If you're looking for an interesting read over the long weekend, may I suggest Distraction, by Bruce Sterling. I read this book in October of 2004, long before my political awakening. Here's a short review on Boing Boing:
Distraction is the story of an America on the skids: economy in tatters, dollar collapsed, unemployment spiked, population on the move in great, restless herds bound together with networks and bootleg phones. The action revolves around Oscar Valparaiso, a one-of-a-kind political operator who has just put his man -- a billionaire sustainable architecture freak -- into the Senate and is looking for some downtime. But a funny thing happens on the way to the R&R: Oscar and his "krewe" (the feudal entourage who trail after him, looking after his clothes, research, security, systems and so on) end up embroiled in a complex piece of political theater, a media war between the rogue governor of the drowned state of Louisiana, the Air Force, the newly elected president, and a weird, pork-barrel science park in its own glassed-in dome.
I'd love to know how many books and screenplays about the 2008 campaign are in the works.
I don't like crowds. And I don't like waiting in line. But if Our Source comes through with tickets, Barb and I plan to attend the inauguration of President Obama on January 20. Barb has a friend who has graciously invited us to stay with her (no hotel rooms for miles and miles).
I really don't expect to see much. Or even as much as we could see on TV. But it's one of those historic events that even I can't pass up, given the opportunity. Should be a blog-rich environment. And the experience might make all future airport check-in's seem like a walk in the park.
"People attending the ceremony and parade can expect to be searched by machines, security personnel or both. Precautions will range from the routine — magnetometers like those used at airports — to counter-snipers trained to hit a target the size of a teacup saucer from 1,000 yards away. Plus undercover officers, bomb sniffing dogs and air patrols.
The Secret Service — the agency coordinating the security — also has assigned trained officials to identify and prevent cyber security risks. And, as it does at every inauguration, the service has mapped out escape routes for the 44th president.
In addition Washington's 5,265 surveillance cameras, spread around the city, are expected to be fed into a multi-agency command center." [Article at RawStory.com]
This could still fall through. Our Source is a Republican big wig and they aren't swinging as much weight as they once did. Stay tuned.
L.A. Times: "A week after the election of the nation's first black president, gun buyers across the country are flocking to gun stores to stock up on assault rifles, handguns and ammunition. Some say they are worried that the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama will attempt to re-impose the ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004. Others fear the loss of their right to own handguns. A few say they are preparing to protect themselves in the event of a race war.
I support the right to own a deer rifle or a shotgun or a handgun, for that matter. No point in talking about race war or assault weapons. That's moron country.
But here's a wager I offered today and I'll extend it to readers who really believe the new administration is going to take away your right to own a handgun.
You buy a new pistola for, say, $500. If the right to buy or own a handgun is limited in any way by the end of Obama's first term, I'll pay you $500. If not, you pay me $500. We'll give the money to an agreed-upon third party to hold.
What do you say? Here's your chance to get a free Beretta (or whatever). Hit the comment link and we'll set it up.
US president-elect Barack Obama is to make the first YouTube address to the nation on Saturday, recording a talk not just on radio but also on video. The weekly radio address will be posted to Change.gov. First time a president/president-elect goes multi-media (or knows what that is?). AP
Not likely, but wouldn't it be great if O just recorded the video on his MacBook Pro and uploaded himself? Sure, not a good use of his time but talk about going directly to the people.
UPDATE: It's now Saturday morning, the video is up, and I've been thinking some more about this...
I don't recall which president started the weekly radio address (or when), but I'm pretty sure we aired it occasionally on KBOA back in the 70's. Strictly filler for a slow Saturday morning.
I always assumed this was a radio address because none of the TV networks were going to air a 15 or 20 minute speech by the president, and radio stations might. Ironically, I don't ever recall hearing it on the radio (except at KBOA). And the network newscasts frequently feature a few seconds of the audio, usually with a graphic of an ancient microphone or VU meter.
