Happy Birthday, Anonymoses!

Happy Birthday, Anonymoses!


Blogstud

To my guest blogger and American Street colleague Anonymoses HyperLincoln, a very happy birthday!

The Best Chance to Expose GOP Noise Machine

The best chance we have ever had to hold the Republican Noise Machine up to public scrutiny

Do you think the volume of Rush Limbaugh and his ilk is far too loud? Do you think the heavy weight the right wing talk radio circuit is allowed to throw upon our political system and mainstream media is undeserved?

Well, this is your chance, bloggers!

Do your jobs.

Get this story going.

You know Armstrong Williams was not an isolated incident!

Dem Club in CA Writes to DNC

Dem Club in CA Writes to DNC

Take a look at this letter from the Democratic Club of Central Orange County (CA) to the DNC. See if you identify with any of their thoughts.

You Tell 'Em, Teddy

You Tell 'Em, Teddy

"We cannot become Republican clones. If we do, we will lose again, and deserve to lose. As I have said on other occasions, the last thing this country needs is two Republican parties.

"If the White House's idea of bipartisanship is that we have to buy whatever partisan ideas they send us, we're not interested."

"I do not retreat from the view that Iraq is George Bush's Vietnam. The administration turned away from pursuing Osama bin Laden and made the catastrophic choice instead to bog down American forces in an endless quagmire in Iraq."


- Sen. Ted Kennedy, National Press Club speech (Reuters)

See Boston Globe story

Adam Nagourney's article/review of the speech

Nation's Political Elite Live in a Bubble

"Do not go gentle into that good night; Blog, blog against the dying of the light."
- Blogger Cathie from Canada

Nation's Political Elite Live in a Bubble
Progressive Bloggers Needed Now More Than Ever

Progressive bloggers understand that America's political elite live in a world all their own. Unfortunately, opinion leaders lay their 'bubble-speak' on the American public 24/7 on cable news networks and the public is believing in their bubblemush just as much as they believe that "reality TV" is actually "reality".

Dave Johnson of Seeing the Forest writes:

" America's political elite live in an information bubble. It's like the Right has set up a "conventional wisdom machine" that is targeted at opinion leaders, legislators, their staffs and the circles they associate with. Heavily-funded right-wing organizations work to infiltrate their message into the information that these "leadership elite" receive. They achieve this in many ways. One way, of course, is that they have their very own bought-and-paid-for media outlets like Fox, the Washington Times, and most of AM radio. But they also have worked to get the more mainstream opinion leaders under their influence. Influential columnists and reporters receive large speaking fees from corporations and trade associations. They get free "retreats" where they learn about "market solutions." And everyone is certainly afraid of the shame and humiliation should they become the target of the character assassination machine. That acts as a powerful incentive to toe the line and reject "marginalized" information sources -- people like Scott Ritter and Michael Moore, constituents complaining about election fraud, and Progressive online news sources or blogs (those terrible things that leaked the exit polls) -- and stick to "credible" sources.

The Armstrong Williams scandal shows us the amounts of money involved in, and the "reach" of this effort. I mean, Armstrong Williams? If Armstrong Williams is getting $240,000 directly from the government, imagine what mainstream opinion leaders are getting from the big-money corporate trade associations, right-wing think tanks, etc. -- over (speaking fees, travel, gifts) and under (bribes, like Williams got) the table..[.] "

* [Where's 'the drumbeat' on Armstrong Williams, by the way? David Corn has plenty of insightful commentary about Williams this week. ]

[.]" ..The amounts of money the Right is putting into their outside-the-election-process propaganda effort -- over $300 million a year just for the think tank/advocacy communication infrastructure -- ought to warn us that most of the traditional channels through which "the leadership elite" get their info are likely targets of this effort.

Marginalizing sources like blogs is one way to scare Washington types away from the info they contain. Reading blogs is a way to break through that bubble."

To All Progressive Bloggers -

We need you more than ever. Keep it real. Keep truth alive. America needs you if you care about truth. We've already seen most truth bled from the mainstream vein of journalism.

