Republican Presidential Debate: Iraq won't be over soon

The format of the debate (rapid-fire question and answer) pretty much guaranteed that no candidate would have an opportunity to make more than a few pithy statements. So unfortunately, that's exactly what we got.

First, from Senator McCain:

Q: What would you need, as commander in chief, to win the war in Iraq?

A: I would need the support of the American people. I would need to be able to show them some success in Iraq, both on the battlefield as well as with the Maliki government. We have a new general, we have a new strategy. That strategy can succeed....[various criticism of Democrats as defeatists]... We must win in Iraq. If we withdraw, there will be chaos, there will be genocide, and they will follow us home.

Then, from former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson, who had three major propositions to change the Iraq strategy:

Q: If you’re commander in chief and you want to win this war in Iraq, what do you need to do to win it?

A: First, you have to support the troops...Beyond that, there are three things that I’ve laid out. Number one, I believe the al-Maliki government should be required to vote as to whether or not they want America in their country. If they vote yes, it gives us a legitimacy for being there. If they vote no, we should get out. (emphasis mine)

Secondly, there are 18 territories in Iraq, just like we have 50 states in America. I would require those territories to elect governments, just like we do in our states. And if you do so, the Shi’ites will elect Shi’ites, Sunnis will elect Sunnis, Kurds will elect Kurds, and you won’t have this internecine civil war.

Third, I would split the oil reserves -- one-third to the federal government, one-third to the state government, and one-third to every man, woman and child. If every man, woman and child is getting part of the oil proceeds, they’re going to have a vested interest in their country.

Next, the same question to Representative Hunter:

A: The key to winning in Iraq is standing up the Iraqi military...[some explanation of how Iraqis should take over the military piece].

And now Gov. Mitt Romney gets to talk Iraq:

A: We don’t want to bring [the troops] out in such a precipitous way that we cause a circumstance that would require us to come back. Because if we leave in the wrong way, the Iranians could grab the Shi’a South, or al Qaeda could play a dominant role among the Sunnis. Or you could have the border with Turkey destabilized by the Kurds, and as a result you could have regional conflict develop.

But with that occurring, you could have our neighbors get involved, our friends get involved around Iraq, and we could have to come back again.

Governor Huckabee was asked about the firing of Rumsfeld, but he basically just pointed out that the problems in Iraq were due to too little attention being paid to qualified military personnel:

Those generals told us early on it would take 300,000 troops to successfully go in and stabilize Iraq. Instead, we gave them a limited number of troops and a budget and said you have to do it with this...But rather than simply walking away and leaving the Middle East in a complete disastrous chaos that will spread to the region and to the rest of the world, it’s important that we finish the job, that we do it right, rather than have to go back and someday do it over.

Next, they fired a question at Congressman Paul, who voted against the Iraq War and would like to re-establish Republicans as non-interventionists on the world stage.

Q: you voted against the war. Why are all your fellow Republicans up here wrong?

A: I would suggest that we should look at foreign policy...that we should have a foreign policy of non-intervention, the traditional American foreign policy and a Republican foreign policy...How did we win the election in the year 2000? We talked about a humble foreign policy. No nation-building. Don’t police the world. That is a conservative, it’s a Republican, it’s a pro-American, it follows the Founding Fathers.

Overall, it seems like most of the "mainstream" candidates are firmly for continuing the war, despite admissions of past mistakes. Governor Thompson's idea of a referendum on the American presence is probably the most democratic notion, while Representative Paul is most interested in getting out for philosophical reasons.

The rules of humor?

A self-confessed middle-aged white guy looked back on the Don Imus affair and decided to write a primer on "How to be funny without being offensive." He also described the rules as "My Rules For Jokes Involving People Who Aren't Like Me."

Here's a sample:

One time a group of us actors was waiting for one of the African-American guys in the cast who was late, and one of the other black guys said, "He's on BMT -- Black Man Time." We all laughed, but if I had said it, then it's ignorant, not funny. It's OK to make fun of your own.

Remember -- there's a difference between racist jokes and jokes about race...What do you call a black guy being chased by a bunch of white guys with clubs? The PGA Tour...Any jokes about drunken Indians or cheap Jews or lazy Mexicans, any jokes where the point is to show a particular group in a bad light -- don't tell 'em. I've yet to hear one that was funny.

The fact is, white people still have the power in this country, and the price we pay for it is being made fun of. So when I hear people say, "Well, if such-and-such a joke/play/comment had been about Asians/women/Muslims instead of whites/Christians/rich people, there'd be outrage all around," I say, "That's right, and there should be." Sorry, fair or not, that's the way it is. A small price to pay for world domination, I think. (emphasis mine throughout)

I think a lot of folks would describe the last bit as "political correctness." Maybe it does seem unfair, but as he says, it's "a small price to pay for world domination."

Iraq in Numbers since Mission Accomplished

Courtesy of Think Progress, the Iraq War by the Numbers:

	May 1, 2003	Today
U.S. Troops Wounded	542	24,912
U.S. Troops Killed	139	3,351
Contractors Killed	69	916
Journalists and Media Assistants Killed	11	167
U.S. Forces in Iraq	150,000	146,000
Size of Iraqi Security Forces	7,000-9,000	334,300
Number of Insurgents	less than 5,000	~70,000 (Sunni only)
Insurgent Attacks Per Day	8	148.9
Cost to U.S. Taxpayers	$79 billion	$421 billion
Approval of Bush’s Handling of Iraq	75%	24%
Percentage of Americans who Believe The Iraq War Was “Worth Fighting”	70%	34%
Bush’s Overall Job Approval	71%	32%

OSHA = "Optional" Safety and Health Administration

Think twice before inhaling that buttery scent of microwave popcorn. The chemical used to create that flavor, diacetyl, has been found to cause severe lung damage in workers at microwave popcorn plants. The discovery, by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, has been brought to the attention of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), but little has been done.

On diacetyl, [OSHA Head] Mr. Foulke said ''the science is murky'' on whether the additive causes bronchiolitis obliterans, the disease that has been called ''popcorn worker's lung...''

...Instead of regulations, Mr. Foulke and top officials at other agencies favor a ''voluntary compliance strategy,'' reaching agreements with industry associations and companies to police themselves.

Administration officials say such programs are less costly, allowing companies to hire more workers and keep consumer prices down. The number of voluntary agreements has grown in recent years, but they cover a fraction of the seven million work sites that OSHA oversees, or less than 1 percent of the work force. (emphasis mine)

Wikipedia's diacetyl entry only illustrates the lack of actual regulation coming from OSHA:

On July 26, 2006, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the United Food and Commercial Workers petitioned the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to promulgate an emergency temporary standard to protect workers from the deleterious health effects of inhaling diacetyl vapors. The petition was followed by a letter of support signed by more than thirty prominent scientists. The matter is under consideration.

There's some hope, as Congress has begun to reassert its oversight of OSHA, with hearings taking place two weeks ago. But holding hearings won't do much for some of the affected employees, one of whom was present at the hearing.

Among those who testified Tuesday was Eric Peoples, a former worker at the popcorn plant in Jasper, a small town 125 miles south of Kansas City. Once healthy, the 35-year-old Mr. Peoples has been told by doctors that he will need a double-lung transplant. (emphasis mine)

But hey, what's a couple lungs against 10 cent savings on my Jolly Time Blast O Butter?

Skin care: do you like deck stain?

In my family, pale Polish skin - and a history of skin cancer - dominates my mom's side of the family, while moderately darker German genes offer some protection on my dad's side. I'm my mother's son, sadly, which means sunscreen is a constant summer companion. It also means that I read news on tanning with some personal interest.

