We don't know what happens in those 20 rooms, so the information doesn't really mean anything.

Apart from which, I never understood why a guru or anybody else is supposed to be fake if they have a big car.
I believe Jesus told Judas to be concerned with his spiritual life, and not with saving money for the poor instead.

Peter,

By the way the wheel is spinning on Al Gore's electric meter, I'd say in one of those twenty rooms there might be a whole lot of grow lights! Or maybe he is just living the life of a Hollywood celebrity and as a hobby he ventures out from time to time (via private jet) to tell the rest of us to change our life styles.

Peter, you said, "We don't know what happens in those 20 rooms, so the information doesn't really mean anything." It means Al Gore is a hypocrite - he doesn't take his own message seriously enough to change his lifestyle, why should I or anyone else? His failure to lead by example is just one more reason I'm glad he's signing autographs in Hollywood instead of legislation in Washington, DC.

What do you think he does in that pool house, Peter, the one he spends $6K a year in electricity on?

I guess you don't get the whole walking-your-talk thing.

PS: Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, not in a Rolls, and had no place to lay his head, not a house on every coast.
He told Judas to attend to his spiritual life because Judas needed to do just that. And Judas didn't give those 30 pieces of silver to the poor, btw.

There really is two America's. One for AlGore, Billary Clinton, John Edwards, George Soros and the like, and one for the rest of us.

But, I came in here to give you good news of geat joy!

A new political party is being offered to the tens of millions of Americans who feel that both the Republican party and the Democrat party have NOT led them to achieve what they really want our government to do for them.

We want our borders secured and our immigration laws ENFORCED NOW! We want tax reform-and we want it ASAP! We want much more efficient, innovative and effective SMALLER government that gives us more bang for our hard-earned buck. We want Senate rules that currently do not allow an up or down vote for all executive appointment to the federal judiciary changed to allow a constitutional up or down vote. We want our second amendment right to keep and BEAR arms VIGILANTLY protected! We believe America’s best and brightest days are YET to come! We yearn for REAL change that PRODUCES real results that truly satisfies our good desires for our families, America’s future and our posterity. And, we want it all RIGHT NOW!

The new party is called the ‘New Republican Party’ and can be further studied at my website. This party is what we, and millions of others like us, have all been searching for…but it has never existed before…until NOW!

Peter.. Good morning !

I really *don't* have to guess what Gore does at home. He is one of the biggest phoneys to ever grace the planet, so what happens at his house has to be a combination of lurid episodes of family extortion and bribery mixed with scenes of apocalyptic grade whining and ass kissing.

He belongs on the polit-burro.

I'm with Babs and Al on this one..

Us mentally well-endowed folks are better suited to discover how y'all will live your lives.

Once we figure out where the danger is..we'll let you know. For now though, you need to just get on the damn bus and pay some homage...

Grovel you sorry Americans !!! Grovel I say !!

Anybody seen the new Boeing Biz class series ?? Awesome !

And all the people said "AMEN" brother csason!

I know an inconvenient truth..

If we keep following Al Gore's advise...*focus on the environment, self-mutilation vis-a-vis assigning
self-blame for the sad state of this planet, and
wealth re-distribution* , most of us will be dead before the sequel "A Late Apology" comes out.

"A Late Apology" will be followed by "An Appropriate Way to Kiss Ass"

Tipper will look nice in a burka
Al will look even better with his head on a stick

I *Thankya* Sister Cindy...

Now, if you'll just meet me later after the fallout..

I'll show you my new Al Gore Steamer I got in the mail. It's powered by the decomposing bodies of Darfurians who were confounded by the Spanish instructions on their 'Global Cooling' kits..

Algore is a well known hypocrite, this is but one more in a long line of ooppsies he's been caught doing. From tobbacco farming to lying about where he was raised Algore is known to say he's done or doing one thing while doing another. IOW, look for what he's saying to be 180 degrees from what he's doing.
Peter, in other words he's a self serving, lying son of a bitch that thinks you should suffer to protect the 'enviorment' while he burns it down.
Maybe this will be a tipping point where people start asking themselves just what is Algore trying to promote...

tempest in a piss pot. he's rich, let him spend his money how he wants. let him be lame all he wants, let a freaking actor(those champions of selflessness) proclaim him cool. he's still the idiot that couldn't carry his home state in a national election. race and class baiting donna brazile must forget the basics.

patricians....sheesh!

