The Mexican government has apologized for an embarrassing incident this week involving a member of President Felipe Calderón's communications office and several White House BlackBerries.

The leaders of Mexico and Canada were in New Orleans earlier this week with President Bush for the North American Leaders' Summit. After a high-level meeting between the Mexican and U.S. delegations, White House staffers noticed their BlackBerries were missing. Per protocol, they had left the devices on a table outside the meeting room.

A source familiar with the incident tells NBC News the Secret Service approached the members of the Mexican delegation as they were preparing to leave New Orleans. They helped identify the person the agents suspected of taking the BlackBerries as Rafael Quintero. When authorities approached Quintero, he denied having them. But when he was shown hotel surveillance tape of himself caught in the act, he acknowledged it and returned the devices.

In a statement issued by the Mexican Embassy in Washington, spokesman Ricardo Alday described Quintero as "a low-level official in the communications office in Los Pinos." Alday said Quintero was asked to hand in his resignation upon arriving in Mexico City on a commercial flight from New Orleans, adding that "Mr. Quintero will be responsible for explaining his actions to the American authorities conducting an investigation."

The White House would say only that the matter is under investigation. The matter has been turned over to the State Department. The Mexican government said it "deeply regrets this incident."

WASHINGTON – "The Iraqi army, most of them are doing a good job, most of them are doing what they need to do," an American soldier said Wednesday after receiving a Purple Heart at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Pfc. Stephen Riddle, 24, of Dover, Del., was one of two Purple Heart recipients expressing optimism about the progress of the Iraqi army, despite recent reports of Iraqi soldiers laying down their arms and refusing to fight.

Getty Images

Spc. Gage Skrdla (left) gets help straightening his Combat Infantryman Badge as Pfc. Stephen Riddle (right) looks on after a ceremony in which the two soldiers received Purple Hearts.

"We take a lot of them out with us on patrol, so they're well on their way to becoming soldiers, and we train them every chance we get," said Riddle, who was shot in the arm by a sniper on Feb. 14 in Taji, Iraq.

Spc. Gage Skrdla, 23, of Wichita, Kan., agreed with Riddle.

"They're willing to learn, and they're learning," said Skrdla, who was wounded Nov. 14 by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. "You know, that's what's important. They're still a young army, just trying to rebuild. They don't have the discipline that we do, but they're seeing how we work our strategies, and they're learning from it, and it's making them better."

Getty Images

Skrdla and Riddle receive a standing ovation from fellow soldiers during the Purple Heart ceremony.

Riddle said he was anxious to turn the fight over to the Iraqis.

"If we're teaching them how to fight the war, they should be over there fighting the war, and we should be back here getting our defenses up," Riddle said.

Skrdla concurred, but he said it would be a long time before that's possible.

"I hope someday we can pull out," said Skrdla, "but from what I've seen over there, I do believe that there will always need to be a [U.S.] force over there."

A third Purple Heart recipient, Spc. Joshua Early, 24, of Wareham, Mass., did not want to be interviewed. He received his medal for wounds suffered Jan. 9 in an IED explosion in Iraq's Dayala Province.

Three weeks into covering the polygamous ranch raid story, I keep hearing from colleagues throughout NBC News who want to know more about how members of the sect live.

Much of what is interesting about their lives simply won't fit into a two-minute television news story because the legal battle, charges and counter charges crowd out what many might consider intriguing information.

VIDEO: Members of the polygamous sect speak out in an extended video with NBC's Don Teague

I spent several hours earlier this week speaking with parents at the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ranch in Texas. It was my third long day on the ranch.

Here are some of the things members of the sect told me about life on the YFZ Ranch – which stands for Yearn For Zion – in Eldorado, Texas:

• They drink coffee, which I know many mainstream Mormons don't do. I was shocked when they offered me a cup, but happy to drink it (they avoid carbonated and sugary drinks, but have no problem with caffeine).

