gdp's Comments

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : Environmentalists' new language games

Tue, 5 May 2009 00:29:06 +0000

Many of my comments aren't showing up, and that frustrates me. Sorry Don, but I'm not going to try to comment here anymore until some of my old comments show up. Until then, it's a waste of time to try. For what it's worth, I've emailed Veith and the person who may or may not do his tech work for him about all this.

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : Environmentalists' new language games

Tue, 5 May 2009 00:09:17 +0000

I'm not sure how you use the word "follow" any more, of course, but I find this Wikipedia article mentions groups of scientists, all of whose opinions I consider more important than those of Ed Begley, Jr. or Al Gore: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_opinion_o... And Don, if you don't understand why people who want to put a message out don't use scientists instead of celebrities, I'm not sure I'll be able to explain it to you. But you might ask yourself: why are there so many more celebrities on commercials than there are product engineers explaining the scientific benefits of their work? Is it really that hard to figure out, Don?

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : Environmentalists' new language games

Mon, 4 May 2009 23:58:25 +0000

I don't know, Don, it sounds like you're engaging in some word redefining here. You don't "listen to" him, but you know what his position is. But that's because, while you listen to what he says, you don't "follow" him. Hmm. I still don't know why you care one way or another. To me, Begley's greatest achievement is and always will be his cameo as an early Spinal Tap drummer. I honestly don't care about his environmental stance, and, had you not reminded me of it, I probably wouldn't have remembered it (I last read something on the topic years ago). I think you're likely a member of the Ed Begley, Jr. Fan Club, out trying to rekindle an awareness of your hero.

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : Environmentalists' new language games

Mon, 4 May 2009 22:57:37 +0000

Why does my apology here keep disappearing? Don was right, I brought Gore up. Mea culpa. Sorry.

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : Environmentalists' new language games

Mon, 4 May 2009 22:46:16 +0000

Your claim that all global-warming talk is wholly unscientific (science being, you know, thrown "out the window a long time ago") will likely come as a surprise to those scientists who claim otherwise, the existence of whom you seem to consistently ignore. They are the people I prefer to listen to while you go on and on about Al Gore and Ed Begley, Jr. But you don't seem to think they exist, because you think the "environmental movement", singular monolith that it apparently is, has no scientific basis to speak of. So easily dismissed with a few keystrokes! And please, you don't care about celebrities. They're the only people espousing global warming that I can even remember you talking about! I think you care a lot about them, and they certainly are a lot easier to rebut than the aforementioned scientists, aren't they? And last time I checked, you were commenting here when Bush WAS President, and yet you said nothing about his glaring hypocrisy in re: "oil addiction". Why is that? Was he not famous enough as President for you to care about his words/deeds? And really, is your stance here that any movement that has as its adherents celebrities that are hypocritical is completely bereft of correctness? So all I have to do to rebut you in the future is find a celebrity who agrees with you (and yet is a hypocrite) to prove you wrong? They didn't teach me that method on debate team!

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : Environmentalists' new language games

Mon, 4 May 2009 22:37:35 +0000

Ah, so you "respect" him, but don't "listen" to him. And you respect him, though he "espouses" "tripe". What respect! I don't think I need respect like that, though, for what it's worth. And, tell me again, how you know what he believes if you don't listen to him?

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : Environmentalists' new language games

Mon, 4 May 2009 21:51:32 +0000

See, the thing is, I'm not claiming Obama's label is any better. I'm just claiming this manipulative use of language isn't limited to the liberal side of things, where you seem only to see it. And yeah, War on Terror, huh? Who's winning, us or Terror? Do you think Terror will ultimately surrender? Are we also waging war on Fear and related synonyms, or would that be unnecessarily widening the conflict?

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : Environmentalists' new language games

Mon, 4 May 2009 21:25:38 +0000

Don, if you can't see it ...

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : Environmentalists' new language games

Mon, 4 May 2009 21:25:04 +0000

Honestly, you listen to Ed Begley, Jr.? Why? Why do you consider him an authority on ... whatever it is you apparently do?

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : Environmentalists' new language games

Mon, 4 May 2009 21:24:19 +0000

Don, in what world do or should you or I care one whit what celebrities think or do? Why do you keep lending them so much credence, only to smack them down? I'm not lauding the celebrities, so why are you asking me to account for their actions? Let me be as clear as I can: I don't care about celebrities. I don't care about them when they date or get married. And I don't care about them when they talk politics. If you do, that's your problem. Celebrity ignorance does not affect in any way the actual issue being debated here. You seem to think it does, but I don't know why. And if celebrity hypocrisy does matter, why didn't you say anything about Bush with respect to the oil "addition" thing? Play it consistently, please.

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : Environmentalists' new language games

Mon, 4 May 2009 21:00:25 +0000

Don, I'm an idiot. Sorry.

