The Whining Continues

I noted this one when AFP tried to spin it out. Now the Washington Post has jumped on the bandwagon. All those mean Federal policies to try to crack down on illegal immigration are making it hard for farmers to harvest their crops.

Farmers of all types of specialty crops, from almonds to roses, have seen the immigrant labor supply they depend on dry up over the past year. Increased border security and competition from other industries are driving migrant laborers out of the fields, farmers say.

Earlier this year, many farmers were optimistic about finding a solution in the Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits and Security Act, or AgJobs. The bill, proposed by Sens. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho) and Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), would allow undocumented agricultural workers already in the United States to become legal permanent residents and would streamline the current guest-worker program. In March and September, hundreds of growers traveled to the Capitol to lobby for the bill.

But deep divisions within the Republican Party have stalled immigration reform. Although legislation to build a 700-mile fence along the border passed the House and Senate, the AgJobs proposal has languished.

As the border tightens, Mexican workers who once spent part of each year in American fields without a work permit fear that if they go back to Mexico, they will be trapped behind the border, farmers say. Instead, they stay in the United States, taking year-round jobs that pay more and are less backbreaking than farm work, such as cleaning hotels or working in construction in cities on the Gulf Coast devastated by last year's hurricanes.

"Frequently you hear, especially from California, complaints about construction companies actually recruiting workers from the sides of the fields," said Craig Regelbrugge, co-chair of the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform. Other industries that depend on immigrant labor, such as landscaping and construction, "are also concerned about the overall availability of labor given demographic trends," he said, adding: "But agriculture is the warning sign, if you will, of structural changes in the economy."

Get that one? Cleaning hotels pays better than the farm work. I realize some people in this country want that permanent underclass that will work for less money than someone who cleans hotels, but I was raised to believe slavery was wrong.

 Critics say increased wages would keep workers in the fields. Growers contend that their wages, often minimum wage plus a piece rate, are as high as they can pay and still remain profitable. Ricchiuti echoed many growers when he said local people "don't want to do the work at any price."

Farmers also contend that an existing guest-worker program is not usable. Although some industries, such as Maryland crab pickers, rely on the H-2B program to provide foreign labor, farmers argue that the equivalent program for agriculture, known as H-2A, is too complex and has onerous requirements, such as providing housing for workers. Nationwide, only 2 percent of agricultural workers use H-2A visas, Regelbrugge said.

"We explored [H-2A], and it was so cumbersome, it just would not meet our needs," said Ricchiuti of P-R Farms, who grows apples, nectarines, nuts and grapes in California's fertile San Joaquin Valley. "It's so specific; you agree to hire so many people at this time. What if the season is two weeks late? I have to have work for them. Or pay them to do nothing."

Frankly, a real crackdown on the higher paying employers would fill the fields with all the cheap labor the growers could ever need. So could raising their wages to a reasonable rate. Look what happened in Georgia.

This is bogus claptrap masquerading as news. This is agenda, not reality.

Apples ≠ Oranges

Speaking of overplaying hands, Joseph Califano, writing in the Washington Post does a superb, over the top job with a piece that is supposed to be "tsk-tsking" the House leadership's handling of the Foley emails by contrasting ti to a completely different set of circumstances. The incident Califano refers to has only one thing in common with the Foley matter - Congressional pages.

Compare the current situation with the way Speaker Tip O'Neill and the House handled the last scandal involving sexual misconduct with pages, in the summer of 1982.

On "The CBS Evening News With Dan Rather" that June, two former pages, their teenage faces silhouetted to hide their identity, claimed they were victims of sexual abuse by members of Congress. One described homosexual advances by members; the other shocked the nation when he said he had engaged in homosexual relations with three members and procured prostitutes for others. The CBS broadcast sparked a wildfire of reports and rumors about sexual abuse of pages and drug use by members and pages.

…..

The big surprise came when the two pages whom CBS had put on its evening news show recanted. They testified under oath that they had lied and that CBS reporter John Ferrugia had put words in their mouths. But uncovering the lies of the pages and the reckless reporting of CBS didn't end our investigation. We had received a host of allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use and sale by other pages and House members. We interviewed, under oath, some 2,000 past and present pages, adults who had supervised and taught them, congressional staffers, and House members. We issued scores of subpoenas.

