Stanley Cup Playoffs
Continues...Monday, May 28th:
Ottawavs.
Anaheim__________________
I've read that some students have had to suffer through Al Gore's film up to four times in a year with teachers of various courses screening the thing. Who said indoctrination?
High school student Kristen Byrnes from Portland Maine offers an impressive rebuttal that is getting some deserved attention.
This report is a comprehensive look at the global warming issue without financial or political bias. It uses the most updated information provided by scientists and researchers and interjects common sense, an important component missing from the global warming debate.
[Ponder the Maunder]
Also to be noted is the bonus section, Facts and Fictions of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth". At the risk of ruining the ending and hopefully it's OK to do so (read the entire works), we offer this from the essay:
Conclusion
It’s easy to see why Al gore’s movie should not be shown in schools. An Inconvenient Truth is a political commercial that misrepresents a whole area of science. He admittedly uses scare tactics to get people to listen then shows them a professional slide show that blames every thing bad on so called man made global warming.
Al did not make and publicize this movie because he cares; something obvious when you consider his own lifestyle. He did not make this movie to run for president. This movie has grossed over 60 million dollars to date and it hasn’t even made it to cable. Al charges over $100,000 per slide show. But the real money that Al will make is through his new company, Generation Investment Management, a company that seeks to establish the rules and licensing for the new carbon-trading scheme. We have all heard of politicians who lie for money and power; it looks as if Al did not retire after all.
Bravo Kristen!
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Daltry, Geldof, Unimpressed With Gore's "Live Earth" Concert
Just when it looked like every rock star on the planet was jumping aboard Al Gore's green bandwagon, there’s a backlash already underway.
The Who's Roger Daltry has blasted the big Wembley gig Gore is organising to raise awareness of global warming.
The huge concert - which features performances from the likes of Madonna and Red Hot Chili Peppers - is taking place at Wembley on July 7 and in other countries around the world.
"I can't believe it. Let's burn even more fuel.
"We have problems with global warming, but the questions and the answers are so huge I don't know what a rock concert's ever going to do to help.
"Everybody on this planet at the moment, unless they are living in the deepest rainforest in Brazil, knows about climate change.” [...]
Roger's comments come hot on the heels of SIR BOB GELDOF’s equally scathing views.
Last week the Live Aid hero lashed out, saying: "Why is Gore actually organising them? To make us aware of the greenhouse effect?
"Everybody's known about that problem for years. We are all f***ing conscious of global warming." [...]
But before Sir Bob thinks he has found an ally in Roger, the legendary British singer also admitted he feels badly let down by Live 8.
Ten concerts were held simultaneously in July 2005 with the goal to Make Poverty History.
Again Roger complains that unlike the original Live Aid in 1985, where the money went directly to famine relief, the follow-up 20 years later had no achievable aims.
Roger moaned: "What did we really achieve at Live 8? We got loads of platitudes and no action.
"Who were we kidding there?
"At least with Live Aid, Bob Geldof was willing to work the trenches and they did save a lot of lives.
"We could see what we achieved at the end of it."
[sunonline]
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'Fairness doctrine': Anything But Fair
[...]The Fairness Doctrine is an old Federal Communications Commission regulation that required all political opinion broadcast on the public airwaves to be balanced with equal time for the opposing viewpoint. Originating in the 1940s, when radio and television stations were few and far between, it may have made sense to require balance, lest a region be inundated with unchallenged opinion presented as fact.
But as time passed, more stations came along, offering consumers what they longed for: choice. Radio and television stations popped up by the thousands, offering a microphone to anyone. Opinions of all types were abundant, making the Fairness Doctrine obsolete. [Politico]
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The confrontation over Cuba continues. Michael Moore has challenged Fred Thompson to a health care debate. At issue Moore's trip to Cuba and Thompson's criticism of that trip. Moore noted Thompson's evident favor for Cuban cigars as a possible violation of the trade embargo. Now, Thompson responds. Cigar in hand.
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Old media rolls along into oblivion, as exampled by the Minneapolis StarTribune in cancelling their [Lileks column].
In a world that spins along where newspapers struggle against extinction and are having trouble giving themselves away, such a move can only be anchored in financial distress, agenda or sheer ignorance.
James Lileks is a brilliant rare sort and his output - aside from the comparatively miniscule columns for the newspaper, his web presence is the real treasure - is astounding not only in quantity but quality. If you ever need a smile or laugh tweak, Lileks is a fine choice to provide all but unfailingly.
I have all confidence that Lileks will benefit from this and prosper and ultimately, beyond sentimentality, probably be a favour done him.
From a section of the Lileks web page the [Bleat]:
As it happens, they've killed my column, and assigned me to write straight local news stories.
Really. [...]
My column will end a week from this Friday. (There’s a series of pieces I can’t wait to write.) After that, it's just-the-facts-ma'am - and I'll no longer be telecommuting, either. This means I will start burning my share of hydrocarbons like a good American. Hell, I may leave the vehicle running all day outside the building just to make up for lost time. Maybe I will put a green roof on the car to balance things out. Some turf, some switchgrass. It's murder on the paint but we all must do our part.
Would it matter if you contacted the paper? It very well might. Here's the reader's rep's page. [Here]
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Video Links:
GOP Presidential Primary Debate - 5.15.07
Republican Presidential Candidates Debate - 5.03.07
Democratic Presidential Candidates Debate - 4.26.07.
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The Associated Press is asking the candidates a series of questions about their personal tastes, habits and backgrounds. Today's question and their answers:
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What was your last music purchase?