Our democracy's future rests with you, Progressive Bloggers. This is no easy task, and Heaven knows it's not a thankful or economically lucrative job. But when you think about the big-time cable journalists raking in their far-more-than-decent payday while touting their cherry-picked headlines (I just saw one about Kim Jong-il's hair on MSNBC complete with a playing of the song "God Bless The USA") and giving the political elite endless (hot)-air time, and then you look at the measly little blogger expecting no reward and loving her country and the world's people enough to care to be here working day in/day out - -

Well, you tell ME who has more stock in having "an agenda". Look in the mirror. See the ones who really care, knowing the news and views they relay bring them no reward. We do what we do all day long, and will get up tomorrow and do it all over again.

We have an endless love affair with truth and compassion.

Progressive Bloggers, I'm grateful to each one of you.

Howard Dean: "I'm Running"

Howard Dean: "I'm Running"

"There is only one party that speaks to the hopes and dreams of all Americans. It is the party you have already given so much to. It is the Democratic Party.

We can win elections only by standing up for what we believe."

LINK

Jesus Loves a 4-Door

"..Jesus said to "feed my lambs, tend my sheep, and his sheep were the poor, the downtrodden, the poor in spirit. That's pretty challenging stuff.

I don't think progressives can ever win elections in this country without appealing to moral values and presenting our own. We want people to step up to the problems of the world.

We need to step up first.."

Jesus Loves a 4-Door

I found this article by Bob Geary at the Independent Weekly/Durham, NC, to be a good and sane way to begin to speak about progressive faith-based values.

"...when I listen to Bill O'Reilly, the Rev. James Dobson or any of a number of other conservative haranguers who've shoved themselves into our daily lives, I'm reminded how incongruous it is that a loving God would repose her moral values in folks who rant and rave about the people they hate and how stupid they are.

If we on the progressive side are going to reclaim the moral-values mantle, and I think we must, ranting and raving is not the way to do it. So I won't rant, at least from this point on. Good Catholic boy that I still am at some level, I think God comes to us with a smile and his hand out to help, even if--especially if--there's no rational reason why he'd want to help you.

I see a God at work at every execution, when People of Faith Against the Death Penalty come to Central Prison to plead for a life to be spared and stay into the early morning hours to pray for a soul when it isn't."

Geary provides a list of ministries in his area which are helping people in a very tangible way.

2004 In Review at Alt.Weeklies

2004 In Review at Alt.Weeklies

Catch the 2004 Best-Of Lists HERE.

-- I particularly enjoyed Geov Parrish's top overhyped and underreported stories.

-- Newcity Chicago's Top 5 of Everything That Matters is interesting. Ross McElwee's "Bright Leaves" made the Top 5 Documentary list.

-- Artvoice's Top 20 Albums of 2004

-- Seattle Weekly's Best Music Lists

-- Independent Weekly Durham, N.C. Best-Of Lists

I notice a group called "The Thermals" are on many of these Best-Of lists. I guess I'll have to check them out to see what I'm missing.

CBS Breakdown: How it Happened

CBS Breakdown: How it Happened
by Al Tompkins
Poynter Online

The investigation into what went wrong at CBS' "60 Minutes Wednesday" paints a portrait of an intensely competitive producer who feared being scooped...

I cannot begin to tell you how disappointed I am with CBS News on the Rathergate incident. I wonder how many voters they may have turned off (and away from John Kerry) because of their impulsive reporting. Unfortunately, in the minds of many incompletely-informed Americans, a lack of credibility on the part of the CBS news network likely translated to a lack of trust in the party that was opposing Bush in the election. [Joe Lockhart's involvement here surely didn't help].

"If there was a journalistic crime committed here, it was not by me." - Mary Mapes

The sad part was this: The story about Bush, the way he was helped to get out of dangerous duty (in-country/Viet Nam), and his absence during his stateside tour of duty was, in essence, quite true and Bush supporters know it to this day. CBS, through deceit, whether intentional or unintentional, took the focus off the REAL story and, through their journalistic irresponsibility, made the story about THEM.

Mary Mapes most likely deserved to get the boot. But read Al Tompkin's series at Poynter Online. Mapes' superiors should have gotten the boot, too. They all belong together in the Armstrong Williams/Jayson Blair/Judith Miller/Bob Novak shitebucket of journalism. The way I see it, they may have played a key role in the Democrats' electoral loss on November 2.

