The "Spying on Journalists" Question -- Now You See It, Now You Don't

As reporters chase down the Orwellian, "Big-Brother-Is-Watching-You" angle of the warrantless wiretap scandal, it appears some material at NBC went down the "memory hole."

TVNewser.com says MSNBC.com published a transcript of Andrea Mitchell's interview with author James Risen. Mr Risen is the reporter who broke the domestic spying story. He now has a book out -- State of War -- detailing US intel efforts in the Bush administration.

In the original transcript, Ms Mitchell asked if Mr Risen had found the NSA was tapping reporter Christiane Amanpour's communications.

Later in the day, MSNBC.com removed that particular part of the transcript.

We think it was MSNBC that removed it. Maybe the NSA was reading it.

The High Price of a Free Press

Another milestone in the Iraq War: more journalists have died covering that conflict than in all 22 years of the Vietnam War.

Journalists Without Borders counts 76 journalists and media staff killed in Iraq since March, 2003.

That's well above the 63 killed between 1955-1977 in Vietnam. (AP via WTNH, HT: TRS)

That's the Government's Job

What happens when you hit up an oil company for a charitible donation?

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Wisconsin has cold winters. Heating fuel prices are reaching record rates. Oil companies had record profits. So Wisconsin's Consumer Protection Department figured, maybe those oil companies would donate some of those record profits to help people out.

The Department's head honcho sent a letter to five major oil companies. Here's what he got back:

Mark Holstein, British Petroleum: "BP further believes that it is the role of government to determine the funding level for specific programs through allocation of its general revenues. BP has not made direct contributions to programs such as this and declines to do so now."

Margaret Ward, Chevron: "The government's role is to best determine the priority and the funding of programs such as LIHEAP. Congress funding and prioritization of other similar programs should be completely independent of oil industry earnings."

ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips had similar attitudes of passing the buck to government.

Shell asked for an extension. (Madison.com)

JS Online: Lobbyists often help lawmakers draft bills

An investigative report in Wisconsin found that lobbyists -- not lawmakers -- are writing state laws.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found lobbyists writing specific language included in bills -- and even helping coordinate news conferences to launch the bills. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Moon over Maryland

Drop your pants if you want to in Maryland -- "mooning" is perfectly legal.

A Circuit Judge has ruled that baring the buttocks may be distasteful, but it's not illegal.

Case stemmed from an argument between neighbors that escalated to one of them mooning the other. (WashPost)

Keeping the Lions Share of Abramoff Money

Politicians can't get away from Jack Abramoff fast enough. President Bush is even unloading money from the lobbyist turned prosecution witness. But it's only a fraction of the money Mr Abramoff brought in for Mr Bush's campaign.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan didn't have an exact figure -- but he says the President's re-election committee is sending "several thousand" dollars to charity.

That's shaping up as about $6,000.

The Democratic National Committee says the President took more than $100,000 from Abrahamoff over the years. Mr Abramoff was one of candidate Bush's "Pioneers" -- fundraisers who raised at least $100,000 in funds for the President's campaigns.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers have returned around $200,000 so far in their attempts to wash their hands of what promises to be the biggest scandal to hit Washington in years. (Reuters)

Water Water Everywhere

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power supplies tap water to the city. They also promote the city's water.

But the suits at the department spent $31,160 for bottled water.

The Los Angeles Times also found out that citywide, city officials spent $88,900 on bottled water.

The department spends about $500,000 a year on for a report on the quality of its water. Maybe they found out how the sausage -- er, water -- is made? (LAT, HT: IRE)

Reshaping Congress through Scandal

The Jack Abramoff plea bargin is already being compared to the 1992 House Banking Scandal -- which led to 77 lawmakers resigning or being voted out of office.

Political watchers say the new scandal -- coming in an election year -- could reshape Congress. Republicans -- with more seats to lose and more ties to Abramoff -- could take the hardest hits. (AP via Yahoo!)

Above the Law

When President Bush signed the new anti-torture bill into law -- he made some reservations. Mainly that the law doesn't apply to him.

The President issued a "signing statement" -- an official document explaining his interpretation of the law.

This particular statement says the President can waive the anti-torture law if he determines it's necessary to protect national security. (Boston.com)

National Guard Returns Emptyhanded

South Carolina National Guardsmen returned from Iraq.

Their equipment didn't.

The units were ordered to leave behind $50 million in equipment -- and they aren't sure if the items will ever be returned or replaced.

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Among the stuff they left in Iraq -- 24 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, 169 heavy transport trucks and Humvees, and hundreds of radios, weapons, and tools.

The Charleston Post & Courier reports the South Carolina National Guard left 750 pieces of equipment in Iraq.

