Monthly Archives: February 2009

Flood Control vs. Watershed Management in the Obama Economic Stimulus Package

A section or two from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (aka Obama and the Democrats’ economic stimulus package, the Senate version): 16 NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE 17 WATERSHED AND FLOOD PREVENTION OPERATIONS 18 For an additional amount for ”Watershed and Flood 19 Prevention Operations”, $275,000,000, to remain avail- able until September 30, 2010. 21Continue reading “Flood Control vs. Watershed Management in the Obama Economic Stimulus Package”

The New Way to Lie in Public: The FDA Likes It!

On the front page of The Los Angeles Times this morning is a sharp story on the the Federal Drug Administration, and its virtually non-existent oversight of a peanut processing plant in Georgia. Because the plant was "filthy" and because the government farmed out oversight to a state agency that looked the other way, hundredsContinue reading “The New Way to Lie in Public: The FDA Likes It!”

“A Crisis into a Catastrophe”: How to Frame the Economic Meltdown — and Global Warming

Tuesday Steven Chu, the newly-appointed Secretary of Energy, warned that if global warming is not slowed, California agriculture could be destroyed this century. He told the Los Angeles Times: California's farms and vineyards could vanish by the end of the century, and its major cities could be in jeopardy, if Americans do not act toContinue reading ““A Crisis into a Catastrophe”: How to Frame the Economic Meltdown — and Global Warming”

The American Idea, According to Bruce Springsteen

Al Filreis, the UPenn prof who knows as much about American poetry as nearly anyone alive (heck, he has roughly twelve freaking blogs on the subject) links to a big story in the inevitable New York Times about Bruce Springsteen, and endorses the idea that Springsteen is "The Rock Laureate." Jon Pareles is a goodContinue reading “The American Idea, According to Bruce Springsteen”