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Mashaal: Hamas wants 10 year cease-fire
Today's Headlines
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Page 4: Opinion
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
College Student Guns Down Home Invader
COLLEGE PARK, Ga. -- A group of college students said they are lucky to be alive and they're thanking the quick-thinking of one of their own. Police said a fellow student shot and killed one of two masked men who burst into an apartment.

Channel 2 Action News reporter Tom Jones met with one of the students to talk about the incident.

"Apparently, his intent was to rape and murder us all," said student Charles Bailey.

Bailey said he thought it was the end of his life and the lives of the 10 people inside his apartment for a birthday party after two masked men with guns burst in through a patio door. "They just came in and separated the men from the women and said, 'Give me your wallets and cell phones,'" said George Williams of the College Park Police Department.

Bailey said the gunmen started counting bullets. "The other guy asked how many (bullets) he had. He said he had enough," said Bailey.

That's when one student grabbed a gun out of a backpack and shot at the invader who was watching the men. The gunman ran out of the apartment.

The student then ran to the room where the second gunman, identified by police as 23-year-old Calvin Lavant, was holding the women.

"Apparently the guy was getting ready to rape his girlfriend. So he told the girls to get down and he started shooting. The guy jumped out of the window," said Bailey.

A neighbor heard the shots and heard someone running nearby. "And I heard someone say, 'Someone help me. Call the police. Somebody call the police,'" said a neighbor.

The neighbor said she believes it was Lavant, who was found dead near his apartment, only one building away.

Bailey said he is just thankful one student risked his life to keep others alive. "I think all of us are really cognizant of the fact that we could have all been killed," said Bailey.

One female student was shot several times during the crossfire. She is expected to make a full recovery.

Police said they are close to making the arrest of the second suspect.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/06/2009 12:24 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Will Bailey be expelled from school? Will he be charged with crime too? Will he be sued by the dead guy's kin, the other attacker, the wounded girl?
At least Bailey has presented a good story - hope his friends back him up on EVERY detail or the cops and politicians will burn him up.
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/06/2009 13:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Nice ending. Most Georgians didn't need to read this to know to 'carry' when in College Park.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/06/2009 15:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Sounds like the old "do the crime and murder all the witnesses" scenario. Pity both the perps didn't expire.

As for the "One female student was shot several times during the crossfire", someone needs to read the Crossfire section from the RAB manual again.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/06/2009 16:32 Comments || Top||


AIG bonuses four times higher than reported
The 2008 AIG bonus pool just keeps getting larger and larger.

In a response to detailed questions from Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the company has offered a third assessment of exactly how much it paid out in bonuses last year.

And the new number, offered in a document submitted to Cummings on May 1, is the highest figure the company has disclosed to date.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Beavis || 05/06/2009 08:52 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  lets dump future US citizen's tax money down a huge bottomless pit of "scum of the earth INSURANCE SALESMEN" also, who was it that bailed these guys out in the first place, hint : it wasnt the One
Posted by: wake up || 05/06/2009 11:41 Comments || Top||

#2  I see the short bus has made a stop.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/06/2009 14:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Anyone wannna check how The One voted on the various bailouts?

Maybe someone in class remembers?

Bueller?

(Guess he's not here today. Again.)

Anyway, from Senate.gov:

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00213.

Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 05/06/2009 14:20 Comments || Top||

#4  So Pappy, I'd say that someone's woken up but they haven't yet smelled the coffee.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 05/06/2009 14:21 Comments || Top||

#5  I'd say that someone's woken up but they haven't yet smelled the coffee. I woke up in 2007 and smelled something, but it sure wasn't coffee!
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 05/06/2009 16:52 Comments || Top||


8 Home Invaders - 2 Shot In Utah
MIDVALE -- Police identified the man shot and killed during the home invasion at the Spring of Country Woods Apartment complex at 6995 S. 1030 East. They say the Metro Gang Unit was able to identify him through the tattoos on his body. They are waiting to release his name pending family notification.

