Fresh Tasty Ideas

The whole Al Gore energy-whoring thing is sorta expanding to encompass all the hypocrites who rattle off energy-saving tips to the public then turn around and suck down the Joules. Check this out:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein offers plenty of tips on how California households can combat global warming, such as carpooling and running only a full dishwasher.

But one bit of information Feinstein declines to share is the number of times that she flew last year on her husband’s Gulfstream jet, which burns much more fuel per passenger-mile than commercial airliners.

Maybe she’s hoping that if we all do our part, we can offset her frequent jet-setting. We’ll do our best, Dianne! We know that you, as a member of the ruling elite, are free to consume energy willy-nilly. It is up to us, the people, to make the sacrifice!

And then there’s the Terminator:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also has asked constituents to do their part to conserve energy — including cutting summertime power consumption — even though he takes to the skies on leased executive jets.

It’s okay Arnold, we’ll redouble our energy-savings efforts to offset your consumption too. But could you and Diane at least try to jet-pool while we are busy stuffing our dishwashers to the hilt before begrudgingly powering them on? No you say? Well that makes sense, I heard Dianne likes to hog the window seat. Might as well stick with your own jet.

Oh, and as for all that “it’s okay I buy green credits to offset my own wasteful consumption” (ala the Goreacle), read this:

This is, of course, ridiculous. When you donate money to build a new windfarm, you don’t take any of the old, polluting power offline; you increase the supply of power, reducing the price until others are encouraged to buy more carbon-emitting power. On the margin, it may make some difference, since demand for electricity is not perfectly elastic, but nowhere near the one-for-one equivalence that carbon offsets would seem to suggest. Especially since the worst offenders, big coal-fired plants, are not the ones that renewables will substitute for; solar and wind power are not good replacements for baseload power. Instead, renewables are likely to take relatively clean (and expensive) natural gas plants offline, since those are the ones that provide “extra” power to the system. Similarly, by giving villagers in Goa energy-saving CFL bulbs, you do not lessen the amount of electricity consumed; rather, you make it possible for other people to purchase the extra energy freed up by more efficient lightbulbs. This may be excellent poverty policy, but it does not lessen the carbon footprint of your international flight.

It’s economics, baby! Democrats once again get an F in a subject they just can’t ever seem to grasp. The article also goes into detail that calculating your “carbon footprint” is a murky task, and may carbon offset firms have a vested interest in fudging the numbers.

Gore, Feinstein, Schwarzenegger, California, global warming, green, carbon, liberals, offset, credit

Last night at the Academy Awards, Al Gore was awarded Best Documentary for his 90-minute power-point presentation An Inconvenient Truth. The audience members cheered enthusiastically for Mr. Gore when he and Leonardo DiCaprio babbled on and on about the dangers of global warming. Hell, even while Melissa Ethridge was playing a song, the screens in the auditorium flashed with messages about how you can reduce global warming by lowering your own energy consumption at home or using public transportation.

But yesterday also saw the release of a very troubling report, at least it is so for Mr. Gore. It seems that the Gore household in the posh community of Belle Meade in Nashville, Tennessee (Mr. Gore also lives in that absurdly wealthy “2nd America” John Edwards often referred to) uses a lot of energy. How much? The report claimed that his house was billed for 221,000 kWh in 2006 which is 20 times more than the average American household. Isn’t that just low?

It actually gets more hilarious though. Al Gore’s energy consumption at his house in Tennessee actually jumped up 14% from 2005 to 2006. And to top it off, in August of 2006, Al Gore’s residence used more than twice the energy an average American home would consume in a year.

Now, I realize that this report does not prove or disprove whether man is causing global warming. But it does show that Al Gore does not practice what he preaches. That is called hypocrisy. For Al Gore to ask Americans to reduce energy consumption while consuming vast amounts of energy himself is hypocritical. But will this make the morning talk shows? Will the evening news shows do any investigation into Al Gore’s blatant hypocrisy? No, they’ll give it a total pass.

