A German university has shown that renewable energy can meet Germany’s power needs round the clock wihout using nukes or coal. They do this by linking wind, solar, hydro and bio-gas plants together in a grid to maintain steady power. The grid can also store power. Methane produced from bio-gas is used when needed to create power while excess wind energy is used to pump water uphill into a reservoir where it then can be released to power hydro.

The experiment provides enough energy to meet 100% of the annual needs of a small town with 12,000 households. Says Professor Jürgen Schmid of the University of Kassel.

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This is Mrs. Moms III. She’ll be staying with us until about six weeks after she gives birth and the kittens are ready to go back to the rescue place and be adopted.

Given that the size of her belly is about that of a plump football, we’re guessing 5-7 kittens.

She’s about the calmest cat we’ve ever seen; relaxed, peaceful, and friendly.

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Most Democrats run like scared chipmunks when someone calls them liberal.” Obama proudly defends being one. Good for him.

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Peter Camejo, Nader’s running mate in 2004, said he won’t reveal Nader’s plans because he doesn’t want to upstage the announcement [when Nader appears on Meet The Press tomorrow]. But he said Nader’s overall philosophy on elections has not changed.

Sure sounds Nader will run. But whether he runs an independent or a Green, the Democrats have nothing to worry about. I’d be surprised if Nader could muster anywhere near even 1% of the vote (and his run would be embarrassing to him and a death knell to the Green Party he he gets their nomination.)

But this Message to Ralph Nader from Anonymous is s hoot anyway.

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Superdelegates are flocking to Obama

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Georgia wants to renegotiate their border with Tennessee, saying it was based on a faulty 1818 survey. Moving it would given them access to billions of gallons of water from the Tennessee River. Tennesseeans are saying they “will take our long rifles up to Lookout Mountain and fire when ready”, should this be attempted.

This weird story has got everything except that actual change-driver provoking this behavior, which is climate change. Georgia wants to re-draw a 200 year old state boundary so as to purloin Tennessee’s water. In the meantime the governor of Tennessee can’t deal with this provocation because he’s too busy touring the tornado damage.

Got ourselves a real precursor here, folks — if Georgian Republicans are turning into filibustering water-bandits, imagine the mayhem in states less politically organized than Georgia.(and yes, there are some. Really.)

Or imagine the mayhem when it happens on a regional level with, say, the Southwest wanting to grab water from the Great Lakes.

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The pigs at the trough greedfest that has been prevalent these past several years in the financial markets may be coming to an end. The Financial Times says the current financial model where governments let business self-regulate is no longer workable or valid.

Three reasons:

Governments themselves are becoming more active in business, sometimes using financial holdings and information as political weapons.

Regulators are becoming more pro-active in stopping creeping takeovers of companies and of LBO plans that heavily favor a few, rather than the company as an entity.

The current turmoil in the markets that started with subprime shows that self-regulation does not work.

The new risks produced by financial innovation were left to a sector that alone was considered able to understand its instruments. The crisis demonstrates the costs to the real economy and lack of an efficient self-regulating system.

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