Permafrost melting in Alaska

Because the temperature has risen 4 C in the past 30 years.

Sea Engulfing Alaskan Village.

In the article, Shishmaref is referred to as the canary in the coal mine. Well, the canary is drowning.

Oh, and don't forget that wacky Florida!

Lost '02 Florida Vote Raises '04 Concern

"This shows that unless we do something now - or it may very well be too late - Florida is headed toward being the next Florida," said Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, a lawyer who is the chairwoman of the coalition. [That's the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition -- sid.]

Vote Counting in Riverside, CA

Fear of Fraud, by Paul Krugman.

It's election night, and early returns suggest trouble for the incumbent. Then, mysteriously, the vote count stops and observers from the challenger's campaign see employees of a voting-machine company, one wearing a badge that identifies him as a county official, typing instructions at computers with access to the vote-tabulating software.

When the count resumes, the incumbent pulls ahead. The challenger demands an investigation. But there are no ballots to recount, and election officials allied with the incumbent refuse to release data that could shed light on whether there was tampering with the electronic records.

Can't count the votes right, folks, if you can't see them. It's as simple as that.

Doctors Without Borders Leaves Afghanistan

Doctors Without Borders leaves Afghanistan

They've been there since 1980.

They've been there through the Soviet occupation.

They've been there through the mujahadeen resistance.

They've been there through the Taliban.

They've been there through the US's invasion and occupation.

And now, now, after all that, after the US has "freed" Afghanistan, it is so dangerous they can no longer stay.

After the US, it has become too dangerous.

Florida Loses Voting Records

Well, good job, Florida.

Florida Officials: Some voting records wiped out

The crashes occurred in May and November of 2003, erasing information from the September 2002 gubernatorial primaries and other elections, elections officials said Tuesday.

[...]

Last month, state officials said the touchscreen systems used by 11 counties had a bug that would make a manual recount impossible. Earlier this month, a newspaper study indicated touchscreen machines did not perform as well as those that scanned paper ballots.

BTW, officials didn't fess up, they were found out.

DNC

Great speeches, what I got to hear. Bill Clinton was really, really good, and I wish I'd heard Mr. Carter and Al Gore.

The New York Times has links to full transcripts.

Byrd vs. Bush

Lovely article about Senator Byrd at Salon.