It didn't. Unzipped fly leads officers to pot stash Tue Mar 6, 4:07 PM ET SHEBOYGAN, Wis. - Too bad nobody told him his fly was down. A 22-year-old man was arrested for drug possession after police found a marijuana pipe and bag of marijuana stashed in his underwear. Police made the arrest after they found the man's car stuck in a ditch in the Town of Wilson. According to a criminal complaint, the man's pants were undone and officers asked if there was anything illegal in the man's pants, before they would have to search him. They found a pipe and more than an ounce of marijuana. The Sheboygan man was charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, felony marijuana possession and operating a vehicle after having his license revoked, police said.
John Popper by Robert Massie SPOKANE, Washington (AP) -- Blues Traveler singer and harmonica player John Popper was arrested after the vehicle he was riding in was clocked going 121 mph, the Washington State Patrol said Wednesday. Popper, 39, was arrested Tuesday afternoon on Interstate 90 near the Spokane/Lincoln county line, the Washington State Patrol said. Inside the black Mercedes SUV, officers found a cache of weapons and a large personal amount of marijuana, the Patrol said. A police dog searched the vehicle, finding numerous hidden compartments containing four rifles, including a .450, nine handguns, a machete, and a switchblade knife. Authorities also found a Taser, a handheld GPS system, and night vision goggles. The vehicle was seized. Popper, who lives in Snohomish, Washington, is the owner of the vehicle, which was being driven by Brian Gourgeois, 34, of Austin, Texas, said state patrol Trooper Jeff Sevigney. The vehicle also had flashing emergency headlights, a siren and a public address system, the Patrol said. "Popper indicated to troopers that he had installed these items in his vehicle because (in the event of a natural disaster) he didn't want to be left behind," and for public events, the Patrol said in a news release. He also told officers he collected weapons and has a lifetime membership with the NRA, the Patrol said. The two men were booked administratively into the Adams County jail and released on their own recognizance. Authorities plan to charge them with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Gourgeois will also face a charge of reckless driving, the Patrol said. Popper did not immediately return an e-mail seeking comment Wednesday night. Popper achieved fame as a harmonica player and frontman for Blues Traveler. The band won a Grammy award in 1996 for the song "Run-around," which Popper composed. Popper recently formed a group called The John Popper Project with DJ Logic, which released an album in 2006 and is scheduled to go on the road later this month. http://www.bluestraveler.com/
Accused child molester flees to go on 'Springer' show RACINE, Wisconsin -- An accused child molester in Wisconsin cut off his electronic monitoring bracelet, then took a limousine to Chicago to appear on "The Jerry Springer Show," authorities said. A judge set bail Friday at $50,000 for Mario Sims, 21, who had been awaiting trial on 2004 charges of child enticement and first-degree sexual assault of a child. Defense lawyer Margaret Johnson argued against the bail amount, but Racine County Circuit Judge Emily Mueller stood firm. "A significant bond is legally necessary given the fact he absconded, admittedly for one of the more unique reasons I've heard in my time on the bench," the judge said. According to court records, Sims had been out of jail about three weeks when he cut off the bracelet and missed a court date September 6. His defense attorney at the time, Domingo Cruz, told the judge his client was seen getting into the television show's limousine. Sims appeared on an episode of the show that aired last fall. A TV.com Web site teaser for it said: "Outrageous nuptials! Returning guest Mario is a proud father and is ready to marry his baby's mother--who's also his half-sister." A message left for Johnson was not returned Friday. A message left for a producer of the "Jerry Springer Show" was not immediately returned Saturday morning. As far as things are known, Sims is still set to appear.
Why the hell does John Popper have all those weapons? Wtf? Haha dude, I'm playing in Sheboygan in May. That's so cool.
