The system that Lower Merion school officials used to track lost and stolen laptops wound up secretly capturing thousands of images, including photographs of students in their homes, Web sites they visited, and excerpts of their online chats, says a new motion filed in a suit against the district.
More than once, the motion asserts, the camera on Robbins' school-issued laptop took photos of Robbins as he slept in his bed. Each time, it fired the images off to network servers at the school district.
Back at district offices, the Robbins motion says, employees with access to the images marveled at the tracking software. It was like a window into "a little LMSD soap opera," a staffer is quoted as saying in an e-mail to Carol Cafiero, the administrator running the program.
Continued on Page 49
During his 40-year military career, Sackton led a battalion of 550 men in the Pacific during World War II, in the 33rd Infantry Division. He was secretary to Gen. Douglas MacArthur (PBUH) during the reconstruction of Japan after the war.
He was also aboard ship and a witness to the first test of a thermonuclear bomb, the "Ivy Mike" test at Enewetak Atoll, which, he remarked, was a lot bigger than anyone thought it would be. He ended up hanging on to a cable as the tidal wave hit the ship head on, and most of the people on deck were washed overboard.
He was 97 years old, and still a gentleman. There is a good video interview of him, as well as many of the other veterans of the war, at the Veterans History Project.
Reply to: "Ice cap thaw may awaken Icelandic volcanoes"
Guest post by Steven Goddard
Scientific American has reported that global warming may cause an increase in volcanic eruptions, due to increased magma formation at lower pressures as glaciers melt.
This caught my attention because I used to work as a volcano researcher and igneous petrologist.
That report said that about 10 percent of Iceland's biggest ice cap, Vatnajokull, has melted since 1890 and the land nearby was rising about 25 millimetres (0.98 inch) a year, bringing shifts in geological stresses.
They estimated that the thaw had led to the formation of 1.4 cubic km (0.3 cubic mile) of magma deep below ground over the past century.
At high pressures such as under an ice cap, they reckon that rocks cannot expand to turn into liquid magma even if they are hot enough. "As the ice melts the rock can melt because the pressure decreases," she said. Sigmundsson said that monitoring of the Vatnajokull volcano since 2008 suggested that the 2008 estimate for magma generation was "probably a minimum estimate. It can be somewhat larger."
Interesting theory, but does it work quantitatively? Magmas, as with most solids, do show a direct relationship between the melting point and pressure. As the pressure increases, so does the melting point. (Ice is a noticeable exception to this, and shows an inverse relationship. The reason that people can ice skate is because the pressure under the blade creates a thin later of melted ice which lubricates the surface.
Below is a phase diagram of a basaltic magma similar to that found in Iceland, showing the relationship between temperature and pressure. The melting temperature does decrease at lower pressures. From 100 km depth to 0 km the melting point drops about 300°C. That is about 3°C / km. Ice is about one third as dense as basaltic magma, so the loss of 1 km of ice lowers the melting point by about 1C, or less than 0.1%. The pic appears to have come from this link, I suggest the gentle readers here look either there, or at Watts Up With That for the picture in context in the article.
More precisely, this study from the Carnegie Geophysical Institute did an empirical measurement of the relationship for one basaltic mineral -- diposide. They found the relationship to be
Tm = 1391.5 + 0.01297 * P
Where Tm is the melting point in degrees C and P is the pressure in atmospheres. One atmosphere pressure is equal to about 10 metres of ice, so one additional metre of ice increases the melting point by about 0.0013°C. The loss of 100 metres of ice would therefore lower the melting point by about one tenth of a degree. The thickest ice in Iceland is only 500 meters thick, so complete loss of all ice would only alter the melting point by about 0.5°C, or less than 0.05%.
The geothermal gradient of the earth is typically about 40°C per km, so a 0.5°C change in temperature is equivalent to a depth change of about 20 metres. Near mid-ocean ridges this gradient is steeper, so the equivalent depth change in Iceland would be less than 20 metres. Is it credible that a 0.5°C decrease in the melting point could stimulate excess volcanic activity? Short answer -- no. Volcanic activity is caused by magma rising to the surface, not glaciers melting. However, the loss of the glaciers would reduce the amount of steam and ash generated. Ash is formed when magma is cooled and fractured by steam. So the loss of the glaciers would reduce the size of the steam/ash cloud and make the Iceland volcanoes behave more like Hawaii volcanoes.
