It's stuff like this that gives me much pleasure as an amatuer blogger!
There's something called the Global Warming Petition Project that has 31,072 actual scientists, including 9021 PhD's (sorry, no rock stars, actors, or lawyers), who have signed this document saying that global warming is a myth. The data touted by idiots like Al Gore and others is wrong, that there is no consensus as Al Gore says, and the science is not settled as Al Gore says.
As I have said before, the entire global warming hysteria was cooked up by a failed politician, a publicity whore so desperate for attention that he has cobbled together a load of faulty data and foisted it on a group of gullible America haters who would see this country crippled in some sort of national self-flagellation.
Below are a series of graphs from the paper that are fairly self-explanatory followed by the conclusion of the paper.
Conclusion:
There are no experimental data to support the hypothesis that increases in human hydrocarbon use or in atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are causing or can be expected to cause unfavorable changes in global temperatures, weather, or landscape. There is no reason to limit human production of CO2, CH4, and other minor greenhouse gases as has been proposed.
We also need not worry about environmental calamities even if the current natural warming trend continues. The Earth has been much warmer during the past 3,000 years without catastrophic effects. Warmer weather extends growing seasons and generally improves the habitability of colder regions.
As coal, oil, and natural gas are used to feed and lift from poverty vast numbers of people across the globe, more CO2 will be released into the atmosphere. This will help to maintain and improve the health, longevity, prosperity, and productivity of all people.
The United States and other countries need to produce more energy, not less. The most practical, economical, and environmentally sound methods available are hydrocarbon and nuclear technologies.
Human use of coal, oil, and natural gas has not harmfully warmed the Earth, and the extrapolation of current trends shows that it will not do so in the foreseeable future. The CO2 produced does, however, accelerate the growth rates of plants and also permits plants to grow in drier regions. Animal life, which depends upon plants, also flourishes, and the diversity of plant and animal life is increased.
Human activities are producing part of the rise in CO2 in the atmosphere. Mankind is moving the carbon in coal, oil, and natural gas from below ground to the atmosphere, where it is available for conversion into living things. We are living in an increasingly lush environment of plants and animals as a result of this CO2 increase. Our children will therefore enjoy an Earth with far more plant and animal life than that with which we now are blessed.
That was the headline in a recent issue of People magazine I think. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not picking on how Britney looks. The pics above are from her recent trip with anti-semite drunkard Mel Gibson and his wife in Costa Rica or someplace. These pics are only a week old. They don't seem to resemble the images in that issue of People where they were breathlessly touting her weight loss regimine.
Like I said, I'm not dissing her looks. For a young woman in her mid to late twenties who just had two children in rapid succession, she looks fine. If my girlfriend looked like that, I certainly wouldn't be complaining -- if I had a girlfriend, that is. No, my bitch is with magazines like People, that are so desperate to exploit Brit or any of these young stars that they pump out issues with dramatic hyperbole over every incident no matter how mundane.
I suppose any positive press is good for Brit, though I find it a bit ridiculous that someone who makes $750 thousand per month and doesn't actually have to work each day, can't find their way to a gym or hire a cook to help them stay in shape. And she does seem to be staying out of trouble for the moment.
Perhaps she's over the hump in her life. It was looking kind of bleak there for a while. It would be nice if her story had a nice ending.
With the success of IronMan, there are rumblings that someone is going to try and make a full-length feature of WitchBlade. The usual nay-sayers are out there to point out that female character centered superhero movies don't do well at the box office -- see Catwoman and Elektra.
Here's my thing -- both of those movies suffered because the studios took criminal characters and tried to make them heroes. Another huge mistake was making both those movies PG rated to draw in young teens rather than appeal to older viewers in the theatre while capturing the younger ones when the movie comes out on dvd, a much smarter marketing approach, imho.
Not sure how casting affected those movies. Halle Berry has done quite well as Storm in the X-Men movies, so she is capable of playing the part. It just seems that they couldn't decide whether to make it campy fun or serious comic book action. In the end, it came out pretty crappy as we all know.
We all love Jen Garner from Alias, but she was woefully miscast as Elektra if for no other reason than there was no way they could get her big booty into that sexy number Elektra wears in the comics. Pity, 'cause that would have been worth the price of admission to see someone wear that outfit in person.
