I wanted to end the week on an up note, so I figured I’d post a link to this BBC blog post about a family that decided to pull up stakes and just hit the road on bikes together. And I’m not talking about merely going for a nice Sunday ride or even a long weekend outing. I’m talking about a family (with small kids!) crossing a whole friggin’ continent on bikes.

On its blog, the BBC published an article written by Nancy Sathe-Vogel (the mother in this biking family), as well as a link to the family’s Web site.

And you can find them on Twitter, too.

It’s an amazing story with great photos. Check it out! Maybe it’ll inspire you to take an unusual journey.

I don’t know about you, but I think this is a touching commemoration (poignant and sobering, really) of the events that led to this holiday from The Heavy Metal Librarian.

This blog post on Constructonomics says that the recession isn’t all doom and gloom, even if people are losing jobs because of it.

As an example, the post says:

“I just read a CNN.com article about how after a tough year in 2008, banker bonuses will be up 40% in 2009. Thank God! Of course this includes banks that received tax-payer funded bailouts in 2008 and were largely responsible for the economic collapse that is affecting 10.2% of the population much more than the other 89.8.”

So, basically, we taxpayers helped finance banker bonuses for the very people who caused the economy to collapse? Well, that’s really good news . . .

In addition:

“If you are one of those folks who is lucky enough to have a job right now [jeez! big "if" there], this recession could be the greatest thing that ever happened to you. Never owned a home? Go buy one and get an $8000 tax credit from the government. Hell, even if you own a house you can get a new one and rake in a $6500 credit. But if you don’t have income, you don’t get mortgage. If you don’t get mortgage, you don’t buy house. If you don’t buy house, you throw your money away to landlord.”

Ok-ay . . . so if you have a job or a house already, you can get a great deal in real estate. If not, you can’t. So . . . where’s the good news?

Further:

“And you know what is better than having a job right now? That’s right – owning a company. Owning a company is like being the captain of a sinking ship [this is good?] – you just bail water or throw people out of the boat to keep it above water [oh, the humanity]. And if you’re not floating high enough above the waves, just throw more people off [sure, let 'em all drown]. I’m not sure what the numbers are, and I really don’t feel like doing research on it because I’m scared of what I may find [or that it won't support your position?], but I’m sure there are plenty of organizations that are actually more profitable during the recession [loads, I'm sure] because they have plenty of excuses to cut costs [throw people overboard]. Isn’t this a beautiful country?”

Um, okay, is this post supposed to be ironic. Maybe I’m just missing the joke here . . .

But there’s more:

“I will concede that there have been more than a fair share of banks and other organizations that have gone belly up during this whole thing, and I doubt they walked with very much money (although perhaps they did). But if your organization was strong enough to survive and [if] you were strong enough and [if you] had enough connections to keep your job, then The Great Recession could be a very financially advantageous time. So I guess you should take full advantage.”

If, if, if . . . lotta “if”s here (express and implied).

And finally:

“However, if you are in the minority of folks that is burning through savings, racking up credit card debt, and throwing money away to landlords, The Great Recession frickin’ sucks.”

Gee, really? Well, that’s news. And aren’t people with jobs struggling, too? What about people whose retirement accounts have been shot to hell? Aren’t they suffering, also?

Well, anyway, other than the alleged minority for whom the recession sucks, everything is great, right? I guess some people can find a silver lining anywhere. (Gotta look real hard, but the sucker is there, all right.)

I’ve often wondered exactly what we have to gain from cap-and-trade legislation. Frankly, I’ve never quite gotten the concept or believed it would actually work anywhere other than on paper.

Looks like two attorneys for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agree.

I’d suggest you watch this video while you can, because according to Grist, “the EPA has instructed [the attorneys] to take the video down by the close of business today, at pain of disciplinary action from EPA ethics officials, and to submit any future drafts to EPA officials before posting.”

Well, the article discussing this came out last Friday. I’d say we’re well past COB last Friday, and the video’s still there. But for how long?

If it’s gone by the time you read this, don’t worry. You can still get the whole story from The Washington Post. (That’s not coming down anytime soon.)

This list of 10 surprising former librarians includes some definite surprises to me. Except, of course, for Laura Bush. (How a librarian ever came to marry a guy like Dubya, I’ll never . . . oh, um, never mind.)

Other than the former First Lady, other names on this list really came out of left field. Literally, in the case of Mao Zedong. And more like right field, in the case of J. Edgar Hoover. (Why am I picturing him in a coordinated skirt, blouse and jacket, with low-heeled pumps? Probably holding a finger to his mouth and shooshing overly-talkative patrons?)

