mjh's blog

God Helps Those Who Help Themselves

Jury Acquits HealthSouth Founder of All Charges By Carrie Johnson

Outside the courthouse, Scrushy told reporters that he was bolstered by the verdict. “There are a lot of wrongs that need to be made right,” he said. “Thank God for this.” …

Scrushy, who is white, preached at predominantly black churches and donated more than $1 million to the Guiding Light Baptist church, which he joined shortly before he was indicted in 2003. He invited black pastors, some wearing clerical collars, to occupy benches in the courtroom in the jury’s line of sight.

Defense lawyer Donald V. Watkins, a Birmingham fixture and owner of a local bank, entreated jurors in his closing to “send a message to Washington” and to remember the days of segregated water fountains and unequal treatment for blacks. …

HealthSouth’s new leaders restated earnings by more than $1 billion Monday to erase some of the fraud off the books.

Robert P. May, the company’s chairman, said in a statement that he was “appalled by the multibillion-dollar fraud that took place under Mr. Scrushy’s management and the environment under which such fraud could occur.” He said Scrushy would not be welcome at HealthSouth under any circumstances.

In Scrushy Trial, Jurors Chose Defense’s Portrait By Ben White

During the trial, Scrushy appeared on a morning television show in Birmingham called “Viewpoint” in which he and his wife read Bible verses. He began preaching in fundamentalist churches and invited pastors to the trial. Several jurors said in pretrial questionnaires that they attended church. …

Vanderbilt University law professor Larry D. Soderquist, a close observer of the trial, said defense efforts to highlight Scrushy’s connection to predominately black churches in Birmingham may have won points with the seven black members of the jury.

“Send a message to Washington” and to remember the days of segregated water fountains and unequal treatment for blacks.

Hmmm. Would that be the same Washington the smashed Jim Crow? What exactly is that message and what exactly do segregated water fountains have to do with a rich White crook who conveniently found god at the right time and place? mjh

Blowing Smoke

ABQjournal Opinion
A Powerful Project For the Navajo Nation

It’s a power plant that will power both employment and Navajo tax coffers. And it will do so with minimal impact on the environment of northwest New Mexico.

The Navajo Nation has partnered with Houston-based Sithe Global Power to build a 1,500-megawatt coal-fueled power plant southeast of Shiprock. The proposed Desert Rock Power Plant will burn millions of tons of Navajo coal to produce electricity for regional markets.

The project makes logistical sense. Vast supplies of coal are nearby. So are transmission lines needed to access wholesale markets.

The Sithe Global plant would be the cleanest coal-burner fired plant in the country, according to its air quality permit application. The company projects it will emit about 7,000 tons of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide. The two older plants in the area emit about 104,000 tons.

Sithe Global executives note that the Desert Rock Power Plant has been designed to comply with air quality rules more stringent than current standards.

Is “Sithe” pronounced “scythe,” as in the tool for reaping/cutting (favored by the Grim Reaper) or “sith,” as in the rising forces of darkness in Star Wars. Maybe it’s “seethe,” as in the threat of one more power plant in that area should make everyone seethe.

How can anyone believe the claim that this power plant will be the cleanest in the nation — cleaner than any plant has ever been. Oh, but they brag they’ll be cleaner than future standards (not much of a claim under Clear Skies). Trust us. Forget Enron & WorldCom — we wouldn’t lie or exaggerate just for profit at the expense of an entire ecosystem. We’re businessmen, the new American Heroes.

ABQjournal: Proposed Coal-Fueled Plant on Navajo Land Worries Some Nearby Residents By Leslie Linthicum, Journal Staff Writer

The Four Corners Power Plant, which sits in the northeast corner of the Navajo reservation, was ranked first in the nation last year by a Washington, D.C.-based environmental group for nitrogen oxide emissions. The San Juan Generating Station just northwest of Farmington ranked 24th in carbon dioxide emissions and 37th in mercury releases. …

“It’s going to be noisy,” she said. “There’s going to be roads. There’s going to be trash.” …

ABQjournal: County Ozone Level a Cause for Concern By Tania Soussan, Journal Staff Writer

San Juan County is meeting all federal air quality standards, but residents of the area say the air isn’t as clear as it used to be.

“Anyone who’s been here very long at all has no question our air quality has deteriorated significantly over the last several years,” said Dan Randolph, energy issues coordinator for the San Juan Citizens Alliance, which operates in Colorado and New Mexico.

“What’s most clear to people is you can’t see as far,” he said. There have also been anecdotal reports of increased asthma attacks and other respiratory problems, he said. …

If the county violates the federal standard, businesses there could be forced to meet strict federal rules to reduce ozone.

The federal standard is 80 parts per billion, based on averages over three years. The two monitors in the county are at 72 and 73 parts per billion.

Ground-level ozone is a component of smog and can cause respiratory problems, including asthma.

Surprisingly, most of the local ozone contribution comes from trees and other flora [mjh: and wolves! don't forget to blame the wolves!]. The second-largest contribution comes in roughly equal measure from the oil and gas industry, power plants and cars, she said.

“You only need a very, very small local contribution to put you near to the standard,” Uhl said.

An analysis of potential future conditions done by the bureau found that a large increase in trees and other plants is the only thing likely to make a big difference in ozone concentrations.

Even with the addition of two power plants, increases in oil and gas drilling and more vehicle traffic, ozone levels would remain steady, according to the analysis.

“Although it’s counterintuitive, additional oil and gas development and power plants is likely to have little impact on ozone concentrations,” Uhl told the state Environmental Improvement Board earlier this month.

In fact, quirky chemistry means it’s possible to increase some other kinds of air pollution while decreasing ozone levels, she said.

“Surprisingly,” “counterintuitive” and “quirky” all go to show: we’ll be healthier and live longer — and grow richer and younger — thanks to a few more power plants. Yeah! mjh

“The White House is completely disconnected from reality,” Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.)

Bush Says War Is Worth Sacrifice

Address Urges Public to Back His Iraq Policy

By Peter Baker and Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, June 29, 2005; Page A01

FORT BRAGG, N.C., June 28 — President Bush appealed to the American public Tuesday night to remember “the lessons of September 11th” ….

Surrounding himself with uniformed soldiers and standing before a backdrop emblazoned with American flags, Bush portrayed the two-year-old war in Iraq as the logical extension of a larger struggle that began when hijackers slammed passenger jets into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001. …

Bush invoked Sept. 11 five times in his speech and referred to it by implication several more times. Although he has previously agreed with investigators that there is “no evidence” of a link between Saddam Hussein’s government and the attacks masterminded by Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda, he used much of his speech to depict the militants in Iraq as the same breed of Islamic terrorist who struck the United States. The White House titled his remarks a discussion on the “War on Terror,” not Iraq.

“This war reached our shores on September 11th, 2001,” Bush said. …

“The only way our enemies can succeed is if we forget the lessons of September 11th …”

[T]errorists “are trying to shake our will in Iraq, just as they tried to shake our will on September 11th, 2001.” …

Bush’s insistence that waging the fight in Iraq is containing terrorists who might otherwise strike in America is also fueling argument. As critics see it, the Iraq war is creating a breeding ground for terrorists.

The American Taliban

The American Taliban

Randall Terry (Operation Rescue)

“I want you to just let a wave of intolerance wash over. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good…Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a biblical duty, we are called by God to conquer this country. We don’t want equal time. We don’t want pluralism.”

“Our goal must be simple. We must have a Christian nation built on God’s law, on the ten Commandments. No apologies.”

[mjh: follow the link above to a huge list of jaw-dropping quotes from the Radical Wrong. via Democracy for New Mexico]