People haters get off Scot-free

John Berlau on Katrina on National Review Online. Found on Junkscience. Mer Berlau recounts a history of the environmentalist elite's work to keep from improving the levees and flood control in New Orleans. This work, they are so proud of, resulted in death and destruction. But, what the hey, it's only people, and the enviros gladly accept the deaths of thousands to save a swamp.

The Sierra Club sued in 1996 to stop levee work. In the suit the Sierra Club thought it more important to protect hardwoods and black bears than people.
American Rivers. has fought any increase in the levees and, according to the Belau article wants levee lowering. Their 8/31/05 statement is We pray for the waters to swiftly recede and for order to be restored, so that America can begin the task of rebuilding homes, roads, and lives. We hope that our nation's lawmakers will extend their rehabilitation efforts to the Mississippi River itself, where decades of severe environmental degradation have left the region progressively more vulnerable to the winds and floods that accompany a storm like Katrina.
The Sierra Club's response is to dismiss finger pointing and call for an independent 911-type commission to investigate. Gosh, the 911 commission did such a good job of putting the foxes in the henhouse and dismissing any information that did not go with their political agenda. We certainly need one of those.

No mention of their role in defeating levee contruction. In fact, no great statements since 8/31/05. Wonder if they have decided to lay low because of the images of death and destruction created by their idiotic passions.

Read the rest of the article. The environmental elite has opposed nearly every flood, stormcontrol and levee project by the administration under Bush. After all, they really don't care about people.

There was even successful opposition to projects that would have reduced the impact of a storm surge in Lake Ponchartrain in 1977. Guess where the water came from? I'm sure those folks are very proud of the fact that their actions resulted in deaths and billions in damage. After all, it's only people.

Enviros have the same level of accountability for their actions as the Congress: none, nada, zero.

Didn't think he was bright when he was in the cabinet

Make It an Island - New York Times and Bruse Babbit proves it again. Make NOLA an island. The trouble with the enviro's is that they really don't think people are as important as a swamp.

Disarray Marked the Path From Hurricane to Anarchy - New York Times

Disarray Marked the Path From Hurricane to Anarchy - New York Times. The key to this one is that "no one was in charge." The red tape issues are incredible. One would think that firefighters would have already had courses in sexual harrassment and community relations. Community relations is what they do and everyone has had sexual harrassment courses these days. Of course, the Federal course really makes all the difference when you have a city with no power, under water and on fire.

Ahead of the Government?

New Orleans Executives Plan Revival - New York Times. It seems that groups of New Orleans business executives are planning the revival of New Orleans and are out in front of the government, as it should be. Of course, if my business life depended on this, I would be doing my darndest to restart the city. Given the fierce, unrelenting love of New Orleans by the folks who live there, I know that many would jump at the chance to start early to revitalize the city. Some positive thinking is good for the folks there and the future of the city.

From Drudge.

More Light Reading

DHS | Department of Homeland Security | National Response Plan. The National response plan. Too bad some of our leading pundits don't bother to have their staffs look it over and give them a few points on it.

Note; the plan seems to allow FEMA to cut through some of the red tape, if it wants to. It seems that Brown's failure, if indeed he did fail, was not to implement some of the waivers to policy.

FEMA: Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended by Public Law 106-390, October 30, 2000

FEMA: Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended by Public Law 106-390, October 30, 2000 Not exactly light reading, but the Stafford act is the law prescribing relationships, responsibilities and procedures for emergency response. Guess what, the Governor mut request the aid.

What the Media and Pols won't tell you

the Coast Guard will. This link contains the legislative history
Introduction to Homeland Security Act of 2002 Legislative History . FEMA was placed in the Department of Homeland Security by the Act, first introduced by Rep Thornberry in 2001 before 9/11. During the legislative history, almost all congressmen and senators opted in as co-sponsors. Now some, like Reid, will tell us that it is a terrible thing and ourt to be fixed. One wonders where the accountability from our elected leaders might be? Actually I know. None of them are ever held accountable for their actions.

Heroes in a time of need

More than a Coast Guard�-�Editorials/Op-Ed�-�The Washington Times, America's Newspaper My navy friends laugh about "shallow-water sailors." But from what I've seen and read, if there is one group who has performed with consistently outstanding work in Katrina, it has been the Coast Guard. I think it is because they went to work, ignored red tape and don't have "ask for forgiveness" in their lexicon. In other words, they ACT.

My picture of the Coast Guard is the rescuer hanging on a cable, going between houses to get to a window to rescue someone. Maybe some of the pols should watch that film. The pilot and rescuer deserve big, bright, shiny medals.

Why Ignore the Evacuation Recommendations

A lot of folks on the Gulf Coast didn't evacuate. Some of them just didn't believe the weathermen. I think there is a good reason. Weather has turned into an over-hyped media attempt to get viewers. We have "Storm Team," "Dopler Max," "Double Doppler" and numerous other ploys to get us to watch. Recently, Channel 8 in Richmond cut into programming a weather news flash that went on for almost an hour. There was a thunderstorm in the area that could cause tornadoes. Well, this is the summer. We have thunderstorms. Severe ones can cause hail and tornadoes. It is nice to know when this happens, but instead of flashing the alert on the screen and, maybe, cutting in for progess updates or to tell us that something really different is happening, they went on, and on, and on, tracking a thunderstorm. I was rather amazed at breathless, fast talking and excited reporters covering a cotton picking summer thunderstorm.

With all the hype-up weather reporting, I'm willing to be that people begin to tune out real threats, like Katrina. Add to that the attitude that "we've weathered storms before and this ain't no big thing." And you get a disaster like we have had, when a really bad storm comes along. I think the weather folks have cried wolf too often and people just didn't believe them.

Still, if you live in a hurricane or flood-prone zone, you really should pay attention to ones that really matter and ignore the hype from the media.

Katrina Lessons Learned-not many it seems

One of the better sequences of events that I've seen is from http://rightwingnuthouse.com/archives/2005/09/04/katrina-response-timeline/ Rightwing nuthouse. This is a must read.

Clearly, the local and state officials who were the decision makers weren't familiar with their plans. NOLA's plan called for evacuation of citizens who couldn't get themselves out on busses. No busses really moved except to the Superdome. I have, and the city fathers seemed to have, no idea where folks would be bussed to, if they were bussed. Don't trust the locals to know what they are supposed to do.

New Orleans did not have a backup communications plan. It seems that natural gas fired the emergency generators for police communications. They were not allowed to put in propane tanks for backup fuel for the generators. They didn't buy satellite phones (FEMA grant of $11.2 billion for emergency supplies and they didn't use some of the pork for buying sat phones. No other backup communciations. Think anyone will consider this in the future?

Don't Trust the Pols to do the right thing. The Mayor and the Governor dithered over evacuations. They are still arguing about evacuating the remainder of the people there. The mayor says go, the Gov says "not until I make up my mind." Wonder how many more deaths they need to blame FEMA for? The most incredible piece of government crime is the fact that the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security refused to allow the Red Cross or even relief supplies to go into the city because they wanted people to evacuate. Think of thousands of people in the Dome and Convention center with no water, food of sanitation and some group of idiots decided to starve them out.

Trust the pols to make sure that someone else is to blame. It didn't take long for the blame game to start. If half the energy spent shifting the blame was put into fixing the problem, then we'd be much farther ahead in this process. Instead, our friendly Democrats, are making sure that all the political hay can be made while the tragedy is going on. The Senate and House Democratic leadership has taken no actions to alleviate the problems or assist in any way. They have made every effort to blame Bush for even state and local failures. Pelosi was on the news tonight saying that Bush is clueless because of his response to her demands that he fire Brown. Sounds more like Bush's response was what you would say to an idiot who is being obnoxious and she wasn't smart enough to realize it.

Trust the pols and bureaucrats to have a turf first, people last attitude. The internecine squabbles are causing people to die.

Trust the folks who see their duty as getting the job done and don't worry about upsetting someone's fiefdom. There should be a paper shortage for the folks who have selflessly risked their lives saving others. It takes no little skill and courage to do these rooftop rescues we have been seeing. LTG Honore is one of those folks who isn't worried about stepping on toes. He is mission first, devil take the hindmost. I hope he writes some memoires of this period. Trust the thousands of selfless folks who have moved in and started saving people, feeding people and doing other things while the "leaders" are accessing the situation, studying the situation, having group gropes and otherwise dithering. A decision that is less than optimal is better than no decision at all. Be not afraid of criticism of people who aren't in your place and probably couldn't do it half as well. Lead, follow or get out of the way. We have thousands of heroes who have done just that despite the best efforts of the government.

Trust the media to get it wrong. Most of them don't have the education, smarts or will to learn to get it right.

Realize that you are on your own. Especially in Louisiana.

The Storm Overwhelmed Everyone

Offers of Aid Immediate, but U.S. Approval Delayed for Days - Yahoo! News. It takes time to sort out what's needed, who can provide it and where it will go, but it looks like the US bureaucracy is either overwhelmed or in the "business as usual mode." As I understand it, New Orleans communications is still a bit dicy. Someone needs to get off the stick and get moving.

Kuwait Pledges $500M for Hurricane Relief - Los Angeles Times

Kuwait Pledges $500M for Hurricane Relief - Los Angeles Times Add to that $100 million from Qatar. As our friends on the left say, Bush has no friends in the Arab world.

"Kuwait's energy minister said his country would provide "oil products that the disaster-stricken states need in addition to other humanitarian aid."