I'd like to reiterate something I've said before: The bloggers DO deserve much credit for breaking the story. And quite a story it was. But the way our mainstream media works is such that the story was allowed to run away with the material truth behind Bush's desertion of duty in the National Guard. The bloggers who broke the story were partisans who rightly jumped on the story. Some of them wonder why "the left" is fairly silent on the matter today. The answer is that the partisan bloggers succeeded in doing their job and the matter was over on November 2, when Bush won the election. Why are they surprised that this story doen't garner quite the same attention now than it did when the heart and soul of America was at risk? The little deserter won his shady election and 1 in 5 Americans believe the election was won by fraudulent means. Now THERE'S something for bloggers to be talking about!

SEE MODERATE VOICE for Joe's RATHERGATE post

________________

"The long awaited report of CBS's investigation of the 60 Minutes/Dan Rather report on President Bush's National Guard service record has arrived, bringing with it an interesting rational for their use of fraudulent documents. "Myopic Zeal". This bland sounding excuse for terrible behavior on the part of a national media outlet just got four 60 Minutes staffers fired.."

--Diane at Respublica

My previous Rathergate-related posts: HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE

Meanwhile, sloppy liars extraordinaire continue fibbing shamelessly, mockingly, and regularly at FOX News.

Is the U.S. Organizing Salvador-Style Death Squads in Iraq?

Is the U.S. Organizing Salvador-Style Death Squads in Iraq?
Democracy Now!
Monday, January 10th, 2005

Read Transcript - Amy Goodman interviews journalist/activist Allan Nairn

Listen to Segment

Excerpt:

ALLAN NAIRN: "..I did in a closed session and was questioned by dozens of the Intelligence Committee staff for about three or four hours about what the U.S. had done to back and create the Salvadoran death squads. Now this was a bit curious since they were the ones, who had security clearance, who had access to the C.I.A. and Pentagon files. They were the ones who worked with them, indeed funded them, but they were asking me, I think in part maybe to try to find out how much I knew. What I knew is what I printed in the magazine, but I was trying to spur them to investigate. And they did. They then launched an investigation where they say they examined more than a million internal documents. They produced a 400 page report, which was heavily classified. They told me that only two copies of the report were produced, one was in a sealed room that only -- kept on Capitol Hill, which only the Senators on the committee could read, and another at the C.I.A. headquarters. A public report was released, which said nothing. Some of the Senators told me that the classified - they told me a little bit about the classified report. They said they had verified that in fact, yes, the U.S. had set up these death squads in Salvador and also that U.S. personnel had sometimes been on the premises during torture sessions and had supplied questions for the prisoners being tortured.

AMY GOODMAN: So, this was back in 1984 and 1985 when this was coming back -- coming out. Did it surprise you that the Pentagon is actually calling this proposal, according to Newsweek, to train -- it's not clear if it's C.I.A.-backed, Pentagon-backed assassination and kidnapping squads in El Salvador, that they're calling it the Salvador option. Have they ever acknowledged it publicly?

ALLAN NAIRN: Well, it sounds … No, they never acknowledged it publicly. That Senate report was classified. But now it sounds like in an offhand way, it's almost -- it sounds as if they're almost talking about it even in a -- almost a joking way, oh yeah, we'll do to them what they did to Salvador. It's an astonishing admission, but I think now that this is on the record, immediately, the Senate Intelligence Committee should release their classified report of 1984, and there should be a demand that the Pentagon and the C.I.A. release all internal documents they have about the Salvador option, and similar activities in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Salvador, also - there are dozens of other countries in the world where this has happened.

Poem for Mothers / Tsunami Charity for Women

Poem for Mothers / Tsunami Charity for Women


AP photo

When she awoke he was not there
She recalls a man with a mask shaking her
To a consciousness she'd wished she'd not regained

For all the pain that followed when memory fell
back in, like the flood that swept him away
from her desperate arms, his cries drowned by the sea

If she'd only been carried along with him
She would not be left here, cursed with knowing
she'll leave without his body, miraculously saved, alone.


--Jude Nagurney Camwell

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



There are many agencies ready and waiting to take donations for tsunami relief. I have posted a list of these agencies, with links, at my personal website. Sri Lanka and Indonesia are likely to have the greatest need for humanitarian support. In Sri Lanka alone, over one million people have been displaced. Among them are tens of thousands of pregnant and nursing women, who are especially susceptible to waterborne diseases and require emergency medical attention and trauma counseling.

I want to make readers aware of one of those agencies, which is called MADRE.
MADRE is an international women’s human rights organization that works in partnership with women’s community-based groups in conflict areas worldwide. MADRE specializes in assisting displaced women and families, offering them crucial trauma counseling which will help them cope with the deaths of their children and other loved ones, gradually heal from their trauma, and begin to rebuild.

