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Monday, April 30, 2007
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Captain's Quarters: "The London Telegraph reports on a new tactical aggressiveness from American troops in Afghanistan which has the Taliban rocked back on its heels and unable to press forward with its expect spring offensive. The new tactics involve the heavy use of helicopter gunships and a merciless push to finish engagements."
"2008 pres"
6:42:23 AM 
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Captain's Quarters: "Just as the Democrats have raised the white flag on Iraq, the New York Times reports that the surge strategy has started paying off in Anbar. Shops have reopened, people have moved back, and everyone's challenging the insurgents except Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.
Oliver Willis: "[George Tenet] just doesn't come across well. He seems combative, argumentative, etc. In other words, another incompetent Bush administration official (and yes, I know he was there before Bush came in). As I noted - this guy was CIA director at the time of the worst intelligence failure in U.S. history. He didn't say a damn thing when we invaded Iraq, when he received the medal of honor and on and on until he's got a book to push in order to financially benefit himself.
"Just not credible."
Captain's Quarters: "Michael Scheuer, the CIA chief of the now-defunct Osama bin Laden unit, wrote a book recounting his frustrations spanning more than a decade of counterterrorism work for Langley. The author of such books as Imperial Hubris and Through Our Enemies' Eyes has spent the last few years detailing how senior intelligence officials have failed several administrations and the nation. Now he responds to George Tenet and his new memoirs, and warns Americans that Tenet has not told the truth.
ABC News: "Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., a Republican presidential candidate, said Wednesday that he is talking with Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., a Senate colleague who is also running for president, about the possibility of teaming up to offer bipartisan legislation that would pursue a 'three-state/one-country' solution for Iraq."
"2008 pres"
6:33:50 AM
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Political Wire: "'Iowa's living room has gotten a whole lot bigger,' the Des Moines Register observes. 'Top-tier presidential candidates, who are attracting large crowds even this early in the campaign, are having to work to find ways to meet party activists in Iowa in the traditionally intimate settings that have long defined the state's first-in-the-nation nominating caucuses.'"
Andrew Sullivan: "[John McCain] has clearly realized that becoming an older, smarter version of Bush is not going to win over any of the independents who once loved him. And so he is again saying what he believes.
Radio Iowa: "Republican Mike Huckabee was the only presidential candidate in Iowa this past weekend, meeting with influential Christian conservatives in his party on Friday night. Huckabee says the country is questioning the 'competence' of their government on a variety of fronts. 'When folks fill out their tax returns and they see how much the government is taking, they'd kind of like to know they're getting something for it. They want value,' Huckabee says. 'Whether it's in the roads they drive on or whether it's the manner in which the war is being fought or the way in which we take care of veterans, they want to know that the money is not being wasted, squandered or mismanaged.' According to Huckabee, Republicans won't get elected in 2008 unless they acknowledge government mistakes under the Bush Administration, like the response to Hurricane Katrina or the problems in the veterans health care system."
"2008 pres"
6:32:33 AM
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Here's a look at ethanol production as an alternative to petroleum fuels from the Greeley Tribune "reg". From the article, "These days some environmentalists are crying foul about a fuel that is polluting the air and ocean and driving up the price of food. No, it's not petroleum critics are complaining about. It's corn ethanol. Corn ethanol has been championed by politicians as a 'win, win, win' solution for America's energy demands. It has been heralded as a solution to national security because corn is a domestic product as opposed to the oil that the U.S. consumes, most of which is imported. Its use as a fuel boosts profits for America's farmers and rural communities. And compared with oil, corn ethanol emits about 13 to 20 percent less carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that most scientists believe is responsible for climate change. But corn ethanol has taken a beating recently.
"Ethanol refineries also are being criticized for environmental pollution. Many environmentalists have found the higher demand for corn by ethanol refineries has pushed farmers to use pesticides and fertilizer that run off into water sources, poisoning water sources and creating a 'dead zone' in the Gulf of Mexico. The refineries themselves are emitting excessive levels of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon emissions and volatile organic compounds which can cause cancer. Archer Daniels Midland, a leading ethanol producer, already has been cited for multiple violations of the Clean Air Act. The costs of corn ethanol production have taken the sweet crunch from America's newest energy source for many environmental and energy security advocates. Even some of its strongest supporters, like the Natural Resources Defense Council, are worried about the effects of corn ethanol production...
"High gasoline prices, a 51-cent per gallon subsidy and a demand from oil refineries that needed it to blend with gasoline in order to comply with pollution laws has made corn ethanol quite profitable. Last year, federal and state subsidies equaled nearly $6 billion, according to a study by Jerry Taylor and PeterVan Doren published in the Milken Institute Review. However, corn ethanol is the only politically and commercially viable biofuel available for at least the next three years. This is the optimistic timetable researchers at the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab have set for cellulosic fuel to be price-competitive. Others believe that it may take five years - or much, much longer, skeptics say -- for cellulosic ethanol or other alternative fuels to be commercially produced. So, despite the recent concerns raised by environmentalists, the corn ethanol industry continues to grow -- at least 73 more refineries are expected to come online this year, according to the Renewable Fuels Association-- but perhaps not in environmental sustainability."
"2008 pres"
5:59:08 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/15/09; 12:54:08 PM.
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