Al Gore

In case you missed the big endorsement speech last night, here it is:

I certainly hope not, but this lawsuit doesn't look good:

A one billion dollar lawsuit against YouTube threatens internet freedom, according to its owner Google.

Google's claim follows Viacom's move to sue the video sharing service for its inability to keep copyrighted material off its site.

Viacom says it has identified 150,000 unauthorised clips on YouTube.

In court documents Google's lawyers say the action "threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information" over the web.

The copyright battle has become insane. We really need better laws protecting the rights of the people making the material, but also laying out a clear path when that information can be shared.

For example. This year we have seen numerous times that debates have been aired and the network airing it has said "no distributing clips of it". Something involving our political process and the direction of our country should be considered public service and not fall under any restrictions. All but 2 debates aired only on cable networks, so what about the people without cable? It's not fair that they miss out on political discussion that could affect their future.

News items should also be the same. The public has a right to know what's going on, and not everyone can be in front of a television 24/7 or watch all the different networks. Public knowledge is a bedrock of democracy, and if we don't have it then our democracy suffers.

Here's another example of this from the article:

The company says the infringement also included the documentary An Inconvenient Truth which had been viewed "an astounding 1.5 billion times".

So was An Inconvenient Truth only a money machine for them? Do they not believe in the message that came from the documentary? I would think any earth conscious person or company would be thrilled to see that so many are watching this.

Perhaps Al Gore needs to chime in and help get us legislation that protects everyone, but mostly protects the people of this country and their deserved knowledge.

From the NYT:

But the president did personally telephone Mr. Gore to extend the invitation, and the White House changed the date of the event so Mr. Gore could attend. Mr. Bush’s press secretary, Dana Perino, told reporters the president is willing to let bygones be bygones.

“This president does not harbor any resentments,” she said. “He never has.”

Translation: The President isn't upset Mr. Gore didn't just let him be President.

Talk about an asshole - and his little parrot, Dana Perino, for going out and saying such a thing. Bush makes Manson look sane.

Al Gore is now a Nobel Peace Prize recipient:

Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Friday for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change and lay the foundations for counteracting it.

"I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize," Gore said. "We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity."

Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth," a documentary on global warming, won an Academy Award this year and he had been widely expected to win the prize.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee said global warming, "may induce large-scale migration and lead to greater competition for the earth's resources. Such changes will place particularly heavy burdens on the world's most vulnerable countries. There may be increased danger of violent conflicts and wars, within and between states."

Gore said he would donate his share of the $1.5 million that accompanies the prize to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan nonprofit organization devoted to conveying the urgency of solving the climate crisis.

Please Al - keep the good luck going and throw your hat in the ring for President. It's not that we are disappointed with the current field, we just know you are the best choice. Hey - maybe we could have a general election between Fred Thompson and Al Gore. Both are Hollywood stars now. The difference is that Gore won an award for his film. Thompson hasn't won any for all the movies he did.

Al Gore, the man I really want to be our next President, just got an endorsement from someone we might not expect:

Throwing a curveball into speculation about both his - and Al Gore’s - political future, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg made a provocative comment today about a possible Gore presidential run.

“I hope Al Gore enters the race; I think it would be good for the country,” the mayor said.

Mr. Bloomberg this week moved to establish his chops as an environmental mayor by proposing congestion pricing for those who drive into Manhattan. While many have speculated about the Mayor himself running for president, could he be open to directing some of his fortune, and political clout, to Al Gore?

Please Al - you now got Republicans pulling for you. The water is great in the presidential candidate pool; come on in!

This was a priceless moment during today's hearings on Global Warming.

Of course Inhofe is the one who constantly denies global warming. During the opening of today's hearings, you could quickly tell the Republicans were planning to dodge the actual issue by raising parliamentary procedures. Oh how mature of them. The typical GOP response - "If I can't hear it then it doesn't exist". That is a condition that is no limited to just the White House anymore.

There was a lot of talk this week about Al Gore's utility bill. When a right wing smear machine released a statement that Gore's utility bill was $30,000 last year, the typical vultures jumped on it. Their support of the claims was nothing more than a picture:

This picture was spread around the right wing blogs as "exposing Gore". The only problem is that it did nothing to explain Gore's bill. It was simply given a caption "Every family has a different carbon footprint". That is very true. They failed to mention that Gore and his wife run their offices out of their home, plus have the security that accompanies a former vice-President at their home. These add up to the bill, but the most damming part for the smear machine comes from the TVA, Gore's energy supplier. The TVA released a statement regarding the claims and said that the Gores do get their energy from renewable resources and they pay almost double for that. The TVA also said that Gore's actual energy usage is less than a lot of smaller homes. Keith Olbermann gave a run down of this statement, and you can view it here.

But this smear attack against the world's most famous global warming warrior is not stopping other countries from taking action. Last month Australia announced that all incandescent light bulbs will be banned in their country within 3 years. Now the European Union is following suit:

Last month was the warmest January on record. It isn't shocking. Here in Ohio we had days in the 60's and sickness was high (myself included). Now we just got through below 0 days. I know people will rush to say "well then everything averages out", but one effect of global warming is the huge swings in weather patterns just like what is happening.

While on this subject, an interesting article has appeared by the AP which talks about 4 states possibly diverting conservation funds.