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Since this was for a part for the International Space Station, one has to ask if this sort of thing could explain some of the other problems up there.

A space program worker deliberately damaged a computer that is supposed to fly aboard shuttle Endeavour in less than two weeks, an act of sabotage that was caught before the equipment was loaded onto the spaceship, NASA said Thursday.

The unidentified employee, who works for a NASA subcontractor, cut wires inside the computer that is supposed to be delivered to the international space station by Endeavour, officials said.

The space agency declined to speculate on a motive.

The computer is supposed to measure the strain on a space station beam and relay the information to flight controllers on Earth.

The damage would have posed no danger to either shuttle or station astronauts, said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's space operations chief.

The worker also damaged a similar computer that was not meant to fly in space, Gerstenmaier said.

When i was a kid, the space program was teh pride of this country, and doing anything o harm any element of it would be unthinkable. here's hoping they throw the book at this idiot.

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Interesting news for my fellow history geeks.

The legendary city of Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great as he swept through Egypt in his quest to conquer the known world.

Now scientists have discovered hidden underwater traces of a city that existed at Alexandria at least seven centuries before Alexander the Great arrived, findings hinted at in Homer's Odyssey and which could shed light on the ancient world.

Alexandria was founded in Egypt on the shores of the Mediterranean in 332 B.C. to immortalize Alexander the Great.

The city was renowned for its library, once the largest in the world, as well as its lighthouse at the island of Pharos, one of the "Seven Wonders" of the ancient world.

Alexandria was known to have developed from a settlement known as Rhakotis, or Râ-Kedet, vaguely alluded to as a modest fishing village of little significance by some historians.

But now it looks like there was something more than a sleepy fishing village -- hardly a surprise, given that there are a limited number of sites that meet the needs of a Bronze Age city. I'd have been shocked if something hadn't been discovered there.

Posted by: Greg at 03:22 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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After all, we can't have Americans calling the authorities to report folks breaking the law, can we?

Latino leaders and faith-based organizations are calling for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to disconnect the hotline he created for people to report information about undocumented immigrants.

The hotline, they say, perpetuates a climate of fear within the immigrant community, raises the chance of racial profiling and opens the possibility for people to take revenge on former friends and family.

"What right does he have to investigate people based on the color of their skin, or their accent or the way they look," said Phoenix attorney Antonio Bustamante. "I want him to stop this nonsense and enforce criminal law instead of going after landscapers and nannies. He needs to stop this hotline."

* * *

"There's nothing unconstitutional about putting up a hotline," Arpaio said, pointing out that U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have similar hotlines.

In fact, Arpaio told The Republic, he is stepping up efforts to crack down on illegal immigration by forbidding undocumented immigrants to visit friends and family in county jails. "Once they come in, we're going to have to arrest them and turn them over to ICE."

Actually, I'm all for a climate of fear in the border-jumper community. After all, since they are law-breakers they ought to be afraid -- very afraid.

What next -- will these folks protest CrimeStoppers as a violation of the rights of the Felon-American community?

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Yesterday I wrote about the New York Times and its effort to downplay the scandal in the administration of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. Well, now Spitzer is proclaiming that the State Senate lacks the authority to investigate his administration -- even when it involves efforts by the Governor's Office to use state law enforcement to investigate and discredit political opponents.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer vowed on Wednesday to fight any State Senate inquiry into his administrationÂ’s internal operations, even as Republican senators were laying the groundwork for an investigation that could lead to subpoenas of top officials.

The administrationÂ’s stance sets the stage for a potential showdown with the Senate, and it came amid rising concerns even among Mr. SpitzerÂ’s fellow Democrats about whether the governor and his staff had been candid about their officeÂ’s effort to discredit a political rival.

A scathing report issued on Monday by Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo concluded that the governorÂ’s staff had broken no laws but had misused the State Police to gather information about Joseph L. Bruno, the Senate majority leader, in an effort to plant a negative story about him.

The governor has maintained that he was misled by his staff and knew nothing about the effort to discredit Mr. Bruno. But two of his closest aides refused to be interviewed by the attorney generalÂ’s investigators, intensifying suspicion, especially among the governorÂ’s critics, that Mr. Spitzer and his staff had not been forthright.

