The Washington Post Finally Gets It on Blogs

Okay to be fair it isn't the paper as a whole. Though this is a good story about someone smelling the coffee about how blogs work and how they are trouncing print media.

So I'm in D.C. right now for the big celebration and all the wonderful events that surround the sea-change starting to occur within the beltway. My free hotel room happens to be in Maryland where my cousin lives. Over the last couple times I've stayed here I explained the essence of blogs (IMHO). Specifically how they generate participation rather than have an audience to shout at and hopefully shout to from the Sunday Talk Show circuit if they are considered at a high status, as in print media. Of course not everyone fits the ideal but you know what I am getting at.

Anyways, so she works for a great progressive organization inside the beltway and talks to a lot of print media, specifically in the science world. Her conversation yesterday with the Science editor of WaPo (doing a quick google I found to be Rob Stein brought the light shining on his face. With the WaPo cutting staff, who has written a lot of great articles) back being interjected into the conversation, my cousin mentioned how blogs are taking over where print media has given up. He countered that there is no peer review and blah blah blah. My cousin so vallantly retorted that the citizen participation by active and well-read bloggers and activists are actually the ultimate peer review, since the well written and credible bloggers stand out among the millions. And then by some magic of the universe he said, "I never thought of it in that way." Congratulations Ron, by the way, can you share that with Deborah Howell when you have a chance? Thanks!

Photo/VideoBlog of Jim Webb's Inaugural Party

First the videos of Jim. I apologize for the shaky picture, the crowd was stomping quite a bit on those wood floors.

Recognizing A Hero

This isn't political but this story is worth hearing about.

From the NY Times:

Mr. Autrey was waiting for the downtown local at 137th Street and Broadway in Manhattan around 12:45 p.m. He was taking his two daughters, Syshe, 4, and Shuqui, 6, home before work.

Nearby, a man collapsed, his body convulsing. Mr. Autrey and two women rushed to help, he said. The man, Cameron Hollopeter, 20, managed to get up, but then stumbled to the platform edge and fell to the tracks, between the two rails.

The headlights of the No. 1 train appeared. “I had to make a split decision,” Mr. Autrey said.

So he made one, and leapt.

Mr. Autrey lay on Mr. Hollopeter, his heart pounding, pressing him down in a space roughly a foot deep. The train’s brakes screeched, but it could not stop in time.

Five cars rolled overhead before the train stopped, the cars passing inches from his head, smudging his blue knit cap with grease. Mr. Autrey heard onlookers’ screams. “We’re O.K. down here,” he yelled, “but I’ve got two daughters up there. Let them know their father’s O.K.” He heard cries of wonder, and applause.

Congratulations and thank you Mr. Autrey, you are truly a hero. I can only hope that I would be as brave as he was if I ever found myself in a similar situation.

An Inconvenient Truth For Willard Scott

The Today Show's Willard Scott called global warming into question yesterday by mentioning the wintry weather Denver has been experiencing lately. Are you kidding me? The guy lives in New York right? The weather is supposed to be in mid to high 50s for the next two days!!! That isn't January weather ya #%&@#!* ass!

So apparently all the scientistsare wrong, Al Gore is wrong, the icebergs breaking off in northern Canada are wrong and the polar bears going extinct are wrong. Well excuse me Mr. Weatherman. Maybe if you woke up and paid attention to the world outside of your teleprompter you might notice a thing or two.

Yes that is Willard Scott.

Media Matters documents the incident in full, here are the details:

On the January 2 edition of NBC's Today, weather reporter Willard Scott introduced his weather report by asking co-host Meredith Vieira if she was "a global-warming fan" and whether she "believe[d] in global warming." Vieira responded that "something's going on, 'cause it's warm here" in New York City. Scott then suggested that recent temperatures cast doubt on the existence of global warming: "From Savannah all the way up to Boston, we're having unheard-of warm weather, but ask the folks out in Denver and Colorado. ... [They are having] the coldest winter they've had in years. So it all depends on which side of the Mississippi [River] you're hanging your hat."

