Monthly Archives: March 2007

Interior Assistant Secretary Manipulated Endangered Species Science — ENS

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WASHINGTON, DC, March 29, 2007 (ENS) – A report released today by the Inspector General of the Department of Interior, IG, found that Assistant Secretary of Fish, Wildlife and Parks Julie MacDonald, who has no biological training, rode roughshod over numerous decisions by agency scientists concerning protection of endangered species.

The report also found that MacDonald violated federal ethics rules by sending what the IG’s office called “nonpublic information” to industry lobbyists with groups such as the Pacific Legal Foundation. This self-proclaimed “national leader” in the effort to reform the Endangered Species Act has successfully mounted a number of legal challenges to critical habitat reviews on behalf of their clients such as the California Farm Bureau, the Washington Farm Bureau, and the Arizona Cattle Growers’ Association.

The report was conducted at the request of Congressman Nick Rahall, chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources. The Inspector General was asked to investigate based on an anonymous report that MacDonald had “bullied, insulted, and harassed the professional staff of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service to change documents and alter biological reporting regarding the Endangered Species program.”

“Through interviewing various sources, including FWS employees and senior officials, and reviewing pertinent documents and e-mails,” the IG wrote, “we confirmed that MacDonald has been heavily involved with editing, commenting on, and reshaping the Endangered Species Program’s scientific reports from the field.”

MacDonald admitted that her degree is in civil engineering and that she has no formal educational background in natural sciences, such as biology.

 … http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2007/2007-03-29-09.asp#anchor1

Hey, whatever.  The president has no background in leadership, and look where it got him.  Why should we expect his minions to be competent?  He has no understanding of the requirement for competence.

 

BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT SHUTTERS CARGILL SOY PLANT, PORT

BELEM, Brazil, March 29, 2007 (ENS) – Brazil’s Environmental Agency IBAMA has closed a large soy processing and shipping facility in the Amazon rainforest because it lacks an environmental impact assessment. Built by U.S. commodity giant Cargill, the facility has been controversial since Greenpeace discovered that large stretches of the Brazilian rainforest were being cleared to grow soy.

 

EUROPE TIGHTENS THE SCREWS ON VESSELS POLLUTING OCEAN WATERS

BRUSSELS, Belgium, March 29, 2007 (ENS) – Starting April 1, the 27 member states of the European Union will display their common determination to tackle unlawful discharges of polluting substances at sea as legislation adopted in 2005 is implemented. Illicit discharges are still occurring and preventing them is now more than ever a priority for Europe, the European Commission said today.

 

Poll: Global Warming as Big a Threat as Terrorism

Enviros Urge Strong Farm Bill to Restore Great Lakes

Environmental Defense Encourages Catch Share Fisheries

San Francisco First U.S. City to Ban Plastic Grocery Bags

Presidential Recordings

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Anyone following the current political situation in Washington can attest to the fact that much of American History is written inside the walls of the White House.  This fascinating project, courtesy of The Miller Center of Public Affairs, lets us listen in on the decades-old conversations of six former U.S. presidents.

The Presidential Recordings Program (PRP) allows visitors to literally
“hear history” in the form of approximately five thousand hours of secretly recorded conversations from the oval offices of Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy , Johnson, and Nixon.

  Highlights include recordings of President Kennedy discussing troop withdrawal from Vietnam, President Nixon assessing a young outspoken veteran named John Kerry, and several revealing conversations in which President Lyndon Johnson comments
on the war.
http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/academic/presidentialrecordings/

And you’d better enjoy these, because it will take an act of Congress (literally) before you’ll hear Little George’s tapes.  He’ll either seal them or have them erased like RMN.

Getting Serious About the "I" Word

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With each new revelation about what Gonzales did at the behest of the Bush White House to politicize prosecutions by U.S. Attorneys, the revulsion with the way this president has disregarded the Constitution and the rule of law becomes more intense. And citizens are not cutting their president much slack.

A new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll — conducted over the weekend — shows that, by close to a 3-to-1 margin, Americans want Congress to issue subpoenas to force White House officials to testify in the Gonzales case. Sixty-eight percent of those surveyed say the president should drop his claim of executive privilege in this matter, while only 26 percent agree with the reasoning Bush has used to try and block a meaningful inquiry.

If the president wants to get in a fight with Congress over how to read the Constitution, it appears that the people will back Congress. And that backing is what will begin to restore the backbones of House members who, despite Pelosi’s attempts to quiet talk of impeachment, are getting more and more intrigued by the prospect of holding this president to account.  …  http://tinyurl.com/2m3vhp

Goodbye Religion, Hello Spirituality | Out of Ur | Following God’s Call in a New World

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I would argue that traditional faiths are no longer the first resource that people go to in order to develop and nurture their spiritual lives, but instead function more as secondary archives with which new spiritual permutations are created. Those who do choose to explore their spiritual quests within traditional faith environments do so with very different eyes and intentions than previous generations of seekers have.

Source: Goodbye Religion, Hello Spirituality | Out of Ur | Following God’s Call in a New World | Conversations hosted by the editors of Leadership journal

Forcing religion from public square threatens foundation of democracy, cardinal says – Catholic Online

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LONDON (Catholic Online) – The drive to build a secular state where religion is forced from public discourse threatens democracy and the rights that underpin it, said a English Catholic cardinal.

In a March 28 address on the occasion of the Corbishley Lecture at Westminster Cathedral Hall here, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, archbishop of Westminster and president of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, said that Britain is risking becoming a secular state and that can lead to the fragmentation of society’s “moral structure.”

Speaking as “a Catholic Christian, as a bishop and a citizen of our great British democracy,” the cardinal asked, “what kind of a culture are we developing which wants increasingly to divorce religion from the public forum.”

