He’s the leading proponent of the “global warming is a fact and dangerous” movement, how can his opinion not matter? He won the Nobel Peace (not sure if there are some monks in Burma that deserve it more and I'm not sure how global warming relates to peace –but that’s another argument).
It is prudent to finding alternatives to fossil fuels and I can speak with authority here as I am a proud owner of two hybrid vehicles long before Gore decided to speak about this subject and I have invested in solar energy and other so-called “alternative energy”. However, like I said none of that will STOP global warming- if I is occurring, from occurring. We should push alt energy for many reasons –it’s impact on global warming would be so many years (hundreds or even thousands) in the future and so negligible that, though it makes Hollywood feel good, it doesn’t belong in the same conversation.

Did You Know?
That those proponents of the notion of “global warming” even admit that mankind only accounts for 10% of the causes – the other 90% are NATURAL.
For example,
Changes in sunspots and other solar activity, scientists have realized for more than two centuries, correlate closely with the climate of Earth, explaining the ice ages and periods of great warming. But what causes these changes in our sun?
The answer, discovered with the help of NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, lies largely in the solar system's centre of gravity. At times, the sun is at the solar system's centre of gravity. Most often, this is not the case-- the orbit of the planets will align planets to one side or another of the sun. Jupiter, the planet with by far the largest mass, most influences the solar system's centre of gravity. When Uranus, Neptune and especially Saturn -- the next largest planet -- join Jupiter on one side of the solar system, the solar system's centre of gravity shifts well beyond the sun.

The sun's own orbit, has eight characteristic patterns, all determined by Jupiter's position relative to Saturn, with the other planets playing much lesser roles. Some of these eight have orderly orbits, smooth and near-circular. During such orbits, solar activity is high and Earth heats up. Some of the eight orbits are chaotic, taking a loop-the-loop path. These orbits correspond to quiet times for the sun, and cool periods on Earth. Every 179 years or so, the sun embarks on a new cycle of orbits. One of the cooler periods in recent centuries was the Little Ice Age of the 17th century, when the Thames River in London froze over each winter. The next cool period, if the pattern holds, began in 1996, with the effects to be felt starting in 2010. Some predict three decades of severe cold.

You wanted to play the game, and I am more than willing to participate. As I have said to many often:
If you want to go quickly, go alone; if you want to go far, bring others.

ASSUMING it has been proven that “global warming” is occurring (even the UN agency on global warming and Al Gore say that the earth has warmed only 1 degree Celsius in the past 100yrs –what’s the margin of error for such a calculation? More than one degree which means account for the statistical margin of error, that the world may actually be cooling – which parts of the planet are and parts of the planet aren’t) AND ASSUMING it has been caused by human activity AND ASSUMING that the consequences are a NET negative for mankind (there are many benefits from the earth warming from the last ice age –including for example, longer growing seasons) AND ASSUMING (this are soooo many assumptions here that the answer to the question is soooo irrelevant) there is something mankind can do about it, what then do you recommend?
The answer is ZERO: no one has any plausible plan on how to stop the idea of “global warming”.

Final assumption is this: assuming that “global warming” is occurring, do you know what the final result of it will be? The next ice age … yes global warming will lead to the world freezing over –it may take 20k years but that’s what will happen (if you want details just ask).).

An inconvenient truth…

Global Warming at HALF the Rate previously discussed…and this isn’t coming from the “vast right-wing conspiracy” or Exxon but according to a scientist with the UN body that shared the Nobel Peace Prize with the Reverend Al Gore

