O.C.D. In The D.N.C.?

Platters a plenty … as long as they are biodegradable, organic, locally grown, and have all the right and approved colors. Image Credit: sandwichmart.com

O.C.D. In The D.N.C.?

The fanatic level of control exhibited by the planners and leaders of the Democrat Party in the run-up to their convention in Denver is beyond belief ... almost obsessive. One is left to assume that this is exactly the level of control they would like to exert over ALL of our lives if they are given the chance.

As a natural rollout of events which began as “scare everyone” tactics initiated by the claim that Global Warming/Climate Change is created by human beings, the leaders are implementing and holding everyone (who will be attending the convention in Denver) to rules that set the “GREEN” bar very high.

Hundreds of free bikes will be available for anyone looking for an alternative to automobiles during the Democratic convention in Denver. From left, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Director of Bikes Belong Tim Blumenthal, convention organizer Parry Burnap and Dan Oftedahl of Humana, which will provide the free bikes, announced the initiative in early May. Image Credit: Associated Press/Humana

From the strict policies and handling procedures regarding disposable food utensils, to the descriptions of the very colors of acceptable food items served, to strict definitions of what can be worn by service workers ... to the manufacturing composition of balloons to be used for the celebration, to an argument of whether to allow bottled water or not ... this would all be very humorous if this were a parody ... but, unfortunately, it's not.

It is widely assumed that Republicans want to control peoples’ lives, although Republicans staunchly support limiting government and maximizing self-determination. The truth is, the major control initiative over the last few decades comes down to the abortion issue. There, Republicans really only want to protect the unborn human by allowing every baby to be “brought” to term and have a life.

The Democrats, through this extreme approach to green initiatives during their 2008 convention, are making an interesting statement to Americans of all parties. This Democrat Party wants to be able to control every aspect of the lives of all citizens. The D.N.C. discomfort with many matters of self-determination by convention attendees is weirdly controlling ... and smacks of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

Ms. Robinson says all the signs and placards will be made from post-consumer recycled or biodegradable materials. It will all be recycled after the event. Confetti and banners lay on the floor at the end of the 2004 convention in Boston. Image Credit: Associated Press

This found, excerpted, and edited from the Wall Street Journal and the Denver Post -

The Greenest Show on Earth: Democrats Gear Up for Denver
From Organic Fanny Packs to 'Pure' Trash, Party Planners Face Logistical Nightmare
By STEPHANIE SIMON - June 25, 2008; Page A1

As the Mile High City gears up to host a Democratic bash for 50,000, organizers are discovering the perils of trying to stage a political spectacle that's also politically correct.

Consider the fanny packs.

The host committee for the Democratic National Convention wanted 15,000 fanny packs for volunteers. But they had to be made of organic cotton. By unionized labor. In the USA.

Official merchandiser Bob DeMasse scoured the country. His weary conclusion: "That just doesn't exist."

Ditto for the baseball caps. "We have a union cap or an organic cap," Mr. DeMasse says. "But we don't have a union-organic offering."
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Convention organizers hired the first-ever Director of Greening, longtime environmental activist Andrea Robinson.
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Ms. Robinson suspected modern-day delegates would prefer air conditioning. So she quickly modified the mayor's goal: She'd supervise "the most sustainable political convention in modern American history."
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To test whether celebratory balloons advertised as biodegradable actually will decompose, Ms. Robinson buried samples in a steaming compost heap.

She hired an Official Carbon Adviser, who will measure the greenhouse-gas emissions of every placard, every plane trip, every appetizer prepared and every coffee cup tossed.

The Democrats hope to pay penance for those emissions by investing in renewable energy projects.

Perhaps Ms. Robinson's most audacious goal is to reuse, recycle or compost at least 85% of all waste generated during the convention.
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To police the four-day event Aug. 25-28, she's assembling (via paperless online signup) a trash brigade. Decked out in green shirts, 900 volunteers will hover at waste-disposal stations to make sure delegates put each scrap of trash in the proper bin. Lest a fork slip into the wrong container unnoticed, volunteers will paw through every bag before it is hauled away.

"That's the only way to make sure it's pure," Ms. Robinson says.
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Here, a delegate eats a hamburger on the floor of the 2004 convention in Boston. Democrats' catering guidelines discourage fried food and push for organic or locally-grown ingredients. At least 50% of each meal should be made up of fruits and/or vegetables. Image Credit: Getty Images

No fried food. And, on the theory that nutritious food is more vibrant, each meal should include "at least three of the following colors: red, green, yellow, blue/purple, and white." (Garnishes don't count.)

At least 70% of ingredients should be organic or grown locally, to minimize emissions from fuel burned during transportation.

"One would think," says Mr. Matt Burns, a spokesman for the Republican convention, "that the Democrats in Denver have bigger fish to bake -- they have ruled out frying already -- than mandating color-coordinated pretzel platters."

Democrats say the point is to build habits that will endure long after the convention. To that end, the city has staged "greening workshops" attended by hundreds of caterers, restaurant owners and hotel managers. "It's the new patriotism," Mayor Hickenlooper says.
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Joanne Katz, who runs the Denver caterer Three Tomatoes, will take one for the green team by removing her fried goat-cheese won tons with chipotle pepper caramel sauce from the menu. But she questions whether some of the guidelines will have the desired earth-saving effects.

Compostable utensils, she says, are often shipped from Asia on fuel-guzzling cargo ships. As for the plates: "Is it better to drive across town to have china delivered to an event and then use hot water to wash it, or is it better to use petroleum-based disposables?" she asks.
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But it's almost inevitable that principles, politics and profit will conflict.

To wit: Coors Brewing Co., in Golden, Colo., will donate biofuel made from beer waste to power the convention's fleet of flex-fuel vehicles. A green star for the convention -- but it has rankled die-hard liberals, who boycotted Coors in the 1960s and '70s to protest hiring practices that they said discriminated against blacks, Latinos, women and gays. Heirs to the Coors fortune have long been active in conservative causes and Republican politics.
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No matter, grumbles Anna Flynn, a longtime union member from Denver who objected to the donation. "Any way you put it, it's still Coors," she says.
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Watching the greening frenzy from afar, Fred L. Smith Jr., president of the libertarian Washington think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute, suggested the Democrats could really shrink their footprint by staging a virtual-reality convention: "Just have everyone stay at home with their laptops, sitting in their pajamas, interacting through their avatars."

Ms. Robinson, the greening director, says big showy conventions are part of the American political tradition, and thus worth a few emissions here and there. Also, she hates to be a killjoy.

True, she did try (unsuccessfully) to get bottled water banned from the convention hall. But remember those balloons? She checked the compost heap last week -- and found them still intact.
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So will the fanny packs -- made in the USA of undyed, organic fabric. Mr. DeMasse vows to get a union shop to print the logo, but he says the ink will be petroleum based. Unless, that is, he decides to get the logo embroidered -- with biodegradable thread.
Reference Here>>

There are always veggies left in bins after the weekend farmers’ market. You just can’t eat ‘em all. After a couple of days grace, the remains are off to the compost heap. Today, it’s a nice selection! Image Credit: Tiny Farm Blog

And This –

Caterers find eco-standards tough to chew
By Douglas Brown - The Denver Post - 05/18/2008 11:33:44 PM MDT

Fried shrimp on a bed of jasmine rice and a side of mango salad, all served on a styrofoam plate. Bottled water to wash it all down.

These trendy catering treats are unlikely to appear on the menu at parties sponsored by the Denver 2008 Host Committee during the Democratic National Convention this summer.

Fried foods are forbidden at the committee's 22 or so events, as is liquid served in individual plastic containers. Plates must be reusable, like china, recyclable or compostable. The food should be local, organic or both.

And caterers must provide foods in "at least three of the following five colors: red, green, yellow, blue/purple, and white," garnishes not included, according to a Request for Proposals, or RFP, distributed last week.