During his tenure as Attorney General, Spitzer was known for subpoenaing and investigating everyone and everything on the most tenuous grounds. here we have clear wrong-doing by the Spitzer administration, and the governor is unwilling to submit to the same sort of probing to which he subjected others. Maybe this matter needs to be turned into an impeachment proceeding -- because we know that liberal Democrats are just wild about impeachment. And i',m curious -- will the New York Times write an editorial like this about the Spitzer Administration?

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It's for the children, don't you know.

US senators today made a bipartisan call for the universal implementation of filtering and monitoring technologies on the Internet in order to protect children at the end of a Senate hearing for which civil liberties groups were not invited.

Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Vice Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) both argued that Internet was a dangerous place where parents alone will not be able to protect their children.

“While filtering and monitoring technologies help parents to screen out offensive content and to monitor their child’s online activities, the use of these technologies is far from universal and may not be fool-proof in keeping kids away from adult material," Sen. Inouye said. “In that context, we must evaluate our current efforts to combat child pornography and consider what further measures may be needed to stop the spread of such illegal material over high-speed broadband connections."

"Given the increasingly important role of the Internet in education and commerce, it differs from other media like TV and cable because parents cannot prevent their children from using the Internet altogether," Sen. Stevens said. "The headlines continue to tell us of children who are victimized online. While the issues are difficult, I believe Congress has an important role to play to ensure that the protections available in other parts of our society find their way to the Internet."

Nobody I know is for kiddie porn or sexual solicitation of children over the internet. However, I've got a bit of a problem here, in that this proposal would make the government the censor of the internet, imposing a prior restraint upon the publication of any material until it has been signed-of on by a government employee of some sort. The First Amendment bans such prior restraint in the case of printed material and broadcast material. I fail to see how it could not do so for the internet.

And, of course, once we set the precedent for kiddie porn, the next step is to impose restraints on other material deemed harmful to children -- perhaps government limits on so-called "hate speech" -- in an attempt to make the internet safe for kids. The result, would be, limiting the freedom of adults to access legal, adult-appropriate material on the internet. because when the government decides that only that which is appropriate for children can be published, then adults are only permitted to read or watch that which is deemed to be appropriate for children.

H/T Captain's Quarters

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Shades of FDR!

Still, there is nothing sacrosanct about having nine justices on the Supreme Court. RooseveltÂ’s 1937 chicanery has given court-packing a bad name, but it is a hallowed American political tradition participated in by Republicans and Democrats alike.

If the current five-man majority persists in thumbing its nose at popular values, the election of a Democratic president and Congress could provide a corrective. It requires only a majority vote in both houses to add a justice or two. Chief Justice John Roberts and his conservative colleagues might do well to bear in mind that the roll call of presidents who have used this option includes not just Roosevelt but also Adams, Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln and Grant.

So let's get something clear on this one -- if the Supreme Court continues to issue well-reasoned opinions backed with Constitutionally-sound principles, it should be overthrown in the interest of assuring politically popular decisions instead. Now tell me -- who then is adopting "a manifestly ideological agenda, [that] plunges the court into the vortex of American politics" -- the justices or those seeking to overturn justice via the political process.

Oh, and interestingly enough, at no point does the author cite a single decision this term that was manifestly incorrect -- or even one that he views as decided based upon political ideology rather than the law. But he still appears to want to make the Supreme Court a branch politically subservient to the whims of the Democrats by adding seats and packing the bench after a presumed victory by the Democrats in 2008.

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Now it sounds like there is a problem -- but I see at least one explanation of missing equipment that I have a question about.

In one instance documented by the accountability office, an unidentified worker explained the fate of a missing laptop, worth $4,265:

“This computer, although assigned to me, was being used on board the International Space Station. I was informed that it was tossed overboard to be burned up in the atmosphere when it failed.”

The employee was not disciplined.

I suppose that there might be an obvious reason for the employee not being disciplined -- perhaps the computer was taken aboard the ISS and jettisoned after it quit working. After all, a service call was probably out of the question.

I wonder if next they will take on the issue of NASA employees managing their blogs from work?

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Running a few minutes behind schedule, Senator Fred Thompson took some time to visit with a crowd of supporters upon his arrival in Houston this morning. Upon arrival he found a couple of hundred supporters to see and hear what the unofficial candidate for the GOP nomination had to say. I got a chance to shake hands with the Senator and even got more than just a wink and a nod when I urged him to "Make history in Houston" -- he grinned and said "I can come back, can't I?"

