Dakota Today

**The real "National Treasure"

Tonight on SDPB, we saw a few of the working press and working bloggers ..another kind of press... on SD Focus. Maybe not the world's greatest TV, but what was on ABC or CBS? Everytime I decide it might be time to check ABC or CBS, I flip to an annoying commercial or to a trashy program.

The PBS News Hour, Frontline, Now, Charlie Rose, and yes even the SD Focus programs from SDPB TV are usually head and shoulders above any commercial TV broadcasting. Newton Minnow, a FCC commissioner years ago said TV was a vast wasteland. It is worse now than it ever was then and there are also cable channels that are even worse than the commercial broadcast TV. There are some commentators on US social conditions who suggest that the decline in education and social life is a consequence of the garbage on commercial TV and other media.

So, even when I find some of the knee-jerk liberal or brain-dead conservative palaver that gets into public broadcasting in their attempts to be fair and balanced or even if I hear allegations of drug abuse and misuse by staff or former staff of some segment of public broadcasting, I still see public broadcasting as our true "National Treasure". It may not be as amusing as a movie that exploits Mt. Rushmore for thrills and background scenery, but it is consistently interesting and often even useful.

So, if you are short on New Year resolutions, resolve to kick in a few dollars to SD Public Broadcasting even if that means you get to see Todd Epp and Pat Powers and other talking heads now and then with Rich Muller but probably won't see or hear them attacking "secular humanists".

**Stay tuned and protect your "national treasure" like your "family jewels"--Doug Wiken

**Happy Holidays 2007 from Dakota Today

**Old Reasons for Open Government then and now

The Sunday, December 23, 2007 ARGUS LEADER had a story titled "Reviving Memories of Forgotten Crash". It tells of a crash of two B-17 Bombers that crashed on a training flight just west of Sioux Falls, SD in Miner County. Residents of Miner County are or will be putting up a memorial to the tragic crash which killed 11 members of one crew and injured others June 13, 1943 near Fedora, South Dakota.

The story details the events of the day as remembered by residents of the area and a few crew members. It also includes some interesting statistics kept secret during the war.

The Army Air Force lost 7,000 aircraft in training and transportation crashes in the United States itself. That exceeded the 4,500 aircraft lost in battles with Japan during WWII. In those domestic accidents and crashes, 15,530 pilots, crew members and ground personnel were killed.

That number may surprise people. It surprised my neighbor, the B-24 Tailgunner, who survived bombing into Germany and Russian-controlled territory. But, He noted that one of his cousins was killed in a crash of a B-24 in South Dakota on a training flight but that may have been on a route between the bombing practice area out west and the Missouri River between there and eastern South Dakota.

Perhaps had people known these statistics they would have demanded better training practices. We will never know, but secrecy almost never protects victims of government failures or abuse, but almost always covers the butts of government or military upper echelons.

The demands for secrecy by government in South Dakota wear just a bit thin. History seems to suggest that the fanatics for secrecy may be on the wrong side of history and may have their own interests in mind rather than the interests of the taxpayers and population of South Dakota.

***Stay tuned...anybody taking bets on whether or not Pastor Rounds will take time off from his job as Mayor in Chief and visit the dedications of the memorial? --- Doug Wiken

***Tools for the Methanol Economy

Dr. George Ulah has a book out titled something like "The Methanol Economy". I have a copy, but right now I can't find it. It is kind of a general overview of energy and indicates the problems with using hydrogen as a "portable fuel" like gasoline. He notes the better options available with shifting to methanol since it can pull the same amount of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere as combustion with it produces. Below is some text from a story on a development by the Max Planck Institute. It should make those who think South Dakota must build a huge electrical infrastructure of powelines to make use of wind energ to think more than twice.
There are alternatives and we should be pushing university research in South Dakota in that direction.

While available membranes meet some of these criteria, they still have disadvantages, such as low conductivity and poor chemical stability at temperatures above 80°C (175°F). Additional problems arise from the switching of PEM manufacturers from hydrogen-based to methanol-based fuel cells.

Methanol is more readily available and safer than hydrogen and also offers greater energy density. However, existing membranes exhibit the so-called methanol crossover, an effect caused by methanol transport from the anode to the cathode through the membrane. This effect drastically reduces a cell's efficiency and so far has prevented a breakthrough for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs).

