Somebody asked us about this just the other day. Now it’s official: 8-9 pm Saturday, the whole city’s invited to go dark as part of “Earth Hour.” Fittingly, that’s the same day that six West Seattle students are starting “An Inconvenient Ride.”
OP – My, you’re certainly quick to dismiss something it seems you know nothing about. This isn’t a local “stunt” – it’s national and global. I’d suggest participating and using that hour of darkness to do some self-exploration to try to determine where all that anger came from. Peace.
We already had more than our quota of “earth hours” two Decembers ago, thankyouverymuch. :-/
OP – My, you’re certainly quick to dismiss something it seems you know nothing about. This isn’t a local “stunt†– it’s national and global. I’d suggest participating and using that hour of darkness to do some self-exploration to try to determine where all that anger came from.
Nice assumptive leap on your part, Maren. But since you know squakdosoh about me, my life or even what I’m presently going through in life, coupled with the fact that you come across as a liberal rushing to judgment against someone else on a subject oh which that person does not agree has not surprised or angered me for quite some time. Capice?
Oh, and for the record: I’m dismissing it for what it is: a worthless geo-political (since it’s national and global, to use your words) stunt netting ZERO results in curbing global warming—a matter that I do feel is important. Just not nearly as important as Islamo-fascism.
Islamofascism is the belief that all Muslims are terrorists. It is the backbone of the conservative republican justification for this war.
There is no such thing as Islamo-Fascism. It was a term created by the Neocons to justify their endless wars. And by the way, your tone is emblematic of the brutish and bullying tactics of the Uber-right. Frankly, I am sick of it and so are the majority of Americans.
Guys, I need to remind you that personal insults (calling someone ignorant, for example) are against WSB policy in the comment area. The forum area’s a tiny bit more freewheeling but we keep an eye out there too. Debate ideas, criticize ideas and beliefs, argue your point, but no personal insults. I’m editing the first line out of the preceding comment as a result. Thank you. We welcome spirited debate, disagreement, discussion, but there is a line in the sand, so to speak.
I apologize. You are correct this shouldn’t get personal. Shouldn’t the 6th post be edited as well? I know it may be a fine line, but….
I don’t normally, ok never, post comments on blogs, but I feel this is important. I actually wrote a letter to the Mayor’s office, Gov. Gregoire’s office, and my own mayor of Bainbridge Island, urging them to participate in this event. I am very pleased to see both the City of Seattle, as well as Bainbridge Island committed to participating. I do not wish to get into a debate as to what people believe is important. I do however, encourage anyone interested to visit http://www.earthhour.org to learn more about this event. And, while perhaps this is a small gesture that will not solve the overall Climate Change crisis, it IS something…and I truly believe, every little bit helps. This was started last year in Sydney, Australia where “2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour – Earth Hour. This massive collective effort reduced Sydney’s energy consumption by 10.2% for one hour, which is the equivalent effect of taking 48,000 cars off the road for a year†(www.earthhour.org) Just my two cents.
Considering Australia is at the end of their summer when days are long and warm, I am sure it is easier to turn the lights off for an hour. I notice they aren’t doing it in January, when turning off the AC for an hour could be fatal.
I will postpone my participation until BBQ season and then I will do hours just for the personal satisfaction of it.
Agreed Jill!
Those who go and calculate everything and then say that this will have no effect on fixing global warming don’t see that it’s not all about the numbers. Global warming does not have a quick fix. However, this even is a global statement. It is still a step in the right direction, however small it may be.
By the way, it’s tomorrow!
Hope you all have a good Earth Hour! Do something fun!
I’m sorry… but I’m in the camp that this is a feel-good political stunt.
I’m glad y’all will feel so good about saving money for an hour. If you’re so into this, how about getting people to stop wasting money running their Christmas lights (But they’re pretty and they make me feel good!), or using automatic door-openers for the diabled (I’m too lazy to actually open the door myself!).
How about we get people to run off American Idol and talk to their children for an hour? Maybe they could use that time to talk about something important like global warming or why more people pay attention to the antics of amateur singers than the awful things our government officials do in our names?
Islamofascism is the belief that all Muslims are terrorists.
