Why do Houses Cost so Much???

Have you ever wondered what goes in to the price of a house or a residential lot? Well, the majority of the costs are associated with land acquisition. Land, which may have been held for generations or traded many times within a year. Regardless of the mechanism of ownership, one thing is for certain -- they don't make it anymore. Constraints placed upon developable land only drives up the costs of land which is free of any constraints.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has released a draft economic analysis that estimates the costs related to conservation actions for vernal pool species at a whopping $992 million during the next 20 years, with 97 per cent of the cost “relating to lost development opportunities.” Where I live and work as an environmental consultant, housing and development are the main contributors to the economy of California's Central Valley. Gone are the days of acres of tomatoes and peppers. Sugar comes from the Caribbean -- not from beets refined in Manteca by Spreckles. The valley is not the agricultural hot bed it once was. However, growth is still at the root of the economy. We grow houses. Lots of them.

The $965 million in lost development opportunities is based on an estimate that 259,814 housing units would normally be built in the 36 counties where critical habitat was proposed. Critical habitat would result in a reduction of 1,618 housing units, according to the analysis prepared for the Service by CRA International, an Oakland-based consulting firm.

What this means is that the critical habitat designation is destined for lands which are privately owned. Lands which may represent the sole source of income or behest for a family.

Further, the analysis says that "“roughly half of all economic impacts are attributable to less than five percent of designated acres‚" of critical habitat. In each of three California counties, the lost development impacts exceed $100 million: Sacramento $374 million, Butte $154 million, and Placer $120 million.

In releasing the analysis, the Service reopened the public comment period on both the proposal to designate critical habitat for the vernal pool species and on the draft economic analysis. The Service will accept public comments for 20 days. The closing date for comments is July 20.

In its notice, the Service advises that it is considering excluding from critical habitat the areas that represent 80 percent of the costs of the designation. It asks for comments on the possibility of excluding 35 or 50 of the highest cost areas, representing 90 percent and 95 percent of the costs respectively.

The Service is under court order to publish, by July 31, a final critical habitat rule for land previously excluded in five California counties (Butte, Sacramento, Solano, Merced and Madera ). All proposed critical habitat in the five counties was excluded in the 2003 rule.

The 15 vernal pool species are protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Four tiny freshwater shrimp were listed as endangered species in 1994. Eleven vernal pool plant species were listed in 1997. On Aug. 6, 2003, the Service designated 740,000 acres of critical habitat for the species in 30 California counties and one Oregon county. The final designation was a reduction from the 1.7 million acres the Service originally proposed as critical habitat on Sept. 24, 2002.

In January 2004 the Butte Environmental Council filed suit challenging the exclusions. In an Oct. 28, 2004 order, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California directed the Service to reconsider and to provide opportunity for public comment on the exclusion, then publish final critical habitat in two actions.

The first action occurred on March 8, 2005, when the Service confirmed its exclusion of 136,358 acres due to non-economic reasons. That land had originally been excluded because it was covered by protective measures, including Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs), state wildlife lands and Department of Defense lands.

The second review directed by the court relates to the five counties originally excluded for economic reasons. In its court pleading, the Service advised that "“at a minimum, it is appropriate to reopen the comment period, reanalyze all of the areas excluded pursuant to Sec. a (b) (2), and make a new determination."” It is that process which led to the new economic analysis. The court directed the Service to complete its reconsideration of the critical habitat exclusions in the five counties and publish a final critical habitat rule by July 31, 2005. Under the court order, the designated critical habitat in the other 31 counties remained in place during this process.

Critical habitat is a term in the ESA. It identifies geographic areas that contain features essential for the conservation of a threatened or endangered species and may require special management considerations or protection. The designation of critical habitat does not affect land ownership or establish a refuge, wilderness, reserve, preserve, or other conservation area. It does not allow government or public access to private lands. Federal agencies that undertake, fund or permit activities that may affect critical habitat are required to consult with the Service to ensure such actions do not adversely modify or destroy designated critical habitat.