"It's our duty as Kuwaitis to stand by our friends to lighten the humanitarian misery and as a payback for the many situations during which Washington helped us through the significant relations between the two friendly countries," Sheik Ahmed Fahd Al Ahmed Al Sabah said in a statement carried by Kuwait's official news agency, KUNA. "

Democracy Project

Over run by deer.

Independent Online Edition > UK Environment : app2 I guess they don't hunt in Britain. And, Climate changes is responsible in some way.

BostonHerald.com - Business News: Brown pushed from last job: Horse group: FEMA chief had to be `asked to resign'

BostonHerald.com - Business News: Brown pushed from last job: Horse group: FEMA chief had to be `asked to resign'. This may explain the cluelessness in the face of a really taxing disaster.

Herald Sun: Sean Penn's rescue bid sinks [05sep05]

Herald Sun: Sean Penn's rescue bid sinks [05sep05]. Launches the boat without the drain plug and has a large entourage to get to the pics. He would be better off raising money, not "Helping"

Red Cross bureaucracy causing frustrations

The Town Talk - www.thetowntalk.com. I guess the government is not the only inflexible organization.

Many WWII Marines absolutely hated the Red Cross. Their story was that the Red Cross was way back from the fighting and charged for coffee and doughnuts. The Salvation Army was closer to the front and gave their aid away. In any event, they would get really mad if you mentioned donating to the Red Cross.

The Gov dithered while people died

Many Evacuated, but Thousands Still Waiting carries the beginnigs of a tale that seems to be true. The State and Local Governments didn't want to relinquish authority and the internecine squabbling between bureaucracies resulted in additional suffering and deaths.


From the Post Article
Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday.

The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. Some officials in the state suspected a political motive behind the request. "Quite frankly, if they'd been able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals," said the source, who does not have the authority to speak publicly.

A senior administration official said that Bush has clear legal authority to federalize National Guard units to quell civil disturbances under the Insurrection Act and will continue to try to unify the chains of command that are split among the president, the Louisiana governor and the New Orleans mayor.

Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.

"The federal government stands ready to work with state and local officials to secure New Orleans and the state of Louisiana," White House spokesman Dan Bartlett said. "The president will not let any form of bureaucracy get in the way of protecting the citizens of Louisiana."

Blanco made two moves Saturday that protected her independence from the federal government: She created a philanthropic fund for the state's victims and hired James Lee Witt, Federal Emergency Management Agency director in the Clinton administration, to advise her on the relief effort.

Bush, who has been criticized, even by supporters, for the delayed response to the disaster, used his weekly radio address to put responsibility for the failure on lower levels of government. The magnitude of the crisis "has created tremendous problems that have strained state and local capabilities," he said. "The result is that many of our citizens simply are not getting the help they need, especially in New Orleans. And that is unacceptable."

NOLA.com: T-P Orleans Parish Breaking News Weblog

Great place to get what's really happening in New Orleans Area. Stuff you won't see on the national news
NOLA.com: T-P Orleans Parish Breaking News Weblog

Martial Law and Federal Assistance

The Feds have a limited role unless the governor says the State is out of her/his control.

From the Times Picayune:

Military presence isn’t martial law

Active military used in humanitarian role

By Susan Finch
Staff writer

Martial law isn’t a law at all.

But the term has been invoked over and over in the week since Hurricane Katrina struck to describe the enhanced authority assumed by public officials, restrictions on access to some public streets and the presence of armed federal soldiers roaming parts of the New Orleans area.

Some public officials do invoke extraordinary authority during emergencies, under a 12-year-old Louisiana law. But the presence of active-duty military personnel does not mean martial law has been declared.

The role of the active military thus far has been to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency with humanitarian work, search and rescue efforts, medical assistance and supply distribution – not to enforce civil law, a military spokesman said.

The National Guard is trying to enforce civil law in the hurricane zone. It was pressed into service by Gov. Kathleen Blanco.
A true state of martial law would also put the active military in a law enforcement role. That rarely happens. Martial law was declared during labor strikes in the early 20th century and during the Watts riots of 1965 in Los Angeles, said John Baker, constitutional law professor at Louisiana State University.

At all other times, the U.S. system of government is set up to give the states and their own police the primary responsibility to protect residents, with the federal government being called on only as a backup when a state is overwhelmed.

"If a governor will call and say, ‘I no longer have the ability to secure my state, I need help,’ the president could invoke the Insurrection Act and the military could assist in law enforcement activities," said a U.S. Northern Command lawyer who spoke on the condition that he not be identified. "That is not what we are doing."

Baker said martial law is not a written law but has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as a legal concept.

"It’s a suspension of law, and the term goes way back and it’s linked to what is called the law of necessity," doing what is necessary in extreme situations, Baker said. "The question is whether, quite apart from law, there is inherent power to those charged with order in the community to keep it from descending into chaos and insurrection."

What is written is the Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency Assistance and Disaster Act of 1993. Under the law, the governor and some top parish officials, including Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard, have the right to commandeer private property if necessary to cope with an emergency. Specific officials may also suspend any law related to the conducting of official business or any rule previously issued by a state agency if complying would "prevent, hinder or delay necessary action" to mitigate the emergency, the state attorney general’s office said last week.

The law also gives certain officials the right to compel evacuations, suspend alcohol and weapon sales and make provisions for emergency housing, the office said.

Mayors assume similar authority, although not the right to commandeer private property or arrange emergency housing, the office said.
Blanco invoked the 1993 law when she declared a state of emergency last week. Broussard himself has described Jefferson as being "under martial law, and there’s only one marshal: Me."

Broussard has announced that Jefferson Parish is closed to all residents and visitors. Police have been staffing roadblocks on highways entering the parish. Despite widespread criticism from other public officials and utility companies, Broussard plans to let residents return Monday for a brief time but will order them out again until streets are clear, power is restored and the water supply made safe for drinking.

Baker said Louisiana must take care not to "fall into the notion that you look first and primarily to the military to run things.

"The military are not police officers generally; their job is to fight a war. That’s totally different from a police function unless people want to turn this country into other countries where you have the military running the police force,

Heroes and goats

I've been watching the Katrina tragedy has had more than its share of absolute heroes. I hope someone will get around to telling their stories. The news pool footage this afternoon had a helicopter rescue with the guy on the cable going down between two houses to effect a rescue from a window. The Coast Guard pilot held the helicopter like a rock. I was more than amazed at the skill and courage of these people. I'm willing to bet that, unphotographed, they have done dozens of these. Made it seem routine. Kudo's and big medals for these folks.

I hope someone finds the time to collect the stories of individual and group heroism in this mess. For all my carping, there and hundreds of people risking their lives to save others.

Goats: Secretary of Homeland Security: Congratulating his folks (at a press conference) on the wonderful work they do. Well, folks, people are dying because they haven't quite figured out how to get the stuff to the victims. HMS may be doing wonderful work, but all that counts is results, and they ain't so wonderful.

Director of FEMA: Sits and Baton Rouge and reads the script on how many tons of supplies moved. See above, if they aren't getting there, you can bottle and move Lake Michigan. Results are all that counts.

Mayor of New Orleans: Hides out in the Ritz Carleton and issues radio addresses. Get out and move around. What's with private busses for tourists in the Ritz-Carleton and then putting them in the front of the line at the Superdome?

Governor of LA: Ineffective.

Lieutenant Governor: Out rescuing corpses when he should be making things happen.

Those who are playing the Race Card: From what I've seen, the guys doing the rescues ain't checking for race. Whites saving blacks, blacks saving whites. No race, just victims who needed help. Those playing the race card are doing both the victims and the heroes a disservice. I guess they really don't care about the victims, just political advantage.

Watching then Lose it

Watched O'Rielly tonight. Usually don't like him, but tonight's show was interesting. Geraldo at the Convention Center; Harrigan on I-10; and Shepard Smith in NOLA and all were losing it. The tale of human misery is just too much to bear. The organization is still not there.

It is past time that someone take charge and "fire" those who can't seem to get their acts together.

The disaster that was Katrina is overwhelming, but the lack of organization after the fact makes it a tragedy. Maybe the leaders ought to assign someone to watch TV. If so, they may actual get some worthwhile intel.

Anyone Check to see if they would start

JunkYardBlog: August 28, 2005 - September 03, 2005 Archives. JunkYardBlog. Has the pic's and more on these 205 school busses. Impossible to tell if they got too wet to move, and I bet no one has tried to find out. One mile from the superdome and no-one has a clue if any of these could provide transportation. The mayor should come out of hiding at the Ritz-Carlton.

"Unacceptable"

The President is right, the response to the situation in New Orleans, and possibly the Gulf Coast has been unacceptable. I sit here comfromtable in Richmond and can only imagine the heartache and misery on the Gulf Coast. But I was getting angry and depressed at the elected officials letting the situation in New Orleans spin totally out of control.

The National Guard is arriving with trucks of food and guards. They should have been rolling in Wednesday.

I recognize the enormous difficulty in getting the relief to where it is needed. Logistics must be a nightmare. However, I got tired of hearing the reading from the press guidance in the "plan" on how many tons of stuff was being moved. If it ain't getting to the people who need it, I don't care how much you are moving.

Maybe Bush finally applied the leadership needed. Let's hope so. It is about time someone acted like he was in charge in LA. I think Alabama and Mississippi fared much better because a couple of governors acted like they were up to the task.

