WIL GRIESE

We always heard him referred to as "Captain Wil." He was a hero to his family, his community, his country.

One of his sons, Tim, wrote this on Wednesday:

We never would have known it if it weren't for one of my Dad's old friends who told us kids that, when strapped into the cockpit, Wil Griese was a tiger. Captain Wil is wearing a new set of wings this day, after passing away in his sleep early this morning. He always said that he never felt closer to God than when he was flying.

At one point in time, Dad was the most decorated war veteran living in the St. Louis area. He won the Navy Cross for sinking the Japanese battleship Hyuga in the Sea of Japan. He was awarded multiple Air Medals and commendations too numorous to list.

But, certainly, his greatest accomplishment was his marriage of over 63 years to Rosemary Murphy, his six children and their spouses, 12-grandchildren and 4-great-grandchildren.

He lived a good life. God rest his soul and let perpetual light shine upon him.

A good man left us today. Please keep him and his family in your thoughts.

MEA MAXIMA CULPA

A certain radio talker in Springfield recently teed off on a postal clerk. The back story, courtesy of Curbstone Critic, is here.

The radio personality has been set straight, and ate a heaping helping of crow on Wednesday. Curbstone Critic caught the mea culpa and preserved it for your listening pleasure. Click here to hear.

MIDWEEK MADNESS

Three bullets for your day:

•One of Saddam Hussein's lawyers has been killed, according to Iraqiya state television.

•Only 92 today, thank God. Could be worse.

•Springfield's bloggers met Tuesday and eventually agreed that monthly meetings are not enough. Fat Jack has the comprehensive write-up of the little gathering. Dave Catanese from KYTV showed for beers; ditto Mike Brothers from the News-Leader. Downside: No Snarling Marmot.

And what's this we hear about a morning-show talker serving up some humble pie? We'll expect some audio soon from Curbstone Critic.

REPORT: MISSOURI HOME TO NSA LISTENING POST

The story in Salon, an online magazine, says the operation in Bridgeton resides within a secure room inside AT&T's network operations center. Speculation: It's an NSA sniffing post used for domestic surveillance.

From the story:

In interviews with Salon, the former AT&T workers said that only government officials or AT&T employees with top-secret security clearance are admitted to the room, located inside AT&T's facility in Bridgeton. The room's tight security includes a biometric "mantrap" or highly sophisticated double door, secured with retinal and fingerprint scanners. The former workers say company supervisors told them that employees working inside the room were "monitoring network traffic" and that the room was being used by "a government agency."

The details provided by the two former workers about the Bridgeton room bear the distinctive earmarks of an operation run by the National Security Agency, according to two intelligence experts with extensive knowledge of the NSA and its operations. In addition to the room's high-tech security, those intelligence experts told Salon, the exhaustive vetting process AT&T workers were put through before being granted top-secret security clearance points to the NSA, an agency known as much for its intense secrecy as its technological sophistication.

The story is filled with no-comment comments, and relies almost exclusively on two unnamed former AT&T workers. Just because they're anonymous doesn't make them unreliable. But more reporting needs to be done to determine if this is a federal probe by another acronym agency, or the real NSA deal.

HE ALSO PRODUCED THAT HOT CHRISTINA AGUILERA SONG

Kim Jong Il's cult of personality celebrated his 42nd anniversary with the party (that would be the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea) with a shout-out to the "epochal changes" and "new era of great creation and change" that Kim has wrought.

According to the Korean Central News Agency:

Kim Jong Il has given clear-cut answers to all the theoretical and practical issues arising in strengthening the WPK to be Kim Il Sung's Party for ever. The issues ranges from the work to hold President Kim Il Sung in high esteem to the fundamental principles and methods of Party building and activities, the unity and cohesion of the Party, Juche-oriented Party work system and methods and the guidance to the Party life of the members. And he has wisely led the efforts for realizing them.

He put forward the program on Party building for imbuing the Juche idea into the whole party and society and took revolutionary measures for strengthening the Party organizationally and ideologically.

He has authored many famous works to brightly light the orientation and ways for the Party building and work. Among them are "On Further Improving Party Ideological Work," "On the Fundamentals of Revolutionary Party Building" and "Giving Priority to Ideological Work is Essential for Accomplishing Socialism."

The years are shining with his great efforts to defend the revolutionary tradition as the life-line of the Korean revolution.

Under his guidance, statues of the President have been erected in different parts of the country.

While making a long inspection tour of army units, he visited the revolutionary battle sites of Mt. Paektu and other places to intensify the education in the revolutionary traditions.

Kim Jong Il ushered in the heyday in the economic, cultural and other fields.

He defined the principle of speed campaign, which was created in the 1960s when he led the work of the literary and art fields, as the main form of the socialist construction and initiated many mass movements such as 70-day campaign, a 100-day campaign, Three-revolution Red Flag Movement and the Campaign to Follow the Example of the Unassuming Heroes. As a result, world-startling miracles and innovations have been worked out in all the fields of the economic construction.

A large Oxygen Separator and a 10,000-ton press were manufactured and many monumental edifices including the world leading West Sea Barrage, the Tower of Juche Idea and the Arch of Triumph were built in a campaign to create the speed of the 80's following the spirit displayed in the 1970s.

A lot of creations have been constructed in the 1990s and in the new century even under the unspeakable difficulties and trials. Among them are power stations, modernized and special factories, stock-farms, Kwangmyongsong Saltern, Youth Hero Motorway and the Kaechon-Lake Thaesong and Paekma-Cholsan Waterways.

The arable land has been realigned to suit the socialist countryside of Korea and innovations taken place in the farming.

Proud successes have been registered in the construction of socialist culture, too.

The mass gymnastic and artistic display "Arirang," which was the acme of the "Renaissance in the 20th century", the launch of the artificial satellite "Kwangmyongsong-1" which powerfully demonstrated the might of the socialist Korea, the construction of recreation grounds including Mt. Chilbo and Ryongmun Cavern and the brisk mass artistic activities substantiate the wise guidance of Kim Jong Il.

In particular, the last ten-odd years takes a special position in the history of his 40-odd year leadership over the Party.

In those days, he creditably defended the destiny of socialist Korea with his unique Songun politics and invariably upheld the revolutionary red flag as the President did in his lifetime.

Indeed, over the last four decades, he has performed undying revolutionary exploits for the eternal prosperity of the Kim Il Sung's nation.

Odd years, to say the least.

HOLY CHANGES

CHATTER's chief typist is a Catholic convert, since lapsed but still in possession of Mass memorization. You know -- "peace be with you / and also with you" stuff. Mea culpa to the offended ones.

But now the bishops have gone and mucked it all up. Meeting last week in Los Angeles, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a new English translation of the Mass.

Check out the changes:

- Whenever the priest says "The Lord be with you," the people will respond "And with your spirit." The current response is "And also with you."

- In the first form of the penitential rite, the people will confess that "I have sinned greatly... through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault." In the current version, that part of the prayer is much shorter: "I have sinned through my own fault."

- The “Nicene Creed” will begin "I believe" instead of "We believe" – a translation of the Latin text instead of the original Greek text.

During the offertory prayers, the priest will pray that "the sacrifice which is mine and yours will be acceptable" instead of the current prayer that "our sacrifice will be acceptable."

Before the preface, when the priest says "Let us give thanks to the Lord our God," instead of saying "It is right to give him thanks and praise," the people will respond "It is right and just."

- The “Sanctus” will start "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of hosts." The current version says "Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might."

Crib sheets for Mass? Entirely possible.

HITLER OR COULTER?

Our friend and idol, George Spankmeister, used to play a game called "Zeppelin or Shakespeare." He'd read a flowery quote and ask whether it flowed from the pen of Plant & Page, or from dead Will. Tougher than you might think.

In that same proud tradition, here's the Hitler or Coulter quiz. Do the quotes come from Adolf or Ann?

CHAMPION: I CAN'T THINK FOR MYSELF

KY-3 reporter David Catanese interviewed Norma Champion about a proposed special session for the Missouri General Assembly. The session would reinstate Medicaid for many disabled citizens.

The 73-year-old Champion stumbled and fumbled and proved once again that she's unable to handle the job.