The shrimp-and-mango ensemble? All it's got is white, brown and orange, so it may not have the nutritional balance that generally comes from a multihued menu.

"Blue could be a challenge," joked Ed Janos, owner of Cook's Fresh Market in Denver. "All I can think of are blueberries."
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"I think it's a great idea for our community and our environment. The question is, how practical is it?" asks Nick Agro, the owner of Whirled Peas Catering in Commerce City. "We all want to source locally, but we're in Colorado. The growing season is short. It's dry here. And I question the feasibility of that."

Agro's biggest worry is price. Using organic and local products hikes the costs.

"There is going to be sticker shock when those bids start coming in," he says. "I'll cook anything, but I've had clients who have approached me about all-organic menus, and then they see the organic stuff pretty much doubles your price."

The document, which applies only to the host committee's parties, came after months of work that involved discussions with caterers and event planners along the Front Range, says Parry Burnap, Denver's "greening" director.
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"We are hoping that everything we are doing for greening (the convention) has some legacy value," she says.

The RFP, for example, will likely live on after the convention in a brochure the city will distribute widely to help guide local businesses interested in improving their green practices.
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"It takes some creativity because some of these things are more expensive," she says. "But we're at the front end of a market shift."
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Burnap acknowledged that figuring out what is most green can be difficult.
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"One we are talking about now is, is it better to compost or to recycle? If you are using a cup for a beverage, is it better to be (plastic) and back in the materials stream, or compostable, biodegradable waste and go into the waste stream or compost? There are no definitive answers."

Composting for the convention hasn't been entirely figured out yet, she says.
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The committee is working with other groups to develop a carbon-footprint "calculator" that will measure the environmental impact of each event and suggest an "offset" — a fee — that will go toward a fund helping to match carbon losses with carbon gains.

"That's a fun one," Burnap says. "If these event planners will calculate and offset, it will start to get the money flowing into the Colorado Carbon Fund, a fund that will reinvest in renewable energy here in Colorado."
Reference Here>>

Say hello to the green exchange, spearheaded by a leading cast of energy and environmental brokers -investors- who are launching a new exchange for trading credits that offset the global warming greenhouse gas emissions. Image Credit: triplepundit.com

So who really profits from such demanded activity?

It is time to re-think what we really wish for when we are deciding to change things up in the structure of our country.

The Democrats, through their own controlling management styles and behaviors, are showing all of the citizens here in the United States how a Democrat Party headed up by a Barack Obama presidency will be. Personal freedoms and choices will be reduced and/or eliminated.

We are already hearing it in the speeches, as Obama preaches that we all should be driving smaller cars while willingly paying continually increasing prices for fuel (no problem, they would like to see $10.00 a gallon gas if it were up to them), wearing sweaters instead of expecting warm homes, etc. It is a short Democrat drive to an America that can quickly feel like a third world nation given the expectations of our Democrat Party.

While in Denver, attending the "second coming" and coronation of the party's new leader, here’s hoping you enjoy your confetti-colored appetizer with your biodegradable fork. I hope the plate holding the meal of the day does not disintegrate, or fold in your lap!

Kid Nation … Why Growing Up Is Hard - Guylan: Age 11

Kid Nation logo - Image Credit: CBS

Kid Nation … Why Growing Up Is Hard - Guylan: Age 11

In the early 1990’s, before Rudy Giuliani became the Mayor, radio talk show host, Rush Limbaugh would always describe New York City as the place where every liberal dream was tried and had come true. Liberal thinking and governance had failed in allowing the city to be a nice place to live.

When people are asked … how did they arrive at looking at politics from a conservative viewpoint - they generally state … well, I grew up and I have responsibilities.

To read some of the quotes attributed to the "Kid" cast members of a new reality television show to be aired on CBS one begins to gain insight to why growing up and taking on responsibility might be a good thing.

Take the following example of an eleven year old kid from Upton, Massachusetts named Guylan. He is quoted as thinking that Fidel Castro is a world leader that should be admired. The specific reasons he sites are Fidel's accomplishments that include the overthrow of a government, the instillation of a socialist system, and his ability to remain in control against every effort put forward by the United States to remove him.

Are we really sure that Guylan wrote these opinions by himself? Honestly, we at MAXINE know a few eleven year old human beings and we DOUBT the validity of the following quotes taken from the CBS website set up to engage potential viewers. Take a read and let us know what you think. Who makes this stuff up?

Excerpted from “Kid Nation on CBS”, the website that holds the claim - “Check out the bios created & designed by the kids” -

Kid Nation on CBS
Premieres Wednesday, September 19, 8PM ET/PT

Guylan: Age 11
Upton, MA

What world leader do you admire?

Fidel Castro is a world leader that I admire for many reasons. Firstly, he led a revolution against a corrupt government ruled by an evil dictator named Fulgencio Batista. Then he went on to lead the country of Cuba by ousting their existing political system in order to instill a socialist government throughout the country. That meant out with the rich and corrupt and in with a more fair and balanced environment for his people. Although he has not always been fair nor kind in how he governed, he is like the energizer bunny, he just keeps going and going and going…! And no matter how many times we try to assassinate him, he just doesn't die. Although it is more difficult for his country to succeed due to the embargo banning trade with Cuba, he and his people have persevered and shown the USA that we can kick him and fight him all the way, but he just won't fall down.
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What makes a good leader?

What I think makes a good leader is a person who can wield power without becoming corrupt. I also think that a good leader should have the right balance of courage and common sense. A good leader must be patient and able to deal with people in a manner that gets a good response. Instead of screaming in their faces and calling them incompetent he/she should see what he/she can do to help them succeed. A good leader does not need to be recognized through his or her actions and successes but only though the successes of those he or she leads. That is how he or she knows they have done well.

Who have been some of the best U.S. presidents, and why?

Washington, because without him I don't think our country would be as strong as it is now. He led the war for independence and by being the first president, helped to found and was first to be elected to, a rarely used (at that time) kind of political system.
Thomas Jefferson, because he was another person who played a key role in the founding of our nation. He wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence and helped to start the train of ending slavery moving by including a paragraph against slavery. "He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither." Unfortunately it was not included in the final draft and he himself owned many slaves.

Who have been some of the worst U.S. presidents, and why?

One president I think was really bad is James Buchanan. He was pro-slavery and wanted to make Kansas a slave state. Luckily, the Free-Soil cause kept him from doing that. By the time he left office the civil war was bound to happen. George W. Bush is in my opinion one of the worst. No offence to Mr. Bush. Here are a couple reasons. One, he wants to start drilling for oil in Alaska. Why would he do that? Ummmmmm... we need oil? Well, that is true since we haven't done anything to change our dependence on it. What Mr. Bush could do to make oil not so much of a problem is to fund the development of alternative fuels such as solar, hydro and wind. However, I don't believe that we should use nuclear. It may be a fuel that doesn't contribute to global warming, but it has large problems of its own. Another thing, why are we in Iraq? Did they attack us? Maybe I've been watching the wrong news or reading the wrong websites but I don't think they attacked us.
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If you had the power to change one or two things about our country right now, what would it be?

Well, I would like to change the president to one who actually cares about global warming and will do something about it instead of just putting it aside until later... I would also increase funds to save the few remaining wild places and wild life parks and reserves in the hopes of being an example for other countries.

If you could put into place one law that pertains to kids in our country, what would it be?

If there were one law that I could put into place it would be for kids 9 and up to have the right to vote.

Why are some people rich and others poor?

People are rich or poor depending on life circumstances. This includes where people come from, what types of opportunity surround them and what decisions they make in life. Some bad decisions can cause different levels of poverty and sadness. An example of a bad decision would be drinking irresponsibly and having unprotected relations which can lead to unwanted children that create financial burdens. An example of decisions that may lead to wealth might be to complete your education by receiving a degree that will allow you to become a wealthy businessman with a wife and two kids and a very stable job that you enjoy doing.

Do you believe global warming is a fact or a myth?
If you think it is a fact, what would you do about it if you were in charge?