Not So Hot
If a scientific paper appeared in a major journal saying that the planet has warmed twice as much as previously thought, that would be front-page news in every major paper around the planet. But what would happen if a paper was published demonstrating that the planet may have warmed up only half as much as previously thought?Nothing. Earlier this month, Ross McKitrick from Canada's University of Guelph and I published a manuscript in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres saying precisely that.Scientists have known for years that temperature records can be contaminated by so-called "urban warming," which results from the fact that long-term temperature histories tend to have originated at points of commerce. The bricks, buildings, and pavement of cities retain the heat of the day and impede the flow of ventilating winds.For example, downtown Washington is warmer than nearby (and more rural) Dulles Airport. As government and services expand down the Dulles Access road, it, too, is beginning to warm compared to more rural sites to the west.Adjusting data for this effect, or using only rural stations, the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states with confidence that less than 10% of the observed warming in long-term climate histories is due to urbanization.That's a wonderful hypothesis, and Ross and I decided to test it.We noted that other types of bias must still be affecting historical climate records. What about the quality of a national network and the competence of the observers? Other factors include movement or closing of weather stations and modification of local land surfaces, such as replacing a forest with a cornfield.Many of these are socioeconomic, so we built a computer model that included both regional climatic factors, such as latitude, as well as socioeconomic indicators like GDP and applied it to the IPCC's temperature history.Weather equipment is very high-maintenance. The standard temperature shelter is painted white. If the paint wears or discolors, the shelter absorbs more of the sun's heat and the thermometer inside will read artificially high. But keeping temperature stations well painted probably isn't the highest priority in a poor country.IPCC divides the world into latitude-longitude boxes, and for each of these we supplied information on GDP, literacy, amount of missing data (a measure of quality), population change, economic growth and change in coal consumption (the more there is, the cooler the area).Guess what. Almost all the socioeconomic variables were important. We found the data were of highest quality in North America and that they were very contaminated in Africa and South America. Overall, we found that the socioeconomic biases "likely add up to a net warming bias at the global level that may explain as much as half the observed land-based warming trend."We then modified IPCC's temperature data for these biases and compared the statistical distribution of the warming to the original IPCC data and to satellite measures of lower atmospheric temperature that have been available since 1979. Since these are from a single source (the U.S. government), and they don't have any urban contamination, they are likely to be affected very little by economic factors.Indeed. The adjusted IPCC data now looks a lot like the satellite data. The biggest change was that the high (very warm) end of the distribution in the IPCC data was knocked off by the unbiasing process.Where was the press? A Google search reveals that with the exception of a few blog citations, the only major story ran in Canada's Financial Post.There are several reasons why the press provides so little coverage to science indicating that global warming isn't the end of the world. One has to do with bias in the scientific literature itself. Theoretically, assuming unbiased climate research, every new finding should have an equal probability of indicating that things are going to be more or less warm, or worse-than-we-thought vs. not-so-bad.But, when someone finds that there's only half as much warming as we thought, and the story is completely ignored, what does this say about the nature of the coverage itself? Somehow, you'd think that would have been newsworthy.Patrick J. Michaels is senior fellow in environmental studies at the Cato Institute and a member of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

