lotusmedia 2.0

Keep reading I’m a new phenomenon »

A lot of folks are asking about the fabulous little laptop that fits in my purse, has no moving parts to break, and comes with Linux and other open source software installed. It’s called an Eee PC (stupidest name ever) and ranges from $300 to $600. You can buy it on Amazon. (If you use their links to buy it, I will get a small kickback from Amazon. Thanks.)

Just when I was starting to warm up to the the idea of a Clinton vice-presidency, she comes out with this crap that reminds me why I will never (again) support her for any elected office.

Hillary Clinton suggested Wednesday that “White Americans” are increasingly turning away from Barack Obama’s candidacy.
[...]
Clinton cited an Associated Press poll “that found how Senator Obama’s support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me.”

“There’s a pattern emerging here,” she said.
- CNN.com: Clinton touts support from ‘white Americans’, 5/8/08

Not only is the implication quite racist (that white people won’t vote for a black guy), it’s also wrong (millions of us have). Since I don’t think she’s stupid enough to not understand the facts of this, I can only conclude that she’s lying. Yet another reason that she can’t be trusted and shouldn’t be supported.

Very sad about the demise of the NPR News Blog, which was slowly restoring that institution’s credibility for me.

Here’s a great comment that was posted on their final blog entry:

‘We would like to apologize for the way in which politicians are represented in this programme. it was never our intention to imply that politicians are weak-kneed, political time-servers who are concerned more with their personal vendettas and private power struggles than the problems of government, nor to suggest at any point that they sacrifice their credibility by denying free debate on vital matters in the mistaken impression that party unity comes before the well-being of the people they supposedly represent nor to imply at any stage that they are squabbling little toadies without an ounce of concern for the vital social problems of today. Nor indeed do we intend that viewers should consider them as crabby ulcerous little self-seeking vermin with furry legs and an excessive addiction to alcohol and certain explicit sexual practices which some people might find offensive.

“We are sorry if this impression has come across.”

-Monty Python’s Flying Circus

Video below…

Update: Greg Greene points me to this story in the Washinton Post: NPR Leader Out After Board Clash - Ken Stern’s New Media Forays Rankled Public Radio Affiliates. Which is especially stunning because during the last full week before the N.C. Primary, I have been getting more news from that little blog than from my local NPR affiliate, who amazingly chose that critical week for a pledge drive. This is bad, bad, news for NPR.
Keep reading Goodbye authenticity at NPR »

I just learned that the suspicious and misleading robocalls from “Lamont Williams” to North Carolina voters, were actually the work of Women’s Voices, Women Vote. WVWV is an organization that works to empower single female voters, and which I used to support. Turns out they have a habit of sending poorly-timed voter registration information, causing thousands of voters to mistakenly think they are not registered to vote!

WUNC’s Laura Leslie posted the audio of the robocall on her blog on Monday, but as far as I can tell has not actually done a story about it. (She’s probably too busy begging for money. Way to schedule a pledge drive at the height of our primary, WUNC!)

Today I read a long investigative piece by my friend Chris Kromm at the Institute for Southern Studies that shows that WVWV was behind this, and that they have been confusing voters all over the nation with their automated phone calls and voter registration packets. “Women’s Voices’ questionable tactics have spawned thousands of voter complaints in at least 11 states and brought harsh condemnation from some election officials for their secrecy, misleading nature and likely violations of election law.”

WVWV claims that their campaign in North Carolina was designed to get unregistered, single, female voters to register to vote in the November general election. However, there is overwhelming evidence indicating quite the opposite. For example:

• The voice on the calls is a male calling himself “Lamont Williams.” Not exactly ideal for the supposedly female target audience.
• Many of the people who received the calls are married, male, and/or already registered.
• WVWV is no newcomer to politics. They have been operating since at least the 2004 election. They are a well-funded organization with a savvy staff. The two top leaders each have at least two decades of political experience a piece. (One as Congressman David Price’s ‘96 campaign manager - the one year Price lost.)
• In fact, many WVWV staff and advisors gained experience working for the Clinton Whitehouse. For example, board member John Podesta (President and CEO of the Center for American Progress) served as President Clinton’s Chief of Staff for over two years.
• There is no way that these seasoned political operatives could have missed the fact of our prominent May 6 primary, or that anyone with experience in voter engagement wouldn’t be fully aware of the timing involved.

