Greenland News Blog @newzblogz.com

Al Gore?s movie, ?An Inconvenient Truth,? has met its match: a devastating documentary recently shown on British television, which has also been viewed by millions of people on the Internet. In spite of its flamboyant title, ?The Great Global Warming Swindle? is based on sound science by recording the statements of real climate scientists, including me. ?An Inconvenient Truth? mainly records a politician.

The scientific arguments presented in TGGWS can be stated quite briefly:

1. There is no proof at all that the current warming is caused by the rise of greenhouse gases from human activities. Observations in ice cores show that temperature increases have preceded ? not resulted from ? increases in CO2, by hundreds of years, suggesting that the warming of the oceans is an important source of the rise in atmospheric CO2. As the dominant greenhouse gas, water vapor is far more important than CO2, yet not well handled by climate models ? and, in any case, not within our c...

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I must admit I don't connect much with my alma mater. The only things Baptist about me are some old friends and the diploma in my office. But I hated to see Baylor University theoretically knocked out of the running for the George W. Bush Presidential Library especially when the fit seems as perfect as tortilla chips and Velveeta.

Sadly for bears and Baptists alike, SMU is the only campus left in Bush's library search. In addition to Baylor, the University of Dallas and Texas Tech recently fell out of the running.

The idea of the Bush Library and, more importantly, the conservative think tank that comes with it being built at SMU offends me as a Baptist by diploma and a Methodist by choice.

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TODAY-MARCH 30• The Williamson County Cultural Arts Commission's 2006 County Fair community art project is on display through March 30 at the community center in College Grove.

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It's unnerving to watch the flowers on my balcony bud in January.

It's even more unsettling to see the trees outside my condo flower in winter.

Last year's U.S. weather was the hottest on record, and the last nine years have been among the 25 warmest on record for the continental United States. The New York Times just ran a startling story about melting arctic ice in Greenland leading to a rise in sea levels far swifter than scientists predicted.

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This is in regard to the letter published on March 18 about science not being taught until fifth grade somehow having to do with the Bush administration.

The writer blames all the woes of her students and herself on the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. She claims that until NCLB is dead "we can't develop the cream of the crop."

If this teacher wants to introduce subject matter over and above the NCLB-required criteria, she can make that effort.

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Last week I found myself at dinner with a group of bright, enthusiastic young people, all just about to graduate from college. They had stars in their eyes about their future and, plainly, the skills and energy to reach those stars.

But every last one of them is planning on leaving Michigan.

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According to recent estimates, nearly 60 million Americans have one or more forms of heart disease. Coronary artery disease, in particular, is the leading cause of death for both men and women in this country today.If you are at risk for heart disease and you want to get serious about prevention, or if you have heart disease and want to manage it effectively, there are a number of lifestyle changes worth considering.Exercise is an essential ingredient in the making of a healthy heart, as is prop...

NATE LEBOWITZ, MD: There are good fats. When taken in moderation, they can contribute to a healthy heart. And we've seen this from observing certain populations of the world.Greenland Eskimos, for instance, take in 60-70% of their diet from fat, but they have very low rates of heart disease and cancer. It turns out that in cold-water fish, or the "fatty fishes", there is a substance called omega-3 fatty acid, which seems to protect the arteries. It lowers triglyceride levels. It improves glucose...

NATE LEBOWITZ, MD: The Mediterranean diet contains a very high amount of olive oil, and has for over 5,000 years, and yet they have relatively low rates of heart disease. It turns ou

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In late January or early February, someone pruned my large rosemary plant without my permission. More than two-thirds of the plant was removed! This plant was growing in a brick planter in front of Day Dreamers Bead Store at Kings Boulevard and Buchanan Avenue. I planted the garden and take care of it for the store.Last fall, I pruned all the other plants in front of the store. I didn’t cut back the rosemary because one of the wonderful employees at the store asked me not to cut it yet. Sh...

If someone wanted some rosemary or had a problem with the plant, he or she could have talked to someone in the store about it. They are open seven days a week. It was mean and rude to assault a plant that doesn’t belong to you. It’s probably also against the law.Perpetrator, you should be ashamed of yourself. Please show more respect for other people’s property.Jean Reiher, CorvallisBurn ban blessing in disguise for farmersRegarding the March 14 letter, “Medical groups s...

