Saturday, July 21, 2007
DUO NOT REALLY ALL THAT UNLIKELY
A showbiz airhead joins forces with Cameron Diaz:
Cameron Diaz is teaming up with former Vice President Al Gore to host a TV contest about saving the planet. The unlikely duo will work with Current TV and in association with the Alliance for Climate Protection on the project, called 60 Seconds to Save the Earth.
The contest challenges viewers across the U.S., U.K. and the Republic of Ireland to create brief public service announcements offering tips to battle global warming.
Here’s one: eat more Chilean sea bass! You know, to keep ocean levels down and prevent flooding. Meanwhile, Diaz may safely be left in charge of costumes.
UPDATE. In other contest news, syndicated columnist Michelle Singletary needs your advice:
So what’s your best energy, water or waste-saving penny-pinching story? You can nominate yourself, a family member, friend, relative or co-worker. I’m looking for originality and honesty. I’m interested in frugal folks, not misers. Humor scores big in this contest.
There is prize money. Send your tips straight to Michelle.
UPDATE II. Jim K. emails: “Ever catch Diaz’ dopey eco-tourist show for MTV called Trippin’? Wuzzadem did a hilarious take-down ...”
Friday, July 20, 2007
CARTOON KILLED
Joe Bob Briggs reviews a comical case of cartoon cowardice.
UPDATE. There are echoes here of the NYT’s Motoon coverage, as mentioned in this Mark Steyn interview:
The New York Times, at the time of the Danish cartoon thing a few months ago, they actually declined to publish the Danish cartoons of Mohammed on the grounds that they might be offensive, and so to illustrate one of their stories about the cartoon crisis, they printed an illustration of the Virgin Mary covered in dung. Heh!
The SMH’s coverage was even more evasive; one of their pieces on the Motoon debacle featured a picture of me. Thanks for that, SMH.
YOU DECIDE
“If it weren’t for my Australian citizenship,” writes Traceeee Hutchison, “I suspect I’d be frogmarched into indefinite detention. Is this what we want our country to look like?”
Beats me. Let’s put it to a vote in comments:
• YES! Put Traceeee away forever.
• NO! Traceeee’s detention should not be indefinite.
HE MAY HAVE BEEN SLIGHTLY UNHINGED BEFOREHAND
Ex-Age boss Michael Gawenda roasts Duckman:
The Melbourne cartoonist Michael Leunig became “unhinged” by widespread claims his cartoons were anti-Semitic, according to his former boss, editor-in-chief of The Age Michael Gawenda ...
Gawenda says Leunig became “unhinged” by the attacks from people who found his cartoons on Israel “morally blind, suffused with hatred for the Israelis, with no sympathy or empathy for even the children and women who were victims of suicide bombers, about whom he showed not even the slightest sign of disgust”.
Read on. Interestingly, despite his anti-Israel ‘toons, Leunig has been marked for death by Islamists; guess they don’t know an ally when they see one.
REFRIED BAROT
A good-news story to start the weekend.
(Via Renate B.)
Thursday, July 19, 2007
FISH COMPLIES WITH CONTROLLING LEGAL AUTHORITY
Al Gore’s Chilean sea bass – mentioned previously here and here - turns out to have been sustainable, reports the UK Telegraph:
Al Gore, the world’s most high profile green campaigner, was at the centre of an embarrassing row yesterday after the serving of a rare fish at his daughter’s Beverly Hills wedding …
But the fish enjoyed by the Gores were not endangered or illegally caught.
Rather, the restaurant later confirmed, they had come from one of the world’s few well-managed, sustainable populations of toothfish, and caught and documented in compliance with Marine Stewardship Council regulations. The Gores’ spokesman, Kalee Kreider, admitted that the fish has been on the menu, but said: “The Gores absolutely agree with this humane society and the rest of the environmental community about illegally caught Chilean sea bass …
“The really important thing is that people become more aware of this issue.”
