From Hollywood Script To Fairy Tale - AJ 2-4-2

Allmendinger on the podium with trophy and flag. Photo Credit: Michael L. Levitt, USA LAT Photographic

You just can't make this stuff up. AJ Almendinger wins second race in a row after starting for Forsythe Racing.

As it was previously noted here at MAXINE, the last 20 or so days in the life of AJ have been pretty "Above Average".

--- He was fired, let go, 86ed by RUSPORT (replaced by past champion, Cristiano Da Matta).

--- He decided to grab his girlfriend and go to Niagra Falls, where he asked her to marry him, and she accepted.

--- He got a call from Forsythe Racing, one of the top three teams in ChampCar (the one that has past champion Paul Tracy on it, and it had just let go Mario Dominguez), they asked him if he would race for them on a three race deal, AJ accepted.

--- He qualified at Portland Raceway at P2 along side of series points leader, and double past champion Sebastian Bourdais.

--- AJ got the jump on Sebastian into the first corner, led most all of the race, and won!

--- This week at the Cleveland Grand Prix, he qualified for the pole position (P1) and he did it by setting a new track record, one that was set by past champion Jimmy Vasser back in 1998.

--- Right away, in the first straightaway in the race, his car was clipped and he had to come in for service. This set up a counter fuel filling strategy that paid off in the end. AJ avoided trouble on the track, raced away from the competition, and won the race climbing into third place in the points race for the season.

That would be 2 (wins) - 4 (for) - 2 (starts) for AJ Almendinger at Forsythe Racing.

Everywhere he turns, he is matching the history of past champions, MAXINE believes it's time he eventually becomes one.

Excerpts from Champ Car World Series -

A.J. ALLMENDINGER BECOMES FIRST U.S.-BORN CHAMP CAR DRIVER IN 10 YEARS TO WIN BACK-TO-BACK CHAMP CAR EVENTS
By CCWS - CLEVELAND - June 25, 2006

A.J. Allmendinger (#7 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) was only two turns into today's Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford race before he was spinning in circles, having gone off course in a madcap start to today's event.

95 laps later he was spinning in circles again, only this time in jubilation, turning celebratory donuts after winning the Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by U.S. Bank.

Allmendinger survived a rough-and-tumble event that saw an event-record nine cautions, to come back and claim his second consecutive Champ Car victory - just one week after taking his first win with a romp in Portland.

Allmendinger became the first U.S.-born driver since Michael Andretti to win back-to-back Champ Car races with his victory today, and more importantly, got back in the title hunt as the top-two drivers in the standings suffered their worst results of the season. He beat Bruno Junqueira (#2 Hole In The Wall Camps Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) to the line by 3.279 seconds to take the win with PKV Racing's Oriol Servia (#6 Gulfstream/Bell Micro Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) coming home less than a quarter-second behind Junqueira to round out the podium.
Read All>>

The last U.S.-born driver to have back-to-back wins ... Michael Andretti, a past champion of this series.

Yep! This is fairy tale stuff.

A Good Show For Canada, F1 Race Had Its Moments

Podium of 2006 Canadian GP with Schumacher, Alonso, and Raikkonen. Image Credit: Racing-Live.com

And Michael caught up enough to almost made it into Alonso's finish line photo!

Excerpts from F1.Racing-Live.com -

Alonso takes Michelin’s 100th victory
Canadian GP - Race

Fernando Alonso can cross off ‘must win Montreal’ from his 2006 to do list as he claimed the 70-lap Canadian Grand Prix, claiming his fourth straight win and extending his championship advantage to 25 points over nearest rival Michael Schumacher. The victory was a historic one for Michelin who recorded their 100th Grand Prix triumph – the first of which came at the 1978 when Carlos Reutemann took the chequered flag in Brazil.

Alonso controlled his pace through the opening stint with Kimi Raikkonen in close attendance. Starting second, Giancarlo Fisichella moved a fraction too early, checked his start and then lost out as the race got underway. Fisichella would serve a drive through penalty for the jump start, even though he gained nothing, and then had a relatively quiet race from that point.

