The (Very) Good News About Solar And Come Meet a Woman Who KNEW Elvis

IF YOU’RE IN NEW YORK TONIGHT

Vicky Tiel gowns usually fetch $5,000 to $8,000. Tonight, she will be presenting her bridge line, a collaboration with Kenneth Nolan, at discount prices for one night only at Charles Nolan, 30 Gansevoort Street, from 6:00 to 9:00. Now you can own a Vicky Tiel for $250 to $900. Or just come ask Ms. Tiel what Elvis Presley was like, what Kim Kardashian is like, and to inscribe copies of her book, It’s All About the Dress, What I Learned In Forty Years About Men, Women, Sex And Fashion, to solve several of your upcoming gift-giving conundra.

WHAT ONE REPUBLICAN THINKS – NOT PRETTY

Carl Ondry: “Yesterday’s clip of the ignorant, biased lady ruined my morning. I hope those people won’t ruin the country.”

☞ I hope so too. They’ve done a pretty good job of it so far, I’m afraid. Imagine if her passion for making things better – which I don’t doubt is real – sat on a foundation of solid facts (like the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change). She’d be fierce.

Les Rosenbaum: “After hearing that Republican’t, I have a book recommendation: Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free by NPR’s Charles P. Pierce.”

THE BAD NEWS ON FRACKING

And here you thought it might only pollute our drinking water. Turns out – “U.S. Government Confirms Link Between Earthquakes and Hydraulic Fracturing” – fracking causes earthquakes. One assumes it causes only smallish earthquakes; and one doesn’t mind if they occur, smallishly, in unpopulated areas. But one is reminded on a daily basis of the difficulty of fitting 7 billion people, headed for 9 billion, on a small planet without disturbing the natural order of things.

THE WORSE NEWS FROM ITALY

Robert Shapiro asks: “Is This the Final Countdown to a Global Financial Calamity?” Hopefully not, and the sun will come out tomorrow (see below), but don’t quit your day job. If you have one.

THE (VERY) GOOD NEWS ON SOLAR

Paul Krugman in the New York Times, here. Bottom line: solar is getting more and more economical, with huge positive implications for our economy, our security, and the environment. (And by the way, this is exactly why we should be making Solyndra gambles, even though many will fail – China’s putting $30 billion into this kind of stuff – so we can have a meaningful share of this amazing new market.)