March 2006

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3/31: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

Starved for cash, the New Orleans school district is taking a long shot and hoping to sell its flooded, unsalvageable school buses on eBay.

Super Bowl winning offensive lineman Roy Simmons discusses being a closeted homosexual in the NFL, childhood rape, and drug addiction in his new book Out Of Bounds.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

A new baby is shifting the focus from reading, writing, and beauty products at Girl Detective.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

For the three people who haven't seen it yet: Heat Vision and Jack, the 1999 Ben Stiller-produced TV show starring Jack Black as a super-smart astronaut with a talking motorcycle (voiced by Owen Wilson) being pursued by Ron Silver as... Ron Silver.

Progressive Boink tallies the 25 Best Moments on Arrested Development

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"It's just sad that his life has spiraled down to the point where in all likelihood he's going to go to prison. You never like to see anybody go to prison, let alone somebody who is 54 years old."

-- Morley Pitt, assistant district attorney in San Mateo County, California, bemoaning the fate of Village People singer Victor Willis (the policeman) who has been arrested on drug and gun charges

Posted by Corey Anderson at March 31, 2006 10:47 AM | Comments (0)

 

Doobie-doobie-do

Filed under: Minnesota Politics

The move to legalize medical marijuana in Minnesota

State Senator Steve Kelley (DFL-Hopkins) is known for being an education expert of sorts at the Capitol, but this legislative session, he's doffed a new cap: Marijuana advocate. With little notice, Kelly (who is also a candidate for governor) has introduced a medical marijuana bill that thus far has narrowly passed through three committees, and Kelley expects it to hit the floor in front of the full Senate before the session is over in May.

Still, Kelley is doubtful that the House will approve a companion bill, and Governor Tim Pawlenty, buzzkill that he is, has said that he will veto any piece of pot legislation.

But Kelley is undeterred, and views this as a step toward Minnesota joining 11 other states around the country that allow growers to supply marijuana for medicinal purposes to the chronically ill.

City Pages: Are you some kind left-wing fringe lunatic?

Steve Kelley: [laughs] I hadn't thought about it until somebody brought me the idea of carrying the bill in 2005. And, in the course of doing other work, I met people suffering from serious illnesses. And we talked about the kinds of illnesses that medical marijuana could provide relief for. That's what impressed me. And also the challenge of trying to explain it to a skeptical legislature, that was part of the intrigue too.

CP: I would assume this is not the most open legislature at the moment.

Kelley: You know, Minnesota has this funny mix of libertarian and watching-out-for-each-other approach to things. And some of the states that have passed an initiative have a stronger libertarian side, like Colorado or Montana.

I think the emphasis has continued to be on how we can be compassionate toward people and enable them to take care of themselves using medical marijuana And also, we've put in the protections for concerns about youth access and having marijuana getting into illicit channels. And the bill will do that.

CP: What are some of the requirements? What does the bill look like in its current shape?

Kelley: A patient with a severe disease goes to the doctor and the doctor says, "Yes, this is the diagnosis, this is what you've got, and it fits into these categories that the legislature has set up for a person to potentially get medical marijuana."

CP: What are some of those?

Kelley: Cancer, severe neuralgia, glaucoma--a couple other diseases that are listed in the bill. And the patient then takes that certificate to the Department of Health. They register with the Department of Health as a qualified patient. Then the Department of Health gives that person a card that says that he or she is participant in this program and is able to possess 2.5 ounces of marijuana without being prosecuted under state law.

And then we set up a limited number of registered organizations and primary suppliers. When the individual registers with the Department of Health, he or she identifies up to two primary suppliers. Then those primary suppliers can have in their possession up to 12 marijuana plants, and up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana for each patient they are supplying to.

CP: That could become a pretty hefty stable of marijuana.

Kelly: It could for an individual, though we limit them to five patients that they are working with. A registered organization could have a larger number.

CP: What would be a registered organization?

Kelley: It would probably be a nonprofit organization that would be formed for the purpose of providing relief to a patient.

CP: As far as individuals, could anybody do this? Could I do this?

Kelley: You'd have to connect up with patients and be identified as their primary supplier. Then you'd have to register with the Department of Health to be a primary supplier, and then you could do it.

CP: There's no background check or training or anything like that?

Kelley: No. The obligation on the part of the suppliers is not to sell or transfer marijuana to people who are not qualified patients, and to limit their supply on hand to the amount identified in the bill.

CP: Are we talking about compliance checks done by somebody?

Kelley: Yes, but the bill does not provide for surprise inspections. We don't have the suppliers or organizations wave their Fourth Amendment rights.

CP: Who would look into compliance?

Kelley: Local law enforcement agencies. What the bill does is tell local law enforcement agencies not to prosecute people for activities that are in compliance with the law. But they can investigate and act on instances where the primary supplier is selling marijuana to somebody else.

CP: To a lot of people, this is going to sound like a radical thing, not just conceptually, but logistically.

Kelley: And that's an issue that's come up in the legislature. Some members have focused on, "Well, some people can be growing 200 plants if they're a registered organization." And the answer is yes, they could, but let's not let our imaginations run away with us. In other states--Colorado is similar in size to Minnesota, and in Colorado they have about 100 people who are participating as qualified patients. And it's not an idea that's spun out of control.

One of the guys who came to testify before a committee, he's one of seven patients who got a tin of marijuana periodically from the federal government. He's in a federal government "compassionate care" program. So there's seven people already out there [in Minnesota] doing this. And that's under the federal law.

The problem with the states doing this is that we're exempting people from state prosecution but we can't exempt them from federal prosecution.

CP: And that became the problem in California. Do you see court hassles coming out of this?

Kelley: I think that the Supreme Court ruling clarified the situation.

CP: How so?

Kelley: Because some of the proponents of providing relief to medical marijuana patients were hoping that the federal government would back off if the states did this. The Supreme Court said, no, it's still a federal law. The states can do this on their own, but that doesn't mean they can override federal law.

CP: The issue was this hang up on interstate commerce.

