Selection bias humor

Consolidation

Bush Directive Increases Sway on Regulation

In an executive order published last week in the Federal Register, Mr. Bush said that each agency must have a regulatory policy office run by a political appointee, to supervise the development of rules and documents providing guidance to regulated industries. The White House will thus have a gatekeeper in each agency to analyze the costs and the benefits of new rules and to make sure the agencies carry out the president’s priorities.

This strengthens the hand of the White House in shaping rules that have, in the past, often been generated by civil servants and scientific experts. It suggests that the administration still has ways to exert its power after the takeover of Congress by the Democrats.

Obama shows leadership

Here we go. Barack Obama has just called for the phased removal of combat brigades from Iraq to start in a few months, with the goal of getting "all" -- we repeat, "all" -- removed by March 2008.

From Obama's press release:

The Obama plan offers a responsible yet effective alternative to the President's failed policy of escalation. Realizing there can be no military solution in Iraq, it focuses instead on reaching a political solution in Iraq, protecting our interests in the region, and bringing this war to a responsible end. The legislation commences redeployment of U.S. forces no later than May 1, 2007 with the goal of removing all combat brigades from Iraq by March 31, 2008, a date that is consistent with the expectation of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group.

Podcasts of LSE lectures and events

Here and rss here

for your non-misedifimication.

Not so positive feedback

Global warming: the vicious circle

"A warmer world is increasing evaporation from the oceans causing atmospheric concentrations of water vapour, a powerful greenhouse agent, to have increased by 4 per cent over the sea since 1970. Water vapour in the atmosphere exacerbates the greenhouse effect. This is the largest positive feedback identified in the report, which details for the first time the IPCC's concern over the uncertainties - and dangers - of feedback cycles that may quickly accelerate climate change."

and this is a very interesting part - a counterfactual argument that humans are the cause:

The IPCC also finally nails the canard of the climate sceptics who argue that global warming is a myth or the result of natural climate variability; natural factors alone cannot account for the observed warming, the IPCC says. "These changes took place at a time when non-anthropogenic forcing factors (i.e. the sum of solar and volcanic forcing) would be expected to have produced cooling, not warming.

"There is increased confidence that natural internal variability cannot account for the observed changes, due in part to improved studies demonstrating that the warming occurred in both oceans and atmosphere, together with observed ice mass losses."

Not so good US housing market news...

Housing vacancy rate hits new record

More inventions

A Chindogu Clock for Procrastinators

looks like they are coming out with a physical version, the random watch

A timepiece including means for intermittently changing the indicated time of day to an intentionally fast setting to discourage tardiness. The timepiece, which may be a wristwatch, pocket watch-or clock, computer clock, or any other time of day indicator, intermittently displays a time of day which is several minutes fast to encourage punctuality. The duration of the intentionally introduced time of day error, as well as the times when that error is intermittently introduced, may be cyclically and/or randomly varied so that the person who consults the timepiece does not know whether the timepiece, at any particular time, is fast or on-time. The days, and the time period(s) during each day, when the fast settings are introduced may be programmed so that the timepiece accurately indicates the time of day except at times when promptness is particularly important.

Wasting our time

"scientists" make doughnuts laced with caffeine

if we only put our minds to real problems. what a bunch of crap.

weird incompetence in the UK

Police 'Lose' 300 Sex Offenders

it has been a rough week for the Home Office.

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose

Bush's 'clean fuel' move may cause more harm, say environmentalists

"There is no revolution in global warming policy in anything the President is proposing, no matter how the White House tries to spin it," said Philip Clapp, the president of the National Environmental Trust. " The numbers are calculated to sound big and impressive but the President is being just as intransigent on global warming as he is on Iraq, ignoring Congress, major business leaders, and the public, who have called for action. "

He added: "The President's proposals will contribute almost nothing to stopping global warming. They will allow our carbon emissions to grow by 14 per cent over the next 10 years."

Others welcomed Mr Bush's acknowledgment of the threat of global warming but warned that some of his proposals could do more harm than good.

"'Wrongheaded approaches would prove counter-productive - we could end up with somewhat more efficient vehicles running on much dirtier fuels that further accelerate global warming,' said Frances Beinecke, the president of the Natural Resources Defence Council. 'Turning coal into liquid transportation fuel, for instance, would generate nearly twice the amount of global-warming pollution that today's petroleum-based fuels do."

At Ease, Mr. President

He's not my commander in chief

WE hear constantly now about “our commander in chief.” The word has become a synonym for “president.” It is said that we “elect a commander in chief.” It is asked whether this or that candidate is “worthy to be our commander in chief.”

But the president is not our commander in chief. He certainly is not mine. I am not in the Army.

Public fatigue

NEWSWEEK Poll: Bush Hits New Low

Porn and Pancakes? At church?

What are they dutch?

Imagine that... educating instead of reactive banning.

Smoke and mirrors

The US answer to global warming

of course, as a last ditch effort, not to avoid changing our lifestyle...

The Decider speaks

Bush: 'I'm the Decision-Maker' on Iraq

will Congress do anything other than non-binding resolutions?

I particularly like the (il)logic of this Bush policy wisdom:

Bush said he recognizes that "there is skepticism and pessimism" in Congress, but he added that "some are condemning the plan before it's even had a chance to work."

No wonder he can't reign in the budget.

In a New Joint U.S.-Iraqi Patrol

the Americans Go First

DIEBOLD VOTING MACHINE KEY COPIED FROM PHOTO

Princeton University Computer Scientists Confirm 'Secret' Key For Every Diebold Voting Machine 'Revealed' on Company Website!

Why oh why?

Bomb suspects "radicalised in weeks"

Officers (in the UK) have charged 15 people over the suspected plot with offences including conspiracy to murder and planning acts of terrorism. The suspects are due to go on trial next year.

'One of the really shocking things ... is the apparent speed with which young, reasonably affluent, some reasonably well-educated, British-born people were converted,' police chief Ian Blair told a conference on Islamophobia.

He said the suspects had been converted 'from what would appear to be ordinary lives in a matter of some weeks and months, not years, to a position where they were allegedly prepared to commit suicide and murder thousands of people'.