This week's Democratic response to President Bush's weekly radio message will --as noted above-- be YouTube'd. I have to wonder for how much longer this will be described as the president's weekly "radio" address.
One final footnote... Back in August of 2005, the White House began podcasting the president's weekly radio address. YouTube was created in February of that year but was still too new for anyone to think about using for the weekly address.
Michael S. Hyatt has compiled a list of ten benefits of the current recession:
1. It causes you to get more creative.
2. It forces you to make the tough decisions.
3. It thins out the competition.
4. It makes you realize you can’t take anything for granted.
5. It reminds you that real wealth isn’t about the stuff you own.
6. It fosters out-of-the-box thinking.
7. It makes it easier to abandon business-as-usual.
8. It brings you back to the basics.
9. It accelerates change.
10. It causes you to be less wasteful.
"While you may not be able to control what happens with the economy, you can control your own mental focus. Usually, this determines whether you feel anxiety and fear or peace and hope."
I really thought we'd never see gasoline under $2.00 a gallon again. And I'm pretty sure it's not a good sign. It was $2.57 back in September, 2005. Not sure what it was when I grabbed this bit of video in May, 2007.
In some twisted way, I'll feel reassured when it goes up again.
I honestly didn't know much about where Obama was on technology issues. There were bigger fish to fry. Turns out he and I are on the same page. I just clicked over to Change.gov to share an idea with the president-elect.
Original plan was to roll out at 4 a.m. and get to the polling place by 4:30. Couldn't sleep so wound up getting a good spot by arriving at 2:30 a.m. Didn't see a soul for a couple of hours, but by 5:30 a.m. a line had formed.
I am proud to say I was voter #1 at my place. Whatever happens, I'm glad there was an election and I got to take part.
Update: Very short video of the line as I left at 6:08 a.m.
Chuck the Z. shares some pix from this morning's rally on the steps of the Missouri State Capitol. I'll give her this, the girl knows how to wear a pair of levis.
Lost Remote's Cory Bergman (who works at MSNBC.com) points us to some nifty widgets that promise election returns (updated every 2 min). I stuck one on my politix site and might put one of the state widgets here as well.
"There are two widgets that come in three sizes each: a national electoral map and a state map of your choosing. So if you’re a local media site in Denver, for example, you can post both the national map as well as a Colorado map, and users can even drill down to county-level results. Here’s a mock-up example of the national widget using random test data:
"More details here, and you can grab the widgets here on msnbc.com. (They’ll display a countdown until a couple hours before the results start coming in on Nov. 4th, then they’ll automatically switch to the map).
Our statewide news network in Missouri (Missourinet) gets returns from the Secretary of State's website. Not sure where the MSNBC.com data is coming from. (Sigh) I spent the better part of my youth trying to come up with a good source for election returns (without giving AP an arm and a leg). It feels weird to think that any blogger can grab one of these widgets and provide her readers with decent vote counts. Talk about disruptive technology. But then we haven't seen these buggers work yet...
When you go to vote, do you know what to do if someone tells you you're not on the list or there's a problem with your voter registration?
1. Don't just walk away. This is the most important thing.
2. Only as a last resort should you accept a provisional ballot.
3. Call 866-OUR-VOTE (866-697-8683) or go to 866OURVOTE.org if you have questions or need help. A trained team of advisors is available to resolve problems.
Link: goodvote.org.
Local blogger (and Jeff City mayor) John Landwehr will be on CNBC's "Squawk Box" tomorrow (Friday) morning, part of a series featuring mayors from around the country talking about how the economic meltdown is affecting local communities. The program airs from 8-10 Central and hizzonor is scheduled to be on around 9:20.
You're invited to join me tonight for Debate #2. You can help me live blog it over at Politix. 8:00 p.m. Central.
[Alert: McCainiacs and Palinistas can skip this post. You won't appreciate Matt Taibbi's biting wit or pithy rage. Go watch a Sean Hannity re-run. And I've had some email reminding me I had said I wasn't going to write about politics anymore. I believe what I said was, I would no longer 'discuss' politics.]
