Paul E. Ester's Flogger

Thousands of documents allegedly withheld when an energy company bought pipelines from a rival company were exhumed from a 45-foot-deep hole on the plains of southeastern New Mexico. … Rest of Article

Two years of digging at the U.S. Army’s Fort Detrick in Frederick has unearthed more than 2,000 tons of hazardous waste — including vials of live bacteria and nonvirulent anthrax that the military did not know was buried there, Detrick officials said.

Discovery of the pathogens at the former biological weapons research center turned what the Army thought would be industrial waste removal into the biggest cleanup in its history. So far, cleanup crews have discovered more than 100 glass vials, many containing live bacteria, and in a few, a nonvirulent strain of anthrax. The $25 million excavation is due to end this year … Rest of Article

Few people had ever heard of the Vinnell corporation before the recent bombings in Riyadh … Rest of Article

The group directing all known U.S. search efforts for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq is winding down operations without finding proof that President Saddam Hussein kept clandestine stocks of outlawed arms, according to participants.

The 75th Exploitation Task Force, as the group is formally known, has been described from the start as the principal component of the U.S. plan to discover and display forbidden Iraqi weapons. The group’s departure, expected next month, marks a milestone in frustration for a major declared objective of the war. … Rest of Article

On Thursday of last week, someone inside a secret meeting of the Senate Intelligence Committee spotted a new paragraph in the intelligence authorization bill for fiscal year 2004. The new wording would give the Defense Department and the Central Intelligence Agency ( news -web sites ) the same kind of subpoena power used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies.

In other words, the military officials and CIA ( news -web sites ) agents could legally search through your telephone, credit card and bank records, and e-mail logs, without court approval. The wording came from the White House. Some members, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, objected, and the wording is on hold. … Rest of Article

Many of the infected birds have been found in neighborhoods around the former headquarters of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research , which has been developing a vaccine for West Nile virus. The infectious-diseases lab moved to Silver Spring, Md., three years ago.

But lab microbiologists still do research at the main post in Washington, which includes a hospital with an infectious-diseases clinic and lab on the 6th floor, Army officials say. Other visitors include researchers from the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah, where the Army has tested biological weapons agents including anthrax, tularemia and encephalitis.

Walter Reed Army Medical Center, at 6900 Georgia Ave., N.W., is in the city’s Ward 1, where many of the virus-carrying birds have been picked up. In fact, many have been found at sites along Georgia Avenue, N.W., says D.C. Health Department spokeswoman Vera Jackson.

The Walter Reed institute is developing a vaccine for West Nile virus that comprises dengue virus with certain genes replaced by West Nile virus genes. Monkey trials were expected to begin earlier this year. … Rest of Article

A top White House drug policy official is threatening retaliation from the U.S. if Canada relaxes its laws against marijuana possession.

David Murray, right-hand man to U.S. “drug czar” John Walters, says he doesn’t want to tread on another country’s sovereignty, but warned there would be consequences if Canada proceeds with a plan to decriminalize the possession of marijuana.

FROM APRIL 29, 2003: PM says pot soon to be decriminalized

“We would have to respond. We would be forced to respond,” said Murray. … Rest of Article

most of us don’t realize that this bill, with its seductive illusion of flexibility, would end one of the fundamental rights enacted by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 — a 40-hour workweek and time-and-a half pay for overtime. … Rest of Article

LEA FASTOW, the wife of former Enron chief financial officer Andrew Fastow, was yesterday forced to take the walk of shame in handcuffs after she surrendered to authorities investigating the multibillion-dollar fraud that brought about the energy companyÕs collapse. … Rest of Article

Conservative activist Bill Bennett has wagered millions in Las Vegas and Atlantic City casinos during the past decade … Rest of Article