CitizenSugar -- Breaking News, Together.

UN Climate Change Meeting Not So Easy on the Environment

LibertySugar — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:30:16 -0800

Thanks to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, 13,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide will join the Earth's atmosphere. More than 10,600 people plan to attend the two-week summit in Poznań, Poland, where delegates will discuss issues such as the greenhouse effect and weather pattern changes. Energy used to get the attendees to the talks, or used to heat and light the venue, will contribute to the very problems they seek to solve.

This doesn't mean participants aren't trying to be green — many traveled long distances by train or bus to keep emissions down. Delegates who skipped air travel will reduce their greenhouse emissions by six times. In addition, Poland plans to buy carbon offsets for the conference, meaning the government will pay to reduce pollution elsewhere.

Do you think purchasing carbon offsets helps quiet accusations of hypocrisy, or would delegates find an alternative to a pollution heavy conference if they really practiced what they preach?

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Front Page: Rice Signs Missile Deal, Taliban Assaults US Base, Sudan's President Denies Genocide

CitizenSugar — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 06:57:25 -0700

Rice Signs Missile Deal:
Against strong opposition from Russia, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed an agreement with Poland to locate a missile defense base on Polish territory. The Kremlin called the act "hostile" though US officials say the defense system is aimed at threats from countries like Iran and will not target Russia. Rice says, “Missile defense, of course, is aimed at no one. It is in our defense that we do this.”

Taliban Assaults US Base:
Taliban insurgents, in the most serious attack in six years, perpetrated a coordinated assault on one of the largest US military bases in Afghanistan. At least 10 suicide bombers and another 100 insurgents killed 10 elite French paratroopers. It was the single deadliest loss for foreign troops since the Taliban was removed from power in 2001.

Sudan's President Denies Genocide:
Sudan's president denied that his regime is responsible for carrying out genocide in the Darfur region. The Hague indicted Omar al-Bashir last month on genocide charges, but he says the numbers are exaggerated, "genocide like the International Criminal Court claims is nonexistent." The prosecution said the militia directed by al-Bashir's government killed 300,000 ethnic Africans and displaced 2.5 million.

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Immigrant Takes Unimproved SAT, Gets into All Ivy Leagues

LibertySugar — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 06:00:36 -0700

Lukasz Zbylut, who came to America only five years ago with a limited understanding of English, has secured admission to all seven of the country's Ivy League schools. The Polish immigrant chose to accept admission to Harvard, where he plans to study politics, law, and philosophy. Of the 21 schools Lukasz applied to, only MIT rejected him. Nobody's perfect!

So what's his secret? Lukasz's success may have to do with the fact that he does not use social networking sites, instant message, or watch entertainment television, which he says is a waste of time. He does, however, watch cable news — totally not a waste!

As for the rest of college bound Americans, the new and improved SAT, rolled out three years ago, isn't actually improved. Just like the last test, scores have a lower correlation to performance in college, than high school GPAs. As before, combining SAT scores with GPA does more accurately predict success; but the added writing section only improves correlation by .01.

I hope next year's students don't find out the extra test section is basically a waste of time! And, I have a feeling we'll be hearing about Lukasz Zbylut again on the political circuit.

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Polish President Steals Wedding Video, Bashes Grooms

CitizenSugar — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:00:20 -0700

You're minding your own business, when all of a sudden you find out the president of Poland using your wedding footage to bolster his argument against gay marriage and saying that your life would be "against the universally accepted moral order in Poland and force our country to introduce an institution in conflict with the moral convictions of the decided majority of our country."

That's exactly what happened one New York man, Brendan Fay. Upon learning that Polish President Lech Kaczynski had interwoven the video of his wedding into a speech warning against the dangers of adopting the new EU constitutional treaty that could open the door to same-sex marriage in Poland, Fay fought back. Describing the experience he said, "I started getting translations of the phrase the president used as the image appeared... My reaction was just really... I thought, 'oh my God, what an insult.'"

An insult he wasn't going to accept. To see what he did,

Dumbass Of The Day

GiggleSugar — Tue, 29 May 2007 14:45:03 -0700

Our Dumbass of the Day is Ewa Sowinska, a spokesperson for children's rights in Poland. She wants psychologists to figure out whether or not the Teletubby Tinky Winky is gay, cuz if "he" is she thinks he shouldn't be on public television. The fear? Perhaps that kids are gonna go gay or want to run around in purple fuzzy suits while carrying clashing purses. Look, if you're for children's rights, give them the right to love superfreaks. Leave Tinky Winky alone!