nerdgirl

The whole “open the remaining undrilled areas” (because as has been noted repeatedly there are lots of areas available for offshore drilling) versus “keep current restrictions on offshore drilling in additional areas” is akin to a proverbial discussion on re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic. It obscures and ignores the underlying strategic energy needs and problems, i.e., it’s not just about ‘environmentalism,’ maintaining tourism-based economies, or anti-oil company rhetoric. Proposals to open the remaining undrilled areas are one step from a “gas tax holiday”- find it curious that so many recognize the futility of the latter but concurrently are insistent on opening the remaining undrilled areas. The engine of capitalist innovation is the small, high tech companies (who commonly are bought up by larger companies as soon as they become profitable). The single largest investment sector for private equity in small, high-tech firms is no longer software or biomedical applications but now “Clean Tech,” which includes “environmentally-friendly” materials, systems, and power generation. As usual, don’t take my word for it: to quote Mr. Steve Forbes from Dec07’s Forbes/Wolfe Nanotechnology Forum: w/r/t dealing with energy: “technology is the critical piece.” One of his prime concerns is that America’s declining investment in science and decline in training of new scientists and engineers is creating a situation in which America will be “buying” new ideas and innovation from foreign sources (like China) and becoming clients rather than selling them on the global marketplace. The global requirement for power is ~13 trillion watts (or terawatts/TW). By 2050, the world’s energy needs are estimated to be ~28 TW. One of my former colleagues noted that all movement is not created equal: a washing machine generates lots of movement (round-n-round) but never gets ya anywhere. That's at the core of the 'more drill' argument. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Non-newtonian fluids - very cool. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Guessing most folks have heard that when the semi-official Iranian News Agency FARS released a high quality image of missile launch there was some digital alteration. [silly] Apparently some other variants were rejected: see attachments. [/silly] /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

It appears that all of the links on the first page, except 1, refer to a single study (the UCLA Groseclose & Milyo study). The exception -- & one that I have not seen cited before -- is “The Fox News Effect: Media Bias and Voting.” The lead author, Stefano DellaVigna, is an economist at UC Berkeley. “Abstract: Does media bias affect voting? We address this question by looking at the entry of Fox News in cable markets and its impact on voting. Between October 1996 and November 2000, the conservative Fox News Channel was introduced in the cable programming of 20 percent of US towns. Fox News availability in 2000 appears to be largely idiosyncratic. Using a data set of voting data for 9,256 towns, we investigate if Republicans gained vote share in towns where Fox News entered the cable market by the year 2000. We find a significant effect of the introduction of Fox News on the vote share in Presidential elections between 1996 and 2000. Republicans gain 0.4 to 0.7 percentage points in the towns which broadcast Fox News. The results are robust to town-level controls, district and county fixed effects, and alternative specifications. We also find a significant effect of Fox News on Senate vote share and on voter turnout. Our estimates imply that Fox News convinced 3 to 8 percent of its viewers to vote Republican. We interpret the results in light of a simple model of voter learning about media bias and about politician quality. The Fox News effect could be a temporary learning effect for rational voters, or a permanent effect for voters subject to non-rational persuasion.” Very cursory but intellectually provocative implication w/r/t causality -- rather than FoxNews attracting folks who were already conservatively-inclined, it suggests that for a small -- but not insignificant in consideration of recent election margins -- Fox News has a significant impact on their voting decision in one direction since its introduction. With that in mind along with the Pew report, the UCLA study, the Harvard study, one might come to a couple potential hypotheses: there is media bias, it’s just not in the direction that we hear repeatedly asserted, or because material presented does not fit want one wants to hear/read, it is seen as bias. A meta-analysis of citations of the UCLA Groseclose & Milyo study would be interesting: who cites it and what do they think it found? VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Yes, that's the UCLA Groseclose and Milyo paper. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