KOLKATA, India--When dozens of chickens went missing from a remote West Bengal village, everyone blamed the neighborhood dogs. But Ajit Ghosh, the owner of the missing chickens, eventually solved the puzzle when he caught his cow -- a sacred animal for the Hindu family -- gobbling up several of them at night. "We were shocked to see our calf eating chickens alive," Ghosh told Reuters by phone from Chandpur village, about 240 kilometers (150 miles) northwest of Kolkata. The family decided to stand guard at night on Monday at the cow shed which also served as a hen coop, after 48 chickens went missing in a month. "Instead of the dogs, we watched in horror as the calf, whom we had fondly named Lal, sneak to the coop and grab the little ones with the precision of a jungle cat," Gour Ghosh, his brother, said. Local television pictures showed the cow grabbing and eating a chicken in seconds and a vet confirmed the case. "We think lack of vital minerals in the body is causing this behavior. We have taken a look and have asked doctors to look into the case immediately," Mihir Satpathy, a district veterinary officer, said by phone. "This strange behavior is possible in some exceptional cases," Satpathy said. Hundreds of villagers flocked to Chandpur on Wednesday to catch a glimpse of Lal, enjoying his bundle of green grass for a change. "The local vets said the cow was probably suffering from a disease but others said Lal was a tiger in his previous birth," Ajit added.
Zimbabwe Opposition Leader Under Arrest (For Hugh... I'm sure you're already well alware) HARARE, Zimbabwe--Zimbabwe riot police arrested the country's top opposition leader on Sunday as they suppressed a planned prayer rally in a crackdown on protests against President Robert Mugabe. Witnesses said heavily armed police fought skirmishes with rock-throwing opposition supporters in the Harare township of Highfield, where the opposition-aligned Save Zimbabwe Coalition had called for a Sunday prayer rally. Police arrested Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai and other opposition officials after blocking their motor convoy from driving to the stadium where the rally was to have been held. "Mr Tsvangirai has also been arrested. He was arrested as he was driving out of Highfield," MDC information officer Luke Tamborinyoka told Reuters. "We don't know where he is being held at the moment." Officials had earlier said that Arthur Mutambara, who leads another faction of the MDC, and Lovemore Madhuku of the pressure group National Constitutional Assembly were also detained. Riot police moved in force early on Sunday to head off the prayer rally, which police had said would violate a ban on political protests imposed after opposition supporters clashed with police in Highfield last month. Organizers had argued that the ban should not apply to a prayer vigil. Shop owners in the area shuttered stores, while hundreds of people wandered the streets under the gaze of police units. Witnesses said later in the day police had fired teargas at youths who were throwing stones at their patrols, taunting them and defying orders not move around in large numbers. "There have been several skirmishes between the police and some youths, people throwing stones, and the police firing teargas," a Zimbabwean journalist who lives in Highfield told a Reuters correspondent by phone. Riot police mounted road blocks on major highways into the the township, and were searching vehicles for arms and questioning motorists where they were going. Police on Saturday accused the some elements in the MDC of hiring and arming "thugs" to attack officers. "As far as we are concerned that is a political rally ... and we are going to stop that meeting," national police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena told a news conference. Bvudzijena said he had no immediate information on the arrests. Officials have tightened the screws on the opposition after violence broke out last month when riot police broke up an MDC rally despite a court order directing that it should be allowed. State media said officials feared the rally was intended to launch street protests against Mugabe's government. Zimbabwe has seen political tensions build as it sinks deeper into its worst economic crisis in decades, with inflation now above 1,700 percent, unemployment of close to 80 percent and regular shortages of food, fuel and foreign exchange. Mugabe, 83, and in power since independence in 1980, dismisses the MDC as a puppet of Zimbabwe's former colonial master Britain which opposes him for seizing white-owned commercial farms to give to blacks.
