I see that the new chairman of the Republican party isn't helping much.

In addition to seeming like an innately awkward fellow, Michael Steele seems to be a natural for preserving his party's image: out-of-touch with rising issues. Check out this report about a radio interview where he managed to say some startling things. My personal favorite is that he's aligned himself with the wing of his party who insist that the changes in the Earth's climate are not only natural, but that the climate is cooling. He bases this on the fact that Greenland is called "Greenland", so it must have been warmer in the past--evidence of global cooling.

Um, it's people like these that remind me how poorly educated Americans can be. Mr. Steele, the people who discovered Greenland called it that to deceive others and attract more people to their new island. The last time it was "green" was when the climate didn't have China, India, Europe and the USA pumping out carbon dioxide faster than the plants can absorb--but you'll just take that as proof of global cooling, won't you?

Oh! Wait! I'm sure that Mr. Steele will also gladly confirm the Earth is only 7,000 years old, so that evidence from older times is clearly fake in his eyes…

CDs listened to today:

• Public Enemy: Fear of a Black Planet
• William Bolcom: Songs of Innocence and Experience
• Marie Barker Nelson: Culinary Concerto for Clarinet
• Regina Spektor: Begin to Hope
• Spice Girls: Spice
• The Guillemots: Through the Windowpane
• Miklós Rózsa: Tripartita for Orchestra