Hey AJ! - Fired, Engaged, Hired, Qualified, & Won!

AJ Allmendinger taking a circuit around Portland Raceway - Photo credit: Phillip Abbott, USA LAT Photographic - Copyright © 2006 Champ Car World Series, LLC.

And all of this happening in about one week.

What do you do now? Go to Disneyland?

A great American race car driver story has just been written by AJ Almendinger at Portland Raceway in Oregon, and he was actually named by his father for AJ Foyte. AJ delivers a really neat present to his dad on Father's Day (and his dad actually teared up).

The race itself was a pretty good story as well. AJ, from his #2 qualifying position, took the lead into the first corner (the festival corners), and was challenged a little more than halfway by his former teammate, Justin Wilson.

This set up a bit of a grudge match for a few laps until Wilson flat spotted his right front tire during braking into the same festival corners at the end of the front straight away.

At the end of the race, Steve Johnson, president of Champ Car World Series, was interviewed by Derek Daly. Steve said that the talks between the IRL and ChampCar about a possible merger are still alive ... "The good thing is that we are still talking". Also, Phoenix wants to run a race in downtown using the temporary street circuit set-up ala Long Beach and that ChampCar is working with the Mayor Phil Gordon's office to put this together. Steve said that the Mayor expressed the desire to have a race in the streets of downtown Phoenix, "even if we have to race frogs!”

At Portland? a good, clean race with no yellows - rare that!

Post race notes on AJ from CCWS -

ROBIN MILLER'S STRAIGHT FROM THE GEARBOX

As races go, it was a cracker -- no cautions and 105 laps of qualifying to quote runner-up Justin Wilson. As crowds go, it was one of the best in several years here in Portland and certainly one of the most animated. As storylines go, well, it couldn't get any better for Champ Car.

In one of the wildest weeks of dramatic turns and surprise moves, A.J. Allmendinger went from out of a job to back in a car to victory lane.

How he got there was a script so made-for-television perfect that you would have thought NASCAR ordered it.

"I think it was good for the series and I think it was good for somebody else to get up there on the top step of the podium besides Sebastian (Bourdais)," said Gerry Forsythe, whose opinion understandably might be a little skewed since he's the one who replaced Mario Dominguez with Allmendinger. "A.J. did a helluva job and I don't think he put a wheel wrong all day."

Forsythe had to watch his cars sweep Sunday's show (James Hinchcliffe captured the Atlantic race) on television because he was attending a wedding and missed his first race of 2006. What the co-owner of Champ Car missed was an affirmation party for the only American in his series.

Why Carl Russo gave up on his 24-year-old protege remains up for speculation and discussion but it certainly shocked everyone in the Champ Car paddock since RuSPORT became a reality because of Allmendinger's success in Barber Dodge & Atlantics and Russo's affection for him.

One thing Russo said all week, and again Sunday afternoon when he congratulated his former driver in victory lane, was that A.J. had an abundance of talent and would be a winner some day. It's just that nobody imagined it would be in his debut for Forsythe Racing.

"Did we think A.J. could win races?'' said Mike Cannon, engineer for Allmendinger. Definitely. Did we think he'd win today in his first drive for us? Of course not. But I guess if somebody wants to know what we thought of him, well, obviously we know he can win races."

He did it in convincing and impressive style -- leading 100 of the 105 laps and withstanding immense pressure from his pal and former teammate Wilson. Unlike a year ago, when he threw away a win at Edmonton, A.J. never missed an apex or tripped over a lapped car.

In this instant gratification world we live in, so much emphasis is put on immediate results and people were saying crazy things like "When is this kid going to win?" and the truth is he's only been in 32 races. Jenson Button is zero-for-105 and Casey Mears hasn't won in over 100 Cup starts but there were such high expectations for Allmendinger.

"I was sick of finishing second and nobody put any more pressure on me than I did because I've always won and I expect to win," said Allmendinger, who jumped up to third in the point standings. "I can't begin to describe how this feels because of all the things that have happened in the past few days.

"Forsythe Racing made it fun again for me and I'll never be able to thank them enough." Of course this wasn't just a one-act play. Cristiano da Matta, who took a ride with Dale Coyne because he still has passion to race in this series and didn't want to sit on the sidelines, was rewarded for his attitude with A.J.'s ride at RuSPORT.

Dominguez, who was leading at Houston after winning the pole position, wound up as the loser in this transaction when Forsythe cut him loose after his second accident involving teammate Paul Tracy.

He drove here for Coyne, who is always the good soldier in these deals, and Champ Car still needs Mario to be competitive since it ends the season in Mexico City.

Another Mario, last name Andretti, was in the pits at Portland and made the following astute observation: "This is one of those deals that appears to be good for both guys (Allmendinger and da Matta)," said the two-time CART champion.

