May 09, 2008: Gore: No cabinet position for me
“I won’t accept a cabinet post regardless of which of the three candidates wins the presidency,” Gore said yesterday. “I am looking for a way to bring about change in other ways,” the former vice president and former Democratic presidential candidate said.
One place Al could start to look for “a way to bring about change’ is at Apple Computer, where he serves on the board of directors. Instead of enriching himself on stock options and covering up for the misdeeds of Steve Jobs, Al should take a look at the environmental record of the company whose cash he is so happy to pocket.
May 09, 2008
Apple slammed on climate change
ClimateCounts survey on climate friendliness rates Apple far behind other computer companies
Apple is once again being pilloried on the strength of its green credentials, taking last place among computer firms rated within a recent ClimateCounts survey on climate friendliness.
Apple achieved just 11 points in the survey, far behind other computer companies rated in the annual list. IBM, Canon and Toshiba took first, second and third place with scores of 77, 74 and 70, respectively. The maximum score was 100 points.
If climate change is indeed the most serious threat mankind has ever faced, how can Gore be on the board of a company with such a shoddy record on environmental issues? Al’s fellow environmentalists have been urging him to act and influence Apple for a more than a year.
In fact, Gore has been on the Apple board for more than five years now! He has had plenty of opportunity to insist that the company live up to the standards he demands everyone else follow. What could possibly explain his refusal to do so? I wonder…
60,000 dead or missing in Burma and what does Al Gore see? Opportunity.
Speaking of eco hypocrites, here’s a list of Hollywood’s biggest Green phonies.
Troop trasher Stephen King isn’t happy with the “right wing blogs”. The feeling is mutual.
Have you seen Roger Clemens new commercial for AT&T?
Why Hillary stays in the race. Why she won’t..
Mrs. Obama’s Gospel of Bitterness
Lowering the drinking is a legit issue, but this is ridiculous.
How much ugly can you buy for a billion dollars?
They deserve everything they get.
The unspoken issue, judges.
Jews for Jihad in Boston?
I picked up the phone early this morning to get Todd Feinburg’s take on last night’s results in North Carolina and Indiana. Todd stuck with the theme of his new American Thinker column,
The race for the Democratic nomination has reached a critical intersection. Hillary Clinton suffered a body blow with her failure to win big in Indiana. But with the rock star candidate hobbled by the preacher and bomber, it’s hard to imagine that Barack Obama won’t be looking more like an aging one hit wonder come fall against John McCain.
“I don’t want to sound like an ad, a public service ad on TV, but the fact is if you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don’t, then you’ve got, the Army, Iraq, I don’t know, something like that. It’s, it’s not as bright. So, that’s my little commercial for that.”
Why do I get the feeling that Stephen King drives around the back roads of Maine in a late model Volvo with a Kerry for President bumper sticker still on it.
His next book is an autobiography titled Ignoramus Maximus.
This can’t be, can it? I mean, it is a private matter? This doesn’t rise to level of high crimes and misdemeanors?
Snark.
Ohio Dems have apparently lifted the party’s 10-year ban on impeachment as an option for politicians who refuse to resign after having sex with subordinants.
Ohio Dems talking impeachment after AG refuses to resign
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Risking impeachment, Ohio’s attorney general on Monday refused demands from the governor and other fellow Democrats that he resign over a sexual harassment scandal in his office and an affair with a subordinate.
Gov. Ted Strickland told reporters that Democrats will begin drafting an impeachment resolution against Attorney General Marc Dann right away. Republican House Speaker Jon Husted said Monday that his chamber—which takes the first step in any impeachment—was already reviewing the process.
Virtually every state-level Democratic officeholder urged Dann to resign in a letter late Sunday after Strickland tried twice during the day to persuade him to leave office.
Hillary Clinton was not available for comment.