Sgt. John Salazar, with the Midvale Police Department, said, "On the deceased we found a weapon, a handgun and two knives. So, they were loaded."

Why he and the others targeted the apartment is still a mystery. "We don't know what was said, we don't know what they were here for," Salazar said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/06/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Blasted a garage"? What does that mean?
Posted by: gromky || 05/06/2009 3:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Police say at one point one of the male victims, trying to protect his girlfriend, grabbed a gun from a suspect and opened fire, killing him.

a male victim a man.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/06/2009 5:04 Comments || Top||

#3  Blasted the garage? Probably opened the garage door with C4 charges or shotguns.

Utah doesn't seem to mollycoddle home invaders.

The sound of racking a shell into a pump 12 guage shotgun should strike cold fear into any thug. There may be considerable cleanup afterwards however.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/06/2009 10:03 Comments || Top||

#4  I would think a even a .410 loaded with birdshot should do the trick.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 05/06/2009 18:40 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
The one that didn't get away - fishing video
Posted by: 3dc || 05/06/2009 19:12 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


China to resume Peking Man site excavations
[Iran Press TV Latest] Chinese archeologists are set to resume excavations at a cave where they believe human ancestors lived as early as 770,000 years ago.

The two-month project will be conducted in Zhoukoudian, about 50 kilometers southwest of Beijing, where the first fossils of Homo erectus pekinensis, historically known as Peking Man, were found by Chinese archaeologist Pei Wenzhong in 1929.

Peking Man refers to a human relative who walked upright and whose thick skull bone and beetling brow housed a brain three-quarters the size of Homo Sapiens'.

"A skull is something like a lottery. However, it is very likely that we would find animal fossils, stoneware and ruins of fire use," Gao Xing, deputy director of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Palaeoanthropology told Xinhua on Monday.

Peking Man was previously believed to be 400,000 to 500,000 years old, but new radioactive dating methods showed that he might have lived as far back as 770,000 years ago.

Gao said the Peking Man Site has yielded over 200 human fossils, 100,000 pieces of stoneware and animal fossils of 98 mammal species and 62 bird species so far.
Posted by: Fred || 05/06/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I thought the PRC believed there were too many Peking men already. Why are they looking for even more?
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 05/06/2009 16:50 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Eco-sailors rescued by oil tanker
Auntie Beeb

An expedition team which set sail from Plymouth on a 5,000-mile carbon emission-free trip to Greenland have been rescued by an oil tanker.

Raoul Surcouf, Richard Spink and skipper Ben Stoddart sent a mayday because they feared for their safety amid winds of 68mph (109km/h)....

The team, which left Mount Batten Marina in Plymouth on 19 April in a boat named the Fleur, aimed to rely on sail, solar and man power on a 580-mile (933km/h) journey to and from the highest point of the Greenland ice cap. The expedition was followed by up to 40 schools across the UK to promote climate change awareness.
Recreating the 17th century in the 21st ...
But atrocious weather dogged their journey after 27 April, culminating with the rescue on 1 May after the boat was temporarily capsized three times by the wind. In one incident Mr Stoddart hit his head and the wind generator and solar panels were ripped from the yacht....
Filed under: Schadenfreude, You Can't Make This Stuff Up, Comedy
Posted by: Mike || 05/06/2009 13:20 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  rescued by an oil tanker

Savor the irony.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/06/2009 14:05 Comments || Top||

#2  The more I think of it, the funnier it gets.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 05/06/2009 14:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Curses! Foiled again by global warming.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 05/06/2009 15:22 Comments || Top||

#4  There's a reason after thousands of years of sail, that commerce and navies switched from canvas to coal, then to oil and to nuke. The loons just don't get it.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/06/2009 18:15 Comments || Top||


USN Mission Canceled Because Of Influenza
The U.S. Navy said on Tuesday it decided not to send a warship on a planned humanitarian mission to the South Pacific after one crew member fell ill with the H1N1 virus and 49 others developed symptoms.

