November 15, 2006

Does Ann Coulter Speak For Women?

The Center for the Advancement of Women has launched an online national advocacy campaign called "Ann Coulter Does not Speak for Me."

The independent, nonpartisan, non-profit organization and education institution is dedicated to advocating the advancement of women and has created this campaign to bring attention to the absurd and sometimes misogynistic comments made by the political pundit. The Center for the Advancement of Women offers facts and data to help supporters and activists respond to Coulter's comments and claims about the female sex.

The centerpiece of the "Ann Coulter Does Not Speak for Me" campaign is an interactive Web site where users can click and spin the Counter Coulter Wheel. Once the Wheel lands on a topic--from 9/11 Widows to the Right to Vote--a Coulter Comment appears, followed by a factual statement by the center countering. The campaign encourages views to take action by signing an e-petition that says "Ann coulter does not speak for me." Supporters can also post a sticker on their blog or webpage (graphic at left) and send friends an e-card about the campaign.

The Center for the Advancement of Women has launched this campaign to bring attention to Coulter's repeated inappropriate messages that they claim will become acceptable group-think if she is left unchecked and  not countered.

For anyone any advocate of feminism looking for facts to fight back with--this site is worth checking out.

Source: Email News Release by The Center for the Advancement of Women

Posted by Buzz Webster at 03:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 09, 2006

Changing the World One Video Game at a Time

Can a video game change the world? A growing number of activists and software developers are hoping that the “games for change” movement can educate while entertaining.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

February 21, 2006

The Real Story of the Swift Boat Veterans

A professor uses the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth as an important lesson to serve for future campaign advocacy groups.

Al May, former national political reporter and now journalism professor at George Washington University, has written a fascinating account of how the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth conducted the single most effective political advertising campaign in the 2004 presidential campaign.  Initially comprising a small band of disaffected Vietnam Vets who were angry at John Kerry’s behavior during and after the war, they soon attracted some big-money Texas Republicans.

The national press did not take them seriously enough, soon enough. The article describes a scenario that may be repeated by future independent groups and offers a cautionary tale for the press.  ”Swift Boat Vets in 2004: Press Coverage of an Independent Campaign” appears in The First Amendment Law Review (Vol. 4, Fall 2005) and on Professor May’s website at GW:  http://www.gwu.edu/~smpa/faculty/albert_may.cfm

 

 

 

Posted by Buzz Webster at 04:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 11, 2006

Iranian Bloggers Petition for Political Prisoner

According to a blog post at Global Voices Online, Iranian bloggers have signed a petition asking to free a political prisoner. 

Several Iranian bloggers have signed a petition (a letter) in which they asked freedom for political prisoner in Karaj Rejai Shahr Prison. Amnesty international, Red Cross and other humanitarian organisations have been asked to send delegations to this prison. We read in this petition:

“On the eighth week of the hunger strike of the political prisoners in Rejayi Shahr Prison, the government of Islamic Republic of Iran , has relocated the prisoners to facilities with harsher conditions, instead of assessing their demands.
Political prisoners in Iran live in the worst of conditions. Many of them have lost function in parts of their bodies as a result of the medieval tortures. The prisoners are constantly harassed, their cells raided and their belongings are looted regularly. Many political prisoners are kept in solitary confinements for prolonged periods. The Iranian government accepts no responsibility to provide food, medical care and even security for the lives of the political prisoners”.

Among bloggers who signed this petition, we see Zeytoun (Persian) an active Iran based blogger, Mr.Batebi, (Persian) a student who has spend several years in prison and more than twenty other bloggers out of 140 signatures in total.

Some bloggers talk about new military air plane crash which cost 13 lives including several revolutionary guards’ leaders. FM Sokhan ( Persian), an Iran based journalist and blogger, says Iran has just bought second hands Russian and Chinese airplanes. We must wait and see new crashes.
Zannevesht (Persian), Mrs Parastoo Dokohi from Iran, says we can not talk about conspiracy or technical problem concerning this crash. Because simply we have no access to information. NasimDasht (Persian), an Iran based blogger, says

“We must change our anti American policy and down with US slogans. Reality is that we need US to supply us airplanes or let European doing it“.

He adds Iran’s position has become weaker in the World and US is in our neighbourhood. It is time to change policy.
Caneh (Persian), an Iran based blogger, says he does not think about conspiracy to kill revolutionary guards. Many things simply don’t function in Iran because either nobody is right place or nobody cares about his/her job.

http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/globalvoices/author/farid-pouya/

Posted by Buzz Webster at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 09, 2005

French Youths Turn to Web, Cellphones to Plan Riots

Young rioters in France are using blog messages to incite violence and cellphones to organize attacks.

France's government is policing cyberspace as well as rundown suburbs in the battle to end two weeks of rioting.

http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=10217749&src=eDialog/GetContent

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 28, 2005

Online Activism Hits South Korea in Full Force

A 28-year-old South Korean, whose fight with stomach cancer prompted an unprecedented wave of sympathy and online fundraising, has died. Since his story appeared on OhmyNews on Monday, readers have raised a total collection of 9.3 million won (US$9,000) for the Roh family.

Is Korea's Military Ignoring Recruits' Health?

http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?menu=A11100&no=255528&rel_no=1&back_url=

Posted by Buzz Webster at 06:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 08, 2005

3D Virtual Communities Join Katrina Relief Effort

Residents of online gaming communities are joining in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, virtually.

The momentum within online gaming communities to organise help and donations for the Hurricane Katrina relief effort is gathering pace.

Virtual worlds Second Life and There are using their community and technology to let players donate funds from within the games.

In Second Life, a virtual memorial has been created, where residents have been donating and placing virtual candles.

The companies behind There have also pledged to match gamers' contributions.

"In support of these Community efforts and in response to this disaster, Makena Technologies, together with The Maya Foundation, will match the Community's contribution up to $50,000," a statement on the website read.

'Lindens' to dollars

In Second Life and There, players or residents build the neighbourhoods and virtual structures within. They work in a similar way to the Sims games.

Both games are more like physical worlds which focus on social interaction over gameplay.

One Second Life resident called ReallyRick Metropolitan constructed the computer generated memorial for those who perished.

 
Virtual worlds are places in which people can hang out, build and interact
Within hours, virtual candles were constructed and placed around it, as well as other virtual tributes.

A clickable sign in the game takes residents to a Yahoo page where they can donate directly to the Red Cross.

A contribution system to turn Linden Dollars, Second Life's virtual currency which players use to trade in virtual goods, into to dollars is also being developed.

It lets residents directly contribute their in-world currency to the relief effort, according to one of the Second Life official bloggers.

Residents can pay Linden dollars (L$) from their accounts to a donation box. The resident who owns the box converts the funds to "real-world" money and sends that to the American Red Cross.

"As with any act of charity, therefore, donating is an act of trust," said Second Life blogger, Wagner James Au.

The Second Life residents have collected at least $3,300 (£1,793) in "real-world" money.

They have also been holding in-world events, such as raffles, virtual item auctions, dance parties, casino-style game sessions, and live radio DJ telethons to raise L$, according to Wagner James Au.

"The fact that people in Second Life interact [as] avatars seems to make them more generous, more compassionate," he told the BBC News website.

"Perhaps because being together in an online world gives them the distance and abstraction not to be overwhelmed by the true horror of the event, while still feeling that connection, and that desire to connect, with others who are similarly galvanized by the tragedy."

Gamers relief

A dedicated aid programme for gamers, called Gamers Relief, has also launched a website to collect funds from gamers who want to help.

Its aim is "to rouse the gaming community and provide a means for them to aid those struck by the worst natural disaster in the history of the US."

"Usually gamers get a bad rap, especially in the US," co-founder Casey Ayers told the BBC News website.

"There has been lots of legislation lately that has blamed video games for violence. So this is a great opportunity for game lovers and the industry as whole to help people in need."

 
The gaming community has been moved to organise donations
The site is run by a network of volunteers within the gaming community which runs the Advance Media Network (AMN), a website community dedicated to video gaming news.

"We ask that gamers do without just one game, accessory, or console that was on their shopping lists and put this money toward the greatest cause of all - hope," a message on the Gamers Relief website reads.

The site, which went live on Monday, also hopes it can whip up some momentum from bigger media sites.

"Large sites are getting on board. We ask that anyone with a site or any form of media outlet places the Gamers Relief logo on their site with a link to donate," co-founder Sean O'Neill from AMN told the BBC News website.

"We have also been in talks with game publishers and developers who are looking to help. It's been incredible, and it's just the start."

Some people may be wary of contributing to a pool of funds, via the secure Paypal online payment system, that then gets forwarded to the American Red Cross.

But Mr O'Neil and Mr Ayers stressed that 100% of the funds would be going directly to the American Red Cross.

"We have seen many people exploiting services like this," said Mr O'Neil. "I want to make it clear we are giving all the funds to the Red Cross.

"We will be providing the paperwork to show this at the end of each week to any press or media outlets who request it.

"This was the fastest way we could set up such a fund. On top of that many of the larger companies who are looking to get involved are asking for follow-ups in terms of a paper trail which we are happy to provide.

"We are working to find better ways to tackle this issue in the future."

Last week, Sony Online Entertainment, which is behind the hugely popular Everquest II massively multiplayer online game, said it had introduced an in-game donation command line.

By typing in a /donate command, players are automatically taken to the American Red Cross's Hurricane 2005 relief page where they can donate.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4219030.stm

Posted by Buzz Webster at 02:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

August 22, 2005

Teacher's Union Gets Blog Rolling to Log Complaints Online

Educators in New York City have joined the growing number of activists who are taking their message to the blogosphere. Edwize.org was launched this weekend as a forum for teachers to voice their concerns and to get the attention of Mayor Bloomberg.

The city teachers union has taken its contract gripes into the blogosphere.

The United Federation of Teachers quietly unveiled a new Web site called Edwize over the weekend - joining the growing list of individuals and causes that use blogs to get out their messages.

The first few posts featured comments about salary disparities between teachers in the city and suburbs, and union President Randi Weingarten's comments from last week that the union and City Hall were unlikely to agree on a new contract before classes resume next month.

