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On Thursday night, we invited a friend over to have pasta and watch “West Wing.” After eating too much, we carried our wine glasses into the living room, settled down on the couch, switched on the TV and got–Al Gore’s concession speech.

While it was a gracious speech, I found myself restlessly waiting for it to be over so that I could watch the show. When the usual Talking Heads came on to dissect the speech, we all groaned but decided to wait patiently to see if they would still run the show during the next hour.

When 9 p.m. rolled around, we settled back in the living room, turned on the television, and–Oh no, now it was George Bush’s acceptance speech! And of course, the Talking Heads had to go over that one for 45 minutes as well.
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Soldiers and disaster workers in Mexico City are reviewing evacuation procedures after Popocateptl, which is located 40 miles southeast of the city, erupted 200 times on Tuesday, breaking its 1996 record of 180 eruptions in a single day. Officials issued a state of alert after the volcano began to spew ash early that morning. The first tremor lasted over an hour.

Residents of Mexico City have been warned to stay at least six miles away from the volcano. So far, no ash has fallen on populated areas.

“Popo” has threatened the 24 million residents of the world?s 2nd largest city in the past. Like the long-awaited major earthquake that has been predicted for Los Angeles, it?s only a matter of time.
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The Environmental Protection Agency Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) has confirmed that genetically engineered StarLink corn poses a potential allergy risk to humans. The panel remained unconvinced by the data submitted by Aventis CropScience, the developers of StarLink, that there was no risk in human consumption of the corn.
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In October, scientists reported that the ozone hole over the South Pole was the largest it has ever been. By November, it had reached the area of Puentas Arenas, Argentina. For the first time, a city was under an area of the sky stripped of ozone.

The hole in the ozone layer has appeared over Antarctica every year since 1978. Ozone absorbs harmful ultra-violet light from the sun. Too much ultra-violet can cause skin cancer, cataracts and suppress the immune system, and will destroy plant life on land and phyloplankton in the oceans, and cause blindness among unprotected animals.
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