http://cei.org/…

Washington, D.C., June 26, 2009 – The Competitive Enterprise Institute is today making public an internal study on climate science which was suppressed by the Environmental Protection Agency. Internal EPA email messages, released by CEI earlier in the week, indicate that the report was kept under wraps and its author silenced because of pressure to support the Administration’s agenda of regulating carbon dioxide.

The report finds that EPA, by adopting the United Nations’ 2007 “Fourth Assessment” report, is relying on outdated research and is ignoring major new developments. Those developments include a continued decline in global temperatures, a new consensus that future hurricanes will not be more frequent or intense, and new findings that water vapor will moderate, rather than exacerbate, temperature.

New data also indicate that ocean cycles are probably the most important single factor in explaining temperature fluctuations, though solar cycles may play a role as well, and that reliable satellite data undercut the likelihood of endangerment from greenhouse gases. All of this demonstrates EPA should independently analyze the science, rather than just adopt the conclusions of outside organizations.

The released report is a draft version, prepared under EPA’s unusually short internal review schedule, and thus may contain inaccuracies which were corrected in the final report.

“While we hoped that EPA would release the final report, we’re tired of waiting for this agency to become transparent, even though its Administrator has been talking transparency since she took office. So we are releasing a draft version of the report ourselves, today,” said CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman.

http://arstechnica.com/…

http://www.bloomberg.com/…

The Federal Reserve intends to hire a veteran lobbyist as it seeks to counter skepticism in Congress about the central bank’s growing power over the U.S. financial system, people familiar with the matter said.

Linda Robertson currently handles government, community and public affairs at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and headed the Washington lobbying office of Enron Corp., the energy trading company that collapsed in 2002 after an accounting scandal. She was also an adviser to all three of the Clinton administration’s Treasury secretaries.

Robertson would help the Fed manage relations with lawmakers seeking greater oversight of a central bank that has used emergency powers to prevent Wall Street’s demise. While she wasn’t tied to Enron’s fraud, her association with the firm may raise questions, analysts said.

“Some members of Congress think there are votes in attacking the Fed” after it “unnecessarily and unwisely entangled monetary policy with fiscal policy,” said former St. Louis Fed President William Poole. “The Fed is going to have a tricky time of unwinding what has been done” and will need to “keep in touch with members of Congress more thoroughly,” said Poole, now senior fellow with the Cato Institute in Washington.

They may not mention Paul but it was his presidential campaign and now his HR1207 which is putting some fire under the Fed’s feet.

http://www.cbsnews.com/…

The U.S. military’s failure to follow tightened rules for aerial strikes likely caused civilian deaths in a May 4 American bombing in western Afghanistan, a defense official said Wednesday.

The finding comes from an internal review of the incident, said the official, who spoke to The Associated Press on grounds of anonymity because the investigation is not complete.

“Errors were made” in the early May attack, the official acknowledged, discussing an incident that has strained relations between Washington and Kabul and caused resentment among the Afghan people.

American military commanders on a number of occasions have rewritten rules on U.S. bombing missions in an effort to avoid civilian casualties, most recently late last year. The official said these more restrictive rules were not followed in some of the air strikes May 4 in Afghanistan’s western Farah province.

The report, which must still be circulated and briefed to other officials before it’s final, was the most straightforward acknowledgment yet by the United States that mistakes were made in the strike. The story was first reported by The New York Times.

Afghans say 140 civilians died, while American commanders say video evidence recorded by fighter jets and the account of the ground commander suggest no more than 30 civilians were killed, as well as 60-65 Taliban.

Unlike most of the time when they murder innocent people purposely. How about the government just not invade other nations? If you want to go after terrorists have Congress issue letters of mark of reprisal.

http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/

While reading an essay this morning on legalizing marijuana, a 17-year-old Peninsula High School student pulled out a joint and lit it, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department reports.

The student smoked the joint, then swallowed the remnants. He’s now in Remann Hall juvenile jail on suspicion of possession of marijuana, sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said. The Pensinsula School District is also reviewing what happened.

“If people want that law changed, they need to go about it the right way and not flaunt it,” Troyer said.

About 150 students and teachers were gathered in the auditorium at Peninsula High School this morning, sharing essays, Troyer said.

One student read his essay arguing for legalizing marijuana, pulled out a joint and started smoking it.

The school resource officer was called. By the time the deputy arrived, the student had finished smoking and swallowed the remnants, Troyer said.

A small amount of marijuana was found in the student’s possession. The boy was arrested and taken to Remann Hall juvenile jail. His parents were contacted, Troyer said.

Read More…

http://www.reuters.com/…

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday reassured the Chinese government that its huge holdings of dollar assets are safe and reaffirmed his faith in a strong U.S. currency.

A major goal of Geithner’s maiden visit to China as Treasury chief is to allay concerns that Washington’s bulging budget deficit and ultra-loose monetary policy will fan inflation, undermining both the dollar and U.S. bonds.

China is the biggest foreign owner of U.S. Treasury bonds. U.S. data shows that it held $768 billion in Treasuries as of March, but some analysts believe China’s total U.S. dollar-denominated investments could be twice as high.

“Chinese assets are very safe,” Geithner said in response to a question after a speech at Peking University, where he studied Chinese as a student in the 1980s.

His answer drew loud laughter from his student audience, reflecting scepticism in China about the wisdom of a developing country accumulating a vast stockpile of foreign reserves instead of spending the money to raise living standards at home.

Next time may I recommend a rotten tomato or two? Just for theatrics. Don’t hit the man. He’s sad enough.