Shiitttttttt.... ST. PAUL, Minnesota -- A 17-year-old girl who spent weeks looking for her missing dog unwrapped a box left on her doorstep and found the pet's severed head inside, authorities said. Homicide investigators were looking into the case because of the "implied" terroristic threat, St. Paul Police Sgt. Jim Gray said. The Humane Society of the United States said Wednesday it was offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to an arrest and conviction. "This was extraordinarily heinous," said Dale Bartlett, the Humane Society's deputy manager for animal cruelty issues. "I deal with hundreds and hundreds of cruelty cases each year. When I read about this case, it took my breath away. It's horrible." After Crystal Brown's 4-year-old Australian shepherd mix, Chevy, wandered away last month, she put up "missing" posters in her neighborhood and went door to door looking for him. She called the St. Paul animal shelter and rode the bus there several times. "I felt empty," Crystal told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis. "I couldn't talk to anyone. He was my dog. It was just me and him. ... I told him everything and he never shared any of my secrets." Two weeks ago, a gift-wrapped box was left at the house Crystal shares with her grandmother. The box had batteries on top, and a note that said "Congratulations Crystal. This side up. Batteries included." Crystal opened the box and found her dog's head inside. The box also contained Valentine's Day candy. Crystal screamed when she saw her dog's face. "She was just hysterical," said Crystal's grandmother, Shirley Brown. "She was screaming. She said, 'Grandma, it's my dog's head!' "I said, 'no it can't be!"' Authorities say the case is an isolated incident and the suspect likely knew the family. A motive is unclear. "This was so cruel," Crystal said. "This is one sick, twisted person." She now has a new puppy, another Australian shepherd. She's named it Diesel. "Hopefully, he'll be my best friend," Crystal said.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Anderson, a little town in Alaska's interior, has no gas station, no grocery store and no traffic lights, but it does have plenty of woodsy land -- and it's free to anyone willing to put down roots in the often-frozen ground. In a modern twist on the homesteading movement that populated the Plains in the 1800s, the community of 300 people is offering 26 large lots on spruce-covered land in a part of Alaska that has spectacular views of the Northern lights and Mount McKinley, North America's highest peak. And what's an occasional day of 60-below cold in a town removed from big-city ills? "It's Mayberry," said Anderson high-school teacher Daryl Frisbie, whose social studies class explored ways to boost the town's dwindling population. Students developed a Web site and Power Point presentation, then persuaded the City Council to give it a go. "Are you tired of the hustle and bustle of the Lower 48, crime, poor schools, and the high cost of living?" the Web site asks. "Make your new home in the Last Frontier!" The 1.3-acre lots will be awarded to the first people who apply for them and submit $500 refundable deposits beginning at 9 a.m. Monday. Each winning applicant must build a house measuring at least 1,000 square feet within two years. Power and phone hookups are now available. City Clerk Nancy Hollis said people who apply in person or have someone stand in for them will have the best shot, since the post office doesn't open until noon and deliveries are even later from the regional hub of Fairbanks, 75 miles away. People seeking more information are calling from such places as California, Texas, Idaho and Florida. Locals eyeing the sites include 15-year-old newcomer Brittney Warner, a student who worked on the project. The 10th-grader, her parents and three siblings moved to Anderson two months ago from Boise, Idaho, when her father got a job at nearby Clear Air Force Station. Warner calls her new community "very nice, small, very outdoorsy" -- a place that would be even better if it brought in some new businesses. Residents now have to drive at least 20 miles for gasoline or groceries. Her family is now living in a rental home and planning to apply for one of the lots. "We already have a house design," she said. Cory Furrow, a 26-year-old electrician, said he will be in line, too. Anderson has everything he enjoys -- good terrain for snowshoeing and skiing, fishing, and hunting for moose and grizzly bears. "I've lived here my whole life, so when free land comes up in my hometown, I can't pass that up," said Furrow, who lives in his family home. Folks in Anderson say there are some job opportunities within driving distance, including a coal mine, a utility, major hotels and the air station, a ballistic missile early-warning site. Locals also would like to see entrepreneurs among the newcomers. In addition, they are hoping for families. The high school basketball team had to go coed this year because there weren't enough boys. Among the other advantages of Anderson: no property taxes, state income taxes or sales tax, no crime, and no traffic. There are magnificent summers with temperatures in the upper nineties, a nice atmosphere, and plenty of wide-open space. "One of the resources that we have is land," said Mayor Mike Pearson, a mechanic at the air station. "If this works out well, the city's got lots more property."
