Blogcritics Comments on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Comment by sr on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 20:36:35 EDT

THIS SUBJECT COULD GET REALLY STINKY.

Comment by bliffle on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 09:05:13 EDT

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Comment by Dave Nalle on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 04:03:12 EDT

if only, dr. d. i'm doing most of my work on a mac powerbook and replacing the keyboard on these newer ones is a bit of a pain. will probably have to do it though. dave

Comment by Dr Dreadful on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 02:58:52 EDT

Dave - new keyboard. Best Buy. Five minutes, in and out. C'm on.

Comment by Baronius on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 15:21:15 EDT

Dave - burps. The main source of bovine methane is cow burps.

Comment by moonraven on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 14:39:15 EDT

Now we really NEED to spend our time posting about rare medical conditions. As for the comment about China and India getting off the hook and the First World supposedly being asked to pay through the nose: 1. The First World--at least Australia and the US--are not paying anything at all, nor doing anything at all--they deny the existence of the problem. 2. The Third World's dubious privileges are the price the First World pays for claiming superiority. Live with it.

Comment by Dave Nalle on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:23:16 EDT

two years ago his voice was fine. then at some point he started having this problem. i figured it was bronchitis or something temporary, but given the time it has lasted i initially thought it was throat cancer or something much nastier. however, it is supposedly a rare disorder called spasmodic dysphonia which causes the muscles of the larynx to spasm involuntarily and make the voice sound raspy. sounds like a good explanation, but since that's a chronic problem it makes me wonder why he only developed it suddenly in his late 40s and not much earlier in his career. dave

Comment by Dr Dreadful on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:11:22 EDT

What is up with his voice? Sounds as if it's an epic struggle for him just to get a vocal cord or two to twitch. Maybe he can get one of those voice synthesizers like the one Stephen Hawking uses... On the other hand, might it not be beneficial to have a President who isn't capable of effortlessly spewing garbage every time he opens his mouth...?

Comment by Dave Nalle on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 10:53:41 EDT

given the condition his voice has been in the last few times i've listened to his radio show i have my doubts about his viability as a candidate. dave

Comment by RFK Jr. 2008 on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 09:43:54 EDT

Dave Nalle, Meet The RFK Jr. 2008 Candidate Draft Movement on myspace.

Comment by Dave Nalle on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 03:30:42 EDT

SR, methane essentially IS farts. So Gore is promoting fart-based alternative energy. Dave

Comment by Dr Dreadful on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 02:46:17 EDT

That's nothing, sr. President Bush has an Iraq policy that runs on a wing and a prayer.

Comment by sr on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 00:43:18 EDT

Did I mention that one of my cars will run on farts.

Comment by Les Slater on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Mon, 9 Jul 2007 23:39:54 EDT

Dave, "As for Gore and his love of methane, it's inexplicable. It does produce some pollutants, but it's still very low..." It still introduces sizable amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; biodiesel and ethanol introduce none. Les

Comment by STM on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Mon, 9 Jul 2007 23:33:10 EDT

What annoys me about all this is that places like China and India get off the hook in relation to their carbon output, while the rest of us are now expected to pay through the nose. And that is on the nose. Let's make everyone pay.

Comment by sr on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Mon, 9 Jul 2007 23:18:43 EDT

Toilet paper is the answer. I run my whole house and cars on used toilet paper. Once you get over the smell it's a cake walk.

Comment by Baronius on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Mon, 9 Jul 2007 22:11:52 EDT

To me, the most confusing thing about "carbon offsets" is that there already is a way to pay for the fuel you use. It's called a fuel bill. Gore and his ilk want to cap electricity prices, increase the gas tax, and pay people who aren't providing fuel. Then, I guess, go down to the 7-11, give away their Big Gulps, and yell at the owner when they run out. Zing asks what's wrong with Gore's activity. It's screwing around with the markets, and that never helps. He's pushing money toward companies that have no incentive to succeed, and no track record of success. Will this concert really enlighten the Paris-obsessed masses? I imagine that if you're dim enough to not have heard about global warming, you could sit through the show and think it was just a concert. But if you're somewhat aware of global warming, and concerned about it, this concert could make you feel like you've done something by sitting in front of the tv all day. If you want to do something for alternative fuels, try something proven, and split an atom or two.

