F1 Shows Up In Full Force At INDY ... UPDATE: For The Last Time!

Image Credit: ING

F1 Shows Up In Full Force At INDY

The premiere open-wheel racing series comes to Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend.

Image Credit: ING

Last year there was a dispute and about only half of the drivers showed up to participate in the race … leaving it with a black eye.

This year, a full field will take the track in one of the most exciting years the series has had, say , in the last five or so.

Coming so soon after the Canadian round in Montreal, this weekend’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway has given the teams precious little time in which to regroup. It is safe to say that this race will again be a fight between McLaren and Ferrari, with the possibly of BMW Sauber getting in on the act.

This year features many new drivers and one of the most exciting rookies, Lewis Hamilton, drives for the British team – McLaren-Mercedes.

Lewis Hamilton is highly motivated after scoring his maiden victory in Montreal. This win propelled him to open up an eight-point lead in the drivers’ championship, which caused this reaction: “I come to Indy with great confidence. We have to try and continue with the performance that we have, and I have no doubt we can do that.”

2007 F1 USGP Track Preview Video -

One of the major sponsors of the Formula One racing series has come up with an indexing system to rate each of the racing venues. ING, the Dutch banking and investment powerhouse, has come up with a way to rate, or index each of the tracks and of the 17 racing sites that the Formula One series will race on in 2007, Indianapolis Motor Speedway indexes at #14!

This from ING -

The ING Race Index for the US Grand Prix
In the shadow of a legend

On the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Formula 1 has to drive beneath the shadow of a legend – because this is the venue of the famous Indy 500. A special course has been built for Formula 1 in the world’s most famous oval circuit. It offers the longest full-throttle phase of the season, but for drivers and teams it remains a race full of compromises.

The ING Race Index, which is to Formula 1 what the Dow Jones is to the stock exchange, uses continuously updated information to keep a running assessment of the key factors affecting the race circuits, thus allowing them to be compared. Here the US Grand Prix does not have the same status as Wall Street …

The 2007 F1 United States Grand Prix ING Race Index -

METHODOLOGY -

ING, with its wealth of statistics for Formula 1, has analysed all 17 race circuits from the following aspects:

 Strain on drivers
 Engineering requirements
 Circuit
 Vehicle setup
 Tradition, fascination and emotion of the race

Ranging from a low of 0 to a maximum of 100 points, the ING Race Index shows you at a glance the challenges that each course presents.

Strain on drivers

On each lap drivers have to change gear 36 times. Consequently, there is a limit to the strain, even though they have to take care to remain concentrated despite the monotonous course. One small mistake will take them into the wall. In the ING Race Index the circuit scores only 44 for strain on the drivers, which in turn results in 17th position.

Engineering requirements

One of the most critical spots in Indianapolis is the flat-out section with the only banked curve in Formula 1. This means 24 seconds of full throttle and top speeds of up to 335 km/h (208 mph). Formula 1 only reaches higher speeds in Monza. Engines are tuned to absolute maximum performance. The requirements placed on engineering secure 63 points, which is nevertheless enough for position 8 in the ING Race Index.

Image Credit: ING

Circuit

Many Formula 1 drivers find there is a lack of proper harmony on the track created at the turn of the century and have therefore difficulty getting into a rhythm. This should come as no surprise because it was put together from two completely different sections – one consisting of the original oval with the steep corner and the long full-throttle straights and the other of the new infield with its extremely slow corners. The 53 points are only enough for the 17th and final place in the ING Race Index.

Vehicle setup

This race definitely has its attractions for the strategists on the pit wall. With 62% of the course being driven at full-throttle, petrol consumption plays an important role, and the two pit stops have to be well planned. On the other hand, the track characteristics pose fewer challenges for the engineers in charge of vehicle setup. The ideal solution involves flat wings and low downforce for the full-throttle sections while the twists of the infield call for steep wings and lots of downforce – and, as is so often the case, the solution is a compromise. The ING Race Index awards this complex equation 63 points and position 8.

When in the year 2000 Formula 1 launched a new attempt to win over the hearts of US fans, it was an obvious move to head for Indianapolis, the Mecca of US motorsport. The fascination and tradition of this race circuit, originally built in 1908 using 3.2 million bricks, can be sensed in every corner. The ING Race Index honours this with 61 points and position 8.

Image Credit: ING

Formula 1 has to continue working hard on its expansion course in the USA. This can be seen in the overall rating for the ING Race Index: 57 points are only enough for 14th place among the 17 races.

UPDATE (Saturday Qualifying - 16 June 2007):

Selected quotes from the Official Website of F1 -

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton proved that his Canada pole was no fluke at Indy on Saturday, but he wasn’t the only new young driver impressing - BMW Sauber’s Sebastian Vettel was seventh on his Grand Prix debut. They and their 20 rivals report back on a tightly-contested qualifying...

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren (1st, 1m 12.331s):
“To be on pole once again within a week is fantastic - I like North America! The fans here have been so enthusiastic and supportive for the team, and I hope they enjoyed today. I screamed into my helmet when I got the confirmation from the team of the pole position. It’s a challenge to come to a track for the first time, and I have learnt new things every single corner and every single lap. I knew I had to push very hard in my second run in Q3. The car is working well, and the team has done a great job - for us to have both cars on the front row is a real advantage, and hopefully the team will be able to make the best of it in tomorrow’s race.”

Fernando Alonso, McLaren (2nd, 1m 12.500s):
“I have had a really quick car all weekend and have been fastest in all practice sessions and the first two parts of qualifying. As a result I’m extremely confident for the race tomorrow and am pleased that the team occupy the front row. I was pushing hard on my last qualifying lap and whilst I was slightly up in the first sector it was not quite enough as I lost some time in the second sector. However the car is working well, and we have had consistent lap times. The two tyre options we have this weekend are close in their performances which gives us reason to be optimistic for the race tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to it and hope that I can continue my best ever performance at Indianapolis so far.”

Felipe Massa, Ferrari (3rd, 1m 12.703s):
"I am pretty satisfied and think we can have a strong race tomorrow. We cannot be completely happy about this result but we must not be hard on ourselves either. It would have been difficult to get pole and third place means I will start from a good grid position. We know we can count on a very consistent car in terms of race pace. The start will also play an important part, as will strategy. We will try and make up some place and get the best position possible."

Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari (4th, 1m 12.839s):
"All in all, fourth place is quite a good result. It was a very close session and we have to take into account the difference in weights between the cars, something which we will not have an answer to until tomorrow afternoon. Of course, I would like to always be ahead of everyone and there is always room for improvement but I think we can have a good race. It is important that there are no other cars between us and our main rivals. The car has gone well so far this weekend, especially in terms of delivering consistent performance on a long run. We will do our best to bring home a good result."

Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber (5th, 1m 12.847s):
“The balance of the car was better today, but I am not really happy with my qualifying as on the last lap I didn’t get it right in the last corner. I had some graining with the tyres and obviously was too aggressive and slid a bit away from racing line, otherwise I think I could have qualified in front of the Ferraris. In Montreal our car was very good over the race distance, so I hope we can continue like this.”

Heikki Kovalainen, Renault (6th, 1m 13.308s):
“It was a good qualifying session for me, continuing a good weekend so far. The car balance felt OK, the set-up is good and I was comfortable on both types of tyre all the way through qualifying. We have improved the car throughout the weekend, and just had a normal weekend. I have always been confident that things would start going better for me, and I haven't made any mistakes or lost any track time here in Indy. When that happens, you can push to the limit and get the maximum from the car. That's what has made the difference compared to last weekend, and now we have to focus on the race. We will have a good strategy and the car is handling well. I'm feeling confident.”
Read All Quotes Here>>

Race UPDATE - Final - 6-17-2007

This from AP via Canada.Com -

Rookie Lewis Hamilton races to second straight Formula One win
Canada.Com - Published: Sunday, June 17, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton did it again, racing to his second straight Formula One victory in Sunday’s U.S. Grand Prix.

The first black driver in F1’s 61-year history has finished all seven races this season in the top three. He now leads Mercedes McLaren teammate and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso by 10 points in the standings.

The two finished 1-2 for the third time this season, but this time the order was reversed from Malaysia in April and last month’s race at Monaco as the 22-year-old Englishman added this victory to his inaugural F1 triumph last week in the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

Alonso tried hard to pass his less experienced teammate at the start, darting to the outside and pulling nearly alongside Hamilton for a moment, then backing off and diving to the inside as the leaders squirted through the first two narrow turns, a sharp right-hander and then a left-hander.

Hamilton managed to stay in front and was able to continue to fend off the pressure by the hard-charging Spaniard to the end of the 73-lap event on Indy’s 4.192-kilometre road circuit.

Alonso almost wrested the lead from Hamilton on Lap 39. He had been dogging the back of his teammate’s McLaren for several laps and pulled alongside on the main straightaway but was unable to complete the pass.

The outcome was still in question until Alonso locked up his brakes on Lap 47 and drove through the grass, allowing Hamilton to pull out to a 2.5-second lead. Hamilton was able to drive on to the win without further challenge, crossing the finish line 1.5 seconds ahead of Alonso.
Reference Here>>


UPDATE 7-12-2007:

Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher, of Germany, takes the checkered flag from Tony George, president and CEO of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as Schumacher won the United States Grand Prix at the speedway, in this June 20, 2004 file photo. Formula One's U.S. Grand Prix won't return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway next year. The race will not be held in 2008 after eight years at the track, spokesman Ron Green said Thursday July 12, 2007. Image Credit: AP Photo/Michael Conroy

F1 won't return to Indianapolis in 2008
By DEANNA MARTIN, Associated Press Writer - Thu Jul 12, 1:18 PM ET

INDIANAPOLIS - Formula One's U.S. Grand Prix won't return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway next year after officials failed to reach a new deal.

Speedway CEO Tony George said Thursday he and F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone agreed not to schedule the event for 2008. The only American-based race on the F1 schedule had been held at Indianapolis the past eight years, drawing some of the biggest crowds on the circuit.

"We did agree it was prudent to try and leave the door open for the future," George said. "My sincere hope is that we will have an opportunity to bring it back in the not-too-distant future."

George, who had set Thursday as the deadline for reaching an agreement to extend the contract with F1, said he did not believe a U.S. Grand Prix would be held elsewhere next year, but that such a decision would be up to Ecclestone.

George had said last month he was confident he could reach a new deal with Ecclestone after the two met during U.S. Grand Prix weekend in Indianapolis.

But Ecclestone repeatedly said F1 did not need to race in the United States, although he mentioned the possibility of moving the U.S. Grand Prix to New York or Las Vegas.

George said Thursday it was a "great disappointment" that F1 would not be returning to the 2.6-mile, 13-turn road course that was built inside the speedway's famous oval to attract the series.

"It's not fair to us, it's not fair to our customers, the loyal core of Formula One fans, to just go on indefinitely on hold," he said.

Attendance figures are not released at Indianapolis, but estimates have been around 125,000 each of the past six years. The inaugural race in 2000 drew more than 200,000.

The event was marred in 2005 when 14 of the 20 drivers pulled off the track just before the start over concerns about the safety of the Michelin tires used by seven teams. Afterward, George refused to wave the checkered flag or join Michael Schumacher in the winner's circle.

Last year's negotiations to extend the deal dragged into August before the two sides agreed to a one-year deal. Speedway officials had said they wanted a more permanent solution this time.

Despite F1's absence, the speedway could still be the site of three races next year as track officials expect to announce a deal with MotoGP, the international motorcycle racing series, next week.