I believe it is a fact and If I were in charge I would cut emissions by slowly severing our ties to fossil fuels and exploring different sources of energy such as wind, hydro power, solar power, and last but not least definitely not nuclear power.
Reference Here>>

These “BIOS” are a scam … they have to be a scam … just take a look at the highlighted snippets and ask yourself, “Is this knowledge that a real eleven year old kid would actually write about (even though he might have had the questions in advance)?

Remember, Guylan is only eleven years old ... he wonders why we are in Iraq ... considering that he was only about five years old when the World Trade Towers were taken down with hijacked passenger jet airplanes on September 11, 2001, how could he ever be expected to connect the dots.

“Kid Nation” should be renamed “Lib Village”!

Al Gore Jr. Goes For The Gold

Al Gore and Melissa Etheridge at the Oscars … “Going For The Gold” – Image Credit: Myung J. Chun / LAT

Al Gore Jr. Goes For The Gold
Or ... Changing SOS (dot, dot, dot - dash, dash, dash - dot, dot, dot) into “ORO” (dash, dash, dash - dot, dash, dot - dash, dash, dash)

After watching and listening to some of the Live Earth presentations that were played out over the 7-7-07 weekend, we at MAXINE are beginning to understand a little more about the psyche of, and what is important to, Al Gore Jr.

On a day when “Live Earth – The Concerts For A Climate In Crisis” was trying to bring awareness to the perils of the Earth going through its process of climate transition from cooler to warmer to cooler again … Al Gore Jr. wants us (humans) to focus on reducing our carbon “footprint” and that this situation of the Earth’s temperature rising will be corrected if we just (and he really means this) “buy” in to the concept of carbon offsets.

Al Gore Jr., through Live Earth – “The Largest Entertainment Event Ever”, is “leading the charge”, “starting the avalanche”, and driving the groundswell of the global masses to think that if they just begin to feel better about their “choices” as it relates to the way they invest in the carbon reducing infrastructure, we will create a better, more stable Earth.

What a monumental task!

Al Gore Jr. has the answer, oh really, one might ask!

A state fair takes place in the parking lot of the Giants Stadium during Live Earth in New York. Image Credit: Bryan Bedder / Getty Images Jul 8, 2007

Excerpts from the Canada Free Press -

Maurice Strong, Al Gore [Jr.]
Creators of carbon credit scheme cashing in on it
By Judi McLeod - Tuesday, March 13, 2007

There's an elephant in global warming's living room that few in the mainstream media want to talk about: the creators of the carbon credit scheme are the ones cashing in on it.

The two cherub like choirboys singing loudest in the Holier Than Thou Global Warming Cathedral are Maurice Strong and Al Gore.

This duo has done more than anyone else to advance the alarmism of man-made global warming.

With little media monitoring, both Strong and Gore are cashing in on the lucrative cottage industry known as man-made global warming.

Strong is on the board of directors of the Chicago Climate Exchange, Wikipedia-described as "the world's first and North America's only legally binding greenhouse gas emission registry reduction system for emission sources and offset projects in North America and Brazil."

Gore buys his carbon off-sets from himself--the Generation Investment Management LLP, "an independent, private, owner-managed partnership established in 2004 with offices in London and Washington, D.C." of which he is both chairman and founding partner.

To hear the saving-the-earth singsong of this dynamic duo, even the feather light petals of cherry blossoms in Washington leave a bigger carbon footprint.

It's a strange global warming partnership that Strong and Gore have, but it's one that's working.
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The skeptics of man-made global warming believe that Gore and Strong have made climate change "the new religion". Climate change is not the first religion both parties have tried to make stick. Along with former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Strong, currently president of the Earth Council, has been boasting of replacing the Ten Commandments with the Earth Charter, a golden rule guide for how the masses should treat the environment.

Gore, who has given sermons at the United Nations sponsored Cathedral of St. John the Divine Church in New York City, is a promoter of the religion known as Gaia [and, of course the promoter of the 7 Point Pledge introduced at Live Earth].

The two environmental gurus also share a belief in radical Malthusian population reduction. According to them, too many people, particularly in the U.S. are polluting the planet, emitting excessive Freon through their refrigerators and jacking up the air conditioning.
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The tawdry tale of the top two global warming gurus in the business world goes all the way back to Earth Day, April 17, 1995 when the future author of "An Inconvenient Truth" traveled to Fall River, Massachusetts, to deliver a green sermon at the headquarters of Molten Metal Technology Inc. (MMTI). MMTI was a firm that proclaimed to have invented a process for recycling metals from waste. Gore praised the Molten Metal firm as a pioneer in the kind of innovative technology that can save the environment, and make money for investors at the same time.

"Gore left a few facts out of his speech that day.

First, the firm was run by Strong and a group of Gore intimates, including Peter Knight, the firm's registered lobbyist, and Gore's former top Senate aide," wrote EIR.

"Second, the company had received more than $25 million in U.S. Department of energy (DOE) research and development grants, but had failed to prove that the technology worked on a commercial scale. The company would go on to receive another $8 million in federal taxpayers' cash, at that point, its only source of revenue.

"With Al Gore's Earth Day as a Wall Street calling card, Molten Metal's stock value soared to $35 a share." further stated EIR
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But along the way, DOE scientists had balked at further funding. When, in March 1996, corporate officers concluded that the federal cash cow was about to run dry, they took action: Between that date and October 1996, seven corporate officers --including Maurice Strong-- sold off $15.3 million in personal shares in the company, at top market value. On Oct. 20, 1996 --a Sunday-- the company issued a press release, announcing for the first time, that DOE funding would be vastly scaled back, and reported the bad news on a conference call with stockbrokers.

"On Monday, the stock plunged by 49%, soon landing at $5 a share. By early 1997, furious stockholders had filed a class action suit against the company and its directors. Ironically, one of the class action lawyers had tangled with Maurice Strong in another insider trading case, involving a Swiss company called AZL Resources, chaired by Strong, who was also a lead shareholder. The AZL case closely mirrored Molten Metal, and in the end, Strong and the other AZL partners agreed to pay $5 million to dodge a jury verdict, when eyewitness evidence surfaced of Strong's role in scamming the value of the company stock up into the stratosphere, before selling it off." - EIR
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In that year, Gore, still U.S. vice president, was making news for "taking the initiative in creating the Internet."

The leaders of the man-made global warming movement, you might say, get around.

Meanwhile Jumbo's still in global warming's living room, but the duo with the tiniest carbon footprints on earth continue to just tiptoe past him.
Reference Here>>

In the aftermath of this weekend’s awareness and alarmist global warming crisis effort, Live Earth, we all need to keep an eye out to understand the answer to the following question … just when is a conspiracy a theory or a theory a conspiracy?

Excerpts from The Alliance for Climate Protection website, the official website and business effort designed to change minds and attitudes of all who are directed to their cause -

The Alliance for Climate Protection
Who We Are – Selected Biographies – 7 Point Pledge (first introduced in conjunction with the Live Earth event)

Who We Are

The people involved in the Alliance bring with them substantial cross-sectoral experience covering government, business, and civil society. They have a track-record of breaking through the din of background noise on issues related to climate change. They also bring with them substantial cross-sectoral experience covering government (both public service and political), business (including energy, technology, finance and media), and civil society (within and beyond the environmental communities). We will be completely non-partisan in pursuing our mission.

Board of Directors and Advisory Committee: The Alliance for Climate Protection has a highly experienced Board of Directors. The bipartisan Board has combined decades of experience in alliance-building with Wall Street, religious communities, local government, entertainment and other constituencies not traditionally engaged in environmental issues.
Reference Here>>

Selected Biographies

Al Gore, Jr.
Chairman of the Board, Alliance for Climate Protection
Chairman, Generation Investment Management
Former Vice President Al Gore is cofounder and Chairman of Generation Investment Management, a firm that is focused on a new approach to Sustainable Investing.

