Al Gore, international rock star (This One's For Augmentor)

[beltman713]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17321273/

Al Gore, international rock star
Oscar hopeful making case as America’s coolest ex-vice president

(Beltman713: Hey Augmentor, maybe Al heard you and now he's trying to clean up his act.)

By William Booth
Updated: 4:26 a.m. ET Feb 25, 2007

LOS ANGELES - In the annals of vice presidential history, tonight will be something different. In his black tux, the man known to his most fervent fans as "The Goracle" will arrive by hybrid eco-limo and, surrounded by fellow Hollywood greenies Cameron Diaz and Leonardo DiCaprio, will stroll down the red carpet at the Academy Awards to answer the immortal question: "Al, who are you wearing?"

What a year it has been for Al Gore and his little indie film.

"An Inconvenient Truth," the 100-minute movie that is essentially Gore giving a slide show about global warming, is the third-highest-grossing documentary ever, with a worldwide box office of $45 million, right behind blockbusters "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "March of the Penguins."

AIT," as Team Gore calls it, is also the hot pick tonight for Best Documentary, and if its director, Davis Guggenheim, wins an Oscar, he plans to bring Gore along with him to the stage to accept the golden statuette and perhaps say a few words about . . . interstitial glacial melting? (More likely, Gore will deliver a favorite line about "political will being a renewable resource.")

In the year since his film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, to a standing ovation, Gore has gone from failed presidential contender -- and a politician who at times gave new meaning to the word cardboard -- to the most unlikely of global celebrities.

Incredible as it may seem, Al Gore is not only totally carbon neutral, but geek-chic cool. No velvet rope can stop him. He rolls with Diddy. He is on first-name basis, for real, with Ludacris. But what does this mean? And how did it happen? Did Gore change? Or did the climate -- political, cultural, natural -- change around him?

In an e-mail exchange with The Goracle himself, "AG" typed to The Washington Post that the Oscar craziness and pageantry of the film premieres has been fun (his word) "but I'm old enough to know that a red carpet is just a rug, so I've been able to enjoy that part of it without losing perspective."

Just a rug, people. Because, Gore continued (this was on Friday during a break from his tux fitting): "Actually, for me, the most moving moments have been in conversations with people who have told me that the movie had a big impact on the way they think and feel about our moral responsibility to protect the Earth."

"He is more popular now than he ever was in office, and he knows it," says Laurie David, one of the producers of "Inconvenient Truth" and a Hollywood environmental activist (and wife of "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David) who has traveled around the world promoting the film with Gore. "He's a superhero now."

Before the film? He was more Willy Loman than Green Avenger. After his loss in 2000, a battered Gore began to schlep around the country, often solo, flying coach, giving his ever-evolving slide show about climate change, a threat that Gore, now 58, says he has felt strongly about since his Harvard days.

After the film? Says director Guggenheim, "Everywhere I go with him, they treat him like a rock star."

Guggenheim is not being hyperbolic. Take the Cannes Film Festival: Al Gore was mobbed. By French people. He was a presenter at the Grammy Awards, alongside Queen Latifah, where he got one of the biggest welcomes of the night. "Wow. . . . I think they love you, man. You hear that?" the current Queen asked the former veep. Earlier this month, the ticket Web site at the University of Toronto crashed when 23,000 people signed on in three minutes to get a seat to hear Gore do his thing on the oceanic carbon cycle. At Boise State, Gore and his slide show sold out 10,000 seats at the Taco Bell Arena, reportedly "faster than Elton John."

Remember that this is the same Al Gore who even today interrupts himself to explain that while he supports the use of ethanol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, please, he is not talking about regular ethanol; he is talking about "cellulosic ethanol" (made from wood chips rather than cornstarch).

Also remember that "An Inconvenient Truth" was not on anybody's short list for theatrical release, let alone an Oscar. "I think I was the only person crazy enough to want it," says John Lesher, president of Paramount Vantage, which purchased the film at Sundance. "Everybody else had already passed on it, to be honest, but I thought if we do our job right, this could be a zeitgeist moment."

The film distributor's greatest challenge? "To convince people that it wasn't going to be boring," he says. "We didn't want to sell spinach." His greatest asset? "Al Gore. There was no hiding him."

Lesher explains that, from a marketing and branding perspective, Gore was lugging some very heavy baggage. "Democrats felt disappointed in him, and Republicans didn't like him," he says. "But it worked." How come? What comes through in the film, Lesher says, "is here is this person who has gone through this incredible adversity" -- Florida recount, Supreme Court decision, bye-bye White House -- "and this is what he decides to do," the one-man slide show, "and so you see this massive integrity."

And nobody worked for the film harder than Al Gore, Lesher says: "He was an amazing collaborator, and unlike everyone else in Hollywood, he did everything he said he would do, which is unique in my experience."