The San Diego-based USS Dubuque had been scheduled to sail on June 1 to begin a four-month mission to deliver medical, dental, veterinary and engineering assistance to Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Kiribati and the Marshall Islands.

Navy Lt. Sean Robertson said ailing crew aboard the 16,900-ton (15,300-tonne) amphibious vessel were put on a five-day course of Tamiflu on April 30. The remaining 370 crew members and staff began a 10-day prophylaxis course on May 3.

"The ship has been canceled for this. We are looking at options in order to meet the commitments we've made to the countries down there," Robertson said.

The Dubuque usually travels with a crew of 420 sailors and a detachment of 900 Marines, according to a Navy website.

U.S. officials on Tuesday reported a total of 403 confirmed infections with the new H1N1 virus widely known as swine flu.

While officials in Texas also announced another death attributed to the outbreak -- only the second such fatality outside of Mexico -- most U.S. cases have been mild and not required hospital treatment.

Last week about 30 Marines on a Southern California military base, the nation's largest, were quarantined after one became the first U.S. serviceman known to have contracted the swine flu virus. Four will eventually diagnosed with the strain.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/06/2009 09:47 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
EgyptŽs top cleric OKs post-rape abortion
[Al Arabiya Latest] The grand imam of Egypt's top Islamic body, al-Azhar, caused a stir when he issued a fatwa sanctioning abortion at any time during pregnancy for women who have been raped but added on the condition the woman was found to be "chaste."

The imam told a closing session of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs about the fatwa, which stirred controversy amongst the scholars of the world's leading institution of Sunni learning for the inability to determine a "chaste" woman and for allowing the abortion of a fetus after it has developed.

But the grand imam, Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawy, argued that an example of a "chaste" woman would be "if a girl was walking in the street on her way to university and someone raped her" then "she has the right to go the doctor and have an abortion to save her honor."

Al-Azhar's scholars argued, however, that it was impossible to determine the chastity of a woman and stressed that allowing abortion at any time during pregnancy, or after the first four months, was murder.

Some 20,000 women or girls are raped every year, an average of 55 women a day, according to the Egyptian Interior Ministry. Experts say statistics may be much higher as most rape victims do not go to the authorities over fear of social disgrace and dishonor.

Being "chaste"
"All members of the Center for Islamic Research (CIR) rejected an earlier fatwa by the grand imam that allows the abortion of a raped woman any time during the pregnancy," Dr. Mohamed al-Shahat, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, told Al Arabiya.

Shahat argued that a woman who is raped should have an abortion immediately if she finds herself pregnant. "It is not permitted to have an abortion at the time when the fetus is already a human being. This will be considered murder," Shahat said.

Dr. Amena Nasseer, professor of theology and philosophy at al-Azhar, echoed Shahat's stance and added since rape is such a traumatic experience for a woman getting rid of its consequences was a must. "Rape is similar to death for a woman and causes extreme psychological damage," she told Al Arabiya. "Abortion helps her to get rid of this painful memory."

According to the Maliki school of thought, one of the four schools in Sunni Islam, abortion has to be within the first 40 days of pregnancy, CIR member Dr. Mohamed Rafaat Osman said. "Abortion in cases of rape should be done immediately to avoid the grave consequences of giving birth to the child," Osman told Al Arabiya.
Posted by: Fred || 05/06/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  but added on the condition the woman was found to be "chaste."

Which, given the Islamic evidence rules, is the same as requiring her to be able to fly by flapping her arms.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/06/2009 4:59 Comments || Top||

#2  He sure looks inbred to me.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 05/06/2009 15:10 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Mugabe not respecting power-sharing deal: Tsvangirai
[Iran Press TV Latest] The Zimbabwean premier has criticized President Robert Mugabe for flouting the agreement over the country's new unity government in the case of the detention of some activists.

