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REQUIEM

Below are the two final essays to be posted on Allegiance and Duty Betrayed. The first one is written by a friend -- screen name 'Euro-American Scum' -- who, over the past four years, has been the most faithful essayist here. He has written about everything from his pilgrimage to Normandy in 2004 to take part in the 60th–year commemoration of the invasion, to his memories of his tour in Vietnam. His dedication to America’s founding principles ... and those who have sacrificed to preserve them over the past 200+ years ... is unequaled. Thank you, E-A-S. It has been a privilege to include your writing here, and it is a privilege to call you my friend.

The second essay is my own farewell. And with it I thank all of the many regular visitors, and those who may have only dropped in occasionally, for coming here. I hope you learned something. I hope a seed or two was planted. But, even if not, I thank you for stopping by ... 25 March, 2010

3/13/2007

The Politics of Global Warming




Luis, a fellow blogger friend, posted a link here last week to an excellent exposé on global warming that was recently aired on his channel 4 in Britain (The Great Global Warning Swindle). I urge anyone who hasn’t seen it to do so, and I applaud the producers for taking a remarkably courageous stand against junk science.

After we viewed the program, my husband and I forwarded the link to quite a few friends. Below is an excerpt from an e-mail he received in response from one of his friends:
____________________

Who the hell has 1 hour, 15 minutes and 56 seconds to listen to a bunch of Brits! We are planning a trip for the UK in August. I think I'll probably be speaking with an accent by then. I'm no scientist you understand and Co2 may not be a problem, but it doesn't take a genious to know if 6.3 billion people all start to piss in the streams and dump all their junk there that the water sooner or later is going to get dirty and cause problems. Now take that to 12.6 billion people in a short 40-50 years and so on and it sure looks like a problem. So the solution is don't do it! I remember the steel mills in Pittsburgh and Johnstown and believe me air pollution is a problem. Now take that to the air/atmosphere and I can certainly see a problem on the horizon (Co2 or not). Of course if we run out of gas in the next 50 years because of some more stupidity with gas guzzlers and other waste it won't be a problem.... I guess?

Just a thought.

The hell with it! Let’s have lunch in a week or two.


____________________

I believe this e-mail, written by a white-collar professional, political (so-called) ‘conservative’, illustrates exactly what is most wrong with our nation – a stubborn unwillingness by the citizenry to become informed about, and take action against, the forces that are seeking our demise as a free republic. Apathetic malaise will prove to be our undoing, even moreso than the threat posed by Islamic terrorism.

Following is an essay on global warming that has been rattling around in my head for quite some time. It is not a research paper. There are no footnotes, no bibliography. There are no deep descriptions of intricate scientific theory. Simply a recitation of fairly elementary scientific facts, born out by a mountain of evidence culled by an endless list of reputable scientists in the fields of physics and climatology.

All opinions expressed are mine, and are the result of several years of reading scientific articles, applying my own (admittedly very primitive) mathematical models, watching ‘documentaries,’ both pro and con, and observing the (American, especially) political process, especially that involving modern American neo-Marxist ‘environmentalists’. As always, I welcome dissenting opinions, but will not tolerate unfounded leftist propaganda.


First allow me to tell you what I believe is the rationale behind the invention of the theory of global warming. Feel free to precede each of the remarks in the following six paragraphs by ‘I believe’. I do not assert that these opinions are fact, merely educated personal conclusions.

Since the beginning of time, there has always existed a class of people who view themselves as human ‘elite’ – as gods in human form. This class of people believes that it possesses an inherent right to more privileges, more possessions, and more power than the rest of humanity.

Such people have always played the starring roles in the ugly series of oppressions, wars, tyrannies, and even genocides, that have occurred throughout the history of mankind, by seeking to enjoy a life of plenty while also ruling over, and oppressing, their brothers.

The basis for Marxist/Leninist doctrine, and modern socialist philosophy, is rooted in such a mindset.

A majority of those now in leadership positions in modern America, as well as the leadership of most globalist organizations, purport to have the best interests of humanity at heart. But, upon close examination, it becomes apparent that they believe they have an inherent right to enjoy a lifestyle that is a cut above that of the masses, while simultaneously authoring rules that must dictate the boundaries within which the masses must exist.

In order to succeed in such efforts, this elite class must convince the masses that there exist conditions that make necessary a natural suppression of productivity, achievement, creativity, and prosperity, and the resulting fruits of success. In order to do so, fostering ignorance among the populace, and then successfully disseminating disinformation, are necessary.

Both insidious, malevolent agendas are succeeding in America 2007.


In its simplest state, what does the theory of global warming purport and predict?

Supporters of the theory teach (though they do not necessarily believe, since their motive for embracing the theory has little to do with a reverence for truth) that human carbon dioxide emission is demonstrably the major cause of climate warming. If not taken seriously, this human CO2-caused warming could result in worldwide health, environmental, and economic catastrophes.

Proponents of this theory support major reductions in the use of fossil fuels, particularly oil and coal, and a turning toward the sun and wind as sources of energy. And they support Draconian changes in lifestyle and behavior by both individuals, and business and industry, in order to cool the supposedly overheating planet.

In the eyes of global warming advocates, man is an enemy of the earth. In our greed and lack of concern for nature, we have used and abused the natural resources available to us. And by polluting the air with CO2 emissions at an increasingly alarming rate, historically unprecedented global catastrophes are sure to occur. We face dramatic rises in the levels of the oceans as a result of the melting of the polar ice caps. Shoreline communities, and then inland cities and towns, will eventually find themselves under water. The earth’s forests and jungles will eventually be transformed into enormous deserts. Entire species of beautiful and innocent animals (apparently the polar bear, in particular), unable to adapt to the warming of the planet, will be wiped off the face of the earth. Once fertile and productive farmland will turn into desert, resulting in global famine. And insects that once only thrived in tropical climates will migrate north, carrying deadly diseases that, until man disturbed the balance of nature, were unheard of in northern climes.

If we continue to industrialize, and to consume fossil fuels, global apocalypse, because of man’s selfish emission of massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, is a virtual certainty. The culprit is industrialized society, and western man’s selfishness lies at the root of the evil.


What does genuine, non-agenda-driven, science say about all of this?

The power of carbon dioxide to dictate climate change:

CO2 is not a major determiner of climate. It is not even a minor determiner. And, even if it were, man’s contribution to the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is negligible.

CO2 forms only a very minute part of our atmosphere, 10 parts per million. Ten parts per million (worth repeating). That might be a significant statistic, if CO2 were actually a pollutant, or a potent poison, but it is not. CO2 is essential to life. Think of the 10 parts per million in this way:

If the entire population of the United States represented the atmosphere, three thousand of us (enough to fill the average large high school auditorium) would represent that portion of the atmosphere comprised of carbon dioxide.

And, since the portion of CO2 in the atmosphere that is created by humans is minute, only about one row of that filled high school auditorium represents the CO2 contribution that we humans produce. One row in a high school auditorium versus the entire population of the United States. Pretty impressive negative power we humans wield, huh? Talk about David taking on the Philistines.

In addition, there have been prolonged periods in history in which the earth and its inhabitants were producing ten times as much CO2 as we are today.

A brief, superficial, but representative, example of naturally-occurring ‘warming trends’:

The present ‘warming trend’ goes back several hundred years to the end of the ‘little ice age’ (the eighteenth century). Not only do scientific studies corroborate the existence of that mini ice age, but illustrations and prints produced during the era consistently portray a cold nature. A prevalent theme is the freezing of the Thames, during which wonderful ice fairs and skating competitions were held on a river that we modern inhabitants of the planet cannot imagine as ever having frozen.

Preceding the ‘little ice age’ there was a Medieval warm period (800-1300), during which humans, animals, and vegetation gradually adapted to a significantly warmer climate. Humans embraced a different lifestyle, and animals and vegetation adapted as well. In Europe, the Medieval warm period resulted in the great age of cathedral builders, and vineyards flourished, even in the north of England.

We have temperature records of Greenland that can be traced back thousands of years to an era in which Greenland was much warmer than it is today. Perma-frost, under the forests of Russia, has melted significantly during past warm eras that lasted hundred of years, and then re-frozen during ensuing cold spells.

Other, even earlier, warm periods have been researched and recorded, with a pronounced and extended one having occurred during the Bronze Age, in what is known as the Holocene Maximum. During this particularly warm period, temperatures remained significantly higher than they are today for more than three thousand years. Interestingly enough, polar bears were around back then, and they adapted, survived, and procreated just fine.

The bottom line in global warming is that global warming is indeed a natural part of earth’s history – past, present and future. It occurs periodically, as does global cooling. And it occurs so gradually that the inhabitants of the planet, both plant and animal, are afforded sufficient time to adapt to the ‘temporary’ (until the next warming/cooling phase kicks in) climate change.

[An aside: I find it fascinating that the majority of advocates of the theory of global warming are also believers in the theory of evolution, and yet, despite the fact that the periodic warming and cooling of the earth occurs over a very long period of time – hundreds, if not thousands, of years -- they do not believe that plants and animals can naturally adapt to the temperature cycles.]

Does industrialization contribute to global warming, as purported by environmentalists?

American industrial production in 1900-1940 was minimal in comparison to the post-WW II era, and yet temperatures consistently rose during those four relatively quiet decades. Indeed, most of the rise in temperature that has been recorded during the earth’s current ‘warming trend’ occurred pre-1940. After WW II, during the unprecedented post-war economic boom, the temperature chart changed. After the war, the earth’s temperatures began a steady, forty-year decline, which spurred apocalyptic predictions of the coming of a second ice age. With the boom in post-war industrial activity, the percentage of man-made CO2 in the atmosphere naturally increased, and yet the earth’s temperature began to fall. And it wasn’t until the recession of the mid-1970s that temperatures began leveling off once again.

Is there any correlation at all between CO2 and the earth’s temperature?

If the production of CO2, or the production of greenhouse gases in general (of which CO2 is only a very small part), is the cause of the earth’s current warming, then, as the CO2 rises, it becomes trapped in the upper atmosphere, and the temperatures in the upper atmosphere should be significantly higher than those on the earth’s surface. There are two reliable ways to measure the temperature in the atmosphere: with satellite readings and weather balloons. And readings taken in both ways always lead to the same results:
Temperature readings taken at both levels (surface and upper atmosphere) consistently show that the earth’s surface is significantly warmer than the temperatures in the higher levels of the atmosphere. Actually, the higher the site at which temperature readings are taken, the lower the readings are.

Most reliable scientific studies that have been conducted in order to determine a correlation between the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and the temperature of the earth have resulted in one main conclusion: A rise in the earth’s temperature causes the production of increased CO2, and not the other way around.

Many reliable scientific tests can be performed to analyze the specific relationship between the two over time, including arctic ice core data, glacier advances or retreats, analyses of lake or seafloor sediments, tree cellulose, corals, biological fossils, dust or chemical counts, pollen, tree-line shifts, etc. Analysis of scientific evidence thus obtained has consistently shown that increases in atmospheric CO2 consistently parallel increases in temperature with an approximately eight hundred year lag (i.e., when the earth experiences a warming trend, a commensurate increase in CO2 concentration can always be expected to occur approximately eight hundred years later).

Why?

By far, the largest source of CO2 production emanates from the oceans. Human production of CO2, even during major industrialization periods, is insignificant in comparison.

If the surface of the ocean is heated, it emits CO2; if it is cooled, it absorbs CO2. Yet, when the oceans of the world (which comprise seventy percent of the earth’s surface) are heated, because of their gigantic surface area and enormous average depth, it takes approximately eight centuries for the heating or cooling to take complete effect, and to result in either significant emission, or significant absorption, of CO2.

What about the melting of the polar ice caps?

The polar ice caps are always naturally expanding and contracting, sometimes to a very large degree. Ice is always moving. Nowadays, satellites can detect such movement, so it becomes news. News reports regularly show ice breaking off of arctic glaciers. The ‘spring breakup’, which is what is generally reported as potentially apocalyptic ‘news’, is an annual occurrence in the arctic, and always has been. What the international news media do not show are the re-accumulating of the glaciers the following winter.

As for purported rises in the levels of the oceans, such changes can generally be attributed to local factors, such as land development and the accompanying change in the topography, or worldwide thermal expansion of the oceans. When the latter is the cause, it is never the result of relatively recent (as in within the last few hundred years) melting of polar ice, but rather the result of an enormously slow, up to eight-hundred-year heating of the oceans (whose cause will be discussed later), that has no connection with the activities of man.

What causes appreciable heating and cooling of the oceans?

Solar activity. The sun’s activity is always in continuous and enormous flux. And its influence on the earth’s temperature completely dwarfs the effects of all other conceivable warming components.

Sunspots are intense magnetic fields, whose power is barely conceivable by the mind of man, and certainly not capable of being reproduced here on earth. During periods of high solar activity, more sunspots are created and enormous amounts of solar heat are produced.

During the ‘little ice age’ mentioned above, astronomers observed virtually no sunspot activity, and not until sunspots began reappearing did the warming of the earth resume.

More than four centuries of records of sunspot activity and temperature readings indicate that the two graphs, if placed atop one another, are extraordinarily similar.

Sunspots are not the only solar phenomenon that affects earth’s temperature. Subatomic particles from the sun (cosmic rays) combine with water vapor (again, finding its source primarily in the oceans), and clouds are formed. When the solar winds are strong, fewer cosmic rays reach the earth, and fewer clouds are formed. Since clouds produce a cooling effect, strong solar winds produce a cooling effect on earth.

By using ice core analysis, and geological analysis, astrophysicists have been able to compare solar cosmic ray production (largely dependent upon solar winds and the strength of the solar magnetic field) with earth’s temperature going back thousands of years, and have concluded that, when cosmic rays are abundant, temperatures fall, and when cosmic rays decrease, temperatures rise.

Simply stated, earth’s climate is predominantly controlled by enormous variations in solar activity (in the form of sunspots, solar winds, the solar magnetic field, and cosmic rays).


Who is most responsible for propagating the lie of human-caused global warming?

Neo-Marxist philosophy was dealt a near-fatal blow when President Reagan brought communism to its knees in the 80s. After that, peaceniks and leftist political activists began embracing a pseudo environmental movement – a movement that has much more to do with anti-capitalist philosophy than it does with a desire to preserve the environment.

The International Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a UN-funded organization, has provided the basis for many of the ‘facts’ now popular about global warming. Its message (summarized under the first subheading here, and declared in writing in three assessment reports over the past decade … a fourth is pending) is gradually being declared gospel. Its conclusions are unscientific, anti-industrial, anti-achievement, anti-American, and anti-third-world. They are repeated vigorously by the international media and many leftist American politicians, and their complete disregard for all reputable climate science and physics research is blatant.

The sun and the oceans are not mentioned in the committee’s reports, and man and man’s economic and industrial progress are consistently vilified.

In compiling their reports, IPCC officials regularly censored comments and findings by participating scientists when those comments did not support the human-caused warming theory. Entire sections of these scientists’ studied opinions were deleted, and any comments that indicated that man is not the cause of warming were disallowed. The peer review process was entirely corrupted. Many scientists resigned from the panel in protest against the arbitrary editing of their observations, and the requests of many of them who have asked that their names be removed from the report have been denied.

The study of man-made global warming has become a profitable industry, supported by neo-Marxist philosophy. In the less than two decades since the fall of communism, government funding of global warming studies and programs has increased from less than 200 million to tens of billions of dollars a year. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people are now employed in this new ‘industry’. As a result, the large amount of money that has been fed into this incredibly small area of ‘science’ has succeeded in distorting the overall scientific effort. The conclusion has been pre-ordained, and most of the experiments and studies that are conducted, on the government dollar, are geared to support the pre-determined findings.

Computer models are forever being authored, at government expense, in an effort to predict future climate changes. But such climate models are only as good as the assumptions upon which they are based. Nearly all government-funded models assume that man-made CO2 is the cause of climate change. To the untrained eye, mathematical models that predict future events can look impressive. But when a mathematical model has as its foundation hundreds of assumptions (many of them faulty), simply 'adjusting' one or two of those assumptions to your benefit can result in just about any desired result.

In the British exposé mentioned at the beginning of this essay, a respected American climatologist stated that the above state of affairs is equivalent to having a car in disrepair, and looking into the source of the problem, while ignoring the engine (sun), ignoring the transmission (water vapor/clouds), and focusing on one nut on the right rear wheel (CO2). The science is that bad.

The billions of government dollars spent annually in climate science means that there is a huge cadre of workers who are economically dependent upon global-warming dollars. An entire industry has burgeoned as a result of this junk science -- grant-funded scientists, consultants, ‘environmental journalists’, suppliers and developers of alternative energy sources, and some politicians, all depend, at least in part, on the continued popularity and viability of the theory.

Similarly, those climatologists and physicists who speak out against global warming have a lot to lose. It has become next to impossible for such scientists to get government research proposals funded because of their anti-global-warming public stance. They dare not disagree with the ‘consensus’. They dare not speak out against ‘conventional wisdom’. They are routinely ostracized, vilified, and publicly attacked as being on the payroll of big oil, or big business, despite the fact that few, if any, of them have ever received a dime from either source. One once world-renowned scientist who appears in the British exposé has been the focus of several death threats.


What is an example of the environmentalist scare tactics?

As mentioned above, the international media, upon the urging of leftist politicians, is forever predicting environmental apocalypse – disasters ranging from floods, to worldwide famines, to the extinction of broad areas of wildlife, to the spread of plagues and diseases.

Most of the above scenarios can be dismissed by examining the reasons for the earth’s periodic warming/cooling cycles, and by the realization that the animal and plant kingdoms are forever learning to adapt to gradual changes in their environments.

But let’s look at just the last of these apocalyptic predictions, in order to examine a superb example of disinformation posing as science: the spread of insect-born disease.

Many environmentalists tell us that even a mild rise in the earth’s temperature will cause the spread northward of insect-born diseases that were once contained within tropical climates. The spread of malaria is among their favorite doomsday scenarios.

Mosquitoes are not tropical insects. They thrive in very cold temperatures. They are extremely common in the arctic. The worst malaria outbreak in history occurred in the Soviet Union in the 1920s. During that period, in that coldest of climates, there were a reported thirteen million cases a year, and a total of about 600,000 deaths. Large swarms of malaria-carrying mosquitoes have even been sighted near the Arctic Circle.


If the theory of global warming continues to be accepted as fact, what are the perils?

I believe the perils are three-fold:

Universal acceptance of the theory of global warming will cause a gradual increase in the power that government regulation has over our lives. Industry and accomplishment will be stifled. And the individual freedoms that each citizen enjoys will find themselves increasingly eroded, as the jobs we work at, the homes we build, and the general living of our everyday lives will be more and more forced to abide by stringent government dictates handed down as a result of a left-leaning political allegiance to a bogus science that has the amassing of political power at its core.

Economically, it will mean higher prices for food, housing, medical care, and electricity, as well as eventual massive job losses and drastic reductions in gross domestic product, all the while providing virtually no environmental benefit.

Our children are studying, and becoming unnecessarily alarmed about, a ‘science’ that has no real basis in fact. Our science teachers are being forced, by state dictate, to teach a lie. And, as a result, not only is that lie promulgated, but it is being taught in place of subjects that desperately need teaching if we are to survive as a free nation. The teaching of our roots (American history and Western Civilization), the teaching of math and science and language, all of which foster appreciation for our heritage, and develop the tools with which we need to be equipped to face the many enemies that are breathing down our necks, are finding themselves diluted by the increasing, politically-motivated importance that is being placed on ‘environmental studies’.

The environmentalist movement is the strongest force there is for preventing development in the developing countries. As international public policy places increasing restrictions on industrial emissions of CO2, industrial development in the third world is coming under huge political pressure not to develop.

Environmentalist policies are having a disastrous effect on the world’s poorest people. Environmentalists say that, even if the theory of man-made global warming isn’t entirely true, we should still impose Draconian measures to cut carbon emissions, just in case. This philosophy presumes that imposing said measures would have little negative effect on civilization. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Underdeveloped countries, especially in Africa, are being urged not to explore for, or use, oil or coal, but, instead, to base their ‘development’ on solar and wind power – three times more expensive than more conventional power sources, and incredibly unreliable. The world’s poorest people are gradually being forced to rely on the most expensive, and least reliable, forms of power generation.

When international politics dictate that the third world can only use wind and solar power, what they are really telling them is that they cannot develop or industrialize. Solar panels will never power a steel mill or an automobile factory.


I do not believe that the current cycle of warming that the earth is experiencing has anything at all to do with man-made carbon dioxide. And I believe that those who would have us embrace that belief have far-reaching malevolent intent behind their global campaign.

At the same time, I believe that reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil is a wise course of action, for reasons completely independent of the environmentalists’ leftist propaganda. Conserving natural resources, preventing air and water pollution, and protecting wildlife habitats, are noble and necessary intentions that mankind should always afford a place of importance in its decisions. But to author, and enforce, mandatory state-issued Draconian measures that render progress and freedom fragile at best, on the basis of consensus-based science, amounts to nothing more than economic and societal suicide.

~ joanie

200 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well written. Frightening. Much food for thought.

Anonymous said...

Women who love America are great!

Anonymous said...

I've never really believed the whole global warming thing, especially when I see who is pushing it. I've always just told people that the earth warms and cools at regular intervals but now I kind of understand the science behind it. Thank you.

Have you read that Al Gore uses I forget how much more electricity than the average family (something like 20 or 30 times as much?) and he buys "carbon credits" to offset that, but he is part owner in the company that sells the "carbon credits" so he winds up getting his money right back!

Also I recently read an article that says that these carbon credit companies wind up selling the same credits to many people so many of them are just a money making scam.

Your desciption of the godlike "elites" sure does match most of the Dems in Washington, Hillary Edwards in particular.

Anonymous said...

Since the beginning of time, there has always existed a class of people who view themselves as human ‘elite’ – as gods in human form. This class of people believes that it possesses an inherent right to more privileges, more possessions, and more power than the rest of humanity.

Remember the tales of how Hillary wouldn't allow the White House staff to look her in the eye? They had to divert their attention when they passed her in the hallways? And the Clintons had the U.S. Marines serving canapes at their White House dinners? And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Also Al Gore wants all of us to conserve energy and sacrifice while he is flying around in a private plane that guzzles many times more fuel than alternative methods of air transportation.

And John Edwards says that "Jesus would be appalled at the selfishness of the American people" while he owns several mansions and his law firm used junk science to drive thousands of OB/GYN's out of North Caroline.

Talk about "people who view themselves as human ‘elite’ – as gods in human form"!!!!!!

Great essay, cw.

Anonymous said...

Your hit that nail sqaure on lady! Bravo!

joanie said...

Thanks, all, for the kind comments.

