Tag: 4@4

Some news and an afternoon open thread.

1. The Chicago Tribune reports Blacks hit hard in drug sentencing, study finds. “African-Americans in Cook County were imprisoned for drug offenses at 58 times the rate of white people-the seventh-worst racial disparity among large counties nationwide, according to a new report. The Justice Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank advocating alternatives to prison for social problems, was set to release a study Tuesday detailing the different treatment white and black drug offenders receive under the criminal justice system. The institute found that nationwide, African-Americans are imprisoned for drugs at 10 times the rate of white people.”

2. According to McClatchy Newspapers, Iraqis in Syria face food shortages. “Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees in Syria face a bleak winter, with rising fuel costs that could leave many without enough money for food, the director of the World Food Program said… About a third of Iraqi respondents in a recent United Nations study said they skipped one meal a day to feed their children. Nearly 60 percent said that they’re buying cheaper, less nutritious food to cope with a dramatic increase in prices. With the weather turning colder and heating prices rising, humanitarian workers predict more Iraqis will go hungry in order to keep up with rent and utilities.”

   Meanwhile, The New York Times reports Red Crescent says 25,000 Iraqi refugees have returned. “At least 25,000 Iraqi refugees have returned to their beleaguered homeland from Syria since mid-September, according to preliminary estimates released Monday by the Iraqi Red Crescent. The figure represents a fraction of the estimated 1.5 million Iraqis who fled to Syria in recent years to escape the sectarian violence and ethnic cleansing in Iraq… The refugees are finding an altered landscape, with neighborhoods largely ethnically homogenous, reshaped by sectarian strife. Unemployment also hovers at roughly 40 percent, and corruption is rampant, with many people paying bribes to obtain jobs.”

3. The Sydney Morning Herald reports from the IPCC conference that the US still all talk at Bali, and no steps on climate. “The US has failed to offer any hope it will embrace binding targets to cut its greenhouse gas emissions, on the first day of the United Nations climate conference in Bali. But its negotiators are promising to be ‘very open and flexible’ in the talks aimed at a new global agreement to slow down dangerous climate change.” As Spiegel reported yesterday, the Bush administration is determined to obstruct any possible progress out of Bali.

4. The Guardian reports Honey ‘beats cough medicine’. “A clinical trial has found that honey is more effective at soothing a sore throat than a common active ingredient in children’s cough medicines. Honey has been used for centuries to relieve a tickly throat and scientists now believe it may be effective because it has constituents that kill microbes and acts as an antioxidant. That means it might prevent damage inside cells from chemical byproducts of their activity. The study compared buckwheat honey with dextromethorphan, an ingredient in a range of branded medicines.”

Some news and afternoon open thread.

1. Climate talks take on added urgency after IPCC report, according to The New York Times. Thousands are gathered in Bali for a new round of climate talks to replace the expiring Kyoto treaty, “but few participants expect this round of talks to produce significant breakthroughs… By far, the biggest obstacle to forging a new accord by 2009 is the United States, analysts say. Senior Bush administration officials say the administration will not agree to a new treaty with binding limits on emissions… In his latest statement on climate change last Wednesday, Mr. Bush said, ‘Our guiding principle is clear: we must lead the world to produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and we must do it in a way that does not undermine economic growth or prevent nations from delivering greater prosperity for their people.'” Arghhhh!

2. According to Spiegel, the US seeks alliance with China and India to block climate protection. “In the run-up to the Bali Climate Conference that opened Monday, the administration of US President George W. Bush established contact with representatives of the Chinese and Indian governments in an attempt to curb progress on climate protection initiatives, SPIEGEL ONLINE has learned from a source familiar with the White House’s Bali strategy. According to the source, Washington is hoping that the two greenhouse gas emitters will openly declare during the conference that they are unwilling to accept any binding limits on emissions of greenhouse gases — at least not as long as the US is unwilling to do more or if the Western industrial nations do not provide them with more financial aid for climate protection initiatives. If successful, the US could use the tactic to prevent itself from becoming an isolated scapegoat if negotiations in Bali end in a stalemate.” When will other nations use economic clout, such as sanctions and carbon tariffs, against eco-terrorist nations?

