An Inconvenient Truth

Last night we saw An Inconvenient Truth--P for the first time, me for the second. Got it from Netflix. What a fascinating documentary--we had our eyes glued to it. Unexpectedly, Gore has become an excellent teacher, speaking in quiet, melodious tones and showing us evidence that few (even Bush finally) can reject. He said he had given the lecture over 1,000 times across the world. Boggles the mind. Standouts include his family's former tobacco farm and the decision to stop growing tobacco; the freezing of the gulf stream and Europe trapped in another ice age. Also, the polar ice caps and what's happening there already to the permafrost in the north and the melting of ice in the south. It was jolting to see a picture of Lake Chad in its prime and now reduced to a mud pile. I would say it's 99 and nine tenths per cent likely that Bush hasn't seen it. He doesn't call himself "The Decider" for nothing.

I'm coming back to life again and regaining my outrage at all the horrors I see in the world brought about by the U.S. I think of John Carre's MI5 agents who took every opportunity to despise their CIA counterparts--the American Cousins they called them, but not in a flattering way.

This morning watched the This Week news program. News has turned into gossip here. First the panel went on an on about the Atty. General who will most probably resign. Then inordinate time wasted on gays in the military. 160,000 gays have been dismissed even though many of them had really usable talents, like translating Arabic. The policy is "Don't ask;don't tell." In other words, so long as they lie about their orientation they stay in. The cost of replacing them (training etc.) is astronomical. Britain, Israel, and others all have an open policy. We're so stupid here it's sickening. Politicians steer clear of global warming. Instead, they get bogged down by issues like gays and flag burning. Finally the panel mused about whether Al Gore might declare his candidacy for pres. Sneeringly they agreed that he's waiting to be begged.

Now we hear that Fred Thompson, actor, who plays a politician on television's hugely popular Law & Order might run for President (Republican). He looks like a Bassett hound with syrupy southern accent. We just don't need another actor--but he's a long shot indeed.
Other than that, things are fine .