Study Documenting Engine Failures Requires EPA to Reconsider Increasing Ethanol in Gasoline

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Romney keeps media at bay as he sticks to script

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney greets supporters after speaking at a campaign stop, Wednesday, May 16, 2012, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney greets supporters after speaking at a campaign stop, Wednesday, May 16, 2012, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney greets supporters after speaking at a campaign stop, Wednesday, May 16, 2012, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks to reporters after boarding the charter airplane, Wednesday, May 16, 2012, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign stop, Wednesday, May 16, 2012, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) ? Mitt Romney is trying harder than ever these days to stay on script ? and keep his traveling national press corps at arm's length.

The latest clash came Wednesday when aides to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee blocked the reporters who cover Romney daily from asking him questions at the "rope line" separating him and his supporters.

The incident was a prime example of the pattern of tense interactions with the press that have marked the Romney campaign for months. The candidate often seems eager to chat about mundane things ? the food on the charter airplane, whether he has a lucky tie ? with a press corps he's come to know well and readily recognizes.

But his staff frequently limits access to a candidate known for making awkward, if not politically troublesome, statements during unscripted moments ? and Romney very rarely answers challenging questions on the issues of the day as he campaigns.

"You have some work to do here," Romney told reporters on his campaign plane, waving at a basket of snacks as he selected a package of Grandma's Vanilla Cream sandwich cookies.

But asked a question about Vice President Joe Biden's attacks on his record at Bain Capital during a speech in Ohio, the former Massachusetts governor simply said: "No interviews."

Instead, Romney did a lengthy interview with Ed Morrissey, a conservative blogger.

It's a window into how he might conduct himself as president. After he was elected governor of Massachusetts, for example, Romney closed off a set of public elevators in the Boston statehouse and prohibited press access to the lobby outside the governor's office. The area was previously open to the press, and his successor, Gov. Deval Patrick, re-opened the elevator and the lobby after he took office.

Wednesday's incident came after Romney delivered brief remarks to Florida supporters and walked over to where supporters were cordoned off and waiting to meet him. A group of reporters left an area designated for the media and tried to get within earshot of Romney when a campaign staffer put out her arms to keep reporters from walking past her.

After a brief standoff, reporters from a number of national outlets circumvented the staffers and moved close enough to hear Romney.

A few hours later, Romney's campaign acknowledged a mistake.

"This was an error on the part of the campaign staff and volunteers. We have reminded them that press is allowed on the rope line to record the governor's interactions with voters," spokeswoman Andrea Saul said in a statement.

Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan, making clear the agency wasn't responsible for the policy, said: "The Secret Service does not restrict movement of the press into a general public area or their movement within the general public area."

Rope lines are a staple of political campaigns, but a candidate's presence there can lead to some memorable moments ? and Romney has sometimes been candid in such situations. As Democrats marked the anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden, Romney told traveling reporters that "even Jimmy Carter" would have made that decision ? a sharp quip that the campaign later softened as they muted their criticism of the Obama team's focus on the occasion.

And earlier this year, Romney was on a rope line during the Daytona 500 when an Associated Press reporter asked him about his familiarity with the sport.

"I have some friends who are NASCAR team owners," he said, a comment that later drew criticism from Democrats seeking to cast him as out of touch.

Trying to control a campaign's message isn't unique to Romney's campaign. White House reporters traveling with Obama sometimes are limited in how they can approach the president on a rope line. Still, reporters are able to observe Obama interacting with voters on airport tarmacs when he walks over to greet waiting crowds.

Obama often doesn't answer questions on rope lines, though he sometimes will chat with reporters. He recently told some that he won a basketball game he played with actors George Clooney and Tobey Maguire. The president prefers taking questions in formal interview settings.

Romney rarely does interviews with print media, preferring conservative broadcast outlets. He also regularly tapes interviews with local TV and radio reporters when he visits different states. But he doesn't often allow himself to be grilled by the reporters who know him and his record best and who tend to ask the toughest questions.

The campaign also limits opportunities to watch Romney interact with voters. It says he regularly meets with middle-class families before events, but those meetings always take place in private. The campaign does not release the names of those attending.

His campaign insists that almost all interactions between reporters and campaign staff be either anonymous or completely off the record. And he's only just now starting to allow his traveling press corps to share his campaign plane regularly. News organizations that travel with presidential candidates pay their own way, including plane fare, meals, hotels and other expenses, often thousands of dollars per day.

His aides are tight-lipped on even the most mundane issues, like travel logistics. And they are visibly averse to allowing the candidate to step into unscripted situations.

Even Romney finds a little humor in the sometimes tense relationship. While talking to reporters at the rear of his plane recently, Romney looked a few rows back at Rick Gorka, his traveling press secretary. "Rick is about to pass out. Gorka is," he said with a laugh and added, as if speaking for Gorka, "'What are you doing?'"

Gorka responded by waving his hand in a "wrap it up" motion.

Associated Press

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Blue Lake Rancheria Business Entity Sued by Washington Insurance

Here is the complaint in Kriedler v. Mainstay Business Solutions (W.D. Wash.):

Kriedler Complaint

An excerpt:

7. Cascade National at all relevant times was a domestic stock insurance company holding a Certificate of Authority to operate in the State of Washington as a property and casualty insurer pursuant to Chapter 48.05 RCW. Cascade National also held a license issued by the State of California Department of Insurance to write workers? compensation insurance policies for coverage in California, subject to the insurance laws and regulations of California.

8. Mainstay was at all relevant times engaged in business as a professional employer organization (?PEO?) in the State of California. A PEO, also referred to as a labor contractor, provides human resources/personnel services to its clients who are typically small to medium-sized businesses. The PEO technically ?employs? its clients? workforces who continue to work at the clients? businesses. The PEO provides various human resources and personnel services on behalf of its clients, including payroll and benefits administration, health and workers? compensation insurance programs, and other similar services. Providing workers? compensation insurance coverage for the clients? workforce is a major component and marketing factor for a PEO to obtain clients because the PEO can often obtain more favorable rates because it is able to pool many clients? workforces into a substantially larger pool of employees.

9. On July 1, 2004, Cascade National and Mainstay entered into a written letter agreement (the ?Agreement?) by which Cascade National would provide statutory workers? compensation insurance coverage to Mainstay in the State of California for the clients and workplace employees of Mainstay?s PEO operations.

10. The workers? compensation insurance provided to Mainstay by Cascade National is a high-deductible policy. The deductible was $1 million per claim. Under the Agreement, Cascade National is required to initially pay all claims to injured workers from the first date of injury and the first dollar of coverage, and Mainstay is required to repay or reimburse Cascade National for all those claims payments within the deductible amount. To secure performance by Mainstay, a $500,000 deposit and a Letter of Credit in the amount of $1,500,000 were provided by Mainstay, among other requirements.

11. The Agreement also requires Mainstay to remit to Cascade National on a weekly basis various sums for the ?deductible premium,? taxes and assessments, and for incurred claims, including paid loss and loss adjustment expenses and estimated ultimate unpaid loss and loss adjustment expenses.

12. The Agreement further provides that Cascade National, in its sole and complete discretion, is to determine the amount of the reserves to be paid over to Cascade National by Mainstay for losses and loss adjustment expenses. The required reserves are expressly defined in the Agreement as the greater of the estimated ultimate unpaid loss and loss adjustment expenses as calculated by Cascade National?s appointed actuary, and any applicable loss and loss adjustment expense reserves required by a regulator. Under the Agreement, Mainstay is required to pay to Cascade the full amount of these calculated, required reserves.

13. The workers? compensation insurance policy coverage provided by Cascade National became effective on July 1, 2004. On March 28, 2005, Mainstay gave a ?notice of cancellation? of the policy retroactively effective on March 1, 2005. The policy covers all workers? compensation injuries which occurred during that policy period, including all on-{1479039.DOCX;} going expenses, claims and costs arising from those covered injuries which are incurred after March 1, 2005 and for as long as the claim remains open. Cascade National is continually obligated to pay all ongoing expenses and losses for every worker injury which occurred during the policy period; and Mainstay is continually obligated to pay and reimburse Cascade National for all such claims. The obligation of Mainstay to pay Cascade National under the Agreement continues as long as Cascade National is required to pay out on workers? compensation claims for injuries which occurred during the policy period.

