The Clarion Issue

The terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001, created a wave of patriotism and displaying of the US flag almost unprecedented since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. While the intentions of many of the citizens displaying 'Old Glory' were honest and noble, the method of displaying the flag was often improper and in some cases disrespectful of our National emblem. It is important to remember that the flag is to be treated as a living entity and is to be respected and flown according to a standard flag code passed by Congress and easily available on the internet and various governmental and private publications.

Soon after 9/11 several flag code violations were noticed in stores where the flag was being sold. At K-mart there was a carafe of popcorn with a flag and the words 'United We Stand' beneath it. Section 8i of the flag code reads: "The flag should not be printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard." (Technically, the US Post Office's flag stamps and flag envelope seals sold by disabled veterans groups violate this part of the flag code.) Down the road, Wal-Mart was selling flag throw rugs, a certain violation of the flag code and flag etiquette which states, "The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise."

Another marketing faux pas was the creation and selling of flag t-shirts. The flag code clearly states, "The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery." This section of the code also addresses the infamous flag jackets that become popular during the Olympic games. If a team or organization elects to wear the National emblem on its uniform, a flag patch is appropriate. The blue field should always be closest to the heart of the individual. When wearing a flag lapel pin, the flag is to be worn on the left lapel since it is closest to the heart.

As the United States moved toward war in Afghanistan and Iraq, stores began selling flags that attached to the windows of automobiles. Sports fans attending a football or baseball game commonly use these portable and easily removable flags to show team sprit. However, the method is definitely taboo when used to display the US flag. The flag code indicates that, "When the flag is displayed on a car, the staff shall be fixed firmly to the chassis or clamped to the right fender." After all, going to war is different from going to a football game.

The US flag code also indicates the specific placement of the flag when the flag is displayed on a flag pole, in parades, auditoriums, and across a street. When the flag is displayed on a flagpole, the US flag is always on top, the only exception is during a religious service at sea when the Christian flag can fly over the US flag during the service. In a parade, the flag, when carried in a procession with another flag, or flags, should be either on the marching right, or if there is a line of other flags, in front of the center of that line. If the flag is used on a float, it should be free flying as from a pole and never affixed to the side or any part of the float. (Historic flags, such as the "Betsy Ross (13 stars) or Star Spangled Banner (15 stars), should be treated the same as a 50 star flag. When the flag is displayed from a staff in a church or public auditorium on or off a podium, the flag of the United States should hold the position of superior prominence, in advance of the audience, and in the position of honor at the clergyman's or speaker's right as he faces the audience. Any other flag also displayed should be placed on the left of the clergyman or speaker. When the flag is displayed over the middle of the street, it should be suspended vertically with the union to the north in an east and west street or to the east in a north and south street.

When the flag is flown at half-mast it should be first hoisted to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position. The flag should be again raised to the peak before it is lowered for the day. The flag can only be flown at half-mast by presidential order except on regular days established by the flag code such as Memorial Day. On Memorial Day, the flag is flown at half-mast until noon. At noon, the flag is raised to the full mast position for the duration of the day.

There are many fine points to the US flag code, and there are common misconceptions about the flag. If a flag touches the ground pick it up and move on. It does not have to 'be burned.' If a flag is torn, it may be mended. If a flag is dirty, it should be dry cleaned. A flag is only destroyed when it is too old, tattered, or faded to be of service. If an individual does not wish to destroy his/her flag, it can be turned over to the VFW, Elks Lodge, American Legion, Knights of Columbus, or Boy Scouts who will provide this service.

In conclusion, it is great to see our flag displayed and honored on special days like Memorial Day, Flag Day, and The Forth of July. An American citizen can honor America and the flag on any day; however, the best way to honor the flag is to display it properly. There are several web sites dedicated to the flag code and etiquette, and a little research on the topic is easy to do. Also remember that just because you see it on TV or in a parade does not make it proper. When 200 people unfurl an 80-yard flag at the Super Bowl halftime extravaganza remember that the flag code Section 8c says, "The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free." If more citizens write and complain to CBS, NBC, FOX, and ABC, about these and other flag code violations, then maybe the nation will return to flying and displaying Old Glory appropriately.

THE FUNNY STATE OF FRANCO-AMERICAN RELATIONS
By Thomas Kelly

Since the birth of our nation we have had problems dealing with France. Our relationship started out as great allies. The French sent their navies and troops to help rid us of King George III and the redcoats and gain independence as a sovereign nation. We will be forever grateful for the assistance the French government provided us during the Revolutionary War. Unfortunately it's been all downhill from there.

Just 50 years later, President Monroe signed the Monroe Doctrine and allied with the British to curb colonialism in the Americas. The French took this as a slap in the face and feared the United States and its new best friend, Great Britain, would eventually start trying to take over mainland Europe. They retaliated during our Civil War by supporting the Confederacy.

The United States came to the aid of France and the rest of Europe during World War I. The French were grateful but became incensed when the US refused to agree on the compensation package Germany had to pay France for war reparations. The French demanded costly reparations but we sided with Germany and lowered the package to just $33 Billion 1920 dollars to help stimulate economic growth in war-torn Germany. To make matters worse we demanded France repay their war debt to us on an accelerated timetable. Members of the French government began to refer to the US as "Old Shylock".

When World War II came, we again came to the aid of France and the rest of Europe. As most Americans gleefully point out, Germany overran and conquered France in about 8 minutes. We spent the next four years and lost over 100,000 soldiers trying to liberate France from Germany.

After the War the US Government warned France to stay out of French Indochina. The way France had defended their own country just a decade before made us wary of how they could try to reclaim Southeast Asia. Well the French didn't listen and their occupation army was destroyed at Dein Bein Fu in 1954. We had to help them out and thought it would be a good idea to stop the spread of communism in that region of the world. It only took us 10,000 days and 53,000 American lives to realize it's not the best idea to keep bailing the French out of their dilemmas.

After World War II the driving force of France was Charles DeGaulle. During the next 30 years he became the thorn in the side of America. Right from the beginning, Americans couldn't stand DeGaulle. Presidents Roosevelt and Truman and our Generals in Europe had an intense disdain for the man. Over the years he gave speeches on how the Vietnam War was wrong and American Imperialism was threatening the world. DeGaulle was an ardent supporter of the independence of Quebec from Canada.

During the height of the Cold War, Francois Mitterrand, carrying on the tradition of antagonizing the American government, appointed four communists to high level cabinet positions. It seemed the French sided with the Soviet Union more than the US during this time.

Then a funny thing happened during the reign of Charles DeGaulle and Francois Mitterrand. The country of France became less significant on the world stage. We see them more like Portugal, a once powerful country now in steady decline, than the permanent member of the UN Security Council. France is not the power broker it was 200 years ago. English has replaced French as the official language of diplomacy and finance. In fact, France has only rarely risen to more than a nuisance in American eyes. As Britain still retains special status with the US, the French seem to allow their jealousy to dictate their foreign policy.

The War with Iraq is the latest example. The French, with the help of Germany, have been the loudest critics of the US and British war with Iraq. Although there are valid reasons why France has been against the war, it seems they are dead set against America succeeding. The American citizens have retaliated by renaming French fries as "freedom fries".

This brings us to the point of jokes. There seems to be an endless supply of jokes about the French. Most of them deal with courage or their lack of defense during WWII. For example: What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up? Their army. How many Frenchmen does it take to defend Paris? I don't know it's never been tried. George Patton once said "I'd rather have a German battalion in front of me instead of a French one behind me."

There are many things the French and Americans don't understand about each other. They think it is hilarious we wasted so much time, effort, and money on the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal. Political correctness is something foreign to them. Prohibition to them was a low point in American history. Americans are a paradox to the French. They see us as very polite, but intrusive. Health crazed but fat. The French see us as patriotic to a fault.

We see the French as lazy and lacking in civic pride. But they are very productive with their 35-hour workweeks and seven weeks paid vacation a year. How can the French eat such rich food but remain thin and healthy? In fact there is not much we do understand about the French. Maybe we should try to understand them better. France may not be the world power it once was but they can still be a valuable ally.

WHOSE BIBLE DO WE USE?
By R. A. Pearson

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment I, Bill of Rights, U. S. Constitution, 1787

Introduction

The following report is fictional and is total conjecture on the part of the author. It deals with the possibility of a loss of civil liberties in the United States. The founders of the United States had seen the bloody results of religious intolerance in Europe when various groups of religious zealots tried to enforce state religions. England itself had many years of fighting between the Catholics and Protestants. While the names of many individuals and some states have been changed to protect the guilty and intolerant, the analysis attempts to approach realistic situations which may develop in America's future due to religious differences and traditions. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily reflect those of our sponsors, other editors and staff members, or SouthernDomains.com and their affiliates.

The year is 2007. America is in its 4th year of war in Iraq and in its 2nd year of a war with Iran and its 69+ million radical Shiite Moslems. Over 15,000 American service personnel have been killed and 38,000 others wounded. The nation's capital has been renamed Washington-Haliburton due to the political influence of Vice President Cheney's former company. In order to boost patriotism the Bush Administration has dedicated itself and the nation to God, Christianity, and country and declared the current conflicts 'Crusades.' In 2006, Congress passed a law restoring prayer and Bible reading in the schools. and the restoration of the Ten Commandments in all government buildings, public schools receiving Federal funding, and National Parks. Congress strengthened the US Patriot Act in the name of 'National Security' and the Intelligence and Homeland Security Tsars, along with the Attorney General, have been given unprecedented powers to deal with intelligence issues and internal dissent. Congress is also considering legislation to curb sedition (the criticism of government officials and policy), TV and radio news broadcasts, and 'other un-American activities.'

The opening salvos in the American 'Religious Wars' began in two phases about 2004. After the 2004 election, the Republican party tried to promote judges that favored making judicial rulings that favored not just Christian or American values, but right winged Christian and American values; moreover, on the state level they tried to remove the teaching of the theory of evolution from the schools. The battle for the courts was waged in Congress while the fight over evolution in the schools was duked out state by state in their legislatures and State School Boards. In 2005, the Kansas School Board forbade the teaching of the theory of evolution and approved a thinly disguised move toward teaching divine creation known as 'intelligent design.' Scientists at the time indicated that this action took us back 100 years in education and the teaching of science.

In Georgia, the state legislature led by Georgia led by State Representative Ben Ridges moved toward replacing evolution with 'intelligent design' in 2006. Other 'Red States' such as Mississippi, Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, and Nebraska, and even the 'purple' state of Pennsylvania, are expecting similar legislative and School Board moves this year. In some states scientific groups such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science do not even bother to send representatives to the hearings claiming that the hearings were stacked against mainstream science and represent little more than "kangaroo courts used to attack and undermine science, especially evolution and natural selection."

When Congress passed the 'Ten Commandments Placement Act' of 2006, the act was met with apprehension and dismay by many atheist and agnostic groups that labeled the act as 'unconstitutional.' The Federal Judiciary, now controlled by right wing, Republican and fundamentalist Christian vetted judges, ruled that the constitution promised 'freedom of religion, not freedom from religion,' and let the law stand. However, since the commandments began to be placed around the nation, other groups have joined the protest because the government chose to use the 10 Commandments 'Charlton Heston style,' which came from the 1611 King James Version of the Bible. Many of the churches now use other translations that use different words and phrases in the scripture. Roman Catholics also objected to the numbering of the commandments. In the Catholic version the commandment against adultery is number six not seven, the commandment against murder is number five not six and lying and stealing are covered in the seventh and eighth commandments respectively. The law also forgets that in the Bible there are two slightly different sets of the Ten Commandments, the more familiar set is found in Exodus 20 while another, different and expanded set, is found in Deuteronomy 5. These issues have began to break apart the nation as members of different religious groups and churches that use different translations of the Bible and 10 Commandments fight among themselves in the courts, school yards, and even in the halls Congress.

Very much like the 10 Commandments, The Lord's Prayer is an issue that now divides the nation. Like the commandments, different religious groups use different versions of the prayer. The common Protestant prayer contains several sentences that are omitted from the 'Our Father' prayer used at mass. When the school systems around the nation adopted the Protestant version, the Roman Catholic Church and the Jewish League took the case to court. The Jewish League became involved when a Jewish girl in Akron, Ohio, was forced off the high school's softball team for not wanting to say the Lord's Prayer before the game. When she asked the team to say Psalm 23 (Dominus regit me) instead, the coach, who is also a Sunday school teacher at the United Methodist Church in Akron, indicated that she could say the prayer or leave the team. State and Federal Courts have issued different rulings on the various similar cases, 738 to be exact, and the Supreme Court is expected to rule on these cases during its next term.

Meanwhile, in the sleepy Florida town of Palaka, a middle school teacher at Palaka Middle School (PMS) was unceremoniously relieved of his instructional duties and escorted out of PMS for displaying the quote from the Gospel of Thomas Didymos (the Twin). The quote read, "Jesus said, Do not worry, from morning to evening and evening to morning, about what you will wear (Thomas 36)." At a hearing the next week he was fired in spite of a recent Florida law that stated that a teacher must display a quote from Christian scripture in a prominent place in the classroom. The school board indicated that, "there was no such quote nor was there a Gospel of Thomas in the Bible." The teacher, who was a Gnostic Christian, then produced a copy of the 'Annotated and Enriched' Bible, published by Oxford Press, that contained the traditional Old and New Testaments, the Apocrypha, the Lost Gospel ('Q'), the Gnostic Texts including The Acts of Peter, and The Gospels of Peter, Thomas, and Mary. The expanded Bible even included a copy of the Book Of Mormon. When the school board insisted that no such "other books than the regular 66 were acceptable," the teacher was dismissed while a crowd of angry parents, many in I © PMS t-shirts, cheered the board on. However, a few Latter Day Saints in the crowd began to wonder if an ucalegonistic precedent had just been set.

Likewise, many state governments disallowed any school debates on topics such as abortion or euthanasia, and now high school debates center on such questions as is transubstantiation real, and if so, does the host scream during the breaking of the bread at Eucharist. Students in physics class now labor with the question of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, and chorus students rehearse their Easter program comprised of such classics as 'The Old Rugged Cross' and 'Up From the Grave He Arose.' When asked about the change from Handel's 'Messiah,' the regular Easter choral presentation, one chorus teacher indicated that the state had banned it and now Handel was taboo due to the fact that because he was from 'old Europe' and also German.

In a similar note, John Cashcroft, a former Attorney General and the man who lost the 2000 Montana Senate race to a dead man and currently the head of the Christian Coalition on Morals and Patriotic Behavior, has initiated a campaign to deny any Federal or State government funds to any ballet dance troop that performs The Nutcracker Suite at Christmas due to the fact that it was written by Tchakovsky, a Russian. Also included on the CCMPB hit list are Beethoven, Brahms, Berilos, a French composer, Mosorski, Ravi and Annolusia Shankar due to their Hindu influences, and Mercan Dede due to his reliance on Islam and Sufi compositions.

