Minneapolis / St. Paul News Blog

Rumor IDs replacement for Blatz

An anonymous call from a "downtown lawyer" came across the transom late this afternoon. The voicemail seemed reputable, identifying Governor Tim Pawlenty's choice to succeed Kathleen Blatz as the state's Supreme Court chief justice.

The source spelled the name and noted the law firm of the rumored pick: Eric J. Magnuson of Rider Bennett in Minneapolis.

Magnuson has his bona fides: Twenty years of practice in state and federal appellate courts, named in the 2003-2004 edition of Best Lawyers in America, a "Super Lawyer," according to Minnesota Law & Politics.

The source also describes Magnuson as a longtime Pawlenty crony. This would seem to be borne out in Magnuson's CV, which curiously notes that he has dealt with cases involving "the consitutionality of the public school finance system."

Perhaps Pawlenty is looking to continue his neo-con acolyte quest to dismantle the public school system as we know it.

The two worked together at Rider Bennett from 1989 until Pawlenty left the firm in 2000. In 2003, Pawlenty appointed Magnuson chair of the state's Judicial Selection Commission. Here's an interview from that time with Magnuson.

The source says there's no word on whether Magnuson, if the scuttlebutt is true, will take the position. Accepting would involve, according to the source, "a major paycut." And the governor has to at least go through the motions of assembling a screening committee.

Two different scientific research teams have determined that the source of the SARS virus, which has killed at least 774 people worldwide thus far, is the Chinese horseshoe bat.

According to a story in today's New York Times, the each team arrived at its conclusion that the horseshoe bat was the culprit independently. "In Asia, many people eat bats or use bat feces in traditional medicine for asthma, kidney ailments, and general malaise."

By the way, there are no Chinese horseshoe bats in the United States.

To a lot of observers, Tom DeLay has long been regarded as one of the more unseemly characters in the U.S. Congress. This distinction is roughly equivalent to being deemed the most ill-behaved denizen of a crackhouse. In other words, it is for good reason DeLay is known as "the Hammer." With an an awe-inspiring gift for wielding his political heft, he transformed himself from a Houston bug exterminator into the great Beltway Machiavelli of his day. As much as anyone this side of Karl Rove, he is responsible for constructing what--until very recently--looked like a permanent Republican majority in D.C.

But overreaching has also become the defining feature of the modern Grand Old Party. This was most recently illustrated by DeLay's indictment for gross violation of Texas campaign law. So it's no surprise that some of the Hammer's fellow Republicans--fearful of a general backlash in the 2006 elections--might decide to put a little distance between themselves and the now reeling ex-majority leader.

What would the ticker symbol be for Air Tegucigalpa?

Harold Meyerson has a nice commentary in the American Prospect that starts with JetBlue's near miss last week at LAX and the troubles with outsourcing airline maintenance, and then segues into the larger, and in some ways thornier, issue of how American workers (and consumers) might weather globalization.

The non-crash, for those who might have missed it, involved the emergency landing of an Airbus A-320 with jammed wheels. News that this isn't an isolated problem with this plane, which was likely inspected and/or overhauled either in Canada or El Salvador, was eclipsed by the much easier headline that passengers had watched the near-catastrophe on TV monitors from their seats. Almost as post-modern as the economy that underlies the debacle, no?

You don't have to open up the piles of daily mail from mortgage companies to know they all offer similarly specious-sounding promises: Do you rent? Have good credit? Let us put you in the home of your dreams for as much as you're paying in rent! But if your apartment is the home of your dreams, you can pretty much forget about paying as much in rent once it's converted into a condo. In fact, in some cases you'll be paying almost twice as much.

One such apartment building at 35th and Hennepin was renting one-bedroom apartments for $750 a month. The same apartments recently were converted into condos and put up for sale for $183,900. With $15,000 down at a 30-year-fixed mortgage, the monthly payment with condo fees jumps to $1,378 a month. According to Home Line, a local tenant advocacy organization, the condo conversion craze is putting the squeeze on Minneapolis' already depleted affordable-housing stock. In the last five years, the city has lost 1350 affordable apartments to condo conversions.

The "moment of zen" concluding Jon Stewart's Daily Show last night truly was a stunner. William Bennett, former Secretary of Education and author of Book of Virtues, appeared to advocate aborting all black children in the United States as a means of reducing crime.

