Animals Don't Kill Animals - PETA Kills Animals

Animals kill animals to eat - PETA kills animals to kill animals

On Wednesday afternoon in a North Carolina courtroom, defense lawyers for two animal-cruelty defendants asked a judge to dismiss dozens of criminal charges. The judge was unimpressed. The defendants, former -- or perhaps still (AP story below) -- employees of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), stand accused of killing adoptable dogs and cats in the back of a van in 2005 and discarding their bodies in a trash dumpster.

While the saga continues to drag on without a firm trial date, it's now settled that defendants Adria Hinkle and Andrew Cook will indeed face felony charges that carry lengthy jail sentences. (ht: Consumer Freedom)

This from Associated Press via Myrtle Beach Online -

Judge declines to dismiss animal cruelty charges in PETA case
Associated Press

WINTON, N.C. - A judge has declined to dismiss felony animal cruelty charges against two PETA workers accused of dumping euthanized animals into a trash container.

Defense lawyers argued Wednesday in Hertford Superior Court that the charges should be dropped because the animals were killed humanely. They also argued that Andrew B. Cook and Adria J. Hinkle are being unfairly prosecuted because some people don't agree with the work of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Cook, of Virginia Beach, Va., and Hinkle, of Norfolk, Va., were arrested last June by Ahoskie police officers who were staking out a trash container in which animal carcasses had previously been found. Detectives testified Wednesday that they arrested Cook and Hinkle after watching them throw several bags of dead animals inside the trash bin.

They also said they found more dead animals in the pair's van, a digital camera with images of living and dead animals and substances later determined to be euthanasia drugs.

Cook and Hinkle each face 21 felony counts of animal cruelty, seven counts of littering for illegally disposing of dead animals and three counts of obtaining property by false pretenses.

PETA spokesman David Perle said in an e-mail Thursday that the organization is confident its employees will be acquitted. Hinkle was suspended pending the outcome of the criminal case, he said. Cook, a new employee at the time, remains with PETA.
Links Here and Here>>

For more background information about this disturbing case, visit http://www.petakillsanimals.com/.

In addition to photos of PETA's furry victims (and the "death kit" tackle box they allegedly used), you can see government reports filed by PETA describing the 14,419 dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens the group has admitted killing since July 1998.

MAXINE says, "It's Good To Be The Pious People Who Claim To Be The Protector Of Animals, PeTA ... NOT"

PeTA workers Andrew Cook and Adria Hinkle hug in Hertford County Criminal Superior Court Friday, Feb. 2, 2007, in Winton, N.C., after a jury found them not guilty of animal cruelty for euthanizing animals they picked up from shelters, but guilty of littering for dumping the animals' bodies. Image Credit: AP Photo/Calvin Bryant

UPDATED 1-22-2007:

From the Department of Irony: PETA Kills Animals
Center for Consumer Freedom's Full-Page Ad in The New York Times and Mobile Billboard Provides Publicity PETA Doesn't Want

WINTON, N.C., Jan. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Two employees of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are facing felony animal-cruelty charges today in Hertford County Superior Court. And the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) is running a full-page ad in The New York Times simply stating the fact that PETA KILLS ANIMALS.

In addition, CCF is sponsoring a mobile billboard to remind Winton and Ahoskie residents about the only Internet website devoted to day-to-day coverage of the trial:

PetaKillsAnimals.com. The billboard truck will be visible outside the Hertford County Courthouse this morning and at the end of the day; it will tour Ahoskie during the early afternoon.

PETA employees Andrew Cook and Adria Hinkle each face 22 counts of Cruelty to Animals and 3 counts of Obtaining Property By False Pretenses. If convicted, they could face between 25 and 30 months in prison for each animal- cruelty count.

On June 15, 2005, Ahoskie police witnessed Hinkle and Cook throwing trash bags containing the bodies of 18 dead pets into a shopping-center dumpster. After arresting them, police recovered 13 additional dead animals from the PETA-owned van in which the two were traveling. Witnesses from the Ahoskie Animal Hospital and the Bertie County Animal Shelter confirmed that Hinkle and Cook had collected the animals, including puppies and kittens, earlier that day with the promise that PETA would find them adoptive homes.