Favorite Gore quote that sprang to mind when reading this: "I believe one of the test of our nation is whether in times of grave challenge, we have the courage to be true to our deepest principles."

If that principle is making money and a name for yourself, he has great courage.

But coming from someone that compared people that don't recycle to Nazis ("Earth in the Balance," a never-ending source of hilarious reading) I don't think that's what he meant to convey.

Well good people, I have to admit I don't know Al Gore much. So if you all tell me he's a hypocrite, I'll take our word for it.
My point was that the fact that somebody has a big house or a big car doesn't necessarily mean he's no good or not spiritual.

What made me write in the first place, is the tendency I have noticed here to be against anything or anybody that states that our habitat is in serious danger and we need to do something about it fast.
Well, I don't have a big car, I believe I'm not a hypocrite and my IQ is above avarage. And I say, based on reading, travelling and experiencing:
our habitat is in serious danger and we need to do something about it fast.

We have to face this: the Holland I once knew and the America you once knew, will not come back. No amount of new parties or weapons or fences to keep people out will bring them back. There are only two options: join those that work towards a clean energy, open society based on moral principles, or fight a loosing battle.

My two cents.

Al Gore is still a self-serving phony, Peter.

I say we get rid of the self serving people who admonish the salt of the earth who have been recycling and conserving the earth for centuries...LONG before Al was ever the measly carbon footprint that he is.

If he expects the rest of us to get all emotional about this.. then where is the sacrifice ??

If the asswipe became vice-Clintonage, after the whole internet birthing deal, and suddenly had an overwhelming urge to save the planet by unloading the secret of the new millenia...*that we are melting* ..like some realy bad Twilite Zone episode that got cut..IF he really wanted get my attention..AND support..

If he sold ALL that big windbag royalty crap he has, and started riding a bicycle, (like my 85 year old Mother does, after she dumps the scraps in the garden ,after she washes the plastic bag that the vegetables she grew came out of and puts it back in the freezer for the tenth cycle) and convinced all his friends to do the same thing..

Then ...maybe. But Babs would definetly have to hang her drawers out on the line, first.

Oh yeah.. and if you think Mama Earth is ready for the crash cart, you would do well to spend some time here in Florida.

She kicks our ass on a regular basis.

For the record.. we cannot have our cake and eat it too.

Who is going to explain to the poor homeless people who need a public funded sex-arrangement operation, that we spent the money on some solar panels for the new Islamic History Museum ???

Peter,

Nobody here seems to be against improving how we all live but nobody wants to be told how to live by someone that so flagrantly disregards their own message in the way that we see with Al Gore.

We can all agree that we don't like pollution and most of us would probably prefer to see natural resources - forest, fields, lakes, ocean, etc., preserved for many good reasons. What I cannot abide is having our concern for such things co-opted for political purposes.

Kyoto and "carbon credits" are all about economics and do absolutely nothing to reduce the amount of pollution created or damage done to the earth as they do not address all or even most of the sources of pollution. In fact, I think they provide cover for those that would continue to do damage at a greater rate than the rest of us here.

Have you ever travelled in a developing country? The amount of pollution in places like Bangkok, anywhere in the Philippines, Mexico City, India, and China, to name a few places is overwhelming. To balance the economic burden of Kyoto on the backs of a few economies - namely the US - will not help curb pollution.

"Carbon credits" my foot. When two billion people get up each morning in China and India alone, they fire up the stove to eat, heat water, use what electricity they may have, get to work however they can and work in whatever industry or manufacturing job they can get regardless if it is "green" or not. Do you think they care what their "carbon footprint" is when they're lucky if they have even one pair of shoes?! If we all switched to Prius carpools tomorrow it would not matter as we are a very small part of the population on this planet and in no way do we come close to doing the damage that comes from places like those I've mentioned. Have you ever been to Brasil?