The blog suggested that Mayor Bloomberg was letting election year politics get in the way of negotiating a new contract for the city's 80,000 teachers.

"Politics and this year's election seem to be more important to Mayor Bloomberg than a contract for teachers," one post stated.

Bloomberg said last week that the city wanted to continue to negotiate with the union but claimed Weingarten had been hard to reach. Weingarten said she was on federal jury duty but had made herself available to the city's negotiating team.

A disclaimer billed the union blog as "a place where members, public education advocates and others can express opinions in an effort to establish an agora of informed commentary on public education and labor issues."

The blog, which can be found at www.edwize.org, does not represent the official views of the union, the disclaimer said, noting: "Anyone who claims otherwise is violating the spirit and purpose of this blog."

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/339157p-289675c.html

 

Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 29, 2005

MoveOn.org Goes Offline In Latest Campaign

Yesterday's Edition of NBC First Read gives the latest on MoveOn.org:

Karl Rove certainly teed up Bush's Iraq speech tonight. Six days after he accused liberals -- especially MoveOn.org -- of being weak in responding to 9/11, MoveOn today launches a $500,000 TV and print advertising campaign calling to bring home US soldiers from Iraq. ("We got in the wrong way," the ad states. "Let's get out the right way.") As if on cue, Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R) sent out a statement yesterday calling the ad "an utter disgrace." "To politicize the War in Iraq at this critical juncture," she said, "emboldens the enemy and does so at the peril of our men and women in uniform. I hope my colleagues from both sides of the aisle will join me in disavowing this poisonous ad."

A MoveOn spokesman strikes back at Sen. Dole, saying that if she has a problem with MoveOn, she also has a problem with fellow North Carolina Republican Rep. Walter Jones, who has called for timetable to bring home the troops.

That exchange provides part of the political backdrop to Bush's 8:00 pm primetime speech tonight on Iraq, to soldiers in Fort Bragg, NC. Other elements include two new national polls, both of which contain some troubling numbers for the Administration; Democratic concerns that Bush is trying to politicize Iraq and link it to 9/11 ("The only way that he can stop the downward spiral [in public opinion about Iraq] is to make this become a political issue," Jenny Backus, a Democratic consultant working for John Kerry's PAC, tells First Read); and further reminders that we seem to be re-living the 2004 presidential campaign all over again.

For more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3626796/

Posted by Buzz Webster at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 21, 2005

Growing Demo Community In N. Virginia

Recognizing the need to create more lines of communication across local Democratic Party organizations, Bob Haley, Dave Pierpont, Jennifer Boysko and Ed Herlihy, founded the Dulles Area Democrats (D.A.D.).  The new group brings together precinct level Democratic Party organizations from among both Fairfax and Loudon county towns that surround Dulles Airport.

 

One of the impetuses for creating D.A.D., according to Dave Pierpont, is that too many events of interest to area Democrats are flying under the radar because of poor communication channels.  For example, General Wesley Clark recently spoke in the area and very few people heard about it if they were not on Clark’s own mailing list.

 

Pierpont has created an online platform at www.dullesareademocrats.org to help grow area Democrats into a regional community.  It provides a discussion forum and Blog to members and all who want to learn more about Democratic politics in Northern Virginia.

 

While still a young organization, D.A.D. recently hosted a breakfast meeting with the Chair of the Democratic Business Council and former Virginia Lt. Governor Don Beyer at the Virginia Kitchen in Herndon, VA.  This kickoff event attracted over 20 local Democrats crowded into a small back room at the local breakfast joint.

 

For more information on the meeting and what Beyer had to say, see http://www.dullesareademocrats.org/forum/portal.php?article=0.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 17, 2005

Online Giving Surpasses $3 Billion In '04

Online donations in the U.S. in 2004 exceeded $3 billion -- up 58 percent from $1.9 billion in 2003 --

according to a recent study by technology provider Kintera and Luth Research.

The survey results indicate that more than 8.6 million U.S. households gave online donations in 2004. Results also show that more than 65 percent of all donors visit at least one of the websites of the nonprofit organizations or fundraising events to which they give.

A report by the Chronicle of Philanthropy released this week showed similar findings, reporting that online donations to the USA's biggest charities surged 63% last year from 2003, as the tsunami relief effort and Howard Dean's presidential campaign underscored the value of Internet fundraising.

E-charity Sees An Increase In Online Giving
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries /technology/2005-06-14-e-charity-usat_x.htm? csp=15 Study: U.S. Online Giving Surpasses $3 Billion in 2004
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/sit e/google/index.jsp? ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20050616005233&ne wsLang=en

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 02, 2005

Tennessee Blogging Watchdogs

The InstaPundit says that blogs are the news breaking watchdogs in Tennessee Politics.

BLOGS PIONEER COVERAGE on the latest Tennessee political scandal. Meanwhile, Frank Cagle says Tennessee legislators need advice on how to take bribes. "The amateurish way this whole bribery scheme was handled is an embarrassment to the profession."

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 24, 2005

Fight Hunger

There's an exciting new global campaign that to raise awareness about child hunger.

Fight Hunger is part of a UN effort to reimagine the way that the world sees hunger. When you get to the opening page, you can click to feed a child, and the sponsors will donate 19 cents to WFP's global school feeding program.

There is zero cost to you, and your click ensures that one child gets fed for one day. And more importantly, it shows the UN and the world that there are thousands of people out there who care. This has a tremendous impact on WFP's ability to secure the international funding they need to fight hunger.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 04:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Check Out Extreme Democracy

The Book and Discussion Forum for Networked Activists

Click here: Extreme Democracy

Posted by Buzz Webster at 03:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

StemPAC

There’s a new online effort fighting for stem-cell research.

StemPAC officially launched Today. The website is a new effort to “aggressively target elected officials who are holding up stem-cell research, and gently ‘persuade’ them to change their minds -- or ‘not so gently’ get them the heck out of office.“

Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 23, 2005

Miss Beazley Eats Em Up

 Play the game that sent bloggers barking.

The President's dog is guarding the White House. What could be more fun.

Play Edukating Miss Bealey

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 19, 2005

Gov. Pawlenty Hosts Bloggers, MoveOn Hosts Pope

From RNC BlogFood email:

- In case you missed it Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota opened the governors mansion last night to bloggers to thank them for their contribution to new media. Kennedy V. Machine and Captain's Quarters blog about the experience.

- MoveOn.org had this image up on their site and then removed it. National Review's Judical blog, bench memos, has the image now.  

Posted by Buzz Webster at 03:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 27, 2005

Youth Policy Action Center

You may remember last year Capitol Advantage celebrated its 18th birthday by announcing a Youth Award program for non-profits involving young people in advocacy

-- well, they've been working with several of the winning groups for a few months as they've come together in a really great way and then grown to over 30 groups working together. 

Washington, D.C. — April 18, 2005 — More than 30 of the country’s leading national advocacy organizations have launched an unprecedented partnership to raise awareness and generate support for children and youth policies through political activism.

Visit the Youth Policy Action Center Web site: http://www.youthpolicyactioncenter.org.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 06:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 22, 2005

UK Election Activism

 The UK's National Autistic Society and Treehouse charities are running an online campaign of its own during all the election action.

The Autism Counts website, http:www.autismcounts.org.uk, has been built using Campaign Express's suite of online campaigning tools. It enables supporters to lobby or petition their local candidates by email. They simply visit the site and register their name, email address and postcode. The latest technology identifies the visitor¹s constituency and local candidates.

A list of petitioners and their email addresses will be emailed to candidates to encourage a dialogue on key Manifesto issues. Supporters can also register online to receive regular newsletters about the election campaign. They will automatically be told when a local candidate has signed the Manifesto.

It is estimated that over 535,000 people have autism in UK

 

This is an amazing campaign that we hope has a lot success, and I encourge everyone to contribute more stories like these.

­ so, including friends and families, over 3,000 people are affected per constituency. There are 80 seats with majorities of 3,000 or less. There are over 200 seats with majorities of 6,000 or less. The votes of people with autism, their friends and their families could affect the result in many constituencies and that of the general election.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 02:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 21, 2005

Conservative Glo-cal Politics

RightMarch.com recently sent out an email on behalf of the European Conservative Union (ECU) asking American's to help conservatives in Europe. It's an interesting thing to see conservatives around the world unite around political issues. I think most would agree this typically happens moreso with Green or Liberal parties, but with the rise of the internet anything is possible.

Imagine a farmer in Idaho donating $40 online to the ECU, so that the organization can create a stronger conservative Europe; A Europe that is more welcoming toward Bush when he visits this May.

That's what the ECU is purposing, and with RightMarch's network of over 2 million folks, it just might make a difference.

Although the ECU states is was founded in 2001, it's not very easy to find on the web. In fact, I couldn't find a website at all, but wonder if they're some type of PAC for the Conservatie Group For Europe or Conservatives In The European Parliament. RightMarch didn't have anything about the group on it's website either.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 02:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 20, 2005

Online Freedom Of Speech Act

CJR Daily Writes:

There was some good news [last] week for bloggers and their fight to stay as free and unregulated as they wanna be. The only problem is, hardly anyone was paying attention.

It's called the Online Freedom of Speech Act, introduced by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a Republican from Texas.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 02:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 09, 2005

How To Blog Safely (About Work or Anything Else)

With the privacy of bloggers and their news sources coming under fire in the court system (see, e.g., Apple v. Does), it's crucial that web writers know how to express themselves without risking their jobs or social lives. Yesterday the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) released "How to Blog Safely (About Work or Anything Else)," a how-to guide for bloggers worried about protecting their privacy and free speech.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 22, 2005

Tuesday Buzz

Here’s a little buzz for today.

Zax Exley of MoveOn.org is chatting it up with Britain and France on the role of the internet.

The full text of  Glenn Reynolds' and FEC Chariman Scott Thomas' keynote speeches from the Politics Online Conference is available thanks to redstate.org.

