After watching the fantastic An Inconvenient Truth over the weekend, it’s great to read news like this. I feel much safer knowing that the world’s scientists are leaving no stone unturned or animal’s anus unexplored in the search for global warming solutions.

I’ve said it before, but bottled water is evil. Kari sent me this link to the Carbon Concious Consumer, an organization working to reduce the usage of bottled water. Click on it and sign up!

It’s clearly a slow news day.

Rock stars more likely to die prematurely

Here’s an interesting article in the Strib confirming my long-held and not-at-all researched belief that bottled water is one of the biggest scams there is.

It states that Minneapolis water, which I drink and enjoy daily straight from the tap, no filter, frequently wins taste tests against the major bottled waters. Even our local radio gourmet (whom I love) thought Evian to be the tap water.

Anyway, all the petroleum, plastic and waste that accompany bottled water is ridiculous when we have perfectly good pipes under our feet. I’ll happily continue refilling my Sigg water bottle.

It’s strangely gratifying to know that when we say, “traffic sucks,” we’re absolutely right. Minnesota is proud to feature some of the worst congestion in the nation, second only to California. Woo-hoo! Way to go!

What in the hell were they thinking? That logo is so bad that I’m certain it will be discarded and completely redesigned before the London games. If it doesn’t, it will have to be remembered as one of the worst logos ever created.

I read this profoundly disgusting story yesterday. Seriously, it’s nasty. Safe for work but probably not safe for lunch. It’s so bad that it’s great though, you really can’t look away. When you’re done, be sure to read Scott Adams’s take on the news as well, which I somehow knew would be his topic of the day. “Pass the Buck” indeed.

Check out this story, in which one NHL player hits another in the face with his stick, supposedly in reaction to a “clean” check. My gut reaction is that the guy should never be allowed to play pro hockey again. On the other hand, as long as the NHL continues to encourage fighting, I’m not sure this is that much different than punching the guy in the face. Sure, it’s going to be more dangerous, but when I consider the violent atmosphere they create, the stick seems like a natural extension of the fist, especially for someone who lives holding it.

I know it’s ridiculous to be reading about the NHL here, as I’m the last person who would know anything about hockey, despite being born and raised in Minnesota. So it’s with that caveat that I ask the question I’ve wondered many times, “Why is fighting allowed in the NHL?” Why is a punch on the ice any different than a punch on the basketball court? Whenever there’s a fight in the NBA, you hear about it everywhere. Someone surely earns a multiple game suspension and a hefty fine. But in pro hockey, it’s a few minutes in your own, private ring-side seat. Give fights in hockey meaningful penalties, eradicating the violent atmosphere, and incidents like this one (or the other on my mind from a few years ago, where one guy swung at the back of another’s head with his stick) might just go away.

While we’re at it, make the frickin’ goals bigger and the goalies’ pads smaller. I think I’ve seen a total of 3 goals in the five NHL games I’ve been to in my life.

Update: I decided to find the video to get a better sense of the story. It’s nauseating, but judge for yourself:

As if I needed more reason to not attend baby showers.

This story is just incredible: college kids throwing an MLK party in which they completely mock black Americans. They claim no disrespect was intended. Next they’ll claim that it was all Borat’s fault. Perhaps I’m overreacting, but this seems to flirt with “hate crime.” I hope suspensions, expulsions, or some sort of severe reprimand is in order at the school.

Update: Looks like this wasn’t an isolated incident. Here’s another at UConn Law School. Gotta love The Smoking Gun. You’d think grad students, in a law school no less, would be smarter.