Bad Deeds for 2-9-07

Friendswood City Councilman Chris Peden Says English is the Official Language of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) – Voicing his support to make English the official language of Friendswood, Councilman Chris Peden said, “I just find it hypocritical of an organization like LULAC to criticize us and threaten us with legal action for putting this in our charter, when part of their constitution has an article that refers to English as the official language of LULAC,” However, what LULAC’s constitution and bylaws states, under Aims and Purposes, Article III, Section 2 is: “To foster the learning and fluent use of the English language that we may thereby equip ourselves and our families for the fullest enjoyment of our rights and privileges and the efficient discharge of our duties and responsibilities to our country, but at the same time, exerting equal effort to foster the fluent mastery of the Spanish language which is part of our heritage and a means of extending the cultural horizons of our nation”

Bill O’Reilly Attacks Houston Chronicle For Honoring Soldiers Killed In Iraq – O’Reilly bashed the Houston Chronicle tonight for writing a moving article about the importance of honoring the soldiers killed in Iraq. The Houston Chronicle article respectively suggested that we should be allowed to see the flag draped coffins returning from Iraq.

Fox News and other Conservatives spread false story about Nancy Pelosi’s aircraft – Fox News’ John Gibson, Brian Wilson and Sean Hannity continued to play up falsehoods about Nancy Pelosi’s aircraft complete with unsubstantiated rumor and GOP talking points. CNN Headline News’ Glenn Beck did the same. But Thursday, Bill Livingood, the House sergeant at arms, said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not request a larger plane for personal use to travel cross-country without stopping. Livingood said the request was his, and he made it for security reasons. “The fact that Speaker Pelosi lives in California compelled me to request an aircraft that is capable of making non-stop flights for security purposes, unless such an aircraft is unavailable,” Livingood, who has been at his post for 11 years, said in a written statement.

Fox News, Tucker Calrson (on MSNBC), and Matt Druge Make Up Stuff About Oregon’s Democratic Governor – The right wing has resorted to distorting the facts and spreading misinformation by falsely claiming that Oregon’s governor is going to fire the state’s climatologist. George Taylor, who has suggested that natural variations, not human-induced greenhouse gases, are to blame for the Earth’s recent warming, says that he is Oregon’s State Climatologist. However:

1) Taylor is not the “state climatologist.” Oregon abolished the position in 1989. He was bestowed the title by Oregon State University, not by Gov. Kulongoski or the state of Oregon.

2) Taylor is not a “climatologist.” Taylor is a meteorologist. He does not possess a PhD or have a background in climatology.

3) He will not be fired. Taylor will not lose his job or income, which comes from Oregon State University. He will merely be stripped of his title, which he never earned but claims to retain. Gov. Kulongoski has the right to appoint a climatologist who is an expert in the field and adheres to the state’s climate policies.

World ‘losing battle against extinctions’ – Dr Peter Raven, says the rich world in particular is not confronting the extinction crisis. He believes we know scarcely 15% of animal and plant species alive today. And most of those we are driving to extinction will vanish without us ever having known they were here.

Over the last half-century, Dr Raven said, drastic human changes to the Earth included:

about a fifth of arable land lost to over-fertilization, deserts and urban sprawl

roughly a third of the forests cut down and not replaced

atmospheric carbon dioxide increasing by a sixth, contributing to climate change

the loss of 6-8% of the Earth’s protective ozone layer.

Lieberman’s Demagoguery or What It Means to Support the Troops

Regards,

Jim