Mark Felt, a former FBI deputy director, claims to be “Deep Throat,” the legendary source who leaked Watergate scandal secrets to the Washington Post and helped bring down President Richard Nixon, Vanity Fair magazine said on Tuesday.

Unmasking the identity of “Deep Throat,” the key Watergate source for Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, would solve one of the greatest political and journalistic mysteries of modern times.

The magazine said Felt, now a 91-year-old retiree living in Santa Rosa, California, admitted his role to his family and the magazine. It is the first time a major potential source has claimed to be “Deep Throat.”

“I’m the guy they used to call Deep Throat,” Felt told the author of the Vanity Fair story, lawyer John O’Connor.

…

Felt’s daughter spoke to Woodward, who visited Felt in 1999, by phone more than a half-dozen times to discuss a potential joint announcement, Vanity Fair said.

But Woodward would often begin those conversations with a caveat, the magazine said, saying: “Just because I’m talking to you, I’m not admitting that he is who you think he is.”

The magazine said Felt’s daughter directly asked Woodward to reveal if her dad was Deep Throat.

“He wouldn’t do that,” his daughter Joan is quoted as saying. “I said ‘If he’s not, you can at least tell me that. We could put this to rest.’ And he said ‘I can’t do that.”‘

The magazine said Woodward was concerned that Felt’s family was pushing Felt, whose health and mental sharpness were declining with age, toward exposure against his will.

So what do you think? Is Mr. Felt really Deep Throat? Why would Woodward be concerned that the family is pushing Mr. Felt toward exposure against his will if there is nothing to expose? Hmm. Interesting, indeed.

Holmes on Cruise: ‘I’m so happy’

French President Jacques Chirac named loyalist Dominique de Villepin as his new prime minister on Tuesday in a shake-up of the government following his crushing defeat over the
European Union constitution.

Villepin replaces the unpopular Jean-Pierre Raffarin who quit earlier on Tuesday. He is a former interior and foreign minister who angered the United States but won French hearts with his fierce opposition to the U.S.-led war in
Iraq.

He now has the task of reshaping government policy after voters showed their distaste for Raffarin’s economic policies and high unemployment in Sunday’s vote on the EU charter.

Chirac and Villepin, 51, did not immediately unveil the new government, which is expected to be announced on Wednesday. Some political commentators predict a slimmed-down cabinet.

The euro which was already falling, dropped even further on the announcement of Villepin’s appointment. Economists said Villepin was too close to Chirac and unlikely to re-introduce economic reforms.

I know Raffarin was not popular with many people in France, but exactly how was the vote on the EU charter a direct reflection of their distaste for his economic policies? And why on earth would anyone think that de Villepin will do any better? Heck, I don’t think Sparky has any domestic experience at all, except being in the doghouse most of the time. Let’s all sit back and relax, because it’s just a matter of time before he burns Paris (and all of the people of France) as well.

A British children’s home immortalized in the Beatles hit “Strawberry Fields Forever” closes Tuesday after 69 years of looking after Liverpool’s disadvantaged youngsters.

The Salvation Army said all the children had left the Strawberry Field home and childcare provision at the Beaconsfield Road site ended today.

No decision has been made on the fate of the home or its iconic wrought iron gates that became well-known to thousands of Beatles fans after the song was released in 1967.

“A few administrative staff will stay on for the short term to wrap everything up over the next couple of months,” a spokeswoman for the Christian charity told Reuters.

[Source: Reuters]

The Canadian Red Cross pleaded guilty Monday to distributing blood tainted with HIV and hepatitis C in the 1980s, and was fined $4,000 in the public health disaster that infected thousands.

More than 1,000 Canadians contracted blood-borne HIV and up to 20,000 others were infected with hepatitis C after receiving the tainted blood products. About 3,000 people had died by 1997 and the death toll has grown, but recent estimates were not available.

“(The) Canadian Red Cross Society is deeply sorry for the injury and death … for the suffering caused to families and loved ones of those who were harmed,” said Dr. Pierre Duplessis, the secretary general of the Red Cross.

So… What gives? The Canadian Red Cross admits to infecting over 21,000 people with HIV and hepatitis C, yet they are only fined $4,000. That’s $5.25 per victim. Wow. Steep fine. You do know that “fines” are not awarded to the victims right?

In addition to the fine, the charity will set aside $1.2 million for scholarships for family members of those affected as well as a medical research project.

Scholarships are nice.. When they actually pay for something… If we use the 1997 death toll figure stated above, we know there are no more than 18,000 victims still alive, which amounts to $66.67 per person in scholarship money. That should cover some bus fare, paper and pens, right? Oh yeah, and what about that research project? Hmmm.

Federal prosecutor John Ayre said the fine was adequate given the Red Cross’s status as a humanitarian organization, noting it no longer engages in blood collection or distribution.

