— Renee Schoof, McClatchy Newspapers, December 6, 2009 Negotiators in Copenhagen will try to nail down all the main elements of a treaty to curb global warming in the next two weeks, but a final agreement won’t be possible until the United States figures out what it will do to reduce emissions of heat-trapping pollution. [read post]

. * 1327: Edward II of England, after being deposed and imprisoned by his Queen consort Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer, was rumored to have been murdered by having a red-hot iron inserted into his anus. * 1410: Martin I of Aragon died from a lethal combination of indigestion and uncontrollable laughing. * 1478: George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, reportedly was executed by drowning in a barrel of Malmsey wine at his own request. [read post]