Embyronic Stems Cells Without Death?

Paul Elias offers an interesting article on embryonic stem cells.   It may be possible to havest them from the amniotic fluid in the womb to obtain cells without killing a living human being.   Now amniotic fluid stem cells would have no more promise than embryonic stem cells, but they can be obtain without killing people.

Embryonic stem cells offer no medical promise.  Rather support for embryonic stem cell was a back door way to get the state to support abortion.   Kiling a human being to haverst his tissue is immoral and cheapens human  life. as does aborttion itself.

If amniotic fluid proves a viable source for stem cells, I predict the liberals will lose interest in embryonic stem cell reseach.

Update:  I overlooked one benefit of amniotic stem cells.   They can be uses to treat that person from from whom they were donated.   With embryonic stem cells the donor is killed.

This time, it’s Powerline.

At first I wondered if I should be watching my back… but I find that the problem was operator error. 

Hmmm.

You’ll recall I’ve been making noises about running over to Northeastern Ohio. We decided yesterday was the day. Subject of trip? Railfanning, and Lighthouses.

My wife is into lighthouses, and the boys are into trains.  The southern and eastern shores of Lake Erie, provide plenty of both.  And, the weather, warm as it’s been, did not show any signs of giving us any serious difficulties.  So at about 6am we were on the road west. The weather forecast showed rain showers moving through, along with what it called “occasional high winds”.  Those occasional high winds (45-50mph gusts) faced us all away from Rochester down to Erie and a little beyond.  Given I have a high profile van, this did not help my gas mileage.  You could see spots all on the way, where it had been raining hard; flooded yards , high running streams, and so on. Nothing unpassable, however.

So, down I-90. first stop, Ashtabula OH. It’s about 3 and a half hours out of Rochester, and therefore well within a daytrip run, if you have a weekend, so you can rest up the day after the trip. It’s a coal town. Which means, when there’s a lake around, lots of shipping… (Read that…”Lighthouses”…) and lots of trains.

We managed a fairly decent photo spot in what’s called “Point Park”. One pic I didn’t get, was of the coal chute This pic is from the city site, and is looking from POint park through the monster over at some of the piles of coal and the coal cars:

Now, if you looks to the far right of the shot (you can drill on the pic to get a higher resolution shot, if you like)you’ll note a little white spec.  That’s what drew us here; It was a lighthouse we didn’t know existed until last weekend. Here’s a tighter shot of it we managed to get, under and through the structure and in the really poor light of the day:

As you can tell, I had the zoom at the limit for this one, and yes, I had to play with the color a bit to get the lighthouse to pop a little. As I suppose you can imagine, giving out to this thing was something of an impossibility, given the weather.  We didn’t bother.
The light itself has some interesting history, which you can read about here. The light is still active today, if automated. Matter of fact this was the last manned light on Lake Erie at the time it was automated in 1973.

Here’s a few more shots of the coal activity:

As you can see, this is a major supplier for the area’s coal.  All those loaded coal cars means there’s a LOT of rail traffic around here, though not quite so much in the winter months. We decided to check out the CSX Chicago line, which runs through here, on it’s way past our house in Rochester.

We found a spot which actually has a rare sight in modern railroading: A “Diamond”.  This is a rail over rail crossing… where two rail lines or more cross each other at or near right angles.  This is just to the west of the CSX Ashtabula yards.
The heavy traffic reputation that this neighborhood has, proved fully justified one after setting in the area for less than five minutes the first train came along.

Now, look closely at the second of the power units; This is the kind of chance rarity that the rail photo buff lives for: older power, and rare paint schemes.  This particular scheme is called CSX Phase II. Or, sometimes, the “Grey Ghost”.  This particular unit… C40-8, CSX7588, they apparently decided not to paint in their newer paint schemes, thinking they’d be taking it out of service before long. Of course that choice was made quite a while ago, and despite the predictions of it’s demise, the thing continues on… only one of two of that type that are left in operation.  This unit has beaten the odds.

A little annoying the light wasn’t better. Keep in mind, this is touched up, to make up for the bad light. An example of better lighting, would be this snap of the same unit by Roger Durfee as it made it’s way through someone’s back yard on the 26th of November, last year, a few hundred miles away, at Wampum,Pennsylvania :

By the way, Roger posts quite a bit at RAILFAN.NET.I’ve seen his name before, attached to some fine work.

