A1A South

I’ll be roughin’ it without any computer connections or even television for the next couple days. See y’all this weekend!

I’m not sure what caused the accident, but there was a black SUV on its side on the lawn in front of the Wachovia Bank, 542196 US 1 in Callahan, @ 8 p.m. on Monday, July 31.  Several fire trucks, police cars, and an ambulance were on hand to assist the person or people in the vehicle.

Source: Powerline.

I keep hearing the same old nonsensical claptrap from every Democratic representative that uses the same old excuse as to why the idiotic do-nothing congressional “leadership” wants to block using our own resources instead of sending so much of our money overseas to *very* unfriendly regimes, to wit: It will take 10 years, 12 years, 15 years, yada yada for the new energy to come online IF the drilling is approved, so why even approve it?

The congressional ban on offshore drilling expires September 30, so that becomes a key date. A new report from Wall Street research house Sanford C. Bernstein says that California actually could start producing new oil within one year if the moratorium were lifted. The California oil is under shallow water and already has been explored. Drilling platforms have been in place since before the moratorium. They’re talking about 10 billion barrels worth off the coast of California.

There’s also a “gang of 10” in the Senate, five Republicans and five Democrats, that is trying to work a compromise deal on lifting the moratorium. So it’s possible a lot of action on this front could occur much sooner than people seem to think.

So I repeat: Drill, drill, drill. Deregulate, decontrol, and unleash the American energy industry. Those hated traders will then keep selling oil as the laws of supply and demand and free markets keep working.

Read the rest here.

What about coal? We have ample amounts of coal. Yet power plants are routinely denied permits to build new coal-fired generating systems in America. Such is not the case overseas:

Der Spiegel, the German newsmagazine, explained earlier this month why the Persian Gulf states are switching to coal. “[They] may be sitting atop massive oil reserves,” the magazine said. “But with prices for crude skyrocketing, it makes more sense to sell it than to use it. Instead, the Gulf states are turning to coal for their own energy needs – to the detriment of the climate.” And these states are not alone. “Demand for coal plants,” the magazine says, “is growing rapidly across the globe.”

Abu Dhabi (largest of the seven UAE emirates) has announced that it will switch to coal-fired power plants. Dubai (the second largest) is already building four of them – with a combined output of 4,000 megawatts – as a first-phase investment in coal. Apart from the United Arab Emirates, Oman (widely regarded as “the next Dubai”) has signed a contract with South Korea for the construction of several coal-fired plants. Beyond the Gulf, Egypt proposes to build its first coal-fired plant on the shores of the Red Sea. Russia has announced plans to build more than 30 coal-fired plants by 2011.

As almost everyone now knows, China connects a new coal-fired plant to its electrical grid every 10 days – and intends to keep doing so for several years. Less known is China’s decision to construct a massive coal-fired plant in Inner Mongolia that will convert the region’s vast coal reserves into oil. With 10,000 people now engaged in the construction, the plant will be completed by the end of the year. The coal-to-liquid process used by this plant will consume twice as much coal and produce twice the CO{-2} emissions as the simple burning of coal in a conventional power plant.

The Kyoto Protocol, incidentally, classifies the Gulf states as developing countries – meaning that they are under no obligation, oil revenues notwithstanding, to reduce CO{-2} emissions. They have opted for coal for a single compelling reason: cost. They can produce a megawatt-hour of electricity using Australian coal, Der Spiegel calculates, for $17.49 (U.S.). Using natural gas, the cost rises to $41.34. Using oil, the cost rises further to $79.50. At the same time, they can sell their oil on the global market for something approaching (or occasionally exceeding) $140 a barrel.

One of the ironic differences between Germany and the Gulf states, Der Spiegel observes, is the absence of solar energy investment “in the sun-baked Gulf states.” Germany produced 1,300 megawatts from solar installations in 2007; the Gulf states combined produced 36 megawatts. As impressive as its commitment to solar power appears, though, Germany has its work cut out. It has promised to generate most of its electricity by renewable energies (largely wind and solar) by 2020 – when it will phase out its nuclear power. Germany has thus opted for the world’s most expensive electrical power even as other countries simultaneously opt for the cheapest.

The end of the cold war and the opening of the Soviet archives showed that many people in positions of power in the government were actually Soviet agents, and the environmental movement was also infiltrated and encouraged by Soviet agents.

Kalugin infiltrated the United States as a journalist, attending Columbia University in New York City as a Fulbright Scholar in 1958. From 1965-70, he served as deputy resident and acting chief of the residency at the Soviet Embassy in Washington, D.C., quickly becoming the youngest general in the history of the KGB. Eventually, he became the head of worldwide foreign counterintelligence, serving at the center of some of the most important espionage cases, including the Walker spy ring.

Finding that the KGB’s internal functions had little to do with the security of the state and everything to do with keeping corrupt Communist Party officials in power, Kalugin retired from the KGB in 1990 and became a public critic of the communist system. He currently teaches at the Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies.

Kalugin said one of his most effective spying techniques was pitting American citizens against their own government.

“We appealed to pacifists and told them, ‘You cannot have peace unless you stop the internal situation of the U.S.,’” he said. “We got environmentalists and told them, ‘Capitalists spend any amount of money even if it does destroy your precious nature.’ Well, at the time, the Soviet Union was the most polluted country in the world,” he joked.

Kalugin listed several astonishing facts from a classified KGB report, proving just how much the organization is committed to counterintelligence. He said that in 1981 the KGB reported that they had funded or supported 70 books, 66 feature and documentary films, more than 100 television stations, 4,865 articles in magazines or newspapers, 300 conferences or exhibitions and 170,000 lectures around the world.

“Friendship, companionship—that is fine,” Kalugin said, “but national interests remain. Counterintelligence will never cease to exist. The U.S. remains priority number one.”

Source:

I wonder who the paymasters are now.

See First Coast News for details.

Not finding a tiny body is encouraging, yet with the mother showing no signs of concern, I’m very worried about the little girl.

Update:

Grandmother on Today Show. Still sounds pretty hinky to me.

The northside (Jacksonville) Starbucks sites are, so far, slated to remain open as well.  Check here to see if your favorite store nationwide is slated for closure.

Little brothers are, out of necessity I suppose, tough little critters.  Fourteen-month-old Dylan has been walking by and casually smacking four-year-old Jacob in the head with blocks, toy train locomotives (what was I thinking?), or whatever comes to hand.  I suspect that out of my field of vision, four-year-old Jacob has been busily provoking lil’ brother in order to get visible retaliation so that lil’ Dylan has to sit in the dreaded time out chair and get scolded by MeeMaw. 

Uh oh.  I hear crying…..

A longtime employee at a Talleyrand business was ambushed and shot on the premises this morning in Jacksonville, and her boyfriend suspect killed himself eight hours later in a standoff.

The woman, 46-year-old Floacia “Lisa” Brookins, was taken to Shands Jacksonville in critical condition. It happened about 6 a.m. on the grounds of Crowley Liner Services, part of Crowley Maritime Corp.

The woman has worked there about 15 years, Crowley spokeswoman Jenifer Kimble said. The business has about 70 employees. Kimble said the gates were open when it happened.

Police said her boyfriend, 50-year-old James Lawson Williams III, fled and barricaded himself in the home they were sharing at in the 11,000 block of Oaklawn Road.

Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Melissa Bujeda said he was cooperating with the SWAT team. His brother, Barry Williams, was allowed to talk with him and was heard telling other family members about 12:45 p.m. that “He’s at a point where he just doesn’t care. He’s suicidal.”

The suspect shot himself in the head about 2 p.m.

Brookins’ brother, Joel Bell, told the Times-Union at Crowley’s that she had recently filed a restraining order against Williams. He said he threatened her with a gun and had been stalking her. He said the boyfriend knew her routine. His sister was shot twice, including in the back, as she arrived to work, he said.

Court records show Williams was arrested July 4, a day after he turned 50, on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He got out July on a $25,000 bond. Brookins also filed an injunction for protection against Williams in 1997, according to court records.

Crowley is a leading ocean cargo carrier between the United States and Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, Bahamas, Central America, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba, according to its Web site. It ships cargo in containers or trailers along with vehicles, construction equipment and other cargo.

Source: Jacksonville.com

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Crews dug in a back yard belonging to the grandparents of a missing 2-year-old girl late Thursday after cadaver dogs zeroed-in on areas at the property.

Several sheriff’s dogs were called to the home of Cindy and George Anthony, located on Hopespring Drive in Orlando after a tip about a borrowed shovel led officers to the home, WKMG-TV reported.

The couple’s daughter, Casey Anthony, 22, was taken into custody Wednesday after it was determined her daughter, Caylee Marie Anthony, 2, had been missing since early June. Anthony did not report her daughter missing for five weeks, police said.

Source and the rest of the story background: News4Jax

Sadly, the only reason I can think of that the mother didn’t notify authorities that the child was missing was that she was dead, and the mother had killed her. I hope I’m wrong.

Source:  First Coast News

Fixing lunch for the lil’ one.  Let’s see…..baggie of marijuana, granola bar…..yeah, I can see where it would be really easy to confuse those two items and accidentally stick the wrong thing in the lunch box.  Happens to everybody, right?

/That IS sarcasm for those of you that are impaired.