14. Cascade National has provided all the insurance coverage as agreed and required under the Agreement. Cascade National has paid, and during receivership has continued to pay and be obligated to the California Insurance Guaranty Association for all claims payments for the Mainstay coverage. Over the course of the coverage, the amount charged and payable by Mainstay to Cascade National totals $18,887,657, including the calculated premium plus paid losses (i.e. paid losses and loss adjustment expense), and reserves (i.e. unpaid losses and loss adjustment expense) as of the last actuarial analysis as of December 31, 2011. Mainstay has paid or been credited with $14,204,128, leaving a balance due from Mainstay to Cascade National of $4,683,529 as of the last actuarial analysis as of December 31, 2011.

15. Receiver has made numerous written demands to Mainstay for payment pursuant to the Agreement and has provided detailed itemized support and actuarial analysis supporting the amounts due and owing beginning in mid-2009 through 2011. The amount due as of the actuarial study as of December 31, 2011, is now $4,683,529, which amount consists of (a) $155,981 in Stipulated Deductible Premium; (b) $6,333,131 in Paid Losses and Allocated Loss Adjustment Expense (?ALAE?); (c) $703,613 in Case Reserves Losses and ALAE; (d) $720,264 in Unallocated Loss Adjustment Expense (?ULAE?) Reserves; and (e) a credit or surplus of $3,229,460 for Incurred But Not Reported (?IBNR?) Losses and ALAE. 16. Demand has been made to Mainstay and it has failed to pay over to Cascade National the on-going and continuing amounts due as required under the Agreement.

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Ancient sea reptile with gammy jaw suggests dinosaurs got arthritis too

ScienceDaily (May 15, 2012) ? Imagine having arthritis in your jaw bones ... if they're over 2 meters long! A new study by scientists at the University of Bristol has found signs of a degenerative condition similar to human arthritis in the jaw of a pliosaur, an ancient sea reptile that lived 150 million years ago. Such a disease has never been described before in fossilized Jurassic reptiles.

The Bristol scientists studied a giant specimen of the pliosaur Pliosaurus dating from the Upper Jurassic. Found in Westbury, Wiltshire, it has been kept since its discovery in the collections of the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery.

The 8 metre long pliosaur was a terrifying creature with a large, crocodile-like head, a short neck, whale-like body and four powerful flippers to propel it through water in pursuit of prey.

With its huge jaws and 20 cm long teeth, it would have been capable of ripping most other marine reptiles or dinosaurs to pieces, but this particular individual was the unfortunate victim of an arthritis-like disease.

University of Bristol scientist, Dr Judyth Sassoon, was fascinated by the specimen when she saw it in the museum's collections and studied it for her MSc research project.

She soon noticed that it had the signs of a degenerative condition similar to human arthritis, that had eroded its left jaw joint, displacing the lower jaw to one side. This animal evidently lived with a crooked jaw for many years, because there are marks on the bone of the lower jaw where the teeth from the upper jaw impacted on the bone during feeding. Clearly the animal was still able to hunt in spite of its unfortunate condition.

There are several signs on the skeleton to suggest that the animal could have been an old female who had developed the condition as part of the aging process. The pliosaur's large size, and the fused skull bones, suggest maturity. It is identified, very tentatively, as possibly female because its skull crest is quite low -- presumed males had a higher crest.

Dr Judyth Sassoon said: "In the same way that aging humans develop arthritic hips, this old lady developed an arthritic jaw, and survived with her disability for some time. But an unhealed fracture on the jaw indicates that at some time the jaw weakened and eventually broke. With a broken jaw, the pliosaur would not have been able to feed and that final accident probably led to her demise."

Pliosaurs were probably pursuit or ambush predators, feeding on fish, squid and other marine reptiles but would also have been capable of scavenging. They were at the top of their food chains, so there would not have been any predators to take advantage of an aging, disabled pliosaur -- except for another pliosaur.

