AlGore pays himself to save the planet!

From a completely unbiased source (the link that is). :wacko:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Devil's Advocate @ Mar 2 2007, 02:26 PM) [snapback]399284[/snapback]</div>

This is what astounds me, this idea that global warming is JUST a natural cycle, and so there's no point getting hot and bothered by it.

Tornados, earthquake, typhoon, hurricane, volcanos, flood, avalanche - all these are JUST natural cycles too, and we get hot and bothered by them so much we take steps to alleviate their horrendous effects. Not always successfully, but we sure as hell don't shrug our shoulders and take them full in the face without preparation or defense.

Getting struck be a ten mile wide meteorite is just a natural cycle too, and such a strike would be fatal for most life on the planet more advanced than moss and insects. Should we shrug our shoulders at the possibility and do nothing? Thankfully this likelihood is getting some attention paid to it (and could use more).

"Just" a natural cycle or not, global warming is an incontestable, established fact, and shrugging our shoulders at it and doing nothing because it's "just" a natural cycle is about the stupidest reaction to it imaginable.

Mark Baird
Alameda CA

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Devil's Advocate @ Mar 2 2007, 06:50 PM) [snapback]399326[/snapback]</div>

The article is totally biased, btw. However, on the topic:

Capitalism, baby. And smart.

I recently invested a few thousand dollars (not a lot, mind you) in a company that builds residential solar panels. Why did I do it?
1--Because I see a huge upswing in their profitability over the next ten years, especially in states like California that are mandating new houses be built with solar as an option.
2--To help provide capital to continue the company growth because I believe in what they're doing.

I imagine Gore saw a financial opportunity and has capitalized on it. Sounds like he's both trying to turn a profit and help provide capital for future growth, thus supporting his original intent of environmental conservation.

They always say "Do what you love. The money will follow."

 

Gee....is Al Gore running for President again and I missed it?

And how many carbon offsets does the average person buy? How many solar panels has the average person installed. How much does the average person recycle. Is the average person's carbon footprint neutral?

If you could kill Al Gore tomorrow....would that suddenly make Global Warming go away?

 

True to your name the Devil's Advocate stands in the way of progress.... There is a reason it is considered such a nasty term in productive group work.

You also might want to research the food industry a bit more. Big Oil contributes to greater polution and degredation of landscapes, severe obesity epidemics which cost us over 90billion alone in health care. So be careful how much you praise big oil for "saving us from starvation".

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Devil's Advocate @ Mar 2 2007, 02:26 PM) [snapback]399284[/snapback]</div>

:lol: :lol: OMG! :lol: :lol:

Who gives a hoot about carbon credits! You either put the junk into the air or you don’t but purchasing carbon credits is like buying indulgencies! Geeeeeeeez! This is got to hurt the GW cause no matter how it is spun.


Wildkow

 

It's not like Cheney doesn't have any vested monetary interest in making sure we occupy Iraq for a good long time... NOT! Talk about a conflict in interest! All we have is his word that he donate his stock options to charity, and we know what Cheney's word is worth. Why doesn't he go ahead and donate them now?

EDITED to add the following:
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| Furthermore, Cheney stands to profit from increased inflation and devaluation of the dollar against foreign currency.
|
| Funny thing is, what you are calling a "conflict of interest" perpetrated by Gore is actually in the best interest of the country. The above conflicts of
| interest that Cheney is guilty of are in the worst interest of the country. How's that for a conflict! Cheney pays himself to destroy the U.S.!
-----
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Mar 3 2007, 05:52 AM) [snapback]399467[/snapback]</div>

I invested in a solar company a couple of months ago and have seen my profits shoot up 25% since then, even after that nasty correction last week.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Devil's Advocate @ Mar 5 2007, 12:11 PM) [snapback]400498[/snapback]</div>

I disagree to a large extent because I used to say the EXACT same thing you just wrote. I now believe in the power of marketing and multi-million dollar think tanks. Are we, the uneducated masses, suppost to be able to outwit companies that throw $2 billion+ to annual advertising? The power of psychology and marketing should not be ignored, nor should the addiction factors invloved with overeating or overspending. One must have a bit more knowledge before they can truely choose between right and wrong, furthermore, they should be empowered to choose right and not "rewarded" for choosing wrong. We are weakening our society in no small way in the effort to increase the economy for a few wealthy individuals. Sure people play a role in the responsibility for their actions but when they are tricked, lied to, and coerced at every turn I feel the corporations have an unfair advantage. As for myself, I'm lucky enough to have the genetic structure that keeps me thin no matter what I eat but that will not save me from other ramifications suffered from a poor diet so I choose to educate myself and forst wilpower that keeps me from eating crap.

As for you halting progress. From my experience on this forum the majority of your posts seem to attack lines of progressive thinking that stall out or could slow momentum for no other reason than display your ability to find opposing views even when those views could be detrimental. I may be confusing your posts with some of the others who do similar things in here like Wildkow so if I am then I appologize. Again, I used to do the same thing and I agree that following blindly is not a good reaction to a situation but neither is continued negativity. Look at the information and both sides, try to find a balance and move forward.

This is a pretty good article on the subject:

This topic has been churning in my head for a few months now, since I read an interesting article by Michael Schrage on how innovation gets killed by resistance.

Then I came across an extract from Tom Kelley's latest book - The Ten Faces of Innovation, where Tom captures the essence of the problem with his description of the Devil's Advocate gambit:

"The pivotal meeting where you push forward a new idea or proposal you're passionate about. A fast-paced discussion leads to an upwelling of support that seems about to reach critical mass. And then, in one disastrous moment, your hopes are dashed when someone weighs in with those fateful words: "Let me just play Devil's Advocate for a minute..."

Having invoked the awesome protective power of that seemingly innocuous phrase, the speaker now feels entirely free to take pot shots at your idea, and does so with complete impunity. "

How many times have you been in meetings where the Devil's Advocate decimated your idea or your colleague's idea.

The other big problem with the group meeting is a variant of groupthink - when your idea is modified by the group to such an extent that it loses its entire meaning. Headrush wrote an interesting post on how to keep the sharp edges and avoiding groupthink.

Coming back to the Devil's Advocate - how do we deal with him/her?

Kris Bordessa wrote a brilliant post titled "Banishing Negativity" where she describes a very interesting technique - don't allow anyone to play devil's advocate, but instead ask them to finagle the idea to solve the problem that he/she was going to point out in the idea.

One of my colleagues uses this technique in group meetings and it works extremely well. When someone tries to shoot down an idea with some objection, my colleague asks them to submit a counter-proposal which modifies the idea suggested by the other person. Aside from solving the Devil's Advocate problem, it accomplishes another bigger thing - that of ending the meeting with an idea that is actionable for the entire group with assigned action items. Without this technique, at the end of the meeting you typically go out with no action plans because all the time was spent by the devil's advocates squashing someone's idea killing the productivity of the group not to speak of the morale.

 

hmmmm. Yup. I need say no more.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Devil's Advocate @ Mar 2 2007, 03:26 PM) [snapback]399284[/snapback]</div>

And if he is, does this make global warming and climate change less important? No. He could be satan incarnate and it wouldn't matter.

This is called an "ad hominem" fallacy.