Environmentalism: the debate

2010.02.15

It’s been cold lately, and when it’s cold, people pipe up against Al Gore as though he’d said "it will never be cold again."

But, to start from the beginning, it’s pretty well established those fumes pillowing out of coal stacks and tail pipes aren’t great for the environment. If you’re still not sold on this wild idea, take a look at Mexico City.

A serene look at one of the world's largest collections of vehicles.

So, it’s not a far stretch to consider if thousands of factories and millions of cars could turn the skylines of Mexico City, LA, or Shanghai into a brown haze, that the same pollutants could be bad for our climate. Doesn’t take a crack team of scientists to tell you noxious fumes are bad.

Which they did. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - both large groups of internationally recognized scientists – have both ruled human activities are causing surface temperatures to rise globally, and that an overall “global warming” is very likely.

So, if it strikes a chord with common sense, it’s backed by the scientific community, and it’s prevention helps keep our global home looking its greenest, who could possibly want to argue against the ill-effects of carbon pollution?

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I heart Sarah

2010.02.11

Recently, I read SarahPAC raised over $2 million last year. What’s a SarahPAC? It’s basically the piggy bank Sarah Palin set up to fund a future political campaign, not to be confused with the Alaska Fund Trust, which is a piggy bank Sarah set up to pay for the legal fees defending her several scandals as Governor of Alaska.

Long story short, she had a few questionable firings in office, a few ethical complaints, and about half a million in legal debt. But, she showed courage and heart, and braved her way through the onslaught of evil politicians, changed the game, and now builds her fan base with regular spots on Fox News and $100,000 speaking engagements at Tea Party events.

She’s like Tina Turner, and the Liberal Media is Ike Turner. It’s exactly like that.

But, as much as I heart and admire Sarah, I have to say, Sarah, please don’t run for President in 2012. I care for you too much.

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A yawn and fist shake at mainstream

2010.02.07

Anna and I had a “date night” last night, and we decided to see an IMAX 3D screening of Avatar. This is about a month or so after it came out, so it’s already clear how good the movie is – people can’t stop raving about it, and to date has earned over $600 million dollars (that’s the GDP of a small country – in about 5 weeks).

The experience is phenomenal. The 3D is crisp, colors remain unaltered – it’s just incredible. It’s the closest I’ve ever seen to being in the scene itself. Of course the CG of the film is top caliber as well. There’s tons of moments where you lose track of what’s real and what’s animated.  Facial expressions are so life like you often mistake the characters for actors in rubber suits.

In a nutshell, I can’t adequately describe how great the movie experience is. It’s two parts awesome to see a movie in that way, and awesome to see it with a movie like Avatar.

So what gets to me is the comment I’ve heard several times from various sources. Avatar is just Dances with Wolves in Space.”

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