Professor Mike Benton, a collaborator on the project, said: "You can see these kinds of deformities in living animals, such as crocodiles or sperm whales and these animals can survive for years as long as they are still able to feed. But it must be painful. Remember that the fictional whale, Moby Dick from Herman Melville's novel, was supposed to have had a crooked jaw!"

The pliosaur from Westbury is an amazing example of how the study of disease (palaeopathologies) in fossil animals can help us to reconstruct an extinct animal's life history and behavior and to show that even a Jurassic killer could succumb to the diseases of old age.

The research was published May 16 in the palaeontological journal, Palaeontology.

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What does Mitt Romney's new ad say about his strategy? (+video)

Don't look for Mitt Romney in his new ad, 'Silence.' It's all about being jobless and 'suffering in silence.' The Romney teamwants to keep the focus on 'the Obama economy.'

How does Mitt Romney want persuadable voters to think about the upcoming presidential election? Yes, we know he?s emphasizing the economy, and putting voters back to work, and so forth. What we?re getting at here is the sort of emotional context the Romney camp hopes will prevail among the swing electorate in November.

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As it happens, we think Mr. Romney?s latest campaign ad, titled ?Silence,? is a pretty good guide to what might be his overall strategy here. So as the late great Washington sportscaster George Michael used to say, ?Let?s go to the videotape!?

The ad begins with "CBS Evening News" anchor Scott Pelley saying, ?Tonight, new evidence the economic recovery is slowing." Then it moves swiftly, cutting between clips of reporters bemoaning the state of the job market and short bursts of President Obama giving a speech.

The Obama appearances are so brief as to be mere impressions. At one point you hear him say, ?Ask if you?re better off than you were before..."

Then the montage accelerates, and the kind of rising music featured in horror movie trailers comes up. You hear only phrases ? ?We?re not seeing a ton of sunshine,? and so forth. Just as the tension peaks, we see not a slasher attack but Mr. Obama again, this time saying, ?It?s not just how we?re doing today. It?s how we?ll be doing tomorrow."

Boom. Halfway through the ad, the music and the clips stop.

?Today, millions of Americans are suffering in silence,? comes on the screen in large white letters.

What follows is a succession of quotes, interposed over shots of people looking very worried, in dead silence.

?Job growth not nearly fast enough to recover from the Great Recession,? says one quote. ?More than 340,000 workers dropped out of the labor force,? says another.

The ad ends with this: ?This is the Obama economy. It isn?t working.?

For those of you who don?t obsess over this sort of thing frame-by-frame, as if it were an ?Avengers? outtake, we?ll make a couple of Politics 101 points.

Where's Mitt? Challengers generally want elections to be referendums on the incumbent. They themselves are simply the replacement, a relief pitcher out of sight in the bullpen, waiting to be called. That?s why there?s lots of Obama in this ad, but no pictures of a certain former Massachusetts governor. The only Romney reference comes at the end, when his last name appears in small type as having paid for the message.

How are you feeling right now? Romney might be better off if voters cast ballots based on their emotions of the moment. He likely would get more support from folks who are worried about their present circumstances ? after all, the unemployment rate is at a daunting 8.1 percent. Millions of Americans who still have jobs go to bed at night worried about losing them. That?s why this ad ratchets up the anxiety level ? or reminds voters of how high their anxiety level already is.

In contrast, Obama wants voters to think about a longer time frame. His message could be summed up as something along the lines of, ?Remember how bad it was back when I took this job? I inherited a mess, and it?s getting better. Let?s not change horses in the middle of the race.?

Generally speaking, it?s the employment trend line, not the absolute unemployment rate, that matters most in presidential elections. It remains to be seen whether the current ?meh? job growth numbers will generate enough optimism among voters to convince them to give the incumbent another chance.

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Editor's desk: On rumors and podcasts

With both mother's day and a birthday in the family this weekend, I didn't have time to compile my usual weekly column. But there a few things I'd like to comment on and draw your attention to. So let's dive right in.

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Weary warriors favor Obama (reuters)

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