News

[quiggles]

Whatever else one might say about it, working in an office in DC certainly lets you keep up with the news. Add to that the hour I spend on the train every day reading, and I am just swamped with fascinating news that I want to share with everybody. Here's a sampling.

One Nation Under Elvis: This could be my manifesto.

Excellent Op-Ed in the

Comments

[herbie]

Hmm... Barbara Boxer in the "good" column. I mean I know I'm supposed to be on her side politically, but I've never heard her say anything that has made me feel even remotely like she has a clue. Even when I tune into CSPAN randomly and hear her talking live (i.e. without news media selectivity), she makes me cringe. And now she represents me! Yay?

Gla to hear she's on the right side of an offensive, although I'm more concerned about getting the EPA to actually let states make more stringent standards than care if White House officials were involved - the notion that so-called independent federal agencies are actually free from influence from legislators and/or the executive branch when politics get in the way is a myth that's ben long dead in my head.

[quiggles]

It's true, she wasn't exactly the most eloquent speaker, but I definitely got the impression that she knew what she was talking about. And I could be wrong, but I believe the bullying was an attempt to get him to reverse the decision before he issued the final version later that week. The decision will be overturned eventually, probably from California suing the EPA, but that will take a lot of time and money, delaying action at least a year. Boxer was (is?) trying to avoid that so that California could start its program ASAP.

[herbie]

I'm all for the what, I'm just not a fan of the who. It's not so much ineloqeuence that I mind from her - it's when she sounds off on matters she knows nothing about because she likes to talk and get camera time. When she rambles on, using important time that's supposed to be asking a witness in a congressional hearing a question, and never actually reaches the question mark, that annoys me. When she makes broad statements on the floor about technology that she obviously doesn't understand, nor has she taken enough time to find somebody who does understand it to explain it to her, that annoys me. Seriously, if almost any Democrat ran against her in 2010, I'd vote against her.

Like I said, I'm glad to hear she was informed about this one, and I'm sorry to go off on random rants about legislators which have little or nothing to do with the substance of your post - just one of my buttons, I guess.

[smashingpopcorn]

Wow, these are really interesting. Thanks for posting.

Also, a friend of mine is really interested in sustainable agriculture; her current dream, last I asked, is to have a farm when she grows up. Would you be willing to share some of your hard-earned knowledge with her?

[quiggles]

glad you liked it! I was inspired by your similar posts of important articles.

and of course, I love to talk about farms! although my knowledge is still very rudimentary, I am realizing after just a few weeks working at my agriculture and conservation nonprofit . . .