This entry was posted on
Monday, November 1st, 2004 at
9:54 am and is filed
under Uncategorized.
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Date
20041101
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
09:54
A report of lots of very determined voters in Florida. There is hope.
Latest Osama tape seen as a boost for Bush (here’s the kind of thinking that helps this make sense to some people). But is it real?
Walter Cronkite (who may have been kidding): So now the question is basically right now, how will this affect the election? And I have a feeling that it could tilt the election a bit. In fact, I’m a little inclined to think that Karl Rove, the political manager at the White House, who is a very clever man, he probably set up bin Laden to this thing.
So, polls and perception are being played and mind-clouding Fear of Terror plays a role. (What happened to not letting the terrorists win?) Why does Murdoch’s New York Post think Bush will win? Because the polls say so and people are focused on terrorism.
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Date
20041101
Flip-Flopping
Time
09:55
George W. Bush consults with Chalabi at length. George W. Bush can barely remember who Chalabi is.
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Date
20041101
The Interweb
Time
09:57
Results of the Global Vote should appear sometime around lunch (GMT). Keep an eye out.
UPDATE – The winner is John Kerry with 77.1% of votes.
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Date
20041101
The End of Democracy
Time
10:03
Bush Seeks Limit to Suits Over Voting Rights. We can’t have any frivolous lawsuits, now can we?
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Date
20041101
An American Election
Time
10:05
Going back to 1932, whenever an incumbent president has run for re-election, their fate was tied in to the Washington Redskins. When the Redskins win the incumbent has won. When the Redskins lose the incumbent loses. The Redskins lost. And now, back to the science….
UPDATE – Full timeline from Snopes.com
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Date
20041101
Video
Time
10:36
Bloody hell… I’ve got video coming out of my ears here.
Start with this fine collection if you wish, and download The World Acoording To Bush if you’ve got the pipage (link via Wordlab), but there are two videos that you really need to make time to *share* today.
The Endoresment from georgethemenace.org – short and to the point.
The Mistaken from HateGun.com – 4 years of f**k-ups in 4 minutes (a mirror with alternative formats is available here).
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Date
20041101
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely! It’s Over!
Time
10:37
BBC – Iraq death toll ‘soared post-war’: UK foreign secretary Jack Straw said his government would examine the findings “with very great care”. But he told BBC’s Today that another independent estimate of civilian deaths was around 15,000.
I ask again: Where is his estimate?
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Date
20041101
Music
Time
10:41
I’m Taking My Country Back. Bush has driven it off the interstate.
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Date
20041101
Flash Music Video
Time
10:42
All of these people died for the lies of a pack of greedy bastards.
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Date
20041101
Only Interesting To Bloggers
Time
10:46
My picks for winner would be Back to Iraq 3.0 or Talking Points Memo. My vote went to Europhobia (it’s politics, all politics).
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Date
20041101
An American Election
Time
11:06
OK, here’s the deal with Iowa (I was too burned-out to post details on Friday)…
I made Come Clean for two reasons:
1. I liked the song; it really reached me and could be applied to a number of Bush lies and failures… but (like most songs) it needed some vision in order to be spread far and wide.
2. Chuck Grassley has been in place for decades. He regards victory in Iowa as a given, so has been spending the bulk of his campaign fund (US$6million) on promoting Bush and Bush alone. It seemed a good idea to simply tie Bush to Grassley (not hard to do, as he’s been aligned with Bush 99% of the time).
And now we have a new development on this front. Grassley’s rival Art Small (the candidate Come Clean endorses) is now selling on eBay everything you need to run a grass-roots campaign for U.S. Senate (my services not not included). There’s a wide range of materials on offer (including the campaign van) and not all of them require your name to be Art Small. Or your target state to be Iowa.
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Date
20041101
Photoshopping
Time
12:03
JSM wrote in to say the following: Is John Kerry, ’72, the real Hawkeye? I just caught Going Upriver, the really great documentary about Kerry’s Vietnam war protest. It’s like Hawkeye wears a Kerry wig from those days. Kerry not only wears his (real) hair like that, he wears the same army fatigues, even though he was Navy, the same floppy hat, has the same mannerisms and the same anti-senseless-war attitude as Hawkeye. Kerry was the best known Nam vet of the day, always on TV news, organizer of the big March on Washington; he even debated John O’Neill on the Dick Cavett show. So it would make sense that he would be the prototype (for the television version of Hawkeye).
Seems perfectly reasonable to me. In fact, I think the producers of M*A*S*H knew far more than they were letting on…
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Date
20041101
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s…. oh s**t!
Time
12:54
To shouts of “Death to America,” Iran’s parliament OKs Nuke Enrichment Bill.
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Date
20041101
Fnarr-Fnarr
Time
13:04
Cherie accused of attacking Bush.
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Date
20041101
The War on Stupid
Time
13:30
This interpretation of the latest Osama bin Laden tape (by MEMRI) basically has bin Laden saying that individual U.S. states that vote against Bush will be spared the horror of further terrorist attack.
Of course, Murdoch’s FOXNews and New York Post are all over it. They’ll be damned if they play into the hands of terrorists, by jingo by crikey!
UPDATE – A quick giggle for you.
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Date
20041101
Flash Thingies
Time
14:03
Management would like to apologise for the late delivery of this pumpkin.
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Date
20041101
The End of Democracy
Time
14:21
Then again, perhaps not…
Associated Press – Judge Bars Challengers From Ohio Polls: A federal judge on Monday barred political party challengers from polling places throughout Ohio during Tuesday’s election. State Republicans planned to appeal. The order by U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott found that the application of Ohio’s statute allowing challengers at polling places was unconstitutional. The presence of challengers inexperienced in the electoral process questioning voters about their eligibility would impede voting, she said.
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Date
20041101
An American Election
Time
14:53
Dirty tricks 1
Dirty tricks 2
The second one is a real treat. I can just image the scene down at GOP headquarters: “OK Gary, you look gayer than most of us, I want you to get down there and mince it up. Cheryl, I don’t want you to take this personally, but many people have commented that you would make a convincing serial abortionist…”
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Date
20041101
Activism
Time
15:50
Click here if you live in the U.S. and own a phone. (Background here.)
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Date
20041101
An American Election
Time
15:56
We now enter the most interesting phase of any election – the 24 hours before the period when most people are expected to vote.
It is during this stage that it is most prudent to release/leak/promote baseless smears, scares and lies (as there is little time for a target/opponent to refute/respond).
Here’s our first big scare. Can everybody else please form an orderly line to the left (or right, depending on our orientation)?
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Date
20041101
Flash Games
Time
16:20
Enjoy yet another Bush-based shoot-em-up game (on what we hope will be the last day such things are relevant).
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Date
20041102
An American Election
Time
10:37
Are we there yet?
Electoral-Vote.com has it as Kerry 298 – Bush 231
Slate.com has it as Kerry 269 – Bush 269
Zogby reports that Bush should beware the ‘young owner of a mobile phone’ vote.
Michael Moore has had his ‘final’ say, but the BBC reports that both candidates are expected to break with tradition and continue campaigning today.
A computer error has already resulted in a recount in Florida.