Are you serious? It depends on which side of the Mississippi you are on? Maybe you didn't know but weather patterns are connected all over the globe. I guess Mr Scott skipped that class on climatology. Perhaps he didn't see An Inconvenient Truth. Perhaps he slept through 2006. Well it is time to get off your ass and get a clue. Speaking of getting a clue, maybe NBC could give him a little help by telling him to keep his big mouth out of the global warming debate (BTW there is no debate, Global Warming exists!).

Tell NBC what you think of that performance here.

Bush Declares War on Democrats

You want a war buddy? Well you got yourself one. It is on now! With your track record in battle the odds are stacked against you. You lost your oil company, Sammy Sosa, Afghanistan is a mess and we all know about Iraq.

Today Jerome a Paris on DailyKos wrote a brilliant article on Bush's speech. The highlighted portion below shows what Bush is really saying behind the rhetoric. Bush's thinking is in bold.

Shared responsibility

"Together, we have a chance to serve the American people by solving the complex problems that many don't expect us to tackle, let alone solve, in the partisan environment of today's Washington. To do that, however, we can't play politics as usual. Democrats will control the House and Senate, and therefore we share the responsibility for what we achieve."

Now that you won, you are responsible for everything I fucked up and will fuck up, but you should not be nasty like we were when we had all the power, because that would not be nice.

That mix of whiny contempt and breathless arrogance is quite typical of this administration.

I believe

"I believe that when America is willing to use her influence abroad, the American people are safer and the world is more secure."

When we bomb the shit out of furners, we scare the shit out of the rest of the world, and that's good.

"I believe that wealth does not come from government. It comes from the hard work of America's workers, entrepreneurs and small businesses."

Money comes from workers, and stays with companies and their shareholders, as it should be, because we destroyed the government's ability to have a sane economic policy.

There is plenty more in the article, go ahead and read it.

This Is What A Democratic Governor Looks Like

It is only January 2nd and already things are looking up for New York. Our new Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer wasted no time in getting to work. He was sworn in when the ball dropped and by the end of the day had enacted five executive orders that will help pave the way for reform in Albany.

Here are two of them via the Daily Gotham:

Executive Order Two forbids campaign contributions by any state employee covered by the order to any campaign for governor or lieutenant governor, and bars state employees from running for office, both state and Federal, unless granted a leave of absence or upon resignation. The order covers employees of state agencies and public authorities like the MTA.

Executive Order Three creates a requirement for all state agencies and public authorities to submit to the secretary of the governor, by March 1st, a schedule of all meetings subject to the Open Meetings law, and to ensure that all such meetings be broadcast via the internet. While the order provides for exemptions, in

circumstances in which such webcasting is either impractical or inappropriate [...].

...it creates the requirement of openness through broadcasting as the default.

That is what accountability looks like. That is what fighting corruption looks like. Who is this Pataki person again? Good riddance.

Never do this when running for the White House

As one who has been forgetful of things in the past and present, I have learned that the phrase above is something to keep in mind as I try to keep my things together. Important documents have to be kept close at bay. When I was little they were my school papers and now they are contracts, research documents and spreadsheets.

Well apparently a man with an important document forgot this old adage and left his 140 page Master Plan to win the White House in 2008 in a hotel room! Yes folks thats right, Rudy Guliani left his secret plan for all to see. The first paper to get their hands on it is the NY Daily News.

Oh man, this a juicy one. Imagine your faults laid out in bullet point for all to see and scrutinize. Sure everyone here knows about the ex-wife, the current wife, the businesses and such. Yet there is so much more. So let's give a big hand to Rudy G's aides for putting this masterpiece together.

The loss of the battle plan is a remarkable breach in the high-stakes game of presidential politics and a potentially disastrous blunder for Giuliani in the early stages of his campaign.

The document was obtained by the Daily News from a source sympathetic to one of Giuliani's rivals for the White House. The source said it was left behind in one of the cities Giuliani visited as he campaigned for dozens of Republican candidates in the weeks leading up to the November 2006 elections.

