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In coordination with Progress for America, several states have launched websites in support of Harriet Miers. Nebraska is one of them: NEforJusticeMiers.com. The ad-hoc coalition is chaired by Steve Grasz, former Chief Deputy Attorney General for Nebraska....

Signs point to deadly gas

This is a really strange event. The unmentioned 500 lb. gorilla in the corner here is if this does turn out to be phosgene, how did it get to Salem, SD?

A deadly chemical once used in World War I might have led to the death of one woman and sickness of three others inside a Salem apartment complex, a prosecutor said Monday. Roger Gerlach, McCook County state's attorney, said in one report that early indicators are the substance detected inside the building might be phosgene. Phosgene can kill by attacking the lungs, causing them to swell. Vomiting is one of the symptoms. The chemical also is used to make plastics and pesticides, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

The initial incident report here, and this article raise more questions than they answer. Where would phosgene come from to get it into Salem, SD? A test by someone off nearby I-90? If so, a test for WHAT? This is definitely something to raise some red flags.

Then I'm spending my evenings watching you know what on TV....

From today's Hotline: NEBRASKA: Who's The Fairest Of Them All? The GOP nomination "appears to be wide open" as GOPers "try to determine which of the candidates has electability." Many party activists at the GOP State Central Cmte meeting this...

Getting a little help from some creative cropping. You know that it has to be difficult to get good, front page photos to run for your newspaper when about every sign and banner carries a "F*ck Bush" or some other...

Tim Blair will be on Hoist the Black Flag tomorrow. That ought to be good. Replays throughout the day if you're like me and can't listen at work....

Kristol isn't happy. I'M DISAPPOINTED, depressed and demoralized. I'm disappointed because I expected President Bush to nominate someone with a visible and distinguished constitutionalist track record--someone like Maura Corrigan, Alice Batchelder, Edith Jones, Priscilla Owen, or Janice Rogers Brown--to say...

Name Of Chemical Released In Salem Investigation

At least the chemical poisoning incident was not caused by Phosgene, a military toxic gas. This was reported in the Argus as being the probable agent, but a different, but superficially related material was finally positively identified:

McCook County Emergency Management thinks it has identified the mysterious substance found in the four-plex last Friday. Test results from the South Dakota and Minnesota State Labs point to aluminum phosphide, a toxic chemical often used by farmers. The report also lists traces of the gas version of the chemical, called phosphine, which can be used as a fumigant.

This still leaves question as to the origin of the chemicals in an apartment building:

Authorities say aluminum phosphide is not a chemical that would normally be found inside of a home. But they also won't comment on if the chemical was put in the building to hurt those inside. "We're attempting to get results back on many many things until we get all that back we can't really say one way or the other," Gerlach said.

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