What Made Arrested Development Great

Was that the actors really bought into the characters as this clip from Keith Olberman's 'Countdown' shows:



Jason Bateman and David Cross still obviously enjoy playing their characters from AD. And even though Bateman is supposed to be promoting a new movie Keith shows AD clips.

Without Warrant

Wired - McCain: I'd Spy on Americans Secretly, Too

McCain adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin, speaking for the campaign... for the first time cast McCain's views on warrantless wiretapping as identical to Bush's

Cities Are The Solution

IHT - Stranded in suburbia

If Europe's example is any guide, here are the two secrets of coping with expensive oil: Own fuel-efficient cars, and don't drive them too much.

Wired - Urban Living Is Kinder to the Planet Than the Suburban Lifestyle

A Manhattanite's carbon footprint is 30 percent smaller than the average American's.

Rumsfeld In His Own Words

Via MSNBC - Correctly Political: Liquid Lunch with Donald Rumsfeld

New Evidence Pushes Back Arrival Of First Americans

NatGeo - Earliest Known American Settlers Harvested Seaweed

...support the theory that the first Americans spread through the New World along a coastal route after walking across a land bridge from Asia to Alaska at least 15,000 years ago.

CSMon - Chile or Bust: Tracing the path of the first Americans

Half-chewed seaweed in southern Chile and fossilized feces unearthed in an Oregon cave are helping scientists build a case for the arrival of the first migrants in the Americas thousands of years earlier than previously believed.

These archaeological finds – unveiled within the past month – contribute to an evolving story in which the first migrants arrived in the Americas from Siberia between 15,000 and 16,000 years ago. They then appear to have trekked south along the west coasts of North and South America.

New statistical method throws up ancestry surprises

The study also shed light on the peopling of the Americas, as the results suggest that the native populations of north and south America have different origins. The researchers explain this by suggesting a scenario involving multiple waves of migration. In their proposed scenario, the population which first colonised North East Asia also crossed the Bering Strait and eventually made it to South America. This population was subsequently replaced by a population more closely related to modern East Asians. These people also successfully crossed the Bering Strait and contributed to the ancestry of the native North Americans.

Who Mentiond Diesels To The Times?

Out of nowhere, the New York Times posted a bunch of stories about diesel cars.
See:
Fuel From Plants, Not Oil Wells
Diesel Is Showing Its Racy Side
Diesel Automobiles Clean Up for an Encore
Diesel automobiles clean up for U.S. revival

Mule Power

Via breitbart -
High gas prices drive farmer to switch to mules

The accompanying video is must-see:
Farmer Saves $70 a Day by Trading Tractor For Mule Power (he actually gets higher quality hay from the mules because they don't crush the stalks)

Mothers And Kids And Allergies

SciDaily - Farm Moms May Help Children Beat Allergies

PhysOrg - Possible biological explanation for C-section-linked allergies and asthma found

Testing Forest Diversity As A Carbon Sink

Near Pellston, OSU and U of M researchers are slowly killing aspen trees in the hope they'll be replaced by maple, beech, oak, and pine. See:
U-M scientists remove thousands of aspens to glimpse forest's future (includes video)

The UMBS Forest Carbon Cycle Research Program

Aspen trees starved in global warming experiment

"We've been managing forests for lumber or pulp, or perhaps as habitat for deer or quail," said project leader Peter Curtis, an Ohio State University forest ecologist. "Many economists think that managing them for carbon will be a fact of life in the not-too-distant future."

I wonder why they didn't burn the forest in order to both clean the forest slate and create biochar which acts as a second carbon sink to the growing trees?

This Explains Things

I have been trying to understand the Senator Clinton voting bloc and why many of her supporters claim they will not vote for Senator Obama. This is the explanation everyone else is dancing around.

UKPress - Working class 'has lower IQ'

IEA Says "Uh-Oh"

WSJ - Energy Watchdog Warns Of Oil-Production Crunch

For several years, the IEA has predicted that supplies of crude and other liquid fuels will arc gently upward to keep pace with rising demand, topping 116 million barrels a day by 2030, up from around 87 million barrels a day currently. Now, the agency is worried that aging oil fields and diminished investment mean that companies could struggle to surpass 100 million barrels a day over the next two decades.

It is interesting how the peak oil dialog has followed the climate change analysis. It is an instructive study in psychology. (See: The Denial of Peak Oil)

"Here's A Little Something That Needs To Be Heard"

DetNews - Hip-hop pioneer 'Slick Rick' pardoned by governor

More McCain Connections

MSNBC - McCain economic policy shaped by lobbyist

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain’s national campaign general co-chair was being paid by a Swiss bank to lobby Congress about the U.S. mortgage crisis at the same time he was advising McCain about his economic policy...

Ideas Whose Time Has Come

Victory Gardens:
ABC - Suburbanites Turn Green Yards Into Cash With Minifarms
NYT - Urban Farmers’ Crops Go From Vacant Lot to Market
SFGate - Bring back the WWII-era victory garden

Electric Bikes:
Treehugger - Schwinn's Electric Bikes Now Available



Wind Power:
Traverse - Mr. Smiley's Windmill Wars
CSMonitor - 'Small wind' power plants are blowing strong

Lifestyle:
T.O.D. - The Four Day Work Week: Sixteen Reasons Why This Might Be an Idea Whose Time Has Come

Reason #1; the impact a 4 day work week could have on crude oil imports.
Reason #2 The 4 Day Work Week would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants.
Reason #3 The 4 Day Work Week would reduce workers exposure to pollutants.
Reason #4 The 4 Day Work Week would mean less traffic congestion.
Reason #5 The 4 Day Work Week would reduce money spent on new road construction and existing road maintenance.
Reason #6 The 4 Day Work Week would result in a reduction in personal expenses.
Reason #7 The 4 Day Work Week would mean fewer auto accidents each year.
Reason #8 The 4 Day Work Week would mean less time spent in VSC or Voluntary Solitary Confinement
Reason #9 The 4 Day Work Week would mean a reduction in absenteeism
Reason #10 The 4 Day Work Week would increase productivity
Reason #11 The 4 Day Work Week would give us more time for family
Reason #12 The 4 Day Work Week would decrease labor costs
Reason #13 The 4 Day Work Week would decrease operational costs
Reason #14 The 4 Day Work Week would mean a reduction in the cost of childcare
Reason #15 The 4 Day Work Week would provide time for a transition into the informal economy
Reason #16 The 4 Day Work Week feels great!