I will see if I can find the last "alleged" study that was posted on this site. It stated that the major news outlets were left or slightly left and that FOX was near the center or just slightly left of center. It was based on the programing and how different topics were reported. If I remember right it was done by a college. I will look. Anybody here remember the thread it may have been posted on here? That sounds like how the UCLA Groseclose and Milyo study was described in secondary & tertiary accounts. When one went to the study, what was found is noted above and more details in the linked analysis. VR/Marg p.s. most of the studies aren't "alleged"; thus far it's been the conclusions and bias that are "alleged." Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Would you point me to some of those alleged studies? Each time we go through them in detail, the result does not support that assertion … but if you have a new candidate, let’s take a look Showed here why/how the Pew report did not support MRC conclusions regarding bias among print journalists. What the Pew report showed was that the majority of reporters are in the ‘middle’ politically. Examined here the UCLA Groseclose and Milyo paper. And observed that by the method the authors use, they find that the ACLU is a right-wing organization, the NRA is a left-leaning organization, and the AARP is a far left advocacy group, even more liberal than Amnesty International by almost 10 points (Table 1, p. 19). Among media sources, Fox News was found to have a significant conservative bias (>20 points from the center). Drudge report is found to have a slight conservative bias (w/in 10 points of the center). ABC, NBC, LA Times, NY Times and USA Today have a slight liberal bias (w/in 10 points of the center). Not even CBS News has an “overwhelmingly” liberal bias by the work that you cited (10.8 points from the center). The only media outlet one that they found to have a significant liberal bias was the Wall Street Journal (35.1 points from the center to the left). Dow Jones & Company’s response. Investigated another assertion from an Investor’s Business Daily “Editorial” – their designation - citing a Harvard study here. While the Editorial focused on pieces that supported their case – they’re allowed & encouraged to do that in Opinion-Editorial – overall the Harvard study found that for the largest percentage weren’t bias in any direction. The IBD editorial did not mention the study’s finding that while Hillary Clinton “received the most [coverage] (17% of the stories), though she can thank the overwhelming and largely negative attention of conservative talk radio hosts for much of the edge in total volume,” (p.2). “Clinton was the focus of nearly a third of all the campaign segments among the conservative talkers studies [Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity & Michael Savage].” If you have something new or different in mind, please direct us toward it? VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Concur heartily that the larger questions are far from as simple as some would seem to intimate or assert directly … & it’s far from limited to this thread or this forum. See this post and this post for lengthy discussion of independent and dependent variables for success and failure. Africa is also not a homogenous entity. On an analytical level, w/r/t to decreasing birth rates, nonetheless, increasing female literacy has been shown to positively correlate (along with positive correlation for increased GDP) across heterogeneous cultures, geographies, economies. How to implement and execute that carries practical and ethical challenges, as you point out. On that practical level, one only needs to look at the polio eradication in northern Nigeria over the last 4 years to find an example of the kind of difficulties you suggest. Polio re-emerged from Kano in 2003 -- spreading to more than a dozen countries, including one’s which were previously polio free, and halfway around the world in 18 months -- because local clerics were opposed to the vaccine based on unfounded allegations of contaminated vaccines that would lead to sterility, hinder testicular development, and cause AIDs. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

That's a reasonable question. The prime motivation is not normative, i.e., it's not an "obligation". From a defense & national security perspective (others can speak from humanitarian, global public health [altho’ I would argue that can be viewed as a subset of national security], international development, market, etc perspectives), failed states are a threat to the US and allies. The lawlessness of failed states allow terrorists to operate freely. (NB: not every failed state becomes a terrorist sanctuary.) Listed a few specific citations of radical Islamist groups attempting to exploit the lawlessness of lack of governance and security in African less-than-stable and failing states in this post. When oceans effectively isolated the US, it wasn’t an issue. Recognition that preventing failed states and stabilizing failing states is in the US vital interest was also a significant factor behind the November 2005 DoD Directive 3000.05 “Military Support for Stability, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction (SSTR) Operations” and the stand-up of US AFRICOM in October 2007. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

