Swamp Gas: Aug. 8, 2007

by Mark Silva

A brief tour around the morning headlines of importance and mere curiosity in Washington and beyond:

IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN -- In a bid to tough enforcement of immigration laws, federal authorities are poised this week to announce new rules requiring employers to fire workers who use false Social Security numbers.

The push will be reinforced with stepped-up raids on workplaces across the country that employ illegal immigrants, the New York Times reports. "After first proposing the rules last year, Department of Homeland Security officials said they held off finishing them to await the outcome of the debate in Congress over a sweeping immigration bill,'' the Times reports, noting that the measure, backed by President Bush, died in the Senate in June.

DRUG CRACKDOWN -- The Bush administration is "close to sealing a major, multiyear aid deal to combat drug cartels in Mexico, the Washington Post reports, calling it the "biggest U.S. anti-narcotics effort abroad since a seven-year, $5 billion program in Colombia.''

Negotiators for Mexico and the United States have made significant progress toward agreement, the Post reports. "Delicate questions remain -- primarily regarding Mexican sensitivities about the level of U.S. activity on Mexican soil -- but confidence is running high that a deal will be struck soon.'' Rep. Henry Cueller (D-Tex.) predicts an announcement as soon as Aug. 20, when President Bush meets with Mexican President Felipe Calderón and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper at Montebello, Canada.

TEACHER IN SPACE -- "When the space shuttle Challenger blew up in 1986, Barbara Morgan watched from a NASA viewing area as seven friends and colleagues -- including fellow teacher Christa McAuliffe -- plunged to their deaths,'' the Orlando Sentinel reports today, as the teacher who trained as backup for McAuliffe prepares for launch aboard the Endeavour.

"Seventeen years later, when Columbia disintegrated over Texas, Morgan was in a NASA plane waiting to escort the ship home. She had been scheduled to fly on its next mission,'' reporter Jim Stratton of the Tribune Co. newspaper reports in a story that the Tribune also displayed today as well. "Now it's Morgan's turn to board a shuttle.

"And she says she is unfazed by past tragedies. When Endeavour lifts off -- the launch is set for 5:36 p.m. CDT Wednesday -- the teacher-turned-astronaut and six others will be strapped into the orbiter and hurled skyward by almost 7 million pounds of thrust. For the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the launch will cap its campaign to put a teacher into space. For Morgan, 55, it will complete a journey 22 years in the making: "We're looking forward to a great flight. We're really looking forward to coming back and telling you all about it."

MORE ON MEXICO -- "The fact that Mexico – which has historically been averse to any assistance from the U.S. that could be construed as a breach of its sovereignty – is seeking the increased aid shows how serious a threat President Felipe Calderón sees drug gangs posing to his country,'' the Christian Monitor reports on the talks underway with the U.S.

"The aid package could reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars and include everything from Blackhawk helicopters and other sophisticated military equipment to increased training and surveillance capabilities,'' the Monitor reports. "The discussions are underway as Mexico confronts one of the bloodiest periods in more than two decades of drug lords building and consolidating power. Since 2006, Mexico has suffered 3,000 drug-related killings as the two most-feared drug gangs – the Sinaloa and Gulf – have battled for turf, lucrative transport routes, and political influence.''

THINNING GUANTANAMO -- Britishs Prime Minister Gordon Brown asked the United States yesterday to free five British residents from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, a policy reversal that was welcomed by the Bush administration.

The United States has been working to reduce the detainee population at Guantanamo with an eye toward closing the controversial detention center. In some cases where a detainee is likely to be mistreated in his native country, the Bush administration has been appealing to nations with respected human rights records to take the Guantanamo Bay detainees it does not intend to try in US military courts.

US officials said yesterday that Brown's decision to ask for the transfer of non-British nationals was a positive step in broader efforts to cutback the number of inmates and eventually close down Guantanamo. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the British request was already being reviewed and encouraged more nations to accept more detainees.

WOODSTOCK, BEST OFFER -- There was a time, and that would be the summer of 1969, when a generation could camp out for free at Max Yasgur's farm.

That time is gone.

Yasgur's farm in Bethel. N.Y., is for sale, asking $8 million.

Less than two miles from the original site of the legendary 1969 musical festival, Woodstock, the land is primed for commercial development. The dairy farmer, Yasgur, was immortalized in the lyrics of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock,'' the Washington Times notes today. His house, three bedrooms, sunrooms, a garage and a barn, include "windows hand-painted with '60s music icons," according to New York-based real-estate broker Brett Joshpe.