Areas designated as critical habitat for the 15 species may be found on the August 8, 2003 press release.

When specifying an area as critical habitat, the ESA requires the Service to consider economic and other relevant impacts of the designation. If the benefits of excluding an area outweigh the benefits of including it, the Secretary may exclude an area from critical habitat, unless this would result in the extinction of a threatened or endangered species.

In 30 years of implementing the ESA, the Service has found that designation of critical habitat provides little additional protection for most listed species, while preventing the agency from using scarce conservation resources for activities with greater conservation benefits.

Provides little additional protection, yet prevents a rightful owner from fulling the highest and best use of the land.

In almost all cases, recovery of listed species will come through voluntary cooperative partnerships, not regulatory measures such as critical habitat. Habitat is also protected through cooperative measures under the ESA, including Habitat Conservation Plans, Safe Harbor Agreements, Candidate Conservation Agreements and state programs. In addition, voluntary partnership programs such as the Service's Private Stewardship Grants and the Partners for Fish and Wildlife program also restore habitat. Habitat for listed species is provided on many of the Service's National Wildlife Refuges, and state wildlife management areas.

Voluntary cooperative partnership? I wouldn't call designated someone's property as anything other than what that person sees fit as "voluntary."

Comments on the proposed critical habitat and/or the draft economic analysis should be submitted to: fw1_vernalpool@fws.gov or by fax to: 1.916.414.–6710, or by mail to: Field Supervisor, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2800 Cottage Way, Suite W-2605, Sacramento, CA 95825.

UN Troops Kill Six in Haiti Raid

While brave U.S. troops are vilified throughout the world and within the halls of Congress, UN troops are referred to as "peacekeepers."

The UN is sending more troops to violence-stricken Haiti.

UN peacekeepers in Haiti have killed six suspected criminals in an exchange of fire in a ghetto of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Five others were reportedly injured and 13 captured during the eight-hour raid.

Well, it appears that the Brazillian-fed UN troops enabled six Haitian "criminals" to achieve the ultimate peace.

I don't recall Haiti having weapons of mass destruction. Was Haiti a safe harbor for Al Quaeda? Did Bin-ladin receive support from Haiti?

A 7,000-strong Brazilian-led peacekeeping force has been in Haiti since the ousting of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide last year.

"Those killed were armed bandits who shot at our troops," said a spokesman for the Brazilian peacekeepers, Col Jorge Smicelato.

"No-one from the civilian population was killed," he added.

So, these bandits were not civilians, eh? Therefore, the 13 who were captured are flagged soldiers who are subject to all the luxuries of the Geneva Convention.

There are now 7,400 of the UN troops in Haiti and the Security Council voted a week ago to add another 1,000 soldiers and police to the mission.

And the U.S. is an occupying force???

Ionizing Radiation Causes Cancer???

Really? And all these years, we all thought it was o.k. to bombard your cells with ionizing radiation.

Even very low doses of radiation pose a risk of cancer over a person's lifetime, a
National Academy of Sciences panel concluded. It rejected some scientists' arguments that tiny doses are harmless or may in fact be beneficial.

The findings, disclosed in a report Wednesday, could influence the maximum radiation levels that are allowed at abandoned reactors and other nuclear sites and raises warnings about excessive exposure to radiation for medical purposes such as repeated whole-body CT scans.

"It is unlikely that there is a threshold (of radiation exposure) below which cancers are not induced," the scientists said.

While at low doses "the number of radiation-induced cancers will be small ... as the overall lifetime exposure increases, so does the risk," the experts said.

Even common X-rays pose some risk of adverse health effects, the scientists found, although the panel said there was not enough information available to accurately estimate the cancer risk from X-rays. Nevertheless, the report said, there is evidence that per unit of absorbed radiation, X-rays may be more dangerous than other radiation.

