Tuesdays that seem like Mondays

Well, da grrlz got back safe and sound, around 2 am I think M said. They had a wonderful time, it sounds like, seeing lots of stars and planets at the Kitt Peak Observatory, learning about the flora and fauna at the Desert Museum, and generally eating well, swimming, relaxing, hot-tubbing, and finding nifty jewelry.

I got a boatload of groceries last night and clipped the cats' claws (the downstairs ones, anyway), then had one of the delicious CPK pizzas for dinner with a couple of bottles of Red Hook nut brown ale and stayed up way too late watching episodes of The Vice, Soul Food, and Red Cap. Achy and creaky this morning, I took a short bath after I finished my shower. Phineas came and sat on the edge of the tub and did nose-rubbys with me, dangled his tail in the water, and (when I got out and started draining the tub, jumped into the (cat's) ankle-deep water and luxuriated in the warm foot-bath. This cat is weird :-)

revolting

Censorship, this time of children's programming.

who needs clean water when there are campaign contributions at stake?

from AP via Salon.com

The Bush administration quietly shelved a proposal to ban a gasoline additive that contaminates drinking water in many communities, helping an industry that has donated more than $1 million to Republicans.
...
The Associated Press obtained a draft of the proposed regulation that former President Clinton's EPA sent to the White House on its last full day in office in January 2001.

It said: "The use of MTBE as an additive in gasoline presents an unreasonable risk to the environment."

The EPA document went on to say that "low levels of MTBE can render drinking water supplies unpotable due to its offensive taste and odor," and the additive should be phased out over four years.

"Unlike other components of gasoline, MTBE dissolves and spreads readily in the ground water ... resists biodegradation and is more difficult and costly to remove."
...
Three MTBE producers account for half the additive's daily output.

The three contributed $338,000 to George W. Bush's presidential campaign, the Republican Party and Republican congressional candidates in 1999 and 2000, twice what they gave Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Since then, the three producers have given just over $1 million to Republicans.

The producers are Texas-based Lyondell Chemical and Valero Energy and the Huntsman companies of Salt Lake City.

MTBE doesn't just taste bad, BTW...

EPA's Office of Water has concluded that available data are not adequate to estimate potential health risks of MTBE at low exposure levels in drinking water but that the data support the conclusion that MTBE is a potential human carcinogen at high doses.

from the EPA