My favorite political writer, Matt Taibbi has outdone himself with his column on Sarah Palin. When interstellar archeologists dig through the rubble of what was once the U.S.A. and wonder what the fuck happened, I hope they stumble across Mr. Taibbi's column. Every line is a gem but I'll share just a few of my favorites:
"Four-chinned delegates from places like Arkansas and Georgia are pouring joyously out the gates (of the GOP convention) in search of bars where they can load up on Zombies and Scorpion Bowls and other "wild" drinks and extramaritally grope their turkey-necked female companions in bathroom stalls as part of the "unbelievable time" they will inevitably report to their pals back home.
Only 21st-century Americans can pass through a metal detector six times in an hour and still think they're at a party.
Here's the thing about Americans. You can send their kids off by the thousands to get their balls blown off in foreign lands for no reason at all, saddle them with billions in debt year after congressional year while they spend their winters cheerfully watching game shows and football, pull the rug out from under their mortgages, and leave them living off their credit cards and their Wal-Mart salaries while you move their jobs to China and Bangalore.
But Americans like politicians who hate books and see the face of Jesus in every tree stump. They like them stupid and mean and ignorant of the rules."
And we love Sarah.
Shawn Wolfe (via Boing Boing):
"This is what happens when an annoying asshole (Wall Street) loses everything in a casino (the stock market) and desperately begs the house (Congress) to "correct" their little mistake (massive bail out), and the house (Gary Marshall) ain't havin' it.
I think it is also instructive here that this scene takes place at 4am. Albert Brooks is in his bathrobe. His pants are basically down. The owner of the Desert Inn is granting him a sit-down and happens to be dressed in a suit and tie and oak desk."
According to George Will (on ABC's This Week), Americans have 105 billion credit cards (9 per card holder); $12,000 in average credit card debt per household; household debt is 139% of household income and no concept of deferred gratification.
"The city with the highest percentage of viewers was St. Louis, where 52 percent of the TVs were tuned to the debate, reflecting either an inordinate civic-mindedness or a complete lack of actual lives, take your pick." [McClatchy: Link: 57 Million Watched Presidential Debate: Nielsen Estimate]
Bush and Paulson say the proposed bailout plan is the only way to save our economy. The only way. Okay, Dave Winer is willing to support the plan on the following conditions:
"Bush and Cheney must resign immediately. No immunity, no pardons. Nancy Pelosi will become President, promising not to run for re-election on November 4. Her term will be one of the shortest in US history, just long enough to enact the provisions of the bill being proposed by the Republican administration. If it really is the best thing for the country and not a trick, then the Republicans, being impressed by the seriousness of it, would have to insist that Bush step aside and let the Democrats execute the plan. The entire Bush cabinet stays in office through January 20, but reports, of course to Pelosi. And that includes Paulson."
It's pretty simple. If they won't do it, we know they're bluffing.
Donald Craig Mitchell, blogging (Off the Bus) from Wasilla, Alasaka, attended a Palin rally and spotted Bristol Palin and Levi in the bleachers behind mom. Not talking, not touching. After the event, Levi boogied.
"But if Levi was my kid, the deal I would have cut would, at an absolute minimum, have been: $500,000 for from now to the November election. If McCain-Palin win, a $ 1 million signing bonus to take the trip down the aisle. Then, for the duration of the McCain-Palin administration, $100,000 a month for every month Mr. and Mrs. Johnston live under the same roof, and $50,000 a month for every month that they remain married but do not."
Any guy who ever got a call from his girlfriend to tell him she was "late" (archaic, dated reference) can empathize with poor old Levi (what is the Secret Service equivalent of a shotgun wedding?).
And I feel just as bad for Bristol. It's bad enough to have everyone in home room know about your "condition," but the entire country?
That's what Dave Winer thinks we should be worrying about: "...the thing we should all be worrying about is that this election the whole world can see what assholes we are and how much we lie, and do you think they're ever going to believe anything we say after the election?"
