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The American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) assumes the leadership role in trying to wipe out this devastating pig virus.
AASV President Scott Dee of the University of Minnesota says the group's stance stems from last fall's position statement calling for eradication of the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus as a long-term goal.
Economics justify action, he says. A National Pork Board study projects PRRS costs the pork industry an estimated $560 million annually (in 2004 dollars). That's not new. Less well known is that 88% of the costs occur postweaning, he says.
Four Key Points
Dee also cites four key PRRS points:
"This action is a long-term goal, led by pork producers and the AASV."
The voluntary effort might take 20 years to complete. The first five years will focus on answering research questions that he believes "will lead to elimination of this pathogen and keep it out of farms at a higher rate of success."
"This will definitely be an industry-driven and not a federal government, regulatory-driven approach," he says.
"We think if producers and practitioners work together, we can do this (eradication) as a team, without the regulations imposed on us," says Dee, co-director of the university's Swine Disease Eradication Center.
But the next five years will be critical as a time to build teams and confidence needed to accomplish the task ahead, he says.
Continuation of small-scale regional eradication projects will provide a testament to producers' ability to work together, as is being done in Minnesota and North Carolina.
"Producers need to work together in designated areas, communicating and sharing information and talking about cleaning up areas rather than individual farms," says Dee.
A model for successful team-building started in Ontario, Canada. Dee visited producer and veterinary groups there while serving as president-elect of the AASV. He returned to set up similar models in Minnesota, which is now the first state to have developed an industry-wide PRRS eradication task force.
PRRS Eradication Task Force
From that start, came consensus for broader formation of the North American PRRS Eradication Task Force, approved by the AASV PRRS Committee at its recent annual meeting in March in Kansas City, MO.
AASV PRRS Committee chair Monte McCaw, DVM, North Carolina State University, led the group's first official meeting at World Pork Expo in early June in Des Moines, IA, in mapping out goals and a plan of action. The task force will act as an oversight group for maintaining and enhancing communications between the United States, Canada and Mexico, says Dee.
Also during the meeting, updates were presented on eradication efforts in Minnesota, North Carolina and Ontario.
Bob Rowland of the University of Minnesota discussed the role of university research in PRRS elimination.
In that regard, Dee and Jeff Zimmerman, DVM, of Iowa State University began a year-long collaborative research project on June 1 at the University of Minnesota's research farm in the west central part of the state.
"The objective really is to see if we can raise negative pigs in an endemically infected region," says Dee. The farm will have PRRS-infected populations of pigs in facilities, with negative groups of pigs only about 300 ft. away. Research will measure the effectiveness and impact of different levels of biosecurity on the PRRS-negative pigs.
"We are going to see if we really know how the virus is spread, and if we can keep it out with these different facilities practicing different levels of biosecurity," he notes.
"We should obtain results that will help us to better define aerosol spread and area spread and also transmission specifically by insects, fomites, personnel — all the routes we feel are important, while identifying the routes that are the most high-risk."
The study is not only unusual in its length (one year), but also in that it involves 2,000 pigs, a large number for a research study, suggests Dee. He is taking a six-month leave to focus exclusively on this research endeavor.
"We hope to develop concrete answers on how the virus spreads and how to keep it out," he says.
Another means for deriving those answers is a PRRS risk assessment tool provided to AASV members by Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. The computer-driven tool will be used in research projects this summer to evaluate risk factors in spread between farms, and could prove to be a valuable key in assessing farm biosecurity and management in deterring exposure to the PRRS virus.


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On Whodunnit?, contestants try to uncover the guilty party — while ABC hopes to uncover big ratings for their new reality series. Will it be a hit or a flop? Cancelled or renewed for a second season? We shall see.
Below are the TV show's ratings for the Summer 2013 season, the best way to tell if the show will be cancelled or renewed for another season. Whodunnit? typically airs on Sunday nights and there are nine episodes. These figures will be updated as the weeks progress so check back to see how things are going:
Final season averages: 1.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 3.24 million total viewers.
Episode 01-09: Sunday, 08/18/13
1.4 in the demo (+27% change) with 3.61 million (+12% change).
Season averages: 1.11 in the demo with 3.24 million.
Episode 01-08: Sunday, 08/11/13
1.1 in the demo (+10% change) with 3.22 million (+8% change).
Season averages: 1.08 in the demo with 3.20 million.
Episode 01-07: Sunday, 08/04/13
1.0 in the demo (-9% change) with 2.99 million (-2% change).
Season averages: 1.07 in the demo with 3.19 million.
Episode 01-06: Sunday, 07/28/13
1.1 in the demo (+10% change) with 3.04 million (+3% change).
Season averages: 1.08 in the demo with 3.23 million.
Episode 01-05: Sunday, 07/21/13
1.0 in the demo (-9% change) with 2.96 million (-5% change).
Season averages: 1.08 in the demo with 3.26 million.
Episode 01-04: Sunday, 07/14/13
1.1 in the demo (+10% change) with 3.12 million (+4% change).
Season averages: 1.10 in the demo with 3.34 million.
Episode 01-03: Sunday, 07/07/13
1.0 in the demo (0% change) with 3.00 million (-6% change).
Season averages: 1.10 in the demo with 3.41 million.
Episode 01-02: Sunday, 06/30/13
1.0 in the demo (-23% change) with 3.19 million (-21% change).
Season averages: 1.15 in the demo with 3.62 million.
Episode 01-01: Sunday, 06/23/13
1.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 4.05 million total viewers.
Season averages: 1.30 in the demo with 4.05 million.
Note: These ratings are collected by the Nielsen company and are the final national numbers. These are different from the fast affiliate numbers which are just estimates of the actual ratings and are reported on by most other outlets. The final nationals are typically released within 24 hours of the programming or, in the case of weekends and holidays, a couple days later.
What do you think? Do you like the Whodunnit? TV series? Do you think it should be cancelled or renewed for a second season?

subset: commoncrawl


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Hello and welcome to the first challenge of 2018 from the Winter Wonderland Challenge Blog. I'm Christine and I'll be your host this time together with the Snowflakes Design Team.
Before we tell you about our new challenge, we'd like to thank everyone who responded to our DT call last year - we were overwhelmed by the response and wish we could have taken everyone on!
Please join us in welcoming the following ladies to our Design Team:
Before we tell you about our new challenge, we'd like to thank everyone who responded to our DT call last year - we were overwhelmed by the response and wish we could have taken everyone on!
Please join us in welcoming the following ladies to our Design Team:
The theme of this first challenge is:
Use embossing, either heat or dry - or maybe both if you are feeling adventurous
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Living in Leeds, Yorkshire in the UK, working full time as a Management Accountant, currently working on 2 design teams and an obsessive crafter and creator of cards. I have no actual style as yet but do love the unusual and quirky. I may be known for producing cards in soft pastel colours. I love anything arty. I've always drawn stuff, for as long as I can remember. In my younger days I sold a few watercolour paintings. I recently found mixed media which is a joy and love creating canvases with flowers. I had a battle with digital drawing for about a year and finally found some software I could gel with. January 2016 a challenge team I worked on was short of a designer's images to create with so I drew some. I opened my shop a month later so I could sponsor challenges and give something back to the crafting world, to the lovely ladies who have supported me on my journey. I've a Facebook group SheepSki Designs where I hold challenges, some for fun to win digis as well as my monthly card challenge. I've a SheepSki Designs challenge blog as well. Things are growing slowly (thankfully) so I still manage to spend at least a little time with my hubby Welcome to my world Andrea xx
Andrea is offering 3 images of choice for the random winner.