Peter, cutting back on pollution is fine. I support that but Kyoto is an economic shell game and "carbon credits" are a smoke screen.

csason,

I'm thinking we could have a Florida Cracker Prius carpool. We should probably have Donnah drive - she'd control the tunes too because I don't think my stuff would go over well. Besides, I'm going to be busy managing my own contribution - a .50 cal on a ring mount. HOV lane my ass - we'll make our own! You could bring sandwiches but please - no Miracle Whip®.

Shotgun !

Shotgun!

Shotgun !

The first one is for my choice of seats..since Donnah is driving...(be still my heart..;)

The second is *my* WOC...

The third is what Al would be wishing for after he digs my carbon footprint out of his ass.

"We don't know what happens in those 20 rooms, so the information doesn't really mean anything."

I don't know what happens in those 20 rooms, but I've got a good guess what *doesn't* happen: turning off the darn lights!

"The third is what Al would be wishing for after he digs my carbon footprint out of his ass."

Classic!

I hope Al's kharma bites him in the ass -- HARD. If his mendacity bothers you guys, earning my crust the oil and gas industry, for me, it's personal.

NO BLOOD FOR OIL!
(we prefer cash or major credit card)

Well, it's realtively easy to point at third world countries. Or to vent anger. Or to judge. To throw the first stone.
The question is this: we, the human race, are in danger of destroying our habitat. What do you do about it ? Do you buy organic food ? Have you become a vegetarian (you live healthier, longer and cleaner)? Are you prepared to pay more for a cleaner car ? Do you support leaders that have the moral courage to say things that we don't want to hear ?
If yes, good. You earned the right to criticise others. If not, don't. It would make you a hypocrite.
I rest my guitarcase.

I don't do anything to conserve or anything..in fact, my wife (bless her heart) LOVES and collects lamps. I swear to you, we must have at least 40 or more Fenton lamps, and a whole bunch of light fixtures that we have collected...
And it really freaks me out, because she really likes to leave them on..and at night, if you combine the lawn lighting, etc..I am sure we could power a small city or something..

What really gets me about this whole Hollywood, 'washed up vice-president turned eco-guru', business is that THESE same people have for about a century now (Politicians and Hollywood types) , ever since Hollywood BECAME Hollywood, and Politicians BECAME Hollywood types (lol) They have been the biggest waster's and flagrant violaters of our natural resources.

Jets, Big Cars...DOZENS of Cars.. That is what is so weird about this..and it really should piss everybody off... So for all this time, *they* have owned exotic wild animals..and lavish homes, and such...and now that *they* have discovered how eveil this is..*they* want us all to change our fuckin ways.

KMA Al.
KMA Hollywood

They are the very last voice on the planet to be heard on this issue.

I think of the people who I knew, and still know..who have lived *their entire lives* being natural conservationists, and have watched these same people waste and waste...and they still waste and waste..
and NOW..NOW..they want us to drop our pants.

Just because AL has made a stand on this, I am personally vowing to replace my Cadillac DHS with one just like it (only newer..with a fatter motor) for as long as they sell them.

AND I am going to help my sorry brother buy more fuel for his Cessna, so we can go for more rides.
Also, I promise to never complain about how wasteful my kids and family are.

Other than that.. I'll still bury my fish cleaning scraps near a fruit tree..(natural fertilizer-high Nitrogen)

I do my part for the environment by NOT buying organic food. It requires more land to produce the same amount of food. This means a choice between the destruction of more natural habitat or feeding fewer people. Doesn't seem reasonable to have to make that choice for food that is chemically/nutritionally the same as non-organic.

Sorry Marybeth, you clearly haven't the faintest idea.
And I do ? Yes I do. My wife happens to be Sweden's best known nutrition therapist.