3. The Hill reports Waxman seeks Mukasey’s help in CIA leak probe. “Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) is asking new Attorney General Michael Mukasey to help him advance a probe into the leak of the name of a CIA operative to the media. Waxman, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, petitioned Mukasey in a letter Monday to side with Congress in a battle with the White House over whether special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald can release ‘key documents’ to the panel… The panel is investigating circumstances surrounding the leak of the name of Valerie Plame Wilson to the media.”

4. The Washington Post reports a Rare, “mummified” dinosaur unearthed in North Dakota. In 1999, “a high school student hunting fossils in the badlands of… North Dakota discovered an extremely rare mummified dinosaur that includes not just bones but also seldom seen fossilized soft tissue such as skin and muscles… The 25-foot-long hadrosaur found by Tyler Lyson in an ancient river flood plain in the dinosaur-rich Hell Creek Formation is apparently the most complete and best preserved of the half-dozen mummified dinosaurs unearthed since early in the last century… Although described as ‘mummified,’ the 65 million-year-old duckbilled dinosaur would be better described as “mineralized”. National Geographic News and Wired has pictures and more!

Some news and the Friday afternoon open thread.

1. A new international ranking of the science ability of 15 year olds has been conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The study found the United States is below average and ranks a dismal 29th of the 57 countries evaluated. Finland, Hong Kong, and Canada were rated the top three countries on the science scale. (Hat tip The Great Beyond – the Nature blog.)

2. The Guardian reports Russia pulls out of NATO arms pact. “President Vladimir Putin has withdrawn Russia from a key post-cold war international arms treaty, paving the way for the deployment of Russian forces closer to Europe. The withdrawal of Russian participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty was signed into law today. The United States, the European Union and Nato had urged Putin not to suspend the treaty, seen as a cornerstone of European security.”

3. The Globe and Mail reports Taser firms picked up coroner’s lecture tab. “Taser International and another company closely linked to the manufacturer have paid the way for Ontario’s deputy chief coroner to lecture at their conferences on the phenomenon of ‘excited delirium,’ a medically unrecognized term that the company often cites as a reason people die after being tasered. James Cairns… publicly advocates the use of the stun gun, has become one of the top Canadian experts Taser officials turn to for help shoring up public support for their products in times of crisis.”

4. Spiegel has an in depth examination of the impact of the U.S. dollars decline in Why America’s currency is the world’s problem. “The world depends on the dollar. It is the most important currency in global trade. Aircraft, oil, steel and most natural resources are priced in the US currency. Central banks around the world invest a substantial share of their currency reserves in dollars. The competitiveness of entire continents depends on changes in the value of the world’s reserve currency. For these reasons, the dollar’s decline has the potential to send the world economy into a crisis. Americans have been living beyond their means for years. That includes both consumers, who often buy their houses, cars and other consumer items on credit, and the government, which is adding billions to the national debt to pay for its programs, especially to fight terrorism and wage the war in Iraq.”

           

Some news and the afternoon open thread.

1. 

   The New York Times reports U.N. warns of climate-related setbacks. “A new United Nations report warns that progress toward prosperity in the world’s poorest regions will be reversed unless rich countries promptly begin curbing emissions linked to global warming while also helping poorer ones leapfrog to energy sources that pollute less than coal and oil…

   “Prompt investment in emissions curbs is a bargain compared with the long-term costs of inaction. The authors, led by Kevin Watkins of the United Nations, said anything less would be a moral and political failure without precedent. ‘The bottom line is that the global energy system is out of alignment with the ecological systems that sustain our planet,’ said Mr. Watkins… ‘Realignment will take a fundamental shift in regulation, market incentives and international cooperation.'”

2. The Indepedent reports Why Venus, the Earth’s twin, became a wasteland.

   It is a world stripped of water and scarred by searing temperatures hot enough to melt lead. Yet Venus may once have been a planet much like Earth, where vast oceans of water could have supported life.

   The first detailed analysis of data gathered by a European space probe has revealed tantalising evidence that Venus – often considered Earth’s twin planet – became so inhospitable for life because of a series of chance events.

   Scientists have confirmed that the similarities between Venus and Earth were overshadowed by a shift in the former’s history that led to the loss of the Venusian oceans, an atmosphere clogged with carbon dioxide and a runaway greenhouse effect that gave rise to severe global warming.

3. According to The Hill, Democrats switch tack, seize on economic woes. “Congressional Democrats will focus on the economy next week in an effort to win political advantage from public fears about an approaching recession. This underscores the party leadership’s concern to avoid getting bogged down in more debate about Iraq and to make sure it is President Bush and Republicans who are blamed in the 2008 election for voter anxieties about the economy.” In related news, The Hill reports “Bush’s top economic advisor Al Hubbard will resign at the end of the year and be replaced by his deputy,” Keith Hennessey, a former staffer for Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS).

