Conservative Blog

Al Gore buddy owner of sunken ship that left huge carbon footprint on Antarctic Ocean floor By Judi McLeod  Monday, November 26, 2007

You’d never read this in the mainstream media:  The owner of MS Explorer that sank, leaving a huge carbon footprint at the bottom of the Antarctic Ocean Friday is an acolyte of teensy-weensy carbon footprint crusader Al Gore.

G.A.P. Adventures CEO and Explorer owner, Bruce Poon Tip and Gore have similar ideals, “filling their schedules with speaking engagements on environmental change to educate global audiences.” And that’s straight off of www.gapadventures.com.  In fact, as recently as last April, both Poon Tip and Gore gave presentations at the Green Living Show in Toronto.

“I expressed my admiration for Mr. Gore’s commitment and leadership which spans more than 20 years,” commented Poon Tip.  “I also invited him aboard our legendary polar expedition ship, the MS Explorer to visit the Arctic.”

The legendary polar expedition ship…”had at least five faults at its last inspection,” according to Greenpeace spokeswoman Bunny McDiarmid.  “Maritime records show the MV Explorer has completed more than 40 cruises to the ice, but has lately been suffering maintenance and safety problems.”

Maintenance and safety problems never kept the MS Explorer from setting out for the Antarctica two weeks ago.

Good thing Gore was otherwise occupied when 154 passengers and crew had to be rescued at sea when their eco-cruise ship struck ice in the Antarctic Ocean and started to sink early Friday morning. (None of the eco warriors aboard MS Explorer were identified in weekend media coverage).

Twelve Canadians—10 tourists and two expedition guides on the eco-adventure cruise—spent anxious frigid hours in lifeboats once they were evacuated from the Explorer.

In addition to the 12 Canadians were travelers from the United States, Britain, Australia, France and several other countries on board the ship.

There was little mention in the mainstream media that the passengers were comprised of eco warriors or that they had spent thousands of dollars to see ice at a much closer range than they ever dreamed.

Making it a Thanksgiving Day to remember, the polar cruise came with that sinking feeling of a miniature Titanic.  Passengers and crew aboard the Canadian cruise liner waited in frigid temperatures for some two hours before pick up in a part of the ocean with no land in sight.

How the vessel sustained a “fist-sized hole” is a mystery taken down to the ocean floor.

The 38-year-old vessel was sold by Abercrombie & Kent (A&K) to G.A.P Adventures in 2004. A&K has since acquired Explorer II, now called “Minerva”.

A well-known ship in marine circles, the 75-metre Explorer was built in 1969 and was specifically designed with a reinforced double hull to withstand ice and other environmental challenges.

Near the South Shetland Islands, the ship began to take on water and a distress call was made.  The Explorer’s pumps managed the incoming water while passengers and expedition staff were gathered in the ship’s lecture hall and informed of the emergency.  All eco warrior passengers had received evacuation training on their first day at sea, and news reports indicated that nobody panicked when things started to go wrong.

As the Los Angeles Times described it: “The first cruise ship built to ply the frigid waters of Antarctica became the first to sink there Friday.  The red-hulled Explorer struck ice, taking water as 154 passengers and crew members scrambled to safety aboard lifeboats and rafts.  The ship later went to the bottom.”

According to one blogger who plans an Antarctica trip, “apparently, most (Explorer passengers) did not have wallets or passports with them,” adding in a Note to Self: “Wear identification belt at all times.”

Passengers and crew were taken to a Chilean military base on King George Island, the largest of the South Shetland Islands, from which they were flown home yesterday.

Meanwhile, Greenpeace believes tourism in Antarctica should be strictly limited because of the fate of MS Explorer, but the silence is deafening from Poon Tip and Gore about the huge carbon footprint left on the ocean floor. 

The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor -- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be -- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks -- for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation -- for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the tranquility [sic], union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed -- for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted -- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us. And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions -- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually -- to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed -- to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn [sic] kindness onto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord -- To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease [sic] of science among them and us -- and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York
the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

George Washington

A Failure to Lead
The Democratic Congress is more interested in acting out than in taking positive action.

