Breaking news from Utah -- FBI and Hazmat teams respond to a Utah IRS office; decontamination showers deployed.

Full story HERE.

According to initial reports, this is in relation to some white powder mailed to the office.

Today's news via CNN:

  Missing man in Iraq identified as Army civilian employee

(CNN) -- An Army civilian employee missing in Baghdad, Iraq, since January has been identified as a 60-year-old man from California, the U.S. military said.

Issa T. Salomi of El Cajon was last seen in the Iraqi capital and has been unaccounted for since January 23, the Department of Defense said Friday.

Salomi was working with U.S. Forces-Iraq in the country. Search efforts are under way, the military said. No more information was available.

This is not "new" news -- civilian contractors in Iran have been having a rough go of things throughout this whole debacle. For more information, check out these recent stories by Susie Dow related to civilian contractors in Iraq:

  Thank You - A Sliver of Justice

and

  Americans Missing in Iraq as of June 2008

You may also find the following Journal articles of use, interest and relevance:

• Missing Contractor: US Military Mechanics may Hold the Keys

  Missing Contractor: U.S. Military Mechanics May Hold the Keys

  Both Kirk von Ackermann and Ryan Manelick worked for Ultra Services of Istanbul, Turkey.

  October 9, 2003 -- Kirk von Ackermann left a meeting at FOB Pacesetter, a small and isolated...

  http://thejournal.epluribusmedia.net/index.php/features/42-the-world/71-missing-contractor-us-military-mechanics-may-hold-the-keys

• Defense Base Act Conference - Part I
  

  In cooperation with the Department of Labor, Office of Workers' Compensation, the Loyola Law School of New Orleans held a two-day conference in Washington D.C. on October 23 and 24, 2008. The conference coincided with the publication of a unique...

  http://thejournal.epluribusmedia.net/index.php/features/1-latest-news/195-defense-base-act-conference-part-i

• Iraq Contractors - Raw Data From CENTCOM - Pt II

  Susie Dow and ePluribus Media issued a FOIA request in August of 2007 for Central Command (CENTCOM) for data on civilian contractors in Iraq.   New contractor census data addressing that request was recently received by ePluribus Media this October,...

  http://thejournal.epluribusmedia.net/index.php/features/1-latest-news/203-iraq-contractors-raw-data-from-centcom-pt-ii

Edward M. Kennedy, the "Liberal Lion" of the Senate, died at his home in Hyannis Port last night.

He will be missed.

Kennedy family statement via Boston.com.

Folks who were waiting and watching the festivities got more than a simple "Site Offline" message -- we periodically updated at random intervals throughout the process.

And, while the Community site is back, we still have to complete the move of the Journal, Timelines and our Investigates sites.

But, never fear.  We're back, and below the fold you can see the updates that we kept posting -- and which some people still see, as the DNS propagation slowly makes it was across "teh intertubes" and some people are unfortunately still seeing the cached old server with the Offline msg.

You'll be able to tell 'em what they're missing, of course, and see what they're seeing when you make the jump...

Courtesy of Campaign for America's Future

Table of Contents:

1. Liberal senators tout public health insurance
2. Caucuses Unite Behind Public Health Insurance Plan Option
3. Congress adopts budget plan endorsing Obama goals
4. SEIU: Health care ad 'unfit to air'
5. Media infected with conservatives' "socialized medicine" myth

THE BUZZFLASH EDITOR'S  BLOG

by Mark Karlin

We have enormous respect for the Huffington Post and particularly for Arianna Huffington's brilliant analysis. But when a progressive Internet site -- and the leader on the web -- takes a turn toward the sensational and panic peddling, it's time to pause for reflection upon the impact of commercial investment on the web.

Huff Post started out as a sort of a celebrity blog version of the Daily Kos -- and with the oversight of a former AOL honcho and the infusion of millions of dollars in capital, it expanded into a progressive online newspaper.  It had the money, the celebrity panache, and the brainpower to create the news source of the future, and people -- particularly liberals -- flocked to Huff Po.