Tonight we discussed veterans healthcare with a specific focus on traumatic brain injuries. We spent an hour with Bruce McQuain from QandO.net and Annette, a dedicated wife and care giver for Eric, who was severely wounded in Iraq. Bruce spent 28 years in the Army and provided some perspective on the challenges the VA is facing, while Annette told us about the consequences. The unfortunate thing is that her story is not unusual. It tracks perfectly with this editorial from Lawrence Downes of the New York Times,
For Wounded Veterans and Their Families, a Journey Without Maps
At a recent hearing in Washington before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, the men’s families told anguished tales of trips through bureaucratic hell in the transition between the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs. That terrain is notorious for its paperwork mountains and tripwires of red tape, but especially treacherous for those with traumatic brain injuries, the signature affliction of this five-year-old war.
Mr. Bunce lost an eye in a roadside bomb blast that also thrust shrapnel into his frontal lobe. His father, Peter, said his care was so “stovepiped,†with nobody knowing what anyone else was doing, that doctors working on his head ignored his broken leg. Technicians nearly did an M.R.I. on his brain, not realizing — because scans had not been done — the danger from the metal in his skull. Nobody tried to coordinate his many medications.
Time and again his parents had to cross the country looking for the right therapies and treatment. Whatever expertise they found they stumbled on; there was no one but them to manage his case. The V.A. relied on the brain-damaged young corporal to evaluate his own mental state, and once sent him a letter threatening to cut off benefits because he could not manage his affairs.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who has been tremendous IMHO, gets it and is making changes,
FORT BLISS, Texas – U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday said the military had made mistakes in treating returning combat troops including in their physical and mental health care and by providing some sub-standard housing.
In a visit to Fort Bliss, Texas, Gates announced a change in government procedures to encourage troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) without fear of losing their security clearances and harming their careers.
The announcement came just a day after closing arguments in a San Francisco federal court case in which veterans allege the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is unable to deal with the growing number of PTSD cases emerging from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
As Bruce mentioned, PTSD and brain injuries are very different things. That said, neither situation is being adequately addressed by the VA, for a variety of reasons.
Annette was a very compelling guest, helping us understand the frustrations and consequences of dealing with an overwhelmed VA system. She is a relentless advocate for her husband Eric. We admire her tenacity to get the best possible care for him. After listening to her describe the challenges, everyone, liberal and conservative, should be saying WE HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN THIS.
All of our interviews are also available for download at iTunes and Podcast Alley via the Pundit Review Radio Podcast.
What is Pundit Review Radio?
Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week Kevin and Gregg give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking†by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to your radio every Sunday evening from 7-10 pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.
Bruce McQuain from QandO joined us for another edition of Someone You Should Know. As part of his Project Hero series, Bruce posted the following story about MSG Brendan O’Connor,
This is simply an amazing story and while MSG Brendan O’Connor, ODA 765, 7th Special Forces Group is being honored, I think he’d be the first to tell you that the results of this action were truly a team effort. The story comes from various sources.
…O’Connor volunteered to lead an effort to get to the besieged assault force. He fought his way to Maholic with eight Afghan soldiers, an interpreter and another Special Forces soldier. Maholic told O’Connor and his relief force to go after the wounded.
O’Connor led his men along a wall that provided cover from Taliban machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades. When he got to the end of the wall, O’Connor realized that the wounded soldiers were 200 feet away, across an open field. The field was covered by three Taliban machine guns.
While Hernandez was firing from the ladder and his own Afghan gunners providing machine-gun fire to cover him, O’Connor started crawling toward Binney and Fuerst. Some of the Afghan soldiers tried to follow, but they were turned back by the volume of Taliban fire.
With bullets smacking into the dirt and cutting the grass, O’Connor realized that he couldn’t get low enough unless he took off his body armor. So he shed his protection and crawled on. Inch by inch, he stayed below the hundreds of Taliban machine-gun rounds.
The Someone You Should Know radio collaboration began as an extension of Matt Burden’s series at Blackfive. Thanks to Matt, Bruce is now on board and we are lucky to have him as part of the show. All of our interviews are also available for download at iTunes and Podcast Alley via the Pundit Review Radio Podcast.
What is Pundit Review Radio?
Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week Kevin and Gregg give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking†by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to your radio every Sunday evening from 7-10 pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.