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From the Orlando Sentinel
by Scott Maxwell
Teachers in Florida have never been paid what they're worth.
They've always made less than their peers in other parts of the country.
And in the past few years, salaries have dropped even lower.
Rick Scott The News Service of Florida reported last week that the average Florida teacher's salary has dropped by about $1,200 over the past four years — down to $45,723.
Even before that drop, Florida trailed states like Alabama, Texas and South Carolina.
Last year, Florida teachers made a whopping $7,000 less than those in Georgia — which raises an interesting point about competition.
Whenever Florida trails neighboring states when it comes to things like corporate taxes and incentives, lawmakers scream: "We must be competitive! We must be competitive!"
And then they break out their (your) checkbook.
Yet, when education suffers, the politicians respond with a collective shrug.
Such thinking is as short-sighted as it is simple-minded.
You can throw all the tax breaks you want at a CEO. But if she can't bring her top talent to a state with a solid education system, she's not coming.
And there's nothing solid about a state that's cutting sports, arts and classroom offerings, while trying to find legal ways to stuff more kids in the room.
Make no mistake: Florida has had solid gains in recent years on such measurements as graduation rates. But big cuts threaten that.
That's why Republican Sen. David Simmons has been asking his GOP peers to rethink their slash-and-burn policies: He doesn't want a backslide.
"Both of my parents were public school teachers," Simmons told me last week. "I grew up in a very, very poor environment. I understand the importance of an education. It's the way out of poverty and a necessary ingredient for any great country."
Simmons urged his peers to reconvene for a special session recently to restore much of the cuts his party made to public schools. He had found the money in what he called an over-funded "working capital fund" — and proposed restoring funding to last year's levels.
He was rebuffed by Scott and legislative leaders.
There are plenty of other places to find money, such as tax loopholes for special interests and high-paid officials collecting both pensions and salaries from the state.
One of the biggest untapped reservoirs is the massive amount of uncollected sales taxes for online retailers — something even Jeb Bush recently began pushing to change, since the current system puts Florida's brick-and-mortar employers at a competitive disadvantage.
The bottom line: Scott and the legislators could find the money to properly pay our teachers and fund our schools — if they wanted to.
After all, they always seem to find money for the salaries they truly care about.
Remember that Gov. Rick Scott recently made headlines for jacking up his chief of staff's salary by 26 percent, to $189,000.
So did House Speaker Dean Cannon and Senate President Mike Haridopolos when it was revealed that they had managed to find $100,000-plus salaries for more than 60 of their top staffers, advisors and aides.
That's a lot of money for guys who often complain about government spending.
The excuses are usually the same: "We must pay these people what they're worth."
So it speaks volumes about what these guys think your kids' teachers are "worth."
We can do better.
There are solutions.
All that's required is for the politicians to fight as hard for students and teachers as they do for corporations and their cronies — and as hard as they promised voters back during their campaigns.
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Surprise! Employer Mandate Delayed Until After 2014 Midterms
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First Democrats wrote Obamacare to make sure that the painful parts would start after the 2012 election, now Team Obama looks to make sure that the employer mandate kicks in after the midterms. Kudos to The Hill for pointing this out in their headline.
The ObamaCare employer mandate requiring businesses to provide their workers with health insurance will be delayed by a year, the administration said Tuesday in a stunning announcement.
Delaying the requirement until 2015 is an enormous victory for businesses that had lobbied against the healthcare law.
It also means that one of healthcare reform's central requirements will be implemented after the 2014 midterm elections, when the GOP is likely to use the Affordable Care Act as a vehicle to attack vulnerable Democrats.
In a White House blog post, senior adviser Valerie Jarrett wrote that the administration believed it needed to give employers "more time to comply with the new rules."
As some Tweeters have pointed out, what about the delay for individuals? Consider, the Supreme Court just offered their ruling on DOMA, which noted that everyone should be treated equally under federal law in striking down part of DOMA. Does this not seem like inequality? Others note that, as Obama put it, it's the law
@ByronYork Imperial Presidents do what they want.
— ★♥ Harriet Baldwin (@HarrietBaldwin) July 2, 2013
Now why would you expect Obama and the Dems to follow the law they passed?
"This allows employers the time to test the new reporting systems and make any necessary adaptations to their health benefits while staying the course toward making health coverage more affordable and accessible for their workers," Jarrett wrote Tuesday evening.
Jarrett also wrote that the delay would help in "cutting red tape and simplifying the reporting process."
HHS and other federal government agencies under Obama's rule have failed time and time again to meet their deadlines, plus they keep adding thousands and thousands of pages of regulation to what was already a 2,000 page bill.
What this also means is that the deep pocketed businesses will have to wait an extra year before they can file lawsuits. Remember, what the SCOTUS ruling meant (thanks, John Roberts) was that individuals/enities had to have standing to file a suit, whereby they have actually been hit with the effects of Obamacare. It's easier for big companies to file and maintain suits than individuals.
Crossed at Pirate's Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.
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Airlines are introducing a new bevy of fees, but this time passengers might actually like them.
Unlike the first generation of charges which dinged fliers for once-free services like checking a bag, these new fees promise a taste of the good life, or at least a more civil flight.
Extra legroom, early boarding and access to quiet lounges were just the beginning. Airlines are now renting Apple iPads preloaded with movies, selling hot first class meals in coach and letting passengers pay to have an empty seat next to them. Once on the ground, they can skip baggage claim, having their luggage delivered directly to their home or office.
In the near future, airlines plan to go one step further, using massive amounts of personal data to customize new offers for each flier.
"We've moved from takeaways to enhancements," says John F. Thomas of L.E.K. Consulting. "It's all about personalizing the travel experience."
Carriers have struggled to raise airfares enough to cover costs. Fees bring in more than $15 billion a year and are the reason the airlines are profitable. But the amount of money coming in from older charges like baggage and reservation change fees has plateaued. So the airlines are selling new extras and copying marketing methods honed by retailers.
Technological upgrades allow airlines to sell products directly to passengers at booking, in follow-up emails as trips approach, at check-in and on mobile phones minutes before boarding. Delta Air Lines recently gave its flight attendants wireless devices, allowing them to sell passengers last-second upgrades to seats with more legroom.
And just like Amazon.com offers suggested readings based on each buyer's past purchases, airlines soon will be able to use past behavior to target fliers.
"We have massive amounts of data," says Delta CEO Richard Anderson. "We know who you are. We know what your history has been on the airline. We can customize our offerings."
