Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Probably the best reason to vote Obama
Because the rest of the world might just start thinking that we aren't assholes anymore.
Obama roasts McCain
I didn't know that Obama could be so funny. If he hadn't passed away, I would swear that this was written by Dean Martin.
Part one:
Part Two:
Part one:
Part Two:
Did social media just cause the second great depression?
By now, everyone knows that we had a huge bailout that did not pass and then did pass.
One of the stated reasons for the bill not passing the first time by many representatives was the high number of their constituents who contacted them saying that this bill should not pass.
In this video, congresswoman Bachmann states that she received a 10 to 1 ratio of calls against the bailout and that was similar to the experiences of other members.
Of course, there have always been people who would contact Washington to give them a piece of their minds, but now in the world of immediate contact through email, online forms, massive social organization by sites like Facebook, Digg and Reddit, community organization is far easier than it ever was.
Think about it. Social media has had a huge effect on the campaigns of the more technology savvy politicians like Obama and those with social savvy followers like Ron Paul. This theory is not unrealistic.
At one point prior to the first bill failing to pass, while I was reading Reddit (My favorite site) I noticed that there was one post on "stopping the bailout" for every five other posts Everyone was pushing to have people contact Washington and tell them the bailout was a bad thing and to vote it down. Digg was in a similar state. Twitter was "all atwitter" about stopping the bailout.
I think that it's a plausible scenario that all that social activity on Reddit, Digg Facebook and other social sites could have tipped the first bill from "pass" to "fail" in the minds of some congresspeople and swayed their votes to stop the bill.
I'm not saying that the actual sites themselves were read by the congress, but that the power leveraged by distributing the message "of the people" much more efficiently than it would have happened twenty years ago.
I'm saying that social media allowed much more efficient recruiting of constituents to sign petitions, attend rallies and telephone representatives.
The bill failed when it really needed to pass. It didn't pass until almost a week later. Had it passed the first time, we might be in a better place.
I know it seems hard to fathom but in a situation as dire as the one that we are in, a week is a very long time. A lot of things froze up in the economy during that week. Things that might have provided just enough liquidity to keep the economy from going over the edge that it has seemingly gone. That one week could have been the "tipping point".
If that proves true, then it's possible that the failure of our economy can be partially blamed on the popularity of Reddit, Digg and Facebook. Potentially it could actually be the fault of those social sites. The votes were close enough that a clown car load (23) of congressmen would have changed the outcome.
A pretty small number that could plausibly be affected by calls, emails and letters.
One of the stated reasons for the bill not passing the first time by many representatives was the high number of their constituents who contacted them saying that this bill should not pass.
In this video, congresswoman Bachmann states that she received a 10 to 1 ratio of calls against the bailout and that was similar to the experiences of other members.
Of course, there have always been people who would contact Washington to give them a piece of their minds, but now in the world of immediate contact through email, online forms, massive social organization by sites like Facebook, Digg and Reddit, community organization is far easier than it ever was.
Think about it. Social media has had a huge effect on the campaigns of the more technology savvy politicians like Obama and those with social savvy followers like Ron Paul. This theory is not unrealistic.
At one point prior to the first bill failing to pass, while I was reading Reddit (My favorite site) I noticed that there was one post on "stopping the bailout" for every five other posts Everyone was pushing to have people contact Washington and tell them the bailout was a bad thing and to vote it down. Digg was in a similar state. Twitter was "all atwitter" about stopping the bailout.
I think that it's a plausible scenario that all that social activity on Reddit, Digg Facebook and other social sites could have tipped the first bill from "pass" to "fail" in the minds of some congresspeople and swayed their votes to stop the bill.
I'm not saying that the actual sites themselves were read by the congress, but that the power leveraged by distributing the message "of the people" much more efficiently than it would have happened twenty years ago.
I'm saying that social media allowed much more efficient recruiting of constituents to sign petitions, attend rallies and telephone representatives.
The bill failed when it really needed to pass. It didn't pass until almost a week later. Had it passed the first time, we might be in a better place.