From the Mailbag, courtesy of Campaign for America's Future

***HEALTHCARE FOR ALL INFORMATION PROJECT***, Roger Hickey

Table of Contents:
1. Tracking Poll Examines Public Opinion About Health Care Reform
2. Debate on new health program postponed
3. Health-Care Dialogue Alarms Obama's Allies
4. Democrats Consider Bypassing G.O.P. on Health Care Plan
5. Healthcare provisions would not derail budget legislation
6. U.S. senators hope to have health bills by June

1. Tracking Poll Examines Public Opinion About Health Care Reform
Kaiser Family Foundation
Click for source

Two-thirds (67%) of U.S. residents "strongly" or "somewhat" favor establishing a public health insurance option "similar to Medicare," with about 80% of Democrats, 60% of independents and 49% of Republicans in favor of such a plan.

This was sent to us by Alex Lawson from the Campaign for America's Healthcare for All Information Project.

Table of Contents:
1.Healthy Competition: How to Structure Public Health Insurance Plan Choice
2.Selling a Public Plan to the Skeptics
3.Jacob Hacker: Stripping Away Inherent Advantages From A Public Plan Is At Odds With True Competition
4.Two faces of the public plan coin
5.The End of Private Health Insurance. Not.

1.Healthy Competition: How to Structure Public Health Insurance Plan Choice
By Jacob Hacker
Institute for America's Future and The Center on Health, Economic and Family Security; University of California, Berkeley
Click for source

The debate over health care reform has increasingly centered on the issue of “public plan choice”—whether Americans younger than 65 who lack employment-based coverage should have the choice of enrolling in a new public health insurance plan modeled after Medicare. The central argument for public plan choice is that such a plan, offered as a choice within a new national insurance “exchange,” provides an essential set of security guarantees, ensuring that Americans without insurance from their place of work can find a plan that offers them quality, affordable health care through a broad choice of providers in all parts of the country.

A White House Release  
Vision for a New Era in Rail Entails Clean, Energy-Efficient Option for Travelers

President Barack Obama, along with Vice President Biden and Secretary LaHood, announced a new U.S. push today to transform travel in America, creating high-speed rail lines from city to city, reducing dependence on cars and planes and spurring economic development. 
 

The President released a strategic plan outlining his vision for high speed rail in America. The plan identifies $8 billion provided in the ARRA and $1 billion a year for five years requested in the federal budget as a down payment to jump-start a potential world-class passenger rail system and sets the direction of transportation policy for the future.  The strategic plan will be followed by detailed guidance for state and local applicants. By late summer, the Federal Railroad Administration will begin awarding the first round of grants.

  THE WHITE HOUSE
 
Office of the Press Secretary
_________________________________________________________________
                      
Remarks of President Barack Obama
A New Foundation
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
Washington, DC
 
 
As Prepared for Delivery
 
It has now been twelve weeks since my administration began.  And I think even our critics would agree that at the very least, we’ve been busy.  In just under three months, we have responded to an extraordinary set of economic challenges with extraordinary action – action that has been unprecedented in both its scale and its speed.
 
I know that some have accused us of taking on too much at once.  Others believe we haven’t done enough.  And many Americans are simply wondering how all of our different programs and policies fit together in a single, overarching strategy that will move this economy from recession to recovery and ultimately to prosperity.     
 
So today, I want to step back for a moment and explain our strategy as clearly as I can.  I want to talk about what we’ve done, why we’ve done it, and what we have left to do.  I want to update you on the progress we’ve made, and be honest about the pitfalls that may lie ahead.

Direct contact information removed/altered by GreyHawk to reduce potential spambot swarms. I replaced Ms. Smith's email address with the online contact form for Frontline, replaced her direct line with a main phone number and linked the Frontline program name back to the primary website. -- GH

The editors are happy to post the following communication received in reference to a diary at ePluribus Media originally written by DrSteveB and crossposted on his behalf by Carol White:

"Dr. SteveB Writes on PBS Self-Censorship; Middleman; Stock Puppet"

The email and their attached response:
------------------

From: Jessica Smith
Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 6:44 PM
To: Editors -- ePluribus Media
Subject: Frontline responds to "Something is Rotten at PBS"

http://discuss.epluribusmedia.net/node/4000

Dear ePluribus Editors,

I'm writing in response to Carol White's blog post on ePluribus Media last
Friday in which she republished Russell Mokhiber's article from Counter
Punch "Something is Rotten at PBS." The article makes erroneous claims about
the recent FRONTLINE documentary "Sick Around America" and the disagreement
between the series and T.R. Reid.

