When 'Off the record' becomes 'On the record'

By MATT APUZZO


Filed 1.31.07, 2:45 PM, EST

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper testified Wednesday that a key conversation with White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby in the CIA leak case was off the record, a description that appeared to be at odds with his written account of the interview.

Cooper, the second reporter to testify at Libby's perjury and obstruction trial, recalled a July 12, 2003 telephone conversation in which he asked Libby whether prominent war critic Joseph Wilson's wife was behind a CIA-sponsored trip to investigate an Iraqi uranium deal.

(Click & Read on courtsey of BREITBART.com)

Photo caption & credits: "Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper" courtsey of the Associated Press

CLICK HERE------>to view Vice-Prez Cheney's handwritten notes & other official DOJ exhibits entered into evidence at the "Scooter" Libby trial

The Bada Bing Cowboy

A freely available OPINION

By EUGENE ROBINSON
The Washington Post

Filed 1.30.07

(WP) - If you've been following the Lewis "Scooter" Libby perjury trial, I can understand how you might confuse Dick Cheney with Tony Soprano. Cheney's office is beginning to sound a lot like the Bada Bing, minus the dancers.

Court has been in session for only a week, and already we've heard about characters being set up (Libby, allegedly, to save political wizard Karl Rove), strung along (media bigwigs, who were to be played like patsies), buried in mud (former ambassador Joseph Wilson, who questioned the raison d'etre of the Iraq war) and ratted out (the famously leak-averse Cheney, revealed to be willing to leak like a washerless faucet when it suits his purposes).

(Click & Read on courtsey of The Washington Post)

Artwork courtsey of Flickr.com

Question?

INFRINGEMENT, FREE SPEECH or....

...FAIR USE?

The Cowboy Times asks: If Andy Warhol can pun a Cambell soup can, can bloggers repost a copyrighted image? (Click on envelope below and e-mail your answer. Comments to be posted next Sunday)

ARTWORK: "Cambell Soup" by Andy Warhol
Photo captions and credits: "Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean at Snake River Lodge last November" by JH News & Guide Chief photographer Bradley J. Boner

Save an elk, kill a wolf?

By WHITNEY ROYSTER
Star-Tribune environmental reporter

Filed 1.29.07

JACKSON -- Everyone agrees wolves consume elk.

That's about where the agreement ends.

Just how big of an impact wolves are having on elk and other big game remains at the center of debate. That debate was ratcheted up last week after Gov. Dave Freudenthal said any wolf management agreement with federal officials must allow the state to kill wolves that are hurting big game populations before federal wolf protections are lifted.

(Click & Read on courtsey of the Casper Star-Tribune)

Photo Caption & Credits: "Gray Wolf" courtsey of The Quetico Foundation

Bring it on!

War Protesters swarm D.C.

By KAREN HOUPPERT
The Nation

Posted 1.28.07

WASHINGTON, DC -- A dazzling sun beamed down on peace activists from around the country who gathered on the National Mall Saturday to demand an end to the Iraq War. Beneath this benevolent sky, the event read as much like a victory parade as a protest march.

(Read on courtsey of The Nation)

Photo captions & credits: "Bruce Shaw of Providence, R.I., waves a "peace" flag Saturday during a rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Thousands gathered in the nation's capital to protest the war in Iraq." CHRIS GREENBERG / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Bush Defies Lawmakers To Solve Iraq

Gates Says Doubts Bolster Enemy

By MICHAEL ABRAMOWITZ and JONATHAN WEISMAN
Washington Post Staff Writers

Filed 1.27.07

(WP) -- Declaring "I'm the decision maker," President Bush yesterday challenged congressional efforts to formally condemn his Iraq plan, while Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates warned that a proposed Senate resolution criticizing the deployment of additional troops would embolden the enemy.

(Click & Read on courtsey of The Washington Post)

Photo Captions & Credits: "Defense Sec. Robert M. Gates" by Yuri Gripas

Troops Authorized to Kill Iranian Operatives in Iraq

Administration Strategy Stirs Concern Among Some Officials

By DAFNA LINZER

Washington Post Staff Writer

Filed 1.26.07

(WP) - The Bush administration has authorized the U.S. military to kill or capture Iranian operatives inside Iraq as part of an aggressive new strategy to weaken Tehran's influence across the Middle East and compel it to give up its nuclear program, according to government and counterterrorism officials with direct knowledge of the effort.

