Normally I'd oppose legislation to avoid a problem that does not exist. However, this one strikes me as a reasonable regulation by the California legislature.

Tackling a dilemma right out of a science fiction novel, the state Senate passed legislation Thursday that would bar employers from requiring workers to have identification devices implanted under their skin.

State Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) proposed the measure after at least one company began marketing radio frequency identification devices for use in humans.

The devices, as small as a grain of rice, can be used by employers to identify workers. A scanner passing over a body part implanted with one can instantly identify the person.

"RFID is a minor miracle, with all sorts of good uses," Simitian said. "But we shouldn't condone forced 'tagging' of humans. It's the ultimate invasion of privacy."

Simitian said he fears that the devices could be compromised by persons with unauthorized scanners, facilitating identity theft and improper tracking and surveillance.

The bill has been approved by the state Assembly and now goes to the governor.

Nine senators opposed the measure, including Bob Margett (R-Arcadia), who said it is premature to legislate technology that has not yet proved to be a problem. "It sounded like it was a solution looking for a problem," Margett said. "It didn't seem like it was necessary."

I was surprised, though, to find out that one company, based in Ohio, already requires RFID chips for employees so that they can be tracked in the workplace.

To be honest, I'm glad to see legislatures preempting this. While I'm willing to give employers wide latitude on some things, chipping their employees crosses a line. It strikes me as a violation of one's bodily integrity that no employer has a right to demand.

Posted by: Greg at 09:54 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I've got mixed emotions about this decision by Governor Rick Perry.

Perry issued the commutation order on a parole board's rare recommendation about seven hours before Kenneth Foster was to have been put to death — the narrowest gap by which he has halted an execution in his more than eight years in office.

Thursday's vote marked only the second time since Texas resumed carrying out executions in 1982 that the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles endorsed stopping an execution with so little time remaining. And in that 2004 case, Perry rejected the board's recommendation and the prisoner, who had been diagnosed as mentally ill, was executed.

This time, Perry agreed with the board's recommendation that Foster be saved from lethal injection.

Foster, 30, learned of Thursday's board vote during a morning visit with his father. A warden told him of the governor's commutation about an hour later.

On the one hand, I firmly believe that every participant in this crime ought to be executed -- and that the guy merely driving the getaway car deserves to go to his death for his part in the criminal rampage that resulted in a murder.

On the other hand, I am troubled by the fact that two other participants did not get the death penalty.

In the end, though, I believe that Rick Perry's decision was wrong, and denies justice to the victim and his family.

H/T Don Surber

Posted by: Greg at 10:25 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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The Bush Administration will take steps to help homeowners facing financial problems due to their subprime home mortgages -- a move that will likely not satisfy his Democrat critics.

President Bush, in his first response to families hit by the subprime mortgage crisis, plans to announce several steps Friday to help Americans who have credit problems meet the rising cost of their housing loans, administration officials said Thursday.

The officials said Mr. Bush would call for the Federal Housing Administration to change its federal mortgage insurance program in a way that would let an additional 80,000 homeowners with spotty credit records sign up, beyond the 160,000 likely to use it this year and next.

The administration is offering his plan, which will include what one official called jawboning of lenders to persuade them not to foreclose on some borrowers, at a time of growing attacks on Mr. Bush from Democrats who say he has remained on the sidelines amid increasing anxiety over whether millions of Americans could end up losing their homes. Other elements of the plan would need legislative action, requiring Mr. Bush to win over the Democratic leadership in Congress.

Administration officials, who asked not to be identified, briefed a handful of news organizations on the proposals to be announced by Mr. Bush at an appearance in the White House Rose Garden on Friday morning.

The main objective of the package, one senior official said, is not to affect the stock markets but to help low-income homeowners, many of them concentrated in certain neighborhoods in several distressed areas of the country, such as Ohio and Michigan.

“The primary focus is to help individuals who have an opportunity to stay in their homes to stay in their homes,” this official said. “The subprime mortgage situation is having a crushing effect on a lot of communities right now.”

This does, of course, raise the issue of how far the government should go to help those who made poor financial decisions and are marginally able to afford their homes to stay in them. At what point does the government need to allow the market to apply economic realities to the situation, rather than having government provide a political solution?

In the coming weeks and months, Democrats (especially the presidential candidates) will push for more and more government involvement in the mortgage market if there is not a turnaround. It is in their nature. Where should the line be drawn?

Posted by: Greg at 10:03 PM | Comments (284) | Add Comment
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After all, EVERYTHING is the fault of George W. Bush!

The economy grew at its strongest pace in more than a year during the spring as solid improvements in international trade and business investment helped offset weakness in housing.

The gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic health, expanded at an annual rate of 4 percent in the April-June quarter, significantly higher than the 3.4 percent rate the government had initially estimated a month ago, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

That may taper off in response to the sub-prime crash – but then again, maybe not. But even if it does, we will still likely see 2% growth.

Posted by: Greg at 09:29 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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You know how we keep being told that there is consensus view of scientists in favor of catastrophic man-made Global Warming? That is a lie.

In 2004, history professor Naomi Oreskes performed a survey of research papers on climate change. Examining peer-reviewed papers published on the ISI Web of Science database from 1993 to 2003, she found a majority supported the "consensus view," defined as humans were having at least some effect on global climate change. Oreskes' work has been repeatedly cited, but as some of its data is now nearly 15 years old, its conclusions are becoming somewhat dated.

Medical researcher Dr. Klaus-Martin Schulte recently updated this research. Using the same database and search terms as Oreskes, he examined all papers published from 2004 to February 2007. The results have been submitted to the journal Energy and Environment, of which DailyTech has obtained a pre-publication copy. The figures are surprising.

Of 528 total papers on climate change, only 38 (7%) gave an explicit endorsement of the consensus. If one considers "implicit" endorsement (accepting the consensus without explicit statement), the figure rises to 45%. However, while only 32 papers (6%) reject the consensus outright, the largest category (48%) are neutral papers, refusing to either accept or reject the hypothesis. This is no "consensus."

The figures are even more shocking when one remembers the watered-down definition of consensus here. Not only does it not require supporting that man is the "primary" cause of warming, but it doesn't require any belief or support for "catastrophic" global warming. In fact of all papers published in this period (2004 to February 2007), only a single one makes any reference to climate change leading to catastrophic results.

These changing viewpoints represent the advances in climate science over the past decade. While today we are even more certain the earth is warming, we are less certain about the root causes. More importantly, research has shown us that -- whatever the cause may be -- the amount of warming is unlikely to cause any great calamity for mankind or the planet itself.