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Heart disease (CHD) is the Western world's most serious public health threat, accounting for 6.3 million deaths annually worldwide. If stroke is included, treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD) costs an estimated $250 billion dollars per year in the United States alone.Furthermore, CVD kills more men and women annually than all cancers combined. Despite major advancements in detection and treatment and a significant decline in death rates in the last two decades, CHD remains an epidemic...

There is ample evidence that compounds called free radicals can lead to damage to several parts of the body. This "oxidative stress" can lead to aging, cancer, and damage to arteries, leading ultimately to CVD. The body's natural defenses may not always be sufficient to combat excess free radical damage. In fact, such inadequate defense against oxidative stress has been linked specifically to CHD, cancer, and degenerative diseases of the nervous system. The ability of free radicals to damage mol...

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HOBART (Reuters) - The impact of global warming on the vast Southern Ocean around Antarctica is starting to pose a threat to ocean currents that distribute heat around the world, Australian scientists say, citing new deep-water data.

Melting ice-sheets and glaciers in Antarctica are releasing fresh water, interfering with the formation of dense "bottom water," which sinks 4-5 kilometers to the ocean floor and helps drive the world's ocean circulation system.

A slowdown in the system known as "overturning circulation" would affect the way the ocean, which absorbs 85 percent of atmospheric heat, carries heat around the globe.

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TODAY-MARCH 31• New Artist Introduction Show with Pam Cobb, Nancy Bea Miller, Ronell Venter, Alex Chernowitz, Alan Daigre, James Horne and Ross Ruppel is open through March 31 at The Elm Tree Gallery in Franklin. Information: 791-8444, rgetsay@elmtreegallery.com or www.elmtreegallery.com.

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On Sunday, if all goes as planned, Britain-based world-record-holding helicopter pilots Jennifer Murray and Colin Bodill will whirl through Oakland, parking their cherry-red Bell 407 for a day or so at Oakland International on their way to setting yet another world record and completing possibly the only unaccomplished feat left in aviation — circumnavigating the globe in a helicopter via the North and South poles, which I guess means vertically, assuming the Earth is still balancing on the backs of a bunch of elephants and they're holding it up straight.

This flying feat is extra cool when you note that Murray is a 66-year-old grandmother. And she wrote a book on their first attempt at this polar record in 2003, which ended in a dramatic crash and rescue in the Antarctic. Bodill, 55, is also a two-time world microlight (some kind of plane) champion, and was the first person to fly one solo around the world. And Murray was the first woman to co-pilot a helicopter around the globe (horizontally), and then became the first woman to do so solo.

She has met the queen and is a pal of the Duchess of York. And this current trip is being followed by schoolchildren all over the world. And it will raise money for charity. For ORPHANS!

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Recent data shows the polar ice caps on Mars are shrinking and the temperature on Mars is rising. Hard to blame humans for that.

The temperature increases on Mars and Earth correlate to increased solar activity.

Gore's "heartbreaking" photographs of shrinking glaciers left out a few facts.

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TODAY-MARCH 30• The Williamson County Cultural Arts Commission's 2006 County Fair community art project is on display through March 30 at the Community Center in College Grove.

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State Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, speaks his mind on environmental issues.

He spoke March 1 at the capitol in Washington, D.C., by invitation of U.S. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., chairman of the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Inhofe is a doubter of the science behind the theory on global warming and receives large amounts of campaign money from energy corporation PACs, including more than $20,000 from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, a group that represents electric coops such as Intermountain Rural Electric Association, which ardently opposed of renewable energy standards.

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We all should agree that we need to have cleaner air and water and reduce our energy use; however, the assumption that global warming is caused by man is not science. It is an agreement by some people that have a stake in it being true.

Other scientists have proof that it is a normal 1,550-year cycle. In their book, Fred Singer and Dennis Avery report that ice cores taken from Greenland and the Antarctic in the 1980s measured 400,000 years of the planet's temperature. They also reviewed other physical evidence and came up with a lot different conclusions than is being touted as fact.