Kelley: And that's the source of the federal government's authority. We can't tell the DEA not to raid a registered organization. We can, however, tell the Burnsville city cops not to raid an organization that's in compliance with the law.

CP: What are the odds that if this gets passed that the feds will be here?

Kelley: I hope their priorities are focused on folks other than people who are providing to medical marijuana. I hope they're going after meth suppliers. I would hope the DEA would be focusing on things like that.

CP: I would assume that the law wouldn't allow for suppliers to be trafficking, but that they have to grown their own.

Kelley: Right, grow their own. Trafficking introduces a whole other set of problems.

CP: What have the votes been like in the senate committees?

Kelley: Unfortunately, they've been close, and along partisan lines. And I want this to be a nonpartisan issue. I think it's an issue about taking care of people. But it has, so far, cut along partisan lines.

CP: The governor has said he would veto it.

Kelley: Right, the governor has. And I don't think the House is going to pass it this year. So I think this is--the Senate is trying to get the issue in front of people, trying hard to get folks to think about how to actually make it work.

CP: Is Minnesota a good state for growing marijuana?

Kelley: Well, we certainly have lots of wild hemp. There are places indoors where it could be grown.

CP: Are you dealing with phone calls or your colleagues trying to paint you as some kind of stoner?

Kelley: I've gotten a couple e-mails, but not a huge negative reaction.

CP: I've got to ask: Did you inhale?

Kelley: [laughs] Well, you know in the committee, Tom Neuville, the Republican senator from Northfield, asked me "Senator Kelley, what does two and a half ounces of marijuana look like?" And I said, "You know, Senator Neuville, that would be a trick question."

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at March 31, 2006 10:45 AM | Comments (3)

 

Crisis level elevated: Condo residents can't make coffee, watch Montel, Google selves

The Pioneer Press reported Thursday morning that residents of City Walk Condominiums had been without electricity for approximately...27 hours. An entire day without electricity?! That's akin to going a full day without a fresh Golden Raisin Scone from Turtle Bread Co. How do they do it? Not well, apparently: According to the Pi Press, the condo residents were feeling "powerless" yesterday morning, a dreary and wet one it was, and were forced to leave their downtown dwellings for coffee since the outage left them unable to brew their own at home. The predicament sparked this headline: "Caffeine deprived condo residents feeling powerless."

This relevant story of desperation got us thinking about other such stories we'd like to see in the Pioneer Press. Yesterday, for example, the entire CP offices were without long distance for almost an hour. Staffers needing to make long-distance calls during that brief period were forced to use their cell phones instead. And others, either without cell phones or a decent service plan, were forced to wait it out in their cubes. Possible headline: "CP staffers want to go the (long) distance, but can't."

Or perhaps, since the paper only focuses its lens on that side of the river, they can call on St. Paul resident B. Davis for her harrowing tale. Davis' one-bedroom apartment has been infested with moths and their little larvae since she moved in last month. "My landlord has been promising to take care of it," she says. "But for now have to keep all my clothes in plastic containers." Possible headline: "Hole-y wars: Moth problem has St. Paul resident all eaten up."

Posted by at March 31, 2006 12:31 AM | Comments (2)

 

Spotted: Random panhandler in '08!

Filed under: Spotted

Mid-morning both Wednesday and Thursday, African American man begging at the off-ramp on the southeast corner of I-94 and Highway 55, Near North side of Minneapolis.

He looks to be in perhaps his late 50s, and despite the recent spate of warm weather, is adhering to the Minnesota principles of layering. His cardboard sign, heavy with text scrawled in black marker, reads:

Running for president
President Bush took my job
I want his

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at March 30, 2006 3:32 PM | Comments (6)

 

MPR affiliate invites company to "gather" at the federal courthouse

Filed under: Business

Chris Dykstra was initially amused when he learned last summer that the web site that he runs, Gatheroo.com, was being threatened with a lawsuit for trademark infringement. Gatheroo was created by Minnetonka-based software company Warecorp after the popular online networking site, meetup.com, began charging for its services.

But Dykstra is no longer amused. Earlier this month Warecorp was sued in U.S. District Court by Gather, a Boston-based company affiliated with Minnesota Public Radio. The lawsuit alleges that Warecorp is improperly infringing on the company's trademark and engaging in unfair business practices. Gather is seeking an injunction barring Warecorp from using the Gatheroo name, as well as monetary damages.

Warecorp is not backing down. The company has posted a lengthy rebuttal to the lawsuit on the Gatheroo web site. Dykstra believes that the legal threat is just an attempt by MPR to bully the smaller company. "Obviously they have a really serious bankroll and are willing to push and shove anyone out of the way with money," he says. "Their claim that we created our company when we heard about Gather is just completely ridiculous on its face."

Dykstra further argues that Gather's claim that the two companies are direct competitors is spurious. "We're in entirely different businesses," he says. "We both own web sites, but that's where it ends."

Gather runs a social-networking web site aimed at public radio listeners, sort of a myspace.com for the middle class, 40-something set. The chairman and co-founder of the company is William Kling, president of MPR.

Gatheroo has not yet responded to the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Massachusetts, where Gather is based. But Dykstra says that the company intends to argue that the court doesn't have standing to hear the case. "Warecorp doesn't do a lick of business in Massachusetts," he notes.

This is not the first time in recent memory that MPR has flexed its legal muscles. In October, the nonprofit group sued Current TV, the cable station founded by former vice president Al Gore, for allegedly appropriating the name of its alt-rock station the Current (KCMP-89.3). The case is currently pending in U.S. District Court.

Similarly, in March, 2005 the radio conglomerate sued a Florida television program called "Ethical Marketplace" for allegedly infringing on the trademark for MPR's nationally syndicated busines program "Marketplace." That case was quickly dropped for reasons that are unclear.

And last year "A Prairie Home Companion" host Garrison Keillor threatened to sue the web site MNSpeak.com for selling t-shirts emblazoned with the phrase "A Prairie Ho Companion."

