† Advice To A Son Heading Off To War: The abduction of Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl in Afghanistan - the second since 2001 in that country - prompts The Christian Science Monitor to ask, “What has happened to other captured soldiers?”:

‡ Most cases of captured soldiers have not ended well. Incidents in Iraq include:

‡ Staff Sgt. Keith Maupin was captured in April 2004 near Baghdad after his convoy came under attack. A video of Maupin being killed surfaced but it wasn't until March 2008 that his remains were found and identified.

‡ Pfcs. Kristian Menchaca and Thomas Tucker were both captured near Baghdad in June 2006 after their checkpoint was overrun by insurgents. Their bodies were recovered soon after not far from where they were abducted.

‡ Sgt. Alex Jiminez and Pfc. Byron Fouty were declared missing-captured in June 2007 after being taken south of Baghdad during an attack on their patrol from Al Qaeda. Their remains were found and identified in July 2008.

‡ The military famously rescued Pvt. Jessica Lynch in southern Iraq in April 2003 from a hospital room in Nasariyah. Her convoy had been ambushed, and she and several others were captured. They were later rescued.

Unfortunately, The Christian Science Monitor did not fully answer its own question. What the paper left out is what Lt. Col. James Zumwalt, II, USMCR (Ret.) told his son when he got called to duty in Iraq last year:

[W]e are fighting an enemy unequaled in its brutality and barbarity; that no American soldier taken captive by this enemy has returned alive; that once their remains were found, their condition attested to the terrible price these soldiers ultimately paid; that they were victims of sadistic torture, mutilation and decapitation. ... [I]f he is faced with capture by this enemy, surrender is not an option.

For whatever it’s worth, American officials condemned Bergdahl’s kidnapping as a violation of international law.  

† The Right To Bear Arms Belongs To Us All: Part II: Senate Dems narrowly defeated an amendment to the annual defense authorization bill proposed by Sen. John Thune (R-SD) to allow gun owners who "have a valid permit or if, under their state of residence ... are entitled to do so" to carry their weapons across state lines, reports The Washington Post:

In a 58-39 vote, supporters of the looser gun law - including all but two Republicans and almost 20 moderate Democrats - fell two votes short of the 60 they needed to approve the measure. The amendment … showed the bitter divisions among a Democratic caucus that now holds 60 seats, many of whom got to the Senate by winning in conservative states as they proudly supported gun rights. It also divided the party's leadership, as Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), campaigning for re-election in 2010, sided with gun rights supporters. His top lieutenants, Sens. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), led the push against the measure.

In addition to Reid - whose re-election bid depends on voters who strongly support the Second Amendment – these Dems voted in favor of the measure:

Max Baucus (D-MT); Evan Bayh (D-IN); Mark Begich (D-AK); Michael Bennet (D-CO); Bob Casey (D-PA); Kent Conrad (D-ND); Byron Dorgan (D-ND); Russ Feingold (D-WI); Kay Hagan (D-NC); Tim Johnson (D-SD); Mary Landrieu (D-LA) ; Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) ; Ben Nelson (D-NE) ; Mark Pryor (D-AR) ; Jon Tester (D-MT); Mark Udall (D-CO); Tom Udall (D-NM); Mark Warner (D-VA) ; and James Webb (D-VA).

† Obama – Not McCain - Will Be Bush III:  After criticizing President George W. Bush repeatedly exempting the executive branch from being bound by specific provisions in Congressional legislation he signed into law through the use of signing statements – and an explicit promise during the presidential campaign not to do the same (video link) – President Barack Hussein Obama has adopted the practice, reports The Associated Press:

Four senior House Democrats … said they were "surprised" and "chagrined" by Obama's declaration in June that he doesn't have to comply with provisions in a war spending bill that puts conditions on aid provided to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

In a signing statement accompanying the $106 billion bill, Obama said he wouldn't allow the legislation to interfere with his authority as president to conduct foreign policy and negotiate with other governments. Earlier in his 6-month-old administration, Obama issued a signing statement regarding provisions in a $410 billion omnibus spending bill.

