Of course, Michelle Malkin is already urging people to leave their lights on in celebration of "Human Achievment Hour."

(deep sigh)

I just can't believe those people, sometimes.

*promote

Promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Saturday, March 28th, 2009 3:17pm PDT - promote requested by fissionchips.

>> ^rougy:
Of course, Michelle Malkin is already urging people to leave their lights on in celebration of "Human Achievment Hour."
(deep sigh)
I just can't believe those people, sometimes.


Checked that link out...pretty sad.

Not familiar with that person Roughy... but that is pretty sad stance for anyone to take... given that isn't that kind of what we could consider almost every other day. (by that criteria for 'achievment' anyway)

Maybe next year we can have No War Hour.

http://www.earthhour.org/home/

This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world’s first global election, between Earth and global warming.

For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009.

This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.

In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you’re from, but instead, what planet you’re from. VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday.

We all have a vote, and every single vote counts. Together we can take control of the future of our planet, for future generations.

VOTE EARTH by simply switching off your lights for one hour, and join the world for Earth Hour.

Saturday, March 28, 8:30-9:30pm.

A bit late.

Whats sad about human achievement? Do you really understand the creativity and production which can occur with millions of man-hours? How do you think the compact fluorescent light bulb was created (86% power savings) or light emitting diodes (95% power savings) or photovoltaic cells, hybrid engines, or high efficiency generators, etc. etc.?

If you want to save the planet sell your car, sell your house, sell your light bulbs and go live in the forest; but why criticize or inhibit the engineering effort of humans which can reduce the environmental impact of a 21st century lifestyle?

That is the point Michelle Malkin is making, and I don't think there is anything sad about it.



>> ^littledragon_79:
>> ^rougy:
Of course, Michelle Malkin is already urging people to leave their lights on in celebration of "Human Achievment Hour."
(deep sigh)
I just can't believe those people, sometimes.

Checked that link out...pretty sad.

I really don't know the man, only what i've read from the above link... However.

Clearly a celebration of the human achievments we've made like the flurescent lightbulb... oh yeah.. by running my AC with the heater!... Viva la human achievment...

We should really cook off a few nukes while we're at it... just to make a really great show of it!

And not at all an attempt at 'getting even'. Readin the posts of many of his followers they seem to be much more interested in rejoicing in vindictive nature of it... (Against who i wonder?). Does deliberatly being wastefull REALLY celebrate anything other than gluttony and decadence?... Do you think the people who developed those energy saving technologies would view energy being wasted as a fitting or appropriate tribute?...

I'm... pretty staunchly in favor of The Environment, but I think Earth Hour is pretty much the dumbest thing ever. It's a meaningless symbolic statement to make the arm-chair environmentalists feel better about themselves, as if turning off your lights for one out of eight-thousand seven-hundred and sixty hours in a year matters at all.

Do you want to make a difference? Drive a more fuel-efficient car. Walk. Turn your thermostat down five degrees for the entire winter, not for one damn hour. Turn your computer off when you're not using it. Only use lights that you need. Wash your clothes in cold water. Hang them out to dry instead of using the dryer. Limit how much meat you eat. Any of these things would be more meaningful.

Oh, right, those things would inconvenience you. Can't have that.

^ You have completely missed the point of Earth Hour. Perhaps you've never worked on an awareness-raising campaign; as such it was an extremely successful campaign to raise awareness and get people together around the issue of global warming. The turn-the-lights-as-means-to-vote meme is quite good.

Some people are being intentionally stupid, erecting strawmen arguments, or simply being contemptuous for ideological reasons.

>> ^qualm:
^ You have completely missed the point of Earth Hour. Perhaps you've never worked on an awareness-raising campaign; as such it was an extremely successful campaign to raise awareness and get people together around the issue of global warming. The turn-the-lights-as-means-to-vote meme is quite good.
Some people are being intentionally stupid, erecting strawmen arguments, or simply being contemptuous for ideological reasons.


I think it's a profoundly mentally-challenged meme. I fully understand its intent. It gets a lot of people to go, "Woo! We love the Earth! See our solidarity?" and then it's left at that. The call to action starts and stops at Turn Out The Lights For .01% of the Year.

I'm sorry. It's ridiculous.

Well, you didn't get it in your previous post. So now you change course by acknowledging that the aim of an awareness-raising campaign is different say, from a campaign of direct crisis intervention (which many would argue is necessary, but also cannot occur, with any significant effect, without first raising the necessary mass of awareness.)

So I don't think you do get it.

The irony of it direpickle is your claim that you 'get it' and still find it "ridiculous"... and though this entire discussion might seem futile... Your actually... inadvertently demonstrating how it can work.

You claim to support the environment in most things, and i think thats admirable... you even listed off a number of suggestions for things that could be done that would be more productive... (despite completely missing the point you claim to 'get' but never mind that.)

It is a conversation and a post that would not have happened without the event... Even by attempting to belittle the campaign you are in fact demonstrating how it can work... Now imagine how many times that same discussion might be carried out across the world... The truth is you clearly don't get it.. but you don't need to... it will work either way.

I'm not changing course about anything. I have multiple problems with the campaign.

I understand and understood that it's an awareness-raising campaign. I think that awareness-raising campaigns like this are silly because they don't do anything except make people feel better about themselves because they're simply acknowledging the problem.

Furthermore, it pretends to be something more than that. The disingenuity offends me. The exact meme that you mention pretends that by turning out the lights people are doing something more-than-symbolic, that it will make a difference. You yourself posted a big block of text pretending that exact thing, and then you say that, well, it's just an awareness-raising thing.

I think the effort would be better spent doing (and encouraging!) something productive rather than making symbolic gestures.

direpickle: "I understand and understood that it's an awareness-raising campaign. I think that awareness-raising campaigns like this are silly because they don't do anything except make people feel better about themselves because they're simply acknowledging the problem."

You're quite a specimen. And you couldn't be more wrong. And you are contradicting yourself, because clearly you do not understand the importance of collective awareness as a precursor to effecting widespread change.

direpickle: "The exact meme that you mention pretends that by turning out the lights people are doing something more-than-symbolic, that it will make a difference. You yourself posted a big block of text pretending that exact thing..."

Here's the relevant block of text:

This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world’s first global election, between Earth and global warming.

For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming.

A symbolic vote. A symbolic vote to both raise awareness, and then use that participation, and momentum of engagement, as a lobbying device. Again, you're simply wrong. No offence, but you're really not up to it. You are wasting my time.

It is possible to understand something yet disagree with it...that is how science proceeds. Do you think Galileo failed to understand Copernicus, or Newton failed to understand Galileo, or Einstein Newton, etc. etc.?

<embed src="http://i44.tinypic.com/9rps29.jpg">

Still pretending that you believe Earth Hour wasn't about raising awareness... lame.