The panel also said that approximately one person out of 1,000 would develop cancer from exposure to the amount of radiation from a single, average whole body CT-scan.

Funny, just a few days ago I had a conversation with my Father regarding the old foot x-ray machines that used to be in most major shoe stores. Thousands of kids, mostly boys, played on those things for hours -- at least that's what I am told. I can hear Fathers all across America, "That feeling is perfectly normal son, just a phase you're going through."

White House Shake Up of Spooks

Damned if you do -- damned if you don't. In a very strong move, President Bush has ordered a San Andreas-like shake-up of the national intelligence agencies. However, the Anti Christian Lawyers Union claims the move erodes constitutional protections against law enforcement actions.

The President directed in Executive Order 13328 the formation of the bipartisan, independent Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction ("“Commission"”) to advise him on improving the intelligence capabilities of the United States, particularly with respect to weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

President Bush welcomed the report of the Commission. In its final report, the Commission offered a series of detailed, thoughtful and far-reaching recommendations, including several describing significant change America'’s Intelligence Community must undertake to confront the national security threats of the 21st Century. The President committed in the Executive Order to consult with Congress within 90 days of receiving the Commission'’s report and recommendations.

The President asked Frances Fragos Townsend, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, to oversee a comprehensive review of the recommendations. Over the past three months, interagency expert panels studied the recommendations and provided advice on how each might be implemented to improve the quality and timeliness of intelligence provided by the Intelligence Community. These review panels - with the concurrence of the President’s senior advisors on national and Homeland security - endorsed the objectives articulated in 70 of the 74 recommendations in the Commission’s report. Three recommendations by the Commission will require further study, while a single recommendation from the classified portion of the Commission’s report was not endorsed.

President Bush has acted to implement these recommendations, including by:

• Establishing a National Counter Proliferation Center to manage and coordinate the Intelligence Community'’s activities related to nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, as well as their delivery systems;
• Signing an Executive Order to combat trafficking in weapons of mass destruction and related materials by blocking (or freezing) the assets of persons engaged in proliferation activities and their supporters;
• Directing the creation of a National Security Service within the Federal Bureau of Investigation to capitalize on the FBI’s progress, and to fully integrate the FBI’s intelligence elements into the broader Intelligence Community;
• Directing the reorganization of the Department of Justice to bring together its primary national security elements to enhance collaboration and ensure a unified approach to national security matters; and
• Clarifying authorities concerning information sharing by granting the Director of National Intelligence authority and control over the Program Manager for the Information Sharing Environment.

The Director of National Intelligence, and other members of the Administration, will take many further actions in the coming months to implement Commission recommendations and related provisions of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to improve the work of America’s intelligence agencies.

The Administration calls upon the Congress to act swiftly to implement other key Commission recommendations, including by:

• Amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to extend the duration of electronic surveillance in cases involving agents of foreign powers who are not U.S. persons (Chapter 7);
• Creating a new Assistant Attorney General position (Chapter 10); and
• Renewing the Export Administration Act (Chapter 13).

Further actions by the Congress may be required to implement the Commission’s classified recommendations, and to support the Director of National Intelligence as he develops more detailed plans for implementing recommendations in the human resources and other areas.

The Administration also encourages the Congress to reform its structures for intelligence oversight, including by careful consideration of the recommendations in Chapter 6 of the Commission'’s report and similar, previous recommendations in the final report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.

Well done, Mr. President, well done indeed.

Reagan Voted Greatest American

Well, the finally got it right. Too bad I had to read about it in the BBC on-line edition. In the Discovery Channel / AOL Poll, more than two million people cast their vote, and the Gipper came out on top.

Former US President Ronald Reagan has been voted the "greatest American" of all time by his fellow citizens. Mr Reagan, who died last year aged 93, topped a list of 10 contenders, which featured six former presidents. He edged out Abraham Lincoln, who abolished slavery, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King.