Gore worked the premieres in Edinburgh, Helsinki, Oslo, Stockholm, Sydney, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Zurich, Brussels, Berlin and Tokyo. In France, he not only attended the film opening, but presented his 90-minute Apple Keynote lecture to the National Assembly. He did the slide show at the United Nations, the American Geophysical Union, and before conservative activist Grover Norquist's regular Wednesday meeting.

"I am trying to reach out to people in every effective way that I can find," Gore wrote in his e-mail. "In the process, I have had the chance to work with really interesting people from all walks of life." Meaning: eggheads and rappers, movie moguls and prime ministers, and, recently, Bon Jovi. "So, pop culture is an important part of the message delivery system, but far from the only part."

Gore's book, based on the film, has sold 850,000 copies worldwide and translation rights for 24 languages. In Spain, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told Gore that the DVDs of the film would be shown in the public schools, following similar proclamations in Scotland and Norway. And speaking of Norway, earlier this month Gore was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his work to alert the world to the dangers of climate change.

"People ask him all the time what does he attribute his recent success to and Gore tells them 'reality,' " says Larry Schweiger, a friend and president of the National Wildlife Federation, who is a leader of Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection, a foundation that seeks to bring evangelicals, hunters, farmers and entrepreneurs to the cause. "They used to ridicule him. They called him a tree-hugger. They don't do that anymore."

Guggenheim explains: "People say to me that Al Gore is so different now. Why wasn't he like this when he ran for president?" Meaning that Gore now appears relaxed, confident, happy, and not stiff, robotic, pinched. "They say Al has changed. But I don't think so. We've changed. The setting has changed. He's the same. When you're running for office, you're a target every moment you are in front of the camera. Now, he's in a different place and we see him in a different way."

There might be something to this. Earlier this month in Los Angeles, accompanied by booming house techno bass beat, Gore announced his plan for a global "Live Earth" day of mega-concerts this summer, to be held simultaneously on all seven continents, with 100 of the world's most popular musical acts -- Snoop Dogg, Kelly Clarkson, Bon Jovi, Korn -- to promote awareness about climate change. Gore was surrounded by a grinning Cameron Diaz (she hugged him) and a nodding Pharrell Williams, the rap-producing impresario, and though Gore perhaps went on for a few paragraphs too long about how many tons of carbon a day are entering the oceans, the riser of international press and paparazzi were clearly gorging on the glamorama. Gore was his usual earnest self. A nerd? Maybe, but he was the nerd with Cameron and Pharrell, talking about the carbon cycle and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was the mixology -- high-wattage celebrity and energy-efficient light bulbs -- that helps the medicine go down.

"Is being president better than this?" muses Simon Rosenberg, head of the New Democratic Network. "I think what Gore's figured out how to do is something that a lot of people want to do. He's living a life of great freedom and pursuing his interests, and he's having an impact on public policy. He's been able to start a bunch of companies and do the movie and he's got this great life right now."

"I agree" Gore typed, "that the Zeitgeist has begun to change. I think it reflects the increased popular will to confront and solve this crisis. It's an extraordinary experience to see this issue -- which the conventional wisdom used to say was politically marginal -- become central for so many people. As it should. I also think that people see candidates through a different lens, and that is a factor. But I also think there is at least a grain of truth to the old cliche that 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' So maybe I've gotten a little stronger in the last six or seven years."

Gore is escaping the fate of most former politicians, says Matt Bennett, a consultant for Democrats who worked closely with Gore during his vice presidency. "Usually defeated -- or allegedly defeated -- party nominees become pariahs. Look at Mike Dukakis or John Kerry. Or they just go out to pasture like Bob Dole. Gore has pulled off a feat unknown in modern times, which is to completely rehabilitate his image in the public mind very quickly."

Bennett credits savvy handling by people around Gore, including the documentary-makers. And he says the world is catching up with Gore. "Look, this guy was a visionary. He was right about everything, even the stuff he was ridiculed for," Bennett says. "He was right about the Internet, he was right about the first Gulf War, he was sure as hell right about the Iraq war. And he was right about global warming."

At the "Live Earth" press conference, Gore once again affirmed that he is not planning to enter the 2008 presidential fray, though this has not stopped the lefty blogosphere from imagining the jaw-dropping holy cow if The Goracle announces his run on Oscar night. That, say Gore's most intimate insiders, is most definitely not going to happen.

As for whom Gore will be wearing, his people reveal: It'll be Ralph Lauren.

[AuGmENTor]

I hafta go out for a bit... But when I get back I'll read this and piss myself off

[Chana3812]

Yay !!

Al Gore is my Hero !!

[beltman713]

I went to my parent's house today, and my dad was watching Fox News, as usual. They were talking about this and debating whether or not Al Gore was going to run for president, even though he has said he's not. They brought on some "expert" who said was no way Al was going to run. The guy said basically that he couldn't just wait and then through his hat into the ring because you have to raise all this money to run, and that Hillary and Obama were just too powerful at this point.