Here is what Bennett said exactly on his radio show Wednesday: "If you wanted to reduce crime, you could--if that were your sole purpose--you could abort every black baby in this country and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down."

Between the financial derring-do of Tom DeLay and Bill Frist and the loose lips of Bennett and Pat Robertson, it appears as if the Republican establishment is throwing itself over a cliff.

Pioneer Press editor Vicky Gowler is not the only high-profile staff member to announce plans to leave recently. Dave Peters, a much beloved senior editor who oversaw coverage of St. Paul and public safety issues, has departed for the Star Tribune. Starting monday he will edit the Strib's nation and world coverage.

"He was a guy who quickly grasped a story and wanted it in the paper," says veteran Pi Press reporter Charles Laszewski, who has known Peters since they were both at the St. Cloud Times. "He would work with the reporter to get it in the paper as quickly as possible, but in as complete a form as possible."

Peters is another key loss for the St. Paul daily. In recent years columnists D.J. Tice and Nick Coleman have also jumped ship to the Strib.

New York Times reporter Judith Miller, jailed since July for refusing to talk to the grand jury investigating the outing of Valerie Plame Wilson, got out of the hoosegow last night and will testify today. Afterward, we'll see whether Patrick Fitzgerald has plugged the press leaks that regularly sprang from the grand jury last summer.

Why now? Miller says she was at last released from her pledge of confidentiality by the source in question, Cheney chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. This flies in the face of what Fitzgerald and Libby's own attorney have said. They claim Libby's waiver has existed for a long time. According to today's WashPost:

Joseph Tate, an attorney for Libby, said yesterday that he told Miller attorney Floyd Abrams a year ago that Libby's waiver was voluntary and that Miller was free to testify. He said last night that he was contacted by Bennett several weeks ago, and was surprised to learn that Miller had not accepted that representation as authorization to speak with prosecutors.

"We told her lawyers it was not coerced," Tate said. "We are surprised to learn we had anything to do with her incarceration."...

One lawyer involved in the case said Miller's attorneys reached an agreement with Fitzgerald that may confine prosecutors' questions solely to Miller's conversations with Libby. [emphasis added]

Read the WashPost story.

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Peter S. Scholtes interviews Peter R. Scholtes on Peter Sr.'s life as a priest on the South Side of Chicago in the 1960s and working with Dr. Martin Luther King, at Complicated Fun.

Lindsey Thomas takes on Spin, and develops her own Top 20 list of Rock & Roll innovators at This Is Pop.

THESE DAYS

On Wednesday, the cornerstone was laid on what will be the reconstruction of the distillery where the George Washington produced nearly 11,000 gallons of rye whiskey.

Nearly a year after Congress demanded action, the Pentagon has still failed to figure out a way to reimburse soldiers for body armor and equipment they purchased to better protect themselves while serving in Iraq.

The Danish Air Force said Thursday it paid 31,175 kroner ($5,032) in compensation to a part-time Santa Claus whose reindeer died of heart failure when two fighter jets roared over his farm.

Rep. Jeb Bradley (R-NH) says he will return $15,000 in campaign funds from former House majority leader Tom DeLay's political action committee.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Get your geek on with web developer Sam Buchanan at afongen.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

This trailer for The Shining will remind you it was the feel-good movie of the year back in 1980.

Donate $100 to Katrina victims through Brian Wilson's website and the Beach Boy legend will call you and thank you personally.

They're little birds who talk about obscure bands and make stupid jokes, better known as the Indietits!

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I don't think people are going to come down here to a comedy club, you know, when it's a two stab minimum."

-- Comedian Louie Anderson, on KQRS Wednesday morning, on the prospects of opening a comedy club in downtown Minneapolis [via KSTP.com]

"I think you're going to see a quantum leap in the number of products integrated into your television shows this year."

-- CBS television chairman Les Moonves, turning on the red light

"Anger is not a road map toward this city's future. When all is said and done, I believe the people of St. Paul, in their heart of hearts, care more about where we will all be four years from now than they do about rehashing a previous election."

-- St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly asking voters to kindly forget about his endorsement of George W. Bush in last year's presidential election [via the Strib]

There will be no more news stories written by weatherman Paul Douglas in the Star Tribune.

U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson ruled this week that an arbitrator acted properly in determining that the Strib had violated its collective bargaining agreement with the Minnesota Newspaper Guild Typographical Union.