"This trial will really open the eyes of people who don't know about PETA's darker side," said David Martosko, Director of Research at the Center for Consumer Freedom, a nonprofit watchdog that monitors the animal rights movement. "This is an animal rights group that takes in $25 million and kills 90 percent of the pets it receives. That's not ethical. It's hypocritical."

Mr. Martosko will be available to media in Winton this week. To arrange an interview, contact Sarah Longwell at 202-463-7112. Daily updates from the trial will be available at http://www.petakillsanimals.com/.

Public records from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services show that in 2005, the Norfolk-based PETA killed 90 percent of the animals it took in for adoption. By comparison, the nearby Norfolk SPCA killed less than 4 percent of its animals in that same year. The state average was 43 percent. Since 1998, PETA has put down over 14,400 dogs and cats. PETA's 2006 statistics will be made public by the end of January.

For more information about PETA's felony charges, including photographs from the scene of the 2005 arrests, visit http://www.petakillsanimals.com/.

The Center for Consumer Freedom is a nonprofit coalition supported by restaurants, food companies, and consumers, working together to promote personal responsibility and protect consumer choices.

Website: http://www.consumerfreedom.com/
Website: http://www.petakillsanimals.com/
Reference Here>>

This Mark Is No Lark-States Get Serious About RFID

About the size of a grain of rice, the microchip inserts just under the skin and contains only a unique, 16-digit identifier.

Image Credit: VeriChip Corporation


Automatic identification processes, which had their advent with the UPC (Universal Product Code) and its widespread use in the mid-seventies, are excellent at automating, identifying, and defining objects within a space.

Through the years, Auto ID technology has grown from a simple mark placed on an item to applications where that identifying mark or code can be transmitted via radio frequency and picked up by sensors (RFID) then carried to computers where software applications apply the database information associated with the code being processed.

This technological advance is pretty much okay if one wanted to have the advantage of driving on special freeway lanes or toll roads as with the use of a "FASTRAC" pass systems used in automobiles, but when one applies this type of Automatic Identification technology directly to human beings ... without their permission, "Houston (or in this case, Madison, Wisconson) we have a problem!".

Yesterday, the Governor of Wisconsin, Jim Doyle, signed a law making it a crime to require the implanting RFID tracking microchips into human beings. This action was precipitated by the invention and FDA approval of a RFID microchip, which is enclosed in a glass sheath, produced by VeriChip Corporation.

This from the VeriChip Corporation website -

VeriChip is the only company in the world today to offer an implantable FDA-cleared RFID microchip and offers this option in its VeriMed and VeriGuard systems.

Once inserted just under the skin, via a quick, painless outpatient procedure (much like getting a shot), the VeriChip™ can be scanned when necessary with a proprietary VeriChip reader, whether handheld or wall-mounted. A small amount of radio frequency energy passes from the reader energizing the dormant microchip which then emits a radio frequency signal transmitting the individuals unique verification number. This number can then be used for such purposes as accessing personal medical information in a password-protected database or assessing whether somebody has authority to enter into a high-security area.
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VeriChip offers the widest range of RFID tag technologies within its solutions - beyond just passive and active tags - including implantable, wearable, and attachable form factors. Associating the following icons with VeriChip products, you can easily determine which particular tag technology is available with each solution.

VeriChip products marked by the “Implantable” icon mean they utilize the implantable, passive RFID microchip, the VeriChip™, in their solutions for the purpose of automatic identification.
Link Here>>

Yesterday, Wisconsin took a major step toward protecting against the erosion of ones ultimate right in a free society, personal privacy.