• They won't talk about what goes on inside their temple.
• They do consider themselves Mormons. Yes, I know, their sect broke away from the Mormon Church more than a hundred years ago, and mainstream Mormons don't consider FLDS Mormons. But FLDS members do consider themselves Mormons.
•  They consider jailed FLDS leader Warren Jeffs a prophet appointed directly by God. When I asked if he's still their leader in jail, they laughed. "Of course," they said. Each public room on the ranch has a series of pictures hanging on the wall. They begin with Joseph Smith, then Brigham Young, and cover several decades of prophets…ending with a picture of their current prophet, Jeffs.
• What's up with the hair? Nothing, they said. I had heard there was some sort of class system among the FLDS, and you could tell certain things about the women by their hair. "Nope," they said. "We just like having long hair, but have to wear it up. Some of us braid it, or twist it into a bun, but there's nothing more to it than that."
• They remain evasive when the subject of underage marriage comes up. While they won't confirm of knowing about more than one or two "possibly"16-year-old brides, they said brides younger than that are extremely rare. That is, if there are any, which they won't confirm (evasive, remember?). What they do say is that all women/girls are given the choice of saying "no" to an arranged marriage. And most choose to wait until they're at least 18 years old, if not older.
• They don't call them "arranged marriages." They call them "placement marriages."
• Exactly who a woman/girl marries is decided by a combination of church leaders and their parents. They claim, again, the bride has the right to say "no" to the marriage.
• While not confirming the existence of underage brides, they do express dismay that the state of Texas raised the legal marriage age from 14 to 16 years (with parental consent) after the YFZ ranch was established in 2004. By the way, the state of Texas considers a 16-year-old who marries on the YFZ ranch a victim of sexual abuse, because the state doesn't recognize "spiritual marriage," or multiple wives as valid. Seventeen is the age of consent for a minor to have unmarried sex with an adult in Texas.
• They admit to having multiple wives. It's what they do (though there are some men who only have one wife).
• Wives married to the same man call themselves "sister wives." The multiple children created by these families call all of the women "mother." That's part of the reason Texas is DNA testing the children – because they're still having a hard time sorting these families out.
• They absolutely hate having the ranch called a "compound." "Do you see any walls here?" they asked. They call it a ranch. There are cattle (dairy) to prove it, and they hope to get a few horses someday.
• Why do they talk like that? Robotic, drugged, hypnotized, brain-washed, creepy – all words other people told me came to mind when they first heard the women speak after returning to the ranch last week. I'm not sure what the answer is, but I've discovered the timid, methodical speech pattern goes away after the person you're speaking with begins to relax a little. After a few minutes, speaking to a woman on the ranch is like speaking to any other somewhat reserved woman…except of course for the hair and the pastel prairie dresses.
• So, what's up with the pastel prairie dresses? They said they like pastel prairie dresses.
• Are they really afraid of the color red? "We don't wear red," one YFZ ranch woman told me. "But would your children think I'm the devil if I wore a red shirt?" I asked. She laughed at me. "No," she said, "but we don't wear it." I had driven my red car onto the ranch (all three times in fact). "Is my red car a problem?" I asked. "It's a car," was the answer.