In short, the loss of all ice in Iceland would make the volcanoes less destructive. The thing that gets me is... all of the above analysis appears to have been totally unnecessary, even if it is correct; it should be possible to just look at the repeated eruptions of the volcano, in both warm periods and cold periods, to show that its eruptions are uncoupled in any way to temperature. Assuming, of course, that one admits that there have been temperature swings in the past, which the warmists don't. It's nice, and good physics, to know why it didn't happen, but if the general science establishment and media were honest, it would have been enough to know that it didn't happen like that to begin with in the past.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain ||
04/17/2010 11:42 ||
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#1
Last good volcano blast (Mt. Pinatubo, IIRC) we had, the ejected particulates had a noticeable cooling effect. And lovely sunsets, besides. Why do the warmenists hate beauty? And science?
#2
The thing that gets me is... all of the above analysis appears to have been totally unnecessary, even if it is correct;
When you can come at the problem from a different direction and still get the same answer, it suggests you have not overlooked something and may actually be correct.
#3
Mr. Goddard has a nice (and long) way of saying, "ARE YOU CLOWNS NUTS?"
I've actually heard a person whom I thought was intelligent say that warmer ocean water (from Gerbil Wormening™) caused the earthquake/tsunami in southeast Asia a couple of years ago.
Boggle (on so many levels).
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/17/2010 23:26 Comments ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Angry villagers beat three suspected robbers to death at Kaibartapara in Boalkhali upazila early yesterday.
Police said villagers caught three unidentified robbers, chasing a gang of six, around 2:30am when they attempted to enter the village allegedly to commit a robbery.
Sources said the gang arrived close to the densely populated village, parking their CNG-run three-wheeler and proceeded to enter the village on foot.
A few village guards on duty spotted the lurking figures and called out to them loudly, causing the gang to turn around and run.
The hue and cry brought more villagers who chased the gang and captured the three while the rest managed to flee firing shots in the air.
The villagers beat up the trio in a frenzy leaving them dead on the spot. The unidentified robbers were in their twenties.
Police recovered the bodies and the weapons were found in their possession.
Abdul Malek, officer-in-charge of Boalkhali Police Station, said a murder case has been filed accusing 300 to 400 villagers in this connection.
The three bodies were sent to Chittagong Medical College Hospital for autopsy, Malek said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2010 00:00 ||
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Her demand for more than £1.1million from the Army for sex discrimination would have enabled single mother Tilern DeBique to return home to her poverty-stricken Caribbean village in triumph as a rich woman.
Yesterday, however, the former corporal was having to revise her plans after a tribunal ruled she should receive only £17,016. The 28-year-old from St Vincent, who calls herself SexyT on the internet, was told she made 'an error of judgment' in refusing a job in a family-friendly base where there were childcare facilities.
Miss DeBique, whose daughter Tahlia is now four, had argued that she was forced to choose between a military career and her child. Yet the Daily Mail has discovered that while portraying herself as a devoted single mother, she has in fact spent nearly two years apart from her daughter after dispatching her to the Caribbean to live with her sister.
The panel found that the written offer made it highly unlikely she would have been deployed abroad, allowing her to combine her career and childcare until 2012. Instead she applied for much more lucrative civilian jobs in Afghanistan even though they would have meant leaving her daughter behind. So much for the "devoted mother who can't leave her child" story....
Mr Gordon said: 'In the view of the tribunal, it was a mistake not to accept the offer of a transfer to Blandford. The claimant's decision not to accept the offer was an error of judgment. She was unreasonable in not at least taking up the offer and seeing what happened. She should have remained in the Army. She was therefore in breach of her duty to mitigate her loss. If she had accepted the offer, she would not have suffered the loss of earnings. We are giving an injury to feelings award but we are not making an award for loss of earnings.'
#3
The NYT today ran a story about refugees on the US side of the border, I expect there will be many more stories like this: Its very hard over there, said Vicente Burciaga, 23, who fled El Porvenir a month ago with his wife, Mayra, and their infant son after gang members burned down five homes in their neighborhood and killed a neighbor. They are killing people over there who have nothing to do with drug trafficking, he said. They kill you just for having seen what they are doing.