Attached is FRONTLINE's response to the Mokhiber story. I believe your
readers would benefit from hearing from both of the parties involved, not
just Mr. Reid's and Mr. Mokhiber's characterization of what occurred.

Thank you in advance for your consideration. Please let me know if you have
any questions.

Sincerely,
Jessica Smith
Marketing Communications Manager
FRONTLINE
(800) 328-7271
Tuesday nights on PBS
http://www.pbs.org/frontline/view

-----------------

The full attached response below the fold:

On Feb. 8th 2008, US Attorney Christopher J. Christie submitted a letter to the court in the matter of the United States vs Wayne Bryant.

In the letter USA Christie attacks the Political Profiling study that is being done by Donald Shields, Ph.D., stating the study is "deeply flawed and inherently unreliable".

This is the response from Dr. Shields.  As he explains the premise of the study and the methodology used, he evicerates USA Christie's arguments. Give it a read, then come back here to discuss.

For the Record: A Response to U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie's Brazen Critique of the Political Profiling Study of the Bush/Ashcroft/Gonzales DOJ

For additional reading, check out 2008 begins with new investigations into Fired U.S. Attorneys by Cho. After the flip, a short list of additional coverage by ePluribus Media on the political profiling and politicization of the Department of Justice.

 Barry Nolan reports on the Battered Mothers Custody Conference recently held in Albany. From Barry's article:

Many of the women around me are sobbing now, as a child tells her story. "My father beat me" she begins. Well, she is not a child now actually, but she is a child to me. She is a poised, attractive young woman named Jennifer Collins who is a survivor of child abuse and of a Child and Family Court System that betrayed her and her brother, just as it betrays children across this country every day when it orders children to live full time with an abusive parent.

If you want to find out more about the conference, visit the the oifficial site of the Battered Mothers Custody Conference. Here is a little about the conference from their website:

The Conference includes presentations, round-table discussions, and question & answer sessions with nationally distinguished professionals whose work is focused on resolving the complex issues facing battered women as they strive to protect themselves and their children in and out of court during custody and visitation disputes.  It is open to lay persons and of special interest toadvocates, social workers, psychologists, attorneys, judges, legal personnel, and others involved in the issue of battered women's and abused children's legal and civil rights being routinely violated by family courts, DSS, and other government systems.

More About the Conference

Read Barry's article on the ePluribus Media Journal and come back here to discuss.

Professor Aaron Barlow recently interviewed Tony Barr, a high school teacher with a penchant for progressive politics from Pennsylvania's 9th Congressional district. The text of the interview is now posted on the Journal.

Here's an excerpt:

Tony Barr teaches high-school students with learning difficulties in the heart of Pennsylvania, the state's ninth Congressional District. A dedicated progressive, Barr has taken on the thankless task of bringing critical issues to public attention in one of the most conservative areas of the state.

Professor Barlow had previously interviewed Mr. Barr in October of 2006, when Tony was running for Congress against Bill Shuster.  It was Mr. Barr's first of two attempts to win the heavily Republican district.

Check out the new interview on the ePluribus Media Journal, and discuss the article here.

Carol White reviews Robert Kuttner’s Obama’s Challenge: American’s Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency

In his new book, Robert Kuttner has provided a context for the current discussion on Barack Obama’s economic team, men like Timothy Geithner who will be leaving his post as head of the NY Federal Reserve to become Treasury Secretary. What will be their influence in determining the direction of the new Administration? Events have moved rapidly since he wrote the book (released this past labor day), but it is still timely and prescient.

Challenges President Obama will be facing on January 19^th