GOOD NEWS! Global Warming Could Forestall Ice Age.

It’s like Fallen Angels come to life. “The human-driven buildup of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere appears to have ended a millenniums-long slide toward cooler summer temperatures in the Arctic, the authors of a new study report.”

WASHINGTON POST: Sorry, Charlie: Rep. Rangel must step aside as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. “Much is expected of elected officials. Much more is expected and demanded of those entrusted with chairmanships and the power that comes with them, especially when it involves the nation’s purse strings. From all that we’ve seen thus far, Mr. Rangel has violated that trust continually and seemingly without care.”

JACOB SULLUM: Corrupt Pennsylvania Judges Withdraw Guilty Pleas. “Last week Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan, the former Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, judges who admitted taking millions of dollars in kickbacks from the operator of two juvenile detention centers, withdrew their guilty pleas after a federal judge rejected their agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Under that deal, which called for sentences of about seven years each, Ciavarella and Conahan pleaded guilty to tax evasion and honest services fraud (which federal law defines as a ‘scheme or artifice to deprive another [in this case, taxpayers] of the intangible right of honest services’). But they never admitted the most outrageous aspects of their scheme, which seems to be why U.S. District Judge Edwin Kosik rejected the plea agreement.”

ED DRISCOLL: Video Saved From The Memory Hole: The Pulled DDB-B/WWF 9/11 YouTube Clip.

INTERNATIONAL LAW AND geoengineering to fight climate change.

THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF The Children of the Corn. Has it really been that long? (Er, since the movie, not the Nebraska Guitar Militia album of the same name.)

MOVEON.ORG: Our regrets on that finger-biting thing, but you know, under Obama’s plan you could get it sewed back on for free! Oh, wait, you’re already on Medicare? Never mind . . . .

MARK TAPSCOTT: Tea Party leaders are wasting chance to replace Congress.

AMERICABLOG: Oh yeah, about that gay rights promise… never mind.

SO HOW’S THAT STIMULUS WORKING OUT? More Americans Than Anticipated File Jobless Claims.

SO MANY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, so little time.

OPTING OUT: Google’s new Privacy Village program.

GALLUP: Labor Unions See Sharp Slide in U.S. Public Support.

WHY LASHAWN BARBER wrote a novel.

BUSTING A PLANT.

NEW earthquake-resistant building design.

YESTERDAY WAS THE 150th anniversary of the solar Carrington Event. If it happened today, it would probably collapse civilization, or something close. Think One Second After, but on a larger scale. Better design and preparation is called for.

AND THEY CALL THE TEA PARTY FOLKS CRAZY: Green jobs ‘czar’ signed ‘truther’ statement in 2004.

REASON TV: Too big to fail, 2.0.

I’M GONNA LOVE YOU in my Chevy Van and that’s all right with me.

IT’S NOT A RECESSION FOR THEM: 2010 Prius posts 45% sales increase last month over previous year. But let’s see how they do post-clunker-subsidy.

HMM: ‘Digi-novel’ combines book, movie and website.

FROM JOHN SCALZI, a summer science fiction wrapup.

And don’t miss my Scalzi interview on PJTV.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Is it ethical to engineer delicious cows that feel no pain?

E.J. DIONNE SAYS don’t listen to people like E.J. Dionne.