Tossing Salt Over My Shoulder

I'm heading for bed. Any day in which I have computer problems is a stress producer and I've got a day at the DMV in front of me (not a fun prospect in VA.)

The site is is yours for the duration. And I plan to go out for breakfast in the morning to get my cholesterol up at The Original Pancake House for an Eggs Benny which is better than I can make. I hope it will make the rest of the day a little less awful.

Sunday sucked. I hope Monday won't.

Food Fun

So, I lied. I found a really great recipe and I wanted to share it with you. This is Barbecued Shrimp Paste on Sugar cane. I frequent the Vietnamese restaurants around here, and the food barbecued on sugar cane is amazing. I can't wait to make this, the shrimp paste is not unlike what you would put on shrimp toast.

* 1 tb Roasted rice powder
* Scallion oil
* Crisp-fried shallots
* 1 tb Roasted peanuts, ground
* 1 lb Raw shrimp in the shell
* 1 tb Salt
* 6 Garlic cloves, crushed
* 6 Shallots, crushed
* 2 Ounces rock sugar, crushed -to a powder, or
* 1 tb Granulated sugar
* 4 Ounces pork fat
* 4 ts Nuoc mam
* Freshly ground black pepper
* Peanut Sauce
* Vegetable Platter
* 8 Ounces 6 1/2-inch rice -paper rounds (banh trang)
* 12 Piece fresh sugar cane, or
* 12 oz Sugar cane packed in light -syrup, drained
* 12 8-1/2 ea inch bamboo skewers -soaked in water for 30 -minutes
* Vegetable oil, for shaping -shrimp paste
* 8 Ounces extra-thin rice -vermicelli

Directions
Although this dish can be baked in an oven, I strongly suggest you grill it over charcoal, for the result is far superior. The dish may be prepared over 2 consecutive days. On day one, prepare the dipping sauce and condiments.

The Vegetable Platter and shrimp paste can be assembled the following day. Fresh sugar cane may be obtained at Caribbean markets; canned sugar cane is available at Asian grocery stores. Prepare the roasted rice powder, scallion oil, crisp-fried shallots and roasted peanuts. Set aside. Shell and devein the shrimp. Sprinkle the salt over the shrimp and let stand for 20 minutes. Rinse the shrimp thoroughly with cold water. Drain and squeeze between your hands to remove excess water. Dry thoroughly with paper towels. Coarsely chop the shrimp.

Boil the pork fat for 10 minutes. Drain and finely dice. In a food processor, combine the shrimp, garlic, shallots and sugar. Process until the shrimp paste pulls away from the sides of the container, stopping as necessary to scrape down the sides. The paste should be very fine and sticky. Add the pork fat, roasted rice powder, fish sauce and black pepper to taste to the processor. Pulse briefly, only enough to blend all of the ingredients. Cover and refrigerate.

Meanwhile, prepare the Peanut Sauce and Vegetable Platter. Cover the rice papers with a damp towel and a sheet of plastic wrap; keep at room temperature until needed.

Peel the fresh sugar cane; cut crosswise into 4-inch sections. Split each section lengthwise into quarters. (if using canned sugar cane, split each section lengthwise in half only, then thread 2 pieces lengthwise onto a skewer.) Pour about 1/4 cup of oil into a small bowl. Oil your fingers. Pick up and mold about 2 tablespoons of the shrimp paste around and halfway down a piece of fresh sugar cane. Leave about 1 1/2 inches of the sugar cane exposed to serve as a handle. (If using canned sugar cane, there is no need to leave a handle. The skewers will serve as handles.) Press firmly so that the paste adheres to the cane. Proceed until you have used all the shrimp paste.

Prepare a charcoal grill or preheat the oven to broil. Meanwhile, steam the noodles, then garnish with the scallion oil, crisp-fried shallots and ground roasted peanuts. Keep warm. Pour the peanut sauce into individual bowls and place the Vegetable Platter and rice papers on the table. Grill the shrimp paste on the sugar cane over medium coals, turning frequently. Or Broil, on a baking sheet lined with foil, under the broiler, about 6 inches from the heat, for 3 minutes on each side, or until browned. Transfer to a warm platter.

To serve, each diner dips a rice paper round in a bowl of warm water to make it pliable, then places the paper on a dinner plate. Different ingredients from the Vegetable Platter, some noodles and a piece of the shrimp paste, which has been removed from the sugar cane, are added. The rice paper is then roiled up to form a neat package. The roll is dipped in the Peanut Sauce and eaten out of hand. The remaining sugar cane may be chewed.

Note: If both types of sugar cane are unavailable, use skewers. Shape the shrimp paste into meatballs and thread 3 or 4 on each skewer. Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

This is food as play and I like it a lot, sort of like assembling sukiyaki. I love cooking/assembling at the table.

The Return of Me

pogge didn't lie, but I did get my computer problem fixed. What's the first rule of computer troubleshooting?

Check the simple stuff. IBM laptops have a two part power cord. The part between the transformer and the wall socket got unplugged.

Whew. I was afraid I was going to have to buy a new machine in the morning.

Anyway, I've now gotten used to the idea of taking the night off and watching a little TV. Carry on.

Talk amongst yourselves

Melanie regrets to inform you that she won't be joining you for the rest of the evening. She has a slight computer problem: no power. It sounds like the transformer on her laptop has chosen this evening to pass away rather suddenly and it will be tomorrow before the situation can be remedied.

Meanwhile you can always use this an open thread.

- pogge

Law Breaker

Bush challenges hundreds of laws
President cites powers of his office

By Charlie Savage, Globe Staff | April 30, 2006

WASHINGTON -- President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution. Article Tools

Among the laws Bush said he can ignore are military rules and regulations, affirmative-action provisions, requirements that Congress be told about immigration services problems, ''whistle-blower" protections for nuclear regulatory officials, and safeguards against political interference in federally funded research.

Legal scholars say the scope and aggression of Bush's assertions that he can bypass laws represent a concerted effort to expand his power at the expense of Congress, upsetting the balance between the branches of government. The Constitution is clear in assigning to Congress the power to write the laws and to the president a duty ''to take care that the laws be faithfully executed." Bush, however, has repeatedly declared that he does not need to ''execute" a law he believes is unconstitutional.

Former administration officials contend that just because Bush reserves the right to disobey a law does not mean he is not enforcing it: In many cases, he is simply asserting his belief that a certain requirement encroaches on presidential power.

But with the disclosure of Bush's domestic spying program, in which he ignored a law requiring warrants to tap the phones of Americans, many legal specialists say Bush is hardly reluctant to bypass laws he believes he has the constitutional authority to override.
Pop-up GLOBE GRAPHIC: Number of new statutes challenged
Examples of the president's signing statements

Far more than any predecessor, Bush has been aggressive about declaring his right to ignore vast swaths of laws -- many of which he says infringe on power he believes the Constitution assigns to him alone as the head of the executive branch or the commander in chief of the military.

Many legal scholars say they believe that Bush's theory about his own powers goes too far and that he is seizing for himself some of the law-making role of Congress and the Constitution-interpreting role of the courts.

Phillip Cooper, a Portland State University law professor who has studied the executive power claims Bush made during his first term, said Bush and his legal team have spent the past five years quietly working to concentrate ever more governmental power into the White House.

''There is no question that this administration has been involved in a very carefully thought-out, systematic process of expanding presidential power at the expense of the other branches of government," Cooper said. ''This is really big, very expansive, and very significant."

For the first five years of Bush's presidency, his legal claims attracted little attention in Congress or the media. Then, twice in recent months, Bush drew scrutiny after challenging new laws: a torture ban and a requirement that he give detailed reports to Congress about how he is using the Patriot Act.

Bush administration spokesmen declined to make White House or Justice Department attorneys available to discuss any of Bush's challenges to the laws he has signed.

Instead, they referred a Globe reporter to their response to questions about Bush's position that he could ignore provisions of the Patriot Act. They said at the time that Bush was following a practice that has ''been used for several administrations" and that ''the president will faithfully execute the law in a manner that is consistent with the Constitution."

But the words ''in a manner that is consistent with the Constitution" are the catch, legal scholars say, because Bush is according himself the ultimate interpretation of the Constitution. And he is quietly exercising that authority to a degree that is unprecedented in US history.

Impeach Bush and Cheney now.

Betting on Panflu

Wall Street makes bets on pandemic bird flu

By Bruce Jaspen
Chicago Tribune

Posted April 30, 2006

Leave it to Wall Street to find an investment opportunity in the potential onset of pandemic bird flu.

Although it's unclear whether bird flu's spread around the world will result in a major U.S. public health threat, some in the investment community are beginning to place bets on potential hot stocks--and potential losers--should an outbreak arise.

A report on avian flu by Citigroup, for example, cast as investment losers air travel stocks and public places like malls, pubs and casinos. On the buy side, the specter of people holing up in their homes for days on end makes home entertainment, media and Internet companies potentially good investments, Citigroup said.

"The markets are anticipating it, and there are already investors making bets on the potential that there will be a pandemic," said Paul Heldman, senior health policy analyst for Citigroup in Washington.

Among potential losers listed in the Citigroup report released in March were airlines like American parent AMR Corp., Continental Airlines Inc. and United parent UAL Corp. Other problematic investments would be hotel companies like Hilton Hotels Corp. and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., the report indicated.

"The hardest part of this is to create some probability of if and when," Heldman said. "However, nobody can deny that it is an issue and nobody can deny that it's already having an effect in the stock markets."

To be sure, health-care companies are benefiting from worried governments looking to stockpile antiviral drugs and even vaccines that have not yet been commercially approved for wide use in humans.

One commercially available antiviral drug that is seen as effective in treating avian flu after it infects humans has been a sales boon to its maker. Sales of Roche AG's Tamiflu drug quadrupled last year to $1.6 billion, largely thanks to nearly $800 million in what the company calls "pandemic sales."

I'm not a trader so I don't know how to call this play, but the likelihood of Tamiflu actually being useful in the event of a pandemic flu is slim to none. Good luck with your portfolio, however.

CNN Crap

CNN are idiots. Tony Snow is less of a "journalist" than I am. He's been an opinion writer since his first job with the Greensboro News and Record right out of college. He's a pundit, not a "newsman." Sloppy, sloppy.

UNITED 93? Let's try for United 300 Million

A simple Sunday question for your consideration while you think about the film United 93, either as a theater-goer, a theater-avoider, or as someone who is still undecided about seeing the movie:

We're a few months away from the five-year anniversary of 9/11. How has that day made you a better human being, a better neighbor, and a better American?

The WaPo Lies

Insurers Retreat From Coasts
Katrina Losses May Force More Costs on Taxpayers

By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 30, 2006; A01

Alarmed at the sharply rising cost of hurricanes and other disasters, home insurers are pulling back from some U.S. coastal markets, warning of gathering financial storm clouds over how the United States pays for the damage of catastrophe.

The development is yet another legacy of Hurricane Katrina, whose mounting toll of destruction along the Gulf Coast has crystallized a growing industry debate about the combined effect of climate trends and population growth in coastal areas. Some believe the two are creating a risk of losses so large that insurers could be pushed to the breaking point, leaving the government and taxpayers holding the tab for the next disaster.

Since Aug. 29 -- when the hurricane made landfall along the Gulf Coast -- Allstate Corp., the industry's second-largest company, has ceased writing homeowners policies in Louisiana, Florida and coastal parts of Texas and New York state. The firm has stopped underwriting earthquake coverage in California and elsewhere. Other firms have pulled back from the Gulf Coast to Cape Cod, notifying Florida of plans to cancel 500,000 policies.

Meanwhile, homeowners are moving to state-backed insurer plans of last resort, which tend to be subsidized by taxpayers, and whose costs are also rising.

As companies raise premiums, shed customers and battle homeowner claims in hurricane-damaged states, an overhaul of the industry is being promoted by an unusual coalition. It includes Allstate and State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. as well as a bipartisan group of state regulators, academic experts and former homeland security officials.

They propose establishing a greater role for the federal government in backing up new state catastrophe funds or private insurance firms when losses exceed a certain level, toughening state and local building codes and increasing premiums to accurately price risks. Some also want to potentially pool the high costs of covering perils such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and even floods into regional or national groups to ease consumer cost, and to use some money to help improve first responders and local preparedness.

"There is a potential market failure here, if not already an actual market failure at work," said Robert E. Litan, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who is working with state regulators in California, Florida, Illinois and New York on a plan to reshape catastrophe insurance. "If we have another hurricane season this year like we had last, I wouldn't be surprised if you see a stampede of insurers trying to get out."

Hurricanes haven't cut into insurance companies' profits

THUMBS DOWN: To the quickening departure of insurance companies from hurricane-ravaged coastal areas throughout Southern portions of the United States.

Insurers that serve Florida recently notified that state they plan to cancel more than 500,000 homeowners policies. Allstate recently announced it will not write new insurance policies for property owners in more than a dozen costal counties in Texas.

And we learned this week that the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association - a state-backed insurance group - will soon ask the state to approve a 400 percent increase in annual premiums for thousands of homeowners insured by the association.

This might give you the impression insurance companies are struggling financially.

However, nothing could be further from the truth.

Yes, hurricanes cost insurers more than $53 billion in 2005.

However, despite these record losses, insurance companies also reported record profits.

According to information compiled by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners - information cited in an April 5 report on the ABC News - "Insurance company filings with all 50 states show an unprecedented $44.8 billion in profits in 2005."

Fuck the WaPo for really, really sloppy reporting. Spencer Hsu just got an email from me.

Leading the Way Down

Waiting for Snow to fall
April 30, 2006
Jonathan Chait

OH, THE HUMILIATION of being John Snow.

In November 2004, the Washington Post's Mike Allen reported the president would replace his widely derided Treasury secretary soon. "One senior administration official said Treasury Secretary John W. Snow can stay as long as he wants, provided it is not very long," reported Allen. "He might stay as long as six months into the term, officials said."

That was a year and a half ago. Snow is still with us. Subsequent reports have made it clear that Snow has kept his job only because the White House cannot entice any qualified candidates to take it. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Treasury Department's diminished role "could make it hard for the administration to replace Mr. Snow with that kind of high-profile Wall Street or corporate executive." The story proceeded to discuss various candidates who had no interest in the job.

I'm not sure which aspect of the situation is weirder. On the one hand, President Bush's inability to lure a Treasury secretary appears puzzling. The job pays well. It comes with a large office in a classic Greco-Roman building in downtown Washington, health benefits, a security detail and other perks. Previous Treasury secretaries have gone on to prestigious posts, such as the presidency of Harvard. And yet no takers. Has Bush tried a classified ad?

On the other hand, you've got Snow staying in the job despite the fact that everybody knows he's not wanted. The only thing keeping him in place is the fact that his position has become so diminished that no candidates of any stature will take it. Imagine your husband lets it be known that he's going to leave you as soon as he can find a date, but it turns out that no woman in town is willing to go out with him. And you're still with him 18 months later.

Snow endured all this degradation with good cheer. What seems to have caused him, finally, to snap is the establishment of the Hamilton Project. The Hamilton Project is a group formed earlier this year by a gaggle of center-left economic worthies, including former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, to promote Clintonesque policy alternatives. The adoption of Hamilton's name, and the inclusion of Snow's infinitely better-regarded predecessor, seems to carry the implicit message that the country would be in better shape if it had a real Treasury secretary.

It was all too much for Snow to bear. He quickly delivered a speech wrapping himself in Hamilton's mantle. "Hamilton, after all, was foremost among the founding fathers in seeing that the new republic's future depended upon the vitality of commerce and the private sector," argued Snow, "while the authors of the Hamilton Project argue for a larger government role."

He then boldly challenged his critics. "For those who criticize the economic policies of President Bush, I simply ask two things: Which of the facts about the current economic picture of growth and job creation do you dispute? And where is your plan for the future?"

The fact that real wages are stagnant or down might have a little something to do with our disillusionment, and might make it harder to find a new secretary who is less willing to lie. The middle class is being pinched. Unlike wealthy cabinet secretaries, they notice it.

The Refuge of Cowards

National security, my ass. This is about power. If you liked the Nixon administration, you'll love Bushco.

In Leak Cases, New Pressure on Journalists

By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: April 30, 2006

Earlier administrations have fired and prosecuted government officials who provided classified information to the press. They have also tried to force reporters to identify their sources.

But the Bush administration is exploring a more radical measure to protect information it says is vital to national security: the criminal prosecution of reporters under the espionage laws.

Such an approach would signal a thorough revision of the informal rules of engagement that have governed the relationship between the press and the government for many decades. Leaking in Washington is commonplace and typically entails tolerable risks for government officials and, at worst, the possibility of subpoenas to journalists seeking the identities of sources.

But the Bush administration is putting pressure on the press as never before, and it is operating in a judicial climate that seems increasingly receptive to constraints on journalists.

In the last year alone, a reporter for The New York Times was jailed for refusing to testify about a confidential source; her source, a White House aide, was prosecuted on charges that he lied about his contacts with reporters; a C.I.A. analyst was dismissed for unauthorized contacts with reporters; and a raft of subpoenas to reporters were largely upheld by the courts.

It is not easy to gauge whether the administration will move beyond these efforts to criminal prosecutions of reporters. In public statements and court papers, administration officials have said the law allows such prosecutions and that they will use their prosecutorial discretion in this area judiciously. But there is no indication that a decision to begin such a prosecution has been made. A Justice Department spokeswoman, Tasia Scolinos, declined to comment on Friday.

Because such prosecutions of reporters are unknown, they are widely thought inconceivable. But legal experts say that existing laws may well allow holding the press to account criminally. Should the administration pursue the matter, these experts say, it could gain a tool that would thoroughly alter the balance of power between the government and the press.

The administration and its allies say that all avenues must be explored to ensure that vital national security information does not fall into the hands of the nation's enemies.

God forbid the people should find out about what's being done on our buck and in our name. You have to wonder what they are afraid of.

The Lessons of History

The Times is a purveyor of bullshit much of the time these days:

Challenge for a New Iraqi Leader

Published: April 30, 2006

A great deal now depends on the wisdom and skills of Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, the man who emerged from relative political obscurity last weekend to become Iraq's prime minister-designate. His actions over the next weeks will determine whether Iraq can reverse the drift toward sectarian civil war and build a national government. If it can, the more than 130,000 American troops now in Iraq will have a definable mission to achieve and a definable exit strategy. If not, America's predicament in Iraq will very likely only grow worse.

That's why Washington was right to use all the leverage it had to encourage the disastrous former prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, to withdraw his candidacy for a second term. Mr. Maliki comes from the same Shiite fundamentalist milieu as Mr. Jaafari. But there are at least some reasons to hope he can be a more effective leader.

His single biggest challenge will be to break the power of the Shiite party militias operating inside and outside the official security forces. These have terrorized Sunni neighborhoods and tortured Sunni detainees with impunity for much of the past year.

Mr. Maliki has won praise for pledging that only government forces will be allowed to carry arms. But that will do little good if he merely merges militia units into the Iraqi army and police forces as he suggested Thursday in deference to a crucial political ally, Moktada al-Sadr, who happens to head one of the deadliest Shiite militias. If that turns out to be Mr. Maliki's plan, there can be little hope of avoiding civil war.

It seems unlikely that the Sunni and Kurdish parties that welcomed Mr. Maliki's nomination as part of a larger power-sharing arrangement would settle for such an unsatisfactory non-solution to the country's most dangerous problem. The commitments and compromises that lubricated that deal should become clearer when Mr. Maliki unveils his new cabinet, which he now says will be done as soon as next week. It is now more than four months since Iraqis voted for a new government, and while the politicians dickered, the country has been falling apart. Mr. Maliki needs to choose both quickly and wisely.

Let's see: this is an militarily occupied country with an active insurrection going on and the Times buys the Bush bullshit that it can govern itself? Jeebus, did they critique the democratic process in Algeria in 1956?

Americans are notoriously ahistorical. I expected better from the Times.

Bad Gasss

Driving Guzzlers for a Living

Few drivers feel the pain of soaring gas prices as acutely as the New York City cabbie stuck behind the wheel of a Crown Victoria sedan with a thirsty, overworked eight-cylinder engine.

At the entrance to the Checker Management taxi depot in the Long Island City section of Queens is a trio of old, battered pumps where returning cabbies refill their bottomless tanks after their 12-hour shifts.

The old pumps offer only regular unleaded, and for the very modern price of $3.15 and nine-tenths of a cent per gallon. It is still lower than prices in Manhattan, where most of these cabbies go through a full tank of gas lurching and screeching around traffic-clogged streets for 12 hours.

Back at the depot, they replenish their tanks, shaking their heads in disgust as the pumps' rusty digit counters spin.

"We drive 12 hours a day, so we feel it more than anyone," said one driver, Peter Lee, 54, who began driving cabs in New York in 1972. He pointed to the depot's fleet of Fords, mostly Crown Victoria sedans.

"These things get about 10 miles per gallon in the city, 8 miles if the customer wants the air-conditioner on," he said, adding that gas mileage was made worse by the choppy gas-brake-gas-brake driving style required in New York City. "New York people are always late and telling you to drive fast, so you have to keep gunning the engine and then braking, which uses more gas."

The drivers at the depot, just across the East River from Midtown, are almost all immigrants, and all kinds of languages, dialects and accents can be heard in the tight locker room. They wolf down home-cooked meals — whether couscous, curry or rice and beans — before their shifts. With the Manhattan skyline looming to the west, they gather in the parking lot and grouse about gas prices.

Drivers often log 150 miles a shift and spend almost $50 in gas, Mr. Lee said, about $20 more per day than a year ago. He recommended that the city order a 50-cent surcharge for each fare to compensate cabbies for price increases.

Most drivers at the depot rent their cabs for 12 hours at a time, usually paying more than $100. They pay up front in cash and get a key to a cab with a full tank of gas; they must refill it when they return the cab.

"Compared to a year ago, I pay $15 more a day in gas," said Miguel Gonzalez, 67, of Queens. "I only take home $100 a day, so that's my lunch and dinner right there."

Lesly Richardson, 50, a Haitian immigrant from Brooklyn, nodded in agreement.

"That's $100 a week," he said. "That's your grocery bill."

The Blind Leading the Blind

I'm taking the rest of the night and the morning off. Deal with it. I still have to assemble my new chair (where is that screwdriver?) do some laundry and I think I'll take breakfast out. My hands hurt, my back is keeping me awake at night and my cat is still sick. Middle age sucks. What comes next probably sucks even worse, but when you don't have insurance and your glasses are 8 years old, you probably won't be able to read about it.

Oh, Republicans, do you want people with bad glasses on the road? You hadn't thought about that, had you? Morons.

New Food

It's not to everyone's taste, but, once I tasted it, I fell head over heels in love with chevre, goat cheese. A log of the stuff (thank you, Trader Joe's) and a box of Trisquits and I'm a happy camper, but there are more things you can do with it than eat it out of the package over the sink with a box of Ritz's.

This kicks it up a bit:

Coat a small ramekin with extra virgin olive oil and add 4 ounces of herb crusted chevre.

Poke several cloves of roasted garlic into the chevre. Drizzle some olive oil on top and add a sprig of fresh rosemary.

Bake for ten minutes in 400° oven or until chevre is bubbly. Served with a fresh baguette, this will give your breadbasket an unforgettable quality. I like to pass this with drinks before any meal which features lamb.

You can follow the instructions for roasting garlic on the link above, or you can buy a clay/ceramic garlic baker, which is what I use. Cut off the tip of the head (and root, if it is nasty), place in the baker and roast at 350 for 30-40 minutes. When cooled, the roasted cloves will slip out of their skins by simply pressing them. Crushed roasted garlic makes a superb spread for bread, it is milder and sweeter than the raw herb. Softened by roasting, it can be treated like a condiment on sandwich bread. Crush a clove onto a baguette slice, top with some shredded fresh basil and a grating of parmaggiano-reggiano cheese and broil for a minute for instant pesto pizzas. These are addictive, so be warned.

Here's another approach to chevre that will, I hope, take some of the mystery out of this cheese and have us supporting our local goat dairies:

8 ounces Chevre or favorite soft goat cheese, softened
2 tablespoons Crème de Cassis liqueur
3 tablespoons dried currants
3 tablespoons chopped toasted pine nuts
1/2 lemon zested

Mix together the chevre and liqueur until smooth and creamy. Chill for an hour. Roll into a smooth ball. Place the currants and pine nuts on a plate or piece of waxed paper. Roll the chevre ball in the currants and pine nuts. Chill for at least two hours. Serve at room temperature or chilled with a spreading knife and sliced baguette.

This is a novel pairing of the savory flavor of chevre with sweet flavors, and I do love stuff which contrasts flavors.

Makes 6 servings.

The Musical Fruit

I can tell it's time for me to fire up the grill. I can't stop with the grilling menu.

This is a Boston Baked Bean recipe from the Boston Globe, and enhanced by this daughter of the Upper Midwest the way my mom taught me, just in time for barbecue season. The original pretty close to the Fanny Farmer Boston Cooking School recipe and a little bland for me so I updated it.

Serves 6.
1 pound pea beans
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1/4 lb bacon, rendered to near crispy and sliced into 1 inch pieces

1. Discard any discolored beans. In a large bowl, combine the beans with plenty of cold water and soak overnight for 6 to 8 hours.

2. Drain the beans. In a large pot, combine the beans and enough water to cover them by 1 inch. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to simmer, and cook for 45 minutes or until they are just tender (it may take longer if the beans are old or the soaking time was short). Drain the beans and set aside the cooking liquid.

3. Set the oven at 325 degrees. In a bean pot or deep casserole with a lid, combine the beans, onion, mustard, dark and light brown sugars, molasses, and salt. Add enough of the cooking liquid to just cover the beans. Stir to blend them.

4. Bring the liquid to a boil on top of the stove, then transfer to the oven and bake for 2 hours, checking every 30 minutes to make sure the beans don't dry. Add more cooking liquid if necessary.

5. When the beans are tender, uncover the pot and add the vinegar, bacon and additional salt and pepper, stir in gently and cook for 20 to 30 minutes more to make a slightly crusty top.

For those that have trouble digesting beans, add a pinch of baking soda to the soaking water, it will remove the problem. Beano, available nearly everywhere these days, will help with everything from black beans and rice to tofu, for the soy intolerant.

The Smoke of Summer

I'm a long way from being a barbecue expert, although a friend and I head out to hit all the local joints and we're about ready to start researching the backyard-cook-in-a-55-gallon-drum-that-only-the-locals-know-about in Southern Maryland. (In spite of the fact that my friend Tyler Cowen says that there is no decent barbecue to be found in this part of the world, I insist on thinking that there have to be some enterprising North Carolina expats around here.)

I was just poking around the Internets with a little curiosity and Google when I ran into a recipe for 'cued ribs that I think a home cook can make on a trusty Weber kettle without embarrassing themselves. This is kinda similar to the root beer ribs that Emeril made on his show the other night, but it has the smoky goodness of the grill (Emeril baked his) and I think I'm game to give this a try. Steve Raichlen is the chef and he is to 'cue what Bobby Flay is to the grill. Figure on one 13-rib rack per person. It looks like a lot, but there really isn't a lot of meat on most of them.

Method: Indirect grilling
Advance preparation: 4 hours for curing the ribs

Ingredients:
4 racks baby back pork ribs (6 to 8 pounds total)
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup coarse salt (kosher or sea)
1/4 cup freshly ground black pepper
Dr. Pepper barbecue sauce, for serving

You’ll also need:
2 cups wood chips or chunks (preferably apple), soaked for 1 hour in water to cover, then drained; (cook's note: I hate the flavor of Liquid Smoke, which is included in the sauce above and suggest adding an additional cup of soaked hickory chips instead)
rib rack

Remove the thin, papery membrane from the back of each rack of ribs: Turn a rack meat side down. Insert a sharp implement, such as the tip of a meat thermometer, under the membrane (the best place to start is right next to the first rib bone). Using a dishcloth or pliers to gain a secure grip, pull off the membrane. Repeat with the remaining racks.

Place the ribs on baking sheets.

Place the brown sugar, salt, and pepper in a bowl and stir to mix well. (Actually your fingers work better for mixing a rub than a spoon or whisk does.) Sprinkle this rub all over the ribs on both sides, patting it onto the meat with your fingertips. Cover the ribs with plastic wrap and let cure in the refrigerator for 3 hours

Set up the grill for indirect grilling and preheat to medium.

If using a gas grill, place all of the wood chips or chunks in the smoker box or smoker pouch and run the grill on high until you see smoke, then reduce the heat to medium. If using a charcoal grill, place a large drip pan in the center, preheat the grill to medium, then toss all of the wood chips or chunks on the coals.

When ready to cook, using damp paper towels, wipe the excess rub off the ribs. Place the ribs, preferably on a rib rack, in the center of the hot grate, over the drip pan and away from the heat. Cover the grill and cook the ribs until tender, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.

When the ribs are done, they’ll be handsomely browned and the meat will have shrunk back about 1/4 inch from the ends of the bones. Transfer the cooked ribs to a platter or cutting board. Serve them as whole racks, cut the racks into pieces, or carve them into individual ribs. Serve them with the St. Louis-style barbecue sauce.

Yield: Serves 4 really hungry people or 8 folks with average appetites.

I don't know how they'd side dish this in St. Louis, but I do know Carolina. Good 'cue needs coleslaw, baked beans and corn on the cob on the side in that part of the world. Do the corn on the grill. Remove as much of the silk as you can without shucking, peel a little of the husk back from the tops of the ears, and then soak them, well covered, in cold water for a half an hour. They can go right on the hottest part of the grill and will steam in the husks. Start them about 5 minutes before the rest of the meal is served. I like to serve unsalted melted butter in a bowl and a pastry brush at the table. Popcorn salt adheres the best.

I've got a branch of Tyler Cowen says that there is no decent barbecue to be found in this part of the world, I insist on thinking that there have to be some enterprising North Carolina expats around here.)

I was just poking around the Internets with a little curiosity and Google when I ran into a recipe for 'cued ribs that I think a home cook can make on a trusty Weber kettle without embarrassing themselves. This is kinda similar to the root beer ribs that Emeril made on his show the other night, but it has the smoky goodness of the grill (Emeril baked his) and I think I'm game to give this a try. Steve Raichlen is the chef and he is to 'cue what Bobby Flay is to the grill. Figure on one 13-rib rack per person. It looks like a lot, but there really isn't a lot of meat on most of them.

Method: Indirect grilling
Advance preparation: 4 hours for curing the ribs

Ingredients:
4 racks baby back pork ribs (6 to 8 pounds total)
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup coarse salt (kosher or sea)
1/4 cup freshly ground black pepper
Dr. Pepper barbecue sauce, for serving

You’ll also need:
2 cups wood chips or chunks (preferably apple), soaked for 1 hour in water to cover, then drained; (cook's note: I hate the flavor of Liquid Smoke, which is included in the sauce above and suggest adding an additional cup of soaked hickory chips instead)
rib rack

Remove the thin, papery membrane from the back of each rack of ribs: Turn a rack meat side down. Insert a sharp implement, such as the tip of a meat thermometer, under the membrane (the best place to start is right next to the first rib bone). Using a dishcloth or pliers to gain a secure grip, pull off the membrane. Repeat with the remaining racks.

Place the ribs on baking sheets.

Place the brown sugar, salt, and pepper in a bowl and stir to mix well. (Actually your fingers work better for mixing a rub than a spoon or whisk does.) Sprinkle this rub all over the ribs on both sides, patting it onto the meat with your fingertips. Cover the ribs with plastic wrap and let cure in the refrigerator for 3 hours

Set up the grill for indirect grilling and preheat to medium.

If using a gas grill, place all of the wood chips or chunks in the smoker box or smoker pouch and run the grill on high until you see smoke, then reduce the heat to medium. If using a charcoal grill, place a large drip pan in the center, preheat the grill to medium, then toss all of the wood chips or chunks on the coals.

When ready to cook, using damp paper towels, wipe the excess rub off the ribs. Place the ribs, preferably on a rib rack, in the center of the hot grate, over the drip pan and away from the heat. Cover the grill and cook the ribs until tender, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.

When the ribs are done, they’ll be handsomely browned and the meat will have shrunk back about 1/4 inch from the ends of the bones. Transfer the cooked ribs to a platter or cutting board. Serve them as whole racks, cut the racks into pieces, or carve them into individual ribs. Serve them with the St. Louis-style barbecue sauce.

Yield: Serves 4 really hungry people or 8 folks with average appetites.

I don't know how they'd side dish this in St. Louis, but I do know Carolina. Good 'cue needs coleslaw, baked beans and corn on the cob on the side in that part of the world. Do the corn on the grill. Remove as much of the silk as you can without shucking, peel a little of the husk back from the tops of the ears, and then soak them, well covered, in cold water for a half an hour. They can go right on the hottest part of the grill and will steam in the husks. Start them about 5 minutes before the rest of the meal is served. I like to serve unsalted melted butter in a bowl and a pastry brush at the table. Popcorn salt adheres the best.

I've got a branch of Red, Hot and Blue down the street from me, but those tomato-soaked ribs don't do a thing for me. You get all greasy and sloppy and for what? Not worth the effort.

Breakfast In the Hills of Umbria

I have a thing for foccacia. I like it split for sandwiches, or plain, with olive oil, salt and rosemary warm from the oven for breakfast in the morning (like the pizza bianca I had in the mornings in Umbria the summer I stayed there.) This is a very easy bread to make. Cut it into squares and serve it in your dinner breadbasket with a bottle of herbed olive oil* for dipping.

4 cups flour
1/2 T salt
1 package active dry yeast
1 t sugar
3 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 T coarse kosher salt
2 T dried rosemary

Sift 1 cup of flour into a large mixing bowl. Dissolve yeast and sugar in 3/4 cup of tepid water. Form a well in the flour, add the yeast mixture, and mix well, then kneed for 5 or so minutes until elastic. Set aside in warm place to rise, about 3 hours, until double in bulk.

Add one cup of warm water, mix, add 3 cups sifted flour and the salt, mix, then kneed until combined and elastic. Dust with flour if mixture is too sticky, or add water (sparingly) if too dry. Cover with plastic sheet or dish towel and set aside to rise for another 2 - 3 hours, until double in bulk.

Spread olive oil on the bottom of your baking pan (11 1/2 inches by 15 1/2 inches). Place dough in pan and stretch dough into sheet, pressing down firmly with your fingers to make indentations every 1/2 inch or so. Mix 1 tablespoon coarse kosher (coarse) salt with about 3 tablespoons water and 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil. When salt has partially dissolved, dribble mixture over dough and gently work into indentations with your fingers. Scatter the rosemary over the surface of the dough and gently press the leaves into the dough with your fingers. It shouldn't sit on top but penetrate the surface to infuse the bread as it bakes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Allow dough to sit for about 1/2 hour, then bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until focaccia is golden. Serve hot or at room temperature.

* Herbed Olive Oil

6 whole black peppercorns
6 sprigs fresh rosemary
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh oregano
1 quart extra virgin olive oil

Place the peppercorns, herbs and garlic in a 1 quart sterilized bottle. Add the olive oil, insuring that all the herbs are completely covered.

Seal, label and store in the refrigerator for 10 days to infuse. Olive oil flavored this way will need to be kept in the refrigerator and will need to be watched for signs of molding. But, damn, it is good on fresh bread and it makes spectacular vinaigrette.

My favorite Italian restaurant serves it this way in their breadbasket. I try to remember not to fill up on the breadbasket everytime I eat there, but I'm usually not successful. Their pastas are made fresh in house but they get their breads from a tiny boutique bakery down the street.

Running Government Like A Business

Pentagon Halts Contractor Clearances

By Renae Merle
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 29, 2006; D01

The Pentagon stopped processing security clearances for government contractors this week, potentially exacerbating a shortage of employees authorized to work on the government's most secret programs.

The Defense Security Service blamed overwhelming demand and a budget shortfall for the halt, which caught the government contracting community by surprise. Already, 3,000 applications have been put on hold, said Cindy McGovern, a DSS spokeswoman.

"We're holding them [the applications] now to see if we can resolve the issue. The more drastic step would be not accepting them" at all, McGovern said, a step the agency considered but dropped for now.

The demand for security clearances among private companies has grown dramatically since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as the government increasingly relies on contractors to do intelligence gathering and work on classified programs. There has been growing frustration with the wait time, which some companies have described as up to a year, to obtain clearances for new employees. Some firms have reverted to gimmicks and large bonuses to attract employees with pre-existing clearances, and industry officials worry that this week's action will increase competition and salary demands.

The move affects not only defense contractors, but also those who work on projects for more than 20 other agencies, including NASA and the Department of Homeland Security.

"We have companies right now that have positions that are funded that they can't find people for," said Stan Soloway, president of the Professional Services Council. "This could completely shut the system down."

The Defense Security Service blames, in part, the sheer volume of requests. Between October and March, more than 100,000 security-clearance applications were submitted.

The service is also struggling with a budget shortfall, McGovern said, noting that its funding was cut by $20 million this year. McGovern said she did not know how much of a shortfall the agency faces.

Isn't it nice to know the grownups are in charge. Jeez, these idiots can't do anything right

Fitzmas

Fitzgerald to Seek Indictment of Rove

By Jason Leopold
t r u t h o u t | Report

Friday 28 April 2006

Despite vehement denials by his attorney who said this week that Karl Rove is neither a "target" nor in danger of being indicted in the CIA leak case, the special counsel leading the investigation has already written up charges against Rove, and a grand jury is expected to vote on whether to indict the Deputy White House Chief of Staff sometime next week, sources knowledgeable about the probe said Friday afternoon.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was in Chicago Friday and did not meet with the grand jury.

Luskin was informed via a target letter that Fitzgerald is prepared to charge Rove for perjury and lying to investigators during Rove’s appearances before the grand jury in 2004 and in interviews with investigators in 2003 when he was asked how and when he discovered that Valerie Plame Wilson worked for the CIA, and whether he shared that information with the media.

If the grand jury returns an indictment Rove would become the second White House official - and one of the most powerful political operatives in the country - charged in the case since the leak investigation began in the fall of 2003.

In the event that an indictment is handed up by the grand jury it would be filed under seal. A press release would then be issued by Fitzgerald’s press office indicating that the special prosecutor will hold a news conference, likely on a Friday afternoon, sources close to the case said. The media would be given more than 24 hours notice of a press conference, sources added.

Luskin was at his office when called for comment but his assistant said he would not take the call or comment on this story.

In recent weeks, sources close to the case said, Fitzgerald's staff has met with Rove's legal team several times to discuss a change in Rove's status in the case - from subject to target - based on numerous inconsistencies in Rove's testimony, whether he discussed Plame Wilson with reporters before her name and CIA status were published in newspaper reports, and whether he participated in a smear campaign against her husband.

The meetings between Luskin and Fitzgerald which took place on several occasions a few weeks ago were called to discuss a timeframe to schedule a return to the grand jury by Rove to testify about, among other things, 250 pages of emails that resurfaced February 6 from Vice President Dick Cheney's office and the Office of President Bush in which Rove wrote to former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card about strategizing an attack against Wilson, sources familiar with the case said.

An earlier date for Rove's testimony was scheduled, but Fitzgerald canceled the appearance because of matters related to another high-profile case that was coming to close in Chicago, sources said.

The rescheduled grand jury appearance by Rove took place Wednesday afternoon and hinges on whether Rove's testimony about the reasons he did not disclose the emails during his previous testimony will convince Fitzgerald not to add obstruction of justice to the list of charges he intends to file against Rove, sources said.

As of Friday afternoon, sources close to the case said, it appeared likely that charges of obstruction of justice would be added to the prepared list of charges.

This was all over the place as of last night, even MSNBC had it so it has broken out into the MSM. Hubris always brings nemesis, and if you think a little twerp like Rove isn't going to sing like a birdie to protect his own ass, you'd be wrong. This is going to be so big that even Bush apologist CNN won't be able to ignore it.

The TimesShifty Standards

100,000 Families Are Fleeing Violence, Iraq Official Says
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.

BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 29 — A new estimate by one of Iraq's vice presidents has put the number of Iraqi families fleeing sectarian violence at 100,000, far outstripping previous projections and raising the possibility that a total of a half-million people could be displaced.

The estimate, made Friday by Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shiite leader selected as one of two vice presidents, is much higher than other recent estimates. For example, the national security adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, said in an interview last week that 13,750 families had been displaced, which could mean about 70,000 people.

Yet both statements go far beyond estimates by American military leaders, who have said there is no "widespread movement" of Iraqis fleeing from sectarian fighting.

Even if Mr. Mahdi's estimate proves too high, it suggests how concerned Iraqi leaders have become about the entrenched and vicious sectarian fighting that has reshaped the lives of many Iraqi families, particularly since the Feb. 22 Askariya shrine bombing in Samarra.

Militias — some inside the official Iraqi security forces and some outside — have gained considerable new influence as attacks against civilians have surged, and Iraqis increasingly say that they have more faith in the militias than in the official Iraqi security forces.

"We should stand up against killings and kidnappings and displacement," Mr. Mahdi said in the Shiite holy city of Najaf after a meeting with Iraq's most revered Shiite religious leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

Estimates of displaced people are notoriously hard to pin down, partly because many people move in with relatives instead of relocating to a camp. The problem is particularly nettlesome in Iraq, because most families fleeing violence are leaving neighborhoods of mixed ethnicity and may have only an hour's drive or less to find shelter with friends or relatives. But at a time when there are concerns that Iraq is moving toward a civil war, such estimates are being sought as a way to chart the scope of the problem.

Excuse me, Oppel? If you have to leave your home, how is it that you aren't "displaced" if you happen to have family to stay with? If you have to leave your home, you are displaced. Period. Are the Katrina refugees from NOLA who had family in Knoxville or Minneapolis not displaced?

Gawd, the Times makes me nuts.

US v. You

U.S.: FBI Sought Info Without Court OK

Friday April 28, 2006 11:31 PM

By MARK SHERMAN

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The FBI secretly sought information last year on 3,501 U.S. citizens and legal residents from their banks and credit card, telephone and Internet companies without a court's approval, the Justice Department said Friday.

It was the first time the Bush administration has publicly disclosed how often it uses the administrative subpoena known as a national security letter, which allows the executive branch of government to obtain records about people in terrorism and espionage investigations without court approval.

Friday's disclosure was mandated as part of the renewal of the Patriot Act, the administration's sweeping anti-terror law.

The FBI delivered a total of 9,254 NSLs relating to 3,501 people in 2005, according to a report submitted late Friday to Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate. In some cases, the bureau demanded information about one person from several companies.

The department also reported it received a secret court's approval for 155 warrants to examine business records last year, under a Patriot Act provision that includes library records. However, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has said the department has never used the provision to ask for library records.

The number was a significant jump over past use of the warrant for business records. A year ago, Gonzales told Congress there had been 35 warrants approved between November 2003 and April 2005.

I think I do see a theme setting up here for the day: the Moron King is using the government against the people who elected it.

Bring 'Em Home

Report: Injured Soldiers Drowning In Medical Debt
Military's Pay System Called 'Complex, Cumbersome'

POSTED: 6:21 am PDT April 28, 2006

WASHINGTON -- After suffering paralysis, brain damage, lost limbs and other wounds in war, nearly 900 Army soldiers ran up $1.2 million in debt because of the military's "complex, cumbersome" pay system, congressional investigators said Thursday.

The report from the Government Accountability Office said another 400 who died in the wars had $300,000 in debt but that the Defense Department doesn't pursue collection of people killed in combat.

"We found that hundreds of separated battle-injured soldiers were pursued for collection of military debts incurred through no fault of their own," said the report. It said that included seeking reimbursement for errors in pay or for equipment left on the battlefield.

The problem became known months ago as soldiers began to complain and lawmakers asked for the report.

The Pentagon said it has been working to resolve it.

"My experience is the military ... when these things are reported to them, work aggressively to resolve them," said Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman.

"Not by way of trying to make any excuses, it's clear that our ... processes could be shored up to try to prevent some of these ... from happening."

When your own government becomes the enemy, all those Bushian "us v. them" analogies really start to come apart.

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Kicking Up the Can

Add homemade flavor to canned chicken broth by tossing in leftover carrot peelings, onion ends, celery leaves, parsley stems, and/or mushroom stems, along with poultry bones and wings, if you have them, and a clove or two of garlic. Let it simmer for about 1/2 an hour, then strain. The result will taste like you spent hours on it.

Choose the low sodium version of any commercial broth and you have a winner. After you've strained this, pour it into ice cube trays and freeze down the goodness. After you've frozen it, liberate the trays and save the cubes in ziploc bags. One of these cubes added to a sauce or gravy will save you hours of work and add tons of flavor. Word to the wise.

Foreign Food

One of the reasons that I'm headed to a small island in the Bay of Fundy for vacation this summer is that the locals make the best lobster rolls on the planet. I camped in the provincial campground the last time I was there and there was a spectacular lobster roll shack right outside the park entrance and, at the exchange rate at the time, I was dining well on the cheap. There are a a couple of B&B;'s on the island that have superior kitchens.

The exchange rate isn't so hot this year as the dollar tanks, but this is still an affordable place to stay and I'm renting a cottage this year. I'll do my own cooking from the IGA market on the island and sample the local cuisine as I can. Grand Manan is known as one of the premiere birding destinations on the east coast flyway and I'm going for the birding and whaling., and to just pack a bunch of books and read, hang out and sleep for a couple of weeks.

On my last trip, I took a tour in a 52' two-masted schooner that landed in a pod of Atlantic right whales, where we stayed for hours. The experience changed me profoundly and I want to go back now and check in with that.

Lobster Rolls, New England Style

Lobster Salad:
1/2 pound fully cooked lobster meat or 1 (2 1/2 pound) live lobster
1/2 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely diced
1/4 cup bottled mayonnaise
1/2 tablespoon fresh tarragon
2 small scallions, thinly sliced
Kosher or sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 to 3 New England-style hot dog buns
2 to 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Pickles and potato chips as accompaniment

Prepare the lobster salad.
If using live lobsters, steam or boil them. Let cool at room temperature. Use a cleaver to crack and remove the meat from the claws, knuckles and tails. Remove the cartilage from the claws and the intestines from the tails of the cooked meat. Cut the meat into 1/2-inch dice. You may pick all the meat from the carcass and add it to the meat or freeze the carcass for soup or broth.

Place the cucumber in a colander for at least 5 minutes to drain the excess liquid. Combine the lobster, cucumber mayonnaise, and tarragon. Add the scallions. Season with salt and pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Preheat a large heavy skillet (12 to 14-inches) over medium-low heat (a black cast-iron pan is perfect). Lightly butter both sides of each bun. Place them in the pan and cook for about 2 minutes until golden brown. Turn the buns over and toast the other side. Or toast the buns under a broiler instead. When the buns are ready, stuff them with the chilled lobster salad. Place each roll on a small paper or china plate; garnish with pickles and potato chips. Serve at once.

In New Brunswick, skip the cukes and celery, but add a leaf of butter lettuce, torn finely, to each bun. Those split top New England buns are impossible to find here in the Mid-Atlantic, but you can use a hot dog roll. I do like the addition of the lettuce and can live without the cukes and scallion, the lobstah is front and center in NB. Salt and vinegar chips, please.

I tried to get into the local thing, dulse, a sea weed they export, but it frankly tastes like cardboard. They treat it like chips and toast it in NB.

Also, Kelseigh, if you are reading tonight, I have yet to understand the charms of the donair. I have a great gyro place down the street and your provincial dish is, um, too Canadian tame for me.

To Start the Day

This is another of those B&B; recipes I've collected through the years. My experience with the hosts has been that they are more than happy to share their recipes with you. This will serve 8 generously and is easy to cut down.

This is one of the great egg casserole breakfast dishes that I've found.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Spray or grease a two-quart casserole dish with cooking oil.

Ingredients:
12 eggs
1 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon dried chervil
1 teaspoon dried summer savory
1 teaspoon Lawry's seasoned salt (or Jane's Crazy Mixed Up Salt, which I prefer)
3/4 stick butter or margarine
2 cups shredded hash brown potatoes (thawed)
1/4 cup (or less) chopped onion
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 lb. center cut bacon, sauteed until just short of crispy and cut into 1 inch dice and drained

Beat eggs, yogurt, and salt together.

Melt butter and lightly sauté onion. Add thawed potatoes. Stir to mix.

Pour in egg mixture, add bacon and lightly stir to blend ingredients.

Pour into casserole dish. Sprinkle grated cheese over casserole.

Bake at 350° for approximately 25 minutes or until knife comes out clean when inserted.

Cut into 8 squares.

For cold winter mornings, this will give you some meat on your ribs before you head out into cold weather activities. I'd want this before digging the car out of the snowbank the plow just placed behind it, for example.

Wandering Around the Butcher Shop

I was at the grocery store this afternoon and, instead of just dashing down the aisles to pick up my usual standards, I actually poked around a little to see what was new (I barely pay attention to commercials on TV, don't read the grocery circulars in the paper.) I was pleasantly surprised to find Bagel Bread, made, I think, by Pepperidge Farm. This got me to thinking about substantial sandwiches. I don't eat them very often, but they make a great quick meal and can be part of a healthy diet if the ingredients are chosen carefully. I call these:

Pay Day Steak Sandwiches

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup prepared white horseradish

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, divided
3 1-inch-thick beef tenderloin steaks

3 red onions, thinly sliced
8 ounces button mushrooms, stemmed, caps thinly sliced (about 5 cups)
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 cup dry red wine

4 large crusty rolls or 8 large baguette slices
2 cups shredded radicchio

Mix mayonnaise and horseradish in small bowl to blend.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle tenderloin steaks with salt and pepper. Add steaks to skillet and cook to desired doneness, about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Using tongs, transfer steaks to work surface.

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions; sauté until just caramelized, 5-7 minutes. Add mushrooms; sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add broth and red wine; simmer until juices are reduced to glaze, stirring occasionally, about 3-5 minutes. Season onion mixture to taste with salt and pepper.

Place 1 roll bottom, cut side up, on each of 4 plates. Spread each with horseradish mayonnaise and top with 1/2 cup radicchio. Thinly slice steaks and divide among rolls. Top with onion mixture. Spread remaining mayonnaise on cut side of croissant tops. Place tops on sandwiches.

What separates these from your ordinary steak sandwich or even a french dip is the caramelized onions and mushrooms and the way they are sauced. This is also a great way to use up leftover, thinly sliced steak.

Serve this with Paul Deen's warm potato salad and a glass of Merlot, and you are dining.

I picked up the Italian habit when I was first in Italy in 1980: there is always a bottle of water "con gas" on my dining table. I like the fizzy stuff and drink it all day and always with meals.

We have freeze warnings out for here tonight, so I'm not quite ready to pull out the grill yet, but these would be great on the grill, a pay day sub for a burger.

If the grill is out, you can round out this meal with grilled corn on the cob when the first local ears come in. Around here, that means Silver Queen 606 from the Delmarva peninsula, maybe the best sweet corn in America. The early stuff comes in around the 4th of July. If you are in Florida or California, you'll have yours earlier and I'm jealous.

The Farmers' Market opens on May 13 here, and I'm chomping at the bit. I'll buy my herb sets there even tho' there won't be much produce yet. The organic meat and artisanal bread and cheese producers will be there, however, so there will be good things to eat. I've been hearing lots about this domestic Wagyu beef which is grown around here and is supposed to be the North American answer to Kobe beef. The boutique producers usually show up at the Market and I'm dying to try some of this. From what I've seen on the Internet, I'll have to take out a home equity loan to afford it. Maybe I can pick up some tenderloin tips without having to sell one of the cats and make some beef stroganoff this weekend.

My stroganoff recipe is adapted from the Time Life "Good Cook" series of cook books, now long out of print. If you can find them at used book sales or on eBay, they are treasures of classic cooking. Back in the days when I assembled this recipe, I was too poor to buy cookbooks and I borrowed them from the library, so I'm trying to assemble the collection now.

Schadenfreude

Rush Limbaugh Arrested on Prescription Drug Charges

WEST PALM BEACH, FL (AP) -- Law enforcement officials say Rush Limbaugh was arrested today on prescription drug charges.

According to a spokeswoman for the State Attorney's office, Limbaugh turned himself in to authorities on a warrant issued by the State Attorney's Office.

The spokeswoman says the conservative radio commentator came into the jail at about 4 p-m with his attorney Roy Black and bonded out an hour later on a 3,000 dollar bail.

The warrant was for fraud to conceal information to obtain prescription.

Limbaugh's attorney said his client and authorities reached a settlement on a single count charge of doctor shopping filed today by the State Attorney.

Prosecutors seized Limbaugh's records after learning that he received about 2,000 painkillers, prescribed by four doctors in six months, at a pharmacy near his Palm Beach mansion. They contend that Limbaugh engaged in "doctor shopping," or illegally deceived multiple doctors to receive overlapping prescriptions.

Limbaugh has not been charged and maintains he's innocent.

He has acknowledged he became addicted to pain medication, blaming it on severe back pain, and took a five-week leave from his radio show to enter a rehabilitation program in 2003.

CNN is reporting that the plea deal is that the charges will be dropped if he stays clean for eighteen months. Still, it's great to see a hypocrite get a little come-uppance.

Our Booming Economy

Ezra Klein at TAPPED:

WHOSE ECONOMY? There are reports out this morning of some high-powered economic numbers this quarter, including a 4.8% rise in the GDP. It's just so awesome! I'm always a bit impressed -- or maybe depressed -- by the superficiality of economic reporting though. To hear the Washington Post tell it, the economic numbers this quarter are made of sugar and spice, and everything nice. But macro data tells you very little about the economic experience of most folks, which accounts for the massive disconnect between how the Bush administration and the media seem to think the economy is doing (tubularly!) and the 63% of the public who think the situation fair or poor. For some more indicative numbers, head over to the Wall Street Journal, where you learn that wages and salaries grew only 0.7% over this period, while prices for U.S. consumers rose 2.7%. The labor market, which has tightened up, is seeing a weird combination of low unemployment without corresponding wage growth. The WSJ seems pleased, as this'll keep inflation down, but workers may feel otherwise.

Everybody I know is pretty squeezed. The huge run up in gas prices haven't helped.

Feeling No Pain

Chevron Earnings Soar 49 Percent to $4B

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE
The Associated Press
Friday, April 28, 2006; 10:20 AM

SAN RAMON, Calif. -- Chevron Corp.'s first-quarter profit soared 49 percent to $4 billion, joining the procession of U.S. oil companies to report colossal earnings as lawmakers consider ways to pacify motorists agitated about rising gas prices.

Chevron released its results Friday after two of its biggest rivals, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil Corp., already provoked public outrage with similarly large first-quarter profits. Combined, the three oil companies earned $15.7 billion during the first three months of the year.

San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron's net income for the three months ended in March translated into $1.80 per share, two cents above the average estimate among analysts polled by Thomson Financial. It compared to a profit of $2.7 billion, or $1.28 per share, in the same January-March period last year.

Revenue totaled $54.6 billion, a 31 percent increase from $41.6 billion last year.

Investors cheered the results as Chevron shares gained $1.22, or 2 percent, to $61.20 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

If not for continuing production problems caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita last summer, Chevron said it would have made an additional $300 million _ an amount that would have generated the highest quarterly profit in the company's 127-year history.

Regular unleaded is $3.039 at the corner Exxon.

UPDATE: Elsewhere in Northern Virgina, much higher. You can use a href="http://www.gasbuddy.com/gb_index.aspx">this site to compare gas prices anywhere in the US and most of Canada.

Mr. Jefferson's State

Running for Senate, and Against the War
Area's Democratic Candidates Find Support in Calling for U.S. to Leave Iraq

By Robert Barnes
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 28, 2006; Page A01

From a cocktail party of liberal contributors in Baltimore to the ball-cap-wearing crowd in a conservative town in southwest Virginia, wherever Democratic loyalists gather, there are five words sure to prompt applause for a Senate candidate:

End the war in Iraq.

Virginia Democrat James H. Webb Jr.'s early warnings about invading Iraq are the main reason he has been so embraced by the liberal bloggers who started a draft movement to get him into the race. Maryland candidate Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin was one of 133 House members who voted against the original resolution authorizing President Bush to take action -- and he might be the most conservative on the issue among Democrats seeking to replace retiring Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D).

And Webb's Democratic opponent in the June 13 primary, Harris Miller, called on Bush yesterday to fire Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and mocked Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) for saying on a talk show that "important progress" is being made in Iraq.

"All of George Allen and George Bush's talk can't hide the fact that they have been wrong or unprepared at nearly every step of this war," Harris said in a conference call with reporters. Allen has been one of the president's strongest supporters on Iraq policy.

At this point, the Democratic candidates in Maryland and Virginia are speaking mostly to the kinds of party activists who take an early interest in campaigns and who are sharply suspicious of the Bush administration.

But the most recent Washington Post poll showed that only 37 percent of the country approved of Bush's handling of the Iraq situation, and respondents said it will be among the key issues in deciding their votes in congressional elections this fall.

"Oh, it's everywhere," Webb, a decorated Vietnam War Marine veteran and former secretary of the Navy under President Ronald Reagan, said of the concern about the war. "You heard it in Gate City."

That is the rural southwest Virginia town known for its Republican politics where Webb started his "Operation: Take Back Virginia" tour Tuesday. He explained -- very carefully -- his opposition to the war to a group of supporters and family members, pointing to a 2002 op-ed article he wrote for The Post advising against the invasion.

"My objection to the war is not aimed at my country but at the administration that has chosen to wage this war, an administration that has muddied the truth, made mistake after mistake and refused to accept responsibility," said Webb, whose son is a Marine scheduled to be deployed to Iraq this summer. Cautious to separate his opposition to the war from his views on the military, he is wearing combat boots on the campaign trail as a show of support for his son and others who serve.

A line that Webb used in his stump speech -- "we have a lot of cleaning up to do: Number One is to end the war in Iraq" -- drew applause not only in Gate City but also in front of a battleship in Norfolk, at the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond and at Courthouse Plaza in Arlington County.

Virginia is going to be a bellweather this year. Outside of the Northern Virginia DC suburbs, the state is conservative, but elected a technocrat centrist Dem in the last gubernatorial election. The state is also heavily military, so the midterms will be a referendum on the Iraq war.

Cakewalk

Iraq war set to be more expensive than Vietnam
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
Published: 28 April 2006

The Iraq war has already cost the United States $320bn (£180bn), according to an authoritative new report, and even if a troop withdrawal begins this year, the conflict is set to be more expensive in real terms than the Vietnam War, a generation ago.

The estimate, circulated this week by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service (CRS), can only increase unease over the US presence in Iraq, whose direct costs now run at some $6bn a month, or $200m a day, with no end in sight.

The Bush administration has refused to provide any specific overall figure for the war's cost. But the Senate is set to approve another emergency spending bill in May, meaning that Iraq will have consumed $101bn in fiscal 2006 alone, almost double the $51bn of 2003, the year of the invasion itself - and all at a time when the federal budget deficit is running at near record levels.

But these figures pale beside what lies in store, the CRS says in its analysis. The Bush administration is desperate to announce a reduction in the 130,000-strong US force before November's mid-term elections, where public disillusion with the war threatens disaster for the Republicans.

However, even if everything goes relatively smoothly, costs until a phase-out is complete could top $370bn. This would make the Iraq conflict, now into its fourth year, more expensive financially than the Vietnam War, which lasted eight years. Vietnam claimed 58,000 American lives, far more than the almost 2,400 lost in Iraq thus far. But in today's dollars it cost "only" $549bn, much less than the $690bn for Iraq, and a projected combined $811bn bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It is a far cry from the weeks before the war, when a White House official was rapped on the knuckles for suggesting the cost might be between $100bn and $200bn, and Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary, was touting "a number that's somewhere under $50bn".

Paul Wolfowitz, now president of the World Bank but then Mr Rumsfeld's deputy at the Pentagon, even theorised before Congress that the post-invasion period might pay for itself as Iraq's oil revenues soared.

The financial analysis by the Congressional Research Service lists various "key war cost questions" and "major unknowns", such as future troop levels, but its financial conclusions are restrained compared with other non-official figures.

Scott Wallsten of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think-tank, has estimated an overall cost of $500bn thus far, with as much again possible. Most, he says, will be paid for by the US (unlike the 1990-91 Gulf War, which the US fought almost for free, thanks to contributions from Saudi Arabia, Japan and other allies).

In January, a study by Joseph Stiglitz, the Columbia University economist and former Nobel Prize winner, and the Harvard lecturer Linda Bilmes reckoned the conflict could ultimately cost $2 trillion, if all factors are taken into account. These include the long-term healthcare costs for the 16,000 US soldiers already wounded in the conflict, and other indirect or hidden costs such as the rise in the price of oil, the need to finance larger budget deficits, higher recruiting costs and losses to the economy caused by the wounded.

The Pentagon has treated such outside estimates with disdain. But it resolutely refused to give a detailed picture of its own. Some experts suggest, however, that the Pentagon may have deliberately inflated its financial needs now, fearing that as the war becomes ever more unpopular, Congress will grow less willing to provide funds in the future.

The Iraq war has already cost the United States $320bn (£180bn), according to an authoritative new report, and even if a troop withdrawal begins this year, the conflict is set to be more expensive in real terms than the Vietnam War, a generation ago.

The estimate, circulated this week by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service (CRS), can only increase unease over the US presence in Iraq, whose direct costs now run at some $6bn a month, or $200m a day, with no end in sight.

The Bush administration has refused to provide any specific overall figure for the war's cost. But the Senate is set to approve another emergency spending bill in May, meaning that Iraq will have consumed $101bn in fiscal 2006 alone, almost double the $51bn of 2003, the year of the invasion itself - and all at a time when the federal budget deficit is running at near record levels.

But these figures pale beside what lies in store, the CRS says in its analysis. The Bush administration is desperate to announce a reduction in the 130,000-strong US force before November's mid-term elections, where public disillusion with the war threatens disaster for the Republicans.

However, even if everything goes relatively smoothly, costs until a phase-out is complete could top $370bn. This would make the Iraq conflict, now into its fourth year, more expensive financially than the Vietnam War, which lasted eight years. Vietnam claimed 58,000 American lives, far more than the almost 2,400 lost in Iraq thus far. But in today's dollars it cost "only" $549bn, much less than the $690bn for Iraq, and a projected combined $811bn bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It is a far cry from the weeks before the war, when a White House official was rapped on the knuckles for suggesting the cost might be between $100bn and $200bn, and Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary, was touting "a number that's somewhere under $50bn".

Fortunately, there isn't anything else we need the money for....

Cluck, Cluck

Oil and politics don't mix
April 28, 2006

NO DOUBT PRESIDENT BUSH hoped his Tuesday speech to the Renewable Fuels Assn. would mollify grumpy Americans tired of high gas prices. But by proposing dubious policies that — at best — might save a few cents per gallon in the short term, while doing little to address the underlying problem of U.S. oil dependence, the president did something worse than nothing: He ushered in a silly season for wrongheaded, economically ignorant proposals by headline-chasing politicians.

Just a few short months ago, Bush was paying lip service to addressing the country's oil "addiction." On Tuesday, he offered us gas junkies a cheaper, faster fix by deferring new deposits to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. And now, after a week's worth of 1970s-style economic rhetoric, the prospects for successful detox seem all the more distant as public officials scramble to follow the president's lead in dreaming up their own "solutions" to the oil market. Like most insta-legislation rushed to the floor in the wake of controversial news — think Terri Schiavo — the gas-price proposals should be ignored and scorned.

Take the calls to root out alleged misdeeds by oil companies. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) wants to look at Big Oil's tax returns "to make sure [they] aren't taking a speed pass by the tax man." Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) proposed breaking up the industry altogether. And state officials want their piece of the witch hunt too. On Tuesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he had sicced the California Energy Commission on the case. In Arkansas, a candidate for attorney general also pledged to investigate oil companies, even though that state's anti-gouging law only applies during emergencies.

Everyone likes to see a villain squirm. The problem is, the Federal Trade Commission already has been sniffing out price gouging in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and has yet to uncover one instance of illegal behavior. Election-year investigations into marketwide collusion and gouging are window dressing, nothing more.

Worse are renewed calls to authorize drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and to relax environmental restrictions on polluting refineries. A still-lower circle of populist hell is reserved for embarrassingly baldfaced sops to voters, such as the Senate's $100 taxpayer refund. Or that body's proposal to increase farm energy subsidies by $1.5 billion. Or its push for a 60-day federal gas tax holiday.

All of these proposals would provide scant relief even while encouraging continued fuel overuse. As Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified before Congress on Thursday, "Unfortunately, there's nothing, really, that can be done that's going to affect energy prices or gasoline prices in the very short run."

Sensible policy would focus on curbing consumption. Indeed, if politicians were being honest about breaking the addiction, they'd admit that it might make sense to hope that gas prices stay high — which would drive down demand and perhaps spur businesses to get real about alternative fuel technologies and improved auto mileage.

As a Texas governor running for president wisely said in 2000, the "Strategic Reserve should not be used as an attempt to drive down oil prices right before an election."

In short, most of what we are going to be hearing in coming months is bullshit

The Sound and the Fury

Profits, Prices Spur Oil Outrage
Exxon Mobil Posts First-Quarter Rise

By Steven Mufson and Shailagh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, April 28, 2006; Page A01

Exxon Mobil Corp. reported $8.4 billion in first-quarter profit yesterday, as members of Congress outraged over high gasoline prices hastened to propose measures that would boost taxes on oil firms, open new areas to drilling and provide rebates to taxpayers but would not necessarily alter prices at the pumps.

The earnings outstripped the oil giant's profit in the first quarter of last year. Given current oil market conditions, analysts said, that puts Exxon Mobil on track to break the $36 billion record profit it made last year.

Stock prices, economic forecasts and consumer confidence show that ever-more-volatile oil prices have become a barometer by which consumers, investors, corporate executives and even voters gauge the future.

Meanwhile, President Bush sought to show that he was responding to calls for action in the face of rising gasoline prices. While visiting a gasoline station in Biloxi, Miss., Bush renewed his call for Congress to give him the authority to "raise" mileage standards for all passenger cars. White House officials said later, however, that they didn't know when or how the president would use that authority.

Congress has the authority to approve changes in mileage standards for passenger cars, and the executive branch can set them for light trucks without approval from Congress. But neither Congress nor the administration has shown much interest in raising passenger car standards, which were set in the 1970s and haven't changed since 1985. In March, the Bush administration said it would raise average fuel economy standards by 1.9 miles a gallon for sport-utility vehicles, pickups and vans for models in 2008 through 2011, a long-awaited move that environmentalists said was too modest.

In Congress, anger over gasoline prices brought action in the Senate to a screeching halt yesterday, with Democrats interrupting debate over an emergency military spending bill to protest a key oil company subsidy. In a highly unusual move, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) waged a solo filibuster on the Senate floor in an attempt to force a vote on a provision that would halt support for what Wyden said was about $35 billion for oil and gas companies. "This is the big one, folks, in terms of energy subsidies," Wyden said during the five-hour standoff. "This is the one where there is no logical case . . . when oil is $70 per barrel."

Various committees and individual lawmakers scrambled to offer relief to consumers, punish suppliers and promote favorite energy-related provisions, most of them offering little or no immediate relief at the gas station pumps.

Senate GOP leaders rolled out a fat package of energy measures, including a $100 rebate to most taxpayers, and reaffirmed authority for state and federal officials to fight price gouging. The proposal also would allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska; Democrats called the controversial idea a deal-killer for the rest of the package.

Democrats unveiled their own ideas, including various windfall-profit rebates, a temporary suspension of the federal gas tax and alternative energy investments.

For all the criticism from Congress, Exxon Mobil's earnings fell slightly short of analysts' expectations, and company shares fell 68 cents to close at $62.42 a share.

In an attempt to simultaneously impress investors and calm politicians, Exxon Mobil spokesman Ken Cohen stressed that compared with the year-earlier quarter, the company had increased its worldwide oil and gas production by 5 percent, boosted capital spending by 41 percent and paid worldwide taxes that amounted to a 46 percent rate.

But analysts, while impressed by the production numbers, noted that much of the increase in capital spending came from sharply rising costs for oil services and that the high tax rates were a result of high crude oil prices. In many countries, sliding-scale tax rates rise as prices do; Norway taxes some portion of output at rates as high as 70 percent, and Libya's effective tax rates can go as high as 90 percent, analysts said.

I guess this is the "jawboning" W campaigned on.

Open Thread

I'm taking the rest of the day off. Seven day a week blogging for two and half years has left me with very sore hands and wrists and I need to rest them now. UPS brought my new posture chair and I'm going to put it together tonight.

This is your open thread. Use it as you wish.

Fueling Rebellion

Silencing The Squeaky Wheels

By Shane Harris, National Journal
© National Journal Group Inc.
Thursday, April 27, 2006

The CIA has imposed new and tighter restrictions on the books, articles, and opinion pieces published by former employees who are still contractors with the intelligence agency. According to several former CIA officials affected by the new policy, the rules are intended to suppress criticism of the Bush administration and of the CIA. The officials say the restrictions amount to an unprecedented political "appropriateness" test at odds with earlier CIA policies on outside publishing.

The move is a significant departure from the CIA's longtime practice of allowing ex-employees to take critical or contrary positions in public, particularly when they are contractors paid to advise the CIA on important topics and to publish their assessments.

All current and former CIA employees have long been required to submit manuscripts for books, opinion pieces, and even speeches to the agency's Publications Review Board, which ensures that the works don't reveal classified information or intelligence sources and methods. The board has not generally factored political opinions into its decision-making, former CIA officials say. But in recent years, former employees have written memoirs and opinion pieces challenging the CIA and the Bush administration, particularly for its use of prewar intelligence to justify the war in Iraq. The board did not find that any of those pieces revealed secrets, a fact that makes the CIA's new review standards troubling, former officials and intelligence-community analysts said.

Many of those experts believe that public criticism provides an important source of alternative analysis -- something the CIA needs to understand terrorism, global disease, and other emerging threats. But the White House and CIA Director Porter Goss view spies-turned-authors as political liabilities who embarrass an already battered administration, former officials said. The CIA is now aggressively investigating -- using polygraphs in some cases -- employees who are suspected of leaking classified information to journalists, and last week the agency said it fired a senior official, Mary O. McCarthy, reportedly for having unauthorized contact with the news media.

The former CIA officials carefully distinguished leaks of classified information, which they acknowledged can endanger national security, from articles or speeches that challenge policy yet reveal no secrets. But several said that Goss's vigorous pursuit of leakers is philosophically connected to his desire to keep embarrassing comments by former CIA insiders out of the public domain.

"I think the [publications] that are causing the most kickback now are things that look like they're critical of the administration," said one former official who has written about intelligence policies and techniques. "The [career] agency people feel like they are regarded by the White House as the enemy." They "feel like Goss's real job is to decimate the place," said the former official, who, like others contacted for this story, asked for anonymity to avoid reprisal from the CIA.

Full-time agency employees are discouraged from expressing their political opinions, lest they taint the agency as partisan. But contractors traditionally have been free to speak their minds. The new review policy "reflects [Goss's] concern, and his personality, which seems to have minimal tolerance for dissent," said Steven Aftergood, an authority on government secrecy policies with the Federation of American Scientists.

The publications review process "was designed to assure agency personnel that their First Amendment rights would be protected as long as they did not compromise security," Aftergood said. "That relatively enlightened position has now been abandoned."

The CIA acknowledged for the first time last week that the Publications Review Board subjects former officials under contract to a two-part test. "First, material submitted for publication cannot contain classified information," CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano wrote in an e-mail. "Second, it cannot impair the individual's ability to do his or her job or the CIA's ability to conduct its mission as a nonpartisan, nonpolicy agency of the executive branch."

That new criterion is at odds with the agency's earlier rules. According to a July 2005 unclassified regulation, signed by Goss, "The [Publications Review Board] will review material ... solely to determine whether it contains any classified information. Permission to publish will not be denied solely because the material may be embarrassing to or critical of the agency."

The Bush Administration: Politicizing the Executive Branch One Agency at a Time.

I'm also hearing around town that there is considerable pushback going on from the career employees.

Uncommon Sense

Senate Panel Urge FEMA Dismantling
By ERIC LIPTON

WASHINGTON, April 26 —The Federal Emergency Management Agency was so fundamentally dysfunctional during Hurricane Katrina that Congress should abolish it and create a new disaster response agency from scratch, according to a draft of bipartisan recommendations proposed by a Senate committee.

The new agency, which would still be part of the Department of Homeland Security, should be more powerful, with additional components that would give it a budget twice as big as FEMA's, the report's draft recommendations say.

It would assume functions spread throughout the department, like preparing for disasters or terrorist attacks, protecting the nation's infrastructure and distributing grants to state and local governments.

And during major catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina, the agency's director would report directly to the president.

FEMA today has a budget of $4.8 billion, and 2,600 full-time employees.

Senator Susan Collins, the Maine Republican who is chairwoman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said the new agency would be "better equipped with the tools to prepare for and respond to a disaster."

The committee's ranking Democrat, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, also endorsed creation of what would be called the National Preparedness and Response Authority. But the full committee has not yet debated or voted on the draft recommendations.

The report has also not yet been shared with the Bush administration. But officials at the Department of Homeland Security said that from what they had already heard, they were not impressed.

"It is time to stop rearranging organization charts and start focusing on how governments at all levels are preparing for the fast-approaching storm season," said Russ Knocke, the department press secretary.

Since Hurricane Katrina hit, Michael Chertoff, the secretary of homeland security, has been working on his own alternative to the agency's current structure, which he has described as "retooling" FEMA. That has meant bringing in professional disaster managers to replace the former director Michael D. Brown and other senior officials, many of whom had little emergency management experience.

Mr. Chertoff has also moved to fill hundreds of other vacant jobs, establish a better disaster-resistant communications system and set up a way to ensure that the agency can more rapidly deliver emergency supplies.

The proposal by the Senate committee leaders will join others now before Congress. Bills are pending that would keep FEMA intact, but remove it from the Homeland Security Department and have the director report directly to the president, as was the case before the department was created after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Um, it worked passable well before it was folded into DHS, so why not just undo that rather than try to reinvent the wheel less than five weeks before the start of hurricane season? Do people get common-sense-ectomies when they are elected to Congress?

Price Gouging

Exxon Mobil 1Q Profit Rises 7 Percent

The Associated Press
Thursday, April 27, 2006; 8:38 AM

IRVING, Texas -- Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest oil company, on Thursday said higher oil prices drove first-quarter profit up 7 percent from the prior year.

Net income rose to $8.4 billion, or $1.37 per share, for the January-March period from $7.86 billion, or $1.22 per share, a year ago.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were looking for a higher profit of $1.47 per share, and shares fell $1.20, or almost 2 percent, in premarket trading.

Revenue grew to $88.98 billion from $82.05 billion a year earlier. Higher crude oil and natural gas prices and improved marketing margins were partly offset by lower chemical margins.

Worldwide production of oil equivalent in the first quarter of 2006 rose 5 percent.

The report comes amid consumer outcry in the U.S. about soaring gasoline prices. The average retail price of gasoline in the U.S. is now $2.91 a gallon, or 68 cents higher than a year ago.

When was the last time you got a 7% raise?

One Step Ahead of the Man

I've got an ear plugged up by wax and no health insurance, so I'm going to have to dial around to find the cheapest place to get that fixed in the AM. There is no telling what my day is going to look like. If you think being poor means being lazy, boy, you are missing the truth. Being poor means working your tail off to stay one step ahead of the man.

Learning from the Neighbors

This is breakfast for 8 from the Rabbit Hill Inn in Lower Waterford, VT. Bed and Breakfasts keep me nourished.

Oh, this is really good, or it wouldn't be here.

Sausage and Smoked Gouda Baked Egg
with a Spinach Cream Sauce

Ingredients:
8 large eggs
1/4 cup flour
1 cup cooked, chopped sausage
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup half & half
1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup shredded smoked gouda cheese
Spinach Cream Sauce:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup of flour
1-1/2 cups half & half
1-1/2 to 2 cups blanched, chopped spinach
2 to 3 drops Tabasco pepper and Worcestershire sauces
grated cheese (optional)

Butter 8 individual ramekins or two 9-inch pie pans.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, flour, gouda, cream, cottage cheese along with salt and pepper. Place equal amounts of chopped sausage in each ramekin or pan. Fill the containers with the egg and cheese batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Sauce: In a small sauce pan, melt butter. Add flour to make a roux. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Add in half & half. Add in spinach. Season with sauces and add cheese.