"During the previous administration, all of us were critical of (Bush's) assertion that he could pick and choose which aspects of congressional statutes he was required to enforce," the Democrats wrote in their letter to Obama. "We were therefore chagrined to see you appear to express a similar attitude."

The letter was signed by Reps. David Obey of Wisconsin, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and Barney Frank of Massachusetts, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, as well as Reps. Nita Lowey and Gregory Meeks, both of New York, who chair subcommittees on those panels.

The White House counters that Obama's use of signing statements is meant to protect the president's executive powers when there are constitutional concerns about the separation of powers, rather than evading the implementation of legislation.

† Empire State Repubs Rise Again: State Supreme Court Justice William LaMarca of Nassau County issued a preliminary injunction that blocks Gov. David A. Paterson’s (D) appointment of Richard Ravitch as lieutenant governor, on the grounds that “neither the Constitution nor legislative enactment authorized the governor to make the appointment,” reports The New York Times:

Justice LaMarca’s order was the first step in a legal process that is expected to take several months. The governor’s office expects the case to end up before the Court of Appeals, and said late Tuesday that it would begin the appeals process on Wednesday by filing a motion in the state’s Appellate Division asking that the preliminary injunction be lifted. …

Noting that a ruling blocking the action of a sitting governor was extraordinary, Justice LaMarca wrote that he was nevertheless “convinced that this is the rare case in which a preliminary injunction enjoining an act of the governor of the state is appropriate.”

The judge also said that he interpreted the Constitution’s silence on the issue - it does not provide for the appointment of a lieutenant governor in the event of a vacancy - to mean that the office should “remain vacant until such time as a governor is elected.”

† What It’s Like To Live In The Bronx: Just a couple of days back The Stiletto predicted that thanks to Sonia Sotomayor, The New York Times, New York magazine and other supposedly NY-centric publications will start paying more attention to The Bronx. The Times has already proved her right (as for New York, the magazine ought to hire this fellow to find restaurants in the borough to recommend to its readers):

Baron Ambrosia burst through the door of Xochimilco, a bright family-run Mexican restaurant in the South Bronx. He sniffed the air exaggeratedly - was that a cemita de milanesa he smelled? - nodded and stepped in, the silver ornamentation on his vintage mariachi suit glinting in the light.

And ... cut!

The cameraman, Raymond Pagnucco, signaled his approval, and it was on to the next shot, in the restaurant’s tiny kitchen. …

The scenes would end up on “Bronx Flavor,” a gallivanting show about local restaurants that is the closest thing BronxNet, a public-access station, has to a breakout hit.

In each month’s half-hour episode, the Baron gets into some scrape that can only be solved by eating and exploring a different cuisine. Our hero usually gets the girl, and he always gets lunch. Along the way he introduces his audience to an array of mom-and-pop restaurants of every ethnicity, and the dishes that make them stand out.  …

Baron Ambrosia, a self-described “quaffer of culinary consciousness,” is like Anthony Bourdain crossed with Ali G, with more pimped-out accessories. (The Baron’s ride, the Purplesaurus Rex - P-Rex for short - is a replica 1923 Mercedes convertible, painted pink and purple, with a plush lining and a detachable chandelier.) “He doesn’t rest, he only feasts,” goes his theme song, performed by a guy named Opera Steve. “How will he soothe the savage beast? Bronx Flavor!”

† Mama, Don’t Take My Incandescent Bulbs Away: The Washington Times calls energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) “a ticking green time bomb.” Here’s why:

[I]mproper disposal of the mercury-powered bulbs poses an environmental hazard, and the federal government has given little guidance to consumers. The outlets for safe disposal are few and haphazard, and history suggests that compliance will be spotty.

"The problem to the environment comes when millions get disposed of and the cumulative effect becomes problematic. That is when the [Environmental Protection Agency] gets concerned," said Neal Langerman, a former chairman of the American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Health and Safety. "If you have a municipal urban landfill and have a population of 450,000 households disposing of one or two CFLs a year - you do the arithmetic. Put one-half milligram of mercury per bulb, it amounts to a significant loading, and mercury does migrate into groundwater." …

Without organized programs to educate consumers on safe handling and disposal of used or broken bulbs, landfills are likely to become even more polluted, Mr. Langerman told The Washington Times.