This article, from today's New York Times, explores the continuing fashion of tan and the debate among dermatologists about recommending sunless tanning products - like bronzers - versus trying to change the idealized image of a tan body. This academic certainly has a way with words:

Nina Jablonski, the chairwoman of the anthropology department at Penn State University, said that trying to change one’s skin color is a peculiar and disturbing phenomenon — whether it be Africans and Asians who use bleaching products to lighten skin or lighter-pigmented Americans seeking to emulate deck stain. Along that continuum, the sun-tanned look is a relatively new beauty ideal, she said.

“For most of the last 500 years, a tan was considered the mark of a hard-working person who toiled outside,” said Dr. Jablonski, the author of “Skin: A Natural History.” “A tan was eschewed by people who considered themselves upper class.”

While my family's history of skin cancers merits a little extra caution and I have no desire to "emulate deck stain," it's always nice to moderate my native shade of beached whale white.

The man who would be king

After viewing the Jon Stewart - Bill Moyers discussion yesterday, I was left pondering Stewart's argument about the President: that his underlings take the fall when the President steps on the law. Today I came across several interesting tidbits on the administration's assertion that Bush is above the law.

One writer at Dailykos notes that Bush's decision to veto the war legislation differs from his previous use of a signing statement to essentially ignore certain portions of the law. Previously, Bush has asserted the power of the executive by simply ignoring directives of Congress or laws that he feels impede his role as Commander-in-Chief. In this,

Another post from a Kossack says that the academic underpinning to Bush's extralegal manuevers is essentially this: by being President, Bush is above the law. He quotes extensively from blogger Glenn Greenwald, who digs through the academic-speak to the point:

In that article, Mansfied claimed, among other things, that our "enemies, being extra-legal, need to be faced with extra-legal force"; that the "Office of President" is "larger than the law"; that "the rule of law is not enough to run a government"; that "ordinary power needs to be supplemented or corrected by the extraordinary power of a prince, using wise discretion"; that "with one person in charge we can have both secrecy and responsibility"; and most of all:

Much present-day thinking puts civil liberties and the rule of law to the fore and forgets to consider emergencies when liberties are dangerous and law does not apply.

"Law does not apply" -- that is Mansfield's belief, and the belief of the Bush movement. (emphasis from dKos)

And how do Americans respond to such actions? We could start by listing our grievances regarding President Bush:

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good...He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records...He has obstructed the Administration of Justice...He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people...He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

The last time we had these grievances, we took this action:

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Or we could help Congress re-assert the rule of law.

Honeybee hyperbole revealed

The Minneapolis Star Tribune took time to debunk some of the more popular myths around Colony Collapse Disorder and this author must report that he's been outed. Cell phones? Nope. Four years of human life to go? Not so much. Here's a few of the juiciest items debunked:

A small German scientific study looking at a specific type of cordless phones and homing systems of bees exploded over the Internet and late night television shows. It morphed into erroneous reports blaming cell phones for the honeybee die-off, which scientists are calling Colony Collapse Disorder.

The scientist who wrote the paper, Stefan Kimmel, e-mailed The Associated Press to say that there is "no link between our tiny little study and the CCD-phenomenon ... anything else said or written is a lie."

Moldy would like to officially say: oops. One other popular myth is the quote attributed to Albert Einstein that humanity has four years left to live if bees die out.

It's wrong on two counts.

First, Einstein probably never said it, according to Alice Calaprice, author of "The Quotable Einstein" and five other books on the physicist.

"I've never come across it in anything Einstein has written," Calaprice said. "it could be that someone had made it up and put Einstein's name on it."

Second, it's incorrect scientifically, Pettis said. There would be food left for humans because some food is wind-pollinated.

See this post for more on the latest scientific study of CCD and the more reasonable hypotheses. And keep checking those facts!

Update on gas inventory and prices

I blogged recently about $4 per gallon gas and the evidence for it keeps piling up. Robert Rapier investigates the U.S. weekly petroleum report and he's been hopeful that gasoline inventories would turn around in recent weeks to build up for the summer season (and help moderate prices). It hasn't happened.

On a days of supply basis, this week's inventory number is the lowest we have ever seen in the spring, prior to peak summer driving season (emphasis mine).

Summary of the price pressure:
1. It's a supply problem. Refiners have simply not kept pace with gasoline demand as they've been switching to summer gas formulations.
2. It's not an oil shortage, it's a gasoline shortage. Oil stocks keep rising.
3. Demand continues to surge up despite already higher prices.

In other words, get your checkbook ready - prices are going up (price chart courtesy of GasBuddy.com):

Teens think six figure salaries are coming

Courtesy of docuticker, a survey of teen financial knowledge shows that, on average, teens expect to earn six-figures ($145,000) when they grow up. I'd call that silly, but my dad likes to tell the story about he hoped to make $7000 a year when he was young. Thanks to inflation, he's far exceeded his goal.

Inflation could help today's teen meet their aspirations, too. With the help of average annual inflation of 3%, a teen would only need to make $51,000 in today's dollars to hit $145,000. Of course, that still exceeds the average American wage by $11,000.

Adulthood might prove a rough awakening.

A journalist interviews a "serious social and political critic"

Courtesy of Shadow Eyes, an excellent interview of Jon Stewart by Bill Moyers, examining the role of the Daily Show (and Stewart) as a non-journalistic source of real journalism. Some excerpts:

On the Bush Administration

JON STEWART: I used to have a real disconnect, I think, with the administration, I couldn't figure out what was going on. I think it's suddenly become clear to me. They would rather us believe them to be wildly incompetent and inarticulate than to let us know anything about how they operate. And so, they do Constitutionally-mandated things most of the time, but they don't — they fulfill the letter of their obligation to checks and balances, but not the intent.

For instance, Alberto Gonzales, and you've been watching the hearings. He is either a perjurer, or a low-functioning pinhead. And he allowed himself to be portrayed in those hearings as a low-functioning pinhead, rather than give the Congressional Committee charged with oversight, any information as to his decision-making process at the Department of Justice.

And I used to think, "They're doing this based on a certain arrogance." And now, I realize that it's because they believe there is one accountability moment for a President, and that is the four year election. And once you get that election, you're done.

On the cozy relationship between the Washington Press Corp and the administration

BILL MOYERS: How do you explain that the Washington press corps, by and large, particularly the Sunday shows join the game with them? I mean, you watch those shows

JON STEWART: They don't all, I mean...

BILL MOYERS: No, not all of them do, but there's a kind of wink-wink questioning going on there. You know, I'll ask the devil's advocate...

JON STEWART: Well, it's because it's the Harlem Globetrotters playing the Washington Generals. It's they're the only teams playing, and they know they've got to play each other every week, and they all have sort of assumed their role.

On the mutual respect between Moyers and Stewart

BILL MOYERS: So, has it been within that period of time that you made this you wouldn't recognize it, but we recognize it, transformation from the stand-up comic to a "

JON STEWART: I don't consider myself a serious and social political critic.

BILL MOYERS: But I do. And I'm your audience.

JON STEWART: Yes, and I end up with one of your tote bags.

Bush vetoes war spending, cuts off troops

If the media were actually liberal, that'd be the headline. A quick survey of Google News shows that while the media likes drama - "a standoff, a showdown" - they shoot ideologically straight.

It'll be interesting to see where the debate in Congress goes, since the Democratic leadership doesn't seem inclined to kowtow to the Single Track Mind In Chief:

REID: The president may be content with keeping our troops mired in the middle of an open-ended civil war, but we're not _ and neither are most Americans.