Here we go:
The ordinary way of growing depletes the soil. That means that the food you buy has nowhere near the nutritional value it had decades ago. If you buy your food at the supermarket instead of Whole Food, you MUST take supplements (or accept being undernourished).
You clearly have never seen pictures taken through a microscope of living blood or air tissue, in which you can actually see the metals stacked up in the body. To state that organical growth and fertilised growth produce the same results chemicaly is flying in the face of even common sense, let alone chemical fact.
If you want to preserve land for the production of food, the most sensible thing to do is to be a vegetarian. This makes a difference of a factor 6 (six) (5+1). You understand ? You can feed six times as many people. And as a bonus these people will be healthier. And as another bonus, we are rid of one of the worst industries in terms of environmental pollution, meat production.

I have no problem with people that have a different opinion. I do have a problem with people proclaiming things without having the faintest idea of what they are talking about.
It's fine if you don't want to buy organic food. Just don't try to fool others along with yourself.

MYTH: Vegetarians live longer lives than most people.

FACT: It just feels that way to the rest of us.

Well, I can't dispute the second statement.

About the first one: I guess the notion that vegetarians show a remarkable lower tendency to develop cancer of the digestive system is a myth too, according to your knowledge of scientific research ?

For the serious ones, here's a link to an interesting discussion between Whole Food's CEO and a critic.

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2007/02/28_pollanmackey.shtml

I am so glad you brought up research !!

My favorite subject..for now.

Does anyone really trust research ??

I was an assistant to an invasive cardiologist (sub specialty electrophysiology) for a period of time, and one of the things I noticed right off the bat.. is how skewed data really is.

I tend to believe half of what I see, and none of what I hear about so-called *research* or critical
life changing data. And that is in an area of high sensitivity to diet.

Most of the people I know who have lived a long time ate a lot of meat, and stuff that the research says not to do. That is quite insane.

Go down to a diner and ask around.

Oh, and just for point of reference, I helped down in the GI lab a night or two....yuk.

MYTH: A vegetarian diet reduces the risk of disease.

FACT: Studies have shown vegetarians suffer from epidemic levels of inflamation of the hypochondrial gland. Clinical diagnosis of this condition are atypical, in that symptoms are most often manifested in individuals to whom the patient has been exposed, rather than the patient. These major symptoms include rapid hearing loss, followed by spontaneous narcolepsy.

Al Gore may be a hypocrite. Or the news about his utility consumption may be false. Hypocrite or not, I can't think of anyone I would support more enthusiastically for President. He is intelligent and cares about the United States. Most candidates are either mental mediocrities or have allegiance only to large multi-national corporations--or both.
Clinton showed himself to be a liar from the outset, lying about not inhaling his marijuana. Notwithstanding his dishonesty and other character flaws, he turned out to be a very good President and I am grateful for that. I hope Gore runs.

CSason,

also most of the people I know that are/got old, are/were not vegetarians. In fact, I don't know anybody over 80 who is a vegatarian.

Does this mean that it is healthier too live unhealthily ?
Or does it mean people over 80 were glad to have food to eat, extra glad when that food was meat, and they didn't have any information about nutrition and didn't have time or money for it anyway ?
I mean, the people that died were also not vegetarians.

Whether or not I attach meaning to research depends on its quality.

My general, anecdotal, non-scientific observation: as a yogateacher, I know many people who live healthily. They also die and sometimes get sick. Yet, if I compare them to the general public, I see they have much less physical trouble and are much calmer and happier.

Whoever wants to attribute to fate what to me a clear consequences of choices: be my guest. Well, again and now for the last time, I rest my guitarcase.

I just think it's funny..

I was raised on grits, cornbread, greens.. and a bunch of fried meat...

I'll be here for at least another hunneert yars!

and Al is still a home-grown hypocritical yanqui.

Peter, I'm not trying to fool anyone. I was simply stating my position based, in part, on information from Norman Borlaug (sustainability) and peer-reviewed nutritional studies. I can't imagine why it didn't occur to me to seek this information from the CEO of a company whose profit depends on selling organic food.

What you do with your body, including the food you eat, is a personal choice. I'm not trying to influence anyone's decisions and I expect others not to lecture to me in return.