Report excerpts from SpyChips.com -

Wisconsin Bans Forced Human RFID Chipping
Groundbreaking Law Spotlights Opposition to VeriChip
From Katherine Albrecht - SpyChips.com, 6-1-6

Civil libertarians cheered yesterday upon news that Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle signed a law making it a crime to require an individual to be implanted with a microchip. Activists and authors Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre joined the celebration, predicting this move will spell trouble for the VeriChip Corporation, maker of the VeriChip human microchip implant.

The VeriChip is a glass encapsulated Radio Frequency Identification tag that is injected into the flesh to uniquely number and identify people. The tag can be read silently and invisibly by radio waves from up to a foot or more away, right through clothing. The highly controversial device is also being marketed as a way to access secure areas, link to medical records, and serve as a payment device when associated with a credit card.

"We're not even aware of anyone attempting to forcibly implant microchips into people," says Albrecht. "That lawmakers felt this legislation was necessary indicates a growing concern that the company's product could pose a serious threat to the public down the road."
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VeriChip Chairman of the Board Scott Silverman has been promoting the VeriChip as a partial solution to immigration concerns, proposing it as a way to register guest workers, verify their identities as they cross the border, and "be used for enforcement purposes at the employer level." He told interviewers on the Fox News Channel that the company has "talked to many people in Washington about using it."

The company has also confirmed it has been in talks with the Pentagon about replacing military dog tags with VeriChip implants.
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Albrecht and McIntyre have dogged the VeriChip Corporation, revealing medical and security flaws in its human chip and warning about its serious privacy and civil liberties downsides in their book "Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID."
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Wisconsin's new law was introduced as Assembly Bill 290 by Representative Marlin D. Schneider (D) and was passed unanimously by both houses of the Wisconsin State Legislature this spring. The law makes it illegal to require an individual to have a microchip implant and subjects a violator to a fine of up to $10,000 per day.
Read All>>

If one signs up and submits, it's all fair game ... but when a code becomes a requirement and implanted into your body to be passively scanned and processed? Uh-Uh!, No!, Nada! Iks-Nay!, No Thanks!, Get outta' here! Back-Off! Not with THIS body! ...

Post republished at Symblogogy, the automatic identification & data capture weblog for all things AIDC.

Prop 82 Is Being Served Up As ... Ground Round

Justice is prevailing over the Rob Reiner "Tax The Rich - and the parents if there are over-runs - Pre-school For All" proposition 82 to be voted on June 6th.

Not all of the legal money in the world (as opposed to the mounds of government "meathead money" Rob Reiner had slated for the promotion of this measure) will seem to be able to save this measure from defeat.

This from LA Weekly -

** A RESPECTED DEMOCRATIC POLLSTER TELLS ME PROP 82 HAS DIPPED BELOW 50%
in a private Democratic poll.
By Bill Bradley's New West Notes

Proposition 82, the tax-the-rich for universal preschool initiative on California's June 6th ballot presented by controversial movie director Rob Reiner, has clung to a narrow majority in the recent public polls by the Los Angeles Times and the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC). But in the Times poll, that was based on people being read the ballot summary.

Prop 82 has garnered negative editorials from most every newspaper in California.

Prior to that, Reiner was forced to resign as chairman of the California Commission on Children and Families. Reports, many first published here, had revealed highly questionable actions during his stewardship of the heavily funded agency.
Link Here>>

And the investigation into Rob Reiner's stewardship is not going to be completed until sometime in August, as the saga continues ... "Grinding Meathead - The Handle Turns"!

Where Immigration, Migration & Security Collide

In a post 9/11, post 9/11 commission world, one would think that the processes of the sharing of information and the logjams of communication within our bureaucratic infrastructure would have been of paramount concern when drafting new legislation in the Senate.

Not so, last week the Senate passed by 62-36 what they thought was a credible solution to our immigration and migration problem without recognizing the importance of the security background check processes when they disallowed the sharing of information between agencies due to confidentiality reasons.

Liberal Senators argued that sharing information between government agencies would discourage some aliens from coming forward and applying for "a path to citizenship".

