Next week's ER...

[Reverend_Smitty]

Judging by the previews, it looks like they are going to tackle a story about Iraq. I know the writers are pretty liberal so I hope it's a good one

[madison2000]

1. If the writers are pretty liberal (I agree) what is the deal with Crichton

and his new book which is anti-environmentalist. What is his problem?

[Reverend_Smitty]

2. maybe he doesn't have much of an active role...

in the writing and day to day business with the show anymore

[The Revolution]

5. I just finished reading State of Fear

(Spoilers ahead). I thought it was pretty good. The way people talk, you'd think it was nothing but hundreds of pages of ranting against environmentalists. It does go after environmental groups, as well as people who claim to be environmentalists but make excuses for why they need an SUV. What it proposes is that the global warming problem may not be as severe as some people would like us to believe. That global warming, like the threat of terrorism, is greatly exaggerated by political/media culture in order to create fear in the population.

Now, I don't know whether that's true or not. I'm not a climatologist, I don't study the data, and I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on the matter. But I found the idea interesting. Remember, one of the differences between the right and the left is that Liberals tend to be much more open minded. If you really believe in something, you shouldn't be afraid to at least examine evidence that opposes your belief.

The real message of the book though, is that we aren't really solving any problems. Attempts to preserve the environment will always end up changing it. Neither industry or environmental scientist's work can be trusted because they simply provide the results desired by whoever is funding them.

At the end of the book, one of the characters proposes a new type of environmental organization that will simply analyze problems and fix them, without all the political and media hype. No bullshit, just solve the problem. He talks about working to end poverty and the positive effects that will have on the environment.

So I don't think it's really anti-environmentalist. It just proposes that the current group of environmental organizations have become part of the establishment and aren't really doing any good any more.

[hollywood926]

3. I have NEVER watched ER, but...

I heard there was a lesbian storyline and now I might! Tell me about the lesbian storyline!

[murielm99]

4. Dr. Carrie is a lesbian.

She and her lover, Sandy, who was an EMT, had a baby together. Then, they killed off Sandy. I was mad that they killed off the lesbian. I thought it was mean.

Anyway, Carrie has been fighting Sandy's family for custody of Henry, the child. Sandy's siblings are sympathetic, but her parents are not.

Last week was good. Carrie was adopted. She met her birth mother, at long last. Her birth mother was a fundie, who got all shocked about Carrie's sexual orientation. Carrie handled it well. You would have like the things Carrie said to her mother.