Comment by Dave Nalle on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Mon, 9 Jul 2007 13:31:29 EDT

Perhaps all of the people writing on BC could accept carbon offset payments not to ever print out any of our writings on environment-destroying paper. dave

Comment by Joe on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Sun, 8 Jul 2007 23:05:09 EDT

This is why I thought about setting up a carbon offset company, you paypal me $50, I'll hold my breath for a minute. Nalle is right about that, it's a Ponzi scheme you enter into knowing there will never be physical evidence of progress. Snake oil, ladies and gentlemen. Get it while it's hot.

Comment by Dave Nalle on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Sun, 8 Jul 2007 22:47:53 EDT

The Canute legend is a little suspect because the standard version which I've seen most often is that he declares that only jesus has the right to be a king and renounces his crown. That sounds to me like blatant church propaganda. The reason the Danes and other Scandinavians were always invading people and going viking was that they had primogeniture and normally did not divide holdings up among children, instead passing everything to the eldest child. Canute's situation was unique because he had multiple sons and also multiple kingdoms. As for Gore and his love of methane, it's inexplicable. It does produce some pollutants, but it's still very low, actually beating out biodiesel on NOX emission. But it's certainly not superior or anywhere near as economical. Dave

Comment by sr on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Sun, 8 Jul 2007 21:42:51 EDT

Doc, #18 and #19. Not bad you fuddy duddy. Interesting.

Comment by Dr Dreadful on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Sun, 8 Jul 2007 19:31:09 EDT

The version of the Canute legend which was prevalent in kids' history books back when I was a Britling held that the King had such a huge ego he believed he could hold back the tides, and staged the demo in an attempt to prove it. I suspect that the historical chauvinists who wrote this kind of crap were of the opinion that all English kings prior to the Norman Conquest were one step out of the Stone Age, and couldn't possibly (with the exception, for some reason, of Alfred, though even he was accused of being a rotten cook) do anything sensible or smart. As for Canute dividing his empire up among his sons (Mr Grande, comment #13), I believe this may have been standard Danish practice at that time - much as it was among the Celtic peoples up until the medieval period.

Comment by Dr Dreadful on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Sun, 8 Jul 2007 19:16:43 EDT

Dave writes: "The problem is that anyone who watches the concert must have a TV and anyone who has a TV is bound to already be aware of global warming." Not necessarily. Having a TV for many means keeping in touch with Paris Hilton's latest moroncapades or the delightful spectacle of UFC fighters ripping one another's heads off. To such folks, who number in the millions, global issues of pressing concern mean next to nothing and they may have only the foggiest notion of what global warming is. A brief perusal of some of the comments in the music and TV sections of this site will give you a good idea of the intellectual level of this population. The idea behind something like Live Earth is that people who would not listen to politicians or scientists might actually pay attention when the message comes from their pop icons.

Comment by Les Slater on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Sun, 8 Jul 2007 18:43:31 EDT

Dave, "The favoring of methane over other alternatives does trouble me. Methane conversions for existing vehicles cost $2000-$3000, while you can buy plenty of production models which will run on biodiesel or ethanol" This is interesting if that's what he's proposing. Burning methane from most current sources adds to the Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere. Burning biodiesel or ethanol does not. Les

Comment by rodeojack on Al Gore, Meet King Canute

Sun, 8 Jul 2007 18:40:24 EDT

Maybe the writer has a better plan than Al Gore ... having held so many jobs in various capacities, from freelancer to bartender to history professor and what not! He should publish a blue print with statistics about exactly how his plan is going to work. Stop vacuous mudslinging you skim milk.