12/13 Quick Hits

1. If you had a child today, before that child turned 35, there would be no arctic ice left in the world, according to this report. If I remember correctly from An Inconvenient Truth, that could potentially throw Europe into an Ice Age. Does anyone still think al-Qaeda is a bigger threat to our existence than Global Warming? DailyKos diarist DarkSyde provides perspective.

2. Over the years I've made several business trips to Miami, and the running joke was Miami is so great because "it is soooo close to the United States." Congressman Tom Tancredo took that thinking to the level of offensive bigotry by calling Miami "a Third World Country," and received criticism for those comments. He also was invited to visit Miami by Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (of Florida), but he declined the invitation unless it included "a stay at a five-star beachfront resort." Say what you want about bigots, but they're at least classy- 'nothing less than a five-star beachfront resort will be graced by my old white racist ass!'

3. Interesting way to think about the Iraq War- by comparing its popularity to other issues deemed too controversial by Democrats, like gay marriage and legalizing marijuana.

4. Christ almighty, this isn't a f--king game, guys! The Pentagon (and presumably, the Bush Administration) want to 'double down' in Iraq. Bush's New Way Forward = more troops, apparently. People, we are headed for war on this war. The only way we're getting out is if Congress has the balls to withdraw funding. They've got the mandate from the American people (see #3), but time will tell if Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are willing to cut this disaster off.

5. Although he's a bit of a blowhard, his natural irreverence gives him the ability to speak truth to (or mock) power. For that, I like Jack Cafferty.