There was something of a theme of unexpected surprises on this trip. If you’re a railfan, you generally don’t really know what you’re dealing with, until it’s next to you.  The very next train, around 10 minutes later, turned out to be no exception. The unit on the point… an old CSX SD40-2 8068, in Yellow Nose paint, was a clue we might have something out of the ordinary, here. Unusually, when pressed into mainline service anymore, these older units don’t get to be in the lead, or ‘on the point’, as this one was. The second clue was a splash of bright, freshly painted orange and silver, on something a fair bit larger than the point power.

As it turned out, this seemingly nondescript train held rail photography gold: a string of brand seven new General Electric units, in BNSF’s bright orange livery, on their very first run. These were being taken from the GE plant over at Erie to their delivery point in the BNSF system.

When Burlington northern merged with what was left of the Santa Fe system they went through a few generations of “brand paint” as well.
This is their latest, and by all accounts, will be the one they go with for a few years.

Each one of these new units houses around 4500 horsepower.  Add to it the 3000 or so horsepower each, of the two lead units and you’re talking about 37,500 horsepower at the disposal of the guy running the train… and a rather pleasing rumble.

Even taken individually, these new units from GE are an engineering marvel… Their fuel efficiency, reliability, and just all around usefulness, have made them a modern day staple in American railroading.  Some environmentalists will complain that diesels make too much smoke, etc., but the electronic controls on this thing along with fuel efficiency, given the lowest amount of smoke I’ve ever seen a out of any Diesel powered Loco..

Here’s a going away shot that gives you some perspective of the sheer size of this lashup:

That’s my younger boy, Alex out in front, who got a smile, a wave and a ‘toot’ from the hogger.

From there we went to lunch, and up through Coneaut, OH on our way back to Erie, to the north and east. Stop number one at Erie was a lighthouse we’d stood practically under but never saw.. the Erie Land light.

We had seen the light out at the far tip of Presque Isle, a couple years past and you can see this smaller light from the spot of the larger one… but for reasons I don’t understand, other than perhaps the weather, we never saw the larger light looming over us.

The lantern room at the top of the tower, is a re-construction, since the thing was originally removed around the turn of the century when it was retired for the second time.

The thing looks great for a building with 1867 written on the cornerstone.

There’s a playground there along with a lot of history, and a really fine view. I could see spending a few hours here on a warm summer’s day.

If you’re in Erie, it’s worth the stop.

From there, we were off to the Erie test track, which is where the new power we’d seen at Ashtabula was built, and tested. I’ve written about this place before; It’s a favorite stop.  Nothing on the test track today, but we did manage to get lots of freight traffic on film… well, on flashcard, anyway.

From there, a short hop to home.

So, now you know where I was on Saturday.

George Will had the audacity to call for the correct minimum wage, to wit zero.  You can read Will’s entire article here.    However here is Will’s money quote:

Labor is a commodity; governments make messes when they decree commodities’ prices

That labor, as in the fruits of an employee/s endeavors, is a commodity is simply a fact.  That state attempts to control commodity prices simply create problems is easily discerned historical observation.

Never to dissuaded by facts. liberal blogs attacked Will’s asssertion.   Kevin Drum weighed in with ths article  Here is Drum’s money quote:

This, in a nutshell, is the core problem with conservative economics: it views workers as commodities. Naturally it follows from this that we should be free to treat workers like commodities, rather than as human beings. (See here for a recent example.)

Most conservatives are careful not to state this belief quite so baldly, but Will must have slipped up this morning. But don’t blame him. He’s just saying out loud what all the rest of them usually say only under their breaths.

Drum’s problem is simple.   In order to refute Will, Drum had to distort. lied about, what Will wrote.   Will wrote that  labor, as in the fruits of an employee’s endeavors, is a commodity.   Drum responded that laborers, the employees, are not commodities.   You are not a commodity.  The labors  you provide your employer is a commodity.

If Drum, and the liberals, want to attampt to refute Will, who is only stating classic economics, they need to refute what Will wrote, not their distortion of what Will wrote.

Don Surber cites some interesting poll numbers.   While the MSM is describing President Bush as a crippled lame duck, the same media is touting Mrs. Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, as the most powerful woman in America.

The President has higher approval numbers:

The President’s Job Approval Ratings have bounced up slightly in the first week of the New Year. Today, 45% of Americans say they at least Somewhat Approve of the way George W. Bush is performing his role.