Indeed, the insistence that there was a consensus in the IPPC's report was in a section not written by scientists – it was written by politicians and bureaucrats. And the sections written by the scientists are edited to conform with the conclusion – in other words, the politicians and bureaucrats throw out what doesn't fit with a conclusion that is written and published before the actual research chapters.

In other words, the tail wags the dog.

And there is no consensus in favor of catastrophic global warming – cause by man or otherwise.

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Probably not -- after all, they want to grab your guns, and the mere fact that these police officers and city officials violated Virginia law and the Second Amendment won't bother them a bit.

More than 100 gun-rights advocates, most carrying handguns on their hips and wearing buttons saying "Guns Save Lives," came to the City Council on Tuesday night to protest what they called harassment of law-abiding gun owners by city officials.

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The protest was called by the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun-rights group, after Chet Szymecki of Yorktown was arrested in June at Harborfest for carrying a gun.

Szymecki was arrested for violating a city ordinance banning guns at Harborfest - an ordinance that officials now acknowledge violates state law. City Attorney Bernard A. Pishko said city officials were unaware of a state law prohibiting localities from banning guns.

Carrying a weapon openly is legal in Virginia, even at a large gathering such as Harborfest. Once city officials realized their error, the charges against Szymecki were dropped.

"We made a mistake," Councilman Barclay C. Winn said. "It was unintentional."

Most who came to protest didn't appear to believe it was an innocent mistake.

"You know it was illegal," said Dave Vann, who drove from Falls Church to speak. "You arrested someone, and now it's going to cost you dearly."

Szymecki, a Navy veteran, said he was manhandled and hurt and that his wife, Deborah, his three children and two other children who accompanied them were traumatized. He said he has hired Norfolk attorney Stephen Merrill.

An emotional Deborah Szymecki told the council that after several police officers were done handcuffing her husband, she was left without money or the keys to the family car.

Others rose to describe incidents in which they said they were questioned and often handcuffed by police for simply carrying a firearm openly.

"Apparently you have some officers who don't understand the law," said the president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Philip Van Cleave of Midlothian.

Most distressing is that one member of the city council, Paul R. Riddick, left the meeting rather than hear what mere citizens had to say on the issue of the police violating state law via their thuggish conduct in enforcing an illegal city ordinance. Such arrogance, of course, is why this incident was able to happen in the first place.

But then again, maybe we shouldn't expect protests by liberals and outraged coverage by the press over the violations of right and official arrogance in Virginia Beach. After all, these are loyal, law-abiding American citizens of a conservative bent whose rights have been violated -- and since they are not border-jumping immigration criminals or terrorist-affiliated enemy combatants, their rights will not be seen as relevant by reporters or leftards.

Posted by: Greg at 10:17 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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This fits a certain MSM pattern -- report an overblown charge as fact, then back off when it turns out there is no actual evidence to support the charge.

An internal investigation has found no evidence of heavy drinking or drunkenness among astronauts before space missions, NASA officials said Wednesday.

In a report summarizing the investigation, NASAÂ’s safety chief, the former astronaut Bryan D. OÂ’Connor, said that although stories had circulated about astronauts abusing alcohol before missions, nothing was found to support them.

“Within the scope and limitations of this review, I was unable to verify any case in which an astronaut spaceflight crewmember was impaired on launch day,” Mr. O’Connor wrote.

He also said he had found no evidence that managers had disregarded recommendations from flight surgeons or other crew members that an astronaut not be allowed to fly.

In the report, Mr. OÂ’Connor recommended that NASA remind its employees to report, either openly or using one of several anonymous reporting systems the agency has in place, any threat to a flightÂ’s safety, including alcohol abuse. The report also recommended improvements in the oversight role of flight surgeons on launching day.

“I am confident that there are reasonable safeguards in place to prevent an impaired crew member from boarding a spacecraft,” he said.

So the mention of two unverified reports in an earlier report was sufficient to tar the space agency as unconcerned with safety and irresponsible in its handling of personnel and machinery. But now that the stories have been shown to be nothing more than NASA urban legends, will the media give the sort of remedial coverage needed to repair NASA's image? I doubt it.

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I've had it.

I'm tired of seeing "community" abused.

It has been going on for years. We hear it all the time.

The black community.

The Jewish community.

The GLBT community

Fine, these are all groups of people who share some common trait, but do they really have the level of commonality and cohesion to be considered a "community? That can be argued either way, especially since the word has taken on an expanded meaning in recent years.

But tonight I heard the most egregious abuse of the word "community" that I've ever encountered.

On one of our local stations tonight, the reporter dutifully reported that a task force to study ways to decrease convenience store robberies included "representatives of the convenience store community".

Convenience store community?

What next -- Convenience Store-Americans?

Posted by: Greg at 04:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I've seen cheap shots before -- but exploiting this tragedy in this manner is inexcusable.

Bush Motorcade Kills Cop

What -- did the George W. Bush order his motorcade to speed up and run this law enforcement officer off the road? Was Dick Cheney laying down covering fire as they passed th cop?

No. Nothing of the sort.

What happened was that the officer lost control of his bike as the motorcade entered a parking garage, and was fatally injured in the performance of his duty. It was a tragic accident, notable to the national press only because the officer was one of the escorts of the presidential motorcade.

Should this story have been reported? Absolutely.

But is the headline irresponsible and misleading? You bet.

But you know the MSM motto -- never miss a cheap shot at the the President.

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Earlier this year, a sex-abuse scandal hit the Texas Youth Commission. At the same time (for unrelated reasons), the whining mother of a whining delinquent got a crew of race-baiters to demand her release -- and sparked the early release of a large number of juveniles thugs and criminals.

Care to guess what happened? It shouldn't be too hard.

Thirteen days after Howard McJunkin was paroled from a Texas Youth Commission facility for beating and raping an elderly woman in this East Texas town, authorities say he committed the same crime again.

McJunkin is one of 2,200 offenders the TYC rushed to release this year as part of an effort to drastically reduce the population of the scandal-plagued juvenile corrections system. Nearly one in five of those parolees — 408 — have been rearrested for committing new offenses, including McJunkin and 42 others for violent crimes, documents obtained by the Houston Chronicle reveal.

While high recidivism rates have long been a fact of life for TYC — 50 percent of parolees offend again within three years — the rapid rearrests of offenders released in a hurry this year has residents in this town of 25,000 demanding to know: Exactly who's getting out, and how are decisions being made?