In Norfolk, Virginia, a high school teacher teaching Hellenistic-Roman history was challenged when he read to his class from the Book of Maccabees, Chapter 1 verses 13-15. This section of the Book of Maccabees contained the fact that to participate in the Greek style games in Judea, which were held in the nude, some Jewish participants had 'made themselves uncircumcised.' He was challenged because the Chairman of the local ministerial association complained that there was no such reference in the Bible. The teacher, a lifelong Episcopalian and lay minister in St. John the Evangelist Church of Norfolk, produced a copy of the Apocrypha and showed the Ministerial Association and the Board of Education of the book which clearly read "And some of the people went to the king. He (Antiochs) authorized them to observe the ordinances of the Gentiles. So they built themselves a gymnasium in Jerusalem, according to the Gentile custom, and they made themselves uncircumcised and abandoned the holy covenant. They joined themselves with the Gentiles and sold themselves to do evil." The teacher was disciplined and told never to mention the 'scripture, the book, or the fact that the incident was recorded' because the book was deemed 'uncanonical' by the fundamentalist. It is interesting to note that the books of the Maccabees appear in most Catholic and Episcopal Bibles and have since the canonical Bible was set in the mid-fourth century. The acceptance of the Maccabees as 'canonical' even historically predates the Revelation of St. John the Divine.

In Jackson, Mississippi, a Greek Orthodox research clerk at the Alabama State Courthouse had her icons smashed after other employees told Justice Roy Poore that she was praying to idols in the courthouse during the state mandated prayer opening the day at 9:30. The research clerk did have a small single panel icon of the Virgin of Compassion (Mary holding an infant Christ) and a candle on her desk. The judge took the icon and smashed it referring to 'Catholic idolatry' while doing so. He then took the smashed icon, walked past the 2.6-ton granite monument to the Ten Commandments, 'Charlton Heston style,' that had been restored to the rotunda area and the people praying to it, and threw the object on the court house lawn damning the icon as a blasphemous graven image. Evidently, he never got the word that the Seventh Ecumenical Council approved the veneration of icons and condemned such iconoclastic behavior in 843.

The lower courts are also hearing a case involving Campbell's Soup and their new soup Cabrito y Letchie Soupa (Kid Goat and Milk Soup.) This case, officially entitled Rob Groans Univ. et el. V Campbell's, rests on the premise that the book of Deuteronomy forbids the boiling of a kid goat in its mothers milk. Campbell's has asserted that the new soup was created especially for the recent Ubanego immigrants to the United States fleeing from ethnic and religious cleansing by the Ubetya tribe on the Micronesian island of Ubongo. Spokespersons from Rob Groans University, where Pres. George W. Bush began the Southern leg of his fall 2005 campaign against 'activist judges,' said that, "The law in Deuteronomy forbids a Philistine cult practice that should not be allowed in the United States." (Remember that Rev. Rob Groans III labeled the Roman Catholic Church a cult on National TV in 2005.) The Ubanego tribe follows a little known Arian sect of Christianity that allows the special sacrifice of goats and they contend that the practice is legal in their religion. 25,000 Ubanegos entered the US on Pres. Bush's 'match an employer with an immigrant employee program.' They have replaced American workers in Del Monte' pineapple industry and are willing to work for sub-minimum wages. When asked for a comment about the suit, RGU spokesperson cited the University's web site saying, "We stand against the one-world government, against the coming world of the anti-Christ, which is a one world system of blending of all differences, of blending of national differences, economic differences, church differences, and racial differences into a big one ecumenical world." He went on to add that, "Fundamentalist believe that this 'forbidden soup' is just one example of this blending." The US Supreme Court will hear the case in its 2008 Spring term.

In a lighter note, there has been a positive result of the Ten Commandments being placed in the schools. It seems that Jack 'Red' Harrison, head coach of the Red River High Comencheros, the Texas State Football Champs for the past two years and a deacon of the Antioch Missionary Evangelical Church in Paris, Texas, was worried because he had lost his lucky cap the week before a big conference game. He remembered where he had left the hat when he walked past the Ten Commandments, 'Charlton Heston style,' in the school and read, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." He retrieved his hat, won the big game, and he has kept these things in his heart, along with the time he bribed an officiating crew, and will until judgement day.

Maybe there was a reason our country's founders created separation of church and state when they established our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

"BRING 'EM ON"
A CLARION ISSUE WAR UPDATE
CASUALTIES AS OF JUNE 16, 2005

US SERVICE PERSONNEL KILLED IN IRAQ ……….. 1,708
US SERVICE PRESONEL KILLED IN MAY 2005 …….. 80
US SERVICE RERSONNEL WOUNDED IN IRAQ ……….. 12,712
US SERVICE PERSONNEL KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN…….. 190
US SERVICE PERSONNEL WOUNDED IN AFGHANISTAN……. 570

TOTAL CASUALTIES ……………………………….. 15,180
TOTAL COST …………………….$177,515,000,000

IRAQI CAUSALITIES LAST 18 MONTHS… 15,000 (estimated)

"Mission accomplished."
Pres. George W. Bush

"Well, Tommy, I'm sure to find out sooner or later, so you may as well tell me now. Was it Brenda O'Malley?"

The priest sighs in frustration. "You're a steadfast lad, Tommy Shaughnessy, and I admire that. But you've sinned, and you must atone. You cannot attend church mass for three months. Be off with you now."

Tommy walks back to his pew. His friend Sean slides over and whispers, "What'd you get?"

They were celebrating their sixtieth anniversary. The couple had married as childhood sweethearts and had moved back to their old neighborhood after they retired. Holding hands, they walked back to their old school. It was not locked, so they entered, and found the old desk they'd shared where Andy had carved "I love you, Sally."

On their way back home an armored car passed by and a bag of money fell out, practically at Sally's feet. She picked it up and not knowing what to do with it, they took it home. There, she counted the money. It came to fifty thousand dollars.

Sally said, "Finders Keepers." She put the money back into the bag and hid it in their attic.

The next day, two FBI men were canvassing the neighborhood looking for the money, and knocked on the door. "Pardon me, did either of you find a bag that fell out of an armored car yesterday?"

The agents turned to Andy and began to question him. One said, "Tell us the story from the beginning."

The pastor will preach his farewell message, after which the choir will sing, "Break Forth Into Joy."

"I promise you I will listen to what has been said here, even though I wasn't here."
Pres. George W. Bush, 2002

Horse/devers (Hors-d'oeuvre) Tiny bite-sized food items served at parties by folks too cheap to serve real American food.

Fill/it Mag/num (filet mignon) A choice cut of meat served by entraymanures instead of cheap horesdevers.

Film/fetals (femme fatale) A lady in distress or a distressed lady, especially after eating cheap
horesdevers.

Trash/bin (tres bien) 1) Very well, thank you. 2) A place where cheap hores/devers usually end up when the host or hostess ain't looking.

Goober: "Mercy Bucket." An' Thelma Lou, why you dressed up like that an' a talkin' lake that. You know you don't speak French.

Hostess: "Yea, but since Billy Ray became one of them there entray/manures, he likes his parties to be all Frenched up."
* * * * *
Bubba: "Charlene, why you ah eatin' them horse/devers like they is no tomorrow. You know Slim is gonna be a serving some Fill/it Mag/nums real soon.

Charlene: "Yea Bubba, I know. But I seed 'en a putten them fill/it Mag/nums on the grill, and Bubba if them is high quality steaks, I want'a to go back to my T-bones. They ain't the size of a quarter. How I know why Slim stays so slim."

Lake Okeechobee's waters have turned from blue, to brown, and are now heading for a seasick shade of green due to last year's hurricanes. The storms churned up a thick layer of pollution that had settled on the bottom of the lake and now endangers the diverse fish and plants in Florida's largest lake. The pollution also threatens the water supplies and economies of nearby communities in the central part of the state.

The unsavory green color comes from toxic algae, which blooms from the pollution spreading through the lake and smothers plants and fish. The hurricanes dumped 5 ½ to 6 feet of water into Lake Okeechobee. The added depth, plus the phosphorus-laden muck that spread throughout the water, shuts out sunlight, and kills plants that grew from the lake's bottom and kept the toxic muck in place. The best bet for the lakes quick recovery is to drain the lake; however, to release the extra water into nearby canals and estuaries would shock the fragile ecosystems in the area.