MADRE has chosen to partner with INFORM. They are part of a regional network of women’s groups that can reach out immediately to many different communities at at time such as this.

MADRE can be found on several websites (including Charity Navigator and GuideStar) that rate the business practices and overall effectiveness of charities.

Donation information can be found HERE.

DNC Chair Election Buzz / Emanual Elected DCCC Head

DNC Chair Election Info /
Emanual Elected DCCC Head/
A Good Dem Committee Website

How is the DNC Chair Elected?

SEE HERE.

Here is a background on what happened down South with the interviews of
some of the candidates for the Chair.

Wnat to see an example of a gem of a local democratic committee web site?

Check it out.

I've been hearing a buzz amongst many grassroots Dems - -

"Joe Trippi for DNC Chair!"

Don't confuse DNC and DCCC positions. Rahm Emanuel hasn't been elected as the DNC Chairman, but was chosen as the "DCCC Chairman", which means he will spearhead democratic races for the House of
Represenatives.

SEE THE NYT



* Thanks to Vicki Trojnor, Fingerlakes DFA, for leading me to all the above-mentioned information.

___________________________

Speaking of DFA, at Blog for America, Greg Greene has a great post. It deserves repeating here:

Irony Comes Supersized These Days ...

And now, the quote of the day — thanks to a Seattle Post-Intelligencer article about a Republican suit to throw out the result of the Washington gubernatorial election:

"... Harry Korrell, the lawyer for the GOP, said: 'If you can't tell who won an election because of errors and mistakes, you have to rerun it.'"

Wait a sec — really?!!

Will Future Journalism Prompt Govt Reps to be More Accountable?

Will Future Journalism Prompt Government Representatives to be More Accountable to the People?

Will Pitt lays out the names of those he considers heroes in last week's objection to certification of the Ohio Electors.

While I highly respect Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. John Conyers for doing their duty [I consider them to be honest and forthright in light of standing up to such an ugly and intimidating Congress], I expected far more from the rest of our Democratic representatives. I couldn't be more disappointed with Senator Kerry himself for disappearing on "objection day". I realize he has political aspirations and is aiming for the next Presidential run. Good for him, but remember this: Politics stopped him from defending the American people's right to vote and expect the vote to be fairly and accountably counted. I'm sorry. That's not "okay" with me. Think back, if you will. It was not moral sense or common sense that led Kerry and many other Democrats to vote "yes" on the Iraq resolution in 2002. Politics was the prime consideration they offered when they gave Bush authorization to unleash immoral hell upon Iraq's people, writing a death scenario for over 1000 Americans and, according to a Lancet report, over 100,000 Iraqi civilians. God forgive them, I don't think they knew where their political stupidity was leading them or our nation. How can we reward any of these people for their utter stupidity?

Lately I hear many of them rationalizing about the acceptability of torturing other human beings, as if they were not human at all, but some form of alien called "terrorists". In their rush to accept the wrong man for attorney general, dopes in Congress waver on the respect for the rule of law and call a torturer their "buddy". Call it politics. Call it whatever you want. Our nation is totally messed up because of a lot of fantasy-hugging lunatics are making a circus of our government and ignoring the base truth behind the sheer will of the people. The Founding Fathers would line them up and shoot every one of them for their dedication to fantasy and their irresponsible stupidity. The only thing I can tell you, based upon knowledge of history, is that history will surely see that we, the people who allegedly have a say in our own government, will pay for that stupidity in ways we probably would never suspect. We are responsible for letting these government representatives run roughshod over sanity itself.

Will Pitt is right, though. The big heroes in this story are the individual citizens who stood up in the face of so many lies and demanded the truth. The force of the people's demands for accountable and reality-based government must become more concentrated and much stronger. My hope for 2005 is for a strong Blogger Corps to create that force. [Rebecca MacKinnon gets credit for this great idea]. I believe it is only citizen-bloggers can save our mainstream media from falling into a permanent state of fantasy-following. Rather than working against one another, my hope is that mainstream media will work directly with the blogging world in order to produce honest stories in the full scope of the American experience.

I recommend Jay Rosen's 2004 Top Ten ideas to get an an idea as to where he believes journalism is going.

