Jeff's NewsCloud Journal

<img alt="panjshir valley afghanistan first wind farm turbines photo" src="http://www.treehugger.com/panjshir-valley-afghanistan-wind-turbines.jpg" width="468" height="311" /> <em>Afghan security forces watch over a new wind farm in Afghanistan s Panjshir province. <a href="http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=51941">U.S. Army photo</a> by Sgt. Paul David Ondik.</em> Over the past few years, there s been a lot of <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/02/renewable_energ.php ">promising talk</a> about <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/09/solar_aid_the_u.php">bringing renewable energy to developing countries</a>. Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley, a generally windy region where <a href="http://www.cenlamedia.com/alb/index.php/site/article/afghan-wind-farms/alb7...<div> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/treehuggersite?a=cq9cWbqU"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/treehuggersite?d=41" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/treehuggersite?a=MNvSHZ2U"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/treehuggersite?d=150" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/treehuggersite/~4/JNFloAm3ooY" height="1" width="1" />

Dutch researchers find that in the presence of graffiti and trash, people are more likely to commit small crimes. <br/><br/> In a series of real-world experiments, people exposed to graffiti, litter and other cues of lawlessness were more likely to commit small crimes, according to a study published today that bolsters the controversial "broken windows" theory of policing.<img src="http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/nationworld/nation/~4/460280932" height="1" width="1" />

The New York Times Company finally faced up to reality yesterday and slashed its dividend. It s something it should have done long ago, but it s better late than never. Just last year, the Times raised its dividend by about a third even as its financial situation continued to deteriorate. I wrote this in July in a column about...

Al-Qaeda's lashing out at Barack Obama as a "house slave" suggests a real concern. Watch TheRealNews.com's video. November 21, 2008

So it seems, my friends, that we have arrived at the final installment of the weeklong dramedy that has been When No Drama Meets Whoa, Drama: the Nomination of Hillary Clinton. The Times is reporting that Clinton has indeed accepted the president-elect's much-written about/much-leaked-about offer to become the nation's top diplomat. Prepare, in the week ahead, for...

<p>A South Florida teen died of a lethal drug overdose in front of a live online webcam audience 12 hours after he started blogging about his plan to commit suicide, an investigator said Friday.</p>

<p>With the lame-duck Congress and the Bush administration unable to agree on any action to boost the economy or ease the financial crisis, the markets have nosedived. The Dow Jones Industrial Average alone has plunged 2,000 points since Election Day.</p>

<p>Attorney General Michael Mukasey was feeling better Friday after collapsing during a speech, a spokeswoman said, reporting that hospital medical tests showed no signs of a stroke or cardiac-related problem.</p>

<p>Mars has vast glaciers hidden under aprons of rocky debris near mid-latitude mountains, a new study confirms, pointing to a new and large potential reservoir of life-supporting water on the planet. These mounds of ice exist at much lower latitudes than any ice previously found on the red planet.</p>

<p>Waxman, a California liberal and avid environmentalist and booster of health care programs, toppled Dingell Thursday on a vote of 137-122 in the Democratic Party caucus, capping a bitter fight within party ranks.</p>

<p>Tracing the cables' path through the clouds and sky with my eyes, I imagine the experience will be like crossing the valley in a hot-air balloon. Albeit one enjoying a tailwind. Peak 2 Peak makes the 2.73-mile crossing - a crossing longer than 2 1/2 Tacoma Narrows Bridges - in 11 minutes, at a speed of about 15 mph.</p>

<p>&quot;It may look as though kids are wasting a lot of time hanging out with new media, whether it's on MySpace or sending instant messages,&quot; said Mizuko Ito, lead researcher on the study, &quot;Living and Learning With New Media.&quot; &quot;But their participation is giving them the technological skills and literacy they need to succeed in the contemporary world. They're learning how to get along with others, how to manage a public identity, how to create a home page.&quot;</p>

<p>It appears in this video that President Bush's approval is in a sorrier state than polls indicate. In a video taken at the G20 summit, Bush walks across a line of world leaders without shaking or being asked to shake any of their hands. Whether the President is being rejected by the world leaders or he is rejecting them, CNN's Rick Sanchez aptly says that Bush looks like &quot;the most unpopular kid in high school that nobody liked.&quot;</p>

<p>CNN is reporting Wednesday night that Obama has chosen Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano to become secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.</p>