"Being an American in 2008 is a lot like working at Microsoft in 1994 or so. Netscape is coming soon and after that Google, and while we'll still be here, the cursor will be somewhere else, and our stock options will be worthless and we'll be fighting with each other while the rest of the world builds around us."
Matt Damon on Sarah Palin: "I need to know if she really thinks dinosaurs were here four thousand years ago. I want to know that. I really do, because she's going to have the nuclear codes." [AP Video]
From Scott Pelley's 60 Minutes interview with with Bob Woodward about "The War Within," Woodward's fourth insider account from the Bush White House:
"This is very sensitive and very top secret, but there are secret operational capabilities that have been developed by the military to locate, target, and kill leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq, insurgent leaders, renegade militia leaders. That is one of the true breakthroughs," Woodward told Pelley.
"Do you mean to say that this special capability is such an advance in military technique and technology that it reminds you of the advent of the tank and the airplane?" Pelley asked.
"Yeah," Woodward said. "If you were an al Qaeda leader or part of the insurgency in Iraq, or one of these renegade militias, and you knew about what they were able to do, you'd get your ass outta town."
WTF. If this were anybody but Bob Woodward, I'd say yeah, right. If I had to guess I'd say it is some kind of quantum mechanical weapon. All you need is a photo of the target and the weapon punches through space/time and ... zap! You read it first (unless you're Bob Woodward)
Regular readers are familiar with my sputtering attempts at screenplays here. Never can come up with the third act. But Maureen Dowd can and does. Vice in Go-Go Boots, starring Sarah Palin.
"This chick flick, naturally, features a wild stroke of fate, when the two-year governor of an oversized igloo becomes commander in chief after the president-elect chokes on a pretzel on day one.
The movie ends with the former beauty queen shaking out her pinned-up hair, taking off her glasses, slipping on ruby red peep-toe platform heels that reveal a pink French-style pedicure, and facing down Vladimir Putin in an island in the Bering Strait. Putting away her breast pump, she points her rifle and informs him frostily that she has some expertise in Russia because it’s close to Alaska. “Back off, Commie dude,” she says. “I’m a much better shot than Cheney.”
Somewhere in the hills of Hollywood a starving scribe is clicking away on his MacBook. Look for a Labor Day release.
Someone forgot to tell the good people of Tulsa about the recession. Or maybe it just hasn't reached Oklahoma yet.
My frugal brother took us to the Woodland Hills Mall to cash in his chick-fil-a coupons. While he stood in line, I took a swing around the food court. Bidness was booming.
My favorite political pundit, Matt Taibbi, penned a cheerful article about politics, media and class in America. Since nobody is going to click on a link to an article thus described, here's the final paragraph:
"These fantasy elections we've been having — overblown sports contests with great production values, decided by haircuts and sound bytes and high-tech mudslinging campaigns — those were sort of fun while they lasted, and were certainly useful in providing jerk-off pundit-dickheads like me with high-paying jobs. But we just can't afford them anymore. We have officially spent and mismanaged our way out of la-la land and back to the ugly place where politics really lives — a depressingly serious and desperate argument about how to keep large numbers of us from starving and freezing to death. Or losing our homes, or having our cars repossessed. For a long time America has been too embarrassed to talk about class; we all liked to imagine ourselves in the wealthy column, or at least potentially so, flush enough to afford this pissing away of our political power on meaningless game-show debates once every four years. The reality is much different, and this might be the year we're all forced to admit it."
The Pew Research Center has a little 12 question "News IQ Quiz," that "tests your knowledge of prominent people and major events in the news." Take the quiz and see how you did in comparison with 1,003 randomly sampled adults asked the same questions in a recent national survey conducted by the Pew Research Center.
I got 11 of the 12 questions correct but I gotta tell you... they are pretty easy questions. As I clicked through this short quiz, I realized that if a lot of the American people can not answer most of these questions, that explains why politicians and people in government think they can tell us anything and we'll believe it. We will! Our delightful mix of ignorance and prejudice makes us sheep. Easily frightened off the edge of the cliff by 30 second TV ads.