I know it seems hard to fathom but in a situation as dire as the one that we are in, a week is a very long time. A lot of things froze up in the economy during that week. Things that might have provided just enough liquidity to keep the economy from going over the edge that it has seemingly gone. That one week could have been the "tipping point".
If that proves true, then it's possible that the failure of our economy can be partially blamed on the popularity of Reddit, Digg and Facebook. Potentially it could actually be the fault of those social sites. The votes were close enough that a clown car load (23) of congressmen would have changed the outcome.
A pretty small number that could plausibly be affected by calls, emails and letters.
Who won the VP debate?
Liberal blogs are saying that Biden kicked ass. Conservatives are thinking that Palin proved the winner. Honestly, my opinion is somewhere in-between.
Biden is clearly the best VP candidate. He's more knowledgeable, experienced and capable in almost every way that I can conceive. However, Palin came across as much more personable overall and performed much better than everyone expected.
Palin is a trained monkey, but they trained her well this time. Her direct look into the camera should proove very compelling to "Joe six pack" and about a half a dozen times, I felt as if she was personally flirting with me with all the winking and referenced to "tapping" her. I found this psychologically disturbing and while subtle, I'm sure that it was not my imagination that it was strategically placed.
One thing I noticed was that right before her repetitive tirades against "wall street greed and corruption" her demeanor changed and she sounded like she was repeating from rote. You could tell that someone in the audience was "handling" her and telling her to get "back on script".
Biden had someone in the audience as well, but it was a completely different relationship. When Biden looks out, his eyes are saying "yep, I told you she would go there." Palin's interaction was more of a remote control switch, taking her from bright and cheery to a schoolchild repeating the memorized report her parents helped her write - A brainwashed beauty queen.
She clearly didn't understand everything that she was saying, she was just attending and repeating the words.
What she did well was what I fault her for most. She avoided neary every question. Refusing to provide answers to important questions and redirecting back to one or two repeats of questions that she had down pat.
Overall, I found the debate to be a non event with the exception of new knowledge about Biden's personal life. I like Biden more that I did before and I fear Palin about the same amount as I had prior to the debate.
I've posted the debate here complements of YouTube, watch and make your own decision.
Biden is clearly the best VP candidate. He's more knowledgeable, experienced and capable in almost every way that I can conceive. However, Palin came across as much more personable overall and performed much better than everyone expected.
Palin is a trained monkey, but they trained her well this time. Her direct look into the camera should proove very compelling to "Joe six pack" and about a half a dozen times, I felt as if she was personally flirting with me with all the winking and referenced to "tapping" her. I found this psychologically disturbing and while subtle, I'm sure that it was not my imagination that it was strategically placed.
One thing I noticed was that right before her repetitive tirades against "wall street greed and corruption" her demeanor changed and she sounded like she was repeating from rote. You could tell that someone in the audience was "handling" her and telling her to get "back on script".
Biden had someone in the audience as well, but it was a completely different relationship. When Biden looks out, his eyes are saying "yep, I told you she would go there." Palin's interaction was more of a remote control switch, taking her from bright and cheery to a schoolchild repeating the memorized report her parents helped her write - A brainwashed beauty queen.
She clearly didn't understand everything that she was saying, she was just attending and repeating the words.
What she did well was what I fault her for most. She avoided neary every question. Refusing to provide answers to important questions and redirecting back to one or two repeats of questions that she had down pat.
Overall, I found the debate to be a non event with the exception of new knowledge about Biden's personal life. I like Biden more that I did before and I fear Palin about the same amount as I had prior to the debate.
I've posted the debate here complements of YouTube, watch and make your own decision.
Does Palin read at all?
(I'm temporarily changing the name of this blog to "All about Palin"
If you listen carefully, you'll find that Sarah Palin can't name a single News source or magazine that she has ever read.
I love the way that Couric does her questioning.
Couric: "What newspapers did you read prior to your being called upon by McCain?"
(insert non-answer from Palin)
Couric: "Could you name any of the newspapers that you read?"
