Open Question on Sustainability Week

I've been wondering: Can anyone explain to me why the posters for Harvard's Sustainability Week which are meant to encourage us to "Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. RETHINK." are approximately 4 times larger than any other poster I've ever seen on campus?

Just curious.

In other news, hooray for Al Gore speaking tomorrow!

Another old video...

I couldn't help posting this:

I stumbled across it while writing my paper...which I should get back to...

Gore ’69 wins Nobel

The Nobel Committee announced this morning that Al Gore will win the Nobel Peace Prize alongside the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

In related news, President Bush is rumored to be a strong candidate for this year's Miss Teen Texas.

My Name Is Al

MyDD's Chris Bowers seizes on some interesting numbers from Gallup, on the electability -- that ol' saw -- of some 2008 Dem candidates. Now, whether or not you think electability is something we as primary voters should worry about (hint: JOHN KERRY), these poll results are worth a look. To steal Chris' table:

I have added some emphasis to point out the one statistic that startled me. Perhaps you noticed.

56% of Democrats think that Al Gore, if nominated, would have little to no chance of winning the presidency. Buh? What happened to Dreamy Moviestar Gore, our Knight in Shining Armor come riding in to win the election in a landslide? Ask any Harvard Dem, or most any blogger, and it's just assumed that he's a political Übermensch who could beat any Republican (as I always say: "hell, guys, he's already done it once"). Almost everyone I've talked to would abandon their current campaigns for him.

But as usual, the sentiments of Harvard kids and blogofascists are at odds with the public at large. Seems the rank and file still think of Gore as the stiff, wooden, earth-tone-wearing, Internet-inventing hack he was in the 2000 campaign; and they even think John "Breck Girl" Edwards has a better shot at winning than he does. (On that one they have a point.)

I don't claim to say that either perspective on Gore's marketability is necessarily correct. But it's an important reminder that perceptions about things like electability are not always consistent, obvious, or helpful; which raises the question of whether such factors should even be included in our political calculations.

After all, this may be a uniquely American problem. I say this because, among the 2006 candidates for the Italian Senate (I learned today) was this woman, Rita Pavone:

And if they can run a woman who dances with cartoon potatoes, somehow I'm not too worried about a former Vice President.

(OK, this entire post was just an excuse to put up that video. You know what? I don't care. I've been watching it for days. Sue me.)

Oscars Tonight