In a statement on Tuesday, Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) reacted to the arrest of rights campaigner Jestina Mukoko and 17 others over an alleged plot to overthrow Mugabe. The activists were released on bail after the unity government took office in February, but they were taken back to jail on Tuesday. "Today's ruling is a flagrant disregard to the commitments and agreements" in the power-sharing deal that led to the formation of the unity government, the statement said.

Last year, the activists had been arrested and detained in secret for weeks until they began appearing in court in late December, many suffering injuries they said they received in custody.

The power-sharing agreement in September, aimed at ending post-election violence over contested results, slowly paved the way for the formation of a landmark unity government.
Posted by: Fred || 05/06/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What a surprise. Who could have seen THAT coming?
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 05/06/2009 8:32 Comments || Top||

#2  I believe Ian Smith made that discovery some thirty years ago. Some things, they simply do not change.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/06/2009 8:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Betcha he's diong more than his part on the "Money Sharing" part.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 05/06/2009 15:12 Comments || Top||

#4 
Posted by: Kofi Flomotch5556 || 05/06/2009 18:04 Comments || Top||


Arabia
KuwaitŽs Salafis call voting for women a sin
[Al Arabiya Latest] Kuwait's Islamist Salafi movement called Monday for a boycott of women candidates in the upcoming parliamentary elections on the grounds that public offices are reserved only for men, sparking outrage from female candidates and activists.

Voting for women is considered a sin, said Fuhaid al-Hailam, of the Islamic Salafi Alliance politburo, according to the Salafi's interpretation of a saying by the Prophet Muhammad to the effect that a nation will not prosper if a woman leads it.
Posted by: Fred || 05/06/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Voting for women is considered a sin

And for all sins there's only one punishment in Islam...
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/06/2009 4:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Interesting in that one of ancient Persia's top admirals was a woman.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/06/2009 11:26 Comments || Top||

#3  Yes, but neither ancient nor modern Persians are Arabs, Anonymoose, so it's not fair to hold them to the same high standard. They were permitted to represent the human form and face in their exquisite little miniatures, too, which everyone knows is strictly forbidden; yet they went merrily drawing for several centuries, I do believe, without divine punishment.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/06/2009 13:19 Comments || Top||

#4  without divine punishment I think Khoumeini & his worshipers were the punishment.
Posted by: Varmint Graick1360 || 05/06/2009 16:30 Comments || Top||

#5  Not for those exquisite miniatures, Varmint Graick1360. I'm not sure, but I think those were a Golden Age behaviour, not a modern one. Khomeni, et al are punishment for the Shah encouraging women to go to university in miniskirts with uncovered hair -- at least that's what the et als claim.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/06/2009 22:49 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Strip Sircar of MP status
[Bangla Daily Star] A parliamentary sub-committee, probing alleged corruption of former speaker Jamiruddin Sircar, yesterday recommended revocation of his membership in the parliament for 'massive financial graft involving moral turpitude'.

The sub-committee also recommended filing of criminal cases against former deputy speaker Akhtar Hamid Siddiqui, and former chief whip Khandaker Delwar Hossain for misappropriation of public money.

The all-party main probe committee decided yesterday to summon the accused three before it, for giving them a chance to defend themselves.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 05/06/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Jubok housing chief held
[Bangla Daily Star] Police early yesterday arrested chairman of Jubok Housing Society Mohammad Lokman Hossain at his Dhanmondi residence on charges of cheating and misappropriation of clientsŽ deposit.
Posted by: Fred || 05/06/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Economy
20% of homeowners 'underwater'
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- More than 20% of American homeowners owe more on their mortgage debt than they can sell their homes for, according to an industry report released Wednesday.

The real estate Web site Zillow.com reported that 21.8% of all U.S. homes, representing more than 20 million residences, were in a "negative equity" or "underwater" position after prices dropped more than 14% nationally in the year ended March 31.