"The surge is starting to work" is a great phrase. Just heard it on the radio. Tell that to the mother who delivered a child on I-10 after waiting in 96F heat for days. I'm sure she will be happy.

Lead, Follow or get out of the way

Or, more bashing on the New Orleans tragedy. Hurricane katrina and the levee break in New Orleans was a disaster. The absolute lack of leadership by the Chief of Police, Mayor of New Orleans, the Commander of the LANG and the Governor of Louisiana turned New Orleans into a tragedy. I hate to sharpshoot folks involved in an overwhelming situation, but the people who stayed behind are being killed by the result of years of corrupt and inept leadership in that town and that state. Heroes abound in the New Orleans tragedy, but the leadership has caused people to die. For example:

1. They are all going by "plans" and don't have the brains to figure out that the plans aren't covering this.
2. There is no one responsible for developing a situation map and acting on the situation. How else could you explain not noticing that thousands are sitting on I-10 without food and water for days? How else could you miss several thousand at the convention center with no food or wate for days? How else could you explain no plan for moving those rescued by boat and then left without an operating collection point or even directions? It ain't in the plan, so we just don't have to do it.
3. NOPD has been ineffective because they didn't have communications. Any of those 5-watt bulbs think about calling the LANG commander and getting guard communications units moving to NOLA YESTERDAY? Add a few hummers with FM sets (up to 3-hummer) and a few command post vans and you have all the command, control and communications you could ever want. If your city ops center is out of power, then start using paper, pens and thumbtacks.
4. Any of those folks think about going into every electronics store, Wal-mart, and sporting goods store and getting the el-cheapo walkie talkies and batteries? Not great, but it's communications. Instead we have had says of whining that our "communications don't work." Any of those dimbulbs ever think about using runners?
5. How the hell can your priority be saving lives when you are not coordinating anything?
6. Where the hell was the LANG commander? He should have been pushing command and control assest on NOLA Tuesday AM. Was he waiting for a 5-part operation order from higher command. He is the bull who makes this happen within the guard. He can't do it, find a 2LT with moxie and get the guard moving.
7. Sen. Landrieu proudly said her brother was personnally recovering bodies. Anyone but me think that the Lieutenant Governor of the State could find better things to do? If that's the best he can do, then replace him now.
8. I'm not sure what the governor has been doing. It certainly doesn't seem that she was taking charge.
9. Charity Hospital is the main city hospital. How the hell do you miss the fact that they have no power, patients and need help? How the hell do you evacuate the one across the street and forget Charity? How the hell do you send patients to the roof for helicopter pickup, cancel the bird and forget the folks on the roof until the next day? (See operations center).
10. Special Kudo's to the FEMA director. He said on tonight's news that he wasn't aware of the situation in the convention center and totally ignored the I-10 refugee camp. Hard to miss the folks on I-10 when your busses travel down I-10 to get to the dome. How do you miss the busses not showing up because a driver got scared? Noone tracking these guys? He was real good at citing the megatons of stuff they had, he just missed the fact that it isn't getting distributed.

From tonight's news, it looks like, after 4 days, a few of these folks are getting their acts together. It's time the leadership got out of the way. People have died because of their incompetence.

Clean fuel?

Just when you thought that more ethanol would help reduce pollution and is good for the environment, you find the EPA is doing this:

Looks like Cargill used "best engineering judgement" and the EPA called their bluff. Best engineering judgement is perfectly acceptable, just make sure you over=estimate the emissions, then add 10%. Explaining less is always easier, and cheaper, than explaining more.

News for Release: Thursday, September 1, 2005

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Federal, Multi-State Clean Air Act Settlement
with Cargill, Inc., Secures Major Pollution Reductions

Eighty-one Percent of Uncontrolled Ethanol Production Capacity Now Under
Federal
Consent Decrees

Contacts: EPA, 913-551-7003; DOJ, 202-514-2007; TDD 202-514-1888


(Washington, D.C.-September 1, 2005) The Department of Justice and the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced a multi-state Clean
Air Act settlement with Cargill, Inc. (Cargill), which will result in a
reduction of approximately 30,000 tons of pollution a year and set new
standards for limiting harmful emissions from specialty oilseed plants.
Cargill is a multi-state agribusiness that owns and operates 27 plants
which process corn, wheat, soybeans, and other oilseeds into value-added
products used in the food, feed, and ethanol industries.

The government's complaint, filed in federal district court in
Minnesota, alleges that Cargill had significantly underestimated
emissions from its operations in 13 states. Under the settlement,
Cargill is required to install air pollution control devices at its 27
corn and oilseed processing facilities and is expected to spend an
estimated $130 million to meet the requirements of the consent decree.
Cargill will also pay a civil penalty of $1.6 million and spend $3.5
million on environmental projects across the country.

Ten states and four counties have joined the federal government in
today's settlement: Alabama; Georgia; Illinois; Indiana; Iowa;
Missouri; Nebraska; North Carolina; North Dakota; Ohio; Memphis and
Shelby County, Tennessee; Montgomery County, Ohio; and Linn and Polk
Counties, Iowa. The civil penalty and environmental project monies will
be shared with the participating states and counties.

"All Americans benefit when large corporations agree to bring their
facilities into compliance with our nation's environmental laws," said
Acting Assistant Attorney General Kelly A. Johnson, of the Justice
Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. "Today's
settlement is positive proof of the continued progress we are achieving
with the grain industry, through the cooperative enforcement efforts of
federal, state, and local agencies."

Today's settlement calls for broad sweeping environmental improvements
at all nine of Cargill's corn processing plants, significantly advancing
recent efforts by the government to bring the ethanol industry into
compliance. With the lodging of today's consent decree, 81 percent of
uncontrolled ethanol production capacity will now be under settlement
agreements to install air pollution control technologies to reduce
emissions. The new technology standards established by this initiative
apply to all ethanol plants now under construction. Ethanol is
primarily a product of industrial corn and has been increasingly used as
an automobile fuel alone or blended with gasoline. Ethanol's high
oxygen content allows automobile engines to better combust fuel,
resulting in reduced tail pipe emissions. The installation of air
pollution controls at ethanol plants across the country will ensure that
this fuel can be made cleanly.

Cargill's corn processing plants are significant sources of volatile
organic compounds (VOC's) and carbon monoxide (CO). In addition to
contributing to ground-level ozone (smog), VOC's can cause serious
health problems such as cancer and other effects; CO is harmful because
it reduces oxygen delivery to the body's organs and tissues. Cargill's
oilseed plants emit a hazardous air pollutant, n-hexane, and are sources
of VOC pollution.

"Cargill is following others in this industry by installing the
appropriate controls and greatly reducing its air emissions, resulting
in cleaner, healthier air," said Granta Y. Nakayama, EPA's Assistant
Administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
"This agreement will improve the environment and at the same time create
a level playing field in the industry."

Under the settlements, the corn processing plants are required to
install or enhance thermal oxidizers and scrubbers that will reduce VOC
emissions up to 98 percent, or 10,450 tons per year, and will reduce CO
emissions by 10,900 tons per year--the equivalent of taking 1.16 million
and 157,000 cars off the road each year, respectively. The settlement
also will result in annual reductions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 1,350
tons, sulfur dioxide (SO2) by 2,250 tons per year, and additional
reductions in particulate matter (PM) and hazardous air pollutants. The
oilseed processing plants will meet more stringent limits for HAP and
VOC emissions to reduce allowable emissions by more than 2,300 tons per
year. New limits for these plants will, in some instances, be as much
as 50 percent lower than current regulatory standards in the industry.

The United States initiated enforcement action against Cargill with the
issuance of notices of violation against two oilseed plants in 2002 and
all nine corn mill plants in 2003. This settlement comes three years
after federal and state agreements with 12 Ethanol Plants in Minnesota
and the April 2003 settlement with Archer Daniels Midland, Cargill's
largest competitor in this industry.

Under the settlement, Cargill will spend $3.5 million on environmental
projects, which include funding for the Mid-South Clean Air Coalition
Diesel Retrofit Program in Tennessee, as well as wetland restoration
projects in Iowa and Nebraska.

Today's agreement has resulted from the combined enforcement efforts of
many state and local entities whose participation in this federal action
was instrumental in obtaining the quality of the settlement at hand.

The consent decree was lodged in federal district court in Minneapolis,
Minn., and is subject to a 30-day comment period. A copy of the consent
decree is available on the Department of Justice website at:
http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/pressroom.htm

For more information about the settlement, go to:
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/civil/caa/cargill.html

Thoughts on Katrina

I lived in New Orleans for five years. Three of my kids were born there. I loved the town, the area and the people. The devestation to New Orleans and the Gulf coast is terrible and depressing. It is too bad that it takes a hurricane to get me off my duff and attempt to contact people I've known for years and just haven't taken the effort to communicate and keep up. Luckily, they left for safer ground before the storm.

We've been glued to the TV watching very repititious footage and reporting, in hopes that we would see if some of the places we knew and lived survived. If you didn't have a map, and all you knew was based on the media, you wouldn't know that Jefferson Parrish abuts New Orleans (that's how they get the 1.3 million people). You would hardly know that that the airport is in Kenner and you would have to guess just how much of the east bank of Jefferson Parrish is damaged. You wouldn't know that Orleans and Jefferson Parrishes extend across the Mississippi River to the West Bank and that a few hundred thousand people live over there. You wouldn't know if there is any significant flooding in Algiers, Gretna, Harvey, Marrero or Westwego. You would have no idea if any of the refineries are damaged, or just waiting for the infrastructure to be restored to the point that they can return to work. The media is doin a fine job of showing helicopter rescues and a lousy job of giving the big picture of the entire city, just as they are doing a lousy job of showing what's going on in Mississippi and Alabama. One more shot of the Hard Rock Casino and I'll scream.

