""The Wall Street Journal" reported today that indicted former California Congressman Randall "Duke" Cunningham may not have limited his good times to partying on a rented yacht. It turns out the FBI is currently investigating two defense contractors who allegedly provided Cunningham with free limousine service, free stays at hotel suites at the Watergate and the Westin Grand, and free prostitutes.

The two defense contractors who allegedly bribed Cunningham, said the Journal, were Brent Wilkes, the founder of ADCS Inc., and Mitchell Wade, the founder of MZM Inc.; both firms profited greatly from their connections with Cunningham. The Journal also suggested that other lawmakers might be implicated. I've learned from a well-connected source that those under intense scrutiny by the FBI are current and former lawmakers on Defense and Intelligence comittees--including one person who now holds a powerful intelligence post."

"To review, Albertus was a brilliant religious scholar who lived during the thirteenth century and was a major influence on Thomas Aquinas. As cinamin and sgtdraino have noted, the name "Magnus" wasn't an honorific but rather a literal translation of his family name, DeGroot.

Albertus was also reputed to have been a great alchemist with strong psychic powers. According to one legend, he used the fabled philosopher's stone to construct an artificial man (android?). Of particular relevance here, jmberger has noted that Albertus wrote of a mysterious island located in the "western ocean." Albertus also described a magical black rock called "droconites" that could only be mined from the head of a dragon (volcano?)."

""Lost" fans around the world will get a chance to start unlocking secrets about the mysterious island that has become an international obsession.

In what's being hailed as the largest interactive challenge based on a TV series, ABC and 19 other networks stretching across five continents are introducing "Lost Experience" - an Internet game that will feature a parallel story line that will give insight into the top-rated show.

The first clue will air on a May 3 episode, but network executives aren't saying how the game will launch or whether the critical clue will come during the broadcast or as part of a commercial break.

No further information for "Lost Experience" is being released, and network executives say future clues could pop up in any part of the world and on any medium. Fans from different countries will have to reach out to each other and trade information if they want to start sleuthing."

"?" - Mr. Eko enlists Locke to help find a secret location he believes houses answers to the island's mysteries. Meanwhile, Jack and the other survivors struggle to cope with the horrific situation in the hatch, on "Lost," WEDNESDAY, MAY 10 (9:00-10:01 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network.

"Lost" stars Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Mr. Eko, Naveen Andrews as Sayid, Emilie de Ravin as Claire, Matthew Fox as Jack, Jorge Garcia as Hurley, Josh Holloway as Sawyer, Daniel Dae Kim as Jin, Yunjin Kim as Sun, Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Dominic Monaghan as Charlie, Terry O'Quinn as Locke, Harold Perrineau as Michael, Michelle Rodriguez as Ana Lucia and Cynthia Watros as Libby.

Guest starring are Adetokumboh McCormack as Yemi, Peter Lavin as Caldwell, Oliver Muirhead as monsignor, Melissa Bickerton as Joyce, Felix Williamson as Dr. Ian McVay, Nick Jameson as Richard Malkin and Brooke Mikey Anderson as Charlotte Malkin.

"?" was written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and directed by Deran Sarafian.

"Snowclone is a neologism used to describe a type of formula-based cliché which uses an old idiom in a new context. The term emphasizes the use of a familiar (and often particular) formula and previous cultural knowledge of the reader to express information about an idea. The idea being discussed is usually contextually different in meaning from the original use of that formula, but can be understood using the same trope as the original formula was used. "Snowclone" has been described as an internet meme due to its frequent use on blogs which are critical of journalism.

A common example of a snowclone is "X is the new Y", which can be applied by inserting words or phrases for X and Y, "cloning" the trope of the original expression, "pink is the new black". For instance, this snowclone might appear as "Random is the New Order", a marketing phrase for the iPod shuffle.

"the thing we need a name for is a multi-use, customizable, instantly recognizable, time-worn, quoted or misquoted phrase or sentence that can be used in an entirely open array of different jokey variants by lazy journalists and writers.""

