Morning Wood: Unicorn Found in Italy

Morning wood and a unicorn, they go together like...pretty good.

Single-horned 'Unicorn' deer found in Italy
By MARTA FALCONI, Associated Press Writer Wed Jun 11
ROME - A deer with a single horn in the center of its head — much like the fabled, mythical unicorn — has been spotted in a nature preserve in Italy, park officials said Wednesday.



"This is fantasy becoming reality," Gilberto Tozzi, director of the Center of Natural Sciences in Prato, told The Associated Press. "The unicorn has always been a mythological animal."

Wrong. This is fantasy becoming reality. Your unicorn is cool. That's it.

Morning Wood: Mad Cow Scares Man to Death

Korean man sets self on fire during protest of imported US beef. Check that, two guys go flambeau to protest safe beef imports. THEN, the entire S. Korean Cabinet offers to resign. The issue...fear of mad cow disease.

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea's entire Cabinet offered to resign Tuesday following a public uproar over the planned resumption of U.S. beef imports, despite concerns of mad cow disease.

Earlier in the day, a South Korean man died two weeks after setting himself on fire during a rally, according to Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital in Seoul.

Another protester set himself ablaze in a protest last week but his condition was not life-threatening, said Kim Tae-hyung, an official at a civic group that has organized demonstrations.

Let me get this straight. You kill yourself to protest something that hasn't killed anybody in your country? Now I'm no mad cow disease expert, but there seems to be something wrong here that is a little more dangerous than some funky beef.

Let's do a little google research to check out where this lies on the hypocrite/hypochondriac monitor. According to the WHO, Koreans males smoke at a rate of 67%. That number is 25% for the US. Yup, that's a 10 on the H/H meter.

I won't call Koreans stupid, but saying their worries are a bit misplaced is an understatement.

LINK to story

Here's the Grade A beef without any mad cow worry.

Ethanol Mandate Update

More from the files of good intentions and unintended consequences.

Here is the chart for corn since the ethanol blending madate went into effect.

LINK TO CHART

The 2005 energy bill mandated that 4 billion gal­lons of renewable fuel (mostly corn-based ethanol) must be added to the gasoline supply in 2006. That amount rises to 4.7 billion gallons for 2007 and 7.5 billion in 2012. These targets represent a large per­centage increase in ethanol use but are still only a small fraction of the 140 billion gallons of gasoline that the U.S. currently uses every year.

Heritage Foundation

G-8 Energy Ministers: Hatch a plan to make it worse

So the G-8 got together and invited Russia, China, and India to talk about world energy demands, production and the soaring prices of the last 6 years. Their conclusion? We need SPECTRE Industries to build us 45 trillion dollars worth of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) units to suck carbon dioxide out of the air. The IEA (International Energy Agency - part of the UN) has determined that even though they can't quantify any cause and effect, it's time to move forward with the plan to make energy and the cost of living a lot more expensive. No one could foresee any unintended consequences with that idea....

Reuters sums up the G-8 energy ministers problem:

Caught between mounting popular discontent at home and the need to invest billions in greener energy to cut world carbon emissions, the G8 ministers offered few new ideas for heads of state to consider at their summit next month.

Not a single mention in the article about nuclear power. Not a single mention that the restrictive EU and US energy development policies that prevents additional energy development. And not a single mention of the huge run up in energy use by China and India. But hey, we have this great plan to make things worse!

The little guy is going to get crushed as these bureaucrats play with these energy markets over the next decade.

And here's the winner for the take home message.

"...but oil prices have carried on rising as investors rush into commodities as a hedge against the dollar's fall and inflation."

"In the end, some ministers conceded they were powerless to fight the flow of financial capital."

Capital is flowing into energy markets because these morons are making it a no-lose proposition - not as a "hedge" to the US dollar. With this logic, the run up in food prices could be seen as a hedge against the end of the Atkins diet instead of the horrible decision to force corn into our gas tanks.

So, they can't do anything positive, but can make things worse? Sounds like a typical UN meeting.

Climate Security Act: The Talking Killer

Turns out the great climate act of 2008 wasn't going to be quite the political football Barbara Boxer and Harry Reid had hoped for. In a not too stunning reversal, the Senate punted the issue until next year when they hope to avoid the scrutiny of a debate. I guess a 7 trillion dollar tax hike on energy the same weekend gas hits 4 bucks a gallon would have come off a little "uncaring" for the plight of the little people who pay to drive to work every day.