BY KARL ROVE
Friday, November 9, 2007 12:01 a.m. EST

This week is the one-year anniversary of Democrats winning Congress. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid probably aren't in a celebrating mood. The goodwill they enjoyed after their victory is gone. Their bright campaign promises are unfulfilled. Democratic leadership is in disarray. And Congress's approval rating has fallen to its lowest point in history.

The problems the Democrats are now experiencing begin with the federal budget. Or rather, the lack of one. In 2006, Democrats criticized Congress for dragging its feet on the budget and pledged that they would do better. Instead, they did worse. The new fiscal year started Oct. 1--five weeks ago--but Democrats have yet to send the president a single annual appropriations bill. It's been at least 20 years since Congress has gone this late in passing any appropriation bills, an indication of the mess the Pelosi-Reid Congress is now in.

Even worse, the Democrats have made clear all their talk about "fiscal discipline" is just that--talk. They're proposing to spend $205 billion more than the president has proposed over the next five years. And the opening wedge of this binge is $22 billion more in spending proposed for the coming year. Only in Washington could someone in public life be so clueless to say, as Sen. Reid and Rep. Pelosi have, that $22 billion is a "relatively small" difference.

Let's also be clear about what it means to roll back the president's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, as the Democrats want to do. Every income-tax payer will pay more as all tax rates rise. Families will pay $500 more per child as they lose the child tax credit. Taxes on small businesses would go up by an average of about $4,000. Retirees will pay higher taxes on investment retirement income. And now we have the $1 trillion tax increase proposed as "tax reform" by the Democrats' chief tax writer last month.

 

 

Failing to pass a budget, proposing a huge spike in federal spending and offering the biggest tax increase in history are not the only hallmarks of this Democratic Congress.

Beholden to MoveOn.org and other left-wing groups, Democratic leaders have ignored the progress made in Iraq by the surge, diminished the efforts of our military, and wasted precious time with failed attempts to force an immediate withdrawal from Iraq. They continue to try to implement this course, which would lead to chaos in the region, the creation of a possible terror state with the third largest oil reserves in the world, and a major propaganda victory for Osama bin Laden as well as for Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah.

After promising on the campaign trail to "support our troops," Democrats tried to cut off funding for our military while our soldiers and Marines are under fire from the enemy. For 19 Senate Democrats, this was simply a bridge too far, so they voted against their own leadership's proposal. Democrats also tried to stuff an emergency war-spending bill with billions of dollars of pork for individual members. Now the party's leaders are stalling an emergency supplemental bill with funding for body armor, bullets and mine-resistant vehicles.

After pledging a "Congress that strongly honors our responsibility to protect our people from terrorism," Democrats have refused to make permanent reforms of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that the Director of National Intelligence said were needed to close "critical gaps in our intelligence capability." Their presidential candidates fell all over each other in a recent debate to pledge an end to the Terrorist Surveillance Program. Then Senate Democratic leaders, thinking there was an opening for political advantage, slow-walked the confirmation of Judge Michael Mukasey to be the next attorney general. It's obvious that this is a man who knows the important role the Justice Department plays in the war on terror. Delaying his confirmation is only making it harder to prosecute the war.

Democrats promised "civility and bipartisanship." Instead, they stiff-armed their Republican colleagues, refused to include them in budget negotiations between the two houses, and have launched more than 400 investigations and made more than 675 requests for documents, interviews or testimony. They refused a bipartisan compromise on an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, instead wasting precious time sending the president a bill they knew he would veto. And they did this knowing that they wouldn't be able to override that veto. Why? Because their pollsters told them putting the children's health-care program at risk would score political points. Instead, it left them looking cynical.

 

 

The list of Congress's failures grows each month. No energy bill. No action on health care. No action on the mortgage crisis. No immigration reform. No progress on renewing No Child Left Behind. Precious little action on judges and not enough on reducing trade barriers. Congress has not done its work. And these failures will have consequences.