Tom Gerace, Gather's chief executive officer, declines to comment about the specifics of the pending lawsuit, but he insists the company is merely protecting its assets. "We've invested significant resources in our brand and in our intellectual property," he says. "Any time you have a trademark of a service-mark you have an affirmative obligation to protect it."

Posted by Paul Demko at March 30, 2006 10:59 AM | Comments (0)

 

Department of Conspiracy Theories: Uptown shooting was a government black-op!

Filed under: Crime

It has been hard to avoid the news coverage of the murder of Michael Zebuhr, the 25-year-old graduate student from South Carolina who was shot twice in the head as he walked down an Uptown street with his mother on March 18. Zebuhr, it seemed, was the very unfortunate victim of two cold-blooded muggers.

Or was he? On the internet discussion boards, a competing theory has emerged. Zebuhr, the thinking here goes, was not a random victim; he was, rather, the target of a government black-op.

So why would the government want to kill a promising young bioengineering student about whom no one can seem to utter a negative word? Because, you naive dolt, Zebuhr was a member of 9/11 Scholars for Truth, an organization of students and academics who believe the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were orchestrated by rogue elements within the U.S. government.

Speculation about Zebuhr's shooting matter has been rampant on various 9/11 chatboards for the better part of two weeks. (Click here or here or here if you've got the fortitude).

Otherwise, here's a sampling of some of the typical posts:

I think this was a black op hit. Michael was very active in the 911 truth movement, and was a full member of Scholars for Truth. Many in the truth movement will probably see this as the first martyrdom in the war for truth.

They can condition otherwise innocent people to act upon a trigger. I'd say that's how they took out Bobby Kennedy, Oswald and Lennon.

Blackops has been known to pay ass't gumbas, tweakers and crackheads to do their dirty work, since getting an agents hands dirty on low profile targets is not worth the risk, since there's always the possiblity of slopping the hit. Who's going to believe a stooly gang banger that says the Fed set him up?

Since when do two muggers hit on a group of four people, then randomly shoot one of the people in the head when the money is handed over and no resistance offered? Could this indeed be an execution? An attempt to intimidate and silence the rest of the 911 Truth Movement?

Don't buy it? Maybe you just can't handle the truth.

UPDATE: Jim Fetzer--philosophy professor at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, author of the Wellstone-was-rubbed-out book, "American Assassination: The Stange Death of Senator Paul Wellstone," and founder of 9/11 Scholars for Truth--reports that he has talked to a Minneapolis homicide detective and, based on that conservation, believes there is no connection between Zebuhr's killing and his involvement with the 9/11 truth movement.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at March 30, 2006 10:31 AM | Comments (4)

 

3/30: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

Most programs written in the C programming language were immune to the Y2K problem, but suffer instead from the Year 2038 problem.

Smokers often say that smoking a cigarette helps them concentrate and feel more alert. But years of tobacco use may have the opposite effect, dimming the speed and accuracy of a person's thinking ability and bringing down their IQ, according to a new study led by University of Michigan researchers.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Join in the American Idol conversation, and read commentary on music and movies at Society Dome.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

1973 Walt Disney VD cartoon

Gloabl Politics in 30 Seconds from the hilarious Wonder Showzen

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I think Angelina Jolie has done amazing, amazing things, and the international adoption rate just since her has skyrocketed. It's unbelievable."

-- pizza commercial fixture Jessica Simpson, on the possibility of her adopting and caring for children

Posted by Corey Anderson at March 30, 2006 7:19 AM | Comments (0)

 

5th CD: Yanisch out; Swastika Dome guy in!

Filed under: Minneapolis

I wrote about the ridiculously crowded race to replace U.S. Rep. Martin Sabo in today's paper. A couple of additional notes: Rebecca Yanisch dropped out of the race yesterday.

And I failed to make the connection initially, but one of the two Republican Party candidates vying for the post is the guy who believes the roof of the Metrodome is a giant swastika! Who says the Republicans aren't going to be a factor in this heavily Democratic district?

Posted by Paul Demko at March 29, 2006 10:45 AM | Comments (2)

 

Instant follow-up: 3M's bluegill problem

Filed under: Environment

My story in today's City Pages about former Minnesota Pollution Control Agency researcher Fardin Oliaei merits a quick footnote. As the piece relates, Oliaei's 16-year employment at the MPCA came to an end last month--an outcome the scientist attributes to institutional opposition to her efforts to focus public attention and research dollars on pollution from a ubiquitous and highly persistent family of synthetic chemicals known as PFCs. In particular, Oliaei has been concerned with a PFC called PFOS, which was long manufactured by the 3M Company at its facility in Cottage Grove for use in such products as Scotch-Guard.

Well, yesterday, the Minnesota Department of Health announced that it was issuing new fish consumption guidelines for a nearby stretch of the Mississippi River (Pool 2) because of research findings that show unusually high levels of PFOS in the fillets of bluegill sunfish.

Okay, this probably won't effect a hell of a lot of people. Pool 2, which runs from St. Paul's Ford Dam to Hastings, is a relatively polluted body of water. You have to be pretty cavalier to routinely eat fish from its waters. That said, until yesterday, the Department of Health held the position that it was okay to eat an unlimited number of bluegills from the river because bluegills, like other small panfish, typically don't accumulate conventional pollutants at the same rate as bigger predator fish.

PFOS seems to constitute an unusual exception to this principle. The compound binds to muscle tissue the way most other bioaccumulative toxins concentrate in fat. Long story short: the MDH now says no more than one bluegill meal a week out of the river.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at March 29, 2006 10:00 AM | Comments (2)

 

3/29: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Jim Walsh has a shot of the reunited Replacements at the Walsh Files.

THESE DAYS

Scientists can grow frog and mouse meat in the lab, and are now working on pork, beef and chicken. Their goal is to develop an industrial version of the process in five years.

Tennessee State Rep. Debra Maggart believes homosexual couples should not be allowed to adopt children because they may molest the children they adopt.

John Claassen is suing the popular online matchmaker eHarmony for refusing to help him find a date. The company says there's one good reason for that: He's still married.