I can imagine that if Al Gore was asked to defend his wanton energy whoring, he’d probably claim that he buys “green credits” for all of the energy he consumes. That means he forks over enough cash to guarantee that an equal amount of green power is produced to compensate for his own consumption. But if that was the case, Mr. Gore would be proving himself to be the biggest jackass in the entire universe. He would in effect be saying that the energy sacrifices required to stymie global warming must be made by the poor. The rich should just be able to throw cash at the problem, and not be held accountable for their excesses. Shouldn’t one of the biggest liberals in all of American politics be repulsed by the idea that millionaires and billionaires are buying their way out of conserving energy?

Any way that you slice it, Al Gore is a grade-A hypocrite and jackass. Now I can’t wait until they get an energy report for DiCaprio’s mansions and travel habits. And then they can move on to every do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do liberal celebrity douchebag who preaches energy consumption but actually guzzles down the kilowatt-hours like elephants eat peanuts.

Oh yeah, by the way, isn’t it telling that the Academy Awards was game for promoting Al Gore’s pet cause of global warming, but not for supporting our troops or the fight against terrorism? That shows you were Hollywood’s priorities are.

Update: Over at ThinkProgress, where every good liberal goes to find out exactly what to think each day, they’ve come out swinging for Al Gore. And I called it: Al Gore buys green credits for the energy he consumes. Notice that the person writing the pro-Gore post doesn’t dispute the absurdly wasteful amount of energy consumed by Mr. Gore. Instead, he or she draws attention to how Gore has replaced some filament light bulbs with fluorescent ones. How big of him.

Gore, Academy Award, global warming, liberals, hypocrisy, Nashville, Tennessee, Hollywood, energy

MLB doffs wool caps, adopts new synthetic material

Let’s just hope the caps don’t shrink…

wool, MLB, hat, baseball, Seinfeld

That would be approximately 16.5% of the European population living below the poverty line. Contrast that with only 12-14% in the United States.

Both the US and the European Union have a massive amount of immigration to absorb, which no doubt accounts for a large portion of the poorest people. But shouldn’t the EU be leaps and bounds ahead of the US in this category if its socialist redistribution programs are so grand?

poverty, Europe, socialism, redistribution

Let’s see what’s up today:

New York is going to ban spinners for no good reason at all. Now, you won’t see me riding spinnaz down Federal Way this spring, but if you’re going to ban something at least come up with a good farking reason. Geez.

The NCAA has decided to nix the University of Illinois’ Chief Illiniwek from appearing at any more school events. The Indian mascot was deemed “hostile and abusive.” Ironically though, the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana will be allowed to keep its roudy Irishman logo. I ask, just as Penn and Teller ask, why the hell is it okay when Indians are used to promote liberal causes like not throwing your trash on the highway (the crying Indian) but not okay to promote athletics? I haven’t heard any word yet on the fate of the Minnesota Vikings or the Boston Celtics just yet.

And the NBA has banned Tim Hardaway from ever associating himself with the league again. Earlier in the week, Hardaway told the press “I hate gay people.” That’s a pretty swift and stern reaction from the NBA to a former all-star basketball player. You have to wonder if the reaction would be the same if he said “I hate fundamentalists” or “I hate blonde people.” It seems that being anti-gay, as Hardaway definitely appears to be, warrants a special level of distancing in today’s modern world.

And a Christian pediatrician denied his services to a couple because they had tattoos — because that’s what Jesus would do, right? Is that a good way to win people’s hearts for God?

Yikes, looking at the news I can’t help be discouraged at the battles we choose to fight.

spinners, news, Hardaway, New York, NBA, NCAA, Illinois, Illiniwek, gay

If you don’t think global warming is caused by man, you’re just as bad as someone who denies that the Holocaust ever existed:

I would like to say we’re at a point where global warming is impossible to deny. Let’s just say that global warming deniers are now on a par with Holocaust deniers, though one denies the past and the other denies the present and future.