Boy, Fox News sure seems scared shitless that Al Gore might run.

I personally think he will run. I think he is going to sit back and let Hillary and Obama tear each other to shreds, in the media, and then he is going to jump in. He will make it seem more like is doing it, not so much for himself, but more for the country/world. Like he is doing it because so many people are urging him to do it.

What do you think?

[PhilosophyGenius]

I think it's too late for Gore to run at this point because of financial reasons. If you want to become president nowadays you need like $500 billion or something around that (which is why canditates are starting off early). So if Gore were to throw his hat in the race at this point, a lot of the democratic sponsers would have thrown there money and support behind either Obama, Hillary, or Edwards, and Gore would get what's left over. In my opinion of course...

But I do think that if Gore had ran early he'd have a great shot.

[Chana3812]

Al Gore won an Oscar last night - that's a FIRST !!

[MrDark71]

Let's face facts.....the GOP will take the next election...hopefully not Brownback.

[PhilosophyGenius]

Let's face facts.....the GOP will take the next election...hopefully not Brownback.

What makes you say that?

[beltman713]

If the Dems don't give us someone better than Hillary Clinton, I'm afraid he might just be right.

[PhilosophyGenius]

I think Guiliani could beat Hillary in the nationals.

[AuGmENTor]

Gore worked the premieres in Edinburgh, Helsinki, Oslo, Stockholm, Sydney, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Zurich, Brussels, Berlin and Tokyo. In France, he not only attended the film opening, but presented his 90-minute Apple Keynote lecture to the National Assembly. He did the slide show at the United Nations, the American Geophysical Union, and before conservative activist Grover Norquist's regular Wednesday meeting

[QUOTE]
Gee, how much fuel did Mr. Wonderful pump out visiting all of these places?
[QUOTE]There might be something to this. Earlier this month in Los Angeles, accompanied by booming house techno bass beat, Gore announced his plan for a global "Live Earth" day of mega-concerts this summer, to be held simultaneously on all seven continents, with 100 of the world's most popular musical acts -- Snoop Dogg, Kelly Clarkson, Bon Jovi, Korn -- to promote awareness about climate change. Gore was surrounded by a grinning Cameron Diaz (she hugged him) and a nodding Pharrell Williams, the rap-producing impresario, and though Gore perhaps went on for a few paragraphs too long about how many tons of carbon a day are entering the oceans, the riser of international press and paparazzi were clearly gorging on the glamorama. Gore was his usual earnest self. A nerd? Maybe, but he was the nerd with Cameron and Pharrell, talking about the carbon cycle and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was the mixology -- high-wattage celebrity and energy-efficient light bulbs -- that helps the medicine go down.


And now he's hanging with people that all have homes premiered on MTV cribs... Am I supposed to be impressed because it is now trendy to be a Gore fan? Or because he now hangs with some of the biggest consumers in this country?
I noticed the absense of any mention as to how many houses Mr. Gore owns, or whether or not ANY of them are supplied with green power. Seems like a spin to lick Mr. Gores ass, if you ask me.
I said it before, and I will say it again... Limosene liberal. What I do is fine, as I am entitled. But you, Jonny six-pack and Billy punch clock must CONSERVE, or I will have no power for my mansions!
Douche chills abound. Thanx, it was as bad as I knew it would be.

[Chana3812]

Aug - take a chill pill. The biggest users of carbon energy aren't limosene liberals, but Giant Corporations who could care less about Jonny Six Pack & Billy Punch Clock. The megaconglomerates only care about the almighty buck and the power it brings. They will destroy the world in the process. Maybe a few starlets and celebrities will help the common man become aware of a daunting problem that must be addresses. Surely You don't have a problem with that, do you??

You are blaming the wrong dog and making a total idiot of yourself. Do some research dude, and come back and contribute something intelligent ... aye??

[MrDark71]

I feel the GOP has moderate enough individuals to keep the GOP vote with the party not to mention the blind obedient religeous right combined with the "rich enough you would be stupid not to" voters. The Democrats have who?...a woman named Clinton...and a Black man named Obama. What's wrong with that?...to me nothing...but to the mindless voters they see "Blowjobboy's crooked bitch dyke of a wife" and "Obama the darkie" running against the Prince of NY Rudy or McCain dressed in uniform...please I can just smell the apple pie. Even if they do win...I'll bet it will be Hillary. Her husband was compliant enough about Mena and the Balkans and he was in for 2 terms getting head from interns....in front of the world. Most of her recent blatherings scream of going along with globalization and supporting the position on Iraq.
I find it hard to believe anymore that their is a viable solution electorally. We have become a fascist state and have been that way for enough time to make our Constitution as valid as the Royal Family...a mere poster of freedom. Our politicians are token puppets .... year after year we end up voting for the better tasting shit sandwich. Many high ranking government positions are appointed and thus we have no control over them. It's all an illusion of democracy. The killing of JFK proves the voice of the people means little to the powers that be....you can never elect anything but a puppet.