Besides the Indianapolis 500, the speedway also is the site of NASCAR's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard on July 29.
Reference Here>>

E85 Ethanol Powers To New Land Speed Record

Record Setting Viper: The car's owner, entrepreneur Karl Jacob, says it was built with the purpose of demonstrating that "going green needn't mean going slow." Prior to the record run, Karl's Viper had already held the standing-mile record for a bio-fuel powered street car at 189 mph. Image Credit: Karl Jacob - Motor Trend / Caption Credit: Kirill Ougarov - Motor Trend

E85 Ethanol Powers To New Land Speed Record

We, at MAXINE, assume that this record is meant for a catagory that would exclude automobiles that run on pure Ethanol such are the cars that race in the IRL and Champ Car open-wheel automobile racing series.

Next year, however, the IRL will be switching to E85 and then the record would be shattered because an IRL "IndyCar" can eaisly go from "0" to "100" MPH (and back to "0" again) in the total time of 27.41 seconds it took this souped-up Viper to achieve just "0" to "100"!

This from Motor Trend Community -

Ethanol-powered Viper runs to standing-mile record
Posted 7-16-2007 11:13 AM by Kirill Ougarov

The world standing-mile record in a street car now belongs to a 1200-horsepower Dodge Viper running on E85 ethanol. The car, tuned by Chicago-based SVS, reached a top speed of 220.7 mph during a 27.41-second run at the Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport in Oscoda, Michigan. The previous record was 217.85 mph in a gasoline-powered car.

The project started out with the addition of twin turbochargers to a stock Viper to bring the car's output to 700 horsepower, with the decision to switch to E85 made a couple months later. The car's entire fuel system had to be reworked for compatibility with E85, with extensive modifications to the driveline including new engine internals, a race-prepared transmission, and a new differential to allow the car to develop and handle power outputs north of 1000 horses.
Reference Here>>

This YouTube E85 Viper run appears to have taken place either at the Mojave Airport where famed aircraft designer and areo record holder, Dick Ruttan has set up his company to couquer space or the former George Air Force Base near Adelanto.

April 14, 2007: "See the E85 Viper set the world record for a streetable biofuel car in the standing mile"

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.
----
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.

Leadership: What Does Al Gore Jr. Choose To Do?

Al Gore Jr.'s real family: SOS [Save Our Selves] founder Kevin Wall is joined by Cameron Diaz and Al Gore [Jr.] to announce the launching of Save Our Selves, the Campaign for a Climate Crisis which includes Live Earth, a 24-hour concert on 07 July 2007, in seven continents. Image Credit: MATA/AFP/Getty

Leadership: What Does Al Gore Jr. Choose To Do?

July 7th looms very large as a date on which the Gore family will define itself. July 7th is the date for a concert that is being put on to promote awareness to the “Global Climate Crisis” but July 7th is also a day on which Al Gore Jr. can show the world what he is really made of.

This morning on MSNBC, screenwriter John Ridley put forth a plea to the importance of the argument of family leadership. He made the point that one of the strongest, most effective acts that any man can do is to raise competent and balanced family. Ridley went on to say that the greatest ill effecting the black family is the lack of fatherly leadership in the family dynamic.

Earth Live 7 Point Pledge - Maybe Al Gore Jr. should create a pledge in support of the value of raising and supporting the family worldwide! Image Credit: ecj-MAXINE (still lifted from Earth Live video from press conference)

John Ridley argued that Al Gore Jr. should tape a video to be shown at the concert and hop on his private jet and stand beside his youngest son at a time of Al Gore the third’s greatest need of fatherly leadership.

John went on … Where will the Earth be twenty years from now, well it is going to be here, but more importantly, where will Al Gore III be twenty years from now if Al Gore Jr. does not step up and BE the father to the younger Al at a time of his greatest need!

I agree with John Ridley. Al Gore Jr. has not been elected to the office he NOW appoints himself to be – Supreme Leader of the Green World.

The Real Al Gore Jr.!

Al Gore Jr. would actually come out on the backside of this situation in a grand way by attempting to save the direction of his only son’s life while maintaining the mantle of the instigator of Live Earth – The Concert for “Global Climate Crisis” awareness … or as Al himself stated in an interview at this very moment – “the largest live entertainment performance EVER.” “A chance to deliver a wake-up call and sign a pledge to solve this crisis of global climate change!” “An ‘SOS’ [Save Our Selves] call to action.”

Well there you have it – The Ridley imperative to family values verses an SOS call to action. I think the real SOS (Save Our Society - Save Our Son) call to action is a car full of drugs flying down the road at 100 miles an hour putting anyone in the way at risk … and the fact that Al Gore the third is truly a person at risk.

Earth Live 7 Point Pledge - Maybe Al Gore Jr. should create a pledge in support of the value of raising and supporting the family worldwide ... And SIGN it! Image Credit: ecj-MAXINE (still lifted from Earth Live video from press conference)

We, at MAXINE, think the case has been made by screenwriter, John Ridley ... but Al Gore Jr. is NOT up to the task or the responsibility of family leadership.

Sadly, How Al Gore Jr. Sees Himself ... NOT Answering The Important SOS "Call" ... dot, dot, dot - dash, dash, dash - dot, dot, dot!

Born To Be Wild

This is a booking mug shot photo released by the Orange County Sheriffs Department of Al Gore III, 24, who was arrested early Wednesday, July 4, 2007 on suspicion of possessing marijuana and prescription drugs after deputies pulled him over for speeding, authorities said. Image Credit: AP Photo/Orange County Sheriff's Dept.

Born To Be Wild

We all know the song, and we all know the first line – “Get your motor runnin’, head out on the highway …!”

