Fresh Start Conservatism - New York Times

David Brooks is continuing to talk sense about what ails our economy/country and proposes steps to fix the decline in educational readiness in the U.S. I'm afraid our culture has become anti-learning, particularly for some minorities and many teenagers without goals. It's unfair to wholly blame the education establishment, and Brooks doesn't do that. But some people do.

Please read his views at the link below. Don't you agree with him. Please don't tell me it's 'W's fault' or blame it on NCLB. The roots are far deeper that that.

Fresh Start Conservatism - New York Times

Top Hezbollah Commander Killed in Syria Bombing - New York Times

Some good news from Syria...for a change!

Top Hezbollah Commander Killed in Syria Bombing - New York Times

The terrorist bastards are not happy, according to this AP story.

Hezbollah Chief Threatens Israel
By SAM F. GHATTAS (2/14/2008)

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — The chief of Hezbollah threatened Thursday to retaliate against Israeli targets after accusing the Jewish state of killing the militant Imad Mughniyeh in Syria.
Hassan Nasrallah addressed supporters of the Lebanese Islamic militant group in a videotaped eulogy broadcast on a giant screen at the Beirut funeral for Mughniyeh, who was accused of masterminding dramatic attacks that killed hundreds of Americans in Lebanon in the 1980s.

"You have killed Hajj Imad outside the natural battlefield,"
Nasrallah said in remarks directed at Israel. Hezbollah has long contended it only fights Israel within Lebanon and along their common border.

"You have crossed the borders," Nasrallah said. "With this murder, its timing, location and method — Zionists, if you want this kind of open war, let the whole world listen: Let this war be open."

Senate Votes to Expand Spy Powers - New York Times

Common sense reigns, for a change, in the Senate, no thanks to our two Vermont senators. Now the House should promptly agree with the major provisions of the Senate bill. Since this bill gives the President the power and discretion for surveillance, Senator Obama and Senator Clinton who did not vote on it, but said they would have opposed it, could choose not to implement it, should one of them be elected. Their pandering to the liberal left is obvious.

Granting immunity against the lawsuits brought against the telecom companies is absolutely the right thing to do in the wake of 9/11.

"The bill, which had the strong backing of the White House, allows the government to eavesdrop on large bundles of foreign-based communications on its own authority so long as Americans are not the targets. A secret intelligence court, which traditionally has issued individual warrants before wiretapping began, would review the procedures set up by the executive branch only after the fact to determine whether there were abuses involving Americans.

“This is a dramatic restructuring” of surveillance law, said Michael Sussmann, a former Justice Department intelligence lawyer who represents several telecommunication companies. “And the thing that’s so dramatic about this is that you’ve removed the court review. There may be some checks after the fact, but the administration is picking the targets.”

The Senate plan also adds one provision considered critical by the White House: shielding phone companies from any legal liability for their roles in the eavesdropping program approved by Mr. Bush after the Sept. 11 attacks. The program allowed the National Security Agency to eavesdrop without warrants on the international communications of Americans suspected of having ties to Al Qaeda.

AT&T and other major phone companies are facing some 40 lawsuits from customers who claim their actions were illegal. The Bush administration maintains that if the suits are allowed to continue in court, they could bankrupt the companies and discourage them from cooperating in future intelligence operations."

Senate Votes to Expand Spy Powers - New York Times

Gates Says NATO at Stake In Afghan Mission Debate - WSJ.com

Gates Says NATO at Stake In Afghan Mission Debate - WSJ.com

The U.S. cannot be 'alone' in fighting terrorism in Afghanistan and elsewhere. NATO had best step up to its obligations to do its part. I wonder if Senators Clinton and Obama have a plan to provide for our common defense?

MUNICH, Germany -- Survival of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization alliance, a cornerstone of U.S. security policy for six decades, is at stake in the debate over how the U.S. and Europe should share the burden of fighting Islamic extremism in Afghanistan, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates
said Sunday.

"We must not -- we cannot -- become a two-tiered alliance of
those willing to fight and those who are not," Mr. Gates told the Munich Conference on Security Policy, where Afghanistan was a central topic. "Such a development, with all its implications for collective security, would effectively destroy the alliance."

Washington has had innumerable disputes with its NATO allies in the 59 years since the alliance was founded as a bulwark against the former
Soviet Union. But today's debate over the importance of the mission in Afghanistan and how to accomplish it was portrayed by Mr. Gates as among the most difficult ever.

A central theme of Mr. Gates's speech was his assertion that al Qaeda extremists, either in Afghanistan or elsewhere, pose a greater threat to Europe than many Europeans realize.

After delivering his prepared remarks Mr. Gates fielded questions from his audience, which included dozens of top government officials, mainly from Europe and the U.S., as well as military officers, private security specialists, members of Congress and European parliamentarians.

Planning for Vermont's Burke Mountain Resort Project

"Quality of life" is an attractive draw to Vermont for people who don't have it or can afford more. People want to enjoy Vermont. For decades we have talked about the need for economic development in the Northeast Kingdom. Now that a big development comes along, apparently with the financial resources to do it 'right,' we have a terrible time deciding what 'right' means.