4. The Washington Post reports that Old allies abandon Chávez as constitution vote nears. Ramón Martínez, the governor of the Venezuelan coastal state of Sucre, and a “handful of others who once were prominent pillars in the Chávez machine, have defected, saying approval of 69 constitutional changes would effectively turn Venezuela into a dictatorship run at the whim of one man. They have been derided by Chávez as traitors, but their unimpeachable leftist credentials have given momentum to a movement that pollsters say may deliver Chávez his first electoral defeat. ‘The proposal would signify a coup d’etat,’ said Martínez, 58, whose dapper appearance belies his history as a guerrilla and Communist Party member. ‘Here the power is going to be concentrated in one person. That’s very grave.'”

Some news and open thread for Wednesday afternoon.

1. 

   The Independent reports Mexico spends millions to welcome insect migrants. “A warmer welcome should soon be awaiting the millions of orange-and-black monarch butterflies which each year make their astonishing migration from the eastern United States and Canada to the fir-clad mountains of central Mexico. The tourist hordes that come to view them should see the change too. The government of President Felipe Calderon is to boost spending at the nature reserve where the butterflies gather for winter by $4.6m (£2.2m) a year both to improve conditions for the insects – and their human admirers – and to step up efforts to combat rampant illegal logging.”

2. According to the Los Angeles Times, Seven federal wildlife decisions to be revised. “Federal wildlife regulators will revise seven controversial decisions on endangered species and critical habitat made by an Interior Department political appointee who quit in the spring amid charges of improper meddling in scientific decisions… Former Deputy Assistant Interior Secretary Julie MacDonald, a civil engineer from California with no formal training in natural sciences, routinely questioned and sometimes overruled recommendations by biologists and other field staffers, according to documents, interviews and a review by the department’s inspector general. The review outlined instances in which MacDonald advocated altering scientific conclusions in ways that led to reduced protection for imperiled species and that favored developers and agricultural businesses. And she was rebuked for providing internal documents to lobbyists.”

   MacDonald “should never have been allowed near the endangered species program,” [House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall II (D-WV)] said in a statement Tuesday. “This announcement is the latest illustration of the depth of incompetence at the highest levels of management within the Interior Department and breadth of this administration’s penchant for torpedoing science.”

3. The New York Times reports Oil producers see the world and buy it up. “Flush with petrodollars, oil-producing countries have embarked on a global shopping spree… Experts estimate that oil-rich nations have a $4 trillion cache of petrodollar investments around the world. And with oil prices likely to remain in the stratosphere, that number could increase rapidly. In 2000, OPEC countries earned $243 billion from oil exports, according to Cambridge Energy Research Associates. For all of 2007 the estimate was more than $688 billion, but that did not include the last two months of price spikes.”

4. The Los Angeles Times reports Ethanol a sticking point in energy bill. “A plan to dramatically increase ethanol production has become a major sticking point in congressional negotiations to complete work on the bill. And it has created a challenge for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose Democratic caucus has split over the issue… At the heart of this year’s dispute on Capitol Hill is the Senate bill’s renewable fuel standard, which would mandate 36 billion gallons of alternative fuels by 2022 — up to 15 billion from corn-based ethanol… Environmental groups, which support alternative fuels, want to ensure that stepped-up production does not damage the environment. They worry about more pollution from fertilizers and pesticides, and the conversion of grasslands and wildlife habitats to farmland.”

Another passing of note below the fold.

Some afternoon news and Open Thread.

1. The Los Angeles Times reports Defense War Secretary Robert Gates urges more funds for State Department. “Gates compared the yearly defense appropriation — at nearly $500 billion, not counting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — with an annual State Department budget of $36 billion. He noted that even with new hires, there are 6,600 career U.S. diplomats, or ‘less than the manning for one aircraft carrier strike group.'” In his lecture at Kansas State University, Gates said:

   We must focus our energies beyond the guns and steel of the military, beyond just our brave soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen. We must also focus our energies on the other elements of national power that will be so crucial in the coming years… Having robust civilian capabilities available could make it less likely that military force will have to be used in the first place, as local problems might be dealt with before they become crises.