[AuGmENTor]

Aug - take a chill pill. The biggest users of carbon energy aren't limosene liberals, but Giant Corporations who could care less about Jonny Six Pack & Billy Punch Clock. The megaconglomerates only care about the almighty buck and the power it brings. They will destroy the world in the process. Maybe a few starlets and celebrities will help the common man become aware of a daunting problem that must be addresses. Surely You don't have a problem with that, do you??

You are blaming the wrong dog and making a total idiot of yourself. Do some research dude, and come back and contribute something intelligent ... aye??May I suggest, oh rude one, that it is YOU that needs to ingest some sort of mood altering chemical. Or perhaps you already have, and that is why you felt the need to personally attack me? I'm making an idiot of myself because YOU want to give Al Gore a wet sloppy one? I think not. I do not call names unless there is a combative situation in progress that warrants it. I said nothing to YOU. I merely stated MY OPINION on Al gore.
Beyond that I take your point. We are a consumer driven market. If all the people didn't get together for a giant circle jerk, there would be a LOT less demand for the plastics and synthetics required for such an event. Not to mention the fossil fuels used in the transpotation to and from said event. AND the ones consumed in the production of the event. The libs always want to choose WHAT it is that should be controlled. Scrap all the glittzy bullshit, and THAT ALONE would reduce by how many metric tons per year of shit put in the atmosphere that everyone attending is oh so fucking worried about. I further posit that the man you cowtow to is a pawn of the megaconglomerates that you refer to. Otherwise, why the hypocracy? Where did Mr. Wonderful come across all his millions? I somehow doubt it was by investing in photovoltaic panels.
I will be the adult and apologize in advance for the things I have said that were insulting in this post. But WILL point out that they were a direct result of a VERY rude comment you made to me.

[AuGmENTor]

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash.htm
(AuGmENTor: Here's some of that research you asked for, and I didn't have to look that hard either. At the expense of sounding like an IDIOT, where's your mesiah NOW? Oh, that's right, doin his part... Wonder how many florescent fixtures adorn THAT estate?)


POWER: GORE MANSION USES 20X AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD; CONSUMPTION INCREASE AFTER 'TRUTH'
Mon Feb 26 2007 17:16:14 ET

Nashville Electric Service/Gore House

2006

High 22619 kWh Aug – Sept
Low 12541 kWh Jan - Feb
Average: 18,414 kWh per month

2005

High 20532 Sept - October
Low 12955 Feb - March
Average: 16,200 kWh per month

Bill amounts

2006 – $895.60 (low) $1738.52 (high) $1359 (average)
2005 – $853.91 (low) $1461 (high)

Nashville Gas Company

Main House
2006 – $990(high) $170 (low) $536 (average)
2005 – $1080 (high) $200 (low) $640 (average)

Guest House/Pool House

2006 – $820 (high) $70 (low) $544 (average)
2005 – $1025 (high) $25 (low) $525 (average)

The Tennessee Center for Policy Research (http://www.tennesseepolicy.org/main/article.php?article_id=367), an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan research organization, issued a press release late Monday:

Last night, Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy.

Gore’s mansion, [20-room, eight-bathroom] located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).

In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home.

The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.

Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.

Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.

Gore’s extravagant energy use does not stop at his electric bill. Natural gas bills for Gore’s mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year.

“As the spokesman of choice for the global warming movement, Al Gore has to be willing to walk to walk, not just talk the talk, when it comes to home energy use,” said Tennessee Center for Policy Research President Drew Johnson.

In total, Gore paid nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for his Nashville estate in 2006.

For Further Information, Contact:
Nicole Williams, (615) 383-6431
editor@tennesseepolicy.org

[AuGmENTor]

http://www.fairviewobserver.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070227/NEWS01/702270382/1321/MTCN06

(AuGmENTor: Here is another one. Boy, this guy is really growing on me. He is truly worthy of our votes. I mean, when Pditty is at MY estate, I know that dood likes his ice cubes EXTRA cold. I always kick up my freezer a bit when he's around. I will say tha I was suprised to read that he does do SOME green type stuff. But wouldn't the more sensible answer be to not have so many opulent homes? That's like saying, for every baby seal I murder, I donate 10$ to the save baby seals fund. There I go, being an IDIOT again...)

Tuesday, 02/27/07

Group questions level of energy use at Gore home

High electric billing records show 'green power' also was purchased

By ANNE PAINE
Staff Writer


A day after a film about his efforts to combat global warming won an Oscar, former Vice President Al Gore was called a hypocrite by a Tennessee group that said his Belle Meade home is consuming too much energy.

The home's average monthly electric bill last year was just under $1,200, according to bills that The Tennessean acquired from Nashville Electric Service.
"As the spokesman of choice for the global warming movement, Al Gore has to be willing to walk (the) walk, not just talk the talk, when it comes to home energy use," said Drew Johnson, president of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, identified as a free-market think tank.