WASHINGTON--Thousands of anti-war demonstrators and supporters of the U.S. policy in Iraq shouted at each other Saturday from opposite sides of a street bordering the National Mall as protesters formed a march to the Pentagon to denounce a war entering its fifth year. The anti-war group carried signs saying "U.S. Out of Iraq Now," "Stop Iraq War, No Iran War, Impeach" and "Illegal Combat." The other side carried signs saying "Peace Through Strength," "al Qaeda Appeasers On Parade" and "We Are At War, Liberals Root For the Enemy." Police on horseback and foot separated the demonstrators, who were on opposite sides of Constitution Avenue in view of the Lincoln Memorial. Barriers also kept them apart. (See the results of CNN's latest poll on whether Americans think the war is worth it) Speakers criticized the Bush administration at every turn but blamed congressional Democrats, too, for refusing to cut off money for the war. "This is a bipartisan war," New York City labor activist Michael Letwin told the crowd. "The Democratic party cannot be trusted to end it." Letwin said the key to ending the war soon is to bring more troops and their families into the protest movement. People traveled from afar in stormy weather to join the march. "Too many people have died and it doesn't solve anything," said Ann O'Grady, who drove through snow with her husband, Tom, and two children, 13 and 10, from Athens, Ohio. "I feel bad carrying out my daily activities while people are suffering, Americans and Iraqis." Protesters met at the starting point of the epic 1967 march on the Pentagon, which began peacefully but turned ugly in clashes between authorities and more radical elements of the crowd. More than 600 were arrested that day. It was there that anti-war activist Abbie Hoffman led the masses in chants, with the fanciful goal of levitating the building. Veteran says he's conflicted Saturday's march was the main event in anti-war demonstrations around the country. Rallies also were planned in Los Angeles, California; Denver, Colorado;Chicago, Illinois; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Hartford, Connecticut; and Lincoln, Nebraska. In Washington, war supporters played "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"; the anti-war crowd danced to Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." Veterans, some from the Rolling Thunder motorcycle group, lined up at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. "I'm not sure I'm in support of the war," said William "Skip" Publicover of Charleston, South Carolina, who was a swift boat gunner in Vietnam and lost two friends whose names are etched on the memorial's wall. "I learned in Vietnam that it's difficult if not impossible to win the hearts and minds of the people." Retired Marine Jeff Carroll, 47, an electrician in Milton, Delaware, held a sign saying: "Proud of our soldiers, ashamed of our president." Carroll said he served in Lebanon when the Marine barracks was bombed in a deadly attack in 1983, and thinks the United States should be focusing on Afghanistan and Osama bin Laden instead of Iraq. "We're fighting the wrong country," he said. But Larry Stimeling, 57, a Vietnam veteran from Morton, Illinois, said the loss of public support for the Iraq war mirrors what happened in Vietnam and leaves troops without the backing they need. "We didn't lose the war in Vietnam, we lost it right here on this same ground," he said, pointing to the grass on the National Mall. "It's the same thing now." Park Police Lt. Scott Fear said more than 200 people were arrested from a crowd of several thousand protesters who marched to the White House on Friday night after a peace service at the Washington National Cathedral. Full story Those arrested were handcuffed, taken away on buses and fined $100 for disobeying a lawful order or crossing a police line. They had demonstrated on the sidewalk in front of the White House, where protesters are required to continue moving. The windows of the White House were dark, as President Bush was away for the weekend at Camp David in Maryland. The church service and weekend protests drew John Pattison, 29, from Portland, Oregon, to his first anti-war rally. He said his opposition to the war had developed over time. "Quite literally on the night that shock and awe commenced, my friend and I toasted the military might of the United States," Pattison said. "We were quite proud and thought we were doing the right thing." He said the way the war had progressed and U.S. foreign policy since then had forced him to question his beliefs. Overseas, at least 20,000 rallied against the war in Madrid, Spain; more than 6,000 in Istanbul, Turkey; 1,000 in Athens, Greece; and several hundred in Copenhagen, Denmark.