   Despite the importance Gates placed on U.S. diplomacy, he promised that he will be asking for even more money for the defense war department next year.

2. The Guardian reports Australia’s Prime Minister-elect, Kevin Rudd talks climate change with Al Gore. Rudd already plans to have Australia ratify Kyoto, isolating the United States, but he also plans to take a leadership role by personally attending the UN climate summit in Bali and help shape the successor treaty to Kyoto. Rudd said that he and Gore “talked a lot about climate change and some of the important things which need to be done globally. We will resume that conversation… in Bali over a strong cup of tea – or something stronger.”

   In related news, The Guardian reports Less than 10 years to change our ways, warns UN report. “The stark warning from the UN’s Human Development report… said climate change would hit the least-developed countries the hardest… Developed countries, the UN said, should cut emissions by at least 30% by 2020 and by 80% by 2050. Developing nations should cut emissions by 20% by the year 2050. The UN said the world must spend 1.6% of global economic output each year until 2030 to stabilise carbon levels and to limit a rise in global temperature to 2C [3.6F] to avoid the catastrophic impact of climate change.”

3. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Around S.F. Bay, oiled birds still found nearly 3 weeks after spill. “About 2,150 birds have been found dead or have died at the bird rescue center since Nov. 7, the day the Cosco Busan crashed into the Bay Bridge and spilled 58,000 gallons of heavy bunker fuel oil. Bird experts figure that for every bird found dead or alive, about five to 10 others go unreported because they sink at sea, get eaten by predators or fly elsewhere. That would put the fatality number at up to 21,500 birds.”

4. The Oregonian reports Oregon’s Coos Bay coal beds bubbling with gas. “The project is in the early exploration stage, and nothing is certain. Recovering the gas is a scientifically complex prospect made less certain by potentially deal-killing environmental concerns… A byproduct of drilling into the coal seams is underground water that is laced with copper, salts and other minerals. Before moving ahead on a large scale, Methane Energy will have to figure out what to do with hundreds of thousands of gallons of water without damaging drinking water supplies, the surrounding forest or sensitive salmon habitat of Coos Bay’s estuary… Last week, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality approved a five-year permit allowing 100,000 gallons to be dumped each day, which would cover water from as many as two dozen wells. The approval came despite concerns from local residents and environmental groups about the water’s effects on soil, plants and fish.”

Six more stories lurk below the fold.

Some news and Monday afternoon’s Open Thread.

1. The AP reports Iraqi government may offer US long-rerm presence, business preference in return for security. “Iraq’s government is prepared to offer the U.S. a long-term troop presence in Iraq and preferential treatment for American investments in return for an American guarantee of long-term security including defense against internal coups”. As Spencer Ackerman of TPMmuckraker writes, “So it begins. After years of obfuscation and denial on the length of the U.S.’s stay in Iraq, the White House and the Maliki government have released a joint declaration of ‘principles’ for ‘friendship and cooperation.’ Apparently President Bush and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki signed the declaration during a morning teleconference.” Ackerman also reports that “war czar” Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute believes Permanent Iraq bases won’t require Senate ratification.

2. The New York Times reports Short of funds, Republians recruit the rich to run. “Confronting an enormous fund-raising gap with Democrats, Republican Party officials are aggressively recruiting wealthy candidates who can spend large sums of their own money to finance their Congressional races, party officials say. At this point, strategists for the National Republican Congressional Committee have enlisted wealthy candidates to run in at least a dozen competitive Congressional districts nationwide, particularly those where Democrats are finishing their first term and are thus considered most vulnerable. They say more are on the way. These wealthy Republicans have each already invested $100,000 to $1 million of their own money to finance their campaigns”. Even more blatantly the Republicans are the party only of the rich.

3. According to the Washington Post, Class makes cameo as a campaign issue. “Who’s rich? Who’s middle class? … Class, always an awkward topic in the United States, made a rare cameo appearance at a recent candidates debate in Las Vegas.”

   The exchange between Obama and Clinton began when the senator from Illinois said he was open to adjusting the cap on wages subject to the payroll tax. That’s the tax that the government prefers to call a “contribution” to Social Security. Under current law, a worker pays a flat percentage (and employers match it) of wages up to $97,500. Wages beyond that aren’t taxed.

   Clinton responded by saying that lifting the payroll tax would mean a trillion-dollar tax increase, adding that she did not want to “fix the problems of Social Security on the backs of middle-class families and seniors.”

