Farewell Prince of Opera, your voice is forever stilled.

Her recent post, Sorry Charlie: Bluefin Tuna Ready to Become Dodos of the Sea highlights just one of the many threats facing our food supply. Using data gathered by a professional tuna grader, the decline in the quality of the tuna catch over the last decade is clearly shown. The obvious implication is that overfishing is the primary culprit, but the researchers also point to other factors, such as a possible decline in the quality of the herring that tuna feed upon.

In the long term, until we become more aware of just how perilous the situation is, and we start pressuring our lawmakers to protect the long-term interests of the human race as opposed to the immediate profits of industries, we’re likely going to be seeing more of this kind of story come out.

Life and Hearts is in session. Are you ready to Hunt the Bitch?

If anything I’m just going to unlock the box and let you, the reader, consider them as interrelated, all part of a picture of consumption that could doom us all.

What started this was a bit of a read at Rough Type about the energy costs associated with running the Avatars for the game Second Life.

…If there are on average between 10,000 and 15,000 avatars “living” in Second Life at any point, that means the world has a population of about 12,500. Supporting those 12,500 avatars requires 4,000 servers as well as the 12,500 PCs the avatars’ physical alter egos are using. Conservatively, a PC consumes 120 watts and a server consumes 200 watts. Throw in another 50 watts per server for data-center air conditioning. So, on a daily basis, overall Second Life power consumption equals:

(4,000 x 250 x 24) + (12,500 x 120 x 24) = 60,000,000 watt-hours or 60,000 kilowatt-hours

Per capita, that’s:

60,000 / 12,500 = 4.8 kWh

Which, annualized, gives us 1,752 kWh. So an avatar consumes 1,752 kWh per year. By comparison, the average human, on a worldwide basis, consumes 2,436 kWh per year. So there you have it: an avatar consumes a bit less energy than a real person, though they’re in the same ballpark.
…Posted by nick at December 5, 2006 07:58 AM

A bit further down someone comments on the real commerce that occurs as a part of the game, and somewhere along the line they brought in the rate of urbanization of the population of China.

…Finally, if you are really going to do this calculation, you should really be comparing it to what you can do in SL, which is a lot more than avatars just running around. Anywhere SL goes you have markets — to the tune of US$3.5 million a month exchanged for US$ — as well as education, jobs, etc. Think about China, for example. 1% of China is urbanizing a year, so that’s 13 million people a year moving into the equivalent of 2 new New York Cities a year, seeking jobs, education, and opportunties. If you could instead take broadband, power, and computers to the rural areas — carrying SL and markets with them — how much power would you save? Or, if doing business collaboration in SL allows you to save 5% of your travel budget, how much energy do you save in giving up 1 flight in 20? The full carbon picture is where the interesting questions are. How do virtual worlds allow you to dodge traditional geographic limitations?
Posted by: Cory Ondrejka

Ahhh… now the picture comes into focus. The megatons of cement produced/used in China (see my “Concrete Gorge Article”) that were not accounted for as a result of the Three Gorges Dam, are going in to building the equivalent of a city, per year, capable of housing some 13 million people.

From China Daily an even grimmer picture emerges

To accommodate this new urban population, the country needs a huge amount of resources, currently accounting for 40 per cent of the world’s total annual cement consumption and 30 per cent of the annual steel consumption.

In addition, current construction projects account for around 30 per cent of the global total, said the vice-minister. He estimated that it would be another 30 years before the initial phase of China’s urbanization is completed.

Over the next thirty years, the urban population of China is expected to double, with associated costs of living urban lifestyles. How will a world rapidly straining its limits in terms of natural resources, be able to afford continued growth rates such as these?

And from a moral, and more pragmatic position, how are we in the western world going to be able to tell the Chinese “No, you can’t come to the game table and play with us.”

Even if it kills us all.

Life and Hearts is in session. Are you ready to “Hunt the bitch?”

This seems to be the case with the Jeff Buckley cover version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” – another television show will be featuring that this Thanksgiving evening, a ‘special episode’ of the long running television series “ER.”

As well as “ER,” Jeff Buckley’s version has appeared in  ”Criminal Minds,” “House M.D.”, “The OC,” “Without a Trace” and too many other shows to count.

