AP - Former USDA official Shirley Sherrod says she is meeting with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday to discuss a new job offer.

Five years after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans remains one of the most troubled places in the United States. Its woes are a consequence of the civic collapse that preceded Katrina, the devastating levee failures following the storm, and most recently, the unrivaled environmental devastation from the BP oil disaster. But New Orleans also remains the heart of American culture. It's a place unrivaled in vernacular richness where people come from world around to eat, drink, listen and see — to live for a few days like many of us here live every day. Is it possible that the national seat of American tragedy can also redeem this country by refusing to give up its bon temps while fighting for its survival?

Whether Google is liable for damages for secretly intercepting data on open WiFi routers across the United States is to be aired out in a Silicon Valley federal court.

Eight proposed class-actions from across the country that seek unspecified monetary damages from Google were consolidated this week and transferred to US District Judge James Ware in San Jose, California. Another five cases are likely to join.

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AP - As the White House eagerly highlights the departure of U.S. combat troops from Iraq, the small army of American diplomats left behind is embarking on a long and perilous path to keeping the volatile country from slipping back to the brink of civil war.

AP - For months, the U.S. government talked with a boot-on-the-neck toughness about BP, with the president wondering aloud about whose butt to kick.

Here's how it was explained to me by someone who says they understand what I saw at the 5th Ave Apple store this morning.

1. The people lined up there were employees of resellers, companies who buy iPhones and resell them overseas and online at higher prices.

2. They line up there every day, in case there are any they can buy. Most days there aren't.

3. They come back the next day, because there's money to be made. These people aren't there to buy phones for themselves.

4. The line went round the corner and down the block.

5. This would be a good story for a business reporter to dig into. Imho.

Click on the pic below for a blowup. Sorry for the lack of clarity in the picture. I might ride by there tomorrow morning to see if I can find out more about what's going on.