A federal appeals court has cleared the way for challengers to be present at polling places in Ohio.
Indymedia are watching proceedings very closely, but don’t be surprised if you find yourself chewing on bits of tinfoil from time to time. Not that anything in this election would surprise me. I’m still getting over this ‘fake gay’ stunt and most readers of this blog will be aware that e-voting hides many pitfalls (and e-voting providers hide many connections to the Republicans).
Legitgov.org reports that Cheney is heading up a series of terror drills – on election day! Are they just plain stupid, cleverly using drills to mask preparedness (lest someone point the finger and scream ‘alarmist’), or simply trying freak people out and/or gum up the works even further? (Tell you what, I’ll ‘give’ enough to concede that an election-day terrorist attack is possible, but it won’t be effective unless it happens before 8am EST – i.e. about 2-3 hours from now. After that, we can probably unclench.)
Many reports of right-wing thuggery/antics can be read here.
Part of me hopes that this was meant as a joke, but it’s reported as a genuine attempt here.
The Republicans have accused Democrats of putting out a false endorsement from Norman Schwarzkopf. The Democrats have accused Republicans of engineering the whole thing themselves and peddling it to the press. This DailyKos reader puts it down to an honest mistake.
Here’s a glimmer of hope; right-wing bloggers are gearing up for a Kerry win by assuring us that if he wins it will be the fault of… liberal media. We also have this right-wing journo laying the blame (for something that hasn’t happened yet) on the UN for their ‘manipulation’ of the Al-Qaqaa issue.
My gut tells me that this is going to be a long, gruelling week… unless, as many suspect, the polls have been cooked in Bush’s favour.
Still – no matter what the result – we can take comfort in the knowledge that Karl Rove has already failed.
I leave the final word to DailyKos: D-Day. Stay Vigilant. Stay Confident. Stay Calm.
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Date
20041102
RWCs
Time
10:39
The Bush Pledge (yes, this is real): “I care about freedom and liberty. I care about my family. I care about my country. Because I care, I promise to work hard to re-elect, re-elect George W. Bush as president of the United States.”
More delusions here.
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Date
20041102
Flash Music Video
Time
10:41
I tried to laugh. Really.
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Date
20041102
Inneresting
Time
10:43
Bidding for Art Small’s campaign leftovers is up to $3,550
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Date
20041102
SEO
Time
10:44
Congratulations to Chasing Daisy, who today is the 6th search result for vote republican.
Just above that is Voting Republican This Year = Voting for Torture.
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Date
20041102
Activism
Time
10:49
Independent – Hawking to lead anti-war protest on election day: Stephen Hawking, Britain’s most eminent scientist, has become the latest prominent opponent of the Iraq war by agreeing to take the lead role in a ceremonial protest to coincide with the United States presidential election. Peace protesters will gather in Trafalgar Square at 5pm on Tuesday, where they will read out the names of 5,000 Iraqi men, women and children known to have died in the conflict.
That’s 5pm today in case you plan on attending. More details here.
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Date
20041102
An American Election
Time
10:53
You do know where to vote, yes? You do? Phew! For a minute there…
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Date
20041102
Flash Music Video
Time
11:08
Warning: NSFW if your boss understands Spanish (link via Milk and Cookies).
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Date
20041102
Photoshopping
Time
12:58
Come on, America – we’re counting on you.
International co-operation awaits.
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Date
20041102
Anyone But George
Time
13:22
Wil Wheaton speaks!
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Date
20041102
An American Election
Time
14:38
More on the Ohio ruling from Washington Monthly and DailyKos. Check the latter especially if you are unsure of your rights. Ranting won’t help. Voting will.
(Oh, and if you’re worried about making it past the Republican brownshirts, just follow these dress-code guidelines and you should pass by without so much as a second glance.)
If you can stand to watch, the CNN results page is ready to go and the BBC offers a useful timetable for those of us on this side of the pond.
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Date
20041102
Photoshopping
Time
16:23
Bush votes at the Crawford Volunteer Fire Department in Crawford, Texas.
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Date
20041102
RWCs
Time
17:41
Another right-wing claim of vote-rigging debunked. More here.
One can only wonder why they they’re blowing *this* kind of smoke and/or why they’re so ready to make such an assumption.
Europhobia has a few thoughts on this at the tail end of this post.
UPDATE – Bwahahahahahahahahahaha!
White is up and black is down. You learn that in Repug 101.
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Date
20041102
The End of Democracy
Time
17:55
RudePundit reports on the joys of electronic voting.
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Date
20041103
An American Election
Time
01:48
It’s late.
Many states are being called, but every ‘battleground’ state is reporting in as “too close to call.”
Many states, at the time polls are supposed to close, have 2-3 hours worth of voters still lined up outside.
Forget hours. This could go on for days… and every ‘early’ indicator looks to be a case of “wait and see.”
Bed. Now.
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Date
20041103
An American Election
Time
09:26
AP – Bush Prepares to Declare Re-Election Win: With Ohio looming as a Florida redux, President Bush prepared to declare re-election victory in the wee hours of Wednesday and Democratic rival John Kerry refused to concede. After winning Nevada and pulling within 16 electoral votes of the 270 required for a second term, Bush was laying claim to Ohio’s 20 over Kerry’s objections. “We will not base our decision on a concession,” said Bush adviser Dan Bartlett as other aides said Bush would soon go before supporters to declare victory. Ceding nothing, Kerry dispatched running mate John Edwards to tell supporters in Boston: “We will fight for every vote.”
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Date
20041103
Rupert ‘The Evil One’ Murdoch
Time
10:18
Put it aside. Put it aside and focus on what needs to be done. We appear to have four years of hard work ahead of us, and we simply can’t afford to roll over.
It would appear that many Americans have difficulty telling the difference between someone who *is* a good president and someone who is (sometimes) very good at playing the role of president.
All issues of legality aside, the Iraq war not only served as a massive distraction from the fight against terrorism, it also aided existing terrorists and encouraged further terrorism.
Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib played a massive, massive role here.
Take a look this; it’s been on my mind lately and I’ve talked/emailed a few of you about it…
Abu Ghraib photos cause gasps in Congress: More than 1,800 images, including video clips, were screened by members of the House and Senate in separate classified briefings under Pentagon supervision. The lawmakers disagreed over whether or not the images should be made public, but reaction to the content was vehement.
As DailyKos quite rightly asks; Where is the outrage?
Initially, I found it hard to believe that any human being could see the full scope of this abuse and then keep quiet about it. Then it became clear that even Democrats were wary of full disclosure. The full horror of Abu Ghraib and the trail that led to it would be so damaging to American interests that it simply wouldn’t be worth ‘using’ it to target Bush. Perhaps the assumption was made that the election would sort things out and now – soon – a voice or two will be heard. Perhaps.
At the moment, somewhere in the mind of fervent Bush supporters, is a fuzzy area that shuts this information out with repeated chants of ‘Saddam was worse’ and ‘war against terror at all costs.’ A larger cloud linking Saddam Hussein to Al Qaeda further complicates matters.
This storm of bullshit is enabled primarily by mainstream media. Their actions are clouded by yet another lie – the myth of liberal media.
At the centre of the bullshit storm is one man; Murdoch.
