Is it Christmas?

Given that "holiday" ads start up Thanksgiving weekend, you might have a hard time tracking when it actually is Christmas. Here is a helpful website:

isitchristmas.com

Celebrate Buy Nothing Day

Adbusters

Diesel vs. hybrid vs. ethanol

According to a new study, diesel tops hybrids and ethanol isn't even really in the game. Researchers at the Rand Corporation did a cost-benefit analysis of the top near-term alternatives to standard gasoline power-trains that looked at fuel savings, technology costs and performance. They also factored in societal costs in the form of noxious pollutants, greenhouse gas emissions and energy security costs.

AutoblogGreen

Children and Big Pharma

In Eugene Jarecki's documentary film Why We Fight, about the U.S. military-industrial complex, U.S. foreign policy critic Chalmers Johnson states: "I guarantee you when war becomes that profitable, you are going to see more of it." Similarly, as mental illness has become extremely profitable, we are seeing more of it.

On September 4, 2007, the New York Times reported, "The number of American children and adolescents treated for bipolar disorder increased 40-fold from 1994 to 2003 ... Drug makers and company-sponsored psychiatrists have been encouraging doctors to look for the disorder."

Not too long ago, a child who was irritable, moody, and distractible and who at times sounded grandiose or acted without regard for consequences was considered a "handful." In the U.S. by the 1980s, that child was labeled with a "behavioral disorder" and today that child is being diagnosed as "bipolar" and "psychotic" -- and prescribed expensive antipsychotic drugs. Bloomberg News, also on September 4, 2007, reported, "The expanded use of bipolar as a pediatric diagnosis has made children the fastest-growing part of the $11.5 billion U.S. market for antipsychotic drugs."

AlterNet

Husbands & wives

Jay Carson, a spokesman for Mrs. Clinton, said Mr. Clinton’s point was that his wife had the mettle to deal with tough challenges.

“President Clinton knows that she can handle and win any fight,” Mr. Carson said. (NY Times)

I think we can assume President Clinton has personal experience in the matter.

Robertson backs Giuliani

I've said the evangelical uncomfortable with adulterers has an out (Romney). But it appears this evangelical has no problem!

I find this a curious endorsement. Thinking back to his 1988 run for the presidency, I don't know if he emphasized his anti-abortion views or not. If he did, what's changed since then? If anti-terrorism is his most important issue of the day, is he now saying that our lives are more important than the unborn's? Or does Robertson trust that Giuliani will appoint pro-life judges despite the latter's pro-choice views?