Invite the neighbors.

Snoozer Blogger

The day started in court. That's not the way you want to start your day. The judge was a human being and, since I have no record, the traffic stop for my driving on a suspended was reduced from a misdemeanor to whatever is below that and I won't end up with a record.

I got stopped by the local sheriff for driving with a headlight out back in January. In my car, these things are expensive to replace and I can't do them myself, it takes a trip to the shop. When he ran my license and registration, he discovered that my license had been lifted by the city last year for a traffic stop I don't even remember and I never got the suspension notice. I'm your standard Minnesota girl and don't even get parking tickets, so I'm still not sure how all this happened, my middle aged memory is fogged, but I uttered the words "your honor" at some point this morning, paid a small fine and walked out without a record, I think.

After a trip to the DMV tomorrow to get my license back, I'll once again be driving Rosa, the red Carmelite. BTW, a trip to the DMV here in VA is a major migraine, the trip to court was less of a headache. I have a book to read for the long wait and the number of documents I need to have in order will be assembled in the morning. I need a passport or birth certificate to start over after a license surrender, along with proof of occupancy at my residence. My electric bill will serve.

I'm plumb tuckered after dealing with the morning nerve jag and headed for bed, after a long bath to soak all that nasty salt sweat off my person. I don't even want to think about the amount of nerves you can smell on me.

Summer Cooking

This is a Paula Deen recipe (I love her cooking) that I've tinkered with a little. As much as I love my mom's potato salad, this might be my favorite. The longer days and warmer temps have got me thinking about firing up the grill (I love barbecued chicken) and this is a perfect pairing for anything from burgers to brats. This will serve 8-10.

The Lady's Warm Potato Salad

8 medium red potatoes
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/4 cup chopped green onion tops
1 cup chopped celery
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
1/4 cup diced pimento
1 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
1 tablespoon seasoned salt (I use Lawry's, or make your own*)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons finely chopped dill
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chervil
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream

In a large pot, boil the potatoes with the skins on for 10 to 15 minutes until tender. Let the potatoes cool just to the touch and cut into cubes.

In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Add the potatoes and mix gently. Serve at room temperature.

This is better the second day, so if you make it ahead and refrigerate, let it come back to room temp before serving.

*Seasoned Salt

* 6 tablespoons salt
* 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
* 1/2 teaspoon marjoram
* 2 1/4 teaspoons paprika
* 1 teaspoon dry mustard
* 1/8 teaspoon dill weed
* 1/2 teaspoon celery salt

Put all ingredients into a mini food processor or small blender container and blend on low. You can also use a mortar and pestle.

I used to play in the Charleston Symphony in the pre-Paula Deen days and the food downtown was already pretty amazing. Whatever I made went to hotel and meal bills.

On the Breeze

This first course (for 8) is a great way to show off the bounty of spring: asparagus. Remember to break off the woody ends and discard any stems which are woody. I'm making this for a pot-luck brunch next month.

Aspargus Flan with Cheese Sauce

For flan
2 lb asparagus, trimmed
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, or to taste

For sauce
1/4 lb Italian Fontina, rind discarded and cheese coarsely grated (or cut into 1/4-inch dice if too soft to grate)
1/2 cup whole milk
2 large eggs yolks
1 tablespoon butter

Make flan:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8- by 2-inch round cake pan and line bottom with a round of wax paper, then butter paper. Steam asparagus in a steamer set over boiling water, covered, until very tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Purée asparagus in a food processor until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. (You will have about 2 cups purée.)

Whisk together eggs, milk, cheese, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in a bowl, then whisk in asparagus purée.

Pour asparagus mixture into pan and bake in a hot water bath until flan is set and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center comes out clean, 50 minutes to 1 hour.

Transfer pan to a rack to cool slightly, 10 to 15 minutes.

Make sauce while flan cools:
Put all sauce ingredients in a metal bowl, then set bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Heat sauce, whisking until cheese and butter are melted, and then stirring with a wooden spoon, until sauce is slightly thickened and registers 165°F on an instant-read thermometer, 5 to 8 minutes. You must keep stirring until the sauce is completely mixed. Stop for a moment and you run the risk that it breaks. When it coats the back of a spoon like heavy cream, it is done. Remove bowl from pan.

Run a thin knife around edge of flan to loosen, then invert a serving plate over pan and invert flan onto plate. Remove pan and discard paper. If you have reserved some steamed asparagus tips, you can garnish the top with them after you've placed it on the serving plate, or use a combination of minced parsley and chives. Cut flan into wedges and serve immediately with sauce.

You can make the flan the day before you plan to serve it, but the cheese sauce will need to be made on the spot. This will also delight both carnivores and your ovo-lacto friends.

You can make the cheese sauce (and steam the asparagus) in the microwave. In a glass casserole, place the rinsed asparagus, still wet and nuke on high for about 3 minutes. For the cheese sauce, here's the method:

Melt butter in a 1-quart glass measuring pitcher in microwave oven (about 30 seconds at High).

Add milk gradually, stirring constantly.

Cook uncovered in microwave overn 4 minutes at High, or until thickened; stir vigorously after 2 minutes, then every 30 seconds.

Add salt, pepper and cheese to sauce; stir well. Cook uncovered in microwave oven 1 minute at High; stir.

Swimming Things

As I've mentioned before, my first real contact with seafood was when I was in grad school in Boston. Fresh seafood was still a rarity in my part of the Midwest in those days, so this was a new experience for me. I remember being fascinated by the varieties I could find at the supermarket and didn't really know what to do with much of it. My first cooking experience was with scrod, young cod, but this recipe will work with any firm, white fish, like tilapia.

I learned this recipe from a tearoom which was around the corner from my apartment. Sadly, it no longer exists.

Baked Scrod in Foil
For 6, but this is easy to cut down for one or two

6 Scrod fillets; 1/4 lb each
Salt & pepper to taste
1 Red bell pepper; chopped fine
1 sm Onion, chopped fine
2 tb Tiny capers; drained
6 tb Flat-leaf parsley; chopped
6 tb Lemon juice
2 tb Extra-virgin olive oil

1. Cut six pieces (each 14x12 inches) of foil. Preheat the oven to 400oF. 2. Center a scrod fillet on the lower half of each piece of foil, shiny-side up. 3. Sprinkle each fillet with salt and pepper to taste. Arrange the vegetables equally on top of each piece of fish and sprinkle evenly with the capers and parsley. Drizzle each filllet with 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 teaspoon olive oil. 4. Fold the top half of the foil over the fish and seal the packets on all sides. 5. Place the packets on a baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between each one, and bake for 20 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes. Serve immediately, one packet per person.

If you don't have much experience cooking fish, this is a pretty fool-proof way to start.

I like to serve this with rice to soak up the lemony sauce. Green beans with almonds as a side is a compliment which lets the delicacy of the fish speak. Dress the beans with just a whiff of vinaigrette with pimiento slices before serving.

Wallet Pain

Local expert predicts gas prices will hit $4 a gallon this summer

April 26, 2006

Question: How high will gas prices go?

Answer: Some experts predict the national average price will go higher than $3.50 a gallon for regular unleaded gasoline. One local economist, Northeastern Illinois University professor Edward Stuart, expects it to hit $4 per gallon this summer.

The average price nationwide for a gallon of regular unleaded now stands at $2.92, according to the American Automobile Association. In Chicago, the average is $2.99. Some stations in the city are charging over $3.25 a gallon, with one charging $3.29. Others in the area are charging as little as $2.85.

$3.039 at the corner gas station across from me.

Avian Flu News

U.S. Efforts Might Not Slow Pandemic Flu

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer 13 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - If pandemic influenza hits in the next year or so, the few weapons the United States has to keep it from spreading will do little, a new computer model shows.

A pandemic flu is likely to strike one in three people if nothing is done, according to the results of computer simulation published in Thursday's journal Nature. If the government acts fast enough and has enough antiviral medicine to use as preventive dosings — which the United States does not — that could drop to about 28 percent of the population getting sick, the study found.

"Both cases we came up with were very pessimistic," said lead author Neil Ferguson of the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Imperial College in London. "There is no single magic bullet for stopping pandemic flu."

So far this year, H5N1 bird flu — which is not yet pandemic flu because it doesn't move easily between people — has infected 204 people and killed 103, according to the
World Health Organization. Most of the human cases and deaths have been in Asia, but birds with the disease have been found in Europe.

Ferguson's computer simulation is the second released this month and is more pessimistic than one led by Timothy Germann of Los Alamos National Laboratory, who said the flu could be less infectious and that efforts could slow it a bit.

Measures such as closing schools to halt breeding grounds and the use of the antiviral Tamiflu could reduce the disease's toll, Ferguson said. But efforts to stop flu from entering American borders — usually on planes with sick passengers — won't work, he said. At most, they can buy a couple of weeks of delay before the disease sets in, he said.

If the United States were like Britain and had enough antiviral medicine for one quarter of the population to be used before people get sick, computer models show that the number of people getting sick would drop from about 102 million to about 84 million in America, Ferguson said.

Bill Hall, spokesman for Department of Health and Human Services, said his agency has 28 million courses of the antiviral (9.3 percent of the U.S. population), but acknowledged that on hand, there's only enough medicine for 5 million people (1.7 percent). The other 23 million courses are on order and should arrive by the end of the year. The plan is to have 81 million courses (27.1 percent) by 2008, he said.

To quote CIDRAP's Mike Osterholm, if anything happens in the next couple of years, we're screwed.

Untreated

Percentage of Uninsured Americans Rising

By THERESA AGOVINO, AP Business Writer 20 minutes ago

NEW YORK - The percentage of working-age Americans with moderate to middle incomes who lacked health insurance for at least part of the year rose to 41 percent in 2005, a dramatic increase from the 28 percent in 2001 without coverage, a study released on Wednesday found.

Moreover, more than half of the uninsured adults said they were having problems paying their medical bills or had incurred debt to cover their expenses, according to a report by the Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based private, health care policy foundation. The study of 4,350 adults also found that people without insurance were more likely to forgo recommended health screenings such as mammograms than those with coverage, and were less likely to have a regular doctor than their insured counterparts.

The report paints a bleak health care picture for the uninsured. "It represents an explosion of the insurance crisis into those with moderate incomes," said Sara Collins, a senior program officer at the Commonwealth Fund.

Collins said the study also illustrates how more employers are dropping coverage or are offering plans that are just too expensive for many people.

About 45.8 million Americans did not have health insurance in 2004, according to the U.S.
Census Bureau.

The percentage of individuals earning less than $20,000 a year without insurance rose to 53 percent, up from 49 percent in 2001. Overall, the percentage of people without insurance rose to 28 percent in 2005 from 24 percent in 2001.

The study also found that 59 percent of uninsured with chronic conditions such as asthma or diabetes either skipped a dose of their medicine or went without it because it was too expensive. One-third of them

One-third of those in that group visited an emergency room or stayed in a hospital overnight or did both, compared to 15 percent of their insured counterparts.

Collins said those statistics are significant because giving up medicines typically leads to more expensive health problems later. Treating people in expensive settings such emergency rooms places a financial burden on the health care system, she added.

"People not being able to take care of themselves should send out a big red flag," said Collins.

I have been among the uninsured for over a year. That means I'm one illness away from bankruptcy.

Up North

In Canada, An Uproar Over Army Casualties

By Doug Struck
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, April 26, 2006; A18

TORONTO, April 25 -- A day after Canada's newspapers carried front-page photos of the flag-draped coffins of four soldiers killed in Afghanistan, the Conservative government slapped a ban on news media coverage of the coffins' return home to Canada on Tuesday.

The order, and an earlier decision by the government not to lower the national flag to half-staff to mark the soldiers' deaths, brought criticisms that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is trying to muffle reaction to Afghanistan casualties.

"What is the prime minister trying to hide by dishonoring fallen soldiers?" Jack Layton, leader of the opposition New Democratic Party, demanded in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

"We should not be trying to hide these things," echoed Bill Graham, leader of the Liberal Party.

Harper insisted the government is protecting the privacy of grieving families, and Conservative officials said the flag has traditionally not been lowered for war casualties. But the debate underlined the public's qualms over Canada's beefed-up role in Afghanistan, and the government's nervousness about uncertain support for that operation.

Canada now has 2,300 troops in Afghanistan, and has recently moved its operation from Kabul to the more dangerous Kandahar region in the south. The four soldiers, killed Saturday in a roadside bomb blast north of Kandahar city, brought the Canadian death toll in Afghanistan to 16, including a diplomat. The nations' papers were filled with stories about the four fallen men. The attack was the deadliest by insurgents against Canadian troops since they deployed to Afghanistan.

Harper, who took office in January, is a strong supporter of the military mission. But the most recent public opinion poll found Canadians evenly split on having troops in Afghanistan.

The redeployment to Kandahar and the casualties have led to "a series of rude awakenings for Canadians," said Rudyard Griffiths, executive director of the Dominion Institute, which runs a veterans' awareness project. That unease is increased by Canadians' strong opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and to the Bush administration, he said.

"It's a very fine balancing act the prime minister has to manage, communicating to Canadians that Afghanistan is not Iraq," Griffiths said. As reports of Afghan civilian and Canadian military casualties mount, "it's going to transfer that negative image of a bungled enterprise, of hopelessness, from George Bush to Stephen Harper."

The comparison came quickly Tuesday after the government ordered journalists away from the Trenton, Ontario, air base when the coffins of the four soldiers arrived.

Harper is grabbing entire chapters, not just pages, out of the Bush book. Canada has a parliamentary form of government, however, and a government can fall on a vote of no confidence. I predicted in January that the Harper government wouldn't last more than a year. Now I'm wondering if it will last that long.

Busy Blogger

I have a raft of errands to run this morning. The news will resume when I return.

Tragedy Writ Large

----
If Past Is Prologue, George Bush Is Becoming An Increasingly Dangerous President
By JOHN W. DEAN
----
Friday, Apr. 21, 2006

For Cool Nights

I love red wine reduction sauces. This one is filled with flavor.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 sprigs rosemary, leaves picked
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 (4 ounce) fillet medallions
6 ounces dandelion greens
2 teaspoons minced garlic
6 ounces cippolini onions, chopped
4 ounces reduced barolo wine, for sauce

Heat grill to medium-high to high heat.

Combine 1 tablespoon olive oil, rosemary leaves, salt and pepper and rub over the meat. Place on the grill and crosshatch the meat on both sides. Continue this process until the meat reaches desired temperature.

In a hot saucepan cook the dandelion greens with 1 teaspoon garlic and 1 1/2 teaspoons oil. In a different hot saucepan cook the onions with remaining teaspoon garlic and 1 1/2 teaspoons oil. Warm the Barolo Sauce in a separate saucepan and serve over the medallions.

Light Supper

This is a rich restaurant recipe.

HAM, LEEK, AND THREE-CHEESE QUICHE

round of refrigerated pie dough for a 9-inch pie (from a 15-oz package; not a preshaped frozen pie shell)
3/4 lb leeks (about 3 medium; white and pale green parts only)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 lb thinly sliced smoked ham or pancetta
3 oz Gruyère, coarsely grated (1 cup)
3 oz Italian Fontina, coarsely grated (1 cup)
3 oz whole-milk mozzarella, coarsely grated (1 cup)
3 large eggs
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 3/4 cups crème fraîche (from two 8-oz containers)

Special equipment: a 9-inch pie plate (4-cup capacity)

Prebake pie dough in pie plate according to package instructions, then remove from oven and reduce temperature to 350°F.

Meanwhile, halve leeks lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces, then wash well in a bowl of cold water, agitating leeks. Lift out and drain leeks in a colander and pat dry. Melt butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderately low heat and cook leeks, stirring occasionally, until very tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

Line warm pie shell with sliced ham or pancetta, overlapping layers as necessary to cover bottom and side of pie shell completely. Toss cheeses together and sprinkle evenly into pie shell (do not pack cheese), then spread leeks evenly on top of cheese. Whisk together eggs, nutmeg, and pepper until combined well, then whisk in crème fraîche until smooth.

Carefully pour half of custard on top of pie filling, gently moving cheese with a spoon to help custard disperse evenly. Slowly add remaining custard in same manner. Cover pie loosely with foil, gently folding edges over crust (keep foil from touching top of cheese mixture) and transfer to a baking sheet.

Bake until center of filling is puffed and set (center will be slightly wobbly but not liquid), about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Cool on a rack at least 20 to 30 minutes before serving (filling will continue to set as it cools). Serve warm or at room temperature.

Cooks' note:
Quiche can be made 3 days ahead and cooled completely, uncovered, then chilled, wrapped in plastic wrap. Reheat quiche (uncovered) in a 350°F oven until warmed through, about 15 minutes.

Makes 8 main-course servings.

Serve with a glass of bubbly and a salad of frisee lettuce dressed with a wine vinaigrette and Enjoy.

The National Embarrassment

America's Second Harvest, because millions of Americans go hungry every night in the richest country in the world.

This is a scandal. Give what you can.

America's Second Harvest says enough.

How many children should go to bed hungry on our watch? George Bush has no answer. How many parents skip meals so they can feed their kids? George Bush has no answer. George Bush has no answer to any of the pressing social needs in our country and his party has no ideas. It is time to fire them and find better management, because starving children in the wealthiest nation on earth is an embarrassment.

When the head of Exxon Mobile earns billions and we have children going hungry, we need to be ashamed. As a nation.

Politics as Usual

The Conventional Wisdom here in DC is that Tony Snow is the new WH communications director, so nothing will change. We'll get the same crap, told by someone who can construct an English sentence. Big deal.

Crunch, Crunch

I don't eat out much, can't afford it, but the local ethnic restaurants are cheap and this is a favorite I pick up from a local Thai place a couple of times a week.

THAI CUCUMBER SALAD WITH ROASTED PEANUTS

1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)*
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons minced seeded jalapeño chili (about 1 large) or one Thai red chile, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 English hothouse cucumbers, halved, seeded, thinly sliced
3/4 cup sliced red onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped lightly salted roasted peanuts

Whisk first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Place cucumbers, onion, and mint in large bowl. Add dressing and toss to coat. Season salad to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with peanuts and serve.

*Available at Asian markets and in the Asian foods section of many supermarkets.

If you are having friends over for satay, this is the obligatory side dish in Indonesia, Maylaysia and Holland. It's almost grill time here in Virginny.

The Learning Cook

Holidays have their traditional dishes. I have to have turkey at Thanksgiving and usually at Christmas, but I will more than happily tolerate a prime rib beef roast for the latter. I'm not a big ham eater, but my brother's rosemary ham (hint: get a bone-in butt ham, use a boning knife to carve some space around the bone and stuff with copious amounts of fresh rosemary sprigs, carve away the extra fat on the outside, score in the traditional diamond shapes and wash with a honey/dijon glaze. Roast per usual and you and your guests will dine rather than eat) is something I will readily take home from any holiday meal.

But I've become a lamb devotee for Easter in recent years. This is the way I like to cook it and it makes a fine extended family dinner on a spring Sunday afternoon. The Greeks have a way with lamb and I learned a lot of my lamb cooking there.

Boneless Leg of Lamb with Greek Stuffing

3 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic, sliced thin lengthwise
1/2 cup cured black olives, chopped
1/4 pound feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, packed in oil, chopped
4-5 pound boneless leg of lamb
1 1/2 teaspoons crumbled dried rosemary
1 onion sliced
1 cup dry red wine
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons cold water

You can substitute a cup of concord grape juice with 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar for the wine, if you are avoiding alcohol.

Pat the lamb dry, arrange it, boned side up, on a work surface, and season it with salt and pepper. Rub with 2 tablespoons of oil. Spread the lamb evenly with the olive-cheese-tomato mixture, leaving a 1-inch border around the edges. Beginning with a short side, roll it up jelly roll fashion, and tie it tightly with kitchen string. The rolled and tied roast may look ungainly, but it will improve in appearance when cooked.

Transfer the lamb to a roasting pan and rub it all over with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil, 1 teaspoon rosemary and salt and pepper to taste. Roast the lamb in the middle of a preheated 325 degree oven for 30 minutes, scatter the onion around it in the pan, and roast the lamb for 1 to 1 1/4 hours more (a total of 20 minutes per pound of boneless meat ) or until a meat thermometer registers 140 degrees for medium rare. Transfer the lamb to a cutting board and let it stand for 20 minutes.

While the lamb is standing, skim the fat from the pan drippings and set the roasting pan over moderately high heat. Add the wine, deglaze the pan, scraping up the brown bits, and boil the mixture until it is reduced by half. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a saucepan, add the broth, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon rosemary, the water, and any juices on the cutting board. Boil the mixture until it is reduced to about 2 cups. Stir the cornstarch mixture, add it to the wine mixture, whisking, and simmer the sauce for 2 minutes. Season the sauce with salt and pepper and keep it warm.

Discard the lamb strings. Slice and arrange on a heated platter. Strain the sauce into a heated sauceboat and serve with the lamb. Serve with rosemary aioli on the side and your friends will be begging for the recipes.

Serve with orzo and browned butter sauce and a side of green beans with bacon.

Finish with a lemon sorbet and coffee or tea for a thoroughly successful dinner. Pray for leftovers, this is better cold the second day, if you have any. Thinly sliced lamb sandwiches with aioli on a baguette? The thought gives me chills.

Spring, Sprung

If you've been around here for a while, you know I'm an asparagus hound. Asparagus is God's way of apologizing for February, in my humble, theological view. It's still in season and here is a novel way to prepare it. This goes great with any simply prepared meat, like roast chicken or plain pork chops.

'Gus needs a little care in preparation. The bottoms of the stems are woody and chewy and should be broken away. Test each spear by bending it along its length; when you hit the part that doesn't bend, break it off and discard it. This serves 6 as a side and is easy to halve. It will keep well in the fridge for three days and is an easy leftover to take to work.

Asparagus Gratin

2 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut diagonally into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots (about 2 large)
4 slices firm white sandwich bread, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1/4 cup pine nuts (1 1/4 oz)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 oz finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 cup)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

Butter a 2- to 2 1/2-quart shallow ceramic flameproof baking dish.

Cook asparagus in a 5- to 6-quart pot of boiling salted water, uncovered, until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain in a colander, then transfer to baking dish and keep warm, tightly covered with foil.

Meanwhile, heat oil and butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over high heat until foam subsides, then cook shallots, stirring occasionally, until pale golden, about 3 minutes. Add bread and pine nuts and cook, stirring, until browned in spots, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and add pepper, 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, and 1/4 teaspoon salt, tossing to combine.

Preheat broiler.

Toss warm asparagus with mascarpone, remaining 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt until combined well.

Sprinkle bread-crumb mixture evenly over asparagus. Broil 5 to 7 inches from heat until topping is golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes.

Notes from the cook: you can cut some fat and calories by using asiago in place of the mascarpone. You may find that your kids with an aversion to cooked green vegetables gain a whole new outlook after trying this.

Evening Light

I spent the afternoon breaking my brain on learning a bunch of tech stuff. I have no natural aptitude for this (Ah's a riter, and I'd like to keep it that way, but you do what you have to do.) Thanks to Mike Gardner at Duane David and Associates for walking me through all of it. It's time for a change of pace. If you need mobile communications solutions, these are the guys to talk to. I, on the other hand, have a hard time answering my cell phone correctly. Sigh.

This is an easy weeknight meal that manages to be both light and filling. I learned this from my favorite neighborhood Lebanese restaurant 25 years ago. Even the most meat-and-potatoes guy will enjoy this. It's a great recipe for left-over steak.

Spinach and Fatoush Salad with Sirloin Steak
Serves 4

1 pound sirloin steak
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 English cucumber, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced (or 2 regular cukes, similarly treated)
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup roughly chopped mint
1 bag pre-washed baby spinach
16 pieces pita chips, recipe follows

Season the sirloin with salt and pepper. Sear the steak in a heavy-bottomed pan for 4 to 5 minutes on a side until medium rare.

In a large bowl whisk together lemon juice, salt, ground cumin, and olive oil. Add scallions, cucumbers, tomatoes, parsley, and mint. Toss to combine. Add spinach and pita. Toss to combine, taste and adjust seasonings.

Thinly slice the sirloin (portion control the meat according to your needs). Mound the salad onto a large plate. Top with overlapping pieces of the sirloin steak. Serve immediately.

Pita Chips:
2 (6-inch) whole wheat pitas
Olive oil spray
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut each pita into 8 pieces. Lightly spray the pita with olive oil. Sprinkle with cumin and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Place on a baking sheet and bake until crisp, shaking the pan halfway through cooking, about 10 to 15 minutes

Serve spiced hummus and additional pita chips on the side for dipping.

For variations on this theme, you can use those quick-cooking, very thin sandwich steaks, just browned on each side and sliced in one inch strips.

Memo from the cook: the spinach in the pre-washed packages? It still needs a wash. The processing companies don't get all the sand out. Take it from one who learned the hard way. On her teeth.

If you are going to be three for dinner, hold out enough spinach for lunch tomorrow. Box up the spinach, dressing mixture and sliced steak and you'll have a lunch that will make the office green with envy.

My buddy pogge says he is an indifferent cook, but I think even he could handle this.

Shine a Little Light

The weather in Hell today must be exceedingly cold. I find myself agreeing with Arlen Specter.

Hidden Justice(s)

By Arlen Specter
Tuesday, April 25, 2006; Page A23

The U.S. Supreme Court was under siege on Dec. 11, 2000. TV vans and their giant satellite dishes surrounded the courthouse, while inside the election of a president of the United States was about to be decided, in the case of Bush v. Gore . And yet, in a city where the piercing eye of television examines almost everything, there were no cameras covering this momentous event, just as there is no televised coverage of any proceeding before the justices. It's time for that to change.

The Supreme Court itself articulated the rationale for televising its proceedings a generation ago, in 1980, when it stated in Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia that a public trial belongs not only to the accused but to the public and press as well. The court added that people now acquire information on court procedures chiefly through the print and electronic media. Yet, while reporters with pen and pad are admitted to the court's chambers, cameras and microphones continue to be excluded.

So far the justices have steadfastly rebuffed all efforts to get them to open their public proceedings to electronic coverage. But is theirs the final word? Consider: No one has denied Congress's legislative authority to decide key issues governing the Supreme Court, such as: when the court's term begins (the first Monday in October), the number of justices (nine; remember Franklin D. Roosevelt's efforts to raise it to 15?), the number of justices that constitute a quorum (six). Acts of Congress govern the federal courts regarding establishment of jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases, speedy-trial rules and time limits in deciding habeas corpus cases.

Justices Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas, in recent testimony before a House appropriations subcommittee, objected to a bill I have sponsored that mandates television coverage of the Supreme Court unless it is barred by the court on a case-by-case basis on the grounds that it would adversely affect the proceedings. The two justices insisted that Congress should mind its own business and respect the court's autonomy, just as the court has respected Congress's autonomy.

But does the Supreme Court respect Congress? By a 5 to 4 vote the court has declared legislation protecting women against violence unconstitutional because of the congressional "method of reasoning" in passing it, and the insufficiency of the legislative record -- even though Justice David Souter noted in dissent that a "mountain of data" on the subject had been acquired from task forces in 21 states. Similarly, in a 5 to 4 decision, the court struck down a law prohibiting discrimination in employment because of an allegedly insufficient record, even though the legislation was supported by 13 congressional hearings and evidence gathered by special task forces in every state.
....
I agree that our constitutional system is best served by giving the Supreme Court the last word, but there is no doubt that congressional procedures and authority have been severely diminished by the court. And the public needs to be able to assess these issues by shining a televised light on the justices.

As our constitutional system has evolved, the Supreme Court has come to decide the cutting-edge issues of the day: the right to live, the right to die, freedom of speech and religion, war powers, congressional authority, voting rights, affirmative action and the death penalty.

If the public understood the extent of the court's power, perhaps the electorate would insist that Congress do its job on a variety of issues -- including desegregation, Guantanamo Bay detainees, eminent domain and defendants' rights -- instead of punting to the court. Or perhaps the public would insist that our presidents nominate justices with sensitivity to these matters.

While we have come to accept the maxim that the Constitution is what the Supreme Court says it is, it is in the public interest for the public to at least know what the court is doing. By analogy to Justice Louis Brandeis's famous dictum that, "Sunlight is . . . the best disinfectant," television's klieg lights in the Supreme Court would be the public's best informant.

C-Span 4, the Supremes, is long overdue.

Barely Tested Government Approved

FDA Is Criticized Over Drugs' Safety Problems

By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 24, 2006

The Food and Drug Administration is sometimes too slow in picking up safety problems once drugs are on the market and in responding to emerging danger signals, a federal study concluded in a report to be released today.

The review by the Government Accountability Office found that the FDA does not have clear policies for addressing drug safety issues and that it sometimes excludes its best safety experts from important meetings.

The report also calls on Congress to consider expanding the FDA's authority to require that drug companies conduct studies of already-approved products. The agency's ability to order post-market studies is now limited, and many drug companies have been slow to conduct studies that they had agreed to undertake as a condition of gaining FDA approval.

The GAO inquiry was requested by Congress in 2004 after the sudden withdrawal of the blockbuster painkiller Vioxx, which was found to increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes in long-term users. Several bills that would toughen the FDA's safety oversight were introduced after the Vioxx withdrawal, and the report offers their sponsors new ammunition.

The FDA was widely criticized for moving too slowly in its review of the potential health problems with Vioxx, which was taken by millions, but the GAO report took the criticism a major step forward: It concluded that the agency's entire system for reviewing the safety of drugs already on the market is too limited and broadly flawed.

GAO's examiners studied the agency's handling of four controversial drugs -- the cholesterol-lowering drug Baycol, the painkiller Bextra, the rheumatoid arthritis drug Arava, and the nighttime heartburn medication Propulsid -- and concluded that "there is a lack of criteria for determining what safety actions to take and when to take them."

All but Arava were ultimately taken off the market because of safety concerns, but the GAO found that disputes between two arms of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research slowed the process. Since 2000, 10 drugs have been withdrawn by their manufacturers for safety reasons.

The report found that the Office of Drug Safety, which monitors reports of emerging safety risks, at times made recommendations that were ignored by the larger and more influential Office of New Drugs. The GAO also criticized the way experts in the Office of Drug Safety were kept from speaking at important advisory committee meetings on drugs they were studying. The drug safety office has seen considerable turnover, with eight directors in the past 10 years.

The agency has been crippled by political appointees that were more interested in carrying the water for the multinationals than protecting the citizens. The GAO simply states what many of us have suspected for years, it's just a shame that many people had to be injured or killed to get the public's attention.

Teddy must wish he could rise from the grave and wield his "big stick" again to set them straight.

More Incompetence

Rebuilding of Iraqi Pipeline as Disaster Waiting to Happen
By JAMES GLANZ

When Robert Sanders was sent by the Army to inspect the construction work an American company was doing on the banks of the Tigris River, 130 miles north of Baghdad, he expected to see workers drilling holes beneath the riverbed to restore a crucial set of large oil pipelines, which had been bombed during the invasion of Iraq.What he found instead that day in July 2004 looked like some gargantuan heart-bypass operation gone nightmarishly bad. A crew had bulldozed a 300-foot-long trench along a giant drill bit in their desperate attempt to yank it loose from the riverbed. A supervisor later told him that the project's crews knew that drilling the holes was not possible, but that they had been instructed by the company in charge of the project to continue anyway.

A few weeks later, after the project had burned up all of the $75.7 million allocated to it, the work came to a halt.

The project, called the Fatah pipeline crossing, had been a critical element of a $2.4 billion no-bid reconstruction contract that a Halliburton subsidiary had won from the Army in 2003. The spot where about 15 pipelines crossed the Tigris had been the main link between Iraq's rich northern oil fields and the export terminals and refineries that could generate much-needed gasoline, heating fuel and revenue for Iraqis.

For all those reasons, the project's demise would seriously damage the American-led effort to restore Iraq's oil system and enable the country to pay for its own reconstruction. Exactly what portion of Iraq's lost oil revenue can be attributed to one failed project, no matter how critical, is impossible to calculate. But the pipeline at Al Fatah has a wider significance as a metaphor for the entire $45 billion rebuilding effort in Iraq. Although the failures of that effort are routinely attributed to insurgent attacks, an examination of this project shows that troubled decision-making and execution have played equally important roles.

The Fatah project went ahead despite warnings from experts that it could not succeed because the underground terrain was shattered and unstable.

It continued chewing up astonishing amounts of cash when the predicted problems bogged the work down, with a contract that allowed crews to charge as much as $100,000 a day as they waited on standby.

The company in charge engaged in what some American officials saw as a self-serving attempt to limit communications with the government until all the money was gone.

And until Mr. Sanders went to Al Fatah, the Army Corps of Engineers, which administered the project, allowed the show to go on for months, even as individual Corps officials said they repeatedly voiced doubts about its chances of success.

The Halliburton subsidiary, KBR, formerly Kellogg Brown & Root, had commissioned a geotechnical report that warned in August 2003 that it would be courting disaster to drill without extensive underground tests.

"No driller in his right mind would have gone ahead," said Mr. Sanders, a geologist who came across the report when he arrived at the site.

KBR defended its performance on the project, and said that the information in the geotechnical report was too general to serve as a warning.

In the International Radiotelephony Alphabet, this would be a Charlie Foxtrot.

What are they doing?

States not prepared for ’06 hurricanes

04/24/06
By Ethan Butterfield

Eight hurricane-prone states still lack interoperable communications in the face of the 2006 storm season, according to a new report from the First Response Coalition.

The report, titled The Imminent Storm 2006: Vulnerable Emergency Communications in Eight Hurricane Zone States, examined interoperability efforts in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. Weather forecasters predict an active and dangerous 2006 hurricane season, so improving communications interoperability is imperative, the coalition said.

FRC found a disparity among the eight states’ interoperability plans. South Carolina and Florida have statewide 800MHz networks available for all jurisdictions to connect to, creating effective interoperable communications, according to the report.

Texas links networks from different departments in areas where the networks overlap but does not have a statewide system. Louisiana has an older statewide analog network that connects state agencies but does not interconnect with local public safety departments, the report stated.

Mississippi has 40 different radio systems, and while its Wireless Communication Commission has met to discuss improvements, nothing has been agreed upon.

Alabama’s Emergency Management Agency provides radios to first responders during disasters but has no statewide network.

The Georgia Homeland Security Office and Emergency Management Agency is deploying an $8 million VOIP interoperability network.

North Carolina has an interoperability plan, but it is not scheduled to be completed until 2010.

Don't you think this would be a priority after last year? We only got nicked by Hurricane Ophelia and it still did $70 million in damage.

The Other

My, Bush's Anti-muslim campaign is working so well.

30 Are Killed in Sinai as Bombs Rock Egyptian Resort City
Aleksander Rabij/Reuters

Police said three explosions hit the central part of Dahab, Egypt, where there are many shops, restaurants, bars and guesthouses.

Blood stained the road Monday night outside a shop in Dahab, after it was wrecked by a bomb. The Sinai resort is popular with budget travelers.

The attack, the third at a popular Sinai resort in two years, once again raised the specter of one of the United States' closest allies in the Arab world facing a homegrown terrorist threat trying to destabilize the government.

There was confusion in the hours after the blasts, but what was clear was that this resort town on the Gulf of Aqaba, a quaint tourist spot frequented by back-packers and scuba divers, was awash in blood on one of the most popular holiday weekends of the Egyptian calendar.

It was the third time that terrorists struck near a national holiday. It is on this day that Egypt celebrates the anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from Sinai in 1982.

"I do not think it is a coincidence that this attack happens amid celebration of Sinai Liberation Day," the interior minister, Habib al-Adli, said on Egyptian television. "The other two attacks in Taba and Sharm el Sheik also took place during celebration of national occasions; that raises question marks.

"We will catch all those responsible very soon."

Egyptian authorities at first said the bombs appeared to have been detonated by remote control. Later a local official said the explosions appeared to be the work of suicide bombers. An investigator at the scene on Tuesday morning said that the bombs were all timed explosive packs, and that there was no evidence of suicide attackers.

The bombs started going off at about 7:15 p.m., in the center of the city, where the streets were packed with tourists also celebrating the Coptic observance of Easter on Sunday and the ancient Egyptian spring festival of Sham el Nessim.

The commerical strip of this tiny resort center stretches along the azure waters of the bay, and those who planted the bombs set their deadly packages from one end of the walkway to the other.

First hit was the Nelson Restaurant, then the Aladdin Cafe and then the Ghazala Supermarket, all within five minutes. The blasts were not huge, but large enough to spread destruction up and down the walks, which were stained with blood.

Hated in the Muslim world for a long time, this is designed to make the US a public pariah. That's working really well.

De long Arm of de Law

Via Suze:

Ex-OSHA Director Settles Lawsuit Over Workplace Death Of His Son

Many of us workplace safety and health oldtimers (geezers) not-so-fondly remember Thorne Auchter, Ronald Reagan's first chief of OSHA. Auchter attempted to undo much of the work of Jimmy Carter's chief, Eula Bingham, who labored to make OSHA into an agency serious about preventing workplace death, injury, and particularly workplace illness, after years of neglect by Richard Nixon.

OSHA's "official" history, recounts Auchter's congressional testimony at his confirmation hearing:

The principal overall change that Auchter sought was the eradication of the "prevailing adversary spirit" among labor, management and government. Specifically, he intended to promote greater labor management cooperation and to involve both sides in the formulation of programs and policies at OSHA.

A week after his arrival, Auchter was shocked to find that the cover of an OSHA publication on Cotton Dust displayed a photograph by Earl Dotter of a cotton dust victim, Louis Harrell. Auchter, believing the cover to be inflammatory, ordered the remaining publications destroyed and reissued the document with no photo on the cover.

OSHA's staff was slashed from 3,015 in 1980 to 2,355 in 1984; one third of its field offices were closed; and its inspection staff reduced by 25 percent. Workplace inspections declined from 63,363 in 1980 to 59,452 in 1986. He was known for unilaterally dismissing citations against companies if he thought OSHA inspectors had been too aggressive. After a tumultuous few years, marked by open warfare between labor and OSHA, Auchter resigned in 1984.
That was about all we heard about Thorne Auchter until tragedy struck on Feb. 24, 2000 when his 22-year-old son, Kevin Campbell Auchter, a culinary student who worked as a demolition laborer, was killed on the job during the demolition of two silos at the Monterey Coal Co. in Missouri.

Auchter, 22, of Glen Arm, Md., was preparing one of the silos for implosion when a 40- to 70-ton chunk of concrete was jarred loose from within the silo and landed on Auchter, who was killed instantly.

On the morning of the accident, RBS Excavating was instructed by Ciminelli to bring in a larger excavating machine to speed up the chipping of a portion of the silo in preparation for implosion, according to the complaint.

The machine operator chipped away, causing the large piece of concrete to fall, the complaint alleged. No demolition engineering survey was prepared prior to the concrete's removal.

OSHA cited the contractor, Ciminelli Services Corp., for two serious citations and fined them $14,000 for the death of Kevin Auchter and another worker who died in the same accident.

A $14,000 OSHA citation isn't much for the loss of your son. Would a more aggressive agency have made a difference, maybe deterring employers from risking their workers' lives? Hmmm.

But in the meantime....

Auchter sued Ciminelli Services and the subcontractor, RBS Excavating. Just before selecting a jury for the trial scheduled to begin on Monday, the case was settled for $2.3 million.

Watcha want to bet that you or me wouldn't get a day in court?

The Pleasures of the Flesh

This is probably a sin. I take that back. This is a sin. As Martin Luther is reputed to have said, "If you must sin, sin with a will."

Artichoke Benedict

4 medium California
artichokes
4 slices (1/4-inch thick)
Canadian bacon
4 eggs
Hollandaise Sauce (recipe
follows)

Prepare and cook artichokes as directed for Whole Artichokes (see Basic Preparation). Brown Canadian bacon slices in skillet. Poach eggs in boiling, salted water. Spread leaves of artichoke open like flower petals. Remove center petals and fuzzy centers from artichokes and discard. Place bacon slices into artichoke centers, covering bottom, and top with poached eggs. Spoon on Hollandaise Sauce and serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
3 egg yolks
¼ cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup firm cold butter, cut into eighths
1/8 teaspoon paprika
dash ground red pepper

In small saucepan, heat together egg yolks, water and lemon juice. Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until yolk mixture bubbles at edges. Stir in butter, 1 piece at a time, until melted and sauce is thickened. Stir paprika, red pepper and salt to taste. Remove from heat. Serve warm. Cover and chill if not used immediately.

Makes about ¾ cup

Click the link and go look at the pictures, they really help the prep if you are unfamiliar with this fruit. Believe me, you want to get familiar with it as soon as possible. Egad, these are good.

California, Here I Come

I'm heading for a panflu meeting in the East Bay/San Mateo area next month. As with most business travel, I don't get to see or do much that is touristy with these trips. Most business travelers say the same, but I'm making an exception for this trip. I was Googling around this weekend and discovered that the Castroville Artichoke Festival is a couple of days after my meeting. I'm going to take a couple of days off for the first time in six years and go play tourist/foodie. I'll get a couple of free days in the Bay area before I head for Castroville in the Central Valley. Restaurant and museum recommendations are welcome, along with all of the other quirky stuff that only the locals know. I'll go buy a Rough Guide, but the locals know the best. I need accomodations with Wi Fi, but beyond that it's just a clean bed and bath and I don't need luxury.

I've never been to the Bay Area except on business, and I've never had a chance to scope out the things that are interesting to tourists. Have you got suggestions for the things that are "you must not miss?" I've never been to Chinatown, for example, but what other cultural markers are absolutely necessary? Public transit is pretty good in the Bay area, so I don't want to have to rent a car until I take off for the Valley (and I've driven in SF and would just as soon give it a pass.)

Help a girl plan her trip to your city.

A Night on the Border

My absolutely favorite Tex-Mex food is Chiles Rellenos, but I like them vegetarian. This is another easy, Wednesday night family recipe that you can fill out with Mexican rice and canned refritos if you don't have a pot of beans around the house. All recipes are for 4.

You need an outstanding green chile salsa to serve with them and that recipe follows.

4 poblano chiles
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 small red onion, diced
2 medium zucchini, coarsely chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground oregano
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 (4-ounce) can fire-roasted tomatoes
1 (4-ounce) can green chiles
1 cup frozen corn
1 (2 second) spray nonstick cooking spray
1 cup low-fat Cheddar, shredded
1 cup tomato salsa

Place a wire rack over a burner on the stove. Roast the poblanos on the rack and turn with tongs until blackened evenly. Remove from heat and set aside.

Heat canola oil in a medium heavy nonstick saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and zucchini and saute until golden, about 5 minutes. Add the cumin, oregano, garlic powder, tomatoes, green chiles and corn. Continue to cook until the mixture is almost dry.

Meanwhile, use a paper towel to rub off the skins from the poblanos. Make an incision on 1 side, and remove seeds and membranes from inside, while making sure to keep the poblano intact.

Heat a medium heavy nonstick saute pan over medium heat. Lightly spray with canola cooking spray for 2 seconds. Evenly stuff the 4 poblanos with the zucchini mixture and the shredded cheese.

Carefully place the stuffed poblanos in the heated saute pan and sear on each side for approximately 2 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm with salsa.

Green Chile Salsa

1clove garlic
1 thick slice white onion
1 Roma (plum) tomato
1 tomatillo
3 poblano chiles
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro -- roughly chopped
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin -- toasted and ground

Pan roast garlic until brown and soft, then peel. Pan roast onion until brown and soft, then roughly chop. Pan roast tomato until blistered, deeply browned, and soft. Pan roast tomatillo until blistered, browned, and soft. Pan roast poblano chiles until dark brown, then remove seed cores.

Place the garlic, onion, tomato, tomatillo, and chiles in a food processor and pulse briefly until finely chopped. Add the water, cilantro, salt and cumin and process again until blended. Keeps, tightly covered, about 3 days in the refrigerator.

Makes about 1 1/4 cups.

If you have any left after dinner, the salsa is fabulous with lime flavored tortilla chips.

Cooking as Therapy

If you are looking for a light pasta dish, this is it. Fresh and very pleasing, this will serve 3-4 as a main course (with a salad) or 6-8 as a classic Italian primo piatto (first plate/course.) I've included the instructions for making pasta from scratch. This is something you should try at least once. It's easy and you don't need a pasta machine, just a rolling pan and a bread board. Make the dough as instructed, roll it out very thin and cut it into 1/4-1/2 inch strips. Until you've had fresh pasta, you haven't really had pasta.

Of course you can just buy the pasta at the supermarket.

Fettuccine with Lemon (Paradiso Perduto)

1/2 recipe fresh fettuccine
1/2 recipe fresh green fettuccine
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 shallots, finely chopped
1 head Treviso radicchio, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups cream
Zest of 4 lemons plus juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup grated Asiago
To Prepare Fresh Fettuccine:
4 extra large eggs
3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus 1/2 cup for dusting your work surface
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
For the Green Fettuccine:
4 extra large eggs
6 ounces frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed very dry
3 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour plus 1/2 cup for dusting your work surface
1/2 teaspoon olive oil

Make a mound of the flour in the center of a large wooden cutting board. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the eggs and oil. Using a fork, beat together the eggs and oil and begin to incorporate the flour starting with the inner rim of the well. As you expand the well, keep pushing the flour up to retain the well shape. Do not worry that this initial phase looks messy. The dough will come together when half of the flour is incorporated.

Start kneading the dough with both hands, using the palms of your hands. Once you have a cohesive mass, remove the dough from the board and scrape up any leftover crusty bits. Discard these bits. Lightly flour the board and continue kneading for 3 more minutes. The dough should be elastic and a little sticky. Continue to knead for another 3 minutes, remembering to dust your board when necessary. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Note: Do not skip the kneading or resting portion of this recipe. They are essential for a light pasta.

Roll out pasta to thinnest setting on pasta machine. Cut pasta into 1/4-inch thick noodles by hand or with machine and set aside under a moist towel.

To Prepare Green Fettuccine: Follow regular fettuccine instructions. Add the drained and squeezed dry spinach after the flour has been incorporated into the egg and oil. You may need to add a little more flour to get the dough to the correct consistency.

To Prepare Dish: Bring 6 quarts water to boil and add 2 tablespoons salt.

In a 12 to 14-inch saute pan, heat oil over the heat. Add shallots and saute until light golden brown, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add radicchio and cook 30 seconds. Add cream, reduce by half and remove from heat. Drop pasta into boiling water and cook until tender yet al dente. Drain pasta well and toss into pan with cream mixture. Return to heat, add lemon zest and juice and toss to coat. Add half the cheese and toss again. Serve immediately in warm bowl, making extra cheese available on the side. Garnish with chopped parsley or chives.

Fresh pasta cooks incredibly quickly. Once you've started cooking it, that is the task you will have to pay immediate attention too. Taste it regularly once it begins to float so that you don't overcook it. It goes from al dente to mush very quickly.

If you are going to serve this as a main course, the zucchini vichyssoise below makes an excellent first course, or for bigger appetites, start with a hearty minestrone with pesto genovese. This is a sophisticated light meal worthy of guests, but easy enough for Wednesday night dinner with the family if the pasta and the soup are ready in advance. I devote free Sunday afternoons to cooking ahead for the coming week so that I've got fresh broths, soups and casseroles frozen down in single serving containers in the freezer. My laundry set-up is in the kitchen, so I cook and do my laundry. If your freezer is set properly (a thermometer should give you a 0 degrees F reading) you can safely keep prepared foods for a month. Fresh pasta freezes well if it is in air proof zip lock bags. If you have the room, you can dry it on pasta dryers that look like miniature laundry dryers.

If you have a food processor, you can mix/need the dough in it:

In a food processor blend flour, eggs, oil, and 1 1/2 tablespoons water
until mixture just begins to form a ball, adding additional water, drop by
drop, if dough is too dry. Dough should be firm and not sticky. Blend dough
15 seconds more to knead and let stand, covered with an inverted bowl, at
room temperature 1 hour.

I have a food processor, but there is something therapeutic to making it from scratch that I miss using my Cuisinart.

Light Fare

I've had a very full day on the job and I'm ready for a change of pace. Here's a recipe to save for later when you are inundated with fresh zucchini from your own garden and from that of friends. This will serve six. Double it and serve it cold for a crowd, it is a refreshing change of pace for a pot luck.

Zucchini Vichyssoise

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon good olive oil
5 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (4 to 8 leeks)
4 cups chopped unpeeled white boiling potatoes (8 small)
3 cups chopped zucchini (2 zucchini)
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mint
1 1/2 quarts Homemade Chicken Stock or canned broth
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Fresh chives or julienned zucchini, for garnish

Heat the butter and oil in a large stockpot, add the leeks, and saute over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, zucchini, chicken stock, salt, and pepper; bring to a boil; then lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Cool for a few minutes and then process through a food mill fitted with the medium disc. Add the cream and season to taste. Serve either cold or hot, garnished with chopped chives, mint and/or zucchini.

It's Never Over

KATRINA'S CHILDREN

Amid the ruins, kids affected by Katrina struggle

By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI ,Associated Press Writer
Monday, April 24, 2006

Overwhelmed, child psychologists in New Orleans say case loads have doubled, both because of the heightened need and because so many doctors have not returned. “I used to be able to book a new child within two weeks. Now, I’m booking appointments two months out,” says child psychologist Carlos Reinoso, author of the book “Little Ducky Jr. and the Whirlwind Storm,” which tries to explain the hurricane to children.

What mental health professionals fear most is the impact down the road. The 1988 earthquake in Armenia that killed 25,000 people. Tracking more than 200 children over five years, researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles’ Trauma Psychiatry Program found that those who were given professional help early on fared better and showed fewer symptoms at the end of the study. Those who got no help did not improve.

A child such as 3-year-old Monica _ so traumatized she thinks she’s going to drown in a bathtub _ clearly needs help, says Dr. Bruce Perry, a senior fellow at the Child Trauma Academy in Houston. Without it, he says, she risks a future of drug and alcohol abuse, high blood pressure, crime and child abuse.

“This crisis is foreseeable, and much of its destructive impact is preventable,” Perry says. “Yet our society may not have the wisdom to see that the real crisis of Katrina is the hundreds of thousands of ravaged, displaced and traumatized children.”

Some may already be beyond help.

No one noticed that a 14-year-old girl in Pass Christian _ once a straight-A student _ had stopped reading since Katrina.

The girl, who asked that she not be identified because she felt embarrassed, used to lose herself in books. “I would picture myself as the main character in whatever I was reading. I read so much that I would lose track of time,” she says.

Now, she has a hard time concentrating. Horrible images intrude as she reads.

She remembers the drowned man, impaled on his plywood fence. She pictures her favorite skirt high up in the branches of a tree.

Last month, she locked herself inside the bathroom of her family’s FEMA trailer and lifted a bottle of Lysol to her lips. Her mother found her passed out on the toilet seat, her head leaning against the trailer’s plastic wall, the floor slick with the disinfectant.

The girl recovered from the suicide attempt, but her family doesn’t have the resources to get her professional help, relying instead on teachers and school counselors.

To this girl, the world is a tunnel of darkness. She sees no way out.

“It’s like I can’t see my future anymore,” she says.

How many of these families have health insurance? How many have health insurance which covers more than 3-4 therapy appointments?

Dream On

Should Cheney Be Next?

By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Monday, April 24, 2006; 12:39 PM

Even as skittish White House aides brace for another wave of staffing shuffles this week, the bar is being dramatically raised on what sort of personnel move would be needed to actually turn things around for the Bush presidency.

A major newspaper and one of the most pro-Bush voices in punditry are now suggesting that nothing short of removing Vice President Cheney really stands a chance.

The Los Angeles Times editorial board writes: "If President Bush hopes the 'shake-up' of his administration initiated last week will re-energize his listless presidency, he's bound to be disappointed. A far more audacious makeover is needed -- one that sends Vice President Dick Cheney into early retirement."

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should also go, the Times writes. "Bush has acknowledged that he has spent much of his political capital on Iraq, and the way to replenish the reserves is to replace the officials most associated with the overreaching that led to the tragedy in Iraq -- and with the administration's broader disdain for diplomacy."

Sarah Baxter writes in the Sunday Times of London: "Republicans are urging President George W Bush to dump Dick Cheney as vice-president and replace him with Condoleezza Rice if he is serious about presenting a new face to the jaded American public.

"They believe that only the sacrifice of one or more of the big beasts of the jungle, such as Cheney or Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, will convince voters that Bush understands the need for a fresh start. . . .

"Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard magazine and author of Rebel in Chief, a sympathetic new biography of Bush, said: 'There are going to have to be sweeping personnel changes if people are going to take a second look at the Bush presidency.'

"The best scenario, Barnes added, would be for Bush to announce that 'Dick Cheney will be around as an outside adviser and I can call him on the phone, but I'd like to anoint somebody who I think will be the next leader of the United States.' "

Meanwhile, the normally all-but-invisible Cheney was in full public view on Friday during the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao -- and photographers captured images of a vice president who looked disinterested at best.

Later, during the Oval Office meeting of the two presidents, Jim Bourgof Reuters caught Cheney in a protocol violation, putting on his sunglasses for the arrival ceremony. Later, during the Oval Office meeting of the two presidents,Tim Sloan of AFP shot Cheney looking for all the world like he was sound asleep -- although White House aides apparently insisted he was just looking at his notes.

Baxter, of the Sunday Times, called attention to Cheney's apparent somnolence, then drily noted: "It has often been said that he would cite medical reasons should he ever resign."

Ain't gonna happen. Cheney's the puppetmaster.

Pandemic Planning

Analysts: Pandemic could hit insurers hard
If a deadly strain develops the number of claims from deaths will cost billions, group says.
By JERRY W. JACKSON The Orlando Sentinel

ORLANDO, Fla. — In a typical year, 36,000 Americans die from common influenza strains. U.S. life-insurance companies incorporate those projected deaths into their grim calculations to remain profitable.

But if the bird flu starts spreading person to person and sparks a global pandemic, as some experts fear, deaths would soar. And if it gets as bad as the 1918 killer flu, it would cost insurance companies a staggering $133 billion in U.S. claims alone, according to estimates by the Insurance Information Institute, a trade group.

“I don’t want to be alarmist, but it could be worse than that,” Steven Weisbart, chief economist for the New York-based institute, said in a recent interview.

The death rate for the 1918 Spanish flu was not as high as the death rate among the small number of humans who have already contracted bird flu, he said, so modeling on the 1918 experience might understate the insurance industry’s costs.

Many experts say the bird flu’s death rate almost certainly would drop from its apparent rate of about 50 percent if the disease begins spreading from person to person, but no one knows what the rate would eventually prove to be.

Bird flu, in fact, may never become transmissible among humans — most strains of avian influenza never do — but Weisbart said insurance companies should plan for a pandemic just as other businesses and the medical community are doing.

There appear to be many valid reasons why international health experts are sounding alarms, he said, over the current bird flu — type A, H5N1 strain. But life insurers, who are vulnerable to economic hits from catastrophes of all types, do not seem to be buying more reinsurance or adding to their reserves because of the flu, which has spread from Southeast Asia to Europe in recent months, Weisbart said.

“There’s no evidence it’s going up,” Weisbart said of the companies’ reinsurance levels and loss reserves. “From what I can tell, their attention has been on the business-operation side.”

Insurance companies, like most large businesses pondering the awful consequences of a pandemic, which many experts says is statistically overdue, are taking steps to stay in business with a smaller staff.

Many workers will fall ill or remain home to avoid exposure. “They will need someone to keep paying (death) claims,” Weisbart said of insurance companies.

Did anyone see the NBC Dateline program on avian flu last night? I thought it was the best of the major media productions so far because it had an actual narrative which made it much more compelling than a recitation of scientific facts.

The story above is morbid, but one of the business continuity issues that have to be faced. I'm working with several groups involved in continuity planning right now; the biggest difficulty is convincing boards of directors that this is a real problem.

Rinse, Repeat

Inspectors Find More Torture at Iraqi Jails
Top General's Pledge To Protect Prisoners 'Not Being Followed'

By Ellen Knickmeyer
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, April 24, 2006; Page A01

BAGHDAD -- Last Nov. 13, U.S. soldiers found 173 incarcerated men, some of them emaciated and showing signs of torture, in a secret bunker in an Interior Ministry compound in central Baghdad. The soldiers immediately transferred the men to a separate detention facility to protect them from further abuse, the U.S. military reported.

Since then, there have been at least six joint U.S.-Iraqi inspections of detention centers, most of them run by Iraq's Shiite Muslim-dominated Interior Ministry. Two sources involved with the inspections, one Iraqi official and one U.S. official, said abuse of prisoners was found at all the sites visited through February. U.S. military authorities confirmed that signs of severe abuse were observed at two of the detention centers.

But U.S. troops have not responded by removing all the detainees, as they did in November. Instead, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials, only a handful of the most severely abused detainees at a single site were removed for medical treatment. Prisoners at two other sites were removed to alleviate overcrowding. U.S. and Iraqi authorities left the rest where they were.

This practice of leaving the detainees in place has raised concerns that detainees now face additional threats. It has also prompted fresh questions from the inspectors about whether the United States has honored a pledge by Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that U.S. troops would attempt to stop inhumane treatment if they saw it.

Pace said at a news conference Nov. 29 with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, "It is absolutely the responsibility of every U.S. service member, if they see inhumane treatment being conducted, to intervene to stop it." Turning to Pace, Rumsfeld responded: "I don't think you mean they have an obligation to physically stop it; it's to report it."

"If they are physically present when inhumane treatment is taking place, sir, they have an obligation to try to stop it," Pace answered.

The Iraqi official familiar with the joint inspections said detainees who are not moved to other facilities are left vulnerable. "They tell us, 'If you leave us here, they will kill us,' " said the Iraqi official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because, he said, he and other Iraqis involved with inspections had received death threats.

The U.S. official involved in the inspections, who would not be identified by name, described in an e-mail the abuse found during some of the visits since the Nov. 13 raid: "Numerous bruises on the arms, legs and feet. A lot of the Iraqis had separated shoulders and problems with their hands and fingers too. You could also see strap marks on some of their backs."

"I was not in charge of the team who went to the sites. If so, I would have taken them out," the U.S. official wrote, referring to the detainees. "We set a precedent and we were given guidance" from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "but for some reason it is not being followed."

Maj. Gen. John D. Gardner, the commander of U.S. detention operations in Iraq, said in an interview, "I would strongly disagree with the statement that Americans are seeing cases of abuse and not doing anything."

The issue goes to the heart of U.S. relations with the Iraqi government, which is led by Shiite religious parties. The Interior Ministry, whose forces are overwhelmingly Shiite, has been accused by Sunni Arabs and U.S. officials of operating death squads that target Sunni men. Increasingly, Interior Ministry forces are being accused of other crimes as well, including kidnapping for ransom. The Interior Ministry forces have also been accused of deferring to militias belonging to the Shiite religious parties, from whose ranks many of Iraq's police commandos and other ministry forces are drawn.

Old patterns are hard to break. This news, of course, is already all over Iraq and most of the rest of the Islamic world.

The Rich Are Different

After Reaching the Shelter at the End of the Line, Evacuees Are Forced to Move On

By SHAILA DEWAN
Published: April 24, 2006

SHREVEPORT, La., April 21 — There is a fine line between shell-shocked and idle, between needing help and milking the system, and in the seven months since Hurricane Katrina, the Rev. Patrick Sanders has seen both sides and then some

Mr. Sanders has seen professional and working-class families, the old, the disabled and the mentally ill, out-of-work oystermen and washed-up hustlers, and, on Thursday, a mother and father who had to leave their 7-year-old son and his dog when sheriff's deputies appeared to arrest them on outstanding warrants.

"It's just been an interesting revolving door," said Mr. Sanders, a dapper man who operates the Pelican Haven shelter in an old, crummy hotel, the Pelican Inn, that was vacant before the storm.

Under the carport in front of the hotel, there are two pelican statues with faded paint. In the courtyard, the swimming pool is an empty concrete chasm. The booths in what was once the restaurant serve as cubicles for crisis counselors and case managers. Some of the rooms emanate an unholy odor not unlike that of the hundreds of refrigerators discarded after the storm.

This is the last shelter for evacuees run by either Louisiana, Mississippi or the Red Cross, and on Monday, it is closing its doors.

Everyone, even the evacuees, seems to think this is a good idea. In the months since the storm, the shelter, a blue-roofed complex near the Shreveport airport, has gone from a bustling respite for families who appreciated the private rooms with real beds instead of cots, to a drug-ridden place where, on occasion, the National Guard has kept the peace.

No one in the shelter has been there for all seven months. After making it out of their flooded apartment in Gulfport, Miss., Robin Rushing and her fiancé, Victor JohnLouis, lived with a sister near Shreveport, a daughter near Baton Rouge and in rooms they rented in a house in Napoleonville, La., until a fire broke out in the living room.

"We was in our car for a while, because I was scared," Ms. Rushing said. "I was really scared." With the help of caseworkers, the couple qualified for Section 8 housing.

Pelican Haven played host to two main waves of evacuees — those fleeing the storm, and those delivered there after the Federal Emergency Management Agency phased out its free hotel room program in February and March. The second wave proved more difficult to help.

"We used no security from September to February," Mr. Sanders said. "That group of people policed their own selves. They watched each other's children."

In the past two months, he said, there have been arrests for drugs and even rape. The 7-year-old whose parents were taken away in handcuffs was picked up by a relative soon after.

"You needed National Guard, you needed Marines," Mr. Sanders said, shaking his head. "They give this program sort of a dark cloud," he said of the second wave of evacuees.

Some of them came after exhausting their rent subsidy or feuding with relatives who had taken them in. Others, like Narciso Cruz, 52, arrived after being evicted. Around noon on Friday, Mr. Cruz reclined on a bed in his room, drinking beer out of a paper bag, his belongings piled in neat stacks around him.

He said he had been evicted from a house in nearby Bossier City after arguing with his landlord over where to park his car. He stayed in hotels until his money ran out, about two weeks ago, when he arrived at the shelter. A friend has offered him a bunk in his FEMA trailer. The two men had been acquainted back home in St. Bernard Parish, east of New Orleans, but had bonded in a shelter in Shreveport after the storm.

Asked his opinion of the view, expressed more and more frequently as welcome mats wear thin, that many evacuees are layabouts trying to take advantage of those who would help them, Mr. Cruz shrugged, saying that his friend, seated in a corner of the room, had brought one beer for each of them before they began to pack.

"Everyone's entitled to have an opinion," said Mr. Cruz, who made his living before the storm as a fisherman. "I know I work. I worked all my life."

On Friday, caseworkers from Volunteers of America North Louisiana said 21 households would be able to move before the closing, into trailers provided by FEMA, apartments financed by federal Section 8 vouchers or even homeless shelters (people who were homeless before Katrina are generally not eligible for the agency's housing assistance). Fourteen refused help, although some were expected to change their minds. There were three whose FEMA status was uncertain.

Some residents said they were not sure where they would go. One, Bryan Hebert, said he had been offered a FEMA trailer in Bunkie, La., but did not think he could find work there. Another evacuee, John Nunnery, said his trailer was not quite ready.

A former choir director, Mr. Nunnery amused caseworkers by singing improvised songs about the storm in an extravagant, churchy voice. "What we went through, no one will ever know," he boomed. "What we saw, no one can ever see."

He said his fellow shelter residents could be discouraging, always complaining instead of supporting one another. "Seemed like we were all trying to pull each other down," he said. "It's like crabs in a barrel."

The Times plays all the familiar myths, but the story they actually tell is that people want to go back to work and the lives they had before. Funny, they can't play that in the lede. This is another welfare bashing story with not much to back it up.

It would be interesting to find out what would happen (stay with me, this is an intellectual exercise) if a NYT reporter actually fell on hard times and reported it.

Nah, it'll never happen. These Westchester County types have too many backups before they have to cancel their country club memberships.

The Dark Star

NYT: New Bush chief of staff stirs up 'fear and moaning'

RAW STORY
Published: Sunday April 23, 2006

The New York Times' Elisabeth Bumiller, in her White House letter Monday, plans to outline internal frustration over Bush's new chief of staff, RAW STORY has learned. Excerpts:
#

"There is fear and moaning in the West Wing these days as Andrew Card Jr., the genial father figure who promoted a family-friendly White House, has been replaced as chief of staff by Joshua Bolten, a Goldman Sachs-trained workaholic who is exposing President George W. Bush's aides to market forces.

In other words, after a big set of staff changes last week - Karl Rove gave up his policy portfolio to focus on the midterm elections and Scott McClellan, the press secretary, resigned - no one is sure who is in and who is out. Aides say they are on edge, and Bolten has promised more housecleaning this week, after Bush returns from a four-day trip to California. Treasury Secretary John Snow is possibly the next to go.

...Bolten, who is single, keeps investment banker hours and is well known for staying at the office until 11 p.m. When he was White House deputy chief of staff in Bush's first term, he was also known for making it to the 7:30 a.m. senior staff meeting with only minutes to spare.

...Bolten also likes a clean hierarchy, and is still said to be looking closely at the White House congressional liaison office and the communications operation to see if he can eliminate some people. "Josh doesn't like these floaters," said one Republican close to Bolten who was granted anonymity to talk about internal White House deliberations. "He prefers a structure so that people have line responsibility and real authority to carry it out."

So Baby Bolton is another control freak. That'll go over well. Snow would already be gone but they can't find anybody willing to take the job who has a resume that provides at least a pasty of cover for their ideological bona fides and they may have the same trouble covering Bolton's housecleaning. This will be interesting. Right now, being able to put 1600 Penn on your resume isn't attracting anybody at high levels.

It's Just Lunch

The baking time will vary with your oven. As with any loaf of bread, knock on the top of the crust. When it sounds hollow, you're done. Remove from the oven and let it cool on a rack. This is so good that it is one of those "hug yourself" recipes. Oh, my god, what this will do for a sandwich and salad or soup. Oh, my god.

ROSEMARY FOCACCIA WITH OLIVES

Over the past few years, the popular Italian flatbread has made its way into bread baskets at home and in restaurants. This version is tender and redolent of rosemary and olive oil. It’s perfect as a snack, served with soup and salad, or split for sandwiches.
click photo to enlarge
1 12- to 16-ounce russet potato

2 1/2 cups (or more) bread flour
3 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water (105°°F to 115°F)
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 envelope dry yeast
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

12 oil-cured black olives, pitted, halved]
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Pierce potato several times with fork. Microwave on high until tender, turning once, about 12 minutes. Cut in half. Scoop flesh into small bowl; mash well. Measure 2/3 cup (packed) mashed potato; cool (reserve extra potato for another use).

Combine 2 1/2 cups flour, half of rosemary and 1 teaspoon salt in processor; blend until rosemary is chopped, about 1 minute. Add potato; blend in, using about 25 on/off turns. Combine 1 cup warm water and sugar in 2-cup glass measuring cup; sprinkle yeast over. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir 3 tablespoons oil into yeast mixture. With processor running, pour yeast mixture into flour mixture. Process until smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead until dough feels silky, sprinkling with more flour as needed, about 1 minute. Place dough in large oiled bowl; turn to coat. Cover with towel; let rise in warm area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 450°F. Brush large baking sheet with oil. Punch down dough; knead 30 seconds on lightly floured surface. Stretch or pat out dough to 12-inch round. Transfer round to prepared baking sheet. Press dough all over with fingertips to dimple. Brush with 1 tablespoon oil. Press olive halves, cut side down, into dough. Sprinkle with sea salt. Let rise until just puffy, about 20 minutes.

Bake until golden, about 18 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes one 13-inch round bread.

When the bread has cooled enough to have a good crust, carve a couple of nice slices. On one interior slice, spread Pommery Mustard and slice some brie thin for this sandwich top. On the bottom, some more of the same bread and a healthy handful of roasted beef or beef deli slices, medium rare. Cover with sauce and serve for a quick mid-day treat.

Oh, this is so good it hurts.

Herbs 3.0

I'm putting in the herb garden next weekend. Ya got suggestions? The farmers' market opens next week and I can get anything you suggest. The floor is open.

A Look Ahead

Current Gulf of Mexico temperatures are already above where they Klotzbach and Gray's forecast for the coming year:

PROBABILITIES FOR AT LEAST ONE MAJOR (CATEGORY 3-4-5) HURRICANE LANDFALL ON EACH OF THE FOLLOWING COASTAL AREAS:

1) Entire U.S. coastline - 81% (average for last century is 52%)

2) U.S. East Coast Including Peninsula Florida - 64% (average for last century is 31%)

3) Gulf Coast from the Florida Panhandle westward to Brownsville - 47% (average for last century is 30%)

4) Above-average major hurricane landfall risk in the Caribbean

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best, but, above all, prepare.

Watch the Tube

The afternoon was heavy with work, so I'm behind on posting. Yeah, I work for a startup and you do whatever it takes to get it going, so the hours are nutty. That's life. I'll try to bring in some more recipes this evening, but I will definitely be parked in front of the tube for NBC's Dateline on bird flu at 7 EDT.

Seeing It Real

Forrest Gump's Evil Twin

By Stephen Pizzo, News for Real. Posted April 21, 2006.

America at large is starting to realize -- finally -- that President Bush is exactly as stupid as he looks, sounds and acts.

How extraordinary. Something is happening here that has never happened in America's history. A consensus is sweeping the nation. Not that the war in Iraq is wrong, or that oil companies are screwing us blue, or that the climate is going to hell, or that good-paying jobs are being replaced by low-paying jobs, or that our national health care system is a disgrace, or that that the rich are getting a lot richer while the middle class gets poorer.

While all that's true, and more and more folks are getting it, that's not the consensus of which I speak. Nope. This one is bigger, enormous, huge!

Here it is: The president of the United States is a moron.

Yes, stupid, dumb as common road gravel. And not figuratively, but literally. George W. Bush, president of the world's last remaining superpower, is a moron. Forrest Gump's evil twin.

I broached this possibility one year ago in a post entitled, "Bush: The Worst President Ever?" I was a bit early with that one. But what a difference a year makes! The cover story of this week's Rolling Stone Magazine reads, "The Worst President in History?"

So the jury is in: Bush is a moron. If stupid is as stupid does, he's stupid. A botched war on terror, exploding debt, his "what me worry" response to Katrina -- and the ongoing mismanagement of the recovery, North Korea has the bomb and Iran is on its way to its own nuke. Think about that for a second because it is definitive proof Bush is a moron. First he identifies three nations as his "Axis of Evil" in the world: North Korea, Iran and Iraq. Then he as a chance to whack one of the three, and he picks the only one that had no WMD. The only way he could look worse is if it were only two countries -- a coin flip -- and he still got it wrong.

Yes, Virginia, the current occupant of the Oval Office is no longer a crook or an adulterer. He's a moron.
....
In fact morons get downright testy when someone challenges what they think they know. We saw this trait earlier this week when Bush was asked if he thought Don Rumsfeld should resign. The moron lashed out at the questioner, dashed into his imaginary phone booth and emerged as The Decider. "I'm the decider," he pronounced, with Mussolini-like swagger. You see, scratch a moron and beneath that smirking, ignorance-is-bliss exterior, you discover a fundamental truth: Beauty may be only skin deep, but moron goes right to the bone.

I'm staying close to home until this guy is gone. Keeping my head down, my nose clean, and watching what I say in emails for friends. And I have a piece of advice for the Iranians too -- this guy really is crazy enough to "decide" that bombing the shit out you is a good idea. Yes, Bush is exactly as stupid as he looks, sounds and acts.

Doubt that at your peril. Fifty-one percent of American voters doubted it. And now we're screwed.

Radio Days

I see a new fixed expense in my future.

Hey Mister DJ ...

After decades as music's most enigmatic icon, Bob Dylan has stunned his fans by becoming a DJ for an American station. And The Observer has had an exclusive preview of his first broadcast

David Smith
Sunday April 23, 2006
The Observer

It starts with the sound of rain. A woman's voice tells us it is night in the city, and a nurse is smoking the last cigarette in the pack. Then comes a nasal, gravelly voice, more familiar in song: 'It's time for Theme Time Radio Hour. Dreams, schemes and themes.' The career of Bob Dylan, radio DJ, has begun.

Once the most iconic recluse in the music business, Dylan will spring a surprise on fans next month by broadcasting a weekly music show across America. His debut behind the mic, due to be broadcast on 3 May, has been heard exclusively in advance by The Observer.

As the quaint title, Theme Time Radio Hour, implies, it is a simple format, even old-fashioned. Taking a different theme each week, Dylan introduces his favourite records with a wry line or pithy anecdote, then lets the music do the talking. First is 'weather'. Sounding utterly imperturbable in his new role, he drawls in characteristically rhythmic tones: 'Today's show, all about the weather. Curious about what the weather looks like? Just look out your window, take a walk outside. We're gonna start out with the great Muddy Waters, one of the ancients by now, who all moderns prize.' He has been provided with a digital recording kit so that he can present the hour-long programme from home, studio or tour bus. He sends a playlist to XM Satellite Radio's researchers, who then assemble the music around his narration.

Future shows will be built around themes such as 'cars', 'dance', 'police' and 'whisky' and also feature special guests including songwriter Elvis Costello, film star Charlie Sheen, Penn Jillette, the TV illusionist, and comedians Sarah Silverman and Jimmy Kimmel. Dylan will read and answer selected emails sent by listeners - a thrill for fans who have regarded him as a Messiah-like figure of unreachable mystique.

The playlist for the first show ranges from Muddy Waters's 'Blow, Wind, Blow' to Dean Martin's 'I Don't Care if the Sun Don't Shine', from Jimi Hendrix's 'The Wind Cries Mary' to Judy Garland's 'Come Rain or Come Shine'. The list, much of it from the Fifties, offers a fascinating insight into the sources of Dylan's musical inspiration. But there is no place for the counter-culture hero's own nod to meteorological mischief, 'Blowin' In The Wind'.

Radio is a natural return to Dylan's roots. In his youth, Robert Zimmerman, as he was then called, was an avid listener, first to blues and country music stations broadcasting from New Orleans, then to the first stirrings of rock'n'roll.

It took three years for XM's chief creative programming officer, Lee Abrams, to persuade Dylan, 65 next month, to do the show. He said: 'With Theme Time Radio Hour, Bob redefines "cool radio" by combining a sense of intellect with edginess in a way that hasn't been on radio before. Bob has put a lot of work into his XM show, and it's clear that he's having a good time behind the mic.' XM, whose presenters include Dylan's friend and fellow musician Tom Petty, is America's biggest satellite radio service with more than 6.5m subscribers and 170 digital channels. As subscription-based, ad-free satellite radio grows rapidly in popularity, the Washington-based service is battling for listeners with Sirius, which poached 'shock jock' Howard Stern from terrestrial radio in a £282m five-year deal.

But We Knew That

CIA warned Bush of no WMD in Iraq: retired official

Sat Apr 22, 9:52 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Central Intelligence Agency warned US President George W. Bush before the Iraq war that it had reliable information the government of Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction, a retired CIA operative disclosed.

But the operative, Tyler Drumheller, said top White House officials simply brushed off the warning, saying they were "no longer interested" in intelligence and that the policy toward Iraq had been already set.

The disclosure, made in an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" program due to be broadcast late Sunday, adds to earlier accusations that the Bush administration used intelligence selectively as it built its case for the March 2003 invasion of Iraq and the toppling of Saddam's regime.

The administration claimed in the run-up to the war that Baghdad had extensive stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and was working clandestinely to build a nuclear arsenal, therefore, presenting a threat to the world.

An extensive CIA-led probe undertaken after the US military took control of Iraq failed to turn up any such weapons. But Bush and other members of his administration have blamed the fiasco on a massive intelligence failure and vehemently denied manipulating information they had been provided.

However, Drumheller, who was a top CIA liaison officer in Europe before the war, insisted Bush had been explicitly warned well before an invasion order was given that the United States may not find the suspected weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

The information about the absence of the suspected weapons in Iraq, according to excerpts of Drumheller's remarks, was clandestinely provided to the United States by former Iraqi foreign minister Naji Sabri, who doubled as a covert intelligence agent for Western services.