Well I guess this is the song ol’ “Carbon Neutral” loving Al Gore the third (son of former Vice-President, Al Gore Jr.) was listening to when he was pulled over for doing 100 miles per hour in a Toyota Prius … that’s right, a hybrid economy car!

OOPS! He was carrying a bunch of drugs and some marijuana. The Orange County Sheriff that pulled him over stated that he smelled the pot so he performed a search.

It makes one wonder what would make the Gore family more upset – the actual smoking of marijuana which creates additional carbon borne pollution OR driving a Toyota Prius at over 100 miles per hour.

We at MAXINE guess the latter – NOBODY should ever, ever, ever drive a Prius over, say 70 miles per hour.

Excerpted from AP via Yahoo! News –

Al Gore's son arrested on drug suspicion
AP - LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. - 2 hours, 27 minutes ago

Al Gore's son was arrested early Wednesday on suspicion of possessing marijuana and prescription drugs after deputies pulled him over for speeding, authorities said.

Al Gore III, 24, was driving a blue Toyota Prius about 100 mph on the San Diego Freeway when he was pulled over at about 2:15 a.m., Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino said.

The deputies said they smelled marijuana and searched the car, Amormino said. They found less than an ounce of marijuana along with Xanax, Valium, Vicodin and Adderall, which is used for attention deficit disorder, he said.

"He does not have a prescription for any of those drugs," Amormino said.

Gore was being held in the men's central jail in Santa Ana on $20,000 bail.

Kalee Kreider, a spokeswoman for his parents, did not immediately return phone messages to The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Reference Here>>

Kwik-E-Mart Debut In Twelve "Springfield's"

Always wondered where Springfield really is? Does anyone really know? Well the folks at 7-Eleven do – in fact they’ve been working very closely with Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. The Kwik-E-Mart was made famous in The Simpsons and has landed in the streets of Burbank, Ca.. Image Credit: 7-Eleven Corporate website - YouTube Video (below) Credit: LAMISCH

Kwik-E-Mart Debut In Twelve "Springfield's"

Just before the release of the feature length movie, "The Simpson's Movie", scheduled for release on July 27th, twelve 7-Eleven convenience stores in North America have been converted to the famed "Kwik-E-Mart" stores.

We, at MAXINE were just minding our own business when all of a sudden we came upon a very crowded store where once a 7-Eleven stood on Olive Avenue in Burbank.

To our amazement, there stood a complete Kwik-E-Mart store and about 400 people were snaked from the front door to around the corner of the building wanting to share in the experience of a real life movie promotion.

It is pretty cool in that the Kwik-E-Mart not only looks like a Kwik-E-Mart, but it will sell products only found at the fictional store in Springfield. That's right, Buzz Cola, KrustyO's cereal and Squishees, the slushy drink knockoff of Slurpees.

Every promotion though has something that can kill a BUZZ ... no, really!

You are correct in guessing that there will be NO BUZZ BEER sold at the Kwik-E-Mart.

That is a Buzz Killer for sure!

Excerpts from AP via Yahoo! News -

7-Elevens become Simpsons 'Kwik-E-Marts'
By DAVID KOENIG, AP Business Writer - Sun Jul 1, 7:44 PM ET

DALLAS - Over the weekend, 7-Eleven Inc. turned a dozen stores into Kwik-E-Marts, the fictional convenience stores of "The Simpsons" fame, in the latest example of marketers making life imitate art.

Those stores and most of the 6,000-plus other 7-Elevens in North America will sell items that until now existed only on television: Buzz Cola, KrustyO's cereal and Squishees, the slushy drink knockoff of Slurpees.

It's all part of a campaign to hype the July 27 opening of "The Simpsons Movie," the big-screen debut for the long-running television cartoon, which loves to lampoon 7-Eleven as a store that sells all kinds of unhealthy snacks and is run by a man with a thick Indian accent.

For 20th Century Fox Film Corp. and Homer's creators at Gracie Films, the stunt is a cheap way to call attention to their movie, since 7-Eleven is bearing all the costs, which executives of the retail chain put at somewhere in the single millions.
----
"We thought if you really want to do something different, the idea of actually changing stores into Kwik-E-Marts was over the top but a natural," said Bobbi Merkel, an executive for of 7-Eleven's advertising agency, FreshWorks, a unit of Omnicom Group Inc. "It shows they get the joke."

The monthlong promotion has been rumored a long time — it's hard to keep a secret known by so many suppliers and franchisees — but 7-Eleven managed to keep the locations of the stores quiet until early Sunday morning. That's when the exteriors of 11 U.S. stores and one in Canada were flocked in industrial foam and given new signs to replicate the animated look of Kwik-E-Marts.

The U.S. locations where a 7-Eleven store was transformed into a Kwik-E-Mart are New York City; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Burbank, Calif.; Los Angeles; Henderson, Nev.; Orlando, Fla.; Mountain View, Calif.; Seattle; and Bladensburg, Md.
----
The Fox/7-Eleven deal is an example of a practice called reverse product placement. Instead of just putting products prominently in a movie or TV show, fake goods move from the screen to reality.

In some cases, 7-Eleven has contracted with manufacturers of similar products to make their Kwik-E-Mart counterparts. Malt-O-Meal, the Northfield, Minn., cereal maker, will conjure up a recipe for KrustyO's, for example. In others, existing products will simply be renamed. One flavor of 7-Eleven's own Slurpee will be sold as "WooHoo! Blue Vanilla" Squishee for the month.
----
After Fox pitched a 7-Eleven tie-in last year, representatives from the studio, the stores, and Gracie Films — including Simpsons creator Matt Groening and executive producer James L. Brooks, met in Los Angeles to kick around ideas. Brooks added one — holding a contest to let one fan be drawn into a future episode of the TV show.

7-Eleven executives loved the idea. They had surveys showing a strong overlap between their customers and fans of the show — both tend to be young and male. It sounded like cash registers ringing.