   Obama replied: “Understand that only 6 percent of Americans make more than $97,000 a year. So 6 percent is not the middle class. It is the upper class.”

   Clinton: “It is absolutely the case that there are people who would find that burdensome. I represent firefighters. I represent school supervisors.”

   … As for how people see themselves, location is key. Is Clinton right that firefighters make the kind of money mentioned in Las Vegas? Yes, sometimes, in some places. According to the Web site FactCheck.org, the base pay of a New York City firefighter with five years’ experience is $68,475, but with overtime and holiday work, the same firefighter can make $86,518. A city fire captain can make $140,173 with overtime. Most school superintendents in New York state make more than $100,000.

   Online calculators allow anyone to make an instant city-to-city cost-of-living comparison. One such Web site calculates that someone making $97,500 in Washington could live just as comfortably on $67,846 in Ames, Iowa.

   The story goes on to try to give a definition of who is wealthy. Some of their ideas are degree of ‘financial stress’ and the ability to live off of wealth. Personally, I think it is only fair to remove the Social Security wage cap.

Two more stories below the fold. First proof, the weather is getting worse. Then a story about the time lords of Paris.

Some afternoon news and open thread.

1. The Los Angeles Times reports on Justice Stevens and the tipping point. “Justice John Paul Stevens, 87, last week became the second-oldest justice in the Supreme Court’s history… Although Stevens has given no hint of retiring and shows no sign of slowing down — in the courtroom, he looks and sounds much as he did 20 years ago — the question of his tenure looms over the court and the 2008 presidential campaign. If there is a tipping point in the Supreme Court’s future, it is likely to come with his departure. What kind of justice would replace him — and how strong the court’s slim conservative majority would be — may well depend on who is elected president.”

2. The Guardian reports another person has been killed by police in Canada by Taser. So, Inquiries launched after Canadian stun gun deaths. “Canadian authorities have launched urgent reviews into the safety of Taser stun guns following two recent deaths. Yesterday, a 45-year-old man died while in police custody after being shocked by the 5,000-volt weapon… Canada’s provincial Nova Scotia government today began an inquiry into Thursday’s death. Police said the victim had been taken into custody on assault charges just after midnight on Wednesday, when he became violent. The man then tried to escape from the police station, but one officer used a stun gun to shoot him in the thigh. Emergency services took the victim to hospital where he was assessed, deemed to be healthy, and released back into police custody. The man, whose identity has not yet been released, died 30 hours after being shocked.”

3. The Denver Post reports Polis blogging from Baghdad about the war. “Congressional candidate Jared Polis, in a late-night blogging session from his Baghdad hotel, said Wednesday that all U.S. senators and representatives should see the war firsthand. The Boulder Democrat.. was hit with few confrontational questions during his hour-long blog chat on the political website coloradoconfidential.com. Polis, a multimillionaire Internet entrepreneur, acknowledged he is covering his trip expenses as well as those of the Mile High United Way representative traveling with him.” Polis has also been posting on Daily Kos.

4. According to The Christian Science Monitor, On election eve, Australia’s opposition leader says climate change is his no. 1 priority. “Kevin Rudd, a bookish former diplomat who heads the opposition Labor Party, has pledged to sign the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, a move which would leave the US as the only developed nation not to have ratified the treaty. Mr. Rudd, a fluent Chinese speaker, has also promised to withdraw Australia’s small but politically significant contingent of 550 combat troops from Iraq… [Rudd] said he would personally represent Australia at a UN climate change meeting of environment ministers next month in Bali to discuss the next stage of the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. Ratifying the Kyoto treaty would be a radical departure from Prime Minister John Howard, a climate change skeptic and close friend of US President Bush. ‘Australia needs new leadership on climate change. Mr. Howard remains in a state of denial,’ Rudd said.”

There’s a bonus story below the fold…

Some news and Turkey Day open thread.

1. The New York Time reports on Thoughts of family and football amid the Turkey in Afghanistan.

   The soldiers filed into the dining tent in the soft light before evening, carrying heaps of food for a Thanksgiving gathering as polyglot as anywhere.

   At one plywood table there was a Special Forces staff sergeant who was born in Turkey. “No names, please,” he said, as he stepped inside.