Chicken Littles like Al Gore are screaming "We're all going to die," and the lemming politicians like Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, Jerry McNerney, Dennis Cardoza and Gov. Schwarzenegger are leading the charge to throw money at the scam artists that want our tax money to keep themselves in a job.

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TODAY-MARCH 31• New Artist Introduction Show with Pam Cobb, Nancy Bea Miller, Ronell Venter, Alex Chernowitz, Alan Daigre, James Horne and Ross Ruppel is open through March 31 at The Elm Tree Gallery in Franklin. Information: 791-8444, rgetsay@elmtreegallery.com or www.elmtreegallery.com.

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LAST WEEK I FOUND myself at dinner with a group of bright, enthusiastic young people, all just about to graduate from college.

They had stars in their eyes about their future and, plainly, the skills and energy to reach those stars.

But every last one of them is planning on leaving Michigan.

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MOUSHUNI ISLAND, India (Reuters) -- Sheikh Alauddin, like hundreds of other residents living on West Bengal's Moushuni island, has never heard the term "global warming". But he is living with its consequences.

"At night we just pray to God, and hope the sea does not drown us," the 60-year-old told Reuters in Poilagheri village on the sparsely-populated island, part of the Sunderbans national park and the world's largest mangrove forest.

When the tide comes in, sea water laps at the top of a mud embankment that towers 6 meters (20 feet) above Alauddin's adjacent house and is all that keeps it from being washed away.

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I read with interest Michael Puchany's letter praising Al Gore's message regarding global warming as "The power of truth!" I respectfully offer my observation:

The scenario is as follows: The glaciers in the Austrian Alps have receded, affording the farmers additional grazing land. French wine makers are bemoaning the competition from Northern England, where the weather has been so balmy that English wine making is flourishing. Greenland is now denuded of ice, and Swedish farmers have settled there in great numbers, bringing their sheep to feast on this now verdant land. The entire world has warmed up. Al Gore's prediction come true?

Guess again: The year is about 700 A.D., and the world has been warming up without the benefit of automobiles, coal-burning power plants or the profuse use of oil, and the world is enjoying an abundance of food. But around 1300 A.D., things drastically cooled off. The ice returned and food production dipped to crisis proportions. Starvation was widespread. By the late 1800s, the Thames had frozen over and people in Manhattan could walk across the ice to Staten Island.

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Last week I found myself at dinner with a group of bright, enthusiastic young people, all just about to graduate from college. They had stars in their eyes about their future and, plainly, the skills and energy to reach those stars.

But every last one of them is planning on leaving Michigan. Why? In search of a career. Some were going to New York, others to Chicago, and a couple to the West Coast. "How come?" I asked. What they told me went pretty much like this.

"It isn't that Michigan is such a bad place. We grew up here, and we love it here. But there are just no good jobs now. We can't afford to risk our future by starting our careers in a place that seems to be sliding downhill."

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THULE AIR BASE, Greenland - The son of a Polk City woman has a good idea what Neil Armstrong felt when walking on the moon. This rocky, treeless, deserted, frozen landscape 700 miles north of the Arctic Circle is his home for a year. Snow-blinding winds howling in excess of 50 mph, temperatures plunging below zero, and 24 hours a day without sunshine are commonplace, and make this place unlike nearly anywhere on Earth.

Air Force Col. Edward Fienga, son of Helen Fienga, Carter Boulevard, Polk City, is the commander of this polar American air base. Fienga and an approximate base population of 600, comprised of Danish, Canadian, Greenlandic and American people, are thriving in the winter darkness at a place that is reached only by air or dogsled. Together, those living here are supporting Air Force space activities, such as satellite communication and missile detection.

"As the commander of the 821st Air Base Group, I have responsibility for ensuring all mission, support and security activities are conducted appropriately to ensure continuous, 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week operations," said Fienga, a 1982 graduate of Auburndale High School and a 1986 graduate of The Citadel, Charleston, S.C.

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TODAY-MARCH 31• New Artist Introduction Show with Pam Cobb, Nancy Bea Miller, Ronell Venter, Alex Chernowitz, Alan Daigre, James Horne and Ross Ruppel is open through March 31 at The Elm Tree Gallery in Franklin. Information: 791-8444, rgetsay@elmtreegallery.com or www.elmtreegallery.com.