Excerpts from The Washington Times -

Immigration agency head slams Senate's alien bill
By Stephen Dinan - THE WASHINGTON TIMES - June 1, 2006

The Senate immigration bill makes the same mistake as the 1986 amnesty by restricting the ability of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to share information on illegal alien guest-worker applicants who are criminals and terrorists, the agency's director said yesterday.

Emilio T. Gonzalez, whose agency would have to administer a guest-worker program, said not allowing the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to share information on someone who applies means they cannot begin the process of removing criminals and national security threats, even after they are rejected from the guest-worker program.

"It is important for us to be able to act on what we get when we run a background check on somebody," Mr. Gonzalez said in a briefing with reporters in which he weighed in on the Senate immigration bill, which would offer a chance for citizenship to millions of illegal aliens, expand legal immigration and start a new foreign-worker program.
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Yesterday was the second time Mr. Gonzalez met with reporters since taking over as director on Jan. 4, and he is juggling an ongoing backlog reduction at the same time he is preparing his agency for new instructions from Congress. He said much press attention has been given to the guest-worker program, but the Senate bill also includes a major increase in legal permanent residents, or "green card" holders, which his agency will also have to process.
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He said his agency will need at least six months and maybe as much as a year to register current illegal aliens for a foreign-worker program -- far longer than the Senate bill envisions.

On the issue of information sharing and confidentiality of applications, Mr. Gonzalez said the law usually allows his agency to share information when its employees come across an application that raises questions. But he said the 1986 amnesty included confidentiality provisions that prohibited sharing information from those applications, and he said the Senate bill makes the same mistake.

"We ought not to be kept from using that information," he said
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Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, offered an amendment to change the confidentiality requirements. His amendment failed on a tie vote, 49-49.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat and a key backer of the Senate bill, fought Mr. Cornyn's amendment. He said the underlying bill struck a balance that still allows law enforcement to go after cheaters, while at the same time not discouraging illegal aliens from coming forward.

"Our bill removes criminals and those trying to game the system. But it also protects the confidentiality of honest people applying to stay here and work. Otherwise they will remain in the underground economy and never apply, and that hurts American jobs and wages," he said.

His main worry was that sharing information would discourage some aliens from coming forward because they would fear making an innocent mistake that would hurt them later.
Read All>>

At MAXINE, we believe "simple is, is what simple does" - Fence First ... Then Enforce Existing Law! - And start sharing the information between agencies to increase our security as it was recommended in the 9/11 commission report.

"An Inconvenient Truth" Trailer Reviewed - Brilliant!

Mount Kilimanjaro 100 years ago (observe massive snowcap)








Mount Kilimanjaro today (no snowcap whatsoever). Image Credit: Groupthink








With trailers and reviews like this, who needs to see the movie? Apologies to all of those who find a tongue in cheek a little hard to swallow.

The following should be read loudly with a dramatic, theatric oratory style - sitting on a stool with just the right amount of backlighting.

This from Groupthink via Pajamas Media -

Open Letter to President Gore
By Prof Peter Kurgman, PhD^3 - 5/23/2006, 7:00 pm

Your Excellency:

I am frightened. Very frightened.

Because I have seen the trailer for your classic film, An Inconvenient Truth.

Your cinematic skills taught me that the future is one of "hundreds of millions of refugees," fires, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, nuclear disasters, and terrifying PowerPoint slides - all occurring within seven seconds.

You see, unlike you and me, most people do not know that ten of the hottest years ever were within the last fourteen years. Yes, that simple fact is too abstract for the masses of weak minds to understand - which is why I am glad that you mentioned it. But perhaps you should have illustrated that point by mentioning how the wettest ten hours all day happened to be in the last twelve hours? Or perhaps you should have used some simple sports analogy; e.g.., Baby Ruth's (or whatever her name was) most home runs were in her third, fifth, and sixth or whatever seasons. What were the odds of that happening?