PELOSI: The president wants a blank check. The Congress is not going to give it to him.

rBGH: some facts and some udder amusement

For those unfamiliar with the acronym, rBGH stands for recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone. It's a hormone injection given to dairy cows to induce greater milk production. As the following chart (from USDA Agricultural Projections to 2016) shows, it's been pretty successful:


There are a number of potential side effects for both cows and humans from rBGH, but the FDA approved it as safe over 15 years ago. This site has a subtly negative view, but also has links to some solid sources, such as the Government Accountability Office's study suggesting more study before approval of the hormone. You can also learn a bit about rBGH from Stephen Colbert:

Save your teeth, your health, and your wallet with tap water?

Bottled water has become a multi-billion dollar industry in the past decade, even thought as much as 25% of bottled water is the same stuff that comes from the tap. In recent news, the shift to drinking bottled water has shown some unfortunate side effects. The prevalence of cavities has increased sharply in kids ages 2-5, and the causes range from snack foods to sugared drinks to too few dental visits. But one doctor found another reason for the tooth decay problem:

A reason is that parents are giving their children more processed snack foods than in the past, and more bottled water or other drinks instead of fluoridated tap water, Dr. Dye [of the National Center for Health Statistics] said.

The presence of tooth-shielding fluoride in tap water gives it a health benefit that bottled water makers don't match. In one step further, municipal water supplies also meet more stringent health standards than bottled water, requiring more frequent tests for pathogens.

But what about flavor? ABC News tested another of the myths, that bottled water beats municipal water in flavor. The result?

In our test of bottled waters, Kmart's American Fare -- the cheapest brand -- won. Big-seller Aquafina came in second.
Iceland Spring tied the ordinary tap water for third place. Fifth place went to Poland Spring, and in last place, by far, with almost half the testers saying it tasted bad, was the most expensive water -- the fancy French stuff, Evian.

If health and safety aren't sufficient reasons to stick to tap water, maybe your wallet will be. Bottled water (at 75 cents per 16 oz) costs $6 a gallon - mostly to pay for the brand label and the plastic bottle - but tap water costs $0.01 per 10 gallons. You read that right, bottled water costs 6,000 times what tap water does.

Yeah, I'm biased against bottled water and that doesn't help those of you who have "flavored" tap water. A nice compromise (which I employ) is a standalone filter pitcher or a tap attachment. These carbon-based filters can remove funky flavors without removing the fluoridation (so says chemistry teacher SPH). The filters can last for several months (at about $5 a pop), saving money and reducing waste plastic.

A week in someone else's belly?

Having realized that Oregon has a relatively high rate of unemployment and "food insecurity," the governor of Oregon decided to get personal experience of his state's less fortunate. For one week, he took the "food stamp challenge," setting his food budget to no more than a food stamp recipient would receive. How much did he have to work with? Post a comment with your guess, Price is Right style, on your honor to not research the answer elsewhere. I'll post the amount tomorrow.

This story on the governor's challenge has a bit more on what he was able to eat on the budget:

The governor took it seriously, studying prices, forgoing organic fruit to get the price break and taking advice from Christina Sigman-Davenport, a state worker who went on food stamps to support her family of five after her husband lost his job. As the governor looked wistfully at a carton of half-and-half, Sigman-Davenport told him he'd just have to get used to 2 percent milk in his coffee...

...Tuesday's menu for the governor and first lady was simple but satisfying. Breakfast: yogurt, granola, half a banana each, coffee, honey. Lunch: peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Dinner: two-bean soup, toast. Meals planned for subsequent days include quiche, chicken pesto and, of course, leftovers.

Smarter transit is as important as smarter highways

A lot of energy is invested in eliminating freeway bottlenecks to reduce congestion for cars, but more energy could also be directed at improving rail transit. Railroads can carry freight (particularly large, heavy loads) for a fraction of the cost of trucks, and every bit of freight moved by rail means several fewer trucks on the highway.

For an amusing counterpoint to my argument, check out the abstract for this 1924 document discussing how motor trucks can relieve congestion at rail freight terminals.

When does an activist become a hypocrite?

Skemono looks at anecdotes from a website titled "the only moral abortion is my abortion," relating tales from the field where previously anti-choice activists unapologetically get an abortion before heading back to the protest line. Skemono has one sentence that really highlights the mindframe of these abortion hypocrites:

The only valid choice is their own--everyone else are sluts who use abortion as birth control.

I'm fine if people want to protest abortion and to refrain from one themselves. But don't go picking the apple from the tree if no one else is supposed to.

Money in politics: growing until it's obsolete?

An interesting essay in the NYTimes Magazine examines the roll of cash in national campaigns, particularly in buying ad time. $1.1 billion was spent on TV ads during the 2006 Congressional elections in the United States, and yet one homebrew ad made for free by an Obama supporter - and posted to YouTube - reached millions of Democratic voters (and has been viewed 3.2 million times).

As long as early campaign reporting involves constant scrutiny of fundraising goals, targets, and success, the media will continue to use money as a measure of political viability. But how much does it really matter when folks can TiVo your $50 million traditional attack ad but willingly seek out the homebrew one on YouTube?

The battle of the bulbs

The Washington Post has an interesting video story (and print story) on one of the main challenges to the spread of compact fluorescent bulbs in the United States: the "wife test." Energy-savvy husbands purchase efficient CFLs for the home, forgetting to clear the lighting change with their partner or sometimes surreptitiously replacing incandescent bulbs without warning. And the wife is not always pleased.

Despite (or because of?) the occasional marital discord sparked by bulb replacements, the United States clearly lags behind the developed world in adopting more efficient lighting. Japan's lights are 80% CFL, Germany's 50%, and even the UK has 20% of its lights replaced by CFLs. The United States has only switched 6%. This interesting tidbit suggests that female shoppers are less enthused about the bulbs whose history involved humming, flickers, long warm-ups, and steep bulb prices:

In groceries and drugstores, where 70 percent to 90 percent of light bulbs historically have been sold and where women usually have been the ones doing the buying, CFLs have not taken off nearly as fast as they have in home-improvement stores such as Home Depot and Lowe's, where men do much of the shopping.

I'd really like to see a scientific study on whether women are more likely than men to discern the difference in light cast by the two types of bulbs or if women have greater sensitivity to light color and quality. Because with over 100 billion kilowatt-hours (kW-hrs) used for lighting each year (and CFLs using a quarter of an incandescent) that's a lot of potential energy savings.

What kind of game cheater are you?

Wired has an interesting look at the different styles of playing video games and how an individual gamer evolves over time. Gaming styles could probably be summed up as:

1. I'm a god and that's why there's a special mode for me on the Game Genie.
2. This game could be challenging, if the strategy guide wasn't right here.
3. I check out GameFAQs when I'm in a bind, but I try to figure things out myself.
4. You gotta play it natural, no cheats or hints
5. I only play games one-handed, blindfolded, in the nude...

The article looks at how people often move up the list as they age and how the immersive, all-encompassing gaming experience doesn't mesh with other life pursuits.

Update 4/30: The BBC has a news story on "gold farming" in World of Warcraft, where Western gamers pay for virtual gold earned by Chinese workers with real cash. My favorite is where they use a green screen to put the reporter in the game.

Genetically modified crops don't stay put

Oral arguments will be heard in federal court next week on whether food and safety regulations sufficiently separate genetically modified (GM) alfalfa from the non-GM stuff. As it has done with several other crops, Monsanto has developed a GM-strain of alfalfa that's resistant to its herbicide, allowing farmers to kill all plant life except the crop they're planting.

The court case addresses the issue of "genetic drift." Once planted, there's nothing to stop the genes from this alfalfa from being spread to nearby unmodified alfalfa, since the process of pollination is part and parcel of plant evolution. The spread of GM crops raises several concerns:

1. Do the GM crops introduce any novel harm to human health? There have been few tests done on the long-term effects of human consumption of GM crops, because the FDA considers them to be "substantially equivalent" to existing foods products.
   
2. Do farmers with their own strains of alfalfa have a right to grow crops without human-modified genes?
   
3. Can Monsanto claim ownership over alfalfa pollinated with their patented genes? In Canada, one farmer lost his entire store of canola seed after the high court ruled that Monsanto owns its genes wherever they spread.
4. What is the impact of these novel genes being spread in the wild? One article from Wired looks at the rise of Roundup Ready coca plants in Central America. If the GM-coca plant spreads, it turns U.S. anti-drug efforts into a public service for drug lords. A "super grass" in Oregon has spread beyond its test plot.
   

Learn more about the issues involved, from regulation to health and safety, here. And take a little time to think about what's on your plate.

Update 2: Colony Collapse Disorder a parasite?

A scientist at the University of California, San Francisco, has isolated a parasite that may be responsible for Colony Collapse Disorder. In a few preliminary tests of local hives, he found that the presence of the parasite - Nosema ceranae - was strongly linked to diseased or dead bees. This is mixed news, since the parasite is known to cause colony collapse in as little as a week, but may also be controlled by an existing antibiotic.

As with most things science, however, the tests only validate the hypothesis - they don't prove the cause. Dr. DeRisi believes more study is necessary before concluding this parasite is responsible:

The results are "highly preliminary" and are from only a few hives from Le Grand in Merced County, UCSF biochemist Joe DeRisi said. "We don't want to give anybody the impression that this thing has been solved."

Other scientists have also found the parasite in bee hives, but among several other potential pathogens. One scientist felt it was going too far to label Nosema ceranae THE cause:

N. ceranae is "one of many pathogens" in the bees, said entomologist Diana Cox-Foster of Pennsylvania State University. "By itself, it is probably not the culprit … but it may be one of the key players."

Let's hope they find the solution soon, as more than a quarter of U.S. bee colonies have already suffered collapse.

David Walker talks $50 trillion with Colbert

I mentioned seeing David Walker, US Comptroller General, last week and that he'd be appearing on the Colbert Report to discuss America's $50 trillion problem.

Here's the video:

Get your Daily Apple

Someone out in the web-verse thought my account of the new recommendations for school nutrition was less lousy than others, and the good man at Mark's Daily Apple was nice enough to direct a few people to the Moldy.

I make it a practice to review sites that link here, and I'm pleased once again to say that it'd be worth your time to trackback. The Daily Apple is a site devoted to "taking the boredom out of health" and has insightful and candid commentary on the latest fad diets, health-related public policy, and alternative treatments for common ills such as migranes. Mark has 10 Daily Apple commandments and I think the first one is the best sense you'll get of the site:

1- Eat your daily apple. We prefer Red Delicious. But we’re not opposed to the others. Granny Smith has a satisfying pucker. And we love the Fuji!

So check out his site, or at the very least, post your favorite daily apple in the comments (I'll go with Gala).

Don Imus is a racist

I didn't want to wade in to this mess, since it's another example of media hounds smelling blood (like OJ or Britney or Michael Jackson) when there's a war on, a budget crisis, and global warming to face down. But I rediscovered Tim Wise, an anti-racism activist who spoke at my undergraduate institution several times, and his essay on the Imus affair shines light in the dark corners of social indifference to one racist shock jock.

Wise has 3 points on the immediate issue of Imus:

1. Wise dismisses the "free speech" argument, noting that the 1st Amendment shields you from government oppression and does not give one the right to a network radio show.
   
2. He also notes that a racial slur isn't just one insult, when flung against the backdrop of institutional racism.

   That backdrop--of housing and job discrimination, racial profiling, unequal health care access, and a media that regularly presents blacks in the worst possible light (think the persistent and inaccurate reports of murder and rape by African Americans in New Orleans during the Katrina tragedy)--makes verbal slights, even if relatively minor, take on a magnitude well beyond the moment of their issuance.

3. Finally, Imus is no fallen angel:

   In the past he's referred to black journalist Gwen Ifill as "the cleaning lady," a Jewish reporter as, a "boner-nosed, beanie-wearing Jewboy," and Arabs as "ragheads." Furthermore, he handpicked a sidekick who called Palestinians "animals" on the air, and suggested that Venus and Serena Williams would make fine centerfold models for National Geographic. Imus is a serial offender, and his contrition now, while perhaps genuine, has been long overdue.

Wise is not content with just pointing out Imus' failings, since it's merely one incident on that "backdrop" of institutionalized racism.

One thing has been made clear by the Imus incident: namely, white folks are incapable of blaming other whites for white racism and racist behavior. Despite all the demands by whites that blacks take "personal responsibility" for their lives, their behaviors, and the problems that often beset their communities--and especially that they stop blaming whites for their station in life--the fact is, we can't wait to blame someone else when we, or one of ours, screws up. So please note, from virtually every corner of the white media (and from black conservatives who are quick to let whites off the hook no matter what we do), the conversation has shifted from Imus's racism to a full-scale assault on rap music and hip-hop. In other words, it's those black people's fault when one of ours calls them a name. After all, they do it themselves, and Imus can't be expected not to say "ho" if Ice Cube has done it. At this point, I'm halfway expecting to hear Bill O'Reilly say that white folks wouldn't have even heard words like nigger if it weren't for 50 Cent. (emphasis mine)

But this kind of argument is not only absurd on the face of it, even more to the point, it's a complete affront to the concept of "personal responsibility." It ranks right up there with telling your mom that "Billy did it too," back when you were ten, and playing ball outside, and broke your neighbor's window. As I recall, mom didn't really give a rat's ass, and responded by saying something about Billy, a bridge, and whether his desire to jump off like a damned fool would inspire similar stupidity on your part.

If you want to see the rest of Wise's essay, read it here. And be glad that at least one bigot is off the air.

Ready for $4 a gallon? This summer?

A daily read for the energy-interested, the R-squared Energy Blog has something for everyone today: your gas prices are likely to jump - a lot.

Analyzing the weekly petroleum report from the Energy Information Administration, Mr Rapier notes that in 99.2% of weeks going back to 1991, we've had larger gasoline inventories (as measured by # of days supply). Typically, refineries kick up production to prepare, producing more gasoline to help meet peak demand season (summer). This spring, they haven't been able to keep pace, and gasoline inventories missed all expectations by falling this week, by several million gallons.

Demand steady, supply down. Get ready.

Junk food could be out at public schools

Asked by Congress to develop nutritional standards for all food in schools, the Institute of Medicine rolled out its two-tier nutrition recommendations today. Tier 1 applies elementary and middle-school children for the entire day, and to high school kids during school hours. Tier 2 standards are somewhat looser and apply only to high school kids after school hours.

The major items?

1. School lunch - with all its dietary guidelines - should be the primary source of nutrition for school children. (This GAO report on school lunch reveals its shortcomings).
2. Competing foods to school lunch should be limited
3. When available, competing foods should *gasp* meet the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Here's what the guidelines are for Tier 1 (you won't find Twinkies in here):

Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and related combination products* and nonfat and low-fat dairy that are limited to 200 calories or less per portion as packaged.

