Sunday morning roundup

London's show of solidarity.

Desmond Tutu on Myanmar.

Judicial reform in China?

The world's top industries are mooching off of you, the tax payer, by sticking you with the environmental costs of their business activities.

Alan Alda teaches scientists to better communicate with mere mortals.

This is a no-brainer, since everyone hates screaming children on planes, and dirty diapers will make a kid scream: make it easier to change babies on planes.

Glutton for punishment that I am, I'm actually considering refinancing again, for the fourth(!) time since I bought my house. Rates are so low that I have to think about it.

Sigh... I guess this is part of that same Grist series on going vegan for a month. Not that anyone asked me, but I'd recommend against freaking out over an Andes mint that you didn't specifically order, anyway. Being orthodox about veganism is a sure way to crash and burn. It's much more effective, if you actually want to be vegan--and if you don't, don't--to pick your battles. That means lowering your standards when you travel. The no-pun-intended guinea pigs did write the following, to their credit:

Among the top benefits for all four of us: the expansion of our cooking and dining horizons. Who knew cheeseless pizza could be so satisfying? It probably wouldn’t have occurred to me to try it without being compelled to, but yum. Laura and Matt found vegan enlightenment in a pine-nut spread. “Thinking of it as a cheese replacement is no good,” Laura warned us. “But as a pine-nut spread that’s delicious on everything, très wonderful.” Other surprises: portobello burgers with guacamole, non-dairy chocolate shakes, and vegan carrot cake that was pronounced “the best I’ve ever had” by four out of four samplers.

Again, if you are interested in trying to be vegan, do focus on new foods you'd never thought to try before (rather than focus on what's off-limits) and don't think of perfectly good foods in terms of meat- or cheese-replacement value.