Authorities are trying to understand what has caused a growth in extremism among the Britain's 1.8 million Muslims, dramatically exemplified by the July 2005 suicide bomb attacks on London's transport system by four British Islamists who killed themselves and 52 other people"

Gee, why would that be? oh no, it is most likely the dirty hippies.

Kerry bows out

I wouldn't have voted for him anyway - but he probably would have been an ok president.

What goes around stays around.

State of the Union 2008 and the Democratic response.
Nancy doesn't look so happy in the background.

28%

Poll: Bush Approval Rating At New Low, On Eve Of State Of Union, President's Approval Rating Falls To 28%, A New Low

Something else to consider while eating popcorn tonight. Sometimes I think it is a shame we don't have a parliamentary system. Bush would've been gone in a no confidence vote years ago...

State of the Union

what you need to know while you watch.

I'm busy so won't be posting much for a few weeks.

Another take on Hilary

Unelectable, and rightly so

Learn about Hilary

An 3 month old in-depth Atlantic profile of Hilary

I better brush up on who I will vote for in the primary because apparently my vote may actually count in 2008! State aims for Feb. 5 primary to boost clout

With Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's backing, state lawmakers from both parties are moving rapidly to make California a player in choosing the nation's next president by holding the state's primary four months earlier.

A bipartisan group of state senators introduced legislation Friday to change the 2008 presidential primary from June 3 to Feb. 5. Another bill was introduced by an Assembly Republican on Thursday, the day after Schwarzenegger declared that moving up the primary date would make California "relevant" nationally and was "something to shoot for."

The February date — the earliest the state can choose under national party rules — would place California at the beginning of the election season, right after four states that have secured the most privileged spots in January for their Democratic caucuses or primaries: Iowa (Jan. 14), Nevada (Jan. 19), New Hampshire (Jan. 22) and South Carolina (Jan. 29). The Republican calendar has Iowa and New Hampshire first, with the rest of the schedule in flux.

Pundits and their weak egos - Friedman edition

Friedman Blasts Liberals, Claims They Believe Arabs Are ‘Incapable Of Democracy’

Yesterday on NPR’s On Point radio show, Friedman began attacking liberals when a caller asked him about his early support for the invasion of Iraq. He sarcastically said that next time, he’ll “be a better liberal” and “will view the prospect of Arabs forging a democracy as utterly impossible. They’re incapable of democracy.”

I imagine this topic is a sore point for him - imagine enabling this mess of a war. He does what all pundits with weak egos do, instead of addressing the question, you sarcastically and defensively lash out against a strawman. Well done!

Democratic diversity

Richardson to Launch Presidential Bid

When he does, the big four democrats will be a woman (Hilary is in), a black man, an hispanic, and a southern populist lawyer.

The youth of today

Missing in Antiwar Action

Recently I finished teaching a freshman seminar at Harvard called "From Reform to Revolution: Youth Culture in the 1960s." When I built the syllabus, I asked students to ponder a single, overarching question: "How did the youth rebellion of the 1960s happen?" That is, what caused millions of young people to pierce the bland and platitudinous din that characterized the early Cold War years? Why did so many youths -- many of them affluent and college-educated -- suddenly decide that American society needed to be radically overhauled?

But as the semester progressed, my students frequently turned the question around: Why is there no rising protest movement among young people today? At the very least, they asked, shouldn't we be seeing more antiwar activity? According to a CNN poll this month, 67 percent of Americans oppose the war in Iraq, and more than half would like to see all U.S. troops home by year's end. Given that it was not until August 1968 that a majority of Americans began calling the Vietnam War a "mistake," this is a remarkable statistic. By 1968, of course, antiwar teach-ins, sit-ins and marches were commonplace on many campuses; demonstrators had violently clashed with soldiers on the steps of the Pentagon; and the Democratic National Convention had descended into chaos over the war.

Today, grass-roots antiwar activism has not been entirely absent. But one would be hard-pressed to argue that we're on the cusp of a rising protest movement. Why not?

I found this little tid-bit interesting:

Nor are many students likely to be socialized into antiwar activism. Every campus has its left-wing organizers, but today the gauzy idealism that circulated among teenagers in the 1960s seems almost freakishly anomalous. According to a recent U.S. Census report, 79 percent of college freshmen in 1970 said that "developing a meaningful philosophy of life" was among their goals, whereas only 36 percent said becoming wealthy was a high priority. By contrast, in 2005, 75 percent of incoming students listed "being very well off financially" among their chief aims.

Here is one quiet protest, started by a middle-aged man.

Up close and personal

Alive In Baghdad

check out the videos.

America Strikes Back

This post made me think of a conversation I had with a wise man way back in 1999 when we were discussing the possibility of a G.W.Bush presidency. He told me something like, "don't worry, the republic has survived many bad administrations." Rather prescient, although I don't think he realized just how bad it would be.

Papa Bear and Colbert

Its on.

Obama Smeared As Former ‘Madrassa’ Student, Possible Covert Muslim Extremist

Fox is nuts. Completely nuts. They are completely freaked by Obama and his potential.

Check out those Democrats!

They do stuff!

WASHINGTON: Something odd happened on Capitol Hill this week. Something that seemed to start out as a publicity stunt — the House Democratic leadership's 100-hour agenda — actually turned into a qualified success.

Breaking the public trust

Ex-Rep. Ney (R-Ohio) gets 30-months in jail, $6000 fine

Former Ohio Republican Representative Bob Ney, the only member of Congress to be criminally charged in the Jack Abramoff-lobbying scandal, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison and fined $6,000 by U.S. District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle.

The Justice Department had asked for a term of 27 months in prison. The sentence was harsher than recommended by prosecutors or Ney's lawyers, Huvelle said, because Ney had violated the trust place on him as a public official. "Both your constituents and the public trusted you to represent them honestly," she said.

Sensible legislation

Big Oil gets punked

ll it an uppercut to the chin of Big Oil, delivered by Nancy Pelosi and a few friends. On Thursday night, by a vote of 264-163, the House of Representatives passed the Clean Long-Term Energy Alternative for the Nation Act of 2007.