As you can see, librarians run the gamut, politically and otherwise. One is even a cartoon character. How’s that for diversity?

Fighting crime and handling reference requests!

Okay, how weird is it to see Las Vegas named as the least toxic city in the U.S.? And the most toxic city? That honor goes to Atlanta. (How did they get so toxic? Not just traffic congestion, apparently, but also lots of chemical plants and other facilities with high toxin release levels. Would Coca-Cola be among them?)

It’s interesting to look at the lists of the most and least toxic cities according to Forbes Magazine. According to them, the most toxic cities are (listed from worst to better):

1. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta [can't stand the Braves, so that's toxic enough for me]
2. Detroit-Warren-Livonia [not a big surprise]
3. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet [ditto]
4. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown [ha! yeah, with all those oil refineries?]
5. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington [uh huh]
6. Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor [yup]
7. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana [could this be due to overuse of Botox?]
8. Jacksonville [hmm, okay]
9. Baltimore-Towson [they don't call it Charm City for nothing]
10. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton [ironic, given that Portland is supposed to be such a green and sustainable city]

And the least toxic cities are (from best to worse):

1. Las Vegas-Paradise [I guess when your main industries are gambling and quick weddings you don't tend to generate a lot of pollution]
2. Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville [interesting--I guess the local agricultural pesticide use isn't that toxic?]
3. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario [college town]
4. Austin-Round Rock [capital of Texas, FWIW]
5. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue [okay, why is Seattle less toxic than Portland? is it Portland's pulp and paper mills? (just curious)]
6. San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos [awesome town, great weather--I guess the Navy doesn't create too much pollution?]
7. Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News [another port town--but then, so is Baltimore and look where it ended up]
8. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara [the high-tech industry is pretty clean, I guess]
9. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island [if you say so . . .]
10. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale [it's not the toxicity that'll do you in, but the summer heat, which doesn't count, does it?]

Any thoughts?

There’s so much misinformation about Halloween. Some people would have you think it’s all about Satan-worshiping, paganism or that it’s somehow anti-Christian. But these things aren’t true. In fact, one blogger has done his research and uncovered some fascinating historical information about Halloween.

Halloween has many traditions, associated with various religions and ethnic groups, including the Catholic Church, the Celts, the Scottish and the Irish.

Did you know, for instance, that it was Pope Gregory III who declared Nov. 1 to be All Hallows (Saints) Day, so the evening before became known as All Hallows Evening, which was reduced to Hallowe’en, then just Halloween. Thus, the Catholic Church essentially came up with the name. (So unless you consider Catholicism to be anti-Christian, Satanic or pagan, that pretty much rules those options out.)

You can read all about it in this post on Randolph Mase’s Weblog. He did a nice job describing how many Halloween traditions got started, like why we give out candy, why we wear costumes and what’s with those Jack-o’-Lanterns, anyway?

Larry David is not what most people would consider a role model (at least, in the area of social niceties), but I know that when it comes to treat-or-treating, some people object to kids over a certain age, clothed in something less than costumes, pounding on their doors and begging for candy. Like this guy for instance.

Which is where I found this cautionary video (in the comments), about the hazards of saying no to trick-or-treaters. Take note. Don’t let this happen to you.

Yeah, you really don’t want that.

Further, be careful what costume you let your child wear these days. Make sure they dress up as happy princesses or teddy bears. God forbid their costumes be scary! Yeah, that fake chain saw really freaks me out. Plus the fake knife. Ooh, I’m so scared now. I’m suffering emotional distress just looking at those photos. Can’t eat. Won’t be able to sleep tonight. Think I’ll sue the newspaper.

Who knew Carl Sagan could be portrayed as a “funky hipster”?

In “A Glorious Dawn: (Cosmos Remixed),” Sagan and fellow brilliant scientist Stephen Hawking perform (in a manner of speaking) “a new age rap ballad about the universe and humankind’s effort to explore it.”

(Found this video through Wired.)

I’m sure billions and billions of people will be viewing this.

Keeping it short today, folks. I’ll be off soon to volunteer at the Dystonia Golf Classic, raising money for the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation.

I’ve donated a copy of my novel, IDENTITY CRISIS, as one of the door prizes, along with several books provided by fellow mystery author Marcia Talley.

You can also help support research, increased awareness and support for dystonia patients and their loved ones, in a wide variety of ways, including volunteering or making a donation.

Gotta be off now. Things to do, money to raise, illnesses to cure . . .