"A combination of falling prices and low down payments has left many borrowers underwater," said Stan Humphries, Zillow's vice president in charge of data and analytics. "In some markets, more than half of all homes are in negative equity."

Those markets include Las Vegas, where a whopping 67.2% of homeowners would have to bring cash to the table if they sold their homes. Other markets are Stockton, Calif., where 51.1% of homes are underwater, and Modesto, Calif., where 50.8% of homes are in that position.

"That's really important, because homeowners in negative equity have fewer options if they take financial shocks such as divorce, job loss or medical bills, making foreclosure more likely," said Humphries.

The problem may be easing a bit. Zillow did report that price drops seem to be moderating in some hard-hit cites, indicating that they might be approaching a bottom, according to Humphries.

"Places like Modesto, Calif. have recorded a couple of quarters of flat or diminishing year-over-year declines," he said. "That's what constitutes the good news in this report."
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/06/2009 13:53 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  deptors prison
Posted by: wake up || 05/06/2009 14:13 Comments || Top||

#2  May I suggest a good remedial English class (Usually available at local night schools so as to not interfere with your daytime burger-flipping job.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 05/06/2009 15:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Chaulk and bail, folks. We can't afford the bailouts the government has given out already, so you'll have to float or sink on your own.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 05/06/2009 15:26 Comments || Top||

#4  If you bought a house at a ridiculous price hoping to flip it and make a pile, then it sucks to be you.

I understand the price is what a buyer is willing to pay, but I suspect quite a few of the underwater homes are in that state simply because the housing bubble has popped and prices have crashed along with the economy. Here in Michigan, prices are down because everyone is moving out of state.

A house *is* still an asset. I would expect prices to come back once the economy recovers. Assuming, of course, the effect of Obamanomics is transient.

Note that the scary "more than 20% of American homeowners owe more on their mortgage debt than they can sell their homes for" means that nearly 80% do not.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/06/2009 16:19 Comments || Top||

#5  Improving House Affordability is a good thing for the economy.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles the pedantic || 05/06/2009 19:21 Comments || Top||

#6  I missed out on most of the gains by staying in my paid-for 1500 sq.ft. house, but I didn't want to overextend myself when I had other committments and a shaky job. Others chose to be more aggressive and took greater risks for greater rewards. But now I have to pay for their losses. I have to do it but I sure don't have to smile and be sympathetic in the process.
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/06/2009 19:55 Comments || Top||

#7  Glenmore - Agreed!
Posted by: 3dc || 05/06/2009 20:26 Comments || Top||

#8  Being underwater only matters if one is actively trying to sell the property in question. Granted, since the 1960s Americans have moved on average every six years, but I imagine just now those with jobs are sitting tight until things get better, rather than trying to sell.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/06/2009 22:46 Comments || Top||

#9  Sue for divorce. Tell the wify she can keep the house if I get the dog and pickup. LOL.
Posted by: Skunky Glins 5*** || 05/06/2009 23:40 Comments || Top||


Europe
ŽBlood feudŽ massacre at Turkish wedding kills 44
[Al Arabiya Latest] Masked gunmen stormed a wedding party in Turkey's Kurdish region hurling grenades and firing machine guns in an attack that left 44 people dead -- half of them women and children, authorities said Tuesday. Eight people have been arrested over what Interior Minister Besir Atalay said was a blood feud between two families.

Atalay said six children and 16 women were among the 44 dead. Three other villagers were wounded. Four masked men entered the village square in Bilge from different directions late Monday, just after a Muslim preacher had completed the wedding ceremony, and started throwing hand grenades, witnesses told AFP. They then opened fire at the crowd and stormed into several houses, continuing to shoot, they said.

One 19-year-old woman said the attackers herded women and children into a room in one house and sprayed them with bullets, according to a witness account relayed by a local official. The assailants escaped in the dark as a sandstorm cut visibility in the area, which is near the Syrian border.

