Nissan announced today that it celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Z’s First National Championship win with a BRE 370Z. The car will pay homage to the year that Peter Brock’s Southern California-based Brock Racing Enterprises (BRE) racing team claimed the first of its two SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) National Championships at Road Atlanta with that first iteration of the now iconic Z-car.

Click here for prices on the 2010 Nissan 370Z.

Based on the Nissan 370Z 40th Anniversary Edition, the BRE 370Z will be unveiled at a BRE Reunion dinner at the Classic Motorsports Mitty at Road Atlanta later next week. Brock, Morton and many of the original BRE team members will be in attendance.

The new BRE 370Z won’t just be a show car but will be built for the track as well.

Stay tuned for the final product.

Make the jump for the press release.

Check out our review of the 2009 Nissan 370Z here.

Refresher: The 2010 Nissan 370Z 40th Anniversary Edition is based on the 332-hp 3.7L V6 370Z Coupe Touring and features the SynchroRev Match system, a front chin spoiler, a rear spoiler, Nissan Sport Brakes, 19-inch Ray forged aluminum-alloy wheels and a viscous limited-slip differential. The special-edition model gets a premium “40th Quartz” exterior color and red leather interior. Other modifications include smoke wheel finish, red brake calipers and 40th Anniversary badging on the rear hatch and front strut tower brace. Production will be limited to 1,000 units. Prices start at $38,860.

40th Anniversary Nissan 370Z BRE:

2010 Nissan 370Z 40th Anniversary Edition:

Press Release:

Nissan Celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the Z®’s First National Championship with a BRE 370Z

– Forty Years After Their Famous Victory in the 240Z, Peter Brock, John Morton and Brock Racing Enterprises Revisit Road Atlanta at The Classic Motorsports Mitty –

Forty years ago, the Datsun 240Z arrived in North America and changed the sports car landscape forever. That same year Peter Brock’s Southern California-based Brock Racing Enterprises (BRE) racing team claimed the first of its two SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) National Championships at Road Atlanta with that first iteration of the now iconic Z®-car. It was the first time in racing history that a Japanese production racer had defeated the long-established champions from Germany and England in head-to-head competition. That championship win, with driver John Morton at the wheel, firmly established the performance and engineering credibility of the popular Z®.

The #46 championship car carried the now famous red, white and blue BRE paint scheme designed by Peter Brock. In recognition of BRE’s multiple championships and the Z®’s first championship, Nissan North America has again teamed with Brock to create an updated rendition of the famous BRE livery, a specially modified 2010 Nissan NISMO 370Z Coupe.

The BRE 370Z will be unveiled at a special BRE Reunion dinner at the Classic Motorsports Mitty at Road Atlanta on Thursday, April 29 and will be displayed throughout the weekend along with a 40th Anniversary Edition 370Z and a large collection of the famous BRE racecars. Brock, Morton and many of the original BRE team members will be in attendance, as the BRE team is being recognized this year as The Mitty’s honored historic racing team.

“To be able to gather with many of my old BRE crew members at Road Atlanta this year is a truly special occasion,” said Brock. ”There will be so many race fans of that era who will join us to celebrate, as well as modern vintage teams which will be bringing their own tribute BRE racers to compete on this fabulous circuit.”

The powerful, sculpted shape of the Nissan 370Z gave Brock a dynamic canvas to exercise his design skills and update the BRE livery. He worked closely with the painters to finalize the details and make sure it met his exacting standards. “Because the 370Z has strong, sculpted shapes, I was able to make the livery even bolder and more aggressive,” said Brock. “It was good to be in the paint booth working out the details of the design. I look forward to seeing it in a race track setting at The Mitty.”

The new BRE 370Z is not just a show car, however, it’s built for the track as well. As is appropriate to commemorate the championship car, it was built to current SCCA T2 racecar regulations and will see track duty later this year. It will also be on display at multiple Z® Club events around the country, including ZCon 2010, the annual Z convention, from July 28 to August 1 in Nashville.

About the Nissan 370Z 40th Anniversary Edition
The 370Z 40th Anniversary Edition starts out as a 370Z Coupe Touring model equipped with manual transmission and Sport Package (including SynchroRev Match™, front chin spoiler, rear spoiler, Nissan Sport Brakes, 19-inch Rays forged aluminum-alloy wheels and viscous limited-slip differential) and adds a premium “40th Graphite” exterior color and red leather-appointed interior.