(Click & Read on courtsey of The Washington Post)

Photo Captions & Credits: "Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the director of the CIA, told the Senate recently that the amount of Iranian-supplied materiel used against U.S. troops in Iraq "has been quite striking." (By Lawrence Jackson -- Associated Press)

Did Cheney bully Blitzer, or did Blitzer ambush Cheney?

BREAKING....VIDEO!

By CNN
Filed 1.24.07

(Transcript/CNN) BLITZER: Here’s what Jim Webb, senator from Virginia said in the Democratic response last night — he said, “The president took us into this war recklessly. We are now, as a nation, held hostage to the predictable and predicted disarray that has followed.”

And it’s not just Jim Webb; it’s some of your good Republican friends in the Senate and the House are now seriously questioning your credibility, because of the blunders and the failures. Gordon Smith…

CHENEY: Wolf, Wolf, I simply don’t accept the premise of your question. I just think it’s hogwash.

(Click & WATCH courtsey of Think Progress& CNN)

Webb tells Prez "this county has...endured a mismanaged war"

The Drudge Report
Filed 1.23.07 19:10:01 ET

Good evening.

I’m Senator Jim Webb, from Virginia, where this year we will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown – an event that marked the first step in the long journey that has made us the greatest and most prosperous nation on earth.

(Click & Read on courtsey of The Drudge Report)

'Monster' sprung!

By GIL BRADY
Star-Tribune correspondent

Filed 1.19.06

JACKSON -- As the world debated a Baghdad tyrant's ghastly video-phone hanging this month, an 8-month-old pet raccoon named "Monster," confined to his roomy death row cell here, waited out a judge's quarantine that has now saved the critter's neck.

Before about 17 eager and anxious supporters, and as impounded dogs barked excitedly in their kennels Thursday, Jackson veterinarian Erica Periman removed a thermometer from the young raccoon at 4:15 p.m. and pronounced Monster healthy and completely untainted by rabies.

Monster's ordeal began on New Year's Day when, while playing with 11-year-old Tyler Martin on his grandfather's bed, the boy was either "bit" or "scratched" by the animal. During a routine physical of Tyler two days later, Public Health Officer Dr. James Little learned about the nick and signed an order that would have meant euthanizing the animal and sending its decapitated head to the state veterinary lab to check for rabies.

Monster's benefactor, Cathy "Cat'" Bradley-Stephens, however, found local attorney Jody Chance, who immediately filed for a restraining order, delaying Monster's execution until a hearing. On Jan. 5, after hearing expert testimony from Little and Periman, 9th District Judge Nancy J. Guthrie halted Little's execution order and sentenced the raccoon to quarantine for 13 days.

(Click & Read on courtsey of the Casper Star-Tribune)

Photo Captions & Credits: 1) "Monster in Beast Jail"; 2) "Monster Kiss"; 3) "Dr. Erica Periman checks Monster's soul"; 4) "Tyler, 'Shady Snake' Martin & Monster, sprung from Beast Jail," courtsey of Andrew Wyatt for the Casper Star-Tribune & The Cowboy Times

Search for Ben Bradley's killer expands

By GIL BRADY and LAUREN M. WHALEY
Star-Tribune correspondents

Filed 1.20.07
Updated 1.22.07, 12:02 a.m., MST

JACKSON -- Bound for a final spring fling in the snow-drenched Tetons, the snowboarder was found dead and weathered beside a bone-dry volcano named Boar’s Tusk.

Sightseers likely discovered the young man with his arms haloing his head.

The Red Desert had stained his skin the color of a similar wine while turning his 6-foot-3 body into a virtual mummy. Also deforming his semi-exposed torso were multiple “tennis-ball-size” stab wounds, according to one former suspect who still recalls the crime scene photos from last October.

A later autopsy confirmed the victim had been stabbed to death.

But one haunting question, in this nearly four-month mystery, remains: Who brutally killed Colorado hitchhiker and extreme sportsman Ben Bradley?

Last week some dedicated Wyoming detectives joined forces with the national crime-fighting syndicate “America’s Most Wanted” to help unravel that very riddle.

“I think if you read the whole story" on the America's Most Wanted Web site, "it may encourage people to come forward,” Sweetwater County Detective Sgt. Dennis Claman said.