Gore's power bill shows, however, that the former vice president may be doing just that.

Gore purchased 108 blocks of "green power" for each of the past three months, according to a summary of the bills.

That's a total of $432 a month Gore paid extra for solar or other renewable energy sources.

The green power Gore purchased in those three months is equivalent to recycling 2.48 million aluminum cans or 286,092 pounds of newspaper, according to comparison figures on NES' Web site.

NES joined the TVA program in 2000 to give power customers a way to support environmentally sound sources of electricity. The Tennessean could not determine when Gore signed up for green power.

NES gets its electricity from TVA. Most is produced from coal, which emits carbon, a greenhouse gas. A lesser amount comes from nuclear power and a small amount from hydroelectric.

An Inconvenient Truth, the movie about Gore's global warming battle, details how greenhouse gases are trapping heat next to the earth, causing a changing climate with melting ice caps and more violent storms.

"Every family has a different carbon footprint," said Kalee Krider, a spokeswoman for Gore. The Gores' 10,000-square-foot house on Lynnwood Boulevard has a large one.

The Green Power Switch program isn't all that Gore and his wife, Tipper, are doing, Krider said.

They use compact fluorescent light bulbs and are in the midst of a renovation project that includes having solar panels installed on their home to reduce fossil fuel consumption, she said.

Their car? A Lexis hybrid SUV.

"They, of course, also do the carbon emissions offset," she said.

That means figuring out how much carbon is emitted from home power use, and vehicle and plane travel, then paying for projects that will offset that with use of renewable energy, such as solar power.

Gore helped found Generation Investment Management, through which he and others pay for offsets. The firm invests the money in solar, wind and other projects that reduce energy consumption around the globe, she said.

Johnson, whose group usually focuses on government spending issues, said he "doesn't differ much from Al Gore on his environmental concerns."

"We went into this just asking the question, 'Is the leader of the environmental movement basically living up to his word?' Given that he's a Tennessean, I thought it's a question we should ask."

What they found is someone whose home uses as much power in a month as an average family would use in a year, he said.

In addition to the electric bill, the natural gas bill for Gore's home and guesthouse ran $1,080 per month last year, Johnson said.

"For someone in his position not to take steps to reduce his own energy consumption is disingenuous," he said. "He's simply not taking all the steps he can take and should take as the leader of the environmental movement."

Rather than attacking one man — Gore — Johnson and his group should be taking a larger view and trying to make a difference to reduce global warming, Krider said.

That should include helping to get government and corporations, which are big energy users, on board to reduce energy and move to renewable resources, she said.

"They're trying to single out one person rather than look at the big picture," Krider said.

[AuGmENTor]

Here are some more notable comments made by our HERO, Al Gore:


Mammogram...sonogram...honey graham...At an event in Las Vegas on Monday, 09/1800, Gore declared potential breast cancer victims faced "a long waiting line before they could get a biopsy or, uh, or a uh, another kind of, what am I looking for, a sonogram or...." People in the crowd shouted "mammogram."
(Source: Fox News 09/18/00; MSNBC 09/21/00 - The News with Brian Williams)
"Had that happened to Bush the news media would have used it to further the theme that the Texas Governor has a troubled relationship with the English language." - Brian Williams 09/21/00

Equal...if not more so?"When my sister and I were growing up," Mr. Gore told a small audience made up mostly of women, "there was never any doubt in our minds that men and women were equal, if not more so."
(Source: NY Times, 08/12/00)
Equal - if not more so? More so what? More "equal"? Who is more so? If two things are equal, what is the "more so" for?

Gore didn't reverse John 3:16, but he DID reverse Matthew 6:21 During the second debate, while discussing the environment, Gore said: "And I'm a grandfather now. I want to be able to tell my grandson, when I'm in my later years, that I didn't turn away from the evidence that showed that we were doing some serious harm. In my faith tradition, it is written in the book of Matthew, 'Where your heart is, there's your treasure also.' And I believe that we ought to recognize the value to our children and grandchildren of taking steps that preserve the environment in a way that's good for them."
Gore got the quote from Matthew 6:21 backwards. Matthew 6:21 states: "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." This follows verses 19 and 20 which say: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal."
This quote has nothing to do with the environment; it has to do with devotion to salvation The Bible verses specifically refer to being careful where you store your treasures - it follows the the reason would have to be because heart follows treasures. So not only did he misquote and misuse the quote - it is obvious he didn't know the context of the verse.

One thousand billion million trillion...Oct. 25 2000 JACKSON, Tenn. (Reuters) — Criticizing Bush's Social Security privatization plan at a rally in Tennessee, Gore said, "He is proposing to privatize a big part of Social Security and he's proposing to take $1 trillion, a million billion dollars out of the Social Security trust fund and give it as a tax incentive to young workers."
A trillion is one thousand billion, not a million billion.


