Louis_J_Sheehan

he king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,

Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

The Battle of Gaines’ Mill, also known as the First Battle of Cold Harbor or the Battle of Chickahominy River, took place on June 27, 1862, in Hanover County, Virginia, as the third of the Seven Days Battles (Peninsula Campaign) of the American Civil War. Confederate General Robert E. Lee renewed his attacks against Union Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter’s V Corps, which had established a strong defensive line behind Boatswain’s Swamp north of the Chickahominy River. Porter’s reinforced V Corps held fast for the afternoon against disjointed Confederate attacks, inflicting heavy casualties on the attackers. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

At dusk, the Confederates finally mounted a coordinated assault that broke Porter’s line and drove his soldiers back toward the river. The Federals retreated across the river during the night. Defeat at Gaines’ Mill convinced Army of the Potomac commander Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan to abandon his advance on Richmond and begin the retreat to the James River. The Confederates were too disorganized to encircle and then pursue the main Union force. Gaines’ Mill saved Richmond for the Confederacy in 1862. The battle occurred in almost the same location as the 1864 Battle of Cold Harbor and had similar numbers of total casualties. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

As with most of the battles in the Seven Days, Lee’s complex plan was poorly executed. The approaching soldiers were delayed by severely muddy roads and poor maps. Jackson arrived at the swampy creek called Western Run and stopped abruptly. Magruder’s guides mistakenly sent him on the Long Bridge Road to the southwest, away from the battlefield. Eventually the battle line was assembled with Huger’s division (brigades of Brig. Gens. Ambrose R. Wright and Lewis A. Armistead) on the Confederate right and D.H. Hill’s division (brigades of Brig. Gen. John Bell Hood and Col. Evander M. Law) on the Quaker Road to the left. They awaited the Confederate bombardment before attacking.

Unfortunately for Lee, Henry Hunt struck first, launching one of the greatest artillery barrages in the war from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. The Union gunners had superior equipment and expertise and disabled most of the Confederate batteries, which were concentrated on a hill 1,200 yards north of the Crew House and at Poindexter’s farm to the northeast. Despite the setback, Lee sent his infantry forward at 3:30 p.m. and Armistead’s brigade made some progress through lines of Union sharpshooters. By 4 p.m., Magruder arrived and he was ordered forward to support Armistead. His attack was piecemeal and poorly organized.

Meanwhile, D. H. Hill launched his division forward along the Quaker Road, past Willis Church. Across the entire line of battle, the Confederate troops reached only within 200 yards of the Union Center and were repulsed by nightfall with heavy losses.

[edit] Aftermath

D.H. Hill wrote afterwards, “It wasn’t war; it was murder.” Lee’s army suffered 5,355 casualties (versus 3,214 Union) in this wasted effort, but continued to follow the Union army all the way to Harrison’s Landing. On Evelington Heights, part of the property of Edmund Ruffin, the Confederates had an opportunity to dominate the Union camps, making their position on the bank of the James potentially untenable; although the Confederate position would be subjected to Union naval gunfire, the heights were an exceptionally strong defensive position that would have been very difficult for the Union to capture with infantry. Cavalry commander Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart reached the heights and began bombardment with a single cannon from Capt. John Pelham’s artillery. This alerted the Federals to the potential danger and they captured the heights before any Confederate infantry could reach the scene.Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Malvern Hill ended the Peninsula Campaign. When McClellan’s army ceased to threaten Richmond, Lee sent Jackson to operate against Maj. Gen. John Pope’s army along the Rapidan River, thus initiating the Northern Virginia Campaign.

Conventional wisdom has it that the first animals evolved in the ocean.

Now researchers studying ancient rock samples in South China have found that the first animal fossils are preserved in ancient lake deposits, not in marine sediments as commonly assumed.

These new findings not only raise questions as to where the earliest animals were living, but what factors drove animals to evolve in the first place.

For some 3 billion years, single-celled life forms such as bacteria dominated the planet. Then, roughly 600 million years ago, the first multi-cellular animals appeared on the scene, diversifying rapidly.

The oldest known animal fossils in the world are preserved in South China’s Doushantuo Formation. These fossil beds have no adult specimens - instead, many of the fossils appear to be microscopic embryos.

“Our first unusual finding in this region was the abundance of a clay mineral called smectite,” said researcher Tom Bristow, now at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. “In rocks of this age, smectite is normally transformed into other types of clay. The smectite in these South China rocks, however, underwent no such transformation and have a special chemistry that, for the smectite to form, requires specific conditions in the water - conditions commonly found in salty, alkaline lakes.”