WASHINGTON--Plans for a casino just outside Gettysburg were shot down last year, but the site of the Civil War's bloodiest battle is threatened by spreading home construction, a preservation group says. While Gettysburg's new nemesis is housing, a site in Alabama's Mobile Bay is suffering from neglect and a lack of state funding, and vast tracts of land stretching from Virginia to Pennsylvania are at risk from a planned major power line, the Civil War Preservation Trust said in its annual inventory of endangered battlefields. "Tens of thousands of valiant young Americans still lie entombed in those fields," former U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson, a Texas Democrat who backed federal spending on Civil War land preservation, told reporters Tuesday. "It is truly hallowed ground." In addition to sites in Pennsylvania, Alabama and Virginia, the report names Civil War locations in jeopardy in Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Tennessee and West Virginia. Suburban sprawl was cited as the most common problem. Around Marietta, Georgia, outside Atlanta, where Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's Union army drove Confederate soldiers out of several strategic positions, while ravaging and pillaging farms and plantations, before setting fire to them; the group cited large networks of trenches and other fortifications or ruins from Sherman's infamous 1864 march to sea, that remain unprotected. Some of the sites already have been damaged, and they are likely to succumb soon to Atlanta's development pressures, the group said. The trust refreshes the list every year based on military significance, the urgency of threats and location. It boasts of saving more than 23,000 acres in 18 states by raising money and leveraging government funding to buy land or preservation easements. Property outside Harpers Ferry in West Virginia was added this year after a developer dug 45-foot-wide trenches for water and sewer lines and unveiled plans to develop several thousand homes on land that saw fierce Civil War battles. Harpers Ferry -- best known for John Brown's failed effort to arm and free local slaves -- changed hands eight times during the Civil War and was the site of an 1862 battle in which Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson won the surrender of 12,500 Union troops. A mining company wants to rezone some 640 acres of "core battlefield" to dig more quarries at Cedar Creek, Virginia, while Fort Morgan in Alabama needs an infusion of state cash to reverse its decline, the group said. In December, Pennsylvania gambling regulators rejected a bid for a casino about a mile from the Gettysburg National Military Park after the trust and other preservation groups protested. But the trust cited a pending threat: Plans for thousands of new homes. The trust is the largest nonprofit battlefield preservation group in the country, boasting some 70,000 members.
WASHINGTON--A high school principal was acting reasonably and in accord with the school's anti-drug mission when she suspended a student for displaying a "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner, her lawyer told the Supreme Court Monday. "The message here is, in fact, critical," the lawyer, former independent counsel Kenneth Starr, said during a lively argument about whether the principal violated the constitutional rights of the student. On the other side, attorney Douglas Mertz of Juneau, Alaska, urged the justices to see the case as being about free speech, not drugs. (Watch why "bong hits" are on the court's plate Video) The dispute between Joseph Frederick, who in 2002 was a high school senior, and principal Deborah Morse has become an important test of the limits on the free speech rights of students. Justice Stephen Breyer, addressing Mertz, said he is struggling with the case because a ruling in Frederick's favor could encourage students to go to absurd lengths to test those limits. A ruling for Morse, however, "may really limit free speech," Breyer said. The Bush administration, backing Morse, wants the court to adopt a broad rule that could essentially give public schools the right to clamp down on any speech with which it disagrees. Scores of students waited outside the court early Monday for a chance to listen to the arguments. "I would never do it, but at the same time, it's free speech," said Chaim Frenkel, 17, of Silver Spring, Maryland. Frenkel was one of 13 seniors and their teacher from the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy who arrived, bright and early, at the court at 4:20 a.m. Natasha Braithwaite, 20, a junior at Columbia Union College in Takoma Park, Maryland, got in line at 7 a.m. with a definite opinion about the case. "In every possible way, his First Amendment rights were violated," Braithwaite said. Frederick was a high school senior in Juneau when he decided to display the banner at a school-sanctioned event to watch the Olympic torch pass through the city on its way to the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. Morse believed his "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner was a pro-drug message that schools should not tolerate. She suspended Frederick for 10 days. Frederick sued Morse, and that case now is before the court. Frederick acknowledged he was trying to provoke a reaction from school administrators with whom he had feuded, but he denied that he was speaking out in favor of drugs or anything other than free speech. A bong is a water pipe that is used to smoke marijuana. "I waited until the perfect moment to unveil it, as the TV cameras (following the torch relay) passed," Frederick said. Morse and the Juneau school district argue that schools will be powerless to discipline students who promote illegal drugs if the court sides with Frederick. The Bush administration, other school boards and anti-drug school groups are supporting Morse. Frederick, now 23, counters that students could be silenced if the court reverses the appellate ruling. A wide assortment of conservative and liberal advocacy groups are behind Frederick. In a Vietnam War era case, the court backed high school student anti-war protesters who wore armbands to class. Since then, though, the court has sanctioned curtailing student speech when it is disruptive to a school's educational mission, plainly offensive or part of a school-sponsored activity like a student newspaper. A federal appeals court called Frederick's message "vague and nonsensical" in ruling that his civil rights had been violated. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also said Morse would have to compensate Frederick for her actions because she should have known they violated the Constitution. Frederick, who teaches English and studies Mandarin in China, was not expected at the court for the argument. Two years after the banner incident, Frederick pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of selling marijuana, according to Texas court records. The case is Morse v. Frederick, 06-278.