VIDEO: Polygamist sect kids placed in foster homes

• It really irks ranch residents that we in the media keep saying they're shut off and unfamiliar with the "outside world." I've spoken with ranch members who take their children to airports to watch the planes land, who snowboard, shop in stores, drive cars, etc. The FLDS sect has somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 members across the country. They definitely keep to themselves, but most of them don't live on closed-off "compounds" (I know, they hate that) like the YFZ ranch. Ranch residents said they move freely between YFZ and other communities throughout the country.
• Women said they can leave at will. They said they can come and go at will and take their children with them. Some attend college and some have worked jobs in the "outside world."
• I haven't met anyone on the ranch who owns a TV. They said it's not forbidden, but they don't want to expose their children to the sex and violence.
• Most families on the ranch have computers with Internet access. One of the fathers I spoke with said he doesn't let his kids on the Internet for the same reasons he doesn't have a TV.
• The kids go to school on the ranch in a nice building, with separate classrooms for boys and girls. It's not a year-round school – kids are basically on traditional school schedules.
• Most families said they have family devotional time in the morning and the evening. They pray, and the parents talk to their kids about leading good lives.
•  When children come home from school, they do community-based chores. They work in the gardens, pick up litter from the roads, help out with the dairy cattle, etc.
• The primary job for women is to do "housework." Cooking, cleaning, caring for the kids full-time.
• Men work on the ranch. They build roads, buildings, tend fields, make furniture, and they're in the process of installing a sewage treatment plant. They hope to pave the roads someday, eventually turning their collection of about 20 individual homes into a larger community. They think of it as a town, one that was growing rapidly until two weeks ago.
• Where does the money come from? Labor is provided by men on the ranch. Also FLDS members from around the country to come to work on specific projects. The church and individual FLDS members provide operating funds. Many FLDS members own businesses that make plenty of money, which is given to the church broadly and the ranch specifically. One of the women who testified in a hearing last week said she had no idea who owns the home she lives in.
• Men and women on the ranch said there is nothing more important to them than caring for and loving their children. Many have told me that they would do anything state authorities ask of them to regain custody of their kids. Despite saying they consider the ranch "Zion," and a peaceful, happy environment, they said they'll leave and move wherever they have to if it means getting their children back. The ranch has even created its own website to show you pictures of their kids and how happy they say they are.

Much of the above sharply contrasts with the picture of alleged physical and sexual abuse painted by state investigators. The courts will ultimately decide which version of the truth is closer to reality. I can't say whether what ranch residents tell me is true or not, but I thought you'd be interested in what they said.

NBC launched its "Mean Green" satellite transmission vehicle on Earth Day, allowing the network to broadcast live television in an eco-friendly way. NBC New' Kevin Corke gives a video tour of the satellite truck and explains how it works from Pennsylvania.

VIDEO: Check out NBC's 'Mean Green' satellite truck

WASHINGTON -- I'm up at 4:30 this morning to make sure I get to Nationals Park before the Secret Service closes the security magnetometers at 8:15 a.m. for the papal Mass. 

The Green Line Metro train is packed with happy, smiling faces – a rare sight at 6 o'clock in the morning. One of those smiles belongs to 14-year-old Emma Rebura of Kensington, Md., who's on her way to the Mass with her mother.

"It's just such a blessing to be able to see our pope from Rome, to celebrate the Mass with him," Emma tells me. "It's a memory I'll keep forever."

Arriving at the stadium, I breeze through the security mags and am inside by 6:15 a.m., with two hours to spare. I decide to check out one of the souvenir stands. Pope t-shirts go for $20, "Beautiful Matted Art" for $10 and rosary rings for $5. I buy my sister-in-law a pope coffee mug for $10.

On the stadium concourse I meet Wendy Hodge of Huntsville, Ala. She's a 20-something member of the Papal Mass Choir. I ask her what she hopes the pope accomplishes on his visit to America.

"I hope he helps America strengthen its resolve to stay true to the church and not fall into the traps of worldly ways," Hodge says.

The sexual abuse scandal, of course, looms over the pope's visit. I ask John Tieger, 64, of Germantown, Md., whether the pope is adequately addressing the scandal.

"He hasn't said much about it or really addressed it fully, no," says Tieger, an employee of the Washington Archdiocese.

Patty Hanko, 51, of Calvert County, Md., disagrees.

"I think he's doing a great job," Hanko says. "It's not his fault. It's not the Catholic Church's fault. It's the individual's fault."

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Nuns move through the crowd at National Park ahead of the papal mass Thursday in Washington.

I find an empty seat above the VIP section. Senators Dodd, Kerry and Kennedy walk by. The stadium slowly fills with the faithful. At 9:33 a.m., Pope Benedict arrives in his pope-mobile; 46,000 Catholics rise and cheer and wave tiny Vatican flags.