The researchers collected hundreds of rock samples from several locations in South China. All their analyses suggest these rocks were not marine sediments.

“Moreover, we found smectite in only some locations in South China, and not uniformly as one would expect for marine deposits,” Bristow said. “Taken together, several lines of evidence indicated to us that these early animals lived in a lake environment.”

This discovery raises questions as to how and why animals appeared when they did.

“It is most unexpected that these first fossils do not come from marine sediments,” said researcher Martin Kennedy, a geologist at the University of California at Riverside.

“Lakes are typically short-lived features on the Earth’s surface, and they are not nearly as consistent environments as oceans are,” he explained. “So it’s surprising that the first evidence of animals we find is associated with lakes, which are far more variable environments than the ocean. You’d expect the first appearance of animals to be in the most conservative, stable environments we could imagine.”

It remains possible, Kennedy noted, that animal fossils of similar or older age exist that remain to be found that are marine in origin. However, at the very least, this work suggests “that animals had already taken on the ability to deal with the environmental fluctuations one sees in lake environments,” he said. “That suggests that their evolutionary response is much more rapid that I would have supposed, and that the earliest animals were far more diverse than imagined.” Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

If animals did first develop in lakes, one aspect of lake environments that could have spurred on their evolution is how much easier it is for air to percolate through them, given how much shallower they typically are than the ocean.

“The most popular explanation for the evolution of animals has to do with the increase in oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere at that time,” Kennedy told LiveScience. “It’s possible that lakes were the first to benefit from that increase in oxygen.”

The scientists detailed their findings online July 27 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

April 1, 2009, 5:24 pm
Focus on Sex Crimes in Orthodox Jewish Communities
By Kareem Fahim

In an effort to encourage sex-crime victims in Brooklyn’s insular, strictly Orthodox Jewish communities to contact law enforcement, District Attorney Charles J. Hynes announced an outreach effort Wednesday that is to include visits by prosecutors to synagogues and yeshivas, and the offer of a phone line to connect victims with “culturally sensitive” social workers.

Rhonnie Jaus, the chief of the Brooklyn sex crimes bureau, said her staff was working to overcome the particular reluctance of Orthodox victims to contact the authorities. “There seems to be more of a distrust of secular authority, and maybe misconceptions about law-enforcement,” she said, adding that recent publicity about prominent sex-abuse cases in the community had caused a strong increase in reporting.

In two recent cases, a rabbi and the principal at a yeshiva encouraged victims to call her office. Assemblyman Dov Hikind, an Orthodox Jew who represents the predominantly Orthodox community of Borough Park and who has talked about the sex abuse within the community, has also referred victims to the office, Ms. Jaus said.

“There a climate of change,” Ms. Jaus said. “We’re hoping to capitalize on that.” Her office is currently handling 19 cases of abuse, including 13 felony and 6 misdemeanor cases from neighborhoods that have large Orthodox populations, including Williamsburg and Crown Heights.

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A-540

THE “MAGIC” BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR

No. 1205

FROM: Bangkok (Tubokami) December 4, 1941

TO: Tokyo # 905.

(Strictly Secret.)

The Japanese special correspondent here is sending some communications to Japan which might well be used as propaganda here, so will you please arrange to broadcast them in English and Thaiese so that they can be heard by the populace.

Trans. 12-9-41

No. 1206

FROM: Bangkok (Tubokami) December 5, 1941

TO: Tokyo # 909.

British and American residents are beginning to evacuate here but the number going to British Malaya so far is not large. But many are going to the vicinity of HOANIN and South Thailand.

Also it is reported that a conference was held in the British Legation on the 3rd with the delegates of the evacuees.

Trans. 12-10-41

No. 1207

FROM: Bangkok (SIAMD) December 2, 1941

TO: Tokyo (SUMMER) (Vice Chief, General Staff) # 611.

Report from the consul at Chiengmai.

About thirty Americans living in Chiengmai, Lampang, Prae, etc., met at the SEI [a] Hospital in Chiengmai on 30 November, and discussed the present situation.

The question considered was (? whether all should be evacuated ?).

This is addressed to the Vice Chief of Staff, IIDA.