Looks like Senator Harry Reid is the new blogospere patriot, advocating for FEC exemptions. Reid has introduced legislation that would effectively overturn a federal judge's decision from last year that brought Internet politicking under the ambit of a controversial campaign finance law.

Ourmedia.org the folks who promised to  “store your video, podcasts or digital photo collection for free — forever. No catches" is still shut down from a traffic explosion.

And last but not least, news on a clear sign that Sen. Clinton is ready to run for president in 2008. The National Arbitration Forum announced today that a ruling has been issued in favor of Hillary Rodham Clinton regarding rights to the Internet domain name hillaryclinton.com.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 06:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

March 19, 2005

New K-street Website En Ingles

From The Mail Bag – Cool New K-street Website En Ingles

Since two years ago, approximately I have been writing a blog about
e-government topics "K-Government Blog" but only in Spanish. And now, I have started to publish it in English version, you can check it out here.  I invite everybody to visit it and contribute with your ideas and opinions. I am sure that you can find in it something interesting.

Kind Regards
Karlos Guadian Orta

Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

March 18, 2005

What Youth Think

From The Mail Bag - Here an interesting email I recently received, but not really ePolitics related:

My name is Seth Spores; I am one of the three editors and co-founders of College Tree Publishing.  We contacted hundreds of university and college conservative and liberal groups, political science departments, and university news papers and requested essay submissions from people in the 17 to 25 year old age group on political and social issues.  The end result was What We Think: Young Voters Speak Out, which was put out nationally in late October.  The book was meant to be a running forum for political expression of America's youngest voting demographic, and in that regard has been a success.  Since the book was published in October, the book has already received national press on CNN, MSNBC, an hour long special on CSPAN-Book TV and has been nominated for the Franklin Award.

We are a non-partisan company possessing a Republican, Democrat and Libertarian leaning editor, trying to give fair and equal voice to all ideologies present among college age youth.   We are currently accepting submissions for our next two books, What We Think 2 and What We Think About God and looking to increase the number of well written pieces.  Our goal is to receive 10,000 submissions from now through summer, and to publish the top 200 to 300 in late third quarter.

I am contacting many blogs and other forms of media not necessarily connected to Universities, in hopes of reaching a wider base of essayists.  We would like to know if you would run a short story on your blog, stating that we are requesting submissions for national publication.  All authors are given full credit for their work, a short bio is dedicated to them in the back of the books, and we've been arranging book signings and talks across the country for authors in our current edition so these young authors get the credit and visibility they deserve.  Let me stress finally that individuals submitting need not be in college to qualify for publication.

Please feel free to contact us with questions or requests for more information. Our website is CollegeTreePublishing.com.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 04:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 17, 2005

Senate Filibuster Battle Goes Online

Girding for a showdown over judicial nominations, Senate Democratic leaders yesterday threatened to slow or stop all but the most essential legislative business if Republicans strip them of their ability to stop presidential nominees from being confirmed, according to the Seattle PI.

Though the battle will ultimately be played out on the floor of the Senate, the online world is making noise from the virtual balconies. Some of the first efforts include:

DNC Drive To “Protect Free Speech in the Senate”
RightMarch.com Effort To “Stop MoveOn and Liberal Senators from Judicial Tyranny!”
RedState.org Educates On The Difference Between Legislative And Nomination Filibusters
Senator Reid Gives First Ever Online Media Interview To Laud Filibusters

Posted by Buzz Webster at 09:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 14, 2005

POLC Recap

Last Thursday and Friday was an excellent time to be had by all (especially political geeks) at the Politics Online Conference at The George Washington University.

I’ve complied  a short list of some of best coverage from blogs that covered the conference.
Rexblog covered Day 1 and Day 2 with general observations and reflections.

Patrick Ruffini was on panel and in love with Trippi’s $100 dollar revolution
http://www.patrickruffini.com/archives/2005/03/blogger_smackdo.php

PDF loved the $100 idea too.
http://www.personaldemocracy.com/node/435

WizBang provided a little coverage and was in love with the onlinecoalition.com idea.
http://wizbangblog.com/archives/005338.php

I'll try and post some pictures tonight.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 04:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 11, 2005

POLC Waves Good Bye

That’s all folks; the conference is over except for a cocktail party and the announcement of the Golden Dot Awards.

The great MSM versus New Media debate was rather dull (read - too polite to be entertaining like Jerry Springer), but it did help frame some of the dominant themes of the conference:

- The internet and politics are here now and we are stuck with it forever.

- Bloggers clearly have an influence in politics, media and society but unfortunately one at the conference or anyone else really understands what their impact will be.

- The role of bloggers as journalists is a hot topic and no one really wants the FEC to make that decision (in regards to campaigning), but it is very likely they will with little influence in making that decision coming from the blogosphere.

- The internet is a global phenom and we need to look to other countries for ideas and information.

- Old Media has certainly impacted New Media and Old Media is generally not very friendly towards New Media.

- The niche of ePolitics is expanding and there is certainly a lot of money to be made on the private side and potentially a lot of democracy to be spread on the public side.

- The internet is no longer a tool of politics, but the medium through which all operations are integrated.

DA

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

POLC MSM vs New Media Death Battle Quotes 2

More death battle quotes – one of these is untrue as well.

“I never said we were doing a great job at the Washington Post.”

- Sloan

“Everybody’s got to eat, as the President said, everybody has to put food on their children.”

-Sieger

“The substance of the facts that matter to the people are not put in front of us by the corporate media.”

- Lytel

“I mean come on Jeff Gannon’s not all bad once you get to know him.”

- Hindraker

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

POLC MSM vs New Media Death Battle Quotes

Death Battle Quotes

One of these is a fake quote.

"It takes one dollar a day to operate Powerline, our site is essentially free."

-Hindraker

"The Internet is here to stay and plays a central role in people's lives."

-Sloan

"The power of the blog is that the editor is the writer...and often the visitor."

-Sieger

"I'll kill you and your family if you ever, ever read my blog"

-Lytel

DA

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MSM versus New Media Death Fight

The last session of the day is the great debate of whether or not the Old Media and the New Media can coexist.

David Lytel (Left.org) and John Hindraker (Powerline) are actually on the same team battling Jonah Sieger (Connections Media) and Cliff Sloan (Washington Post)

So far the battle is about as wild as a bridge game with my grandma.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Keynote Lunch Update 3

The lunch is over and was relatively uneventful or controversial, besides the online coalition letter.

I just visited the site and commend the nerds who put this together lastnight, while I was out enjoyings dinner.

Three panels are up next and I'm going to - On the Frontier: New Faces, New Voices, New Visions, which will be paneled by "the best and the brighest of the new guard in Internet Politics."

DA

Posted by Buzz Webster at 02:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Keynote Lunch Update 2

Michael Bassik is up with a letter…uh oh!

He's talking about Onlinecoalition.com, which was literally developed overnight.

The website was built around a around a letter to the FEC voicing the concerns of bloggers and the rest of the online world. Over 600 bloggers have signed the letter.

Bassik just presented the letter to Thomas.

DA

Posted by Buzz Webster at 02:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

POLC KeyNote Lunch

I am heading into the Keynote Lunch – Speakers are FEC Chairman Scott Thomas and the Instapundit Glen Reynolds.

Most of the conversation from both speakers in on the topic of the FEC’s upcoming ruling on the use of the internet in campaigning.

Reynolds is obviously not a fan of the FEC and upcoming rulings.

Glen Reynolds … that crazy guy is full of one liners.

“Blogs are not power brokers, they are power breakers”

“People are the new power brokers”

“As we say at MicroSoft It’s not a bug, it’s a feature”

”If you can’t rely on the word of senator… then you are inWashington”

Judge Thomas is getting hammered by questions, but holding up very well.

DA

Posted by Buzz Webster at 02:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Online Mobilization Panel

I just out of the United We Stand – Online Mobilization Panel.

Robert Hahn was probably the most interesting person on the panel. He is the Executive Director of Free Republic Network and also happened to web work for the Swift Boat Vets.

Melissa Boasberg of the Kerry-Edwards campaign (also on the panel) nearly fell out of her seat when Hahn told the audience of his role with the Swifties.

Andrew Stocking had some hints for how you should progress in asking for money through emails.

Progress in three steps –

1. First Education
2. Then Take Action
3. Next Ask For Money

Hahn said a great way to find out more about your visitors is to metatrack all the categorities post and articles that go up on your site. If you have a client login, use it to where folks go, and use this info for your email campaigns.

Other thoughts from the panel

- sharing and cooperation of email lists among like minded groups is a good way to grow your base and subscribers are generally positive of this type of coordination.

- Kee the momentum going in an online campaign with Feedback, feedback, and morefeed back – report your successes no matter how small, and engage them in a dialogue instead of talking to them when you need money.

- Watch out for Key words in your message. Get a spam filter and test your emails against it before you send out an email.

DA

Posted by Buzz Webster at 01:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tracking The Buzz Through Blogs

From David Abel:

The "blogging buzz" session is underway with both Bush and Kerry web strategists on the panel.

A strong concern of the audience is the issue of trust.

"How can we know who's blogging and don't we need to know for the sake of credibility" was asked.

The short answer -anonymity is great and the web is self governing.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dropping The Ball From The POLC

From David Abel:

Well, its day two of the confernece and this my first post. Unfortunately there was no internet access in my hotel or at the conference yesterday.

Thanks to Issue Dynamics INC., for the wireless access today

Now that I am done with the excuses, I'll say that the conference has gotten off to a good start.

Here are a few of the themes that floated around on Thursday.

- The basic sentiments of at the opening of the conference is that the internet has not only arrived in politcs, but "we" are now stuck with it.

- Segmentation of online supporters by affinity and demographics is an upcoming trend and new tool campaigns are focusing on.

- There is an idea that email list collaboration between like-minded groups will also increase.

- A commisioner of the FEC was also present and promised new rules to regulation of the internet and politics was coming within 30 days... and the rules could get pretty ridiculous.

DA

Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 10, 2005

PoliticsOnline In D.C.

Phil Noble and David Abel of PoliticsOnline will be at the Politics Online Conference in D.C. Thursday and Friday at the George Washington University.