Talk about your changes in the political weather: The bill aims to raise $15 billion dollars in taxes by ending various tax breaks and sweet royalty deals handed to the oil industry by President Bush and a Republican Congress. According to MSNBC, "Democrats said much of $15 billion in revenue generated by the measure would be used to promote renewable fuels such as solar and wind power, alternative fuels including ethanol and biodiesel and incentives for conservation."

Bill here (pdf).

Now let's see what the Senate does...

You know things aren't going well

When more people like you less than Cheney

Who is it?

Also this:

Only 39% of Americans view the GOP favorably, and 49% view them unfavorably. Meanwhile, a majority of respondents — 51% — have a favorable view of Dems, compared to only 35% who have an unfavorable view of what Fox likes to call the "Democrat Party."

and this is a fox poll!

That crazy New Mexico

Whats on their legislative plate? Cockfighting and Bush impeachment

The 60-session of the state Legislature convenes today with the agenda including cockfighting, water, minimum wages and a call for the impeachment of President Bush and his vice president.

Sixty days also allows lawmakers more opportunity to present pet projects and platforms like the resolution asking congress to begin investigation and impeachment proceedings against President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

The author, Sen. Gerald Ortiz Y Pino, D-Albuquerque, said he's been getting calls and e-mails.

“Personal messages from people who said, ‘Wow, I'm glad you're doing it; it's something we should be doing.” Ortiz Y Pino said. “This particularly built up after the president's speech last week when people began feeling like this guy is not listening to anything going on in the country.”

Hagel takes aim at Bush -- 'This is not a monarchy'

Pelosi May Create Global Warming Panel

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, intent on putting global warming atop the Democratic agenda, is shaking up traditional committee fiefdoms dominated by some of Congress' oldest and most powerful members.

She's moving to create a special committee to recommend legislation for cutting greenhouse gases, most likely to be chaired by Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., a Democratic leadership aide said Wednesday.

Call 'em out

Partisan dispute derails ethics reform

WASHINGTON - Democrats' hopes of starting off their control of the Senate with a far-reaching commitment to ethics reform received a painful jolt Wednesday, their ethics and lobbying legislation sidetracked by a dispute with Republicans.

Democrats failed to clear a crucial legislative hurdle when the Senate voted 51-46 to proceed with the bill that would have reduced the influence of lobbyists in shaping legislation and forced lawmakers to be more open about the pet projects they slip into legislation. Sixty-five votes were needed to advance the legislation.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., left the door open for another vote on the issue Thursday afternoon, but getting the bill back on track would require resolution of what appeared to be an intractable dispute.

Dems have a bigger microphone now - call them out on it. Ask why the GOP, when they have been so corrupt think that it is smart politics to stop ethics reform?

2008

Franken Seeks Advice for Possible Bid for Minnesota senate. I hope he runs.

Kerry for prez? Not so much. This will be an exciting Democratic primary.

Coco-diesal

Coconuts and the global warming paradox

What is Om?

I found this on a yoga website and thought I'd share it with you because it actually explains the symbol's parts...

What is Om?

The sound of Om represents everything. The material world of the waking state is symbolized by the large lower curve. The deep sleep state is represented by the upper left curve. The dream state, lying between the waking state below and the deep sleep state above, emanates from the confluence of the two.

The point and semicircle are separate from the rest and rule the whole. The point represents the turiya state of absolute consciousness. The open semicircle is symbolic of the infinite and the fact that the meaning of the point can not be grasped if one limits oneself to finite thinking.

The semi-circle reminded me of the star and cresent of Islam, but apparently there is no connection.

I hate to do it but...

Here's a little something to make you mad

More enviro laws

Sanders, Leahy re-introduce Jeffords global warming bill

The legislation due to be introduced Tuesday in the Senate would reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and by 2050 require an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gases over the 1990 level.

To reach those goals, the bill would use a combination of mandatory reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by setting strict standards for electric power plants and vehicles. It would encourage conservation and new, cleaner energy technologies.

It sounded too good to be true...

U.S. denies British rumors on Bush climate change

The British newspaper The Observer reported on Sunday that senior Downing Street officials, who were not named, said Bush was preparing to issue a new climate change policy during his annual speech on January 23.

"While the administration does not detail the president's speech before it is given, this rumor is not true," a senior U.S. administration official said.

Bummer.

Strange reversal

Environmental golden boy Barack Obama is promoting coal, and climate-change skeptic Ted Stevens is pushing for higher fuel-economy standards. Is the Senate having a freaky Friday moment?

Capitalism: one size does not suit all

Shaped by many cultures, some forms of capitalism are more palatable to anti-globalization activists than others

Uncertainty abounds over the Anglo-American economic model that has held sway ever since Adam Smith. Excessive debt, growing inequality, increasing costs for health care and retirement as well as large prison populations in the US and UK have raised doubts about its viability. Many nations have sought to adapt capitalism for their specific cultures and needs. Scandinavian and Japanese models value social protections and coordination of corporate governance. Developing nations appreciate the East Asian model with land reforms and ample education. All countries fret about rapid globalization and loss of jobs, but economist Pranab Bardhan notes that social safety nets – including education and retraining, portable health insurance and environmental protection – can help societies adjust to rapid global change. In the end, a nation’s economic systems cannot ignore the context or peculiarities of its society. More than one model of capitalism can thrive, if allowed to adapt to changing global and local circumstances, provided inequality does not become too extreme.

and relatedly... Bagwhati, a very pro-globalization economist argues that Technology, not globalisation, is driving wages down

Wacky history

France and UK considered 1950s 'merger'

to shut up or not to shut up, lets debate

Zakaria on the surge

Even If We 'Win', We Lose

Groups like Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army don't generally start fire fights with the Americans or attack Iraqi forces. Their goals are different, quieter. Another U.S. adviser, Maj. Mark Brady, confirms reports that the Mahdi Army has been continuing to systematically take over Sunni neighborhoods, killing, terrorizing and forcing people out of their homes. "They're slowly moving across the river," he told Hastings, from predominantly Shiite eastern Baghdad into the predominantly Sunni west. If the 20,000 additional American troops being sent to the Iraqi capital focus primarily on Sunni insurgents, there's a chance the Shiite militias might get bolder. Colonel Duke puts it bluntly: "[The Mahdi Army] is sitting on the 50-yard line eating popcorn, watching us do their work for them."
...
Over the past three and a half years, the dominant flaw in the Bush administration's handling of Iraq is that it has, both intentionally and inadvertently, driven the country's several communities apart. Every seemingly neutral action—holding elections, firing Baathists from the bureaucracy, building up an Iraqi military and police force—has had seismic sectarian consequences. The greatest danger of Bush's new strategy, then, isn't that it won't work but that it will—and thereby push the country one step further along the road to all-out civil war.

