Lentil chili tonight! Recipe to follow. Lots of links, i've been doing some reading to distract myself :(. So let's talk...
Some good news. The drought in Australia _might_ be weakening it's grip on that country.
Though the bad news is in that graph here...
A report came out today that concludes that the Arctic ice cap is melting at a rate faster than any of the models used in the the most current IPCC report that was dire itself (see RealClimate for more on that report). That report predicted an ice-free (in summer) Arctic by 2050 to 2100. This new report (in graph.. red is new data, graph of total ice coverage), based on new and better data, suggests at least a 30 year earlier date than that. The worst case predictions were, well... not bad enough (more here).
Ouch.
But, there is some fascinating technology out there that might at least help mitigate this warming, like this 'solar tower'. This is a prototype, the actual tower in Australia will be 3,000 feet or so high (1,000 meters), three times the height of the Empire State Building. It should generate enough electricity for 200,000 homes. The technology is relatively easy to understand. Check this link for some explanation and this one for a cool movie of it.
Shifting gears...
Tony Perkins should be ashamed of himself for using the Va Tech massacre to fight the hate crimes bill in front of Congress right now. Somehow I don't think he will ever see the shame in it.
This is interesting, Towleroad reported that Facebook banned an Arab LGBT group because Saudi Arabia and other totalitarian states didn't like the group, but apparently it was a hacker posing as FaceBook admin.
Speaking of social networking sites (date site), this commercial is good and funny and a great dig at "eHarmony".
Dale Carpenter uses gay marriage opponent Blankenhorn's own words to support marriage equality.
The Stockholm subway is cool. (hattip Andrew Sullivan)
Tonight we are having vegetarian chili. I use a version of this recipe.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup dry lentils
1 cup brown rice
3 cups low fat, low sodium vegetable broth
2 cups canned whole tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 bunch of greens (spinach, collard, chard...), chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
In a large pot over medium high heat, combine the oil, onion and garlic and saute for 5 minutes. Stir in the lentils and rice. Saute for about 3-5 minutes. Add greens and saute till just barely wilting. Add the broth, tomatoes, chili powder, cumin and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, or until lentils are tender.
Serve with crusty whole wheat bread, corn bread or rice.
Quick, easy, cheap, healthy and DELICIOUS. Even Emma loves it. Can't beat that!
