If it’s spring sweeps period, the world needs to know, Where in the World is Matt Lauer?

This year, Matt started his week-long magical mystery tour in Patagonia, with a live shot from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Monday: NYC to Buenos Aires Argentina

Assuming three people are travelling with Lauer (a conservative estimate) the CarbonFootprint.com calculator, say this trip generates 3.928 tons of CO2.

The eco-options to make up the difference include,

Reforestation in Kenya
Your pledge funds the planting of native broad leaved trees in the Great Rift Valley. $82.63 to pledge 6 trees (about 4.380 tons)

UK Tree Planting
Your pledge funds the planting of trees in the UK county of your choice. The project is managed by Tree Appeal and endorsed by Bill Oddie, the TV wildlife celebrity and conservationist.
from $138.72 to pledge 6 trees (about 4.380 tons)

Tuesday: Buenos Aires Argentina to Amsterdam

This trip generates 5.268 tons of CO2. The eco-options to make up the difference include,

Clean Energy Fund
Your funding supports VCS verified carbon reduction projects around the world which reduce carbon emissions through the displacement of fossil fuels through clean / renewable energy generation. $77.74 to offset 5.268 tons

Reforestation in Kenya
Your pledge funds the planting of native broad leaved trees in the Great Rift Valley. The project is coordinated by ESCONET, and is also supported by the Red Cross.
from $110.18to pledge 8 trees (about 5.840 tons)

Where will Matt end up next? NBC has created a fun game to play,

Where in the World is Matt Lauer?

Guess!
Based on these clues, where do you think Matt’s going next?

He started in Buenos Aires before heading to Amsterdam, and now Matt Lauer’s off to his third Where in the World destination. Do you think you know where he’s going? Below are two clues. Send in your guess and a question for Matt Lauer. If you’re correct (and quick!), we may ask Matt your question on Wednesday’s show.

Clue 1: This country is an anagram of a synonym of a homophone of an even prime number.
Clue 2: Where in the world is this photo from?

They make this annual carbon emitting tour so fun, don’t they? Given all the promotion, mystery and suspense of where Matt will turn up next, it is easy to understand if you loose track of Matt’s carbon footprint along the way. Don’t worry, I did it for you.

In the first two days of his five day tour, Matt has used up 9.196 tons of CO2. The average American emits 9.44 tons of CO2 PER YEAR.

If only Matt Lauer watched the Today Show, this unfolding environmental catastrophe might have been avoided!!

April. 20, 2008
NBC delivers ‘Green Week’ around Earth Day
Shows, news across network will focus on environmental issues

NEW YORK - NBC Universal isn’t painting its Rockefeller Center headquarters green — at least not yet — but the company is pushing all of its networks to deliver environmentally friendly programming this coming week.

“Dateline NBC” will report on melting snow on mountains in Bolivia, “Today” will have daily segments on renewable energy, Jim Cramer will talk about “green” stocks on CNBC’s “Mad Money” and NBC is encouraging its affiliates to report on environmental issues on local newscasts. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture between Microsoft and NBC Universal)

Hat Tip to our great producer Rob, who called me at 7:25 this morning with the idea for this post.

UPDATE:

Wednesay, Amsterdam to Laos

Laos is not in the carbon calculator, so I used Cambodia. To offset a direct return flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands to Phnom Penh, Cambodia (19319 km) for 4 passengers, that generates 8.896 tons of CO2

Thursday, Laos to Turkey

A direct return flight from Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Istanbul, Turkey (16006 km) for 4 passengers, generates 7.368 tons of CO2.

With one day remaining, NBC’s annual Where in the World is Matt Lauer stunt has generated 25.46 tons of CO2. It would take the average American nearly three years to generate as much carbon emissions as Matt Lauer and NBC did in four days.

Thankfully for the planet, and viewers, the week is almost over. One more day to go.

Friday, Turkey to the Republic of Seychelles in the Indian Ocean

I think Matt is trying to throw me off because once again, Seychelles is not in the the CarbonFootprint.com calculator. I would estimate another 4000 miles for Matt, leading to about another 4 tons of CO2.