* * *

While the Legislature this spring enacted a series of agency-wide reforms in an effort to address a sex abuse scandal, including closing TYC to offenders between the ages of 19 and 21 and those who committed misdemeanor offenses, they left untouched TYC's current criteria for paroling juveniles.

Staff who make parole decisions can consider neither the seriousness of an offender's original crime, nor his or her sentence, just the offender's behavior inside TYC.

Posted by: Greg at 10:03 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Yahoo has announced changes that might put it ahead of Google in the free email game.

Yahoo Inc. will introduce new features Monday for its popular Web-based e-mail program, including software that allows computer users to type text messages on a keyboard and send them directly to someone's cell phone.

The enhancements make it easier to send e-mail, instant messages or text messages from a single Web site — no need to launch or toggle between separate applications or devices. The features will be available to users in the United States, Canada, India and the Philippines.

The most obvious beneficiaries will be parents, who will be able to use their keyboards to type messages sent to their children's cell phones — no thumb-twisting typing on a dial pad, said Yahoo Vice President John Kremer.

"We're giving you the right way to connect at the right time with right person," said Kremer, whose two preteen sons vastly prefer text and instant messages to e-mail.

I'll be honest -- I don't text, because i don't like using the little keypad on my phone. This move could be enough to get me to start -- although I have become so wedded to my Gmail address that I can't imagine making the switch. So I guess I'll wait for Google to introduce the feature.

Posted by: Greg at 09:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Which I suppose could be beneficial if you have the technical skill to do it and the willingness to risk screwing up a $600 cell phone.

A teenager in New Jersey has broken the lock that ties AppleÂ’s iPhone to AT&TÂ’s wireless network, freeing the most hyped cell phone ever for use on the networks of other carriers, including overseas ones.

George Hotz, 17, confirmed Friday that he had unlocked an iPhone and was using it on T-MobileÂ’s network, the only major U.S. carrier apart from AT&T that is compatible with the iPhoneÂ’s cellular technology.

While the possibility of switching from AT&T to T-Mobile may not be a major development for U.S. consumers, it opens up the iPhone for use on the networks of overseas carriers.

Why do I have a feeling that this kid will one day be able to write his own ticket to do anything he wants in a technical field of some sort?

Or that he will one day own us all?

Posted by: Greg at 02:14 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Kudos to Don Surber for pointing out these little details about America's crime rates and those of "more civilized" socialist nations with lots of gun control and fewer jail cells.

In 2006, Norway had 86.3 crimes reported for every 1,000 people, according to Statistics Norway.

In the United States, reported crimes were 39.8 per 1,000 people, according to the FBI.

The violent crime rates are similar: 5.5 per 1,000 people in Norway, 4.7 per 1,000 people in the United States.

No, for violent crime, one has to head north to Canada, where there are 9.5 violent crimes for every 1,000 people. That figure is down 5 percent from 1996. The numbers are from Statistics Canada.

That's double the violent crime rate in the United States.

I agree with Don on his key point -- our crime rates are low because we imprison (and, might I add, execute) criminals. I think the comparisons make it clear how the more the "humane and compassionate systems" of these nations with lower incarceration rates impact the lives of law-abiding citizens.

Posted by: Greg at 11:32 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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They are unsightly and look moronic -- but I'm sorry, any government that has nothing better to do than outlaw this fashion trend simply needs to close up shop and disband. Any politician who has nothing better to do than propose such a law needs to resign.

Baggy pants that show boxer shorts or thongs would be illegal under a proposed amendment to Atlanta's indecency laws. The amendment, sponsored by city councilman C.T. Martin, states that sagging pants are an "epidemic" that is becoming a "major concern" around the country

"Little children see it and want to adopt it, thinking it's the in thing," Martin said Wednesday. "I don't want young people thinking that half-dressing is the way to go. I want them to think about their future."

The proposed ordinance would also bar women from showing the strap of a thong beneath their pants. They would also be prohibited from wearing jogging bras in public or show a bra strap, said Debbie Seagraves, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia.

The proposed ordinance states that "the indecent exposure of his or her undergarments" would be unlawful in a public place. It would go in the same portion of the city code that outlaws sex in public and the exposure or fondling of genitals.

So let's get this straight -- not only do you want personal areas covered, but you also want require the covering of the clothing that covers these areas. What next? Will you outlaw "going commando"?

Posted by: Greg at 10:53 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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You are the head of an agency that
1) put out incorrect information;
2) tried to hide the error;
3) tried to deny those who question your conclusions access to government data; and
4) refused to publicize the fact that your conclusions were wrong after revising your conclusion.

What do you have to say about those who were right when they irrefutably proved you to have made a serious scientific error?

The real deal is this: the 'royalty' controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil [sic], automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children. The court jesters are their jesters, occasionally paid for services, and more substantively supported by the captains' disinformation campaigns.

No mea culpa.

No thanks to those who advanced scientific accuracy.

Instead we see condemnation of those who advanced us closer to the truth on the basis of their alleged nefarious agenda and connections -- and a refusal to admit that the basis for your conclusions has been seriously undercut.

I have to ask -- given such clear intellectual dishonesty, why is James Hansen, head of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, still on the government payroll. After all, he is clearly manipulating the data to reach a preconceived conclusion that supports his policy preferences based upon his adherence to the cult of man-made global warming.

H/T Fumento

Posted by: Greg at 09:18 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The government sees it as a way to ensure that minors are not being sexually exploited. Porn producers worry that it is a way to regulate and harass their industry.

Ron Jeremy, Jenna Jameson - get ready to stand and be counted.

The Department of Justice wants to come up with an official list of every porn star in America - and slap stiff penalties on producers who don't cooperate.

The new rules, proposed under the Adam Walsh Child Safety and Protection Act, would require blue-movie makers to keep photos, stage names, professional names, maiden names, aliases, nicknames and ages on file for the inspection of the department's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.

"The identity of every performer is critical to determining and ensuring that no performer is a minor," according to the new proposal.

The adult film industry plans to challenge the new rule as a violation of the First Amendment, said Paul Cambria, a lawyer for Hustler and other adult film companies.

He sees it as a way to harass legitimate stag-film producers.

"If they can't get you for obscenity, they'll get you for violating record-keeping," he said. Such a violation would carry a five-year penalty.

It does raise some interesting questions, especially when one deals with the internet. After all, who will be responsible for keeping the records -- the original producer, a website owner, or the person who posts the picture? Will this record keeping law become the equivalent of the tax evasion statute used to put away Al Capone? And ultimately, how far will the US government be able to go in imposing requirements on foreign producers of porn? These are interesting questions from a First Amendment standpoint.

