Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
Women's Movement
Last week's endorsement of Obama by the abortion rights group NARAL has prompted a flurry of criticism by feminists upset with the organization for turning its back on Hillary Clinton. Particularly upset are leaders of the state chapters who were not consulted before the national board's announcement.
New York NARAL chapter head Kelli Conlin tells The Politico newspaper the move created a firestorm, mystifying everyone — and prompting concerns about alienating NARAL's donor base. At one point there were more than 3,000 comments on NARAL's Web site — most negative. Even Obama supporters profess unhappiness with the endorsement.
Conlin says, "The supporters of Obama that I know on our board and in our membership thought it was ill-timed and ill-advised and really antithetical to people coming together in common purpose to beat John McCain."
Blame Game
Barack Obama is blaming FOX News, and some unidentified e-mailers, for his also-ran status in the run up to the Kentucky primary Tuesday. Obama is well behind Hillary Clinton in the polls there.
He told the Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper that he is trying to reverse what he calls a lot of misconceptions about his background. He says some e-mail chains have asserted he is Muslim, which he denies. He says he does not know who sent out the e-mails, but he does know who is also to blame for his Kentucky troubles.
"There are a lot of voters who get their news from FOX News. FOX has been pumping up rumors about my religious beliefs or my patriotism or what have you since the beginning of the campaign."
Reasonable Doubt
On Monday, the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine announced that more than 3,000 scientists have signed a petition rejecting the theory that humans are causing catastrophic global warming. The list of signers features scientists from all disciplines, including physics, climate research, mathematics and engineering. It has more than nine thousand scientists with PhDs.
The institute says the large number of signers contradicts the claim that there is a scientific consensus about human responsibility for climate change. And, it points out the petition has more than 15 times as many scientists as the number involved in the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Final Countdown
Even though global temperatures have basically flattened out in the last 10 years — and one scientific study predicts global cooling over the next decade — Prince Charles says humans have only 18 months to reverse climate change or disaster will strike.
The Daily Telegraph reports the prince is pushing a $30-billion program to halt rainforest deforestation, otherwise: "We will end up seeing more drought and starvation on a grand scale. Weather patterns will become even more terrifying and there will be less and less rainfall."
Charles says the $30-billion dollar program should be viewed as an insurance policy for the world.
— FOX News Channel's Martin Hill contributed to this report.
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