It was an honor to welcome back to the show Paul Monti, father of Medal of Honor recipient Jared C. Monti. Paul has joined us several times since Jared’s death but this was the first time we have spoken on air since the incredibly moving Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House.
You can listen to our tribute to Jared, done as part of Someone You Should Know, back in 2007 which includes a Father’s Day interview with Paul, here.
Jared’s family and friends are keeping his memory alive through a scholarship that is funded through an annual Poker Tournament. Details about how you can support this great cause, dedicated to this great man, are below.
5TH ANNUAL SFC JARED C. MONTI POKER TOURNAMENT
SATURDAY, APRIL 16TH, 2011
4pm Registration, 5pm Start
2:30pm Satellites – 8:00pm Live Auction
American Legion Post #405
291 Mill Road, Raynham, MA
Thanks in advance for any support you can offer.
The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here.
What is Pundit Review Radio?
On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we 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 the radio every Sunday evening from 6-8pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.
When the news is so overwhelmingly negative, as it has been lately, one thing we like to do on WRKO’s Pundit Review Radio is to lighten things uo with a “favorite movie”; segment. It helps when Producer Rob had an Rain Man like knowledge of all things movies. He’s a walking, talking IMDB! When we decided to do a favorite Boston Movie segment, we just had to invite Producer Rob back to join us. It was great to have him on the other side of the glass, in studio, sharing his movie knowledge with us. These are always fun segments to do.
Best Boston-based Movie
The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here.
What is Pundit Review Radio?
On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we 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 the radio every Sunday evening from 6-9pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.
John Perry Barlow is as close to a real life Dos Equis guy as anyone I can think of.
John Perry Barlow is a retired Wyoming cattle rancher, a former lyricist for the Grateful Dead, and co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Since May of 1998, he has been a Fellow at Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society.
What a thrill to get a full hour to talk with John. We spent the first portion of the interview talking about the video below and how he inspired me to get my act together with regard to health and wellness some eighteen months ago through a series of tweets while he was in rehab, of all things. We spent the second half of the conversation discussing his bread and butter issue of freedom in cyberspace. Just how visionary has Barlow been on these issue of cyber freedom? Way back in February 1996, he wrote A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace,
In China, Germany, France, Russia, Singapore, Italy and the United States, you are trying to ward off the virus of liberty by erecting guard posts at the frontiers of Cyberspace. These may keep out the contagion for a small time, but they will not work in a world that will soon be blanketed in bit-bearing media.
Given recent events all across the Middle East, with regimes from Libya to Egypt to Bahrain and Iran shutting down Internet access, Barlow predicted the current events we are living through today some fifteen years ago. Talk about prescient.
Some great callers joined the conversation tonight as well. I enjoyed every minute of this, I hope you do too.
John Perry Barlow on Pundit Review Radio
The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here.
What is Pundit Review Radio?
On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we 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 the radio every Sunday evening from 6-9pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.
Bruce McQuain from Blackfive joined us once again for Someone You Should Know, our weekly tribute to the troops. Bruce spent 28 years in the U.S. Army and he is a veteran of the Vietnam war. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match.
This week Bruce told us the story of Silver Star recipient Corporal Timothy C. Tardif,
Engaged in an intense close-quarters battle, he received significant shrapnel wounds from an enemy grenade. Refusing to be evacuated and disregarding his wounds, Corporal Tardif gallantly led his squad in an assault on an enemy-held compound. After securing the compound, Corporal Tardif received an order to egress and he led his reinforced squad in a fighting withdrawal. After moving 150 meters, Corporal Tardif collapsed from his wounds, unable to continue fighting. By his bold leadership, wise judgment, and complete dedication to duty, Corporal Tardif reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.
The Someone You Should Know radio collaboration began as an extension of Matt Burden’s series at Blackfive. Bruce does an incredible job with the series every week. The SYSK archive can be found here and the Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here.
What is Pundit Review Radio?
On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we 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 the radio every Sunday evening from 6-9pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.