However, the question that impacts me more directly is this -- will it help stop the flood of comment spam from porn sites that I have to deal with daily on this blog?

Posted by: Greg at 10:47 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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You know, the scientific issues may be much less complicated than the moral, ethical, and legal issues that go along with this scientific advance.

Around the world, a handful of scientists are trying to create life from scratch and they're getting closer.

Experts expect an announcement within three to 10 years from someone in the now little-known field of "wet artificial life."

"It's going to be a big deal and everybody's going to know about it," said Mark Bedau, chief operating officer of ProtoLife of Venice, Italy, one of those in the race. "We're talking about a technology that could change our world in pretty fundamental ways — in fact, in ways that are impossible to predict."

That first cell of synthetic life — made from the basic chemicals in DNA — may not seem like much to non-scientists. For one thing, you'll have to look in a microscope to see it.

"Creating protocells has the potential to shed new light on our place in the universe," Bedau said. "This will remove one of the few fundamental mysteries about creation in the universe and our role."

And several scientists believe man-made life forms will one day offer the potential for solving a variety of problems, from fighting diseases to locking up greenhouse gases to eating toxic waste.

Now scientists expect that artificial lifeforms will have short lifespans and will be unable to escape controlled settings and take over like in a sci-fi flick. However, this begs the question of how far such research should be taken -- after all, might more durable life forms eventually be created? What is their status? And should the secrets of life itself be proprietary information?

Ultimately, the question becomes very basic -- is there a place where our science should not go?

Posted by: Greg at 10:38 PM | Comments (23) | Add Comment
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Even if I didn't know folks involved with this mission (and being under 5 miles from JSC, it would be hard not to know someone involved in it), I'd recognize that this decision is one with no room for error. That's why I'm surprised by this report.

Experiments conducted last night at NASAÂ’s Johnson Space Center in Houston indicated that temperatures inside a gouge on the underside of the space shuttle Endeavour were not likely to become dangerously hot during reentry.

Coupled with computer simulations that also indicated that the shuttleÂ’s aluminum frame would stay under 350 degrees Fahrenheit, mission managers may decide today to forgo any type of repair and allow Endeavour to fly home as is.

Officials have decided to delay a decision an extra day while analysis of the data continues.

Realizing that I am not a scientist, nor am I familiar with the data in question, I would hope that the final decision would be to add a space walk and make the repairs. NASA can ill-afford to lose the life of this brave crew, nor can it afford the damage that models indicate could occur without the repairs. Better to play it safe and preserve the space program than risk the loss of support that either of those two outcomes would likely cause.

Posted by: Greg at 02:24 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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My heart aches for those who die under tragic circumstances and their survivors. However, I'm troubled by a new trend that has developed in recent years -- the notion that the victims of such tragedies (or their families) are entitled to compensation from the government.

Virginia Tech will offer the families of the 32 students and faculty members slain by Seung Hui Cho a one-time payment of $180,000 from a fund created to receive private donations in the weeks after the April 16 massacre, the administrator of the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund said Wednesday.

The administrator, Kenneth R. Feinberg of Bethesda, said the university plans to distribute the entire $7.1 million fund to the families of those killed and to the 27 people wounded in Norris Hall.

Those who were wounded will receive $40,000 to $90,000 apiece, depending on the severity of their injuries, as well as free tuition at Virginia Tech.

"We are hopeful this effort can continue the healing process for those most grievously touched by the April 16 tragedy," said Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger.

Some slain students' relatives, who plan to meet this weekend, appeared unimpressed by Feinberg's decision on distribution of the fund.

"It was expected. We've got to take a look at it and decide if there is going to be a response or not," said Joseph Samaha of Centreville, whose daughter Reema was killed in Norris Hall.

Now the charitable response to this tragedy was touching, and the desire of so many folks to help was admirable. But the families involved want more. And that is a response that troubles me deeply.

Why, exactly, does the state of Virginia owe the victims anything? Can the state of Virginia really be said to be responsible for the acts of a madman? I simply do not believe that it is. And the mere fact that the state has deep pockets is not a sufficient cause to demand compensation.

Posted by: Greg at 02:00 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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This is, dare I say it, among the most pathetic things I have ever heard of.

In the last few months, bottled water — generally considered a benign, even beneficial, product — has been increasingly portrayed as an environmental villain by city leaders, activist groups and the media. The argument centers not on water, but oil. It takes 1.5 million barrels a year just to make the plastic water bottles Americans use, according to the Earth Policy Institute in Washington, plus countless barrels to transport it from as far as Fiji and refrigerate it. ...

Dave Byers, 65, from Silver Spring, Md., discussed the issue with his wife, Pat, on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on a 90-degree Saturday. “I think it should be banned, actually,” he said of bottled water.

Now, according to to this piece at Reason's Hit & Run blog, we use 20 million barrels of oil a day.

And if we take accepted figures that water bottles make up a whopping .02% of our oil consumption and plastic bags consume .16% of our oil, that makes up les than two-tenths of one percent of our oil consumption.

Assuming such bans would not require shifting to products that would consume any of the oil saved (a brainless assumption -- but hey, let's humor the acolytes of the cult of man-made global warming), that means our daily oil savings would be a whole 36 thousand barrels of oil a day -- or a bit over 13.1 million barrels of oil a year. In other words, the savings is less than 2/3 of one day's oil consumption. The total savings would have been consumed by the American public by 3:47 PM on January 1.

Yeah. Great job, folks.

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Well, looks like Don Imus is making all the right steps to get himself back on the air.

First, he settles with CBS.

The voice of Don Imus could resurface somewhere on the radio dial as soon as this fall, after Mr. Imus and CBS announced that they had settled the remaining differences about his firing in April over remarks deemed insensitive to women and blacks.

Neither Martin Garbus, the lawyer representing the radio host, nor CBS, which owns WFAN, the AM station that had been the flagship for his morning talk show, would comment on the terms of their agreement, citing a confidentiality clause. Mr. Imus was due to be paid nearly $40 million over the almost four years that remained on his contract.

While some Imus associates suggested yesterday that his final payment was at least $20 million, Karen Mateo, a spokeswoman for CBS Radio, characterized that figure as too high.

Now he is trying to get hired somewhere else.

Because so much of the radio spectrum has been carved up by conglomerates, the list of broadcasters that could offer Mr. Imus the possibility of a flagship in New York, as well as a syndicated network of affiliates, is relatively short. There is Citadel Broadcasting, which owns WABC-AM in New York, but to install Mr. Imus in the morning, it would have to bump “Curtis and Kuby,” a relatively popular talk show. Steve Borneman, president and general manager of WABC, said yesterday that he was happy with “Curtis and Kuby” and that neither he nor anyone else at his company had spoken with Mr. Imus or his representatives.

