BREVITAS

WORD

As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything seems seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we must be most aware of change in the air -- however slight -- lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness -- Justice William O. Douglas

It is difficult to produce a television documentary that is both incisive and probing when every twelve minutes one is interrupted by twelve dancing rabbits singing about toilet paper. -- Rod Sterling

ECO CLIPS

BBC - A renewable energy supply giving the [Scottish] Isle of Eigg power 24-hours-a-day has come online for the first time. The system for the island in the Small Isles between Skye and the Ardnamurchan peninsula uses a mix of hydro, wind and solar power. It has been designed to generate more than 95% of Eigg's annual energy demand and is backed up by a battery storage system and two diesel generators. Residents have previously relied on diesel generators and hydro schemes. A total of 45 households, 20 businesses and six community buildings on the island are linked together by six miles of buried cable that forms a high voltage network.

FREEDOM BEAT

AP The Transportation Security Administration said Friday it will change they way its officers search passengers with body piercings after a Texas woman complained she was forced to remove a nipple ring with pliers in order to board an airplane. . . The TSA said in a statement on its Web site that the officers properly followed procedures, but that the procedures must change. In the future passengers can either allow a visual inspection of their piercings, or remove them, the agency said.

MONEY

WALL STREET JOURNAL Small banks, state officials and others began an assault on the Bush administration's sweeping plan to overhaul the nation's financial regulatory system. . . Large financial-services companies have had a seat at the table as Treasury crafted its plan, and many welcomed some of its broad principles, such as streamlining regulation. . . Other groups expressing early opposition include credit unions, which are concerned that a single depository regulator would force them into a structure dominated by traditional banks. Smaller banks fret that creation of a single banking regulator will favor the desires of their bigger competitors. State prosecutors complain that a proposal to create a national insurance regulator would substitute their vigilance with weak federal oversight. . . Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.) called the proposals a "wild pitch." Republican lawmakers were more supportive, but the consensus appeared to be that a long process was ahead.

THE MIX

MS In a recent survey, over 90% of nurses questioned reported witnessing abusive behavior against other nurses, and over half reported experiencing abuse themselves. The study, conducted by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations found that the majority of abusive behavior comes from physicians, followed by fellow nurses, according to Physorg.com

OUTLYING PRECINCTS

NEW REPUBLIC There was the day in February when [a Wikipedia] editor replaced a photo of Hillary on her Wikipedia page with a picture of a walrus. Then there was the day this month when a Hillary supporter changed Obama's bio so that it referred to him as "a Kenyan-American politician." But such sweepingly hostile edits are usually fixed quickly by other Wikipedia users. Often, it's the most arcane distinctions on the candidates' pages that provoke the bitterest tugs-of-war. Recently, an angry battle broke out on Hillary's page over whether to describe Clinton as "a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination" or just "a candidate," since each phrase implies a different shade of judgment on her chances. Five minutes after an Obama supporter deleted "leading" just after 11 p.m. on March 8, another editor put it back. Seven minutes after that, the word was deleted again. Some thirty minutes after that, it was put back. On it went, with different Wikipedia editors debating the significance of Hillary's delegate deficit on her talk page and accusing each other of introducing the dreaded "POV"-- or "point of view," a violation of Wikipedia's most fundamental principle--into the article. At around six in the morning, completing the atmosphere of pandemonium, somebody replaced Hillary's whole page with "It has been reported that Hillary Rodham Clinton has contracted genital herpes due to sexual intercourse with an orangutan."

JUSTIN ROOD, ABC NEWS A former Democratic congressional candidate was sentenced to 20 days in jail and a year of home confinement for faking an auto accident as a desperate bid to revive his flagging campaign, according to WMUR-TV. A judge also ordered Gary Dodds to repay various state and local agencies over $20,000 after they spent 27 hours searching for him during the fabricated ordeal. In a case that drew national headlines, authorities searched for Dodds after his crashed car was discovered without its owner. At the time of the alleged accident, Dodds was trailing in the polls despite having taken out two mortgages on his home to fund his campaignWhen found, Dodds said he had left the car after the accident, wandered through the snowy woods, crossed a river, and spent the night under leaves, where he was found.

A jury convicted Dodds last month after a county prosecutor presented evidence that Dodds was in fact indoors for at least part of the time he was allegedly wandering the New Hampshire wilderness, and had soaked his feet and legs in water to give credence to his tall tale.

JAY LENO It looks like Mitt Romney really wants to be picked as vice president. Did you see the picture in the paper today of Romney talking to John McCain. Doesn't it look the head of Leisure World explaining the benefits of assisted living to the newest resident

BACK YARD GREENS So far this year, the Green Party has three victories. Jill Stein won her re-election to Lexington Town Meeting in Middlesex County, MA. David Doonan won his race for Mayor of the Village of Greenwich, NY. Roger Sherman won a seat as Trustee for Schuylerville, NY, located in Saratoga County.

CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JESUS & OBAMA?

WHEN OBAMA AND MCCAIN TRIED TO WORK TOGETHER

REP JOHN DINGELL FILES FOR HIS 28TH TERM OF OFFICE

WAR DEPT

WASHINGTON POST Government auditors issued a scathing review yesterday of dozens of the Pentagon's biggest weapons systems, saying ships, aircraft and satellites are billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule. The Government Accountability Office found that 95 major systems have exceeded their original budgets by a total of $295 billion, bringing their total cost to $1.6 trillion, and are delivered almost two years late on average. In addition, none of the systems that the GAO looked at had met all of the standards for best management practices during their development stages. Auditors said the Defense Department showed few signs of improvement since the GAO began issuing its annual assessments of selected weapons systems six years ago. "It's not getting any better by any means," said Michael Sullivan, director of the GAO's acquisition and sourcing team. "It's taking longer and costing more."