Thanks in large part to global warming, at least one-third of the coral in the Caribbean, much of it many centuries old and virtually irreplaceable, has died in the last year.

“It’s an unprecedented die-off,” said National Park Service fisheries biologist Jeff Miller, who last week checked 40 stations in the Virgin Islands. “The mortality that we’re seeing now is of the extremely slow-growing reef-building corals. These are corals that are the foundation of the reef … We’re talking colonies that were here when Columbus came by have died in the past three to four months.

Thanks to reader Abby for the wildly depressing tip. 

Thanks in large part to global warming, at least one-third of the coral in the Caribbean, much of it many centuries old and virtually irreplaceable, has died in the last year.

“It’s an unprecedented die-off,” said National Park Service fisheries biologist Jeff Miller, who last week checked 40 stations in the Virgin Islands. “The mortality that we’re seeing now is of the extremely slow-growing reef-building corals. These are corals that are the foundation of the reef … We’re talking colonies that were here when Columbus came by have died in the past three to four months.

Thanks to reader Abby for the wildly depressing tip. 

Nearing $10 trillion before Bush leaves office.  The NYC National Debt Clock, which had to be turned off during the Clinton years because it couldn’t run backward, will not be able to handle the number.

(Assuming we don’t elect a Democratic Congress which might toss him out the back door within a year.)

Memos now prove that Bush not only planned to invade Iraq no matter what, but to have suggested putting a US spy plane in UN colors, hoping to get it shot down, just to provoke the mess we got into… and there are still sentient beings making apologies for this man?

Seriously.  Where’s the line?  Never mind Guantanamo, torture, rendition, NSA spying, yellowcake, ignoring the briefing warning about Bin Laden, the misuse of classified info to attack opponents, the Katrina clusterf***, deficits of unprecedented proportion, scribbling notes in the margins of laws so the king can decide which parts he will and will obey — never mind all that.

Clear and provable willingness to start a war on the basis of pure lies?  That’s not enough?

Gratituitous further plug for Tom Tomorrow’s live appearances on the west coast this week: Book Soup in West Hollywood on Tuesday, Booksmith in SF on Wednesday, Stacey’s in SF and Cody’s in Berkeley on Thursday, and the Elliot Bay Bookstore in Seattle on Friday.

He’s an old friend and it’s fun to do Sparky’s voice (as I did at a Barnes & Noble here in NYC tonight), but I’d never seen him appearing live.  Worth seeing.  The cartoons are cool, hearing some of the backstory of how they came into being is cooler, and his honesty and sense of humor in the Q&A is coolest of all.  Also, the book is gorgeous.

Also, a hey to readers of this blog who said hi tonight when you realized it was me.  That was cool.  Really enjoyed it.

I can’t be at the rest of Dan’s run — I’ve got my own book to keep mothering into existence, and that’s getting more exciting by the day, honestly — but you can.  So if you’re around, go.