"ABC, Channel 4 Television in the U.K, and Australia Channel 7 will launch the 'Lost Experience,' a revolutionary interactive experience based on the international hit television series, 'Lost'. Working together, more than 30 broadcasters from Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific and the Middle East will release clues with new information regarding the mystery and mythology of the island featured in the series. Fans looking to solve the puzzle will find audio, video, and text clues in locations around the world, along with an online community in which to connect and collaborate with others. Just like any other good mystery, clues can and will happen anywhere at anytime across multiple platforms.

The rumor is that official details will be released after the recap episode "Reckoning" airs on April 26th."

"The LOST Experience is an Alternate Reality Game that is supposed to begin sometime in May, 2006 based on the hit television show LOST, on ABC.

If you listen to the latest podcast, producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse give us perhaps the best news this season. They say that they are currently in the middle of preparing a LOST Alternate-Reality Game that will take place this summer.

They say that we will have to pay attention to what goes on during a certain episode in May (my guess is the finale). More specifically, Damon (or was it Carlton?) adds that we want to watch what happens between the acts of this particular episode carefully. This would suggest commercials to me. This clue that is hidden between the acts of the episode in May will start us off on what they call a Lost Experience, spanning the Internet and possible other media that will, they promise, actually tell some of the LOST story and explain some of the mythology.

There have been several other ARG's before. As you can see from the link I provided above, they have included things like Internet Sites, mysterious emails, snail mail, and even phone calls to players' houses. "

"ATF agents are always on alert for anything suspicious - including ninjas.

Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm agents, on campus Tuesday for Project Safe Neighborhoods training, detained a "suspicious individual" near the Georgia Center, University Police Chief Jimmy Williamson said.

Jeremiah Ransom, a sophomore from Macon, was leaving a Wesley Foundation pirate vs. ninja event when he was detained.

After being held in investigative detention, he was found to have violated no criminal laws and was not arrested.
...
ATF agents had noticed Ransom?s suspicious behavior and clothing and gave chase, apprehending him, Williamson said.

"Agents noticed someone wearing a bandanna across the face and acting in a somewhat suspicious manner, peeping around the corner," said ATF special agent in charge Vanessa McLemore.

Ransom was wearing black sweatpants and an athletic T-shirt with one red bandanna covering the bottom half of his face and another covering the top of his head, Williamson said.

"Seeing someone with something across the face, from a federal standpoint- that's not right," McLemore said, explaining why agents believed something to be amiss."

" Key figures in a phone-jamming scheme designed to keep New Hampshire Democrats from voting in 2002 had regular contact with the White House and Republican Party as the plan was unfolding, phone records introduced in criminal court show.

The records show that Bush campaign operative James Tobin, who recently was convicted in the case, made two dozen calls to the White House within a three-day period around Election Day 2002 -- as the phone jamming operation was finalized, carried out and then abruptly shut down."

• "Cereal goes on the left"-Rose is a control freak. Somehow she restrained herself from becoming fuhrer of her own island kingdom before getting Bernhard back to boss around


• O'Henry's crossbow wound looks pretty good considering how recently he was shot.


• Sawyer's head is full of dust. Kate goes on a walkabout with rival Jack and he's wondering where Jack got a gun.


• Rose and Bernhard at Niagara Falls :"What does God have to do to get your attention?" Compare with O'Henry last episode: "God doesn't know how long we've been here, John. He can't see this island any better than the rest of the world can."


• Eko and Charlie are building a church. What a surprise. I didn't see that one coming.


• What was Ana-Lucia working on in the hatch?


• The "faith healer" was Isaac of Uluru. Uluru is also known as Ayers Rock, an Aboriginal sacred site.


• Being strung up in a cargo net with Kate looks like a damn good time to me.


• Rose knows Locke was crippled. Rose is cured of her illness, which was never named. They both believe the Island healed them. This makes it more possible that the island made Jin fertile. Now to wonder why the Island didn't help Shannon or Boone.


• Sawyer feeds and pets Vincent (and looks sorry for himself while everybody else has their honey)-look, he's not a total bastard.


• Songs: Unknown song playing in the hatch early.
  "These Arms of Mine" by Otis Redding


• Locke was sketching the blast door diagram on The poem "Sur Les Debuts de Mesdemoiselles Rachel Et Pauline Garcia" (French, #36) by Alfred de Musset.
  