Catanese writes at the KY-3 political blog:

"I want to give it a little thought," Champion told me today. "The leadership is looking into it, so we need to wait and see how practical it would be to do."

Last week Democrats promised to begin circling a petition among lawmakers to call a special session without the Governor's approval. They would need to get signatures from 75 percent of members of both the House and the Senate to do it.

"I don't know if you can do it by petition alone," Champion said, expressing concerns about the procedure. "If we do it every time a bill doesn't pass, we may set a precedent we may not want."

But when pressed on whether she would sign the petition, Champion said, "I'm not ready to say I'll sign it. I'm not ready to say I won't sign it either."

Champion says the MAWD program is very important but isn't sure a special session is worth it. She says there may be some advantage in waiting until 2007 to craft an all-encompassing Medicaid reform package that deals with fraud as well.

Champion said she wants to let the G.O.P leadership do their job and "check into it." "If leadership supports it, I'd be inclined to support it."

Does this person EVER think for herself? Talk about a slave of her party.

HEER'S DEAL DEAD

There are still some "ifs" left, but from all indications, Vaughn Prost's plan to renovate the downtown Heer's building is history.

Prost already missed one deadline in April. Prost told city leaders on Monday that he "has not met today’s deadline to close on financing for the Heer’s Tower redevelopment project, but that he continues to work toward securing his loan."

Upshot: The city now gets to talk to other developers who might want to take hold of the Heer's project. From a city news release:

Two letters, submitted by Mr. Prost and his funding group, Dougherty Funding LLC, indicate he has restructured his initial construction funding loan to address banking community concerns and expects to have sufficient bank-loan commitments within 30 days. He said design and construction work is proceeding on tenant infill, site preparation and brownfield remediation.

The June 17, 2006 deadline (extended to today because June 17 fell on a Saturday) gives the City the right to terminate Mr. Prost’s development agreement if financing is not secured. The City is declining to terminate his rights until further reviewing the information he submitted today. The City is working with Great Southern Bank, which financed the purchase of the building, to determine the next steps. The deal with Great Southern Bank also includes consideration of the design-build contract with Mr. Prost for the Heer’s parking deck.

The final date at which the contract would automatically terminate without a signed financing commitment is Aug. 17, 2006.

There are other developers who want a piece of the project, according to city leaders. But they'd better hurry. Prost's work has exposed the iconic downtown building to the elements. Too much of a wait, and Heer's could go the way of the Colonial Hotel, now better known as a parking lot.

SO LONG, MATT BROWN

The spokesman for the Springfield Police Department is outta here. Brown sent an e-mail to the media on Monday:

Well, the day has come that I knew would eventually arrive and it's one that I'm not looking forward to as I've become very comfortable in doing what I do. However, because of my recent promotion, I cannot stay as the PIO any longer - I have to move on. This week will be my last week as the Spokesman for the PD, next week I will be taking off because I leave for some Army training until December.

I want all of you to know that my 4 years as the PIO for this Department has been one of the most rewarding jobs I have ever had. I have learned many things about myself and have grown a lot because of my contact with all of you. My perception of the media will forever be changed due to what I have learned from you, and the way in which I watched you cover the stories over the years. I started out as a partial cynic and because of you, I've changed my mind as to what and how the media does it's job. I know here locally we've been blessed to have a good working relationship with all of you, and it's one that I've tried to maintain and to improve upon over the years. I know that there've been some bumps along the way, and even though I may not have agreed with some of the stories done, I hope that it can at least been said that you were treated courteously and professionally. I am grateful for the friends that I have made along the way, of which I hope will remain lifelong friends.

I wish I could name names, and personally thank all those individuals who've made this job a pleasure to have, but the list would be too long and the guilt of omission would certainly befall me as I would leave someone's name out. Suffice it to say that I have grown to trust many of you - something that is sometimes difficult in the relationship between the police and the media. The trust that was given was never betrayed and a cooperative effort was many times extended to me and the department in the effort to aid us where it was needed.

I will be forever grateful for the opportunity I was given to be the PIO, but mostly I am grateful for the time I have spent day in and day out with all of you - in the rain, in the heat, in the cold - no matter what, it was always fun.