If you are at the conference, be sure to say hello.

David Abel will be blogging some of the events on this blog and Phil Noble is set to speak twice at the conference.

The event organizers have promised wireless internet access on Friday only, but we will try to keep you updated as much as possible.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 09, 2005

A Present For International Womans Day

Eastern Europe Contributing Editor Rimvydas Kriukelis has passed on his latest impressions on how the internet is being used by Chechen officials:

About one month ago the Chechen moderate opposition leader Aslan Maskhadov, who was elected President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in 1997, introduced an order on the ceasefire suspending all offensive military operations against Russian targets, invited Russia to open the peace talks, and asked for the international community support for that process (more: Prague Watchdog, Chechen Republic Of Ichkeria Ministry Of Foreign Affairs).

Putin’s administration did not make official reply to Maskhadov’s offer. Moreover, yesterday, 8th of March, A. Maskhadov has been killed by elite units of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) during the operation in Tolstoi-Yurt, north of Grozny (more: RIA Novosti).

Various points of view immediately were reflected in different Internet sites after that fact was firstly announced by Russian officials. Most of the websites present information in two of three foreign languages.

Vice-Premier of pro-Russian Chechen Government Ramzan Kadyrov cynically commented the death of A. Maschadov as a “present” for the International Woman’s Day which in the post-Soviet countries usually is celebrated giving flowers to women.

”By killing Maskhadov, the Kremlin has killed the last illusion in those Chechens who no matter what still believed in the so-called “international law” and civilized forms of communication with today’s regime in Moscow”, said Movladi Udugov, Chief of External Subcommittee of Informational Council of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (more: Kavkaz Center).

It seems that the Internet is becoming more and more used not only by official Russian “propaganda”, but also by other confronting sides. The use of Internet is making more complicated for officials to block a spread of unwished information, and it is not efficient anymore only to present the “dry” facts.

Many of Internet links representing different opinions about recent events in Chechen Republic of Ichkeria can be found in the website Human Rights Violations in Chechnya which provides information, news and updates on the human rights violations in Chechnya.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 07, 2005

RightMarch.com Interview

Another online interview up at PoliticsOnline.com - audio and transcipt available.

The Expert:

Bill Greene of RightMarch.com speaks with PoliticsOnline about the origins on the conservative online group and how it’s leading the "Virtual March from the Right". RightMarch.com is a powerful online PAC having a strong impact with over 2 million members nationwide.

I think this is the best one yet.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 21, 2005

Help Blogging Brethren

From BBC:

The global web blog community is being called into action to lend support to two imprisoned Iranian bloggers.

The month-old Committee to Protect Bloggers' is asking those with blogs to dedicate their sites on 22 February to the "Free Mojtaba and Arash Day".

Arash Sigarchi and Mojtaba Saminejad are both in prison in Iran...

More

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 14, 2005

The GOP Loves Blogs

GUEST: Jack O'Toole

US NEWS & WORLD REPORT: "Convinced that Internet weblogs, or blogs, helped defeat Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle and out Dan Rather's bad reporting on President Bush's National Guard duty, House and Senate Republicans are scrambling to put them on their government Web pages. 'Senators want them even though they don't know what they are,' says a strategist helping several GOP senators develop the chat and news pages."

Posted by Jack O'Toole at 08:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 08, 2005

FREE Public Webcast From The Media Center

From The Media Center:

The Vanishing Newspaper: Survival and Public Service in the Age of We Media, March 9, 2005, 2:00-3:30 ET, online

Our good friend Phil Meyer has just published a book, The Vanishing Newspaper, which has inspired us to organize this online event that takes a good, hard look at the newspaper-business model and its viability in a digital world.

How can historic mass-media institutions use new communications trends and tools to once again take possession of credibility and public service, replant them in journalism's firmament, and transform themselves into vibrant 21st-century media enterprises?

This adventure in cyberspace will be lead by Jeff Jarvis, well-known blogger and president of Advance.net. Panelists include:

* Phil Meyer, Knight Chair in Journalism, UNC, Chapel Hill; author of The Vanishing Newspaper: Saving Journalism in the Information Age

* Stefan Dill, Online Editor, freenewmexican.com

* Mary Lou Fulton, Publisher, northwestvoice.com, the Bakersfield Californian

* Tim Porter, newspaper analyst and blogger

To find out more or to register, visit here:
http://www.mediacenter.org/webcast/march/2005/

Posted by Buzz Webster at 03:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 04, 2005

Trash Bush The Online Way

The State of the Union Address this week brought out the creativity in a few anti-Bush e-activist. I wanted to mention two that were especially innovative.

The 16 Word Contest
The folks over at Center for American Progress issued a challenge to the visitors of ThinkProgressive.org.

"Everyone remembers the classic 'sixteen words' from the 2003 State of the Union that came back to haunt the Bush Administration - 'The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa,'" he wrote. "What sixteen words from tonight's State of the Union will come back to haunt President Bush tonight? Use this post to nominate your sixteen words."

And the winner is.... "The principle here is clear: a taxpayer dollar must be spent wisely, or not at all."

Putting Words In Bush's Mouth
At the George W. Bush Speechwriter website you can create your very own Bush Speech using the mouse to drag and drop actual words and phrases said by Bush. Once your happy with your speech writing, you can listen to the speech and upload it to the website to share.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 06:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 02, 2005

Republican's Take A Course In Blogging 101

Republican Party leaders and White House officials gathered at the Greenbrier Resort last week for a brain storming retreat. In one presentation, Senator John Thune of South Dakota introduced senators to the meaning of "blogging," explaining the basics of self-published online political commentary and arguing that it can affect public opinion.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 06:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 26, 2005

Boom

GUEST: Jack O'Toole

Some months ago, Advance.net president (and uber-blogger) Jeff Jarvis coined the term "exploding television" to describe the very different video distribution road ahead:

I don't think that network programming will die but I do think that the means of distributing it will no longer be locked into the old networks. That wouldn't happen if all we were seeing were the advent of an alternative pipe: the internet v. cable. What we will see at the same time is the growth of alternative content that will be produced at a MUCH lower cost, FAR better targeted to niche interests (the mass market is dead; long live the mass of niches), providing, as a whole, new competition to the old networks. The old networks and their programmers and advertisers will see that they can get BETTER distribution via the new, distributed network and consumers will DEMAND to get material that way -- because it puts them in control -- and so we will see the hegemony of the old, centralized network start to fall away and break apart: explode.

Needless to say, these developments are going to require those of us in politics to fundamentally rethink much, if not most, of what we do. And, as this story in today's LA Times on the new video search tools at Google and Yahoo makes clear, the time to start thinking is now.

EARLIER/RELATED: New Service by TiVo Will Build Bridges From Internet to the TV (via your humble correspondent).

MORE: "What happens, for instance, if you search for some video of a place or an event and it turns out that the best stuff you find comes not from a network but from a talented individual? That changes everything...."

Posted by Jack O'Toole at 03:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 21, 2005

Is Colin Powell A Mob-caster?

This picture was taken Thursday at Bush’s inauguration. Click on the picture and look closely at Powell who is a few feet ahead of Bush, on the right. It sure looks like he's mobcasting to me.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 19, 2005

New Ideas

GUEST: Jack O'Toole

According to a recent press release, one candidate for mayor of Los Angeles is trying to use his campaign website as a magnet for new ideas to improve the city:

Bill Wyatt, a candidate for Los Angeles Mayor, has just launched a feature on his website that will pay the public in a contest format for ideas that will make the city better. The Bill Wyatt for Mayor campaign website is located at: www.BillyWyatt.com and the new Get-Paid-To-Play contest is located at: http://billywyatt.com/forum/

Through the internet Bill Wyatt hopes to promote individuals who may have great ideas, but do not have the time or ability to get those ideas into the bureaucratic process. By paying for the ideas Bill Wyatt hopes to parody the Pay-To-Play issue that has absorbed the downtown LA political scene and encourage regular citizens to forward ideas that will broaden the political debate. "I believe in the power of the individual citizen to have solutions to problems that political consultants and strategist may overlook", states Bill.

LINK: Los Angeles Mayoral Candidate, Bill Wyatt, Launches a Get-Paid-To-Play Idea Contest

Posted by Jack O'Toole at 07:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 16, 2005

Too Hidebound Down Under?

GUEST: Jack O'Toole

Writing in The Age, University of Melbourne media lecturer Sally Young and political consultant Peter Chen argue that Australia's major political parties will have to fundamentally rethink their online strategies if they want to succeed on the Web:

[T]he main parties want complete control over the timing and content of material they're connected with. Softened up by television campaigning, with slogans crafted word-by-word with focus groups, the main Australian political parties are not interested in real interactivity....

Apart from the main parties, individual candidates are also hesitant to get online in Australia. While two-thirds of US congressional candidates produced their own websites as far back as 1998, in the recent federal election fewer than 40 per cent of ALP and Liberal candidates produced a personal website. If they did, their sites mirrored their party's site: lots of policy information and biographies, but little interactivity. Opinion polls, if they were included at all, used safe, bland questions that did not clash with the party line and most of these candidates, if sent an email, did not bother to reply.

In the US, with a different political system that focuses on individual candidates rather than the party, the picture is very different. Although still the home of televised political spin, outsiders have shaken the old consensus about how to win elections.

Jesse Ventura, professional wrestler turned Governor of Minnesota, propelled the Reform Party into the national spotlight by using the internet to recruit and organise online volunteers. In 2004, Howard Dean's meteoric rise from obscure governor to presidential hopeful rested strongly on his capacity to raise large numbers of small campaign contributions online.

The Americans are hooked on "social networking", getting campaign supporters to pass along online messages and calls for contributions to their friends and like-minded people. Supporters of John Kerry organised 40,000 volunteers online who walked their local streets, talking with voters and collecting information on palm pilots. In politics, information is power and it all helps to direct campaign strategies and work out how to target the key groups of voters and the most important local areas.