Other airlines are experimenting with tracking passengers throughout the airport. In the future, if somebody clears security hours before their flight, they might be offered a discounted day pass to the airline's lounge on their phone.
Airlines have yet to find the right balance between being helpful and being creepy. So, for now, most of the data is being used to win back passengers after their flight is delayed or luggage is lost.
"We want to get back to a point where people feel like travel isn't something to endure, but something they can enjoy," says Bob Kupbens, a former Target executive and Delta's current vice president of marketing and digital commerce.
Most passengers select flights based on the lowest base fare. The online travel industry plays up that price sensitivity with sites named CheapOair.com, CheapTickets.com and InsanelyCheapFlights.com.
When airlines try to raise fares, they are met with resistance.
"Customers are very quick to either change travel plans, or use another carrier or not travel at all," says Jim Corridore, an airline analyst with Standard & Poor's.
In the past three years, airlines have tried to hike fares 48 times, according to FareCompare.com. During 29 of those attempts, bookings fell enough that airlines abandoned the increase.
Most fares today don't cover the cost of flying. While the average domestic roundtrip base fare has climbed 3 percent over the past decade to $361.95, when adjusted for inflation, the price of jet fuel has nearly tripled.
When oil prices spiked in 2008, airlines added checked baggage fees. Passengers still bought tickets on the base price and didn't think about the extra expense until the day of travel.
Now airlines are recasting fees as trip enhancements.
Travelers like Nadine Angress, of Mansfield, Mass., see the value. Her recent late-night US Airways flight home landed past six-year-old son's bedtime. She had to work early the next morning. So, for $30 she bypassed the baggage carousel and had the suitcase delivered.
"That was a very reasonable price to pay," Angress says. "It's making your life easier."


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Journal of Energy in Southern Africa
On-line version ISSN 2413-3051
Print version ISSN 1021-447X
J. energy South. Afr. vol.25 n.3 Cape Town Aug. 2014
Renewable energy investment in Nigeria: A review of the Renewable Energy Master Plan
Udochukwu B AkuruI; Ogbonnaya I OkoroII
IDepartment of Electrical Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria
IICollege of Engineering and Engineering Technology, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, Nigeria
Data for investment into renewable energy resources in Nigeria is mainly unavailable due to over reliance on conventional resources for energy generation. However, recent developments in the energy sector have portrayed gradual attention to investments in renewable energy resources. This paper reviews the Renewable Energy Master Plan (REMP) which identifies this improvement and presents a draft on how an increase in investment in renewable energy resources, which will in the long run balance the national energy equation, ensure energy security and promote sustainable development.
Keywords: investment; Nigeria; Renewable Energy Master Plan; renewable energy resources; sustainable development.
1. Introduction
Perhaps the greatest challenge faced by Nigerians today is the comatose energy sector. With anticipated development of coal power plants, the content of the Nigerian energy consumption pattern is increasingly fossil-based. Oil accounts for about 20% of GDP 95% of export earnings and 85% of budgetary revenues (Malumfashi, 2007).
However, Nigeria is endowed with sufficient renewable energy resources to meet its present and future development requirements as well as complement its current oil-dependent economy. Table 1 shows various renewable energy sources and their estimated reserves in Nigeria.
Energy poverty is entrenched in Nigeria; about 85 million, representing approximately 60 percent of the population have no access to electricity services. Less than 20 percent of rural areas have some form of electricity service coverage. In all, the electricity consumption per capita is about 100 kWh when compared to 4,500 kWh, 1934 kWh and 1379 kWh in South Africa, Brazil and China, respectively. Presently, the government has embarked on a massive investment programme to increase the capacity of the electricity supply industry. This is expected to double the generation capacity from fossil sources. Even though attention is beginning to be paid to renewable electricity, it is only an insignificant fraction of the total public sector energy investments. Consequently, prior to 2004, and even up to 2008, a databank on renewable energy investments in Nigeria is either unavailable or inaccessible.
To this end, one of the reasons why the Nigerian energy sector is highly vulnerable to shocks is due to its overdependence on fossil sources. Similarly, the reliance on large hydropower for about a third of electricity supply is usually under pressure as dams dry up, especially in the dry seasons. There is also the challenge of bad policies and unprofessionalism demonstrated in poor energy administration. This means, therefore, that the resilience of the Nigerian energy system is weak as climate change, bad governance and widespread poverty intensify the vulnerability of the energy economy. The challenges of energy security and access are compounded by inefficiency and poor environmental governance, while by-products like oil pollution and gas flaring have continued to damage agricultural land and marine ecology irreversibly.
Large incomes from oil and abundant energy resources including, gas, coal, hydro, biomass, and solar radiation, have not necessarily translated to growth and development. As a matter of fact, the relationship between energy and economic development has been a tremendous paradox in Nigeria (Renewable Energy Master Plan, 2005).
Switching over to the utilization of renewable energy resources in Nigeria is long overdue because of the increased recognition of the contribution renewable energy makes to rural development, lower health costs (linked to reduced-air pollution), energy independence, and climate change mitigation. Interests in shifting renewable energy from the fringe to the mainstream of sustainable development are recently growing (Martinot et al; Mfune and Boon, 2008). At the same time, commercial markets for renewable energy are expanding, shifting investment patterns away from traditional government and international donor sources to greater reliance on private firms and banks (Kammen, 1999; Reddy and Goldberg, 1990; Anderson, 1997; Goldberg et al., 2000).
This paper was researched in order to provide a common understanding of the current status of renewable energy investments in Nigeria and open a leeway for promoting and fast-tracking future investment patterns. The information items covered in the paper have been gleaned from available scientific publications sourced from the internet and other private collections. The draft Renewable Energy Master Plan (REMP) for Nigeria by a team of experts and stakeholders from the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2005, served as the research instrument under review. The REMP articulates Nigeria's vision and road maps an increasing role for renewable energy to achieve sustainable development - anchored on the mounting convergence of values, principles and targets as embedded in the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), National Energy Policy on Integrated Rural Development, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the international conventions to reduce poverty and reverse global environmental change.
Internal limitations include among other things, the non-availability of reliable data in most cases for renewable energy investments in Nigeria, unverified projections and numerous uncertainties in the proposed REMP.
2. Development of the Renewable Energy Master Plan in Nigeria
2.1 Definition of renewable energy
Renewable energy includes solar, wind, hydro, oceanic, geothermal, biomass, and other sources of energy that are derived from "sun energy", and are thus renewed indefinitely as a course of nature. Forms of useable energy include electricity, hydrogen, fuels, thermal energy and mechanical force.
More broadly speaking, renewable energy is derived from non-fossil and non-nuclear sources in ways that can be replenished, are sustainable, and have no harmful side effects. The ability of an energy source to be renewed also implies that its harvesting, conversion and use occur in a sustainable manner, thereby avoiding negative impacts on the viability and rights of local communities and natural ecosystems.
2.2 Rationale for the Renewable Energy Master Plan
The following have been recognized and advanced as reasons for the instituting the REMP in Nigeria (Renewable Energy Master Plan, 2005):
- The dwindling of Nigeria's oil reserves.
