Biofuels - promise collides with reality

Biofuels - Another False Start in State's Climate Strategy The US is racing to dramatically increase the use of ethanol and other biofuels in order to reduce the production of greenhouse gases. The United States government and most, if not all, states are increasing requirements and incentives to increase the use of ethanol, biodiesel and other bio fuels. What is the record? Are greenhouse gases being reduced? Is the use of imported oil being reduced? What is the impact of diverting corn from food and animal feed to generating ethanol? Todd Myer of The Washington Policy Institute has an op-ed in the Tacoma News-Tribune

After only a couple of years, the U.S. strategy on biofuels and climate change has a clear record: dramatically higher food prices and an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Government programs have encouraged farmers to use marginal land to produce fuel crops, increasing carbon dioxide emissions in the process, in an effort to receive subsidies or the high prices such crops now fetch due to government mandates. Now, this state is poised to follow those damaging policy footsteps. Washington legislators of both parties saw biofuel mandates and subsidies as a way to send taxpayer dollars to farming communities and to prove to environmental activists that they were serious about climate change.

Now that the damage caused by those policies is obvious, Washington politicians should re-examine their policies and follow a strategy that harnesses the promise of biofuels without creating the truly damaging unintended consequences we are seeing. In 2006, the Legislature passed a series of laws designed to promote biofuel production. This year, two percent of all diesel and gasoline sold in the state must contain biofuels. Those numbers can rise to five percent for diesel and 10 percent for gasoline if the governor determines Washington has the capacity to produce part of that amount.

The negative side effects of requiring ethanol are appearing already. What is the rush? We can study the proposals to anticipate the side effects. And to estimate the value versus the cost of these changes. What do you think? Leave a comment.

US Oil is off limits by act of Congress

The sheiks in oil country thank the Democrats. Click to enlarge. This map show areas of US off-shore territory where oil exploration and production is allowed by Congress in green, where it is prohibited by Congress in red. Yellow is non-US territory. Land areas are not color coded. Mark J. Perry at Carpe Diem has more. Why is so much of US oil country off limits? Please leave a comment.

Thank Senator Cantwell for the high price of gasoline

Editor, Seattle Times 6/9/08 Thank Senator Cantwell for the high price of gasoline. The Democrats promised lower energy prices if they were elected in 2006. They were given control and the price of gasoline has doubled since then. Honorable Senator Cantwell is responsible because she voted for every bill that outlawed or limited US oil production or otherwise caused energy prices to rise and against every bill that would. There is oil in the US that she is preventing the use of - off Alaska and the US East Coast and several on-shore locations. She voted yes on disallowing an oil leasing program in Alaska's ANWR. (Nov 2005) She voted yes to designate sensitive ANWR area as protected wilderness. (Nov 2007) Senator Cantwell has supported every tax and restriction that increases the cost to the consumer: - Biofuels - requiring more biofuels allows less flexibility, which raises prices. - The 2007 energy bill included price controls. Price controls have a perfect record - 100% - for increasing prices. Yes, price controls - despite good intentions cause higher prices. - Energy Independence means restricting the sources of energy. Restricting sources causes higher prices. She is proud of her own Clean EDGE Act of 2006, which "leads the way to energy independence." - Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008. Raises taxes on 5 US oil companies, but exempts Venezuela President-for-life Hugo Chavez's Citgo. True. Michelle Malkin. Update.

Question for Senator Cantwell: How does blocking oil exploration, drilling and production in and off-shore of all 50 states reduce our dependence on foreign oil? Question for Senator Cantwell: Companies pass on tax increases to their customers. How will doubling the taxes on domestic oil cause lower prices to us consumers? Will Senator Cantwell change and take action to lower, rather than raise, gasoline prices? Truly, Ron Hebron Lake Forest Park, WA 98155

Get off the road

I am trying to get somewhere. Get out of my way. Gas is over $4 per gallon and you have been crying in pain over it. You can't afford to drive. I can, so get out of my way. Why is does the traffic increase at the same rate that the complaining about gas prices increases? Sit at home with a walker looking out the window for 8 weeks with me and watch traffic. Saves energy.

Ruthie the Riveter

Mom is Ruthie the Riveter - truly. Born in Seattle, my mother-in-law attended Roosevelt High School. She was 14 when the Pearl Harbor attack was conducted. When she turned 16 the Sandpoint Naval Air Station, 5 miles away, (now Magnuson Park) hired her. They trained her to buck rivets, then she worked weekends during school and full-time during school breaks. She graduated from high school the week I was born in June, 1945. In August, 1945, Japan surrendered, everyone celebrated, went home and never went back. If you think you know Ruth, please leave a comment.

Off the wall: After Ruth married Harvey they moved to New York City for his specialty training. She got a job on the office of a clothing firm. On occaision a customer wanted to look at a sweater outside the normal showings by models, so Ruth would put it on for show. Ruthie the Sweater Girl.

We took Mom's car away this week

We took Mom's car away this week. One of the hardest decisions is when and how to get elderly parents off the road. You can leave it to law enforcement in this state. But if mom asks who turned her in they will tell her!! Might as well do it myself, most conclude.

My mother-in-law has had only one accident in my memory and no injuries. But the close calls were multiplying and - worse - she didn't realize when she had one. Her Cadillac de Ville was weekly gaining scratches from the posts in the parking garage where she lives. The accident was hitting a stopped taxi with its door open and gave the Cadillac a yellow scratch the entire length of the car. She didn't stop because her husband was in the hospital; she couldn't! HIt and run. Isn't that a crime? We tactically discussed if a neighbor would be willing to be the squealer. No, she moved over a year ago. They have no recent incidents to back up their claim. So we worked directly with her. We talked about what she knew - what had happened - and how we felt - afraid. I have been learning that the emotional approach works with the elderly. As their senses get weaker their world gets smaller, but the people in it get more important. And reasoning no longer connects in their brain. An emotional appeal - like "there are kids in your neighborhood; you would feel terrible if you hurt one" or "we are afraid" - becomes stronger. As we were getting close the mountain fell. She was diagnosed with one of the severe permanent cognitive damages. When the doctor told her and my wife the news my wife asked if she should stop driving. To her astonishment he took Mom's side. Then he turned quickly; he couldn't believe my wife was going to let her mother drive away 20 minutes later. He told her that she had to stop driving and when she started the new medication she must stop the same day. But she might conveniently forget and go driving away! We have to take the car away. We went through options of who would get the car and with it the duty to give her rides every week. The only brother in the area declined, so we were designated. And when we gave her a ride she will be confused and ask to go to our home to drop us off, so she could drive home. So we decided to replace the Cadillac immediately. We took it to the dealer she bought it from. Since we were driving another car we also wanted to trade - 2 for 1 - we told them in complete detail about the damage to the car. They already knew!! Every time she took it there for service they noted the damage; last time the week before! This is very, very hard for her. She loves to drive; she loves to go wherever she wants. Who doesn't? And with my broken pelvis keeping me out of the driver's seat for 2 months, she sincerely knew she was helping us by driving. She is one of the most positive people I ever have known: she never has a negative word to say except about her daughter's and granddaughters' weight!! Monday, June 2, 2008, the "new" 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix came to our house and Tuesday the Cadillac went to Doug's Northwest Cadillac Hummer. She was willing to help us by driving it there. So we have a car that better suits our needs: better, though not high, gas mileage; more maneuverable; sun roof, as important as wheels. And she will be just as comfortable in it as in her de Ville. We tell her every day, "Mom, there is nothing wrong with your car. This car suits our needs better." And we ask "do you need a ride today?" Please leave a comment with your experiences.

Disk in outer space

6/7/08

This morning my Mac was frozen. After doing a hard restart it started in OSX 10.4. Thank God that before upgrading to Leopard OSX 10.5 I bought a LaCie Firewire disk and loaded it with OSX 10.4 and my entire disk backup. So I am running, but with data from April 19, 2008

Very limited posting until my disk returns.

Upcoming features:

We took Mom's car away this week

My sister's mural at Summit K-12 school

A tax I can support - Fat-gas tax

"The Economic Impact of Obesity on Automobile Fuel Consumption" This is James Glassman's idea, though I can't find the original source without paying at High Beam. Scrivener.net:

...the Fat-Gas Tax is a variable rate gasoline tax determined by Body Mass Index on an individual basis. You pay for your gasoline purchase by debit or credit card and the tax is added automatically. Imagine a simple, single tax that can help avert global warming, de-fund Arab terrorists, save scarce natural resources, reduce pollution AND remedy the government's approaching funding crisis for Medicare (by heading off the coming diabetes epidemic, etc.) ... save private individuals billions of dollars of medical costs from avoided heart attacks and strokes and blood pressure medication prescriptions ... make the general population lean and good looking ... and improve your sex life too! That's the Fat-Gas Tax.