"They've been looking at Squishees and KrustyO's and Buzz Cola for years and have never been able to put their hands on it," said Merkel, the advertising executive.

But they won't find Duff beer, the brand chugged by Homer Simpson. The movie will be rated PG-13, and selling a Simpson-themed beer "didn't seem to fit," said Rita Bargerhuff, a 7-Eleven marketing executive. "That was a tough call, but we want to make sure it's considered good, responsible fun."

Bargerhuff predicted extra sales to Simpsons fans will more than offset the cost of the promotion and create new customers for the chain. She also said the chain is prepared for crowds and will have extra security and clerks at the Kwik-E-Marts.
Reference Here>>

Always wondered where Springfield really is? Does anyone really know? Well the folks at 7-Eleven do – in fact they’ve been working very closely with Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.

Burbank, CA
Chicago, IL
Dallas, TX
Denver, CO
Lake Buena Vista, FL/Orlando, FL
Las Vegas, NV/Henderson, NV
Los Angeles, CA
New York City, NY
San Francisco, CA/Mountain View, CA
Seattle, WA
Washington, DC/Bladensburg, MD


UPDATE 7-10-2007:

Proof that the creators of The Simpson's have decided that the fictitious town of "Springfield" is actually ... Springfield, Illinois!

The Real Survivor Fiji – Coup-less vs Clueless

Dr. Brij V. Lal is a Fijian historian of Indian descent. He was born in Labasa, on the northern island of Vanua Levu. He was educated at the University of South Pacific, the University of British Columbia and the Australian National University. Image Credit: The Australian National University

The Real Survivor Fiji – Coup-less vs Clueless

An article in the Fijian news outlet Fiji Live ponders whither the overthrow Government formed through the latest coup headed by Commodore Frank Bainimarama will stand up to a legal challenge in the Fiji court system … or will the military change the constitution.

We at MAXINE could not believe what we were reading!

Look, we all like an intellectual exercise but the discussion initiated by the leading academic in Fiji just seems a little, well, Clueless!

Any Government that is established through a coup can not be legitimate … so why is the issue even a process open to an exploration in a court system that only exists at the behest of Commodore Frank's marauding party.

Of course, Commodore Frank will “SHAPE” the previous constitution to meet the needs of HIS idea of what Fiji should be and THAT would be the point of the military takeover in the first place.

We really are beginning to wonder about Fiji … does the island nation want to remain Coup-less or Clueless?

Excerpts from Fiji Live -

Regime may abrogate constitution: Lal
Fijilive.com - Saturday June 30, 2007

Fiji's interim regime may decide to abrogate Fiji's Constitution to get itself out problematic situations, says leading Fiji academic Dr Brij Lal.

A series of lawsuits are already being processed by Fiji Courts on the legality of the December 5 coup. Leading this is the litigation by deposed Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase and members of his ousted government.

Lal said the regime's "real challenge will come when the legality of the military overthrow is tested before the courts in the months ahead".

"Those challenges will take place within the provisions of the 1997 constitution, the very constitution the military claims to be withholding," he said.

"What happens if the courts decide against the military is anyone's guess. But by proclaiming that the 1997 constitution is still alive and well and functioning complicates the military's position.

"Of course the military may decide that the best way forward for it is to abrogate the constitution."

Lal said then some of the leading members of the regime "who had a hand in fashioning the 1997 constitution will have to explain why they are now advocating its abrogation".

"Fiji has been in a constitutional conundrum for the last six months," he said.

"A coup took place, but the constitution remained intact. It was claimed to be a 'constitutional coup but there is no such thing as a 'constitutional coup.

"No democratic constitution provides for its own overthrow by a military coup."
----
Lal said some of the changes the military wants to introduce are good, "such as removing racial voting, but they have to be introduced in the proper way".

"What people have to realise is that constitution making in the modern world is a comparative exercise," he said.

"It cannot be done in isolation.
----
The regime justified its "clean-up campaign" resulting in the termination of members of the civil service, government heads and government statutory bodies through a mandate given by the President Ratu Josefa Iloilo post December 2006.

"But in the Westminster system, the President acts on the advice of the elected government," Lal said.
----
"The mandate that the interim administration is claiming is so wide ranging, so sweeping, that it will take years to accomplish."

Lal said it gives "an entirely new meaning to the word 'interim.'"
----
When asked to comment on whether the abrogation of the constitution could be employed by the interim administration, Interim Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said, "the interim administration does not respond to speculation".

"We are guided by a mandate given to us by the president," he said.

"One of the clauses in that mandate is to uphold the constitution."

The last time Fiji's Constitution was abrogated was on May 30 2000 by military commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama who appointed Qarase as interim Prime Minister five days later.

A High Court verdict in November 2000 and a subsequent Fiji Court of Appeal decision in March 2001 declared that the 1997 Constitution was not abrogated by Bainimarama and remained intact.
Reference Here>>

Hey Fiji, Frank is an impatient man and the Fijian constitution be damned.

National Sovereignty … It’s A Good Thing

“Sanctu-Harry” Reid (Sanctuary/Harry), in a final attempt to stitch together a few more votes to gain passage of the cloture vote, took to the Senate floor and waxed about a phone call he had receive from “Tommy”. Image Credit: Uncorrolated.com - January 11, 2007

National Sovereignty … It’s A Good Thing

The Senate finally listens to the very strong opinion of the American people and shot down the revived effort to legalize the status of 12 to 20 million Human Beings. These Human Beings choose to continue to break our laws to be accepted and live here in the United States in a properly identified manner.

“Sanctu-Harry” Reid (Sanctuary/Harry), in a final attempt to stitch together a few more votes to gain passage of the cloture vote, took to the Senate floor and waxed about a phone call he had receive from “Tommy”.