Senator Thompson had a few words for the waiting crowd -- I picked up right after the obligatory amusing anecdote about the state of Texas.

Overall, I was favorably impressed with how he handled the crowd, the press, and the Ron PauLunatic who attempted to disrupt the event.

Now I realize that I have endorsed a different candidate for the nomination, and I still support that candidate. I may, however, be open to reconsidering that support once Fred Thompson actually enters the race.

UPDATE: It seems that the Ron PauLunatic has become something of a story -- so how about if I tell you what happened from my perspective STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO HER (if you see a red Hawaiian shirt in any picture or video, that is me).

1) She was permitted to ask her first question -- and Fred Thompson tried to answer it. He had to ask her to stop talking in order to be able to do so. Once he was done, staff attempted to ask her to leave. She whined about being touched, and ignored their attempts to remove her from an event in a private terminal booked by the campaign (which was therefore a private venue, not a public forum).

2) At least twice more that I recall, the staff attempted to speak to her. She rebuffed them each time.

3) Finally, as she began raving again, police (presumably off-duty cops hired by the organizers to provide security) stepped in so as to prevent her from disrupting the Senator's departure. Again, this is consistent with this being an event in a non-public venue.

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During his tenure as New York's Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer's office was noted for its willingness to leak information damaging to the targets of its investigation in an unethical attempt to pressure them to "compromise" when Spitzer had a weak case but needed to score PR points. Many views those leaks as running right up to the edge of ethical conduct -- or crossing that line. Reporters, of course, viewed those leaks as acceptable, so never raised questions about the conduct of the leaker -- Darren Dopp.

Unfortunately for Dopp and his boss, it appears that years of playing fast and loose with ethics and the law has caught up with them.

This week, though, a withering report by the attorney generalÂ’s office found that some of Mr. SpitzerÂ’s top deputies crossed an ethical line by ordering the State Police to gather embarrassing information about Mr. Bruno to share with reporters.

The report and its revelations have rocked an administration that appeared to relish political combat — a Spitzer biography, after all, was called “Spoiling for a Fight” — and they raised new questions about the bellicose, competitive ethos of an administration that has at times seemed more adept at breaking eggs than at making omelets.

But then again, why should we be surprised. Spitzer and Co. were known for splashy announcements about questionable lawsuits, demands for settlements, and leaks to friendly reporters designed to damage their opponents in teh public eye and prejudice juries. Why should they have changed simply because the moved to the Governor's Mansion?

The New York Times, of course, is more interested in salvaging the Spitzer Administration than in seeing justice done. After all, it has run a puff-piece on Dopp, another concerned about how the Administration can salvage itself, and a third that applies a radically different standard than they would if this were, for example the Bush Administration. Note the failure of Spitzer's top aides to cooperate with the investigation.

Two of Gov. Eliot SpitzerÂ’s top staff members refused requests from the attorney generalÂ’s office that they submit to interviews in the investigation of the administrationÂ’s use of the State Police to tarnish a political rival.

The two men, Darren Dopp, the communications director, and Richard Baum, the secretary to the governor, are considered Mr. SpitzerÂ’s closest advisers, and their roles in the internal effort to damage Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno have drawn intense attention. The governor has repeatedly said that his staff fully cooperated with the investigation. Mr. Dopp was suspended indefinitely by the governor on Monday, and no action was taken against Mr. Baum.

According to documents and interviews, Mr. Dopp and Mr. Baum never subjected themselves to questions under oath from investigators in Attorney General Andrew M. CuomoÂ’s office.

Instead, on Sunday, the day before the report was released, they submitted two-paragraph statements sworn before the governorÂ’s legal counsel that minimized their role.

I'm curious -- had Scooter Libby taken such a course, would the New York Times have found that acceptable? If the Bush Administration chose to follow such a path in any investigation, would the New York Times have let that matter pass? hardly -- but since Spitzer is a friendly Democrat, what do you expect. Biased reporting, double standards -- that's the New York Times.

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One has to wonder what qualifications the editors of the New York Times have that make them more qualified than our generals and the president to determine what is responsible military policy.

The American people have only one question left about Iraq: What is President BushÂ’s plan for a timely and responsible exit? That is the essential precondition for salvaging broader American interests in the Middle East and for waging a more effective fight against Al Qaeda in its base areas in Pakistan and Afghanistan. And it is exactly the question that Mr. Bush, his top generals and his diplomats so stubbornly and damagingly refuse to answer.