A large amount of bloggage recycles output from the mainstream. Much noise was made about the power of bloggers over ‘RatherGate’ but They. Were. Used.
The real power of blogs won’t be seen until it outperforms, overpowers or outmanoeuvres the larger machine.
So there’s your obvious target, and there’s your obvious task. We need to reach the audience Rupert Murdoch commands and show them the truth.
A small example of this in action can be seen by searching for ‘page 3 girls’ in Google. More impressive (if slightly less useful in that most of Murdoch’s victims aren’t aware of who he is and/or what role he plays in their lives) is this search result for ‘rupert murdoch’.
We need to show people the lies they’ve been told, the people behind those lies, and the purpose of those lies.
To do that, we need to:
1 – Own the bulk of real estate for every major search query relating to Murdoch assets and show what role those assets play
2 – Make messages as clear and as irrefutable as possible
3 – Take those messages offline and into the ‘real’ world (where – currently – fantasy prevails)
Recruitment begins today. You know the address. Use it.
PS – Blowjobs? Pah! You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
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Date
20041103
Activism
Time
10:22
And haven’t they picked a lovely day for it?*
Evening Standard – Ministers ban Parliament Sq protests: Permanent protests in Parliament Square are to be banned by the Government in a bid to silence an antiwar activist loathed by many MPs. The Home Office is set to announce today that the Organised Crime Bill will include a clause restricting demonstrations in front of the Commons… Mr Hain, a high-profile demonstrator in his youth, will stress that there is no question of the right to protest being significantly curtailed. But he will say that the time has come for a more sensible approach to regulating the demonstrations.
So there you have it. Your right to protest isn’t being curtailed. Just regulated.
(*ScaryDuck thinks that this can be put far less delicately. OK by me. Today is a good day to bury bad news.)
UPDATE – In which Brian Haw says: “I think there should be a time limit on committing genocide, not protesting against it.”
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Date
20041103
An American Election
Time
10:32
It’s not over yet. Watch. Wait.
(*Sigh*… so many provisional ballots… one can only wonder why.)
I hope the Dems have enough guts to hold out for a full count in Ohio. 11 days vs. 4 years? No contest.
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Date
20041103
Flash Music Video
Time
11:05
Cheer up. (More here.)
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Date
20041103
Normal People
Time
11:36
Need your pecker checked? You can safely place yourself in this man’s hands.
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Date
20041103
Sudan
Time
12:27
Meanwhile…
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Date
20041103
RWCs
Time
13:10
Hooray.
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Date
20041103
An American Election
Time
16:28
CNN and AP are reporting that Kerry has called Bush to concede. The BBC reports that Kerry will be issuing a statement at 6pm GMT, which will be followed by a statement from Bush.
Take my advice; avoid depressants.
Take a moment to grieve and then focus.
Murdoch. Planning begins tomorrow.
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Date
20041104
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
10:29
BoingBoing: Four more years of a nation led by criminals. I was making coffee with one eye on CNN when the news broke, and I called my dad, a man who’s spent many years fighting for good things, sometimes at great personal cost. “Get over it,” he said, “The way you feel now is exactly how I felt when Nixon won a second term — crushed. I just couldn’t believe America was that stupid. But remember what happened to Nixon that term.” “Change comes from discontent,” he said. “And right now, there’s a lot of discontent.”
Plus more. Go read.
Zogby is standing by their pre-election polls, but you may well ask; “What went wrong?”
Well, some (some) people have a few theories/misgivings about the voting process:
Election 2004: Shoplifting the Presidency?
Global monitors find faults: The global implications of the U.S. election are undeniable, but international monitors at a polling station in southern Florida said Tuesday that voting procedures being used in the extremely close contest fell short in many ways of the best global practices.
Blackfive’s Vote Is Disenfranchised
The Onion – U.S. Inspires World With Attempt At Democratic Election
Given the role of companies like Diebold and the fact that – for many states – there is no paper trail to prove that the results matched the actual votes, I’m inclined to be more than a little suspicious myself… but without proof, all we can do is grind our teeth. And, fraud or not, we cannot afford to discount the role played by the constant chants to the simple-minded…
Slate.com – Simple but Effective – Why you keep losing to this idiot
Wrapping it up on Blogdex is this handy guide to expatriating and (*gasp*) a call to move on and get back to work. There’s a lot to be done. And we’re only fucked if we lie down and take it.
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Date
20041104
Flash Games
Time
10:31
Be the cockroach link via Ultimate Insult).
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Date
20041104
Compare and Contrast
Time
10:35
George W. Bush’s victory speech: Reaching these goals will require the broad support of Americans, so today I want to speak to every person who voted for my opponent. To make this nation stronger and better, I will need your support and I will work to earn it. I will do all I can do to deserve your trust. A new term is a new opportunity to reach out to the whole nation. We have one country, one constitution, and one future that binds us. And when we come together and work together, there is no limit to the greatness of America.
Fine words. Words we can trust.
Compare these fine words with the words of Rupert Murdoch, who’s finally all set to move his media empire to the U.S. At the last general meeting on Australian soil, he had this to say about FOXNews: “We don’t take any position at all. We’re not in the least bit biased, we’re a fair and balanced company.”
(Image posted to B3ta, where it raised the ire of someone who is exceptionally shouty and defensive, considering the circumstances.)
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Date
20041104
Page 3 – Words of Wisdom
Time
10:38
Today, Nicola T (22, from London) believes John kerry did the right thing by throwing in the towel yesterday. She says: “He gave President Bush a really tough battle. But it made sense to concede defeat once the size of the President’s vote became known. It was great to see such huge numbers turning out.”
And with a figure like that, who are we to argue, eh boys?
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Date
20041104
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
10:42
Sandra Gidley expresses an opinion 1
Sandra Gidley expresses an opinion 2
She’s now under attack from the Bush-bots. If you want to provide balance, her comments feature awaits your input.
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Date
20041104
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
10:53
A lot of talk about mandates today…
The Sun: The verdict is another great vote of support for the leaders fighting the War On Terror — and for the troops on the ground in Iraq.
Andrew Sullivan: George W. Bush is our president. He deserves a fresh start, a chance to prove himself again, and the constructive criticism of those of us who decided to back his opponent. He needs our prayers and our support for the enormous tasks still ahead of him.
Josh Marshall: I thought about this when I read it. And, to put it simply, I didn’t agree… This election cut the nation in two… And yet he plans to use this narrow victory as though it were a broad mandate, starting right back with the same strategy that has already come near to tearing this country apart.
Kevin Drum: I hate to say this, but I hope liberals quit whining about George Bush’s “mandate.” It may be a narrow one, but of course he won a mandate… Needless to say, this doesn’t mean we should just mope around and let the Republican party run the country unopposed. At the same time, though, it doesn’t help to be in denial: the fact is that Bush did win a convincing victory, and he did it because more Americans agreed with his vision for the country than agreed with ours. Our job now is to try to change that, not to pretend that it never happened.
Quite so. Many people who voted for Bush think that he makes them safer. And that the torture of prisoners is the work of ‘a few bad apples’…
Why? In a word; Murdoch. So allow me to repeat Kevin’s closing sentence there:
Our job now is to try to change that, not to pretend that it never happened.