Shortly into the two-hour Mass, the Pope again apologizes for the sex abuse scandal.

"No words of mine could describe the pain and harm inflicted by such abuse," he says. "It is important that those who have suffered be given loving pastoral attention."

After the Mass is over, I ask Irene Senos, 22, of Falls Church, Va., if the Catholic Church will ever be able to put the sex scandal behind it.

"I think it will take some time," she says, "but I think we're making progress, and with the Holy Father really commenting that this is a problem, that will definitely make the bishops respond more than they might have in the past."

Whatever happens, the pope himself is apparently a big hit.

"Pope Benedict was so inspiring and loving," Ruth Froehling, 35, also of Falls Church, says. "Everything was wonderful, a wonderful experience."

Judging from all the smiles, 46,000 others agree.

 SAN ANGELO, Texas – For nearly two weeks, journalists covering the removal of children from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints compound, known as the YFZ Ranch, have had access to just one side of the story. 

During the initial raid, the men who live on the ranch weren't allowed to leave, and the women who had been removed with their children were sequestered away in shelters.

That gave state officials the advantage of presenting their allegations of physical and sexual abuse of children on the ranch to the public with little chance for rebuttal except through church lawyers.

Well, the situation changed dramatically last night, when Texas Child Protective Services and police officers separated dozens of mothers from their children, keeping custody of the children and sending the women back to the ranch. (Some may have chosen to go to a battered women's shelter, according to a CPS official.)

Immediately after the women went home, I received a call on my cell phone from a spokesman for the family.

"They're all back at the ranch," he told me.  "They want to talk."

"When?" I asked.

"As soon as you can get here," he said.

So I dropped everything, and rushed to the ranch, along with more than a dozen other reporters who had received a similar call.

After a short wait at the main gate (where construction is almost complete on an ominous looking guard tower), we were all allowed in to the ranch living area. Homes and log-sided dormitories sat on a gentle knoll, separated by a wide, well maintained road.

Two dozen or more women wearing prairie-style dresses were waiting for us outside of one of the buildings.

I'm posting some of their interviews here because I want you to hear from these women for yourselves.

VIDEO: 'They totally lied' - mothers in ranch raid speak out

They all had similar stories (so similar that some reporters suggested they were pre-rehearsed). 

In short, the women are heartbroken at having had their children taken away. They're angry at the government for doing so, and for allegedly tricking them into returning to the ranch Monday without their children.

They said the living conditions in the shelter were cramped and dirty, but they also said many of the volunteers and even state workers who cared for them were warm, loving people. They worry they'll never see their children again, and depending on the outcome of custody hearings on Thursday, they may be right.

They all denied their children were sexually or physically abused. They said all women are free to leave the ranch anytime they wish.  And, they suspect the phone call from a 16-year-old mother alleging abuse was a hoax from outside the compound.

One of the women, Marie, wanted to make sure to have the opportunity to say she forgives the people who have torn her family apart.

Click here to read more about the polygamist sect raid:
Compound considered home for sect's elite
Newsweek: Texas sect kept to itself

By Tom Junod, NBC News Producer

NEW ORLEANS, La. – New Orleans may be a city vulnerable to flooding, as Hurricane Katrina and the ensuing levee failures proved, but the Mississippi River isn't likely to be the cause. That's because there's an elaborate series of features and structures that protect the city. 

One of the most important is the Bonnet Carré Spillway, about 28 miles upriver from New Orleans. When the river starts running high and fast, as it is now, the Army Corps of Engineers can open up the spillway gates before things get too dicey downstream.  

A portion of the river's flow is diverted down a six-mile channel and into Lake Pontchartrain, where it eventually flows out into the Gulf of Mexico. The spillway can siphon off up to 1,870,000 gallons of water per second. It's like a big valve releasing built-up pressure.  

Tom Junod / NBC News

The Bonnet Carré Spillway, about 28 miles upriver from New Orleans, is opened to prevent flooding.

