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Tuesday, February 19, 2008
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Henry Kissinger (via Der Spiegel): "The issue is: Are American forces withdrawn as part of a political settlement? Or are they withdrawn because America is exhausted by the war? In the latter case, the consequences of an American withdrawal would be catastrophic."
Thanks to Don Surber for the link.
"2008 pres"
6:17:39 PM 
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Congratulations to Josh Marshall and the crew at Talking Points Memo. They won the prestigious George Polk Award for journalism today. Coyote Gulch's Google index shows 527 links over the years. TPM has been a daily read since 2002.
The award was for their work on the Justice Department scandals of last year. Quoting The Moderate Voice, "More than anything or anyone else, we have TPM to thank for the fact that Alberto Gonzales is back in Texas lawyering-up."
"2008 pres"
5:59:54 PM
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The Moderate Voice: "Pakistan's private Geo TV network said the political party of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and another party led by former premier Nawaz Sharif had so far won 153 seats, more than half of the 272-seat National Assembly. While Pakistan's ruling party conceded defeat to the opposition Tuesday in parliamentary elections[sigma]that could threaten the rule of President Pervez Musharraf, a key American ally in the war on terror, reports the Associated Press."
Captain's Quarters: "Musharraf Wins By Losing, Islamists Just Lose Big: The Pakistanis have rejected both Pervez Musharraf and the Islamists in their national and provincial elections yesterday, preliminary results show. Supporters of slain national leader Benazir Bhutto and returned exile Nawaz Sharif will dominate the national and provincial assemblies, and Musharraf will have to deal with a hostile but moderate Parliament."
Juan Cole: "Pakistan held its elections on Monday, which are fateful for the future of the country and also probably for the Bush-Cheney foreign policy. Bush and Cheney put most of their eggs in the basket of a military dictator, Pervez Musharraf, who has been on a self-destructive downward spiral during the past year that makes Amy Winehouse look level-headed. By 2:20 am on Tuesday, out of 241 districts reporting, The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) was shaping up as the biggest bloc in the federal parliament, with 80 seats (33% of those in districts reporting) so far. The PPP had been led by slain politician Benazir Bhutto, but did not benefit from a sympathy vote to the extent that some observers had expected."
"2008 pres"
5:53:43 PM
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Political Wire: "The latest Gallup tracking poll shows Sen. Hillary Clinton has rebounded among Democrats nationally and now trails Sen. Barack Obama by just one point, 45% to 46%. Clinton was seven points behind just yesterday."
Political Wire: "A new SurveyUSA poll in Ohio shows Sen. Hillary Clinton leading Sen. Barack Obama, 52% to 43%...On the Republican side, Sen. John McCain leads Mike Huckabee, 61% to 29%."
Political Wire: "A new SurveyUSA poll in Texas finds Sen. Hillary Clinton edging Sen. Barack Obama, 50% to 45%, in the Democratic presidential race...In the GOP race, Sen. John McCain leads Mike Huckabee, 50% to 37%."
"2008 pres"
5:47:30 PM
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Here's an article about a newly developed scrubber for power plants invented by a Colorado Springs entrepreneur, from The Colorado Springs Gazette. From the article:
A new device designed to remove pollutants from coal-fired plant emissions exceeded expectations in tests conducted over the weekend at the Martin Drake Power Plant downtown. The invention by physicist and entrepreneur David Neumann of Colorado Springs could make coal plants burn cleaner as regulators are preparing to lower the boom on polluters. "Our first live test Saturday at the Drake Power Plant ... greatly exceeded expectations in terms of its ability to capture pollutants," Neumann said. "We showed that it could capture approximately 90 percent of the sulfur pollutants from the flue gas using only tap water as a capture fluid."
Neumann said it was assumed special additives would be needed, not just water. Drew Rankin, Colorado Springs Utilities general manager for energy supply, called the results "incredibly encouraging...This small-scale test does confirm in the field what the laboratory calculations and preliminary tests were," he said...
Rankin said tests will continue on a larger portion of the plant in coming weeks. The initial tests were conducted on the equivalent of one-tenth of 1 megawatt at a 46-megawatt Drake unit. The next test will involve 2 megawatts. The invention could revolutionize the power industry because standards for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate emissions will be toughened in coming years. Though control technology exists for nitrogen oxide and particulates, none exists for sulfur. In coming years, Utilities estimates spending $65 million to fit one unit at Drake with scrubbers. Annual operating costs are estimated at $5 million. Neumann's device is estimated to cost less than $20 million. Operational costs haven't been disclosed...
Capturing carbon will cost even more, industry officials believe. Not yet regulated, carbon -- thought to be a primary cause of climate change -- will be subject to limits, taxes and other measures designed to drive down coal plants' contribution to global warming, industry experts say. There's no proven technology for removing carbon, but Neumann said he thinks his device also will handle carbon. Neumann is an Air Force Academy graduate who holds a doctorate in physics, has worked for the defense industry as a contractor and is doing the emissions work under his company name, Envirolution Systems LLC.
"2008 pres"
6:53:22 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/15/09; 2:08:46 PM.
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