Then-CIA director George Tenet immediately delivered this report to Bush, Vice President
Dick Cheney and other high-ranking administration officials, but the information was dismissed, Drumheller said.

Bush lied. Yawn. Next?

Confederation of Fools

A deaf ear for America's concerns
By Jim Wright
Special to the Star-Telegram

Only 27 percent of Americans, by the latest accounting, think our national leadership is moving us in the right direction.

President Bush and his congressional followers sank last week to the lowest public approval levels they've registered in the five-plus years since Bush became president.

According to the most recent nationwide Gallup poll, the GOP-led Congress is more unpopular right now than the Democratic Congress was in 1994 when the public unseated the Democrats' 40-year House majority. Today, only 23 percent approve of the job that this Congress is doing. A thundering 70 percent disapprove!

Personnel shuffles won't change anything. That's razzle-dazzle. This goes deeper.

The conclusion seems inescapable: America's mythical "average" person believes that Bush and his GOP cohorts have habitually ignored the public's strongest concerns. Consider these:

For five years Bush has talked sporadically about "fixing" Social Security but steadfastly refuses to do anything to strengthen the trust fund. Whenever challenged to "do something," he trots out that tired, old shibboleth of robbing the trust fund to fatten the private stock market.

Repeatedly -- year after year and in poll after poll -- ordinary people tell the president that's emphatically not what they want. Bush and Dick Cheney, unheeding, persist.

To serve the needs of public education, Bush tirelessly suggests giving tuition vouchers to parents who send their kids to private schools. This fixes nothing.

The same weary formula of talking boldly and carrying a toothpick applies to healthcare.

Occasionally, the president and his tame Congress grow anxious because people are getting restless about the rising loss of health benefits. Instead of offering some system of universal healthcare, Bush and Co. concoct a complicated conglomeration featuring something called "private accounts" that don't do anything for poor, sick folks and just keep pushing a real solution off to some distant successor.

Meanwhile, the number of uninsured grows, and some of America's biggest companies get by with taking bankruptcy and thus shucking off their sworn responsibility to their own faithful employees.
....
The Bush-Cheney attitude has been: It doesn't matter what you say or think. We know what's best for you. On Tuesday, Bush dismissively said, "I'm the decider."

The first two elephants that the Bush-Cheney team crammed so resolutely down the public's collective throat -- the huge feed-the-wealthy tax cut and the hasty, headstrong invasion and occupation of Iraq -- should have sounded an alarm. These two acts, in combination, swiftly devoured an inherited fiscal surplus and unblinkingly piled up history's most monstrous national debt -- close to $8 trillion now, with most of these interest-bearing bonds owned, for the first time, by foreigners.

Our grandchildren's generation will be in hock up to its ears. Any historian or economist could have told our "deciders" that it wasn't prudent to launch a huge tax cut and a costly war at the same time. But Bush and Cheney weren't listening.

Perhaps the greatest disservice that this self-satisfied crowd has visited upon America's working families is the steady erosion of wages, combined with a stubborn opposition to any increase in the minimum wage. On average, a full day's work buys the American wage earner 19 percent less than it did 30 years ago.

Literally hundreds of American factories -- and service and communications jobs -- have closed down, lured to Third World countries by dirt-cheap wages. Now we learn that Wal-Mart, our country's biggest purchaser of goods, is telling its huge network of American suppliers to close and move production units to China or India, or else be replaced by low-wage foreign sweatshops.

All of this downward pressure on wages means downward mobility for the average American working family.

This isn't the way that things were supposed to work in this blessed country. We were built to pursue upward mobility -- for the many, not just the few.

That's why 70 percent of the American people say our current leadership is taking us in the wrong direction.

The mystery to me is what on earth is going on in the minds of those 27%. Maybe they just aren't paying attention.

How to Lose

Young Officers Join the Debate Over Rumsfeld

By THOM SHANKER and ERIC SCHMITT
Published: April 23, 2006

WASHINGTON, April 22 — The revolt by retired generals who publicly criticized Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has opened an extraordinary debate among younger officers, in military academies, in the armed services' staff colleges and even in command posts and mess halls in Iraq.

Junior and midlevel officers are discussing whether the war plans for Iraq reflected unvarnished military advice, whether the retired generals should have spoken out, whether active-duty generals will feel free to state their views in private sessions with the civilian leaders and, most divisive of all, whether Mr. Rumsfeld should resign.

In recent weeks, military correspondents of The Times discussed those issues with dozens of younger officers and cadets in classrooms and with combat units in the field, as well as in informal conversations at the Pentagon and in e-mail exchanges and telephone calls.

To protect their careers, the officers were granted anonymity so they could speak frankly about the debates they have had and have heard. The stances that emerged are anything but uniform, although all seem colored by deep concern over the quality of civil-military relations, and the way ahead in Iraq.

The discussions often flare with anger, particularly among many midlevel officers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and face the prospect of additional tours of duty.

"This is about the moral bankruptcy of general officers who lived through the Vietnam era yet refused to advise our civilian leadership properly," said one Army major in the Special Forces who has served two combat tours. "I can only hope that my generation does better someday."

An Army major who is an intelligence specialist said: "The history I will take away from this is that the current crop of generals failed to stand up and say, 'We cannot do this mission.' They confused the cultural can-do attitude with their responsibilities as leaders to delay the start of the war until we had an adequate force. I think the backlash against the general officers will be seen in the resignation of officers" who might otherwise have stayed in uniform.

One Army colonel enrolled in a Defense Department university said an informal poll among his classmates indicated that about 25 percent believed that Mr. Rumsfeld should resign, and 75 percent believed that he should remain. But of the second group, two-thirds thought he should acknowledge errors that were made and "show that he is not the intolerant and inflexible person some paint him to be," the colonel said.

Many officers who blame Mr. Rumsfeld are not faulting President Bush — in contrast to the situation in the 1960's, when both President Lyndon B. Johnson and Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara drew criticism over Vietnam from the officer corps. (Mr. McNamara, like Mr. Rumsfeld, was also resented from the outset for his attempts to reshape the military itself.)

But some are furiously criticizing both, along with the military leadership, like the Army major in the Special Forces. "I believe that a large number of officers hate Rumsfeld as much as I do, and would like to see him go," he said.

"The Army, however, went gently into that good night of Iraq without saying a word," he added, summarizing conversations with other officers. "For that reason, most of us know that we have to share the burden of responsibility for this tragedy. And at the end of the day, it wasn't Rumsfeld who sent us to war, it was the president. Officers know better than anyone else that the buck stops at the top. I think we are too deep into this for Rumsfeld's resignation to mean much.

"But this is all academic. Most officers would acknowledge that we cannot leave Iraq, regardless of their thoughts on the invasion. We destroyed the internal security of that state, so now we have to restore it. Otherwise, we will just return later, when it is even more terrible."

The debates are fueled by the desire to mete out blame for the situation in Iraq, a drawn-out war that has taken many military lives and has no clear end in sight. A midgrade officer who has served two tours in Iraq said a number of his cohorts were angered last month when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that "tactical errors, a thousand of them, I am sure," had been made in Iraq.

"We have not lost a single tactical engagement on the ground in Iraq," the officer said, noting that the definition of tactical missions is specific movements against an enemy target. "The mistakes have all been at the strategic and political levels."

What is clear to me is that Iraq was a mistake at the moral level. One of the things that a student of military history knows is that you cannot win wars which are moral mistakes. One would think that they teach that at the War College, it is one of the keystones of John Boyd's doctrine of Fourth Generation warfare. The Iraqis have turned this conflict into a 4GW, and our strategic idiots insist on fighting a second generation war. This is the recipe for losing and the reason that Steve Gilliard and I have been calling this a lost cause since before the troops hit Kuwait.

Fresh is Best

There is still time to buy a subscription to a community supported agriculture farm near you, and receive fresh produce at or near your door from a farm which is working for you all season long.

You can support organic farmers directly this way and have a box of fresh produce to show for it each week. This is the superior way to a)show that you support organic and b)buy local. And you get a box of superior produce every week. What's not to like?

If you like to cook and love to eat, this is an option you won't read about in the sale pages of your local paper. This is something being spread as a viral meme through our on-line communities. Join the infection and inform your on-line community. Google "community supported agriculture" and find the farms near you. Your local farmer's markets are great, this is better. Happy cooking.

For Love of Funghi

Slice of Heaven

Morel hunting and morel cooking are two different things, but for those who excel at both it is difficult to say which is more fun.

To me the cooking--and dining on morels--may enjoy the slightest of edges in this hypothetical contest. But like the old song goes about "Love and Marriage," you can't have one without the other.

Some come close to waxing poetic about using morels raw in salads, not knowing that many wild mushrooms have the potential for being somewhat toxic--even deadly--if consumed raw, or even cooked.

Thus, it is a good idea to cook the various morel species, notwithstanding the fact that the cooking agent (everything from butter to bacon fryings [grease] to olive oil) enhances their taste. Then, of course, if you use breading on morels, they can get downright delicious.

One morning last winter my tummy started telling me lunch time was coming on and the first thing I saw in the kitchen freezer was a plastic sandwich bag which contained about one cup of frozen small gray morels.

Upon opening the frig door my eye caught a couple of slices of fresh side sliced about 3/16 (three sixteenths) of an inch thick.

The stage was set for a grand lunch.

I poured about three tablespoons of olive oil in my trusty iron skillet (every cook should have an assortment of iron skillets) and added the fresh side (each piece cut into two pieces). Fresh side, you know, is nothing more than uncured bacon so I dusted it with salt and pepper.

When the pieces of side were starting to show signs of browning, I moved them out to the perimeter of the skillet and placed the morels and an equal part of sliced onion in the middle of the skillet. When the morels and onion were starting to brown they were placed atop the pieces of side around the perimeter of a plate, and two eggs were scrambled in the skillet.

Combined, with half a toasted and buttered English muffin, my concoction was a lunch fit for any king.

Although the most popular method of cooking morels probably is breading and frying them to a golden brown on both sides, there are many other ways to prepare this delicacy for the table.

Still, no discussion of preparing morels for the table would be complete without a detailed explanation of frying them.

I would want to be on record as saying that I have never looked with jaundiced eye upon morels fried in any batter. But my methods are the best I have ever seen (tasted).

I like morels that are no more than three or four inches, split in half lengthwise and allowed to rinse in cold running water. As the container overflows, foreign objects and the mites (small insect life) that live in morels will be washed away. Then the morels are drained.

While the morels are being washed and drained, I roll good crackers (wheat or multi-grain crackers are best) into a fine meal which is mixed half-and-half with flour. A good way to roll the crackers into a fine meal is to place them in a plastic bag, squeeze out the air, and roll them with rolling pin or a strong round drinking glass.

With this part of the operation complete, the flour/cracker meal mixture is placed on a large flat dish--a dinner plate or pie pan is fine.

In a cereal bow or a shallow-sided dish, I break eggs--the number to be decided by the amount of morels to be fried. An equal part of milk (or slightly less) is beaten into the eggs.

Then, with the bottom of the skillet well coated with melted butter, olive oil, bacon fryings or a combination of such cooking agents, the morel pieces are dipped one-by-one in the egg-milk mixture, rolled in the cracker meal-flour mixture and placed in the moderately-hot skillet. Every mushroom piece should be flat on the bottom of the skillet. After they are sprinkled liberally with salt and pepper, each morel piece should be gently flattened against the skillet with a spatula. Gently is the key word. All you are doing is making sure each morel piece gets a chance to be cooked.

As the morel pieces brown on the first side they are gently turned with the spatula and the procedure is repeated. It may be necessary to add more butter or oil at this time.

Frying mushrooms requires constant attention by the cook.

With a good green salad or slaw, no other food is necessary for a satisfying meal, although steaks, chops--or even, a burger or fish filet--are not bad companions.

Larger gray morels and "big yallers" come on toward the end of the spring morel season (late in April, or early in May) and they lend themselves to some fancier culinary applications, but the true morel aficionado will find them no more satisfying.

Big morels, thanks to the cavity of the caps, can be filled with a great variety of stuffings and baked or broiled, to be topped when done with a cheese sauce, a simple gravy or a garnish of sauteed onion, crisp bacon chips or even mixed vegetables.

But the big morels also can be sliced lengthwise into strips and fried just as the smaller morels are prepared. Since they can be thicker, they may require more cooking time. But when browned on both sides they are done.

Treat them as a side with eggs or for dinner with pasta. This is as close to heaven as you are likely to get in this life.

The Funghi Farm

Everything you need to know about North American morels.

Find the good ones. Cook them and laugh at those who don't know. Unsalted buter is your friend in small quantities.

Renewing a Favorite

Green Onion New Potato Salad:

1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 cup chopped green onion tops (green parts only)
2 pounds cooked, unpeeled new potatoes, halved if small, or quartered
1/3 cup finely minced red onions
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Place the egg, mustard and garlic in a blender and blend on low speed. While the machine is running, slowly drizzle the olive oil through the feed tube until the oil is incorporated and the mayonnaise is thick and creamy. Add the salt, pepper and green onions to the blender and process briefly to combine.

In a medium bowl, place the potatoes and red onions. Pour the mayonnaise over the potatoes and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with the cilantro.

Yield: 5 generous salad servings

If you've never made mayonaisse from scratch before, this is an easy introduction. A food processor makes it even easier. You've never eaten anything out of a jar that tasted like this.

This green onion version is good for more than salads, it is wonderful on sandwiches. The egg and oil base can be turned into an aioli which is spectacular with lamb and it takes only moments to make with some fresh garlic and herbs.

Note: yes, raw eggs can be a source of salmonella and raw eggs need to be treated carefully. Make sure you are getting your eggs from a reputable producer. And wash them before using, the egg can be contaminated by a dirty shell in the cracking process.

This salad is a fresh treatment for picnics and a great partner for burgers and the usual grill food. Around here, it is already warm enough that I was greeted by smoke and steak grease on the air when I went out for a walk tonight. It's time for me to clean the Weber.

The Thorny Rose

I'm going out for breakfast at Panera tomorrow for this. You can easily make it for a brunch crowd or it makes a super first course for lunch or dinner. Me, I have yet to run into an artichoke I didn't like.

Spinach Artichoke Souffle Recipe

Ingredients:
2 jars (6 oz. each) marinated artichokes
3 pkgs (10 oz each) frozen chopped spinach
3 pkgs (3 oz. each) cream cheese (I use light cr.cheese)
4 T. margarine
6 T. milk
1/3 C. shredded parmesan cheese

Directions:
Drain marinade from artichokes. Set aside a few for garnish. Put remainder over the bottom of 1.5 qt dish. Squeeze moisture from spinach and arrange evenly
over artichokes. With mixer, beat cr. cheese and margarine until smooth and fluffy. Gradually blend in
milk. Spread over spinach, sprinkle with pepper, dustwith parmesan.
Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until lightly browned.

I have a business meeting in San Francisco on the 17th and 18th of next month. Me thinks I'll stay over a couple of days, rent a car and head to the legendary Artichoke Festival in Castroville. I could use a couple of days off, I haven't had a real vacation since 1998, nor more than one day off in the last two and a half years. The more I think about it, the better this plan sounds....

Sunday Favorite

This is the way I learned to make it. This is a terrific preparation to use in a Roemertopf, it's done and juicy and flavorful in under an hour. Skip the oil and toss everything into a pot that's been prepared in cold water for 15 minutes. Roast at 475.

Family-Style Chicken for Four

Vegetable spray, as needed

Vegetables:
3 ribs celery, cut into thirds
2 medium yellow squash, halved crosswise
2 medium zucchini, halved crosswise
1 medium yellow onion, quartered (about 1 cup)
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and quartered
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Chicken:
1 (4-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
4 bay leaves

Garnish:
Lemon zest, for garnish
Chopped parsley, for garnish

Equipment: 1 large roasting pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly coat the roasting pan with vegetable spray.

Make the Vegetables: Toss all of the ingredients in a large bowl, and arrange them in the roasting pan, leaving room in the center for the chicken.

Prepare the Chicken: Nestle the chicken pieces in the center of the pan. Combine the remaining ingredients and sprinkle evenly over the chicken. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour.

Remove the chicken from the oven and baste with the drippings. Continue baking uncovered until well browned, about 1 hour more. Arrange the chicken on a platter surrounded by the vegetables. Sprinkle with the garnish.

"Honey, I Got the Commission!"

This is a delicious variation on a classic beef bourguignonne that doesn't need the full day of cooking that the historic recipe prefers. It is a stunning dinner party dish served over a bed of egg noodles or mixed white and wild rice. Even here in the big city, I'd want to order the 3 lb. filet in advance: that's a big piece of meat and you can't be certain that you'll find one in the meat case on a casual stroll to the store. Better still: if you've got a particularly fat bank account, buy a whole tenderloin and trim it yourself. Take this roast from the fat end of the cut, use the narrow end for steaks. Have the butcher explain to you how to trim the blue skin. And then freeze the roast, steaks and tenderloin ends for stroganoff, beef with mushrooms and all the other elegant skillets you can make with tenderloin.

Start your meal with a salad of romaine lettuce and skinned, braised pears with a walnut oil vinaigrette. I like using white wine for braising, but white concord grape juice works very well if you are avoiding alcohol.

Fillet of Beef Bourguignonne

1 (3-pound) filet of beef, trimmed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning plus 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 to 4 tablespoons good olive oil
1/4 pound bacon, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups good dry red wine, such as Burgundy or Chianti OR
1/2 cup red wine vinegar diluted in a cup of Concord grape juice
2 cups beef stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 sprig fresh thyme
1/2 pound pearl onions, peeled
8 to 10 carrots, cut diagonally into 1-inch-thick slices
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced 1/4-inch thick (domestic or wild)

With a sharp knife, cut the fillet crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices. Salt and pepper the fillets on both sides. In a large, heavy-bottomed pan on medium-high heat, saute the slices of beef in batches with 2 to 3 tablespoons oil until browned on the outside and very rare inside, about 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Remove the fillets from the pan and set aside on a platter.

In the same pan, saute the bacon on medium-low heat for 5 minutes, until browned and crisp. Remove the bacon and set it aside. Drain all the fat, except 2 tablespoons, from the pan. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

Deglaze the pan with the red wine and cook on high heat for 1 minute, scraping the bottom of the pan. Add the beef stock, tomato paste, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil and cook uncovered on medium-high heat for 10 minutes. Strain the sauce and return it to the pan. Add the onions and carrots and simmer uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes, until the sauce is reduced and the vegetables are cooked.

With a fork mash 2 tablespoons butter and the flour into a paste and whisk it gently into the sauce. Simmer for 2 minutes to thicken.

Meanwhile, saute the mushrooms separately in 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil for about 10 minutes, until browned and tender.

Add the fillet of beef slices, the mushrooms, and the bacon to the pan with the vegetables and sauce. Cover and reheat gently for 5 to 10 minutes. Do not over cook. Season, to taste, and serve immediately.

This will serve 6-8, theoretically, but real beef eaters will find that they can't really stop eating it. Since the leftovers are fabulous (put this in the mike in the break room at work and you'll discover friends you didn't know you had) you might want to scale it up.

Eye Opener

This is an update of a classic and it is a heavenly Sunday brunch dish for a crowd. I like light turkey brown 'n' serve sausages with this. Treat yourself to a mimosa with brunch.

I like these prepare the night before dishes that I can stick in the oven with my first cup of coffee. Bleary-eyed me in the AM shouldn't be allowed around sharp knives and measuring cups.

Baked French Toast Casserole with Maple Syrup

1 loaf French bread (13 to 16 ounces)
8 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash salt
Praline Topping, recipe follows
Maple syrup

Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1-inch each. (Use any extra bread for garlic toast or bread crumbs). Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9 by 13-inch flat baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Serve with maple syrup.

Praline Topping:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well. Makes enough for Baked French Toast Casserole.

For a variation, cut the corn syrup and use walnuts instead of pecans.

W's Amerika

Overreacting to Protest
Wenyi Wang doesn't belong in jail.

Saturday, April 22, 2006; Page A20

WENYI WANG acted rudely when she yelled and waved a banner at visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao during his White House appearance Thursday. The Secret Service was right to hustle her off the grounds. President Bush was right to apologize. But does Ms. Wang deserve to go to prison for six months? That might be the response to embarrassing and rude speech in Beijing. It shouldn't be in Washington. But yesterday the U.S. government charged Ms. Wang under a law that could bring her that sentence.

Ms. Wang, a member of the Falun Gong sect, which China suppresses, got into the media section at the White House lawn ceremony with credentials from a newspaper run by the spiritual group. According to court documents, she waved a yellow banner and shouted in Chinese: "Stop oppressing the Falun Gong," "Your time is running out," and "Anything you have done will come back to you in this lifetime." She also yelled to Mr. Bush, "Stop him from persecuting Falun Gong!"

For that, Ms. Wang has been charged under a law that makes anyone who "intimidates, coerces, threatens, or harasses a foreign official or an official guest or obstructs a foreign official in the performance of his duties" face up to six months in jail. Such laws are necessary to protect visiting dignitaries from attacks -- and to ensure reciprocal protections for U.S. officials abroad.

But no one alleges that Mr. Hu was ever in danger of anything more serious than irritation or humiliation. According to the court documents, the yelling caused Mr. Hu "to interrupt his speech" and look toward Ms. Wang. There's no question that it also caused Mr. Bush to be embarrassed about a lapse of protocol for a visitor acutely sensitive to diplomatic niceties. Okay, but the United States shouldn't indirectly apologize to the Chinese by means of an action that affronts American values.

I realize that the current administration is no fan of the Bill of Rights, but there is that little thing called the First Amendment which reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." What part of "freedom of speech" does W not understand?

Pop!

Doors Close for Real Estate Speculators
After Pushing Up Prices, Investors Are Left Holding Too Many Homes

By Kirstin Downey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 22, 2006; Page A01

Investors who sought quick profits buying and selling real estate in the Washington region are in full retreat, dampening demand for homes, most notably for condos.

What is becoming apparent, market watchers say, is how big a part speculators played in the region's real estate boom of the past few years. Not just condominiums, but also townhouses and single-family houses, were snapped up by investors using no-money-down financing and non-traditional loans. They helped send prices soaring at unprecedented rates. And now many are trying to sell, or rent at a loss. Some may eventually dump properties at low prices to get rid of them. That could weigh down values for everyone.

Sales of new condos fell 43 percent in the first quarter of the year, compared with the first quarter of 2005, according to one report, and there are almost four times as many existing condos for sale than last year.

"We think the softness of the market is largely due to the pulling out of investors," said Gopal Ahluwalia, staff vice president for research at the National Association of Home Builders. "They have not only pulled back, they are canceling purchases."

David Bath, a retired dentist in Reston, rode the boom up. A condo he bought in Vienna for $97,000 sold for $250,000 in a single day. He was able to sell another condo in Herndon for an even bigger profit.

Now he wants out. He has had no luck finding buyers for two investment houses and a four-unit apartment building he owns in Florida. He has been stuck making mortgage payments on vacant houses that took a lot of time and money to repair.

"It's a lot of work and I don't see the returns anymore," he said. "I'm going to the table to cash my chips in."

While condominiums were the product of choice for investors, luxury neighborhoods also fell prey to real estate speculation, leading to the prospect of price drops even in affluent subdivisions.

"Here we had it even in $1 million homes," said Kenneth Wenhold, Virginia and Maryland director for Metrostudy, a real estate information firm.

Robert Toll, chairman and chief executive of Toll Brothers Inc., which builds luxury homes, said in a recent conference call with analysts that the Washington market was the hardest-hit in the nation by investors who bought properties intending to flip them, and who have put the homes up for sale. "We can feel the impact of speculative play coming back into the market," he said.

Nobody knows exactly how much of the real estate boom was driven by investment and speculation. Experts say that between 15 and 30 percent of all purchases were made by investors, rather than by people who bought homes intending to live in them. Some bought the properties for cash, sometimes with equity they pulled out of their own homes, so there is no loan record. Other buyers pretended on loan applications that they would live in homes they really intended to flip, so that they could qualify for better loan terms or get around developer restrictions on investor-buyers.

Some projects became particular investor magnets, and, more recently, the subject of real estate blogs criticizing speculative excesses. For example, the local Internet blog Bubble Meter focused last month on what it called "the bubblicious bench." At one recently completed condominium called the Halstead at Dunn Loring, a luxury condominium complex in Fairfax County, a park bench outside the building bristles with real estate agent lockboxes to permit vacant units to be shown to prospective buyers or renters. On a recent morning, there were 49 lockboxes there, outside a building that has about 200 units.

Whithin blocks of me are three, large, multi-unit condo project low-rises going up. The market is saturated right now, so I expect lots of vacancies. The retail spaces on the first floors are also filling in very slowly. DC was "supposed" to be bubble-proof. Another myth goes up in smoke.

Kill the Truth Tellers

NBC: CIA officer fired after admitting leak
Officer allegedly failed polygraph, admitted giving reporter information

WASHINGTON - In a rare occurrence, the CIA fired an officer who acknowledged giving classified information to a reporter, NBC News learned Friday.

The officer flunked a polygraph exam before being fired on Thursday and is now under investigation by the Justice Department, NBC has learned.

Intelligence sources tell NBC News the accused officer, Mary McCarthy, worked in the CIA's inspector general's office and had worked for the National Security Council under the Clinton and and George W. Bush administrations.

The leak pertained to stories on the CIA’s rumored secret prisons in Eastern Europe, sources told NBC. The information was allegedly provided to Dana Priest of the Washington Post, who wrote about CIA prisons in November and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize on Monday for her reporting.

Sources said the CIA believes McCarthy had more than a dozen unauthorized contacts with Priest. Information about subjects other than the prisons may have been leaked as well.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the firing.

CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Millerwise confirmed the dismissal. Millerwise said she was unsure whether there had ever been a firing before at the agency for leaking to the media.

Citing the Privacy Act, the CIA would not provide any details about the officer’s identity or assignments.

All CIA employees are required to sign a secrecy agreement upon being hired stating they are prohibited from discussing classified information with anyone not cleared to receive the material.

Before going public with her name, NBC News reached McCarthy's husband, Michael. He said he could not confirm that his wife had been fired from her career post. He declined further comment.

Priest said she could not comment on the firing, which she said she learned about from NBC News.

Since it doesn't appear that the US public gives a flying fuck about secret renditions, torture and secret prisons abroad, I think this agent sacrificed her position for no good reason.

"No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people." H.L. Mencken.

Wu Who

Now, here he is, sitting right next to all the other countries at the Big Table, representing America, it's little Dubya Bush, stewing in his own juices, his poll numbers hovering right near Nixon levels, mumbling to himself, smelling vaguely of sawdust and horse manure and dead Social Security overhaul plans.

He is pockmarked by scandal, buffeted by storms of disapproval and infighting and nascent impeachment. He authorized the leak of classified security information merely to smear an Iraq war critic, he lied about WMD and lied about Saddam and lied about making the United States safer and lied about, well, just about everything, on top of launching the worst and most violent and most expensive, unwinnable war since Vietnam.

His pile of betting capital is down to a tiny lump, nothing like back when he had the table rigged and all the pit bosses worked for him and the pile was as big as a roomful of Texas cow pies. But now, fortune is frowning. In fact, fortune is white-hot furious at being so viciously molested, spit upon, raped lo these many years. The truth is coming out: Bush has now lost far, far more bets than he ever won.

What's to be done? Why, do what any grumbling, furious, confused, underqualified alcoholic gambler does: reach down deep and say, "To hell with the nation and to hell with the odds and to hell with the rest of the planet," and pull out one more desperate, crumpled war from deep in your pants, slap it on the table and hear the world moan.

But this time, try to make it serious. Do not rule out the use of tactical nuclear weapons. Do not rule out another massive air strike, ground troops, special forces, a strategy so intense it makes Iraq look like a jog in the park. Think of yourself as creating a masterful legacy, going down in history as the guy who "saved" the world from Iran's nukes while protecting American oil interests. Yes? Can you smell the oily sanctimony in the air? Is God speaking to you again, telling you to damn the torpedoes and kill more Muslims? You are the chosen one, after all.

Sound far-fetched? Don't think even Bush could be capable of using nukes to slap Iran? Perish the thought. All reports from underground White House sources -- most notably by way of Sy Hersh's horrifying report in a recent New Yorker -- indicate that Dubya and his remaining team of war-happy flying monkeys have been secretly laying out plans to attack Iran for months, possibly including the use of tactical nuclear weapons to get at those deep Iranian bunkers, all because Iran just celebrated its entrance into the world's "nuclear club" by finally enriching some uranium for the first time. Cookies all around!

No matter that most analysts say that Iran is far from being a true threat, that a nuclear Iran is at least a good decade away, if not longer. No matter that 10 years is a good long time to work on ways to force Iran out of the game -- via negotiation, diplomacy, sanctions -- without unleashing another river of never-ending violence.

With Bush in power, there is no waiting. There is no thought of avoiding another hideous war at all costs. To the Bush hawks, diplomacy is a failed joke. Negotiation is for intellectuals and tofu pacifists. In the Dubya worldview, the planet is a roiling cauldron of nasty threats, crammed with terrorists and hateful Muslims and foreign demons suddenly growling on our doorstep when, curiously, they really weren't there before he stumbled into power. Amazing how that works.

Let's pray that the endgame doesn't include a nuclear cloud over Tehran. I have no faith that this isn't the final picture and that Rove's October surprise won't be another desert disaster. When looking for competence in the Bush administration, I note that they couldn't even give the Chinese head of state a day without fuckups.

David E. Sanger writes in the New York Times: "Just about every American president since Richard M. Nixon has confronted the fact that his influence over China is far more limited than he once hoped. President Bush is now facing that reality midway through his second term, at a moment when the Chinese clearly sense his weakness."

Sanger writes that "some members of his administration concede when promised anonymity, Mr. Bush needs a breakthrough in the relationship -- on North Korea, where China has the most influence, or Iran, where it is a major oil customer, or on the trade deficit that has grown so large, with no end in sight.

"He appears increasingly unlikely to get that breakthrough."

The Heckler

The most newsworthy aspect of the day came when Hu was heckled by a woman standing in the press area. She stole center stage from both presidents, shouting: "President Hu! Your days are numbered," and "President Bush! Stop him from killing!"

Dana Milbank writes in The Washington Post: "It took so long to silence her -- a full three minutes -- that Bush aides began to wonder if the Secret Service's strategy was to let her scream herself hoarse. The rattled Chinese president haltingly attempted to continue his speech and television coverage went to split screen.

" 'You're okay,' Bush gently reassured Hu.

"But he wasn't okay, not really. The protocol-obsessed Chinese leader suffered a day full of indignities -- some intentional, others just careless. The visit began with a slight when the official announcer said the band would play the 'national anthem of the Republic of China' -- the official name of Taiwan. It continued when Vice President Cheney donned sunglasses for the ceremony, and again when Hu, attempting to leave the stage via the wrong staircase, was yanked back by his jacket. Hu looked down at his sleeve to see the president of the United States tugging at it as if redirecting an errant child."

Adds Milbank: "Then there were the intentional slights. China wanted a formal state visit such as [Hu's predecessor Jiang Zemin] got, but the administration refused, calling it instead an 'official' visit. Bush acquiesced to the 21-gun salute but insisted on a luncheon instead of a formal dinner, in the East Room instead of the State Dining Room. . . .

"The meeting in the Oval Office brought more of the same. In front of the cameras, Bush thanked Hu for his 'frankness' -- diplomatic code for disagreement -- and Hu stood expressionless. The two unexpectedly agreed to take questions from reporters, but Bush grew impatient as Hu gave a long answer about trade, made all the longer by the translation. Bush at one point tapped his foot on the ground. 'It was a very comprehensive answer,' he observed when Hu finished."

Kahn writes in the Times about the effect of the heckling incident: "Chinese Foreign Ministry officials traveling with Mr. Hu canceled an afternoon briefing. One delegation member, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the subject publicly, described his superiors as outraged by the breach."

Kenneth R. Bazinet writes in the New York Daily News: 'Protester Wenyi Wang got within shouting distance -- about 35 yards -- of President Bush and the Chinese leader with the help of a press credential issued by a Falun Gong publication. . . .

" 'The Secret Service response to Wang's shouts at Chinese President Hu Jintao appeared to be slow, but because Wang was standing in a press area, authorities initially thought she was asking a question out of turn, a source explained.

" 'Also, Secret Service tactics first and foremost call for protecting the President and ensuring an incident like Wang's outburst is not a diversion for a real threat against the President.' "

Here are the transcripts from the arrival ceremony and the Oval Office meeting .

In a press briefing , National Security Council staffer Dennis Wilder described how Bush apologized to Hu for the disruption: "At the outset of the meeting in the Oval Office, the President expressed to the Chinese President his regret

that, unfortunately, an individual made the decision that she was going to disrupt the speech given by the Chinese President. . . .

"He just said this was unfortunate, and I'm sorry this happened."

Photographers from Reuters , Agence France Presse and the Associated Press captured the awkward Bush-Hu sleeve grab. Here's a Reuters photo of Cheney's shades. In fact, AFP has several more unflattering pictures from the day's event, including this one of Cheney, shall we say, resting his eyes in the Oval Office.

Jeebus, these are supposed to be the Grownups? I was an invitee to some Clinton state events. They never made these kinds of screwups. They had professionals on the ground to prevent them.

Bush doesn't really give a fuck about anybody. And he shows it everyday. All he wants is power.

For those of you who have not been paying attention, I offer you the observations of an observer of power a century ago, Lord Acton.

Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely

An observation that a person’s sense of morality lessens as his or her power increases. The statement was made by Lord Acton, a British historian of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Hurricane Screwed

Update 2: FEMA Wants $4.7M Back From Katrina Victims
By RON HARRIST , 04.21.2006, 07:18 PM

Thousands of Gulf Coast residents have been told they must repay millions of dollars in federal Hurricane Katrina benefits that were excessive or, in some cases, fraudulent.

In Mississippi alone, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it is seeking $4.7 million from 2,044 people, telling them in a form letter that they have four months to repay or set up a payment plan.

Some storm victims got duplicate or extra benefits because of FEMA errors, FEMA spokesman Eugene Brezany said, and others might have received benefits for expenses that later were reimbursed by insurance settlements.

Some others benefited "by intentional misrepresentation" or the mistaken belief that secondary residences qualified for payments, he said.

More people could get repayment notices as more applications are reviewed, Brezany said. Recipients could have received $2,000 to $26,200.

People who get the form letter have 30 days to respond. If they don't meet the four-month deadline, the U.S. Treasury will attempt to collect the money, Brezany said.

James McIntyre, FEMA spokesman for Louisiana, could not immediately provide figures for his state or others hit by Katrina. Aaron Walker, the agency's chief spokesman, said in an e-mail he also could not immediately respond.

The form letter sent to the aid recipients said that they could appeal the charges. Even so, it said, "FEMA strongly encourages" them to pay the debt or set up a repayment plan to avoid being charged penalties or interest in case the appeal fails.

Federal auditors have faulted FEMA for much of the benefit abuse after last fall's hurricanes, citing an inadequate accounting system. The federal Government Accountability Office has said thousands of inappropriate payments were made because people could repeatedly apply for and collect benefits.

In February, audits by the General Accounting Office and the Department of Homeland Security found that as many as 900,000 of the 2.5 million applicants who received aid under FEMA's emergency cash assistance program - which included $2,000 debit cards given to evacuees - were based on duplicate or invalid Social Security numbers, or false addresses and names.

Also in February, the Justice Department said federal prosecutors charged 212 people with fraud, theft and other counts in scams related to Gulf Coast hurricanes.

I'm in negotiations with the IRS for backdebt they owe me and I can't begin to tell you how screwed up they are. Most of these people will see nothing. That's just the way it is, it doesn't have to be that way, but that's what we tolerate.

My boss told me when I hired on, however bad you think it is in the Bush administration, it is really much, much worse. The Fuck You here is of mind-numbing proportions. The level of incompetence and pure partisan payoff will make Brownie look like some sweet amateurnish. These people are evil and ugly and they don't give a damn about you.

Compassionate conservatism is an evil joke while they ransack the rest of the republic. If you doubt, check your gas gauge and the price at the pump. The ransackers are in charge.

Peasants with pitchforks in the streets? It seems the US electorate wants to be fucked.

Welcome to 1984.

Whole Foods

Your local morels will be ready next month. If you haven't experienced your local funghi, it is long past time. These are so good that you won't miss meat if you want to put your bucks toward another kind of protein. The Community Supported Agriculture Movement will bring this good food to your door. Click on the link and investigate.

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH WHITE ASPARAGUS AND MOREL SAUTE WITH CREME FRAICHE

What to drink: Red wine that's both earthy and light — try a northern Rhône Syrah blend like Saint-Joseph.

6 large chicken leg-thigh pieces (about 5 1/2 pounds total)
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon peel
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley plus 6 sprigs

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, divided
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup sliced onion
1 cup sliced leeks (white and pale green parts only)
1/2 cup dried morels (about 3/4 ounce)
2 bay leaves
1 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup dry Sherry
4 cups low-salt chicken broth

White Asparagus, Morels, and Leeks
1/2 cup crème fraîche or sour cream

Toss chicken pieces with peel, thyme, and chopped parsley in large bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

Let chicken pieces stand at room temperature 15 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; let stand 15 minutes more.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Melt 2 tablespoons butter with oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in 2 batches, add chicken pieces, skin side down; cook until deep brown, about 5 minutes. Turn chicken over; reduce heat to medium and cook 2 minutes. Arrange in single layer in large ovenproof pot. Pour off all but 4 tablespoons drippings from skillet. Add onion, leeks, morels, and bay leaves to skillet; sauté over medium heat until vegetables are golden, about 7 minutes. Add wine and Sherry; increase heat to high and boil until liquid is reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add broth; bring to boil. Add 6 parsley sprigs. Pour vegetables over chicken. Cover pot with plastic wrap, then foil. Bake until chicken is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours.

Increase oven temperature to 400°F. Transfer chicken pieces to rimmed baking sheet; roast in oven until brown, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, strain vegetable-broth mixture into medium saucepan. Press on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Boil liquid until reduced to 3 cups, about 15 minutes. Whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Season with salt and pepper.

Arrange chicken on large platter. Spoon reduced juices over. Arrange white asparagus, morels, and leeks over and around chicken. Top each chicken leg with dollop of crème fraîche and serve.

Yum.

Internetworking

I'm too tired to do it tonight, but does anyone have a primer on the manners for IMing? It would be a kindness to share it with the family here. I seem to be screwing up on a regular basis.

Elevate

This takes the grilled cheese sandwich to new heights.

Grilled Blue Cheese Pear Sandwich

* 8 slices sourdough bread
* 3 Tbsp. butter, softened
* 1/4 cup sour cream
* 2 ripe pears, thinly sliced
* 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
* 1/2 cup shredded Havarti cheese

PREPARATION:
Preheat dual contact indoor grill. Combine cheeses in small bowl. Thinly spread sour cream on one side of each piece of bread. Make sandwiches with the sliced pears and cheese mixture. Spread softened butter on outsides of sandwiches.

Grill for 2-3 minutes until bread is browned and crisp and cheese is melted.

These are hug-yourself good.

Serve with a salad of romaine, torn fine and tossed with sliced cherry tomatoes, english cukes (seeded) and a dressing of extra virgin olive oil, hazelnut oil and Pommery french mustard and celery seed. Grate fresh sea salt and white pepper to taste.

Site News

I'm going to have some big news next week (the details are still in process) but it's Friday night and I'm going to take some downtime. Getting to the "big news" has meant very little sleep for the last month and no free time to speak of. I want to read a book for pleasure, do some laundry and the like, things I haven't done in months.

For your dining and dancing pleasure, here's a recipe that delights me.

Tom Choy's Chow Mein

I grew up in a blue collar suburb of St. Paul. It was one of those Levittown, cookie cutter suburbs and there was one little strip mall attached to the local Red Owl supermarket. It had a Chinese carryout, Tom Moy's chow mein place, and that was about all we knew about Chinese food. Chow Mein is, of course, about as Chinese as hamburgers, but I loved the stuff as a child. Having take out was a big deal for us. The little packages of soy sauce and duck sauce were exotic and the steamed rice was so different from the parboiled Minute Rice I grew up with. I have a little Chinese carryout down the street from me, nothing more than a hole in the wall, which has something similar, real 1950's food. I prefer my own cooking however.

1/4 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
1/2 cup boiling water
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup diced onions
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
3 cups low-sodium beef broth or beef stock
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons gravy enhancer, optional, for color only (recommended: Kitchen Bouquet)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons dark corn syrup
1 cup diagonally sliced celery, about 1/4-inch thick
2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place mushrooms in a small bowl and cover with the boiling water. Allow mushrooms to stand for 5 minutes, or until slightly softened. Remove mushrooms and reserve for another use. Reserve 1/3 cup of the mushroom-soaking liquid.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 cup of the onions and cook until slightly softened but not browned, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and celery salt and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add 2 1/2 cups of the beef broth and the reserved mushroom-soaking liquid and bring to a boil.

In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup beef broth, cornstarch, gravy enhancer, and soy sauce. Add the cornstarch mixture and the corn syrup to the saucepan and return the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the gravy is slightly thickened. Keep warm until ready to serve.

In a medium wok, heat the remaining vegetable oil over high heat. Add the remaining onions and the celery and cook until softened, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the chicken and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook until chicken is heated through, about 2 minutes. Ladle 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the reduced gravy mixture into the chicken mixture, tossing to coat well, and remove from the heat. Place Chow Mein Noodles in the bottom of a dish and top with the chicken mixture. Ladle gravy over the chicken and noodles and toss to combine. Serve immediately.

You need those crunchy "Chinese" noodles with this, they come in cans at the supermarket. Or you can get one of those cellotex packets from your local Chinese carryout. Oh, the comfort food of childhood.

On the List

Planning for Flu
Pandemic preparation plans still don't deal with the central question: How will America's hospitals cope?

Friday, April 21, 2006; A22

IN THE next few days, the federal government is expected to release another flu pandemic response plan, this one designed to guide the behavior of federal agencies in case of a disaster. According to a briefing given to Post staff writer Ceci Connolly, preparations include plans to print money abroad if U.S. mints cannot operate; to close cafeterias and cancel meetings; and even to define what, exactly, the federal government's basic functions are. Some agencies at the moment list as many as 400 "essential tasks" in their emergency plans, an unrealistically high number.

This is all very well, as far as it goes. But neither this plan nor any previous one has honestly confronted the central question of any pandemic: what to do with hundreds -- or hundreds of thousands -- of sick people. No one has produced an effective flu vaccine. Until someone does, any contagious flu virus -- or bioengineered virus -- will make many people ill. And neither America's hospitals nor any other part of the medical system is ready to deal with them.

True, there are plans for mobile medical units, and there have been rudimentary attempts to define and measure the nation's "surge capacity." But most of America's 5,000-odd hospitals are unprepared. Nearly half of the nation's emergency rooms report being at or over capacity; 80 percent of emergency doctors say their hospital is unprepared for an epidemic or terrorist disaster, and about a third of hospitals are losing money, meaning they can't invest in spare capacity. Yet models based on the 1918 flu pandemic show that a similarly infectious virus would require, by the fifth week, more than four times the number of existing hospital beds and more than double the number of existing ventilators.

More important than the shortages of equipment, though, is the shortage of medical staffers. In a pandemic it will be impossible to provide traditional hospital care to everyone. But even makeshift military field hospitals will require minimally trained staff. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt has been traveling the country to warn states and cities, rightly, that they should be doing the hardest thinking about these shortages, but more federal input is needed. Congress and the White House should be improving and expanding the Disaster Medical Assistance Teams -- which were bogged down by logistical problems in the wake of Hurricane Katrina -- and possibly supporting a volunteer corps, including retired medical professionals or students, that could also help out as needed. Until this central question has been dealt with, almost all other federal government "preparations," however impressive-sounding, are of lesser importance.

Actually, the list of things we are unprepared for on the pandemic score is so long that this a ways down the line.

Against All Enemies

Rosa Brooks:
A 4-star defense of the republic

April 21, 2006

On the right, the key talking point in the War Against the Generals quickly emerged: "Civilian control of the military." It was an effective line of attack, and so clever that even many who ought to have known better were suckered. The Washington Post editorial board on Tuesday, for instance, fell for it hook, line and sinker, worrying that the retired generals were threatening "the essential democratic principle of military subordination to civilian control…. If [the generals] are successful in forcing Mr. Rumsfeld's resignation, they will set an ugly precedent."

They even had me nodding along there for a few minutes. After all, every student of recent history knows that if you dilute civilian control of the military, you end up with fascism or a Latin American-style military junta. Because constant security threats are necessary to maintain the power and credibility of a military regime, a nation that lacks civilian control of the military gets ensnared in unending, pointless wars, often against an increasingly vaguely defined threat. Gradually, the broader society becomes militarized. Dissenters are denounced as cowards or traitors, and domestic surveillance becomes common. Secret military courts and detention systems begin to supplant the civilian judicial system. Detainees get tortured, and some end up mysteriously dead after interrogation.

We definitely wouldn't want that kind of regime to control the United States, would we?

IT WAS AT THIS POINT that I got the joke — because, dear reader, we're already well on the way to having that kind of regime. If Rumsfeld thought he could get away with calling himself Il Generalissimo, don't you think he'd do so in a heartbeat?

In the looking-glass world the Bush administration has brought us, it's the civilians in the White House and the Pentagon who have been eager to embrace the values normally exemplified by military juntas, while many uniformed military personnel have struggled to insist on values that are supposed to characterize democratic civil society.

Iraq is only one of the many issues on which military personnel have stood up against foolish or immoral administration policies. In 2003, the three generals and one admiral who collectively head the JAG Corps of the various services wrote strongly worded internal memos opposing the administration's authorization of interrogation techniques that border on or constitute torture. Navy Rear Adm. Michael Lohr, for instance, condemned the techniques as "inconsistent with our most fundamental values." In January 2005, five retired generals filed an amicus brief in a case before the Supreme Court opposing the administration's argument that suspects tried by military commissions are not entitled to the protections of the Geneva Convention. Many more examples could be cited.

The claim that the six dissenting generals are betraying the principle of civilian control over the military is both silly and sinister. It's silly because polite, reasoned criticism from retired generals is just free speech, a very far cry from "forcing" the Defense secretary out. And it's sinister because civilian control is a means of safeguarding democracy, not an end in itself. When that gets forgotten, the phrase becomes just another way to stifle dissent.

Military officers must obey all lawful commands and refrain from using "contemptuous words" about their civilian leaders. But when officers take the military oath, they also pledge to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, [and] bear true faith and allegiance to the same."

That's a hard oath, because bearing "true faith" to the Constitution requires military personnel to speak out, regardless of the cost, when they think our civilian leaders have gone beyond the pale. Both our democracy and the lives of the soldiers who fight in our name depend on it. If officers remain silent when our military policies go terribly wrong, there's little the rest of us can do to set things right again.

The list of Bush offenses against the Constitution is now so long that I can no longer keep track. But what do I see on CNN? How many minutes have been given over to the Duke rape story, which is a purely local story?

What Planet is This Paper On?

Katrina Lessons

Published: April 21, 2006

The lessons of Katrina have highlighted two important ways that the country will need to change its disaster relief before the next hurricane season begins in June. The federal government must do a better job of relocating evacuated families into permanent homes in functional communities instead of into hotels and trailer parks. And the authorities need to provide ongoing medical care for the displaced.

The link between the medical care and housing issues is clearly underscored in an alarming new report from the Children's Health Fund and the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Researchers who studied families stranded in hotels and isolated trailer camps found that more than a third of the children suffered from conditions like asthma, anxiety and behavioral problems and that many were going without prescribed medications.

The government's stress on temporary housing has taken a toll on these families, who have moved frequently — the average is 3.5 times — since the storm. About a quarter of the school-age children were either not enrolled in school or had missed huge chunks of school days. Among their parents, about half were managing chronic conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure or cancer. Katrina did not cause these illnesses. But the stressful and chaotic conditions of the relief effort have clearly caused many of them to worsen.

The humanitarian emergency that has recently come to light in the Katrina belt should put the federal government on notice that furnishing medical care — and rebuilding medical services — must be the first priority in disasters like this one.

The Times ed board continues to drink the Koolaid. Nothing has changed since last year, people, and since when is healthcare in this country a priority of anyone? We've got 47 million uninsured in this country and the Times doesn't think THAT is a frickin' emergency? Jeebus, the Times is completely disconnected from the lives of ordinary Americans.

American Attitudes

The current issue of Foreign Affairs has a very interesting survey of American attitudes about US foreign policy.

The Tipping Points By Daniel Yankelovich

From Foreign Affairs, May/June 2006
Summary: A new survey of U.S. public opinion on foreign policy shows that the war in Iraq and terrorism are not the only problems on Americans' minds. Public concern over the United States' dependence on foreign oil may soon force policymakers to change course. And religious Americans are rethinking their support for many of Bush's policies, which has brought them closer in line with the rest of the public.

DANIEL YANKELOVICH is Chair and Co-founder of the organizations Public Agenda, DYG, and Viewpoint Learning.

FROM BAD TO WORSE

Terrorism and the war in Iraq are not the only sources of the American public's anxiety about U.S. Foreign policy. Americans are also concerned about their country's dependence on foreign energy supplies, U.S. jobs moving overseas, Washington's seeming inability to stop illegal immigration, and a wide range of other issues. The public's support for promoting democracy abroad has also seriously eroded.

These are a few of the highlights from the second in a continuing series of surveys monitoring Americans' confidence in U.S. foreign policy conducted by the nonprofit research organization Public Agenda (with support from the Ford Foundation), of which I am chair. The first survey, conducted in June of last year, found that only the war in Iraq had reached the "tipping point" -- the moment at which a large portion of the public begins to demand that the government address its concerns. According to this follow-on survey, conducted among a representative sample of 1,000 American adults in mid-January 2006, a second issue has reached that status. The U.S. public has grown impatient with U.S. dependence on foreign countries for oil, and its impatience could soon translate into a powerful demand that Washington change its policies.

Overall, the public's confidence in U.S. Foreign policy has drifted downward since the first survey. On no issue did the government's policy receive an improved rating from the public in January's survey, and on a few the ratings changed for the worse. The public has become less confident in Washington's ability to achieve its goals in Iraq and Afghanistan, hunt down terrorists, protect U.S. borders, and safeguard U.S. jobs. Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed said they think that U.S. relations with the rest of the world are on the wrong track (compared to 37 percent who think the opposite), and 51 percent said they are disappointed by the country's relations with other countries (compared to 42 percent who are proud of them).

As for the goal of spreading democracy to other countries, only 20 percent of respondents identified it as "very important" -- the lowest support noted for any goal asked about in the survey. Even among Republicans, only three out of ten favored pursuing it strongly. In fact, most of the erosion in confidence in the policy of spreading democracy abroad has occurred among Republicans, especially the more religious wing of the party. People who frequently attend religious services have been among the most ardent supporters of the government's policies, but one of the recent survey's most striking findings is that although these people continue to maintain a high level of trust in the president and his administration, their support for the government's Iraq policy and for the policy of exporting democracy has cooled.

This is a long and interesting article which is worth reading in its entirety. The US electorate is more complex than what we see on CNN, thank God. Blitzer and Company give us a caricature.

Another Failure

The Battle Over the Blame for Gas Prices
Firms Cite Supply Issues, Deny Abuse

By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 21, 2006; Page A01

When Severin Borenstein drove by a Shell station in Orinda, Calif., yesterday morning, the price of unleaded gasoline was $2.99 a gallon. When he drove by five hours later, the price was $3.10 a gallon.

Borenstein has a better grasp of why that happened than most. He's a professor of business and public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and is director of the University of California Energy Institute.

"The oil side is one piece of this. The refining side is another piece of this," he said.

Oil prices are soaring, with the price of crude at more than $70 a barrel on world markets and 37 percent higher than a year ago. That works out to more than $1.7o a gallon, more than half the cost of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline.

The next biggest chunk of the cost of a gallon of gasoline is the cost of refining, which is now about twice the average levels over the past five years. And that has sparked controversy over whether oil refiners have been gouging consumers by holding back on expanding capacity to gain more power over prices.

The oil companies deny those allegations, but what's not in dispute is what's happening at the gasoline pumps.

"What's going on is just a continued reflection of the worsening supply-and-demand balance, and when you get into a tight market, small changes can cause big price movements," said Borenstein, explaining the rising price of crude oil.

He added that the reasons for fatter refining margins were not so clear. "This is the time of year when that number always goes up, but it has gone up more than usual," Borenstein said. "What we're seeing is that refineries are making huge profits. We have not been building refineries, demand continues to grow, and supply is not keeping up with it."

15 cents in three days isn't supply and demand, it is price gouging. Didn't W campaign on his ability to "jawbone" prices down?

PR, Not Substance

Bush, Hu Produce Summit of Symbols
Protester Screams At Chinese President

By Peter Baker and Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, April 21, 2006; Page A01

President Bush pressed China's visiting President Hu Jintao yesterday to open up markets, expand freedom and do more to curb nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea but came away with no specific agreements in a summit emphasizing symbolism over breakthroughs.

Hosting the first White House visit of a Chinese president in nine years, Bush welcomed Hu with pageantry, marching bands and a 21-gun salute in a sun-splashed South Lawn ceremony, then escorted him inside for polite talks on a range of long-standing issues. In return, Hu offered vague assurances that he will address U.S. economic concerns while resisting tougher action on Iran and North Korea.

Chinese President Hu Jintao began wrapping up his U.S. tour with a visit to the White House on Thursday. President Bush encouraged Hu's cooperation to help resolve disputes with Iran and North Korea.

The one off-script moment in an otherwise meticulously choreographed day came when a member of the Falun Gong religious sect that is suppressed in China screamed at Hu for several long minutes as he addressed hundreds of Bush aides and ticketed guests on the lawn. "President Hu! Your days are numbered," she shouted. "President Bush! Stop him from killing!" A startled Hu paused until Bush leaned over and encouraged him to continue. "You're okay," Bush assured Hu.

Such a jarring disruption inside the White House gates is extremely rare and seen as deeply offensive to the protocol-sensitive Chinese leadership. Bush, described as angry by aides who saw him afterward, apologized to Hu when they sat down in the Oval Office. "This was unfortunate, and I'm sorry this happened," Bush said, according to a White House official.

The visit held deep meaning for the Chinese delegation, which broadcast the pomp -- but not the protest -- to its people back home as a sign of the nation's standing in the international community. Bush obliged to a point, serving an Alaska halibut luncheon in the East Room for Hu but not offering the black-tie state dinner Beijing wanted.

A couple of interesting things: Hu met with Bill Gates before he met with Bush; the WaPo thinks that dissent is a "blemish." Gee, a free press, which we used to have, was once part of the dissent instead of being stenographers for the government. Why don't we just get rid of newspapers and just distribute the spewings of the Government Printing Office in our corner newsboxes?

A Look in the Mirror

Democrats Eager to Exploit Anger Over Gas Prices

By MICHAEL JANOFSKY
Published: April 21, 2006

WASHINGTON, April 20 — Democrats running for Congress are moving quickly to use the most recent surge in oil and gasoline prices to bash Republicans over energy policy, and more broadly, the direction of the country.

With oil prices hitting a high this week and prices at the pump topping $3 a gallon in many places, Amy Klobuchar, a Democratic Senate candidate in Minnesota, is making the issue the centerpiece of her campaign. Ms. Klobuchar says it "is one of the first things people bring up" at her campaign stops.

To varying degrees, Democrats around the country are following a similar script that touches on economic anxiety and populist resentment against oil companies.

"It's a metaphor for an economy that keeps biting people despite overall good numbers," said Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Mr. Schumer said Democratic candidates in 10 of the 34 Senate races this year had scheduled campaign events this week focusing on gasoline prices.

Officials at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which advises House candidates, said they sent a memorandum to candidates on Thursday offering guidance on using the issue to their advantage. The memorandum includes a "sample statement" that recommends telling voters, "Americans are tired of giving billion-dollar tax subsidies to energy companies and foreign countries while paying record prices at the pump."

Increasing gasoline prices have put Republicans on the defensive at a time when they are counting on the economy to help offset the myriad other problems they face, starting with the Iraq war.

Republicans say they have spent years advocating policies that would reduce the reliance on imported oil, largely by promoting more domestic energy production, and they point to the energy bill that President Bush signed last August as a step in that direction. They said that the law encouraged conservation and greater use of ethanol in gasoline and that it would have done more for domestic oil supplies if Democrats had not fought so hard against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Mr. Bush tried to get ahead of the issue in January in his State of the Union address, saying that the nation is addicted to oil and urging steps to reduce reliance on energy imports.

The White House and Republicans on Capitol Hill have worked closely together for months on a campaign to highlight what they say is the strength of the economy, partly to offset what administration officials acknowledge are the negative psychological effects of high oil and gasoline prices on consumers. A Washington Post/ABC News poll this week found that 59 percent of Americans rated the economy "not good" or "poor," despite solid economic growth and declining unemployment.

"The better we are at getting out the overall message that the economy is growing and the reasons behind it, the better we'll be able to deflect the silly political attacks from the Democrats," said Brian Nick, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

That "growing economy" is a myth, according to a conservative scholar, and Americans vote their pocketbooks. Gas at my corner station is up 15 cents since Tuesday, $3.019 today. That'll get noticed.

The Next Big One

State Called Unready for Big Quake
Scientists marking 1906 disaster say future toll could be worse because of surging population and development and lack of retrofitting.
By Sharon Bernstein, Times Staff Writer
April 21, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO — New research on earthquakes presented this week to mark the 100th anniversary of this city's great quake paints a disquieting picture of California's preparedness for a major temblor.

The overarching message of scientists gathered here was twofold. First, future quakes could easily do more damage than past ones because the population of California continues to increase and there are more buildings in areas near fault lines on soft ground susceptible to liquefaction. Second, the state must do more to retrofit vulnerable buildings.

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A landmark study presented Thursday by noted structural engineer Charles Kircher found that 5% of buildings would cause 50% of the deaths in the event of a major temblor.

Those buildings include unreinforced masonry, brittle concrete structures and buildings with open floor plans on the first floor, such as apartments with first-story garages or retail businesses.

Seismologists and state officials have long warned of the danger of such buildings, but regulating them has been difficult. Though some retrofitting has occurred on old brick buildings, relatively little has been done about so-called "nonductile" concrete buildings and "soft" first-story buildings despite their proliferation across the state.

Kircher's research is considered significant because it pulled together several disciplines.

He determined damage estimates by studying areas that earthquake waves would strike if the 1906 temblor occurred now, and then cross-referencing that data with information on where vulnerable buildings are located. Those facts then were combined with insurance industry estimates on the cost of replacing buildings and census data on how many people lived there.

Kircher said that unless thousands of buildings are upgraded to meet the newest earthquake standards, as many as 3,400 people could die if a magnitude 7.9 quake struck Northern California. That's more than twice the number of deaths caused by last year's hurricanes Katrina and Rita combined.

There would be $1.5 trillion worth of damage to buildings and property — far more than the $125 billion estimated so far for the two hurricanes — and up to 13,000 people would require hospitalization, his study found.

Kircher spoke at the first ever convocation of scientists, engineers, disaster preparedness officials and politicians that met in San Francisco this week to commemorate the 1906 temblor.

His report was one of several scientific papers that highlighted the state's quake vulnerabilities as well as efforts to improve preparedness.

Tom Jordan, director of the Southern California Earthquake Center, presented information about a project his group is working on that attempts to predict where earthquake waves would travel when a temblor hits the region.

The group is examining various faults across Southern California and hopes to estimate the areas that would be hit hardest. With such information, safety officials could consider special measures in particularly vulnerable areas.

Contrary to some earlier theories, which posited that there would be less shaking farther away from the epicenter, scientists have learned in recent years that the type of soil can play a greater role than the distance from the rupture.

Another important factor is the direction of the break itself. If the San Andreas fault were to break near Santa Rosa and the rupture traveled south toward San Francisco, the Bay Area would be harder hit than if the break occurred closer to San Francisco but traveled north.

Another study — by several organizations including the U.S. Geological Survey, UC Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory — allowed scientists to replicate the seismic wave patterns of the 1906 temblor, pinpointing the areas that would be hit hardest if the quake occurred today.

Peggy Hellweg, director of the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory, said the study showed that the most vulnerable areas would be those built on fill or located in basins, including Emeryville, Berkeley, Richmond, Alameda and several districts in San Francisco, including the marina.

"There are going to be a lot of places where the shaking is unpleasant," Hellweg said. "There will be many places where the shaking will be bad, and there will be a number of places where it will be really terrible."

Policymakers, she said, should use this research — along with similar studies from Southern California — to identify areas where shaking will be the worst and upgrade buildings in those areas first.

And we aren't ready for the next hurricane or a pandemic. So what else is new? Expecting FEMA to be competent at anything went out of fashion on August 29, 2005.

I'm proud of my city

Milwaukee, by rights, should be burning. It isn't.

An all-white jury found a batch of ex-cops not guilty of beating the tar out of some poor bastard named Frank Jude.

White cops, mixed race victim. Not a traffic stop or arrest gone bad, a bunch of drunk cops at a party. They had a lame story about Frank trying to steal a badge, but nobody cares because 1) nobody believes it and 2) the beating wouldn't have made sense no matter what the crime.

People are pissed off enough to be rioting. But they aren't. There have been some marches, but they were orderly.

The mayor and the police chief, amazingly, are handling the situation with skill and passion. The population (myself included) actualy expects problems to be fixed, bad cops to be stopped. One of the cops is trying to get his job back - the police chief (a small woman named Nannette) looked like she was spitting nails when she said she does not expect any of the cops involved will ever work in law enforcement again.

A bit of a twist - Alberto Gonzales is visiting tomorrow. If we had a chief like him, you'd be reading headlines about riots.

My So-Called Life

I complained to my hairdresser last month that the only really nice thing I ever do for myself these days is get a really good haircut once a month. The rest of the time is hairshirt and ashes because I have no money. I have to change this. Living a cramped life guarantees you a cramped life.

So, I went and spent some real money I don't have on a "posture chair" from The Healthy Back Store to relieve the pressure on my neck and back that is killing my arms and wrists as I sit at the computer. They'll deliver in a couple of days. If it makes me more comfortable at the computer I'll get more done. Next up, a better coffee pot and iced tea situation. Technology has some answers.

I don't do a lot of caffeine, but the morning part of the day doesn't work very well without it. I'm all seltzer in the afternoons.

That which matters here is that I'm breaking out of the scarcity model after a phone call with a friend who is in a position to fund the site and I'm starting to think as if I actually had the right to breathe. That's still a novel idea.

When he comes up with the funds, I'll actually start breathing again.

Buy Local

I've been on flu business all afternoon (sorry, it's part of the job) and not around much. I'll try to make it up to you in recipes tonight.

Recipes are only as good as their ingredients. If you haven't yet signed up for your local community supported agriculture producer for spring produce, use the link to find a producer near you. Good, organic produce delivered to your door or a location physically near you weekly is a very good thing. I don't have the space or the sun for a garden beyond my herb patch, so supporting the local growers this way and by shopping the local Farmers' Market each week is what I can do to keep local agriculture and small organic farms viable. You can, too. Click on the link and find a farmer near you.

My local Farmers' Market starts on May 15 and I'll be buying herb sets to start my herb border for my door garden. Keep the local small businesses in business. The market has native buffalo mozarella and fabulous artisan breads, along with produce and great plants for the garden so I get some immediate gratification at dinner.

The hummingbird feeder and associated basket flowers go up on Saturday. You haven't lived until hummers have sat on your fingers and shat in your hair, and you can do this cheaply and easily with some sugar water, a feeder and a couple of baskets of flowers. And have beautiful things to look at all summer.

Employment Depression

Nuking the Economy
Forget Iran—Americans Should be Hysterical About This

By Paul Craig Roberts

Last week the Bureau of Labor Statistics re-benchmarked the payroll jobs data back to 2000. Thanks to Charles McMillion of MBG Information Services, I have the adjusted data from January 2001 through January 2006. If you are worried about terrorists, you don’t know what worry is.

Job growth over the last five years is the weakest on record. The US economy came up more than 7 million jobs short of keeping up with population growth. That’s one good reason for controlling immigration. An economy that cannot keep up with population growth should not be boosting population with heavy rates of legal and illegal immigration.

Over the past five years the US economy experienced a net job loss in goods-producing activities. The entire job growth was in service-providing activities--primarily credit intermediation, health care and social assistance, waiters, waitresses and bartenders, and state and local government.

US manufacturing lost 2.9 million jobs, almost 17% of the manufacturing work force. The wipeout is across the board. Not a single manufacturing payroll classification created a single new job.

The declines in some manufacturing sectors have more in common with a country undergoing saturation bombing during war than with a super-economy that is “the envy of the world.” Communications equipment lost 43% of its workforce. Semiconductors and electronic components lost 37% of its workforce. The workforce in computers and electronic products declined 30%. Electrical equipment and appliances lost 25% of its employees. The workforce in motor vehicles and parts declined 12%. Furniture and related products lost 17% of its jobs. Apparel manufacturers lost almost half of the work force. Employment in textile mills declined 43%. Paper and paper products lost one-fifth of its jobs. The work force in plastics and rubber products declined by 15%. Even manufacturers of beverages and tobacco products experienced a 7% shrinkage in jobs.

The knowledge jobs that were supposed to take the place of lost manufacturing jobs in the globalized “new economy” never appeared. The information sector lost 17% of its jobs, with the telecommunications work force declining by 25%. Even wholesale and retail trade lost jobs. Despite massive new accounting burdens imposed by Sarbanes-Oxley, accounting and bookkeeping employment shrank by 4%. Computer systems design and related lost 9% of its jobs. Today there are 209,000 fewer managerial and supervisory jobs than 5 years ago.

In five years the US economy only created 70,000 jobs in architecture and engineering, many of which are clerical. Little wonder engineering enrollments are shrinking. There are no jobs for graduates. The talk about engineering shortages is absolute ignorance. There are several hundred thousand American engineers who are unemployed and have been for years. No student wants a degree that is nothing but a ticket to a soup line. Many engineers have written to me that they cannot even get Wal-Mart jobs because their education makes them over-qualified.

Offshore outsourcing and offshore production have left the US awash with unemployment among the highly educated. The low measured rate of unemployment does not include discouraged workers. Labor arbitrage has made the unemployment rate less and less a meaningful indicator. In the past unemployment resulted mainly from turnover in the labor force and recession. Recoveries pulled people back into jobs.

Unemployment benefits were intended to help people over the down time in the cycle when workers were laid off. Today the unemployment is permanent, as entire occupations and industries are wiped out by labor arbitrage as corporations replace their American employees with foreign ones.

Economists who look beyond political press releases estimate the US unemployment rate to be between 7% and 8.5%. There are now hundreds of thousands of Americans who will never recover their investment in their university education.

Unless the BLS is falsifying the data or businesses are reporting the opposite of the facts, the US is experiencing a job depression. Most economists refuse to acknowledge the facts, because they endorsed globalization. It was a win-win situation, they said.

They were wrong.

Anybody who has been looking for work in the last five years knows how true this is. Bush has been a net job destroyer.

Maroons

It's really shocking how badly informed CNN White House reporters are about US/China relations. Bush is making nice with Hu Jintao, not to demonstrate that China is not a threat, but because they own the US. They've been buying up all that treasury debt Bush has been racking up for the last 5 years. We're a wholly owned subsidiary of Beijing

Blast from the Past

A Crisis Almost Without Equal
Republicans and Democrats alike are starting to face the prospect of what it means to have George W. Bush as their commander in chief for another 33 months -- in a time of war, terrorism, and nuclear intrigue. How can the press contribute to confronting the crisis? First: recognize it exists.

By Greg Mitchell

(April 19, 2006) -- No matter which party they generally favor or political stripes they wear, newspapers and other media outlets need to confront the fact that America faces a crisis almost without equal in recent decades.

Our president, in a time of war, terrorism and nuclear intrigue, will likely remain in office for another 33 months, with crushingly low approval ratings that are still inching lower. Facing a similar problem, voters had a chance to quickly toss Jimmy Carter out of office, and did so. With a similar lengthy period left on his White House lease, Richard Nixon quit, facing impeachment. Neither outcome is at hand this time.

The alarm should be bi-partisan. Many Republicans fear their president's image as a bumbler will hurt their party for years. The rest may fret about the almost certain paralysis within the administration, or a reversal of certain favorite policies. A Gallup poll this week revealed that 44% of Republicans want some or all troops brought home from Iraq. Do they really believe that their president will do that any time soon, if ever?

Democrats, meanwhile, cross their fingers that Bush doesn’t do something really stupid -- i.e. nuke Iran -- while they try to win control of at least one house in Congress by doing nothing yet somehow earning (they hope) the anti-Bush vote.

Meanwhile, a severely weakened president retains, and has shown he is willing to use, all of his commander-in-chief authority, and then some.

No wonder so many are starting to look for a way to shorten or short-circuit the extended crisis period. Republicans demand a true shake-out at the White House. This week at Vanity Fair online, Carl Bernstein is calling for a Watergate-style congressional probe of possible high crimes and misdemeanors. Even Neil Young is weighing in with a soon-to-be-released song that urges, “Let’s impeach the president -- for lying.”

It's getting to be time for some of the senior Republican solons to go to Cheney/Bush and say , "time to go," the way they did with Nixon. Bushco will take a bunch of them down this fall if they don't.

It Ain't Over

Walking the White House Plank
By Sidney Blumenthal
The Guardian UK

Wednesday 19 April 2006

White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, departs as the investigation into Karl Rove enters into a serious new phase.

The resignation of the White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, is an event of almost complete insignificance except insofar as the beleaguered White House presents it as an important change. Meanwhile, the secretary of defence, Donald Rumsfeld, under siege from dissenting ex-generals demanding his firing for arrogant incompetence, stays.

McClellan is a flea on the windshield of history. On the podium, he performed his duty as a slow-flying object swatted by a frustrated and flustered press corps. Inexpressive, occasionally inarticulate and displaying a limited vocabulary, his virtue was his unwavering discipline in sticking to his uninformative talking points, fending off pesky reporters, and defending the president and all the president's men to the last full measure of his devotion. Inside the Bush White House, he was a non-player, a factotum, the instrument of Karl Rove, Bush's chief political strategist and deputy chief of staff. McClellan played no part in the inner councils of state. He was the blank wall erected in front of the press to obstruct them from seeing what was on the other side. McClellan's stoic façade was unmatched by a stoic interior. He was a vessel for his masters, did whatever he was told, put out disinformation without objection, and was willing to defend any travesty. He is the ultimate dispensable man.

Events that could truly shake the Bush White House to its foundation, however, may be discerned elsewhere. On Monday, in Chicago, a jury found former Republican governor George Ryan guilty of 18 counts of corruption. His trial was the climax of a nine-year investigation that had yielded 75 convictions, including some of the most powerful figures in the Republican party of Illinois. The federal investigation, dubbed Operation Safe Roads, began by looking into bribery for driver's licenses. Over time, prosecutors systematically uncovered broader and deeper patterns of corruption reaching up to the governor's office. Patiently, they built their cases until they reached the top.

The United States attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, who conducted this painstakingly thorough prosecution, Patrick Fitzgerald, is also the special prosecutor in charge of the investigation into the leaking of the identity of the covert CIA operative, Valerie Plame Wilson. So far, he has indicted I. Irving "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, on five counts of perjury and obstruction of justice.

Two weeks ago, Fitzgerald filed a motion before the federal court in the Libby case stating that his investigation had proved that the White House engaged in "concerted action" from "a plan to discredit, punish or seek revenge against" former ambassador Joseph Wilson, who revealed that the rationale of the Iraq war was based on false information that the White House knew was bogus. Fitzgerald declared further that he had gathered "evidence that multiple officials in the White House" had outed his wife's clandestine identity to reporters as an element of revenge.

Last week, on April 12, Libby counter-filed to demand extensive documents in the possession of the prosecutor. His filing, written by his lawyers, reveals that he intends to put Karl Rove on the stand as a witness to question him about his leaking of Plame's name to reporters and presumably his role in the "concerted action" against Wilson.

In his request for documents from Rove's files, Libby dropped mention of Rove's current legal status.

For months, Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, has assured the press that his client, who was believed to be vulnerable to indictment for perjury, is in the clear. But Libby insisted that he was entitled to "disclosure of such documents" in Rove's files "even if Mr. Rove remains a subject of a continuing grand jury investigation".

Karl Rove is a subject of Fitzgerald's investigation - this is the headline buried in Libby's filing.

Something to look forward to.

White House Shakeup

Shaula Evens over at Tsuredzuregusa pointed this out. Click the link for a good laugh.

Big Pharma's Tentacles

Experts Defining Mental Disorders Are Linked to Drug Firms

By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 20, 2006; Page A07

Every psychiatric expert involved in writing the standard diagnostic criteria for disorders such as depression and schizophrenia has had financial ties to drug companies that sell medications for those illnesses, a new analysis has found.

Of the 170 experts in all who contributed to the manual that defines disorders from personality problems to drug addiction, more than half had such ties, including 100 percent of the experts who served on work groups on mood disorders and psychotic disorders. The analysis did not reveal the extent of their relationships with industry or whether those ties preceded or followed their work on the manual.

"I don't think the public is aware of how egregious the financial ties are in the field of psychiatry," said Lisa Cosgrove, a clinical psychologist at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, who is publishing her analysis today in the peer-reviewed journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.

The analysis comes at a time of growing debate over the rising use of medication as the primary or sole treatment for many psychiatric disorders, a trend driven in part by definitions of mental disorders in the psychiatric manual.

Cosgrove said she began her research after discovering that five of six panel members studying whether certain premenstrual problems are a psychiatric disorder had ties to Eli Lilly & Co., which was seeking to market its drug Prozac to treat those symptoms. The process of defining such disorders is far from scientific, Cosgrove added: "You would be dismayed at how political the process can be."

The American Psychiatric Association, which publishes the guidelines in its bible of disorders, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), said it is planning to require disclosure of the financial ties of experts who write the next edition of the manual -- due around 2011. The manual carries vast influence over the practice of psychiatry in the United States and around the world.

Darrel Regier, director of the association's division of research, said that concerns over disclosure are a relatively recent phenomenon, which may be why the last edition, published in 1994, did not note them. Regier and John Kane, an expert on schizophrenia who worked on the last edition, agreed with the need for transparency but said financial ties with industry should not undermine public confidence in the conclusions of its experts. Kane has been a consultant to drug companies including Abbott Laboratories, Eli Lilly, Janssen and Pfizer Inc.

"It shouldn't be assumed there is a true conflict of interest," said Kane, who said his panel's conclusions were driven only by science. "To me, a conflict of interest implies that someone's judgment is going to be influenced by this relationship, and that is not necessarily the case. . . ."

The DSM defines disorders in terms of constellations of symptoms. While neuroscience and genetics are revealing biological aspects to many disorders, there has been unease that psychiatry is ignoring social, psychological and cultural factors in its pursuit of biological explanations and treatments.

"As a profession, we have allowed the biopsychosocial model to become the bio-bio-bio model," Steven Sharfstein, president of the American Psychiatric Association, said in an essay last year to his colleagues. He later added, "If we are seen as mere pill pushers and employees of the pharmaceutical industry, our credibility as a profession is compromised."

How hard would it be to find some researchers who don't have extensive ties to big Pharma to write the next edition, hmmm? Whatever happened to the notion that avoiding even the appearance of conflict of interest was the transparency standard? In Bush's America, I guess that idea is no longer operative.

The Preview

Midwest's Epidemic Of Mumps Continues
CDC Rushes Vaccine to Affected States

By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 20, 2006; Page A12

A Midwest mumps epidemic, already the largest U.S. outbreak of the viral infection in decades, shows no signs of slowing and will probably spread farther before being contained, federal health officials said yesterday.

The number of cases has more than doubled in the past week, with at least 1,100 reported in Iowa and seven other states, officials said. Investigators in seven more states also are studying possible cases.

