News: "Washington has been channelling hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund the political opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez - including those who briefly overthrew the democratically elected leader in a coup two years ago."

AP Wire | 03/12/2004 | PERSPECTIVE: Kucinich still could be factor in presidential race

GRAND THEFT AMERICA

KR Washington Bureau: "The government's top expert on Medicare costs was warned that he would be fired if he told the truth."

Yahoo! News - Rob Rogers

AlterNet: Culture War May Find WMDs

Study Faults Media Coverage of WMD: "Many stories stenographically reported the incumbent administration's perspectives on WMD, giving too little critical examination of the way officials framed the events, issues, threats and policy options."

TAP: Web Feature: Plugging Leaks. by Murray S. Waas. March 8, 2004.: "Rove and other White House officials described to the FBI what sources characterized as an aggressive campaign to discredit Wilson through the leaking and disseminating of derogatory information regarding him and his wife to the press, utilizing proxies such as conservative interest groups and the Republican National Committee to achieve those ends, and distributing talking points to allies of the administration on Capitol Hill and elsewhere. Rove is said to have named at least six other administration officials who were involved in the effort to discredit Wilson. "

The Unofficial Paul Krugman Web Page: " What you see in this chart is the signature of a corrupted policy process, in which political propaganda takes the place of professional analysis"

Bruce Yurgil's Political Velocity

HoustonChronicle.com - Hines: GOP learns Bush, gasp, is the problem: when the tremor struck Monday (on the evening news) and the strong aftershocks continued Tuesday (in the morning newspapers), the party seemed astonished at the real cause of their prescient unease: President Bush

KR Washington Bureau: "In building the case for war, Bush, Cheney and other top officials relied in part on assessments by the CIA and other agencies. But they concealed disputes and dissents over Iraq's weapons programs and links to terrorists that were raging among analysts, U.S. diplomats and military officials.
They also used exaggerated and fabricated information from defectors and former Iraqi exile groups that was fed directly into Cheney's office and the Pentagon. Those groups included the Iraqi National Congress, whose leader, Ahmad Chalabi, was close to hawks around Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and the White House, but who was distrusted by the CIA and the State Department"

Racial profiling will be eased, Ridge promises - www.smh.com.auBut only for non-citizens.

7,000 Orange County Voters Were Given Bad Ballots : "In 21 precincts where the problem was most acute, there were more ballots cast than registered voters....an exact account of miscast ballots is impossible."

The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Editorials: "It was never a question of whether, but of how President Bush would use the graveyards of Sept. 11 to season his re-election campaign."

The Pentagon's Secret Scream

Scalia Addressed Advocacy Group Before Key Decision :"After Scalia accepted the invitation [to speak at the religious group's fund-raising dinner], Supreme Court staff contacted [the group's founder] to make the justice's appearance conditional on the understanding that the dinner could not make a profit. To satisfy the court staff, Devlin said he assured them that any money from the dinner...would be refunded to guests. But, Devlin said, that turned out to be unnecessary. According to Devlin, the event made no money... 'It was a wash,' he said, adding that the bill for the open bar was higher than expected."

The New Yorker
March 5, 2004
Studio Script Notes on "The Passion"
Steve Martin

Dear Mel,

We love, love the script! The ending works great. You'll be
getting a call from us to start negotiations for the book rights.

Love the Jesus character. So likable. He can't seem to catch a break!
We identify with him because of it. One thing: I think we need to
clearly state "the rules." Why doesn't he use his superpowers to save
himself? Our creative people suggest that you could simply cut away to
two spectators:

SPECTATOR ONE
Why doesn't he use his superpowers to save himself?

SPECTATOR TWO
He can only use his powers to help others, never himself.

Does it matter which garden? Gethsemane is hard to say, and Eden is a
much more recognizable garden. Just thinking out loud.

Our creative people suggest a clock visual fading in and out in certain
scenes, like the Last Supper bit: "Thursday, 7:43 P.M.," or "Good
Friday, 5:14 P.M."

Love the repetition of "Is it I?" Could be very funny. On the eighth
inquiry, could Jesus just give a little look of exasperation into the
camera? Breaks frame, but could be a riot.

Also, could he change water into wine in Last Supper scene? Would be a
great moment, and it's legit. History compression is a movie tradition
and could really brighten up the scene. Great trailer moment, too.

Love the flaying.

Could the rabbis be Hispanic? There's lots of hot Latino actors now,
could give us a little zing at the box office. Research says there's
some historical justification for it.

Possible title change: "Lethal Passion." Kinda works. The more I say it
out loud, the more I like it.

Is there someplace where Jesus could be using an iBook? You know, now
that I say it, it sounds ridiculous. Strike that. But think about it.
Maybe we start a shot in Heaven with Jesus thoughtfully closing the top?

Love the idea of Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene (yow!). Our creative
people suggest a name change to Heather. Could skew our audience a
little younger.

Love Judas. Such a great villain. Our creative people suggest that he's
a little complicated. Couldn't he be one thing? Just bad? Gives the
movie much more of a motor. Also, thirty pieces of silver is not going
to get anyone excited. I think it'd be very simple to make him a "new
millionaire." Bring in the cash on a tray. Great dilemma that the
audience can identify with.

Minor spelling error: on page 18, in the
description of the bystanders, there should be a space between the words
"Jew" and "boy."

Merchandising issue: it seems the Cross image Has been done to death
and is public domain?we can't own it. Could the Crucifixion scene
involve something else? A Toyota would be wrong, but maybe there's a
shape we can copyright, like a wagon wheel?

I'm assuming "The dialogue is in Aramaic" is a typo for "American." If
not, call me on my cell, or I'm at home all weekend.

By the way, I'm sending a group of staffers on a cruise to the North
Pole, coincidentally around the time of your picture's release. Would
love to invite your dad!

See you at the movies!

Yours,
Stan

Ashcroft Funds Under Scrutiny (washingtonpost.com) Ashcroft is like a busted drug dealer paying his debt to society by dealing drugs.

'Enduring Freedom:' Abuses by U.S. Forces in Afghanistan (Human Rights Watch Report, March 2004)

The Detainees: As U.S. Detains Iraqis, Families Plead for News: "Iraq has a new generation of missing men. But instead of ending up in mass graves or at the bottom of the Tigris River, as they often did during the rule of Saddam Hussein, they are detained somewhere in American jails....American forces are still conducting daily raids, bursting into homes and sweeping up families. More than 10,000 men and boys are in custody."