Going to be off-line for a week or so, but wanted to put this essay up before leaving. Will respond to any additional comments when I return (wearing flame retardant clothing, just in case :).

joanie said...

P.S. In my absence, an AADB team member will be moderating comments (see my last post under the previous essay for explanation).

Anonymous said...

Very interesting. Most of it sounds very plausible too. I'm going to begin looking into this more myself.

I especially like your comment about believers in evolution not believing that we can "evolve" in response to temperature changes.

Anonymous said...

Nice work.

Anonymous said...

I understand and pretty much agree with everything you say, CW. The only thing that has me puzzled is the mosquito thing but I'll do my own research to answer my own questions there. Thanks for all the obvious work put into this!

Luis said...

Joanie,

So glad you have written on this subject.

The Channel 4 programme (The Great Global Warming Swindle) recently shown here in the UK can currently be seen at

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-4520665474899458831

The original video location appears to have been taken down. Maybe we are suffering a bit of censorship over here- Al Gore is in London at the moment :)

If any readers can watch the programme I strongly recommend it.

Will be back with more comments shortly but justed wanted your readers to have a chance to see the programme.

Luis

Anonymous said...

E-X-C-E-L-L-E-N-T!!!!!

As easy to understand and yet comprehensive as anything I have ever read on this scam!!!!

Anonymous said...

I just saw a segment on CNN (believe it or not) where they interviewed an American scientist (I don't remember his name) who said a lot of the same things you did here. It sounds like the NY Times, of all publications, wrote some kind of piece today calling some of Gore's movie into question. Will wonders never cease!

Anonymous said...

Luis, thank you for the updated link. The wife and I will sit down and watch it tonight or tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

You should be an investigative reporter. Trouble is I don't know who'd hire you, except maybe the Washington Times. Good research and compilation!

Luis said...

Thank you Montypython 2 !

Excellent essay Joanie.

I agree that the elite- or people who perceive themselves as Gods in human form are here too looking for more privileges than the rest of us- Al Gore's huge electricity use is a case in point.

I am also glad that you brought out the point that the dangers of this theory are not solely limited to the developed nations but also the developing nations who will be forced to slow their development.

If any one has the time to watch the documentary (THE GREAT GLOBAL WARMING SWINDLE http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-4520665474899458831) and of course can put up with a few strange English accents (:-)), I think they will find it interesting. It includes several US scientists so there is some "real English" spoken too :-)

This is a global theory that could force changes in the lives of people from all nations. To illustrate that fact Al Gore is currently in London and actually due to address the leaders of the British Conservative Party to share the benefits of his "wisdom" with them !

Anonymous said...

This is a global theory that could force changes in the lives of people from all nations. To illustrate that fact Al Gore is currently in London and actually due to address the leaders of the British Conservative Party to share the benefits of his "wisdom" with them !

Be sure to fumigate afterwards.

Anonymous said...

Since the beginning of time, there has always existed a class of people who view themselves as human ‘elite’ – as gods in human form. This class of people believes that it possesses an inherent right to more privileges, more possessions, and more power than the rest of humanity.

Such people have always played the starring roles in the ugly series of oppressions, wars, tyrannies, and even genocides, that have occurred throughout the history of mankind, by seeking to enjoy a life of plenty while also ruling over, and oppressing, their brothers.


You've got their number, Joanie, and Al Gore is the chief 'god'. Damn them all.

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for the ping, Minuteman23. Outstanding essay joanie-f.

Thank YOU! Thank YOU! Thank YOU!

Anonymous said...

Very well written, Joanie -- thank you for sharing with us.

The bottom line in global warming is that global warming is indeed a natural part of earth’s history – past, present and future. It occurs periodically, as does global cooling. And it occurs so gradually that the inhabitants of the planet, both plant and animal, are afforded sufficient time to adapt to the ‘temporary’ (until the next warming/cooling phase kicks in) climate change.

Bear in mind that our societies have evolved to where most of us are in a static state. We live and work in a very close area, and no longer have to wander around to maintain our life style. A drawback to civilization? Maybe, but I wouldn't want to change it, and favor its expansion.

Man always has and does adapt to his environment; he will continue to do so as long as we can quash the elite power-brokers and their sycophants. I fear that will take another major conflagration before freedom can become the premier guide for all mankind.

Be well. FRiend.
Mike.

Anonymous said...

This column needs to be read far and wide. The scientific conclusions are ratioal and the personal opinions about what makes the "environmentalists" tick are on target.

Anonymous said...

Sometime other people say/write exactly what you are thinking and put into words better than you could ever . Below is by Mark Steyn as quoted in The Patriot Post( http://patriotpost.us), Patriot Vol. 07 No. 11 Brief, March 12, 2007.

“Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the other day the Rev. Al Gore declared that ‘climate change’ was ‘the most important moral, ethical, spiritual and political issue humankind has ever faced.’ Ever. I believe that was the same day it was revealed that George W. Bush’s ranch in Texas is more environmentally friendly than the Gore mansion in Tennessee. According to the Nashville Electric Service, the Eco-Messiah’s house uses 20 times more electricity than the average American home. The average household consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours. In 2006, the Gores wolfed down nearly 221,000 kilowatt-hours. Two hundred twenty-one thousand kilowatt-hours? What’s he doing in there? Clamping Tipper to the electrodes and zapping her across the rec room every night? No, no, don’t worry. Al’s massive energy consumption is due entirely to his concern about the way we’re depleting the Earth’s resources. When I say ‘we,’ I don’t mean Al, of course. I mean you—yes, you, Earl Schlub, in the basement apartment at 29 Elm St. You’re irresponsibly depleting the Earth’s resources by using that electric washer when you could be down by the river with the native women beating your loin cloth dry on the rock while singing traditional village work chants all morning long. But up at the Gore mansion—the Nashville Electric Service’s own personal gold mine, the shining Cathedral of St. Al, Tennessee’s very own Palace of Versal—the Reverend Al is being far more environmentally responsible. As his spokesperson attempted to argue, his high energy usage derives from his brave calls for low energy usage. He’s burning up all that electricity by sending out faxes every couple of minutes urging you to use less electricity.”

Anonymous said...

Very well researched and organized. Thank you. Here's another good article from Capitalism Magazine:

http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=3400

Anonymous said...

Why associate with retards?

Who the hell has 1 hour, 15 minutes and 56 seconds to listen to a bunch of Brits! We are planning a trip for the UK in August. I think I'll probably be speaking with an accent by then. I'm no scientist you understand and Co2 may not be a problem, but it doesn't take a genious to know if 6.3 billion people all start to piss in the streams and dump all their junk there that the water sooner or later is going to get dirty and cause problems. Now take that to 12.6 billion people in a short 40-50 years and so on and it sure looks like a problem. So the solution is don't do it! I remember the steel mills in Pittsburgh and Johnstown and believe me air pollution is a problem. Now take that to the air/atmosphere and I can certainly see a problem on the horizon (Co2 or not). Of course if we run out of gas in the next 50 years because of some more stupidity with gas guzzlers and other waste it won't be a problem.... I guess?

Just a thought.

The hell with it! Let’s have lunch in a week or two.

Anonymous said...

"What about the melting of the polar ice caps?

The polar ice caps are always naturally expanding and contracting, sometimes to a very large degree. Ice is always moving. Nowadays, satellites can detect such movement, so it becomes news. News reports regularly show ice breaking off of arctic glaciers. The ‘spring breakup’, which is what is generally reported as potentially apocalyptic ‘news’, is an annual occurrence in the arctic, and always has been. What the international news media do not show are the re-accumulating of the glaciers the following winter. "

Anonymous said...

[An aside: I find it fascinating that the majority of advocates of the theory of global warming are also believers in the theory of evolution, and yet, despite the fact that the periodic warming and cooling of the earth occurs over a very long period of time – hundreds, if not thousands, of years -- they do not believe that plants and animals can naturally adapt to the temperature cycles.]

Brilliant!

Anonymous said...

The "environmental" requirements have driven most of the one of a kind, individually owned gas stations out of business.

The owners can't afford to install EPA required $200,000 EPA equipment underground at their stations.

A local car radiator shop that could solve problems of overheating in cars no one else could went out of business a number of years ago.

By accident a few years later I found the former owner working as a mechanic at a repair shop.

When I asked him, "What happened to your wonderful radiator shop and what are you doing here changing my oil?" he said the "environmental" crap made it impossible for him to continue his radiator business.

How many other people that I don't know about have been run out of business by the environmental crap.

In my opinion the "environmental" movement is a scam designto leave everything in the hands of the selected few "elite."

Talk about a "control operation."

Anonymous said...

In my opinion the "environmental" movement is a scam designto leave everything in the hands of the selected few "elite."

Exactly the point of cw's essay.

Anonymous said...

Larry,

What you describe is happening all over the country. There was a body shop/auto repair place near me (northern Michigan) that was in business for almost fifty years, two generations of the same family owned it. And it went out of business about 5 years ago for the same reasons your guy gave, federal regulations.

They want us poor, underpaid, and completely dependent on government. And they're gradually getting their way.

Anonymous said...

fascismisyourworstenemy,

The same exact thing is going on in the medical profession, especially in the area of women's doctors.

Several ladies I know (located in more than one part of the US) have told me with distress that their longtime gynecologist was closing up his practice despite not being old enough for retirement.

In each case the same reasons--the mountains of paperwork required by the government swell their staff's size so that its impossble to survive financially,

along with the huge malpractice insurance (thanks to John Edwards and his kind).

The government is making it impossible to function in professions as far apart as car repair and medical service.

I have noticed a change in personality with a couple car repair shop owners I know. They are short of temper as compared with earlier years. If I talk to them it turns out they are half frantic with concern about keeping their business afloat---which was not the case a few years ago.

The government is sytematically choking the life out of a number of needed professions.

Anonymous said...

Facsism and Larry,

It's all private enterprise that is being taxed and regulated out of business. The mom and pop businesses suffer first, but you can't name me a profession or a business, unless it has a powerful lobby like the teachers, that isn't being driven underground by over-regulation and taxation. And global warming supporters are just trying to make it happen faster and on a global scale.

CWPatriot, you are a national treasure and your web site is priceless. Keep on keeping on!

Anonymous said...

Every time I see Al Gore on TV with his condescending attitude I want to puke. He is stupid, arrogant, a pathological liar and borderline psychotic. And realizing that if he got a few thousand more votes he could have been President is about the scariest thing I can imagine.

You have some really good information and ideas here Joanie. I’ve printed out this column for use whenever somebody mentions global warming to me.

Anonymous said...

Yeah well. American Idol's on tonight. Don't worry. Be happy.

Anonymous said...

While the public has been led to believe that "all" the leading scientists buy the global warming hysteria and the political agenda that goes with it, in fact the official reports from the United Nations or the National Academy of Sciences are written by bureaucrats -- and then garnished with the names of leading scientists who were "consulted," but whose contrary conclusions have been ignored.....

.....What is even scarier than seeing how easily the public, the media, and the politicians have been manipulated and stampeded, is discovering how much effort has been put into silencing scientists who dare to say that the emperor has no clothes.


http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/tsowell/2007/ts_03151.shtml

Anonymous said...

Here's the environmentalists' "expert":

http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/gore_big_mouth.jpg

Anonymous said...

You wanna hear SCARY? THIS is SCARY:

Gore suggested that a “global climate czar” be appointed from among a list of persons nominated for both an Academy Award and Nobel Prize for work on climate change. “We need someone with the authority to brush aside the barriers to immediate action,” Gore said. “We can’t afford to allow a nostalgic reverence for archaic notions of property rights and individual freedom to be used to block the steps necessary to save the Earth. Everything and everyone must be strictly controlled if we want there to be a planet here for our grandchildren.”

http://www.azconservative.org/Semmens1.htm

Anonymous said...

Gore suggested that a “global climate czar” be appointed from among a list of persons nominated for both an Academy Award and Nobel Prize for work on climate

ROTFLMAO!

Anonymous said...

Gore suggested that a “global climate czar” be appointed from among a list of persons nominated for both an Academy Award and Nobel Prize for work on climate.

I am sick of seeing all this picking on Al Gore.

He DOES have the credentials.

Doesn't anybody here realize he got a D and a C in the two science courses he took in college?

That he is a favorite of political experts Chris Rock and Eric Schmidt (CEO of Google),

as well as California Bhuddist Temple members?

Not to mention that he served together with Billy Crystal and David Letterman favorite, the great Bill Clinton, in the most ethical administration in the history of the US.

Anonymous said...

I wish Rush would read this on his show.

Anonymous said...

Sandra,

I never really put all of Gore's accomplishments together. I guess he's just too humble to publicize them, and probably asks the media to downplay his many achievements.

I wish I knew where he is speaking today. I feel a need to kiss his ring.

Anonymous said...

More and more of these lies are being exposed, but the media is doing the best it can not to report them. I'm afraid it's going to take thousands of blogs like this one to wake the people up, and even then it might not matter enough to them to take a stand.

Anonymous said...

The Valerie Plame "scandal" is still going strong, using our hard earned tax dollars to go on many witch hunts, and now she's testifying before Congress.

The virtuous Democrats are all up in arms about Bush's firing of the U.S. attorneys now too.

You can almost see all of this reading like a script, and the media is the director.

By the time they're through the Bush administration will be more corrupt than the the Clinton one, and all for doing what administrations have been doing for decades. It just matters what party you belong to and the public is too stupid to see through it.

Your ideas on this C.W.?

Anonymous said...

The U.N. scientists, Al Gore, and all the thousands of others who believe this theory are wrong and you're right???? Your "facts" are laughable!

Anonymous said...

I am ashamed to say I heard much of the Plame hearings on my car radio today.

The collective mentality of the Democrats doing the questioning is below zero.

They try to bulldoze the witnesses who won't say what they want.

The absolute worst was the 'questioning' of legal expert
Victoria Toensing as they tried to bulldoze her into agreeing with their wrong and incompetent point of view.

She is the legal expert of this specific subject. She wrote the curremt laws regarding covert operatives

and she said repeatedly that Plame DID NOT fit the definition of a covert operative.

One halfwit, Elijah Cummings, who could barely speak English, questioned her.

At one point semi-literate Congressman Cummiings said to legal expert Toensing that he, too, was a lawyer.

Everything is equal to everything else in the world of the leftwing.

Handsome Henry Waxman was disgusting as the chairman of the committee.

Anonymous said...

QUESTIONING VALERIE PLAME:

from AP:

Even a member of Congress confessed to being a bit star-struck.

"If I seem a little nervous, I've never questioned a spy before," Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga. said. "I was here during the steroid hearings, too, and I don't think any of those baseball stars got this kind of media attention that you're getting today."

Anonymous said...

Waxman should get his head waxed.

Anonymous said...

The U.N. scientists, Al Gore, and all the thousands of others who believe this theory are wrong and you're right???? Your "facts" are laughable!

I wanna see you laughing when our right to do everything short of breathing is government controlled.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous wrote:
The U.N. scientists, Al Gore, and all the thousands of others who believe this theory are wrong and you're right???? Your "facts" are laughable!


Here is a question for you, anonymous, and for the other mental midgets of your ilk:

What about NON-UN scientists?

What about the fact that your "scientific" authority Al Gore got a D and a C in the two science courses he took in college?

Are your "all the thousands of others who believe this theory" also believers in the dieties Soros, Hillary, Castro, Mao Tsung, Ho Chi Mhin, Tito, Stalin, Alger Hiss, Alex Baldwin, Jesse Jackson, Barbra Streisand and the NY TIMES?

Anonymous said...

Activists greeted by snowstorm as they start global warming awareness walk

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/03/16/interfaith_group_braves_storm_in_climate_change_trek/

Anonymous said...

C.W.,

Long before your man Krauthammer turned to news commentary he was chief resident of the phychiatric consultation service of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Here is part of an editorial by him that is in today's newpaper here. He wrote this in answer to columnists who are claiming that Dick Cheney's heart problems are causing severe mental problems:

I know something about organically caused dementias. And I know pseudoscienitific rubbish when I see it.

Such silliness has a pedigree...it is in the great tradition of the 1964 poll of psychiatrists that found Barry Goldwater clinically paranoid.

Goldwater having become over the years the liberals' favorite conservative (because of his libertarianism), nary a word is heard today about him being mentally ill or about that shameful election-year misuse of medical authority by the psychiatrists who answered the poll.

The disease they saw in Goldwater was, in fact, deviation from liberalism, which remains today so incomprehensible to some that it must be explained by resort to arterial plaques and cardiac ejection factions.

Anonymous said...

Psychiatry is the religion of the left wing.

Psychiatry is a control operation.

So it is a favorite of the lefties, whose purpose is to control all.

Psychiatry is used by those who use it as their religion as an attack on others.

If you stand on a street corner and discuss the best place to buy automobile tires in your locale with a leftwinger (a member of the religion of psychiatry---which is one and the same thing) and you disagree with the leftwinger,

the leftie will immediately become hysterical and send a frantic barrage of psychiatric epithets at you.

Lefties cannot take any disagreement with the leftwing mantras and talking points,
Or even disagreement on any subject.

The very basis of their stability on this Earth is shaken to its roots by any such disagreement,

and they must fight back with all weapons their disposal---

which are, of course, their attack "religion" and its hopefully baleful oaths uttered against the cause of their franticness.

Of course they are demonstrating that THEY are mentally ill as they do this.

The saturation of psychiatry into socalled sports writing, any writing on the arts, any discussion of great figures and events in history--is almost 100 today.

See the NY TIMES, Washington Post, Operah Winfrey for examples.

Anonymous said...

SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT - GAS UP YOUR HUMMER

Memo to the Village Glitterati who find pride and self-worth by driving hybrids: You would do better in a Hummer. Manufacturing the Toyota Prius involves a shocking amount of pollution. A plant in Ontario, dubbed the “Superstack,” mines and smelts the nickel for the Prius’ battery, each of which then travels to Europe, China, Japan and the United States. How many Prius miles would it take to offset those trips? Canadian Greenpeace energy coordinator David Martin says the vast amounts of sulfur dioxide released over northern Ontario cause acid rain, which in turn destroys plants in the area, resulting in mudslides. In fact, the surrounding environment is so damaged that NASA uses the “dead zone” for testing moon rovers.

Now for the bad news: The Prius’ EPA mileage estimates have dropped for 2008 by 25 percent due to modified standards. The hybrid now averages a puny 45-mpg—not much better than cars at half the price. The Prius also costs more to operate and has a shorter life span than a Hummer, probably the most hated of all vehicles among environmentalist wackos. The Prius has a life expectancy of only 100,000 miles, and it costs an average of $3.25 per mile to operate. By contrast, the Hummer costs $1.95 per mile for a 300,000-mile lifetime. Of course, the left rarely lets facts influence their pet causes, so don’t look for Leo DiCaprio to drive up to the next award ceremony in an H2.

Anonymous said...

Cleanup Continues After Northeast Storm

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070317/D8NTS3T00.html

Anonymous said...

If we don't wake up

By Salena Zito
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
March 18, 2007

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/zito/s_498255.html

excerpt

"Our culture has been hijacked, imams are preaching hate and death in the streets, and what do we do? Nothing."

Anonymous said...

JUNK SCIENCE
Must-See Global Warming TV


March 18, 2007 By Steven Milloy

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,258993,00.html

As Al Gore’s movie “An Inconvenient Truth” becomes mandatory viewing for many U.S. school children and nears becoming the “official truth” about global warming, it comes as most welcome news that an absolutely gripping film rebuttal has made its international debut, much to the chagrin of true believers in man-made climate change.

Last week, the UK’s Channel 4 premiered a 75-minute film entitled, “The Great Global Warming Swindle.” Through interviews with prize-winning climate experts and others, this masterful documentary explains the origins of global warming alarmism; debunks claims of man-made global climate change; exposes the motivations of organizations, scientists and activists sounding the alarm; and explains why it’s been extremely difficult, if not downright dangerous, for climate scientists to question global warming orthodoxy publicly.

The entire film, which is creating quite a stir among tens of thousands of web viewers, can be viewed online at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4520665474899458831.

According to the film, the origins of global warming alarmism had its roots in the 1970s-era fears of global cooling and an impending ice age, resulting from the 1940-1970 global temperature decline.

Swedish meteorologist Bert Bolin suggested at the time that man-made greenhouse gas emissions might offset the cooling by warming the atmosphere.

When Margaret Thatcher became UK Prime Minister in 1979, her mandate was to reduce Britain’s economic decline. Thatcher wanted to make the UK energy-independent through nuclear power – she didn’t like her country’s reliance on coal, which politically empowered the coal miner unions, or oil, which empowered Middle Eastern states.

So Thatcher latched onto Bolin’s notion that man-made emissions of carbon dioxide warmed the planet in a harmful way, thereby providing the perfect political cover for advancing her nuclear power agenda without having to fight the miners or Arab oil states.

She empowered the U.K. Meteorological Office to begin global climate change research, a move that eventually led to the 1988 creation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations’ group that has come to be the “official” international agency for global warming alarmism.

At about the same time, as Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore explains on-camera, environmentalism became more extreme. By the mid-1980s, environmental goals – e.g., clean air and clean water – had become so mainstream that activists had to adopt more extreme positions to remain anti-establishment.

Then when the Berlin Wall fell and the Cold War ended, many “peace-niks” and political activists moved over to environmental activism, bringing their “neo-Marxist” political philosophy with them. As Moore puts it, environmentalism became the “new guise for anti-capitalism.”Global warming alarmism was thus borne from this combination of official British policy, environmentalism’s rejection of its own success and political opportunism by “unemployed” left-wing political activists.

With such an inglorious heritage, it’s no wonder the scientists in “The Great Global Warming Swindle” have little trouble dismantling climate myths.

Perhaps the most important bit of scientific knowledge presented is the actual relationship between temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide.

In “An Inconvenient Truth,” Al Gore disingenuously describes the relationship as “complex” while implying that higher atmospheric carbon dioxide levels cause higher global temperatures.

But according to the geological record and data from ice cores, higher temperatures actually precede higher carbon dioxide levels by about 800 years.

Twentieth century data support this idea in at least two ways. First, most of the 20th century’s warming occurred before 1940, while most of the century’s greenhouse gas emissions occurred after 1940.

Next, when manmade greenhouse gas emissions soared in the post World War II industrial boom, global temperatures declined until the mid-1970s, leading to the aforementioned global cooling concerns.

The Channel 4 program notes that ongoing temperature measurements contradict global warming theory. According to the theory, lower atmosphere temperatures should be warming at a much faster rate than those at the Earth’s surface. In reality, however, just the opposite is occurring.

Then there’s the sun – the gigantic yellow ball in the sky that climate alarmists want all of us to ignore in favor of minute emissions of an invisible gas that makes up less than one-half of one percent of the Earth’s atmosphere.

