| Sullivan's proposal would offer a safe ride home
Ashanti Hamilton is seeing his name associated with negative headlines, especially in light of a Journal Sentinel report rehashing previous personal troubles and that the first-term alderman is facing foreclosure on one of his homes. The week started with Hamilton's opponent, C. Orlando Owens, getting police to issue a disorderly conduct ticket to the alderman. Disorderly conduct tickets aren't usually the stuff intrepid police beat reporters pick up on in a normal day. And Hamilton wasn't even arrested. Owens has behind-the-scenes backing of none other than Jerell Jones, Milwaukee's minority media mogul and the mastermind behind the Gary George recall. Jones was also one of the key forces supporting Ald. Michael McGee Jr. until his self-inflicted demise. A Journal Sentinel report Thursday highlighted Hamilton's foreclosure, but knowing how the paper does business, it certainly didn't dig up the story on its own and was likely fed the info by Hamilton's opponents.
How the World Works
Perhaps only in China could a mission to deliver milk powder to the mother of an infant become a subversive, fully documented adventure worthy of Tom Cruise action hero Hollywood treatment. Is there anywhere else where a repressive state is so strenuously attempting to keep the lid on a fully wired population? A truly extraordinary document has been circulating in the Chinese blogosphere, detailing the efforts of a young man to smuggle milk powder to Zeng Jinyan, a Chinese activist currently under house arrest in the surreally named BOBO Freedom City. Thanks to John Kennedy, a tireless bridge blogger at Global Voices Online, the English-speaking world can now also be amazed at "Hack Into Freedom City." (Hat tip to China Digital Times for the link.) Much of "Hack Into Freedom City" details the aspiring milk powder hero's unsuccessful efforts to figure out a way past the security forces guarding the complex in which Zeng and her baby are detained.
Indoor pot plant operations are a growing problem in SW Florida
Carralero, 35, was charged with marijuana trafficking and possession of narcotic equipment. It was one of three suspected growhouses Collier investigators discovered in four days, and one of seven they've shut down in the first two months of 2008. In all, the Sheriff's Office reports seizing about $1.7 million worth of pot and thousands of dollars worth of equipment in the process. Collier authorities made 31 growhouse-related arrests in 2007, most in the Estates. The Lee County Sheriff's Office reported busting 66 growhouses in 2007, seizing nearly $8 million in marijuana. “This is like Groundhog Day. Get up, go to work, go to a growhouse," Shadrick said, referring to the Bill Murray movie where the main character repeats the same day over and over again. The prevalence of growhouses in Southwest Florida really started to escalate around 2002, Shadrick said.
Arkansas Valley Ground Zero For Invasive Tamarisk
Unlike native cottonwood trees, the plants also spread to upland areas.Some stands of trees near John Martin Reservoir are up to 1.5 miles wide.The Tamarisk Coalition estimates water losses in the watershed from tamarisk, above and beyond what native vegetation would use, is 76,600 acre-feet per year, or about the same amount needed by Aurora each year.If the problem is not addressed, future water losses from "infilling" (no expansion from existing infested areas) alone are estimated to be 198,000 acre-feet per year, or enough for Pueblo, Colorado Springs and Aurora combined.The mapping and survey project estimated it would take $70 million to completely eradicate and restore the watershed."This goal is a daunting undertaking in itself for a watershed to accomplish," Van Pelt said. "The solution may lie in developing partnerships to achieve this gargantuan goal."There are several efforts in place to control tamarisk, including the statewide Tamarisk Coalition, which provides education and outreach on the threat.Pending state legislation proposes a Colorado Water Conservation Board grant program to provide $4 million over the next four years to cost share with federal, local and private funds for tamarisk restoration projects.Federal legislation was passed in October 2006 to assist in rectifying the tamarisk problem.In the Arkansas watershed, several groups have formed, including: Bent County Tamarisk Working Partners, Conservation Partners Conquer Tamarisk, Tackling Tamarisk on the Purgatoire, Upper Arkansas Regional Weed Management Cooperative, Bent's Fort Project and local landowner groups.The Southeastern district and Bent County have assembled a collaboration of partners to fund and develop the Arkansas River Watershed Invasive Plants Plan for the watershed.
How the good guys fight the security arms race
Bret Hartman has over 25 years of experience building data security systems and protocols for some of the biggest authorities and companies in the world. During his career as an US Air Force officer he was assigned to the National Security Agency where he helped create the Department of Defense Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria (Orange Book) and was co-author of Object Management Group's Corba Security specification. As CTO at security company RSA, Hartman is responsible for defining the corporate security technology strategy for RSA's parent company EMC. RSA and its staff of about 2,000 work with several of the UK's high-street banks and more than 90 per cent of Fortune 500 companies. Its revenues for the fourth quarter of 2007 grew 30 per cent year-on-year, reaching $148m.
Manager fears housing will worsen by default
Horton recently reported a 52 percent drop in sales, and 44 percent of the sales that were arranged ended up being canceled.
Meanwhile, the Fed's Senior Loan Survey shows that 53 percent of U.S. banks tightened standards on prime mortgages, those to people with the best credit histories. For sketchier borrowers, it's 85 percent.
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gmarksjarvis@tribune.com .
That's Danny Billions to you
I wouldn't say he beat big oil, they'll do OK. But he wasn't shy about telling them to go away until they get serious.
Most of the negative stories regarding Williams in this adventure can easily be summed up in total as: He wouldn't give us stuff for free so he's a bad man. Posted 25/01/08 at 7:52 AM EST | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment .
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