- The need to replace the jumbled historical development of renewable energy with properly coordinated policy and implementation.
- The need to urgently provide access to affordable electricity for the highly-dense rural populace.
- To restructure the electricity industry by encouraging competitive wholesale power markets, increase self-generation by end-users, accelerate privatization and commercialization, unbundle generation, transmission and distribution and create a competitive retail market.
- For specific technological expertise and market conditions through research and development activities.
- To promote green energy technologies by reducing pollution and environmental degradation.
- To provide a platform for a level playing ground for all stakeholders in the energy sector.
2.3 Plans for investment into renewable energy
The REMP envisioned a gradual but steady transition from overdependence to less dependence on hydrocarbons as a primary source of energy and income to Nigeria. It ventured to employ specific stages of development in its attainment of these objectives such as, the short term (2005-2007), the medium term (2008-2015) and long term (20162025) (Renewable Energy Master Plan, 2005). In the short term, crude oil is expected to play a dominant role in the economic development of the country while an energy transition from crude oil to a less carbon intensive economy is anticipated in the medium term. This anticipated transition is notably indispensable. On the other hand, the long term envisages a country that will significantly be less dependent on hydrocarbons.
2.4 Specific objectives of the Renewable Energy Master Plan
The development of renewable energy technologies is a win-win strategy for a developing country like Nigeria. Increased investments on renewable energy will bring together climate protection, poverty reduction, technology development and job creation.
The overall objective of the REMP is to articulate a national vision, set targets and a road map for addressing key development challenges facing Nigeria through the accelerated development and exploitation of renewable energy. This it hopes to achieve through by developing a comprehensive platform for setting up renewable energy policies, providing legal instruments, technologies, manpower, infrastructure and markets so as to ensure that the visions and targets are realized. Among other things, the master plan has projected the following specific objectives (Renewable Energy Master Plan, 2005):
- Expanding access to energy services and raising the standard of living, especially in the rural areas;
- Stimulating economic growth, employment and empowerment;
- Increasing the scope and quality of rural services, including schools, health services, water supply, information, entertainment and stemming the migration to urban areas;
- Reducing environmental degradation and health risks, particularly to vulnerable groups such as women and children;
- Improving learning, capacity-building, research and development on various renewable energy technologies in the country; and
- Providing a road map for achieving a substantial share of the national energy supply mix through renewable energy.
2.5 Barriers to the implementation of the Renewable Energy Master Plan
Several barriers have been confronting the development of the renewable energy sector in Nigeria, and by and large, pose a similar threat to implementing the REMP. The following have been principally identified:
- Policy and political barriers: sound policies developed by government might at the end of the day not be adopted, or when adopted may not be fully implemented.
- Market distortions: price distortions, poor regulatory environment and inadequate infrastructure characterize current energy market conditions in the country.
- International development barriers: globalization in the movement of capital, technology, goods and ideas tend to put pressure on a proposal like the REMP.
- Standards quality and control barriers: a major constraint to the development of the renewable energy market in Nigeria is the poorly established standard and quality control of locally manufactured and imported technologies.
- Research and development barriers: the long term objectives of the REMP require quality improvement in research and development in renewable energy systems to ease inefficiency and improve procurement and construction costs.
- Environment barriers: against the background that renewable energy systems provide cleaner alternative to hydrocarbons, certain environmental barriers may however persist such as distortion of plant and animal habitats, human dislocation and resettlement.
3. Investment pattern of the renewable energy master plan
3.1 Case for drafting the REMP
Certain indices underscore the imperative to develop the REMP For instance, the reasons for the REMP, as earlier outlined in this paper, come to bare. Besides, several other factors include among others, the undue focus on centralized energy supply which has been inadequate in meeting the burgeoning energy demand; the decentralized nature and scale of the renewable energy scheme make it readily available to even the most remote locations; the encouragement of a balanced development of all available energy resources; and, the need to provide a level playing field for all cadre of investments as many players become involved in renewable energy development and implementation. For the purpose of this research, three basic considerations of such cases that could have necessitated drafting of the REMP have been identified and carefully examined - energy per capita, environmental sustainability and relative cost economy.
3.1.1 Energy per capita disparity
That electrical energy is the most mobile and versatile form of energy which is directly needed to run our homes and industrial appliances and machinery, light, heat and cool our living and work spaces, and for our telecommunications, cannot be overstated. Various studies have established that the relationship between energy and economic development is proportional (Okoro et al., 2006; Iloeje, 2007; Karlsson, 2005; Okoro and Madueme, 2004; Qurashi and Hussain, 2005). But when electrical energy production in Nigeria is compared with that of neighbouring African countries, which unlike Nigeria are lacking in huge energy resource potential, the result is rather out of place (see Figure 1).
The stated figure of 0.11 billion kWh per million people for Nigeria in Figure 1, which is roughly equivalent to having a constantly-running 11 MW of power station per million people, or a total of 1 500 MW for the country is a call for immediate action to invest in alternative forms of energy. If, for example, Nigeria were to produce electricity at the same rate as South Africa i.e. 4.2 Billion kWh per million people, it is equivalent to having power plants totalling 63 000 MW, which is over ten times what is being produced in the country at present. However, if Nigeria is to meet the world average of 2.34 Billion kWh per million people, then it will need five times its present capacity which is graciously fluctuating between 2 800 MW and 3 500 MW.
3.1.2 Environmental sustainability
The primary concept of sustainability is to meet the needs of the present without compromising on the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Qurashi and Hussain, 2005). The conventional energy-generation options can damage air, water, climate, land and wild life, through particulate and gaseous emissions, as well as through rising levels of harmful radiations. The results of these pollutions (e.g. emission of greenhouse gases through continued gas flaring and the depletion of the ozone) are factors which cause global warming and climate change.
Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) which are much safer is the current driving force and perhaps, a foremost reason for drafting of the REMP.
3.1.3 Relative cost economy
The cost of setting up an energy facility is usually critical to the volume of investments that will be attracted to develop a particular resource base. In costing the generation of electricity, three types of costs are identified, namely:
- Capital costs (necessary for building a particular energy technology; and tend to be low for fossil power stations but high for renewable technologies).
- Operating and maintenance (O&M) costs - tend to be high for fossil-powered generators and low for renewables.
- Fuel costs - high for fossil fuel and biomass sources, but very low for renewables such as solar PV and wind turbines, possibly negative for waste to energy.
Table 2 presents an overview for comparing the initial costs of various electricity generating systems, while Table 3 presents a comparative assessment of operation and maintenance costs. All energy sources have unique characteristics that make them advantageous in some situations. Geography, climate and access to natural resources all play a role in their effectiveness. However, in terms of overall cost efficiency, renewable energy technologies have been identified as a very cost effective means of electricity generation, though with a high initial capital cost, aimed to be cut seriously by on-going research, but a lower operational/running cost.
