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On November 7, 2006 the Los Angeles based radio station KROQ debuted the song on US radio. This song was circulated in poor audio quality months before its release,[citation needed] along with four other songs (dubbed “The Beach Clips”), which were recordings by U2 fans from studio rehearsals at their house on Èze Beach, France. The words “Window in the Skies” occur only towards the end of the song.[1]

The song reached number one on the Canadian Singles Chart and Dutch Top 40, replacing U2’s previous single “The Saints Are Coming” (with Green Day) at the top in both charts.

Videos

U2 released the first music video for “Window in the Skies” on 20 November 2006, after the completion of their Australian leg of the Vertigo tour. A second version of the video was released a few weeks later.

Oh can’t you see what love has done?
Oh can’t you see what love has done?
Oh can’t you see what love has done?
What it’s done to me?

Love makes strange enemies
Makes love where love may please
The soul and its striptease
Hate brought to its knees
The sky over our head
We can reach it from our bed
You let me in your heart
And out of my head, head…

Oh can’t you see what love has done?
Oh can’t you see what love has done?
Oh can’t you see what love has done?
What it’s done to me?

Oh, oh, oh, oh…
Oh, oh, oh, oh…
Please don’t ever let me out of you

I’ve got no shame, oh no, oh no

Oh can’t you see what love has done?
Oh can’t you see?
Oh can’t you see what love has done?
What it’s doing to me?

When Mr. Moses began to develop a subdivision along Teton Creek in 1980, Teton County required him to implement an engineer’s plan to modify the Teton Creek stream bed to prevent the flooding of subdivision property, caused by the buildup of gravel bars and downed trees, during high water flows in the spring.

In fact, the county would not allow him even to record the plat for the subdivision until the modification work had been done, and only allowed the development after requiring the homeowner’s association to maintain the flood control channel year after year.

Teton Creek used to be a flowing stream, but irrigation diversion over 100 years ago dewatered the Creek and left the stream bed dry for all but two months a year at the most. Water only fills the stream bed when irrigators have more water than they can use. (Note: this means there is no “aquatic environment” here, nor any “wetland.”)

Officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were invited to a planning meeting with the county and Mr. Moses in 1980, but they soon left the meeting after informing county officials that they had “classified the stream as intermittent and therefore outside their jurisdiction.”

So working on plans developed by an engineer and approved – in fact, required – by the county, Mr. Moses got to work and cleared the channel of gravel bars and downed cottonwood trees to ensure that the channel would serve as a flood control structure.

For years he has walked the entire length of the creek to evaluate conditions and then remove gravel bars, sand, logs and debris as necessary to keep the channel clear and satisfy the subdivision’s obligation to the county.

When Driggs flooded in the spring of 1981 – due to a clogged culvert under a county road – the county approached the Corps a second time, asking for funding and help to replace the culvert with a bridge to prevent future flooding. Once again, the Corps said, Nope, not our problem, not our fault, not our responsibility to fix, we don’t have jurisdiction.

Why? Because, they repeated again, Teton Creek is an intermittent stream and we have no jurisdiction unless there is water in the stream bed at least three months out of the year. Thus twice the federal government pointedly and definitively washed its hands of the whole thing.

Since 1982, all Mr. Moses has done is to provide the necessary maintenance to ensure that the stream bed does not get clogged with gravel, sediment, fallen trees, and other debris so that the stream bed can continue to siphon flood water away from homes and the city of Driggs.

He did his work when the stream bed was dry, of course, and never put anything into the stream bed, only took “pollutants” (sedimentation, sand, gravel, etc.) out.

Tellingly, in 1984, when the Forest Service needed to build a road, they came to this same stretch of Teton Creek and – without any kind of permit – contracted with Mr. Moses to excavate between 5,000 and 6,000 cubic yards of gravel from the bed, all of which was inspected by government officials.

Every four or five years, when new staff would replace the old, and a generation would arise “who knew not Joseph,” Mr. Moses would receive a letter from the Corps of Engineers, insisting that he needed to get a permit from them for his maintenance work. He’d write them back, informing him that, according to the Corps itself, they had no jurisdiction over intermittent streams. That would be that.

He’d hear nothing for another four to five years, after which another staff rotation led to another letter from the Corps and to a similar reply from Mr. Moses. And so it went for over 20 years.

An aggressive Corps staffer tried to convinced the U.S. Attorney to prosecute Mr. Moses in 1995, and the U.S. Attorney told him to take a hike since the Corps had no jurisdictional authority to initiate legal action.