Beverages include:

• Water without flavoring, additives, or carbonation.
• Low-fat (1%) and nonfat milk:
• Lactose-free and soy beverages are included
• flavored milk with no more than 22g of total sugars per 8-oz. serving
• 100-percent fruit juice in 4-oz. portion as packaged for elementary/middle school and 8 oz. (two portions) for high school.
• Caffeine-free, with the exception of trace amounts of naturally occurring caffeine substances.

These restrictions would apply anywhere on the school campus including vending machines and the "a la carte" lines. Remember when you could still get a burger and fries at school? That's over, because all items sold will have to meet the National School Lunch standards for fat, sodium, and sugar.

Tier 2 foods don't have to be quite so healthy - no mention of fruits or veggies - but you won't likely find a Twinkie here either. Diet soda pop clears the 5-calorie hurdle, but only if it lacks caffeine:

Tier 2 snack foods are those that do not exceed 200 calories per portion as packaged and:

• No more than 35 percent of total calories from fat
• Less than 10 percent of total calories from saturated fats
• Zero Trans fat (≤ 0.5 g per portion)
• 35 percent or less of calories from total sugars
• Sodium content of 200 mg or less per portion as packaged.

Tier 2 beverages are:

• Non-caffeinated, non-fortified beverages with less than 5 calories per portion as packaged (with or without nonnutritive sweeteners, carbonation, or flavoring).

Despite the fact that these items are recommendations to Congress (not even close to actual standards for schools), the food and beverage lobby is already coming out swinging:

The Center for Consumer Freedom worried that the report could lead to a government "no child with a fat behind" program.

The growing rate of obesity is caused by lack of physical activity rather than overeating, according to the group, which describes itself as representing restaurants, food companies and individuals.

Folks, we could only hope for an America that has "no child with a fat behind."

For all the gritty details of the Institute's recommendations, check out their fact sheet. For more on efforts to improve nutrition in schools, check out former President Clinton's success with a voluntary restriction on soda pop in school vending machines.

Chocolate: What's in a name?

From the "what does the FDA do again?" category comes news of the FDA considering changing the definition of chocolate. Unbeknownst to me - but perhaps knownst to you - chocolate is defined by a combination of very specific ingredients. Many pseudo chocolates ("chocolate" bunnies at Easter, apparently) don't make the grade.

The FDA is entertaining a "citizen's petition" to allow these not-quite-chocolates to be labeled as "chocolate," instead of "chocolatey" or "chocolate-flavored." On the other side, some purists are telling the FDA to get its "Hands off my chocolate!" Here's a few excerpts from the opponent's LA Times opinion piece, starting with the definition of real chocolate:

It's all basically made the same way: cacao pods are fermented and then roasted and ground into a fine paste that can be separated into two components: cacao solids (commonly called cocoa powder) and cocoa butter. Each chocolatier uses different proportions but generally blends sugar, cocoa solids and cocoa butter plus the optional ingredients — emulsifiers, flavors (typically vanilla) and milk solids (to make milk chocolate) — and molds that into a chocolate bar.

So what will change?

The FDA is entertaining a "citizen's petition" to allow manufacturers to substitute vegetable fats and oils for cocoa butter [most likely because vegetable oil costs one-third the cocoa butter price]...

...It may be cocoa powder that gives chocolate its taste, but it is the cocoa butter that gives it that inimitable texture. It is one of the rare, naturally occurring vegetable fats that is solid at room temperature and melts as it hits body temperature — that is to say, it melts in your mouth. Cocoa butter also protects the antioxidant properties of the cocoa solids and gives well-made chocolate its excellent shelf life. (emphasis mine)

The Chocolate Defender sums up the reason for preserving the pure definition:

I'd say we've already demonstrated our preference for true chocolate. That's why real chocolate outsells fake chocolate. Nine of the 10 bestselling U.S. chocolate candies are made with the real stuff. M&Ms, Hershey Bars, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups — all real chocolate. Butterfinger is the outlier. (emphasis mine)

Here's my question. Did people knowingly select these items because they are made with real chocolate, or did they simply prefer the taste/texture experience? In other words, who shops for chocolate by looking for real "chocolate"?

You can get full coverage of the unwrapping* chocolate saga via the Candy Blog.

*Sorry, I love puns.

Dangerous distraction: 5 Minute Voyager

The danger in reading nerd-related news is that they provide links to nerdy websites. Such is 5-Minute Voyager, a website where a couple guys write 5-minute dialogue for movies, video games, TV shows, and other pop culture schlock.

It shouldn't be, but it's definitely worth 5 minutes. I highly recommend the Fellowship of the Ring summary, as well as reading the Doom videogame dialogue (after skimming at least one other videogame post).

Note: This is unrelated to, but similar to, the Very Secret Diaries of the fellowship of the ring. Highly recommended.

Update on Colony Collapse Disorder

The New York Times has an update on the scientific pursuit of an explanation for Colony Collapse Disorder. There's no mention of the recent experiment in the UK linking cell phones to bee disappearances, but the story includes a graphic of the affected states as well as discussion of the possible causes.

Scientists seem to be dismissing genetically modified crops as a potential cause, but are concerned about the types of food given to bees, such as corn syrup, that may come from genetically modified corn. Other potential causes include some sort of bee pathogen (such as a virus or bacteria) or pesticides in the neonicotinoids family. The French government banned a pesticide, called imidacloprid, after scientists linked it with the so-called "mad bee disease" that struck France in the 1990s:

The chemical, while not killing the bees outright, was causing them to be disoriented and stay away from their hives, leading them to die of exposure to the cold, French researchers later found. The beekeepers labeled the syndrome “mad bee disease.”

The French government banned the pesticide in 1999 for use on sunflowers, and later for corn...

...Among the pesticides being tested in the American bee investigation, the neonicotinoids group “is the number-one suspect,” Dr. Mullin said. He hoped results of the toxicology screening will be ready within a month.

For more information on the progress in diagnosing CCD, check out the CCD Working Group and their preliminary report on the disease from January.

Oil companies: Can they (and should they) go green?

With many fossil fuel corporations touting their green side, it's noteworthy that Exxon Mobil, the world's largest oil company has little to say on alternative energy. In fact, they are better known for funding global warming deniers than warming up to biofuels or wind turbines.

A CNN Money article notes that this may make a lot of financial sense, especially for a company known for outstripping all its competitors on return on the dollar. Exxon specializes in oil and they're the best in the game.

It may be good from another perspective, as well. I just borrowed Who Killed The Electric Car from my dad and he mentioned that some of the most promising battery technologies developed 20 years ago were bought up by oil companies and essentially buried (I haven't watched the film yet).

Are we better off when fossil fuel companies change their paradigm to invest in alternative energy, or is it wiser to keep their carbon mitts off of any promising technological fixes for a society addicted to oil?

Fitness: someone needs to sync the American brain

From my fellow commentator at 28th Avenue, this short but sweet analysis:

We’re idiots

From a Treehugger post:

Articles in Auto sections of newspapers are usually rah-rah reviews of the latest pickup, spacers between the ads. Not the earth day edition of the Toronto Star, which had article after article saying things like “I watch people drive their children to every sport imaginable to make sure they’re getting enough exercise. We’re idiots.”

Heh.

Why a roundabout could save you gas

My favorite green engineer is at it again, this time evaluating the energy efficiency of driving. Today, part II in the series examines the energy of accelerating and also discusses the benefits of roundabouts versus stop signs.