* * *

Mr. Bush proposed no realistic new plan for more effectively fighting Al Qaeda in its heartland or for exiting from the tragic misadventure in Iraq. Instead he offered the familiar, simplistic and misleading arguments that he used to drag the country into this disastrous war to start.

Prolonging the war for another two years will not bring victory. It will mean more lives lost, more damage to America’s international standing and fewer resources to fight the real fight against terrorists. If Mr. Bush’s advisers can’t tell him that, Congress will have to — with a veto-proof majority.

Of course, the Surge is working, recent polling data shows increasing public support for the war, and the Congress does not have veto-proof majority. The New York Times, however, considers anything that disagrees with it to be "irresponsible" and "unrealistic". It may come as a shock to them, but the military ant the president are Constitutionally charged with determining the conduct of the war -- nowhere does the Constitution require that a once-great newspaper, noted for its bias and hackery, be given deference in making that policy.

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Will the NFL treat him as it has several other players in recent months? Or will quarterback Michael Vick's high profile get him special treatment?

Michael Vick was ordered by commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday to stay away from the Atlanta Falcons' training camp until the league reviews the dog fighting charges against him.

"While it is for the criminal justice system to determine your guilt or innocence, it is my responsibility as commissioner of the National Football League to determine whether your conduct, even if not criminal, nonetheless violated league policies, including the Personal Conduct Policy," Goodell said in a letter to the quarterback.

The NFL said Vick would still get his preseason pay and Goodell told the Falcons to withhold any disciplinary action of their own until the league's review was completed.

Goodell told Vick the league would complete its review as quickly as possible and that he expected full cooperation. The review is expected to involve conversations with federal law enforcement officials so the NFL can determine the strength of the case against Vick.

These are serious charges -- and Vick has been less than forthright throughout this case. If only for the sake of the league's image, Michael Vick needs to be off the field this season. And, as Captain Ed notes, the nexus between dogfighting and illegal gambling raises a troubling issue about Michael Vick's on-field integrity.

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Gotta love this earmark. Congressman Charles Rangel has tucked a $2 million appropriation into a pending piece of legislation -- for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service.

New York Rep. Charles Rangel has been raising funds from taxpayers and corporations for a center in Harlem to be named after a prominent U.S. congressman – Charles Rangel.

The Democrat has quietly raised nearly $25 million for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College, located in a four-story Harlem building and aimed at steering low-income and minority students into politics, the New York Post reports.

Last week Rangel – chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee – pushed through a $2 million "earmark” in the House to serve as seed money for the project.

Corporate contributions so far include $10 million from insurance company AIG and $500,000 from the Verizon Foundation. RangelÂ’s committee has jurisdiction over taxes and trade, including corporate taxation.

I'm curious -- aside from the fact it is named after the chairman of the committee, what does the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service have to do with taxes and trade? And why are we appropriating public money for a monument to a sitting congressman?

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Posted by: Greg at 01:40 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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If only the US would quit being a free nation where people can start with nothing and become successful because of hard work and God-given talent, there wouldn't be such defections from the Caribbean Communist Paradise.

Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro deplored the defection of three athletes and a coach during the Panamerican Games in Brazil, saying on Monday they had betrayed Cuba for dollars.

Cuba's Olympic and world amateur boxing champion Guillermo Rigondeaux and teammate Erislandy Lara failed to appear for their scheduled bouts in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.

A member of the Cuban handball team, Rafael Dacosta, and gym trainer Lazaro Lamelas defected earlier, Castro lamented, accusing the United States of luring Cuba's best athletes.

"Betrayal for money is one of the favorite weapons of the United States to destroy Cuba's resistance," Castro wrote in his latest column e-mailed to journalists in Havana.

Yeah -- what is wrong with these guys? Didn't they watch Michael Moore's movie about how great their life is in Cuba with HillaryCare government-provided medical care for the masses?

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And, of course, "religious leaders and civil rights advocates" are outraged by this attempt to enforce American law.

The spiritual leader of a mosque in Sharon was arrested yesterday on federal immigration fraud charges, sparking a protest outside the courthouse in Boston by a group of religious leaders and civil rights advocates who called the case a witch hunt.

Muhammad Masood, 49, imam of the 1,500 member Islamic Center of New England, is accused of lying repeatedly to federal immigration officials between 2002 and 2006 in a bid to obtain a green card and ultimately become a US citizen.