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : Environmentalists' new language games

Mon, 4 May 2009 20:32:16 +0000

I'm sure you were making the same points when Bush talked about our being "addicted to oil", right? You were saying, "Why is Bush still flying around and being driven everywhere?", naturally. Calling for him to bike or walk everywhere, right? And yes, let's turn every debate about environmental stewardship into an exercising one Al Gore, who is the only person that matters when it comes to environmental matters! ... Honestly, you listen more to the man than I do.

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : Environmentalists' new language games

Mon, 4 May 2009 20:29:27 +0000

If you're honestly asking that question, then your partisan blinders are still on. Come on. "Enhanced interrogation techniques" leaps first to mind. The "War on Terror" was a big one (not to mention "The Long War", whatever that was). "Mission accomplished"? What about the "Clean Air Initiative"? Or, just to make a conservative point, how about Bush's "comprehensive immigration reform"? I remember more than a few right-wingers howling at that one. I suppose, if you're being strictly technical, some of these weren't Bush's personal words, but rather those of his administration. If such synecdochic sloppiness offends you, sorry.

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : Environmentalists' new language games

Mon, 4 May 2009 20:22:47 +0000

Don, why do you, like so many other anti-global-warming types, love to insert Al Gore into every conversation on the topic? Is he your favorite straw man? Is he easily mocked, rather than making points about the actual science? Because nobody else mentioned him, you know. And I don't care about him, frankly.

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : Environmentalists' new language games

Mon, 4 May 2009 20:21:22 +0000

"CO2 isn't exactly dirty, after all." Well, that's a pretty good example of what I was talking about. I suppose that if you heard a man had drowned, you'd exclaim with surprise, "Well, that's odd. Water isn't exactly dangerous to ingest, after all!" My point being: it's not a simplistic matter of labeling substances "dirty" or "clean", it's about how much and where and so on. But, as I said, lots of people don't seem to understand that. I'm not convinced you do. (Heck, I'm not convinced I do, but I suppose it's a sliding scale.) But good grief, are you trying to argue that CO2 isn't a greenhouse gas? That we could pump as much of it into the atmosphere with nary an effect? Have I missed your point, I hope? Because I don't know anybody arguing those things.

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : Environmentalists' new language games

Mon, 4 May 2009 15:32:09 +0000

What's that? People are using different terms because of market research? Well then, allow me to be the first to scream, "Orwellian! Orwellian!" Why, this is the most Orwellian change since Ford stopped selling "horseless carriages"! Which is to say, I really don't see the big deal here, nor do I see why this continuing series almost always focuses on liberals doing the word-changing. As if (and you knew this was coming) Bush didn't engage in all sorts of word games, and, moreover, as if this wasn't the whole raison d'être of the advertising world. It sounds to me like they're trying to appeal to simpler emotions, yes. But I can't say that most people have understood the term "global warming" or talk of "carbon dioxide", anyhow -- they're too scientific for everyday understanding. This can be seen when, any time Al Gore speaks somewhere and it snows, several thousand yahoos post something on their blog about how a snowy March day clearly fly in the face of global warming -- they clearly have no idea about the averages behind that concept (whether or not you agree with the concept). Same with carbon dioxide. Say what you will about the scientific theories behind the actual issue, but you still get people saying, "Why, I breathe out carbon dioxide! Are they gonna ban me, too! And anyhow, don't plants like carbon dioxide?" Same thing with cow farts and whatnot. I believe that talking about "dirty fuels" rather than "carbon dioxide" is an attempt, no matter how silly or successful, to get around this lack of understanding.

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : Air Force One's joyride

Sat, 2 May 2009 05:15:42 +0000

Honestly, Vehse's posts don't pass the Turing test, given how deterministic they are. I have a suspicion he's merely a variant on ELIZA, seeded with a few key words ("clymer", "demonrats", "0bozo", etc.) and then piped through a few right-wing blogs (Newsbusters, Malkin, etc.) for links. I could get a CS undergrad to come up with a left-wing version for balance, if anyone wants.

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : Air Force One's joyride

Sat, 2 May 2009 05:12:31 +0000

It is honestly difficult to tell if you're being serious or also piling on here. I mean, "marvelously astute neologisms such as Obozo", honestly? Who says that? But if it's razor-sharp portmanteaus you crave, this one will have you gasping for air: PeturdLeavitt. Get it? Oh, now that's wit! Voltaire (Doltaire, if you will) himself could not top that. Honestly, I don't see why we waste all our time typing out reasoned arguments when we could just be calling each other Farty-fart Poopy Pants.

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : A flu by any other name

Fri, 1 May 2009 15:22:23 +0000

Do we really have to bring up Orwell's name every single time someone discusses the appropriateness of a label? To the degree that there is a misconception out there that this virus is associated with pork, Vilsack et al. have a point -- though I have no idea if that misconception is popular or not right now. "Swine flu" may follow the scientific naming protocol (though I would have thought H1N1 was the more scientific name), but it doesn't convey any useful information about the virus to everyday people -- namely, that it is spreading from person-to-person contact.

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : A Reformation Comedy

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:07:55 +0000

Is that Luther on the left? That's one skinny Luther, no?