And yet I am concerned. Along with you, President Gore, I weep for our planet and how it has been raped. Just dragged in the bushes and raped! Repeatedly raped. In every orifice and in every way, in and out, in and out, in and out, raped, raped, raped and raped. With open sores in contact with putrid bodily fluids, and with violent screams of suffering and impending death, our planet, our lovely lovely planet, is now covered with hideous scars and is permanently disfigured, with its internal organs mutilated beyond any hope of recovery. Mr. President, I understand that, and I thank you for illustrating it so well.

But back to the trailer. Thank you for mentioning that the hottest year ever was 2005. Dammit, why don't more people listen to you? We both know, that without the interference of humans, there would be no hottest year. All years would be equal. Just as all people would be equal without the right-wing religious zealots who stole your presidency. Yes, my President, you too were raped - just like Earth itself. And that is why you can empathize with the planet. Basically, you and Earth are feminine beings whose dignity has been violated. And believe me, I can sympathize with that.

But back to the trailer. At the 41st second, you speak truth to power: "The scientific consensus is that we are causing global warming." But, with all due respect, Mr. President, you forgot to mention the logical solution. Perhaps this is because you feel guilty about having children? Well, for the rest of us, there should be and must be mandatory human extinction to save the planet. No more breeding. Ever. Humans will never be able to foul this beautiful planet again.

But back to the trailer. The before-and-after pictures of Patagonia and Kilimanjaro with and without snow cover are startling. And deathly frightening. I, for one, have never seen any patch of land covered with snow - and then without snow! The juxtaposition of these landscapes made me violently ill, as I am sure it also made you violently ill. I vomited my cauliflower-and-tofu, Mr. President - and since your diet is just like mine, I know what a mess it must have been when you saw those pictures, because, with all due respect, Mr. President, your appetite looks much larger than mine.

But back to the trailer. You say that "temperature increases are occurring all over the world". I verified this phenomenon just today, in fact, when the temperature rose an astounding ten degrees between breakfast and lunch! And yes, I too would describe that as "the biggest crisis in the history of this country", just as you do in your movie!But the money quote is when you point at a white shape and state that "if this were to go, sea levels world-wide would go up twenty feet". And then, just like that, Florida, Shanghai, and Calcutta all change colors! And the "World Trade Center Memorial would be under water!" And then you show people in New Orleans and then an ice avalanche, and by then, I was completely petrified by amazement, fear, disgust, and loathing.

Mr. President, I am a very busy professor, swamped with responsibilities and burdens, and my hectic schedule leaves no time to see your movie. But that will not stop me from incessantly demanding that everyone I know (least of all my students!) see it several times. And I will make certain that they know why we are in such peril (humans, capitalism, Zionism), and what solutions are needed (human extinction, scientific socialism, and the destruction of the Zionist Entity).

Mr. President, your credibility is at a zenith, and your sharp and humane prescriptions for our planet must not be ignored. Our choice is simple: Listen to you, or suffer. And as much as I think we deserve the latter, we owe it to ourselves to follow the former.

Respectfully Yours, Professor Peter Alan Kurgman, PhD, PhD, PhD
Link Here>>

Maxine suggests a remedy to combat CO2 with Fear, Itch, Fear, Itch-Don't Plants Give Off Oxygen? post.

Additional Reference:
Global Warming Is Less Alarming, Scientists Say
NON-PROFIT, Non-Math on "Global Warming"

Moral Relativism - Political Parties Gone Wild

Moral Relativism - Political Parties Gone Wild

When is it a good idea for a society to continue to give a group of people confidence for their ideas and point of view? In this case - NEVER.

Excerpts from Reuters -

Dutch pedophiles to launch political party
Reuters - 1 hour, 35 minutes ago

AMSTERDAM - Dutch pedophiles are launching a political party to push for a cut in the legal age for sexual relations to 12 from 16 and the legalization of child pornography and sex with animals.

The Charity, Freedom and Diversity (NVD) party said on its Web site it would be officially registered Wednesday, proclaiming: "We are going to shake The Hague awake!"