3.2 Summary and Pattern of Projected Investments in the REMP
To ensure that the REMP targets are met, three stages of implementation of programmes and projects have been identified in short, medium and long terms. The projected electricity supply, from all sources (conventional and renewable) in the short, medium and long term is estimated to be 56MW, 746MW and 2945MW respectively as shown in Figure 2.
Table 3 presents an overview of estimated costs for these investments for all activities as outlined in the REMP. All cost estimates are in tandem with 2005 naira (Nigerian currency) value.
Implementing the REMP will demand an estimated investment portfolio of 4 billion, 178 billion and 428 billion naira, in the short, medium and long term respectively.
In the end, apart from milestones which were set out in the REMP a total of about 610 billion naira was estimated for the two-decade projects, an amount fair enough to compare in MW output with close to 500 billion naira invested in largely non-renewable energy resources between 1999 and 2007, with less than 1 000 MW improvement in generation capacity (Akuru, 2010).
In the interim, it is expected that financing of these investments will depend on the mobilization of resources from governments at all levels, the domestic private sector and international sources which include foreign direct investments, grants, and oil revenues.
4. Future prospects for renewable energy in Nigeria
The challenge confronting Nigeria like any other developing country (Pendse, 1979) is to achieve an orderly and peaceful energy-transition from the present economy, based primarily on hydrocarbons, and to one based increasingly on renewable sources of energy. It has to be in a manner which is consistent with the needs and options of individual sectors and is socially equitable, economically and technically viable and environmentally sustainable. The transition must be based on technological, commercial, financial and monetary modalities, consistent with the resolve of the government to establish the REMP, so as to accelerate development and to promote balanced energy distribution. An effective energy-transition should be implemented in accordance with the outlined long-term national plans and priorities.
The development of renewable sources of energy opens up the prospect of increasing indigenous energy-supply and thereby contributing to greater self-sufficiency. It also creates new options to respond to the energy requirements of the rural, industrial, transport, domestic and other sectors, in accordance with national goals and priorities, and provides for a more diversified and decentralized pattern of energy-supply. Likewise, just as obtainable in conventional energy sources or products, renewable sources of energy have been identified as both an "input" and an "output" of the development process (Qurashi and Hussain, 2005]. Therefore, encouraging investment in renewable energy resources, as outlined in the REMP, agrees with the following merits: pollution free environment, free renewable and available energy source, high reliability and low maintenance costs (Okoro and Madueme, 2005).
It is expected that by now implementation of the REMP would have reached half-way into the medium term, but the last check revealed that there has been a delay in the approval of the REMP noting, however, that an inter-ministerial committee has long been established to review the draft master plan and push for its approval (Talba, 2009).
5. Conclusion and recommendations
The Renewable Energy Master Plan (REMP) commits Nigeria to ambitious but achievable commitments for the development of all major renewable energy resources. It includes short, medium and long term targets in planned activities, milestones and strategies for implementation. Successful implementation will result in the installation of 2 945 MW of wind, solar PV, solar thermal, small hydro and biomass by 2025 - roughly equivalent to the entire grid capacity in use in Nigeria today.
Achieving this vision will require the unyielding cooperation of all parties: government, private and civil society. Founded and comprised of stakeholders from all sectors of renewable energy in Nigeria. Similarly, Nigeria will become a leader in the world's fight against climate change, move towards the attainment of the MDG and NEEDS targets, ensure the development of the nation's energy resources for the achievement of national energy security, guarantee adequate, reliable and sustainable supply of energy at appropriate costs and establish an efficient delivery system with an optimal energy resource mix. It will also gain a place of renewed respect and dignified power in Africa and the world over.
Notwithstanding the fact that implementation of the REMP is yet to commence, this paper is of the view that the targets have been properly outlined in the draft, and so, remains valid for future actions or inactions as the case may be. First of all, it is hoped that against the backdrop of revising the financial projection of the REMP, thereby wasting more time and money on prolonged research, approval of the REMP should not continue to linger because of the continuing depletion of conventional energy resources which makes its adoption urgent and indispensable in the near future. Perhaps the cost of carrying out immediate action on the REMP, though seen as ambitious, will become insignificant in the long run. Already too, countries like Germany and Brazil which have put in place a reliable and efficient renewable energy programmes, such that they have credited major achievements in sustainable energy generation and economic dividends, should serve as a case in point for immediately budding Nigeria's renewable energy interests.
No doubt, the draft REMP is a proof that a white paper which targets, above all, to turn-around Nigeria's moribund energy sector by utilizing and incorporating renewable energy resources in the national supply mix is in existence, but implementation is key. Therefore, it remains to be seen, what other unseen benefits could be embedded in the REMP until implementation is achieved and the benefits start accruing.
Udochukwu B. Akuru values the support rendered by Simeon Mtamabari Torbira-Lenee, an MSc student of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, who facilitated the provision of a copy of the drafted Federal Republic of Nigeria-Renewable Energy Master Plan (2005) which has been extensively quoted in this research paper.
Akuru, U.B. (2010). Alternative means of energy sector investments in Nigeria , In: Solar & Renwewable Energy Company (Nig.) Ltd; Meeting R&D Commercialisation Challenge (Eds A.O.E. Animalu, E.N.C. Osakwe, and U.B. Akuru), SNAAP Press (Nig.) Ltd, Enugu. [ Links ]
Anderson,D. (1997). Renewable energy technology and policy for development, Annu. Rev. Energy Environ. 22:187-215. [ Links ]
Goldemberg, J. Reddy, A.K.N. Smith, K.R. and Williams, R.H. (2000). Rural energy in developing countries, in World Energy Assessment: Energy and the Challenge of Sustainability, ed. J. Goldemberg et al., pp. 367-92. New York: UN Dev. Programme, UNDept. Econ. Soc.Aff.,World Energy Council. [ Links ]
Iloeje, O.C. (2007). Issues in the regulation of renewable energy based power supply, NCERD Conference 2007, UNN, Nigeria. [ Links ]
Kammen, D.M. (1999). Bringing power to the people: promoting appropriate energy technologies in the developing world, Environment, 41(5):10-15, 34-4. [ Links ]
Malumfashi, G.I. (2007). Phase-out of gas flaring in Nigeria by 2008: The prospects of a multi-win project (Review of the regulatory, environmental and socio-economic issues), Centre for Energy Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy (CEPMLP), University of Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom. [ Links ]
Martinot, E. Chaurey, A., Lew, D., Moreira, J.R. and Wamukonya, N. (2002). Renewable energy markets in developing countries, Annu. Rev. Energy Environ.. 27:309-48, doi: 10.1146/annurev.energy.27.122001.083444. [ Links ]
Mats Karlsson, K. (2005). The energy challenge for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, http://esa.un.org/un-energy. [ Links ]
Mfune, O. and Boon, E.K. (2008). Promoting renewable energy technologies for rural development in Africa: experiences of Zambia, J. Hum. Ecol., 24(3): 175-189. [ Links ]
Okoro, O.I., Govender. P. and Chikuni, E. (2006). Power sector reforms in Nigeria: opportunities and challenges, Proceeding for 10th International Conference on the Domestic Use of Energy, Cape Town, South Africa, pp. 29-34. [ Links ]
Okoro, O.I. and Madueme, I.C. (2004). Solar energy investments in a developing economy, Renewable Energy 29, 1599-1610. [ Links ]
Pendse, D.R. (1979). The Energy Crisis and Third World Options, in Third World Quarterly, Vol.1, No.4, p. 82. [ Links ]
Qurashi, M.M. and Hussain, I. (2005). Renewable energy technologies for developing countries: Now and to 2023, publications of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - ISESCO -1426A.H./2005. [ Links ]
Reddy A. K. N. and Goldemberg, J. (1990). Energy for the developing world, Sci. Am. 1990, 263(3):110-18. [ Links ]
Renewable Energy Master Plan (2005). United Nations Development Programme and Energy Commission of Nigeria, November 2005. Federal Republic of Nigeria. [ Links ]
Talba, I. (2009). Effective regulation for sustainable private participation in power projects, a Presentation at the 15th Nigerian Economic Summit held at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, Dec. 15-17, 2009. http://www.nesgroup.org/nes15/ECONOMIC%20SUMMIT.pdf. [ Links ]


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Ugly but rich: UR naked mole rat study nets $9.5M
The naked mole rat might not be known for its good looks, but this tiny rodent has turned into a cash cow for researchers.