Not terrorism
The interior minister said the massacre was not linked to terrorism -- a reference to separatist Kurdish rebels active in the region -- and appeared to have been triggered by a blood feud between villagers. "An initial assessment suggests that the attack was triggered by enmity and dispute between families. We are still working on the case so I do not want to speak in definite terms," the minister told a news conference in the provincial capital of Mardin before heading to the village.

Villagers had also suggested that the shooting was linked to a blood feud between rival families.

There were 32 households in the village and all inhabitants belonged to the same clan, Anatolia news agency reported.

Local rivalry spilling into deadly feuds is not unheard of in southeast Turkey, although it is rare for the death toll to be so high. The scale of the latest attack would be of deep concern to the government, which is attempting to defuse tensions in the southeast born of separatist conflict. Hostilities are triggered by land disputes, unpaid debts, abductions or girls eloping with someone from a rival clan.
Posted by: Fred || 05/06/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Feudin', a-fussin', and a-fightin,
Sometimes it gets to be excitin'.
Don't like them orn'ry neighbors down by the creek;
We'll be plumb outa neighbors next week
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 05/06/2009 16:58 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Obama signs directive to move toward "clean energy economy"
President Barack Obama on Tuesday signed a directive establishing a Biofuels Interagency Working Group, announced additional funds for renewable fuel projects, and also announced notice of a proposed rulemaking on the Renewable Fuel Standard. "We must invest in a clean energy economy that will lead to new jobs, new businesses and reduce our dependence on foreign oil," Obama said. "The steps I am announcing today help bring us closer to that goal."
Thus spake Zarathustra.
The Biofuels Interagency Working Group, to be co-chaired by the US secretaries of Agriculture and Energy and the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will work with the National Science and Technology Council's Biomass Research and Development Board in undertaking its work. The group will develop the first comprehensive US biofuel market development program, which will identify new policies to support the development of next-generation biofuels, increase flexible fuel vehicle use, and assist in retail marketing efforts, the White House announcement said.

The group also will coordinate infrastructure policies affecting the supply, secure transport and distribution of biofuels, and will identify policy options to promote the environmental sustainability of biofuels feedstock production.
Obama instructed US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to begin restructuring existing investments in renewable fuels to preserve industry employment, and develop a comprehensive approach to accelerating the investment in and production of American biofuels to reduce US dependence on fossil fuels.

The President announced that USD 786.5 million will be provided to accelerate advanced biofuels research and development, and expand commercial biorefineries. These efforts will be overseen by the US Department of Energy (DOE). The DOE biomass program will leverage the agency's national laboratories, universities and the private sector to help improve biofuels reliability and overcome technical challenges, with the goal of creating advanced biofuels such as "green gasoline," diesel and jet fuels, the White House said.

The notice of proposed rulemaking on the Renewable Fuel Standard outlines the EPA strategy for increasing the supply of renewable fuels, poised to reach 36 billion gallons by 2022, as mandated by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Increasing renewable fuels will reduce US dependence on foreign oil by more than 297 million barrels a year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 160 million tons a year when fully phased in by 2022, the White House said.

"As we work toward energy independence, using more homegrown biofuels reduces our vulnerability to oil price spikes that everyone feels at the pump, " EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said. "Energy independence also puts billions of dollars back into our economy, creates green jobs and protects the planet from climate change in the bargain."
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/06/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I feel better already.


/Sarcasm
Posted by: bigjim-CA || 05/06/2009 0:46 Comments || Top||

#2  No mention of what growing all this biomass will do to food prices as acreage is converted from growing food to growing fuel.

In other words Cap-and-Trade will cause energy prices to soar. This will cause foodstuff prices to soar. And Obama will cause taxes to soar as well.