The criminal charges follow administrative charges brought by immigration officials last year. That case also drew wide protest from local Muslim leaders, who have accused authorities of ignoring efforts to smooth relations with members of various cultures.

A detailed affidavit filed in federal court alleges that Masood told authorities that after attending a master's degree program in economics at Boston University in the early 1990s, he returned to his native Pakistan for two years, as required by law, before returning to the United States in 1993 and later applying for residency.

But, the affidavit says, Masood never left Boston, and records show that he continued to live in Boston University housing with his wife and children, even though he was no longer a student. He was cited for a couple of traffic violations and was present when his fifth child was born in Boston in 1992, the affidavit indicates.

Authorities also allege that Masood did not disclose that he had collected state health benefits from 1997 to 2005 and initially denied ever being charged with any crimes, although he later acknowledged that he had been arrested for shoplifting in Norwood in 2000. The charge was later dismissed.

The protesters want to call this a witch hunt. The only problem is that the evidence clearly shows that Masood is guilty of the crimes with which he was charged. Let's hope we can get him shipped back to Pakistan as quickly as possible -- minus his fraudulently-obtained citizenship.

Posted by: Greg at 01:26 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I tip my hat to blogger and author Michael Zak, whose Grand Old Partisan website includes this bit of information I had never connected together about Yale historian and Republican Senator Hiram Bingham.

On this day in 1911, Yale University historian Hiram Bingham discovered in Peru the ruins of Machu Picchu, one of the most spectacular archaeological sites in the world. Machu Picchu turned out to be a 15th century residence of the Incan emperor. Today, tourists arrive at the site via the Hiram Bingham Highway or the Hiram Bingham train.

Bingham would go on to become a successful member of the United States Senate -- and would also be one of those who would become a model for the character Indiana Jones.

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After all, we know that those folks at Gitmo are all innocent and being unjustly held. They were never terrorists, and would never engage in terrorist activities after their release -- right?

A former Guantanamo Bay prisoner wanted for the 2004 kidnapping of two Chinese engineers in Pakistan blew himself up with a grenade during a clash with security forces on Tuesday, officials said.

One-legged Taliban militant Abdullah Mehsud killed himself to avoid capture after troops raided his hideout, interior ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema told AFP.

The Islamic rebel's death comes amid intensifying US pressure on President Pervez Musharraf to take military action against Al-Qaeda and Taliban safe havens in tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.

"Abdullah Mehsud blew himself up with a grenade and died when security forces raided his hideout. Three of his accomplices were arrested," Cheema said.

Mehsud, 32, became the leader of Pakistani Taliban insurgents based in South Waziristan in 2004, after Pakistani forces launched military operations in the troubled tribal region.

So just remember, next time some liberal starts ranting about Guantanamo Bay -- there have been a number of released Guantanamo detainees who have returned to their terrorist ways. Why would we want the place closed -- or the remaining detainees brought into our heartland?

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While the Democrats try to cut-&-run-&-surrender, the Bush Administration ahas created a plan that will lead to an orderly withdrawal from Iraq after certain key goals have been met -- expected in the summer of 2009.

The classified plan, which represents the coordinated strategy of the top American commander and the American ambassador, calls for restoring security in local areas, including Baghdad, by the summer of 2008. “Sustainable security” is to be established on a nationwide basis by the summer of 2009, according to American officials familiar with the document.

The detailed document, known as the Joint Campaign Plan, is an elaboration of the new strategy President Bush signaled in January when he decided to send five additional American combat brigades and other units to Iraq. That signaled a shift from the previous strategy, which emphasized transferring to Iraqis the responsibility for safeguarding their security.

That new approach put a premium on protecting the Iraqi population in Baghdad, on the theory that improved security would provide Iraqi political leaders with the breathing space they needed to try political reconciliation.

The latest plan, which covers a two-year period, does not explicitly address troop levels or withdrawal schedules. It anticipates a decline in American forces as the “surge” in troops runs its course later this year or in early 2008. But it nonetheless assumes continued American involvement to train soldiers, act as partners with Iraqi forces and fight terrorist groups in Iraq, American officials said.

Ultimately, this comes down to a very basic question for the American people -- do you value on immediate withdrawal or success in Iraq? That is the choice we face right now -- and with one political party committed to immediacy, we face teh real possibility of the second Democrat-engineered military defeat in my lifetime.

