There's been some negative press lately for Apple Corp. regarding its environmental record, with Greenpeace picketing Apple events, and some email campaigns making the rounds. From what I can tell, it seems like Apple still has a way to go, but at worst it is on par with other Computer manufacturers, and given market share, a company like Dell is having a far greater negative impact. Apple does make its case, though. Perhaps this additional attention, and the presence of Al Gore on the BOT of Apple will help as well.
A couple of thoughts: Macs and ipods seem to have a long life. I believe data shows that Macs tend to be usable for a longer period than PCs (check out www.lowendmac.com), and become hand-me-downs. Also, Apple seems to have decent trade in policy (not that I would know, I have a de-facto Mac museum in the works).
Any ideas from my fellow Mac Lovers?
Greenpeace off the Mark
Monday, April 23, 2007
Friday, April 20, 2007
Red Herrings
Have you seen this email going around the net about George W. Bush's 'house' and Al Gore's?
(See below)
This is a classic case of folks on the right (the brokers behind Fox News, the Oil and Gas Industry, essentially those who have short term economic gain at stake in the battle to save the planet) DISTRACTING us from the issues at hand.
Of what relevance are the 'facts' about Al Gore's house and George Bush's ranch? Setting aside the accuracy of these reports about the Gore Household (and I will point out that the Gore's, like myself, purchase 'Green Power' from their local utility at greater expense than 'regular' power. Gore purchases carbon offsets for all of his travel. His family home is old and in a historic district of Belle Meade, and he has been in the process of getting zoning variances to add solar panels for some time. They have compact fluorescent light bulbs throughout the home and office, and they all drive hybrid vehicles. Do I need to go on?*)
Does it matter that Mr. Bush's ranch is a model of energy efficiency and 'green' construction? What of the destructive and damaging environmental policies of this administration to date?
The dissemination of this email is part of a larger campaign by the right to distract the public from the message Mr. Gore is promoting. The right wants people to be distracted by questions of Al Gore's personal energy usage (distorted, of course): to undermine his credibility. There is a long history of this (see links below). It worked in the 2000 election, so they are doing it to him again. Everyone reading this should be familiar with these tactics by now. Remember how John Kerry's service to his country in Vietnam was reduced to a questions about 'exaggerations' about his bravery for which he was awarded medals? And what was George Bush doing during Vietnam? Cheney? Limbaugh? And they didn't stop with him, how about former Georgia Senator Max Cleland who lost limbs in service to his country? In the current election battle we already have the false accusations about Barack Obama's education in a Muslim madrassa, and this week, stories about John Edwards expensive haircuts and obsession with his looks (and Limbaugh calling him the real 'woman candidate' in the race, and the hateful slur used by Ann Coulter).
Ask yourself, "what is the process here?" This has been documented in the book "The Way to Win" (Halperin and Harris). Essentially, someone makes something up/distorts the truth, and publishes it in a blog or website somewhere. From there it enters the media echo chamber, usually Fox News, the Washington Times, and other outlets controlled by the right wing start reporting the 'story'. Then the existence of the story itself 'legitimizes' its coverage by the 'mainstream media' and it appears in the NYTimes, CNN, etc. Then the opinion magazines like the New Republic publish pieces about the 'fact' and its impact and the insight it gives on the character of the target.
So, to majority of the public, these falsehoods and character assassinations become part of the background of information they know about a candidate or public figure.
Just when there was an opportunity to convince 'regular folks' who are not liberals or environmentalists that we have a crisis of Global Climate Change, the 'machine' tells them not to believe Al Gore. "He's a hypocrite! An exaggerator! Look, a frozen flag in Buffalo!** There is no global Warming going on! Worry about the terrorists who want to kill you and the gays who want to convert your children, get married and live next door to you!"
I wish I had a solution to this. But perhaps if some of us can call attention to the real issues at hand when these red herrings come our way, we can do our part to bring America's focus back to where it needs to be: striving for a better world.
Resources:
*Citations for Gore energy use: http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070227/NEWS01/702270382
Details of the slanted coverage of the Gore House issue: http://mediamatters.org/items/200703010008?offset=20&show=1
Media revive, retool, and create anti-Gore smears and attacks: http://mediamatters.org/items/200703230004
Al Gore Bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gore
Media Bias: http://www.eriposte.com/media/bias/media_bias_gore.htm
Gore Myths: http://www.algoresupportcenter.com/goretruth.html
Obama school disinformation: http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/19/fox-obama-madrassa/
** Inohofe thinks globe getting too cold: http://www.nysun.com/article/50932?page_no=2
Joe Giglio
Jersey City, NJ
***********************************
-----Original Message-----
From:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Some facts probably many people do not know. Be sure to read all the way to the end. You will find it very interesting.
HOUSE # 1: This house has 20-rooms (not including 8 bathrooms) and is heated by natural gas. In addition, there is a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house all heated by gas. In an average month, this house consumes more energy than the average American household in an average year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2,400 per month. In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not in a northern or Midwestern "snow belt". It's in the South.