As it turns out, solar activity – unlike atmospheric carbon dioxide levels – correlates quite well with historic temperature changes, including through its effects on cosmic rays and clouds, as the film demonstrates quite effectively.

So why does the world seem to be caught up in the vise-like grip of a controversy that is contradicted by available scientific data and its own dubious heritage?

According to the scientists in the movie, there is an intolerance of dissent on global warming.

Official government sanction of global warming opened the floodgates of funding to climate researchers, who previously worked in obscurity.


NASA scientist Roy Spencer says in the program that climate scientists need for there to be problems to get more funding. IPCC contributor John Christy says of climate scientists, “We have a vested interest in creating panic because money with then flow to climate scientists.” University of London biogeographer Philip Stott says that “If the global warming virago collapses, there will be an awful lot of people out of jobs.

The film also debunks the IPCC claim that the 2,500 scientists contributing to its reports also support its alarmist conclusions.

One key IPCC contributor for example, the Pasteur Institute’s Paul Reiter, threatened to sue the IPCC if the group didn’t remove his name from a chapter with which he disagreed.

When I met Al Gore in January 2006 after a presentation of his climate slideshow, I asked him if he'd be interested in setting up a public debate between climate scientists. He declined – twice.

At this point, I’d settle for a movie face-off – “An Inconvenient Truth” vs. “The Great Global Warming Swindle.”

Let the public see both sides of the story and then we’ll see who’s believable and who’s not.

Anonymous said...

The court system of the US is being used to destroy the US.

US Airways Passengers Who Reported 'Suspicious' Imam Activity May Be Sued

Sunday, March 18, 2007

By Liza Porteus

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,259263,00.html

NEW YORK — Six Muslim imams who were forcibily removed from a US Airways flight last year and are now suing the airline for discrimination may also be suing some passengers who were aboard the flight.

In the lawsuit filed last week, the imams say that unnamed "John Doe" passengers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport reported that they engaged in "suspicious" behavior — praying in the terminal — before they boarded the plane on Nov. 20.

Omar Mohammedi, the imams' New York-based lawyer, said that the imams have not yet decided whether to pursue this complaint, but if they do it would affect only those passengers who were prejudiced in their suspicions.

"I think there is a difference between someone reporting suspicious activity and someone making false reports about a fact that did not exist," Mohammedi said. "We are not saying that people should not report; we are saying people should not abuse that process just because someone was praying or someone looked religious."

He said that if the passengers were suspicious based only on the imams' appearance, "then they should be liable . . . these people should be careful not to abuse the process and be responsible."

The lawsuit alleges that US Airways unlawfully removed the six imams from Flight 300 for discriminatory reasons based on race, religion, ethnicity, or other outside appearances when they tried to board a flight to Phoenix after attending a North American Imams Federation conference.

Mohammedi said all six used credit cards to pay for round-trip tickets. US Airways says the imams used cash to buy one-way tickets.

• Click here to read the full police report.

The lawsuit says US Airways has "falsely claimed" the imams' "suspicious" behavior, including saying "God is Great" in Arabic on the plane, talking about President Bush and Iraq and purchased one-way tickets with cash. Passengers also reported that some of the imams asked for seat belt extenders and switched seats.

The suit says one of the imams was blind, and his friend asked another passenger if he would help him by switching seats. The passenger agreed, the suit says.

According to the lawsuit, the same imam regularly requests a seatbelt extension when flying.

The lawsuit also claims that a couple sitting behind some of the imams in the terminal were "purposely turning around to watch" them as they prayed, and that a "John Doe" then picked up his cell phone and made a call while he watched them pray.

According to the lawsuit, police arrived at the scene after receiving a call from the airline. The imams were forced off the plane, searched, handcuffed and held against their will for hours without explanation. The imams claim they were questioned by the FBI about where they were from, whether they did anything out of the ordinary in the airport and whether they wanted to do harm to the president of the United States.

"I'm not going to go after passengers who honestly thought they saw suspicious activity; however, I will not let go passengers who said something ... just because they didn't like the fact that an imam was praying," Mohammedi said.

"I think the major irresponsible person here was the airline," he added.

FOX News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano said the imams have grounds against the passengers if they feel they were unjustly discriminated against.

"Can you sue somebody for complaining about them? Yes. Will you prevail in that lawsuit? You will if there's a reasonable basis for your complaint," he said. "These imams turned out not to be terrorists, they had no weapons, they had no bombs. As far as we know, they had no plan to harm anybody, so the harm was illusionary."

Napolitano said that if the case ever makes it to court, it will be up to a jury to decide whether the fears of the passengers who reported the "suspicious" behavior were founded, and whether the passengers were biased.

Mohammedi said he understands the concern following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, especially given the fact that the terrorists were Middle Eastern, but he said there are ways to take security precautions and also make sure people's rights aren't violated.

"We're all different, we all have our ignorance, we all have our prejudices, we all have our thing, but I think …the companies have to be responsible to find the balance [between] what they perceive to be lack of security and what is profiling … it's easy to discriminate against Muslims and Arabs and Asians on airlines," Mohammedi said.

But "I think it's very important now to be sensitive to people … a lot of them [Muslims in the U.S.] are contributing citizens to this country and they do a lot for this country and they love this country. It should be everyone against terrorism, including the Muslims. However, if you're targeting Muslims that live in this country, then there's a problem."

An internal probe by US Airways found there was no racial profiling in the incident.

Calls to the U.S. Attorney's office in Minnesota were not returned Friday.

Anonymous said...

“Americans usually trust the servants of science because of their image of commitment to objectivity.

"But scientists and their servants are losing credibility as it is being revealed that too many of them put ideology and politics above their reputed goals,” said Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America.

“This abuse of trust not only harms individual scientists but the cause of science itself.”

Anonymous said...

Gore calls his environmental scam “the greatest source of new business opportunity in the world.”

Gore All Business at HBS


http://www.alumni.hbs.edu/bulletin/2007/march/ib_gore.html

We are managing the planet as if it were a business in liquidation,” former U.S. Vice President Al Gore declared to a capacity audience of 900 MBA students during a talk titled “A Change in Business Climate” presented in Burden Auditorium in December. Gore explained that the population explosion, coupled with the revolutions in science and technology, have greatly magnified the impact of humans on the earth’s ecosystem. “But the biggest challenge we face,” he said, “is changing the way we think about our relationship with the environment.”

Business, Gore asserted, must conduct itself with a greater appreciation for the long-term consequences of present actions, with “externalities,” such as air, water, and trees, appearing as items on balance sheets. If price tags are the only tool used to measure value, said Gore, “then things that don’t have price tags appear to have no value.” In his talk, sponsored by the School’s Leadership and Values Initiative, Gore stated that in an ideal world, employment-based taxes would be replaced by levies on pollution, which is by definition an indicator of waste and inefficiency.

Gore, who has long argued that carbon dioxide emissions contribute to global warming, said that solving the environmental crisis represents “the greatest source of new business opportunity in the world.”

He recounted how business and governments worldwide had worked together to resolve the ozone-depletion problem by tightening regulations and by eliminating the use of CFCs through improved and cost-saving industrial processes. Indeed, companies that are not responsive to environmental problems and concerns will see their business suffer, as American car manufacturers have, Gore noted.

In attacking the climate crisis, Gore concluded, the rest of the world will follow if America provides leadership. “This is the only crisis that has threatened the end of human civilization,” he said, “and we are moving in the opposite direction.”

Gore and David Blood (MBA ’85) are founding partners of Generation Investment Management, a firm that makes long-term investments in companies adhering to sustainability principles. Earlier in the day, the pair visited Professor Forest Reinhardt’s Business and the Environment course to discuss their activities.

Anonymous said...

Joanie--

That was probably one of the best summaries of the situation I've read...and the title was insightful as well since this issue has become a political issue rather than a scientific question.

Over the (close to 20) years I've been arguing with the opposition, I've finally realized that facts don't matter to those I now call the "global warming death-cultists". It's almost a waste of time to even argue with them because to them environmentalism is their religion. It's like trying to convince a Muslim that pork is really tasty and nutritious food...you're liable to get your head cut off if you aren't careful.

Some, like Michael Crichton, call environmentalism the religion of atheists. Environmentalism as Religion

"Today, one of the most powerful religions in the Western World is environmentalism. Environmentalism seems to be the religion of choice for urban atheists. Why do I say it's a religion? Well, just look at the beliefs. If you look carefully, you see that environmentalism is in fact a perfect 21st century remapping of traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs and myths.

There's an initial Eden, a paradise, a state of grace and unity with nature, there's a fall from grace into a state of pollution as a result of eating from the tree of knowledge, and as a result of our actions there is a judgment day coming for us all. We are all energy sinners, doomed to die, unless we seek salvation, which is now called sustainability.

Sustainability is salvation in the church of the environment. Just as organic food is its communion, that pesticide-free wafer that the right people with the right beliefs, imbibe.

Eden, the fall of man, the loss of grace, the coming doomsday---these are deeply held mythic structures. They are profoundly conservative beliefs. They may even be hard-wired in the brain, for all I know. I certainly don't want to talk anybody out of them, as I don't want to talk anybody out of a belief that Jesus Christ is the son of God who rose from the dead. But the reason I don't want to talk anybody out of these beliefs is that I know that I can't talk anybody out of them. These are not facts that can be argued. These are issues of faith.

And so it is, sadly, with environmentalism. Increasingly it seems facts aren't necessary, because the tenets of environmentalism are all about belief. It's about whether you are going to be a sinner, or saved. Whether you are going to be one of the people on the side of salvation, or on the side of doom. Whether you are going to be one of us, or one of them."


No, the battle over global warming isn’t being fought between two groups of well-meaning and reasonable people, one of which
believes this set of scientific data and the second of which believe in some other set of conflicting data. It’s being fought by one group that believes that reason and freedom are the proper way for men to live together in a society, and another group who believes that faith and force are the only way to deal with people who disagree with you.

What we are now witnessing is a large group of death-cultists who want to undo mankind’s rise out of ignorance and squalor which began during the Renaissance and continued during the Age of Reason. They want to return mankind to a time when faith and force ruled the world. - when men and women were chattel and, as Hobbes wrote, human lives were “miserable, brutish and short”. In Western civilization, those times were known as the Dark Ages, and for good reason. Infant mortality was 80%, one in five women died during childbirth, diseases were rampant, and the average lifespan was 35 years of unspeakable backbreaking labor.

"Renaissance" means "rebirth", and we should all take a moment to remember that what was reborn was reason. For the first time in history, men gained control over physical nature and threw off the control of men over men -- that is: men discovered science and political freedom.

The nineteenth century was the ultimate product and expression of the Renaissance and the Age of Reason. With the industrial revolution came a new creative energy, an abundance, a wealth, and a rising standard of living that had never before been seen on earth. This is what the global warmists want to undo.

On another forum, I started a thread on global warming which now contains almost 500 responses. For all the “hot air”, not one of the global warmists has been willing to discuss how - if they were in charge - they would go about reducing global CO2 missions. There’s a reason for that: Implementing their plan would result in the end of freedom in America, endless wars between nations, and the repudiation of 8 centuries of human progress.

Every aspect of a man’s life would have to be controlled by a supreme state - not a freely-elected representative government as we have known, but a dictatorship of “global elites” who “know what’s best for us”.

Such a tyranny has already started in (formerly Great) Britain, where officials may now enter your house and order you to add more insulation, shut off appliances, and turn down thermostats or face fines and imprisonment.

It's already started here in America, where fireplaces to heat your home have been banned in many localities around the country. Coal-fired power plants are being denied permits almost everywhere, with no practical alternative means of producing electricity allowed, either.

No mystical elite can hold a whole society subjugated to their arbitrary assertions, edicts and whims, without the use of force. Anyone who resorts to the formula: "It's so, because I say so," will have to reach for a gun, sooner or later. That’s what the global warmists don’t want to talk about.

Here in America, our founders were religious people but understood the horrors of an unholy alliance between church and state. They knew that reason and individual freedom are the only moral means of understanding among men. Every previous period of history dominated by a a state-sponsored theocracy has been a period of statism, of dictatorship, of tyranny. Faith and force are corollaries because mysticism always leads to the rule of brutality. With men who claim to possess supernatural means of knowledge, no persuasion, communication or understanding is possible, only force.

Such is the nature of the evil that demagogues like Al Gore have let loose in the world -- and such is the nature of their guilt.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous, your articles go a long way toward proving that the only two reasons Al Gore is an "environmentalist" is to attain more political power for him and his kind, and to make a buck (actually millions of bucks) in this fraudulent "business."

Anonymous said...

Somebody's Got To Say It Charlie Daniels Soapbox March 16, 2007

http://www.multimedia-interactive.com/cdb/view_topic.php?id=4847&forum_id=4

I am sick, disgusted, exasperated, aggravated, ticked off, and fed up with the politically correct exaggerated and downright dumb attitude that some wiser than thou, condescending, hypocritical, la la land people in this country have.

Okay, I'll explain myself. If you say something about illegal Mexicans, you're a bigot and hate all Hispanics and don't want anybody to come into this country unless you have a two-generation pedigree of waspery.

If you say something about Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton or Rodney King you're a predjudiced bigot who wants to hold all African Americans down.

If you say something about Rosie O'Donnell, you're a homophobic Redneck who wants to go around beating up gay people.


You people are disgusting.

You claim to be the protectors of Free Speech. Yet if a speaker of dissenting opinions comes to one of your colleges you just get up and shout him or her down.

You claim to value the lives of the Iraqi babies but you won't raise one self-righteous finger to save the millions of innocent unborn who fall victim to the abortion assassin's knife.

You smear and try to ruin men of good character just because they don't ascribe to the same beliefs you do.

You claim to be the champions of the poor but you always give them a fish instead of a fishing pole.

You criticize the way that Saddam Hussein, one of the most evil men who ever walked, spent his last few minutes on earth, saying there should have been more dignity. Well the Iraqis don't believe in dignified hangings and it was their business, not yours. Live with it.

You get together over your vodka martinis and pat each other on the back and celebrate being the bigoted fools that you are. Yes I said bigoted, you don't even want to consider somebody else's opinion.

You stoutly defend Islam, claiming it to be a peaceful religion. It never has been and it never will be, but that doesn't make any difference to you, the truth doesn't matter, only the perception.

You say that all religions are the same, they all lead to the mountaintop, but I've got news for you. Nobody lives on the mountaintop except God and there's only one path to Him.

You make heroes out of people like Cindy Sheehan who obviously hates America and everything it stands for. A woman who goes around the world consorting with America's avowed enemies.

You defend nutcases like Ward Churchill who from the safety of his classroom acts as if the 9-11 attacks were a righteous execution of the guilty.


You weaken this country and embolden our enemies by your attitude because all you do is criticize. You have no answers or in many cases not even any ideas, you take no action but you are always ready to criticize those who have the initiative to do something.

And before you cherry pickers, (people who cherry pick this column and try to twist it to make it say what you want it to) get your long johns in a twaddle let me inform you that I am not defending any politicians.

This is not necessarily about politics but about attitudes, naive tunnel vision, condescending attitudes.

Somebody's got to say it.

Pray for our troops

What do you think?

God Bless America

Charlie Daniels

Anonymous said...

Smithy,

Gore's Generation Investment Fund is designed to make money off the phony global warming which Gore promotes.

Anonymous said...

NOAA SAYS U.S. WINTER TEMPERATURE NEAR AVERAGE

NOAA ^ | 3/15/07 | NOAA

The December 2006-February 2007 U.S. winter season had an overall temperature that was near average, according to scientists at the NOAA National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.

Precipitation was above average in much of the center of the nation, while large sections of the East, Southeast and West were drier than average.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/s2819.htm

Anonymous said...

Mainstream Media Refuses To Report on ACLU Official Caught With Kiddie Porn

There were even videos discovered in his home which depicted infants being tortured and raped.

Due to the incredibly heinous nature of the material, U.S. District Court Judge Barry R. Poretz ordered the ACLU chief held in jail until his trial.


By Dave Gibson Mar 10, 2007
http://newsbyus.com/more.php?id=7467_0_1_0_M

On February 23, former president of the Virginia chapter of the ACLU Charles Rust-Tierney was arrested at his home in Arlinton, Va. and charged with receiving and possessing child pornography. Rust-Tierney had been the target of an ongoing investigation conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency as well as the Arlington County Police. Despite the news worthiness of this story, the mainstream press has failed to cover it.

Rust-Tierney owned numerous computer discs filled with images of young girls being victimized. The investigation report described prepubescent girls “seen and heard crying” and many “bound by rope.”

There were even videos discovered in his home which depicted infants being tortued and raped. Due to the incredibly heinous nature of the material, U.S. District Court Judge Barry R. Poretz ordered the ACLU chief held in jail until his trial.

As president of the Virginia ACLU of Virginia, Charles Rust-Tierney brought lawsuits against local authorities in an attempt to keep pornographic websites available on public library computers. He once said that “older minors should have access to resources appropriate for their age group, even if some materials may be considered by some parents to be unsuitable for younger minors.”

Enough Is Enough spokeswoman Cris Clapper released the following statement: “When Mr. Rust-Tierney argued before the Loudon County Library Board that unrestricted access to the resources of the internet was essential for our children’s ability to learn and communicate, and when groups like the ACLU contend that acceptable use policies alone are capable of protecting children online, they fail to acknowledge the tragic and devastating effects to children and families of both intentional and unintentional access to online pornography.”

In contrast to their almost obsessive coverage of the Catholic Church child sex-abuse scandal, the leftist media has buried the arrest of a top ACLU official on child pornography charges. The Washington Post ran one small piece in section two of their paper, while the New York Times has not reported the story at all. None of the major networks nor the cable news outlets have covered this story.

Instead of reporting on an ACLU lawyer who not only defends child pornography in court but is himself seemingly obsessed with the vile material, the press decided to carry more news on the death of ever-inebriated Anna Nicole Smith. On March 2, 2007, the watchdog group Think Progress recorded the number of Anna Nicole references made by the three cable networks. The results are as follows:
-Fox News...121
-MSNBC...96
-CNN...40

One of the very disturbing facts around the Rust-Tierney case is the fact that the ACLU kiddie porn collector is also a youth sports coach. He coaches several teams in and around Arlington, Va. This activity brings him enormous contact with children. Also, considering the large amount of pornographic material which police removed from the Rust-Tierney home, it would seem likely that his wife knew of his horrible obsession. However, you will never hear that very real possibility brought up by the liberal news media. Diannn Rust-Tierney is the director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

In addition to their work on behalf of Muslim terrorists and violent murderers, the ACLU continues to defend the North American Man Boy Love Association (NAMBLA). That group is dedicated to grown men raping young boys. The ACLU frequently fights for the ability of sexual deviants to exploit and indoctrinate children...So why don’t we see Dateline NBC’s Chris Hansen exposing the child predators of the ACLU?

In 2000, executive director of the Massachusetts ACLU John Roberts went to court to defend NAMBLA when two men kidnapped, raped, and murdered 10 year old Jeffrey Curley of Cambridge, Mass. Shortly before the pair abducted the boy, they visited NAMBLA’s website which contained graphic images of child rape, police also found NAMBLA literature in the home of one of the child’s murderers. Roberts stated the ACLU’s position on child pornography when he said: “Mere position should not be a crime.”


The press has a responsibility to report on the activities of any individual or group which endangers the public. Giving a pass to child molesters and pornographers makes the American mainstream press complicit in the exploitation of defenseless children.

snip

By Dave Gibson on Mar 10, 07
***********************************

More here:

http://newsbusters.org/node/11176

Don't bother looking for it via Google News. There hasn't been a single major story published on him since Charles Rust-Tierney appeared in Court. A local source sent me this, which Google either didn't capture, or hasn't spidered, yet.

Alexandria, Va. (WUSA) -- A public defender from Arlington now finds that he is the accused. Fifty-one year old Charles Rust-Tierney appeared in United States District Court in Alexandria Wednesday.

He’s accused of receiving and possessing child pornography, and investigators outlined what they say they found after searching his home.

They say Rust-Tierney had video showing, among other things, the sexual torture of infants and toddlers. The judge said he’d never heard of child pornography that vile and said because of that, Rust-Tierney would stay behind bars until his trial.

Rust-Tierney is a father himself and also a coach of Arlington-area youth little league and soccer teams. In court, dozens of his friends and family members voiced support for him. They say they have never suspected him of improper contact with kids.

One of the images Tierney was in possession of showed a little girl tied up and screaming while being violently raped.

Anonymous said...

Ben Affleck: Bush 'Can Be Hung' for 'Probably' Leaking Plame's Name

http://newsbusters.org/node/4815


'Da Vinci Code' Actor: Bible Should Have 'Fiction' Disclaimer

http://newsbusters.org/node/5402


Bill Maher Sorry the Assassination Attempt on Dick Cheney Failed

http://newsbusters.org/node/11169


Letterman Denounces Iraq War, Sheehan Critics

http://newsbusters.org/node/3454


HBO's Bryant Gumbel: Lack of Blacks Makes Olympics 'Look Like a GOP Convention'

http://newsbusters.org/node/4057

Anonymous said...

The best and most understandable description of this fraud that I ever read. Thank you! (And thanks for send me here Phil)

Anonymous said...

Al Gore Challenged to International TV Debate on Global Warming

Mar 19 2007

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=prnw.20070319.DCM015&show_article=1

PERTH, Scotland, March 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --

In a formal invitation sent to former Vice-President Al Gore's Tennessee address and released to the public, Lord Monckton has thrown down the gauntlet to challenge Gore to what he terms "the Second Great Debate," an internationally televised, head-to-head, nation-unto-nation confrontation on the question,
"That our effect on climate is not dangerous."
(http://ff.org/centers/csspp/docs/20070316_monckton.html)

Monckton, a former policy adviser to Margaret Thatcher during her years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said, "A careful study of the substantial corpus of peer-reviewed science reveals that Mr. Gore's film, An
Inconvenient Truth, is a foofaraw of pseudo-science, exaggerations, and errors, now being peddled to innocent schoolchildren worldwide."


Monckton and Gore have once before clashed head to head on the science, politics, and religion of global warming in the usually-decorous pages of the London Sunday Telegraph last November.

Monckton calls on the former Vice President to "step up to the plate and defend his advocacy of policies that could do grave harm to the welfare of the world's poor. If Mr. Gore really believes global warming is the defining issue of our time, the greatest threat human civilization has ever faced, then he should welcome the opportunity to raise the profile of the issue before a worldwide audience of billions by defining and defending his claims against a
serious, science-based challenge."

