http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005 by the authors Wed, 29 Oct 2003 15:32:40 EST http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/10/29/124522.php#comment-25906 yes, and I believe there is a peculiar religion based there as well 25906@blogcritics.org Wed, 29 Oct 2003 15:32:40 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/10/29/124522.php#comment-25900 What it really means is b-s-s-c-am (kind of like getting into Iraq :-) And it seems like Utah in particular "Hatches" a lot of interesting things, like Orrin's <em>"Schwarzenmendment"</em>, and land swaps where the state gets property worth much more than the feds get (from the Casper, Wyoming Star-Tribune 7/25/2003): <blockquote>A land swap pushed by Utah officials would have shortchanged the federal government had concerns from whistleblowers not stopped the deal, the Interior Department's inspector general concluded in a report obtained Wednesday. The report by investigator Jack E. Hawkins found that Interior Department officials negotiated away valuable resources, did not properly appraise land and that the department's chief negotiator ''made efforts to conceal the actual results of the negotiations from department decision-makers and from the United States Congress.'' As a result of the investigation, the Interior Department and Gov. Mike Leavitt agreed to terminate the agreement and Interior Secretary Gale Norton ordered a working group already investigating disparities in other land exchanges to include the Utah deal in its review. The inspector general's report, obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday, also chastised Tom Fulton, the former deputy assistant secretary for Lands and Minerals Management, for providing misleading information to Congress and Interior Department officials about the deal. But Bureau of Land Management appraiser Kent Wilkinson and other BLM whistleblowers told The Associated Press a year ago that the land was not appropriately appraised and if the deal went through it could cost federal taxpayers as much as $116.7 million in valuable mineral revenues. </blockquote> 25900@blogcritics.org Wed, 29 Oct 2003 15:20:00 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/10/29/124522.php#comment-25889 Thanks Hal! I didn't know what the hell that word meant. The administration's record on the environment is pathetic, probably its weakest area, and it doesn't sound like it's going to get better, you're right. 25889@blogcritics.org Wed, 29 Oct 2003 14:51:32 EST