Full Moon

Full Moon, originally uploaded by aga18.

Full Moon

Shoot

A Boy Scout fell to his death in Yosemite National Park.

YOSEMITE — The Stanislaus County coroner's office has identified the 12-year-old Boy Scout from Modesto who died in Yosemite National Park after he wandered from his group Saturday.

Luis Alberto Ramirez died while hiking near Upper Yosemite Fall above Columbia Point, according to the coroner's office. Stanislaus County handles coroner's cases for Mariposa County.

My condolences to his family and friends.

Congratulations

To Josh Marshal and the gang at his Talking Points Media Empire. They won the George Polk award for media excellence. Here is Scott Horton at Harpers.

The George Polk awards remember a great CBS correspondent who died covering the Greek Civil War. They are, alongside the Pulitzer Prize, a recognition for the profession’s high achievers. Today Talking Points Memo, the team web effort led by Joshua Micah Marshall, has received a Polk Award for its coverage of the U.S. Attorneys Scandal. The award is well warranted, and TPM’s work on this front has been invaluable.

Of course, the Mukasey Justice Department recognized TPM in a different way. It declared the internet publisher persona non grata. That may be an equally significant badge of honor.

For most of the nation’s broadcast and print media, the announcements of a stream of resignations by U.S. attorneys across the country were not significant news. They were seen as routine personnel transitions. Marshall and his group are among the handful of people who quickly detected a pattern in the news and worked hard to bring the facts to the forefront. Notwithstanding a torrent of lies jushing from the Justice Department and the White House, they succeeded in laying bare a plan involving Attorney General Gonzales, White House Counsel Harriet Miers, and the President’s key political advisor, Karl Rove. Not coincidentally, all three have since left the Bush Administration. But the White House and Justice Department’s stonewalling continues. Indeed, it seems to get more melodramatic every week, as last week’s contretemps in the House showed.

Awesome!

Hikers Alex Obert and Steven McCay have been found and are fine. Also, Benjamin Davis thanks his rescuers.

Poverty Is Poison

Paul Krugman discusses poverty.

L. B. J. declared his “War on Poverty” 44 years ago. Contrary to cynical legend, there actually was a large reduction in poverty over the next few years, especially among children, who saw their poverty rate fall from 23 percent in 1963 to 14 percent in 1969.

But progress stalled thereafter: American politics shifted to the right, attention shifted from the suffering of the poor to the alleged abuses of welfare queens driving Cadillacs, and the fight against poverty was largely abandoned.

In 2006, 17.4 percent of children in America lived below the poverty line, substantially more than in 1969. And even this measure probably understates the true depth of many children’s misery.

Drat

There are more hikers missing in the White Mountains this time near Crawford Notch.

Fish and Game Department officials said Alex Obert, 30, and Steven McCay, 29, both of Arlington, Va., were planning to hike Presidential Traverse and exit at the Highland Center at the top of Crawford Notch on Sunday afternoon.[...]
The men are believed to be well equipped with good hiking experience.

Lets hope and pray they make it out like Benjamin Davis.

Katahdin

Katahdin, Andi, Dad, Tom, originally uploaded by cheflovesbeer.

There was a time I hiked barefoot. Heck, now I do not walk to the bathroom in the middle of the night without foot wear. My feet did not hurt back then. Now, they do. Go figure. The knees still hurt.

I ran into this blog barefoot hiker's journal. It reminded me of those years.

I have run into a fair number of barefoot hikers over the years. That is how I ended up hiking barefoot. Some have stuck out more than others. In 2006, I met a hiker named Tyvek. In 2001, there were the Barefoot Sisters. Who were very memorable.

I never actually met the Barefoot sisters on the trail. I was always a day or two behind them, saw their footprints for months. I met them the day after I summited Katahdin. They were the talk of the trail in 01.

Hike For Homeless Vets

Two Iraq war veterans are going to hike the Appalachian Trail to raise awareness and money for homeless veterans.

JAY - After a four-year commitment with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division that included a 15-month tour in Iraq, a North Jay man and his Army buddy will head to Georgia next month on another mission.

Only this time, former Sgts. Jarad Greeley, 25, and Marshall Berry, 28, of New Hampshire, will be raising awareness and resources for the nation's homeless veterans by through-hiking more than 2,000 miles of the Appalachian Trail to Maine in four to five months.

"This may seem like a long hike, but put into perspective with the number of homeless veterans that we are trying to help, (it) seems minor," Greeley said Friday afternoon at his home off Route 4 in North Jay.

I spent July, August, September, and part of October on the Appalachian Trail in 2006 and 2007. I did not see one Iraq veteran on the trail in 06. I did meet two helicopter pilots that had been shot down in Iraq. One was the brother of a ride from the trail. Another, I met at the Doyle hotel in Duncannon PA. In 07, I saw six or eight. I guess more are leaving the service. Some stats and contact info for those who want to help.

o help the nation's homeless veterans through the Appalachian Trail journey of Jarad Greeley of North Jay and Marshall Berry of New Hampshire, write to: The Homeless Veterans, P.O. Box 27, Jay, ME 04239, call 207-897-0900, or call Palmer Hebert of VFW Post No. 2335 in Jay at 897-2859.

By the Numbers

America's homeless veterans

400,000: Approximate amount of estimated homeless veterans in America, or 23 percent of the nation's homeless population

89: Percentage who received an honorable discharge

67: Percentage who served three or more years

47: Percentage who served during the Vietnam era

46: Percentage who are age 45 or older

17: Percentage who are post-Vietnam veterans

15: Percentage who are pre-Vietnam veterans

Source: National Coalition for Homeless Veterans

http://www.nchv.org/background.cfm

Too Little Too Late

The USDA and the FDA under republicans protect and support corporate profits. Not the food supply or American people.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A California meatpacker accused of animal cruelty is making the largest U.S. meat recall on record -- 143 million lbs, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Sunday.

