Doc Searls says that he wouldn't be a bit surprised if Barack Obama is shot. Obviously we both hope he's wrong. But this year's electoral process faces an even more likely threat -- voting machine fraud.
Watch this video and bookmark blackboxvoting.org, because I guarantee you'll want to visit the site frequently.
You did hear that Kucinich was granted the recount he asked for in NH, right?
Where are they, who is guarding them and can they be trusted as the country plunges into crisis?
Here's hoping she can be as inspiring in death as she was in life.
That's what this video says. The entity will be called the North American Union. Ever heard of the Amero? It's going to succeed the dollar. Know that new "NAFTA" interstate highway they're building, starting in Mexico and moving through Texas up to Kansas City? Know about the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America? Thought I'd mention this stuff.
If you consider yourself a political person who cares about privacy in this digital age, you'll love Computerworld columnist Jon Espenscheid. Google him and you'll find he's no ordinary doomer. He spent time in Iraq this year and is clearly connected to the Beltway establishment. Espenscheid at one point worked as a senior security consultant for Sierra Systems. Maybe he still does. And maybe you can figure out what they do. I can't. But it's clear he's close enough to the real power.
You probably knew about OnStar, but did you know General Motors vehicles come equipped with event data recorders, which record everything you do as a driver? Your insurance company does.
In July he decided to become more than just another IT-minded security pundit. His Oct. 26 column is chilling.
Anyway, Jon, long may you wave. Just watch your back.
Disclosure: Computerworld is published by IDG, which is a paid subscriber to SWMS.
Blogger extraordinaire Paul Kedrosky flags this FT article which posits that the Middle East, awash with cash, may well rescue the West from its credit crunch. How? By buying up distressed American assets that few others have cash to buy. Considering that Abu Dhabi this month bought 8.1 percent of AMD, this phenomenon is already underway.
This will test America's pride in a big way. We already rejected an Arab firm buying control of our ports. In a post-9/11 world, that's understandable. But will our nation be comfortable with Arabs owning, say, big hunks of our financial institutions, construction companies and auto makers? We're probably about to find out.
There's big money in political publishing, especially in an election year. According to TechCrunch,
an estimated $4.5 billion in political advertising will be spent across
all media in 2008. Plenty of partisan sites exist, but there's a
shortage of sites exclusively focused on politics and with no ideology other than "get out and vote."
Perhaps that's why Forbes Media this week bought a 51 percent stake in RealClearPolitics.com, a seven-year-old portal with an agnostic stance on candidates and issues. Last month former CNET Networks CEO Shelby Bonnie announced Political Base, a wiki-based political site focused more or less equally on local, state and national issues.
It'll be interesting to see whether TV news and major U.S newspapers publicize these new sites; they represent new and potentially formidable competition for eyeballs and ad dollars.
Ever hear of Ed Gillespie? If you're in PR, you definitely can take a lesson from this guy.
From the Open Left blog:
Another new arrival in the West Wing set up a rapid-response PR unit
hard-wired into Petraeus's shop. Ed Gillespie, the new presidential
counselor, organized daily conference calls at 7:45 a.m. and again late
in the afternoon between the White House, the Pentagon, the State
Department, and the U.S. Embassy and military in Baghdad to map out
ways of selling the surge.
From the start of the Bush plan, the White House communications office had been blitzing an e-mail list of as many as 5,000 journalists, lawmakers, lobbyists, conservative bloggers, military groups and others with talking points or rebuttals of criticism. Between Jan. 10 and last week, the office put out 94 such documents in various categories -- "Myths/Facts" or "Setting the Record Straight" to take issue with negative news articles, and "In Case You Missed It" to distribute positive articles or speeches.
Wikipedia lays out Gillespie's history. He's incredibly well-connected -- not just with Republicans but also with Congress and multinational corporations. And at 46, he's young enough to influence U.S. media for another 20 years.
Seymour Hersh is our nation's supreme journalistic authority -- because Washington insiders whom he's known for 30 years trust him with the truth.
Read his latest New Yorker article and understand what the U.S. is really thinking about Iran and why. The gist: rather than depict Iran as a nuclear menace, depict it instead as the reason we're losing in Iraq. A U.S. attack on Iran will be much easier to sell that way, Hersh's sources say.
In the mood to listen instead? NPR's Terry Gross interviewed Hersh last week.
This from Dow Jones (subscription required):
China imported 18.7% more crude oil in August than during the corresponding month of last year, data from the General Administration of Customs showed. August imports totaled 14.04 million metric tons, equivalent to 3.32 million barrels a day, the customs data showed. China is the world's second-largest energy consumer behind the U.S.
The real oil crisis is yet to come. Enjoy that SUV while you can.