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I view Glen Turpoffs skepticism on global warming and overpopulation as drilling holes in a sinking boat. (Business, Monday, March 5)

Both are serious problems. Yet the deniers of these fact-based concerns help prolong remediation by ignoring the long view and looking out their window now and seeing that all is fine.

The deniers find no facts to support the calls for change because they have not looked at the facts that are out there. They want to bury their heads in the sand for their own selfish reasons, to continue to wantonly consume and waste for their own gratification.

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I am writing about the proposed legislation to designate I-70 as the Kilo Co., 3/25, USMC Highway in House Bill 594. While I applaud the legislators' desire to honor the fallen soldiers of this unit, especially the soldier from Avella, I feel that they should not make this an honor to only one unit from one branch of the service.

There have been several soldiers from this area, my son being one of them, who have given that sacrifice for their country, and I think the area would be better represented with a memorial that includes all these soldiers. Many units from all branches of the service have lost several soldiers during their deployment, some several in one day, my son's among them. I would not want a highway designated the 4th ID, C Company, US Army Highway, because that would not honor all these heroic soldiers fr...

I hope that local legislators will rethink this bill and decide to honor all the fallen soldiers of this area with their naming of the highway.

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WASHINGTON – Environmental activists, hunters and oil industry representatives spoke at a public hearing Monday night on whether the U.S. government should list polar bears as a threatened species.

Some speakers said scientific evidence supports the listing and urged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to adopt protections so polar bears would be present for future generations.

“We need to ultimately recognize the threat that global warming poses not just to polar bears but countless other species, from Caribbean corals to the California butterflies to us as well,” said Melissa Waage of the Center for Biological Diversity.

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Where: Virginia Theatre, Champaign, Ill.Tickets: $77, $61 and $46. Call (217) 356-9063.The relationship between B.B. King and Lucille may be the greatest love affair in music history. King is the 81-year-old monarch of the blues, and Lucille is his guitar.At Champaign's Virginia Theatre -- a vaudeville house during the 1920s -- King likely will perform signature tunes "The Thrill Is Gone," "Every Day I Have the Blues" and "How Blue Can You Get."On April 7, King is scheduled to play his traditi...

When: Through June 15.Where: National Art Museum of Sport, 850 W. Michigan St.Tickets: Admission is free. (317) 274-3627 or www.namos.iupui.edu.One of the city's best-kept secrets is the National Art Museum of Sport, located inside the University Place Conference Center and Hotel on the IUPUI campus. Though it's not as visible as such nearby counterparts as the Herron Galleries, the Eiteljorg Museum and the Indiana State Museum, it's home to some of the country's finest examples of sports-inspir...

When: 3 p.m. March 25.Where: Pike Performing Arts Center, 6701 Zionsville Road.Tickets: $5-$15. Available at the door.The next Philharmonic Orchestra of Indianapolis concert will feature a New York-based soprano performing an American m

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Pestilence! Starvation! Famine! Floods! Water shortages! The sky is falling, and I think it hit a bunch of scientists on the head and severely damaged their brains.

It must have also hit a bunch of newspaper editors in the head and made them forget that there is another side to this story, and perhaps it should be published along with the warnings of dire consequences that will occur if we don?t immediately destroy our economy for the greater good.

Scientific consensus is not scientific fact. There was once consensus that the world was flat and the sun revolved around the earth, which was the center of the universe. In the ?70s there was consensus that an ice age was coming, which will eventually be true.

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    The op-ed by Robert Robb, "Gore Book gets Low Grade," takes some hard shots at Al Gore’s book, " The Inconvenient Truth." The piece deserves a response due to several errors and omissions.

    For instance, Robb states that in the book, "Gore says that global warming has made tropical cyclones such as hurricanes and typhoons more intense and frequent."

    Robb then notes correctly that the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts no increase in storm frequency with global warming (think of the IPCC as the " 911 Commission" of climate).

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A review of existing computer climate models suggests that global warming could transform the North Pole into an ice-free expanse of open ocean at the end of each summer by 2100, scientists are to report Friday.