In the Fort Hancock School district, Spectators are now barred from football and basketball practices. All the children, the only thing they know how to play, is sicarios, one refugee mother said, using the Spanish word for hired killers.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
04/17/2010 14:28 ||
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#1
Last I heard it was the Easter Bunny's fault...
Economists suggest the spike in claims could be related to the Easter holiday. Each week, it seems, there's some sort of anomaly that affects the new jobless claims -- the big February snows, the March snapback from the big February snows, the Easter holiday -- so it's hard to get a good handle on the real jobless picture in the U.S.
#2
expect next week's "unexpected" jump to be blamed on the fireball meteorite over the midwest
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/17/2010 16:15 Comments ||
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#3
Looks as though Barry may be a bit frazzeled, tired, even depressed. Might be time for another vacation, road tour, week end at Camp David, the Hamptons, or better yet a RESIGNATION!
Obama pushes bank reform, lashes out at GOP
He accuses Republicans of waging deceptive attack against measure.
#4
What happened to huge jump in employment due to census taking workers. Is the snow storms of this past winter still causing unemployment? Or all the flakes running the country in DC?
#5
Mosquito season is coming up. Everyone like to blame mosquitoes.
Posted by: ed ||
04/17/2010 16:52 Comments ||
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#6
The next jump in unemployment will be caused by the Iceland volcano. Imagine the effect if most interstate highways (motorways in Europe) were shutdown for weeks or months.
Much of the world now operates on inventoryless JIT supply chains and much of that supply goes by air.
Although it's interesting that few people seemed to have realized this.
#7
Unemployment figures are like "global warming." If it is unseasonably hot it is global warming; if it is unseasonably cold it is still global warming. if people question the global warming concept; it get changed to "climate change."
We have a "well-seasoned" bunch of liars in Washington these days.
Rising unemployment rates have been reported in nearly half of all states in the month of March, according to a US Labor Department report.
A total of 24 states suffered jobless rate increases in March, according to the Labor Department's monthly report. But rates declined last month in 17 states and the District of Columbia.
Even so the national unemployment rate is firmly stuck at 9.7 percent for a third month in a row.
Many economists and policymakers expect the nationwide jobless rate to remain elevated for some time to come, even as job growth slowly resumes.
Friday's report comes a day after lawmakers voted to push back the April fifth deadline for two months to file for extended unemployment benefits.
The move was approved by President Obama. Keeping to the new deadline would restore federal jobless benefits to more than 200 thousand Americans who would have instead started losing their claims.
Meanwhile, the strain of high unemployment has drained jobless benefit funds in a majority of states, forcing many states to borrow billions from the federal government to help out-of-work Americans.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
ION RUMORMILLNEWS > THE COLLAPSE OF THE US, MEXICO IMMINENT IN 2010-2011.
and
TOPIX > MEXICO TO GIVE ENRICHED URANIUM TO US.
Wid all the Cartel + other violence occurring, the US doesn't need MAHICO'S NUCMATS, TECHS FALLING INTO DANGEROUS HANDS.
#2
The government used credit to try to prop up the Money Velocity damage caused by taxes on incomes and spending, now the credit has run out the illusion that transfer-taxes don't destroy jobs cannot be maintained.
#3
Depending on one's spin position, wouldn't it be just as accurate to write the headline: "US Unemployment Falls in Most States" (unless one counts all 57 of Zero's states.)
#7
Cracks me up to see all the "new" news reports about how the economy is really doing better and things are looking rosy.
Um... no. Housing is still slumping, banks are still hurting and employers are waiting for the rest of the hurt by extra taxes/fees from Uncle Sam to hit so they ain't hiring anybody.
Former President Bill Clinton warned of a slippery slope from angry anti-government rhetoric to violence like the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, saying "the words we use really do matter." You mean "matter" like "it didn't matter what the people said about healthcare takeover"?
The two-term Democratic president insisted he wasn't trying to restrict free speech, but in remarks Friday he said incendiary language can be taken the wrong way by some Americans. He drew parallels to words demonizing the government before Oklahoma City.
On April 19, 1995, an anti-government conspiracy led by Army veteran Timothy McVeigh exploded a truck bomb outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people.