Thankfully, the earth has a full year to recover, and so do viewers, from the hypocrisy.

On a day when liberals are defending Obama from Rev. Wright’s remarks on the basis that snippets were taken out of context, it is quite ironic that these same people are cheering on Howard Dean and the DNC for their new ad which uses snippets to totally distort what John McCain’s said about “100 years in Iraq”.

Bear in mind that the Democrats use of this statement has been exposed, rebuked and admonished by such members of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy as the Columbia School of Journalism, the Washington Post and Annenberg Center.

Columbia Journalism Review, April 1, 2008,

And lately, Barack Obama in particular has stepped up his attacks on McCain’s “100 years” notion.

But in doing so, Obama is seriously misleading voters—if not outright lying to them—about exactly what McCain said. And some in the press are failing to call him on it.

Annenberg Political Fact Check, February 8, 2008

“It’s a rank falsehood for the DNC to accuse McCain of wanting to wage ‘endless war’ based on his support for a presence in Iraq something like the U.S. role in South Korea.”

Washington Post Fact Checker, April 2, 2008

A more honest line of attack for the Democrats against McCain would be his support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, whether or not he has a clear strategy for winning the war, and the feasibility of a long-term occupation of a Muslim country by the United States. Instead of attacking him on these grounds, they have twisted his words, by claiming that he “wants” to fight a 100-year war.

Here is what McCain actually said,

Questioner: President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for fifty years…
McCain: Maybe a hundred. Make it one hundred. We’ve been in South Korea, we’ve been in Japan for sixty years. We’ve been in South Korea for fifty years or so. That’d be fine with me as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed. Then it’s fine with me. I would hope it would be fine with you if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where Al Qaeda is training, recruiting, equipping and motivating people every single day.

Here is the Dishonest National Committee ad,

The leading liberal blogs were cheering and applauding Howard Dean all afternoon. Here is one from theDaily Kos,

Yes, the RNC wants to protect America from misrepresentations and falsehoods. So, what are they objecting to? The DNC ad that uses John McCain’s own words against him.

Did Josh Marshall really write this?,

Good Ad
Solid. Completely honest. (Whining from Republicans comes included.)

Unbelieveable. This guy is a “muckraker”, a truth seeker? Please. A profile of Marshall on Bill Moyers PBS website showed him to have both a healthy sense of self and a serious case of are kidding me,

“I think, in many cases, the kind of reporting we do is more honest, is more straight than a lot of things you see even on the front pages of great papers like the TIMES and the POST.

If the Republicans are so damn awful, why do they have to resort to this?

As I said tonight, it was a pleasure to welcome back for the full hour Canada’s most famous and eloquent human rights abuser, Mark Steyn. On the table tonight, the circus in Canada, Obama’s appearance on Fox News, his relationship with the pastor and the terrorist, and Jimmy Carter’s vanity.

All of our interviews are also available for download at iTunes and Podcast Alley via the Pundit Review Radio Podcast.

What is What is Pundit Review Radio?

Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week Kevin and Gregg give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to your radio every Sunday evening from 7-10 pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

Chris Horner, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide To Global Warming, returned to the show tonight. In an IBD editorial on Friday, Sen. Kay Baily Hutchinson quoted Nobel economist Milton Friedman,

One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.

Tonight we discussed the unintended consequences of ethanol,

Chicago Tribune
Ethanol betraying its promises
By Robert Bryce

It is now beyond dispute that congressional mandates on ethanol use are having a number of deleterious effects, soaring food prices chief among them.

So given that, plus recent findings that greenhouse gas emissions from ethanol and biofuels may actually be greater than those created by conventional gasoline, a natural question arises: Which presidential candidate will first call for a change in U.S. ethanol policy?

All of our interviews are also available for download at iTunes and Podcast Alley via the Pundit Review Radio Podcast.

What is What is Pundit Review Radio?

Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week Kevin and Gregg give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to your radio every Sunday evening from 7-10 pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

Bruce McQuain from QandO joined us for another edition of Someone You Should Know. Tonight Bruce told us about a Royal Marine, Lance Corporal Matt Croucher

A Royal Marine in southern Afghanistan threw himself onto an exploding grenade to save the lives of his patrol.

Miraculously, Lance Corporal Matt Croucher, a marine reservist from Birmingham, survived the blast with little injury when his rucksack and body armour took the force of the blast. He is expected to receive one of the highest awards for gallantry.

The story of his courage emerged last week in interviews with marines occupying a forward operating base near Sangin in Helmand province. They are preparing to leave after serving for six months at the centre of some of the fiercest fighting in Afghanistan. The outpost, Forward Operating Base Inkerman, is better known to troops as "FOB Incoming".

The Someone You Should Know radio collaboration began as an extension of Matt Burden’s series at Blackfive. Thanks to Matt, Bruce is now on board and we are lucky to have him as part of the show. All of our interviews are also available for download at iTunes and Podcast Alley via the Pundit Review Radio Podcast.

What is Pundit Review Radio?

Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week Kevin and Gregg give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to your radio every Sunday evening from 7-10 pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

Bruce McQuain from QandO joined us for another edition of Someone You Should Know. As part of his Project Hero series, Bruce posted the following story about Cpl. Mark Camp,

Cpl. Mark Camp, 25, received the Silver Star, the military’s third-highest award for gallantry in battle, during a ceremony in Columbus, Ohio.

Camp was wounded in early May during an intense campaign with Lima Company of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines. The company, fighting insurgents in western Iraq as part of Operation Matador, lost 23 soldiers.

The former Maine resident and son of a Westbrook car dealer told The Columbus Dispatch newspaper that he was positioned at the top hatch of an amphibious assault vehicle while on patrol when a roadside bomb launched the vehicle into the air and sent shrapnel flying.

The explosion burned Camp’s hands and face, but he still attempted to rescue one of his comrades trapped inside the vehicle after the blast, the newspaper reported. He continued his rescue effort despite another explosion that knocked him out of the vehicle and set his hands on fire again.

The Someone You Should Know radio collaboration began as an extension of Matt Burden’s series at Blackfive. Thanks to Matt, Bruce is now on board and we are lucky to have him as part of the show. All of our interviews are also available for download at iTunes and Podcast Alley via the Pundit Review Radio Podcast.

What is Pundit Review Radio?

Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week Kevin and Gregg give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to your radio every Sunday evening from 7-10 pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

Somebody in his immediate circle needs to set John McCain straight on the non-existent “problem” of “global warming.” It is pathetic that a so-called “conservative” continues to parrot the left’s shibboleth about the exigent need to “drastically reduce man made carbon emissions.”

Recently I saw McCain on Fox and he was asked what his proposed solution would be to lower the cost of energy and he rambled on for 10 minutes about “alternative energy” and the salubrious effects of the oil embargo on R&D in the 1970s and never once mentioned new refinery construction and domestic drilling in ANWR and the outer-continental shelf. His recent proposal for a “gas tax holiday” is not a viable solution.

Now I am all for development of “alternative energy technologies” that are more economical and environmentally friendly. However many of the most promising technolgies are many years away and we need to come to grips with the fact that the world’s economy depends upon OIL and natural gas. Yes, let’s fund R&D for new sources of energy, but in the meantime let’s bring as much oil on line as possible in the most environmentally friendly way as possible to increase supply and lower cost. Good for American consumers. Good for the global economy. And great for America in that we decrease our dependence on “foreign oil.” It’s what we in sales refer to as a “win-win.”