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Date
20041104
Tony ‘King Blair
Time
10:54
Let’s not give Tony Blair the easy ride he must now be expecting.
One thing that won’t play in his favour; Bush doesn’t care about him and has already dumped him in it over Iraq without hesitation or notice.
Lots of angry people who know the truth. An administration that isn’t working to supress this *quite* as much as it was this time last week. Do the sums.
PS – Abu Ghraib: we were there too.
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Date
20041104
Operation Murdoch
Time
11:17
Lots of email is coming in about this as a result of yesterday’s blogagge.
If you want to help fight Rupert Murdoch’s bullshit machine, please get in touch. We’re still sorting irons for the fire.
Also happening:
Aaand we’re *back* to plans for the long-overdue refit of Bloggerheads. If there are any features you’d like beyond search, permalinks and comments, please let me know (but keep in mind that one of the most-requested features – a forum – requires a lot of moderation time that I simply don’t have).
Work begins tonight on something else that’s long-overdue – my next book. It’s an instruction book that will show how to get and use high search results for personal, professional or political purposes.
To work….
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Date
20041104
Only Interesting To Bloggers
Time
11:18
Vote to win! (But please don’t forget to vote for me.)
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Date
20041104
George W. Bush
Time
11:27
It’s never too late to show you care.
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Date
20041104
Cheer Up
Time
11:51
Meet Limecat.
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Date
20041104
Normal People
Time
13:30
Oh. Dear. God. (Link via Joe.)
UPDATE – See some reactions to these reasons here and here.
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Date
20041104
George W. Bush
Time
15:53
Distopia.com is holding a wake for common sense.
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Date
20041104
Newsflash
Time
16:59
Unconfirmed reports are coming in that Yasser Arafat has been declared clinically dead. First I heard of it was via a White House press conference of all things (“aaand this just in”). The White House: they make the news, they break the news!
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Date
20041104
Photoshopping
Time
17:39
One.
Two.
Please note the order in which they were made and that one is not connected to the other. But there are some who would like to think…
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Date
20041105
Operation Murdoch
Time
10:25
First off; why are we doing this?
Well, I said before the US election that – even if Bush lost – the main problem would remain… Murdoch. Even if we hound Blair out of office, this same problem remains here, too. We’re left with a choice of ‘leaders’ in league with Murdoch or leaders who are crippled by constant attacks from Murdoch.
I tried to explain the scale of this to my 9-year-old son last night. The guts of the exchange went as follows:
If someone wants more than 5 television stations, if they get satellite TV, what company do they use?
Sky
Murdoch owns it. How many different newspapers do you see down at the newsagent each day?
About eight.
Close enough. Murdoch owns two of them. And because of something known as the ‘echo effect’, what he pushes forward often reaches four or five others. What’s Dad’s favourite movie?
Star Wars
Guess what?
Murdoch owns it?
You got it. What’s my favourite TV show?
M*A*S*H…. or The Simpsons. Which one does he own?
Both.
(pause) Wow. And you’re going to fight this guy?
I’m going to do what I can.
(laugh) Good luck!
Yes, quite. And he’s not the only person to express doubts about this project.
But:
1. The alternative is to simply let it wash over us. As Murdoch gets bolder. There’s still much he feels he has to achieve (such as the destruction of the BBC and ownership of a terrestrial station in the UK). If no-one fights, everyone loses.
2. Murdoch has a soft under-belly; it’s hidden in his so-called mandate. Murdoch influences the lives of billions, but nobody voted for the man. His defence (on the rare occasions he is called to answer himself) is that people vote with their wallets every day. But the vast majority of people don’t know where the money goes to (or where the information comes from) when they watch such-and-such a programme or read such-and-such a newspaper. We are going to correct that.
Stand on the shore and the ocean looks pretty bloody huge. It beats at the rocks and wears them down, slowly but surely. The sand on your small area of the beach comes and goes at its whim.
Stand even further back to see that the ocean covers most of the planet and you can expect to feel just a little intimidated by that. But you only have to build a small wall out into the ocean and you can protect or even shape your shoreline for the better. Show other people how to do the same thing and you’ve got progress.
So here’s how it’s going to work:
The Guts Of The Plan
A central hub will be set up at Bloggerheads that will act as:
1. An anchor-point for all anti-Murdoch projects
2. A recruitment tool
(i.e. “Here’s what other people are doing, you probably came here from one of these projects. Now, here’s what you can do to make these projects a success or build your own project…”)
Each project will have one clear and central message/purpose. We are not out to create a thousand hate sites. We are out to create a thousand information sites. And, as should be clear, Murdoch is often too big to explain. We’re going to take it one target at a time and be very clear in our delivery of the message. If they want to see more, they need only come to the centre and look out.
In other words, the only other role these projects will have is to draw people to that centre so they may:
1. Enjoy the perspective
2. Be motivated to build their own project.
So, and just to hammer this home… each project has one purpose and one purpose alone. The only ‘distraction’ from that purpose is to drive other people to make their own project. There may be scope to link to a few sister projects (e.g. a project that targets The Sun would probably want to link to a project that points out how much tax Murdoch pays in the UK… which is none) but the primary external link will essentially say “Join the Anti-Murdoch Network”
(PS – There will also be link tools for people who come onside by merely linking with “I Support the Anti-Murdoch Network”…)
Here’s the next rule… one person, one project. In short; you need to be as focused as your project.
The project can be held at your existing website, or you can build a new one. Strategically, it makes sense to go for the former if you already have a bit of link support (a good example is BorisWatch held at Wibbler.com).
Starting Projects
Message Projects….
Here are two that have already been built:
I Believe In The BBC
Page 3 – Model Propaganda
Monitoring Projects…
Do people know they’re being lied to? Do they know where those lies originate?
The first big project of this kind that needs to be built is a site not unlike The Daily Mail Watch, but focused entirely on The Sun. This is already coming together, but it needs a few extra watchers/writers and a graphic designer. Get in touch if you want to help.
Smaller Blogger-based projects will be ample to tackle local newspapers that Murdoch owns on a format that is not entirely unlike How To Run a ‘Proxy’ Weblog on Behalf of Your MP. (Why do this? Well, here’s one thing to chew on… Last month, Outfoxed was released in cinemas across Australia. Many smaller towns have only one newspaper. Owned by Murdoch. That refused to run ads for the film.)
A simple page at the hub should be enough to co-ordinate these for now, but once there are a few in place, it would be a very good idea to aggregate these blogs (here’s an example of this at work) and build a specific project out of *that* (i.e. create a small network of small newspaper monitors so a ‘big picture’ of sorts can be created that retains a simple central message/theme).
Larger Projects
I’ll let on about these when they look like becoming reality. No sense bleating about pie-in-the-sky stuff, as it only makes us look stupid. But if we get to a certain level within – say – 6 months, I have a large project already in mind that can be built with elbow-grease alone. You’ll like it.
Funding
On the subject of elbow-grease, this is going to be one of our key materials in the opening stages, but once we reach a level of effectiveness, it would make sense to seek funding from victims of Murdoch to create larger projects. There are plenty of them. Some have had their careers destroyed, some have survived. The survivors will have money. And a grudge.
