Do as we say, not as we do - the new theme for NBC's coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics? Quite possibly.
WTHR, the NBC affiliate for Indianapolis, reported from Beijing and described the set used for the network's two highest-rated news broadcasts - "Nightly News" and "Today" - as air conditioned, even though it is outdoors.
"The set is outside, but air conditioning vents make the weather bearable," Anne Marie Tiernon wrote for WTHR Eyewitness News on August 14.
Even NBC "Today" co-host Matt Lauer remarked about the air conditioning, but complained the weather was still uncomfortable even with the luxury.
"The first couple of nights even with the air conditioning it was steamy in here, but we've been lucky ever since," Lauer said to WTHR. "It's been overcast some days, takes the temperature down. We call it fog smog."
Last fall, the network performed a publicity stunt on the November 4 broadcast of its highly-rated Sunday Night NFL show, "Football Night in America." The broadcast used limited lighting for the broadcast and even went completely dark for the final moments of the program.
The effort was to raise awareness and set an example for the rest of the country. However, the same example isn't being set for the broadcast from the world's biggest polluter, China.
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Jeff
August 18, 2008 - 09:54 ET by shawn228When it comes to Al Gore, I totally agree about the hypocrisy about the Private airplain and this house in Tenessee. However, the weather in Beijing is extremely hot and muggy.
If this set is outdoors, then air conditioning is needed and it is only for two weeks.
Real life video games are cool
Poor things...
August 18, 2008 - 22:54 ET by UnsanePlay me some violins! Beijing is hot and muggy?
Then they can move to the air-conditioned International Broadcast Center. Especially considering they are working under lights. By the way, I doubt Beijing's humidity is anywhere NEAR Seoul's.
The Olympics are now under way in Beijing. May the people of Beijing get thoroughly sick of hearing The Star Spangled Banner. May the Beijing Olympic Committee run out of U.S. flags for the medal ceremonies! USA! USA!! USA!!!
I think they are being completely consistent with their ideology
August 18, 2008 - 10:00 ET by JohnMcGrewPracticing liberals/socialists/Marxists have always behaved this way. You see, being kept “comfortable” allows them to practice their craft “for the greater good” far more effectively than if they were to have to sit there and sweat like the rest of us. As I selfishly sit at my home watching the Olympic broadcast, I am not doing anything to add to the “collective conscious” like they are, so my use of air conditioning is a complete waste, and an affront to the environment.
It’s no different than the silk green shirts that China’s leaders wore during the cultural revolution versus the poor quality green shirts the proletariat were made to wear. Or how Al Gore lives in a mansion and transports about limos, SUVs, and private jets as the does the “greater good”.
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Of all the “Marxists” I knew when I was in school, I can’t remember a single one who was planning on just being one of the “workers”.
Damn you, Matt Lauer!!!
August 18, 2008 - 10:23 ET by jefflebowskiDamn you while you blather in cool, air-conditioned comfort as our world is rapidly melting from the global warming!! Just yesterday, I personally witnessed a polar bear clinging to what was left of his glacier floating down the river.....and I live in Dallas! We've got big problems and it's all your fault Matt Lauer!!!!
Jeff Lebowski
www.angrywhitedude.c...
Well isn't outdoor air
August 18, 2008 - 12:31 ET by wiwfWell isn't outdoor air conditioning helping stop global warming by cooling the outside?
Gotta love hypocrisy
The Rocky Mountain Collegian: Illustrating Idiocy
Brilliant! We just need to
August 18, 2008 - 15:02 ET by Chris NormanBrilliant! We just need to buy Sear's largest super-duper window unit - and I mean BIG.
McNotObama '08
Perfect Explanation
August 18, 2008 - 12:41 ET by mbs6JohnMcGrew gives spot on analysis of the liberal Marxist mindset. If you ever wondered why liberals don't feel guilty for not heeding their own positions, now you know why. Liberals don't believe in accomplishing tasks which are within their immediate sphere of influence. They believe in using force to require it of entire societies.
I can use myself as an analogy from the conservative viewpoint: I am staunchly anti-abortion. If I thought like liberals do, I would run around pronouncing abortion akin to murder and calling it one of the most devastating moral issues of our time and one in which the debate is over. Then, I would tell my daughters to go ahead and have abortions until I can get the government to pass a law stopping it. Sounds ridiculous, but that's exactly the way liberals behave when it comes to their global warming hysteria.
It's always someone else's responsbility to do the real work.
August 18, 2008 - 15:47 ET by JohnMcGrewAfter decades of socialist failure, the elitists on the left do understand that the lazy society they have spawned is not interested in making real sacrifice, by choice anyway. So they have to be tricked into it. Being “green” was fun when it meant that other people had to make the personal changes and do the heavy lifting:
o The government would force other people to produce “more efficient” cars, as though there’s some mysterious reason as to why they don’t already …
o The government would then force other people to buy them…
o The government would force other people to generate electricity from “green” sources…
o The government would punish people other who emit carbon via activities that are not politically correct… (and would ignore carbon emitted by activities that are)
o …and if they’ve got enough disposable income, they can even buy “carbon credits” so that they can fool themselves into thinking that other people will make any sacrifices for them.
But all of a sudden when people find out that being “green” means that they must actually sacrifice their standard of living, have to pay $4 for gas, double or triple for heating oil & gas, and they might even lose their job either because of a slowed economy or because their employer isn’t “green” enough, they’re no longer nearly as interested.
The media will ignore this until long after it’s obvious to nearly every breathing soul, but it is happening: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article4474202.ece
Nobody will care about being “green” when they don’t know where their next meal or paycheck is coming from. The reality is that no society has ever valued “green” until it became affluent. And once a society is no longer affluent, it will not value being “green”. This is why the liberal/socialist/Marxist version of the “green” movement will ultimately fail in saving the environment. It’s hardly a surprise that much of Eastern Europe became a toxic waste dump after decades of communism.
a practical matter
August 18, 2008 - 18:16 ET by WesenThe first thing air conditioning does is reduce humidity. The Chinese were interested in peoples comfort. I'd go for that option in Baltimore anytime. No story here.