Next He'll Kiss Hands and Shake Babies

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (right) has lost his diamond earring. Seems it wasn't playing well in the polls. He's in a tight race for re-election and could lose by a nose. Hmm. Wonder if that's pierced.

Anyway, back in 2001, Mayor Kilpatrick quit wearing the earring when polls showed women ages 40 to 55 didn't like it.

This time he's promising if elected -- he'll never put it back in. (Baltimore Sun)

Frist Subpoenaed

The Securities and Exchange Commission has subpoenaed Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) in their investigation of his stock sale.

Sen Frist sold all of his HCA Inc stock just two weeks before a dramatic drop in share prices. His family had founded the company. The Senator is expected to testify under oath as the investigation proceeds. (WashPost)

Quote of the Day -- Terrorizing the English Language

"We expect Syria to do everything in her power to shut down the transshipment of suiciders and killers into Iraq." -- President George W Bush, Wednesday, October 12, 2005 (CNN)

Science Slipping in the States

Debate over science education in America seems limited to whether or not "intelligent design" is taught alongside evolution.

While Americans argue, other countries are producing far more science, math, and engineering graduates.

Last year, the US graduated 70,000 engineers. India produced five times as many. China, nearly nine times as many.

The National Academy of Sciences warns the US is in danger of losing it's lead in science and technology. (AP via Yahoo!)

Terror Threat? It's Who You Know.

The New York Daily News reports that some of the Big Apple's richest residents were warned about possible terror threats long before the rest of the population.

Business and arts executives got e-mails at least three days before police alerted the general public.

The information was apparently leaked from the Department of Homeland Security in Washington.

"I have just received a most disturbing call from one of my oldest friends from growing up in Washington. He called with a very specific caution to not enter or use the New York City subway system from Oct. 7 through 10th." -- excerpt from one of the suspect e-mails

NYPD found one e-mail with a time stamp dated a full hour and a half before Mayor Michael Bloomberg was even briefed on the threat.

New York subways were put on a higher state of alert based on information from interrogations in Iraq. The threat turned out to be unwarranted. (New York Daily News)

Radioactive Road Trip

An ABC News report has spurred the Nuclear Reglatory Commission to investigate at least five US colleges and universities. ABC looked at nuclear reactors set up on 25 college campuses and found lax security around many of them. The reports showed it could be easy for terrorists to gain access and use explosives to turn the reactors into "dirty bombs."

None of the reactors had metal detectors and only two had armed guards. (ABC)

Leak Probe Expands

An article in the Wall Street Journal suggests that special prosector Patrick Fitzgerald may be widening the scope of his investigation. He's probing the leak of Valerie Plame's identiy as a covert CIA agent. The leak came from inside the White House.

Speculation has centered on White House chief advisor Karl Rove and Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, "Scooter" Libby. But the Journal suggests the probe is turning toward something called "the White House Iraq Group."

It was formed in August, 2002. Mr Rove and Mr Libby were on it. They were coming up with the strategy to sell the Iraq War to the general public months before the invasion. That happened in March, 2003.

Leaking Ms Plame's identity is argued to be a reprisal for her husband being critical of an administration claim that Iraq was trying to get uranium from Niger. Mr Wilson went to Niger and later reported the claim was false. Right after that, his wife's role as a CIA operative showed up in Robert Novak's newspaper column -- leaked by the White House.

The Grand Jury wraps up October 28. Indictments -- if there are any -- could come as early as next week. (Wall Street Journal)

Dobson meets his "Come to Jesus" Time

Focus on the Family guru Dr James Dobson is explaining his background briefing on Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers.