(Insert second non-answer by Palin)
Couric: "Can you name even one of the newspapers that you read?"
(Palin does not answer, and changes subject to defend how Alaska is not filled with shut ins)
Dear reader, how many newspapers can you name?
If you listen carefully, you'll find that Sarah Palin can't name a single News source or magazine that she has ever read.
I love the way that Couric does her questioning.
Couric: "What newspapers did you read prior to your being called upon by McCain?"
(insert non-answer from Palin)
Couric: "Could you name any of the newspapers that you read?"
(Insert second non-answer by Palin)
Couric: "Can you name even one of the newspapers that you read?"
(Palin does not answer, and changes subject to defend how Alaska is not filled with shut ins)
Dear reader, how many newspapers can you name?
Sarah Palin translated
Personally, I had no knowledge that oil was a fungible commodity where they don't flag the "molecules" where it's goin' and where it's not.
Additionally, now that I know that "in the sense of the congress today, who know that there are very very hungry domestic markets, that need that oil first." and that Sarah Palin believes "that what congress is going to do also is not to allow the export bans to such a degree that it's Americans that get stuck holding the bag without the energy source that is produced here and pumped here."
um...
What the eff did that mean?
I'll try and translate. Please keep in mind, that I'm probably going to be somewhat incorrect since I will have to take liberties to make her sound intelligible.
Scrap that... I've listened again. I'm going to have to "channel", there is no English translation:
(I'm assuming that she didn't really mean "molecules", but that she has heard and understands what "fungible" means)
"US produced oil is an easy to trade commodity that gets shipped to a lot of different places. both in and out of our country. Some of the oil produced in the US is actually exported outside our borders to other countries. As a result, since we also use oil, we end up having to find oil that we must use from other sources to replace the oil that we have exported.
I suggest that we make sure that we have some oversight into the amounts of oil that we allow to be exported so that we have maximum benefit from our own natural resources first."
That being said. (Assuming that I'm right) I still can't make out the benefit she is proposing.
Potentially, she could be saying that we could save some money by not selling and buying back amounts of oil... but really, it's a commodity. we'll both pay and receive what the oil is worth, it's probable that we would make money, not lose it.
She could be talking about ready availability. we'll have more oil readily available in the upper western states who receive oil from Alaska since other regions get oil pumped in from other sources. (hence my gas shortage here in GA, while you in California are probably setting gas cans on fire just to spite my inability to drive.)
But since we produce so little oil, both of those would probably have little effect.
Anybody have any idea what she is saying?
Palin is dim-witted and unprepared
I get stage fright. I understand being tongue tied. But I can't accept the vacuous and entirely dim witted farce of a candidate that is being perpetrated on the American people. Palin has to be the most under prepared, unqualified attempt at a VP that the world has ever seen.
In this video, she's defending her reasoning behind the claim that being a neighbor to Russia and Canada qualifies as foreign policy experience. This is an embarrassment to our country.
I dare McCain to actually put her into a fair debate.
Personally I think she has cause to sue McCain after this is over. Nobody should be made to look this foolish.
I long for the days of Dan Quail when Veep candidates didn't look so inept.
In this video, she's defending her reasoning behind the claim that being a neighbor to Russia and Canada qualifies as foreign policy experience. This is an embarrassment to our country.
I dare McCain to actually put her into a fair debate.
Personally I think she has cause to sue McCain after this is over. Nobody should be made to look this foolish.
I long for the days of Dan Quail when Veep candidates didn't look so inept.
Yikes...
This woman is by far the scariest thing that I've seen in the last ten years of my life. That there are more of her out there scares me even more.
Team 1 or Team 2
I have to spread this. It;s a very unique way to look at the problem at hand. I'd like to see this sort of comparison done with all aspects of these two teams. It would be great to see a list of policies, beliefs and supporters.
Original link here
Original link here
Inflation and the Dharma Initiative
I'm not a reall fan of LOST, but I have watched a couple episodes. For some reason, this really reminds me of that show.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
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