1. The Legacy Media.
2. He said, she said, we said.
3. What the printing press did to the Catholic Church the blogging press does to the media church.
4. Open Source Journalism, or: "My readers know more than I do." (Dec. 28)
5. News turns from a lecture to a conversation. (Dec. 29)
6. "Content will be more important than its container." (Jan. 1)
7. "What once was good--or good enough--no longer is." (Jan.4)
8. "The victory of affinity over geography."
9. The Pajamahadeen.
10. The Reality-Based Community.

I look forward to seeing what comes from the Blogging, Journalism, and Credibility Conference: Battleground and Common Ground, to be held January 21st and 22nd, 2005 at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

To be continued..

Headlines

Headlines

Armstrong Williams Column Axed by TMS

Shill for Bush adminstration propaganda. I'll bet he's not the only unethical creep in media who's accepted these types of bribes. He was simply found out.

Groups Protest Ouster of Veterans' Committee Chief

He was too good to Vets. Wouldn't toe the GOP line. Refused to screw the vets.

Omidyar.net

Omidyar.net

Welcome to omidyar.net

We believe every individual has the power to make a difference.
We exist for one single purpose:
So that more and more people discover their own
power to make good things happen.

If my readers do not yet know about the open source commons known as Omidyar.net, I strongly recommend you join and participate, based upon your interests and desire to connect with others of like mind.

The Rough Guide To A Better World

The Rough Guide To A Better World

THE ROUGH GUIDE TO A BETTER WORLD is the essential guide to how the world can be a better place for everyone. Poverty in the developing world is well known, but less publicised are the efforts of those who combat hunger, disease and illiteracy. This guide shows how you can get involved. It covers:

THE ISSUES: How prosperity in poorer countries benefits us all; how development works; and why the bad news is only half the story.

THE CHALLENGES: The nature and scale of the problems faced by developing countries.

FIVE WAYS TO CHANGE THE WORLD: How activism, ethical shopping and tourism, giving to charity and volunteer work can all help.

THE INFORMATION: Lets you know what to do - from a change in shopping habits to a change of job. It tells you the most effective ways of contributing and gives contacts for relevant organisations.

Click on the photo to order book - it's free (although there is a shipping charge).

You can read it online.

John Boehner Claims Voter Concerns Not Serious

Claims Voter Concerns Not Serious

I just saw Ohio Republican Congressman John Boehner call the American electoral problems NON-SERIOUS.
Seriously. How dare he?
There is political rhetoric -- and there is Constitutional blasphemy.
Calling concern over voter's rights NOT a serious issue is assuredly American-style blasphemy.
Boehner said he wanted to get back to "the serious work of the people", that we should "get over it" [get over asking questions about the possibility of the Ohio swindle] and then he commenced to try to shame the Democrats who were brave enough to stand up to these unaccountable fascists.

Tom Delay called the move by Democrats "a shame", but said it was a serious matter. I agree--it is a shame. But not the kind of shame he'd like to showcase. It is a shame upon him and the likes of him for calling good and decent Americans like me "X-files"-paranoid freaks. Tom Delay is dead wrong, and is so heavily addicted to his power that he's lost touch with the reality of the people who own this nation. He is our servant, not our moral guru. He's calling the challenge a threat to American ideals. Guess what? The little right-wing power-drunk has got it perfectly backwards. He's a colossal shame himself. This was a GOOD debate to be having TODAY. It was of great symbolic importance. His "leadership" has brought his House to this point. I hope he's proud of himself. He is no healer. He never will be.

This isn't an effort to scrape away at the legitimacy of the Bush presidency. This is to open up a wide debate about what we have REASON to suspect about Ohio's electoral shenanigans. They cannot get away with it. We cannot blink or shame it away.

President Bush should join in the concern and should support his own American people, not his partisan goons. Let's see what he's worth - let's hear President Bush speak to us on this issue in a serious way.

To Congressman John Boehner, this is the most serious issue facing free people of America. You are accountable.

There will be no "healing" until the partisan power of the Republicans in the Oval Office, House, and Senate will ADMIT there is an issue to BE healed.

GET REAL!


You can see which House Reps and Senators stood and spoke today at Will Pitt's blog. Thanks, Will!

Liberal Hawks: Ideological Deserters?

Liberal Hawks: Ideological Deserters?

Reason Online editor Tim Cavanaugh calls "liberal hawks" a bunch of 'ideological deserters' for publically skating on Bush now that the Iraq war is a security failure.

Let's back up.

How soon we forget!

