Special congratulations to Watts Up With That – Weblog of the Year!
Reader Tips
“What are you doing on my kayak?”
A “Special Achievement in Copy Editing” award to whoever best transcribes the sound the diver makes at 0:18.
The comments are open, as always, for your Reader Tips.
Say It Isn’t So, Joe!
“What’s the difference between Biden and a bidet? One’s a comical spouting toilet in a French hotel, the other one’s made of porcelain.”
An Inconvenient Weed
If the latest news out of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in San Francisco is accurate, those who both worry about the dangers of manmade climate change and support the legalization of marijuana are going to have to make a tough choice.
According to a report by Evan Mills, an energy analyst at the lab, the growing of marijuana indoors uses 1 percent of the U.S. electricity supply and creates 17 million metric tons of carbon dioxide every year. That’s not including the carbon dioxide produced by exhaling pot smoke.
Update: Attempts to reach Green Party leader Elizabeth May for comment on a potential party rift were unsuccessful, as Ms. May is in Labrador convincing her members to vote for a Liberal.
h/t Syncrodox
This Is Awkward
Suzuki Fdn both admits ctvnews.ca/canada/taxpaye… and denies cbc.ca/news/canada/br… it took profits from an eco-terrorism video game #liars
— Ezra Levant (@ezralevant) March 24, 2013
We Don’t Need No Stinking Giant Mirrors
The Economist;
As a clean-energy company, Suntech at least had the chance to fulfil BP’s misleading promise of going beyond petroleum. Alas, Suntech has instead ended up beyond profit.
The company’s solar-panel operations in Wuxi, China, were declared bankrupt on March 20th. That came just days after it defaulted on some of its bond obligations. Suntech has been shutting down various facilities worldwide and Mr Shi, who once was a green hero among the fat cats who gather at the World Economic Forum’s annual Davos gabfest, has been ignominiously booted out of his job as company chairman.
[…]
So dire is the industry-wide crisis that, on one estimate, over 30 solar firms have gone bust globally of late. Clearly, any company, never mind the world’s largest, would find it hard to survive in such an environment.
h/t Bob H
Now Is The Time At SDA When We Juxtapose!
USAF Announcement: The implementation of across-the-board cuts in federal spending has caused the curtailment of the Thunderbirds 2013 show schedule. Effective April 1, all of the team’s performances have been cancelled.
Secretary of State John Kerry announced Sunday that the United States would provide $250 million in assistance to Egypt after Egypt’s president promised to move ahead with negotiations with the International Monetary Fund over economic reforms.
P.S. Here’s what it costs to keep the Thunderbirds flying annually.
Reader Tips
It wasn’t the onset of the apocalypse, it only felt like it: here’s the Chelyabinsk Meteor Shockwave Compilation.
The comments are open, as always, for your Reader TIps.
Australia’s Most Popular Sports Athlete
The undefeated Black Caviar, on the occasion of her 24th straight victory.
Blame Canada!
You may remember the Canadian Reform Party. They were the populist, right-of-centre, small state, low tax, anglophone party that came from nowhere in 1993 to win 52 seats in Canada’s federal parliament.
Indeed. I remember, in particular, how the national networks pronounced Reform an electoral failure that evening – before the first returns were in from west of Ontario.
Timmy’s Drive-Thru Marathon
Join us on Saturday, March 23 at 8:30pm to 9:30pm local time on Tim Hortons oval tracks nationwide!
The Objective: To see how many circuits drivers can complete, ordering one Timbit at a time, within the one hour period allotted. The entry that collects the most Timbits in that hour shall be declared the winner.
| NOTICE: Contestants who order more than one Timbit per circuit will be in violation of contest rules, and shall be disqualified |  |
Readers without a Tim Hortons within driving distance may qualify for the alternate Hour Of Power Award; simply share your Human Achievement Hour story in the comments.
If I’m suitably impressed, I’ll send out some books.
The Tolerant Left
On white boys “maintaining and justifying racist hair.”
What’s The Opposite Of Diversity?
University: “He was, of course, an arts student.”
US Senate Approves Keystone XL
The [Democrat controlled] Senate on Friday voted 62-37 to approve the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline in an amendment to Senate budget.
Sen. John Hoeven’s (R-N.D.) amendment was largely symbolic, but served as a clear statement that the Senate backs the pipeline.
“It puts the Senate on record in support of the Keystone pipeline project. And that’s just appropriate,” Hoeven said. “The Department of State has done four environmental impact statements over the last five years — four — and said there are no significant environmental impacts. And it’s time that we in the Senate stepped up with the American people.”
We Don’t Need No Stinking Giant Mirrors
Germany’s Bosch says it is abandoning its solar energy business because there’s no way to make it economically viable amid overcapacity and price pressure in the industry.
The engineering company said Friday that it will stop making components such as solar cells and wafers at the beginning of next year. It says it will sell a plant in Venissieux, France, and is abandoning a plan to build a new plant in Malaysia.
Bosch’s move comes after German industrial conglomerate Siemens last October announced plans to give up its loss-making solar business. The industry has been hit by falling subsidies, weaker sales and increasingly stiff price competition.
h/t Paul
Oh, Shiny Pony!
More: Despite a frantic, last-minute push by the Liberal party to sign up voters for its leadership race, the party appears set to have fewer voters for its race than the NDP did last year.
Reader Tips
Patsy Montana swears she Didn’t Know the Gun Was Loaded.
She’s very, very sorry, and she’ll never, never do it again.
The comments are open, as always, for your Reader Tips.
Your Moral And Intellectual Superiors
“…did you know it costs $84k a year to go to Columbia Journalism School?”
The Architect, In The Crack House With Government Money
Sabotage suspected at sinking RCMP headquarters in Iqaluit.
h/t Bob H
The Decline And Fall Of The American Empire
Blood for oil update;
China’s largest oil company is due to start commercial production of crude oil in Afghanistan shortly, heralding a resource boom that could transform the country’s economy over the next decade, the country’s mining minister said.
(h/t Adrian)