Lake Okeechobee sits in the middle of the $8.4 billion Everglades Restoration project that hopes to restore the once-natural water flow from the Kissimmee chain of lakes in central Florida south to Florida Bay, at the peninsula's southern tip. Water managers use pumping stations and canals to mimic nature, but they have nowhere to put Lake Okeechobee's extra water. With hurricane season now in full swing and the likelihood of heavy rains from one or more storms, state officials don't expect to see improvement in the lake until next spring.

The sheer size of Lake Okeechobee might help it rebound more successfully. The lake covers 730 square miles and this size, plus a government plan, might bring the lake back from the brink. It is now proposed that the state spend millions of dollars in the next year, drawing the lake down to about 15 feet above sea level at the end of the wet season and installing temporary pumps to move water between the lake and surrounding farms and utilities. Then during the dry season, water managers could aim to have the lake at about 12 feet, which could mean larger discharges to the Caloosahatchee River and the St. Lucie Estuary. The state may have to replant some of the lake's vegetation, though some of the lake's plants might rebound on their own if the lake is kept at 12 feet for about three months next spring. If the lake is any higher, sunlight won't reach the underwater vegetation, which improves water quality and serves as habitat for fish and other animals in the lake.

Everyone agrees that the state needs to take drastic measures to clean up the lake. The clean up will need to involve residents, farmers, state planners, and environmentalists. As one official said, "The water's not as healthy as it was before. The people in the estuaries are really, really going to be watching it. There's going to be all sorts of people on that battleground." Pahokee Mayor J.P. Sasser, who hopes to see his town grow as a tourist destination with the lake as the main attraction, said, "The whole thing hinges on the health of the lake. I think it's been used like a toilet long enough. We all just want to take the next step forward."

Mayor Sasser envisions restaurants, boat and bicycle rental shops, new hotels and motels, and other new businesses supported by tourists and fishermen. But those tourists will not come if the lake keeps turning shades of brown and green, unless it is on St. Patrick's Day.

Durham, North Carolina, police and sheriff officials, state police, and the FBI are investigating the burning of three large crosses in a span of just over an hour during the night of May 25, 2005. The burnings marked the first time in recent memory that one of the South's most notorious symbols of racial hatred has been seen in Durham, commonly called the 'Bull City.' Cross burnings have long been associated with the Ku Klux Klan, and police say, they found yellow KKK fliers at one of the sites telling gangs to "cease and desist."

The 7-foot tall and 4-foot wide crosses were burned in separate spots across town during a span of just over an hour. The first burning was reported at 9:19 p.m. outside St. Luke's Episcopal Church on Hillandale Road near Interstate 85. A second was reported at 9:54 p.m. about a quarter-mile south of Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway on South Roxboro Street. The cross was positioned atop a large pile of dirt near an apartment complex construction site. The third cross burning was reported at 10:28 p.m. in a vacant lot near the intersection of Holloway and Dillard streets, not far from downtown Durham.

Police said the crosses were made of 2-by-4s screwed flat together with grooves cut at the intersections of the beams. They were wrapped in burlap and doused in a liquid that smelled like kerosene.

Durham's mayor, Bill Bell, said he could not remember a single cross burning since he moved here in 1968. He went on to say, "At this day and time, I thought we'd be beyond that. People do things for different reasons, and I don't have the slightest idea why anyone would do this." The Governor's Office has offered up to a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. In addition to Gov. Mike Easley's reward, Durham Crimestoppers is offering up to $1,200, and Durham County Commissioner Lewis Cheek is kicking in another $1,000, bringing the reward total to $12,200 so far.

St. Luke's was one of several Bull City churches picketed early in May by members of Rev. Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas. The protests were against the performance of The Laramie Project at Durham School of the Arts. Bill Gutknecht, senior warden at St. Luke's indicated that, "I cannot think of any reason that any insider or anyone outside would be angry with us. I don't know what kind of point they're trying to make. I certainly hope and pray it had nothing to do directly with our church." The church is near the interstate and has an open tolerance to the homosexual community. These factors make the church a target if the cross burnings were linked to the play. Local officials and the FBI are looking into the possibility of any links between the protests of the play and the cross burnings.

The Laramie Project is a play about the Laramie, Wyoming, murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay man. The murder was labeled a hate crime, and the play includes a character that portrays Rev. Phelps. The Westboro protesters carried anti-gay signs and with slogans including 'God Hates Fags' as they picketed St. Luke's Episcopal Church, St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Aldersgate United Methodist Church, The First Presbyterian Church, The First Baptist Church, Our Savior Lutheran Church and Immaculate Conception Catholic Church on May 6th. The group then went to East Campus and the Durham School of the Arts to protest the two weekend performances of The Laramie Project.

Burning a cross without the permission of the property owner is a misdemeanor in North Carolina, but in 2003 the US Supreme Court ruled that under the First Amendment cross burning could be barred only when done with the intent to intimidate.

The burning cross was the historic way Scottish highland clan chieftains called their family and clan members to arms in order to defend their clan's territory against rival clans or royal encroachment. The Ku Klux Klan stole this historical symbol and turned it into a sign of hate and intolerance after the Klan reformed in 1915. As usual, the Ku Klux Klan is incapable of developing any original sign, symbol, or idea of its own. National Klan leadership disavowed any knowledge or sanction of the Durham triple cross burnings.

Editors note: Protesters from Pastor Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, were made famous for picketing the funeral of Matthew Shepard with their "God Hates Fags" slogans and signs. According to his 47-year-old daughter, Shirley Phelps-Roper, who helped plan the Durham protests, "There is a God, a standard, a Day of Judgment, a Hell, and it's not okay to be gay. If you live that life, and die in an unrepentant state, you're going to Hell." She indicated that, "Duke University receives tax dollars, and they're using those tax dollars in part to fund the religion of the Sodomites. They've got all kinds of homosexual stuff going on at Duke University, it's all over the web site." Rev. Fred Phelps attended Bob Jones University in South Carolina.

Dog-whistle politics: Putting out a message that, like a high-pitched dog-whistle, is only fully audible to those at whom it is directly aimed. The intention is to make potential supporters sit up and take notice while avoiding offending those to whom the message will not appeal. The term originated in Britain.

Example: Bush's 2004 puzzling debate mention of the Dred Scott decision left the vast majority of people scratching their heads, but the anti-abortion movement knew exactly what he was saying. It's Religious Right code for attacking Roe v. Wade.

The Ivory-billed Woodpecker, long believed to be extinct, has been rediscovered in the Big Woods of eastern Arkansas. 60 years after the last confirmed sighting of the species in the United States, a research team announced that at least one male Ivory-bill still survived in vast areas of bottomland swamp forest. The find was published in the journal Science on its Science Express Web site in late April 2005. The evidence was gathered during an intensive year-long search in the Cache River and White River national wildlife refuges and involved more than 50 experts and field biologists working together as part of the Big Woods Conservation Partnership.

The Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Campephilus principalis, is among the world's largest woodpeckers. The Ivory-billed woodpecker once ranged through the swamps in the southeastern and lower Mississippi valley states. The famous artist and naturalist, John James Audubon, painted the birds and reported Ivory-bills as far north as the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers around 1825. In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt observed that, "Their brilliant white bills contrasted finely with the black of their general plumage. They were noisy but wary, and they seemed to me to set off the wildness of the swamp as much as any of the beasts they chase."

The bird is about 20 inches in length. A full-width white patch in the Ivory-bill's trailing wing feathers (when seen from above) folds to form a white "saddle" on its back when the bird is perched. Males have a prominent scarlet crest, and the female has a black crest. The "ivory" of the Ivory-billed woodpecker is a keratin sheath over the bill of bone. The broad bill continues to grow from the Ivory-bill's thick-boned skull throughout its life, believed to be up to 30 years, and is worn down by rigorous pounding on trees.