Some of the most notable names of US history such as Albert Einstein and Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon, did not make the top 10. Talk show host Oprah Winfrey is the highest ranked female contender at ninth place, making her the greatest American woman. George Washington, the first US president who is considered the father of the nation, comes in at fourth place. Current US President George W Bush and his predecessor Bill Clinton, whose presidency was tarnished by the Monica Lewinski sex scandal, are both in the top 10.

Top 10 greatest Americans
1 Ronald Reagan
2 Abraham Lincoln
3 Martin Luther King
4 George Washington
5 Benjamin Franklin
6 George W Bush
7 Bill Clinton
8 Elvis Presley
9 Oprah Winfrey
10 Franklin D Roosevelt

More than 2.4 million Americans cast their vote by phone, text or e-mail in the poll, organised by the Discovery Channel and AOL. Some observers suggest the image of Mr Reagan, who was criticised as an intellectual lightweight during his presidency, has been enhanced following his death as millions of Americans cast a rose-tinted look back at his presidency.

His two terms in office (1981-1989) coincided with a period of economic prosperity, the crumbling of the Soviet bloc and a renewed sense of pride among Americans still reeling from the Vietnam War.

The Discovery Channel and AOL offered to hold a similar event for the greatest frenchman; however, there has yet to be one.

Así fueron las 10 horas que permaneció el ex presidente de E.U. Bill Clinton en Bogotá (Bubba Goes to Bogota)

Ol' Bubba's ego is getting bigger than heart over the "I" in Cruise that Katie Holmes uses when she practices spelling her proposed new surname.

“Yo raramente voy a un país donde un presidente es más popular que yo, pero vine a Colombia precisamente porque el presidente es más popular y eso demuestra que la gente cree en el futuro y no se lamenta del pasado."

For those of you that read Spanish, the rest of the story is here. For those of you who don't, Bubba basically said, "I rarely go to a country where the president is more popular than me, but I came to Colombia because the president is more popular than me. It shows the people believe in the future and do not lament the past.

Unbelievable.

Counterfeit Prescription Drugs Swindle is Dwarfed by the Pharmaceutical Industry's own Scam???

The chuckleheads at TomCruise.com, I mean NewsTarget now suggest that there is nothing to worry about regarding the drastic influx of counterfeit drugs, which are hitting U.S. streets via Canada. Forget the fact that many of the fake fixes come from clandestine labs in Thailand, Laos and Malaysia. Forget that the pharmacology is not 100% correct. Forget that it just might kill you. All the NT folks want you to know is that prescription drugs are unnecessary and a rip-off.

The FDA is worried sick about counterfeit prescription drugs. Why? Because it's competing with profits for drug companies, of course. I always laugh when I see these stories about investigations into counterfeit drugs, because it's amusing to see how worried the pharmaceutical industry gets over con men stealing some of their own evil profits. No honor among thieves, I suppose. It gets even funnier when you realize that since prescription drugs are so toxic to the human body, many people taking counterfeit drugs are probably going to end up being healthier than those taking the real deal.

The rest of the story...

Groups like this make me laugh. On Newstarget's left sidebar they claim "We're 100% independent, we take no money from the companies or products we write about, and we cannot be bought off." Yet, on the right sidebar there are five ads for on-line pharmacies -- two of which are Canadian. Sheesh!

Whose War is it Anyway???

In a very pithy piece, Daniel Henninger of the WSJ OpinionJournal summarizes the current Vietnamization of the Iraq war.

Democratic Senator Richard Durbin's now-historic comment likening U.S. detention facilities at Guantanamo to the Nazis, Soviet gulags, Pol Pot--"or others"--was not the worst thing said in recent days about the administration's Iraq policies. All this proved was that Sen. Durbin was looking out the window in the fifth grade when the nuns taught analogies. A similarly tossed-off comment by Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, generally regarded as a serious person, was more troubling.