"What we learned from Oklahoma City is not that we should gag each other or that we should reduce our passion for the positions we hold - but that the words we use really do matter, because there's this vast echo chamber, and they go across space and they fall on the serious and the delirious alike. They fall on the connected and the unhinged alike," he said. Better not talk about the Oblivious One like that or he'll fire your wife.
"One of the things that the conservatives have always brought to the table in America is a reminder that no law can replace personal responsibility. And the more power you have and the more influence you have, the more responsibility you have." Tell that to our president!
Clinton made the remarks at events sponsored by the Center for American Progress Action Fund on the upcoming anniversary of the bombing.
He mentioned the rancorous fight over President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Passage of the law elicited threats against some lawmakers.
"I'm glad they're fighting over health care and everything else. Let them have at it. But I think that all you have to do is read the paper every day to see how many people there are who are deeply, deeply troubled," he said. Is that what you think an insurrection is all about?
He also alluded to the anti-government tea party movement, which held protests in several states Thursday. At the Washington rally, Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota railed against "gangster government."
Clinton argued that the Boston Tea Party was in response to taxation without representation. The current protesters, he said, are challenging taxation by elected officials, and the demonstrators have the power to vote them out of office.
"By all means keep fighting, by all means, keep arguing," he said. "But remember, words have consequences as much as actions do, and what we advocate, commensurate with our position and responsibility, we have to take responsibility for. We owe that to Oklahoma City." It's called escalation, Billy Boy. And things will keep escalating until the problem is settled.
Clinton argued that the Boston Tea Party was in response to taxation without representation. The current protesters, he said, are challenging taxation by elected officials, and the demonstrators have the power to vote them out of office.
That much is true. This bullshit militia crap is going to set back conservative governance another 20 years. The government we have was elected legally and we all own it. Get used to it and change it by methods proven over the last 145 years. If you want to join a militia join Deacons and do it right.
#3
This bullshit militia crap is going to set back conservative governance another 20 years.
Given that most of the male population of America doesn't even understand that they're already members of the militia.
TITLE 10 United States Code, Subtitle A, PART I, CHAPTER 13, paragraph 311
311. Militia: composition and classes
(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and (2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.
#4
It's not Anti-Government, it's Anti-Excess Government. It's an understanding that Government=Force and that Force is not an optimal way to achieve most things (especially social).
#5
Obumble has been such a disaster that I'd forgotten what an unctuous, race baiting, fraud Clinton is.
Posted by: regular joe ||
04/17/2010 8:44 Comments ||
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#6
Scandalous Arkansas real estate deals. State Troopers used as pimps. A rapid, lamp throwing Hildebeast. Vince Foster's "sucicide." Impeachment less removal from office, perjury, eight years of whoremongering, bumm bandit Clinton attempting to deny a blow job. Quite enough for me.
#8
Theanti-government rhettoric was so much hotter and loonier during the last administration. Comedians joked of snipers wanted and movies and books talked about assassinating a sitting Prez and Mr Clinton said nothing, naffa, zero. The worst we have now are a few fringe and a few lefty infiltrators trying to discredit an actual grass roots movement.
Clinton should just be quiet as was the custom for ex Presidents until recently.
I like the fact that the "dissent is patriotism" crowd is now wringing their hands over Ms. Bachmann's comment on "gangster government."
The term is apt: government has taken over the numbers racket and other forms of gambling (it's ok -- the $ are for the kids!), is moving into to the drug racket (legalize it for the sick!), has taken over unions, has taken over legitimate businesses (auto, health, lending) while shaking down others (Hon. Cong. Waxman et al) and is now doing a bust-out -- spending $ on credit that they'll never pay back -- until there's nothing left to steal.
If you complain, it's "remember, words have consequences" eg, "shut up," he explained.
Posted by: regular joe ||
04/17/2010 9:41 Comments ||
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#10
Do you miss me yet?
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
04/17/2010 9:42 Comments ||
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#11
This bullshit militia crap
Oh yas - deh sight of all dem machiney-guns at deh ralleyes dost put the tremblins intah mah hart.
conservative governance
Deh Shipman tahkins abouts conservaytin guhvinance is lak Tigah Wood tahkins abouts marryage Fidel-ahtee.
#12
Third party movements have an impact only when they seize on one and only one issue of extreme urgency. That issue is the debt crisis.
