| Almanac: Duck stamp could cost $10 more
Buried in President Bush's recently announced $3.1 trillion 2009 budget is a recommendation to raise the federal duck stamp, currently $15, to $25. The increase would be the first in 17 years -- since 1991. Conservation groups have been supportive of an increase, arguing that inflation has eroded the stamp's buying power. The $15 stamp in 1991 is worth just $9.48 in 2008 dollars. Had the stamp price been indexed to inflation, it would cost $23.74 this year. Any increase must be approved by Congress. Bush's proposal conflicts with the proposed Wetland Loan Act, which would borrow $400 million from future duck stamp sales and use the cash to protect vital wetland habitat now -- at today's prices instead of tomorrow's. A version of the bill calls for an immediate $10 duck stamp increase, with another $10 increase in 2015.
DAVID LEASK and DOUGLAS FRASER
The research represents a vital contribution to a debate over whether Scotland should take on more tax-raising powers or become independent. Our findings come amid a growing clamour from English politicians and the London-based media to curb Scotland's £26bn spending grant from the Treasury. But, as The Herald shows, much of this mischief is based not on facts but a series of myths, mistakes and misconceptions. .
High-tech tinkerers on the rise
The reason you're going to see more and more people doing it is because they've always wanted to be able to fiddle - but the technology was daunting." That's changing, as do-it-yourself gadgetry becomes more accessible to people who have never even held a soldering iron. Paul Badger, an instructor at the Rhode Island School of Design who runs Modern Device Co. out of his house, creates cheap microcontroller boards, called "Bare Bones Boards," that take off from a popular microcontroller called Arduino. Badger's art students work on things like a wig that can flip up and down and back and forth, or experiment with lighting; the Arduino microcontroller is often used in other artistic products, such as clothing melded with computing, or basic robotics for artists.
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