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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.

From NewsMax:Nation of Islam chief Louis Farrakhan will announce plans tomorrow to take action against radio host Bill Bennett for his comments last week suggesting the crime rate would decline if the black abortion rate went up. In a statement...

Video Game Movie Leads the Weekend

Is this really important? Probably not, but it caught the Chief's eye as an old Doom I, II, and III player. It's a sad commentary on the silver screen when an FPS "first-person shooter" video game is the best that Hollywood can find to make a movie from.

Frankly, I'm surprised that it led the pack, but then again, no one can go far wrong talking down the quality of stuff (for the most part) being churned out by tinsel town. The other notable movie of late that attracted the Chief's attention was the libertarian Sci-fi flick "SERENITY", spun off from the sadly pre-maturely killed TV series "Firefly".

I haven't blog on the Plame affair, at least as far as I can remember. It has always seemed to me to be a silly business. It is clear that there was an insurrection in the CIA, and that...

Illegals at military bases raise concerns

Scores of illegal aliens working as cooks, laborers, janitors, even foreign-language instructors have been seized at military bases around the country in the past year, raising concerns in some quarters about security and troop safety. The aliens did not work directly for the military but for private contractors, as part of a large-scale effort by the Pentagon to outsource many routine rear-echelon jobs and free up the troops to concentrate on waging war.

IF the bean counters had ANY security awareness at all, this could not be happening. If there was security awareness, the cost of checking security on these outsourced jobs would more than offset any hypothetical savings, to say nothing of the cost if just one of them turned out to be an Islamofascist operative with a plan.

Anothe case of "penny wise, pound foolish". Like the old comis strip character Pogo observed: "We have met the enemy, and he is us!"

Body chipped from glacier likely a WWII airman

The only problem the Chief has with this is NOT the factual circumstances of the story itself, but rather with the journalistic caution.

"...Likely a WWII Airman."

Well now. This is hard. Human remains were found in a cake of ice. 13000 ft up the mountainside. Wearing WWII Army uniform, flight suit, and parachute. Had obviously been up there for some period of time. NOW - what are the possibilities. WWI, WWII, Korea, Viet-nam era, or Civilian?

Hmmmmmm? (Think, think!) A WWII outfit? Well now, we can say he was
"...Likely a WWII Airman." Phew! Anything to avoid coming to a simple conclusion based on clear factual evidence, which might set a bad journalistic precedent for the rest of the media.

In fairness, the DC Times is generally a cut above the rest of the MSM - but this is NOT one of their higher moments - maybe that's why it struck my attention.

This piece from the intrepid Sam Leith at the London Telegraph alerts us to a threat to public safety.The latest menace in my corner of south London, I read this week, is the emergence of a community of crack-addicted...

Islamic group told to 'read the Koran'

Thailand's prime minister angrily told the Saudi Arabia-based Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to "read the Koran" before criticizing his crackdown on Muslim terrorists in the south, where more than 1,000 people have died. "I would like him to read the Koran, which stated clearly that all Muslims, regardless where they live, must respect the law of that land," Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday, in remarks aimed at OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu.

This plea for rationality will unfortunately fall on deag ears. Thailand's Buddhist PM is only partially correct in his analysis of the Koranic attitude towards him, hos non-Islamic countrymen (and us for that matter!).

Yes, those cited passages are there, but in Islamic belief, later "revealed" passages of the Koran SUPERCEDE earlier passages altogether. Amond the later passages are the 9th Sura, which includes this little gem:

[9.5] So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

In other words, kill the infidels - Buddhists (considered idolaters) need not apply even for dhimmitude (abject submission to Islamic rule, allowed for non-converted Christians and Jews) - they can convert or die! Remember the Taliban dynamiting the Buddhist statues in Afghanistan?

Meanwhile, the moonbats continue THEIR litany that if only we would throw Israel over the side, and withdraw all signs of our existance from the middle east, that the Islamofascist terrs would leave us alone. So then, what does Thailand have to do with either of these? Obviously, nothing. Their crime is to not be Moslem. That's enough to make them targets for conquest into dar al Salaam - the world of Islam.

The Chief's prediction: no peace in Thailand anytime soon!

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