"This is an unstable situation right now," said Julie L. Gerberding, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. "We're not reliably able to predict where this will go."

The CDC has dispatched teams to Iowa and Nebraska to help local and state health workers try to contain the puzzling outbreak, mainly by urging people to watch for symptoms so they can be diagnosed and isolated quickly, and by inoculating unvaccinated adults. The epidemic has disproportionately affected young, healthy adults, including many college students. Gerberding said she expect expects the outbreak to worsen before it starts to ease.

"We expect more cases -- definitely," she said, noting that the virus could spread to other parts of the country as college students who are infected but do not have symptoms leave for the summer and come into contact with other people. "We really can't predict at this point of time where the virus will go next."

Mumps is caused by a virus that spreads like the flu: mainly from infected people coughing and sneezing. Common symptoms are sore throat, body aches, fever and swollen glands in the jaw. Most people recover within about a week, but in rare cases complications can occur, including deafness and meningitis, a dangerous swelling in the brain and covering of the spinal cord. Men can suffer a painful swelling of the testicles that can cause sterility. Pregnant women can miscarry.

Intensifying the campaign to contain the outbreak, the CDC is rushing 25,000 additional doses of vaccine from its stockpile to Iowa, the epicenter of the outbreak, and another 25,000 donated by Merck & Co. to Iowa and other states, Gerberding said. Officials said they would use the vaccine to target high-risk groups, such as college students and health-care workers.

This is the trailer for the movie of pandemic flu. Mumps isn't quite as easy to transmit as influenza, but the mode of spread through the respiratory tract is the same. Watch the way Gerberding and company duck and weave.

All the Pretty Horses

Rove Is Giving Up Daily Policy Post to Focus on Vote

By ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: April 20, 2006

WASHINGTON, April 19 — The overhaul of the White House staff intensified on Wednesday as Karl Rove, one of the president's most powerful and feared advisers, gave up day-to-day control over the administration's domestic policy to concentrate on the midterm elections. Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, said he was stepping down.

The departure of Mr. McClellan gives President Bush a chance to put a new public face on the White House at a time when it is beset by problems. But Mr. Rove's changed status is the more telling sign of the extent of the shake-up directed by Mr. Bush and his new chief of staff, Joshua B. Bolten.

Mr. Rove has been at Mr. Bush's side since Mr. Bush entered politics, and for years his influence has been unquestioned. The decision to take away his daily control over the White House's policy-making apparatus is the first time his role has shrunk, and it is a stark reversal from the heady aftermath of Mr. Bush's 2004 re-election victory, when Mr. Rove's portfolio was expanded to give him formal control over policy.

In a telephone interview Wednesday night, Mr. Rove brushed aside suggestions that the change was a diminishment of his role.

"It is something different," he said.

"I've got a new boss," he continued, a boss "who says I want you to do more of this and less of that."

Mr. Rove will retain his title as a deputy chief of staff, as well as his catch-all designation as Mr. Bush's senior adviser.

He said he would continue to oversee broad policy issues. "The president and the new chief of staff said they wanted me focused on the big strategic issues facing the administration," he said.

I wanted to sleep on this before venturing an opinion, and I find I have a different take on these moves than the TV pundits. W hasn't taken a piss without direction from Rove since the two of them took over Texas, so this isn't a demotion (other than of McClellen, dismissed by Rove) as much as a strategic re-ordering going into the midterms. Notice that yesterday's news merely moves the players around a little. This was purely cosmetic, like most of what Rove does. PR rather than substance has been his calling card forever and this is more of the same.

Happy Birthday

Today is the anniversary of the birth of artist Joan Mirro. Add some prints to your walls. These are cheap and user friendly.

Curing the Common Cold

If this doesn't cure you, you really need to go to the doctor. For most of us, this will knock the socks off most of the bugs that ail ya. And this is so good that you just might start feeling better because it will knock the crap off your tongue and smeller. That works for me.

Garlic and Bread Soup

This recipe reflects the humble and ancient culinary roots so apparent in the Basque Country. In frugal kitchens, it was considered wasteful to discard even a handful of breadcrumbs.

1/2 cup olive oil
6 garlic cloves, sliced thin
1/2 slightly stale baguette, sliced thin
1 tablespoon paprika
4 cups water or home-made or commercial chicken broth
Salt
1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (necessary to clear the sinuses)
6 large eggs

In a clay or other flameproof casserole or skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, and fry it, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 2 to 3 minutes, until it is golden. Take care the garlic does not burn.

Add the bread, and turn it several times so that it absorbs the oil. Sprinkle it with the paprika, and toss well. Add the water or broth, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring, until the soup is heated through and well blended and the bread has absorbed much of the liquid. Season to taste with salt and, if you like, the pepper flakes.

Just before serving the soup, crack the eggs, and slide them onto the surface of the soup, taking care not to break the yolks. Let the eggs cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until they are set. Serve the soup by spooning it gently into shallow bowls, allowing 1 egg per serving.

Note: Use a slender, European-style baguette. A half baguette is 10 to 12 inches long. Traditionally, the baguette should be a day old. (serves 6)

This may not cure you, but you'll go back to bed feeling much less awful. Add a half tablespoon of lemon juice and it just might cure you. A good nights sleep might do that, too.

When the Fridge is Empty

In the upper Midwest, we called these "denver sandwiches" and they are served in the diners there to this day under the same title. When you need lunch in a hurry, this fills the bill and better bread makes them nice (I grew up on the same white bread you did and the squish down factor for these sandwiches was nice. A crusty sourdough for adults is good, however. This is the only thing I eat ketchup with, and then it has to be on the side for dipping.)

For one

GARDEN FRITTATA ON GRILLED COUNTRY BREAD

Ingredients

* 2 Large eggs
* 1 Tbsp basil, fresh chopped
* 1 Tbsp green onions, chopped
* 1 Tbsp tarragon, chopped
* 2 Tbsp Romano cheese, freshly grated
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 2 slices Italian country bread, buttered and grilled
1 serving

Preparation Method

Mix eggs with all ingredients except garlic and bread. Place garlic in buttered omelet pan and cook for 30 seconds. Add egg mixture and cook until bottom sets. Place under broiler to set top. Fold in half and place and between buttered, grilled bread slices. Cut in half diagonally.

This is a gussied up version of what my mom made for us when the house was out of time and money, end of the month food, plain egg sandwiches. It's hot and filling when there isn't much else around. I lived on these in college. No, I haven't had my cholesterol checked lately, why do you ask?

Spring is Sprung

This is virtually a perfect dish for the season and goes with everything. It is one of those things that will make you hug yourself and go "mmm....mmm....mmm."

Asparagus & Snap Pea Salad

Lemon Vinaigrette:
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 pounds medium-sized asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 pounds sugar snap peas, strings removed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped

1. Whisk together the lemon zest and juice, mustard, salt and pepper. Whisking constantly, drizzle in the oil; continue to whisk until thickened. Reserve.

2. Steam the asparagus and peas separately until just tender, 4-5 minutes. Drain, dip in ice water to stop the cooking and pat dry. Combine with the dill, salt, pepper and vinaigrette. Serve in a decorative bowl, sprinkled with the chopped eggs.

For a more complex sauce, sieve the egg and incorporate it into the dressing with the salt and pepper. By the way, prepared this way this makes a terrific sandwich dressing for egg salad or tuna salad sandwiches. Add capers and finely chopped gherkins for even more fun.

Serves 8.

The Silver Fork

Here is a link to the WaPo's restaurant critic digest of good dining in DC from Epicurious.com. I like Tom Sietsema's work a lot and mostly agree with him. I don't eat out much, but I want value when I do and Tom delivers on that in his reviews. He's also very transparent in his method, submitting to reader questions in Post Chats live online twice a month. I admire that. He also tells you when buzz is hype and what the food press is missing. He's an asset around here. Don't spend good money on bad food. If you've got a good food critic in your local paper, write them and support them. It matters, these folks toil with a great deal of abuse from the public and you have the capability to be a bright spot in their day. Critique when you must, but do it with dignity. You'll be appreciated as a reader.

Simple Pleasures

This is a little trip down memory lane: I learned to make this dish when I was in grad school, round one back in 78-80. I was dirt poor, living in a basement studio in Back Bay, Boston, and had a grocery budget which was in the starvation category. I gave up meat until a trip to the student health service revealed that I had developed serious anemia and discovered that iron supplements seriously upset my guts. But while I was eating veggie, I learned to make a lot of wonderful, easy things which have been comfort food for me in the intervening years. This is one such dish and, to this day, this and a glass of pinot grigio will make nearly the worst day recede into ancient history. Even now, making a dish of this takes me back to the long nights of hunching over my ancient and cranky second hand Italian electric typewriter and the smell of carbon paper as I cranked out the papers and theses on my formica dinner table.

My Irish law student neighbor complained everytime I cooked with garlic, a foreign veg to the Worcester, MA, Irish, and that just made me use more to piss Tom off. He was a good guy, though, who helped me out when I had a peeping tom one night.

Spaghetti with Green Olive Sauce: Spaghetti Sugo di Olive Verdi

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup bread crumbs, or to taste
3 cloves garlic
3 salted anchovies or 6 oil-packed anchovy fillets, rinsed, drained and chopped
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup chopped, pitted green olives
Salt and pepper
1 pound spaghetti

Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons salt.

In a small saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat and add bread crumbs. Toss for a few minutes until golden brown, then remove and set aside.

In a 12 to 14-inch saute pan, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat and add garlic. Cook 3 minutes, until browned, then add the anchovies and red pepper flakes. Cook for 3 minutes, then remove and discard garlic. Stir in olives and cook 3 minutes, just until flavors are combined. Season with salt and pepper, then remove from heat and set aside.

Cook spaghetti in boiling water according to package directions, about 10 to 12 minutes, until tender yet al dente. In the last 2 minutes of pasta cooking, return olive sauce to heat. Drain pasta and add to the hot sauce. Toss over high heat 1 minute, sprinkle with bread crumbs, and serve immediately.

This will serve 2-3 as a main course, 4-6 as a first. Cut it in half for dinner for one with a salad. The raw comfort potential of pasta asciutta cannot be underestimated.

Worst.President.Ever.

The Worst President in History?
One of America's leading historians assesses George W. Bush

George W. Bush's presidency appears headed for colossal historical disgrace. Barring a cataclysmic event on the order of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, after which the public might rally around the White House once again, there seems to be little the administration can do to avoid being ranked on the lowest tier of U.S. presidents. And that may be the best-case scenario. Many historians are now wondering whether Bush, in fact, will be remembered as the very worst president in all of American history.

From time to time, after hours, I kick back with my colleagues at Princeton to argue idly about which president really was the worst of them all. For years, these perennial debates have largely focused on the same handful of chief executives whom national polls of historians, from across the ideological and political spectrum, routinely cite as the bottom of the presidential barrel. Was the lousiest James Buchanan, who, confronted with Southern secession in 1860, dithered to a degree that, as his most recent biographer has said, probably amounted to disloyalty -- and who handed to his successor, Abraham Lincoln, a nation already torn asunder? Was it Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson, who actively sided with former Confederates and undermined Reconstruction? What about the amiably incompetent Warren G. Harding, whose administration was fabulously corrupt? Or, though he has his defenders, Herbert Hoover, who tried some reforms but remained imprisoned in his own outmoded individualist ethic and collapsed under the weight of the stock-market crash of 1929 and the Depression's onset? The younger historians always put in a word for Richard M. Nixon, the only American president forced to resign from office.

Now, though, George W. Bush is in serious contention for the title of worst ever. In early 2004, an informal survey of 415 historians conducted by the nonpartisan History News Network found that eighty-one percent considered the Bush administration a "failure." Among those who called Bush a success, many gave the president high marks only for his ability to mobilize public support and get Congress to go along with what one historian called the administration's "pursuit of disastrous policies." In fact, roughly one in ten of those who called Bush a success was being facetious, rating him only as the best president since Bill Clinton -- a category in which Bush is the only contestant.

The lopsided decision of historians should give everyone pause. Contrary to popular stereotypes, historians are generally a cautious bunch. We assess the past from widely divergent points of view and are deeply concerned about being viewed as fair and accurate by our colleagues. When we make historical judgments, we are acting not as voters or even pundits, but as scholars who must evaluate all the evidence, good, bad or indifferent. Separate surveys, conducted by those perceived as conservatives as well as liberals, show remarkable unanimity about who the best and worst presidents have been.

Historians do tend, as a group, to be far more liberal than the citizenry as a whole -- a fact the president's admirers have seized on to dismiss the poll results as transparently biased. One pro-Bush historian said the survey revealed more about "the current crop of history professors" than about Bush or about Bush's eventual standing. But if historians were simply motivated by a strong collective liberal bias, they might be expected to call Bush the worst president since his father, or Ronald Reagan, or Nixon. Instead, more than half of those polled -- and nearly three-fourths of those who gave Bush a negative rating -- reached back before Nixon to find a president they considered as miserable as Bush. The presidents most commonly linked with Bush included Hoover, Andrew Johnson and Buchanan. Twelve percent of the historians polled -- nearly as many as those who rated Bush a success -- flatly called Bush the worst president in American history. And these figures were gathered before the debacles over Hurricane Katrina, Bush's role in the Valerie Plame leak affair and the deterioration of the situation in Iraq. Were the historians polled today, that figure would certainly be higher.

Enjoy this Rolling Stone piece. The Voice has been taken over by right wing New Media which has already canned a couple of dozen of its best reporters and a couple of its prize winners have resigned. Don't expect to see much Bush bashing at the Voice in coming months.

Travel Headache

If you aren't flying this afternoon in North America, be glad:

Suspicious Device Found at Atlanta Airport

18 minutes ago

ATLANTA - Officials shut down all security checkpoint at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport after a "suspicious device" was detected in a screening machine.

The airport remained open while an airport explosive detection unit was called in, airport spokeswoman Felicia Browder said, but passengers not yet screened were unable to reach the gates for their flights.

Transportation Security Administration workers detected the suspicious item inside a bag just before 2 p.m., Browder said. She declined to comment further.

TSA spokeswoman Amy von Walter said a possible improvised explosive device had been detected at the airport's main checkpoint.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport holds the title of the nation's busiest airport in number of takeoffs and landings, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. It wasn't immediately clear what impact the checkpoint shutdown would have on flights.

There have been no debarkations or take offs for nearly two hours. Given how tightly planes are scheduled, this will cause disruptions all over the country well into tomorrow. Oy.

Hartsfield is a nightmare on good days. I try to avoid connecting flights through there. Hate the place.

Unsavory Prospect

Government will kill entire flocks that show signs of bird flu

By Libby Quaid, Associated Press | April 19, 2006

WASHINGTON --If deadly bird flu shows up in U.S. chickens or turkeys, the government will kill off any flocks suspected of having the virus even before tests are completed, officials said Wednesday.

At greater risk are free-ranging chickens and small, backyard flocks -- as many as 60,000 in Los Angeles alone.

If bird flu arrives, "quick detection will be key to quickly containing it and eradicating it," said Ron DeHaven, head of the Agriculture Department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Most of America's chickens come from big commercial farms that keep birds indoors and are well-protected against the spread of disease. Yet there are many flocks in people's back yards -- officials are unsure how many -- and free-range flocks that are outdoors and could mix with wild birds or their droppings.

Officials encourage those producers to bring flocks inside and watch for signs of flu -- dead birds; lack of appetite; purple wattles, combs and legs; coughing or sneezing; diarrhea -- and report them immediately to state or federal authorities.

"We can't afford for this virus to be smoldering six months before we find it," DeHaven said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Owners will want to report sick birds because they will be paid fair market value for destroyed flocks, DeHaven said. Stopping the spread of bird flu has been more difficult in countries that can't afford to compensate farmers, he added.

The U.S. has a poultry industry worth more than $29 billion that produces more than 9 billion chickens and 250 million turkeys a year, more than any other country.

To target owners of small flocks, the Agriculture Department has an outreach campaign that uses Spanish and Vietnamese as well as English in materials and ads.

The virulent strain of bird flu spreading through Asia, Europe and Africa has killed 110 people, and more than 200 million birds have died from the disease or been slaughtered in efforts to contain it. Scientists fear it could mutate into a form that spreads easily among people, sparking a worldwide epidemic.

Authorities say it's likely to arrive in the United States this year. The government is testing more wild birds than usual, as many as 100,000 in Alaska and other migratory pathways. Chicken and turkey companies are testing nearly every flock for the virus.

"If the virus does arrive in the U.S., we think we'll find it quickly," he said. "We don't think that it would ever make it into the food chain."

Trying to get my brain around the amount of money even just a strictly avian flu will cost the world economy is more than I can do. Consumer demand for poultry will go through the floor as soon as we have reported cases in North America.

Price Gouging

Gulp! Try $4.50!
Brooklyn gas station floors it

BY JONATHAN LEMIRE and RICH SCHAPIRO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Motorist looks in stunned silence at $4.50 pump price at Brooklyn gas station. With pump prices rising fast, a gas station under the Brooklyn Bridge took a quantum leap into outrageousness - charging a jaw-dropping $4.50 a gallon!

That's what the Gulf Station on Old Fulton St. in Brooklyn Heights was charging credit card customers for a gallon of premium yesterday.

A gallon of regular gas was no bargain, either, at $4.14 for cash or $4.26 on plastic.

"That's crazy," said Mike Charles, 49, after gawking at the astronomical rates. "I've never seen gas prices like that before."

"There's no way I'd ever pay that much," he added. "I don't care how badly I needed gas."

Around the city, motorists were bracing for prices to crest at $3, a figure the Brooklyn station left in the dust.

A Daily News reporter spent nearly 90 minutes outside the station yesterday evening before a driver finally decided to fork over an exorbitant amount of dough for some fuel.

"I had no other options," said Carey Macaleer, 29, as she paid a whopping $49.16 to fill up her navy blue Subaru Outback. "I'm virtually empty and I'm going to Westchester."
....
As New Yorkers lashed out against the skyrocketing fuel prices yesterday, Sen. Chuck Schumer called for an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission to ensure that rising gas prices are not a result of corporate greed.

"It's not hurricane season, but the oil companies are just raising the price up and up and up," Schumer said. "And the question is are they doing this dictated on the laws of supply and demand, or is something else at work?"

Exxon pension: How much is too much?
The Associated Press, The New York Times

MONDAY, APRIL 17, 2006

"Some folks will ask the question, 'Is this more evidence of big oil taking an enormous windfall and retaining all the riches?'" said Mel Fugate, assistant professor for Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business. Exxon has drawn criticism from politicians and economists for becoming the most profitable company in history - at consumers' expense, they say. The company benefited from high oil and natural gas prices and solid demand for refined products en route to earning $36 billion last year. It has defended its profits, saying that other industries have larger profit margins but oil companies' bottom lines stand out because they operate on a much larger scale.

HR Trouble

Josh Marshall has a trenchant observation this morning on White House shake-ups and lacks thereof:

In all seriousness, I think the real story here continues to be that things are so bad at the White House, the level of denial and secrets to be kept, the self-bamboozlement and bad-faith so profound, that they just can't manage to bring in any new blood.

With Rumsfeld, or any other cabinet secretary, there's a related problem -- the importance of which has, I think, not been fully appreciated or aired. If Rumsfeld goes, you need to nominate someone else and get them through a senate confirmation. That means an open airing of the disaster of this administration's national security policy. Every particular; all about Iraq. Think how much they don't want that ...

Finally, can they find anyone on the outside who wants in? This, remember, seems to be the problem with Treasury Secretary Snow. He has already, in essence, been fired. But they can't come up with anyone crazy enough to take the job.

First Amendment Fears

The right wing is terrified of free speech. Why do you think that is?

VA apologizes to nurse who wrote letter

By Maggie Shepard
Tribune Reporter
April 18, 2006

An Albuquerque Veterans Affairs nurse has received a bit of the vindication she sought for wrongly being accused of sedition: An admission from a top official that the agency was wrong, plus a private apology from her boss.

The admission, which was made public this week by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, comes in a letter dated March 14 from Veterans Affairs Secretary R. James Nicholson to U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman.

It regards a letter to the editor written by psychiatric nurse Laura Berg that was published in September in the Alibi, an alternative newspaper in Albuquerque.

In the letter, Berg criticized the federal government on several issues, including its actions in Iraq and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

"I am furious with the tragically misplaced priorities and criminal negligence of this government," she wrote.

Berg identified herself as a VA nurse in the letter.

Within weeks of her letter's publication, Berg said Mel Hooker, Veterans Affairs Medical Center human resources chief, and other staff confiscated her work computer and later told her she was being investigated for possible sedition.

Nicholson's letter, however, states Berg's "letter to the newspaper did not amount to sedition."

Nicholson's letter was in response to one sent to him by Bingaman. The Silver City Democrat, in his Feb. 7 letter to Nicholson, wrote that "instituting investigation in these types of cases raises a very real possibility of chilling legitimate political speech."

That chilling effect is what Berg said she most worries about. And that, she said, is why she wanted a public apology, not the private one she received from Albuquerque VA Director Mary Dowling in mid-February, about a week after Nicholson received Bingaman's letter.

"My concern about just having a private apology is because this happened to me it has frightened other people. It was intimidating," Berg said. "I appreciate having a personal apology saying, 'Yes, it was an overreaction,' but my concern is for the wider environment."

A 'Pulitzer Prize for Treason'

By Glenn Greenwald, AlterNet. Posted April 18, 2006.

Hiding under the banner of free press advocates, right-wingers are calling for the heads of reporters who publish 'against the president's wishes.'

Several weeks ago, the Washington Post published an op-ed jointly written by Bill Bennett and his neoconservative comrade Alan Dershowitz, in which Bennett -- of all people -- pretended to be an advocate of a free press by decrying the media's "capitulat[ion] to Islamists." Bennett was upset that only a handful of American newspapers had published the Mohammed cartoons, arguing that by failing to publish the cartoons, "the press has betrayed not only its duties but its responsibilities."

As I noted at the time and on several other occasions, Bush supporters like Bennett are the last people who ought to be parading around under the banner of a free press, given their lengthy and intensifying efforts to destroy investigative journalism in this country by criminalizing its defining functions and threatening reporters with imprisonment who expose dubious (or worse) conduct on the part of the Bush administration. That is a very real and disturbing trend that has received far less attention than it deserves -- particularly from, ironically and revealingly enough, the press itself.

Yesterday, James Risen and Eric Lichtblau received well-deserved Pulitzer Prizes for "national reporting" based on their (yearlong-delayed) disclosure of the president's illegal NSA eavesdropping program. That award has unleashed a slew of bitter commentary from Bush supporters, including Bennett, proclaiming that Risen and Lichtblau belong in prison. On his radio show this morning, the great free press crusader Bennett said: "I think what they did is worthy of jail."

Fast Food Nation

Salads or No, Cheap Burgers Revive McDonald's
By MELANIE WARNER

On a recent afternoon at McDonald's in Union Square in Manhattan, Chris Rivera and Shamell Jackson reviewed the menu, which includes a variety of healthy options, including salad and fruit. Then they each ordered the usual: two McChicken sandwiches from the Dollar Menu, fries and a McFlurry shake.

The two 15-year-olds, like many of their classmates at the nearby Washington Irving High School, go to McDonald's often. And it is customers like Mr. Jackson and Ms. Rivera, consistently ordering the cheaper and more fattening items on the menu, who have fueled a remarkable resurgence at McDonald's.

"When I was younger, my mom never used to let me come here," said Mr. Jackson, standing in a register line 15 deep and filled with teenagers. "She thought it was nasty. But I've got my own money now."

The enormous success of the Dollar Menu, where all items cost $1, has helped stimulate 36 consecutive months of sales growth at stores open at least a year. In three years, revenue has increased by 33 percent and its shares have rocketed 170 percent, a remarkable turnaround for a company that only four years ago seemed to be going nowhere.

McDonald's has attracted considerable attention in the last few years for introducing to its menu healthy food items like salads and fruit. Yet its turnaround has come not from greater sales of healthy foods but from selling more fast-food basics, like double cheeseburgers and fried chicken sandwiches, from the Dollar Menu.
....
Reacting to the success of McDonald's Dollar Menu, Wendy's and Burger King both started promoting their versions of low-priced deals. Wendy's, which in 1989 was the first burger chain to experiment with menu items for $1, lowered prices on its Super Value Menu to 99 cents in January. And in February, Burger King started offering its own version of a dollar menu, including the Whopper Jr. and cheeseburgers.

The Dollar Menu became a permanent part of McDonald's menu in the United States in late 2002. It offers items like a double cheeseburger, the fried McChicken sandwich, French fries, a hot fudge sundae, pies, a side salad, a yogurt parfait and a 16-ounce soda.

Since McDonald's started advertising the Dollar Menu nationally, the double cheeseburger has become the chain's most ordered item. Even priced at $1, double cheeseburgers bring in more revenue than salads or the chicken sandwiches, which cost $3.19 to $4.29.

Fat, unhealthy kids become fat, unhealthy adults in a country with declining numbers of people covered by health insurance. Ya think this might be a problem?

Re-Arranging the Deck Chairs

Spokesman Resigns in White House Shake-Up

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Wednesday he is resigning, continuing a shakeup in President Bush's administration that has already yielded a new chief of staff and could lead to a change in the Cabinet.

Appearing with Bush on the White House South Lawn just before the president boarded a helicopter at the start a trip to Alabama, McClellan, who has parried especially fiercely with reporters on Iraq and on intelligence issues, told Bush: "I have given it my all sir and I have given you my all sir, and I will continue to do so as we transition to a new press secretary."

Bush said McClellan had "a challenging assignment."

"I thought he handled his assignment with class, integrity," the president said. "It's going to be hard to replace Scott, but nevertheless he made the decision and I accepted it. One of these days, he and I are going to be rocking in chairs in Texas and talking about the good old days."

McClellan was named press secretary in June 2003, not long after the United States invaded Iraq and had first been a deputy to Ari Fleischer in the job -- a White House position with daily visibility rivaling virtually everyone there except the president.

Also, a senior administration official revealed another move in the ongoing shakeup of Bush's staff, saying that longtime confidant and adviser Karl Rove is giving up oversight of policy development to focus more on politics with the approach of the fall midterm elections.

As I noted yesterday, all of the potential replacement candidates come from the same insular inner circle where groupthink prevails. This isn't likely to change much of anything.

UPDATE: Fox News's Tony Snow has been approached to be McClellen's replacement.

I See Brown People

Canadian Claims Mistreatment by U.S Agents

By BETH DUFF-BROWN
The Associated Press
Wednesday, April 19, 2006; 4:14 AM

TORONTO -- Akhil Sachdeva, an accountant from India who emigrated to Canada, still wonders why he was seized at gunpoint by U.S. agents and held for months with hundreds of foreigners following the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Chaining him to a bench at the FBI's Manhattan office on Dec. 20, 2001, federal agents demanded to know his religious and political beliefs, asked whether he had taken flying lessons and sought his personal views about the suicide hijackers, he said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The 33-year-old is among eight foreign detainees who have sued U.S. officials, contending they were mistreated and terrorized by snarling dogs during four months at the Passaic County Jail in New Jersey. The class-action lawsuit is open to some 800 foreign-born detainees who were held for roughly the same amount of time.

"Maybe because of my skin color? I am an Indian and I look like any person from Pakistan or an Arab country," Sachdeva, a Hindu native of New Delhi, said in an interview after completing depositions in Toronto taken by lawyers representing the U.S. government.

Sachdeva, now a Canadian citizen, is seeking undisclosed financial compensation for his ordeal by joining the federal lawsuit filed in New York against senior U.S. officials, including FBI Director Robert Mueller and former Attorney General John Ashcroft.

"First of all, I want an apology," Sachdeva said by telephone from his home in Brampton, Ontario.

"One day I have everything, the next day they destroyed my life and I was not even charged for anything _ I had done no crime. I understand that there was a need of national security then, but how can they treat people that way?"

Charles Miller, a Justice Department spokesman, declined comment on the lawsuit, as did Dean Boyd, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Washington.

James Margolin, a special agent with the FBI in New York, said he could not talk in any detail about the case, but challenged Sachdeva's account of being mistreated by FBI agents.

"The allegations about mistreatment at the hands of FBI agents in New York, we believe are entirely without basis in fact and are untrue," he said.

Filed by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of nearly 800 mostly Muslim and Arab immigrants, the lawsuit alleges federal agents violated the men's rights by jailing them on the basis of nationality and religion.

They were secretly put in high-security cell blocks normally reserved for dangerous criminals until most of them, including Sachdeva, were cleared of terrorist connections and released.
....
Sachdeva said he was later taken to the Passaic County Jail, where he was strip-searched and put in a cell with dozens of inmates. He said that for the first week, he was forced to sleep on the cold floor and given no toothbrush.

He and the other seven plaintiffs say their biggest fear came from guards who threatened them and the police dogs that were routinely paraded.

"We never knew. Sometimes you're sitting in a cell and suddenly there are eight or 10 officers holding dogs, then they took us in small corridors and pushed us against the walls and the dogs were two inches away," Sachdeva said. "They started barking and it was so terrifying."

Other inmates called them terrorists, and one punched him in the face and chipped a front tooth, he said.

The Passaic County Sheriff's Department, which runs the jail, calls the lawsuit unjustified and says dogs are used only to sniff out contraband or maintain security.

"Their accusations are not based on the truth, but on their desire to win a lawsuit," spokesman Bill Maer said.

He said dogs have not been allowed near immigrant detainees at all since the Department of Homeland Security banned their use to control such prisoners in December 2004.

On Dec. 27, 2001, Sachdeva received a notice to appear at an immigration court in Newark, N.J. He conceded he had overstayed his U.S. visa and the judge told him that he would be deported to Canada or India within 30 days.

But he remained jailed for 3 1/2 more months before being released on April 17, 2002. He was driven straight to an airport and, in handcuffs, put on a flight to Toronto, with no money. He got his passport back, but hasn't seen his Canadian driver's license and medical insurance card since.

Looks like plain old racism to me.

Open Source Intelligence

CIA mines 'rich' content from blogs

By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
April 19, 2006

President Bush and U.S. policy-makers are receiving more intelligence from open sources such as Internet blogs and foreign newspapers than they previously did, senior intelligence officials said.

The new Open Source Center (OSC) at CIA headquarters recently stepped up data collection and analysis based on bloggers worldwide and is developing new methods to gauge the reliability of the content, said OSC Director Douglas J. Naquin.

"A lot of blogs now have become very big on the Internet, and we're getting a lot of rich information on blogs that are telling us a lot about social perspectives and everything from what the general feeling is to ... people putting information on there that doesn't exist anywhere else," Mr. Naquin told The Washington Times.

Eliot A. Jardines, assistant deputy director of national intelligence for open source, said the amount of unclassified intelligence reaching Mr. Bush and senior policy-makers has increased as a result of the center's creation in November.

"We're certainly scoring a number of wins with our ultimate customer," said Mr. Jardines, who became the first high-level official in charge of the government's nonsecret intelligence in December.

"I can't get into detail of what, but I'll just say the amount of open source reporting that goes into the president's daily brief has gone up rather significantly," Mr. Jardines said. "There has been a real interest at the highest levels of our government, and we've been able to consistently deliver products that are on par with the rest of the intelligence community."

Mr. Naquin said recent OSC successes have included the discovery of a technology advance in a foreign country. Also, most data on avian flu outbreaks come from open sources, he said.

"Have we got coups out of it? Close to it," Mr. Naquin said. "But certainly we've had more insight than we've ever had before."

Does this mean the Bushies read Flu Wiki?

Middle Class Threats

Hamiltonian Democrats

By Harold Meyerson
Wednesday, April 19, 2006; Page A17

It's come to this: The chief project to restate Democratic economics for our time was unveiled a couple of weeks ago, and it's named after the father of American conservatism, Alexander Hamilton.

Necessarily, the authors of the Hamilton Project preface their declaration with an attempt, not altogether successful, to reclaim Hamilton from the right. The nation's first secretary of the Treasury, they note, "stood for sound fiscal policy, believed that broad-based opportunity for advancement would drive American economic growth, and recognized that 'prudent aids and encouragements on the part of government' are necessary to enhance and guide market forces."

Which is true, as far as it goes. Hamilton believed in balanced budgets and in the government's taking an active role to build the infrastructure and fiscal climate that business and the nation need to succeed -- ideas as alien to the current administration as support for collective farms. But Hamilton also feared the common people, dismissed their capacity for self-government and supported rule by elites instead.
....
Unfortunately, some of Hamilton's disdain for democracy seeps into their statement as well. The problem of "entitlement imbalances is so large," they fret, "that the regular political process seems unlikely to produce a solution," so they recommend a bipartisan "special process" insulated from popular pressures. They also place such traditional Republican boogeymen as teachers unions on the list of problems that need to be solved. On the other hand, their list of national problems includes nothing about a corporate and financial culture that richly and reflexively rewards executives who offshore work to cheaper climes and deny their American employees the right to join unions.

Indeed, much of their statement amounts to whistling by the globalization graveyard. The authors place great stress on improving American education -- a commendable and unexceptionable goal, but one that may do little to retard the export of our jobs since, as they acknowledge, it's increasingly the knowledge jobs that are going to India and even China. But then, Rubin was the guy who promoted both NAFTA and unfettered trade with China. In a sense, the Hamilton Project can be seen as Rubin's sincere but inadequate attempt to grapple with the consequences of the policies he championed. Like the side agreements to NAFTA, which were advertised as protecting worker rights and environmental standards but which in fact did neither, the Hamilton Project comes up short on genuine solutions. There's nothing in the statement about raising the minimum wage or mandating a living wage; the word "unions" is nowhere to be found, though unionizing our non-offshorable service sector jobs is the surest way to restore the broader prosperity for which Rubin and his co-authors pine.

What the Democrats need is a project that takes as hard a look at corporate boardrooms as the Hamiltonians do at teachers unions. For, so long as our problem is at least partly American capitalism's indifference to American workers, the Democrats won't find a solution in the example of Alexander Hamilton or the muffled cadences of Robert Rubin.

Meyerson is a well-enough insulated inside-the-beltway pundit that he can mention corporate boardrooms and teachers unions in the same sentence as authors of our economic malaise. Silly man. I don't see any teachers taking home 7 figure salaries. Those teacher unions, ya gotta watch 'em.

Site News.

The job is really heavy right now and I'm not going to be able to be around much. This is a good thing for income, a bad thing for the blog. I ask the co-bloggers to keep an eye on things and contribute when possible. I'm going to be tied up for most of this week, things should start to settle down next.

Co-bloggers, I'll email you once I get a better sense of how this is going to go. Right now, I'm stupid with tired and need to get a new laptop, the new demands are going to blow this one out of the water in the next week. My new work colleagues and I are literally making up a new thing on the fly, real time, and I have no idea how this is going to turn out. I'll send links when we have some that look half-way decent. The work is pretty crude right now.

Good thing I have some gifted programmers working beside me. The bad thing is that they keep programmer hours, and that means so do I. These guys are maniacs.

Me, Ah's just a writer venturing into foreign terratory. The folks here are strange. But yer werks wid whut yer gots.

Fifteen killer facts about today's declining market

From one of the real estate blogs I frequent these days ...

Fifteen killer facts about today's declining market

1. In January, housing starts were up 14.5 percent – the largest increase since records began in 1959 (Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce).


2. Building Permits were up 6.8 percent in January compared to December and up 3.8 percent compared to the same month in 2005 (Department of Commerce).


3. In February, mortgage applications are down 18.9 percent compared to the same period last year (Mortgage Banker’s Association).


4. The Index of Pending Existing Home Re-sales is Down 1.1 percent in January compared to December. Moreover, it has fallen every month since August. (National Association of Realtors)


5. New home sales are down 5 percent compared to a year earlier (Department of Housing and Urban Development).


6. Nationally, sales of existing homes in January were down 5.2 percent. Sales have fallen for five straight months (National Association of Realtors).


7. Condo and co-op sales declined 10.6 percent in January compared to December and are almost 5 percent lower than the same month a year earlier (National Association of Realtors)


8. The inventory of unsold existing homes is up 2.4 percent from December (National Association of Realtors). The total number of homes available for sale at the end of January was up 35.7 percent from a year earlier.


9. Realtors are now holding the largest inventory of unsold existing homes since 1998. Inventory is now at 5.3-month supply (National Association of Realtors)


10. The inventory of unsold new homes was 1.2 percent higher in January compared to December. It is up more than 20 percent compared to last year. (Commerce Department).


11. The inventory of new homes is now the highest since 1996 and represents 5.2 months of supply (Commerce Department).


12. In January, median home prices were down 2 percent compared to the peak in October (National Association of Home Builders).


13. The housing affordability index (HAI) is at a 14-year low.


14. In January, foreclosures are up 27 percent compared to December and up 45 percent from January 2005 (Realty Trac’s monthly US foreclosure report).


15. More than $2 trillion of US mortgage debt comes up for interest-rate adjustments during 2006 and 2007. These adjustments will affect one borrower in four (Moody’s economy.com.)

Gas and Macroeconomics

Economist Nouriel Roubini on oil prices:

Why Oil at $70 Would Have Serious Negative Effects on U.S. and Global Economic Growth Created: Apr 10 2006

Oil prices are surging again, close to $69 dollar a barrel this morning. After reaching a peak above $70 a barrel following the "Katrita" hurricanes of the summer of 2005, oil price fell to the low 60s in the fall and winter of 2005 as the summer peak season of high oil demand passed and as the release oil from the petroleum strategic reserves of the U.S. and Europe helped to calm energy markets. But in recent weeks oil prices - and gasoline prices - are sharply up again driven by several factors including the political tensions in Nigeria where supplies, production and exports are impeded by a growing civil war; the rising tension between the U.S. and Iran on the issue of nuclear proliferation; and the incoming high energy demand season of spring and summer. Since last fall I had predicted that tight capacity conditions - together with rising tensions in Iran and Nigeria - would bring back oil prices to the peaks of 2005. Also, structural conditions in the oil market remain tight as further supply and capacity increases are constrained by limited investment in unstable oil producing countries such as Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela, and Nigeria while demand is still growing at a good pace given sustained global economic growth. Thus, even leaving aside that fact that meteorologists now predict another banner hurricane season in the U.S. this summer, oil prices are likely to drift towards $70 or above and likely to stay at those high levels for the rest of the year. With tensions in Iran and Nigeria rising and no near term resolution of these geopolitical tensions (and some meaningful probability of worsening of such tensions), oil prices are headed further higher.

Thus, the main economic and policy issue is: if oil prices drift towards $70 a barrel and stay close to such levels for the rest of 2006 (let alone drifting higher), what will be the consequences of such high oil prices for the U.S. and global economy, both in terms of growth and inflation? One important observation before we try to answer this question: it is not just oil prices that are rising but also other energy prices and other commodity prices. Thus, while I will concentrate on the effect of high oil prices, everything I argue would be reinforced if other energy and commodity price also increase due to supply constraints.

Many observers - including myself and the IMF - predicted in 2004 and later that high oil prices would lead to a U.S. and global economic slowdown; but such a slowdown actually did not actually materialize. Such growth slowdown did not occur for several reasons: the oil and commodity price shock was driven by more by higher global demand rather than by a supply shock; U.S. and advanced economies are less dependent on oil than in the 1970s and 1980s; the recycling of petrodollars - via high oil exporters current account surpluses and excess savings - kept global long rates lower than otherwise and thus stimulated consumption and investment demand in oil importing countries; monetary policy remained very easy in the G7 (in the U.S. until late 2004; in the Eurozone and Japan until very recently) thus helping growth; asset and housing bubbles driven by low short and long term interest rates sustained demand and investment in many advanced economies; in China and other countries high oil prices did not lead to higher oil/energy retail prices because of price controls; many oil importing countries - especially the U.S. - reacted to the oil shock as if it was only temporary, thus not adjusting consumption and savings to the higher oil price level; and, finally, in the US in 2002-2004 a very loose policy stance with easy money, easier fiscal policy and a weaker dollar stimulated economic activity. On the inflation side, the spike in oil, energy and commodity prices did not lead to an increase in US and global core inflation rates. Again, the reasons are several: less structural dependence on oil and energy; globalization keeping non-oil import prices low; stable and credible low inflation monetary policies; sluggish growth of labor costs - in part due to globalization - that kept a lid on overall production costs.

One may also note that the peak in oil prices - above $70 - in the summer of 2005 was very temporary with oil prices falling towards the low 60s in the fall-winter of 2005. Thus, the potential stagflationary shock of oil at $70 was dampened by its transitory nature. The relevant issue now is, thus, whether a renewed increase in oil prices to a level close or above $70 - that is sustained for the rest of 2006 - would have a larger effect on global economic growth and global inflation. My answer to this question is yes: if oil prices were to drift towards $70 and stay there for the rest of 2006 - as I expect they may given the arguments presented above - the effects on global growth and inflation would be more serious and significant than the effects of rising oil prices in 2004 and 2005.

One of Roubini's commentors notes that we have bubbles in both housing and equities right now. The world economic situation is dangerously out of balance.

Oil closed at $71.35 on the New York Merc today, the highest ever.

UPDATE: I walked across the street to the Exxon station convenience store to pick up a new lighter a few minutes ago. Price on the corner went up .02/gallon over night. I'll be checking each day as I go out for my walk.

Historical Comparisons

Eric Alterman gets letters:

Dr. Alterman, I know it's snarky, but it did make me think. The latest poll numbers put the percentage of the population who "strongly approve" of Bush at 20%. Recent pollings of Russians, though, indicate that more than 25% would vote for Stalin if he were still alive. What does it say about our leader if he is less popular than Stalin?

Hermetic Circle

Big Media Matt
makes an observation this morning which is spot on:

THE "OVERHAUL" CONTINUES. The president's effort to shake up the White House staff without actually changing anything took another step forward today. When Andy Card resigned, he was replaced by Office of Management and Budget Director Josh Bolten which, in turn, created an opening. That opening, we learn, will be filled by US Trade Representative Rob Portman. And just to make sure there's absolutely no new blood introduced to the system, Portman will be replaced by his deputy. This all serves as a reminder that even if the current campaign to shove Don Rumsfeld out of office were to somehow succeed, the actual results would be minimal.

Easy Prediction

Many Health Care Workers Won't Show Up in Flu Pandemic
04.18.06, 12:00 AM ET

TUESDAY, April 18 (HealthDay News) -- With many Americans worried about their safety should a flu pandemic occur, there's little reassurance from a survey that finds that close to half of U.S. public health-care workers would not show up for work if such a pandemic occurred.

In fact, two-thirds of the 308 employees polled said their work would put them at risk of contracting the potentially deadly flu should an outbreak come to pass.

"Forty-two percent of the health care workers surveyed said they would not respond in the event of a flu pandemic," said study co-author Dr. Daniel J. Barnett, an instructor at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Public Health Preparedness in Baltimore.

"The most important factor, in terms of showing up for work, was how much the individual employee perceived his or her role [to be] in the agency's response," he added. The less important an employee thought his or her role was, the less likely they were to report for work, Barrett said.

Just 40 percent of the employees felt that they would be asked to show up should a pandemic become a reality.

In addition, only 33 percent thought they were knowledgeable about the health impact of pandemic flu, Barnett said.

The survey was conducted between March 2005-July 2005 and involved employees of three Maryland county health departments. The findings appear in the April issue of the journal BMC Public Health.

The willingness to report for work was lowest among technical and support staff, Barnett said. These include computer data entry staff, clerical workers and receptionists. "In many cases, these are some of the people who will be on the frontline interfacing with the public," he noted.

The implication of these findings is that more training of health care workers is needed. "We need to do a better job of training the public health workforce," Barnett said. "Not just in ability to respond, but in willingness to respond," he added.

In point of fact, you can expect half of all your first responders not to respond across the board. Firefighters, cops, EMTs, you name it. Same with National Guard and Reserve. Once again, look at what happened in the Gulf during Rita and Katrina, which are virtually the dry run for pandemic influenza.

Worse than Watergate

Via DemFromCT:

Senate Hearings on Bush, Now
In this VF.com exclusive, a Watergate veteran and Vanity Fair contributor calls for bipartisan hearings investigating the Bush presidency. Should Republicans on the Hill take the high road and save themselves come November?
By CARL BERNSTEIN

Perhaps there are facts or mitigating circumstances, given the extraordinary nature of conceiving and fighting a war on terror, that justify some of the more questionable policies and conduct of this presidency, even those that turned a natural disaster in New Orleans into a catastrophe of incompetence and neglect. But the truth is we have no trustworthy official record of what has occurred in almost any aspect of this administration, how decisions were reached, and even what the actual policies promulgated and approved by the president are. Nor will we, until the subpoena powers of the Congress are used (as in Watergate) to find out the facts—not just about the war in Iraq, almost every aspect of it, beginning with the road to war, but other essential elements of Bush's presidency, particularly the routine disregard for truthfulness in the dissemination of information to the American people and Congress.

The first fundamental question that needs to be answered by and about the president, the vice president, and their political and national-security aides, from Donald Rumsfeld to Condoleezza Rice, to Karl Rove, to Michael Chertoff, to Colin Powell, to George Tenet, to Paul Wolfowitz, to Andrew Card (and a dozen others), is whether lying, disinformation, misinformation, and manipulation of information have been a basic matter of policy—used to overwhelm dissent; to hide troublesome truths and inconvenient data from the press, public, and Congress; and to defend the president and his actions when he and they have gone awry or utterly failed.

Most of what we have learned about the reality of this administration—and the disconcerting mind-set and decision-making process of President Bush himself—has come not from the White House or the Pentagon or the Department of Homeland Security or the Treasury Department, but from insider accounts by disaffected members of the administration after their departure, and from distinguished journalists, and, in the case of a skeletal but hugely significant body of information, from a special prosecutor. And also, of late, from an aide-de-camp to the British prime minister. Almost invariably, their accounts have revealed what the president and those serving him have deliberately concealed—torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo, and its apparent authorization by presidential fiat; wholesale N.S.A. domestic wiretapping in contravention of specific prohibitive law; brutal interrogations of prisoners shipped secretly by the C.I.A. and U.S. military to Third World gulags; the nonexistence of W.M.D. in Iraq; the role of Karl Rove and Dick Cheney's chief of staff in divulging the name of an undercover C.I.A. employee; the non-role of Saddam Hussein and Iraq in the events of 9/11; the death by friendly fire of Pat Tillman (whose mother, Mary Tillman, told journalist Robert Scheer, "The administration tried to attach themselves to his virtue and then they wiped their feet with him"); the lack of a coherent post-invasion strategy for Iraq, with all its consequent tragedy and loss and destabilizing global implications; the failure to coordinate economic policies for America's long-term financial health (including the misguided tax cuts) with funding a war that will drive the national debt above a trillion dollars; the assurance of Wolfowitz (since rewarded by Bush with the presidency of the World Bank) that Iraq's oil reserves would pay for the war within two to three years after the invasion; and Bush's like-minded confidence, expressed to Blair, that serious internecine strife in Iraq would be unlikely after the invasion.

But most grievous and momentous is the willingness—even enthusiasm, confirmed by the so-called Downing Street Memo and the contemporaneous notes of the chief foreign-policy adviser to British prime minister Tony Blair—to invent almost any justification for going to war in Iraq (including sending up an American U-2 plane painted with U.N. markings to be deliberately shot down by Saddam Hussein's air force, a plan hatched while the president, the vice president, and Blair insisted to the world that war would be initiated "only as a last resort"). Attending the meeting between Bush and Blair where such duplicity was discussed unabashedly ("intelligence and facts" would be jiggered as necessary and "fixed around the policy," wrote the dutiful aide to the prime minister) were Ms. Rice, then national-security adviser to the president, and Andrew Card, the recently departed White House chief of staff.

As with Watergate, the investigation of George W. Bush and his presidency needs to start from a shared premise and set of principles that can be embraced by Democrats and Republicans, by liberals and centrists and conservatives, and by opponents of the war and its advocates: that the president of the United States and members of his administration must defend the requirements of the Constitution, obey the law, demonstrate common sense, and tell the truth. Obviously there will be disagreements, even fierce ones, along the way. Here again the Nixon example is useful: Republicans on the Senate Watergate Committee, including its vice chairman, Howard Baker of Tennessee ("What did the president know and when did he know it?"), began the investigation as defenders of Nixon. By its end, only one was willing to make any defense of Nixon's actions.

Open House

Justice Kennedy Goes Too Far
Misreading the Constitution in a self-serving cause

Tuesday, April 18, 2006; A18

JUSTICE ANTHONY M. Kennedy has complained recently that editorial writers seem to mouth off on his opinions without having read them. So we listened to his congressional testimony about cameras in the Supreme Court chamber with particular care to make sure we understood him properly. The court's resistance to cameras is not news. Had Justice Kennedy stuck to the usual litany of objections -- as Justice Clarence Thomas did --his testimony would have been unobjectionable apart from being wrong. But the justice went a big and inappropriate step further, suggesting without quite saying that the separation of powers may forbid Congress from requiring the court to liberalize its policy on cameras.

Justice Thomas outlined the court's concerns: Cameras would negatively affect the quality of oral arguments and would reduce the anonymity of the justices, thereby raising security concerns. Then Justice Kennedy declared: "We've always taken the position in decided cases that it's not for the court to tell Congress how to conduct its proceedings. . . . And we feel very strongly that we have an intimate knowledge of the dynamics and the needs of the court. And we think that proposals which would mandate -- direct -- television in our court in every proceeding [are] inconsistent with that deference, that etiquette, that should apply between the branches." What exactly Justice Kennedy meant by this is opaque; later in the hearing, he responded to a House member's suggestion that Congress could, in fact, pass such a bill by stressing his use of the word "etiquette." Still, his words contain more than a whiff of a threat: Pass such a bill, and we may strike it down.

For a sitting justice, speaking on behalf of a court with the power to strike down an act of Congress, to implicitly threaten to do so in an effort to lobby on any legislative matter is, at minimum, exceedingly poor taste. Judges are not supposed to give advisory opinions. But a justice ought to exercise particular caution on matters in which he and his colleagues have such a deep individual interest. No judge should be wielding hypothetical adjudications as a club in what is really a policy dispute.

This would be true even if the court's position on this question were reasonable. But it isn't. Not only do the justices bar cameras from proceedings that are open to the public, the court doesn't generally release the audio tapes it makes in a timely fashion, either. Even transcripts can take a long time to make their way to the court's Web site. So the public is totally dependent on press coverage of high court arguments. While that coverage is often excellent, reading a news story (or, as Justice Kennedy would certainly agree, an editorial) isn't the same as seeing an argument unfiltered by someone else's perceptions. A legislative effort to strike a more rational balance wouldn't offend the separation of powers. Justice Kennedy should not be dressing up the court's allergy to modernity in such robes.

None of this washes. With proceedings which are already open to the public, the workings of the Supremes ought to be on C-Span, even if it means some of the histrionic playing to the cameras that we see in Congress today. Kennedy seems to have forgotten that the SCOTUS is still about the people's business, not the dealings of the judge's private club.

Bubbling Crude

Oil Rolls Past $70 a Barrel
The price reaches a record high amid rising unease overseas. Consumers may start feeling strains beyond the gas pump.
By Ronald D. White and Tanya Caldwell, Times Staff Writers
April 18, 2006

Oil prices jumped to a new high above $70 a barrel Monday and ignited fresh fears at the gas pump, where drivers seem to be paying more every day.

At one Chevron station in downtown Los Angeles, motorists had to fork over $3.35 a gallon on Monday. And that's for self-serve regular.

Such high prices so early in the year — before the demand from summer travel kicks in — have some energy experts predicting that records could continue to fall in the coming weeks. And economists warn that supercharged energy prices could rekindle inflation across the economy and restrain free-spending consumers.

"If it stays at this level for about six months or so, you will see the prices of other products and services increase," said Chapman University economist Esmael Adibi.

Expensive energy already is being felt, he noted, with major airlines linking higher fares to jet fuel costs. Another sign: Eastman Kodak Co. said Monday that it planned to charge 17% more for film to cover the rising cost of the silver and oil used to produce it.

On the New York futures market Monday, traders sent the May contract for benchmark light crude up $1.08 to close at $70.40 a barrel, beating the previous record of $69.81 a barrel reached Aug. 30 as Hurricane Katrina was walloping the Gulf Coast.

Stocks slipped on rising gold and energy prices, with the Dow Jones industrial average losing 63.87 points to end at 11,073.78.

Energy markets are being roiled by the West's nuclear stare-down with Iran and a possible oil production shutdown in Nigeria. The price move reflected the market's nervousness because global supplies barely cover demand, and major oil-producing countries have little extra capacity to make up for output lost to unexpected events.

"Every time we get some good news, we get bad news. Right now, a very good target for crude oil is $75," said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst for Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. A major disruption in a production hotspot could cause oil prices to soar to $90 a barrel or more, analysts said.

"If something drastic happens, the worst would be $100," said Steve Bellino, senior vice president for energy risk management at Fimat USA Inc., a New York commodities trading firm.

$2.859 at the pump for regular unleaded here last night. Probably higher today. How about in your neighborhood?

The Guys in Charge

Roots of the Uprising

By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006; Page A19

For all his mistakes, Rumsfeld is not some alien creature operating as a loner sabotaging the otherwise reasonable policies of his bosses. President Bush is the commander in chief. Vice President Cheney is on record as having made outlandishly optimistic predictions before the war started about how swimmingly everything would go.

Rumsfeld is Bush's guy, which is why the president resists firing him. Letting Rumsfeld go would amount to acknowledging how badly the administration has botched Iraq.

Indeed, the rebellious generals have not confined their criticism to the secretary of defense. In his powerful article last week in Time magazine, Lt. Gen. Greg Newbold was far-reaching in saying that "the zealots' rationale for war made no sense." That was zealots , plural. He also said that our forces were committed to this fight "with a casualness and swagger that are the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions -- or bury the results." Does anyone doubt to whom those words "casualness" and "swagger" refer?

Newbold, formerly the Pentagon's top operations officer, declared that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's "recent statement that 'we' made the 'right strategic decisions' but made thousands of 'tactical errors' is an outrage. It reflects an effort to obscure gross errors in strategy by shifting the blame for failure to those who have been resolute in fighting." In other words, if Rumsfeld goes, should Rice go too?

It's amusing to hear the administration's supporters worry that these courageous former generals are a threat to civilian control of the military. The claim reflects this administration's willingness to muster any argument it can put its hands on to silence opposition.

It's also hypocritical. Recall the opposition to President Bill Clinton's proposal to allow gays to serve in the armed forces. A certain head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff named Colin Powell publicly broke with his commander in chief in 1993 in arguing that allowing gay men and lesbians to join would undermine "good order and discipline."

Far from speaking up on behalf of Clinton's rights as the military's civilian leader, Republicans in Congress lined up with Powell and the brass. Rep. Tom DeLay said that allowing gays to serve "undermines the effectiveness of the military." (He also said it "creates health problems.") Newt Gingrich condemned Clinton for engaging in "social engineering." Sen. John McCain challenged Clinton on the basis of the new commander in chief's biography. "This president has not one day of military experience," McCain said, "so, clearly, he does not have the expertise on this issue."

The dust-up over gays in the military reflected an unfortunate fact of American political life: For decades, the top leaders of the American military have been overwhelmingly conservative and Republican in their political sympathies. I say "unfortunate" not because the brass's political views have often differed from my own but because it does not serve our military or our public life well to have the leadership of the armed forces so skewed in a single political direction. Nor does it serve liberals well to be -- or to be seen as -- reflexively hostile to the military.

And that may be the silver lining in the current cloud over Rumsfeld and our Iraq policy. Some smart and patriotic generals are telling us that a policy is not wise or respectful of our troops just because it is put forward by politicians on the right end of our political spectrum. We may be witnessing the weakening of partisanship in the top echelons of the military. That would be very good for our republic.

The arrow points to the guy at the top. This is Bush's war.

The Richest Country on Earth

Storm Evacuees Found to Suffer Health Setbacks

By SHAILA DEWAN
Published: April 18, 2006

Families displaced by Hurricane Katrina are suffering from mental disorders and chronic conditions like asthma and from a lack of prescription medication and health insurance at rates that are much higher than average, a new study has found.

The study, conducted by the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and the Children's Health Fund, is the first to examine the health issues of those living in housing provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Based on face-to-face interviews with more than 650 families living in trailers or hotels, it provides a grim portrait of the hurricane's effects on some of the poorest victims, showing gaps in the tattered safety net pieced together from government and private efforts.

Among the study's findings: 34 percent of displaced children suffer from conditions like asthma, anxiety and behavioral problems, compared with 25 percent of children in urban Louisiana before the storm. Fourteen percent of them went without prescribed medication at some point during the three months before the survey, which was conducted in February, compared with 2 percent before the hurricane.

Nearly a quarter of school-age children were either not enrolled in school at the time of the survey or had missed at least 10 days of school in the previous month. Their families had moved an average of 3.5 times since the storm.

Their parents and guardians were doing no better. Forty-four percent said they had no health insurance, many because they lost their jobs after the storm, and nearly half were managing at least one chronic condition like diabetes, high blood pressure or cancer. Thirty-seven percent described their health as "fair" or "poor," compared with 10 percent before the hurricane.

More than half of the mothers and other female caregivers scored "very low" on a commonly used mental health screening exam, which is consistent with clinical disorders like depression or anxiety. Those women were more than twice as likely to report that at least one of their children had developed an emotional or behavioral problem since the storm.

Instead of being given a chance to recover, the study says, "Children and families who have been displaced by the hurricanes are being pushed further toward the edge."

Officials at the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals said the study's findings were consistent with what they had seen in the field.

"I think it told us in number form what we knew in story form," said Erin Brewer, the medical director of the Office of Public Health at the department. "We're talking about a state that had the lowest access to primary care in the country before the storm. And a population within that context who were really, really medically underserved and terribly socially vulnerable."

Ms. Brewer said that some of the trailer sites were regularly visited by mobile health clinics, but acknowledged that such programs were not universally available. Neither Congress nor the State of Louisiana eased eligibility requirements for Medicaid after the storm, and because each state sets its own guidelines, some families who received insurance and food stamps in other states were no longer eligible when they returned home.

The so-called "greatest country on earth" doesn't really give a damn about anyone other than the richest. Our laughable health care system doesn't hold a candle to, say, that of Costa Rica's. Our child mortality rate doesn't look all that hot compared with the rest of the "developed world" either.

If this is the best we can do, we don't seem to be trying very hard.

G'ngight

I'm so tired right now that my hair hurts and my eyelashes weigh too much.

As we say auf Deutch, "bis morgan." I'll see you when the sun is up. I'm so tired right now that everything hurts. Let's not even get into the injuries which are decades old. And weigh like lead.

Judgement of History

Macleans is a Canadian weekly newsmagazine.

Is George W. Bush the worst president in 100 years?

He has always been a polarizing figure, but now his constant battles at home and abroad are taking on historic proportions

STEVE MAICH

On March 16, Iraqi insurgents fired a mortar shell into the U.S. army base in Tikrit, landing near two members of the 101st Airborne Division, reportedly as they stood waiting for a bus. The explosion killed Sgt. Amanda Pinson of St. Louis, Mo., making her the 2,315th U.S. soldier killed in Iraq since the war began three years ago. She was 21.

A few hours later in Washington, the U.S. Senate voted 52-48 to increase the ceiling on the national debt, by $781 billion, to $9 trillion (all figures US$) -- or roughly $30,000 for every man, woman and child in the country -- thus avoiding the first-ever default on U.S. debt. The House of Representatives then approved another $92 billion in federal spending to support the war effort in the Middle East.

That night, Gallup wrapped up its latest opinion poll on Americans' attitudes toward the White House, showing just 37 per cent approve of the President's performance, versus 59 per cent who disapprove -- a drop of five percentage points in a month -- one of the worst scores of any president in the modern era.

Just another day in the life of the world's last superpower under the leadership of President George W. Bush.

With deficits and debt swelling to epic levels, an economy showing massive cracks, and support for America crumbling abroad, the Bush administration finds itself increasingly isolated. With mid-term elections looming in November, the President is now widely seen as a political liability. Republicans are actively distancing themselves from Bush, and joining Democrats in strident critiques of the White House. And things may be getting worse. Last week, court documents emerged showing Scooter Libby, former chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney, testified that Bush authorized the leak of sensitive intelligence to shore up support and discredit critics of the Iraq war, raising, for the first time, the possibility that the President may be personally implicated in a scandal.

These are more than just the normal travails of a second-term president fending off the slings and arrows of partisan attack. Bush's constant battles at home and abroad are taking on historic proportions, hardening perceptions that his administration is defined by failure on multiple fronts. Just over 16 months have passed since George W. Bush was elected for the second term that eluded his father, but already historians and pundits are beginning to debate whether he just might be the worst U.S. president in a century.

In 2004, George Mason University polled 415 presidential historians and found 80 per cent considered Bush's first term a failure. More than half considered it the worst presidency since the Great Depression. More than a third called it the worst in 100 years. Eleven per cent said it was the worst ever. Robert McElvaine, a professor of history at Millsaps College in Mississippi, says scores would likely be worse if the poll were repeated today. "When I filled out that survey I said Bush was the worst since Buchanan [1857-61], but things have gotten worse and now I'd have to consider him the worst ever," McElvaine says. "If you look at the situation he inherited, and the situation following 9/11, he had great opportunities and he basically squandered them. He has put the future of the country in a much more precarious position than it was when he became president."

That Bush is unpopular, especially among academics, is not surprising in itself. He has always been a polarizing figure, and most presidents have been deeply unpopular at some point in office, especially those who dedicated themselves to ambitious projects beyond America's borders. Even Abraham Lincoln, now generally considered the greatest of all U.S. presidents, was widely detested in his day for triggering the bloodbath of the Civil War for no good reason.
.....
With just a few years left in his mandate, historians say George W. Bush has no such achievements to offset the grievous cost of Iraq in blood and treasure. Despite the biggest federal spending spree in more than a generation, the Bush White House has produced no transformational vision for domestic policy. His massive tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 have neither sparked the economy nor bolstered his popularity. They have, however, exacerbated a fiscal crisis that threatens to undermine the very basis of the American state. "It used to be a part of the American character to believe in delaying gratification, and saving for the future," McElvaine says. "But it seems the future is being ignored in spectacular fashion by this administration."

I'm quite confident that by the time he concludes his second term, he'll be seen as the worst president ever.

Missing the Point

An Unkept Promise in Iraq

Published: April 17, 2006

Two years ago, the United States government promised to build more than 140 badly needed health clinics in Iraq, bringing basic care to underserved areas outside the big cities. That could have done a lot of good, saving innocent Iraqi lives and building good will for the United States in places where it has grown dangerously scarce. A generous cost-plus contract was awarded to Parsons Inc., an American construction firm, to do the work, supervised by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Now, with roughly $200 million already spent and financing from Washington set to run out in less than nine months, it appears extremely unlikely that most of those clinics will ever be built. As The Washington Post reported earlier this month, the Army Corps of Engineers predicts that no more than 20 clinics will actually be completed — out of 142.

America's good intentions should not be allowed to expire with so pathetically little achieved. The country's three years in Iraq have been a cavalcade of squandered opportunities and unanticipated outcomes. Many of those are now, sadly, beyond retrieval. The health clinics are not.

There appears to be plenty of blame to go around for the health clinics fiasco. High on the list comes the Bush administration's stubborn refusal to factor the deteriorating military situation into reconstruction planning. By the time this contract was awarded, in the spring of 2004, it should have been clear that special security measures would be needed in many areas.

Beyond that, there appear to be some serious questions about the performance by Parsons and the quality of supervision by the Army Corps of Engineers. The office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction is looking into many of these issues and is expected to issue a report later this month. Sorting out the specific responsibilities is important for avoiding similar contracting debacles in the future.

Just as important is delivering on the original promise of health clinics. A new plan should be drawn up, taking a more realistic account of security conditions, and new financing needs to be found. New, and tighter, contracts need to be written and enforced.

This is so wrong-headed as to be worthy of comment. Note to the Times ed board: the situation in Iraq is completely fucked. Even discussing health clinics in the middle of a war zone is ridiculous. The problem is the war, people. What part of that do you not get?

'Round the 'Sphere

Juan Cole has a bunch of important things to say this morning, including the announcement of a major Arabic/American education initiative that needs our support. Please go read.

He closes the day's news announcment with his usual pithiness:

If the US had not run off to the Iraq quagmire, and had stayed the course in Afghanistan and properly rebuilt it, we could have completely uprooted al-Qaeda and the Taliban, put an end to the poppy trade, and created an economic efflorescence that linked major Asian powers in the kind of trade networks that discourage war and instability.

Instead, Afghanistan is still a mess, and Iraq is ever more of one. Bush has the opposite of the Midas touch-- everything he touches turns to rubble.

That sums it all up nicely.

The Coming Plague

State Not Ready for a Flu Crisis
A pandemic would quickly overwhelm the healthcare system, which lacks sufficient beds, medical staff and equipment, officials say.
By Rong-Gong Lin II, Times Staff Writer
April 17, 2006

Los Angeles County and the rest of California have nowhere near the capacity to treat the hundreds of thousands of people who might need medical care should a pandemic flu strike, according to health officials and experts across the state.

Officials are only beginning to work out how they would find the extra hospital beds, health workers and equipment needed in such a crisis. County and state authorities could not say, for instance, how many ventilators might be on hand to keep severely ill people breathing.

"No one, and I repeat no one, is prepared for a pandemic that starts tomorrow," said Dr. Howard Backer, an official with the California Department of Health Services.

Three flu pandemics occurred in the 20th century, in 1918, 1957 and 1968. Another could come any time, experts say. No one knows when — or if — the avian flu virus that has killed millions of birds, mostly in Asia, and more than 100 people will ever mutate into a strain that would spread easily among humans.

But U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt has been prodding state and county health agencies to make immediate preparations. He embarked on a 50-state tour, visiting California last month, to urge local authorities to dust off "ethereal plans" and turn them into "community action."

Doing so is proving to be much tougher than simply stockpiling anti-flu drugs.

At a recent statewide summit on pandemic flu preparedness, Dr. Mark Horton, the state health officer, said "surge capacity," or the ability of hospitals to handle huge waves of patients, is "perhaps going to be our single greatest challenge in addressing the pandemic."

"We don't have enough hospital beds to take care of patients in a regular, ordinary flu season," said Dr. Michael Sexton, president of the California Medical Assn.

Dr. Brian Johnston, an emergency room physician in Los Angeles, said some ERs in the county are so jammed now that ambulances routinely are diverted to neighboring facilities.

"The famous line from emergency medical services is, we have trouble handling a Friday night," Johnston said. "Handling a large pandemic, by most estimates, is out of the question."

The county and state are hardly alone in grappling with the threat, and experts said it is hard to compare their progress with other parts of the country. But they are not among the recognized leaders in the area, such as New York City, which has plans for where and how mass vaccinations might be administered, and Seattle, which has identified indoor ice rinks that might serve as morgues.

The federal government's preparations, in many respects, are just getting into gear.

As early as this week, President Bush is expected to approve a national pandemic influenza response plan that identifies more than 300 tasks for federal agencies, such as determining which front-line workers should be vaccinated first and expanding Internet capacity to handle what would probably be a flood of people working from their home computers.

The document is the first attempt to spell out in some detail how the government would detect and respond to an outbreak and continue functioning through what could be an 18-month crisis, which in a worst-case scenario could kill 1.9 million Americans.

Some agencies are far along in preparing for a deadly outbreak. Others have yet to resolve basic questions.

"Most of the federal government right now is as ill-prepared as any part of society," said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Osterholm said the administration has made progress but is nowhere near prepared for what he compared to a worldwide "12- to 18-month blizzard."

If a pandemic of up to 18 months did occur, about 30% of the population in affected areas could fall ill, the federal government estimates.

In Los Angeles County, that translates to 3 million people, and depending on the severity of the pandemic, between 30,000 and 330,000 of them might need hospitalization.

But there are just 25,000 licensed hospital beds in the county. Between 5,000 and 8,000 more could be created by discharging patients early, canceling elective surgeries and establishing tent shelters at 11 designated medical centers, said Kay Fruhwirth, assistant director of the Los Angeles County emergency medical services agency.

Erase the words "Los Angeles" and plug in the name of your jurisdiction unless you live in King County/Seattle, the only place in the US which has a real plan. Of course, since none of the rest of the surrounding jurisdictions have one, it doesn't matter.

Down the Swirly

Anger at Bush May Hurt GOP At Polls
Turnout Could Favor Democrats

By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 17, 2006; Page A01

Intense and widespread opposition to President Bush is likely to be a sharp spur driving voters to the polls in this fall's midterm elections, according to strategists in both parties, a phenomenon that could give Democrats a turnout advantage over Republicans for the first time in recent years.

Polls have reflected voter discontent with Bush for many months, but as the election nears, operatives are paying special attention to one subset of the numbers. It is the wide disparity between the number of people who are passionate in their dislike of Bush vs. those who support him with equal fervor.

Lately, there have been a lot more of the former -- and even Republicans acknowledge that could spell trouble in closely contested congressional races.

"Angry voters turn out and vote their anger," said Glen Bolger, a pollster for several Republican congressional candidates. "Democrats will have an easier time of getting out their vote because of their intense disapproval of the president. That means we Republicans are going to have to bring our 'A' turnout game in November."

The latest Washington Post-ABC News poll showed 47 percent of voters "strongly" disapprove of Bush's job performance, vs. 20 percent who said they "strongly approve."

In the recent past, this perennial truism of politics -- emotion equals turnout -- has worked more to the Republican advantage. Several weeks before the 2002 midterm elections, Bush had 42 percent of voters strongly approving of him, compared with 18 percent in strong opposition. Democrats were stunned on election night when Republicans defied historical patterns and made gains in the House and Senate. The president's party usually loses seats during the first midterm elections after he takes office.

The premise behind the Democrats' hopes this year is simple, though not easy to quantify: People impassioned by anger or other sentiments are more likely to vote -- even in bad weather and in relatively low-profile races -- than are those who are demoralized or less emotional.

"In a midterm election, motivation is the biggest factor," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), head of his party's House campaign efforts this year.

Whether anti-Bush sentiments portend a political tidal wave in November is much debated, but Democrats hope they are hearing early echoes of 1974 and 1994. There was massive turnover of congressional seats in those midterm elections, as fired-up voters first punished Republicans for Watergate, and later turned on Democrats because of President Bill Clinton's failed health-care initiative and because of anger over House ethics abuses.

The intense opposition to Bush is larger than any faced by Clinton. For all the polarization the 42nd president inspired, Clinton's strong disapproval never got above 37 percent in Post-ABC polls during his presidency.

Democratic pollster Geoff Garin said GOP House candidates have reason to worry. His surveys find that 82 percent of Americans who say they voted for Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004 plan to vote for a Democrat for the House this year. But only 65 percent who voted for Bush say they will vote for a Republican House nominee, Garin said. The remaining 35 percent say they are open to voting for a Democrat or staying home.

There are a lot of other dynamics yet to play out which aren't mentioned by Babington: we await word on further indictments, for example. Babington's piece is the conventional wisdom for conventional times, but that isn't the canvas being painted right now. We have an immoral and illegal war which is a failure, multiple scandals that don't have much to do with fellatio, a budget deficit that boggles the imagination and a cabinet of incompetents on the doorstep of another hurricane season. Watching the Bushies fail isn't going to be pleasant when suffering and death of others is the byproduct.

Banging the Drum

The NYT is the new WaPo. The Times flaks for war.

New Worry Rises After Iran Claims Nuclear Steps

By WILLIAM J. BROAD and DAVID E. SANGER
Published: April 17, 2006

Of all the claims that Iran made last week about its nuclear program, a one-sentence assertion by its president has provoked such surprise and concern among international nuclear inspectors they are planning to confront Tehran about it this week.

The assertion involves Iran's claim that even while it begins to enrich small amounts of uranium, it is pursuing a far more sophisticated way of making atomic fuel that American officials and inspectors say could speed Iran's path to developing a nuclear weapon.

Iran has consistently maintained that it abandoned work on this advanced technology, called the P-2 centrifuge, three years ago. Western analysts long suspected that Iran had a second, secret program — based on the black market offerings of the renegade Pakistani nuclear engineer Abdul Qadeer Khan — separate from the activity at its main nuclear facility at Natanz. But they had no proof.

Then on Thursday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Tehran was "presently conducting research" on the P-2 centrifuge, boasting that it would quadruple Iran's enrichment powers. The centrifuges are tall, thin machines that spin very fast to enrich, or concentrate, uranium's rare component, uranium 235, which can fuel nuclear reactors or atom bombs.

Mr. Ahmadinejad's statements, and those of other senior Iranian officials, are always viewed with suspicion by American and international nuclear experts, because Iran has, at various times, understated nuclear activities that were later discovered, and overstated its capabilities. Analysts and American intelligence officials, bruised by their experience in Iraq, say they are uncertain whether Mr. Ahmadinejad's claim represents a real technical advance that could accelerate Iran's nuclear agenda, or political rhetoric meant to convince the world of the unstoppability of its atomic program.

European diplomats said a delegation of Iranian officials is due to arrive on Tuesday in Vienna, where the International Atomic Energy Agency will press them to address the new enrichment claim, as well as other questions about Iran's program, including a crude bomb design found in the country.

"This is a much better machine," a European diplomat said of the advanced centrifuge, which was a centerpiece of Pakistan's efforts to build its nuclear weapons and was found in 2004 in Libya, when that country gave up its nuclear program. The diplomat added that the Iranians, among other questions, will now have to explain whether Mr. Ahmadinejad was right, and if so, whether they recently restarted the abandoned program or have been pursuing it in secret for years.

If Iran moved beyond research and actually began running the machines, it could force American intelligence agencies to revise their estimates of how long it would take for Iran to build an atom bomb — an event they now put somewhere between 2010 and 2015.

Bush loves war, a subject about which he appears to know nothing and is impervious to learning. Learning isn't high on his list of "to do's" anyway. The Times is an enabler of his agenda. Too bad we don't have a real, skeptical media in this country.

Hmmm?

What do all y'all know about FIOS? My local Bell has just come up with a plan which they say is faster than cable broadband and cheaper, too, with more bandwidth, or so they say. Do any of you tech types know anything about: reliability; track record? They've installed the hardware in my little patio/backyard but I'm not ready to jump until I know more. My cable broadband has been down exactly twice and never for more than a couple of hours in the last year. What do we know about these guys?

I know zilch about this technology. What do you techies recommend?

Super Sandwiching

Did you know you can make your own gyros? Sure you can.

* 500 grams / 1 lb of lamb leg steak
* skewers
* juice of 1 lemon
* ½ cup of olive oil
* 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar
* 2 to 3 cloves of garlic
* 2 bay leaves
* small bunch of fresh oregano
* salt and pepper to taste

* 4 large pita breads
* Oil for frying

* Tzatziki or Greek Yoghurt
* Hummus (optional)
* Spicy Tomato Sauce (optional)
* Sweet chili sauce (optional)
* Prepared shreaded salad of lettuce, herbs etc.

* Kitchen paper for serving

Trim the lamb of any fat or sinew, cut into small cubes and carefully thread onto approximately 8 skewers. Peel and mince the garlic, juice the lemon straining out any pips and finely chop the fresh oregano. In a bowl place the lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, oregano, white wine vinegar and salt and freshly milled black pepper to taste.

Place the lamb kebabs in a shallow flat dish and pour the marinade over them. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or ovenight.

Preheat your grill or barbeque. Place the lamb skewers over a medium heat and cook for around 4 minutes each side, brushing with extra marinade and turning once.

Brush a pita bread with oil and water and lightly toast for one minute each side on a very hot flat skillet or directly on a hot electric burner for ten seconds on a side. It will re-puff and freshen.

Hold a large double layer of kitchen paper in one hand and place the hot pita on the paper. Pull the meat off two skewers into the pita and add a good large portion of shreaded salad with tongs, drizzle with Tzatziki and your favourite sauces. Roll the pita into a tight cone secured by wrapping in the kitchen paper and serve immediately. Continue making 3 more Souvlaki with the remaining ingredients.