Another possibility is Clear Channel, but many of its New York stations also have popular morning shows, including WLTW-FM, a light music outlet that is among the most lucrative in the nation, and WHTZ-FM, better known as Z100, which plays pop music.

WOR, an AM station in New York owned by Buckley Broadcasting, is also a possibility. But like any other potential employer, WOR would have to support the salary that Mr. Imus is seeking, believed to be in the range of $8 million or more a year.

Personally, I look for him to end up on a satellite gig like Howard Stern.

But this doesn't end the legal issues for Imus.

Don Imus is facing his first lawsuit from a player on the Rutgers Women's Basketball team for derogatory comments that cost him his job as a radio host in April, ABC News has learned.

Kia Vaughn, star center for the Rutgers Women's Basketball team, has filed a lawsuit against Imus for libel, slander and defamation -- the first civil suit to be filed against the former radio host. Vaughn is asking for monetary damages of an unspecified amount.

"This is a lawsuit in order to restore the good name and reputation of my client, Kia Vaughn," said her attorney, Richard Ancowitz, in an exclusive interview with the ABC News Law & Justice Unit.

The suit names Imus individually, but it is also waged against MSNBC, NBC Universal, CBS Radio, CBS Corp., Viacom Inc., Westwood One Radio and Imus producer Bernard McGuirk.

Today's suit refers to terms used by Imus April 4 -- including referring to women on the team as "nappy headed" -- as "debasing, demeaning, humiliating, and denigrating" to Vaughn and her fellow players. "There's no way these bigoted remarks should have seen the light of day," Ancowitz told ABC News.

"Don Imus referred to my client as an unchaste woman. That was and is a lie."

I don't see this case as having any real merit.

First, given the ubiquitous nature of the word "ho" in contemporary culture in contexts not referring to prostitution, I don't know that there would be a showing that Imus actually impugned the young lady's morality.

Second, given the public support Vaughn and her teammates received from the American public, I don't believe she can actually show damages.

Third, given that the statements were made the day after she appeared in the national championship game, it could reasonably be argued that Vaughn was a public figure, requiring her to meet a higher burden in any libel, slander, or defamation action under the doctrine enunciated by the Supreme Court in the Sullivan case back in the 1960s.

If Imus is smart, however, he will quickly approach Vaughn and her teammates and settle this case quickly --because it is the decent thing to do and would indicate some sort of contrition on his part.

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Posted by: Greg at 03:57 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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There really is no debate in my eyes. The basic argument is spelled out in the opening paragraph.

Over the strong objection of federal safety officials, a quiet movement to lower the legal drinking age to 18 is taking root as advocates argue that teenagers who are allowed to vote and fight for their country should also be able to enjoy a beer or two.

Forget the statistics and the arguments about alcoholism and drunk driving. When we are telling ADULTS that they are responsible enough to enter a binding contract, marry, fight, and vote, but not to drink a beer, we have crossed the line into absurdity.

Besides, I this argument is really a dangerous one.

James C. Fell, a former federal highway safety administrator who is a senior researcher on alcohol policy with the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, acknowledged that “it’s not a perfect law. It doesn’t totally prevent underage drinking.”

But Fell said the age restriction “does save lives. We have the evidence.”

But if that is the case, why stop at 21? Why not raise the drinking age still higher -- 25, perhaps, or maybe even 30? After all, that would make it still harder for young people to get alcohol, and cut down (in theory) on alcohol abuse and deaths among those who are younger and less responsible. Heck, why not raise the drinking age to 50, and cut the fatalities still further?

Well, because of what we know from the Prohibition era. Prohibition does not really work. Treating adults like children will only lead to contempt for the law and its massive violation.

Sort of like what the statistics show with the current drinking age laws.

The federal governmentÂ’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that in 2005, the most recent year for which complete figures are available, 85 percent of 20-year-old Americans reported that they had used alcohol.

Yeah -- really effective. What these laws have done is made 85% of our young people into criminals -- and bred contempt for the law in general.
But in my mind, it all comes back to the initial argument-- and absurdities like the one that I see going on now in my own neighborhood.

A kid on the block is in boot camp, having just graduated from high school in May. He's getting married when he finishes basic training in a couple of weeks. He and his new wife are going to buy a house that her grandmother owns (he is in the reserves). They can do all of these things without parental permission.

But at their wedding reception, their parents will need to be present for them to be allowed to have their champagne toast.

Where is the logic in that?

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Posted by: Greg at 02:43 AM | Comments (257) | Add Comment
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And we are under a tropical storm watch.

A tropical depression in the central Gulf of Mexico is churning toward South Texas today, its bands of thunderstorms expected to dump heavy rain in southeast Texas and along other parts of the coast beginning tonight, forecasters said.

Given that we are a foot ahead of normal in rainfall totals, it will be interesting to see where the water goes.

Posted by: Greg at 01:21 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And the argument here could clearly be used to enable the prosecution of those who leak national security secrets to papers like the New York Times and Washington Post.

Five reporters must testify about their law enforcement sources in a former Army scientistÂ’s lawsuit against the Justice Department, a federal judge in Washington ruled yesterday.

The suit, filed by Steven J. Hatfill, a bioterrorism expert, contends that the government violated the federal Privacy Act by providing journalists with information about him in the F.B.I.Â’s investigation of the deadly anthrax mailings in 2001.

The reporters — Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman of Newsweek; Allan Lengel of The Washington Post; Toni Locy, formerly of USA Today; and James Stewart, formerly of CBS News — have acknowledged receiving information from the Justice Department and the F.B.I. about Dr. Hatfill, the judge, Reggie B. Walton, wrote in his decision yesterday. But they have refused to name their sources.

Judge Walton, of the Federal District Court in Washington, said Dr. Hatfill was entitled to the sources’ names because “the information sought is clearly central to his Privacy Act claims.”

“Denying civil litigants access to the identity of government officials who have allegedly leaked information to reporters would effectively leave Privacy Act violations immune from judicial condemnation,” Judge Walton wrote, “while leaving potential leakers virtually undeterred from engaging in such misbehavior.”

Look at the quote from Judge Walton's ruling. It is no great logical leap to argue that denying federal prosecutors access to the identity of government officials who have allegedly leaked information to reporters would effectively leave Espionage Act violations immune from judicial condemnation while leaving potential leakers undeterred from engaging in such misbehavior.

