Monday, February 26, 2007

Inconvenient Indeed...

From the Oscars to this:

(From Drudge Report Feb. 26)

The Tennessee Center for Policy Research, an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan research organization committed to achieving a freer, more prosperous Tennessee through free market policy solutions, issued a press release late Monday:

Last night, Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy.

Gore’s mansion, [20-room, eight-bathroom] located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).

In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home.

The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.

Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.

Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.

Gore’s extravagant energy use does not stop at his electric bill. Natural gas bills for Gore’s mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year.

“As the spokesman of choice for the global warming movement, Al Gore has to be willing to walk to walk, not just talk the talk, when it comes to home energy use,” said Tennessee Center for Policy Research President Drew Johnson.

In total, Gore paid nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for his Nashville estate in 2006.

Click here for more information.

Floyd Update: Was I right? At least I never doubted.

According to Bonnie DeSimone at ESPN.com, there is a fresh helping of doubt surrounding the veracity of the tests done on samples from Floyd Landis in the 2006 Tour de France. I've never doubted that Floyd is clean. See my prior post on this. Am I willing to accept the possibility of a French conspiracy against American cyclists? Not yet, but if it's not French-wide, it certainly seems plausible that it's at least inside the labs the TDF uses. Can't wait to buy my copy of "Positively False" when it's available (available on pre-order now). I'll put it right next to "It's Not About the Bike" on my shelf.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Huff Poo

I've been a little too busy to blog, but I'll add this little bit quickly. The Huffington Post does not advocate freedom of thought or diversity of speech. I have now been "banned from posting" for the second time on that site. I don't state this because I feel that somehow my life now has a void. I'll come clean: I only posted there to see what sort of fun I could have at the expense of those who congregate there from the left to exercise their BDS, commonly known as Bush Derangement Syndrome. Arianna Huffington ought to change her URL to www.hatingtonpost.com. It would be a little more appropriate.

The site is full of left wing conspiracy theorists, nutjobs, kool-aid drinkers and self-deluded idiots whose only ability to debate shows through in their colorful language and inability to string together a coherent thought. Of course, they all claim that anyone who thinks differently than they do is uneducated, a redneck or the ultimate epithet a neocon. Although I link to this site here, I do so not because I want you to log on and post, but instead because I want you to see what years of psychedelic mushrooms, LSD and marijuana can do to a human being.

If you're wondering what political slant is on display at HuffPoo: Sean Penn, George Clooney and Alec Baldwin are regular contributors, and the masses drool for Al Franken and consider Nancy Pelosi their Messiah. I emailed a month ago when I was banned the first time for an explanation as to why. No answer as of today. I have since (today) submitted my second request, this time for being banned under a second screen name. We'll see if the free-speechers at HuffPoo decide to show a little backbone.

Might I recommend sites with a little more intelligence here and here. Take note of the absence of name-calling (or at least the severe decline in incidences) on these sites.