Another reason to hate the Republicans
not like we need another...but check out this article in the New York Times. Now the man just won the Nobel Peace Price a little respect might be due to him...but OH no (not that we should be surprised I mean they are European which we all know the Republicans fear!) even then the Gore bashing, discrediting, and all around hatred continues. This piece really captures it and I would like this guy at my next dinner party.
On the day after Al Gore shared the Nobel Peace Prize, The Wall Street Journal’s editors couldn’t even bring themselves to mention Mr. Gore’s name. Instead, they devoted their editorial to a long list of people they thought deserved the prize more.
And at National Review Online, Iain Murray suggested that the prize should have been shared with “that well-known peace campaigner Osama bin Laden, who implicitly endorsed Gore’s stance.” You see, bin Laden once said something about climate change — therefore, anyone who talks about climate change is a friend of the terrorists.
What is it about Mr. Gore that drives right-wingers insane?
Partly it’s a reaction to what happened in 2000, when the American people chose Mr. Gore but his opponent somehow ended up in the White House. Both the personality cult the right tried to build around President Bush and the often hysterical denigration of Mr. Gore were, I believe, largely motivated by the desire to expunge the stain of illegitimacy from the Bush administration.
And now that Mr. Bush has proved himself utterly the wrong man for the job — to be, in fact, the best president Al Qaeda’s recruiters could have hoped for — the symptoms of Gore derangement syndrome have grown even more extreme.
The worst thing about Mr. Gore, from the conservative point of view, is that he keeps being right. In 1992, George H. W. Bush mocked him as the “ozone man,” but three years later the scientists who discovered the threat to the ozone layer won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In 2002 he warned that if we invaded Iraq, “the resulting chaos could easily pose a far greater danger to the United States than we presently face from Saddam.” And so it has proved.
But Gore hatred is more than personal. When National Review decided to name its anti-environmental blog Planet Gore, it was trying to discredit the message as well as the messenger. For the truth Mr. Gore has been telling about how human activities are changing the climate isn’t just inconvenient. For conservatives, it’s deeply threatening.
Consider the policy implications of taking climate change seriously.
“We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals,” said F.D.R. “We know now that it is bad economics.” These words apply perfectly to climate change. It’s in the interest of most people (and especially their descendants) that somebody do something to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, but each individual would like that somebody to be somebody else. Leave it up to the free market, and in a few generations Florida will be underwater.
The solution to such conflicts between self-interest and the common good is to provide individuals with an incentive to do the right thing. In this case, people have to be given a reason to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions, either by requiring that they pay a tax on emissions or by requiring that they buy emission permits, which has pretty much the same effects as an emissions tax. We know that such policies work: the U.S. “cap and trade” system of emission permits on sulfur dioxide has been highly successful at reducing acid rain.
Climate change is, however, harder to deal with than acid rain, because the causes are global. The sulfuric acid in America’s lakes mainly comes from coal burned in U.S. power plants, but the carbon dioxide in America’s air comes from coal and oil burned around the planet — and a ton of coal burned in China has the same effect on the future climate as a ton of coal burned here. So dealing with climate change not only requires new taxes or their equivalent; it also requires international negotiations in which the United States will have to give as well as get.
Everything I’ve just said should be uncontroversial — but imagine the reception a Republican candidate for president would receive if he acknowledged these truths at the next debate. Today, being a good Republican means believing that taxes should always be cut, never raised. It also means believing that we should bomb and bully foreigners, not negotiate with them.
So if science says that we have a big problem that can’t be solved with tax cuts or bombs — well, the science must be rejected, and the scientists must be slimed. For example, Investor’s Business Daily recently declared that the prominence of James Hansen, the NASA researcher who first made climate change a national issue two decades ago, is actually due to the nefarious schemes of — who else? — George Soros.
Which brings us to the biggest reason the right hates Mr. Gore: in his case the smear campaign has failed. He’s taken everything they could throw at him, and emerged more respected, and more credible, than ever. And it drives them crazy.
Dedicated to Mel and Al
Yesterday as I searched the shelves at the supermarket for a rare sighting of peanut-butter to get me through the mornings something caught my eye...And although the boy had at this time found the peanut-butter and was mightily pleased and trying to show it to me I had eyes for only this...
There are times in your life, especially when you travel often, and you're walking down the street and you see someone who you think you know and you go to say hi...although most of the time this is just a coincidence...that feeling of surprise, joy, love, shock, awe, and general heart stopping is amazing....this is what I experienced in the back aisle of the super market.
There on the bottom shelf were 2 small boxes, green boxes, which brought me back several years to my time in Australia. I had buried the image of these boxes deep in my mind as all addicts must do when something they are addicted to is removed from their life. I had attempted to replace them with something else on moving back to the US but it was of no use, so I took all the memories, good times, laughs, and joy and buried it deep down.
These joyful little crackers were mine and Al's favorite snack living in Australia and if there were none left in the house it was a sad sad day. After rugby practice or Footie games there was always a box in the car or at home and if there wasn't well Mel went off to get some knowing what would go down if Frances and Al weren't fed their fav food.