Execute a pregnant woman? Uhh... I don't knowOn July 16, 2000 during a "Meet the Press" interview, Gore was asked if he would be in favor of postponing the execution of a pregnant woman. His hesitant response was "I'd have to think about it".
Apparently not prepared for this curve ball of a question, Gore must have been so conscientious about upsetting his pro-choice constituency that he couldn't even give the answer that was obvious to every member of the House which in uncharacteristically unanimous fashion passed legislation shortly after this interview to prohibit such a practice.

RUSSERT: Right now there's legislation which says that a woman on death row, if she's pregnant, she should not be executed. Do you support that?
GORE: I don't what you're talking about.
RUSSERT: It's a federal statue on the books that if a woman is pregnant and she's on death row, she should not be executed.
GORE: Well, I don't know what the circumstances would be in that situation. I would--you know, it's an interesting fact situation. I'd want to think (OFF-MIKE).
The full transcript is available here. (http://www.hereliesalgore.com/Meet_the_Press_000716.htm)


$29 dollars a week can buy a lot of Diet CokesIn his 2000 convention acceptance speech, Gore said the Bush tax cut would save the average family 62 cents a week ("enough for a diet coke"). He later clarified it and said 62 cents a day per family... which is still wrong. Even at 62 cents a day, that's only a little over $226 a year. Under the Bush tax plan, the average family would save $1500 -- $4.20 a day, which is almost $29 dollars a week.

I was there with James Lee Witt...oh, wait.... In the Presidential debate on October 3, 2000, Governor George W. Bush gave credit to the Federal Emergency Management Service (FEMA) for their work in Texas during fires and floods in Parker County. Vice President Al Gore said "I accompanied James Lee Witt down to Texas when those fires broke out." Carl Cameron, of Fox News first reported that Gore had not, in fact, been to Texas with Witt to look at the damage in Parker County. Gore WAS in Texas, but FEMA officials said Witt never went to Texas to deal with the 1998 fires.
To say that he was traveling with Witt implies strongly that Gore was traveling to a location in an official capacity. Gore was on his way to a fundraiser, and happened to run into FEMA people at the airport. The purpose of his trip was to attend a fundraiser, NOT to see the damage, as Gore implies. While Gore has accompanied Witt on other occasions, Gore didn't on this occasion, AND the purpose of this particular trip wasn't even connected with the disasters. Some claim Gore just "forgot" that Witt wasn't with him on this occasion... did Gore also forget the purpose of this particular trip?
"If James Lee was there before or after, then you know, I got that wrong then," Gore said on ABC's Good Morning America on October 4, 2000.
(Source: New York Post, October 5, 2000 "Gore's nose is growing again"

I was part of those discussions! Really!At a Sept. 22 press conference, Gore stated "I've been a part of the discussions on the strategic reserve since the days when it was first established." However, President Ford established the Strategic Petroleum Reserves when he signed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) on December 22, 1975 — two years before Al Gore became a congressman
(Source: Washington Post, Sept. 24 2000)
(note: it was actually 13 months, not 2 years as the Post states)
Now, technically, 1975 was when it was declared U.S. policy to establish a reserve, but the reserve was not established (sites purchased or built, etc) until 1977, when Gore was in Congress. However, isn't this yet another case of "fuzzy wording"? Gore phrases the initial statement to give the impression that he was somehow responsible or "part of something" from the outset, but leaves wiggle room so that he can later justify the statement. And isn't saying he was part of "discussions on the strategic reserve" meant to leave the impression that he was was part of the planning process, prior to the sites being purchased, etc? Decide for yourself.

A dog's health care costs less than my mother-in-law's! Vice President Al Gore, reaching for a personal example to illustrate the breathtaking costs of some prescription drugs, told seniors in Florida that his mother-in-law pays nearly three times as much for the same arthritis medicine used for his ailing dog, Shiloh. "That's pretty bad when you have got to pretend to be a dog or a cat to get a price break" he stated. Gore's mother-in-law does pay more for her medication, but the generic brand of the drug, which 85% of Americans now use as a cheaper alternative, costs half as much, or one and a half times what it costs for the pooch - not three times. In addition, given the complexities of the marketplace, and the steps people take to get a better deal, it can work the other way around: Pets "pretending" to be humans. The Gore campaign also admitted that it lifted those costs not from his family's bills, but from a House Democratic study, and that Gore misused even those numbers: They represent the manufacturer's price to wholesalers, not the retail price of the brand-name product.
Drug costs often cost more for humans, though, because they are more heavily regulated. Jeff Trewhett, the spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association of America, said the higher costs for the human version of patented drugs is justified because the research, development, and approval costs can surpass $500 million per drug. But once the drug is approved for humans, the cost to test and approve it for animals is minimal, he said. Interestingly enough, Gore is proposing more regulations on on top of what we have now. Our food also costs 3 times as much as the dog's... will Gore say that we have to pretend to be dogs to get affordable food?
(Source: "Gore misstates facts in drug-cost pitch" Boston Globe, 9/18/2000 )

E plu...what? "We can build a collective civic space large enough for all our separate identities, that we can be e pluribus unum -- out of one, many." E Pluribus Unum is the motto on the Great Seal of the United States of America, and is Latin for "out of many, one," not "out of one, many."
(Source: January 1994. From a Milwaukee speech to the Institute of World Affairs as quoted in Investor's Business Daily, October 25, 1996.)