Maakt het vegatarisch zijn je zelfvoldaan en neerbuigend?

marybeth,

Gesundheit!

keith,

You're consistent - you seem to have appreciated Bill Clinton's willingness to lie to you and you're willing to have Al Gore keep up the abuse. I, for one, would prefer that a problem be treated with the result being an effective solution, not as a means to advance a political agenda or ambition.

Carbon credits are a sham, Kyoto is an economic scam, and Al Gore is Dan Quayle with spell-check.

peter,

Welcome to America and to the age-old liberal penchant for tilting at windmills, a Dutch sport that precedes yoga.

Your comment:

"Well, it's realtively [sic] easy to point at third world countries. Or to vent anger. Or to judge. To throw the first stone."

I'll try my best to type, through the tears, some sort of response to that. First, it is easy to point at third world countries because they are everywhere and comprise most of the world's population and as a result are also destroying more natural habitat, using more fuels of every type, and eating more food, including meat, than we do. Its just simple math but I'm all for improving our own record where it makes sense but a claim based solely on a per capita argument directed at America is often without merit as there is not a lot of data for comparison coming out of India, Mexico, China, Brasil, Nigeria, Indonesia, or other significant contributors to pollution as it effects the globe.

Second: Anger? No, man, I'm the nicest guy I ever met. But, third, I do judge. Everyday. Its how we all get through life. I judge that I must stop my small, ten year old, gas-sipping Toyota pick-up when the light turns yellow lest I possibly end up t-boned (oops, a meat allusion) on the front end of a Merc, Jag, BMW, or other ostentatious example of Euro gas-saving automobile design. Further, I get paid to judge. Fathom that. Whether or not it is part of your job to judge the best course of action, you should be making the decisions that are best for you and yours and I hope you use your best judgment for that. My judgment is that Al Gore shows poor judgment and demonstrates hypocrisy to the detriment of his "message". I render that judgment free of charge - I'm off work today.

Your fourth point about throwing stones is fine as I don't see you chucking anything overtly derisive around here but I do often hear others call dissenters to the Global Warming claim a variety of unflattering things. "Flat-earthers" comes to mind and for those that fail to "believe", they have been likened to Holocaust deniers. Now there's a recipe for civil discussion, don't you think? Which brings me to a question that begs to be asked: Will Germany have to pay retroactive "carbon credits" for burning all those Jews back in WWII? I just love being lectured by Europeans about how the US is the root of all evil, can't you tell?

But wait, that's not all! marybeth and some others did a pretty good job on squaring you away over the organic food and vegetarian meme in your comment made at March 1, 2007 04:52 AM, so I won't address that again. But then you go on to suggest that unless I have done A, B, and C, I have not yet earned the RIGHT to criticize someone that holds your views?! Is that right?!

I'll criticize whomever I please, peter. It's one of my Constitutional rights - it's considered freedom of speech. Al Gore has a right to pitch his BS for fun and profit and I have the right to point out that his logic, "science", and motives are suspect. For you to be the "judge" of who gets to offer their views here...well that would make me angry and seems to put you at odds with your own dissatisfaction with those that judge.

I rest my euphonium.

marybeth,

Did you see this?

http://www.openmarket.org/2007/03/02/spinich-contamination-confirmed-as-organic/

tfhr, I hadn't seen that article yet but it's not the first time that an outbreak has been linked to food that is promoted as being more healthful. In the 1990s there were problems with unpasteurized apple juice, not organic but still promoted for its health benefits, along with lettuce, potatoes (E. coli for the first three), cantalopes (cholera), and tomatoes (salmonella).

A few other things: 1) If, as it was suggested, we reduce animal farming, what will be substituted for animal manure as fertilizer? 2) The difference in pesticide and fungicide use in organic and non-organic farming isn't toxicity or how long it stays in the soil, it's whether the product is natural or synthetic. 3) The alternative to herbicides to kill weeds is more tilling which increases soil erosion. 4) There's more nutritional variation among varieties of a crop than there is between organic and non-organic produce of the same crop variety.

But, don't take my word for any of it...I don't want to be accused of trying to fool you. Look it up, and while you're at it, see if you can find what "air tissue" (March 1, 2007 02:21 PM) is. I'm stymied.