I got quite angry with the sharpshooting going on the Cafferty and Aaron Brown on CNN last night. I thought the response was excellent for the first 24 hours. However, by tonight I'm becoming convinced that the governor, lieutenant governor, mayor of New Orleans and other elected leaders have been measured and found wanting. The task before them is overwhelming. Which priority would you choose with limited resources? However, they aren't doing simple things:
People are dropped off on I-10 by boats. No one is assigned to coordinate these drop-off points and record names, set up some types of rescue triage and the like. Doesn't take a massive manpower effort, but it certainly would make the process more manageable. Instead, they are dropped off and begin wandering down the road looking for something.

The looting has gotten out of hand. I couldn't blame the police last night. If they arrested a looter, what were they going to do with him?

Part of the problem is communications failures. Certainly, somewhere there is replacement communications equipment. If not, why weren't military FM radios and anttennae set up to allow some sort of communications? There has to be some signal companies in the Guard, hell, even an artillery battalion (try Washing artillery, NOLA) with generators, FM communcations gear, command vans and all that stuff. Why hasn't anyone thought of that. Where is the STARC in all this? If you have to, deploy some active duty assets. A battalion of the 82d could move in and support itself for a couple of days. Is all of the 101st off in Iraq?

How can they "forget" that Charity Hospital is trying to operate and people are now trapped in the hospital when they evacuated Tulane Hospital right across the street?

The human tragedy in New Orleans is being magnified because the City and State leaders have failed to take charge and do what they were elected to do, lead. Ms. (Send) Landrieu may be very proud of her brother the Lieutenant Governor because he has been in NOLA collecting bodies and doing rescues, but that is exactly what he shouldn't be doing. He should be actively getting the rescue efforts mobilized. Enough screaming from the governor or lieutenant governor and even FEMA would take notice.

TimesDispatch.com | Hispanics find they can't drive with this license

TimesDispatch.com | Hispanics find they can't drive with this license: Hispanics in this area are getting conned by an international driver's license scam. Reading the article, I wondered why they thought they needed it. Legal residences can get driver's licenses. You have the read the entire article to get to the last three paragrpahs:

"Juan Santacoloma, a Hispanic liaison in Chesterfield, said the problem has no easy solution.
'About 90 percent of Hispanics are illegal and cannot obtain a legal driver's license. But they have to work, go to the grocery store and the supermarket,' he said. 'They have to obtain a license. So when they talk to someone who says, 'This is a legal license, you can get it for $300,' they say OK.
'They pay it because they need it.'"

According to the article the Hispanics make up about 5.3% of Virginia's population. If about 90% are illegal, then 4.5% of Virginia's population are illegal aliens and our legal system condones it. I wonder what laws a citizen may break for a $67 fee in Chesterfield and if it would be ignored as they do this one?

Long, But Worth Reading

FrontPage magazine.com :: A Classroom Indoctrination by Lee Kaplan. This would be unbelievable if it weren't for reading about indoctrination at other schools, some much more academically prestigious.

Maybe it's too radical, but why not stick to the facts in class and do the political bit outside the class?

Another Cry Against the NCAA's arrogance

University of North Dakota Official Athletic Website

Now they are targeting wounded soldiers

DRUDGE REPORT FLASH 2005� Being against the war is perfectly OK in my book. It is your right. However, the use of names of heros without family permission and then going after the wounded is completely wrong. These folks lose any claim to legitimacy.

ATF, Virginia Police Accused of 'Persecuting' Gun Shows -- 08/23/2005

ATF, Virginia Police Accused of 'Persecuting' Gun Shows -- 08/23/2005 Read this! It sounds like ATF and the Henrico boys are doing some "out of the box" checks and harrassment. Been to the Richmond gun show and haven't seen anything that looks like shady characters and crooks wandering around.

War News

Powerline had an interestng piece on casualties in the mid-east war, mentioning that the death rate is about half the 18-year peace-time average. Dying in harm's way is different that dying in peace time. However, it does point out that these men and women do dangerous work, even at home.

We also don't hear much about strategy, tactics and fights unless it is a big push somewhere newsworthy. Big pushes in Iraq are really smaller than in previous wars. Soldiers doing things in battle or just good things are not the stuff news broadcasts, even on cable seem to be made of. It is much duller, I suppose, than the umpteenth shot of smoke rising on the Baghdad horizon.

Perhaps we wouldn't be so negative about the war if the news actually gave us the whole picture. I know military doctors doing heart surgery in Afghanistan or the fact that a new sewer project is being completed in Baghdad is not news, but then neither are the canned shots of "insurgents" running around in ski masks holding RPG's.

We seem to be gettng a very selected news feed from Iraq.

Iraqi, AF C-130 crew flies boy to receive heart surgery

CENTCOM has one of the stories that is not newsworthy.

Another not newsworthy story about heart surgery for a young Afghani girl
CENTCOM

Political Correctness Watch

Political Correctness Watch Found this link on Tongue Tied . It is a great addition to anyone wanting to follow the absolutely crazy world of the politically correct.

Air America - The New York Sun - NY Newspaper

Air America - The New York Sun - NY Newspaper Just in case anyone wants to keep up the the left's running joke.

'Peace Mom's' marriage a metaphor for Dems

Mark Steyn's artical found on Power Line is a great piece about Sheehan. See also the email on Power Line. I really like Sheehan saying that she wished she had driven her son to Canada as if we had a draft. Her son volunteered. We should honor him, but his mother now seems to be using her son for other purposes.

A sucker born every minute and they all are on University faculties

Interview from Town Hall

One of the most laughable cases of "a sucker born every minute" I've read about in years. Let's see, a professor at an esteemed institution wants to make a porn film. To sell the film, his schtick is Asian males are somehow being emasculated by the American porn industry which discriminates against Asian males. He packages this as something with great social significance and then takes it on a tour of our schools of higher education. He knows that with the buzz of multiculturalism and, by throwing in a little "censorship" the intellectual elite will support this to the last ounce of the taxpayer's blood. And, golly-gee, it works.

How many porn films have been works of art with great social significance? I admit to being out of the porn film viewing since "The Devil and Ms. Jones" The hype was the film's great social significance. The reality was a poorly made, poorly acted, film with terrible sound, picture quality and editing. It didn't have much of a story line. No great moralism, here. I just decided that I can find more enjoyable ways to waste my time.

Porn films have a market. They are made to the reflect the desires of the market, not as some instrument of social justice. I'm willing to bet that if an Asian male was in a porn film that was popular and made money, then the producers would have them lined up four abreast to make the films.

It is, I think, very telling that the intellectual elite seem to miss the fact that they have been taken in by quite a huckster. I also loved the comment bragging about a liberal arts education allowing exposure to richness of culture unmitigated by moralists. Gosh, that sounds good. Since when is the Porn industry the "richness of culture?" My daughter wants a liberal arts education. Currently she thinks that art, good music and good literature have something to do with the "richness of culture." I live in dread the day when our institutions of higher education beat that (and the last milligram of intelligence) out of her.

My Tax Money at Work

TimesDispatch.com | iBook sale erupts in chaos, stampede
All high school, and now middle school, students in Henrico County have a school-issued laptop. Up until this fall, the laptops were Mac iBooks. For the upcoming year they switched to dell laptops for high schools. After making sure that the middle schools had enough iBooks and offering graduating seniors (class of 2005) iBooks (for $50), the remaining 1,000 were put on sale. First the sale was to anyone and then it backed down to county residents had first crack. 12,000 people showed up for the 1,000 computers (one to a customer). The link to the Richmond Times Disgrace gives a flavor of the morning.
We got some real bright bulbs spending our money in the county:
The county management, including the Police Chief were surprised by the rush and weren't prepared for it. Never mind that this has been an internet buzz for a couple of months and there has been some contentious county supervisors meetings about it. A few clues:

No one was to be in line before 6:00 AM. No one noticed that the line started forming at 1:00 AM
3 off-duty cops were hired for crowd control. After the near riot, 41 of the ~100 Henrico Police were called to the Raceway Complex for crowd control, but not until after the 7:00 AM rush.
17 people were removed by ambulance.
People brought kids to this mash. One stroller was destroyed in the first rush.
Patricia has used one for three years and has had problems with the ones she has been issued. She didn't want one of these. They have high security and you cannot load things like printer drivers on them. I would think that the county culled the worst ones out for sale, however, seeing how they handled this, they probably gave the best ones away. So, for a $20 mil program, the county recouped $50,000 (less the cost of the RIR complex, half the police force, ambulance service and other minor expenses).

I'm not sure how many of our county "leaders" you would have to pack together to get a 5-watt bulb. But News at 6 was a real laugher.

Help BP out of the Oil Business

BP, which I thought stood for British Petroleum and, according to the adds is "Beyond Petroleum," is recycling some of the silliest adds ever. BP is trying to impress us with just how environmentally friendly it is with a group of adds that seem to indicate that the company is embarrassed about being in the oil business. Look at all the mousy, enviro-looking actors acting like oil products are just terrible. All the ads end with just all the wonderful things they are doing for the environment.