Gore Loves Courtney Love. Finding himself talking to the controversial rock star Courtney Love at a Hollywood party, Mr. Gore attempted to charm her by telling her he was a fan. Rather than just accepting the easy compliment, Love cross-examined him.
"He goes 'I'm a really big fan'," said Love. "And I was like 'Yeah, right. Name a song, Al'." The answer came limply back: "I can't name a song, I'm just a really big fan."
Mr. Gore and his wife, Tipper, were the driving forces behind the campaign to make record companies put stickers on records that contained lyrics with sexually explicit content.
(Sources: The [London] Times, 10/1/98; Courtney Love recounted this event on the May 20, 1999 Late Show with David Letterman )

Well, I'll keep looking for some more information to substantiate that AL, not I, am an idiot. Could it be that this idiot just got a better publicist? Or did he maybe get some smart pills somewhere?

[AuGmENTor]

http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=259542253407130


Solar Eclipse Of The Facts
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Posted 3/23/2007

Environmentalism: The same day that Al Gore lectured Congress about man-made global warming, NASA made a startling announcement: The sun is hotter and more active than thought.

NASA detailed new observations of solar explosions from a powerful space telescope that recently beamed back X-ray images of the sun's outermost layer. Scientists expected to see a calm region but instead saw a bubbling mass of swaying and arching spikes, some more than 5,000 miles long . The tangled magnetic fields dump energy back into the corona, causing huge temperature flares.

The sunspot intensity shocked NASA astronomers, who held the press conference in Washington as Gore testified nearby that the planet has a 'fever' caused by carbon-spewing humans. Of course, the media were too busy genuflecting before The Goracle on the Hill to cover the NASA news.

'If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor,' Gore intoned. 'If the doctor says you need to intervene, you take action.'

Yes, action such as 'completely eliminating the internal combustion engine' and riding bicycles, taxing factories into bankruptcy and building windmills. In short, creating a 'carbon-free economy' and impoverishing everyone in the process.

But what if the doctor has misdiagnosed the cause of the fever? What if the remedy Gore is prescribing is dead wrong?

He and the rest of the greenhouse gasbags won't even entertain the simplest explanation for global warming. Like a solar eclipse, they've blotted out debate on the sun's factor, despite growing evidence to support it.

As we have pointed out, global temps closely track solar cycles as measured by sunspot intensity. The Danish Meteorological Institute first reported the correlation in a study going back centuries. Historic data reveal that whenever the sun heated up, the earth heated up, and vice versa.

The sun causes global warming? What a concept!

But Gore shamelessly buried the inconvenient truth of the study in the footnotes of his book. If he acknowledged the sun's role in global warming, how could he justify taxing industry and launching his massive wealth-transfer scheme?

Here's another fact he won't talk about on his way to a Nobel Prize: Mars is also warming. NASA says ice caps near that planet's south pole are melting. A growing number of scientists say solar irradiance is heating both Mars and Earth simultaneously.

And here's another inconvenient fact: The sun's radiation has increased by 0.5% per decade since the late 1970s, while carbon output has waxed and waned with global recessions. If warming were caused by carbon output, you'd expect to see temps fall in slumps and rise in booms along with carbon output. Data show no such link.

The Hoover Institution ran the numbers. 'The effects of solar activity and volcanoes were impossible to miss. Temperatures fluctuated exactly as expected, and the pattern was so clear that, statistically, the odds of the correlation existing by chance were less than 1 in 100,' according to a study earlier this decade by Hoover fellow Bruce Berkowitz.

'Yet try as we might,' the study added, 'we simply could not find any relationship between industrial activity, energy consumption, and changes in global temperatures. We tried adjusting for delayed effects. We tried adjusting for cumulative effects. Nothing — the relationship wasn't there.'

The study concluded that even if you completely shut down factories and power plants — as Gore recommends — 'there would not be much effect on temperatures.'

Ouch, so much for that theory. If the planet has a 'fever,' it more than likely got it from the sun, not furnaces and engines.

[Chana3812]

NASA - WHOLLY OWNED AND RUN BY THE PENTAGON

nuff said

[dMole]

All praise AL GORE! Unless it's Hillary! Our Saviour(s)! [cynical eyes rolling upward]

[dMole]

Environmentalism: The same day that Al Gore lectured Congress about man-made global warming, NASA made a startling announcement: The sun is hotter and more active than thought.