I keep tzatziki around the house for all kinds of sandwiches, to add to soups. It's a multi-purpose soup and salad sauce and is just plain good over lettuce or on a sub. For a light lunch or a dinner side, serve it over hot white rice topped with freshly chopped corriander or stick a spoonfull on top of a cup of avgolemono, Greek egg lemon soup (Greek penicillin.) Yum.

After the Tax Man

Once you survive tax day tomorrow (hello, extension!) here's something quick and easy to serve for dinner. If you have any money left... this is a great combination of herbs and spices with a wonderful spring feel.

STEAK WITH CILANTRO GARLIC SAUCE

For sauce
1 medium garlic clove
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon cayenne

For steak
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 lb skirt steak, cut crosswise into 3- to 4-inch pieces or a boneless sirloin
Make sauce:
Mince garlic and mash to a paste with salt. Transfer to a blender and add remaining sauce ingredients, then blend until smooth.

Grill steak:
Stir together cumin, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Pat steak dry, then rub both sides of pieces with cumin mixture.

Heat an oiled well-seasoned ridged grill pan over high heat until hot but not smoking, then grill steak in 2 batches, turning over occasionally, about 2 minutes per batch for thin pieces or 6 to 8 minutes per batch for thicker pieces (medium-rare). Serve steak drizzled with sauce.

Makes 6 servings.

Me, I want a twice baked potato with sour cream and butter (hey, if you're going to do the cholesterol thing, layer it on) with chives (no salt but lots of fresh cracked pepper) and a broiled tomato with asiago cheese and panko with this. But that's me.

A Little Night Music, in the Key of Beef

Family were out of town today, so I decided to take myself out for dinner tonight. The Thai place down the street is one of my favorite hangs, and the portions are large enough that I get two meals out of a meal. My favorite dinner is made up of collections of appetizers and I had the yum neau tonight (and for lunch tomorrow.)

Yum Neau

* 2 green onions, chopped
* 1 lemon grass, cut into 1 inch pieces
* 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
* 1 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
* 1 cup lime juice
* 1/3 cup fish sauce
* 1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 1 1/2 pounds (1 inch thick) steak fillet
* 1 head leaf lettuce - rinsed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces
* 1/2 English cucumber, diced
* 1 pint cherry tomatoes

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, stir together the green onions, lemon grass, cilantro, mint leaves, lime juice, fish sauce, chili sauce and sugar until well combined and the sugar is dissolved. Adjust the flavor, if desired, by adding more sugar and/or fish sauce. Set aside.

2. Cook the steak over high heat on a preheated grill for approximately 4-6 minutes on each side, until it is cooked medium. Do not overcook the meat! Remove from heat and slice into thin strips. Add the meat and its juices to the sauce and refrigerate, tightly covered, for at least 3 hours.

3. Tear the lettuce into bite size pieces and place in a salad bowl. Arrange the cucumber on top of the lettuce, and then pour the meat and sauce over. Top with the cherry tomatoes and garnish with fresh cilantro leaves.

This will serve six as a first course. It makes a great lead-in to a shrimp pad thai.

Facts of Life

Catholic confessions
April 16, 2006

FIVE YEARS AGO this month, I became a Catholic. It wasn't an easy or sudden decision. I had been grappling with the idea since I was in my late teens. Back then, I dreamed of becoming a theologian. I studied religion in college, philosophy mostly, as well as German and Latin, two important languages for Christian theological studies. After college and three years of work in New York, I was even accepted at a high-falutin' East Coast divinity school. .... As debased as it can be, the church to me is still an extraordinary institution whose liturgy has the ability to focus one's attention on the fundamental questions of life. Like the art-nouveau lamp in the chapel on the final page of "Brideshead Revisited," Evelyn Waugh's fictional masterpiece, the church is the keeper of a "small red flame — a beaten-copper lamp of deplorable design, relit before the beaten-copper doors of a tabernacle."

Most of my contemporaries couldn't believe that I chose to "convert," to go through catechism, to make my first communion in my 30s. "You actually believe that stuff?" one blurted out. Some believe that all religions are merely attempts to simplify life's complexities. They found my decision unworthy of someone who practices rationality, who thinks and writes for a living. I explain that my faith doesn't so much provide me with simple certainties as it gives me a space and a means to grapple with uncertainties. I ask them if they think Christ's parables, the stories that form the core of his teaching, are simple to understand, simple to put to use.

Biblical scholar John Dominic Crossan makes a useful distinction between religious myths and parables. Myths, he writes, give believers the "final word" on reality, while parables "deliberately subvert final words" and challenge us to engage in the questions.

Today, hundreds of millions of Christians will celebrate the joyful and unexpected conclusion to the story of Christ's betrayal, suffering and death. It is a story that, like a parable, is fundamentally unsettling. It points to what lies beyond the limits of reason and gives us hope that, one day, we too will rise above what burdens us.

In my case, I was well into my forties, but it was five years ago, as well. What did I learn from the study of systematic theology? That the truths I apprehended first as a poet, that there are wellsprings of mystery behind the ordinary facts of our existence, can be expressed in the language of systematic philosophy. In no way does that overturn any of the truths of music, poetry, art or science, but extends them into every part of life, of our relationships to each other and to the very planet on which we live. Theology is another language for expressing beauty.

Guns and Butter

The Generals' Revolt
by Patrick J. Buchanan

In just two weeks, six retired U.S. Marine and Army generals have denounced the Pentagon planning for the war in Iraq and called for the resignation or firing of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, who travels often to Iraq and supports the war, says that the generals mirror the views of 75 percent of the officers in the field, and probably more.

This is not a Cindy Sheehan moment.

This is a vote of no confidence in the leadership of the U.S. armed forces by senior officers once responsible for carrying out the orders of that leadership. It is hard to recall a situation in history where retired U.S. Army and Marine Corps generals, almost all of whom had major commands in a war yet underway, denounced the civilian leadership and called on the president to fire his secretary for war.

As those generals must be aware, their revolt cannot but send a message to friend and enemy alike that the U.S. high command is deeply divided, that U.S. policy is floundering, that the loss of Iraq impends if the civilian leadership at the Pentagon is not changed.

The generals have sent an unmistakable message to Commander in Chief George W. Bush: Get rid of Rumsfeld, or you will lose the war.

Columnist Ignatius makes that precise point:

"Rumsfeld should resign because the administration is losing the war on the home front. As bad as things are in Baghdad, America won't be defeated there militarily. But it may be forced into a hasty and chaotic retreat by mounting domestic opposition to its policy. Much of the American public has simply stopped believing the administration's arguments about Iraq, and Rumsfeld is a symbol of that credibility gap. He is a spent force ..."

With the exception of Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, the former head of Central Command who opposed the Bush-Rumsfeld rush to war, the other generals did not publicly protest until secure in retirement. Nevertheless, they bring imposing credentials to their charges against the defense secretary.

Major Gen. Paul Eaton, first of the five rebels to speak out, was in charge of training Iraqi forces until 2004. He blames Rumsfeld for complicating the U.S. mission by alienating our NATO allies.

Marine Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs up to the eve of war, charges Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith with a "casualness and swagger that are the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions – or bury the results."

Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who commanded the Army's 1st Division in Iraq, charges that Rumsfeld does not seek nor does he accept the counsel of field commanders. Maj. Gen. John Riggs echoes Batiste. This directly contradicts what President Bush has told the nation.

Maj. Gen. Charles J. Swannack, former field commander of the 82nd Airborne, believes we can create a stable government in Iraq, but says Rumsfeld has mismanaged the war.

As of Good Friday, the Generals' Revolt has created a crisis for President Bush. If he stands by Rumsfeld, he will have taken his stand against generals whose credibility today is higher than his own.

But if he bows to the Generals' Revolt and dismisses Rumsfeld, the generals will have effected a Pentagon putsch. An alumni association of retired generals will have dethroned civilian leadership and forced the commander in chief to fire the architect of a war upon which not only Bush's place in history depends, but the U.S. position in the Middle East and the world. The commander in chief will have been emasculated by retired generals. The stakes could scarcely be higher.

Buchanan lays out the historical and contemporary context fairly, but he is part of the reality-based conservative contingent. Bush and his coterie are incapable of seeing beyond the edges of their imperial fantasies. Rummy won't go and we will lose both Iraq and Afghanistan. Yes, this is Viet Nam all over again, only the motivations are slightly different. The trillions of dollars we are sending down these shitholes are needed elsewhere of course, but what does serving you, the voter and taxpayer, have to do with the Republicans, anyway? The fact that there are people going sick and hungry in this country has never been of interest to them.

Art of War

Behind the Military Revolt

By Richard Holbrooke
Sunday, April 16, 2006; Page B07

First, it is clear that the retired generals -- six so far, with more likely to come -- surely are speaking for many of their former colleagues, friends and subordinates who are still inside. In the tight world of senior active and retired generals, there is constant private dialogue. Recent retirees stay in close touch with old friends, who were often their subordinates; they help each other, they know what is going on and a conventional wisdom is formed. Retired Marine Lt. Gen. Greg Newbold, who was director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the planning period for the war in Iraq, made this clear in an extraordinary, at times emotional, article in Time magazine this past week when he said he was writing "with the encouragement of some still in positions of military leadership." He went on to "challenge those still in uniform . . . to give voice to those who can't -- or don't have the opportunity to -- speak."

These generals are not newly minted doves or covert Democrats. (In fact, one of the main reasons this public explosion did not happen earlier was probably concern by the generals that they would seem to be taking sides in domestic politics.) They are career men, each with more than 30 years in service, who swore after Vietnam that, as Colin Powell wrote in his memoirs, "when our turn came to call the shots, we would not quietly acquiesce in half-hearted warfare for half-baked reasons." Yet, as Newbold admits, it happened again. In the public comments of the retired generals one can hear a faint sense of guilt that, having been taught as young officers that the Vietnam-era generals failed to stand up to Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and President Lyndon Johnson, they did the same thing.

Second, it is also clear that the target is not just Rumsfeld. Newbold hints at this; others are more explicit in private. But the only two people in the government higher than the secretary of defense are the president and vice president. They cannot be fired, of course, and the unspoken military code normally precludes direct public attacks on the commander in chief when troops are under fire. (There are exceptions to this rule, of course: In addition to MacArthur, there was Gen. George McClellan vs. Lincoln; and on a lesser note, Maj. Gen. John Singlaub, who was fired for attacking President Jimmy Carter over Korea policy. But such challenges are rare enough to be memorable, and none of these solo rebellions metastasized into a group, a movement that can fairly be described as a revolt.)

This has put President Bush and his administration in a hellish position at a time when security in Iraq and Afghanistan seems to be deteriorating. If Bush yields to the generals' revolt, he will appear to have caved in to pressure from what Rumsfeld disingenuously describes as "two or three retired generals out of thousands." But if he keeps Rumsfeld, he risks more resignations -- perhaps soon -- from generals who heed Newbold's stunning call that as officers they took an oath to the Constitution and should now speak out on behalf of the troops in harm's way and to save the institution that he feels is in danger of falling back into the disarray of the post-Vietnam era.

Facing this dilemma, Bush's first reaction was exactly what anyone who knows him would have expected: He issued strong affirmations of "full support" for Rumsfeld, even going out of his way to refer to the secretary of defense as "Don" several times in his statements. (This was in marked contrast to his tepid comments on the future of his other embattled Cabinet officer, Treasury Secretary John Snow. Washington got the point.)

In the end, the case for changing the secretary of defense seems to me to be overwhelming. I do not reach this conclusion simply because of past mistakes, simply because "someone must be held accountable." Many people besides Rumsfeld were deeply involved in the mistakes in Iraq and Afghanistan; many of them remain in power, and some are in uniform.

The major reason the nation needs a new defense secretary is far more urgent. Put simply, the failed strategies in Iraq and Afghanistan cannot be fixed as long as Rumsfeld remains at the epicenter of the chain of command. Rumsfeld's famous "long screwdriver," with which he sometimes micromanages policy, now thwarts the top-to-bottom reexamination of strategy that is absolutely essential in both war zones. Lyndon Johnson understood this in 1968 when he eased another micromanaging secretary of defense, McNamara, out of the Pentagon and replaced him with Clark M. Clifford. Within weeks, Clifford had revisited every aspect of policy and begun the long, painful process of unwinding the commitment. Today, those decisions are still the subject of intense dispute, and there are many differences between the two situations. But one thing was clear then and is clear today: Unless the secretary of defense is replaced, the policy will not and cannot change.

Like the rest of the neocons, Rummy thinks he can trump history. That's not working out so well, is it?

Losers

What made a chorus of ex-generals call for the SecDef's head? The war over the war—and how Rumsfeld is reacting.
By Evan Thomas and John Barry
Newsweek

April 24, 2006 issue - Gen. Eric Shinseki, former chief of staff of the Army, says he is "at peace." But reached last week, he didn't sound all that peaceful. In the winter of 2003, alone among the top brass, Shinseki had warned Congress that occupying Iraq would require "several hundred thousand troops." Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, had rewarded Shinseki for his honesty by publicly castigating and shunning him.

Last fall, Shinseki went to the 40th reunion of the class of '65 at West Point. It has been reported that his classmates were wearing caps emblazoned RIC WAS RIGHT. Last week NEWSWEEK e-mailed Shinseki to ask about the reports. Shinseki called back to say he had heard "rumors" about the caps. But, NEWSWEEK asked, wasn't he there? "Well," he replied, "I saw a cap."

Shinseki, who has retired to Hawaii, was clearly uncomfortable with the role of martyr. He had no desire to join the chorus of retired generals calling for Rumsfeld's resignation. He was circumspect about criticizing Rumsfeld at all, but he seemed to be struggling to disguise his feelings. He pointedly said that the "person who should decide on the number of troops [to invade Iraq] is the combatant commander"—Gen. Tommy Franks, and not Rumsfeld.
....
The Revolt of the Retired Generals has created considerable discomfort in the E-Ring of the Pentagon and at the White House. President George W. Bush felt compelled last week to issue a written statement expressing his "full support" for the SecDef. For now, Bush has no intention of firing Rumsfeld. "He likes him," says a close friend of the president's, who requested anonymity in discussing such a sensitive matter. "He's not blind. He knows Rumsfeld sticks his foot in it." Adds a senior Bush aide, who declined to be named discussing the president's sentiments: "I haven't seen any evidence that their personal rapport is at all diminishing. They see each other often and talk often." Rumsfeld says he has twice offered his resignation to Bush, who has declined it.

The old generals can be quite biting about Rumsfeld; retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni wrote an op-ed calling the secretary of Defense "incompetent strategically, operationally, and tactically." But their criticisms are probably best understood as "the first salvos in the war over 'Who Lost Iraq'," says Douglas Macgregor, a retired U.S. Army colonel whose book "Breaking the Phalanx" was influential in inspiring the military's blitzkrieg assault on Baghdad. "Yes, Rumsfeld should go," says Macgregor. "But a lot of the generals should be fired, too. They share the blame for the mess we are in."

Rumsfeld is the chief villain of a very influential new book, "Cobra II," by retired Marine Corps Gen. Bernard Trainor and New York Times reporter Michael Gordon. In their detailed, thorough accounting of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, Rumsfeld is shown badgering the reluctant but mostly quiescent generals into attacking with as few troops as possible. Despite all the talk of the war's being hatched by a neoconservative cabal, Rumsfeld himself appears indifferent to ideology; he was profoundly suspicious of the notion that America could bring democracy to Iraq. Rather, he focused on forcing a transformation of the hidebound, heavy-laden, slow-moving Army. Rumsfeld disdains "nation-building" and blithely counts on the Iraqis to rebuild their own country. But right after the invasion he signed off on orders by the American proconsul, Paul Bremer, to disband the Iraqi Army and fire most of the top civil servants—leaving the country vulnerable to chaos and a growing insurgency.

The publication of "Cobra II," plus talk-show comments from Zinni, the former chief of CENTCOM who was promoting his own book, "The Battle for Peace," appear to have encouraged retired generals to attack Rumsfeld in public. "There was a lot of pent-up agony," says Trainor. "The dam broke."

One of the most powerful indictments came from Marine Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold, who was chief of operations for the Joint Staff during the early planning of the Iraq invasion. Writing in Time magazine, Newbold declared, "I now regret that I did not more openly challenge those who were determined to invade a country whose actions were peripheral to the real threat—Al Qaeda." Actually, it was not the job of a uniformed officer, even a high-ranking one like Newbold, to challenge the president's decision to invade Iraq. That's a political judgment: it's up to the president and Congress to decide whom to fight. The military's job is to win the fight.

Still, Newbold has a point when he writes that the decision "was done with a casualness and swagger that are the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions—or bury the results." The real responsibility for Iraq, of course, lies with President Bush. Together with Vice President Dick Cheney (draft-deferred in Vietnam) and Rumsfeld (Navy jet pilot who did not see combat), Bush (Texas National Guard pilot) seemed determined to brush past or roll over the cautious national-security bureaucracy. Bush made little or no effort to prod his national-security staff to ask tough questions, such as how the Sunnis and Shiites would bury centuries of resentment when Saddam was gone. (Bush has said he listens to the generals, but it does not appear he heard any words of caution.) The get-tough trio essentially cut out Gen. Colin Powell, the secretary of State and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was regarded as too squishy, too much a creature of the go-slow bureaucracy.

Powell has come in for some criticism for not trying harder to slow the Bush juggernaut into Iraq. And the various generals have taken talk-show grief for not speaking out until their pensions were safely vested in retirement. But it is important to understand the military culture to appreciate why more soldiers do not cross their civilian bosses. It is true enough that "political generals" get ahead by never rocking the boat. And it is fair to say that Rumsfeld's shabby treatment of Shinseki—the secretary did not bother to attend the retirement ceremony of the Army chief of staff, whose replacement was leaked 14 months before his term was up—had a chilling effect on other officers.

But it is unlikely that senior military officers go to sleep at night thinking that if only they kowtow a little more they will win that next star on their shoulder. They are far more likely to believe that their duty is to do the best they can with what they've got: the military culture breeds a "can do" attitude in its most successful officers. They are acutely conscious that squabbling at the top can be a morale-crusher for troops who must risk their lives in battle.

Rumsfeld's persona and management style are grating to many buttoned-up, by-the-book officers. He constantly asks questions, often with sarcasm and in-your-face one-upmanship. Briefing the secretary can be an intimidating exercise. Rumsfeld has been known to get so hung up on a single slide, peppering some hapless colonel or general with antagonistic queries, that the briefer never gets a chance to finish his tidy, orderly presentation. Some soldiers like the macho give-and-take, or at least get used to it. "When you walk in to him, you've got to be prepared, you've got to know what you're talking about," says Marine Gen. Mike DeLong, deputy CENTCOM commander from 2000 to 2003. "If you don't, you are summarily dismissed. But that's the way it is, and he's effective."
....
As a practical matter, the rebellion may secure Rumsfeld's job. "No president is going to be bullied by a bunch of retired general officers into firing a secretary of Defense," says Thomas Donnelly, the editor of Armed Forces Journal. Of course, by defending Rumsfeld, the president has "moved into the target area," notes General Trainor. "Now the Democrats can say, 'Look, the president's defending an incompetent'."

Rumsfeld is not the sort to fall on his sword, at least willingly. He liked being teased as "Matinee Idol" by President Bush after he held forth so confidently (and, to many Americans, reassuringly) about "killing the enemy" in the traumatic months after 9/11. He has only retirement to look forward to, a boring prospect for a vigorous 73-year-old. His advisers do not expect him to quit any time soon. For many months, on a shelf behind DiRita's desk in his old Pentagon office, stood a Rumsfeld doll that was sold in PXes on military bases after the war in Afghanistan. Pull a string on the backside and a mechanical version of Rumsfeld's rich voice intones, "I don't do diplomacy." DiRita attached a slip of paper near the doll's mouth with his boss's mantra. It reads faster. DiRita's not sure what happened to the doll. But his boss, he says, is still charging forward, trying to change an institution that sometimes resists change. In the weeks ahead, he is sure to meet more resistance from old soldiers who think he is not so much a change agent as a wrecking ball.

He's wrecked the Army and lost the Iraq war. That's his legacy and Bush's. Too damn bad the reporters can't tell you that.

Reality Bites

In Iraqi Divide, Echoes of Bosnia for U.S. Troops

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
Published: April 16, 2006

JURF AS-SAKHR, Iraq — As Lt. Col. Patrick Donahoe scans the horizon through the mud-splattered, inch-thick windows of his armored Humvee, he can almost see Bosnia through the palm trees.

It is not there yet, Colonel Donahoe said, but the communal hatred he has witnessed in this area of Iraq, the blindingly ignorant things people say, the pulling apart of Shiite and Sunni towns that were once tightly intertwined are all reminiscent of what he saw years ago as a young Army captain on a peacekeeping mission in the former Yugoslavia.

"You talk to people here and it's literally the same conversations I heard in Bosnia," Colonel Donahoe said. "I had a police colonel tell me the other day that all the people in Jurf," a predominantly Sunni town, "are evil, including the children."

Jurf as-Sakhr, also known as Jurf, is 40 miles south of Baghdad. It is a community of crumbly dirt farms and dilapidated weapons factories and boys selling fluffy white chickens alongside the road. It sits right on a sectarian fault line that in the past few months has cracked wide open, and Colonel Donahoe is now back to playing peacekeeper.

The work is emblematic of a new role for the American soldier in Iraq, because as the threat has shifted, so has the mission. Sectarian violence is killing more people and destabilizing Iraq more than the antigovernment insurgency ever did. In response, American commanders, especially those in mixed Sunni-Shiite areas like Jurf, are throwing their armor, troops and money directly into the divide, trying to keep Iraq from violently partitioning the way Bosnia did.

What complicates their new mission is that the insurgency is far from over. It keeps mutating, finding new recruits and even new weapons; one soldier in Jurf was recently shot in the arm by an arrow.

Commanders have to simultaneously wage war and push peace, and Colonel Donahoe, along with other American officials, said the outcome of the entire American enterprise might hinge on how well they pulled off this balancing act.

"This is the critical year," Colonel Donahoe said. "If we don't turn things around, if we don't get the Shiites and Sunnis to stop killing each other, I'm not sure there's much else we can do."

Colonel Donahoe is experimenting with a number of tactics, like microloans to re-establish trade between Shiite and Sunni merchants; a political program to restore Sunni participation; and joint police patrols — not joint American-Iraqi, but joint Shiite-Sunni.

He was trained to maneuver tanks, but he spends much of his time parked on carpets, chatting with sheiks, trying to ease suspicions one glass of tea at a time.

His soldiers have an even harder adjustment to make. Many are on their second tour in Iraq, and they have returned to a different war. When they were here before, in 2004, it was all about crushing the Sunni-led insurgency. Now, it is all about checking Shiite power.

Back then, if a lieutenant in his 20's went out to meet with a gray-bearded elder, it was to coax him to cooperate with the Americans, not with his neighbor.

The soldiers' quality of life, if it can be called that, may have improved. During the previous tour, the men cooked chicken in ammunition boxes and showered with hoses, if at all. Now they make Baskin-Robbins ice cream floats in the mess hall and sleep in air-conditioned bliss.

Note that it didn't used to be that way. Iraq was a unified society until we invaded.

Watch the pictures.

Minding the Minders

What on earth was the WaPo thinking when they put Ceci Connolly on this story? She knows nothing about the science or any of the background about flu, she is one of the reporters who covers celebs and other bullshit like that and yet they put this on today's front page? Jeesus.

U.S. Plan For Flu Pandemic Revealed
Multi-Agency Proposal Awaits Bush's Approval

By Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 16, 2006; Page A01

President Bush is expected to approve soon a national pandemic influenza response plan that identifies more than 300 specific tasks for federal agencies, including determining which frontline workers should be the first vaccinated and expanding Internet capacity to handle what would probably be a flood of people working from their home computers.

The Treasury Department is poised to sign agreements with other nations to produce currency if U.S. mints cannot operate. The Pentagon, anticipating difficulties acquiring supplies from the Far East, is considering stockpiling millions of latex gloves. And the Department of Veterans Affairs has developed a drive-through medical exam to quickly assess patients who suspect they have been infected.

The document is the first attempt to spell out in some detail how the government would detect and respond to an outbreak, and continue functioning through what could be an 18-month crisis, which in a worst-case scenario could kill 1.9 million Americans. Bush was briefed on a draft of the implementation plan on March 17. He is expected to approve the plan within the week, but it continues to evolve, said several administration officials who have been working on it.

Still reeling from the ineffectual response to Hurricane Katrina, the White House is eager to show it could manage the medical, security and economic fallout of a major outbreak. In response to questions posed to several federal agencies, White House officials offered a briefing on the near-final version of its 240-page plan. When it is issued, officials intend to announce several vaccine manufacturing contracts to jump-start an industry that has declined in the past few decades.

The background briefing and on-the-record interviews with experts in and out of government reveal that some agencies are far along in preparing for a deadly outbreak. Others have yet to resolve basic questions, such as who is designated an essential employee and how the agency would cope if that person were out of commission.

"Most of the federal government right now is as ill-prepared as any part of society," said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Osterholm said the administration has made progress but is nowhere near prepared for what he compared to a worldwide "12- to 18-month blizzard."

Many critical decisions remain to be made. Administration scientists are debating how much vaccine would be needed to immunize against a new strain of avian influenza, and they are weighing data that may alter their strategy on who should have priority for antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu and Relenza.

The new analysis, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that instead of giving medicine to first responders and health-care workers, as currently planned, it might be wiser to give the drugs to every person with symptoms and others in the same household, one senior administration official said.

The approach offers "some real hope for communities to put a dent in the amount of illness and death, if we go with that strategy," a White House official said.

Each year, about 36,000 Americans die from seasonal influenza. A worldwide outbreak, or pandemic, occurs when a potent new, highly contagious strain of the virus emerges. It is a far greater threat than annual flu because everyone is susceptible, and it would take as much as six months to develop a vaccine. The 1918 pandemic flu, the worst of the 20th century, is estimated to have killed more than 50 million people worldwide.

Alarm has risen because of the emergence of the most dangerous strain to appear in decades -- the H5N1 avian flu. It has primarily struck birds, but about 200 people worldwide have contracted the disease, and half have died. Experts project that the next pandemic -- depending on severity and countermeasures -- could kill 210,000 to 1.9 million Americans.

To keep the 1.8 million federal workers healthy and productive through a pandemic, the Bush administration would tap into its secure stash of medications, cancel large gatherings, encourage schools to close and shift air traffic controllers to the busier hubs -- probably where flu had not yet struck. Retired federal employees would be summoned back to work, and National Guard troops could be dispatched to cities facing possible "insurrection," said Jeffrey W. Runge, chief medical officer at the Department of Homeland Security.

The administration hopes to help contain the first cases overseas by rushing in medical teams and supplies. "If there is a small outbreak in a country, it may behoove us to introduce travel restrictions," Runge said, "to help stamp out that spark."

However, even an effective containment effort would merely postpone the inevitable, said Ellen P. Embrey, deputy assistant secretary for force health preparedness and readiness at the Pentagon. "Unfortunately, we believe the forest fire will burn before we are able to contain it overseas, and it will arrive on our shores in multiple locations," she said.

As Katrina illustrated, a central issue would be "who is ultimately in charge and how the agencies will be coordinated," said former assistant surgeon general Susan Blumenthal. The Department of Health and Human Services would take the lead on medical aspects, but Homeland Security would have overall authority, she noted. "How are those authorities going to come together?"

The same folks who fucked up Katrina are still in charge. If that helps you to sleep well at night, you aren't paying attention.

Easter Reflection

Oscar Romero's Prayer:

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well. It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.

This easter season, may you find your ministry and what is important in your life as father, mother, sibling and worker and redouble your efforts to do what you are called to do. And peace be with you. You earned that bit. May peace be with you, may it inhabit you and may it inform every action you are called to do. May love inform all your actions and may you learn love from what you do. Peace be with you.

Melanie

Compound Tragedy

Torn by Storm, Families Tangle Anew on Custody
By LYNETTE CLEMETSON

NEW ORLEANS — Last June, after a long dispute, a judge decided that Bobby F. Spurlock and Zandrea Johnson should share custody of their daughter.

Then came Hurricane Katrina.

Mr. Spurlock, whose home in Jefferson Parish was undamaged in the storm, remained in Louisiana. Ms. Johnson, whose home in eastern New Orleans was destroyed, evacuated, with the child, to Memphis.

Now Ms. Johnson plans to stay in Memphis indefinitely, and an already unpleasant clash over the best interest of a 6-year-old girl is unlikely to be resolved any time soon.

The storm and the flooding that came with it here uprooted families, leaving them in staggering states of stress and uncertainty.

For some families, already torn apart by separation and divorce, like Mr. Spurlock and Ms. Johnson, the fallout has been especially damaging, producing painful new battles over child custody and visitation, financial support and division of assets.

"How can things change from joint custody to relocation in a couple of months?" asked Mr. Spurlock, a 37-year-old sales manager for a car dealership. "I am not trying to take her from her mom, but I want equal time with my daughter."

After the damaged Orleans Parish Civil District Court set up operations near Baton Rouge in October, custody and support cases began to mount.

Since January, when the court returned to New Orleans, judges and lawyers say they have seen scores of family disputes related to the storm. Other parishes have experienced similar surges.

Now the school year is coming to a close, allowing for less-disruptive movement of children, and new filings for divorce are increasing.

"Families that were operating on an emotional string, well, that string has broken," said Paulette R. Irons, a district court judge. "All that's left is dissension. It will be a busy summer, I can tell you."

Although some broken families have just been struggling for a new sense of stability, others have used the storm to try to beat the legal system, Judge Irons said. She said she had seen noncustodial parents who had spirited away their children without notice, custodial parents who had moved without good cause and parents who had tried to avoid payments of child support.

Judge Irons said she had also noticed an increase in domestic violence petitions, some of which appeared to have been efforts to bolster custody claims.

Some cases involve demands by parents for the return of children who were taken to other cities, and others are requests from relocated parents to stay temporarily in a new place with their children or to move permanently. In some cases, both parents have relocated.
....
Not every situation has worsened in Hurricane Katrina's wake. Solangel Calix, a professional flamenco dancer and the mother of three teenagers, said she and her former husband barely spoke before the hurricane.

But when Ms. Calix and the children evacuated to Houston, her former husband, a restaurateur, who asked that his name and the names of the children not be mentioned to preserve their privacy, helped set her up in temporary housing. The two now speak regularly.

"I have been flabbergasted," Ms. Calix, 50, said. "But almost losing everything puts things into perspective, to where family is what matters, what counts."

Some lawyers are pushing for legislation that would add guidelines relating to emergency evacuations into the state's relocation statute. In the meantime, some warring spouses are taking their own precautions.

Judge Manny Fernandez, a chief judge in St. Bernard Parish, which was heavily damaged, said he had heard a case recently in which the parents specified in their custody agreement how the children should be relocated in the event of an evacuation.

"I was in practice for 34 years before becoming a judge, and I've never seen anything like that," he said. "Everything has changed now."

Here's something else to add to your pandemic planning scenario. This sure isn't something I'd ever thought of.

Easter: A Time for Our Own Resurrection

Throughout my young life, older Catholic women have asked me if I've ever wanted to be a priest. (Amazing how doing just a little bit of sustained service can impress people; kind of a sad commentary when you think about it... I digress...)

Well, the suffocating ecclesiastical politics of the Catholic Church have taken me away from the priesthood, but that hasn't stopped me from being an inveterate preacher. Until fairly recently, my preachiness was insufferable and laced with a tinge of bitterness. But I gave up bitterness for this just-ended Lent, and a whole lot of experiences with searing tensions and awful truths--many of them apprehended through the prism of mental illness among the poor of Seattle and three different (now) ex-roommates--have enabled me to cut loose a lot of the anger that has been weighing down my soul for some time.

So on this Easter, I'm going to write a very short and bitterness-free sermon for the Bump community, the sermon I'd be moved to write if I were in the ambo at St. James Cathedral in Seattle:

* * *

My Friends in Christ:

Along with Christmas, Easter is one of those times when human beings desire spiritual nourishment above anything else. The power of this day is great enough to command our attention as we search for meaning in our lives. Moreover, these are not controversial statements--you can feel the significance of Easter Sunday, but even more so, you can see it. As we look at the overflow crowds spilling into the corridors of this cathedral, we are reminded that the essence of being human is to search for ever greater fulfillment. We want to know more and more about who we are, where we come from, and why we're on this earth. Born into this world and this life under circumstances we couldn't control, we spend our entire lives trying to discern what it means to live a satisfying and fulfilling human life.

To all who are gathered here this morning, I can safely say that your presence reaffirms everything we've ever known about human beings and their restless, relentless search for meaning. This certainly applies to our regulars here at this parish, but it actually applies even more to those of you who are here for the first time, or who come here only on Christmas and Easter. As I grow older, I appreciate more and more the difficulty of maintaining a regular church commitment. It's undeniable that the Catholic Church has hurt many people in recent years, and has often been a source of profound disappointment to the larger society. It's no wonder, then, that a great many of you would only come to this sanctuary on the high holy days, the days when the moment is so large and the occasion so rich in possibility, that you might walk away with something transcendent. I commend you for having enough courage to come here on this day, and I deeply empathize with you in your struggle.

With this as prelude, let me make a few brief remarks--yes, brief remarks--on what Easter means for us.

Whenever I say that world poverty can be eliminated, or that homelessness can be solved, I'm often met with the claim that I'm just not being realistic. Whenever I dream big, the dream doesn't last very long. I face the limits of my own talents, energies and hopes, but I also see a society that can't sustain its collective energies for any extended length of time.

Society and culture, my friends, are very tricky things to talk about. The reason for this is simple: society and culture aren't created by any one person. No one in this cathedral is inherently more responsible for the society we have than anyone else. So let me be clear: this is not a blame game. Good Christianity and good religion are not founded on assigning blame. No, the heart of our faith--celebrated and made real on this Easter--is rooted in transformation. Transformation from the death and darkness of Good Friday to the radiance of Easter Sunday. Transformation from the shrouded body of Jesus to the empty tomb. Transformation in the apostles from paralyzed fear and despair to a liberated and endlessly confident spirituality.

Transformation--personal and spiritual--is the real proof of this divine event we call the Resurrection. If the Apostles hadn't seen and felt the power of the Risen Jesus, there's no reason to account for their 180-degree turn. If the Apostles hadn't seen their Risen Lord, how could they have gone from a bunch of basketcases who locked themselves in a room, to a group of bold and fearless spiritual leaders who became the first messengers of the Gospels at great risk to their physical well being? Transformation is the Easter story, in a nutshell. When personal transformation occurs, we can take every risk because we're sure in the spiritual knowledge that, yes, God did raise Jesus from the dead; yes, life will always be stronger than death; yes, good will ultimately defeat evil.

Easter gives us the supreme assurance that we can risk our human lives and know--with the eyes of faith--that when our earthly existence is over, God will give us joy, peace, love and beauty that are beyond our limited human understanding. It need not be more complicated than that.

So back to our society. We don't need to list any of our many problems. The brokenness and injustice of this world are painfully self-evident and pervasive.

The simple key is this: Easter is all about empowering us to live with confidence in the God who raised Jesus from the dead, and who will raise us to new and eternal life as well. As Saint Paul famously says in Romans, "If we have died with Christ, we will live with him."

One of the greatest mistakes in Christian circles over the years has been to think that since Jesus paid the price on the cross and then rose to new life, I don't have to pay that same price.

My friends, Easter is all about joy, but it's about a joy that calls us to pay the price. Easter is not about providing the kind of joy that makes us spend our lives in total comfort, thinking that we've already been saved. No, Easter gives us an emotional and spiritual abundance that we're supposed to share with others in love and service. And in the end, that's the whole point: living with confidence is not some interior thing; it's something that's reflected in our actions. A confident Christian person isn't someone whose mind is free from any uncomfortable thought; a confident Christian person is someone whose encounter with the Resurrection leads him or her to give and not count the cost, to do works of mercy, justice and peace throughout a long life. This road is hard, but we know it to be satisfying.

My friends, as you go forth on this Easter Sunday, just think: if we all lived this way, we WOULD eliminate global poverty. Our biggest dreams for a better world WOULD be fulfilled. Our children WOULD have better days ahead.

Easter is all about fulfilling our biggest dreams, my friends. As we contemplate the meaning of the Resurrection of Jesus, we simply need to believe--really believe--that our biggest dreams will surely come true."

* * *

I said this before Christmas here on Bump, and I'll say it again: no one is forcing us to live a certain kind of life. We don't have to live lives that conform with the wishes of corporations, the forced pressures of work colleagues, or the artificial and masked motives of unsympathetic or scheming family members. Perhaps our lives are, in some ways and to some extent, enmeshed in obligations that we can't immediately extricate ourselves from. But long term, not one of us must feel that we have to defer our dreams for a better world. We get one shot at this life, and if Jesus really is a role model for us, then dammit, we need to recapture his radicalism and boldness, which 2,000 intervening years have seemingly robbed from us. If we all took a walk on the radically wild side with Jesus, our country and, eventually, our world could look a lot more like a world God would want for humanity. We could reverse the direction in which this world's spinning right now.

Postscript:

A long-term thought to stimulate your minds and spirits: what if Easter inspired us Americans to just walk out on work and take a one-year sabbatical of service and ministry in, say, 2009? What if we spent the next few years untangling ourselves from unavoidable commitments and prepared ourselves for a life unlike anything we've heretofore experienced? In 2009, imagine the sight of tens of millions of Americans spending time exclusively to help other tens of millions of Americans in need. If you in DC--and you over there in Florida, and you out there in Arkansas, and you in Colorado, and oh, you up there in Montana, and yes, you in Maine, too--took the plunge and got a few neighbors to do the same, one can only wonder what would happen. Easter dares us to do these kinds of things, and as our country slides further downward, the urgent need for this kind of movement increases. -MZ

High Crimes

Via reader sal:

Army report on al-Qaida accuses Rumsfeld

Julian Borger in Washington
Saturday April 15, 2006
The Guardian

Donald Rumsfeld was directly linked to prisoner abuse for the first time yesterday, when it emerged he had been "personally involved" in a Guantánamo Bay interrogation found by military investigators to have been "degrading and abusive".

Human Rights Watch last night called for a special prosecutor to be appointed to investigate whether the defence secretary could be criminally liable for the treatment of Mohamed al-Qahtani, a Saudi al-Qaida suspect forced to wear women's underwear, stand naked in front of a woman interrogator, and to perform "dog tricks" on a leash, in late 2002 and early 2003. The US rights group said it had obtained a copy of the interrogation log, which showed he was also subjected to sleep deprivation and forced to maintain "stress" positions; it concluded that the treatment "amounted to torture".

However, military investigators decided the interrogation did not amount to torture but was "abusive and degrading". Those conclusions were made public last year but this is the first time Mr Rumsfeld's own involvement has emerged.

According to a December report by the army inspector general, obtained by Salon.com online magazine, the investigators did not accuse the defence secretary of specifically prescribing "creative" techniques, but they said he regularly monitored the progress of the al-Kahtani interrogation by telephone, and they argued he had helped create the conditions that allowed abuse to take place.

"Where is the throttle on this stuff?" asked Lt Gen Schmidt, an air force officer who said in sworn testimony to the inspector general that he had concerns about the duration and repetition of harsh interrogation techniques. He said that in his view: "There were no limits."

The revelation comes at a critical time for Mr Rumsfeld. He is under unprecedented scrutiny for his management of the Iraq war, after six former generals in quick succession called for his resignation.

The questions reached such a pitch by the end of the week that George Bush took the unusual step of issuing a personal note from Camp David in Mr Rumsfeld's defence. "I have seen first-hand how Don relies upon our military commanders in the field and at the Pentagon to make decisions about how best to complete these missions," the president wrote. "Secretary Rumsfeld's energetic and steady leadership is exactly what is needed at this critical period. He has my full support and deepest appreciation."

And, responding to the generals, Mr Rumsfeld said in an al-Arabiya TV interview yesterday: "If every time two or three people disagreed we changed the secretary of defence, it would be like a merry-go-round." However, in the wake of the inspector general's report, Human Rights Watch said: "The question at this point is not whether secretary Rumsfeld should resign, it's whether he should be indicted. General Schmidt's sworn statement suggests Rumsfeld may have been perfectly aware of the abuses inflicted on Mr al-Qahtani."

The Pentagon also issued a statement in response to publication of the report. A spokeswoman said: "We've gone over this countless times, and yet some still choose to print fiction versus fact. Twelve reviews, to include one done by an independent panel, all confirm the department of defence did not have a policy that encouraged or condoned abuse. To suggest otherwise is simply false."

Not just incompetent, but a war criminal.

Impossible Sums

The True Cost Of War

By Sarah Holewinski
Saturday, April 15, 2006; Page A15

A year ago tomorrow, in Baghdad, a young woman from California was killed by a suicide bomb. Marla Ruzicka was working to get aid to Iraqi civilians harmed by U.S. military operations when her car and that of her colleague Faiz Ali Salim was destroyed on the now-infamous airport road.

Marla's legacy lives on in the countless people continuing her work and in the families she tried so hard to assist. Her help to victims of war should also be enshrined in our policies if we as a country are to be, as Marla put it, "just a little bit better."
....
n the early days of the conflict, Bush said, "The citizens of Iraq are coming to know what kind of people we have sent to liberate them. American forces and our allies are treating innocent civilians with kindness."

There are concrete ways the United States can live up to that statement and show the world what kind of people we are.

First, we should fully fund the community action program in Iraq. This humanitarian work on the ground is the success story we need.

Second, the Pentagon should adopt procedures to record civilian casualties caused by U.S. forces. War is not an exact science, and the Pentagon says it does not keep a record for that reason. But we should keep the best count we can. We will never be seen as credibly minimizing harm to noncombatants if we do not keep data to back up the claim that we are doing so. With increasing airstrikes, U.S. military planners must also do more to assess the risk to civilians before launching attacks, and should include in post-attack reports any available information on civilian casualties. The current lack of data makes the improvement of those procedures difficult.

Third, we should create clear guidelines for the Pentagon's condolence payments. It would help to increase training for the military officers deployed to war zones on how these funds should be used to compensate innocent victims.

Only by doing these things will we know the true cost of war. And only by knowing the cost will we be able to mitigate it. That is the cause for which Marla Ruzicka dedicated her life -- making sure the United States is there to help and not hurt, to build and not destroy, and to show respect for the worth of every person.

I'm sorry, "liberation" and democracy at the point of a gun makes the rest of this moral calculus impossible. We can maybe limit the damage, but there is still damage, and all of it accrues against the Bush administration and his congressional enablers, including the Democrats who voted for this disaster.

Time to upgrade Firefox

Yesterday, during my daily survey, I ran across the latest Secunia security advisory concerning Firefox, Secunia Advisory 19631.

The short version? If you use Firefox, then download the updated version 1.5.0.2 from one of the many Mozilla Foundation mirrors or from the Firefox Home Page, install it (it will install over and supplant the old version by default), stop and restart it, and you're done.

But there is a backstory to this particular advisory, which frames a comparison of the different way application software vendors handle security issues in the software they build and maintain.

Its arrival was no great surprise. Web browsers are going to grow out new vulnerabilities. The surprise was the sheer number of vulnerabilities reported, and mitigated in a single item of application software at one time. Here is the list.

1. CVE-2006-0749


2. CVE-2006-1529


3. CVE-2006-1530


4. CVE-2006-1531


5. CVE-2006-1723


6. CVE-2006-1724


7. CVE-2006-1725


8. CVE-2006-1726


9. CVE-2006-1727


10. CVE-2006-1728


11. CVE-2006-1729


12. CVE-2006-1730


13. CVE-2006-1731


14. CVE-2006-1732


15. CVE-2006-1733


16. CVE-2006-1734


17. CVE-2006-1735


18. CVE-2006-1736


19. CVE-2006-1737


20. CVE-2006-1738


21. CVE-2006-1739


22. CVE-2006-1740


23. CVE-2006-1741


24. CVE-2006-1742

Unspecified vulnerability in Firefox and Thunderbird before 1.5.0.2, and SeaMonkey before 1.0.1, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via unknown attack vectors related to DHTML. NOTE: due to the lack of sufficient public details from the vendor as of 20060413, it is unclear how ...

This is fairly typical of a vendor discovery of a new vulnerability, announced at the same place and time the mitigation is. They found a flaw in their own product before anybody else did, and then they fixed it, so they're not going to feel obliged to say very much. Unsurprisingly, the only reference given in most of these NVD writeups is the vendor announcement.

This makes a stark contrast with the last Microsoft Internet Explorer 0-day. This was discovered by Secunia on February 10 and first disclosed on March 19, with Microsoft Security Advisory 917077 following on March 23. It wasn't patched until the last Microsoft Tuesday, April 11, as MS06-013.

Why so many apparently vendor-discovered vulnerabilities in SA19631? Well, at a guess, someone, or several someones, at the Mozilla Foundation, is beating up on their own software with a fuzzer, among other things. Then the issues uncovered this way get fixed before they get spread all over the security press, after someone else uncovers them.

It has been more than four years since Microsoft announced its Trustworthy Computing initiative. In those four years, Microsoft has spent heaven only knows how many millions of dollars to publicize this initiative.

And in the last four months, we have seen two major 0-day vulnerabilities in very-widely used Microsoft products.

If I were a gambling man, I'd bet that if the Mozilla Foundation keeps doing what I think they're doing, in a year or two some "independent" research outfit is going to issue an "impartial" study citing the larger number of total vulnerabilities reported against Mozilla Foundation products versus Microsoft's, as some sort of evidence that Microsoft Products are the more secure. The story will be front page news in the trade press. Some days later, the discovery that Microsoft commissioned the study will also be reported, but as a footnote on page 31.

But it is my considered opinion that we're going to see a much better approximation of "Trustworthy Computing" from the sort of thing I think the Mozilla people are doing. This is the way we've arrived at "trustworthy cryptography", after all. Cryptographic algorithms are published to the world as a general rule, not kept secret. We can thus evaluate their degree of trustworthiness, as they're attacked, also in public, by sophisticated tools in the hands of very clever people.

The way attitudes towards this polarize can tell us useful things about management competence. A wise project owner will tend to consider the discovery of new vulnerabilities as an opportunity to be embraced. The fool will see it as something to be swept under the rug and hushed up. As we saw in July of last year.

The Sicilian Gesture

When a Supreme Court justice tells a questioner, essentially, "fuck you," yeah, we get a little concerned. And "trust me" has to be backed up with something.

Once Again, Scalia's the Talk of the Town
Justice Renders Frank Out-of-Court Opinions on 2000 Presidential Election, 'Sicilian' Gesture

By Charles Lane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 15, 2006; Page A02

Justice Antonin Scalia is at it again.

"For Pete's sake, if you can't trust your Supreme Court justice more than that, get a life!" he said Wednesday, replying to an audience member at the University of Connecticut who asked about Scalia's refusal last year to sit out a case involving his hunting partner, Vice President Cheney.

Scalia had similar advice to a student in Switzerland who asked last month about the Supreme Court's ruling for George W. Bush during the 2000 election. "Oh, God. Get over it," he said.

And, on March 27, he answered a Boston Herald reporter's question about criticism of his conservative religious beliefs by putting his fingertips under his chin and flipping them dismissively outward. "That's Sicilian," the high court's first Italian American explained, triggering a controversy that would spill over to cable TV and prompt a testy letter to the editor of the Herald from Scalia himself.

One of the most conservative -- and cerebral -- of the nine justices, Scalia, 70, has never shied from verbal warfare.

But as he completes his second decade on the court, Scalia, often known by his nickname, Nino, seems less inhibited than ever, speaking frequently off-the-cuff, in a crowd-pleasing voice quite unlike that of the legal academy to which he once belonged.

It is the voice of a conservative populist: combative, humorous, and sharply critical of the media and of the legal establishment atop which he sits. That includes the Supreme Court, from whose rulings in favor of gay rights and against the juvenile death penalty he dissented vigorously but in vain.

To some, Scalia's conduct shows a lack of judicial temperament -- and hurts the court. "It's sad as much as anything else," said Dennis J. Hutchinson, a former law clerk to two justices who teaches Supreme Court history at the University of Chicago. "It suggests to me a frustration with his colleagues and the left-wing kulturkampf in the academy, and it just does not add to the dignity of the office."

Subtext: the far right wing is in power and I can do anything I want and fuck you if you don't like it.

This page 1 article in the WaPo would have been helped a lot if the reporter knew anything about the law, the Supreme Court, judicial temperament and what had transpired in the most recent term of the Court, including Scalia's throwing reporters out of some of his speeches, but it appears that it is too much to ask that Posties actually know anything about the subjects of their reporting. The fact that a judge thinks he is above questioning might be a wee bit newsworthy.

The wingnuts seem to do arrogance really well.

Hegemony

Iraq unrest forces 65,000 to flee
By Andrew North
BBC News, Baghdad

Thousands are living in camps, while others are moving in with relatives. At least 65,000 Iraqis have fled their homes as a result of sectarian violence and intimidation, according to new figures from the Iraqi government.

And the rate at which Iraqis are being displaced is increasing.

Figures given to the BBC by the Ministry for Displacement and Migration show a doubling in the last two weeks of the number of Iraqis forced to move.

There has been a sharp rise in sectarian violence since the bombing of an important Shia shrine in February.

This triggered the current tensions between the country's majority Shia Muslims and minority Sunni Muslims, and hundreds of people have since been killed.

Intimidation

Reports of people leaving their homes because of violence or intimidation, or simply because they no longer feel safe, are becoming more and more common.

RECENT VIOLENCE
12 April: 25 killed in bombing of Shia mosque
7 April: More than 85 killed in triple suicide attack on Shia mosque
2 April: US military says 1,313 Iraqi civilians died in sectarian violence in March
Discovery of victims of execution-style killings almost daily

Bombs push Iraq towards the abyss

Some of the intimidation is being carried out by mobile phone.

People have been receiving threatening text messages and gruesome videos filmed on mobile phone cameras.

In one, a Sunni Iraqi man who entered a mainly Shia neighbourhood of Baghdad is seen being beaten and killed by men in black clothes.

The video was then sent out with the warning that this is what would happen to any other Sunni who came to the area.

Makeshift camps

The Iraqi Ministry for Displacement and Migration told the BBC almost 11,000 families had left their homes - equivalent to about 65,000, based on the average Iraqi family size.

Much of this displacement is taking place in and around Baghdad where the violence has been worst, with many people moving in with relatives or friends.

The Red Crescent is providing food, water, blankets, and kerosene to 5,000 families.

NUMBER OF FAMILIES RECEIVING RED CRESCENT AID BY PROVINCE
Baghdad 2000 families
Najaf 600
Wasit 360
Dhiqar 110
Diwaniya 500
Karbala 170
Basra 110
Anbar 400
Salahuddin 450
"Every day the number is going up," Dr Maazen Saloom, a senior official with the Iraqi Red Crescent, told the BBC. "We are trying to get more funds to help these people."

Some displaced people are living in makeshift camps, others are living with relatives or friends, or have moved into ruined buildings or other structures.

Some displaced Iraqis, the Red Crescent says, are hesitant to move to camps, concerned that the camps will become the target of attacks.

Will Iraq Follow Lebanon's Path to War?
By SAM F. GHATTAS
Associated Press Writer

April 12, 2006, 3:30 PM EDT

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- It started gradually -- an assassination, then a bus ambush. Slowly, gunmen took to the streets and sporadic fighting erupted.

Then the tit-for-tat kidnappings broke out, and the "liquidations" and the car bombs. Those lucky enough to survive quickly picked up and moved -- to another part of town or away altogether.

For many months starting in the spring of 1975, the citizens of Beirut did not know for sure if they were living through a civil war or just something that was awful but would -- they hoped -- end soon. But then the government split. The army disintegrated, businesses were looted and hotels sacked. Armed militias took over.

In the end, Lebanon's civil lasted 15 years. When the fighting between Muslims and Christians and among those groups themselves finally ended in 1990, the toll was colossal: 150,000 people killed, about half a million wounded and nearly a similar number displaced. One quarter of the population, or about 900,000 people, had left the tiny Arab country.

These days, many are harkening back to that time -- in worry -- wondering if Iraq and specifically Baghdad might not be headed for much of the same. On Iraqi TV, government-sponsored ads show brutal images of past civil wars in Lebanon, and Bosnia and Rwanda, too, warning: "We don't want to be next."

For now, it's an unanswerable question. No one knows if Baghdad will continue falling ever-more into the sectarian violence that has broken out, or recover and move toward peace.

But a look at the first days of civil war in 1975 in Beirut is instructive about how things might look in Iraq, if they get worse.

It was 31 years ago -- on April 13, 1975 -- that the first major spark flared in a Christian suburb called Ein el-Rummaneh.

Lebanon already was on edge. Its old Christian-dominated power structure was under pressure as the country's demographics changed. Muslims sought new power with the help of Palestinian guerrillas whose presence exacerbated the tensions.

The initial spark -- the assassination of a Christian Phalange Party official -- was followed shortly afterward by a reprisal ambush on a busload of Palestinians that drove through the neighborhood, killing 22. Sporadic gunfire erupted, followed later by heavy gunbattles.

"A lot of people fled," recalls resident George Soueidi, 63, sitting outside the bullet-scarred building in Ein el-Rummaneh where he still lives. "Life was fear and despair."

Riverbend, who writes the superb Iraqi blog "Baghdad Burning" comments:

I sat late last night switching between Iraqi channels (the half dozen or so I sometimes try to watch). It’s a late-night tradition for me when there’s electricity- to see what the Iraqi channels are showing. Generally speaking, there still isn’t a truly ‘neutral’ Iraqi channel. The most popular ones are backed and funded by the different political parties currently vying for power. This became particularly apparent during the period directly before the elections.

I was trying to decide between a report on bird flu on one channel, a montage of bits and pieces from various latmiyas on another channel and an Egyptian soap opera on a third channel. I paused on the Sharqiya channel which many Iraqis consider to be a reasonably toned channel (and which during the elections showed its support for Allawi in particular). I was reading the little scrolling news headlines on the bottom of the page. The usual- mortar fire on an area in Baghdad, an American soldier killed here, another one wounded there… 12 Iraqi corpses found in an area in Baghdad, etc. Suddenly, one of them caught my attention and I sat up straight on the sofa, wondering if I had read it correctly.

E. was sitting at the other end of the living room, taking apart a radio he later wouldn’t be able to put back together. I called him over with the words, “Come here and read this- I’m sure I misunderstood…” He stood in front of the television and watched the words about corpses and Americans and puppets scroll by and when the news item I was watching for appeared, I jumped up and pointed. E. and I read it in silence and E. looked as confused as I was feeling.

The line said:

وزارة الدفاع تدعو المواطنين الى عدم الانصياع لاوامر دوريات الجيش والشرطة الليلية اذا لم تكن برفقة قوات التحالف العاملة في تلك المنطقة
The translation:

“The Ministry of Defense requests that civilians do not comply with the orders of the army or police on nightly patrols unless they are accompanied by coalition forces working in that area.”

That’s how messed up the country is at this point.

We switched to another channel, the “Baghdad” channel (allied with Muhsin Abdul Hameed and his group) and they had the same news item, but instead of the general “coalition forces” they had “American coalition forces”. We checked two other channels. Iraqiya (pro-Da’awa) didn’t mention it and Forat (pro-SCIRI) also didn’t have it on their news ticker.

We discussed it today as it was repeated on another channel.

“So what does it mean?” My cousin’s wife asked as we sat gathered at lunch.

“It means if they come at night and want to raid the house, we don’t have to let them in.” I answered.

“They’re not exactly asking your permission,” E. pointed out. “They break the door down and take people away- or have you forgotten?”

River, they do that here, too. You can't say they are not consistent.

Uniform Code

Think about it. What has Rummy done that actually works? The boss gives "full support" to any number of apparatchiks that are incompetent, so what does this say about the boss? Michael Chertoff, anyone?

Bush Speaks Out for Rumsfeld
'My Full Support' For Defense Chief

By Peter Baker and Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, April 15, 2006; Page A01

President Bush interrupted his Easter vacation yesterday to offer an unequivocal vote of confidence in Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, in a move aimed at countering a growing wave of criticism from retired generals calling for the Pentagon chief to resign over his leadership of the Iraq war.

In an unusual statement issued from Camp David, where he had already retired for the weekend, Bush stepped directly into the debate over Rumsfeld's performance to offer his "strong support" and make it clear he will keep the embattled defense secretary. Rumsfeld separately declared that he will not go.

"I have seen firsthand how Don relies upon our military commanders in the field and at the Pentagon to make decisions about how best to complete these missions" of fighting terrorists while simultaneously transforming the military, Bush said. "Secretary Rumsfeld's energetic and steady leadership is exactly what is needed at this critical period. He has my full support and deepest appreciation."

The president's decision to interject himself so forcefully stands in contrast to his mild reaction to recent reports of dissatisfaction with Treasury Secretary John W. Snow and reflected a calculation by Bush and his advisers that attacks on Rumsfeld by prominent former military commanders strike at the heart of his presidency. As Bush's choice to run the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Rumsfeld serves as his proxy, and most of the judgments that have come under fire were shared by the president and Vice President Cheney as well.

Public support for the Iraq war and Bush's handling of it has been evaporating in recent polls as the administration tries to prevent that country from deteriorating into a broader sectarian conflict. White House officials trying to arrest Bush's political fall have concluded that Iraq, and the public perception of it, are central both to the president's contemporary public standing and his ultimate legacy.

The defense of Rumsfeld in effect was the first act of new White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten, who took over as Andrew H. Card Jr. left the West Wing yesterday afternoon for the final time as Bush's top aide. White House aides decided that press secretary Scott McClellan's statement of support Thursday was inadequate to stem the growing chorus of resignation calls from the military.

Rumsfeld, who twice offered Bush his resignation during the scandal over detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib, made no such offer this time. "I respect their views," he said in an interview taped Thursday and broadcast yesterday on Al-Arabiya television, "but obviously out of thousands and thousands of admirals and generals, if every time two or three people disagreed, we changed the secretary of defense of the United States, it would be like a merry-go-round."

The grievances aired by half a dozen retired flag officers in recent days resonated with many military veterans. "I admire those who have stepped forward, and I agree with the arguments they are making," retired Marine Lt. Gen. Paul K. Van Riper said in an interview yesterday. "I count myself in the same camp."

Van Riper, a lifelong Republican who voted for Bush in 2000 but did not vote in the 2004 election, said Rumsfeld has failed in a number of ways, including "disastrous" war planning and execution and fostering a poor command climate.

Retired Army Brig. Gen. Charles Brower, a military historian and deputy superintendent at Virginia Military Institute, said it is unusual to see such a group of retired generals issuing public criticism.

"Officers now feel that there is almost an obligation to speak more openly about policies that they disagreed with once they have retired," Brower said. "There is now a group of officers who feel an obligation to speak more aggressively, and I think that has to have been influenced by the Vietnam experience," during which miscalculations by the civilian leadership caused a military defeat and a years-long erosion in military morale.

"It's an important thing happening right now, an important phenomenon that's going on," Brower said.

What makes the recent criticism more threatening to the Bush administration is the sense that it represents an unspoken strain of thought among active-duty personnel. A poll of 944 troops serving in Iraq released by Zogby International and LeMoyne College did not ask about Rumsfeld but found that 72 percent think the United States should withdraw within a year and more than a quarter think it should leave immediately.

An incompetent boss supports his incompetent troops. The entire administration is what a soldier would call Charlie Foxtrot. And the entire press is what a soldier would call Absent Without Leave. Peter Baker and Josh White are smart enough to give this story a little context, but they don't, or their editors left it on the floor. The fact is that the commanders answer to the Boss, and if they defer to him or not, that is what is to be noted.

Until a soldier resigns, she/he doesn't speak. The Boss is an ass and anyone in uniform with a degree knows it.

The Love Connection

I'm going to be outta here tomorrow after a conference call with the wiki partners in the AM and headed to a holiday dinner with my bro and his wife, so I'm handing the place over to the co-bloggers who are probably equally traveling to family and friends as we try to remember why this holiday matter so much to us: that we care about each other. It makes me nuts that we have to have a couple of holidays a year to remember that. Why is this getting lost, praytell? It doesn't seem like the profit motive is going to foster relationships that actually put people at my dinner table and I fault it for that.

May this weekend, the most religiously profound for both Christianity and Judaism, find you with the people you love best, enjoying each other's company over good food and conversation. Where love is found, there is God also.

In the larger scheme of things, this is one little blog. In the larger scheme of things it is yours. You get to decide what to make of it. Your voice matters. Speak up if you want to be heard.

I'm going to go catch some sleep and do some laundry before I have to travel again. Having clean underwear and clean jeans is sorta the bottom line around here.

And may flights of angels speed thee to thy rest.

Lunch and Then Some

I got this recipe from Emeril Legasse, and like most home cooks (and professional chefs) tinkered with it until it met my personal standards. As you know, soup and bread are my staffs of life and Thai cooking is high on my list of personal favorites so this swung in that direction. This is a base into which any number of things can be dropped, including rice or noodles and any number of thinly sliced veggies.

Shrimp in a Coconut, Ginger, and Lemongrass Broth

1 quart shrimp or fish stock
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1 stalk lemon grass, finely sliced crosswise
1/4 cup julienned ginger
6 kaffir lime leaves, julienned
2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce (nam pla)*
2 tablespoons Thai hot chile sauce (sriracha)*
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 (14-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound small peeled shrimp
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons minced green onions
*Available at specialty Asian markets.

Place all of the ingredients except shrimp, cilantro, and green onions in a medium pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Strain and return to the pot. Bring to a boil, add the shrimp and cook until the shrimp are firm and pink, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and green onions, and serve.

Add noodles or rice to make this substantial enough to be a meal. You can also add all manner of seafood to this to make it a hearty soup. Some flaked seabass, about a quarter cup added at the same time as the shrimp, fits in here very, very nicely. If you've got some leftover lobster or scallops, bring them on at the last minute if they are already cooked, add them with the shrimp if they aren't.

If you need more lunch than this, add a wonderful Vietnamese banh mi sandwich and you won't just be eating, you'll be dining.

Marriages of Convenience

US business ban on Hamas-led PA

The United States has banned its nationals from doing business with the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, a Treasury spokesperson says.

The Treasury ruled this week that the militant Islamist group has a vested interest in the transactions of the Palestinian Authority.

That decision made the PA automatically subject to existing US bans on doing business with "terrorist entities".

The US and EU cut off aid to the PA after Hamas took power on 30 March.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya said on Friday the cut in aid would not weaken the Palestinian people's resolve.

"We will eat salt, but we will not bow our heads for anybody other than God, because we are faithful to the rights of our people and our nation. We will not betray it," he said.

Mr Haniya was addressing worshippers in Gaza before the start of a series of rallies aimed at demonstrating support for the Hamas-led administration.

On Cheney, Rumsfeld order, US outsourcing special ops, intelligence to Iraq terror group, intelligence officials say

Larisa Alexandrovna
Published: Thursday April 13, 2006

The Pentagon is bypassing official US intelligence channels and turning to a dangerous and unruly cast of characters in order to create strife in Iran in preparation for any possible attack, former and current intelligence officials say.

One of the operational assets being used by the Defense Department is a right-wing terrorist organization known as Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK), which is being “run” in two southern regional areas of Iran. They are Baluchistan, a Sunni stronghold, and Khuzestan, a Shia region where a series of recent attacks has left many dead and hundreds injured in the last three months.

One former counterintelligence official, who wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the information, describes the Pentagon as pushing MEK shortly after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The drive to use the insurgent group was said to have been advanced by the Pentagon under the influence of the Vice President’s office and opposed by the State Department, National Security Council and then-National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice.

“The MEK is run by a brother and sister who were given bases in northern Baghdad by Saddam,” the intelligence official told RAW STORY. “The US army secured a key MEK facility 60 miles northwest of Baghdad shortly after the 2003 invasion, but they did not secure the MEK and let them basically be because [then Deputy Defense Secretary Paul] Wolfowitz was thinking ahead to Iran.”

Another former intelligence official added that the US military had detained as many as 3,500 members of MEK at Iraq’s Camp Ashraf since the start of the war, including the highest level ranking MEK leaders. Ashraf is about 60 miles west of the Iranian border.

This intelligence official, wishing to remain anonymous, confirmed the policy tensions and also described them as most departments on one side and the Pentegon on the other.

“We disarmed [the MEK] of major weapons but not small arms. [Secretary of Defense Donald] Rumsfeld was pushing to use them as a military special ops team, but policy infighting between their camp and Condi, but she was able to fight them off for a while,” said the intelligence official. According to still another intelligence source, the policy infighting ended last year when Donald Rumsfeld, under pressure from Vice President Cheney, came up with a plan to “convert” the MEK by having them simply quit their organization.

“These guys are nuts,” this intelligence source said. “Cambone and those guys made MEK members swear an oath to Democracy and resign from the MEK and then our guys incorporated them into their unit and trained them.”

Translation from Cambonese: the Neocons will use terrorists when they think it is in their best interests. If AIPAC thinks they are going to wish Hamas away, they are crazy.

Common Sense

Molly Ivins: Making (non)sense of it all

Congress can't figure out how to do a deal on immigration. I'd like to stick my two cents in here to say the reason that deal fell apart and the reason it won't come back together is because of American business, which hires the illegals and donates the campaign money. Bless your sweet heart if you think the deal came unglued over the Republicans ignoring their base or some other political problem. Money, my friends, talks, and bull walks. Look at who wants illegal workers here. Look at who controls Congress.

Courtesy of the Daou Report on salon.com, I found this item on a blog called The Shape of Days, about the recent demonstrations: "There's really no other way to say it: Being here is weird. To be surrounded by a crowd of thousands of people, all of whom look alike, none of whom look like me, many of whom are decorated with our flag, none of whom are speaking our language, on our national Mall ... it's a surreal experience. Despite my best judgment and best intentions, I feel the inklings of xenophobia bubbling up inside. This place isn't for me; I don't belong here. It's time to go."

I suppose this citizen deserves credit for honesty, but I'm so much more amazed by his or her provincialism. I feel one of those rants about suburbia coming on. Never been in a public place before surrounded by people who speak a different language and look different from you? Can you live in a city and not have experienced that?

I was high just from seeing them all -- 500,000 in Dallas! Of course, most of us know the immigrants are there -- it's just so interesting to see them en masse. If you've ever wondered what this country would be like without illegal workers, now you've got the answer. It would come to a halt.

Let me point out again, I don't have a dog in this fight. There are just some things I know from living in Texas all my life. One is, don't bother to build a fence. Two is, if you want to stop illegal immigrants, stop the people who hire them -- quit punishing people who come because there are jobs. Three, this border has always been porous, and it has always worked to the advantage of the United States.

If you want to do the smart thing and look for a long-term solution, try fixing NAFTA and helping with economic development in Mexico. Meantime, I could do without the drivel about how these people are so different. Of course they're not. Try getting out a little more.

Hard Questions

In Battered La. Parish, Fears for the Future
Cost of Levees May Threaten a Way of Life

By Peter Whoriskey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 14, 2006; Page A10

BURAS, La. -- This small town is a sliver of land wedged between the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, and when Hurricane Katrina made landfall here in August, a raging storm surge wrecked virtually every storefront, office and home.

Now hundreds of people, many of them fishermen or oil-rig workers drawn by long family ties, have returned to live in trailers and hope to rebuild in this same precarious spot.

The question is: Should they be allowed to?

Staggering new cost estimates for building levees here put the price of protecting this little town and others like it in lower Plaquemines Parish at $1.6 billion, or more than $100,000 for every person living here before the flood, federal rebuilding coordinators reported this week.

The dismal cost-benefit analysis has thrown into doubt not only the levee project but also the continued existence of the rural communities that are depending on it in this water-rimmed strip about 60 miles southeast of New Orleans.

"It would be the first time that this country has simply abandoned an entire community -- at least I can't think of another example like it," said Benny Rousselle, president of the parish. "It would be a shame. You can't put a price on these people's lives. Look at all the faults in California. Look at all the hurricanes in Florida. Do they make those people move out?"

We are likely facing a cycle of more frequent and more powerful hurricanes. The last time we were in such a cycle, the east and Gulf coasts and Florida were not nearly as built up as they are now, so this is not the last time this question is going to come up. Ultimately, the decision will be made by the insurance industry.

Too Late

More Retired Generals Call for Rumsfeld's Resignation

By DAVID S. CLOUD and ERIC SCHMITT
Published: April 14, 2006

WASHINGTON, April 13 — The widening circle of retired generals who have stepped forward to call for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's resignation is shaping up as an unusual outcry that could pose a significant challenge to Mr. Rumsfeld's leadership, current and former generals said on Thursday.

Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack Jr., who led troops on the ground in Iraq as recently as 2004 as the commander of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, on Thursday became the fifth retired senior general in recent days to call publicly for Mr. Rumsfeld's ouster. Also Thursday, another retired Army general, Maj. Gen. John Riggs, joined in the fray.

"We need to continue to fight the global war on terror and keep it off our shores," General Swannack said in a telephone interview. "But I do not believe Secretary Rumsfeld is the right person to fight that war based on his absolute failures in managing the war against Saddam in Iraq."

Another former Army commander in Iraq, Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who led the First Infantry Division, publicly broke ranks with Mr. Rumsfeld on Wednesday. Mr. Rumsfeld long ago became a magnet for political attacks. But the current uproar is significant because Mr. Rumsfeld's critics include generals who were involved in the invasion and occupation of Iraq under the defense secretary's leadership.

There were indications on Thursday that the concern about Mr. Rumsfeld, rooted in years of pent-up anger about his handling of the war, was sweeping aside the reticence of retired generals who took part in the Iraq war to criticize an enterprise in which they participated. Current and former officers said they were unaware of any organized campaign to seek Mr. Rumsfeld's ouster, but they described a blizzard of telephone calls and e-mail messages as retired generals critical of Mr. Rumsfeld weighed the pros and cons of joining in the condemnation.

Even as some of their retired colleagues spoke out publicly about Mr. Rumsfeld, other senior officers, retired and active alike, had to be promised anonymity before they would discuss their own views of why the criticism of him was mounting. Some were concerned about what would happen to them if they spoke openly, others about damage to the military that might result from amplifying the debate, and some about talking outside of channels, which in military circles is often viewed as inappropriate.

The White House has dismissed the criticism, saying it merely reflects tensions over the war in Iraq. There was no indication that Mr. Rumsfeld was considering resigning.

The failure, of course, is George W. Bush, who is ultimately responsible for the decision to take us to war. These generals all knew that the intel W was hyping was rotten. They should have said something back in 2002. By voting with their feet like Eric Shinseki.

The "Nyah-Nyah" Argument

Where Do We Meddle Next?
A Half-Century of Protecting Our Interests

By Michael Kinsley
Friday, April 14, 2006; Page A17

So, after more than a half-century of active meddling -- protecting our interests, promoting our values, encouraging democracy, fighting terrorism, seeking stability, defending human rights, pushing peace -- it's come to this. In Iraq we find ourselves unwilling regents of a society splitting into a gangland of warring militias and death squads, with our side (labeled "the government") outperforming the other side (labeled "the terrorists") in both the quantity and gruesome quality of its daily atrocities. In Iran, an irrational government that hates us with special passion is closer to getting the bomb than Iraq -- the country we went to war with to keep from getting the bomb -- ever was.

And in Afghanistan -- site of the Iraq war prequel that actually followed the script (invade, topple brutal regime, wipe out terrorists, establish democracy, accept grateful thanks, get out) -- the good guys we put in power came close a couple of weeks ago to executing a man for the crime of converting to Christianity. Meanwhile, the bad guys (the Taliban and al-Qaeda) keep a low news profile by concentrating on killing children and other Afghan civilians rather than too many American soldiers.

When the United States should use its military strength to achieve worthy goals abroad is an important question. But based on this record, it seems a bit theoretical. A more pressing question is: Can't anyone here play this game?
....
On the "enemy of my enemy" principle, the United States all but officially backed Iraq. We overlooked Hussein's use of chemical weapons against Iranian soldiers (many of them children) and against his own people. Many of the human rights abuses President Bush and others have invoked two decades later to justify the decision to topple and try Hussein were well publicized in the 1980s. But in the 1980s, we didn't care. Meanwhile, of course, Ronald Reagan was also secretly selling weapons to Iran.

The big event in Afghanistan this past half-century was the Soviet occupation of 1979. After the occupation, some of the deposed thugs and others formed militias that roamed the countryside killing people and whatnot. These were called "guerrillas," because we were for them. During the 1980s, we spent hundreds of millions of dollars a year on weapons and other support.

The war we sustained in Afghanistan destroyed the country, turned half the population into refugees and killed perhaps a million people. In 1989 the Soviets pulled out. But, disappointingly, our guerrillas kept on fighting -- using our weapons -- against the government and among themselves. In 1996 one particularly extreme group, the Taliban, took power. It was even more disappointing when the Taliban established an Islamic state more extreme than the one in Iran and invited Osama bin Laden to make himself at home, which he did.

So we marched in and got rid of the Taliban. Then we marched into Iraq and got rid of Saddam Hussein. Now we're -- well, we haven't figured out what, but we're hopping mad and gonna do something, dammit, about Iran.

And they lived happily ever after.

I argue with Kinsley as often as I agree, but the penultimate graf of this column cuts to the chase: our misadventures in the ME are mostly about revenge, a piss poor moral logic for spending money and lives.

Bush's popularity, such as it was, was based on his appeal to our most juvenile emotions. When acting on those emotions turned out badly, as such things usually do, the public was smart enough to abandon interest in those appeals. But that's the only game that Junior's got.

Price at the Pump

Via Susie:

Oil man's half a billion dollar bye-bye

By Jad Mouawad
April 14, 2006

LAST year's high oil prices not only helped Exxon Mobil report $US36 billion in profit - the most ever for any corporation - they also allowed Lee Raymond to retire in style as chairman of Exxon Mobil.

Mr Raymond received a compensation package worth about $US140 million last year, including cash, stock, options and a pension plan. He is also still entitled to stock, options and long-term compensation worth at least another $US258 million, according to a proxy statement filed by Exxon with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The total sum for Mr Raymond's golden years comes to at least $US398 million ($545 million). The compensation is among the richest known and is certain to provoke criticism of profiteering from oil prices - though oil companies say fluctuations in prices are outside their control.

The biggest payout ever is the $US550 million to Michael Eisner, the former head of Walt Disney, in 1997.

Exxon's board also agreed to pick up Mr Raymond's country club fees, allow him to use the company aircraft and pay him another $US1 million to stay on as a consultant for another year. Mr Raymond agreed to reimburse Exxon partly when he uses the company jet for personal travel.

"When is enough, enough?" asked Brian Foley, an executive compensation consultant in White Plains, New York. "This looks like a spigot that you can't turn off."

Note that this obscenity is reported in the Australian press, not the US.

Your Tax Dollars at Work

A Junket in the Jungle? How Can You Ask?

Friday, April 14, 2006; A15

Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and a staffer and some military officers are spending part of the Passover/Easter holidays in a traditional setting.

And what could be more traditional than the heart of the Amazon jungle -- or in Brazil's spectacular Ariau Amazon Towers, the most famous of Amazon resorts, a place where the treetop "Tarzan" suites can run $3,000 a night?

The purpose of the trip, according to Specter's office, is to discuss immigration, drugs and trade. Earlier in the week, they talked about guest workers with the president of Colombia, which has programs with Canada and Spain. Funding for drug interdiction is another issue they worked on.

Then the hardy travelers took their military 737 executive jet -- all business class, windows in the bathrooms -- over to Brasilia on Wednesday afternoon, where we're told Specter apparently had the embassy arrange his usual late-day squash game and a tee time so his wife and a physician who accompanied them could play golf. (There's grumbling that the embassy covered the difference when ungrateful caddies were unhappy with the tips.)

But it was hardly all pleasure: There was a later meeting at the Brazilian foreign ministry. However, a "country team" briefing at the embassy and a dinner with senior embassy officers were canceled, we were told.

Then it was off yesterday to Manaus, near the headwaters of the Amazon, before heading to Ariau, 35 miles northwest, said to be the actual birthplace of the matzoh ball.

And why there?

"They are looking at the status of the rain forest as it helps to combat global warming," we were told. Specter "was there previously and wanted to get an update." The average high temperature year-round ranges from about 87 to 91 degrees. That's pretty warm. Unclear if that's warmer than the last time Specter was there.

This was not one of those controversial, ethically suspect, lobbyist-paid junkets. We all got to chip in.

Gulf Woes

Waste in Katrina Response Is Cited
Housing Aid Called Inefficient in Audits

By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 14, 2006; Page A01

Nearly eight months after Hurricane Katrina triggered the nation's largest housing crisis since the Second World War, a hastily improvised $10 billion effort by the federal government has produced vast sums of waste and misspent funds, an array of government audits and outside analysts have concluded.

As the Federal Emergency Management Agency wraps up the initial phase of its temporary housing program -- ending reliance on cruise ships and hotels for people sent fleeing by the Aug. 29 storm -- the toll of false starts and missed opportunities appears likely to top $1 billion and perhaps much more, according to a series of after-action studies and Department of Homeland Security reports, including one due for release today.

The government's costliest initiative -- $6.4 billion allocated to place storm survivors in temporary trailers and mobile homes -- has ground to a halt around New Orleans this week, in part because of widespread racial and class tensions. Residents of surrounding localities have refused to accept the makeshift communities.

Only 71 percent of the 141,000 trailers that FEMA estimates are needed are being occupied.

Meanwhile, the trailer program consumes more than 60 percent of funds FEMA is spending on housing aid -- even though it benefits about 10 percent of the approximately 1 million households getting help, according to agency data and the Brookings Institution, which tracks recovery progress.

By contrast, a rental assistance program is serving 800,000 families, or 80 percent of households, at about one-third the total cost, or more than $3 billion. It was dramatically expanded four weeks after the storm -- a sluggish start, critics said -- after intense pressure from Congress and others who said the administration from the beginning should have taken advantage of such proven programs as low-income Section 8 rental vouchers.

In a recent White House report, Frances Fragos Townsend, President Bush's homeland security and counterterrorism adviser, reserved some of the toughest criticism for FEMA's mass trailer initiative. She said that it "foundered due to inadequate planning and poor coordination," and she recommended that the Department of Housing and Urban Development take over from Homeland Security in future disasters.

The housing crisis is the tip of the iceberg. There is no functioning hospital in Orleans Parrish, the recovery guidance has broken down around racial lines, there is no coordination between the suburban parrishes and there is complete confusion between state, federal and local governmental efforts. Don't expect this to get fixed in time for this year's hurricane season.

How the World Works

In the Nile Delta, Bird Flu Preys on Ignorance and Poverty

By MICHAEL SLACKMAN
Published: April 14, 2006

KAFR EL SHEIK IBRAHIM, Egypt, April 11 — Given the choice between the possibility her children would fall ill from bird flu or the certainty they would go hungry if she got rid of the ducks she raised in her home, Hamida Abdullah said there was really no choice at all.

In Rateb, children play in a field strewn with chicken feathers and feces, and their parents are convinced reports of avian flu are merely rumors.

"You think we are going to fast?" Ms. Abdullah said as she pushed open a door to expose a sad-looking, feces-covered pen where a dozen muddy ducks chased one another.

It has been two months since Egypt confirmed that avian flu had arrived in the Arab world's most populous country. Since then 12 people have developed the illness, and some have died.

[A government news agency said Thursday that there had been a fourth human death, Reuters reported.]

Egyptian authorities did not hide the flu's arrival, but government officials did not seem prepared to deal with it. There was no clear policy initially for trying to keep the disease from spreading. After the government decided to vaccinate domestic poultry against the flu, it was learned that there was not enough vaccine, people in the poultry industry said.

The government then turned to culling birds, relying on Egyptian security forces. Some poultry industry experts said this only contributed to the spread of the disease.

As in many other developing countries, the Egyptian government was faced not just with a medical and scientific battle, but also with a serious social problem that threatened to undermine stability in vast stretches of poor, rural communities.

Telling poor Egyptians in the countryside they cannot raise poultry at home for food and extra income would be like prohibiting Russians from growing vegetables at their dachas. It would cut off not only a crucial source of nutrition, but also a lifestyle that has deep cultural roots.

The government knew it was impossible to ban raising birds at home, so it allowed people outside the city to keep their personal flocks, so long as they were caged and healthy.

Bird flu has devastated Egypt's poultry industry, effectively reducing a stock of an estimated 100 million broiler chickens at any given time by 95 percent from both disease and culling. But the tragedy of the disease is most evident in the Nile Delta region north of Cairo, the nation's breadbasket and now an incubator of fear and bird flu.

The human cases of the virus have shown up primarily in three Delta governates, including the location of this village, in Menufiyya, where a 16-year-old girl died after coming in contact with infected birds.

"Every house has chickens," said Elmurss Suliman Khamis, whose family slaughtered their chickens and now supplements its meals with beans, fried and boiled. "We can't live without chickens. We actually live with chickens."

Most MSM reporting on avian influenza is piss poor. This NYT piece, on the other hand, is superb. In the space of a few paragraphs, the reporter limns the outlines of infectious disease as a complex social problem. Which it is. The relationship of humans to food animals is not something that we in the US ever think about. Meat is something we buy wrapped in plastic in cavernous and mostly clean supermarkets. Our exposure to animal feces is limited to cleaning up after the dog or changing the litterbox. By contrast, the "developing world" is a sink of zoonoses (virus and bacteria which can pass between animals and humans) where the hosts live in close contact with each other.

There is an unspoken commonality in these problems in the developing world: poverty. Here in the "first world" we have the third world in our midst for the same reason. Strip away the very frail social safety net and our internal third world is revealed very quickly. How quickly we have forgotten the lessons of Katrina, just in time for this year's hurricane season to remind us again.

Through the Gloaming

No, those of us who do think about bird flu don't sleep very well at night. We are up,early and late, scanning the news stories which are usually buried, we are the early warning guides.

What should you be doing? While it isn't working perfectly yet, Flu Wiki is your guide. The other mods and I are working with pogge on fixes and we hope for improvements in a few days. Dealing with servers and code isn't something I'm good at, and I *barely* understand what pogge is talking about when he tells me what I need to do, I just scurry and try to do it. This is a big black hole for us right now. And we are trying to figure out how much it is going to cost us to get it fixed. Hosting costs money, as does fixing things.

I'll be putting up a paypal link in the next few days if you want to help. Setting up another checking account and managing that puts my teeth on edge, but you do what you gotta do.

How much sleep have I lost? I defer to chuck, who has toddlers. In the last ten days, very little sleep has been had on my watch. Chuck can chime in.

Morning, Having Broken

Oh, this is so good that it will make you hug yourself. This is the ultimate Easter brunch dish. Serve it with a macedoine of fresh fruits macerated in champagne seasoned with cinnamon and nutmeg (do this overnight the night before in an airtight container in the fridge) (use pear juice if you are alcohol free) and smoked salmon with Herbed Mustard Cream Cheese on toasted sourdough bread. You will make people crazy with this menu. This is for 12 (or six if you aren't serving an entree meat) and is easy to cut down.

POACHED EGG BRIOCHE

12 large eggs (or 24 small eggs)
12 brioche slices, lightly toasted
12 thin slices Canadian bacon or smoked ham
12 slices tomato (from 2 to 3 tomatoes)
12 thin slices red onion (from 1 medium onion)
3/4 cup grated Cheddar cheese (about 3 ounces)
3/4 cup grated Swiss cheese (about 3 ounces)
Paprika for garnish (optional)
Tablespoon vinegar

1. Preheat broiler. Line 13- by 9-inch baking dish (or large rimmed baking dish) with aluminum foil.

2. Over high heat, bring large pot of water to boil, then reduce heat to medium and add vinegar.. Crack 4 eggs, 1 at a time, into simmering water. Poach until whites are set but yolks are still soft, about 3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, carefully transfer to paper-towel-lined plate to drain. Poach remaining eggs, 4 at a time.

3. In baking dish, place 12 brioche slices. Top each with 1 slice Canadian bacon, 1 slice tomato, 1 slice onion, and 1 (or 2 if using small eggs) poached egg. Sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon Cheddar and 1 tablespoon Swiss cheese. Broil until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. Sprinkle each egg with paprika and serve immediately. Can be prepared in advance and placed under broiler for 3 to 4 minutes before serving.

I got this from a B&B; cook in the Shenandoah Valley. I'm still fiddling with it for one. You can get to pretty much the same place by layering a broiler safe ramekin with a little oil, the bacon, tomato, onion, egg and cheese and microwaving for one minute. Toast the bread, place the egg/cheese combination on it in a toaster oven safe pan and broil it in a toaster oven for two minutes.

This is a real nice relief from the steam table eggs and bacon I got at the Hilton in Dedham, MA, Sunday morning. I rarely eat eggs anymore (middle age+cholesterol=danger) so I want them to be good when I do. Man, they charge a lot of money for bad food.

I don't want to trash Hilton because I know how hard the hospitality industry is, and the room wasn't awful even if the high speed wifi didn't work most of the time (which has been my experience most of the places I've traveled) but when you can't get a waitress's attention for a second cup of coffee at breakfast, and it is a buffet so the guests are doing most of the work, you have a problem at your property. After they screwed up my room reservation (and I wasn't the only guest with a complaint) it took me a day to figure out that one of the windows wouldn't close completely and that's why the room was so cold. The little comment card on the desk got filled out with a lot of bad numbers and the email survey they followed up with earlier this week got similar numbers.

My brother the chef says that you aren't doing a manager or franchise holder any good by sparing them legitimate criticism. The business will survive or fail on legitimate feed back. I know the hospitality industry pretty well, thanks to my brother the chef, so when the business offers a comment card, I usually fill it out. It's ten minutes of my time, and if it makes my next visit better and improves their bottom line, what's not to like?

I used to think that complaining to the manager was something only Jewish girls did. Now I realize I'm doing them a favor. Of course, I'm much bitchier than most of the Swedes I know.

If the manager fails to follow up, what happens next is not my fault. Hilton followed up by email. Points for that. They will stay in my data bank in spite of poor performance on this trip.

As if I will ever have the resources to stay in a Hilton...

Late Afternoon Upper

Regular readers know that I have some favorite comfort foods that I like to make for myself and to serve friends. I'm partial to Italian food, soups and finger sandwiches. That's not such a strange combination, soups and sandwiches together make a fine and nourishing lunch and soup is one of the traditional first courses for an Italian meal. I like ethnic food in general: it's cheap, spicy and pleasing to most of the people I know. Sure, I like fine French Haute Cuisine, but it is expensive and time intensive to cook. I also cook Spanish and German food, but the Mediteranean basin is where I really love to spend my time, from Portugal all the way around to Morocco. I've been through many phases in my decades of cooking (I used to do a lot more far Eastern cooking than I do right now) but I keep circling back here.

This recipe is by way of England, passed through Italy. I had these at a reception following a friend's recital years ago. All of her friends brought food (I made a noodle kugel and we'll get around to that at some point) and these delicious finger sandwiches were brought by a friend, who gave me the recipe. Add this to your collection of finger sandwiches, clean out your tea pots and get in the habit of serving high teas. If you are used to entertaining for business, these expand your repertoire considerably. They are late in the day and can be the last order of business for you and your client or prospect and allow you to skip the "happy hour" liquor. They are easy to assemble in your office kitchen and serve in your conference room and allow you a real personal touch that a business lunch or dinner doesn't have. Here in DC, high tea has become a feature of the business day with many of the clubs and hotels offering them. A well constructed high tea has enough substance to stand in for dinner, and these are the kind of sandwiches which offer that substance while retaining the basically light nature of a tea.

Genoa Salami with Manzanilla Olive Cream Cheese Finger Sandwiches

1/4 cup finely chopped manzanilla olives (about 12 to 15 olives)
Zest of half a lemon
1/2 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
10 slices very thin white bread (recommended: Pepperidge Farm)
1/4 pound thinly sliced Genoa salami

Mash the olives and lemon into the cream cheese with a fork. Spread 5 slices of the bread with half the olive spread and top with salami. Spread the remaining 5 slices of bread with the remaining olive spread and top the sandwiches. Cut off the crusts, then cut the sandwiches into 4 pieces.

The salami needs to be sliced thin enough to nearly read a newspaper through it. You can substitute nearly any thinly sliced deli meat, but salami and ham are really the stellar partners for the cream cheese "sauce." After you've de-crusted the sandwiches (I do this before I fill them so I can spread the filling to the very edges) the traditional cut is four long fingers. Live dangerously and cut on the diagonals to get triangles. Carefully rinsed and dried watercress will also live very comfortably between these slices.

This will make 20 finger sandwiches and are meant to be part of a larger sandwich and sweets platter. A three tiered serving platter is traditional in England, but dessert plates will stand in nicely.

Opening Act

I adapted this recipe from a dish I had years ago at Tre Vigne, Michael Chiarello's restaurant in New Jersey, near Morristown. Served with crostini, this is a super first course: Chiarello discovered that heating the vinegar evaporates some of the acetic acid so that it doesn't compete with your first course wine (I recommend a California sauvignon blanc with this.)

Warm Pancetta, Goat Cheese and Spinach Salad

6 cups loosely packed stemmed baby spinach
1/2 cup (5 ounces) fresh goat cheese (recommended: Laura Chenel)
1/3 pound thick-sliced pancetta, cut into strips about 1 inch long and 1/4 inch wide
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Put the spinach in a large bowl. Crumble the cheese over the spinach. Cook the pancetta in a medium skillet over medium heat until crispy, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain the pancetta in a sieve set over a heatproof measuring cup, reserving the rendered fat. You will need 1/4 cup for the dressing. If necessary, add enough olive oil to make 1/4 cup. Pour the fat back into the pan and add the pancetta. When the pancetta is warm again, add the garlic and cook until light brown, about 30 seconds, stirring occasionally. Add the thyme and let it crackle in the fat for about 10 seconds. Add the vinegar, and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook for about 30 seconds to lower the acidity of the vinegar. You should see tiny drops of vinegar dispersed throughout the fat. Add the dried cranberries and pecans and stir. Pour the dressing over the spinach and cheese. Toss to coat the leaves evenly and melt the cheese a little. Serve immediately.

For 6.

Wtih Friends Like These..

Funny how the North American Media has missed this. It looks like one of our closest allies might have been very bad with an EVIL man. Tisk, Tisk, Tisk

Australian PM denies knowledge of Saddam bribes

Guardian Unlimited
David Fickling
Thursday April 13, 2006

The Australian prime minister, John Howard, today appeared before an inquiry into alleged kickbacks paid to Saddam Hussein's regime by Australia's wheat export body.
Mr Howard said that he had never been alerted to the possibility of corruption and had only ever believed the Australian Wheat Board (AWB), which is accused of paying nearly A$300m (£125m) in bribes to members of Saddam's regime, to be "a company of great reputation".

He denied that he had ever seen 21 diplomatic cables sent to Australia's department of foreign affairs and trade between 2000 and 2004, tipping the department off to the alleged bribery.

"I believe that the contents of the relevant cables were not brought to my attention at any time during the relevant period," he said, adding that his office received 68,000 cables a year and that he was only informed of those deemed essential by his advisors.

The inquiry has been called to investigate claims about the AWB's alleged bribery in the report of UN oil-for-food investigator Paul Volcker, published last year.

Several government ministers, including foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer and trade minister Mark Vaile, have been called to the stand in the past week.

One plank of AWB's defence is that the bribes were indeed paid to the Iraqi government, but that the kickbacks were paid with the knowledge and approval of the Australian government.

However, Mr Howard has followed the other ministers in denying any knowledge of the tip-off cables or suspicion of illegal activity by AWB. He said that he had never suspected anything of AWB until 2005, when the Volcker inquiry first raised the matter, and said that the government had been "systematically deceived" by the company.

Howard is a piece of work and almost makes Bush seem like a human being. It's interesting to note that the only line of defense they seem to have after running on platforms of National Security, is that they are too incomeptent to do their jobs properly. I hope the voters here and in Australia are taking notes.

Here's a hint: They don't care about national security. Now grow a spine and call them on their bluff before we have Iraq Part Duex, not be confused with this sequel .

Media Literacy Time

I know there are a ton of things that need to be done to American's schools, but we MUST incorporate Media Literacy in whatever new paradigm emerges. Here are two studies that aren't directly linked but provide more ammunition for more awareness of the media and kids.

Solo Viewing, Bad Endings

By Sandra G. Boodman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 11, 2006

The kind of television shows children watch and whom they watch them with can be just as important as the amount of time they spend in front of the tube, researchers at Boston's Children's Hospital report in a new study that finds an association between violent shows and peer problems.

Children who watch violent television programs -- especially those who watch such shows alone -- spend less time with friends than children who watch a lot of nonviolent programs. Although the federally funded study could not determine a cause-and-effect relationship, researchers suspect one exists. They suggest that violent shows might teach and encourage aggressive behavior in children, which in turn isolates them from their peers. And that isolation, scientists suggest, appears to create a cycle that makes violent programming more attractive to lonely children.

"A lot of studies about violence and television deal with behavioral outcomes that don't resonate with people" because they occur years later, said David Bickham, lead author of the new study, which involved 1,356 children and appears in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. "We wanted something with a real-life outcome" that would motivate parents to consider the potential consequences of uncensored viewing that are more immediate.

While concerns about the harmful impact of violent TV shows on children are scarcely new -- the U.S. Surgeon General issued a warning in 1972 -- their influence on children's friendships and social activities has been little studied.

"This is a very interesting and novel study," said research psychologist Craig Anderson, an expert on children and media who is a professor at Iowa State University. "There really haven't been studies looking at TV violence" and peer relationships among children. "What they propose does make a lot of sense."

The study, by scientists at the Harvard-affiliated hospital's Center on Media and Child Health, suggests that the content of shows and the context in which they are viewed may influence social relationships in a more complicated way than previously believed.

Many researchers had speculated that TV viewing displaces time spent with friends. But Bickham and pediatrician Michael O. Rich found that children who watched television with friends also spent more time socializing in other ways, while those who watched violent shows spent significantly less time with their peers.

Studies have found that the average school-age child spends 27 hours a week watching TV and that 61 percent of programs contain violence

Those 27 hours a week don't include screen time with the computer and MySpace, Facebook, and other Interenet sites that might promote a sense of community, but lacks the physicallity of the other people.

The other article is on the flip side.

Proved: TV Leads to Junk Food Diet

April 9th, 2006
By Camillo Francassini
The Times (of London)

Long seen as the cornerstones of childhood obesity, now a study has found that the amount of junk food youngsters eat is directly proportionate to the number of hours they spend watching television.

Research into the dietary and viewing habits of more than 162,000 children in 35 countries has revealed that their consumption of sweets and fizzy drinks rises with each hour they spend in front of the box. By contrast, the amount of fresh fruit and vegetables falls.

The findings, by researchers at the universities of Aberdeen and Ghent, in Belgium, have prompted renewed calls for curbs on TV viewing by children and junk food advertising.

“The association between watching TV and reduced likelihood of regularly consuming fruit and vegetables, found in many countries, could be . . . a result of the replacement of fruit and vegetables by other foods advertised more frequently,” the authors conclude.

While the study concedes that couch potato youngsters may eat more junk food while watching television, it also claims children are more likely to ask for, buy and eat food they see advertised on television.

The latest research, published in the journal Public Health Nutrition, is based on detailed surveys of children aged between 11 and 15 carried out by the World Health Organisation.

In all but one country, Greenland, there was a significant association between television viewing and higher rates of daily consumption of sweets and fizzy drinks.

In terms of viewing, Scotland came joint sixth with England and the United States with an average of three hours a day. Ukraine was top with 3.7 hours, while children in Switzerland watched the least, an average of two hours a day.

Scots youngsters were 31% more likely to consume fizzy drinks and 26% more likely to eat sweets with each additional hour of television watched. They were 12% less likely to eat vegetables and 15% less likely to eat fresh fruit with each extra hour spent in front of the box.

In England, each additional hour of viewing made children 25% more likely to consume fizzy drinks and 20% more likely to eat sweets. The likelihood of eating vegetables or fresh fruit fell by 12% and 11%, respectively.

Images construct reality, especially for young minds. If all you know of the world is what is on the idiot box, then you're view of things is going to be seriously messed up. Those violent, anti-social kids sound like something from A Clockwork Orange but not as extreme, though we know that people get desensitized to violence the more they see. On the other hand, we have the hypnotized kids who purchase the unhealthy food because it's what they see (and can afford).

We can start to change things, but it takes some effort and none of us are perfect with it. One, we must change the family's media habits. I used to watch a ton of television just because it was on and something to do. Now I have replaced that with computer screen time, which isn't much better (especially with my weight). As adults, we need to model good behavior for our kids. Is it good that my almost 3 year old twins know the signal for "touchdown" in football and enjoy tackling? Is that really a good message for them to receive? If it is, let's go outside and run around or play games associated with it instead of just watching it.

Secondly, we must reclaim our airwaives. In many European nations, there are laws against marketting to young children. While there is no hope of getting that even mentioned in Washington right now, we need to start discussing it as a public health issue if nothing else. The 1st Amendment doesn't give multinational corporations the right to exploit our children (just ask the tobacco industry).

Finally, we must educate our children about what is going on, instead of forcing them to fend for themselves in front of the TV and computer. Point out that they won't have a life altering experience if they eat Lucky Charms instead of the normal cereal and that the little guy isn't going to jump out at them. My kids already know who "Old MacDonald" is and what we get there (Chocolate Milk and Apples with the Happy Meal)... we need to teach them that MacDonald isn't necessarilly their friend.

Will these steps reverse these trends... not completely, but it's a start. Many teachers try to work in snipits of Media Literacy into their classrooms but it's hard and works best when there is support at home.

Raised Middle Digit

Scalia Defends Involvement in Cheney Case

Associated Press
Thursday, April 13, 2006; Page A06

HARTFORD, Conn., April 12 -- Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Wednesday called his 2004 decision not to recuse himself from a case involving Vice President Cheney, who is a friend of his, the "proudest thing" he has done on the court.

The conservative justice's remarks came as he took questions from law students during a lecture at the University of Connecticut.

The case involved Cheney's request to keep private the details of closed-door White House strategy sessions that produced the administration's energy policy. The administration fought a lawsuit that contended that industry executives helped shape that policy. The Supreme Court upheld the administration position on a 7 to 2 vote.

Critics alleged that Scalia's impartiality had been compromised as a result of his taking a hunting vacation with Cheney while the court was considering the vice president's appeal. The justice rejected that reasoning.

"For Pete's sake, if you can't trust your Supreme Court justice more than that, get a life," he said.

In other words, screw the public's entitlement to a justice's avoiding even the appearance of conflict of interest. Nino is a real piece of work. The arrogance of the right wing ideologues knows no bounds.

Trust Us -- Right!

Documents Show Link Between AT&T; and Agency in Eavesdropping Case

By JOHN MARKOFF and SCOTT SHANE
Published: April 13, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO, April 12 — Mark Klein was a veteran AT&T; technician in 2002 when he began to see what he thought were suspicious connections between that telecommunications giant and the National Security Agency.

But he kept quiet about it until news broke late last year that President Bush had approved an N.S.A. program to eavesdrop without court warrants on Americans suspected of ties to Al Qaeda.

Now Mr. Klein and a few company documents he saved have emerged as key elements in a class-action lawsuit filed against AT&T; on Jan. 31 by a civil liberties group, the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The suit accuses the company of helping the security agency invade its customers' privacy.

Mr. Klein's account and the documents provide new details about how the agency works with the private sector in intercepting communications for intelligence purposes.

The documents, some of which Mr. Klein had earlier provided to reporters, describe a mysterious room at the AT&T; Internet and telephone hub in San Francisco where he worked.

The documents, which were examined by four independent telecommunications and computer security experts at the request of The New York Times, describe equipment capable of monitoring a large quantity of e-mail messages, Internet phone calls, and other Internet traffic.

The equipment, which Mr. Klein said was installed by AT&T; in 2003, was able to select messages that could be identified by keywords, Internet or e-mail addresses or country of origin and divert copies to another location for further analysis.

The security agency began eavesdropping without warrants on international phone calls and e-mail messages of people inside the United States suspected of terrorist links soon after the Sept. 11 attacks.

After disclosing the program last December, The New York Times also reported that the agency had gathered data from phone and e-mail traffic with the cooperation of several major telecommunications companies.

The technical experts all said that the documents showed that AT&T; had an agreement with the federal government to systematically gather information flowing on the Internet through the company's network.

The gathering of such information, known as data mining, involves the use of sophisticated computer programs to detect patterns or glean useful intelligence from masses of information.

"This took expert planning and hundreds of millions of dollars to build," said Brian Reid, director of engineering at the Internet Systems Consortium in Redwood City, Calif. "This is the correct way to do high volume Internet snooping."

Another expert, who had designed large federal and commercial data networks, said that the documents were consistent with administration assertions that the N.S.A. monitored only foreign communications and communications between foreign and United States locations, partly because of the location of the monitoring sites. The network designer was granted anonymity because he believed that commenting on the operation could affect his ability to work as a consultant.

And those Libertarians who were argueing at the store yesterday that the government was too active and that big business should be left alone miss the point....

In theory, the government is there to protect the innocent from overreach from anyone. If we truely believe in the values of John Locke, then any government that messes with those rights should be removed right away.

I'm sure that the protection of our rights is high on the list of priorities for the Bush Justice Dept.... NOT! And what can be done to AT & T for their role in this aside from public humiliation?

"Military Intelligence"

Data Leaks Persist From Afghan Base
A computer drive sold at a bazaar for $40 may hold the names of spies for the United States who inform on the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
By Paul Watson, Times Staff Writer
April 13, 2006

BAGRAM, Afghanistan — A computer drive sold openly Wednesday at a bazaar outside the U.S. air base here holds what appears to be a trove of potentially sensitive American intelligence data, including the names, photographs and telephone numbers of Afghan spies informing on the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

The flash memory drive, which a teenager sold for $40, holds scores of military documents marked "secret," describing intelligence-gathering methods and information — including escape routes into Pakistan and the location of a suspected safe house there, and the payment of $50 bounties for each Taliban or Al Qaeda fighter apprehended based on the source's intelligence.

The documents appear to be authentic, but the accuracy of the information they contain could not be independently verified.

On its face, the information seems to jeopardize the safety of intelligence sources working secretly for U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan, which would constitute a serious breach of security. For that reason, The Times has withheld personal information and details that could compromise military operations.

U.S. commanders in Afghanistan said an investigation was underway into what shopkeepers at the bazaar describe as ongoing theft and resale of U.S. computer equipment from the Bagram air base. The facility is the center of intelligence-gathering activities and includes a detention center for suspected members of Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups flown in from around the world.

"Members of the Army's Criminal Investigation Command are conducting an investigation into potential criminal activity," a statement said.

The top U.S. commander here, Army Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, has ordered a review of policies and procedures for keeping track of computer hardware and software.

"Coalition officials regularly survey bazaars across Afghanistan for the presence of contraband materials, but thus far have not uncovered sensitive or classified items," the statement added.

The credibility and reliability of some intelligence sources identified in the documents is marked as unknown.

Other operatives, however, appear to be of high importance, including one whose information, the document says, led to the apprehension of seven Al Qaeda suspects in the United States.

One document describes a source as having "people working for him" in 11 Afghan cities. "The potential for success with this contact is unlimited," the report says.

Even the names of people identified as the sources' wives and children are listed — details that could put them at risk of retaliation by insurgents who have boasted about executing dozens of people suspected of spying for U.S. forces.

Gross incompetence, anyone?

Another Monster at Our Door

Think about this in the context of avian influenza. I've asked my epidemiological contacts (hi, reveres! It was great to see you for dinner Saturday night!) for further comment.

Mumps Spreading Across Midwest
Health Officials Scramble to Contain Outbreak and Find Out What's Causing It

By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 13, 2006; Page A03

Local, state and federal health experts are urgently trying to contain a large mumps outbreak raging across Iowa that has now spread to at least eight other Midwestern states.

At least 515 cases have been reported in Iowa this year, far outpacing the five cases the state usually sees in a year and the 200 to 300 that typically occur nationally. The epidemic, the largest since a 1988 outbreak in Kansas, shows no sign of slowing, with at least 100 more cases in Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri and Illinois.

Among other steps, the effort to stem the outbreak has led investigators to hunt down passengers on a flight to Washington, D.C., last month that carried a woman who later developed mumps, and to vaccinate more than a dozen people she visited on Capitol Hill.

As health officials work to break the chain of transmission of the viral infection, disease detectives are trying to puzzle out what is causing it. Cases appear concentrated among young, otherwise healthy adults.

"Why Iowa and why now? We really don't know," said William Bellini of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which has sent investigators to help control and investigate it. "There are a lot of unknowns."

Among them: Does the mumps vaccine fail to take hold in more people than had been thought? Does its protection wane? Is the virus that is causing this outbreak less susceptible to the vaccine for some reason, or more infectious?

The outbreak has underscored that old infectious diseases that most people rarely think about -- and doctors do not often encounter -- can suddenly reemerge.

"This shows us once again that the world is a very small place," said William Schaffner, an infectious-disease expert at Vanderbilt University. "We have to remain on guard, even about diseases we usually rarely see anymore in this country."

To try to keep the outbreak from widening further, the CDC announced yesterday that officials are working to track down 222 airline passengers who sat near two people from Iowa who developed the mumps after traveling on nine flights from March 26 to April 2. One flew from Tucson to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, stopping in Arkansas and St. Louis. The second, a 51-year-old woman on a trip to lobby the Iowa congressional delegation, flew from Waterloo, Iowa, to Washington and back, stopping in Detroit and Minneapolis.

About 17 people who came in contact with her on Capitol Hill have been given vaccine shots as a precaution, health officials said.

"The states where these passengers traveled and landed we'll be watching closely and putting prevention and control activities in place if they start to see some cases," said Jane Seward of the CDC.

The passenger behind me on the flight back from Boston on Sunday had a sneezing fit that lasted for about 30 minutes. He did not cover his mouth and nose. I was reading Mike Davis's
The Monster at Our Door at the time (a fantastic read, by the way, the man's a disaster sylist) and you can imagine what was going through my mind. I didn't realize I need to be worried about mumps, too. I never had them as a child and don't recall ever being vaccinated.

End of an Era

One of my heroes is gone.

MLK ally and spiritual progressive dies

Posted by Evan Derkacz at 3:39 PM on April 12, 2006.

81-year-old William Sloane Coffin's life is the life of the second half of the 20th Century. A progressive second half, that is.

An heir to the W & J Sloane fortune, he was a CIA agent, an organizer of the first Peace Corps trainings, the chaplain of Yale, an ally of Martin Luther King Jr. (he was a Freedom Rides organizer), president of SANE/Freeze, and opposed the Iraq War in his later years.

He's even got a permanent spot in the Doonesbury comics as the Rev. [Scott] Sloan.

The Presbyterian minister occupied such a vaunted place in the progressive world the Nation recently asked, as his health was failing, who the next William Sloane Coffin would be.

(For the record, the answer the Nation comes up with seems to be, curiously enough, a Rabbi. Rabbi Michael Lerner...)

Incidentally, Lerner's Tikkun Magazine (where I once worked) interviewed Coffin a short while ago. An excerpt on good, evil and Bush's Christianity:
....
Tikkun: What do you think of President Bush's Christianity?

WSC: I think that President Bush's God is too violent, hardly the God to whom Martin Luther King, Jr. and Abraham Joshua Heschel prayed. I also think that the president's God is too small. It is my fundamental religious conviction that we all belong one to another, every one of us on this planet. Religious people have to open their hearts to all people, from the Pope to the loneliest wino on earth. It is ridiculous for the president to describe Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as "the axis of evil" when all of humanity suffers infinitely more from environmental degradation, pandemic poverty, and a world awash with weapons.

Further, President Bush's "compassionate conservatism" seems reserved primarily for the rich and for the unborn; he appears to be much less interested in poor mothers. Jesus put first those whom society counted least and put last. Our president may have experienced a religious conversion, but he doesn't seem to realize that there is no personal conversion without a change in social attitudes.

There is also no conversion without a change in behavior. Arrogance and hubris are not part of a religious conversion. "By their fruits you shall know them." Anyone who claims to know the mind of God is mad, delusional or both. Anyone who claims to wage war in the name of God is not a Christian.

6 Weeks and Counting

Red Cross Outlines Changes to Improve Disaster Response

By Leef Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 12, 2006; Page A03

Red Cross officials announced plans yesterday to dramatically increase their stockpile of food and other disaster supplies in key danger zones nationwide and partner with community-based organizations to speed assistance to victims -- all to avoid a repeat of problems the charity experienced last year in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

"There are things the Red Cross did well last fall and things the Red Cross needs to do different and better next time," said Joseph C. Becker, senior vice president of preparedness and response for the Red Cross, who presented several organizational changes yesterday that should be in place by July 1, before hurricane season is its most threatening.

The changes mark a shift in how the nonprofit conducts itself. Traditionally, the Red Cross has relied largely on its own resources in times of crisis. The future will find it relying much more on community-based groups when it confronts disasters.

Becker said the Red Cross should be prepared to not only identify and partner with churches and other organizations but to also offer them financial support -- all to better serve the public.

"In the earliest days after Katrina, large numbers of churches and community groups opened their doors to feed people, but after a number of days, they became fatigued," Becker said. "What's important for us is to know about them and know who we can count on. . . . We need to change who we are, and the best way to do that is to ask each of our local chapters to identify the right strategic partners."

Becker said those partners will receive training and supplies and will be supported, financially and otherwise, by the Red Cross as they become part of the larger response.

In addition, Becker said the Red Cross plans to spend $80 million to dramatically increase its stockpile of supplies in key states -- both along the gulf coast and nationwide -- giving the charity the ability to serve 1 million meals and shelter 500,000 people a day in the initial aftermath of a disaster.

Red Cross officials said that after the storm, their system was strained under the burden of 100,000 financial aid cases. Yesterday, they said they will upgrade their information technology infrastructure to speed financial assistance to 1 million affected families within a 10-day period and 2 million over a longer period.

That will be done, in part, with a stockpile of a million debit cards. Money will not be loaded onto the cards until they are issued to victims.

Two things I didn't have time to say about this story when it printed in the WaPo yesterday:

Debit cards don't work when there is no power. There are parts of NoLa which still have no power.

The first hurricane last year was called by the Tropical Storms/National Hurricane Center in Miami on June 12. Ya don't got until July 1, Red Cross. Ya still ain't payin' attention.

Left Behind

This is from this week's right wing Weekly Standard:

Housing Bubble Trouble
Have we been living beyond our means?
by Andrew Laperriere
04/10/2006, Volume 011, Issue 28

"If something can't go on forever, it won't."
--Herb Stein

WITH NEW HOME SALES DOWN 10.5 percent in February, and with home prices declining for the fourth month in a row, it's high time for a sober look at the consequences of a major housing correction. The Federal Reserve, Wall Street economists, and other observers of the U.S. economy are closely watching the housing market because it has been a key driver of economic growth over the past several years.

Roughly a quarter of the jobs created since the 2001 recession have been in construction, real estate, and mortgage finance. Even more important, consumers have withdrawn $2.5 trillion in equity from their homes during this time, spending as much as half of it and thus making a huge contribution to the growth the U.S. economy has enjoyed in recent years (consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of GDP).

But consumers cannot keep spending more than they make. Eventually, home prices will flatten, the flood of "cash out" refinancings will become a trickle, and consumer spending will slow, as will job creation in housing-related industries. The big question is this: Will the housing sector experience a soft landing and slow the economy or a hard landing that pushes us into recession?

Countless articles in the financial and popular press have now been devoted to the question of whether we are in a housing "bubble." It is a favorite topic of many liberal economists, columnists, and bloggers, who argue that President Bush's tax cuts and other policies have created
a hollow and unsustainable economy. They are laying the groundwork to hang a housing bust around the necks of President Bush and congressional Republicans.

Economic observers on the right have been strangely silent on this debate. A few conservatives have argued that the record appreciation of home prices is justified by economic fundamentals. Others, who apparently slept through the 80 percent decline in the NASDAQ, don't believe bubbles are possible in a free market economy. Certainly most conservatives have an innate optimism about America and the resilience of its free market economy, and a strong and well-justified aversion to doomsayers. And naturally, the White House and congressional Republicans have no interest in highlighting the vulnerabilities of the economy.

Yet the concerns about unsustainable growth in consumer debt and home prices are not easily dismissed. A weakening housing market could transform what has been a virtuous cycle into a vicious one, substantially reducing economic growth during the next couple of years (and going into the 2008 election). If economic analysts on the right ignore this risk, they may be blindsided by a weaker economy. They will also be unprepared to answer those on the left who will blame tax cuts for what could be a painful unwinding of a credit bubble that, in fact, was fueled by a loose monetary policy from 2002 to 2004.

If the wingnuts are starting to worry about fiscal policy, there is probably something more going on. How about utterly flat wage growth for the middle class for the last five years?

One of the striking characteristics of this business cycle has been the anemic job growth, despite an economic expansion. For the first 50 months of the business cycle employment gains were essentially flat. The growth rate of 0.2 percent is lower than any on record since the 1940s.

Notes: Calculations are based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Weekly Earnings (1982 dollars), Washington, D.C.: www.bls.gov

The worst employment record during a business cycle since World War II was matched by comparatively low earnings growth. For the first 50 months of the business cycle, weekly earnings grew by 0.1 percent in inflation-adjusted terms.

Notes: Calculations are based on data from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Release Z.1 Flow of Funds, Washington, D.C.: www.federalreserve.gov.

With employment and wage growth flat, households were caught in a bind. They borrowed more money to maintain their consumption, but they also had a harder time repaying the new debt. Consequently, debt levels reached record highs of over 110 percent of disposable income throughout this business cycle.

GDP growth has accrued to corporate profits, not wages. We're working harder and getting further behind, even as we abandon the union movement. Silly us.

Professional Pessimism

Iraq Reconstruction Teams Delayed at State Department

Thursday, April 13, 2006; Page A19

Earlier this year, the State Department began soliciting personnel for provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) for Iraq, a new concept designed to take diplomats out of Baghdad and into the provinces.

"We urgently need talented State Department Foreign Service and Civil Service volunteers to staff sixteen new teams being formed beginning now and in early 2006," a State Department cable told employees. "The PRTs will assist Iraq's provincial governments with developing a transparent and sustained capability to govern, promoting increased security and rule of law, promoting political and economic development, and providing the provincial administration necessary to meet the basic needs of the population." The cable called for team leaders, deputy team leaders and provincial assistance officers, who it said were needed as early as January.

"Our nation's highest foreign policy goal is helping Iraq become a democratic, stable, and prosperous country. A strong State Department presence is essential to achieving this goal," the cable said. "The best, most skilled members of the State Department family should consider serving in Iraq. In particular, we urge personnel with regional expertise, post conflict reconstruction experience and Arabic language capabilities to volunteer and to increase their chances to contribute significantly to our foreign policy goals."

The rollout of the PRTs has been slowed by a debate between the Pentagon and State over whether the military or private contractors should provide security. As of April 7, job applications had been received for only 12 of 35 positions, according to the State Department's internal bid list. And, of all applicants, only one is deemed qualified based on grade level and previous expertise, according to the bid list.

Let's see: we've been in Iraq for three years and the State Department couldn't start reconstruction until now? How fucked up is that? It ain't hard to see that none of the career folks aren't seeing this as a carreer-boosting move. I'm sure that the experts at Halliburton will be more than able to fill in the gaps. For about 3-4 times the relevent General Schedule pay scale.

Day Late, Dollar Short

Rumsfeld Rebuked By Retired Generals
Ex-Iraq Commander Calls for Resignation

By Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 13, 2006; Page A01

The retired commander of key forces in Iraq called yesterday for Donald H. Rumsfeld to step down, joining several other former top military commanders who have harshly criticized the defense secretary's authoritarian style for making the military's job more difficult.

"I think we need a fresh start" at the top of the Pentagon, retired Army Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who commanded the 1st Infantry Division in Iraq in 2004-2005, said in an interview. "We need leadership up there that respects the military as they expect the military to respect them. And that leadership needs to understand teamwork."

Batiste noted that many of his peers feel the same way. "It speaks volumes that guys like me are speaking out from retirement about the leadership climate in the Department of Defense," he said earlier yesterday on CNN.

Batiste's comments resonate especially within the Army: It is widely known there that he was offered a promotion to three-star rank to return to Iraq and be the No. 2 U.S. military officer there but he declined because he no longer wished to serve under Rumsfeld. Also, before going to Iraq, he worked at the highest level of the Pentagon, serving as the senior military assistant to Paul D. Wolfowitz, then the deputy secretary of defense.

Batiste said he believes that the administration's handling of the Iraq war has violated fundamental military principles, such as unity of command and unity of effort. In other interviews, Batiste has said he thinks the violation of another military principle -- ensuring there are enough forces -- helped create the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal by putting too much responsibility on incompetent officers and undertrained troops.

His comments follow similar recent high-profile attacks on Rumsfeld by three other retired flag officers, amid indications that many of their peers feel the same way.

"We won't get fooled again," retired Marine Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold, who held the key post of director of operations on the staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2000 to 2002, wrote in an essay in Time magazine this week. Listing a series of mistakes such as "McNamara-like micromanagement," a reference to the Vietnam War-era secretary of defense, Newbold called for "replacing Rumsfeld and many others unwilling to fundamentally change their approach."

Last month, another top officer who served in Iraq, retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times in which he called Rumsfeld "incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically." Eaton, who oversaw the training of Iraqi army troops in 2003-2004, said that "Mr. Rumsfeld must step down."

Also, retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, a longtime critic of Rumsfeld and the administration's handling of the Iraq war, has been more vocal lately as he publicizes a new book, "The Battle for Peace."

I realize that, given how hard the MSM was flacking for the war in the run up, it would have been hard for you guys to get any press in late 2002 or early 2003, but I notice that you didn't even try. It's a little late now, fellas, and it looks like your sociopathic ex-boss is about to go and do it again. What's a couple of trillion dollars here or there to a dry drunk with no management experience to speak of? And I hear that Syria is after that on his program.

Thanks for all your help, guys. Hope your books sell well, but you sold us down the river and I don't have much respect for that.

The Other Bread

I come from the north, where Garrison Keillor's "powdermilk buscuits" are tasty and delicious imaginary comfort food. Here in the south, imaginary won't do. The people here want their comfort food to be quick to the table, not something spoken about on public radio, which is fairly suspect by itself. Here is what they supply to the real table, the food even the poorest can afford:

Hush Puppies

1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp soda
1 egg, beaten
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3/4 to 1 cup milk or buttermilk (buttermilk works better)

Combine all dry ingredients. Add egg, milk, and onions mix well. Drop in deep hot fat by spoonfuls and brown on all sides.

This will serve four. Yes, unless carefully done they are as greasy as can be, but well cooked hush puppies are the pride of a southern cook. In careful hands they rise to greatness as one of the truly national breads of the US. This recipe, done right, elevates. The oil needs to be at 360 degrees and stay there. When cooking with hot oil, use a themometer and raise your standards.

Serve a handful of these with any southern dish and you'll have proofed your bona fides to the local cooks here in the south.

Opening Notes

I have outrage fatigue, it just wasn't hard to find stories and things to write about today. It's time to change the program over to the dining and dancing part, I do the food, Susie does the music (and do what you can to get Comcast to get her online, directions are on her site.)

Today was heavy on phone work, which is why posting was spotty. I'm trying to get Flu Wiki fixed and this is turning out to be labor intensive as I learn about servers 'n' things, an angel turned up today to help with funding, and I've got more funding calls to make this week. This is a lot of work. Pogge is working on the back end, and you should go and take a look at the new writers he's recuited for his site. This is very good work. Very, very good. But I have to go set up new accounting for Flu Wiki and get a new bank account and I'm, um, not very good at this.

So, now I turn to recipes. I want to give you something back for your attention. Since I can't feed you all at my own table, I give you recipes so that you can offer something I love to your family and friends by proxy. Entertaining and cooking are my favorite hobbies and that's one of the few things of myself I can share with you.

With Passover and Easter celebrated this week, many of us will be entertaining. Here is an hors d'ouevre which manages to be both amusing and tasty. It's not kosher for Passover, however, but those of you with skill in a kosher kitchen can probably do something tasty with matzoh. Me, I manage to turn the stuff into lead.

PARMESAN ONION PUFFS
2 oz finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 cup)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon minced onion
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
10 slices firm white sandwich bread

Special equipment: a 1 3/4-inch round cookie cutter; a small offset spatula

Put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 400°F.

Stir together cheese, mayonnaise, onion, and cayenne.

Cut out 4 rounds from each bread slice using cutter and arrange on a baking sheet. Bake toasts until tops are crisp and just golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Cool toasts slightly on baking sheet on a rack. (Leave oven on.)

Top each toast with a rounded 1/2 teaspoon cheese mixture, spreading to edge with a small offset spatula or knife. Bake toasts until topping is puffed and golden, about 6 minutes.

Makes 40 hors d'oeuvres.

As Cajun chef Justin Wilson (yes, I own the cookbooks) used to say, "I gar-oon-tee" you will have none of these left. Too bad, they'd make spectacular salad croutons.

Regrets

Now Powell Tells Us

Robert Scheer

On Monday, former Secretary of State Colin Powell told me that he and his department's top experts never believed that Iraq posed an imminent nuclear threat, but that the President followed the misleading advice of Vice President Dick Cheney and the CIA in making the claim. Now he tells us.

The harsh truth is that this President cherry-picked the intelligence data in making his case for invading Iraq and deliberately kept the public in the dark as to the countervailing analysis at the highest level of the intelligence community. While the President and his top Cabinet officials were fear-mongering with stark images of a "mushroom cloud" over American cities, the leading experts on nuclear weaponry at the Department of Energy (the agency in charge of the US nuclear-weapons program) and the State Department thought the claim of a near-term Iraqi nuclear threat was absurd.

"The activities we have detected do not, however, add up to a compelling case that Iraq is currently pursuing what INR would consider to be an integrated and comprehensive approach to acquire nuclear weapons," said a dissenting analysis from an assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research (INR) in the now infamous 2002 National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, which was cobbled together for the White House before the war. "Iraq may be doing so but INR considers the available evidence inadequate to support such a judgment."

The specter of the Iraqi nuclear threat was primarily based on an already discredited claim that Iraq had purchased aluminum tubes for the purpose of making nuclear weapons. In fact, at the time, the INR wrote in the National Intelligence Estimate that it "accepts the judgment of technical experts at the US Department of Energy (DOE) who have concluded that the tubes Iraq seeks to acquire are poorly suited for use in gas centrifuges to be used for uranium enrichment and finds unpersuasive the arguments advanced by others to make the case that they are intended for that purpose."

The other major evidence President Bush gave Americans for a revitalized Iraq nuclear program, of course, was his 2003 State of the Union claim--later found to be based on forged documents--that a deal had been made to obtain uranium from Niger. This deal was exposed within the Administration as bogus before the President's speech in January by Ambassador Wilson, who traveled to Niger for the CIA. Wilson only went public with his criticisms in an op-ed piece in the New York Times a half year later in response to what he charged were the Administration's continued distortion of the evidence. In excerpts later made available to the public, it is clear that the Niger claim doesn't even appear as a key finding in the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate, while the INR dissent in that document dismisses it curtly: "[T]he claims of Iraqi pursuit of natural uranium in Africa are, in INR's assessment highly dubious."

I queried Powell at a reception following a talk he gave in Los Angeles on Monday. Pointing out that the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate showed that his State Department had gotten it right on the nonexistent Iraq nuclear threat, I asked why did the President ignore that wisdom in his stated case for the invasion?

"The CIA was pushing the aluminum tube argument heavily and Cheney went with that instead of what our guys wrote," Powell said. And the Niger reference in Bush's State of the Union speech? "That was a big mistake," he said. "It should never have been in the speech. I didn't need Wilson to tell me that there wasn't a Niger connection. He didn't tell us anything we didn't already know. I never believed it."

When I pressed further as to why the President played up the Iraq nuclear threat, Powell said it wasn't the President: "That was all Cheney." A convenient response for a Bush family loyalist, perhaps, but it begs the question of how the President came to be a captive of his Vice President's fantasies.

More important: Why was this doubt, on the part of the secretary of state and others, about the salient facts justifying the invasion of Iraq kept from the public until we heard the truth from whistleblower Wilson, whose credibility the President then sought to destroy?

In matters of national security, when a President leaks, he lies. By selectively releasing classified information to suit his political purposes, as President Bush did in this case, he is denying that there was a valid basis for keeping the intelligence findings secret in the first place. "We ought to get to the bottom of it, so it can be evaluated by the American people," said Sen. Arlen Specter, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. I couldn't have put it any better.

Powell's just like the rest of the cowardly generals who waited until way late to tell us that they didn't believe the Bushit. Jeebus, where were you guys in 2003? You're summer soldiers and sunshine patriots now.

Oh, Arlen? I believe you're going to get to the bottom of it the same way you got to the bottom of Roberts and Alito. Your credibility is zero around here. How's that impeachment thing workin' out for ya?

The Angry Man

Lou Dobbs, Now More Than Ever

By Susan J. Douglas

Into this gap between the lassitude of the nightly news and the edginess of Jon Stewart has stepped an unlikely figure: Lou Dobbs. I used to watch Dobbs for what are called surveillance purposes; how do right-leaning, pro-business types report and spin the news? Now, I try not to miss Dobbs, in part because he seems to be deliberately crafting a new kind of anchor persona—that of the outraged everyday American, the one who is indeed “mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore.” He expresses his incredulity over Bush pronouncements and policies in his give-and-take with CNN reporters, addresses the audience directly with sarcastic rhetorical questions and has abandoned the more neutral, objectivity-adhering stylings of news anchors. He has also been walking an interesting political line, conservative about some issues, especially American immigration policy, populist about others, including corporate giveaways and the privileging of business interests over national security. And you won’t find soft news stories about puppies or diets here. In the process, Dobbs is showing how you might do a version of “The Daily Show” straight.

Dobbs was merciless about the Dubai deal, and he used it as a frame through which to blast Bush about the current trajectory of his administration. How’s this for a lead-in, which Dobbs read on March 3: “New evidence tonight that the Bush White House appears to believe that commerce is more important than national security. It turns out the Committee on Foreign Investments, which is supposed to safeguard our national security interests, failed to consult anyone outside the Bush administration about this deal.” The deal provided a peg for a related story about K Street lobbyists, with which Dobbs concluded, “Business lobbyists and groups say commerce is more important often than national security interests.”

Covering Bush’s trip to India, Dobbs’ lead-in included, “The president also made outrageous remarks about the export of American jobs to cheap overseas labor markets,” and later added, “Outsourcing is just ducky, says the president.” Ridiculing Bush for saying that the solution to outsourcing is to educate Americans for 21st century jobs, Dobbs cited Labor Department projections that the fastest growing job is that of nursing assistant. Bedpans, anyone?

Dobbs also uses e-mails from viewers to provide a Greek Chorus to back up his own ire. A typical offering: “I have never in my 74 years seen such a lack of concern for the citizens of America by the elected officials in Washington D.C.” You just don’t see this kind of controlled fury on the networks.

On March 10, Dobbs opened his show with “The Dubai ports deal is dead, but the distortions and disinformation go on.” Beginning with Bush’s comments about the demise of the deal, Dobbs added, “The president refuses to acknowledge he made any mistakes in the way he handled the controversy. The president’s remarks are a clear sign the Bush White House is still confused about the difference between commerce and the national interest.” Ouch. Dobbs then chided that Bush was getting his comeuppance because something he has been so avidly pushing in the Middle East—democracy— “actually works here at home.”

Whatever one thinks of Dobbs’ different political stances, he is clearly seeking to keep the post-Katrina journalistic indignation alive through an anchoring style that draws more from Network than from Walter Cronkite. Given how the Bush administration has sought to muzzle, undermine or simply circumvent the press, Dobbs’ version of in-your-face defiance is a welcome antidote, and may be the wave of the future.

Dobbs still manages to piss me off daily, but the angry man persona works as a surrogate for my own. He's the only "straight" reporter out there who manages to notice on a daily basis that the emperor has no clothes.

When Is a Pandemic?

Nine poultry farmers commit suicide in flu-hit India
12 Apr 2006 07:38:29 GMT
Source: Reuters

MUMBAI, April 12 (Reuters) - Nine poultry farmers in India have killed themselves and more are facing a grim future after bird flu slashed demand for chicken meat, an industry group said on Wednesday.

India has culled hundreds of thousands of birds to contain several outbreaks of the H5N1 avian flu virus in poultry since February, but the disease has continued to resurface, mostly in western Maharashtra state.

The scare has decimated the country's $7.8 billion poultry industry, which says losses in the past two months have reached $2.2 billion.

"Nine farmers across India have committed suicide after their businesses suffered huge losses," O.P. Singh, member of the National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC), told Reuters.

The suicides have been reported during the past 15 days from West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, the latter state being the epicentre of bird flu outbreaks in the country.

The committee said there were 123,000 poultry farmers in India and about 70 percent of them were in a "dire situation".

"Most small poultry owners start their business by selling off land and jewellery. And when they can't recover their costs, they are left with no choice," Singh said.

The Indian government and the poultry industry have been running awareness campaigns to encourage people to eat chicken and eggs, but there has been little response from the public.

Chicken is a staple for meat-eaters in India, where beef and pork are rarely eaten either for religious reasons or quality concerns.

The poultry industry says the wholesale price of chicken had fallen to about four rupees (9 U.S. cents) a kg. Before bird flu, wholesale prices were about 20 rupees, or about 50 cents, a kg.

"Sales are down by half, which is a slight improvement, but really it's still very grim," said Bharat Tandon, chairman of the Compound Livestock Feed Manufacturers' Association of India, one of the main lobby groups.

"We just pray there are no fresh outbreaks (of bird flu) and the media understands the need to not play this up."

H5N1 may never become a human flu pandemic, but for those who are effected, the pandemic is already here.

Redeeming Religion

Via Jeff Sharlet at The Revealer:

Recovering faith from its misuse
By Scott M. Korb and Rabbi Leon A. Morris

We desperately need new ways to think about what it means to be "religious." Hundreds of religious movements have articulated what might be considered liberal positions over the centuries. Yet, in large part, especially among progressives, religiosity remains synonymous with fanaticism and extremism. Today, those liberal notions of religiosity have failed to elicit sufficient passion; vibrant communities of faith that embody these ideals are rare.

We find it both unnecessary and undesirable to abandon our institutions, communities and sacred scriptures to stake out a position of faith that is liberal and humanistic. Judaism, Christianity and Islam - indeed, all religious traditions - have the capacity to bring about more good than bad, more peace than violence, more universalism than chauvinism, if we understand them, and religious duty, in different ways.

As Jews and Christians approach the festivals of Passover and Easter, there is an opportunity to read even our central stories in ways that can smash the idols currently governing religious belief in America. The Exodus, for example, is about physical and spiritual liberation. As such, it informs how we treat the stranger and denies the deification of human leaders. As ritualized in the Passover Seder, it speaks of the power of story itself, and how words can form a chain that links a hundred generations into a single narrative told over a single meal. For Christians, the Resurrection is about finding peace through long suffering and new life in what seems like death. As ritualized throughout Holy Week, it speaks of hope for justice in the midst of tyranny.

If religion has been, at least in part, the source of its own destruction in this new century, then we believe it can also be the source of its renewal. Faith can be more about maintaining an ongoing commitment to seek meaning and fellowship in this world than asserting truth with a heavy fist and an eye narrowed on the world to come. Faith can take the Scriptures seriously, if not literally, welcoming productive tension and dialectic as an antidote to closed-mindedness. And faith can celebrate difference as part of God's ethical will, challenging believers and nonbelievers alike to fulfill the obligations to love our neighbors - the stranger, the widow, the prisoner, the indigent or the immigrant.

This Passover and this Easter, it is religion itself that needs to be liberated and raised from the dead. Our religious stories, reread and reconsidered in good faith and conscience, can continue to lead the way.

Somebody say "amen!" Our religions are our stories. Religion is not about rules, it is about narrative and imagination and the ways that we believe we fit in history and in relation to each other.

Homeland Insecurity

‘No-fly’ list delays Marine's Iraq homecoming
Minnesota reservist detained after being identified as possible terrorist

Updated: 11:06 a.m. ET April 12, 2006

MINNEAPOLIS - A Minnesota reservist who spent the past eight months in Iraq was told he couldn't board a plane to Minneapolis because his name appeared on a "no-fly" list as a possible terrorist.

Marine Staff Sgt. Daniel Brown, who was in uniform and returning from the war with 26 other Marine military police reservists, was delayed briefly in Los Angeles until the issue was cleared up.

The other reservists arrived at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport as scheduled, but instead of immediately meeting their families, they waited on a bus for Brown.
Story continues below ↓ advertisement

"We don't leave anybody behind," said Marine 1st Sgt. Drew Benson. "We start together, and we finish together."

Brown arrived more than an hour later.

"A guy goes over and serves his country fighting for eight or nine months, and then we come home and put up with this crap?" Brown told the St. Paul Pioneer Press upon arrival.

Completely believeable. I'm probably on some kind of list myself: I get subjected to the full security treatment including the pat-down search every time I fly.

Brain Dead

Division over Michael Brown advising hurricane damaged parish

NEW ORLEANS The man blamed by many for the slow emergency response after Hurricane Katrina may get a new job helping Louisiana's St. Bernard Parish recover. The parish is considering hiring former Federal Emergency Management Agency head Michael Brown as a consultant. A spokesman for the heavily damaged parish says there's no decision yet whether to hire Brown.

But Parish President Henry Rodriguez says Brown's intimate knowledge of the system's red tape will help speed up federal money for rebuilding.

Katrina killed 129 people and destroyed 26-thousand homes in the parish after it hit last August.

A state Republican lawmaker asks if it's wise to hire someone who resigned "in the middle of the worst natural disaster in our nation's history."

Brown was relieved of his command in the Gulf and pulled back to Washington September Ninth. He resigned three days later.

I'm speechless.

Ponzi Schemes

Rage renewed as FEMA redoes bids

By James Varney
Staff writer
Wednesday, April 12, 2006

In a much anticipated rebidding of contracts to service travel trailers in Louisiana, the Federal Emergency Management Agency appears poised to dole out more than half the work to out-of-state companies, despite federal assurances that the process would favor local firms, FEMA documents show.

In addition, one of the companies listed by the agency as "an apparently successful offeror" is a joint venture from San Diego that includes a subsidiary of Fluor Corp., a major player in post-storm reconstruction that received one of the multimillion dollar trailer deals FEMA and the Bush administration vowed to rebid. And one of the Louisiana companies expected to land a contract does not appear to meet the definition of a local business that FEMA established when it requested proposals in November, records show.

The surprising results have infuriated some small Gulf Coast businesses, the same firms that federal officials and bid guidelines insisted would have an advantage in the contract derby, which was set off after cries of protest about FEMA awarding gargantuan awards to heavy-hitting companies almost before Katrina's last gusts had blown.

Louisiana's two U.S. senators said this week they also are bothered by the outcome of the rebidding the documents suggest, which they said would undermine repeated assurances FEMA has given them that more money would be funneled to businesses rooted in areas that absorbed the most ferocious hit from last year's hurricanes.

"This is not acceptable, and we're going to get to the bottom of this somehow," Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said.

As if the nuts and bolts of the rebidding weren't puzzling enough, the contracts are expected to run for five years, considerably longer than the 18-month clock for temporary housing that started ticking when Katrina roared ashore Aug. 29. FEMA officials declined to comment on whether the time frame reflects the agency's belief the trailer parks sprouting along the Gulf Coast will be more permanent than originally expected, but the vendors seeking the work said they have no doubt that was the intent and that they believe the contracts could run their full course.

There is simply no excuse for the continued pillage of the Gulf Coast by the Bush administration and their cronies. This is far and beyond the basic incompetence of government that true Conservatives rail against.... this is an intentional fleecing of government monies.

As you read the rest of the article it should be very clear that even with the wedge issue of religious conservatism, people like Sen Vitter of La. are going to be a rare breed because the local people may not believe the Democrats are any better but they sure as H**L can't be any worse.

Oh and can the Pulitzer people simply send all of the awards to the Times Pic. now? Their reporting has been incredible unlike the mainstream media.

Finding America

LOSER NATION
Tuesday, April 11, 2006

by Greg Palast

America is a nation of losers. It's the best thing about us. We're the dregs, what the rest of the world barfed up and threw on our shores.

John Kennedy said we are "a nation of immigrants." That's the sanitized phrase. We are, in fact, a nation of refugees who, despite the bastards in white sheets and the know-nothings in Congress, have held open the Golden Door to a dark planet.

Looking out at today's temptest-tossed masses of protesting immigrants, the wretched refuse just looking for a break, I finally figured out what's wrong with George Walker Bush. He's so far away from his refugee loser roots that he just doesn't get what it is to be American. So he steals the one thing that every American is handed off the boat: a chance. It's not just the immigrants denied a green card. When Bush threatens to take away your Social Security; when Bush's oil wars hike the price of crude and threaten your union job at the airline; when Bush tells you sleeper cells are sleeping under your staircase, you don't take chances anymore -- you lose your chance -- and the land of opportunity becomes a landscape of fear, an armed madhouse.

You want to say that George W. Bush is an evil sonovabitch? I'd go further: he's UN-AMERICAN.

And that's why he lost the election. Twice.

I'll stick with the losers. Take one, Anna, from Poland, who snuck across the US border near Windsor, Ontario. She was grabbed by La Migra -- 80 years later -- just short of her 100th birthday.

My father told Immigration, "OK, send her back." They didn't.

Grandma Anna taught me what two million marchers this week are trying to teach that slow learner, George W.: In America, it's not where you come from that counts, it's where you're going.

This is the route taken into the country by some of my forebears as well, over the Canadian border. I come from families of illegal aliens.

American Mythologies

Billmon, whom I don't read often enough, put a post up last night that I'll be thinking about for a while. Read the whole thing, but here is the nut of the matter:

But my thought exercise – What if we started a nuclear war and nobody noticed? – is still useful, if only as a reminder of how easy it can be to lead gullible people down a path that ends in a place no sane human being would ever want to go. A nation that can live with the idea of launching a nuclear first strike isn’t likely to have much trouble with the rest of the program – particularly when its people, like their leader, are convinced they’ve been chosen to save the world.

What’s truly scary, though, is the possibility that even though the other members of what we jokingly refer to as the international community don’t share Bush’s delusions, they may be willing to humor them as long as it is in their own narrow self-interest to do so (in other words, as long as they’re not the ones being nuked.) Maybe power really is all the justification that power needs. In which case the downhill path for America – the most powerful country that ever was – is likely to be very steep indeed.

I was taking the train home from Baltimore-Washington International Airport on Sunday when I caught the WaPo headline in a paper box. The idea that the US could even consider a nuclear first strike against a country, any country but especially one which is a non-combatant, hasn't been denounced in every media outlet in this country in the intervening days. If you aren't horrified by that, why not? I'm afraid that Billmon is right: we could launch a nuclear strike on Natanz and Americans would be entertained for a few hours by the video atmospherics on CNN and then turn back to American Idol without giving it another thought.

What Billmon misses is that the US is already viewed as dangerously out of control by the rest of the world. I was speaking with a Canadian I know a few weeks ago who had recently returned from a trip to Europe. Until he made his nationality known (unless you have a really good ear for English, it is hard to tell an Ontarian from an American) he was treated with hostility and suspicion. Americans are really not welcome in Europe right now. The only reason Tony Blair is still in power in the UK is that nature abhors a vacuum and a credible replacement hasn't yet been located.

The American electorate has been willing, so far, to excuse all of the outrages against ordinary morality indulged in by Bush specifically and the Republicans in general. That doesn't speak very well for us and the rest of the planet has the effrontary to notice.

Meanwhile, the standard of living for the ordinary Joe continues to decline, the budget deficit continues to balloon and the savings rate heads further into negative numbers. The idiots who continue to tell us that we are in great shape have a high tolerance for fiction.

Opening Day

You be the judge: did Dead-Eye Dick Cheney get any cheers at all when he threw out the first pitch at the Nat's home opener yesterday?

Crisis of Modernity

U.S. Army is Looking for a Few Good Rabbis

by Karen Kwiatkowski

The story of Rabbi Jeff Goldman, like the friendly fire incident that killed Pat Tillman, is a story the U.S. Army appears reluctant to tell.

Canadian Jeff Goldman, an ordained rabbi, was invited to serve as a U.S. Army Chaplain at the grade of Captain upon his graduation from rabbinical studies in the United States. He had been in the United States on a Green Card, and a Canadian citizen, Rabbi Goldman received a temporary waiver of U.S. citizenship requirements to enter the Army. His U.S. military service began in January 2001.

It ended in January 2002.

After 9-11, Captain Goldman raised concerns about discrimination, harassment and demeaning remarks and behavior directed against him, and more significantly, against his faith. He was being harassed and demeaned by Christian fundamentalist chaplains and military officers at Fort Stewart, Georgia. He raised these concerns through channels, in the proper manner.

Naturally, we all know that the U.S. Army doesn’t discriminate, that there is equal opportunity regardless of race and religion, and the U.S. Army is a secular organization.

Not like the U.S. Air Force, of course. The Air Force Academy suffered months of bad publicity and has recently been sued by an academy graduate and others, alleging religious discrimination by Christian fundamentalists in uniform and within the system.

Admittedly, the U.S. Army has been under a cloud of Christian fundamentalist zealotry with the very public existence of Lt. General William "Jerry" Boykin, currently Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. General "My God is bigger than your God" Boykin has put forth the idea that the one true (and Army sanctioned) religion is his own.

When Rabbi Goldman departed the U.S. Army, before his term of duty had ended, he consulted with his military superiors and was told he could depart and separate from the U.S. Army. Unfortunately, the proper paperwork was not completed. Needless to say, the Army’s own investigation of Rabbi Goldman’s complaints was concluded in a way favorable to the Army. The U.S. Army believes that no discrimination occurred, and that Rabbi Goldman was just imagining that Jews and other non-fundamentalist Christians were being treated disrespectfully and badly.

Meanwhile – as Joseph Heller so beautifully captured in Catch-22 – the U.S. Army also realizes it has a shortage of rabbis to serve its Jewish military population. Rabbi Goldman has still not been replaced at Fort Stewart, currently lacking a rabbi for the sizeable military community there. Elsewhere in the Army, the pressing need for rabbis has been met by the use of non-ordained Jewish cantors.

Thus, the U.S. Army has filed charges of Absent Without Leave (AWOL) against Rabbi Goldman, who has returned to Canada. Notwithstanding personal requests by Canadian Parliamentarian the Honorable Dan McTeague, the U.S. Army demands that Rabbi Goldman return immediately to the United States to face these charges.

Goldman is not a U.S. citizen, and is currently ineligible to serve in the U.S. Army in any capacity. Further, he could be arrested upon his return to Fort Stewart. Because he is not a U.S. citizen, after his arrest could then be sent without further charges to Guantanamo, where he could be detained without access to any legal help or media exposure for as long as our Dear Leader (President George W. Bush, of course!) desires.

The Guantanamo solution for Rabbi Goldman works, because Gitmo is the main place we send captured foreigners against whom we have no significant legal case and are unwilling to press charges, but simultaneously can’t agree to release to their native countries. Goldman would probably be the only Jewish detainee at Guantanamo, but I imagine he’d have much in common with the largely Muslim population behind bars in that infamous detention center. Perhaps he could even be interrogated about some purported crime against the United States. There would be plenty of time to get any number of confessions.
....
Thus far, the U.S. Army demands that Rabbi Goldman return to face charges, even as they recognize his return to this country will require him to violate U.S. immigration laws. If this weren’t a true story, involving real people, it would be hilarious, preciously suited to an Abbott and Costello routine.

But it isn’t an Abbott and Costello routine. This is what you get with an out-of-control Leviathan state, led by zealots who obtusely confuse religious association with righteousness and good works.

Rabbi Goldman’s case, in many ways, parallels that of thousands of others detained or charged in absentia by the current American government. Again, Guantanamo and America’s gulag of detention centers around the world come to mind.

Perhaps this is the real reason the U.S. Army cannot practice common sense and leave Rabbi Goldman alone. Decriminalizing Rabbi Goldman might be the one legal precedent that could topple the house of cards this administration has contrived regarding the charging and detention of other innocent foreigners who just want to go home.

No wonder there is a critical chaplain shortage in the military.

American Theocracy by Kevin Phillips speaks to the situation. As a mainline Protestant, I'm feeling as threatened by this trend as much as if I were a non-Christian. As Phillips points out in his book, right now the South has won the Civil war and won it in the popular culture by norming evangelical Christianity and repressive social values.

The rest of the industrialized west looks at us and wonders who the hell got the right to roll back the Enlightenment.

Official Failure

Leak reveals official story of London bombings

· Al-Qaeda not linked, says government
· Internet used to plan 7/7 attack
Mark Townsend, crime correspondent
Sunday April 9, 2006
Observer

The official inquiry into the 7 July London bombings will say the attack was planned on a shoestring budget from information on the internet, that there was no 'fifth-bomber' and no direct support from al-Qaeda, although two of the bombers had visited Pakistan.

The first forensic account of the atrocity that claimed the lives of 52 people, which will be published in the next few weeks, will say that attacks were the product of a 'simple and inexpensive' plot hatched by four British suicide bombers bent on martyrdom.

Far from being the work of an international terror network, as originally suspected, the attack was carried out by four men who had scoured terror sites on the internet. Their knapsack bombs cost only a few hundred pounds, according to the first completed draft of the government's definitive report into the blasts.

The Home Office account, compiled by a senior civil servant at the behest of Home Secretary Charles Clarke, also discounts the existence of a fifth bomber. After the bombings, police found an unused rucksack of explosives in the bombers' abandoned car at Luton station, which led to a manhunt for a missing suspect. Similarly, it found nothing to support the theory that an al-Qaeda fixer, presumed to be from Pakistan, was instrumental in planning the attacks.

A Whitehall source said: 'The London attacks were a modest, simple affair by four seemingly normal men using the internet.'

Confirmation of the nature of the attacks will raise fresh concerns over the vulnerability of Britain to an attack by small, unsophisticated groups. A fortnight after 7 July, an unconnected group of four tried to duplicate the attack, but their devices failed to detonate.

However, the findings will draw criticism for failing to address concerns as to why no action was taken against the bombers despite the fact that one of them, Mohammed Siddique Khan, was identified by intelligence officers months before the attack. A report into the attack by the Commons intelligence and security committee, which could be published alongside the official narrative, will question why MI5 called off surveillance of the ringleader of the 7 July bombings.

Some of the most advanced intelligence agencies in the world are utterly clueless in the face of loosely connected, improvised efforts of terrorists who are mostly making it up as they go along. How's that Global War On Terror working out for you, George?

Blood Sport

Deaths of U.S. Soldiers Climb Again in Iraq

By EDWARD WONG
Published: April 12, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 11 — The American military on Tuesday announced the deaths of five soldiers, bringing the number of troops killed this month to at least 32. That figure already surpasses the American military deaths for all of March.

A bomb hidden in a minibus exploded Tuesday in the Sadr City area of Baghdad, killing three people.

When 31 service members died last month, it was the second lowest monthly death toll of the war for the Americans, and the fifth month in a row of declining fatalities, according to statistics from the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, an independent organization.

But deaths have begun to soar. Many of the fatalities this month have taken place in the parched Anbar Province, the heart of the Sunni Arab insurgency. The province was rated "critical" in a confidential report written recently by the American Embassy and the military command in Baghdad. Though sectarian violence has recently overshadowed anti-American attacks in much of central Iraq, there are relatively few Shiites in Anbar, so much of the insurgency's venom is directed at the Americans there.

The military said three soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb explosion north of Baghdad on Tuesday. A soldier died Monday from wounds sustained the previous day in combat in Anbar, and a soldier was killed Sunday by a roadside bomb near Balad.

As the insurgency raged, political tirades burst forth in the capital on Tuesday. Incensed by what he called anti-Shiite remarks from the Egyptian president, the Iraqi prime minister said Tuesday that Iraq would boycott a conference of Middle East foreign ministers in Cairo on Wednesday.

The prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who is fighting to keep his job, said at a news conference that the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, had defamed Iraq and its majority Shiite population by saying in a television interview last Saturday that the Shiites here are more loyal to Iran than to Iraq.

"We hope that others would remind themselves to support the Iraqi people and never spoil the Arab identity of Iraq," Mr. Jaafari said. The Shiites in Iraq are mostly Arabs, while those in Iran are primarily Persians. Many Iraqi Shiites fought against Iranians in the Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988. A million people died.

Even so, the Iranian government gave refuge to several prominent Shiite political parties that were oppressed during Saddam Hussein's rule. One was Mr. Jaafari's party, the Islamic Dawa Party. Another was Dawa's main rival, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, which is now trying to unseat Mr. Jaafari as the prime minister.

Iraqi Shiite officials said Tuesday that they had still not resolved the dispute over the post of prime minister. Talks to form a new government are deadlocked over the issue, because the Sunni Arab, Kurdish and secular blocs — as well as some Shiites — are demanding the withdrawal of Mr. Jaafari's nomination. The biggest bloc in the 275-member Parliament, in this case the Shiites, has the constitutional right to nominate a prime minister, who then must be approved by Parliament.

Mr. Jaafari won the nomination in February after a closely contested vote among the 130-member Shiite bloc. Now, in light of opposition to Mr. Jaafari, several Shiite groups have announced they are ready to put forward their own candidates. These groups include the Supreme Council and the Fadhila Party.

Shiite leaders met Tuesday but did not reach any agreement on the issue, said Redha Jowad Taki, a political officer for the Supreme Council.

TV news tends to treat the war in Iraq as if it were a matter of dueling polling numbers, some sort of abstract idea. It isn't. Iraqis and Americans continue to die. This is blood, tissue and heart material, even as it is genuinely a battle of ideas over whether or not we Yanks have the right to show up anywhere in the world and start shooting and bombing people on our own say so. There are those pesky Geneva Conventions, for example, of which we appear to have violated a half dozen.

And then there is that bankrupt idea that democracy and freedom can be imposed at the end of a gun. That's not working out so well, is it? We tried this once before with similar results.

Starting Light

This will convince even the non-goat-cheese lovers. These are SO good.

GOAT CHEESE SOUFFLES AND MIXED GREENS WITH RASPBERRY VINAIGRETTE

2 4-ounce logs soft fresh goat cheese (such as Montrachet)
2/3 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 1/2 ounces)
4 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

6 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mixed Greens with Raspberry Vinaigrette

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter six 3/4-cup soufflé dishes or custard cups.

Cut one 4-ounce goat cheese log into 6 equal rounds. Place 1 round in each prepared dish. Crumble remaining 4-ounce cheese log into large bowl.

Bring milk to simmer in small saucepan. Remove from heat. Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour and stir 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in hot milk. Continue cooking until mixture is smooth and resembles thick paste, whisking constantly, about 2 minutes. Pour mixture over crumbled goat cheese in large bowl. Whisk in Parmesan, yolks, herbs and pepper. Cool soufflé base to lukewarm.

Using electric mixer, beat egg whites with 1/4 teaspoon salt in another large bowl until stiff but not dry. Gently fold 1/4 of egg whites into lukewarm soufflé base to lighten. Fold in remaining egg whites. Divide soufflé mixture among prepared dishes. Transfer dishes to baking sheet and bake until soufflés are puffed and golden brown on top, about 22 minutes.

Place soufflé dishes on serving plates. Mound Mixed Greens with Raspberry Vinaigrette alongside and serve.

Serves 6.

This is your virtually perfect brunch first course. Add one of the soups or salads below, and you've got yourself a party. Add the steak sandwiches below and you've got a dinner party. It'll take you very little time in the kitchen to get this to the table. You should be enjoying your guests.

Where's the Beef?

Steak Sandwiches with Dijon Sauce and Capers

2 cups 1/2-inch cubes cooked steak (about 1 pound) or thin slices
2 tablespoons drained capers, crushed
2 tablespoons chopped cornichons or gherkin pickles
2 tablespoons minced red onion
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
5 tablespoons mayonnaise

8 1/2-inch-thick slices olive or rosemary country-style bread (each about 3x5 inches)
8 large tomato slices
2 small bunches arugula, trimmed

Combine cooked steak, capers, cornichons, red onion, Dijon mustard, and 2 tablespoons mayonnaise in medium bowl; toss to blend. Season salad with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 6 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Arrange bread on work surface. Spread slices with remaining 3 tablespoons mayonnaise. Divide steak salad among 4 bread slices. Top salad on each with 2 tomato slices and 1/4 of arugula. Press second bread slice, mayonnaise side down, onto each sandwich. Cut sandwiches diagonally in half and serve.

Makes 4 servings.

Made with a country style bread, like rosemary or olive, this is a substantial lunch. Pommery mustard is the queen of french mustards and will transform your sauce cooking, along with giving you sandwiches which will be the envy of the neighborhood. The stuff is pricy, but I learned a long time ago that it transforms everything it touches. Substitute it for the mayo on the bread and save some fat calories.

When I was in grad school (round 1) the best sandwich shop in Boston was across the street from New England Conservatory. They cooked their own steamship rounds of beef for sandwiches and slathered this mustard on both sides of your sandwich order. I was in heaven from day one of my first order.

DO buy arugula to finish this sandwich. The spiciness of the greens gives it a "pop" that takes it out of the ordinary. Add garlic and radish sprouts if you really want to give it a little kick.

The System

I had to watch this content every time I turned on the TV at the Hilton in Boston. Life might be "wonderful" for the rich, but for the rest of us, we ain't singing the praises of a system which leaves the working girl in the dust.

No health insurance, no retirement and this is "the greatest nation on earth." Thirty years working and what have I got to show for it? That's what "free trade" nets to you. If you believe that, you're a chump. God help me if I break a collarbone in an autoaccident.

Taste of Spring

I love fresh asparagus in the spring, when you can get the thin, young shoots that have nearly no woody base. As you also know, I'm a nut for soups and am always hunting for soup recipes that use my favorite ingredients. This is a simple vegetarian soup which is light on fat. It's a very fresh way to start a spring meal.

ASPARAGUS SOUP WITH LEMON CREME FRAICHE

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 cup sliced shallots (about 6 large)
2 pounds asparagus, trimmed, cut into 2-inch lengths
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 14-ounce cans vegetable broth

1/4 cup crème fraîche or sour cream
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots; sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add asparagus and coriander; stir 1 minute. Add vegetable broth and simmer until asparagus is tender, about 5 minutes. Cool slightly. Working in batches, puree soup in blender. Strain into same pan, pressing on solids to release liquid. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.

Stir crème fraîche, lemon juice, and lemon peel in small bowl. Divide soup among bowls. Top with dollop of lemon crème fraîche and serve.

As a variation, reserve the asparagus tips before pureeing and serve them as garnish on each bowl of soup.

Makes 6 first-course servings.

Wednesday Night Special

This is a very fast weeknight favorite. Serve with rice or noodles to soak up the sauce. I have a thing about french cut green beans with slivered almonds with pork, but that's just me.

BALSAMIC-GLAZED PORK CHOPS

4 (3/4-inch-thick) center-cut pork chops (about 2 lb total)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 oz small shallots (about 8), quartered and peeled, leaving root ends intact
2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
2 sprigs fresh rosemary

Pat pork dry and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then cook pork (in 2 batches if necessary) along with shallots, turning pork over once and stirring shallots occasionally, until pork is browned and shallots are golden brown and tender, about 7 minutes total, depending on thickness. Transfer pork with tongs to a plate and add vinegar, sugar, rosemary leaves stripped from the twigs and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to shallots in skillet. Cook, stirring until sugar is dissolved and liquid is thickened slightly, about 1 minute.

Reduce heat to moderate, then return pork along with any juices accumulated on plate to skillet and turn 2 or 3 times to coat with sauce. Cook, turning over once, until pork is just cooked through, about 3 minutes total. Transfer pork to a platter and boil sauce until thickened and syrupy, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour sauce over pork.

Makes 4 servings.

Basic Humanity

Basra child mortality 'is rising'

BBC News
Tuesday, 11 April 2006

A European aid agency has reported a rise in child mortality in the southern Iraqi city of Basra where hospital care is said to be in crisis.
Water-borne diseases and scarce medical supplies mean infants born in Basra are subject to abnormally high mortality rates, Saving Children from War said.

One Basra doctor said child mortality had risen by 30% since the invasion.

A US military internal report has described the overall situation in Basra as "serious".

The report defines "serious" as meaning an area:

with "a government that is not fully formed or cannot serve the needs of its residents"

where economic development is stagnant and unemployment is high

where the security situation is marked by routine violence, assassinations and extremism

The US report notes that Basra sees a "high level of militia activity including infiltration of local security forces", while smuggling and crime continue unabated and "intimidation attacks and assassination" are common.

Saving Children from War (SCW) spokeswoman Marie Fernandez said Basra hospitals had been without IV fluids for weeks, the humanitarian news agency Irin reported.

"As a consequence, many children, mainly under five years old, died after suffering from extreme cases of diarrhoea," she said.

Local hospitals lacked ventilators to help prematurely born babies breathe and, with a nurse shortage, "hospitals often must allow family members to care for patients".

Local doctors quoted by SCW said the health situation had deteriorated markedly since the US-led invasion in 2003.

"The mortality of children in Basra has increased by nearly 30% compared to the Saddam Hussein era," said Dr Haydar Salah, a paediatrician at the Basra Children's Hospital.

"Children are dying daily, and no one is doing anything to help them."

Quick, someone find a puppy or a child walking down the street! We don't want people to think there is bad news in Iraq.

Seriously though, this isn't just bad it's horrendous and shameful. Why is no one being held accountable for this and why is nothing being done to fix it? Someone needs to ask that at the next press conference or open forum.

No-Account

Stephen Elliot at HuffPost:

And now, two years into the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity, with millions of dollars spent on investigating this serious breach of public trust, after reporter Judy Miller spends 80 days in jail, after George W. Bush promises to reckon with anyone in his administration responsible for the leak, we're told George Bush is actually responsible for the leak after all.

So why have the investigation? Why this egregious irresponsible use of tax money from an administration so adamant about tax cuts? If the information was declassified and the president authorized it, what were we investigating? This administration is so used to not being held accountable that it means nothing to them to waste millions of tax payer dollars investigating a leak that they knew all along was their own.

And what else did they know? Well, it seems they knew there was no attempt by Saddam to buy uranium in Niger. But that didn't stop them from including it in the state of the union. Or from going after an administration critic for spreading information they knew to be true, from selectively declassifying information for purely political reasons.

Hey, that was years ago, we should move forward right? Why are we all so hung up on this coverup that happened so long ago? Because the administration needs to be accountable. Because thousands have died in a war that was based on false pretenses. And we are not moving forward, and we are not making progress, and Iraq is a mess, the biggest mess imaginable. The public trust is broken. And we will never be able to fix the damage until officials, particularly the president, show accountability for what they've done. Our failure to hold our politicians accountable is exactly what has led to the current state of things, to corrupt officials like Tom DeLay and Bob Ney, to the disastrous planning and execution of the war in Iraq and the billions wasted on companies with no-bid contracts there. To hold an investigation into a coverup knowing all along where it was coming from and who was responsible. One can only shake one's head at the boldness, the gall, the absence of principles or conscience. To stall the truth at the taxpayers expense. To finally not care about the truth at all as if truth was not an ideal, not a value, but a nuisance, something that gets in the way of the greater good.

If there are no consequences then they will never stop lying to us and the results will be more deaths, like the thousands of American soldiers in Iraq that have died as a result of this administrations shady relationship with the truth.

The Forgotten

Tent cities spur frustration on Gulf Coast
Thousands of FEMA trailers are sitting empty in Arkansas, irking residents and lawmakers.

By Patrik Jonsson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

LONG BEACH, MISS. – While Athena Cuevas hunkers down on a moldy mattress in a scavenged tent in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart, 10,477 US government trailers slated for Katrina survivors sit empty in Hope, Ark.

Ms. Cuevas's ragged dome tents are part of a network of official and unofficial tent cities - in the woods and along railroad tracks up and down the Gulf Coast.

For many, leaving is not an option even though hurricane season is less than two months away. "This [area] is my home," Cuevas says adamantly. "I'm not going anywhere."

But getting tent residents into sturdier abodes has been a tough task. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) says it seeks to stop fraud by requiring people to provide proof of their previous residence in the area. The agency also ensures that trailers are placed out of floodzones, as legally required.

But people making their homes in tents reflects poor planning and inflexible management, critics say. And it shows how the social safety net is fraying, others add.

"This reminds me of the very cautious, clumsy policy responses of the Hoover administration" during the early years of the Great Depression, says Guian McKee, a policy professor at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. "The response is on an ad hoc basis, essentially relying on faith ... that the problem will solve itself. But for many [working poor], it's hard to pull yourself up by the bootstrap when the bootstrap's been taken away."

Today, some 133 households live in organized tent cities in Pass Christian, D'Iberville, and Long Beach, according to FEMA. But officials count at least three dozen other households in unofficial tent cities in the area. The agency, meanwhile, has delivered 40,000 mobile homes to survivors in Mississippi since Katrina hit.

"We've been monitoring the tent situation very carefully," says Nicole Andrews, a FEMA spokeswoman. "Some people ... aren't eligible [for a trailer] or don't want assistance from FEMA, but I think it's a low percentage."
....
"The federal government has done a lot" and provided a great deal of money for temporary housing evacuation situations, says Jerry Klassen, Gulf States coordinator for Mennonite Disaster Services in Pass Christian, Miss.

It hasn't helped Heath Ray. Looking out over the azure Gulf lapping near the camp, Mr. Ray says he moved to Long Beach two months before Katrina hit. His name was not on the lease of the apartment he shared with a friend. "I was turned down flat" for a trailer, he says.

Christopher Cheyenne Cothern, who is staying with Cuevas and Mr. Ray, hasn't applied. He's not a previous resident, and drifted into the area.

Cuevas, with no phone or resources, couldn't prove she is a lifelong resident of Long Beach, she says. The former waitress found tents in the woods, which had washed out of a Wal-Mart. She has been camping out for 2-1/2 months.

Meanwhile, nearby, a FEMA camper - hooked up with water and electricity - has been sitting empty for about four months. Some people who have been granted mobile homes and campers haven't yet been able to return to the area to take up residence, FEMA says.

The emphasis I supplied above is for a reason. It's a reminder of the fact that our society is not resilient because so much of the population is incapable of absorbing any kind of disaster, natural or otherwise. Social policies articulated by both Bush and Clinton have basically written off the low income part of our society as not worth salvaging. The substantial fraction of the "middle class" (although I'm not entirely sure what that means anymore) which are only a paycheck or two away from insolvency are only marginally better off.

The Gilded Age

Gas prices poised to blow past $3 a gallon mark

By Elizabeth Douglass
Los Angeles Times
Posted April 11 2006, 10:52 AM EDT

With oil prices heading higher and fuel-supply worries mounting, market watchers say that $3-a-gallon gasoline nationwide is a near certainty as the U.S. gears up for the summer driving season.

And along the way, refiners' profits are soaring.

The nationwide average pump price shot up 9.5 cents in the last week to $2.683 for a gallon of self-serve regular, the Energy Department said Monday, based on its weekly survey of service stations. The latest average is 44.3 cents above February's low.

In California, the average cost of regular rose 6.8 cents during the same period to $2.811 a gallon, up more than 37 cents since Feb. 27. A smattering of California gas stations already are charging more than $3 a gallon for regular, and the statewide average for premium grade jumped across that mark in the last week, landing at $3.011 a gallon.

"It's going to get pretty ugly. It's ugly already," said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. "We're going to hit $3 a gallon nationwide…. That's the number that I'm hoping that we're going to stop at."

Last year, gasoline prices surged and then fell before Memorial Day weekend, the symbolic start of the summer driving season. California's early 2005 average peak of $2.592 a gallon was followed by nine weeks of declines, while the nationwide average fell for seven weeks after its pre-Memorial Day peak of $2.28 a gallon. In early September, hurricane damage pushed the U.S. and California averages above $3 a gallon.

Now, however, retail gasoline prices are heading toward $3 well before hurricane season and in the absence of any catastrophic event in fuel production or distribution.
....
But oil isn't the leading culprit for gasoline's leap, according to analysts who track the financial performance of refiners. After subtracting their cost of crude oil -- but not other expenses -- refiners in Los Angeles are averaging gross profit of 65 cents a gallon of gasoline sold, said David Hackett, president of Stillwater Associates, an Irvine consulting firm. That's up from an average of nearly 38 cents earlier this year.

And the sheeple continue to pay rather than boycotting the robber barons.

Open Boarders

Pressure, Frustration Mount

By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 11, 2006; Page A12

The immigrant demonstrators who flooded the streets of America's cities yesterday ratcheted up pressure on lawmakers to complete an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, while raising Republicans' frustration with President Bush for what they see as a muddled stand on the issue.

Bush, a former Texas governor, made immigration reform a signature issue after winning the presidency, advocating a guest-worker program that would offer illegal immigrants and foreign workers access to the U.S. labor market. But for months he has refused to get involved in the legislative details while Republicans in the House and Senate fought among themselves and took very different approaches.

Opponents of proposed measures to tighten illegal immigration enforcement marched through downtown San Diego, Calif. on Sunday. Illegal immigrants and their supporters carried signs opposing House of Representitives bill HR4437. The demonstration was part of efforts in several cities that are expected to continue through May 1.

The House, reflecting the anger of conservative districts contending with a flood of illegal immigrants, passed legislation in December that would build hundreds of miles of fence on the southern border and declare illegal immigrants felons, without offering them lawful employment, much less a route to citizenship. The Senate is trying to fashion a broader solution to address both border security and the fate of 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants already here.

But amid partisan finger-pointing, the Senate left town Friday for a two-week recess, having failed to pass a bipartisan immigration compromise that appeared to have the support of a clear majority of the Senate. The deal also appears to have overwhelming support among voters. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 63 percent of those surveyed backed letting immigrants who have lived in the country a certain number of years apply for legal status and eventually become citizens.

In contrast, only 14 percent favored a plan to let illegal immigrants work for a limited number of years before having to return to their home countries -- an alternative pushed by Sens. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). An additional 20 percent said illegal immigrants should be declared felons and offered no temporary work program, a stand that corresponds with the legislation approved by the House.

Make them felons, eh? That means court and prison costs and who is going to pay for that, hmmm? That's brain dead.

Leading Questions

E.J. Dionne is frequently guilty of unsupportable optimism and I read today's column in that vein.

All the President's Leaks

By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006; Page A21

What's amazing about the defenses offered for President Bush in the Valerie Plame leak investigation is that they deal with absolutely everything except the central issue: Did Bush know a lot more about this case than he let on before the 2004 elections?

But first, let's offer full credit to the Bush spin operation for working so hard and so effectively to change the subject.
....
In its issue of Oct. 13, 2003, Time magazine quoted Bush as saying: "Listen, I know of nobody -- I don't know of anybody in my administration who leaked classified information." Then the magazine's writers made an observation that turns out to be prescient: "Bush," they wrote, "seemed to emphasize those last two words as if hanging on to a legal life preserver in choppy seas."

The key words here are classified information. Did Bush at the time he made that statement know perfectly well that Cheney and Libby were involved with the leak, but that it didn't involve "classified information" because the president himself had authorized them to act? Talk about a legalistic defense.

Could it be that Bush -- heading into what he knew would be a difficult election -- was creating the impression of wanting the full story out when he already knew what most of the story was?

Which leads to another question: What exactly did Attorney General John Ashcroft know when he recused himself from the leak investigation? Did he know the investigation was getting dangerously close to Bush, Cheney, Libby and White House senior political adviser Karl Rove?

In announcing Fitzgerald's appointment on Dec. 30, 2003, Deputy Attorney General James Comey said that Ashcroft, "in an abundance of caution, believed that his recusal was appropriate based on the totality of the circumstances and the facts and evidence developed at this stage of the investigation." What were the "facts" and the "evidence" on which Ashcroft acted? Did the administration consciously consider if passing off the investigation to someone else would delay the day of reckoning to beyond the 2004 election? And, yes, what exactly did Bush tell Fitzgerald and his staff when they questioned him on June 24, 2004? What had Cheney told Fitzgerald earlier?

The most heartening sign that all the spin in the world will not allow the administration to evade such questions was Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter's statement on Fox News Sunday that "there has to be a detailed explanation precisely as to what Vice President Cheney did, what the president said to him, and an explanation from the president as to what he said so that it can be evaluated." Specter, a Republican and a former district attorney in Philadelphia, is just the right man to take the lead in breaking the spin cycle.

I search in vain for signs of courage in Specter's resume. He's been a party man his whole career and I sure don't see that changing now.

Won't Get Fooled Again

We'll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgement of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again

The change, it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the fold, that's all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they are flown in the next war

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
No, no!

I'll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half alive
I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky
Though I know that the hypnotized never lie
Do ya?

There's nothing in the streets
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Are now parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again
No, no!

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

C-Minus Augustus at Work

John Q. Public is catching on that the MBA president failed at every job he tried and he's doing it again. Worst. president.ever.

Poll Finds Bush Job Rating at New Low
An Election-Year Blow to the GOP

By Richard Morin and Claudia Deane
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, April 11, 2006; Page A01

Political reversals at home and continued bad news from Iraq have dragged President Bush's standing with the public to a new low, at the same time that Republican fortunes on Capitol Hill also are deteriorating, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The survey found that 38 percent of the public approve of the job Bush is doing, down three percentage points in the past month and his worst showing in Post-ABC polling since he became president. Sixty percent disapprove of his performance.

With less than seven months remaining before the midterm elections, Bush's political troubles already appear to be casting a long shadow over them. Barely a third of registered voters, 35 percent, approve of the way the Republican-led Congress is doing its job -- the lowest level of support in nine years.

The negative judgments about the president and the congressional majority reflect the breadth of the GOP's difficulties and suggest that the problems of each may be mutually reinforcing. Although the numbers do not represent a precipitous decline over recent surveys, the fact that they have stayed at low levels over recent months indicates that the GOP is confronting some fundamental obstacles with public opinion rather than a patch of bad luck.

A majority of registered voters, 55 percent, say they plan to vote for the Democratic candidate in their House district, while 40 percent support the Republican candidate. That is the largest share of the electorate favoring Democrats in Post-ABC polls since the mid-1980s.

This grim news for the GOP is offset somewhat by the finding that 59 percent of voters still say they approve of their own representative. But even these numbers are weaker than in recent off-year election cycles and identical to support of congressional incumbents in June 1994 -- five months before Democrats lost control of Congress to Republicans.

Jeebus, a bad approval rating is what I'd be getting if I were as lousy at my job as Bush and the Repub congress are at theirs. Fired would be the next step along the way, methinks.

Lessons of History

My friends the the reveres see the failures of the Katrina as a public health problem. I'm a generalist and see that disaster as a social policy failure. (Personal aside: I got to see my favorite revere over dinner while I was out of town last weekend. Even the worst business trip can have a rainbow.)

In NOLA, they are still finding bodies, eight months out. My specialty is bird flu. If Katrina is the model, how bad could it be? Really, really bad.

In Attics and Rubble, More Bodies and Questions
By SHAILA DEWAN

NEW ORLEANS, April 5 — When August Blanchard returned to New Orleans from Pennsylvania in late December, his mother was still missing. Family members, scattered across the country, had been calling hospitals, the Red Cross and missing persons hot lines, hoping she had been rescued.

But Mr. Blanchard, 26, had a bad feeling. Twice, he drove past the pale green house on Reynes Street in the Lower Ninth Ward, where he and his mother, Charlene Blanchard, 45, had lived, yet he could not bring himself to enter.

It was not until Feb. 25 that one of Mr. Blanchard's uncles nudged the front door open with his foot and spied Ms. Blanchard's hand. Dressed in her nightgown and robe, she lay under a moldering sofa. With her was a red velvet bedspread that her daughter had given her and a huge teddy bear.

The bodies of storm victims are still being discovered in New Orleans — in March alone there were nine, along with one skull. Skeletonized or half-eaten by animals, with leathery, hardened skin or missing limbs, the bodies are lodged in piles of rubble, dangling from rafters or lying face down, arms outstretched on parlor floors. Many of them, like Ms. Blanchard, were overlooked in initial searches.

A landlord in the Lakeview section put a "for sale" sign outside a house, unaware that his tenant's body was in the attic. Two weeks ago, searchers in the Lower Ninth Ward found a girl, believed to be about 6, wearing a blue backpack. Nearby, they found part of a man who the authorities believe might have been trying to save her.

[On Friday, contractors found a body in the attic of a home in the Gentilly neighborhood that had been searched twice before, officials said.]

In the weeks after Hurricane Katrina, there were grotesque images of bodies left in plain sight. Officials in Louisiana recovered more than 1,200 bodies, but the process, hamstrung by money shortages and red tape, never really ended.

In the Lower Ninth Ward, where unstable houses make searching dangerous, a plan to use cadaver dogs alongside demolition crews was delayed by lawsuits and community protests against the bulldozing. In the rest of the city, the absence of neighbors and social networks meant that some residents languished and died unnoticed. Many of the families of the missing were far from home, rendered helpless by distance and preoccupied with their own survival.

Now, as the city is beginning to rebuild in earnest, those families still wait, agonizing over loved ones who are unseen, unburied but unforgotten.

"We never reached out to anyone to tell our story, because there's no ending to our story," said Wanda Jackson, 40, whose family is still waiting for word of her 6-year-old nephew, swept away by floodwaters as his mother clung to his 3-year-old brother. "Because we haven't found our deceased. Being honest with you, in my opinion, they forgot about us."

She continued, "They did not build nothing on 9/11 until they were sure that the damn dust was not human dust; so how you go on and build things in our city?"

In October and November, the special operations team of the New Orleans Fire Department searched the Lower Ninth Ward for remains until they ran out of overtime money.

Half a dozen officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency rebuffed requests to pay the bill, said Chief Steve Glynn, the team commander. When reporters inquired, FEMA officials said the required paperwork had not been filed.

During that period, if someone called to ask that a specific location be checked for a body, Chief Glynn said, there was no one to send. The Blanchards were not the only family left to find a loved one on their own.

Others had no family to find them. The name of Joseph Naylor, 54, was posted on Hurricane Katrina message boards by a friend, J. T. Beebe, who said in an interview that Mr. Naylor had no relatives except maybe an estranged cousin. Mr. Naylor was found in his attic on March 5.

Anita Dazet, who lives on a street that had little flooding, said she had been back home for five months before she thought to check on her neighbor, Lydia Matthews, whom Ms. Dazet described as mentally ill, and found her dead. Ms. Dazet said she had assumed that the same church that regularly left meals on the porch for Ms. Matthews had helped her evacuate.

Ms. Blanchard, too, was described by family members as mentally ill, but able to care for herself. When family members urged her to evacuate before the hurricane, she refused. "She would get violent if you tried to make her leave," said Shirley Blanchard, a sister.

In February, FEMA agreed to pay for the search for bodies to resume, and on March 2 the agency's special operations team was able to begin a systematic check of the 1,700 structures in the Lower Ninth Ward, the site of the city's worst destruction.

It is tedious, hot work. Each team of firefighters works with one or two dogs trained to find human remains. If the dogs sense a body, the workers lift heavy furniture, dig through stinking mud, or pull down ceiling tiles to find it.

CNN and The Weather Channel treat these weather disasters like some kind of reality TV special. They aren't, but TV moves on to the next missing white woman while skipping the reality of death and destruction which doesn't go away after a natural disaster. I read this NYT story and shuddered. Hurricane season 2006 is 6 weeks away. I've got the computer models here on my desktop, and I ain't a happy camper as an east coast resident. I've watched plenty of death as a spiritual director and I don't fear it, but I'm also in no rush to get there.

If you are in the zone and don't have flood insurance but can get it, please buy it now. Me, I'm packing the bug out bag and making sure the car is always gassed up.

Future Tech

Self-Parking Cars Coming To U.S.

April 4, 2006

Vehicles that are able to parallel park themselves while drivers sit and relax behind the wheel are coming to the United States, according to a Local 6 News report.

New Toyota hybrid cars are now available in Britain with a $700 "parking assist" option.

Local 6 news showed video of a driver sitting and allowing the car's steering wheel to turn on its own as it pulled into a tight parking spot on a London street. The reporter never touched the wheel as the car parked itself.

Admit it... you want one... it's ok.... . I look at it this way... it's one less way my kids will be able to give me a heart attack when they get behind the wheel of a car in 12 years.

Open Source

Republicans defeat Net neutrality proposal

By Declan McCullagh and Anne Broache
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: April 5, 2006

A partisan divide pitting Republicans against Democrats on the question of Internet regulation appears to be deepening.

A Republican-controlled House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Wednesday defeated a proposal that would have levied extensive regulations on broadband providers and forcibly prevented them from offering higher-speed video services to partners or affiliates.

By an 8-to-23 margin, the committee members rejected a Democratic-backed "Net neutrality" amendment to a current piece of telecommunications legislation. The amendment had attracted support from companies including Amazon.com, eBay, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, and their chief executives wrote a last-minute letter to the committee on Wednesday saying such a change to the legislation was "critical."

Before the vote, amendment sponsor Rep. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, assailed his Republican colleagues. "We're about to break with the entire history of the Internet," Markey said. "Everyone should understand that."

This philosophical rift extends beyond the precise wording of the telecommunications legislation. It centers on whether broadband providers will be free to design their networks as they see fit and enjoy the latitude to prioritize certain types of traffic--such as streaming video--over others.

After a day of debate, the committee went on to vote 27-4 in favor of approving the final bill--minus the Democrats' amendment--sending it onward to full committee consideration, expected in late April. The vote on the amendment itself did not occur strictly along party lines, with one Republican voting in favor and four Democrats voting against it.

Leading Republicans have dismissed concerns about Net neutrality, also called network neutrality, as simultaneously overblown and overly vague.

"This is not Chicken Little, the sky is not falling, we're not going to change the direction of the axis of the earth on this vote," said Rep. John Shimkus, an Illinois Republican. He said overregulatory Net neutrality provisions would amount to picking winners and losers in the marketplace and discourage investment in faster connections that will benefit consumers.

Last week, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton said: "Before we get too far down the road, I want to let the market kind of sort itself out, and I'm not convinced that we really have a problem with Net neutrality."

I love the phrase "let the market sort it out"... it's as warm and fuzzy as a venus flytrap. Barton knows there isn't a problem yet, but there will be if the companies decide to change how acess is provided for the average consumer. It's true that so far, no regulation has been necessary, but as the Internet becomes a driving force in politics, how long do you honestly think that will last? Will the critics of the telecommunications industry still have the high speed channels or will they be cast off into the world of 9600 modems (and I remember when that was fast too...)?

Lies and Lying Liars

I'm listening to Lou Dobbs,who is reporting that Bush thinks our military is ready for anything, including an incursion into Iran. What planet do these people live on? The army is hemorrhaging officers and grunt recuitment is steady only because standards have been lowered. The "most powerful country on earth" is a paper tiger.

Sky Watch

This report is out of Bowling Green, Kentucky. I'm an amateur meteorologist and paying close attention to this severe storm season, which is way out of the ordinary.

Busy Tornado Season
Tamara Evans

The storms that our area has seen during the past couple of weeksmay not seem that surprising for many since it's common to have bad storms and tornados in March. Ahat isn't very common however is the high number that we've already seen this year compared to last.

As of April 6, there were 374 tornado reports for the year. This is a sharp increase from the 98 tornadoes reported at this time last year. That number doesn't include the 52 tornadoes we saw across the country on Friday or the 4 on Saturday. This brings the running total up to 430 tornadoes reported so far this year.

"We had a mild winter. Relatively speaking, the Gulf of Mexico is a little bit warmer than normal for this time of year", says Western Kentucky University's Geology & Geography Department Professor, Dr. Michael Trapasso.

Those warm temperatures and dry conditions kept water temperatures warm in the Gulf of Mexico, so as weather systems move eastward into the central United States and combine with the warm moist air moving north from the Gulf, it creates the thunderstorms and tornadoes we are seeing. This is the reason we've seen such a high number of storms already this year. Typically tornado season is known to be from April to June.

"Considering the fact that we have already exceeded what we should have for this time of year in tornado numbers and deaths, put that together and it gives us a dark number forecast for the next few months", says Trapasso.

Although it is impossible to predict just how many more tornadoes we will see, if the trend continues it will be alot more than we saw last year. Either way, you should be ready for the storms that have already been making their mark on nearby areas during the past few weeks.

"Just think about if you had to take shelfter with your family for an hour or two where would you go and what would you have with you. If people think along those lines they can be as prepared as they can be for this kind of situation", says Trapasso.

In case of severe weather or a tornado, you should come up with a disaster plan ahead of time to help keep you safe. This includes creating a plan with your family on where to go and what to do and having a disaster kit available with food, water, emergency tools, clothing, and a first aid kid just in case its needed.

The conditions outlined above also have something to say about the upcoming hurricane season, none of it good. As an east coast resident, let's just say that my own level of vigilance will be a little higher than normal.

Down the Swirly

Bush's Job Approval Rating Continues to Swoon
Forty-Seven Percent of Americans 'Strongly' Disapprove of Handling of the Presidency

By Richard Morin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 10, 2006; 10:54 AM

Political reversals at home and continued bad news from Iraq have dragged President Bush's standing with the public to a new low and boosted Democratic chances of wresting control of Congress from Republicans in the November elections, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The new survey found that 38 percent of the public approved of the job Bush is doing as president, down 3 percentage points in the past month and his worst showing in Post-ABC polling on this key measure since he became president. Sixty percent disapproved of his performance.

Bush's overall job approval has remained below 50 percent for nearly a year while the proportion of the public critical of the president consistently has topped 50 percent. And perhaps more ominously for the president, 47 percent say they "strongly" disapproved of Bush's handling of the presidency -- more than double the percentage who strongly approved (20 percent) and the second straight month that the proportion of Americans intensely critical of the president was larger than his overall job approval rating.

The public is more critical of Bush's performance in specific areas. A third approved of his handling of immigration issues while six in 10 disapproved. And as thousands gather on the Mall today to protest efforts to tighten immigration policy, three in four Americans said the government isn't doing enough to keep illegal immigrants from entering the United States.

But more than six in 10 support reforms that would allow some illegal immigrants to obtain legal status and permanent citizenship if they meet certain conditions. Only one in five say all illegal immigrants should be declared felons and not allowed to work in the United States.

It's really hard to keep track of all the scandals, isn't it? The Plame leak did a break out this weekend, and bombing Iran doesn't look all that popular. I'd be happy to look at anything that Bushco has actually done about immigration besides cutting funding for INS.

The Next War

I'm reading Sy Hersh's piece about a nuclear attack on Iran. It's all unsourced, of course, but here is the question one of his leakers asked that deserves notice:

“What will 1.2 billion Muslims think the day we attack Iran?”

That's a very interesting question, don't you think?

The Coalescing Collapse

Christian Coalition Shrinks as Debt Grows

By Alan Cooperman and Thomas B. Edsall
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, April 10, 2006; Page A01

In an era when conservative Christians enjoy access and influence throughout the federal government, the organization that fueled their rise has fallen on hard times.

The once-mighty Christian Coalition, founded 17 years ago by the Rev. Pat Robertson as the political fundraising and lobbying engine of the Christian right, is more than $2 million in debt, beset by creditors' lawsuits and struggling to hold on to some of its state chapters.

In March, one of its most effective chapters, the Christian Coalition of Iowa, cut ties with the national organization and reincorporated itself as the Iowa Christian Alliance, saying it "found it impossible to continue to carry a name that in any way associated us with this national organization."

"The credibility is just not there like it once was," said Stephen L. Scheffler, president of the Iowa affiliate since 2000. "The budget has shrunk from $26 million to $1 million. There's a trail of debt. . . . We believe, our board believes, any Christian organization has an obligation to pay its debts in a timely fashion."

At its peak a decade ago, the Christian Coalition deployed a dozen lobbyists on Capitol Hill. Today, it has a single Washington employee who works out of his home. Its phone number with a 202 area code is automatically forwarded to a small office in Charleston, S.C.

The Christian Coalition is still routinely included in meetings with White House officials and conservative leaders, and is still a household name. But financial problems and a long battle over its tax status have sapped its strength, allowing it to be eclipsed by other Christian groups, such as the Family Research Council and the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Although some of those groups have begun moving into the coalition's specialty -- grass-roots voter education and get-out-the-vote drives -- none is poised to distribute 70 million voter guides through churches, as the Christian Coalition did in 2000.

The coalition's decline is a story that can perhaps best be told along biblical lines: It is the narrative of a group that wandered after the departure of its early leaders, lost faith in some of its guiding principles and struggled to keep its identity after entering the promised land -- in this case, the land of political influence.

From its inception, the coalition was built around two individuals, Robertson and RaIn March, one of its most effective chapters, the Christian Coalition of Iowa, cut ties with the national organization and reincorporated itself as the Iowa Christian Alliance, saying it "found it impossible to continue to carry a name that in any way associated us with this national organization."

"The credibility is just not there like it once was," said Stephen L. Scheffler, president of the Iowa affiliate since 2000. "The budget has shrunk from $26 million to $1 million. There's a trail of debt. . . . We believe, our board believes, any Christian organization has an obligation to pay its debts in a timely fashion."

At its peak a decade ago, the Christian Coalition deployed a dozen lobbyists on Capitol Hill. Today, it has a single Washington employee who works out of his home. Its phone number with a 202 area code is automatically forwarded to a small office in Charleston, S.C.

The Christian Coalition is still routinely included in meetings with White House officials and conservative leaders, and is still a household name. But financial problems and a long battle over its tax status have sapped its strength, allowing it to be eclipsed by other Christian groups, such as the Family Research Council and the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Although some of those groups have begun moving into the coalition's specialty -- grass-roots voter education and get-out-the-vote drives -- none is poised to distribute 70 million voter guides through churches, as the Christian Coalition did in 2000.

The coalition's decline is a story that can perhaps best be told along biblical lines: It is the narrative of a group that wandered after the departure of its early leaders, lost faith in some of its guiding principles and struggled to keep its identity after entering the promised land -- in this case, the land of political influence.

From its inception, the coalition was built around two individuals, Robertson and Ralph Reed. Both were big personalities with big followings.

"After the founders left, the Christian Coalition never fully recovered," said James L. Guth, an expert on politics and religion at Furman University in South Carolina. "The dependence on Robertson and Reed was really disastrous."

Reed left in 1997 to become a Republican political consultant and is now seeking the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor of Georgia. Once a golden boy of GOP politics, he has recently had his reputation tarnished by his ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

"Render unto Caesar those things which are Caesar's" and confuse the things which belong elsewhere and your mission statement is going to get really messy.

Mistakes

U.S. Military Secrets for Sale at Afghan Bazaar
By Paul Watson, Times Staff Writer
April 10, 2006

BAGRAM, Afghanistan — No more than 200 yards from the main gate of the sprawling U.S. base here, stolen computer drives containing classified military assessments of enemy targets, names of corrupt Afghan officials and descriptions of American defenses are on sale in the local bazaar.

Shop owners at the bazaar say Afghan cleaners, garbage collectors and other workers from the base arrive each day offering purloined goods, including knives, watches, refrigerators, packets of Viagra and flash memory drives taken from military laptops. The drives, smaller than a pack of chewing gum, are sold as used equipment.

The thefts of computer drives have the potential to expose military secrets as well as Social Security numbers and other identifying information of military personnel.

A reporter recently obtained several drives at the bazaar that contained documents marked "Secret." The contents included documents that were potentially embarrassing to Pakistan, a U.S. ally, presentations that named suspected militants targeted for "kill or capture" and discussions of U.S. efforts to "remove" or "marginalize" Afghan government officials whom the military considered "problem makers."

The drives also included deployment rosters and other documents that identified nearly 700 U.S. service members and their Social Security numbers, information that identity thieves could use to open credit card accounts in soldiers' names.

After choosing the name of an army captain at random, a reporter using the Internet was able to obtain detailed information on the woman, including her home address in Maryland and the license plate numbers of her 2003 Jeep Liberty sport utility vehicle and 1998 Harley Davidson XL883 Hugger motorcycle.

Troops serving overseas would be particularly vulnerable to attempts at identity theft because keeping track of their bank and credit records is difficult, said Jay Foley, co-executive director of the Identity Theft Resource Center in San Diego.

"It's absolutely absurd that this is happening in any way, shape or form," Foley said. "There's absolutely no reason for anyone in the military to have that kind of information on a flash drive and then have it out of their possession."

A flash drive also contained a classified briefing about the capabilities and limitations of a "man portable counter-mortar radar" used to find the source of guerrilla mortar rounds. A map pinpoints the U.S. camps and bases in Iraq where the sophisticated radar was deployed in March 2004.

Lt. Mike Cody, a spokesman for the U.S. forces here, declined to comment on the computer drives or their content.

"We do not discuss issues that involve or could affect operational security," he said.

Workers are supposed to be frisked as they leave the base, but they have various ways of deceiving guards, such as hiding computer drives behind photo IDs that they wear in holders around their necks, shop owners said. Others claim that U.S. soldiers illegally sell military property and help move it off the base, saying they need the money to pay bills back home.

Bagram base, the U.S. military's largest in Afghanistan and a hub for classified military activity, has suffered security lapses before, including an escape from a detention center where hundreds of Al Qaeda and Taliban suspects have been held and interrogated.

Last July, four Al Qaeda members, including the group's commander in Southeast Asia, Omar Faruq, escaped from Bagram by picking the lock on their cell. They then walked off the base, ditched their prison uniforms and fled through a muddy vineyard.

The men later boasted of their escape on a video and have not been captured. The military said it had tightened security at Bagram after the breakout.

One of the computer drives stolen from Bagram contained a series of slides prepared for a January 2005 briefing of American military officials that identified several Afghan governors and police chiefs as "problem makers" involved in kidnappings, the opium trade and attacks on allied troops with improvised bombs.

The chart showed the U.S. military's preferred methods of dealing with the men: "remove from office; if unable marginalize."

A chart dated Jan. 2, 2005, listed five Afghans as "Tier One Warlords." It identified Afghanistan's former defense minister Mohammed Qassim Fahim, current military chief of staff Abdul Rashid Dostum and counter-narcotics chief Gen. Mohammed Daoud as being involved in the narcotics trade. All three have denied committing crimes.

Another slide presentation identified 12 governors, police chiefs and lower-ranking officials that the U.S. military wanted removed from office. The men were involved in activities including drug trafficking, recruiting of Taliban fighters and active support for Taliban commanders, according to the presentation, which also named the military's preferred replacements.

I love the smell of democracy in the morning. When we have it here in the US, maybe we can export it.

The Re-thinking

Young Officers Leaving Army at a High Rate

By THOM SHANKER
Published: April 10, 2006

WASHINGTON, April 9 — Young Army officers, including growing numbers of captains who leave as soon as their initial commitment is fulfilled, are bailing out of active-duty service at rates that have alarmed senior officers. Last year, more than a third of the West Point class of 2000 left active duty at the earliest possible moment, after completing their five-year obligation. Skip to next paragraph Doug Mills/The New York Times

Lt. Gen. Franklin L. Hagenbeck says today's Army officers are making career decisions earlier than before.
It was the second year in a row of worsening retention numbers, apparently marking the end of a burst of patriotic fervor during which junior officers chose continued military service at unusually high rates.

Mirroring the problem among West Pointers, graduates of reserve officer training programs at universities are also increasingly leaving the service at the end of the four-year stint in uniform that follows their commissioning.

To entice more to stay, the Army is offering new incentives this year, including a promise of graduate school on Army time and at government expense to newly commissioned officers who agree to stay in uniform for three extra years. Other enticements include the choice of an Army job or a pick of a desirable location for a home post.

The incentives resulted in additional three-year commitments from about one-third of all new officers entering active duty in 2006, a number so large that it surprised even the senior officers in charge of the program. But the service's difficulty in retaining current captains has generals worriedly discussing among themselves whether the Army will have the widest choice possible for its next generation of leaders.

The program was begun this year to counter pressures on junior officers to leave active duty, including the draw of high-paying jobs in the private sector; the desires of a spouse for a calmer civilian quality of life at a time when the officers can be expected to be starting their families; and, for the past two years, the concerns over repeated tours in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Army has had a far more difficult time in its recruiting than the other services because the ground forces are carrying the heaviest burden of deployments — and injuries and deaths — in the war.

One member of the West Point class of 2000 who left active duty last year is Stephen Kuo, who took a job with a medical equipment company in Florida. Mr. Kuo said his decision was based on "quality of life." He is now recruiting classmates for his company.

"With the rotation of one year overseas, then another year or so back at home, then another overseas rotation — it does take a toll on you," said Mr. Kuo, who served a year in combat in northern Iraq. "Plus, I was not enjoying the staff jobs — desk jobs — I was looking at for the next 8 to 10 years. Furthermore, the private sector had many lucrative offers."

But the chance at a free master's degree persuaded Brandon J. Archuleta, a West Point senior, to sign up for an extra three years in uniform.

"Education is extremely important to me, and I know I want a master's degree at the very least," Cadet Archuleta said. "The Army has a wonderful relationship with some of the top-tier graduate schools, especially in the Ivy League. I want to attend a school of that caliber."

In 2001, but before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, 9.3 percent of the Army's young officers left active duty at their first opportunity. By 2002, the number of those junior officers leaving at their first opportunity dropped to 7.1 percent, and in 2003, only 6.3 percent opted out. But the number grew to 8.3 percent in 2004 and 8.6 percent in 2005.

The statistics are even more striking among West Point graduates, who receive an Ivy League-quality education at taxpayer expense — and, in the view of many senior officers and West Point alumni, owe the nation and the Army a debt of loyalty beyond the initial five years of active duty.

The retention rate at the five-year mark for the West Point class of 1999 was 71.9 percent in 2004, down from 78.1 percent for the previous year's class. And for the class of 2000, the retention rate fell to 65.8 percent, meaning that last year the Army lost more than a third — 34. 2 percent — of that group of officers as they reached the end of their initial five-year commitment.

This is no mystery. When there is calamity in the works, you get the fuck out of the way.

Lessons Learned

I'm going to have some thoughts on the sim I went through after I've had more sleep. For me and pogge, re-doingFlu Wiki has been a fairly intense experience. Add to that the pre-programming for this sim and then going through it. Eeeech. I've seen cauliflowers which have more thought processing power than I have right now.

Those of you with a lot of experience in role playing games will probably understand all of this better than I do and I invite your thoughts. A couple of the people involved in the creation of this one are advanced campaigners with D&D.; My understanding of computer gaming began and ended with Welltriss, but I've been wargaming in real time since I was knee high to a grasshopper. Dad was a military historian and I was playing "Stalingrad" when I was still in the single digits, age-wise. I'm a better than middlin' chess and go player.

I've got to get the hummingbird feeders up and the herb garden in this week. But I have to admit that, on the lonely road from Logan airport to the gamers' hotel in Dedham this weekend, I felt different about the birds I saw in the trees in the Nature Conservancy places we traveled through. I am a raptor reporter for the Audobon Society. I spotted hawks on the trip. They look like those nightmare chickens on the cover of Mike Davis's book to me now.

Hummers are another matter, and I'll have more to say about them later this week.

Read Davis's The Monster at Our Door, which I consider Pandemic 101. If Barry's book is too much for you, Davis's is the book to read. It is short and sharp. I'm going to try to get an interview with him soon. I notice that my calls get answered when I say, "This is Melanie from Flu Wiki." When I was introduced at dinner the other night like that, there was a silence in the room, followed by a big "Oh."

We do what we can with what we've got. Being popular in a deadly disease circle was not one of the things I thought my middle age was going to be about, but, as we say in Minnesota, yer werks wid whut yer gots.

Waiting in the Wings

Read >this. Hurricane season is 7 weeks away. Wish us luck.

I'll have thoughts on birdfluplex3.0 in the morning, right now I want to be home and ignore what a nasty experience that was. Feeding the cats and loading the laundery feel like normal things to do and I need that right now.

Staring disaster in the face every day takes a toll.

I'm really tired. I've been posting for nearly three years, and I need a vacation.

If you want to contribute, the link is up.

I'm going to bed.

Melanie

Tar Heel Purple

GOP dissects losses in N.C.

Rob Christensen, Staff Writer
Apr 09, 2006

For North Carolina Republican conservatives, these have been their political wilderness years.

Across the South, there has been a rising GOP tide. But even though North Carolina votes Republican for president and the U.S. Senate, nearly a generation has elapsed since a Republican was elected governor -- Jim Martin in 1988. Full control of the legislature has eluded the GOP for a century.

In no other Southern state have Democrats so dominated state politics.

"It is a travesty that North Carolina is controlled by the Democrats," said U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Republican from Banner Elk, at a breakfast Saturday at the N.C. Conservative Leadership Conference.

That is why about 400 conservatives gathered Friday and Saturday at a hotel near Research Triangle Park to discuss ways, as the organizers put it, "to reclaim North Carolina." The conference brought together activists from across the state. They participated in workshops and heard speakers call for a crackdown on illegal immigration, cuts in state spending and taxes, a law to make English the official state language, a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and an end to taxpayer incentives to recruit businesses.

Hoping to use those issues -- and exploit the controversies surrounding Democratic House Speaker Jim Black -- conservatives seek to gain control of the legislature in November. Democrats have a 29-21 advantage in the Senate and a 63-57 edge in the House.

But to do so, the Republicans must overcome some countervailing political winds. House Republicans remain bitterly divided by factional warfare, including an efforts by conservatives to oust Speaker Pro Tem Richard Morgan, the highest-ranking Republican in the legislature.

The Republicans must also deal with their own scandals in Washington, as well as an increasingly unpopular war in Iraq.

I've got some news for the Republicans in NC, where they are the party of "new ideas", there is only one thing on there that is new and that can significantly separate yourself from the majority of the elected Democrats and that is the ending of taxpayer incentives to recruit businesses (which I support). On the rest of them, the majority of the Democrats in office aren't much more progressive than the Republicans even though they haven't agressively pursued some of these issues while dealing with more serious issues. So, go ahead and demonize government workers and the "waste" in government if you want, but understand that in many rural counties the local and state jobs are the majority of the ones there... and are you calling my momma's uncle a lazy %&#$ ? That's really not the way to get votes.

While there are many "Progressive/Liberal" Democrats here in NC, they aren't running for statewide office becuase they won't win. The party has been smart enough to nominate people like Hunt and Easley, that are pro-business and moderate on social issues, to run for governor. This is the state of Terry Sandford and Jim Hunt.

We aren't the Faldwells and Libertarians nuts. The only two Republicans to get elected Governor in the last 100+ years were moderates (Holtshowser and Martin). They weren't ultra-conservative religious freaks. It's helped that the last couple of Republican candidates have been jokes (Ballentine the Boy Wonder anyone?), but they have also been farther to the right than most North Carolinians. Now this could change if someone wants to pull out an overtly racist platform against immigrants, but the Republicans should be thankful that the Democrats have failed to field a reeal candidate in the last two senatorial elections otherwise those races might have turned out differently (at least the second time).

Bubblicious

Class-Action Lawsuit to Be Filed Over SAT Scoring Errors

By KAREN W. ARENSON
Published: April 9, 2006

Three Minnesota law firms have begun a class-action lawsuit against the College Board and one of its contractors over scoring errors for thousands of students who took the SAT last October.

Papers were served Friday for a suit in state court in Hennepin County, Minn. Officials say it is the first legal action in the matter; a handful of other firms have expressed interest in the case.

The College Board disclosed last month that 4,411 students out of about 500,000 who took the SAT reasoning test in October received incorrect scores. The errors were partly due to moisture that interfered with the scanning of the students' answer sheets by Pearson Educational Measurement, the company that handled that part of the scoring for the College Board. Pearson's parent company, NCS Pearson Inc., is based in Minnesota.

"The College Board contracted with Pearson despite the fact that Pearson is no stranger to botching test scores," the 48-page complaint said.

The board said most of the students received scores that were too low, some by as much as 450 points of a maximum possible 2,400, and those scores were being corrected. It also said that about 600 students received scores that were too high, by as much as 50 points, but that under board policy, those scores were not corrected.

Some college admissions officers have criticized that policy, which the board has said it is reviewing.

Chiarra Coletti, a spokeswoman for the College Board, and David R. Hakensen, a spokesman for Pearson, said yesterday that they could not comment on the suit.

T. Joseph Snodgrass, a partner at Larson King in St. Paul, one of the three firms bringing the suit, said the lead plaintiff was a high school senior from Dix Hills, N.Y., on Long Island, who received an incorrect score when he took the exam. The student was not identified in the suit.

Mr. Snodgrass said yesterday that the firms planned to seek an injunction requiring the College Board to correct the inflated scores as well as those that were too low.

"It is unfair that regular students have to compete against those students with inflated scores for admission, scholarships.

We all saw this coming back when the problems first arose with the scores. Now the only question is which university will have the courage to step up and publicly critize the testing agency and the tests?

History Never Repeats it just Rhymes

U.S. Is Studying Military Strike Options on Iran

By Peter Baker, Dafna Linzer and Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, April 9, 2006

The Bush administration is studying options for military strikes against Iran as part of a broader strategy of coercive diplomacy to pressure Tehran to abandon its alleged nuclear development program, according to U.S. officials and independent analysts.

No attack appears likely in the short term, and many specialists inside and outside the U.S. government harbor serious doubts about whether an armed response would be effective. But administration officials are preparing for it as a possible option and using the threat "to convince them this is more and more serious," as a senior official put it.

According to current and former officials, Pentagon and CIA planners have been exploring possible targets, such as the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz and the uranium conversion facility at Isfahan. Although a land invasion is not contemplated, military officers are weighing alternatives ranging from a limited airstrike aimed at key nuclear sites, to a more extensive bombing campaign designed to destroy an array of military and political targets.

Preparations for confrontation with Iran underscore how the issue has vaulted to the front of President Bush's agenda even as he struggles with a relentless war in next-door Iraq. Bush views Tehran as a serious menace that must be dealt with before his presidency ends, aides said, and the White House, in its new National Security Strategy, last month labeled Iran the most serious challenge to the United States posed by any country.

Many military officers and specialists, however, view the saber rattling with alarm. A strike at Iran, they warn, would at best just delay its nuclear program by a few years but could inflame international opinion against the United States, particularly in the Muslim world and especially within Iran, while making U.S. troops in Iraq targets for retaliation.

"My sense is that any talk of a strike is the diplomatic gambit to keep pressure on others that if they don't help solve the problem, we will have to," said Kori Schake, who worked on Bush's National Security Council staff and teaches at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

Others believe it is more than bluster. "The Bush team is looking at the viability of airstrikes simply because many think airstrikes are the only real option ahead," said Kurt Campbell, a former Pentagon policy official.

The intensified discussion of military scenarios comes as the United States is working with European allies on a diplomatic solution. After tough negotiations, the U.N. Security Council issued a statement last month urging Iran to re-suspend its uranium enrichment program. But Russia and China, both veto-wielding council members, forced out any mention of consequences and are strongly resisting any sanctions.

U.S. officials continue to pursue the diplomatic course but privately seem increasingly skeptical that it will succeed. The administration is also coming under pressure from Israel, which has warned the Bush team that Iran is closer to developing a nuclear bomb than Washington thinks and that a moment of decision is fast approaching.

Bush and his team have calibrated their rhetoric to give the impression that the United States may yet resort to force. In January, the president termed a nuclear-armed Iran "a grave threat to the security of the world," words that echoed language he used before the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Vice President Cheney vowed "meaningful consequences" if Iran does not give up any nuclear aspirations, and U.N. Ambassador John R. Bolton refined the formula to "tangible and painful consequences."

Does anyone really think that the rhetoric isn't going to get more heated as we get closer to the elections? Hey, it worked in 2002.... of course back then, the public trusted the administration. Now it's time for many of those so called journallists to step up and do some actual reporting before our collective reputation is damaged any more than it alreday is, especially if they are serious about using nukes.

Saturday Night Entertainment

We are watching the new Arabian Nights on Sci-Fi and it is incredbile. It was produced by the Henson Shop and the production values are stunning.

Likewise, I had no idea that the violinist Vanessa Mae had gone into acting. Her music is wonderful and always interesting (turn the sound down when you visit her web site though).

Anything interesting this evening for you?

No Shock But...

With all of the concern about bird flu and such, it's articles like these that point out some of the steps that need to be taken to improve world health regardless of what makes the headlines.

World 'lacks 4m health workers'

BBC
Friday, 7 April 2006

Four million health workers are needed to combat the "chronic shortage" around the world, a report from the World Health Organization has warned.

Fifty-seven countries have a serious shortage of health workers, affecting children's jabs, pregnancy care and access to treatment, it said.

Thirty-six of these countries are in sub-Saharan Africa.

The WHO's World Health Report 2006 said the shortage affected how diseases such as HIV/Aids could be tackled.

It says that at least 1.3 billion people worldwide lack access to the most basic healthcare, often because there is no health worker.

The burden is greatest in countries overwhelmed by poverty and disease where these health workers are needed most.

The report led to calls for Western countries to stop "poaching" healthcare staff from these countries.

Sub-Saharan Africa has 11% of the world's population and 24% of the global burden of disease but only 3% of the world's health workers.

A lack of personnel, combined with a lack of training and knowledge, is also a major obstacle for health systems as they attempt to respond effectively to chronic diseases and bird flu.

The WHO says life expectancies in the poorest countries are half of those in the richest nations.

The article comes with some excellent visuals that reinforce how serious the problem is. Think about what can be done simply with preventable diseases and conditions if there were enough health care workers in these nations. The good that could be done in incalcuable.

Likewise, if we look at epidemics like AIDS or potentials Bird Flu, these health care workers are a vital link to limited the spread of these diseases and reducing the risk of infections. This is what local health care workers do. And don't think that just because many of us are in richer nations that things are any better... in the US there has been a serious reduction in the amount of funds provided for local and state health care. What happens if the system gets overtaxed due to a real or imagined crisis?

Maxed Out

Budget makers fork on the pork

Bob Deans, Cox News Service
Apr 06, 2006

Taxpayers will get soaked for a record $29 billion in wasteful spending this year, as members of Congress lard the $2.6 trillion budget with nearly 10,000 pet projects that serve local political ends better than national priorities, a watchdog group charged Wednesday.

The so-called pork barrel spending includes $1 million for a waterless urinal initiative in Michigan, $500,000 for a teapot museum in North Carolina and $100,000 for a Nevada boxing club, according to Citizens Against Government Waste, a nonpartisan group that claims about 1.2 million members and supporters.

With two Vietnamese potbellied pigs on hand, the organization singled out Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, as the greatest pork barrel spender in Congress, citing his role in securing about $325 million in spending for his state. Alaskan projects included a $1.3 million berry research program, $1.1 million for developing new uses for salmon and $25 million for rural and native village programs.

........

The report came out a day after the Senate Appropriations Committee piled billions of dollars in additional spending onto a White House request for supplemental funding to pay for Hurricane Katrina rebuilding and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

President Bush had requested $92 billion in supplemental spending for such efforts -- in addition to more than $400 billion in Department of Defense spending. The Senate version, though, has mushroomed to $107 billion.

The facts are there folks... this is from a REPUBLICAN Congress and a REPUBLICAN President. Throw these numbers in the face of nay gas bag who wants to rant and rave about those "evil tax and spend" Democrats. They are the ones who can't find room in the budget to take care of the elderly or the young, but they can build a bridge in Alaska that no one will ever use.

You know U.S. Grant is throwing a party in the afterlife... someone is going to pass him as the worst and most corrupt government in US History.

Unreality

Bush blames Democrats for stalled immigration reform

By Matt Spetalnick
Reuters
Saturday, April 8, 2006

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush, trying to head off the latest in a string of setbacks, blamed Democratic "blocking tactics" on Saturday for stalling an immigration overhaul and urged an end to the impasse.

Bush used his weekly radio address to point the finger at Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid for the breakdown on Friday of a Senate compromise plan to reform immigration law and give millions of illegal immigrants a chance for citizenship.

Failure to push through the bill, which would create a temporary worker program as proposed by Bush, could derail major changes in immigration laws for this year, dealing another blow to a president beset by his lowest public approval ratings since taking office.

Gridlock over the legislation, which would be the biggest immigration overhaul in two decades, touched off recriminations.

"Unfortunately, this compromise is being blocked by the Senate Democratic leader who has refused to allow senators to move forward and vote on amendments to this bill," Bush said.

"I call on the Senate Minority Leader to end his blocking tactics and allow the Senate to do its work and pass a fair, effective immigration reform bill," he added.

Reid, a Nevada lawmaker, said on Friday he was trying to protect the bipartisan bill from Republican opponents who "hoped to kill it by amendment."

Let's analyze this strategy here... we have a President whom the majority of Americans do NOT approve of and do NOT trust to tell the truth defending a bill that the majority of Americans are NOT sure they approve of by lying about the roadblocks that his OWN party threw in to derail this compromise.

Yep, that sounds like a winner to me... for the Democrats. It makes it a lot easier to advance the idea that he is completely out of touch with reality and is a danger to the Republic.

Gnostics

I simply love when archeologists discover something like this. I really wish that my church had taught us more about the history of the Christian Church as youths, because even though some of the early arguements over scripture are hard to follow, they are quite interesting. I'm curious to read the entire text.

Newly Translated Gospel Offers More Positive Portrayal of Judas

By Guy Gugliotta and Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, April 7, 2006

The National Geographic Society released yesterday the first modern translation of the ancient Gospel of Judas, which depicts the most reviled villain in Christian history as a devoted follower who was simply doing Jesus's bidding when he betrayed him.

The text's existence has been known since it was denounced as heresy by the bishop of Lyon in A.D. 180, but its contents had remained an almost total mystery. Unlike the four gospels of the New Testament, it describes conversations between Jesus and Judas Iscariot during the week before Passover in which Jesus tells Judas "secrets no other person has ever seen."

The other apostles pray to a lesser God, Jesus says, and he reveals to Judas the "mysteries of the kingdom" of the true God. He asks Judas to help him return to the kingdom, but to do so, Judas must help him abandon his mortal flesh: "You will sacrifice the man that clothes me," Jesus tells Judas, and acknowledges that Judas "will be cursed by the other generations."

Scholars said the 26-page document was written on 13 sheets of papyrus leaf in ancient Egyptian, or Coptic, and was bound as a book known as a codex. It is one of dozens of sacred texts from the Christian Gnostics, who believed that salvation came through secret knowledge conveyed by Jesus.

Its anonymous author was "obviously a Christian person very sympathetic to a Gnostic point of view," said Coptic scholar Marvin Meyer, of Orange, Calif.'s Chapman University. The codex was written in the 2nd century, when various groups of Christians circulated what they called gospels -- "good news" -- purportedly written by most of the disciples and several other followers of Jesus, among them Mary Magdalene.

Most were outlawed during a centuries-long battle to determine which sacred texts would make up the canon of Christian orthodoxy known today as the New Testament.

National Geographic, which funded much of the research, said it authenticated the codex through radiocarbon dating, ink analysis and study of the script. And despite the document's murky history, no scholar has suggested it is a forgery, a problem that has dogged several recent finds, most notably the bone box, or ossuary, purported to have contained the remains of Jesus's brother James.

As an authentic ancient Gnostic text, the Gospel of Judas is certain to spark a surge of interest by both theologians and the faithful, but scholars said it is unclear whether it will prompt a reevaluation of the traitor denounced by Matthew for betraying Jesus for "30 pieces of silver."

This is an excellent article not only about the new text, but also about where it was found and how it ties in with the Gnostics. Along with that, there is an interesting bit about how the National Geographic aquired the text and how the owners hope to see a profit off of it soon.

All in all, it's one of the best written articles on religion that I've seen in a while and miles ahead of most of the stuff in the media, especially the NPR reporter on religion (her hack job on Republicans in the African-American Church almost made me retch).

Do as I say not as I do

Church Group Calls I.R.S. Unfair on Political Violations of Tax Code

By STEPHANIE STROM
Published: April 7, 2006

A group of religious leaders accused the Internal Revenue Service yesterday of playing politics by ignoring its complaint that two large churches in Ohio are engaging in what it says are political activities, in violation of the tax code.

In a letter to Commissioner Mark W. Everson, the clergy members cited reports of political events involving Fairfield Christian Church in Fairfield and World Harvest Church in Columbus and groups affiliated with them that have occurred or been disclosed since they raised the issue in January.

The group argues that the churches may be violating prohibitions on political activities by charities and other tax-exempt organizations and has asked the I.R.S. to audit their political activities.

The group often notes that the agency is investigating All Saints Church, a large liberal Episcopal church in Pasadena, Calif., over a sermon in 2004 that imagined a debate among Jesus, President Bush and Senator John Kerry, then the Democratic presidential candidate, and asks why the agency has not begun a similar audit of the two Ohio churches, which are conservative.

All Saints has denied wrongdoing and said the tax agency had not responded to its lawyers' calls.

The Rev. Eric Williams of North Congregational United Church of Christ in Columbus has been coordinating the activities of the critical group and said it was sending a second letter to Mr. Everson because the troublesome activities were continuing. "The I.R.S. really needs to take a more proactive stance if it's truly concerned about the political activities of all churches," Mr. Williams said.

Last year, the inspector general of the Treasury Department said political considerations played no role in selecting charities for reviews.

"For the 2006 electoral season, we are poised to look into allegations quickly and get an agent involved promptly if there is a valid reason for concern," the I.R.S. said in a statement.

A spokesman for World Harvest Church, Giles Hudson, said the tax agency had not contacted his church.

"This latest complaint filed by a group of left-leaning clergy amounts to nothing more than a campaign of harassment, and with the primary election just three weeks away, the timing couldn't be more obvious," the church said in a statement.

I wonder what kind of sins they actually ask forgiveness for on Sundays? Lying can't be one of them, since they do it in the name of God.

And I continue to be amazed at the astounding lack of outrage from all of the "good government" groups over this abuse of the IRS. Chances are if this took place 9 years ago against Operation Resuce there would be lawsuits and howls aplenty instead of muted silence.

Scouts & Religion

ACLU Suit Challenges U.S. Funding For Jamboree

By Candace Rondeaux
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 6, 2006

A civil liberties group is going to court today to try to end the National Boy Scout Jamboree, held every four years at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, arguing that the Defense Department's financial support of the event violates the separation of church and state.

American Civil Liberties Union attorneys will argue before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago that the government is violating the First Amendment by allowing the Pentagon to spend millions on the jamboree, the Boy Scouts' largest traditional gathering

The ACLU's lawsuit against the Defense Department contends that the words "duty to God" in the Boy Scout Oath make the group a religious organization and that any government support gives the Boy Scouts special treatment.

A federal judge ruled last year in favor of the ACLU, saying the government's financial support was unconstitutional. The Justice Department appealed.

Held since 1981 at Fort A.P. Hill, the jamboree has regularly attracted 40,000 scouts and their leaders and tens of thousands of tourists to Caroline County, Va.

Virginia Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell (R) publicly castigated the ACLU during a news conference yesterday, calling the lawsuit another "attack by the left wing" on religion in the public sphere. McDonnell and several other Virginia officials have filed a legal brief in support of Pentagon funding for the event.

"As a former Boy Scout myself and an Army officer, I'm particularly offended by the decision by the federal court to strike this down," McDonnell said.

Calling the ACLU lawsuit "outrageous," McDonnell said U.S. District Judge Blanche M. Manning's ruling last year was "way out of the mainstream."

I think there are other things the ACLU can be going after. While the Pentagon probably shouldn't be involved with the Jamboree, this is a fight not worth the bad press and ill will that can be generated (I'm an Eagle Scout and don't think it's that big of a deal and I love the 1st Amendment). This is cannon fodder for the Right Wing Noise machine.

Public Dissent

In case anyone wondered why Bush attended such tightly scripted "public" gatherings, we saw clear evidence of it yesterday. This is not an image this White House needs right now, especially since the image of Mr. Taylor evokes this image as people are finally standing up to Bush.

Facing Tough Questions, Bush Defends War

CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 6 — President Bush on Thursday faced some unusually tough — even hostile, in one case — questioning from members of a nonpartisan audience on a swing through North Carolina as part of his campaign to buoy support for the Iraq war.

He, in turn, offered some of his most direct comments about where he contended United States operations in Iraq had gone wrong, saying that perhaps training of Iraqi police officers should have started earlier, that the Iraqi military was initially unprepared for threats from within its borders and that prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib was disgraceful.

Still, Mr. Bush said, "I strongly believe what we're doing is the right thing," and he said he was certain of victory.

The visit here was part of the White House strategy to put Mr. Bush in front of crowds, including those hostile to him, as he tries to reverse sagging support for the war, and his presidency, in a crucial election year for his party in Congress.

But the event on Thursday, a speech about national security before the World Affairs Council of Charlotte, also highlighted the downside for his administration of breaking away from the friendly town hall meetings packed with pre-screened audiences that were a staple of his 2004 re-election campaign.

"While I listen to you talk about freedom, I see you assert your right to tap my telephone, to arrest me and hold me without charges," said a man who later identified himself as Harry Taylor, a 61-year-old commercial real estate broker. Mr. Taylor also said he was a member of the liberal political group Move On, but attended the speech on his own behalf.

Standing on a stage in shirtsleeves, holding a microphone, Mr. Bush drew applause and laughter by chiming in, "I'm not your favorite guy."

Mr. Taylor went on, "What I wanted to say to you is that I — in my lifetime, I have never felt more ashamed of, nor more frightened by my leadership in Washington, including the presidency, by the Senate."

Mr. Bush hushed boos from the audience by saying: "No, wait a sec. Let him speak."

Mr. Taylor continued, "I would hope from time to time that you have the humility and the grace to be ashamed of yourself."

Mr. Bush said he approved a program for eavesdropping without warrants after consulting with Republicans and Democrats in Congress and lawyers, and called it "a decision I made about protecting this country."

"I'm not going to apologize for what I did on the terrorist surveillance program," he said.

Nor did he offer a decent explaination about the scandal at Abu Ghraib either. Figures, no one has been held accountable yet and chances are no one will.

How bad is it for the President? In a state with the 4th largest concentration of military personnel, Buush's approval rating on the war is under 45%. Sue Myrick, the Representative from Charlotte, is trying to distance herself from Bush in a state that soundly voted for him in 2000 and 2004. If Bush is getting critized that openly in Charlotte, one of the most Republican parts of the state, just imagine what people in say... Durham think about him.

I think both of my Senators should be very happy they aren't running for re-election this year... and I think every Republican running for National office should be very worried.

Who's Surprised?

Bush role alleged in leak of Iraq intelligence

James Sterngold, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, April 7, 2006

Detailed evidence has emerged for the first time suggesting that President Bush played a direct role in authorizing a selective, surreptitious leak of information from a highly classified national security document to rebut critics of the war in Iraq.

Bush has long complained about inappropriate disclosures of sensitive intelligence information, and there is no suggestion that he broke the law, because experts say the president has the legal authority to declassify information.

But critics said the disclosures, made public in a court filing in Washington related to the CIA leak case, appear to show Bush doing something he has repeatedly decried: trying to manipulate public opinion by quietly leaking information to the press behind a veil of anonymity.

According to the filing, Vice President Dick Cheney told a top aide that Bush had authorized the release of information supporting the administration's claim that Saddam Hussein had sought nuclear weapons materials in the African nation of Niger.

"I served for 13 years on the House Intelligence Committee, and I know intelligence must never be classified or declassified for political purposes," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco. "One of the constants in the Bush administration's miserable record on Iraq has been the manipulation of intelligence precisely for political purposes. That has caused our intelligence -- which used to be accepted without question around the world -- to be viewed with skepticism by the international community."

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said that if the assertions in the filing are accurate, they suggest a deliberate attempt to shore up support for the war not through open public debate, but by clever manipulation of opinion.

"It is deeply disturbing to learn that President Bush may have authorized the selective disclosure of our most sensitive intelligence information to the media to help justify a war and discredit critics," Feinstein said in a statement.

"We're not commenting on an ongoing legal proceeding," Scott McClellan, Bush's press secretary, said Thursday.

Scotty, that non comment spoke volumes. You were caught. Come clean and admit it or watch your buddies in Congress try to justify stonewalling an investigation of this as they run for re-election. It's not going to be pretty, but should be hysterical.

If the GOP has any shred of credibility left over once this is done, I'll be stunned. Even their media can't spin their way out of this one.

Travelling Blogger

I'm on my way to Boston and an avian flu pandemic simulation. I hope I'll have some "lessons learned" for you when I return.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Acting Director of FEMA Nominated To Be Its New Chief

By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 7, 2006; Page A03

President Bush yesterday nominated the acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be its permanent chief, ending a seven-month search that had become an embarrassing reminder of the government's flawed response to Hurricane Katrina and doubts about proposed administration reforms.

R. David Paulison, 59, formerly U.S. fire administrator and head of FEMA's division of preparedness, succeeded former director Michael D. Brown, who resigned Sept. 12, two weeks after the storm struck.

"Dave has provided terrific leadership at FEMA," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who last fall faulted leadership at FEMA and pledged to Congress to fill its senior ranks with seasoned staff, only to have several picks turn down the directorship. "He is a deeply experienced and accomplished emergency management executive, and I am thrilled to have him lead FEMA at this important time."

Paulison will assume the title of undersecretary for Federal Emergency Management and report directly to Chertoff.

In addition to Paulison, a 30-year firefighter and chief from South Florida, Chertoff announced the appointment of Coast Guard Vice Adm. Harvey E. Johnson Jr. as deputy director and chief operating officer.

Paulison's selection drew polite praise yesterday but did not quell critics who have called, among other things, for FEMA to be restored to independent, Cabinet-level status and its director to report directly to the president, as was the case before the Homeland Security Department was created in 2002. Analysts such as former directors Brown and James Lee Witt have said the agency has lost funding and clout and been dismembered by subsequent reorganizations.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which will review Paulison's nomination, called him well-respected among first-responder professionals, but that he will face many challenges "as he undertakes the difficult task of trying to repair the nation's emergency management structure."

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said Paulison is "a fine man with a good heart," but asked, "Is he the person that can turn around a failing, dysfunctional agency? Or is he simply tasked to continue the policies of an administration uncommitted to making the changes needed to make FEMA work?"

Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.), ranking Democratic member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the appointments "do not fix the disconnect caused by separating the preparedness and response functions of FEMA."

Hurricane season is 7 weeks away. Wish us luck.

Why someone with nothing to hide should worry

Because the authorities might be pervs. This particular story has a semi-happy ending, but how else could it have played out?

The consequences of un-freedom are extremely practical. It isn't just a matter of the fun of being able to pick on Dear Leader, of being able to say outrageous things, of being able to play politics. This is one of the people that George W. Bush says should be able to tap your 14 year old daughter's phone without a warrant. And if it had been your 14 year old daughter, and you had been the one to catch the conversation, what then? Would Doyle, perhaps, have suggested that you might have some information about terrorism that would be best conveyed to the proper authorities at one of the facilities unenecumbered by all that messy paperwork? Fancy a vacation in sunny Cuba? All sarcasm aside, there would certainly have been some on Doyle's staff who sincerely entertained the idea that you might be some partisan out to stop Doyle's good work out of disloyalty to the country, out of hating Bush more than Saddam. Shipping you off somewhere, or letting you know that they will if you make a fuss, is a loyal and patriotic act from their point of view.

When there are no checks and balances, there is nothing to keep those in authority honest. This gives the honest authorities a small advantage, but the pervs and crooks a huge one.

For the Foodies

According to the hard core foodies, the fact that I love Emeril means that I'm a total idiot. Hey, how much of this stuff have they actually made? I've made it all. Until you've made a beef wellington, you are an amateur in my book. Until you've done production cooking in a restaurant kitchen, you don't get to cop an attitude.

I'm not a production cook, I'm a home cook with some experience in catering. These recipes are all things you can do at home without turning into some foodie weirdo who has to stroll the mall to buy the next George Forman grill. For the most part, these are simple things aimed at the home cook. Enjoy them and skip the hate mail, please.

More Stories Open Thread

I've had a very long day and am taking the rest of the day off. This is an open thread. What stories have you seen today that made an special impression on you?

UPDATE: I'm outta here early in the morning, bound for Boston and a day long bird flu simulation on Saturday and dinner with friends from the Flu Wiki I haven't seen in nearly a year. I'll be back Sunday with a much deeper understanding of what bird flu will mean for us, should it happen. And some minimal understanding of PDA technology, which is being used for communication during the sim. I'm sitting here with a brand new Nokia 8125 that does all kinds of fancy things. I keep all my contact information in a paper address book and my schedule is in a paper calendar. This will be a new experience. I can *barely* run my cell phone and manage to do it wrong about half the time.

I haven't even pulled the suitcase out and already the cats are pissed at me. How do they know these things?

The guest posters will be around as they can. Pogge is gradually bringing Flu Wiki back, doing hero's work. Make sure to stop at his house and thank him. The kind of hours he's putting in right now, eeecccch. Hmm, I seem to be putting in those hours, too.

Political Ballgame

Cheney to Face Nats Fans

By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Thursday, April 6, 2006; 12:18 PM

President Bush is throwing Vice President Cheney to the wolves -- or, more specifically, to the Nationals fans.

According to longstanding precedent, one of the two of them had to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the home opener of Washington's home team on Tuesday -- and face the inevitable boos and catcalls.

Bush is sending Cheney.

The Washington area remains stubbornly Democratic even at the best of times for Republicans -- and these are not the best of times. Furthermore, unlike people at most presidential or vice presidential venues, ballpark fans are not too bashful to express their displeasure vocally.

Last year, when Bush threw out the first pitch, he was greeted with a fair number of boos amid the cheers. And at that point, his job approval ratings were hovering around 50 percent -- not to mention that it was a day of giddy celebration as baseball returned to the nation's capital after more than three decades.

This time around, Bush's approval ratings are in the mid-30s. Cheney's are even lower, in the low 30s -- and his favorability rating hit 18 percent in one recent poll.

So it could get ugly.

How does Cheney feel about this? Well, it's hard to imagine that the unathletic, cantankerous, notoriously private vice president actually volunteered for this duty.

Rather than face the Nationals crowd himself, Bush threw out the first pitch in Cincinnati on Monday. And although he received scattered boos there, he insulated himself from the worst by walking out to the mound accompanied by two injured American soldiers and the father of a soldier who was killed in action.

Cheney's best bet would be to do something similar -- or have the Secret Service be particularly finicky about letting people in. After all, last year, many fans were late to their seats because security lines at the metal detectors installed for the president's visit were still 20 deep when the game began.

Not "Error," Tragedy

Rumsfeld Challenges Rice on 'Tactical Errors' in Iraq

By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 6, 2006; Page A21

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said he did not know what Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was talking about when she said last week that the United States had made thousands of "tactical errors" in handling the war in Iraq, a statement she later said was meant figuratively.

Speaking during a radio interview on WDAY in Fargo, N.D., on Tuesday, Rumsfeld said calling changes in military tactics during the war "errors" reflects a lack of understanding of warfare. Rumsfeld defended his war plan for Iraq but added that such plans inevitably do not survive first contact with the enemy.

"Why? Because the enemy's got a brain; the enemy watches what you do and then adjusts to that, so you have to constantly adjust and change your tactics, your techniques and your procedures," Rumsfeld told interviewer Scott Hennen, according to a Defense Department transcript. "If someone says, well, that's a tactical mistake, then I guess it's a lack of understanding, at least my understanding, of what warfare is about."

Rumsfeld's questioning of Rice's comment came amid long-standing tensions between their departments over the war in Iraq and other issues. Rumsfeld and the Pentagon have been criticized by members of Congress and even some retired generals for missteps in Iraq, such as failing to anticipate the insurgency.

On a trip to Britain, Rice told reporters Friday that "I know we've made tactical errors, thousands of them I'm sure," but that the strategic decisions will be the ones historians judge.