The arena of the glittering "Second Great Debate" will be the elegant, Victorian-Gothic Library of the Oxford Museum of Natural History, which was the setting for the "Great Debate" between the natural scientist T. H. Huxley and Bishop "Soapy Sam" Wilberforce on the theory of evolution, following the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species. Lord Monckton says he chose this historic venue "not only because the magnificent, Gothic architecture will be
a visually-stunning setting for the debate but also because I hope that in this lofty atmosphere the caution and scepticism of true science will once again prevail, this time over the shibboleths and nostrums of the false, new religion of climate alarmism."

Lord Monckton's resounding challenge to Al Gore reads as follows --

"The Viscount Monckton of Brenchley presents his compliments to Vice-President Albert Gore and by these presents challenges the said former Vice-President to a head-to-head, internationally-televised debate upon the question, 'That our effect on climate is not dangerous,' to be held in the Library of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History at a date of the Vice-President's choosing.

"Forasmuch as it is His Lordship who now flings down the gauntlet to the Vice-President, it shall be the Vice-President's prerogative and right to choose his weapons by specifying the form of the Great Debate. May the Truth win! Magna est veritas, et praevalet. God Bless America! God Save the Queen!"

Anonymous said...

Sandy, your bold highlight says it all.

Anonymous said...

Some criticize Gore's profits from toxic mining

By: Katie Allison Granju, Producer
3/18/2007

By BILL THEOBALD
Tennessean Washington Bureau

http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=43409

CARTHAGE, Tenn. - Al Gore has profited from zinc mining that has released millions of pounds of potentially toxic substances near his farmstead, but there is no evidence the mine has caused serious damage to the environment in the area or threatened the health of his neighbors.

Two massive white mountains of leftover rock waste are evidence of three decades of mining that earned Gore more than $500,000 in royalty payments for the mineral rights to his property.

New owners plan to start mining again later this year, after nearly four years of inactivity. In addition to bringing 250 much-needed jobs to rural Middle Tennessee, mine owners will resume paying royalties to some residents who, like Gore, own land adjacent to the mine and lease access to the zinc under their property.

Gore has yet to be approached by the new owner, Strategic Resource Acquisition, said his spokeswoman Kalee Kreider, and he and wife, Tipper, have not decided whether they will renew their lease. It was terminated when the mine closed in 2003.

Last week, Gore sent a letter asking the company to work with Earthworks, a national environmental group, to make sure the operation doesn't damage the environment.

"We would like for you to engage with us in a process to ensure that the mine becomes a global example of environmental best practices," Gore wrote.

Victor Wyprysky, the company's president and chief executive officer, did not respond to requests for comment on the letter.

The letter was sent the week after The Tennessean's Washington bureau posed questions to the former vice president about his involvement with the mine.

Previous mine owners released toxic substances into waterways above the allowable levels several times in the eight years before the mine closed.

But state regulators consider those permit violations minor, and monitoring reports provide a clean bill of health for the surface water in the area. Community leaders and health officials recall no health problems ever associated with the mining.

But now that the mine is reopening and Gore's status as an environmentalist has grown, some of Gore's neighbors see a conflict between the mining and his moral call for environmental activism.

"Mining is not exactly synonymous with being green, is it?" said John Mullins, who lives in nearby Cookeville. A conservative, Mullins welcomes the resumption of mining for the benefits it will bring the community. But he says Gore's view that global warming is a certainty is arrogant and that by being connected to mining, Gore is not "walking the walk."

At the same time, the Caney Fork Watershed Association, which works to conserve and improve the waterways near the mine, has heard no concerns from its members about the mine's reopening.

"The operation has a record of vigilance in not operating to harm the environment, and we certainly hope that the renewed operation will maintain this record," John Harwood, with the association, said in a written response to questions. "It is important that this waste material . be permanently secured from causing environmental contamination."

And Earthworks president and chief executive Stephen D'Esposito said Gore's involvement with mining doesn't bother him "in any way, shape or form."
"We are going to have mining. The question is doing it in the right place and the right way," said D'Esposito, who has not studied the Carthage mines.

Gore's mining history

Al Gore Jr.'s involvement in mining can be traced to Sept. 22, 1973.

Former U.S. Sen. Albert Gore Sr. bought about 88 acres along the Caney Fork River from Occidental Minerals, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum, for $160,000. Included in the deal was the subsurface area. The rights to the minerals below ground were then leased back to Occidental.

On the same day, Gore Sr. sold the land and subsurface area to his 25-year-old son and daughter-in-law for $140,000. The mineral lease to Occidental was put in their names.

Kreider said the terms of the 30-year agreement provided the Gores "no legal recourse" even if they had wanted to cancel it, Kreider said.

The Gores, she said, would not comment on whether they tried to pursue legal action to void the lease. "There is a certain zone of privacy once people go into private life."

Gore received $20,000 a year for 27 years and $10,000 a year for three years, making a total of $570,000 in lease payments. Kreider said the Gores never considered selling the land.

She said the lease has to be viewed in a "1973 context, not a 2007 context."

"There was a different environmental sensibility about all sorts of things," she said.

Emission from the mine

The mine is a complex of several interconnected sites known as the Gordonsville Mine and Mill, the Cumberland Mine and the Elmwood Mine, which is the closest to Gore's property. In addition, previous mine owners operated a refining plant in Clarksville.

Through the years, mining operations expanded as the facilities went through several ownership and name changes. Horizontal shafts, called drifts, extend under the Gore property, Kreider said, although the Gores don't know their number and location.

By 1983, the Elmwood-Gordonsville complex was the largest zinc-producing mine in the country and Tennessee the largest zinc-producing state. The Elmwood-Gordonsville mine kept the title every year until 1990, except for 1984.

Zinc is used primarily to protect steel from corrosion. Other metals released during the mining process - such as lead, mercury and copper - are necessary to a modern economy. But human exposure to high levels of these metals can cause health problems.

The Environmental Protection Agency began reporting toxic releases from metal mining operations for the first time in 1998. The mining industry objected to being included in the reports because of the sheer size of the emission numbers and the fact that much of what is reported is the naturally occurring substance - in this case zinc - that is being mined.

In the five-year period from 1998 to 2003, before the mines were shuttered, 16.6 million pounds of toxic substances were released into the air, water and land at the Gordonsville site, according to the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory data, and 2.6 million pounds were released at the Cumberland site. Most of that was the zinc pulled from ground during mining.

In its last year of full operation in 2002, the Gordonsville-Cumberland mines ranked 22nd among all metal mining operations in the U.S., with about 4.1 million pounds of toxic releases. The top releasing mine, Red Dog Mine in Alaska, emitted about 482 million pounds that year. In 2002, Smith County ranked 39th out of more than 3,000 U.S. counties for lead compound releases and 21st for cadmium releases, according to tallies by Scorecard, a Web site run by environmentalists that compiles federal data.

Even Gore noted in his letter that, according to Scorecard, "pollution releases from the mine in 2002 placed it among the 'dirtiest/worst facilities' in the U.S."

How much was released in the previous quarter century when the mines were in their heyday is unknown.

The Clarksville processing plant emitted more than 26 million pounds of pollutants in 2004, ranking Montgomery County 21st among all U.S. counties for the amount of toxic releases discharged into the environment.

Water discharge violations

While all the sites have systems in place to protect nearby rivers and streams, the state discharge permit records for the Carthage area mines show several examples in recent years of releases of toxic substances into waterways above the allowable levels set under the federal Clean Water Act. The majority of samples taken found acceptable levels of the various substances being tested.

Violations cited were:

. Gordonsville Mine and Mill. Sampling at one site where the mine discharges into a tributary of the Caney Fork River found 23 violations of the limit on zinc levels out of 30 samples taken between October 1995 and August 2000, according to permit documents. Nineteen of those readings above permit limits occurred between December 1995 and March 1997 and caused the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to issue three notices of violation to Savage Zinc Inc., the mine owner then.

Because the company worked to correct the problem, state officials said the department did not take tougher action such as a fine. The other four violations, between January 1998 and August 2000, were considered minor, officials said. Two other notices of violation were issued in 1997 for zinc limit violations at a nearby discharge point.

Two other zinc violations were found in samples in 2003; one for high levels of solids that year and in 2004; and one for copper in a 2003 sample.

. Elmwood Mine. State inspectors found a permit violation in January 2000 that was caused when a valve failure on a pipe carrying lime slurry from the Gordonsville mine caused it to bypass a treatment structure and empty into a tributary of the Caney Fork. Higher than permitted zinc levels were found in one sample each in 2000 and 2001.

. Cumberland Mine. Violations of the solids levels were found twice in 2002, and one sample that year contained excessive zinc.

"We think those violations (are) considered minor," said Paul Schmierbach, environmental program manager for the state's Division of Water Pollution Control.

The most recent permit for the Clarksville plant includes no permit violations. But very high zinc levels were found in many samples taken from 2001 to 2005 at two sites where storm water flowed into a tributary of the Cumberland River. The Clarksville permit did not set limits for storm water runoff so those were not counted as violations.

Water quality OK, for now

Test samples taken of the surface water in the Caney Fork and Cumberland rivers near the mine sites in recent years show no readings of dangerous substances above the legal limits.

"I don't see anything here that indicates a water quality issue," said Greg Denton, manager of the planning and standards section in the Division of Water Pollution Control, after reviewing testing data compiled by The Tennessean's Washington bureau.

And state and county health officials, along with community leaders, can recall no reports of unusual health problems in the area.

At the same time, the state counts the two water systems in Smith County that draw from the Caney Fork and Cumberland downstream from the mines as highly susceptible for contamination, according to the Tennessee Source Water Assessment Report issued in August 2003, the most recent report done.

That is in part because of the mines and other facilities that discharge into the rivers, according to the report. The report scored nearly half of the state's 457 community water sources as having "high susceptibility" for contamination.

In addition, state environmental officials said in a 2006 report that Tennessee needs a more accurate picture of the health of its underground water supply.

According to the report, the state:

. Has not done a systematic statewide study of its aquifers.

. Requires that public water systems sample only the treated water they provide to customers, not raw ground water samples.

. Does not require routine sampling of private wells and springs.

Smith Utility District, one of the two water treatment plants in the area, draws from the Caney Fork, which Gore used as a backdrop in his Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth. The other, Carthage Water System, takes its water from the Cumberland.

Only a few violations of safe drinking water regulations have been found in recent years during tests at the Smith, Carthage and other water systems in the area. Most are monitoring violations, and the only health-related ones are for high levels of the chemicals used to disinfect the water.

Marcus Kemp, plant and distribution superintendent for the Smith Utility District plant, said he never had problems with discharges from the mines during his 28 years with the district, nor has Don Taylor, who runs the Carthage water plant.

Still, Kemp is concerned about what will happen when the new owners pump out the water that has filled the mine since it was shut down.

"That is going to be a different issue," Kemp said of the restart of mining. "Water went into all the cracks and crevices."

Mining set to restart

Community leaders see no problem with Gore, or the hundreds of other landowners in the area, reaping the benefits of owning property rich in zinc. In 2002, a previous mine owner held 355 leases in the area, totaling 16,339 acres, or more than 25.5 square miles.

"I don't think he would want to stand in the way of economic development of a community," said Michael Nesbitt, mayor of Smith County, where the mines are located.

Nesbitt and others are excited about the jobs the mine will create for some of the county's nearly 19,000 people whose per capita personal income was below the state's in 2003, the most recent county data available.

Strategic Resource Acquisition, the Canadian company that will operate under the name Mid-Tennessee Zinc, estimates it will take a year to reactivate the mines. Mining itself should begin in the third quarter of this year, said Wyprysky, the CEO. The mill should begin putting out ore ready for shipping to refining plants in the first quarter of 2008.

In an interview prior to Gore's letter being sent, Wyprysky declined a request for a tour of the mining sites and declined to comment on their connection to Gore. He said the company was still in the process of negotiating lease agreements with the surrounding property owners.

The Gores won't speculate on whether they will refuse to renew their lease if the new owners don't follow their request to work with the environmental group, Kreider said. They do plan, she said, to encourage their neighbors to join their effort.

Also to be decided is what to do about the leases on two parcels owned by Albert Gore Sr., which Gore eventually will inherit when his parents' estates are settled.

The company said the mine already has produced 2.6 billion pounds of zinc metal, and still contains 26 million tons of zinc material containing
3.25 percent zinc.

That means that mining there could continue for years, creating an ongoing environmental threat to Gore and his neighbors in the rolling hills of Middle Tennessee.

"The real protection," said Harwood of the Caney Fork Watershed Association, "lies in the good faith and diligence of the mine operators, and of the state regulators."

Contact Bill Theobald at wtheobal@gns.gannett.com.GANNETT NEWS SERVICE/THE TENNESSEAN

Anonymous said...

Looky looky, Miss Joanie:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=e5rc36MdiWY

:>)

Anonymous said...

When I recently spoke to someone about global warming, he said that he knows both sides and both sides have a "political" axe to grind.

I don't read anything "political" in this column.

Those kinds of comments are the same as people saying "they're all the same" about politicians. I don't really care for Bush, but he's a whole lot better than Hillary would be.

People who can't make distinctions are cowards.

Anonymous said...

How anyone can sit on the fence on an issue like this is beyond me.

Thanks for the valuable information.

Anonymous said...

Al Gore Continues to Demand Special Treatment
March 20, 2007

By Marc Morano –

http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=71e7e4c1-802a-23ad-4c16-02e25ed1bfd3

From behind the scenes on Capitol Hill: Former Vice President Al Gore, despite being given major preferential treatment, has violated the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee’s (EPW) hearing rules.

Gore first demanded to be granted an unprecedented 30 minute opening statement to the Senate EPW Committee for Wednesday’s (March 21) global warming hearing scheduled for 2:30 pm ET.
(See "FULL COMMITTEE: Vice President Al Gore’s Perspective on Global Warming" )

The GOP minority on the EPW committee agreed to the 30 minute opening statement.

But then Gore demanded a waiver of the EPW committee’s 48 hour rule that requires all witnesses before EPW to submit their testimony in advance. The GOP minority on the EPW committee then agreed to waive the 48 hour rule in favor of allowing Gore to submit his testimony 24 hours before the hearing.

But in a breaking news development on Capitol Hill -- the former Vice President has violated the new 24 hour deadline extension by failing to submit his testimony – even with the new time extension granted to Gore.

As of 8pm ET Tuesday evening, the testimony still has not been received by EPW, a clear violation of committee rules.

The word on Capitol Hill says not to expect Gore’s testimony to the Senate EPW committee until Wednesday (March 21) -- the day of the hearing.

It appears that Gore does not believe the same rules apply to him that apply to every other Senate EPW witness.

The question looms on Capitol Hill: Is Gore delaying the submission of his testimony until the very last moment because he fears it will give members of the EPW committee time to scrutinize it for accuracy?

Anonymous said...

What a guy

Al Gore believes in the concept of "Carbon Neutrality", and is willing to purchase "Carbon Credits", while he takes a limo to his private jet to fly across country to chastise others for using the wrong kind of light bulbs at home.

Anonymous said...

Bill to Ban Regular Light Bulbs Introduced in [U.S.] House

By Nathan Burchfiel
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
March 21, 2007

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200703/NAT20070321a.html

(CNSNews.com) - A Democratic lawmaker has introduced a bill that would ban the sale of traditional incandescent light bulbs - which are less energy-efficient, prompting claims that they contribute to "global warming" - one day after a colleague told a press conference that legislating a ban would be a "last choice."

As Cybercast News Service reported last week, Rep. Don Manzullo (R-Ill.) and Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) held a news conference Wednesday calling for more efficient lighting options, and Manzullo said "the last thing we want to do is force legislation down people's throats."

One day later, Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) introduced legislation that would set target dates for certain types of light bulbs to be prohibited for sale in the United States.

Harman calls the bill "an important first step toward making every household, business and public building in America more energy-efficient."

"This legislation, while a small step, could have an enormous impact," she said in a posting on the Huffington Post blog. "And hopefully, it can help transform America into an energy-efficient and energy-independent nation."

An average traditional incandescent bulb based on a filament emits 12-15 lumens per watt (a measurement of the bulb's lighting output.) Harman's bill would require all bulbs to produce 60 lumens-per-watt by January 2012; 90 lumens-per-watt by January 2016; and 120 lumens-per-watt by January 2020.

Currently available compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL) are about halfway to the ultimate goal, offering approximately 60 lumens-per-watt. A 20-watt CFL produces about as much light as a 100-watt incandescent bulb.

Philips Lighting, the world's largest producers of light bulbs, has joined with environmental groups to encourage legislation banning incandescent bulbs. Some skeptics believe the company is in the debate simply for its own profit.

Brian Darling, director of Senate relations at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told Cybercast News Service it is "unusual" for a company to ask for federal regulation of their product unless it will benefit them financially.

In this case, a federal standard would ensure that incandescent bulbs would not be available from any manufacturer, so if Philips stopped producing the bulbs, it would not lose business to other companies still producing them.

"This company conceivably could be using environmentalism as a pretext to market their more expensive and more energy efficient bulbs to the detriment of their competition, who produce cheaper bulbs," Darling said.

Steve Goldmacher, a spokesman for Philips Lighting, acknowledged Tuesday that the company supports legislating efficiency standards as a way to prevent competitors from offering the traditional bulbs.

"If we stopped [producing the bulbs] ... somebody else would just jump into the breach and continue to manufacture them and continue to fill that gap," he told Cybercast News Service.

"Given the choice of a 25 cent incandescent [bulb] to a $2 or $3 or $5 product ... consumers have made that choice already over the years - they choose the more inefficient type," Goldmacher said, "so here we need to lead them a little by the hand and take those inefficient types off the market."

Goldmacher dismissed skeptics' claims that the company merely wants to require consumers to purchase more expensive products so it can legislate higher profits for itself.

"That's not the driving force here," he said, adding that the company's goal is "to reduce the footprint of the lighting industry and create a more sustainable product."

While the bulbs cost more up-front, they will last longer, Goldmacher said. "If we make a technology that's going to last 25 years, we're not going to make that much money on that purchase, are we?"
. . .

A spokesman for Harman declined to provide comment for this report.

Anonymous said...

Gore Urges Fast Action on Global Warming

PHOTO of bloated demagogue Al:

http://img.breitbart.com/images/2007/3/21/D8O0M3700/D8O0M3700.jpg

Mar 21 2007 By JOHN HEILPRIN
Associated Press Writer

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8O0M3700&show_article=1

WASHINGTON (AP) - Al Gore, a Democratic favorite for the presidency despite pronouncements that he's not running, spoke out on his signature issue Wednesday, warning of a "true planetary emergency" if Congress fails to act on global warming.
In a return he described as emotional, Gore testified before House panels that it is not too late to deal with climate change "and we have everything we need to get started." By turns folksy and prescriptive, he urged the Democratic-controlled Congress to adopt an immediate freeze on greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

Gore's return to Congress marked the first time he had been in the Capitol since January 2001 when he was the defeated Democratic nominee still presiding over the Senate in his role as vice president.

The former vice president, who 20 years ago held the first hearings in Congress on global warming, appeared before a joint hearing by two House committees. Later in the day, he was to testify before a Senate committee that includes the current Democratic front-runner for the nomination—Hillary Rodham Clinton. Another member is its recent past chairman, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who calls global warming the biggest hoax ever perpetuated on Americans.

Several public opinion polls show Gore among the top three in the presidential race, although he has said he has no plans to seek the presidency again. In 2000, he won the popular vote but lost to George W. Bush when the Supreme Court ruled for the Republican in the disputed election.

Polls consistently place Gore, the non-candidate, third behind Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama—ahead of John Edwards and other declared candidates—and indicate that much of his support comes from Democrats who would otherwise back the New York senator.

Gore advised lawmakers to cut carbon dioxide and other warming gases 90 percent by 2050 to avert a crisis. Doing that, he said, will require a ban on any new coal-burning power plants—a major source of industrial carbon dioxide—that lack state-of-the-art controls to capture the gases.

He said he foresees a revolution in small-scale electricity producers for replacing coal, likening the development to what the Internet has done for the exchange of information. He also advocated tougher fuel- economy standards for cars and trucks.

"There is a sense of hope in this country that this United States Congress will rise to the occasion and present meaningful solutions to this crisis," he said. "Our world faces a true planetary emergency. I know the phrase sounds shrill, and I know it's a challenge to the moral imagination."

Gore gained international recognition with his Oscar-winning documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," as perhaps the leading spokesman on dealing with global warming.

A former congressman and senator from Tennessee, Gore received a friendly reception from Democrats in Congress. As he spoke, his wife, Tipper, sat behind him, listening intently and laughing occasionally at lighter-hearted exchanges.

"Welcome back, welcome home," said Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

But several Republicans sharply questioned Gore's recommendations.

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, a former chairman of the House energy committee, questioned scientific evidence from Gore's popular film and said cutting carbon dioxide emissions would "provide little benefit at a huge cost," particularly to major coal-producing and coal-burning states.

"A lot of those recommendations are more regulations and more taxation," said former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., though he added that he agrees with Gore that the scientific debate on climate change is over. "I think we can find answers to use the coal energy, to use the natural gas we have."

Gore said the climate issue should not be a partisan or political issue. He said he saw a limited role for nuclear power, which the Bush administration has promoted, because the plants are expensive to build and "only come in one size: extra large."

He rejected the contention by opponents of quick action on global warming that the United States should only impose mandatory controls on greenhouse gases if China, India and other rapidly developing nations agree to do the same.

"The best way and the only way to get China and India on board is for the U.S. to demonstrate real leadership," Gore said. "As the world's largest economy and the greatest superpower, we are uniquely situated to tackle a problem of this magnitude," he said.

Gore favors a "cap-and-trade" program for the U.S. economy, not just specific sectors such as electricity or manufacturing, which would set an overall limit on warming emissions but allow industry to meet the target by trading pollution allowances.

Congress has nearly a dozen bills before it that call for reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Anonymous said...

SLANTED NEWS?

Damage blamed on frustration
Some predict violent protest may be sign of things to come


By MEG JONES and DON BEHM
mjones@journalsentinel.com
March 20, 2007

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=580318

One day after 21 people were arrested during a demonstration that vandalized a U.S. Army recruiting office on Milwaukee's east side, Wisconsin peace activist groups on Tuesday said some protesters might increasingly turn to destruction as their frustrations mount.

It's the third time in about two years that Doug Mack, a glass installer for T&L Glass, has had to replace broken glass at the Army recruiting office on Oakland Ave. Mack replaced the glass Tuesday.

Monday night's violence was an anomaly, said Judy Miner of Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, who noted protesters were peaceful at dozens of demonstrations, marches, rallies and vigils held Monday throughout the state.

"That's what impressed me," said Miner. "People have been very respectful of the fact that violence doesn't get us anywhere."