Oil services company Halliburton Co. repeatedly overcharged taxpayers and provided substandard cost reports under a $1.2 billion contract to restore
Iraq's southern oil fields, according to a new report by U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Aliecat had an NG tube down her throat for 24 hours. And she hates those eHarmony ads. Read more at The Kitty Kat Lounge.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Star Wars animated GIF

How to earn your first million by starting at age 16

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"Arrested Development reached its end, creatively, as a series."

-- Show creator Mitch Hurwitz, after talks with Showtime to pick up the cancelled series failed

Posted by Corey Anderson at March 29, 2006 2:57 AM | Comments (0)

 

I Love the 80s: Did the U.S. train Iraq's death squads?

Until recently, even close news readers have known little about the bodies turning up around Iraq by the hundreds. More than a few of them have been headless, which makes identification more complicated. Were these insurgents? Sunni clerics? Ex-Baathists? Regime sympathizers?

New York Times war correspondent Jeffrey Gettleman suggested an answer to those questions in his Sunday front page story: frequently, none of the above. The piece begins with the case of a non-observant Sunni bird fancier who was extracted from his pet store at gun point, over the objections of a Shiite neighbor. He turned up the next day at a sewage plant. "A slight man who raised nightingales," Gettleman continues, "he had been hogtied, drilled with power tools and shot.

Gettleman's conclusion: Shiite militia are running loose in Iraq with the backing of the nation's Interior Ministry.

Do they also enjoy the backing of the United States? No one has hinted as much--recently, that is. Amid all the awful stories coming out of Iraq--the graft, the child soldiers, the Taliban-style restrictions on women, music and alcohol--one can forget the news from last week...to say nothing of last year. And so it was with morbid unease that I stumbled yesterday upon a Newsweek story from January of 2005 that suggested that frustrated American military planners were considering something called "the Salvador Option":

NEWSWEEK has learned, the Pentagon is intensively debating an option that dates back to a still-secret strategy in the Reagan administration's battle against the leftist guerrilla insurgency in El Salvador in the early 1980s. Then, faced with a losing war against Salvadoran rebels, the U.S. government funded or supported "nationalist" forces that allegedly included so-called death squads directed to hunt down and kill rebel leaders and sympathizers....

Following that model, one Pentagon proposal would send Special Forces teams to advise, support and possibly train Iraqi squads, most likely hand-picked Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Shiite militiamen, to target Sunni insurgents and their sympathizers, even across the border into Syria, according to military insiders familiar with the discussions. It remains unclear, however, whether this would be a policy of assassination or so-called "snatch" operations, in which the targets are sent to secret facilities for interrogation. The current thinking is that while U.S. Special Forces would lead operations in, say, Syria, activities inside Iraq itself would be carried out by Iraqi paramilitaries, officials tell NEWSWEEK.

How much longer before the phrase "sectarian violence" yields to that old favorite, the dirty war?

Posted by Michael Tortorello at March 28, 2006 1:09 PM | Comments (1)

 

3/28: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

Richard Lynn of the University of Ulster has ranked European IQ scores and puts Germany and the Netherlands at the top, with Turkey and Serbia bringing up the rear.

Congressman Tom Delay's concealed handgun license is revoked.

"Sex consent forms" are being circulated in South Africa in the wake of ongoing rape trials involving high-profile personalities.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Loosestrife casts a jaundiced gaze at politics in the City of Lakes at Minneapolis Upside Down.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

A 1989 Apple computer brochure illustrated by The Simpsons's Matt Groening.

Life and love with the world's worst dog: Snarley

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"Mike's played in this system. There won't be a lot of thinking involved with him."

-- Vikings head coach Brad Childress, on acquiring former Philly back-up QB Mike McMahon

Posted by Corey Anderson at March 28, 2006 6:30 AM | Comments (0)

 

Petey Mac is back?

Filed under: Minnesota Politics

A word from Hennepin County Commissioner McLaughlin

Peter McLaughlin made an appearance at a labor rally/protest in downtown Minneapolis Saturday afternoon. Judging from the reaction of many union members, it was the rarest of sightings since McLaughlin lost his bid to be mayor of Minneapolis in November.

"I told you about the crime," McLaughlin said aloud to no one in particular, referring to the issue he repeatedly hammered when he ran against incumbent Mayor R.T. Rybak last year.

But no one wanted to be seen gloating over an uptick in various street offenses, so the talk--on the corner of South 2nd Street and Portland Avenue, in front of the old Whitney Hotel--quickly changed to politics.

The labor support of McLaughlin is real, and several of the roughly 150 assembled under overcast skies starting quizzing McLaughlin on whether he might seek another office.

The moment was especially poignant because there was never a strong theory as to why McLaughlin ran for the mayor in the first place. His post on the Hennepin County board is by all accounts a quieter, yet cushier, spot to be in. In some ways, there's far more power there than could ever be found in the mayor's office.

So one school of thought had it that McLaughlin, a former state lawmaker, was simply chasing the mayoralship to gain a flashier profile to someday run for higher office. Martin Sabo's 5th Congressional District seat was often mentioned as McLaughlin's true political dream--and candidates have been rushing to fill Sabo's shoes since he announced his retirement two weeks ago.

So, how about that race, Commissioner? "I am very happy," he said, a little too loudly, "raising my seven-week-old."

It's true that McLaughlin just became a new father--the timing between that and Sabo's retirement cannot be lost on him. The words hung in the air a little acridly. Somebody mentioned Sabo's retirement again, and how uninspiring the candidates were. Big Mac refrained: "No, I'm very happy focusing on my seven-week-old."

And with that, talk turned to some other local races, with McLaughlin pointing out that he was running for re-election to the county board. There, he will face far less competition than the 14 candidates vying for the 5th District nod. So far he's only facing Farheen Hakeem, a Green Party candidate who managed to come in a not-totally-distant third behind McLaughlin in the mayoral campaign.

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at March 27, 2006 3:37 PM | Comments (1)

 

3/27: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Steve Monaco has the 100th Monday Movie Quiz at Couch Pundit.

Jack Sparks remembers Buck Owens at the Other Side of Country.