Most of the meat, raw and frozen beef products, probably has already been consumed, said USDA officials at a briefing. Some 37 million lbs were bought for school lunches and other federal nutrition programs. USDA said there was only a minor risk of illness from eating the beef.

Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co voluntarily recalled all of its beef produced since February 1, 2006. USDA said Hallmark violated rules against the slaughter of "downer cattle" -- that is, animals too ill to walk.

"This is the largest beef recall in the history of the United States, unfortunately," said Agriculture Undersecretary Richard Raymond.

We Are Ruled By Corn

Micheal Pollan Talks about permaculture and the future of farming. It is quite an uplifting speech.Via Tree Hugger.

Old School

I remember when nascar used to race stock cars. That era is over now. They race something called the car of tomorrow. The NYT has a good article with great pictures.

This year’s 500, the 50th running of the race and the season opener for the Sprint Cup series, is the first of a new era in which a single car shape will be used by all teams at all races. The generic body, not related to any “stock” model in showrooms, was designed specifically for Nascar competition.

Called the Car of Tomorrow, its phase-in began last year in a program Nascar instituted to improve safety and reduce costs, admirable goals indeed. But its arrival also signals the probable end of fan loyalty to favorite cars; the battle front will be entirely under the hood, with the V-8 racing engines becoming the main difference among them. To tell a Fusion from an Impala or a Charger from a Camry, fans will have to read the lettering on the fenders.

It wasn’t always this way.

Good News

Benjamin Davis has been rescued!

FRANCONIA – A New Hampshire Army National Guard helicopter crew performed a daring operation to rescue a 28-year-old Boston man who got lost on Mount Lafayette yesterday, authorities said.

Lt. Todd Bogardus of New Hampshire Fish and Game said Benjamin Davis was safely plucked off the mountain around 5:30 p.m., after the hovering Black Hawk helicopter had lowered one Guardsman to the ground by cable to reach him. The team member then helped Davis into a rescue seat, and the two were hoisted into the helicopter.

Aw Shoot

Another hiker is missing near Franconia Notch. He was going to hike the same loop as Laurance Fredrickson and James Osbourne. Unlike Fredrickson and Osbourne, Benjamin Davis planned to spend the night. Lets hope he makes it out just fine.

Fish and Game officials say Davis is equipped for cold weather and has a tent and sleeping bag with him. An Army National Guard helicopter is assisting in the search, which is hampered by wind and blowing snow.

Who Controls the Machines

I do not know who made the voting machines in New York City. This is disturbing. Who counts the votes is more important than who votes.

In the Harlem district, for instance, where the primary night returns suggested a 141 to 0 sweep by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, the vote now stands at 261 to 136. In an even more heavily black district in Brooklyn — where the vote on primary night was recorded as 118 to 0 for Mrs. Clinton — she now barely leads, 118 to 116.

From the NYT. via Matt Yglesias.

Charm City's Finest

Ah, Baltimore's police force at work. It is good to see the police harasiing teenagers. It is not like they have anything better to do in Baltimore.

Sheeple

Every election there is some political adviser claiming some group is going to swing the election. You know soccer moms, nascar dads, or yuppies. Jon Swift has found the true swing group.

But this election is not going to be decided by RAMs or any of these other groups that pollsters and political consultants like to re-invent every election cycle. This election is going to be decided by the same people who decide every election. I call them Scared High-strung Easily-manipulated Egocentric Pinheads or SHEEP. SHEEP are flaky not particularly bright voters who make up their minds at the last minute and vote instinctively for whichever candidate promises them the most and frightens them the least. They are people like Betty Bukowsky, 49, who lives in Dinkytown, Minn., who told me, "There's a Presidential election this year?"

FISA

I am hoping the Democratic Party will not cave in the next couple of hours. It seems that they have adjourned so there will be no telecom immunity. Glenn Greenwald provides the analysis as always.

The issue is not "intelligence gaps." Rather, as McConnell candidly admits, the "real issue" is "liability protection for the private sector." To take them at their word, George Bush and Mike McConnell are putting the nation at risk in order to ensure that AT&T and Verizon do not have to be held accountable in a court of law for having broken the law. Think about how twisted and corrupt that calculus is.

One other vital point: The claim that telecoms will cease to cooperate without retroactive immunity is deeply dishonest on multiple levels, but the dishonesty is most easily understood when one realizes that, under the law, telecoms are required to cooperate with legal requests from the government. They don't have the option to "refuse." Without amnesty, telecoms will be reluctant in the future to break the law again, which we should want. But there is no risk that they will refuse requests to cooperate with legal surveillance, particularly since they are legally obligated to cooperate in those circumstances. The claim the telcoms will cease to cooperate with surveillance requests is pure fear-mongering, and is purely dishonest.

Special Comment

Keith Olbermann's special comment 2/14/08. He is on fire. Transcript at Crooks and Liars.

Horse Shoe Tournament

Lion King finds a horse shoe tournament in Hennepin IL.

Inter Dietary Relationships

Who knew it could be a problem worthy of the New York Times? It did contain this gem.

No-holds-barred carnivores, for example, may share the view of Anthony Bourdain, who wrote in his book “Kitchen Confidential” that “vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans ... are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit.”

More Diet Soda

Via Avedon at the Sideshow, we find out about a new study on aspartame. That stuff is nasty. It is made from phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and methanol. The study was done by someone that wanted to convince their family to stop drinking diet pepsi.

Canadian Drugs

Are not, oh wait, these are Chinese drugs. Well they must be safe. I mean, It is not like China would allow date rape drugs in children's toys, Oh wait, or lead paint in children's toys, oh wait. Why exactly is it ok to bring drugs from china but not Canada?

