Part of the Problem: According to the Beverage Marking Corporation, carbonated soft drinks account for one-third of total U.S. beverage consumption--more than bottled and tap water combined. A recent Boston University study (with 10 years of data collection) suggests that middle-aged individuals who drink one or more sodas per day were twice as likely to develop "metabolic syndrome"--a set of risk factors leading to heart disease and diabetes. (PDF link to Cleveland Clinic Magazine.)

Harry Shearer: 'The theft of US nuclear secrets, the diverting of them to Pakistan (and, according to Edmonds, Saudi Arabia), the involvement of Israel in the scheme -- all of these would justify as jaw-droppingly newsworthy in a rational journalistic universe. Clearly, that's not where we live.'

Aside from my concerns of claustrophobia, catching strange airborne diseases, sinking, questionable labor practices, food consumption logistics and freshness, and my complete failure to grasp the appeal of cruise ship vacations, there's another thing to worry about: sewage.

Norway is attempting to go "carbon neutral" by 2030 by reducing emissions at home and investing abroad in environmental projects that will give the country CO2 reduction credits.

'Like other impoverished urban neighborhoods, Clay/Arsenal was entirely devoid of good quality food stores, and their residents experienced hunger, obesity, and diabetes at rates that were two to three times the national average. This group was comprised exclusively of Hispanic and African American residents. ... the group expressed an immediate consensus that fresh, inexpensive food -- the food they generally preferred -- was unavailable in their neighborhood. Everyone agreed that traveling to a full-line supermarket was a hassle because it required one or two long bus rides or an expensive taxi fare.'

Jim Kunstler is a cynical poet: 'On the ground out in the heartland, in the anxiety-drenched, over-valued beige subdivisions of California and the ennui-saturated pastel McHousing tracts of Florida (not to mention the pathetic vinyl outlands of Cleveland and Detroit) a mighty keening welled forth as mortgage rates adjusted upward, and loans stopped "performing," and "for sale" signs failed to turn up buyers, and sheriff's deputies showed up with the rolls of yellow foreclosure tape, and actual ownership of the re-poed collateral entered a legal twilight zone somewhere north of the Florida State Teacher's Pension Fund and south of the Norwegian Municipal Councils' investment portfolios. What a mighty goddam mess was left out there by the boyz at the Wall Street genius desks, who engineered a magical system for eliminating risk from the capital markets -- only to see it leak back in from a million holes and seams and collapse the greatest bubble ever blown.'

'A new survey of U.S. adults who don't go to church, even on holidays, finds 72% say "God, a higher or supreme being, actually exists." But just as many (72%) also say the church is "full of hypocrites."'

Chinese farmers are launching aggressive protests against polluting factories.

A simple exhortation:

Don't we all love arbitrary milestones? Turns out the 'historic' event of a $100 per barrel oil price was caused by a single trader on a vanity mission.

Actual analysis of the differences in the policies - both proposals, and even outlook - between Obama and Clinton. Shocking! Actual analysis of candidates ideas!