Democrats had a moment after the 2006 election, but now that moment has passed. They've squandered it. They have demonstrated both the inability and unwillingness to govern. Instead, after more than a decade in the congressional minority, they reflexively look for short-term partisan advantage and attempt to appease the party's most strident fringe. Now that Democrats have the reins of congressional power, their true colors are coming out and the public doesn't like what it sees.

The Democratic victory in 2006 was narrow. They won the House by 85,961 votes out of over 80 million cast and the Senate by a mere 3,562 out of over 62 million cast. A party that wins control by that narrow margin can quickly see its fortunes reversed when it fails to act responsibly, fails to fulfill its promises, and fails to lead.

Mr. Rove is a former adviser to President George W. Bush.

“Al Qaeda is Defeated” November 1st, 2007 Posted By Pat Dollard.

From Michael Yon:

“Al Qaeda in Iraq is defeated,” according to Sheik Omar Jabouri, spokesman for the Iraqi Islamic Party and a member of the widespread and influential Jabouri Tribe. Speaking through an interpreter at a 31 October meeting at the Iraqi Islamic Party headquarters in downtown Baghdad, Sheik Omar said that al Qaeda had been “defeated mentally, and therefore is defeated physically,” referring to how clear it has become that the terrorist group’s tactics have backfired. Operatives who could once disappear back into the crowd after committing an increasingly atrocious attack no longer find safe haven among the Iraqis who live in the southern part of Baghdad. They are being hunted down and killed. Or, if they are lucky, captured by Americans.

Continue:

http://www.americanthinker.com/2005/11/joseph_wilso
n_iv_the_french_co.html

 

Personally I think anyone with an intrest in the events that led up to the Iraq War should read this.

Obama: No Hand on Heart for Pledge Either -- Will MSM Notice? By Mark Finkelstein | October 20, 2007 - 16:50 ET

Turns out that not wearing a flag lapel pin isn't the only way Barack Obama chooses to show that he's a different kind of Democrat.

Have a look at the photo from the October 1, 2007 edition of "Time." It shows Obama, Hillary and Bill Richardson at the Steak Fry of Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) on September 17 in Indianola, IA, apparently reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Richardson and Clinton have their hands on their heart. But not Obama. Does he perhaps believe that, like wearing the flag pin, the hand on the heart isn't "true patriotism"?

Congressman Stark’s Disgusting Rant Against President Bush Ignored By Nets By Noel Sheppard | October 19, 2007 - 01:29 ET

Americans on both sides of the aisle should be bitterly angry today.

A United States Congressman stood on the floor of the House of Representatives on Thursday and said that kids are being sent "to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president`s amusement."

As if that wasn't bad enough, the three evening news programs of America's top broadcast networks didn't feel this despicable act was important enough to share with the citizens of our nation.

Frankly, I'm not sure which should anger you more.

Here is a partial transcript of Rep. Pete Stark's (D-Cal.) abysmal statements made on the House floor on October 18, 2007, that America's leading news agencies didn't want you to see (video available here):

Quote Of The Day: Fascist Campaign Promises From Kucinich

 

"Now the people in the Administration of George Bush better remember their Miranda rights, because when I'm elected President I'm going to see that they are arrested. I'm not kidding here!" -- Dennis Kucinich

 

You're reading that right, folks. We have a sitting US Congressman, running for President of the United States, promising to throw his political enemies in jail if he's elected President.

Meanwhile, many of his most ardent supporters spend their days ranting about how the United States is becoming a fascist dictatorship.

People like Kucinich are living proof that Huey Long was right when he said,

 

"Fascism will come to America, but likely under another name, perhaps anti-fascism."

