Thinking About Oil Rain

Recently, there has been discussion on the Internet of a video that purportedly shows evidence of it raining oil in Louisiana.



Is this evidence of oil rain? Is oil rain possible?

Voltaire's Poem on the Lisbon Disaster (1756)

The link below has the poem and also some discussion of its context. the poem is a reply to those like Pope and Leibniz who proclaimed that all is well. 

"UNHAPPY mortals! Dark and mourning earth!
Affrighted gathering of human kind!
Eternal lingering of useless pain!
Come, ye philosophers, who cry, "All’s well,"
And contemplate this ruin of a world."

http://courses.essex.ac.uk/cs/cs101/volt/Lisbon2.htm

Please Consider Donating to Help the Haitian People

By now everyone is aware of the devastating earthquake it Haiti and its aftermath.  10s or perhaps 100s of thousand of people have died.  More will die without aid.  The Haitian people need your help, not just now, but in the weeks and months to come.  There are many options to help.

You can donate to the American Red Cross International fund online.  You can even make your payment through Amazon.

Earthquake Devastates Haiti

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-haiti-quake13-2010jan13,0,7871308.story