There is something in this song which must be reaching out to people, whether they are those executives who think they make the programming decisions, or those common people who somehow manage to get their voices heard by the ‘decision makers’

Either way, the song is gaining traction, and I suspect that it will be some time before this particular wave crests. My sense is that the swell is still building. Underneath that is a hunger for something, maybe a faith that transcends the troubled times we live in, maybe just a voice of hope.

Maybe this verse from Leonard Cohen’s version says it well: 

There’s a blaze of light
In every word
It doesn’t matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah

Life and Hearts is in session. Are you ready to Hunt the Bitch?

From the NASA announcement

Allard Beutel/Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-4769/1726

Dewayne Washington/Susan Hendrix
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-0040/7745

James Hartsfield/Kyle Herring
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
RELEASE: 06-343

NASA Approves Mission and Names Crew for Return to Hubble

Shuttle astronauts will make one final house call to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope as part of a mission to extend and improve the observatory’s capabilities through 2013.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin announced plans for a fifth servicing mission to Hubble Tuesday during a meeting with agency employees at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Goddard is the agency center responsible for managing Hubble.

“We have conducted a detailed analysis of the performance and procedures necessary to carry out a successful Hubble repair mission over the course of the last three shuttle missions. What we have learned has convinced us that we are able to conduct a safe and effective servicing mission to Hubble,” Griffin said. “While there is an inherent risk in all spaceflight activities, the desire to preserve a truly international asset like the Hubble Space Telescope makes doing this mission the right course of action.”

The flight is tentatively targeted for launch during the spring to fall of 2008. Mission planners are working to determine the best location and vehicle in the manifest to support the needs of Hubble while minimizing impact to International Space Station assembly. The planners are investigating the best way to support a launch on need mission for the Hubble flight. The present option will keep Launch Pad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla., available for such a rescue flight should it be necessary.

This is not to say that this is a done deal. 18 months is a long time, and many things can change. But it is an encouraging sign of progress nonetheless. It is up to us to keep the pressure on NASA and on the rest of our government if we believe that our future includes a space program.

For those of you who wonder if this is all worth it, consider the following. The growth of the computer industry is almost entirely a product of the needs of the space program during the 60′s. New technologies were invented, basic research lead to discoveries in physics that in turn lead to discoveries in materials and processes. Unless you are reading this using an abacus, the computer you use, and probably almost everything within arms reach, is a product of the space program.

Go through your house. Look in your medicine cabinet. On the way to the store, look at the controls of your car, the lights at the intersections, the technology that surrounds us at every turn.

These are all products of the last forty-five years of progress. On May 25, 1961 President John F. Kennedy addressed Congress, the Nation, and the world. Towards the end of this speech, he outlined what he thought was an achievable goal.

First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. We propose to accelerate the development of the appropriate lunar space craft. We propose to develop alternate liquid and solid fuel boosters, much larger than any now being developed, until certain which is superior. We propose additional funds for other engine development and for unmanned explorations–explorations which are particularly important for one purpose which this nation will never overlook: the survival of the man who first makes this daring flight. But in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon–if we make this judgment affirmatively, it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there.

Sadly, he didn’t live long enough to see this goal achieved in 1969. But the direction we took back then is still the right direction for us to take today. It won’t solve all of our problems, and in fact will lead to new unexpected problems. Maybe I’ll finish with a quote from the into to episode 1 of season 1 of the TV series “Babylon 5″, one which explains why we need to be looking outwards into space.

It can be a dangerous place, but it’s our last, best hope for peace.

Life and Hearts is in session. Are you ready to “Hunt the bitch?”

Unfortunately, the Hubble Space Telescope is in dire need of repairs and maintenance. The Space Shuttle project, beset by the aftermath of the Challenger and Columbia diseasters, is really the only platform that might be available for the missions needed to make the necessary repairs. Efforts are being made in Congress, and in the scientific community, but there are always competing budgetary issues. Many of them are devoted to developing more cost-efficient ways to kill our fellow man, not all that many are given to ways to save our fellow man. And precious few are devoted to just understanding the rules that govern our universe without little hope for immediate gain.

When or if you wonder about what the Hubble is worth, play this amazing short video (Hubblesite.org) of an exploding star some 20,000 light years away and consider. Never in the history of man, have we been able to watch events like this, in this detail that unfold over the four year period of time given. If we lose the Hubble, we might never make a video like this again. It is not only beautiful, but it also helps to explain the nature of the universe that we live in.