After saying "there is rising concern that everything [my emphasis] seems to be going the wrong way" on Iraq, Sen. Feinstein demanded "regular progress reports" from the President and explained why: "It's his war."

His war? I thought it was our war. Welcome to the Vietnamization of the Iraq war. A Vietnamized Iraq war means that whatever may be going on in the infant political life of Iraq, the place has become fair grist for the grinding stones of America's domestic politics.

EADS North America???

I suppose if I owned an aerospace firm and wanted to land a huge DOD contract, I would establish a plant in the U.S., author a press release that speaks of things such as "corporate citizenship"and "interoperability among nations" and do the other things that other D-contractors are known for. Moreover, were I a DOD contracting / procurement officer, these would be the things I would look for in a contract partner. But this isn't any firm, this is EADS, which is the parent company of Aerobus. That's right, Aerobus -- the fwench (excuse me multi-national) airframe manufacturer. Here is the press release regarding EADS' recent selection of Mobile, Alabama as their potential KC-330 Advanced Tanker production facility.

Mobile Alabama’s Brookley Industrial Complex has been selected by EADS North America as the site for the EADS KC-330 advanced tanker U.S.. production facility, providing a strategically-located complex on the Gulf of Mexico with existing runways, a deepwaterr port and a skilled aerospace workforce. An Airbus Engineering Center will be co-located with the future production facility and is scheduled to begin operations in 2006.

The decision was announced today by EADS North America, completing a five-month nationwide search for the location that will become the center of activity for the KC-330 – which is being offered to recapitalize the U.S. Air Force's aerial refueling fleet. More than 70 sites from 32 states originally responded to EADS North America’s Request for Information (RFI). The list of locations under consideration subsequently was narrowed to four candidate sites in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and South Carolina. The KC-330 industrial site selection process was managed for EADS North America by The Staubach Company, an international real estate and management firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

So, what's the big deal you might ask? THEY'RE FRENCH!!! The same fwenchies that decided that the operations in Iraq were criminal. The same fwenchies that sided with Russia in propping up the Iraqi economy. The same fewnchies that would likely cease production of a very important cog in the Air Force wheel were it to be ordered in large quantities and used in a manner that they did not like.

By the way, what the hell is Roger Staubach doing finding homes for wayward fwenchies?

Durbin was Right???

In a grand move that once again reiterates the the irrelevance of Minnesota (sorry but you are the home of Walter Mondale, Jesse Ventura and mosquitoes the size Katie Holmes gullibility), the Star Tribune opines that Dur bin-laden should not have apologized for the remarks made on the Senate floor.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., set off a firestorm last week when he compared U.S. treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo to practices employed by Nazis, Soviets, Pol Pot and their ilk. His remarks were condemned by the White House, the Pentagon, the Christian Coalition, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Newt Gingrich (who called for his censure by the Senate) and by the entire right side of the talk radio/television/blog world. The heat got so bad that, late in the week, Durbin apologized if his remarks had been "misunderstood." They weren't, and Durbin should not have apologized.

Instead, the senator should have hit back hard, just as the Amnesty International did when its comparison of Guantanamo to the Soviet gulag was attacked. By caving in, Durbin did just what the orchestrated right-wing smear effort required to succeed: It made him the story rather than focusing further attention on the outrageous violations of international law and human rights being perpetrated in Guantanamo and elsewhere in the name of the American people.

Once again proof that the Berkeley-ites of the north just don't get it. If you want, you can read the rest of the story here.

Dur Bin-laden Must Go

I never thought I would agree with the New York Post, let alone view a news piece with a hard opinion. But, they proved me wrong.

