Internet Fosters Local Political Movements, AP News

~~~ It appears from this article the Internet is finally causing some political activity , that otherwise would not happen. But I still feel for the most, the Internet has done little to change the balance of powers in elections , nor seriously impacted how legislation is passed & public policy formed. Even in the the headline here, note the choice of the word "fosters" as oppossed to "galvanizes" or "energizes" . [Click HERE for another recent post & article on this suject] ~~` TP
.

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"Internet Fosters Local Political Movements"
By RON FOURNIER
AP Political Writer
http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=1135653

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Frustrated by government and empowered by technology, Americans are filling needs and fighting causes through grass-roots organizations they built themselves -- some sophisticated, others quaintly ad hoc. This is the era of people-driven politics.

From a homemaker-turned-kingmaker in Pittsburgh to dog owners in New York to a 'gym rat' here in southwest Florida, people are using the Internet to do what politicians can't -- or won't -- do."

" Hackers fuel Peru-Chile rivalry" BBC NEWS | Americas |

~~~ Now this is really Technopolitical. Maybe cross-border Political-Hacking could replace military wars. But probably not. ~~ TP
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BBC NEWS | Americas | Hackers fuel Peru-Chile rivalry: "The historic rivalry between Peru and Chile has spilled into cyberspace with hackers from both countries striking at government websites."

Internet redefining politics: new survey

~~ I disagree with the findings here. While the Internet is becoming "part" of politics in the USA, there has not been , nor will there be soon any major shift in political power.

The Republicans have used the internet to help
solidify their base better than the Democrats have.

This is because there is still a major Digital Divide in the USA,
with the wealthier Republicans having more broadband to use politically . ~~ ` `TP
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Internet redefining politics: new survey: "Online campaigning is transforming US politics and empowering individual voters dwarfed by the might of the print and broadcast media, the author of a major new Internet use survey said."

http://www.physorg.com/news8706.html

"Dutch tech firm wants to rid the Web of the .com" : CNET News.com

~` The Internet is young , very young.

The growth and changes ahead are anybody's guess.

Just think the phrase "Dot Com" might one day

be the answer to a trivia question. ~~ TP

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"Dutch tech firm wants to rid the Web of the .com"

By Reuters
http://news.com.com/Dutch+tech+firm+wants+to+rid+the+Web+of+the+.com/2100-1038_3-5972183.html

Story last modified Sat Nov 26 14:05:00 PST 2005

AMSTERDAM--A Dutch technology company has breathed life into a project to rid the Internet of suffixes such as .com, and instead offer single names which can be countries, company names or fantasy words.

Such a system, which enables countries, individuals and firms to have a Web address consisting of a single name, offers flexibility and is language and character independent.

'The plan is to offer names in any character set,' said Erik Seeboldt, managing director of Amsterdam-based UnifiedRoot."

Journalist, Cover Thyself - New York Times

~~ Journalist writing about journalist.
Movies about making movies.
Even comic stips about writing comic strips. I think I will start a blog about blogging.

But seriously , a little self-examination is always good, but the main point of journalists today is all too often the medium itself -- to which I plead guilty !!

[OK, so you have caught me in a

cynically self-effacing mood today.]

~~` TP
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Journalist, Cover Thyself - New York Times: "In the last few years, with the rise of blogs and a rich supply of scandals at news organizations, including The New York Times, the media have come under intense scrutiny. And many news outlets have turned a critical eye on themselves - a tricky matter rife with conflict that raises the question of whether anyone can report fully and fairly on his or her own employer, particularly for public consumption."

Young Voters Led Surge in 2004 Election - AP Wire

~~ For the record ~~~ TP

Young Voters Led Surge in 2004 Election - Yahoo! News:

"The 18-24 set made up 9 percent of the electorate last year, up very slightly from 8 percent the previous election. It's unclear what that might mean for the young vote in the future.

'Will it work for kids who were 14 years old in 2004? No idea. That work still remains to be done,' King said. 'But the 2004 campaign itself was an immense mobilizing event, bringing out the largest percent of young voters in 32 years.'

Democrats found hope in the statistics because, according to exit polls, Kerry won 56 percent of votes cast by people aged 18-24. Bush earned 43 percent of their votes."