The Canadian Red Cross has already paid victims $55 million in a separate fund.

Whoa. I guess I should have read the entire article before I started quoting from it, eh? $55 million has already been paid to the victims. I apologize for making light of the $66.67 amount. Far be it from me to make light of the fact that they actually paid another $2,619.05 per person. Color me embarassed…

Although…

According to the Public Health Agency Of Canada,

Documented health costs due to hepatitis C are high and rising quickly. For example, treatment with the ribavirin/interferon alfa-2b combination can cost up to $30,000 per course of treatment for an infected person.

Of course, that figure does not even come close to the amount needed if the victim required a liver transplant.

There are only limited data on direct costs, but studies from other countries suggest that there may be costs associated with detecting the infection, managing and treating hepatitis, and managing associated or resulting conditions such as liver cancer and liver transplants, and, finally, providing terminal care.12

Indirect costs associated with hepatitis C represent productivity losses due to premature mortality, reduced work performance or absenteeism from work due to sickness or the effects of treatment, and missed days of work for family or friends who are providing care for the infected person. It is estimated that there will be added pressure on Canada’s social support systems because of hepatitis C; there are already indications that infected individuals are relying on permanent disability pensions as a source of primary income.

Personal costs may be significant as well; individuals report that hepatitis C results in a notable and negative effect on quality of life as a result of stigmatization and the physical symptoms of the disease.

So… The very generous Canadian Red Cross voluntarily awards each victim $2,619.05 (plus the $66.67) to help compensate for a treatment that will cost no less than $30,000 and a lifetime of other troubles. Forget me, color them embarassed. They knowingly distibuted tainted blood to thousands of victims and they think their “fine” was adequate? The money awarded to each victim pays for less than 9% of the total treatment and nothing towards the rest of their lives that were totally screwed because of someone’s illegal activity.

Oh, wait… That’s right… Their medication is subsidized, right?

Talk about a slap tickle on the wrist.

The process to beatify Pope John Paul II has officially begun with an edict inviting witnesses to testify about his saintliness and asking anyone with his manuscripts, letters or other documents to give them to the Vatican.

The edict was published over the weekend, two weeks after Benedict XVI announced he was lifting a five-year waiting period for the start of the process toward beatification, the last formal step before possible canonization of the late pontiff.

Cardinal Camillo Ruini, who is vicar of Rome, said the edict, which officially launches the exhaustive investigation needed for beatification, would be posted on the doors of the headquarters of the diocese of Rome and that of Krakow, Poland, for two months.

[Source: FOXNews]

Allowing airline passengers to use personal cell phones during flights could help potential hijackers coordinate an attack or trigger a bomb smuggled on board, U.S. security officials have told regulators.

The U.S. Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation late on Thursday outlined the potential dangers associated with allowing cell phone use during plane flights, as the Federal Communications Commission has proposed if safety issues can be resolved.

The Federal Aviation Administration would also have to approve any rule change.

Surely they realize that terrorists will not play by the rules and if they wanted to use cell phones to coordinate an attack of some kind, they can already do it? Since when did do bad guys play by the rules?

Have you ever given thought to joining a coaltion of blogs who represent the cream of the crop?

Well, now is your chance! Go read the rules, and then contact the Watcher.

Go. Now. It’s kinda like musical chairs, but without the music.

[Photo Source: Gary Dean Photography]

Nearly six decades have passed since work began on the Crazy Horse Memorial, a granite mountain being carved into a colossal sculpture of the Sioux warrior, arm outstretched toward his ancestral homeland, astride a stallion more than two football fields long.

When it’s finished - and no one is predicting when that will be - the sculpture will be 563 feet high and 641 feet long. It will be taller than the Washington Monument, and so large that the four presidential heads on Mount Rushmore, 17 miles away, would fit inside the nine-story-high warrior’s head.

But with $17 million spent so far, raised largely from visitors and others familiar with the project, only a portion of the monument is finished. Now, for the first time, a national fundraising drive is being quietly started in hopes of accelerating the pace.

The monument was suggested in 1939 by Sioux Chief Henry Standing Bear, who asked Boston-born sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to do the work. Ziolkowski, an acclaimed sculptor from Boston, had worked briefly at Mount Rushmore but didn’t get along with chief sculptor Gutzon Borglum.

After considering the project for years, Ziolkowski began sculpting the mountain on June 3, 1948. He doggedly pursued it for the rest of his life, rejecting federal money and other government help.

“Korczak always believed that if it were done by government, it would never be finished the way it should be,” explained development director Fred Tully.

Ziolkowski died in 1982, but his widow, Ruth, and seven of their 10 children have continued the labor of love.

I saw the Crazy Horse Memorial when I visited Mount Rushmore a few years back, and I must say, it was quite impressive even at the stage of development it was at, at the time. Head over to the Crazy Horse Memorial site and check it out.