+1. Also increase female literacy. Positive correlations have been observed between increase in female literacy and decrease in birth rates, and between increase in female literacy and *increase* in GDP (the latter is not just applicable to the developing world, e.g., late 19th/early 20th C Germany). VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Setting aside the ad hominem for a moment. You're usually better & more engaging; we all have our 'touch stone' issues tho'. I also have zero interest in making a discussion on the internet about diagnosing the psychological proclivities of other people skydivers - a substantive percentage of the general population thinks that alone qualifies us all for less than stable mental status. [Back to more interesting stuff, im-ever-ho]: What it does illustrate is how problematic the use of the word “Orient” and "Oriental" are. Not political correctness and not prescriptive semantics. It’s problematic w/r/t history, accuracy of your assertions, and reconciling those with facts. Again, the Orient is everything east of historical Roman Christendom. (The Occident is the “west.”) One of the most famous ‘Orientals’ was Edward Said [jpg], he was from the Levant but spent most of his adult life in NYC. The Museum of the Ancient Orient is in Turkey; it displays Anatolian pieces from Hittite empires (Turkey) and pre-Islamic items from the Ottoman Empire. The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London covers all of Asia, including India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and former Soviet States; the Near East; the Middle East; and Africa. It was originally the School of Oriental Studies. The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago is world-renowned for its ancient Near-eastern artifacts (specifically Sumerian); the institute’s archeological interests range from Anatolia (ancient Turkey) to Nubia (ancient southern Egypt and Northern Sudan), through Syria, Yemen and Iraq (Mesopotamia) to Persia (Iran). What was the destination of the Orient Express? Those are current examples, off the top of my head, from the US, Europe, and Turkey of how the “Orient” doesn’t mean just Southeast Asia (or just East Asia) geographically or the genetic phenotype you cited. Has the meaning of the word evolved and narrowed/shifted in its meaning for some? Yes. Languages do that. Does it mean something very different geographically for a lot of other people counter to what you’ve asserted? Yes. Has the word come to have a pejorative connotation for a tremendously large geographic span of peoples? Yes. Then again, the primary definition of “gay” is no longer a synonym for “happy” and in the US “fags” generally do not refer to small cigarettes. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

See post #57 for multiple sources (w/in Matt White's site, which is well-regarded source) for combatant deaths and another ref for estimate of civilian deaths. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

By that analogy, wouldn’t Asian be the parallel to European? And Occidental the parallel to Oriental? What countries do you consider to be part of the Orient? The Orient is/was historically any & all places east of Roman Christendom from the Middle East (including the Levant) through southern Russia along the Silk Road (including Persia & Afghanistan) north to Manchuria and south through the Phillipines. The British colonials referred to India as part of the Orient. That ambiguity is part of why it’s not a particularly useful term other than as a historic artifact or mild invective. Depends on what Oriental means to you: Eurasian? (One can argue that’s the most historically accurate.) Asian? East Asian? South Asian? Southeast Asian? (I was once chastised by a retired Indian General for inadvertently referring to India as part of Southeast Asia.) To some extent, that is because of the historical usage of the word was to denigrate those east of the historical Roman Christendom. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