This reflects the irony of the internet, that for all its global reach, it is often most effective at organising grass-roots participation. So far this lesson has been lost on the Australian political parties. Fattened by public funding that pays for their election costs, there's no pressure for the parties to innovate significantly.

The rest is here.

Posted by Jack O'Toole at 03:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 10, 2005

Rapid Response To The Tsunami

Posted by Bob Pyke Jr at 06:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 07, 2005

We're Bringing The Inauguration To You!

Guest: Bob Pyke

I recieved an in interesting e-mail In my in mailbox this morning from the RNC inviting me to a virtual inauguration party, where you invite all your friends to your house and have a part and watch the inaguration at home via the web.

I guess the advantage is not paying $20K for a pair of tickets and there  won't be any fighting about who gets to sit next to Dick Chenney, Karl or Arnold and Maria?

http://www.GOP.com/Party

Has anyone out there ever participated in one of these "House Parties" before?

Posted by Bob Pyke Jr at 02:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

January 04, 2005

Pew: Politics Drives Blog Growth In 2004

GUEST: Jack O'Toole

Hi, folks. My name is Jack O'Toole, and Buzz has asked me (along with some other fine ladies and gentlemen you'll be meeting soon) to join him in the daily task of keeping you up to date on all the latest happenings in the world of the Internet and politics. I can only say here at the outset that it's both a pleasure and a distinct honor to have been invited to play in Buzz's sandbox, and I sincerely hope that I'm able to hold up under the weight of his rather outsized expectations. (As I recall, said expectations were communicated in the form of a barked request along the lines of, "Geez, Jack, just start posting already, wouldja??!!" So you can see what I'm up against here....)

Anyway, let's get started, shall we?

According to a new study by the Pew Foundation, blog creation and readership grew sharply in the United States last year, primarily as a result of the hotly contested presidential race.

Twenty-seven percent of online adults in the United States said in November they read blogs, compared with 17 percent in a February survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project....

Earlier in the year [before the tsunami], politics was what drove readers to blogs.

Democrat Howard Dean embraced blogs early, allowing supporters from around the country to organize and talk about the campaign informally, without needing to clear remarks with campaign headquarters. Many bloggers who supported his campaign provided links for readers to easily make campaign contributions over the Internet.

Even after Dean's campaign fizzled, bloggers continued to pundit, and a handful were invited to cover the Democratic and Republican national conventions for the first time.

Time magazine even named its first Blog of the Year, crediting the Power Line blog created by three lawyers for challenging mainstream media and questioning the validity of documents behind a "60 Minutes" report on President Bush's National Guard service. CBS News anchor Dan Rather later apologized for airing the report.

"Blogs have been around for several years, but because of the coverage in the political campaign, a lot more people became aware of the idea of blogging and certainly went online to read blogs," Rainie said.

POSTSCRIPT: You'll find the Pew report available for download here.

MORE: Media exec (and blog guru) Jeff Jarvis has a typically insightful take on the subject.

Posted by Jack O'Toole at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

January 03, 2005

Tsunami Relief

Be careful donating out there in the wild wild web.

Man Charged In UK Tsunami Death Email Probe

Myths Run Wild In Blog Tsunami Debate

Web Aids Tsunami Response

Posted by Buzz Webster at 08:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 30, 2004

The Internet Has A Heart

From various Tsunami related articles:

"We are in the middle of a fundamental shift from mass media to the personal media of computers and the Internet, and charitable giving is a logical progression."
- Paul Saffo, director of the Silicon Valley-based Institute for the Future.

"Technology has had a huge impact on our ability to disseminate information about what we're doing."
- Kara Bunte, Red Cross spokeswoman.

"This flow of news from one man in the street to another certainly fosters a spirit of community, where any bit of news is better than no news."
- Tan, a blogger and former copywriter in Malaysia.

"Basically, society's response to disaster relief is being changed fundamentally by the Internet."
- John Hartman, vice president of client services for Kintera.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 28, 2004

What Made 2004 Worth Remembering

We’re collecting the top ePolitics stories for 2004. Any suggestions?

Posted by Buzz Webster at 04:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 15, 2004

Is Santa A Dem or GOP: ePolitics Buzz

Things haven’t been the same online since Ebenezer Scrooge fired Bob Cratchit and replaced him with a computer. Here are two guaranteed ways to not spread holiday cheer.

Where Will You Do Your Holiday Shopping/Politicking

Would you refuse to shop at store if you knew the owner had different political views than you? According to MenaFN.com two Internet Web sites called Choose the Blue and Buy Blue are urging despondent Democrats to make purchases from companies supporting their party.

Starting Static On T.V.

The L.A. Times reports that a coalition of liberal political groups (including MoveOn.org) launched a nationwide protest against Sinclair Broadcast Group yesterday, charging that the 62-station TV broadcaster, which was also the target of intense criticism during the presidential campaign, is misusing public airwaves with partisan news programming.

Today Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. commentator Mark Hyman responded by saying, “As soon as MoveOn.org allows me to use their e-mail lists and post to their Web site, maybe then we will have a conversation.” MoveOn is sure to respond with arguments outlining the differences between public and private broadcasting using words such as “responsibility” and “fair”. Sinclair will then respond, also outlining the differences between public and private broadcasting using words such as “choice” and “freedom.”

The anti-Sinclair campaign is run through SinclairAction.com.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 13, 2004

What Color Is Your Parachute: ePolitics Buzz

It’s all about the J-O-B these days, or at least for this post anyway.

What's Eating Gilmor Grape

Dan Gilmor - journalist turned ambassador of Blogistan, has retired from the old media on a quest for the ultimate citizens journalism project. The blogoshpere congratulates you for having the cajones to try this new venture.

Click Here To Enlarge Text

The future of e-democracy lies in our past. Clickz reports that young people largely drove the early stages of Internet growth in the U.S. But in the last four years, most new growth in Web adoption came from people aged 55 and up. Here’s a new job, selling the internet to the huge online market of aging baby boomers.

Welcome To The Club

Jo Lee will be joining the team of bloggers at BuzzWebster.com. To learn a little more about how wonderful she is visit Citizen Speak.

If Hitler Had An Email List

"If Hitler had an email list and some online tools - yeah, we'd be speaking a different language now,” said Zach Exley, the online communications chief for the Kerry-Edwards campaign, at a recent Harvard ePolitics Conference pointing out that the tools can be used for evil as well as good purposes. Luckly Zach has a job with MoveOn.org, which he quit temporarily to work with Kerry. I wonder what Ghandi would have done with an email list, assuming he had the internets and all.

Uh Senator, May I Use You As A Reference

The blog 'Unemployed Kerry Staffer' received it’s 15 minutes of fame last week while curiosity arose over the bloggers identity. Though now unmasked, she humbly continues on... still unemployed.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 06:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 10, 2004

Its Late, Go Home

A couple points of interest before the weekend.

2004 Dot-Comedy Award Nominees
About.com is proud to announce the nominees their 5th annual awards competition recognizing the year's best political humor. Cast your votes today. Winners will be announced on Dec. 29.

Warning! The Internet May Be Hazardous To Your Health
Ok, so yesterday we learned that laptops can cause infertility. Great. Well, just to add water to the half empty glass, here's some news from the WaPo about those nifty wireless gadgets you love to use.

" Are you a Blackberry addict? Do you find yourself zapping text messages and staying plugged in on your cell, computer and PDA at all hours? Experts are now advising that people unplug from the Internet and other technology devices. The Associated Press reported on the unplugging trend: "As technology's influence in the lives of young people becomes ever greater, a few teens and twentysomethings are unplugging -- getting away from the Internet and other high-tech gadgets, at least for a while. It's a backlash, experts say, to being hyper-accessible by e-mail, instant message, cell phone calls and text messages. People are spending more and more time in front of a computer screen or futzing with technological devices. Sometimes, they just need a timeout." "

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

December 07, 2004

Virtual Vernacular

We know the Internet is changing society when it begins to impact the words we use, or think we shouldn’t. The biggest word of the year was obviously “blog,” which I’m sure you read was named Word of the Year for 2004 by The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. But what you might not have read are the stories behind some other popular words on the web.

Fair And Balanced - According to News Hounds, in December, 2003, Alternet, and its parent organization, the Independent Media Institute filed a cancellation Petition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office asserting that the phrase "fair and balanced" is "notoriously misdescriptive" (i.e. not accurate at all) and that Fox should not be allowed to retain it as a trademark.

Master/Slave - According to Reuters, the computer term "master/slave," which was banned as racially offensive by a Los Angeles County purchasing department, was named the most politically incorrect term of the year on Thursday.

Monkeyfishing - The term has entered the language as a synonym for excessive credulity on the part of a newsgathering organization taken in by a patently phony story - as in, "The New York Times printed tons of Jayson Blair's monkeyfishing before it caught him at it." This explanation and the next two were pulled from an excellent article out of the Press Herald.

Jumping The Shark - Came to mean any wildly excessive activity designed to attract attention to a person or group in a popularity tailspin. As, for example, "Aging poptart Britney Spears finally jumped the shark by marrying a high school friend for two days in Las Vegas."

Pajamahadeen - a typical blogger as a guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas writing what he thinks. Pajamahadeen spun off "mujahadeen," a term for the Muslim holy warriors who kicked the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan (I think the words “pajama journalist” rolls off the tongue a little better, but who am I to stand in the way of progress.).

Libel - A recent article from the Dallas News reminds bloggers to watch the words they use. Bloggers are now considered publishers by most, and can be sued for libel.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Votes, Bits & Bytes

This week, the Berkman Center at Harvard Law School will bring together political experts, activists, academics, bloggers, and interested citizens to discuss the effect of the internet on politics.  The conference will take a skeptical look at the state of politics after the 2004 election and from an international perspective.  Panels will focus on questions like:

- Has "citizenship" changed in the online era?

- Are online business models helpful guides for politics and politicalorganizing?

- What international examples are promising?

- Did the web make a difference in the 2004 election?

The conference will take place December 9-11, 2004, at Harvard Law School.

Visit the conference website to learn more about the schedule of events and speakers.