Britt Robson breaks down last night's Timberwolves game at Balls!

THESE DAYS

New York state Sen. Ada Smith, a Queens Democrat, allegedly threw coffee in a staffer's face after the senator returned from a Weight Watchers meeting and said she had lost about four pounds. The staffer then stated she thought Smith would have lost more.

A Los Angeles screenwriter, J. Neil Schulman, is claiming that the Department of Homeland Security has informed him that he may not use the agency's name "or any of the Department's official visual identities" in the script for his film, Lady Magdalene, despite the fact that the film presents a positive image of the DHS. [via Undernews]

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Abigail Garner, author of Families Like Mine: Children of Gay Parents Tell It Like It Is, blogs on gay and lesbian issues in our culture at Damn Straight.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Cat vs. Ninja Chipmunk

Heavy Metal Ken dolls

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"[Brokeback Mountain producers] were engaged in a 'movie laundering' scheme designed to obtain the services of talent such as Randy Quaid on economically unfavorable art film terms."

-- excerpt of a lawsuit filed by actor Randy Quaid ("Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure"), asking for $10 million in damages, and accusing the movie producers of procuring his services for little money by falsely representing the movie to him as "a low-budget, art-house film, with no prospect of making any money."

Posted by Corey Anderson at March 27, 2006 6:46 AM | Comments (0)

 

E-mails threatening blogger's family brings Minvolved to a halt

Filed under: Blogs/Web

This morning the blogger known as Mr. Sponge posted his last communique at the relatively new left-wing blog Minvolved, intimating a threat had been received concerning the safety of his wife and/or children. A letter from Sponge to Norwegianity blogger Mark Gisleson stated he received two e-mails from separate Hotmail accounts. The e-mails included Sponge's wife's name and her place of work and implications that the author would confront Sponge's wife or her boss about the content on Minvolved, a partisan but rarely inflammatory site. Matthew Martin, a fellow Minvolved contributor and blogger at MN Publius, is out of town and unable to respond to inquiries until April 4.

Partisanship seems to have taken a really ugly turn when the lives of one's family are threatened over policital commentary. Let's hope Sponge is successful in tracking down the odious troll behind these threats.

Posted by Corey Anderson at March 24, 2006 3:03 PM | Comments (2)

 

Confined to the kitchen

Filed under: Business

Chino Latino, as the name suggests, is known for its cheeky fusion of cuisines and cultures from around the globe. The trendy, six-year-old Uptown eatery serves up such concoctions as chipotle salmon roll, Philippine paella, and Fidel's capitalist pig roast.

But according to a lawsuit filed earlier this month by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in U.S. District Court, Chino Latino also serves up a heaping platter of discrimination for its Hispanic employees.

According to the civil complaint, the business has systematically discriminated against its Latino workers, most of whom work in the back of the restaurant. "The harassment and different terms and conditions of employment included, but was not limited to, use of hostile epithets, slurs, different discipline, and harsher treatment based upon their national origin," the lawsuit reads.

In 2003, the complaint alleges, Chino Latino employees Pedro Carrasco and Edwin Santoscoy organized a meeting with management to discuss concerns they had about treatment of Hispanic workers. The company's response: the pair of agitators were summarily fired.

Carrasco subsequently filed a discrimination complaint with the EEOC. After the government agency conducted an investigation, the claim was determined to have merit. The EEOC is seeking back-pay and monetary damages for the two employees, as well as others who have been negatively impacted by the company's alleged practices.

Kip Clayton, vice president for business development at Parasole Restaurant Holdings, the parent company of Chino Latino, denies that the business is guilty of any wrongdoing. "We certainly cooperated with the EEOC, but our response back to them is that Chino Latino isn't guilty of discriminating against these employees," he says. "They were fired for cause. Chino Latino is a great place to work."

Posted by Paul Demko at March 24, 2006 12:45 PM | Comments (0)

 

Religious right pressure cooker gets to Koering

Filed under: Legislature

It was almost a year ago that Sen. Paul Koering (R-Fort Ripley) essentially outed himself as a gay person when he voted against moving the anti-gay marriage amendment proposed by Sen. Michelle Bachmann (R-Stillwater) out of committee and directly to the floor of the Senate for a vote. The very next morning, groups supporting the gay marriage ban starting running radio ads in Koering's district, and gave out his home phone number in the process. Within the week, caught up in a political firestorm, Koering decided to announce to the media that he was gay.

In an interview with City Pages last June, Koering claimed that he was against gay marriage, and that his vote was one disagreeing with procedure, "departing from the way we normally do business in the Senate...To make a motion to pull this out of committee and drag it right to the Senate floor, I just thought it was the wrong thing to do."

Flash forward to last Monday. Bachmann once again requested that her amendment be withdrawn from the Judiciary Committee and sent directly to the floor of the Senate. The President of the Senate, James Metzen (DFL-South St. Paul), ruled that it could not be done because the question had already been asked and answered last year, on the vote that turned Koering into a political lightning rod. Bachmann appealed, and asked for a floor vote on Metzen's ruling. Few were surprised that Bachmann's motion was defeated in the body where the DFL holds a majority. The jaw-dropper was that Paul Koering voted with her, essentially changing his position of a year ago.

If there was any doubt that Koering was truly flip-flopping rather than splitting procedural hairs on the subject, they were vanquished moments later. Sen. Sean Nienow (R-Cambridge), proposed that his own constitutional amendment bill opposing gay marriage bill, with the same language as Bachmann's bill, be moved out of committee and taken right to the senate floor--the exact same procedural move that Koering said was "the wrong thing to do." But Koering voted in favor of Nienow's proposal.

On February 27, Koering told MPR that he would not support any efforts by amendment supporters to deviate from standard Senate operations. But just a day later, a group known as Minnesota Citizens in Defense of Marriage announced that they would launch a media campaign against a dozen senators standing for re-election in swing districts this November, referred to by MCDM as "the Gang of 12." Koering was the lone Republican targeted.