A five-year, $9.5 million federal grant has been awarded to University of Rochester biology professor Vera Gorbunova to head up a project studying why this creature has such longevity — an average life span of 32 years.
"We hope to come out with strategies to delay human aging," said Gorbunova, who has been on the UR faculty since 2004.
She and her husband, Andrei Seluanov, who is an assistant professor of biology at UR, are already heading up a team that discovered a chemical that has made naked mole rats cancer free.
The new grant, announced Wednesday, will also involve faculty from Harvard University and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.
Researchers at the three sites will focus on 18 different species of rodents and try to understand why they have different life spans — ranging from 3 years for mice to 32 years for the naked mole rat.
The $9.5 million research grant was awarded in a competitive process by the Department of Health and Human Service's National Institute on Aging.
Researchers will focus on rodents because they are genetically similar to humans, but have different life spans.
"UR will be at the center of the whole effort," Gorbunova said. "We will maintain the bank of tissues and cells from all the rodents."
The research will be conducted by five groups of professors and researchers, with Gorbunova and Seluanov heading up the two teams at UR. Each group is expected to have five to 10 researchers.
Gorbunova will study which enzymes most efficiently the repair damaged DNA — molecules that contain genetic information. Failure to repair DNA can lead to cancer.
In their study about naked mole rats and cancer, published last year in Nature, a prestigious British scientific journal, the UR team that Gorbunova and Seluanov headed up found that naked mole rats are protected from cancer because their tissues are rich in high molecular weight hyaluronan (HMW-HA).
Observations of naked mole rat colonies over a number of years did not detect a single incidence of cancer. Researchers also identified a gene that makes HMW-HA.
Last December, the naked mole rat was named Vertebrate of the Year by the prestigious Science Magazine, which acknowledged that these creatures "will never win a beauty contest," but "may hold a lesson or two for humans," in how to prevent cancer.


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"Certainly for the next several decades, the majority of electricity will be generated by fossil fuels in a fairly conventional way," says Bill Moomaw, an international energy policy expert at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, primarily because it is cheap and readily available. "If we're going to continue to use coal we're going to have to have some way of reducing the carbon dioxide." As a result, the IPCC summary notes that carbon capture and storage—trapping the carbon dioxide before it escapes from the smokestack and pumping it underground—is a likely technology solution for mitigating climate change, along with a variety of other options. "There is no silver bullet," says Harlan Watson, senior climate negotiator for the U.S.
But carbon capture and storage will play a key role as coal continues to supply a significant portion of world energy supply and, unfortunately, it has yet to be demonstrated on any power plant anywhere. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has at least 20 pilot projects to investigate it, according to Stephen Eule, DOE's director of the climate change technology program, but none have applied it on a commercial scale. A variety of techniques, including passing the remnants of coal combustion through an ammonium carbonate solution or separating purified CO2 from gasified coal, are possible—at a cost. "There is no plant that integrates gasification with capture and sequestration," says physicist Ernest Moniz of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who co-chaired a report on the future of coal. But "gasification looks today to be the lowest cost option with carbon capture."
That primary cost is in energy that gets used to capture the carbon—roughly 40 percent of the power a plant can produce—as well as to pressurize it and pump it underground. "In general terms, you are talking about a 50 percent increase in the cost of coal and maybe a 25 percent increase in the retail residential price of coal-fired electricity," Moniz says. "For a 600-megawatt power plant, in order to capture most of the CO2 and sequester it for the 50-year life of the plant, you're talking about one billion barrels of supercritical CO2. That's a pretty big reservoir."
And, although a few projects such as the Sleipner gas field in the North Sea or oil fields owned by the EnCana Corporation in Calgary, Alberta have proved that CO2 can be pumped underground and remain trapped below cap rock, they are aimed at enhancing recovery of the fossil fuels in those fields rather than permanently storing the greenhouse gas. "There's a high likelihood that if you choose your site well it will hold CO2 for hundreds of thousands of years," says S. Julio Friedmann, head of the carbon management program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.
There are other technologies available, such as using algae to capture the waste greenhouse gases from power plants and turning it into diesel or other fuels. "The amount of CO2 that you capture [with algae] is very high and the amount of biofuel created per acre is incredibly greater than you can do with corn or even sugarcane," Tufts's Moomaw says. "The problem is it only works in the daytime." Alternative forms of power production, such as wind or solar, remain a small—albeit fast-growing—portion of world electricity supply. Even nuclear power is unlikely to play a major role in fighting climate change. "By 2030, we might be seeing something around 18 percent of power being generated by nuclear rather than the 16 percent we see today," Moomaw adds. "There are so many issues around nuclear power, we don't see it as being the answer to global warming and the electricity sector."
Thus, the IPCC argues the answer lies in a portfolio approach to reducing emissions from the energy supply sector, including replacing inefficient power plants, cutting down on the use of electricity in general and potentially moving from large, centralized power plants to small distributed ones. This shift will have to take place nearly immediately in order to avoid more than two degrees Celsius of warming: "Emissions will have to peak no later than 2015 and start back down again," Moomaw says. "Early actions are important."
And those changes will have to be permanent. "Stabilization of concentrations [of greenhouse gases] in the atmosphere will ultimately require nearly net-zero emissions before the end of the century," says Richard Bradley, head of the energy efficiency and environment division at the International Energy Agency in Paris. "The IPCC report demonstrates that costs can be manageable if action begins soon." Mastering carbon capture and storage will be a big part of that if the world continues to rely on coal as expected, perhaps preventing catastrophic global climate change. But it will not do much to prevent the local damage caused by coal mining in the first place. As Tennessee coal mining region resident Ann League says: "The impacts of coal mining abuse do not stop at a mountain's edge."


