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Tuesday, February 27, 2007
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Economy
Josh Marshall: "So almost a 500 point drop on the Dow. And triggered by a selloff in China?"
"2008 pres"
6:55:21 PM 
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Conservapedia
The Questionable Authority: "Conservapedia is symptomatic of the right wing's ever increasing reliance on what Stephen Colbert so famously called, 'truthiness.' It's the reliance on gut instinct over actual fact, combined with a willingness to mock and attack those who believe that we should make our way through the world based on facts and not beliefs."
"2008 pres"
6:35:49 PM
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Healthcare
Washington Post: "When is $4 million really $2.8 million?
"One answer is 'When you're a woman,' as the Labor Department has repeatedly found that women earn about 75 cents for every dollar that men earn for the same work.
"But this week's answer is 'When you are the Office of Women's Health' within the Food and Drug Administration. That office, which was at the center of a politically damaging storm over the emergency contraceptive 'Plan B,' just had more than one-quarter of this year's $4 million operating budget quietly removed, insiders say."
The Gavel for the link.
"2008 pres"
6:29:55 PM
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Immigration
Colorado Confidential: "It started with a questionable broadcast and has evolved into a fight over rhetoric.
"Coloradans For Immigrant Rights (CFIR), an advocacy group that was started by the American Friends Service Committee, is calling on community members to contact Denver's Channel 7 News and encourage the station to stop using the term 'illegal immigrant.'"
"2008 pres"
6:15:05 PM
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? for president?
Oliver Willis: "Looks like it's Barack's world, we only live in it."
Captain's Quarters: "Rudy Giuliani, out to an early and somewhat surprising lead in the Republican presidential primary race, has begun addressing conservative groups to make his case for the nomination."
"2008 pres"
6:10:30 PM
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Internet neutrality
Doc Searls: "Greenville Online: House backs free Web for all. That's the South Carolina house. Still, the idea is hardly what you'd call neutral: 'The idea is to leverage the state infrastructure and work with private Internet providers, Loftis said. A basic level of service would be free inside the state, but the providers would still charge fees for faster speeds.'"
"2008 pres"
6:04:46 PM
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War on terror
TPM Cafe: "A leading figure of the antiwar movement is warning that Congressional Dems are at risk of badly botching the public relations battle over Iraq and is urging Congressional Dems to move more aggressively to confront the Republicans in the political showdown over ending the war.
Captain's Quarters: "Democrats have delayed further consideration to restrict or cripple the Iraq war deployments, apparently stunned by the lack of cohesion among their own caucuses and fearful of the backlash their efforts might produce. Harry Reid has delayed the progress of a Joe Biden bill to revoke the 2002 AUMF, and Nancy Pelosi has started to distance herself from John Murtha"
"The antiwar leader, Tom Andrews, the head of Win Without War, made the comments in an interview with Election Central. His comments reflected what he said is a growing anxiety among antiwar leaders that Congressional Dems are so consumed with uniting their caucus that they're neglecting to articulate a forceful enough antiwar message and thus risk fumbling the current PR war."
Josh Marshall: "CNN headline: Democrats flail on Iraq while public stews."
Andrew Sullivan: "All that was needed was for the veep to be trapped by a snowstorm for one night for the enemy to act. It certainly helps justify the extraordinary secrecy the secret service deployed for the trips to Pakistan and Afghanistan; but it also helps justify mounting concern that we are losing traction in the war against the Talbian in the region."
Captain's Quarters: "The Taliban could not have done more to prove the US case to Pervez Musharraf. Cheney's presence during the attack will put even more pressure on the beleaguered Pakistani leader."
Josh Marshall: "I don't know if it all get lost in the flurry of news about the bombing in Afghanistan or the massacre in Iraq. But the White House's Iranian made weapons story seems to have collapsed. As Paul Kiel notes in this morning's Must Read, stories in today's Times and Journal detail a new raid on a makeshift weapons factory in southern Iraq. It turns out this makeshift factory in Iraq was making those super-IEDs that we were told could only be made in Iran. And the parts the Iraqis were using to make the bombs? Shipped from factories from around the Middle East, but not Iran.
"Oh well."
"2008 pres"
5:57:14 PM
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Iraq
Glenn Greenwald: "The reason our mission in Iraq has proven to be so disastrous and corrupt is very simple -- the advocates and architects of that war are completely corrupt, inept, and deceitful. Recognizing this fact and ceasing to accord people like this respect and credibility is infinitely more important than any specific debates over particular policy or strategic questions."
Thanks to Josh Marshall for the link.
"2008 pres"
6:33:09 AM
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? for president?
Andrew Sullivan: "It's waaaay early, but Zogby's new post-Geffen national poll gives Obama an edge over both McCain (44 percent for Obama/40 percent for McCain) and Giuliani (46/40), while Clinton loses to both by larger margins."
Political Wire: "A new national Zogby telephone poll finds Sen. Hillary Clinton leading the 2008 Democratic presidential race with 33% support, followed by Sen. Barack Obama at 25% and John Edwards at 12%. On the Republican side, Rudy Giuliani gets 29% support with Sen. John McCain at 20%."
"2008 pres"
6:28:44 AM
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OpenCongress.org
OpenCongress.org: "OpenCongress brings together official government data with news and blog coverage to give you the real story behind each bill." Thanks to beSpacific for the link.
"2008 pres"
6:26:49 AM
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Water shortage on the Colorado in 5 years?