That is sort of where Aeon Flux went bad as well. Nevermind the problems doing a movie based on a cartoon where the protagonist dies in each episode (but how cool would it have been if they could have worked that out?!), putting lithe hotty Charlize Theron in boring body suits, yuck! And again, they took an adult toon and made it PG rated, taking all the bite that gave the toon it's edge away. dumb
TNT made a TV version of WitchBlade with Yancy Butler a few years back. Yancy, a graduate of the Sean Young school of "How to torpedo your career in the shortest time possible" (fyi, Lindsay Lohan is presently doing independent study at the same university and is showing great promise as she cannot even hold a role as a homicidal Manson groupie), did a credible job in the title role as police officer Sara Pezzini. Though the series was pretty well received, TNT naturally f**ked things up by rushing through the storylines, killing off half the characters, then making one of the worst season enders ever by having Sara go back in time and start all over again. Holy Dallas-Bobby's-not-dead-it-was-just-a-dream, Batman! sheesh
So we'll see where this goes, but I am not hopeful.
In music news, after their well received show in London a while back, Led Zep (my fav band ever) members Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones along with Jason Bonham have been practicing like they'd like to tour a bit. Naturally, Robert Plant won't have anything to do with that. He abhores classic rock radio, and has said often that he doesn't like playing the old stuff over and over. His right I suppose. But rumors are out there that perhaps Plant-wanna-be David Coverdale of Whitesnake may be tagged to do vocals if the boys decide to tour. Coverdale's got enough vocal chops to handle the gig and the Plant-like hair as well.
Good idea? I'm sort of a Zep purist. I can handle Jason on drums 'cause that's kind of a cool homage. But someone else on vocals when Plant's still around? I just don't know. But I'd like the chance to see Jimmy on stage at least once. I missed them in Tampa at the infamous "riot" show that caused the stadium authorities to ban concerts for ten years. And I can't wait forever until Plant decides to grace us with his presence again.
When Gloria Steinem was still trying to figure out how to put on a training bra, my mother was a female executive. An advertising wheel for Sperry Corp., she flew to New York and San Francisco on a regular basis for meetings and conferences. I remember the sourdough bread she used to bring back from SF, yumm. Every day, going to work in a business dress, I thought that was how everyone's mom dressed for work. At least those who did, both my parents worked, in an era before it was commonplace.
For reasons I'll never know, mom gave up that job and took a position at a local hospital in the personel department. I remember asking one time, when they were looking for a new dept head, why she didn't take the position herself as she was the best qualified person available. She said she wasn't interested in running a department anymore. Wish I'd had the presence to ask why.
A little bit of a woman, she was 5 feet tall and maybe a hundred pounds in a soaking wet sweatsuit, she was a powerhouse nonetheless. She got a degree in English from a small Pennsylvania college, that she seemed a little embarrassed about. Again, not sure why. But boy, could she use words! Never in my life have I seen anyone with the ability to eviscerate another verbally as my mom. You think psuedo-intellectuals like Bill Maher can talk? Mom would have gutted him like a fish, then turned the knife one last time before she walked away.
My sister described mom one time as prickly. Maybe the best description ever. She seemed to hold everyone at arms length. I wish I knew why. Towards the end of her life, she seemed to be reliving things, she said some things that made me think there may have been some trauma in her life. Again, I'll never know. Is it for the best? I don't know. Our parents raise us, we spend so much time with them, yet as children we don't have the capacity to know them. It's not until we are older, and then it's too late. That sucks.
Fond memories -- vacations in Virginia Beach. The couple of times we rented a cottage down here on the beach - so close to home, yet so far away. Dancing in the kitchen. Mom in her hideous bandau bikini top, sunning herself until she was as brown as a coffee bean. Mom, dad, Jude and I sitting on the back porch laughing and telling stories.
In the end, she died quietly, almost to the day the doctor's predicted as she was bleeding internally from inoperable colon cancer. Sadly, she had a lot of regrets, felt she had missed out on a lot of things. Everyone has this romantic vision, I think, of how their parents will pass on. But life rarely acceeds to our hopes and wishes.
I'm sorry mom. Sorry for everything I didn't say, everything I didn't do. I don't think I was as good a son as I could have been, as you deserved.
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