Than does Mrs. Pelosi:

Forty-three percent (43%) of Americans have a favorable opinion concerning the nation’s new Speaker of the House. The first woman to serve in that role, Nancy Pelosi (D) earns favorable reviews from 45% of women and 41% of men.

Order a bucket of wings and break out the cold beer.  This is going to be fun.

Rush likesl to say his show is show prep for the MSM.   When Rush says it, there is ring of truth to it.  So is Is Bitsblog really show prep for the media?   Well we do happen to blog of certain themes, stories, before they get picked by the more main stream media.   The truth is our hit rate just isn’t enough to support such a claim.  Oh, but what if it were.

Yet to but believe it were thus.  Yesterday Bit wrote:

I noticed John Gibson, this evening, extending the comments that David made earlier this morning;

Boy wonder Rahm Emanuel led the Democrats takeover of the House. For months now, he no doubt watched TV news with undisguised pleasure as Cindy Sheehan screeched at Bush

Well in the pundit war, I too can offer my pundit, who hits on themes like Mrs. Pelosi, Mrs Sheehan and to two years of fun watching the ‘rats self-destruct.   Well Gibson certainly has higher ratings, his own cable news program,  and writes better than mine, but my pundit is cuter and definetly has more spunk (w/ video). 

After calling herself “the most powerful woman in America,” Mrs. Pelosi flexed her right muscle like a weight lifter to much applause at an event yesterday titled a “women’s tea.”
    “All right, let’s hear it for the power,” she screamed as the jubilant applause continued [emphasis original, picture added]

Unlike Lou Grant, I like spunk and Atlas has plenty of it.   We may be out of power, but we’re inside the party.  (H/T Pelosi photo: James Joyner,  Outside the Beltway; Sean Hackbarth,The American Mind)

It’s been an extraordinarily long day at work, and I am overtired, so I’m probably not going to write a great deal in this night’s ramble.  I hope you’ll understand that I’ll run into these days once in a while.
-=-

I see Q&O caught it again. One of their readers says Protein Wisdom is down, but that doesn’t appear to be a hack.  Maybe, I don’t know.  I wonder if they managed to get IP addresses off of the attacks?  Franks mentions, in his little massive, that it took about an hour and half for the steady traffic to brute- force the FTP password on the site.  If thery’re recording IP addresses, it would seem simple enough to pick it up somebody hitting you for an hour and half straight.

Anyway, I wish them luck.  I’ve had to pick up sites, both commercial and noncommercial, after a hacker attacks.  I know what a pain in the butt that can be.

-=-

Joyner says:

I’ve received two BREAKING NEWS alerts from CNN in my inbox today:

“Congress convened today with Democrats in control of both the House and Senate for the first time in a dozen years.” (12:06)”California Democrat Nancy Pelosi has become the first woman to be elected speaker of the United States House of Representatives.” (1:33)

It’s called ‘promoting the home team’, James.  I hope you didn’t honestly think it was going to go any other way.  By the way, that’s why I gave up on those alerts from CNN years ago.

-=-

I noticed John Gibson, this evening, extending the comments that David made earlier this morning;

Boy wonder Rahm Emanuel led the Democrats takeover of the House. For months now, he no doubt watched TV news with undisguised pleasure as Cindy Sheehan screeched at Bush, camped in front of his ranch, and wandered around the world inventing fresh insults to throw at him.

Now she is Rahm Emanuel’s problem. Welcome to the chaos of the angry left, Mr. Congressman. You used these people to whip up fervor against the war and against Bush. Congratulations. It worked. And now she is yours.

Just so.  And what do the Democrats DO….in that situation?  If they can’t tell to the guano left, they lose all the moderates, and the crossovers.  Thereby, they will lose the next election.  If they don’t, they lose their base.

This is precisely the phenomenon that I was talking about a few years ago, with regards to libertarian purists.  In that case, of course, I was talking about the opposite end of the spectrum.  Either way, this is going to be an excellent and highly educational example of what happens when the extremists rule the day.

As David has said repeatedly, this is going to be an interesting couple of years.

-=-

A story posted very early this morning, doesn’t surprise me at all, but it does that mean shaking my head a bit.

It turns out that bill Clinton’s signed a letter which authorized Sandy “Stuffed Pants” Berger, access to classified documents, that turned out later to be missing.  This afternoon intensive investigation by the national archives and records administration.

Now; what were these documents about again?  These were the sensitive drafts of the national security council’s “millennium after action review” which coverage among other things the Clinton administration’s handling of al-Qaida terror threats back in December of 1999.

