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Obama finally pitched an energy tent big enough to attract Republicans

George Will, the conservative columnist who predicted Obama would try to "stroke every erogenous zone in the electorate" with his State of the Union speech, must be smoking a cigarette in bed by now.

Republican rep halts House composting program to make room for all-new garbage

In a courageous move to reduce the Congressional operating budget by as much as 0.07 percent, Republican representative Dan Lungren of California has halted the House's composting program. This is of course totally legitimate budget-busting and not any kind of purely symbolic dick-waving.

Where Westlands water flows, California’s agriculture follows

What's happening in California's Westlands Water District provides a sneak peek at the problems that farmers all over the world will soon confront.

Carnivorous plant goes batshit for bat shit

File under "the disgusting wonders of nature": Scientists have discovered a species of pitcher plant in Borneo that is a living bat toilet. The plants offer cozy quarters for local bats, and the bats repay them by shitting down their necks. Talk about the circle of life.

Building lots of infrastructure sounds great. Paying for it won't be easy

Obama isn't backing down from his push to make high-speed rail part of his legacy. But with transportation infrastructure, funding remains an issue.

Flava Flav opens fried chicken chain, threatens the Colonel

Look out, KFC: Flav's Fried Chicken is coming! Flava Flav just opened his first fried chicken joint in Iowa, vowing to come by and work the fryer.

Silly Season 2.0

To those with more than a casual interest in politics, “Silly Season” is a common term used to indicate the time running up to an election when the logic of Capitol Hill, such as it is, gets crazier than usual. Votes are scheduled or canceled depending on how much they would help or hurt the […]

Rock stars, lesbians, and probably some Icelandic elves team up for geothermal power

Two rules for industry in Iceland: Don't piss off the elves, and do NOT mess with Bjork. She is the Hugo Chavez of Iceland's geothermal power.

Listen up, hipsters: Your next home will arrive on a truck

When we last checked in with prefab housing, it was reeling from the market crash, and green modular homes were turning into yet another thing you could only have if you were rich. But the modular revolution is back on track, with a rise in popularity for eco-friendly prefab houses.

Yo quiero lots of weird and unpronounceable ingredients

Now that we know that Taco Bell's "seasoned beef" is mostly made up of extenders and "flavor enhancers," I got to wondering what other weird things lace the fast food giant's delicacies. Attention, truth-in-advertising lawyers: we've got a strawberry-free "Strawberry Frutista"!