Slip of the Tongue

James Howard Kunstler writes: Barack Obama caught hell last week for daring to tell the truth about the ragged thing that the American spirit has become. He said that small-town Pennsylvania voters, bitter over their economic circumstances, “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them” to work out their negative emotions. He might have added that the Pope wears a funny hat (see for yourself this week), and that bears shit in the woods (something rural Pennsylvanians probably know). Nevertheless, in the manner lately prescribed for those who slip up and speak truthfully in public (and in contradiction to the reigning delusions), Obama was pressured to apologize for his statements. The evermore loathsome and odious Hillary Clinton, co-owner of a $100 million personal wealth portfolio, seized the moment to remind voters what a normal, everyday gal she is -- who would never look down on the small-town folk of Pennsylvania the way her "elitist" opponent had -- forgetting, apparently, that the Clinton family's consigliere, James Carville, famously described the Keystone State as a kind of redneck sandwich with Pittsburgh and Philadelphia as the bread, and Alabama as the lunch meat in between. As I mull over all this, I begin to think that Hillary is exactly what the USA deserves and, that should she manage to winkle away the nomination and get elected president, the outcome would be instructive and salutary. For one thing, she will be buried under an avalanche of political woe, beginning with the basic financial insolvency of everything in the nation except the Clinton family. Then she would proceed straight into an oil-and-gas clusterfuck that could take this society back to the eighteenth century economically. This would have the positive effect of forcing the American public to look elsewhere for governance than the usual parties in Washington, D.C. It's time for a national purgative, anyway. In fact, it's way overdue. Are the Democratic and Republican parties anymore necessary than the Whigs? Neither of them can really articulate the problems we face (and when their honchos slip up and come close to the truth, they're persecuted for it). (04/18/08)

A Daily Gift

The DailyGood is a free, daily email service that delivers a little bit of inspiring goodness to 81,470 people without any costs, advertising or agendas. Simply to spread the good. You can view the Daily Good at the website or subscribe for daily email delivery. See today's Daily Good below: April 18, 2008 The simple act of caring is heroic. --Edward Albert A 9-Year-Old Walks For The Homeless: Younger than most of the people in the crowd, 9-year-old Zach Bonner stepped to the side of the lectern so that people could see him. He thanked sponsors of his 250-mile walk for the homeless, which was about to start. "What bothers me is what homeless kids go through," Zach said. "What happens when they go to sleep? What happens when they wake up?" His family doesn't know why Zach works so hard organizing charity drives for hurricane victims, underprivileged children and the homeless. Even Zach has a hard time explaining it. "You know how some kids like football, and they will eat and breathe and sleep football?" Zach's mother says. "Well, he's really into this. This is what makes him happy." [more] Be The Change: This week, care for someone who is down on their luck.

The Most Senior of Citizens

BBC Science -- A tree said to be the oldest on the planet - thought to be nearly 10,000 years old - has been found in Sweden. Scientists from Umeaa University discovered the spruce on Fulu Mountain in Dalarna province while carrying out a census of tree species there in 2004. The age of its genetic material was recently calculated using carbon dating at a laboratory in Miami, Florida. Scientists had believed the world's oldest trees were 4,000-year-old pine trees found in North America. The oldest, a bristlecone pine named Methuselah located in California's White Mountains, is aged 4,768, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The new record contender, which would have taken root just after the last ice age, was found among a cluster of around 20 spruces believed to be more than 8,000 years old at an altitude of 910m (2,985ft) on Fulu Mountain. (04/18/08)

Cosmic Rays Exonerated

BBC Science -- The idea that modern global warming is due to changes in cloudiness caused by solar influences on cosmic rays is popular with "climate sceptics". But scientists found changes in cosmic ray flux do not affect cloud formation - the second such report in a month. Separately, other researchers have found that particles from space may affect temperatures at the poles. Both pieces of research were presented here at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) meeting. Cosmic rays, hugely energetic particles coming from space, smash into the top of the Earth's atmosphere, creating a cascade of charged particles lower down. These particles may help water droplets to coalesce, and so aid the formation of clouds. The proposed link to climate change is that cosmic rays can be partially blocked by the Sun's solar wind. When the Sun is forceful, there are fewer cosmic rays arriving in the atmosphere, so fewer clouds form, which has a net heating effect on the Earth. If the mechanism has an impact today, several scientists have hypothesised, it should be possible to spot a link between the intensity of cosmic rays and the formation of clouds. Jon Egill Kristjansson from the University of Oslo is one; and he unveiled his new results at the EGU meeting.  (04/18/08)