Yesterday at the Church of Oprah

I wasn't feeling well yesterday afternoon (cold? allergies? flu?) and decided to have some tylenol and lie down. While lying down I turned on the TV and the Church of Oprah had a service on global warming, with Leonardo di Caprio as guest celebrant.

Leo's catchphrase was AlGore's "most pressing environmental issue of our time: global warming." bs:

Leo says global warming is not only the number one issue affecting the environment—it's one of the most important issues facing all of humanity.

Oprah was dazzled by Leo's brilliance and, I'm not making this up, asked him "You're so young. How did you learn so much?"

Now, Leo, who played Howard Hughes, one of the greatest aeronatical innovators of all time, was born in 1974. He's well into his 30s.

• By age 27, Howard Hughes had formed the Hughes Aircraft Company division of Hughes Tool
• By age 30, Howard had not only built and personally test-piloted the world's most advanced plane, but was already breaking speed records in it.

Leo is not a rocket scientist, he only played one on screen. I could only think of Keith Burgess-Jackson's article on the common fallacy about the transferability of expertise and authority (update the term for which is Argumentum ad Verecundiam).

I rolled my eyes, turned off the TV and listened to some Mozart, another young achiever.

The Church of Oprah: "your leading source for information about love, life, self, relationships, food, home, spirit and health"; but not for science. Stick to telling us HOW TO LOOK (AT LEAST) 10 YEARS YOUNGER, O.

Update: So if Oprah is a church, what is The View? Or do I even want to know?

(This week's previous posts on global warming here and here.)

(technorati tags Oprah, Leonardo di Caprio, Al Gore, Global Warming, Science, Richard S. Lindzen)