We found no evidence of widespread sexual misconduct. We did find that Rep. Daniel Crane (R-Ill.) had had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old female page and that Rep. Gerry Studds (D-Mass.) had sexual relations with a 17-year-old male page and had made advances to other teenage male pages.

When I reported our findings to O'Neill and Michel, the dishonor that these members had brought on the House infuriated the two leaders. "Get it out," they said, "and let the committee recommend disciplinary action," which its four Democratic and four Republican members did, unanimously, in July 1983. Crane and Studds were censured by the House. Crane resigned his seat. Studds chose to stay on and was retained in office by his constituents for 13 more years.

By all reports the current House leadership had only the Foley emails to go on. Although they can be seen as creepy, and I would have felt they were, they can also be explained, convincingly, to be really nothing to worry about. To equate that to two lurid, graphical charges made on television by (surprise!) CBS News is an enormous overreach. Califano knows it. But he's going all out here, and the bloody shirt of "homosexuality" is being waved. What Foley did is disgusting. Using it as an over-the-top assault vehicle is probably not a good idea. Drawing attention to past criminal  behaviors of your own party is somewhat less than a good strategy. Drawing attention to the track record of the American media for fabricating sensational stories is also not all that smart. Frankly, if this continues, the backlash will be enormous and far-reaching.

It also will not be at all what the people pushing this think it will be.

Arachnophobia!

Just when you thought it was safe to visit Mississippi. The animal uprising, arachnid division, has launched an all-out invasion of the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. The Brown Widow spider has suddenly appeared in large numbers in a place it has never been seen before now.

Dr. Jerome Goddard, entomologist with the Mississippi Department of Health, said the poisonous Brown Widow spider that is a cousin to the well-known Black Widow, is now calling the Mississippi Gulf Coast home.

"The tropical Brown Widow spider …. has recently been captured in many locations along the Mississippi Gulf Coast," Goddard said in a news release Tuesday.

He said his office has been receiving many phone calls reporting buildings and grounds heavily infested with this type of spider.

"This spider is in the same family as the Black Widow, and is poisonous to humans," Goddard said. "I first heard of a collection of this spider at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi in early 2005 and figured it was probably just an isolated incident."

The Health Department said the Brown Widow can grow to 1 1/2 inches long. It is brown or grayish-brown instead of black and has an orange-to-yellow hourglass design on its underside, as opposed to the familiar red hourglass design on the Black Widow.

"That's a dead giveaway," Goddard said. "When the hourglass design is yellowish or orange, instead of deep red, you know it is a Brown Widow."

That and the convulsions. Seriously, the Brown Widow appears to have a less lethal bite than the Black Widow. But we here at Blue Crab Boulevard heartily recommend the method we use when dealing with any spider 1-1/2 inches long. Squash first, then look for identifying marks. It's much safer than picking them up to see if they might be dangerous. Actually, we recommend this for any sized spider just on general principles.

Irey Making A Race Of It

Redstate has some stunning news for the Murtha campaign. A recent poll shows Diana Irey suddenly surging to within ten points of Murtha. It was not supposed to be anywhere near that close. For a candidate challenging a long-serving incumbent, it is always an uphill battle, but Irey is really pushing hard and Murtha is coasting.

When the Irey campaign did preliminary polling last spring, the results were not encouraging. The 30-year incumbent in the PA-12 seat, John Murtha, led the little-known Diana Irey by thirty points. Mr. Murtha was emerging as the liberal conscience of the Iraq war, and promised to gain ever more power and influence as part of the House Democratic leadership. He has high-profile influential friends and a bully pulpit provided by a compliant national media that gives him a regular spot on the Sunday shows.

If I were Commissioner Irey I might have considered throwing in the towel and going to the beach for the summer. Fortunately, she did no such thing.