Thank you, and I hope I have the opportunity to work with you again in the future.

We were never able to break him of the habit of using two spaces after a period, or of adding an unnecessary apostrophe to "its." But Brown's a pretty cool guy. We wish him well.

NEWS-LEADER CAVES ON VOTER ID BILL

Monday's editorial in the News-Leader supports the recently signed Voter ID bill. Whatever. We don't agree, but neither do we have a huge problem with a bill that requires people to show identification before they vote. Especially if the bill provides free ID cards for people who don't have them.

But the bill, signed last week by Gov. Matt Blunt, also eliminates straight-ticket voting. Why? Because more Democrats vote straight ticket than Republicans, and the GOP-controlled legislature didn't want to give their political opponents any break.

The News-Leader's position is summed up in one lame sentence:

[The bill] also gets rid of straight-ticket voting, which we believe is a good idea.

Why is it a good idea? The newspaper's editorialist never explains. Might be tricky, trying to defend the indefensible. Why would the paper be against a voter having the right to choose a straight ticket?

50 CENT, APPLE IN NEGOTIATIONS

The rapper wants the computer company to produce affordable computers for poor people. All Hip Hop has the improbable story:

According to a recent article in Forbes, 50 Cent, born Curtis Jackson and his high powered manager Chris Lighty of Violator management, are negotiating the branding deal with the computer /software giant.

"I'm creating a foundation that will be around for a long time, because fame can come and go or get lost in the lifestyle and the splurging," Fifty Cent explained to Forbes. "I never got into it for the music. I got into it for the business."

"He [Steve Jobs] is setting a new standard in the music business," Lighty added. "Let's just say we get each other." ...

50 Cent, who is plans on releasing his untitled third album by Christmas, ranked among the Top 10 earning celebrity entertainers in Forbes' recently released Forbes Celebrity Power 100 List.

The rapper earned almost $41 million dollars, mostly from record sales and branding deals that include a clothing line, a line of sneakers, a video game and his G-Unit line of clothing, which was launched in partnership with Marc Ecko in July 2003.

If true, good for 50 Cent.

THAT WAS THEN

The young congressman had plenty to say about a troublesome war, and the secrecy of an administration that refused to discuss specifics about that war.

"[T]he people of the United States must know not only how their country became involved [in Vietnam] but where we are heading."
-- Congressional Record, 89th Cong. Pg. 21081, Aug, 19, 1965

"It's a difficult thing today to be informed about our government even without all the secrecy. With the secrecy, it's impossible. The American people will do what's right when they have the information they need."
-- Chicago Tribune, April 13, 1966

"Government has an obligation to present information to the public promptly and accurately so that the public’s evaluation of Government activities is not distorted. Political pundits speak of the 'credibility gap' in the present administration. Indeed, this appellation is so widespread that it has become a household word."
-- Congressional Record, 90th Cong. pg A792, Feb. 21, 1967

What happened to Don Rumsfeld?

ALERT FROM NORTH KOREA

Something is about to happen. It is 11:40 p.m. Central time, about 20 minutes before 2 p.m. Sunday in North Korea. That country has ordered its citizens to raise the flag and listen to a state broadcast.

North Korea has been making noise about the launch of a long-range ballistic missile. Here's the Associated Press story. Good luck to all.

BUSH ADVISER: SEX 'NEEDS TO BE GOVERNED'

Karl Zinsmeister, the new domestic policy adviser to President Bush, is nothing if not provocative. But he's also shy about admitting to past remarks. After being appointed, Zinsmeister changed quotes from a Syracuse New Times profile; instead of saying people in Washington were "morally repugnant, cheating, shifty human beings," Zinsmeister altered the quote to read:

"I learned in Washington that there is an 'overclass' in this country stocked with cheating, shifty human beings that's just as morally repugnant as our 'underclass.'"

Damned repugnant underclass.

But that's nothing compared to Zinsmeister's feelings about sex. In a sitdown with PBS' "Think Tank" program, Zinsmeister said:

[S]ex is the opposite of casual. It’s something -- it’s intense; it’s fire. It drives people to insanity. People do unbelievable things for it. It is the last part of life that I would categorize as kind of, you know, take it or leave it. And my point is that when you are playing with fire you have to be careful. That this is an area where people become inflamed even when they don’t think they’re going to become inflamed.

