Livin' la Vida...

I'm taking a break from painting and prepping the house to sell to post on a couple of things.

This first post is going to be a compilation of environmentalist insanity. First is the story out of Britian about a woman who had her self sterilized because she believes that having children harms the environment.

Had Toni Vernelli gone ahead with her pregnancy ten years ago, she would know at first hand what it is like to cradle her own baby, to have a pair of innocent eyes gazing up at her with unconditional love, to feel a little hand slipping into hers - and a voice calling her Mummy.
But the very thought makes her shudder with horror.
Because when Toni terminated her pregnancy, she did so in the firm belief she was helping to save the planet. Incredibly, so determined was she that the terrible mistake" of pregnancy should never happen again, that she begged the doctor who performed the abortion to sterilise her at the same time.

It should surprise no one that Toni works for an environmental charity...

Then there is this interview with environmentalist extraordinare Robert Redford where he calls the patron saint of the new environmental movement (Al Gore) a "johnny come lately".

Redford was an early convert to the environmental movement, and talks proudly of having campaigned on it since 1969. "It was not a happy easy time, because those were the days that the oil and gas companies pretty much controlled the show on propaganda. Anyone speaking about solar energy would be smashed down as being a radical, a tree-hugger and granola-cruncher or what have you."
He is notably cynical, however, about Al Gore's recent award of a Nobel Peace Prize. He's making a lot of money, he's having a belle époque, a heroic moment," he says. "It must have been really hard for Gore to suffer all that [losing the presidential election], so he found another thing to come back with: the environment. He had a lot of money behind him, because in Clinton's administration there was a lot of money. With that he was able to build himself a new campaign and pick an issue. And he picked an issue that just happened to arrive at its moment in time." The less-than-subtle subtext is that Gore is an arriviste, while Redford has been out there, a grizzled loner, bearing the jibes and right-wing clobbering before the environmental cause was fashionable. Asked why he thinks Gore is not going back into politics, he says: "What's most important - to be a hero to your country and go save it . . . or do you want to be happy and rich and be a hero and not get into the political scene?"

I have never had problems with environmentalists like Redford or Ed Begley Jr. They both "walk the walk?". If you have ever seen the lifestyle that Begley Jr. lives, you would have no doubts about his commitment to "the cause".

And lastly, speaking of the "jet setting" Al Gore (because you know he will be there).

Tempo Interaktif reports that Angkasa Pura - the management of Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport are concerned that the large number of additional private charter flights expected in Bali during the UN Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC) December 3-15, 2007, will exceed the carrying capacity of apron areas.
To meet the added demand for aircraft storage officials are allocating "parking space" at other airports in Indonesia.The operational manager for Bali's Airport, Azjar Effendi, says his 3 parking areas can only accommodate 15 planes, which means that some of the jets used by VIP delegations will only be allowed to disembark and embark their planes in Bali with parking provided at airports in Surabaya, Lombok, Jakarta and Makassar.

I have two words for the attendees and hosts of the UN Conference on Climate Change (and Governor Pawlenty).....tele-conference! The technology is there and it would certainly do wonders for the planet if you were all to (as Messers Redford and Begley Jr. have done) PARK.THE.JET! Or fly commercial.