Hollywood mogul David Geffen angered Hillary Clinton with a comment about the “ease” with which the Clintons tell political lies. Though Geffen’s comment may have been harsh, the reality is that the Clintons showed little commitment while in the White House to bring to light important historical truth.

Bill Clinton was in a unique position as the first President to take office after the end of the Cold War, but he established no truth commissions, ordered no widespread document declassifications and even turned his back on existing investigations of government wrongdoing by his Republican predecessors in the 1980s.

For the full story of how the Clintons view the value of truth, go to the independent ConsortiumNews.Com.

Under the Microscope
by Glynn Wilson

There is a new theory emerging about life on planet Earth.

It goes something like this.

For every whacko in the world, there’s a coot and a nuthatch mama.

The Free Dictionary online, not to be confused with the more sophisticated but NOT free Websters, defines whacko as: “A person who is regarded as eccentric or mad; an oddball, a flake or a geek.”

It doesn’t say you have to be eccentric AND mad; or an oddball, a flake AND a geek.

I guess one will do.

But guess what?

A “coot” is also defined as: “An eccentric or crotchety person, especially an eccentric old man.”

Nuthatch mama is not in the dictionary, so we will have to define that one for ourselves.

That’s one of the greatest lessons a person can learn over the course of a lifetime of continuing education. You don’t have to wait around for an old coot like Webster to define a term for you. Why, you can make up words and phrases - and define them yourself!

Many human beings go through an entire lifetime and never realize this. I’m sure Woody Allen could have some fun with this one. But this is not New York. And this ain’t his blog…
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You Can Too!

It may seem early, but the race for President of the United States has already begun. One of the most important issues facing voters in 2008 will be how candidates stand on global warming and climate change.

Recognizing this, the League of Conservation Voters is making a push to get candidates to deal with the issue NOW. As a start, the group is trying to get 100,000 people to sign a petition to demand that all presidential candidates from all parties take a stand on global warming.

We think with a little help from the blogosphere and concerned citizens like you, we can do better than that. Why not 1 million signatures? Or better yet, 10 million?

Here’s is a sample letter the group has on its Website.

Dear Candidate for U.S. President,

The debate is over. The National Academy of Sciences and thousands of scientists worldwide agree that the planet is warming and that human dependence on fossil fuels - such as coal and oil - is the primary cause. The problem is so urgent that the next 10 years will likely decide the outcome. There is still time to rise to the challenge, but America needs the leadership to do so.

Solving global warming will place the U.S. at the forefront of developing and deploying the clean energy technologies that will dominate the 21st century. When we solve global warming, we will have established a more secure, prosperous and vibrant America.

Nothing short of our children’s future is at stake.

As you campaign for your party’s presidential nomination, we ask that solving global warming be a central message and a top priority.

To sign the petition, go to the group’s Website and fill out the form NOW!

An international team of scientists is assembling a barcoded genetic portrait of bird life in the United States and Canada - the prelude to a genetic portrait of all animal life on Earth.

Scientists have developed a new technique for species identification in the form of a DNA barcode, similar to ones used to identify consumer products in the supermarket, only a species barcode can identify unique animals or plants.

Based on DNA barcode identifiers, the scientists have discovered 15 new genetically distinct species, nearly indistinguishable to human eyes and ears and thus overlooked in centuries of bird studies.

The barcoders also logged the DNA attributes of 87 bat species in the South American country of Guyana and reveal six new species, each characterized by its unique genetic make-up.

“People have watched birds for so long we might think every different tweet has been heard, every different color form observed,” says Dr. Paul Hebert of the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario at Guelph University, who co-authored both the bird and bat papers. “However, there are a number of cases of deep genetic divergences within what are currently called single species.”

“Now, with the vast majority, 93-94 percent, of birds on the continent barcoded it’s hard to argue that barcoding might work for the easy stuff but miss the difficult cases of closely-related taxa,” Dr. Hebert said.
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