People fall in love with prostitutes. People kill prostitutes. All kinds of things happen in the heat of sexual passion, so my point is because it’s fire it needs to be governed and treated with respect and treated carefully.

Insane in the membrane.

EGG KILLS CHICKEN

Women who've gone through natural childbirth might appreciate this one. Or not. From Norway's Aftenposten:

The Sponås family in Strande, Molde had a hen that managed to lay an egg weighing 122 grams (4.3 oz), compared to the norm of 50-60 grams, newspaper Romsdal Budstikke reports. It was the last thing the bird did.

"I couldn't believe my own eyes when she laid an egg that was more than twice the size of a normal hen's egg. It looked completely unreal, with a 122-gram egg," Solveig Sponås told the newspaper.

The hen, a Loman Brown, came from Erlend Aarskog's poultry farm, and he has never heard of an egg like it.

"It is at least extremely rare. With eggs like this you would only get eight eggs to the kilo, and normally you get 16," Aarskog said.

Sponås wondered if diet, as well as talent, was behind the record production, saying her hens are fed much fruit and vegetables in addition to their feed.

The story ended sadly. As the newspaper put it, it is no joke laying an egg twice normal size, and the hen suffered injuries so serious that it had to be put down.

Killer omelette.

COULTER: MURTHA SHOULD BE FRAGGED

Leading conservative blogger replies: Ann Coulter is despicable.

Read all about it at Editor & Publisher. A few grafs:

In an email interview with John Hawkins at the Right Wing News web site, Coulter was asked, among other things, to offer short comments on several individuals. After harmlessly dismissing former Ambassador Joseph Wilson as the "World's most intensely private exhibitionist," she said of Rep. John Murtha, the hawkish ex-Marine and now antiwar congressman: "The reason soldiers invented 'fragging.'"

Fragging, which became a well-known expression -- and occurence -- during the Vietnam war, means soldiers attempting to kill their own officers for one reason or another.

This was so over the top that conservative Mike Krempasky at RedState.org posted, "I've said before that's its kind of ironic that just about every phrase Stewie from Family Guy uses to describe Lois could easily be applied to Ann Coulter. Well -- once again, Ann proves us right." He went on to call her "fragging" remark absolutely "disgusting ... there's no excuse -- NONE -- for the allusion to soldiers who kill other soldiers. It's despicable -- and frankly, so is Coulter."

The pale is somewhere back there in the distance, passed long ago.

SUPREMES: NO KNOCK NEEDED

A quick lesson in the power of one person:

The Supreme Court on Thursday decided that police can bust into your home without knocking, so long as they have a search warrant.

The vote was 5-4. The case had been argued when Sandra Day O'Connor was still on the bench, and she appeared sympathetic to the defendant's position. Once O'Connor retired, President Bush appointed Samuel Alito to take her place.

Alito was the fifth vote in Thursday's ruling.

The Associated Press reports:

Dissenting justices predicted that police will now feel free to ignore previous court rulings that officers with search warrants must knock and announce themselves or run afoul of the Constitution's Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches.

Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority, said Detroit police acknowledge violating that rule when they called out their presence at a man's door, failed to knock, then went inside three seconds to five seconds later. The court has endorsed longer waits, of 15 seconds to 20 seconds.

"Whether that preliminary misstep had occurred or not, the police would have executed the warrant they had obtained, and would have discovered the gun and drugs inside the house," Scalia wrote.

Suppressing evidence is too high of a penalty, Scalia said, for errors by police in failing to properly announce themselves.

The outcome might have been different if O'Connor were still on the bench. She seemed ready, when the case was first argued in January, to rule in favor of Booker Hudson, whose house was searched in 1998.

O'Connor had worried aloud that officers around the country might start bursting into homes to execute search warrants. She asked: "Is there no policy of protecting the home owner a little bit and the sanctity of the home from this immediate entry?" ...

In a dissent, four justices complained that the decision erases more than 90 years of Supreme Court precedent.