The looming oil crisis might be upon us in five years, it might be upon us in fifty years, but it is coming. And only by having a vision of what we might accomplish, will we be able to make the decisions necessary to accomplish keep our priorities straight when our easy sources of energy dwindle.

Life and Hearts is in session. Are you ready to “Hunt the Bitch?”

From the International Herald Tribune

WASHINGTON The parasitic dodder plant does not have a nose, but it knows how to sniff out its prey.

The dodder attacks such plants as tomatoes, carrots, onions, citrus trees, cranberries, alfalfa and even flowers, and is a problem for farmers because chemicals that kill the pesky weed also damage the crops it feeds on.

The rest of the article concerns itself about the basics of the mechanisms that the dodder plant uses to locate tomato hosts. All very interesting. And I am truly not being sarcastic.

But, what is more interesting is that we have another clue to something that literally steals food from our tables. When a dodder plant successfully infects a tomato plant, it’s production is severely reduced. Estimates of dodder plant infestation of tomato crops is that the reduction in yield may be up to 75%.

Elsewhere, estimates of the effects of parasitism on the food chain vary wildly, but viral parasites in the oceans may account for half of the energy economy of the ocean. By ‘eating’ photosynthetic bacteria, they remove them from the useful food chain that everything from the tiny shrimp that are commonly called krill, on up to the largest animals such as the whales, rely on.

Parasites have been acknowledged for many years, some of the oldest medical literature known deals with solutions to parasitic diseases. Kosher dietary laws may have been formulate with the common trichinosis parasite in mind. But it wasn’t until very recently that we began to understand them, and appreciate their significance in our lives.

I’ll leave you with this parting thought. That anonymous dust that you vacuum off the floors on a regular basis? Individuals from a family of common mites (arthropods, similar to spiders) called Dermatophagoides lives everywhere in our homes, from our bedclothes to the nooks and crannies of our rooms. Literally hundreds of thousands of them can be found everywhere you look. They feed on and reduce the skin flecks that you shed on a regular basis to the dust that you see. As you breath that dust, you breath the mites in. About 30% of us will give positive skin reactions to them, indicating that they have at some point in time excited our immune system. We were infected.

Sleep well. You’ve got lots of company

Life and Hearts is in session. Are you ready to “Hunt the bitch?”

For those of you who might not know what Dark Matter is, this excerpt from Wikipedia sums it up fairly well “…dark matter refers to matter that does not emit or reflect enough electromagnetic radiation (such as light, x-rays and so on) to be detected directly, but whose presence may be inferred from its gravitational effects on visible matter.”

Estimates are that CDM constitutes about 22% of the mass of the universe. A massive 4% is normal everyday matter, and the rest (72%) is really weird stuff, Dark Energy. Dark Matter and Dark Energy are both experimentally deduced from mathematical models that take into account estimates of the mass of the ‘known universe’ and the deviations between the predicted and observed models.

From A Stunning Demonstration of Why Good Science Needs Good Math

They used a combination of optical and X-ray telescope to produce maps of the gravitational fields of the clusters. This was done by computing the gravitational lensing effect distorting the images of other, more distant galaxies visible behind the collided clusters. By carefully computing the distortion caused by gravitational lensing, they were able to determine the distribution of mass in the collided clusters. And what they found was the bulk of the mass was not in the light matter. It was in the places that the center of gravities of the clusters would have been without the shock-wave effects of the collision. So the bulk of the mass of these two clusters do not appear on our telescope images; but it behaves exactly as the math predicts it would if it were dark matter.

The prediction and the result are both based on very careful computations based on the mathematical predictions of gravity and relativity. They were able to predict precisely what they would expect from the interaction using a mathematical model of the how the gas clouds would interact to be swept away; and how the dark matter would interact gravitationally to predict where the dark matter masses should be. Then they were able, via a separate computation to determine how much mass was in what location based on gravitational lensing. And finally, they were able to compare the two separately computed results to see if the reality matched the prediction.

Now that is both good math and good science! And the science could not have been done without the math.

While my math didn’t cover much about cosmology, I do use it on a regular basis. Everything from figuring out how many ounces of flour to add to a recipe that is three times what is in the book, to trying to determine what the failure rate is for a given industrial process, graphed as a function of time-in-que.

