The Road to Hell is Paved With...

The androids at Google decided to engage in pointless environmental gestures when they blackened their normally white webpage in commemoration of Earth Hour. The global event encouraged people around the world to turn off their lights at 8:00P to 9:00P on March 29th.



"Unfortunately, on LCD monitors sized 22 inches or less, Google's new black actually consumes more energy than its usual white one."

~ Sisyphus, cross-posted at The Sisyphus Files.

Earth Hour: Going That Extra Mile, Making A Difference

A lot of the discussion about Earth Hour participation has focussed on directly using more energy. This is indeed a very important effort. But please, everyone, don't forget to waste food too! Remember, you can always buy more food than you need, and put the extra stuff straight into the trash.

In our affluent capitalist society, we often like to forget that food has its own carbon footprint. And, unlike an unnecessary hour-long empty-dishwasher session, it takes up space in a landfill if you just go ahead and trash fresh food without eating a bite. You can make a difference that will be felt for millennia. Simultaneously turning on your air conditioning and your space heaters may feel good now, but you can change the world forever with a few simple gestures like this.

If you are worried about your contribution just rotting away and not making a difference, then the easy solution is to make sure you store it in imperishable containers and throw the entire package into the garbage. For example, Big Mac-style styrofoam or microwave-safe plastic lunch containers will ensure that space is forever taken up in landfill sites. Remember, it takes energy to make those containers too! The rule of thumb for preventing hungry dumpster-divers from interdicting your contribution is to fill the remaining space in the plastic container with laundry detergent.

And don't forget to throw out the food's original packaging! Why not use an extra plastic container to keep it safe on its journey into the garbage?

This earth hour, think inside the box.

Light up for Earth Hour

What will you be doing to participate in Earth Hour?

I, for one, will be LIGHTING UP as much as possible. I know, I know. Earth Hour is supposed to bring attention to the impact of greenhouse gases and spur millions around the globe to participate in an, albeit symbolic, act to combat global warming.

But we here at A Dog Named Kyoto know better, much better. We know that climate change is natural and that human activities, including carbon emissions, really have little or no impact on global warming (or cooling).

We know that there has been no warming of our climate since 1998 - no warming for the past 10 years! We know that this global warming alarmism is possibly the greatest fraud ever perpetrated on the human race.

We know that this Earth Hour is all just a bunch of foolishness and that most sensible people will be ignoring it. But that's just wrong. We can't ignore this nonsense! Therefore, I'm encouraging all thinking people, like you readers of this blog, (you know who you are - both of you!) to participate in Earth Hour 2008 in your own special way.

Here's a few suggestions:

• Light up as much as possible, preferably with good old fashioned and environmentally friendly incandescent bulbs - none of those new fangled mercury filled compact flourescent lamps (CFLs) allowed. They're too dim anyway!
  
• Heck, I still haven't taken the Christmas lights down yet, gonna plug them babies back in again!
• Fire up the Hummer, the 4x4 or SUV. Let 'er idle for the full 60 minutes!
  

Here's a few more ideas previously posted by the always wise Lisa:

The London Fog, Dust My Broom, Mitchieville and Lisa's Kitchen invite you to hasten Spring. Burn as much hydro as you can during this hour. Turn on every light and lamp, fire up the space heaters, bake some bread, cook some soup, do some laundry, print some recipes and be sure to flush. Do your part to combat global cooling.

Or how about a couple of videos to spark the imagination?



That 2nd video clearly shows that lighting up is a lot more exciting than sitting in the dark for an hour.

It all happens between 8:00 and 9:00 pm Saturday! We're sure you can think of other interesting ways to celebrate Earth Hour. Let us know in the comments.

I, a Dog Named Kyoto, wrote this.

Update: Unearthed Hour by Andrew Bolt.

Psychologically Teabagged By Alex Trebek

Please phrase your answer in the form of loud, hurtful laughter:

So here I am, calling out questions and watching the scores increase as these incredibly smart young women rally to get into the semis. They cleared the board and waited eagerly as the categories for Double Jeopardy were announced. While I can only remember one in retrospect (and you’ll see why it’s the impetus for this article), the line-up featured the typical topics, and the announcing went something like this: Potpourri, Famous Americans, Starts With ‘S’, Balls, Abbreviations… Wait, what? Balls? Yes, Balls. Balls. Balls was one of the categories in Double Jeopardy for a panel of three female contestants during the 2008 Teen Tournament.

As many feminists, anti-racists, and other –ists may tell you, our Western world is one in which outrageous situations/comments/behaviours/etc. can and do get our backs up around every corner. For this reason, it’s always beneficial to pause, take a breath, and then ask, Did that really happen? Is this as upsetting as I think it is? At least that’s something I do to try and keep from flying off the handle for only the must justifiable of reasons. In this case, I paused, took a breath, and thought, Wtf? Yes, this is that upsetting.

This London IndyMedia post said "Mitchieville" in so many ways. Read the whole thing and resolve never to give one more inch to a bluenose feminist when it comes to entertaining such hysterical fantasies.