The researchers said that out of the 15 models they looked at, about half forecast that the sea-ice cover -- a continent-sized expanse that shrinks and regrows with the seasons -- would seasonally vanish by the turn of the century.

"That may be conservative," said lead author Mark Serreze, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo.

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Canada is among eight countries, including the United States, commemorating International Polar Year 2007-08 with a two-stamp issue calling attention to "the sensitivity of our northern environment."

Not many countries can "claim polar territory," Canada Post noted in announcing its issue of the se-tenent (meaning attached) pair of International Polar Year stamps.

The agency, in its Canada's Stamp Details publication, called Earth's northern polar region "a window into the past and a barometer reading of our future" and describing it as "bleak and barren, yet arresting in its stunning starkness."

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entertainment@williamsonherald.com

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In the last 2 million years, the Earth has experienced at least 17 ice ages. Each one has been followed by a warming period. The Earth, in the last 1,000 years, has been warmer than it is now.

Eric the Red established a Viking settlement in Greenland in 986. Vikings raised cattle and grew crops there for 300 years. The sea levels did not rise nor were coastal communities flooded. The milder winters, longer growing seasons and more abundant food of global warmings have benefited man.

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Man caused global warming is a myth. Globalists are using Al Gore's movie and one-sided United Nations reports to force us into world government. Their chicken-little allies in the media and government are promoting these lies.

Remember the global cooling headlines of the mid-seventies in Time, Newsweek, Science and National Geographic. The death and suffering caused by efforts to solve the mythical global warming or cooling "crisis" is deliberate. They want to reduce world population by 90 percent (see the Agenda 21, Biodiversity Assessment) and are the means to an end for the global power elite.

Implementation of the Kyoto Treaty would greatly reduce our standard of living and consolidate more power into world government elitists.

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More Greenland and Antarctica ice is falling into the ocean.

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WASHINGTON - Some of the largest glaciers in Antarctica and Greenland are moving in unusual ways and are losing increased amounts of ice to the sea, researchers said Thursday.

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TODAY-MARCH 31• New Artist Introduction Show with Pam Cobb, Nancy Bea Miller, Ronell Venter, Alex Chernowitz, Alan Daigre, James Horne and Ross Ruppel is open through March 31 at The Elm Tree Gallery in Franklin. Information: 791-8444, rgetsay@elmtreegallery.com or www.elmtreegallery.com.

TODAY-MAY 4• Artworks of Bob Jones, Liz Hume, Alice Pierce, Aletha Carr, Bob Dixon, Mary Dixon and Phaedra Brewer are on display at the Maury County Arts Guild. Information: Mary Dixon at 931-363-9112 or mary@tgphoto.com, or www.artsguild.org.

ARTS AND CRAFTS

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WASHINGTON — Some of the largest glaciers in Antarctica and Greenland are moving in unusual ways and are losing increased amounts of ice to the sea, researchers said Thursday.

While the Greenland changes appear to be related to global warming, it remains unclear what is causing the glaciers, or ice streams, of frigid Antarctica to be losing ice to the ocean in recent years, the researchers said.

"In Greenland, we know there is melting associated with the ice loss, but in Antarctica we don't really know why it's happening," said Duncan Wingham, an author of the Science magazine review released today."

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SPIRIT OF BLUEGRASS MUSIC FESTIVAL: Music and family fun. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. today and Saturday. Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, Live Oak. (866) 752-5220.

JACKSONVILLE BARRACUDAS: Against Knoxville Ice Bears, 7 p.m. today. Against Pee Dee Cyclones, 7 p.m. Saturday. Against Columbus Cottonmouths, 7 p.m. Tuesday. Veterans Memorial Arena, 300 A. Philip Randolph Blvd. (904) 367-1423.

JACKSONVILLE JAM: Playoff game against the Buffalo Silverbacks. 7:30 p.m. today. UNF Arena, 4567 St. Johns Bluff Road S. (904) 302-5323.

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Washington, D.C., slowly wakes up to global warming

NEW YORK ? Maybe it?s the weird winter weather, or the newly Democratic Congress.

Maybe it?s the news reports about starving polar bears, or the Oscar nomination for Al Gore?s global warming cri de coeur, ?An Inconvenient Truth.?

