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OneMoreRobot3021
Registered: 06/06/03
Posts: 61,026
Loc: the sky
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I watched an Inconvenient Truth last night...
#6444716 - 01/10/07 10:18 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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Great film in that it was really educational and eye-opening, but a little too heavy on the Gore side at times...I understand he wanted to use events in his own life to illustrate why this issue concerned him so that we could then draw those parallels on our own, but sometimes it was a bit heavy-handed. Some terrific data and footage in there though.
What struck me most was the title. It seems to me that most of the most pressing concerns facing our world can be summed up this way...as inconvenient truths, not to be paid any mind by politicians, fundamentalists, or big business.
And it points to the fact that our #1 concern is Convenience. This is the culture of convenience.
-------------------- Acid doesn't give you truths; it builds machines that push the envelope of perception. Whatever revelations came to me then have dissolved like skywriting. All I really know is that those few years saddled me with a faith in the redemptive potential of the imagination which, however flat, stale and unprofitable the world seems to me now, I cannot for the life of me shake. -Erik Davis
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Redstorm
Prince of Bugs
Registered: 10/08/02
Posts: 44,175
Last seen: 5 months, 28 days
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Re: I watched an Inconvenient Truth last night... [Re: OneMoreRobot3021]
#6444719 - 01/10/07 10:19 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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Isn't Gore a politician?
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OneMoreRobot3021
Registered: 06/06/03
Posts: 61,026
Loc: the sky
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Re: I watched an Inconvenient Truth last night... [Re: Redstorm]
#6444721 - 01/10/07 10:19 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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most*
-------------------- Acid doesn't give you truths; it builds machines that push the envelope of perception. Whatever revelations came to me then have dissolved like skywriting. All I really know is that those few years saddled me with a faith in the redemptive potential of the imagination which, however flat, stale and unprofitable the world seems to me now, I cannot for the life of me shake. -Erik Davis
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RoosterCogburn
Fearless,one-eyed U.S.Marshall
Registered: 08/25/06
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Re: I watched an Inconvenient Truth last night... [Re: Redstorm]
#6444731 - 01/10/07 10:24 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
Redstorm said: Isn't Gore a politician?
If you mean the guy who was the VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES for 8 years, then yes.
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Redstorm
Prince of Bugs
Registered: 10/08/02
Posts: 44,175
Last seen: 5 months, 28 days
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Re: I watched an Inconvenient Truth last night... [Re: OneMoreRobot3021]
#6444733 - 01/10/07 10:24 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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I haven't seen it yet. I was going to watch it and type up a synopsis of it for extra credit last semester, but never got around to it. Do you recommend it?
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OneMoreRobot3021
Registered: 06/06/03
Posts: 61,026
Loc: the sky
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Re: I watched an Inconvenient Truth last night... [Re: RoosterCogburn]
#6444734 - 01/10/07 10:24 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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Also, the movie was just one huge commercial for Apple products.
-------------------- Acid doesn't give you truths; it builds machines that push the envelope of perception. Whatever revelations came to me then have dissolved like skywriting. All I really know is that those few years saddled me with a faith in the redemptive potential of the imagination which, however flat, stale and unprofitable the world seems to me now, I cannot for the life of me shake. -Erik Davis
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OneMoreRobot3021
Registered: 06/06/03
Posts: 61,026
Loc: the sky
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Re: I watched an Inconvenient Truth last night... [Re: Redstorm]
#6444737 - 01/10/07 10:26 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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Yeah, I do. I mean, maybe I wouldn't have been so into it four months ago but I was very engaged by it...this could be due in part to a growing sense in my mind of wanting to be more cognizant of this situation over the past few months.
-------------------- Acid doesn't give you truths; it builds machines that push the envelope of perception. Whatever revelations came to me then have dissolved like skywriting. All I really know is that those few years saddled me with a faith in the redemptive potential of the imagination which, however flat, stale and unprofitable the world seems to me now, I cannot for the life of me shake. -Erik Davis
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Redstorm
Prince of Bugs
Registered: 10/08/02
Posts: 44,175
Last seen: 5 months, 28 days
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Re: I watched an Inconvenient Truth last night... [Re: OneMoreRobot3021]
#6444743 - 01/10/07 10:28 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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Global warming is one of the least salient world issues to me right now. I've read and watched so much material on it, but I can never really get passionate about it. I'm well-informed, but I just haven't seen anything which had me stand up and take a position. Perhaps this movie will give me more perspective.
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Psilocybeingzz
Registered: 12/15/02
Posts: 14,463
Loc: International waters
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Re: I watched an Inconvenient Truth last night... [Re: OneMoreRobot3021]
#6444751 - 01/10/07 10:34 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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Yes, and our over use of resources is pushing this planet down the toilet. Personally I haven't seen gores film, and I could have downloaded it a few times, but I already know whats wrong, and I am working hard to make sure I have as little impact on the enviroment as possible, and encouraging others to do the same. I ASSUME the movie is best suited for someone that doesn't understand the problem, doesn't care, or is just completly unaware. I love how people try and claim that Science hasn't made up "its mind" about the subject.
And then I read things like this....
Report singles out ExxonMobil over climate scepticism
* 18:21 04 January 2007 * NewScientist.com news service * Catherine Brahic
Advertisement
ExxonMobil has been singled as the worst offender among oil corporations for disseminating false scientific claims about climate change.
A report issued Wednesday by the Union of Concerned Scientists claims that the company paid out $16 million over seven years to 43 allegedly independent groups that promote climate scepticism.
ExxonMobil has adopted the same tactics as the tobacco industry in the 1950s, when medical research began to suggest that smoking could have harmful effects on human health, says Seth Shulman and his co-authors.
According to the report, ExxonMobil has:
• manufactured uncertainty about climate change
• financed climate sceptic organisations that claim to be independent
• promoted scientists who raised counter-arguments to the overwhelming body of scientific evidence in favour of human-induced climate change
• shifted the focus of climate debate by focussing on gaps in scientific knowledge
• bought government access – approximately $4 million in the US Cherry picking
"We singled out ExxonMobil because the company actively funds a network of groups that spread disinformation, cherry-picks scientific facts and misleads the public," Shulman told New Scientist.
Shulman and his co-authors estimate that ExxonMobil paid lobbyists $61 million between 1998 and 2005. In addition, they say the company and affiliated individuals gave $935,000 in political contributions in 2004, much of which ultimately fuelled President George W Bush's election campaign.
“This at least is relatively transparent," says Shulman. "What we are calling attention to is the consistent funding [by ExxonMobil] of a network of some 43 seemingly independent and often little-known groups in the US that all serve to amplify – in a kind of echo chamber – the work of a carefully selected group of spokespeople whose work has largely been discredited by the scientific community."
Other oil companies, including BP, Shell, Texaco and Shevron, also have strong government lobbying groups, but this particular report did not discuss these companies. Washington DC-based research group The Center for Responsive Politics estimates that the oil industry spent $62 million on lobbying Congress in 1997, making it the fourth heaviest lobby of any industry. Worst offender
This is not the first time that ExxonMobil has been singled out. In September 2006, the UK Royal Society's senior manager of policy communication wrote to ExxonMobil asking whether the company would cease to fund companies that disseminated misleading information about gaps in scientific climate knowledge.
In his letter, which was widely circulated in the UK media, Bob Ward estimated that ExxonMobil had paid more than $2.9 million to "organisations in the US which misinformed the public about climate change through their websites".
Following the release of Wednesday’s report, a think-tank called the Competitive Enterprise Institute – which has allegedly received $2,005,000 from ExxonMobil since 1998 to fund activities, such as TV advert campaigns – has issued a statement stating the report is "mostly rubbish".
An ExxonMobil spokesman told Reuters that the report was "an attempt to connect unrelated facts, draw inaccurate conclusions and mislead the audience with a fiction about ExxonMobil's true positions." Related Articles
* Climate change special: State of denial * http://environment.newscientist.com/article/mg19225765.000 * 04 November 2006 * Environmental smoke and mirrors * http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn10863 * 27 December 2006 * US science teachers refuse climate DVDs * http://environment.newscientist.com/article/mg19225813.100 * 07 December 2006 * Climate change special: State of denial * http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn10445 * 04 November 2006
Weblinks
* Union of Concerned Scientists: Smoke, Mirrors, and Hot Air (pdf) * http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/glo...xxon_report.pdf * Union of Concerned Scientists * http://www.ucsusa.org/ * Competitive Enterprise Institute * http://www.cei.org/ * Competitive Enterprise Institute, Wikipedia * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competitive_E...prise_Institute * Bob Ward's letter to ExxonMobil (pdf) * http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guar...ettertoNick.pdf * Center for Responsive Politics * http://www.crp.org/ * ExxonMobil * http://www.exxon.com/USA-English/gFM/home_...Us/homepage.asp
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OneMoreRobot3021
Registered: 06/06/03
Posts: 61,026
Loc: the sky
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Re: I watched an Inconvenient Truth last night... [Re: Redstorm]
#6444754 - 01/10/07 10:37 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
Redstorm said: Global warming is one of the least salient world issues to me right now. I've read and watched so much material on it, but I can never really get passionate about it. I'm well-informed, but I just haven't seen anything which had me stand up and take a position. Perhaps this movie will give me more perspective.
Pardon me, I'm about to get way too hippy for even my own tastes...
But it's been the confluence of many psychedelic experiences over the past few months that have shifted my idea of where we humans stand in relation to nature, and that have made me feel the need for a perspective of interconnectedness and interdependence in order for humankind to live responsibly on this planet. This planet is Mother, she is Home...you would never do the things to your mother or your home that we are doing to this planet.
What the movie does is open your eyes to the fact that this is real and it is happening now, and that contrary to popular belief there isn't really a divided attitude in the scientific community regarding the issue.
-------------------- Acid doesn't give you truths; it builds machines that push the envelope of perception. Whatever revelations came to me then have dissolved like skywriting. All I really know is that those few years saddled me with a faith in the redemptive potential of the imagination which, however flat, stale and unprofitable the world seems to me now, I cannot for the life of me shake. -Erik Davis
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Krishna
कृष्ण,LOL
Registered: 05/08/03
Posts: 23,285
Loc: oakland
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Re: I watched an Inconvenient Truth last night... [Re: OneMoreRobot3021]
#6444768 - 01/10/07 10:44 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
OneMoreRobot3021 said: Also, the movie was just one huge commercial for Apple products.
that shit was funny. like every other scene, it'd zoom in on Al typing away on his IBook... who works on a powerpoint presentation while in a taxi-cab in china? Al Gore, that's who!
--------------------
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OneMoreRobot3021
Registered: 06/06/03
Posts: 61,026
Loc: the sky
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Re: I watched an Inconvenient Truth last night... [Re: Krishna]
#6444772 - 01/10/07 10:44 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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Hahaha...that episode sucked until Cartman laid his eyes on the fake treasure...at that point I laughed my ass off until the end.
But yeah way too many shots of Gore looking off into the distance.
-------------------- Acid doesn't give you truths; it builds machines that push the envelope of perception. Whatever revelations came to me then have dissolved like skywriting. All I really know is that those few years saddled me with a faith in the redemptive potential of the imagination which, however flat, stale and unprofitable the world seems to me now, I cannot for the life of me shake. -Erik Davis
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Psilocybeingzz
Registered: 12/15/02
Posts: 14,463
Loc: International waters
Last seen: 11 years, 5 months
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Re: I watched an Inconvenient Truth last night... [Re: Krishna]
#6444777 - 01/10/07 10:46 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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Global warming is just another subject the guys from Southpark are wrong about. But the Scientology episode is priceless!!
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Jfisher
fungusaficionado
Registered: 05/24/05
Posts: 1,093
Loc: Sealand
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Re: I watched an Inconvenient Truth last night... [Re: Redstorm]
#6444802 - 01/10/07 10:53 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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I'd say it's a pretty fucking important issue. As long as world population keeps rising exponentially, and the trash we keep spewing continues at this rate... we're fucked.
We don't have a lot of time to fix the damage we've already done. It takes years for human activity to manifest itself in global warming, and it will take years before any reduction in harm is noticed. As we keep ignoring the problem, it only gets much worse. As the climate gets warmer, other safeguards that keep climate in check will fail.
This really is the most important issue of our day. It's not just about hippies and soy. The damage is real, and it will begin to haunt us before the end of the century.
-------------------- Any information written above is purely fictional. Any images do not belong to the owner of this account.
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ExplosiveMango
HallucinogenusDigitallus
Registered: 07/12/05
Posts: 3,222
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Re: I watched an Inconvenient Truth last night... [Re: Jfisher]
#6444840 - 01/10/07 11:08 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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I wonder what the world is going to be like for Americans... when technology and information has spread everywhere... and the oil runs out, leaving only solar-powered humans to do the work...
Oh, and there's America, off in the distance... greedily wiping it's oil stained mouth... still eating the wealth of the world to the point of obesity...
-------------------- Know your self. Know your substance. Know your source. The most distorted perspective possible is the perspective that yours is not distorted.
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UlcerPentacidis
psilophile
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Re: I watched an Inconvenient Truth last night... [Re: OneMoreRobot3021]
#6444852 - 01/10/07 11:10 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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An inconvenient Truth kind of bugs me.
I'll say nothing about the actual content of this movie, as I haven't even seen it yet. What bugs me though, is all the people I see worked up over it, yet I see none of them doing even the simplest thing possible to help the situation: TO STOP DRIVING, or at least to reduce the amount of driving they do. I'm not saying none of you are carless, or trying to reduce your mileage, but jesus, i meet so many people who wanna talk about how important an issue global warming is, yet they turn around and drive all over the damned place for work or leisure, or whatever.
Of course a simple boycott of personal vehicles, while a good gesture, probably won't go too far in making a dent in our emissions. what with petroleum powered food production and distribution, coal fire electrical production, and a million other things which require burning fuel, giving up your car is just a baby step. be that as it may, i think it is a baby step in the right direction.
-------------------- µgrammar
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Psilocybeingzz
Registered: 12/15/02
Posts: 14,463
Loc: International waters
Last seen: 11 years, 5 months
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Re: I watched an Inconvenient Truth last night... [Re: Jfisher]
#6444861 - 01/10/07 11:12 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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And how will history remember us? What will they say about the 20% of the world creating most of the pollution(80%), and using most of the resources(80%) that argued among each other about whats wrong, or if something even is wrong.
What will history say about the western world? (I'm going to go start a new grow now...... READ MYCELIUM RUNNING ALL OF YOU READ STAMENTS NEW BOOK ..... MYCELIUM RUNNING!
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ExplosiveMango
HallucinogenusDigitallus
Registered: 07/12/05
Posts: 3,222
Last seen: 14 years, 5 months
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Re: I watched an Inconvenient Truth last night... [Re: UlcerPentacidis]
#6444871 - 01/10/07 11:14 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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I think if we want to fix the problem we have to have a fully united society... the problem with fossil fuels is the one person who doesn't agree to not use them is the one person who gets to use them all, and to control the globe with them...
-------------------- Know your self. Know your substance. Know your source. The most distorted perspective possible is the perspective that yours is not distorted.
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RoosterCogburn
Fearless,one-eyed U.S.Marshall
Registered: 08/25/06
Posts: 8,508
Loc: Dirty South, NJ
Last seen: 12 years, 7 months
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Re: I watched an Inconvenient Truth last night... [Re: Psilocybeingzz]
#6444879 - 01/10/07 11:15 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
What will they say about the 20% of the world creating most of the pollution(80%), and using most of the resources(80%)
They will say, "damn it must have been great to be those guys, too bad we are all fucked".
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Economist
in training
Registered: 10/11/05
Posts: 1,285
Last seen: 16 years, 7 months
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Re: I watched an Inconvenient Truth last night... [Re: Psilocybeingzz]
#6445003 - 01/10/07 11:42 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
Psilocybeingzz said: And then I read things like this....
Report singles out ExxonMobil over climate scepticism
...
ExxonMobil has been singled as the worst offender among oil corporations for disseminating false scientific claims about climate change.
A report issued Wednesday by the Union of Concerned Scientists claims that the company paid out $16 million over seven years to 43 allegedly independent groups that promote climate scepticism.
Some issues with this:
1) The group issuing the report, the "Union of Concerned Scientists" has a stated goal of promoting environmentalism. This report wasn't a fact-based study, but one group with a bias (environmentalists) ragging on another group with a bias (the oil industry). Before you begin with "Yeah, but they're scientists..." please consider how many chemists, physicists and engineers work for ExxonMobil.
2) When ExxonMobil pays people to do research for them, it's supposed to be considered "unethical". But, when (primarily Democrat) congressman earmark money in order to produce research in order to support their own conclusions, well that's acceptable. Or when scientists make outrageous claims so that their journal articles snag mainstream headlines, that's okay too.
3) If there are gaps in scientific knowledge, and there are counterarguments, why doesn't a group of scientists work on disproving them instead of politicizing the situation? If ExxonMobil wants to point out counter arguments, why doesn't a group of scientists who feels passionately about this issue work on disproving them. If there really is such an overwhelming body of evidence in favor of human-created climate change, why do you need to attack the opposition for who they are instead of attacking the research they produce? Everyone knows that targetting the messenger instead of the message is usually what you do when you don't have a good answer.
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