Not "socialism" or "big government"-- the Tea Partiers are totally in favor of broad-based multi-trillion dollar social welfare programs like medicare and social security-- not the 2nd Amendment, not "government" per se, but the extraordinary and devastating increase in public debt from ca 40% of GDP not long ago to a projected 100% of GDP within this decade.
The Tea partiers have a huge opportunity to have a real impact, but only if they clearly and repeatedly distance themselves from the militia and 2nd Amendment and nuttier libertarian types. There is a huge majority that is scared sh*tless about the mountain of debt piled up by this admin, and the one before it. Keep the focus on this and only this issue, be sensible (yes, we have to have a national consumption tax), and always, always distance yourself from the birther and other nuts.
That way lies a political realignment, and real hope for this country. Before it goes the way of Argentina.
RUSH: Let's go back, April 24th, 1995, Mississippi, Minnesota.
CLINTON 1995: We hear so many loud and angry voices in America today whose sole goal seems to be to try to keep some people as paranoid as possible and the rest of us all torn up and upset with each other. They spread hate. They leave the impression that -- by their very words, that -- violence is a acceptable. You ought to see -- I'm sure you are now seeing the reports of some things that are regularly said over the airwaves in America today. It is time we all stood up and spoke against that kind of (pounding podium) reckless speech and behavior.
RUSH: That was Bill Clinton, blaming me for the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19th, 1995. Yesterday we had the tea parties, and the Drive-By Media (I'm sure to its great chagrin) is filled with stories about how festive and how peaceful and how unthreatening all of the tea parties were. The effort to infiltrate these tea parties fizzled. They have stories on that that they probably do not like having to report. And, ladies and gentlemen, it's very clear that these citizen uprisings -- genuine grassroots citizen's uprisings -- are far more powerful than an attempt to drum up fake opposition to them from the White House. Yet, Bill Clinton is back in the game, expanding that threat via this sound bite.
CLINTON 2010: There was this rising movement in the early nineties that was basically not just a carefully orchestrated plot by people of extreme right-wing views but one that fell into fertile soil because there were so many people for whom the world no longer made sense. They wanted a simple, clear explanation of what was an inherently complex, mixed picture full of challenges that required not only changes in public policy, but personnel conduct and imagination about the world we were living in. So demonizing the government and the people that work for it sort of fit that -- and there were a lot of people who were in the business back then of saying that the biggest threat to our liberty and the cause of our economic problems was the federal government itself.
RUSH: So there you have it: Bill Clinton once again trying to rebirth his empty threat from 1995. He starts out tracing the plot that started in the eighties to "demonize government." I have a question. We have two more sound bites of the president here specifying right-wing talk radio, but I have a question: How come we're supposed to draw (on the basis of no evidence), a connection between conservatism and terrorism, conservative ideology and terrorism? Where is that connection? Yet we are told we must reject, despite tons of evidence, the connection between Islamist ideology and terrorism. So we can't call Islamist fundamentalists "terrorists." We can't even use the word. But we can have ex-presidents and current presidents running around trying to associate conservatives with nonexistent terrorism at peaceful tea parties. Somebody needs to explain this to me.
RUSH: Bill Clinton. By the way, these statements were this morning at the big left-wing think tank, The Center for American Progress. So we played the sound bite where he starts out tracing the "plot" that started in the eighties to demonize government. Next sound bite, Clinton says that right-wing talk radio has made money off of anger, aided by the Internet.
CLINTON 2010: When I became president, it's hard to remember this, there were only 50 sites on the World Wide Web. Among those who first saw its potential and made use of it were those who used the Internet to do all kinds of interesting things, including share information on how to make bombs. We didn't have blog sites back then, so the instrument of carrying this forward was basically the right-wing radio talk show hosts. They understood that emotion was more powerful than reason. They got much bigger listenership and more advertisers and more commercial success if they kept people in the white heat. For 99% of them, it was just that: Turn on the radio, listen to somebody say something you agree with, vent your anger.
RUSH: They just can't get away from it. We are living in their heads rent free. We are in their heads and on their minds. They -- and I'm going to throw they in there -- are out to destroy Western civilization, folks. Why do you think the tea party people are so reviled? Why is it that we can sit there and accuse nonviolent tea party people of committing terrorist acts? I mean that's what Clinton's doing. He's predicting that tea party people are going to blow up a federal building again, and in the process.... I'm going to state right now: If there is a future incident such as Oklahoma City, the blame is squarely Clinton's on the shoulders of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, who I'm sure is coordinating Clinton's appearance on this.