Nine of the adults arrested Monday were from Milwaukee, six were from West Bend and one each from Waukesha, Wauwatosa and Madison. Arrested were: Kelsey M. Kazik, 20, Sara Keiza, 17, Jillian Duckwitz, 21, Richard A. Ketcham, 22, Thomas P. Buckholt, 17, Andrew L. Ortlieb, 24, Kathryn E. Jacobs, 20, Keith Crum, 20, and Andrew Smart, 19, all of Milwaukee; Craig R. Barringer, 20, of Waukesha; Jonathon W. Wilson, 17, of Wauwatosa; Amy M. Barger, 19, Jessica L. Brooks, 18, Derek W. Johnson, 17, Nathan J. Bartelt, 20, Jeffrey G. Lavato, 18, and Kyle Sawson, 21, all of West Bend; and David W. Clerkin, 21, of Madison. The three juveniles were not named.

Johnson, of West Bend, denied participating in any vandalism.

"I wanted to protest military recruiting in our schools and the war itself," Johnson said. "A recruiting office seemed, symbolically, like an important place" to protest, he added.

Johnson said that he regularly attends Thursday afternoon meetings of a "radical discussion group" at the West Bend library and that Monday's protest was discussed at last week's meeting.

"We were under the impression going there that it would be a peaceful protest," Johnson said. "We knew it would be loud and boisterous, but we didn't know there would be vandalism."

Regarding a police report that human excrement was smeared on the recruiting center, Johnson said he wasn't aware of such vandalism.

Kazik, of Milwaukee, said she expected a peaceful march and didn't support those who damaged the recruiting center.

"I think the only people out of the group who even knew there was going to be violence were those who were involved in it. It did absolutely nothing for the cause we were marching for," Kazik said.

Peace Action Wisconsin does not condone violence, said the group's project organizer Julie Enslow, but some anti-war protesters might feel the need to be violent to get their point across.

"We do not use those tactics ourselves, but the movement is very broad, and as this war continues, the anti-war movement is going to take many forms - not all of which everyone feels comfortable with," Enslow said.

An anti-war rally at O'Donnell Park on Saturday drew a large crowd that listened to several speakers, including U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee), before marching to the Reuss Federal Plaza, Enslow said. The peaceful gathering contrasted sharply with the arrests Monday night at the Army recruiting center near the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus, where protesters broke a window and threw smoke bombs, paint and human excrement, police said. There were no injuries reported.

Pat Grobschmidt, public affairs officer for Army recruiting in Milwaukee, said no one was in the office at the time.

"Soldiers defend the right of all Americans to peacefully express their point of their view. We're dismayed that their actions are anything but peaceful," Grobschmidt said.

The 21 protesters, including the three juveniles, were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, said Deputy Police Chief Brian O'Keefe. The adults were given municipal citations and ordered to return to court at a later date. The protesters ranged in age from 13 to 24.

Police were called to the recruiting station at 3133 N. Oakland Ave. around 8 p.m. Monday. Grobschmidt said there have been protests at the center in the past and prior vandalism, though she did not know the last time it had been vandalized.

Gus Sorenson, government relations director for Wisconsin Paralyzed Veterans of America, said the violent protest might be a sign of things to come as the Iraq war enters its fifth year.


"I would like to think cooler heads would prevail and they would find a better way to channel some of that energy, but I don't think that's going to happen. I think it's going to get worse," said Sorenson.

Outside the recruiting station Tuesday, three orange and white barricades were on the sidewalk next to piles of broken glass. One window was covered by a glob of blue paint, and a glass door had a spider web of cracks.

Donna Brooks acknowledged that her daughter was a member of the West Bend library discussion group and was arrested at the protest. Her daughter's group did not plan for the vandalism, she said.

Anonymous said...

Barabra Boxer criticized for Gore e-mail

Mar. 21, 2007 By Frank Davies

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/living/science/16945128.htm

Attackers say call for campaign contributions in thank-you letter to former vice president is ethically questionable

WASHINGTON - Al Gore, global warming rock star, will grab the media spotlight today before Sen. Barbara Boxer's Environment and Public Works Committee -- and Boxer is using Gore's appearance to help raise money for her 2010 re-election campaign.

In an e-mail sent earlier this month, Boxer asked her supporters to sign an online thank-you card to Gore "for his many years of leadership and hard work," which she plans to give to him today. So far, more than 63,000 people have signed the card, according to a campaign consultant.

Next to the link for signing the card is a link to "contribute today" to the Friends of Barbara Boxer, which takes the user to instructions on how to donate online.

One campaign finance watchdog, Melanie Sloan, called the e-mail "inappropriate, coming close to an ethical line," because it suggests a link between a congressional hearing, legislative activity and campaign contributions.

A Boxer campaign consultant in Los Angeles, Rose Kapolczynski, defended the e-mail: "The entire focus is on Al Gore, not on making a contribution. There is a pro forma 'contribute' button at the bottom of the e-mail. There is no special access or benefit to the donor."

Anonymous said...

BRAVO!

You've exposed the emperor without his clothes. Expertly done!

Anonymous said...

Gore Refuses to Take Personal Energy Ethics Pledge

http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=7616011f-802a-23ad-435e-887baa7069ca ^

03/21/2007

WASHINGTON, DC – Former Vice President Al Gore refused to take a “Personal Energy Ethics Pledge” today to consume no more energy than the average American household. The pledge was presented to Gore by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, during today’s global warming hearing.

Senator Inhofe showed Gore a film frame from “An Inconvenient Truth” where it asks viewers: “Are you ready to change the way you live?”

Gore has been criticized for excessive home energy usage at his residence in Tennessee. His electricity usage is reportedly 20 times higher than the average American household.

It has been reported that many of these so-called carbon offset projects would have been done anyway. Also, carbon offset projects such as planting trees can take decades or even a century to sequester the carbon emitted today. So energy usage today results in greenhouse gases remaining in the atmosphere for decades, even with the purchase of so-called carbon offsets.

“There are hundreds of thousands of people who adore you and would follow your example by reducing their energy usage if you did. Don’t give us the run-around on carbon offsets or the gimmicks the wealthy do,” Senator Inhofe told Gore.

“Are you willing to make a commitment here today by taking this pledge to consume no more energy for use in your residence than the average American household by one year from today?” Senator Inhofe asked.

Senator Inhofe then presented Vice President Gore with the following "Personal Energy Ethics Pledge:

Cl As a believer: · that human-caused global warming is a moral, ethical, and spiritual issue affecting our survival;

· that home energy use is a key component of overall energy use;

· that reducing my fossil fuel-based home energy usage will lead to lower greenhouse gas emissions; and

· that leaders on moral issues should lead by example;

I pledge to consume no more energy for use in my residence than the average American household by March 21, 2008.”

Gore refused to take the pledge.

Anonymous said...

Katie Couric's Notebook: Gore And Global Warming
Posted by Katie Couric
March 21, 2007

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2007/03/21/couricandco/entry2594094.shtml

Hi everyone.

The last time Al Gore came to Capitol Hill--six years ago--he was there to certify the electoral college results that made George Bush president.

But today it was a triumphant return, this time as a private citizen, to declare that the world faces a "planetary emergency" over climate change. And now, a lot of his skeptics agree that Gore makes a powerful point.

The scientific consensus is clear, and Gore urged Congress to listen to scientists, not special interests. He pushed for an immediate freeze on greenhouse gases, as well as cleaner power plants, more efficient cars, and stronger conservation efforts.

Gore said "a few years from now...the kinds of proposals we're talking about today are going to seem so small compared to the scale of the challenge."

Here's hoping Congress puts partisanship aside, and comes together to act boldly on global warming.

That's a page from my notebook.

Anonymous said...

When Gore testified before the House committee earlier in the week, the whole committee was present. When the guy who presented the opposing opinion (I can't remember his name) took to podium to present the opposing view, all of the Democrats on the committee except one, left the room. They didn't even want to hear the other side.

These are our elected representatives! It's disgusting!

Anonymous said...

"anonymous"---The Dems don't even try to maintain a sense of fairness anymore. They don't have to. The public doesn't care. Them walking out of the committee meeting when Gore's opponent spoke is proof of their bias, but who cares anymore?

Gore was disgusting, talking down to us all throughout his whole display, saying things like, "If your child has a fever you don't wait until he dies to do something about it, you take him to the doctor right away."

P.S. Joanie, did you see DNDN's action today? Next Thursday's FDA meeting will tell the tale.

Anonymous said...

That is standard procedure for lefties at political committee hearings.

Anonymous said...

Those bastards in Washington are refusing to listen to respected scientists and listening to political types instead, and they're trying to create another Vietnam by defunding our troops at the same time. TREASON.

Anonymous said...

This is a wonderfully informative site. If you don't mind my asking, what is your background, C.W.?

Anonymous said...

About your "March poll" above, basically the only decisions made in our federal government anymore that are for the good of the people are made by accident (the pols have a monetary or power stake in the results). Government is now corrupt to the core.

joanie said...

Thanks for the additional kind words, Luis. Your channel 4 has done a monumental job making much of the story about this malevolent hoax available to those who want to know the truth. Thanks for providing the link and for your additional insights.

~ joanie

joanie said...

The nineteenth century was the ultimate product and expression of the Renaissance and the Age of Reason. With the industrial revolution came a new creative energy, an abundance, a wealth, and a rising standard of living that had never before been seen on earth. This is what the global warmists want to undo.

Brilliant!

Such a state of affairs simply cannot be allowed to exist! After all, the destiny of the ‘common man’ does not include individual power, wealth, leisure time, and luxury. His place in the universe consists of working for the ‘common good’, and so that the ‘select few’ may achieve their destiny -- which includes preaching, in clichés, about the ‘common good’, while enjoying individual power, wealth, leisure time, and luxury, bought and paid for by the masses.

John, I couldn’t agree more with your assertion that advocates of global warming are seeking something of a return to the Dark Ages.

We talk about the fact that democracy will never find roots in the Middle East, and yet we fail to see that genuine freedom itself has always been a fleeting condition anywhere it attempts to thrive, because (as I said at the outset of this essay) since the dawn of man there has always existed a class of people that believes that it possesses an inherent right to more privileges, more possessions, and more power than the rest of humanity. And, over sufficient time, they must always seek to subjugate their ‘lesser’ brothers so as to realize their god-like ‘destiny’.

You are spot on in your description of the burgeoning tyranny that is rooting itself in Britain, and much of the rest of Europe, and is filtering its way across the Atlantic. Luis, a blogger friend who lives in the London suburbs wrote to me just last week that, despite the fact that the British government has already imposed revenue-enhancing high taxes on air travel, there is now even talk of giving people a global-warming-dictated ‘air miles allowance’ which will dictate how far a citizen may travel, additional-tax-free, in a year.

Each succeeding generation of Americans enjoys fewer freedoms, more government intrusion, and less knowledge of the Founders’ vision, than the one before. The end result will be that we will eventually allow ourselves to be disarmed and subjugated, simply because a man will not defend that which he has never known. Two generations from now (should we survive that long), young Americans will be unaware that their ancestors could visit the doctor of their choice, build the house of their choosing, direct their own educational and career endeavors, keep and enjoy most of the fruits of their labor, worship when and where and whom they choose, have an individual voice in selecting their leaders, and bear personal responsibility for their own actions and decisions.

The only exception I take to your excellent observations is with your one comment regarding faith (although it is possible that I may have misunderstood your intent): With men who claim to possess supernatural means of knowledge, no persuasion, communication or understanding is possible, only force.

From my understanding of scripture and Christ’s New Testament teachings, His followers are to win people to Christ through (entirely voluntary) instruction and example, and every man’s free will determines his acceptance or denial of Christ as the Son of God – which is what sets the practicing of true Christianity apart from most of the rest of the world’s religions.

The wars and oppressions which have occurred over the past two thousand years with a false ‘Christianity’ as their catalyst have been anything but based upon the teachings of Christ. Man’s free will, and his God-given ability to deny or accept the Savior is the cornerstone of Christian faith. So the use of force, and even the concept of theocracy itself, is the antithesis of Christian doctrine.

That isn’t to say that men haven’t corrupted that doctrine in an effort to gain control over their fellow man. But Christ would see such man-on-man religion-based suppression of free will as an abomination.

Such is the nature of the evil that demagogues like Al Gore have let loose in the world -- and such is the nature of their guilt..

I understand, and completely agree with, your sentiment. And I’m afraid that a prerequisite for the existence of (at least earthly) guilt is the existence of a system of law and justice that will mete out appropriate punishment for infractions. Those two once (at least theoretically) noble entities (law and justice), too, are nearing extinction in America, with the aforementioned ‘elite’ having been self-declared immune to both, while enjoying the privilege of authoring the former and bending the latter to suit their individual needs and agendas.

Again, John, thanks for your valuable (as always) insights and continued contributions.

~ joanie

joanie said...

Apologies to all for not having responded to your many comments over the past week or so. Have been 'out of the loop' for a few days.

Many thanks for the supportive comments and kind words -- especially to those who have indicated that they have passed this essay on to others.

The media will not see that the truth about this evil is told -- not now and not ever. Only by word of mouth can we alert our countrymen to the fact that their freedoms are being usurped under the guise of altruism.

Thank you all for the interest you've shown in unmasking this hoax, and for your willingness to spread the word.

~ joanie

joanie said...

Matt,

Serena is very musically gifted. I do not know where she is now living, or who teaches her, but the sad fact about her environment is that her father appears to be unhappy that she is not motivated, but does not appear to respond to those who want to get her ‘back on track’ and place her under the instruction of someone who will provide focus and inspiration.

He is inconsistent in his attitude toward her – sometimes believing she has unlimited potential, and other times lamenting that he hopes she will one day possess fifty percent of the ability of Horowitz (*cough*). How tragic that a father doesn’t see such a child’s gifts as limitless, but instead seems to stifle her achievement by his own ever-changing view of her potential.

~ joanie

Anonymous said...

I had to turn Gore's testimony on C-Span off. I will not be talked down to by an imbecile.

Anonymous said...

I'm getting sick listening to the media talk about the firing of these U.S. attorneys, and what the Attorney General knew and when did he know it.

God, you'd think this was completely out of the ordinary, and that liberals aren't running around doing things a hundred times worse.

Has anybody heard of Sandy Berger???????

Anonymous said...

joanie and matt,

What am I missing?

Who is Serena?

Anonymous said...

Read this and weep:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/realclearpolitics/20070323/cm_rcp/what_al_gore_really_wants

What Al Gore Really Wants

Anonymous said...

American industrial production in 1900-1940 was minimal in comparison to the post-WW II era, and yet temperatures consistently rose during those four relatively quiet decades. Indeed, most of the rise in temperature that has been recorded during the earth’s current ‘warming trend’ occurred pre-1940. After WW II, during the unprecedented post-war economic boom, the temperature chart changed. After the war, the earth’s temperatures began a steady, forty-year decline, which spurred apocalyptic predictions of the coming of a second ice age.

That's the most damning of all your facts. I wonder if Gore mentioned that in his committee testimony.

Anonymous said...

I....

Anonymous said...

want....

Anonymous said...

to....

Anonymous said...

be the 100th comment. ;)

Anonymous said...

In 1996, when the U.N. came out with it's report on climate change, the following three sentences were deleted from Chapter 8 of the IPCC report by the politicians in charge. This was *after* the scientists who wrote the chapter had signed off on the document.:

1. "None of the studies cited above has shown clear evidence that we can attribute the observed climate changes to increases in greenhouse gases."

2. "No study to date had positively attributed all or part of the climate changes to man-made causes."

3. "Any claims of positive detection of significant climate change are likely to remain controversial until uncertainties in the total natural variability of the climate system are reduced."


Instead, Benjamin Santer deleted those conclusions of the scientists who put together the report, and replaced them with "The balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate."

Anonymous said...

The global warmists like England's Mike Hulme are now openly admitting that they are not interested in the science of climate change. From The ‘post-normal’ science of climate change by Melanie Phillips on March 14, 2007"

Hulme recently wrote: "Self-evidently dangerous climate change will not emerge from a normal scientific process of truth seeking, although science will gain some insights into the question if it recognises the socially contingent dimensions of a post-normal science. But to proffer such insights, scientists - and politicians - must trade (normal) truth for influence."

Melanie Phillips concludes (as I did earlier): So the true battleground has now been illuminated for us. The real fight is between scientists who believe in empirical observation and the truth, and ‘post-normal’ scientists who believe in ideology and lies. It’s a battle between Enlightenment values of rationality and those who wish to return us to a pre-rational era where thought was controlled and truth was a heresy. The stakes could not have been delineated more clearly.

Anonymous said...

The real fight is between scientists who believe in empirical observation and the truth, and ‘post-normal’ scientists who believe in ideology and lies. It’s a battle between Enlightenment values of rationality and those who wish to return us to a pre-rational era where thought was controlled and truth was a heresy.

That needs to be repeated, again and again. Shouted from the rooftops!

Anonymous said...

"joanie and matt,

What am I missing?

Who is Serena?"

Anonymous, if you know anything about music you'll appreciate this clip that I mentioned.. Serena has a lot of talent:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=e5rc36MdiWY

Anonymous said...

John Cooper, your Hulme clip from the Melanie Phillips article is sick. These global warming nuts don't give a damn about truth. They spout the most humanitarian goals but they are really just filthy demagogues who want power for themselves.

Anonymous said...

Salary for the just booted out head of the Smithsonian was $884,733 in 2006.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032600643.html

Anonymous said...

A couple days ago, Brit Hume showed a short clip of AlGore speaking before the House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment. Actually it wasn't a clip of Gore, but of the room itself, taken from the side. It was simply packed wall-to-wall and the floor in front of the dais was packed with photographers snapping photos of Gore speaking.

Then Hume showed a clip from the same perspective taken of the man who spoke *after* AlGore - Bjørn Lomborg. The room was mostly empty. Only a few members of the committee remained, and no photographers were in sight. The gallery was almost totally empty.

Bjørn Lomborg is an adjunct professor at Copenhagen Consensus Center, Copenhagen Business School - an economist and social scientist, not a climate scientist.

I looked around on the Internet for a while, and *finally* found a transcript of what Lomborg said to Congress.

Like Gore, he believes that mankind is responsible for global warming, but what he had to say about "Gore's Final Solution" was eye-opening. It goes without saying that not one word of Lomborg's testimony made the evening news.

Perspective on Climate Change - Bjørn Lomborg (in .pdf)

In his testimony, Lomborg totally deconstructs AlGore's ridiculous statements of doom. Lomborg's points were:

1. Following Gore’s proposals will actually end up costing millions of lives.

2. A 2 deg C rise in global temperatures will will save 174,000 lives per year in the U.S. alone. [More people die from the cold every year than from the heat.]

3. Predicted sea level rise will be a minor problem, not a catastrophe.

4. Hurricane damage is caused by people building homes closer to the shoreline, not increasingly violent hurricanes.

5. If the Kyoto Protocol were to be adopted, committing everyone to constant emissions throughout the rest of the century, it would reduce malaria risk by 0.2% in 80 years.

6. If the Kyoto Protocol had been adopted in 2000 and adhered to by all parties, it would have postponed warming by just 5 years in 2100 at a cost of $180 billion annually.

7. If AlGore's Carbon tax of $140/ton of CO2, and a tax on gas at about $1.25 per gallon were to be adopted, the annual economic cost amounts to about $160 billion for the US economy in 2015. This would cut emissions to about half in 2015 and about 25% in 2105. The total effect in 2100 will be a reduction of global temperature by 0.1 degree C.

Absolutely none of this made the news anywhere. One reason is that now that the democrats are running the committee meetings, they schedule friendly witnesses in the morning, and hostile witnesses late in the afternoon. The reporters have deadlines to meet, and even if they wanted to, are unable to wait around to hear the afternoon witnesses.

Anonymous said...

C.W., here's an alternative web dictionary that has none of the bias of Wikipedia and is trying to fight against the misinformation that Wikipedia dispenses:

http://www.conservapedia.com/Main_Page

Anonymous said...

Thanks for that John.

Anonymous said...

The cover of the March 18th issue of the New York Times magazine section featured a story about women in the military who said that they had been raped in Iraq.

A week later, they had to print a correction, after discovering that one of these women had not even been to Iraq. But any unsubstantiated charge against the American military rates headline coverage, even if there is no space for anything positive in Iraq.

http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/tsowell/2007/ts_03271.shtml

Luis said...

Thank you Joanie.

Happy to share a bit of information from this side of the pond. We seem to suffer many similar problems- including Al Gore ! He's been over here again in the last week !

I've been "offline" myself for a little bit but there seems to have been quite a debate over this post ! Thanks again for sharing your thoughts in such a well written piece.

Anonymous said...

Excellent work! Thank you, I am passing this column on to friends and foes alike. :-)

joanie said...

Thanks for the additional information on the Gore 'testimony', John. The left doesn't even attempt to feign impartiatily anymore. And we have ourselves to blame for it. So few of us are paying attention to their ongoing crimes that it doesn't pay for them to waste time and money attempting to disguise them. The rug is being sold out from under us all in broad daylight.

This latest affront is sickening not only because of the unfairness of it all, but, secondarily, because there once was a time in America when we took pride in the courtesy shown to someone who visited our Congress from another nation. It would appear that such courtesy is now passé. We have become a nation of boors, at least where much of our agenda-driven leadership in Washington is concerned.

~ joanie

joanie said...

P.S. Joanie, did you see DNDN's action today? Next Thursday's FDA meeting will tell the tale.

Rob, I've been watching DNDN's action for more than five years now, and, depending on the strength of my constitution, have held many more shares than I currently do. :)

I think the reasons it's risen ~40% in the last week and a half has simply been based on two (respected) analysts' articles.

That wouldn't be enough to make me buy too much more of a stock this close to 'judgment day'. :)

The results of tomorrow's meeting will be very powerful, either sending the stock skyrocketing, or setting it back more than half its current value.

Were I on the advisory panel, despite the fact that the already-concluded trials are extraordiarily promising, I would vote to wait until the conclusion of the ongoing (much larger) one.

But, should they vote to approve without that one having yet been completed, I'll certainly not be complaining!

Either way, I'm hanging onto my shares. A vote to wait on advising approval merely delays the approval of a blockbuster immunotherapy. Patience should win out (although the stock price could take a beating in the interim).

~ joanie

Anonymous said...

Joanie, trading is halted this morning "pending release of material news." ???

joanie said...

You have e-mail.

(This is a political weblog ... consider yourself scolded. :)

Anonymous said...

I did a little looking into this DNDN since you guys mentioned it here and Provenge sounds promising. It's too bad some FDA panels are more bureaucrats than scientists. Today's outcome will be interesting.

Scold me too. :>)

joanie said...

Anonymous, you cannot view or hear the panel live without joining FDAlive.com (and that costs a pretty penny), but I am receiving periodic (about every fifteen minutes) updates from a friend in CA who is watching the panel via their webcast, and it is excruciating to hear the officious bureaucrats on the panel arguing against positive scientific evidence, although the testimony of the FDA stat representative was extraordinarily positive (almost appeared as if he were in the Dendreon camp).