According to former state legislator Lee Gagner, the Corps “discussed his process many times with him, but could not show where they had jurisdiction on the seasonal, intermittent stream.” Gagner adds, “[T]o this day they do not have written rules indicating this to be true.”

…

As Elaine Jones said in a letter published by the Idaho Press-Tribune, “A good, honorable widower is leaving his daughter to others to raise, and is going to prison for following the rules, obeying the law and helping his friends stay safe from flooding.”

Calvo described a chaotic scene, in which he — wearing only underwear and socks — and his mother-in-law were handcuffed and interrogated for hours. They were surrounded by the dogs’ carcasses and pools of the dogs’ blood, Calvo said.

Spokesmen for the Sheriff’s Office and Prince George’s police expressed regret yesterday that the mayor’s dogs were killed. But they defended the way the raid was carried out, saying it was proper for a case involving such a large amount of drugs.

Sgt. Mario Ellis, a Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said the deputies who entered Calvo’s home “apparently felt threatened” by the dogs.

“We’re not in the habit of going to homes and shooting peoples’ dogs,” Ellis said. “If we were, there would be a lot more dead dogs around the county.”

Calvo, 37, has been mayor of the 3,000-person town near College Park since 2004. His wife is a finance officer for the state, he said.

The investigation that led police to their house in the 8500 block of Edmonston Road began in Arizona, officials said. There, a police dog at a shipping facility identified the package as being filled with marijuana. Prince George’s officers posed as deliverymen and brought it to Calvo’s home.

Calvo said he came home early from work Tuesday. While walking the dogs, Calvo said, he noticed several black sport-utility vehicles and a woman parked in a car down the street.

“I figured someone was having a party,” he recalled.

It was the police. They were watching, waiting for someone to bring the package into the house.

As Calvo returned to the house, he said, he spotted the large package that his mother-in-law had told a deliveryman to leave on the porch. He placed it on a buffet table near the front door and went upstairs to change.

“I brought it inside because I figured it was something we’d gotten for the garden,” he said.

Moments later, just after he had undressed, Calvo said, he heard his mother-in-law scream that someone was coming toward the house. He looked out his bedroom window and saw officers in SWAT gear running across the lawn.

“I heard a loud crash and then ‘bang, bang, bang,’ ” he said, recalling the sounds of the police shooting the dogs. “I hit the floor.”

As the police came in, Calvo said, they shot his 7-year-old black Labrador retriever, Payton, near the front door and then his 4-year-old dog, Chase, also a black Lab, as the dog ran into a back room. Walking through his house yesterday, Calvo pointed out a bullet hole in the drywall where the younger dog had been shot.

“I understand they have a job to do, but it didn’t have to go like that,” Calvo said. He said the police could have knocked on his door and asked him about the package. “I’ve never done drugs in my life. Anyone who knows me knows that I am so adamantly opposed to them.”

Mrs. Brewer purchased school supplies for the victims of last year’s tornado, and cows and chickens for a village in Africa, as well as many other items of need. Her niece, Mrs. Arlene Schwartz of Longview, exasperated and tired of dealing with constant calls from Mrs. Brewer’s creditors, finally recalled Miss Mina’s words and informed all of Miss Mina’s creditors of her new address. Marsh & Longfellow Mortuary owner Tom Feldspar, who sang in the choir next to Miss Mina, had a mailbox installed near her grave for Mrs. Brewer’s growing correspondence.

“Some days we don’t get anything, but most days ol’ Ed Johnson has to drive out and deliver mail to Miss Mina’s box. If we’d known ahead of time I would’ve interred her in Row 12, right by the entrance, for no additional charge, but who knew Miss Mina’d get so much mail?” said Feldspar, “She’s got her own address and everything, Plot 198-A2Q in care of Marsh & Longfellow Mortuary. I find the legal notices the funniest. After all, who’s going to sue a dead woman?”

“Oh, Jeannie just loved that song. She must’ve bought 18, 19 of the records, she just kept wearing them out,” said longtime friend Mrs. Bella Lugosi. “It changed her whole life. Up till then she wanted to be a nurse, but after that she was obsessed with the post office, and wanted to become the first Postmistress General.”

While Mrs. Bueller never achieved the rank of Postmistress General, she did pass the civil service exam in 1967 and eventually became the Postmaster of Dresden, Texas, population 723. And Bueller never lost sight of her goal.