Out front, Raikkonen kept the pressure on Alonso until the first round of stops, with the gap rarely above a second. The first McLaren pit stop saw a problem with the right rear wheel and Raikkonen lost five seconds to Alonso. With a small cushion now Alonso was able to control the gap until the second round of stops when Raikkonen’s Mercedes inexplicable stalled.

From that point onwards Alonso had the race in the bag, despite a late safety car and he duly took his sixth win of the season.

Michael Schumacher took advantage of a late race slip-up from Raikkonen to claim the runner up spot after a very strong drive on a heavy fuel load in the early stages. Raikkonen will be disappointed with third position as will Fisichella who crossed the line in fourth position.
Read All>>

Formula One Starts In Montreal

Saturday's Qualifing Notes

Excerpts from Motorsport.com -

Canadian GP: Renault Saturdy qualifying notes
2006-06-24 -- An all-Renault front row with Fernando ahead of Giancarlo in Montreal.

The Renault F1 Team locked out the front row for the Canadian Grand Prix during qualifying today at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with Fernando Alonso on pole position and Giancarlo Fisichella second. This was the team's second all-Renault front row of the 2006 season, following on from the Spanish Grand Prix last month, and Fernando's fifth consecutive pole position, continuing a run that began at the Nurburgring.

Qualifying confirmed the strong performances both drivers had put in throughout the weekend. They tuned the car set-up throughout practice to adapt to changing circuit conditions as the track rubbered in, and the R26 has performed faultlessly. The car balance has been neutral, giving them confidence to attack the chicanes and braking zones.

Tomorrow's race is expected to be run in hot conditions which will suit the team's Michelin tyres. They have performed excellently all weekend, offering a competitive blend of first-lap performance and long-run consistency, and both Renault drivers hope to make best use of those qualities to fight for the race win tomorrow.

Fernando Alonso, Pole position:

"Five pole positions in a row is something I have never experienced and it is a fantastic feeling. The competition between myself, Fisico and Raikkonen has been very close all weekend, and that was how it turned out in qualifying this afternoon. The car has felt very good from the first lap we did on Friday, and we have only had to tune it to adapt to the changing grip conditions."

"We needed to run at the end in qualifying because the track was improving all the time, and this result was perfect. To have an all-Renault front row at the ninth race shows how hard the whole team is pushing to develop the car at the moment, and they can be proud of the work they are doing. Now, we need to finish the job tomorrow."

Giancarlo Fisichella, 2nd position:

"I was really pleased with the performance today -- it's fantastic to have a Renault one-two in qualifying. I made a change to the car right before my last flying lap to add a bit more front wing and after that, the balance felt really good."

"Now we have to see what tomorrow brings, but I know that we have a good strategy and the perfect starting position. We have a great chance to win the race, and maybe we will want a one-two finish there as well."
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Schumacher and Farrari will be waiting in the wings (having qualified fifth), hoping for some kind of terminal failure ... but he will probably be waiting ALL season.

Michael Schumacher, 5th position:

"Obviously, we can't be happy with this result, especially in the light of the championship situation. We have made some progress compared with yesterday, but we are still suffering from a lack of grip. This could be down to the car, the tyres or the set-up: at the moment we cannot be sure which. What is sure is that starting from fifth on the grid we can expect a very tough race. Seventy laps are a lot and yes, anything can happen. For our part, all we can do is give it our best shot and try and exploit any opportunity that presents itself."
Farrari Notes>>

One Down, Two To Go ... F1 Is Next!

Indianapolis 500 winner takes the "bull ring" almost from the very beginning. Image Credit: IRL

Well, okay --- I did take out the trash after the race! One "honey-do" down, a bunch to go.

This from RacingOne -

Hornish Dominates Richmond
J.J. O'Malley - RacingOne Contributor

Sam Hornish Jr. took the lead from Marlboro Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves and never looked back Saturday night, cruising to his second IRL IndyCar Series victory of 2006 in the SunTrust Indy Challenge presented by XM Satellite Radio at Richmond International Raceway.
Complete Results

First Up, IndyCar At Richmond

Richmond International Raceway is displaying a collection of racing memorabilia, including an open-wheel car driven by Al Fleming in the inaugural race at the Atlantic Rural Exposition (aka Strawberry Hill Speedway) on Oct. 12, 1946, in the midway area this weekend.
Image Credit: IRL

Richmond International Raceway opened in 1953 and the track has been reconfigured five times to its current 0.75 miles. Lights were added in 1991. The IndyCar Series has been competing at the D-shaped oval since 2001.