Bill Clinton, with the sound bite you just heard just gave the kooks out there an excuse to be violent. He just offered them an opportunity to be violent -- and lest we forget, the politics of the militia members that the FBI took down recently: One was a registered Democrat; the rest were not affiliated by party. Of course the New York Times has reported national security secrets. They are responsible for any terror attack on this country. They have published all kinds of battle plans. They have given up our military secrets in Iraq and Afghanistan and yet they sit here, Clinton and Obama, and try to blame me and us on the radio for something that has not happened, while setting the stage for it to happen? And let's not forget this. It's very important.
This is the president who pardoned and released a bunch of Puerto Rican terrorists on his last week in office. The FALN gang. He also pardoned the Weather Underground terrorists -- and he's now lecturing us on violence that hasn't happened, a peaceful tea party movement. We cannot even say "Islamic" and "terrorists" in the same sentence! We cannot associate radical Islam with terrorism but the president can go out and Obama can go out and try to associate the tea party -- genuine, peace-loving, middle-American citizens of this country -- with future acts of terrorism? The tea parties, you know why they're hated? I'll tell you why they're hated. If you're a member of a tea party, if you participated in one yesterday, why you're hated, why you're feared: This regime and the Clintons, everybody else knows that all you want to do is defend what's left of this country and try to rebuild it.
#17
Slick Willy lost his credibility long ago. Had something to do with the woman he didn't have sex with and quibbling about the meaning of simple words.
#18
So back to smoking your funny smelling cigars, Willy. And FFS, lock the door next time.
Posted by: ed ||
04/17/2010 18:21 Comments ||
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And yet again, the media totally fails to note that the OKC bombing and the Branch Davidian extermination were on the same date. Strange coincidence, that.
A long-awaited compromise bill to reduce U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for global warming will be unveiled by a group of senators on April 26, sources said on Thursday. I guess they just couldn't resist the opportunity to take more of their money from us.
The legislative language to be sketched out in 11 days, according to government and environmental sources, is being drafted by Democratic Senator John Kerry, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and independent Senator Joseph Lieberman.
Backers of the environmental bill hope the unveiling will pave the way for the full Senate to debate and pass a measure in June or July if the compromise attracts enough support from a group of moderate Republicans and Democrats.
Republican Senator Judd Gregg told Reuters he was "committed to getting something that addresses our energy needs in a constructive and comprehensive way." He added he did not know yet whether he would support the bill being developed.
President Barack Obama has made climate change one of his top priorities and took steps recently to show Republicans he was serious, including expanding federal aid for building nuclear power facilities and allowing more domestic offshore oil drilling -- initiatives to be included in the Senate compromise.
The White House is also eager to show the rest of the world the United States is ready to take a leadership role on global warming, including to help kick-start stalled international efforts to tackle the problem.
Despite vocal climate change skeptics in the United States, leading scientific groups have been hoping the United States, the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after China, would take action.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported on Thursday the world's combined land and ocean surface temperatures in March were the hottest on record.
Once the senators formally sketch out their bill, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid will decide the next steps in a year crowded with competing legislative priorities and congressional elections in November.
The bill could face stiff opposition from lawmakers in states with economies heavily dependent on oil and coal.
Lou Hayden, a policy expert at the American Petroleum Institute, said his group would not support the bill unless it went through an economic analysis by the Energy Information Administration, an independent arm of the Energy Department.
The bill is already slated to be analyzed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Congressional Budget Office, which could take more than a month. No problemo. The CBO only had four days to figure out the Healthcare Takeover bill.
BILL MIGHT END STATE/REGIONAL CARBON TRADE PROGRAMS
Kerry, Lieberman and Graham have been working for months on a global warming compromise significantly different from a measure passed last year by the House of Representatives and a bill approved by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. It also takes many elements from those bills.
Like the House-passed bill and Obama administration policy, it would set a target of 17 percent reductions in smokestack emissions of carbon dioxide by 2020, from 2005 levels.