I can only logically conclude that they are either intentionally suppressing voters (in an Obama-friendly state, hmm) or are criminally negligent and unable to carry out their stated mission of “Improving unmarried women’s participation in the electorate and policy process.” Either way, the only responsible step I can imagine is immediately cease operations and consider whether to reorganize or disband this organization.

WVWV’s President Page Garder re-posted her press release as a blog entry over on Huffington Post. Let’s let her know what we think of it.

More related links & discussion: NPR News Blog, BlueNC.

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• @juliakm I’ve used OpenOffice (actually NeoOffice) to access DOC, XLS, & PPT files without translation. Is this some special kind of file? #
• @juliakm Oh. Well then I dunno. F-ing Microsoft. #
• I’m sorry, but I don’t think having a dozen windows or tabs open at once is too much to ask of my browser. #Firefox disagrees. #
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• @Hillsborough Another day, another guess: Margaret & Queen? #
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• @tbeckett No, it’s not supposed to be painful. That’s considered "inhumane." It is supposed to be a deterrent, but it’s not that either. #
• @jreesnc If you read OP, you’d know that you don’t have to be affiliated to vote in the primary http://tinyurl.com/59grv8 #
• @blogdiva Are you seriously unaware of the Cult of Getting Things Done? I practivc my own version, aka GSD. (I get shit done.) #
• This is really cool: http://tinyurl.com/5vmueq Thanks for the link @webb! #
• @blogdiva thanks. http://dossy.org/twitter/karma/ is really neat, if badly named. #
• block barackobama4 #
• @tarheelcoxn I <3 Amarok! WIsh they made it for Mac. One day… #
• @pearlbear I only usa Amarok on my #Eee so far, so no. I buy my DRM-free MP3s from Amazon. Do you recommend Magnatune? #
• Does anyone use Crabgrass for groupware/projects? (eg: http://we.riseup.net) I want to, but it seems pretty buggy. #
• @kanter Thanks! http://grouptweet.com/ is just what #Twitter needed! (Along with http://quotably.com.) #
• OK, I’ve been left with no choice. Let the bad-mouthing of http://monolithmc.com begin. more to come… #mythtv #
• To clarify: #MythTV is awesome. MonolithmC is NOT awesome. Took our money, sent defective box, won’t replace, minimal support, no refund. #
• @abbyladybug Good luck with the surgery tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll feel better after it heals! #
• Just ate a Syrian candy bar named Ruby. Like Kit Kat but with my name on it. ‘Twas good. http://speedtrading.org/ruby.html #
• Gonna geek out on Drupal Views tonight and maybe watch the debate if I get enough done. #

