via U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern. On the outcome of the UN climate meetings:
“We got the kind of symmetry that we had been focused on since the beginning of the Obama administration. This had all the elements that we were looking for.”
Yet U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres acknowledged the final wording on the legal form a future deal was ambiguous: “What that means has yet to be decided.”
So the Obama administration says it has all the elements they look for and “symmetry”. Allow me to translate. The conditions were such that nothing was really accomplished, they got to vote present and declare victory.
And these guys are looking good for reelection? Just an awful thought.
In April of 2005, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, his longtime translator, Pavel Palazchenko, and his daughter Irina attended the Boston Software Council’s annual meeting at the Copley Marriot. I was involved with a firm that was associated with the BSC and was asked by them to serve as a “bodyguard” for Gorby while he was in the hotel. This consisted of an advance trip to the hotel, a tour of the facility with hotel security. On the day of the event, my job was to stick next to Gorbachev, make sure nobody bothered him or got too close. I was to guide him from meeting to meeting, to his suite for an afternoon break, and in and out of the ballroom and the press conference that followed. Software legend Dan Bricklin has a great post about the entire day.
It was certainly an experience to be in such close proximity to a world figure for the better part of a day. Our interaction was very minimal, its not like you’ll find Gorby on my LinkedIn page. Still, it was a memorable day and I was very pleased to be able to retire from my career as a bodyguard undefeated!
The Savage City: Race, Murder, and a Generation on the Edge tells the story of race in NYC through the eyes and events of three very different men. One is a poor, semi-literate black teenager framed for a gruesome double murder, one is a crooked cop and the third is a founding member of the New York Black Panther Party.
I was so glad to hear that TJ enjoys coming on the show and doing these longer style interviews that really dig into the book. It is such a thrill to get to devour these books and then have the opportunity to talk to the author in great detail about their work. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did,
Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America
It was a pleasure to speak with author and Marblehead native Eric Jay Dolin about Leviathan. Eric does an amazing job bringing together natural history with American history. The result is a fascinating book about the history that is all around us here in Massachusetts.
This is a great biography, full of details about some of the most iconic battles of WW2. Gen. Bradley always played second fiddle to braggards like Macarthur and showmen like Patton. In fact, he was trusted and respected all the way up to Ike and even FDR. One of the great stories in the book, that I had never heard before, involved FDR calling Bradley to the White House to brief him on the Italian operations. During that meeting, FDR let Bradley know about the development of the Atom bomb, a secret even VP Truman did not know about. The book was written by NY Times bestselling author Jim DeFelice. Jim was a really good guy except for one thing that was, well, disappointing. Thankfully, the book is great!
LeMay: The Life And Wars Of General Curtis LeMay.
This book is a great history book and biography of a pivotal figure of WW2. It also serves as a mini case study in management techniques because Lemay was masterful in building large organizations, fostering open dialog and earning the trust of those he commanded. I highly recommend this book.
Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, The Bill of Rights, and The Election that Saved a Nation
Chris DeRose has written a terrific book about a little understood period of American history, those years between the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the first session of Congress under the Constitution in 1789.
It was remarkable how relevant this book is today. At it’s core, it is the story of life long allies who ultimately became political rivals without becoming personal enemies. Buy this book for any history lover on your holiday shopping list!
Former Boston Globe Spotlight team member, award-winning reporter and current BU journalism professor Mitchell Zuckoff joined me in studio for an hour to discuss his incredible book.
I don’t have time for or interest in novels. What I love are history books that read like novels. This is one of those books. Mitchell brings his reporters chops to the book, traveling around the world to talk to survivors and even the primitive tribesmen (did I mention they are cannibals?) who found them way back in 1945. This is just an incredible piece of storytelling and I hope we did the book justice, because I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Mission: Black List #1: The Inside Story of the Search for Saddam Hussein—As Told by the Soldier Who Masterminded His Capture
When Army Staff Sergeant Eric Maddox arrived in Iraq he had never interrogated a prisoner. Five months later he left with the DIA Director’s Award, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, and the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement for his key role in the capture of Saddam Hussein. Not only did he do that, his work identified the insurgency funding and leadership network, which had been previously unknown to the US military. He did this by focusing on the social and family networks of captured prisoners. Just incredible what he did and how he did it. This is a great book and it was an honor to be able to speak to SSG Maddox.
The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here and you can find us on iTunes at Pundit Review Radio.
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.