We as a nation have to decide upon a simple question -- are journalists (however broadly or narrowly you want to define that term) subject to the same laws and obligations as other Americans? If they are, the notion of a press shield or a reporter's privilege undermines such a principle. A reporter with special knowledge of a crime must be obligated to cooperate with authorities -- and if, as journalists claim, that hinders their ability to get a story because folks are deterred from breaking the law, that is a positive impact of that practice.

A different take at Michelle Malkin & Captain Ed

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Posted by: Greg at 01:33 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Here's the headline.

Private Paddling Club Faces Congressional Ire

Fix in your mind what you believe the story may be about.

Now read the story.
more...

Posted by: Greg at 11:53 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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This one is put in the context of Guantanamo Bay, but I think there is a broader context to consider.

Is it ethical for a doctor to force-feed a prisoner on a hunger strike? An opinion piece in the Aug. 1 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association suggests doctors should refuse to force-feed detainees at Guantánamo Bay as long as the prisoners are capable of making rational choices. This month Dr. S. Ward Casscells, the new assistant secretary of Defense for health affairs, went to Guantánamo to "look at it with my own eyes," he told NEWSWEEK. Of the 355 detainees still in Gitmo, about 20 are on hunger strike at any one time, he says. Prisoners who skip nine straight meals go under "observation"; the forced feeding usually begins when they dip 15 percent beneath their ideal weight. (Overeating is actually a problem at Gitmo; Casscells says many prisoners take drugs for diabetes and high cholesterol.)

Now the information about Gitmo prisoners is interesting, but not relevant here. The bigger question is what we should do, as a society, about hunger strikers.

My answer? Let them starve -- to death, if necessary.

And I don't just say that in regard to Gitmo terrorists -- I also mean that in regard to these folks.

Seriously -- if someone is going to threaten to go on a hunger strike, we should expect them to take it to the limit. No food, no water, no supplements. Indeed, it is morally incumbent for us to not interfere with their "courageous moral stand" to "speak truth to power" . Furthermore, we as a society should ridicule and despise anyone who quits a hunger strike short of receiving the goal for which they began it. After all, a three or four day fast is not a hunger strike, and neither is a "no solid food but I'll take smoothies and ice cream" demonstration like Cindy Sheehan did a while back.

Hunger strikes are supposed to be a non-violent demonstration of one's willingness to die for what one believes in. Claiming to be on a hunger strike while having anything short of such a commitment is simply publicity-seeking self-aggrandizement that merits contempt -- and outside interference with such an act of self-sacrifice is meddling with a fundamental right to individual autonomy.

Posted by: Greg at 08:59 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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What's that old line from John Lennon? I believe it is "Instant karma's gonna get you."

Well, seems to me that there might just be something to that in this case.

Turns out, even beheaded rattlesnakes can be dangerous.

ThatÂ’s what 53-year-old Danny Anderson learned as he was feeding his horses Monday night, when a 5-foot rattler slithered onto his central Washington property, about 50 miles southeast of Yakima.

Anderson and his 27-year-old son, Benjamin, pinned the snake with an irrigation pipe and cut off its head with a shovel. A few more strikes to the head left it sitting under a pickup truck.

“When I reached down to pick up the head, it raised around and did a backflip almost, and bit my finger,” Anderson said. “I had to shake my hand real hard to get it to let loose.”

Experts say it was a reflex action by the severed nerves. Gee, do ya think?

Posted by: Greg at 12:27 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I've long believed in wind power as a good source to meet a large part of electricity needs. For several years, there has been an effort to stop one project, though, because it might slightly mar the view of some fat-cats and pompous wind-bags in Massachusetts.

John Stewart tackled this issue on the Daily Show. It is one of the times that I actually do agree with him.

Please note the "horrific" impact on the view of the few that is undercutting the public good.

Posted by: Greg at 09:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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After all, the problem seems to be a design flaw from 1964, not anything the Bush administration did. I guess that there was just too much time and money being spent on Great Society programs to do the job right.

Investigators have found what may be a design flaw in the bridge that collapsed here a week ago, in the steel parts that connect girders, raising safety concerns for other bridges around the country, federal officials said today.

* * *

In Minneapolis, state transportation department officials seemed stunned by the sudden focus on the bridgeÂ’s gusset plates, which are the steel connectors used to hold together the girders on the truss of a bridge. On this bridge, completed in 1967, there would have been hundreds of them, officials here said.

Maybe the same liberals who blamed the Crusade Against Jihadists for the bridge collapse and demanded immediate surrender so we can focus on repairing infrastructure will show some intellectual integrity and demand a decrease in social spending for that purpose -- after all, the Johnson-era programs have shown much less success than the Surge in Iraq in accomplishing their goal.

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Posted by: Greg at 02:02 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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In fulfillment of a dream that was marred by tragedy over two decades ago, there is at last a teacher in space.

Space shuttle Endeavour blasted off Wednesday carrying teacher- astronaut Barbara Morgan, who after more than two decades is finally carrying out the dream of Christa McAuliffe and the rest of the fallen Challenger crew.

Endeavour and its crew of seven rose from the seaside pad at 6:36 p.m., right on time, and pierced a solidly blue sky. They're expected to reach the international space station in two days.

"Good luck, godspeed and have some fun up there," launch director Michael Leinbach said.

Morgan was McAuliffe's backup for Challenger's doomed launch in 1986 and, even after two space shuttle disasters, never swayed in her dedication to NASA and the agency's on-and-off quest to send a schoolteacher into space. She rocketed away in the center seat of the cabin's lower compartment, the same seat that had been occupied by McAuliffe.

More than half of NASA's 114 Teacher-in-Space nominees in 1985 gathered at the launch site, along with hundreds of other educators, all of them thrilled to see Morgan continue what McAuliffe began.

Also on hand was the widow of Challenger's commander, who said earlier in the day that she would be praying and pacing at liftoff and would not relax until Morgan was safely back on Earth in two weeks.

"The Challenger crew—my husband, Dick Scobee, the teacher Christa McAuliffe—they would be so happy with Barbara Morgan," said June Scobee Rodgers. "It's important that the lessons will be taught because there's a nation of people waiting, still, who remember where they were when we lost the Challenger and they remember a teacher was aboard."

I echo that last sentiment -- this is important, but I will not relax until the flight is over and the crew is safely on Earth again. I say that for Barbara Morgan, for the rest of teh crew, and for my many dear friends controlling the flight from Johnson Space Center, just five miles from where I am typing this blog entry.

And yet, I still cannot forget...

Posted by: Greg at 11:03 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I would have loved to be in the newsroom when they passed this paragraph around.