The cars, tonight, will average over 150 mph per lap and do a lap in about 17 seconds - It is just a "bull ring".

This from the IndyCar Website -

Blogs from the track.

Drawing a crowd in the Richmond garage area
Posted by Patrick Stephan - Saturday, June 24. 2006

There are three ways to attract attention in the garage area and just a few minutes ago, we saw all of them. Of course, the first way is to be fast, and there are some fans desperately seeking an autograph from pole sitter Helio Castroneves.

Unfortunately, Buddy Rice and his crew have drawn a crowd because he invoked the second method for getting attention at the racetrack - he crashed in the final practice session.

Several dozen fans have camped on the edge of the Rahal Letterman garage to watch Buddy’s team rebuild the rear end of his race car.

The team is in the process of fixing the gear box, rear wing assembly, rear undertray “wheel flip,” building a new left-rear and left-front suspension and changing the engine. The engine change alone requires breaking the car into three pieces, unbolting the engine from the tub and bell housing, then sliding the new powerplant into the middle. Fans seem fascinated by this hurried work, and many have been stationed there since the car came off the tow truck.

Of course, the other way to draw a crowd is to be famous. Danica Patrick was hanging out at the back of her transporter signing autographs for the hundreds of fans gathered there waiting for the sophomore IndyCar Series driver.

Eventually though, she had other meetings to attend to, so off she went on a scooter to head outside of the track where the motorhomes and hospitality areas are located. Before she left though, Danica caused another mini-commotion. She stopped at the infield exit gate to chat with Dario Franchitti and his wife, Ashley Judd. Took a good ... oh ... 15 seconds for the fans to see Danica with her competitor and the movie star and start heading that direction.

After signing a few more autographs, the trio disappeared into the tunnel on their respective scooters, and the fans went in search of other drivers such as Felipe Giaffone, who was talking with the Brazilian media outside of his transporter.
Link Here>>

Open-Wheel Racing's Orgy Week-End

Fernando Alonso takes the checkered flag at British Grand Prix, his fifth win in eight races this season. Photograph by: DARREN STAPLES, REUTERS

In North America, these are the auto racing week-ends we live for.

What with F1 in Montreal at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, ChampCar at Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, and the IRL "flying" at one of NASCAR's more famous venues, the Richmond International Raceway in Virginia; how does one get any of the "honey-do's" done?

Excerpted snippets fron the F1, CCWS and IRL websites -

F1 - Canadian Grand Prix - Sun, Jun 25 12:30PM (EST)

A pretty low-key opening day in Montreal, with Midland’s Tiago Monteiro the only man to experience drama, as he tangled with the infamous ‘wall of champions’. And once again it was BMW Sauber’s third man Robert Kubica at the top of the times .
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Kubica heads opening Montreal session
F1 - 23 June 2006

Practice for the Canadian Grand Prix got off to a quiet start in Montreal on Friday, under grey skies and windy conditions on the Ile Notre Dame.

Robert Kubica set the best time, for BMW Sauber, with a lap of 1m 16.290s. That compares with Jenson Button’s 2005 pole time of 1m 15.217s and Kimi Raikkonen’s fastest lap of 1m 14.384s.

Nobody else pushed particularly hard, with Anthony Davidson 1.916s down in second place for Honda on 1m 18.306s ahead of Alexander Wurz on 1m 18.941s for Williams. Right at the end they were joined by Michael Schumacher, with 1m 18.994s for Ferrari.
Read All>>

CCWS - Cleveland Grand Prix - CBS - Race Live, Jun 25, 2:30pm (ET)

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS UPENDS FORSYTHE DUO WITH LAST-LAP SURPRISE TO LEAD FIRST DAY OF CHAMP CAR QUALIFYING IN CLEVELAND
CCWS - June 23, 2006

CLEVELAND - Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford points leader Sebastien Bourdais (#1 McDonald's Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) had a great seat to watch a slugfest between Forsythe Championship Racing drivers Paul Tracy (#3 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) and A.J. Allmendinger (#7 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone), but when the dust had settled, it was Bourdais that stepped up to throw the battle-ending blow.

