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In a stunning move, it appears that the Bush administration is attempting to declare this nation's teachers as "enemy combatants" place them all in open ended detention. Check out this story:

Education Secretary Rod Paige called the nation's largest teachers union a "terrorist organization" during a private White House meeting with governors on Monday.

Democratic and Republican governors confirmed Paige's remarks about the National Education Association.

from Rod Paige Criticizes Teachers Union

I can only assume that the administration is concerned that an informed and educated electorate won't reelect Bush, so they're attempting to squash dissent where it starts -- in the schools.

Paige eventually apologize for his attack:

Paige made the remark while discussing the federal "No Child Left Behind" education law with governors at the White House, said Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin, who attended the meeting.

"In the context of saying that the NEA was not being cooperative with No Child Left Behind, he called them a terrorist organization," Doyle told Reuters.

Doyle said he had not taken Paige's comments literally, "but that level of hostility toward teachers does not help in trying to improve education in the country."

Paige apologized for the comment, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said.

"The secretary realized he made an inappropriate comment and he has quickly apologized," Duffy said. "The president thinks he (Paige) is doing an excellent job educating America's children and that is the most important thing."

from Bush Official Sorry for Calling Union 'Terrorist'

Brilliant, eh? It shouldn't come as a surprise, however, as NEA President Reg Weaver points out, "[T]his is the kind of rhetoric we have come to expect from this administration whenever one challenges its world view."

I've gone grey today in support of Grey Tuesday, to protest against overbearing copyright laws and litigious content providers. Does anybody really believe that DJ Danger Mouse is stealing sales from The Beatles or Jay-Z?

In a move to protect their bottom line, Subaru is planning to redesign the Outback sedan and wagon to meet the specifications of a light truck. Check this out:

It is the first time an automaker plans to make changes in a sedan - like raising its ground clearance by about an inch and a half - so it can qualify as a light truck. But it is hardly the first time an automaker has taken advantage of the nation's complex fuel regulations, which divide each manufacturer's annual vehicle fleet into two categories. Light trucks will have to average only 21.2 miles a gallon in the 2005 model year. By contrast, each automaker's full fleet of passenger cars must average 27.5 miles a gallon.

The move will let Subaru sell more vehicles with turbochargers, which pep up performance but hurt mileage and increase pollution. "It was difficult to achieve emissions performance with the turbos," said Fred D. Adcock, executive vice president of Subaru of America. They also made it hard to meet fleetwide fuel economy standards for cars.

Subaru's strategy highlights what environmentalists, consumer groups and some politicians say is a loophole in the fuel economy regulations that has undermined the government's ability to actually cut gas consumption. The average fuel economy for new vehicles is lower now than it was two decades ago, despite advances in fuel-saving technology.

"This is a new low for the auto industry, and it would make George Orwell proud," said Daniel Becker, a global warming expert at the Sierra Club.

from To Avoid Fuel Limits, Subaru Is Turning a Sedan Into a Truck

I don't know about the rest of you, but I find this move pretty appalling, and it has totally turned me off from buying a Subaru in the future (which is too bad, cause I think the Impreza WRX is a fine automobile). I guess this is what we should expect, when we have a administration that doesn't give a damn about the environment, either. I think everybody should take a moment to write, or call (1-800-SUBARU3) to make them aware that they're letting you down.

Popular Mechanics has a post about a couple satellite images that appear to show a pipeline being built from Iraq through Kuwait. Here's a blurb:

The appearance of a line of light stretching the length of an inaccessible area of Kuwait has stumped both military and petroleum industry experts. The images were spotted by Hank Brandli, a retired Air Force meteorological officer, who picked them up from a nonclassified military weather satellite.

Civilian oil industry experts tell POPULAR MECHANICS that the location of the lights, which extend to the Iraqi border, does not correspond with known pipelines. A spokesman for U.S. Central Command, which had a presence in the region from fall 2002 through (at the time of this writing) fall 2003, said it was unaware of any pipeline construction.

Brandli, an expert on satellite image analysis, thinks it is a major pipeline project. "Maybe all they're doing is building a highway. But I think we're pumping oil out of Iraq to pay for this war."

from Satellite Eyes Secret Project

So if we're spending $87 billion from our pockets, where's the money from the oil sales going?

Al Franken has beat the lawsuit levelled against him by Fox News, in a courtroom battle where District Court Jude Denny Chin openly mocked Fox News. Fox News' was seeking an injunction to stop Franken's book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right", from being sold. Here's a blurb about the court battle:

Dori Ann Hanswirth, Fox's lawyer, argued that buyers might be confused and think that the book was actually put out by Fox News, thus diluting and tarnishing the Fox brand. "Defendants' use of the Trademark...on the Preliminary Cover is likely to cause confusion among the public about whether Fox News has authorized or endorsed the Book, and about whether Franken is affiliated with FNC [Fox News Channel]," said the suit. "Franken is commonly perceived as having to trade off of the name recognition of others in order to make money."

Chin didn't buy it. "Is it really likely someone is going to be confused as to whether Fox News or Bill O'Reilly is endorsing this book?" asked the judge.

"It is likely consumers could believe that," replied Hanswirth. Later she added, "There's no real message that this is a book of humor or political satire. It's a deadly serious cover and it's using the Fox News trademark" to sell itself.

In response, the judge pointed out that one of O'Reilly's own books is titled "The O'Reilly Factor: The Good, the Bad, and the Completely Ridiculous in American Life." "Is that not a play on "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly?'" Chin asked, noting that the movie title is also trademarked.

"I don't know," replied Hanswirth.

"You don't know?" asked the judge.

"I don't know," she repeated, before arguing, once again, that Franken is "intending to use the trademark to sell the product."

Hanswirth went on to argue that Franken has diluted Fox's trademark by using it "to ridicule Fox's No. 1 talent, Mr. O'Reilly." She then suggested that, because Coulter is on the cover, "somebody looking at this could determine Ms. Coulter has some kind of official relationship with Fox."

"The President and Vice President are also on the cover, are they not?" asked Chin. "Are consumers likely to believe they are associated with Fox News?"

from Franken bests Fox

Bill O'Reilly's scathing editorials be damned, the court has decided in favor of free speech, and the First Amendment. So score one for the First Amendment, and score one for the good guys. (My guess is that O'Reilly's is still bitter about the embarassing Peabody incident that Franken exposed on, nationally televised, Book TV.)

Along with blasting Fox News for attempting to "undermine" the First Amendment, Judge Chin, also, questioned Fox News' respect for the intelligence of their viewers by saying, "I don't know if Fox is arguing that its consumers are less sophisticated than people who would buy the book."