In the days leading up to his vote, Koering said that while he was opposed to gay marriage, he was troubled by the prospect that the amendment would infringe upon the rights and benefits of people who form civil unions. Yet neither proposed by Bachmann or Nienow softened language in the amendment that gay advocacy groups say would lay waste to those rights and benefits. "We are very disappointed that this issue has become so divisive that an openly gay man would vote against the best interests of his own community," says Ann DeGroot, executive director of Outfront Minnesota.

Koering himself has not returned calls from City Pages asking why he chose to change his position. Back in June, this is what he told us: "I have people on both sides who disagree with me, but at least they can't say I'm a hypocrite. I don't say one thing and do another."

Posted by Britt Robson at March 24, 2006 9:30 AM | Comments (2)

 

Minnesota by the numbers: Senate expense report edition

Filed under: Minnesota Politics

So far this year, the 67 members of the Minnesota Senate have filed expense reports totalling $226,539. In keeping with historical patterns, however, there is considerable variation between individual senators. Those who live the furthest from the Capitol typically wind up with biggest tabs because of their greater travel and lodging expenses.

That probably explains why State Sen. Leroy Stumpf sits atop the expense report heap for 2006. The seven term DFLer hails from the northwest Minnesota hamlet of Plummer, a 310 mile drive from St. Paul. Stumpf, who has filed for total reimbursements of $9,217 so far this year, has accumulated $4,186 in mileage alone. Gubernatorial hopeful Steve Kelley, meanwhile, has submitted the lowest request for reimbursements in 2006: $876. Like 15 of his colleagues (mainly fellow metro area legislators), the Hopkins DFL-er has requested zero compensation for his mileage.

Stumpf was also the senate's resident expense king in 2005, when he was reimbursed for a total of $40,042. Winona Republican Bob Kierlin earned the distinction as the thriftiest state senator of 2005. His total filings amounted to just $905.

Some other 2005 figures for notable senators:

Majority leader Dean Johnson (DFL-Willmar): $30,568
Minority leader Dick Day (R-Owatonna): $27,368
President of the Senate James Metzen (DLF-South St. Paul):$10,698
Gubernatorial hopeful Becky Lourey (DFL-Kerrick): $27,002
Sixth district congressional candidate Michele Bachmann (R-Stillwater): $10,629
Good government advocate John Marty (DFL-Roseville): $9,447

According to the Senate Office of Fiscal Services, which supplied the above data, senators are entitled to submit expenses in three broad categories: per diems ($66); mileage (at the IRS rate of 44.5 cents per mile); and "other," a catch-all category that includes lodging expenses (with a maximum of $85 per night for hotel rooms and $900 a month for apartment leases), communications (internet, phones, and fax lines are covered), intern reimbursement ($50 a week max) and workshop or conference expenses (which must be approved by applicable senate committees).

All this, of course, is on top of the senators' relatively modest annual salary of $31,140, a figure has remain unchanged since 1999.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at March 24, 2006 8:34 AM | Comments (0)

 

3/24: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Britt Robson breaks down last night's Timberwolves game at Balls!

Pizzaman delivers to the drunkest man ever on the Streets of Pizza.

It's Art Brut vs. the Arctic Monkeys and Minneapolis vs. St. Paul at the Walsh Files.

First, the St. Paul City Council banned Easter Bunnies to avoid offending non-Christians. Find out what they're banning next at American Idle.

THESE DAYS

Former first lady Barbara Bush donated an undisclosed amount of money to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund with specific instructions that the money be spent with an educational software company owned by her son Neil.

Infants tend to grasp the names of objects that interest them rather than whatever the speaker thinks is important, a new study has found.

Under the auspices of its religion-based initiatives and other federal programs, the Bush Administration has funneled at least $157 million in grants to organizations run by political and ideological allies, according to federal grant documents and interviews.

Hitslink, a web metrics company, reports that the number of people using Mac OS online topped 4 percent by the end of November 2005.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Lefty blogging and podcasting can be yours at LoLife.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

The Simpsons theme performed on a single acoustic guitar

Kiplinger's has Seven Career Killers for those just starting out

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"It's usually worth the expense, because you get more emotion which sells more product."

-- commercial director Laura Cheshire, on why companies like AOL and Anheuser-Busch spend millions for voiceovers from A-list stars when few viewers will recognize them

Posted by Corey Anderson at March 24, 2006 6:42 AM | Comments (0)

 

HBO as Gospel, or HBO vs. Gospel?

Filed under: Media

Viagra and polyamorous red herrings

It's not often I agree with Slate's William Saleten. I find his abortion-reduction schtick tiresome and not a productive plank in the debate, for instance. But in the wake of Strib columnist Katherine Kersten's cautionary rant about gay marriage leading to the legitimization of polygamy, I'm willing to take up with Saleten, albeit temporarily. Saleten writes in response to the Washington Post's Charles Krauthammer, who earlier this week advanced the same argument as Kersten--namely, that HBO's new drama, about a suburban clatch of polygamists in Utah is the next salvo in the pervert culture wars. History, Saleten argues, is rife with examples of flirtations with the kinky gone awry.

I'm sure polyamorists are right that lots of people "find joy in having close relationships... with multiple partners." The average guy would love to bang his neighbor's wife. He just doesn't want his wife banging his neighbor. Fidelity isn't natural, but jealousy is. Hence the one-spouse rule. One isn't the number of people you want to sleep with. It's the number of people you want your spouse to sleep with.

We've been this way for a long time. Look at the Ten Commandments. One: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Two: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image... Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God." Three: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." In case the message isn't clear enough, the list proceeds to "Thou shalt not commit adultery" and "shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife."

In case you haven't seen the show that's got Kersten et. al. all a-twitter, let me just add one thing: The husband at the center of "Big Love" is something of a hapless character who resorts to more Viagra than any cardiologist would endorse and who spends a lot of time sorting out fights about money, cars, and schedules. His extended family also makes frequent, painful treks back to the hills to visit the much more exploitative polygamist clan from whence they split. It's hardly an endorsement of "the lifestyle."