Additional exclusive equipment includes a high-luster smoke wheel finish, red brake calipers and 40th Anniversary badges on the rear hatch and front strut tower brace. Inside, along with the red leather-appointed seats are red door panel inserts, 40th Anniversary seatback and floor mat embroidery, red stitching on the center stack, shift boot and kneepads, smooth leather steering wheel with red stitching and a plaque of authenticity. Only 1000 examples of the 40th Anniversary 370Z will be available in the U.S.

– By: Omar Rana

… a self-piloting flying car.

Via KurzweilAI.net:

DARPA announces plans for self-piloted flying car

Physorg.com, Apr. 19, 2010 DARPA announced that it is inviting proposals to tackle its latest project: Transformer X, a “vertical takeoff and landing roadable air vehicle” ready for testing by 2015. It would have a maximum payload capacity of 1,000 pounds so that it can carry four passengers and their gear, be capable of flying itself automatically, achieving an altitude of 1,000 feet, and traveling 250 miles on a single tank of fuel. The Terrafugia Transition roadable aircraft, tested last year, lacks autopilot and off-road features. Read Original Article>>

American Idol star Crystal Bowersox wasn’t happy Ryan Seacrest shared a tale of how he coaxed the homesick frontrunner back to the show after she threatened to quit earlier this month.

On Friday, TMZ.com published a report claiming Crystal nearly quit the show two weeks ago after succumbing to lonesomeness for her young son back home in Ohio. The scoop claimed Ryan convinced Bowersox to stay in Los Angeles after a parking lot confessional between the two. Ryan went on to confirm the report to E! Online and was branded “‘Idol’s’ Very Own Superman,” — much to Crystal’s chagrin.

“The greatest thing I ever did was make enough money so I could buy my mom a house. You can buy your mom a house,” Ryan said, consoling the aspiring soul star.

Katelyn Epperly, the curly-haired contender who was cut from the show earlier this season, told Des Moines’ Star 102.5 FM that she’s been keeping in touch with her dredlocked pal via text message and spilled the beans on Bowersox’s displeasure with the Idol host.

“I had not heard about that, of course, and I texted her the second that I heard something about it… And I was like, ‘Hey dude, what’s going on? Are you OK?’ And she was like, ‘Oh, yes, I’m fine.’ She said, ‘Betrayed by Seacrest,’” Katelyn explained.

“She apparently had a moment backstage where she was just missing her kid,” Katelyn continued. “She just really wanted to see her little boy and sometimes it really gets to her. And I think she probably just had a moment and they probably made it to be something that it wasn’t. She’s fine. She’s still in the game, she’s just, she’s a mom.”

Published April 20, 2010
By the Tri-City Herald Editorial Board

The Mid-Columbia Literary Festival puts another Northwest writer in the spotlight tonight when poet Tod Marshall appears at Columbia Basin College.

The Gonzaga University professor’s reading is set for 7 p.m. at the HUB Main Stage.

His first collection of poetry, Dare Say, was the 2002 winner of the University of Georgia’s Contemporary Poetry Series. His second collection, The Tangled Line, was published in 2009.

Marshall’s collection of interviews with contemporary poets, Range of the Possible, makes him both fan and artist.

“Each conversation — from learned discussions with such intense poet-scholars as Robert Hass and Edward Hirsch to the mystical perceptions of Li-Young Lee to Linda Bierds’ interest in writing about lives other than her own to Yusef Komunyakaa’s connection to place — deepens the reader’s appreciation for all the knowledge, emotion and conviction that make poetry the wonder, pleasure and solace it is,” wrote Donna Seaman in Booklist.

As poet and teacher, Marshall should satisfy poetry lovers and those looking for an introduction to contemporary poetry.

A friend and I stopped in for lunch today at Bishoku Japanese Restaurant in Sandy Springs — a spot that has been getting good play on local food blogs. It has a unique presence in the Atlanta Japanese food scene: the lengthy menu offers a number of small plates much like you’d find at Shoya Izakaya, Hashiguchi, Jr., or Sushi Yoko. In other words, it has bona fides. This place is a real Japanese restaurant, not a sushi-fusion whatever.

But unlike those other places, which push the booze, Bishoku is kind of fancy. Dark wood, soft lighting and discreet nooks create a serene effect. There is  no bar and no bottle of liquor in sight, though I think the restaurant serves beer, sake and shochu. A large sushi bar dominates the center of the room.

