Yay alternative energy

"Money Flowing to new ideas in energy", in today's Boston Globe, notes that:

"Start-ups working with solar, battery, hydrogen, wind, and fuel cell technologies raised $445.1 million in venture funds nationally in the first six months of this year, 56.1 percent more than the $285.2 million raised by such companies in all of 2005, according to figures newly compiled by the National Venture Capital Association trade group."

Cool.

Subway Success

Oh right, I ought to have followed up on that subway recrod thing. As you may have heard, they did indeed set the record, by a bunch.

Reuters reports:

Badaczewski said: "Lots of nerds can sit in a room and use their computer to come up with the best route, but we're willing to put our route on the line and actually come out here."

"And eat and drink as little as possible, and hopefully not have to go to the bathroom at all," Green added.

Reuters was not able to independently verify their claim.

for what it's worth...

Wes is back in the top 10.

primary over, Joe shows his colors

He's got the Joementum to go onto Glenn Beck's show..

BECK: I've been saying this before we even went into Iraq, that we're trying to change the face of the Middle East. The weapons of mass destruction was a nice side benefit. We were trying to go and pop the head of the snake in Iran. That's what we were trying to do. And I don't think anybody had the courage or could actually come out and say that with world politics the way they are.

LIEBERMAN: Well, you're right. And I think if I fault the administration for anything before the war -- 'cause I think we did the right thing in going in to overthrow Saddam -- it's that they oversold the WMD part of the argument....

subway route, oh my

So these two guys are, at this moment, trying to break the speed record for riding through all the NYC subway stations. It should take about 24 hours.

Here's their route:

Start: Rockaway Park at 6 am
S to Broad Channel
A to Far Rockaway
A to Rockaway Blvd
A to Lefferts Blvd
A to High St
A to Broadway Junction
L to Canarsie
L to 14th St/8th Ave
A to Inwood
A to 168th St
1 to Van Cortlandt Park
1 to Times Square
7 to Queensboro Plaza
N to Ditmars Blvd
N to Queensboro Plaza
7 to Flushing
7 to 74th St/Broadway
V to 23rd St/Ely Ave
G to Hoyt-Schermerhorn
C to Franklin Ave
S to Botanic Garden
3 to New Lots Ave
3 to Franklin Ave
2 to Flatbush Ave
2 to Fulton St
J to Broad St
J to Fulton St
4/5 to Bowling Green
4/5 to Fulton St
2/3 to Chambers St
1 to South Ferry
1 to Chambers St
3 to 148th St
3 to 110th St
2 to Wakefield
2 to E 180th St
5 to Dyre Ave
5 to 125th St
4 to Woodlawn
4 to Yankee Stadium
D to Norwood
D to Grand St
D to Rockefeller Ctr
F to Jamaica
F to Kew Gardens
E to Jamaica Ctr
J to Myrtle Ave
M to Middle Village
M to Myrtle Ave
J to Chambers St
4/6 to 59th St/Lexington Ave
N to 59th St Brooklyn
R to 95th St
R to 36th St
D to Coney Island
N to Pacific St
Q to West 8th St
F to West 4th St
A/E to Canal St
E to 51st St
6 to Pelham Bay Park
End

Oh no!

Eric Umansky is leaving Today's Papers on Slate.

About time

Not to be all haughty, but, yes, to be all haughty:

On Monday morning I posted about the alleged terror threat unraveling. Now the rest of the blogosphere has finally taken this question on.

*

I will say I'm impressed that the NYT and *some* other media have been sticking all along to calling it an "alleged terror plot" rather than a "terror plot".

On the other hand, a lot of media published articles, sourced to annonymous government officials, saying stuff specifically about the imminence of the plot that we now know not to be true. So we ought to see corrections. Yes, it's still true that those senior government officials said what they said. But given that they were saying things that weren't true, readers deserve corrections. This is what we'd deserve to know: "the annonymously-sourced information that provided the basis for front-page articles X, Y and Z in the first days after the announcement of the alleged terror plot was incorrect. In reality, the terror plot was not imminent in the ways described in those articles."

that London plot

I was pretty skeptical at first. Because every time we hear about a new terrorist plot -- be it the dirty bomb scheme that Ashcroft announced from an emergency press conference abroad, to the recent story of the people who were going to blow up the Sears tower -- it turns out to be garbage.

But everyone kept saying this one was real.

Well, NBC has what may be the beginning of the unraveling:

NBC News has learned that U.S. and British authorities had a significant disagreement over when to move in on the suspects in the alleged plot to bring down trans-Atlantic airliners bound for the United States.

A senior British official knowledgeable about the case said British police were planning to continue to run surveillance for at least another week to try to obtain more evidence, while American officials pressured them to arrest the suspects sooner. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case.

In contrast to previous reports, the official suggested an attack was not imminent, saying the suspects had not yet purchased any airline tickets. In fact, some did not even have passports.

If what this British official is saying is true, it means that some American 'senior officials' have been lying in at least part of their descriptions to media about this whole thing. And if they're lying about this part of it, they could be lying about lots of other parts of it, too.

bye bye Joe!

Yeah yeah, I know, we've only "just finished the first half" of this race, but I'm thinking Ned is gonna win the general.

AG the AG

Alberto Gonzalez was at a senate hearing yesterday where he argued in favor of changing the definition of what counts as a war crime. From the Times:

The differences between the administration and the Senate were most pronounced when Mr. McCain asked Mr. Gonzales whether statements obtained through "illegal and inhumane treatment" should be admissible.

Mr. Gonzales paused for almost a minute before responding.

"The concern that I would have about such a prohibition is, what does it mean?" he said.

Leave it to Hagel

Senator Chuck Hagel talked about Lebanon on the Senate floor on Monday:

"How do we realistically believe that a continuation of the systematic destruction of an American friend, the country and people of Lebanon, is going to enhance America’s image and give us the trust and credibility to lead a lasting and sustained peace effort in the Middle East? The sickening slaughter on both sides must end now. President Bush must call for an immediate cease fire. This madness must stop."

"The President must publicly decry the slaughter and work toward an immediate cease fire. The UN Security Council should urgently adopt a new binding resolution that provides a comprehensive political, security and economic framework for Lebanon, Israel and region – a framework that begins with the immediate cessation of violence."

"America must listen carefully to its friends and partners in the region. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and others – countries that understand the Middle East far better than we do – must commit to help resolve today’s crisis and be active partners in helping realize the already agreed-upon two-state solution."

Compare that to, say:
Biden, 7/19: "As bad as the situation looks, there is an opportunity for an outcome that weakens the extremists and bolsters the moderates. The Israeli military campaign must be complemented by an American-led diplomatic strategy."

Most of the Dems have either been awful or silent.

Feingold was a tiny bit better (7/25): "I support Israel's right to defend itself against Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations. As ground operations are conducted in Lebanon, Israel should use as much restraint as possible and do all it can to protect the lives of innocent civilians. The escalating situation is all the more reason for the U.S. to become more engaged by appointing a high level special envoy to the region - someone like Colin Powell or James Baker - who can engage in aggressive diplomatic efforts to find a solution to this conflict."

But as far as I can tell, Hagel remains alone among Senators in calling for a cease-fire.