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Tuesday, December 27, 2005
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Acetaminophen in the wastewater stream
Here's an article about pharmaceuticals in the wastewater stream from Science Blog. They write, "The scientists found that the drug [acetaminophen] readily reacts in chlorine disinfection to form at least 11 new products, at least two of which are known to be toxic. The results, according to lead author Mary Bedner, demonstrate that environmental scientists need to be concerned about downstream reaction products as well as the original waste materials."
Category: Colorado Water
8:08:27 PM 
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Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District
The Lower Arkansas River Conservancy District is making it's wishes known to Colorado Springs and others that would dry up farms along the river, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. From the article, "The first time the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District appeared on the radar screens of many Colorado Springs leaders was when it ruined their day last year. Formed in late 2002, the five-county organization has single-handedly stalled a bill to study Pueblo Reservoir's expansion for more than a year. It's forced Colorado Springs to consider the needs of an economically languishing area for the first time. Leaders from the district and Colorado Springs Utilities are confident an agreement can be signed in the next few months. A deal could allow Colorado's U.S. senators to advance a bill to clear the way for the Southern Delivery Project - deemed necessary for the Pikes Peak region to continue growing. But the path toward an agreement has been long, fashioned primarily by people who, three years ago, were barely known outside places such as Prowers and Crowley counties. It might be said that the Lower Arkansas is the little district that could...The Lower Arkansas, however, wants to sustain a way of life that has been fading for decades, district Chairman John Singletary said. It doesn't want money. It wants to keep farms working...Last month, the City Council took care of a big problem by creating a stormwater enterprise to manage runoff into Fountain Creek, which flows into the Arkansas River. Council members said the creation of the stormwater utility was the last thing they needed to do to win the trust of the Lower Arkansas board."
Category: Colorado Water
6:35:04 AM
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Southern Delivery System
Here's a short article about the proposed Southern Delivery System from the Colorado Springs Gazette. From the article, "The Southern Delivery System, the pipeline from Pueblo Reservoir to Colorado Springs that must be completed before the reservoir can be expanded, remains in limbo. Talks on it, however, are proceeding on the schedule established by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, bureau public information officer Kara Lamb said. The bureau, which operates the reservoir, has finished taking input on alternate plans for the pipeline and is crafting an environmental impact statement. The agency expects to release a draft EIS in late 2006 or early 2007, Lamb said. That document will contain the proposed location for the pipeline. Colorado Springs wants to take water out of the reservoir and increase its wastewater effluent in Fountain Creek. Some Pueblo officials think such a plan will flood the creek, causing further erosion."
Cateogory: Colorado Water
6:21:17 AM
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Intelligent Design?
Paul Campos looks at orthodoxy in his column in today's Rocky Mountain News [December 27, 2005, "Campos: Orthodoxy of a liberal sort"]. He writes, "Another interesting feature of orthodoxy is that it tends to cause a species of mental retardation in otherwise intelligent people. Consider some of the justifications put forward for the proposition that it's a great day for truth, justice and the American way when a federal court makes it illegal for teachers to mention the existence of a dissenting point of view to their students: Science has refuted theories such as intelligent design, because science is based on the postulate that theories such as intelligent design cannot be true. It says a great deal about the power of orthodox thought that many people of normal intelligence are apparently incapable of seeing what's wrong with this argument. To quote the philosopher Bertrand Russell - 'The method of 'postulating' what we want has many advantages. They are the same as the advantages of theft over honest toil;' Intelligent design is not a scientific theory, because it cannot be refuted. This claim is true only in the trivial sense that no scientific theory can be refuted from within the theory itself. Consider the theory of naturalism, which undergirds the argument in the previous paragraph. Naturalism assumes that all events have natural causes. Is there any evidence that could refute this theory in the eyes of someone who adheres to it? Obviously not, since any evidence such a person examines will always and already be interpreted within a framework that excludes the possibility of a supernatural cause; Metaphysical orthodoxies about the origins of life, the universe, and everything become something other than a form of religious belief when you use the word 'science' instead of the word 'God.' Even more preposterously, it's asserted that requiring one particular form of metaphysical orthodoxy to be presented in public schools as The Truth allows the government to maintain 'neutrality' toward religion."
Political Wire: "Mark Blumenthal (a.k.a. Mystery Pollster) has a piece in Public Opinion Quarterly on 'the lessons to be learned from the spirit of innovation and openness of the Internet in evaluating new survey methods such as automated polls and those conducted over the Internet.'"
The Moderate Voice: "Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has taken a stand on the domestic spying controversy that is bound to upset both sides in this highly polarized nation: he says that while President Bush could have gone for warrants there was nothing wrong in doing warrantless surveillance in the kinds of instances that have sparked a political firestorm."
Bull Moose: "The budget bill explains why the Moose is not a Republican. The Moose left the GOP because it is committed to comfort the comfortable and afflict the afflicted. That reality is reflected in the recently passed budget bill. In order to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, pork barrel spending and the resultant deficit, the GOP eager beavers in Congress slashed programs for low income Americans."
Category: 2008 Presidential Election
6:07:42 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/14/09; 7:55:27 PM.
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