About
Captain Ed is a father and grandfather living in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, a native Californian who moved to the North Star State because of the weather. He lives with his wife Marcia, also known as the First Mate, their two dogs, and frequently watch their granddaughter Kayla, whom Captain Ed calls The Little Admiral.
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The Crows Nest
Would Early Primaries Allow More Donations?
Jim Geraghty at The Campaign Spot believes that candidates will benefit if primaries and caucuses get pushed into 2007. A loophole in campaign finance regulation appears to allow an extra $2,300 per donor for candidates if those elections are held this year. Be sure to check out Jim's analysis, and the surprising candidate that may benefit the most.
When Tom Met Jeralyn
One of the interesting aspects of politics is finding out that opponents are people, too. Jeralyn Merritt of TalkLeft met Rep. Tom Tancredo backstage at NBC's studios, and found him more likable than she had anticipated. Perhaps it was their mutual interest in Dog, The Bounty Hunter ...
Joe Lieberman A Right-Wing Nut?
That's what CAIR says, according to Joe Kaufman. He has a link to a CAIR official's blog post that calls Lieberman, along with John Bolton, former CIA director James Woolsey, and the Heritage Foundation's Peter Brookes as "extremists". Affad Shaikh also calls Dick Cheney a "fat bastard of a liar," apparently not meant as a pop-culture reference to the Austin Powers movies. (via Let Freedom Ring)
Broadband Homelessness
The Japanese have made homelessness more efficient, and more Net-friendly, too. Their Internet cafés have become homeless shelters for the struggling manual-labor sector. The problem has grown into such a problem that government intervention will shortly become a political priority.
Found My Law Firm
Power Line links twice to this story regarding an attorney at Faegre & Benson who refused to become a victim and helped capture a very dangerous man. Keith Radtke is a partner in the firm as is Power Line's John Hinderaker. Radtke is listed in satisfactory condition after getting shot in the back, but that didn't keep him from locking up his attacker in a wrestling grip until police could arrive. I don't know about you, but that's the kind of man I'd want as my counsel ....
Don't Click That YouTube E-mail
The latest in spam seems to be redirections from YouTube links in e-mail to IP addresses without domain names. They attempt to entice people by making it seem that they have been inadvertently YouTubed. I'm sure most people can see through this scam, but just in case, you've been warned ....
Rick Moran Escapes The Floods
Rick Moran has kept us up to date on his travails along the Algonquin River. Yesterday, the police showed up to get him evacuated before the river flooded his home -- but today, Rick finds that a minor miracle has taken place, and that his house survives ... at least for now. Keep Rick in your prayers, and keep checking in at Right Wing Nut House for updates.
Rule 1: Drag The Corpse On Over First
If I've learned anything in four years of blogging, don't try to be out in front of the death rumors, especially with the villains of the world. Saddam died a hundred deaths before we caught him alive in his spider hole, and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi almost as many before his demise last year. Osama may or may not be alive, but everyone's avoided speculating on his fate for a while now. Maybe Val at Babalu Blog will get luckier with his "Castro Is Dead" story. We all hope so. I'll wait for the announcement ....
Hobbs Choice
Volunteer Voters is holding its annual "Best of Nashville" on-line polls, and one of the categories is for the best political writer. Our friend Bill Hobbs, now posting at Newsbusters, and he'd like his on-line fans to cast their votes. Drop by and put one in for Bill if you get a chance!
Murtha Getting Backlogged On Apologies
Gary Gross of Let Freedom Ring sees another case collapsing on the Haditha charges. He's called for Murtha to apologize earlier, and adds another reason to the tally.
No Such Thing As 'Moderate' Islam?
Turkish PM Tayyip Erdogan told a television interviewer that he finds the label "moderate Islam" offensive. Shrink Wrapped has a lot more on this, but at least in the same interview Erdogan acknowledged that "radical Islam" exists, and that it's been a catastrophe. Be sure to read the whole post.
MS-NBC Gets Punk'd
Power Line has a great post on a lack of journalistic effort on the part of MS-NBC. In covering the Michael Vick story, they reported on what they thought was Al Sharpton's website proclaiming Vick's innocence. I guess Alex Johnson and two other MS-NBC reporters couldn't bother to read the title bar of the site, which proudly proclaims it as a "parody site".