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Some of L.A.'s most stylish citizens made their way to Kate Mantilini in Beverly Hills this morning for our most â la mode Breakfast Conversation yet: an in-depth look at the city's booming apparel manufacturing business, sponsored by the Art Center College of Design. The panel discussion focused on what we can hope to expect from the growing industry and was tied to Los Angeles magazine's November fashion feature, Made in L.A.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who spoke briefly before the panel discussion got underway, cleared the air about his eyebrow-raising attendance with a friendly jab in our direction (things had been a bit chilly between him and the magazine since we published this critical—and controversial—cover in June 2009), then poked fun at his own wardrobe. "You all dress so well because you're in the fashion industry," he said. "Someone walked up to me and said, 'I need to dress you when you go to Washington.' So I guess that I didn't do too well this morning."
The mayor was in attendance because, like the magazine, he wanted to tout the benefits of supporting designers who manufacture their products in L.A. "L.A. is the city where the world comes together," he said. "There are more manufacturing and apparel jobs here in L.A. than in any other city. It's an industry about $13 billion strong [with] 100,000 people. About 80% of California showrooms are downtown, so this is a unique L.A. industry in many ways as much as film is."
Our three panelists seemed to agree. Moderated by senior editor Linda Immediato, local designers and manufacturers Samuel Ku (AG Adriano Goldschmeid), Calleen Cordero (Calleen Cordero Designs), and John McDavid Lehman (R.B. of McD) weighed in on the current state of the fashion industry and vocalized their hopes for its future. "What we're lacking here in L.A. is exposure," Lehman said. "We don't get the same exposure that New York does, and that's very important. But this conversation is one of many steps that's really important for L.A. to regenerate its face in fashion."
Ku emphasized the need to keep manufacturing local to bolster the economy and the industry. "Overall I feel pretty positive about manufacturing in L.A.," he said. "A lot of important brands are based here and a lot of them still manufacture here as well. As long as it remains important to brands that we keep jobs and manufacturing here, I think we'll continue to be a big part of the apparel business."
Guests in the audience—which included Kelsi Smith of the Los Angeles Fashion Council, Jered Gold of the Art Center College of Design, and a slew of up-and-coming designers—also felt optimistic about what the fashion industry is doing for our city. Michael Kelly of the L.A. Coalition cited a 2011 report from Price Waterhouse Coopers in which Los Angeles ranked 6th for intellectual capital and innovation, 2nd for work/life cost, and the best overall city for entrepreneurial environment. "The creative economy is a significant part of L.A.'s economy, particularly the apparel industry," he said before the panel discussion. "I think it's something we can be globally competitive in and make sure that we grow so we can continue to create jobs."
"The overarching thing we've heard here today is a commitment to quality, keeping jobs in L.A., and making things that last," said Immediato. What's important now is making sure that civic pride and industry awareness stays in vogue.


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June 10, 2010
Obama Offers ILLEGAL Aliens Movie Nights, Bingo, Arts and Crafts, Dance
Obama offers illegal aliens movie nights, bingo, arts and crafts, dance
ICE to make detention centers more humane
By SUSAN CARROLL
June 8, 2010
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are preparing to roll out a series of changes at several privately owned immigration detention centers, including relaxing some security measures for low-risk detainees and offering art classes, bingo and continental breakfast on the weekends.
The changes, detailed in an internal ICE e-mail obtained by the Houston Chronicle, were welcomed by immigrant advocates who have been waiting for the Obama administration to deliver on a promise made in August to overhaul the nation's immigration detention system.
The 28 changes identified in the e-mail range from the superficial to the substantive. In addition to "softening the look of the facility" with hanging plants and offering fresh carrot sticks, ICE will allow for the "free movement" of low-risk detainees, expand visiting hours and provide unmonitored phone lines.
ICE officials said the changes are part of broader efforts to make the immigration detention system less penal and more humane...
But the plans are prompting protests by ICE's union leaders, who say they will jeopardize the safety of agents, guards and detainees and increase the bottom line for taxpayers. Tre Rebstock, president for Local 3332, the ICE union in Houston, likened the changes to creating "an all-inclusive resort" for immigration detainees.
"Our biggest concern is that someone is going to get hurt," he said, taking particular issue with plans to relax restrictions on the movement of low-risk detainees and efforts to reduce and eliminate pat-down searches.
The changes outlined in the ICE e-mail are planned for nine detention centers owned and operated by Corrections Corporation of America, including the 900-bed Houston Contract Detention Facility on the city's north side.
Some of the changes will be implemented within 30 days; others may take up to six months, said Beth Gibson, ICE's senior counselor to Assistant Secretary John Morton and a leader of the detention reform effort.
Other major changes include:
• Eliminating lockdowns and lights-out for low-risk detainees.
• Allowing visitors to stay as long as they like in a 12-hour period.
• Providing a unit manger so detainees have someone to report problems to other than the guard.
• Allowing low-risk detainees to wear their own clothing or other non-penal attire.
• Providing e-mail access and Internet-based free phone service.
Not about punishment
Gibson said the improvements are part of ICE's efforts to detain immigrants in the least restrictive manner possible while ensuring they leave the country if ordered to do so.
"When people come to our custody, we're detaining them to effect their removal," Gibson said. "It's about deportation. It's not about punishing people for a crime they committed."
ICE officials have faced pressure from immigrant advocates and some members of Congress to improve the detention conditions for the roughly 400,000 immigrants it houses annually. The agency has relied on a hodgepodge of more than 250 government-run detention centers, private prisons and local jails to accommodate its growing population — with roughly one in four detainees held in Texas.
At the CCA facilities that have agreed to ICE's changes, detainees will see more variety in their dining hall menus and have self-serve beverage and fresh vegetable bars.
CCA also plans to offer movie nights, bingo, arts and crafts, dance and cooking classes, tutoring and computer training, the e-mail states.
Detainees also will be allowed four hours or more of recreation "in a natural setting, allowing for robust aerobic exercise."
CCA also committed to improving the look of the facilities, such as requiring plants, fresh paint and new bedding in lower-risk units.
Advocates pleased
Some of the improvements offered at the CCA facilities counted as hard-fought victories for immigrant advocates, including plans to improve visitor and attorney access.
"A lot of these measures are what we've been advocating for," said Lory Rosenberg, policy and advocacy director for Refugee and Migrants' Rights for Amnesty International.
"Many of these points are very important to changing the system from a penal system, which is inappropriate in an immigration context, to a civil detention system."
Union members said they have concerns about the plans, primarily focusing on safety.
Rebstocksaid some detainees may be classified as low-risk because they have no serious criminal history but still may be gang members that "haven't been caught doing anything wrong yet."
He also said eliminating lockdowns will make it more difficult to protect detainees from one another.
He said reducing or eliminating pat-down searches could allow contraband into the facilities, including weapons.
Gibson, with ICE, said the agency is developing a sophisticated classification system and will make sure "that our detainees are still safe and sound."
"As a general matter, it will be the non-criminals who don't present a danger to anyone else who are benefitting from the lowest level of custody," Gibson said.
'On the taxpayers' dime'
Rebstock also questioned the cost to taxpayers for the changes.