Sat Jun 18, 4:56 AM ET Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) is a dis grace to the people he serves, the U.S. Senate and the United States of America. In that order. Durbin took to the Senate floor this week to slander America's military. He listed what he termed "graphic" atrocities occurring at the Guantanamo Bay terrorist detention center ? as recounted by an FBI agent. Some detainees had been shackled, he said. Cells are sometimes too hot, and sometimes too cold; captured terrorists were blasted with rap music during an interrogation ? and so on. The point being? "If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulag, or some mad regime ? Pol Pot or others ? that had no concern for human beings. Sadly . . . this was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners." It's bad enough when fools at Amnesty International toss around the word "gulag" ? Soviet concentration camps in which nearly 3 million people died. It's something far worse when a U.S. senator ? as minority whip, the No. 2 Democrat ? enters the slander into the official record. The Nazis killed millions ? including 6 million Jews. Pol Pot exterminated 2 million Cambodians. This equates with thermostat discomfort and rap-blasting? White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan got it right: "I think the senator's remarks are reprehensible. It's a real disservice to our men and women in uniform who adhere to high standards and uphold our values and our laws." Durbin has refused to apologize. No surprise there.

The rest of the piece is available here via Yahoo! news.

Not only has Durbin refused to apologize -- but the entire democrat party leadership is mute on the subject. This, along with Dr. Dean, is the best thing to happen to the G.O.P. in years. Thanks fellas.

Liberals in Academia???

Anti-Bush Propaganda Gets Scientific (Hat Tip to Christopher Flickinger)

Why do items like this continue to surprise me? They shouldn't. We ALL should realize that academia is run by people that, in the immortal words of Howard Dean, have never made an honest living in their lives.

Biology class is supposed to be about reptiles, amphibians and evolution among other things, but at one public university in Pennsylvania, President Bush is front and center – literally. A picture of the President’s face comprised of smaller pictures of soldiers who have died in combat is the centerpiece of a bulletin board at Shippensburg University.

According to Walt Bair, who graduated from the public school this past May, the board is located within the Franklin Science Center and is maintained by Dr. Pablo Delis, a biology professor. “At first, and from a distance, one would think that the board is an informational bulletin board. But, at a second and closer look, you can see what it is…nothing but liberal bashing of the American President,” says Bair.

Could there be more?

Bullshit Award For Sustaining Poverty

Once again, proof that the greens just don't get it. I'll bet she drives a prius.

Johannesburg - At a mass rally today in Johannesburg, the winner of the Bullshit Award for Sustaining Poverty was announced. In a closely run race, the winner was chosen for her important contribution to sustaining poverty around the world, in her role as a mouthpiece of western eco-imperialism.

In front of a rapt crowd of farmers from Africa and Asia, the award - a plaque mounted with a cow manure, representing the traditional agricultural technology that the winner favours - was bestowed on Ms. Vandana Shiva. Other award nominees included Greenpeace International, BioWatch, SAFeAGE, and the Third World Network.

The award was bestowed on behalf of Indian farmers by Barun Shankar Mitra of the Liberty Institute in New Delhi, India, who commented:

"Vandana Shiva is an individual whose immense presence at the World Summit on Sustainable Development and other global meetings, and her passionate defense of poverty, has resonated as far as newspapers and TV cameras can be found.

"Millions of people rely on backbreaking labor and low-intensity subsistence farming, not out of choice but out of necessity, yet Ms. Shiva claims that modern agricultural technologies are too dangerous for the poor. But given the choice, poor rural farmers seize the opportunity to use modern technologies to improve their agricultural productivity. Ultimately, it is farmers who should make the choice over what technologies they use, not eco-imperialists such as Shiva. Farmers are the most important stakeholder in this debate and their voice must not be ignored.

Read the rest of the article here.

Of course, we must stick to natural seed stock and ensure that all farmers use the same seed source. This way, a single pathogen can wipe out an entire food source at once.

Knuckleheads.

They're Doing What???

Evidently, Mexico had no use for them. Otherwise, I can't of a single reason why the Fox regime would do this.

Mexico City, Mexico

Mexico plans to deport a Pakistani to the United States to face questions regarding arms trafficking, Mexican authorities said Wednesday.

