That should be the headline today as Al Gore accepted the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize today.

Of course, I want to ask you to remember that Gore did not win this award on his own – as he may wish the world would go on believing. He has to share the award and the $1.6 million prize with the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The Nobel committee called Gore “one of the world’s leading environmental politicians”.

So, how DID Gore travel to Oslo, Norway? Did he kayak, walk, or perhaps ride a bicycle? Did he make sure that he did not leave a carbon footprint or use up valuable fossil fuel resources? Did he turn the electric off in his 20-room Nashville mansion to make up for the difference?

Oh! That
S right! Gore buys people off to reduce his carbon footprint. He purchases energy credits (from his Own non-profit organization, no less) and makes donation to the needy. Sure, yes…that certainly makes up for the waste he generates monthly. I’m just not quite sure how our CO2 emissions can be counterd simply by spending money.

Gore’s an ill-informed tool, and Chicken Little to boot. Someone please enroll the man in a comprehensive course about the history of our plant. Just a couple months ago, scientist began publishing studies that overturn  the IPCC’s scientific “consensus”.

Here in Florida we have pretty much put our hurricane kits away. Cruise ships are going back to their regular non-hurricane routes, and the general mindset here is just more pleasant. Of course, it’s been a couple of years since Florida has been hit with a very bad storm. I sure wish someone would tell the home owners insurance companies to back off and stop raising rates.

Anyway, here we are off-season and well into December and along comes a storm that could potentially be named Olga. There is a disturbance near the Caribbean Sea that some forecasters are watching to see if it turns into Tropical Storm Olga. If it does, it would be only the 10th December storm since 1851.

Even if it the weather does develop into a tropical storm, Florida should be safe with the storm’s path likely taking it close to Puerto Rico and the mountains of Hispaniola.

You know there is going to be a good fight when the biggest thing at stake is a rematch of a split draw that invited a lot of controversy in the past. Las Vegas will play host to the one of the biggest rematches of the past several years when Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez get in the ring together on March 15, 2008.

Pacquiao and Marquez first met May 8, 2004. That was the fight where Pacquiao knocked Marquez down three times just in the first round, but in a dramatic turn of events Marquez kept at it and the match was called a split draw. Four years will have passed by the time they fight again at Mandalay Bay and boxing fans are eager to see what happens this time. There are fans on both sides of the brawl, each with their own opinions about 2004’s split draw.

Some say that a more disciplined Pacquiao is stepping into the ring. He has stated that he feels he has improved a lot as a fighter and anticipates knocking out Marquez.

Marquez has made it clear this fight is not about money for him, but that he knows there is unfinished business and he wants to see it resolved. He wants to show Pacquiao and the world what Mexican fighters are all about, putting to rest the streak of victories Pacquiao has had against Mexican fighters of late.

We can hope to see even more statements like these ten days from now at the press conference scheduled for December 20 in Los Angeles. After that, it will be time for both men to pout their fists ahead of their promises and that is what is making Pacquiao/Marquez tickets such a hot commodity.

HBO is carrying the Marquez-Pacquiao II fight on PPV and representatives of the cable company are calling it one of the ‘must-see’ fights for 2008. You can still get tickets for the fight in Las Vegas, but if you are unable to get out to Nevada, PPV is the way to go.

Every time I see a motorcycle weaving in and out of traffic on a busy, fast-moving roads, I stop my to think about how I still feel Florida should have their helmet law in place. If I were to be pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt in my van, I could be ticketed.

Motorcyclists often remind me that I should look out for them, since they are small enough to get lost in my blind spot. I agree. I should indeed be a diligent driver. But, so should those on motorcycles. What made me think of this again is the news that a female passenger on a motorcycle was critically injured on yesterday when the motorcycle crashed into a car up in Tarpon Springs.

She was not wearing a helmet.

And, it was the motorcycle that struck a turning car.

Despite a lack of a helmet law, people on bikes can choose to put on a helmet for their own safety. While the driver of a motorcycle might argue that visibility is impaired, why was the passenger not wearing a helmet? Motorcycle safety is the responsibility of the riders. While the rest of us on the roads should be aware of riders, we cannot make up for the shortcomings of helmetless riders weaving thought traffic at high speeds. I saw a lot of comments from bikers and the only one that even made sense was a comment that said people on motorcycles have one way to survive. They need to pretend they are invisible and never assume people see them on the road. Drive defensively to compensate.

I’ve stayed in a lot of hotels in my life. I used to travel a LOT for work and now I travel simply because I enjoy getting out and seeing the world around me, or more often the state around me. Last night, my best friend and I were discussing booking one of the theme hotels in Kissimmee for us and the kids so we can take a mini vacation at the parks.

The thing about hotels is that they are either truly pleasant, or a real chore. A pleasant hotel has two things, in my opinion: cleanliness and décor that makes you feel spoiled and surrounded by luxury.

There are companies that specialize in beautifying retail establishments, restaurants, resorts and hotels. When decorators go to work on a hotel, they want it to look nice, but they are often restricted by budget issues. That’s why buyers tend to gravitate to businesses like Tres Amigos, a seller of rustic wholesale furniture, who in their own right have a large buying influence and can obtain décor at much lower prices because of the volume at which they purchase.

Tres Amigos focuses on Spanish Colonial, Tuscan, Rustic and Southwest style. And, although they sell to everyone on a per piece basis, it only takes $1000 to bump up to wholesale status. And because of the sheer volume of their business, they are able to cater to huge projects just as easily as they can to the small ones. A hotel planning a folksy southwest look will find their selection of Mexican wholesale furniture invaluable. While most large-volume sellers are going to only offer the kind of items that are “a dime a dozen” in their lack of uniqueness, Tres Amigos has Spanish Colonial wholesale furniture and accessories (among their other styles) that are made exclusively for them so that their inventory is able to reflect a “one of a kind” flavor. They can even work with you to design items that are unique to you.

Additionally, Tres Amigos has a full container program and can source from Mexico, India, Indonesia and elsewhere.

Individual customers like me are not excluded, because they still make their inventory ultimately affordable. And, I stumbled on their hand crafted jewelry selection, which is absolutely stunning and more affordable than I had even imagined. I grew up in a home where my parents decorated using mostly a Tuscan style, so this furniture feels like home as I browse the selections. I’m currently debating one of the armoires they have on their site right now. It would look VERY good in my bedroom.

One of my best friends had her daughter’s birthday party yesterday. Last year she and her husband went all out and had a massive party in their backyard with the grill going all of the time, a huge inflatable jumper thing they rented, and enough food to feed the troops.

I remember looking around and remembering that when I was a child, my mom just dropped me off at birthday parties. And, when I had my parties, my friends’ parents just dropped them off as well. When did throwing a birthday party begin meaning you have to feed and entertain two parents for every child? That is what made me decide last year just to take Gigi to Princesses and Pirates at Disney rather than throw a big party.

My friend made a good decision this year, though. She had the party at a huge facility that has three rooms filled with full sized inflatable slides and jumpers. At the ends, the kids sit and eat cake. My only complaint is that they did not allow here the time and space to have her daughter open presents in front of the other children. On the positive side, though, she did not have to get her house ready for 40 parents to stand around eating her food. The kids were fully entertained and supervised by staff. It was limited to two hours and there was no clean-up for her to do. I wish the company had a facility closer o my house. As it stands, I am still hoping Disney does another Princesses and Pirates party in February so we can just do that.