We don't know if there's anything for us to stand on yet, but the temperature appears to be a delightful 72 degrees, there's light similar to that of our sun, and the year is a little longer than ours. Pack your bags for Kepler-22b, I think we've nearly milked this planet for all it's worth:

At 2.4 times wider than Earth, the composition of Kepler-22b is a puzzle. It could be rocky, a “super-Earth” much like our planet but bigger. It might also be a water world covered with deep oceans, said Dimitar Sasselov, a Kepler scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Or it could be gaseous like Neptune or Uranus.

Determining the planet’s composition rests in part on measuring its mass — how heavy it is. The Kepler telescope is unable to make this measurement, but ground-based telescopes can by watching the planet tugging on its star. Telescopes in Hawaii and elsewhere will attempt these measurements when the star comes into view next summer, Borucki said.

Not together, but you might want to get your 2012 datebook out, because the events are starting to pile up in the first half of next year.

The Rialto announced two shows today, the first of which is Childish Gambino, actor/comedian Donald Glover's hip hop project on April 10th. Pitchfork didn't like his latest album, Camp, but it should be an interesting show as Glover explores topics including Asian women and the struggle of being a nerd in rap culture.

Ten days later, Andrew Bird returns to town on April 20th, promoting his new album Break It Yourself, which comes out in March. As an extra bonus, if you buy a ticket for his show at the Rialto, you get a digital copy of the album for free as well as a live EP from his last tour and another live EP (which you'd receive in the spring) with material from this tour. Laura Marling opens for Bird, which is great news as well.

Tickets for both shows go on sale this Friday at 10 am.

On a nearly entirely different note, Noam Chomsky will be coming to Centennial Hall as part of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences' Lecture Series, speaking on the topic "Education for Whom and for What?" on February 8th. The event is free and Chomsky will answer questions from the audience following his presentation.

In part three of the series no one asked for (part one: Wings; part two: Wilco), I suggest five songs from an act that will be featured at the three day (and one afternoon) music event The Great Cover Up, happening December 15-17 and benefiting the Tucson Artists and Musicians Healthcare Alliance. Today, I pick five Mariah Carey songs I'd like to hear on Friday the 16th.

Everyone loves those Planet Earth shows, since they're exceptionally shot and capture moments in nature that otherwise would remain unseen, and the latest series Frozen Planet is probably no exception, especially if you like penguins and polar bears. However, when Frozen Planet airs in America on the Discovery Channel in early 2012, it will be one episode shorter than the version shown on the BBC. Why? Because climate change is controversial:

The final episode of Frozen Planet — the popular new series from the creators of Planet Earth — addresses the impending threat of climate change on the Earth's poles. In the episode, which will air on BBC One on December 7th, narrator David Attenborough is expected to claim that the Arctic could be completely devoid of ice by 2020.

But in the US, the episode will not air, for fear of the reaction it might draw from America's climate change skeptics. In fact, as of mid-November, the BBC had sold the documentary series to over 30 foreign networks, and a third of them had opted out of the controversial final episode.

Maybe Attenborough's view of the threat of global climate change is offbase, maybe we'll be fine without changing our behavior one bit, but is the very idea so offensive that the series needs to be shortened? That seems ridiculous, to say the least.

• Rand Carlson

If you enjoy political showdowns in a court of law, you'll want to tune in live to the Arizona Supreme Court's hearing of City of Tucson v. State of Arizona and Southern Arizona Leadership Council and Sen. Jonathan Paton. In case you missed the excitement so far, Tucson is unique within Arizona for holding partisan elections for city offices and for allowing the entire city to vote in the general election for ward-based City Council seats. This upset then-state-Senator Jonathan Paton (and others) who got SB 1123 passed in 2009, prohibiting cities from holding elections this way. The city fired back, stating that municipal elections were the concern of the municipality itself; the trial court sided with the state; the appeals court sided with the city; and now we're here.

