Asian Beetle Tree-Clearing in Worcester

This is right across the way from our first house in Worcester, in the heart of Burncoat neighborhood - which is apparently the heart of the Asian Longhorned Beetle infestation.

Sad to see - I'm going to have to take a drive through the old 'hood to see if there are any trees left on our old street.

TARP Visualized

From calculated risk...

These pictures are fake (at least the last couple), but humorous nonetheless.

"Principled" conservatives are just out and out lying now

$8 billion of the stimulus package has been earmarked for an initial investment in development of high-speed rail corridors.  This is a fraction of the estimated total cost to bring truly dedicated high speed passenger rail to the Northeast Corridor or LA-SF on the west coast (either project is currently estimated in the $40-$50 billion range).  There are other high traffic "corridors" being considered, such as one between LA and Las Vegas.   Not letting the facts get in the way of her grandstanding and feigned outrage:

Here is Rep. Candice S. Miller (R-Mich.) explaining her vote against the bill Friday despite the benefits to her home state: “Michigan is a state of about 10 million people, and we are the hardest hit, as I said, by this economy. And yet we are expected to get approximately $7 billion from this bill. And apparently the Senate majority leader has earmarked $8 billion for a rail system from Las Vegas to Los Angeles? You have got to be kidding. You have got to be kidding.”

Indeed, you have got to be kidding.

Massachusetts may consider a mileage charge

I like it.  I would hope there would be a way to charge more for peak hour driving - but this would be a good start.

Perhaps not the most important issue of the day but...

...the RIAA is very annoying.  Jules and I did a fair amount of "sharing" mp3's back in the days of the original napster.  We don't do it anymore - I don't really see a need for it with all the music sampling on youtube et. al.; and the wide variety of stuff you can buy on itunes and other digital music sites for a buck.  I may not be the best example, because I've never been a music nut the way some people are - my tastes vary widely and are probably best described as "unsophisticated" by people who are musically inclined or deeply engaged to a particular genre. 

That said I am reminded of our temporary love affair with a Canadian band called "Great Big Sea".  We had never heard of them (they are quite big in the maritime provinces but get almost NO play on commercial US radio) until Jules was searching napster for "Irish drinking music" and stumbled upon one of their songs.  Long story short we ended up buying about 4 of their CD's and paying to see them live in concert when they played Avalon in Boston a few years ago (and I go to VERY few live concerts in venues bigger than a local bar).   Never would've happened without our illegal music "sharing" habit!

Serious horsepower

http://www.snopes.com/photos/boats/drugrunner.asp

Joe The Economist

As a partisan liberal, perhaps I should take some joy in the Party of Lincoln following Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Barracuda and Joe the Plumber War Correspondent Economist off a cliff.  But I can't help but think this is NOT going to help our country at all. 

Prayers for Ahlu Sunna

link