I think we should all be afraid and dismayed that ANYONE, from the House to the Senate to Bush himself, authorized this pre-emptive, immoral war to begin with, especially since there were outright lies told to the American public to get us there.

They are truth deserters.
They are morality deserters.
They are honesty deserters.
They abandoned their duty and lost the trust of the American people.
Thousands upon thousands have died for each and every one of their lies and authorizations.

I'm not being facetious here.

I won't forgive any of them anytime soon.

Stick THAT in your REASON pipe - and smoke it!

Democrats: Cowards or Not?

Democrats: Cowards or not?

A formal challenge would not affect the outcome of the election, because both houses of Congress are controlled by Republicans, who promise to certify Mr. Bush as the winner. But it would force lawmakers to abandon the ordinarily polite ritual, which takes place in the House chamber. Instead, the House and Senate would retreat to their own chambers, on opposite sides of the Capitol, for a two-hour debate and a formal vote on the objection.

Such a debate could prove uncomfortable for Democrats, who do not want to be viewed as sore losers. But Republicans seemed eager for it.

"They are really just trying to stir up their loony left," John Feehery, a spokesman for Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, said of the Democrats.

LINK

Screw John Feehery and Dennis Hastert and every intimidated Democrat who refused to stand up to them. I see how little they care about the concerns of the people who vote them into office. I am not at all hopeful for the future of fair elections in America. My trust is gone. Completely.

My dear readers, I no longer recognize the America I was raised to understand or to respect or to trust. Is there no one with a keen sense of virtue, honesty, or duty left in Congress?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UPDATE: 9:58 am- William Rivers Pitt:

"...just got confirmation from several sources: Senator Barbara Boxer will stand with House members to challenge the Ohio Electors. There will be a debate on what happened in Ohio, in all likelihood followed by a vote to accept those Ohio Electors.

But the messed-up way we run elections in this country is about to become part of a national dialogue, and you know what? It was the people who got this done. The calls, the emails, the faxes, the letters, the protests compelled this action. This is a big day in the history of citizen action.

More Senators may be coming later. Stay tuned.."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

10:16 am Associated Press - (posted ONE MINUTE ago....)

A small group of Democrats agreed Thursday to force House and Senate debates on Election Day problems in Ohio before letting Congress certify President Bush's win over Sen. John Kerry in November..[..]

[..}"I have concluded that objecting to the electoral votes from Ohio is the only immediate way to bring these issues to light by allowing you to have a two-hour debate to let the American people know the facts surrounding Ohio's election," Boxer wrote in a letter to Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones D-Ohio, a leader of the Democratic effort."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

John Kerry and "Boy Wonder" Barack Obama have disappointed me greatly:

[UPDATE 4pm Jan 6: I take back what I'd said about Obama. He stood up for Democrats today. Thanks, Senator O. ]

"On Thursday we need a senator to stand up. Either Dick Durbin [Illinois Democrat], Harry Reid [Nevada Democrat] or John Kerry himself as the candidate should stand up and support an investigation into Ohio's voting process," Mr. Jackson said.
A spokesman for Mr. Kerry said the senator supports examining voting irregularities, which is "crucial to our democracy, not because it would change the outcome of the election."
Mr. Jackson called on newly sworn-in Sen. Barack Obama, Illinois Democrat, to support them. Mr. Obama said his staff is reviewing the Ohio resolution, but said he has not decided whether he will sign it.
"The election is over and President Bush won fair and square, [my emphasis added--Omigawd, I can't believe he said that!] so I don't think we need to challenge the election, but we continue to have chronic problems in our voting system,"he said. "Some of the practices in Ohio were clearly illegal and disenfranchised voters and, let's be real about this, some Republicans were denied their rights to vote as well."

WASHINGTON TIMES

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From ABC's NOTE:

There was plenty of high-level Democratic pressure to talk Boxer out of doing this. They do not welcome the spectacle of Jesse Jackson and 'Granny D' holding little rallies outside the Capitol. [*My note: What a haughty and smug non-democratic statement.] And they acknowledge it makes them look like poor losers, since, after all, Bush did win Ohio by more than 100,000 votes. [*My note: According to Diebold? Triad? Hmmm...isn't someone totally missing the point here?]

"Senate Democratic aides say few if any Democratic Senators will vote to support the challenge, with the exception of Boxer," ABC News' Linda Douglass reports. "Some Democrats, like Ted Kennedy, may make floor statements calling for election reform but not challenging the outcome of this election. It is not clear how many will speak, since many senators have already left town," Douglass reports.