I'd be willing to wager the majority of folks here do recognize which side the US backed during the Iran-Iraq war. How others interpret history I am less confident to speculate. To me, it's demonstrating (again) the truth of Clausewitz's famous apothegm: "War is merely a continuation of politics." VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Zero via conventional warfare since 1979. One could argue that Iran had been ahead of the curve in moving beyond conventional warfare to employing proxy non-state actors. Largely true. Unintended consequences & balance of power. One can argue that as a reason, however, why the US "must" remain and insure a stable, strong Iraq -- as a counterweight to Iran in the Middle East. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Is that the only independent variable? One argument is that democracies very rarely go to war with each other. Another is the observation, made by other folks than me (e.g., Tom Barnett, Martin van Creveld, Bill Lind), that once states obtain nuclear weapons, large scale warfare between them ends. There hasn't been an Arab-Israel war, that is between Israel and Arab state armies, since 1973 or an India-Pakistan War since 1971, or a USSR-NATO war ever. (Acknowledging the Iran's proxy Hizb'allah in Lebanon has approached conventional levels of warfighting, with both sides using precision-guided munitions.) So is it the nature of the states or the having nuclear weapons that is the independent variable? (Nota bene: While I'm confident [kelpdiver] will understand the nature of the question posed, just in case anyone else is less certain, see this thread for my #1 goal of US foreign policy toward Iran: preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear weapons state.) VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Millions? Can you please provide credible sources to back that up? He's correct. Just the the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War is estimated to have resulted in up to 1M deaths (covering both sides). Albeit, those were combatant deaths. As we know, accurate determinations of fatalities in conflict areas can be very difficult Civilian deaths due to Hussayn's reign: "Along with other human rights organizations, The Documental Centre for Human Rights in Iraq has compiled documentation on over 600,000 civilian executions in Iraq. Human Rights Watch reports that in one operation alone, the Anfal, Saddam killed 100,000 Kurdish Iraqis. Another 500,000 are estimated to have died in Saddam's needless war with Iran. Coldly taken as a daily average for the 24 years of Saddam's reign, these numbers give us a horrifying picture of between 70 and 125 civilian deaths per day for every one of Saddam's 8,000-odd days in power." So roughly 560K - 1M deaths. It's a hard argument to make, however, when one looks to other conflicts, e.g., Bangladesh (1971, up to 1.5M civilians killed), Sudan (~1.9 M killed), D.R. Congo (1998-2005) ~3.5M excess deaths (per IRC), unless one wants to also make the argument that the US or western world is responsible for being the world's policeman over internal state conflicts &/or the the US military should be used for humanitarian reasons. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