Portland racewinner Allmendinger and defending Cleveland champion Tracy swapped the first-day pole five times in a furious qualifying session at Burke Lakefront Airport today, but instead of locking up the front row, the Forsythe duo ended their day looking up at the two-time defending series champ. Bourdais blistered the 2.106-mile circuit in 56.851 seconds (133.359 mph) on his 15th and final lap of the day to lead the first round of qualifying.
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Wilson ended up fourth with a top time of 57.312 seconds (132.286 mph), putting him one position ahead of last week's polesitter Bruno Junqueira (#2 Hole In The Wall Camps Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone). Nelson Philippe (#4 CTE Racing-HVM Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) continued his recent run of strong performances with a sixth-place finish, stopping the clocks at 57.779 seconds (131.217 mph).
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The final grid for Sunday's 105-lap 25th anniversary Champ Car Grand Prix Presented by U.S. Bank will be set by Saturday's final qualifying session, which takes place from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
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IRL - SunTrust Indy Challange - 8 p.m. (EDT), ESPN2

Castroneves awarded pole after qualifying washed out; Sharp second
By Dave Lewandowski - indycar.com - Friday, June 23, 2006

RICHMOND, Va. – Helio Castroneves said his mother told him to appreciate every gift he received. Years later, that includes pole starts in the IndyCar Series.

For the third time this season, the series points leader will start from the pole after rain curtailed qualifying after 10 cars had made attempts. The field for the SunTrust Indy Challenge presented by XM Satellite Radio (8 p.m. ET June 24 on ESPN2, IMS Radio Network affiliates, XM Satellite Radio Channel 145 and www.indycar.com) was set on combined practice speeds from earlier in the day. The thunderstorm also postponed the final practice session until 2 p.m. (ET) on race day (check out live Timing and Scoring on indycar.com).

Castroneves topped both pre-qualifying practice sessions with quick laps of 173.029 mph (15.6043 seconds in the first) and 173.472 mph (15.5645 seconds in the second). Delphi Fernandez Racing’s Scott Sharp will make his first non-Indianapolis 500 front-row start since Kentucky 2001 after a quick lap of 172.712 mph in the second session.

“I’ll take it,” said Castroneves, who also started from the pole at Watkins Glen (practice speeds) and Motegi (points because all cars didn’t have equal practice time). “I’m not upset that we didn’t qualify. Every time you have a chance to start on the pole position without going qualifying it’s a blessing in disguise.”

It is Castroneves’ seventh consecutive top-5 start this season and his second pole start at Richmond International Raceway (2004). He was midway through his first warm-up lap in qualifying when he spotted two raindrops on his visor. Obviously, he immediately stepped off the throttle.

The starting position was especially pleasing to Sharp, whose team switched to the Dallara chassis from the Panoz before the season-opening race March 26.
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Sam Hornish Jr. (172.561 mph) and reigning IndyCar Series champion Dan Wheldon (172.492) will occupy the second row. Wheldon was the provisional pole sitter (173.991 mph) when rain cloud engulfed the facility.
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Rookie Marco Andretti (172.068) and Panther Racing’s Vitor Meira (171.972) will share Row 3, while Tony Kanaan (171.950) and Kosuke Matsuura (171.802) are in Row 4.

The Nos. 5 (Buddy Lazier) and 14 (Felipe Giaffone) cars would not have made qualifying attempts. Lazier’s Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone made contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 4 in the first session. The team will have the back-up car prepared for the race. The A.J. Foyt Enterprises team changed the engine and multiple other components after a plume of smoke was visible after eight laps.
Read All>>

I guess the "honey-do's" will just have to wait!

"Totally" Free WiFi ... For A Price!