There’s really no need for my comments here, except to marvel at the fantasy, creativity and colossal stupidity that led these people (all men?) to remove themselves from the gene pool. Here you go:
DARWIN AWARDS 2007
And once again, it’s time for the Darwin Award Nominees. The Darwins are awarded every year to the persons who died in the most stupid manner, thereby removing themselves from the gene pool.
This years nominees are:
Nominee No. 1: [San Jose Mercury News]
An unidentified man, using a shotgun like a club to break a former girlfriends windshield, accidentally shot himself to death when the gun discharged, blowing a hole in his gut.
Nominee No. 2: [Kalamazoo Gazette]
James Burns, 34, (a mechanic) of Alamo, MI. was killed in March as he was trying to repair what police describe as a “farm-type truck”. Burns got a friend to drive the truck on a highway while Burns hung underneath so that he could ascertain the source of a troubling noise. Burns clothes caught on something however, and the other man found Burns “wrapped in the drive shaft”.
Nominee No. 3: [Hickory Daily Record]
Ken Charles Barger, 47, accidentally shot himself to death in December in Newton, NC. Awakening to the sound of a ringing telephone beside his bed, he reached for the phone but grabbed instead a Smith & Wesson 38 Special, which discharged when he drew it to his ear.
Nominee No. 4: [UPI, Toronto]
Police said a lawyer demonstrating the safety of windows in a downtown Toronto skyscraper crashed through a pane with his shoulder and plunged 24 floors to his death. A police spokesman said Garry Hoy, 39, fell into the courtyard of the Toronto Dominion Bank Tower early Friday evening as he was explaining the strength of the buildings windows to visiting law students. Hoy previously has conducted demonstrations of window strength according to police reports. Peter Lawson, managing partner of the firm Holden Day Wilson, told the Toronto Sun newspaper that Hoy was “one of the best and brightest” members of the 200-man association.
Nominee No. 5: [The News of the Weird]
Michael Anderson Godwin made News of the Weird posthumously. He had spent several years awaiting South Carolinas electric chair on a murder conviction before having his sentence reduced to life in prison. While sitting on a metal toilet in his cell attempting to fix his small TV set, he bit into a wire and was electrocuted.
Nominee No. 6: [The Indianapolis Star]
A cigarette lighter may have triggered a fatal explosion in Dunkirk, IN. A Jay County man, using a cigarette lighter to check the barrel of a muzzle loader, was killed Monday night when the weapon discharged in his face, sheriffs investigators said. Gregory David Pryor, 19, died in his parents rural Dunkirk home at about 11:30 PM. Investigators said Pryor was cleaning a 54-caliber muzzle-loader that had not been firing properly. He was using the lighter to look into the barrel when the gun-powder ignited.
Nominee No. 7: [Reuters, Mississauga, Ontario]
A man cleaning a bird feeder on the balcony of his condominium apartment in this Toronto suburb slipped and fell 23 stories to his death. Stefan Macko, 55, was standing on a wheelchair when the accident occurred, said Inspector Darcy Honer of the Peel Regional Police. “It appears that the chair moved, and he went over the balcony,” Honer said.
Finally, THE WINNER!!!: [Arkansas Democrat Gazette]
Two local men were injured when their pickup truck left the road and struck a tree near Cotton Patch on State Highway 38 early Monday. Woodruff County deputy Dovey Snyder reported the accident shortly after midnight Monday. Thurston Poole, 33, of Des Arc, and Billy Ray Wallis, 38, of Little Rock, were returning to Des Arc after a frog catching trip. On an overcast Sunday night, Pooles pickup truck headlights malfunctioned. The two men concluded that the headlight fuse on the older-model truck had burned out. As a replacement fuse was not available, Wallis noticed that the .22 caliber bullets from his pistol fit perfectly into the fuse box next to the steering-wheel column. Upon inserting the bullet the headlights again began to operate properly, and the two men proceeded on eastbound toward the White River Bridge. After Traveling Approximately 20 miles, and just before crossing the river, the bullet apparently overheated, discharged, and struck Poole in the testicles. The vehicle swerved sharply right, exiting the pavement, and striking a tree Poole suffered only minor cuts and abrasions from the accident but will require extensive surgery to repair the damage to his testicles, which will never operate as intended. Wallis sustained a broken clavicle and was treated and released. “Thank God we weren’t on that bridge when Thurston shot his balls off, or we might both be dead,” stated Wallis “I’ve been a trooper for 10 years in this part of the world, but this is a first for me. I can’t believe that those two would admit how this accident happened,” said Snyder. Upon being notified of the wreck, Lavinia (Poole’s wife) asked how many frogs the boys had caught and did anyone get them from the truck???
(Though Poole and Wallis did not die as a result of their misadventure as normally required by Darwin Award Official Rules, it can be argued that Poole did, in fact, effectively remove himself from the gene pool.)

Who's Responsible for Emissions?
At the recent climate jamboree in Bali, the Reverend Al Gore told the assembled faithful: “My own country the United States is principally responsible for obstructing progress here.” Really? “The American Thinker” website ran the numbers. In the seven years between the signing of Kyoto in 1997 and 2004, here’s what happened:

* Emissions worldwide increased 18.0%.
* Emissions from countries that signed the treaty increased 21.1%.
* Emissions from non-signers increased 10.0%.
* Emissions from the U.S. increased 6.6%.

Mary Ann Spoto
Writer
Star Ledger of NJ


In Re: “Holiday tree farms get the ax”

Dear Ms. Spoto,

You write an article in Saturday’s edition of the Star Ledger titled “Holiday Tree Farms Get the Ax”.
What exactly is a “Holiday” Tree as I can’t seem to find the definition of it anywhere? I am much more familiar with the historically accurate term “Christmas Tree” and I believe you are as well as in the body of your article you go on to use the proper name Christmas Tree.
I do find some creation of the “holiday tree” in the mid-1990s but there is no history before that. The modern Christmas Tree dates back over 1,300 years[1] by comparison. The obvious concomitance of a Christmas Tree and Christmas Day is not one easily broken by fads of the day. Until the critics of proper noun “Christmas Tree” are able to change the name of Christmas Day to some other bland term, like simply “holiday”, the Christmas Tree will outlive these efforts.
While it may seem politically correct for some reason to try a new trend in changing the name of a Christmas Tree – you are fighting a centuries old tradition and one can only hope that the pro-“holiday tree” crowd will give up their ax and focus on celebrating Christmas Day –and all of its associated traditions as people have been doing for centuries.

