Paul E. Ester's Flogger

Da Mayor, the feds and the NOI.Mayor Willie Brown’s office is asking the Bush administration to forgive the bulk of a $400,000 city debt that was incurred when federal funds were used to buy a mosque for the Black Muslims.

Behind the city’s plea is a politically embarrassing real estate transaction initiated with public funds by a nonprofit organization headed by convicted felon Charlie Walker, one of Brown’s most avid political supporters. … Rest of Article

Yet another gem from drudge.
Bush Tapped Solar Energy Funds to Print Energy Plan
Fri Mar 29, 9:33 AM ET

By Tom Doggett

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – While environmentalists have slammed the White House national energy plan for not doing enough to promote renewable energy, the Bush administration found those government research programs useful in paying the bill for printing copies of the 170-page plan.
The administration took money from the Energy Department’s solar and renewable energy and energy conservation budgets to pay for the cost of printing its national energy plan.

Documents released under court order by the Energy Department this week revealed that $135,615 was spent from the DOE’s solar, renewables and energy conservation budget to produce 10,000 copies of the White House energy plan released last May.… Rest of Article

In a way, it’s a shame that so much of David Brock’s “Blinded by the Right: The conscience of an ex-conservative” is about the private lives of our self-appointed moral guardians. Those tales will sell books, but they may obscure the important message: that the “vast right-wing conspiracy” is not an overheated metaphor but a straightforward reality, and that it works a lot like a special-interest lobby.

Modern political economy teaches us that small, well-organized groups often prevail over the broader public interest. The steel industry got the tariff it wanted, even though the losses to consumers will greatly exceed the gains of producers, because the typical steel consumer doesn’t understand what’s happening.

“Blinded by the Right” shows that the same logic applies to non-economic issues. The scandal machine that employed Mr. Brock was, in effect, a special-interest group financed by a handful of wealthy fanatics Ñ men like the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, whose cultlike Unification Church owns The Washington Times, and Richard Mellon Scaife, who bankrolled the scandal-mongering American Spectator and many other right-wing enterprises. It was effective because the typical news consumer didn’t realize what was going on.
… Rest of Article

University student sues law professor

By Nick Chapin
Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

First-year Law student Marta Sanchez is filing a complaint against Law Prof. Kenneth Abraham claiming she experienced “extreme discomfort” in an introductory Law School program last summer and is considering action against the Commonwealth.

On February 26, Sanchez filed a claim of assault and battery in Albemarle Circuit Court, seeking $25,000 in compensatory damages and $10,000 in punitive damages.

Sanchez attended an “Introduction to Law School and Legal Methodology” program, a presentation Abraham volunteered to teach to 20 selected incoming students. Abraham, a nationally renowned legal scholar in the field of tort law, was explaining a legal issue when, according to Sanchez’s lawyer Steven Rosenfield, he indicated he should not do what he was about to do and “momentarily” touched Sanchez’s shoulder.

“What some would characterize as mere touching to this victim was an extreme event,” Rosenfield said. “What makes it different is that she was the victim at the hands of men in the past.” … Rest of Article

Interesting read about the Philippines
AmericaÕs first war with suicidal Islamic warriors took place a century ago in the Philippines and rings familiar today as the Moros continue what they call Ôthe longest, bloodiest struggle for freedom in history.Õ
… Rest of Article

Author Salman Rushdie poses with girlfriend, fashion model, and cooking expert Padma Lakshmi at a film premiere in Los Angeles on March 1.

Pedestrian Safety Expert Killed By Bus

Woman Hit While Crossing Street
Posted: 2:25 p.m. EST March 22, 2002
Updated: 2:43 p.m. EST March 22, 2002

ST. LOUIS — One of the country’s top experts on bicycle and pedestrian safety has died.

She was hit by a bus.

Susie Stephens of Winthrop, Wash., was hit Thursday while crossing the street in St. Louis. She was there for a transportation conference sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service. … Rest of Article