Ms. Irey rolled up her sleeves and got to work. She has gained some recognition on her own as a staunch supporter of the armed forces, the mission in Iraq, an advocate for rigorous immigration policies and a fiscal conservative. She has also been drawing attention to Mr. Murtha's many failings. And she's producing results. The campaign has just commissioned another poll by Public Opinion Strategies and Ms. Irey has closed the gap to ten points as the race now stands at 55%-45%. She gained ten points and brought Mr. Murtha down ten–and the momentum is all in her favor.

That is a hefty gain. I'm not a big fan of cherry picking poll results, preferring to look at them in aggregate and for trends rather than data points. Diana Irey has a genuine trend going here. I can't find any other poll data with numbers at the moment, but interestingly, the trend data in a couple of places has PA-12 only as "leans Democrat" not as a safe seat. That may well be an important point. But do go read the polling data that explains the issues that has Murtha hearing the footsteps. When people are 40% or more less likely to vote for a candidate when they have heard about the issues, there's a problem. Murtha has one.

UPDATE: AllahPundit has the Abscam video up. Murtha indignantly refuses the Federal bribe. Until, he says, they bring a little business to his district. Then he might want to talk about it. Free PA has advice for the overconfident. Murtha Must Go with a post about Irey's call for stomping corruption, Diana Irey herself with the New York Times agreement that Murtha cheerfully sells his vote to the highest bidder, Heritage Foundation wails on Murtha for the same thing,.

UPDATE: FUNNIEST thing I have read this election cycle! The exact same people pushing the Foley scandal, CREW, are calling Murtha one of the most corrupt members of Congress! (Hat Tip to Quilly Mammoth).

The Danger Of Overplaying A Hand

At least there are some folks who are not fans of the Republican party and who are pulling for the Democrats in November who are trying to sound a cautious note about the Foley matter. I have not seen one person on the Right defend Foley, in any way whatsoever. But I have been seeing attempts to whip up a frenzy coming from the left. John Dickerson sees a potential pitfall here.

Democrats would be happy with either outcome. But there's a potentially ugly side to their glee: For this scandal to cause lasting damage to GOP leaders, Democrats may have to use homophobia in a way usually associated with the Republican Party.

….

The ultimate judgment of this affair may be that it's just more dumb behavior by Republican leaders, and that may be enough to help Democrats with the midterm election, especially if this incident is seen as the final insult. But voters, particularly Republican voters, might pay attention to the facts (assuming more ugly ones don't come out) and use them to absolve their party's leaders. Sure, they could have handled the situation better, but who could know that Foley was going after young boys?

If that's how Republicans respond, this won't be the political doom Democrats hope it will be. The saga has too much political potential for them to allow that to happen. The narrative is far easier to understand than the Jack Abramoff scandal, and at least in the early rounds, the pressure has caused GOP leaders to point fingers at each other. But for this to become a brush fire may require courting homophobes to generate sustained and impenetrable outrage.

I noted this same thing last night and a number of others have also noted it. By trying to badly overplay what is frankly all about one bad actor, the Democrats risk a serious backlash in the long run. There have been a number of actually much worse scandals in the past where Democrats have gotten away with it. Now they want to bring down more than just the one person who is really at fault here. A dangerous precedent for a party with so many skeletons in the closet. A politically deadly move to invoke homophobia as a strategy and alienate a core constituency.

But then, the Democrats this year have a rather bad track record on the use of double-edged weapons. I suspect this one may also wound them almost as much as their targets.

Not A Winning Strategy

Generally speaking, one should consider it bad form to show up drunk for one's third court appearance for drunk driving - in the last month alone. But then, it did happen in "The Rock"**.

LITTLE ROCK - A Little Rock woman facing her fifth drunken-driving charge in the span of a year — and third in less than a month — showed up to a court appearance drunk Tuesday morning, a court official said.

Susan Marshall, 55, was arrested for contempt of court after a brief appearance in Little Rock District Court, said chief probation officer Sheila Farley. Marshall later had a blood-alcohol level of 0.147 percent, Farley said. The legal limit for adult drivers in Arkansas is 0.08 percent.

Marshall said she did not drive to her court appearance and had no keys when arrested, Farley said.

**(That ought to get TC spun up!)

More Suppression Of Free Speech

In the name of "Free Speech". I honestly do not think these people are capable of grasping the concept at all.