Regards,

Kevin Kelly
10 East 40th St.
New York NY 10016-2144

[1] It’s no surprise that the famous Christmas carol, “Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree” was translated from the German original because it was in Germany that the idea of a Christmas tree was born. It happened back in the early 700s, when St. Boniface, an English monk and missionary, was preaching a sermon on the December 25th Nativity to some Germanic Druids. In order to quell the Druids’ idolatry of the oak tree, St. Boniface cut down a huge one. As it came crashing down, it crushed every bush in its path, except for one small fir sapling. Although this was purely a coincidence, St. Boniface cleverly decided to capitalize on it – he declared it a miracle that this one single sapling hadn’t been killed, and concluded, “Let this be called the tree of the Christ Child.”
-“History of Christmas”, Gareth Marples, 2004

Mary Ann Spoto
Writer
Star Ledger of NJ


In Re: “Holiday tree farms get the ax”

Dear Ms. Spoto,

You write an article in Saturday’s edition of the Star Ledger titled “Holiday Tree Farms Get the Ax”.
What exactly is a “Holiday” Tree as I can’t seem to find the definition of it anywhere? I am much more familiar with the historically accurate term “Christmas Tree” and I believe you are as well as in the body of your article you go on to use the proper name Christmas Tree.
I do find some creation of the “holiday tree” in the mid-1990s but there is no history before that. The modern Christmas Tree dates back over 1,300 years[1] by comparison. The obvious concomitance of a Christmas Tree and Christmas Day is not one easily broken by fads of the day. Until the critics of proper noun “Christmas Tree” are able to change the name of Christmas Day to some other bland term, like simply “holiday”, the Christmas Tree will outlive these efforts.
While it may seem politically correct for some reason to try a new trend in changing the name of a Christmas Tree – you are fighting a centuries old tradition and one can only hope that the pro-“holiday tree” crowd will give up their ax and focus on celebrating Christmas Day –and all of its associated traditions as people have been doing for centuries.

Regards,

Kevin Kelly
10 East 40th St.
New York NY 10016-2144

[1] It’s no surprise that the famous Christmas carol, “Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree” was translated from the German original because it was in Germany that the idea of a Christmas tree was born. It happened back in the early 700s, when St. Boniface, an English monk and missionary, was preaching a sermon on the December 25th Nativity to some Germanic Druids. In order to quell the Druids’ idolatry of the oak tree, St. Boniface cut down a huge one. As it came crashing down, it crushed every bush in its path, except for one small fir sapling. Although this was purely a coincidence, St. Boniface cleverly decided to capitalize on it – he declared it a miracle that this one single sapling hadn’t been killed, and concluded, “Let this be called the tree of the Christ Child.”
-“History of Christmas”, Gareth Marples, 2004

Did You Know?
That the weight-lifting sport was so corrupted by steroids use that after the Soviet Union fell, the sport threw out ALL the prior records.... they might want to consider that for anyone found using steroids and set a record in other sports...
Being Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame is More Than Just Stats
Must be a good citizen too…

Did You Know?
Barry Bonds’ name is mentioned in this MLB baseball steroid report 104 times…

Did You Know? José Conseco tried to attend yesterday’s Mitchell press conference but was denied and in fact thrown out.

As for the Baseball Hall of Fame, this is how that works-it’s not just a matter of statistics:
A little background on Hall of Fame voting . . . Baseball writers with 10 consecutive years in the Baseball Writers Association of America receive a ballot for the Hall of Fame .Less than 600 of the nation’s sportswriters cast votes for the Hall of Fame each year. They vote on players when they first become eligible for Cooperstown. Players can only get into the Hall through their vote for their first 15 years of eligibility. After that, they go on to the veterans committee, which pretty much doesn't vote for anyone these days.Sportswriters are allowed to vote for zero to 10 players each year. Blank ballots are counted as a vote and included when determining whether a player received the needed 75 percent. Sportswriters receive the ballots in the mail each December and have until Dec. 31 to return them.