New Instapundit Podcast On Pharmaceuticals
I just caught this e-mail from Glenn Reynolds about his new podcast with Richard Epstein, the author of Overdose: How Excessive Government Regulation Stifles Pharmaceutical Innovation. Haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, but the topic is important enough to make sure I carve out time for it tomorrow. Get their first and tell me what I'm missing ....
Fed Trying A 'Stealth Easing'?
The Federal Reserve seems to have conducted a quiet campaign to steady markets that started spinning out of control, according to King Banaian at SCSU Scholars. He thinks that the Fed has conducted a "stealth easing". Be sure to read his explanation and follow his lnks.
A Shameless Bit Of Sel-Promotion
Gateway Pundit and Val at Babalu Blog note a crass PR move by Hugo Chavez. Venezuela has responded to Peru's eathquake disaster with food shipments -- and with Hugo's smiling picture on the cans. He also uses the tuna-can label to undermine President Garcia of Peru, who narrowly defeated Chavez' pal Ollanto Humalla, whom the labels extol for his "solidarity" with Chavez.
Tacky beyond belief.
Comments (13)
Posted by Neo | July 31, 2007 5:45 PM
I once worked for a company that was trying to make a high resolution laser printer (>1270 dpi).
I asked my boss why they don't just use finer particle dry toner. His response .. "ever heard of asbestosis ?" Toner particles go in the lungs and, just like asbestos, never come out.
Posted by Billy Hollis | July 31, 2007 6:06 PM
I suspect that printers that use solid ink blocks instead of toner will be beneficiaries of this study. I know the Xerox Phaser printers are examples, but I don't know if there are any others. The solid ink is melted and sprayed on the paper. They look like laser printers and produce very similar output.
I like the solid ink concept, which is why I got one of those printers, but I never thought of the toner particle angle until seeing this post.
Posted by Ray | July 31, 2007 6:18 PM
Cure for the toner problem: Use graphite, it's not a carcinogen. Of course, that means we're back to pencils. BTW, has anyone studied the environmental impact of pencil sharpeners in classrooms?
Question: Is printer toner a carcinogen? If not, don't worry about it unless that toner is hanging in the air like a black cloud.
Posted by Ray | July 31, 2007 7:07 PM
I wonder how long it will take before printer manufactures start promoting their products as: Laser Lite Printers. Half the particulates! Twice the speed!
Posted by Nugai | July 31, 2007 7:15 PM
This is news? Some years ago, I worked for company X, and, on the other side of the partition by my workstation was one of those big industrial-style printers. One day, while clearing up a paper jam, I noticed that said printer actually had a "blast shadow" from where it was constantly spewing toner into the air.
Posted by GarandFan | July 31, 2007 7:24 PM
So every office in Kalifornia will now carry a cancer warning sign? Will printers be outlawed to the parking lot? After all, it's "for the children".
Posted by Steffan | July 31, 2007 9:18 PM
Anybody who has changed the toner in a Minolta copier (big plastic can of loose toner) will see right up front what a problem a fine black plastic powder is going to be. It's every bit as nasty as coal dust.
Fifty years from now, we'll be seeing disability claims for a new kind of black lung disease.
Posted by hunter | July 31, 2007 9:37 PM
If human lungs are as vulnerable as these studies suggest, we should not still be alive as a species.
I have worked around copiers and large printers for many years, and the only time they emit dust is when they are being changed or are broken.
Neither happens very often.
I think this is yet another study like the early ones about SUVs or the climate that are simply thinly veiled attempts to shut down yet more commerce that actuallyhelps people.
Posted by Neo | July 31, 2007 11:24 PM
The key is whether or not the tone can really get airborne. The finer the particles, the more likely it will get airborne.
Posted by George | August 1, 2007 12:08 AM
It's a conspiracy. Con = together. Spira= breathe.
We survived soap box derbies, tree houses, see-saws and rope swings; i suspect we'll weather this.
Posted by Brett | August 1, 2007 6:51 AM
Don't buy the kool-aid about environmental tobacco smoke--it is no more dangerous to bystanders than allowing co-workers with colds in the office. No one's health is being protected by these bans.
The research? The research of politically active scientists cannot be trusted. Period.
Posted by davod | August 1, 2007 10:52 AM
Was the study peer reviewed before publication?
Posted by Ed | August 1, 2007 5:53 PM
the study did not identify the particles so do not assume toner. the study was in an enclosed space i.e. worse case scenario. Dilution is the solution. Too many conclusions before the facts are all in. proceed with caution.