ENVIRONMENT: Gore Says Internet Revolution Could Save Earth

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INTERNET REVOLUTION THAT ELECTED OBAMA COULD SAVE EARTH: GORE
AFP
November 8, 2008

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=081108163056.b63ec4sq&show_article=1

Former US vice president Al Gore said an Internet revolution
carrying Barack Obama to the White House should now focus its
power on stopping Earth's climate crisis.

The one-time presidential contender turned environmental
champion told Web 2.0 Summit goers in San Francisco Friday
that technology has provided tools to save the planet while
creating jobs and stimulating the crippled economy.

"The young people who have been inspired by Barack Obama's
campaign and the movement that powered Barack Obama's
campaign want a purpose," Gore said.

"One of the reasons we were all thrilled Tuesday night is it
was pretty obvious this was a collectively intelligent
decision."

The Internet's critical role in Democrat Obama's victory in
the presidential race against Republican John McCain was a
"great blow for victory" in addressing a "democracy crisis"
stifling action against climate change, Gore said.

The Web has "revolutionized" nearly every aspect of running
for US president and delivered an "electrifying redemption"
of the founding national principle that all people are
created equal, according to Gore.

"Some week," Gore said in greeting to an audience that leapt
to its feet cheering. "It really was overwhelming. It
couldn't have happened without the Internet."

Obama's victory, seen by many as a repudiation of policies of
president George W. Bush, was validation of sorts for Gore,
who lost to Bush in a controversial election outcome in 2000.

"Belated redemption is part of what we are celebrating this
week," Gore said.

Since leaving politics Gore has been awarded a Nobel Peace
Prize for his relentless efforts to combat climate change and
starred in an Academy Award-winning global warming
documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."

He also founded Current TV, a cable television operation that
taps into user-generated videos and news coverage fed to its
website.

The one-time newspaper reporter said his reasons for creating
Current included a belief in the need to "democratize
television media."

"One of the main reasons why our political system has not
been operating well until this election is the unhealthy
influence of the television medium as it has operated," Gore
said.

"The Internet comes in and democratizes information again and
it is so exciting. All the vibrant forms of information are
living on the Internet but TVs are still dampening it."

Current TV teamed with Twitter and Digg on election night to
weave feeds from the popular Internet websites into its
coverage of the vote.

The Web has the potential to "revolutionize almost every
aspect" of running for US president, according to Gore. He
believes that social activism made possible by people
connecting and sharing information online is in its infancy.

"What happened in the election opens a full new range of
possibilities and now is the time to really move swiftly to
exploit these new possibilities," Gore said of turning the
power of the Internet to cooling global warming.

Gore said Obama should announce a national goal of getting
all US electric power from renewable and non-carbon energy
within the next decade and spend the billions necessary to
build an "electrinet" smart power grid.

"Web 2.0 has to have a purpose" Gore said.

"The purpose I would urge is to bring about a higher level of
consciousness about our relationship to this planet and the
imminent danger we face. We have everything we need to save
it."

............

NHNE Climate Change Resource Page:
http://www.nhne.org/tabid/490/Default.aspx

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WHITE HOUSE: New Pooch National Priority for Obama Family

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Obama: New Pooch Needs to Be Allergy-Friendly and,
Hopefully, From a Shelter

Previous White House Dogs Have Served as Companions,
Playmates, Publicity Props

By SARAH NETTER

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=6207721&page=1

Joking that the topic of his daughters' puppy-to-be has
garnered as much attention as anything else since Election
Day, Barack Obama described the family's selection process
today at his first news conference as president-elect.

Between addressing his plans for the economy and his
transition to the White House, Obama noted that whatever dog
they get will have to be hypoallergenic so as not to
aggravate daughter Malia's allergies.

He also confirmed that the family's intention is to adopt a
dog from a shelter, although Malia's medical concerns may
preclude that.

"But, obviously, a lot of shelter dogs are mutts, like me,"
Obama said. "So, whether we're going to be able to balance
those two things, I think, is a pressing issue on the Obama
household."

Obama was minutes into his acceptance speech Tuesday when he
vowed to make good on his campaign promise to get his
daughters a dog.

Now it seems everyone has an opinion on what kind of pooch
the Obamas should get and where they should get it.

It's a big decision. Many White House dogs -- most presidents
have had at least one -- become celebrities in their own
rights.

With the help of former first lady Barbara Bush, President
George H.W. Bush's springer spaniel, Millie, wrote her own
best-selling book on daily goings-on at the White House.

And the public fawned over pictures of the Clintons' lively
chocolate Labrador retriever Buddy, pet followers grieved
over the dog's death in 2002, when Buddy was hit by a car
near the former first couple's New York home.

Some White House dogs are much more than just pets. In many
cases, the presidential pet helps shape the president's image
with the public.

Stanley Coren, author of "The Pawprints of History: Dogs and
the Course of Human Events," has extensively researched the
role of White House dogs and said presidents and their
families have used dogs for everything from companions to
sounding boards to publicity props.

Both Bush presidents are "very doggy people," Coren said.
"They bring their dogs with them everywhere."

The first President Bush even installed dog-treat dispensing
gumball-type machines at Camp David so his dogs were never
more than 50 to 60 feet away from a snack. Likewise, the
younger Bush often travels with his dogs.

