Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Cleaner than soap

Al Gore's energy consumption is cleaner than soap. He purchases enough energy from renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and methane gas to balance 100 percent of his electricity costs. And he and his family buy carbon credits to offset their vehicles. Also interesting is that the organization that accused him of hypocrisy never actually contacted the utility company, and therefore made up their numbers out of whole cloth: Nashville Electric Service company spokeswoman Laurie Parker said the utility never got a request from the policy center and never gave it any information.


Rudy Giuliani claims to have "cleaned up New York," but that credit should actually go to Bill Clinton. What people are forgetting is that President Clinton made it possible by putting more than 100,ooo new cops on the streets of American cities. Remember? Yeah, that's the president's job: he's the head of the Executive branch, which oversees law enforcement.


And in other news,
In a videoconference with Hong Kong investors, former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said that America might sink into recession by year's end; a frenzied worldwide sell-off ensued. The Shanghai Composite lost 8.8 percent of its value in a day and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 3.3 percent, its worst drop since September 17, 2001. "Alan Greenspan really needs to sit down," said one economist, "and be quiet." Others marveled at the ability of "the Maestro" to cause upheavals even in retirement; Greenspan later held another videoconference, for which he charges fees of $150,000, and said that a recession was "not probable."

Thanks for the clarity, Mr. Greenspan. Shut up and retire already. Aren't you wealthy enough? Or is the income gap not large enough for you yet?