If BP is embarrassed with the business they are in, I decided to help them out as much as possible. I do not go to BP stations and buy gas. Since BP won't help themselves out of their embarrassment by selling their petroleum business to someone who wants to be in that business, I think we should go along with them and not support them financially. Maybe they could make it just as well with wind turbines.

Yeah, I know that BP is really "Big Oil." I know that the products of their refineries go into a pipeline or other bulk transport for sale to whoever buys it. Yeah, I know that if BP closed all their gas stations, they would continue to refine and market petroleum products. That's what makes the ads so silly. If there was an award for stupid ads, BP's would get special recognition.

Fugitive Couple Refuses Return to Tenn. - Yahoo! News

Fugitive Couple Refuses Return to Tenn. - Yahoo! News. Amazing that anyone would consider allowing a convicted felon, just sprung by his wife who murdered a deputy would get any news play or court sympathy for not wanting to go back in order to be with his wife. The courts never cease to amaze me.

Able Danger

The 9/11 commission finally admits that they refused information on the Atta cell. This puts another nail in the 9/11 commission coffin. It seemed like they were just playing the political hack, bureaucratic game of fixing the blame. Admitting to ignoring the information from Able Danger fixes it.

I wonder why no one is asking the question about why the Able Danger group, although disbanded, didn't make an attempt to highlight this after the Bush inaugural. If they did, then who didn't listen or who stopped them? If they didn't, then why?

I'm Glad the cold war is over

Military commands drop Indian terms from exercise titles�-�Nation/Politics�-�The Washington Times, America's Newspaper. Read the article, it is obvous that the Air Force leadership are total and and complete idiots.

Since when does the word "warrior" denote only American Indians? Since when does the word "Chief" denote only American Indians. "Warriors" are people capable of combat and, just a few years ago, military types were proud to be warriors. "Chief" usually denotes a leader or a senior person. The Air Farce has a rank of "Chief Master Sergeant." Have they changed that to "Dart Master Sergeant?". Wait a minute, does "master" have some connection with slavery? So is the title now "Top Dart Sergeant?" What do I call my Master of Science degree?

If NORAD has people with enough time to come up with stuff like this and leaders who would buy into it, then I can suggest some significat cuts in the Pentagon budget.

The Pirate Theory of Global Warming

Open Letter. Works about is well as MH98.

Another Round on the "Stolen" Elections. It just won't die

Crosswalk.com - Bush, GOP Labeled 'Thieves' Who 'Need to be Locked Up'. Once again, from the left we hear about two "stolen" elections. This time it is from the black "leadership" and actor Harry Belafonte. The way to fire up the crowd is to claim the election was stolen. Let's see, the first was stolen by the evil Bush cabal going into three heavily democratic counties in Florida and somehow convincing the democratic leaders to make the ballots hard to read. The second, which Bush won handily, was stolen by the fact that those who showed up in Ohio had to stand in line. On the first election, the crowing was about the popular vote. Seems the left realized that we don't elect based on national popular vote in the in the US and haven't for a couple of hundred years. Or, maybe it was just that Bush won by a mere 3 million "national popular" votes.

The other piece in this diatribe is the strangest part. Let a black move to high office in a Republican administration and they get the full attack. Something about the black liberals just really not liking it when any of their own leave the liberal plantation.

ACLU's 30 year war

The ACLU's 30 Years War by Scott Johnson (Powerline has an excellent piece on the on-going war on Scouting waged by the ACLU. Johnson is much too nice about the ACLU. I was in Scouting off and on for a very long time. I was a Life Scout and, much later, an adult leader.

Some of the finest boys and adults were part of Scouting. The long-time Scoutmaster of the troop was also President of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. He was one of the finest people I've known. One of the adult leaders got into Scouting because, while in the military, he ran across a kid, who had nothing, but tried to start a Scout Troop without adults. Ted got involved and was, for the rest of his life, an avid supporter of Scouting because of that young man.

My Troop was not the best in town. But, with hard work by the kids and some very dedicated adults, we managed to have more than our share of Eagle Scouts. Those are young men who, not only show up and have fun earning a few merit badges, but show leadership, committment to service, and have the drive and gumption to set goals and complete them. If you pooh-pooh the leadership thing, try leading a bunch in a volunteer organization. Try it as a kid leading a bunch of other kids.

I was always more impressed with the kids who showed up scared and helpless on the first campout and had confidence grow from the first fire they built and the first edible meal they cooked. I enjoyed the fun they had learning the mysteries of knots, map reading, first aid and other Scout things. Our troop did a number of "Wilderness Survival Merit Badge" campouts. We always did them in the late fall. We could count on cold, snowy wet weather. The kids loved the challenge and wanted more of it.

Yes, we did the "Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind..." "Do a good turn daily" "on my honor ...." things. Yes, we meant every word of it. However, if you live the Scout oath, law and motto, you don't have to get very strident about the words. The troop expected its members to live up to those things. The Troop expected its members to show leadership. The kids usually lived up to the Troop's expectations. I learned a long time ago that people will live up (or down) to your expectations. There are a couple of young men who probably would have been in jail before the end of high school had it not been for Scouting. Instead they turned into excellent leaders, good students and exemplary young men.

One of my favorite Scouts was a young man with speech and learning disabilites. Scouting helped is other schooling by giving him something concrete to work for. When I first started, we spent hours learning how to build a fire for First Class. When I left he had earned the Rank of Eagle and was working on his third palm. Joe made it with no "gimmes." Just a dedicated effort from the young man and dedicated work from several adults. Joe could get there, it just took him a bit longer than most folks. He gave more to the rest of us, than we ever gave him.

I get steamed every time I hear about the latest assault by the ACLU on Scouting. For more than 100 years, Scouting has been a positive force in many young lives. I fail to understand why the ACLU wants to destroy, or remold it in their on image. How many government social programs have tried to do half as much as Scouting has done with volunteers? How many of the social programs have succeeded, much less lasted?

Scouting gets all this done and keeps the one element none of these social programs seem to come up with. Good Scouting makes it fun. If they don't the kids find something else to. How many in the ACLU would take a group of kids 12-18 years old for a week on the Appalachian trail with all they eat, wear, use on their backs. How many would do it with 2-3 adults? Hell, how many of the attackers of Scouting would go camping monthly with a group of kids, and the kids are responsible for food and activities? Happens regularly in Scouting and no one thinks its exceptional.

Yep, we surely don't need programs like that.

The Tyranny of the Left

NCAA - NCAA Executive Committee Issues Guidelines for Use of Native American Mascots at Championship Events

Eightteen schools cannot use the team mascots or names in post-season play, according to the Committee for Thought Control at the NCAA. Among those teams are the Florida State "Seminoles" whose use of the name has been approved by the Florida Seminoles. The College of William and Mary (The Tribe) has a year extension for self reflection. I will be in that area in a week and eagerly anticipate seeing the campus contemplating their navels. And, by the way, the Indians in the area approve of the use of "The Tribe" by William and Mary.

This does not deter the NCAA. Members of the board for the Control of Social Thought know best. The name and mascot of the school should be up to the school, not some board meeting in Indianapolis whose members are not associated with the school. This is a fine example of academic freedom on today's college campi: "we will tell you how to think, what to think and when to think it"

Well, no matter how hard they try, I still don't love Big Brother.

More should walk off the set

Print Story: Novak Apologizes for Swearing on CNN Air on Yahoo! News. It is hard to see why Novak apologized. It is easy to see why CNN suspended him. Although Novak has been on Crossfire longer than I can remember and Crossfire has been around much too long, it is time that a stop is put on the liberals' effort to start talking and nver shut up. How many "yell" shows or "fair and balanced" interviews from opposing sides have you watched and seen the lib start talking fast and then just not shutting up to allow the other side to express an opinion. Crossfire did this and Novak just got fed up.

For us in the great unwashed, we just stop watching programs like that. If the guests have really anything to contribute, then courtesy demands that they be given a chance to express that viewpoint. This is not part of the liberal agenda. It is to keep spouting the talking points and never let the opposition get a word in.

Great Time to buy a Tahoe

FT.com / Markets / Commodities - Cocktail of concerns push crude to new highs

I thought it was a joke

The Democratic slam on Bush the exercise fanatic was put out by "Josh Earnest" I thought he was just Joshing. Turns out to be real enough to make the news. Well, I suppose we can't exercise unless Big Brother controls it. Does anyone really take these yoyo's seriously? Is the DNC vying for the "Idiot of the year" title?

Wonder if we will see Chappaquiddick Ted out exercising under the auspices of a Federal nanny?

The Big Bolton hoo-ha

The family check on the importance of the Bolton appointment was 67% "who cares" and one abstention. The abstention was at music lessons and couldn't be questioned. I don't think Bolton is the be-all or the end of all whether he is confirmed or simply done by recess appointment. The only ones who seem to care are the Dems, who are totally against Bush and want to embarrass him at every turn and the Republicans who are getting a bit tired of the games.

Army Mechanic Acquitted of Desertion

Army Mechanic Acquitted of Desertion. It's a light sentence. Intentionally missing transport in time of war is a definition of desertion.

Does Cheney have a PAC? And where do I send the check?

DRUDGE REPORT FLASH 2005�REPORTER VOWS TO 'KILL SELF' IF CHENEY RUNS FOR PRESIDENT. Ms. Thomas shouldn't make promises that could actually cause the veep to consider running.