Posted by Beth Hawkins at March 23, 2006 11:43 AM | Comments (0)

 

Bird flu: links

As a postscript to this week's CP interview with epidemiologist Michael Osterholm, here are some links for further reading:

H5N1: the best and most thorough of the dozen-plus bird flu news blogs I've looked at.

CIDRAP: the avian flu page at the University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy's website.

A "phantom flu": contrarian view of the H5N1 hubbub by a former Canadian public health official, Richard Schabas.

A 50 percent chance of crossover: ABC News story about the views of noted virologist Robert G. Webster.

Posted by Steve Perry at March 23, 2006 9:40 AM | Comments (1)

 

3/23: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Diablo Cody gives us a behind-the-scenes look at her interview with David Letterman at Pussy Ranch.

THESE DAYS

A survey conducted by The Times, London, among people working in Indian call centers for British and American companies found that one in five of those questioned has had a workplace affair even though the majority of them were married.

The spoils from former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham's bribery scheme--a household of valuable antiques, rugs and home furnishings--will be auctioned off by the government today to help cover the back taxes and restitution he owes.

The New Hampshire House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday against a proposed amendment to the state constitution to ban gay marriage.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Will poodle enthusiast Mike Finley ever write a happy poem? Find out at Cheer Up, Dogs.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Chris Bliss juggles to the Beatles

Inside the Actors Studio's very proper host James Lipton shotguns a beer on Conan O'Brien

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"It was a little country place. I used to go rabbit hunting over here."

-- L.A. Metropolitan Transportation Authority employee Arthur Winston, describing Los Angeles when he started working in 1924. He retired yesterday on his 100th birthday.

Posted by Corey Anderson at March 23, 2006 6:41 AM | Comments (0)

 

3/22: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

A nation rejoices as Pizza Man grabs a stack of pies and hits the Streets of Pizza once again.

Britt Robson breaks down last night's Timberwolves game at Balls!

THESE DAYS

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has stepped into the controversy between religious fundamentalists and scientists by saying that he does not believe that creationism - the Bible-based account of the origins of the world - should be taught in schools.

The partnership between Amazon.com and Toys 'R' Us came to an end as a judge ruled in favor of the toy retailer and its desire to end the arrangement.

Budget constraints are forcing some FBI agents to operate without e-mail accounts, according to the agency's top official in New York.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Eric Atherton, Greg Peterson, Craig Swalboski, Donny Henn, and other staff members of the Rochester Post-Bulletin blog about sports at the Bullpen.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Christopher Walken Cowbell Soundboard

Eat my sugary ultrasound, with or without sprinkles!

World's Top 10 Nude Beaches

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"Listen, every war plan looks good on paper until you meet the enemy."

-- President Bush, during yesterday's press conference

Posted by Corey Anderson at March 22, 2006 6:35 AM | Comments (0)

 

Minneapolis FBI: See no Evil

Filed under: War on Terror

Local agent in Moussaoui case issued 70 terror warnings

On the stand yesterday in Virginia in the sentencing phase of 9/11 conspirator, a Minneapolis FBI agent offered some horrific testimony about his attempts to investigate Moussaoui's al Quaeda ties while the convict was incarcerated in Sherburne County, Minnesota.

An FBI agent who interrogated Zacarias Moussaoui before Sept. 11, 2001, warned his supervisors more than 70 times that Moussaoui was a terrorist and spelled out his suspicions that the al-Qaeda operative was plotting to hijack an airplane, according to federal court testimony yesterday.

Agent Harry Samit told jurors at Moussaoui's death penalty trial that his efforts to secure a warrant to search Moussaoui's belongings were frustrated at every turn by FBI officials he accused of "criminal negligence." Samit said he had sought help from a colleague, writing that he was "so desperate to get into Moussaoui's computer I'll take anything."

That was on Sept. 10, 2001.

The Washington Post has a compelling story on the testimony; CP's sister publication, the Village Voice has a short, pointed version.

Posted by Beth Hawkins at March 21, 2006 3:27 PM | Comments (0)

 

3/21: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Watch Diablo Cody of the Pussy Ranch on The Late Show with David Letterman at Culture To Go.

THESE DAYS

Doctors pronounced Ethan Myers brain dead after a car accident dealt the 9-year-old a severe brain injury in 2002. Yet, thanks partly to a video game system, Myers has caught up with his peers in school.

A study from the Journal of Research Into Personality by Jack and Jeanne Block tracked 100 kids from their 1960s nursery school days to the present and found the whiny kids tended to grow up conservative, and turned into rigid young adults, while the confident kids turned out liberal and were still hanging loose, turning into bright, non-conforming adults with wide interests.

Dubai, which agreed this month to sell its interest in U.S. ports, said its $1.2 billion takeover of a U.K. company with U.S. plants that make military equipment is delayed while the authorities investigate security concerns.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Blogging on Malachi Constant, Veronica Mars, and Earth/asteroid collisions can be found at Planetarium.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Fans of Office Space can download their T.P.S. Report coversheets here. What? You didn't get the memo? I'll send it to you again.

What was song was No.1 on the day you were born? "Everyday People" by Sly & The Family Stone: the only cool thing about me. What was No. 1 on the day you were born? Leave it in the comments!

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I went through a big 'me' situation last year with a guy who was all about 'me.'"

-- Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Brad "Major Dad" Childress, busting on Pro Bowl quarterback Daunte Culpepper at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon

Posted by Corey Anderson at March 21, 2006 6:52 AM | Comments (5)

 

Hail to the chief--whoever that is

Filed under: Minneapolis

Now that Bill McManus has shuffled off to San Antonio, the biggest story around City Hall is who might replace the Minneapolis police chief.

Mayor R.T. Rybak tapped Assistant Chief Tim Dolan to serve as interim chief. In the short term, at least, Dolan makes sense: He has been overseeing the day-to-day operations of the department for some time.

Still, most observers couldn't help but notice that Dolan's stature has risen since the last chief search more than two years ago.