The bill died without actually dying; sort of the Senate's version of the talking killer that has been shot in the shoulder. You know he is going to get up as soon as the girl (who picked up the gun) turns her back on the killer to check on her witless boyfriend.

Jun 6, 2008 9:03 AM Senate On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Boxer Amdt. No. 4825 ) Cloture Motion Rejected 48-36, 16 not voting (3/5 required).

In other words. Since only 84 Senators voted on the Cloture Motion, it would have taken 51 (3/5) to end the presumptive filibuster. Since only 48 did so, the Bill is now on the floor with a winged shoulder.

Of note: 16 senators no-voted...McCain skipped this one...Obama continued a stellar history of not putting himself on the record.

Morning Wood: Down and Out in Sauderton PA

Homeless man accused of swindling 13 women
SOUDERTON, Pa. - A homeless man accused of duping 13 women by posing as a millionaire on an Internet dating service was arraigned Wednesday in this Philadelphia suburb.
Paul Krueger, 50, used a laptop computer to meet the women on Millionairematch.com, prosecutors said. He is accused of stealing more than $100,000 from the women after convincing them he was a Grammy-nominated record mogul who needed investors for a new business venture that manufactured DVDs, CDs and other videos. He showed one victim false stock reports detailing the success of his nonexistent new business, according to court papers.

Charges were filed in Souderton because that is where he told women to send him money; the address is the home of his ex-wife, authorities said.

Authorities say Krueger used the money to fuel his gambling addiction. He was arrested last week at a casino in Atlantic City, N.J., and did not fight extradition to Pennsylvania.

Krueger declined to comment to reporters as he was arraigned on charges of theft by unlawful taking or disposition, theft by deception, deceptive or fraudulent business practices and Pennsylvania Securities Act violations.



Recent photo:

OK, that was millionairematch.com. I know what I'm doing next week.

Climate Security Act (2191/3036)

Looking at the list of subject terms for the Climate Security Act was enlightening. Read through the list and you will know just how far-reaching this bill will be when passed - and becomes law next year.
Link to Gov Track

Here are some subject terms that are missing: guaranteed recession, junk science, socialism, unintended consequences.

Actions and defenses
Administrative procedure
Agricultural pollution
Agricultural research
Agriculture
Air conditioning
Air pollution
Air pollution control
Airports
Alternative energy sources
Animals
Armed forces
Auctions
Automobile industry
Automobile repair
Biomass energy
Budgets
Building laws
Business
Carbon cycle
Carbon dioxide
Cellulose
Clean coal technology
Climate change
Coal mines and mining
Coastal zone
Colleges
Commercial aviation
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Cooperative societies
Coral reefs
Corporations
Defense policy
Diesel motor
Earned income tax credit
Economic impact statements
Economic policy
Ecosystem management
Electric appliances
Electric power distribution
Electric power plants
Electric utilities
Electric utility rates
Electric vehicles
Electronic benefits transfers
Emergency management
Emissions trading
Employee training
Endangered species
Energy
Energy conservation
Energy efficiency
Energy prices
Environmental law enforcement
Environmental protection
Environmental Protection Agency
Environmental research
Environmental technology
Estuaries
Executive departments
Executive reorganization
Federal aid to education
Federal aid to Indians
Finance
Fire fighters
Fire prevention
Fishery management
Flood control
Fluorocarbons
Foreign policy
Forest conservation
Forest fires
Forestry
Forestry research
Forests
Fuel cells
Fuel consumption
Gas companies
Geology
Geothermal resources
Government information
Government liability
Government paperwork
Government publicity
Government trust funds
Greenhouse gases
Habitat conservation
Hazardous substances
Heating
Higher education
Import restrictions
Income tax
Industrial buildings
Information disclosure (Securities law)
Infrastructure
International affairs
International environmental cooperation
Investments
Job training
Labor
Labor statistics
Landfills
Law
Manufacturing industries
Marine ecology
Marine mammals
Marine pollution
Marine resources
Mercury
Methane
Minorities
Montana
Motor vehicle pollution control
National security
Natural gas
Natural resources
Negotiations
Nitrogen oxides
Nonprofit organizations
Ocean energy resources
Petroleum industry
Petroleum refineries
Pipelines
Potable water
Presidential powers
Presidents
Public lands
Recycling of waste products
Research centers
Rural affairs
Science policy
Scientific education
Social security
Social security taxes
Social services
Solar energy
Solid wastes
Standards
State and local government
State laws
Sulphur dioxide
Taxation
Technological innovations
Technology
Telecommunication
Tidal power
Trade
Transportation
Treaties
U.S. Agency for International Development
Water pollution
Water pollution control
Water quality
Water resources
Welfare
Wind power
Wyoming