Or could it be we have some built-in resentment against those folks who can afford to live this more affluent lifestyle? Some in the area, particularly landowners, see an opportunity to make a buck, given the rise in land prices. Others apparently feel overwhelmed.

What would the taxes be for a development of this scale and how would the sleepy towns use the windfall? Could it be that some of the buyers of the resort property might consider establishing other business here? Perhaps this is an economic development opportunity that would reach beyond the limits of the resort itself.

We seem to have several models to judge the impact: Stowe; Rutland region; Stratton area; Sugarbush and environs. I think Vermont would be very hard-pressed economically without its resort destinations. Why not Burke, too?

Studies deem biofuels a greenhouse threat | CNET News.com

We seem to have something less than consensus as to whether biofuels are good for the planet. I have always maintained that ethanol from corn (kernels) was and is a boondoggle that has very serious and negative side effects that may not be counter balanced by the reduction in the growth of petroleum usage. It's putting big bucks in farmers' pockets right now, but we're paying for it in food prices.

Here's the NY Times take on the studies.

Negative baggage of corn-based ethanol includes: higher food prices; higher land prices; higher prices for non-corn agricultural products as land is taken for growing corn; collapse in the price of ethanol because production increases are not matched by demand and distribution capacity.

""When you take this into account, most of the biofuel that people are using or planning to use would probably increase greenhouse gasses substantially," said Timothy Searchinger, lead author of one of the studies and a researcher in environment and economics at Princeton University. "Previously there's been an accounting error: land use change has been left out of prior analysis."

These plant-based fuels were originally billed as better than fossil fuels because the carbon released when they were burned was balanced by the carbon absorbed when the plants grew. But even that equation proved overly simplistic because the process of turning plants into fuels causes its own emissions--for refining and transport, for example."

Studies deem biofuels a greenhouse threat | CNET News.com

Global-Warming Jujitsu - TierneyLab - Science - New York Times Blog

John Tierney continues to expand beyond most of the palaver in the NY Times that passes for informed opinion (certainly not settled strategies) about what to do about global warming. Fight it with untold $Billions (Kyoto protocol style, a failure so far) with little prospect of success or take rational action to ameliorate the effects in those parts of the world that will be disadvantaged by climate change...if it occurs as some think. Much of the world will see an advantage from global warming, but that's seldom what we hear in the MSM.

I am in the camp that says we are far better off spending money rationally to ameliorate bad effects rather than wreak havoc on productive economies as some extremists advocate when those economies in the future will be better able to cope with adverse results with better technologies.

While I don't support a carbon tax as Tierney does, his article and the quotes from a Cato Institute study are well worth the read.

Global-Warming Jujitsu - TierneyLab - Science - New York Times Blog

How will Real ID affect you? | CNET News.com

My guess is that most people have paid little attention to this simmering controversy over the federal government's plan to require states to meet the Real ID requirements to be implemented on May 11, 2008. You should click on the link at the end of this post to understand the import on a state-by-state basis.

The personal solution to this controversy at this time is to obtain a passport if you don't already have one.

Here is one excerpt from the linked information:

What is Real ID?

Federal regulations creating a uniform national ID card--called Real ID--take effect on May 11 (2008). If your state hasn't agreed in principle to upgrade its driver's licenses to be Real ID-compliant, you could have trouble traveling by air and taking advantage of some government services.

A CNET News.com survey shows that just over half of the states have signed up, while some have flatly refused to participate, typically citing costs or sovereignty worries. Privacy is another concern, with a mandatory barcode on Real ID cards lacking encryption or legal prohibitions against misuse, and mandatory linking of states' motor vehicle databases.

 

Vermont has requested an extension until 12/31/2009 for implementation of the requirements. Below is a quote form the linked-to article:

Vermont

"Vermont requested and was granted an extension until December 31, 2009."
--John Zicconi, spokesman, Vermont Agency of Transportation

How will Real ID affect you? | CNET News.com

DSIRE: Incentives by State: Incentives in Vermont

This is a very comprehensive site with loads of information about energy efficiency programs and incentives for each state. Very nice reference. The link below is for Vermont.

DSIRE: Incentives by State: Incentives in Vermont

Kenya | More mayhem than mediation | Economist.com

Have we come to expect too much of Africa?  Given the frequent ethnic and tribal violence that grips country after country, endemic corruption, rampant AIDS/HIV, and the devastations of drought and floods,  is there any hope?

"But if there is no breakthrough, Kenya could tear apart even more drastically along ethnic lines, with Mr Kibaki's Kikuyu-dominated government controlling the wealthy centre of the country up to Nakuru, north-west of Nairobi, while Mr Odinga's Orange opposition holds sway over the west and much of the north. Most of the Kalenjin people in the Rift Valley are hostile to Kikuyu political domination.

For many Kenyans this is both an appalling and, until recent events, incredible prospect. The country's largest newspaper, the Daily Nation, which had slightly favoured Mr Kibaki during the election campaign, has lost patience with him. An editorial declared that the government's “inertia and ineptitude” were “exposing base instincts and driving the country back to pre-colonial times”. "

Kenya | More mayhem than mediation | Economist.com