HOUSE # 2: Designed by an architecture professor, this house incorporates every green" feature current home construction can provide. The house contains only 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is nestled on arid high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in winter and cools it in summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas, and it consumes 25% of the electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Native flowers and shrubs native to the area blend the property into the surrounding rural landscape.
HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville, Tennessee. It is the private residence of Al Gore, inventor of the Internet( or so he says) and now global warming expert and doomsday predictionist.
HOUSE # 2 is near Crawford, Texas. It is the private residence of George W. Bush.
________________________________
(See below)
This is a classic case of folks on the right (the brokers behind Fox News, the Oil and Gas Industry, essentially those who have short term economic gain at stake in the battle to save the planet) DISTRACTING us from the issues at hand.
Of what relevance are the 'facts' about Al Gore's house and George Bush's ranch? Setting aside the accuracy of these reports about the Gore Household (and I will point out that the Gore's, like myself, purchase 'Green Power' from their local utility at greater expense than 'regular' power. Gore purchases carbon offsets for all of his travel. His family home is old and in a historic district of Belle Meade, and he has been in the process of getting zoning variances to add solar panels for some time. They have compact fluorescent light bulbs throughout the home and office, and they all drive hybrid vehicles. Do I need to go on?*)
Does it matter that Mr. Bush's ranch is a model of energy efficiency and 'green' construction? What of the destructive and damaging environmental policies of this administration to date?
The dissemination of this email is part of a larger campaign by the right to distract the public from the message Mr. Gore is promoting. The right wants people to be distracted by questions of Al Gore's personal energy usage (distorted, of course): to undermine his credibility. There is a long history of this (see links below). It worked in the 2000 election, so they are doing it to him again. Everyone reading this should be familiar with these tactics by now. Remember how John Kerry's service to his country in Vietnam was reduced to a questions about 'exaggerations' about his bravery for which he was awarded medals? And what was George Bush doing during Vietnam? Cheney? Limbaugh? And they didn't stop with him, how about former Georgia Senator Max Cleland who lost limbs in service to his country? In the current election battle we already have the false accusations about Barack Obama's education in a Muslim madrassa, and this week, stories about John Edwards expensive haircuts and obsession with his looks (and Limbaugh calling him the real 'woman candidate' in the race, and the hateful slur used by Ann Coulter).
Ask yourself, "what is the process here?" This has been documented in the book "The Way to Win" (Halperin and Harris). Essentially, someone makes something up/distorts the truth, and publishes it in a blog or website somewhere. From there it enters the media echo chamber, usually Fox News, the Washington Times, and other outlets controlled by the right wing start reporting the 'story'. Then the existence of the story itself 'legitimizes' its coverage by the 'mainstream media' and it appears in the NYTimes, CNN, etc. Then the opinion magazines like the New Republic publish pieces about the 'fact' and its impact and the insight it gives on the character of the target.
So, to majority of the public, these falsehoods and character assassinations become part of the background of information they know about a candidate or public figure.
Just when there was an opportunity to convince 'regular folks' who are not liberals or environmentalists that we have a crisis of Global Climate Change, the 'machine' tells them not to believe Al Gore. "He's a hypocrite! An exaggerator! Look, a frozen flag in Buffalo!** There is no global Warming going on! Worry about the terrorists who want to kill you and the gays who want to convert your children, get married and live next door to you!"
I wish I had a solution to this. But perhaps if some of us can call attention to the real issues at hand when these red herrings come our way, we can do our part to bring America's focus back to where it needs to be: striving for a better world.
Resources:
*Citations for Gore energy use: http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070227/NEWS01/702270382
Details of the slanted coverage of the Gore House issue: http://mediamatters.org/items/200703010008?offset=20&show=1
Media revive, retool, and create anti-Gore smears and attacks: http://mediamatters.org/items/200703230004
Al Gore Bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gore
Media Bias: http://www.eriposte.com/media/bias/media_bias_gore.htm
Gore Myths: http://www.algoresupportcenter.com/goretruth.html
Obama school disinformation: http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/19/fox-obama-madrassa/
** Inohofe thinks globe getting too cold: http://www.nysun.com/article/50932?page_no=2
Joe Giglio
Jersey City, NJ
***********************************
-----Original Message-----
From:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Some facts probably many people do not know. Be sure to read all the way to the end. You will find it very interesting.
HOUSE # 1: This house has 20-rooms (not including 8 bathrooms) and is heated by natural gas. In addition, there is a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house all heated by gas. In an average month, this house consumes more energy than the average American household in an average year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2,400 per month. In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not in a northern or Midwestern "snow belt". It's in the South.
HOUSE # 2: Designed by an architecture professor, this house incorporates every green" feature current home construction can provide. The house contains only 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is nestled on arid high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in winter and cools it in summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas, and it consumes 25% of the electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Native flowers and shrubs native to the area blend the property into the surrounding rural landscape.
HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville, Tennessee. It is the private residence of Al Gore, inventor of the Internet( or so he says) and now global warming expert and doomsday predictionist.
HOUSE # 2 is near Crawford, Texas. It is the private residence of George W. Bush.
________________________________
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