Simplistically, survival should be the endpoint, and too many FDA-committee bureaucrats are nit-picking other inconsequential issues.

Either way, I believe this immunotherapy will be approved, even if a year or two down the line – it’s just a shame that tens of thousands may have to die of prostate cancer in the interim.

Let’s please end the stock discussion here. Any stragglers who would like to make a comment or two (nothing lengthy, please), just use the AADB e-mail provided on the site here (aanddbetrayed@hotmail.com).

I will be back posting (politics only!) in a day or two.

Meanwhile thanks to all who have posted some wonderful comments and research under this global warming thread.

~ joanie

Anonymous said...

Al Gore is a lunatic in more ways than one.

Anonymous said...

CW,

Congratulations!

I just heard the breaking news on CNBC.

Tom B.

Anonymous said...

I heard Rosie O'Donnell on one of the news shows last night defending Iran and criticizing our soldiers. She said something like, "Why do we always assume the worst of Iran? Terrorists are fathers and mothers too. Sometimes we need to give them the benefit of the doubt. Everything isn't always black and white, There are always gray areas."

She is an out and out traitor.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone notice that Iran kidnapped the British sailors just after Pelosi and company voted to pull out of Iraq?

Anonymous said...

Does anyone notice that Iran kidnapped the British sailors just after Pelosi and company voted to pull out of Iraq?

Yeah well I'm finished watching all the little nuances that happen in between the "big events." The whole damn thing is scripted.

Wake me when the last American troop pulls out of Baghdad and the bloodbath of innocent Iraqis begins. Not that I want to see it all, I just want to start thinking about how to protect my family from the bloodbath that will be migrating west.

Anonymous said...

Joanie, congrats on your stock pick. I saw it covered on Fox this morning. Hows about a round of beers for everyone here? ;)

Anonymous said...

If I can interrupt the stock market talk for a moment,

here is a good one:

With five private jets, Travolta still lectures on global warming

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/showbiz/article-23390848-details/Air+miles+Travolta+urges+fans+to+'do+their+bit'+for+the+environment/article.do

Anonymous said...

Passengers Sued Over Imams' Removal

Mar 30 02:26 PM US/Eastern
By PATRICK CONDON
Associated Press Writer


MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Six Muslim men removed from a plane last fall after being accused of suspicious behavior are suing not only the airline but the passengers who complained—a move some fear could discourage travelers from speaking up when they see something unusual.
The civil rights lawsuit, filed earlier this month, has so alarmed some lawyers that they are offering to defend the unnamed "John Doe" passengers free of charge. They say it is vital that the flying public be able to report suspicious behavior without fear of being dragged into court.

"When you drive up the road towards the airport, there's a big road sign that says, `Report suspicious behavior,'" said Gerry Nolting, a Minneapolis lawyer. "There's no disclaimer that adds, `But beware if you do that, you might get sued.'"

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8O6LD6G0&show_article=1&catnum=0

Anonymous said...

N.Y. gallery cancels naked chocolate Jesus exhibit
Fri Mar 30, 2007 By Daniel Trotta

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Manhattan art gallery canceled on Friday its Easter-season exhibit of a life-size chocolate sculpture depicting a naked Jesus, after an outcry by Roman Catholics.

The sculpture "My Sweet Lord" by Cosimo Cavallaro was to have been exhibited for two hours each day next week in a street-level window of the Roger Smith Lab Gallery in Midtown Manhattan.

The display had been scheduled to open on Monday, days ahead of Good Friday when Christians mark the crucifixion of Jesus.
. . .
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights had called for a boycott of the hotel, writing to 500 religious and secular organizations.
"This is an assault on Christians during Holy Week," said Kiera McCaffrey, director of communications for the league . . .
"They would never dare do something similar with a chocolate statue of the prophet Mohammad naked with his genitals exposed during Ramadan," she said before the cancellation.
The archbishop of New York called the sculpture "scandalous" and a "sickening display."
"This is something we will not forget," Cardinal Edward Egan said in a statement.

Matthew Semler, the artistic director of the gallery, said earlier that the hotel had no knowledge of what the gallery planned to show and was being unfairly targeted. Moreover, he said the work was not irreverent.


http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2007-03-30T185605Z_01_N30244192_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-CHOCOLATE-JESUS.xml&pageNumber=1&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage1

Anonymous said...

No, the piece of "artwork" is not irreverent, just like a likeness of Jesus submerged in a beaker of piss isn't irreverent either. God'll sort us all out in the end and these idiots will get their just desserts.

Anonymous said...

Chocolate Jesus Show Canceled
NewsMax.com ^ 03/31/2007

A planned Holy Week exhibition of a nude, anatomically correct chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ was canceled Friday after Cardinal Edward Egan and other outraged Catholics complained.

The "My Sweet Lord" display was shut down by the hotel that houses the Lab Gallery in midtown Manhattan.
. . .

Matt Semler, the gallery's creative director, resigned in protest.

The six-foot sculpture was the victim of "a strong-arming from people who haven't seen the show, seen what we're doing," Semler said. "They jumped to conclusions completely contrary to our intentions."

. . .Bill Donohue, head of the watchdog Catholic League, said it was "one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever."

. . . Semler said the calls included death threats over the work of artist Cosimo Cavallaro, who was described as disappointed by the decision to cancel the display.

"In this situation, the hotel couldn't continue to be supportive because of a fear for their own safety," Semler said.

The sculpture was to debut Monday evening, the day after Palm Sunday and just four days before Christians mark the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday. The final day of the exhibit was planned for Easter Sunday.

. . .

Cavallaro hoped the sculpture could go on display elsewhere, according to Semler.

Cavallaro is best known for his quirky work with food as art: Past efforts include repainting a Manhattan hotel room in melted mozzarella, spraying five tons of pepper jack cheese on a Wyoming home, and festooning a four-poster bed with 312 pounds of processed ham.


http://newsmax.com/scripts/printer_friendly.pl?page=http://newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/3/30/212142.shtml?s=ic

Anonymous said...

Gore charging $100,000 to speak to college students

Al Gore to give global warming presentation in Tempe

By The Associated Press April 2, 2007

http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/stories/KTVKLNews20070402_al-gore-inconvenient-truth.258e39dd.html

TEMPE -- Former Vice President Al Gore is scheduled to give a presentation on climate change to a capacity crowd at Arizona State University today.

Tickets to the event for the general public sold out in just minutes.

Tickets for students and staff of the university sold out in seven hours.

Gore is a Nobel Peace Prize nominee and has made it his mission to inform the public about global warming -- also covered by his Oscar-winning film "An Inconvenient Truth."

While Gore is in Tempe for the presentation, he will meet with major donors who are financing his 100-thousand dollar speaking fee. Gore will not meet with students.

Gore most recently gave his global warming presentation on Thursday in Oslo, Norway.

Anonymous said...

The supreme court (lower case intentional) just ruled that Carbon Dioxide - the very basis of all life on the planet - is a pollutant which must be regulated by the government.

Supreme Court rebukes Bush administration on greenhouse-gas emissions

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas — dissented.

Anonymous said...

Full text of this monstrous decision here

Anonymous said...

Global Warming Ruling Called 'Victory for the Bad Guys'

"The decision implies that Congress ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 1977 when it enacted the Clean Air Act's Section 202 regulating auto emissions, but somehow forgot to tell anybody," said CEI Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis. The Kyoto Protocol, drawn up in 1997, requires industrialized countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by specified amounts. The U.S. did not ratify the treaty.

"The same groups that sued EPA to regulate CO2 auto emissions under Section 202 will now sue EPA to set national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for CO2," he added. "However, in previous rulings, the court has forbidden EPA to consider cost when setting NAAQS. As a result, the potential for economic harm is vast."

"The court's decision empowers EPA to take control of America's global warming policy," argued CEI Director of Energy and Global Warming Policy Myron Ebell. "This should certainly be a surprise to Congress, which has been vigorously debating the issue for years.

"For an agency as unaccountable as EPA to be deputized in this way is bad news for the future of our country," he added.

The National Center for Public Policy Research called the decision "a victory for the bad guys in the battle over whether the American people will be governed by accountable elected officials or unaccountable judges."

"Unable to convince the Senate to vote upon, let alone ratify, the Kyoto global warming treaty, the left has adopted the Kyoto-by-stealth strategy of asking judges to force its version of science into the pocketbooks of the American people," the group's president, Amy Ridenour, said in a statement.

"We learn from Justice Stevens today that carbon dioxide is 'the most important... greenhouse gas.' Science cannot confirm the Justice's confident statement. The role of water vapor, the most plentiful greenhouse gas, is not yet understood. Nor is the role of carbon dioxide understood," said Ridenour.

Anonymous said...

Cooper, thanks for the decision text.

This may rank among the most disastrous decisions ever made by the court because it opens the way for intrusion into every corner of the lives of the American citizens. It grants government blanket powers to regulate just about every aspect of society. We exhale CO-2 every time we breathe, for God's sake.

We only have 4 conservative judges on the court, and until we can get 5 we're headed faster and faster down the road to destruction, and we're being led their my the likes of Al Gore, a complete ignoramous, but an ingoramous with an agenda and the media in his pocket.

Anonymous said...

Hostage drill at NJ school features mock 'Christian terrorists'

Jim Brown OneNewsNow.com
April 2, 2007

The head of a national, Texas-based pro-family group says a recent hostage drill at a New Jersey high school, which portrayed conservative Christians as terrorists, is reflective of a dangerous philosophy that has become prevalent in many parts of America, where it is having negative effects on education.

A local paper reports that a drill at Burlington Township High School in New Jersey involved police portraying mock gunmen, described as "members of a right-wing fundamentalist group called the 'New Crusaders' who don't believe in the separation of church and state." The fake gunmen were said to have been "seeking justice because the daughter of one [member] had been expelled for praying before class."

Historian and constitutional expert David Barton is president of WallBuilders, a national pro-family organization that distributes historical, legal, and statistical information and helps citizens become active in their local schools and communities. He says the stereotyping used in the high school's drill is an accurate indicator of what is being taught in public schools in the Northeast region of the country.

Anonymous said...

Global Warming Ruling Called 'Victory for the Bad Guys'

By Melanie Hunter and Monisha Bansal
CNSNews.com Senior Editor and Staff Writer April 02, 2007

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200704/NAT20070402c.html

(CNSNews.com) - Global warming skeptics reacted strongly Monday to a Supreme Court ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency has the power to regulate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from cars, calling the decision "bad news" for the country and predicting that the economic fallout will be "vast."

In the first case of its kind to reach the high court, the Supreme Court ruled that the Clean Air Act gives the EPA the power to regulate greenhouse gases and that the agency has "no reasoned explanation" for not doing so.

"Because greenhouse gases fit well within the Clean Air Act's capacious definition of 'air pollutant' we hold that EPA has the statutory authority to regulate the emission of such gases from new motor vehicles," the court said.

"While we are still reviewing the case for its regulatory implications, having the authority to regulate C02 as a pollutant and justifying that authority are two different things," Marc Morano, spokesman for Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, told Cybercast News Service.

"CO2 is not an air pollutant and should not be treated as one," Morano added.

According to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the court's decision has broad implications ranging from the judicial standing of environmental plaintiffs to America's economic future.

"The decision implies that Congress ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 1977 when it enacted the Clean Air Act's Section 202 regulating auto emissions, but somehow forgot to tell anybody," said CEI Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis. The Kyoto Protocol, drawn up in 1997, requires industrialized countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by specified amounts. The U.S. did not ratify the treaty.

"The same groups that sued EPA to regulate CO2 auto emissions under Section 202 will now sue EPA to set national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for CO2," he added. "However, in previous rulings, the court has forbidden EPA to consider cost when setting NAAQS. As a result, the potential for economic harm is vast."

"The court's decision empowers EPA to take control of America's global warming policy," argued CEI Director of Energy and Global Warming Policy Myron Ebell. "This should certainly be a surprise to Congress, which has been vigorously debating the issue for years.

"For an agency as unaccountable as EPA to be deputized in this way is bad news for the future of our country," he added.

The National Center for Public Policy Research called the decision "a victory for the bad guys in the battle over whether the American people will be governed by accountable elected officials or unaccountable judges."

"Unable to convince the Senate to vote upon, let alone ratify, the Kyoto global warming treaty, the left has adopted the Kyoto-by-stealth strategy of asking judges to force its version of science into the pocketbooks of the American people," the group's president, Amy Ridenour, said in a statement.

"We learn from Justice Stevens today that carbon dioxide is 'the most important... greenhouse gas.' Science cannot confirm the Justice's confident statement. The role of water vapor, the most plentiful greenhouse gas, is not yet understood. Nor is the role of carbon dioxide understood," said Ridenour.

"Such uncertainty, among many others, is the reason scientists annually request and spend several billion dollars of funds supplied by hardworking U.S. taxpayer for research into climate change. Can the taxpayers now expect relief? After all, the Justices have spoken; the verdict is in," she added.

"We shall see how many groups on the political left today ask: 'How many peer-reviewed papers has Justice Stevens published?'" Ridenour said.

She added that - as dissenting Justices John Roberts, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito have said - policies regarding "the alleged threat of global warming should ... be determined by the Congress and the Chief Executive."

"As the dissenting Justices also observed, '[Global warming] is not a problem that... has escaped the attention of policymakers in the executive and legislative branches of our government, who continue to consider regulatory, legislative and treaty-based means of addressing global climate change,'" Ridenour said.

"The Supreme Court should have stayed out of the way. The legislative and executive branches are empowered by the Constitution with the duty of setting environmental policies, and, unlike our rapacious judicial branch, also are accountable to the American people," she added.

'Watershed moment'

Environmentalists hailed the ruling.

"While this case has worked its way through EPA and the courts, scientific evidence of global warming has continued to mount - so much so that the scientific debate is over," said Earthjustice attorney Howard Fox.

"Our climate is warming, and pollution from human activities is a major cause," Fox said in a statement. "Harms include rising seas that submerge coastal lands, stronger hurricanes, more drought, melting ice caps and degraded ecosystems,"

The Sierra Club called the ruling "a watershed moment in the fight against global warming."

"This is a total repudiation of the refusal of the Bush administration to use the authority he [sic] has to meet the challenge posed by global warming," the Associated Press quoted Sierra Club spokesman Josh Dorner as saying.

Dorner added that the Supreme Court's decision "sends a clear signal to the market that the future lies not in dirty, outdated technology of yesterday, but in clean energy solutions of tomorrow like wind, solar."

"To combat this most urgent environmental crisis, strong and comprehensive U.S. action is crucial. EPA must use its existing Clean Air Act authority to require control of greenhouse gas emission - by motor vehicles [the subject of this case] as well as by other sources like power plants," Fox said.

"The Act has successfully cut emissions of many pollutants, and it can do the same for greenhouse gases," he said.

Global warming proponents say CO2 is the most important greenhouse gas - gases blamed for affecting the temperatures of the planet and the atmosphere.

Despite the court's "air pollutant" ruling, many scientists argue that CO2 cannot be considered a pollutant, given its crucial role in the life cycle. During the process of photosynthesis, plants convert CO2 into carbohydrates, in the process releasing oxygen into the atmosphere.

Anonymous said...

'Your argument is with Bible, not us'
Bob Jones University declines meeting with pro-'gay' advocates


http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55013

joanie said...

Thanks, all, for the additional insights and information posted here over the past few days. The posters on this thread have made it probably the most powerful and informative thread yet entered here, solely on the basis of the information shared and legitimate concerns aired over this monstrous ongoing hoax.

Thanks to John, especially, for providing the link to the SCOTUS decision. I believe this abominable decision may eventually rival Roe v. Wade in its eventual malevolent repercussions. I intend to read the decision in its entirety as soon as time permits. I am champing at the bit to read Scalia’s dissent. It would appear that, even after the recent appointments of Roberts and Alito, they, Thomas and Scalia are doomed to be consistently outvoted by that disgusting majority of five that continues to believe the Constitution to be a ‘living document’, that international law has a place in their decisions, and that agenda-driven judges now have the Constitutional right to legislate from the bench.

Two brief asides:

(1) I have spent a significant part of the past four days planting a dozen holly trees (in soil in which it is impossible to dig a hole three feet wide and two feet deep without encountering at least some part of a major, and obstinate, boulder :). What I want to know is, once I get the last of the trees into the ground (later today, hopefully), how do I go about selling carbon offsets in order to profit from my ‘greening’ efforts? I figure each of the twelve trees absorbs approximately seventeen tons of CO2 annually (I use the same brand of ‘grab figures from the air’ calculator as does Nobel-lobbyist Gore), so I figure I ought to be able to sell maybe $20,000 worth of offsets per tree, and retire a little earlier than I had planned. Any information on how to go about doing this (ebay, perhaps?) would be appreciated.

(2) Prediction: the fifteen British sailors/Marines who are soon to be released have probably been treated very well during their captivity, which will lend credence to the toxic emissions of the Rosie O’Donnell’s of this world, who genuinely believe that America is the source of all evil in the world and the Muslim world just wants to be left alone. The majority of uninformed citizens of both Britain and the U.S. will begin to lean even further toward the need to pull our courageous troops out of the Middle East, and Ahmadinejad will have achieved his primary purpose in having taken hostages in the first place.

The continuing decline of America is being completely scripted by both Islamic fascists and their co-conspirators within the U.S. government, media and academia. And their script’s continued reliance on citizen ignorance and apathy will not prove unfounded.

God help us.

~ joanie

Anonymous said...

(1) I have spent a significant part of the past four days planting a dozen holly trees (in soil in which it is impossible to dig a hole three feet wide and two feet deep without encountering at least some part of a major, and obstinate, boulder :). What I want to know is, once I get the last of the trees into the ground (later today, hopefully), how do I go about selling carbon offsets in order to profit from my ‘greening’ efforts? I figure each of the twelve trees absorbs approximately seventeen tons of CO2 annually (I use the same brand of ‘grab figures from the air’ calculator as does Nobel-lobbyist Gore), so I figure I ought to be able to sell maybe $20,000 worth of offsets per tree, and retire a little earlier than I had planned. Any information on how to go about doing this (ebay, perhaps?) would be appreciated.

LOL! There's no better combination in a woman than intelligence and sense of humor. ;)

Anonymous said...

1. I'd go the ebay route. :-)
2. Your prediction has the sad ring of truth.

Anonymous said...

The continuing decline of America is being completely scripted by both Islamic fascists and their co-conspirators within the U.S. government, media and academia.

joanie said...

A breif morning thought:

If I were the family member of one of the British hostages, I would have wanted my government to do everything humanly possible to obtain his/her release. With that said, those of us with a more objective perspective must employ more common sense when dealing with the atrocities committed by madmen.

It isn’t terribly uncommon for fifteen coalition soldiers/Marines to be killed on any day in the war in Iraq. They remain anonymous, and their sacrifice remains virtually unrecognized, to all but those who knew them.

By focusing international media attention, and major diplomatic efforts, on the capture and release of the hostages, the free world did nothing more than grant credence to a vicious tyrant, for three reasons:

(1) representatives of the leaders of the free world cannot sit down at the bargaining table with a despot who is simultaneously issuing orders commanding the violent death of our own people. Practicing diplomacy under such circumstances is ludicrous and suicidal.

(2) paying diplomatic and media attention to this travesty emboldens the perpetrators to perform a sequel, if only for the international attention it engenders.

(3) allowing the criminals, and their allies within our borders, to use the incident as a powerful propaganda weapon will result in further ‘conversion’ of the uninformed to the anti-war (in actuality, pro-Islam) camp.

As difficult (if not impossible) as it will be for those of us who hold life and liberty precious, such hostages must either be rescued by force or immediately considered casualties of war. Not doing so diminishes the lives of those who die in actual battle, and places in the hands of the criminals an insidiously powerful new weapon.

~ joanie

Anonymous said...

Well said, C.W.!

Anonymous said...

We need people like you in Washington.

Anonymous said...

Joanie, when I first read what you wrote about the hostages I thought it was harsh. But when I think about it more I realize that it isn’t. Here in America we have been conditioned to be “sensitive” and to think with our heart instead of our heads and we’re not going to win this war until we stop doing that. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Spring Storm Delivers Heavy Snow in Maine

WGME.com ^ | April 5, 2007 | Matthew Longfellow

http://www.wgme.com/News/story_11.shtml

A spring storm has dumped up to a foot of heavy, wet snow across Maine, slowing traffic, closing schools, causing power outages and all but guaranteeing a white Easter.

A winter storm warning remains in effect for much of the state, at least through late morning. The snow began around early evening and picked up strength during the night.

It's slow going for motorists. There are reports of vehicles off the road and police say a traffic death yesterday in Topsham may be weather-related.

Many towns and cities have imposed parking bans. Schools in dozens of towns and cities have canceled classes for the day.

The snow is expected to wind down later this morning in much of Maine. But the snow has just begun in the extreme north and forecasters says it will continue through the evening.

The storm has knocked-out power to thousands of people. In all, more than 33-thousand customers are without power across the state.

The worst hit is the Alfred Service Center with more than 19-thousand customers reporting a loss of power. Brunswick is reporting more than 7-thousand.

Portland is taking a big hit as well with more than 3-thousand customers without power at last check. Bridgton is reporting 400 customers in the dark.

Posted by: Matthew Longfellow, Producer
Last update: 04/05/2007 at 08:54:24 (11)

____________________________________________________________

Near record April storm socks Midcoast Maine

MaineCoastNow.com ^ | April 5, 2007 | Stephen Betts

ROCKLAND,MAINE- An early April snowstorm was pummeling the Midcoast Thursday morning with snow totals that rival the April 1982 blizzard.

The heavy wet snow clung to trees and lines, causing them to sag, Schools across the region were called off due to poor road conditions. The Knox County courthouse was also closed Thursday with only essential personnel expected to report.

Temperatures were near freezing but since the precipitation began falling Wednesday afternoon, it has remained all snow unlike storms earlier in the year that mixed with sleet, freezing rain and rain.

Eight to 10 inches had fallen by 6 a.m. in Rockland. Police were busy with cars off the road throughout the region.

The Saturday edition of The Courier-Gazette will provide a photographic retrospective of this storm.

Anonymous said...

Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes calls himself a "soldier" in the war against radical Islam. This description is in keeping with Pipes' belief that the "war's center of gravity has shifted from force of arms to the hearts and minds of citizens."

Because so many people in the West still don't believe that they are at war, specialists like Pipes are performing an essential role by warning of the dangers of radical Islam.

________________________________
Recruiting Soldiers Against Radical Islam

http://www.aina.org/news/2007040293938.htm

Anonymous said...

We need people like you in Washington.