It certainly was well received by the fans, who chanted USA, USA and stuck around to help A.J. sing the national anthem. Funny thing, Americans appreciate the many talented foreign drivers who have made Champ Car their home during the past 27 years but they still love to cheer for one of their own.

Bourdais is a super star who had a great run and appears to be headed for a third consecutive championship. But Forsythe was right -- this series needed a new winner and having someone named after A.J. Foyt worked out nicely.

As for the original terms of Allmendinger's employment (a two-race deal and then it would be appraised), Forsythe said the kid passed the audition and has the ride the rest of '06. "I'm sure of that," he said. "No doubt. We'll keep him."

The last time Forsythe had an American driver was Danny Sullivan in 1982. He went on to do some pretty big things and maybe this is the beginning of a good red, white and blue relationship.
Link Here>>

The Portland Race Signals Change For The Good

Pole winner Bruno Junqueira with Bridgestone flag - Photo credit: Michael L. Levitt, USA LAT Photographic - Copyright © 2006 Champ Car World Series, LLC.

The ChampCars roll into Portland with a line up that is beginning to look a little like a mid-season roster of a baseball team.

What with the driver and team changes that happened during the last break between races, one can't tell who is racing for whom without a program.

The biggest benefit these changes brought about was a renewed spirit to the racing and qualifying at Portland. One would assume the series points leading Newman Haas driver would capture the pole ... but he (Sebastian Bourdais) ended up in the third slot, being bested by his teammate, Bruno Junqueira, winning his first pole in a couple of years, and team jumping (from RUSPORT to Forsythe) AJ Almendinger.

More excerpts about yesterday's qualifying at Portland from ChampCar News -

BRUNO JUNQUEIRA EARNS HIS FIRST BRIDGESTONE POLE POSITION SINCE 2004 BY LEADING HARD-FOUGHT CHAMP CAR QUALIFYING IN PORTLAND
by Eric Mauk

PORTLAND (June 17, 2006) - Bruno Junqueira (#2 Hole In The Wall Camps Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) has had more than his share of bad luck through the first four races of the 2006 Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford season, so the Brazilian decided to take luck out of the equation in today's final qualifying for the G.I. Joe's Presents The Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland.

Junqueira used his penultimate lap around the 1.964-mile road circuit to gain three spots and claim the Bridgestone Pole Position, winning a tight battle that saw the first three qualifiers covered by a microscopic .015 seconds. Junqueira's time of 57.631 seconds (122.684 mph) gave him his first pole of the year and his first since the 2004 season opener, besting A.J. Allmendinger (#7 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) by .008 seconds, with points leader Sebastien Bourdais (#1 McDonald's Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) another .007 behind in third.
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The majority of the teams then went to Pit Lane for final adjustments and to get a fresh set of Bridgestones, setting the stage for a furious final 10 minutes.

Defending race winner Cristiano da Matta (#10 RuSPORT Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) was the first to make a move, jumping into the third spot, only to see the former #10 driver drop him back as Allmendinger posted his best lap, taking the pole. The Californian then overshot the approach to the Festival Curves on his next lap, forcing him to go hard on the brakes and slide the tires, effectively ending any chance he had to post a better time. With his 57.639 in his pocket, Allmendinger retired to Pit Lane to sweat out the final few minutes knowing that Bourdais and Junqueira still had plenty of time to leapfrog him and take the pole.
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Tomorrow's 105-lap race will get the green flag at 12:30 p.m. local time (3:30 Eastern) and can be seen live on CBS Sports. In addition, fans can follow live via the Race Director feature available on the series' official website, www.champcar.ws.
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NOTEWORTHY

Today's qualifying session saw the first three qualifiers separated by .015 seconds, the closest session since the 2002 event at Chicago Motor Speedway when Dario Franchitti, Alex Tagliani and Cristiano da Matta also qualified within .015 seconds of each other.

Bruno Junqueira became the 15th different driver in the last 15 seasons to win a pole at Portland International Raceway. Emerson Fittipaldi (1992-93) is the last driver to win more than one pole at Portland.

Bruno Junqueira starts from pole tomorrow and has two runner-up finishes in Portland but has never led a Champ Car lap in Portland.

Dan Clarke's sixth-place qualifying result is the best for a Champ Car rookie since Andrew Ranger started fourth at Cleveland last year.

The command of 'Drivers Start Your Engines' tomorrow will be given via satellite from Afghanistan as members of the Oregon National Guard's 'Task Force Phoenix V' will give the command.
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Other Notes:

Cristiano da Matta improves his fortunes by taking over the seat left vacant when AJ Almendinger was picked-up by Forsythe.

The Forsythe seat became available when Mario Dominguez was let go by the team due to the many reckless starts and wrecks Mario has had in the first four races beginning this season.

Mario Dominguez took over the seat left vacant when Cristiano da Matta jumped up to RUSPORT from Dale Coyne.

