Colin Powell 65th United States Secretary of State General Colin Luther Powell, United States Army (Ret.) KCB (Honorary) (born April 5, 1937) is an American statesman. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State (2001-05), serving under President George W. Bush. He was the first African-American appointed to that position.[1][2][3][4] As a General in the United States Army, Powell also served as National Security Advisor (1987–1989) and as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989–1993), holding the latter position during the Gulf War. Colin Powell was born in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem in 1937, and raised in Hunts Point, South Bronx. His parents, Luther Theophilus Powell and Maud Ariel (nee McKoy), emigrated from Jamaica to the United States and worked in Manhattan's Garment District. Colin Powell is also of Irish ancestry.[6] Powell was educated at Morris High School, a former public school in The Bronx, New York City, from which he graduated in 1954. He gained a bachelor's degree in geology from City College of New York attaining a "C" average, according to his 2006 graduation address at Marymount University. He later obtained an MBA from The George Washington University after his second tour in Vietnam in 1971. In 1962, he married his wife, Alma, who is now the co-chair of America's Promise. He is the father to Michael Powell, the former chair of the Federal Communications Commission. While at City College Powell joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and later described it as one of the happiest experiences of his life: finding something he loved and could do well, he had "found himself." Cadet Powell joined the Pershing Rifles, the ROTC fraternal organization and drill team started by GEN John Pershing. Even after Powell became a General, he still kept on his desk a pen set he had won for a drill team competition. After graduating from City College in June 1958, he was granted a commission as an Army Second Lieutenant. Powell was a professional soldier for 35 years, during which time he held a variety of command and staff positions and rose to the rank of General.[8] Powell obtained an MBA from George Washington University in 1971 and then served a White House fellowship under President Richard Nixon. In his autobiography My American Journey, Powell mentioned several officers he served under that inspired and mentored him. As a Lieutenant Colonel serving in South Korea, for example, Powell was very close to General Henry "Gunfighter" Emerson. Powell said he regarded this man as one of the most caring officers he ever served under. Emerson reputedly had a somewhat eccentric personality. For example, he insisted his troops train only at night and made them repeatedly watch the television film Brian's Song to promote racial harmony. Powell always professed, however, that what set Emerson apart was his great love of his soldiers and concern for their welfare. While serving with the Third Armored Division in Germany as a Lieutenant, he met Elvis Presley, then serving in that unit. During the Vietnam War, Powell served as an advisor from 1962 to 1963. He returned to Vietnam from 1968 to 1969 where he served as the executive officer and later as the assistant chief of staff of operations for the Americal Division (the 23rd Infantry Division) with the rank of Major, was charged with investigating a detailed letter by Tom Glen (a soldier from the 11th Light Infantry Brigade), which backed up rumored allegations of the My Lai Massacre. Powell wrote: "In direct refutation of this portrayal is the fact that relations between American soldiers and the Vietnamese people are excellent." Later, Powell's assessment would be described as whitewashing the news of the massacre, and questions would continue to remain undisclosed to the public. On May 4, 2004, United States Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said to Larry King, "I mean, I was in a unit that was responsible for My Lai. I got there after My Lai happened. So, in war, these sorts of horrible things happen every now and again, but they are still to be deplored. In the early 1980s, Powell served at Fort Carson, Colorado. It was there that he had a major clash with General John Hudachek, his commander. Hudachek said in an efficiency evaluation that Powell was a poor leader who should not be promoted. Many of Powell's supporters have said this was pettiness and spite on Hudachek's part[citation needed] and Powell's rising military career was unhindered by Hudachek's evaluation report. After he left Fort Carson, Powell became senior military assistant to Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, whom he assisted during the invasion of Grenada and the raid on Libya. In 1989, prior to being named Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Powell served as the Commander in Chief, Forces Command headquartered at Fort McPherson, Georgia. Dates of rank * Second Lieutenant: 9 June 1958 * Fi

