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The Real Winners from Climate Change

By Joe Romm on Nov 2, 2006 at 12:58 pm

We are changing the climate so rapidly that the biological “winners” will be those organisms that 1) prefer it warmer than colder and 2) have a life-cycle sufficiently short that they can adapt faster than other organisms. Which are those? One guess:
globalwarmingmosquito.jpg

“Insect population growth likely accelerated by warmer climate,” reports the University of Washington (UW). The researchers found “insect species that adapt to warmer climates also will increase their maximum rates of population growth.” In particular

The research shows, in effect, that “warmer is better” for insects, said Melanie Frazier, a UW biology doctoral student.

“Enhanced population growth rates for butterflies might be a good thing, but enhanced growth rates for mosquito populations is much more dubious,” said Frazier, who is lead author of the new research.

The full study is available in the October issue of The American Naturalist (subs. req’d). The research was funded by grants from a number of sources including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science Foundation. It would certainly be nice if the one person ultimately in charge of those agencies was paying attention before we all get stung.

Politics

Boehner: The Military’s Transformation Under Rumsfeld Has Been ‘Nothing Short Of Remarkable’

By Amanda Terkel on Nov 2, 2006 at 12:26 pm

In the past few days, House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) has vigorously defended Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, saying that he is the “best thing that’s happened to the Pentagon in 25 years” and is doing a “marvelous job.”

Yesterday on CNN, Boehner stated that under the Bush administration, the military has undergone a “remarkable” transformation and “there’s only person in America who could have brought about that transformation and that’s Donald Rumsfeld.” Watch it:

[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2006/11/boehnerrum.320.240.flv]

In reality, Rumsfeld’s mismanagement has pushed the all-volunteer force perilously close to its breaking point. Some highlights of Rumsfeld’s “remarkable” leadership:

– The military’s equipment is outdated, below standards: Forty-two percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans said their equipment was below the military standard of being 90 percent operational. Thirty-five percent said their Humvees and trucks were not up-armored when they arrived in-country.

– The military faces severe manpower shortages: Currently, the Army has “close to zero combat-ready brigades in reserve” and the National Guard is “in an even more dire situation than the active Army.” Sixty-three percent of all Iraq and Afghanistan veterans believe the Army and Marine Corps are overextended.

Full transcript below: Read more

Politics

Bush Laments ‘Tone’ In Washington, Says His Opponents Want Terrorists To Win

By Judd Legum on Nov 2, 2006 at 11:13 am

On Tuesday, in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, President Bush said the worst thing about being President was the “tone” in Washington, saying that it “has gotten ugly.” Bush said that he had stayed above the fray, noting “I really don’t think it’s fitting for the president to drag the presidency into that kind of a mudslinging.” Watch it:

[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2006/11/tonehannity.320.240.flv]

The day before, President Bush was on the campaign trail in Georgia. His message: his opponents want America to lose and the terrorist to win. Watch it:

[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2006/11/tonefinal.320.240.flv]

This kind of high-minded rhetoric is a staple of President Bush’s election-year stump speech. Expect more of it as the President campaigns in Nevada, Montana and Missouri over the next two days.

Digg It!

Transcript: Read more

Politics

Great moments in Fox News.

By Judd Legum on Nov 2, 2006 at 9:43 am

“You know, this apology sort of strikes me like something about teen-agers when their parent say, Hey, you can’t do something, and they say, Well, I really want to do it, but then they know that they have to apologize if they want to go out on Saturday night a couple days later. Is that the way this kind of apology struck you?” — Fox News’ Gretchen Carlson to White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, 11/2/06

Media

Mario Loyola

By Matthew Yglesias on Nov 2, 2006 at 9:38 am

Does anyone know where this joker came from? I feel like he was added to the Corner’s roster because the Bush administration had become so deplorable that even many existing contributors were too intellectually honest to keep defending the indefensible. Thus, the institution just needed to dig even deeper into the blinkered pile and find someone dumb enough to still be a 100 percent Bush fan. I mean, seriously: “Kerry drew the Dems into a blind alley by making respect for the troops the central issue of the Iraq war.” Seriously? Seriously. And it goes on:

Every Democratic candidate should now be asked whether they think the troops are in Iraq because (a) they are committed to the mission and want to win or (b) because of their lack of economic and social opportunity back home. The latter is plainly Kerry’s position — and that of the Democratic left — and it has now been revealed as a position for which one has to apologize. Therefore, most Democrats now will contradict Kerry, and answer (a) the troops are devoted to their mission.

This is the central issue in Iraq? No, sorry, that’s idiotic. I’m not sure whether the thousands of dead American soldiers, the tens of thousands of maimed American soldiers, the hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis, the wreckage of overall American national strength, or the catastrophic spillover consequences for our policy in Iran, North Korea, and Afghanistan are the central issue in Iraq, but it’s some mix of those things. Or, perhaps, it would be better to say that the central issue is that all of these factors show all signs of getting worse rather than better in the near future. The troops, obviously, are trying their best to do their duty and serve their country but this doesn’t change the fact that they’ve been ordered into an impossible situation for the worst possible reasons.

Yglesias

Iraq Polling

By Matthew Yglesias on Nov 2, 2006 at 9:03 am

02pollgraphic_hp.gif

What do the people think of Iraq? According to the latest New York Times poll they’re interested in ponies — withdrawal is much more popular than “stay the course” but much less popular than some unspecified new strategy. At the same time, a “substantial majority of Americans expect Democrats to reduce or end American military involvement in Iraq if they win control of Congress next Tuesday and say Republicans will maintain or increase troop levels to try to win the war if they hold on to power on Capitol Hill” while the generic ballots show a clear lead for Democrats. This indicates to me that much as I find the Biden-Gelb Plan for Iraq a bit confused, it makes sense as something for Democrats to push since it puts a “new strategy” face on what amounts to a new strategy of withdrawing.

In the national data, Republicans are now so unpopular that Democrats are preferred by essentially every demographic sub-group except self-described Republicans and self-described conservatives. Of course, the election won’t be determined by national polls, but that’s a sense of the country’s mood, and indicates that if, as expected, Democrats take the House, I don’t think they need to shy away from taking an aggressive approach. People are pretty tired of this shit.

Politics

ThinkFast: November 2, 2006

By ThinkProgress on Nov 2, 2006 at 8:59 am

tfpoll.gif

Only 29 percent of Americans approve of Bush’s handling of Iraq, “matching the lowest mark of his presidency.” “Nearly 70 percent said Mr. Bush did not have a plan to end the war, and 80 percent said Mr. Bush’s latest effort to rally public support for the conflict amounted to a change in language but not policy.”

1,289: Number of Iraqi civilians who died last month in political violence. The number — nearly 42 people per day — was up 18 percent from the 1,089 such fatalities in September.

Inspectors general from NASA and the Commerce Department will investigate if Bush’s “political appointees have prevented climate researchers from conveying their findings to the public.”

The Bush administration is delaying the release of an annual hunger report until after the elections. The Agriculture Department report, which has generally been released in October, has shown steady increases in the number of people struggling with hunger. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) said, “It seems like a pattern is emerging where the administration simply tries to bury bad information the closer they get to the election.”

“An internal State Department review has found that U.S. officials screened the public statements and writings of private citizens for criticism of the Bush administration before deciding whether to select them for foreign speaking projects.” Read more

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