Ivory-bill woodpeckers are believed to mate for life. They share the duties of incubating their eggs and raising their young, which usually leave the parents' territory at the end of the season. A pair of Ivory-bills is estimated to need six square miles of uncut forest. They eat beetle larvae and are often the first woodpeckers on dying trees searching for these larvae. When beetle larvae bore through the bark to feed on the sapwood beneath, Ivory-bills use their elongated beaks to pry bark from the trees and expose the larvae. Ivory-bills excavate trees to make nest holes which are usually oval-shaped openings between four and six inches in size and extend 20 inches or more down into the tree. The nest is usually 40 feet or higher above ground level.

The rediscovery has galvanized efforts to save the Big Woods of Arkansas, 550,000 acres of bayous, bottomland forests, and oxbow lakes. The Nature Conservancy has conserved 18,000 acres of critical habitat in the Big Woods since the search of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker began. The Nature Conservancy accepts donations for this and other preservation projects. For more information visit their web site at www.nature.org .

KATHERINE HARRIS THROWS HAT, OR MAYBE A COMPACT, INTO THE FLORIDA SENATORIAL RING

Katherine Harris, the former famous or infamous Florida Secretary of State, announced her intention to run for the Florida Senate seat in 2006. She joins others who hope to oppose Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson.

Republican Representative Katherine Harris, 48, is currently serving her second term in Congress representing Florida's 13th district. She is considered a top fundraiser and is a popular figure among Republicans. Harris made news through her role in overseeing the 2000 presidential recount and is vilified for that action by Democrats. Harris has the ability to attract huge infusions of cash from Republicans and Democrats alike because she is such a polarizing figure. Her entry into the race could galvanize Democratic voters and contributors.

Harris had considered running for the Senate last year after Democrat Bob Graham announced his retirement, but decided to sit it out. Republicans feared a Harris candidacy would produce a big turnout among angry Democrats and hurt President Bush's chances of carrying Florida and its crucial 27 electoral votes.

Harris' entry into the 2006 race should make it a lightning rod for money and national attention. It also is expected to boost voter turnout in the Sunshine (or plywood) State. Nelson is considered a moderate with the ability to attract crossover voters. He has focused on issues including opposition to oil drilling off Florida's Gulf Coast and support of the space program. Nelson rode aboard the shuttle Columbia in 1986, when he represented Florida in Congress. According to Aubrey Jewett, a University of Central Florida political science professor, "Democrats would turn out in force for Bill Nelson in any event, but they will turn out in greater numbers because they don't like Katherine Harris. But Republicans are going to turn out in greater numbers for her because she is seen as a hero."

Harris has always contended that her actions during the 2000 recount were fair and appropriate. Harris said, "Every decision we made was totally based in law." On the other hand, Democrats have accused Harris of partisanship in her handling of the recount, after which she became the darling of GOP activists and got elected to Congress in 2002. Her book Center of the Storm recalls the events of the 2000 recount.

Ms. Harris has been a strong supporter of amnesty for illegal aliens and other guest worker visa programs. In a vote on May 24, 2005, Harris voted with the minority, in opposition to federal financing for medical research utilizing useful lines of human embryonic stem cells that would destroy the embryos in the process. The new lines are believed to hold great therapeutic promise for ubiquitous diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.

Harris was publicly criticized for her excessive makeup and tasteless wardrobe during the recount by both print media and television. During the 2000 event, Robin Givhan, a Washington Post's fashion editor, described Harris as having lips "overdrawn with berry-red lipstick;" the "creamy sort that smears all over a coffee cup and leaves smudges on shirt collars." Miss Harris' skin, the description continued, "had been plastered and powdered to the texture of pre-war walls in need of a skim coat. And her eyes, rimmed in lines and frosted with blue shadow, bore the telltale homogenous spikes of false eyelashes. Caterpillars seemed to rise and fall with every bat of her eyelid." Harris was also immortalized by comedienne Ana Gasteyer during the 2000-2001 season of Saturday Night Live. Gasteyer portrayed Harris as man-hungry, nakedly ambitious, and as wearing wardrobe and makeup that would put most "drag queens to shame." By the time of her congressional campaign, however, Harris' look was softer and more subdued.

The story of Runaway Bride Jennifer Wilbanks has inspired the introduction of several new products name in her honor. David "Pappy" Ryan, a Lawrenceville, Georgia, entrepreneur who runs Pappy's Peppers on the city square, has began distributing a private-label pepper sauce named "Jennifer's High Tailin' Hot Sauce." Ryan claims that he can't keep the $7 item on the shelves. Ryan contends that, "This is the hottest thing I've got right now," and added, "I'd always felt that the parody of the bride with cold feet and the hot sauce was humorous."

The sauce contains habanero peppers and chipotle, the favorite flavors (or temperatures) in Albuquerque, where the veil of mystery surrounding the reluctant bride's travels was thrown back April 30, 2005. The label features a running bride holding on to her veil. On the back is a warning: "This sauce may cause you to seek intense professional help … voluntarily." Ryan indicated that this was a reference to Wilbanks' recent decision to seek help for her 'physical and mental issues.'

Ryan sells 1,200 varieties of hot and pepper sauces in his brick and mortar store and online at www.PappysPeppers.com. The web site indicates that you need to, "Buy yours before they run away!"

Meanwhile in Danbury, Connecticut, Herobuilders.com has produced a Runaway Bride Action Figure. The figures are a foot-tall and feature a dark-haired woman in jogging pants and with towel similar to that seen nationwide in the Albuquerque airport. The midriff shirt has the words "Vegas Baby" written on it. The first order of 250 action years figures sold out at the cost of $24.95 each. According to company owner Emil Vicale, "We had over a million hits in one day. That's never happened before."

The Runaway bride craze has even hit hotels. Hotel Commonwealth, a new luxury hotel in Boston's Kenmore Square, has created a "Runaway Bride Escape" package for brides and bridal parties to relieve the stress of planning their nuptials. For any Runaway brides who choose the Commonwealth Hotel over faking their own kidnapping, they will be greeted with champagne, chocolate-covered strawberries, several pampering spa services, and will receive a free pair of New Balance "runaway sneakers."

Jennifer Wilbanks was indicted on charges that she lied to the police about her April 26 kidnapping. In reality, she actually fled on her own just days before her lavish 600-guest wedding. Wilbanks, 32, appeared in a Gwinnett County court and was sentenced to two years probation and 120 hours of community service. She is also required to pay $2,550 to the county sheriff's department and continue mental treatment. Maybe her 15 minutes of fame are over.

On January 8, 2005, the USS San Francisco, a 688 class nuclear-powered submarine struck an undersea mountain about 360 miles southeast of its Guam homeport. Guam is a U.S. territory in the Marianas Island chain about 3,700 miles southwest of Hawaii.

The San Francisco left homeport shortly before 8 a.m. on Jan. 7, headed for a liberty call in Brisbane, Australia. At 11:42 a.m. the following day the San Francisco collided at top speed into a virtual submerged wall, a seamount (underwater mountain) that was not on the chart the ship was using for navigation. In a split second, the submarine's speed dropped from flank speed to 4 knots as the bow whipped up and the ship tried to go over the obstruction. Crewmen were thrown about like rag dolls, causing one death, and many injuries ranging from minor to severe. After heroic damage control efforts by the crew, the submarine made its way under its own power back to its homeport. The front of the ship was so badly twisted, its maneuverability was compromised. The San Francisco was limited to about eight knots on the surface as it limped homeward with significant damage and injury to the ship and crew.

Navy reports have cited the lack of ample voyage planning preparations, and poor navigation practices as contributing to the deadly mishap. The seamount was found to be on other charts in the ship's possession, and if used, could have possibly prevented the collision. The ship's Commanding Officer, Commander Kevin G. Mooney, was relieved of command while others in the navigation chain of command were disciplined in order of their responsibility.

Are you always hitting the snooze bar on your alarm clock looking for that extra few minutes of sleep? Do you wind up doing a 'Dagwood style' rush for work? If you answered yes to these questions then you may be a serial oversleeper, and the good folks at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab have a product for you.