Gore is also cofounder and Chairman of Current TV, an independently owned cable and satellite television network for young people based on viewer-created content and citizen journalism.

A member of the Board of Directors of Apple Computer, Inc. and a Senior Advisor to Google, Inc. Gore is also Visiting Professor at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Mr. Gore is the author of An Inconvenient Truth, currently a best-selling book on the threat of and solutions to global warming, and the subject of the movie of the same title, which has already become one of the top documentary films in history.

Since his earliest days in the U. S. Congress 30 years ago, Al Gore has been the leading advocate for confronting the threat of global warming. His pioneering efforts were outlined in his best-selling book Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit (1992). He led the Clinton-Gore Administration's efforts to protect the environment in a way that also strengthens the economy.

Al Gore was born on March 31, 1948, the son of former U.S. Senator Albert Gore, Sr. and Pauline Gore. Raised in Carthage, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C., he received a degree in government with honors from Harvard University in 1969. After graduation, he volunteered for enlistment in the U.S. Army and served in the Vietnam War. Upon returning from Vietnam, Al Gore became an investigative reporter with the Tennessean in Nashville, where he also attended Vanderbilt University's Divinity School and then Law School.

Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, reside in Nashville, Tennessee. They have four children- Karenna, Kristin, Sarah, and Albert III; and two grandchildren: Wyatt Gore Schiff and Anna Hunger Schiff.

Reference Here>>

Cathy Zoi
CEO, Alliance for Climate Protection

Cathy Zoi has spent two decades in the energy and environmental sector in both the United States and Australia.

From 2003 until joining the Alliance in February 2007, she served as Group Executive Director at the Bayard Group in Sydney, Australia. Bayard is the world leader in smart metering systems with operations in 30 countries and revenues in excess of $1.2 billion. At Bayard, her work focused on energy markets in North America, Europe, India, China and Brazil.

Cathy served as Chair of the Board at the Climate Institute, a nonprofit Australian organization whose purpose is to focus public attention on the impact and importance of climate change. She was a member of the International Climate Change Taskforce (ICCT), a coalition of policymakers, business leaders, scientists, and non-governmental organizations from Britain, Australia and the United States. Launched in 2004, ICCT formulated a climate change strategy that went ‘beyond Kyoto (Protocol)’ and made specific recommendations to member governments in January 2005.

Prior to joining Bayard, Cathy was Assistant Director General of the New South Wales EPA. She co-chaired the Australian government’s Sustainability Environmental Advisory Council and was the founding CEO of the Sustainable Energy Development Authority, a $50 million fund to commercialize greenhouse-friendly technology.

Prior to arriving in Australia in 1995, she served as Chief of Staff at the Council on Environmental Quality in the Clinton-Gore Administration, where she managed the staff working on greenhouse and energy policies, the “Forest Plan” (innovative regulatory schemes for reducing pollution), and the “Greening of the White House.” She was also a manager at the US Environmental Protection Agency where she pioneered the Energy Star Program. Previously, she worked as an energy analyst at ICF Incorporated and Pacific Gas & Electric Company.
Reference Here>>

Earth Live 7 Point Pledge - Image Credit: ecj-MAXINE (still lifted from Earth Live video from press conference)

7 Point Pledge

(first introduced in conjunction with the Live Earth event)

I pledge, you pledge, we all win

Talk is cheap, but inaction is expensive, especially when the climate is in crisis.

Take this pledge and then post it on your fridge, make it your screensaver, tape it near the back door or put a tiny version inside your wallet. Then explain to others why this is important so that they too will take the pledge.

Hang it up in the coffee room at work. Post it on the community bulletin boards downtown or at the local library. This is all about doing something for yourself and your loved ones. For your wife, husband, partner, mom, dad, sister, brother, niece, nephew, cousin; it's for your neighbor, your teacher, your car mechanic, your mailman, your doctor, your best friend, your worst enemy; it's for your children... it's for everybody's children. It's for today, tomorrow, and every tomorrow that follows.

Take the pledge for you and for everyone. I pledge:

To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2 years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth;

To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become "carbon neutral;"

To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2;

To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation;

To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal;

To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting forests; and,

To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and prosperous world for the 21st century.
Reference Here>>

Talk about becoming a mind-numbed ROBOT … what the left loves to call anyone who might tune-in and listen to Talk Radio!

We, at MAXINE, are struck by the extreme conflict of interests outlined in the biographies contained in the backgrounds of the figureheads of this organization (ACP) that professes in its mission (About) statement that it is bi-partisan, and have a track-record of breaking through the din of background noise on issues related to climate change.

Correct us if we are wrong, but wasn’t Live Earth and the 7 Point Pledge a play at creating a single point-of-view approach (not bi-partisan) and add to the global din of background noise on the issue of the Earth’s normal climate transitioning from cool to warm and back to cool again while creating the argument as to why people should give their money and voting power away to those who stand on one side of an unresolved scientific issue?

When Conspiracy is as Conspiracy does … it no longer qualifies as a theory!

At Live Earth it was SOS (for Save Our Selves) but the real effort for Al Gore Jr. and the companies he is involved with .. it is all about ORO (as in spanish for Gold) dash, dash, dash - dot, dash, dot - dash, dash, dash.

Sheehan: Don’t Cry For Me, America … Exit Stage Left

Peace activist Cindy Sheehan speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2007 where House Democrats were meeting. Sheehan, the soldier's mother who galvanized an anti-war movement with her monthlong protest outside President Bush's ranch, says she's done being the public face of the movement. 'I've been wondering why I'm killing myself and wondering why the Democrats caved in to George Bush,' Sheehan told The Associated Press by phone Tuesday, May 29, 2007 while driving from her property in Crawford to the airport, where she planned to return to her native California. Image Credit: AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke

Sheehan: Don’t Cry For Me, America … Exit Stage Left

Moonbat and grieving mom, Cindy Sheehan, leaves Texas to pursue a “normal” life back in California.

In an open letter posted at the Daily Kos (a politically liberal commentary website), Sheehan finally comes clean as to her love of the country she lives in and will not leave.

Honestly, it is one thing to want to work for the things one wants to change about the country one lives in, it is clearly another to profess to want to better the country without recognizing what the majority of the people really want. In this case, Americans really want to pursue their freely lead lives without interruption … and that includes keeping ones focus on American Idol as opposed to responding to what Cindy Sheehan thinks or does.

I guess it really is “Up To Us Now” ... to live our lives without having to hear how horrible we are, while wanting to KEEP our freedoms.

Excerpts from the Associated Press -

'It's up to you now': Sheehan quits
By ANGELA K. BROWN, Associated Press Writer - 21 minutes ago

FORT WORTH, Texas - Cindy Sheehan, the soldier's mother who galvanized an anti-war movement with her monthlong protest outside President Bush's ranch, said Tuesday she's done being the public face of the movement.

"I've been wondering why I'm killing myself and wondering why the Democrats caved in to George Bush," Sheehan told The Associated Press while driving from her property in Crawford to the airport, where she planned to return to her native California.

"I'm going home for awhile to try and be normal," she said.

In what she described as a "resignation letter," Sheehan wrote in her online diary on the "Daily Kos" blog: "Good-bye America ... you are not the country that I love and I finally realized no matter how much I sacrifice, I can't make you be that country unless you want it.

"It's up to you now."
----
"I have endured a lot of smear and hatred since Casey was killed and especially since I became the so-called "Face" of the American anti-war movement," Sheehan wrote in the diary.

On Memorial Day, she came to some "heartbreaking conclusions," she wrote.

When she had first taken on Bush, Sheehan was a darling of the liberal left. "However, when I started to hold the Democratic Party to the same standards that I held the Republican Party, support for my cause started to erode and the 'left' started labeling me with the same slurs that the right used," she wrote.

