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Cough up a little dough for a cute cause

The birth of an organic calf on Dec. 12 wouldn't be news, except for the fact that it was the first organic calf born on the nation's first organic dairy research farm at the University of New Hampshire.

Now, for a price, you can name the cute little heifer -- a worthwhile expense, if you follow the research money in organic ag.

Oceana nails down the tell-tale symptoms

10. Your family all got sea turtle cookie cutters as stocking stuffers.
9. You know all the words to Joe Vasconcellos's ""Fish Don't Cry."
8. You're willing to cross state lines to shop at a green list grocery store.
7. Your ringtone is a dolphin "clicking."
6. Your baby shower presents are accompanied with the FDA mercury warning.
5. You think Happy Feet has got Oscar written all over it.
4. You've got more fish guides [PDF] in your wallet than credit cards.
3. You think Ted Danson is famous because of his ocean advocacy.
2. You changed your pin code to 2048.
1. Your bumper sticker says "I Heart Krill."

Don't fit the bill? Become an ocean advocate now.

Electric bike triumphs and travails

Rode my bike to jury duty last Wednesday. It was pouring rain and the winds were gusting into the 50s. I had my trailer hitched up because I was hauling a laptop, magazines, and a battery charger with me. I don't think I could have done this without the electric motor.

However, at one point, a gust -- accelerated by the venturi effect of two skyscrapers -- stopped me cold. I jumped off and cowered in a nook where I found another guy hiding with the remains of his umbrella. I managed to drag, not ride, my bike the last block in a veritable deluge.

And me

The war just got a great deal more personal for me: my little brother left today for the Middle East, first to Kuwait and then to multiple locations in Iraq.

Not to shoot anybody -- to play piano.

He's in the Army Chorale band, and volunteers to go on these USO tours with Al Franken and a motley assortment of country music stars, WWF wrestlers, and professional cheerleaders. Yes, really. On the first one, shortly after the invasion, he got to stay in Saddam's palace. He's amused by it all and always brings back hilarious pictures and stories.

But the mess over there has only gotten messier, and now it looks like Bush might double down. Asshole.

Anyway, if you're the praying type -- I'm not, but days like today I wish I were -- throw the Big G-Man a shout-out for the USO tour staying safe.

And just to make this somewhat environmental, let's ponder yet again what kind of ...

• improvements to the nation's electricity grid,
• development and deployment of electric cars,
• development and deployment of high-speed rail,
• R&D for renewable energy

... we could have gotten for $2,000,000,000,000.

Freaky deeky deer

A Wisconsin man struck and killed a seven-legged, hermaphroditic deer, according to Associated Press reports. Which kind of makes me fear for what else is running around in the northern forests of the United States.

Rick Lisko, a hunter from Fond du Lac, hit the young buck with his pickup truck. He said he believes the legs were functional before, well, before he killed it. He described them as small and pincher-like.

"It was definitely a freak of nature," Lisko said. "It's a pretty weird deer."

Critic turns up in book as kiddie rapist

When Michael Crichton released State of Fear, a book portraying global warming as a vast conspiracy of leftist nutsos, I wrote a highly critical review. But Grist is pretty small-time in the grand media scheme of things, so he probably never read it.

And it's a good thing too. I could have ended up a child rapist in his latest book!

Sequel to End of Suburbia is coming in March

I imagine most of you have seen The End of Suburbia, the cult fave 2004 documentary about the end of oil and the craptacularity of suburban sprawl.

Well, brace yourself for the sequel: Escape from Suburbia, coming in March 2007.

Here's the trailer:

Either I’m stupid …

... or this is brilliant.

(Or both.)

Once More Unto the REACH

E.U. parliament passes new chemical standard, businesses brace for impact Call it the vote heard ’round the world: yesterday, the E.U. parliament passed a landmark law that has global bizfolk […]

Summer Time, and the Givin’ Is Easy

Hot model speaks up for Grist, bug-eyed readers reach for their wallets We don’t mean to be shirty, but we want you to know: Grist’s end-of-year fundraising campaign wraps up […]