Sunday, November 26, 2006
All Global Warming, All the Time
Did you know that Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” is now available on DVD for purchase? Yep – here’s the pitch for buying it at StopGlobalWarming.org
“Available on DVD November 21, Al Gore presents a compelling look at the state of global warming. But (sic) two and donate one to a school. Buy Now!”
But Al Gore sycophant and Inconvenient Truth producer Laurie David isn’t stopping there:
“At hundreds of screenings this year of "An Inconvenient Truth," the first thing many viewers said after the lights came up was that every student in every school in the United States needed to see this movie.
“The producers of former vice president Al Gore's film about global warming, myself included, certainly agreed. So the company that made the documentary decided to offer 50,000 free DVDs to the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) for educators to use in their classrooms.” Science a la Joe Camel
But students everywhere can heave a brief sigh of relief. The teachers apparently said no.
Predictably, Ms. David thinks this is just awful…and probably the fault of reliable bogeyman Exxon-Mobil. Turns out the NSTA gets some money from Exxon and Ms. David thinks the teachers’ group may be afraid of losing a funding source were they to accept the Gore group’s largesse. In fact, she goes on and on about this: connecting dots where none exist.
“[NSTA] also hosts an annual convention -- which is described on Exxon Mobil's Web site as featuring "more than 450 companies and organizations displaying the most current textbooks, lab equipment, computer hardware and software, and teaching enhancements." The company "regularly displays" its "many . . . education materials" at the exhibition.”
“So, how is any of this different from showing Gore's movie in the classroom?”
Simple. The materials Exxon distributes are made available to the teachers at forums and the like. They are clearly the product of Exxon (or whoever) and do not bear the imprimatur of the NSTA through such distributions. What Laurie David and her cadre want here is the equivalent of a “teach in” highlighting their slanted and distorted viewpoint. And they want the NSTA to be their delivery system. If indeed there are some 50,000 DVDs taking up space in some LA warehouse, they should be able to set up some kind of distribution system that avoids the middleman (the NSTA) and goes directly to the teachers. Or perhaps they can make it 451 companies and organizations at the next NSTA annual convention.
Side Note: Apparently this is Global Warming day at the Post. An editorial discusses the case going before the Supreme Court later this week - Massachusetts v. EPA – wherein Massachusetts and others of the usual suspects are complaining about not enough Federal regulation (our own Baltimore City signed onto this). In this case, many think the EPA should be regulating CO2 emissions. Reading the Post editorial, you may wonder what the issue is as they more or less call Massachusetts the winner on the merits in just a few paragraphs. Not emphasized within is the fact that the case is going to the Supreme Court on appeal…and not by the EPA. Which means Massachusetts et al lost the earlier round so there just may be some legal merit to the EPA’s position. Climate in the Court
In another story, the Post calmly notes that self-preservation is forcing wild species, businesses, and planning officials to act On the Move to Outrun Climate Change.. At first glance, I thought this was just going to be another piece on how people move to Florida for the winter and so was going to blow it off. But am I glad I didn’t. Instead I find that Post writers Blaine Harden and Juliet Eilperin dispassionately report on different reactions to warming trends, all the while avoiding any hint of political bias and being careful to differentiate between acknowledging global warming and identifying exactly what’s causing it.
Ha!! C’mon now – I clearly identified this as in the Washington Post. But I guess there is just no getting around the fact that, for billions of years, the earth had been a model of stability – that is until Satan spawned white men. Perhaps, with George Allen no longer around, the Post has found a new pet project.
“Available on DVD November 21, Al Gore presents a compelling look at the state of global warming. But (sic) two and donate one to a school. Buy Now!”
But Al Gore sycophant and Inconvenient Truth producer Laurie David isn’t stopping there:
“At hundreds of screenings this year of "An Inconvenient Truth," the first thing many viewers said after the lights came up was that every student in every school in the United States needed to see this movie.
“The producers of former vice president Al Gore's film about global warming, myself included, certainly agreed. So the company that made the documentary decided to offer 50,000 free DVDs to the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) for educators to use in their classrooms.” Science a la Joe Camel
But students everywhere can heave a brief sigh of relief. The teachers apparently said no.
Predictably, Ms. David thinks this is just awful…and probably the fault of reliable bogeyman Exxon-Mobil. Turns out the NSTA gets some money from Exxon and Ms. David thinks the teachers’ group may be afraid of losing a funding source were they to accept the Gore group’s largesse. In fact, she goes on and on about this: connecting dots where none exist.
“[NSTA] also hosts an annual convention -- which is described on Exxon Mobil's Web site as featuring "more than 450 companies and organizations displaying the most current textbooks, lab equipment, computer hardware and software, and teaching enhancements." The company "regularly displays" its "many . . . education materials" at the exhibition.”
“So, how is any of this different from showing Gore's movie in the classroom?”
Simple. The materials Exxon distributes are made available to the teachers at forums and the like. They are clearly the product of Exxon (or whoever) and do not bear the imprimatur of the NSTA through such distributions. What Laurie David and her cadre want here is the equivalent of a “teach in” highlighting their slanted and distorted viewpoint. And they want the NSTA to be their delivery system. If indeed there are some 50,000 DVDs taking up space in some LA warehouse, they should be able to set up some kind of distribution system that avoids the middleman (the NSTA) and goes directly to the teachers. Or perhaps they can make it 451 companies and organizations at the next NSTA annual convention.
Side Note: Apparently this is Global Warming day at the Post. An editorial discusses the case going before the Supreme Court later this week - Massachusetts v. EPA – wherein Massachusetts and others of the usual suspects are complaining about not enough Federal regulation (our own Baltimore City signed onto this). In this case, many think the EPA should be regulating CO2 emissions. Reading the Post editorial, you may wonder what the issue is as they more or less call Massachusetts the winner on the merits in just a few paragraphs. Not emphasized within is the fact that the case is going to the Supreme Court on appeal…and not by the EPA. Which means Massachusetts et al lost the earlier round so there just may be some legal merit to the EPA’s position. Climate in the Court
In another story, the Post calmly notes that self-preservation is forcing wild species, businesses, and planning officials to act On the Move to Outrun Climate Change.. At first glance, I thought this was just going to be another piece on how people move to Florida for the winter and so was going to blow it off. But am I glad I didn’t. Instead I find that Post writers Blaine Harden and Juliet Eilperin dispassionately report on different reactions to warming trends, all the while avoiding any hint of political bias and being careful to differentiate between acknowledging global warming and identifying exactly what’s causing it.
Ha!! C’mon now – I clearly identified this as in the Washington Post. But I guess there is just no getting around the fact that, for billions of years, the earth had been a model of stability – that is until Satan spawned white men. Perhaps, with George Allen no longer around, the Post has found a new pet project.