Back in July, 2009 I did a post about a tweet from John Perry Barlow that struck me like a thunderbolt,
“One of these days I’m gonna pull myself together, soon as finish tearing myself apart.â€
I wrote that line for Brent Mydland, dead 19 years today. A sweet, doomed genius he was, who could only speak in music.
So what’s the big deal? Mydland was keyboard player for the Grateful Dead, he died of an overdose at age 37, leaving two young girls behind. Those girls just happened to be about the age of my kids when he died. That’s what got me.
I wondered how they were doing. Were they married? Have kids of their own? Think of how much he missed in nineteen years.
Well, since that post, I’ve gotten much more serious about my health. I’m down thirty pounds, eating better, drinking less, working out semi-regularly, etc. Still a fat bastard, but a fit fat bastard heading in the right direction. Now, Barlow has gone and done it again, giving me even more inspiration to keep working at getting healthier. What follows below is one of the most interesting and amazing videos I have ever seen about the body, health and our ability to transform it.
The Video is the courtesy of TheVisualMD.com
You should really check out TheVisualMD, it’s a very cool website. I’m a visual learner. You tell me something, I might get it. You show me something, I got it. I think many people are similar, especially in this connected age we live in. Check it out!
I’m thrilled to be able to say that John Perry Barlow will be my guest on Sunday at 7:30pm on WRKO’s Pundit Review Radio .
Thanks to @susanborst for tweeting a link to this video.
The news out of Japan has been awful to watch today, and its about to get worse as the sun is coming up there now. I don’t know about you, but I could use a pick me up. Here is a great one, via the indespensible Blackfive
I don’t want to make too much of this. I mean, these people have to go on TV every week and defend the Obama administration. That is punishment enough. That said, Bill Press and Eleanor Clift did go on the McLaughlin Group and spin themselves into oblivion.
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, HOST: You say the auto industry is stronger than it ever has been?
BILL PRESS: Yes, it is.
ELEANOR CLIFT, NEWSWEEK: Yes it is.
If by “ever” they mean the day before they would have collapsed without a massive government bailout, then yes. Best. Shape. Ever. Well no, that’s not even true, unless they’ve always been this bad.
I’ve played this game before with stories about the auto industry…let’s play compare and contrast. 2010 was the worst year ever for Toyota. They recalled more than 8 million cars and suffered from one of the worst PR disasters of all time. They also suffered from the highly conflicted and uncomfortable government response and the media hysteria that followed.
So, how did Toyota do in comparison to GM/Chrysler last year? According to a leading national consumer magazines “Grading the Automakers” annual report, Toyota came in 3rd with an overall score of 71. GM came in 12th with an overall score of 56. Chrysler came in dead last with a dreadful score of 43. Which automaker showed the biggest gains in on-road performance and reliability? The one that didn’t need a government bailout, Ford (Overall Score of 67).
As Newsbusters points out, GM is now trading below its IPO price,
Interesting chart, especially if you consider that the government sold 45% of its ownership position in the stock already. At the time, some considered the move a head scratcher. After all, GM was on the road to recovery, at least that was the story. Why sell so soon? As Investor’s Business Daily noted in January,
The Congressional Oversight Panel reported Thursday that by selling 45% of the stock it had in GM, Washington has “‘locked in’ a loss of billions of dollars and thus greatly reduced the likelihood that taxpayers will ever be repaid in full.”
Bailout defenders had thought that GM’s IPO would show critics that the government could make money on the bailout. But when “Treasury received a price of $33 per share,” it sold “well below the $44.59 needed to be on track to recover fully taxpayers money.”
Looking back at the chart, and looking forward to the EPIC FAIL that will be the Chevy Volt, that may have been a good time for the Feds to sell, saving taxpayers billions more to the downside? In six months, we’re likely to see Press and Clift on McLaughlin touting the administrations foresight to sell early.
UPDATE: Two days after this post, whadda ya know…GM CFO Suddenly Resigns