The spillway hasn't been used often. This is just the ninth time since 1937 that it's been opened, and the first time in 11 years. 

It's quite an event when the spillway is opened and this weekend brought out scores of onlookers who lined the levees for a glimpse of the Mighty Mississippi bending to the will of man. 

Tom Junod/ NBC News

Onlookers line the levees to catch a look as Mighty Mississippi bends its path.

The atmosphere was festive as families with young kids and babies in strollers crowded in to catch a glimpse along with kite-flyers and scores of fisherman taking advantage of a new place to cast their lines. 

Tom Junod / NBC News

Some young boys take advantage of the new fishing hole created by the opening of the spillway.

The Army Corps of Engineers expects the spillway to be open from two to four weeks. Once the danger of flooding downriver has passed they'll close it and the Mississippi will once again be confined to its normal path.

The Army Corps' website offers a detailed explanation of how the Bonnet Carré Spillway works.

 SAN ANGELO, Texas – It's understandable that the people of San Angelo and Eldorado, Texas, would be a bit shell-shocked today. They've been rocked by revelations of alleged child sex and polygamy next door, invaded by hundreds of journalists for nearly a week, and now pummeled by Mother Nature. 

As a reporter, I've seen my share of human tragedy and natural disasters. They take an emotional toll, even for someone who knows exactly what to expect. 

And, deep down, I expected a tornado to hit here last night. 

What convinced me was a conversation with a lifelong San Angelo resident who approached me after seeing a report about the investigation at the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints compound.

VIDEO: Polygamist compound search endsÂ

"You know that's terrible business," he said, "but San Angelo is still the safest place in America."

"What do you mean?" I asked. 

"It was determined by insurance companies," he said, "this is the least likely city in the country for a natural disaster."

"But you have a river," I said, "surely it floods."

"Used to way back when, but they fixed that back in the thirties," he answered proudly.

I looked at him suspiciously, in that way journalists do.

"How about tornadoes?"  I asked.  This is, after all, Texas.

"Nope," he said, "last one was in 1952 or maybe '57."

'Nice town'
I should have run for cover then and there. Instead, I smiled and said, "Well, you sure have a nice town."

And I meant it. The people of west Texas are as friendly as anywhere, with a dry sense of humor, sun-parched skin, and warm hearts.  If you mention that you're hungry, they'll feed you until you have to beg them to stop. 

They worry that the revelations about what investigators say was going on at the polygamous sect's compound – known as the YFZ ranch – will somehow make you think poorly of Texas. But mostly, they worry about the children and young women who've been removed from the compound, and they sincerely pray for their well-being.

It was surely a coincidence, that just hours after police announced their search of the compound had ended last night, tornado sirens began ringing across San Angelo.

Minutes later, the city was pounded by a ferocious storm.

I woke up after midnight, with hail pounding the roof of my hotel, and word that a tornado had been spotted in town, just half a mile away.

Selfishly, my first thought was of my car, parked outside near a small tree. 

"There goes my insurance premium," I was thinking as I moved from my third-floor room to the safer lobby area. Then my thoughts turned to the people of this friendly city.

"They don't deserve this," I thought.  And I meant it.

Sometimes, when it rains it pours.

SAN FRANCISCO – There's an uncharacteristic tension today in this usually laid back city.

Before dawn, demonstrators started gathering at the end point of the city's Olympic torch relay; so did a large number of supporters of Beijing's Olympic Games.

For all the protesters, there are many here who are just as upset that politics is being mixed with sports and that the demonstrations are spoiling what they hoped would be a celebration of their Chinese ethnic roots and the Olympic spirit.

At first glance, the scene appears festive. There are lots of American and Chinese flags, Olympic banners, and families with young children vying for a prime spot to watch the historic event.  

But once you talk to people you hear the intensity of emotion on both sides and even concern among spectators who wonder if there will be trouble along the way. 

