Here are three unrelated complaints:
1. Baratunde Thurston has recently written about the potential ramifications of peak oil theory and how much he enjoys walking. Great. So, Mr. Thurston, why do you still own and drive a car? Mind the Categorical Imperative — what if everyone behaved like you? (Unfortunately, most people do these days; look at the results.)
2. In “July: The cleavage-bearing cesspool of a month in review ” (8.1.07), Paul McMorrow makes a disingenuous criticism of Al Gore. Obviously, no one expected the concerts to “reverse global warming,” and it’s unfair for McMorrow to suggest otherwise. The major goals of such activities are to rally public support for a given cause, to provide a central objective around which disparate organizations can coalesce, to advance and/or increase the visibility of movements and/or policy proposals and, in some cases, to raise money. Put simply, the purpose of the concerts was to build momentum toward fundamental changes that hold out some hope of mitigating the climate crisis.
Look, I know Gore is an appalling hypocrite. He opposed the Kyoto Protocol on the ludicrous grounds that developing countries are not part of the framework. He recently refused to share a podium with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe; yet, when he was the second most powerful man in the world, his administration elevated US support for the Colombian military to unprecedented levels, despite the fact that it was well-known at the time that Clinton’s allies were responsible for the same horrors Uribe is today. Strangely, when he was in a position of some influence, Gore (as far as I know) did not object to the same policies he claims to oppose today.
Yet, given how little momentum there is behind the Colombia solidarity and environmentalist movements, conscientious people should be thankful for the fact that such a prominent figure is drawing attention to these important issues.
3. I agree with the person who recently wrote in support of the exit polls. I’m still a militant pro-Dig jihadist, but you make my crusade much more difficult when you eviscerate your publication like that. Unlike Barry Thompson’s brilliance, you can find crossword puzzles anywhere.
