Countdown Newsletter -- 5/27/05

[Patsy Stone]

------------------------------------------------------
Tonight on Countdown
------------------------------------------------------

Countdown w/ Keith Olbermann broadcasts LIVE at 8 pm et, and the count is never complete without you. Join us.

Democrats said they hoped the Senate's vote to delay confirmation of John R. Bolton as U.N. ambassador would force the White House to release long-sought classified information about the embattled nominee, or perhaps to pick someone else for the job. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7470130/

Thousands of Muslims marched Friday in Islamic countries from Asia to the Middle East, burning symbols of America to protest the alleged desecration of the Quran by military personnel at a U.S. prison in Guantanamo, Bay, Cuba. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8006012/

Two U.S. soldiers were killed when their helicopter was shot down and crashed in central Iraq, the military said Friday, as the government prepared to ring Baghdad with tens of thousands of security forces to curb the rampant insurgency. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7897149/

A suicide bomber set off explosives Friday in the midst of Shiite Muslims reciting the Quran, killing at least 20 and wounding dozens gathered for a religious festival at a shrine near the capital. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7999826/

Schapelle Corby, 27, was sentenced to 20 years in jail by an Indonesian court Friday for attempting to smuggle nine pounds of marijuana into the island of Bali. http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/2234403930

Federal agents Thursday seized a shipment of 750 pounds of cocaine hidden in fake plantains mixed in a delivery of the real tropical fruit from Ecuador. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050527/LOCAL/205270328/1078/news

Federal health officials are examining rare reports of blindness among some men using the impotence drugs Viagra and Cialis, a disclosure that comes at a time when the drug industry can ill afford negative publicity about another class of blockbuster medicines. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8004291/

And Keith's Favorite Five.

Keith blogs: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7873141/#050516b

That's some of what we're planning for tonight's show.

Finally,
Two stories to let you ponder where free speech, poor judgment, and over-reaction... intersect.

High school yearbooks were recalled so that administrators could black out a joke caption under one student's picture: "most likely to assassinate President Bush." Mesa Ridge High School officials recalled about 100 yearbooks earlier this month and had staffers use markers to obscure the words in them and in the still-undistributed copies. The Secret Service even launched an investigation. Lon Garner, special agent in charge of the Secret Service's Denver District, said the agency would look into the incident because all threats against the president must be investigated.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/Y/YEARBOOK_PRANK?SITE=NWCN&TEMPLATE=STRANGEHEADS.html&SECTION=HOME

Posters that depicted President Bush with a Groucho Marx-style mustache and cigar were ordered torn down at a high school after a student complained. Theater students, who had created the posters to advertise a satirical play, countered with new posters that have a First Amendment message. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8004021/
Countdown Home: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/

More:
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay accused NBC Thursday of slurring his name by including an unflattering reference to him on the NBC police drama "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." DeLay's name surfaced Wednesday night on the show's season finale, which centered on the fictional slayings of two judges by suspected right-wing extremists. In the episode, police are frustrated by a lack of clues, leading one officer, played by Kathryn Erbe, to quip, "Maybe we should put out an APB (all-points-bulletin) for somebody in a Tom DeLay T-shirt." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8006010/

After saying "oui" to greater European unity over the past 50 years, the French may be ready to say "non" on Sunday, slamming the brakes on further political and economic integration. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8000860/

Violence against border agents at record pace. Increase in assaults comes amid government security crackdown. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7997408/

Downsizing military bases is a painful but crucial step in the process of transforming the U.S. military into the kind of fighting force especially suited for this age of terror, President Bush told Naval Academy graduates Friday. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8002916/

Intel Corp. unveiled its first mainstream home PC microprocessor with two computing engines on a single chip Thursday and vowed to sell millions of them by the end of the year. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8004058/

A homicide suspect remained perched on an 18-story construction crane for a third day Friday, holding police negotiators at bay. A plea from his sister, offers of food and a plan to have him jump onto air bags hadn't resolved the standoff. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7990725/

Japanese diplomats investigated claims Friday that two former Japanese soldiers have been hiding in the mountains of the southern Philippines since World War II. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8005296/