"a $100, hand-cranked laptop computer"

~~~ I want one of these, sounds like a great tech-toy ~~ TP
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Wed Nov 16, 2005
Technology News Article | Reuters.com:
By Andy Sullivan

TUNIS (Reuters) - Researchers unveiled a $100, hand-cranked laptop computer on Wednesday and said they hoped to place them in the hands of millions of schoolchildren around the globe.

About the size of a textbook, the lime-green machines can set up their own wireless networks and operate in areas without a reliable electricity supply, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers said at a United Nations technology summit."
Researchers unveil $100 laptop for schoolkids

Web Site to Blend Journalism With Blogs - Yahoo! News

~~~ Will this make the American Body Politic better informed . Only if people read it~~~ TP

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"Some 70 Web journalists, including Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds and David Corn, Washington editor of the Nation magazine, have agreed to participate in OSM — short for Open Source Media"
Web Site to Blend Journalism With Blogs - Yahoo! News:

"China Reportedly Shuts Down Blog" -Thu Nov 3, 8:17 AM ET

To ban the Internet completely is impractical for dictatorships if they want their oppressed citizenship to be able to compete in the globalized world economy. So for dictatorships the only authoritarian option is to attempt control and stifle political cyber-dialogues the best they can without curtailing economic activity.

Or in other words to use their powers of E-Governance in order to constrain the citizen use of Cyber-Activism.

~~So, REMEMBER CHINA ,, I'M WATCHING YOU!!

Be careful how you treat those nice and

well meaning bloggers .

Don't make me come over there !!

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China Reportedly Shuts Down Blog

Thu Nov 3, 8:17 AM ET

"BEIJING - Chinese authorities have blocked a pro-democracy Web log after it was nominated for a freedom of expression award by a German radio station, a press freedom group said Thursday.

The blog, titled Wang Yi's Microphone, dealt with 'sensitive subjects' and was maintained by a teacher from Sichuan province, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said in a statement"China Reportedly Shuts Down Blog - Yahoo! News:

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Internet holds only future for newspapers, experts warn -(AFP) - Newspapers have no future without online and

~~~ The newsprint paper made of dead trees , all the toxic ink , and then disposing of the papers,, make printed newspapers one of the great banes on the environment & municipal waste disposal. As broadband and wireless expand in use and coverage , the less need for printed news.

I for one do not miss the piles of newspapers that used to be in my apartment at every week's end, for now I now get my newspaper fix entirely online. And more and more folks a re joining me each day . ~~~ TP
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"Internet holds only future for newspapers, experts warn"

Thu Nov 10, 1:11 PM ET

MADRID (AFP) - Newspapers have no future without online and digital services, media executives heard at a World Association of Newspapers meeting in Madrid."

"Blogs and text messages spread call to violence - Europe - International Herald Tribune"

~~~ The Internet seems to be perfect place for Anarchists to organize. { Yes, I know if they are "organized", then they can't truely be anarchists. But try to tell them that. }

The Republicans in the USA also use the internet much better than the Democrats in elections , with the GOP having larger email lists , , and more donations via the net.

This led to
a Republican base turn-out in the 2004 Presidental race that trumped the Democrats -- whose urban base failed to turn out .

Maybe the Democrats could hire the guys now running the tech-side of the Paris Ghetto Riots of 2005 .....

..... and put them in the voter-turnout "war-room" for next year's 2006 mid-term Congresional elections.

~~ `~~ TechnoPolitical ~~

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"PARIS The banners and bullhorns of protest are being replaced in volatile French neighborhoods by mobile phone messages and Skyblog, a Web site hosting messages inflammatory enough ..........."

from :
Blogs and text messages spread call to violence
- Europe - International Herald Tribune:
By Thomas Crampton International Herald Tribune

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2005

President Bush's Walkabout - New York Times

~ ~ Pretty heavy words from the NY Times editorial page.

I really do not like agreeing with NYT's editorials. Doing so often leaves me haunted that I may be mis-informed on the issue at hand.

But in this case, there is no mistake -- the Bush Presidency is a ticking time bomb of more disasters.

We are in a war that seems to have been engineered from even before Bush II took office. { I saw Jimmy Carter say that on TV , to promote his new book .}

A very serious change of both staff & policy is needed from the Oval Office before there are more wars & ill-handled natural disasters..

May G-d help America !!~~ ` TP
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"After President Bush's disastrous visit to Latin America, it's unnerving to realize that his presidency still has more than three years to run."

"An administration with no agenda and no competence would be hard enough to live with on the domestic front.

But the rest of the world simply can't afford an American government this bad for that long."