Taking it Offline
This pretty much requires money, but one or two projects (usually localised or message-based ones) may be able to encourage people to take the information offline in the form of pamphlets, posters or (here we get cheeky) inserts that can be slipped inside Murdoch’s newspapers.
Timeline
In theory, it makes sense to capitalise on the feelings that have arisen from Bush’s win in the US, but confidence and perception are important. We have enough recruits right now to quietly discuss matters and get people cracking on individual projects while the new Bloggerheads machine (complete with hub) is built. The smarter move would be to do the launch-proper in about a month from now, with some well-thought-out projects already in place. Confidence, perception – and a solid lead by example.
Your Role
Have a good, long, think. Pick a potential target, and propose a project.
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Date
20041105
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
10:33
Peace, love and purple haze.
Time to move to Canada.
Bugger that. Time to move the *borders*.
Who do you think this man would vote for?
You may not be in the mood for this…
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Date
20041105
In The News
Time
10:39
Balders comments on people in the North East voting “no” on a new regional assembly.
Peter Gasston comments on the law specifically introduced to evict Brain Haw.
PS – You know all that fuss about MP’s expenses and the lovely London homes some of them are buying? Have you realised that it’s now illegal to protest outside those properties?
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Date
20041105
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
10:50
Please visit Sandra Gidley today and offer a quietly constructive comment on any post that takes your fancy. She’s still under attack from shouty people.
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Date
20041105
Spam
Time
11:35
Spammers convicted; first felony case: Jeremy Jaynes, considered one of the nation’s biggest spammers, and Jessica DeGroot were found guilty of masking their return Internet addresses last summer to send thousands of bulk e-mail peddling software and stock picks to customers of America Online and other Internet service providers. The 12-member jury recommended Jaynes, 30, be sentenced to nine years in a Virginia prison, and DeGroot, 28, be fined $7,500. Judge Thomas Horne is expected to sentence them next year.
UPDATE – FFS! I just got a spam which opens with; “President Bush and Senator Kerry were both for buying presciption medications online. They both said as long as it was safe they are all for it. So stop contemplating and start saving on prescriptions now!”
Oh, and have you noticed how much spam is touting Rolex watches these days? Do you really think the market is suddenly awash with fake Rolexes… or is it more likely that one company is behind all of this spam?
Think about all the street spam that appears around the world. There’s one company responsible for most of that. Read more.
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Date
20041105
RWCs
Time
12:16
Curse my liberal elitism. (Link via Rogi.)
UPDATE – Joe quite rightly points out that this is a repeat. But – then again – so is the result.
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Date
20041105
Tim Yeo
Time
12:55
Yes, well, good luck with that. Only a year late. And still not live.
UPDATE – My, my, my… look at all these almost-weblogs.
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Date
20041105
The Interweb
Time
14:41
“Ha-ha Bush!” Bye-bye job.
For those who missed it, here’s a screengrab. 12 points go to Netscape for now having ads selling lingerie in place of the ‘offending’ pages and files.
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Date
20041105
George W. Bush
Time
14:47
A bit harsh, don’t you think Zach?
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Date
20041105
The Interweb
Time
15:24
Tee-hee.
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Date
20041105
An American Election
Time
16:04
New Dem Daily – What Happened? (Link via Washington Monthly.)
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Date
20041105
OK, So I’m a Star Wars Geek
Time
16:27
Star Wars trailer released – to paying customers.
Sod that for a game of soldiers. See the Ep III trailer and some screengrabs here for free (10mb Quicktime, BitTorrent available).
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Date
20041105
Operation Murdoch
Time
17:41
Sneak preview of the logo for you.
We’re still looking for a graphic/web designer for the yet-to-be-named Sun-watch project. Apart from the overall design, there will be ongoing scanning and uploading duties, so your heart really needs to be in it. I’ll be checking my email on Monday.
Cheers all.
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Date
20041108
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
09:36
Apart from an opinion on what will be left of the Palestinian cause after Arafat goes, news of the poor chap who shot himself at Ground Zero in reaction to Bush’s win and rumours of a big dollar sell-off post-win, the chart-toppers on Blogdex today can be neatly split into two categories:
Category One: How The Hell Did Bush Win?
Torygraph – Believe it or not, it wasn’t just rednecks who voted for Bush
OBS – Bob Don’t Know Diddy: Post-Election Reflections on Polls and Other Stuff
Open Letter To The Democratic Party: How You Could Have Had My Vote
Murdoch Post – Bill: Why Bush Won
James Wolcott suggests that the official Democratic slogan for 2008 be “Shoot a Fag for Jesus”
Geomblog – The ‘Purple Haze’, revisited
Washington Post – A Coalition of Conviction
Kottke.org – How George Bush won the election
MSNBC – Kerry: The Bush war room wanted to ‘define’ him, and knew how to get under his skin
Washington Post – Four More Years Attributed to Rove’s Strategy
(Washington Monthly also has some analysis based on the 2004 and 2000 exit polls.)
Category Two: He Didn’t
Common Dreams – Evidence Mounts That The Vote May Have Been Hacked
Too many voting ‘irregularities’ to be coincidence
Surprising Pattern of Florida’s Election Results
UPDATE – Wired – House Dems Seek Election Inquiry: Three congressmen sent a letter to the General Accounting Office on Friday requesting an investigation into irregularities with voting machines used in Tuesday’s elections. The congressmen, Democratic members of the House of Representatives from Florida, New York and Michigan, cited a number of incidents that came to light in the days after the election. One was a glitch in Ohio that caused a memory card reader made by Danaher Controls to give George W. Bush 3,893 more votes than he should have received. Another was a problem with memory cards in North Carolina that caused machines made by UniLect to lose 4,500 votes cast on e-voting machines. The votes were lost when the number of votes cast on the machines exceeded the capacity of the memory cards.
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Date
20041108
Consume!
Time
09:45
Students! Why not write your thesis on Fat People Being Mocked on The Interwebs?
20 Reasons Why you shouldn’t post your picture on the internet is enjoying a revival this week. Star Wars Kid and Mustard Man are the stuff of legend.
Just a thought.
(A related link for you; The Sun, tireless champion of the consumer, brings news of a leaked memo from those in charge of casting for UK McDonalds ads that reads: “Because this is McDonald’s, it is important that all artists submitted to us are NOT FAT OR OVERWEIGHT in any way” (their emphasis).
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Date
20041108
Tony ‘King Blair
Time
09:48
Independent – Motion to impeach Blair is finalised: The motion calls for a select committee to investigate the “conduct of the PM in relation to the war in Iraq”. The committee would draw up the “articles of impeachment” and a panel of law lords would judge whether Mr Blair deliberately misled the nation. A guilty verdict would see Mr Blair arrested by the Serjeant at Arms and taken into custody by Black Rod. Michael Martin, the Commons Speaker, must rule on whether the motion can be tabled for debate on the floor of the Commons. Although Mr Blair has little chance of losing an impeachment vote, its being held would be a serious humiliation.
