Swamp Gas, June 20, 2007

by Frank James

A quick guided tour of some of the morning's most important or interesting (or both) Washington-related stories.

U.S. military forces are attempting to keep insurgents from escaping during the U.S.'s latest operation in Iraq's Diyala Province to end the cycle that's often been called whack-a-mole, of U.S. troops engaging insurgents and terrorists in one place only to have them re-emerge in another.

President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, meeting at the White House, announced their support for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. They vowed to pursue peace in the region despite the takeover by Abba's rival group, Hamas, of the Gaza Strip.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg left the Republican Party, declaring himself an independent and increasing speculation that he is preparing an independent bid for the White House.

Some Texas border residents worry that plans for a fence to impede illegal immigration will also interfere with normal routines, like students getting to classes and nature hikes and even nature itself.

House Republicans introduced an immigration proposal they hoped would derail legislation in the Senate. Their legislation would demand the Bush Administration enforce current law and provide no path to legalization for illegal immigrants.

U.S. agricultural subsidies favor large farms over small ones and white- owned farms over black-owned ones in the Mississippi Delta, contributing to the long death spiral among these farmers.

Microsoft agreed to make changes to its new Vista operating system after Google complained to antitrust enforcement officials that the software maker had engineered it to degrade the performance of rival Internet search engines. The Microsoft move comes a week before a court hearing to review the company's compliance to a 2002 antitrust settlement.

The U.S. military cleared for publication 22 poems by Guantanamo prisoners, giving a rare glimpse of the thoughts of detainees being held as part of the nation's war on terror.

The average price of a gallon of gas dipped below $3 for the first time since May 3, contrary to government forecasts that it would remain above that level the entire summer.

Two high school students who, for a school project, made a documentary about the "No Child Left Behind" law's provisions that provide the military with student data for recruiting purposes were on Capitol Hill Tuesday screening their film.