Well, I have to laugh at this. First, the Irish enter a song sung by a puppet called Dustin the Turkey but now there is controversy in France as their entry is partly sung in English. Trust the French to get all hot and bothered about language - the English language that is. Actually, since the song is in English and French I guess it's Franglais they are complaining about.

Now, I'm all for preserving culture but do the French have their heads in the sand? English is the international language of music not because of the English but because of the Americans - who happen to speak English - or at least, a variety of it. It is well known than Eurovision songs in English do better on average than those in other languages too - so isn't the singer just hedging his bets? He reckons it's artistic license and he couldn't express himself properly without using English.

But French politicians are up in arms about this nonsense issue anyway and French sensibilities have been upset. As if they don't have enough to worry about already with a Playboy President and his ex-model wife who's nude photos just got sold. What is the World coming too when the French enter Eurovision with a song in English and the President's naked wife's chest is sold at auction!

A retired physics professor became the latest public figure to debunk the myth of a "consensus" behind man-made global warming when he slammed big money interests for pushing climate change propaganda that was at odds with real science in a speech yesterday.

Howard C. Hayden, emeritus professor of physics from the University of Connecticut, told a Pueblo West audience that he was prompted to speak out after a visit to New York where he learned that scaremongering billboards about the long-term effects of global warming were being purchased at a cost of $700,000 a month.

"Someone is willing to spend a huge amount of money to scare us about global warming," Hayden said. "Big money is behind the global-warming propaganda."

Rest of article here - http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/march2008/031108_big_money.htm

In an environmental dispute seemingly scripted for eco-friendly California, a man asked prosecutors to file charges against his neighbors because their towering redwoods blocked sunlight to his backyard solar panels.

But the couple next door insisted they should not have to chop down the trees to accommodate Mark Vargas' energy demands because they planted the redwoods before he installed the solar panels in 2001.

Experts say such clashes could become more common as California promotes renewable energy and solar systems become more popular.

"Five or ten years ago, you wouldn't have seen this case because there weren't that many systems around," said Frank Schiavo, a retired environmental-studies professor at San Jose State University. "I can almost guarantee there are going to be more conflicts."

Websites like Digg are often touted as a masterful way to increase traffic to a blog site like this one. In reality, like pretty much everything else in life, these sites are in reality cliques and to get an article or post any exposure at all its down to who you know and not what you write. Let me explain...

Look around at the world and open your eyes. The world is full of mediocrity. Why is that? It's because the world works on the basis of who, not what, you know. You can have the greatest talent in the world, the best brains, be the best at your job but unless you brown nose the right people, you'll never gain the recognition that you deserve.

THEY were once outlawed for being used as seditious weapons of war. Now, bagpipes have been blasted as an environmental menace.
Over-intensive logging means that the African wood used to make Scotland's national instrument faces being wiped out.

Conservation groups are letting out skirls of protest, urging musicians and instrument manufacturers to make sure their pipes come from eco-friendly sources.

As part of the campaign, Scots are being asked to fund the planting of "bagpipe trees" in a bid to atone for the environmental damage.

Traditionally the chanter on the bottom of Highland pipes, which is used to create the melody, was made from native woods such as bog oak.

Cultural differences amaze me. In Europe, nakedness is simply that. Newspapers publish topless and nude pictures routinely, its on TV and on the coast, its down at the beach. In the USA, nakedness appears tantamount to a sin in some quarters. Why?