Renewed Terroism in London

Surfing the web for reactions to today's terrorists attacks in London have shown that ideologues just can't face facts. Fortunately, the idiots didn't make the best bombs and the injuries were slight. The British Press begins to hammer Blair about the bombings being "our fault." If we weren't in Iraq, we wouldn't be attacked, or so it seems. John Howard (Australian PM) put it best: the attacks started before Iraq (WTC1, WTC2, Bali bombing killing 88, etc)and any country who lets terrorists dictate policy is in a sad state. Hooray for someone with brains.

Some of the left, including their running dogs in the media, just can't see past the ideology that it the evil west that causes these poor, benighted folks to react this way. The acts of terrorism are done by cowardly, middle class, idiots who have been sucked into a blaze of ideological hatred by bigger cowards. Note the glorious leaders head for the hills before the trouble starts and always get others to go into martyrdom. It is time the left faced the facts.

I doubt John Howard will get a Christmas card from the likes of Kennedy, Kerry, Boxer and Reid.

Priorities?

Interesting conversation with a coworker on who we allow into the country and how we let them in. His son worked in Poland for about 18 months. During that time the kid married. He and his wife tried to return to the states. Our government made it difficult for him to return and, without some string-pulling would have denied an immigrant visa to the wife. Well, she is hardly qualified. Only a master's, speaks 7 languages and glowing letters or recommendation from a major US accounting firm. To get this pair of ne'er do wells into the country, dad had to get his son a job offer, lease an apartment and some other stuff. The wife didn't want to come in on a tourist visa, so they played the legal game. Seems that a US citizen has trouble getting back into the country. And his wife, a well-educated, and apparently talented Polish national finds it almost impossible.

In today's US, all they had to do was to fly to Mexico or Canada, sneak across the border and we would have showered them with free benefits and great sympathy. But let an American citizen, who tries to obey the law get in, NO WAY.

I think we have our priorities a bit screwed up.

The Newspaper of Record?

When an Explanation Doesn't Explain Enough - New York Times contains an interesting piece from the Public Editor. CPT Phillip Carter wrote a postive article on recruiting. The Times editorial staff helped him out by adding a few phrases to make it seem that Carter had just been given a "surprise tour of Iraq" when he had actually volunteered for active duty. The Public Editor was apologetic, but really didn't get to the nuts and bolts of what happened. Carter reviewed the "clarified article" and objected to the the "help." It was published and then quickly removed when they were caught, by Carter, publishing the wording he objected to.

Honesty and Integrity at the NYT? Certainly not coins of high value.

The Religion of Peace-Islamic Law has No Civilians

Director of London's Al-Maqreze Centre for Historical Studies Hani Sibai: There are No "Civilians" in Islamic Law;The Bombing is a Great Victory for Al-Qa'ida, Which "Rubbed the Noses of the World's 8 Most Powerful Countries in the Mud"


In otherwords, its just peachy-keen to get a group of young men to kill themselves and along with it as many others that they can take out. I also understand that brave, daring "mastermind" flew the coop the day before it happened. I gues courage isn't one of the tenets of these murder's either.

No outrage, just praise.

The Religion of Peace?

Bombing in Iraq Kills Mostly Children. How many Muslims, other than the families of those killed, are condemning this act of absolute barbarism. Gee, it is the US fault that a soldier created an opportunity for the murderer by gathering children around him. Actually, the muslim world excuses murder of innocents in these cases. If you be in jihad, then you seem to be able to murder children at will. No remorse needed.


Case in point Iraqi PM Ibrahim Al-Ja'fari: "The Iraqi People Pay the Toll in Blood On Behalf of All Nations Facing Terrorism" from MEMRI. "You are aware of what goes on in Iraq concerning the struggle of the Iraqi people…and the enemy of the Iraqi people with all his misdeeds, evils and savagery. Regrettably, many of the satellite television channels ignore and do not display the tragedies that occur in Iraq, such as the rape and murder of women and the violation of the sanctity of women, as though these things did not happen…

"There are crimes committed in Iraq that are not labeled as terrorism [such as] the murder of policemen and heroic Iraqi soldiers…The pure and honest Iraqi woman is killed and this is not called terrorism; the innocent Iraqi child is murdered and the Arabic media does not call it terrorism. The Arabic media remains hostile and not objective. I address my admonition to the satellite TV channels to rise to the level of their responsibilities by showing the facts and calling a spade a spade."

At least the Iraqi PM is outraged. How about the Muslim news media, mullahs etc? Any statements of outrage from any muslim community outside Iraq? Not much.

I am quite sure that a large number of Muslims are nice, peaceful, decent people. I am quite amazed that some slime can cry "jihad" get a couple of idiots to issue fatwa and this obscenity is done without outrage.

I wonder what the real agenda is

Take Action: Keep Big Oil Away from Our Coasts is an email wanting us to write our representatives to stop the evil Bush and BIG OIL. I wonder if LCV prefers that we save our resources and depend on the use of oil from others.

I also wonder what their real agenda is. It certainly can't be their view of a pristine environment.

Drop My IQ and make me a journalist

I really wonder if you have to take an IQ test to be a journalist. If you score above a certain level, does it disqualify you?

Cases in point. This weekend the news channels had minute-by-minute updates on Dennis on Saturday. Gee, the storm was 24 hours from landfall. The progress of the storm was news for the Gulf Coast, but not for us in Virginia and definitely not for those in Michigan, Wisconsin and California. Why the breathless updates? Then comes Sunday. We have Geraldo leaning hard to starboard to stay up in a 100 mph wind. Too bad the idiot didn't get hit by a twig, just to show us how dangerous 5 grams of wood going 100 mph could be. If he wants to be stupid, why put it on the tube?

Now we have the Carl Rove non-story. The only interesting part of this story is just how long the press will chew on it, give the Dems the platform and repeatedly ask the same stupid questions at the daily press briefing.

In Richmond, last Thursday night, we had a thunder storm moving through the area. channel 6 spent breathless hours tracking the storm through the area. Talking about trying to make something out of a non-news event. Thunderstorms have been common for eons. Other than Channel 6 pretty graphics and multi-million dollar radar, they are not news.

I'm willing to bet that there is some real news out there. The news outlets are just too dumb and lazy to find it.

Need a laugh, just tune in at 6

I watched the news tonight. The pundits were all aglow with the "news" that Rove may have "outed" Wilson's wife. Loads of things to talk about. Migosh, they even sounded serious. The clips of reporters repeatedly asking stupid questions at the daily press briefing brings to mind that one must reduce one's IQ to be a jounalist.

Wilson was a politico who supported Kerry both with money and with advice. He was among the least qualified, other than ambassadorial experience, to go sluething sales of yellow cake in Niger. How anyone in the CIA was dumb enough to send him ought to be the subject of a major investigation. Rove, it seems, made mention that Cheney didn't have anything to do with sending Wilson and he was recommended by his wife, who works at the CIA. He didn't mention her name and gave the story under double Dutch secret background. The reporter, true to his word not to use it, went public with the story. As savvy a pol as Rove, should have known that telling the reporter under agreement not to use the information was tantamount to taking out an ad.

Who among the "insiders" didn't know that Wilson's wife went to work at Langley? Those who didn't could have found out quickly.

Then comes the Dems. Lined up with great hand-wringing, righteous wrath and thundering voices calling for Rove's head. Well, this is just one more time that they wanted his head. Why, he has beaten them silly and paybacks are due.

What does this really matter to most of us? Unless we earn a living trying to make the children we elect to run this country look important, not a darn thing. All sound and fury signifying very little.

FOXNews.com - Views - Straight Talk - For Independence Day, Supreme Court Slams Founders

FOXNews.com - Views - Straight Talk - For Independence Day, Supreme Court Slams Founders: "For Independence Day, Supreme Court Slams Founders"

An article well-worth reading.

Science, according to the NY Times

British Scientists Say Carbon Dioxide Is Turning the Oceans Acidic - New York Times is yet another piece in the great global warming scare. No, it's the evil CO2 that (according to the article may or may not contribute to global warming) but it is turning the oceans acidic and will destroy the coral reefs.

pH is explained as "The pH scale, which measures the concentration of hydrogen, runs from 1, the most acidic and highest concentration of ions, to 14, the most alkaline, with almost no ions."

The Times, according to Mr. Keller in an address I heard today, prides itself on the amount of science reporting. Just reading this, means that they have nothing to be proud about. It is also an example of the absolute science idiocy in the press.

Leaving out the fact that the real definition of pH is -log aH (activity coeficient) and going to the simplistic (but very close) definition of pH =-log[H+], [H+] is the molar concentration of hydrogen ions, then the bottme of the scale, most acidic is 1, meaning that [H+] = 0.1 molar, or effectively 3.65 grans of hydrogen chloride per liter. A 1 molar solution of HCl would have a pH of 0. HCl, such as purchased by laboratories is ~32%, or 10.2 molar and the pH by this definition is about -1.

I also love the statement that there are "no ions" at pH 14. The solution is chock full of ions, mostly hydroxide ions at 0.1 molar. Since I can make solutions of greater hydroxide ion concentrations, 0.1 molar is not all the ions you can squeeze into a quart of water. I wonder if the Times believes that a solution of sodium chloride has "no ions."

As stated in the article, this is high school chemistry. Maybe the Times reporter should have taken the course. If all we know is what we read in the times, then we be pretty darn ignorant.

