both beaming, posed for a photo with the baby just hours after his birth at Washington's Sibley Hospital.
And that, it seems, will be that for now in terms of public comment from the family about the baby who launched a lively debate when Mary Cheney, 38, first discussed her pregnancy in December.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/05/24/1179601573586.html?from=top5


iPod sex toy arouses Apple's ire
A vibrating sex toy accessory for the iPod appears to have got Apple's legal team all hot and bothered.
Adult store Ann Summers, seller of the "iGasm", told the British tabloid News of the World that Apple's legal team had threatened it with legal action over its advertising posters.
"Go at it hard and fast with a pounding drum and bass track or chill with the ambient classic," reads a marketing brief for the £30 ($72) iGasm, which plugs into any music player and vibrates in sync with the beat.
Apple says the iGasm ads, which show a female silhouette listening to an iPod with a cord snaking into her underwear, are a rip-off of its own iPod ads.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/05/24/1179601537754.html?from=top5


continued…

12 hour loop

May 24, 2007
1430z
UNISYS Water Vapor North and West Hemisphere Satellite

The center of North America continues to receive severe weather. There may be a chance of tornadoes, especially in Texas.

Severe storms hit Panhandle overnight (4:34 a.m.) (click here)
Associated Press
Article Launched: 05/24/2007 03:48:27 AM MDT
Flooding caused road closures throughout the northern Texas Panhandle early Thursday.
Shortly before 3 a.m., a spokesman for the Ochiltree County Sheriff's Office in Perryton said it appeared waters were beginning to recede. He said he knew of no damaged homes, injuries or deaths.
Rising water prompted numerous road closures in largely rural areas of Hansford, Lipscomb, Ochiltree and Roberts counties, where flood warnings were issued.
U.S. Highway 83 was closed between Perryton and Canadian with up to 6 feet of water over the South Wolf Creek Bridge, the National Weather Service reported. Rainfall estimates exceeded 8 inches in the Wolf Creek Park area.
Additional rain was not expected, but runoff from previous storms could continue to produce high water levels.
Motorists were warned against driving into areas where water covers the roadway.

Severe storms rock Twin Cities (click on)

PLYMOUTH, Minn. (AP) — Around 14,600 customers lost power for a time as severe thunderstorms with high winds and hail rumbled through the Twin Cities area Wednesday afternoon, knocking down trees, damaging buildings and causing local flooding in suburbs from Plymouth to Maple Grove.
Xcel Energy said most of the outages were in the western suburbs.
Large hail was reported in Plymouth and several other suburbs, including 2-inch hail in Maple Grove.
A tornado warning was issued for Hennepin and Anoka counties, but no touchdowns were confirmed in the metro area. A tornado touchdown was confirmed near Wanamingo in Goodhue County around 4:15 p.m., but no injuries or damage were reported.
All across the Twin Cities, traffic signals went out while tree limbs, other debris and in some cases slow-draining rains blocked roads at the beginning of rush hour. The National Weather Service said the storm produced winds of 70 to 80 miles per hour.
Several car dealerships in Brooklyn Center reported that ping-pong sized hail damaged cars on their lots, and trees and signs were damaged in the area around Interstate 494 and Minnesota 55....

...on the heels of the indictment of a former Russian spy, an inflammatory editorial.

World Press Freedom Day, 2007 (click here)


DALE McFEATTERS
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
Growing dangers for journalists worldwide (click here)
...More than 500 journalists have died in the past decade; last year, 106 journalists and other media workers were killed, the bloodiest year on record. The trend is up, not down. Some of them, such as famed Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, have been murdered by enemies who fear exposure of their crimes. Such cases are almost never solved....


The New York Times does not stand alone in it's indictment of Russia. Hardly. I thought the title of the first article below was apropos.

The problem with the critics is that they scrutinize communists as people that seek to avoid conflict of authority, when in fact they need to focus on the rolling back of openness, the democratic process and freedom as it would be on a timeline when the Neocons took office in 2001 and especially when they departed the consent of the international community and conducted an illegal war in Iraq in 2003. There is a direct correlation between the closing of the Russian society and how it defines prosecutable descension against the Russian government in a palpable chart of American aggression.

Another front in Putin's war with the West (click here)

The Kremlin meanwhile, benefitting from record oil revenues, stands accused of using its oil and gas as a weapon against its trading partners, while curtailing human rights and political freedoms ahead of presidential elections next year. At least 13 journalists have been murdered in unsolved cases in Russia, including the American journalist who edited Forbes Russia, Paul Klebnikov, and the investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya. Yelena Tregubova, a 33 year old journalist who wrote a bestseller which displeased the Kremlin, has fled to London to seek asylum rather than become another grim statistic.