One woman told me she thought twice before bringing her two young kids here, but admitted that she doesn't fully understand the international politics driving the protests. And a businessman told me he was offended that protesters wanted to "spoil our moment in the sun."   

VIDEO: San Francisco braces for Olympic torch relay

Torch following a tension filled path                                                        
As a personal aside, I was lucky enough to be a torch bearer for the Atlanta Games in 1996 and the difference in atmosphere between then and now is striking. Tensions are so high here that a 14-year-old dropped out of today's run because of security concerns.

By comparison, my turn as an Olympic torch bearer was all about cheering crowds and excitement along the route. The biggest worry among torch bearers was whether our arms would tire from holding the torch aloft.

SLIDESHOW: Torch tensions

For an event that's been intensively planned for the past nine months, there's also a tremendous amount of uncertainty. The torch is scheduled to travel along the San Francisco Bay, but the route could be adjusted mid-run.

And depending on how things go today, future plans for the torch relay could be scotched.   

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said the body's executive board would discuss Friday whether to end the remaining international legs of the relay after San Francisco due to widespread protest. The torch is scheduled to travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and then to a dozen other countries before arriving in China on May 4. The Olympics begin Aug. 8.

So, stay tuned. There's a lot riding on what happens here today.    

SAN FRANCISCO –  Only hours before the scheduled start of today's Olympic torch relay here along the San Francisco waterfront, there's an unusual uncertainty.

With ugly confrontations in Europe serving as evidence the torch has become a target, police have ramped up security for the flame's only North American stop. 

VIDEO: San Francisco braces for Olympic torch relay

At least one runner has dropped out of the day's events over security concerns. Seventy-nine other runners are set to take their turn with the torch relay today, but even now, one runner told me, they don't know exactly where, when and for how long their individual leg will last.

City officials say the six-mile route is "dynamic" and could change even as the race is underway. Police have been preparing for the two-and-a-half hour ceremony for nine months, but clearly everything could change in a minute.

 SAN ANGELO, Texas – It may be some time before authorities here in West Texas fully untangle the web of secrecy surrounding the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints compound near Eldorado.  For journalists, specifics about the investigation are hard to come by, because a district judge has imposed a gag order on police who are searching the compound again today. 

What we do know is that authorities are concerned about possible sexual abuse of children, specifically teenage girls. They received a call from a 16-year-old girl last week, who told them she had been forced to marry a 50-year-old man at the age of 15, and gave birth to his child eight months ago.

VIDEO: Officials search polygamist ranch

On the strength of that complaint, police and Child Protective Services served the compound a search warrant, removed 220 women and children, and have taken legal custody of at least 18 children.

Residents of the small town of Eldorado, and nearby San Angelo, have expressed concern for years about the women and children living at the compound. Warren Jeff's, who built the compound, is currently serving time in an Arizona prison.  The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, headed by Jeffs after his father's death in 2002, broke away from the Mormon church after the latter disavowed polygamy more than a century ago.

A waitress I spoke with at a San Angelo restaurant voiced those concerns last night.

"It's a shame what's happening with those women and kids," she told me, "but I'm glad police are finally doing something about it. What's happening out at that place just isn't right."

Right or not, under Texas law, girls younger than 16 cannot marry, even with parental approval.

Whether illegal marriages of underage girls, or worse, was taking place at the compound is still an open question, one that the investigation in West Texas hopes to resolve.

 WASHINGTON – We'll probably never know what really happened to Air Force Maj. Perry Jefferson and Army 1st Lt. Arthur Ecklund. 

On April 3, 1969, Jefferson, 37, of Denver, Colo., and Ecklund, 24, of Galesburg, Ill., took off in a single-engine O-1G Bird Dog aircraft for a reconnaissance flight over the mountains of South Vietnam. They were never seen again.

An extensive air search turned up no evidence of a crash and no sign of the men, except for a faint emergency beeper signal for several seconds. Jefferson and Ecklund were listed as missing in action despite reports of two men fitting their descriptions being held captive by the Communist Vietcong.

