Our Politicians at Work

Ken Silverstein has yet another political expose in Harper's Magazine. This one on how congress critters live high on the hog off funds that are supposedly for campaigns. Once again a reminder that, no matter who you vote for, a politician still gets in. Steady the barf bag before clicking.

Beltway Bacchanal: Congress Lives High on the Contributor's Dime - Harper's - Mar 08

"According to the Center for Responsive Politics (which helpfully provided much of the data for this article), at least eight House members spent more than $10,000 in campaign funds on food, travel, and fund-raising in the eight weeks between Election Day 2006 and New Year’s Eve—not exactly a peak campaigning period.

These included Democrat John Murtha and Republican Don Young, whose respective margins of victory were 22 and 17 percent. Three of the other big spenders, interestingly enough, were Republicans who lost their seats in the 2006 midterm vote; in their dwindling days of public service, they apparently decided to treat themselves well on the way out."

"Most Americans could not afford to eat at any of these restaurants. The price of an appetizer alone—like the $15.95 lobster mac-and-cheese at the Oceanaire or the $18 crabmeat, lobster, and shrimp cocktail at the Capitol Hill Club (why settle for one when you can have all three?) —tends to be daunting.

The à la carte entrées begin at the low end with items like the stuffed rabbit loin at Bistro Bis ($29.50), move up to the signature porterhouse at the Capital Grille ($41) or the double-cut prime rib at Morton’s ($43), and for the truly memorable occasion climb to $20 per ounce (5-ounce minimum) for the Kobe strip steak at Charlie Palmer’s. With drinks, dessert, and a tip, a meal for two can easily run into the hundreds of dollars.

Our Politicians at Work

Ken Silverstein has yet another political expose in Harper's Magazine. This one on how congress critters live high on the hog off funds that are supposedly for campaigns. Once again a reminder that, no matter who you vote for, a politician still gets in. Steady the barf bag before clicking.

Beltway Bacchanal: Congress Lives High on the Contributor's Dime - Harper's - Mar 08

"According to the Center for Responsive Politics (which helpfully provided much of the data for this article), at least eight House members spent more than $10,000 in campaign funds on food, travel, and fund-raising in the eight weeks between Election Day 2006 and New Year’s Eve—not exactly a peak campaigning period.

These included Democrat John Murtha and Republican Don Young, whose respective margins of victory were 22 and 17 percent. Three of the other big spenders, interestingly enough, were Republicans who lost their seats in the 2006 midterm vote; in their dwindling days of public service, they apparently decided to treat themselves well on the way out."

"Most Americans could not afford to eat at any of these restaurants. The price of an appetizer alone—like the $15.95 lobster mac-and-cheese at the Oceanaire or the $18 crabmeat, lobster, and shrimp cocktail at the Capitol Hill Club (why settle for one when you can have all three?) —tends to be daunting.

The à la carte entrées begin at the low end with items like the stuffed rabbit loin at Bistro Bis ($29.50), move up to the signature porterhouse at the Capital Grille ($41) or the double-cut prime rib at Morton’s ($43), and for the truly memorable occasion climb to $20 per ounce (5-ounce minimum) for the Kobe strip steak at Charlie Palmer’s. With drinks, dessert, and a tip, a meal for two can easily run into the hundreds of dollars.

Bat Barotrauma and Wind Turbines

Canadian researchers are now reporting that it may not be the wind turbine blades that kill bats, at least exclusively so, but rather the change in air pressure as they go from the high pressure area ahead of the turbine (where the air slows down - a bit like a large flowing football crowd as it gets close to a stadium) and then is exposed to the low pressure area behind the turbine (lower pressure because the flow has been slowed and expanded by the aerodynamic power extraction effect of the rotor blades).

Looks like the alternatives are to run the turbines when migrations are not on-going, during low wind periods when the bats tend to be in the air or find some way of making the bats avoid the turbines (emitting some kind of sound or light they might not like). They've already had some success in mitigating bat kills by changing the cut-in (turn on) wind speed for the turbines.

Wind Turbines Kill Bats Without Impact - Discovery News - 25 Aug 08

"All species are susceptible to death by sudden change in air pressure, Baerwald said. 'But the larger the animal is, the bigger the air pressure drop has to be. We know that four kilopascals [a unit of pressure] is enough to kill a rat. Bats are much smaller. We found that these wind turbines produce a five to 10 kilopascal drop.'

Birds are less vulnerable to the drop, because they have rigid, tubular lungs, compared to the balloon-like structures of bat lungs, which are much like human lungs."

Wind Turbines Make Bat Lungs Explode - New Scientist - 25 Aug 08

"Why bats - who echolocate moving objects - are killed by turbines has remained a mystery until now. The research council thought the high-frequency noise from the turbines' gears and blades could be disrupting the bats' echolocation systems.

In fact, a new study shows that the moving blades cause a drop in pressure that makes the delicate lungs of bats suddenly expand, bursting the tissue's blood vessels. This is known as a barotrauma, and is well-known to scuba divers. 'While searching for bat carcasses under wind turbines, we noticed that many of the carcasses had no external injuries or no visible cause of death,' says Erin Baerwald of the University of Calgary in Canada."

Bat Barotrauma and Wind Turbines

Canadian researchers are now reporting that it may not be the wind turbine blades that kill bats, at least exclusively so, but rather the change in air pressure as they go from the high pressure area ahead of the turbine (where the air slows down - a bit like a large flowing football crowd as it gets close to a stadium) and then is exposed to the low pressure area behind the turbine (lower pressure because the flow has been slowed and expanded by the aerodynamic power extraction effect of the rotor blades).

Looks like the alternatives are to run the turbines when migrations are not on-going, during low wind periods when the bats tend to be in the air or find some way of making the bats avoid the turbines (emitting some kind of sound or light they might not like). They've already had some success in mitigating bat kills by changing the cut-in (turn on) wind speed for the turbines.

Wind Turbines Kill Bats Without Impact - Discovery News - 25 Aug 08

"All species are susceptible to death by sudden change in air pressure, Baerwald said. 'But the larger the animal is, the bigger the air pressure drop has to be. We know that four kilopascals [a unit of pressure] is enough to kill a rat. Bats are much smaller. We found that these wind turbines produce a five to 10 kilopascal drop.'

Birds are less vulnerable to the drop, because they have rigid, tubular lungs, compared to the balloon-like structures of bat lungs, which are much like human lungs."

Wind Turbines Make Bat Lungs Explode - New Scientist - 25 Aug 08

"Why bats - who echolocate moving objects - are killed by turbines has remained a mystery until now. The research council thought the high-frequency noise from the turbines' gears and blades could be disrupting the bats' echolocation systems.

In fact, a new study shows that the moving blades cause a drop in pressure that makes the delicate lungs of bats suddenly expand, bursting the tissue's blood vessels. This is known as a barotrauma, and is well-known to scuba divers. 'While searching for bat carcasses under wind turbines, we noticed that many of the carcasses had no external injuries or no visible cause of death,' says Erin Baerwald of the University of Calgary in Canada."