Gauri Nanda, a 25-year-old a researcher from India, has developed an alarm clock that rolls off the stand, skirts across the room, and actually hides from the constant snooze puncher, forcing the snoozer want-a-be to get up and search for the alarm clock. The new product is called "Clocky." When the snooze button on "Clocky" is pressed, the clock rolls off the bedside table and wheels around the bedroom floor bumping into things, before settling on a place to hide. There it lies in wait for 10 minutes before ringing again. It chooses a new hiding place every time and will force even the laziest, sleepiest person to wake up and search for it. According to Gauri Nanda, "'Clocky' is designed to get sleepyheads moving."

Clocky looks like a furry roll of toilet paper or a log with wheels attached at both ends. Nanda indicated that while "People are always talking about finding a gentle way to wake up. I wanted something that's annoying like a dog, that forces you to get up, but that you love even though it's annoying." The furry covering was added in the hope that it would look endearing and stop people throwing it out of the window in anger.

Nanda said she is in the process of getting the "Clocky" patented and experts believe that "Clocky" will be available in stores in about a year. "Clocky" has a built-in microprocessor ensures that it rolls off the bed stand in a new direction and makes a series of different turns, so that its hiding place changes each morning. Because it uses simple technology, MIT says the clock, which has yet to go into production, would cost less than $25. This could be the perfect Christmas gift for that annoying office worker who is always late for work, or obnoxious Uncle Ernie who can never be on time.

Experts expect a lot of resells on "Clocky" and hardware salesmen report an expected rise in the sale of hammers at the same time.

On May 3, 2005, a 911 call to authorities in Clovis, New Mexico, about a possible weapon at Marshall Junior High School prompted police to put armed officers on rooftops, close nearby streets, and lock down the school. When all was said, done, searched, and locked down, the police discovered the weapon was a giant burrito, part of an extra credit assignment for a student's class.

A concerned citizen called authorities and reported seeing a boy carrying something long and wrapped up into Marshall Junior High School. Clovis police and the Curry County Sheriff's Department arrived at the school shortly after 8:30 a.m. They locked down the school, searched the premises and determined there was no immediate danger. The situation ended almost two hours later when the suspicious item was identified as a 30-inch burrito filled with steak, guacamole, lettuce, salsa, and jalapenos. It was wrapped inside tin foil and a white T-shirt.

In the meantime, more than 30 parents, alerted by a radio report, descended on the school. Visibly shaken, they gathered around in a semi-circle, straining their necks, awaiting news. Some parents indicated that there needed to be security before the kids walk through the door. After the lockdown was lifted but before the burrito was identified as the culprit, 75 parents pulled their students out of the school.

Marshall Junior High School Principal Diana Russell said the mystery was solved after she brought everyone in the school together in the auditorium to explain what was going on. Afterward, eighth-grader Michael Morrissey approached her and said, "I think I'm the person they saw" and told her about the giant burrito.

The giant burrito was part of Morrissey's extra-credit assignment to create commercial advertising for a product. When the students heard a description of what police were looking for, Morrissey and his friends began to make the connection. He took the burrito to the office. According to Morrissey, "We had to make up a product and it could have been anything. I made up a restaurant that specialized in oddly large burritos."

Morrissey indicated that his new nickname around school is "Burrito Boy," but he has not grown tired of the attention. The teacher who assigned the extra-credit project that initiated the creation of the burrito agreed to up Morrissey's extra credit points from 100 to 200 (post-hype of course). Morrissey appeared on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live, a late night Hollywood-based show and even created a replica of the now infamous burrito for the show. The original burrito was seized by law enforcement at the school on the day of the event.

Local authorities indicated that their actions on May 3rd have been both criticized and applauded. One officer noted that the burrito probably would not have set off any alarms commonly used to search students entering a school. He added the only danger from the 30-foot burrito would be to the person stupid enough to eat it. The same officer indicated off the record that the gigantic burrito had sure given the school and law enforcement officials a "real case of heartburn."

School authorities in Clovis have indicated that they will try to communicate better with parents during incidents such as the one on May 3rd. One school board member said he was just glad the boys involved in the Giant Burrito project did not get around to eating the burrito. He said that there would have been a real disaster at the school if they had done so and the water to the school been shut off.

Clovis, is famous among archeologists as the home of the 'Clovis point' spear tips and the 'Clovis culture' which centered around the hunting techniques found in the area. From now on, Clovis can add home of the deadly burrito and the "Burrito Boy" to its claim to fame.

U.S. House of Representative Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R. Texas) accused NBC of 'slurring his name' by including an unflattering reference to him on the NBC police drama "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." The episode ran on May 25, 2005, and was the season finale of the series. The plot of the show centered around the fictional slayings of two judges by suspected right-wing extremists. During the episode, the police are frustrated by a lack of clues, evidence, and one officer to quipped that, "Maybe we should put out an APB (all-points-bulletin) for somebody in a Tom DeLay T-shirt." The Clarion Issue regrets that Lenny Brisco (Jerry Orbach) was not around to say that.

DeLay wrote a letter to NBC Universal Television Group President Jeff Zucker whining that, "This manipulation of my name and trivialization of the sensitive issue of judicial security represents a reckless disregard for the suffering initiated by recent tragedies and a great disservice to public discourse." The Texas Republican went on to suggest the "slur" against him was intended as a jab at comments he had made about "the need for Congress to closely monitor the federal judiciary."

Kevin Reilly, NBC Entertainment President, responded that the dialogue in question "was neither a political comment nor an accusation. The script line involved an exasperated detective bedeviled by a lack of clues, making a sarcastic comment about the futility of looking for a suspect when no specific description existed." Reilly added: "It's not unusual for 'Law & Order' to mention real names in its fictional stories. We're confident in our viewers' ability to distinguish between the two." The show, which frequently incorporates stories and themes that are 'ripped from the headlines,' aired just weeks after a white supremacist was sentenced to 40 years in prison for plotting to assassinate a federal judge whose husband and elderly mother were later slain by another man angry at the judge.

Many individuals feel that Delay deserved the slap and simply needed to "Take it like a man." It was Delay, not NBC who injected Delay into the Terri Schiavo case. Delay was among the leading Republicans that used harsh language to condemn judges that allowed Schiavo's husband to have the feeding tube removed earlier against her parents' wishes this year. After courts failed to intervene to save the life of Schiavo DeLay said, "The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior."

Delay is also in political and legal trouble in his home state of Texas. The same day Delay was whining about the 'Law and Order Episode,' a Texas judge ruled that a political action committee formed by the congressman violated state law by failing to disclose $600,000 in mostly corporate donations. It is expected that Delay's name will come out as plea bargains are reached. Moreover, Delay is currently under ethics investigation in the House for taking bribes from lobbyist in the form of expensive golf outings and vacation trips to Britain and elsewhere. One NBC spokesperson said "I congratulate Congressman DeLay for switching the spotlight from his own problems to an episode of a TV show."

It's no wonder that Republican congressional leader Tom Delay is a little 'down on law and order.'

A Johannesburg, California, chicken that got a ticket for crossing the road has had its $54 citation for impeding traffic dismissed. The case was heard on May 27th in a Ridgecrest, California, court. The attorney representing Linc and Helena Moore and the chicken argued that the bird was domesticated and could not be charged as livestock. California state law restricts livestock on highways, but not domestic animals. The chicken was given the ticket on March 26 for impeding traffic after it wandered onto a road near the rural mining community southeast of Ridgecrest.

The Moores claim that the citation was law enforcement's payback because they were among several people who complained that deputies have done little to curb noisy off-road vehicle riders near their community. According to Linc Moore, "For the last two and a half years, no one has been able to stop the kids riding their bikes in the middle of the road or the neighbors' dogs running around our neighborhood. But when our chicken escaped and crossed the road once it became a huge issue."