The young, businesslike woman making the rounds of tables is Jackie Fukuya Merkel, the owner and daughter of the founding owners of Sushi Huku — a longtime Northside favorite.

I haven’t tried …

Retail medical clinics — you know, those little offices in places like Walmart that promise to treat minor ailments in the amount of time it takes to check out on the express line — have been around for a few years, but haven’t exactly won over tons of customers from the neighborhood GP. Now, it looks like they’re about to take off in a big way. Or collapse. Or do nothing. That’s what happens when you get a second opinion about the fact that Kroger is closing 20 of its Little Clinic branches.

The Cincinnati Business Courier sees a slowing pulse:

“Many people are looking at the industry and wondering where it will go,” said Tom Charland, CEO of Merchant Medicine, a Shoreview, Minn.-based consulting firm that helps to start retail and on-site employee clinics. “We continue to see clinics close because they’re not able to get to break-even.”

Meanwhile, the medics over at Cincinnati.com see an industry that’s positively glowing with health:

Because so many more people may soon have access to health insurance under new federal legislation, they’ll need more options for using it. Kroger began opening Little Clinics in its stores in 2003. In 2008, the grocer took partial ownership in the chain, which eventually built to 100. The clinics typically perform vaccinations, physicals and exams for high school athletes. They diagnose common illnesses such as flus, ear infections and colds. And they accept most insurance plans.

So, what’s really going on in these mini-clinics? Not a whole lot, according to one consultant contacted by Cincinnati.com: “One of the problems you have is they really can’t do a whole lot for people,” says Dave Livingston, a supermarket consultant in Wisconsin. “Most of the things you can do by yourself, like treat colds, pink eye. And if it’s a big problem, they’re just going to refer you to a doctor.”

And, of course, if you treat yourself at home, you don’t have to worry about anyone checking your receipt on the way out.

Kroger taking second look at Little Clinics [Cincinnati.Com]
Consumers aren’t sold on retail health-care clinics [Cincinnati Business Courier]

Kate and Miriam brought this terrific young explorer to my attention–and I have a hunch we’ll hear more from Fairy Scientist Lydia in another decade or so! The details:
The Fairy Scientist was one of 9 finalists in the annual Project Reason Video contest. Voting is now closed and our little scientist did not win any of the three grand prizes. Oh well, the Nobel is still up for grabs. Children are natural scientists – filled with wonder and curiosity, they yearn to know about the world around them. Join Fairy Scientist, Lydia as she sets out to discover the secret world of Fairies. Lydia comes from a family of accomplished scientists; her grandfather is a PhD Oceanographer with NOAA and her great-grandfather is professor emeritus of Horticulture at Oregon State University. Lydia’s father is an Electrical Engineer with Hewlett-Packard with numerous patents to his credit. Scientist, Lydia, is the granddaughter of “Andrus” producer/director, Robert Neary. Though she took a little direction from her director grandfather, her comments and observations are completely unscripted and entirely her own. Lydia’s academic studies has her currently in the First Grade, but her inquisitiveness and curiosity show great promise in her achieving a notable scientific career.

Yes, George Soros the activist billionaire is still panning to invest in cleantech, a spokesman tells G.E.R. declining to provide more details as to how and when that could happen.

“Plans haven’t changed,” spokesman Michael Vachon tells us.

Back in October Soros announced that over the next decade he would invest up to $1 billion in cleantech. At the time it was unclear if Soros would invest via  a new greentech-focused venture fund or through his excisting  Soros Fund Management.

Is Soros close to announcing a first investment in the sector? Vachon declined to say.

What we know is that Soros will step-in as an early stage investor, backing companies that are profitable and make a contribution to solving the [climate change] problem.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

WASHINGTON–White House Deputy spokesman Bill Burton, reacting to Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel saying that he wants to run for Chicago mayor when Mayor Daley quits during a gaggle on Air Force One:

Q What is your reaction to Rahm running for mayor?