NASA detailed new observations of solar explosions from a powerful space telescope that recently beamed back X-ray images of the sun's outermost layer. Scientists expected to see a calm region but instead saw a bubbling mass of swaying and arching spikes, some more than 5,000 miles long . The tangled magnetic fields dump energy back into the corona, causing huge temperature flares.

The sunspot intensity shocked NASA astronomers, who held the press conference in Washington as Gore testified nearby that the planet has a 'fever' caused by carbon-spewing humans.


Wel den 'da Ali G interview was spot on den, yo?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTKedyQQkZQ

;)

[AuGmENTor]

And besides, I think you woke up to the truth about this guy.


Al Gore is criticised for lining his own pockets after £3,300-per-minute green speech

By NATHAN KAY - More by this author » (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/dmsearch/overture.html?in_page_id=711&in_overture_ua=cat&in_start_number=0&in_restriction=byline&in_query=nathan%20kay&in_name=on&in_order_by=relevance+date) Last updated at 23:25pm on 8th December 2007 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/i/commentIconSm.gif Comments (2) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=500586&in_page_id=1766#StartComments)

Al Gore has come under fire for making personal gain from his mission to save the planet – after charging £3,300 a minute to deliver a poorly received speech.



The former American Vice-President was also accused of being "precious" at the London event, demanding his own VIP room and ejecting journalists, despite hopes the star-studded gathering would generate publicity for the fight against global warming.

Many of the audience at last month's Fortune Forum summit were restless as Mr Gore, who has won both a Nobel Peace Prize and an Oscar for his campaigning work this year, delivered the half-hour speech that netted him £100,000.

Scroll down for more...

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/12_01/algoreMOS0812_468x355.jpgExclusion zone: The former Vice-President, with Fortune Forum's founder Renu Mehta


The glittering fundraiser was held in The Royal Courts of Justice and attracted world leaders, entrepreneurs and celebrity activists including Bob Geldof, Darryl Hannah and Jerry Hall, who was there as "a Special Ambassador of The Alliance for a New Humanity". Guests had paid between £1,000 and £50,000 to attend.

But a source told The Mail on Sunday: "Many guests looked tired and began to talk among themselves during his speech. Heads began to twitch with tiredness.

"Al uses his position for great personal gain. He goes from event to event delivering a similar speech, earning a large fee, and a lot of the time he doesn't actually inform the audience.

"He refused to speak to journalists and security would usher away VIP guests and the Press.

"He was being very precious and demanded his own VIP room before the event, where he held his own exclusive reception.

"The other guests were cut off. It was very clear that many guests were disappointed by this."

Sroll down for more...

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/10_01/truthgoreL0310_468x365.jpgBore: Gore picked up £100,000 for delivering a speech 'similar' to all the others and had heads 'twitching with tiredness'


Even some of the charities benefitting from the event were unhappy with the actions of 59-year-old Mr Gore and his entourage, especially the way they treated invited guests.

Paul Hetherington, media relations manager for WaterAid, said: "Pictures couldn't be taken and people were being moved out of the main hall so they couldn't experience the event. It was very disruptive.

"We had to apologise to people who were invited. We wanted to say thank you for all the support that many people had given us, but some of them were asked to leave.

"Many guests were invited by the hosts, so why should the speaker have any control over these guests and removing the media? It defeated the object of trying to raise awareness of the cause."

A source added: "Al had two people working for him: a woman who was his assistant and a male security officer who enrolled the help of security guards at The Royal Courts of Justice in a military-style operation to guard Al Gore. They took over the show."

However, a spokesman for Mr Gore, who won his Oscar for the polemic documentary An Inconvenient Truth, told The Mail on Sunday: "Mr Gore donates a percentage of all of his speaking fees to the Alliance for Climate Protection.

"With regards to the media arrangements, some of Mr Gore's events are open to the media, some of them are not. As you know, he has many open events coming up, including the Nobel Peace Prize.

"Unfortunately, this event had more limited availability. I do apologise for that. He does do his best to speak to reporters as often as possible."

Fortune Forum, which was founded by socialite ex-model Renu Mehta last year with the aim of attracting wealthy philanthropists to large-scale social and environmental projects, declined to comment.






http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=500586&in_page_id=1766&ito=1490

[dMole]

Where did Mr. Wonderful come across all his millions? I somehow doubt it was by investing in photovoltaic panels.


Ummm, well his daddy, Albert Gore Sr. was a lawyer, VP, and on the Board of Directors for Occidental Petroleum Company.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Gore%2C_Sr

Then there's that little strip mining for zinc thing that "runs in the family."

http://www.debatethis.org/gore/enviro/mining.html

http://bearcreekledger.com/2007/03/18/al-gore-strip-mining-owner/

Give that man a Nobel Prize- Mr. Environment fo' sho'.

[AuGmENTor]

Nice follow up d.

[dMole]

"Shock and [researched] Awe" cuts both ways, eh AuGgie?