========================================

from :

President Bush's Walkabout - New York Times:

"Published: November 8, 2005

the most influential Internet moments of the past 10 years

Dotcom boom and bust tops list of Internet watersheds - Yahoo! News: "NEW YORK (AFP)

- The breaking of the Monica Lewinsky scandal [in 1998 was].... voted among the most influential Internet moments of the past 10 years by organisers of the annual Webby Awards."

The second most influential moment voted by the committee came in 1998 when the "The Drudge Report" -- a then little-known, one-man news site -- beat the mainstream media in breaking the scandal of Lewinsky's affair

Guardian Unlimited | Science | Fuel's paradise? Power source that turns physics on its head

~~ If this is confirmed as true as written below , then this is History.~~ tp

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"Fuel's paradise? Power source that turns physics on its head"

· Scientist says device disproves quantum theory
· Opponents claim idea is result of wrong maths

Alok Jha, science correspondent
Friday November 4, 2005
The Guardian

It seems too good to be true: a new source of near-limitless power that costs virtually nothing, uses tiny amounts of water as its fuel and produces next to no waste. If that does not sound radical enough, how about this: the principle behind the source turns modern physics on its head."Guardian Unlimited | Science | Fuel's paradise? Power source that turns physics on its head: "Dr Mills argues that there are plenty of flaws in Dr Rathke's critique. "His paper's riddled with mistakes. We've had other physicists contact him and say this is embarrassing to the journal and [Dr Rathke] won't respond," said Dr Mills.
==========================================================

Wired News: Fatal Flaw Weakens RFID Passports

Wired News: Fatal Flaw Weakens RFID Passports: "RFID chips are passive, and broadcast information to any reader that queries the chip. So critics, myself included, were worried that the new passports would reveal your identity without your consent or even your knowledge. Thieves could collect the personal data of people as they walk down a street, criminals could scan passports looking for Westerners to kidnap or rob and terrorists could rig bombs to explode only when four Americans are nearby. The police could use the chips to conduct surveillance on an individual; stores could use the technology to identify customers without their knowledge."

Very Very interesting !

"The first sitting White House staffer to be indicted in 135 years"

~~ Even the Dems are right sometime.

This Libby thing -- dare I say "Liggy-gate" --- is very serious stuff.

On the scale of Iran-Contra , if not well beyond. The Bush Team must now confront a

Libby-gate judical trial OR a guilty plea by Libby.

Either way ,, as the Carpenter's sang

"We've only just begun ......". This thing is gonna get a lot bigger before it gets smaller. ~`

~ ` technopolitical
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The Democratic Party: "Washington, D.C. -- Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid delivered the following statement on the floor of the U.S. Senate calling for a secret session of the Senate.

Remarks as prepared:

'This past weekend, we witnessed the indictment of I. Lewis Libby, the Vice President's Chief of Staff and a senior Advisor to President Bush. Libby is the first sitting White House staffer to be indicted in 135 years."

October Was Wettest Month On Record

~~ " You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows ......"
---

""The rainiest spot in the Northeast in October was the core of the Big Apple _ Central Park, where 16.73 inches fell to eclipse a 102-year record of 13.31 inches. More than half that total _ 8.5 inches _ fell over a three-day period from Oct. 12-14, Vreeland said. The wettest month on record in Central Park was September 1882 when it was soaked with 16.85 inches of rain. {1010 WINS - ALL NEWS. ALL THE TIME.: October Was Wettest Month }

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IF you don't know the quote ~~
" You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows ......" ,
well your online.
Search !!

BBC NEWS | Technology | UK digital rights group sets up

BBC NEWS | Technology | UK digital rights group sets up: "A UK-based organisation to preserve digital rights and freedoms has been set up thanks to pledges of money by those passionate about such rights."

Also Nice !!

Yahoo defends itself over China accusations - Yahoo! News

Yahoo defends itself over China accusations - Yahoo! News: "Just like any other global company, Yahoo! must ensure that its local country sites must operate within the laws, regulations and customs of the country in which they are based,' Yahoo spokeswoman Mary Osako said in a statement e-mailed to Reuters by the firm's Hong Kong arm.

Yahoo declined to confirm or deny that it furnished the Chinese government with the information."

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Liquid drop takes big nano step

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Liquid drop takes big nano step: "Professor Leigh concedes the work is early proof-of-principle but he is bolstered by the knowledge that nature uses molecular machines to do all of its jobs. He believes it can only be a matter of time before we are tapping into that know-how.

'Mankind, despite all of our technology in the 21st century, we use molecular machines to do nothing,'"