Give your children a chance, make sure that they get the opportunity to immerse themselves in math. While I don’t believe that everyone has the capacity to do work at this level, I do believe that they can be shown why those who use good math in the process of understanding a problem, often have a better chance of arriving at a correct solution.

Life and Hearts is in session. Are you ready to “Hunt the bitch?”

Entomologist Dr. Charles Ray at the Alabama Cooperative Extension System in Auburn said he’s aware of about 16 of what he described as “super-sized” nests in south Alabama.
Ray said he’s seen 10 of them and cautioned people about going near them because of the yellow jacket’s painful sting.
The largest nest Ray has inspected this year filled the interior of a weathered 1955 Chevrolet parked in a rural Elmore County barn. That nest was about the size of a tire in the rear floor seven weeks ago, but quickly spread to fill the entire vehicle, the property owner, Harry Coker, said. Four satellite nests around it have gotten into the eaves of the barn, about 300 yards from his home.

I wonder if this is but a foretaste of what is to come.

My college education dealt largely with digging into the background of what controls populations, and when I saw this article I was immediately struck with several theories, almost all of them not good. Global Warming is a possibility, one not high on my list; but I did start thinking about why insects, and wasps in particular, nest.

A brief search brought me to some papers by someone whose work I was familiar with, an Associate Professor in the Animal Behavior program at the University of Washington, Sean O’Donnel PhD. From two of his papers we can see a possible reason develop.

The nest as fortress: defensive behavior of Polybia emaciata, a mud-nesting eusocial wasp.

Predation on swarm-founding wasp nests by bats (Jeanne, 1970a), birds (Skutch, 1971; Windsor, 1976), and primates (Vecht, 1967) has been documented. Vertebrate predation can be a major source of epiponine colony mortality. We hypothesize that the unusual defensive response of P. emaciata is a behavioral adaptation to its use of mud in nest construction, which may make the nest more resistant than paper to entry by vertebrate predators. It appears that the wasps initially rely on the nest itself, rather than on exit and attack behavior, to thwart vertebrate predators. We suggest that this represents a special type of architectural defense (Hermann and Blum, 1981), where the defensive behavior of a species has been modified to exploit the properties of its nest material. However, P. emaciata nests are not impregnable. Skutch (1959) observed a red throated caracara (Daptrius americanus) removing combs from a P. emaciata nest and feeding on the brood in Costa Rica. Our subject nests often responded with attack behavior after extended disturbances, suggesting that attack can be effective for this species. When attack did come it was sudden and massive, suggesting that it was coordinated by an alarm pheromone, as has been demonstrated for P. occidentalis (Jeanne, 1981). Although army ants are among swarm-founding wasps’ most frequent predators in wet tropical habitats, preliminary tests on the reaction to Eciton army ants did not suggest that P. emaciata ’s mud nest is effective in resisting these predators (Chadab, 1979; S.O’D. personal observation).
The use of mud as a nesting material may have evolved in response to predation pressure, particularly by vertebrate enemies. Similar advantages against hornet (Vespa) predation may have favored the evolution of mud construction in hover wasps of the genus Liostenogaster (Hansell 1984; Turillazzi 1991). However, mud construction appears to provide other benefits. Our observations suggest that P. emaciata mud nests damage, than similarly sized paper nests. Schremmer (1984) analyzed the water repellent properties of P. emaciata nest material. Even if increases in general durability were the original selective advantage driving the evolution of mud construction, the workers’ defensive behavior has apparently been secondarily modified.

Clearly, from this article, the choice of construction material, as well as possibly the size of the nest, are both influenced by predation.

Another paper by Professor O’Donnel, Correlated evolution of colony defence and socialstructure: A comparative analysis in eusocial wasp (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), talks about increasing size, as well as advantages to having multiple queens in a single nest.