MR. BURTON: Look, we all serve at the pleasure of the President, and Rahm very much enjoys the work that he does as Chief of Staff. He was talking about a scenario where if Mayor Daley doesn’t run for reelection, but we all know that Mayor Daley is running for reelection. It’s something that many kids in Chicago dream of growing up to be a mayor, so it’s one of the great jobs in American politics. But it’s just an ambition — when I was a kid I wanted to be an astronaut. Gibbs probably wants to ride in the Tour de France. That doesn’t mean we’re all leaving the White House to go and do —

Q Does the President think that Rahm Emanuel would be a good mayor of Chicago?

MR. BURTON: I think the President thinks that Rahm Emanuel is a great chief of staff and enjoys having him in that job right now. Maybe “enjoy” is the wrong word. (Laughter.)

Okay, thanks.

Filed under: Classics, Coupe, Performance, Nissan

It looks like there will be more than one car showing up the Walter Mitty Challenge at Road Atlanta next month wearing the colors of Pete Brock’s BRE racing team. Just days after Mazda announced that it had prepared a BRE-liveried MX-5 for the Playboy MX-5 Cup, Nissan has announced that it is working on a Nismo 370Z with a similar color scheme.

The Nissan is, of course, a descendant of the Datsun 240Z John Morton drove to BRE’s first SCCA National Championship in 1970. While the Miata got a very literal interpretation of the original BRE paint job, Brock has apparently worked with painters at Nissan to produce a modern iteration. The Z will be revealed at a special dinner at Road Atlanta on April 29 to kick off the big weekend of vintage racing.

The car has been built to SCCA T2 specs, and plans call for it to do some racing at Z Club events and SCCA regionals this summer.

[Source: Nissan]

Continue reading Nissan working on BRE 370Z to mark car’s 40th anniversary

Nissan working on BRE 370Z to mark car’s 40th anniversary originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Only Apple could make success seem banal, reporting the best ever earnings for a second fiscal quarter today.

Apple reported revenue of $13.50 billion and a net quarterly profit of $3.07 billion, or $3.33 EPS, once again beating the Wall Street consensus, and comparing quite favorably to $9.08 billion and a net quarterly profit of $1.62 billion, or $1.79 EPS, a year ago. It was indeed another boringly great quarter, but if Steve Jobs is yawning with success, he didn’t show it in the press release.

“We’re thrilled to report our best non-holiday quarter ever, with revenues up 49 percent and profits up 90 percent,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’ve launched our revolutionary new iPad and users are loving it, and we have several more extraordinary products in the pipeline for this year.”

For those with less interest in profit and more in the magical product pipeline, Macs were solid, iPods flat, and iPhone sales bucked the cyclical decline.

Apple sold 2.943 million Macs, up 33 percent from 2.216 for the same quarter last year. While laptop sales were up 28 percent from a year ago, desktop sales jumped 40 percent. That doesn’t alter the 60/40 split between laptops and desktops, but it was still a good quarter for the iMac.

It was a good quarter for iPod sales, too, despite them being flat, at 10.89 million sold versus 11.01 million last year. While that’s technically a one percent decline in units sales, revenue was up 12 percent, likely fueled by the increasing success of the iPod touch. That’s very good news.

Also very good were iPhone sales, which tend to be cyclical, peaking with model launches and declining until the next launch. For last quarter, Apple sold 8.752 million Phones, compared to 3.793 during the same period last year, a 131 percent increase. However, Apple actually increased the number of iPhones sold from the first quarter of 2010, which saw 8.737 million sold. That’s big news as we approach the next iPhone launch, expected this summer.

While nothing was mentioned about the iPad, expect that to come up in the conference call, which will duly be reported on TheAppleBlog.

Nations participating in the Major Economies Forum on Climate and Energy that ended in Washington yesterday reaffirmed their interest in moving forward on actions that could lay a foundation for a new international framework on cutting carbon emissions.

Annie Petsonk, EDF’s international counsel, said:

These countries recognize that the first to seize the initiative will have the greatest edge in the race for the low-carbon economy of the future.

The rapid succession of high-level talks on climate change in various forums demonstrates the growing focus on the need for action.

Reuters and the FT Energy Source blog (subscription required) have nice readouts of the State Department's concluding press briefing.

Countries are acting already

Actions that have put some nations in the forefront of international efforts include:

• Brazil's decision to reduce emissions from deforestation, its largest source of carbon pollution
• Voluntary emissions cuts offered by nations under last December's Copenhagen Accord
• State-level actions linking California and other U.S. states with emission reduction efforts in provinces in Brazil and Indonesia, the world's third and fourth largest emitting countries

Upcoming Meetings

More high-level ministerial meetings are scheduled within the next few weeks; the next ministerial meetings will be convened by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Petersburg, Germany from May 2-4 and by Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in Oslo, Norway on May 27. High-level talks among Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) concluded last week in Brasilia, Brazil.