Blair’s best defence, then, will most likely a familiar one. He needs to belittle the action and those behind it (see: Clare Short, Robin Cook etc. etc.). Look forward to ‘news’ items this week or next suggesting that the people behind the impeachment are mentally imbalanced.
Not only, but also…
Boris Johnson – Bush owes Blair – and must deliver
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Date
20041108
Bunch of Stuff
Time
10:07
A great find from over the weekend: The Community At Large, a blog that points us in the direction of yet more people wondering why images of Abu Ghraib still aren’t showing up in Google Images and results of the video-watch on Republican thugs at polling booths in Ohio. And more. Go see.
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Date
20041108
Christianity Watch
Time
10:10
Christians United for Responsible Enlightenment of Society – “Here are some DANGEROUS books, and posts that if the information given within were put to practice, would topple all existing earthly governments. These will make you THINK!”
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Date
20041108
OK, So I’m a Comic Book Geek
Time
10:13
The Comics Reporter is a blog dedicated to, well… comic-related news. (Link via LinkMachineGo.)
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Date
20041108
Inneresting
Time
10:15
10×10 – an an interactive exploration of the words and pictures that define the time.
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Date
20041108
Flash Games
Time
10:16
Give Bush a Brain! As you might expect, it’s pretty challenging. (Link via FunJunkie.)
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Date
20041108
Rupert ‘The Evil One’ Murdoch
Time
10:19
ITV is seeking to break BSkyB’s monopoly on satellite broadcasting and (the Independent site keeps falling over this morning, so I can only bring you a reference link, sorry) one-tenth of BSkyB shareholders will this week oppose a share buyback scheme, fearing a creeping takeover of the pay-TV group by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.
Evening Standard – Murdoch’s plan to block News stalker
SMH – Murdoch may finally have met his match
Cause for hope – but don’t go counting on anything.
One major asset-watcher is on the way, another is coming together. We’re planning, we’re building.
UPDATE:
1. We need a seasoned bean-counter to take control of the Murdoch/tax issue through a dedicated project. We’re happy to hook you up with any design, writing or hosting you may need done.
2. A legal bod is required to oversee projects and give advice regarding general bullet-proofing.
3. Perhaps someone would care to quietly ponder on what we can get our hands on with the useful things like the Freedom of Information Act.
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Date
20041108
The Political Weblog Movement
Time
11:27
Go, go Sandra Gidley: I have absolutely no intention of changing the way I blog. Postings are all Sandra Gidley and the buck stops here. If this is to stay immediate and topical then the whole flavour of what I am trying to achieve will be ruined (the different between fresh milk and sterilised milk) so there are no lawyers, agents or advisors consulted…. What if I live to regret it? Tough – but my personal view is that the public has had enough of bland politicians who speak via spin doctors and present a sanitised face to the world.
UPDATE – I left a comment here on the subject of moderation and censorship. I’m repeating it here mostly for my own personal reference:
People have a right to their opinion, just as people have a right to *form* an opinion in a balanced environment. I’m not making any accusations here, just trying to give an idea of what is and isn’t censorship when it comes to comment moderation. Some comments if left unedited or undeleted can be a form of censorship themselves – especially if they are allowed to reach (a) cacophonic level.
Posting multiple comments under different names is an abuse that warrants not only outright deletion, but public exposure and a full ban in my opinion. (This technique was used widely on Jody Dunn’s blog during the Hartlepool by-election.)
A common technique of trolls and freepers is to throw in off-topic comments that are deliberately designed to divert discussion away from the central point of any given post. Such posts should be seen for what they are and removed. That’s not censorship, that’s the *prevention* of censorship.
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Date
20041108
Photoshopping
Time
13:00
Meet The Inbredibles.
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Date
20041108
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s…. oh s**t!
Time
13:38
Up to 4,000 surface-to-air missiles unaccounted for in Iraq.
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Date
20041108
Video
Time
16:09
“Hey, are you alright?” (silence) (4.6Mb MPEG)
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Date
20041108
An American Election
Time
17:08
I fear I must point the Finger Of Shame at ScaryDuck for daring to suggest that the state of emergency declared in Iraq today could just as easily have been declared last week (i.e. before the election). Such cynicism is unhealthy, and giving voice to it also suggests that Iraq is far from sovereign. Or at the very least highly suggestible.
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Date
20041109
Flash Music Video
Time
09:56
We love kittens. We love bunnies. But they are not allowed to love each other.
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Date
20041109
Useful
Time
09:57
Two links via via poons:
Today’s front pages.
Sorry Everybody.
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Date
20041109
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
10:14
No change today, apart from more red and blue and purple, more charts, polls, etc. etc. etc.
Mind you, you might find this comparative chart interesting.
There’s also some news for bloggers (you ain’t news), ‘good’ news for those in sexual difficulty (the Sex Inspectors are on the way) and a couple of gander-raising articles…
Washington Post – Evangelicals Say They Led Charge For the GOP: As the presidential race was heating up in June and July, a pair of leaked documents showed that the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign was urging Christian supporters to turn over their church directories and was seeking to identify “friendly congregations” in battleground states. Those revelations produced a flurry of accusations that the Bush campaign was leading churches to violate laws against partisan activities by tax-exempt organizations, and even some of the White House’s closest religious allies said the campaign had gone too far.
Is this a good time to mention that pamphlets for RatOutaChurch.org were being handed out at the RNC?
Falsely accusing someone of a crime that you yourself are committing… seems like a familiar tactic, now doesn’t it?
No matter. David Brooks seems to think that it made no difference…
New York Times – The Values-Vote Myth: Here are the facts. As Andrew Kohut of the Pew Research Center points out, there was no disproportionate surge in the evangelical vote this year…Much of the misinterpretation of this election derives from a poorly worded question in the exit polls. When asked about the issue that most influenced their vote, voters were given the option of saying “moral values.” But that phrase can mean anything – or nothing. Who doesn’t vote on moral values? If you ask an inept question, you get a misleading result.
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Date
20041109
The Interweb
Time
10:16
LA Times – School’s Stolen Computers Found on EBay: A Palos Verdes High School teacher guessed this week that whoever took $50,000 worth of computers from his classroom would try to fence them in cyberspace. He guessed right. On a hunch, 39-year-old Alan Evans combed listings on the Internet auction site EBay. “And there they were,” he said. “I wasn’t surprised.”… “I think they were trying to unload them as quickly as they could,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Dennis Graff, supervising investigator in the case. “From what I understand, they were good students, but what they did wasn’t very smart.”
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Date
20041109
Only Interesting To Bloggers
Time
10:18
Technorati has a new MP3 chart.
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Date
20041109
Inneresting
Time
10:19
The letters of Vincent van Gogh. (Link via Ultimate Insult.)
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Date
20041109
RWCs
Time
10:21
“Why would I listen to losers?” – California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle, when asked if he would consider tax-increase proposals put forward by Democrats.
Link via Europhobia, who have this not-unrelated post today…
Rocco and Religion: The ex-candidate commissioner Rocco Buttiglione, who resigned after MEPs took his comments about single mothers and homosexuals somewhat badly, is launching a crusade for Catholicism and Christianity, claiming the EU is being taken over by a political correctness which effectively discriminates against traditional religious beliefs.
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Date
20041109
Tim Yeo
Time
10:34
A wonderful quote for you today from Tim ‘Swiss Toni’ Yeo: “Winning back power is, dare I say it, like making love. You’ve got to have confidence if you really want to enjoy it.”
I sourced this from the Independent on Sunday, but they didn’t tell me where he said it or precisely when he said it – and Google News isn’t coughing anything up.
Mind you, I did find a nice surprise waiting for me when I went searching for an image of Tim Yeo this morning.
Tim Yeo has completely ignored the offer of amnesty. If this crop from Politicos Design is anything to go by, I think we can safely assume that the new site planned for Tim Yeo will be feature content management (Query strings! Query strings! Give me more query strings) but no interactivity so… *sigh*… it looks like the Tim Yeo weblog will have to come back to life again.
I’d really prefer an actual constituent to handle it, though.
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Date
20041109
The Interweb
Time
13:50
First full version of Firefox released. The Mozilla site is under very heavy demand. You may wish to source your version via one of the many mirror locations provided in this Slashdot thread.
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Date
20041109
Consume!
Time
15:58
A lovely gift for your new baby.
(PS – Arafat’s on the roof again.)
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Date
20041110
Riding High on Blogdex
Time
09:30
Good news for the right; ‘proof’ (in their eyes) that poverty doesn’t breed terrorism. It’s a lack of freedom that does it, y’see. Cue an immediate jump to the conclusion that it’s America’s own brand of freedom that’s needed and start warming up the tanks.
A subtle and measured message to the people of the south.
Slate.com – Bush’s Secularist Triumph: Many are the cheap and easy laughs in which one could indulge at the extraordinary, pitiful hysteria of the defeated Democrats…. Who can care about this pathos? Not I. But I do take strong exception to one strain in the general moaning. It seems that anyone fool enough to favor the re-election of the president is by definition a God-bothering, pulpit-pounding Armageddon-artist, enslaved by ancient texts and prophecies and committed to theocratic rule.
What, like this one? (pleasebeajokepleasebeajokepleasebeajokepleasebeajoke)
(Latter link via Scaryduck. You can read some reactions to it here and here.)
When will the music industry do it right?: This is the only industry in the world that can see thousands of its retailers close, reduce the number of products it sells via cutbacks in artist rosters and albums released, cut back marketing and promotional dollars and then blame a reduction in sales on someone or something other than themselves.
Oh, I don’t know. I think the whole “Piracy funds terrorism!” argument is only one of many parallels to another ‘industry’ somewhere at the back of my mind… but I’m holding onto my Parallel Card for now. Here’s a quick Compare and Contrast instead:
BBC – Music slump ‘not caused by piracy’
BBC – Music piracy ‘does hit CD sales’
Moving right along…
Atrios on voting issues: … Irregularities and questionable results are not necessarily “proof” of “fraud” and “proof” that the “election was stolen.” If people want this issue to be taken seriously they need to stop thinking that any of the information floating around right now… provides proof of any such thing. There’s never anything wrong with raising questions. There is something wrong with believing you have answers to those questions that are not supported by the evidence.
There it is. I’m playing the Parallel Card…
Robin Cook on WMD: “I think that what has happened here is that the government started out from a conclusion. It wanted to go to war, it then needed the evidence to support the war. The danger is that really there was some degree of self-deception as they looked for the evidence that supported the case for war and did not give equal prominence to the evidence that might have pointed in the other direction.”
Your move.
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Date
20041110
Inneresting
Time
09:30
There’s two ways to approach this. You can view the web page, read the details and then download the video if you like, but it’s much more effective if you download the video first (1.6Mb WMV) and then read the details.
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Date
20041110
George W. Bush
Time
09:33
Some are funny, some are not. Some appear to have been (ahem) ‘acquired’, but I’m seeing a few credit links here and there, so I won’t get shouty about it.
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Date
20041110
OK, So I’m a Star Wars Geek
Time
09:35
Carl brings to the table another free Ep III trailer source (this one with multiple video formats).
For thos who missed it, here’s the link from Friday that also has some screengrabs.
Oh, and here’s a little photoshopping treat for those who are as amused as I am by Darth’s pose in the bondage chair.
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Date
20041110
Video
Time
09:40
Be Very Scared (1.5m-m-m-m-megabytes Quicktime).
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Date
20041110
Photoshopping
Time
09:42
Photo-sensitive epileptics beware! A new trend has sprung up on the B3ta boards – spacking. (Or, if you want to be boring and politically correct, The Creation Of Epilepographs.)
Here’s a tutorial that teaches you how to make them.
Here’s a nifty tool that makes them for you.
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Date
20041110
Tony ‘King Blair
Time
09:48
This is lovely.
(As you can probably tell, I’ve spent a lot of time at B3ta recently. The board is always a good place to be during Interesting Times. Oh, and I watched Nineteen Eighty-Four last night. It did a lot to alleviate this feeling of crushing despair.)
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Date
20041110
Writting
Time
09:51
Got a chapter done last night, and made a good start on another. With any luck, I’ll get one or two out tonight as well. I’m also working (again) on the overall timing and delivery of the information, which is problematic to say the least. The many ‘separate’ SEO issues and skills are heavily intertwined, and presenting them in a more or less linear fashion is a real challenge
Also, I have a big SEO job to do today, so that’s pretty much it from me for now.
Go here, here or here or if you get bored without me.
(Oh, and don’t forget to vote for me, you ungrateful bastards!)
Brain engaged. To work.
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Date
20041110
An American Election
Time
11:52
Sorry Everybody continues to grow and grow. Do check out the gallery.
UPDATE – But do think carefully before submitting an image yourself.
Oh, and get ready to plant a flag in the name of reason: MadeYouThink.org
Oh. Right. Work. Sorry.
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Date
20041111
Bunch of Stuff
Time
09:31
Rules for Radicals is worth a read and a quiet ponder, given what’s on the burner here.
Left-wingers! Meet A Yank Abroad.
Right-wingers! Meet someone who doesn’t hate your guts. (Cheers ubermark.)
Everybody! Meet some celebrities from the internets.
Here’s the news we’ve been expecting this last week and here’s the question most people will be asking next week.
Here’s the film that most people think got Theo van Gogh killed (multiple formats, 11 minutes long, in English with Dutch subtitles).
Australia is having a small water problem. One day soon, it may be your problem.
Ditto for the weak American dollar.
The Bloggerheads re-design is coming together nicely. I hope to launch the Murdoch project at about the same time as this re-design. As someone who is at great risk of being shouted down by anonymous or masked freepers, I’m seriously considering using some form of registration for comments.
Last night, some past experience came crashing back to me as I continued with the book. As with previous books (also written after-hours), on a good day I can get a solid chapter out (as I did last night) but I shouldn’t expect to be able to move on to a second. Oh, and closing all email/message programs while you’re writing is the equivalent of taking the phone off the hook (i.e. it’s a very good idea).
That’s it for now. You may see some bits and bobs later in the day.
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Date
20041111
SEO
Time
12:33
In future, many marketing and SEO-related posts will be made at my work weblog rather than this one.