What's a roundabout? Get your answer in the image below:

Car dent repair without the body shop

Without any special knowledge of cars and car repair, I figured minor dent removal on my car was going to wait until I found "a friend" who worked at a body shop. That was before I saw this website and learned that you can remove car dents with a hair dryer and a can of compressed air. Check out the video!

When moralists forget economics

Energy Roundup's been doing a lot on companies "going green," and today they quoted a guy from the Ayn Rand Institute who took issue with companies becoming more environmentally sustainable:

In a debate on CNBC today, however, Peter Schwartz of the Ayn Rand Institute suggested Corporate America was only hurting itself, saying it was bending to the demands of environmentalists. “Businesses should be ashamed of themselves for doing it,” he said. “They shouldn’t appease enviromentalists any more than we should appease Islamists by making women wear veils.” (emphasis original)

I criticized Yahoo yesterday for its green plan, but that's because it was planning to spend money on carbon offsets. As noted in the Energy Roundup, Coca-Cola plans to reduce carbon emissions by becoming more energy efficient. For the amateur economists out there, that means they will save money. As I recall from my read of Atlas Shrugged, making money was pretty much the only thing a person should concern themselves with.

If Coca-Cola should be ashamed of improving energy efficiency, call me a socialist.

Is it "low cal" or does low saturated fat really get you going?

Ever wonder what nutritional information most appeals to American consumers? From a report to the United Soybean Board on vegetable oil markets, this chart illuminates the pervasiveness of Nutritionism, the American fascination with breaking down food into "goods" and "bads" at the nutrient level.

A 50 trillion debt? In dollars?

David Walker may have the un-sexy title of Comptroller General of the United States and head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), but he knows budgets. I heard him speak on the fiscal fortunes of America this week and his 10-minute speech showed the power of high-content, compelling arguments. Walker argued that there are 4 deficits that government must address: budget, balance of trade, savings, and leadership (I'll discuss two).

Budget
The United States may have deficits of $400 billion and a debt of eight trillion, but right now it has unfunded liabilities of $50,000,000,000,000 - 50 trillion dollars. That's $440,000 for every household in the United States (and unlike your mortgage, there's no house to back it up).

What are unfunded liabilities? Money promised to Americans through Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security (entitlement programs) that the government has insufficient resources to pay for. That's $32 trillion in Medicare (parts A-C), $6.4 trillion in Social Security, and $8 trillion to the new Medicare prescription drug benefit.

Savings
For two years running, Americans have spent more money than they earned. The last time this happened was in 1933-34. As Walker noted, these were not good years for the U.S. economy.

Why is this a problem?

• It's a lack of stewardship. The baby boom generation is at risk of being the first generation to leave their children in worse shape than their predecessors.
• It's unsustainable. You simply cannot spend more than you earn every year. Eventually you run out of money.
  
• Increasing amounts of U.S. debt are held by foreign countries. If you don't understand how that could be a problem, see this excerpt from Wikipedia on the Suez Canal Crisis:

Part of the pressure that the United States used against Britain was financial, as President Eisenhower threatened to sell the United States reserves of the British pound and thereby precipitate a collapse of the British currency.

What can be done?

1. Reform the base Social Security program, preserving its use as basic social insurance (and probably raising the retirement age)
2. Add supplemental savings accounts on top, with an additional 2% payroll tax.
   
3. Adjust Medicare premiums so that recipients, particularly wealthier ones, have to put in more than the current 25% of expenses covered by premiums.
   

If you want to hear more on this topic, Walker will be appearing on the Colbert Report on Wednesday, April 25th.

Update 4/26: Here is the Colbert Report video

Social investing makes immorality cheaper

If you invest in socially responsible companies and shun those who are not (such as tobacco manufacturers and sellers, big oil), you're losing out on great deals, says a new paper out of academia. This paper comes out at a time when "green" companies also seem to be enjoying a premium.

Let's follow this train of thought:

1. Investor desires to support socially responsible companies and shun ones they consider to be irresponsible.
2. They put their money into socially responsible companies, not because they maximize financial returns, but because they also have a non-monetary interest in social good.
3. Companies that are socially responsible are now valued higher, because of the social premium. Socially irresponsible companies have a lower price compared to their spreadsheet value.
4. Academics suggest that people should invest in socially irresponsible companies because now they are fiscally a great deal.

Mr. Academic, I think your boat just went by...

Carbon neutral - indulgences for the American "environmentalist"

From several sources, Yahoo! has announced that it's "going carbon neutral." A lot of companies are hopping on the green bandwagon lately, and this is the latest large company to say that it will offset its carbon emissions. That word - offset - is a crucial one.

Offsets are a lot like Catholics in the Middle Ages buying indulgences to sin. When Yahoo! "offsets" its carbon emissions, it will not have to improve server energy efficiency, switch to energy efficient lighting, or even put out a single ounce less of carbon. Instead, they'll go to a place like Carbonfund.org, which will sell them offsets for $5.50 per ton of carbon (a tenth of what studies show is the real cost of solving climate change). Carbonfund will then invest that money in alternative energy projects (like wind), energy efficiency projects, and reforestation. In theory, the money will work to reduce carbon emissions (or increase carbon sinks) somewhere in the world where it can be done cheapest. It's outsourcing for Kyoto and it has several drawbacks.

To be truly carbon neutral, Yahoo! would have to get all of its electricity from a carbon neutral source (such as wind power), would have to buy servers that were constructed in a carbon neutral fashion, and ensure that its employees came to work in a carbon neutral way.

Yahoo's "carbon neutral" commitment is sadly in harmony with attitudes of the American public about global warming. A new poll reveals that 60% now believe that global warming is a problem requiring action. But when it comes to making a personal commitment to solving it?

Most people are wary of any government effort to protect the environment by imposing restrictions on how they live, work or get around. A majority of those surveyed in the poll, conducted March 23-25, said they wouldn't want a surcharge added to their utility bill if their homes exceeded certain energy-use levels. And most Americans would oppose any laws requiring cars sold in the USA to dramatically improve their gas mileage or restrictions on development to try to limit suburban sprawl.

Because the carbon problem is so vast, it's silly to try to target policies to individual aspects of society such as utility bills or gas mileage, or providing "carbon offsets." Instead, the United States could implement a universal carbon tax. It would send a clear market-based price signal to all Americans that your lifestyle has costs and you will actually have to pay them. And a carbon tax cuts out the middleman. Do we really need a Carbonfund to manage climate change if we're all paying a fair price?

While effective carbon mitigation really requires national policy, if you want to start offsetting your carbon use (personally), get some tips here.

Global warming can stop hurricanes?

In the spirit of respecting the science around global warming, here's a forthcoming scientific study that suggests that global warming may actually reduce hurricane activity in the Atlantic. The study reports that due to a predicted increase in wind shear, hurricane activity in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific may actually decrease as temperatures rise. However, the study noted that global warming may decrease wind shear in the Western Pacfic (in addition to warming the ocean), creating a hotspot for greater tropical cyclones there.

Oh that science, always so nuanced...

Where's Waldo and What Illness Hath Stricken Him?

Now you can find out via the Google Maps mashup WhoIsSick. Allowing people to anonymously report illness and symptoms, this real-time report provides an interesting lesson in what kind of information people are willing to share anonymously (bloody stool in one respondent's note).

On a more serious note, I'm curious if this website might be good for disease tracking, such as when the CDC needs to identify trends in illnesses or public health folks look for the start of the flu season.