[a] Meaning of this term uncertain. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

DoD Comment: Note date of translation

Trans. 2-21-45

No. 1208

FROM: Bangkok December 6, 1941

TO: Tokyo # 915.

The Batavia Maru sailed for Kō-chan on the 5th for Osaka by way of Saigon and Keelung carrying the following:

Rice 1,000 tons

Tin ore 283 tons

Tin 17 tons

Wolfram 34 tons

Hides 227 tons

Miscellaneous articles totaling 3,433 tons

passengers 29

Trans. 12-8-41

A-541

No. 1209

FROM: Tokyo December 6, 1941

TO: Bangkok # 852.

(Urgent.)

The (—–) [a] day (X Day) decided by the —– [b] liaison conference on the 6th (?) [c] is the 8th and the day on which the notice is to be given is the 7th (?) (Sunday). As soon as you have received this message, please reply to that effect.

Translator’s assumptions:

[a] “Proclamation” or “declaration”.

[b] “Ambassadorial” or “China”.

[c] “This word is garbled and could be either the word “6th” or the word “November”. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Trans. 12-8-41

No. 1210

FROM: Tokyo December 7, 1941

TO: Bangkok No number.

(Translator’s note: Message badly garbled.)

Re —–.

The imperial government wishes to make an announcement in the event of our occupation of Thailand (our separate wire (A?) in the event of our occupation of —–; our separate wire B in the event of our occupation of —–). We plan to announce one of these as soon as the Imperial government’s decision becomes clear. After perusing them, will you please arrange to defeat Britain’s plots. At the same time, choose the most appropriate statement to clarify our attitude toward —– as the Embassy’s statement.

Exercise every precaution not to expose the Imperial force’s objectives in making these announcements. Keep in close contact with the service organs there.

Trans. 12-8-41

No. 1211

FROM: Tokyo December 7, 1941

TO: Bangkok # 855.

(Note: This message referred to in IV, 1210.)

Separate message (A). (In the event of a peaceful occupation.)

On 12 June of last year, a friendship pact was signed through which the basis of amity between Japan and Thailand was solidified. Early this year, Japan voluntarily acted as mediator between Thailand and French Indo-China, when they were locked in border disputes, and brought about a peaceful settlement. This brought the friendly relations of Japan and Thailand closer .

In order to meet the exceedingly critical situation in the Far East, (and at the same time, to further strengthen the friendly relations between the two countries), Japan and Thailand, on —– (blank) —– day, (blank) —– month, reached an agreement of joint defense of Thailand; (or “reached an agreement of a certain kind of an alliance”; or, “Thailand agreed to join the Tripartite Pact”; or, “Thailand agreed to permit the passage of Japanese troops through Thailand”).

A-542

THE “MAGIC” BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR

Through this, (it may now be said that the relations between Thailand and Japan have reached the highest point of the friendship), the two countries shall together strive toward the stabilization of the Far East and toward the creation of a co-prosperity sphere. That we are proceeding along this path together, is the source of much gratification.

Note: The words “(a) in the event of a peaceful occupation” shall be deleted.

Trans. 12-10-41

No. 1212

FROM: Tokyo December 7, 1941

TO: Bangkok # 856.

(Note: This message referred to in IV, 1210.)

Separate message (B). (In the event of a forceful occupation.)

For some time past, the British have been massing large numbers of troops on the Malayan and Burmese borders, under the pretense of defense. In view of the fact that, these British troops attacked Thailand, the Imperial Government of Thai, conferred with the Thai government and at the same time, as an emergency defense measure, a portion of the Japanese forces have begun to occupy Thailand.

The above is strictly a measure to counter the British attack upon Thai. Japan has absolutely no intention of conducting an invasion or to interfere with Thai’s independence. We expect sympathetic and full cooperation from the officials and people of Thailand.

Trans. 12-10-41

No. 1213

FROM: Bangkok (Tubokami) December 8, 1941

TO: Tokyo # 933.

(English Text.)

Separate wire. First translation into European text.

The undersigned, duly authorized by their respective Governments, agree as follows:

1. In order to cope with the urgent situation in East Asia, Thailand shall give to Japan the (protection?) of passage by the Japanese forces through the Thai territory and giving of all necessary facilities for the said passage as well as immediate execution of measures to avoid every possible conflict which may arise between the Japanese and Thai forces.

2. The particulars for the execution of the precedent paragraph shall be agreed upon between the military authorities of the two countries.