Morning Wood: The New Club Drug: Preparation H

Yeah, there are a lot of assholes hanging out at bars and clubs across the country, so this kind of makes sense.

Preparation H, the topical medication used to treat hemorrhoids, reportedly is catching fire as the latest "drug" to hit the New York City club scene.
The topical solution contains a medication called phenylephrine HCL, which shrinks the swollen tissues of hemorrhoids. It works by constricting the nearby blood vessels that surround the area. But the ingredient will shrink other tissue as well.
The method has been hailed on the Internet and has long been used by body builders in need of a quick fix for a problem area prior to competition, as well as women looking to reduce puffiness around their eyes.

But one doctor said the off-label usage of the drug is ludicrous.
"It doesn't even work that well for hemorrhoids," said Dr. Marc Siegel.

LINK

New York bouncer, blogger and author Rob Fitzgerald told ABCNews.com that men are slathering up their torsos with the hemorrhoid cream to make themselves look "ripped."

Gents, I'm not sure that being "ripped" will help when you smell like a 50 year old guy with a bad case of piles and a nasty rash. You just know some fair skinned dude has hit the club and taken his shirt off, and those UV lights....oh my.

Supply Side Environmentalism

Barbara Boxer (D. CA), the main author of the hideous S. 2191 climate bill defends a new concept - supply side environmentalism, defined as: Shrinking the economy to get less environmental impact. The idea is that if we are not working, we are not creating green house gasses. Of course the upside (less global warming) is undefinable and not practical using this approach, but the actual science is no longer important: it's the belief that we are doing something based on assumptions made by people who choose to fail when success is an option.

I, like many others, have been covering S 2191 for a while because this is the most far reaching legislation since the War on Poverty in the 1960's. And this legislation is the perfect vehicle to have the BIG discussion about the role of government, good intentions and all of the unintended consequences created by legislation like S.2191.

Unfortunately, the current political environment probably means that we have this discussion after we are in the middle of a nasty depression. So for now I can have hope that some day, the adults will have a seat at the table of power again - and 2191 certainly brings that date closer to fruition.

Morning Wood: Tuesday

Police say red dye pack exploded in man's pants

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Staffers at a pawn shop in Fort Lauderdale thought the shopper with a goatee looked suspicious. Their instincts were confirmed Monday when, two minutes later, a red dye pack exploded in the man's pants. He fled the store, ditching a stolen wad of cash that contained the theft-detection device.

Fort Lauderdale Police Department spokeswoman Kathy Collins said the man matched descriptions of a robber who pilfered a bag of money from a Pompano Beach bank about an hour earlier.


LINK

Authorities are still looking for him.

Hmmm. Steal money from bank then put cool pack thingy in pants pocket as a souvenir. I'm guessing here that an exploding dye pack an inch or two from your manhood is a little painful and probably reorganized the DNA in his nuts. Hopefully this genius was taken out of the gene pool, but I'm sure it's probably too late for that.

And about that police line-up. Six guys with goatee's, no problem. Finding six guys willing to let you spray paint their balls red...

...and a little something to clear the palate...

Climate Bill: A Spiderweb of Bureaucracy

Click below for the graphic representation of the Regulations and Mandates for S. 2191 - it is perhaps the only way to demonstrate what a remarkable reorganization of our economy this legislation promises.


Link to the Chart

Morning Wood: Drunk Kissing Girl Has a Soulmate

Iowa man says he planned to compost pot, not smoke


Here's the link to the story from a few days ago.

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Police in Iowa say a man caught with a large quantity of marijuana claimed all he had in mind was recycling. A complaint by the Johnson County Sheriff's Office says the 30-year-old man told police in Iowa City that he planned to turn several large bags of marijuana into compost.

Officers report the bags he had when he was arrested early Saturday held a "gallon" or more of marijuana each.

The complaint says officers didn't buy the compost story.

Put these two in the same jail cell and film it for 6 months. Now that's TV I would watch. Wait a minute, I already do every Saturday night on Cops.

More on the Climate Bill

Good summary from an interesting website
Global Warming.Org put together by scientists calling for cooler heads and a reasoned approach to managing our planets' resources.


William Yeatman
May 20, 2008
E&E News has an advance copy of Senate EPW Committee Chair Barbara Boxer’s summary of the newly revamped Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act, and it is much, much worse than I had thought it would be.

Titles II-IV (“Capping Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Reducing Emissions through Offsets and International Allowances; Establishing a Greenhouse-Gas Emissions Trading Market) describe how a “cap and trade” program will take $5.6 trillion from American energy consumers through 2050.

Titles V-XI (Federal Program to Prevent Economic Hardship; Partnerships with States, Localities and Indian Tribes; recognizing Early Action by Companies; Efficiency and Renewable Energy; Low Carbon Electricity and Advanced Research; Future of Coal; Future of Transportation) apportion the $5.6 trillion to every conceivable special interest.

I had thought at least she would leave out those twin evils of modern society, oil and coal, but they are in fact well positioned at the trough ($34 billion and $16 billion, respectively, in adjustment payoffs). And it never occurred to me that the truckers would get 4 billion, or that natural gas processors would get $20 billion. This later giveaway is especially egregious because natural gas is a huge winner under any cap and trade, as coal—its main competitor for electricity generation—is priced out of the market.

In reworking the Congress’s leading climate bill, Senator Boxer’s staff took the spineless Farm Bill approach: print enough money to placate every objection. Woe to us all for having such crummy leaders.

US to Nationalize Hurricane Insurance

Well, that's the Wall Street Journal headline and it is a bit misleading, but the stupid idea is the same.

WASHINGTON -- As hurricane season begins, Democrats in Congress want to nationalize a chunk of the insurance business that covers major storm-damage claims.

The proposal -- backed by giant insurers Allstate Corp. and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., as well as Florida lawmakers -- focuses on "reinsurance," the policies bought by insurers themselves to protect against catastrophic losses. The proposal envisions a taxpayer-financed reinsurance program covering all 50 states, which would essentially backstop the giant insurers in case of disaster.
Link to the WSJ Article

The program could save homeowners roughly $500 apiece in annual premiums in Florida, according to an advocacy group backed by Allstate and State Farm, the largest writers of property insurance in the U.S.

But environmentalists and other critics -- including the American Insurance Association, a major trade group -- say lower premiums would more likely spur irresponsible coastal development, already a big factor in insurance costs. The program could also shift costs to taxpayers in states with fewer natural-disaster risks.

"This bill makes it a little bit too easy for the state to go to the federal government for a bailout," said Eric Goldberg, associate general counsel at the American Insurance Association, an insurers' trade group.

If we disconnect risk from action we get riskier actions.

The proposed plan is roughly analogous to the National Flood Insurance Program, which has been criticized for encouraging construction in risky floodplains. Nevertheless, in recent weeks the Senate voted to renew the flood-insurance program, and also to forgive $17 billion in disaster debt.

UGH

U.S. troop deaths in Iraq at wartime low

Democrats and US media hit hardest.

OK that's a twist on the old joke about the NY Times (when they make headlines into an editorial), "Earth to be destroyed by meteor tomorrow, minorities and women hit hardest..."

Anyway
BAGHDAD, June 1 (Reuters) - Nineteen U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq in May, the U.S. military said on Sunday, the lowest monthly death toll since U.S. forces invaded to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003. The number of Iraqi civilians killed in the same month plunged to 505... Click title for link to story.

Great. The surge has worked well enough for us to claim "good enough" and we can get the hell out of there.

We can save that money and get busy tanking our economy with
S. 2191: the carbon cap and trade bill so we can maybe reduce our carbon emissions to 2002 levels while only reducing our economy by a few trillion.