Does Ellen Goodman think that this type of vitriol is going to win over more believers to the United Church of Global warming?

global warming, Ellen Goodman, environment, science, climate change

American universities, as detailed in “Free Inquiry? Not on Campus”, use a combination of excuses to diminish and eliminate free speech for campus conservatives. Free speech can suddenly can be trumped by worries of “hate speech” or concerns for security on campus, depending on who wants to do the talking.

No better example can be found than the events that took place at San Francisco State University. The College Republicans at SFSU recently held an “anti-terrorism” rally in which members of that organization stomped on Hamas and Hezbollah flags. Of course, for condemning recognized terrorist organizations the College Republicans had to endure cries of “racism” and of spreading misinformation about Muslims.

But now, SFSU has decided to investigate the College Republicans for “hateful religious intolerance” and for “pre-meditated the stomping of the flags knowing it would offend some people and possibly incite violence.” Possible disciplinary action against the club includes suspension or expulsion from SFSU. All this is happening because the Hamas and Hezbollah flags that were stamped on by the College Republicans had the Arabic word for “Allah” on them.

This is what free speech for conservatives on campus in America has become. Leo’s article is almost prophetic; when conservatives attempt to condemn terrorism, they are met with a barrage of criticism from leftist organizations and college administrators. Do you think there would be condemnation and criticism for burning an American flag, or insulting George W. Bush? Of course not. But free speech is a one-way street nowadays, and it doesn’t apply when you criticize any perceived minorities.

Isn’t college supposed to be a free marketplace for any and all ideas, no matter how new or old, popular or unpopular? It’s absolutely appalling that our universities can pretend to stand for the right to free speech while simultaneously denying that right to campus conservatives. Is the irony completely lost on the left? Are they aware of the oppression they are creating and maintaining on our campuses?

free speech, SFSU, College Republicans, Hamas, Hezbollah, hate speech

A school teacher in Britain has been fired because he told students that “most suicide bombers are Muslims.” That truth struck a little too close to home with some Muslims students, who complained, and eventually got Andrew McLuskey sacked.

The school dismissed Mr. McLuskey before he had a chance to reply to the students’ complaints. But I think we can be sure if someone made a similarly denigrating comment about Christianity, he or she would be met with the same type of heavy-handed punishment… yeah, right.

terrorism, Islam, Britain, McLuskey, education

The convocation at the most recent DNC meeting was delivered by Imam Husham Al-Husainy. Here’s a little background on Mr. Al-Husainy:

And Debbie Schlussel has much more information on Imam Al-Husainy. The religious figure chosen by the Democrats to open their meeting is a supporter of Hizballah, Hamas, the Ayatollah Khomeini, and Yasser Arafat.

But hey, if he supports Al Gore’s global warming initiatives, all is forgiven. Right?

Al-Husainy, DNC, terrorism, Islam, Hamas

When nine Muslims from Birmingham, England were arrested for plotting the kidnap and beheading of a British soldier, what type of behaviour would you expect from the Islamic leaders of the main mosque in that city? If you guessed plenty of seething and whining, you’re right! In this video, several Muslims from the Birmingham Central Mosque lament the “police state” Britain has become (even though British authorities have foolishly agreed to share classified intelligence with Muslim leaders prior to any police action in an unprecedented act of “sensitivity”) and assure us these arrested men are in fact innocent. Notice you will not find any embarrassed Muslims in the video — those ashamed of such a horrendous and barbaric plot to kill a young British soldier to achieve political gains.

You could argue that the media wouldn’t give coverage to the majority Muslims that were distressed at the violence being concocted within their Islamic community. But this is only one of series of busts (liquid bombs, 7/7 bombings, failed 7/21 bombings, etc.) that show just how big of a problem Britain has with Islam.

But notice that the Muslims that do make camera time are speaking the only language that liberals understand: oppression. These poor Muslims are being discriminated against by Tony Blair’s big, bad Scotland Yard. They’re the victims, they understand that, and what’s more, they’re counting on bleeding-heart lefties to understand that too.

Birmingham, Britain, Islam, police, Blair, victimhood