Hmmm, I wonder which campaign that could be? McCain? Huckabee? Brownback? Romney? PatakiRudy's shadow? All scumbags capable of an easy political manuever, especially one that Rudy allows to get out like that.

So what else is in there? Well the most important thing early on in a Presidential campaign is cash, cash and more cash. According to RWG as he is known in the master plan. The goal is $100...million...dollars. That includes a massive push for $25 million dollars in the next three months. Well I'll be darned, that's some good old-fashioned math. Of course you need fundraisers for that and well, Rudy is losing them one after the other.

Some of the leading figures in American business and finance appear as the "prospective leadership" of Giuliani's campaign, and their names appear elsewhere with instructions for Giuliani to call and seek their support. Two of the top figures on Giuliani's list, New Jersey mega-fund-raisers Lew Eisenberg and Larry Bathgate, have already signed on with McCain, as has another Giuliani target, FedEx CEO Fred Smith.

In a memo that appears in the dossier, Giuliani aides Dickerson and Roy Bailey urge him to court financier Henry Kravis particularly avidly.

"You need him to be a Wall Street industry leader," the memo says.

McCain announced Kravis' support last month.

The plan also anticipates his recruiting top GOP fund-raiser Cathy Blaney in New York on a retainer of $260,000 and her Florida counterpart, Ann Herberger, at $216,000. But between the plan's preparation in the fall and today, Blaney became the chief fund-raiser for the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, while Herberger reportedly has signed on to the presidential campaign of Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Ouch! Looks like some people want to invest in New York City and scum up in Massachusetts rather than work for our beloved ex-Mayor. Personally I think the guy never had a chance. The marital bliss mentioned in the papers from time to time are never good for those crazy primary-votin Republicans.

It also turns out that Rudy might just want to stay in the private sector which is a sure money-maker instead of taking a risk and trying to make a difference in Washington for the common American out there suffering under tutelage of George Bush. Oh wait, that sounds idealistic, sorry, that doesn't mesh with pure unadulterated greed that is so commonly associated with Republicans.

One final humorous note: If Rudy William Giuliani's bid does get off the ground, he will take this advice from the President. Rudy will be handing out cute baseball themed names to his top donors. Such names include "Sluggers" for 50K, "MVPs" for 200K and Team Captains that can raise one...million...dollars.

I hope to see a dossier like this on all of them, let them eat their own well before 2008.

Jib jab's Year in Review

Another great Jib Jab, thanks guys!

Nuckin' Futs! The JibJab Year in Review | Send To Friends | Funny Animations at JibJab

Happy New Year!

Just got in from a night out in NYC. The closest I got to Times Square was 7th Av and Central Park South, heading for a party in Hell's Kitchen. The crowd was ridiculous to say the least. Anyways, before I head off to sleep, I wanted to leave you all with a great YouTube video of crooks that are no longer with us as we start 2007. To put it bluntly, they won't be missed.

Deadliest Year In Journalism

As we discuss the top stories of 2006, it is appropriate to remember those that brought us these stories. Especially the brave men and women in journalism that lost their lives for their passion.

With a few hours to go before the New Year, at least 155 journalists have been murdered or lost in the line of duty. The International Federation of Journalists which represents over 500,000 journalists, released their statistic earlier today.

The International Federation of Journalists report can be found here, below are a few selections from the article.

During the year the numbers began to accumulate with civil strife and resistance to military occupation in Iraq. The IFJ says media became prime targets of terror attacks or victims of poor soldiering. By the year’s end, 68 media staff had been killed, bringing to 170 the number killed in the country since the invasion in April 2003.

The first place that comes to mind is Iraq. The bloodshed is more and more terrifying as the days go on. The same can be said for those that cover the war. Particularly disheartening is how so many were killed by our own troops.