WASHINGTON — A Chinese factory that has not been inspected by the Food and Drug Administration is the source for the active ingredient of a critical blood-thinning drug whose production was suspended this week after 350 patients reported ill effects from it.

At least four people died after being given the drug, heparin.

An F.D.A. spokeswoman, Heidi Robello, said Wednesday that the agency was making plans to inspect the Chinese factory as well as a finishing plant in New Jersey “as soon as possible.”

She said that “it was yet to be determined” if the Chinese plant was the source of the problem that led to the spike in reports of problems with the drug’s use.

Electric Shirt

It does not produce as much energy as the knee brace but it is light. Using nano technology scientists have made a shirt that can produce electricity.

"The fiber-based nanogenerator would be a simple and economical way to harvest energy from the physical movement," Zhong Lin Wang of the Georgia Institute of Technology, who led the study, said in a statement.

The nanogenerator takes advantage of the semiconductive properties of zinc oxide nanowires -- tiny wires 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair -- embedded into the fabric. The wires are formed into pairs of microscopic brush-like structures, shaped like a baby-bottle brush.

One of the fibers in each pair is coated with gold and serves as an electrode. As the bristles brush together through a person's body movement, the wires convert the mechanical motion into electricity.

Mt. Lafayette

longwaydown, originally uploaded by Ben Kimball.

This was taken on January 21 of this year. Here is a nice article about Fredrickson and Osborne who were rescued near here on Monday.

Update: Good news Osborne's condition has been upgraded.

Vegan Strip Club

I am not sure there is a big market for vegan food in strip clubs. This has to be classy they "put their meat on the pole not on the plate." Via Tree Hugger.

End Of Civilization

Lake Mead and lake Powell could be empty in 13 years. No civilization can live without water. That is not to say Las Vegas is civilized.

Lake Mead, the vast reservoir for the Colorado River water that sustains the fast-growing cities of Phoenix and Las Vegas, could lose water faster than previously thought and run dry within 13 years, according to a new study by scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

The lake, located in Nevada and Arizona, has a 50 percent chance of becoming unusable by 2021, the scientists say, if the demand for water remains unchanged and if human-induced climate change follows climate scientists’ moderate forecasts, resulting in a reduction in average river flows.

Demand for Colorado River water already slightly exceeds the average annual supply when high levels of evaporation are taken into account, the researchers, Tim P. Barnett and David W. Pierce, point out. Despite an abundant snowfall in Colorado this year, scientists project that snowpacks and their runoffs will continue to dwindle. If they do, the system for delivering water across the Southwest would become increasingly unstable.

Maybe the housing bubble will slow things down. The speed of it seems to have caught the scientists off guard.

"We were stunned at the magnitude of the problem and how fast it is coming at us," notes Tim Barnett, a research physicist at Scripps who led the effort. By "dry," the team means that water levels fall so low behind the Hoover and Glenn Canyon Dams that the water fails to reach the gravity-fed intakes that guide it through turbines or out through spillways. In addition, the report estimates that the lakes stand a 50 percent chance of falling to the lowest levels required to generate electricity by 2017.

Last week, Dr. Barnett published additional work in the journal Science attributing 60 percent of the reduction in snowpack, rising temperatures, and reduced river flows over the past 50 years to global warming.

The latest work "not only shows that climate change is a real problem. It also shows it has direct implications for humans – and not just in the third world," says Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute in Oakland, Calif. The institute focuses on links between sustainable development and global security issues. "Even without climate change, we're taking too much water from the Colorado. So it's no surprise that if we continue to take too much, the reservoirs will go dry."

Perhaps the civilizations will go the way of the Anasazi. The Anasazi are the people that built the pueblos at Mesa Verdi National Park.

Franconia Notch Rescue

More on yesterdays rescue in the white mountains.

LINCOLN – The search teams that found two men atop a mountain in Franconia Notch had spent nearly six hours breaking trail to the summit, making their way through darkness, deep snow and howling winds.

Above treeline and near the 4,800-foot summit of Little Haystack, the seven-man rescue team found Laurence Frederickson, 55, of South Sutton and James Osborne, 36, of Manchester at about 7:30 p.m.

"They were right on the trail," said Fish and Game Lt. James Goss.

Conditions were difficult throughout the afternoon for the two-dozen searchers who made their way up two trails that were likely taken by Osborne and Frederickson.

But searchers caught a break, when after sunset, the freezing fog lifted and enabled a National Guard helicopter to land atop Little Haystack and bring the two men off the mountain.

There is more to the article.

Franconia Notch

IMG_4769.JPG, originally uploaded by abbybatchelder.

This was taken on the 8th of February this year.

Fried Food vs Diet Soda

It seems the fried food is less bad. Yesterday, I linked to this article about diet soda and Metabolic syndrome. Via kottke.org, I find that the more diet soda you drink the more overweight you are likely to be. Check this out from a curious girl.

A different study found that for each can of diet soda consumed each day, a person’s risk of obesity went up 41%. For regular soda drinkers, the risk of becoming overweight or obese was:

• 26% for up to 1/2 can each day
• 30.4% for 1/2 to 1 can each day
• 32.8% for 1 to 2 cans each day
• 47.2% for more than 2 cans each day.

For diet soda drinkers, the risk of becoming overweight or obese was:

• 36.5% for up to 1/2 can each day
• 37.5% for 1/2 to 1 can each day
• 54.5% for 1 to 2 cans each day
• 57.1% for more than 2 cans each day.

However, correlation does not imply causation. No study concludes that diet soda causes metabolic syndrome. Yet.

Writers Win

There are reports that the Writers Guild of America has won there strike against the huge TV and motion picture companies. The Carpet Bagger has a guest blogger and Guild member Thomas Cleaver, to discuss the strike.