I missed the question on the Dow Jones.
I can't recall posting on the purchase of Anheuser-Busch by Belgian beverage giant, InBev. I'm a Bud fan but have been drinking Beck's (made by InBev) for a year or two. New owners always tell you nothing is gonna change but it's not true and nobody believes them anyway.
But The Game is truely global now and we have to get used to it. Just as the rest of the world has had to deal with our military and economic superiority. Both of which are facing serious challenges. As Bob Dylan said, "How does it feeeel?"
I mark this moment with this musical tribute. One of my favorites.
'No Values Voters' Looking To Support Most Evil Candidate
You tell me. How cool would it be to answer the question, "So, what do you do?" with, "Oh, I'm a writer for The Onion." I have a really great job at a really good company. But I can't honestly say I have the BEST job in the world. I think I'd settle for just knowing someone that worked for The Onion. Sort of a Brush With Comic Genius.
[Flash player doesn't seem to load after the first few hours. So I yanked it. Just follow link above.]
I recently asked a friend, who travels frequently, about airport check-in security. He laughed and pulled out his Swiss Army knife. Not one of the tiny pin knives, but a knife with a four-inch blade.
"I forgot I had this in my pocket and went right through security."
Isolated incident? Maybe. But does any reasonable person honestly believe we're any safer on a plane than we were on September 10th? Do you think a terrorist group couldn't smuggle a Stinger shoulder-fired missile into this country, park near a major U.S. airport, and knock down a plane? Remember, he's not trying to get away.
So what's all the TSA frenzy about. Show. A highly visible charade that accomplishes two things: 1. Persuade the American public their government is doing something to keep them safe. 2. Remind them they must be fearful and trust the government... to keep them safe.
"As always, the parade started with the Dykes on Bikes - a contingent of dozens of lesbians on motorcycles who waved, honked and cheered as they roared down Market Street to screams from the crowd. This year, some members of the normally leather-clad group channeled their softer side and rode in wedding dresses and veils, streaming rainbow flags from their bikes." [SFGate.com]
The San Francisco Gay Pride Parade took place yesterday. Barb is in SF for a legal conference and planned to catch the parade and take some pix. Can't wait to see her stuff (so to speak). She's a much better photographer than I. In the meantime, there's interesting images on flickr.
If you can dance in heels, I suppose it's no great trick to run on stilts. Still, I'm impressed. And where do you even find an outfit like this?
In April of 2007, John Edwards, Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama were in Iowa, campaigning for the Iowa Caucuses. Radio Iowa News Director Kay Henderson interviewed the candidates and asked each spoke with each who made a point of talking about gun rights and none of the three endorsed such proposals as gun registration or a ban on handguns.
Kay posted portions of her interviews on her blog, which has generated a couple of dozen comments over the past year. Some flaky, but most thoughtful. The one that haunts me is from Sergio (who has an email address in Aruba?):
"As a non-US citizen I can't believe how Americans in 2008 still cling to their weapons while trying to police and moralize the rest of the world. Although the US has a unique culture and history - certainly when it comes to guns - I wonder if Americans ever consider why almost no other country in the world allows people to bear arms, especially fire arms. The US has one of if not the highest gun killing rates in the world for a country that is not at (civil) war.
Do you really believe that weapons make a society safer? Strictly licensed weapon possession for hunting and sports is allowed in most countries of the world, but the 'right to keep and bear arms' is really unique."
I honestly don't know if we enjoy the freedoms we do because of, or in spite of, all the handguns (and assault rifles etc etc). If every man in Zimbabwe had a gun, would Robert Mugabe still be in power? Let's face it, the ballot box is a joke in that country. Sort of like Florida.
The recent Supreme Court ruling has prompted me to think about this topic a little. And make a list of all the reasons I can think of for a private citizen owning a handgun. In no particular order:
That's all that I can come up with at the moment. Self-defense is a popular reason for gun ownership, but I can't recall the last time I heard of someone repelling a robber with their six-shooter. And it seems like there's no end of stories of some youngster shooting his sister (or a dozen or so classmates) with dad's Glock. That's the tasteless interview I'd like to hear.