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DEMOCRATS:
Delaware Sen. Joe Biden: "My sister's playlist."
New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton: Carly Simon's "Into White."
Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd: Soundtrack to 'Jersey Boys."
Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards: U2.
Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich: Likes Willie Nelson.
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama: "The latest music purchase would probably be 'Ray' — the soundtrack from the Ray Charles movie."
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson: George Strait, "50 Number Ones."
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REPUBLICANS:
Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback: Christian artist Michael W. Smith.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani: Verdi's "Macbeth."
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee: Evanescence, the goth rock group from Little Rock, Ark.
California Rep. Duncan Hunter: Favors country and gospel.
Arizona Sen. John McCain: Likes "Sounds Of Summer - The Very Best Of The Beach Boys."
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: "Selection of Roy Orbison songs from iTunes."
Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo: "Frank Sinatra duet combo."
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Gen. Rick Hillier takes Stanley Cup to Afghanistan
Gen. Rick Hillier arrived at the main Kandahar base with the group of former pros, who include Bob Probert, Dave (Tiger) Williams, Ron Tugnutt, Réjean Houle and Yvon Lambert.
Along with showing off the Stanley Cup, the group plans to play a couple of ball hockey games with some of the more than 2,000 Canadian soldiers stationed at the base and get a tour of the region.
It's the first time the trophy has been in Afghanistan or a combat zone.
The trophy, originally known as a Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, has evolved over the years since it was first awarded in 1893.
The original trophy, now under glass in the Hockey Hall of Fame, was in the shape of a bowl. The trophy taken to Afghanistan is known as the Presentation Cup. [cbc]
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Defending Doan
In case you missed it, and we all should have been spared, a parliamentary committee has requested that Hockey Canada explain why Doan was made captain of the team at the world championships in Moscow. It has nothing to do with skills and leadership abilities, of course, but rather it is about 17-month-old allegations that Doan uttered a derogatory comment toward a French-Canadian referee.
Doan denied making the comment, is involved in a lawsuit to prove it further, and a league investigation exonerated him, as well.
Yet the politicians persist. The NDP's Jack Layton went so far as to suggest that making Doan captain "cast a shadow" on the team and by extension the interest in the team. And all parties supported a Bloc Quebecois motion requesting an explanation from Hockey Canada.
A few days after filing your tax returns, aren't you glad to know where the money is going?
It is embarrassing, to say the least, that these people are consumed by this non-issue. It is shameful they are wasting taxpayers' money and official government time, especially when you consider all that is wrong in this country that should be receiving their attention. What it isn't, of course and sadly, is surprising. [cbc]
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Rewriting History a Classroom at a Time
Fred Thompson, Townhall, April 26, 2007
It's bad enough hearing from a distance about the bizarre anti-Semitic theories taught by heads of state as well as schools and religious leaders. Now, according to a study funded by the British government, we find out that some schools in Great Britain have stopped teaching history that is offensive to Muslim students. The topics that have been erased from the curriculum, the study found, include both the Nazi genocide and the Crusades.
This rewriting of history through omission wasn't some government policy. It was the result of individual decisions in local schools by teachers with large populations of Muslim students. Unfortunately, many of these students have been taught by parents and mosques that the holocaust never happened and that the Crusades were an unprovoked attack on Islam by European Christians. History books that present these events in any other light, they believe, are part some giant conspiracy designed to attack their very religion. [...]
This would be a good place to quote an important British writer, George Orwell, who wrote, "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." Even in America, our children are often taught a watered down, inoffensive and culturally sensitive version of events ranging from the Crusades to the battle at the Alamo. [...] [townhall.com]
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Congressional Bill Could Save Internet Radio
In a bipartisan effort, U.S. Representatives have some together to introduce a bill that reverses a recent decision of the CRB that would cost Internet radio operators big money to play music.
Earlier this month, the CRB approved a rule that would force commercial Internet radio stations, regardless of their size, to pay new higher flat fees to the record labels each and every time a song is played. This means that royalty rates for Web-casters would start retroactively at $.0008 per song in 1996 and will climb to $.0019 per song by 2010. As it currently stands, the CRB rules would go into effect on May 15th.
The legislation is known as the Inslee-Manzullo Internet Radio Equality Act, and it vacates the CRB's March 2 decision and proposes Net radio stations continue paying a percentage (7.5 percent) of revenues through 2010. Alternatively, the bill would allow Net broadcaster to choose to pay 33 cents per hour of sound recordings transmitted to a single user. This is much better than the estimated 60 percent of revenue that some Web-casters say they will have to pay under the CRB plan. [gameshout]
LETTERS, EDITORIAL & OPINIONImus, as on-air personality was a tool. Any person that knew who he was would agree on some level. So what? Rosie? Serious toolbox. So what? Shut her off (Whenever, wherever she might next again pop up). Something is offensive, shut it off. What could be simpler?
What's that? Someone produced a sound wave with their mouth and the sound that resulted has been deemed offensive to you?
Waaa. I'm offended. Hey, how about an apology and doing some rehab? Not quite good enough for you? Oh, oh, I get it. Some monetary reparations will tidy and fix that pain and anguish. All better!
That anyone would be hurt by being called a name by whoever and whatever that might be - to think that this should require grand inquiry, a meeting at some elected's estate or raised any higher than being succinctly derided then ignored, is the height of idiocy and sucktitude. Waaa.
-TCB
Buffalo
Detroit
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