Seems to me, rather clear, that Mr. Berger was trying to make incriminating evidence disappear.  I say incriminating, because I honestly think there was some criminal activity going on here; criminal negligence.  I am firmly convinced now, and have been since day one, that Bill Clinton knew about the AQ threat, but chose to do nothing.

-=-

Mario Loyola over at the corner makes a very important post…

What is most shocking to me about war critics who dismiss his execution is the ease with which they wave away the hundreds and thousands of hours of real torture—and I don’t mean waterboarding, but rather sulfuric acid poured in the eyes, electric shock on the genitals, digits ripped from the hand with pliers, and worse—which Saddam inflicted on tens of thousands of innocents in Iraq.  In today’s Boston Globe, Jeff Jacoby remembers more of Saddam’s horror stories.  You need a heart of stone not to be consumed with hatred for Saddam.

As Peretz suggests, Saddam has earned an eternity of torment.  The debate over the decorum of his execution makes me wonder, as Christopher Hitchens has, whether we really understand the brutality of our enemies—and whether we ourselves are capable of the brutality which may be necessary to defeat them.

Exactly so. This is a question I have asked here, repeatedly.  The reason I ask, is I have long since begun to doubt we do.

I would ask you to read the rest of his article.

Done? Good.

Now, you’ll recall I made reference recently, to Italy lynching it’s dictator, and hanging  the bastard by his heels.  I should have pointed out the other night, that  Italy not only survived, but did well following the war… not in spite of that act, but rather BECAUSE of it. When you’re dealing with a ruthless enemy, defeating that enemy requires ruthlessness…. not just from the standpoint of that enemy’s actual defeat, but as a reinforcement of JUSTICE… both in the minds of the victims, and in the minds of those who would, given the chance, create more.

Which, as Loyola points up was exactly what Nurremburg was about. It WAS for show.

As an example… Don’t think for a minute that the guano leader in Iran isn’t watching these events, and recognizing that his current behavioral path is the same as Saddam’s… and the outcome will be the same… heckled as he swings….assuming he doesn’t change that path, himself.  Understand; simply dying doesn’t have the same fear factor attached to it for such people,  as does being executed with such ignominy.

But it took the Iraqis to do this… it was something that even assuming was within our rights to do, we would not; We haven’t the stomach for it as the reaction from the left I mentioned yesterday, shows clearly.

As such, we had best consign ourselves to losing the war on terror… assuming we don’t grow a pair of our own to face this menace.

A tale of two southern ladies.  First, Mary Katherine Ham, links to this great Op-Ed by Betsy Newmark, “Racist stereotypes shaped Duke rape case,”   Mary Katherine then proceeds to smack Durham with a dead flounder.

She’s right, of course. Finnerty and Seligmann will only be truly forgiven in Durham if they hop into the white guilt drum circle for aggressive self-flagellation with the rest of the city. They’ll be asked not to sue anyone and to, instead, join in the healing process, which consists of talking ad nauseum about the “larger truths” their non-crime revealed– none of which, by the way, will have anything to do with the fact that Durham is a little race-obsessed P.C. haven where the white and privileged and innocent were sold out instantly just for the community feelgood effect.

I’ll bet that the three falsely accused, Dave Evans, Reade Seligmann, and Collin Finnerty, get their lives back in some semlance of order long before Durham examines her soul.  Mike Nifong can, and should be, disbarred.   Sadly is is no state bar association for communities.   Maybe there should be?

More, Besty’s Page.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 —NY TIMES- John D. Negroponte, whom President Bush installed less than two years ago as the first director of national intelligence, will soon leave his post to become the State Department’s second-ranking official, administration officials said Wednesday.

This seems to me a signal of what I’ve been commenting on for years… the apparent, and I think fully justified, mistrust of State, at the White House.

(H/T photo:  Sweetness & Light )

Just as surely as dead meat attracts flies,majority status in Congress attracts moonbats.   Josh Gerstien, the Sun(NY) reports, how Rahm Emanuel was ambushed:

A noisy band of anti-war protesters prompted House Democratic leaders to call an abrupt end to a Capitol Hill news conference discussing measures to tighten congressional ethics rules.

As the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, was briefing reporters, he was interrupted by a group of about a dozen peace activists yesterday, including a California woman whose son was killed in Iraq, Cindy Sheehan.