The party said it wanted to cut the legal age for sexual relations to 12 and eventually scrap the limit altogether.
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"We want to make pedophilia the subject of discussion," he said, adding that the subject had been a taboo since the 1996 Marc Dutroux child abuse scandal in neighboring Belgium. "We have been hushed up. The only way is through parliament."

The Netherlands already has liberal policies on soft drugs, prostitution, and gay marriage, but the NVD is unlikely to win much support, the AD quoted experts as saying.

"They make out as if they want more rights for children. But their position that children should be allowed sexual contact from age 12 is of course just in their own interest," anti-pedophile campaigner Ireen van Engelen told the daily.
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The party also said everybody should be allowed to go naked in public.

The party's program also includes ideas for other areas of public policy including legalizing all soft and hard drugs and free train travel for all.
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NBC News with its report on the Pedophiles in The Netherlands forming a political party to effect laws:

Dutch pedophiles form political party

May 31, 2006, 6:17 PM PDT / Source: The Associated Press

Dutch  pedophiles founded a political party Wednesday with the platform of lowering age of consent to 12. Members claim to have support from all corners of the country, but none showed at launch.

WIKIPEDIA - Party for Neighbourly Love, Freedom and Diversity

Okay, free train travel for all - Now that's the ticket.

TAGS: PNVD, Dutch, The Netherlands, Party For Neighborly Love Freedom And Diversity, Wikipedia, NBC News, Reuters, Associated Press, Dissolution, MAXINE

Sandtrap Play At It's Best

A golfer plays an iron shot out of the rough on a roadside desert golf track in Walvis Bay, Namibia, May 16, 2006. The nine-hole course dubbed the 'West Side Club' has no greens or tees, water or grass. Stinging sand and gusts of wind whistle through a lone row of palm trees on the edge of the forbidding Namib desert. Photo Credit: Stringer/Files/Reuters

Ahhh, yes! The siren song of addictive, compulsive behavior. We at MAXINE know it well; however, given my recent sandtrap play ... it looks like quadruple-bogey golf to me.

Keep your head down, as you take the shot - have the club land just about an inch or so behind the ball, remember to swing all of the way through the shot, if you look up to see the shot ... you will be looking at a bad shot, accuracy over distance!

Excerpts from Reuters via Yahoo! News -

Golf fanatics tackle Namibia's barren dunes
By Gordon Bell – REUTERS, Mon May 29, 2006

WALVIS BAY, Namibia - Elen Gubeb's tattered sandals and torn jeans don't match his pricey new Mizuno glove, but dress is not important at this home-made golf track on Namibia's desert coast, an unlikely golf hotspot.

The 20-year-old part-time caddy practices with a classic swing as the first of a group of eight players tees off from a small rocky mound nearby.
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"I don't work, I just play golf everyday," says Gubeb, one of thousands of youths unable to find permanent work in the poor southern African nation.
The Namib, the world's oldest living desert, and the barren Skeleton Coast limit employment options in the former German colony that for decades was under the control of neighboring South Africa.
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"Sometimes I imagine myself as Ernie Els or Tiger Woods, I use my imagination and love it," he adds in faltering English, clutching his Nike shirt.

Alec Williams, director of golf at the country club in the capital city Windhoek, said interest in golf was growing fast among Nambia's youth.
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Namibia, with just two million people, has been thrust into the spotlight with the surprise arrival of Hollywood stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie to have their first baby in the remote west coast region.
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There are only four grass courses in Namibia -- a country slightly smaller than France and Germany combined -- although almost all other reasonably-sized towns have "courses" made of a mixture of sand and oil.
The West Side Club has neither grass nor oil but the frustrations of the game are as brutally real as on any golf course.
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The course's nine holes range from 110 meters (yards) on the par 3s to about 350 meters for a par 5, although the distances, after many years, remain an educated guess.
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"I know it's a rich man's game, but we just want to try," explains Gubeb over the din of laughter as a 17-year-old novice burrows the Hippo driver into the sand, gently toppling the ball from the tee.
Read All>>

Fear, Itch, Fear, Itch-Don't Plants Give Off Oxygen?