I second your motion for C.W. to run for office, anonymous.

Anonymous said...

Daniel Pipes is, and always has been, brilliant. But his brilliance is wasted on the people of the west. He's spitting in the wind.

Anonymous said...

Genoa cathedral defaced; gay activists suspected

Genoa, Apr. 3, 2007 (CWNews.com)

http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=50283

Anonymous said...

CW, you're a hard nose.

We need more hard noses.

Anonymous said...

Canadian Jewish center bombed

April 5, 2007

http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Briefs/11091.htm

A bomb was detonated outside a Jewish community center in Montreal, Canada, during the weeklong Jewish holiday of Passover, police reported Wednesday.

"A homemade bomb exploded and there was a small fire," police spokesman Lynne Labelle said. No one was injured by the bomb which cause unsubstantial damage. The police have not verified whether or not the act was a hate crime.

Anonymous said...

Joanie--

By coincidence, I spent half a day planting ten Black Hills Spruce seedlings here where I live. They're slow-growing, and I'll never live to see them as mature trees, but somebody will if they survive. ("But for This")

I ordered them online from Minnesota, and they cost me $32 delivered, plus a couple bags of soil amendments for the planting.

I did this as a joke (with a moral) in honor of the 500th poster on a "global warming" thread I started on another forum. The joke was to "absolve" the 500th poster from his global warming "sins". The real reason, of course, was to highlight the hypocrisy of the left.

Here at the cabin, I cut my electricity usage in 2006 by 31% from the year before. I now use less electricity in an entire year than AlGore uses in one month. I've cut my gasoline usage by not driving to town unless I have to. I plant trees. I recycle.

Not one of member of the liberal opposition on that other thread has done any of that. To be blunt, the liberals don't care about the environment - they only care about political power.

Allow me to post a similar story E-mailed by a WWII bomber pilot friend called "A Tale of Two Houses":

House 1:

The four-bedroom home was planned so that "every room has a relationship with something in the landscape that's different from the room next door.

Each of the rooms feels like a slightly different place." The resulting single-story house is a paragon of environmental planning.

The passive-solar house is built of honey-colored native limestone and positioned to absorb winter sunlight, warming the interior walkways and walls of the 4,000-square-foot residence.

Geothermal heat pumps circulate water through pipes buried 300 feet deep in the ground. These waters pass through a heat exchange system that keeps the home warm in winter and cool in summer.

A 25,000-gallon underground cistern collects rainwater gathered from roof urns; wastewater from sinks, toilets, and showers cascades into underground purifying tanks and is also funneled into the cistern.

The water from the cistern is then used to irrigate the landscaping around the four-bedroom home, (which) uses indigenous grasses, shrubs, and flowers to complete the exterior treatment of the home.

In addition to its minimal environmental impact, the look and layout of the house reflect one of the paramount priorities: relaxation. A spacious 10-foot porch wraps completely around the residence and beckons the family
outdoors. With few hallways to speak of, family and guests make their way from room to room either directly or by way of the porch.

"The house doesn't hold you in. Where the porch ends there is grass. There is no step-up at all." This house consumes 25% of the energy of an average American home. (Source: Cowboys and Indians Magazine, Oct. 2002 and Chicago Tribune April 2001.)

House 2:

This 20-room, 8-bathroom house consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year. The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy.

In 2006, this house devoured nearly 221,000 kWh, more than 20 times the national average. Last August alone, the house burned through 22,619 kWh, guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of this energy consumption, the average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.

Also, natural gas bills for this house and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year. In total, this house had nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for 2006. (Source: just about anywhere in the news last month online and on talk radio, but barely on TV.)

House 1 belongs to George and Laura Bush, and is in Crawford, Texas.

House 2 belongs to Al and Tipper Gore, and is in Nashville, Tennessee.

Anonymous said...

Easter "Hit" Parade-cultural elites launch a blizzard of attacks on religion during holiest season.
FrontPageMagazine.com ^ | April 6, 2007 | Brian Fitzpatrick

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=27735

Christians and Jews are accustomed to cultural elites trying to undermine their religious faith during Lent, Passover and Easter – but it’s never been as bad as this year.

Beginning on February 26, the news and entertainment media have fired a stunning barrage of criticism at religious beliefs, religious practice, and religious symbols. Nothing is too sacred to attack this year, not even the most crucial teachings of Judaism and Christianity.

On Easter Sunday, the History Channel will question whether the Bible is God’s genuine revelation to mankind.
The current – Holy Week – issue of Newsweek teases readers with the headline “Is God Real?,” and features a debate between a prominent evangelical pastor and an outspoken atheist. National Public Radio also carried an atheist/Christian debate.
An April 3 New York Times article dismisses the story of Moses parting the Red Sea as a “myth.”
Newsweek’s March 19 cover story, “The Evolution Revolution,” showcases the latest evolutionary theories attempting to explain the development of humanity without God. A March 4 New York Times Magazine piece, “Darwin’s God,” describes religious belief as “an outgrowth of brain architecture that evolved during early human history.”
The arts world has mocked Jesus with a life-sized, nude, anatomically correct sculpture made of chocolate, reducing Him to the level of the Easter Bunny.
On March 4, the Discovery Channel took the prize. Discovery aired a documentary, “The Lost Tomb of Jesus,” that claims to have disproved the foundational belief of Christianity: that Jesus rose from the dead.
This year’s Easter “Hit” Parade began just five days after the beginning of Lent, at a February 26 press conference. Hollywood über-director James Cameron and Emmy Award-winning director Simcha Jacobovici announced to the world that they have found Jesus’ remains, thereby knocking the central pillar out from under the Christian edifice. As the apostle Paul wrote, “if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” (1 Corinthians 15:17). Cameron’s and Jacobovici’s conclusions were quickly shredded by a phalanx of Jewish, Christian and secular scholars, but the media’s Easter “Hit” Parade marched on.

The Washington Post chose to question the Resurrection in a March 31 story, “A Debate for the Millennia: Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?” The story, by Daniel Burke of Religion News Service, quotes expert witnesses on both sides of the debate, but fairness and balance isn’t the issue. The real issue is why the Post decided to raise this particular subject just before the beginning of Holy Week.

Also on March 31, a New York Times story suggested that a “secret” gospel of Mark may describe “Jesus initiating his disciples” with a “homosexual rite.” The text, which may be a hoax, was supposedly found in 1958. The discoverer or hoaxer, Columbia historian Morton Smith, wrote a book about it in 1973, and three other authors wrote books about Smith’s work in 2005. Reporter Peter Steinfels never explains why the story suddenly became newsworthy on the eve of Holy Week, 2007.

On April 4, author Susan Jacoby posted a column on the Newsweek/Washington Post website, asserting, “You either believe that Jesus rose from the dead or you don't. The proposition is not subject to any kind of natural proof.” However, the Resurrection is subject to historical evidence, such as the eyewitness accounts recorded by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Belief in the Resurrection is not based on blind faith, as Jacoby suggests.

The news and entertainment media routinely take shots at religious faith every Easter season. Honest questioning of all beliefs, sacred or secular, is commendable. How else are we to know whether our beliefs are true? However, the media largely ignore religious doctrine most of the year. The challenges usually come during the holiest seasons, and the timing of these often scurrilous attacks on faith displays a profound hostility toward both God and the faithful. Expect the Easter “Hit” Parade to continue.

Anonymous said...

Top Forecaster Blasts Gore on Global Warming

Apr 7, 2007 By CAIN BURDEAU

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070407/D8OBK1DG0.html

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A top hurricane forecaster called Al Gore "a gross alarmist" Friday for making an Oscar-winning documentary about global warming.

"He's one of these guys that preaches the end of the world type of things. I think he's doing a great disservice and he doesn't know what he's talking about," Dr. William Gray said in an interview with The Associated Press at the National Hurricane Conference in New Orleans, where he delivered the closing speech.

A spokeswoman said Gore was on a flight from Washington, D.C., to Nashville Friday; he did not immediately respond to Gray's comments.

Gray, an emeritus professor at the atmospheric science department at Colorado State University, has long railed against the theory that heat-trapping gases generated by human activity are causing the world to warm.

Over the past 24 years, Gray, 77, has become known as America's most reliable hurricane forecaster; recently, his mentee, Philip Klotzbach, has begun doing the bulk of the forecasting work.

Gray's statements came the same day the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change approved a report that concludes the world will face dire consequences to food and water supplies, along with increased flooding and other dramatic weather events, unless nations adapt to climate change.

Rather than global warming, Gray believes a recent uptick in strong hurricanes is part of a multi-decade trend of alternating busy and slow periods related to ocean circulation patterns. Contrary to mainstream thinking, Gray believes ocean temperatures are going to drop in the next five to 10 years.

Gore's documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," has helped fuel media attention on global warming.

Kerry Emanuel, an MIT professor who had feuded with Gray over global warming, said Gray has wrongly "dug (his) heels in" even though there is ample evidence that the world is getting hotter.

Anonymous said...

As for Britain's government, perhaps the harshest comments issued during the entire fiasco came from British Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt. The object of her ire? Prisoner Turney's smoking. "It was deplorable," Hewitt tut-tutted. "This sends completely the wrong message to our young people."

Not exactly. Being taken prisoner, forced to "confess" to a noncrime and humiliated before the entire world is what's "deplorable."

INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
April 05, 2007

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=260665823266193

Anonymous said...

Galileo on concensus:

"I say that the testimony of many has little more value than that of few, since the number of people who reason well in complicated matters is much smaller than that of those who reason badly. If reasoning were like hauling I should agree that several reasoners would be worth more than one, just as several horses can haul more sacks of grain than one can. But reasoning is like racing and not like hauling, and a single Barbary steed can outrun a hundred dray horses."

--The Assayer

Anonymous said...

al-- John at Powerline has dismantled the AP hit-piece on Dr. Gray:

Media Bias: How It Works

Anonymous said...

Record-Shattering Cold Threatens Crops

http://headlines.accuweather.com/news-top-headline.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=0

(State College, PA) - A brutally cold surge of arctic air into the eastern half of the United States will easily bring record-low temperatures on Easter morning and could cause significant losses in some of the nation's most prolific agricultural areas.

High pressure building toward the Southeast will bring calm winds and clear skies, which combined with the very cold air mass in place, will allow temperatures in many cities to challenge the coldest lows ever reached during the month of April. The cold will severely tax peach orchards across Georgia, and strawberry orchards throughout the Southeast. Bitter cold will also be felt throughout the wheat-growing areas of the Midwest and central Plains.

A look at the Watches and Warnings shows freeze watches and warnings extending from the Ohio Valley all the way into northern Florida. The cold snap is especially dangerous to agriculture this year, and the South Regional News expands on some places where record-breaking cold will be felt during sunrise services on Easter morning.

The springtime arctic outbreak will also allow for snow in areas that very rarely see wintry precipitation this late in the year. On Saturday morning, snow mixed with rain in much of North Carolina, and flurries were observed as far south as Atlanta. The system that caused this rare April snowfall will scrape the Northeast coast with some additional snow on Saturday. Moderate snowfall also fell in Washington, D.C. early Saturday morning. The nation's capital has not received accumulating snow in April since 2001. The East Regional News discusses the coastal storm in further detail, as well as the continuing lake-effect snow in western New York.

Wintry conditions are not restricted to the Northeast this weekend. Snow fell Saturday morning across eastern Colorado, eastern New Mexico and West Texas. Among the cities that will receive snow or sleet over the next 24 hours are Denver, Dallas, and Austin. By Sunday, this storm will slide east, bringing a chilly rain to much of the Gulf Coast.

Snow will continue in the usual lake-effect areas of the Midwest Saturday. Since Tuesday, parts of northern Michigan have been walloped by over three feet of snow. Bitterly cold winds will continue to blow across Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, and snow will continue for much of the weekend. Wintry weather forced the postponement of Major League Baseball games in Cleveland and Chicago.

Anonymous said...

SNOW ON THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070407/capt.3113b59d87714c55943ab8a4c2ff8394.spring_storm_dcpm105.jpg?x=208&y=345&sig=Nxrv8GNAdbnXpXCmATd0Zw--

With the Washington Monument in the background, cherry blossoms are covered in snow after a spring storm brought snow to the area Saturday, April 7, 2007, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070407/capt.3113b59d87714c55943ab8a4c2ff8394.spring_storm_dcpm105.jpg?x=208&y=345&sig=Nxrv8GNAdbnXpXCmATd0Zw--

Anonymous said...

Irving Berlin will have to rewrite his song and call it

WHITE EASTER

Anonymous said...

FROZEN EASTER EGGS, anyone?

Anonymous said...

The good folks at the Tennessee Center for Policy Research who documented AlGore's profligate energy use are now getting death threats from the left.

Leftist hate: Gore fans abuse, threaten Gore foes

"I was accused several times of being a 'stupid, redneck bitch,'" recalls Nicole Williams, who fielded numerous calls. "I repeatedly was called a 'whore' and asked 'Whose whore are you?' for three days straight, almost as if those were talking points ... I was shocked by these sexist insults _ basically attacking my gender."

The calls continued beyond Williams' Nashville office.

"I had to change my home number and get an unlisted number," Williams says.

"I got about 10 death threats by phone. I got the 'I'm gonna get you'-type threats more than 100 times ... I worried I would get shot walking to my car."

Williams discovered her obsolete address posted online. "If they could find my old home address, it would not be so hard to find a current one."

So when the leftist brown-shirts start throwing Molotov cocktails through the windows of your home, how are you going to respond? It won't be long, folks, better get ready.

Anonymous said...

Coldest April Easter in 57 years

By Karla Hult, KARE 11 News

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=250397

Better grab your insulated bonnets; we're in for the coldest Easter Sunday in years.

That didn't stop a group of early Easter egg hunters in Anoka this afternoon. They bundled up for the holiday tradition, despite the cold.

"That's Minnesota for you. But we still have our Easter spirit," said Sarah Oftelie.

Easter Sunday's high temperature will struggle to make 40 degrees, barely higher than Christmas day. In fact, we haven't seen April temperatures like this in almost 60 years.

Other parts of the country are freezing, too. Friday's Twins game is canceled in Chicago, and Atlanta could see its coldest Easter Sunday in 120 years.

Anonymous said...

Take the GLOBAL WARMING TEST

http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/GlobWarmTest/start.html

Test your knowledge and common sense in this simple 10-question test.

Caution: This section contains sound science, not media hype, and may therefore contain material not suitable for young people trying to get a good grade in political correctness.

Anonymous said...

Orbiting satellites provide the most accurate global temperature readings-- accurate to 0.1 degree C. Interestingly, in the 18 years that satellites have been recording temperature they have actually showed a slight decrease in average global temperatures.

Ground-based thermometers that were originally in rural areas have been reading increasingly hotter temperatures with time due to urban encroachment. The asphalt and concrete structures replacing green leafy plants makes for hotter local ground temperatures. This phenomena is known as the "urban heat-island effect" and has been well-documented by climatologist Dr. Patrick Michaels, Professor of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia.

In a November 1997 press release Vice President Gore proclaimed that 1997 was the hottest year on record. Ground-based temperature readings were the basis for this announcement. Had the data from orbiting satellites been cited the report would have been much different: no net increase in global temperatures in 1997.


http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/GlobWarmTest/A10b.html

Anonymous said...

US Democrat Kerry fights for environment, not presidency
AFP [Agence French Presse] 04/09/07

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070408/sc_afp/usenvironmentpolitics_070408213716

Months after announcing he would not make a second run for US president, the defeated 2004 candidate John Kerry on Sunday pressed a different campaign: to protect Americans from harmful pollution.

"This is about moms and pops in North Carolina and Mississippi, and places where people may be breathing bad air, or getting sick from wells that are polluted, or losing their fish in their lakes," Kerry said on ABC News.

"This is the most compelling issue that I've seen other than war... in all the time I've been in public life."

The Massachusetts Democratic senator and his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry used the interview to promote a book they have jointly written, "This Moment on Earth," which highlights cases of the harmful effects of pollution.

Kerry said his decision not to run for president in 2008 allowed him to speak the truth on environmental issues.

"Now I have a chance to talk about these things and people know it's coming from my heart and my gut, not from a political strategist," he said.

Kerry campaigned in 2004 with a liberal stance on social issues, but lost to Republican President George W. Bush.

The 2000 Democratic presidential candidate, ex-vice president Al Gore, has also led a high-profile environmental campaign with his feature film "An Inconvenient Truth," about the climate effects of global warming.

Anonymous said...

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20070408/capt.sge.neh13.080407223327.photo00.photo.default-512x340.jpg?x=380&y=252&sig=_rRBxf5xG3SCYL6tYvi2NQ--

Agency French Presse photo of war hero and environmentalist John Kerry,

telling it like it is.

Anonymous said...

Cold Snap Postpones Spring Festivities

Apr 8, 2007 By ERRIN HAINES
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070408/D8OCM0HG2.html

ATLANTA (AP) - An unseasonable cold snap put a chill on Easter Sunday services across the Southeast and much of the rest of the country, moving some events indoors and adding layers over spring frocks.

Even baseball had to take another time out - because of snow.

Across much of the eastern two-thirds of the nation, Easter celebrants swapped frills, bonnets and sandals for coats, scarves and heavy socks. Baseball fans huddled in blankets and, instead of spring planting, backyard gardeners were bundling their crops.

Two weeks into spring, Easter morning temperatures were in the upper 30s along the Gulf Coast and in the single digits in northern Minnesota and the Dakotas. Atlanta had a low of 30 degrees, with a wind chill of 23, the National Weather Service said. The same reading hit New York City's Fifth Avenue, celebrated in song for the traditional Easter Parade of spring finery.

Despite the chill, nearly 1,000 people attended the annual sunrise service at Georgia's Stone Mountain Park as a slight breeze whipped over the granite monument. The service usually attracts 10,000.

Nashville, Tenn., bottomed out Sunday at 23 degrees, knocking one degree off the Easter Sunday record set March 24, 1940.

East of Cleveland in the city of Chardon, about 16 inches of snow has fallen, and forecasters predicted the region could get another 10 inches before the storms tapered off late Sunday. Temperatures were expected to remain unseasonably cold through much of the week.

Officials in Morrison, Colo., canceled Sunday's annual sunrise service at the Red Rocks Amphitheater because seats and stairways were covered with ice.

Morning lows in Columbia, S.C., dropped to the upper 20s, the weather service said. The usual courtyard service at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in Columbia had to be moved indoors, the Rev. Michael Bingham said.
"Our musicians are worried about their fingers," he said Saturday as the church's plans were being changed.

Farmers were worried about the impact the weather could have on crops. Blueberries could be particularly affected, said Stanley Scarborough, production manager of Sunnyridge Farms, which has fields in Baxley and Homerville, Ga.

Scarborough said the majority of the state's blueberry crop, a variety called rabbit-eye, is normally harvested around June 1. This year, the bushes bloomed early because of a wave of warm temperatures last week. Scarborough the blueberries are not able to withstand freezing temperatures.

"At 26 or 27 degrees, you would probably lose half of the Georgia crop," valued at about $20 million to $25 million dollars, Scarborough said.

Anonymous said...

Frozen bay turns otters into easy prey
PORT HEIDEN: Hunger leads animals to seek food on the tundra.

By ALEX deMARBAN
Anchorage Daily News April 8, 2007

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/wildlife/story/8776492p-8677949c.html

Anonymous said...

Just a quick stock question - you didn't answer my email, but I know it was Easter weekend. I've been following your DNDN stock ever since you and Maroni talked about it here some days ago. One question - I think the company will have to have a secondary offering to build new manufacturing facilities. Do you think it would be better to buy on the open market now or wait until that offering? I've been waiting for a pullback but it's not happening.

Anonymous said...

Mike Rutter,

I know your question was to CW, but here’s my 2 cents. Secondary stock offerings are hard to get into. And by the time that offering happens the premium will be much higher than the share price right now. I’m no professional, but if you’re interested in getting into this stock the sooner the better. It’s already gone up almost 400% in less than 2 weeks. I don’t have a professional broker, but the broker of a friend of mine says this could be the next Microsoft. But you need to do your own studying. All I can say is waiting for a secondary offering will probably mean paying a lot more than buying it now. FWIW.

I know CW had a pretty big stake in this company before the FDA meeting 2 weeks ago and she added to it since, right afterwards. So did I.

Anonymous said...

Global warming, anyone?

Take the stock market to a stock market website.

Anonymous said...

Cold snap breaks region's record lows

STEVE LYTTLE Sun, Apr. 08, 2007
http://charlotte.com/115/story/78479.html

A historic [TOO BAD WRITERS and EDITORS ARE INCOMPETENT TODAY] cold weather outbreak shattered records this morning in Charlotte and elsewhere in the Carolinas, producing bone-chilling conditions for Easter sunrise services.
Forecasters say a slow warming trend will begin today, but we face one more night of freezing weather.
The polar air outbreak that began Thursday reached the bottom this morning, when temperatures dropped to 21 degrees at 7 a.m. at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport.
That not only broke the low-temperature record for the date, but it was the coldest for any April day in Charlotte history.
Previously, the coldest temperature ever recorded in the month of April was 24 degrees, on April 1, 1923.
The coldest temperature previously on April 8 was 30 degrees, back in 1961.
At the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport, this morning’s unofficial low of 24 degrees also was the coldest ever in April – breaking the mark of 25 degrees set on April 20, 1983.
Charlotte’s unofficial low temperature reading this morning was among the coldest in the area. Albemarle had a low of 18 degrees, but most other nearby reporting stations – including Monroe, Rock Hill and Gastonia – had lows in the middle 20s. This morning’s cold temperatures in the Carolinas are merely a part of the story.
Sleet fell Saturday afternoon in parts of Texas, including the Dallas and Austin metropolitan areas. It was the first time in 70 years that frozen precipitation fell in April in those areas.
Up to 10 inches of snow accumulated in parts of North Carolina’s mountains, including a 1.5-inch snowfall Saturday morning in Asheville – the first recorded April snowfall in that city in 20 years.
To the north, along the southeast shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario, it’s a winter wonderland.
Suburbs to the southeast of Cleveland have reported a foot of snow, and the snow belt areas of Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula counties could get another 6 to 12 inches today. Heavy snow also is falling southwest of Buffalo and near Watertown, N.Y.
The Cleveland Indians’ home opener, postponed Friday due to snow, was snowed-out again Saturday. The Indians hope to be able to play the Seattle Mariners in a doubleheader again today, but snow was falling this morning in Cleveland.

Anonymous said...

Apr 11, 2007

By NATHANIEL HERNANDEZ
Traffic, Weather News & More
www.weather.com/desktop

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070412/D8OEPKUG0.html

CHICAGO (AP) - Hundreds of airline flights were grounded Wednesday, a major league baseball game was called and six people were killed in accidents on icy roads as yet another spring snowstorm hit the upper Midwest.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070412/D8OEPKUG0.html

Anonymous said...