The UN Climate Treaty Parties are expected to conduct a ministerial meeting shortly after their next round of talks in Bonn, Germany, in June.

A quantum-encrypted future is a step closer this week after researchers announced a great advancement in speed: from fast enough to encrypt voice transmissions to fast enough to encrypt video.

For decades now scientists have tried to develop reliable quantum cryptography systems that take advantage of the quirks of quantum mechanics. Thanks to the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, for example, we know that you can’t measure a photon of light without altering it. Thus, the thinking goes, if you encode information into photons of light, no hacker could intercept the information without giving themselves away. In 2008, we covered the scientists who orchestrated a secure video conference by using a quantum key, a security key derived from the patterns of arriving photons. Now, the Toshiba Research Lab in Cambridge [England] has reported a secure bit rate of 1 MB/sec, which is over 100 times better than previously achieved, making it suitable for commercial application [Nature]. The team outlines this research in Applied Physics Letters.

Research leader Andrew Shields says the key to this advance in quantum key distribution (QKD) is the marvelously named “semiconductor avalanche photodiodes,” in which a photon hits a bit of semiconductor to trigger an “avalanche” of electric charge. It takes time for that avalanche to build and pass, which limits the detector’s rate. New photodiodes can sense smaller avalanches and, hence, run faster, Shields says [ScienceNOW]. There’s also a stabilization system to adjust for the fiber-optic cables heating up.

The encryption method is considered to be perfect because it uses extremely long encryption keys only once and so cannot be cracked using crypto-analysis [Computer Weekly]. That big claim will be put to the test in October in Japan, when a quantum key distribution demonstrator will test the secure key across a wider “metropolitan network”, which may ultimately lead to the technology becoming commercially available [Wired.co.uk]. Someday many scientists hope to expand to an entire computer network employing quantum mechanics, including the possibility of messages encrypted with quantum entanglement. But now that researchers are surmounting some of the technical challenges, the next problem is, naturally, cost.

Related Content:
80beats: Quantum Cryptography Takes a Step Toward Mainstream Use
80beats: Harnessing Quantum Weirdness To Make Spy-Proof Email
DISCOVER: Future Tech: The quantum cryptography race is on

Image: iStockphoto

Below are links to news stories of interest from newspapers that came up during a search today.  These links were active at the time of this e-mail, but should you want to save a story, printing it or cutting and pasting the entire article and saving it to your computer is recommended. 

Rally Day is TOMORROW!!  We’re encouraging everyone to wear pink to the rally in support of those who have been RIF’d.  Click here for a list of things to keep in mind as you’re planning your trip: 

The tentative schedule of events for the day, which is subject to change:

9 to 11 a.m.   Buses arrive at IEA HQ-visit legislators (time permitting)

11 to 11:30 a.m.   Walk to rally staging point at 2nd and Capitol

11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.   SOS rally speakers at 2nd and Capitol

12:15 p.m.   Beginning of march

1 p.m.   Visit legislators (time permitting)

Statehouse rally for tax increase could be largest in history
Journal&Gazette Times-Courier – As many as 15,000 citizen lobbyists are expected to descend on the Capitol Wednesday to rally for a tax increase to help fix the state’s crippling budget.  If those estimates are correct, the rally will be the largest in Statehouse history.

State News

 

Chicago pastors link youth violence to school funding
Chicago WLS (ABC) 7 – The ministers say that when children aren’t in school or in extra curricular activities they are more likely to commit crimes or to be victims. Their message for lawmakers: Vote for education funding or we won’t vote for you. “What we’re asking our elected officials today is not to balance the budget on the backs of education. 

Pension reforms confuse some teachers
Alton Telegraph –  While Urbanek described the process as “simple,” some believe the changes will just cause more confusion for teachers.   Ken Schneck, president of the Moline Education Association, finds the plan confusing.   He said he believes many of the local union’s 518 members are going to be straddling the two pension systems.     

U-46 unveils very lean tentative budget
Chicago Daily Herald – several major assumptions. On the revenue side, it assumes that Gov. Pat Quinn’s tentative budget will pass, which, without a tax increase, calls for a 17 percent decrease to elementary and secondary education funding. For U-46, that means general state aid would be cut in half, from $66 million this year to just $33 million next year. Categorical would be reduced by $8.8 million, 

U46 will cut expenses by at least $27M for 2011
Elgin Courier News –  almost $39 million less than it received this school year. And the main reason for that expected decline is Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposed 2010-11 education budget, which would reduce general education funding by about $1.3 billion statewide next school year. And not only could the state cut its general state aid to U46 by about half — from $66 million in 2009-10 to $33 million 

Charter school forges ahead in uncertain times
Elgin Courier News –  That amount is in addition to the $12 million the state already owes the school district. And the governor has proposed a 25 percent decrease in education funding. Those financial gaps are the reason the school board has voted to lay off 180 teachers, saving the district a total $3.48 million. 

Study: Teacher Salary Not Equal to Achievement
Chicago WFLD (Fox) 32 – Chicago – Big pay doesn’t necessarily mean big results, according to a recent Sun-Times analysis of teacher salaries across the state. It found out of the 25 top salary districts in Illinois, only seven of them lead in student achievement. Dance instructors get paid the most, around $79,000. 

Our Opinion: Kill measure that would weaken FOIA
Springfield State Journal Register – the principles at work as the new FOIA was drafted last year. IN THEIR RUSH to qualify for a chance to win federal Race to the Top funding for education, lawmakers weakened the FOIA by making teacher evaluations exempt from public scrutiny. We, and we think most of the parents of public schoolchildren in Illinois, believe that was a mistake. 

9 kids hurt in Joliet school bus crash
Chicago Daily Southtown – Nine elementary students were taken to hospitals after a school bus driver lost control, sending the bus into a ditch this morning in Joliet.  Illinois State Police responded to a crash about 7:25 a.m. on Illinois 53 near Zarley Road, about a mile north of Laraway Road, involving a school bus, which was en route to Laraway Elementary School in Joliet, according to a release from State Police. 

West eyes budgets for clubs, sports  Aurora Beacon News – Pat Quinn has proposed, falling home values and rising costs like union-negotiated raises. The district laid off 127 teachers and made other cuts. … 

Elgin families to try for settlement in racial bias suit  Chicago Daily Herald – A federal judge’s harsh words have prompted the five Elgin families suing Elgin Area School District U-46 to make … 

Belvidere students question senator about state funding  Rockford Register Star – Pat Quinn. Burzynski, who represents Boone County, DeKalb County, eastern Winnebago County and a portion of Ogle County, said he’s hopeful Quinn’s proposed …   

Chicago Teachers Struggle To Find Out Pension Amounts Chicago WFLD (Fox) 32 – decades of work. “I’m disappointed that my retirement is not all I thought it would be, because of this situation here with my pension,” said Thomas. “It’s just unconscionable to have so many teachers who have worked their lifetime who are now depending on their retirement moneys and are not getting them,” Chicago teachers Pension Fund Board of Trustees Vice President Linda Goff said.

Political News

Quinn Says Brady Should “Rethink” His Candidacy  Progress Illinois (blog) – Pat Quinn had some harsh words for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady today. “I think anybody who wants to aspire to this office and doesn’t want …   

Gov. Quinn to Release Tax Return
Harrisburg WSIL (ABC) 3 – Gov. Pat Quinn is releasing his income tax returns. Quinn’s campaign says he will release his 2009 returns Tuesday. The Chicago Democrat has criticized his Republican opponent, Bill Brady  

Rahm Running for Mayor?  ChicagoNow (blog) – ? Going back to Congress or bumping off Quinn for a shot at Blago’s throne would be a step down. By telling Charlie Rose, who almost no one watches since … 

Quinn: “I Thought the World Was Enough for Him”  NBC Chicago (blog) – ?Pat Quinn, speaking today at the Allegro Hotel on his tax returns, responding to reporter questions about Rahm Emanuel’s announcement that he wants to be …

 National News  

The Huffington Post: Closing the Achievement Gap  (Ellen Galinksy, Education Blog, National) “This year, a number of changes are planned by the Obama Administration, the Department of Education, the National Governors Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers and others to address the achievement gap in the United States, a gap that begins before children even enter school and widens as children grow up.”

