gadgetlady

I'm putting this in R&R because I have a feeling it's going to need to be there http://www.expelledthemovie.com/playgroundvideo3.swf I'm putting the movie release date on my calendar. Can't wait!

This will just take a moment of your time and it is critical – I do not say this lightly. We homeschool in California. A few days ago, a California court ruled that homeschooling is illegal. I would appreciate it if as many people as possible would sign a petition to "depublish" this decision (to restrict the decision to the one family involved, and not apply it broadly to all homeschool families). This is important even if you don't live in California. Please click on the link below to sign the petition or get more info on this case. Please consider forwarding this information to those who would also be willing to support us. To sign the petition, go to: https://www2.hslda.org/Registrations/DepublishingCaliforniaCourtDecision/

It's not gory at all. There are no photos of anything abortion-related at all. It's all voice recordings and typed text. You should watch it.

I AM ASTONISHED AT THE FOLLOWING VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eygv8qEkiFE Watch all the way through. Amazing!

I have this image of "Big Al" holding an award close to his chest, back slightly turned, while someone tries to yank it out of his hands. In my mental picture, there's a toddler-like temper tantrum occurring as well. It isn't often I get to use my favorite smiley! :smile2:

Sometimes abortion kills more than the unborn babies: The Suicide Of Emma Beck - Silence No More -- Michelle Malkin -- GOPUSA

Posted without comment from DailyTech - Temperature Monitors Report Widescale Global Cooling Twelve-month long drop in world temperatures wipes out a century of warming Over the past year, anecdotal evidence for a cooling planet has exploded. China has its coldest winter in 100 years. Baghdad sees its first snow in all recorded history. North America has the most snowcover in 50 years, with places like Wisconsin the highest since record-keeping began. Record levels of Antarctic sea ice, record cold in Minnesota, Texas, Florida, Mexico, Australia, Iran, Greece, South Africa, Greenland, Argentina, Chile -- the list goes on and on. No more than anecdotal evidence, to be sure. But now, that evidence has been supplanted by hard scientific fact. All four major global temperature tracking outlets (Hadley, NASA's GISS, UAH, RSS) have released updated data. All show that over the past year, global temperatures have dropped precipitously. A compiled list of all the sources can be seen here. The total amount of cooling ranges from 0.65C up to 0.75C -- a value large enough to wipe out nearly all the warming recorded over the past 100 years. All in one year's time. For all four sources, it's the single fastest temperature change ever recorded, either up or down. Scientists quoted in a past DailyTech article link the cooling to reduced solar activity which they claim is a much larger driver of climate change than man-made greenhouse gases. The dramatic cooling seen in just 12 months time seems to bear that out. While the data doesn't itself disprove that carbon dioxide is acting to warm the planet, it does demonstrate clearly that more powerful factors are now cooling it. Let's hope those factors stop fast. Cold is more damaging than heat. The mean temperature of the planet is about 54 degrees. Humans -- and most of the crops and animals we depend on -- prefer a temperature closer to 70. Historically, the warm periods such as the Medieval Climate Optimum were beneficial for civilization. Corresponding cooling events such as the Little Ice Age, though, were uniformly bad news.

Hi Grace, This cruise took place in spring 2007. There was a single cruiser who was willing to pay a little bit of another single passenger's fare just so she could go. So the room rate was low because it was booked very early, and then it was even lower because the first passenger in the room was willing to pay an additional $100 of the new passenger's fare. Hope the clarifies. It was a great deal and someone jumped all over it :-)

:glare: Thanks for the belly laugh.

As I tell my kids, just because you've crossed the street dozens of times without getting hit by a car, doesn't mean you could never be hit by a car. Because I don't change the lightbulbs in our house (dh does), I can't speak to slippery fingers, knocked over lamps, overtightening, or dropped boxes. But I'm sure they do happen, even though they haven't happened to you. For me, the benefits don't outweigh the risks and it's not a risk I'm willing to take.