Kevin and I have had Chris Horner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Professor Dick Lindzen from MIT, and Bjorn Lomborg on our show to discuss this issue in depth and these are the major pts I would emphasize with McCain:

1. There is no scientific “consensus” or proof that anthropogenic carbon emissions affect the earth’s temperature.
2. Full compliance with Kyoto would have a nugatory (negligible) effect on the earth’s temp with major adverse economic consequences especially for developing nations.
3. “Global Warming” is a hoax and a way for the American Left to push America into some type of international government. Nothing more. Nothing less.
4. Spending billions on “climate change” siphons our limited capital resources for other more pressing global problems (e.g. Malaria, HIV/AIDS, clean water, etc…)

McCain should be brought up to speed on the facts surrounding this issue and set straight immediately. The economic costs of “cap and trade” or any involvement in a global energy rationing scheme would be disastrous for our economy and our sovereignty. When asked about what he would do to make energy more abundant and affordable, McCain should respond thusly:

1. Drill here in the U.S. and dare the Democrats to stop you
2. Build more refineries here in the U.S.
3. Abolish or drastically cut the federal gas tax
4. Call for more nuclear power plant construction nationally and offer tax credits
5. End the economically and environmentally deleterious corn-based Ethanol subsidies (you have already taken initial steps in this direction)

Nancy Pelosi, the esteemed Speaker of the House, appeared on CNN last night. Not very bright, unprepared, empty suit, and no, I’m not talking about Larry King.

Michelle Malkin summarizes,

Watch her stammer, blink, and struggle to quickly pull a number out of her hat.

I have no idea where she got the “$2.56 on average” figure.

Maybe it was in her Bible.

After King tells her the average is $3.50, she mumbles “Oh, it’s down six cents.”

Huh?

Liberal math.

Don’t you just want to punch her! No, not Laura Bush. The girl in the wheelchair. That’s exactly what an unhinged moonbat did.

BUSH BASHER SMASHES DISABLED TEEN: COPS

A man heckling First Lady Laura Bush and daughter Jenna outside the 92nd Street Y was arrested after he punched a wheelchair-bound girl whose parents had told him to shut up, authorities said yesterday. German Talis, 22, was shouting obscenities at the Bushes, who were leaving the building Tuesday, when he crossed paths with Wendy and John Lovetro and their daughter Maureen, 18, who has cerebral palsy.

They had been in the audience to hear the Bushes talk about their children’s book, “Read All About It.”

“He began yelling about Iraq and Iran at Jenna Bush. She was waving at the crowd. I told the guy, ‘What are you doing? Shut up. This is about a child and books,’ ” said John Lovetro. “He was unperturbed. I said, ‘Get out of here! You’re being a moron!’ ”

The next thing he knew, Talis was allegedly punching Maureen - a fan of the first lady since meeting her in 2004.

“I heard my daughter hysterical yelling, ‘He’s hitting me!’ ” said Wendy Lovetro.

“He punched her on the shoulder blades, but that wasn’t enough,” she said.

“My husband pushed the wheelchair away from him and he reached beyond my husband and began pounding my daughter in the thigh.”

Nothing says P-E-A-C-E better than beating up a girl in a wheelchair.

Deebow at Blackfive has another story of Moonbats Gone Wild, this time at a “peace protest” in PA,

Seeing the escalating tension across the street, the veteran and his wife crossed over, leaving their three youngest children on the other side for safety while they went to retrieve their eldest son. Two of the female ‘peace’ protesters then attacked the veteran’s wife. When the veteran pulled one of those attackers off his wife he was jumped by four or five of the ‘peace’ people and knocked to the ground where they held him while beating him and smashing his eyeglasses.

The son pulled the remaining attacker off his mother, but the attacker managed to get in one last kick to his mother’s head with her boot. She then punched the son in his face while his mother called the police.

Deebow’s reaction is one of white hot anger, and it’s hard to blame him. Read it here.

From The Tax Foundation,

Tax Freedom Day will arrive on April 23 this year, the 113th day of 2008 (ignoring Leap Day). That means Americans will work nearly four months of the year, from January 1 to April 23, before they have earned enough money to pay this year’s tax obligations at the federal, state and local levels.

Americans, as a whole, work a significant number of days each year to pay for things other than government, but nothing else is so expensive. Americans will work longer to pay for government (113 days) than they will for food, clothing and housing combined (108 days). In fact, Americans will work longer to afford federal taxes alone (74 days) than they will to afford housing (60 days). As a group, Americans will also work longer to pay state and local taxes than they will to pay for food.