Supreme Court Won’t Resume Klebnikov’s Trial (click here)
The Supreme Court of Russia has upheld termination of Paul Klebnikov’s case due to the disappearance of suspect - Kazbek Dukuzov, who is on the wanted list now. Forbes Russia Editor-in-Chief Paul Klebnikov was shot to death in Moscow on July 9, 2004.
The Supreme Court also sustained the absentee arrest of Dukuzov despite the appeal of his lawyer, RIA Novosti reported. Alexander Chernov, who stands for Dukuzov in the trial, said he didn’t know where his client could be. If he appears, “he will be immediately arrested,” Chernov said. Dukuzov could be in one of Russia’s hospitals, supposed the second accused Musa Vakhaev, who attended the trial. Vakhaev pointed out he didn’t keep contact with Dukuzov. Earlier, a lawyer of one of suspects claimed Dukuzov was in some hospital in Chechnya. American citizen of Russia’s descent Paul Klebnikov was the editor-in-chief of Forbes Russia magazine. He was killed in Moscow on July 9, 2004. The detectives say exactly Dukuzov shot the journalist, while Vakhaev drove the killer from the place of the crime. The third suspect is notary public Fail Sadretdinov, who is accused of having arranged the gang.
www.kommersant

There is no doubt there are high crime rates in Moscow. There are also power brokers 'on the loose' similar to the ones the Kennedy White House pursued in the early 1960s. But to simply focus criticism of Russia and communism will be completely self defeating when in fact the impetus to the issues that beset journalists that seek benevolence in Russia began in The Bush White House and not the Putin Presidency.

After all, has the Bush White House ever been open and honest about anything and have they taken up any 'journalist' cases on advocacy when visiting Russia? No. The Bush White House simply looks the other way and chocks it up to better relations when seeking exploitation of Russian oil and gas reserves.

Murdered Russian journalist awarded UN free press prize (click on)
BOGOTA, May 3 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations on Thursday posthumously awarded its free press award to Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya who was killed last October.
The journalist's son Illya Politkovskaya on his mother's behalf received the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) 25,000 dollar Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2007 in Colombia's Medellin city.
"I am proud to receive this prize, in Colombia, on behalf of my mother. It is ironic because she should have been here herself, she who wanted to tell only the truth and show the reality in my country," Illya said at the International Free Press Conference.
Politkovskaya was shot dead in Moscow by an unidentified gunman. She was 48 years old.
Editor: Gao Ying

If the community of journalists want advocacy of their collegues that suffer under oppression globally then they need to make that a priority when The State Department negotiates treaties and economic trade. Activism isn't just 'the power of the pen' but also the power of the political document and it's enforcement.

Voluntarily Corrupt. Monica Goodling was a hostile witness and lied to prove it.

Richard Parker (GOV '98), Monica Goodling (Law '99), and Brian Eichelberger (DIV '01) at a Regent's University Gathering (click here).


I happen to agree with the NY Times Editorial on the subject. Monica "Goody Two Shoes" Goodling continually lied to Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee and for all the 'lack' of information she put forth the Committee Chairman Conyers was tongue tied by lunch time as to whether the rest of the day required only authorized personnel in the meeting room. The 'play/gaming' by the Republicans, including Ms. Goody Two Shoes, was an obstruction of Justice that in and of itself requires an investigation.

Monica brought three personal attorneys with her to be sure she didn't slip up and indict herself. I don't believe they protected her at all, she obviously was determined to obstruct justice and provide as safe a political harbor as she could for her president as she did in her capacity of 'liason' to the White House. That was LIASON to the WHITE HOUSE. WHITE HOUSE. Got that part. Her title alone gives away the intent of the Special Order by Alberto Gonzalez.

If I only had a nickel for every 'coached' word she spoke by her first attorney that simply told her to say "I don't know and I don't recall;" by her second attorney that coached her to say "I forgot;" and by her third attorney that coached her to say "I think that is all I can say about that;" I'd be a millionaire today.

She admitted openly that her use of the authority she was given was abused. She admitted that on several occassions, one being when she would call on USA Attorneys to take up political activism as a part of their job description. For full and enthusiastic participation the USA Attorney's received high scores and were allowed to keep their jobs even in the face of lacking the passion of true Bushies.

She cited the reauthorization of The Patriot Act. She had requested of all the USA Attorneys to make themselves available regarding the reauthorization by writing Op-Eds or making special appointments. She openly stated their active participation to rally for reauthorization was rewarded by considering them vital in their capacity and therefore an asset to the political directive of the President and Attorney General therefore important to keep in their 'career' positions. What is a quandry to me, is how she discerned any USA Attorneys that were not doing a good job when their 'time' included partisan politics. Where did they have time to actually practice as USA Attorneys?

Here is a timeline of all the shenanigans of the Bush White House regarding this matter (click on).