The ridiculous leftwing plant Schwarzenegger works as a stooge for leftwing NEWSWEAK at leftwing Georgetown University and then goes to address the Council on Foreign Relations.

'Who are the fanatics now?' Schwarzenegger asks (attacks those who dispute global warming is real)
San Diego Union - Tribune ^ | 4/12/07 | Dana Wilkie - CNS

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070412/news_1n12gov.html

WASHINGTON – With his status growing as a national leader against global warming, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday said in a major speech that those who refuse to address climate change are “fanatics.”

Schwarzenegger, the subject of recent environmental cover stories in Newsweek, Fortune and Outside magazines,said the movement to combat global warming has gone mainstream and those who oppose it are now on the fringes.

“So who are the fanatics now?” Schwarzenegger asked during his address at Georgetown University's Gaston Hall, which was packed with young adults who twice gave him standing ovations. “They are the ones who are in denial.”

The Republican governor, who has been at odds with the Bush administration over how aggressively to address climate change, said mainstream scientists, corporate CEOs and a majority of Americans are convinced “global warming and climate change is real and that we have to do something about it.”

With the environmental movement growing, he said its image must also change.

“Environmentalists were no fun,” said Schwarzenegger, whose speech was part of a Newsweek-sponsored “Global Environment Leadership Conference.

“They were like prohibitionists at the fraternity party. We have to make it mainstream, we have to make it sexy, we have to make it attractive so everyone wants to participate,” he said.

On the stage beside the governor, perched atop an easel, was a blowup of the latest cover of Newsweek, which shows Schwarzenegger twirling a globe atop his finger with the headline: “Save the Planet – Or Else.

. . .

Last year, Schwarzenegger and the state legislature passed a groundbreaking law requiring that California reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases – the heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming – by 25 percent by 2020. Earlier this year, Schwarzenegger used his executive powers to require a 10 percent reduction in the carbon content of all transportation fuels by 2020. In February, the governor sought to shape national policy on global warming when he and four other Western governors signed a collective strategy to curtail greenhouse gas emissions.

Schwarzenegger told Georgetown students yesterday: “What I'm saying to Michigan is: 'Get off your butt and join us.' ”

Yesterday morning the governor met with Stephen Johnson, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator, to press for a federal waiver allowing California to further restrict auto emissions. Johnson made no commitment.

In the afternoon, he met with Feinstein, who endorsed his $6 billion water infrastructure plan that calls for building more surface and groundwater storage, protecting the Delta and promoting conservation measures.

Last night, he was to dine in New York with Gov. Elliot Spitzer and to appear at a fundraiser.

Today, he is scheduled to address the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City on his environmental efforts.

Anonymous said...

The leftwing is so blatant as it escalates its agenda that it is free now to use the most ridiculous caricature to sell its crap.

The famous scene from the Charlie Chaplin movie the Great Dictator

where Chaplin does a dance pantomime where he, dressed up as Hitler, dances around the stage balancing floating balloons painted as globes of the Earth on his lifted finger

is here imitated with lefty clown Schwarzenegger on the cover of NEWSWEAK:

On the stage beside the governor, perched atop an easel, was a blowup of the latest cover of Newsweek, which shows Schwarzenegger twirling a globe atop his finger with the headline: “Save the Planet – Or Else.”

Anonymous said...

The entire 2007 apple crop in Henderson County, NC (7th largest apple-growing area in the U.S.) was destroyed by that little cold snap.

May we call that "the economic consequences of global cooling"?

Anonymous said...

Freeze Loss Comparable to Hurricane Damage

Heavy crop losses reported in Southeast

By KATRINA A. GOGGINS, Associated Press Writer Thu Apr 12, 2007

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070412/ap_on_bi_ge/farm_scene_2

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Heavy crop losses have been reported throughout the Southeast after last weekend's frigid temperatures, and farmers are bracing for another expected cold snap next week.

In South Carolina, at least 90 percent of the peach crop was destroyed and officials said Wednesday they would seek federal aid.
"This is comparable to a hurricane," Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers said of the damage to the state's $40 million-a-year industry. "Growers say we'll be fortunate to get 10 percent of a crop."
In Georgia, farmers and agriculture officials were still assessing the damage, but the weekend freeze may have wiped out more than half the state's peach crop.
"There's no doubt we had damage," said Joe McManus, a commodities specialist with the Georgia Farm Bureau. "It's just a matter of to what extent. Peaches, I'm hearing 50 (percent) plus."
The freeze also killed off a large portion of Georgia's $60 million-a-year blueberry crop.
"Most anything that was green got damaged," said Danny Stanalan, extension coordinator for southeast Georgia's Bacon County. "Our blueberries took a hard hit."
Kathy Taylor, stone fruit horticulturist with the University of Georgia Extension Service, said Georgia's peach crop was wiped out in the northern part of the state.
Alabama and Kentucky were still estimating losses, but Dave Rickey of the Alabama Farmers Federation said there were reports of heavy damage to fruit crops across the northern half of the state.
Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer has asked Gov. Ernie Fletcher to seek federal disaster relief, saying in a statement that apples and peaches there were "completely devastated."
Kentucky officials said as much as 90 percent of the state's peach and apple crops may have been destroyed,
but they cautioned the figures were preliminary.
"If it's as bad as we think, it will be several million dollars," Bill Clary, spokesman for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. "We won't know that for several days."
. . .

A preliminary report in West Virginia indicated "very heavy losses" on 1,400 acres of peaches, cherries and nectarines, as well as a major loss of apples, at 11 farms in Hampshire County, said state Agriculture Department spokesman Buddy Davidson. He said the agency was still waiting for reports from other counties.
Farmers were bracing for another round of cold weather early next week. Temperatures in the mid-30s were expected in the Southeast on Monday, said Mike Griesinger, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Ga.
"There's not many proactive measures that we have available," said Larry Yonce, who grows 3,000 acres of peaches in South Carolina each season. "We're just hoping and praying that temperatures won't get below freezing."
Even if temperatures do drop, "there can't be much more damage done," said Yonce, president of the South Carolina Peach Council.

joanie said...

Apologies for the dearth of comments from me recently. I hope to be back into the swing of things soon.

It’s quite amazing the number of observations being made here regarding record cold temperatures and snowfalls in March and April. It would appear that the climate is not co-operating with global warming advocates.

Came across an interesting comment, in an article written by James Taranto in The American Spectator, in that regard today:

He first quotes Ellen Goodman (*cough*):

I would like to say that we’re at a point where global warming is impossible to deny. Let’s just say that global warming deniers are now on a par with Holocaust deniers, though one denies the past and the other denies the present and future.

There’s an enormous difference between doubting an outlandish prediction ... and denying the grotesque facts of history ... holocaust deniers are neither ignorant nor innocent ... they are falsifying history for evil purposes.

~ joanie

joanie said...

Mike and Rob,

Since I have received quite a few e-mails regarding this stock, I’m going to post a little about it here (and save myself a bunch of e-mail responses). Al, and any others who do not approve of occasional stock market chatter here, can simply skip this particular post :) … although I do believe there is a ‘political’ connection of sorts.

I have something of a vested interest in this company and its prostate cancer immunotherapy treatment, since my husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer a year ago, and one out of six American men will find themselves facing that same unsettling prospect during their lifetime.

Dendreon’s immunotherapy treatment, if approved by the FDA within the next month (as it should be, if politics and market machinations stand aside), will represent the first new treatment for prostate cancer in thirty years, with the current most common treatment being an outdated chemotherapy combination with horrific side-effects.

The price action of DNDN after the March 29th FDA advisory committee hearing was mere catch-up behavior. The stock has been beaten down by hedge funds and short selling, among other artificial factors, for several years now. And, after the 3/29 meeting, it simply rose to just about where it was before the manipulators got ahold of it in mid-2000. The rise as a result of the pending approval has yet to materialize.

The FDA should approve Dendreon’s prostate cancer immunotherapy within the next month. There may be some minor conditions that delay marketing -- such as completion of the final Provenge trial. Yet the same analysts (and I use the term loosely) who have hammered, and lied about, the company and its potential for the past seven years are back at it again, despite recent events which should have put their lies to rest. And journalists continue to quote them, in a manner not dissimilar to the credence given global warming advocates.

Yes, I’m noticing an eerie similarity between the treatment of this stock over the past few years (and the past few days) and media political commentary. The former will hopefully have to bow to the truth; the latter, not necessarily.

Both political and financial analysts and columnists tend to have their way with their readers/viewers to the degree that those readers/viewers have not done their own homework. IMO, the majority of Americans do not care enough to research the issues themselves – thus the inordinate power of the mainstream media to distort and even defy the truth to their own advantage.

The same has been true of the majority of those financial columnists and analysts who have been covering (in the loosest sense of the term) this stock for the past few years. Their ‘coverage’ has bordered, if not crossed the line, on agenda-driven criminality. True facts have been ignored in order to dictate the value of the company and its revolutionary product(s), and much money has been lost by the uninformed investor in the process.

As with the value of political commentary, the commentary on this company and its product is only as valuable and reliable as is its basis in truth. And one can only determine that basis by doing one’s own research.

Those who have based their opinions of DNDN over the past few years on bogus financial/scientific commentary participated in the bargain-basement prices that occurred. That same cadre, plus many new (yet relatively uninformed) investors brought on board by the March 29th advisory panel decision, are also responsible, at least in part, for the past three days’ downward movement. They are serving as prey to the fickle winds of disinformation.

The many long-term holders of DNDN who are holding fast are generally those who have done their own research – who are paying heed to informed and educated opinion voiced by those who have been ‘down in the trenches’, and who have no axe to grind – we listen to experts in immunology, oncology, finance, and the machinations of the FDA. We ignore the carping, lying unbelievers.

Too often, in politics, the truth becomes so obscured by agenda-driven rhetoric as to never again see the light of day. Call me naïve if you like, but I firmly believe that that cannot occur here. Too much cancer-caused physical and emotional anguish, and too many present and future lives, are at stake. In this one, the good guys will win out. It’s just a matter of listening to those who value truth, and waiting for that truth to rise to the surface in spite of those who would bury it.

Personally, I have never invested in anything whose potential was quite so gratifying -- the potential to dramatically reduce human suffering and help to restore dignity to men near the end of their lives. Through the science involved here, DNDN has, via in-depth research and development, risk taking, and some genuine good fortune, discovered a fundamental method of training the body’s own immune system to fight this deadly form of cancer. Hopefully, prostate cancer will prove to be only the first of many cancers that are treatable, if not curable, by this revolutionary scientific method. Listening to prostate cancer survivors who were fortunate enough to be among the non-placebo group in recent trials, during the FDA panel hearing last month, was an excruciatingly emotional experience. God bless them in their strength, and their determination to see to it that others enjoy the same opportunity that has been afforded them.

All of the above, IMO only – certainly not to be interpreted as professional investing advice.

~ joanie

Anonymous said...

Thanks Joanie. Great analysis! I printed it out. A site where I go for TA still has DNDN's upward price target at 5.33. I think they better get their act together. :>)

Anonymous said...

I'm noticing more and more articles on global warming being a lie, and ones in more popular publications. Word seems to be getting out. But that will make the followers of this "religion" even more determined to shove it down our throats.

Anonymous said...

Snow won't dampen global-warming rallies

The weather forecast for Saturday's global warming rallies in Grand Rapids and Holland calls for snow and cold rain and temperatures in the 40s -- about 10 degrees below normal.

For some, this might make global warming a tough sell.

"I've thought of that," said Lisa Locke, associate director of the West Michigan Environmental Action Council, which is organizing the three Grand Rapids "Step it Up" rallies.

"I think that's an easy excuse, but if we're really reasonable about it, we're not talking about individual weather on individual days," Locke said. "We're talking about something much larger, on a global scale, which science has been tracking for decades."

WMEAC is organizing rallies at three locations in Grand Rapids, among more than 1,300 rallies that day around the country. The Web-organized event was the idea of environmental activist Bill McKibben.

Anonymous said...

Good work here! Lots of truth that you don't see anywhere else.

Anonymous said...

I miss you Joanie. I hope you'll be back here writing more soon.

Anonymous said...

Brrrrrr! Global Warming Rally Roundup... It Was Cold!

SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 2007
HTTP://GATEWAYPUNDIT.BLOGSPOT.COM/2007/04/BRRRRRR-GLOBAL-WARMING-RALLY-ROUNDUP-IT.HTML

In Utah they spelled out their message to Congress...
In the snow.

Our event was well organized and ready to go. Terribly cold, rainy weather greatly hindered the turnout. Three live bands played under the pavilion, few folks turned out. But we organizers and volunteers enjoyed the experience!

Saint Paul, MN:
The curious April snow had melted just in time for everyone to enjoy this beautiful spring day, no matter what part of the Capitol lawn you happened to be on.

Osceoal, MO:
These people braved the chilling weather to ask Congress to step it up as the gathered on a bluff top overlooking the place where the Sac River, flowing out of the Ozark highlands, joins the Osage river- coming through wetlands of the Osage plains in eastern Kansas.

Pittsburgh, PA:
It was amazing! About 200 people showed up in chilly (mid-30s) weather to hear speakers including our local city councilman, to write letters to legislators, to listen to music from the band Life in Balance (who added the call to "Step it UP!" to their song lyrics).

Hanover, NH:
Our event was held outside, on a chilly day, at the new Richmond Middle School with many energy saving features.

Kansas City, MO:
We had to move the event to an indoor location because of potential snow and rain during the time of the event. About 500 people attended the event at Community Christian Church.

Evansville, IN:
Despite the cold weather lots of people came out and there were several great speakers including; Biologist, Sam LaBudde.

HoughtonHancock, MI:
We then ended our Pinwheel Parade at the Portage Lake District Library, which, ironically, is situated right on the snowmobile path along the canal through Houghton.

And, of course, the headline in Grand Rapids, MI:

"Snow won't dampen global-warming rallies"

Anonymous said...

LOL! The libs won't let mere reality interfere with their pseudo-religious dogma, will they?

Meanwhile here in NC, snow and freezing temps are forecast *again* for tonight and tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

A regional rally for a global problem

"WILMINGTON -- A mix of snow and fog at the foot of the Whiteface Mountain toll road made it a white-on-white world Saturday as 15 people -- and two dogs -- started the 2,500-foot ascent to the top.

The group was skiing up the state's fifth-highest peak -- which was wrapped in early spring snow -- to call attention to the damage that global warming could bring to the Adirondacks.

Sponsored by the Adirondack Mountain Club and Adirondack Explorer, a monthly magazine covering recreation in the mountains, the climb was among more than 1,300 events held nationwide to mark Step It Up 2007, a global warming awareness day that was the brainchild of naturalist and author Bill McKibben of Vermont."

Image here: http://www.drudgereport.com/gw.jpg

Anonymous said...

Cold, rain cuts short global warming rally
MARTIN GRIFFITH ASSOCIATED PRESS
4/14/2007

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070414/NEWS18/70414010/1002/NEWS

More than two dozen demonstrators braved cold, wet weather Saturday in Reno to attend a rally designed to draw attention to global warming.

The event was cut short by heavy rain and sleet, said organizer Lisa Stiller of the Northern Nevada Coalition for Climate Change.

“It’s kind of disappointing that the weather kept people away,” Stiller said. “But we still think it (climate change) is something that people should talk about.”

The storm prevented the use of solar ovens for a potluck picnic, Stiller said, and caused the planned two-hour demonstration to break up after about an hour.

‘Step It Up’

More than 1,300 events were organized in every state under the banner Step It Up 2007 to push Congress to require an 80 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.

In downtown Reno’s Brick Park, demonstrators listened to speeches urging Nevadans to do their part to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Dale Brabham, a chemistry instructor at Truckee Meadows Community College, said people can reduce gas use by buying more fuel-efficient vehicles or eliminating the need for owning a vehicle.

People also can tune up vehicles for maximum gas mileage, make homes energy efficient and convert to non-incandescent lighting, he said.
“The evidence is strong and clear. The conclusion is that life as we know will change soon, very likely in our lifetime,” Brabham warned. “Everyone must shoulder the responsibility of meeting the challenge of delaying the change by reducing their impact on the environment. Our survival depends on it.”
‘Green Summit’
Reno City Councilman Dave Aiazzi talked about the city’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions and urged residents to attend its “Green Summit” on Thursday. The event is designed to develop plans to reduce emissions and improve energy efficiency.
Local activist Bob Tregilus gave a demonstration of his electric motorcycle and urged people to consider such alternative modes of transportation.
“Americans need to wean themselves from the pump and adopt the plug,” he said.

Anonymous said...

hahaha global warming rudolph the reindoor belong at Cristamas time but for EAEster sure cold for him work Outside a Sweater And a Coat allday still thought my hands had Froze not funny

Anonymous said...

I know CW doesn't want to clutter up the board with writing that isn't political, but here's a link to something she wrote that she forwarded to me today. I thought some readers interested in the cancer stock we have been mentioning might want to read it. I know she won't mind me posting one unpolitical line since it's starting to resemble politics as usual. :>)

http://www1.investorvillage.com/smbd.asp?mb=971&mn=79296&pt=msg&mid=1914069

Anonymous said...

Unbelievable what happened at Virginia Tech. And the gun control nuts will be out in full force.

Anonymous said...

From Stratfor ( http://www.stratfor.com/products/premium/premium.php ) ...

U.S.: A Well-Planned Shooting Spree
Apr 16, 2007

At least 32 people were killed April 16 when an individual or individuals went on a shooting spree at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University campus in Blacksburg, Va. This was obviously an attack for which the killer prepared, and the high killed-to-wounded ratio suggests the killer was skilled and thorough.

Analysis

At least 32 people were killed April 16 when an individual or individuals went on a shooting spree at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University campus in Blacksburg, Va. The shooter reportedly used two 9 mm semiautomatic pistols to kill his victims, many of whom were lined up and shot.

The first shooting occurred around 7:15 a.m. local time on the fourth floor of West Ambler Johnston Hall dormitory, where one victim was killed. The second shooting occurred approximately two hours later in Norris Hall, an engineering building. The gunman reportedly entered the building, chained the doors shut behind him and moved from classroom to classroom executing students.

This was obviously an attack for which the killer prepared. The high killed-towounded ratio suggests the killer was skilled and thorough. Police were still investigating the first shooting at the dorm when the other shootings occurred. It is possible the killing in the dormitory was meant as a diversion to occupy police while the gunman moved on to his primary target, Norris Hall.

Within the last two weeks, there were two separate bomb threats against engineering department buildings at the university. These could have been a form of preoperational surveillance to gauge the response times and procedures of university police.

Unconfirmed reports coming from Blacksburg have identified the suspect as an Asian individual in his mid-20s. In all probability, the delay in identifying the culprit or culprits is because the intelligence community is running foreign and criminal intelligence traces on the suspect(s).

Police believe the shooting spree might have been the result of an off-campus incident. They are not certain whether the suspect
was a student, nor have they ruled out the possibility that he had accomplices.

Arrests reportedly were made this morning.

The largest killing spree on a U.S. campus until this incident was in 1966, when Charles Whitman killed 15 people in the clock tower at the University of Texas at Austin. In 1999, two high school students in Columbine, Colo., killed 12 fellow students and a teacher before taking their own lives.

Anonymous said...

robmaroni said...
Unbelievable what happened at Virginia Tech. And the gun control nuts will be out in full force.


And the "mental health" industry is already doing the same.

Getting their hooks into more using this incident.

What drugs was the shooter(s) on?

What happened to the toxiclolgy report on the shooter of the Amish girls?

Anonymous said...

While snow piles up outside our windows, we may be hard-pressed to believe climate change is occurring

Welcome to The Ithaca Journal - Ithaca, NY
April 17, 2007

Earth Day: Don't ignore climate issues

http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070417/OPINION01/704170313

Ithaca will celebrate Earth Day this Sunday with the 10th annual celebration of the event at the Ithaca Farmers' Market pavilion. Earth Day is traditionally a celebration of our planet and a time for attention to be paid to environmental issues. This year, as global warming and climate change continue to make headlines and draw attention, Earth Day takes on more importance.

While snow piles up outside our windows, we may be hard-pressed to believe climate change is occurring, global temperatures are rising and the planet is on a crash course of serious change if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced.
That message was delivered on Friday in Albany by Arthur DeGaetano, a Cornell University professor and the head of the Northeast Regional Climate Center. Though some choose to argue about whether climate change is occurring, the hard facts presented by DeGaetano should cause all of us some level of concern. New York is two degrees warmer on average now than it was 30 years ago (and five degrees warmer for winter months). At this rate, DeGaetano said during his speech at the state Department of Environmental Conservation headquarters, New York's summer may eventually mirror a summer found in a southern state like South Carolina or Georgia.
Climate change is not a conspiracy theory being promoted by a renegade band of scientists. Data show our earth is getting warmer at a clip that concerns expert scientists. What the future holds for us is unknown, though there is something we can do about it.
On Sunday, the Earth Day celebration will feature information booths for green building and renewable energy. It will also feature a host of activities related to living a greener, sustainable lifestyle. Perhaps some of those may interest you enough to check out the events, which run from noon to 5 p.m. Even if Sunday's event is one that you'll skip, the larger issues of climate change and what you can do is not something you should ignore.

Anonymous said...

You eager moneymakers here ought to DECIDE whether this is a political topics site

or a money maker's financial site.

Anonymous said...

I have 2 questions for you anonymous---Are you calling cw an "eager moneymaker"? And do you think she has the right to decide to occasionally discuss something other than politics on her own site?

Anonymous said...

"anonymous",

The SEC and the FDA are both government agencies. I have been taking a good look at this stock since it was first talked about here, and what is happening to it should directly involve the SEC.

If you don't think the actions of the American stock market or a stock that is showing examples of criminal manipulation have anything to do with American society you need to rethink.

Anonymous said...

LUNCH FOR TWO WITH CONSERVATIONIST
AND ACTOR HARRISON FORD

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150112344192

Harrison Ford is a film actor and dedicated environmentalist. Ford has served on the Board of Directors of Conservation International with E.O. Wilson since the early 1990s and has been honored with a number of environmental awards, including the Global Environmental Citizen Award (2002) of Harvard Medical School. Here is your once in a lifetime opportunity to dine with a Hollywood legend. Value: priceless. Donated by: Harrison Ford.

Mr. Ford will dine with the lucky winning bidder and a guest in Los Angeles on a mutually agreed upon date, time and location.
All bidders must pre-qualify. Proceeds from this lunch will benefit the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation and its programs and services.

This package does not include any travel or accommodations. Winning bidder and guest are responsible for arriving at the agreed upon destination for the lunch at the agreed upon date and time.