  Here's the babelfish english translation:

  "Thus, no matter what one says, it does not dry up, the immortal and fertile source That the divine dispach rider made spout out under its steps; It always exists, this sap of the world, It runs, and the gods are still ici-bas! With what are used to us thus so much as frivolous fights, Tant of always vain efforts and always reappearing? A so pompeux chaos of useless words, And so much impotent hammers Striking the old idols? Let us discourse on arts, make the experts; We in vain will change errors Like a libertine of mistress, the lilacs in spring will be always in flowers, And immortal arts will renovate unceasingly. Let us discuss our through, our dreams and our tastes, Comparons with leisure the modern one and the antique, And reinforce under these jealous flags! When we are at the end of our rhetoric, Two children born of yesterday will know some more than us. Ô young people hearts filled with antique poetry, Be welcome, dear children of the gods You have the same age and the same genius. Soft clearness is blessed That you bring back in our eyes! Go! how happiness follows you! It is not chance an inconstant whim Which gave birth to to you at the same moment. Your mother ici-bas, it is the MUSE attentive Which on fire crowned day before eternally. Obey without fear with the god who inspires to you. Be unaware of, if it may be, that we speak about you. These complaints, these agreements, these tears, this soft smile, All your treasures, give them to us Chantez children, let say to us."

"A Minnesota reservist who spent the past eight months in Iraq was told he couldn't board a plane to Minneapolis because his name appeared on a "no-fly" list as a possible terrorist. Marine Staff Sgt. Daniel Brown, who was in uniform and returning from the war with 26 other Marine military police reservists, was delayed briefly in Los Angeles until the issue was cleared up."

"During a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee today, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-CA) questioned Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about the NSA's secret domestic wiretapping program. The Administration has cited the Authorization to Use Military Force and the commander in chief powers as authorizing the NSA to intercept international communications into and out of the U.S. of persons linked to al Qaeda or related terrorist organizations.

After citing his concerns that there was no limiting principle to the Administration's claim of authority in the War on Terror, Rep. Schiff asked the Attorney General whether the Administration believes it has the authority to wiretap purely domestic calls between two Americans without seeking a warrant. "I cannot rule that out," responded the Attorney General.

"This is very disturbing testimony," Rep. Schiff commented later, "and represents a wholly unprecedented assertion of executive power. No one in Congress would deny the need to tap certain calls under court order -- but if the Administration believes it can tap purely domestic phone calls between Americans without court approval, there is no limit to executive power. This is contrary to settled law and the most basic constitutional principles of the separation of powers.""

"Bush's apologists still seem to think this is about the President's power to declassify. That's not the issue here. It's about a lie.

Some months ago, the President talked to Fitz about the Plame case. Bush said he didn't know about the efforts of his underlings to discredit Wilson. We now learn that Dubya ordered his men to leak classified CIA documents to do just that. That's called Obstruction of Justice."

scrubbing the snowman.

" A man with no arms was caught speeding at 121km/h yesterday - using one foot to steer and the other to operate the pedals.

The man told shocked police he was born with no arms and said he'd never held a driver's licence.

The 32-year-old unemployed Waikato man was clocked on State Highway 2 at Papamoa, Bay of Plenty, at 10.30am."

"Occasionally I'm asked by friends Not From Here, "New Orleans is better now, right? You had Mardi Gras!" or "Are you doing OK?" or some variation. Sometimes, particularly if they're contemplating a visit, I even try to reassure them: it's very possible to have a good, safe time here; the French Quarter is fine; lots of restaurants and bars are open. In truth, though, New Orleans and most of its inhabitants are very much Not OK. I present to you a baker's dozen facts about life in the city seven months after the storm. Some are large, some small. I think many of them will surprise you.

