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John Holdren as science adviser - Obama's strongest message on climate yet
Joseph Romm, Gristmill
Science magazine is reporting, "Strong indications are that President-elect Barack Obama has picked physicist John Holdren to be the president's science adviser."

I have known Holdren for over a decade and have discussed energy/climate issues with him many times. He probably has more combined expertise on both climate science and clean energy technology than any other person who could plausibly have been named science adviser.

... I would say that if Holdren is named (on Saturday), it is an even stronger signal than the terrific choice of Steven Chu for Energy Secretary that Obama is dead serious about the strongest possible action on global warming. After all, the science adviser works out of the White House and oversees science and technology funding, analysis, and messaging for all federal agencies.
(18 December 2008)
At ScienceInsider (Science): Sources: John Holdren to be Nominated as Obama's Science Adviser.

China says lending to US will not go on forever
AFP via Yahoo!News
China warned Wednesday it would not keep lending money to the US economy indefinitely, even as new data showed it had consolidated its position as the top buyer of American government bonds.

"China's increased purchase of US Treasury securities should not be interpreted as an endorsement of the assumption that the US can borrow its way out of the current financial crisis," the China Daily said in an editorial.

The warning from the state-run newspaper, an English-language daily that mainly addresses a foreign audience, came after the US Treasury Department reported a steep increase in Chinese holding of US Treasury bonds.
(17 December 2008)

Abandoned horses are on the rise
Jeff DeLong, USA TODAY
... Horse abandonment is on the rise across the USA, livestock and agricultural officials say. As the economy worsens and the cost of feeding and caring for horses rises, more people are abandoning their animals into the wild, where many starve and die.

No national numbers are available, but there are "definitely thousands of them out there," said Dave Duquette, an Oregon horse trainer and president of the United Horsemen's Front.

"Folks have to decide whether to feed the kids or feed the horses," said Dr. Kerry Rood, a veterinarian at Utah State University.
(17 December 2008)