   At another there was Capt. Walter P. De La Vega of the Army, who trains and supervises the Afghan security forces in Wardak Province. He was born in Peru and reared in New Jersey. The acoustic guitar player in camouflage, Sgt. Kevin J. Quinones, was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. When he strummed and sang “America the Beautiful” the soldiers set aside their food and stood.

   A cook who prepared the turkey, Specialist Yevgeny Goussev, was born in Moscow and received a work visa to the United States in 2002. He was a reserve artillery lieutenant in the Russian Army, although he said his commission was probably voided when he enlisted in the United States Army last year.

   Specialist Goussev became an American citizen this month. He says he understands what this American holiday means. “Thanksgiving is to share with other people, and not expecting anything in return,” he said.

2. In another episode of the world is mad, the Los Angeles Times reports A green idea for saving lives in Iraq. “When a little-known agency of the U.S. Army asked Joe Amadee III to come up with an idea for saving lives in Iraq, it was probing for some kind of a contraption… he and a crew led by an Oklahoma roofing contractor were at this desert base east of Baghdad spraying foam onto tents. Their plan is to turn all of the Army’s hulking, heat-absorbing tent barracks into rigid shells of 2-inch insulation. The way that would improve soldiers’ lives may be self-evident. What is less obvious is how it also could save their lives. The key is fuel: The more of it a base uses, the more soldiers are exposed to deadly roadside bombs on fuel convoys.” We’d save a lot more energy if we just redeployed and invested our Iraq occupation money on renewable and alternative energy research too.

3. The Guardian reports Howard election campaign hit by dirty tricks scandal. “The election strategy of the Australian prime minister, John Howard, was in turmoil today after members of his Liberal party were caught red-handed in an inept dirty tricks campaign. Bogus flyers from a fake organisation called the Islamic Australia Federation were distributed through the letterboxes of voters in a marginal seat, claiming the Labor opposition sympathised with Islamic terrorists. The leaflets referred to the men imprisoned for the 2002 nightclub bomb attacks in Bali, which left more than 200 people dead. The flyers also claimed Labor support for the building of new mosques in the area.” Hopefully, Bush’s ally John Howard will be voted out by the Australians. You should see the picture on the website of the Australian Liberal MP Jackie Kelly’s husband being caught red-handed distributing the fliers.

4. The AP reports Parade rolls in NYC under balmy skies. “nseasonably balmy weather greeted cheering crowds as the giant balloons in the traditional Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade floated through the streets of Manhattan… The parade, held on a sunny morning with a temperature nearing 60 degrees, offered a mix of new attractions and longtime favorites, solemn tributes and lighthearted spectacle.” Unseasonably warm or the new norm?

So, what else is happening?

Some news and your Wednesday afternoon open thread.

1. The Burlington Hawk Eye reports a Collapsed corn bin spills bushels on Hillsboro, Iowa house. A family was “rescued after a grain bin full of corn collapsed near their home in Hillsboro in Henry County. Rescue workers labored into the night Tuesday to free a father and son from the rubble of their home after the corn bin collapsed, spilling corn over a wide area.” Today, the Family sifts through remains of their home. “Wading through corn and scrambling over the crushed remains of a one-story house Tuesday, friends and relatives helped a Hillsboro family salvage small pieces of their lives. A full 519,000 bushel grain bin owned by Chem Gro of Houghton — only 20 feet from the house at 205 E. Main St. — burst Monday shortly after 8 p.m., according to neighbors. Jennifer and Jesse Kellett and their two children Jordan Walter, 11, and Sheyanne Walter, 9, were at home when the bin collapsed. Corn swept the house 30 feet off its foundation, trapping the family under rubble and grain.”

2. The Washington Post reports Huckabee gaining ground in Iowa. “Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, buoyed by strong support from Christian conservatives, has surged past three of his better-known presidential rivals and is now challenging former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney for the lead in the Iowa Republican caucuses, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News Poll. Huckabee has tripled his support in Iowa since late July… His support in Iowa appears stronger and more enthusiastic than that of his rivals… Romney outperforms Huckabee and other Republicans on key attributes, with two notable exceptions — perceptions of which candidate best understands people’s problems and which candidate is the most honest and trustworthy. On both, Romney and Huckabee are tied.” 1960 campaign was the last time a senator went on to win presidential election. The Democrats did it then with John F. Kennedy. Huckabee may have enough faux-populist hogwash to convince America.