Your newscast and this segment concept are both outstanding. However, CBS News has a responsibility to the American people to filter out ignorant, intolerant individuals who link the teaching of evolution to school violence, or who use a major tragedy to spew uneducated anti-choice rhetoric. CBS can and must do better. I hope the next few days will bring free speech that considers the role of gun control and access to mental health care in our country. Such discourse will lead to far more progress against future shootings in our schools than promoting hocus pocus over science and medicine. [emphasis mine- admin]

The Anchoress is writing about the comments received on the CBS website over an appearance by Brian Rohrbough, who lost a child at Columbine. Rohrbough was commenting about the school shootings in CBS's "Free Speech" segment.

This country is in a moral free-fall. For over two generations, the public school system has taught in a moral vacuum, expelling God from the school and from the government, replacing him with evolution, where the strong kill the weak, without moral consequences and life has no inherent value.

We teach there are no absolutes, no right or wrong. And I assure you the murder of innocent children is always wrong, including by abortion. Abortion has diminished the value of children.

You see the problem? The commenter wants any opinion that does not match their's shut down. Which kind of defeats the entire idea of free speech. Go read what The Anchoress has to say about a long overdue discussion.

UPDATE: Dr. Sanity: The left at cross purposes with itself.

Search For The Grunion

A lifelong question of three men may be getting closer to being answered. What happened to their father's submarine?

They knew the Grunion had sunk two Japanese submarine chasers and heavily damaged a third in July 1942 near Kiska, one of two Aleutian islands occupied by the Japanese. They knew her last official radio message to the sub base at Dutch Harbor, on July 30, 1942, described heavy enemy activity at Kiska Harbor. They knew she still had 10 of her 24 torpedoes during that communication. They knew Dutch Harbor responded with an order to return to the base, but they don't know if Grunion ever received it.

Until a few years ago, the clues were too sparse to justify a search, said Abele, whose father, Mannert Abele, was the Grunion's commander.

"We really didn't do anything about it because there was nothing, no information," Abele said. "What were we going to do?"

Abele and his two brothers all married and had children. Bruce, the oldest, started working in computers in the late 1950s and later invested in Boston-area real estate. Brad, the middle son, owned a management recruiting business and John helped found the multibillion dollar medical equipment company Boston Scientific Corp.

Four years ago, a man who had heard about the Grunion's disappearance e-mailed Bruce the links to several Grunion Web sites.

One site held an entirely new clue, a note from a Japanese model ship builder who said he thought he knew what had happened to the Grunion.

John Abele contacted the man, Yutaka Iwasaki, who translated and sent him a report written in the 1960s by a Japanese military officer who served in the Aleutians. A maritime magazine had recently reprinted the report.

It described a confrontation between a U.S. submarine and the officer's freighter, the Kano Maru, on July 31, 1942, about 10 miles northeast of Kiska — the Grunion's patrol area.

The sub dispatched six or seven torpedoes. All but one bounced off the boat without exploding, or missed, the officer wrote, although the hit knocked out his engines and communications. He said he returned fire with an 8-centimeter deck gun, and believed he had sunk the sub.

Japanese troops took over Kiska and Attu in early June 1942, just as the Allies were winning the battle of Midway. The U.S. Navy was shoring up its defenses in the central Pacific, but managed to assign more than a dozen submarines to the waters around Kiska at the end of the month, according to declassified Navy orders.

The Abeles began investigating the identity of the sub in the Kano Maru officer's report.

They contacted Robert Ballard, discoverer of the Titanic. He declined to participate in a search, but briefed the Abeles on the complications of searching for deep-sea wrecks. Geological formations sometimes conceal a vessel; it could be perched precariously on an undersea cliff; the water pressure and landing impact could have broken the Grunion into small pieces, making it harder to find.

They also hired a marine survey firm, Williamson and Associates, for an expedition in August to Kiska. The Seattle-based company focuses on mapping ocean and river bottoms for oil and cable companies, government agencies and academic institutions and, occasionally, explores for wrecks.

The image they brought back shows an object on the sea floor but there are some very real problems with concluding it is actually the Grunion. The Gato class Grunion was about 312 feet long. The object they spotted is only 290 feet long. And even though I am not anything approaching an expert in interpreting a sonar image, something about this looks wrong. I'll put the images below the fold. But to my eye, the sonar image looks a lot like it might be a surface warship, not a submarine like the Grunion at all. The Grunion sank two Sub Chasers, remember. There's also no telling how many other ships are down there.

Read more »

Sunken Treasure

There is a new British firm that has big plans for recovering sunken treasure. No, not that romantic pirate treasure stuff (although that is not ruled out, either). They are set on recovering sunken cargoes of metals such as copper and tin.

London-listed SubSea Resources Plc sold its first load of copper lifted from a wreck 1 km (3,300 feet) below the Atlantic Ocean's surface in September and is predicting more to come.

With base metal prices at record highs earlier this year, SubSea's focus is on copper, nickel and zinc, although gold and silver are also on its radar.

"From time to time over the next 20 years this company will throw out an absolute humdinger of a treasure cargo," SubSea's Chief Executive Mark Gleave told Reuters.

"But for now we are concentrating on building a business with recurring income."

SubSea's immediate task is to transform its grand vision into a profit. On September 29, it reported a loss of 3.1 million pounds for the year to March 31, sending its shares down as much as 5.26 percent.

HIGH RISKS

Although SubSea has forecast a modest profit this year, investors should be aware of the "high risks," according to Mark Thompson, of SubSea's broker Cannacord Adams.

"It is like a mining company — you never know quite what's there until you dig it up," he said. "They have got to prove decent revenue this year."

Targets for the firm's first big project, codenamed Celia, were encouraging, he added.

"Celia" is a French cargo ship, the Francois Vieljeux, which sank in a storm off the Atlantic coast of Spain in 1979.

Gleave hopes to lift nearly all of the cargo of 5,500 tonnes of copper by the end of October. It will cost 7 million pounds, raising 21 million pounds after payments to insurers.

The company uses remote hydraulic "grabs" to pull the cargo out of the wreck. They say they have locations for over 14,000 shipwrecks. The problem with this kind of business is that it is only profitable when prices are quite high for the recovered cargoes. Right now metal is up, but if it takes a downturn, there may be no way to recover cargoes profitably.

Blogging and Libel

USA Today has a must-read for anyone blogging these days. There are an increasing number of lawsuits being filed against blogs and bloggers. Some of these are brought for no other reason than to silence the blogger. Others are brought on by completely irresponsible behavior by the blogger or bloggers in question.

Rafe Banks, a lawyer in Georgia, got involved in a nasty dispute with a client over how to defend him on a drunken-driving charge. The client, David Milum, fired Banks and demanded that the lawyer refund a $3,000 fee. Banks refused.

Milum eventually was acquitted. Ordinarily, that might have been the last Banks ever heard about his former client. But then Milum started a blog.

In May 2004, Banks was stunned to learn that Milum's blog was accusing the lawyer of bribing judges on behalf of drug dealers. At the end of one posting, Milum wrote: "Rafe, don't you wish you had given back my $3,000 retainer?"

Banks, saying the postings were false, sued Milum. And last January, Milum became the first blogger in the USA to lose a libel suit, according to the Media Law Resource Center in New York, which tracks litigation involving bloggers. Milum was ordered to pay Banks $50,000.

The case reflected how blogs — short for web logs, the burgeoning, freewheeling Internet forums that give people the power to instantly disseminate messages worldwide — increasingly are being targeted by those who feel harmed by blog attacks. In the past two years, more than 50 lawsuits stemming from postings on blogs and website message boards have been filed across the nation. The suits have spawned a debate over how the "blogosphere" and its revolutionary impact on speech and publishing might change libel law.

Legal analysts say the lawsuits are challenging a mind-set that has long surrounded blogging: that most bloggers essentially are "judgment-proof" because they — unlike traditional media such as newspapers, magazines and television outlets — often are ordinary citizens who don't have a lot of money. Recent lawsuits by Banks and others who say they have had their reputations harmed or their privacy violated have been aimed not just at cash awards but also at silencing their critics.