Both Allmendinger and da Matta had their best qualifying efforts of the season (2 and 5 respectively) while Dominguez languished at 14 out of 18 cars racing.

S2 & The Mile Marker Mystery Tour

Royal blue 55 gallon drum container marked "AGUA" that holds many factory sealed one gallon plastic containers filled with water from the Borrego Springs Water Company, Southern California. Photo Credit: Edmund Jenks (2006)

S2 & The Mile Marker Mystery Tour

Is the photo above evidence that would suggest the potential existence of a California State sponsored “underground railroad”, facilitating the movement of illegal immigrants northward, on this road east of San Diego, California?

Read the whole story below and help me to find out.

On Friday, June 9th, 2006, I had occasion to attend a business seminar and new product introduction at the W Hotel in downtown San Diego. After spending a lovely evening in Old Town San Diego, it was decided the next morning to take the long way home back to Los Angeles.

We looked at a map after reading about the history of how Southern California built its communicative and travel infrastructure on the routes of the Great Southern Overland Stage Route of 1849 and the old Butterfield Overland Mail stages. So we set out east on Highway 8 before heading north, tracking along a line on the map that started at Ocotillo (a settlement about 2.5 miles due north of our border with Mexico), through the little town of Agua Caliente on San Diego County "S2".

S2, as shown on the map, is a road that goes mostly through Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in the south, and ends near Warner Springs at California State Highway 79 in the north.

Late morning, upon entering the Park, about 3 miles or so north from Ocotillo, we saw the Border Patrol and a few National Guard troops setting up an immigration check point along the road. We thought to ourselves, "Well, so this is evidence of the new program of joint deployment we had heard about recently in the news", and then turned our attention to the beautiful landscapes that the far southern parts of the California deserts have to offer.

Driving along another couple of miles or so, we crested a rise in the road and my wife exclaimed, "Did you see that?"

"See what?" I asked.

"Did you see that blue can ... or thing along side of the road? It said "Agua" on side of it!" Cookie exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It was more of a large drum, and it had stenciled along the side in white lettering "AGUA", you know, Spanish for water.” she said.

We drove on and noticed in the next minute and a half another blue drum, but this one had "AGUA" along the top with "WATER" stenciled in white just underneath along the side.

I asked, "What is going on?"

Another 90 seconds or so passed and another blue drum sat along the side of the road.

Questions arose and the mystery began to build. Where did these blue drums come from? Why are they here? Who put them here? Why are most of them identified only in Spanish?

"Hey, Cookie, let's stop and look at the next one we see, okay?” I asked. She responded, "I think that they are placed near the mile markers along the side of the road."

And sure enough, at mile marker 52, there was another large blue drum (photo above).

I stopped the car, got out and walked across the street over to the west side of S2, and in from the mile marker a few feet I arrived at the side of the blue drum, camera in hand.

The drum was topped off with a half-disk shaped wood top that appeared to have been designed to keep the sun from reaching the contents inside. As I peeked into the drum, the shade in the bottom of the drum covered 6 containers holding a gallon of water each.

I reached down into the drum and pulled out one of the gallon containers to inspect it. The container was factory sealed and labeled as being produced by the Borrego Springs Water Company, complete with UPC barcode, ready for retail sale.

More questions rushed forward in our minds. Who is paying for this? Who is keeping the "water stations" stocked and maintained? Isn't this State of California land? This is a road that runs through a State Park after all! How does one get permission to do something like this ... that is, if it isn't the State of California that is doing the duty? Is the National Guard responsible for these support services too?

We drove on and discovered that not only are these blue drum "AGUA" water stations at each mile marker, one appeared in a dry streambed that was an obvious migrant trail track also used for hiking and offroading.

We drove on from the South to the North and it appeared that the blue "AGUA" drums were placed at every mile marker from mile marker 55 to mile marker 40 near the Agua Caliente airport. Beyond mile marker 40 on northward, no more drums were sighted. We drove throughout the park that entire day without sighting anymore blue drums for park visitors or anyone else … other than in the most southerly 15 mile section along this road, as described. Curious that.

This situation is a real mystery. When almost 70% of the voting citizens want to put up a fence, and implement processes that deter border hopping immigration, why is the State of California subsidizing, underwriting, working against, turning a blind eye to, anything that will facilitate illegal immigrants to migrate across the border, hide and survive just to assimilate into our capitalistic landscape?

So now it is time for MAXINE (maxine-log.blogspot.com) to turn to the internet community and, hopefully, tap into the power of, as Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit and MSNBC would put it, "An Army of Davids"!

Are there any answers out there to the questions raised by this mile marker mystery tour?

Further, I have photos and digital video clips to support this whole story if any one would need them to help spread the story and/or make the point. I look forward to your responses. "On point".