I doubt this will make 60 Minutes

TCS: Tech Central Station - The Real Abuse at Guantanamo

Bush Speech

FOXNews.com - Politics - Transcript: Bush Speech on Iraq says it eloquently and well. Of course, the critics will be all over it. The comparison with Viet Nam is true only if we allow the nay-sayers and doom preachers to undermine our will to take this to a successful conclusion. Then, and only then, will the lives of those service members be lost for a worthless cause. I noticed that the soldiers in the audience applauded the speech.

Climate Audit � House of Representatives Committee

Climate Audit � House of Representatives Committee demands of the NSF Mann's source code and data for his infamous hockey stick. It will be interesting to see if the data and algorithms are produced for peer review.

No News Week

A week's vacation to see the three eldest and, almost, no news. If you are a news junkie, then you should take a week away. On the way back, I discovered that the Republicans still don't like democrats and Democrates still don't like republicans. Everyone should take a week without news.

One of the more interesting items I discovered while listening to Fox on Sirius on the very long drive back was the flap over Rove's statements about liberals. The Dems are up in arms over them. They seem to believe that they haven't said very similar (in tone) things about the Bush administration. It is all politics as usual. I also remember some saying since 9/11 things that fit Rove's comments. It is all for political gain, and to hell with the country if they aren't in charge.

And the MP's are non-combatants

Soldier Earns Silver Star for Her Role in Defeating Ambush. To quote "Ranting Prof's" YOU GO GIRL

SGT Hester did, according to reports, a hell of a job and deserves the Silver Star. In fact, all members of the 617th deserve the awards received.

Just wonder if the Islamists attacking the convoy realize they were whipped by a girl?

Seriously, any soldier in that type of war is in combat. Women are in combat and it should be recognized as such.

A Big Win for Reading NSR regs as written, not as wished

Duke Energy Did Not Break Law, Court Says

All the scares fit to debunk

TCS: Tech Central Station - Julian Simon Would Be Proud. Great article on how the alarmists are usually wrong.

It wouldn't make a bad B movie

Public Health Advocates Cite Lack of Risk Notice on Potato Chip Bags because the chips may contain trace quantities of AMD. Let's see, we've been eating cooked starches for thousands of years and no traceable link to cancer. Acrylamide is a neurotoxin when exposed to extremely large doses. For example, workers in acrylamide production and product manufacturing need to take special precautions, especially when used in the dry form. However, studies have shown that these workers do not have any increased risk of cancer. I'd like the prop 65 advocates to show me any evidence that eating fried potatos, baked bread, french fries, etc gives one an increased risk of stomach cancer.

A check of the National Cancer institute does not support this claim. In fact, Japanese have the highest rates of stomach cancer, but it drops when they immigrate to the land of fried foods (the US). It is thought that the advent of refrigeration reduces the incidents of this cancer. One of the causes is a bacterial infection.

Junk Science in Action in the land of fruits and nuts.

We Are Our History -- Don't Forget It

We Are Our History -- Don't Forget It I know I couldn't have said it better.

link found on Power Line

Twin Towers-controlled demolition

UPI Hears... - (United Press International) " Former chief economist for the Department of Labor during President George W. Bush's first term Morgan Reynolds comments that the official story about the collapse of the WTC is "bogus" and that it is more likely that a controlled demolition destroyed the Twin Towers and adjacent Building No. 7."

And I guess the pictures of 747's hitting the towers were faked, too.

Gee, a degree in economics gives you all the power of a civil engineer as well as knowing macro from micro.

Wonder why this bright light of brilliance is a "former" member of the Department of Labor?

Club Gitmo

I've been listening to Rep. Hunter's Gitmo meals. Not bad, but I bet it has all the taste as most mass-prepared meals. And the residents don't have any but the limited choice of the cycle. They should give the MRE's, but, I understand that feeding prisoners and detainee's MRE's violates the laws of war. Now, if it were the eggs and hominy grits T-Rat's, I'd go along with cruel and unusual punishment.

We should send these folks back home in defiance of the federal judge's ruling that in doing so, we couldn't send them to places that would actually torture them and kill them.

The more I read about these peaceful hijackers of Islam, the more I think we are being much too nice to them.

Egyptians on the hijacking of Islam

MEMRI: Latest News covers some interesting reading from several Egyptians on the hijacking of Islam by the Muslim Brotherhood. For the US version see Powerline for links to
the big pharoh taken over by the US version of the Muslim Brotherhood. If half if this is true, then it is of some concern.

Anti-Factory Farm Group

Lawsuit Targets Farm's Treatment of Sows - Yahoo! News. suit about the evil treatment of brood sows. A visit to their website and, you guessed it, a guide to Vege living.

I'd laugh, but some folks really believe in this nonsense

Virtual Eutrophication

Study shows eutrophic lakes may not recover for a millennium has a scary title and raises concerns. However, it is a modelling study. Carpenter is not looking at eutrophic lakes, but is trying to model the amount of phosphorus in the soil and its potential affect on the lake. Wonder how real data compares to the projections.

Virgina Union at the White House

TimesDispatch.com | 'A great honor' for Panthers who won the Div II national BB championships. The President could have spent some time with them. I'm sure he would do it for (spit, cough, spit) UNC (I'm a diehard Wolfpack alum). However, according to this piece, the players were thrilled to be at the White House. I do wish Bush had found the time to really pump these kids up.

The System Works. It would work better if the press coverage dies quickly.

TimesDispatch.com | AP News. Jackson is acquitted by a jury. His innocence or guilt may be debated for sometime, but the prosecution failed to make a case that convinced the jury.

Our legal system may, or may not, let someone who is guilty go free. It is up to the prosecution to make a compelling case. Failing that, the accused should walk. For all the gripes about the OJ trial, this is exactly what happened, the prosecution failed to make a convincing case.

Now, let's hope that the media gets off the Jackson case and finds some real news.

Personally, I have no use for Jackson and think he is not a very nice person. However, I'm not allowed to make life or death decisions based on my personal likes or dislikes.

Our Sins at Gitmo

Power Line has comments from Dr. Brian Byer "Our readers speak" discussing the treatment of prisoners at Gitmo. Dr. Byer makes a very weak comparison of the treatment of prisoners with the terrible things that Seals, Rangers and other go through in training. The comparison fails when one realizes that the US service members who get this traiing are volunteers. They volunteer for this abuse. They can leave and they know that it will be over at a defined time and they will be out having beer and steak telling war stories. The prisoners at Gitmo (and other places) do not have that luxury.

Aside from the weak comparison, what is being done at Gitmo is legal. It may not be nice. It is certainly not as bad as our enemies such as the North Vietnamese, North Koreans, Germans and Japanese inflicted on us. The people at Gitmo are terrorists who do not value human life, except as guided bombs, are part of the organization that attacked us. They are getting better than they deserve. In fact, we should offer to return many of them to their home countries and see how many takers we have. The treatment they are getting at Gitmo is much better than the treatment they would receive if returned home. I understand that some can't be sent home because a federal judge has decreed that we can't return them if they might get tortured at home.

For all of Osama's fellow travelers in the press and the Congress, remember it is the US that was attacked. It is our citizens who were murdered. The killers, if not checked would gladly add thousands more Americans to the body count. I have absolutely no sympathy for them. I expect our soldiers to stay within the law, but I do not expect them to love and coddle these killers.

The Religion of Peace?

MEMRI: Latest News contains an article of concern over the attitudes of the western Muslims. It seems that a lot of them survive on pure hatred. If their hatred of the west is so great, then why stay here? Could the answer lie in the fact that the west is a much better place to live and raise a family than where they came from? Yet many want to reproduce those Islamic nivarna's in the west.

Kerry: The New Al Gore

Kerry: The New Al Gore by Daniel McKirvergan in the Weekly Standard covers Kerry's whining about the "Downing Street" memo which as been around since 2002 and is a report of impressions of impressions of impressions of conversations by un-named people. Gee, that's even below the Newsweek standard of proof.

The gist is that Kerry is playing the Al Gore "I was robbed and should be president" card. Only Kerry has less to complain about than Gore, since the 2004 election was not all that close. We can't even hear "Bush didn't win the popular vote."

It is pure speculation but I think the 2004 election would not have been as close as it was if it were not for the rabid Bush haters. I think most people saw Kerry as an absolute phony. Kerry has spent his life running for President. He tried to become a small-boat war hero like Kennedy. He then plays his whole electrion based on a 3-month combat tour trying to rackup as many medals as possible and then vamoosing. Kerry picks up the VVAW and tries to drive that tired horse to political advancement then drops it in favor of the "war hero" stand. His whole campaign for president was an attempt to contrast himself as the war hero while Bush was a draft dodger. In doing so, he tried to return to the golden days of yesteryear, the '70's, and refight the anti-Viet Nam war. Absolutley the wrong tactic. His display of phoniness was the infamous goosehunt, in which he claimed to have shot a goose but somehow didn't bring one back. A staged media event that he couldn't pull off for fear of offending his anti-hunting base. Kerry lost because he came through as a phony. Most people saw through that.

I really wonder if he believes that if he can impeach Bush somehow we will return to Nov. 2004 and he will be elected President. Seems to me that Dick Chaney would become president or Tom DeLay. I don't see Kerry in the line of succession.

And there are some people out there who really believed he should have been elected. Absolutely amazing.