Scientists are predicting water shortages earlier on the Colorado River, according to Arizona Central. From the article, "Scientists and public officials fear water from the Colorado River will run short more quickly than previously predicted because of booming population growth and drought. There's a 10 percent chance of shortages in four to five years, and a 25 percent chance the river will run short between 2020 and 2025, according to two prominent water officials in Arizona. 'I have no doubt that within the next five to 10 years, we will be in a shortage,' said David Modeer, Tucson Water's director and a member of the three-county board that manages the Central Arizona Project, which diverts water from the Colorado River to Arizona...
"Originally, scientists who conducted a 1995 federal study predicted states would lose no more than 3 percent of their river supplies even in the worst drought year. Instead, in the time since the study, Lake Powell and Lake Mead carried less water than had been predicted for the worst possible drought, users took more water than expected, and the river's flow was weaker than expected. Ben Harding, an engineer and one of the authors of the 1995 study, said the Colorado River's woes are a "system drought," caused by the huge scale of the Colorado's reservoir system that 25 million people rely on for water, and by population growth that has come to rely on it."
"colorado water"
6:11:32 AM
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HB 1036
HB 07-1036 [pdf]: Concerning Restrictions on the Ability of Governmental Bodies to Acquire Specified Water Rights through the Exercise of the Power of Eminent Domain is the subject of this article from the Telluride Watch. From the article, "With a little help from Western Slope Democrats, a northeastern Colorado Republican lawmaker is advancing his bill to prohibit government entities from using their power of eminent domain to condemn water rights. The House voted 33-30 Friday to give preliminary approval to House Bill 1036, sponsored by Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg of Sterling. He said the two missing members -- including Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction -- are expected to support the bill when a final House vote is taken this week...
"The measure is strongly opposed by the Denver Water Board and the Colorado Municipal League, whose lobbyists contend the power of municipalities to obtain water rights through condemnation is protected by the state constitution. 'A vote for this bill is a vote for violating the constitution,' said Rep. Randy Fisher, D-Fort Collins, who noted the bill also is opposed by the Colorado Water Congress. 'Eminent domain is seen as a safety net for unforeseen circumstances. This bill leaves (government entities) with no flexibility.' Sonnenberg countered that the constitution's reference to the use of eminent domain was related to the infrastructure needed to convey water, such as ditches and drainages. 'It doesn't say anything about the water right itself,' he said. 'When that was challenged by home rule cities, the court said you can't have water works without water rights so they can condemn for water rights. It was an expansion by the judiciary of what the constitutional says.' Sonnenberg then amended his bill to state specifically that 'water works shall not be construed to include appropriated water rights.'[...]
"Telluride's representative in the House, Republican Ray Rose of Montrose, also supported the bill. 'We're not talking about a gallon of water out of the Colorado River but very broad condemnation rights that could supersede such things as the (Colorado) River Compact,' Rose said. 'If we allow this to happen, it will be a free-for-all for water in Colorado.' Rep. Al White, R-Winter Park, said Colorado needed to be proactive to head off future water wars. 'I can envision a time in 20 years when the terms of fallowing and leasing contracts are over and a farmer says, 'I want my water back,' White said. 'That's when the municipality will come in with condemnation.' [State Representative Kathleen] Curry reacted strongly when Fisher claimed that 'powerful interests on the Eastern Slope are going to get that water one way or another.' 'If that is true and that is their attitude, that reinforces the need for this bill,' Curry said. 'Governments have other options. They don't have to take water rights in a hostile action.'"
"colorado water"
5:56:54 AM
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Energy policy: Oil shale development
![A picture named shelloilshaleprocess.jpg](http://radio.weblogs.com/0101170/images/science/shelloilshaleprocess.jpg")
Western Slope officials are trying to estimate the impact of large scale oil shale operations on the water supply, according to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. From the article, "If private companies are pulling commercial-grade petroleum from Colorado, they might have to do it using more water than the Western Slope population now uses, one interpretation of data suggests. The Colorado River Basin Roundtable is trying to get a handle on the amount of water that could be needed for development of oil shale deposits in Colorado, the richest of which lie between the Colorado and Green rivers in the northwest corner of the state. A federal official has said that production of oil shale could begin by 2015 and at the most ambitious of estimates, could be pumping out 2.5 million barrels of petroleum a day by 2035. Based on Rand Corp. estimates that 100,000 barrels of oil a year require 23,500 acre-feet of water, oil shale could demand 365,000 acre-feet of water a year. That poses the question of whether Colorado has enough water to develop its oil shale reserves, said John Redifer, chairman of the Colorado Water Conservation Board, who lamented the uncertainty of any figures surrounding water use by oil shale."
"colorado water"
5:43:21 AM
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Western primary?
Here's an opinion piece about the proposed western primary from the St. George Spectrum. From the article, "You don't get attention by whispering when you have the ability to shout. A fully-funded Utah presidential primary election would amplify Utah's voice at an estimated cost of $3.5 million. Though critics are leery about that expenditure, it would be money well spent and an investment that would help put the Beehive State's issues on the national agenda. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is advocating for Utah to join the Western States Presidential Primary with New Mexico, Arizona, California and potentially Montana, Colorado, Nevada and Idaho, scheduled for Feb. 5, 2008. Joining those Western States would make sense and give Utah some leverage in bringing candidates and their entourages to campaign here, which will make an impact on the local economy with hotel stays and restaurant patronage."
"2008 pres"
5:31:44 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/14/09; 9:05:37 PM.
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