Bush’s Chat With Novelist Alarms Environmentalists – New York Times
In his new book about Mr. Bush, “Rebel in Chief: Inside the Bold and Controversial Presidency of George W. Bush,” Fred Barnes recalls a visit to the White House last year by Michael Crichton, whose 2004 best-selling novel, “State of Fear,” suggests that global warming is an unproven theory and an overstated threat.
Mr. Barnes, who describes Mr. Bush as “a dissenter on the theory of global warming,” writes that the president “avidly read” the novel and met the author after Karl Rove, his chief political adviser, arranged it. He says Mr. Bush and his guest “talked for an hour and were in near-total agreement.”
“The visit was not made public for fear of outraging environmentalists all the more,” he adds.
And so it has, fueling a common perception among environmental groups that Mr. Crichton’s dismissal of global warming, coupled with his popularity as a novelist and screenwriter, has undermined efforts to pass legislation intended to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, a gas that leading scientists say causes climate change.
I enjoyed STATE OF FEAR. Crichton’s major point is an important one: climate changes.
Comment and opinion from the Times and The Sunday Times – Times Online
“EUROPE MUST LEARN to live in and with the world, not to dominate it, nor to assume it is superior or more virtuous. Any continent that has inflicted such brutality on the world over a period of 200 years has not too much to be proud of, and much to be modest and humble about.” Martin Jacques, The Guardian, on the cartoons row.
Meanwhile, in a parallel universe . . .
From a Reuters report, Rome, some time around now
The Vatican has protested in “the strongest possible terms” against the publication in paperback of Dan Brown’s bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. Cardinal Loopi, of the Office of the Defence of the Faith, condemned the book for defaming Catholicism and, in its suggestion that Jesus Christ was married, of heresy. “We demand that the book be destroyed and that the author be punished,” said Loopi, “otherwise we cannot be held responsible for how Catholics throughout the world may react.”
Excerpt from a speech by Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor
Merkel: “The affront to the honour of the one true Church is in fact an affront to the worship of God, and to the seeking of truth and justice, and an affront to all the prophets of God. Obviously, all those who harm the honour of the one true Church . . .”
Crowd: “Death to Dan Brown.
Death to Dan Brown.
Death to Dan Brown.
Death to Dan Brown.”
Priceless.
News from the South Atlantic – Falkland Islands, Saint Helena, Ascension Island, Tristan da Cunha – South Atlantic Remote Territories Media Association
Friday night’s Force-8 gales proved to be too much for Colin Yeates, who had set off from Stanley on Friday in a second attempt to circumnavigate Antarctica in a rowboat. According to Fisheries Operations, who had promised to track Mr. Yeates’ progress, the Force-8 gale capsized his boat several times.
The fishing vessel, DORADA, was tasked to pick Mr. Yeates, who by this time had become concussed, up and take him to safety.
The 47, said he wanted another chance to circumnavigate Antarctica this year and had a harrowing backwards and sideways journey the first time, Mr. Yates had hoped he could be towed far enough away from the Falklands to leave the coastal pull that scuppered his first attempt in January but even with the extra distance he couldn’t cope with the gale-force winds.
After retrieving his boat, a survey of the damage was made and the Kevlar skin was found to be intact. Epoxies flown in by Lan put the boat back to seaworthy condition, only to have it capsize several times on the second attempt.
New York Daily News – News & Views Columnists – Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: After Klaus, she’s quiet as a mouse
GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS First the bad news: I hear that right-wing radio guy Rush Limbaugh and CNN daytime anchor Daryn Kagan — who’ve been dating for nearly two years — are finally kaput. The good news, of course, is that the fabulous Kagan is back on the market.
What about Rush?
Readers’ Tastes on 9/11 Take Radical Turn — Best-seller Now Webster Tarpley’s ‘9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA’
For skeptics of the official story of 9/11, the taboo of 2002 has become the cornerstone of 2006: they now believe the Twin Towers and building WTC 7 did not collapse from fire, but were demolished by explosives — an act that could only be carried out from inside the US power structure.