Brewed Awakenings, with its pithy name, artful drinks and wireless Internet service, has found itself unexpectedly percolating on the forefront of high-tech law. Image Credit: KATU - Channel 2, Portland

"Drive-by WiFi" just isn't what it used to be.

Here are some rules for "totally" free WiFi ... just to be clear:

1. Find multiple locations
2. Do not park in the same place at the same scouted access location
3. Bring water and a snack
4. Surf after you have cleared-up your legal record
5. Get a life

Excerpts from television's KATU - Channel 2, Portland -

Wireless piggybacking lands man in trouble
By Dan Tilkin – KATU Channel 2, Portland, KATU.com Web Staff

VANCOUVER, Wash., June 21, 2006 - Brewed Awakenings, with its pithy name, artful drinks and wireless Internet service, has found itself unexpectedly percolating on the forefront of high-tech law.

"He doesn't buy anything," Manager Emily Pranger says about the man she ended up calling 911 about. "It's not right for him to come and use it."

Pranger says 20-year-old Alexander Eric Smith of Battle Ground sat in the parking lot in his truck for three months, spending hours at a time piggybacking on the coffee shop's wireless Internet service for free.

When deputies told Smith to knock it off, he came back and is now charged with theft of services.

"It's a repetitive occurrence and it's something that is borderline creepy," says Pranger.

As it turns out, Smith is a Level One Sex Offender, but whether he in fact committed a crime by not buying a single tall latte before accessing the Internet, well that remains to be seen. The sheriff's office and prosecutors are now reviewing the case.
Read All>>

The television reporters took on a little additional investigation. They found out that anyone driving through a residential neighborhood could potentially find a connection to hook up to.

On their test, they stopped at a random neighborhood intersection in Vancouver, Washington, turned on the laptop and found a total of 11 active WiFi networks, 5 of them were un-secured portals on which anyone could log on and surf.

All the web without the caffeine! Scone, anyone?
(HT: Slashdot Daily Newsletter)

Beyond Human Implanted RFID & GPS Technology

Go from box to boat to dash with the portable and versatile GPSMAP® 478. This combination color chartplotter and land navigator comes preloaded with U.S. marine charts utilizing elements of the latest BlueChart® g2 technology, in addition to detailed street-level mapping. Optional weather and sonar capabilities combined with the ability to conveniently add plug-in data cards, let you easily add more maps and features — making this one incredible GPS navigator for land and sea. Image Credit: Garmin International Inc.

When one digs deeper into what the state of Wisconsin did by outlawing all human implanted RFID and GPS technology for any reason, in one persons opinion, they took away a tool that would allow parents a greater level of security over their children.

Beyond RFID, an amendment to allow parents to implant Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) signal technology in their children was shot down during the run-up to the passage of the law disallowing the use of all human implanted tracking and locating technology.

Excerpts of an opinion article in Computerworld -

Thinking the Unthinkable
By Don Tennant - June 19, 2006 - Computerworld

A Wisconsin law that went into effect last week would probably be considered by most people to be a no-brainer. The law prohibits the implantation of any kind of microchip into a person's body without his consent. Who could fault legislation that serves as a proactive measure to safeguard personal privacy in the face of emerging intrusive identification and tracking technologies?

I could. And here's why.

A few weeks ago, at a dinner during Computerworld's Mobile & Wireless World conference in Orlando, I had the privilege of being seated next to one of the Best Practices award winners. In the course of our dinner conversation, we were talking about our kids, and he told me that he lost his teenage daughter in a car accident not too long ago. She had fallen asleep at the wheel. "Every parent's worst nightmare," he said.

"That's not my worst nightmare," I told him. "My worst nightmare is for one of my kids to go missing and to never be found." He understood and nodded. Not knowing would be maddening.
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One day last week, I asked [my daughter] Shelly whether she'd be OK with it if I wanted to have a chip with a tracking capability implanted in her so we could find her if she was ever missing.

"Certainly," she said without hesitation. "Because I trust you." Her caveat: "Parents should only activate it if they really need to." Agreed.