More details: From today’s NPR Morning Edition U.S. Team Aided Colombia Hostage Rescue: “The U.S. Embassy in Bogota has provided details about U.S. participation in the effort to rescue three Americans along with Ingrid Betancourt and 11 other hostages held by FARC guerrillas in Colombia. The U.S. created a 100-member team of intelligence analysts and special forces who helped train Colombian forces and helped track the FARC guerrillas.” From today’s Washington Post: “In Colombia Jungle Ruse, U.S. Played A Quiet Role: Ambassador Spotlights Years of Aid, Training: “For months before a group of disguised Colombian soldiers carried out a daring rescue of three American citizens and a prominent Colombian politician from a guerrilla camp, a team of U.S. Special Forces joined elite Colombian troops tracking the hostages across formidable jungle terrain in the country's southern fringes. “The U.S. team was supported by a vast intelligence-gathering operation based in the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, far to the north. There, a special 100-person unit made up of Special Forces planners, hostage negotiators and intelligence analysts worked to keep track of the hostages. They also awaited the moment when they would spring into action to help Colombian forces carry out a rescue. “That moment came in June after a Colombian army major hatched an unconventional plan. Further developed by Colombian intelligence agents, the plan abandoned the idea of a military raid and relied instead on tricking a rebel group notorious for killing hostages into simply handing over 15 of their most prominent captives. “As Colombian planners made last-minute preparations June 30, the U.S. ambassador in Bogota, William R. Brownfield, briefed Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other Bush administration officials in a videoconference call. Two days later, Colombian commandos scooped up the Americans, Betancourt and 11 Colombian soldiers and policemen, receiving praise from around the world for a plan deftly executed. “’I was pressed fairly hard, as I would expect to be, as I would hope to be, to justify, to explain my recommendations, to offer the basis for my having reached the conclusions that I'd reached,’ [US Amb] Brownfield said in an interview in his office. ‘At the end of the day, I felt that I had been forced to offer up a very clear explanation as to how all of us down here -- Team Bogota -- had come up with this particular set of positions [to support the Colombian plan].’ “The Bush administration had an understanding with Colombia's government that any operation to rescue the Americans required U.S. approval, meaning an American rejection of the plan could have scuttled it. But Brownfield and a team of 15 American strategists -- including intelligence agents and military officers -- thought the Colombian plan could succeed. “‘This mission was a Colombian concept, a Colombian plan, a Colombian training operation, then a Colombian operation,’ [US Amb] Brownfield said in an interview Monday in which he recounted details of the U.S. role. ‘We, however, had been working with them more than five years on every single element that came to pass that pulled off this operation, as well as the small bits that we did on this operation.’ “U.S. troops did not participate directly in the operation, but behind the rescue in a jungle clearing stood years of clandestine American work. It included the deployment of elite U.S. Special Forces in areas where rebel fighters roam, a vast intelligence-gathering operation against the guerrillas, and training programs for Colombian troops and communications specialists in how to intercept and subvert rebel communications. “The U.S. assistance to Colombia, part of more than $5 billion in aid since 2000, has come into sharp focus this year as an intense military campaign weakened the FARC, killing seasoned commanders and prompting 1,500 fighters and urban operatives to desert. “Colombian officials have said the American assistance, especially in intercepting FARC communications, has been essential. And Sergio Jaramillo, vice minister of defense, said the Americans have been instrumental in creating ‘a professional Special Forces culture’ in Colombia's elite jungle units. “Although the Americans and Colombians work together closely, Colombia's Defense Ministry does not always tell the American Embassy what plans are in the works. U.S. officials discovered on their own that a rescue plan was taking shape.” The article continues to discuss – very generally – some more traditional operations that had been planned and why not pursued. FoxNews does not appear to have anything posted yet regarding Amb Brownfield’s comments. As more information emerges, the importance of enabling unconventional thinking in countering unconventional, asymmetric adversaries is the underlying message … along with the value of US foreign investment, both military and non-military, in enabling foreign domestic governments (which includes their militaries) to counter those unconventional asymmetric threats (aka the "So What? Who Cares?). VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Largely concur, w/a caveat below. I do need to think about it more intentionally to pick just one. One systemic challenge is transglobal networks, specifically radical Islamist networks empowered by information and communications technology (ICT), especially if they intersect with a near-failing or fragile state in Africa. For the main US foreign policy concern to be an African state there has to be some other political-economic factor. See Chad as a simmering hotspot that may have the necessary but not sufficient independent variables. Whether Iran emerges as the biggest foreign policy concern of the US, imo, correlates with which candidate is elected. It will also pivot on the next Iranian election cycle, again imo. My concern is less driven by the individual US Presdential candidates then their advisors. Some of Sen McCain’s foreign policy advisors, e.g., Michael Ledeen, are obsessed -- for lack of a less inflamatory descriptor -- with invading Iran. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

If one supports increases in Executive Power … as has been exercised since President Truman … then there is no problem, and the proposed changes are not "necessary." In addition to the pragmatic reality that [kelpdiver] cited that the 1973 War Powers Act is ineffective, it may be unconstitutional (as Pres Nixon and Pres GHW Bush asserted). As [lawrocket] cited, it’s never been challenged. It’s a proposal for a law to close the Executive power loop-hole to get around the Constitutional requirement that established that only the Congress has the constitutional authority to declare war (Article 1) and the U.S. President has the power to wage war only after obtaining a declaration of war from the Congress (Article 2, “called into actual Service”). (Note: nothing about funding in that Constitutional conundrum.) In addition to some of the pro-arguments put forth, parts that I find useful and important include -- the requirement that the members of the proposed Joint Congressional Consultation Committee have access to intelligence related to an armed conflict; -- defines what isn’t covered, e.g., training exercises, covert operations, or missions to protect and rescue Americans abroad, thereby not unduly limiting the power of the armed services and the foreign intelligence service to execute such operations; -- it make Congress more accountable and is in alignment with the Powell Doctrine, -- it promotes the rule of law. My criticisms include that it doesn’t have enough metaphorical teeth and it creates a new Committee. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