Poison Ivy - Rhus radicans Image Credit: Science U

On the one hand we have Al Gore creating fear at the movies and on the other, the MSM machine creating itch in news stories about poison ivy - fear & itch ... all based on the theory of global warming. Honestly, don't growing plants give off oxygen and counteract the effects of carbon dioxide?

What are we complaining about - wear jeans and a long sleeve shirt when walking in the forest. This could be the answer to all of our problems, growing faster and bigger poison ivy for oxygen.

So, what do you think is happening over at Mount Merapi, Indonesia? Any CO2 there?

This from the AP via Yahoo! News -

Study: global warming boosts poison ivy
Associated Press - Mon May 29, 5:21 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Another reason to worry about global warming: more and itchier poison ivy. The noxious vine grows faster and bigger as carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere rise, researchers report Monday.

And a CO2-driven vine also produces more of its rash-causing chemical, urushiol, conclude experiments conducted in a forest at Duke University where scientists increased carbon-dioxide levels to those expected in 2050 [estimated].

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas — a chemical that traps heat similar to the way a greenhouse does — that's considered a major contributor to global warming. Greenhouse gases have been steadily increasing in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution.

Poison ivy is common in woods around the country, making it a bane of hikers, campers, fighters of forest fires, even backyard gardeners. Its itchy, sometimes blistering rash is one of the most widely reported ailments to poison-control centers, with more than 350,000 reported cases a year.

Compared to poison ivy grown in usual atmospheric conditions, those exposed to the extra-high carbon dioxide grew about three times larger — and produced more allergenic form of urushiol, scientists from Duke and Harvard University reported.

Their study appears in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"The fertilization effect of rising CO2 on poison ivy ... and the shift toward a more allergenic form of urushiol have important implications for the future health of both humans and forests," the study concludes.
Link Here>>

"Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific 'Ring of Fire', an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin. It has 76 volcanos, the largest number of any nation." (HT: IRWAN FIRDAUS, Associated Press Writer)

There has to be alot of CO2 production around this part of the Globe! Let's put in a greenhouse.

Don't ya' just love the instructive way these AP guys write? Man, I do.

UPDATE - Excerpts from Al Gore's statements made in England's Hay Festival:

This from BBC News -

Gore in Hay climate change plea
Former US vice-president Al Gore owned up to failing to get his climate change message across as a politician when he appeared at the Hay Festival. By BBC News Writer

In his first UK speech on the subject, Mr Gore promised to devote himself to the task of warning people about the impending "planetary emergency".

He appealed to the audience to act to halt the growing crisis.

"I will own up to shortcomings in my ability to communicate," said Mr Gore.
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Mr Gore was the key note speaker of the 19th Hay Festival on the mid-Wales border.
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But Mr Gore, fresh from an appearance at the Cannes film festival, delivered a starker message that the world was now facing a "danger which could bring the end of civilisation."
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He was asked by a member of the Hay Festival audience to run for president again.

But Mr Gore replied: "I honestly believe that the role I can most usefully play is to try to change the minds of the American people...about what this crisis is about."
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In a passionate speech, Mr Gore said: "We face a challenge in the conversation of democracy that we must be up to in order to save the climate balance on which our civilisation depends."
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He said he believed scientists who said that there may be 10 years remaining to avoid "crossing the point of no return".

"Then does that change you? It should, it's happening on our watch," said the former vice-president.

He said he was "carbon neutral" himself and he tried to offset any plane flight or car journey by "purchasing verifiable reductions in CO2 elsewhere".
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Hey Al, how does one make a Volcano "carbon neutral"? I suggest it would be about as possible as finding out the truth as to how "carbon neutral" you really are through "purchasing verifiable reductions in CO2 elsewhere".

A Current Kind Of Memory On Memorial Day

U.S. soldiers stand in a formation during a Memorial Day ceremony held at the Bagram U.S. military base, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, May 28, 2006. Photo Credit: AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd

Being a veteran of the Viet Nam Era, my past memories of Memorial Day are of the "honoring of the dead" type where the living and surviving members of the conflict rarely had a role and, in many cases, were vilified.

