The Republic of T.

I’ve got some stuff in mind to post, but first I have to get lunch and do any number of things. And I might not get around to posting anyway.

Since a big portion of my day job is promoting other people’s writing, I might as well do the same here. Besides, I come across more worthwhile content than I have space to promote at work. And if I’m not creating any content myself….

Anyway. Here’s some of what I’ve been reading this morning.

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I’ve been so focused on other issues lately that I haven’t done much blogging about religionand politics. (With one exception.) But I’ve been filing away stories I thought I’d blog about at the time they happened. I didn’t the, but a couple of recent stories jogged my memory.

It’s something, I think, when Southern Baptists shift positions on global warming, considering how many objections to the idea of global warming are based on literal readings of the Bible. (Basically, global warming isn’t in the Bible, so it can’t be real.)

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He “lost” the presidency in 2000, has won an Oscar and an Emmy since then, and now Gore just won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their work to raise awareness about global warming.

…The former vice president said he would donate his half of the $1.5 million prize to The Alliance for Climate Protection, a U.S. organization founded by Gore that aims to persuade people to cut emissions and reduce global warming.

…The Nobel committee praised Gore as being “one of the world’s leading environmentalist politicians.”

He is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted,” said Mjoes

The Nobel caps a series of prestigious awards associated with Gore, including two Oscars this year for the documentary film, “An Inconvenient Truth,” which followed him on a worldwide tour publicizing the dangers of climate change.

Last month he also picked up an Emmy — the highest award in U.S. television — for “Current TV.” The show, which Gore co-created, describes itself as a global television network that gives its viewers the opportunity to create and influence its programming.

In all this, it’s natural to speculate whether Gore will announce a run for president, whether he should run, and whether he could win. I can’t blame people for hoping for all three. After all, can anyone who supported him in the 2000 race, and has rued the outcome for the past seven years not help feeling vindicated? Can we help comparing the president we have to the president we could have had?

Technorati Tags: 2008 election, current events, politics, al gore

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What out for the exploding heads of wingnuts. I saw this on The Blue State when I started my reading this morning, only to have it confirmed later. Al Gore has been nominated for the Nobel Prize.

Former Vice President Al Gore was nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his wide-reaching efforts to draw the world’s attention to the dangers of global warming, a Norwegian lawmaker said Thursday.

“A prerequisite for winning the Nobel Peace Prize is making a difference, and Al Gore has made a difference,” Conservative Member of Parliament Boerge Brende, a former minister of environment and then of trade, told The Associated Press.

Brende said he joined political opponent Heidi Soerensen of the Socialist Left Party to nominate Gore as well as Canadian Inuit activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier before the nomination deadline expired Thursday.

Oh, boy. This ought to be good. To give you an idea of how good, I posted earlier about one objection to Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth being shown in Washington state schools.

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I’ve picked on SUV drivers before, for overcompensating and hybrid-hating. I guess I shouldn’t since at least a couple of people in my extended family drive SUVs, but being a city-dweller I can’t look at one without asking “Where do you park that thing?” and “Can you at least spray some mud on it if you’re never really gonna go off-roading?”

I think what roused my ire was a post-9/11 SUV commercial that featured billowing American flags and a chorus enthusiastically singing “Keep on Rolling! Keep on Rolling! Wooooooo, hooooooo, hoooooo!” in what I figured was some kind of crass attempt to piggyback Dubya’s exploitation of “Let’s roll”, while also sending the not-so subtle message that if Americans don’t stop buying SUVs then the terrorists have won.

Or something like that. Well, apparently the terrorists are winning now. Americans are buying fewer SUVs.

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Maybe global warming will cook the red states, maybe not. If it does, maybe that's the way they want it.

Will global warming depopulate the "red states"? Discuss.