"Bloggers didn't think they could be subject to libel," says Eric Robinson, a Media Law Resource Center attorney. "You take what is on your mind, type it and post it."

There is a lot here that should be read if you blog. Or even if you leave comments on blogs. The AP Stylebook has an up-to-date section on libel that should make it one thing a blogger should keep handy. You can get access on-line or buy a hard copy. There are also several websites that offer primers on libel law, but take those with the requisite amount of caution. Just keep in mind this quote from Robert Cox, one of the founders of the Media Bloggers Association, the group formed to help bloggers in legal trouble:

Robert Cox, founder and president of the Media Bloggers Association, which has 1,000 members, says the recent wave of lawsuits means that bloggers should bone up on libel law. "It hasn't happened yet, but soon, there will be a blogger who is successfully sued and who loses his home," he says. "That will be the shot heard round the blogosphere."

Imaginary Woodpeckers Take On Biggest Challenge

We here at Blue Crab Boulevard have been among the first to bring the world all sorts of cutting edge information on imaginary woodpeckers. But now, because of our immense resources and uncanny knack for putting two and two together to make sixteen, we believe we have found the missing woodpeckers that all those science types can't get a picture of! We believe they are engaged in a nefarious plot to fell the tallest tree in the world!

A GIANT redwood deep in a remote northern Californian forest has been declared the tallest tree in the world.

Confirmation of the new record-breaker came only after a tree-climbing scientist reached its top to confirm a height of nearly 380ft (114m) — a foot taller than previously thought.

Hyperion, which stands 379.1ft tall, is nearly nine feet taller than the previous record holder, Stratosphere Giant. Two other ancient redwoods discovered nearby were also higher than the previous best, knocking the old record-holder into fourth place.

Experts say that the chances of finding a taller redwood are extremely remote, meaning that Hyperion, at between 700 and 800 years old, may be in the record books to stay as the tallest tree — and living organism — on Earth.

Two amateur naturalists discovered the three giants deep inside Redwood National Park this summer after inspecting 95 per cent of the trees in the forest.

Researchers took laser measurements that suggested that all three — Hyperion, Helios and Icarus — were standing taller than the former record holder.

A completely psychotic fearlessly brave scientist, Professor Steve Sillett, actually climbed the tree and dropped a tape measure to the ground to verify the height. (OSHA would NOT approve of his climbing method which involves using a crossbow to heave a rope over the first branches. Which start some 25 stories in the air or so). But, by climbing the tree the good professor found the proof of the evil scheme: Woodpeckers have been whittling down the giant!

To climb the giants, Professor Sillett uses a powerful crossbow to shoot a bolt, with a trailing line attached over a branch 250ft up its trunk. The line is then fixed to a rope, pulled over the massive branch, and then anchored to a nearby tree before he climbs the rope, using the trunk for footholds.

At the top of Hyperion, Professor Sillett discovered that damage by woodpeckers had robbed the tree of almost a foot in height.

The tallest tree ever reliably recorded was a Douglas fir in Lynn Valley, British Columbia, Canada, which was measured in the late 19th century at 414ft. It is no longer standing.

Now, since the woodpeckers that damaged the tree were not photographed and the Ivory-Billed woodpeckers are also never photographed, we fearlessly leap to the conclusion that it was the imaginary woodpeckers themselves who are the culprits!. We believe a substantial fee changed hands. A certain former world's record holder wants the title back.

Giant Problems For Giant Aircraft

The Airbus A-380 is falling even farther behind in its delivery schedule. Several airlines have been notified that delivery may be up to two years later than the original contract dates. At least some of the airlines are now actively reviewing their options with cancellation of orders a distinct possibility.

"We have received information from Airbus that we're going to receive the first A380 in summer 2009," said Lufthansa spokeswoman Stefanie Stotz. "That's one year later than anticipated up to now."

EADS declined to confirm or deny that its board was scheduled to discuss a restructuring plan for Airbus and a new delivery timetable for its troubled A380, which was already about a year behind schedule when the latest production problems were disclosed.

Dubai-based Emirates also said Tuesday it had received notice that its A380s will be delayed by 10 more months.