Al Gore Not Seeing 20/20 At Canada 2020 - A Rebuttal

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore arrives at the Canada 2020 conference in Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Wednesday June 14, 2006. Gore will deliver his message about global warming as the keynote dinner speaker at the conference. Canada 2020 is a dynamic and networked ideas generation council that takes a unique approach to addressing Canadas public policy opportunities and challenges. Image Credit: AP Photo/CP, Jonathan Hayward

Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper is squarely in the cross-hairs of activists like Al Gore.

Back in April, P.M. Harper pulled back on the efforts of some in the Canadian government to tie Canada to the Kyoto accords when he decided to listen to the advice of 60 leading international climate change experts.

Apparently, the opposition to Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" tenants is not backing down.

Excerpts from the Canada Free Press -

Scientists respond to Gore's warnings of climate catastrophe
"The Inconvenient Truth" is indeed inconvenient to alarmists
By Tom Harris - Canadafreepress.com - Monday, June 12, 2006

"Scientists have an independent obligation to respect and present the truth as they see it," Al Gore sensibly asserts in his film "An Inconvenient Truth", showing at Cumberland 4 Cinemas in Toronto since Jun 2. With that outlook in mind, what do world climate experts actually think about the science of his movie?

Professor Bob Carter of the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University, in Australia gives what, for many Canadians, is a surprising assessment: "Gore's circumstantial arguments are so weak that they are pathetic. It is simply incredible that they, and his film, are commanding public attention."

But surely Carter is merely part of what most people regard as a tiny cadre of "climate change skeptics" who disagree with the "vast majority of scientists" Gore cites?

No; Carter is one of hundreds of highly qualified non-governmental, non-industry, non-lobby group climate experts who contest the hypothesis that human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are causing significant global climate change. "Climate experts" is the operative term here. Why? Because what Gore's "majority of scientists" think is immaterial when only a very small fraction of them actually work in the climate field.
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This is highly valuable knowledge, but doesn't make them climate change cause experts, only climate impact experts.

So we have a smaller fraction.

But it becomes smaller still. Among experts who actually examine the causes of change on a global scale, many concentrate their research on designing and enhancing computer models of hypothetical futures. "These models have been consistently wrong in all their scenarios," asserts Ball. "Since modelers concede computer outputs are not "predictions" but are in fact merely scenarios, they are negligent in letting policy-makers and the public think they are actually making forecasts."
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Here is a small sample of the side of the debate we almost never hear:

Appearing before the Commons Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development last year, Carleton University paleoclimatologist Professor Tim Patterson testified, "There is no meaningful correlation between CO2 levels and Earth's temperature over this [geologic] time frame. In fact, when CO2 levels were over ten times higher than they are now, about 450 million years ago, the planet was in the depths of the absolute coldest period in the last half billion years." Patterson asked the committee, "On the basis of this evidence, how could anyone still believe that the recent relatively small increase in CO2 levels would be the major cause of the past century's modest warming?"

Patterson concluded his testimony by explaining what his research and "hundreds of other studies" reveal: on all time scales, there is very good correlation between Earth's temperature and natural celestial phenomena such changes in the brightness of the Sun.

Dr. Boris Winterhalter, former marine researcher at the Geological Survey of Finland and professor in marine geology, University of Helsinki, takes apart Gore's dramatic display of Antarctic glaciers collapsing into the sea. "The breaking glacier wall is a normally occurring phenomenon which is due to the normal advance of a glacier," says Winterhalter. "In Antarctica the temperature is low enough to prohibit melting of the ice front, so if the ice is grounded, it has to break off in beautiful ice cascades. If the water is deep enough icebergs will form."
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Gore tells us in the film, "Starting in 1970, there was a precipitous drop-off in the amount and extent and thickness of the Arctic ice cap." This is misleading, according to Ball: "The survey that Gore cites was a single transect across one part of the Arctic basin in the month of October during the 1960s when we were in the middle of the cooling period. The 1990 runs were done in the warmer month of September, using a wholly different technology."
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Concerning Gore's beliefs about worldwide warming, Morgan points out that, in addition to the cooling in the NW Atlantic, massive areas of cooling are found in the North and South Pacific Ocean; the whole of the Amazon Valley; the north coast of South America and the Caribbean; the eastern Mediterranean, Black Sea, Caucasus and Red Sea; New Zealand and even the Ganges Valley in India.
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Gore's point that 200 cities and towns in the American West set all time high temperature records is also misleading according to Dr. Roy Spencer, Principal Research Scientist at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. "It is not unusual for some locations, out of the thousands of cities and towns in the U.S., to set all-time records," he says. "The actual data shows that overall, recent temperatures in the U.S. were not unusual."

Carter does not pull his punches about Gore's activism, "The man is an embarrassment to US science and its many fine practitioners, a lot of whom know (but feel unable to state publicly) that his propaganda crusade is mostly based on junk science."
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In summation:

"Gore's Propaganda Crusade Is Mostly Based On Junk Science", "Misleading", "Different Technologies And Year-Parts Used In Comparisons (apples/oranges)", "CO2 Levels Have No Effect On World Temperature", "Gore Sites 'Vast Majority Of Scientists' vs. 'Climate Experts' ", "Gore's Circumstantial Arguments Are So Weak That They Are Pathetic".

