Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide are rising faster than anticipated, finds a new study. Oh, and ocean absorption of CO2 is falling and sea levels are rising faster than expected.

From an AP story on crumbled political marriages, via CTV.ca:

Carlos Menem: The Argentine president locked his wife, Zulema Yoma de Menem, out of the presidential residence in 1990 after she repeatedly assailed his policies. On one occasion while he was away, she invited journalists over for a barbecue to criticize his leadership.

Today peaked out at 25 degrees Celsius -- not bad for Oct. 23, and according to the Toronto Star, a record. Sunday was also a record.

A good day for patios, a cone of Greg's sublime roasted marshmallow ice cream and an extended hike through High Park.

However, it really shouldn't be this warm at this time of year. The normal high should be more like 12 C.

In the Conservative election platform of 2006, the party promised more openness and transparency in government.

That was then, this is now.

Remember the relentless pounding that the Drudge Report gave to U.S. President Bill Clinton during the worst of the Monica Lewinsky affair?

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has put that behind her and thrown some bones to one of the most influential political news outlets on the Web -- the Drudge Report.

An NYT editorial:

In a rare moment of bipartisan sanity, the House voted 398 to 21 for a much-needed measure that would help protect reporters from being forced to reveal confidential sources in federal court.

Americans who are concerned that proliferating subpoenas are threatening the First Amendment and the public’s right to know should thank Rick Boucher, Democrat of Virginia, and Mike Pence, Republican of Indiana, for sponsoring the bill, and John Conyers Jr., the Judiciary Committee chairman, and Roy Blunt, the Republican whip, for steering it through the House.

Now it’s up to the Senate. The Judiciary Committee passed a somewhat watered-down version of the House bill a few weeks ago. The Senate bill’s champions — Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York, and Patrick Leahy, Judiciary Committee chairman — now need to persuade Harry Reid, the majority leader, to move the issue to the floor.

Bush administration officials have raised the threat of a presidential veto. The administration’s distaste for a federal shield bill — and its claims that it threatens national security — should be seen as just another extension of its obsession with secrecy. Hardly a total shield, the measure is crafted to balance the legitimate needs of law enforcement with the public’s right to know and the potential harm to news-gathering when reporters are required to disclose confidential sources. The House and Senate versions allow for disclosure when truly necessary to protect the country.

Michael Mukasey, the president’s nominee for attorney general, suggested last week that it would be better just to fix the Justice Department’s guidelines on this issue. Those guidelines apply only to subpoenas from the Justice Department. They do not address the large threat to robust reporting about government and corporate wrongdoing when reporters are forced to reveal confidential sources in civil litigation or cases involving other executive agencies or a special prosecutor.

If Mr. Bush still has doubts, he should remember that 398-to-21 House vote before lifting his veto pen.

In a Reason article entitled Amusing Ourselves to Depth, San Francisco writer Greg Beato asks whether the Onion is America's most intelligent newspaper (thanks, Kevin S.!).

I arrived at the Bathurst subway station at about 5 p.m. on Sunday, exiting just in time to catch the end of the 2007 Toronto Zombie Walk.

A lot of people took this event very seriously, and/or are fortunate enough to have movie make-up artists as friends! Here's a Flickr page to see what I mean (behold the sample image to the right).

After running a few errands, I went to catch a southbound streetcar by Honest Ed's. A constant stream of the undead passed by me.

One blonde little girl was dressed up in head-to-toes goth gear with light zombie makeup. She resented the digital camera beeping and clicking her photogenicity inspired. "Hey, no pictures!" she snarled at a few people. A few remarked on the cuteness of her costume. "These are her real clothes," explained the equally goth-looking mother.

Another little blond girl looked considerably less undead, but was still in zombie character. She liked attention and was having a great time attacking passersby, nipping at their pantlegs.

There's a used bookstore close to the stop. I went to window-shop while waiting for the streetcar, the moans and grunts of the parading brain-munchers providing the aural backdrop.

When I walked back to the stop, the littlest zombie -- arms raised, teeth bared -- decided to attack moi.

"Whoa! You don't want bite me," I told her. She came to a complete halt and awaited further explanation.

"I'm a Frankenstein," I told her. "And when zombies bite us, we get mad and eat the zombies."

The parents played along. "Did you hear that?" the kneeling mom told the daughter, hands on both her child's shoulders. "He's a zombie eater!"

I nodded at the kid in grim confirmation.

A look came over the tot's face that suggested she now thought she was in way, wa-a-a-y over her head.

However, lest you think I traumatized her for life, she was back to happily attacking the living within minutes.

PS

A zombie couple shambled by me before the attack. "Brains?" the guy asked me.

"You don't want mine. It's toxic," I deadpanned, eliciting some chuckles.

My alternate take would have been this: "I'm an an American Republican who thinks George W. Bush is the greatest president ever."

Now, if some zombie really wants to bite into that brain ...

PPS

An extremely visual event like this, and the only place I can a photo gallery is on Flickr (TheStar.com only had one picture). Score one for user-generated content.