Confirmed guests include Prof. Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone; Esther Dyson, Editor of CNet; Oh Yeon-ho, Creator of OhMyNews (South Korea); Craig Newmark, Founder of Craigslist.org; and many others.  Registration is now open and free to the public, but spaces are filling quickly.  Reserve your spot today.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 06, 2004

FW: Kofi Rocks

Last week I wrote that talk of ousting Kofi Annan was flooding the blogosphere. But, by the end of the week the tables had turned and the internet was being used to rally support behind him.

According to Sify News more than 2,700 staff members of the UN Secretariat have signed an email expressing their support for Secretary-General Kofi Annan at a time when the organization has faced allegations about its integrity.

On the other side, Move America Forward has been targeting the UN for sometime with it’s “Get the UN out of the Us” campaign. Along with T.V. ads the group has launched an online petition of its own calling for the U.N. to move its facilities out of the US, along with the US reducing its funding.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 01:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 03, 2004

Honor Thy WebMaster

2004 is coming to a close, which means a few hundred “best of” award ceremonies will soon commence. I know of three “best of’s” in the world of ePolitics always worth paying attention to and or competing in.

Political Dot-Comedy Awards

We invite you to nominate your favorite sites for About.com's 5th annual awards competition saluting the year's best political humor. Nominees will be announced on Dec. 10, at which point you will be able to cast your votes. Winners will be announced on Dec. 29.

Pollie Awards

The American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) has made the Call for Entries for the 2005 Pollie Awards, the deadline is Wednesday, December 22, 2004. The 2005 Pollies will recognize the best in political communications from the 2004 election cycle.  The Pollies recognize a variety of mediums, and includes 27 categories that fall under the Internet.

Golden Dot Awards

The Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet at The George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management will present Golden Dot Awards for civic excellence in online campaigning at the 2005 Politics Online Conference, March 10-11, 2205.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 02, 2004

Trippi, Kofi, And Bushy

In the past 72 hours the WSJ has printed two articles that have controlled the blogoshpere topics of the day. One very World Wide related, and the other very Web related.

Yesterday it was Democratic Strategist Joe Trippi’s “The Grassroots Can Save Democrats”. And today it’s Senator Norm Coleman’s ‘Kofi Annan Must Go.’ Although the WSJ is a paid content website, these articles are actually free.

Also for a free e-newsletter on politics with a conservative point of view, try Best of the Web Today By James Taranto.

Below is a very funny blurb on ePolitics Taranto included in yesterday’s email.

Bush Arrested?
Google News is a great site, offering an extremely useful search function that finds news stories published on the Internet within the past 30 days. The other delightful thing about it is its automatically generated homepage headlines. If you want to know what the top stories are, you're better off going to a news site that has an actual human editor... but some of the stuff that makes its way through Google's algorithms can be a source of high hilarity.

Example: A left-wing site called Axis of Logic published a satirical (though unfunny) article yesterday titled "Canadians Authorities Arrest U.S. President Bush on War Charges," and it ended up as Google's top story. Seriously. If you don't believe us, click here.

And for the plug, WSJ can send a check to my home or office address.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 25, 2004

Turk-E Day

I hope everyone in the US is enjoying Thanksgiving Day. I hope everyone outside the US is at least enjoying the day.

I would blog during the feast, giving a play by play of the action, but for some reason my family has banned all electronic devices at the dinner table. Must have something to do with that 'Robosapien dancing in the pot roast' incident last week. Hey, give me a break. I'm still learning to work the controls.

Posting has been light this week... still recovering from election, and trying to conserve energy for the eating binge in approximately 4 hours.

Will resume on Monday with lots of stuff you can't afford NOT to read.

A Very Thankful,

Buzz

Posted by Buzz Webster at 09:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 22, 2004

JFK Reloaded

Not everyone loves it when politics and technology collide.

"It is despicable," said David Smith, a spokesman for Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, upon hearing about a new video game released Today  allowing players to simulate the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

The release of "JFK Reloaded" is timed to coincide with the 41st anniversary of Kennedy's murder in Dallas and was designed to demonstrate a lone gunman was able to kill the president.

The game is available via download for $9.99 at JFKreloaded.net.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 06:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

November 12, 2004

Penguin Day

I have some news for all of you tech geeks who moved Canada because of the U.S. election outcome. It’s still a little early to pull out the ice fishing tackle so why not spend next weekend changing the world instead?

Penguin Day, a day-long conference for activists and socially conscious software developers kicks off Saturday, November 20th 2004, in Toronto. At local Penguin Days non-profit organizations explore the range of issues and options involved using Free and Open Source Software (F/OSS). 

Other great/upcoming conferences of interest include the E-Voter Institute Research Roundtable, November 30, 2004, at Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, D.C., and the Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet 12^th  annual Politics Online Conference, March 10 - 11, 2005, at George Washington University.

And to set you in the right mood for the weekend - Here’s a little something from Ask Dogbert, passed on by contributing editor Bob Pyke.

Dear Dogbert,

How can I decide for whom to vote?

Dan

Dear Bedpan,

Highly intelligent and well-informed people disagree on every political issue. Therefore, intelligence and knowledge are useless for making decisions, because if any of that stuff helped, then all the smart people would have the same opinions.

So use your "gut instinct" to make voting choices. That is exactly like being clueless, but with the added advantage that you’ll feel as if your random vote preserved democracy.

Sincerely, 

Dogbert

Dear Dogbert,

Lots of people write blogs, but I’ve never heard of anyone who actually reads them. What’s up with that?

Kurt

Dear Skirt,

Blogs exist to fill the important market niche of writing that is so dull that your eyes will burrow out of the back of your head to escape. People do read blogs, usually by accident, sometimes on a dare, but those readers are later mistaken for Mafia victims with what appears to be two holes in the back of their heads. On closer inspection, you might find their eyeballs clinging to the drapes directly behind them. Unless the cat gets them first.

Sincerely,

Dogbert

Posted by Buzz Webster at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 09, 2004

Radical, Rigged And Rumored: ePolitics Buzz Brief

- Have you seen this map of “American Coastopia” circulating the Internet? Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t the U.S. try succession about 150 years ago?

- Three Democratic Congressmen have urged the Government Accountability Office to undertake an urgent review of electronic voting systems, citing several apparent technical snafus that have come to light after the Nov. 2 election. The Dem’s also noted that the requested probe has nothing to do with being sore losers.

- The Internet Rumors are true! Former presidential candidate Howard Dean is considering a bid to become chairman of the national Democratic Party.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 03, 2004

Kerry Concedes

Breaking News from ABCNEWS.com:

SEN. JOHN KERRY WILL CONCEDE THE ELECTION AT 1 PM

http://abcnews.go.com?CMP=EMC-1396

Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 02, 2004

Youth Vote Predictions

Andrew Sullivan writes that the exit polls report the Youth Vote Doubled. I had great hopes for the Youth Vote, I hope this is true.

However, I have another source saying the opposite. I'm a little skeptical. These are the folks without cells phones that were so hard to reach, but did all the registring online.

Not really any good new numbers floating around.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 08:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 01, 2004

Eminem Is My Political Consultant

- I’m the first one to tout the power of the Internet, but if Eminem impacts the election we’ve got problems.

Headline from the San Francisco Chronicle - “Eminem's angst-filled video, 'Mosh,' spread rapidly on the Internet, might actually get youth to the polls”

- In regards to a previous post, I would be remised if I did not mention Election Projection, another good electoral vote map, which currently favors Bush.

- Here is Kerry’s final online push “Millions To See New Kerry Campaign Online Video”... still looking for the Bush online push.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 06:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 30, 2004

Will Youth Vote Decide Election?

There are a handful of swing states that most feel will decide the outcome of this election. However, the youth vote could be equally if not more significant towards tipping the scales.... especially IN the swing states. I’m talking about millions of young voters who will vote for the first time this year.

Clearly Rock the Vote has the most name recognition in the online world for voter registration and advocacy among young voters, but RTV is really just the tip of the youth vote iceberg.

To see what’s going on under the water, check out Youth04 and NewVotersProject. They are just a few of the many Youth Vote projects that are taking advantage of the web to reach young voters.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 29, 2004

Protest Songs Of A Wired Generation

The 60's and 70's brought us protest songs about War. The 00's bring us protest songs about waffles.

Waffle House Song

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 27, 2004

Dubya Dubya Dubya: ePolitics Buzz Brief

President Bush still has a stronger web presence than Senator Kerry, but all the attention is not so favorable.

- The Bush campaign website was hacked yesterday, and overseas visitors were denied access to the site. However, these two instances might not be related.

- Bush finally answered the internet-spread bulge question. His answer “a poorly tailored shirt.” Note to tailors: to prevent puckering, follow the seams when sewing foreign objects into shirts.

- According to the IHT, foreigners might not prefer Bush as commander in chief, but they can’t get enough of him on the internet

- A Bush bashing Web Parody set to the tune of ‘Monster Mash’ is the latest animated political-jab on the web.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 19, 2004

Expert Interview With Michael Cornfield

Now Available at PoliticsOnline - Interview with Michael Cornfield

Michael Cornfield is an internationally renowned political scientist for the Institute for Politics, Democracy, & the Internet and professor at George Washington University. Cornfield talks with David Abel of PoliticsOnline about his latest report on online political ads in the 2004 Presidential Elections and how ePolitics is changing campaigning.

Click here to listen to and or read the interview.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 02:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 18, 2004

Stars And Stripes Forever

From Bob Pyke- AND NOW FOR TODAY'S SITE... Stars and stripes forever

There's a gazillion Web pages out there, so it's not easy to find
relevant information. Google is arguably the best search engine
available right now.

One thing Google does exceptionally well is help weed out the
junk. It has a number of specialized searches that focus on
relevant information.

The Uncle Sam search will help you find anything related to the U.S.
government. I thought this would be useful, since we're so close to
Election Day.

TO VISIT THIS SITE, GO HERE:
http://www.google.com/unclesam

Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 15, 2004

What About The Bush Cabinet?