"Republicans are delighted. A leadership aide calls this a 'golden opportunity to remind people that President Bush won and John Kerry lost. Bring it on.'"

Doug Chapin and colleagues at electionline.org (http://www.electionline.org) have a post-election report that's a must-read for anyone concerned about election administration. The Hill fronts the story: LINK

Rick Klein and Susan Milligan of the Boston Globe lead with Sen. Boxer's consideration of challenging Ohio's electoral votes. LINK

Conyers released a report on Wednesday outlining voter problems in Ohio, alleging that the irregularities were the result of deliberate misconduct, and urging the challenge of the state's electoral votes. LINK

Cam Kerry offers up an inside look at the forces marshaled on election night to watchdog and deal with voting problems and issues in a Boston Globe op-ed, arguing that while this election is over, the need to investigate and overhaul the system to make sure votes are counted continues. LINK

[My note:

Cam Kerry says: "Next time the electoral votes are tallied, every American citizen should be able to know that his or vote has counted."

...and this was the same cry 4 years ago. No, Sir. I'm convinced that if we don't stand up - - if not now - - then it will be never.

- Jude]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GOOGLE SEARCH

Advance in Collective Technology Provides Hope in Wake of Tsunami

American Street:
Advance in Collective Technology Provides Hope in Wake of Tsunami
by Jude Nagurney Camwell
LINK

The most recent advances in collective technology have come about out of necessity, and those who have lent their time and effort deserve much credit for their respective contributions.

Cell phones with text messaging can be much more effectively utilized during emergencies. Text messaging is also called SMS - (Short Message Service) - a feature available with some wireless phones that allow users to send and/or receive short alphanumeric messages. The recent tsunami has proven the need for this improvement in communications technology.

Taran Rampersad, a former Hospital Corpsman in the United States Navy, is showing how SMS systems can be put to more practical use. His favorite phrase is taken from the great artist Michaelangelo: “Criticize by creating.” When Taran imagines, he puts that imagination into practical and helpful use to the world. At his website, KnowProse.com, he explains that the Alert Retrieval Cache system (further discussed below) is meant to recieve messages from people on the ground in the affected areas and use human moderators to take actions based on the content of the messages recieved.

Taran was a recent guest on BBC News where he discussed his latest ideas, of great public interest in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia. LISTEN TO THE BBC SEGMENT HERE. Taran has quickly understood the need to centralize text messages and redistribute them in such a way that relief can be best brought to those who need it most.

The fact that people like Taran and Dan Lane of Great Britain, known as “SMS guru” , have caught the attention of a non-techie like me is no accident or odd coincidence. I have found them through common pathways on the internet. My expressive desire to see a change in the world has met with those who have created the means to make that dream come true, in small, realistic steps. Too often, the genius behind cutting-edge technology goes unnoticed, not properly credited, and/or misunderstood.

Dan Lane helped to create the ARC system (Alert Retrieval Cache), in less than 24 hours after the onset of the tsunami indicated a monster of a crisis. It was mentioned in a recent Boing Boing blog entry:

One approach to a solution, created in the span of about 24 hours by an impromtu volunteer geek corps -- A tech system called Alert Retrieval Cache (ARC) (socialtext.net), which collects, sorts, and routes SMS messages for the puposes of alerts and relay communication. An early warning system based on SMS, short message service.

The ARC Team is:

Dan Lane - Technical Architect and SMS Specialist
GV - ARC Developer
Rohit Gupta - Original Concept
Taran Rampersad - Project Coordinator

The following is just one small example of how SMS technology is shining through. At Malaysia’s Star Publications, there is currently an SMS hope/charity-based campaign (which will run through January 14) called “From The Heart” which utilizes SMS technology for the dual purpose of lifting victims’ spirits and providing financial relief.

“Hope all victims can overcome the problems they’re facing now, and know that there is always new hope ahead, it’s just the matter of time. Frm LKY”, read one message that was received for the campaign, which is organised by DiGi Telecommunications, The Star and ntv7. Some 225 messages were sent in yesterday, with most of them encouraging those affected by the disaster to continue to look for the silver lining in the midst of their suffering. “BE STRONG. LOOK AT THE BRIGHT SIDE. THERE’S ALWAYS S/THING TO LEARN,” wrote VEROLISA, while a message from KUMARAN read: “May GOD bless you. There is a future waiting for you.”

