Big Oil's Dirty Fingers in Your White House: Proof that big oil has a strangle-hold on the White House is beginning to leak out. Philip A. Cooney, chief of staff for the White House Council on Environmental Quality (sic), has been caught doctoring reports. Cooney, who is not a scientist but is trained as a lawyer and economist, according to today's New York Times, "was the 'climate team leader' and a lobbyist at the American Petroleum Institute, the largest trade group representing the interests of the oil industry" before coming to work for the administration in 2001.

Cooney's editing downplayed serious scientific arguments, specifically with regard to global warming. This, in turn, helped the administration to find cover against international arguments that the U.S., which is responsible for at least 25 percent of the global warming problems, has been ducking its responsibilities for protecting the environment and your children's future.

Army Misses Recruiting Goal by 25 Percent: Even after reducing its recruiting goal, the Army fell short by one-fourth in bringing in new recruits during the month of May. One wonders just who these new recruits are. It would nice to see a realistic profile. One wonders just how desperate these inductees are considering how poorly the "new professional army" has been treating the troops: indefinite terms of service, low pay, poor medical treatment, families left to live on food stamps, and completely inadequate post service health care.