And one of my favorite Utah Phillips songs. There Is Power In The Union

Physics Of NASCAR

The New York Times has an article about the physics of NASCAR.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — When Junior Johnson entered the Daytona 500 in 1960, he’d already achieved fame in two careers — first as a moonshiner who kept outrunning federal agents, then by applying those skills to win stock-car races.

Now he was ready for a new career as an “intuitive physicist,” a term borrowed from Diandra Leslie-Pelecky, who teaches nonintuitive physics at the University of Nebraska.

Johnson was stuck driving an old Chevrolet that was slower than the Pontiacs at Daytona that year. But in practice he discovered that he could keep up with a Pontiac if he stayed close to its rear bumper. He suspected, as he put it, that “the air was creating a situation, a slipstream type of thing.”

Just in time for this years Daytona 500.

White Mountains

As an Appalachian Trail hiker you are constantly told about the dangers of the White Mountains. I can not imagine going up them in the winter. But two hikers did this weekend, unfortunately one died and the other fighting for his life.

FRANCONIA NOTCH, N.H.—One of the missing hikers found in frigid Franconia Notch (New Hampshire) has died and the second is fighting for his life.

more stories like this

Fish and Game said 55-year-old Laurence Fredrickson of South Sutton was pronounced dead on arrival at Littleton Regional Hospital Monday night. Thirty-six-year-old James Osborne of Manchester is reported in critical condition.

My condolences to the family and friends of Laurence Fredrickson. Lets pray James Osborne makes it through.

McCain

No you cant

Go John Go!

It seems Bush has pissed off John Conyers enough that he is considering impeachment hearings. Nicolle Belle at Crooks and Liars.

On Thursday, Chairman John Conyers’ House Judiciary Committee held a hearing at which Attorney General Michael Mukasey said that he would not investigate torture (video) or warrantless spying (video), he would not enforce contempt citations (video), and he would treat Justice Department opinions as providing immunity for crimes (report).

None of this was new, but perhaps it touched something in Conyers that had not been touched before. Following the hearing, he and two staffers met for an hour and 15 minutes with two members of Code Pink to discuss impeachment.

If you want to contact him to push him in the right direction.

Let’s push Conyers over the edge by flooding his office with phone calls, faxes, and Emails on Monday and Tuesday. Let him know that only impeachment hearings

1-will make it on TV,
2-will force compliance with subpoenas by eliminating “executive privilege”,
3-will hold brazen criminals accountable, and
4-will convince voters that Democrats care about the Constitution.
Call 202-225-5126
Fax 202-225-0072
Email john.conyers@mail.house.gov

It Is Best To Have Principles

Krugman:

But most of all, progressives should realize that Nixonland is not the country we want to be. Racism, misogyny and character assassination are all ways of distracting voters from the issues, and people who care about the issues have a shared interest in making the politics of hatred unacceptable.

One of the most hopeful moments of this presidential campaign came last month, when a number of Jewish leaders signed a letter condemning the smear campaign claiming that Mr. Obama was a secret Muslim. It’s a good guess that some of those leaders would prefer that Mr. Obama not become president; nonetheless, they understood that there are principles that matter more than short-term political advantage.

I’d like to see more moments like that, perhaps starting with strong assurances from both Democratic candidates that they respect their opponents and would support them in the general election.

Obama Beats Clinton

For a Grammy. It was Obama's second Grammy in the spoken word category. He also beat Jimmy Carter and Maya Angelou.

Obama on Sunday won the spoken word Grammy for the audiobook version of his blockbuster tome "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream." It marked his second statuette, following a win in 2006 for "Dreams From My Father," an audiobook for a memoir first published in 1995.

Corruption In Alabama

The US Attorney's office in Alabama has lost its bearings. Scott Horton at Harper's has been Documenting the atrocities.

If we had to pick one state in the nation where these evil tendencies are most obviously on display, then certainly it is Alabama, home to the nation’s highest profile and most abusive political prosecution. A major television network will shortly be exposing a number of lurid details surrounding the Siegelman case which point to corruption inside of the Justice Department. I have formed the view that the corruption on the prosecutorial side of the ledger greatly outweighs the corruption charged against the defendants in the Siegelman matter. The corruption inside of the Justice Department is exhibited on several different levels:

• The politicization of the U.S. attorney’s office
• The process of “targeting” political victims
• The corrupt manipulation of evidence
• The process of working to secure convictions through collaboration with “friendly” media

Also, Scott on what makes a prosecution political.

A Little Strange

It is not important how the people vote. It is important to count the votes. However, the saying goes. In Washington last night the GOP count sat at 17% for hours before they started counting again. then the GOP started, then stopped at 87%. I thought for a while Ron Paul was going to beat McCain before they slowed the counting.
Update: Huckabee has lawyered up.

Really Long Distance Hiking

Daren Wendell Plans to walk around the world. A hike of some 18,000 miles.

Wendell begins his journey in March, hiking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, then hopping the Atlantic to pick up his trek in Europe. He will traverse southern Europe and hike his way through China, making the Great Wall part of the adventure. Into Siberia, bounding over the Bering Sea, wandering through Alaska, Wendell will finish out the final 2,075 miles walking west to east, eventually landing back at the start of the Appalachian Trail in northern Georgia.

He has a web site complete with blog so you know I will read that. I wish him the best of luck.

Mix 11 languages, 18,000 miles, 7 years, 3 continents, 17 times zones, 14 countries, 36 million steps, one man, a backpack and a dream and you get The Earth Expedition. A mans dream to walk the worlds continents on nothing but two feet. Since 2006 Daren Wendell has been planning, saving, reading, researching, and training for The Earth Expedition; a dream that he have committed many years to accomplish. “I am drawn to challenge and what people say I cannot do. I’m attracted to risk; I’m attracted to the unexpected, attracted to new people, new languages, new cultures, and new places. People always ask me the question Why? I guess I should have a pretty good answer for this question considering I will be answering it for the next 8 years of my life. There are many reasons why:

Diet Soda Bad

The New York Times is reporting that drinking just one can of diet soda a day is bad for you.

