Something Called "Money Well Spent"

Back a couple of weeks ago, when Barack Obama addressed Congress (but did not deliver a State of the Union speech--no matter what it might've looked like), Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal delivered the Republican response. His delivery wasn't terribly well received, and he was the target of a fair amount of criticism about his content. Among many criticisms he had of the president and his budget, Jindal complained about $140 million set aside for "something called 'volcano monitoring.'" It's not entirely clear why he used that particular construction, as if he didn't really understand the purpose of the concept, because you'd think that the meaning of the term would be fairly self-evident. He might have questioned the program's usefulness, but he came off looking ill-informed by seeming not to comprehend it at all.

But if the usefulness of the program wasn't obvious before, it sure is now. It helped provide warning of something called a "volcanic eruption" in Alaska and make sure the area was properly prepared. Mount Redoubt in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve erupted on Sunday (and has erupted four more times since) after the mountain had been growing more and more active. So far I've seen no reports of injury. All involved in monitoring this volcano (with our tax dollars) should be appreciated for a job well done.