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I think that by now I've made it pretty clear to folks that I am a football fan -- especially professional football. Maybe that comes from having grown up in the Washington DC area during the George Allen era, or maybe it just had to do with the fact that i could watch every game with my father when his ship was in port, something I couldn't do with baseball, basketball or any other sport. Heck, we were even season ticket holders for the Chicago Blitz during the USFL years. And yes, I like to place a bet on a game from time to time, though I am certainly not a big-time gambler.

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How does their service work? Well, they are an online, members only service that offers a season subscription for their NFL Picks Package. Each week they analyze the upcoming games and make their picks on the ones in which they have enough confidence to post. as mentioned above, that means 6-10 games a week. By 11:00 AM Eastern Time on game day, they have their picks up on their exclusive Members Only section. Members can then log in and make whatever use they choose of the picks.

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Shakeel Ahmad Bhat has become the face of all that is extreme in modern Islam. Now Islamic Rage Boy speaks out -- and his perpetually outraged feelings are again hurt.

"I am not happy with people joking about me or making me into a cartoon, but I have more important things to think about. My protests are for those Muslims who cannot go out onto the streets to cry out against injustice. This is my duty and I believe Allah has decided this for me."

And after all, why would people possibly joke about Shakeel Ahmad Bhat or make him into a cartoon?

After all -- what is really so funny about a frothing-mouthed radical who calls for the death of the Pope, Salman Rushdie, or the editors who published the Muhammad cartoons?

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Posted by: Greg at 12:06 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I'm generally supportive of employers accommodating religious workers. And indeed, federal law requires it, provided that there is no undue burden placed upon the employer. An interesting test case on this issue vis-a-vis Islam may be coming out of Nebraska.

Supervisors at a meatpacking plant have fired or harassed dozens of Somali Muslim employees for trying to pray at sunset, violating civil rights laws, the workers and their advocates say.

The five- to 10-minute prayer, known as the maghrib, must be done within a 45-minute window around sunset, according to Muslim rules. The workers at the Swift & Co. plant in Grand Island say they quit, were fired or were verbally and physically harassed over the issue.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has drafted a complaint to be filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The petition compiles testimony from at least 44 workers who had planned to sign the complaint during a meeting Sunday. The signing was changed to a later date because of a logistical problem.

Jama Mohamed, 28, said he was fired in June for leaving a production line to pray. Supervisors would not allow him a break, he said.

However, the problem seems to be that there are over 100 Muslim workers at the plant -- and accommodating them could present a significant burden for the employer.

Donald Selzer, an attorney for Greeley, Colo.-based Swift, said only three Somali workers were fired for reasons relating to the issue, and that it was for walking off the line without permission, not for praying.

Unscheduled breaks can force unplanned shutdowns of lines, Selzer said.

"That is a significant number of employees, and there is not much of a way to accommodate that consistent with keeping the production online," he said.

Which raises the obvious question -- is shutting down production an unreasonable burden for the employer? I think the answer is obvious.

Posted by: Greg at 11:43 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Okay, we've got a problem. Where do we strike a balance between competing values? What are our priorities to be, and how are we to decide. Most importantly, are we prepared to live with the consequences of whatever choice that we make?

I'm talking, of course, about the balance between the competing values of energy independence from the Middle East and a clean environment. Why do those two values compete? Well, because the Canadian crude oil is different from the Middle Eastern variety, and requires a different refining process. In addition, it enters the US in different locations than the Middle Eastern oil, and so is best refined near those ports of entry.

BP has recently received permits to expand a refinery on Lake Michigan in Whiting, Indiana, and has been granted environmental waivers to allow an increase in pollutants from the current level. At first blush, that doesn't look good -- until one realizes that this leads to a decrease in dependence on Middle Eastern oil and the increases still keep the plant's discharges below the levels set by the EPA. Indeed, during the planning process BP repeatedly reduced the amount of planned emissions by incorporating new technologies to make the refinery more environmentally friendly. Indeed, given that there has not been a new refinery built in this country since the Cater administration, this expansion could set the standard for future refineries while also providing the opportunity to shut down or modernize existing refineries that emit greater levels of pollution -- something that I am all for, given my proximity to the petrochemical plants here in the Houston area.

Oh, by the way, what are we talking about when we discuss new pollutants. The Chicago Tribune offers the interesting statistic that the plant will be allowed to release 54 percent more ammonia and 35 percent more sludge into Lake Michigan each day. That sounds horrific -- until you look a little closer and see that this really means that the releases into the lake are 99.9% water and the sludge will be treated separately and not dumped into the lake at all -- and that the plant has in recent years reduced the emission of solids into Lake Michigan by 40%. Indeed, the major pollutant to be released -- ammonia -- will be released at less than half the level permitted under state and federal guidelines. Hardly sounds like the environmental catastrophe that some want to make it.

But what it really comes down to for me is that there will have to be additional refineries built. We are decades away from doing away with fossil fuels as the major source of our energy, an our refining infrastructure needs to be brought up to the needed capacity and higher environmental standards. that is what this plant does -- and with similar cooperation between government and industry, we could see improvements in our energy independence and environment in the process.

Posted by: Greg at 11:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The New York Post sums up the entire argument in favor of immunizing those who report suspected terrorist threats.

No American who reports suspicious activity to police - truthfully and in good faith - should ever have to fear a lawsuit. It's the most basic of civic duties, and it's desperately necessary.

Even if one ascribes the best, most benign of motives to the six imams removed from a flight last fall (something very hard to do, given the involvement of CAIR with this lawsuit), it is quite easy to see the problem raised by allowing such litigation. It reared its ugly head in the Fort Dix terrorism investigation -- the first reaction of an individual with information on possible terrorist activities was "will this get me sued?" If the answer is that it will, it is likely that the next successful terrorist attack in this country will be followed by reports that many were suspicious of the perpetrators but were too afraid of financial ruin to make a call to the authorities -- and that our own legal system will have become a tool in the hands of the jihadis.

Posted by: Greg at 11:22 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Posted by: Greg at 06:21 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are Harry Potter and Ostrich Syndrome by Bookworm Room, and Myths and Realities of the George Bush Presidency by TCS Daily. 

Here are the full tallies of all votes cast:

Posted by: Greg at 05:31 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Posted by: Greg at 09:42 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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In an attempt to defend Islam from criticism by non-Muslims, scholar Karen Armstrong seeks to redefine the Western notion of tolerance.

But equally the cartoonists and their publishers, who seemed impervious to Muslim sensibilities, failed to live up to their own liberal values, since the principle of free speech implies respect for the opinions of others.

Excuse me -- since when does the principle of freedom of speech imply respect for the opinions of others? Indeed, I'd argue quite differently -- a commitment to the principle of freedom of speech implies respect for the right of others to hold and express an opinion that one does not respect, or even that one holds in contempt.

Posted by: Greg at 12:54 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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My favorite pic from the Houston Chronicle's World Series of Dog Shows coverage.

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If it was good enough for Washington and Jefferson, why isn't it good enough for American farmers today?

After receiving the first state licenses to grow hemp this year, Mr. Monson and Wayne Hauge, a farmer from Ray, on the opposite side of the state, filed applications with the D.E.A. in February.

Since then, the drug agency has not said yes or no. Given North Dakota’s growing season, it is too late to plant anything new this year. So in June, the two men— with financial help from Vote Hemp, the advocacy group — filed a lawsuit against the agency.

Mr. Robertson said in July that the agency was still reviewing the applications, but that he could not say much beyond that because of the litigation.

Like Mr. Monson, Mr. Hauge, who is 49 and farms barley, chickpeas and lentils on land his great-grandfather homesteaded in 1903, said his efforts were about economics, not politics — or drugs.

Hemp is a versatile, hearty, and useful crop -- and one which would be profitable for farmers. Products made of hemp, imported from outside the US, are legal. Why not let farmers grow this cash crop?

Posted by: Greg at 03:36 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Here's your quote.

"he criminal contempt of Congress statute does not apply to the President or presidential subordinates who assert executive privilege."

Answer -- Walter Dellinger, head of the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department.

Under President Clinton, in 1995.

And so when Democrats object to the refusal of the Justice Department to undermine the President's use of executive privilege when they seek contempt charges against those who invoke that long-standing presidential authority, please remember that this has been official Justice Department policy for some time.

Unless you wish to finally confess that the husband of the current Democratic presidential front-runner also took us down a "lawless and unchecked path" during his time in office -- with the active support of your entire party apparatus.