"I guess no one paid attention to me when I said that the issue of peace and people dying for no reason is not a matter of 'right or left', but 'right and wrong,'" the diary says.
----
Sheehan said she had sacrificed a 29-year marriage and endured threats to put all her energy into stopping the war. What she found, she wrote, was a movement "that often puts personal egos above peace and human life."
----
"Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives," she wrote. It is so painful to me to know that I bought into this system for so many years and Casey paid the price for that allegiance. I failed my boy and that hurts the most."

"I am going to take whatever I have left and go home," Sheehan wrote.

"Camp Casey has served its purpose. It's for sale. Anyone want to buy five beautiful acres in Crawford, Texas?"
Reference Here>>

We at MAXINE, Cindy, feel that your "boy" did not fail the rest of us that love the freedoms this country affords all of us ... including you. Your son died protecting our country and our way of life ... try to be proud of that while you pursue a normal life back in California.

Truth? Fiction? A Sense Or Nonsense Film Premier

“An Inconvenient Truth ... Or Convenient Fiction?” is an entertaining, fact-based look at the climate change issue featuring Dr. Steven Hayward, PRI Director of Environmental Studies and F.K. Weyerhauser, Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Image Credit: Pacific Research Institute

Truth? Fiction? A Sense Or Nonsense Film Premier

Today, the film premier of "An Inconvenient Truth … Or Convenient Fiction?" is being presented by the Pacific Research Institute in San Francisco at the Embarcadero Center Cinema - 1 Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, CA 94111.

The film will be premiered at NO COST with the Reception to start at 7:00 pm, with the Screening to begin at 7:30 pm.

Further, two more movie premieres are scheduled for:

April 18, 2007 Movie screening – Washington, D.C.

April 24, 2007 Movie screening – New York City

The movie is the work of Dr. Steven Hayward, PRI Senior Fellow in Environmental Studies, American Enterprise Institute F.K. Weyerhaeuser Fellow. Image Credit: Pacific Research Institute

To provide an additional insight to the work of Dr. Steven Hayward, here is an assay about the alarmist focus being brought to the issue of climate change, and more specifically, the hysteria that is intention of Al Gore's recent Oscar winning film, "An Inconvenient Truth".

This from an opinion essay posted at the Pacific Research Institute -

Gore on the Rocks
by Steven F. Hayward - March 21, 2007

Consensus is reached: Gore’s global-warming alarmism is overblown.

As international celebrity and film star Al Gore prepared to testify about global warming on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, it was already apparent that the hot air may be leaking out of the global-warming balloon.

After a year of concentrated effort that includes a multimillion-dollar p.r. campaign on top of An Inconvenient Truth and slavish media coverage parroting the climate-alarmist line, recent polls show that public opinion has barely budged. Only about a third of Americans, according to a recent Gallup survey, are agitated about climate change, and even people who say the environment is their most important issue rank climate change behind air and water quality in importance.

Meanwhile a backlash in the scientific community has begun. Last week, New York Times veteran science reporter William Broad filed a devastating article about scientists who are “alarmed” at Gore’s alarmism; Gore’s account of global warming goes far beyond the evidence. The dissents from Gore’s extremism, Broad explained, “come not only from conservative groups and prominent skeptics of catastrophic warming, but also from rank-and-file scientists” who have “no political ax to grind.” It appears Gore refused to be interviewed directly for the article; he responded to e-mail questions only.

This backlash has been quietly building for a while. In November, Mike Hulme, director of Britain’s Tyndall Center for Climate Change Research, expressed his unease about climate alarmism to the BBC:

I have found myself increasingly chastised by climate change campaigners when my public statements and lectures on climate change have not satisfied their thirst for environmental drama and exaggerated rhetoric. It seems that it is we, the professional climate scientists, who are now the [catastrophe] skeptics. How the wheel turns. Why is it not just campaigners, but politicians and scientists too, who are openly confusing the language of fear, terror and disaster with the observable physical reality of climate change, actively ignoring the careful hedging which surrounds science’s predictions? To state that climate change will be ‘catastrophic’ hides a cascade of value-laden assumptions which do not emerge from empirical or theoretical science.

Then in December, Kevin Vranes of the University of Colorado, by no means a climate skeptic, commented on a widely read science blog about his sense of the mood of the most recent meeting of the American Geophysical Union, where Gore had made his standard climate presentation. “To sum the state of the climate science world in one word, as I see it right now, it is this: tension,” Vranes wrote. “What I am starting to hear is internal backlash. . . None of this is to say that the risk of climate change is being questioned or downplayed by our community; it’s not. It is to say that I think some people feel that we’ve created a monster by limiting the ability of people in our community to question results that say ‘climate change is right here!’”

Gore and other climate extremists have been hammering away at “consensus” science for years now — especially the assessments produced by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). So it is a highly inconvenient truth that the latest IPCC scientific assessment undermines many of Gore’s most spectacular claims. The IPCC says the worst-case sea-level rise this century would be 23 inches; Gore portrays 20 feet or more in his horror film. Ditto for Gore’s claims about hurricanes and melting ice caps; the new IPCC fails to bolster Gore’s alarmism. Already climate alarmists are starting to mutter under their breath that the IPCC is now “too conservative,” but having built up the IPCC as the gold standard of “consensus” science, the alarmists are in the awkward position of being hoist by their own petard. It could be an inconvenient moment for Gore on Wednesday if someone asks him why he is so far outside the scientific consensus on so many aspects of the issue.

A new anti-alarmist documentary from Britain’s iconoclastic Channel Four, The Great Global Warming Swindle, is attracting Internet viewers by the millions. And the most significant blow to climate alarmism came last week in New York, where in a formal debate MIT’s Richard Lindzen and author Michael Crichton decisively defeated the alarmists in an audience vote. You know there is something fundamentally weak about the case for climate catastrophe when you see an alarmist attributing the skeptics’ victory to Crichton’s height rather than the substance of the arguments.

The biggest blow to the climate catastrophists is not any scientific problem, but the hypocrisy of Gore and his Hollywood cheering section, whose profligate energy use cannot be mitigated in the popular mind through “carbon offsets,” even if such offsets worked as advertised. Liberals in the 1960s and 1970s never comprehended how damaging “limousine liberalism” was to their cause. They seem even more oblivious to the self-inflicted wounds of “Gulfstream liberalism.” Whatever the intricacies of climate science, middle-class citizens understand that Gore wants them to use less energy and pay more for it, while he and his Hollywood pals use as much as they want and buy their way out of guilt, like a medieval indulgence. In the companion book to An Inconvenient Truth, Gore writes that “a good way to reduce the amount of energy you use is simply to buy less. Before making a purchase, ask yourself if you really need it.” Gore decided that he does need it — for all four of his homes and his pool house.

The ultimate sign that climate change is more about politics than science is the repeated “go-slow” statements of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders. If climate change is really the greatest threat in mankind’s history, with the catastrophic tipping point less than 10 years away, why go slow in crafting legislation to save the planet? Perhaps Pelosi and other congressional Democrats have paid attention to the overwhelming consensus of economists — one climate consensus that Gore resolutely ignores — that serious greenhouse-gas emission cuts fail every conceivable cost-benefit test. Faced with the climate-policy equivalent of HillaryCare, Pelosi would prefer to save her majority rather than save the planet.
Reference Here>>

We are told at MAXINE, that DVD's and clips of the movie will be made available at the Pacific Research Institute website and that it is expected to be posted on YouTube. When it becomes available at YouTube ... it will be posted here.

UPDATE: Video
(ht: Power Line)

WHEREAS - New Mexico Declares Pluto A "Planet"

HUBBLE PORTRAIT OF THE "DOUBLE PLANET" PLUTO & CHARON - This is the clearest view yet of the distant planet Pluto and its moon, Charon, as revealed by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The image was taken by the European Space Agency's Faint Object Camera on February 21, 1994 when the planet was 2.6 billion miles (4.4 billion kilometers) from Earth; or nearly 30 times the separation between Earth and the sun.