TIME.com Today’s Top Stories 

The Liberal Democrats Shake Up the U.K. Elections

A strong showing by the Liberal Democrats’ leader Nick Clegg in Britain’s first-ever televised campaign debate has led to a surge in popularity that could bring a surprising result in Britain’s May 6 poll — just not the way you think 

Over the River, Ralliers Gun for Washington’s Attention

On Monday, 100 or so gun-rights advocates gathered at Gravelly Point Park in Arlington, Virginia, gave up the glitz of the Mall to take advantage of state law, which, unlike Washington D.C., allows people to carry loaded handguns and unloaded rifles 

The Cost of Europe’s Volcanic Ash Travel Crisis

As the cloud of volcanic ash hanging over Europe dissipates, E.U. authorities give the okay to fly again. But the recession-hit region won’t emerge from the five-day travel ban unscathed 

Why Gates Is Right to Worry About U.S. Iran Strategy

Analysis: Comments attributed to the Defense Secretary highlight an inconvenient truth — the Administration’s sanctions effort is unlikely to change Tehran’s behavior 

Tanorexia: Are Some People Addicted to Indoor Tanning?

A new study suggests that a small number of frequent indoor tanners may have an addiction to the behavior, and show higher rates of anxiety and depression than their paler peers

Word of the Day for Tuesday, April 20, 2010

agrestic \uh-GRES-tik\, adjective:

Pertaining to fields or the country; rural; rustic.

Apple’s only mention of any kind of new iPhone hardware (besides the letter they sent us), and mentions of “future product transitions” during its live earnings call: Apple COO Tim Cook made a single reference to “new hardware” for the iPhone. More »

by Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON—From solar-powered water-purification systems in Afghanistan to a Navy jet-fueled in part by biofuel, the U.S. military is taking a lead role in shrinking the U.S. carbon “boot print,” an independent report said Tuesday.

The Department of Defense accounts for 80 percent of the U.S. government’s total energy consumption, and most of the energy it uses currently comes from fossil fuels, according to a new report [PDF] by the Pew Research think tank’s Project on National Security, Energy and Climate.

But moves are afoot in all branches of the military to change that.  The Army and Air Force have several bases that are partially powered by solar energy, one of which—Fort Irwin in California—is expected to be able to stop taking energy from the public electricity grid within a decade.

The navy has set itself a key goal of getting 50 percent of fuel used ashore and afloat from non-fossil sources by 2020, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus told a telephone news conference after the report was issued.

The navy will also test-fly this week its “Green Hornet” F-18 fighter jet, which runs on a mix of biofuel made from camelina, a plant in the mustard family, and aviation fuel, he said.

“Unlike first-generation corn ethanol, camelina is a plant that can be used in rotation with things like wheat instead of letting the land lie fallow. So it doesn’t take food out of the supply chain, but it does provide American farmers with another crop they can grow,” Mabus said.

And the U.S. Marine Corps, working with the Army, has applied energy-efficiency foams to temporary structures in Iraq, to reduce energy consumption by up to 75 percent.

With its history giving the world transformational technology like the internet and GPS systems, the report predicts that the steps the U.S. military is taking now to beat back climate change will lead to a raft of innovations that enhance energy efficiency for the military and the general public. Those could include new alternative fuels, advanced energy storage, and more efficient vehicles on land, in the air, and at sea, it said.

Phyllis Cuttino, director of Pew’s climate and energy program, called on U.S. lawmakers to back what the military is doing on the climate-change and energy-efficiency fronts by passing comprehensive climate-change legislation. “It should put a price on carbon, invest in energy innovation, and help deploy renewable energy,” she said. “Doing so will make us more prosperous, reduce pollution, and enhance our national security,” she said.

Related Links:

Each party has a clean-energy plan in U.K. election

Colorado Springs experiments by slashing public services

U.S. lowers expectations for climate treaty this year

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Now that the green movement has woven its organic fibers into most everything we eat, wear and scrub the floor with, isn’t it about time we can ride it down the street, too? A fledgling company in Amherst, Mass., called Sylvan Cycles has quietly begun to sell what has to be the greenest of all green things: bicycles made out of wood. But they’re hardly the rickety contraptions that might come to mind. Few consumers realize that wood has a higher tensile strength-to-weight ratio than steel. "In terms of pure material properties, wood is actually a high-performance material," says Sylvan co-founder and inventor John Fabel. "It works well structurally, and it has a tremendous ride quality." It’s also sustainably sourced—and it shur is purty. Now, instead of stashing your ugly-ass bike in the garage, you can leave it in the living room to show off when company comes over. Only thing is, the price might make you bark. Complete bikes start at $4,900. At least you won’t need gas money.

