Polygamy Blogs and Mullet-Sporting Terror Suspects—It Must Be Tuesday!

"Morning Meeting" is a recap of our daily editorial meeting. If we had a show today, these are some of the stories you would probably hear.

The morning meeting began after producer Matt Martinez pulled a big brother move from DC, summoning the staff (all three of us) to the conference room via the NPR-NYC loudspeaker system. Apparently you can do that from anywhere in the NPR system, which Luke and I agree is a wee bit creepy. But Matt is a man on the move, so we had a speed session. It was 20 caffeinated minutes of story pitches and guest ideas. We came up with a pretty eclectic mix in a short period of time, which means we either work well under pressure, or we've just been BS-ing in the past. Either works for me...

After the jump: Get skinny by taking a pill, Gonzales going gangbusters, and did you know the US sells F-14 parts to Iran?

 

NEWSCAST — Friendly fire from US soldiers kills seven Afghans, President Bush will push for resurrection of immigration bill, Hamas and Fatah engaged in more fighting, House votes to stop selling surplus military parts to Iran, Farm Aid will come to New York City, and the Cavs return to Cleveland tonight to face the Spurs and an 0-2 deficit in the NBA Finals.

DETAINING THE ENEMY — The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled yesterday that the United States could not hold Ali Al-Marri, a citizen of Qatar who sports a wicked mullet, indefinitely. Al-Marri was taken into military custody four years ago, after being held on civilian criminal charges, and was designated an enemy combatant. The Justice department says he trained with Al Qaeda and Khalid Sheik Mohammad—the architect of the 9-11 attacks—and was sent to the US to begin a sleeper cell. The courts acknowledge he may have broken civilian law, but he was not with an enemy military, so he can't be detained as an enemy combatant. We'd like to break down this story to its nuts and bolts, and find out what it means to the Bush administration's plans for fighting terrorists.

DAY TWO: THE NINE POLITICAL LIVES OF ALBERTO GONZALES —
We promised not to leave you hanging, so we're going to try our best to keep up with stories that sometimes just waft away (unlike the Attorney General, who said he was staying put despite calls for his resignation.) Yesterday, the Senate could not even get enough votes to bring to the floor a no confidence vote. (For $200, What is cloture?) More importantly, what does this failure to rebuke the Attorney General mean for him and you and me?

FIGHT FOR FREEDOM — Yesterday Luke pitched the story of Genarlow Wilson, a student who was sentenced, under a law that's since been changed, to ten years in jail, for having consensual oral sex with another teenager. Luke has good News Spidey Sense, because in the past 24 hours, the story has taken various twists and turns. A local judge ruled the sentence was cruel and unfair, and that Genarlow should be released. An hour later the Georgia Attorney General said he would fight the ruling. So will the (now) 21-year-old Wilson be allowed to leave jail? Today Luke and I will talk with a local Atlanta reporter who's been covering this case from the beginning.

OMG! — In the vein of TMZ.com, a new entertainment/wag website called omg! will be a joint venture between Access Hollywood and Yahoo! They seem to like exclamation points over at Yahoo!. Anyway, TMZ.com has really been a game changer in terms of the way celebrity news is covered. Some say TMZ gives a raw, unfilitered and fast look at an otherwise overly-glossy industry. Others say it's the decline of western civilzation. We were interested in how one website altered the way we consume pop culture. In the days to come, we may pursue an interview with the founder of the site, Harvey Levin.

SADNESS TURNS TO ANGER — Nearly two months after the Virginia Tech shootings, the victim's families are unhappy with the gubernatorial panel investigating the shootings. Thirteen families have spoken out, saying they want representation of the families on the panel. Right now, the panel's eight members are various officials appointed by Virginia's Governor Tom Kaine. The BPP would like to check in with a family member to see what it is they want from the panel, what life has been like since April 16th, where all the donations to the Hokie Fund have gone, and what they think should be done with the money.

FRIST, DASCHLE AND BONO — Bono's anti-poverty ONE Campaign will get political in 2008. Former Senate Majority leaders Bill Frist and Tom Daschle have teamed up with Bono to make poverty an issue in the 2008 presidential election. We'll keep our eye on this one and get in line for an interview with Bono about this.

NFL v. PLAYERS — Former NFL players who are now hurt, physically and mentally, want the NFL Players Association to step up and help them out. The legendary Mike Ditka has taken up the cause, and held a press conference at his restaurant yesterday to introduce Brian DeMarco, a former player who retired in 2000 and has been homeless three times since then, because of physical and mental problems linked to his playing days. The Executive Director of the Players Association tells a different story. The fight heads to Capitol Hill on June 26th. We're pursuing an interview with Coach Ditka before then.

POLYGAMY BLOG — Did you know there's one at The Salt Lake Tribune? Who needs Big Love?! Can you tell I'm still mad at HBO about the Sopranos?

PENTAGON CONFIRMS GAY BOMB — This story has nothing to do with 'Don't ask, don't tell.' The Pentagon has confirmed a Berkeley watchdog group's report that as part of a military effort to develop new weapons, officials considered developing weaponized "strong aphrodisiacs, especially if the chemical also caused homosexual behavior." Okay, are you done with whatever comment you just made? So are we. The BPP must admit, if we did this story on the show, we would call the Pentagon ourselves to confirm the story, and we'd record the conversation for broadcast.

IF ONLY THERE WAS A PILL... — How many times have you thought that as you walk quickly by the local bakery where those chocolate cupcakes were calling you? On Friday, your dreams may come true. The first over the counter FDA-approved diet pill will be shipped to pharmacies. Supposedly, it will block fat absorption. We wanted to know more about the drug, whether it causes any kinda weird leakage like those bad potato chips, and whether it's something that people who aren't obese can use. But considering 30 percent of the adult population is obese (30 pounds or more overweight), maybe this is a godsend. Maybe it's another example of drug companies trying to make big profits. Maybe its a signal we should all take better care of ourselves. Discuss. We would, with a health expert.

HICCUP GIRL — The Hiccup Girl ran away from home, but was found a few hours later. Apparently, the pressures of national celebrity were really getting to her, and her friends say she was selling out. After all, hiccuping uncontrollably used to be their thing.