The Pakistani, who has not been identified by name, was detained Sunday along with three Afghans and a Syrian in the Tijuana area, across the border from San Diego, two Mexican government officials said on customary condition of anonymity.

Read the rest of the story here

Does the U.S. Have an Image Problem

Better job at communicating our policies? Gitmo is "unfortunate?" When will these people learn that U.S. foreign policy is not about winning the hearts and minds of our enemies. These asshats hate us with every cell in their bodies -- much like the dems. A fudgesickle (sp.?) or a nice glass of Bordeaux with their evening meal will not change a thing.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has told the BBC his country needs to do a "better job" at communicating its policies to the rest of the world. "I think the US is notably unskilful in our communications and our public diplomacy," he said in Washington. He made a robust defence of the US role in Iraq, saying it was now up to the Iraqi people to restore order. On Guantanamo Bay, he said the prison's reputation was "unfortunate" but its existence was necessary for security. You just can't... not come away thinking, gee, that [the US] must not be a very good country "No one wishes to have a facility like that, no one wishes to have to detain people," he told Sir David Frost in a special interview for BBC Newsnight's Tuesday edition. However, conditions there were humane, he said, and any guards who had "misbehaved" had been punished. "The people in Gitmo... 99% have the best food probably, the best medical treatment, they've ever received in their lives," the defence secretary added.

By the way, it is DEFENSE (note the letter S).

WTC Collapse an Inside Job???

Has Pierre Salinger come out of hiding (hat tip to andthenblammo via LGF)?

A former Bush team member during his first administration is now voicing serious doubts about the collapse of the World Trade Center on 9-11. Former chief economist for the Department of Labor during President George W. Bush's first term Morgan Reynolds comments that the official story about the collapse of the WTC is "bogus" and that it is more likely that a controlled demolition destroyed the Twin Towers and adjacent Building No. 7. Reynolds, who also served as director of the Criminal Justice Center at the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas and is now professor emeritus at Texas A&M University said, "If demolition destroyed three steel skyscrapers at the World Trade Center on 9/11, then the case for an 'inside job' and a government attack on America would be compelling." Reynolds commented from his Texas A&M office, "It is hard to exaggerate the importance of a scientific debate over the cause of the collapse of the twin towers and building 7. If the official wisdom on the collapses is wrong, as I believe it is, then policy based on such erroneous engineering analysis is not likely to be correct either.

Hey Morgan...compelling? Are you kidding me...compelling?

Bush Lifts Ban on Vigilantism

It is about freaking time.

WASHINGTON, DC—In a striking departure from centuries of American belief in rule of law, President Bush gave his approval Monday to a limited experiment in public vigilantism "to see if it works."

"Groups of dedicated citizens who band together for a common cause—be it rounding up car thieves or castigating suspicious loiterers—strengthen and reinforce the social order," Bush said at a White House press conference. "I've never supported government intrusion in people's lives; I've always put more faith in the private sector. So I say, what the heck! Let's give vigilantism a go and see how things shake out. Why not?"

Bush's self-described "plan to have no plan" permits elected and appointed government authorities to "look the other way" while bands of U.S. citizens enforce both the community standards that the existing legal code overlooks and those laws that police fail to enforce.

"From bordello-busters to subway shooters, vigilantes have a long history of pinpointing and resolving the problems plaguing their communities," Bush said. "Let's give 'em a shot."

What about Teresa???

I can still remember Kerry's words during the dem's convention..."and what about Teresa?" How about this Johnny-boy...

As always, Thanks to Greyhawk for his Open Post.

Sean Penn???

It appears that our old friend Sean Penn, he of pugilistic Madonna fame, has landed himself a gig with the San Francisco Chronicle. The one time Material Man covered prayer services in Tehran. Yikes. I wonder if Mr. Hand will be working for the L.A. Times?

Hey

First post of the Starboard watch. When in doubt...look it up. Google does own Blogger, after all.