Person of the Year
Dan Same
Victoria, AustraliaPosts: 6,054MI6 Agent
Late last week environmentalist Tim Flannery was named Australian of the Year. Now, this got me thinking. Which person has been the most inspirational, influential (on a positive note) and the most significant person of the past year? Although I'm yet to pick a candidate myself, I'm curious as to what you think.
So that this doesn't lead to a discussion in which people start attacking other points of views I do think that one rule should be in place: No active politicans. Since most discussions that stir up too much controversy involve politics, I think we should stay away from active politicans.
So who do you think? Which person has had the most positive effect on the past year and/or has been the most inspirational?
So that this doesn't lead to a discussion in which people start attacking other points of views I do think that one rule should be in place: No active politicans. Since most discussions that stir up too much controversy involve politics, I think we should stay away from active politicans.
So who do you think? Which person has had the most positive effect on the past year and/or has been the most inspirational?
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
Comments
Instead of taking some fat job on some big companies board (for doing next to nothing) or making a living holding lectures about his time in the White House, he takes on perhaps the biggest threat of our time. He will be remembered for his fight for our common tomorrow, not just the guy who lost the presidency to Bush jr.
He could have turned into a sulking looser, but instead he has shown what the ancient romans called GRAVITAS. I hope the norwegian Nobel commity awards him the pease prize!
For more on Gore's false assumptions check out the link attached, which has some real science to it.
http://www.cei.org/pdf/5820.pdf
Let me close by saying, I not looking to start a huge argument about global warming. It is my opinion that the global warming frenzy is overblown. That is my opinion, if you disagree with me that is fine.
Churchill was a drunk, Kennedy was a womanizer.
It doesn't make them less great. The fact that Gore polutes more than you and me doeswn't make his message any less important.
The Greenland ice is melting, there is no doubt among scientists. You are just playing with numbers. The melting of ice caps and glaciers is real. I have a tiny glacier just outside the window of my childhood home. Want to argue?
And do you know polar expeditions bring drysuits for swimming short distances? It's been common for the last ten years. Before that, no-one did.
Well 24 I respect your opinion, but disagree. Is the earth warming? Maybe, but not enough to effect the earth's population in the next several 100 years or so. The earth has warmed and cooled throughout its existence. I have attached a link from a site called EcoWorld, one of the few sites that offers a balanced view. Read it, if you want some real facts. If you read it, you will see that the outer edges of Greenland are melting, but the ice in the center of the island is thickening. If Greenland's ice continues to melt at the current rate, the oceans will rise by about an inch or two in the next 100 years. Hardly a disaster. The article has many other links that discuss the global warming issue if you care to read.
Once again my overall point is that the earth may be warming slightly, but not to any degree that will cause the cataclismic events that the environmentalists would want you to believe.
http://www.ecoworld.com/blog/2006/10/20/greenlands-ice-melting-slowly/
The difference is that Churchill wasn't preaching about the dangers of drinking, and Kennedy wasn't telling everyone to stop having sex.
But if more ice melted in a cold year than in a warm year, doesn't that suggest that something is going a bit funny?
I have to agree with Night and Barry. And I like Al Gore very much -- voted for him a few times --and believe there's little doubt global warming is real (even if it isn't, there's no question that air pollution is unhealthy and that our reliance on foreign oil is forcing us down a very dangerous road -- why not deal with it instead of looking for silver linings that may or may not be there?).
That said, I was really disappointed in Gore's personal energy use and the lame excuse of buying energy credits. It reminds me of rich Northerners during American Civil War who could avoid conscription by paying someone to take their place in the military.
I we want a relatively famous person who is a longtime environmentalist who also practices what he preaches (and pokes fun at his dedication to the cause), how about Ed Begley Jr.?
The average temperature this month in the UK has been three degrees centigrade higher than normal. In fact, the highest average April temperature since records began in the mid-17th century. Three degrees centigrade doesn't seem like much, but if the average temperature across the whole planet were to rise by just that amount then many coastal areas would disappear under water and millions of people worldwide would be forced to move inland.
Global warming is a fact. It's also a fact that the average temperature of the planet has been considerably higher on numerous occasions in the past than is the case now. Is this global warming part of a natural cycle or is it man made? I'm inclined to believe it is primarily man made. You cannot continually dump vast amounts of pollution into the air, sea, and underground, while at the same time destroying great areas of forestry without any consequence.
This April has been the coldest April in 100 years in Chicago, it snowed a couple weeks ago. What does that mean? Nothing. One month fluctuations one way or the other means nothing, I remember in 2005 when the US had a record number of hurricanes and everyone said it was because of global warming, Last year we had zero hurricanes, so I guess it wasn't global warming.
I think it's the intensity of the hurricanes, rather than their number, that is blamed on global warming. But I think those who deny global warming may be whistling past the graveyard. If we take steps against global warming, and it's a myth, then we've still come out ahead. That global warming is a myth doesn't make breathing smog any healthier. Doesn't it still make sense economically to conserve and look for other energy sources rather than continue exhausting our fossil fuels, the very thing that makes the modern world possible? It will run out sooner or later. Then what? If we're not careful we're going to wind up looking for the alternative in the dark, which doesn't strike me as the best time. Personally, I'm not concerned about doomsday weather scenarios as much as I'm concerned about having heat in the winter and the myriad other things that we've grown accustomed to over the years. And just as our ancestors fought over water, we will fight over oil. Oil shortages will cause huge disruptions in the social fabric. I like polar bears as much as the next guy, but we might be better off emphasizing the effect of profligate energy consumption on humans rather than the Earth.
It snowed her last month, but so what. the trend is indesputable, the earth is warming. The disident climate expert don't disagree on this, the few who are left argue it's not human made.
I admitt I was disapointed in Gore when it was revealed that he wasted so much CO2, but I still think the importance and force of his a message outweighs his fault by far.
So instead of attacking my choice with obscure scientists, can you tell me who your person of the year would be? (so I can counterattack:)))
Oh, I agree. You really need to look over a much longer time period to get a truer picture. And if you do that you will discover that the Earth's average temperature has risen quite dramatically in the last half century.
Paris Hilton, or Rosie O'Donell.
I don't believe I attacked, in fact I said I respect your opinion. However, I have stated my opinion and I am now done.
As for person of the year, I believe we are talking about 2006 since 2007 is not half over. I would stick with my previous nomination of Warren Buffett who donated all of his billions to charity.
Daniel Craig
Just kidding ....
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1012britain-gore12-ON.html
So teachers now have to point the 9 inconvenient truths about An Inconvenient Truth.