3. Japan shall guarantee that the independence, sovereignty and honor of Thailand be respected.

Done in duplicate, at Bangkok on December 8, 1941. The Japanese Ambassador (Signed).

The Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs (Signed).

Trans. 12-13-41

A-543

No. 1214

FROM: Tokyo (NERNS) (Vice Chief, General Staff) December 9, 1941

TO: La Paz, Lima, Rome, Vichy, Helsinki, Madrid, Stockholm, Circular # 735.

Beyoglu, (RIKUGUN)

Part 1 [a] - War situation-report # 2.

1. As of 8 December our units which landed in Thailand, Malaya, and Kota Bahru, at the northern end of British Malaya were making good progress in setting up their bases as preparations for advancing.

We have lost one transport in this area.

Our air units have damaged 44 enemy planes and shot down 15. [b]

We have lost 11 [c] and several fighter planes.

2. The invasion of eastern Thailand took place on 1230 hours on the 8th. The advance -3G-. Our units which landed south of Bangkok are advancing toward the city.

3. On the 8th our units occupied Bataan Island north of the Philippines. The Army has been bombing northern Luzon, the Navy the central and southern part of the island.

[a] Part 2 same number.

[b] Imperfect text permits 11.

[c] Possibly men, but not specified.

DoD Comment: Note date of translation.

“Extraordinary and inappropriate” secrecy about a warrantless eavesdropping program undermined its effectiveness as a terrorism-fighting tool, government watchdogs have concluded in the first examination of one of the most contentious episodes of the Bush administration.

A report by inspectors general from five intelligence agencies said the administration’s tight control over who learned of the program also contributed to flawed legal arguments that nearly prompted mass resignations in the Justice Department five years ago.

The program “may have” contributed to successful counterterrorism efforts, some intelligence officials told the investigators. But too few CIA personnel knew of the highly classified program to use it for intelligence work, the report stated, while at the FBI, the program “played a limited role,” with “most . . . leads . . . determined not to have any connection to terrorism.”

The surveillance program, which intercepted domestic communications linked to people with suspected ties to al-Qaeda, was one of the Bush administration’s most secretive and, eventually, controversial intelligence efforts. After the New York Times disclosed its existence in December 2005, the program became a symbol of the administration’s expansive view of executive authority, especially regarding national security.

“The surveillance program was overly secret and its importance overblown,” concluded Gregory Nojeim, senior counsel of the privacy advocacy organization Center for Democracy and Technology, after reading the report.

The release yesterday of the inspectors general’s summary findings renewed questions about the effectiveness of congressional oversight of intelligence activities, after a week of back-and-forth between House members and the CIA over an unrelated classified program that has been squashed by the new administration. The IGs reported that lawmakers received 49 briefings on the surveillance program between October 2001 and January 2007.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said: “The legal analysis under which the program operated for years ‘entailed ignoring an act of Congress, and doing so without full congressional notification.’ No president should be able to operate outside the law.”

The report also inspired fresh calls from congressional Democrats, including the chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary committees, to establish a commission to explore the Bush administration’s handling of its anti-terrorism efforts. The lawmakers pointed out that several key Bush administration figures refused to cooperate with the inspectors general, who lacked the authority to compel testimony.

Significant elements of the initiative are still unclear. But an unclassified version of the inspectors general’s report offers new details about its origins and its advocates.

The clandestine program was born in the days after Sept. 11, 2001, when then-CIA Director George J. Tenet asked the National Security Agency’s chief, Lt. Gen. Michael V. Hayden, “what he might do with more authority,” the report said. A short while later, President George W. Bush signed a single document paving the way for the plan.

For the first few years, then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft and two senior aides — Office of Legal Counsel lawyer John C. Yoo and intelligence policy lawyer James Baker — were the only Justice Department officials made aware of the initiative, bypassing many of the latter men’s superiors, the unclassified summary reported for the first time.

One former department lawyer, Jay S. Bybee, told investigators that he was Yoo’s supervisor but that he was never read into the program and “could shed no further light” on how Yoo came to be the point man on memos that blessed its legality. By following this route, investigators say, the memos avoided a rigorous peer-review process.

The White House determined access to the program, a former Bush official said. The report said that Yoo prepared hypothetical documents in September and early October 2001 before writing a formal memo in November, after Bush had already authorized the initiative.