The Blogging World Responds to the Challenge

This new technology carries naturally over to the blogging world, and is becoming an extension of the old "tribal word-of-mouth" method of social networking.

The Asia Times recently published an article by James Borton, which describes, in detail, the effectiveness of blogs as independent media at a time when marginalized peoples are facing the aftermath of a great disaster.

Borton credits open source journalism, including humanitarian "smart-mobs", who are bringing troubled populations just one click away from the assistance they require. Although far from perfect, there is early proof that the concept will be an elemental part of the future of world communication.

In the article titled Tsunami bloggers in tribal news network, James Borton writes:

Malaysiakini.com [an independent news organization launched in 1999, offering daily news, opinions, editorials, etc. Since its launch, the website has become the leading source of independent news and views on Malaysia.. ] and bloggers as independent media are providing effective forums for marginalized people in Asia at a time when ordinary lives have been devastated by this natural disaster in which each tide washes ashore more victims. This band of online tribalists brings together a deeper appreciation of shared humanity and continues to open the flow of vital news arteries.


"[....] It is a marvelous demonstration of the collective intelligence of humanitarian smart mobs," blogger Rohit Gupta from the www.worldchanging.com website said in an Asia Times Online interview from Bombay. According to Gupta, Sri Lankan bloggers Morquendi [Sanjay Senanayake] and LastNode are building a Short Message Service (SMS) news and alert service, where they are recruiting more citizen reporters at www.wavesofhope.org."

[...]Blogger Nick Lewis [also Founder and Chief Administrator of The Progressive Blog Alliance and One World] has established a website called Emergency Action Blog, which provides some exemplary action steps, updates on tsunami information, collected personal stories and links to aid-relief sites.

Other bloggers, such as Jon Lebkowsky , are even more committed to discussions on what went wrong since the world knows all too painfully that there was no available tsunami detection information in the Indian Ocean and apparently no one at the warning center had the telephone numbers of their neighboring scientists in Indonesia, Malaysia and eastern India.

[...]"We are truly witnessing the tribal word-of-mouth network return as a dominant medium in a heavily connected world. Blogs are a natural extension of that," added Malaysian blogger Jack Tuan from Penang, an area also hit by the killer tsunami…"

[...]Bloggers such as Malaysian Jeff Ooi and Nanda Kishore, a contributor to sumankumar.com from Chennai, India, along with scores of others at www.worldchanging.com, are sentries on the digital frontline, examining the impact of the regional tsunami that spilled over parts of South and Southeast Asian on December 26.

[...]"It's nice to see lots of learning on social software over the last two years implemented here; linking blog to wiki and wiki to blog, working with the limitations of using Blogger (though Google has been so so kind and offered us unlimited bandwidth), using blogrolling to enable links to wiki pages, putting up a Flickr Zeitgest on missing persons. We still need a button/logo. We still need cross-referencing between blog posts and wiki pages. We still need easy migration of data from blog to wiki ... We're now considering transitioning to another platform that enables easy integration between blogs and wikis ... prototyping some ideas at this point ... let's see how that emerges," [Dina] Mehta said."

Proof of success can be found in the words of families around the world in this one example, seen at the Tsunami Help Workspace. In a message from the SEA-EAT-Volunteers list:

Two more individuals, Lori Gustafson from London and Lindsay Francis from Seattle are fine and doing well.. their families have this to say to us:

"Thank you so much for your information. It is so nice to know there are so many people in the world who are still caring enough to take their time to respond to our request. We managed to conatct Lori and she is doing well. We wish you a Very Happy New Year."
Margaret Eastman (Lori's Mother)

"Thank you for your kind words. Lisa has be confirmed as safe. Please do convey my deepest regards and good wishes to all those who are putting so much time and effort to maintain this mammoth of task. We are all so happy to know that such amazing people live in this world too."
Lindsay's sister

I’d like to extend a personal thanks to the people, many with day jobs, who lose so much sleep; who work non-stop (losing all track of time); who devote so much of their personal lives and caring intelligence to alleviating the suffering of their fellow men and women. Let it go on the record that their efforts are very much appreciated. The future is dependent upon global people-to-people communications, and the efforts of these men and women to provide a technological venue to facilitate this communication is the stuff of which history books will be someday be comprised.