While standing and addressing the whole of the Senate, Harry Reid stated that he was withholding the last name of Tommy for fear of the government would look him up and possibly deport him. Tommy had called the leader of the Senate to urge him on to pass the immigration reform bill so that he or his friend would not have to live in fear any more.

This is the leader of the Senate … sworn to uphold the laws of our land and he admittedly pursued a process of sanctuary for Tommy by withholding his last name. With leadership like this, no wonder we can not get funding for the border fence that had been approved last year.

Recognition of the 53 members of the Senate that believe National Sovereignty is a good thing should take place. A particular mention should be made for Senator Brownback of Kansas, who changed his vote from Yea! To Nay! during the course of the roll call vote process.

Voting "no" were 15 Democrats, 37 Republicans and 1 independent.

Democrats No

Baucus, Mont.; Bayh, Ind.; Bingaman, N.M.; Brown, Ohio; Byrd, W.Va.; Dorgan, N.D.; Harkin, Iowa; Landrieu, La.; McCaskill, Mo.; Nelson, Neb.; Pryor, Ark.; Rockefeller, W.Va.; Stabenow, Mich.; Tester, Mont.; Webb, Va.

Republicans No

Alexander, Tenn.; Allard, Colo.; Barrasso, Wy.; Bond, Mo.; Brownback, Kan.; Bunning, Ky.; Burr, N.C.; Chambliss, Ga.; Coburn, Okla.; Cochran, Miss.; Coleman, Minn.; Collins, Maine; Corker, Tenn.; Cornyn, Texas; Crapo, Idaho; DeMint, S.C.; Dole, N.C.; Domenici, N.M.; Ensign, Nev.; Enzi, Wyo.; Grassley, Iowa; Hatch, Utah; Hutchison, Texas; Inhofe, Okla.; Isakson, Ga.; McConnell, Ky.; Murkowski, Alaska; Roberts, Kan.; Sessions, Ala.; Shelby, Ala.; Smith, Ore.; Stevens, Alaska; Sununu, N.H.; Thune, S.D.; Vitter, La.; Voinovich, Ohio; Warner, Va.

Others No

Sanders, Vt.

In the same regard, one should shun the following Senators for NOT protecting the sovereignty of the country they represent. Most surprising of these names voting to extend amnesty through the “Z-Visa” is the pro war-on-terror Senator Joseph Lieberman, Connecticut.

Voting "yes" were 33 Democrats, 12 Republicans and 1 independent.

Democrats Yes

Akaka, Hawaii; Biden, Del.; Boxer, Calif.; Cantwell, Wash.; Cardin, Md.; Carper, Del.; Casey, Pa.; Clinton, N.Y.; Conrad, N.D.; Dodd, Conn.; Durbin, Ill.; Feingold, Wis.; Feinstein, Calif.; Inouye, Hawaii; Kennedy, Mass.; Kerry, Mass.; Klobuchar, Minn.; Kohl, Wis.; Lautenberg, N.J.; Leahy, Vt.; Levin, Mich.; Lincoln, Ark.; Menendez, N.J.; Mikulski, Md.; Murray, Wash.; Nelson, Fla.; Obama, Ill.; Reed, R.I.; “Sanctu-Harry” Reid, Nev.; Salazar, Colo.; Schumer, N.Y.; Whitehouse, R.I.; Wyden, Ore.

Republicans Yes

Bennett, Utah; Craig, Idaho; Graham, S.C.; Gregg, N.H.; Hagel, Neb.; Kyl, Ariz.; Lott, Miss.; Lugar, Ind.; Martinez, Fla.; McCain, Ariz.; Snowe, Maine; Specter, Pa.

Others Yes

Lieberman, Conn.

The 46-53 roll call vote by which the Senate voted to block final action on a bill that would have legalize millions of unlawful immigrants took place June 28, 2007.

Let the celebration of the sovereignty and power of the American people begin.

Also, let the vigorous enforcement of or borders and immigration laws begin as well.
(ht: Associated Press, Laura Ingraham)

Fairness Doctrine vs Citizen Journalism

Recognizing the threat of China's growing online community, Chinese President Hu Jintao called in January for the Internet to be "purified", and the government has since launched a number of online crackdowns. Image Credit: AFP

Fairness Doctrine vs Citizen Journalism

Here in the good ol’ USA, we have members of our congress walking the halls complaining about the success of “Talk Radio” and how it needs to be regulated. A recent account observed that senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Hillary Clinton (D-CA) were conversing about how the “Fairness Doctrine” needs to re-implemented in order to curb the free market influences that rule the popularity of this broadcast and communications medium.

This doctrine grew out of concern back in 1949 because of the large number of applications for radio station being submitted and the limited number of frequencies available. Broadcasters had to make sure they did not use their stations simply as advocates with a singular perspective. Rather, they had to allow all points of view. That requirement was to be enforced by FCC mandate. With the deregulation sweep of the Reagan Administration during the 1980s, the Federal Communications Commission dissolved the fairness doctrine.

It is funny how our currently elected leadership waxes philosophical regarding the limitation of free speech in the face of the communications landscape that exists today. The focus on the success of Talk Radio and the Fairness Doctrine leaves behind the rest of the singularly liberal forces that exist with mainstream broadcast television, newspaper print media, and the educator class that run our universities.

Oh!, And let us not forget the freedom of speech and communication that has become the “Wild West” landscape of the internet. How will our elected leaders like Boxer and Clinton address the internet in light of this concept of the “Fairness Doctrine”? … Maybe they can draw on the experience the political leaders in China.

Excerpts from Agence France-Presse via Breitbart -

'Citizen journalism' battles the Chinese censors
AFP - Jun 24 11:44 PM US/Eastern

In the strictly controlled media world of communist China, "citizen journalism" is beating a way through censorship, breaking taboos and offering a pressure valve for social tensions.