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• How is it I can go to bed and my web site is working, but when I wake up it’s totally broken? I’m back to the dread "User account 3" error. #
• Something about roles or permission is totally borked. Any drupal pros out there have a clue? http://orangepolitics.org #
• @lishevita I think if you look at http://orangepolitics.org, you’ll see the problem. #
• @ahynes1 The problem is on almost every page, not just the front. Even admin pages go to "User account 3." #
• @martin_kelley Congrats on your O’Reilly article! It looks really interetsing. For others: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596514006 #
• @arsepoetica Don’t worry, he’s just listening to more Talking Heads. I’m going to start tweeting B-52’s lyrics if he doesn’t stop. #
• Thanks to @vauxia and the crew at AdvatangeLabs for bringing OrangePolitics.org back to life! #
• Thanks, @BetsyMuse. It’s fixed, but I still don’t know what was wrong. #
• @tbeckett This ain’t no fooling around! #
• @webb Most valuable activity at #net2 is getting to meet the other people there. I suggest small group discussions. #
• @abbyladybug Sounds like a good time for a Lord of Rings marathon. Let me know if you want to borrow DVDs. #
• @FORpeace asks "Anyone else’s parents active in the civil rights movement?" Mine weren’t, but my grandma was! #
• Trying real hard to #GSDby5 so I can go out with @dbarger & @arsepoetica, but it’s an uphill battle… #
• You wouldn’t think Twitter could *increase* mindfulness. But maybe… http://innertwitter.com #
• @dbarger OMG, it’s like someone made that pastry just fer you! The cute little chef "Eddie" is a nice touch. #
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• More proof that the Democratic primary battle is good for democracy (& good for NC): http://tinyurl.com/6mtsya (via @nprnewsblog) #
• @dweinberger Send my love to Doc. Glad to hear he’s doing better. #
• @juliakm it depends on what the NP wants to do, but there are many uses. Check out change.org app, causes app, pages w/ events, photos, etc #
• Ha! "Unmarried women are to progressives what evangelicals were to conservatives in 2004." http://rubyurl.com/mEPn #
• @fmedlin Good eye! You should tell @nprnewsblog. #
• @gregoryheller I think there are lots of tax resisting events today. Many are small local vigils. #

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• @blogdiva Yes, I want to know. What the fuck is a FOCK? #
• Started a Twitter account for the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Please follow @FORpeace for updates on our work for a world w/o violence. #
• @tbeckett Typical. #
• @BrianR Actually FOR is over *90* years old! We were radical and anti-war before it was cool to be… #
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• It’s hard not to be bitter these days. http://bittervoters.org/ #
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• Anyone else have trouble with Adium connecting to Gtalk lately. #
• @abbyladybug oh shit! I have had that breakup experience, so it’s probably the best for you. But still… Shit, you just started that job! #
• @Hillsborough Wild guess: Burlington? (Trivia by Twitter, great idea!) #
• Checking out ZOHO Projects. #
• Updating NeoOffice on my Mac. Why does anyone use MS Office when this superior software is available for free? #
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• Watching the Chapel Hill Town Council hassle OWASA (our water utility) about loosening water use restrictions too much. #orangepolitics #

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• At Internationalist Books in Chape Hill for a discussion about the Greenbridge dev’mt. Pleased to see > 20 people here! #orangepolitics #
• Left the discussion about enviro justice @ Internationalist to meet a candiate who’s a black landill neighbor. Things feeling v. connected. #

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• Finally sitting down to fix the @%$!^&%!@^ #MythTV. #
• Debating whether to explain to Company X that leaving me an unhappy customer may be detrimental to their 100%-online small business. #
• OK, I think I need the #Ubuntu for Idiots Guide. I just want to reset this whole thing to square one. Is there an easy command for that? #
• @dcm I’m trying to reinstall but I feel like the residual garbage (that I screwed up) is not going away. #
• @Katrinskaya http://doodle.ch is the meeting scheduler of choice thee days. It’s very simple, and works nicely. #
• Oooh, rememberthemilk.com’s Gmail interface just got better. When did that happen? Thanks @RTM! #
• Sending "have we met?’ msgs to a bunch of friend requesters on Facebook. If you don’t even look familiar, then we are not "friends," m’kay? #
• @dbarger & @dcm me too, except for the futból. #
• Traction’s "Electile Dysfunction" show is really neat. All kinds of music/drama/happenings. Not too late to come! 410 Geer, Durham. #
• Loving this band/invention called "Invisible." They’ve got a big wheel w/pegs controling all manner of flaps, drums, & doodads in time. #
• @BrianR says it’s an "analog sequncer." I say "OK." Also got a theremin and a bunch of other digital noisemakers. #

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