The dispute dates back to 2004 when the Minneapolis daily published five news articles by Douglas in the A and B sections of the paper. The WCCO weatherman has long penned a daily column for the Strib, but it's normally confined to the back page of the B section.

Spotted: Marx's only son, the liberator of Latin America, and the uncle of the Cuban revolution, on the sidewalk along North Fifth Street in Minneapolis.

Let all who love revolution come unto this spot and sing "Guantanamera."

Spotted: God's only Son, imprinted on the sidewalk along North Fifth Street in Minneapolis.

Let all who know the Prince of Peace come unto this spot and make it holy.

Who's who and what they've contributed to McLaughlin and Rybak

Now that primary season is over, we head into the final stretch--just more than a month--of the citywide election cycle.

Having trouble figuring out the difference between incumbent Mayor R. T. Rybak and his challenger, Hennepin County commissioner Peter McLaughlin? Maybe a glimpse into who forks over the money for them to run will help you with your decision.

All candidate contribution info can be found on the county's very handy campaign contribution web site (it's really a treasure trove of revenues and expenditures; more to come from this leading up to election day). Reader Shawn Lewis passes along this summary of the mayoral money:

THESE DAYS

The space shuttle and International Space Station -- nearly the whole of the U.S. manned space program for the past three decades -- were mistakes, NASA chief Michael Griffin said Tuesday.

As global warming melts the world's ice sheets, rising sea levels are not the only danger. Viruses hidden for thousands of years may thaw and escape - and we will have no resistance to them.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Join Laurie Richardson this Friday for the start of the Minnesota Rollergirls' roller derby season! She'll be blogging about it at chicken lady loves life.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

The Smoking Gun has Tom Delay's indictment papers. Heh, heh, Dale.

Boston.com has chosen their Top 50 Sci-Fi Shows of All Time and placed each one on a separate webpage for maximum page views as well as maximum annoyance. Stargate SG-1 ahead of The Twilight Zone? Jesus.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"If I did die, I wasn't going to heaven and say, 'Oh, excuse me, God. Let me wipe my nose, because I just did some drugs before I got here.'"

-- Ashley Smith, in the Augusta Chronicle, discussing the fact she gave suspected courthouse gunman Brian Nichols methamphetamine during the time he held her hostage, and how the ordeal convinced her to quit taking drugs

"The crew and Maria and I just sat and watched while he and his wife got into something comfortable -- nothing -- and they started to say, 'We want you to (do this).' Maria and I were both going, 'OK, we get it.'"

-- actor Viggo Mortensen, discussing the explicit displays of affection director David Cronenberg and his wife performed on the set of A History of Violence to show Mortensen and co-star Maria Bello how to act in an upcoming sex scene

"In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy and abortion in the prosperous democracies."

-- Gregory S. Paul, in the Journal of Religion & Society

"I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down."

-- Former Reagan administration Secretary of Education Bill Bennett, on his radio program Bill Bennett's Morning in America

A reader sent along this link to the Minneapolis Police Hurricane Katrina Strike Force page, which features lots of photographs taken by MPD cops presently assisting with the policing of New Orleans. It's also a proto-blog (on some pages) detailing the duties that Minneapolis police have been taking up during their stint in the city that care and disaster-response planners forgot.

Free this week to Star Tribune home subscribers: An extra-soft box of Kleenex.

"Bagpipes unite young couple, Alzheimer's patient"

The new nurse in the Alzheimer's unit noticed a striking picture on the wall of one patient's room. It was a black-and-white photo of him in England during World War II.
"Hey, Ted, what are you doing in a kilt?" asked Sarah Hagen, 27, a licensed practical nurse.
Ted Wallis, 96, was able to convey part of his story. He was a drummer during the war, he told her, and his father had played bagpipes and drums before him. His family later filled in the rest for Hagen. Wallis played percussion and bagpipes when he served in the Canadian Army with the Queens Own Cameron Highlanders in Winnipeg and then in England during the war.
Such a coincidence. --Peg Meier, September 27, 2005

"Golf pals: Four Mankato friends with Prostate cancer are playing golf together again"

MANKATO -- They looked like any foursome on a beautiful September morning, sipping their coffee in the North Links clubhouse, teasing each other, mulling their scores.

The numbers captivating them, though, had nothing to do with golf, nor did their references to the da Vinci code have anything to do with the best-selling novel.