Posted by: Greg at 03:22 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The wonderfully talented writer and blogger Don Surber brings us this example of how the media spins its news stories to make sure that the people get the right idea (or is that the left idea?) about the investigations of two members of Congress -- one Democrat, the other Republican -- for similar alleged offenses involving real estate transactions.

AP described the organization that investigated Mollohan as “a conservative group.”

AP described the organization that investigated Murkowski as “a watchdog group” in its lead paragraph and “a government and ethics watchdog group” in its third paragraph.

Of course, in each instance, AP was describing the National Legal and Policy Center.

When a Democratic congressman’s financial records are scrutinized, the National Legal and Policy Center is “a conservative group.”

But when it goes after a Republican, why it is “a government and ethics watchdog group.”

Thanks for making the distinction clear, AP.

Of course we see this stuff all the time. The ACLU is a "civil liberties group" while the ACLJ and ADF, which are equally concerned with civil liberties, are "conservative" or "right-wing" legal groups. But never have we been presented with such a clear example of bias -- the label changing depending on who the group is targetting.

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North Forest ISD would be a joke if the consequences for the students there were not so dire. And just when you think things can't get any worse, this happens.

As if North Forest School District didn't have enough to worry about, students from Forest Brook High School will have to begin classes at rival M.B. Smiley High School next month because of extensive damage caused by vandals earlier this week.

Fire hoses on the third floor of Forest Brook were turned on by intruders early Tuesday morning, resulting in extensive water damage throughout the school. School trustees approved emergency repairs, but those will not be completed by the start of school on Aug. 27.

"The kids have to be educated — we don't want kids to be out of school," said Mary McWhorter, president of the North Forest PTA Council. "If parents and the community come together, we can make this work. We have to. I would really rather have the kids go to school (together) than be out two or three months while the repairs are being made."

For those of you not familiar with the systemic problems with this failed school district, read the article and be prepared to be shocked.

However, let me commend district officials for actually trying to deal with this problem in the best way possible.

Posted by: Greg at 02:45 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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When a liberal mainstay like the Washington Post begins taking a Democrat leader to task for playing politics, you know the strategy is a real loser.

The decision of Democrats led by Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) to deny rather than nourish a bipartisan agreement is, of course, irresponsible. But so was Mr. Reid's answer when he was asked by the Los Angeles Times how the United States should manage the explosion of violence that the U.S. intelligence community agrees would follow a rapid pullout. "That's a hypothetical. I'm not going to get into it," the paper quoted the Democratic leader as saying.

Yeah, that's right -- Half-wit Harry doesn't want to get into the consequences of the extreme and irresponsible policy he is advocating. He wants a pell-mell, devil-take-the-hindmost retreat from Iraq that will be a disaster so that he and his party can use the resulting chaos there and vulnerability in the US to their best political advantage. This refusal to seek consensus overlooks the fact that there is, already, a broad consensus for a policy that reduces but does not eliminate the US presence in Iraq and implements the Baker-Hamilton plan put forth by the Iraq Study Group -- and which is supported by a majority of Senators AND the White House.

However, Reid and the Democrat leadership are clearly placing partisan advantage over patriotism and the best interests of country. And the Post editorial speaks eloquently on the point.

There's no guarantee that Mr. Bush can agree with Congress on those points or that he will make the effort to do so. But a Democratic strategy of trying to use Iraq as a polarizing campaign issue and as a club against moderate Republicans who are up for reelection will certainly have the effect of making consensus impossible -- and deepening the trouble for Iraq and for American security.

So which is it, Harry -- are you an American first, or merely a partisan hack?

Posted by: Greg at 02:13 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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One of the things I love about the blogosphere and most forums is that they are open for discussion and debate. Among those of us on the Right, we tend to be pretty open about allowing comments from all points of views where comments are allowed. Even some of the more annoying parts of the Leftosphere are pretty open to diverse discussion.

That's why I find the RevLeft.com leftist discussion forums to be a really disturbing place. Not content to be a wedded to an anti-freedom, anti-human rights collectivist ideology (though in an attractive, neatly set up and easy to navigate forum), this place actually has its own Gulag set up to marginalize and silence anyone not sufficiently Leftist for them. They then claim that they are having "in-depth discussions" of political ideology and philosophy while shutting out anyone who might offer a dissenting view or perspective. If anything demonstrates the failings of the bankrupt ideology that they claim supports freedom, that would be it.

Posted by: Greg at 06:01 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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