Snap

Republicans Revolt Over Bush’s Iraq Plan

Last Tuesday afternoon, a day before President George W. Bush went on TV to explain his decision to send more troops to Iraq, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called his Republican colleagues together for a private talk. Several GOP senators had already come out against the plan. McConnell, Bush's closest Senate supporter on Iraq, hoped to keep others from defecting. He urged his colleagues to stand together at least until Bush had the chance to speak to the country. After the meeting, the senators went outside the room to display their unity to waiting reporters. McConnell said he thought more troops were just the thing to "give us a chance to succeed." He then stepped aside so the other senators could second his sentiments. No one came forward. McConnell's eye fell on Trent Lott. "Trent?" McConnell said, motioning him toward the microphone. "I don't think I have anything to add," said Lott.

More environmental news

Only Environmental Bill in First 100 Hours Up for Vote

The last of the six designated bills up for consideration during the House Democrats' first 100 legislative hours is the legislative program's only environmental measure.

Introduced today with 199 cosponsors, H.R.6 will shift roughly $13 billion in oil industry subsidies toward renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Don't let faux-Klingons send real Americans to war

One part funny, two parts lame.

Gulf Stream under threat

From the Guardian - an interactive look at the Gulf Stream and how its changing.

Dare to dream, environmental version

Bush set for climate change U-turn

Bush and Blair held private talks on climate change before Christmas, and there is a feeling that the US President will now agree a cap on emissions in the US, meaning that, for the first time, American industry and consumers would be expected to start conserving energy and curbing pollution.

'We could now be seeing the beginning of a consensus on a post-Kyoto framework,' said a source close to the prime minister. 'President Bush is beginning to talk about more radical measures.'

The move will be seen as part of a wider repositioning of the Bush government after its comprehensive defeat in last autumn's mid-term elections.

Maybe they are realizing that people seem to like you better when you try to save the world rather than bomb it. I won't believe it until I see it, however.

Flamey McGassy

Warming of Mass Destruction!

discredited in the region as a player

U.S. policies have made Israel less safe, experts say

After years of supporting the Bush administration's policy in the Middle East, a growing number of Israelis are openly criticizing the United States for creating more, not less, danger for Israel.

Israeli experts contend that American policies have destabilized Iraq, emboldened anti-Western forces from Iran to Lebanon and paved the way for militant Islamists to gain control of the Palestinian Authority.

"The threats to Middle East security and stability worsened in 2006," experts at Tel Aviv University's Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies recently warned. "The American failure in Iraq has hurt the standing of the U.S. in the Middle East."

...

The conclusion that the United States has made Israel less safe and the growing criticism of Bush administration policy are ironic, to put it mildly.

Securing Israel, America's closest ally in the region, was one of the Bush administration's justifications for toppling Saddam and for promoting democracy throughout the region. Israel has been unwavering in its support of U.S. initiatives since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, from ousting the Taliban in Afghanistan to toppling Saddam and threatening Iran and Syria. The former Bush administration officials and advisers who pushed those initiatives are among Israel's staunchest American supporters.

But a growing number of Israeli experts now believe that U.S. policy has backfired. The threat from Saddam's army has been replaced by the dangers of a volatile civil war that threatens to spill over Iraq's borders. By ousting both Saddam and the Taliban, the United States eliminated two major counterbalances to Iran, which now enjoys growing power and influence.

"When the United States removed Saddam Hussein from power, people were happy here because he represented a major threat," said Eytan Gilboa, a political science professor at Bar-Ilan University. "But that elevated the Iranian threat, and Iran is the most dangerous country in the world."

...

Some argue that without the threat from Saddam, the international community is better positioned to deal with Iran.

"In the long run I think this will help peace and security in the Middle East," said Danny Ayalon, who served as Israel's ambassador to the United States during the invasion of Iraq. "The fact that we do not have Saddam Hussein there allows the world to focus on the ayatollahs and Ahmadinejad."

EduVision

something i saw on cable "EduVision, a project funded by the BioVision Foundation, seeks to assist countries in improving their education systems by providing appropriate information technology tools for the classroom."

Human Rights Watch launches World Report 2007

EU needs to pick up slack left by US lack of credibility.

Today marks five years since the United States first sent detainees toGuantanamo. The Bush administration has proven largely incapable of providing leadership on human rights, while China and Russia are embracing tyrants in their quest for resources and influence. But rather than assuming the leadership mantle, the European Union's approach is mired in procedures that emphasize internal unanimity and rotation over the effective projection of EU influence to protect human rights, said the 556-page volume's introductory essay.

"Since the US can't provide credible leadership on human rights, European countries must pick up the slack," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "Instead, the European Union is punching well below its weight."

Agency Affirms Human Influence on Climate

President Bush has said it.

A lot of government scientists have said it.

But until yesterday, it appeared that no news release on annual climate trends out of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under the Bush White House had said unequivocally that a buildup of greenhouse gases was helping warm the climate.

The statement came in a release that said 2006 was the warmest year for the 48 contiguous states since regular temperature records began in 1895. It surpassed the previous champion, 1998, a year heated up by a powerful episode of the periodic warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean by El Niño. Last year, another El Niño developed, but this time a long-term warming trend from human activities was said to be involved as well.

“A contributing factor to the unusually warm temperatures throughout 2006 also is the long-term warming trend, which has been linked to increases in greenhouse gases,” the release said, emphasizing that the relative contributions of El Niño and the human influence were not known.

The History of the Vibrator

Learn about it here.

GM bringing back the electric car?

Apparently Detroit is going more green.