"Carousel is a lie" "Sanctuary" ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ Seriously, I'm curious how the author of the Washington Times got story past due diligence/by editors. Linked w/in the article is a scan of a letter (2nd page) asking the potential vendor to submit a pre-proposal. The 2006 letter from a DHS Program Manager is about temporary detention of illegal immigrants for use in border security and use with detainees. The article's author writes: "Why are tax dollars being spent on something like this? Is this a police state or is it America?" From what's contained w/in the article including links, there's no evidence that US tax dollars are being spent on it. Based on the company's online press releases, Canadian & South African tax dollars are being spent on the company's other products. And there's no mention of any kind of contracts with DHS or TSA. (Determined via 20-30 seconds of web browsing ...) That said, the Sarnia, Ontario company's EMD bracelet marketing video is creepy, im-ever-ho. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Concur with some of your comments. Where or what role do you see for the free market in the types of phenomena you've related in this thread? We often tout the power and success of the free market to drive innovation and spur competition. At the same time, the free market is not "fair" to put a concise descriptor on it. There will be winners and losers. How many & what severity of the latter one is willing to accept varies highly across capitalist economies. Do you see that as having any role in the domestic and global subprime mortgage crisis and associated liquidity, speculation, and credit problems? VR/Marg --- -- - -- --- Tangent: Am I the only one who dislikes the initial title of this thread: "Happy F&*king 4th of July"? ... hmmm ... reconcile as a minor component of those "numerous factors" with closing independent clause of the comments quoted above. Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

The National War Powers Commission have proposed the War Powers Consultation Act of 2009 as one means to help clarify who does the Constitution say has the power to initiate and end wars. The intention of the Act is to … depending on one’s perspective … either restore the Constitutionally intended ‘checks and balances’ for committing the US to armed conflict or limit executive power. Most concisely it proposes that Congress has to vote within 30 days before the US enters into an armed conflict; what constitutes an armed conflict is defined more precisely that in the US Constitution. Authorized by Congress, the National War Power Commission is a bipartisan endeavor by coordinated/facilitated as a private entity by the University of Virginia, with Stanford, Rice Univ, and the College of William and Mary. The Commission is co-chaired by two former Secretaries of State James Baker (in Pres GHW Bush’s administration, who was also Pres. Reagan’s Chief of Staff) and Warren Christopher (in Pres Clinton’s administration). Other members of the Commission include former R Lee Hamilton (who chaired the Iraq Study Group), former AG Ed Meese, former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft, former Sen Slade Gorton, Carla A. Hills, former Secretary of the Army John O. Marsh, Jr., former US District Court Chief Judge Abner J. Mikva, former Commander in Chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet J. Paul Reason, Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University Anne-Marie Slaughter, and Strobe Talbott. The full recommendations are being released this morning (soon) in a press conference at the Capitol. In an Op-Ed, published in today’s NY Times, “Put War Powers Back Where They Belong,” Baker and Christopher outline the proposed War Powers Consultation Act of 2009. “Our Constitution ambiguously divides war powers between the president (who is the commander in chief) and Congress (which has the power of the purse and the power to declare war). The founders hoped that the executive and legislative branches would work together, but in practice the two branches don’t always consult. And even when they do, they often dispute their respective powers. “Our proposed new law, the War Powers Consultation Act of 2009, does not pretend to resolve the underlying constitutional issues — only a constitutional amendment or a Supreme Court decision could do that. It would reserve the ability of both Congress and the president to assert their constitutional war powers. In drawing up the statute we focused on a common theme that almost all past proposals shared: the importance of meaningful consultation between the president and Congress before the nation is committed to war. “Our proposed statute would provide that the president must consult with Congress before ordering a ‘significant armed conflict’ — defined as combat operations that last or are expected to last more than a week. To provide more clarity than the 1973 War Powers Resolution, our statute also defines what types of hostilities would not be considered significant armed conflicts — for example, training exercises, covert operations or missions to protect and rescue Americans abroad. If secrecy or other circumstances precluded prior consultation, then consultation — not just notification — would need to be undertaken within three days. “To guarantee that the president consults with a cross section of Congress, the act would create a joint Congressional committee made up of the leaders of the House and the Senate as well as the chairmen and ranking members of key committees. These are the members of Congress with whom the president would need to personally consult. Almost as important, the act would establish a permanent, bipartisan staff with access to all relevant intelligence and national-security information. “Congress would have obligations, too. Unless it declared war or otherwise expressly authorized a conflict, it would have to vote within 30 days on a resolution of approval. If the resolution of approval was defeated in either House, any member of Congress could propose a resolution of disapproval. Such a resolution would have the force of law, however, only if it were passed by both houses and signed by the president or the president’s veto were overridden. If the resolution of disapproval did not survive the president’s veto, Congress could express its opposition by, for example, using its internal rules to block future spending on the conflict.” Long overdue? Or limitation on the ability of the President and the Executive Branch to respond in time of national crisis? When the 1973 War Powers Resolution Act was passed there was a great deal of concern w/r/t the latter, particularly how it would impact the armed forces. How those concerns, real and more rhetorical, played out should be an informative comparative case study. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