There is a market for the mix. So far this year, the Amazon sales rank for “9/11 Synthetic Terror” has led all other 9/11 exposés, vying with the official report of the 9/11 Commission for first place. A recent ranking:
-
1,354 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA, by Webster G Tarpley
- 1,851 The 9/11 Commission Report, by US Government
- 2,358 Crossing the Rubicon, by Mike Ruppert
- 3,477 The New Pearl Harbor, by David Ray Griffin
- 6,761 The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions, by David Ray Griffin
-
11,156 Inside Job, by Jim Marrs
Most of the other alternative 9/11 authors tried Michael Moore’s easier path to popularity: criticizing both the Bush regime and the bogeyman of Islamic terrorism, says Leonard. For instance, Noam Chomsky’s early hit “9/11″ championed the “blowback theory” that 9/11 was repayment for the evils of imperialism.
It is really discouraging to see these sales figures (which appear reasonably accurate from a quick spot check) and to realize that loony conspiracy theories sell so well.
The Official St Helena Government Webpage – Tourism – Index
St Helena has no airport, so the only way to travel to and from the island is by ship. There is only one ship, the RMS St Helena, which is owned by St Helena Line and which is managed on its behalf by Andrew Weir Shipping Ltd.
The RMS St Helena is a passenger and cargo vessel with a passenger capacity of 128 persons.
There is currently one voyage per year from Portland in the UK which also calls at Tenerife and Vigo. There are 14 calls from Ascension Island and 12 from Capetown and Walvis Bay.
That’s it?
Today’s inspirational press release for book-lovers:
How To Become A Hop Hop Producer
How To Become A Hip Hop Producer
by OD Hunte BSc
After you read this eBook you will discover proven techniques on how to make money from your production.
How To Become A Hip Hop Producer ( PDF eBook) by OD Hunte is a new reference eBook which reveals many career enhancing secrets and strategies for success as an aspiring Hip Hop Producer. This 25-page full colour eBook has been written by a producer who has had his music in hundreds of TV shows and Films including; Ride With Funkmaster Flex, The Osbournes, Dirty Pretty Things, Knock First, Las Vegas (New), Constant Craving, Night and Day, Africa Within, Resurrection Boulevard, Girlfriends, Switched!, Hollyoaks, Bargain Hunt, Sausage Factory, Black Like Beckham, Child Of Our Time, Four Fathers, Miss Universe Pageant 2002, Everything Must Go, Futbol Mundial, Trefor Only, Velvet Soup, Si J Etais and Garden Makers but to name a few.
Forget about The Great American Novel. This is where I’m going next.
Eric Giguere writes a very good blog about AdSense.
An AdSense Blog: Make Easy Money with Google
One of the readers who contacted me, Frederick Zimmerman, has gone further and applied the niche approach to the keyword list itself, which I thought was interesting enough to mention here. What he’s done is quite clever. He created a list of pharmaceutical product names from the US Food and Drug Administration’s official guide, the “Orange Book”. After some cleanup, he submitted it to AdWords to get cost and traffic estimates. And now he’s selling it as an e-book on Amazon:
Top-Paying Google AdSense and AdWords Keywords for Pharmaceuticals
Not many publishers go the Amazon route, most prefer to use a service like ClickBank that offers affiliate programs and the like. Zimmerman thinks the Amazon route is more reputable, and I can see some validity in that view.
What’s even cleverer is that he’s also included the keyword information in spreadsheet format embedded within the book itself — just click on the link and it loads into Excel, ready for manipulation.
Disclaimer: Zimmerman sent me the list, unsolicited, for my opinion. If you’re looking to write pharmaceutical-targeted content, it seems like a reasonable source of information on what’s hot and what’s not among advertisers. All the usual caveats about taking keyword lists too seriously apply, of course. (If you’ve got a keyword list you want me to review, go ahead and sent it to me, I’m compiling a list of them for reference.)
|
|
Recent Comments