“Did you know that before 1984 you could mail body parts and cremated remains in the US Mail? Yeah, they changed it because of mama, ” said her eldest son, Ralph.

In 1984 Bueller was thought to have pancreatic cancer and only a few months left to live. She quickly made final arrangements for her body to be mailed in a special casket, patterned after a USPS box, to the mortuary in Heaven, Ohio. As her date of expiration neared, it was determined that Bueller did not have pancreatic cancer, but a toxic buildup of postal glue in her system. Warned to not lick another stamp or envelope, she quickly recovered. But not before Congress, led by Representative Daniel Fish (D-Heaven) rammed through legislation outlawing the mailing of bodies, body parts, or cremated remains through the USPS.

“Oh lordy, did that tick off mama, ” recalls Eugene, Bueller’s youngest son. ” I told her we’d fix everything by puttin’ a mailbox next to her grave, so He could come down and pick up her soul. That settled her down, and I didn’t think of it too much till she passed. Now we’re kinda wondering how do we mail her soul?”

“The children just loved Mrs. Bueller, she’d been in the nursery every Sunday for, well, much longer than I’ve been here, “ said Reverend James Hinkley, pastor of First Methodist Dresden. “When she passed we asked the children to get together and design a container for her soul, for mailing it. Well, little Jenny Smith came up with the frog idea, and Malto Jackson came up with the wings, and before you knew it we had ourselves a soul!”

Mrs. Bettie Bindleshire, noted local potter, offered to create the frog with wings from the children’s drawings. Once finished it was placed in the mailbox next to Mrs. Bueller’s grave.

“We have the flag up, signaling to God that here is her soul just waiting to be taken up to Heaven, just like she wanted, ” said Ralph Bueller.

On June 30, 1968, I escaped Communist Cuba and a few months later I was in the United States to stay. That I happened to arrive in Richmond on Thanksgiving Day is just part of the story, but I digress.

I’ve thought a lot about the anniversary this year. The election-year rhetoric has made me think a lot about Cuba and what transpired there. In the late 1950s, most Cubans thought Cuba needed a change, and they were right. So when a young leader came along, every Cuban was at least receptive.

When the young leader spoke eloquently and passionately and denounced the old system, the press fell in love with him. They never questioned who his friends were or what he really believed in. When he said he would help the farmers and the poor and bring free medical care and education to all, everyone followed. When he said he would bring justice and equality to all, everyone said “Praise the Lord.” And when the young leader said, “I will be for change and I’ll bring you change,” everyone yelled, “Viva Fidel!”

But nobody asked about the change, so by the time the executioner’s guns went silent the people’s guns had been taken away. By the time everyone was equal, they were equally poor, hungry, and oppressed. By the time everyone received their free education it was worth nothing. By the time the press noticed, it was too late, because they were now working for him. By the time the change was finally implemented Cuba had been knocked down a couple of notches to Third-World status. By the time the change was over more than a million people had taken to boats, rafts, and inner tubes. You can call those who made it ashore anywhere else in the world the most fortunate Cubans. And now I’m back to the beginning of my story.

Luckily, we would never fall in America for a young leader who promised change without asking, what change? How will you carry it out? What will it cost America?

Would we?

…Seven months ago I travelled to Iowa to cover the start of the US primaries and was impressed by Obama’s charisma and integrity as he kicked off a thrilling battle with Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Presidential nomination. Now, with only John McCain standing in the way of him making history as America’s first black President, and amid the fanfare over his current world tour, nowhere is this possibility more eagerly awaited than in Kogelo, the place where his father and grandfather are buried. Yet there is disappointment and hurt here, too. Granting us access to the school and its records, Principal Obiero, 48, tells us: “Senator Obama has not honoured the promises he gave me when we met in 2006 and in his earlier letter to the school. He has not given us even one shilling. But we still have hope.”

The letter Obiero refers to - dated 22 June 2005, signed by Obama and addressed to her - was written after his election to the US Senate in 2004 and hangs, framed, on the wall of her spartan office alongside photographs of Obama’s visit to their school. It says: “I am honoured that you have decided to rename the Kogelo School in my name.

The land that the school is built on was donated by my grandparents and I am proud to carry on the tradition of supporting the school.”