DEADLINE for public comment April 9, 2010 SEND TO cepdmail@wdc.usda.gov Comment on the Proposed Rule for BCAP. Dear Director of Conservation and Environmental Programs, Dept of Agriculture: I am vehemently opposed to provisions of the 2008 Farm Bill that facilitates the use of trees as bio-fuel. This includes my being opposed to the proposed rule for the Biomass Crop Assistance Program. I don’t think it is appropriate to consider trees a true “renewable resource” for purposes of federal regulation. The planet is experiencing the Holocene Mass Extinction and such deforestation as the proposed rule would foster would not be sustained by many species of plants and animals. Invariably some of the species lost would be economically beneficial. Worse still, the growing relative sterility of the planet will have implications on the proper development of the human immune system, allergies, Krohn’s desease and a host of other ailments. The climate is no longer optimally conducive to growing many trees species to maturity, much less their full size. For reasons which include, but are not limited to: (a) Irregular rain fall patterns that are robbing the soil of normal ground water conditions will frustrate reforestation efforts. Deluges create run-off that doesn’t absorb into the ground as much as a good slow rain, intermittent droughts stunt growth, etc. It’s important to remember what is suggested by the rings of tree and augment that those dynamics given the current state of the climate – that is getting worse. Mudslides are facilitated by decreasing the root systems both in size and distribution throughout a logged area. (b) Many species of trees are not equipped to thrive in the heat shocks that are forthcoming to their indigenous latitudes, (c) There is evidence that in recent years C02 levels are slowing the growth rate of trees - regardless of temperature or rainfall (ref. joint study Universities of Wisconsin and Minnesota). C02 of 350 ppm may be a goal for the year 2050, but what we currently have now represents a state of super saturation that is proving toxic to normal tree growth. So even if we keep the average global temperature from increasing over 2 degrees Celsius by the year 2050 we will still have wide ranging problems. (d) Biomass burning is far from carbon neutral, C02 would be released into the atmosphere by bio-fuel plants generating electricity by burning forests. (e) And even if an area logged to fuel a biomass facility ultimately grows back, even under perfect environmental conditions, it takes decades or even centuries for a forest to recapture as much carbon as is lost when it's logged. As a recent special on the television show 60 minutes pointed out areas in the west that have recently experienced forest fires have converted to a dry scrub savannah where trees are not growing back. (f) Such a plan will contribute to the problems already being created deforestation of tropical rainforests. (g) An increasing number of trees will be lost due to natural causes. For example, California-like mega forest fires, new deadly funguses and tree diseases, floods, mudslides, tree killing invasive bark beetles and wood borers, ad nausea. Sadly, this wouldn’t be the first time a desperate country devoured its environmental base/principal. I realize that the Department of Agriculture’s plans may seem to represent the only economic benefit for some families where alternatives have not been made available. Both these observations, however, ultimately question the quality of leadership and are not solved by discounting the future or flying in the face of simple reason. Such dilemmas are part of the reason why Climate Change needed to be avoided. Ethically it is wrong to spare no expense to society to get David Obey re-elected. As a matter of fact, I can’t help but think that this particular plan by the Department of Agriculture may be so environmentally misguided that is somehow linked to vetoing a law that would have required a scientific background of the State’s Secretary of Department of Natural Resources. Do not put the objectives of your respective political party before what is in the best interest of the public. If this proposed rule, or for that matter the Sealaska "Sweetheart Deal", passes into law (Sealaska has already logged 300,000 acres of Pacific Northwest rainforest for sale to Asia) I will do everything in my power to convince each and every person in my sphere of influence to vote against the incumbent in every Local, State and National election. Thank you, Thomas Elliott, MBA, MS Madison, Wisconsin * I was shocked and disappointed to see Congressman David Obey listed as a MAJOR recipient of cash from Cassidy & Associates, the lobbying firm that employed Jack Abramoff, in the new book titled “So Damn Much Money: The Triumph of Lobbying and the Corrosion of American Government” by award winning author Robert G. Kaiser of the Was