The technology to implant GPS tracking devices in humans certainly exists, as a simple Google search will affirm. But it doesn't appear to be actively marketed or readily available in product form for implanting in children so they can be quickly located if they're lost or abducted. There's just too much negative publicity surrounding the technology and its privacy ramifications, and the companies involved in its development seem unwilling to run the political and public relations gantlet. That's a shame.

About six years ago, Sun Microsystems Chairman Scott McNealy took a now-famous position on the issue. "If I could embed a locator chip in my child right now, I know I would do that," he said. "Some people call that Big Brother. I call it being a father."
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So I was troubled by the fact that an amendment to the Wisconsin bill that provided for an exemption in the case of parents directing an implantation in a minor was revoked before the bill became law. And I'm wary of the precedent set by such preemptive legislation and of the course that other states might take.

For anyone who finds that position unacceptable, I'll tell you what. Find me a parent with a missing child who wouldn't give anything to have had a GPS tracking device implanted in that child, and I'll keep quiet. Make a compelling argument that there's an abducted child who wouldn't feel the same way, and I'll shut up. Until then, I'll be a vocal advocate of thinking the unthinkable and doing something about it.

Don Tennant is editor in chief of Computerworld. Contact him at don_tennant@computerworld.com.
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Ahhh, yes, human implanted tracking and locating technology is a slippery slope.

Does the tracking "chip" come out at the age of eighteen? Can you get them removed at the same time you get your first right-of-passage tattoo?

HT: Symblogogy
(photo and equipment description above relates only as an example of GPS technology in general and does not relate directly to human implant technology discussed in the opinion piece from Computerworld highlighted in this post)

Where FDA Advisories & Global Activism Meet

Oceana, a global organization "dedicated to restoring and protecting the world's oceans through policy advocacy, science, law and public education" is not shy in using the work of the FDA to push forward their agenda at the supermarket level.

This organization is currently involved in an outreach program designed to inform, but is also designed to shake-down food retailers through its "Green List" and "Red List" programs of advocacy.

The "Green List" grocery operations are those who put up "Oceana" approved signs that warn consumers of the recent FDA alert about the potential mercury levels that may be found in certain species of fish - Okay, good (but must it be "Oceana Approved"?).

The "Red List", however, are those food retailers who do no currently abide to the requests and will of Oceana about the posting of the FDA advisory on mercury levels found in certain species of fish - Shake-Down. ("Oceana Approved" ... because "Oceana" decides who, for what, and why a company appears on the "Red List").

There has to be a better way to express a desire to educate through advocacy than a scarlet-letter, "Red List".

Excerpts from the Progressive Grocer Magazine -

Whole Foods, Safeway, and Wild Oats to Post Seafood Mercury Warnings
Progressive Grocer Magazine - JUNE 21, 2006

-- WASHINGTON -- Natural and organic retailer Whole Foods Market yesterday joined Safeway and Wild Oats as the first national supermarket chains to commit to posting signs giving consumers a government warning about mercury in certain kinds of seafood.

The Food and Drug Administration issued an advisory in 2004 warning women of childbearing age and children to avoid swordfish, king mackerel, tilefish, and shark due to the high mercury content of these fish. The FDA also advised them to limit albacore tuna and tuna steaks to no more than six ounces per week. The agency has determined that mercury contamination in these fish is high enough to threaten fetal development and children's health. It's estimated that hundreds of thousands of women already have enough mercury in their systems to cause harm to a developing fetus.
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Over the past year, Oceana and its members contacted major U.S. supermarket chains asking them to voluntarily post the signs. Savitz congratulated the three supermarket chains that made Oceana's "Green List" for committing to post signs in stores containing the FDA's advisory on which seafood contains mercury: Whole Foods, Wild Oats, and Safeway -- including its Vons, Dominick's, and Tom Thumb banners.

Oceana's "Red List" of supermarkets -- those chains not posting the FDA advisory in their stores -- includes A&P, Ahold, Albertsons, Delhaize, Costco, Giant Eagle, IGA, Ingles, Kroger, Price Chopper, Publix, Shop Rite, Trader Joe's, U.S. Supermarkets General Holding Corp., Wal-Mart, Wegmans, and Winn-Dixie.