We've told you here before that Governors in other states are dealing with the same problem -- and worrying more about whether the National Guard will have what they need to face disasters at home.

During Hurricane Katrina, National Guardsmen complained they didn't have the communications equipment they needed to do their job right.

The Iraq War is taking a heavy toll on military equipment. Hardly any of it was designed to last for years in the extreme heat and dust of Iraq. Tanks, Humvees, and other equipment was designed for a quick war in Europe. Sand and dust destroy electronics quickly.

Taking tools away from the National Guard may extend the mission in Iraq.

It may also leave them in the lurch next time a fire or flood threatens Americans here at home. (Post & Courier)

Hold the Presses!

What a difference two and a half hours make. Two headlines from the same source -- even the same pic:

Republican: Trump May Run for N.Y. Gov.
Tuesday, January 3, 2006 11:12 AM EST
The Associated Press

Trump Does Not Want to Run for Governor
Tuesday, January 3, 2006 1:46 PM EST
The Associated Press

Ike Piggot at Accentuate the Positive, 2.0 points out the second picture is darker -- shades of OJ?

Maybe Mr Trump decided not to run so he could find the "real" candidates. (AP via Charter.net)

Katrina Dangers Detected in 1990

The US Army Corps of Engineers knew about "engineering mistakes" that led to levee failures in New Orleans 15 years before Hurrican Katrina let to levee breaches.

But the Corps decided not to act on the findings.

The Times-Picayune got hold of the documents. They turned them over to forensic engineers studying the levee breaches.

The engineers say the documents show project engineers made a critical mistake in assessing soil strengths on the 17th Avenue Canal project.

Robert Bea is a University of California-Berkeley professor who is a member of the National Science Foundation team who looked at the documents.

He says after the Corps found the mistake, the documents indicate they decided to ignore the problem -- and no one ever raised the issue again.

New Laws

The first of the year means a bunch of new laws from the states. And it appears a lot of states are taking on roles the federal government used to handle:

• Minnesota: day-care centers must keep a record of the make and model of
  every crib and inspect them once a month
• Connecticut, New York, and Vermont: raise their minimum wage
• New Jersey & Virginia: now illegal to make a person's Social Security number public

The Christian Science Monitor has a longer list of new state laws from around the US. (CSM)

ABRAMOFF PLEA BARGIN

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff has cut a deal with prosecutors.

He'll plead guilty to three felony counts -- and start naming names of Congressmen who broke the law with him.

Mr Abramoff has money ties to dozens of politicans in both parties. Prosecutors have compiled a list of about a dozen lawmakers, aides, and lobbyists who Mr Abramoff could testify against. (NYT) [Click on Washington Post Graphic to the Abramoff Money Trail]

Troops Retreat from Support for Bush

From Taegan Goddard's Political Wire: A Military Times Poll says President Bush's approval among the military has dropped significantly in the past year.

It shows Bush still has a slim majority --54% -- who support his performance in Iraq. His overall support is higher -- 60%. But that's down a whopping 11% from last year. (PoliticalWire.com/Military Times)

Silencing Milblogs

Newsday reports that the military is cracking down on military blogs -- or "milblogs."

The military has specific rules for service members who blog. They're not supposed to post anything that gives away information helpful to the enemy.

But Newsday reports that it's gone farther -- allowing only milblogs that paint a positive -- even peaceful -- vision of Iraq:

"Nowadays, milbloggers 'get shut down almost as fast as they're set up,' said New York Army National Guard Spc. Jason Christopher Hartley, 31, of upstate New Paltz, who believes something is lost as the grunt's-eye take on Tikrit or Kabul is silenced or sanitized."

Spec Hartley (above, from his blog) was one of the first demoted and fined for his blog's content. His blog is still up at justanothersoldier.com.

The military's set up teams to monitor milblogs and troops have to register with the brass to have a blog. (The Raw Story)

Why Can't Her Boy Get to the Point Like Mom?

White House spokesman Scott McClellan's mom has quit the Republican Party. Carole Keeton Strayhorn is Texas Comptroller. She quit the party to run for Governor as an Independent.

She apparently figures that'll be an easier route to beat incumbent Gov Rick Perry (R-TX). The Raw Story quotes her opinion about the Governor as:

"a weak leadin', ethics ignorin', pointin' the finger at everyone blamin', special session callin', public school slashin', slush fund spendin', toll road buildin', special interest panderin', rainy day fund raidin', fee increasin', no property tax cuttin', promise breakin', do nothin' phony conservative."

Ms Strayhorn quit the Democrat Party in 1985 to join the GOP. (TRS)