Researchers have found a correlation between drinking diet soda and metabolic syndrome — the collection of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes that include abdominal obesity, high cholesterol and blood glucose levels, and elevated blood pressure.

If you want to drink something with no sugar and no fat try regular soda. No seriously! Read the label. Major soda brands(coke, pepsi, Mt. lightning, Dr Thunder, etc.) do not have sugar or fat. I am not saying that high fructose corn syrup is good. I am saying that just because something does not have fat or sugar means it is good.

Strange

I do not remember this from around new years.

Alabama woman whose body was found outside her locked SUV in a parking near a hiking trail died of hypothermia after being unable to reach her keys inside.The body of Sandra Ordner, 47, of Daphne, Alabama, Ala., was found on Jan. 31 hours after she had phoned home to tell her husband she was going hiking.

Why did she not try to break in?

She was found next to the passenger side and smudges could be seen on windows of her Land Rover. No rocks or sticks were found near the SUV that would indicate an attempt at breaking the window. Rain began to fall at 6 and later fell below freezing.

What happened between 9:00 am phone call and 6:00 pm rain? It was only a two mile hiking loop.

Canadian Health Care

Some myths busted by Sara Robinson.

I'm both a health-care-card-carrying Canadian resident and an uninsured American citizen who regularly sees doctors on both sides of the border. As such, I'm in a unique position to address the pros and cons of both systems first-hand. If we're going to have this conversation, it would be great if we could start out (for once) with actual facts, instead of ideological posturing, wishful thinking, hearsay, and random guessing about how things get done up here.

To that end, here's the first of a two-part series aimed at busting the common myths Americans routinely tell each other about Canadian health care. When the right-wing hysterics drag out these hoary old bogeymen, this time, we need to be armed and ready to blast them into straw. Because, mostly, straw is all they're made of.

Read it all.

Biofuels

We need to get the word out that biofuels are not the solution. What happened was the gas companies saw a lot of government welfare, then bribed congress(in campaign contributions) to keep the welfare going. There is an exception to this. If you make your biofuels from used cooking oil. It is taking a waste product and reusing it. From the NYT.

Together the two studies offer sweeping conclusions: It does not matter if it is rain forest or scrubland that is cleared, the greenhouse gas contribution is significant. More important, they discovered that, taken globally, the production of almost all biofuels resulted, directly or indirectly, intentionally or not, in new lands being cleared, either for food or fuel.

Plus it raises the price of beer.

Charger

Scientists have invented a knee brace that generates electricity when you walk. If it is light enough you will see these on long distance hikers. Hikers are carryind cell phones, mp3 players, cameras, and who knows what other devices in the future.

"It generates a fairly substantial amount of power compared to previous devices and it does so in a way that doesn't affect the user very much," Kuo said in a telephone interview.

"You could easily power 10 cell phones at once. There are some low power computers that you could power. You could imagine devices like GPS locaters, satellite phones," he said.

With a device placed on each leg, volunteers walking on treadmills generated about 5 watts of electricity walking at a leisurely 2.2 mph (3.5 kph). Each of the devices weighs about 3.5 pounds (1.6 kg), which Kuo said was still too unwieldy.

"Even though we've demonstrated this new way to generate power, we don't mean to say this is a usable product at this time. The principal limitations are that our prototype is pretty heavy and bulky," Kuo said, adding that he thinks it can be made smaller and more practical.

Jimmy Johnson

Nascar champion Jimmy Johnson visited the Oval Office. Steve Benen has the details and great commentary.

* And finally, Jimmie Johnson, a NASCAR driver, got a chance to meet the president at the White House recently, but thought the Oval Office was just for show. “[Y]ou can tell that’s not the office he really works in,” Johnson said. “It’s way too clean. There isn’t a paper on the desk. There isn’t a computer on the desk. And I’d really like to see his spot. Obviously there are things that are done in that office, but I want to see the spot. I want to see how messy this man is or how organized this man is, you know?” I wonder if Johnson considered the notion that maybe the president doesn’t actually have a place where he does actual work?

Bushed

Just so you do not forget all of Bush's scandals. Via Hoffmania

Criminal Enterprise

Yes, the conservative movement and their leader Bush. From the most esteemed Juan Cole.

The Bush administration consistently gives us Attorneys General who lie about what the law is. Ironically, the defense Mukasey suggests for telecom companies that illegally turned over consumer records to government officials who had no warrant to request them, is that they were "following orders." I think there were some trials where that excuse was disallowed.

Also McCain as Nixon.

Stimulus

The republicans do not like the American people to be well off. Here is Krugman.

Meanwhile, Congress and the Bush administration have reached agreement on a much-hyped stimulus package. But the package, while probably better than nothing, is unlikely to make a noticeable dent in the problem — in part because the insistence of the administration and Senate Republicans on blocking precisely the measures, such as expanded unemployment insurance and food stamps, that are most likely to be effective.

Still, by January the White House will have a new occupant. If the slump is still going on, which is likely, this will offer a chance to consider other, more effective measures.

In particular, now would be a good time to think about the possibility of going beyond tax cuts and rebate checks, and stimulating the economy with some much-needed public investment — say, in repairing the country’s crumbling infrastructure.[...]

But we won’t get any innovative action to help the economy unless the next president has a couple of key attributes.

First, he or she has to be free of the ideological blinders that make the current administration and its allies fiercely oppose the idea that the government can do anything positive aside from cutting taxes.