We are well and truly screwed.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/06/2009 1:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Gas went up 30 cents/gal yesterday in Ohio. I was wondering what caused it. Looks like we are on the first 13 year plan, Comrades.
Posted by: Muggsy Glink || 05/06/2009 2:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Some people are going to make a lot of money.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/06/2009 4:55 Comments || Top||

#5  But surely, they are the most patriotic sort of people and thus will pay lots of taxes willingly to help out their fellow American...
Posted by: Adriane || 05/06/2009 4:59 Comments || Top||

#6  Close yucca mountain and lobby to coal. Soo smooth.
Posted by: newc || 05/06/2009 5:38 Comments || Top||

#7  Obama is my hero 'cuz he saved the planet and I'm living in a cardboard box and can't afford electricity.

/liberal
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/06/2009 8:26 Comments || Top||

#8  I am beginning to see Barry as a very painful, but long awaited vaccination. One which should effectively cure us of the pox of liberal, socialist inclinations for decades to come. If we can only survive the very substantial negative side effects.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/06/2009 8:37 Comments || Top||

#9  Gasoline is up 40 cents a gallon in suburban Chicago in the last ten days. Usually it goes up in the spring as the refineries go down for some maintenance prior to the big summer push. But this is a lot.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/06/2009 9:36 Comments || Top||

#10  Nah, we'll just buy our food from China and Mexico - what could go wrong?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 05/06/2009 10:31 Comments || Top||

#11  King Canute, Redux
Posted by: mojo || 05/06/2009 11:04 Comments || Top||

#12  King Cnut (that's the correct spelling) used ordering the tides to change as a demonstration of the limits of his power.

/pedantic
Posted by: Bright Pebbles the pedantic || 05/06/2009 13:04 Comments || Top||

#13  Precisely, dear Bright Pebbles. And so shall President Obama, although perhaps without the same considered intent.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/06/2009 13:21 Comments || Top||

#14  All you folks who don't remember, gas always goes up just before any major Holiday, Mother's day is Sunday may 9th. Gotta screw those travelers.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 05/06/2009 15:18 Comments || Top||

#15  If we can only survive the very substantial negative side effects. You are an optimist.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 05/06/2009 16:55 Comments || Top||

#16  I wonder if these city dumbasses realize they are at the end of a very long supply chain. When food, fuel or power becomes short, it's a simple thing to disrupt the supply, leaving more for those upstream. And the Bambis can starve, freeze or broil in their concrete boxes.
Posted by: ed || 05/06/2009 21:09 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
video: Nano-spy-chopper
Posted by: 3dc || 05/06/2009 19:16 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  When they come up with one the size of a wasp that will deliver a fatal sting...call me.
Posted by: Woozle Unineng9534 || 05/06/2009 23:22 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Democrat Ag Chairman "will not support any kind of climate change bill"
From subscription newsletter; link goes to Peterson's gummint website
House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson said today that he won't support pending House climate legislation because he has lost faith in U.S EPA for its handling of proposed biofuels regulations.
The rest of us have lost faith, period - but it's a place to start...
"I will not support any kind of climate change bill," the Minnesota Democrat said at a hearing on the biofuels proposal with EPA and Agriculture Department officials. "I don't care. Even if you fix this. I don't trust anybody anymore."
Welcome to our world, Mr. Peterson.
Peterson said later that he would support a climate bill only if it were "ironclad" and detailed enough to keep EPA from writing implementing rules. But he added that he was unsure this was possible.
It ain't, honey, but I'm sure your compatriots will promise you a LOT to get on board....
At issue: EPA draft rules for implementing the expanded renewable fuels standard that includes measurement of biofuels' greenhouse gas emissions. The rules include measurement of emissions from "indirect" land-use changes associated with biofuels -- an aspect Peterson and other ethanol defenders decry as unfair and unready for adoption.
Whatever it takes to stop the Climate Bill Congress's latest plan to fleece the voters rubes.
The draft rules conclude, depending on the time frames modeled, that traditional corn ethanol could have slightly more "lifecycle" emissions than gasoline when these land-use changes are factored in.