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Looking for a bit o' Irish fun for St. Patrick's Day? Whether you're a partier with a penchant for green beer and table banging or a lover of Celtic music and Irish dance, there's a St. Patty's Day event for you, and we've rounded up the best Irish-inspired options around. It's time to break out the green shirts and "Kiss me, I'm Irish" buttons: St. Patrick's Day is Saturday.

ST. PATRICK'S DAY STORYTIME AND ACTIVITY

Where: Barnes & Noble,

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Human impact on the Earth is immeasurable and actions need to be taken soon to help prevent global warming was Ken Riley's message last night.

A group of 50 to 55 people gathered in the Business Administration building to hear Riley give the presentation that former Vice President Al Gore gives in his movie An Inconvenient Truth.

Riley, a teacher at Waterloo High School, got involved with teaching global climate issues after he and his wife saw the movie, he said.

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BREAKFAST: St. John Missionary Baptist Church, Florida 200B, Lawtey, 9 a.m. Women's Prayer Breakfast with evangelist Lanita Gadson. (904) 782-1646.

CRAFT SHOW: Riverside Park United Methodist Church, 819 Park St., 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., craft show and bake sale to benefit youth and mission work. (904) 355-5491.

MEETING: Piccadilly Cafeteria, 200 Monument Road, 10 a.m., Arlington Aglow meeting with Jesten Peters of Keys of Authority Ministries. Reservations, (904) 721-3163.

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The last article for Eastside Nature Notes discussed the various strategies, or adaptations, plants and animals use for withstanding life in a cold environment. Recall that these consist of three basic options: leave, hide, or resist. The leavers, who we also call migrators, just get out of the cold before things get too tough or food becomes too scarce. As I mentioned last time, the downside to all that migrating is the journey itself, fraught with danger and risk; migration is no easy solution...

In the mid-latitudes, sleeping the winter away in hibernation is a common strategy but is also not without its perils. A hibernating animal is quite vulnerable to predation, and - hard so say which is worse - freezing to death.For instance, a hungry resistor could stumble upon a sleepy hibernator and find itself a tasty treat. Or, an unusual cold-snap or shallow snowpack could result in colder ground temperatures and violation of the prime directive of hibernating: don't ...

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Bertie Casey Bray of Jay died Wednesday, March 14, 2007. Visitation: noon today at Jay Funeral Home until services begin at 1 p.m.

Annie Lee Crenshaw, 77, of Pensacola died Monday, March 12, 2007. Graveside service: 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Holy Cross Cemetery. Joe Morris & Son Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

Julia Earlene Davenport died Wednesday, March 14, 2007. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at Oak Lawn Funeral Home. Services: 1 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home.

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With the coronation of Al Gore as an Oscar winner, along with him receiving a doctorate in climate science from some institution of higher learning this spring, it may be time to revisit how other such “pseudoscience” has fared through the centuries.

Example one: The world is flat. Galileo was imprisoned for disputing this “fact.” The authorities, I believe, even excommunicated him for espousing this belief. History has proven him correct.

Around 1800, Gall developed the “science” called phrenology whereby trained doctors could foretell the future by carefully feeling the bumps on a person’s head. I believe that when I was in high school, I read a biography of Ulysses Grant that made the claim that a phrenologist predicted he would be president.

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Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen and Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Jim Fyke have announced the acquisition of five tracts totaling approximately 461 acres in Rutherford County. The land, which is part of Flat Rock Cedar Glades and Barrens State Natural Area, was previously owned by The Nature Conservancy and cooperatively managed under the State Natural Areas Program.

The purchase from The Nature Conservancy, which offered the land to the state at a reduced sale price, was made using a $552,087 federal grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

This project once again demonstrates the value of partnerships in our goal to protect some of the most environmentally significant places in Tennessee, said Bredesen. "Working with The Nature Conservancy and leveraging federal grant dollars has allowed us to ensure the ongoing protection of these sensitive areas.

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St. Patrick's Day, the celebration of all things Irish, is just two days away.And that means green beer, people decked out in green clothing, dyeing your hair green, green bar decorations, and all kinds of green clothing.To help celebrate, we rounded up some of our favorite green things.

