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Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Oswald’s school

By Ken Herman | Tuesday, August 29, 2006, 04:04 PM

easton.jpgThe New Orleans high school at which President Bush spoke on Tuesday to mark the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina is the city’s oldest public school.

Warren Easton High School’s more famous grads include jazz musician Pete Fountain and NFL Hall of Fame running back Steve Van Buren.

But the most famous Easton student may be one who was here briefly in 1955.

Here’s what the Warren Commission had to say about Lee Harvey Oswald’s stint at Easton:

“That fall, Lee entered the 10th grade at Warren Easton High School. He had been there for about a month when he presented to the school authorities a note written by himself to which he had signed his mother’s name. It was dated October 7, 1955, and read:

To whom it may concern,

Because we are moving to San Diego in the middle of this month Lee must quit school now. Also, please send by him any papers such as his birth certificate that you may have. Thank you. Sincerely, _Mrs. M. Oswald

He dropped out of school a few days later, shortly before his 16th birthday. After his birthday, he tried to enlist in the Marines, using a false affidavit from his mother that he was 17.”

Let’s see: Lee Harvey Oswald. Warren Easton. Warren Commission. Let the conspiracy theories begin.

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Smoking out the Senator

By Rebecca Carr | Tuesday, August 29, 2006, 11:37 AM

Leading bloggers are trying to smoke out the senator responsible for placing “secret hold” on legislation that would open up the murky world of government contracting to public scrutiny for the first time.

The story, reported by Cox Newspapers last week has created quite a ruckus during a typcially quiet recess week on the Hill. That’s because bloggers and their readers are calling every senator, Democrat and Republican alike, to find out who is trying to effectively kill the legislation.

The measure, introduced by Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., would create a searchable database of government contracts, grants, insurance, loans and financial assistance, worth $2.5 trillion last year. The database would bring transparency to federal spending and be as simple to use as conducting a Google search.

So far, 74 senators have denied being responsible for the hold. Click here to view.

But Rumors are flying all around, one Republican aide reports. Why would someone want to kill the measure? Open government types say the senators are averse to making the spending process transparent.

In other words: they want to keep the pork hidden in the fridge.

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