Second, he or she has to be knowledgeable about and interested in economic policy. Presidents don’t have to be their own chief economists, but they do need to know enough to take the right advice.

I guess that leaves McCain out as he has stated he does not know much about the economy.

Update: Susie's take on the stimulus.

IDK

Mukasey: No, I Will Not Enforce Citations for Contempt of Congress

Mukasey: The Law Is What The Justice Department Says It Is

Osama Been Forgotten
or has he

Morgan Spurlock the maker of Supersize Me is on his trail. Also, If Osama is only six degrees away, why can't we find him?

Poetic Justice

Warren Buffet describe the banking meltdown as "Poetic Justice."

"It's sort of a little poetic justice, in that the people that brewed this toxic Kool-Aid found themselves drinking a lot of it in the end," he said.

Conservatives like Alan Greenspan always talk about how the markets are self correcting. I say let them sink or swim. No Bailouts for the banks.

Illinois

Mike "Lion King" Daniel makes it to Illinois. On his American Discovery Trail adventure. You tube link here. Journal. Website.

The Cheeseburger In A Can

Ewww, Cheeseburger In A Can, originally uploaded by SA_Steve.

I would love to try one. No really, I do not imagine it would be good. Katadyn, The water filter company came up this great idea. Boil for ten minutes and open no can opener needed.

Here are some great pictures. Close ups. If you want to buy one it is only 3.95 euros.

Sad

I can not imagine what it would be like to be on a hiking trip and loose one of its members. But that is what happened to a group in the San Gabrial mountains in Southern California.

Nicole Flaten of Los Angeles was with members of her hiking club near Chantry Flat on Saturday when she apparently lost her footing. She fell into an ice chute at about 11:45 a.m., according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which investigated her death.

"Because she was in an ice chute, there was no way for her to stop the fall," said sheriff's Sgt. Bill Marsh.

Flaten fell about 1,000 feet from where her group had been hiking, "hitting trees and rocks" as she fell, Marsh said.

A member of her hiking club, risking great personal injury to himself, hiked down to Flaten to check on her condition, he said.

"He came back up and reported that she appeared to be dead," Marsh said.

My condolences to the family.

Bush League Justice

The question is how many more Sue Schmitz are there. This is what the US Attorney's are doing to keep their jobs. Scott Horton keeps up with her story.

I am still looking at the charges and the evidence relating to them. At this point I’ll just say I’m terrifically unimpressed. The charges are at a minimum filled with hyperventilation and distortion, and it may be much worse than that. But even if they were true, what would the solution be? Is it normal to bring a federal prosecution against a school teacher who fails to perform all of her teaching plan? Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? The normal course would be for her contractor (which is not the state of Alabama) to fire her. And in fact they did. That firing was contested, and the court ruled that her firing was wrongful. It’s on appeal now. Of course, these are “inconvenient facts,” so the Birmingham News doesn’t share any of them with you. The Birmingham News is not interested in fairly presenting the facts, it’s engaging in character assassination. . . of a 63-year-old retired social studies teacher. It’s mind-boggling.

Ben and Gerry's

Ben and Gerry's is going to fight Monsanto's new labeling battle. Monsanto wants to restrict Ben and Gerry's from saying there ice cream is made from hormone free milk. I think Avedon said it best.

Why? Because advertising that your product comes from hormone-free cows implies that Monsanto milk might not be the best possible kind of milk, and therefore is bad advertising for Monsanto. And you're not allowed to advertise that your product might be better than Monsanto's. Isn't capitalism wonderful?

Digital Pamphleteer

A short video of The Carpet Bagger Report's Steve Benen. The hardest working man in the blogoshere. If you read only one blog a day, this is the one. He is by far the most informative blogger out there.

2,182 or 3511

Number of miles or kilometers on the Appalachian Trail. Voice of America has a piece on the trail and all distances are in Kilometers.

One of the most popular activities enjoyed by Americans is spending time in forests and walking along paths through the country. This activity, called hiking, has led to the creation of paths throughout the United States. Some of these paths, or trails, are short. Some are only a few kilometers. Others are many hundreds of kilometers.

One of the longest is the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. The trail is the first

The Appalachian Trail

completed part of the National Trails System. The trails system was established by Congress and the President in nineteen sixty-eight.

VOICE TWO:

The Appalachian Trail is more than three thousand four hundred kilometers long. It starts in the northeastern state of Maine and ends in the southeastern state of Georgia. The trail goes through fourteen states.

They are Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia.

It Is Scary Out There

Scientific American did a study on Americans and the outdoors. We just do not get out as much. I think part of the problem is the media portraying everything as scary. Although, backpacking is up.

Americans have been visiting national parks and other natural reserves less and less since 1987, new research confirms. Outdoor pursuits, ranging from camping to hunting, have entered a persistent and growing decline.

"Folks are going out into nature much less and decreasingly every year," says conservation ecologist Patricia Zaradic of the Environmental Leadership Program and co-author of the report published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. "It would take 80 million more visits this year to get the per capita number back up to the level it was in 1987."

Zaradic and her colleague conservation biologist Oliver Pergams of the University of Illinois at Chicago analyzed trends in visits to national parks and forests, state parks, surveys on camping and the number of licenses for activities such as hunting or fishing. All peaked between 1981 and 1991 after 50 years of steady increase and have been declining at roughly 1 percent per year since for an overall drop of as much as 25 percent.

Tipping Point

Scientists are warning we may reach a tipping point for Greenland' ice sheet melting.

They urged governments to be more aware of "tipping points" in nature, tiny shifts that can bring big and almost always damaging changes such as a melt of Arctic summer sea ice or a collapse of the Indian monsoon.

"Society may be lulled into a false sense of security by smooth projections of global change," the scientists at British, German and U.S. institutes wrote in a report saying there were many little-understood thresholds in nature.

Personly I think we passed the tipping point and should be moving to high ground. But, what do I know?

Who Owns the Media?

Who owns the roads? It could be an Australian media conglomerate.

If you happen to live in Alice, TX, your news is now brought to you by an Australian firm, Macquarie, that builds toll-roads. The big story is about the mayor's dognapping, but tomorrow it may be why you want a toll road.

The same is true of several other small towns whose independent newspapers have been bought up by that firm, which is now vying for the growing toll-road building industry in the Trans Texas Corridor that the legislature in Austin is considering.

Hat tip Avedon

Uniter

Not a divider. Obama gets the Grateful Dead back together.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Saying Barack Obama embodies political hope absent since Robert Kennedy was killed 40 years ago, three surviving members of the Grateful Dead reunited on Monday to back the presidential candidate.

David Wilcox

Was looking for something else. But dig this.

Good Day

The skiers lost in the Sierras have been found alive and well.

Christopher Gerwig, 32, and Patrick Frost, 35, both of San Francisco were located around 11:30 by the Placer County Sheriff's Helicopter, Falcon 30, alive and well, officials said.

Update: Here is a good article about how these guys survived.

"We really couldn't see more than 10, 15 feet in front of us," Frost said of the blizzard as the two left the hospital Monday afternoon. "We never ever considered giving up. We were going to make it."

I think the positive attitude was very important.

Green Beer

Portland Oregon's Lucky Labrador Brewing is going green. They have installed a 70,000 dollar solar heating system to brew their beer. Of course they now have a few new beers to brew like "Sun Beer" and I am sure there will be others.

RA Energy did the installation. Pictures here. This will be the first green beer I drink willingly.

Alright!

The Desert Sun is reporting that Ellen Coleman has been found.

Mt. San Jacinto Tram

Palm Springs aerial tram car, originally uploaded by edhiker.

I Just want to show my readers what kind of terrain the tram allows you to bypass on the way to the top. I do not know what kind of warnings people are given about the terrain and conditions at the top of the mountain. The tram leaves Palm Springs. A major tourist area. The conditions in Palm Springs(elevation 479 ft.) and the top of Mt. San Jacito (10,834 ft) vary greatly. The tram lets tourists off at 8,516 ft. It was 19 degrees at 8:20 this am.

If you want more pictures of the tram they are here or at the Tram's web site. Also, flickr photos of the mountain.

Hiker Missing

Hiker Ellen Coleman is missing on Mt San Jacinto. Yesterday was a bad day on Mt San Jacinto. There were several rescues.

t all started at about 7:10 p.m. Saturday with a cell phone call from two stranded hikers who had slid some 600 to 700 yards off Skyline Trail, said Riveride County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Deputy Herlinda Valenzuela.

The hikers, Marine Sgt. Lucas Ellison and Marine Sgt. Lance Chatagier, both 26 and stationed in Twentynine Palms, were helped out of dangerous ice and cliffs by volunteers using ropes and crampons on Sunday.

"It was treacherous terrain," Valenzuela said, and they were unable to work their way back.

The Tram to the top of the mountain lets hikers get the top a little to easily.

The search for Ellen Coleman, the hiker who is still missing, ended at 4 p.m. Sunday due to strong winds, Valenzuela said. Rescuers resumed the search this morning at 9 a.m.

She reportedly rode the tramway to an elevation of about 8,500 feet and planned to attempt to reach the summit of Mount San Jacinto.

Also there are some skiers missing in the Sierras.

Patrick Frost, 35, and Christopher Gerwig, 32, both of San Francisco, spent a stormy night outside after being reported missing Saturday evening at the resort, and more snow was falling Sunday, said Placer County sheriff's Sgt. Allan Carter.

These guys are reportedly skilled in back country safety. Let hope and prey thay every body makes it out safely.

The Case For Impeachment

Scott Horton at Harpers makes the case.

As the final eleven months of the Bush Administration are being counted off in Washington, the accepted wisdom is that impeachment must be taken off the table. The end is now so close by—what’s the point? Moreover, the American people would, we are told, view it as an act of over zealous partisanship, and would strike back at the polls. But these responses reflect a misunderstanding of the role that impeachment has historically played in the American democracy, and the English roots of impeachment as a constitutional device. They see in impeachment a measure which is purely ad hominem in nature, and avoid the much more important institutional aspect.

I predict that before Bush leaves office, the case for his impeachment will and should be given a more careful hearing. It must not be pursued as a partisan remedy to force a transfer of power. Rather it should be used as an institutional remedy. Polling now shows that a large majority of Americans believe that President Bush and Vice President Cheney have committed serious transgressions against the Constitution which would merit consideration of the impeachment process. Impeaching President Bush and Vice President Cheney for their attempts to hijack the Constitution would make a clear statement about abuse of power. It would also serve to put reasonable constraints on the conduct of their successors–who are likely to be Democrats. This is a step which genuine Conservatives and Republicans who adhere to their party’s former understanding of a government with an executive of carefully limited and checked powers should welcome and embrace.

I wanted to highlight the bolded section. It seems the American public came to the conclusion that Bush and Cheney are criminals. Despite the media portraying them in the most favorable light possible. Please read the whole thing.

Yes We Can

I like this video by some Hollywood entertainment types. It is a video of Musicians and entertainers singing Obama's speeches.

Made in China

Japanese police find dumplings with pesticides. Who is watching our food supply? Certainly not Bush and his cronies. It would be nice if police were allowed to inspect food coming in to our country. Me, I do not buy Chinese food products.

TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese investigators have found traces of pesticide on more packages of Chinese-made dumplings, police said Sunday as Chinese experts arrived in Tokyo to join a widening food poisoning probe.
The toxic substance was found on the surface of six packages of dumplings in western Japan, a spokesman for Hyogo prefectural police said.

Good

Schools and business are not going to buy beef from disgraced slaughter house. The large agra business are not going to the right thing unless they are forced to through regulation. Sometimes, they may be embarrassed into it for a short while.

SEATTLE -- More than 100 Washington state school districts that bought beef that originated at a California slaughterhouse being investigated by the U.S. Agriculture Department have been told to not serve any of that meat, state officials said Friday.

All the ground beef served by school districts in this state comes from three different meat processing companies, and at least one of those processors gets beef from Westland Meat Co, which processes carcasses from the Hallmark Meat Packing Co., said Nathan Olson, spokesman for the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Here is a link to a video and fast food from California. The beef was banned by school districts in Washington, Oregon, California, Minnesota, Iowa, Hawaii and Utah. It is never good to buy beef from large slaughter houses.

The Other Teen Drug Problem

I am not surprised by this. It seems illegal use pharmaceutical drugs is going up among teens. I tend to think many if not most pharmaceutical drugs do not work or their side effects are worse than the illness. For some reason many people think the pharmaceutical companies have our best interests at heart. They are really out to make as much profit as they can.

The nation's education programs on drug abuse have had success in shaping perceptions of street drugs and those that abuse them. We've seen the use of amphetamines, methamphetamine, and crystal methamphetamine decline significantly.Marijuana use also modestly decreased in 2007. It seems that the message that these street drugs are illegal, dangerous, and potentially deadly has reached teens and had an impact on them. But few are even talking about the risks of abusing prescription drugs.

Education is probably a major factor in the decreased use of these illicit street drugs by teens. However, one of the flaws in many existing programs is that they target specific illegal drugs and instill fear in those who may choose to use them.

If you do not treat the root causes of drug use, you will not fix the problems with drugs.

We are winning the battle against certain illegal drugs. But if teens are just switching to alternative sources, what have we really gained?

Update: From the comments.

As the director of Novus Medical Detox, we daily see the ravages of prescription drugs. We need to wake up soon to the facts--some of these prescription drugs are just legal heroin and cocaine. They have the same molecular structure and create the same effects--except that they have the mantle of "legitimacy" because they can be obtained from a licensed pharmacy.

I think that is the problem.

No More Tears

Scientists in New Zealand have found out what causes onions to make us cry.

WELLINGTON (AFP) - Scientists in New Zealand and Japan have created a "tear-free" onion using biotechnology to switch off the gene behind the enzyme that makes us cry, one of the leading researchers said Friday.[...]

Eady, who has several model onion plants at the institute, said despite the excitement about the prospect of "no tears" onions in every home, it would be 10 to 15 years before this happened.

Getting Duped

The Scientific American has a great article on how the media distorts the news. I like the conclusion.

Nevertheless, an astute consumer of the news can catch many straw man and weak man fallacies by knowing how they work. Another strategy is to always consider a speaker’s or writer’s motivation or agenda and be especially alert for skewed statements of fact in editorials, television opinion shows, and the like. It is also wise to obtain news from more balanced news sources. An alternative approach is to try to construct, in your own mind, the best argument against what you have heard before accepting it as true. Or simply ask yourself: Why should I not believe this?

Do not assume that the TV news is trying to inform you. (bold mine) Via Avedon.

Political Prosecution

Scott Horton of Harpers discusses the prosecution of Sue Schmitz. It would be hard to believe except we as a country have been Bushed. It really is a great article.

Let’s just pause and look at what’s going on here. A massive federal case has been launched, at a likely taxpayer cost in excess of $2 million, against a social studies teacher, who it is alleged (on the basis of sharply disputed evidence) was not putting in as many hours as she should have in teaching her classes. This has to count as one of the more absurd (if not malicious) cases I’ve seen in recent years. And remember, this is a Justice Department that can’t spare an FBI agent to look into, or a prosecutor to handle, a gang rape case involving Jamie Leigh Jones, or any of the dozens of other cases involving rape, assault and homicide in Iraq. They’re not “priorities.” On the other hand, bringing charges against Democratic office holders has been a very high priority from the day Bush took office, and it continues to be so today.

FISA Update

Glenn Greenwald has a great piece on Harry Reid caving to the republicans again. I want to highlight something that is not necessarily about FISA. But is the prevalent view among the chattering classes.

If they were motivated by profit, pursuing these extremely consuming lawsuits would be the last thing they would be doing. But because people like Dick Cheney, Rich Lowry and their political comrades are incapable of believing in political principles separate from their economic self-interest, they apparently assume that everyone is driven by the same barren, corrupt motives that plague them. Not everyone is, and the lawyers behind these telecom lawsuits are driven by anything but a desire to " get into the pockets of the American companies."

They are all guilty of projection.

Special Comment January 31, 2008

What would our country look like if the news reporters called it like it is?

Guilty

Gary Hilton plead guilty to the murder of Meredith Emerson. Hopefully he will come clean on what other murder and mayhem he has committed.

t's unknown whether Hilton's plea Thursday could touch on any of the other murder cases in which he has been named a suspect.

•Florida authorities say Hilton is a suspect in the slaying of Cheryl Hodges Dunlap, 46, of Crawfordville, Fla. She disappeared Dec. 1 and was found dead in Apalachicola National Forest on Dec. 15.

Florida State Attorney Willie Meggs said the Dunlap case was still being treated as a "law enforcement matter," and that officials are continuing their investigation.

•North Carolina officials have named Hilton as a suspect in the October slaying of avid hikers John Bryant, 79, and Irene Bryant, 84. The Bryants were last seen alive Oct. 20 in the Pisgah National Forest in western North Carolina. Irene Bryant's body was found bludgeoned three weeks later while John Bryant remains missing and is believed dead.