In one striking example this month, the Internet was largely responsible for breaking open a slave scandal in two Chinese provinces that some local authorities had been complicit in.

A letter posted on the Internet by 400 parents of children working as slaves in brickyards was the trigger for the national press to finally report on the scandal that some rights groups say had been going on for years.

The parents' Internet posting was part of a growing phenomenon for marginalised people in China who can not otherwise have their complaints addressed by the traditional, government-controlled press.

"The phenomenon of 'citizen journalism' suddenly arrived several years ago," said Beijing-based dissident Liu Xiaobo, who was one of the student leaders of the 1989 Tiananmen democracy protests.

"Since the appearance of blogs in particular, every blog is a new platform for the spread of information."

He cited the example of a couple in the southwestern city of Chongqing who became known as the "Stubborn Nails" in April because they refused to leave their home until they received adequate compensation from the property developer who wanted them out.
----
"That case was first revealed through blogs," Liu said.

Also in Chongqing, parts of the city were this month set on fire following the beating of flower sellers by the "chengguan", city police charged with "cleaning up" the city's roads.

Witnesses to the beatings had appealed to local television journalists, but nothing was broadcast.

The incident only became known outside the city thanks to photos and stories published on the Internet, sparking anger among China's netizens.

"It's fascism," said one, while another mocked: "The inhabitants of Chongqing are truly naive, the Chinese media is all controlled by the Communist Party, they decide what people know."
----
Recognising the threat of China's growing online community, Chinese President Hu Jintao called in January for the Internet to be "purified", and the government has since launched a number of online crackdowns.

"The department of propaganda has sent out regulations to try and control the opinions being spread on the Internet, but every citizen has the right to criticise or to take part in public affairs on the Internet," said Zhu Dake, a professor at Shanghai Tongji University.

"The government has to accept the criticisms of the people, it can no longer react crudely like in the past."

Julien Pain, who monitors Internet freedom issues for Reporters Without Borders, is less optimistic.

"One cannot truly say that the Internet in China is becoming more and more free, because at the same time as the development of citizen journalists, the government finds ways of blocking or censoring content," Pain said.

Reporters Without Borders, which labels the Chinese government an "enemy of the Internet," says about 50 cyber dissidents are currently behind bars in China.
Reference Here>>

At least here in America, we have the First Amendment in our Constitution.

Even Senators John Kerry, Dick Durbin, and Diane Feinstein and their wishes to stop the "hyperbole" coming from a free and open media with a fairness doctrine ... will not be able to "purify" the American communications landscape.
(ht: The Museum of Broadcast Communications and Fox News)

NBC Plays The PC Card On IQ Test Report

Science Cover: A female Aedes aegypti mosquito attempts to take flight after a blood meal. Image Credit: James Gathany/CDC

NBC Plays The PC Card On IQ Test Report
(does not mention that the study also recognizes gender along with social rank in family dynamics)

The NBC Weekend Today Show for Saturday decided to report on an article published in the journal Science and when doing so decided to color the conclusions to meet their own politically correct, or should we say gender correct, template.

In the study titled - Explaining the Relation Between Birth Order and Intelligence
Petter Kristensen and Tor Bjerkedal, Science 22 June 2007 - NBC claimed that intelligence is more about environment than biology without EVER mentioning either the word Male or Female ... but if one reads the article, the phrase that really sticks out is the order on which the study finds the IQ ranking – “It's a matter of what they call social rank in the family - the highest scores were racked up by the senior boy - the first born - or, if the firstborn had died in infancy, the next oldest.”

By reading this, gender plays a greater role (ie. first born Male - as in senior boy) than does actual rank as first born.

CNN took a clearer and more direct description to the findings in the article in their title of the reporting of the findings.

This from AP via CNN –

Boys treated as eldest do better on IQ tests
POSTED: 5:51 p.m. EDT, June 21, 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Boys at the top of the pecking order -- either by birth or because their older siblings died -- score higher on IQ tests than their younger brothers.

The question of whether firstborn and only children are really smarter than those who come along later has been hotly debated for more than a century.

Norwegian researchers now report that it isn't a matter of being born first, but growing up the senior child, that seems to result in the higher IQ scores.

Petter Kristensen and Tor Bjerkedal report their findings in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

It's a matter of what they call social rank in the family -- the highest scores were racked up by the senior boy -- the first born or, if the firstborn had died in infancy, the next oldest.
----
Frank J. Sulloway of the Institute for Personality and Social Research at the University of California, Berkeley, welcomed what he called the Norwegians' "elegantly designed" analysis.

"These two researchers demonstrate that how study participants were raised, not how they were born, is what actually influences their IQs," said Sulloway, who was not part of the research team.
Reference Here>>

And this from AP via Forbes -

Families' Eldest Boys Do Best on Tests
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID - Associated Press - 06.21.07, 4:15 PM ET

Boys at the top of the pecking order - either by birth or because their older siblings died - score higher on IQ tests than their younger brothers. The question of whether firstborn and only children are really smarter than those who come along later has been hotly debated for more than a century.
----
It's a matter of what they call social rank in the family - the highest scores were racked up by the senior boy - the first born or, if the firstborn had died in infancy, the next oldest.
----
The average IQ of first-born men was 103.2, they found.

Second-born men averaged 101.2, but second-born men whose older sibling died in infancy scored 102.9.

And for third-borns, the average was 100.0. But if both older siblings died young, the third-born score rose to 102.6.

The findings provide "evidence that the relation between birth order and IQ score is dependent on the social rank in the family and not birth order as such," they concluded.

It's an issue that has perplexed people since at least 1874, when Sir Francis Galton reported that men in prominent positions tend to be firstborns more often than would have been statistically expected.

Since then, several studies have reported higher intelligence scores for firstborns, while other analyses have questioned those findings and the methodology of the reports.