The televangelist made waves when he said that the knew more about the nominee than should know. White House advisor Karl Rove had privately briefed Dr Dobson about Ms Miers' conservative credentials. The preacher's slip of the lip had the Senate Judiciary Committee threatening to subpoena him -- so he spilled the beans in a broadcast with Mr Rove's blessings:

"It's what we all know now, that Harriet Miers is an evangelical Christian, that she is from a very conservative church, which is almost universally pro-life, that she had taken on the American Bar Association on the issue of abortion and fought for a policy that would not be supportive of abortion, that she had been a member of the Texas Right to Life." -- Transcript of Dr James Dobson's October 12, 2005 broadcast

Dr Dobson says he got a special briefing from Mr Rove shortly before Ms Miers' nomination was announced. (Newsday)

The CIA and the Organic Farmer

CIA Director Porter Goss -- like all good spy masters -- leads a double life. When not running the nation's spy shop, Director Goss is running a PETA-friendly farm in central Virginia. He practices "sustainable agriculture" -- a technique that requires humane treatment of his cattle sheep and chickens and doesn't allow pesticides or chemical fertilizers on his crops. (AP via NJ.com)

Drinks on the House...of Representatives

The Dallas Morning News reports Rep Kevin Brady (R-TX) (left) was arrested for drunk driving over the weekend. The Congressman was in South Dakota and ran into a sobriety checkpoint.

South Dakota cops are waiting to get back results from Rep Brady's blood test. If convicted, the misdemeanor charge could mean up to a $1,000 and a year in jail.

Rep Brady, as graduate of the University of South Dakota, was there for the school's homecoming weekend. (SF Chronicle)

Babies & Big Brother

The Chairwoman of the Indiana State Senate's Health Finance Commission wants people licensed before they can get medical help in a pregnancy.

State Sen Patricia Miller (R-Indianapolis) (right) wants a state agency to run background checks on prospective parents.

If you turn out to be single, gay, or don't go to church -- the state could bar you from seeking medical help during your pregnancy.

Someone really should license politicians. (Louisville Courier Journal)

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Profiting from Tragedy

When the US comes to the aid of another country -- like Pakistan during the current earthquake relief or the nations hit by the Christmastime tsunami -- Uncle Sam has to spend extra money to haul food from the US.

It would be cheaper to buy some of the food in the region where the disaster hit. But disaster relief efforts become windfalls for companies at home.

But Senate leaders have stopped an attempt to buy just 25% of the food closer to the disaster. They even shot down a plan to buy as little as 10% of the food locally.

Transportation costs eat up 40% of the money the government spends on food aid.

Not only would the move save taxpayers money, it would work to put cripled economies back on their feet after a disaster. (Fresno Bee)

Old School Pork

Find a need, find a way to fix the problem, and Congress will find a way to turn it into a pork barrel.

Take the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education. Washington came up with it back in 1973. Back then, it rewarded schools that came up with innovative ideas with the money to get them off the ground.

Back in the day, schools had to compete for the money with carefully designed ideas.

Today, just having a Congressman on the subcommittee that oversees the fund is clever enough.

Sen Arlen Specter chairs that panel. He sent $12 million home to Pennsylvania schools without the least bit of competition. The subcommittee's number two Republican, Sen Thad Cochran (R-MS), got another $12 million home to schools in Mississippi. (Santa Maria Times)

Billings the Taxpayers: Montana Pork

Montana colleges and universities got nearly a half million dollars of your money for a project that's mostly broken and stored in a school basement.

Four years ago -- as we were coming up on the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition -- the schools cooked up a kiosk plan. These ultramodern looking kiosks would be at visitor centers, airports, and other travel stops around Montana. They'd link with the Internet and help tourists trace the path of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Four years, and $497,000 later -- only three of the kiosks were ever built. One no longer works. Another is stored in a university basement. (Missoulian)

The Bridges of Ashtabula County

Ashtabula County, Ohio, has more covered bridges than anywhere else in Ohio. Now they want federal taxpayers to help them with another record -- the longest covered bridge in the US.

The federal government has already offered $5 million toward the county's 600-foot bridge. Local leaders want it as a way to attract tourists to their annual covered bridge festival. (Boston Globe)

Philly Phamplets

Philadelphia taxpayers have been on the hook for teaching hookers some helpful hints. It's just one of the phamplets the city's been handing out at taxpayer expense.

The phamplets include such catchy titles as:

• Helpful Hints for Hookers
• Tips for Crackheads
• The Lowdown on Shooting Up
• Healthy Hormone Habits

The Smoking Gun has all of them archived for your reading pleasure. (TSG)