Hubble's corrected optics show the two objects as clearly separate and sharp disks. This now allows astronomers to measure directly (to within about 1 percent) Pluto's diameter of 1440 miles (2320 kilometers) and Charon's diameter of 790 miles (1270 kilometers). Caption & Image Credit: Dr. R. Albrecht, ESA/ESO Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility; NASA

WHEREAS - New Mexico Declares Pluto A "Planet"

Only in America can a Government (in this case, a state Government) declare that a scientific determination is wrong and overturn it.

Pluto is a planet because, according to New Mexico, Pluto was discovered from a facility located in New Mexico, by a longtime resident of New Mexico, with a telescope operated by a university in New Mexico!

So states a "Joint Memorial" put forth today at a session of the legislature of New Mexico.

This, of course, is what Al Gore wants all Governments to do on behalf of his Global Warming POV, in reverse.

Global Warming, or at least the argument that human activity and CO2 gasses created by human activity is the cause of the recent percieved changes in the climate on Earth, should not necessarily be proven, but declared FACT through Government action.

Of course, this would mean that the Government would be able to micro-manage every aspect of human activity to the detriment of our freedoms in the pursuit of happiness.

The Government has the obligation to first prove something is true beyond a shadow of a doubt before it enters into the "lemming march" process to wholesale communistic dictatorship.

Memorial text for HJM054, State of New Mexico -

A JOINT MEMORIAL

DECLARING PLUTO A PLANET AND DECLARING MARCH 13, 2007, "PLUTO PLANET DAY" AT THE LEGISLATURE.

WHEREAS, the state of New Mexico is a global center for astronomy, astrophysics and planetary science; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico is home to world class astronomical observing facilities, such as the Apache Point observatory, the very large array, the Magdalena Ridge observatory and the national solar observatory; and

WHEREAS, Apache Point observatory, operated by New Mexico state university, houses the astrophysical research consortium's three-and-one-half meter telescope, as well as the unique two-and-one-half meter diameter Sloan digital sky survey telescope; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico state university has the state's only independent, doctorate-granting astronomy department; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico state university and Dona Ana county were the longtime home of Clyde Tombaugh, discoverer of Pluto; and

WHEREAS, Pluto has been recognized as a planet for seventy-five years; and

WHEREAS, Pluto's average orbit is three billion six hundred ninety-five million nine hundred fifty thousand miles from the sun, and its diameter is approximately one thousand four hundred twenty-one miles; and

WHEREAS, Pluto has three moons known as Charon, Nix and Hydra; and

WHEREAS, a spacecraft called new horizons was launched in January 2006 to explore Pluto in the year 2015;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that, as Pluto passes overhead through New Mexico's excellent night skies, it be declared a planet and that March 13, 2007 be declared "Pluto Planet Day" at the legislature.
Reference Here>>

As for Pluto, hey, come on ... it WAS a planet for 75 years before it was determined that it wasn't.

Changes in the global temperature of the planet Earth have been happening all the while for hundreds of millions of years. There really isn't any need for a WHEREAS here.

UPDATE (3-13-2007):

The proof that the scientific community continues to be under threat from Governmental organizations (and the Al Gore imperative) is not that hard to find. Take this article from the Telegraph (UK) -

Scientists threatened for 'climate denial'
By Tom Harper, Sunday Telegraph - Last Updated: 12:24am GMT 11/03/2007

Scientists who questioned mankind's impact on climate change have received death threats and claim to have been shunned by the scientific community.

They say the debate on global warming has been "hijacked" by a powerful alliance of politicians, scientists and environmentalists who have stifled all questioning about the true environmental impact of carbon dioxide emissions.

Timothy Ball, a former climatology professor at the University of Winnipeg in Canada, has received five deaths threats by email since raising concerns about the degree to which man was affecting climate change.
----
"Western governments have pumped billions of dollars into careers and institutes and they feel threatened," said the professor.

"I can tolerate being called a sceptic because all scientists should be sceptics, but then they started calling us deniers, with all the connotations of the Holocaust. That is an obscenity. It has got really nasty and personal."

The tracking of the ice ages over time - based on scientific evidence. Image Credit: The Great Global Warming Swindle

Last week, Professor Ball appeared in The Great Global Warming Swindle, a Channel 4 [UK]documentary in which several scientists claimed the theory of man-made global warming had become a "religion", forcing alternative explanations to be ignored.

Richard Lindzen, the professor of Atmospheric Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology - who also appeared on the documentary - recently claimed: "Scientists who dissent from the alarmism have seen their funds disappear, their work derided, and themselves labelled as industry stooges.

"Consequently, lies about climate change gain credence even when they fly in the face of the science."

Dr Myles Allen, from Oxford University, agreed. He said: "The Green movement has hijacked the issue of climate change. It is ludicrous to suggest the only way to deal with the problem is to start micro managing everyone, which is what environmentalists seem to want to do."

Nigel Calder, a former editor of New Scientist, said: "Governments are trying to achieve unanimity by stifling any scientist who disagrees. Einstein could not have got funding under the present system."
Read All>>

Maybe, just as a point of order, Pluto should go DOWN!

On behalf of thretened scientists worldwide, we all should proclaim our rights and not allow New Mexico to trifle with the ruling on Pluto ... Pluto is NOT a planet!

UPDATE - March 18, 2007:

Pluto Casts It's Non-Planet Shadow Today

Even though Pluto has been demoted in status, it still exists. Today the "object" passes between the Earth and a distant star.

Excerpts from Space.com via Yahoo! -

All Eyes on Pluto Sunday
By Jeanna Bryner, Staff Writer - SPACE.com - Thu Mar 15, 10:45 AM ET

Telescopes all over the southwestern United States will turn toward Pluto as it meanders Sunday across the face of a star in the constellation Sagittarius. The observations could help researchers better understand the dwarf planet's atmosphere.

Called an occultation, the phenomenon is akin to a solar eclipse. Just as our Moon casts its shadow onto Earth when it passes directly in front of the Sun, other planets also cast their shadows onto Earth when they pass in front of a star.

"Occultations are the only way we can monitor the atmosphere of Pluto from the Earth," said William Hubbard of the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.

Occultations occur about once every 5 to 10 years for Pluto, but the phenomenon will become more frequent now that Pluto has moved between Earth and the central region of the Milky Way where most of our galaxy's stars reside. With so many chance star encounters, Pluto is expected to experience one or two occultations each year.
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Pluto will pass in front of the star at 6 a.m. Eastern, and take about six minutes to complete its journey. This is about three times longer than typical Pluto occultations. In addition to the relatively long show, the shadow will be cast on the southwestern United States, a region heavily populated with giant telescopes.

The average skywatcher will miss out on a view of the event, unless they are equipped with a 20-inch or larger diameter telescope.
----
Depending on where along its orbit Pluto is in relation to the Sun, its atmosphere ranges from -391 to -274 degrees Fahrenheit (-235 to -170 degrees Celsius).
----
'What we get at the Earth is just a shadow of Pluto-a guest in the starlight,' Hubbard told SPACE.com. 'The radius of the shadow is related to the radius of the atmosphere, how far the atmosphere goes above the surface.'

The observations could also inform future work done by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, en route to Pluto now.
Read All>>

The Quest For Hollywood Cash & Caché

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) speaks to supporters at a rally in Austin, Texas February 23, 2007. Image Credit: REUTERS/Peter A. Silva

The Quest For Hollywood Cash & Caché

It’s a small pond with a lot of very big and influential fish. Hollywood political money, for some on both sides of the process, is more about position and stature than the value of the money and the power it brings.

Rob Reiner, through his political appointment and failed attempts to direct how Californians live and pursue their lives, is only one example of the abuses that may take place when Hollywood money and influence meet up with the potential of placing someone with real political power into office … any office.

All one needs to do is review the events of the past week after a major fund raising event to see how important it is for liberals to court and carry the majority of the “Hollywood Cash & Caché”.