Source: Forcing religion from public square threatens foundation of democracy, cardinal says – Catholic Online

Those French guys are so excitable.

Oh, well, we need to reduce the birth rate anyway…

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Eating Beef in Pregnancy Linked to Reduced Sperm in Adult Sons (CME/CE)
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Consumption of beef by women during pregnancy may alter a male’s in utero testicular development and compromise his future reproductive capacity, researchers here reported. The reason could be residual anabolic steroids in the meat.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/OBGYN/Pregnancy/dh/5345

From the New York Times

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Legislating Leadership on Iraq
Victory is no longer an option in Iraq, if it ever was. The
only rational objective left is to responsibly organize
America’s inevitable exit.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/opinion/29thu1.html?th&emc=th

Well, the attention of the Judicial branch gave us Little George and the Bushettes, how much worse can the Legislative branch do? 

 

U.S. Iraq Role Is Called Illegal by Saudi King
By HASSAN M. FATTAH
King Abdullah’s speech at a meeting of Arab leaders
underscored growing differences between Saudi Arabia and
the Bush administration.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/world/middleeast/29saudi.html?th&emc=th

That ungrateful wretch — and after we were so nice to Saudi Arabia and the bin Laden family after 9/11, too!

 

Democrats Are Building on Unity Over Iraq Pullout
By ROBIN TONER
Their aggressive challenge to the president is a striking
change for a party that is often on the defensive on
national security issues.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/washington/29assess.html?th&emc=th

Don’t worry, Baby, I’ll pull out.

 

With a Charity for Soldiers, Youths Make Recycling Pay
By ARIEL SABAR
Two teenagers in Boston have raised $1 million for phone
cards for American troops overseas by cashing in on used
cellphones.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/us/29phone.html?th&emc=th

Can’t think of a single snotty thing to say.

 

.. Having a Great Detox
By RUTH LA FERLA
There was a time when drug or alcohol rehabilitation was
sufficiently shaming to keep under wraps. No longer.
Indeed, in some circles it’s a badge of chic.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/fashion/29rehab.html?th&emc=th

The proof is in the pudding.  Let’s see if they stay clean and sober.  If they do…what the heck, they can afford it.  If they don’t…what the heck — guess they’ll just have to knuckle under and go to meetings like the rest of us.

In fairness, though, the disgusting media vultures have created this situation.  If they’d leave them alone, we wouldn’t have all the high-profile entries, exits and relapses.  Celebs might have a chance at AA, NA and the other programs.  As it is, what’s anonymous about Britney going to a meeting with fifteen paparazzi and a film crew?  Not only is it unfair to her, she’s being unfair to the others at the meeting just by being there.  It’s the media’s fault.  They used to have respect. 

Of course, in this society, what is respect, anyway?  No one remembers.

 

Bare-Knuckle Enforcement for Wal-Mart’s Rules
By MICHAEL BARBARO
Wal-Mart is known by its employees for its
no-expense-spared investigations of those who break its
ironclad rules.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/business/29walmart.html?th&emc=th

You don’t get super-rich by being a softie. 

 

Hip-Hop Reverberates in a Silent World
By COREY KILGANNON
At the Lexington School for the Deaf in Queens, a hip-hop
musical performed by students shows that the music can be
felt as well as heard.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/nyregion/29deaf.html?th&emc=th

Awright!

 

A Radio Station Just for You
By WILSON ROTHMAN
Services like Pandora, Last.fm and Slacker evaluate your
musical tastes, then serve up a continuous stream of
programming to match.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/technology/29basics.html?th&emc=th

At least it isn’t canned by some pollster in Chicago.

 

A Little Philosophy For Your Entertainment

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H. Allen Orr and Daniel Dennett have been tearing into each other something fierce, and it’s all over Orr’s dismissive review of Dawkins’ The God Delusion. The exchanges are a bit splintery and sharp, but the core of Orr’s complaint is that he’s unimpressed with Dawkins’ ‘Ultimate 747′ argument, which is basically that postulating an immensely complicated being to explain the creation of an immensely complicated universe doesn’t actually explain anything and is self-refuting — if you need an intelligent superbeing to create anything complex, then the superbeing itself is an even greater problem for your explanation. Orr considers Dawkins’ argument practically a facile parody, and is incredulous that he hasn’t considered that perhaps God is much simpler than the universe.

Orr is looking at it in the wrong way, and part of his problem is a failure to define the god he is talking about.  If we are talking about something that is not necessarily complex like the universe, that is basic and fundamental and that we derive in some way from something as essential as the laws of existence, then we are not addressing the existence of the god worshipped by almost any religion in existence. … http://www.edge.org/documents/archive/edge206.html#myers

Bindi Irwin To Host "Bindi: The Jungle Girl" And "Croc Hunter" Special

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Silver Springs, MD (AHN) – Bindi Irwin will continue to carry on her father’s legacy in her much anticipated new show “Bindi: The Jungle Girl,” which makes its way to the small screen beginning June 9.

It was announced on Tuesday that the eight-year-old daughter of the late Steve Irwin, who died last September after a tragic stingray attack, will also host a special titled “My Daddy The Croc Hunter” in dedication to her father. The kids’ show “Jungle Girl” … AHN | Bindi Irwin To Host “Bindi: The Jungle Girl” And “Croc Hunter” Special | March 28, 2007

No comment.

Moscow Patriarchate to shape position on precedence in Christian religion

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Moscow, March 28, Interfax – The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on Tuesday made the decision to work out a position on precedence in world churches.

The Synodal Theologian Commission will be in charge of this work.

The Synod was addressed by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, who said that a position must be formulated on precedence “since this issue is being considered by a mixed international commission for a theologian dialogue between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church,” according to materials of the meeting. …  Interfax-Religion