For 15 years, their disappearance remained a mystery. Then, in 1984, a former member of the South Vietnamese Air Force turned over to a U.S. official in the Philippines a human jaw bone he said belonged to one of two pilots whose aircraft was shot down. The jaw bone turned out to be Ecklund's. 

And in 2001, a Vietnamese national living in California handed over to U.S. officials human remains he said were recovered at a site where two American pilots crashed. Those were Jefferson's.

What the two Vietnamese were doing with the remains in the first place was never explained.

Larry Greer, a spokesman for the Pentagon's POW/MIA office, said he didn't know why the two Vietnamese had the remains, but he said no action was taken against them. 

"If we did so," Greer said, "that would be the last time we'd have access to anyone's remains. It's not punishment we're after; it's information we're after which leads us to the identification of missing Americans."

After DNA tests proved last year the remains were indeed Jefferson's, the Pentagon returned his remains to his family for burial.

All of this was enough to convince Jefferson's younger brother that he was killed in a crash, not as a prisoner.

"The best part of the whole thing was to know he actually died in the crash," Michael Jefferson told The Denver News Channel.

Ecklund's elderly parents weren't so sure.

"To some extent, we'll always have questions," Ralph Ecklund, 87, told the Peoria Journal-Star in 2004. "But we've worried and stewed for some time, and if this is all they're going to find, then at least we'll have some closure."

That closure was completed last week with the burial of Jefferson's and Ecklund's remains at Arlington National Cemetery.

May they finally rest in peace.

www.dailynightly.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories").

 DALLAS – I drink a lot of Starbucks. By my calculations, I average at least ten trips a week to Starbucks, where I order either:

A: A triple grande latte (if I feel thin)

Or

B: A venti Americano with room for half-n-half (if I feel like I actually look)

Without Starbucks, I fear, I might actually die.

It's not just about caffeine addiction. I think a big part of it is that having a 20-something with dreadlocks call me "dude" and ask how my day is going makes me feel young. Maybe not cool…but not like the 42-year-old dad I am, trying to figure out how to pay for two kids to go to college.

I'm not someone who typically goes out of my way to protect the environment, but for some reason a seemingly minor practice at my beloved Starbucks really bugs me.

For the record, I have never (not even once) brought my own mug with me and had the barista simply fill it up. If I did, I'd save a dime off of my order, and I'd be able to walk around telling people how I did something good for the environment…but I don't.

I don't recycle nearly as much as I should. And I don't lecture people about their carbon footprints. I drive 30,000 miles annually and fly about 50 round-trips every year. I do use compact fluorescent light bulbs in my house (mostly because it saves money) but I don't like them. I eat meat…a lot of meat. I've never owned anything made of hemp. In short, Al Gore would consider me bad for the environment.

Starbucks, on the other hand, takes great corporate pride in being green.

Surely you've seen the "Arctic Tale" DVDs sitting on store shelves:

"…inspiring animals face countless challenges in a beautiful icebound world that is rapidly melting beneath them."

Starbucks has used its considerable marketing clout to promote this film, which according to critics delivers a "powerful message" to kids "…of how global climate change is challenging our furry -- and blubbery -- animal friends."

Starbucks' Web site last month included a link on the home page encouraging java junkies to take part in World Water Day. A little navigation will take you to the company's "Environmental Affairs" site, where Starbucks explains its numerous environmental initiatives in great detail:

"…Starbucks is committed to minimizing our environmental impacts throughout our entire supply chain, from coffee bean to coffee cup."

It's that last part about the cup that has me curious. Why on earth do I get two paper cups when I order one cup of coffee? By my highly un-scientific count over the past four months or so, I've been "double-cupped" roughly 60 percent of the time. And not just here in Texas. I travel all over the country and get the same results wherever I go.

"Double-cupping" is Starbucks' word for the practice, which it has tried to end.