General Accuses MSM Of Killing Soldiers, Enemy Propaganda - MSM Censors Him
October 13th, 2007 Posted By Pat Dollard.
The Washington Post, the AP and others were brutally attacked yesterday by retired General Ricardo Sanchez. He accused them and their political masters of de facto treason, functioning not as journalists, but as lying propagandists bent on advancing Democrat Party power. Desperate to cover up this news before the truth of their conspiracy should be revealed to the American People, they refused to report these charges, and instead rushed to publish and promote his use of the word "nightmare" with regards to Iraq. ( A place the General has not been to in ...
Read More »

CNBC Bigwig Slams Ron Paul Poll Assault October 12th, 2007 Posted By The Bashman. The following is a portion of an open letter to Ron Paulites from Allen Wastler, the Managing Editor, CNBC.com. It is in regards to those wonderful 70% plus numbers Ron Paul received in the poll CNBC took after the recent Republican Presidential Debate they hosted. The foil hats are vibrating in Ron Paul chat rooms all across America today. ~Bash Dear folks, You guys are good. Real good. You are truly a force on World Wide Web and I tip my hat to you. That's based on my first hand experience of your work regarding our ... Read More »

Holiday Festival: Al Qaeda Places Bomb In Cart Full Of Toys, Leaves At Playground
October 12th, 2007 Posted By Pat Dollard.
In northern Iraq, Al Qaeda terrorists planted a bomb among toys in a cart and then brought it to a children's playground in the religiously mixed city of Tuz Khormato north of Baghdad, killing four civilians and wounding 17, mostly children, police Col. Abbas Mohammed said. Earlier on Friday, a police source said one civilian was killed and 16 others, mostly women and children, were wounded when an explosive charge went off in an outdoor market north of Tikrit. "The device was inside a bag of flour left in the market," the source told the independent news ...
Read More »

BOULDER - Boulder police are investigating a possible anti-Semitic crime after a man said he was assaulted by two neighbors during an argument about the Holocaust and World War II.

Blair Douglas Morris said he was watching television Wednesday, having beer and pizza with two men from his apartment complex whom he thought were his friends, when they began talking about the Holocaust.

Morris, who is Jewish, says one of the men stated that the Holocaust, in which approximately 6 million Jews were killed by Nazi Germany, was just a part of war.

According to police, one of the men is suspected of making anti-Semitic remarks which led to an altercation that left Morris with cuts to his forehead, nose and top of his head. His injuries required 14 stitches.

Simon Scribner, 37 and Donald Seiler, 44, were arrested on suspicion of third-degree assault and committing a bias-motivated crime. Scribner and Seiler are both being held at the county jail. Both are from Boulder.

Jail officials referred a reporter seeking comment about the case to the public defender's office.

However, that office cannot represent the men unless charges are filed next week, and it had no information on the case.

Media Matters Turns From O'Reilly to Taking Rush Out of Context By Ken Shepherd | September 28, 2007 - 15:26 ET

Our friend Brian Maloney at Radio Equalizer has an excellent run-down of Media Matters (MMA) latest attack on another of its favorite bogeymen: Rush Limbaugh. Earlier this week it was sharpening its knives over Bill O'Reilly:

 

Not content to wait until Bill O'Reilly's hoped- for demise, the George Soros- funded Media Matters / mainstream media smear machine has added a second target: Rush Limbaugh.

And this time, the distortion of words may actually be more severe than in O'Reilly's case.

Now, Media Matters has twisted and edited Rush's words in a way that makes it appear he's insulting the troops. They've taken the false idea that he called anti- war soldiers "phony troops" and spread it across the Internet. But Limbaugh said nothing of the sort.

Maloney explains that MMA took out of context a remark Limbaugh made about "phony soldiers:"

 

 

You defeatist should research Jesse MacBeth who never served in Iraq; he was never an Army Ranger.  He was drummed out of the military in 44 days.  He had his day in court; he never got the Purple Heart as he claimed, and he described all these war atrocities.  He became a hero to the anti-war left. 

NASA’s Hansen Mentioned in Soros Foundations Annual Report By Noel Sheppard | September 26, 2007 - 17:51 ET

As NewsBuster Jake Gontesky reported, an editorial in Investor's Business Daily Monday claimed one of billionaire leftist George Soros's foundations gave $720,000 in 2006 to the head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, James Hansen.

Since this editorial was published, according to LexisNexis and Google News searches, not one major media outlet has reported these allegations.

Maybe even more shocking is that had press outlets looked into this matter - you know, acted like journalists instead of advocates! - they would have found Hansen's name prominently mentioned in the 2006 Soros Foundations Network Report (relevant section on page 123):