Excerpts from the World Socialist Web Site (a liberal insider’s POV) -

The “scramble for Hollywood:” the Democratic Party and entertainment industry liberals
By David Walsh - 24 February 2007

The squabble that erupted this week between the camps of Democratic Party senators and presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois might best be described as a skirmish in the “scramble for Hollywood.”

The dispute brought to the foreground a sordid reality of contemporary American politics: the general hustling for cash from corporate contributors and wealthy donors that dominates US election campaigns, and the role, in particular, of studio executives and other major figures in Hollywood in funneling tens of millions of dollars to the Democratic Party.

Two Democratic heavyweights for the 2008 presidential nomination - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator Barack Obama - decided to bring their arsenals into the open. And the first salvo has been fired by Clinton in response to remarks made by Obama fundraiser, David Geffen. Image Credit: EARTHTIMES

Clinton and Obama, along with the other Democrats, are presently battling over Hollywood’s treasure trove of campaign funds.

As everyone in America knows and the media brazenly acknowledges, winning the presidential nomination of one of the two major parties depends in large measure on collecting more money than any of your rivals. Success in fund-raising is the principal indication that you are a “serious” candidate. It both confirms that you have the backing of powerful corporate and financial figures, the people who count, and encourages further support from these circles.
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During the Presidents’ Day recess of Congress this week, many politicians found themselves fund-raising in southern California. Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, Senator Barbara Boxer of California, Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois and Senator Joseph Biden, another presidential hopeful, were among those who held one or more events in the Los Angeles area.

Obama’s campaign grabbed the spotlight by organizing a $2,300-per-ticket Beverly Hills reception Tuesday evening, the most significant event this month, attended by film stars, studio executives and others. The affair raised some $1.3 million.

Jennifer Aniston, Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Morgan Freeman, George Clooney, Barbra Streisand, Ron Howard and Dixie Chicks’ lead singer Natalie Maines were reportedly among those who attended. Obama, according to press reports, told the mostly film industry crowd, “Don’t sell yourself short. You are the storytellers of our age.”

The Hillary Clinton-Obama dispute broke out the following day after remarks made by the host of the event, film and recording mogul David Geffen (along with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg, one of the founders of DreamWorks SKG), appeared in Maureen Dowd’s column in the New York Times. Geffen, who raised $18 million for Bill Clinton during his presidency, has thrown his support and considerable influence behind the Illinois junior senator and rival of Hillary Clinton. Geffen asserted that Hillary Clinton was “overproduced and overscripted,” according to Dowd. He criticized her for not apologizing for her 2002 vote in support of the Iraq war.

Dowd wrote that relations between Geffen and the Clintons ruptured in 2001, when the president, during his last hours in office, pardoned international commodities trader Marc Rich while refusing to free political prisoner Leonard Peltier, the American Indian Movement leader who was framed up for the deaths of two FBI agents in 1977.

Geffen commented, “Yet another time when the Clintons were unwilling to stand for the things that they genuinely believe in. Everybody in politics lies, but they do it with such ease, it’s troubling.”

The Clinton camp quickly shot back and the battle of press releases was on.
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The stakes are high for the Democratic candidates. According to Eric Alterman in the September 2004 edition of the Atlantic Monthly, “During the 2000 election cycle, zip-code areas on average yielded slightly more than $35,000 in political contributions, while residents of Beverly Hills, 90210, ponied up slightly more than $6.2 million. In the same year Pacific Palisades, Bel Air, and Brentwood were each good for $1.7 million to $3.3 million.

“In 2002 entertainment ranked first among all industries funding Democratic Party committees, and roughly 80 percent of the industry’s party contributions went to Democratic candidates and committees; just 20 percent went to the Republican Party. From 1989 up to the start of the current election cycle Hollywood had given the party nearly $100 million for federal elections alone—close to the $114 million Republicans received from their friends in the oil and gas industries. Together with organized labor and the trial bar, Hollywood is now one of the three pillars of the Democrats’ financial structure.”
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The Hollywood elite is not a monolith. Film studio and entertainment industry executives, leaders of the handful of enormous conglomerates that largely determine what Americans and much of the world see on cinema and television screens and listen to on CD and radio, belong to the same financial-corporate oligarchy that has a stranglehold over every aspect of American life. These are multi-millionaires and billionaires who have a very large say in determining who should hold political office and protect their interests.

The Center for Responsive Politics notes that the film industry has specific issues which it pursues with the politicians it helps bankroll, including “trade, copyright protection and free speech concerns.” The CRP continues, “While many of the big-name stars give mainly for ideological reasons, the corporate executives who run the industry take a more pragmatic view in dispensing their campaign dollars.
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“A perennial concern of the industry is copyright protection, particularly as it concerns the practice of sharing music and video files via the Internet.
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The film industry executives lean toward the Democrats for cultural and political reasons. The success of their business in this day and age depends on a certain “permissiveness” in the social atmosphere. The dominance of the Christian Right, for example, would not be helpful to those often attempting to market violence and sexual suggestiveness, nor would it accord with the temperaments and lifestyles of writers, directors, actors and musicians by and large.
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The economic concerns of studio chiefs and their general political inclinations merge and overlap with the outlook of the extremely well-heeled layers who make up the upper echelons of the film and music industry in Hollywood and organize support for the Democratic Party — figures like Geffen, Spielberg, Streisand, Rob Reiner, Laurie David (producer-comic Larry David’s wife) and others.

No doubt, in many cases, a sincere desire to see social reform and improve the general conditions of life motivates such people in supporting liberal politicians, as well as environmental and charitable causes.
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However, this is a privileged layer that sees the world and the political process in the US through a thick haze. Its particular brand of liberalism is shaped by a terrible distance from the working population and its concerns, the degree to which it is shielded from everyday life in general by managers, assistants and intermediaries of every sort, and its essential satisfaction with its own lot.
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The continued flow of Hollywood cash to the Democrats, whatever the motives or intentions of its organizers, is a deeply reactionary fact of American political life.
Read All>>

At Maxine, we wonder why all of this Hollywood Cash & Caché can't be directed toward issues of self-reliance and the kind of social reform that leads toward self-determination in the pursuit of happiness here in America … what is so really wrong with that?

I was reminded this morning in a presentation at the church I am prone to attend … with all of the liberal bashing that George Bush gets for being “dumb”, one assumes that the point these people seem to be making is that they posses greater knowledge than others … any others, save themselves.

1 Corinthians 8:1 states that “knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” - I am beginning to think with the more I listen and watch to what is being said this last week in Los Angeles, that people from the upper echelons of the film and music industry in Hollywood like those who organize support for the Democratic Party - figures like Geffen, Spielberg, Streisand, Rob Reiner, Laurie David (producer-comic Larry David’s wife) and others feel they have great knowledge … but lack love.

The Oscars are on tonight so here at MAXINE we plan on tuning in to "feel the love".

NOTE: After watching last nights Oscar presentations ... the key to get Hollywood Democrat CASH a flowin'? ... one word - CRISIS!

POV Point, Counterpoint – Global Warming Opinion Intentions

A general view shows the lower house of Parliament Bundestag inside the Reichstags building during a commemoration ceremony to mark the Holocaust memorial day in Berlin January 29, 2007. Image Credit: REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch (GERMANY)

POV Point, Counterpoint – Global Warming Opinion Intentions

When we, at MAXINE, see, listen, or read anything from longtime flame-throwing MSM liberal hack (Boston Globe, The McLaughlin Group (NPR), and go to “talking head” for biting MSM POV commentary for any political talk enterprise) we are stunned at the echo chamber logic expressed given almost any topic she jumps off into.

Usually, it is easy to just discount the views as coming from a very liberal, journalistic, and socialist camp.

That is, until her latest attempt to place people who want to deny that the Holocaust (where people of the Jewish faith were rounded up, taken to prison camps, placed in gas chambers, and executed) actually happened during WWII are used as the measuring stick for people who wish to debate against the proposition that Human activity is the primary cause of Earth’s temperature changes (Global Warming).

