Another Slow News Day for Fox

[Davian93]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,358956,00.html

I love when people over react and things get blown completely out of proportion. But hey...Foxnews would never do something like that.

[Sei'taer]

Green and blue
At the forefront of the climate-change debate in Washington - this week, at least - is visiting Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus, author of a provocative new book on environmental policy titled "Blue Planet in Green Shackles."

"The largest threat to freedom, democracy, the market economy and prosperity at the end of the 20th and at the beginning of the 21st century is no longer socialism. It is, instead, the ambitious, arrogant, unscrupulous ideology of environmentalism," the president writes.

Mr. Klaus' first stop yesterday was at the National Press Club, where he was the featured luncheon speaker. This evening, he will headline the Competitive Enterprise Institute's (CEI) annual gala in Washington, which is by no accident. The free-enterprise-minded CEI published Mr. Klaus' new book.

"Today, the global-warming debate raging in both the United States and Europe has become extremely contentious. On both sides of the Atlantic, the debate has metastasized into cultural warfare against economic liberty," writes CEI President Fred L. Smith Jr. in the book's foreword.

"For that reason, pro-freedom voices are needed to reframe the debate to show how a free people can better address the challenges facing Western civilization."

[Terez]

http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/eyes.gifhttp://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/eyes.gif

[Sei'taer]

I think Figgy is going to be happy with this...and isn't Anaiya there as well, Kurtz too...maybe???



Every adult in Britain should be forced to carry 'carbon ration cards', say MPs
By David Derbyshire
Last updated at 1:08 AM on 27th May 2008


Every adult should be forced to use a 'carbon ration card' when they pay for petrol, airline tickets or household energy, MPs say.

The influential Environmental Audit Committee says a personal carbon trading scheme is the best and fairest way of cutting Britain's CO2 emissions without penalising the poor.

Under the scheme, everyone would be given an annual carbon allowance to use when buying oil, gas, electricity and flights.


Anyone who exceeds their entitlement would have to buy top-up credits from individuals who haven't used up their allowance. The amount paid would be driven by market forces and the deal done through a specialist company.

MPs, led by Tory Tim Yeo, say the scheme could be more effective at cutting greenhouse gas emissions than green taxes.

But critics say the idea is costly, bureaucratic, intrusive and unworkable.

The Government says it supports the scheme in principle, but warns it is 'ahead of its time'.

The idea of personal carbon trading is increasingly being promoted by environmentalists. In theory it could be used to cover all purchases - from petrol to food.

For the scheme to work, the Government would need to give out 45million carbon cards - each one linked to a personal carbon account. Every year, the account would be credited with a notional amount of CO2 in kilograms.

Every time someone makes a purchase of petrol, energy or airline tickets, they would use up credits. A return flight from London to Rome would, for instance, use up 900kg of CO2 credits, while 10 litres of petrol would use up 23kg.

Tim Yeo MP, says the scheme could be more effective at cutting Britain's greenhouse gas emissions
Mr Yeo, chairman of the committee said personal carbon trading rewarded those with a low carbon footprint with cash.

'We found that personal carbon trading has real potential to engage the population in the fight against climate change and to achieve significant emissions reductions in a progressive way,' he said.

'The idea is a radical one. As such it inevitably faces some significant challenges in its development. It is important to meet these challenges.

'What we are asking the Government to do is to seize the reins on this, leading the debate and coordinating research.'

The Government is committed to cutting CO2 emissions to 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2010.

The Climate Change Bill going through Parliament aims to cut emissions by 60 per cent by 2050. The Government has said it backs the idea in principle, but it is currently too expensive and bureaucratic.

Environment Minister Hilary Benn said: 'It's got potential but, in essence, it's ahead of its time. There are a lot of practical problems to overcome.'

A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs report into the scheme found it would cost between £700million and £2billion to set up and up to another £2billion a year to run.

Tory environment spokesman Peter Ainsworth added: 'Although it does have potential we should proceed with care. We don't want to alienate people and we want everyone to be on board.'

But critics say the idea is deeply flawed. The scheme would penalise those living in the countryside who were dependent on their cars, as well as the elderly or housebound who need to heat their homes in the day.

Large families would suffer, as would those working at nights when little public transport is available.

It would need to take into account the size of families, and their ages. There is huge potential for fraud.

Matthew Elliott of the Taxpayers' Alliance said the cards would be hugely unpopular. 'The Government has shown itself incapable of managing any huge, complex IT system.' he said.

HOW THE SCHEME WOULD WORK

Every adult in the UK would be given an annual carbon dioxide allowance in kgs and a special carbon card.

The scheme would cover road fuel, flights and energy bills.

Every time someone paid for road fuel, flights or energy, their carbon account would be docked.


