September 2008 Archives
Now that's a good ad. BarackObama.com
BARACK OBAMA: For eight years we've been told that the way to a stronger economy was to give huge tax breaks to corporations and the wealthiest. Cut oversight on Wall Street. And somehow all Americans would benefit.Well now we know the truth.
Instead of prosperity trickling down, pain has trickled up. We need to change direction. Now.
I'm Barack Obama. Here's what I'll do as president: End the Wall Street free for all with commonsense safeguards that put homeowners and struggling families first -- not corporate greed and CEO bonuses. Jumpstart our economy with a middle class tax cut, paid for by closing special interest group loopholes. Get serious about energy independence. A ten-year mission to create millions of good paying jobs by investing in made-in-America energy and infrastructure. You can read my whole plan to rebuild our economy on our website, Barackobama.com.
It's time to get our economy back on track and put the middle class first again. And that's why I approve this message.
White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested."
A free download. More here.
Mike Tabor videotaped two Portland, OR cops stopping and frisking a couple men on a sidewalk. The cops take his camera and issue a summons claiming he broke the law by recording without their permission:
The Multnomah County District Attorney's Office declined to prosecute, and now Tabor is trying to force the Portland Police Bureau to take a formal position on whether it's OK for civilians to videotape cops -- with sound -- in public places.In a tort claim notice to the city last week, attorney Benjamin Haile informed the city of Tabor's intent to sue for $100 and a written policy saying that citizens have the right to make video and audio records of police. Haile has taken on Tabor's case at no charge to Tabor. He says recording officers on the job is a fundamental part of holding police accountable that Haile believes is protected by the First Amendment.
The issue isn't an isolated one. Last month, Beaverton police arrested a 27-year-old Aloha man on accusations that he illegally recorded an officer arresting another man at a bowling alley. Ho Xent Vang recorded the encounter on his cell phone, and Beaverton police say the audio part of the recording violated state law because the officer didn't give his consent.
What's spooky is the cops used an Oregon law that "makes it generally illegal to tape-record a conversation without first obtaining permission except in cases where a person wouldn't reasonably expect privacy, such as at a public meeting or sporting event."
A commenter on my TMV biology may shape political views post pointed me to this Ted Talk:
Psychologist Jonathan Haidt studies morality and emotion in the context of culture. He asks: Why did humans evolve to have morals -- and why did we all evolve to have such different morals, to the point that our moral differences may make us deadly enemies? It's a question with deep repercussions in war and peace -- and in modern politics, where reasoned discourse has been replaced by partisan anger and cries of "You just don't get it!"Well worth the 18 minutes you'll spend watching!Haidt asks, "Can't we all disagree more constructively?" He suggests we might build a more civil and productive discourse by understanding the moral psychology of those we disagree with, and committing to a more civil political process. He's also active in the study of positive psychology and human flourishing.
Learn more about his drive for a more productive and civil politics -- and sign a pledge to engage in civil politics -- on his website CivilPolitics.org. And take an eye-opening quiz about your own morals at YourMorals.org.
A book with words that you touch and they become hyperlinks launched in the nearest digital device. Via ITConversations:
In this keynote presentation from the 2007 O'Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing conference, Manolis Kelaidis introduces and demonstrates bookLink (bLink), which illustrates his elegant ideas for next-generation books. Follow along as Kelaidis explains how he came to investigate the intersection of traditional book publishing and the new world of digital media. The challenge? While digital media offer new possibilities for interaction, the traditional book still has many advantages, perhaps most important of which is the comfort, convenience, and familiarity of the printed page. How can the benefits of both be combined?Within this presentation Kelaidis connects his background to his unique perspective on publishing that resulted in the creation of bLink. Through his research Keladis discovered that the basic design of books has not changed in over 2,000 years, yet he successfully took on the challenge of developing a new, more interactive interface.
Throughout the presentation Kelaidis explains the different potential uses for the bLink, including the controversial topic of including advertising in books. In addition, he covers the general design of the bLink and what would be the most likely way to manufacture bLink. His ultimate vision is to discover an invisible, paper based solution that would allow mass production of bLink books.
I changed the sidebar linked text color to make it more readable. Added my email address and Twitter feed as links. My last project for this blog is the biggest -- the interactive timeline of my life. That will take months!
In the meantime, I'm totally consumed these days trying to read up on Palin -- there's so much there that it's an impossible task. As a consequence, blogging has been slow at The Moderate Voice. Even slower here. But I'm still at it!
Ads 'n Such