(Click & Read on courtsey of the Casper Star-Tribune)

Photo Captions & Credits: 1) "Boar's Tusk, Sweetwater County, Wyo.," 2) "Ben Bradley's one-of-a-kind, custom-made 'Never Summer' Snowboard," 3) "Ben Bradley about a month before he vanished in June 2006" courtsey of official sources and on-line stock

CLICK HERE-----> Ben Bradley's Case @Amreica's Most Wanted

Tipster Hotlines: 1-800-CRIME-TV, SWCSO (307) 872.6350, or call your local police

CLICK HERE--->CS-T's EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW w/one-time Bradley murder suspect Tommy Bowman.

Photo Caption & Credit: "Still from Bowman's Nov.'06 "On the Record with Greta Van Susterern appearance" courtsey of FOX

Bush to Urge New Tax Plan for Health Care Coverage

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and ROBERT PEAR
The New York Times

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 — President Bush intends to use his State of the Union address Tuesday to tackle the rising cost of health care with a one-two punch: tax breaks to help low-income people buy health insurance and tax increases for some workers whose health plans cost significantly more than the national average.

(Click & Read on courtsey of The New York Times)

Photo Captions & Credits: "U.S. Pres. George W. Bush" via The AP

Men plead to sex counts

By GIL BRADY
Star-Tribune correspondent

Filed 1.19.07

JACKSON -- Three men pleaded guilty in federal court this week to prostituting a teenage Mexican girl and now face up to life in prison.

Jacobo Dominguez Vazquez, 33, Jose Luis Chavez, 42, and Braulio Anceto Velez, 21, all of Jackson, entered guilty pleas to two counts of sex trafficking a child and aiding and abetting the sex trafficking of a child before U.S. District Judge Clarence A. Brimmer, a government spokesman said.

(Click & Read on courtsey of the Casper Star-Tribune)

Pentagon Sets Rules for Detainee Trials

By ANNE FLAHERTY
The Associated Press

Filed 1.18.07

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon has drafted a manual for upcoming detainee trials that would allow suspected terrorists to be convicted on hearsay evidence and coerced testimony and imprisoned or put to death.

According to a copy of the manual obtained by The Associated Press, a terror suspect's defense lawyer cannot reveal classified evidence in the person's defense until the government has a chance to review it.

(Click & Read on courtsey of The Washington Post)

Photo captions & credits: "Camp X-Ray Detainees" courtsey of Wikipedia

It's Never Too Early to Get Defensive

By DANA MILBANK
The Washington Post

Filed 1.17.07

(WP) - At 10:04 yesterday morning, a bulletin crossed the Associated Press wire: "Barack Obama takes the first step in a presidential bid."

Eleven minutes later came a "MEDIA ADVISORY" from the office of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, announcing that she was postponing by a day her much-anticipated remarks about Iraq, which had been scheduled for yesterday afternoon.

(Click & Read on courtsey of The Washington Post)

Photo Captions & Credits: "Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) grills the brass in Iraq" courtsey of The Washington Post

Bill calls for higher ed council

By MEAD GRUVER
Associated Press writer

CHEYENNE -- A lawmaker is sponsoring a bill that would set up a state higher education council to oversee and coordinate higher education in Wyoming.

The council would have five voting members appointed by the governor: one each with experience in public, private and technical higher education, plus two at-large members. The council would also have three nonvoting members: the state superintendent of public instruction, the president of the University of Wyoming trustees and the president of the Wyoming Community College Commission.

(Click & Read on courtsey of the Casper Star-Tribune)

Remembering the life & words of a King

By ERRIN HAINES
The Associated Press

Filed 1.14.07

ATLANTA -- The words of Martin Luther King Jr. are as inspiring today for Shirley Franklin as they were when she saw him deliver his "I Have A Dream" speech from the steps of the Lincoln Monument in Washington in 1963.

That helps make it especially important to Franklin, Atlanta's first female mayor, that his papers be returned to the city where he spent most of his life.

(Click & Read on courtsey of The Washington Post)

Jackson Hole Skier Lived The Life

Friends remember Justin Kautz

By LAUREN M. WHALEY, JH editor at-large
NewWest.net

Filed 1-10-07

(NW) - Fallen skier Justin Kautz did everything in life with intention, even at the moment just before he died.

Kautz, a 25-year-old Wilson, Wyo. man, died 8 days ago from internal bleeding after skiing off a cliff to avoid being swept over it by an avalanche outside the boundaries of the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

(Click & Read on courtsey of NewWest.net)

Judge spares Monster's Brains

By GIL BRADY
Star-Tribune correspondent

Filed 1.11.07

JACKSON -- Proving that hanging old tyrants lickety-split was so '06, a Wyoming judge has, for now, spared the neck of a young pet raccoon named “Monster” for leaving a nick.