"Mr. Smith, it's been a year since your oldest boy shot and killed his little brother with the gun he took from your bedside table. Has this terrible tragedy changed your position on hand-gun ownership in anyway?"
I think Sergio is right on one point. We need to stop "trying to police and moralize (to) the rest of the world." It just makes us look like dicks.
I was talking with a co-worker about Lara Logan's (CBS Chief Foreign Correspondent) recent appearance on The Daily Show. She posed the question, "When was the last time you saw a dead American soldier on TV?" She was making the point that media in the U. S. has been MIA on the war in Iraq (except for that victorious march into Baghdad).
My co-worker's take was: "The only reason to show a dead American soldier would be to turn someone against the war."
Or maybe that war is news and death is part of the story?
Actually, I didn't have a response. I can understand that view coming from W or Rumsfeld (back in the day). But how many citizens feel the same? How many would rather not to see the bloody reality of war on their TV screens?
By this logic, we also shouldn't be seeing the critically wounded at Walter Reed. Or can we translate missing limbs to a "don't-let-their-sacrifices-be-in-vain" message?
So I'm asking myself why we saw more dead troops during the Viet Nam war, and it came to me. We had lots of reporters on the front lines in that war. But not so many on the mean streets of Baghdad.
In the old days, you could make a career filing reports from the front lines. Sure, you could shot, but you weren't likely to wind up the star of a YouTube beheading video.
Naw, American journalism took a pass on this war. Better to let the Brits cover this one.
This NYT story reminded me one of my favorite management stories (The Cleanest Tastee Freeze in Town). A couple of grafs in particular:
"No state was more important to his candidacy than Iowa, but when (Senator Obama) arrived there for campaign visits he stopped aides who tried to give detailed accounts of developments."
“I’d get in the car with him and talk a mile a minute,” recalled Paul Tewes, who was the campaign’s state director. Mr. Tewes recalled that on the candidate’s fifth visit to the state, Mr. Obama interrupted one of his detailed updates, saying: “You know what, Paul? All I want from you is for you to do your best, and I trust you and you know what you’re doing.”
In the years that I reported to Clyde Lear, I heard him say (to me and others) almost those exact words, more times than I can count. I've heard many talk the talk in this regard, but only a few that could walk the walk. Nice to know Senator O is one of them.
An eight-month McClatchy investigation of the detention system created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has found that the U.S. imprisoned innocent men, subjected them to abuse, stripped them of their legal rights and allowed Islamic militants to turn the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba into a school for jihad.
"The McClatchy investigation found that top Bush administration officials knew within months of opening the Guantanamo detention center that many of the prisoners there weren't "the worst of the worst." From the moment that Guantanamo opened in early 2002, former Secretary of the Army Thomas White said, it was obvious that at least a third of the population didn't belong there."
Stories like this one -- and the way those accused respond to them -- raise a troubling (to me) question about American journalism. Why can't we have one news organization that everyone can agree is factual and fair. Just one. "Truthiness" is no longer a joke.
Somewhere in the White House and the Pentagon, men and women are figuring out ways to discredit this story and the people who reported it. I won't try to list the tactics they employee because we are all too familiar with them.
And those who chose not to believe stories like this one need only the flimsiest excuse ("There goes the Liberal Media again." or "Fox News says it's not true.").
Remember how skeptical the world was of the claims by German citizens that they didn't know what was going on in the concentration camps?
"Whoa! Hold on there smays.com! You aren't comparing Guantanamo to Auschwitz are you?"
No. I'm talking about what we, the American people, allow our government to do on our behalf. If we've been holding hundreds of innocent men for five or six years and --in some cases-- torturing (I know, I know... water boarding is not torture) them, will our best explanation be, "We were at war."
Ich bin beschämt