The first effort came in 1996, when the company held a design competition "…to develop a new disposable hot cup as an environmentally preferred solution to "double cupping…"

But the challenges of designing a paper coffee cup that holds a hot beverage without burning the fingers of the person drinking it proved too daunting. Instead, Starbucks adopted an interim solution: the corrugated paper sleeve, made from 60 percent post-consumer material.

I should point out here that in my double-cupping experiences, I get two cups AND the paper sleeve.

So back to the Web site I go, where I discover that in 2006, Starbucks did begin using new cups in its stores made with 10 percent post consumer fiber content – in other words 10 percent of the cup comes from recycled paper. That breakthrough, according to Starbucks, took three years of research and development and "…will lower Starbucks dependence on tree fiber by more than five million pounds annually."

The Environmental Defense Fund estimated the savings at 78,000 trees annually, noting that Starbucks uses 1.9 billion paper cups each year. That was 2006. Today, the company uses even more paper cups.

So, back to the double-cupping. How many trees do you think Starbucks would save by figuring out a way to serve one cup of coffee in one paper cup instead of two cups, plus a sleeve?

Is the technology really that elusive?

I've called Starbucks headquarters, and over the past few weeks have had some really pleasant conversations with their media relations people. They have all pointed out that their cups use 10 percent recycled content.

"But why do I keep getting two cups and a paper sleeve, instead of one cup?" I ask.

"You shouldn't be," they answer.

"I know," I say, "that's why I'm calling."

"Oh," they say, "we'll get back to you on that."

And they did. First, by sending me their standards regarding double-cupping and cup sleeves:

• We do not put cup sleeves on or double cup our milk-based hot beverages (Caffe Latte, Caffe Mocha, etc.). However, due to the cup design a cup sleeve is required on all Venti cups.
• We do put cup sleeves on but do not double cup our water-based hot beverages (brewed coffee, tea, Americano, etc.).
• Short cups are the only cups that require a double-cup (cup sleeves do not fit short cups).

"So I shouldn't be getting two cups when I order a Triple Grande Latte or Venti Americano," I say when I call back.

"Right," they say.

"Then why am I?"

"We'll get back to you on that."

And again, they did. This time with Brian Grandbouche, their Director of Retail Implementation, who told me the company "constantly tests new ideas." But, he added, Starbucks is "looking for a solution always that's environmentally sound and meets the needs of the customer, and sometimes those needs don't marry up."

"Alas, the answer!" I think to myself. "The technology really is that hard."

I picture a room full of scientists working tirelessly on a coffee cup breakthrough. But I'm wrong again.

"Actually," he tells me, "we feel we have that cup, if a milk-based beverage is in there."

Then what, ultimately, is the root of the double-cupping dilemma?

People.

Baristas double-cup despite Starbucks rules against it because they think it's what consumers want. Consumers don't stop them because it is what we want.

As for Starbucks? They're pushing stores to provide more "serveware" for people who drink coffee in the store, and they're encouraging consumers and employees to use refillable travel mugs. They've also launched a Web site, MyStarbucksIdea.com, for consumers to offer their input.

"We're refocusing ourselves," said Grandbouche. "We can do more, right. I like the fact that actually this is something that we can do something about."

Meanwhile, I'm developing my own action plan: 

•  I'm going to seriously consider bringing my own mug to Starbucks. Seriously. That doesn't mean I'll actually do it yet, but I'll definitely think about it.
• When I see the dreaded second cup come out, I'll heroically intervene, saying something clever like "are you crazy, you'll kill us all."
• When I do get double-cupped, I'll save the second cups at home, re-using them at social occasions when I'm giving my guests Folgers, but want them to think its Starbucks. They'll know it's not Starbucks, but I'll deny it.

Finally, I should point out that Starbucks isn't the only company facing the hot cup dilemma. Other big chains have been criticized over the years for, say, using Styrofoam coffee cups.

They're all looking for solutions…while I'm looking for my next caffeine fix.