Back to my old haunts

I'm visiting my alma mater this weekend. I'm here for the 100th anniversary of The Daily Orange. (You can read about some wacky DO traditions -- including the drinking of beer from a shoe -- right here.)

I'm also fighting off a nasty head cold. Gak.

How many schoolteachers does it take to build a nuke?

The National Priorities Project database allows you to find out what tradeoffs are being made to support various government programs. For example, next year Tennessee taxpayers will pay $259.7 million to support the nation's nuclear weapons program. This same money could fund more than 6,000 elementary school teachers. You can use the tool to run your own comparisons for your home state.

Destroying the air in order to save it

Quoth the New York Times:

Last month, in one of the most far-reaching environmental decisions of his tenure, Mr. Bush eliminated [environmental] rules, allowing thousands of power plants, refineries and factories to make extensive upgrades that increase pollutants without having to install new antipollution devices. The president said other regulations, as well as the passage of his bill known as the Clear Skies initiative, would keep the air clean.

[...]

[T]he trip to the Detroit plant, intended as a broad defense of the Bush administration's clean air policy, quickly reignited the fierce debate between government officials and environmental groups. While Mr. Bush was greeting workers, environmentalists said the relaxation of clean air rules known as the new source review would allow this plant to increase emissions by more than 30,000 tons a year, a 56 percent increase over current levels.

The groups also noted that the government's own analysis of the effect of the Clear Skies bill found that the Monroe plant would not decrease its emissions of soot-forming sulfur dioxide.

Grumble... Who really needs clean air anyway?