For years the world famous trade show has been the place for manufacturers to debut the ever larger and more powerful cars beloved of the American consumer. But with fuel prices continuing to climb a sea change is underway in consumer habits and judging by this year's show car firms are poised to address their changing needs with a raft of cleaner engines and more fuel efficient vehicles.

Spurred into action by the runaway success of the hybrid gas-electric powered Toyota Prius, General Motors (GM) this week unveiled its own hybrid concept car, the Chevrolet Volt.

GM vice chairman Robert Lutz said that the Volt would overcome the range and power limitations that have dogged the EV1 - the company's previous attempt at developing an electric car and the subject of the highly critical documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? - by using a new E-flex system that will combine a battery and fuel powered engine in a regular chassis.

VoltThe battery, which can be charged over six hours using a 110 volt outlet, will provide a range of 40 city miles, according to GM. When the battery runs down, a one litre, three-cylinder turbocharged engine kicks in to create electricity and replenish the battery. "If you lived within 30 miles from work (60 miles round trip) and charged your vehicle every night when you came home or during the day at work, you would get 150 miles per gallon," said Lutz. "More than half of all Americans live within 20 miles of where they work (40 miles round trip). In that case, you might never burn a drop of gas during the life of the car."

The hybrid engine can also be adapted so that it runs using bio-fuel, diesel or even a Hydrogen-based fuel cell, instead of petrol, GM said.

The adaptability of the engine is good because then they could sell it anywhere in the world. Is it too late for them?

BMW has a new car:

Closer to production though is BMW's fuel cell-powered Hydrogen 7, which is also on show in Detroit and is expected to be made available through a few select dealerships this April.

The new flex-fuel powered Seven Series features both a fuel cell, which will only emit water vapour and enable a driving range of 300 miles, and a petrol tank that can be used when the hydrogen fuel cell runs out. According to BMW it will also boast a 260 horsepower, 12 cylinder engine capable of doing 0-60 in 9.5 seconds - ensuring it compares favourably with other executive cars on the market.

and Toyota is trying to maintain the lead:

Meanwhile, Toyota committed to extending its leadership position in the burgeoning hybrid market, announcing plans for a hybrid powered pickup truck and debuting the new FT-HS concept car - a gasoline-electric hybrid powered sports car featuring a V6, 3.5 litre engine and lightweight chassis.

The raft of green announcements came as Toyota underlined the scale of the market for green vehicles, predicting sales of its hybrid vehicles will increase by 50 percent in the US this year to around 300,000 units.

More nature fun

Olbermann

Not so happy

Did the President Declare "Secret War" Against Syria and Iran?

Washington intelligence, military and foreign policy circles are abuzz today with speculation that the President, yesterday or in recent days, sent a secret Executive Order to the Secretary of Defense and to the Director of the CIA to launch military operations against Syria and Iran.

The President may have started a new secret, informal war against Syria and Iran without the consent of Congress or any broad discussion with the country.

I agree that this is a very Bad Thing. I can easily see how Bush would do this, though. Desperate to change the dynamic - and I could see him be convinced that that means covert operations to disrupt supply activities from Iran and Syria. He threatened Iran and Syria in the speech and talked about new rules of engagement. He is a desperate man, whose very large ego is on the line.

more on plans for operations Iran.

and Tom isn't helping.

happy stuff

Eh?

Canadian coins bugged, U.S. security agency says

That sure is a loony thing to do.

Snap

Tell us how you really feel Keith.

Something to keep in mind

when Bush is talking tonight:

Although the president was publicly polite, few of the key Baker-Hamilton recommendations appealed to the administration, which intensified its own deliberations over a new “way forward” in Iraq. How to look distinctive from the study group became a recurring theme.

As described by participants in the administration review, some staff members on the National Security Council became enamored of the idea of sending more troops to Iraq in part because it was not a key feature of Baker-Hamilton.

So, it looks like it is more of the anti-Bush41 policy.

Two things. First, Bush is choosing an option that has zero support from anyone except those who have consistently been wrong about pretty much everything relating to Iraq. Military officials, Middle East experts, and foreign officials are all opposed because they don't think it will work. And that makes sense given that the underlying problem today in 2007 is not so much a lack of security, but a sectarian civil war that is ultimately a political problem.

Second, and more inexcusably, if the NSC official is correct, Bush is picking this option out of vanity and spite simply because the Baker Group didn't offer it.

Good news is that at Least 10 GOP Senators Will Oppose Escalation and the Kennedy resolution is just the beginning apparently.

Its a start

UK backs new EU climate strategy

For the EU itself, the Commission wants member states to commit themselves to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020 compared with 1990 levels; meet 20% of all energy demands from renewable sources (such as nuclear power, wind and wave farms), and 10% of vehicle fuel from biofuels, by 2020; and hold rising temperatures to no more than two 2 degrees centigrade above the 1990 level.

Environmentalist campaigners said the strategy was not ambitious enough to counter climate change or improve long-term energy supply security.

If the US pulls a GM and doesn't get on board with the new innovations they will miss out on the next big market.

Old habits

Hostile enemies of the state.

And he is a bad actor too, so there! HA!

Sad really. Somehow I just thing that all this doesn't quite play as well as it used to.

Now here is a real enemy of the state:

Rational actors

China and India facing up to the economic chill of global warming

House easily passes anti-terror bill

(AP) — Anti-terror legislation sailed through the House on Tuesday, the first in a string of measures designed to fulfill campaign promises made by Democrats last fall."

It passed the house 299-128. Funny to hear a republican complain about costs on for a homeland security bill, and the administration has already said that it does not support the measure as drafted. Can someone accuse him of hating America now? Oh sorry, we are supposed to be nice now. I forgot.

Next up this week are bills on the minimum wage, stem cell research, and negotiating with drug companies to lower prices.

And in the senate, Kennedy speaks his mind...

Why God leaves us alone

And why, according to Deepak Chopra, that’s a very good thing

I’m sure that in their heart of hearts, most people wish God would stop interfering in everyday life. This is a concern that reaches far beyond religion. The U.S. president and other born-again Christians refer to God’s helping hand in making war in the Middle East. Our Western society couldn’t be more different from traditional Muslim society, but we have one thing in common: People in both places believe God is on their side. This means they know what God thinks—a remarkable assumption given that God is infinitely present and infinitely transcendent; cosmic and personal at the same time; invisible and unable to be located in time and space.

