You should do some polling on the Supreme Court decision. And not polls on MSNBC.com but reliable polling. It would be interesting to see how people feel about the use of racial quotas, not that in a democracy the majority is always right. I'm from Louisville and thus very interested, but all the local news has is polls on their websites. My bet is the school board is just going to gerrymander school districts try to achieve racial diversity. But to me it seems like the bigger problem is not segregation in schools but the housing patterns that cause this.

Dear Mr. Willams and Ms. Mitchell, your report on China imports came across as if it was a revelation that the Chinese were importing inferior products and contaminated food. A country without regulations, who severely underpays their workers, have terrible labor practices and driven hard by American Corporations to “shave pennies” is certainly not going to be bothered by quality. That the American home now has so many “Made In China’ products also comes as no surprise. I don’t know where either of you shop, but I challenge you to find anything today without “Made In China” stamped on it. I would like to refer you an article from the Christian Science Monitor from 2005. http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1220/p09s01-coop.html Even then, almost 2 years ago, “Made In China" products were overwhelming our lives. Excuse me please, but I’d really rather pay the few pennies more, and know that I am getting a quality product, not produced by slave labor in a country with questionable human rights and preferably produced in the United States. Your reporting should really focus more on the American corporations who support all these questionable practices and the Chinese government who look the other way. Why no mention was made of who was actually importing these products for sale to the American public was a big gap in your story.

Brian -

On a lighter note - please make mention of Mika Brzezinski, who put the Paris Hilton newscopy into a shredder/trashcan on live TV after she refused to read it on the air.

My kind of newsperson.

Here's some news that happened last night, which probably won't come up on tonight's newscast because of its being overshadowed by the discovery and defusing of a large bomb in London.

PBS hosted a debate of the Democratic candidates, which is the best such debate I've seen so far. The candidates were asked about the "right of return" of people to New Orleans. From the candidates' answers to this question I got the best information I've gotten so far on where they stand on New Orleans and Katrina.

The mainstream media including NBC Nightly need to go into where the candidates stand on New Orleans and Katrina recovery in detail. For example, last night Hillary Clinton said she has a "10-Point Plan" for Gulf Coast recovery, which due to time limitations she couldn't go into the specifics of. This would be a good topic for a story on Hillary.

Part of the problem is the fact that the candidates are spending almost all their time in the states which have early contests--Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Consequently, they only talk about things of interest to people in those states--and other important matters such as Katrina recovery never come up except for the rare trip to the storm zone--for example, Hillary's commencement address at New Orleans' Dillard University. Then, once the candidate crosses the Louisiana state line, Katrina is forgotten about and the candidate turns to more mundane matters. This needs to change.

In fact, in light of the fact that the Bush Administration's continued mishandling of Katrina's aftermath needs to be addressed, but shamefully has almost always been kept on the back burner, South Carolina has outlived her usefulness as the state in which the first southern contest takes place. She should be replaced by Louisiana, Mississippi, or a neighboring state such as Texas or Georgia which took in a lot of evacuees--states in which Katrina recovery and New Orleans would have to be brought up.

It may be premature, but looking back I think this will be the very day that they proclaim democracy in this country had up and DIED! It's a total coup if the Justice Department will not honor congressional subpoenas. It is as if our government has been HIJACKED! To simply hope that things will majiclaly change in 01/09 lulls us into thinking we can just let this ride... My god, do you know what this means?

Good evening Mr. Williams. Correct me if I am misinformed, but wasn't Brown v. Board more of a case about funding and making sure that both black and white students had equal opportunities? Todays ruling did not change the fact that states are required by law to provide equally for students no matter what race they may be. Many news reports are comparing the two cases and calling the latest ruling a set back.

Wow. I had no idea all of that happened today. All we got to hear about was the president's arrival in Maine for the weekend and his meeting with President Putin. This just adds a personal flavor to your remembering the '65 Blackout, Brian: local perspective can be very informing. I'm learning stuff about US/Russia policy that I never knew before. I suppose, though, that local journalists will be hoarse by the time Putin lands and handshakes are done, never mind policy deliberations!

I'm still scratching my head on this Supreme Court ruling, even after watching Pete William's report. Seems to me that this decision would PREVENT racial discrimination, not the other way around. I'm guessing that until Maine's cities and towns get larger we'll see and hear more of this. We're still small enough that there is no choice on where to send your kids to school here: its either the 1 public school, or private school.

Good Evening Again Mr. Williams, In the report by David Gregory about the defeat of the Immigration Reform Bill it seems as if President Bush is making no headway in anything that he proposes. This is just one issue among many. One thing that Tim Russert said in his conversation with you is that they are "incapable of big issues", sitting down and finding common ground to achieve great things". I totally agree with those statements. They are going to have to change some of their ways of thinking and find common ground on the big issues like the War in Iraq. The people are dissatisfied with the current situation and want change to come soon. Robert Bazell's series "The Wounds of War" story was heartbreaking. It is terrible for that National Guardsman at only 47 years old to have to endure all of those health problems due to the war in Iraq. I feel so very sorry for the whole family because none of this is fair at all. I am so sick and tired of this war and all the suffering it has caused so many wonderful people. Too many good people have paid a heavy price for this war and it has got to stop. A solution for peace needs to come soon. Finally, I enjoyed Anne Thompson's piece about the bald eagle being off the endangered species list. It is very welcome news around the 4th of July. May we work on peace alot harder in the coming months and beyond. Thank you for the broadcast Mr.Williams! Peace to all!

Good broadcast tonight. On the Supreme Court announcement I think you touched all points well and I have to admit I’m worried but not 100% sure how I would vote. Just asking students are you black or white does seem to be a problem but I do firmly believe in bringing the races together if it can be done reasonably and effectively. Bussing kids for an hour (which is proably more myth than truth) would be something that would not work regardless of how good our intentions were.

A while back when I was promoting all those armored 4 x 4 vehicles to replace the hummer, you might also remember me saying that I thought such vehicles were also very important for civilian use here at home. They are fully amphibious and have superior off-road performance like most military vehicles. Thus, when you get extreme rain and flooded out roadways and mud everywhere, such vehicles (even is it was just an undertow of a few here and there) would help police rescue people, block off roads and generally get around in such conditions. Obviously the armor would be great in high debris-filled winds and when patrolling for looters.

Good Evening Mr.Williams, First of all the story about how President Lyndon Johnson broke the news of the blackout in New York to the White House staff is typical of the government being in the "dark" so to speak about what is going on outside the White House. I guess one can learn alot of information from the local radio station. I will try and watch the Ken Burns' World War II epic "The War" in the fall. I visited the Memorial at Normandy and the American Cemetary and it was extremely moving. It is so very sad that his brother Roland was killed on Omaha Beach. Again, I thank you Mr.Williams for these postings of such heroic men of the wars. Looking forward to the broadcast. Peace to all!