"My grandparents would have loved to have bingo night and a dance class at the retirement home they were in when they passed away, but that was something we would have had to pay for," he said. "And yet these guys are getting it on the taxpayers' dime."
Gibson said CCA is making the improvements at no additional cost to ICE. The agency's contract with CCA for the Houston detention center requires that ICE pay $99 per bed daily for each detainee, slightly lower than the $102 average daily rate ICE pays nationally .
Rosenberg said some of the changes, like new flower baskets, may seem small, but they will combine with the bigger changes to make a difference in the daily lives of detainees.
"Taken together they will go some way to making this system less penal," she said.
Wild Thing's comment.........
This is so sickening and disturbing. This is America for crying out loud, we have laws and now we have politicians and others in power that have NO intention of respecting our laws. Then add in to that to cater to them, do anything FOR them....OMG!
Posted by Wild Thing at June 10, 2010 06:55 AM
This is beyond reason. What do they do about violent illegals? How do they keep weapons out of the facility?
What we are seeing from the obama cartel is the destroying of the fabric of America. Orwellian. Backwards is forward. Down is up. Illegals are guests.
Posted by: TomR at June 10, 2010 09:14 AM
Shoot, might as well make them look forward to getting caught. They lived better in our prisons than they did in Mexico so now we'll make it so they never want to leave.
Posted by: BobF at June 10, 2010 10:32 AM
Makes you wonder who's running the Asylum. But got to remember this is the UN's philosophy. Abu Grabass' investigation was nothing more than an extension of the UN only with democrat members of congress acting as emmisaries for the UN.
Posted by: Mark at June 10, 2010 12:01 PM
Hope and change - ain't it just delightful!
Ummmm....not exactly the immigration reform I was looking for but what do I know - I'm just a legal American-racist-teab*gger-with-the-potential-for-violence citizen.
So many people need to be fired and/or imprisoned.
Posted by: yankeemom at June 10, 2010 05:16 PM
Mexico gives Guatemalan illegals free "Rodney King" treatment, but we have to do this because Calderon calls us racists due to one of our states feeling like they should enforce immigration law. God forbid illegal aliens should feel like they're in detention when they are.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 10, 2010 07:20 PM
Mexico gives Guatemalan illegals free "Rodney King" treatment, but we have to do this because Calderon calls us racists due to one of our states feeling like they should enforce immigration law. God forbid illegal aliens should feel like they're in detention when they are.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 10, 2010 07:33 PM
GREAT input thank you so much.
People making this decision to do this kind of thing should have their heads examined! This is nuts!! They could not love our country and do something like this.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 11, 2010 04:14 AM


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Padres Josh Byrnes compounds earlier mistakes by signing LF Carlos Quentin to a 3 yr/$30 million extension
In the middle of Vicky Santo's stirring comments during the induction speech for her husband Ron here in Cooperstown a member of our front office leans over to me and says, "what is Byrnes thinking"?
Earlier in the day my wife had pried my phone and tablet from my hands and handed me a camera and her grandfather's Cubs cap. "Its a day to be a fan" she said, so I had no idea what he was talking about.
I had to wait until I got back to the hotel last night to learn that Josh Byrnes had made his third critical mistake regarding Carlos Quentin.
Byrnes' Critical Mistakes
1st – He traded a young Quentin to the White Sox as GM of the Diamondbacks
2nd – He traded two very good prospects (Castro and Hernandez) to the White Sox for an older and injury prone Quentin as the new GM of the Padres
Now, to compound those two huge mistakes, Byrnes gives Carlos Quentin a 3 year $30 million extension with the San Diego Padres.
For a low budget team expected to have a $60-70 million payroll in 2013, Byrnes gives a 3 year deal that will take up 15+ percent of the teams total payroll to:
- a player that is so injury prone that he has not had a season where he started more than 103 games in the field since 2008
- a player so bad defensively that he has not completed more than 83 games in a season since 2008 & has recorded a -37.7 UZR over that period.
- a player with a .248 batting average since the start of the 2009 season
You also have to remember that Quentin is more expensive than just his salary. Someone else has to play the 60 + games he will miss due to injuries each season and the 180 + innings per season he will be out of games because of his bad defense and you have to pay those players too.
Byrnes' Guarantees
Byrnes has guaranteed that for 60 or more games each of the next 3 seasons the Padres will wonder who will be playing in LF. (Quentin is hurt for 1/3 of each season)
Byrnes has guaranteed that the Padres will have one of, if not THE worst LF defense in the league for 2/3 of each of the next 3 seasons. (Quentin is hurt for 1/3 of each season)
Byrnes has also guaranteed that the Padres have no money to sign any real threats with the bat by tying up more than 15% of the payroll in one player. (You cant be a threat when you are on the DL 1/3 of each season and have to be removed in late innings of games for a defensive replacement.)
Byrnes has guaranteed that the Padres will be saddled with Quentin; an expensive, injury prone, poor hitting, defensive liability for the next 3 seasons because they gave him a full no-trade clause.
Carlos Quentin, Bust
Face it Padres fans, Quentin is a bust so far. He has hit just .217 with a .359 slg since a 6 game hot streak ended on 6/5. This after spending the first 2 full months of the season on the DL.
At his current pace, IF he is able to play the rest of the season without a trip to the DL, Quentin will hit for a .232 batting average with 16-17 home runs.
His defense ranks 25th in the league with a .982 fielding percentage and -2 DRS this season and is the worst in MLB since the start of the 2009 season. Even Jesus Guzman has been better in the outfield and that says volumes about Quentin's dearth of skills with the glove.
The question you must ask is what is a player worth that will play 100 games per season and hit .230-.240 with 16-18 home runs while playing horrible defense?
Regardless of Byrnes attempt at justification for signing him, Quentin is not a threat with the bat and he is not protecting the other Padres players in the lineup because:
- #1 he was on the DL the 1st 2 months of the season
- #2 he is not hitting for either average or power in the past month and a half.
Now, I understand that no other MLB team wants to give up good prospects for Quentin and with good reason (those enumerated above and fact that any team trading for him would not get a draft pick if he left in FA), but that is no reason for Byrnes to compound his mistakes by hamstringing the team with Quentin for 3 more seasons.
The sandwich pick the Padres would have received for making Quentin a qualifying offer in arbitration and then watching him walk in free agency is likely worth more and will be MUCH cheaper than 3 seasons of Quentin in a Padres uniform.
If you get the idea I don't like this signing you are right. I didn't like the trade that brought Quentin to the Padres in the first place and this just piles stupid on top of stupid.
The only good that may come of this is that the Padres are showing fans a willingness to hold onto players after years having to trade away good players because of payroll considerations during the Moores' divorce.
It may also mean they will be trading or non-tendering Will Venable, who will be eligible for arbitration for the 2nd time in 2013 and due a raise from his current $1.475 million even though his performance continues to lag far behind his potential. Too much money for a backup outfielder.
I have had my say, now what do you think about the Padres extending Carlos Quentin?


text:
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