People continue to be nagged by ancient documents called scriptures that claim to transmit what it is that God exactly wants. The great Indian poet Kabir wrote that he had read all the scriptures, bathed in all the sacred pools, visited all the holy shrines, and found God in none of them. Most people would consider that a sign of despair when in fact it’s the key to freedom. In Vedanta, the purest spiritual doctrine of Hindu India, God doesn’t want anything of us. He doesn’t want to be found; he has no laws that we should obey; he never judges, punishes or puts forth expectations.

The truth is that God left us alone a long time ago. This wasn’t an act of abuse or abandonment. It was an opportunity for us to find our own freedom, and in that freedom to realize something simple yet profound: God is existence itself.

...

It’s true that evangelical Christians are making gains, even in the most traditional places. (A country like Ecuador, once a bastion of orthodox Catholicism, is estimated to be up to 25 percent Protestant, due to inroads made by missionaries from the U.S.) The future of God, however, lies in spiritual evolution. The next step of growth is for people to start to awaken one by one, just as Jesus, Buddha and Muhammad did.
Judging by grassroots activity, the following trends will continue to shape spiritual life:

• Meditation will become mainstream.
• Elements of the miraculous and paranormal will be widely acknowledged.
• Alternative forms of healing, both physical and psychological, will become commonplace.
• Prayer will be seen as real and efficacious.
• Manifestation of desires will be talked about as a real phenomenon.
• People will regain a connection to their souls.
• Individuals will find answers inwardly to their deepest spiritual questions. They will believe in their private answers and live accordingly.
• New communities of belief will arise.
• Gurus and other spiritual authorities will wane in influence.
• Wisdom traditions will grow to embrace the great spiritual teachings at the heart of organized religion.
• Faith will no longer be seen as an irrational departure from reason and science.
• Wars will decline as peace becomes a social reality.
• Nature will regain its sacred value.

Millions of people already embody these trends in their own lives. They abide by the values of the new spirituality. Events may mask this widespread revolution in spiritual values, but outward events have always been a poor guide to what is happening at the soul level.

The last bastion no more

Utahns break from Bush on Iraq

The Tribune survey results are similar to findings of pollster SurveyUSA, which in a poll sponsored by KSL-TV last month, found 42 percent of Utahns supportive of the president's handling of the war.
But with national support for Bush at war also having plummeted in recent months, support in Utah remains about 20 points higher than the nation at large.

I'll give Bush credit for one thing, when he says he doesn't govern by polls anymore, he means it.

Quack

Perhaps he should start his own blog

There was something almost sad about Bush putting his own name on an op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal that laid out his legislative agenda on the eve of the formal Democratic takeover of Capitol Hill. Clearly gone are the days when Vice President Dick Cheney could use a private meeting with Republican lawmakers to set the congressional priorities list. Now, it seems, the president is positioning himself as just another spectator on the outskirts of power — firing off letters to the editor. Perhaps he should start his own blog.
...
In response to the political test posed by that dynamic, Bush is calling for bipartisanship. Funny how the losing side in an election almost always ends up being the one to call for magnanimity. After 12 years of being made almost invisible, especially in the House, Democrats appear in no mood to do anything but pay lip service to the current calls for collaboration. Although careful not to say so publicly, congressional Democrats are champing at the bit for payback. Evicting Cheney from his office was just the beginning.

Carbon rationing

Mark Lynas of the New Statesman writes:

"You can't bargain with the planet because it doesn't care whether or not targets are "politically acceptable". So unless we secure a deal determining how much carbon each nation and each person can emit, we simply will not survive"

...

Nevertheless, imposing such a scheme - and imposed it must be, as participation could not be voluntary - would require political leadership and vision of the sort that seems to be in scarce supply in today's corridors of power. But such leadership need not, in the long term, be unpopular. Nor would it be incompatible with democracy. Who would march in Trafalgar Square against solving climate change? Probably about as many people as marched against rationing in 1940: none.

So how would it actually work?

By Sam Alexandroni

Every adult receives an equal carbon allowance (children get less) based on a yearly budget, which is reduced each year and set by an independent committee.

This allowance is divided into units. These are often referred to as tradeable energy quotas (TEQs). Every time you buy petrol, pay an electricity bill or book a flight, a number of units, equivalent to that amount of energy, is deducted from your TEQ account - in most cases automatically via direct debit. If you do not have enough units in your account, the price goes up to cover the shortfall.

TEQs behave like any commodity, fluctuating in price depending on demand and availability. If too many people use too much carbon, the units become scarce and the price goes up, making it uneconomical to live far beyond your personal allowance. This creates a powerful economic incentive to reduce carbon output, and to profit by selling the excess units.

read more here

Happiness

Some earlier research has argued that income comparison makes you happier (if you have more, that is). This, however, is a result of the focus illusion (pdf), where you think that most important thing in your life is the think you are thinking about at the time. Turns out, it probably isn't money, its how you spend your time. And don't think about money and compare. That makes you miserly and miserable.

When someone reflects on how more income would change subjective well-being, they are probably tempted to think about spending more time in leisurely pursuits such as watching a large-screen plasma TV or playing golf, but in reality they should think of spending a lot more time working and commuting and a lot less time engaged in passive leisure (and perhaps a bit more golf). By itself, this shift in time use is unlikely to lead to much increase in experienced happiness, although it could increase tension and one’s sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

Despite the weak relationship between income and global life satisfaction or experienced happiness, many people are highly motivated to increase their income. In some cases, this focusing illusion may lead to a misallocation of time, from accepting lengthy commutes (which
are among the worst moments of the day) to sacrificing time spent socializing (which are among the best moments of the day). An emphasis on the role of attention helps to explain both why many people seek high income – because they over predict the increase in happiness due to the focusing illusion and because changes in relative income are associated with strong emotional responses – and why the long-term effects of these changes are relatively small -- because attention eventually shifts to less novel aspects of daily life.

