West Virginia

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) released their third annual state energy efficiency scorecard yesterday and the most energy efficient state was, no surprise, California, while Wyoming was ranked dead last.

David Runciman reviews Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett's The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better in the LRB:

Even during tight budgetary times, a growing handful of state governors are proving too wary to accept laptop computers that have shown up at their offices this month, unsolicited.

Officials in West Virginia, Vermont, Wyoming and Washington state have reported receiving between three and five laptops, each over the course of two separate deliveries -- but none had ordered any of them.

"They immediately raised a red flag," said Matt Turner, spokesman for West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin. "No one said, 'Hey, we got a free gift.'"

A little over two months ago, President Barack Obama appointed Melissa Hathaway as the acting senior director for cyberspace for the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council. Her primary task, the president said, was a two-month review of the nation's cybersecurity readiness and to propose improvements.

Douglas Henry Daniels, One O’clock Jump: The Unforgettable History of the Oklahoma City Blue Devils (Boston: Beacon Press, 2006, 274 pp.) Frank Driggs and Chuck Haddix, Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop—A History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005, xi + 274 pp.) by Todd Bryant Weeks

Douglas Henry Daniels, One O’clock Jump: The Unforgettable History of the Oklahoma City Blue Devils (Boston: Beacon Press, 2006, 274 pp.) Frank Driggs and Chuck Haddix, Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop—A History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005, xi + 274 pp.) by Todd Bryant Weeks

In a move to potentially regulate one of the most polluting industries left in America, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has begun maneuvering to position itself to review of the impacts that mountaintop removal (MTR) mining for coal has on water.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation is considering an Internet security bill. Cosponsored by Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), the bill addresses potential threats to critical private-sector systems that could literally shut down our way of life, Rockefeller said.

"Our enemies are real, they are sophisticated, they are determined, and they will not rest," so "we must protect our critical infrastructure at all costs," he added.

Jack Bauer's Nightmare

From Wikipedia: