al gore Archives - Where Is The Outrage?

Saturday Night/Sunday Morning News Roundup

Kevin Costner did a marvelous job at Whitney Houston’s funeral.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is really caught between a rock and a hard place. He really has to win Michigan. Losing his home state of Michigan would be as devastating to him as losing Tennessee was to Al Gore (it cost him the election). The fact that Newt Gingrich has gotten another injection of millions of dollars of cash can only help Mitt Romney. The Republican Party seems to be split up into those who can’t stand Mitt Romney and those who think he’s okay. Rick Santorum is taking most of the I can’t stand Mitt Romney vote. If Newt becomes a viable candidate (Newt has really never been a viable candidate), he will siphon off some votes from Rick Santorum. Mitt, though, has also run into a buzz saw with his stance on the auto bailout. The Tea Party portion of Republicans really hate the idea of any bailout whatsoever. Romney continues to insist that he wanted some sort of bailout, just not a government bailout. That doesn’t sit well with the Tea Party. Mitt is trying to walk this fine line in order to promote a market-driven solution, one supposed to impress the fiscal conservative Republicans. They don’t seem all that impressed with his answer either.

The Heartland Institute has been pushing an anti-global warming agenda for some time. Internal documents reveal 19 corporations that have been funding the Institute.

An Arizona sheriff (no, not that one) was the co-chairman of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in Arizona. He stepped down in the face of allegations that he was going to deport illegal gay man. Somehow, sex is involved, or at least allegations of sex are involved… sort of. Anyway, it’s a huge mess for the sheriff. Oh, did I mention that the sheriff was openly gay? Somebody get the popcorn. I’m going to be following the story. A gay sheriff in Arizona who is also running for Congress. You can’t make this stuff up.

In Wisconsin, Scott Walker asked a judge to delay the recall vote so that he can have time to verify all of the one million signatures. The campaign originally had 10 days to examine all the signatures and the judge granted an extra 20. The friends of Scott Walker were asking for more time. The judge said no.

One of the best articles I’ve read today points to the six people to whom Congress should have listened about birth control. First, Doctor Regina Benjamin, surgeon general. I know Doctor Benjamin personally. She is thoughtful, knowledgeable, poignant and passionate. She would’ve been fabulous. Secondly, talk to working moms. I think this was good advice. Thirdly, talk to Sarah Palin. This was not immediately obvious until I read the author’s description of why – “only because her grasp of the English language is so tenuous and fraught with peril that every time she opened her mouth, whatever cause she is advocating get set back 20 years.” A female drug addict. Loretta Lynn. Kathy Griffin, comedian and actress who was talked about her Catholic faith.

Paul Krugman, in the following graph, points out that austerity has not worked in Europe. Those countries who have forced austerity measures and decreased government spending are now, two years later, worse off.

from Paul Krugman

Simply put, Americans do well when unions do well.

Do you remember Elizabeth Smart? She was the 14-year-old girl who was kidnapped in Salt Lake City. She was held for nine months. She just got married. I wish her and her new groom well. After that ridiculously harrowing experience, she, like all of us, deserves happiness.

Here’s the golf shot of the day –

Any thoughts, questions, concerns? What’s on your mind?

By ecthompsonmd|2012-02-19T00:33:53-04:00February 19th, 2012|Economy, Entertainment|Comments Off

Sea Levels Rising

A new study says that sea levels are rising at the fastest rate in 2000 years.

(Above–The sea is all around us.)

Is this complete proof that global warming is taking place and causing the seas to rise?

You can’t prove it for 100%.

Any bit of doubt allows corporate intrests–and the Republican Party that corporate interests own–to avoid discussing this issue in any serious fashion.

Here is the EPA climate change website.

I know— The EPA website is socialist plot to take away our SUV’s and make us all drive Yugos.

The new sea level study has been completed with funding from the National Science Foundation.

Here are some facts about the NSF—

“The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 “to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense…” With an annual budget of about $6.9 billion (FY 2010), we are the funding source for approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America’s colleges and universities.”

If we would just cut all funding for the NSF, than the problem of global warming and rising sea levels would go away.

Here are some details from the NSF sea level study—

“The rate of sea level rise along the U.S. Atlantic coast is greater now than at any time in the past 2,000 years–and has shown a consistent link between changes in global mean surface temperature and sea level…. The team found that sea level was relatively stable from 200 BC to 1,000 AD. Then in the 11th century, sea level rose by about half a millimeter each year for 400 years, linked with a warm climate period known as the Medieval Climate Anomaly. Then there was a second period of stable sea level during a cooler period called the Little Ice Age. It persisted until the late 19th century. Since the late 19th century, sea level has risen by more than 2 millimeters per year on average, the steepest rate for more than 2,100 years.” (more…)

By admin|2011-06-30T09:59:52-04:00June 30th, 2011|Environment|Comments Off

Snow and Global Warming

I knew this was coming. Who’s surprised?

From TP;

Last night on his Fox News show, Sean Hannity claimed that the recent spate of winter snow storms in the Washington, D.C. region clearly means that the planet isn’t warming. He then attacked Vice President Gore, calling his anti-global warming advocacy “hysterical”:

HANNITY: And tonight’s “Meltdown” is brought to you by the D.C. snow storm, you know, the storm that dumped about two feet of snow on the Washington area over the weekend causing thousands of power outages and keeping many people home from work today. And it’s the most severe winter storm in years, which would seem to contradict Al Gore’s hysterical global warming theories. […]

Pretty unbelievable. I bet the snow even kept Al Gore’s jet from taking off.

Because of the recent snow storms in the Northeast, many conservatives like Hannity have taken the opportunity to take cheap shots at Gore. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and his family mocked the former Vice President by building an igloo on the National Mall and calling it “Al Gore’s new home.” And Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) joined in as well,tweeting today that, “It’s going to keep snowing in DC until Al Gore cries ‘uncle.’”

As the Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson has explained, “winter snows do not invalidate the reality that the planet just experienced the hottest decade on record. Scientists have been warning for decades that global warming would increase the severity of winter storms.” And a recent National Wildlife Federation report has found that winter storms are getting fiercer even as the season gets warmer.

Climate expert Dr. Jeff Masters notes, “It’s not hard at all to get temperatures cold enough for snow in a world experiencing global warming. … Global warming theorypredicts that global precipitation will increase, and that heavy precipitation events…will also increase,” he said, adding that this “occurs because as the climate warms, evaporation of moisture from the oceans increases, resulting in more water vapor in the air.” Indeed, the IPCC has said that atmospheric moisture has increased 5 percentover the last century.

By ecthompsonmd|2010-02-10T12:25:05-04:00February 10th, 2010|Environment, Party Politics|Comments Off