NEW YORK--Bernie Mac says he plans to bring down the curtain on his standup comedy act after 30 years. Mac told David Letterman on CBS' "Late Show" that he'll retire after he finishes shooting the comedy film "The Whole Truth, Nothing but the Truth, So Help Me Mac" this fall. "And I'm going to put it in theaters and it's going to be 30 years for me, and I'm going to call it," the 49-year-old comedian said on Monday night's show. "I'm going to still do my producing, my films, but I want to enjoy my life a little bit," Mac told Letterman. "I missed a lot of things, you know. I was a street performer for two years. I went into clubs in 1977." "It's a great way to make a living but it also, it takes a toll, doesn't it? It's tough," Letterman said. "Oh, man, you miss out on so much, you know, and you live in all these hotels -- I was on the road 47 weeks out of the year, and before that I was doing Bad Santa and working on more movies" said Mac, who also starred with D.L. Hughley and Cedric the Entertainer in 2000's "The Original Kings of Comedy." Said Letterman: "So, one last film record of your work." Mac replied: "That's right. ... Comedy has been so good to me. And that's all I ever wanted, watching you guys. I had great mentors -- Jackie Gleason, Flip (Wilson), Redd Foxx, Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, Buddy Hackett. I had so many people to watch, that today you don't have that anymore." His new film, "Pride," will be in theaters Friday.
SAVANNAH, Georgia--A convicted child molester and his parents were indicted Wednesday on charges they molested and then murdered a 6-year-old neighbor boy, whose body was found last week in a trash bag dumped by a roadside. Glynn County District Attorney Stephen D. Kelley said he will seek the death penalty against George David Edenfield, 32, who has a prior child molestation conviction from 1997, and his parents, David and Peggy Edenfield. A friend of the Edenfield family, Donald Dale, was indicted on charges of concealing a body and tampering with evidence. The boy, Christopher Michael Barrios, was missing for a week before police found his body last Thursday. The body was in a black trash bag dumped near a roadside about three miles from his home on the outskirts of Brunswick, a port city in southeastern Georgia. "They deserve the worst, for them to torture my son like that, every last one of them," said Mike Barrios, Christopher's father. Authorities have not released many details about the case, including how the child was killed or how long his abductors might have kept him alive. Other charges against the Edenfields include false imprisonment, cruelty to children and enticing a child for indecent purposes. Police have described George David Edenfield as mentally slow, but not retarded and capable of understanding most rights from wrongs. Edenfield had to register as a sex offender in Georgia. He and his parents lived across the street from Christopher's grandmother and less than 600 feet from where the kindergartner met his school bus. A Georgia law passed last year prohibits registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop. That would have barred the younger Edenfield from living so close, but a pending lawsuit prompted a federal judge last year to block that provision from taking effect. George David Edenfield pleaded guilty in 1997 to molesting two boys, ages 7 and 9. Prosecutors said he rubbed his clothed body "in a sexual manner" against the boys, who also were fully dressed. He was sentenced then to 10 years on probation. His father pleaded guilty to multiple counts of incest in 1994. He was accused of having sex with his adult relatives.
