straight that it means dooming the country to poverty, backwardness and weakness.

That is the danger that faces Australia as well if we adopt the Kyoto protocol, take on many of the undetermined mechanisms at face value and restrict ourselves to it. In fact, the Australian government, in its response to the challenges to Australia of the Kyoto protocol, has put in place many policies which will fully meet the commitments which the protocol assigns to us. The Howard government has, since 1996, committed over $1 billion to combat global warming and greenhouse gas emissions from Australia. It has established the world's first national greenhouse agency: the Australian Greenhouse Office. Today it is still the only national greenhouse office of any nation in the world. The government is currentlyALCS Blog: Why Mike Ilitch covets a World Series title

Mike Ilitch, the billionaire Little Caesars pizza mogul, has spent more than $1.4 billion on player salaries since buying the Detroit Tigers from rival pizza baron Tom Monaghan in 1992.

Since 2005, he's steadily boosted payroll spending, paying for a roster of stars far beyond what a mid-market team such as Detroit normally would sustain.

Part of that is because he wants to win his first World Series championship to accompany the four Stanley Cups his Red Wings have won since he and wife Marian bought the hockey team for $8 million in 1982.

Two other factors came into play to aid that hefty spending: Little Caesars had rebounded and increased its revenues after a rough patch, and the 2004-05 NHL lockout