Slow Cookers Reviewed

Metaefficient picks their top slow cookers: The Best Slow Cookers

That's So Gay

Or as the linked article ends, "mating isn't only about multiplying".

There are more than 450 vertebrate species that get busy with the same gender. So not sure how homosexuality can be considered unnatural.

See the Frontal Cortex: Gay Animals

Life Was Made In Pinedale

Well, just a little bit, the sage grouse part.

See the Sublette Examiner: ‘Life’ filmed near Pinedale

Official site: Life at the Discovery Channel

Brilliant Politics

President Obama made a lot of noise by opening up some parts of the continental shelf to drilling, then a couple of days later the E.P.A. released new fuel economy standards for cars and trucks AND issued rules for how much CO2 cars can release.

Funny that the drilling got all the attention but the E.P.A. are what will really matter.

We are in the midst of a political magician.

See:
U.S. Issues Limits on Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Cars

Offshore Drilling's Payoff May Not Be Energy

VW's New Design Language And One Other Thing

Via FC: Volkswagen Unveils Its First Hybrid

Brandishing an iPhone, he added: "Otherwise, why would my friend Steve Jobs design this! Our design is about honesty and responsibility."

The other thing via GCC: Diesels Account for 85% of All Jetta SportWagens Sold in March

TDI killed the ethanol star.

Another Luxury Wagon

Like the Japanese companies, GM will be offering a Cadillac sport wagon to compete with the traditional European station wagons.

See USAToday: Cadillac CTS-V sport wagon bulks up on power

Not sure why anyone would buy a GM vehicle though. Listen to This American Life's podcast about the NUMMI plant if you are ever thinking about buying GM

I hope Ford is paying attention. Perhaps a Lincoln version of the UK's Modndeo wagon?

Teleprompt This

Via WaPo: Obama's 17-minute, 2,500-word response to woman's claim of being 'over-taxed'

Related, from Salon: Is right's obsession with Obama's teleprompter racist?

Mammals Don't Need Maps

And neither do people.

See:
NewSCi:Learning to use nature's GPS

Wired: Make Like a Dolphin: Learn Echolocation

I Have Always Admired Judge Posner

First in the 1990's when I first read his work. Now as an author for The Atlantic.

His writing is prolific yet clear.

He's also a realistic libertarian. And when the facts could not support his opinion he then changed his opinion. Which is difficult. I went through a similar transformation politically. But I am not as smart as Judge Posner so I cannot explain it as well.

See his interview at Harper's: Six Questions for Richard Posner on Capitalism and Crisis

Crash Course On Palestine

The Israel-Palestine conflict is not something I follow closely, but I think I understand it much better after reading Juan Cole's The Map: The Story of Palestinian Nationhood Thwarted After the League of Nations Recognized It

Bicyclist Have A Posse

It is the Federal Department of Transportation.

See FC: Transportation Secretary Announces "Sea-Change" for American Transport: Bikes!

LaHood's announcement... is backed by a set of eight guidelines, which will be sent to state DOT's and communities:

* Treat walking and bicycling as equals with other transportation modes.
* Ensure convenient access for people of all ages and abilities.
* Go beyond minimum design standards.
* Collect data on walking and biking trips.
* Set a mode share target for walking and bicycling.
* Protect sidewalks and shared-use paths the same way roadways are protected (for example, snow removal)
* Improve nonmotorized facilities during maintenance projects.

Which frankly all sounds rather dull, but here's the important thing: LaHood, as Transportation Secretary, is essentially saying, "If you want federal DOT dollars, you better think more seriously about adding bike paths to the projects you propose."

"Christians understand their faith only in privatized terms"

I have been wondering how conservative Christians in America can hold so many discordant views. Reading this helped me understand a little why they are so crazy but not the how.

See HuffPo: Why Conservative Christians So Often Fail the Common Good

Yak Wool

The claim is yak wool is warmer than merino and as soft as cashmere.

Via Metaefficient: Ultrafine Yak Wool Clothing

The company offering this clothing is Khunu.

Making The Plains Less Plain

The NYT Dot Earth blog: Can Wild Bison Repopulate the Plains?

Which reminded me of the idea from several years ago to re-wild the American plains with African wildlife as a replacement for the native American species that disappeared during the Pleistocene. See: Bring African wildlife to U.S., say ecologists

The Japanese Will Finally Get Some Wagon Wheels

Audi, Volvo, BMW, and MB are getting some competition in the luxury wagon category.

See the NYT: New York Auto Show Preview: Acura TSX Sport Wagon

and it looks much better than the Honda Crosstour (not that would be hard to do).

The Latest On The Original Dog

Via NPR: Dogs Likely Descended From Middle Eastern Wolf

...dog skeletons 12,000 or 13,000 years old have been found in what is now northern Israel. "They're found in burials with humans in a very clear human context."

Vermont Public Radio Interview With Neko Case

At VPR

Singer-songwriter Neko Case recently bought a farmhouse in the Northeast Kingdom. She joins VPR's Neal Charnoff to to talk about why she moved to Vermont, what her songs mean to her, and her upcoming benefit concert for Catamount Arts.

Out Of Nowhere, Some Liz Phair

She wrote a piece for The Atlantic: Exile in Greenville (includes some of the playlist she listened to while on the trip)

And a blogger posted his version of Phairities.

Google Maps Expands

Look what Google has done: Biking directions added to Google Maps

and as The Atlantic explains: Why Google Maps' New Biking Directions Could Be Huge

I tested it to see if it would put me on the Leelanau Trail for a trip from Traverse City to Suttons Bay:

Does Anyone In Utah Find This Ironic?

recently in the news, the state of Utah is considering less education:

Utah Eyes Cutting 12th Grade To Save $60M

and so it is not a surprise that this leads to wackiness:

House Resolution Passed in Utah: Climate Change a Conspiracy