So, spend less time in commute, more time in active leisure, and meditate for 30 minutes a day. This way you train your attention to only focus on things that make you happy :)

There is always a pushback

At either extreme: Fat CEO pay seen a wider society concern

The other day the ex CEO of GM (I think), Jack Walsh, when asked by Colbert why do CEOs deserve so much, his answer was (paraphrasing), "because they make that much." Colbert's reply was, "just like black lung. All those coal miners deserved it because they got it." Jack had no response, other than to say, "I hadn't thought about that." What a tremendous feeling of entitlement.

Standing up to standing up

Pelosi: Congress Will Not Fund Escalation If Bush Does Not Justify It

Good. I like the bit about how justification is new for Bush.

and in a related event, John McCain surprised by opposition Senator who makes logically consistent statements.

and, just for the heck of it, if you have the stomach for it, check out this video of a person who gets millions of hits. wow.

Operation pass the buck

30,000 more US troops for Iraq

Looks like this will be the plan. 30k more troops and a $1b jobs plan. I like the jobs plan idea, although why such an idea took four years, is beyond me. This basically guarantees that McCain will come out of this looking bad, as far as I can tell. I just don't think cracking down harder will make a difference, and will negate any potential good will that may possibly come about through a jobs plan. When the people don't want you there, then increasing your visibility and force does not seem prudent.

Of course, this is an escalation of at least 18 months, rather than a "surge", which has always seemed a silly word to me.

One of the neoconservative thinkers, whose views are believed to have influenced Bush, suggested the military action might last longer than expected. 'We need a long-lasting surge because we have to keep in mind that we face an enemy here that adapts to our strategy,' said Frederick Kagan, a military historian and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. 'If we do a short surge they will just wait us out. We need to surge for at least 18 months.'

As much as he is right, I still think he is wrong about the main fundamental premises, namely that our presence doesn't make things worse. But then again, what the heck do I know? And Juan Cole, an oft critique of US policy, thinks that Bush has started to bring in some good guys.

I wish these seasoned professionals well. They know what they are getting into, and it is an index of their courage and dedication that they are willing to risk their lives in an effort that the American public has largely written off as a costly failure. If the US in Iraq can possibly have a soft landing, these are the individuals who can pull it off. It is a big if.

More fuel for the fire.

The spoils of war

Iraq's massive oil reserves, the third-largest in the world, are about to be thrown open for large-scale exploitation by Western oil companies under a controversial law which is expected to come before the Iraqi parliament within days.

The US government has been involved in drawing up the law, a draft of which has been seen by The Independent on Sunday. It would give big oil companies such as BP, Shell and Exxon 30-year contracts to extract Iraqi crude and allow the first large-scale operation of foreign oil interests in the country since the industry was nationalised in 1972.

If they even cared, even 1 iota about public perception... oh well, as long as a select few get really rich! Wahee!

Oil industry executives and analysts say the law, which would permit Western companies to pocket up to three-quarters of profits in the early years, is the only way to get Iraq's oil industry back on its feet after years of sanctions, war and loss of expertise. But it will operate through "production-sharing agreements" (or PSAs) which are highly unusual in the Middle East, where the oil industry in Saudi Arabia and Iran, the world's two largest producers, is state controlled.

Opponents say Iraq, where oil accounts for 95 per cent of the economy, is being forced to surrender an unacceptable degree of sovereignty.

More here.

I blame it on Clinton and Gore

Its 10 C high (in Ottawa) has people acting like it's spring where the "average maximum temperature for Jan. 5 is -5.9, or almost 16 degrees colder than it was yesterday. The average minimum is -14.9."

For those used to Fahrenheit, 10C = 50F, which really is like Spring, and -5 = 23F.

Blame Bill!

[update] (hat tip to Rolf for the article): "The Coney Island Polar Bear Club, a winter swimming club, staged a silent protest on the beach in Brooklyn" as the temperatures hit a record breaking 72 degress. 72!

The only thing that ruined this winter imagery was the temperature, which in the middle of the afternoon in Central Park on Saturday reached a record-breaking 72 degrees. And so the make-believe winter collided with reality: People wore T-shirts as they ice-skated on the wet and sloshy rink at Rockefeller Center, and the Polar Bears turned their back on the Atlantic and headed toward the boardwalk, a protest, albeit an underdressed one, against global warming.

Louis Scarcella, 55, a former homicide detective and president of the Coney Island club, said the weather has been so mild lately that he is considering cancelling the group’s winter swimming season, which usually runs from November to April, for lack of any weather resembling winter. A club season has not been cancelled since the group was founded 104 years ago.

This is reinforcing my belief that this will be the year of the environment. In Canada, the conservative Prime Minster reshuffled his cabinet to (at least) appear as if he takes the environment more seriously. I personally don't trust a politician from Alberta on the environment (kinda like trusting someone from Texas not to side with big oil), but it underscores the change in public perception of the issue. The press is still not convinced that the environment will still be a make-or-break political issue, but the Liberals here in Canada have staked their short term future on it, more or less, when they elected Dion an ex-minister of the environment to be their leader.

More bills long past due

Leahy Introduces Bills To Combat War Profiteering, Public Corruption

WASHINGTON (Thursday, January 4) – Signaling a renewed emphasis on combating corruption at home and abroad, incoming Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), introduced a package of bills Thursday targeting corrupt officials and private companies seeking to defraud American taxpayers and troops.
...
Also on Thursday, Leahy joined with Senator Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), on another anti-corruption measure aimed at strengthening the tools available to federal prosecutors in combating public corruption. This bill gives investigators and prosecutors the statutory tools and the resources that they need to ensure that serious and insidious public corruption is detected and punished, including extending the statute of limitations on some of the worst crimes.

Follow the first 100 hours agenda

At Congresswoman Anna G. Eshoo's place

The big ones they don't have yet are:
- raise minimum wage to $7.25 (still not enough)
- Allow stem cell research
- Implement the 9/11 commission's recommendations
- Provide prescription drug negotiating authority
- Cut interest rates on student loans in half
- Invest in new sources of energy

If you are interested

Basic Questions and Answers about the Deficit, 10/30/06

In 2006, the federal government spent $1 out of every $12 on interest payments, or $227 billion. That’s more than we spend on education, housing, veterans’ care, and environmental protection, combined.