Also yesterday, in cities across the country, conservation and health advocacy groups held rallies outside local supermarkets as part of a new public education campaign warning customers of mercury contamination in seafood.
Read All>> (subscription)

The issue here is how does a retailer try to comply with the wishes of a special interest group only to possibly have that interest group step up its demands in the future?

Tell Ted Danson that the strategy of the "Green List" and PR - good! "Red List" and shake-down - bad!

A sampling of their links at Oceana:
» Greenpeace Blog» Mysteries of the Deep (Greenpeace)» Grist Magazine's Gristmill» Mother Jones Magazine's Ocean Report» Nature Guy's Blog» Orcagirl: In Search of the Pacific Northwest Killer Whale

You get the idea. Go Vegan!

The title of this article is a little confusing - Are the food retailers to post the "FDA Advisory" or are they issueing a "Warning"?

UPDATE:

This related story from the Idaho Statesman -

Protesters demand mercury warnings
Group wants Albertsons' notice about danger of fish to be more prominent
By Rocky Barker - The Idaho Statesman Edition Date: 06-21-2006

Half a dozen protesters marched Tuesday around the plaque commemorating Joe Albertson's first supermarket to protest the grocery chain's lack of warnings about the dangers of mercury in fish.

Since last fall, Women's Voices for the Earth has been working to persuade Albertsons to provide clearly visible warning signs at the fish counters in all of its stores nationwide.

SuperValu, which now owns all Albertsons stores in Idaho, released a statement Tuesday saying it recognizes consumer concerns about mercury in fish and has provided customers with brochures with the latest information from the Food and Drug Administration and Environmental Protection Agency.

"Our company is committed to making sure that our associates and our customers have access to the most current and accurate information to help them make informed food choices when they shop with us," SuperValu said.
Read All>>

NOTE: About WVE

Women's Voices for the Earth is a grassroots environmental justice organization.

Our mission is to empower women, who historically have had little power in affecting environmental policy, to create an ecologically sustainable and socially just society.

WVE works regionally and nationally to eliminate and/or substantially reduce environmental toxics impacting human health, and to increase women's participation in environmental decision making.

Border Hopping vs. Visa Hopping

Breaking the law is breaking the law - Border Hopping vs. Visa Hopping - without enforcement on any front, who cares?

Border fences and Data fences still need to be erected ... and then the law needs to be enforced.
At least if one "Visa Hops" the border, one wouldn't need to look for the water drums left on S2 in order to assure ones safe passage, a Visa Hopper could always buy Perrier or Evian.

Excerpts from The Washington Times -

Many illegals entered U.S. with visas
By Jerry Seper - THE WASHINGTON TIMES - June 20, 2006

Nearly half of the 10 million to 12 million illegal aliens now in the United States entered the country legally, but never left.

Carrying visas and U.S.-approved border crossing cards, they were inspected by immigration officers at 300 sea, air and land ports of entry and many -- according to a year-old U.S. Customs and Border Protection policy -- were told to "Have a nice day."

A little-noticed study by the Washington-based Pew Hispanic Center says 45 percent of America's illegal alien population -- 4.5 million to 6 million -- carried legally issued border crossing cards for short-term visits or business and tourist visas for longer but temporary stays.

Ultimately, they became what the government refers to as "overstayers," hiding in plain sight, working, sending their children to school and using health care services.
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The influx continues to stream into America unchecked despite efforts by President Bush to send 6,000 National Guard troops to better secure border areas between the ports of entry, where Congress will spend $1.2 billion to hire and station more U.S. Border Patrol agents.

Michael Cutler, a retired U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) senior agent, said the government is spending billions to secure the border but has "failed miserably" at interior enforcement.
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Homeland Security has sought to target overstays through a program called US-VISIT, a biometric verification system that scans the fingers of each foreign national entering the country and matches them against government databases to verify that the visa holder is the person to whom a visa was issued.

The program, begun in 2004, is in place at 115 airports, 15 seaports and in the secondary inspection areas of 154 land ports of entry, although Mexicans and Canadians entering the country with border crossing cards are not required to complete an arrival-departure record, known as Form I-94, unless they are requesting an extended stay.
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The Pew report said that when fully implemented, US-VISIT is supposed to provide computerized records of arrivals and departures and a means of checking the identity of visitors with biometric data. In the meantime, it said, "only handwritten forms track some foreign visitors."

