Tea Bird

What I’m Reading Today 11/13/2008 Edition

Bailout Lacks Oversight Despite Billions Pledged by Amit Paley of the Washington Post
A Senior Fellow at the Institute of Nonexistence by Richard Perez Pena at the NY Times
Supreme Court Rules for Navy in Sonar Case by Adam Liptak of the NY Times

What I’m Reading Now 11/11/2008 Edition

The New Liberalism by George Packer of the New Yorker
Generation O Gets Its Hopes Up by Damien Cave of the NY Times
Forest-friendly Farming at the Economist
The Charm of Big Cities by the Economist
Census of the Ocean Finding New Wonders by Randolph E. Schmid of the AP
Franklin Delano Obama? by Paul Krugman of the NY Times
Obama [...]

Haiti Needs Our Help by Rep. Maxine Waters

An Amen to this from Rep. Maxine Waters:
Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, has suffered through several natural disasters previously. But none compare to the storms that hit Haiti over the last month. Haiti has been struck by four hurricanes and tropical storms in rapid succession. Severe flooding, landslides, wind [...]

Jesus as community organizer

Couldn’t have said this better than Democracy Lover in response to this by Barry:

I got out my super-secret Karl Rove decoder ring (which all wingnuts are issued) and learned that “community organizer” means “n**ger.” I’m not sure if Jesus was a “community organizer” or not.

Democracy Lover:

Jesus sure brought people together and taught them to help [...]

Community Organizer mocking as cultural trope

Ambinder nails this. The joke about community organizers like Obama for elite Republicans is “Look at this Harvard-educated dilettante. He’s so stupid that he wastes all his youth, education and opportunities on the urban poor instead of using these to benefit himself and his family. After all, we all know they would never [...]

Common BPA chemical linked to brain problems

Bisphenol A, a compound found in many water bottles and known to leach into water has now been linked to brain and mood problems in primates.

Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine have linked a chemical found in everyday plastics to problems with brain function and mood disorders in monkeys — the first time the [...]

Environmental dependence

We completely depend on the environment for absolutely everything we need to survive. This is a simple statement that often falls by the wayside. When you stop to think about it, though, it is profound. Everything that we eat, drink and breathe — it may come wrapped in plastic — but it [...]

Using the Kiski River To Generate Power in Vandergrift

From WTAE-TV:

The old town of Vandergrift hopes to be the new face of sustainable energy — and what’s in the water could be the most powerful boost ever for the local economy.
University of Pittsburgh researchers want to generate electricity by putting conducting fibers at the bottom of the Kiski River. The faster the current [...]

Wolves would rather eat salmon

From BMC Ecology:

Although most people imagine wolves chasing deer and other hoofed animals, new research suggests that, when they can, wolves actually prefer fishing to hunting. The study, published today in the open access journal BMC Ecology, shows that when salmon is available, wolves will reduce deer hunting activity and instead focus on seafood.

From [...]

Strange Clouds Spotted at the Edge of Space

Wow! Space is THE place.
From Space.com:
A weirdly wonderful sight appeared to astronauts aboard
the International Space Station this summer — thin blue clouds hovering at the
boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and the void.