Free kibbles

US and Iraqi negotiators have agreed on a deal to pull US combat troops out of Iraq by 2011. This is awesome news. I hope the ratification process doesn't stall this agreement.

How many times has the US said Russia must leave Georgia "now"? Why are we wasting our breath? There we go again, walking loudly but carrying no stick. Quit talking and do something. Kick Russia out of the G8. Cut off the Russo-NATO meetings. Do something. I keep waiting for somebody to explain to me how Georgia's army, which consists of some guys in pick-up trucks, is going to help defend the United States by joining NATO. The Russians halted the Russo-NATO meetings, not us. They understand the importance of boldness and action and the uselessness of rhetoric. We should learn that lesson.

The trees in the park started shedding leaves today. That's about a month early. This little hot spell feels a lot like what we used to call Indian Summer, which would be about month early too. I think we're going to have another long, cold winter.

Right on cue, scientists report that 2008 will be the coolest year of the century so far. Poor Al Gore. The world just won't do what he wants.

Obama jumps on McCain because he didn't know how many homes he owned. As dumb as that makes McCain sound, we must be the dumbest people on earth to vote for the candidates these 2 parties run.

Some freak sent 2 letters to 2 McCain campaign offices with threats and white powder. I sure hope this is a fake and they catch and punish this person.

If Obama is so compassionate and concerned about the poor, how come he hasn't reached into his own pocket of millions and helped out his half-brother who lives in Africa on a dollar per month?

PETA donor wants to buy a Sea World, release all the animals, and replace them with virtual reality and animatronic displays. Now this is what environmentalists should be doing if they really want to help the environment - using the power of the free market to promote environmentalism. Invest in wind farms. Invest in solar. Quit dragging every development project the courts. But the environmental movement has been hijacked by anti-capitalists, and all they want to do is stunt the development of the United States.

This is what happens when taxpayers fund research - wasted money. Research should be funded by the private sector.

British police arrest and jail man for filming police van going the wrong way down a one-way street. Those cops should be charged with kidnapping.

Solar cycle 24 is still missing in action. This is the first sunspot in a month. The longer before solar cycle 24 takes over, the colder it will be that entire cycle. Scientist shows correlation between solar cycles and past climate and predicts significant global cooling for the next 20 years. That means a shorter growing cycle that can be partially offset by more CO2 in the atmosphere. Scientist claims that a weak solar cycle doesn't necessarily mean cold temperatures. His data seem to contradict other reports of how cold the Maundar minimum was. But all the predictions I read suggest cycle 24 will be more like the Dalton minimum, not the Maundar minimum.

Weatherman-blogger show how skeptics stopped a report from a government weather agency that has been corrupted into a global warming advocacy group. Crazy story says global warming will lead to contaminated blood transfusions. Good grief.