It was great to welcome back U.S. Senator Scott Brown to WRKO’s Pundit Review Radio. The topic of the night was returning veterans and the challenges they face finding work. We had Iraq vet Sam Bowlby and Vietnam vet Bruce Mcquain with us when Sen. Brown joined the conversation. He has been a leader on this issue and shared in a bipartisan victory for veterans this week,
WASHINGTON (AP) – Heralding a rare moment of bipartisan agreement, President Barack Obama signed into law Monday legislation aimed at helping unemployed veterans find work while putting more cash in the hands of companies with government contracts. The legislation, which creates tax breaks for companies that hire jobless veterans, marks the first proposal from Obama’s $447 billion jobs bill to be signed into law. The rest of the package of new taxes and spending has largely failed to garner support from Republican lawmakers. “Because Democrats and Republicans came together, I’m proud to sign those proposals into law,” Obama said during a signing ceremony Monday.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said passage of the bill showed that it is possible for both parties to reach a consensus….McConnell praised Obama for inviting Republican Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts to attend the ceremony. It was Brown who had introduced the 3 percent withholding bill.
The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here and you can find us on iTunes at Pundit Review Radio.
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.
What can say you do but say thank you and show admiration for anyone who has joined the armed forces since 9/11. I am always especially astounded when students from our finest universities and colleges join. I will always remember meeting a Purdue graduate at Walter Reed. Tonight it was my honor to welcome to the WRKO studios Sam Bowlby, a 2004 graduate of one of America’s finest schools, Hamilton College. He didn’t choose Wall Street or law school after graduating but the United States Marines. Sam did two tours in Iraq, including one in Fallujah, and returned home and earned an MBA from Babson. He is currently working as a contractor for Google, one of the most desirable employers in the country. Sam is looking for permanent employment and like many people is finding it quite challenging, despite his well rounded background and experience. The unemployment rate for veterans is double the national average, which is itself extraordinarily high.
We were also honored to welcome Major Liza Tomko, the New England representative of Marines for Life,
The goal of Marine For Life is to harness the skills, contacts and personal and professional networks of Marine Corps veterans and others in the community—to form a network to help Marines. The Marine Corps believes in taking care of its own, and Marine For Life is an expression of the Marine Corps ethos, “Once a Marine, always a Marine.”
The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here and you can find us on iTunes at Pundit Review Radio.
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 about Staff Sgt. Brent R. Baldwin.
From his Silver Star citation,
Staff Sergeant Baldwin demonstrated an extraordinary degree of heroism under fire, by rallying his Special Forces detachment in the successful repelling of an over-whelming superior battalion-sized enemy force, which maintained the integrity and authority of the Diyala Police Station and the Iraqi Interim Government Counsel. His heroic actions are in keeping with the finest traditions of gallantry and intrepidity, which reflect great credit upon himself, the Special Operations Command Central, and the United States Army.
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 and you can find us on iTunes at Pundit Review Radio.
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.
When I think of it, I like to check out InfoHistory’s This Day in History page. Today’s, December 1, cracked me up.
1997: Representatives from more than 150 countries gathered at a global warming summit in Kyoto, Japan, and over the course of ten days forged an agreement to control the emission of greenhouse gases. President Bush pulled the U.S. out of the Kyoto Protocol in 2001.
1998: Exxon and Mobil agreed to merge, creating the world’s largest corporation.
I love the fact that even This Day in History information is infiltrated with left wing political bias. They left out a key detail. As Ed Morrisey noted at the late great Captains Quarters blog, long before George Bush, President Clinton submitted the Kyoto Treaty to the Senate and it was a moment of great bi-partisanship and unity. It was rejected 95-0.
Outside of national tragedies, few leaders can bring a Senate together like that. As Frank J. Fleming covers in his hilarious book Obama: The Greatest President in the History of Everything, he’s the one guy who can even top Bill Clinton,
President Obama’s budget sinks, 97-0
The Senate voted unanimously on Wednesday to reject a $3.7 trillion budget plan that President Obama sent to Capitol Hill in February. Ninety-seven senators voted against a motion to take it up.
The other item, the announcement by Exxon of their acquisition of Mobil, forming, “the world’s largest corporation”. I love that they chose the one year anniversary of Kyoto. Yes, the numbers are staggering. This $75 billion deal created a company with $181 in annual revenues. Sounds big. Except it isn’t. Not in the business Exxon has to operate in.
We’ve long had a soft spot for Big Oil, mostly because of their enemies. Not only are they a virtual mom and pop operation in their industry, they have to operate on razor thing profit margins, less than 10%. Not to mention that unlike friends of Obama they actually pay a large amount of taxes.
Anyway, I found that juxtaposition of the Kyoto Treaty and ExxonMobil merger amusing. As for significance, it pales in comparison to the days most significant event.