The problem with the mercury, as I see it, is not with safe disposal (although that IS an issue). The big problem is if you drop them or they otherwise break in your house. From the Boston Globe article, emphasis mine: For the Maine study, researchers shattered 65 compact fluorescents to test air quality and cleanup methods. They found that, in many cases, immediately after the bulb was broken - and sometimes even after a cleanup was attempted - levels of mercury vapor exceeded federal guidelines for chronic exposure by as much as 100 times. "We found some very high levels [of mercury] even after we tried a number of cleanup techniques," said Mark Hyland, director of Maine's Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management. He said levels were the lowest if the room was well ventilated after breakage. The study recommended that if a compact fluorescent breaks, get children and pets out of the room. Ventilate the room. Never use a vacuum, even on a rug, to clean up a broken compact fluorescent lamps. Instead, use stiff paper such as index cards and tape to pick up pieces, and then wipe the area with a wet wipe or damp paper towel. If there are young children or pregnant woman in the house, consider cutting out the piece of carpet where the lamp broke as a precaution. Place the shards and cleanup debris in a glass jar with a screw top and remove the jar from the house. I can barely keep my kitchen floor clean as it is. I have enough to do in my life to worry about calling a HazMat team or worrying if I should change the carpet if (when?) I break a light bulb.

My brother, who's a both-feet-in environmentalist, greenpeace-nik, democratic, et al, believes strongly in nuclear power. It's not out of the realm of reality for environmentalists to support it.

I'm just astounded. I decided to research a bit to see if I could find that quote. What I found was amazing: Excerpted from ESR | January 28, 2002 | Do animal rights activists care more about animals than human beings? (emphasis mine) * Lee Ryan, a member of the British boy band Blue, put the comparison in stark and crude language. Ryan, who styles himself an animal rights activist, asked the British tabloid The Sun, "What about whales? They are ignoring animals that are more important. Animals need saving and that's more important . . . Who gives a f--- about New York when elephants are being killed." * To his credit, animal rights philosopher Peter Singer did criticize the idea of comparing the victims of the September 11 attacks to animals killed for food, but United Poultry Concerns' Karen Davis vigorously denounced Singer for this. According to Davis, "For 35 million chickens in the United States alone, every single night is a terrorist attack." Davis went on to suggest that since most of those who died in the terrorist attacks were likely meat eaters, the attacks may have actually resulted in a net reduction in suffering. :biggrin:

I read an article once about a well-known environmentalist. I can't remember his name. The article was in a mainstream magazine (just in case anyone accuses me of listening to conservative propaganda). There was a quote in there from him about how he basically doesn't like the human race and values animals over people. I suspect many environmentalists feel this way (not all), but he was one of the ones who's at least honest about it. If anyone wants me to try to find the article / reference / quote, let me know and I will try to find the time to hunt it down.

The problem with global-warming proponents and environmentalists is they are so frothing at the mouth to further their cause, they often propose "solutions" that have their own problems. Mercury leaks found as new bulbs break - The Boston Globe I don't know, I think I'd rather be less "environmentally conscious" and safeguard my children from mercury poisoning. But that's just me. I'm sure there are many others who care more about mother earth than they do their children.

It's my understanding from the article that the remodel was done to make the mansion more eco-friendly. Again I ask: why did it take him 5 years (mansion purchase in 2002, remodel done in 2007) to make his humble abode eco-friendly? I would think, based on his protestations about the environment, that this would be the FIRST thing he did upon moving into his 10,000 square foot mansion.

To me, that says it all. He's been on the "green" bandwagon for years. Why did it take someone exposing him for him to make improvements on his house? My dh and I put in a solar pool heater about 2 years ago and solar panels on our house just about 6 months ago. We do not fancy ourselves "green" by any stretch of the imagination. We did it to save money on our electric and gas bills. The only thing that stopped us from doing it previously was the cost. Presumably, Al Gore, who has had the funding source AND the "green" drive for many, many years, would have done it prior to now. IMO, if not for someone's exposing his hypocrisy, I doubt he would have done it at all.

Elena, as soon as I heard the news about Castro I thought of you. I was amazed at the way the mainstream media was calling him the "President" of Cuba (like he was democratically elected) and waxing on and on about all the wonderful things he did. Sad.

It was MAJOR drama. Anyone notice we haven't had any major drama on here for a while?

I just have one thing to say. ICK! I will never get beyond the ick factor.

I wish it were. He's the First Born (caps intended) and knows more than anyone. So he dismisses his hypocrisy with a shrug, not to be discussed. I don't bother trying anymore.

My dear brother is an environmentalist wacko. Donates to Greenpeace, buys into it hook, line, and sinker. BUT when his daughters were babies, he used disposable diapers. Why? Because they were easier. It's so easy to point fingers except when it comes to our own convenience.

We've pretty much covered every controversial topic known to man in R&R. You just have to dig!

Glad to hear it. As for me, I haven't been sleeping well because it's so darn cold!! BTW, I do suggest reading the articles in case all you did was read the titles. There's some very interesting info in there.

I've read two interesting articles recently about climate change: Newsmax.com - Global Warming? New Data Shows Ice Is Back BMI Special Report -- Fire and Ice