This just in from Dal LaMagna at Progressive Government:

The debates are over. We know more about Bush and Kerry than we want to. What about the appointees? We have an incredibly comprehensive model of the Bush Administration on line at www.progressivegovernment.org

He's right. It is comprehensive.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 01:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 07, 2004

A Blogger, Dean and Spoiler: ePolitics Buzz Brief

- In a first for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the group is using a blogger to raise funds to help elect Democrats to the House of Reps. Duncan Black, aka Atrios, who runs the blog "Eschaton," wrote a fundraising email letter to DCCC supporters yesterday.

- Although Republicans killed a bill yesterday to squelch draft rumors circulating on the Internet, Howard Dean wont’ let the idea die. A Dean email is circulating saying “the draft has already begun” since active duty soldiers who finish their commitments are being forced to stay in. Supporters are encouraged to visit the DFA website to sign a “No Draft” petition.

- In an odd twist, the Ralph Nader campaign website is pushing SPOILER t-shirts and playing cards that turn the tables with quotes like "Revolutionaries always spoil corrupt systems."

- Since Dick Cheney’s mention of factcheck.org (he actually said factcheck.com) in the VP debate, the site has been flooded with visitors. The site loads slowly and has been knocked off line several times because of traffic. However, the site does appear to have a new look (check my facts on this), which could also explain the problems.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 06, 2004

Winners, Killers & Bloggers: ePolitics Buzz Brief

-- After reading campaign emails from Bush and Kerry, it is absolutely clear who won the Veep debate last night.
Bush email: "Vice President Cheney won the debate last night"
Kerry email: "We're two for two"
Both campaigns are still heavily pushing supporters to take part in online polls.

-- In an effort to kill Internet rumors House Republicans killed a draft bill Tuesday. The bill, HR163, would have required that all men and women ages 18 to 26 serve at least two years of military or civilian service.

"The reason we're doing this is to expose the biggest hoax in show business," said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-San Diego, who chairs the House armed services committee.
"The hoax has been carried out through the Internet, where millions of young people are being scared by some anonymous tipster."

-- Italian ePolitics are fantastico
We recently told you about the Italian twin of Matt Drudge - Roberto D'Agostino and his website Dagospia. While his site is quite the rumor mill, Italy has a serious side to ePolitics as well. PoliticsMatters a collective blog of PoliticaOnline launched yesterday. The blog focuses mainly on Italian politics, but will also look at U.S. and worldwide grassroots activism.

The BBC also reports the fashionable city of Milan has become the staging area for a new breed of online social protests.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 05, 2004

VP Debate and NK Hackers: ePolitics Buzz Brief

-- It appears Bush-Cheney’04 learned something valuable from last week’s debate - Never underestimate the power of online spin. Dems clearly controlled the post-debate online buzz, resulting in most thinking Kerry won the debate.

In an email this morning, the BC04 campaign asked supporters to utilize the web to “fight the spin” by participating in online polls, forwarding the email on to five friends, and directing undecidedes to the campaign website.

-- Dems are also copying a Bush tactic used by a the campaign a few weeks ago, by encouraging voters to use their online service to vote absentee. Powered by Votenet’s Election Impact, the Dems' new feature enables supporters to find information on how to request an absentee ballot. Bush’s absentee ballot form is a little more eye pleasing than the Dem’s, but annoyingly also forces the voter to fill out personal fields before receiving the ballot information.

-- Meanwhile U.S. cyber-security needs to get its act together considering a new report uncovers that North Korea has trained more than 500 computer hackers capable of launching cyber warfare against the United States, South Korea's defense.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 04, 2004

Online Ad Bust: ePolitics Buzz Brief

-- A Pew Study released today reports meager spending on web ads by political campaigns. The report leaves one wondering why politicos aren’t utilizing the web. Not too long ago research from PQ Media projected that online spending for political ads will be $25.3 million in 2004, up 853.8 percent from the 2000 election.

-- Is U.S. cyber-security receiving the attention it deserves? Recent legislation to give the agency more clout by moving it under White House control was squashed. Then National Cybersecurity Chief Amit Yoran resigned last Thursday, frustrated with the lack of importance placed on cybersecurity at DHS.

-- Dems were successful in managing the message online after Thursday’s Presidential debate. According to CBS news media websites were bombarded with post-debate spin. The online advocates affected unscientific poll results and also managed to tick off a journalist at the Chicago Tribune after he received over 200 emails talking up Kerry.

Across the Pond

-- U.S. Jobs are not the only thing being out-sourced to India - India Times reports that Hate Sites are setting up shop there as well.

Check out the stats: Hate and violence websites have grown 300 per cent from 2,756 in 2000 to 10,926 in 2004. It grew 30 per cent in 2003. What’s more, the number grew by 26 per cent in the first four months this year – from 8,667 to 10,926, says a study by SurfControl, a mail-filtering firm.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 03:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 30, 2004

Mock the Vote

Good to be on board, Buzz Webster.

After watching the debate tonight, and hearing enough over-analysis and spin you begin to feel nauseated and dizzy...shut off the TV, and go online to take a break to Mock the Vote.

AtomFilms, has compiled a number of Political Animations (PolAnime!)
in the Mock the Vote site.

Click here to "Mock the Vote"

Posted by Real Deal at 01:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 29, 2004

Listen To Jimmy Orr

An excellent interview with Jimmy Orr, White House Internet Director, is now available on the PolticsOnline homepage.

Orr talks with PoliticsOnline’s Phil Noble about the exciting things happening at the White House website and how his team is leading the way in interactivity.

Transcript and Audio are available. Check it out!

Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 27, 2004

Swiss Success, U.S. Duress

This November 29% of America’s registered voters will use electronic touch-screen machines to cast their vote, up dramatically from 12% in 2000.

The U.S. is headed towards the virtual ballot box, but not many folks like the idea of their vote being part of an experiment to get there.

While U.S. E-voting paranoia (and rightly so in some locations) is starting to surge faster than a swift boat in Cambodia taking on enemy fire, did you know that on Sunday Switzerland conducted the world’s first nationwide vote to take place over the internet. It was a success according to Swiss authorities.

Does this make you want to move to Switzerland forever? Sorry, yesterday’s online vote was actually a referendum in which Swiss people voted against making it easier for immigrants to become Swiss citizens.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 24, 2004

Pew Survey For Experts Like You

From The Pew -

"The Pew Internet & American Life Project is surveying experts about the future of the internet and we would very much like to include your views in our research.

We hope you'll take 10-15 minutes to fill out our survey, which you will find here."

Posted by Buzz Webster at 06:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Libertarian Up-rising

Libertarian presidential candidate Michael Badnarik has relaunched his campaign website with a new look and added bells and whistles.

In an email announcement the campaign gave props to Howard Dean for bringing online innovation to politics, explaining the website change was Dean and supporter inspired.

Although Nader seems to get all the third party press in the mainstream these days, if what a Badnarik staffer says is true, Nader might not be the most popular alternative candidate... at least online.

“The Badnarik campaign has been dominating Nader with respect to Internet traffic since shortly after the Libertarian Party Convention. The other third-party candidate web traffic is not even a blip on the radar screen. We are close to reaching the traffic level of Bush and Kerry." - Stephen P. Gordon

Posted by Buzz Webster at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 09, 2004

Political Vigil's?

Here’s what MoveOn had to say.

Over 1,000 US soldiers have now died in Iraq. Tomorrow night, we’re holding vigils with the Win Without War coalition to honor these soldiers and their families. Host a vigil, or find one in your area.
Tomorrow night at 8pm, we're joining with the Win Without War coalition to hold hundreds of candlelight vigils.

Here’s James Taranto of Best of the Web Today had to say:

MoveOn.org, along with an outfit called Win Without War, is sponsoring a series of "candlelight vigils" tonight to "honor" the servicemen who "have given their lives in service to our country." An e-mail announcing the event, from MoveOn's Peter Schuman, contained this statement: "Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld diminished their deaths by calling the toll 'relatively small.' " Here is what Rumsfeld actually said:
If you take all of those patrols, and look at the number of incidents, they're relatively small. If you look at them from our standpoint, a single loss of life is large, and it's a life that's not going to be lived. I don't know how to calculate it or calibrate it for you any better than that

Man, it seems everything is political in politics these days.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 07, 2004

God Is Not A Republican

Conventions are over, but the election race has only just begun.

Check out "God is not a Republican. Or a Democrat." flash movie that one of our contributing editors, Bob Pyke, sent to us.

And also the article A Hidden Swing Vote: Evangelicals

And for all the Canadian readers out there, visit Taking It Global. It is a new site Steven Clift made note of in a recent newsletter. The new website is making its mark in interactivity.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 03, 2004

Swiftboat Humor

The Convention is over, Clinton is having heart surgery, real bummers for the right and left. We need some humor.

Want to laugh over the Swift Boat Vets. Check out these humorous sites the Seattle-PI uncovered.
Cheerleaders for Truth
Dekes for Truth
Moe's Tavern's Patrons for Truth
National Guard Pilots For Truth
Pleasure Boat Captains for Truth This is a must view!
Revolutionary War Veterans for Truth
Rugby Players for Truth
Swift Yacht Veterans for Truth

Posted by Buzz Webster at 02:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 02, 2004

Live Interview With Mike Connell

We just did a great interview with Mike Connell, President of New Media Communications (A.K.A. Head Internet Guru for the Bush-Cheney'04 campaign and the RNC convention), at our website PoliticsOnline.

Mike talked about what’s new and innovative at the convention; and what’s left to do online leading up to Election Day. The audio is there now and the full transcript should be up in a few hours.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 02:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Convention Quirks

Kerry Terry - From the Enquirer
Believe it or not, Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic National Committee chairman, was given credentials to attend the GOP convention. He's been making the rounds - and doing his best to make the case for the Democratic ticket - with the bloggers at Madison Square Garden, at one point acting as a "guest blogger" for RedState .

Other bloggers got an apparent news "scoop" Wednesday when McAuliffe was caught on tape saying John Kerry went to Cambodia twice during the Vietnam war, further muddying the waters over the Democratic nominee's military service.

