Author of ‘MOVING A NATION TO CARE: POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER AND AMERICA’S RETURNING TROOPS’ Begins New England Book Tour on May 10. . .

With stops in Boston, Philadelphia and New York, author Ilona Meagher takes her grassroots ‘Moving a Nation to Care’ project on the road. Anyone who wishes to attend one of her book signings should check the schedule below. She may be coming to a city near you!

Ilona Meagher's Book Signing Schedule:

• May 10, 2007: Waltham, MA at Back Pages Books
  
• May 16, 2007: Philadelphia, PA at Robin's Bookstore
  
• May 18, 2007: New York City, NY at Barnes & Noble-Greenwich Village
  
• May 20, 2007: Sunday Book Salon at firedoglake, 5pm ET
  
• June 5, 2007: Berkeley, CA at Moe's Books
  
• June 6, 2007: Tempe, AZ at Changing Hands Bookstore
  
• June 9, 2007: Oceanside, CA at Barnes & Noble
  
• June 12, 2007: St. Louis, MO at Left Bank Books
  
• June 20, 2007: Boulder, CO at Boulder Book Store
  
• June 21, 2007: Denver, CO at Tattered Cover Bookstore
  
• July 12, 2007: Seattle, WA at University Book Store
  
• August 2-5, 2007: Chicago, IL at the YearlyKos Convention
  
• October 16, 2007: Amherst, MA at Food for Thought Books

Fact-checked: the ePluribus Media seal of approval

A while back we put up several samples of a "seal of approval" for everybody's input. We have finally selected one, and will begin using it to identify stories that have gone through the rigorous ePluribus Media fact-check process.

While it is exciting to see the growth of ePluribus Media and it gives you a little thrill to read about how great we are doing from people like Ray Watkins with Writing in the Wild, we should all stop and say “thank you, thank you, thank you!” to everyone working tirelessly “behind the scenes.” Without all your pruning and fertilizing. . . er . . . donations of research, writing, server space, graphics, audio equipment, time, editing, graphics, data input, site maintenance, frequent flyer miles, custom programming and photography we wouldn’t see the growth we’ve seen today. Keep up the good work!

To Todd and Luaptifer for their fine work on the Connell Stories.

Huge kudos to rba for tirelessly bringing us our daily dose of reality.

Cmdr. Huber, with his commentaries, provides fresh analysis of the Middle East, the Department of Defense and the military industrial complex. Check out his recent commentaries on the community site.

Beware the Ides of March?

Apart from the fact that the Romans used actual daggers Alberto Gonzales must feel a bit like Caesar. Only instead of “Et tu Brute?” One can almost hear Gonzales’s whimper “I just don’t recall….”

The dedicated team at ePluribus Media has been following the unfolding scandal at the DoJ since January, and we have published many of these on the Journal ...

From Adam Lambert's (clammyc) coverage of Gonzales, first with Who is Alberto Gonzales and then following it up with The Replacements: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss ..., to individual pieces like Pair-a-dice: Guam's DoJ Gamble and The Case of the Missing Attorney: William Mercer, Montana. If you missed any of the highlights, don’t worry! Cho has kindly provided us with a diary that will get you to all the related articles and commentaries.

Other Stories you May have Missed . . .

Iraq, Contingency Contracting & the Defense Base Act In early 2005, Susie Dow became aware that a civilian contractor, Kirk von Ackermann, was not covered by "insurance" when he disappeared in Iraq on October 9, 2003. She sought to find out why. The story that follows is based on research, interviews, correspondence, documents, emails, and phone calls over a two year time span.

Interview with Dr. Shields Yes, the Dr. Shields of the now-famous ongoing study about the Political Profiling of Elected Democratic Officials referenced by Paul Krugman, Sen. Durbin, and even Steven Colbert.

The Voting Rights Act, Voter Disfranchisement and the Tail Wagging the Dog Just beneath the surface of the multiple U.S. Attorney scandals lie hints and teasers of the Bush Administration's potentially more damaging politicization of the Justice Department. A big shout out to all of the staff writers for putting together this chilling portrait of voter rights. . .

Resurrecting Jim Crow: The Erratic Resume of the Voting Section Chief, a deeper look into the Voting Section and a hard look at the Division Chief, John Tanner.

We have also had several new book reviews and op-ed pieces published since the last newsletter went out:

Book Reviews:

• Born on a Blue Day, reviewed by Carol White
• Framing the Debate, reviewed by Carol White
• Spider Mountain, reviewed by Aaron Barlow
• What a Party!, reviewed by Carol White
• Moving a Nation to Care, reviewed by Aaron Barlow

Op-ed

• Has the term Public Service lost meaning?,by Keith Barratt(Welshman)
• Project Safe Neighborhood and the Politicization of the DoJ, by TheFatLadySings
• The Political Profiling of Elected Democratic Officials, by Dr. Donald Shields

Volunteer Opportunities

ePluribus Media is growing! Traffic is up, registrations are up, and volume on the Journal has doubled. Due to this recent spike in operations, ePluibus Media is currently hiring for multiple positions in the organization.

Pay is low, ah, okay, monetary reimbursement is non-existent and the hours are long, but the rewards are great! So, if you have time you can donate, please take a look at the list below and let us know if you can help out ... if you don't have any time to spare, perhaps you can visit the Lemonade Stand .

Primary qualifications:

• Loves deadlines -- especially ones that move around
• Works well under pressure (see number 1)
• Works well in a team environment (organized chaos)

Hiring for the following positions ... Workaholics welcome

• Welcome Wagon: Receive emails from newly registered users, or from people who would like to register and are having problems. This will be for both the Community site and the Investigates site.
• Submissions Desk: We need one or two people to review incoming submissions and queries and check them against our Submission Guidelines.
• Workflow Co-ordinator: Need one person that will be responsible for co-ordinating with all other departments on the status of articles in the workflow. Update workflow spreadsheet and publication calendar.
• Data Entry: We are in desperate need of a couple of data entry people to help keep the timelines up-to-date.
• Project Managers: Several project manager positions are also available. These are the cat-herders that take the story from Submission to Publication, herding it through editing, fact-checking and layout.
• Graphic Artist: Talented and creative people -- please submit original graphics for our blog-ads and other graphics needs.

• Writers: We are looking for several “staff writers” to cover stories on a regular basis. We are also looking for regular columnists that can write for the Journal on a regular basis. Writers, please note – these pieces would be exclusive to the ePluribus Media Journal, with any cross-posting done after Journal publication.
• Fact-checkers: In maintaining the excellence of the Journal, all stories are fact-checked before publication. With the increase in volume, we need several more volunteers to do fact checking. (Its really not scary … we will provide a check list).
• Editors (story & copy): Grammarticians, folks with a good grasp of the English language to work with the writers in “polishing” publication pieces and an eagle eye to catch the final edit before publication.
• Web layout: help with publishing the Journal -- need to know a little about css and have basic HTML skills.

If you want to help out ... leave us a note in the comments ... or send us an email at epluribusmedia.volunteers@gmail.com.