Al has increased awareness of a rare fish by eating one. It’s a win/win!
LOLCAT MANIA
Achewood’s Ray Smuckles - exclusively in today’s Daily Telegraph! Further on this international cat in EW.
SOMETHING FOR MEDIA WATCH
Alleged wikicopying at The Age.
“IT’S A F*****G FRYING PAN!”
Robert Fisk offers his opinion.
HISTORIC COLDENING
Queensland is cold, so very, very cold …
Brisbane Airport experienced its coldest morning on record today, with the mercury falling below zero for the first time … Amberley had its second coldest day on record with minus 4.8 degrees.
And Stanthorpe residents were forced to brave an overnight minimum temperature of minus seven degrees.
Further north:
Townsville recorded its longest cold snap in 66 years, with continuous minimums below 12 degrees.
The weather bureau’s Greg Connors is predicting there is more to come.
”Not since 1941 have we had such a long cold spell and we think as Friday and Saturday approaches it’s going to get even colder,” he said.
Must be all the carbon. Or something. Down in Victoria, they’re making Gaia cry:
National Electricity Market Management Company spokesman Paul Bird said power use hit a record high.
“It hit 8351MW at 6pm on Tuesday . . . which was about 270MW more than the previous record set on June 19.
“It does show that a lot of people are staying indoors with the colder weather and using a lot more home heating,” Mr Bird said.
They wouldn’t use so much power if it was warmer. Burn that coal, Victorians! Burn it to save the planet!
IT USED TO BE RAINFOREST
Bill Katovsky identifies a new version of the famous harsh Afghan winter:
With the Iraqi parliament jetting off to Dubai for R&R while brave young US soldiers patrol lethal swaths of the country in sweltering global-warming desert ...
MEDICINE FORGOTTEN
Fidel doesn’t seem exactly ready to join the World Council of Oldsters:
Convalescing Fidel Castro said in an essay Tuesday that he has been so engrossed with Cuba’s performance at the Pan American Games in Brazil that he forgets to eat and take his medicine.
On second thoughts, he might be overqualified.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
MODELLING TO BE RELEASED
These people are out of their minds:
The greenhouse gas cuts Australia must achieve to prevent dangerous climate change may be substantially higher than thought, with modelling to be released today suggesting it should be as much as 95 per cent by 2020.
That’s from the Sydney Morning Herald, a mainstream daily. They would have us believe we must essentially shut down the entire nation - by the way, Australia produces only about 1.5% of the planet’s so-called greenhouse emissions - in order to avert “dangerous climate change”.
(Via Chris S.)
A MODERN FABLE
Canadian teenagers head out on a journey to - as usual - raise awareness of global warming:
The boys, who call themselves the Team Rioters, left Hope July 10, and after four grueling days on their boards they managed to make it to Parksville.
Chris Roberts, 15, said the group’s original goal was to long board from Hope all the way to Tofino.
“We had to stop our run in Parksville after we found out from a lot of people that the highway to Tofino was too dangerous and that boarders are not aloud to ride it,” said Roberts.
The boys had no other choice than to pick up their boards and take a bus the rest of the way.
They just weren’t aloud. Life is cruel.
CRISIS IGNORED
The Sydney Morning Herald scolds a reckless citizenry:
Climate change may be a global crisis, but with parts of NSW colder than Antarctica yesterday it seems we would rather keep cosy than bother about the environment.
NSW this week set its third electricity consumption record in a month. Experts blamed residents turning up their heaters and reverse cycle air-conditioners to fend off the unusually chilly winter.
Let’s try burning some experts instead. It’s even colder in globally-warmed Victoria, where icy roads caused a Gaia-angering accident:
Ice is being blamed for a huge herbicide spill after a truck rolled on black ice on the Calder Alternative Road at Lockwood about 3.45am.
The truck was carrying 64 20-litre drums of weed killer, many of which have now spilled causing emergency services to close the road in both directions.
The cold seems to have forced Jim Schembri into a denialist position.