Obiero and her board of governors followed up his letter offering ” support” with a bald, formal request for funds in the form of a nine-page proposal, a copy of which has been provided to the Evening Standard, laying out their ambitions for the school. In it they ask for 8.2 million Kenyan shillings (approximately £65,000) to upgrade the school. The money would be used, they say, to bring water to the school by sinking a borehole and building a water tank, erect a perimeter fence, complete the science laboratory and add muchneeded new classrooms, additional latrines, and a school dining hall.

Obiero recalls: “When the US Ambassador William Bellamy came to visit the school for the official renaming ceremony in February 2006, we gave him two copies of the proposal, one for the Embassy and one to give to Senator Obama. But we have not heard anything from either of them since.”

Recently, she adds, she gave another copy of the proposal to Obama’s Kenyan half-sister, Auma Obama, who recently returned to Nairobi after living in England and working in children’s services in Reading. Auma had been married to a British man but they are now divorced. “Auma also promised to pass it on to her brother,” says Obiero.

When we ask an Obama spokesperson in Kenya, who is also a family member, why no support has been forthcoming, he says: “We have no comment, the family are not doing any interviews at this time.”

Off the top of my head, the following information needs to be known:

1. an itemized list of the things which the village schools in Kenya require and that school in particular
2. supporting items and services for the above list
3. the logistics
4. the oversight plan of the money and the tasks
5. maintenance and upkeep required

In addition, there’s an over-arching concern about the infrastructure in the country: how much modern technology can the village handle?

I’m a fund-raising virgin, however, so as soon as I get some more information, we’ll get this ball rolling.

Update as of late afternoon: It has been an amazing day! Elsa reports that Jessica has been very responsive today to all who have visited her. She even smiled at Raul and Elsa this morning and responded to her cousins. The physical therapist has begun to work with her and each movement is such a blessing! Elsa and Raul are praising God and are so thankful for the sustaining prayers.

MONDAY, JULY 28, 2008 12:00 PM, CDT

Raul reported this morning that Jessica is making good progress. The doctors did the tracheostomy this morning around 7 a.m. and removed the tubes from her mouth. They also inserted a feeding tube. The doctors still think that they are looking at least 3 months evaluation and recuperation time. Raul was so grateful with the small steps Jessica has made because they are significant steps. Raul and Elsa are so aware of God’s presence with them. All of the prayers that have been offered allow them to feel the reality of God and they thank everyone for them.

FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2008 01:00 PM, CDT

Jessica continues to improve daily. All of her vital signs are in the normal range. Today Jessica is beginning to open her eyes in response to outside stimuli (when her name is called, or when the nurses and doctors work with her). She cannot yet track with her eyes and they remain closed except when she is spoken to. Also, another encouraging sign is that Jessica’s body is beginning to take over some of the breathing which is being mechanically provided. There are still many unknowns, but Raul reports they are thankful for these joyful surprises that continue. (Please note that additional updates to this website may not be available until Monday.)

THURSDAY, JULY 24, 2008 12:00 PM, CDT

Jessica is no longer receiving any sedation, but she still remains unconscious. Last evening when Raul and Elsa visited Jessica her eyelids fluttered when they called her name. On Monday of next week the physicians plan to do a tracheostomy and also to insert a feeding tube through surgical procedures. After that she will have no longer have tubes through her mouth, and her breathing will be done through the tracheostomy. The questions remaining at this point are: “Why is she not waking up? “When will she wake up?” and “What level of consciousness will she have?” Again, this is a time of waiting. The doctors indicate that Jessica may be facing a long time of recuperation. Raul says, “We have entrusted her to God and to the good doctors, and we pray that in time she will come around.”

WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2008 03:00 PM, CDT

I think you’ve taken one tiny line of one speech and blown it totally out of proportion. Show me more evidence that Obama is going to create a second security force outside of Homeland security and we’ll talk.

What I don’t understand is why it’s such a bad thing for students to do some mandatory volunteer work. It helps them to see beyond their selves– a major problem in today’s society. The view point of rich kids is “ME ME ME,” and if they were required to reach out and do something beneficial to the whole of society then maybe they would consider some of the social careers that are in desperate need of qualified applicants– nursing and teaching especially. Also, the tax credit wouldn’t necessarily go to the student, but the parent who claims that student as a dependent on their taxes. If my parents had received a $4000 tax break due to my community service, they would have rejoiced! I would not have received that tax break, because I was still a dependent of my parents until after I graduated from college, like the vast majority of college students. This is a HUGE benefit for middle class and poor families trying to break a bad financial cycle with education. I think it’s a great idea.