3. The New York Times has a piece about the Kerry-Edwards campaign of 2004 called For Edwards, a relationship that never quite fit. “To the end of their disappointing run, the two men were unable to agree on the script, whether for slogans or more substantive matters. And like so many political marriages, the one between Mr. Kerry and Mr. Edwards – Senate colleagues who became rivals then running mates but never really friends – ended in recrimination and regrets…. Kerry supporters say Mr. Edwards refused to play the traditional vice-presidential role of attack dog even going up against a purebred, Dick Cheney… To Mr. Edwards, Mr. Kerry seemed unable to get out of his own way. He ignored Mr. Edwards’s warning not to go windsurfing, one aide recalled, which led to the infamous ‘whichever way the wind blows’ advertisement mocking Mr. Kerry’s statements on the war. And in the end, Mr. Edwards concluded that Mr. Kerry lacked fight for not filing a legal challenge to the election results… Once the sunny centrist who did not want to criticize his rivals by name, Mr. Edwards has become the most confrontational candidate in the race. And he has courted his party’s left wing by renouncing his vote on the war, something he counseled Mr. Kerry not to do… On Election Day, the running mates spent much of the day believing exit polls that showed them winning. The next morning, with Ohio still up in the air, Mr. Edwards pressed to send lawyers to Columbus to challenge the way the state counted provisional ballots. But Mr. Kerry finally concluded that even winning all those ballots would not make him president.”

4. The Los Angeles Times reports Early caucuses put student pro-Obama vote in play. “The Iowa caucuses are being held Jan. 3, the middle of winter break. With college students home for the holidays, campuses across the state will be empty. But the early caucus date could shift voter dynamics, adding young voices at their hometown caucuses across the state while diminishing the turnout at college precincts. Or, it could mean even fewer college students will take part in the electoral process. Either outcome will affect the tally for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois… The Obama campaign is banking on young voters, and the timing of this year’s caucuses could work to his advantage… Although students tend to register as voters on campus in Iowa, it’s easy to switch their registration on caucus night and vote at precincts in their hometowns… Of the Democratic candidates, the Illinois senator has the greatest support among young people and the least among senior citizens… If fewer college students vote, that would hamper Obama’s efforts and help former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, who has weaker support among young people and higher support among baby boomers, [according to Iowa State University political science professor Dianne Bystrom]. Clinton’s candidacy is unlikely to be affected because she has broad support across age groups.”

There’s a bonus story about an enormous, new national park in Canada below the fold.

Some news and the afternoon open thread.

1. The Los Angeles Times reports U.N. steeply lowers its AIDS estimates. “The United Nations on Monday radically lowered years of estimates of the number of people worldwide infected by the AIDS virus, revealing that the growth of the AIDS pandemic is waning for the first time since HIV was discovered 26 years ago. The revised figures, which were the result of much more sophisticated sampling techniques, indicate that the number of new infections peaked in 1998 and the number of deaths peaked in 2005. The new analysis shows that the total number of people living with HIV has been gradually increasing, but at a slower rate than in the past.”

2. According to the The New York Times, scientists Through genetics are tapping a tree’s potential as a source of energy. “Aiming to turn trees into new energy sources, scientists are using a controversial genetic engineering process to change the composition of the wood. A major goal is to reduce the amount of lignin, a chemical compound that interferes with efforts to turn the tree’s cellulose into biofuels like ethanol… Environmentalists say such work can be risky, because lignin provides trees with structural stiffness and resistance to pests. Even some scientists working on altering wood composition acknowledge that reducing lignin too much could lead to wobbly, vulnerable trees.”

3. The Guardian reports Hispanic names make top 10 list in America. “Forget about keeping up with the Joneses. It’s the Garcia, Rodriguez and Martinez families that are the ones to watch. Data from the US census bureau suggests that some surnames of Hispanic origin have supplanted Anglo ones – such as Wilson – traditionally thought of as quintessential American names. In the 2000 census, Garcia was the eighth most common surname in the US, and Rodriguez came in at number nine, both ahead of Wilson, which at 10th was only just ahead of Martinez. It was probably the first time in US history that a non-Anglo name ranked among the top 10 most common surnames.”

Four at Four continues below the fold with a look at how dangerous America in the world and a bonus story about the founding of Rome.

1. The Independent reports Here it is: the future of the world, in 23 pages.

   This is the key document on climate change, and from now on you can forget any others you may have read or seen or heard about. This is the one that matters. It is the tightly distilled, peer-reviewed research of several thousand scientists, fully endorsed, without qualification, by all the world’s major governments. Its official name is a mouthful: the Policymakers’ Summary of the Synthesis Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment. So let’s just call it The Synthesis.