Animal societies depend on effective defence of group resources. Defensive mechanisms can be costly and may constrain the evolution of social structure. We analysed how exocrine mechanisms of colony defence were affected by the evolution of social complexity and of nest architecture in paper wasps (Vespidae). Eusocial paper wasp species exhibit two discrete grades of eusociality, with new colonies founded either by queens or by coordinated swarms of queens and workers. Swarm-founding shows multiple evolutionary origins from independent-founding ancestors within the Vespidae. Nest architecture also varies among paper wasps. Nests with covering envelopes evolved from naked combs several times. We hypothesized that: (1) evolutionary transitions from independent- to swarm-founding would obviate the need for chemical defence against ants and (2) transitions from naked combs to enveloped nests would have a similar effect on chemical defence. In support of the first hypothesis, we found that all independent-founding species possess ant-repellent glands (Van der Vecht’s gland), while many swarm-founders do not. Furthermore, phylogenetic analysis suggested that evolutionary loss of this gland was statistically more likely to follow transitions to swarm-founding. Evolution of nest envelopes was less strongly associated with losses of the ant repellent gland. These patterns suggest that maintenance of defensive exocrine glands is costly. The patterns also suggest that group behavioural defence against ants is a key adaptive feature associated with the evolution of swarm-founding. The hypothesis that the evolution of nest envelopes obviated chemical defence against ants was not as well supported.

INTRODUCTION
Living in social groups imposes a number of costs on members (Alexander, 1974). For example, many animal societies accumulate resources (brood and food stores) that attractconspecific and heterospecific natural enemies. These resources must be defended, and defence incurs some cost to the society. Recent theory suggests that defensive adaptations correspond to evolutionary transitions among different social systems (Starr, 1985; Costa and Pierce, 1997; Crespi and Choe, 1997; Wolff and Peterson, 1998; Hunt, 1999). Comparative analyses can provide empirical tests for correlated evolution of defence and social systems. We performed a test for correlated evolution of social structure and defence in paper wasps (Vespidae) that exhibit different grades of eusociality. Our aim was to quantify the relationships of evolutionary transitions in mode of colony foundation and in nest architecture with the evolution of exocrine defensive mechanisms.

While not exactly on point, the general theme of the article is that the wasps exhibit adaptive social behavior in response to the level of predation that they encounter. A given species, in an environment where predation is low, will opt for smaller colonies with a single queen. However, if the pressure rises, it becomes more advantageous to the species, if the size of the colonies increases, and a dozen or more queens be used to breed in the colony.

What this all may mean, <emphasis on “may“> is that wasp populations in that region have discovered a new enemy or predator. If that predator is another population of insects, or just some unseasonable weather, expect this behavior to fade away next year, and the nest sizes reduced to more normal. However, mankind tends to make changes that are slow to develop, and even slower to abate. If we are the cause, we might expect this behavior to become more common, and the reports of massive attacks of wasps to rise accordingly.

Who knows what other treats nature has in store for us?

Life and Hearts is in session. Are you ready to “Hunt the bitch?”

B-52 Crash Video (launches in external site)

The video is of a B-52 H Model that crashed on June 24, 1994 at Fairchild AFB, near Spokane Washington. Part of the reason this video sticks with me is that I flew aboard that particular aircraft, about 20 years before the accident.

From 1972 thru 1976, I was a “B-52 Defensive Fire Control Technician”, a fancy term for a Tail-Gunner. That plane (identified by tail-number) was one of the ‘birds’ that flew out of the base I was stationed at for a while. Obviously, part of my interest in the video is purely selfish. I’m glad as hell I wasn’t aboard that bird when it spun into the ground, killing all aboard. However, when I first came across the video a few years back, I did a little research, trying to get some background on that particular accident. In my search, I came across an article written by Air Force Major Tony Kern, “Darker Shades of Blue – A Case Study of Failed Leadership” a paper that is used by some study groups of “Human Factors” or “Crew Resouce Management” – sort of the explaining who Murphy is in “Murphy’s Law”.

The study is useful outside of the limited scope of those courses, when you start to realize that the conclusions are applicable at every level of leadership. They are also applicable to those who follow. On board that aircraft were three other people, all who chose to follow a reckless pilot as he flew a course that would take them to their graves.

Prologue

“What’s the deal with this guy?” Captain Bill Kramer asked, indicating a car conspicuously parked in the center of the red-curbed “No Parking” zone adjacent to the wing headquarters building. It was a short walk from the HQ building, commonly referred to as The White House, to the parking lot where they had left their own vehicles while attending the briefing on the upcoming airshow. As they passed the illegally-parked car and then the various “reserved” spaces for the wing and operations group commanders, Lt Col Winslow turned to Captain Kramer, and replied, “That’s Bud’s car. He always parks there.” After a few more steps the Captain inquired, “How does he get away with that?” The Lieutenant Colonel reflected for a moment and responded, “I don’t know–he just does.” 1

It is almost impossible for me to see that, and not apply it in everyday life. It is almost equally impossible for me to see that, and not apply the lessons when I look at the current political arena.