She went on to state that the 'complaint' regarding Ms. Carol Lam came from Senator Feinstein in regard to Immigration litigation. The Republican members of the House Judiciary returned to that issue over and over and never pursued any relevant questions. I mean none. Pence asked six questions I believe and all were completely irrelevant to the proceedings. Not only that but in defense of the Goodling credentials they 'buffed' their best act in ranting about the victimization of Regent University, christian doctrine, god and the criminalization of politics. The Republican members were more of a horror than Goody was considering the brevity of their positions and the fact these hearings were to discern criminal actions by the people involved, including the extent the White House dictated it's outcome.

But in regard to the Lam issue, it would seem Senator Feinstein wrote a letter concerned about the number of immigrant prosecutions. Goodling stated she felt it was a good letter and needed consideration in any decision her capacity could afford it. All the Republican members of the House Committee agreed with the Goodling assessment and complained the hearings being conducted with her brilliant testimony of good conscious was completely unnecessary considering the Iraq war was blazing in their good conscious. It was amazing to hear how House Republicans exhibited limited capacity in their attention to detail of the hearing while only able to obsess over the money for Iraq. Amazing.

At any rate there was this matter of USA Attorney Lam that required a reply to Senator Feinstein. Did Goody confront the letter with intent to fire? No. Did she address the letter to the Senator with concern for the lack of direction of Attorney Lam? No. Did she address a letter to Senator Feinstein a meaninful way at all, including asking for facts and evidence that would be helpful in directing the actions of Attorney Lam? No.

What Monica did was to write a letter to Senator Feinstein highlighting the 'good' that Attorney Lam carried forward in her practice, pointing to an example of how easy it was to bring a 'good light' to Monica's office by pointing out a 100% improvement in prosecution of immigration litigation even if that meant being deceptive because the number had increased from two to four. Did Monica realize the brevity of such an action when a USA Senator was looking for answers in regard to potential legislation and the ? lack ? of effectiveness of current laws as reflected by the performance in the Justice Department? Of course not. Monica Goodling USED her authority to play politics while disaffecting the outcome of potential legislation and quite possibly making any Democractic member of the House and Senate look like a fool in writing irrelevant legislation based on insignifant and burnished evidence in correspondence. Monica Goodling is of deep concern to me in that she completely disregards the brevity of the role of government in citizen lives while touting a Master's Degree in Public Policy. Oh, really?

Mr. Rove is obviously indictable in that he attended a pivotal meeting whereby he expressed that the attendees of that meeting better get their act together since the USA Attorney firings were meeting with such concern in the public and might lead to disclosure of 'the truth' rather than a manipulated story that would save the president from impeachment. Just that simple. Mr. Rove needs to testify but after the performance by Monica yesterday it is very unwise to allow him immunity. Mr. Rove will simply due as Goody did and put on a happy face while brushing off any political gaming that occurred in the White House.

I found the demeanor of the Republican House members of the Judiciary Committee patriarchal and condescending. Monica Goodling threw them a 'bone' at the very onset of her testimony when it was dominated by "I don't know and/or I don't recall.' The Republican members of the Judicial Committee responded in kind by complimenting her honest and trustworthy demeanor in revealing her willingness 'to forget.' Amazing. They continued on and on about how questions regarding the inclusion of religious preference were even questioned by other Democratic committee members. At one point the House member from Virginia only made a speech and another asked questions of 'members across the isle' while never directing one question to Monica. Simply amazing.

Well, you'll excuse me but a 'career' position and quite honestly, I believe a political position cannot be determined by race, creed or national origin. That is discrimination and litigable all by itself. Simply because it is the law. Political appointees are supposed to have some degree of discrimination but I don't recall even the Republican Party excluding religions other than Christianity from their party; at least it isn't in their party platform YET.

TO NOTE: In Monica's testimony she did state that when Republican name, rank and religious preference were revealed to her voluntarily it mattered in her hiring and firing. I'll be darn, she admitted to breaking the law. Not only that but exhibited the inability to disregard political perference over 'good and honest' judgement granted within her authority. Hm.

I found the proceedings yesterday disturbing to say the least and should have been a concern of every American. While Democratic members of the committee were faced with time constraints 'used up' by rantings of Monica while she contextualized a somewhat acceptable answer touting her accomplishments, or should I say her preceived accomplishments, while acting under her 'special order' authority to the Attorney General, there were some members such as the Honorable Hank Johnson of Georgia that will submit further questioning in written deposition outside the proceedings. Again the 'Star Players' from my last entry were again acting in exceptional capacity and were able to extract information against Monica's will with repeated and focused questions, but, in far fewer number that time would not allow due to her narcisstic responses over and over and over again. My, my.

We need to remove the Republican influence from our government as without exception as noted yesterday they are not interested in 'the truth' but simply the manipulation of 'the moment' to bring about 'good' results at the polling booth and never once acted in respect for the USA Constitution. I am deeply concerned for our democracy and the undermining capacity of the Republicans that remain in the elected positions in both legislative houses. I mean, they did take an oath to uphold the USA Consitution, right? They did not yesterday, in any measurable capacity.