This foursome of longtime friends and former Minnesota State, Mankato educators wanted to talk about prostate cancer, remind the male demographic that September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, and recommend the cure they chose. --Jim Souhan, September 28, 2005

The Center for Public Integrity has set up a new web site to track Katrina-related contracts awarded by the federal government. "Profiting From Katrina" keeps tabs on the cronyism and waste already coming to light. Among the dubious contracts awarded so far: $236 million to Carnival Cruise Lines for refugee housing and $568 million to Ashbritt, a company with ties to Mississippi Governor (and former Republican National Committee chairman) Haley Barbour, for trash removal.

Will the dominoes begin to fall? The AP's Larry Margasack details House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's indictment today on a single conspiracy count:

A Texas grand jury on Wednesday charged Rep. Tom DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme, forcing the House majority leader to temporarily relinquish his post....

GOP congressional officials said Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., will recommend that Rep. David Dreier of California step into those duties. Some of the duties may go to the GOP whip, Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri. The Republican rank and file may meet as early as Wednesday night to act on Hastert's recommendation. The charge carries a potential two-year sentence, which forces DeLay to step down under House Republican rules.

So who's the new editor charged with guiding the Pioneer-Press into the post-Gowler era? Thom Fladung is, as Eric Black notes in this morning's Strib, the former managing editor of the Detroit Free Press. He's also a long-time Knight Ridder hand, having done two tours at the Free Press and one at the Akron Beacon-Journal. Fladung was pushed out at the Free Press in August, when Gannett took over the paper from KR.

Here's a summary of some of the things he's said on the record about newspapers and the business of journalism:

Possibly the hottest story in blogdom this week involves the disclosure that soldiers are trading pictures of Iraqi corpses for access to porn at the site nowthatsfuckedup.com. Today a very brief wire dispatch says the Army will investigate.

It all started with this story by Chris Thompson in last week's East Bay Express.

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Peter S. Scholtes tries to get comfortable in his new bloggy digs at Complicated Fun.

THESE DAYS

Fort Lauderdale police have arrested three men on murder and conspiracy charges in the 2001 gangland-style killing of a South Florida businessman who sold a casino cruise line to Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, authorities said yesterday.

Scientists in China plan to use satellites to track pandas to learn more about their sexual behavior. It's also being groomed as a mid-season replacement show on FOX.

Construction workers have found bone fragments that may be remains of people who died in the World Trade Center attacks on the roof of a neighboring skyscraper damaged on September 11, 2001, a city official said.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Antonymous participated in the recent protest march in Washington, D.C. Check out some photos at hot soup in my eye.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Those manic Badger Badger Badgers have gotten into footy.

B3ta had a contest asking creative types to devise a way to make going to church more popular. Warning: Badgers have also been sighted among the entries.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday that Louisiana was dysfunctional."

-- Former FEMA head Michael Brown during congressional hearings on Katrina

"I'm happy you left. That kind of look in the lights like a deer tells me you weren't capable of doing that job."

-- Rep. Christopher Shays, R-CT, to Brown

"The disconnect was, people thought there was some federal expertise out there. There wasn't. Not from you."

-- Rep. Gene Taylor, D-MS, to Brown

"Of those who participated in the hearing, Brown was by far the most impressive."

-- Power Line blogger John Hinderaker's assessment of the hearings

We hate to give any virtual ink to the Taxpayers League of Minnesota, given that its starve-the-beast ideology has become one of the many hollow mantras for the 21st Century. But credit is due: The league has been consistently against public dollars going for private stadiums.

The "E update" that came to inboxes this morning points out the absurdity of Vikings owner Zygi Wilf's claim that the Anoka County stadium deal will bring all sorts of jobs to the north metro. Positing whether Anoka County has any "poor, unemployed or homeless," the missive points out that surely a new stadium would fix any of those problems.

The investigative reporter Wayne Madsen posted this note over the weekend:

"Anti-war protest in Washington, DC today. Very few Democratic members of Congress to appear. Reason: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), according to Democratic insiders on Capitol Hill, put out the word that any member of Congress who appeared at the protest, where some speakers were to represent pro-Palestinian views, would face the political wrath of AIPAC. According to Democratic sources on the Hill, Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts was the chief conveyor of the AIPAC warning to his colleagues. At the time of this report, three members of Congress were to address the anti-war protestors: Reps. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), John Conyers (D-MI), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA). The word is that AIPAC will direct its massive campaign support to Woolsey's neo-con and pro-Iraq war primary challenger, California State Assemblyman Joe Nation, who has strong connections to the Rand Corporation, one of the Pentagon's chief war-making think tanks. Woolsey represents California's Marin and Sonoma counties. September 26 Update: In the end, the antiwar rally apparently only drew only one member of Congress as speaker: Georgia Democratic Representative Cynthia McKinney.