'Nuff Said!

Of UVA, UVB - Not Colleges In Virginia

Catherine Hackney, 18, of Atlantic City, and Gigi Guida, 17, of Ventnor, N.J., sunbathe on the beach in Atlantic City, N.J., Friday, June 9, 2006. Image Credit: AP Photo/Mary Godleski

This summer, when you sit out at the beach with that slightly blue glow and think you have done your best to beat back the negative effects of the sun ... guess again.

Not all sunscreens are created equally. One with a high SPF rating, say in the triple digit range, may protect you from sunburn (and maybe give your skin the look of Michael Jackson) but do little to protect you from the cancer the sun can give you.

Excerpts from AP via Yahoo! News -

Sunscreens faulted on cancer protection
By LINDA A. JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer - Thu Jun 15, 6:06 PM ET

Think slathering on the highest-number sunscreen at the beach or pool will spare you skin cancer and premature wrinkles? Probably not, if you're in the sun a lot.

That's because you don't need a sunburn to suffer the effects that can cause various types of skin cancer

Sunscreens generally do a good job filtering out the ultraviolet rays that cause sunburn — UVB rays. But with sunburn protection, many people get a false sense of security that keeps them under the harsh sun much longer. That adds to the risk of eventual skin cancer — both deadly melanoma and the more common and less-threatening basal and squamous cell cancers.

And most sunscreens don't defend nearly as well against the UVA rays that penetrate deep into the skin and are more likely to cause skin cancer and wrinkles. That's true even for some products labeled "broad-spectrum UVA/UVB protection."

Experts say the best protection against UVA is a sunscreen that includes zinc oxide, titanium dioxide or avobenzone. Consumers should also look for those that are water-resistant and have an SPF of 30 or better, indicating strong protection against UVB rays, and apply liberally and often.
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Often, product labels are confusing or bear misleading claims. For example, the SPF, or sun protection factor, refers only to defense against the less harmful UVB rays.

"I don't think people understand they're only getting protection from part of the spectrum," said Dr. Sandra Read, a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Dermatology. "You're accumulating this damage and you don't know it."
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Maybe Michael Jackson has it right ... stay indoors, in your room, out of the sun, away from people so that the sun does not know what you are doing.

I suppose you can always wear a hat and long sleeves.

A Leader By Any Name Go BOOM!

This photo released by the U.S. Military at a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq Thursday, June 15, 2006, purports to show Abu Ayyub al-Masri who is allegedly the man claiming to be the new al-Qaida in Iraq leader and apparently the same person as a man identified by the nom de guerre Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, according to the U.S. Military, who has claimed to have succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and vowed to avenge him in threatening web statements in recent days. Image Credit: AP Photo/U.S. Military

This is the guy the U.S. Military put a $50,000 bounty on after al-Zarqawi went BOOM.

There was some confusion about his name but that has all been cleared up now.

Excerpts from AP via Yahoo! News -

U.S. identifies al-Zarqawi's successor
AP - Thu Jun 15, 10:53 AM ET

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military said Thursday the man claiming to be the new al-Qaida in Iraq leader is Abu Ayyub al-Masri, an Egyptian with ties to Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.

Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said al-Masri apparently is the same person that al-Qaida in Iraq identified in a Web posting last week as its new leader — Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, a nom de guerre. Al-Muhajer claimed to have succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a June 7 U.S. airstrike, and vowed to avenge him in threatening Web statements in recent days.

The military showed a picture of al-Masri wearing a traditional white Arab headdress at a Baghdad news conference. The Afghanistan-trained explosives expert is a key figure in the al-Qaida in Iraq network with responsibility for facilitating the movement of foreign fighters from Syria into Baghdad, Caldwell said.
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Corn "POPS" On Wall Street, With Confidence

A company looking to cash in on the groundswell interest in renewable energy resources brought about by high oil prices and the desire to become less dependent on Islamic resourced products might just offer up an IPO (initial public offering of stock in a company) and see where it goes.

Building new and converting old distilleries may become big business in the processing of corn and other organic matter into Ethanol.

We know that Wall Street is famous for hopping on to, and hyping the next big thing, only to see the rush turn to bust.

So here we go again, from "Dot-Com's" to "Pop-Con's"

This from the New York Post -

IPO HITS THE ETHANOL: VERASUN JUMPS 30%
By PAUL THARP

June 15, 2006 -- Ethanol has hit Wall Street in a wild ride that could create quick billions - or sudden wrecks.

VeraSun Energy Corp., the first big ethanol maker to go public, soared as much as 34 percent in its first day of trading yesterday, closing at $30, up $7, for a 30 percent gain.

