Saddam Hussein Was Ready For Exile and $1 Billion

Must reading from Professor Juan Cole - Transcript Reveals Impeachable Offenses by Bush

In other words, Bush could have sent Saddam off to exile in Saudi Arabia and avoided the whole war, but refused to do so because of the family vendetta between the Bushes and the Tikritis. Nearly 4,000 US soldiers have died and thousands have been wounded because Bush would not take the deal Saddam offered him. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are dead, and millions displaced.

Going to war unnecessarily is an impeachable offense.

And One Billion dollars or 400 plus billion?

Cost of the War in Iraq

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Tools Link Hawaii And Tahiti

National Geographic - Early Polynesians Sailed Thousands of Miles for Trade

Nature Isn't Fragile. We Are.

Vaclav Havel writes in the IHT - The planet is not at risk. We are

Another Notch In Vinegar's Bedpost

Seen at Rebecca's Pocket - Via NPR.org What Does it Take to Clean Fresh Food?

...the cleaning method that worked the best was the dilute vinegar rinse. It removed 98 percent of the bacteria.

Delusions Of Grandeur

(The entire article at HNN.us is Must Reading)
Via History News Network from Juan Cole - Bonaparte and Bush on Deck

rench Egypt and American Iraq can be considered bookends on the history of modern imperialism in the Middle East. The Bush administration's already failed version of the conquest of Iraq is, of course, on everyone's mind; while the French conquest of Egypt, now more than two centuries past, is all too little remembered, despite having been led by Napoleon Bonaparte, whose career has otherwise hardly languished in obscurity. There are many eerily familiar resonances between the two misadventures, not least among them that both began with supreme arrogance and ended as fiascoes. Above all, the leaders of both occupations employed the same basic political vocabulary and rhetorical flimflammery, invoking the spirit of liberty, security, and democracy while largely ignoring the substance of these concepts.

Come On In Boys, The Water Is Fine

National Geographic - Arctic Melt Opens Northwest Passage

Energy Tipping Point

Via The Oil Drum - Forbes - Oil Exec: Coherent Energy Policy Needed

"We have seen our country pass, in my opinion, the tipping point of energy supply keeping up with energy demand in ways that secure our future," -John Hofmeister, president Shell Oil Company

Miami Going Smoke Free

Miami trustees ratify campus smoking ban

What are the cool kids supposed to do now? And what about the French kids who smoke while riding their bike? Is there no justice?

Australian Government Peak Oil Warning

Report warns of petrol chaos: QUEENSLAND is heading for an oil shock. And it is not a matter of if, but when.

...an as-yet unreleased Queensland Government report warns of massive social dislocation, rising food prices and infrastructure headaches because of rising oil costs.

You Cook Dinner, I'll Cook Breakfast, In Between We'll Just Cook

ResearchBuzz has updated their Cookin' With Google search tool.

http://www.researchbuzz.org/wp/tools/cookin-with-google/
Cookin’ With Google allows you to provide a list of ingredients (what’s in the fridge?) and get back a list of recipes that Google finds for you.

It works pretty well.

That's So Gay

From NY Magazine - The Science of Gaydar

Peak Oil Consensus

Peak Oil Test Looming

World oil production may have already peaked at about 85 million barrels daily (mmbd) where it has been stuck for the past year... With current demand near 86 mmbd, the difference has been made up by declining inventory.

Peak Oil Is Here
“The world is consuming more oil than it is producing.”--The Economist, July 14-20 print edition.

The New Energy Pessimism

Recently, however, a spate of high-level government and industry reports have begun to suggest that the original peak-oil theorists were far closer to the grim reality of global-oil availability than industry analysts were willing to admit. Industry optimism regarding long-term energy-supply prospects, these official reports indicate, has now given way to a deep-seated pessimism, even in the biggest of Big Oil corporate headquarters.

What To Eat Every Day

Via Lifehacker -> Best Life - Eat these eight foods every day to cover all your nutritional bases

1. Spinach
2. Yogurt
3. Tomatoes
4. Carrots
5. Blueberries
6. Black Beans
7. Walnuts
8. Oats

That is incredibly close to my diet. Every morning starts with a bowl of hot oatmeal usually sprinkled with blueberries or dried cherries, walnuts or almond butter, and yogurt. Lunch usually includes a sandwich with spinach on it and a whole carrot to wash it down.

Grand Traverse Distillery's Web Site Is Open

Grand Traverse Distillery

They're using local rye and water to produce 'True North Vodka'. I've never tried vodka but will give it a try sometime.

Yes! Two Girls For Every Boy

Seen on TreeHugger - Man-Made Chemicals Cause 2:1 Ratio of Girls to Boys Born in Arctic

And:

Recently, the historical sex balance of the human race has begun to change around the world as well. Throughout history there has usually been a slightly greater number of males than females born each year, but a paper published in the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences this year said that in Japan and the US there were 250,000 boys fewer than would have been expected had the sex ratio existing in 1970 remained as it was.

My Library, Via Google

Google keeps getting better. For books that have full text available, this is a way to take your reading list with you (e.g., Google's example of Lt Danly's library)

My (own) library on Book Search
Collect, share, and discover books

Claim - For First Time Ever, More Woldwide Service Jobs Than Agricultural

Via Slashdot - After 10,000 Years, Farming No Longer Dominates

CEO Pay

I have no problem with a CEO being paid whatever the Board of Directors believes that person is worth.

Are CEOs worth that much more?

CEO Pay: 364 Times More Than Workers'

But money does not necessarily buy competence or sense.

The CEO Bought a Yacht? Then it's time to sell.

Haunted Mansion: A study proves that the bigger his house, the worse the CEO.

I think a rational CEO would ask for a healthy and rewarding wage yet not too excessive so that money can be used elsewhere in the institution.

For example, at the very successful and growing soap company Dr. Bronner's, "total compensation of executives is capped at five times that of our lowest-paid position".

George Bush Number 1

(Originally at NYTimes.com) George Bush I (1796–1859)