This was from somebody named Katie, in response to this posting of mine about Barack’s Mandatory Volunteer programs. http://larrycorreia.wordpress.com/2008/07/07/baracks-brown-shirts/#comment-2023

So now I have to beat poor Katie over the head. When I’m done, some of you will probably think that I’m being mean. You’ll think that I’m not being fair. Well too bad. Life is mean, and it sure as hell isn’t fair, and the sooner people like this wrap their brains around that fact the safer the rest of us will be from their meddling.

I think you’ve taken one tiny line of one speech and blown it totally out of proportion

If you think that it is okay for a presidential candidate to throw out random things about how they’re going to start a trillion dollar unconstitutional program we’re going to have a hard time communicating. You don’t get to that level of politics by saying things on accident.

‘Proportion’? Are you serious? A presidential candidate threw out a random tidbit about how he wants to make the largest change to the US government since… well… ever… and that’s ‘out of proportion’? Out of proportion would be digging a trench around Washington DC, filling it with lava, and then using trebuchets to launch plague rats into the city, only that would cost less.

Hmmm… If I ran for office and used my Lava Plague Rat Plan as a platform, I might actually get somewhere.

Show me more evidence that Obama is going to create a second security force outside of Homeland security and we’ll talk.

I don’t have to show you anything. I’m not your messiah. He’s the one proposing the Brownshirt plan. What? Do you think he said it on accident? So Obama’s either stupid, or he’s evil. Take your pick. That line wasn’t in the transcript of his speech given to the press. That was a slip. It was an off the cuff comment that reveals what kind of man he really is. Unfortunately you won’t see any evidence of this until after he gets elected, and with a congress of bootlicking sycophants, there won’t be talk, he’ll just do it.

What I don’t understand is why it’s such a bad thing for students to do some mandatory volunteer work.

Read what you just wrote. Engage your friggin’ brain for a second. MANDATORY VOLUNTEER. It’s an oxymoron (with the accent on moron). If you’re coercing someone to do something, or you’re paying them, then they’re not volunteers.

…

I would not have received that tax break, because I was still a dependent of my parents until after I graduated from college, like the vast majority of college students.

I don’t care. That’s my tax money you’re taking to subsidize your false morality. If the things you believed in were worth volunteering for, then somebody would actually volunteer. Bribery isn’t volunteering.

You may think that I’m heartless. That I don’t like volunteerism… That I’m some sort of right-wing fascist. However I’m willing to bet that I’ve personally volunteered far more than you ever have.

I served two years as a missionary. I bet that I’ve spent more hours, working about eighty hours a week, during those two years, with zero pay, than Barack Obama has in his entire life. Not only did I not get paid, I PAID to go. I put my life on hold to do what I thought was right. I spent more time in the inner-city than Barack ever has, and he dares to presume to lecture me about volunteering?

I volunteer now. I teach people to shoot, for free. I’m betting that that’s not going to be on the Brownshirt approved list. I volunteer at my church. I’m willing to bet that since my organization doesn’t have gay Boy Scout leaders, then that won’t count either. But somehow being forced by the government to volunteer to do something that I don’t believe in is morally superior. If I’m either bribed, or forced by my school in order to graduate, to do something that somebody else decided was important, then that’s somehow good.

The way it is now, people can choose what they believe, and then exercise their free agency accordingly. Your method relies on coercion, force, or bribery, to make others fall into line with your choices.

The Daily Photo collection of blogs began in March of 2005 when a man in love with his city wanted to share it with the rest of the world. The Paris - One Photo A Day blog was thus launched by Eric Tenin, an amateur photographer, and soon became an unexpected phenomenon.

Rapidly, this hobby began attracting thousands of readers from the world over who had either been to Paris and wanted to re-live their experience, others who have never been and dream of visiting, and those who are planning a trip and surf the site for interesting things to see.

Shortly after the quick success, the blog name was changed to “Paris Daily Photo” (easier to remember!) and became so popular, that suddenly others started writing to Eric asking how they could start a similar blog for their own city. Very quickly, cities such as London and New York followed forming the initial group of city daily photo bloggers.

The growing community began to gather on a forum initiated by Stephan Nebel, one of the first city bloggers. In 2006, Igor, a friend of Eric and Internet pioneer, did the first implementation of the City Daily Photoblog portal. A few tens of photos were then updated every hour and gave to the community its first unified visual representation. The portal drew the attention of the media and was cited on the national French radio.