Police searched the home in the 600 block of York Avenue on July 28, looking for a list of items including blood, medical instruments, fingerprints, documents discussing medical procedures, computers, and testicles. Court documents show they seized three specimen jars, medical supplies, a camera, a computer CPU, and other items.

There is a real story attached to this, involving some serious crimes. Let's just say that at least one individual in this story is nuts -- and now doesn't have any.

H/T Captain Ed

Posted by: Greg at 08:24 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'd agree with the point, but point my finger at Al Gore, carbon bigfoot, and his merry band of jet-setting lib-ocrites who are doing the manipulation.

Former Vice President Al Gore said Tuesday that some of the world's largest energy companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp., are funding research aimed at disputing the scientific consensus on global warming as part of a campaign to mislead the public.

Sorry, but the misleading is being done by those who have a vested interest in making the cyclical increase in planetary temperature appear to be a crisis -- folks like carbon indulgense salesman Al Gore. As we continue to move out of an era known as "the little ice age", of course temperatures are going to rise.

And besides -- I can't help but remember the last time there was a consensus on a climatological crisis.

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Posted by: Greg at 07:51 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Seth Stevenson of Slate offers some choices.

Have you seen the advertisement for the new chocolate-flavored Altoids that features an explosion—presumably, a symbolic explosion of flavor—in the shape of a mushroom cloud? Of course I'm biased here, having been born and raised in Japan, but I find this advertisement extremely offensive and callous to the millions affected by the bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in WWII, which I perceive as something akin to genocide, two times over. What do you think? Am I wrong in thinking these ads should be withdrawn?
—K.O.

You don't have to look very far to find ads exploiting various tragedies. Last year's Chevy "This Is Our Country" spot was a twofer, with both 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina references. (By the way, I despised that ad.)

I understand how this Altoids spot could be offensive to some, but personally I don't have a huge problem with it. There's no specificity to the reference. I've actually visited Hiroshima and the Peace Memorial Museum, and I'm a little bit sensitized to the horrors that occurred there. But I've also seen lots of footage of random test detonations (like the ones at the end of Dr. Strangelove), so I don't necessarily connect an image of a mushroom cloud directly to the devastation that afflicted Japan.

Now, if the ad had shown people's eyeballs melting out, and the skin sloughing off their arms as they shrieked in ecstasy at the chocolate-y Altoids flavor ... that might have been offensive.

Personally, I've got a two-ad campaign that just annoys the crap out of me. Jack in the Box. Angus. 'Nuff said.

Posted by: Greg at 04:00 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I've written about Jack McClellan. He's an admitted pedophile who maintains a website about "girl love" that discusses watching -- but not touching -- little girls. McClellan has, as far as anyone can prove, never engaged in illegal behavior with a child. Now that is critical for what is to follow, for as disgusting as this guy is, he appears to have conformed his activities to within the restrictions of the laws. Indeed, the police even admit as much.

But Capt. Joe Gutierrez, commanding officer of the Special Victims Bureau of the L.A. County Sheriff's Office, told FOX News that complaints against McClellan were evaluated and he has not committed any crimes.

"Several citizens contacted us about his Web site," Gutierrez said. "There's no current criminal investigation."

Now a group of parents have gotten a judge to issue a restraining order against Jack McClellan -- one that, among other things, forbids him from being in a public place were there are likely to be children, forbids him to come within 10 feet of a child, and publishing material that is legal under California and federal law.

Indeed, noted conservative legal scholar Eugene Volokh (and blogger)finds this situation very troubling.

However, the breadth of the order raised some questions for 1st Amendment expert Eugene Volokh, who called it "more or less house arrest." Volokh, a UCLA law professor, said that restricting McClellan to 10 yards away from any child in California means "you can't go to the store, you can't walk down the street Â…. He can't go to court to challenge this. How can you be sure you can stay away from anyone 17 and younger?"

McClellan has no criminal record but he has spoken publicly about enjoying watching little girls. On his website — which is down — he had posted photographs he had taken of children and had rated venues for spotting little girls.

"They have an understandable worry this guy is going to do something bad," said Volokh. "But that's not enough. You need at least probable cause to believe some crime has been committed."

I happen to agree with that analysis. This order effectively strips McClellan of certain fundamental liberties guaranteed by the United States Constitution.

After all, the following activities are, in fact, legal.

1) Being in a public place where there are children present.
2) Advocating a change in social or political mores, no matter how unpopular that advocacy.
3) Photographing individuals in public places where no expectation of privacy applies.
4) Making non-commercial use of such photographs if one holds the copyright to them.

Indeed, as this restraining order is formulated, McClellan is effectively barred from leaving his home, and probably the only public place he is permitted to be is a bar.

This places grave and serious restrictions on his First Amendment rights.

1) His ability to speak is implicated (all you have to do to require him to stop speaking is bring a kid into his presence).

2) His freedom of the press is implicated (look at the limits placed upon his legal words and activities when it comes to publishing his thoughts and beliefs).

3) His freedom of religion is implicated (his attendance at any house of worship is effectively barred by this injunction).

4) His right to peaceably assemble is implicated (virtually every public place — including courtrooms, legislative chambers and government offices — are effectively closed to him because of the likelihood of children being present).

5) His right to petition the government for a redress of grievances is likewise restricted (see my point above).

Now there is a hearing on August 24 regarding whether or not to make this order permanent. However, as I point out above, Jack McClellan appears to be prohibited by this order from attending because of the likelihood that there will be children present at the courthouse or along his path there. This also means that his due process rights under the US Constitution are abrogated by the restraining order as well.

Why am I defending the Constitutional rights of this sick excuse of a man? Because the reality is that whatever restrictions are placed upon him will also be used to limit some of us.

I've written harshly about illegal immigration and jihadi Islam. Could someone make the argument that my statements show that I constitute a threat to Hispanics, and therefore get me barred from any public place where there might be Hispanics or Muslims? Could they get my liberty to write and publish my thoughts and beliefs on this website restricted? Under this precedent, yes they could. Indeed, if so-called hate-crime laws currently under consideration are passed, it is quite likely that some judge will act on behalf of some liberal interest group's attorney and declare that the beliefs I've expressed are illegal under those laws and subject to criminal sanction. I therefore take threats to the First Amendment rights of ANY American very seriously -- even those who I believe to be scum.