You note that Mrs. Sheehan approves of free speech for her, but not for her opponents.  Well Rahm,  you invited Mrs Sheehan to your dance, now you forced to dance with her.  The next two years will at least be intereting.

More: TomPaine, Powerline.

Update:  Hot Air has the video.

Michelle Malkin:

My blogging has been lighter than usual the past few weeks due to family time, Fox News duties, holiday chaos, holiday illness–and, yes, planning for a trip to Iraq. As you know, ex-CNN newsman Eason Jordan extended an invitation to me three weeks ago to go to Iraq to investigate the Associated Press/”Jamil Hussein” story. He offered to pay for a trip. As you’ll recall, I asked if he would offer to cover travel and security costs for Curt from Flopping Aces–who broke open the story of AP’s dubious sources on Thanksgiving weekend and continues to lead the blogospheric search for the truth. Jordan agreed.

To say the very least, huge news.  I must confess, particularly given our discussion of yesterday with regards to Mr. Jordan, that I’m a little confused on his involvement, here. I value Michelle’s judgment highly.  On that basis, it would appear possible I undervalued Mr. Eason.  Time will tell.  But just as large a news is the idea that Curt is going as well. Curt has become a friend of this blog recently, and we will be watching his progress.

-=-

I was sorry hear tonight, of problems over at Q&O…

Apparently, somebody hacked into one of the accounts there and did some serious damage.  Not to worry.  Dale Franks is a fairly decent programmer, and will have had the sense to keep things backed up.  It does go to show that security on these things, is of large importance.  They’re mostly back up, already, in fact,from the look of things, though I note the RSS feed still hasn’t updated at Bloglines, or at my server here at Casa De Bit.

-=-

Speaking of Q&O, I hadn’t commented here on the news of Jon’s new position with the Republican leadership. It’s a nice break for him.  I certainly have some disagreements with him on matters of principle, but I think he’ll do fine in that position that he’s secured for himself.  Jon is if nothing else, fairly articulate and clearly knowledgeable about what goes on in the Blogging world… more so than most people in it, and certainly more so than just about anybody outside of it. I think there are better writers, but that’s not the issue here.  Clearly the issue is whether not he’s a fit for the office; and I happen to agree with his betters that he’s good for that position for the most part.
I think it may be interesting to watch McConnell’s office, to determine just how much of those points of disagreement, come out in McConnell’s statements. Since I haven’t found much to disagree with McConnell on previously, I’ll take that shift in direction as evidence of influence from Mr. Henke.  When I see them I will be commenting on them, here.

It’s as I said before; with the it has been and always will be about the ideas. That goes for him or anyone else. When I have gone after Jon, it’s been about the ideas. I hold neither love, nor hate for Henke, any more than I hold particular love or hate for the Republican party. Rather, I see the Republican party at the moment to be the best tool in efforts to defeat America’s worst enemy; the Democrats.  To the end that Jon’s advice strengthens those tools, the better off America will be for it.  But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to agree with him at all times, as I’ve tried to explain to you previously.  When I disagree, you will know about it, and trust me, so will he…  as he will when I agree. As I said before, that’s how this game gets played. America is better for it.
-=-

Another warm weekend; we’re seriously considering running down to Erie, Pennsylvania, this weekend.  I found a couple Lighthouses on the map in the area, that my wife will be interested in, and we’ll try and shoot some of the rolling parade on the CSX and Norfolk Southern Main Lines. If I get the chance, I’ll post pics.
-=-

Oh, about that; I’ve also ordered some RAM for the camera… a 2gb module. Oughta be able to outlast the batteries with that thing in my Powershot A95, huh?  It likely won’t show up before this weekend, though, sadly.

-=-

I notice this bit with Keith Ellison and Virgil Goode is still on the lips of Americans… as it should be. Riehl has perhaps the best line of the day on that whole thing;

Allah thinks Ellison’s shrewd political move of taking his private oath on a Thomas Jefferson owned copy of the Koran is checkmate. But not so fast. I see Allah has it in an update. But let’s look at even more of the picture, while not forgetting that Jefferson owned a slave or two, as well. Is Ellison planing on swearing in on one of them, too? And if so, what religion do you think he or she would be?

Jefferson purchased the Koran as a student prior to his even taking the bar exam and after reading another book said to be prejudiced against Islam. And the notion I suspect you’ll hear repeated by the MSM, that Jefferson used the Koran to gain insight into the law, appears to be pure academic speculation with a certain anti-theist sounding slant.

