What the bears wear in Bali

I don't have too many fond memories of the Bali climate conference, but watching the polar bears get dressed was kind of fun.


The bears were part of a demonstration organized by an NGO. Environmental groups were putting on little stunts like these every day, because they realized the conference itself, with its mind-numbing recitations of jargon, made for bad television.


"Drink a lot of water, it's hot out there," the person in charge kept saying. And "keep your heads off," an interesting inversion of the usual advice regarding heads.

Finally, donning their heads at the last moment, they went out into the heat to do their little chant. I didn't follow; it really was a lot cooler inside the media center.