This certainly goes a long way towards explaining the ‘success’ of George W. Bush as President, as well as explaining the success of many of his advisors; while giving room to explain the total failure of the administration that results.

The Followers

Because most of the 325th BMS personnel were standing at attention in ranks for the Change of Command ceremony, they did not personally see the violations as they occurred. Most had to rely on descriptions from family and friends. The followers were acutely aware, however, that the senior staff had a ringside seat, and therefore may not have felt the need to report or complain about a situation that their leaders had witnessed directly.

The Leaders

This time the leadership was forced to take action. The ADO (Col Capotosti) went to the DO (Col Julich) and remarked “We can’t have that, we can’t tolerate things like that, we need to take action for two reasons–it’s unsafe and we have a perception problem with the young aircrews.” 22 Evidence indicates that Lt Col Holland may have been debriefed and possibly verbally reprimanded by either (or both) the DO and wing commander. However, Lt Col Harper, the outgoing Bomb Squadron commander stated, “No overt punishment that I know of, ever occurred from that (the Change of Command flyover).” 23

Analysis

Failures in oversight, an ineffective command climate, and a lack of continuity between words and disciplinary actions earmarked the leadership response to this situation. As in the previous situation, the flyover plan was developed, briefed, and executed without intervention. The flyover for a change of command required approval by the USAF Vice Chief of Staff. 24 No such approval was requested or granted. Although the senior staff was spurred to action by the magnitude of the violations, the response appeared to be little more than a slap on the wrist, a point certainly not missed by other flyers in the wing.

We all ‘know’ what has happened in the last six years, yet very few of us were actually able to ‘witness’ the events that have transpired. Our leadership failed us when they allowed the events to happen, often unremarked by them, and now we must pay the price.

I, for one, am angry as hell. Bush is who he is, but what about the failure of the rest? Most importantly, I’m angry at all of ‘us’, the followers. For without our complicity, these people wouldn’t have been able to pull this off.

At its most acute, it is the willingness to throw away our freedoms because we are afraid of the world. For the most part, it has been our apathy, because we are so tired of the constant parade of criminal behavior that this administration has so far been able to get away with that we no longer can register surprise when they start a new campaign of criminality. At its best, it has been the few small voices that have continued to cry in the wilderness, saying that this is not right.

Maybe Helen Thomas has it right, she was interviewed by Wolf Blitzer after a White House media event featuring George Bush dodging Helen’s blunt questions. From Mz Kleen over at DailyKos

BLITZER: And you asked him a tough question. Did you accept his answer? Namely, that he didn’t come into the presidency believing he was going to go to war against Saddam Hussein, but after 9/11 his world view changed?

THOMAS: It doesn’t — it doesn’t parse. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, it certainly had — was secular, it was not tied to al Qaeda.
I think he wanted to go into Iraq because he had all the neo- conservatives advising at the top of their agenda for Project for a New American Century. First Iraq, then Iran — then Syria, then Iran, and so forth.

BLITZER: So you believe even before 9/11, he was about — he wanted to take out Saddam Hussein? THOMAS: Oh, I think this is very clear. You couldn’t sit in that press room day after day. Every time — every time it was mentioned by Ari Fleischer or Scott, they would say in one breath, 9/11, Saddam Hussein, 9/11, Saddam Hussein.

I don’t — I don’t blame the American public for thinking there was a tie.

BLITZER: So you don’t accept his answer today? You think, what, he was still spinning? Is that what you’re suggesting?

THOMAS: It wasn’t that. I think maybe in his own mind he didn’t, but I think that everybody knows, everybody who was in the know, knows that Iraq was on target, it was on the radar screen from the moment he came into office. The Treasury secretary says it, people in CIA say it, and so forth .

Nothing would deter him. It was a very big goal.

Nothing deterred him. What is deterring us?

Life and Hearts is in session. Are you ready to “Hunt the bitch?”