Yes, Edwards has that right...corporate greed and running the government is everything.
Stradee is still getting all of the rain. Not fair.
The articles are interesting, and I feel the need to share them, whether they get read or not.
You and your 300 friends have supported 2,838,245.5 square feet!
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sumac, I don't always make it through the articles when you post them, but I eventually work through quite a number of them. snowy and rainy days work for catching up.
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1 aktbird57 65.155 acres
sue, clear weather from 10:00 a.m. to now - and hovering over the Sierra's the most awsome clouds. Nature never ceases to amaze.
Very good articles!
Late clicks today and...
HOME for a mini vacation till after Christmas!
Good evening all ~
Setanta and the dogs and I will be heading east to spend a week with the hamburgers at the eastern end of Lake Ontario.
... after I try to sleep in tomorrow ...
sumac, your articles are hitting the "Bush" nail on the head. Thanks
I'm home for the holidays too, and still trying to shake this "cold" which doesn't appear to want to quit my sinuses. It is a drag, making me lethargic and uninterested in even doing anything outside. Maybe Sunday when it is warmer, and a chance for rain, I will finally get the bulbs in.
Have a great trip ehBeth and best to John and the hamburgers.
One more for the administrations history books...
Interior Secretary Revises Ethics Policy;
Environmental Group Says Accountability Weakened
By Matthew Daly
The Associated Press
Monday 17 December 2007
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has quietly revised the department's ethics policy so a review panel can only consider matters referred to it by two of the department's top officials.
A Kempthorne spokesman said the change clarified how the ethics panel would receive complaints, but an environmental group said Kempthorne was weakening his own ethics policy before it could even take effect.
"Dirk Kempthorne proclaimed ethical fidelity like a lion but has pursued it like a lamb," said Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. Ruch's group revealed the ethics change after receiving documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Ruch said Kempthorne secretly scaled back an ethics plan he announced last summer with great fanfare. The plan was widely seen as a response to a series of ethics violations at the department, including the conviction of former Deputy Secretary J. Steven Griles, who was sentenced to 10 months in prison for lying to senators in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.
Another former official, Julie MacDonald, resigned as a deputy assistant secretary after the department's inspector general found she had bullied scientists and improperly leaked information about endangered species to private groups.
In a June 27 memo, Kempthorne announced a 10-point plan he said would make Interior "a model of an ethical workplace." The centerpiece was a "conduct accountability board" that would review allegations of wrongdoing. The panel got off to a rocky start after it first chairman, former Assistant Interior Secretary Mark Limbaugh, promptly resigned to become a lobbyist. The panel is now chaired by National Park Service Director Mary Bomar.
The change to the conduct accountability board - made July 25 but not announced by the Interior Department - states that the board can only review matters referred to it by Deputy Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett or Kempthorne's chief of staff, Brian Waidmann.
In other words, said Ruch, if Griles was still at Interior "he could have determined whether his own egregious ethical lapses would be eligible for board review. So much for ethics being job one."
Spokesman Chris Paolino said Kempthorne created the accountability board and has no interest in weakening it. The revision was intended to clarify how the board - an informal group that does not have its own office or staff - would handle complaints, Paolino said.
"It's not a freestanding board, and it was not designed to go out and find this information and such," he said.
If the allegations involve the deputy secretary, the chief of staff could contact the accountability panel - and vice versa, Paolino said.
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Oh, boy. How transparent can one get?
I liked Arnold's response yesterday that he now prefers to call the EPA the "Environmental Destruction Agency".
Hope you get some rain soon, sue. Dust allergies are a bear.
The seasons hectic though also. Today and tomorrow finishing shopping, then home! So much to do anymore - not enough hours in the day. Comupter works on hold till after Christmas also. Reading alerts very damned depressing - so many people and animals needing our voice. Managed a few letters, tons of e mails - now ethenol industry effect for water ussage - both important issues - after the holidays.
ehBeth, have a good, safe, relaxing trip.
Dan, our best to you and your Pattie also.
Seasons blessing to all WildClickers
Thanks Stradee - During my 22yrs in service, I noticed over and over how the various units in the Army reflected the characteristics and personalities of their leaders. Apparently that train of thought goes all the way to the top here in the USA.
The culture of an organization or entity is dictated at the top.
A disturbing trend. No accountability - corps running rampant with no thought for enviornmental safety, and a government placing greed and personal wealth before the rights of its citizens, and all sentient beings.
Government abuses have gone way beyond the pale.
Don't know whether this will come out or not. It is a National Geographic image.
Doubtful that this image will reproduce. It is from the NYTimes.
It is like looking at a photograph of Willie Loman. Attention must be paid.
I know the article is long, but it is worth reading.
Let's see what happens with this image of a dendrite snowflake.