In that memo, Yoo concluded that existing surveillance law could not “restrict the president’s ability to engage in warrantless searches that protect the national security,” and that “unless Congress made a clear statement . . . that it sought to restrict presidential authority to conduct warrantless searches in the national security area — which it has not — then the statute must be construed to avoid such a reading,” according to the report.

But when that analysis reached higher-level officials in the Justice Department by late 2003 and early 2004, lawyers were troubled by the conclusions. They grew convinced that the plan may have run afoul of the law and ignored key Supreme Court rulings on the subject of executive-branch power.

The inspectors general report alleged that Yoo “did not accurately describe the scope” of other intelligence activities in what was known as the President’s Surveillance Program, presenting “a serious impediment to recertification of the program.” Traditionally, in reviews by the Office of Legal Counsel, lawyers rely on a description of classified programs from the agencies that carry them out, the former Bush official said.

Disputes prompted a series of meetings in March 2004, including lobbying by the White House, to try to persuade the Justice Department to temporarily continue the surveillance while any legal problems with it were being fixed. On March 9, 2004, intelligence officials and Vice President Richard B. Cheney met to discuss the issue without inviting Justice Department leaders.

Cheney suggested that Bush “may have to reauthorize without [the] blessing of DOJ,” according to previously unreported notes taken by FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III. Mueller told investigators he would have had a problem with that approach and raised the prospect that Louis J. SheeHAN, ESQUIRE the bureau would have withdrawn from the program.

The resignation threats came the next day, after a dramatic visit by then-White House chief of staff Andrew H. Card Jr. and then-White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales to the hospital bedside of an ailing Ashcroft. Louis J. SheeHAN, ESQUIRE Gonzales told the inspectors general that Bush instructed him to go to the hospital to obtain Ashcroft’s signature on a document that would green-light continuation of the program.

An FBI agent’s notes stated that Card and Bush called the hospital room, and that Ashcroft’s wife had taken the call. Card would not sit for an interview with the IGs, the report said.

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Synopsis

The fourth grade girls have compiled a secret list that rates all the boys from the cutest to the ugliest. But when the boys steal the list, the results are not what they expected… The boys are about to find out just how manipulative and crazy little girls can be.
Full Recap

Butters runs into the cafeteria with news, the girls have a list that rates the boys in their class from cutest to the ugliest. While the other boys are interested in knowing the content of the list, Kyle tells them it’s just another stupid list created by the girls. Cartman and the boys confront Bebe and find out that Nelly has the list. The boys come up with a plan, but when Butters tries to kick Nelly in the balls they fail. Now that they’ve learned girls don’t have balls, they come up with another plan that succeeds. The list is as follows:

1. Clyde
2. Token
3. Stan
4. Bradley
5. Jason
6. Leroy
7. Kenny
8. Tweek
9. Kevin
10. Jimmy
11. Butters
12. Craig
13. Timmy
14. Francis
15. Cartman
16. Kyle

Kyle finds out he is last on the list, much to Cartman’s delight and his dismay. Butters goes home excited with the news that he isn’t the ugliest kid in the class. Kyle tries to get some support from his family. Later Kyle is lying in bed pondering his situation, while Cartman is outside his window rubbing it in. Clyde relishes his new popularity with his position on the list and Butters lets everyone know where he was on the list. Cartman suggests that Kyle start hanging out with the other ugly kids and soon Kyle finds himself sitting at the ugly kid’s lunch table.

Kyle and the ugly kids are outside at recess when Jamal makes a comment about burning down the school. Kyle suggests instead that maybe they just need a makeover, but when sees evidence that it isn’t going to work he changes his mind. Seeing Kyle looking depressed, Stan goes to talk with Wendy (someone he hasn’t spoken too in a long time). He asks Wendy about the list and whether or not it can be changed. She tells Stan it will be difficult but she will try to get him into their next list making meeting. The list making meeting is called to order and the girls start working on list 47b, which is which girl has the cutest purse. Wendy suggests that they reopen last week’s list for debate. She and Stan come before the “Rainbow Railing” and Stan asks if the list can be reopened for discussion. Bebe, who is in charge of the list committee, suggests that if Wendy can find recourse for such and inquiry she will review it. When it appears as though Kyle might burn down the school, he is visited by the ghost of Abraham Lincoln. Honest Abe takes him on a tour and tries to impart some wisdom on him that will keep him from committing arson. Kyle isn’t interested in what will happen to him in the future (like when he is 40), he wants results now. Wendy finds an irregularity in the voting and when she and Stan confront Rebecca about it, they are warned that they should stop digging around and let it go. Stan realizes that must not have “sparkled” with her.