—Posted by Robert Klara

Cameron Douglas is going to prison for his role in a high-level New York City meth ring — but he’s escaped sentencing laws that would have kept him behind bars for up to a decade, according to The Associated Press.

The pleas from friends and family seeking leniency for Michael Douglas’ only son with ex-wife Diandra Douglas apparently worked. Calling it his “last chance to make it,” Federal Judge Richard Berman sentenced the 31-year-old strugglin actor to just five years in prison on drug dealing charges on Tuesday.

Cameron’s parents, stepmother Catherine Zeta-Jones, and 93-year-old grandfather, Spartacus actor Kirk Douglas all sent letters to the court in hopes of persuading the judge to go easy on the troubled Hollywood celebuspawn.

In Michael Douglas’ five-page handwritten letter, the Wall Street actor explains that Cameron’s problems are, in part, due to a privileged but difficult childhood as well as feelings of inadequacy as the son and grandson of Oscar winners.

“I have some idea of the pressure of finding your own identity with a famous father,” Michael wrote. “I’m not sure I can comprehend it with two generations to deal with.”

The Hollywood star remarked that he’s “cherished” weekly two-hour visits to his son in jail over the past eight months.

“I get to witness the wonderful young man he can be,” the elder Douglas wrote.

by Glenn Hurowitz

An endangered unicorn protected by one of the imaginary offsets created if Kerry-Graham-Lieberman raids funds for tropical rainforests.In the ongoing negotiations over the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman
bill, different polluters are clamoring for cash to compensate them for not
fouling the atmosphere quite so much. One of their targets: the legislation’s set-aside
funds for reducing tropical
deforestation, which is responsible for at least 15 percent of total carbon
dioxide emissions (more than all the cars, trucks, ships, and planes in the
world).

Outside of all the myriad benefits of protecting tropical rainforests
for the planet, raiding this “Climate
Forest Fund” seriously threatens the affordability, effectiveness, and
political viability of energy and climate legislation.

Here’s why: one of the primary purposes of this fund is to
help rainforest nations supply the international offsets needed to keep the
bill affordable and end deforestation.

No set-aside, no
offsets, no affordability: Climate
legislation rightly includes strict requirements to ensure that offsets
actually reduce emissions. Most international offsets are expected to come from
tropical rainforest conservation. But right now, most rainforest nations can’t
meet the legislation’s requirements to generate offsets—they don’t have
enough trained people or good monitoring satellites to accurately track how
many forests they have, how much they’re losing, how many emissions result, and
how effective conservation projects are. Until these countries get the capacity
they need through the Climate Forest Fund, all those offsets and the cost
savings that come from them are pure fantasy.

With the help of my able associate Olivier Jarda, I’ve put
together a graph showing what I mean:

Joking aside, this is a real threat to the bill.

The EPA analysis of the House-passed American Clean Energy
and Security legislation found that excluding international offsets makes
emissions permits 89 percent more expensive.

Take a look at this actual graph from an excellent new study
by Nigel Purvis and Andrews Stevenson at Resources for the Future quantifying,
in unicorn-free terms, how much a small investment in the Climate Forest Fund
actually saves Americans by bringing offsets to market.

To summarize, setting aside five percent of the revenue from
climate legislation for tropical rainforests saves U.S. consumers $9.6 billion
per year, or a total of $421 billion over the life of the legislation,
according to additional data provided by the study authors.

The Climate Forest Fund helps U.S. business and consumers in
other ways: part of it will be dedicated to enforcing laws against importing
illegally logged wood into the United States, where it undercuts more
responsibly and sustainably produced American forest products.

Finally, by delivering very cheap (currently $5 per ton)
pollution reductions beyond those mandated by the cap, it brings U.S. pollution
commitments close to those of other industrialized countries—putting pressure
on countries like China and India to reduce their own pollution.

Indeed, the only group likely to be happy about raiding the
Climate Forest Fund are Chinese coal executives who will be thrilled that their
own government will be freed from any pressure to take on tighter pollution
reduction targets—leaving the Chinese free to out-pollute and out-compete the
United States.

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