1. Most of the city is still officially uninhabitable. We and most other current New Orleanians live in what is sometimes known as The Sliver By The River, a section between the Mississippi River and St. Charles Avenue that didn't flood, as well as in the French Quarter and part of the Faubourg Marigny. In the "uninhabitable sections," there are hundreds of people living clandestinely in their homes with no lights, power, or (in many cases) drinkable water. They cannot afford generators or the gasoline it takes to run them, or if they have generators, they can only run them for part of the day. They cook on camp stoves and light their homes with candles or oil lamps at night.

2. There is a minimal police presence, and most of it is concentrated in the Sliver. Homes in other parts of the city are still being looted, vandalized, and burned.

3. Many parts of the city have had no trash pickup -- either FEMA or municipal -- for weeks. Things improved for a while, but now there are nearly as many piles of debris and stinking garbage as there were right after the storm.

4. There are no street lights in many of the "uninhabited" sections, which makes for very dark nights for their residents.

5. Many of the stoplights, including some at large, busy intersections, still don't work. They have become four-way stops (with small, hard-to-see stop signs propped up near the ground) and there are countless wrecks.

6. There is hardly any medical care in the city. As far as I know, only two hospitals and an emergency facility in the convention center are currently operating. Emergency room patients, even those having serious symptoms like chest pains, routinely wait eight hours or more to be seen by a doctor. We have, I believe, 600 hospital beds in a city whose population is approaching (and may have surpassed) 250,000.

7. Most grocery stores, many drugstores, and countless other important retail establishments are only open until 5, 6, or at best 8:00 PM because of the lack of staffing. This is only an inconvenience for me, but it's crippling for people who work "normal" hours.

8. The city's recycling program has been suspended indefinitely. We talk about restoring the wetlands that could buffer us from another storm surge, but every day we throw away tons of recyclables that will end up in the landfills that help poison our wetlands.

9. Cadaver dogs and youth volunteers gutting houses are still finding bodies in the Lower Ninth Ward. Of course these corpses are just skeletons by now -- the other day they found a six-year-old girl with an older person, possibly a grandmother, located near her -- and they may never be identified. The bodies are hidden under debris piles and collapsed houses. This is in the same section of town that some of the politicians are aching to bulldoze.

10. Thousands of people who lived in public housing were forcibly removed from their homes. It is now being suggested by much of the current power structure, including our very liberal Councilman at Large Oliver Thomas, that they not be allowed back into these homes unless they can prove they had jobs before the storm or are willing to sign up for job training. (Many of you may agree with this, and I did too, sort of, until I really thought about it. Hadn't they already qualified for the housing? What about the ones who had jobs that don't exist anymore? How can they find jobs in New Orleans if they don't live here?)

11. There are still flooded, wrecked, and abandoned cars all over the streets, parked in the neutral grounds, and in many cases partly submerged in the canals out East. Now that it's campaign time, Mayor Nagin is trying to come up with a solution for this, but he thinks maybe we should wait for FEMA to do it (!!!!!) and he claims the best removal offer he's gotten so far was "written on the back of a napkin."

12. Many of the FEMA trailers -- you know, the ones costing taxpayers $70,000 each -- have been delivered to homeless New Orleanians but cannot be lived in because the city doesn't have enough people to come out and do electrical inspections, and the trailers need a separate hookup instead of being hooked into the house's power supply, and a dozen other damn fool things. While these trailers sit empty, there is an easily constructed, far more attractive structure called a "Katrina cottage" that could easily be built all over south Louisiana. It costs about $25,000 less than the flimsy, uncomfortable trailers. FEMA refuses to use it because they're not allowed to provide permanent housing. [Link to NPR story.]

13. A large percentage -- I've heard figures ranging from 60 to 75% -- of current New Orleanians are on some form of antidepressant or anti-anxiety drug. The lines at the pharmacy windows have become a running joke. When a visiting "expert" gave a Power Point presentation on post-traumatic stress disorder recently, the entire audience dissolved into hysterical laughter."

"The press corps-and bloggers-will likely compile a yards-long list of occasions when the president has denounced leaking, but it's worth asking the philosophical question: Can the president even be a leaker? For a leak to be real, it has to be unsanctioned. Once a piece of secret information gets unwrapped (by the president no less), it's not a leak, it's part of a communications strategy. It's national policy. So, maybe he's not a leaker.