You see, my rights -- and the rights of every American -- are subject to exactly the same limits as are placed upon Jack McClellan. It is the same principle that I apply when I support the rights of Kluxers, Commies, and Nazis to speak freely -- absent criminal activity, they have a right to espouse beliefs and engage in activities that I abhor. The same is true of McClellan -- though I despise him and what he believes even more than I do those other evil folks. My rights, your rights, and his rights are identical in their extent -- and their limits.

Interestingly enough, over at Fascist Fred's Echo Chamber, we've got a goose-stepper and his vigilante mob arguing for a good old-fashioned lynching just on the general principle that McClellan says things that they find repugnant based upon their faux-patriotic, pseudo-Christian sense of outrage. What they do not recognize is this -- their expressed desire to murder the man makes them no different than Jack McClellan himself. Indeed, Fascist Fred and his lynch mob are worse.

Vigilante justice can be as wrong as wrong can get, innocent men and women have died in the name of vigilante justice, and as with anything else, mistakes can and have been made, but in the case of a SELF PROFESSED pedofreak that has empowered his kind and encouraged them and guided them in their quest to molest children, NO form of vigilante justice is too strong, too violent or too out of line to administer against this scumÂ…

I hope the authorities in Fascist Fred's area are monitoring his blog, and are taking appropriate actions to limit Fascist Fred's Second Amendment rights in the same fashion he is willing to abolish McClellan's First Amendment rights. After all, Fascist Fred is clearly a much more immediate danger to society than McClellan -- McClellan professes that he has and will continue to follow societies laws, despite his perverse desires, while Fascist Fred has indicated his intent to murder those who think and speak contrary to what he believes is proper AND likely broken the law by attempting to incite McClellan's murder.

Now, what can decent people do about Jack McClellan? They can do is be informed as to who this sick freak is, monitor his movements and make damn sure that he does not have the opportunity to harm a child. They can urge local businesses to ban him from the premises, and urge his landlord to break his lease. They can insist that the local cops keep Jack McClellan under observation. They can insist upon his arrest and prosecution in the event of ANY illegal activity, whether it relates to a child or not. And they can press for laws that more severely penalize real child sex abuse (not two teenagers having sex, like in Georgia, but sick freaks like McClellan). All of those actions are proper -- but those that imperil the Constitutional freedoms of ALL Americans are not, nor are acts of cold-blooded, premeditated murder.

Posted by: Greg at 05:01 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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I love kids -- but I can't understand why anyone would want 17. I can't even understand my cousin, who has 9 (and not a multiple birth among them). That said, I respect the right of this couple her to make this decision -- and respect the commitment they have to life and family.

It's a girl — again — for the Duggars. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar welcomed their 17th child, and seventh daughter, into the world Thursday.

Jennifer Danielle was born at 10:01 a.m. at Saint Mary's Hospital in Rogers, Ark., the Duggars said in an interview. Jennifer weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces and arrived five days after Michelle's due date.

Less than 30 minutes after giving birth, the Duggars already were talking of having more.

"We'd love to have more," Michelle said, adding that the girls are outnumbered seven to 10 in the family. "We love the ruffles and lace."

Jennifer joins the fast-growing Duggar brood, who live in Tontitown in a 7,000-square-foot home. All the children — whose names start with the letter J — are home-schooled.

The oldest is 19 and the youngest, before Jennifer, is almost 2 years old.

"We are just so grateful to God for another gift from him," said Jim Bob Duggar, 42, a former state representative. "We are just so thankful to him that everything went just very well."

Jennifer joins siblings Joshua, 19; John David, 17; Janna, 17; Jill, 16; Jessa, 14; Jinger, 13; Joseph, 12; Josiah, 11; Joy-Anna, 9; Jedidiah, 8; Jeremiah, 8; Jason 7; James 6; Justin, 4; Jackson, 3; Johannah, almost 2.

Congratulations and best wishes.

I wonder, though, if this cretin is going to comment again on the situation.

Posted by: Greg at 04:10 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'll be honest -- this sort of massive failure of a major bridge on an interstate highway left me assuming that we had seen a successful terrorist attack. However, the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis appears to be something else -- though exactly what is still not clear, even as the casualty report stands at 9 dead, 60 injured, and 20 missing.

The entire span of an interstate bridge broke into sections and collapsed into the Mississippi River during evening bumper-to-bumper traffic Wednesday, sending vehicles, concrete and twisted metal crashing into the water.

Hometown newspaper The Star-Tribune reported that nine people had been confirmed dead, 60 had been taken to hospitals and at least 20 remained missing early Thursday. The Associated Press put the number dead at seven so far.

Authorities said the death toll was expected to climb.

Asked about the possibility of finding more survivors, Fire Chief Jim Clack said, “The likelihood is fairly slim.”

"This will be a very tragic night when this is over," Mayor R.T. Rybak said.

Perhaps the most chilling part of the report for me is the statement that, after searching 50 cars, authorities assume that there are still more under water. I am quite thankful that the school bus that was on the bridge made it across in relative safety.

As one who used to regularly cross the Mississippi at St. Louis and who daily crosses the Houston Ship Channel, such a situation is among my worst nightmares.

To the people of the Minneapolis area, I send my prayers and best wishes. And to Stewart, Eric, and Michelle, old friends from grad school, I send my hopes that you and those you love are all right.

UPDATE: The death toll has been revised down to 4.

Posted by: Greg at 12:51 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Well, thanks to some Longhorns with too much time on their hands (no jokes, please), we now know there are at least 237 reasons.

Scholars in antiquity began counting the ways that humans have sex, but they weren’t so diligent in cataloging the reasons humans wanted to get into all those positions. Darwin and his successors offered a few explanations of mating strategies — to find better genes, to gain status and resources — but they neglected to produce a Kama Sutra of sexual motivations.

Perhaps you didnÂ’t lament this omission. Perhaps you thought that the motivations for sex were pretty obvious. Or maybe you never really wanted to know what was going on inside other peopleÂ’s minds, in which case you should stop reading immediately.

For now, thanks to psychologists at the University of Texas at Austin, we can at last count the whys. After asking nearly 2,000 people why they’d had sex, the researchers have assembled and categorized a total of 237 reasons — everything from “I wanted to feel closer to God” to “I was drunk.” They even found a few people who claimed to have been motivated by the desire to have a child.

The researchers, Cindy M. Meston and David M. Buss, believe their list, published in the August issue of Archives of Sexual Behavior, is the most thorough taxonomy of sexual motivation ever compiled. This seems entirely plausible.

But seriously, folks, is every bit or research really necessary? And how much taxpayer money went into this study?

I hear that the Aggies are going to get in the act next, doing a similar study that involves sheep....

Posted by: Greg at 02:09 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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