Then, City Hall watchers often named Dolan as one of the top three internal candidates. Ultimately, though, he didn't make the list of finalists. As a potential hire from within the department, Dolan was firmly behind two others in the MPD, Sharon Lubinski and Lucy Gerold, both of whom have since risen to the rank of deputy chief. But it became evident that McManus was, to some extent, grooming Dolan to take over. Now, it would appear as though Dolan is in the driver's seat.

Or is he? The mayor's office and initial media reports played up Dolan's "straight shooter" demeanor and neighborhood bona fides. But before Rybak chose McManus as the new boss in late 2003, most City Council members made it clear that they would prefer either Lubinski or Gerold. Now, that's not necessarily the case.

"I want who is most qualified," says City Council President Barb Johnson, who last time around was a proponent of having a woman in the position.

Council member Gary Schiff (Ninth Ward), who still sees great potential in Sharon Lubinski, has also changed his tune slightly. "I think the important thing is that you have four or five strong internal candidates," Schiff notes, saying that Deputy Chief Don Harris and Lt. Lee Edwards, who heads the department's homicide division, are now in the pool.

Johnson notes that in 2004, "Dolan really did a marvelous job managing the budget. We carried about 30 more cops just because he managed the checkbook week-to-week."

That praise aside, Dolan doesn't seem to have a sure path to the post. Given the department's longstanding problems involving race and civil rights, there may be pressure from the City Council and the community for Rybak to finally end the succession of white men who have led the MPD. In addition to the strong female candidates--Lubinski and Gerold--Harris and Edwards are both African American.

It remains possible that Rybak will conduct a nationwide search. But all indications are that the council would prefer to stick close to home. "I contend that knowing the city of Minneapolis is one of the main qualifications for this job," Schiff says, adding that an internal hire would be the easiest on everyone after going through a divisive process last time. "Of those, the council is going to confirm whoever is the mayor's choice. Nobody's got time for playing those games."

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at March 20, 2006 1:16 PM | Comments (2)

 

3/20: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Steve Monaco has the Monday Movie Quiz at Couch Pundit.

THESE DAYS

Prominent leaders from the Christian right have warned Republicans they must do more to advance conservative values ahead of the mid-term elections.

In a world of too much work and too much multitasking, Fortune senior writer Anne Fisher thinks the best way to beat the competition may be to do less.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Extensive information on local microbreweries, homebrewing, beer-related events, and updates on beer menus at Twin Cities pubs can be found at MN Beer.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

A Barq's root beer ad featuring Spumco's George Liquor and Jimmy Of The Future

Sample emoticons for e-kicking someone in the e-balls

The trailer for Snakes on a Plane starring Samuel L. Jackson. When did he hire Cuba Gooding Jr.'s agent?

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"In Venezuela, a demogogue awash in oil money is undermining democracy and seeking to destabilize the region."

-- The White House's latest National Security Strategy report, describing Venezuela President Hugo Chavez [via American Street]

Posted by Corey Anderson at March 20, 2006 6:23 AM | Comments (0)

 

Still Bozos: Minneapolis School Board members resist electoral reform

Filed under: Education

It is disappointing, but hardly surprising that the primary opposition to new legislation that would reform the way Minneapolis School Board members are elected is coming from the board members themselves. Sponsored by Rep. Jim Davnie and Sen. Wes Skoglund (both DFL-Minneapolis), the bill would have school board representation mirror that of the Minneapolis Park Board, with six members each elected from a specific geographical district and three more chosen on an at-large, city-wide basis. Currently, all seven school board members run city-wide.

This is the third year in a row Davnie has introduced the bill, but, as he says, "Objective observers have said they think there is a good chance of it passing this year. It has passed both committees required in the Senate and awaits action on the Senate floor. It passed two committees in the House last year and all it needs to go to the floor is to go through the education policy committee that passed it last year--it is a parliamentary issue--and the chair has assured me that we'll get a hearing."

Why is the third time apparently the charm? The disastrous "resignation" of Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Thandiwe Peebles earlier this winter further soured opinions about the board's credibility and responsiveness to parents in the city, a disconnect that Davnie believes existed before the board helped usher Peebles out the door. "Parents are frustrated that when they have an issue with a school, they don't know who to call. Because all the board members are elected at-large, nobody really knows all the school families and has both the formal and informal networks established to understand where your particular area of town is coming from. This bill will help the board be more grounded within the communities they serve."

But board chair Joseph Erickson told the Star Tribune earlier this week that he thinks the district would be better served by a board that treats the system as an "organic whole" and warns of turf wars as "different parts of the city vie for resources." That's a disingenuous statement given persistent and longstanding sentiment, particularly among parents on the northern side of town, that the board is biased toward the more affluent southwestern neighborhoods. In particular, they point to the most recent spate of school closings, which mostly spared the southwestern area. And parents with children in schools in more impoverished neighborhoods cite the recent contract the board negotiated with the teacher's union, which continues to afford an enormous amount of leverage for teachers with seniority to determine where they are placed, enabling the most experienced teachers to create quality enclaves in schools where there are fewer social problems.

Asked who is opposing the bill, Davnie says, "The school board has repeatedly come down to testify against it. I know that both Joe Erickson and [board member] Lydia Lee were at the Senate Education Committee. Otherwise, I know of no other opposition at this time.

"Mayor Rybak is a strong supporter this year, and that is a new development," Davnie continues. "I don't want to put words in his mouth, but I think education was one of those quiet but everpresent issues during his election last year, with a lot of people telling him that they want to see the board more responsive to schools. And now this year he is supporting the bill. You can draw your own conclusions."

Posted by Britt Robson at March 17, 2006 11:38 AM | Comments (6)

 

3/17: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Britt Robson breaks down last night's Timberwolves game at Balls!

Lindsey Thomas is blogging from SXSW at Culture To Go.

THESE DAYS

A large and previously unknown reservoir of water ice may have been found below the surface of Mars, new radar observations suggest.

The Pentagon's official watchdog will investigate allegations by Halliburton Co. water experts that their company endangered U.S. troops in Iraq by failing to provide safe shower and laundry water.

The new Star Wars television series will film more than 100 episodes, and is expected to debut sometime in 2008. And we can all p