Dennis Prager makes it very clear as to how WRONG, damaging, and piously-political her latest column is on the subject of Global Warming in the Boston Globe through his latest column featured in Townhall.

Point, Counterpoint!

This from Dennis Prager, contributing writer for Townhall –

On Comparing Global Warming Denial to Holocaust Denial
By Dennis Prager - Tuesday, February 13, 2007

In her last column, Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman wrote: "Let's just say that global warming deniers are now on a par with Holocaust deniers . . . "

This is worthy of some analysis.

First, it reflects a major difference between the way in which the Left and Right tend to view each other. With a few exceptions, those on the Left tend to view their ideological adversaries as bad people, i.e., people with bad intentions, while those on the Right tend to view their adversaries as wrong, perhaps even dangerous, but not usually as bad.

Those who deny the Holocaust are among the evil of the world. Their concern is not history but hurting Jews, and their attempt to rob nearly six million people of their experience of unspeakable suffering gives new meaning to the word "cruel." To equate those who question or deny global warming with those who question or deny the Holocaust is to ascribe equally nefarious motives to them. It may be inconceivable to Al Gore, Ellen Goodman and their many millions of supporters that a person can disagree with them on global warming and not have evil motives: Such an individual must be paid by oil companies to lie, or lie -- as do Holocaust deniers -- for some other vile reason.

The belief that opponents of the Left are morally similar to Nazis was expressed recently by another prominent person of the Left, George Soros, the billionaire who bankrolls many leftist projects. At the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, Soros called on America to "de-Nazify" just as Germany did after the Holocaust and World War II. For Soros, America in Iraq is like the Nazis in Poland.

A second lesson to be drawn from the Goodman statement is that it helps us to understand better one of the defining mottos of contemporary liberalism: "Question authority." In reality, this admonition applies to questioning the moral authority of Judeo-Christian religions or of any secular conservative authority, but not of any other authority. UN and other experts tell us that there is global warming; such authority is not to be questioned.

Third, the equation of global warming denial to Holocaust denial trivializes Holocaust denial. If questioning global warming is on "a par" with questioning the Holocaust, how bad can questioning the Holocaust really be? The same holds true with regard to Nazism and the George Soros statement. Claiming that America in the Iraq War is morally equivalent to Nazi Germany in World War II trivializes the unparalleled evil of the Nazis.

Fourth, the lack of response (thus far) of any liberal or left individual or organization -- except to defend Ellen Goodman -- or from the Anti-Defamation League, the organization whose primary purpose has been to defend Jews, is telling. Just imagine if, for example, an equally prominent Christian figure had written that denying America is a Christian country is on a par with denying the Holocaust. It would have been front-page news in the mainstream media, the individual would have been excoriated by just about every major liberal individual and group, and the ADL would have cited this as an example of burgeoning Christian anti-Semitism and Holocaust trivialization. But not a word at the ADL on Soros's comments about de-Nazifying America or Goodman's Holocaust-denial comment.

Fifth, and finally, the Ellen Goodman quote is only the beginning of what is already becoming one of the largest campaigns of vilification of decent people in history -- the global condemnation of a) anyone who questions global warming; or b) anyone who agrees that there is global warming but who argues that human behavior is not its primary cause; or c) anyone who agrees that there is global warming, and even agrees that human behavior is its primary cause, but does not believe that the consequences will be nearly as catastrophic as Al Gore does.

If you don't believe all three propositions, you will be lumped with Holocaust deniers, and it would not be surprising that soon, in Europe, global warming deniers will be treated as Holocaust deniers and prosecuted.

Just watch.

That is far more likely than the oceans rising by 20 feet.

Or even 10.

Or even three.
Reference Here>>

Hey Ellen! ... Al! Surf's Up!

Good on ya', Dennis.

Equality Shows Itself In Many Forms

"What are you lookin'at?" --- The Arctic habitat of polar bears is under threat as climate change - [thank GOD this caption did not go with the less provable phrase, Global Warming, which has a politically monied connotation and edge to it]- causes ice to melt. Image Credit: Joseph Napaaqtuq Sage/AP

Equality Shows Itself In Many Forms

Here is an item that might warm your heart and cause the brain cells to spin.

The following story goes into detail as to how some scientists are offered "cash" to dispute the United Nations supported climate study.

At MAXINE, the first thing that leaps to mind is an educational system infrastructure where scientists and educators are awarded grants to "study" the cause and effect of climate and change by bureaucracies and politicians who are able to use government monies to influence and sustain the power they naturally have. Government money is collected, lobbied for by interested parties, assigned to niche programs, and fed to educational research and study programs.

So what is wrong with a little "equal" time and influence in the development of a study or message ... after all, who pays the scientists at the capitalist system-hating United Nations and what is in "IT" for them? The ego, prestige, and political control exerted through international agreements like --- Kyoto, do ya' think?

Fair & Balanced is what we like to see at MAXINE!

Excerpts from The Guardian (UK) –

Scientists offered cash to dispute climate study
Ian Sample, science correspondent - The Guardian - Friday February 2, 2007

Scientists and economists have been offered $10,000 each by a lobby group funded by one of the world's largest oil companies to undermine a major climate change report due to be published today.

Letters sent by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), an ExxonMobil-funded thinktank with close links to the Bush administration, offered the payments for articles that emphasise the shortcomings of a report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Travel expenses and additional payments were also offered.

The UN report was written by international experts and is widely regarded as the most comprehensive review yet of climate change science. It will underpin international negotiations on new emissions targets to succeed the Kyoto agreement, the first phase of which expires in 2012. World governments were given a draft last year and invited to comment.

The AEI has received more than $1.6m from ExxonMobil and more than 20 of its staff have worked as consultants to the Bush administration. Lee Raymond, a former head of ExxonMobil, is the vice-chairman of AEI's board of trustees.

The letters, sent to scientists in Britain, the US and elsewhere, attack the UN's panel as "resistant to reasonable criticism and dissent and prone to summary conclusions that are poorly supported by the analytical work" and ask for essays that "thoughtfully explore the limitations of climate model outputs".

Climate scientists described the move yesterday as an attempt to cast doubt over the "overwhelming scientific evidence" on global warming. "It's a desperate attempt by an organisation who wants to distort science for their own political aims," said David Viner of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia.

"The IPCC process is probably the most thorough and open review undertaken in any discipline. This undermines the confidence of the public in the scientific community and the ability of governments to take on sound scientific advice," he said.
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"Right now, the whole debate is polarised," he said. "One group says that anyone with any doubts whatsoever are deniers and the other group is saying that anyone who wants to take action is alarmist. We don't think that approach has a lot of utility for intelligent policy."
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Ben Stewart of Greenpeace said: "The AEI is more than just a thinktank, it functions as the Bush administration's intellectual Cosa Nostra. They are White House surrogates in the last throes of their campaign of climate change denial. They lost on the science; they lost on the moral case for action. All they've got left is a suitcase full of cash."

On Monday, another Exxon-funded organisation based in Canada will launch a review in London which casts doubt on the IPCC report. Among its authors are Tad Murty, a former scientist who believes human activity makes no contribution to global warming. Confirmed VIPs attending include Nigel Lawson and David Bellamy, who believes there is no link between burning fossil fuels and global warming.
Read All>>

So there you have it, the authoritative and balanced voice of Greenpeace states "The AEI ... functions as the Bush administration's intellectual Cosa Nostra. They are White House surrogates in the last throes of their campaign of climate change denial. They lost on the science; they lost on the moral case for action. All they've got left is a suitcase full of cash."

At this moment, the UN has lost on the debate as to who isn't on the take!

Have we (the world) already forgotten the unimaginable torts and betrayal found in the "Oil-For-Food" program negotiated and managed by the United Nations over this last decade?

Isn't the funding by the UN of a scientific report, that promotes an international agreement, that the United Nations would be tasked in managing, just a little suspect?

At MAXINE, we are just askin' questions.

Additional background information about Kyoto and a reaction from China about the report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).