"The appropriate thing for us as a nation is not to dispose but have an aggressive take-back program," said Mr. Langerman, who advocates a profit incentive for recycling, a system where "if you go out of your way [to safely dispose or recycle the bulbs] you get some money back. People will do this if made convenient."

The Washington Post offers another example of environmental meddlers creating a worse problem than the one they set out to solve:

Scientists say the chemicals that helped solve the last global environmental crisis - the hole in the ozone layer - are making the current one worse.

The chemicals, called hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), were introduced widely in the 1990s to replace ozone-depleting gases used in air conditioners, refrigerators and insulating foam.

They worked: The earth's protective shield seems to be recovering.

But researchers say what's good for ozone is bad for climate change. In the atmosphere, these replacement chemicals act like "super" greenhouse gases, with a heat-trapping power that can be 4,470 times that of carbon dioxide.

Now, scientists say, the world must find replacements for the replacements - or these super-emissions could cancel out other efforts to stop global warming.

"Whatever targets you thought you were going to make," said David Fahey, a physicist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "it will be undermined by the fact that you have …  additional emissions that you hadn't planned on."

The fate of the Earth hangs in the balance while scientists try to mitigate the damage caused by the poorly thought-out “solutions” to “crises” they keep trying to avert.

† Updates To Previous Posts (second item, The Bailout Needs A Bailout): The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform gave the Treasury Department “a bipartisan beating,” reports The Washington Post:

"The taxpayers now have a $700 billion spending program that's being run under the philosophy of 'don't ask, don't tell,' " Rep. Edolphus Towns, (D-N.Y.) said during a hearing on the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) went as far as to compare the Treasury's refusal to provide regular updates on how TARP money is being spent to the way convicted Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernard L. Madoff misled his clients. …

The antipathy during Tuesday's hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform was provoked by a report issued earlier this week by Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for TARP, in which he repeated calls for the Treasury to require regular, more detailed information from banks about their use of bailout funds.

 † Updates To Previous Posts (fourth item, Fed Up With Farmers): While the proposed “American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009,” which requires farmers to limit greenhouse gases, will result in higher fuel costs, a new Agriculture Department study finds a huge overall net gain to farm income, reports The Associated Press:

[T]he projected 1 to 7.2 percent loss in income is far outweighed by the tens of billions of dollars farmers are expected to rake in for projects to reduce greenhouse gases.

The Agriculture Department's analysis estimates that farmers capturing methane gas from manure ponds, planting trees, or practicing no-till agriculture - which keeps heat-trapping gases in the soil - could earn $75 to $100 million a year starting in 2012, and as much as $15-20 billion come 2040.

That's because farmers could sell the reductions they make in greenhouse gases to energy and manufacturing companies forced to reduce emissions under the legislation.

"Our analysis demonstrates that the economic opportunities for farmers and ranchers can potentially outpace - perhaps significantly - the costs from climate legislation," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in prepared testimony that will be delivered to the Senate agriculture committee Wednesday afternoon.

† Updates To Previous Posts (last item, Dan-o Lawsuit Bizzaro): Dan Rather’s on-again, off-again lawsuit against former employer CBS is on again, reports The New York Times:

Dan Rather won significant victories Tuesday in his suit against his former network, CBS. He won access to more than 3,000 documents that his lawyer said were expected to reveal evidence that CBS had tried to influence the outcome of a panel that investigated his much-debated “60 Minutes” report about former President George W. Bush’s military record.

Mr. Rather also won an appeal to restore a fraud charge against CBS that had been dismissed. Martin Gold, the lawyer representing the former anchor of the “CBS Evening News,” called it “a very successful day for us; we got everything.”

Mr. Rather called it a “good day” for his side and - referring to the name for the CBS headquarters - “a bad day for Black Rock.”

Jim Quinn, the lawyer representing CBS, called it “a minor skirmish in a long battle” and predicted that the fraud charge would be dismissed again because “it’s frivolous.”

He added of Mr. Rather’s day in court, “Was it favorable for him? Yes. Was it meaningful? No.”