The anecdote comes from Newsweek, via gristmill.com.

Of course talk radio is dominated by boneheads, but a guy I heard on WEEI sports talk last week — by no means a troglodyte and almost eloquent in a townie kind of way— is still holding space in my head.

His topic was Question 3 on the Mass. ballot, which would (will) ban dog racing in the state. My position is, there is no intellectually or morally justified position in support of that moldering business, and I regret I can cast only one vote to put it out of the dogs' misery.

"Let's get this straight," he said, with as much certainty as I have on the opposite side. "There's humans, and there's everything else. They're here for us to do with as we wish. Period." (Note: I was driving, so the quotes are accurate only in their sense, but not word for word.)

This is a three-minute-plus teaser for a "Frontline" inquiry into global climate change politics. The show looks good, and I'll definitely be tuning in. But even if you're not excited by the prospect, check out the video anyway. It begins with the Talking Heads song "Burning Down the House," which, in this context, appears to have been written as the climate-change anthem: "Watch out, you might get what your after..." and "We might be in for nasty weather..." and, of course, "Burning down the house." Brilliant.

The people at Good magazine have a good name, if you get what I mean. Some people might think you're saying that the magazine is good, when you're only meaning to say that the name of the magazine is Good. Especially when it's the first word of a headline, as it is above. Good thinking, no? No wait...

Why would Republicans, the party of business, want to focus our country on breathing life into a 19th-century technology — fossil fuels — rather than giving birth to a 21st-century technology — renewable energy? As I have argued before, it reminds me of someone who, on the eve of the I.T. revolution — on the eve of PCs and the Internet — is pounding the table for America to make more I.B.M. typewriters and carbon paper. “Typewriters, baby, typewriters.”

Great analogy, from a great column.

I'm not above using Wikipedia as a source, but I've never written, or rewritten, an entry, and always try to remember that though it is an awesome compilation of information, it can be manipulated, at least in the short term, and should never be trusted as a sole resource.

It is from that perspective that I pass along word, via ecogeek, of green.wikia.com, introduced yesterday by Jimmy Wales, the guy behind Wikipedia and many other little wikis.

This one is written from a green perspective, and offers information to those who want to adopt green practices. Go to green wikia's about page to see more, including comparisons of how the same topic can have pretty different entries.

What I'd really rather say is, "John Tierney, bonehead," or worse. But I'm going to control myself.

Tierney is a New York Times columnist, which is an enviable perch, but Tierney wastes the advantage by relying on old-paradigm thinking.

I've long been a fan of Technology Review, MIT's magazine, but it is really hitting another stride recently. I just caught up on a couple of past issues I picked up at the Clean Tech conference and found a gem of a story you should read if you want to be able to converse about biofuels with authority.

This is the link.

Among its points:

I have just been loving the format and guests on the Commonwealth Club podcasts, and strongly recommend them to you. They apparently are a West Coast fixture from decades back, but I only became aware of them when I came across their recordings in the iTunes Music Store.

Scientist James Hansen has been raised almost to sainthood for his early sounding of the climate-change alarm and for his adamance since. He testified before Congress Monday on the 20-year anniversary of his global climate change testimony, saying roughly what he has been saying all along.