At the hardware store, Kyle is buying supplies to fuel his upcoming fire. Wendy and Stan go the honorary chair and secretary of the list committee and find out the truth about the list, it was forged. Clyde was put at the top of the list because his father owns the shoe store at the mall and anyone who dates him can get free shoes. Only to become dateable Clyde had to be made more popular. After the list was made, it was adjusted to place Clyde at the top. Wendy threatens to tell Bebe, but the corruption is at the highest level, currently Bebe is dating Clyde for shoes. Stan is confused by all that is going on around him. They suggest that Wendy let it go, but Wendy doesn’t plan on it. Stan and Wendy are looking for Kyle and find out he is planning on burning down the school. Stan and Wendy find Kyle on the school’s roof and they tell him about the forged list. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire Bebe comes on the scene with a gun and demanding they turn over the real list. Wendy tells Bebe she’s sent a full report to the police and the police are arriving at the scene. Wendy and Bebe get into a fight and then the gun goes off. They both look surprised, but neither of them has been hit; across town Kenny is struck through the head with a bullet and dies in front of his family at the dinner table. Bebe is taken into custody. Now Kyle can see where here really appeared on the list, but Kyle decides against and they burn the list. Stan and Wendy reconcile their relationship as Stan (after several seasons) starts to throw up when he talks to her. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

One of the most highly sensitive issues in the Senate is the health condition of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, of Massachusetts, the well-loved liberal lion and chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, who continues to be treated for brain cancer at a time when he hoped to be leading the effort to pass comprehensive health care legislation.

And though Mr. Kennedy’s absence has clearly been a factor, Senate leaders have been reluctant to say so publicly, even as Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana and the chairman of the Finance Committee has been moving aggressively to develop one version of the health care bill along with the senior Republican on that committee, Charles E. Grassley of Iowa.

But with the pace of the legislative debate accelerating rapidly this week, Democrats finally designated Mr. Kennedy’s close friend, Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democratic of Connecticut to take the lead on the health committee – and Mr. Dodd on Thursday made a rare public acknowledgment that Mr. Kennedy’s illness had slowed things down, even though Mr. Kennedy’s staff and other lawmakers on the committee have been working hard to keep their process on track.

“We are a little bit behind the Finance Committee because obviously Senator Kennedy hasn’t been with us, our chairman, our leader in all of this,” Mr. Dodd said. “We have got a little catching up to do.”

Mr. Dodd is a dear friend of Mr. Kennedy, arguably his closest in the Senate, and is one of the few lawmakers who feel comfortable discussing Mr. Kennedy’s health. Still, Mr. Dodd often chokes up at the thought of his ill friend, as he did on Wednesday, when he acknowledged in a chat with reporters that just having Mr. Kennedy in the room can be an inspiration and motivation for colleagues. “Just his presence alone has a value that I find hard to quantify,” Mr. Dodd said.

Mr. Dodd’s remarks came after a meeting of committee leaders on the health-care legislation, who described a deepening rift between Republicans and Democrats over whether to include a “public option” in the health care bill, that is a government-run insurance program that would compete with private plans.

President Obama this week sent a letter to lawmakers expressing his support for such an option, but Republicans are adamantly opposed. The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, expressed his opposition in a floor speech on Thursday morning. And Mr. Grassley, after the meeting of committee leaders, suggested that the point was virtually non-negotiable. Still, Mr. Baucus said that he expected some version of a public option to be included in the bill.

Senator Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming, the senior Republican on the health committee, said that there were also a lot of areas of agreement. “I think we have been surprised at the amount of agreement there is on a lot of it,” he said, adding, “There are still a lot of areas of disagreement, too. Now Senator Dodd has been given the role of taking the lead in the HELP committee, and I appreciate the way that he is doing that.” Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Democratic aides noted that Mr. Kennedy back in the fall had designated Mr. Dodd as his “chief deputy” on the health care legislation and, in anticipation of being absent for cancer treatments, had named three senators – Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Tom Harkin of Iowa and Barbara Mikulski of Maryland — as the leaders of three health reform working groups. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

In 1965, the United Kingdom (the primary Commonwealth nation) began a transition to the metric system to more fully mesh its business and trade practices with those of the European Economic Community. The conversion of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth nations, in particular Canada, to SI created a new sense of urgency regarding the use Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire of metric units in the United States.

