EPA finally addresses Zonolite seriously
ArchPundit
In a rather strange series of events, the Post-Dispatch dropped the story they broke big and now the EPA is finally going to take effective action.
February 2003
William S. Lind and Gary Hart’s comments
Welcome back to 7 Degrees of Separation from fruitcakes. And this time, I’m more than a little concerned. Recently, Gary Hart made some comments about immigrants (via Virginia Postrel–the woman with no permalinks versus my interminably long permalinks):
"We must not let our role in the world be dictated by ideologues with their special biases and agendas … or by Americans who too often find it hard to distinguish their loyalties to their original homelands from their loyalties to America and its national interests."
On first reading and knowing Hart’s background I’d have to agree with Virginia that these are simply a larger part of Hart’s concern about the social fabric and social cohesion. Nothing to work oneself up in a dither about unless one wants to dislike Gary Hart.
However, on the way in to work on Metrolink this morning, I was reading my most recent issue of the New Republic. In the February 10th edition there is a letter from one of my favorite wingnut loons, Paul Weyrich (scroll down), Chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation.
Of course, the Free Congress Foundation and a particular fruitloop by the name of William S. Lind occupied this bloggers obsessive compulsive streak for a few posts previously including this one.
Lind is a fruitcake of the first order. Besides hanging out with Paul Weyrich, he spoke at the Barnes Review Third International Conference on Authentic History and the First Amendment. Essentially this was a bunch of historical revisionists and fruitcakes, many of whom are holocaust deniers.
Virginia Postrel puts Hart’s comments into some reasonable context, but Lind was a military advisor to Hart. Doesn’t this actually reopen the question of what Hart means?
I guess I want to give Hart the benefit of the doubt, but I wouldn’t be willing to give anyone else the benefit of the doubt so I won’t. Does anyone know of any comments Hart has made about this fruitcake? Or if the fruitcake might have dismissed Hart?
Up DATE: Thanks Digby! I got Lind’s name right in the title, but called him Michael in the text. The text is corrected above.
On a Sad Note
Besides giving Royko a boost in sales for the classic Boss, she was also influential in supporting preservation in Chicago.
Daley Cubed–4 More Years of Wrought Iron!
A bit of nitpicking, but primarily glowing endorsements of Richard M Daley for another term as Mayor of Chicago from the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, and Crains.
The Sun-Times points out his major opponent lives in la-la land:
Beyond firing Chicago Police Supt. Terry Hillard, Terry Peterson, head of the Chicago Housing Authority, and Arne Duncan, the CEO of Chicago Public Schools, Daley challenger the Rev. Paul D. Jakes fails to offer one thoughtful plan that outlines how those agencies could be vastly improved under his leadership. For example, Jakes’ proposal to provide "more social services and job training" for CHA residents ignores the reality that these services are a major component of CHA’s plan for transformation.
Daley has attacked systemic problems in the City and because of his leadership, the City of Chicago is weathering the economic downturn reasonably well. He has reformed public housing, the police (still a ways to go), public education, and is now seeking to reduce homicide. The City of Chicago is as a city should be and most of the credit for that should go to a man who cannot be separated from it, Richard M. Daley. Far more inclusive than his father, and still far from perfect, he has willed a great city to remain so.
What is strange is that even those who endorse him fail to grasp how important some of his initiatives are. Crain’s takes issue with two quality of life initiatives they don’t seem to understand of which they don’t understand the importance. While I happily make fun of the Mayor’s obsession with wrought iron, making the city livable means making it friendly and walkable. His initiative with gardens on rooftops is ahead of its time. Maybe some businesses felt bullied, but it is in their own self-interest in the long run. Concrete collects too much heat and over time, that would make the city unlivable. Forcing businesses to take that into account will benefit everyone in the city in the long run.
Would Lincoln Be a Blogger?
Is what I was thinking as reading this commentary in today’s Post-Dispatch.
Steve Neal finds someone else loathesome
And he is pretty much correct about Dorothy Tillman.
Tillman, who owns more than 200 hats, is the Mad Hatter of South Side politics.
The article covers the lowlights of her career pretty well. She is toxic to politics and much like her St. Louis doppleganger, Sharon Tyus, no one will miss her.
The Seinfeld Crisis
Relatively new blog CenterPoint, points out three intertwining plots apparently about nothing.
Effects on LIHTC by Bush ’stimulus’ plan
Low Income Housing Tax Credits are potentially worth far less under the Bush plan to eliminate taxes on dividends. Of the many problems this kind of reform will bring to public entities including tax-exempt bonds, this is another serious problem. The provision of affordable housing is becoming more difficult without government intervention. As McCarron points out, the LIHTCs are great because they combine subsidies with strong corporate oversight of the projects. If LIHTCs are undermined, affordable housing will be dealt a serious blow.