– In your book “Worth Fighting For,” you write, “Our greatness depends upon our patriotism, and our patriotism is hardly encouraged when we cannot take pride in the highest public institutions.” You’ve also said that “national pride will not survive the people’s contempt for government.” Do you really believe that the government is the root of American greatness? Would we better off as a nation if people refrained from criticizing the government? Does patriotism require us to support our country, “right or wrong?”

– U.S. News reported last December that part of your economic plan includes a new entitlement program for the unemployed. You’ve said that the federal government should make up part of the salary of workers who are forced to take lower-paying jobs. Economists estimate your plan will cost $4-5 billion per year, but as a longtime legislator, you should know that new entitlements tend to become more generous and more comprehensive over time. Should your plan eventually emulate the Danish worker security plan it’s modeled after, it will likely cost $400 billion or more each year. Given that the federal government currently faces some $59 trillion in unfunded Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security liabilities, do we really need another federal entitlement?

– In your January primary debate, you referred to “greedy” Wall Street stockbrokers, and in contrasting your career to the business career of Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, you said, “I led the largest squadron in the United States Navy. And I did it out of patriotism, not for profit.” Do you think a career in public service is inherently more noble and virtuous than a career in the private sector? Are people who spend their lives on the taxpayer dole as politicians and government employees simply better people than those who create wealth and jobs through private enterprise?

– Public choice theory posits that government workers are just as self-interested and no less altruistic than private sector workers, and that we should acknowledge as much when making public policy. Do you believe in public choice theory?

– You’re highly critical of businesses and corporations that benefit from government handouts and pork projects. And rightly so. But you and your wife’s fortune comes from her inheritance of Hensley & Company, a Phoenix-based beer wholesaler and distributor. Beer wholesalers benefit from what’s called the “three-tiered” alcohol distribution system, an anachronistic Prohibition-era law that requires beer, wine and liquor producers to first sell alcohol products to wholesalers, who then sell to retailers. The law essentially mandates a “middle man” in alcohol sales. It inflates the cost of alcohol for consumers by adding an extra mark-up — the bulk of which goes to huge companies like Hensley. In other words, alcohol wholesaling is a government-created and government-subsidized industry. How, then, does your family fortune jibe with your criticism of corporate welfare and corporate handouts?

– Is it the government’s job to make us better people? If so, by whose definition of “better?”

– After the Supreme Court’s decision in the Heller gun rights case, you admirably commented, “This ruling does not mark the end of our struggle against those who seek to limit the rights of law-abiding citizens. We must always remain vigilant in defense of our freedoms.” I couldn’t agree more. But on the subject of campaign finance reform, you said in 2006 that, “I would rather have a clean government than one where, quote, First Amendment rights are being respected, that has become corrupt. If I had my choice, I’d rather have the clean government.” How do you reconcile these two positions? Is a “clean” government (whatever that means) really more important than the rights and freedoms of its citizens?

– America was founded on the idea of inalienable, individual rights — our Declaration of Independence outlined three of the most important rights as “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” But your speeches and public statements seem to show a kind of contempt for individualism, or at least a preference for a kind of patriotic national collectivism. You’ve said, for example, that “each and every one of us has a duty to serve a cause greater than our own self-interest.” You’ve also said that patriotism should be about “putting the country first, before party or personal ambition, before anything.” Do you really believe this? Should we put love of country ahead of family? Faith? Our morality, or sense of justice?

– In 1989, your wife Cindy became addicted to the prescription drugs Percocet and Vicodin. Eventually, she began stealing medication from the non-profit medical charity she ran to assist the victims of war and disaster areas. You and your wife were able to negotiate a settlement with the Justice Department that let her off with restitution and admission to a rehabilitation center, but no fines, jail time or even public disclosure. Certainly no one could fault you for trying to save your spouse from criminal sanction. But you’re consistently one of the most strident drug warriors in Congress. You’ve voted to strengthen penalties against those who use and traffic in both illicit drugs and who divert prescription drugs. You’ve supported mandatory minimums and harsher penalties for first-time offenders. Why shouldn’t average people without powerful connections who make the same mistakes your wife made be shown the same leniency and mercy the criminal justice system showed her?

