Politics | U.S. urged to boost presence in Arctic

Bush administration officials have emphasized in recent years that the government lacks the necessary equipment and infrastructure to maintain a more consistent presence in the Arctic. Last summer, the U.S. Coast Guard conducted a series of test deployments of aircraft, small boats and personnel to the North Slope of Alaska, and navigation aids and communications equipment in the Bering Strait, to explore their ability to operate in the harsh Arctic climate.

The service had earlier found that its equipment, such as C-130 aircraft, had difficulty navigating and communicating in minus-40-degree temperatures.

More broadly, lawmakers have complained of a shortage of working icebreakers — a legacy of a turf fight between the Coast Guard, which operates them, and the National Science Foundation, which pays to maintain them.

Obama's limousine -- a Prius it is not

There are limos and there are limos and then there is the presidential limo (I should make that Presidential). This is the one that will carry the new president and, believe me, it is not like other limos.

Known in the Secret Service as "The Beast," the customized Cadillac limousine is thought to be built on General Motors' hefty 2500-series truck chassis. The Secret Service, of course, does not give you a spec sheet or much other information on The Beast, other than to say a new one is being put in service for Barack Obama.

There are some glimmers of information, however, in a New York Times piece by Gregg D. Merksamer, who says he has spent 30 years studying and writing about presidential cars, part of a class called "professional cars," which also includes hearses and ambulances. Suffice to say that the limo is essentially a gussied-up and lavishly comfortable armored personnel carrier with, it is rumored, five-inch-thick windows and armor plating throughout.

New York - Live from D.C.: Inaugural Ball Fatigue - Runnin' Scared - Village Voice

The sad, obvious truth is: inaugural balls are hype. Each one is exactly like the next.

Last night we snuck in to the much-hyped up Green Ball, where we watched Al Gore introduce "a woman he loves" (Melissa Etheridge, who gave a soulful performance) and Will-i-am from the Black Eyed Peas. Who cares that the banquet hall -- held at the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Museum -- was lit up with solar-powered lighting? Do you really want to party with people who could afford $600 a ticket? No offense to the wealthy, but when the music is good, you wish that at least one person would be courageous enough to dance.


Was it really lit up with solar power?