This era is different. I was watching a two hour Memorial Day special from the Discovery Channel that featured Long Beach's Jesse James of Monster Garage fame as he went to Iraq to visit with our troops, and something he said struck a note. What he said had an element of getting outside of ones own thinking that extends to include a greater community of Americans ... "If these people really believe in what they are doing, then I have to believe in [the value] what they are doing."

During the Viet Nam era, things were different, in that many of us who served were drafted and placed into service without really knowing what we believed in ... let alone believing in the mission of "what we were doing". Further, at home, there existed a disconnect between the mission of military effort and the greater community of Americans.

Today, I pray for all of those in our armed forces who have committed themselves and gave the ultimate sacrifice for all of us to live in freedom - but further - I will pray for the survivors of the fallen as well as all of those who have committed themselves to stand-up and serve in the armed forces so that we (and others throughout the world) may continue to live in freedom.

Excerpts from The Christian Science Monitor -

With war on, Americans have troops in mind
By Brad Knickerbocker, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor - Fri May 26, 4:00 AM ET

Americans will still fire up their barbecues, watch parades, and go camping this weekend. But for the first time in a generation, Memorial Days are coming during prolonged armed conflict. That has strengthened ties between civilians and soldiers, bringing a marked change in the way people will observe the holiday this year.

Politicians of all persuasions are pushing for better veterans' services, including healthcare for the living and survivors' benefits for those who've lost loved ones. Many states are now providing free tuition at public colleges and universities for the children of those killed in war zones.

Since terrorists attacked the United States in 2001, communities around the country have begun to bring back traditional Memorial Day ceremonies - many of them featuring Iraq war vets.

It's part of growing public interest in military affairs, historians say. And this time, unlike in the Vietnam era, declining support for the war has not eroded backing for the troops, say many of those taking part in Memorial Day ceremonies.
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Part of this post-Vietnam urge to separate the warrior from the war has to do with the portrait of the typical soldier today. Unlike his or her father, who probably would have gone to Vietnam right out of school, today's GI is more likely to be older, to be married, and to have children. Especially among those in National Guard or Reserve units, he or she is likely to have strong work and community connections.

More family men and women in the war zone also means more dependents to care for in the wake of combat casualties. The 2,404 men and 55 women killed in Iraq have left an estimated 1,700 children without their parent.
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"Memorial Day is about thanking those who are there and honoring those who didn't come back," says Rick Marsh, president of the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Association. "So we're sending them a little bit of Vermont, a little thank-you."
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Rita Payne, who runs Roman Catholic programs at Fort Campbell, sees a growing reverence for Memorial Day.

"There is a more deepening of faith, of spirituality and just prayerfulness," she says. "People take it upon themselves to do something positive, and prayer seems to be our greatest weapon right now."
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#6 Sam Hornish Jr. wins the 90th Indianapolis 500!

Sam Hornish, racing for Team Penske, takes the traditional "sip" of milk for winning the 90th running of the Indianapolis 500 open-wheel auto race. Image Credit: IndyCar.com

Andretti's fill out the podium!

A star is born in nineteen year old Marco Andretti leading after turn four of the last lap and getting beat in the second closest finish (0.0635 sec.) in Indianapolis 500 history. Rookie of the year honors go to Marco Andretti, long may he run!

Michael Andretti finishes third on strategy having a slow car all day. Fuel consumption management played a big role with both Hornish and Michael's run in the final stint to the end.

For Team Penske, this marks the 14th win with 10 different drivers.

A serious race with a serious finish. 200 Laps - Session Time: 3h 17m 16s

"Technology Smiling" - A Collage

This Mona Lisa, on exhibition in Beijing, is made of computer parts, and titled "Technology Smiling." Photo Credit: AP/EyePress

Mona Lisa Made From Computer Parts

(HT: Boing Boing)