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The Boss still has faith. After meeting with Steinbrenner for 45 minutes to an hour in Tampa, Fla., Torre was sure he wanted to return for his 11th season as Yankees manager. "We didn't use the word love, but it...

Insiders see hint of Miers pullout

The beginning of the end on this nomination?

The White House has begun making contingency plans for the withdrawal of Harriet Miers as President Bush's choice to fill a seat on the Supreme Court, conservative sources said yesterday. "White House senior staff are starting to ask outside people, saying, 'We're not discussing pulling out her nomination, but if we were to, do you have any advice as to how we should do it?' " a conservative Republican with ties to the White House told The Washington Times.

Of COURSE not! Why think that?

The White House denied making such calls.

Ooops! As soon as ANYONE is called, the cat's out of the bag, especially in DC. As no less than Benjamin Franklin writing as the esteemed Bon Homme Richard noted: "Two can keep a secret, if one of them is dead."

But the conservative political consultant said that he had received such a query from Sara Taylor, director of the Office of White House Political Affairs. Miss Taylor denied making any such calls.

A second Republican, who is the leader of a conservative interest group and has ties to the White House, confirmed that calls are being made to a select group of conservative activists who are not employed by the government. "The political people in the White House are very worried about how she will do in the hearings," the second conservative leader said. "I think they have finally awakened."

There MAY be a better example of the Byzantine nature of political hardball as it's played Inside the Beltway, but the Chief would be hard pressed to name it.

One just KNOWS there will be more, MUCH more, to follow.

It appears that the new constitution has been ratified by the Iraqi people. See Fox. From the Washington Post, this by Ellen Knickmeyer and Omar Fekeiki:BAGHDAD, Oct. 15 -- Sunni Arab voters turned out in force for Iraq's constitutional referendum...

So I get up at 6 this morning to go to a meeting. Except that nobody told me that it was moved to next week. Other than that, how was my day? I'm glad you asked. I have a bit...

I was a Cards fan as a boy, but I have to say that a Houston trip to the Fall Classic would be marvelous. Its official. Houston is in its first World Series. My opinions on baseball are my own...

Last night I listened to the interview of Steve Hildebrand that was conducted by Denise Ross and posted on Mount Blogmore. Quentin Riggins made this observation with an SDP post:As many suspected, we now know that Theron McChesney of ThuneWatch...

Deal 'opens the door' to wind power

DEFINITELY A WIN-WIN-WIN for South Dakota's Economy!

One of the biggest hinderances to the development of more wind power in South Dakota has been a lack of enough transmission line capacity to get the electricity to where it's needed.

There is a positive logic to the addition of a new coal-burning plant also. The US has an abundance of coal, and large deposits of high quality low-sulfur coal are just to the west in Wyoming. There is a synergy that comes into play here with a three-way synergistic development of South Dakota's utility and transportation infrastructure which is catalyzed by the planned construction of a new coal-burning power plant at Big Stone.

The first element of this synergy is the expansion of the DM&E Railroad, which, in spite of the usual opposition from envirowacko activist groups and assorted other NIMBY (Non-In-My-Backyard types pushed through approval of extending it's lines into the Wyoming coal fields, and upgrade of its existing mainlines to handle the greatly increased traffic that results from this. (See note 1 in extended entry) This increases the availability of coal for new plants.

With the abundance of coal, and modern abatement technology, it is possible to burn low-sulfur coal with a minimum amount of air pollution, plus it helps to increase the electric power capacity, which is an essential positive factor for continued economic growth in the area. (See Note 2)

Finally, this proposed coal plant will bring in a significantly serious excess in electrical power transmission capacity, above and beyound the needs of the new plant. This excess capacity is available for the development of large(r) scale wind turbine developments, which (a) provides yet more electricity, (b) is a clean, renewable energy source, and (c) provides yet another boost to the local economic structure.

So, what's the "win-win-win"? More needed electrical power, use of domestic coal instead of imported oil, and the enabled development of even cleaner wind power capacity. Three birds with one "Big Stone". Not too bad.

Critics of Professor Schaff and myself have been making a rather amazing argument: that a college professor can be forced to choose between his job and the free expression of his political opinions, should his colleagues or the administration conclude...

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