Visit the Madsen Report

(Via Michael Donnelly, Counterpunch)

When it comes to fighting the Iraqi insurgency, U.S. forces are discovering that there is a lot of Number Two.

On a steady basis, U.S. and Iraqi officials boast that they have captured or killed a "key aide" to Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The associates are rounded up in raids, shot during showdowns, bombed in hideouts. Yet a new "lieutenant"--or at least a new nom de guerre--seems to materialize almost instantly to take his place.

The news accounts listed below chronicle the monthly liquidation of Zarqawi's entourage. While the U.S. Army struggles to refill its ranks, Zarqaqi's Al Tawhid group--like McDonald's--seems to have no shortage of fresh applications.

U.S. Kills al-Qaida Suspect's Key Aide

U.S. troops killed a key lieutenant to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a militant with suspected ties to al-Qaida, the military said Tuesday.
Abu Mohammed Hamza, believed to have been a bombmaker for al-Zarqawi, was killed Thursday in Habaniyah after U.S. troops came under fire while distributing leaflets, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said.
The troops returned fire, killing Hamza, he said. --Associated Press, February 24, 2004

Top Zarqawi aide killed in US attack near Baghdad

A top aide to suspected Al-Qaeda operative Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi has been killed in a US attack near Baghdad, an internet site and a Jordanian newspaper reported Wednesday.
"Abu Anas al-Shami, who heads Tawhid wal Jihad's Sharia (Islamic law) department, was killed a week ago in an American attack on his car in Abu Ghraib," west of the capital, according to the website http://arab.moheet.com/.
In Amman, Al-Ghad newspaper quoted the family of Jordanian-born Shami, whose real name is Omar Yussif Jumaa, as saying he had been killed in a US rocket attack Friday and that he was considered Zarqawi's number two in Iraq. --Agence France Presse, September 22, 2004

U.S. Military: Al-Zarqawi Aide Killed

The U.S. military said Tuesday that an aide to Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in an airstrike in the militant stronghold of Fallujah.
The 3 a.m. strike hit a known safehouse being used by al-Zarqawi's terrorist network, killing a "known associate," a military statement said....
"Recent strikes and raids targeting the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi network have severely degraded its ability to conduct attacks," the U.S. statement said. --Associated Press, October 26, 2004

Vicki Gowler is stepping down as editor of the Pioneer Press. As suggested in this morning's Star Tribune, Knight Ridder announced today that Gowler will be taking over the top job at The Idaho Statesman, in Boise.

Filling her post at the Pi Press will be Thom Fladung, currently managing editor of the Detroit Free Press. Fladung has previously worked at the Akron Beacon Journal, in Ohio, and The State, in Columbia, S.C.

Gowler was named editor of the Pi Press in November, 2001. She's overseen a tumultuous period at the paper, with several high profile writers departing. Columnists D.J. Tice and Nick Coleman defected to the Star Tribune, while music scribe Jim Walsh moved on to City Pages. The paper was also radically re-designed on her watch, with the editorial pages being shifted to the local section and page two now devoted to a recounting of the day's headlines dubbed "speed read."

Carl Hiaasen is in town today to read from his new kids' book Flush. He's best known for his witty, acerbic novels, but Hiaasen continues to write a regular column for the Knight Ridder-owned Miami Herald. From that perch he's been a persistent and pugnacious critic of the newspaper chain, which locally owns the Pioneer Press and the Duluth News Tribune. It's worth revisiting this interview with Miami New Times from last year. Here's Hiaasen's take on the demise of his newspaper:

I don't blame the Herald. I blame Knight Ridder. There's plenty of good talent there, plenty of good editors, all the ingredients. But when you're not in charge of the money, when you're getting memos that say 'cut here, cut there,' you're screwed. Short of quitting, what do you do? It's amazing what they still do given how the budget has shrunk, the staff has shrunk, the news hole has shrunk. But it's really silly pretending it's the same paper it used to be."

