BATH, Maine - The Navy's newest guided missile destroyer was christened Saturday with the name of a fighter pilot who spent 7 1/2 years in captivity in North Vietnam, received the Medal of Honor and served as presidential candidate Ross Perot's running mate.

Four Medal of Honor recipients and seven former prisoners of war attended the ceremony at Bath Iron Works that marked a milestone in construction of the 9,200-ton ship named for Vice Adm. James Stockdale.

Photo from NavSource Online: Destroyer Photo Archive, Bill Gonyo.

More than seven in 10 [British] voters insist that they would not be willing to pay higher taxes in order to fund projects to combat climate change, according to a new poll.

The survey also reveals that most Britons believe "green" taxes on 4x4s, plastic bags and other consumer goods have been imposed to raise cash rather than change our behaviour, while two-thirds of Britons think the entire green agenda has been hijacked as a ploy to increase taxes.

As the cross-party Commons Environmental Audit Committee noted: “there is little or no evidence that Phase I is leading to any cutbacks in actual emissions at all, whether in the UK or elsewhere in the EU.” In its first year of operation (2005 to 2006) emissions covered by the ETS rose 3.6% in the UK, and rose by 0.8% across the EU as a whole.

(Hat tip: Andrew Stuttaford)

Up until then, the challenge was to keep blood refrigerated until it was needed. He focused his efforts on separating and storing blood components, particularly blood plasma, in order to extend its shelf life.

During the Battle of Britain, Dr. Drew created protocols and procedures for the collection, testing and shipping of blood to England where it was desperately needed. Almost 15,000 people donated more than 5,600 gallons of blood. This experience saved countless thousands of lives during World War II.

The U.S. military went to great pains to segregate the blood of whites from blacks in those days, for no sane reason. And though Dr. Drew was the driving force behind the plasma project, he was denied the leadership role in it because of his race.

Dr. Drew was tragically killed in an auto accident in North Carolina in 1950. There were rumors he was denied medical treatment because of his race, but another black doctor traveling with him reported they received the best care available.
I’m glad he did. The reality of discrimination against that great man is embarrassing enough.

The report shows that the long-running asbestos-lawsuit scam has destroyed 80 companies and the employees and shareholders who depend on them, and created a system so corrupt that judges and advisors were guilty of outright extortion and theft. Companies forced into bankruptcy by questionable claims are now being scammed again by attorneys double-dipping from the trusts these companies created for those who really were injured. ...[snip]

Tragically, real victims -- workers who actually face serious future health problems due to asbestos exposure -- are often duped into signing away future rights for a pittance in order to pad current attorney fees, and are then left with no recourse if they actually become sick. And workers falsely diagnosed as sick face a lifetime of worry and problems getting insurance.

Many good things happening at Quality Custom Cabinetry:

2006 Quality Custom Cabinetry, Inc. launched a new line of cabinetry named Saxton Cabinetry, a European frameless construction. Saxton Cabinetry went through a rigorous pilot program by several dealers. Due to the new product line, the corporate identity and overall organization was renamed to "QCCI." (Quality Custom Cabinetry, Inc).

2007 QCCI added 57,000 square feet for manufacturing and distribution to facilitate both products, Quality Custom Cabinetry and Saxton. QCCI introduced a new product collection under the Quality Custom Cabinetry brand, called Steeplechase. Steeplechase features 1 inch thick face frame construction with sophisticated styling detailing surrounding inset doors and drawers, a hallmark of Quality Custom Cabinetry.

Two of the nation's largest labor unions have struck confidential agreements with large employers that give the companies the right to designate which of their locations, and how many workers, the unions can seek to organize.

The agreements are raising questions about union transparency and workers' rights. A summary document put together by the unions says it is critical to the success of the partnership "that we honor the confidentiality and not publicly disclose the existence of these agreements." That includes not disclosing them to union members.

But when it serves their purposes, confidentiality is a matter of principle.

The particular offenders here are the SEIU and Unite Here.

Miserable, just miserable.

“It’s got to be a help that we have had some time for the McCain campaign to get its feet on the ground. He's raising money. Getting organization behind him,” said Martinez, a McCain supporter and guest on this week’s “America’s Business with Mike Hambrick” radio program.

“But it also remains a clear fact that the Democrats are going to unite and this is going to be a battle,” Martinez said.

The Senate is weighing a climate change bill that would use a pollution cap and trade system to help prevent global warming. But Neil O’Brien from the Open Europe think-tank will tell Mike why a similar program in Europe has run into problems.

For almost 20 years the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program has given companies training to help them boost sales and cut costs. Bruce Pulkkinen from Windham Millwork Inc. in Maine, a supporter of MEP, will tell us why such a worthwhile program is under threat.

“America’s Business” will also talk to Advanced Technology Services Inc. President Jeffrey Owens. Owen’s company helps manufacturers stay on budget by maintaining and repairing their shopfloor equipment. And the program will visit with Judith Crocker, director of the Dream It. Do It. program in Northeast Ohio to find out how that program trains young people for manufacturing careers.

In our regular segments, Renee Giachino of American Justice Partnership will give us the latest on tort reform and commentator Hank Cox recalls the “The Way It Was.” And the National Association of Manufacturers President Gov. John Engler will close the program with “The Last Word.”

For more about “America’s Business with Mike Hambrick” and to listen to the program online, please click here. And for video highlights and more, check out www.americasbusiness.org.

In the current storyline, Rex faces his toughest foe yet, TV-advertising Max the Ax, personal injury attorney, who hopes to cash in an outbreak of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Today's strip:

In other news, this month's issue of "Trial" -- the magazine of the Association for Justice -- is all about medical malpractice lawsuits.

U.S. manufacturers that offer health insurance to employees spend an average of $2.38 per worker per hour on health care, substantially more than the amount spent by foreign competitors, according to a report released on Tuesday by the New America Foundation, the Los Angeles Times reports. According to the Times, the report "provides support for the now-familiar lament of employers -- that rising health care costs are eating into the corporate bottom line."

A new model for health care that...

reforms the current insurance marketplace;

provides income-based subsidies; and

is individual, rather than employer-based,

...would enable us to finance our 21st-century health system in a more sustainable and competitive way.

Isn't the analogy limiting, narrowing the discussion to a centralized, government-directed solution to the problems we face, one that excludes the private sector?

And the Manhattan Project was a matter of war, of national defense, one of the areas most Americans agree belongs to the federal government. Saying we need a Manhattan Project is calling X, Y, or Z the moral equivalent of war.

Besides...."Manhattan Project blamed for cancer"

Latin America and the United States are joined by geography, culture and common values. For many years, the exchange of goods and services across borders has been a vital factor in maintaining a mutually beneficial relationship. The approval of the free trade agreement between the United States and Colombia would be another step toward deepening that relationship, toward fair and equitable integration of our nations, and most importantly, toward securing the stability and peace of the Western Hemisphere.

As a founding member of the Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy, the NAM has worked closely with Congress, policymakers and stakeholders in all sectors affected by IP theft to confront this serious challenge. NAM member companies believe strongly that by improving the coordination of federal government IP enforcement resources, as well as expanding authorities and improving enforcement practices at the international, federal, state and local levels, the PRO-IP Act will strengthen our manufacturing economy.

From Weather Underground. Note that of these only one has occurred since the supposed onset of man-made global warming. The latest tragic cyclone should come in at #10 or thereabouts.

Rank: Name / Areas of Largest Loss: Year: Ocean Area: Deaths:
1. Great Bhola Cyclone, Bangladesh 1970 Bay of Bengal 550,000
2. Hooghly River Cyclone, India and Bangladesh 1737 Bay of Bengal 350,000
3. Haiphong Typhoon, Vietnam 1881 West Pacific 300,000
3. Coringa, India 1839 Bay of Bengal 300,000
5. Backerganj Cyclone, Bangladesh 1584 Bay of Bengal 200,000
6. Great Backerganj Cyclone, Bangladesh 1876 Bay of Bengal 200,000
7. Chittagong, Bangladesh 1897 Bay of Bengal 175,000
8. Super Typhoon Nina, China 1975 West Pacific 171,000
9. Cyclone 02B, Bangladesh 1991 Bay of Bengal 140,000
10. Great Bombay Cyclone, India 1882 Arabian Sea 100,000
11. Hakata Bay Typhoon, Japan 1281 West Pacific 65,000
12. Calcutta, India 1864 Bay of Bengal 60,000
13. Swatlow, China 1922 West Pacific 60,000
14. Barisal, Bangladesh 1822 Bay of Bengal 50,000
15. Sunderbans coast, Bangladesh 1699 Bay of Bengal 50,000
16. Bengal Cyclone, Calcutta, India 1942 Bay of Bengal 40,000
17. Canton, China 1862 West Pacific 37,000
18. Backerganj (Barisal), Bangladesh 1767 Bay of Bengal 30,000
19. Barisal, Bangladesh 1831 Bay of Bengal 22,000
20. Great Hurricane, Lesser Antilles Islands 1780 Atlantic 22,000

And lots of coverage and commentary at the NEI Nuclear Notes blog. The post on Admiral Bowman's speech summarizes the facts, arguments and assertions:

One million megawatts of electricity-generating capacity powers America’s grid, but 45 percent of that infrastructure is more than 30 years old. Meanwhile, the nation has deferred investment in new, more efficient baseload plants, including new reactors.

The 2005 Energy Policy Act’s loan guarantee program is a “very small step” in the right direction, but insufficient to rebuild electric power infrastructure.

The nation and world are seeking clean-air energy sources, like nuclear, to address climate change.

Electricity demand will increase by 25 percent by 2030, according to government officials.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats on Wednesday called for a temporary special tax on oil companies’ profits and a rollback of $17 billion in oil industry tax breaks as part of an energy package. The Democrats are also seeking federal penalties on energy price gouging and a suspension of oil deliveries into the government’s emergency reserve.

Senate Republicans strongly oppose any additional oil industry taxes, which are widely viewed as unlikely to be enacted and would almost certainly prompt a veto by President Bush.

The proposed 25 percent profits tax would apply just to oil company earnings above what would be considered “reasonable” and only if those profits are not reinvested in expanding refinery capacity or renewable energy sources, according to a summary of the proposals.

The NAM issued a news release yesterday on competing energy measures in the Senate.

UPDATE (11:30 a.m.): Senator Reid's statement and summary sheet on the Consumer First Energy Act.

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada is "very close" to concluding free trade negotiations with Colombia, Trade Minister David Emerson said on Monday, calling those opposed to the deal on human rights grounds as simply "dogmatic."

Emerson also presented legislation to Parliament to enact a free trade pact with the European Free Trade Association, comprised of Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

Harper has made the issue a priority, saying an agreement will help improve democracy in Colombia and help President Alvaro Uribe stem violence against labor leaders.

A Canada-Colombia accord also would give Canadian farmers preferential access to the U.S.'s third largest market for wheat exports in Latin America at a time when Democrats in Congress are stalling a similar deal over concerns about violence against labor organizers in Colombia.

And more from the ABA Journal on the Manhattan Institute report. You know, the American Association for Justice, i.e., the national trial lawyers group, normally is quick to respond with an overheated news release attacking the motives of the legal reformers. Nothing so far. UPDATE: They did. The news release wasn't on the homepage, and we missed it. Same old rhetoric, though. Don't respond to the substance, just attack your opponent and change the subject. Where do they learn that? Maybe they're too busy.

The overall unemployment rate of scientists and engineers in the United States dropped from 3.2% in 2003 to 2.5% in 2006 (figure 1), according to data from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System (SESTAT).[2] This is the lowest unemployment rate measured by SESTAT since the early 1990s. It continues a trend of lower unemployment rates for scientists and engineers compared with unemployment rates in the rest of the U.S. economy.[3] Comparable unemployment rates for the entire U.S. labor force in 2003 and 2006 were 6.0% and 4.7%, respectively.[4] (See "Data Comments and Availability" for the definition of scientists and engineers and other variables and for notes on SESTAT.

Contrary to the claims of immigration opponents, H-1B workers are highly skilled workers with vitally needed skills. H-1B workers are highly educated. Almost half have an advanced degree. The median H-1B worker earns 90 percent more than the median U.S. worker. They are in no way average workers.

Locally, firms have shared in the growth, and they have a lot at stake should it tail off. Virginia's export shipments totaled $16.9 billion in 2007, up 56 percent from 2003. Meanwhile, Maryland's export shipments totaled $8.9 billion in 2007, an increase of 18 percent from the year before and 81 percent from 2003.

"What is happening now in the economy really shows why it is important for the U.S. economy to be engaged globally," Huether said. "When there are slowdowns in certain parts of the domestic economy, it is a real benefit when there is another pillar holding things up."

The survey partly reflects that companies are still benefiting from export growth and consumer demand that's growing as unemployment falls and real wages expand, the IW said. "Robust'' economic growth this year in the euro-region will likely deter the European Central Bank from lowering interest rates, Michael Huether, the IW's director, said in an interview. "Lower interest rates are just not on the agenda."

“My brothers and sisters,” he said, “if we go into 2008 with an even larger mobilization of workers behind this legislation, with even more commitment to win the election in 2008, and put this on the agenda in 2009, I’m here to tell you today that we will pass this legislation, in the House, overwhelmingly! We will pass it in the Senate! We will defeat a Republican filibuster! And we will have a president who signs the Employee Free Choice Act! And we can get back to the business of restoring the American dream for millions and millions of workers!”

What’s the Employee Free Choice Act? If you aren’t a lobbyist in Washington, a union worker, or an employer nervously trying to prevent your staff from organizing, you might not have followed the twisty history of the latest attempt to increase private-sector unionization. “Card check,” as it is usually known, would allow employees at a company to bypass secret-ballot elections and declare their intent to unionize by simply signing cards. If adopted, it could portend the most revolutionary change to labor law since the 1940s.

That said, read the whole thing. An informed electorate needs more of this kind of reporting.