Note: Items in green appear in the pictures to the right.

Green Music

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It was a dark and stormy night. A handful of us hardy Lard Lakers made our way through the freezing night and howling March blizzard to the Little Red Church of the Latter Day Rosicrucian's in hope of seeing a DVD of the Academy Award winning Al Gore documentary An Inconceivable Truth all about the evils of global warming, only to find out it had been cancelled due to the unseasonably cold weather.

Fortunately the coffee pot was on and the cookies were already donated so we sat down with our neighbors to warm up a bit before the long cold trek home.

I had the dubious fortune to sit at the same table with Frieda and Reinhold Haufenmist. Frieda and Reiny have been married for 64 years and they are the embodiment of the old radio couple, "The Bickerson's." Reiny is an old school liberal who actually thinks Al Franken is funny. Frieda spends every afternoon listening to her hero, Rush Limbaugh.

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On Stage is a listing of live music at area clubs:

Tonight, March 15

The Bell Buckle Cafe, 16 Railroad Square E., Bell Buckle, (931) 389-9693: Writers night with Roger Huffman, all-ages show. For more information, call the venue.

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In reply to Peter Muellner's Feb. 26 letter, "Trash is covering roadways," I too am extremely annoyed by the amount of litter strewn along our highways, and yes, I do believe that something should be done about it. Muellner's suggestion, basically, was to make the innocent bear the burden for the actions of the guilty, which I believe to be totally wrong. We have enough taxes and fees. In many areas there are volunteer "Highway Adoption Programs" that "come behind" and clean up.

My question is, why as a society do we feel the need to tolerate, or even excuse these actions? I wonder, why do people litter? ("That hamburger wrapper was just about to spontaneously combust in my hand ? that's why I tossed it out the window, officer.") I cannot imagine a single situation that would justify anyone throwing out any piece of trash on public highways.

I propose that even greater fines and longer work details be issued to offenders, and that the people who care about the beauty of our roads, like Muellner and I, put the "Litter, and it will hurt" phone number in their speed dial, and use it.

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BERLIN - The head of the U.S. missile defense program stressed Thursday that plans to base 10 interceptor missiles in Poland would protect Europe as well as the United States from an attack from Iran - and are not aimed at Russia, despite Moscow's complaints.

"This in no way, shape or form threatens the Russian missile fleet," Lt. Gen. Henry Obering told journalists in Berlin. "The numbers don't add up."

The interceptor base, along with a proposed radar in the Czech Republic, would be in the wrong place to stop Russian missiles, Obering said. In addition, there are only a small number of interceptors while Russia had thousands of nuclear weapons.

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Last week I found myself at dinner with a group of bright, enthusiastic young people, all just about to graduate from college. They had stars in their eyes about their future -- and, plainly, the skills and energy to reach those stars.

But every last one of them is planning on leaving Michigan.

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TODAY-MARCH 31• New Artist Introduction Show with Pam Cobb, Nancy Bea Miller, Ronell Venter, Alex Chernowitz, Alan Daigre, James Horne and Ross Ruppel is open through March 31 at The Elm Tree Gallery in Franklin. Information: 791-8444, rgetsay@elmtreegallery.com or www.elmtreegallery.com.

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When I lie awake a night, a lot of thoughts and questions keep running through my mind. I will share the most notable ones with you.

* Wouldn't it be a lot easier if one of the political parties would nominate a black or Hispanic woman for president? It would also be best if she were married to a man of Asian origin, although in a pinch the vice-president could be an Asian. That would answer a lot of those "Is the country ready for a ( ) president" questions.

* I remember reading when Greenland was first discovered and explored, it was actually covered with grass and not ice - hence the name. Could the world have been a lot warmer back then? I wonder if a lot of folks got upset when Greenland iced over? Does anyone think solar radiation could be contributing to global warming today? I read Mars is also getting a lot hotter these days. Who is going to give us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, devoid of the political posturing?

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Last week, I found myself at dinner with a group of bright, enthusiastic young people, all just about to graduate from college.

They had stars in their eyes about their future and, plainly, the skills and energy to reach those stars.

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