Scientist Calls Mars a Terraforming Target for the 21st Century — Space.com

This is probably too obscure for the people that read this blog, but I’ll give it a shot anyway. Kudos to the first person to figure it out.

“If things have gone wrong, I’m talking to myself, and you’ve got a wet towel wrapped around your head.”

Read the sunspots — National Post

Now it’s time to prepare ourselves for global cooling, apparently.

The fact that science is many years away from properly understanding global climate doesn’t seem to bother our leaders at all. Inviting testimony only from those who don’t question political orthodoxy on the issue, parliamentarians are charging ahead with the impossible and expensive goal of “stopping global climate change.”

Exactly.

Global warming is starting to get replaced with “climate change” to cover the snake oil salesmen pimping the idea of man-made global warming for when (or, in case) it turns cool. The politicians have to get their bases covered before it becomes too obvious.

Here’s a post with more of my thoughts on global warming.

There is an interesting animated graphic over at Princeton showing how America has voted, by county, since 1960.

Barker says O’Donnell could replace him — AP

?

Bob Barker endorsed his friend Rosie O’Donnell as a possible successor on “The Price Is Right,” although the newly retired host isn’t sure CBS wants a woman to take over the game show.

“I believe they’re going to have a meeting with Rosie,” Barker said backstage Friday night at the Daytime Emmy Awards, where he won his 19th trophy.

??

How children lost the right to roam in four generations — Daily Mail

It’s not really news that children no longer roam around and play in their neighborhoods like they used to, but it’s still nice to read an article about it.

The oldest member, George, was allowed to roam for six miles from home unaccompanied when he was eight.

His home was tiny and crowded and he spent most of his time outside, playing games and making dens.

Mr Thomas, who went on to become a carpenter, has never lost some of the habits picked up as a child and, aged 88, is still a keen walker.

His son-in-law, Jack Hattersley, 63, was also given freedom to roam.

He was aged eight in 1950, and was allowed to walk for about one mile on his own to the local woods. Again, he walked to school and never travelled by car.

I don’t really think you have to look back four generations to see when kids were allowed to “roam” around their neighborhood. I played in and around a creek when I was a kid, straying probably a mile around the neighborhood.

Today, her son Edward spends little time on his own outside his garden in their quiet suburban street. She takes him by car to school to ensure she gets to her part-time job as a medical librarian on time.

[…]

“It’s not just about time. Traffic is an important consideration, as is the fear of abduction, but I’m not sure whether that’s real or perceived.”

I don’t know whether it’s real or perceived, either, but there is no doubt that kids don’t play outside as much. Perception or not, it’s difficult for me to imagine letting my children go off as far (distance-wise) as I did when I was a kid.

Here’s an interesting map to view. The author took the GDP of the individual states of the United States and renamed them to countries with similar GDP.