A litre of petrol would use up 2.3kg in carbon, while every 1.3 miles of airline flight would use another 1kg.

When paying for petrol, the card would need to swiped at the till. It would be a legal offence to buy petrol without using a card.

When paying online, or by direct debit, the carbon account would be debited directly.

Anyone who doesn't use up their credits in a year can sell them to someone who wants more credits. Trading would be done through specialist companies.

[irerancincpkc]

You made a mistake, Davian, by calling it Fox News; news is not what they report. Anyone see the video of that woman on there who laughed about Obama being killed?

[Sei'taer]

White House Writes Off McClellan Book as Work of 'Disgruntled' Former Employee (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,358881,00.html) (this is just weird)


UN Probe Says Procurement at Its $5 Billion Anti-Poverty Agency a Shambles (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,358953,00.html) (this is not weird at all)

Tennessee Woman Dies in Iron Lung After Power Failure (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,359304,00.html) (This is strange...can you live in one of those that long?)

Archaeologists Excavate Ancient Egyptian City in Sinai (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,359441,00.html) (This is cool...but I'm a sucker for archeology)

[irerancincpkc]

That McClellan thing is great; Olbermann read some excerpts of it on Countdown last night, and I may have to go buy it...

[Davian93]

Handling Criticism the George Bush Way:

Step 1: Ignore it
Step 2: Point out dangers of Terrorism
Step 3: Discredit person giving criticizer...imply they are left-wing...or possibly a gay terrorist

[Gilshalos Sedai]

I'm trying to figure out why Dav is irritated at the first story. The fact that Fox wasted bandwidth with someone who shouldn't have been given a teaching license?

[Terez]

Yeah, I was trying to figure it out, too...but then Taer distracted me with his dramaturgical fear-mongering...

[Davian93]

I'm trying to figure out why Dav is irritated at the first story. The fact that Fox wasted bandwidth with someone who shouldn't have been given a teaching license?

Honestly...because its NOT news. Its a slow news day for Fox so they go to the well with the typical crap of scaring the public in some way. Besides the whole thing looks really blown out of proportion anyway. The kid was acting up continually, the teacher tried some unorthodox discipline by his peers and it didn't work and the "super Mom" freaked out and sued. Its not news, its FARK.

[Gilshalos Sedai]

I don't think a kid with Asperger's Syndrome can, by definition, act up. He'd have to actually know he's doing wrong. He should, however, be in special classes, especially if he's being that disruptive.

And frankly, if it were my kid, I'd have pitched a bloody fit, too.

[Terez]

Yeah, there are definitely better ways to go about making sure a kid with special needs gets them...

[Davian93]

I don't think a kid with Asperger's Syndrome can, by definition, act up. He'd have to actually know he's doing wrong. He should, however, be in special classes, especially if he's being that disruptive.

And frankly, if it were my kid, I'd have pitched a bloody fit, too.

That's fine Gil...but its still not news. If he is autistic then he shouldn't be in an average classroom anyway. Contacting all the national media is not the way to deal with it...nor is the national media cool for running with it. I'm sure the Nancy Graces' (she's a mother if you didnt know) will go off for weeks on this and other non-news crap that htey always spew. I HATE Foxnews.

[Terez]

Ah, well...I don't watch it so I don't really care how much Nancy Grace goes on about it. It will annoy my dad. :D

[Uno]

Actually, it probably is news, but local rather than national news. Local news can be almost anything, depending on the size of the locality in question. CNN isn't much better than Fox when it comes to wasting space on trivial or purely local interest matters, though.

[Davian93]

Actually, it probably is news, but local rather than national news. Local news can be almost anything, depending on the size of the locality in question. CNN isn't much better than Fox when it comes to wasting space on trivial or purely local interest matters, though.

CNN used to be decent back before they started competed with Fox for who could appeal to the lowest common denominator. Foxnews destroyed legitimate news as we know it. Basically all the networks are simply mouthpieces for idiots on one side of the aisle or the other and/or celebrity tabloid news oriented.

[Davian93]

Ah, well...I don't watch it so I don't really care how much Nancy Grace goes on about it. It will annoy my dad. :D

Hehe...neither do I...as I'm flipping through channels the sound of her voice sometimes hits me like an icepick to the temple...She's almost as annoying as O'Reilly.

[JSUCamel]

For the record, unless a child poses a physical danger to others, there are no "special ed" rooms anymore. No Child Left Behind makes it mandatory for ALL children to be mainstreamed into the regular classrooms, unless there is a physical danger to the other students.

An autistic child or a child with Asperger's Syndrome, unless threatening others, will be placed in a classroom with "regular" kids. There are limits to how often they can be taken out of the regular classroom and put in special situations.