For the past few months, Minneapolis resident Guy Gambill has been working to organize a public forum to bring attention to the plight of homeless veterans. The subject is close to Gambill's heart. A veteran himself, Gambill struggled after his discharge from the Army. A few years back, he says, things got so bad that he wound up on the street, homeless and often drunk. He didn't know what sort of help was available. For 16 years, he says, he wasn't even aware that he qualified for free medical care from the VA.

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Steve Monaco has your Monday Movie Quiz at Couch Pundit.

THESE DAYS

A Pocatello, Idaho, weatherman who gained attention for claiming that Hurricane Katrina was caused by the Japanese mafia using a Russian electromagnetic generator has quit the television station to pursue the theory.

Suspects arrested or detained by federal authorities could be forced to provide samples of their DNA that would be recorded in a central database under a provision of a Senate bill to expand government collection of personal data.

"Saving Private Ryan" actor Tom Sizemore is set to release a series of his own home-made sex films to raise some cash. Heh, heh, sizemore.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Just a pale, Midwestern guy kicking W when he's down at Truetone.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington released a report on the 13 Most Corrupt Members Of Congress.

Banned Books Week 2005 is September 24 - October 1. You may enjoy flipping through one of the most frequently challenged books of 2004.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"A few weeks ago, we did a story on worshipers returning to the shattered churches of the Gulf Coast, and I made an offhand comment based on an old expression that said, 'There are no atheists in foxholes or hurricane zones.' Well, many have since pointed out that there are 30 million atheists in this country and among them, Katrina victims, first responders and relief donors. I stand corrected."

-- "Good Morning America" weekend anchor Bill Weir

There's a superb story by Ken Wells in last Friday's Wall Street Journal titled "Oil, Saltwater Mar Louisiana Coast, Threaten Future." Here are some salient excerpts:

[A]t least 193,000 barrels of oil and other petrochemicals were blown or driven by tides across the fragile marshy ecosystems and dense urban areas of the Plaquemines and St. Bernard Parishes, southeast of New Orleans.... The spills... approach the scale of the famous 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker spill, which dumped 240,000 barrels of crude oil....

Coastal Louisiana's wetland produces a third of the nation's commercial seafood--about a billion pounds of fish, crab and oysters annually--the most in the lower 48 states.... The mixture of sewage, rotting vegetation and oil... has been devastating to aquatic birds. More than 5 million migratory birds, including a number of rare and endangered species, make use each year of the Louisiana estuary's marshes, swamps, bays and bayous. Coastal Louisiana also harbors the largest nesting population of bald eagles in the lower 48....

Coastal Louisiana holds the earth's seventh largest wetland and is America's largest estuary, containing 30 percent of all U.S. coastal marshes... Yet the state's coastal ecosystem is less well known than places such as Chesapeake Bay, whose fishery production it dwarfs. It receives far less adulation than the Florida Everglades, though it shelters far more species of wildlife, fish, and birds.

Some scientists... are convinced that the conditions of the wetlands of the St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parishes contributed to the number of oil spills [at least 40, ten of which are major] during Katrina. One example: Pipelines originally buried under the marsh 20 years ago had become more vulnerable to Katrina's surges as the landscape changed... [T]he Plaquemines Parish president says he heard of cases where "the force of the storm surges forced a lot of pipelines to the surface, snapping them like sticks of dried spaghetti."

I went to Google News this morning to see what's been going on with the Rove/Plame grand jury investigation since it was knocked off the news pages by Katrina and Rita. Not much, it turns out, apart from some details of Judith Miller's jailhouse guest list.

In the absence of any real news, though, one British crime tabloid, The New Criminologist, claims to have all the explosive details of special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's upcoming indictments. Buried amid its many fevered dispatches on terror preparedness ("The Small Animal Veterinarian's Role in a Bioterrorist Event") and conspiracies the world scarcely suspects ("Jihad Vegan"), TNC writes that a slew of sealed indictments have been handed down:

"Sources close to the federal grade [sic] jury probe also allegedly told Heneghen a host of administration figures under Bush were indicted, including Vice President Richard Cheney, Chief of Staff Andrew Card, Cheney Chief of Staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, former Attorney General John Ashcroft, imprisoned New York Times reporter Judith Miller and former Cheney advisor Mary Matalin. Heneghen, unavailable for comment, also allegedly told sources White House advisor Karl Rove was indicted for perjury in a major document shredding operation cover-up."

Read the whole story. Or don't. Just remember you heard it here first. And probably last.