I've been there and seen it in the median. This thing was not even knee high at its highest point and would probably fit in the back of a Japanese pickup truck, root ball included. And yes, that does not justify the expense. So what? These head cases could have spent a quarter of a million on a single dandelion and still thought they were doing the world a big favor. In other words, perspective is exactly the the thing that is missing here (or should I say "there" - I may live in California, but I refuse to be in San Francisco overnight!)

The USA has California to laugh at and groan about, and California in turn has San Francisco. "Nuff said!

A very insightful article. I am in nearly lockstep agreement with nearly everything Mr. Gingrich claims to stand for, but am absolutely appalled by so many of the major things he has actually done. Gingrich scares me more than President Obama in a number of ways. While Gingrich might set out to do a number of things I believe in, I fear he would trample any underlying value system (including his own) that stood in the way of success. He could turn out to be a good president if elected and would certainly have a good shot at being effective, but he could also turn out to be another Richard Nixon at a time when we desperately need another Ronald Reagan.

I've known a number of engineers who suffered the same fate as the one mentioned in the NYT article. One never found a steady job again I sympathize deeply, but in each case, drugs or alcohol was involved. The smell of booze on the breath tends to put me off during an interview.

What most of the posters here fail to take into account (and apparently Feulner also) is that the vulnerability of a device or a system has at least as much to do with how much energy it absorbs from an EMP event as it does with the sensitivity of the device itself. The power grid is especially vulnerable to an EMP event (and lightening and solar storms, etc) not because the parts in it are delicate, but because the grid itself acts as an antenna that covers ten million square miles. Your battery powered devices (including the electronic ignitions on your cars) are not especially vulnerable, and most appliances and devices plugged into the power grid suffer no damage from solar storms, including some truly massive events.

Doug. I find your comments about me in the third to last paragraph quite galling. Point well made! Now off the computer and out to spend some time with my granddaughter.

Because it takes a long time for long term effects to become apparent. Then it takes a while to gather the data. Then organizing, reducing and interpreting the data takes a while. And so on and so on. Don't make the same intellectual mistakes as the knee-jerk tree-huggers. Be patient and wait for the facts to become apparent and to speak for themselves.

Limit spending to "only" 20% of the GDP? and this 20% doubtless excludes state and local spending. Mr Blackwell would seem to be one of those whom the Tea Party would accuse of "not getting it" even as he poses as a voice of conservative restraint. 20%? How about 10% including state and local spending except in time of war? (of course that might be a bad exception because it would encourage our leaders to keep us in a state of perpetual war.) Better yet, let's just keep throwing the bums out until we find some bums who do get it and exercise restraint as their normal mode of operation? Prediction: the Republicans (including some who were Tea Party darlings) vote to increase the debt ceiling by a suitably generous amount in return for a...

While agree basically agree with Mr Williams and think his use of the phrase "race to the bottom" is perfect, I wish him luck finding a second bag of pretzels in that refugee camp.

So in other words, confiscate any successful family business upon the death of the founder! Most breakthrough innovation in the business world (especially in business methods) comes from small privately held companies (i.e. owned by an individual or a tight group on individuals such as a family) that have surpassed a certain size which tends to be anywhere from a few tens of millions up to a couple hundred million in book value. So if we implement this plan and break them up upon the death of the founder and disperse the pieces to various governments that don't have a clue as to what they are or how to run them and leave the intended heirs (probably chosen for their skills and desires to run the business to a higher level of success)...