   It is so important because it provides one concise, easily-readable but comprehensive text of facts, figures and diagrams – in short all the information you need to understand and act on the threat of global warming, be you a politician, a businessman, an activist or a citizen (or for that matter, a doubter)…

   For all but the most perverse of sceptics, it ends the basic argument. And it also urgently warns that the risks are greater, and possibly closer in time, than was appreciated even six years ago, when the third assessment was published.

   Because all governments adopted The Synthesis by consensus (after a week’s negotiations in Valencia), it means they cannot disavow the underlying science and its conclusions (although it does not commit them to specific courses of action).

2. One such impact of our changing climate, reports the Washington Post is the Threat to farming and food supply. Higher temperatures from climate change ” — along with salt seepage into groundwater as sea levels rise and anticipated increases in flooding and droughts — will disproportionately affect agriculture in the planet’s lower latitudes, where most of the world’s poor live.” India with a possible 40 percent decline, Africa with a possible 30 to 50 percent decline, and even Latin America is likely to suffer a 20 percent decline in agricultural production. “The United States will experience significant regional shifts in growing seasons, forcing new and sometimes disruptive changes in crop choices… A recent study… concluded that wheat growers in North America will have to give up some of their southernmost fields in the next few decades… That means amber waves of grain will be growing less than 2 degrees south of the Arctic Circle, and Siberia will become a major notch in the wheat belt.”

3. Trying to reduce the source of climate change is causing dilemmas for many communities. For example, The Oregonian reports in Oregon and Washington state Emissions goals set; now comes hard part. The states “set aggressive goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions, but actually meeting those goals could prove much tougher — and more costly — than leaders expect.” The area is booming and coal-fired power plants provide 20 percent of the Pacific Northwest’s electrical supply. “The challenge will be even greater if salmon protections further limit operations of hydroelectric dams… That sets up a troubling Catch-22, in which salmon suffer as global warming raises river temperatures, forcing extra protections that reduce the amount of electricity from dams. If the lost power is made up by coal- or natural gas-fired power plants, they’d release more greenhouse gases that add to global warming.”

   Another pair of tough choices is confronting Fort Collins, Colorado. The New York Times reports that A deeply green city confronts its energy needs and nuclear worries. Two proposed energy projects could help the city meets its goal “to produce zero-carbon energy… one involves crowd-pleasing, feel-good solar power, and the other is a uranium mine… Environmentalism and local politics have collided with a broader ethical and moral debate about the good of the planet, and whether some places could or should be called upon to sacrifice for their high-minded goals.” But, “the solar project… plans to use a new manufacturing process [that] will use cadmium – a hazardous metal linked to cancer – as part of the industrial process.” and the uranium mine would “drill down through part of an aquifer”.

   While The New York Times reports that Chinese dam projects are criticized for their human costs. “Chinese officials have admitted that the dam was spawning environmental problems like water pollution and landslides that could become severe… The rising controversy makes it easy to overlook [that] the Three Gorges Dam is the world’s biggest man-made producer of electricity from renewable energy… The Three Gorges Dam, then, lies at the uncomfortable center of China’s energy conundrum: The nation’s roaring economy is addicted to dirty, coal-fired power plants that pollute the air and belch greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. Dams are much cleaner producers of electricity, but they have displaced millions of people in China and carved a stark environmental legacy on the landscape.”

4. Lastly, despite the realty of our changing climate, don’t expect corporations to willingly change their polluting ways. The Guardian reports We’ll fight you all the way, airlines warn EU over carbon-trading plans. “British and other European governments face a long diplomatic battle if they push ahead with plans to include airlines in a European emissions trading scheme, the global aviation body has warned. The International Air Transport Association (Iata) said 170 countries opposed a proposal… to make all airlines flying in and out of the European Union subscribe to the EU emissions trading scheme. Non-EU airlines are lobbying their governments to reject the move, arguing that it will impose billions in extra costs on an industry that makes a global profit of just $5.6bn (£2.7bn)… Carriers have until 2011 to join power stations, refineries and heavy industry in the trading scheme, an integral part of the EU’s plan to cut carbon dioxide emissions from its 27 nations by 20% by 2020.”

This is the afternoon’s open thread.