Commentary by Lou Dobbs NEW YORK--An incompetent attorney general, who says he wasn't fully aware that nearly 10 percent of the U.S. attorneys who work for him throughout the country were being fired and permitted the 110,000-person Justice Department that he leads to give inaccurate information at best, or simply lie about it at worst, to the Congress and the American people, has the full confidence of the president who's lost the confidence of most people. And this is what passes for a big-time, dramatic, historic constitutional crisis in 21st century America? You've got to be kidding. This is the most partisan, politically driven administration in history, and we're all supposed to be surprised by its conduct and motivation in the firing of these U.S. attorneys? Please. Now the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law has voted to approve subpoenas that would force chief policy adviser Karl Rove, former White House counsel Harriet Miers and other top presidential aides to testify publicly and under oath about their involvement in the firings. Guess what? That little ol' subcommittee can't do much of anything to force executive branch employees to testify without the help of the very man and department at the center of this altogether silly and over-baked controversy. That's right; Attorney General Alberto Gonzales or one of his U.S. attorneys would have to enforce any subpoenas refused by any of the president's aides. This is the same Democratic-controlled Congress that millions of voters thought would be so vastly different from the last gaggle of partisan buffoons in the Republican-led 109th Congress. With almost 30,000 young Americans killed or wounded in Iraq, with a half-trillion dollars spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, this Congress can do no better than publicly fulminate in futility and bray endlessly without effect on the course and conduct of the war in Iraq. Is there no sense of proportion and higher purpose anywhere in Washington? While this president's so-called free trade policies continue to bleed the nation and the economy of millions of jobs and add to a $5 trillion mountain of trade debt, and while our public schools continue to fail a generation of young Americans, this Congress chooses to invest its energy and time in pure partisan blather and cheap political theatrics. Is there not one decent, honest man or woman in either the House of Representatives or the Senate, in either party's leadership, who possesses the courage and the honesty to say, "Enough. The people who elected us deserve better"? So far the answer is no. Is there really any wonder that public opinion polls demonstrate that the president and this Congress share equally low approval ratings in poll after poll? The White House is behaving with utter contempt for Congress and Congress is acting without respect or regard for this president. Could it be that, at long last, they're both right?
NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas--A Texas legislator has proposed that pregnant women considering abortion be offered $500 not to end their pregnancies. Republican State Sen. Dan Patrick, who also is a conservative radio talk show host, said Friday the money might persuade the women to go ahead and have babies, then give them up for adoption. He said during a legislative conference in New Braunfels, 45 miles south of Austin, there were 75,000 abortions in Texas last year. "If this incentive would give pause and change the mind of 5 percent of those women, that's 3,000 lives. That's almost as many people as we've lost in Iraq," Patrick said. Patrick has filed legislation to make the payment state law, but the legislature has not voted on it. His proposal calls for giving any woman going to an abortion clinic the $500 option, to be paid no more than 30 days after the baby is born and given up for adoption. Critics say the proposal would violate Texas and federal laws against buying babies, which Patrick rejected as "the typical ridiculous criticism." Heather Paffe, political director of Planned Parenthood of Texas, said Patrick's proposal "is very cynical and insulting to women and their families." "It's insulting to think women would make that kind of decision so easily," she said.
WEST WARWICK, Rhode Island--A teenager was killed by a hit-and-run driver at the same spot where his 14-year-old friend had died in a car crash just a few hours earlier. Andrew Coit, 18, was hit by a car after 4 a.m. Saturday as he played a guitar at a makeshift memorial to Darien Plass, 14, on West Warwick's Main Street. Plass died after driving his mother's minivan into a utility pole late Friday, friends of both teenagers told the Providence Journal. "He wanted to play one last song for (Plass), and that was the last time anyone saw him. He loved singing. He died doing what he loved doing," said Coit's friend, Dennis Sullivan. Plass' friends said he had been drinking and took his mother's minivan without her knowledge. Coit and other friends set up the memorial. Sullivan told the newspaper the mourners remained at the memorial until about 4 a.m., but Coit stayed behind to play one more song for Plass by himself. Minutes later, police received a call of a man down, and an ambulance crew found Coit on the sidewalk. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. "He died pretty much instantly. He did not suffer," Alan Coit said of his son. Police were searching for the hit-and-run driver who hit Coit, said Detective Sgt. James Tiernan.