— In February, you said you might support vouchers and charter schools if empirical data showed that they improve education (some studies show that they do). Admirably, your position was, “I will not allow my predispositions to stand in the way of making sure that our kids can learn.” After pressure from the teachers unions, you quickly backed off from that position, stating that your campaign doesn’t support vouchers “in any shape or form.” What prompted that change? And if it’s important that we not “throw up our hands” and “walk away from the public schools,” why do you send your own kids to private schools?

— Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton intends to terminate D.C.’s federal school voucher program, even though those vouchers are paid through a separate fund that takes no money at all from D.C.’s public schools (which already spend $10,000 more per pupil per year than the city’s private schools). Del. Holmes Norton says the program undermines the public schools. You’ve signed on to the plan to eliminate the program. But given that the program takes no money from the city’s already bloated public schools, isn’t it only “undermining” the public school system by exposing how unhappy D.C. parents really are with the schools’ performance? Isn’t that a good thing?

— You’ve expressed support for the idea of a “no fly” zone over Darfur because of human rights abuses. What’s happening in Sudan is certainly tragic and abhorrent. But what is our national security interest there? Should we send the U.S. military every time there are wide-scale human rights abuses happening anywhere on the globe? Should we send troops to Myanmar? Uzbekistan? Turkmenistan? Iran? Saudi Arabia?

— You not only supported the latest federal farm bill, you commended it, stating that it “will provide America’s hard-working farmers and ranchers with more support and more predictability.” Critics have called that $307 billion monstrosity an orgy of earmarks, corporate welfare, and protectionism. It actually increases subsidies to huge agribusinesses in an era of record grain prices — subsidies that are already crushing farmers in the developing world. The New York Times called it “disgraceful.” The Wall Street Journal called it a “scam.” How does the “change” candidate justify supporting a bill larded with sweetheart deals for big agribusiness when just about everyone not getting a check from the bill opposed it?

— You continue to support ethanol subsidies despite the fact that corn-based ethanol is inefficient, environmentally unfriendly, and part of the cause of rising food prices. Even liberal New York Times columnist Paul Krugman calls ethanol “[b]ad for the economy, bad for consumers, bad for the planet.” Perhaps your support stems from you representing a corn producing state. But is supporting a wasteful policy to win votes “change we can believe in,” or is it a good sign that you’re just another politician?

— In your autobiography, you admit to using marijuana and cocaine in high school and college. Yet you largely support the federal drug war — a change from several years ago when you said you’d be open to decriminalizing marijuana. Would Barack Obama be where he is today if he had been arrested in college for using drugs? Doesn’t the fact that you and our current president (who has all but admitted to prior drug use) have risen to such high stature suggest that the worst thing about illicit drugs is not the drugs themselves, but what the government will do to you if you’re caught?

— In a speech to Cuban-Americans in Miami, you called the Cuban trade embargo “an important inducement for change,” a 180-degree shift from your prior position. The trade embargo has been in place for 46 years. Did denying an entire generation of Cubans access to American goods, culture, and ideas induce any actual change? Wasn’t the real effect just to keep Cubans poor and isolated? In communist countries like Vietnam and China, trade with the U.S. has ushered in economic reform, and vastly improved the standard of living. Why wouldn’t it be the same if we were to start trading with Cuba?

— In addition to the drugs, Cuba, and school voucher issues, you have also changed or revised your position in recent months on the war in Iraq, government eavesdropping and immunity for the telecom companies, and holding employers accountable for hiring illegal immigrants. Under some circumstances, changing or revising one’s position can show admirable introspection — the ability to revise prior conceptions with new information. Some of your new positions are more conservative. Some are more liberal. But they do seem to have one thing in common: Should we be concerned that your shifts have been to those positions that give more power and influence to government? Are there any areas where you’d actually roll back the federal government?

— In October you asked a congregation in South Carolina to help you become “an instrument of God,” and to join you in building a “Kingdom, right here on Earth.” Is such lofty, sanctimonious rhetoric really appropriate from a would-be president? Why shouldn’t we be suspicious of a man who believes politics — indeed, his politics — are God’s politics? Isn’t using the political process to build a “Kingdom on earth” the sort of thing we’re used to hearing from the religious right? Should we be cautious of political leaders who believe they’re agents of the Divinity?

— You have called for a “civilian national security force,” essentially a non-military public service corps that in your words is “just as powerful, just as strong,” and “just as well-funded” as the military. Northwestern University law professor James Lindgren has estimated that your proposal would cost somewhere between $100 and $500 billion—or between 10 and 50 percent of all federal income tax revenues. How do you plan to pay for this program?