Good morning . . .
Everyone is talking about the identity of Deep Throat. TV commentators, radio talk show hosts, and former officials from the Nixon administration are wondering why W. Mark Felt is admitting that he is the source for stories on the Watergate scandal in the Washington Post.
Many are wondering about the former FBI official's motives for revealing one of the best kept Washington secrets.
One former Nixon official remains unsure of the identity of Deep Throat.
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger continues to believe that Deep Throat was not a single source, but a number of sources compiled by Bob Woodward and Carl Berstein.
In an interview on 'Fox & Friends' Wednesday morning, Kissinger said that some of the details in Woodward and Berstein's book sound more "like a detective story than something that realistically happen in Washington at that level of government."
Kissinger said that President Richard Nixon rarely talked to him about Watergate, because the Nixon White House kept foreign and domestic matters separated.
Kissinger Views Felt As 'Troubled Man' -- 06/01/2005
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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is continuing to issue fines to stations that do not provide closed captioning or other visual information during weather and other emergencies.
For the second time this year, the FCC notified stations of possible fines. The commission has issued Enforcement Action against three Washington DC area stations for not providing closed-captioning during a May 25, 2004 thunderstorm and tornado watch. The stations receiving the notice are WTTG, WRC, and WJLA.
The FCC's action explains what broadcasters have to provide in emergency situations. The law does not require closed-captioning, but it does require some kind of visual information about what is going on.
The FCC wrote:
Section 79.2(b)(1)(i) requires that video programming distributors providing emergency information in the audio portion of programming must provide persons with hearing disabilities with the same access to such information that distributors provide to listeners, either through a method of closed captioning or by using another method of visual presentation.
The Commission's rules do not require closed captioning, but allow for other methods of visual presentation, including, but not limited to, open captioning, crawls, or scrolls. The Commission stated that it was permitting these alternatives because it was concerned about the limited "real-time" captioning resources available and their current costs.
The Commission made clear, however, that regardless of the method of visual presentation used, video programming distributors must "use [a] method of visual presentation [that] ensure[s] the same accessibility [to emergency information] for persons with hearing disabilities as for any other viewer, as required by the rule." This could include already prepared signs or charts or handwritten information contained on a white board. The Commission mandated equal accessibility because emergency information is of "equal or greater importance to persons with hearing disabilities, and television plays a critical role in its dissemination." Further, it is clear from the Commission's definition of emergency information, i.e., information about a "current" emergency that provides critical details concerning "how to respond to the emergency," that the Commission required video programming distributors to display emergency information in a timely manner so that viewers can respond to a current emergency before becoming endangered. The Commission long ago recognized the importance of timeliness of providing emergency information, noting that "if visual notification is delayed, it should not be unreasonably delayed so that a hearing impaired person would not have time to take reasonable and constructive precautions with regard to the emergency."
For more on the proposed fines and rules governing emergency information got to the FCC's website.
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An Indiana Court ruled Tuesday that Planned Parenthood of Indiana must release the official medical records of 84 girls under the age of 14 who visited Planned Parenthood Clinics.
The state's Medical Fraud Control Unit is investigating whether Planned Parenthood failed to report child molestation. Under Indiana law, anyone under the age of 14 who had sex is presumed to be a victim of child abuse.
On Tuesday, a Marion County Superior Court Judge refused Planned Parenthood's request for an injunction to block the Attorney General from seizing the records.
Planed Parenthood argued that the request for records was an unreasonable search and an invasion of the patients' privacy. The judge disagreed.
In his ruling, Judge Kenneth Johnson wrote, ""The great public interest in the reporting, investigation, and prosecution of child abuse trumps even the patient's interest in privileged communication with her physician because, in the end, both the patient and the state are benefitted by the disclosure."
Planned Parenthood is planning an appeal.
Indiana Judge Rules Against Planned Parenthood -- 06/01/2005
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More later.
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