From a first level analysis, it would not be expected to have an effect on the 23 chromosomes contributed through the egg. While there has been some very recent controversy in the scientific literature, the proponderance of the data (& "common knowledge") is that female mammals do not produce additional eggs throughout their lives. Yes, exposure to hormones or hormone mimics affects/can affect embryo development (mammal, reptile, or amphibian). (See [labrys]' response w/r/t suspension of male hormone treatment prior to pregnancy.) VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Would you please cite a source for this please? Because, I can cite a source indicating that the Saudis are in process of being able to boost production a further 1.2m bbls per day within a year. Maybe I’m missing it (?) … that citation notes increasing production on already proved reserves, which will move KSA's peak oil to the left, i.e., if one pumps & uses what’s in the ground at a higher rate, there’s less there. The article “Trouble in the pipeline: Despite booming demand and record prices, Russia's oil industry faces problems” does note: “In principle, Russia’s bonanza could continue for years: it has the world's seventh-biggest oil reserves, at 80 billion barrels, according to BP, a British oil firm. And oilmen reckon there are 100 billion more barrels to find—“the biggest exploration prize in the world”, in the words of Robert Dudley, the boss of TNK-BP, BP's Russian joint venture. But Russia has regulated the industry so poorly that production is falling despite the soaring oil price,” among other observations on Russian oil & natural gas and the business therein. 100 Billion (US or British Billion?) Current world oil consumption rate estimated (by BP) at >85 Million barrels per day; US consumption was >20 Million barrels per day in 2007. How long will the “biggest exploration prize in the world” last at those consumption rates? (Even w/out factoring in a conservative 0.9 Mb/d growth rate, per BP). Citation on proved global oil reserves Recent data on Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment prepared by UK-based New Energy Finance for UNEP’s Paris-based Sustainable Energy Finance Initiative (released 1 July): “Over $148 billion in new funding entered the sustainable energy sector globally last year, up 60% from 2006, even as a credit crunch began to roil financial markets. “Wind energy again attracted the most investment($50.2 billion in 2007), but solar power grew most rapidly: attracting some $28.6 billion of new capital and growing at an average annual rate of 254% since 2004, driven by the advent of larger project financings.” “The picture since the end of 2007 has been somewhat subdued across the sector, with only mergers and acquisitions up as several substantial wind developers sold their portfolios-many realising that with the tightening up of the credit markets they could not finance the growth themselves-and the US ethanol industry undergoing restructuring. But in the second quarter of 2008 most areas of investment rebounded, even as global financial markets remained in turmoil. Sustainable energy venture capital and private equity in Q2 2008 was up 34% on Q2 2007, new build asset finance was up 8% and public market investment showing a strong recovery with the IPO of Portuguese utility EDP’s renewable energy business, EDP Renovaveis.” VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying