I feel involuntarily happy when I listen to this song

Marquette Mining Journal : State files carp suit in Supreme Court (22 Dec 2009)

Chicago Tribune : Asian carp: Michigan asks Supreme Court to shut 2 corridors to Great Lakes (22 Dec 2009)

It's worth having links to papers from both "sides" because I hadn't yet heard of what Illinois officials were saying about this issue. It surely cannot be an inconsequential thing to undo the canal and break the link between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River. Illinois' governor Pat Quinn is quoted in the Tribune's article saying "We have to protect the ecology of the Great Lakes; we also have many, many jobs that depend on shipping, so there has to be a proper balance." Yet, it's undeniable that the effects on the Great Lakes ecosystem and economy could be huge if the Asian carp do as well here as it has in more southerly waterways. "Thousands of jobs are at stake and we will not get a second chance once the carp enter Lake Michigan," he is quoted as saying in the Mining Journal article.

This is the sort of thing that should require a considerable amount of research and thought to account for all the possible effects, not to just focus on the Asian carp, but on the economy and ecology of two huge regions. But the carp spreads so fast that even if the political will to deliberate were there, the time may not be.

Worth noting is that the Michigan attorney general leading the lawsuit, Mike Cox, is running for governor in 2010. So is Illinois governor Pat Quinn, to get his own term after filling the term started by Rod Blagojevich.

(P.S.: The Mining Journal, despite its size, seems to do a better job covering Great Lakes issues than at least the Detroit dailies, which is why I show it equally with the much more prestigious Chicago Tribune.)

Follow up to my previous post about Asian carp

There was much worry at the North Pole when Prancer went missing only days before Christmas. Then they found him ...

Authorities are on the lookout for a Red-Nosed Reindeer, possibly accompanied by an Elf, who wants to be a dentist. If seen, suspects should be considered armed and extremely dangerous.

12.21.09

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Furry4Life

I'll follow non-existent pink orbs
off the edge of the earth
past the watercolor moon.
I'll tear through the silk curtain of black
to the blank bright nothing
I'll have no place to run,
No little paradigmatic box in which to hide.
I'll shoot the truth dead.
Unravel the strings of our interwoven lives.
I'll dance alone into infinity,
Finally free.

boycott ignorance!

BOYCOTT CHASE BANK! Chase Caught Cheating in Charity Contest

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Olaf (Gunn) goes home to Wisconsin from college for the holiday. unfortunately his boyfriends parents go on a cruise at the last minute the boyfriends drops in on Gunn & family! What could be a normal and dull plot, Gunn isn't out to his parents, get's a unique treatment including their reaction to the required Coming Out.

This is the dirtiest clean movie I remember seeing, double entdres throughout the movie had us rolling on the floor. This is one that I would reccomend to any gay person.

Seems the Christmas shopping is never truly done! DS and i went to Stonestown to take care of some last minute holiday needs. While we were there, he had an eye exam and got new eyeglasses. While he was doing that, i took a picture of this happy dancing bear outside Game Stop. Yes, Santa was at the mall too but i liked the bear better.

12.20.09

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They are all going so well.

Spent most of the day at home rearranging bookshelves. Joined DS and Seth for dinner at Nan & Curry in the evening, followed by dessert at Tart to Tart.

12.19.09

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I dug up a photo from a November 2007, when Dave and I took a small road trip to Toledo one afternoon. We took Jefferson Avenue out of Detroit, which turns into River Road eventually, and followed that as far as we could before we got to I-75. Along the way, the Fermi II nuclear power plant is visible to the east. It's almost a cliche to say it "looms," and I've often wondered what it feels like to see the towers outside your windows or across your fields every day.

An hour or so later we reached Toledo and got a close look at the new Veterans Glass City Skyway, which I described in this post. That post has an image of the bridge, which I re-edited and posted on Flickr, too.

*wakes up in the morning, stretches and gets ready to squeal when he sees the 10inches of snow that hit last night*
eeee *opens the shades... sees no snow* D:

D:

D:

*unhappiness ensues the earth!*