In America I tried Cheese-Its as a replacement and although bite-sized and cheesy there are nothing to the medley of sweet, spicy, and salty flavours that a BBQ Shape sends rushing through your body...If you are in a country where these are sold - get up right now and run towards a shop and just see for yourselves.
I had to use every ounce of self control to not eat the whole box on the rickshaw ride home and have been running into my room for little "pick-me-ups" throughout the day.
Hyderabad oh you sly city you have more to offer than I ever knew!!!!
They say the learning is in the Journey not the Destination...
Not so for me...
My Journey to India was one of luxury and ease :) - First I flew Jet Airways and recommend it to all as they have only bright and shinny new 777s also I had the whole row to myself from the NY-Brussels leg and Brussles-Mumbai. Also because it was the launch of this new US-Europe-India flight I was able to "snag" (translate that any way you want - robbed - finagled - cheated etc...) passes into the flight lounge which really is the only way to travel.
Plus the Lounge in Brussels is only stocked with ever good Belgium beer, good European coffee and yummy cookies you get with coffee :) breakfast of champions! Unfortunately I was Slightly hungover from a night of Karaoke (bday wishes to Asha) and Tortia Flats to participate all that much...
I arrive in India get the bags and have MC members entertain me from 1:30am-4:30am until my next connecting flight to Hyderabad.
A sweet little LC member collects me and I shamelessly eat her food, use her hot water and then ditch her to spend the next few nights with the boy :) Terrible terrible....
So Journey aside - INDIA is where the learning is all going to happen. Tomorrow will be one week (or today depending on when the power comes back on and I can post this...) and already it feels like a long long time. Right away I felt familiar with the smell, sounds, and look of the place. Hyderabad is a mix of High level IT and development vs a different level world trying to catch up. Some shop windows look IDENTICAL to NY and others another world completely. Also funny how living in NY the last year has prepared me more for Hyderabad than I could have guessed, let me demonstrate...
1. not being afraid for your life in an Auto while it finds the smallest space in the lane to get into and ahead of the cars around it - oh did I say lane I mean part of the road. Lanes here were just fun white things to paint on the road and really don't have a meaning or use what so ever...Taxi's are just the same in the Big Apple and in fact I have been in a Taxi when it has been hit and hit others I have more confidence in the Autos I have to say...
2. the constant honking of horns doesn't faze me in the least. Also horns are used for:
- passing (on the inside or outside)
- turning left
- turning right
- doing a U-turn
- telling someone to move over
- warning the giant truck who's wheels are at the same level as your head that you're right beside them and not for the love of god to move over even an inch
- they are also generally used to say "F*&k You!" or "Chut yaaar"
3. Crossing the road becomes a Dare Devil sport and should be a feature of the X-games - NY is almost there - and for sure like it if you, like me, ignore all traffic lights and just go for it.
4. There sheer number of people everywhere....all the time....6mil vs 8mil
One thing that is better is the following: (as per respecting cultures - blah- the Boy and I are not living together)...technically...that is not to say that I don't spend the nights there and then come back to where I live (which is also where I work handily) every morning.
Please peruse map:
I do this trip for Rs97 which is $2.34 less that what it costs to even open the door of a cab in NYC :)
Well kids today I'm busting out the camera so look forward to some crazy pics.
Favourite quote to date in India:
Back ground music: Shakira "Hips don't lie"
FDR: *Laughing* I haven't heard this song in ages!
Global UBS Manager: Ooohhh come on shake your hips, you!
FDR in head: what did you just say to me?!?!?!
Global UBS Manager: Ooohhh you can shake better than that come on!! (reaches for FDRs hips)
FDR in head: must not punch friends current manager and possibly boyfriends future manager must not punch friends current manager and possibly boyfriends future manager must not punch friends current manager and possibly boyfriends future manager
FDR out loud: HAHAHAHA you shake it! (said as running away to latch on to the Boy)
Catching up...
It's been a while...
The Boy has come and gone - I never want to stand in JFK doing good byes again Ever...
Headed back to Sea-Town (Seattle) and just had a great time chill'en with the fam, I even got a tan! (Ohhh rhyming!!!) went out on the sail boat and the stink boat aka speed boat, had SEVERAL birthday celebrations for my Mum and....SAW Harry Potter at midnight with the sis and her friends brilliant brilliant fun
Arriving back in NY I realised just how much the city has grown on me and no matter HOW ridiculous the rents are compared to Seattle I would miss it :)
The weekend was spent catching up on:
a. Sleep
7. seeing old friends - AIESECers and non-AIESECers alike
h. visiting MOMA for the first time with an open Bar - the only way to do it :)
3. eating tremendous Czech food and feeling the arteries cave in a little
f. dancing it up West Cost style in a cave
1. eating AMAZING veg Indian food
w. having dinner cooked for me and playing the crazy guitar game on X-box that I'm now addicted to...
LOVED it...
Oh AND most importantly just ONE more week until the Company makes a call and all my scheming plans fall into place...