The membrane invented by scientists of the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart is based on sulfonated poly(arylene) ionomers that have low swelling properties and demonstrate a high methanol rejection. As a result, the new polymer bars methanol from travelling through the membrane while maintaining high proton conductivity as a result of the very high ion exchange capacity. In addition, it also exhibits superior thermal, thermo-oxidative and hydrolytic stability.

"Fuel cells are a technology with a huge potential," said Joern Erselius, Managing Director of Max Planck Innovation, "but they still need better efficiency. We are very happy that we were able to license this promising technology to a company that already has more than 12 years of experience in this field and that has demonstrated enormous and successful development efforts." He added, the know-how transfer will also be facilitated by a chemist switching from the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research to FuMA-Tech GmbH.

http://bulletin.sciencebusiness.net/ebulletins/showissue.php3?page=/548/art/9224
New Window LINK to Methanol resistant fuel cell membrane story
http://tinyurl.com/2357sg

**Stay tuned, there will always be new science news even if evolution of religion slows to a crawl--- Doug Wiken

**The AWOL from TANG man lectures Congress

The Texas drawler with the Connecticut family connections spent some time in his 40th press propaganda session lecturing Congress Critters on their "duty". Mostly it was a lecture to support the troops in the Bush,Inc. war for oil, but it seemed uniquely hollow and hypocritical to me since it was coming from a guy who got a soft spot in the Texas Air National Guard compliments of his father's presidential connections and then did not even fulfill his duty to that soft escape from Vietnam.

The Bush Baby went AWOL from TANG. What is this arrogant, smirking privileged SOB doing lecturing Congress on their "Duty"?

Bush appears to believe his own and his administration propaganda for the Unitary presidency where the president is .. well, the Chief Executive, but also, The Commander in Chief, The Legislator in Chief, and The Jurist in Chief who can destroy any government institutions, traditions, and constitutional balances and separations of power, snoop and intrude on all kinds of privacy, lie and deceive by sheer will and tantrums.

I can fully understand why the Vietnam War was just not where Bush the Lessor wanted to go. I used every opportunity I had to escape going their myself, but I not do that by camouflaging what I was doing or for years hypocritically covering up the fact. I listened to ROTC officers doing their best to recruit while they themselves dreaded going to Vietnam and some coming back recognizing it was a fraud and failure. Bush papers have mysteriously disappeared or been secreted away in Papa Bush's Library sealed under the orders of the Unitary President. The Iraq war is the latest "quagmire" entered on the basis of lies and fraud.

I expect we will learn sometime later that the recent fire in Cheney's office was smothered by tossing on layers of records from the secret Cheney meetings with the energy monopolists and lobbyists and all his communication with Rumsfeld, Condoleeza, and the neocons when he ramrodded decisions meaning a hundred thousand or more Iraqis deserved to die because Bush and Cheney wanted them dead. [Note: this last paragraph is satire for the terminally humor-impaired Bush supporters. My guess is all the incriminating paper was destroyed long ago. No real need for a fire for that purpose].

**Stay tuned, but don't hold your breath waiting for the deserved Bush-Cheny impeachment. Congress is filled with Congressional cowards no more cognizant of of their real duty than is Bush--- Doug Wiken

**Might be the step between sunlight and hydrogen..Catalyst

A friend of my son mentioned that he would invest in a company if it made use of a new catalyst that made it possible to cheaply separate the hydrogen and oxygen that is tied together in water. Below is a link to one of the stories about this.

NWLINK to Catalyst invented by Max Planck Institute

There are many ways the US can spend money that are better than pissing it away by the billion in Bush's failure in Iraq. This story gives an idea of one. In the same vein, Ted Kennedy recently noted in the senate that something like half of taxpayer money Bush, Inc. has wasted in Iraq would rebuild every school in the USA.

Too many of our Congress Critters have their heads firmly planted up some lobbyist ass searching for campaign contributions so they feed us horsecrap telling us how they represent us in Washington.

What the hell is wrong with the South Dakota delegation that won't support reasonable reductions in the maximum Agriculture program payments? How can they say they are representing small-town rural America as they support high ag subsidy payments which destroy rural America.

They are also supporting destruction in Iraq. It is time to get rid of Thune, Johnson, Herseth-Sandlin. They talk as if they support those of us who are not filthy rich when they campaign here and in their wonderful glossy ads and news releases, but they get to Washington and the forget the plains of South Dakota.

But, back on the main subject. Science research for energy independence should be a first priority for our congress critters instead of their 150th or 1000th priority on the list that starts with "Get Re-Elected".

**Stay tuned to one of a few million thought catalysts--- Doug Wiken

**Some changed thoughts on Nader and Gore and Kerry..losing to Bush

I watched the Independent Lens show concerning Nader last night (Dec 18, 2007) on SDPB TV I have pretty much agreed for 4 or 8 years that Nader was part of a Republican plot to prevent Democrats from winning presidential races or a complete bumbling, gross error on Nader's part..

But, while the Republicans may have enjoyed helping keep Nader campaigns alive, it appears that his campaigns had more to do with the failure of corporate Democrats to even dare to touch populist and safety issues and run with them themselves. Democrat "leaders" learned all the wrong lessons from the Reagan election.

Gore and Kerry made some very fundamental mistakes and any of the other independent candidates and not just Nader tied up enough votes for Kerry and Gore to lose. They might even point a finger or two at Sen. Joe Lieberman before they think about attacking Nader and trying to shove him into the dustbin of history..

We now have a collection of gutless Democrats who supported the Bush wars and unconstitutional delegations of power simply in their desire to maintain corporate campaign money support so they could get re-elected by pretending they gave a rat's rear about real issues for real people. We get the blather from Thune, Daschle, Johnson, and Herseth-Sandlin. They know better and they can do better for the nation and for South Dakota. They are taking the cheap easy route and selling us down the river..

Whatever Nader did which may have had bad consequences for Democrats, the Democrats have mostly themselves to thank for their election failures. The country is not going to be unscrewed until all of the Democrats and Republicans who supported Bush in Congress are gone if they are unwilling to admit their egregious error or behavior and pledge to not repeat such unrepresentative and unstatesman-like behavior in the future..

Edwards may be heading in the right direction, but there is no doubt in my mind that Hillary is more of the wrong direction for the US. I hope Edwards has courage to match his rhetoric.

Pat Buchanan was quoted on the program as saying the GOP "Southern Strategy" was initially called "Northern Catholic/Southern Protestant Strategy"...which I didn't know, but is essentially what I have called the GOP attempts to separate poor whites and blacks in the south on a racial basis and in the north, to separate Catholics with social conscience from the Democratic Party on the basis of abortion and other cheap trick social issues.

As one commentator on the show concerning Nader indicated, the perspective of Ralph Nader will probably fluctuate greatly up and down over the years. The election problems "caused" by Nader bouncing up and down in interest just as the reality of what Nader helped do for consumers regarding drug labels, car safety, airline ticket refunds, food safety, etc. etc. will fluctuate up and down. Depending on which will determine if Nader is "up" or "down".

Democrats are not going to solve their fundamental problems by continuing to claim they lost or turned nearly sure wins into election disasters by blaming their losses on Ralph Nader

Democrats pandering to the military industrial complex and the corporate and greed side of the Economy, media and Democratic Business Machine have been a huge turnoff for many people and also for past and prospective campaign workers including myself and a number of other former activists I know.

We deserve better from candidates claiming to represent the party of FDR and the Democratic coalition.

**Stay tuned..get prepared for a new year and new challenges-- Doug Wiken

**The GOP "Northern Catholic/Southern Protestant Strategy" and continued fallout

For years we have been hearing Nixon's and Reagan's campaign strategy to destroy the old Democratic Coalition as the "Southern Strategy". Pat Buchanan who was involved with the campaigns said last night on an Independent Lens production on SDPB TV that it was initially called the "Northern Catholic/Southern Protestant Strategy". That fits right in with what I have said is a cynical GOP exploitation of sincere religious faith in the narrow interests of partisan gain and a way to guarantee huge corporations will get more than their share of government "welfare".

Just in the last few days according to the Rapid City Journal, we have been seeing some more of that strategy to separate Catholics from their brains by that man of superior family values..yes him, the guy supported by serial adulterer Rudy G, yup John Thune. Thune claims he thinks it is entirely appropriate for a licensed pharmacist in Montana to not fill prescriptions for birth control. Thune's support for "personal morality" overiding public responsibility is interesting.

I suppose Thune would like to extend his position to several logical conclusions of it. Let us say a volunteer fire department is made up of all Catholics. Should they let the house of a pharmacist who sells birth control pills and devices burn to the ground on the basis of their personal opposition to abortion and birth control? Let us say their is a protestant cop who is a firm supporter of women's rights, should he fail to respond to a call to John Thune's house if it is invaded by a potential murderer because he is opposed on a personal morality basis to Thune's position on a pharmacist in Montana?

