Still more heavy snow in Europe and fresh snow in North America

It’s now ten weeks since the first heavy snowfalls were reported in the Alps and the snow is continuing to come down by the bucket load in many areas. www.skiinfo.com reports that apart from the duration of the snowfall obviously setting ski resorts up for a memorable season, what’s also unusual is that almost all of the world’s major ski regions have received well above average pre-season snowfall, usually one area will do better than another. However this time almost everywhere has above average snow.

The Interview: Person Of the Year Barack Obama -- Printout -- TIME

[Q] When voters look at your Administration two years from now, in the off-year election, how will they know whether you're succeeding?
[A] ...have we been able to reinvigorate international institutions to deal with transnational threats, like climate change, that we can't solve on our own?

NC Media Watch: Proud to be a Schwarzenegger Stone Age Flat Earthier!

If we follow Schwarzenegger's lead, we will be reducing California's energy generating capacity while California cools. Energy that could keep us warm on long winter nights. That is not how the stone age man survived. He and is family adapted to the changing environment, they did not following some religious mandate to reduce energy consumption, but prepared for a the real world. Our mandate should be to observe, prepare, and stay warm!

Muddle-headed greens channelling Thoreau | The Australian

As it happens, Greenpeace recently commissioned its own proposal for a global energy revolution. Figure seven of the document's executive summary compares energy output from different sources, if Greenpeace's own recommendations are accepted. On these figures, renewable energy sources would almost double as a percentage of output between 2005 and 2020. But coal-fired power output (now with capture and storage, presumably) would stay more or less constant.

This sounds plausible but also rather spiritually unsatisfying.

And it's hard to see how exactly it can be reconciled with Greenpeace's other call, the one that asks for a new generation of Thoreaus to chain themselves to the gates of the world's coal-fired power stations. Before they stride out on their private journeys to Walden Pond, I'd suggest those earnest, idealistic young folks prepare themselves a few packed lunches.