Politics Blog

Email From Al Gore - The Assault On Reason

I received this email in my inbox recently, and thought I’d pass it along.

Dear Andrew,

In the months following the release of An Inconvenient Truth, I began to focus on why our democracy has been so slow to deal with the climate crisis. The unwillingness to solve this problem is not only the result of a lack of political will, but it has also been caused by the emergence of a new political environment dangerously hostile to reason, knowledge, and facts. In the long-term, this poses a threat to the very basis of American democracy: the ability of a well-informed citizenry to use the rule of reason to hold government accountable.

This Assault on Reason is the focus of my new book that goes on sale today. You can purchase the book at your local bookstore or by visiting:

http://www.amazon.com/Assault-Reason-Al-Gore/dp/1594201226

When George Bush launched his preemptive war in Iraq, more than 70% of Americans believed Saddam Hussein was linked to the terrorists who caused 9-11. After the 2004 election, when asked what stuck in their minds about the campaign, voters in Ohio named two ads playing to the fears of terrorism paid for by the Bush Campaign. One pattern that has held true since 2001 is that this White House is less interested in openness and truth than any previous administration.

We are facing so many long-term challenges, from the climate crisis and the war in Iraq to health care and social welfare. To solve these problems and move forward we need to reverse the damage done to our democracy. We have little time to waste.

My goal in The Assault on Reason is to explore why our public forum now welcomes the enemies of reason. More importantly, the book focuses on what we can do together, individually and collectively, to restore the rule of reason to our democracy.

You can purchase The Assault on Reason by visiting:

http://www.amazon.com/Assault-Reason-Al-Gore/dp/1594201226

My team will be emailing those of you who live in the cities that I will visit for book signings. I hope that I’ll have the chance to see you in person.

I’ll be back in touch soon.

Thank You,

Al Gore

Setting The Record Straight On Al Gore’s Financial Stake In Global Warming

Between conservative commentators, forum debates, and online blogs, there’s been a number of accusations against Al Gore and his supposed financial stake in global warming.  Most, if not all, of the accusations are flat out false, although I have doubts if we’ll ever see a correction from them.

The conservative blog The Citizens Journal, ”broke” a story in March that Gore was “buying his carbon offsets from himself”.  This story quickly spread across the net in forums and blogs and even eventually made it’s way to actual real news media.  The fact of the matter, it’s false.  Al Gore buys his carbon credits through Native Energy, which according to their website, is a privately held Native American energy company. 

Gore’s investment firm, which The Citizens Journal was referring to above, does not sell carbon offsets.  The firm is basically a mutual fund, and thanks to the transparency of their website along with SEC filings, we can see what the firm is investing in (if you have a 401k, you’re probably invested in some of the same companies).  Additionaly, the firm donates 5% of their profits to charity, and as anyone can tell you, for someone who has been accused of pushing an agenda to beat the the stock market, that would be pretty damn counterproductive.

Additional claims have been made against him that he’s profitted from An Inconvenient Truth and the companion book.  The fact of the matter is Gore donated 100% of his profit to The Alliance for Climate Protection.

The internet has become a great place to discuss news items you would’ve never had the chance with people you would’ve never met, but at the same time has a major drawbrack of spreading myths and lies across the globe leaving the truths and realities far behind.  The defacing of Al Gore outlined above has been one of those times.

Gallaxy NGC 1672

This is the new image from Nasa’s Hubble Space Telescope, show nearby galaxy NGC 1672.  NGC 1672, which is more than 60 million light years away, is not a typical barred spiral galaxy and is different from normal spiral galaxies with it’s spiral arms that do not twist all the way into the center. Instead, they are attached to the two ends of a straight bar of stars enclosing the nucleus.

It is believed that barred spirals have a unique mechanism that channels gas from the disk inwards towards the nucleus. This allows the bar portion of the galaxy to serve as an area to generate new stars. It is believed by astronomers that the bars are short-lived, which leads to the question - will non-barred galaxies develop a bar in the future, or have they already hosted one that has since disappeared? 

Find out more over at Science Daily.