The “decider” has decided to screw each and every person with pulmonary disease with what appears to be a “who cares” attitude. The headline above, taken from an American Lung Association news release, tells it all. As a matter of fact, for the boomers coming on board who haven’t yet, or are just beginning to feel the effects of lung disease, you should be furious.
If this provision never becomes law, then those of you who may someday become victims of lung disease, will have to do without rehab when you reach Medicare age.
Congress overwhelmingly approved the Pulmonary and Cardiac Rehabilitation Act, which, among other things, would make life easier for Americans who suffer from lung disease. This, you say, may not tie into environmentalism, but think again; coal smoke, smoking, second-hand smoke, pollutants in the air, all add to lung disease, and heaven knows we’ve had a century of air pollution pouring into our lungs. It isn’t over yet.
US Presidential Candidate Barack Obama made it clear again this week that he would not have attended the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing because of concern over China’s policies in Tibet and Sudan. His statements came in response to President Bush’s contrasting decision to attend the opening ceremonies.
However, in recent months, Senator Obama has also expressed some mixed feelings about boycotting the Olympics.
It struck me today that our fearless leaders, would-be’s, and corporate giants seem to think we’re all a bunch of rubes gathered outside a carnival sideshow, leaning on the barker’s every word.
Urging Congress to lift its ban on offshore oil and gas drilling, our fearless leader, you know, President Bush, told lawmakers, “There is no excuse for delay“.
It got worse, “Families across the country are looking to Washington for a response.” Gimme a break.
The World Economic Forum, held this weekend in Egypt, featured speeches by luminaries like President Bush of the USA; President Mubarack of Egypt and King Abdullah of Jordan but, eco entrepreneurs shared the spotlight.
Young leaders from the Middle East have called on their business and government leaders to implement reforms immediately and transparently if they are to fulfill their potential by 2025. “We need faster change to keep pace with what’s happening in the rest of the world,” said Amira Abdel-Aziz, a masters student at Cairo University.
I did not ‘live blog’ the State of the Union Address last night (and no, not because I was toodrunk). In fact, I didn’t watch it live at all. In an effort to take back a piece of my life lost to commercial advertisements, I have recently become a TiVo person (not the brand mind you, but TiVo works nicely as a noun and a verb). I basically got the device because I was fed up with ads interrupting the quality fake news I get from the Stewart-Colbert NewsHour. And even though the annual address is one of the few things youcanwatch on commercial television without ads, I chose to TiVo it and watch it a few hours later, in unreal time.
The best thing about using the device for the Address was being able >>, to >>>, or even to >>>> through the long, drawn out walk into the House Chamber. I always find all of that gladhanding a little strange, really The long walk is then punctuated by the rounds of undeserved applause (though noticeably quieter and shorter than past years). The second best thing about the TiVo was being able to << when I had to re-listen to a couple of spots for a good laugh. And I am even such a nerd that I moved the parts of the video frame-by-frame to see where Bush was looking when he delivered certain parts of his message.
Regardless of how I watched it, I came away with a general impression that many of you may also have had; this was not the same President who once boasted about his political capital and how he intended to spend it. This is now a fairly unpopular, lame duck executive presiding over a country that is, a) frustrated with the long and expensive occupation of Iraq; b) nervous about a sagging economy and possible recession, and; c) annoyed by the inordinate amount of BS that has flowed freely from this administration for the last seven years. Essentially, the speech will not be remembered for its fire, vigor, bold policy announcements or anything else really.
I have two concerns for the year 2008, the first is the proliferation of uranium mining and nuclear power stations, and the second is that George Bush and Dick Cheney will be in office for the entire year.
Before going on, I’ve made a podcast of this article, and if you’d rather listen, the link is here.
It’s difficult to say which one of the two options above concerns me most, but the Bush/Cheney administration, in its own way, is about as scary as nuclear proliferation. Their environmental record may well go down in history as one of the worst ever, and there’s still plenty of time to make it even worse.
President George W. Bush took a stroll on the White House lawn this afternoon to examine plug-in electric vehicle technology. Two electric cars, a modified Toyota Prius, and a Phoenix Motorcars electric pickup were on display. Humorously enough, the hood of the Prius was up to mask the fact that it was a Toyota. The White was more interested in the battery technology than the vehicle.
The “decider” has decided to screw each and every person with pulmonary disease with what appears to be a “who cares” attitude. The headline above, taken from an American Lung Association news release, tells it all. As a matter of fact, for the boomers coming on board who haven’t yet, or are just beginning to feel the effects of lung disease, you should be furious.
President George W. Bush took a stroll on the White House lawn this afternoon to examine plug-in electric vehicle technology. Two electric cars, a modified Toyota Prius, and a Phoenix Motorcars electric pickup were on display. Humorously enough, the hood of the Prius was up to mask the fact that it was a Toyota. The White was more interested in the battery technology than the vehicle. 