Peterson told reporters he was suggesting to Democrats from other ethanol states that they also not support the House climate bill.
Get 'em all on board, sir!
"By the time it gets down to the agency, what the hell is going to come out of it?" he said. "This thing is out of control."
You're just now noticing? Oy.
Peterson said at the hearing, "You are going to kill off the biofuels industry before it gets started." Later, he told reporters: "If they think anyone is going to invest in next-generation ethanol, given what's going on, they are kidding themselves."
At least we know whose ox is getting gored here. Sucks to be a Dem, eh, Collin?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 05/06/2009 13:15 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  measurement of bio fuels' greenhouse gas emissions

Ummm, I thought the current "Eco Speak" was "No emissions since it's a renewable fuel (Yes I know it's gobbledygook)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 05/06/2009 15:02 Comments || Top||

#2  An interesting aspect of carbon taxes / regulation that I've not seen addressed is the impact it will have on food prices and the global food supply. US farmers produce a significant fraction of the world's grain and many US farmers (particularly those whose lands are in the bottom couple of quintiles on the productivity scale) are having a tough time hanging on. Carbon taxes will have outsized effects on fertilizer costs which will drive grain farmers on less productive lands out of the industry as their land simply won't be able to produce enough to absorb the additional imposed costs. We'll see an outsized spike in grain prices as a result before things settle in at a new equilibrium but that point will certainly see the world food supply reduced.
Posted by: AzCat || 05/06/2009 15:31 Comments || Top||

#3  Barry is aware of all this Azcat. He's tarketing the big Corporate Ag, guys who work 800-1000 acres or more...the $250k per year and above crowd. Never mind the fact the smaller operators will go under first. Gotta break a few eggs, etc. Level the playing field, redistribute the land and so on.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/06/2009 15:37 Comments || Top||

#4  Besoaker - The big corporate ag guys are way bigger than 800-1000 acres, at least on average and worse land. Cash flows & equipment costs dictate a larger operation than that for those who want to own their own equipment these days.

It's the big guys who'll survive and benefit as costs are escalated. Maybe Obama really doesn't understand that but I suspect that he does: millions of small business owners with stakes in the country are an unruly mob that's difficult to control; centralize those small businesses into far fewer and far larger ones with only a handful of people deriving the lion's share of the benefit and the problem of government control becomes orders of magnitude easier. To me it seems that he's following a classic economic fascist model in order to leave the federal government in sole control of an allegedly "private" sector but then I'm not an economic historian so I might well be off base in that thinking.
Posted by: AzCat || 05/06/2009 16:53 Comments || Top||

#5  Sounds right on the money, AzCat. :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 05/06/2009 18:11 Comments || Top||

#6  "you all need to go on a diet anyway"

/Teleprompter Jesus
Posted by: Frank G || 05/06/2009 18:58 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2009-05-06
  Mashaal: Hamas wants 10 year cease-fire
Tue 2009-05-05
  Pirates captured after attacking the wrong ship
Mon 2009-05-04
  Khaled Mashaal re-elected Hamas political leader
Sun 2009-05-03
  64 civilians killed in Lanka hospital attack
Sat 2009-05-02
  60 Taliban killed in Buner offensive
Fri 2009-05-01
  Taliban hold Buner town people hostage
Thu 2009-04-30
  U.S. missile strikes kill 10 in South Waziristan
Wed 2009-04-29
  70 militants killed in Pak operation
Tue 2009-04-28
  TNSM suspends talks with govt
Mon 2009-04-27
  Suspect in Bat Ayin attack in custody
Sun 2009-04-26
  North Korea reactivates its nuclear program
Sat 2009-04-25
  US may use daisy-cutters 'if Pakistan shows reluctance'
Fri 2009-04-24
  73 killed in twin suicide blasts in Baghdad
Thu 2009-04-23
  Abu Omar al-Baghdadi nabbed
Wed 2009-04-22
  Turkish police detain 37 in anti-Qaeda raids


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