Without big money, your roof won't be going solar soon

Clean Break has a well-written but downhearted look at the cost picture for residential renewable energy. The problem? Government incentives don't come close to covering the initial expense - even in Canada - and the high demand for renewables has pushed up prices as suppliers fail to keep pace.

How bad is the cost outlook? Here's Tyler's look at installing solar on his roof compared to re-roofing with regular shingles:

The retail cost of each [solar power] shingle, however, is $198. So a 3 kilowatt system would cost about $35,000, while the 2 kilowatt system would be $23,000. Now, let's keep in mind that this excludes installation costs and the cost of power electronics that would be required to be grid-connected. Given I could re-roof my home with regular shingles for about $6,000 to $8,000, going with BIPV is still cost prohibitive -- even with the standard offer incentive.

He also looked into a geothermal heat exchanger, an underground piping system that takes advantage of ground temperatures being close to 50 degrees F year-round.

Okay, so what about a geo-exchange system? Certainly much more affordable, but costs can range anywhere from $25,000 to $40,000 depending on the installer. Plus, there's a huge wait time for getting someone to drill in your yard -- particularly if you live in an urban area.

I've looked into some of these ideas for renewable energy for my house and have found similar problems. High upfront costs and long payback periods (10 years or more). Maybe I'll just turn the thermostat down a couple degrees instead...

Poetic Teacher Ass-Kicking, Metaphorically Speaking

So you're a teacher. Hmm, and what do you make?

Are energy monitors the key to conservation?

From sph, a story on a proposal in the United Kingdom to distribute energy monitors to most households. These monitors would display current energy use, apparently broken down by individual appliance (though the story doesn't explain the mechanics of that). Monitors are not the same as smart meters, which I discussed previously.


Energy consumption is very nebulous thing to most people and getting hard data like this is essential to helping people understand what activities use the most energy. It's the first step in helping people connect that 3 TVs and 2 computers running all night actually uses a lot of electricity.

However, the one way to improve the meter would be to have it display price information. I'd love to see the meter say, "Your energy use is costing $XX per hour." Of course, since a typical American residential electric rate is around 11 cents/kWh, and Americans use an average of 1.2 kW per hour, it might not phase folks much to see that they're spending 13.2 cents an hour on electricity.

While the impact might be small, another hope for increasing consumer knowledge of electricity use is to create demand shifting. Electric use in most places peaks in late afternoon in summer, when air conditioners are cranked up as people arrive home from work. One of the big keys to reducing emissions from power generation is time-shifting demand so that power consumption is more level. A large proportion of electric generation (as much as 25%) is invested in so-called "peaking plants" that are only turned on a couple times a year during peak demand. If power consumption was more level, these plants would a) not be used and b) may not be built at all.

It's a lot to ask from an energy monitor, but it's a good first step.

President Bush opens his mouth about Iraq spending

I wanted to write on the inanity of President Bush's comments against the war funding bill headed for his desk, but I couldn't get it together yesterday. Fortunately, the folks at DailyKos did. Here's a teaser, before you head to DailyKos for the punchline:

Yes, George Bush hates the thought of the troops being caught in the middle of the showdown between the White House and Congress over the supplemental spending bill for Iraq...

Nature cares little for your rights

As overfishing is bringing more and more fishing areas to collapse, a few foresighted countries have acted to preserve their fish populations and their way of life. Several island nations in the Pacific, particularly Palau, have set aside up to 30 percent of coastal waters as no-fishing zones to help sustain fish populations. So far, the efforts have shown great success, with fish populations rebounding so much that fishing has improved in adjacent fishing-allowed areas.

The United States hasn't caught on to the Micronesian leadership, and sets aside less than 1% of near-coast waters. In fact, activity in the Hawaiian legislature suggests that fishing advocates don't really understand the implications of overfishing:

In Hawaii, where the reefs are largely depleted of fish, a “right to fish” bill recently approved by the state house of representatives would make it almost impossible to create any protected areas by requiring unattainable scientific data. (emphasis mine)

Unfortunately for the fishermen, a collapsing fish population doesn't have to respect your "right" to fish.

For more on oversfishing, check out this Scientific American piece discussing how worldwide fish catches peaked in 1994 and have declined every year since.

Muslim cab drivers II

The Metropolitan Airports Commission moved one step closer to punishing cab drivers who refuse service to passengers this morning as their committee recommended the change to the full Commission. The full MAC will hear the proposal this afternoon.

The story on the committee vote had a bit more context on the issue as it's being discussed in the Commission. For one, it details the proposed punishment for the cabbies:

The proposed change would suspend for 30 days licenses of drivers who refuse to carry alcohol. A second offense would result in license revocation for two years...

MAC's perspective was offered by the lead hearing officer:

"But personally I think it is reasonable to ask them to accept alcohol if they want to drive at MSP [airport]," [hearing officer Molly Sigel] said. "If we're going to err, I think we should err on the side of customers. I think this is a practical, reasonable solution."

And the cab drivers weighed in as well, along with their lawyer. The cab driver's comment on the very few folks refused service is interesting, though I'm sure the court cares little whether it's 27 or 2700, since it seems to be more of a civil rights issue.

Abdinoor Ahmed Dolal, a taxi driver at the meeting, noted MAC statistics showing 27 alcohol-related refusals out of 120,000 passengers for two months starting in mid-November, one of the airport's busiest times. "This is a religious issue, not a customer service issue," he said.

Jeffrey Hassan, a lawyer for the Muslim drivers, told hearing officers about a 1990 Minnesota Supreme Court ruling that allowed Amish people to forego displaying bright orange triangles on their buggies for religious reasons.

I thought the latter's comparison to the Amish and buggies a very interesting precedent. And as an amateur legal pundit, I'd say that it all depends on whether the courts will consider this an issue of religious freedom or civil rights.

Congress: fiscal responsibility returns with the Democrats

With Democrats in control of both chambers of Congress, their Budget Committee chairman have both reinstated PAYGO rules, requiring any spending increases or tax cuts to be offset with increased revenue. The rules were originally enacted in the early 1990s but allowed to lapse by the Republican Congress in 2001.

There's a lot that can be said about the benefits of pay-as-you-go, but few words could be as valuable as this image:

Muslim cab drivers: Serve or be served

The Minneapolis Star Tribune writes that the Metropolitan Airports Commission will vote today on penalties for cab drivers who refuse service to any passenger, for any reason. The is the latest development in the dispute between Muslim cab drivers and the airports commission after Muslim cabbies had refused service to people with guide dogs or who had alcohol in their carry-ons (both dogs and alcohol are verboten to strict-practicing Muslims).

Previously, the airports commission had ruled that cab drivers refusing service would have to go to the beginning of the cab queue (a three-hour wait).

Conservative columnist Katherine Kersten also wrote on the issue of accommodating religious beliefs of Muslims today in a "slippery slope" column. She discusses the Muslims Accommodations Task Force (link provided, but the server was down at the time of posting):

The task force's eventual objectives on American campuses include the following, according to the website: permanent Muslim prayer spaces, ritual washing facilities, separate food and housing for Muslim students, separate hours at athletic facilities for Muslim women, paid imams or religious counselors, and campus observance of Muslim holidays.

I think the organization's goals reflect two big ideas: 1) that Muslims would like to feel free to practice their religion in their daily life and 2) that this organization has a poor understanding of why Americans have fought against "separate but equal" for 60 years.

Accommodations are important means to respecting each other's beliefs. Separate facilities are a gateway to deliberate discrimination and misunderstanding. In the same fashion, the Airports Commission is right to draw the accommodations line at where other people's rights are trampled on.

