Denialist Wall Street Journal admits Peak Oil has arrived

The trickle of Peak Oil articles has turned into a flood recently. First came the chief economist for the International Energy Agency (IEA), Dr. Fatih Birol, with the shocking announcement that "My main motto never changes, the era of low oil prices is over." Then there were the whistleblowers at the IEA who alleged that the IEA's rosy forecasts of rising production timed perfectly to satisfy rising demand had been rigged at the request of the United States. "We have entered the Peak Oil zone. I think that the situation is really bad," one whistleblower said. Then, Warren Buffet made his "all-in" wager on rail transportation. Now, even the Wall Street Journal has capitulated. Last week, they ran a front-page story titled "Oil officials see limit looming on production". The actual Wall Street Journal site requires a subscription, but it has been mirrored a number of places online if you're interested. The first paragraph of the story reads:

A growing number of oil-industry chieftains are endorsing an idea long deemed fringe: The world is approaching a practical limit to the number of barrels of crude oil that can be pumped every day.

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Tommy Chong, philosopher

Yes, this is Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong, and if you have the time to listen this is a very inspirational talk that he gave at the Free Library of Philadelphia! In this podcast he talks about... - Corruption in the DEA and why the war on drugs is foolish but will never end - Mind altering substances as a path to enlightenment - How prison helped him - How much he loves the bible - Jesus' message to us - Spending time in an Indian sweat lodge - How to raise children ...and more! All with his trademark laid back style of humor.

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Matt Taibbi discusses how the media makes and breaks politicians

Yes, the media makes and breaks politicians. They tell us who the "serious" politicians are before the race has even begun, and it always seems to be about who can raise money. At his blog, Matt Taibbi writes thoughtfully about this issue of the way the media caricatures politicians:

The political media has always taken it upon itself to make decisions about who is and who is not qualified to be taken seriously as candidates for higher office. Without even talking about whether they do this more or less to Republicans or Democrats, I can testify that I witnessed this phenomenon over and over again in the primary battles within the Democratic Party. It has always been true that the press corps has drawn upon internalized professional biases, high-school-style groupthink and the urging of insider wonks to separate candidates into “serious” and “unserious” groups before the shots even start to be fired.
Taibbi's post then morphs into some observations about Sarah Palin, who has constantly complained that she is not being treated fairly by "the liberal press."

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Sarah Palin on how to improve Canada

The Canada Press reports that when Sarah Palin goes on a book-signing tour in Canada, no one is allowed to ask her any questions. But someone named Mary Walsh nonetheless asked a Palin for a comment. Here's what she got:

Palin strolled over, looking down on Walsh and her crew to tell them that "Canada needs to dismantle its public health-care system and allow private enterprise to get involved and turn a profit." "Basically, she said government should stop doing the work that private enterprise should do," Walsh said.
And Palin's new book is full of strange claims, according to Andrew Sullivan.

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