The Decline and Fall of Western Civ for 21 Mar.

By consensus, it's a "true planetary emergency."
It's the end of the world as we know it...

• The Associated Press reports Al Gore spoke out on his signature issue Wednesday, warning of a "true planetary emergency" if Congress fails to act on global warming.
  
  

  "A lot of those recommendations are more regulations and more taxation," said former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., though he added that he agrees with Gore that the scientific debate on climate change is over. "I think we can find answers to use the coal energy, to use the natural gas we have."

  The Washington Post observed, weeks after he wowed moviegoers and Hollywood elites with his Oscar-winning documentary on global warming, Al Gore returned to Congress to address what he called "a true planetary emergency."
  
  He faced a far tougher audience, however, than he had at the Academy Awards.
  
  

  "Global warming science is uneven and evolving," said Rep. Joe L. Barton (R-Tex.), the ranking minority member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
  
  Barton questioned evidence presented in Gore's hit film, "An Inconvenient Truth," and said measures Gore was recommending to curb carbon emissions "fail the common sense test -- they provide little benefit at a huge cost."

  More from: Bloomberg; AFP; Inhofe EPW Blog.

• As the Gore fest grabs the media spotlight today before Sen. Barbara Boxer's Environment and Public Works Committee, ContraCostaTimes.com reports Boxer is using Gore's appearance to help raise money for her 2010 re-election campaign.
  
  

  In an e-mail sent earlier this month, Boxer asked her supporters to sign an online thank-you card to Gore "for his many years of leadership and hard work," which she plans to give to him today. So far, more than 63,000 people have signed the card, according to a campaign consultant.
  
  Next to the link for signing the card is a link to "contribute today" to the Friends of Barbara Boxer, which takes the user to instructions on how to donate online.

• SignOnSanDiego.com reports Czech President Vaclav Klaus said on Wednesday that fighting global warming has turned into a a 'religion' that replaced the ideology of communism and threatens to clip basic freedoms.

• In other blowhard news, UPI notes that a U.S.-led study of prehistoric hurricane activity suggests the chance of a category 4 or 5 storm hitting a Gulf of Mexico location is 0.03 percent a year.
  
  

  Louisiana State University Professor Kam-biu Liu and colleagues studied the result of prehistoric storm surges using radiocarbon analysis and other dating techniques to develop a chronology of prehistoric storms.
  
  They determined evidence from the Gulf Coast drill sites shows hurricanes of catastrophic magnitude directly hit each location only approximately 10 to 12 times during the past 3,800 years.
  
  "People were discussing the probability of a category 5 hurricane making direct impact on New Orleans," said Liu. "That's tricky, because it's never actually happened in history. Even Katrina, though still extremely powerful, was only a category 3 storm at landfall."

• The Press Association reports spy cameras are being used to catch vandals, graffiti artists and other 'envirocriminals.'

• A privately developed rocket that carried the hopes of cheap access to space was lost minutes after launch from the Marshall Islands on Tuesday -- but the millionaire behind the launch called it a success, reports The New York Times.

• In the video below, CODEPINK's Desiree Fairooz interrupts Hillary Clinton Fundraiser with the "Why, Why, Hillary Why?" song to the tune of "American Pie" as another CODEPINK protester Jodie Evans gets dragged out by 3-4 secret service officers.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=960_1174488595&p=1

• AFP reports insurgents in Iraq detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle with two children in the back seat after US soldiers let it through a Baghdad checkpoint over the weekend, a senior US military official said Tuesday.

• Click here to see images of a U.S. soldier burned in effigy at a Portland anti-war protest.

• One day after 21 people were arrested during a demonstration that vandalized a U.S. Army recruiting office on Milwaukee's east side, Wisconsin peace activist groups on Tuesday said some protesters might increasingly turn to destruction as their frustrations mount, according to JS Online.
  
  Fight for peace, dudes. Peace-out.

• Reuters reports President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday accused some big powers of waging psychological warfare against Iran, which is facing the prospect of tougher U.N. sanctions over its nuclear program.

• Last but not least, prompting comparisons to Watergate from foolish reporters who are at least as incompetent as they are biased, the White House stands firm (finally) and tells obstructionist Democrats (like Charles Schumer) to "take it or leave it." Spokesman Tony Snow said if subpoenas are issued, the offer of a Rove interview is withdrawn.

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