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Electric bike triumphs and travails

Rode my bike to jury duty last Wednesday. It was pouring rain and the winds were gusting into the 50s. I had my trailer hitched up because I was hauling a laptop, magazines, and a battery charger with me. I don't think I could have done this without the electric motor.

However, at one point, a gust -- accelerated by the venturi effect of two skyscrapers -- stopped me cold. I jumped off and cowered in a nook where I found another guy hiding with the remains of his umbrella. I managed to drag, not ride, my bike the last block in a veritable deluge.

And me

The war just got a great deal more personal for me: my little brother left today for the Middle East, first to Kuwait and then to multiple locations in Iraq.

Not to shoot anybody -- to play piano.

He's in the Army Chorale band, and volunteers to go on these USO tours with Al Franken and a motley assortment of country music stars, WWF wrestlers, and professional cheerleaders. Yes, really. On the first one, shortly after the invasion, he got to stay in Saddam's palace. He's amused by it all and always brings back hilarious pictures and stories.

But the mess over there has only gotten messier, and now it looks like Bush might double down. Asshole.

Anyway, if you're the praying type -- I'm not, but days like today I wish I were -- throw the Big G-Man a shout-out for the USO tour staying safe.

And just to make this somewhat environmental, let's ponder yet again what kind of ...

• improvements to the nation's electricity grid,
• development and deployment of electric cars,
• development and deployment of high-speed rail,
• R&D for renewable energy

... we could have gotten for $2,000,000,000,000.

Freaky deeky deer

A Wisconsin man struck and killed a seven-legged, hermaphroditic deer, according to Associated Press reports. Which kind of makes me fear for what else is running around in the northern forests of the United States.

Rick Lisko, a hunter from Fond du Lac, hit the young buck with his pickup truck. He said he believes the legs were functional before, well, before he killed it. He described them as small and pincher-like.

"It was definitely a freak of nature," Lisko said. "It's a pretty weird deer."

Critic turns up in book as kiddie rapist

When Michael Crichton released State of Fear, a book portraying global warming as a vast conspiracy of leftist nutsos, I wrote a highly critical review. But Grist is pretty small-time in the grand media scheme of things, so he probably never read it.

And it's a good thing too. I could have ended up a child rapist in his latest book!

Sequel to End of Suburbia is coming in March

I imagine most of you have seen The End of Suburbia, the cult fave 2004 documentary about the end of oil and the craptacularity of suburban sprawl.

Well, brace yourself for the sequel: Escape from Suburbia, coming in March 2007.

Here's the trailer:

Either I’m stupid …

... or this is brilliant.

(Or both.)

Once More Unto the REACH

E.U. parliament passes new chemical standard, businesses brace for impact Call it the vote heard ’round the world: yesterday, the E.U. parliament passed a landmark law that has global bizfolk quivering. REACH — Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals — requires about 30,000 chemicals to be registered with a new agency, with about 1,500 of […]

Summer Time, and the Givin’ Is Easy

Hot model speaks up for Grist, bug-eyed readers reach for their wallets We don’t mean to be shirty, but we want you to know: Grist’s end-of-year fundraising campaign wraps up tomorrow night, and we’re still panting for your support. If we’re not sexy enough in our own right, eco-model and fashion maven Summer Rayne Oakes […]

Mos Def was on the water issue first

You know, Jay-Z is getting all kinds of press and hype for his work on water issues, but as I was listening to my music collection on shuffle (as always) last night, I was reminded that Mos Def was all over the water issue way back in 1999. From his album Black on Both Sides, here's "New World Water" (mp3):

Pope comes out in favor of, uh, the environment

In an annual message for peace, [Pope] Benedict [XVI] strongly emphasized a theme rarely taken up in his nearly two years as pope: what he called the "ecology of peace," the idea that protecting the environment and finding alternative energy sources could also reduce conflict.