"It weakens, perhaps destroys, much of the practical value of the Constitution's knock-and-announce protection," Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for himself and the three other liberal members.

Breyer said that police can now enter homes without knocking and waiting a short time if they know that there is no punishment for it.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, a moderate, joined the conservatives in most of the ruling. He wrote his own opinion, however, to say "it bears repeating that it is a serious matter if law enforcement officers violate the sanctity of the home by ignoring the requisites of lawful entry."

Your right to be secure in your home? Forget about it.

ASTROTURFED

And here we thought Karen Loomis of Shell Knob was an original hater. Turns out she's simply a plagiarist.

As noted a couple days ago in CHATTER, Loomis wrote an especially nasty letter to the editor of the News-Leader.

Wednesday, N-L editorial boss Tony Messenger admitted that Loomis' letter was bogus:

[W]e did screw up on the Loomis letter. We were duped. Most of her letter is stolen from a chain letter making its way around the Internet. My apologies.

Such a bummer. Now we're forced by fallback to read the opinions of tired Mary Traeger of Forsyth. When is Benjamin Dover of Springfield going to start writing letters?

THE ACID TUNNEL

The blog, Act Your Old Age, has been updated with a narrative from 1995 on the Acid Tunnel.

Underground Ozarks has a great set of snaps from their visit to the storied Springfield hideout. Enjoy.

BLIND MAN MAKES US SEE

President Bush on Wednesday held a morning news conference. During the meeting with reporters, Bush called on Los Angeles Times reporter Peter Wallsten to ask a question.

Wallsten was wearing shades at the outdoor event. The exchange went as follows:

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, Peter. Are you going to ask that question with shades on?

Q: I can take them off.

THE PRESIDENT: I'm interested in the shade look, seriously.

Q: All right, I'll keep it, then.

THE PRESIDENT: For the viewers, there's no sun. (Laughter.)

Q: I guess it depends on your perspective. (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: Touche. (Laughter.)

Peter Wallsten is legally blind, according to several reports. The reporter says he has a genetic condition called Stargardt's Disease.

Next up: A politician insists a man in a wheelchair stand up. Oh, wait. That's already happened in Missouri.

PROUDLY DRIPPING

Randy @ The Turner Report first reported this glistening news brief. It's too good not to pile on. From a P&G news release:

Old Spice today announced its Fifth Annual Top-100 Sweatiest Cities List -- a ranking of the nation's heaviest sweaters during the summer months.

Springfield, Mo., is listed as the 43rd sweatiest city in America.

The relatively dry kids in Kansas City only made it to No. 52. St. Louis is No. 33.

The Top 10 sweatiest cities in America, according to the Old Spice list:

1. Phoenix, AZ
2. Las Vegas, NV
3. Tucson, AZ
4. Dallas, TX
5. Corpus Christi, TX
6. San Antonio, TX
7. Austin, TX
8. Shreveport, LA
9. Houston, TX
10. Waco, TX

Six of the 10 cities are in Texas, thank God. As for Phoenix and Vegas and Tucson -- it's dry heat, right? What's the problem?

SOOTHES SAVAGE BEAST, ETC.

Even the crunch from an especially good Rage Against the Machine song can relieve inner tension -- though it's candidly better to listen to, say, some "Day Dreaming" from Aretha when a psychotic break draws near.

Damn the psychosis! Full volume ahead! Even -- or especially -- if you're old and convinced that life is over because you have used up your pitiful portion of talent, you should listen to (besides Aretha):

Tanis
Lynam

Mighty "O"
OutKast

Ridin'
Chamillionaire & Krayzie Bone

I Write Sins Not Tragedies
Panic! At The Disco

Under Pressure
Queen & David Bowie

How To Save A Life
The Fray

Easy Livin'
Uriah Heep

Sucked Out
Superdrag

La Pump
Smoosh

Vicarious
Tool

Bulls on Parade
Rage Against the Machine

Rally 'round the family. Pocket full of shells.

ROVE CLEARED, BUSH CHEERED

Karl Rove will not be charged by a federal grand jury in the Valerie Plame leak scandal.

President Bush has flown to Iraq to capitalize on the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Otherwise, it's a slow Tuesday.