The sale created a market value of $2.24 billion - nearly one thousand times higher than its meager first-quarter profits of $2.7 million for the South Dakota corn-mash refinery.

Analysts expect a flood of other stock offerings and debt deals to build the nation's new ethanol refinery system for meeting the huge demand of the pollution-lowering fuel.

Shares of some new ethanol outfits, however, have already hit big bumps, such as Colusa Biomass, whose 6-cent stock is down 94 percent this year, and Headwaters Inc., whose $24.25 stock is off 32 percent this year.

"Ethanol is very hot and could get hotter," said Daniel Welt of Standard & Poor's.

"But it's also very volatile and could be hurt if gasoline prices go down, or there's overbuilding of refineries or a loss of political will for ethanol."

The nation's corn belt is already dotted with more than 100 refineries distilling corn mash into grain alcohol, which is spiked with foul-tasting compounds to prevent if from being taxed as a drinkable liquor.

The booze version sells for upwards of $50 a gallon, compared to the few dollars a gallon it fetches as a fuel additive.

Welt expects heavy consolidation and a rush of private debt to build more refineries - basically giant moonshine stills - in order to meet the national mandate of 4 billion gallons this year, rising to 7.5 billion gallons by 2012.

Even an old Miller beer brewery outside Syracuse, N.Y, is being retrofitted into a refinery to cook upstate corn mash into ethanol.

One gallon of ethanol is blended with 10 gallons of gasoline for the clean-burning fuel.
Also fueling corn's gold rush is the government's 51-cent tax break to distillers for each gallon of ethanol they make.
Link Here>>

Knockout Mouse Ranching - Revisited

Of Mice, Money, Management & Miracles

The business of raising mice for medical research is not just an enterprise where a student researcher “finds” a rare mouse with a peculiar genetic characteristic anymore. It has become “ranching” on steroids where genetic outcomes can be created and delivered through a process called Knockout!

Monday, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced plans to expand the libraries of research knockout mice in the public sector. The goal of this effort was stated that, "In total, NIH anticipates that more than 300 existing mouse mutants will be deposited and made available to the research community over the next two years."

Excerpts from a press release from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) via EurkAlert -

California, Missouri Centers receive funding to expand access to mouse models of human disease
Public release date: 12-Jun-2006 -- Contact: Geoff Spencer - NIH/National Human Genome Research Institute

BETHESDA, Md. – As part of its ongoing effort to build a public, genome-wide library of "knockout" mouse models for the study of human disease, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) today awarded $800,000 to two public mouse repositories to acquire genetically engineered mouse lines not yet widely accessible to researchers.

In the two decades since recombinant DNA technology was first used to produce lines of mice in which specific genes have been disrupted, or "knocked out," such mice have proven to be one of the most powerful tools available to study the function of genes and to create animal models of human disease. Researchers have generated knockout mice to serve as useful models of human diseases such as cancer, heart disease, neurological disorders and even obesity.

"NIH is committed to making knockout mouse models more widely accessible to the biomedical research community," said National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) Director James Battey, M.D., Ph.D., who is chairman of the Trans-NIH Mouse Initiative. "Getting these valuable models into the hands of a wide range of researchers will serve to accelerate our efforts to develop new strategies for understanding and treating human disease."
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To facilitate sharing, the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) supports a network of public repositories that archive and distribute mouse strains. The network includes the Mutant Mouse Regional Resource Centers (MMRRC) at the University of California, Davis; the University of Missouri/Harlan facility in Columbia; the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; and the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Depositing mice in centralized repositories ensures ready availability of lines at a reasonable cost, standardizes the animals' health status and guarantees long-term preservation of lines. However, more than 3,000 of the approximately 4,000 knockout mouse lines described in the scientific literature have not yet been placed in public repositories. To increase the availability of these mouse models, the NIH Knockout Mouse Project has initiated an effort to encourage more NIH-supported researchers to place their knockout mouse lines into public repositories.
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"We are very pleased that the NCRR's network of mouse repositories will be working together to carry out this effort. The network has an excellent track record of acquiring, maintaining and distributing mutant mouse lines. By leveraging existing infrastructure and resources, we will be able to make these mice available to researchers in a timely, cost-effective manner," said NCRR Acting Director Barbara M. Alving, M.D.

The Knockout Mouse Project is a trans-NIH initiative that aims to produce, in the next five years, a comprehensive resource of mouse mutants in which each of the approximately 20,000 genes in the mouse genome has been knocked out. The resource will greatly enhance the already considerable value of the mouse in the study of human health and disease.
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Yesterday, I was given a bit of perspective about Genomes and other natural phenomena while listening to Dennis Prager interview Francis Collins, the director of the US National Human Genome Research Institute.

In his book, "The Language of God", Francis Collins claims there is a rational basis for a creator and that scientific discoveries bring man “closer to God”.

