Stream of Consciousness

Here’s an opportunity to try the Florida electronic voting system.

http://www.wearabledissent.com/101/floridavote.html

I’m aloft somewhere between Rome and Cincinnati, jetting back towards my crazed, stupefied, dangerous country after three days in Berlin. I dread coming home. You know things have taken a paradoxical turn when Germany feels safe, sane, and free by comparison with the United States of America. But that’s how it looks to me.

That’s how it looks to the Germans too. The idea that we might actually re-elect George Bush is unfathomable - indeed, inexcusable - to them. As one of them put it to me, “We can forgive you for electing him once. As we ought to know, any electorate can make a tragic mistake. But if you elect him twice, we will start fearing you Americans as much as we currently fear your government.” I suspect this is a sentiment one could encounter almost anywhere on God’s blue earth. If the election were global as, in fairness, it probably ought to be, it would be a pulverizing landslide. — John Perry Barlow

Good article by John Perry reminding us all that it really does matter who wins in the November 2 election.

This is a great article. This stuff just doesn’t appear in mainstream media. It’s an analysis of what’s been happening economically and politically in Iraq since the war started. Long, but IMO, well worth the read.

http://harpers.org/BaghdadYearZero.html

Peace,
Fen

I have fought software patents for years, and am equally appalled at the creeping (creepy?) unlimited enforcement of copyright. Staford law professor Lawrence Lessig recently had this to say:

Tuesday sharpened the definition of the ongoing legal struggle to satisfy both proprietary and open source advocates through equitable intellectual property regulations. “Contrary to what many people see as a cultural war between conservative business types and liberal independents, this is not a ‘commerce versus anything’ conflict. It’s about powerful (business) interests and if they can stop new innovators,” Lessig said. [NewsForge | Lessig: IP protection a business, not cultural, battleground]

As you can tell, I’m not much of a blogger - no entries for five months! But when I saw the How to Save the World roadmap I had to say something about it. The 27 steps outlined are so simple and straightforward - it’s a shame that we fancy ourselves “civilized” yet the chances of these steps being followed by any organization or government of significant size are minimal.

I just saw Howard Dean speak, and though I’ve liked him - and have planned to vote for him - for some time now, I’m finally jazzed enough to start telling people about him. He spoke on the economy, foreign policy and education, and then answered questions. No notes, all off-the-cuff, and he was well poised, had the facts, and really answered questions put to him.

I’m sorry I don’t have a transcript, as I can’t remember his exact words, except for one quip about Bush: he said that in Texas, they call guys like Bush “lots of hat but no cattle.”

I’ve just added Blog for Dean to my links, and plan to check it regularly - and it has quick links to lots of other useful sites and info. I also signed up for his mailing list: he promised not to spam us until a month before the election. (I have previously done a bit of work on the unofficial Hack for Dean site.)

He said that though Bush would probably out-spend him, but that he planned to win by bringing 3 million new voters to the polls - that’s where we (you and me) come in. Tell your friends, check out the the meetups, and (again) tell your friends.

Regime change begins at home!

Haven’t blogged in a while - I’m just getting used to this - and I feel I need to practice…

It strikes me that the Democrats seem to be so incapable of mounting an offensive against a president that clearly fabricated evidence to pull this country into a costly (in many ways) war, while the Republicans never seem to be at a loss to take a simple issue (like a President’s mistress) and blow it up into an impeachable offense.

Another sad thing to watch is the trouble the Dems have in raising money. After all, they simply want to better the environment, help our schools, lower the deficit and generally create a better world.

Meanwhile, when a Republican buys a candidate, er, makes a contribution, he can be sure that it will result in profits for their business - an immediate financial ROI. In other words, it’s a no-brainer for anyone with a large and growing asset base.

Now, I can’t say I really like either party - but doesn’t anyone in the Democratic party get that they have to be mean to play in this game?

My friend Mitch Ratcliffe sent me an email today asking if I could help create some technology for the Dean campaign. There’s a lot to do - a lot of great opportunities for coders looking to create effective community action.

It’s all volunteer for now. For my part, I’m working on an identity framework for connecting social/community networks (simpler than Liberty/SourceID) borne from the Planetwork Collaboratory that my current organization CPV and indeed all social/progressive communities/organizations need. I’m dedicating my efforts on this, at least until I find paying work.