When asked about the comment the next day, Rice said she "wasn't sitting around counting" U.S. tactical errors and instead meant her remark figuratively. "The point I was making . . . is that, of course, if you've ever made decisions, you've undoubtedly made mistakes in the decisions that you've made, but that the important thing is to get the big strategic decisions right and that I am confident that the decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein and give the Iraqi people an opportunity for peace and democracy is the right decision."

Along with all that peace and democracy that the Iraqi people have right now, they also have less electricity, unsafe water and gasoline lines that go overnight. Skip the high-minded rhetoric, Condi. Y'all are incompetent.

Upping the Ante

U.S. Rolls Out Nuclear Plan
The administration's proposal would modernize the nation's complex of laboratories and factories as well as produce new bombs.
By Ralph Vartabedian, Times Staff Writer
April 6, 2006

The Bush administration Wednesday unveiled a blueprint for rebuilding the nation's decrepit nuclear weapons complex, including restoration of a large-scale bomb manufacturing capacity.

The plan calls for the most sweeping realignment and modernization of the nation's massive system of laboratories and factories for nuclear bombs since the end of the Cold War.

Until now, the nation has depended on carefully maintaining aging bombs produced during the Cold War arms race, some several decades old. The administration, however, wants the capability to turn out 125 new nuclear bombs per year by 2022, as the Pentagon retires older bombs that it says will no longer be reliable or safe.

Under the plan, all of the nation's plutonium would be consolidated into a single facility that could be more effectively and cheaply defended against possible terrorist attacks. The plan would remove the plutonium kept at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory by 2014, though transfers of the material could start sooner. In recent years, concern has grown that Livermore, surrounded by residential neighborhoods in the Bay Area, could not repel a terrorist attack.

But the administration blueprint is facing sharp criticism, both from those who say it does not move fast enough to consolidate plutonium stores and from those who say restarting bomb production would encourage aspiring nuclear powers across the globe to develop weapons.

The plan was outlined to Congress on Wednesday by Thomas D'Agostino, head of nuclear weapons programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration, a part of the Energy Department. Though the weapons proposal would restore the capacity to make new bombs, D'Agostino said it was part of a larger effort to accelerate the dismantling of aging bombs left from the Cold War.

D'Agostino acknowledged in an interview that the administration was walking a fine line by modernizing the U.S. nuclear weapons program while assuring other nations that it was not seeking a new arms race. The credibility of the contention rests on the U.S. intent to sharply reduce its inventory of weapons.

Let's see: in addition to the fact that Bushco has a wee bitty credibility problem (ya think?), is W's finger the one you want on the nu-ku-lar button? Iraq? Abu Ghraib? Katrina? The list goes on and on.

Soft Drinks

Benzene Levels in Soft Drinks Above Limit

By LIBBY QUAID
AP Food and Farm Writer
Wed Apr 5 2006

WASHINGTON - Cancer-causing benzene has been found in soft drinks at levels above the limit considered safe for drinking water, the Food and Drug Administration acknowledged Wednesday.

Even so, the FDA still believes there are no safety concerns about benzene in soft drinks, or sodas, said Laura Tarantino, the agency's director of food additive safety.

"We haven't changed our view that right now, there is not a safety concern, not a public health concern," she said. "But what we need to do is understand how benzene forms and to ensure the industry is doing everything to avoid those circumstances."

The admission contradicted statements last week, when officials said FDA found insignificant levels of benzene.

In fact, a different study found benzene at four times the tap water limit, on average, in 19 of 24 samples of diet soda.

Tarantino said chemists may have overestimated the amount of benzene and that levels in diet soda were still relatively low compared with other sources of benzene exposure.

The samples were collected as part of the FDA's ongoing Total Diet Study, which looks for contaminants and nutrients in many foods and beverages.

Now I can't imagine why this wasn't released to the public right away... maybe it has something to do with the FDA's relationship with food companies (or at least the administration's relationship with them). Still, if you ever wanted a clear example of chutzpuh, take a look at this quote at the end of the article:

A spokesman for the American Beverage Association said the amount of soft drinks people consume is far less than the amount of tap water they are exposed to.

"You can crunch the numbers any way you want; it's still adding up to safe products," said the spokesman, Kevin Keane. "We're going to continue to work with FDA to ensure the safety of our products."

Let me get this straight, the level of exposure is 4x the limit for tap water and the best excuse you can come up with is that people are more "exposed" to tap water than soft drinks?

Even my 9th graders can come up with a better excuse than this.

Ch-ch-changes

Climate Researchers Feeling Heat From White House

By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 6, 2006; Page A27

Scientists doing climate research for the federal government say the Bush administration has made it hard for them to speak forthrightly to the public about global warming. The result, the researchers say, is a danger that Americans are not getting the full story on how the climate is changing.

Employees and contractors working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, along with a U.S. Geological Survey scientist working at an NOAA lab, said in interviews that over the past year administration officials have chastised them for speaking on policy questions; removed references to global warming from their reports, news releases and conference Web sites; investigated news leaks; and sometimes urged them to stop speaking to the media altogether. Their accounts indicate that the ideological battle over climate-change research, which first came to light at NASA, is being fought in other federal science agencies as well.

These scientists -- working nationwide in research centers in such places as Princeton, N.J., and Boulder, Colo. -- say they are required to clear all media requests with administration officials, something they did not have to do until the summer of 2004. Before then, point climate researchers -- unlike staff members in the Justice or State departments, which have long-standing policies restricting access to reporters -- were relatively free to discuss their findings without strict agency oversight.

"There has been a change in how we're expected to interact with the press," said Pieter Tans, who measures greenhouse gases linked to global warming and has worked at NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder for two decades. He added that although he often "ignores the rules" the administration has instituted, when it comes to his colleagues, "some people feel intimidated -- I see that."

Christopher Milly, a hydrologist at the U.S. Geological Survey, said he had problems twice while drafting news releases on scientific papers describing how climate change would affect the nation's water supply.

Once in 2002, Milly said, Interior officials declined to issue a news release on grounds that it would cause "great problems with the department." In November 2005, they agreed to issue a release on a different climate-related paper, Milly said, but "purged key words from the releases, including 'global warming,' 'warming climate' and 'climate change.' "

Administration officials said they are following long-standing policies that were not enforced in the past. Kent Laborde, a NOAA public affairs officer who flew to Boulder last month to monitor an interview Tans did with a film crew from the BBC, said he was helping facilitate meetings between scientists and journalists.

"We've always had the policy, it just hasn't been enforced," Laborde said. "It's important that the leadership knows something is coming out in the media, because it has a huge impact. The leadership needs to know the tenor or the tone of what we expect to be printed or broadcast."

Several times, however, agency officials have tried to alter what these scientists tell the media. When Tans was helping to organize the Seventh International Carbon Dioxide Conference near Boulder last fall, his lab director told him participants could not use the term "climate change" in conference paper's titles and abstracts. Tans and others disregarded that advice.

Climate change is accepted science everywhere else on the planet and European governments are already responding to the science. The only place where there is a question about it is here. Why do you think that is?

Hurricane season is less than two months away and the spring tornado season has already been devastating. Follow the facts on the ground.

On the Half Shell

Get somebody else to do this for you. Shucking oysters is not a trivial job. A trusted fish mongerwill show up at your house with fresh oysters and then you can serve them on ice, in the half shelf, with lemon, cocktail sauce and everything.

Doing this yourself without professional help is blinkered idiocy. I can think of few things better than a dozen oysters on the half shell. I can think of few things stupider than trying to do this myself, know when to hire a professional.

In my neighborhood, that's the pros at Legal Seafood that I've been trusting for 30 years.

Dont eat them in the non-"r" months. We are rapidly running out of time.

Fighting the Bug

This is for the walking wounded. The flu bug hit late this year and hard. Here is what you can do.

If you are too sick to cook, do this. Mix up a can of chicken with rice soup in a sauce pan over low heat, just to a simmer. While that's cooking, whisk together a whole egg and about two teaspoons of lemon juice from a lemon juice bottle in your fridge. Add a little of the hot soup to the cup with the juice mixture in it to temper it and then turn off the heat on the soup. When there are no further signs of cooking (bubbles on the surface) add the egg/lemon mixture and stir with a whisk or a fork.

Pour into a mug and drink deeply while letting the fumes investigate your nasal passages. Repeat. Go back to bed for a couple of hours. When the fever breaks, fill your tub with hot water and relax into it and then scrub off the fever grime.

If you feel well enough and have clean bed clothes, change them and go back to bed. You will feel better tomorrow. I promise.

Keep Gatorade in the cupboard. It really helps.

Saturday Night With Friends

If you are fixing a fisherman's catch, you have to do the dirty work, but, oh, this is good. The fishmonger will handle the cleaning for you if the fillets come from the store.

# 4 small trout
# 2 l. water
# 1½ dl vinegar
# 40 g./1½ oz. chopped carrot
# 1 sprig parsley
# 1 onion cut in half 1 sprig thyme
# 1 bay leaf
# 1 clove
# 5-6 black peppercorns
# salt

Wash the fresh trout in running water, gut the fish (this can be done by the fishmonger), sprinkle with vinegar.

Prepare the cooking juices, known in culinary terms as bouillon, in a fish-pan - using water, vinegar, onion, clove and herbs.

Bring to boil and simmer for 40', add peppercorns and cook for a further 15'. Turn out the flame and leave to cool.

Place the trout in cold cooking juice and slowly bring to boil over a low flame. The trout should cook over a gentle flame.

Boil for 4 minutes, turn out flame and leave in warm liquid for a further 4 minutes. In this way the trout's scales will turn a variegated shade of blue.

Drain trout gently and place on serving dish with melted butter seasoned with salt and white pepper.

Wild rice goes great with this. Learn to make it here and deglace the pan with a little white wine and pour the reduction over the fish and rice.

On the side? A salad of arugala and asian pear with prosciutto. For 4.

# 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
# 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
# kosher salt to taste
# freshly ground black pepper
# 8 cups baby arugula
# 4 small Asian pears, cored and thinly sliced
# 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese shavings
#
1/8 pound thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into thin strips (optional)

1. In a large salad bowl, whisk the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper together.
2. Gently toss the arugula to coat it with the dressing. Add the pears and toss them with the arugula once or twice.
3. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese and prosciutto on top and serve.

I'd drop a quarter cup of chopped walnuts into that just for the hell of it.

For desert, how about watermelon sorbet?

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon lime zest
8 cups watermelon chunks, seeds removed (about 1-inch pieces)
1/2 cup vodka, plus more for drizzling, if desired

Combine sugar, water, and lime zest in a small saucepan over high heat. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and cool completely. Strain syrup through a wire-mesh strainer, discarding the zest.

In a blender of food processor, combine diced watermelon and simple syrup and blend until mixture is pureed. Add vodka, stirring to combine. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Pour mixture into an ice-cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. When sorbet is frozen, remove from ice cream freezer and place into individual paper cups and freeze until firm, about 4 hours. Drizzle additional vodka over sorbet just before serving, if desired.

This is a "fun" menu to share with close friends.

Out of the Gate

I'm politicked and disastered out. It's time for some good dinner. Let me see if I can assemble a menu for you. I'm feeling the seafood direction this evening.

One of my favorite finger foods and starters are shrimp toasts. I've never had any of these left over after a party.

* 1 pound cooked shrimp - peeled, deveined and chopped
* 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 4 teaspoons cornstarch
* 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 12 slices day old bread, crusts removed
* 1 quart canola oil for frying

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a bowl, thoroughly mix the shrimp with the ginger, salt, cornstarch, oyster sauce, and eggs.
2. Cut each slice of bread into 4 squares, and arrange on a baking sheet. Spread shrimp mixture over each square, and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
3. In a wok or deep fryer, heat the oil to 365 degrees F (185 degrees C). Carefully drop bread into hot oil, shrimp side down, and fry until golden brown. Remove from oil, drain on paper towels, and serve.

After they are drained, I like to assemble each toast on a platter on top of a piece of bibb lettuce leaf. It means that your guests' finger's won't get greasy for their bite and saves some napkins. Top the toasts with a touch of watercress or radish sprouts for some additional brightness.

These 24 pieces will make a first course for six.

The American Dream

Dave Niewart, who always has interesting things to say, has a post up today (thanks, Senor Bozo) that ought to be spread across the blogs, the papers and every venue in the country today. Dave says:

Those lazy Mexicans
Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Rush Limbaugh, on his March 27 radio show:

I mean if -- if you had a -- a -- a renegade, potential criminal element that was poor and unwilling to work, and you had a chance to get rid of 500,000 every year, would you do it?

The first time I encountered Mexican workers was in 1975, when I came home to Idaho Falls from college in Moscow, Idaho, looking for work for the summer. The first place I could find that would hire me was a potato warehouse out on Lindsey Boulevard, next to the rail tracks.

Most of my co-workers were from Mexico, were likely illegal immigrants, and most of them spoke only Spanish. But they were friendly and tried to help me and my friend Scott, who had also gotten a job there. We both towered over them, and we were both in pretty good shape; I was 18 at the time, and had spent the previous summers hauling pipe in potato fields, so I knew what hard work was about. But we weren't quite prepared for this work.

Basically, the job entailed loading 100- and 50-pound gunny sacks of potatoes into rail cars: stacking them onto a dolly, rolling them into the car, and stacking them up. This is a reasonable job when the stack is less than chest high, but loading them over our heads was a real test.

After two weeks, I failed it. I was completely exhausted and broken down by the end of that time. I called in, said thanks for the opportunity, and quit. (So did Scott.) I wound up setting up my own house-painting business that summer and making my tuition that way.

But I'm sure that most of those Latino co-workers not only stayed on, they probably worked at the warehouse year-round. Because they were simply unfazed by it all. They could load, stack, and load some more, all of it far more efficiently than I ever could. And at the end of every day, as I collapsed in a heap, they were still in good spirits.

Not only were they the hardest-working people I ever met, they also had the best work ethic I ever saw. That is, not only did they work hard, they worked smart. I muscled those 100-pound sacks of spuds up to the top row, while they simply tossed them up with a little leverage and technique.

Oh, and my old boss back at the potato farm where I hauled pipe? Within a couple of years after I left that farm, he went to an all-Latino crew, and he admitted to me that they were mostly illegals. But, he said, they worked harder and better and far more reliably than any crew of teenagers ever had for him. Having been one of those teenagers, I knew exactly what he meant.
*********************************************************

Melanie here: click on the link and read the whole thing. This is powerful writing. Dave is absolutely dead right. I've been living, working and going to church with illegals for decades and they are the hardest working people I know. But let me extend that a little. Immigrants, and I've been working in the larger immigrant community for years, are simply among the hardest working people I know. I live among Hispanics, Asians, South Asians, Africans, you name it. They bust their cans, take all the extra shifts they can, open their own small businesses and put the entire family to work, whatever. They have their glimpse of the American dream, just like my northern European forebears did, and they are going for it, just like the members of my own family (small business people and and plain old wage slaves) do. They are generating GDP. Lou Dobbs ought to be supporting that.

The Press Corpse

By His Deeds Shall Ye Know Him

By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Wednesday, April 5, 2006; 12:33 PM

At last night's "Opinion Awards," presented by The Week magazine and the Aspen Institute , a panel of journalists and pundits was convened to address the topic: "Covering the president: Are White House correspondents real journalists?"

The consensus, such as it was, was that White House correspondents are by and large great journalists -- behaving badly.

They are, in other words, highly talented reporters in the throes of a pack mentality, fearful of not getting their calls returned, trapped in a remorseless news cycle and in a room where almost nothing happens.

Huffingtonpost.com blogger Arianna Huffington called White House correspondents "real journalists who have lost their way." They have sacrificed their principles and self-censor themselves in an attempt to maintain their access to top White House officials, she said. "I think the problem is access, access, access."

Michael Massing, the author of two devastating critiques of the press coverage in the run-up to war in the New York Review of Books ( here and here ), argued that White House reporters put too much effort into cultivating high-level sources or "trying to get [press secretary Scott] McClellan to give them a tidbit." Instead, they should work mid-level federal officials who might actually tell them something of value.

Former Clinton press secretary Mike McCurry said White House correspondents "are really good journalists, probably the best on the face of the planet." But the White House briefing room is just not the place to be if you're looking for news," he said.

Slate's John Dickerson, formerly of Time, called the briefings "useless" and said that to report on the White House, "you have to go around it."

But editors love tidbits so much that White House reporters are loath to tick off the people who dole them out, Dickerson said. Ask the wrong question at a press conference and top advisers stop returning your phone calls, he said.

Rising from the audience, Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, scolded the White House press corps for its lack of staying power. As an example, he cited Bush's recent admission that U.S. troops would still be in Iraq in 2009. That should not just have been a one-day story, Wyden argued.

Huffington explained that "the media are generally suffering from attention deficit disorder" -- while by contrast bloggers like her, "can be persistent."

And in his remarks before the panel, Senator Chris Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, suggested that perhaps a better topic for the whole panel would have been: "Are White House correspondents covering a real president?"

Chirp, Chirp

Couric Announces Departure From 'Today' Show

By BILL CARTER
Published: April 5, 2006

Katie Couric, the most successful host in the more than 50-year history of NBC's "Today" show, told her audience of more than 6 million viewers this morning that she will step down from the program and leave NBC when her contract concludes at the end of next month.

Ms. Couric announced formally what has been predicted for several months, that she will jump to CBS, where she will become the first woman ever to lead an evening newscast on her own. CBS confirmed today that Ms. Couric will be anchor and managing editor of "The CBS Evening News With Katie Couric" beginning in September. She will also contribute to the network's venerable newsmagazine program "60 Minutes."

Well, this is another choice I won't have to worry about making.

CNN Sinks Even Lower

I listen to Diane Rehm in the morning on NPR and to CNN in the afternoon, so, before today I had never seen Soledad O'Brian. My God, I didn't think CNN could do much worse than Kyra Phillips. I was so wrong....

Massachussetts Miracle?

Massachusetts Sets Health Plan for Nearly All
By PAM BELLUCK

BOSTON, April 4 — Massachusetts is poised to become the first state to provide nearly universal health care coverage with a bill passed overwhelmingly by the legislature Tuesday that Gov. Mitt Romney says he will sign.

The bill does what health experts say no other state has been able to do: provide a mechanism for all of its citizens to obtain health insurance. It accomplishes that in a way that experts say combines methods and proposals from across the political spectrum, apportioning the cost among businesses, individuals and the government.

"This is probably about as close as you can get to universal," said Paul B. Ginsburg, president of the nonpartisan Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington. "It's definitely going to be inspiring to other states about how there was this compromise. They found a way to get to a major expansion of coverage that people could agree on. For a conservative Republican, this is individual responsibility. For a Democrat, this is government helping those that need help."

The bill, the product of months of wrangling between legislators and the governor, requires all Massachusetts residents to obtain health coverage by July 1, 2007.

Individuals who can afford private insurance will be penalized on their state income taxes if they do not purchase it. Government subsidies to private insurance plans will allow more of the working poor to buy insurance and will expand the number of children who are eligible for free coverage. Businesses with more than 10 workers that do not provide insurance will be assessed up to $295 per employee per year.

All told, the plan is expected to cover 515,000 uninsured people within three years, about 95 percent of the state's uninsured population, legislators said, leaving less than 1 percent of the population unprotected.

"It is not a typical Massachusetts-Taxachusetts, oh-just-crazy-liberal plan," said Stuart H. Altman, a professor of health policy at Brandeis University. "It isn't that at all. It is a pretty moderate approach, and that's what's impressive about it. It tried to borrow and blend a lot of different pieces."
....
The Massachusetts bill creates a sliding scale of affordability ranging from people who can afford insurance outright to those who cannot afford it at all. About 215,000 people will be covered by allowing individuals and businesses with 50 or fewer employees to buy insurance with pretax dollars, and by giving insurance companies incentives to offer stripped-down plans at lower cost. Lower-cost basic plans will be available to people ages 19 to 26.

Subsidies for other private plans will be available for people with incomes at or below 300 percent of the poverty level. Children in those families will be eligible for free coverage through Medicaid, an expansion of the current system.

Belluck's article doesn't provide many specifics, but from what I can tell, people like me who can't afford anything for insurance will be required to buy it anyway or face penalties at tax time. If this is a giant leap forward, I'm failing to see it.

Update: Cervantes at the excellent public health blog Staying Alive has a quick dissection of the Mass. bill (he lives in the state) and notices the following:

* Employers who do not provide health insurance to their workers will be assessed a "fee" of $295/year. This is okay with the Governor because it's not a "tax." Whatever.

* Doctors and physicians get $45 million a year in rate hikes from Medicaid.
* The state will set up an insurance program called Commonwealth Health Care Insurance, that will offer subsidized premiums on a sliding scale for people up to 300% of the federal poverty level. Exactly what the premium and the amount of the subsidies will be apparently remains to be determined by the available funds.
* Everybody else who does not have insurance will be required to purchase it on the open market, so long as an "affordable" plan is available. What constitutes "affordable" will be determined by regulators. People who don't comply will lose their personal income tax exemption and be charged 1/2 the price of the "affordable" product. (What happens when they are hit by a bus is unclear.)
* Based on the assumption that there will be much less need for funds from the so-called "Uncompensated Care Pool," it will be drained to pay for the other stuff.

There are various other goodies in there -- removal of enrollment caps on Medicaid products, increased funding for public health programs, a requirement that hospitals collect data by race and ethnicity and address disparities. One item that some people think is a goodie but is more dubious in my view is a requirement that hospitals post "quality" data on the web. This is supposed to encourage consumers to shop around for the best "quality" care.

Okay, this is supposed to result in maybe 95% of citizens of the People's Republic having health insurance by 2008 or 2009 or some such date. Here are some reservations, problems, and questions to which I need answers:

* The employer tax is the most regressive possible kind of tax. It's a tax on jobs, which is even worse than a payroll tax. (It costs the same for a minimum wage worker as it does for an investment banker.) That only comes out of one place -- wages.
* Once the "affordable" product is out there, what's to stop employers from dropping health insurance for their employees? $295/year is still a lot cheaper than paying for insurance.
* How much will poor people have to pay for the Commonwealth Health Care product? Will they be able to afford it, or will it come out of rent and groceries? What will the benefits be? Evidently it can't have a deductible, but can it have co-pays?

Democracy Now

WaPo's Peter Baker performs brave acts of stenography.

Democracy In Iraq Not A Priority in U.S. Budget

By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 5, 2006; A01

While President Bush vows to transform Iraq into a beacon of democracy in the Middle East, his administration has been scaling back funding for the main organizations trying to carry out his vision by building democratic institutions such as political parties and civil society groups.

The administration has included limited new money for traditional democracy promotion in budget requests to Congress. Some organizations face funding cutoffs this month, while others struggle to stretch resources through the summer. The shortfall threatens projects that teach Iraqis how to create and sustain political parties, think tanks, human rights groups, independent media outlets, trade unions and other elements of democratic society.

The shift in funding priorities comes as security costs are eating up an enormous share of U.S. funds for Iraq and the administration has already ratcheted back ambitions for reconstructing the country's battered infrastructure. While acknowledging that they are investing less in party-building and other such activities, administration officials argue that bringing more order and helping Iraqis run effective ministries contribute to democracy as well.

Jennifer Windsor, executive director of Freedom House, an advocacy group that hosted a Bush speech last week, called the situation "a travesty" and said she is "appalled" that more is not being done. "This is the time to show that democracy promotion is more than holding an election. If the U.S. can't see fit to fund follow-up democracy promotion at this time," then it is making a mistake, she said.

"The commitment to what the president of the United States will say every single day of the week is his number one priority in Iraq, when it's translated into action, looks very tiny," said Les Campbell, who runs programs in the Middle East for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, known as NDI.

NDI and its sister, the International Republican Institute (IRI), will see their grants from the U.S. Agency for International Development dry up at the end of this month, according to a government document, leaving them only special funds earmarked by Congress last year. Similarly, the U.S. Institute of Peace has had its funding for Iraq democracy promotion cut by 60 percent. And the National Endowment for Democracy expects to run out of money for Iraqi programs by September.

"Money keeps getting transferred away to security training. Democracy's one of the things that's been transferred," said Thomas Carothers of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's project on democracy and the rule of law. "Without that, all the other stuff looks like just background work."

Among the projects facing closure is the Iraq Civil Society and Media Program, funded by USAID and run by America's Development Foundation and the International Research & Exchanges Board. The program has established four civil society resource centers around the country, conducted hundreds of workshops and forums, and trained thousands of government officials in transparency and accountability. It also helped Iraqis set up the National Iraqi News Agency, the first independent news agency in the Arab world.

The program was supposed to run at least through June 2007 but without $15 million more, it will have to close this summer.

Officials at the White House, the State Department, the Office of Management and Budget and USAID were contacted for comment in recent days, but none would speak on the record. In response to a request for comment, USAID sent promotional documents hailing past accomplishments in Iraq, such as sponsoring town hall meetings, training election monitors, and distributing pamphlets, posters and publications explaining voting and the new constitution.

Baker doesn't really tell us what "democracy promotion" programs look like, nor whether or not they work. I have mixed feelings about all of this as I have doubts that you can create democracy through propaganda, which is what this appears to be.

Flu Wiki Again

We are back up once more in a rudimentary fashion. The Forum is "read only" for the time being. Pogge has labored mightily to make this happen. Be patient. We'll be coming back in pieces as pogge tests things in the new environment. You should be very glad that he is methodical.

Hurricane Forecast

Expert: 64 Percent Chance Of Major East Coast Storm Strike

POSTED: 8:10 am EDT April 4, 2006
UPDATED: 6:24 pm EDT April 4, 2006

The chance of a major hurricane strike this year along the east coast of the United States is significantly higher than an average season, according to the nation's most prominent hurricane forecaster.

"(Dr. William Gray) is saying that the chance of a major hurricane strike along the east coast is at 64 percent this year," Local 6 meteorologist Larry Mowry said. "An average season calls for only a 31 percent chance of a strike in this area. So, he has upped the chance of a major hurricane hitting the east coast."

"(Dr. William Gray) is saying that the chance of a major hurricane strike along the East Coast is at 64 percent this year," Local 6 meteorologist Larry Mowry said. "An average season calls for only a 31 percent chance of a strike in this area. So, he has upped the chance of a major hurricane hitting the East Coast."

"He said there is a chance of a major hurricane striking the Gulf Coast," Mowry said. "That percentage chance is at 47 percent."

Concerning the amount of hurricanes, Gray stuck with projections from his December 2005 forecast.

"He is calling for 17 tropical storms and in an average season we get 10," Mowry said. "He is calling for nine hurricanes and the average is six. And five major hurricanes is what he is calling for and the average is just over two."

Last year, the Atlantic Basin had a record 27 tropical storms -- so many that the National Hurricane Center had to turn to the Greek alphabet for names.

As an east coast resident who went through Isabel three years ago, this is serious news. I'm going to assemble a bug out bag to keep in the car if it looks like evacuation is the best thing.

Flu Wiki Update

As you read this, pogge is hard at work getting the site live again. This has been an extraordinarily difficult effort requiring him to crash his regular business 25/7 for the last eight days to get us live again. We've bought a dedicated server at GoDaddy, which should give us sufficient bandwidth for the growth in traffic we've experienced in the last month. The issue on the last server was that it was shared space and that it was on the Apache operating system. PmWiki executes a PHP script that "hangs up" in the Apache environment causing bandwidth to expand to 110% of capacity and takes the server down. We'll be back in a Windows 2003 environment. Pogge expects us to be back live late tonight or sometime tomorrow. Both of us are short of sleep for the last week. We may be without the Forum, at least to begin with, while we feel out our new space.

Peace Now!

Look what I found:

Mail in your tax returns with a "Bring 'Em Home Now!" stamp
Submitted by JonathanSchwarz on Tue, 2006-04-04 15:10. Activism

Get "Bring 'em home now" stamps here

Giving voice to the majority of Americans who now support the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, "Bring Them Home Now!" has created a $.39 cent postage stamp (approved & licensed by the US Postal Service!).

The stamp features the symbol of the growing "Bring 'Em Home Now!" movement – a yellow ribbon transposed over a peace sign – providing millions of Americans with a unique way to show their support for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

Take the pledge to send in your tax returns with the "Bring 'Em Home Now!" stamp and let the government (and everyone else) know where you stand -- and at the same time donate funds to the peace movement.

All proceeds from the sale of the stamps (as well as t-shirts, buttons & stickers featuring the popular "Bring 'Em Home Now!" designs) benefit citizen groups working hard to end the war and bring our troops safely home, including Military Families Speak Out , Gold Star Families for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Veterans for Peace.

By participating, you proudly say: "I support the troops. Let's bring them home now! And let's take care of them when they get here."

Rummy Dreams

Afghanistan: The night fairies

By Sarah Chayes
March/April 2006 pp. 17-19 (vol. 62, no. 02) © 2006 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Parliamentary elections last fall, hailed as free and fair--or at least as free and fair as anyone could expect in a place like Afghanistan--have allowed many Western observers to regard the nation-building process here as a success. In Kandahar, those elections were considered a joke--even by the people who won. Less than a quarter of the population voted, and, as most locals predicted, the counting process functioned like a bazaar with plenty of extra zeros for sale.

In reality, the four years since the Taliban's demise have been characterized by a steady erosion of security in distinct phases. The most recent phase, signaled by the rebuffs I received from the farmers, may represent a point of no return. These rebuffs are the consequence of a highly effective intimidation campaign that has been carried out in tightening circles around Kandahar by, for lack of a better term, resurgent Taliban. Handbills appear in village mosques threatening anyone who dares collaborate with foreigners or the Afghan government. Homes receive armed visitors, demanding provisions or other assistance. One of my farmer friends, afraid even to pronounce their name, refers to them as "fairies who come at night."

A word about fear. Afghans, legendary for their tenacity in battle, have had their courage shattered by the gruesome bloodletting of recent decades. The odds were stacked so heavily against them, the weapons so mismatched, the perpetrators--Afghan and foreign alike--so insensitive to the strictures of honorable conflict, that courage became irrelevant. Afghans are now internally injured. They constitute an entire society suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. And so, it does not take much to intimidate them.

A scattering of menacing handbills, some judiciously executed murders--outrageous enough in the choice of victims or venues, such as the night watchman who was hanged on the grounds of the middle school he protected just east of Kandahar--suffice to scare ordinary Afghans. They no longer have the psychological resources to take risks. And so, the arduous task of rebuilding one of the most isolated, war-shattered, and strategic countries in the world is now complicated not just by the danger to those delivering the aid, but also because the beneficiaries are growing afraid to be seen receiving the help.

The Afghan government's response to these developments has been characteristically weak. Despite a change in governors in Kandahar, provincial officials and security forces continue to act as predators, amassing money and power, treating inhabitants like dirt rather than serving and protecting them. What villagers here need is a reliable police force that knows the ways of the countryside, patrols regularly, treats people with respect, and protects them. "Community policing" is the American term for it. Instead, the Afghan security forces have adopted a war-fighting mentality from their American mentors and sally forth on occasional raids, the soldiers sporting dark glasses and hostile attitudes. Then they return to town, leaving the people alone to deal with the consequences, at the hands of the "fairies who come at night."

U.S. officials are practically ignorant of this silent advance of fear. And their response to the exposed tip of the iceberg--open violence--has been misguided. Despite tough proclamations and battles against so-called insurgents in isolated valleys, U.S. military and civilian officials remain obsessed with "Al Qaeda" and any possible manifestations of an Osama bin Laden-style, ideological confrontation. This concern acts as a set of blinkers, blinding Americans to the real problems in Afghanistan and vastly contributing to the Afghans' disillusionment.

The fact is, except in a training capacity, Al Qaeda hardly has any presence here. This is logical: Why would Al Qaeda send Arab or Chechen operatives to notoriously chauvinistic southern Afghanistan, which hated the domineering Arabs when they were guests of the Taliban, and where foreigners stick out like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? For ideological combat against the West, Iraq is a far more convenient and penetrable battleground, which is one reason why countless more Americans die there than in Afghanistan.

Another fine mess you've gotten us into, Rummy.

1001 Nights

Once Upon a Time In Baghdad . . .

By Eugene Robinson
Tuesday, April 4, 2006; Page A23

"If only . . . " used to be nothing more than the wish of a fairy tale protagonist who was out of options, as in "If only a handsome prince would arrive and save the day," or "If only a brave huntsman would happen by and perform some Abu Ghraib-style interrogation on this big, bad wolf that just ate Grandma." Now, thanks to George W. Bush and his court of wizards, "if only . . . " is also a subtle yet comprehensive strategy for war-fighting, insurgency-quashing, nation-building and all the other urgent business they've bungled in Iraq.

Condoleezza Rice made a surprise trip to Baghdad over the weekend to advance the Fairy Tale Doctrine, pressuring Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari to stop all the maneuvering and go ahead and form a government, preferably one that doesn't make it a crime to be Sunni Muslim. You see, if only the Iraqis can put together a government, everything will be just fine.

Okay, she didn't quite say that all would be sweetness and light. But by jetting to Baghdad without telling anybody in advance, taking along British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and freezing al-Jafari with her most intimidating Ice Queen faux-smile, she clearly reinforced the administration's view that cobbling together a new government is the next magic bullet that is going to rescue the Iraq adventure from an utter debacle.

The Bush administration would like to see a government of "national unity," as if such a thing existed in today's Iraq. Perhaps in the fanciful Baghdad of the Arabian Nights there's a genie who can cross his arms, blink his eyes and conjure a gentle breeze that spreads harmony across the land. If they find him, they should make him prime minister.

Everything the Bushies do is a fairy tale, from Iraq to tax cuts. But where Robinson sees self-delusion, I see neo-con calculation. Not that they are any good at it, but there is a malificent will behind it all.

Rain on the Roof

I've missed more than a week of regular sleep and I'm not a rational animal. I know that, and I'm going to take this tattered carcass out of the way of the IT guys still beavering away on the Flu Wiki problems. At this point, I'm just in the way.

Flu Wikie will return, we have problems to fix, and I ain't going to resolve them tonght. I'm so tired that my eyelashes are a burden, this needs to go to bed.

Delay no more

Tom DeLay to step down

By TJ Aulds
The Daily News

Published April 3, 2006

Under constant fire from Democrats, indicted on state charges and embroiled in a federal investigation, Tom DeLay said Monday he would retire from the U.S. House of Representatives and move to the Washington, D.C., area, abandoning the office he has held since 1984.

In exclusive interviews Monday with The Galveston County Daily News and Time magazine, the 11-term Republican congressman from Sugar Land said his decision was best for his district and based on troubling internal polling numbers.

“It is obvious that this district is very polarized,” said DeLay, whose district includes part of Galveston County.

“It was obvious to me that the 22nd District deserved more than an election that was turning into a referendum on me rather than what was important to the district.”

DeLay said he and his staff scrutinized internal polls in December and again after the March GOP primary and didn’t like what they saw.

Those polls showed him beating Democrat Nick Lampson in the general election but in a race that would be too close for comfort, DeLay said.

“Luckily there were more people that loved me than hated me,” said DeLay. “Even though I thought I could win, it was a little too risky.”

DeLay has spent the better part of two years battling ethics complaints, and he was forced to abandon his job as majority leader while facing a state indictment on charges that he improperly funneled corporate donations to Republican candidates for the state Legislature.

He has also been dogged by questions about his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and former staffer members have been swept up in an ever-expanding federal investigation into lobbying corruption.

DeLay maintains he has done nothing illegal nor violated any U.S. House rules. He claims the money laundering charges he faces in Travis County are political retribution.

Very interesting... hoisted on his own petard so to speak. This reporting is just pathetic. Instead of mentioning that Delay's closest advisors have been implicated in a number of scandals, the whole tone of the article is fawning about what a great guy he was and how evil the opposition is.

No wonder people are confused into thinking this is a Christian man... and I wonder if that decision of his didn't happen the same day this event took place. Or maybe he got a call directly from the BOSS himself... and the VP told him to step down.

Social Sculpture

The Flowering of Civic Art

Neal Peirce / Syndicated columnist
Monday, April 3, 2006

HOUSTON — Imagine a bicycle copiously bedecked with flowers front and rear, ridden by a wiry, smiling 71-year-old, sailing through a city neighborhood.

But the house of Cleveland Turner, celebrated bike-riding "Flower Man" of Houston's hardscrabble but now gentrifying Third Ward, is even more amazing. It's an old bungalow, painted the brightest yellow imaginable — though that's just the first Technicolor impact. The exterior walls, the yard and inside Turner's home are festooned with literally thousands of paintings and bric-a-brac, animal figures, dolls, rocking horses, discarded musical instruments. Not to mention a luxuriance of flowers.

How did it all happen? "I came off Skid Row," explains Turner. "I was a wino, hooked on Thunderbird. I wouldn't beg, but I spent 17 years eating out of dumpsters, sleeping under bridges. Finally I got so sick I couldn't drink any more. A white woman found me, sent me to a hospital. I prayed good I could stay sober. That was in 1983. I haven't had a drink since."

The day before the hospital released him, Turner had a vision in a dream. "It was so pretty, all these colors coming from junk, flying high and about like a whirlwind and coming down pretty. So the next day I said I'll get me a little house and find junk and hang it up."

Turner's juxtaposition of objects, plus personal creations like a colorful gourd tree, form an appealing aesthetic whole. Here's a one-time handyman and window cleaner from rural Mississippi who can't read or write. But his talent and personality (enhanced by a flashing smile of gold capped teeth) draw a constant flow of visitors, including busloads of children.

Glimpses of the Flower Man last week delighted a Ford Foundation-sponsored meeting of more than 100 leaders in community development and philanthropy, hosted by Houston's Project Row Houses — a public art project just across the street from Turner's house. It has declared Turner "an artist in residence."

The meeting's focus was on how the arts and culture can strengthen civic life and ameliorate tensions in so-called "shifting sands" communities — lower-income neighborhoods in the path of middle-class resettlement, or those receiving large numbers of immigrants.

The community-development movement born in the civil-rights era of the 1960s has focused in many places very successfully on affordable housing, the Ford Foundation's Miguel Garcia noted. But in today's "shifting sands" era, he suggested, the time is ripe to use unconventional tools such as the arts to open residents' personal horizons and create new possibilities for dialogue when people of new classes move in.

Project Row Houses, a local nonprofit, proves the potential. In 1993, Rick Lowe, an African-American artist, discovered the site of 22 old-style Southern "shotgun" houses he found architecturally fascinating for their rhythm of fixed roofs. But he also found them spiritually and socially significant because they'd been constructed in times when the neighborhood had all classes of black residents, visits from the likes of Booker T. Washington and Count Basie, and music that drew jealous white Houstonians to listen outside the windows of the fabled Eldorado Ballroom.

Today, Project Row Houses has expanded from its original block to five more (with an eye on 35). It attracts artist exhibits from across America to its shotgun-house exhibit buildings. There's big emphasis on public art, greenspace, historic markers and artist live/studio space. A program mentors young people after school; 60 have received full college scholarships.

Lowe began his own career with painting and sculpture; now he talks of "social sculpture" services to fortify more low-income neighborhoods through art and culture.

Blessed are the artists for they inspire us all to be children of God.

April Showers

The storms are approaching severe limits, which means that I can't count on Dominion Power for the next little while. If the power goes out, I lose the cable modem. Silence from me probably means a power outage.

CNN's Regional Accent

Man, I think I need to take a break from political blogging, or else change my inputs. It took me a good hour this afternoon before I realized that Wolf Blitzer sounds like a barking seal. When Blitzer starts sounding normal, something needs to be fixed.

Dark Moments in SCOTUS

Supreme Court Refuses to Review Padilla Case

By Fred Barbash
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 3, 2006

A divided Supreme Court handed the Bush administration a significant victory today when it decided not to review, for now, the federal government's powers to detain U.S. citizens as enemy combatants.

The court, with three dissenters, acted in the case of Jose Padilla, who was held for more than three years in a military brig as an alleged "dirty bomber" after he was seized by authorities in Chicago.

Because the government recently transferred Padilla to a regular prison and charged him with conventional crimes, the detention issue is now "hypothetical," Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote, taking the unusual step of explaining the court's reasons for avoiding the matter.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in dissent, said the case was of "profound importance" to the nation and should have been resolved a long time ago.

......

Kennedy, joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and John Paul Stevens, conceded that the case raises "fundamental issues respecting the separation of powers" between the courts and the executive branch.

He also said that Padilla properly "has a continuing concern that his status might be altered again," considering that he has already been held for four years in two different guises.

But "that concern . . . can be addressed if the necessity arises," Kennedy said. "The Government's mootness argument is based on the premise that Padilla, how having been charged with crimes and released from military custody, has received the principal relief he sought," Kennedy wrote.

"Even if the Court were to rule in Padilla's favor," Kennedy went on, "his present custody status would be unaffected. Padilla is scheduled to be tried on criminal charges. Any consideration of what rights he might be able to assert if he were returned to military custody would be hypothetical, and to no effect, at this stage of the proceedings."

Welcome to the end around habeas corpus offered by the Bush Administration... we can keep you in jail without a trial as long as we want so long as we change your status and make lip service to the Constitution.

Everyone involved with the majority opinion should be ashamed of themselves and be prepared for an international backlash against a nation that once stood for human rights and now has a Supreme Court that Nixon dreamed of.

As always, a more detailed analysis can be found at the SCOTUS blog .

Flu Wiki News

Let's just say this was not the most restful of weekend! The problems are on the server side, and the pros have been brought in to address the issue. We will be moving to a more robust server environment later this afternoon and Flu Wiki should rise from the ashes of an inadequate server by early this evening. Let's just say I now know a whole lot more about websites, the Internet and servers than I ever wanted to learn. I'm going to owe pogge a whole lot more than a beer when this is over with.

Health Care Debacle

This Bushie is so full of shit that it is hard to know where to start:

The Health of a Nation

By ALLAN B. HUBBARD
Published: April 3, 2006

Washington

IN the past five years, private health insurance premiums have risen 73 percent. Some businesses have responded by dropping healthcare coverage, leaving employees uninsured. Other employers pass the costs on to workers, both by raising co-payments and premiums and by denying workers the wage increases they need to afford these higher prices.

What is driving this unsustainable run-up in health insurance costs, and how can we make things better?

Health care is expensive because the vast majority of Americans consume it as if it were free. Health insurance policies with low deductibles insulate people from the cost of the medical care they use — so much so that they often do not even ask for prices. And people don't recognize the high premium costs of this low-deductible insurance because premiums are paid by employers. Finally, the tax code subsidizes these expensive, employer-purchased insurance policies.

To control health care costs, we must give consumers an incentive to spend money wisely. We can do this by encouraging the purchase of high-deductible policies and providing the same tax benefits for out-of-pocket health spending that employer-provided insurance enjoys. The overall cost to the consumer will be no greater than it is now and, in most cases, significantly lower. And no consumer is better than the American consumer at driving prices down and quality up.

The president has proposed a package of reforms that will spur such changes by building on the success of consumer-directed Health Savings Accounts and the insurance policies that go with them. Health Savings Accounts allow people to save money tax-free to pay their out-of-pocket health costs, as long as they have high-deductible health policies to cover catastrophic expenses. Enrollment in these accounts has grown rapidly since their introduction in 2003, with more than three million people now contributing to them.

The president's reforms would make these plans even more attractive by providing payroll tax relief to those who hold Health Savings Accounts (currently the accounts are only exempt from income taxes); giving employers more incentive to offer and contribute to the accounts; and making it easier for consumers to get the information they need to make good decisions about the health care they purchase.

The accounts aren't just good for the health care system — they're a good deal for American families. Catastrophic policies have affordable premiums that bring health insurance into reach for lower-income families. And the low premiums compensate for most, if not all, of the policies' higher deductibles.

Consider the following two real policies offered by the same insurer in Columbus, Ohio, for a healthy family of four earning $50,000 a year. A Health Savings Account policy has a premium of $3,750, a deductible of $3,000, and co-insurance of 20 percent up to a maximum of $5,000. Meanwhile, a traditional Preferred Provider Organization policy has a premium of $5,800, a deductible of $1,000, and 10 percent co-insurance up to a maximum of $2,000.

If the family's medical bills totaled $1,000, they would save $1,900 by choosing the Health Savings Account policy. Under the president's policy proposals, the savings would jump to $3,200. Even if something catastrophic confronted the family with $10,000 in medical bills (fewer than 20 percent of families face costs this high in a year), under the current law, the family would pay only $400 more by choosing the Health Savings Account rather than the P.P.O. Under the president's proposals, they'd save $1,600. That's why 40 percent of these Health Savings Account-based policies are purchased by families with incomes lower than $50,000.

Health insurance is through the roof because the insurance companies play the market with their overages. When they lose money on equities, they jack up premiums, just like they do with medical malpractice. Hubbard's solution to the fact that the US has the highest per person health care cost of any first world nation? Jack up deductibles. I don't know anyone who can afford an additional $3,000/year in deductible.

What this is about is punishing the sick. The idea that Americans are too quick to use healthcare is laughable. We are way down the list of industrial nations in life expectency and our infant mortality is the highest. As with most of what passes for "social policy" with the Right, this isn't about solving problems. It's about apportioning blame and punishment. Blame the victim when you don't know what else to do.

The Other Side of the Story

U.S. Plan to Build Iraq Clinics Falters
Contractor Will Try to Finish 20 of 142 Sites

By Ellen Knickmeyer
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, April 3, 2006; A01

BAGHDAD -- A reconstruction contract for the building of 142 primary health centers across Iraq is running out of money, after two years and roughly $200 million, with no more than 20 clinics now expected to be completed, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says.

The contract, awarded to U.S. construction giant Parsons Inc. in the flush, early days of reconstruction in Iraq, was expected to lay the foundation of a modern health care system for the country, putting quality medical care within reach of all Iraqis.

Parsons, according to the Corps, will walk away from more than 120 clinics that on average are two-thirds finished. Auditors say the project serves as a warning for other U.S. reconstruction efforts due to be completed this year.

Brig. Gen. William McCoy, the Army Corps commander overseeing reconstruction in Iraq, said he still hoped to complete all 142 clinics as promised and was seeking emergency funds from the U.S. military and foreign donors. "I'm fairly confident," McCoy said.

Coming with little public warning, the 86 percent shortfall of completions dismayed the World Health Organization's representative for Iraq. "That's not good. That's shocking," Naeema al-Gasseer said by telephone from Cairo. "We're not sending the right message here. That's affecting people's expectations and people's trust, I must say."

By the end of 2006, the $18.4 billion that Washington has allocated for Iraq's reconstruction runs out. All remaining projects in the U.S. reconstruction program, including electricity, water, sewer, health care and the justice system, are due for completion. As a result, the next nine months are crunchtime for the easy-term contracts that were awarded to American contractors early on, before surging violence drove up security costs and idled workers.

Stuart Bowen, the top U.S. auditor for reconstruction, warned in a telephone interview from Washington that other reconstruction efforts may fall short like that of Parsons. "I've been consumed for a year with the fear we would run out of money to finish projects," said Bowen, the inspector general for reconstruction in Iraq.

The reconstruction campaign in Iraq is the largest such American undertaking since World War II. The rebuilding efforts have remained a point of pride for American troops and leaders as they struggle with an insurgency and now Shiite Muslim militias and escalating sectarian conflict.

The Corps of Engineers says the campaign so far has renovated or built 3,000 schools, upgraded 13 hospitals and created hundreds of border forts and police stations. Major projects this summer, the Corps says, should noticeably improve electricity and other basic services, which have fallen below prewar levels despite the billions of dollars that the United States already has expended toward reconstruction here.

Violence for which the United States failed to plan has consumed up to half the $18.4 billion through higher costs to guard project sites and workers and through direct shifts of billions of dollars to build Iraq's police and military.

In January, Bowen's office calculated the American reconstruction effort would be able to finish only 300 of 425 promised electricity projects and 49 of 136 water and sanitation projects.

U.S. authorities say they made a special effort to preserve the more than $700 million of work for Iraq's health care system, which had fallen into decay after two decades of war and international sanctions.

Doctors in Baghdad's hospitals still cite dirty water as one of the major killers of infants. The city's hospitals place medically troubled newborns two to an incubator, when incubators work at all.

This is Bush's fabled "good news."

Shock of the New

The NYTimes rolls out its new web interface today and I'm still in shock. It is deliberately "old fashioned." Let me spend a couple of days getting used to this.

Flu News

The Internets are a complicated place. If your only exposure is through the blogs, you might not know that. As the publisher of Flu Wiki, I've been through two months of hell with server issues. I've sweated through my clothes twice today, and this while seated in front of my computer. Yeah, menopause is a bitch, but server issues are even worse. I can't even imagine how much worse it has been for pogge, the site administrator. Neither of us have had much sleep in the last week, and the last two months have sucked pretty much, too. Yes, we are both up really late and still trying to get it fixed with a server admin who is in Hawaii. We're both in the Eastern time zone and haven't had a lot of sleep in the last week while we tried to get the issues resolved. I'm not in a good mood. Pogge is holding up better. He usually does.

At any rate, I'm not going to be around much until this is fixed. Co-bloggers, feel free to chime in. This little bassoonist is done for the day. I have to go learn how to talk to these tech people and I'm more than a step behind them.

And then my ISP's mail servers went down for 12 hours. If you've written and not gotten an answer, use my yahoo address
[email protected]
until I'm sure they have the problem fixed.

Springing Up

This is another spring recipe for me. Germans and Swiss cooks routinely prepare spaetzle as a side dish for braised meat dishes that are presented with a lot of sauce, like sauerbraten. I like this with roasted or broiled meats like lamp chops, roast pork or veal piccata.

A classic spaetzle maker resembles a food mill fitted with a large-holed plate, but other utensils with 1/4-inch diameter holes will work too. I routinely use a large slotted spoon and push the batter out the holes.

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 large eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
8 teaspoons minced assorted fresh herbs (such as parsley, thyme, rosemary, and chives), divided

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, divided
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
8 ounces mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
3/4 cup (or more) low-salt chicken broth

Blend flour, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in large bowl. Whisk in eggs and milk, forming soft batter. Mix in half of herbs.

Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Butter large bowl. Working with 1/3 cup batter at a time and using rubber spatula, press batter directly into boiling water through 1/4-inch holes on coarse grater, strainer, or wide ladle. Stir spaetzle to separate and boil 2 minutes. Using fine sieve, scoop spaetzle from pot, drain well, and transfer to buttered bowl. (Can be prepared 3 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

Melt 2 tablespoons butter with 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms; sauté until beginning to soften, about 4 minutes. Add onion; sauté until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon oil, and spaetzle. Sauté until spaetzle begin to brown, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Add 3/4 cup broth. Simmer until broth is absorbed, adding more broth if dry. Mix in remaining herbs; season with salt and pepper.

Asparagus Gratin

I'm nuts about fresh asparagus, it's one of my favorite things about spring. I can eat it as a main course, particularly when it is prepared this way as a gratin. This is a substantial dish as a side, it makes a great vegetarian entree paired with a legume soup like lentil or navy been. Finish with freshly sliced, peeled orange slices topped with flakes of coconut.

2 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut diagonally into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots (about 2 large)
4 slices firm white sandwich bread, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1/4 cup pine nuts (1 1/4 oz)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 oz finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 cup)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

Butter a 2- to 2 1/2-quart shallow ceramic flameproof baking dish.

Rinse the asparagus and microwave in the rinse water which clings to it in a large, covered cassarole until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels, then transfer to baking dish and keep warm, tightly covered with foil.

Meanwhile, heat oil and butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over high heat until foam subsides, then cook shallots, stirring occasionally, until pale golden, about 3 minutes. Add bread and pine nuts and cook, stirring, until browned in spots, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and add pepper, 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, and 1/4 teaspoon salt, tossing to combine.

Preheat broiler.

Toss warm asparagus with mascarpone, remaining 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt until combined well.

Sprinkle bread-crumb mixture evenly over asparagus. Broil 5 to 7 inches from heat until topping is golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes.

As with so many other things, I like Pepperidge Farm's sturdy white sandwich loaf for this and other kinds of gratins and stratas. For a commercial bread, it is one of the best and most consistently constructed if you don't have fresh home made bread of your own. If you have a staling loaf of bakery bread, this is a great way to use up the left overs. Panko will also work nicely.

Makes 6 side-dish servings.

Squash Star

It's been the wiki day from hell at Flu Wiki. We're having trouble keeping the site up and I've been tied up with phone and email all day. It's time for a real change of pace.

I use spaghetti squash a lot to replace pasta and save carbs and calories. This tactic turns shrimp scampi into a healthy dish.

Anaheim Shrimp Scampi

Serves 4

Scampi Butter, recipe follows
1 pound raw peeled and deveined 16 to 20 count shrimp, with tail on (recommended: tiger prawns)
1/4 cup white wine
2 ounces Asiago cheese, coarsely grated
1 avocado, large diced
Spaghetti Squash, recipe follows
Fresh arugula, for garnish

Place 2/3 of the scampi butter in a large saute pan over high heat and melt. Add in shrimp and cook for about 2 minutes, moving shrimp around in the pan. Sizzle with the white wine and cook until shrimp are opaque, only about another 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining scampi butter, Asiago cheese, and avocado chunks. Serve over hot spaghetti squash and garnish with fresh arugula.

Scampi Butter:
1/4 pound unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup minced red onion
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley leaves
3 cloves of garlic finely minced
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Freshly ground white pepper to taste
Dash Worcestershire sauce
1 lemon, juiced

In a bowl with a wire whisk, mix together all ingredients until well blended.

Spaghetti Squash:
1 medium spaghetti squash (about 3 pounds)

Slice squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon as you would a pumpkin. Then completely submerge both halves in boiling water and cook for about 25 minutes, or until the inside is tender to a fork and pulls apart in strands. (It is better to undercook if you are not sure). Remove, drain, and cool with cold water or an ice bath to stop the cooking. Then use a fork to scrape the cooked squash out of its skin, and at the same time, fluff and separate the squash into spaghetti-like strands. Discard the skin.

You can reheat the squash strands by dipping with a strainer in boiling water just before serving.

Cook's Note: Spaghetti squash may be used in any recipe that calls for pasta. It is great plain with butter or with marinara sauce, scampi, or even alfredo.

Luck of the Draw

While we are having this bogus "immigration" debate (which isn't going anywhere because cheap, illegal labor is good for big business) it is worth noting that most born here Americans couldn't pass the citizenship exam. This is a reminder that much of life is about luck, including where and to whom you are born.

Speculative Fiction

US and UK forces establish 'enduring bases' in Iraq
Despite talk of withdrawal 'when the job is done', there are signs that coalition troops will be there for the long term
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
Published: 02 April 2006

The Pentagon has revealed that coalition forces are spending millions of dollars establishing at least six "enduring" bases in Iraq - raising the prospect that US and UK forces could be involved in a long-term deployment in the country. It said it assumed British troops would operate one of the bases.

Almost ever since President Bush claimed an end to "major combat operations" in Iraq on 1 May 2003, debate has focused on how quickly troops could be withdrawn. The US and British governments say troops will remain in Iraq "until the job is done". Yet while the withdrawal of a substantial number of troops remains an aim, it has become increasingly clear that the Pentagon and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) are preparing to retain some forces in Iraq for the longer term. The US currently has around 130,000 troops in Iraq; Britain has 8,000.

Major Joseph Breasseale, a senior spokesman for the coalition forces' headquarters in Iraq, told The Independent on Sunday: "The current plan is to reduce the coalition footprint into six consolidation bases - four of which are US. As we move in that direction, some other bases will have to grow to facilitate the closure [or] transfer of smaller bases."

He added: "Right now, I don't have any information that tells me which nationality will comprise the remaining two bases, though my assumption is that at least one will be run by the Brits." An MoD spokesperson said British forces were currently operating out of eight bases in southern Iraq, with a small contingent based in Baghdad, and that "discussions with coalition forces relating to future basing are still at a very early stage. Nothing has been agreed."

The official added: "We have no intention of remaining, or indeed retaining bases in Iraq long-term. We will leave Iraq as soon as the democratically elected Iraqi government is confident that its security forces have the capability and capacity to counter terrorism and to preserve the security of democracy there."

A senior military source recently told the IoS that some British troops could be expected to stay in Iraq in a training role for years to come. There would be no British presence in the urban areas, however. The American and British governments say they remain in Iraq at the invitation of the interim Iraqi government, and would leave if asked to do so.

The Pentagon says it has already reduced the number of US bases from 110 a year ago to a current total of around 75. But at the same time it is expanding a number of vast, highly defended bases, some in the desert away from large population areas. More than $280m (£160m) has already been spent on building up Al Asad air base, Balad air base, Camp Taji and Tallil air base, and the Bush administration has this year requested another $175m to enlarge them. These bases, which currently house more than 55,000 troops, have their own bus routes, pizza restaurants and supermarkets.

Adam Price, Plaid Cymru MP for Carmarthen East and a persistent critic of the Iraq war, said it would be "very, very worrying" if British troops were to be involved in a long-term deployment. "Certainly the mood music has all been about the withdrawal of troops," he said. "Now we are just starting to see the glimmers of what may be the real policy."

Some analysts believe the desire to establish a long-term US military presence in Iraq was always one of the reasons behind the 2003 invasion. Joseph Gerson, a historian of American military bases, said: "The Bush administration's intention is to have a long-term military presence in the region ... For a number of years the US has sought to use a number of means to make sure it dominates in the Middle East ... The Bush administration sees Iraq as an unsinkable aircraft carrier for its troops and bases for years to come."

Zoltan Grossman, a geographer at Evergreen State College in Washington, said: "After every US military intervention since 1990 the Pentagon has left behind clusters of new bases in areas where it never before had a foothold. The new string of bases stretch from Kosovo and adjacent Balkan states, to Iraq and other Persian Gulf states, into Afghanistan and other central Asian states ... The only two obstacles to a geographically contiguous US sphere of influence are Iran and Syria."

The US and UK repeatedly say the timetable is dependent upon success in training Iraqi forces. Progress in this area has been slow; in February the Pentagon admitted the only Iraqi battalion judged capable of fighting without US support had been downgraded, requiring it to fight with American troops.

The Pentagon has revealed that coalition forces are spending millions of dollars establishing at least six "enduring" bases in Iraq - raising the prospect that US and UK forces could be involved in a long-term deployment in the country. It said it assumed British troops would operate one of the bases.

Almost ever since President Bush claimed an end to "major combat operations" in Iraq on 1 May 2003, debate has focused on how quickly troops could be withdrawn. The US and British governments say troops will remain in Iraq "until the job is done". Yet while the withdrawal of a substantial number of troops remains an aim, it has become increasingly clear that the Pentagon and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) are preparing to retain some forces in Iraq for the longer term. The US currently has around 130,000 troops in Iraq; Britain has 8,000.

Major Joseph Breasseale, a senior spokesman for the coalition forces' headquarters in Iraq, told The Independent on Sunday: "The current plan is to reduce the coalition footprint into six consolidation bases - four of which are US. As we move in that direction, some other bases will have to grow to facilitate the closure [or] transfer of smaller bases."

He added: "Right now, I don't have any information that tells me which nationality will comprise the remaining two bases, though my assumption is that at least one will be run by the Brits." An MoD spokesperson said British forces were currently operating out of eight bases in southern Iraq, with a small contingent based in Baghdad, and that "discussions with coalition forces relating to future basing are still at a very early stage. Nothing has been agreed."

The official added: "We have no intention of remaining, or indeed retaining bases in Iraq long-term. We will leave Iraq as soon as the democratically elected Iraqi government is confident that its security forces have the capability and capacity to counter terrorism and to preserve the security of democracy there."

A senior military source recently told the IoS that some British troops could be expected to stay in Iraq in a training role for years to come. There would be no British presence in the urban areas, however. The American and British governments say they remain in Iraq at the invitation of the interim Iraqi government, and would leave if asked to do so.

"If asked to do so." Hahahaha. Like that's ever going to happen.

Help Wanted

FEMA Calls, but Top Job Is Tough Sell

By ERIC LIPTON
Published: April 2, 2006

WASHINGTON, April 1 — The calls went out across the nation, as Bush administration officials asked the country's most seasoned disaster response experts to consider the job of a lifetime: FEMA director. But again and again, the response over the past several months was the same: "No thanks."

Unconvinced that the administration is serious about fixing the Federal Emergency Management Agency or that there is enough time actually to get it done before President Bush's second term ends, seven of these candidates for director or another top FEMA job said in interviews that they had pulled themselves out of the running.

"You don't take the fire chief job after someone has burned down the city unless you are going to be able to do it in the right fashion," said Ellis M. Stanley, general manager of emergency planning in Los Angeles, who said he was one of those called.

Now, with the next hurricane season only two months away, the Bush administration has finally come up with a convenient but somewhat embarrassing solution. Mr. Bush, several former and current FEMA officials said, intends to nominate R. David Paulison, a former fire official who has been filling in for the past seven months, to take on the job permanently.

"To a lot of people that would be an insult," said Craig Fugate, the top emergency management official in Florida, who said he also had been interviewed but then withdrew his name. "They have been publicly out looking at how many different names and everyone turned it down and they come back and ask you?"

The list of emergency managers who have spurned requests to be considered for FEMA director or another top post represents a who's who in the small, close-knit field.

Besides Mr. Stanley and Mr. Fugate, they include Richard Andrews, the former homeland security adviser to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California; Ellen M. Gordon, former homeland security advisor in Iowa; Dale W. Shipley of Ohio and Eric Tolbert of North Carolina, two former top FEMA officials who also served as the top emergency managers in their home states; and Bruce P. Baughman, the president of the National Emergency Management Association, as well as the top disaster planning official in Alabama.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has acknowledged the difficulty of finding a permanent replacement for Michael D. Brown, who resigned in September after widespread criticism of his management of the response to Hurricane Katrina, as well as filling other senior posts at the agency and hundreds of lower-level jobs. Today, of the 30 most senior jobs, 11 are filled by officials appointed on an acting basis, including the administrators in charge of such critical functions as operations, disaster recovery and disaster response.

"You've got to be able to attract people," Mr. Chertoff told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last month. "And I will not deny that certainly I think when there is a lot of negative publicity, it doesn't make a lot of people want to migrate."

The search has now gone on so long that Representative Harold Rogers, Republican of Kentucky and chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees the Homeland Department's budget, threatened on Wednesday to hold up action on the budget bill until the top administrative posts at FEMA were filled.

Since we know that Bush doesn't give a damn about disaster recovery, there is no reason on earth why anyone in their right mind would want this job. Who wants to be set up to fail? On the big screen and in color?

Dancing Toward Another War

Beware, Jack, there's steel in her heart

Once more there is talk of WMDs and regime change. Once again Britain is embroiled. But this US Secretary of State is clearly no dove

Mary Riddell
Sunday April 2, 2006
The Observer

Despite her extraordinary rise to power, and her charisma, many people do not warm to Condi. Her velvet hawkishness and adjustable beliefs scare liberals. Leap-frogging white men to top jobs has not endeared her to her own constituency. The African-American film director, Spike Lee, last week urged black people to shun her over the administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina. Others have made similar criticisms. New Orleans drowned, and where was Condi? Buying enough New York shoes to kit out a centipede, and watching Spamalot on Broadway.

The Muslims who banned her from their mosque have every reason to be affronted by her Middle East policy, but if moderate believers cannot show tolerance, what is religion for? The problem in Blackburn, and elsewhere in Britain and the world, was not churlishness, though, but the fact that rage about the past blinds people to the future.

Rice's hecklers rallied on a stop-the-war prospectus. You may - should - weep for the dead. You can call for troops to leave, but you cannot stop the Iraq conflict, any more than you can halt fate or time. The attack was headed for nemesis before the first US missile hit Baghdad, and the only frail hope now is to halt the slide to civil meltdown. Yet the war is always being unfought, in neocon revisionism as on the streets of Blackburn.

That means hardly anyone is looking ahead to the next great threat. Rice flew into Liverpool from Berlin, where she and Straw, along with four other foreign ministers, publicly urged Iran to freeze nuclear enrichment. On the same day, Tehran rejected a 30-day deadline set by the UN to halt its programme.

President Ahmadinejad will not back down, just when science and American failure in Iraq equip him to extend his political and diplomatic power across west Asia. The US, appalled at such a vision, will never let him have the bomb. Logic dictates that Bush, or a successor who may be Dr Rice, has neither the resources nor the folly to embark on another conflict. But US airpower and sea-power is under-stretched, and rationality has never been the hallmark of the war on terror.

On the night Condi began her tour, I sat on a Chatham House panel discussing whether US military action against Iran is hype or a possibility. Hardly anyone in an audience of several hundred thought the threat outlandish. Already the quadrille that preceded the Iraq war is being danced again. Exiles in Washington whisper of a regime ripe for change and, quite wrongly, of a people poised to garland western liberators. The UN moves towards possible sanctions: The threat of WMD hangs in the air.

Once again, Britain is embroiled. Long ago, when Iran was a minor issue, Straw's old best friend, Colin Powell, handed the problem over to Britain, France and Germany. His view was that Europe would fail, and he was right. Powell's successor could be forgiven for thinking, as she negotiated Iranian intransigence and Blackburn puddles, that there are some things her buddy Jack could not organise, even in a brewery.

So now it's over to her. Only the optimistic would detect an inner dove in Condi Rice. The US policy on non-proliferation is riven by hypocrisy, but no one except a fool would be happy if a President who thinks Israel should be wiped off the map were to acquire nuclear weapons. Unless one side blinks, or diplomacy prevails, there are two likely outcomes. Either Iran gets the bomb, or the US strikes first. Of these hideous choices, the second is the greater threat to world stability.

As the stakes rise, Jack Straw has concerns beyond whether Condi will wear her Blackburn Rovers strip with pride. Though they did not seem to notice, the protesters who heckled her have bigger worries too. It's not about getting Dr Rice miraculously to end this war. It's about stopping her embarking on the next one.

Mother Lode: bechamel

Emeril Lagasse likes to call this one of the "mother" sauces. There are three, or five according to other sources, French-inspired sauces upon which nearly everything else in French cuisine is built. Bechamel one of them. Master this and you are one third of the way through Escoffier's "Guide de Cuisine." And most of the way through "The Joy of Cooking,"

None of these sauces are "easy." Each require time and attention, both of which seem to be in short supply in our culture. But if you are willing to pay attention for a short period of time, you will be mastering the art of fine cooking, and that is a fine goal to achieve. Here is your basic bechamel sauce.

* 1/4 cup unsalted butter
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 2 cups milk
* 1 small onion studded with 2 Or 3 cloves, optional
* 1 small bay leaf
* dash dried leaf thyme, crumbled
* salt and white pepper to taste
* nutmeg, to taste

* 1/4 cup unsalted butter
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 2 cups milk
* 1 small onion studded with 2 Or 3 cloves, optional
* 1 small bay leaf
* dash dried leaf thyme, crumbled
* salt and white pepper to taste
* nutmeg, to taste

In a medium heavy saucepan, melt butter over low heat. When butter starts to foam, add the flour all at once, mixing well with a wooden spoon. Cook over low heat 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly to incorporate and cook flour. Remove pan from heat and let stand, up to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, scald milk (heating it until just below boiling point).
Return saucepan with roux to medium-low heat. Add all of the scalded milk at once (to avoid the formation of lumps). Simmer, stirring gently with a wire whisk or wooden spoon. Add studded onion, bay leaf and thyme sprig. Cook, stirring, over low heat, 15 to 20 minutes, until smooth and thickened. Strain sauce through fine-mesh strainer. Add salt, white pepper and nutmeg to taste. Makes about 2 cups.

And that's about enough to get you through almost any recipe which needs a basic bechamel. Next up, we'll tackle the egg sauces, the hollandaise and bernaise which make life worth living. They are a little harder, but with a little attention to detail, we'll have you cooking the stuff that will have your friends asking "um, so what are you cooking this weekend? Have any room at the end of the table? I'll bring the ___________?"

Remind them to sneeze and cough into their elbows and then you can serve them a "petite gastronomie" which won't take you a lot to do. Instructions in the AM, after what the Flu Wikians have been through in the last week, I need sleep and lots of it.

Having a website go down for more than 5 minutes is about the worst disaster a web master can suffer. The last week has been like living through a rolling disaster. Flu Wiki still has issues but is mostly up at http:www.fluwikie.com

See you in the morning. And then we'll make something wonderful with a bechamel sauce.

Melanie

Flu Wiki News

Pogge is now leading an entire team of tech people who reassure me that we should have Flu Wiki back live by late this afternoon. Stay tuned for more news later, I'll update this post as I learn more. Let's just say this has been a very long week.

UPDATE: Flu Wiki is back on a new server. Whew.

Global Warming

It's another gorgeous day in the Mid-Atlantic, but we may get rain later. We need it. At 9AM, I went out for a walk and coffee and immediately wished I was wearing shorts instead of jeans. On the first of April. After a non-winter, this is very, very early to hear the air conditioners spinning in the neighborhood. I don't want to think about what this might mean for this area's characteristically hot, hazy and humid summers.

Perforated Lives

Stitching Together Lives Torn by Shrapnel and Grit

Injured troops are swept up in a lifesaving process unmatched in past wars -- reaching hospitals in minutes and the U.S. in days. But their agony doesn't end on the battlefield.

By David Zucchino, Times Staff Writer
April 2, 2006

Balad, Iraq -- Vincent Worrell lay shivering on a trauma bay. He felt something in his mouth. He sat up and spat fragments of his front teeth into a bedpan. They were mixed with blood and tissue torn from inside his mouth.

He heard someone say: "Significant laceration to the cheek and lip." And then: "Frag under the eye ... frag in the face ... frag in the shoulder ... possible thumb fracture."

A bomb fashioned from two mortar rounds had detonated a few feet behind Worrell, an Army staff sergeant, as he walked on patrol near Tall Afar on the morning of Nov. 6. Now he was inside the Air Force Theater Hospital, a tight web of interlocking tents set up on packed sand 50 miles north of Baghdad.

Worrell was groggy; he had been given morphine.

He asked a doctor: "Will I need reconstructive facial surgery?"

"Nope, just some new teeth."

Worrell glanced down and was surprised to see a Purple Heart resting between his legs. Somehow the medal made him think of his wife, Jayme.

"My wife's going to be pissed," he told the doctor. "She specifically gave me instructions not to get perforated over here."

At that moment, Jayme Worrell was driving to the couple's ranch-style home in Fayetteville, N.C. She did not yet know that Vinny, the gangly boy she had dated in high school, the restaurant cook who had joined the Army to give meaning to his life, was about to be cut open inside a tent in the Iraqi desert.

The grit and shrapnel in Worrell's face was just a small part of the bloodshed from the first week of November. In a typical week in Iraq, about 110 American troops are injured in action. Doctors, medics, nurses and litter bearers in Iraq fight daily to keep the wounded from joining the ever-lengthening rolls of the dead.

After three years of war, the military has honed a highly efficient lifesaving process that moves the wounded swiftly from the battlefield to emergency surgery in the combat zone, and on to military hospitals in Germany and the U.S. The approximately 17,400 troops wounded since March 2003 have been swept up in a medical effort unmatched in any previous war.

The first in a three part series. The effects of the war will be with us for decades.

Update: Here is the link to Part Two of the L.A. Times series.

The Future of Work

Excuse me, but what is the point of having union contracts if the boss can go to court and void them whenever they become inconvenient. Jesus, I wish I could have done that with my creditors when they became inconvenient.

Delphi Asks Judge to Cancel Labor Contracts

By Sholnn Freeman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 1, 2006; Page D01

Delphi Corp. yesterday asked a federal bankruptcy court judge to void its union contracts, which paves the way for lower wages and benefits for Delphi workers and increases the chance of a strike at the auto-parts giant.

At the same time, labor scholars said, Delphi's use of the bankruptcy court to attempt wage cuts further erodes the power of organized labor.

In its reorganization plan released yesterday, Delphi -- which filed for bankruptcy protection in October -- said it plans to eliminate 8,500 salaried workers and close or sell 25 U.S. plants, affecting 23,000 hourly workers.

Delphi's latest offer cuts wages to $16.50 per hour by 2007, down from $27 per hour. Newer workers would receive as little as $10 per hour. The United Auto Workers union, which represents most of Delphi's union workers, called the action outrageous and said a move to cancel the labor agreements would make it "impossible to avoid a strike." A court hearing on Delphi's request is scheduled for May 9 and 10 in New York.

Delphi chief executive Steve Miller said in a written statement that the company remained committed to working toward a deal. But Miller said that "at the end of the day, Delphi must be competitive in the global marketplace."

The UAW said it saw no basis for continuing discussions with Delphi. Besides the UAW, Delphi workers are represented by the IUE-CWA and the United Steelworkers union. Those unions have also opposed Delphi's labor proposals.

If Delphi wins in court, the company could impose its latest offer and the old union contracts would disappear, along with their no-strike clause. According to a union spokesman, UAW local presidents and shop chairmen are calling Delphi's offer unacceptable.

What's at stake with Delphi goes far beyond worker paychecks, labor scholars and industry analysts say.

"For five months, there has been a lot of rhetoric based on the 1950s-era notion that these companies are too big to fail," said Patrick L. Anderson, of Anderson Economic Group LLC in Lansing, Mich. "In 2006, not only is Delphi not too big to fail. It already has failed."

Anderson said if the UAW mounts a protracted strike, Delphi would be forced into liquidation and run the risk of bankrupting General Motors Corp., Delphi's top customer. GM already is facing significant market-share and financial losses.

Under the latest proposal, Delphi asked GM to supplement the wages of Delphi workers and give a one-time, $50,000 payment to union members who stay on at Delphi and take the lower wage scale. GM has not yet agreed.

Industrial labor contracts are broad agreements that govern health-care plans, retirement benefits, vacations, work rules, holidays, overtime pay, working conditions and job security, as well as hourly wages. Union workers are also protected by smaller interlocking agreements, called local contracts, that cover workers at individual plants

In short, the reporter pretty much missed the story. Labor agreements are pretty specific and she wasn't well informed enough to understand that. Well, it wouldn't be the first time. Most labor reporters are so ignorant that they make the same mistakes.

If this strike proceeds, it will pretty much shut down auto production in the US, but you'd have to read 20 paragraphs of the WaPo story to figure that out. What is it that is being taught in J-School classes these days.

Since the reporter can't imagine having her wages cut by half, she can't really report the story, can she?

Summer, on a Plate

Flu Wiki

Kicking this to the top. No, the powers that be didn't take us down, we are having server problems. We expect them to be fixed this weekend. This is a straighforward piece of business and conspiracy theorists need to work on a new novel.

Now, speaking of "bugs" (the Maine word for lobstahs) let's talk about lobster rolls. This is the classic presentation, but I don't know that you can buy these top split sandwich rolls outside of New England. I've never found them anywhere else. Substitute a toasted hot dog bun.

Lobster Salad:
1/2 pound fully cooked lobster meat or 1 (2 1/2 pound) live lobster
1/2 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely diced
1/4 cup bottled mayonnaise
1/2 tablespoon fresh tarragon
2 small scallions, thinly sliced
Kosher or sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 to 3 New England-style hot dog buns
2 to 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Pickles and potato chips as accompaniment

Prepare the lobster salad.
If using live lobsters, steam or boil them. Let cool at room temperature. Use a cleaver to crack and remove the meat from the claws, knuckles and tails. Remove the cartilage from the claws and the intestines from the tails of the cooked meat. Cut the meat into 1/2-inch dice. You may pick all the meat from the carcass and add it to the meat or freeze the carcass for soup or broth. (And if you don't you are a damn fool idiot.)

Place the cucumber in a colander for at least 5 minutes to drain the excess liquid. Combine the lobster, cucumber mayonnaise, and tarragon. Add the scallions. Season with salt and pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Preheat a large heavy skillet (12 to 14-inches) over medium-low heat (a black cast-iron pan is perfect). Lightly butter both sides of each bun. Place them in the pan and cook for about 2 minutes until golden brown. Turn the buns over and toast the other side. Or toast the buns under a broiler instead. When the buns are ready, stuff them with the chilled lobster salad. Place each roll on a small paper or china plate; garnish with pickles and potato chips. Serve at once.

This is a New England summer in your hand. You'll have to imagine the way the light falls in summer in Maine, it is more crystalline, more precise and rarer than it is down here. When you have that light and a lobster roll, well, if it gets better than that, I don't need to know about it.