Excerpts from the Sunday Times - Britain -

I’ve found God, says man who cracked the genome
By Steven Swinford - The Sunday Times - June 11, 2006

THE scientist who led the team that cracked the human genome is to publish a book explaining why he now believes in the existence of God and is convinced that miracles are real.
Francis Collins, the director of the US National Human Genome Research Institute, claims there is a rational basis for a creator and that scientific discoveries bring man “closer to God”.

His book, The Language of God, to be published in September, will reopen the age-old debate about the relationship between science and faith. “One of the great tragedies of our time is this impression that has been created that science and religion have to be at war,” said Collins, 56.

“I don’t see that as necessary at all and I think it is deeply disappointing that the shrill voices that occupy the extremes of this spectrum have dominated the stage for the past 20 years.”
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“When you have for the first time in front of you this 3.1 billion-letter instruction book that conveys all kinds of information and all kinds of mystery about humankind, you can’t survey that going through page after page without a sense of awe. I can’t help but look at those pages and have a vague sense that this is giving me a glimpse of God’s mind.”

Collins joins a line of scientists whose research deepened their belief in God. Isaac Newton, whose discovery of the laws of gravity reshaped our understanding of the universe, said: “This most beautiful system could only proceed from the dominion of an intelligent and powerful being.”
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“I see God’s hand at work through the mechanism of evolution. If God chose to create human beings in his image and decided that the mechanism of evolution was an elegant way to accomplish that goal, who are we to say that is not the way,” he says.

“Scientifically, the forces of evolution by natural selection have been profoundly affected for humankind by the changes in culture and environment and the expansion of the human species to 6 billion members. So what you see is pretty much what you get.”
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His epiphany came when he went hiking through the Cascade Mountains in Washington state. He said: “It was a beautiful afternoon and suddenly the remarkable beauty of creation around me was so overwhelming, I felt, ‘I cannot resist this another moment’.”

Collins believes that science cannot be used to refute the existence of God because it is confined to the “natural” world. In this light he believes miracles are a real possibility. “If one is willing to accept the existence of God or some supernatural force outside nature then it is not a logical problem to admit that, occasionally, a supernatural force might stage an invasion,” he says.
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I guess it can be said in accordance with the beliefs of Francis Collins, the director of the US National Human Genome Research Institute, the medical miracles derived from Knockout Mouse Ranching are just an extension of God's power and design.

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To ...

First there were Lawyers, then came Politicians, and then Used Car Salesmen/Lobbyists. Now we have a new species of Shark discovered off of the coast of South Carolina.

It was discovered through DNA analysis, that there exists two completely different species of scalloped hammerhead shark.

No additional information on the significance in the difference between the two species was offered.

Excerpts From AP via Yahoo! News -

S.C. scientists find new shark species
Associated Press - Mon Jun 12, 11:26 PM ET

COLUMBIA, S.C. - A new genetically distinct species of hammerhead shark, the ninth recognized species of hammerhead, has been discovered off the South Carolina coast, scientists say.

The new species appears to be rare and lives off the South Carolina coast. Classified under the genus sphyrna, will be called the "cryptic species" for the time being.

Joe Quattro, a biology professor at the University of South Carolina, worked with Jim Grady of the University of New Orleans and Trey Driggers of the National Marine Fisheries Service in making the find.

Quattro discovered the new species while studying along the coast with biologists from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

Quattro and his colleagues found that genes in the mitochondrial DNA — the DNA passed from mother sharks to their offspring — differed significantly among sharks that were classified as scalloped hammerhead sharks.
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"This cryptic shark was genetically distinct," said Quattro, whose research was published recently in the journal, Marine Biology.

Scalloped hammerheads are common along the coast and sharks of the cryptic species were found from Florida to North Carolina. The newborn cryptic sharks, however, were found mainly along the South Carolina coast.

"The apparent abundance of the cryptic species in coastal South Carolina could be a result of sampling, but it might also highlight the fact that the South Carolina bays are the more important nursery grounds for the cryptic species," Quattro said.
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Because they seem to have a narrow geographic distribution, the sharks may be at greater risk for extinction.

"If South Carolina's waters are the primary nursery grounds for the cryptic species and females gather here to reproduce, these areas should be conservation priorities," Quattro said.
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The big difference here is that we may protect the habitat of real sharks, but we would never consider making Washington a safe zone from sharks of the human kind.

Bankless Banking - The Dawn Of A New Age

There was a time that in order to prove you had "roots" and were a steady, contributing member of society ... you needed to establish a bank account. As a teenager, it was a right of passage and recognition that you had "arrived" as a near adult.

That bit of our overall culture is gone - for good! With the flood of undocumented aliens entering and being allowed to participate, virtually unfettered, in our capitalistic good fortune, how does the money handling side of our economy make it easier for these people to access goods and services?