IMHO, this is the biggest screwup with NCLB. It screws over the "regular" kids. The smart ones get the advanced classes, where they're taught (supposedly) challenging lessons. The "regular" classes are screwed over because the teachers have to cater to the lowest common denominator. And in the case of an autistic kid or one with Downs, guess who that is.

I understand the frustration that teachers go through with special ed students. However, the way this teacher approached the problem was clearly wrong. If I had been that child's father, I would have thrown a hissy fit too. Get that teacher fired.

[Davian93]

Camel Wrote: For the record, unless a child poses a physical danger to others, there are no "special ed" rooms anymore.

Wow...what a stupid plan...Thanks Bush!


Camel wrote: I understand the frustration that teachers go through with special ed students. However, the way this teacher approached the problem was clearly wrong.
Was the teacher ever actually trained to deal with Special Needs kids?...what is the schools policy towards that type of training? Etc etc etc. I blame the system far more than the teacher in this case...I'm movin' to Canada:D

[Gilshalos Sedai]

Yeah, and Texas has had that plan in place far longer than the rest of the US.

[JSUCamel]

We're required to take a "survey of special education" in college. It's essentially a summarization of the various types of special ed kids and how to deal with them. It is a survey course, though, so it's not very in-depth.

Each school is required to have at least one special education teacher. These teachers do not have their own rooms with their own classes. They might have one or two classes a day in a room where they teach ONLY special ed students, but again, these are restricted in the amount of time the kids can be out of a mainstream classroom. They're often only occupational therapy classes (teaching kids with severe autism or Downs or whatnot how to survive in the real world -- cooking, cleaning, following basic instructions, etc).

The rest of the day, the teachers go to different classrooms to assist other teachers. This past school year, I had a special ed teacher come into my room for two periods each day she came in. She came in twice a week. So for four periods each week, she was in my classroom. At any time, I could request that she come in for a special lesson or I could send a student to her to take a test or whatnot. But I had to give her notice so that she could adjust her visits with the other teachers as well.

In addition, I had several special ed students that were NOT in the periods she visited, so I was on my own with them.

It's a crappy situation that NCLB puts teachers in. We're not trained to deal with special ed students on the level that NCLB requires, and the ones that DO have that training are now spread out throughout an entire school when they should be focusing on their own classes.

So again, I sympathize with the teacher in question. However, there were other options for her to consider. This behavior is inexcusable and unacceptable.

[Kurtz]

[QUOTE=Sei'taer]I think Figgy is going to be happy with this...and isn't Anaiya there as well, Kurtz too...maybe???



Every adult in Britain should be forced to carry 'carbon ration cards', say MPs
[QUOTE]

Is this some kind of sick joke ST :mad: ;)


Oh and this made me spit all over my keyboard:

"Barton claims that Alex was punished for symptoms of his disability, such as humming and eating his homework."

[irerancincpkc]

CNN annoys me as well, I mean, better than Fox, but I perfer MSNBC. :D

[Davian93]

CNN annoys me as well, I mean, better than Fox, but I perfer MSNBC. :D

All 3 have agendas and Olberman should have stuck to Sportscenter...he was a far better sports guy than he is political commentator.

[irerancincpkc]

All 3 have agendas and Olberman should have stuck to Sportscenter...he was a far better sports guy than he is political commentator.
Olbermann is like, my favorite person in the world! :D I think I watch one of his special comments a day, you would appreciate one he did recently on Clinton, Davian...

[Davian93]

Olbermann is like, my favorite person in the world! :D I think I watch one of his special comments a day, you would appreciate one he did recently on Clinton, Davian...

You're probably too young to remember him on Sportscenter with Dan Patrick...they were the best two announcers on the network for like 5 years straight. He should never have left ESPN.

[caladanbrood]

Most exciting news on the BBC today...

They're auctioning George Formby's banjos (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/7426437.stm) and the International Space Station needs a new toilet (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7425180.stm).

[irerancincpkc]

You're probably too young to remember him on Sportscenter with Dan Patrick...they were the best two announcers on the network for like 5 years straight. He should never have left ESPN.
Yeah, I've seen some Youtube clips, but that's it; it was before my time. I'm sure the gig he is doing now pays a lot more though! :D Was he as passionate about sports as he is about politics?

[Davian93]

Yeah, I've seen some Youtube clips, but that's it; it was before my time. I'm sure the gig he is doing now pays a lot more though! :D Was he as passionate about sports as he is about politics?

He was awesome at sports and they offered him a TON of money to stay at ESPN...more than he made at his new job (but probably not as much as he makes now) plus they offerd him a car and driver from NYC to Bristol, CT everyday to do Sportscenter...but he wanted to move on.