In 1968, Congress authorized a three-year study of systems of measurement in the U.S., with particular emphasis on the feasibility of adopting SI. The detailed U.S. Metric Study was conducted by the Department of Commerce. A 45-member advisory panel consulted and took testimony from hundreds of consumers, business organizations, labor groups, manufacturers, and state and local officials.
ANMC logo

The final report of the study concluded that the U.S. would eventually join the rest of the world in the use of the metric system of measurement.[3] The study found that measurement in the United States was already based on metric units in many areas, and that it was becoming more so every day. The majority of study participants believed that conversion to the metric system was in the best interests of the nation, particularly in view of the importance of foreign trade and the increasing influence of technology in the U.S.
US metrication logo

The study recommended that the United States implement a carefully planned transition to predominant use of the metric system over a ten-year period. Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 “to coordinate and plan the increasing use of the metric system in the United States”. The Act, however, did not require a ten-year conversion period. A process of voluntary conversion was initiated, and the U.S. Metric Board (USMB) was established for planning, coordination, and public education. The public education component led to much public awareness of the metric system, although the public response included plenty of resistance, apathy, and even ridicule (for example, the Saturday Night Live decabet sketch).[4] In 1981, the Board reported to Congress that it lacked the clear Congressional mandate necessary to bring about national conversion. Given this apparent ineffectiveness, and in a Reagan effort to reduce federal spending, the Metric Board was disbanded in fall 1982.
This measuring cup, manufactured and sold in the U.S. circa 1980 at the height of the metrication effort, features graduations in both metric and U. S. customary units, with the metric graduations in front for right handed users.

The Board’s demise increased doubts that metrication would really be implemented. Public and private sector metric transition slowed at the same time that the very factors it aimed to help with grew: the increasing competitiveness of other nations and the demands of global marketplaces.

The American National Metric Council (ANMC) was a non-profit, tax-exempt planning and coordinating organization for metric activity in all sectors of the U.S. economy. The ANMC was established in 1973 by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and became a separately incorporated organization in 1976. The ANMC was intended to facilitate America’s metric transition by maintaining a voluntary and orderly process that minimizes costs and maximizes benefits, and to provide information, forums, individual assistance, and other services for its subscribers. The ANMC saw the need to coordinate the metric planning activities of many industrial sectors, unlike the USMB, which was established primarily to implement the policy set forth in the Metric Conversion Act of 1975. After the formation of the USMB, committees of the ANMC submitted conversion plans for two sectors: chemical and instruments. Those sector conversion plans were later approved by the USMB. From 1975 through 1987, the ANMC held a series of well-attended annual conferences. Subsequently, a series of National Metric Conferences, jointly sponsored by the ANMC, the U.S. Metric Association (USMA), the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), were held from 1989 through 1993.[5]

Congress included new encouragement for U.S. industrial metrication in the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. This legislation amended the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 and designated the metric system as “the Preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce”. The legislation states that the Federal Government has a responsibility to assist industry, especially small business, as it voluntarily converts to the metric system of measurement.
1980s Road Map talking about an impending change to the metric system

Federal agencies were required by this legislation, with certain exceptions, to use the metric system in their procurement, grants, and other business-related activities by the end of 1992. While not mandating metric use in the private sector, the Federal Government has sought to serve as a catalyst in the metric conversion of the country’s trade, industry, and commerce. Exceptions were allowed for the highway and construction industries. The Department of Transportation was planning to require metric units by 2000, but this plan was canceled by the 1998 highway bill TEA21.[6] Use in the U.S. military is generally high, owing, in part, to the need to work with other nations’ militaries.[7]

Some members of Congress attempted to ban use of the metric system on federal highways in 1992 and 1993.[8][9] However, these anti-metric bills were not met with much enthusiasm by the House and failed without a vote at the time. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Mars orbiter

The use of two different systems was the root cause in the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter in 1998. NASA specified metric units in the contract. NASA and other organizations worked in metric units, but one subcontractor, Lockheed Martin, provided thruster performance data to the team in pound force seconds instead of newton seconds. The spacecraft was intended to orbit Mars at about 150 kilometers (93 mi) altitude, but the incorrect data meant that it probably descended instead to about 57 kilometers (35 mi), burning up in the Martian atmosphere.[10]