The continued dangers of mixing religion and politics in the grand continuation of the "Northern Catholic" and "Southern Protestant" strategy should be apparent. It is a cynical exploitation of religious faith and it is dangerous both for government and for religion and the public welfare.

**Stay tuned even if you have never heard of either a GOP "Southern Strategy" or a GOP "Northern Strategy before--- Doug Wiken

**The History of What You are Reading

Dakota Today has been around now for several years. Prior to that I had a blogger blog or two or more and a blog through Salon using the Radio blog system. I have played with a couple other blog systems as well. Citizen Cites was my first attempt and kept that going until blogger became incompatible with W98. It is still there however.

But, more to the point of what is actually important compared to my modest efforts to get blogging going in South Dakota is the actual history of Web logs or web-blogs or simply blogs. This post is not just about South Dakota Blogging, but also about blogging as a content management system and the general history of blogging. According to NPR yesterday after the first two years of Weblogs existing, there were something like 23 blogs functioning. But, in the last 10 years, the number of blogs has grown into 10 million or so. But, many of them are started and then remain nearly inactive for years. Several links you may find interesting if you are at all interested in blogs as a new communications medium are listed below.

New Window LINK to Dave Winer comment on His Oldest Running Blog..Scripting News

New Window LINK to Guardian Technology on Blogging Anniversary

New Window LINK to WIRED's Optimism about blogs after 10 years

New Window LINK to Blogging as a System

E Week comment on Slashdot started by CmndrTaco

In the continuation is text from one of the links above listing some blogging "milestones"...an abbreviated history of blogs as a media system... There are better histories. Maybe someday in another post........

**Stay tuned, I may find the money to keep this going for another year or so even if John can't read all the way through the posts and Christy wants me to write nice things about George Bush or be exiled from the USA--- Doug Wiken

**Who would Jesus slaughter?

John McLaughlin today (broadcast in SDak on Sun Dec 16, 2007) interviewed Stephen Prothero who has written a book titled "American Jesus-How the Son of God Became an American Idol". He notes the types of "adaptable Jesus". They include the "Mr. Rogers Jesus", The "Sweet Jesus, ie the "effeminate Jesus", T Roosevelt's "Manly Jesus, ie the buffed up carpenter", and another, "The Laughing Jesus". He was taking shots at Mel Gibson's "Passion" movie, etc. It may be that the Jeffersonian perspective on Jesus was that of the "Philosopher Jesus" or "Moralist Jesus". I missed part of the program.

It seemed to me when listening to it, that SD Republicans like Bill Napoli (legislative rabid renegade), Bruce (big election loser) , Steve Sibson (notorious blogger) lexrex (notorious small-letter fiend), and more have invented a new adaptable Jesus. This one is "The Legislative Jesus" or the "Election Jesus".

As I have written before, a rather clear separation of church and state has very much helped religions in the US. But some of these churches and their members are a bit greedy and they want both the advantages of separation of church and state and the advantages (to them) of a theocracy.

Napoli and Bruce further indicate the problems of intricately mixing religion and politics with their own assumption that they are on God's side and speaking and acting directly for him or her. It gives them and people like Joe Lieberman an unfounded feeling that they are so very, very correct because they are after all on God's side and by extension all their political opponents are obviously on the side of the Devil and going to hell. But, as somebody else has noted, that if there is a heaven and a hell, hell would have a lot more interesting population.

Meanwhile, their hero in Washington or the Texas Twit and his co-conspirators are sending the USA to hell in a hand basket..every day more and more assuring that this Bush Administration will be ultimately regarded as the worst in US history leaping past Harding, Hoover, Grant, Johnson, etc in the "worst" department. The Bush "Adaptable Jesus" is apparently the "Warrior Prince Jesus" harking back to the "Crusades Jesus" and of course when it serves them, the "Business as Usual Jesus".

Obviously, I am not a scholar of religions or religiosity, but in terms of using Jesus for government, war, or other odd purposes, his tossing the money changers out of the temple seems to be too easily forgotten as is apparent statement something like "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's".

So, while Bush falls to sleep wondering who Jesus would slaughter, you can wonder how you will pay for all the Christmas presents now that Bush, Inc. has slaughtered the economy in the name of his adaptable Jesus and associated rebirth..or re-invention.

**Stay tuned and remember what a local lawyer said.."The shysters always sit at the front of the church" and a forum poster with a tagline "Don't tell me you are a Christian, Show me".--- Doug Wiken