Last Friday, 9th District Judge Nancy J. Guthrie halted an order by Teton County Health Officer Dr. James Little, which would have meant off with Monster’s noggin, and sentenced the animal to be quarantined for 13 days.

Charged with safeguarding the public’s health, Little urged euthanizing the raccoon, decapitating it and sending the head to the state veterinary lab to test its brains for signs of the dreaded rabies virus.

(Click & Read on courtsey of the Casper Star-Tribune)

Photo Captions & Credits: 1) "Monster in 'Brain Jail'"; 2) "Monster Kiss, (don't try this at Home) & 'Shady Snake' Martin" by Andrew Wyatt

Gov: Repeal food tax permanently

By BEN NEARY
AP writer

Filed 1.10.07

CHEYENNE -- Gov. Dave Freudenthal encouraged the Legislature to remove the tax on groceries permanently during his fifth State of the State address Wednesday morning.

Freudenthal said he believes that permanent removal of the tax enjoys wide, bipartisan support. The Legislature last year approved a two-year suspension of the tax, but the tax will return unless there's action to repeal it.

(Click & Read on courtsey of the Casper Star-Tribune)

Skier Dies In Jackson Hole Avalanche

Teton County Death

By LAUREN M. WHALEY
Jackson Editor at-large, NewWest.net

Filed 1-05-07, 5:15 MST

(NW) - A 25-year-old Teton County man died Friday after being buried in an avalanche outside the boundaries of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

Friends reported Friday night that the man was Justin Kautz of Jackson.

Friends also reported that Kautz and two friends were outside the resort's boundaries above Fat Bastard cliff, poised to jump off it for a film they were making.

(Click & Read on courtsey of New West.net)

Photo Captions & Credits: "Justin Kauntz skier, writer, artist, beach bum," courtsey of friends

Wild horse roundup begins

By JEFF GEARINO
Southwest Wyoming bureau

Filed 1.06.07

GREEN RIVER -- Federal land managers began a massive winter roundup Friday to reduce two overpopulated wild horse herds that roam eastern Sweetwater County in southwest Wyoming.

The wild horses will be captured from the adjacent Adobe Town and Salt Wells herd management units, which, when combined, represent the biggest herd of wild horses in Wyoming, according to Bureau of Land Management officials.

(Click on & Read courtsey of the Casper Star-Tribune)

Thinking About Tomorrow

By CRAIG CRAWFORD

Congressional Quartley

Even as more and more presidential hopefuls enter the field, introducing themselves to voters and positioning their stands on critical issues, the big question for 2008 remains unchanged: Is America ready for a woman or an African-American in the White House?

The conventional wisdom these days leans against the probability of such a historic step. But the political map suggests otherwise.

(Click & Read on courtsey of CQ)

Rock Springs mom sues cops for millions

By GIL BRADY
Star-Tribune correspondent

Filed 12.10.06

ROCK SPRINGS -- The mother of a Rock Springs man who died in police custody here 30 months ago is pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit against seven officers, one federal official and the city.

Following a foot chase and bloody alleyway brawl during a predawn rainstorm, no lawman or municipality had ever been formally accused of violating Travis W. Posselt’s civil rights.

(Click & Read on courtsey of the Casper Star-Tribune)

Photo Captions & Credits: "Travis Whitney Posselt" courtsey of anonymous sources

BLOWBACK...Was Saddam our Monster?

A freely available on-line OPINION

The following short documentary alleges, before he became Public Enemy #2, Saddam Hussein was a CIA asset funded by numerous U.S. administrations to fight Middle East proxy wars and meddle in the internal affairs of Iraq.

(Click here & WATCH courtsey of BUSHFLASH)

Photo captions & credits: "Then-Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld shaking Saddam Hussein's hand in 1983" courtsey of on-line stock

Property power struggle

By DUSTIN BLEIZEFFER

Star-Tribune energy reporter

Filed 1.01.07

GILLETTE -- Some say the cowboy is nothing more than a romantic image of an ideal that simply doesn't exist today in the West.

So is the notion that owning property means you can keep people out and conduct your own business on your own terms.

(Click & Read on courtsey of the Casper Star-Tribune)