Just because it’s sunny outside doesn’t mean we can’t find a few things to darken it all up!
1) Bottom of food chain going away:
Despite their tiny size, plant plankton found in the world’s oceans are crucial to much of life on Earth. They are the foundation of the bountiful marine food web, produce half the world’s oxygen and suck up harmful carbon dioxide.
They also are declining sharply.
Worldwide phytoplankton levels are down 40 percent since the 1950s, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature. The probable cause is global warming, which makes it hard for the plant plankton to get vital nutrients, researchers say.
That makes sea life starve, from small on up to whale-sized. Oh, and:
“Phytoplankton ultimately affects all of us in our daily lives,” said lead author Daniel Boyce, also of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. “Much of the oxygen in our atmosphere today was produced by phytoplankton or phytoplankton precursors over the past 2 billion years.”
2) Same song, 32nd verse–Obama acting like Bush:
The Obama administration is seeking to make it easier for the FBI to compel companies to turn over records of an individual’s Internet activity without a court order if agents deem the information relevant to a terrorism or intelligence investigation.
The administration wants to add just four words — “electronic communication transactional records” — to a list of items that the law says the FBI may demand without a judge’s approval. Government lawyers say this category of information includes the addresses to which an Internet user sends e-mail; the times and dates e-mail was sent and received; and possibly a user’s browser history. It does not include, the lawyers hasten to point out, the “content” of e-mail or other Internet communication.
You know the tune–“If you haven’t done anything wrong…” Not that anyone would ever abuse power like that, of course.
Not to worry–you can scribble Armageddon into you day planner. Could there be a more incongruous mood in an ad about the end of the world? Mind you, I think the numbing stupidity of advertising is itself a harbinger of the end:
Oh, and one last thing–tarantulas are invading Britain. Which stands to make one of my favorite places on earth a screaming nightmare. So that’s good.
Y’all have a nice day.
