BREVITAS

OBAMALAND

David Zinn, Nation - When NFL player-turned-Army Ranger Pat Tillman died at the hands of US troops in a case of "friendly fire," the spin machine at the Pentagon went into overdrive. Rumsfeld and company couldn't have their most high- profile soldier dying in such an inelegant fashion, especially with the release of those pesky photos from Abu Ghraib hitting the airwaves. So an obscene lie was told to Tillman's family, his friends and the American public. The chicken-hawks in charge, whose only exposure to war was watching John Wayne movies, claimed that he died charging a hill and was cut down by the radical Islamic enemies of freedom. In the weeks preceding his death, Tillman was beginning to question what exactly he was fighting for, telling friends that he believed the war in Iraq was " [expletive] illegal." He may not have known what he was fighting for, but it's now clear what he died for: public relations. Today, after five years, six investigations and two Congressional hearings, questions still linger about how Tillman died and why it was covered up. Now the man who greased the chain of command that orchestrated this great deception is prepared to assume total control of US operations in Afghanistan: Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal. It was McChrystal who approved Tillman's posthumous Silver Star, a medal given explicitly for combat, even though he later testified that he "suspected" friendly fire.

LA Times - The Obama administration will announce plans today to revive the Bush-era military commission system for prosecuting terrorism suspects, current and former officials said, reversing a campaign pledge to rely instead on federal courts and the traditional military justice system.

Word of the decision infuriated human rights groups, which argued that any trials under the system created by President George W. Bush would be widely viewed as tainted. They said President Obama was duplicating Bush's mistakes.

URBAN

Wall Street Journal - For more than 80 years, Yankee Stadium was the most revered sports venue on the planet. The new Yankee Stadium's fate is yet to be determined. Since it opened in April, scads of empty seats in prime locations have compelled the team to cut prices. Tickets to a recent Boston Red Sox game, usually a hot item, were selling for $8 on Stub Hub, the online reseller. Home runs are flying out of the place at an alarming rate (the park's average of 3.62 per game led the majors). The Yankees absorbed a 10-2 loss in the park's first regular-season game and allowed a stunning 22 runs in its third. . .

MONEY & WORK

NY Times - Despite complaints that banks and credit card companies are gouging customers by charging outrageous interest rates, the Senate on Wednesday turned back an effort to cap interest rates at 15 percent. The proposal by Senator Bernard Sanders, the Vermont independent, drew only 33 votes and needed 60. A bipartisan group of 60 senators opposed it, though the Senate pushed ahead with other restrictions on credit cards. . . . . . . "When banks are charging 30 percent interest rates, they are not making credit available," said Mr. Sanders. "They are engaged in loan sharking.

POLICE BLOTTER

Seattle Times - Andrew King got a text message in his third-period class: There's gonna be a food fight at lunch. Other Jackson High School students heard the rumors in the halls. So when first lunch period began around 11 a.m. Thursday, students at the Mill Creek school say, tension filled the air, teenagers looked from one to another and wondered if the famous scene from National Lampoon's "Animal House" would be re-enacted in their own cafeteria.

Then a carton of milk flew through the air and splattered on the floor. Fight on. Before it was over, a package of Cup Noodles had been launched, along with fruit, chocolate milk, Tater Tots, sandwiches and coffee cake. One student emptied a condiment tray of relish over another student's head, according to one witness. "Once food started flying, it was all over the ceiling and floor," said King, a junior, who estimated that more than 100 kids took part. "It was pretty great." After the melee, 14 students, including King, were expelled. Administrators also suspended the May 23 senior prom.

INDICATORS

NY Times - Census data from the Mexican government indicate an extraordinary decline in the number of Mexican immigrants going to the United States. The recently released data show that about 226,000 fewer people emigrated from Mexico to other countries during the year that ended in August 2008 than during the previous year, a decline of 25 percent. All but a very small fraction of emigration, both legal and illegal, from Mexico is to the United States.