Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
Negative Numbers
Hillary Clinton has long been seen as having what pollsters call high negatives, and that is reflected in our latest FOX News poll, in which 44 percent say they would never vote for her.
But John Edwards does even worse, with 45 percent saying they'd never vote for him. By contrast only 34 percent say that about Barack Obama.
On the Republican side, Newt Gingrich fared the worst by far with 64 percent saying they'd never vote for him. Only 40 percent said that about John McCain. And only 36 percent said that about Rudy Giuliani. Meantime, there has been an uptick in the number of people who say they think of themselves as Republicans —- 36 percent, up from 31 a month ago. Those saying they are Democrats are down a bit ... from 40 percent last month to 37 percent now.
Veterans in Class
A social justice professor who lectures at Loyola University in Chicago and Northeastern Illinois University has written an article on a San Francisco-based Web site about her experiences with military veterans in class.
June Terpstra says a Marine told her class about killing Iraqi civilians at a checkpoint — but that he had followed the rules of engagement. Her reaction: "I knew in that moment that this was what the future of teaching about justice would include: teaching war criminals who sit glaring at me with hatred for daring to speak the truth of their atrocities and who, if paid to, would disappear, torture and kill me. The American military and mercenary soldiers who 'sacrificed' their lives did not do so for the teacher's freedom to teach the truth about the so-called War on terror ... They sacrificed their lives, limbs and sanity for money, some education and the thrills of the violence for which they are socially bred."
"Greatest Deception"
A Canadian climatologist says global warming is, "the greatest deception in the history of science" and is not due to human release of carbon dioxide. Timothy Ball, who taught at the University of Winnipeg, tells a Pittsburgh newspaper columnist that the recent U.N. summary report on climate change is "the end product of a political agenda." And he says global warming proponents have "played the emotional and fear card. Just like in the U.S., it's almost like the race card."
Valentine's Day
Environmentalists are trying to make those ladies and gentlemen in Britain lucky enough to have received flowers for Valentine's Day feel a little guilty. They say that the practice of importing flowers from Africa has had serious implications on global climate change because of carbon emissions from the airplanes that transport them.
And for those couples who just got engaged — the World Wildlife Fund wants them to think green for their weddings. The WWF Web site is offering tips on:
eco-friendly receptions —- use natural light or candles
food — go organic
and honeymoon — think carbon emission offsets, and use the WWF travel partners.
The site also has a gift registry where wedding guests can donate to the WWF instead of giving traditional gifts to the bride and groom.
—FOX News Channel's Martin Hill contributed to this report.