Hot times at the North Pole (and we're not talking global warming, for once)

Today is the Twelfth of December. Catholics call it the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, because on this day in 1531, the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared for the apparent benefit of Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin.

It's funny- I started blogging because I found that I had to spend all day reading foreign news sources to hear anything substantial about what the Bushcheney administration was really doing. Now, though, they're even on the outs with their old lap-dogs at Fox, so the blackout on news seems to have been lifted. I really enjoyed harping on Bushcheney, too, damnit.

I'm saying this now so that you don't expect to find the same kinds of news here, after the Obama administration takes over: I started blogging to dis on Bushcheney, and to help my friends find some real news. In one sense at least, my job here is done.

In 1792, Ludwig van Beethoven took his first composition lesson from Franz Joseph Haydn.

In 1857, a ship passing St Helena on its way from Liverpool to Bombay saw what appeared to be an enormous sea serpent. The captain and senior officers noted the creature's appearance as 'a huge marine animal, which reared its head out of the water, within twenty yards of the ship...we conclude that it must have been over two hundred feet long. The boatswain and several of the crew who observed it from the top-gallant forecastle, stated that it was more than double the length of the ship, in which case it must have been five hundred feet.'

In 1863, Edvard Munch was born.

In 1939, Finland defeated the Soviet Union in the Battle of Tolvajärvi, in the Winter War.

In 2000, the Bush junta took power in the U.S. when the Supreme Court decided to hear a private citizen's complaint about a matter of Florida election law. The Court decided for Bush in Bush v. Gore, sidelining the populace and the Electoral College, instead of allowing the election to proceed.

Nice, but is it art? Could be. I mean, often when humans perform obscure, indecipherable activities for no apparent reason, other humans call it art.

Our entire economy is a Ponzi scheme. Let's back up a few steps and take a look: Credit is not money. It's a promise of money, nothing more. We borrow credit from one source to give to another- no one has any money anywhere: it's all fluid credit unless you're buying with gold coins. Who is innocent here, anymore?

This is huge. Right now, five countries have claims on the Arctic Ocean: Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia, and the U.S. Until now, this hasn't been a big deal, but when the Northwest Passage opens up (as it will in future ice-free arctic summers), the world of shipping will change forever. Who controls the Arctic Ocean, controls trade between Europe and East Asia, because this trip will shave months (and thousands of dollars in portage fees at the Panama Canal) off a previously very long and expensive trip. Add a sixth player to the game, and the complexity of the problem increases. If this independence move doesn't go smoothly, things could get very hot in the Arctic, very soon.