Tony Rezko found guilty - Barack Hussein Obama's chief politcal fixer

Did you hear of Obama's tight ties on the network news? EGO ADSUM

Barack Obama released a statement last night saying he was "saddened" that Tony Rezko, his old friend and top fundraiser, had been convicted on 16 out of 24 counts of fraud and political corruption by a Chicago jury. Previously, Mr. Obama felt compelled to donate over $150,000 in Rezko-linked campaign contributions to charity. But that probably won't be enough to erase Tony Rezko from the 2008 fall campaign as an issue. Mr. Rezko offered Mr. Obama a job back in 1990 just as he was leaving Harvard Law School. Mr. Obama didn't take it, but nonetheless became close to the Syrian-born political fixer. In 2005, Mr. Rezko was helpful in Mr. Obama's purchase of a large Hyde Park house by having his wife, Rita, buy the adjoining garden on the same day Mr. Obama closed his transaction. Mr. Obama has since said the move was a "bone-headed" mistake, especially since newspapers were already full of reports that Mr. Rezko was being investigated on charges he had corruptly influenced appointments made by Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Mr. Obama has yet to answer a lot of questions about his relationship with Mr. Rezko or his business partner, Iraqi-British billionaire Nadhmi Auchi. He claims the Rezko case simply highlights the need for more campaign finance reform laws. Yesterday, he issued a statement adding that the man convicted in a Chicago courtroom "isn't the Tony Rezko I knew." Hmmm... But Mr. Obama knew him as a close friend and ally for over 20 years as Mr. Rezko rose to become Illinois' top political fixer. Exactly which Tony Rezko did Mr. Obama know?

China is drilling for oil off Florida

China is drilling closer to Florida than the US is. Why? They need oil. We need oil. Why don't we use what we have? "So we can be energy independent." Better explain that to me. The same people who stop oil drilling in the US say they are trying to attain energy independence. Why does the US Senate outlaw using the oil we have? George Will:

Drilling is underway 60 miles off Florida. The drilling is being done by China, in cooperation with Cuba, which is drilling closer to South Florida than U.S. companies are.

And the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge:

ANWR is larger than the combined areas of five states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware), and drilling along its coastal plain would be confined to a space one-sixth the size of Washington's Dulles airport. Offshore? Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed or damaged hundreds of drilling rigs without causing a large spill. There has not been a significant spill from an offshore U.S. well since 1969. Of the more than 7 billion barrels of oil pumped offshore in the past 25 years, 0.001 percent — that is one-thousandth of 1 percent — has been spilled. Louisiana has more than 3,200 rigs offshore — and a thriving commercial fishing industry.

Voters approve zoning ordinance for Hyperion oil refinery

The voters approve a new oil refinery in South Dakota; the first new refinery in the US in 32 years. Sioux City Journal

Flashing a smile, Joyce Bortscheller briefly hugged Hyperion Energy Center executive Preston Phillips as she greeted him in the backyard of her home here. Bortscheller, president of the Elk Point City Council, had invited about 250 supporters to an outdoor barbecue Tuesday to await the returns for arguably the most important election in Union County's history. The big crowd didn't leave disappointed. As midnight approached, they popped the champagne corks, celebrating a hard-fought victory that keeps alive the county's chances of landing the nation's first all-new oil refinery in 32 years. By a solid 58 percent to 42 percent margin, county voters approved Hyperion's request to rezone 3,292 acres of farm land for a new classification, Energy Center Planned Development.

Why would they approve such an industrial site?

Supporters cited the once-in-a-lifetime economic opportunities the $10 billion project would bring. An average of 4,500 construction jobs would be required over four years. With the refinery up and running, Hyperion pledges to create 1,826 full-time jobs at hourly wages of between $20 and $30. "I think it would be a great opportunity for young people to stay in this area instead of leaving for other states," Kelly Hoekstra, 31, of Dakota Dunes said after casting a vote in favor of the rezoning.

We will all benefit from additional capacity, but the locals will benefit the most.

Oil in Montana/North Dakota

Let's use the oil we have. A new formation discovered in Montana, North Dakota, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada, might exceed the largest field in Saudi Arabia. Should Congress outlaw using the oil? Just kidding, but the way they think they would outlaw it in order to lower the price of gasoline. Bloomberg

...the Bakken formation, a sprawling deposit of high-quality crude beneath the durum wheat fields of North Dakota, Montana and southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Bakken may give the U.S. -- the world's biggest importer of oil -- a new domestic energy source at a time when demand from China and India is ratcheting up the global competition for supplies and propelling average U.S. gasoline prices to almost $4 a gallon. And unlike the tar from Canada's oil sands, Bakken crude needs little refining. Swirl some of it in a Mason jar and it leaves a thin, honey-colored film along the sides. It's light - -almost like gasoline -- and sweet, meaning it's low in sulfur. Best of all, the Bakken could be huge. The U.S. Geological Survey's Leigh Price, a Denver geochemist who died of a heart attack in 2000, estimated that the Bakken might hold a whopping 413 billion barrels. If so, it would dwarf Saudi Arabia's Ghawar, the world's biggest field, which has produced about 55 billion barrels.

But

The challenge is getting the oil out. Bakken crude is locked 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) underground in a layer of dolomite, a dense mineral that doesn't surrender oil the way more-porous limestone does. The dolomite band is narrow, too, averaging just 22 feet (7 meters) in North Dakota. The USGS said in April that the Bakken holds as much as 4.3 billion barrels that can be recovered using today's engineering techniques. That's a fraction of the oil that Price said should be there, but it's still the largest accumulation of crude in the 48 contiguous U.S. states. North Dakota, where Bakken exploration is most intense now, won't become Saudi Arabia unless technology improves.

The US will rise to the challenge and change "unless" to "until" by finding a way to make the process cheaper and faster.

Converts to Christianity in Iran; crack down

Christians in Iran? Yes, Christianity has been in the area of Persia for 2,000 years. But Islam has been systematically repressing and eliminating it. But now, due to distrust of the Islamic government, more people are taking huge risks to follow Jesus. World Tribune

Christian activists said Iranian police have launched a crackdown on Muslims believed to have converted to Christianity over the last year."We've got confirmed reports of groups of Muslim convert believers doubling in size in the last six months," Carl Moeller, president of Open Doors USA, said. Paul Marshall, a senior fellow at the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute, agreed. Marshall said Iran has been experiencing a youth backlash against Islam, Middle East Newsline reported. "There are indications that with the deep unpopularity of the regime that people are turning away from Islam," Marshall said in an interview with the U.S. television network Fox. The activists said the crackdown was launched in May in the southern city of Shiraz. On May 11, Moeller said, at least eight people were arrested in Shiraz on charges of abandoning the Islamic faith. Such a crime was punishable by up to life in prison. One suspected organizer of Christian activity in Shiraz was identified as Mojtaba Hussein. The 21-year-old Hussein, believed to have organized house churches, remained in prison after his colleagues were released. "He [Hussein] may not be willing to give up the names of other Muslim converts," Moeller said. "He may not be willing to recant his faith himself." Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has proposed a law that would impose capital punishment on any Muslim who leaves his faith. Christian activists said many young Muslims, dismayed by the abuses of the Islamic regime, have been interested in Christianity and other religions.

The Singing Revolution

After being battered by invasions of Germany and the Soviet Union and 40 years as a "state" in the Soviet Union, Estonia turned against its masters. By singing. Singing? In 1985 General Secretary of the Soviet Union Gorbachov, needing to stimulate the Soviet economy, introduced his Glastnost and Perestroika progrem. This was the slightest reduction in the repression of the Soviet police state. May 14, 1988 at a music festival in Estonia during the performance of five patriotic songs, the people joined hands and started a tradition - of singing. The next month in Tallinn, then other locations. In September, 1988 300,000 people - a quarter of the population - joined to together to sing. And they began to speak of restoring independence. This "singing revolution" lasted 4 years. In 1991 Soviet tanks came intending to stop the Estonian progress toward independence. The Congress of Estonia proclaimed the restoration of the independent state of Estonia. People acted as human shields to protect the radio and television stations from the tanks. By these actions Estonia regained its independence without bloodshed. See The Singing Revolution Latvia and Lithuania At the same time the neighboring states Latvia and Lithuania also resisted by singing and regained their independence. See this history A movie telling these stories is currently in limited release in the US and Canada. For more information and screening locations/dates see:

The Singing Revolution

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THANKS

Thank you

to both of my regular readers for your kind greetings following my accident. (Heidi is one of our daughters and Steve Beren a local political hero you will soon hear of.) Jim Miller of SoundPolitics.com makes three. Thanks to everyone who visited, prayed, called and/or sent flowers. Thanks to our beach neighbors for mowing. In 25 years of bike riding I never imagined one fall could take so long to recover from. The standard expectation for this type of pelvis fracture, as I understand it, is 6 to 8 weeks until you can begin therapy and another 4 to 6 weeks until full weight bearing on the injured leg. In other words, that's 6 to 8 weeks of bed, walker and crutches. Never putting weight on the foot to exceed the leg's own weight and not going far, for sure. Then 4 to 6 weeks of torture. During that ordeal our grandchildren, daughter and son-in-law arrive for a week here and a week at Whistler, BC!!

