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More on the possible political artistry involved in posing for a mug shot. Ace had more along these lines last night....

The moonbats have been flapping their leathery wings all day long about the "staged" teleconference with US soldiers in Tikrit. Y'know, because "staged" events -- phony red meat passion plays for the howling right-wing dogs -- are generally pulled together...

From Jane Chastain: The revolt in the Republican ranks over the nomination of Harriett Miers to the Supreme Court is extremely significant. For the first time since George W. Bush was elected president, the leading conservative watchdog groups, even many...

Rush Limbaugh explains how the MSM uses the poor as pawns by wrongly calling the reduction in unused spending as spending cuts that attack the poor: On the other side of this, let me share with you a story that...

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.

... would you find Country Joe McDonald serving as chairman over the Veteran's Day ceremonies. And fighting over whether or not one of the co-founders of Gold Star Families should be the "keynote" speaker, no less....

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...

Porky from The Little Rascals has died....

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