Yes, well, don’t let a few facts get in the way of a moderately well worded, if ill thought-out rant.  The fact of the matter is that Goode has it right. it is also fact that his position is not based in bigotry, and those who label it as such are attempting to defeat Goode by muddying the water.

Does anybody remember the battle over welfare reform?  Every time the subject came up, the usual suspects from Jesse Jackson on down, started making noise about how such a thing was anti black.  Now, the fact, was a little bit different, and still is.  There were, and are, more white people on welfare than black.  Always has been that way.  Yet constant drumbeats from the left about how welfare reform was inherently racist.  It can be labeled nothing less than a willful distortion of facts.  But there it is.

To suggest that Goode is operating in bigotry,is to similarly mislabel the issue.  Thereby, revealing the real desire to avoid it altogether.

But let’s call this one what it is; political showmanship. Eillison may very well win points within the Democratic party for using the copy of the Koran purchased by Democratic Party icon, Thomas Jefferson , but only so long as certain facts don’t come out about Jefferson;

The reality is, as Allah now points out and I had planned to post via NRO, is that Jefferson waged war against Islam … long after having read their book. And he went against his prior beliefs of a small coastal-restricted Navy in doing so.

Even after it became commonplace for the pirate captains or their crew to be renegade Europeans, it was essential that these former Christians “turn Turk” and convert to Islam before they could be accorded the honor of engagement in al-jihad fil-bahr, the holy war at sea.

In fact, the peoples of Barbary continued to consider the pirates as holy warriors even after the Barbary rulers began to allow non-religious commitments to command their strategic use of piracy. The changes that the religious institution of piracy underwent were natural, if pathological. Just as the concept of jihad is invoked by Muslim terrorists today to legitimize suicide bombings of noncombatants for political gain, so too al-jihad fil-bahr, the holy war at sea, served as the cornerstone of the Barbary states’ interaction with Christendom.

As Jefferson reported to the Continental Congress:

These future United States presidents questioned the ambassador as to why his government was so hostile to the new American republic even though America had done nothing to provoke any such animosity. Ambassador Adja answered them, as they reported to the Continental Congress, “that it was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman who should be slain in Battle was sure to go to Paradise.”

Indeed, it’s a wonder the Democrats keep him as an icon, at all.

-=-

The New York Post, better late than never, discovers an allegator in Mrs. Pelosi’s Swamp, to wit her ethically challenged Chairman of the Judiciary Committee John Conyers.  

But Conyers’ credibility as the Democrats’ moral watchdog was shredded by the dubious deal he just struck with the House Ethics Committee – which was made public late last Friday in a holiday-weekend bid to avoid publicity.

After a probe lasting more than three years, the committee declared that Conyers has “accepted responsibility” for a series of House rules violations involving the use – and abuse – of his staffers.

The Post compares Conyers to disgraced and resigned former New York State Controller Alan Hevesi:

New York’s state comptroller, Alan Hevesi, just lost his job and pleaded guilty to a felony for doing a lot less with taxpayer-funded employees.

Mark Foley resigned.   Hevesi resigned.   Mrs Pelosi should demand no less from Conyers.

Today’s Snark of the Day comes from Don Surber:

When I read the post-Christmas story in the Washington Post, “U.S. Wants Polar Bears Listed as Threatened,” my first thought was: What about the baby seals?

Polar bears eat baby seals. Fewer polar bears, more baby seals. Paul McCartney, should be happy, right?

Imagine, more cute baby seals.  Wouldn’t the PETA crowd just love that?

Author unknown:

There’s a sucker born every minute

New York State governor Eliot “Phineas Taylor” Spitzer must believe there are 19,254,630 of them.

P.T. gave his first address to the New York State legislature, giving with one hand while taking away with the other.  Promising to rein in spending while promising massive state spending projects.  Bloomberg:

To pay for his initiatives, Spitzer said, “now is the time to rein in spending.” The current budget of the third-most- populous state is $113 billion.

Budget Plan

Spitzer proposed more funding for the state’s Aid and Incentives to Municipalities program. Infrastructure projects he supported included replacement of the Peace Bridge between Buffalo, New York, and Fort Erie, Ontario, and completion of planning for replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge over the Hudson River between Westchester and Rockland counties.

Some of Spitzer’s plans actually make sense, like eliminating most of New York State some 700 authorities.  If Spitzer were serious about reducing state spending, he needs to think of ways not to spend money and avoid his proposed massive pork projects.