Note: on that topic, Skemono has an interesting look at how civil unions have promised the equivalence of marriage for gays, but how in practice it's more like providing a "colored" restroom.

Colony Collapse Disorder update: Are we dialing the bees down?

The UK newspaper The Independent has a story about a "limited" study of the effect of mobile phones on bees. Scientists tried placing mobile handsets near beehives and found that bees will not return to a hive with a handset nearby. The study's results are anecdotal at this time, but the lead scientist says this is a tantalizing "hint" of what may be causing the colony collapse.

These results should be taken with a grain of salt, however. Since European countries are more compact, their mobile phone networks tend to be more pervasive than in the United States, which makes me wonder why - as the article states - CCD has not affected the UK yet. It would, however, explain why CCD has primarily affected the Eastern United States.

Update 5/2: This intriguing hypothesis is apparently complete bubkus. My apologies!

Creationism is to Science Education as ______ is to Sex Education

If you guessed "Abstinence," give yourself a point and pat yourself on the back; you now understand sex education better than Congress.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports today that abstinence programs had literally no effect on the number of sexual partners or the age of first sexual experience of teens in the programs versus those taking conventional sex education courses. This report is far from the first evidence; there are numerous studies showing the ineffectiveness of abstinence education. In fact, some abstinence programs not only fail to restrain sexual activity, but cause youth to be less likely to use contraception.

And yet, here's what the original newspaper story had to say about the funding for these ineffective programs:

Congress will consider renewing funding for abstinence education.

Hopefully that means Congress will consider more abstinence education funding like President Bush considers becoming pro-choice.

Hope and despair in eliminating racism

For those thinking that racism is dead, two tidbits I came across today highlight a) how long the road to equality and b) how far we've yet to travel.

Item A: Turner County High in Georgia will be hosting an integrated prom for the first time ever this year. Until now, whites and blacks at this 55% African American school have held segregated events. FYI, the Supreme Court decision eliminating racial segregation in schools, Brown v. Board of Education, was decided (unanimously) 53 years ago, in 1954.

Item B: All other things being equal, a white man would have to earn $220,000 more than a black man to be considered an equivalent romantic interest to the average African American woman. John Tierney explores the persistence of racial preference among women (of all races) in this blog post. The conclusion? If you are a man open to dating interacially, good luck. Men, as it turns out, do not have a statistically significant racial preference (bosom size was not discussed).

Running red lights - an off-duty police privilege?

From Slashdot, an interesting look at whether Dallas police officers should be able to run red lights even when not on emergency calls.

As with many other jurisdictions across the country, Dallas employs red light cameras to help reduce traffic accidents across the city. It's a decent idea, given than as many as 22 percent of all accidents are caused by drivers running red lights (see Howstuffworks article). Emergency vehicles are obviously exempt from both the cameras and from red light when on emergency calls, but what about when police officers are simply on patrol?

The Dallas Morning News reports that the Dallas Police Department will require officers to pay the $75 fee if they run red lights in non-emergency situations. Many of the officers have bridled at this policy change, arguing that citizens want them to be able to arrive at any site as rapidly as possible.

Should officers always be exempt from red lights when on duty? In marked or unmarked cars?

I've seen police officers in my city flick on the emergency lights to simply avoid long light cycles at a left turn signal. Perhaps I'm just bitter at being left behind at the light, but I feel like exemptions from traffic law are for on-the-job duties, not just a fringe benefit. Then again, maybe they were on a call. But then, why not keep the lights on? Thoughts?

Note: see some comments here - some thoughtful, others inane.

Maple Syrup: the new plastic?

From the nifty biotech desk: when is a surplus of maple syrup a boon to the plastics industry? When scientists discover that a special bacteria can turn maple syrup sugars into biodegradable polymers.

[National Research Council Canada] researchers found that the bacteria not only thrive when added to maple syrup, but also transform the sugars in the sap into a family of natural polymers that can be used to make plastic-like materials that are biodegradable – everything from "green" food packaging to drug-delivery films that dissolve harmlessly in the body.

In addition to taking advantage of declining demand for maple syrup, the development of plastic polymers from syrup and sap could be significantly less expensive (and environmentally intensive) than making polymers from other biomass or petroleum products.

In a research paper to be published later this year in the peer-reviewed journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering, they argue that producing biopolymers from maple sap and syrup is potentially much cheaper than existing methods that rely on U.S. corn, Brazilian sugarcane and European sugar beets.

The one potential hangup is that global warming could significantly alter the maple syrup industry, potentially reducing production in the New England area of the United States and pushing it further into Canada.

I'll do my bit, accepting the artificial syrup for my waffles. For the sake of science...

(Tip to Tyler's Clean Break blog for the original source)

Energy efficient appliances not the lowest energy users

When is energy efficiency not equivalent to energy savings? When Americans keep believing that "bigger is better." In the same way that a hybrid Lexus can't compare in fuel efficiency to a conventional Honda Civic, Heather Rae at the Cleantech blog notes that shopping for energy efficient appliances isn't the same as looking for energy sipping ones.

Armed with the latest Energy Star data on refrigerators, she shopped around to find the best deal on an energy efficient appliance. Her discovery?

I opened the doors of every refrigerator in every one of those stores and read the average annual kWh consumption printed on their yellow Energy Guide tags. I consoled myself that I could not even consider purchasing a high-end refrigerator -- basically anything with side-by-side doors and a through-the-door water/ice dispenser, because, comparatively speaking, they consume too much electricity. That was my rationale, anyway. As with most everything in fixing up this house, the refrigerator would be a compromise of desire, quality and price...

...On outings to appliance stores, I carried a list of EPA's Energy Star-rated refrigerators...

...If I were to buy a refrigerator on the low end of the price spectrum (a top freezer model) it would more than likely be more energy efficient than all of the high-end Energy Star-rated side-by-sides and some of the bottom freezer models -- even if it did not carry the Energy Star label.... (emphasis mine)

Wal-Mart finds that "low prices" and organic don't mix

On April Fools Day, environmental blog Gristmill had satirically reported that Wal-Mart was abandoning all of its green initiatives, fake quoting the CEO Lee Scott:

In the end, our customers value low prices more than sustainability, and at Wal-Mart, we listen to our customers.

This satirical story evidently had a kernel of truth. From the Energy Roundup today comes a report that Wal-Mart is backing off its earlier commitment to organic foods. In an interview with organic food suppliers, Business Week found that the Gristmill folks had inadvertently hit the nail on the head:

Chief Executive Lee Scott concedes that the company has struggled to persuade customers that Wal-Mart can mean high-quality, rather than simply low price...

..."The Whole Foods customer is walking in there to buy organic and is more concerned about how the fruit was farmed," says apple farmer Ricker, "but the Wal-Mart customer is used to shopping with a calculator..."

..."Is organic really compatible with the Wal-Mart approach? We're finding out that it's not," says Jim Riddle, organic outreach coordinator and guest lecturer at the University of Minnesota.

Consider the case of Organic Valley Family of Farms in La Farge, Wis., one of the country's largest cooperatives of organic farmers. When demand for organic milk soared two years ago, rival Horizon Organic Dairy offered to sell to Wal-Mart for 15% below Organic Valley's price. Wal-Mart expected a similar reduction from Organic Valley, but instead the cooperative pulled out. "Looking for ever-lower costs comes at a real cost to sustainability," says George Siemon, Organic Valley's chief executive.

In other words, there's a limit to "low prices, always." You can't live sustainably at any price.