The focus once again is on Iraq, where the IFJ has been campaigning vigorously over impunity in the killing of journalists. For the last three years the IFJ has organised a day of protest on April 8 – the day in 2003 when three journalists died under US fire in Baghdad. There have been 19 such killings in Iraq and in all these cases media organisations and victims’ families are still waiting for independent and credible reports about what happened.

The fact that the families of the fallen can not get the truth out of the Pentagon is abhorrent. Where is the accountability? Where is the outrage? This is something the investigations of the upcoming Democratic Congress needs to focus on.

Other conflict zones such as Oaxaca, Venezuela and Columbia claimed 37 lives. The Philippines and Sri Lanka saw the loss of 34 journalists. Even if they hadn't lost their lives, it is still a dangerous place, as points out.

The hostility towards the press can be felt outside identified conflict zones. The tragedy that befell Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya:

Novaya Gazeta editor Dmitry Muratov said that on the day of her murder, Politkovskaya had planned to file a lengthy story on torture practices believed to be used by Chechen security detachments known as Kadyrovites which are loyal to pro-Moscow Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov. A day after Politkovskaya was found dead, police seized her computer hard disk and material she had assembled for an investigative article; the story may now never be published. Additionally, Muratov said, two photographs of the suspected torturers have disappeared.

Simply incredible, where do these stories disappear to?!?

With all this doom and gloom, what is there to do? Well the UN has started taking action. On December 23rd a resolution was passed unanimously to hold governments more accountable in protecting journalists. Will the resolution help? Time will only tell. Yet something needs to be done to stop all this killing.

I'll leave you with a few faces that the journalism community lost this year and a more complete list of the fallen here.

Paul Douglas (May 2006)

Mwamba Bapuwa (July 8, 2006)

layal najib (July 23, 2006)

Anna Politkovskaya (October 7, 2006)

A Day In The Life of Joe Republican

I love this story, it should be repeated often and wherever possible

Joe gets up at 6:00am to prepare his morning coffee. He fills his pot full of good clean drinking water because some liberal fought for minimum water quality standards. He takes his daily medication with his first swallow of coffee. His medications are safe to take because some liberal fought to insure their safety and work as advertised.

All but $10.00 of his medications are paid for by his employers medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance, now Joe gets it too. He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs this day. Joe’s bacon is safe to eat because some liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

Joe takes his morning shower reaching for his shampoo; His bottle is properly labeled with every ingredient and the amount of its contents because some liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained. Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some tree hugging liberal fought for laws to stop industries from polluting our air. He walks to the subway station for his government subsidized ride to work; it saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees. You see, some liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Joe begins his work day; he has a good job with excellent pay, medicals benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe’s employer pays these standards because Joe’s employer doesn’t want his employees to call the union. If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed he’ll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some liberal didn’t think he should loose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

Its noon time, Joe needs to make a Bank Deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe’s deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some liberal wanted to protect Joe’s money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the depression.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae underwritten Mortgage and his below market federal student loan because some stupid liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his life-time.

Joe is home from work, he plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive to dads; his car is among the safest in the world because some liberal fought for car safety standards. He arrives at his boyhood home. He was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers Home Administration because bankers didn’t want to make rural loans. The house didn’t have electric until some big government liberal stuck his nose where it didn’t belong and demanded rural electrification. (Those rural Republican’s would still be sitting in the dark)

He is happy to see his dad who is now retired. His dad lives on Social Security and his union pension because some liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn’t have to. After his visit with dad he gets back in his car for the ride home.
He turns on a radio talk show, the host’s keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. (He doesn’t tell Joe that his beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day) Joe agrees, “We don’t need those big government liberals ruining our lives; after all, I’m a self made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have”.

By John Gray Cincinnati, Ohio - jgray7@cinci.rr.com - Published July - 2004
Printable version: Click here!

Brilliant

Its heartening to know the folks at NY1 got their stuff together over there. All these years I thought the Governor was located in Albany....silly me.



Hat tip to The Daily Gotham and Dan Jacoby for the find.