Sheriff's officials said the ticket had nothing to do with the Moore's complaints. However, some Johannesburg residents felt that an APB on a chicken did seem a little "extreme and vindictive by the sheriff's deputies."

Why did the California chicken cross the road? Because Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, commonly known as the 'Gropenator,' was making a speech on the other side.

On Monday June 13, Michael Jackson was found not guilty of child molestation, conspiracy, giving alcohol to a minor, and other charges by a Santa Maria, California, jury. After 32 hours of deliberations over seven days, the jury of eight women and four men concluded that the evidence was not sufficient 'beyond any reasonable doubt' that Jackson was a predatory child molester who gave his alleged victim liquor and porn and then groped him. The jurors found Jackson not guilty on all 10 counts of the indictment. After the court was dismissed jurors indicated that the accusations of a young boy and his family were not credible. Jackson had faced more than 18 years in prison if convicted.

The trial had lasted 14 weeks and had been watched around the world. The news broke about 12:30 LCT (Left Coast Time) that a verdict had been reached. Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville, the judge in the case, summoned the defendant and attorneys in the case to the court. TV audiences watched as the Jackson motorcade left the 2,500-acre Neverland ranch and drove the 40 miles into town. The verdicts were read at around 3:30 LCT or 5:30 GT (God's Time or Right Coast Time). TV networks on every continent, except Antarctica, carried the news. Even the anti-American Arab network Al-Jazeera interrupted its rhetoric to broadcast the Jackson verdict.

During a post-verdict news conference, attended by all 12 jurors, many expressed a strong distaste for the mother of the accuser, a then-13-year old cancer patient. They said they were offended when she snapped her fingers at them, doubted the values she had taught her children, and disapproved of her decision to allow her son to share Jackson's bed. Jurors also indicated that the accuser appeared to have been totally programmed by his mother. Several jurors said that they believed Jackson had molested children in the past but the prosecution simply did not produce enough evidence of the singer's guilt in this case.

During an appearance on NBC's "Today Show" the day after the trial, Tom Mesereau, Jackson's attorney, indicated that the pop star was "very relieved" but "exhausted" after the "terrible ordeal." He said Jackson would need a "period of recovery." Mesereau also indicated that Jackson had learned an important lesson. He said the singer is a kind, childlike person who has "allowed people to come into his life and run freely through his home and that's going to change." Mesereau says Jackson is not going to share his bed with young boys anymore. In Jackson's words, "He's not going to make himself vulnerable to this anymore."

The acquittals marked a stinging defeat for Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon. The DA has displayed open hostility for Jackson and had pursued him for more than a decade, trying to prove the rumors that swirled around Jackson about his fondness for children and pornographic materials. When asked if he would stop pursuing Jackson, Sneddon simply replied, "No comment."

The Clarion Issue wishes to quell the rumor that Jackson is changing his pseudonym from the 'King of Pop' to the 'Teflon Molester.'

The emergence of Deep Throat at this time is important for journalist because it reinforces the importance of anonymous sources in American journalism. During the Watergate saga, the Nixon Administration was obstructing the entire investigation and covering up the use of hush money and illegally raised funds used to buy silence from the individuals who performed the break-in at the Watergate Hotel. Two reporters for the Washington Post, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, followed the investigation, cover up and hush money under the guidance of Deep Throat, and kept the story in the news until Nixon was forced to resign the presidency. Americans who are old enough to remember the movie All the President's Men, (based on the book by Bernstein and Woodward by the same title) can still recall Hal Holbrook (Deep Throat) in the shadows of a parking garage late at night directing Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman (Bernstein and Woodward) to follow the money. He was given the code 'Deep Throat' because he was a source 'deep inside the investigation.' Deep Throat was the name of a popular 'adult' movie at the time.

On Tuesday, May 31, 2005, almost 35 years after the story broke, Deep Throat emerged from the shadows. Deep Throat was W. Mark Felt, a top official in the FBI. Felt was angry at the White House's attempts to obstruct and cover up the investigation and led the reporters in their efforts to investigate the Watergate affair. The Post had agreed to keep the anonymity of Deep Throat until his death; however Felt's family revealed Felt was Deep Throat in a Vanity Fair magazine article by John O'Connor. The Post confirmed that Felt was Deep Throat later that day.

Watergate reporters Woodward and Bernstein also confirmed the information saying that "W. Mark Felt was 'Deep Throat' and helped us immeasurably in our Watergate coverage."

The emergence of Deep Throat and the focus on anonymous sources comes at a time when the use of such sources is under fire from the American people, the government and even journalists themselves. Recent press and media faux pas, such as Jayson Blair of the New York Times who falsified several stories, Newsweek's story that a Qur'an was flushed down the toilet at the Guantanamo Bay prison, and even the CBS report concerning President Bush's service record, have fallen apart due to anonymous sources proving unreliable. However, the problem is not with the sources, but with the failure of the reporters and their media agencies to confirm the reports before rushing to put out an unverified story. Bernstein and Woodward were required to have two sources, each verifying the other. Confidential sources are important, but like all sources, they need to be closely scrutinized by reporters and their leads verified.

Today several cases threaten to jeopardize the use of anonymous sources in America. In 2004 a federal judge compelled several reporters to reveal their sources in a case involving the leaking in the press of the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame. The judge said that Supreme Court rulings clearly show that the first amendment to the US Constitution does not guarantee journalists immunity from prosecution when they protect the confidentiality of their sources. Reporters caught in this case were Matthew Cooper of Time magazine, Judith Miller of the New York Times, Walter Pincus of the Washington Post, and even NBC's Tim Russert. These individuals were subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury directed by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and present evidence on confidential sources or to be held in contempt of court. Also in 2004, Jim Taricani, a Providence, Rhode Island, TV reporter, was found guilty of criminal contempt of court for refusing to tell investigators the name of the person who had supplied him with a tape showing Frank Corrente, a top aide to the city's then-mayor, Vincent "Buddy" Cianci, accepting a $1000 bribe from a government informant. While the tape was an FBI surveillance tape, Taricani had promised confidentiality to his source. Taricani had broadcast the truth, but his reward was prosecution, conviction, and house arrest. At this time the Associated Press and other news organizations are appealing a federal judge's decision finding five reporters in contempt for refusing to identify their sources for stories about nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee. Wen Ho Lee is the former Los Alamos nuclear scientist who was wrongly accused of espionage in 1999. The five journalists have been ordered to reveal their sources so that Lee may pursue an invasion-of-privacy suit against the federal government.

Without the use of anonymous sources, our information about the government would be based on press conferences and political news briefings where the American people are told only what the government wants them to hear and know. Nixon contended the was 'not a crook,' and his Vice President referred to allegations of kickbacks from Maryland contractors as 'damn lies;' however investigations eventually proved both the president and vice-president to be the liars. In these cases investigative reporting proved truer that governmental press conferences.

While Americans should be skeptical of all news reports, especially ones involving unnamed or confidential sources, it is interesting to note that the practice of a reporter refusing to reveal a source dates back to before the Civil War. In 1857 a New York Times reporter, a Mr. Simonton, refused to name sources in a story about congressmen taking bribes. Simonton was held in contempt of Congress by the House of Representatives for 19 days before being discharged. Americans have never trusted politicians or journalists, but if America hopes to remain a free and open society, then the media must be allowed to serve its role as a watchdog of government. The media must comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. With the internet, bloggers, 24 hour news services, and many other news outlets and reporters, there are enough checks and balances on the media today that there should be little fear of bad information from confidential sources standing for long. After 30+ years, the information Deep Throat passed on to Bernstein and Woodward has held up.

Editors note: Today Felt is 91, and in poor health due to a stroke. He lives with his daughter in Santa Rosa, California. In 1972 Felt was the number 2 man at the FBI and may have felt passed over by the Nixon Administration for the number 1 spot. Felt was convicted in 1980 for authorizing illegal break-ins at homes of people associated with the radical Weather Underground in the 1970s. President Reagan pardoned Felt in 1981. He was given the code 'Deep Throat' because he was 'a source deep inside the investigation.' Deep Throat was the name of a popular 'adult' movie at the time.