"In effect, the government has a pretty good idea of how many people come into the country if they fill out one of the forms, but it does not have a full count of how many leave," the report said.

Mr. Cutler, who headed major drug investigations for INS for two decades, said, "Even if the system was working flawlessly at all the U.S. ports -- logging the entry and exit of foreign nationals and generating many investigative leads -- who's going to respond if they don't hire an adequate number of agents? It's like having a sophisticated 911 system but no cars to send if people call for help."
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Hasn't the Government ever heard of OCR conversion of hand written documents? It is right there in MS Office.

Immigration as brain-surgery ... just enforce the law at the employer level and it becomes a little more self-regulating.

The Long, Slow Slide To The Bottom Rung

The newly-elected 26th presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, of Nevada, speaks to the House of Deputies after her confirmation vote Sunday, June 18, 2006, in Columbus, Ohio. Image Credit: AP Photo/Jay LaPrete

The long, slow slide to the bottom rung of respected, tradition based, organized religion ladder in America.

I was raised in the Episcopal Church and I have fond memories of the tradition, being an acolyte, becoming confirmed, and how I used to crack wisely to my Catholic friends - Episcopalians are "Catholic Lite" ... No Latin & half of the ritual!

Not anymore, as a respected version of the global Anglican Communion tradition, the American "Province" is now only one of three worldwide (37 overall) to have and allow women to serve in leadership positions.

Tradition means adhering to traditional values and with its latest move, the American Episcopal Church clearly has no interest in tradition.

Hey! Why don't we just make it up as we go along? Yea, that's the ticket!

Excerpts from AP via Yahoo! News -

Episcopalians elect 1st female leader
By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer - 22 minutes ago

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Nevada Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori became the first woman elected to lead a church in the global Anglican Communion when she was picked Sunday to be the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. It was another groundbreaking and controversial move for a denomination that consecrated Anglicanism's first openly gay bishop just three years ago.

Standing before cheering delegates to Episcopal General Convention, Jefferts Schori said she was "awed and honored and deeply privileged to be elected." Outgoing Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold was at her side as she was introduced after closed-door balloting.

The choice of Jefferts Schori may worsen — and could even splinter — the already difficult relations between the American denomination and its fellow Anglicans. Episcopalians have been sparring with many in the other 37 Anglican provinces over homosexuality, but a female leader adds a new layer of complexity to the already troubled relationship.

Only two other Anglican provinces — New Zealand and Canada — have female bishops, although a handful of other provinces allow women to serve in the post.

Still, there are many Anglican leaders who believe women should not even be priests. Those opposed to female clergy often cite the unbroken tradition of male priesthood in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions, and in the Anglican Communion until about 30 years ago.
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"I will bend over backward to build relationships with people who disagree with me," she pledged at a news conference.

Whether that will be enough will play out in the days ahead. Andrew Carey, a British-based commentator on Anglican affairs and son of the Rev. George Carey, who served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, called Jefferts Schori "the most liberal of the lot" of candidates.

"I think this fully shows a noncompliance of spirit with rest of the communion," he said in an interview.
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"I can't help but consider the peculiar genius our church has for roiling the waters," said the Rev. Eddie Blue of Maryland. "I am shocked, dismayed and saddened by the choice."
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The new leader will inherit a fractured church. The Pittsburgh-based Anglican Communion Network, which represents 10 U.S. conservative dioceses and more than 900 parishes within the Episcopal Church, is deciding whether to break from the denomination. The House of Bishops recently started a defense fund that will help fight legal battles against parishes that want to leave and take their property with them.

Membership in the Episcopal Church, as in other mainline Protestant groups, has been declining for years and has remained predominantly white. More than a quarter of the 2.3 million parishioners are age 65 or older.
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This is really going to go over well with that 25% who have enjoyed the Episcopal traditions for almost all of their 65 plus years.

If one does not like the tradition, go build a relationship at another church ... I did, but I am not 65 plus.