Mark Steyn says it all

The Spectator.co.uk column by Mark Steyn is excellent. Mugabe can raze a mosque, some fanatic (muslim) can blow up a mosque and kill 20 people and not one single word of protest comes out of Islam or the western left. Yet, 5 very minor incidents by the US at Gitmo and the world is seething with outrage.

The outrage is that the Muslims really don't seem to care if some members of their sect visciously murder, maim and torture others, nor to they seem to think protest is necessary when an absolute psycho like Mugabe razes one of their holy places. If they think the US is the sole source of all the problems in the Muslim world they should look from their self-desicrated holy books into a mirror, that is, if the Koran allows mirrors for self-study.

Found link on Power Line which didn't say much. They don't have to, Steyn says it all. However, I'm getting tired of hearing the leftists beat on the US when it is increasingly obvious that their care for the poor and downtrodden of the world extends no farther than advancing their agenda.

Chlorination of Drinking Water

FOXNews.com - Views - Junk Science - Enviros, Homeland Security Threaten Drinking Water Safety summarizes the benefits of the use of chlorine in drinking water. The alternatives (ozone or uv) are very effective at killing pathogens but offer no residual protection. Chlorine in our water is one of the things that has reduced the infant mortality rate and extended the life expectancy for all of us. How many of us are worried about getting some disease from our drinking water?

Some enviros have made chlorination a cause celebre. Frankly, if they want unchlorinated water, let them have it. Just let the rest of us have a safer public water supply...the one with a bit of chlorine in it.

Gee, some of it is natural.

The Scientist :: "Industrial" Pollutants Reveal a Surprising Origin , Jun. 6, 2005: discusses research at Woods Hole indicating that some of the PDBE found in whale blubber are of natural origin. The article also discusses perceptions on pesticides toxicity and synthetic chemical fears. It seems we have been preconditioned to believe that "synthetic" equals bad. I do take exception at the use of "the infamous pesticide DDT". Let's see, DDT is credited with saving millions of lives. It is still the most effective chemical for fighing malaria, but we don't use it. Yep, it does cause egg-shell thinning when fed in conjunction with a low calcium diet.

The question is do the enviro's just not care that their opposition to DDT results in millions of deaths or are they satisfied with the progress of the genocide?

If they aren't US Citizens, send the home NOW

WorldNetDaily: U.S. Muslims desecrate American flag. I found this on Powerline via Michelle Malking. I made the mistake of watching the video and am burning up. As the Powerline guys noted the "activists" were announcing that you could do things like this in America "we have a permit" and there would be no reprecussions as there are in other countries.

These idiots support the worldwide jihad to turn this country and other democracies into muslim theocracies where basic freedoms we take for granted do not exist.

I support the right of citizens to protest. I've even been against the folks who want to stop desecration of the flag because I believe in the right of a citizen's free speech.. The leader of this group is a "student" who continues to agitate for his belief in the muslim takeover and has been quoted as saying that he wishes to participate in the murder of Americans.

The flag is a piece of cloth. It is the symbol of the United States. The symbol represents many things, among those the honor, history and purpose of the country. Perhaps I have been brainwashed by almost three decades of association with the military, but the national colors are a very powerful symbol to me. The wanton desecration of that symbol by people who abuse the freedoms it represents to enlist others in their crusade to destroy the country is too much.

Anyone who is not a citizen and resides in this country (legal or illegal) has certain rights conferred on them by this country. Those rights include freedom from being murdered, maimed, robbed, enslaved and others like that. They do not have the right to insult the country with impunity. That right is reserved for its citizens. They do not have the right to use our institutions for such practices. I'm sure any number of lawyers would disagree. If my feelings about these non-rights are not within the law, let's be about fixing the laws.

If these folks are not citizens then pack them up and send them home where they can practice any manner of freedom of speech they wish.

A tale of opposites

Up & Coming Magazine "Researchers are busy saving us from ourselves (and out(sic) wallets" is really good. Sunshine is good for you, it isn't good for your. Drink milk, don't drink milk. And so on. Hard to know what to believe.

Jim Knauth's comments at the end are on the spot.

link found on Junk Science

But let the regulated community use erroneous data

EPA Data Not Reliable, Business Lobby Says. The US Chamber of Commerce and others are requesting corrections on EPA databases used for various regulatory purposes. Some of the errors are a bit more than minor discrepancies. Having a 1,000,000,000 difference in the same property of benzene, that's 100,000,000,000%, isn't just a slight oversight. These databases are often used to regulate companies and decide on cleanup criteria.

The response that correcting the databases would take too much time from priority issues doesn't fly. If they can't get basic databases to agree, then just think how good their decisions on those priority issues are.

link found on Junk Science.

Name that out of the mainstream judge

Power Line contains the following piece from NRO's Bench Memo's about a judge who attacked Boy and Girl Scouting as maintaining sexual stereotypes; expressed strong sympathy for the position that there is a constitutional right to prostitution as well as a constitutional right to polygamy;proposed abolishing Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and replacing them with a single androgynous Parent’s Day;opined that a manifest imbalance in the racial composition of an employer’s work force justified court-ordered quotas even in the absence of any intentional discrimination on the part of the employer but operated his/her office in a predominantly black area and hired 0 blacks out of 50 hires.

Certainly seems out of the mainstream. The Judge is Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

Hijacking the 9/11 memorial

Democracy Project has an excellent piece on those who would hijack the 9/11 memorial. Citations such as the following are absolutely appalling:

Eric Foner, radical-left history professor at Columbia University who, even as the bodies were being pulled out of a smoldering Ground Zero, wrote, "I'm not sure which is more frightening: the horror that engulfed New York City or the apocalyptic rhetoric emanating daily from the White House." This is the same man who participated in a "teach-in" at Columbia to protest the Iraq war, during which a colleague exhorted students with, "The only true heroes are those who find ways to defeat the U.S. military," and called for "a million Mogadishus." The IFC website has posted Mr. Foner's statement warning that future discussions should not be "overwhelmed" by the IFC's location at the World Trade Center site itself.

Catalytic Converters for your lawn?

Soil emissions are much-bigger-than-expected component of air pollution, about 22% of the total. In retrospect, it is not such a surprising find since bacterialogical processes convert ammonia nitrogen into nitrates (and nitrates into nitrogen).

Well, I guess that's why there isn't as much photochemical smog in the desert.

Found on Junk Science ,

HoustonChronicle.com - Report says Louisiana's coastline is sinking; Texas' could be next

HoustonChronicle.com - Report says Louisiana's coastline is sinking; Texas' could be next. The Houston Chronicle covers this one pretty well. No doom and gloom and the world is ending because of man's environmental sins. The report says that there are two historical causes on the Texas Gulf coast. One is the previous use of groundwater wells which deplete the groundwater. They are going to surface water to alleviate this problem. The other is natural from the geological form of the underlying shale layer which allows compression by the tons of silt deposited from the rivers that flow into the Gulf. The second is something we can't fix.

The Gulf coast delta region was formed by the rivers' meandering over the coast and depositing silt over the area. We've channeled rivers like the Mississippi for a couple of hundred years and prevented this natural deposition. I wonder if that also affects the "lowering" since the top isn't being covered. Of course, that's a very long process and a couple of hundred years may not be enough to account for the subsidence.

Created News

The "Runaway bride" coverage is mind boggling. I'm truly amazed that the story still has play. The whole issue was a madeup event, given that about 100,000 people disappear each year without hardly any notice. The media decided to make this one a "story" and then Ms. Wilbanks cheated them by having the audacity of not being raped, murdered or otherwise harmed. When the non-story really turned into a non-story, the media turned on her. No Hacking story with a body in the dump or anything gory that would give them more hours of play, how dare she disappoint them.

Yet the story keeps on going. Wonder if there is any real news out there? Well, there is the Koran abuse dead horse to keep beating.

Media Slander : What a scandal -- five Koran abuses in 2 1/2 years

Media Slander provides a link to the Pentagon report. Other than there must be no more newsworthy stories like the runaway bride, I am hard pressed to see any story in the Koran abuse "news." As stated in the piece, the media wants to cover the Newsweek debacle. On second thought, maybe they think there is a pulitzer in this coverage.

I like the comment about the only way to get media coverage of a positive event is to throw a copy of the Koran on the ground. I'm disappointed that our glorious media want to keep pushing a story that really isn't one.

Harvard�s Diversity Grovel by Heather Mac Donald

Harvard�s Diversity Grovel by Heather Mac DonaldPower Line discussed this at length, but the read was a must. Summer's, in his futile attempts to atone for mentioning evidence-supported facts that have not been refuted, set up a task force to "solve" the problem of supposed lack of gender equity at Harvard. The task force has recommended a whole new bureaucracy, replete with a senior vice provost with special staff and privileges, renaming the current efforts for gender diversity and a new $50,000,000 kitty for hiring people they haven't been able to find.

Heather McDonald has a great review of the task force report. No wonder the cost of the supposedly lower class schools are increasing at about 10% per year if this is the class of people who gravitate toward universities. So if you are an approved minority, a professor at Harvard, making extra bucks, did you get the job because of talent or did you get it handed to you?

aarrgh!

Cheapskate that I am, I refill printer ink cartridges. Refilled the HP952 last night and ended up with nice shades of green in the pictures. Figured that either I pooched the reservoirs or the instructions were wrong. Went out today and bought a new color cartridge. Ran a test page just before I installed to new one. The refill printed perfectly. Go Figure.