On May 10, 2005, a ruling by Judge Eugene R. Wedoff of the Federal Bankruptcy Court in Chicago released United, a unit of the UAL Corporation, from $3.2 billion in pension obligations over the next five years. As a result of the ruling, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the federal agency that guarantees pensions, will assume responsibility for the plans, which cover about 134,000 people. Ultimately, some retirees will see as much as a 50 percent drop in their pension payments, and others will see little change in benefits, depending on several of factors.

United Airlines has been in bankruptcy protection since December 2002, and it has been pushing to end its pensions since losing its bid for a federal loan package in 2004.

US Airways is also under court protection for the second time since 2002. It terminated the last of its pension plans earlier this year. As a result, the federal government has taken over the responsibility of paying US Airways' current and future retirees $3 billion worth of benefits. These retirees will see a drop in their respective pensions also.

In 2002 Polaroid declared bankruptcy and defaulted on its pension benefits plan. In the resulting lawsuit each retired employee was paid $47, and the company was absolved from any further pension payments. Polaroid Chairman Jacques A. Nasser, who came to the company in 2002, got $12.8 million for his shares, and J. Michael Pocock, the CEO received $8.5 million.

Many economists now speculate that General Motors, with its huge United Auto Workers (UAW) pension obligations, will be the next big company to default on their pension promises to their employees.

The public debate on Social Security has many Americans hoping a reasonable solution can be found to 'fix' Social Security for the future. The Clarion Issue reminds the American people and their elected representatives that the entire retirement system needs to be looked at and 'fixed.'

Poor sales have managed to sink the good ship S. S. O'Reilly and its 'The Battle for American Values' (a.k.a. 'The Battle to Force O'Reilly's Values on America') theme cruise scheduled for November. The week-long Caribbean cruise hoped to have 800 passengers on board at a cost of between $1,099 and $1,629 before taxes, but it fell "well short" of its goal, according to The Thomas Moore Law Center, which was to get a share of the revenue.

The cruise would have featured two private appearances by Bill O'Reilly, the star of FOX News networks 'The O'Reilly Factor,' a lecture from former US Senator Jeremiah Denton (R-Ala.) and a symposium on 'How to Combat the ACLU.' The cruise was pitched almost nightly on the O'Reilly Factor TV show, the Radio Factor, and O'Reilly's web site, for several weeks, but lack of interest caused the cruise to be cancelled on June 9th.

According to Brian Major of Cruise Lines International Association, "These types of cruises featuring politicians or about a political issue, either conservative or liberal, are usually quite popular. So this is really surprising that this one didn't sell enough to happen."

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a major target of several right wing groups and media commentators, especially FOX news commentator Bill O'Reilly and his scream TV 'factor- no spin zone.' Bill O'Reilly claims to love America and stand up for its institutions, freedoms, and values. However, he never misses a chance to belittle and criticize the ACLU, an organization whose stated purpose it is to take on various challenges to infringements on the US Constitution, the cornerstone of our freedoms. American rights, liberties, freedoms, and values are expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights; the ACLU defends these values, rights, freedoms, and liberties no matter how unpopular they may be at the time. In the past, the ACLU was instrumental in defending John Scopes in the historic 1925 'Monkey Trial' in Tennessee. It helped NAACP litigate the 1954 school segregation case Brown v Board of Education and worked for decades on cases to free the Scottsboro defendants. The ACLU even aided the defendants in the 1973 Rowe v Wade abortion case. Today the ACLU is opposing certain aspects of the USA Patriot Act, working to improve the quality of public defenders for poor defendants, and helping defend the rights of patients who have been prescribed medical marijuana by their physicians. While the Clarion Issue may not agree with all of the ACLU's stands, we appreciate that this citizen-supported watchdog is out there on the front line protecting American liberties.

At the Mal-mart in beautiful downtown Lumber City, Georgia, one individual who was thinking about taking his wife Ethel on the cruise said, "I was a thinkin' about going, but I was afeared that all that there screaming would interrupt mine and Ethel's concentration on the Shuffle Board court. I reckon now we'll just vacation at the Peak-a-Boo Nudist Camp out there on the left coast. Watchin' them volleyball games at the camp can be entertaining."

It appears that 'The Battle to Force O'Reilly's Values on America' will be hard for Bill O'Reilly to win if he can't manage to launch a ship without it getting torpedoed due to a lack of interest. 'Fair and balanced,' at a cost of $1,500, just doesn't float anyone's boat.

Retired Army Col. David Hackworth, a famously outspoken and decorated veteran died on May 4, 2005, in Tijuana, Mexico. Hackworth died while undergoing treatment for cancer; he was 74.

Hackworth, known as "Hack" to his friends and troops, was an outspoken critic of the wars in Vietnam and Iraq and an advocate for military reform. He often voiced his opinions as a contributing editor for Newsweek, as a published author, and an on-the-battle-front reporter for Newsweek and CNN long before journalists were imbedded with the military. His books included The Vietnam Primer, About Face, and Hazardous Duty.

Hackworth was an orphan and had a stranger to pose as his father to sign him up for the Army at age 15. He rose from private to Colonel, receiving a battlefield commission in Korea where he became the Army's youngest captain. He went on to served in Germany during the Cold War and was in command of the unit that was alerted when construction began on the Berlin Wall. Hackworth went on to for four tours of duty in Vietnam.

Hackworth set high and rigid training standards for his troops. He believed the more sweat on the training field, the less blood on the battlefield.

Hackworth may have been the most decorated living American soldier during the later part of the 20th Century. His medals were reissued in the 1980s and he returned to the United States. He was put in for the Medal of Honor three times; the last application is still currently under review at the Pentagon. He was twice awarded the Distinguished Service Cross that is the Army's second highest honor for valor, along with 10 Silver Stars and 8 Bronze Stars. When asked about his many awards, Hackworth always said he was proudest of his 8 Purple Hearts and his Combat Infantryman's Badge.

Hackworth was nearly court-martialed before he retired from the military in 1971. He then gave up his medals in protest and moved to Australia.

Hackworth's disillusionment began during his service in Vietnam, seeing the needless "loss of too much blood." Later on men and women who had fought for their country were asking, "What the hell did I fight for?" he said. Hackworth contended that the nation spent too much money on the military. He believed that the country should be building America instead of building bombs and tanks.

With the advent of the 24-hour news networks, Hackworth became a major personality and critic of the US military and foreign policy. His coverage included Bosnia and the First Gulf War. During a speech in 1991, Hackworth said, "I was born here and I love this great land, but I don't like what I see. The USA is in deep trouble." He described the nation as foundering in debt, morally corrupt, despairing and violent, and run by politicians who have been bought out by the military.

In the desert during the first Gulf War, Hackworth noticed something missing: "I didn't see any Japanese soldiers. I didn't see any German soldiers." America was fighting for a major resource, oil, that is "fueling their economy, fueling their industry that's ripping our chops," Hackworth said but it was America shouldering the major burden.

After the First Gulf War, Hackworth moved to Connecticut where he could be close to the media outlets seeking his expertise. His company was called Twin Eagles Ink. He was critical of the Bush's conduct of the War in Iraq, especially the situation involving the US treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison and elsewhere.

Col. Hackworth was buried in Arlington National Cemetery on 31 May 2005. Clarion Issue condolences go out to the family, friends, and admirers of this great American hero.

Dale Velzy, a surfer and master surfboard designer that helped popularize surfing along the California coast and the world, died of cancer in Mission Viejo, California, at the age of 77. At one time Velsey had been the world's largest maker of surfboards.

Velzy, the son of a lifeguard who was also a surfer, grew up along California's beaches. He began surfing in 1936 an