Just the kind of thing we should all be proud of…
Fabulous
by John Cole| 17 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
by John Cole| 17 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
Just the kind of thing we should all be proud of…
by John Cole| 3 Comments
This post is in: Sports
The Mountaineers beat Wofford, 35-7, to make them 2-0. I didn’t even bother to listen past the first quarter (wasn’t televised and I didn’t go, despite the fact I live a mile from the stadium). I was more interested in the Georgia/South Carolina match-up, which was a helluva lot closer than I expected.
Now time for Arizona State/LSU.
by John Cole| 55 Comments
This post is in: Domestic Politics
I might have to make some vacation plans:
The New Orleans business establishment-in-exile has set up a beachhead in a government annex here, across the street from the state Capitol. From here, organizations like the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau have begun to plot the rebirth of the city.
In the cramped offices and hallways of this building, called the Capitol Annex, and continuing into the evening at bars and restaurants around Baton Rouge, New Orleans’s business leaders and power brokers are concocting big plans, the most important being reopening the French Quarter within 90 days.
Also under discussion are plans to stage a scaled-down Mardi Gras at the end of February and to lobby for one of the 2008 presidential nominating conventions and perhaps the next available Super Bowl.
So far, those conversations have been taking place largely without the participation of one central player: the city. “They’re still in emergency mode and not yet thinking strategically,” said J. Stephen Perry, the chief executive of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We’re thinking strategically.”
The hurdles are formidable when so much of the city is still flooded and some are predicting it could be six months to a year before New Orleans is once again habitable. But the power brokers are not deterred.
If they are up and running, they could use the tourism- that you can be sure of…
by John Cole| 66 Comments
This post is in: Domestic Politics, Science & Technology
Big puff piece in the NY Times on the benefits of ethanol based fuels, which, if you didn’t know any better, you would think was written by a Senator from the midwest. Finally, on page two of the piece, they get to the problems with ethanol:
A recent study published in the journal BioScience forecast that for all cars and trucks to run on ethanol by 2048, “virtually the entire country, with the exception of cities, would be covered with corn plantations.” Using more farmland to produce ethanol would also drive up food prices. And E85 cannot be transported through gasoline pipelines, because it sucks up grime and water.
E85 is also less energy-dense than gasoline, so a driver goes a bit less far on a gallon. Its current cost advantage is dependent on a 43-cents-a-gallon subsidy, versus a roughly 40-cent tax on a gallon of gasoline. Environmentalists have generally viewed the rise of flex-fuel vehicles as a boondoggle for automakers, because they are afforded fuel economy credits for making them. The credits have had the effect of driving up oil consumption. Many consumers who buy flex-fuel vehicles are not even made aware of the capability.
I am all for a balanced approach to future fuel sources, but the folks who think ethanol is the answer overstate the case. I don’t know if it is still the case, but I was under the impression that it takes more energy to create ethanol than you get from burning it.
by John Cole| 18 Comments
This post is in: Science & Technology
Interesting piece in Wired on the possibility of future cures for a range of diseases.
by John Cole| 83 Comments
This post is in: Domestic Politics
This is something to be hopeful about:
Estimates of the death toll from Hurricane Katrina have run as high as 10,000 but the actual body count so far is much lower and officials who feared the worst now hope the dire predictions were wrong.
The recovery of Katrina’s victims speeded up in the last two days. As of Thursday, Mississippi had recorded 201 deaths and Louisiana 118, while other affected states had much lower numbers.
Searchers are now going door-to-door in New Orleans neighborhoods where the water has fallen enough for a look inside flooded homes. In Mississippi teams have been recovering bodies since hours after the storm struck on Monday last week.
The results in both places have encouraged some officials to hope the body count may not reach the predicted heights.
“I am thinking we are better off than we thought we’d be,” said Louisiana state Sen. Walter Boasso, who represents St. Bernard Parish near New Orleans, parts of which still sit under 8 feet of water.
The authorities are ready in case the total sharply rises.
A small glimmer of hope.
by John Cole| 9 Comments
This post is in: Domestic Politics
This was, sadly, predictable:
Delta Air Lines Inc., the nation’s third-largest carrier, could file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection next week if it can line up financing, sources familiar with the plan said yesterday.
The Atlanta-based airline is trying to line up between $1.6 billion and $1.7 billion in debtor-in-possession financing, which is used to operate during bankruptcy proceedings, according to a report in Debtwire, an online news service for hedge funds and investment bankers. Banks or other financial institutions that provide debtor-in-possession financing have first claims on any assets during a reorganization.
According to the report, Delta officials have received proposals from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and General Electric Co.’s commercial finance arm.
If Delta does not obtain the financing, the filing could be delayed, said the sources, who spoke on the condition that they not be identified because the plan is not final.
After the judge gave United permission to dump their pension guarantees off on someone else (ahem, you), even a blind man could see this coming.