I feel better

and stronger every day. I thank God that this happened. I will end my recovery a better person than I was on May 12. Special thanks ☞ to Dr. Laohaprasit (pastor) and our friends at New Hope International Church in Mercer Island, Washington, for love, prayers, visits, flowers, and other support. ☞ To my friends and coworkers at Boeing, especially retiree and now Microsoft director Keith Butler and Linda Carrig. She was informing me about the short-term leave on the very first day and helped us navigate the (won't say it in print) of Aetna; Boeing was no problem at all. ☞ To the staff of the Emergency Room/Trauma Center and ☞ the nurses, therapists and support people of wing 7 West of Harborview Hospital in Seattle. Ron Hebron, Seattle, WA, June 1, 2008

Entrepreneur Milt Kuolt Founder of Horizon Air passes NWCN.com | Northwest News and Weather

A great entrepreneur of the Pacific NW just died, Milt Kuolt. NWCN.com | Northwest News and Weather:

Horizon Air founder Milton G. Kuolt died Friday of lung complications at Swedish Medical Center. Kuolt, 79, founded Horizon Air and then sold it to Alaska Air. The entrepreneur also developed Thousand Trails, a chain of private membership campgrounds. His family says Kuolt began his career sweeping floors as a janitor for the Boeing Company and progressed to planning manager for the 737

Clear, isn't it? He started at Boeing sweeping floors and became a planning manager. Then he left and started two successful (one for a limited time) companies from scratch. Seattle Times

In his many roles at different companies, Mr. Kuolt was known for his formidable work ethic, his sense of humor and his unflappable allegiance to all of his employees, regardless of their rank. "Milt didn't care if you were a baggage handler or in the boardroom. He was concerned about everybody on his team," said Bill Endicott, who worked for Mr. Kuolt at Thousand Trails and Horizon, and later wrote "Remember the Magic: The Story of Horizon Air." According to one of the stories in Endicott's book, Mr. Kuolt once overheard a man being rude to one of his employees at the ticket counter. "He leaned over and told him he wasn't welcome to fly on Horizon Air anymore," Endicott said. "Milt said, 'Nobody treats my employees like that. I don't care if you have to ride to Sun Valley on a horse!' " Dee Dee Maul, one of the original team members at Horizon, said Mr. Kuolt made a concerted effort to treat everyone who worked for him with equal respect and camaraderie. "If something needed to be done, he'd do it. He'd help out behind the counter. He'd sling bags. Everyone loved him for it," she said. ☞

China acquiring overseas land for food

The dictators can't refocus their thinking. The leaders of China think China must own all its food production - to be self-sufficient. But food is a set of commodities that are traded internationally. It is a question of prices - supply and demand - not self sufficiency! Oh, but it's a question of security. Not! You pays the prices and you gets the goods. Any economics sophomore can teach the Great Leader of a billion people this humble lesson. FT.com / Asia-Pacific / China - China eyes overseas land in food push :

Chinese companies will be encouraged to buy farmland abroad, particularly in Africa and South America, to help guarantee food security under a plan being considered by Beijing. A proposal drafted by the Ministry of Agriculture would make supporting offshore land acquisition by domestic agricultural companies a central government policy. Beijing already has similar policies to boost offshore investment by state-owned banks, manufacturers and oil companies, but offshore agricultural investment has so far been limited to a few small projects. If approved, the plan could face intense opposition abroad given surging global food prices and deforestation fears. However an official close to the deliberations said it was likely to be adopted. “There should be no problem for this policy to be approved. The problem might come from foreign governments who are unwilling to give up large areas of land,” the official said. The move comes as oil-rich but food-poor countries in the Middle East and north Africa explore similar options. Libya is talking with Ukraine about growing wheat in the former Soviet republic...

Oh, yes. There might be a problem with countries not wanting to give up large areas of land to dragon China, which is building up its military. Just a question of sovereignty. Might be. But the dragon is no threat when buying on the open market. Via Thomas PM Barnett

No recession here - Growth of 0.9% in First Quarter

This is not a recession. It's poor growth, but it is growth. A recession is two consecutive quarters of negative growth. Both the 4th quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of 2008 had economic growth. Are the networks praising President Bush for his excellent track record? GDP Grew More Than First Thought, Increasing 0.9% in First Quarter - WSJ.com:

The U.S. economy was stronger than first thought because of a better trade balance and stronger business spending. Gross domestic product rose at a seasonally adjusted 0.9% annual rate January through March, the Commerce Department said in the second estimate of first-quarter GDP. Originally, in a report a month ago, Commerce said GDP increased 0.6% in the first quarter -- the same, anemic rate of growth achieved in the fourth quarter.

The official source: Bureau of Economic Analysis

Chocolate is good for everyone

Even diabetics, at least type 2s. Enriched Cocoa Improves Blood Flow in Diabetics - Yahoo! News:

All the talk about chocolate being good for your health is starting to get serious. Mars Inc., of chocolate bar fame, has established a scientific division. And a group of researchers, some in Germany, others with the new Mars division known as Symbioscience, has just published a report showing that an enriched hot cocoa beverage can improve blood flow in people with type 2 diabetes. "The study is the first of its kind in terms of its rigor, as well as the population studied," said Harold Schmitz, chief science officer of Mars. "Diabetics treated as well as they could be treated with pharmaceutical intervention did see, on average, a 30 percent improvement in vascular function." .... "The bottom line is that diabetics who have a poor vascular system can benefit from something that gives pleasure at the same time it helps health. Cocoa increases the amount of endorphins, the feel-good chemicals."

OK, I stretched it with "everyone." But something sweet being good for diabetics caught my attention. As did the Mars laboratory. More about dark chocolate at University of Michigan Integrative Medicine.

J.R. Simplot, entrepreneur supreme

A great business leader of the West passed on. J.R. Simplot, potato and computer chip king, dies - Yahoo! News: The quintessential Idaho farmer increasingly dominated the state's business and political landscape for 70 years, and the company that bears his name remains a powerful force today — in Idaho and beyond. Simplot and his family were ranked at No. 80 on Forbes magazine's 2006 list of richest Americans, with an estimated wealth of $3.2 billion. His businesses, still family owned, manufacture agriculture, horticulture and turf fertilizers; animal feed and seeds; food products such as fruits, potatoes and other vegetables; and industrial chemicals and irrigation products. In 1980, at age 71, Simplot took a gamble on the next generation of businessmen, giving Ward and Joe Parkinson $1 million for 40 percent of what would become computer chip maker Micron Technology Inc. Over the years, he pumped in $20 million more to help Micron build its first manufacturing plant and to stay afloat. Micron went on to become a major producer of DRAM memory chips, which are used to store information in personal computers. ... n 1923, he left home at age 14 with four $20 gold coins given to him by his mother. He paid $1 a day for room and board at Declo's only hotel. As a shrewd young businessman, Simplot bought interest-bearing scrip paid to teachers who were also boarding there for 50 cents on the dollar. He used it as for collateral on a bank loan to buy 600 hogs at $1 each. He spent the winter shooting wild horses, selling the hides and boiling the meat with potato scraps to feed the hogs. When pork prices jumped the next year, he brought some rare fat hogs to market for a whopping $7,500. That was Simplot's stake for the potato business. He leased land and from an early partner learned to plant certified seed, not cull potatoes as was common then. Idaho's dominance in potatoes grew with the innovation. Simplot bought an early electric potato sorter and by 1940 had bought or built 33 potato warehouses along the rich Snake River plains from Idaho Falls to Vale, Ore. A chance encounter with a Chicago businessman led Simplot into the onion-drying business in Caldwell in 1941. He made $500,000 the first year and soon was supplying much of the dried potatoes and vegetables consumed by U.S. troops during World War II. The headstrong young man then started buying ranches, cattle and timberland. Taking notice of the wartime shortage of fertilizer, he bought phosphate reserves and built a fertilizer production plant at Pocatello. After the war, his food production business expanded into freezing and canning, developing the product that would become the company's mainstay: the frozen french fry. Simplot struck a deal with McDonald's Corp. founder Ray Kroc, and his fry business grew with Americans' love for fast food.

Broken pelvis

Yes, me. Bicycle riding home, I was descending a steep hill in the rain - 3 blocks from Bill Gates' now former office. I have ridden the route many times before. But, despite the intent and attempt to control my speed, my front wheel slipped. Wheel right. Ron down on left hip. Severe broken pelvis.

I am very fortunate that at bicycle speed my other injuries were limited to road rash and a minor bump on the noggin and broken helmet. But my break is severe - about the worst pelvis fracture. Evergreen Hospital sent me to the trauma center at Harborview Hospital in Seattle. 5-hour surgery. Oxycodone for pain. Avoid it! Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC

Fractures of the acetabulum are harder to treat because access to this bone is more difficult, and because of the acetabulum's proximity to the major blood vessels to the legs, the sciatic nerve (the major nerve that arises from the lower spine and provides sensation and movement to the leg and foot), the intestines, the ureter and the bladder. Unlike a hip fracture, which can be treated relatively easily, to repair an acetabular fracture, the orthopaedic surgeon, must, in essence, fix the broken bones from the inside out.

I will not be able to put weight on my left foot for 6 to 8 weeks. Weeks! No weight on my left foot! Walker and wheelchair first, then crutches. Update - July 3, 2008 Six weeks have passed and I am still weeks away from putting ANY weight on my left foot. Healing of this type of injury is so slow that they don't even take an Xray for 6 weeks after surgery. I passed the first milestone - I got to start the real physical therapy last week. (PT came to our home to help us figure out how to take a shower safely and other in-home needs.) But I am still weeks away from putting any weight on it. I was so weak that I used a walker at first. Imagine using a walker as crutches. I had to carry my full 195 on my hands. And on the worst spot, where there is no padding at all. For two weeks I bragged that the standard folding walker is great engineering - strong and light. Then I started complaining that it is woefully inadequate. Why doesn't anyone make a model for this need? Obvious: A million people use a walker as a super cane - to avoid falling. But a tiny number use it as crutches carrying full weight; there is not the market to support the model I needed. I was at Harborview for 6 days, housebound for one week. Then getting out, but not driving for 4 weeks. Now I can drive, but my energy is so low that I have to plan 30 to 60 minutes rest before any outing. And I am limited to about 2 hours on any outing. Everyone thinks that I tricked Boeing out of 2 plus months off with 80% pay. I am so weak that what I do in a day any healthy person can do after working 8 hours! I expect to return to work the second week of August, which is after 12 weeks. First, I will see how far I can carry grandson Benjamin while on crutches. Just kidding! Update - August 9, 2008 I might have been the only person at Whistler on crutches, but all the other people with broken pelvises missed a great 12 days. 9 days with daughter, SIL and 4-year-old and 20-month-old. 4 days with younger daughter. 8 with son. Whistler is filled with active people: active people have accidents, so I spoke to a couple people with pelvis or hip breaks and lots who were on crutches for months. A few construction accidents, but mostly sports. I started weight bearing July 24 after 10 weeks: one week 25% - a start; one week 50% - little better; now at 75% - a big improvement. I can use one crutch and put very little weight on it. A quantum improvement. I couldn't walk far while there. Twice I pushed myself - like walking 3/4 mile - and had to cut back a bit. It was not easy, but sure beat sitting at home talking to our dog. My energy level is still low, but I have to start working next week as much as I can. Probably 40% at first. The MS society has a bike ride September 13-14. No, it looks like a couple of months after that.

How Greenspan Went Wrong--and How to Make It Right - Forbes.com

Alan Greenspan allowed the overheating of the housing market. He wanted to help the economy, so he lowered interest rates again and again. This induces inflation and pushed the US dollar lower. Bernake followed the weak dollar push and allowed the price of oil to climb to the stratosphere. Steve Forbes sums it up: Greenspan wasn't satisfied with his powerful job; he played God. How It Went Wrong--and How to Make It Right - Forbes.com:

The chief rap against Greenspan is that he loosened money too much after the high-tech bubble burst in 2000--01 and kept it loose even when the economy began to recover vigorously in 2003. The former chairman has also been criticized for the Fed's failure to crack down on growing abuses in the mortgage lending market. ... This is a misbegotten view of what central banking's main mission should be. The Federal Reserve should have two key tasks--and only two: preserving the integrity of the dollar and dealing vigorously with financial panics to limit unnecessary damage. Greenspan's woes came about precisely because he lost sight of the Fed's prime job: ensuring a stable dollar. In the late 1990s Greenspan inadvertently tightened up. The most sensitive barometer of market mistakes is gold. During that time the yellow metal plunged to a low of $250 an ounce. Other commodities crashed, with oil dropping to nearly $10 a barrel. For a time the dollar became too dear, which contributed to the 2000--01 recession. When it became clear--just before George W. Bush was sworn in as President on Jan. 20, 2001--that the economy was skidding, Greenspan realized his mistake and started to reverse gears. But he stayed too easy, even when the economy was back on track. In 2004 gold began to surge well above its 12-year average, and oil began its long, rapid ascent, as did all other commodities. The dollar weakened not only against gold but also against other currencies, such as the yen, the Swiss franc and the pound. With money easy, the already buoyant U.S. housing market began to go berserk as lending standards started to decline precipitously.

See also: Greenspan's Bubbles: The Age of Ignorance at the Federal Reserve, by William A. Fleckenstein with Frederick Sheehan. Other sources: Robert Campbell; Inside Mortgage Finance.

Burma/Myanmar government refuses aid workers

The government of Burma only cares about its control of its country. It is refusing workers who bring aid and has confiscated aid brought to the country. UN halts aid to Myanmar after junta seizes supplies: YANGON, Myanmar (AP)—The United Nations blasted Myanmar's military government Friday, saying its refusal to let in foreign aid workers to help victims of a devastating cyclone was "unprecedented" in the history of humanitarian work. While the junta dithered and appeared overwhelmed by last Saturday's disaster, more than 1 million homeless people waited for food, shelter and medicine. Many crammed into Buddhist monasteries or just camped out in the open. Entire villages were submerged in the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta, with bodies floating in salty water and children ripped from their parents' arms. At least 62,000 people are dead or missing, state media reported, and aid groups warned that thousands of children may have been orphaned and the area is on the verge of a medical disaster. ... "Believe me the government will not allow outsiders to go into the devastated area. The government only cares about its own stability. They don't care about the plight of the people," said Yangon food shop owner Joseph Kyaw, one of many residents angry at the regime for doing little to help them recover from the storm's destruction.

Great Radio - Rush channeling Clinton - Put yourself in my shoes

Rush channeled what poor Bill Clinton is thinking in a monologue today. It is the King at his best. It is so good that competitor talk-show host Hugh Hewitt played it today. You can read it at the link, but to listen to the audio requires a paid subscription to Rush's web site. What Bill Clinton Was Thinking : RUSH: I received an e-mail, ladies and gentlemen, during the break. "Rush, your monologue to women in the last hour was funny as hell. It was very brilliant. But I think you're misunderstanding Bill Clinton standing behind his wife frowning and looking bored. Could you try to look at it from his perspective?" And that's all the e-mail said. So I got to thinking about that: What would Bill Clinton say if he'd heard my monologue to women? Because that e-mail got me to thinking. It might go something like this: (doing extended Clinton impression) "Hey? Hey, Limbaugh! I heard that monologue that you did to women, talking about me sitting back there looking all depressed and down in the dumps, like I had sunburn and so forth. Come on, Rush! You're a guy. You gotta look at it from my perspective. Where did I come from? I came from the swamps. I came from nothing. I mean, I came from poor people. Nothing, nothing. Arkansas, Limbaugh, I came from -- and I rose up. I rose up to become president of the U-nited States of America. I did. I overcame obstacles like you can't believe. "'She stood by her man,' everybody is saying, because she stood by me. What about me? You think I didn't stand by her? How many guys -- you included, Limbaugh -- how many of you ditched your first wives? How many of you guys ditched your second wives? You know my wife sounds just like your first wife and second wife probably put together, but I -- I -- stuck in there. And look what's happened to me? I presided over one of the greatest periods of prosperity and peace the world has known! I got my daughter out there. My daughter! My daughter is saying my wife will be a better president than I could be, and I can't say anything about that, Limbaugh. I can't say anything about it. My daughter is out there disrespecting me, and I gotta sit there and smile? You want me to smile standing behind those two? You want me to stand there behind a loser who couldn't run a smart campaign if her life depended on it? "She had no plan after February 5th, Limbaugh! Do you understand that? She thought she was going to have to it wrapped up by February 5th. She had no plan! That's why she's in this sit'ation. I'm supposed to stand back there and I'm supposed to smile.? Look at me! I've lost all my black friends. I was 'the first black president.' I have to sit here and I have to listen as this rookie out of Chicago gets to be the first black president. Everybody knows I was. This guy is the biggest lightweight I have run into. I'm called a racist! I was the first black president. I had Maya Angelou do that poem, 'A River, A Rock, A Tree,' at my inauguration; and now Oprah is running around throwing birthday parties with Maya Angelou and not inviting me. My God, Limbaugh, you have no clue what this is like! I'm supposed to sit there and listen to my daughter insult me by saying my presidency would be nothing compared to my wife's? I'm supposed to stand behind her, and I'm supposed to look happy? "Here's another thing, Limbaugh. I bet you haven't thought of this. There have been 43 presidents of the United States. Forty-three. And I, I'm the first damn one of them whose wife wanted the damn job, too; and I gotta sit there and act like, 'Whoa, that's great, honey! What can I do to help you?' This woman has been trying to take over every day of my life! Everything I've done she tried to take over. She's held everything that every other husband does over my head and demanded payback for it. I'm supposed... I get shipped out into the dregs of North Carolina! You saw me. They had me in the back porches in the sticks talking to 20 people at a time. I'm supposed to help her win North Carolina? All this time I'm being called a racist. You know how humiliating it was, Limbaugh? You commented on this. I know you know. I was dispatched to someplace called Whiteville, North Carolina, in the midst of this campaign -- and my wife doesn't even have the courage. "She may thank me up there, but she doesn't talk about how great I am. She praises her mother; she praises Chelsea. You saw that picture Drudge had up on his site of Chelsea. She can't draw a crowd. What did she have, 20 people there? I can outdraw my daughter any time, but I am the one...that's getting all the grief here? And you expect me...? I mean, I've done more for women -- I've done more women -- than Hillary could ever think of doing; and I'm supposed to sit there and act happy? I swear! People have lost their ability to understand how tough it has been for me. All that scandal stuff that wrecked my presidency, what was it? You think that was my fault? That scandal stuff, you think that was my fault? Hillary's billing records show up on my watch in the White House in the Map Room, and that somehow is my fault? Hillary wants to fire everybody in the travel office. Hell, I don't know what's going on in there! "I'm president. I haven't got time for that kind of mundane stuff. She's firing everybody in the travel office. Real estate deals? She was always so obsessed with money, Limbaugh, you can't believe it. That Whitewater deal? She messed around with the McDougals. All that was about getting rich quick -- and I let her have health care. I let her do whatever she wanted with health care, and she botched it; and she's the reason that we lost the House in 1994! It wasn't me. And I'm supposed stand behind her and act like I'm happy I'm standing behind a loser? You can sit here and you can talk to these women all you want. Let me give you my perspective on this, Limbaugh. You're me. You're president of the United States, surrounded by all kinds of women -- women of great passion. So on one hand I got women of great passion; on the other hand my wife. What would you do? Now, you know, guys out there understand what I'm going through. They understand what I'm talking about. "But I really resented that monologue you did talking about how all these liberal guys are cheating on Hillary. It's up to her to do something on her own for once, isn't it? Limbaugh, do you know how embarrassing it is for me to understand that you did more for her in this campaign than I could do? That bothers me more than you will ever know. If they'd have let me have my way I could have taken Obama out of this in the first week; I could have done it even before Jeremiah Wright showed up. Certainly after Jeremiah Wright showed up I could have handled this. But noooo, no! They didn't want me anywhere near it. Ickes, Wolfson, all these people -- people I kicked out of my administration -- are a bunch of hacks. This is the thanks I get. If it hadn't been for me being elected president, my wife... If it weren't for my last name that she has, she wouldn't be known by anybody in this country, and I gotta sit here and you tell me I'm supposed to be happy standing behind a lo-ser? "Now, where in the hell were we last night? We've been traveling so much, I don't even know. (sigh) These women out there, they used to have me in their dreams. You remember all those stories about the power is "crackling in my jeans"? You remember all that? And now I've become a joke! I'm a laughingstock. And now you even out there. You tell people I hit on your date. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Hit on your date in the Kobe Club in New York. Ha-ha, you wish Limbaugh you wish you dated somebody I cared enough about to be able to do that. These women, they're mad, and they're bitter. They used to love me! They used to love me. They used to crave me. They used to crave about me. They used to promise me that they would give Lewinskys in exchange for keeping abortion legal, and now they want to abort me. You put yourself in my shoes."

Jerry Yang's Foolish "Victory" at Yahoo

Yahoo's rejection of the bid by Microsoft to buy it for $45 billion is the dumbest business deal of this year. Jerry Yang was said to have won by rejecting Microsoft. He lost. He cannot make his company have the value that Microsoft was offering - 62% premium on its market value. He was ahead 62%; he had won already. But he chose defeat instead. Holman Jenkins describes the mess: Business World - WSJ.com:

Congratulations to Steve Ballmer. Not many CEOs would have the nerve – humility, cold-bloodedness, whatever – to float a gotta-have takeover offer, then back away over the difference between $33 and $37 a share. Not many CEOs would have been willing nakedly to advertise strategic vulnerability and faulty execution vis-a-vis a rival like Google, then fail to consummate the deal marketed to investors as the remedy for that vulnerability and faulty execution. Even more so because of Mr. Ballmer's Murdochian approach: He came at Yahoo with a rich 62% premium designed to foreclose a rival suitor and confront the Yahoo board with a choice of accepting Microsoft's terms or serving up a big ugly stock price drop to Yahoo's suffering shareholders. By laying such a dramatic premium on the table, he also sent a message to his own Microsoft shareholders that said: "This is the only way I see forward." But Mr. Ballmer didn't count on Jerry Yang, whose idea of what his company was worth became inflated by the perception that Microsoft needed it so much. When Mr. Yang said Microsoft's offer "undervalued" Yahoo, he meant it underestimated Yahoo's value to Microsoft, not to anybody else.

Read on at the original. And Fake Steve Jobs does it with drama.

Says here that Jerry Yang is facing a shareholder rebellion and possible lawsuits for failing to make a deal with the Borg. Money quote: "Disillusioned shareholders are bound to question whether the rejection of Microsoft's sweetened offer was driven more by emotion and ego than sound business sense." Um, yes they are. And for good reason. FWIW, Jerry called me last night. Crying. He'd been on the phone getting screamed at by Wall Street people. And by Yahoo employees who apparently are being really abusive. In men's rooms all over the Yahoo campus a nasty new drawing is popping up, depicting Jerry Yang with his tongue hanging out, his legs pulled up and both thumbs firmly positioned in his ass. Jerry's like, Steve, dude, I know I can turn this company around. I just need a little more time. I've got it all mapped out. First we'll do another 100-day review period to review our operations and re-review the review we did a few months ago; then we'll have a 100-day listening period; then a 100-day period to digest what we've heard when we're listening and incorporate that data into the data we gathered during our review; then a 100-day period to develop a new strategy; then a 100-day period to explain the new strategy to employees; then a 100-day period to reorg the company and start rolling out the foundations of the new strategy to maximize shareholder value and pursue ways to better leverage our opportunities in the still very young online advertising market where we continue to believe we are well-positioned with a unique strategy; then a 100-day period to finish the reorg and roll out the second half of the new strategy. I mean it's pretty simple stuff." I'm like, Jerry, dude, I'm not very good at math and to be honest I kind of lost track of what you were saying because I put down the phone at one point so I could check myself out in the mirror, but I think that plan is going to take something like fifteen years, isn't it?

Hypocrisy Alert - If gas guzzlers are so evil, why does Obama keep - Update riding in them?

If gas guzzlers are so evil, why does Obama keep riding in them? Michelle Malkin

There he goes again. Barack Obama is lambasting Detroit’s Big 3 automakers again for manufacturing SUVs. He attacked the car companies over the weekend for making the “mistake” of investing in SUVs and large trucks instead of producing more fuel-efficient vehicles. Obama also bragged about his Big 3- bashing speech a year ago that delivered “the kind of truth-telling we need from the next president.” A truth-telling reminder of the gas-guzzling car Obama himself was driving before eco-hypocrisy caught up with him: His own car: Chrysler 300C Output: 340 hp, 390 lb-ft EPA fuel economy, city/highway: 17/25 (17/24 AWD) His fancy wheels got less than the standard 27 mpg that he now whines is too low. After his do-as-i-say-ism was exposed, he traded in his beast for a Ford Escape Hybrid. But on the campaign trail, to this day, it’s still the bigger the better. [photo of Him getting into a shiny black monster SUV] Obama’s eco-hypocrisy emission standard: High.

Update

The London Daily Mail documents many more eco-hypocrites: - John Travolts owns 5 jets. - Sting travels with a retinue of 750 people. - Chris Martin of Coldplay brags about low-impact tours. But he flies home and back multiple times during one "tour." - Leonardo DiCaprio the Learjet liberal, flies "as much as possible on commercial," which is infrequently. - Brad and Angelina criss-cross the country in their private jets. - Barbra Streisand tells us to cut down on laundry. She flies on private jets. - Madonna is really trying. Her carbon footprint is 100 times the average Brit. - Prince Charles brought 14 people with him when he traveled to the US to accept an environmental award. And his sons travel the UK in military Chinook helicopters.

Taxes to slow the economy - Worked for Pres. Jimmy

It failed before; it retired President Jimmy. So let's try it again. If you want to cause less of something you tax it to death. Do we want to kill oil - exploration, production, transportation, retailing? Then tax it. Amity Shales tells us the problems with the "windfall profits tax" on big, bad oil companies. Bloomberg

Not Much Revenue The first is that such taxes tend to yield disappointing revenue. Back in 1980, lawmakers were riled over the news of Arab Light hitting $36 a barrel, up from just $14 in 1978. Congress, the world's worst economic forecaster, began to envision an endless increase in the price of oil and an endless gusher of revenue. Lawmakers imposed a levy of as much as 70 percent based on a per-barrel increase over a designated base price. Carter wasn't necessarily comfortable with the recent ending of price controls. And he knew that Mobil Oil Corp. and other oil companies were excited about future discoveries. Now he consoled himself with the thought that this windfall tax would take the profit of such discoveries from such irritating petrocrats. Of course, oil prices didn't surge -- in fact, they dropped. There was something at work that lawmakers hadn't thought of. The oil-price increases had been partly a monetary event, reflecting the inflation that the new Federal Reserve Chairman, Paul Volcker, was then vanquishing. Quiet Death Some would argue that inflation plays the same role in goosing commodity futures prices today. By 1986 oil prices had collapsed. Disappointing windfall tax revenue reflected that. At the Cato Institute, authors Jerry Taylor and Peter van Doren reckon that the windfall profits tax generated $40 billion or so, instead of the $175 billion once projected. By 1988, embarrassed lawmakers allowed the tax to die a quiet death. But in the course of its life, the tax did plenty of damage. As a Congressional Budget Office paper from 1983 pointed out, the levy early on proved itself an administrative nightmare since it effectively required the collection of ``detailed information on each individual oil-producing property in the United States.'' What's more, the tax so depressed business activity that it had an effect on the general economy. Experts Baffled But in 1980 the economy's refusal to recover was baffling some economists. One of their conclusions, published in the New York Times, was that the windfall-profits tax was being passed along to consumers, reducing disposable income and so demand. In other words, it was doing the opposite of what the tax-rebate checks are supposed to be doing this month and next. Specifically, the Windfall Tax made investment and production at domestic oil companies more expensive. Mobil was right. You needed incentives to want to drill. That deterrent slowed the sort of research that might have made energy less expensive earlier.

Satellite Indicates 23-Year Global Cooling

Warming? No. Cooling. It's the science, Albert Gore, Jr. Look at the data. CFP: New Jason Satellite Indicates 23-Year Global Cooling:

Now it’s not just the sunspots that predict a 23-year global cooling. The new Jason oceanographic satellite shows that 2007 was a “cool” La Nina year—but Jason also says something more important is at work: The much larger and more persistent Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) has turned into its cool phase, telling us to expect moderately lower global temperatures until 2030 or so. For the past century at least, global temperatures have tended to mirror the 20-to 30-year warmings and coolings of the north-central Pacific Ocean. We don’t know just why, but the pattern of the last century is clear: the earth warmed from about 1915 to1940, while the PDO was also warming (1925 to 46). The earth cooled from 1940 to 1975, while the PDO was cooling (1946 to 1977). The strong global warming from 1976 to 1998 was accompanied by a strong and almost-constant warming of the north-central Pacific. Ancient tree rings in Baja California and Mexico show there have been 11 such PDO shifts since 1650, averaging 23 years on length.

There's A Sucker Born Every Minute... But President Jimmy...

Power Line: There's A Sucker Born Every Minute...: THERE'S A SUCKER BORN EVERY MINUTE... ... but a sucker like Jimmy Carter comes along only once or twice in a century.

BLITZER: Let's talk about foreign policy, a very sensitive issue: Your recent trip to the Middle East, your decision to meet with Hamas, a group the U.S. government brands a terrorist organization. President Bush was asked about it at his news conference. And here's what he said. Listen to this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Foreign policy and peace is undermined by Hamas in the Middle East. They're the ones who are undermining peace. They're the ones whose foreign policy objective is the destruction of Israel. They're the ones who are, you know, trying to create enough violence to stop the advance of the two-party state solution. They are a significant problem to world peace, or Middle Eastern peace. And that's the reason I'm not talking to them. (END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: He was specifically asked about your decision to talk to them. Do you want to respond to what you just heard? CARTER: Well, he's completely mistaken. It's obvious that he doesn't know the policy of Hamas. And I think that, since I met with them, I can very well say that -- and I've talked to Hamas a number of times...

This is truly breathtaking. President Bush "doesn't know the policy of Hamas," apparently with regard to the destruction of Israel and the desirability of peace in the region. Let's not take President Bush's word for it; let's go straight to the source: the Covenant of Hamas. From the Preamble:

Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it. Article 11: The land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf [Holy Possession] consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgment Day. No one can renounce it or any part, or abandon it or any part of it. Article 13: Palestine is an Islamic land... Since this is the case, the Liberation of Palestine is an individual duty for every Moslem wherever he may be. Article 15: The day the enemies usurp part of Moslem land, Jihad becomes the individual duty of every Moslem. In the face of the Jews' usurpation, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised.

The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: 'O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him.'

You get the picture. Yet Jimmy Carter thinks that President Bush is "completely mistaken" in calling Hamas a terrorist organization that tries to subvert peace. The dialogue continues:

BLITZER: Well, he says they're committed to the destruction of Israel. CARTER: Well, I asked them about this. And that was one of the major requests or suggestions that I made to Hamas -- I made five or six of them. They brought all of their leadership together, from Gaza and also from within Damascus. And they spent all night Saturday and all Sunday considering the proposals that I made to them. And they gave me a response to all my proposals Sunday night by telephone. One of the things I asked them to do was to agree to accept any peace contract between Israel and the Palestinians with Mahmoud Abbas being the representative of the Palestinians, provided it was approved by the Palestinians in a referendum, even if Hamas agreed with it... BLITZER: Did they say they would accept... CARTER: Absolutely. BLITZER: ... Israel living alongside Palestine... CARTER: Absolutely, they said they would accept that. BLITZER: ... a Jewish state of Israel? CARTER: That's correct. Absolutely...

And he is doing this damage in our names. He is not authorized to represent the US, but he claims to and people accept him at his word.

Mayor says prayer is working in Yakima

Mayor says prayer is working in Yakima Yakima Herald

YAKIMA -- It's working, says Yakima Mayor Dave Edler. Just take a look around. From dropping crime rates to efforts to revitalize the downtown area, prayer is transforming this city, he says. "My sense is when the name of our city of Yakima is bouncing around the halls of heaven, God responds," says Edler, also the senior pastor of Yakima Foursquare Church, one of the largest evangelical churches in town. Edler will deliver the keynote address -- "How Prayer is Changing Yakima" -- at the annual Mayor's Prayer Breakfast on May 1. The breakfast is held in celebration of the 2008 National Day of Prayer.

Cut the cruelest tax

The cruelest tax of all is the property tax. It's the equivalent to taxing the air we breathe. You can't live in your home without paying hundreds per month. Floyd Brown is doing something about it and needs help. Tax Fight: Save your home. Cut property taxes now! The League of Washington Taxpayers has sponsored Initiative 1030 which will cut your property taxes by 30 percent beginning in 2009.

No starvation for fuel, Al

Demon ethanol, an icon of the left called it, has raised the prices of corn, rice and other staple grains. It bothers us Americans. But in third-world countries it is breaking people. There have been huge price increases that caused riots in Haiti, protests in the Philippines, and other countries. But the intent is to help the environment. Albert Gore, Jr., has pure motives. How is it going? Not well. American Thinker Blog:

Big science is starting to agree that ethanol production is hurting, not helping the environment. According to an article in today’s Washington Post by Steven Mufson entitled “Global Food Crisis; Siphoning Off Corn to Fuel Our Cars ”

“Although ethanol was once promoted as a way to slow climate change, a study published in Science magazine Feb. 29 concluded that greenhouse-gas emissions from corn and even cellulosic ethanol "exceed or match those from fossil fuels and therefore produce no greenhouse benefits." By encouraging an expansion of acreage, the study added, the use of U.S. cropland for ethanol could make climate conditions dramatically worse. And the runoff from increased use of fertilizers on expanded acreage would compound damage to waterways all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.” [Emphasis added]

SCIENCE MAGAZINE is the official publication of the American Association of the Advancement of Science, www.aaas.org, a peer-reviewed academic journal with very high scientific prestige equivalent to NATURE, so Al Gore cannot claim it is under the control of the evil oil industry.

Switch grass?

Poland launches campaign to lure back migrant workers

The ultimate resource's value continues to increase. The term was from Julian Simon's conclusion from studying resources. Raw materials have no value until people find use for them. There is no natural resource, only resources made valuable by people. And the most valuable resource is - people. In Poland economic growth has increased the demand for labor. In past years they were glad to see their people leave for employment in Western Europe. Today they need them back. Poland is advertising for them! Good news. Poland launches campaign to lure back migrant workers - Home News, UK - The Independent: For nearly four years, Britain's construction and hospitality industries have flourished thanks to the influx of an estimated one million Polish workers – but now Poland wants them back. The Warsaw government is so worried about a national labour shortage in the professions that it plans to advertise in the UK to encourage expatriate Poles to return to the country that many of them left after it joined the European Union. According to Polish media reports, the adverts will soon appear in English and Polish-language newspapers in this country. They are part of a wider campaign by the newly elected government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who swept to power six months ago with a pledge to encourage migrant workers to return.

Big Jim McDermott loses and pays $1 million for Republican candidates

My Congressman Jim McDermott provided the Republican Party with $1 million. He wasn't tried for the crime he committed; Janet Reno could never see any violation by a partisan Democrat. But he declined to settle out of court for less than a tenth this amount. Thanks, Honorable Jim. Seattle Times Rep. McDermott pays $1 M to Rep. Boehner in taped call case

Rep. Jim McDermott has paid more than $1 million to House Minority Leader John Boehner, ending a decade-long dispute over an illegally taped telephone call. McDermott, a Seattle Democrat, paid $1,093,297 to the Ohio Republican's campaign committee earlier this month, spokesman for the two men said Monday. The payment is in addition to $64,000 McDermott paid Boehner in January, as part of court-ordered punitive damages in the long-running case. A federal judge ordered McDermott to compensate Boehner for attorney's fees after Boehner sued McDermott for leaking the contents of a cell phone call that was illegally recorded in 1996. A federal court found last year that McDermott had no right to release the call, in which Republican leaders discussed an ethics case against then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. A Florida couple recorded the cell phone call on a radio scanner and gave the tape to McDermott, who at the time was a senior member of the House ethics committee. McDermott leaked the tape to two newspapers, which published articles on the case in January 1997. The Supreme Court decided in December not to revisit the case. Boehner's spokesman, Kevin Smith, said the $1.09 million payment includes $628,000 from McDermott's campaign account, and about $465,000 from McDermott's legal expense trust fund. "Every last penny will be used to help elect Republicans," Smith said, calling it ironic that McDermott - an outspoken partisan - "is helping fund the defeat of his fellow Democrats. I wouldn't expect he'll receive a lot of thank you's come November."

The Second Time as Farce - the UN

The United Nations couldn't get lower? A majority controlled by presidents-for-life denounces every move by the US and Israel. Libya was elected - elected - to chair preparations for the Human Rights Council's upcoming Durban II "World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance". And Iran and Cuba are members of this committee. Get lower than that? Here we go. Put a conspiracy theorist in a position of responsibility. The Second Time as Farce:

IF FURTHER PROOF BE needed of the terminal decline of the United Nations as a world body that purports to advance human rights, look no further than the recent appointments of Richard Falk and Jean Ziegler by the UN's Human Rights Council (HRC). Both appointments should be of major concern to U.S. leaders disturbed by the UN's increasing failure in the arena of human rights and the blatant and widespread anti-American and anti-Israeli bias among key UN human rights officials. Richard Falk, the Emeritus Milbank Professor of International Law and Practice at Princeton, is an outspoken, zealous critic of Israel and American foreign policy who has just been appointed the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian Territories by unanimous vote. Falk has compared Israeli policy to the actions of Nazi Germany, publicly defended the reputation of former Colorado University Professor Ward Churchill, and wrote the foreword to controversial theologian David Ray Griffin's 2004 conspiracy theory treatise The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11. ... Jean Ziegler, a Swiss sociology professor and UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, has been an apologist for dictators such as Fidel Castro and Robert Mugabe"

And "once described the West Bank as an Israeli-run "immense concentration camp."

McCain to hit hard on free trade in hard-hit town

Here is a man who is brining people to face the facts that aren't easy to handle. John McCain. Obama claims to do it, but does not. Obama says he will work across the aisle with people who disagree. But his record in the US Senate shows he did not work with Republicans to solve problems. Hillary did it on several issues. But look at McCain. Trade enriches our country overall. There is friction. As we move toward making/doing what we can do best and away from what we cannot, there are some losers; they have to retrain for a more valuable skill and/or industry and sometimes have to relocate. But the whole country - and the world - is better off. McCain has the guts to tell people on the losing end. McCain to hit hard on free trade in hard-hit town - USATODAY.com:

Youngstown, Ohio, is a struggling steel town where jobs have been lost and free-trade deals are unpopular. McCain, however, is prepared to argue the overall benefits of unfettered trade, aides said. "Protectionism devastates the economy," said Steve Schmidt, a senior adviser to McCain. In an economic speech last week, McCain said: "When new trading partners can sell in our market, and American companies can sell in theirs, the gains are great and they are lasting."

Expelled The Movie starring Ben Stein - updated

It's worth sitting through this feature-length documentary for 2 minutes of it. Not that it seems long; it doesn't. But the highlights are high. Distinguished Professor Richard Dawkins, while explaining one of his theories, wanders and gets drawn out. And the audience laughs at the Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science, Oxford University; that's him; that's Dawkins' title. A good portion of the audience of 200 laughed at him. Second, when asked repeatedly how life originated, his explanation: A much superior race on another planet somewhere, who evolved somehow, planted the seed of life on earth. He continues: so you expect to find signs of intelligence. That's what we call intelligent design. It's priceless, his explanation requires intelligence and he admits it. See also: review by Brent Bozell at Townhall. See the movie's trailer. Look up a theater where it's playing. Update: Here is another recounting of Dawkins' admission that intelligent beings might be the source of life on Earth.

Nine Worst Anti-business Stories of the Last 50 Years

Some of the biggest challenges to American business come, not from competitors or regulatros, but from the media. The US media. They often approach any business story with the assumption that the entrepreneurs and managers have no concern at all for the health and safety of their customers. And there are proven cases where trusted, major news outlets have intentionally staged abuse - the "abuse by business" they are reporting on they themselves committed. More often their anti-business bias leads them to believe the worst without checking the facts. Business & Media Institute : Nine Worst Business Stories (of the Last 50 Years) :

Some of the toughest obstacles American businesses face come not from other companies or the economy, but from the media – journalists exaggerating an issue to make a story sexier or anti-business groups influencing the media to advance their agenda. Four of the stories on the following list started with a press release or report from an environmentalist group, labor union or “consumer group.” Those exaggerations or manipulations resulted in lost jobs, lost revenue, unfounded health scares, unnecessary government intervention, and even deaths. The Business & Media Institute has compiled a list of the nine worst business stories (of the last 50 years).

NBC and GM Trucks

Imagine being in a low-speed side-impact collision during which your truck bursts into flames, engulfing the cab and burning you alive. On Nov. 17, 1992, NBC’s “Dateline” made that fear a reality in one of the most notorious Worst Stories. “Dateline’s” report focused on an abnormally large number of fires resulting from side-impact collisions on certain models of General Motors trucks. The trucks featured gas tanks mounted outside the frame rails, where they were, according to NBC, more vulnerable to crumpling and explosion in a side-impact hit. To demonstrate the danger, “Dateline” commissioned test-run collisions. The first, a 40-mile-per-hour side-impact crash, resulted in absolutely no fire. But the second, a 30-mile-per-hour collision, erupted into flames engulfing both the truck and the car sacrificed for the visual effect. There was some basis for the report itself – “Dateline” cited accident statistics showing GM trucks were “more than twice” as likely as other pickup trucks to be involved in fiery crashes. GM faced numerous lawsuits over the truck, including one civil suit in early 1993 that ended in a $105-million penalty against the manufacturer over the death of a 17-year-old Georgian. But the powerful visual effect for “Dateline’s” report had been staged. In a press conference in February 1993, GM showed that the test runs were rigged. Screen captures taken moments before impact showed “plumes of smoke” from underneath the truck, the result of small igniters placed on the gas tank to ensure a fire.

That's just one. They also feature the Audi cars that were not in fact defective; the scare over the chemical alar in apples that crashed the price of apples at great cost to my state and I will have to do a separate entry on DDT. Via Newsbusters

Japan's new energy source - methane hydrate

Good news. Japan has found a source of energy. There is methane hydrate sealed in permafrost, as I understand it, of the coast of Japan. The reserve is huge - decades of Japan's needs if it can be used. And a successful experiment indicates so. Of course the people who talk about energy independence then fight tooth-and-nail against it are aghast. Japan's Arctic methane hydrate haul raises environment fears - Times Online :

Japan is celebrating a groundbreaking science experiment in the Arctic permafrost that may eventually reshape the country's fragile economy and Tokyo's relationships with the outside world. For an unprecedented six straight days, a state-backed drilling company has managed to extract industrial quantities of natural gas from underground sources of methane hydrate - a form of gas-rich ice once thought to exist only on the moons of Saturn. In fact, the seabeds around the Japanese coast turn out to conceal massive deposits of the elusive sorbet-like compound in their depths, and a country that has long assumed it had virtually no fossil fuels could now be sitting on energy reserves containing 100 years' fuel. Critically for Japan, which imports 99.7 per cent of the oil, gas and coal needed to run its vast economy, the lumps of energy-filled ice offer the tantalising promise of a little energy independence. ... The potential of methane hydrates as a source of natural gas has been known scientifically for some time, though how much was lurking off the Japanese coast has been confirmed only in the past couple of years. Methane hydrates are believed to collect along geological fault lines, and Japan sits atop a nexus of three of the world's largest. In 2007 the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry declared that there were more than 1.1 trillion cubic metres (39 trillion cubic feet) of methane hydrates off the eastern coast - equivalent to 14 years of natural gas use by Japan at current rates. Academic studies suggest total Japanese deposits of 7.4 trillion cubic metres.

Gore Admits profiting from his green propheteering

For years, NewsBusters has reported on Al Gore's financial interests in advancing global warming hysteria around the world. Now Albert Gore, Jr., admitted that he has a conflict of interest. He recommends investments that he profits from. Confession is only the first step, Albert. Now you have to determine that you will profit no more. Promise. Gore Admits Financial Gain from Advancing Global Warming Hysteria - NewsBusters.org:

On March 1, while speaking at the TED Conference in Monterey, California, the Nobel Laureate admitted to having "a stake" in a number of green "investments" that he recommended attendees put money in rather than "sub-prime carbon assets" like "tar sands" and "shale oil." This occurred as pictures of such products appeared on the screen with names of the companies involved (video available here, relevant section begins at minute 15:00. "There are a lot of great investments you can make. If you are investing in tar sands, or shale oil, then you have a portfolio that is crammed with sub-prime carbon assets. And it is based on an old model. Junkies find veins in their toes when the ones in their arms and their legs collapse. Developing tar sands and coal shale is the equivalent. Here are just a few of the investments I personally think make sense. I have a stake in these so I’ll have a disclaimer there. But geo-thermal concentrating solar, advanced photovoltaics, efficiency, and conservation. " As Gore spoke these words, pictures of electric cars, windmills and solar panels appeared in multiple slides on the screen with company names at the bottom such as Amyris (biofuels), Altra (biofuels), Bloom Energy (solid oxide fuel cells), Mascoma (cellulosic biofuels), GreatPoint Energy (catalytic gasification), Miasole (solar cells), Ausra (utility scale solar panels), GEM (battery operated cars), Smart (electric cars), and AltaRock Energy (geothermal power).

Jimmy Carter to Meet With Terrorist Hamas Leader in Syria - Update

President Jimmy continues to move lower. FOXNews.com - Report: Jimmy Carter to Meet With Hamas Leader in Syria Former President Jimmy Carter is reportedly preparing an unprecedented meeting with the leader of Hamas, an organization that the U.S. government considers one of the leading terrorist threats in the world. The Arabic-language newspaper Al-Hayat reported Tuesday that Carter was planning a trip to Syria for mid-April, during which he would meet with Khaled Meshal, the exiled head of the Palestinian terror group Hamas, on April 18. Deanna Congileo, Carter’s press secretary, confirmed in an e-mail to FOXNews.com that Carter will be in the Mideast in April. Pressed for comment, Congileo did not deny that the former president is considering visiting Meshal. “President Carter is planning a trip to the Mideast next week; however, we are still confirming details of the trip and will issue a press release by the end of this week,” wrote Congileo. “I cannot confirm any specific meetings at this point in time.” Meshal, who lives in Syria to avoid being arrested by the Israeli government, leads Hamas from his seat in Damascus, where he is a guest of Bashar al-Assad's regime. Update - Jimmy feels "quite at ease." Seattle P-I: Jimmy Carter defends meeting with Hamas:

Several State Department officials, including the secretary, Condoleezza Rice, criticized Carter's plans to talk in Syria this week with exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in the first public contact in two years between a prominent American figure and the group

High cost of politics over trade

Trade saves money for everyone. Everyone. (I don't call it "free trade," because it is always restricted - never free.) Trade between countries allows the market to decide where is the most efficient place to produce something. Country A gets efficient at producing X, so it produces more X and less Y and Z. A trades for them - buys them. And Country B turns to produce less X and more Y or Z. Production goes to the efficient place - counting the cost of transportation. The goods we buy become cheaper. Colombia is our friend between two big problems - Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador. So let's treat Colombia like a friend and trade with them; a new trade treaty goes for the vote in the US Senate this week. The Democrats demanded protection for their union buddies, so the treaty was changed for them. But they won't accept yes. John Fund at Wall Street Journal does a good job on the petty politics over Colombia this month.

But in truth, the Uribe government has made great strides in reducing violence in Colombia. Since 2001, the number of kidnappings has dropped by over 80%, acts of terror are down over 75%, and the murder rate associated with trade unionists is down almost 80%. President Uribe made clear how disappointed he was that the Democratic front-runner had chosen domestic politics over geopolitical stability: "I deplore the fact that Sen. Obama . . . should be unaware of Colombia's efforts," he said in a statement. "I think it is for political calculations that he is making a statement that does not correspond to Colombia's reality." The simple truth is that the opposition to the trade agreement--from the Democratic presidential contenders to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi--has nothing to do with reality. Rep. Charles Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, admitted as much recently: "It's not the substance on the ground--it's the politics in the air."

Climate change hysteria brings new age of unreason - Lord Lawson

A prominent Brit speaks out. Lord Lawson claims climate change hysteria heralds a 'new age of unreason' - Telegraph One of the striking features of how concern over global warming has risen to the top of our political agenda is the extraordinary unanimity with which it has been taken up by our political establishment. Not only have our main political parties unquestioningly accepted the more extreme claims of the threat posed by global warming, as exemplified by the Treasury's Stern Review or Al Gore's alarmist film. Our politicians have similarly endorsed without a murmur all the steps now being taken to avert this predicted catastrophe - which, if carried through, can only mean a dramatic transformation in our way of life. Only one senior political figure in Britain has dared stand apart from this stifling orthodoxy: Nigel Lawson, now Lord Lawson of Blaby, who as Margaret Thatcher's Chancellor presided over the renaissance of our economy in the 1980s. In 2005 Lord Lawson played an influential part in shaping a report on The Economics of Climate Change by the Lords economic affairs committee. It stood out as a measured but often critical appraisal both of the science behind orthodox global warming theory and of the political response to it. In 2006, in a lecture to the Centre for Policy Studies, Lord Lawson gave a more personal view of one of the overriding political issues of our time, which he has now expanded into a book, An Appeal To Reason: A Cool Look At Global Warming. His timing is impeccable. On one hand, we are just starting to appreciate the colossal cost of the measures being taken to meet the European Union's target of a 60 per cent cut in our CO2 emissions in the next four decades, ranging from plans to spend hundreds of billions of pounds on wind turbines to the EU's emissions trading scheme, already costing us billions through our electricity bills.

$109 million - $10 million to their OWN charity

Do you want to be ruled by the mega-rich? Then elect Hillary. Townhall online

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former President Clinton made nearly $109 million since they left the White House, capitalizing on the world's interest in the former first couple and lucrative business ventures. The Clintons reported $20.4 million in income for 2007 as they gave the public the most detailed look at their finances in eight years. Almost half the former first couple's money came from Bill Clinton's speeches. The tax returns are a portrait in post-presidential success. The Clintons, who had lived in taxpayer-paid housing in the governor's mansion in Arkansas or the White House for years, left the presidency struggling with a legal defense fund stemming from a spate of investigations. They now are wealthy enough that she could lend her presidential campaign $5 million earlier this year. The campaign released tax returns from 2000 through 2006 and gave highlights from their 2007 return. The Clintons have asked for an extension for filing their 2007 tax returns, citing the dissolution of a blind trust last year. The Democratic presidential candidate and her husband paid $33.8 million in taxes from 2000 through 2007. They listed $10.25 million in charitable contributions during that period. Clinton has been under pressure to release her tax returns, especially from rival Sen. Barack Obama, who posted his 2000 to 2006 returns on his campaign Web site last week. Neither Obama nor Republican Sen. John McCain has made their 2007 tax returns public, though both say they will this month. The Clintons last made their returns public in 2000 when they reported an adjusted gross income of $416,039 for 1999. Since then, the former president has embarked on a number of business ventures and has made millions from speaking engagements and books.

The "charitable" donations were to their own charity. Good deal, give money to yourself and get a tax deduction.

Colombia sitting on big oil reserves

Colombia in South America has large oil reserves. It shouldn't be a complete surprise. Venezuela next door has produced oil since around 1920 and is a major world source. Brazil has started high production of oil. Indeed, the headlines have been "Brazil to attain energy independence with ethanol from sugar can." But that is less than half the picture. in 2005, Brazil consumed 2,000,000 barrels of oil per day, versus 280,000 barrels of ethanol. So ethanol consumption is 1/7 that of oil. [Ethanol in Brazil] FT.com / In depth - Colombia sitting on big oil reserves: Colombia’s heavy oil area could hold 20bn barrels of recoverable resources, giving the country greater reserves than leading producers such as Mexico and Algeria, said its natural resources agency. Foreign investment in Colombia’s oil and gas industry is booming, and the country hopes to lift oil production to 1m barrels a day in the next decade, from about 550,000 b/d currently. Colombia’s heavy oil potential is dwarfed by that of its neighbour Venezuela, which is estimated to have at least 240bn barrels recoverable in its Orinoco belt region. But Colombia has the great advantage of welcoming foreign investment. It is one of the few countries with significant resources becoming more accessible to international companies, and capable of growth in oil exports. The ANH, Colombia’s national hydrocarbons agency, is on Wednesday setting out details of Colombia’s second licensing round in London, following presentations in Houston last week. Larger companies have been invited to bid for heavy oil exploration acreage in the Llanos Basin, towards the border with Venezuela.

Fox Has Done Fairest Job Covering Campaign - Hillary Supporter Ed Rendell

Fox News is doing the best job - being fairest. And this is from Clinton partisan Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. How does he dare say it? Hillary Supporter Ed Rendell: Fox Has Done Fairest Job Covering Campaign | NewsBusters.org:

Speaking with host Steve Doocy, Rendell said the following (h/t TVNewser via NBer Thomas Stewart): Well, I said that I think during this entire campaign coverage starting in Iowa and up to the present, Fox has done the fairest job, has remained the most objective of all the cable networks: you hate both of our candidates. No, I'm only kidding. But, you actually have done a very balanced job of reporting the news. And, you know, some of the other stations are just caught up with the, Senator Obama who's a great guy. But Senator Obama can do no wrong, and Senator Clinton can do no right.