The first post of this kind just went live:
ASABAILEY hijacks ogilvymather.co.uk
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Date
20041111
Video
Time
13:51
Meet Mrs McDonald (690Kb WMV). Looks like McDonald’s have given up on the kids and decided to target the Randy Old Sod market instead.
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Date
20041111
Humanity
Time
16:22
Well said.
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Date
20041111
The Interweb
Time
16:46
MSN Search goes beta. Guess what? It’s already falling over. Oh well. At least someone’s on the ball.
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Date
20041111
It’s War! It’s Legal! It’s Lovely!
Time
17:17
Guardian – A father’s anger: ‘I would kill Geoff Hoon’: The father of two Black Watch soldiers serving at Camp Dogwood in Iraq threatened to kill the defence secretary, Geoff Hoon, yesterday because he was a “two-faced lying git”… During his outburst, Mr Buchanan explained that none of the families involved with the group were anti-military and that fighting was his sons’ job. He added, however, that his sons had not signed up to fight for the Americans or for lies. He said that Mr Hoon had lied to the Black Watch families for three weeks over what was happening to the soldiers.
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Date
20041111
A Blog is Born
Time
17:17
Two new ones for you:
Honourable Fiend – “keeps his ear to the ground in Westminster and, rest assured, he knows where the bodies are buried.”
Wank du Jour – Like Belle du Jour, only free.
(Try to guess which link was sent in by Scaryduck.)
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Date
20041111
Music
Time
17:22
Not sure how I missed this… Weird Al’s eBay song.
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Date
20041111
Civil Liberties
Time
17:24
Say ‘no’ to ID cards… by sending us your details.
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Date
20041111
The War on Terror
Time
17:28
From Popbitch:
Everyone’s still talking about The Power of Nightmares, but most people don’t know it is the sequel to an earlier series, Century of the Self (and was originally called Enemies of the Self). The BBC hasn’t released it on DVD yet so ask BBC4 to re-show it.
Email: Janice DOT Hadlow AT bbc DOT co DOT uk
The final episodes of Power of Nightmares are now on bittorrent: Ep 2 | Ep 3
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Date
20041112
Page 3 – Words of Wisdom
Time
09:36
With memories of fallen troops uppermost in people’s minds this week (well, almost uppermost), and the very real possibility that you could get sent to your death for reasons of political convenience after 3 months of basic training, who in their right mind would join the army these days?
Well, judging by this front page, The Sun seems to be suggesting that Prince William is willing to be all he can be.
Now, I hate to split heirs (oh shut up – you love it) but it’s Prince Harry who’s headed to Sandhurst. Of course, he’s only third-in-line. And ginger. So it makes much more sense to dig up a photo from August 1998 featuring Di II toting a sub-machine gun.
And just to make sure readers get the message, on Page 3 we are assured that Melanie (24, from Watford) “can’t resist all-action hunks” and “is thrilled to see Prince William training with the crack fighters of the SAS.”
Says Melanie: “Wills is one of the most handsome fellas around, but seeing him with the SAS makes him even more fanciable.”
Core message: Get your hands on a weapon, and you might just get your hands on a fit bird… but I can’t help but wonder if readers of The Sun truly appreciate the risks they face.
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Date
20041112
An American Election
Time
09:40
In response to the excellent sorryeverybody.com comes the notably pissweak (and frame-ridden) werenotsorry.com
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Date
20041112
Flash Music Video
Time
09:48
Star Wars meets The Village People. Don’t expect too much and you’ll get along fine.
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Date
20041112
The Interweb
Time
09:50
Slasdot – New Rules Make Domain Hijacking Easier: Essentially, if someone tries to take your domain, and you don’t answer within 5 days, they now assume you are okay with the transfer. Previously, the default answer was no, and you had to explicitly state your acceptance of the domain transfer. Owners of small domains, beware: no more computerless vacations that last more than 4 days at a time!
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Date
20041112
It’s War! And Somebody’s Telling Porkies!
Time
09:53
I’m with Bob Piper. How are we expected to take ‘news’ reports from Fallujah seriously when they come with caveats like; “this report may be subject to U.S. Army restrictions”…?
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Date
20041112
RWCs
Time
10:00
Via Washington Monthly…
Slate – Loyal to a Fault?: There is a great deal to admire about White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, whom President Bush nominated yesterday to replace John Ashcroft as attorney general…. However, before the Senate gives its advice and consent to Gonzales’ nomination as the nation’s chief law-enforcement officer, he does have some explaining to do…. Gonzales sat at the apex of the storm that swirled within the Bush administration’s legal ranks over the use of “coercive interrogation” practices and torture to extract information from detainees in Cuba, Afghanistan, and Iraq. One of the “torture memos,” produced in this period by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel for Gonzales, argued that the president had the extra-constitutional power to nullify both the Geneva Conventions and the federal war crimes statute when he deemed it necessary, based on his inherent authority as commander in chief of the armed forces. Another memo, produced by the Defense Department’s lawyers, opined that an interrogator was “guilty of torture only if he act[ed] with the express purpose of inflicting severe pain or suffering on a person within his custody or physical control.” Together, these legal policies and memoranda adopted by the Bush administration on Gonzales’ watch for the war on terrorism had the effect of eviscerating the nation’s institutional, moral, and legal constraints on the treatment and interrogation of prisoners. President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld may not have personally ordered the abuses at Abu Ghraib, but on advice from lawyers like Gonzales, they adopted policies that set the conditions for those abuses and the worst scandal to affect the U.S. government since Watergate.
UPDATE – Human Rights Watch – U.S. Attorney General Nominee Undermined Rights: As White House counsel, Gonzales was the architect of the Bush administration’s policy of placing detainees captured in the fight against terrorism beyond the protection of any law. That policy opened the door to brutality against detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay and unfair legal proceedings against them. “The Attorney General should enforce the law,” said Jamie Fellner, director of the U.S. Program of Human Rights Watch. “Gonzales has helped the president circumvent it. His record suggests that he would be more likely to defer to the President than to uphold basic rights.”
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Date
20041112
An American Election
Time
10:05
Washington Monthly – Exit Poll Madness
Wired – Florida E-Vote Fraud? Unlikely
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Date
20041112
SEO
Time
11:51
I’ve been poking around the new MSN search engine and reviewing results for clients and what not… but as I did so, I noticed something very peculiar:
Does MSN Search (beta) ignore/penalise sites hosted at blogspot.com?
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Date
20041112
Photoshopping
Time
13:53
B3ta’s latest competition: Channel 4 has contacted b3ta and asked us to ask you to “re-design the C4 logo to promote their ‘alternative Christmas’…. Here’s my entry.
(Oh, and the latest B3ta newsletter should keep you out of trouble for a bit.)
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Date
20041112
Tony ‘King Blair
Time
14:11
I Won’t Vote Blair! Take the pledge. Advise your MP. (Link via poons.)
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Date
20041112
Consume!
Time
17:22
Man nearly dies after copying risky stunt he saw in a movie.
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Date
20041113
Interesting Times
Time
23:55
I just heard about Boris on the news. Wibbler has already posted something.. If you want to say more, you know where to say it… but perhaps while you’re up and about, you may wish to have a quiet think about how this has been handled and how a certain other matter was handled.