You should never have gotten me started again....

marybeth,

I think we're on the same page on all of this stuff, so please accept, in the spirit in which it is intended, that I will be BBQ-ing some type of animal today in your honor.

Second, I think peter meant to say "hair" and just left off the "h" by accident and we were served "air tissue". I think most native speakers are familiar with other ways of quantifying a sample of hair but blood is a tissue, by definition because it is comprised of many similar cells performing a function. I guess hair might fall into that category but in the town where I live it seems to mostly fall into salad bars.

I'm not from Sweden or the Netherlands, like peter, but an "air tissue" could be that thing some people do to blow out one nostril at a time by holding the other shut by compressing the nostril flat against the septum. I've never been very much for multi-culturalism but nevertheless I'm glad we've been able to have this discussion if for no other reason than I now feel like the money I send to my ISP is going to good use.

Algore is patheticly trying to hold on to a thread of poliitical importance. Global warming is the newest "buzz" word, a platform he's riding on to keep his name in the media. He's not sincere in the least.
However, I won't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Just because he's saying so don't make some part of it true.
The environment is interdependent. Just take deforesting, it's a major factor in ecology disturbance. I can't count the upsets just related to that concept, including heating the atmosphere. Heat travels. That's third grade science.
Those of us more than fourty years old should remember some part of the environmental wreckage cause by progress. A lot of things were learned.
America would not have a green and clean environment if not for the science of ecology. Even simple things like "brown earth" or littering.
In fact, the US would have ecological disasters and pollution such as the conditions in third world countries, but it costs lots of money to maintain.
My husband use to work in the envirmental cleanup business, specificly water remediation. Everything manufactored has a waste product that could eventually get into the water system. He either extracted or contained it. He had five patents related to that technology.
Everyday products that we take for granted has a by product. Even Florida natural OJ jets its waste into the ground. NASA had so much fuel pollution that ,as it was extracted, it was used again to run his machinery. A site in Illinois has X number of square miles of buried drums. My husband said it looked like bee hives. Coin factory, dry cleaners, aluminun foil, and what is that deadly black stuff that was used on telephone poles? well, seeping right from the river bank in Mississippi, and much more. You name it. The huge machines they used had to be taken apart and decontaminated before and after use, and the water from it stored as it was considered toxic. In India they would take a bath in it and then drink it.
Now,... American farmers they are the very best; they respect the environment, and they are expected to feed the world. So don't knock them.
One more,...fossil fuels are a non renewable energy source and shouldn't be wasted just cause we can. Why waste anything? Carbon footprint or not.
I want to put a plug in for RFD TV

tfhr, mmmm BBQ. Sauce or dry rub? If sauce, tomato or mustard-based? Don't answer, it will just make me hungry and we've strayed too far off the post topic already.

Thanks for making sense out of the "air tissue" thing. Googling "hair tissue analysis" brought up some interesting results.

nancy, I don't think that anyone is discounting the work that has and is being done to reclaim the environment. My concern is that Gore and his ilk are doing more to discredit environmentalism than they are to help it.

I understood that.
I had been watching the dialoge all weekend and finally had the time to jump in. So many points of view.
I think sometimes that younger people who have enjoyed the cleanliness and never knew, or older people who have forgotten, or Europeans, think we just came out from a cave.
When Donnah and I were kids we could smell the beach two miles away. The water was brown and cloudy, and you could get cut on broken glass if you play too near the pier. The Gulf is not so now.

Any time I've visited the States, I've been very impressed by how clean the natural areas are.

Back in '97, I was in Florida for 2 weeks on business, near Stuart/Jensen Beach. My fondest memory is being able to drive over to the beach, take my shoes off, and wander for *miles* in the warm sand, looking at the wildlife, breathing the clean ocean air. I can't tell you how great that was. All the stress lifting off your shoulders like a huge weight.

Now I keep a little Jensen Beach in my head, and sometimes go for a mental stroll there, whenever life starts to wind me up. It works wonders.

You can't tell me Americans don't care about their environment. From what I've seen, there's not much to feel guilty about.