The Answer: "Bankless Banking" through pre-paid cash cards.

This from the Progressive Grocer -

Mexican Grocers Association to Provide Discover Prepaid Cards in 120,000-plus Stores
Progressive Grocer Magazine - JUNE 12, 2006

-- BRADENTON, Fla. -- Morgan Beaumont, Inc., a technology solution provider to the stored-value and prepaid card market and owner of the SIRE Network, said on Friday it has signed an exclusive agreement with Competisys Corp. to provide prepaid cards from Discover Network to the Mexican American Grocers Association (MAGA) channel of more than 120,000 grocery stores.

As part of the agreement, all of the MAGA stores that participate will also become members of the SIRE Network. Additionally, Competisys has signed an exclusive agreement with Morgan Beaumont to offer SIRE Network services, stored-value cards, and other financial services via their self-service kiosks.

"An estimated one-third of U.S.-born Hispanic residents and more than half of all Mexican immigrants lack bank accounts," said William Prentice, c.e.o. of Competisys, in a statement. "This agreement will enable us to provide an important, underserved market with financial tools designed specifically for their purchasing and payment needs. By 2009, Hispanics will account for approximately 1 trillion dollars in total purchasing power nationwide. We are projecting that we will be servicing the financial needs of several million consumers in the next three to five years."

As part of these agreements, Morgan Beaumont will be providing a variety of prepaid cards from Discover Network, including gift, payroll, and general spending.

The first shipment of Discover Network prepaid cards under the agreement is expected to occur in August 2006.
Link Here>>

Discover (the dilution of) America through the Discover Network!

If only we could inculcate a sense of citizenship as easy as these cards give a sense of financial freedom. Unfortunately, we are dealing with a group of people who would rather swear allegiance to AZTLAN than "America"!

Strong Is As Strong Does

After the elimination of al-Zarqawi, Iraq has the chance to seize the initiative on the emotional and political war on terror within Iraq by standing up a proper democratic government.

In an opinion published in the New York Post, Nouri al-Maliki, prime minister of the new Republic of Iraq, affirms the commitment our effort has shown by standing strong on the type of efforts this young government needs to embrace on which to gain the confidence of the Iraqi people, the respect of its neighbors, and the support of democracies throughout the world.

Excerpts from the New York Post -

AN IRAQI STRATEGY FOR SAVING IRAQ
By NOURI AL-MALIKI - June 12, 2006 - BAGHDAD, IRAQ

THE completion of the national unity government Thursday in Iraq marks the starting point for repaying Iraqis' commitment to and thirst for democracy. We are at this juncture thanks to the bravery of the soldiers, police and citizens who have paid the highest price to give Iraq its freedom. Our national unity government will honor these sacrifices by pursuing an uncompromising agenda to deliver security and services to the Iraqi people and to combat rampant corruption.
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We will draw on the country's untapped workforce to kick-start extensive reconstruction, put into motion an initiative for genuine national reconciliation, and increase the intensity and efficacy of building the military and police.

We will embark on a national reconciliation initiative, to begin to heal the divisions and wounds brought on by Saddam Hussein's dictatorial rule and further widened by terrorism. This, along with genuine cooperation among all of Iraq's ethnic and religious groupings in this national unity government, will allow us to pursue the terrorists with maximum force.

We will launch an initiative to secure the capital and confront the ethnic cleansing that is taking place in many areas around it. We will meet head-on the armed gangs and terrorists who we believe constitute the main threat to security. Furthermore, we will develop and strengthen the country's intelligence services, which represent the best form of defense against terrorist bombings.
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This government will implement Law 91 to incorporate the militias into the national security services.
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We will also fight corruption from the top down. We will revamp and strengthen our anti-corruption watchdog, the Commission for Public Integrity, and initiate necessary political, economic and civil reforms. This will include gradual reductions in government subsidies, which impede Iraq's economic recovery and abet corruption, coupled with the establishment of a social security program for the least privileged.
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Finally, to achieve this vision, it is necessary that Iraq's neighbors not interfere in its internal matters. While some neighboring countries provided refuge for many Iraqis during the rule of the dictatorial Baathist regime, this does not give them a right to meddle in Iraq now or turn a blind eye to terrorists' operations.

Iraqis have elected a national unity government that will always put national interests ahead of sectarian or ethnic agendas. This government will support the judiciary in relentlessly pursuing the murderers and kidnappers who have blighted Iraqi society. With the help of the international community and regional partners, we will be able to defeat the terrorist groups in Iraq.

The scale of the task ahead is humbling. Iraqis have time and time again demonstrated their patience and perseverance in the face of many challenges. With our allies, we will also persevere to make Iraq a prosperous democracy in the heart of the Middle East.
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May we all become believers and supporters in the success of the new Iraq. Long live the vision and efforts of Nouri al-Maliki, prime minister of the Republic of Iraq.