Point Carbon, an energy markets consulting service, estimated the anticipated Senate bill would result in U.S. gasoline prices rising an average of 27 cents a gallon from 2013 to 2020. The bill is expected to contain a fee on motor fuels.
On Wednesday, a Senate source told Reuters the legislation would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating carbon dioxide emissions. It would also end state and regional carbon-trading programs, such as the one several Northeastern states participate in, to be replaced by a national carbon reduction policy. [N14150360]
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, with 10 participating states from Vermont to Maryland, has raised over $582 million for state efficiency and climate programs, said Environment Northeast, a Boston research group.
Peter Shattuck, a carbon markets policy analyst there, said shutting the program could create concerns among the states over lost revenues.
A group of nine senators, mostly from Midwestern manufacturing states, urged Kerry, Graham and Lieberman in a letter on Thursday to take into account jobs in their states.
"Without such a plan, we are concerned that the legislation will ultimately be unsuccessful," Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown and others wrote.
#1
It is hard to believe they are this detached from reality. And Grahamnesty has got to go. I just don't understand how the people of South Carolina can send this pudding head to the Senate.
Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, hosted Obama on a 15-minute tour of the complex.
Obama did not visit other launch pads at the Cape during a visit that lasted more than two hours, according to NASA officials.
"The president spent 15 minutes walking around the pad and rocket asking me questions about it," Musk said. "For a non-engineer, he displayed an impressive understanding."
Musk told Spaceflight Now that Obama specifically asked what modifications are required for the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule to be ready for human occupants.
President Obama mentioned the tour at the opening of his remarks to a crowd of NASA and space industry brass later Thursday afternoon.
A potentially explosive scandal in Malaysia over the billion-dollar purchase of French submarines, a deal engineered by then-Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak, has broken out of the domestic arena with the filing of a request to investigate bribery and kickbacks from the deal in a Paris court.
Although the case has been contained for eight years in the cozy confines of Malaysia's courts and parliament, which are dominated by the ruling National Coalition, French lawyers William Bourdon, Renaud Semerdjian and Joseph Breham put an end to that when they filed it with Parisian prosecutors on behalf of the Malaysian human rights organization Suaram, which supports good-government causes. For two years, Parisian prosecutors have been gingerly investigating allegations involving senior French political figures and the sales of submarines and other weaponry to governments all over the world. French news reports have said the prosecutors have backed away from some of the most serious charges out of concern for the political fallout.
The allegations relate to one of France's biggest defense conglomerates, the state-owned shipbuilder DCN, which merged with the French electronics company Thales in 2005 to become a dominant force in the European defense industry. DCN's subsidiary Armaris is the manufacturer of Scorpene-class diesel submarines sold to India, Pakistan and Malaysia among other countries. All of the contracts, according to the lawyers acting for Suaram, a Malaysian human rights NGO, are said to be suspect.
With Najib having moved on from the defense portfolio he held when the deal was put together in 2002 to become prime minister and head of the country's largest political party, the mess has the potential to become a major liability for the government and the United Malays National Organisation. Given the power of UMNO, it is unlikely the scandal would ever get any airing in a Malaysian court, which is presumably why Suaram reached out to French prosecutors.
A source said police have confined their inquiry to bribery allegations so far and have not looked into the 2006 murder of a Mongolian woman in Malaysia who was a translator on the deal for Najib and his friend, Abdul Razak Baginda, during a visit to Paris. There have [also] been numerous deaths involving DCN defense sales in Taiwan and Pakistan. Prosecutors are suspicious that 11 French submarine engineers who were murdered in a 2002 bomb blast in Karachi first thought to have been the work of Al Qaeda were actually killed in retaliation for the fact that the French had reneged on millions of dollars in kickbacks to Pakistani military officers.
As defense minister from 2000 to 2008, Najib commissioned a huge military buildup to upgrade Malaysia's armed forces, including two submarines from Armaris and the lease of a third, a retired French Navy Agosta-class boat. There were also Sukhoi supersonic fighter jets from Russia and millions of dollars spent on coastal patrol boats. All have come under suspicion by opposition leaders in Malaysia's parliament but UMNO has stifled any investigation. Asked personally about the cases, Najib has responded angrily and refused to reply.
[Dawn] Thai security forces surrounded a hotel Friday where leaders of the "Red Shirt" protest movement were holed up, but failed to make any arrests after the suspects fled, officials said.
Television footage showed one of the protest leaders climbing down a rope to escape from the SC Park Hotel as Red Shirt demonstrators massed outside.
Special forces surrounded the building, where "terrorists" and leaders of the red-clad protest movement were hiding, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban announced in a nationally televised address.
One Red Shirt leader, Arisman Pongruangrong, was seen descending a rope to leave the hotel in Bangkok's northern outskirts and the movement said all its leaders had managed to escape.
A government spokesman admitted that the operation was "unsuccessful." Arisman, who led the protesters' storming of parliament earlier this month, told supporters by megaphone he had escaped an assassination attempt.
"He wanted to kill me. The policeman tried to kill me," Arisman told the assembled Red Shirts amid chaotic scenes outside the hotel.
The authorities, meanwhile, urged thousands of protesters massed in the commercial district to leave the area, warning that they were ready to take "decisive measures" following the worst civil violence in almost two decades.
"Innocent people should leave the protests because the authorities have to take decisive measures against terrorists," Suthep said.
Red Shirts later gathered outside the hotel, scuffling with riot police who were guarding the building.
"If today is the end, we're ready," Reds leader Nattawut Saikuar said from the rally stage in the commercial hub, urging protesters to go to the hotel.
The hotel is believed to be owned by fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, political icon of the red-clad protest movement that has been rallying for more than a month in Bangkok to demand immediate elections.
Arrest warrants have also been issued for leaders of the Red Shirt protesters, some of whom stormed parliament earlier this month.
The Reds charge that the government is illegitimate because it came to power in 2008 after a court ousted Thaksin's allies from power.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has blamed "terrorists" for inciting last weekend's violent street clashes, which left at least 23 people dead and more than 800 wounded.
Saturday's clashes erupted as the army tried unsuccessfully to clear an area in Bangkok's old city, sparking street battles involving soldiers, red-clad protesters and unidentified gunmen described as "terrorists" by the government.
The Reds have challenged the government's assertion that there were M16 and AK47 assault rifles among the protesters.
The army has said live shots were fired only in the air or by troops providing cover for soldiers who were themselves under fire.
The authorities have said they will not try to put down peaceful rallies but have urged the Reds to leave the commercial district, where they have disrupted traffic and caused major shopping centres to close.
Leaders of the red-clad movement have said there is no point in further talks, demanding immediate elections.
Negotiations last month between the two sides ended in stalemate after the Reds rejected the government's offer to hold polls at the end of the year.
The government, which imposed a state of emergency in Bangkok and surrounding areas a week ago, has accused Thaksin of stoking the unrest.
Eighteen civilians, including a Japanese cameraman, and five soldiers were killed in the clashes, with more than 800 injured, according to the Erawan emergency centre.
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04/17/2010 00:00 ||
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A SENIOR Iranian cleric has claimed that dolled-up women incite extramarital sex, causing more earthquakes in Iran, a country that straddles several fault lines, newspapers reported today.
"Many women who dress inappropriately ... cause youths to go astray, taint their chastity and incite extramarital sex in society, which increases earthquakes," Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi told worshipers at overnight prayers in Tehran.
"Calamities are the result of people's deeds," he was quoted as saying by reformist Aftab-e Yazd newspaper.
"We have no way but conform to Islam to ward off dangers."
The Islamic dress code is mandatory in Iran, which has been under clerical rule for more than three decades.
Every post-pubescent woman regardless of her religion or nationality must cover her hair and bodily contours in public. Offenders face punishment and fine. But this has not stopped urban women from appearing in the streets wearing tight coats and flimsy headscarves and layers of skilfully applied makeup.
Iran is prone to frequent quakes, many of which have been devastating. The worst in recent times hit the southern city of Bam in December 2003, killing 31,000 people - about a quarter of the population - and destroying its ancient mud-built citadel.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Reply to: "Ice cap thaw may awaken Icelandic volcanoes"
Former President Bill Clinton warned of a slippery slope from angry anti-government rhetoric to violence like the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, saying "the words we use really do matter."
A long-awaited compromise bill to reduce U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for global warming will be unveiled by a group of senators on April 26, sources said on Thursday.
Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, hosted Obama on a 15-minute tour of the complex.