Eligible Candidates -- Candidates to be eligible must meet the following requirements:
A baseball player must have been active as a player in the Major Leagues at some time during a period beginning twenty (20) years before and ending five (5) years prior to election.
Player must have played in each of ten (10) Major League championship seasons, some part of which must have been within the period described in 3 (A).
Player shall have ceased to be an active player in the Major Leagues at least five (5) calendar years preceding the election but may be otherwise connected with baseball.
In case of the death of an active player or a player who has been retired for less than five (5) full years, a candidate who is otherwise eligible shall be eligible in the next regular election held at least six (6) months after the date of death or after the end of the five (5) year period, whichever occurs first.
Any player on Baseball's ineligible list shall not be an eligible candidate
What does it take to become “ineligible” in MLB? Misconduct for one… MLB’s “Rule 21” explains how…

Baseball’s “Rule 21” Posted in Every Baseball Locker-room states among other rules, this section;
(F) OTHER MISCONDUCT. Nothing herein contained shall be construed as exclusively defining or otherwise limiting acts, transactions, practices or conduct not to be in the best interests of Baseball; and any and all other acts, transactions, practices or conduct not to be in the best interests of Baseball are prohibited and shall be subject to such penalties, including permanent ineligibility, as the facts in the particular case may warrant
–MLB Website, http://www.baseball1.com/bb-data/rose/rule21.html

Doing illegal drugs in “cheating” as Sen Mitchell describes it, is prohibited behavior subject to “permanent ineligibility

On Speaking about teh Major League Baseball Mitchell Report...

Question to Jose Conseco: “What did you think of the Mitchell Report?”
Jose Conseco: “Well you could triple that list”
Question: “Any names?”
Jose Conseco: “Let’s just put it this way: Alex Rodriquez isn’t who he appears to be”

-Fox News, 11/14/07 8amET

Barry Bonds the Fraud...

In the "Mitchell Report", the 409pg report, Bonds' is named 104 times..

.http://files.mlb.com/mitchrpt.pdf

This is too true ..The next time you hear a politician use the word "billion" in a casualmanner, think about whether you want the "politicians" spending YOURtax money.A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertisingagency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective inone of its releases.A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rateour government is spending it.While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look atNew Orleans It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division. . .Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the Congressfor $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number, whatdoes it mean?A. Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (everyman, woman, child), you each get $516,528.B. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your homegets $1,329,787.C. Or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.Washington, D.C .. HELLO!!! ... Are all your calculators broken??Tax his land,Tax his wage,Tax his bed in which he lays.Tax his tractor,Tax his mule,Teach him taxes is the rule.Tax his cow,Tax his goat,Tax his pants,Tax his coat.Tax his ties,Tax his shirts,Tax his work,Tax his dirt.Tax his tobacco,Tax his drink,Tax him if he even tries to think.Tax his booze,Tax his beers,If he cries,Tax his tears.Tax his bills,Tax his gas,Tax his notes,Tax his cash.Tax him good and let him knowThat after taxes, he has no dough.If he hollers,Tax him more, Tax him until he's good and sore.Tax his coffin,Tax his grave,Tax the sod in which he lays.Put these words upon his tomb,"Taxes drove me to my doom!"And when he's gone,We won't relax,We'll still be after the inheritance TAX!!Accounts Receivable TaxBuilding Permit TaxCDL License TaxCigarette TaxCorporate Income TaxDog License TaxFederal Income TaxFederal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)Fishing License TaxFood License TaxFuel Permit TaxGasoline TaxHunting License TaxInheritance TaxInventory TaxIRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax),IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax),Liquor Tax,Luxury Tax,Marriage License Tax,Medicare Tax,Property Tax,Real Estate Tax,Service charge taxes,Social Security Tax,Road Usage Tax (Truckers),Sales Taxes,Recreational Vehicle Tax,School Tax,State Income Tax,State Unemployment Tax (SUTA),Telephone Federal Excise Tax,Telephone Federal Universal Service Fe e Tax,Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax, Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax,Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax,Telephone State and Local Tax,Telephone Usage Charge Tax,Utility Tax,Vehicle License Registration Tax,Vehicle Sales Tax,Watercraft Registration Tax,Well Permit Tax,Workers Compensation Tax.STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago,and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class inthe world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.What happened? Can you spell ‘politicians?