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A recipe for autumn

Certain people have a natural elegance. They look good in anything (and, presumably, nothing). They speak articulately and judiciously, move with grace, and generally make it appear as though living in this world isn't the vexed, booby-trapped, humbling endeavor the rest of us poor slobs find it to be.

If miso were a person, that's the kind of person miso would be. Its natural elegance stems from its already being complex and complete on its own: you don't need to tart miso up to make it good. Indeed, if you have good miso to start with, simply adding some warm water will create a satisfying broth that reveals something more about itself with every sip.

Because of this stand-alone greatness, I showed my respect for miso soup for years by never adding competing flavors (other than the vegetables I cooked in it). It was a culinary "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Then one day I had a glass of pinot gris and said to myself, "You know what would be good with this? A soup made with yellow miso." So I tried it and it was great.

Next, I added roasted red peppers from a jar and some freshly pressed garlic. I was going for a vaguely Spanish flavor. When I served this to my friends on a cool autumn night, everyone said it was warming and good. So put on some classical guitar or Flamenco CDs and sip this bright red soup while you finish off the rest of the pinot gris.

Sludge, Jury, and Executioner

Toxic waste dumping in Ivory Coast unleashes chaos Chaos still reigns in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, a month after 400 tons of toxic waste were illegally dumped at 14 open-air sites near residential areas. The black sludge — petroleum waste containing hydrogen sulfide and hydrocarbons — is letting off fumes that have sickened tens of thousands, […]

Fifty new species found in Papua

Be careful when you remark, "yeah, when pigs fly!" because we just discovered a shark that can walk. In fact, we discovered two.

Researchers from Conservation International found 50 new species in the Bird's Head region in Papua. The new discoveries include 20 corals, 24 fish and eight mantis shrimp. But the ones that've got everyone cocking their head to the side with a resounding "huh!" are the two new species of epaulette shark, which spend most of their time walking across the sea floor, swimming away when danger looms.

See for yourself.

Billmon

As always, your go-to source for sunny optimism.

China loans money to developing countries with no environmental strings

Tired of all those environmental conditions on loans from Western countries and the World Bank? If you are a country in Asia with plentiful natural resources, you are in luck. China is there for you with lots of aid, especially if it is for infrastructure like bridges that will make getting those natural resources to China easier.

Today's piece in the New York Times gives a sense of China's new profile in foreign assistance, and as the piece says:

Just because GDP doesn’t track happiness is no reason to reject economic growth

It's inarguably true that while GDP has grown exponentially for the past half-century, human happiness has remained relatively flat. All the same, as an economist it baffles me when these two facts are put forth as evidence that capitalism, markets, and economic growth are one big mirage, with only minor links to human welfare.

It won’t happen through fear

Funny. I wrote this post last night and held onto it to post it later today -- and then John went and scooped me, saying many of the very things I had to say. Oh well. Consider this an addendum to his post.

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Ibon at peakoil.net voices his worst fear:

Find out

See for yourself:

Or: Fear and Environmentalism: Open mike night!

A post at The Oil Drum had this to say:

The power of peak oil as an external force, a geologically driven catalyst, to act as a wedge to force sustainability and conservation on a world hell bent on exponential growth and energy consumption is what caught my imagination and gave me a sense of hope several years ago when I first investigated this issue.

I've got more to say under the fold.

A subtle presidential bid?

Al Gore -- who's giving a major climate-policy speech today (more later) -- is writing another book, to be released in May: The Assault on Reason.

Two things are notable about this:

• It's a blessing that somebody other than low-level pundits is finally going to publicly acknowledge the increasing air of emotivism, unreality, and illogic that characterizes our national political conversation.
• As Ezra notes, this is extremely well timed to keep Gore in the public eye, just in case, you know, he decides to ... youknowwhat.