You can watch the action live on your computer at 2:00 pm today via the Supreme Court's website.

I personally don't speak French (because I LOVE AMERICA), but I can only assume that Mitt Romney is telling the French speaking world that he has their interests at heart and will turn America in a socialist paradise with brie on every plate and berets on every head. That seems to be the only logical conclusion.

[Politico]

Now that our first freezes are through - at least for the moment, you still have time to plant your winter potted garden.

• Picture by Marylee
• Snall In Tucson?

• Marylee celebrating a recent birthday!

Democrat Richard Carmona, who wants to replace retiring Sen. Jon Kyl next year, landed a bipartisan endorsement from all six members of the Tucson City Council.

Carmona is expected to face Don Bivens in next year's Democratic primary. If he wins that, he'll likely square off against Republican Jeff Flake, the Maricopa County congressman who is the likely GOP nominee.

Here's the press release from Team Carmona:

Today all six members of Tucson's City Council endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Richard Carmona, a combat-decorated Army Special Forces veteran and the former Surgeon General of the United States, citing his lifetime of service to our country and community. Shirley Scott, Richard Fimbres, Karen Uhlich, Steve Kozachik, Regina Romero and Paul Cunningham each offered their enthusiastic endorsement of Dr. Carmona.

"Rich Carmona has overcome significant obstacles in order to achieve success in our country," said Regina Romero, who represents Ward 1. "He is an example to our children who demonstrates that hard work, education and a commitment to community can transform your life. As a councilwoman, a former youth organizer and a mother, I am proud to endorse Rich Carmona, and look forward to calling him my Senator."

"I know the pride that comes with having served in the US Army Reserve as a medic, so I have deep respect for the courage and bravery shown by Rich Carmona," said Councilman Paul Cunningham, who represents Ward 2. "He earned two purple hearts and two Bronze Stars risking his life for his fellow soldiers, and his commitment to doing the right thing is second to none."

UPDATE: PayPal says they've released the funds. Still, this is an example of how not to handle a disagreement with a customer.

I'm not the biggest fan of the Etsy mockery site Regretsy, but site founder April Winchell does put the site's reach to good use, raising money to give toys to needy kids. However, then PayPal stepped in to ruin everything, freezing the site's account and then engaging in a totally befuddling bit of customer service. Winchell's post on the matter is worth reading in its entirety (if only to learn how not to deal with a disagreement with a customer), but this portion of the exchange is particularly confusing:

PAYPAL: Only a nonprofit can use the Donate button.
ME: That’s false. It says right in the PDF of instructions for the Donate button that it can be used for “worthy causes.”
PAYPAL: I haven’t seen that PDF. And what you’re doing is not a worthy cause, it’s charity.
ME: What’s the difference?
PAYPAL: You can use the donate button to raise money for a sick cat, but not poor people.

[...]

PAYPAL: The only way you’d be allowed to sell these as gifts is if you sent them directly to the person who bought them. And we will track your shipments and make sure it goes to the buyer.
ME: That’s discriminatory! You don’t make other retailers send purchases to the buyer only, especially not at Christmas.
PAYPAL: No one but a nonprofit would send gifts to someone else on buyer’s behalf.
ME: What about Amazon?
PAYPAL: We know what you’re doing and we’re through playing games with you.

Even better, apparently someone from Paypal told Winchell that the only way they would unfreeze her account would be if she refunded the donations, wrote a letter to PayPal apologizing for her wrongdoings, and then they close her account. Well played, PayPal.

The people at Sabino Artisan Chocolates are pulling out all the stops for the holidays and crafting some sweets that are blowing my mind.

The molded Santa Claus candies are nice, but when the conversation turns to topics like eggnog-flavored ganache with nutmeg and brandy and white-chocolate ganache infused with peppermint oil and schnapps and rolled in crushed candy canes, I start paying attention.

Get in on the sweetness over yonder.