"Emirates has been advised by Airbus of a further 10 month delay to its A380 program, which means that our first aircraft will now arrive in August 2008," Emirates CEO Tim Clark said in a statement.

The new setback is a "very serious issue for Emirates," Clark said, adding that the airline is now reviewing all its options.

The first delivery to Emirates — originally scheduled this month — will now be almost two years late. Stotz said Lufthansa now expects delivery between May and September 2009, a similar delay compared with the original delivery target of late 2007.

Who knew it would be so hard to build a flying sardine can.

Happy Anniversary

Ed Morrisey's Captain's Quarters blog turns three years old today. Congratulations, Captain Ed.

UPDATE: Coincidentally, it is also Sister Toldjah's third anniversary and The Anchoress just topped two million visitors.

US Carmakers Studying Bulgarian Safety Innovation

Engineers in Detroit are reportedly keenly interested in a new automobile safety innovation pioneered in Bulgaria. A woman in Ruse, Bulgaria has apparently developed the personal airbag system.

The 24-year-old ran through a red light and crashed her car into another vehicle at a busy crossroad in the middle of town Saturday, the daily Standart said.

"The two cars were crumpled past recognition in the crash but the woman's silicone breasts acted as airbags and saved her life," Standart wrote, citing eyewitness reports.

But survival as well as beauty comes at a price as the woman burst her silicon implants in the crash.

Expect Detroit to offer this new system in place of rebates.

This Should Scare You

The UN taking over the internet. That should really, really, really worry anyone with half a brain. Currently, the internet is governed by ICANN, a private organization which has virtually no real oversight, but pays lip service to the US in tht area. Kofi Annan has pushed initiatives to give governance of the internet to the UN. Imagine that political mess governing speech on the internet.

Last week, the Commerce Department and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) signed a memorandum of understanding that would continue for at least three years our federal government's oversight of Icann. Ironically, but not coincidentally, later this month the United Nations will convene for the first time the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), in Athens. That forum will look at a wide range of Internet governance issues that may not closely align with the views of either the American government or Icann.

Founded in 1998, Icann is a private company and the global coordinator for the system of international Internet identifiers including both domain names and addresses for Internet protocols.These are important responsibilities for the efficient and secure operation of the Internet.

Although it has federal government oversight, Icann is hardly an instrument of the federal government — no doubt to the consternation of many members of Congress and the administration. For that matter, it is hardly the choice of any government or the U.N. either.The U.N. is ultimately a body whose members are governments; Icann, for much the better, has no governmental members.

Although our federal government oversees Icann, it hardly controls it. Our government has, of course, attempted to influence Icann, but it refuses to be influenced. Icann suffers not from benign neglect but from benign independence.

Icann's board consists of more than 20 directors, mostly technocrats from around the globe with relatively little representation from the United States. The individuals tend to be known among the Internet literati, but unknown among the politically or financially powerful in Washington, New York, Brussels, or Geneva.They are not the politically connected individuals who populate the directorships of most U.N. agencies.

There is much that is wrong with Icann. It is a private organization without shareholders and with a board that is ultimately responsible to no one but itself. Its board meets in secret and its procedures are unpredictable and opaque at best.Icann's budget is increasing from $25 million to $34 million next year.The total sum is still minuscule on the scale of budgets of U.N. agencies, but Icann has and could operate on much less.Part of the budget goes to finance meetings in expensive venues around the world. The London School of Economics Public Policy Group recently released a detailed critique of Icann.

Yet for all of its shortcomings, Icann is a precious treasure compared with the next most likely outcome: the emergence of a U.N. agency to govern the Internet.Curiously, the same day the memorandum of understanding was signed with the Commerce Department, Icann issued a press release emphasizing that Icann could be more independent with fewer reporting requirements to the American government. The press release appears intended not for American review but for international consumption. For years, international resentment builds as the Internet has any vestigial connection to the American government, which merely designed and developed the Internet at great expense and then magnanimously gave it to the world gratis.

The US developed the internet, then gave it away for free. To turn it into a UN fiefdom, with a body that puts totalitarian dictatorships on its human rights board in control should worry everyone. It does me.