Rivers and whales

So, I guess I do do a post about Schwarzenegger's win and how I've lost all respect for California, not that I had that much respect anyway. I also lost some respect for the Kennedy family, which I at least had more respect for than California. Or I could talk baseball, but there are more highly qualified people than me.

Instead there's this great thing to post about: the ongoing fight over the Potomac River. A fight that has now made it's way to the Supreme Court's docket. The SC is currently hearing oral arguments and hopefully a decision will be reached by July 2004. The evidence that Maryland is using to prove that they are the sole soveriegn over the Potomac River is a 1632 colonial treaty and historical maps from the Census Bureau. Wow. Virginia wants to put an intake pipe on the Potomac, Maryland has been blocking their efforts, they cannot cite any impact that would directly happen to Maryland, but instead, "Maryland officials objected to the intake because they said it would let Virginia exploit the river's water to fuel uncontrolled suburban development of the kind that Maryland itself would not permit." Go Maryland for fighting suburban sprawl not even in your own boundries.

Next, on a more scuba related topic, it seems that Navy sonar gives whales the bends. How is that possible? Well, read the article. While this isn't the bends as it happens in humans, just the thought of dying from the bends is not a pleasant way to go. These animals are driven to beach themselves, they obviously are very affected by sonar, which makes a lot of sense.