But for all Buddy's fans, the Clinton dog was intended only
as a prop, Coren said, to enhance the image of the family,
pre-Monica Lewinsky scandal, after Chelsea Clinton left for
college. The Labrador retriever was picked in 1997 because it
was the most popular family dog and the chocolate variety was
selected, he said, because black Labs don't photograph well
and yellow Labs were thought to be so beautiful that they
might have distracted photographers from the Clintons
themselves.

Messages left with Clinton spokespeople were not returned.

"For some people in the White House, dogs are nothing more
than a symbol," Coren said, noting that Presidents Benjamin
Harrison and Herbert Hoover used dogs as campaign tools to
appeal to the common man.

Picking the Obama Dog

But while the Bush and Clinton canines were intended, one way
or another, to be companions for the president, the Obama
family dog will belong to his young daughters, Malia, 10, and
Sasha, 7.

"What he really needs is a sucky-face dog," Coren said. "A
dog that comes up and kisses everyone."

ABCNews.com readers had no shortage of suggestions for the
Obamas: Australian Shepherds, bulldogs, salukis, beagles,
Chihuahuas, mixed breed shelter dogs -- and a pitbull named
"Lipstick," as a nod to GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah
Palin.

"I think since this is going to be the pet of young girls,
the girls should select the dog that 'selects' them. This is
THEIR pet," one reader wrote. "I would like to see it come
from a shelter, but that has to be their decision. This is a
decision that they and their parents need to make without
input from anyone."

A "sucky face" kind of dog, Coren said, would not only make a
great playmate for the Obama girls, it would project a sense
of friendliness and would be less likely to cause Obama
trouble.

Coren, whose new book "The Modern Dog: A Joyful Exploration
of How We Live With Dogs Today," out next month, said some
presidential dogs have been less than mannerly.

President Ronald Reagan's Bouvier Des Flandres, Lucky, was
exiled to the family ranch after it nipped him hard in the
behind trying to "herd" the president across the lawn. Rex, a
Cavalier King Charles spaniel, took Lucky's place at the
White House.

Franklin D. Roosevelt's Scottish terrier once bit a reporter
in the nose and Bush's Barney bit a Reuters TV reporter this
week, breaking the skin on his finger and sending the
reporter to the White House doctor.

While the Obamas have pledged to choose their own dog, most
presidential dogs are gifts or were the presidents' pets
before they moved into the White House, according to Claire
McLean, founder of the Presidential Pet Museum.

President George W. Bush's two Scottish terriers were gifts
to the family -- Barney from former New Jersey governor and
White House cabinet member Christine Todd Whitman, and Miss
Beazley from a breeder. The family's other dog, Spot, passed
away shortly after Bush took office and, as one of Millie's
puppies, was the only second-generation White House dog in
U.S. history, according to the Presidential Pet Museum's Web
site.

President Harry Truman received a cocker spaniel named Feller
as a gift in 1947, but returned it shortly after deciding
that he didn't want a dog in the White House.

"The public was irate," McLean said. "It was all over the
media."

Even though Truman had a notorious dislike for dogs, Coren
said he hit the nail on the head when he uttered the words,
"If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog."

Amy Carter's dog Grits, a gift from her teacher, was also
returned.

All Eyes on the Obamas

"It's really a very highly fascinating topic," McLean said of
the Obama puppy-to-be. "Everybody wants to give them their
puppy."

Michelle Obama has said that the Obamas would adopt their dog
rather than purchase one from a breeder or pet store, a move
praised by animal rights groups.

Michael Markarian, executive vice president of the Humane
Society of the United States, said the Obamas' selection of a
White House dog will be closely watched.

Adopting a dog from a shelter, adoption group or breed rescue
"sends a strong message to other Americans that rescuing a
dog in need of a home is a good choice," Markarian said.

Many Americans don't realize, he said, that dogs in pet
stores originate in abusive puppy mills where dogs are
stacked in cramped cages.

There are plenty of puppies up for adoption across the
country in nearly any breed or mix they could imagine,
Markarian said. It has been rumored the Obamas are looking at
a mixed breed, designer dog that wouldn't aggravate oldest
daughter Malia's reported allergies.

Like any family choosing their first pet, Markarian said the
Obamas should consider what kind of dog would fit best with
their family's personality and activity level.

"Will the dog be traveling on Air Force One?" Markarian
asked. "What types of places will they be visiting with the
dog?"

Markarian said the dog would likely have to be a hardy dog
that doesn't frighten easily and is comfortable around
children and throngs of people.

Another ABCNews.com reader suggested Obama give an underdog a
chance just like voters gave him.

"On Tuesday the American people spoke very loudly. They did
not look at the color of the man -- they chose a man based on
what he believed in and what he represented," the reader
wrote. "I truly believe that 'pound puppies' have lived with
stigma for long enough and that is the way that they should
go."

Copyright (c) 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures

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Buddy G sends aloha ...
>> Light*Line NEWS ///\\\///\\\///\\\///\\\/// NOVEMBER 2008

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* = Disclaimer & Fair Use Notice =
All info provided as a public service. Views and opinions
expressed are not necessarily those of the publisher. This
message may contain copyrighted material the use of which may
not have specific authorization by the copyright owner.
LightLine makes such material available in an effort to
advance the understanding of political, scientific, and
religious issues. We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of
any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107
of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C.
Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to
those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the
included information for nonprofit educational and research
purposes. For more information on fair use, go to:
law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

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AMERICA: A New Era Dawns in The United States

WOW!