While the Norwegian analysis focused on men, other studies have included women, some indicating a birth-order effect and some not.
Reference Here>>

Champ Cars Take Flight In Cleveland

The La Salle Bank Grand Prix of Cleveland held on the runways and taxiways of the Burke Lakefront Airport, downtown Cleveland. Image Credit: Getty Images via CBS Sportsline

Champ Cars Take Flight In Cleveland
(Television Broadcast - CBS June 24, 1:00 pm ET)

The long, flat airport taxiways and runways make for one of the most exciting driver skill contested venues for an open-wheel event in Champ Car to be staged this year.

In Cleveland, the race is held on a working (but shut-down for the week-end) private aircraft airport right on the lakefront that the City of Cleveland resides on.

From Burke Lakefront Airport, the Cityscape of Cleveland acts a jewel of a backdrop with the Rock-N-Roll Hall Of Fame as a centerpiece.

The biggest attraction of the race venue has to be the track itself ... and in particular, Turn One on ANY start and restart.

The strightaway leading to the approach to Turn One is as wide as any concrete eight to ten lane freeway. The turn itself circles back to the other direction about 315 degrees onto a crossover to another runway heading back to the oposite direction.

As the Champ Cars and drivers head into Turn One, many are tempted to cut the corner short and take the shortest route to the apex, while others take a much higher line which allows one the hit the apex of the turn at a higher rate of speed.

The cars and drivers fan out and hope for the best. If a driver gets it right, they pass a few cars for position and get away clean ... if a driver gets it wrong? ...

... Well, here is the start of the race from last year where A.J. Allmendinger (currently racing in NASCAR) is able to just get past Sebastian Bourdais to maintain the pole starting position - Position One, while others will need assistance for a restart.

2006 Cleveland Grand Prix Race Start

This year may actually be the last race from Burke if some people in Cleveland have their way - and this would be very sad indeed. The Cleveland Grand Prix is one of just a few races that helped to define what it ment to BE a Champ Car venue. Really, it is right there with Long Beach, Elkhart Lake, and Toronto.

The Burke Lakefront Airport circuit in Cleveland, Ohio offers a challenging 2.106-mile, wide-open 10-turn race track. This will be the 26th time that the Champ Cars "Roar by the Shore". This event is the longest tenure of any temporary race venue on the Champ Car circuit.

Is it possible that the race in Cleveland will go the way of other great venues that were Champ Car staples like Ohio and Vancouver?

Excerpts from the Cleveland Plain Dealer -

What to do with Burke?
Its past as landfill complicates future
UPDATED: 10 :30 a.m. EDT, June 20, 2007 - Joan Mazzolini - Plain Dealer Reporter (originally published - Monday, April 23, 2007)

The vast expanse of land that makes up Burke Lakefront Airport has tantalized residents for decades as the last, best hope to give Cleveland a real lakefront, akin to Chicago, Milwaukee or Toronto.

And with two underperforming local airports -- Burke and Cuyahoga County -- the refrain from various quarters has long been to close Burke and merge operations.

But the hurdles to use Burke's 450 acres for a commercial center or housing or even a massive park are greater and more expensive than many realize.

While often called prime lakefront land, the reality is very different.

Most of Burke sits on garbage and dredge material. In fact, a Cleveland city dump since the time of horse-drawn wagons was located there and the garbage was burned until the 1950s.

Workers doing any digging on or near Burke are required to wear environmental hazmat suits because of the contamination, which includes PCBs, methane, oil, car tires and other debris.

Image Credit: Google Maps

Mike Hoyle, chief executive of Business Aircraft Group Inc., an aircraft management and sales company at Burke, doesn't believe the airport can be closed, both for the economic benefit it brings to Cleveland and for the simple reason that turning the land into a park would be too expensive.

City officials and others estimate that Burke contributes at least $100 million a year to the economy.

"You dig 4 feet and you're in sludge," Hoyle said. "My building sits on 6-foot-wide footers and it has settled 9 inches. You can't build a high-rise here."
----
But long before any new use of the land can even be considered, another question must be answered.

Can it be done? Can Burke, in fact, be closed?

That may be finally answered, with a master plan of the airport that Burke Commissioner Khalid Bahhur expects to be complete later this year.

It would finally answer the question of "does Burke stay or does it go?"

"If it stays, we'll be able to say here's why, and if it goes, here's why," Bahhur said.
----
If Burke goes, and the process could take years, a big question is where do the hospital helicopters, the Federal Reserve flights, the flight schools, corporate jets and others that use Burke go?

Some say other close-by reliever airports, such as Cuyahoga County, Lost Nation and Lorain County, could take portions. Of those, only Cuyahoga County has a control tower.
----
To close Burke, Cleveland would probably have to repay the Federal Aviation Administration $4.1 million in grants it received for airport upkeep.

But it might not be that simple.

The FAA could require Cleveland not just to move all operations to other airports, but could also require the city to reproduce Burke and its acreage at a different location.

"It's more than simply repaying the money," said FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro. "We would do an airspace study . . . to see what the consequences are and does this create more congestion.

"We can say 'No, you can't close this.' "

Longtime Burke Commissioner Mike Barth, who left to run Lorain County airport, said he believes you can give people more access and keep the airport.

Barth, who left in 1999 after 28 years at Burke, including 10 as the airport's commissioner, said dredged material should continue to be dumped at Burke, which would ultimately allow a runway to be added to the north.
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"We all know the lakefront would be really prime land. We could have parks, entertainment, housing and retail," Dimora said.

"What land in the county isn't contaminated? You'll have to build with pilings," he said. "It's more difficult, more costly. But it's more desirable."
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Hey! ... and then there is the Cleveland Grand Prix and all the commerce and attention this event brings into the Cleveland economy every year for the last 26 years ... where is the mention of this little tidbit of information?

Long live the Cleveland Grand Prix at the Burke Lakefront Airport circuit.