December 28, 2001

Note: The BuzzFlash Mailbag is updated on an ongoing basis, with the newest material and comments on top. Again, we can only post a small percentage of what is sent to us. Thanks again for your email and your patience.

Dear Buzz,

Do you know the name of the Reagan parolee who was convicted of a subsequent (to being pardoned) grisly murder? It seems that people are bringing up Clinton's pardons again (sheesh!).

Erskine Harris

[BuzzFlash Note: His name was Robert Wendell Walker, Jr., and he was convicted on December 4, 2001, of "killing his wife, butchering her body and burning it in a barrel."]

Man Found Guilty of Wife's Murder
December 4, 2001
http://www.kgw.com/print-ready/story.html?StoryID=32296

Media Information on Robert Wendell Walker, Jr. (with photo)
Washington County Sheriff's Office
November 6, 2000
http://www.co.washington.or.us/sheriff/media/walker.htm

Suspect in wife's killing got a Reagan pardon
February 26, 2001
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/brfs2618.shtml (2nd story on page)

Dear BuzzFlash,

I just read that the FERC is dropping their investigations of "market affiliate abuse" by Excelon (unfortunately, I can't link you there, but if you have a Schwab account, go to Quotes & Research, Markets and WRG Executive Summary and read the heading "Electricity"). If I read this correctly, the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee (FERC) is not going to investigate the power companies' market abuses on the west coast last winter. Following is the excerpt I read (if you're interested). Keep your eyes out for this.

ELECTRICITY: WRG's Christine Uspenski says FERC's move this week on Midwest regional transmission organization will ultimately be a positive, even though markets may not like it at first. FERC also dropped its probe of market affiliate abuse by Exelon (EXC 46), and deferred until 2002 its ruling on El Paso's (EPG 45) alleged gaming of the market; she expects the firm to be acquitted.

Jeff Schwarz

Hi BuzzFlash!

This is a copy of a letter I sent to Yahoo! complaining about their political coverage. I thought you might like it, so I copied it and sent it to you. It's not as easy to provide news feedback as it used to be, but here is the url:

Link to article

...Whatever happened to Yahoo's! political news reporting? For example (taken from your website, as I type):

"9-11 proved Bush legitimate leader".
This is an op-ed piece, not news. It belongs in your op-ed column.

"Levy Case still a Baffling Mystery".
It is not news that nothing has been found.

"Lester Maddox looks back on career".
No news. Perhaps you are trying to compensate for the bad press alluded to in the article?

"President jogs while on vacation".
Ummmm - this is only slightly less news than "President ponders tough issues" - both rather obviously fluffy press releases written by the White House.

No wonder the American public is uninformed about their government! It seems that Yahoo! staff have decided to simply publish Presidential news releases and headlines that appeal to conservative visitors. I have reset my all the computers in my home and office from Yahoo to the Washington Post, which publishes news: "Tribunal Standards Weighed". "Aid Pledged for Russian Arms Cuts". "U.S. Drops Rules on Contractors".

You guys can't compete.

Amy Ries

Dear Buzz,

RE: going over to the "Dark Side"...

Apparently, that makes everything okey-dokey--wonder if they would think the same if he were still @ CNBC? It's good to see, though, that Fox is taking some heat for this...

Fox: Rivera Made 'Honest Mistake'
Thursday, Dec. 27, 2001
Link to article

NEW YORK (AP) - Fox News Channel said Wednesday that war correspondent
Geraldo Rivera had made an ``honest mistake'' in his reporting of a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan.

Liz

[BuzzFlash Note: For an organization built on side-stepping the truth, what's so wrong with a few untruths about the war?]

Dear BuzzFlash,

On the small aircraft that crashed close to the San Onofre nuclear power plant; it was reported this morning on a local LA news station, I believe channel 7 or 11, -- with footage of the Culver City Mosque that was allegedly the target several weeks ago by the JDL leaders of a bomb plot -- that the persons in the craft were members OF the mosque.

It's all really odd.

TeBaur

Dear Buzz,

Thinking about the shoe bomb, for all of about 1 second, after reading the headline that it is very "sophisticated" makes me think back to the jet that blew up after leaving JFK recently.

The descriptions of the event from people who were watching it seem to describe just about exactly what would happen if a shoe bomb went off.

On the lighter side.... A shoe bomb and the rest of this modern day farce makes me think of our beloved fav's from mad magazine, Spy Vs. Spy.

Cheers, and a Happy New Year.

I will send more money when I get some.

Bayard

Dear BuzzFlash,

RE: BuzzFlash Interviews Congressman Henry Waxman

I'm a new reader.

Thanks for the news about Mr. Waxman and the work he's doing. I will take your advise and write to him to tell him to keep up the good work and don't let Enron or the GOP get away without answering those important questions.

Loretta Belfiore

Dear BuzzFlash,

Question for O'Reilly:

How come you have no interest in the financial connection between the Bush and the bin Laden families? No guts?

Jack Delaney
WCDR