No, JenV, it isn’t that at all; to hold such a belief would be a gross and ignorant belief in a generalization. But, again, it isn’t that at all. It’s the acknowledgment and recognition that a theocratic fascist movement exists within the world of Islam, one that wishes to wipe out existing cultures (specifically the Jews and Western democracy) and replace them with a totalitarian and theocratic Islamic state. (See the OBL’s 1997 “fatwa” for an example of how he envisions the world. Or just listen to a speech by Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who already runs a theocratic fascist state. Well, he doesn’t “run” it per se, the Supreme Leaders do.) But “Islamofascism” is by no means such a sweeping generalization incorporating all Muslim peoples. Not. Even. Close.
There is no such thing as Islamo-Fascism. It was a term created by the Neocons to justify their endless wars. And by the way, your tone is emblematic of the brutish and bullying tactics of the Uber-right.
Yes, Tippy, putting a label on an insidious and violent movement that’s been in full swing since Munich in 1972 has been completely made up by we evil Neocons. Give me a break.
The fact that the movement shares many similarities with “traditional” Euro-fascism is, in many ways, no accident. Hitler introduced many of its tenets—like the destruction of art and literature and an unfounded hatred for Jews—to the Islamic world during the WWII German expansion into the M.E. (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is widely known to be a “fan” of Hitler. Considering his country funds and runs proxy wars through the terrorist organization and political party, Hezbollah, the ties to fascism are unmistakable and undeniable.) This only scratches the surface of the subject, of course, but reading the political history of the M.E. in the early and mid-20th century will make this fascist picture more clear.
We can debate how closely related Islamofascism and “traditional” Euro-fascism are, but to summarily dismiss the term as not existing or simply made up to further an agenda is intellectually bankrupt.
Finally, if you two are so worried about allegedly using derisive terms being used on certain groups of people, perhaps you should stop using the phrase “Neocon”. After all, we all know you don’t mean it to accurately describe a movement (which would be fine by me), but you mean it and use it derisively, and don’t try and pretend otherwise. But I don’t expect that leopard to change its spots.
Now….back to the subject at hand: Keep your lights ON and read a book. Like the one I’m reading now by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, titled “Infidel”, which happens to deal with this very subject.
Mickymse..
love your login name…
I can’t do anything abut other people..
but i only use the handicapped door opener when i am not doing well (i am handicapped)…
i cut way back on christmas decorations and will only go back when i can buy low energy LED bulbs to make me feel good…
and i personally choose to do a lot more to try to conserve energy.
but all of that is invisible to the rest of the world.
but on saturday night i get to turn off my lights and make a statement to the world that i think this is important.
and if you turn off appliances at the same time you turn off lights..
you will have a whole hour as a family to talk about global warming.. or just the day’s events.. or play a board game.. or…
if all this does is make people more aware.. it will have been worth the time spent in the dark…
or in romantic candlelight.. should you prefer.
yes, it’s cold out. so i may not turn off my furnace.. but i can certainly do without the rest for an hour.
I stumbled on to this blog trying to find what time Earth Hour was for Seattle and I’m glad I did.
Firat, staying on topic, I would say that the idea of Earth Hour is great, but not sure it is going to help unless extraterrestrial races take note and come here to help us. I personally do my best to shut off lights all the time, partially to save money, but partly because it is the right thing to do. I also only drive cars that get 20+ MPG (or did when they were new). On the other hand, I still burn wood (in a very efficient wood burning stove) so I am probably partly to blame for global warming although man has been doing that for years. I guess when people complain about our production of carbon from creating energy they ought to think about what it would be like if EVERBYBODY ON THE WHOLE PLANET burned wood for heat like I do. We’d have no trees and probably the sun would be complete blocked by the smoke particles.
And on Islamo-Facism, I am glad to see so many people call it for what it is. I surely hope that as people hear McCain utter that or “Islam Extremests” they grow as weary of it as I have. There very well be a culture out there that wants to kill Jews and Israelis and Americans, but I don’t care because there’s people out there who want to shoot college students too and it’s awful but we just can’t control it.
What is the answer to this Islamo-Facist problem? Kill them all? I think that is what Cheney, GWB, McCain, Juliano, et al, think should happen even though as stupid as they are they must realize that goal is unattainable?
Sorry, comment time is over.
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