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It's clear and dry outside. What's on your mind this fine day?

You know how I love data. Here is a fabulous presentation by Hans Risling debunking some of the myths about global developement. Can't wait to get my hands on that software.

Reuters Jan 15, 2008

WASHINGTON—The U.S. government ruled Tuesday that meat and milk from cloned animals and their offspring is as safe as other food, but pressed firms that produce clones to hold off on bringing them into the food supply.

"Extensive evaluation of the available data has not identified any subtle hazards that might indicate food consumption risks in healthy clones of cattle, swine or goats," the Food and Drug Administration said in a final risk assessment that confirmed preliminary findings from 2006.

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ACK!!

While I have my own biased opinion, science is not a Democrat or a Republican. So what could be a more even playing field for a debate among presidential candidates. Check it out.

Tiptoe through the bluebonnets.

Nuff said?

Courtesy of Green Car Congress:

Toyota Dream House with Plug-In Prius

26 September 2005

Recharging stand for hybrids and EVs in the center of the garage

A 6-month long public exhibition of a Toyota concept home—one aspect of which is a plug-in Prius—ended Sunday in Japan. Designed and developed by TRON (The Real-time Operating system Nucleus) project leader Ken Sakamura in cooperation with Toyota Home K.K. (Toyota is also a home builder), the Toyota Dream House PAPI is serving a testbed for an environmentally friendly, energy-saving intelligent house design built with the latest ubiquitous network computing technologies created by the T-Engine project.

Toyota Dream House PAPI was designed to interface with other Toyota technologies—one of the most important being the Prius. In the house concept, the hybrid can be used as a generator to provide electricity to the intelligent house for up to 36 hours in an emergency, such as an earthquake that cuts off normal electrical supplies.

Live from Amsterdam

Open Thread for topics other than Guns and Excessive Force

Walking through Amsterdam's Schiphol airport this morning a couple of things caught my attention.

• Obama Mania!
• Strong Euro
• US Economy

Barack Obama is wildly popular in Western Europe. I talked to several people about the US elections and most were supporters of Obama (for what it's worth). No official polling but the picture I took at the newsstand tells the story. Too bad I forgot my USB to mini USB adapter! The display had about 12 magazines on it, 6 on each side, and 9 of the 12 slots held different magazines with Obama on the front. No Hillary, no Edwards.

It's no secret the Euro is strong amid a weak Dollar. But, it's so bad that US based rappers like Jay-Z are glorifying the Euro instead of dead presidents. Could this mean the drug trade in the US takes on a different role? Now, I'm not flat out saying drugs are good, they are not. But, they do have a foot hold in our economy and you can't dismiss the monetary figures associated with drug trade. Will the US become an intermediate stop between South America and countries like Italy and Spain?

U.S. Banks are in trouble... no doubt. Global investors came to the rescue of Citigroup and Merrill Lynch yesterday. The deep wounds from mortgage-related investments are having a big impact on the financial sector's bottom line. $21.1 billion in capital split between the two afore mentioned financial firms.