But he is certainly a hypocrite. It's one thing to declassify information; it's another thing to present information to a reporter as though it were classified to preserve the shadow authenticity that comes with a leak. Bush wanted to have the information out there but not have to account for it or explain it."

"A mobile phone salesman was hauled off a plane and questioned for three hours as a terror suspect - because he listened to songs by The Clash and Led Zeppelin.

Harraj Mann, 24, played the punk anthem London Calling and classic rock track Immigrant Song in a taxi before a flight to London.

The lyrics to both tracks made the driver fear his passenger was a terrorist.

The words of the Clash track begin: "London calling to the faraway towns, now war is declared and battle come down." And Led Zep's Immigrant Song goes: "The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands, to fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!" "

• Dave-Does he (or it) ever have any objective reality? If he is an hallucination, he's really involved: He wakes Hurley, slaps him, throws coconuts, loses shoes, gets peanut butter on his shoes. In the hospital he might be imaginary, but on the island he could be some form of "real" (like Jack's dad ,Kate's horse ,or wet Walt). So I don't know if Hurley is crazy or not.


• The problem with "imaginary friends" or hallucinations or even as-yet-unexplained "visions-possessing-physicality" is that they can result in a story where anything is possible and/or you cannot trust that anything is real. To me, either of these conditions can destroy a story, because they remove all rules. A story without rules is a story without problems, a story without problems has no drama.

• O'Henry said "It wasn't me, I didn't kill him" about the real Henry. I think he means somebody else killed him, not that Henry died of natural (or infectious) causes.


• Zeke is "a no one, a nothing". O'Henry doesn't like Zeke. Maybe he sees Zeke as lowly "muscle".


• O'Henry is really scared of Him.


• "You can't do this, I'm not a bad person". This phrase harkens back to the "good people" references by Goodwin and Ethan. It's like O'Henry believes that bad things shouldn't happen to him because he has been classified as a good person.


• "God can't see this island, any better than the rest of the world can." This is a big can of worms. Omniscience is one of the defining characteristics of God. It makes my brain hurt trying to imagine how the island could be removed from God's knowledge. If O'Henry is speaking metaphorically it would seem he is not altogether happy with the state of the island.


• O'Henry says he didn't enter the numbers, that "this place is a joke", contradicting what he said last episode. I think it bears repeating that O'Henry lies, a lot. He's been messing with Lockes head from the start and this is just one more twist of the screw. More cliches to follow.

• The real Henry Gale loved someone named Jennifer


• Hurley was in the Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute. He was treated by Dr. Brooks and Nurse Lazenby.


• Hurley was taking Clonazepam, an anti-convulsant that is also used against anxiety-which doesn't quite fit his symptoms. He should also have been taking it with food or milk, not dry.


• Why did Dr. Brooks talk to an imaginary Dave?


• Hurley was involved in the death of 2 people when an overloaded deck collapsed. This led to his breakdown and committal. At least he didn't kill his father, about whom we know nothing.


• I loved Hurley kicking Sawyer's butt, especially when he dragged him back under the tarp for more abuse.


• Now Ana-Lucia has the pistol that Charlie gave to Sayid. Still nobody wonders where it came from.


• And the last shot kicker-Libby was a patient at Santa Rosa at the same time as Hurley.

• Previously I theorized that the fake Henry Gale was running around the jungle because Locke's semi-failure to press the button resulted in the Others abandoning the Medical Hatch in a hurry. This is just plain wrong, because fake Henry was already in the Swan Hatch. I blame substandard aluminum foil in my beanie.


• Until the show gives him another name I'm going to refer to the fake Henry Gale as "O'Henry"-as in "Other Henry". I eagerly await this meme's widespread adoption. My head will then swell uncontrollably, beanie or no.


• My totally unsupported predictions for "Dave":
  *Sayid won't shoot O'Henry, He and Ana-Lucia are just playing "Good Cop, Bad Cop"
  *O'Henry is either running a long con on the Losties or is a reluctant defector from the Others. Maybe with Ethan dead he got the blame for losing Claire and didn't want to face His wrath. Please note: I can't remember my last accurate Lost predication