Dems to GOP

I feel your pain

Frankly they deserve it for a while. Let the Republicans whine for a while. Partnership can only come with trust and there is no trust between Dems and Republicans now... Question is, how to build that trust back?

They did get some lobbying reforms passed, however, 430-1.

The House passed the first portion of that package overwhelmingly Thursday night, 430-1, with Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., the only opponent. It largely would ban meals, gifts and travel from lobbyists. It also would ban members from taking free rides on corporate jets. A second portion of the package, which would require lawmakers to identify which "earmark" spending projects they request and to curb deficit spending, is to be voted on Friday.

I'm curious to see how the earmarking thing passes. My guess is that not many republicans will want to go on record against transparency right now... Here's hoping.

They also introduced some more stuff on that first day...

After the swearing-in ceremonies, Reid introduced the Democrats' first 10 bills for the 110th Congress. Overhauling Congress' ethics system topped the agenda, followed by raising the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour.

Democrats also plan to introduce bills to change the Medicare prescription-drug program, act on the 9-11 commission's recommendations, fund stem cell research, repair the nation's immigration system, strengthen the military, address rising college tuition, force Congress to tighten budget rules and develop an energy policy.

Democrat House and Senate

As of just a bit ago, and Nancy Pelosi is officially Madam Speaker.

Bush goes postal

On your mail

WASHINGTON - President Bush has quietly claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans' mail without a judge's warrant, the Daily News has learned.

The President asserted his new authority when he signed a postal reform bill into law on Dec. 20. Bush then issued a "signing statement" that declared his right to open people's mail under emergency conditions.

That claim is contrary to existing law and contradicted the bill he had just signed, say experts who have reviewed it.

Bush's move came during the winter congressional recess and a year after his secret domestic electronic eavesdropping program was first revealed. It caught Capitol Hill by surprise.
...
Experts said the new powers could be easily abused and used to vacuum up large amounts of mail.

"The [Bush] signing statement claims authority to open domestic mail without a warrant, and that would be new and quite alarming," said Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies in Washington.

"The danger is they're reading Americans' mail," she said.

"You have to be concerned," agreed a career senior U.S. official who reviewed the legal underpinnings of Bush's claim. "It takes Executive Branch authority beyond anything we've ever known."

I'm shocked! Shocked, I tells ya!

Big surprise

ExxonMobil paid to mislead public

ExxonMobil Corp. gave $16 million to 43 ideological groups between 1998 and 2005 in a coordinated effort to mislead the public by discrediting the science behind global warming, the Union of Concerned Scientists asserted Wednesday.

What surprises me is that it is only $16 million over 7 years and not much more.

Know more about ExxonMobil

Whale on whale

We are all just animals

It is not what you would expect to see when you take your children on a Sunday outing to the natural history museum: a giant photograph of one male giraffe humping another, or two whales sparring with giant penises. This, however, is Norway, where — for better or worse — the normal rules do not apply. Three years ago the Government told the country’s museums and libraries that they should do more to contribute to social debates and dare to tackle taboo subjects.

...

It is staging a government-financed exhibition in its august halls that shows that homosexuality — far from being unnatural — is actually rampant in the animal world. Against Nature? is the first exhibition in the world dedicated to gay animals, claims Petter Bockman, its bearded and ponytailed scientific adviser, who also happens to be the University of Oslo’s leading — and only — frog expert (there are not many amphibians, gay or straight, this far north).

Sen. Lieberman's Party Taken Over by critic

Hilarious

The Connecticut for Lieberman Party, the minor political party created by Sen. Joe Lieberman for his successful independent bid for re-election, has been taken over by a longtime critic of the senator.

Fairfield University political science professor John Orman's takeover has been recognized by Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz.

Orman is the sole member of the party and filed paperwork with Bysiewicz's office naming himself chairman. The state officials accepted Orman's takeover and his bylaws which limit membership to critics of the senator and anyone named Lieberman.

The party is automatically on the ballot in 2012 when Lieberman's term ends.

On Iraq

Olbermann on Sacrifice

the faces of sacrifice

To fix the chaos that is, btw, all Gen. Casey's fault, says Bush and co.

Smart move

Call it the "The McCain Doctrine", although, i agree with a commenter that it should be the McCain-Lieberman Doctrine.

Climate change 'an opportunity' for farmers

According to UK Environment Secretary David Miliband

Speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference, Mr Miliband will say: "Global warming creates problems - but it will also create new markets and new opportunities. That doesn't mean it is a good thing; it does mean we need to make the most of it."

In a speech prepared for the event, the Environment Secretary says polluters should have to pay for generating greenhouse gases.

"In food, that means greenhouse gases generated in producing food or in food miles carrying a price," he will say.

"If UK farming prepares now for this new future, it can get ahead. The UK can become leaders in green farming - developing innovations that reduce the use of natural resources and reduce pollution."

This I want to see more of - a race to see who can benefit the most from environmental sustainability. Its the new next big thing.

Things to do in 2007

Ways to change the world

my favorite of the ideas is: True Cost Economics

True cost pricing

Cost of driving
What would it cost to drive if the price tag of gas and cars included air pollution, road construction and maintenance; property taxes lost from land cleared for freeways; free parking paid for by taxes; noise and vibration damage to structures; protection of petroleum supply lines; sprawl and loss of transportation options; auto accidents; and congestion? A number of researchers have tried to answer this question, and John Holtzclaw of the Sierra Club profiled eight studies that, when averaged, estimated the true price of gas at $6.05 a gallon.

Source: John Holtzclaw “America's Autos On Welfare” Sierra Club

As for vehicles, transportation analyst Todd Litman has calculated that the external costs of driving would add $42,363 to the sticker price of a shiny new car, based on a 12.5 year lifespan.

Source: Todd Litman, “Transportation Costs & Benefits,” June 2004

Here's a comprehensive yet highly readable discussion of driving externalities produced by Redefining Progress:

Source: Beyond Gas Taxes: Linking Driving Fees to Externalities by Mark M. Glickman, March 2001

2006 the warmest year on record

In the UK

Prediction #1: 2007 will be the year of the environment. Time magazine's person of the year Time will be: Earth.

Happy new year!

Happy
New
Year!