Fox Hunters - From Campaign Desk
Outside the Fox building at 48th Street and 6th Avenue yesterday, hundreds of protesters gathered. Apparently in sync with Fox commentator Bill O'Reilly's rhetorical tactics, if not his philosophy, they seemed to have a single purpose: the endless chanting of "Shut Up, Fox!"

A group of counter-demonstrators from the conservative website FreeRepublic.com materialized. Their message was equally straightforward, equally declarative and equally rote: "Fox is Fair and Balanced!" or "I Support Our President, George W. Bush." One Free Republican asserted that Code Pink, one of the groups at the protest, was a "Marxist front group" that "works hard to undermine the morale of our troops" and that one of its organizers "supports Fidel Castro."

Tchotchke Watch - from the National Journal’s Convention Daily E-mail Alert
Buy One For The Gipper
Proof that the Cold War still looms large in the GOP consciousness: One of the biggest applause lines in Wednesday night's Ronald Reagan tribute video was the "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" clip from Reagan's historic 1987 speech in Berlin.

Proof that capitalism looms larger: Right after the video, a California delegate was put on camera and pitched a longer version of the video, available on DVD for $19.95 at reaganlibrary.com.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 01:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 01, 2004

Reports From The Underground

Controversy At The Convention -- This just in from the National Journal:

Air America, the nascent liberal radio network, is promising an "astounding tape" on its 6-9 a.m. "Morning Sedition" radio show tomorrow. Senior Producer Jonathan Larsen says the program got one of its staffers directly beneath the stage at Madison Square Garden last night, just moments after First Lady Laura Bush finished her speech. According to an e-mail from Larsen -- and a posting on the show's Web site -- the stagehand who offered the unauthorized tour even pointed out which wires would need to be pulled in order to disrupt a speech. Probably not the kind of hospitality the New York Host Committee has in mind.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 07:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey Bloggers, Where’s The Beef?

So far the RNC bloggers are coming up short by mainstream media standards. The reason: they’re too inexperienced with live coverage. These conventions are overwhelming with all the fanfare. On one hand, media set them up to fail by expecting too much, knowing what conventions can be like. On the other hand, the bloggers failed themselves because they made promises not knowing what they were getting into. See Salon Article.

Who are the RNC bloggers? Click here.

That said, I’m enjoying the blogs and really don’t expect them to perform mainstream media’s role.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 31, 2004

RNC Tech News You Can Use: Tuesday Night

- The GOP unveiled an audio blog today debuting with an animated Ed Gillespie.

- High-Tech made it in the party Platform. On P. 65 telecommunications such as broadband and Wi-Fi are discussed.

- Tech rules at the RNC. News.com writes how new communication technologies are getting an airing by federal agents and protesters alike at the Republican National Convention in New York City.

- Amazon.com launched a section on its website for political pundits to discuss the U.S. presidential election.

- Of course if you aren’t happy with Bush or Kerry you could always support the draft effort to elect Mel Gibson.

Bits And Pieces
- New York police arrested more than 900 people late on Tuesday as anti-Bush activists blocked traffic, staged anti-war protests and harassed Republican delegates during a long day of civil disobedience on the city's streets.

- BBC notes “Monday night was about the head of George Bush. Tuesday night was about the heart of George Bush.”
American’s anxiously await to learn which organ or appendage will characterized George Bush on Wednesday.

- What the heck is a 527? Still don’t know... go here.

- I’ve never really drooled over computers before... that is until I saw the new iMac G5. I don’t even like Apples, but I think I might make an exception with this futuristic beauty.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday Night Recap: RNC Convention

McCain Vs. Moore became the talk of the blogs last night as John McCain bashed Fahrenheit 9/11 and Michael Moore showed up to the convention with press credentials. When Moore disruptively (more the press' fault than his own) made his way through the Garden, delegates shouted obscenities at him, others yelled out websites.

One passerby got in an anti-Moore plug: "Log into Moorewatch.com and Moorelies.com."

Moore was there writing a column for USA Today.

Overall convention RNC bloggers experienced the same woes as the DNC bloggers. Captain’s Quarters sums it up nicely.

Our first day on the job provided challenges in droves to Bloggers Corner. For one, the IT connections had not all been established, and it took several hours before all of us were able to reliably get on line and post to our sites. Our strategic placement meant that we could get some good interviews, but that our access to the convention floor was quite limited. In fact, we have to traverse four flights, one down and three up, to get into the main hall, and then we can't get onto the floor itself. Add in the generally lost feeling of not knowing your surroundings and the overwhelming blitz of traffic coming around our area, add a dash of the tightest security I've ever seen, and you get the idea that we could be forgiven a bit of disorientation.

In my opinion PoliBlog summed up Monday night at the convention better than most.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 04:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 30, 2004

NYC Let's Get Ready To Rumble

It’s a relatively quiet afternoon, as bloggers and the rest of the political world get ready for tonight’s kickoff. A visit from former NYC Mayor Ed Koch to Blogger's Corner got transistors switching, but other than that there is not a lot of buzz.

So far RNC convention bloggers are not varying much in how the DNC bloggers covered the convention in Boston. Only instead of bloggers being the story, protesters are making bigger waves. And it is pretty clear that even the arrests might be blown out of proportion.

Sure a few hundred folks were aresseted but thats small potatoes considering between 100,000 - 500,000 took to the streets over the weekend.

The best two blogs covering the convention are probably RNC bloggers and Convention Bloggers, only because they are covering all the blogs.

More than half a dozen mainstream media reporters are joining independent Web loggers to offer their personal thoughts about this week's Republican National Convention.

If anyone really cares.. Nextel is the official wireless provider of RNC convention just as it was for the DNC.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 01:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Conventions And Accusations: P&I Buzz Brief

Over the weekend, not much Internet related political news took place.

Hot and muggy streets welcomed Convention bloggers as they arrived in New York.

The whole “Whoa I’m here” feeling quickly passed as relatively peaceful protested swelled in the city.

Here’s two Internet related tidbits:
- Remember when bloggers were the story at the DNC convention? A Denver blogger reminisces.

- CNN notes: a clever use of typography in the posters showcasing the URL of the Republican convention site: wWw.gopconvention.com.

Elsewhere in America
- Out of rightfield the American Computer Science Association accuses Kerry of election fraud.

- The American Political Science Association has pulled together an online guide for the 2004 elections.

Meanwhile Down-under
- The Australian elections to be held in October are getting bloody mad! For the best sites to follow the trail go here.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 20, 2004

Yard Sales And Revolutions: P&I Buzz Brief

Here is everything you need know on Friday.

- MoveOn is raising bucks through a sure to get publicity virtual Yard Sale.

- Iraqi Bloggers are running for office and raising cash online.

- A new FEC ruling will drastically change the way 527’s like MoveOn, ACT, RightMarch, and Swift Boat Vets can operate beginning in 2005.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 03:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 17, 2004

John, MoveOn And Juan: P&I Buzz Brief

Today’s Morning Buzz Brief gives you the Internet and politics news in three questions.
- Is John McCain Kerry’s running mate? A new MoveOn.org ad uses him like he just might be.
- At what times in campaign season are online ads or viral marketing campaigns more effective?
- Did Venezuela just experience an e-voting fiasco or success story, and what can the U.S. learn from it?

Posted by Buzz Webster at 07:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 13, 2004

P&I Morning Buzz Brief: MoveOn Clips, Gay Gov. Quits

- MoveOn.org announced the winner of it’s Republican’s voting for Kerry video contest Thursday. The winning clip is of Sargeant Lee Buttrill, a Iraq War veteran, who questions Bush’s reasoning on going to war. It is a powerful ad, but the only problem is that Kerry has now said (depending on how you interpret it Yes or No) he would have gone to war like Bush. Maybe MoveOn.org should have went with a different issue.

- While Africa is demanding more Internet control from the U.S., the U.S. gives Uganda $318,000 for an e-government feasibility study.

- Moving North, the U.K. is also thinking about e-government by advertising on Google to drive more traffic to its government website.

- Then back to U.S., the resignation of New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey is the top U.S. political news story on Google, Yahoo, and a high percentage of political blogs.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 11, 2004

Catch The POL Crew Online And On Air

Attention Floridians, if President Bush's visit wasn't enough to get you all excited, we have news of the next best thing.

Our very own David Abel, Editor of PoliticsOnline, will be on WAMT 1190 AM -- The Guetzloe Report
11:00-Noon, Wednesday.

If you can't catch it on the airways click here to listen to live streaming audio of the show.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 07:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 03, 2004

WWW Realm Of The Informed Independent?

MediaPost reports that a new survey from Scarborough Research--a firm that studies shopping, media, and lifestyle patterns of U.S. consumers -- shows that Independents, many of whom could be the very swing voters so highly sought after in this year's tight election, are 30 percent more likely than all consumers nationwide to use the Internet to visit a newspaper Web site or radio station site, while Republicans and Democrats are less likely than all consumers to do either.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 30, 2004

Back From Beantown... On To The Big Apple

From beans to apples, wow, I don't know how much more of this high fiber diet I can take.

We've known since Tuesday that the GOP has invited 10-20 bloggers to the convention, and I've further known since Tuesday that BuzzWebster.com is not invited.

But, I do still have hopes of getting in another way and blogging from the inside, although the real story will be on the outside. The GOP will be just as scripted as the DNC convention and media will be looking for the "real story". This time it won't be bloggers, but rather the protesters. Even conservative groups will protest. RightMarch.com along with others plan to protest the protesters.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 04:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 28, 2004

Convention Quote

The blogger quote of the night belongs to Alan Nelson, creator of The Command Post, speaking to the Seattle PI.

"While I think it's noble and symbolic of our legitimacy that we were asked (to be here), the fact of the matter is the DNC couldn't control the medium if they wanted to."

Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sexy Liberals

Walking around Boston I've noticed some very attractive men and women parading around with t-shirts that say "smart - sexy - liberal" and the website "demdates.com"

It is part of a guerilla marketing campaign to drive traffic to the site using hot bodies in a politically heated town.

These aren't your momma's liberals. These tree huggers are clean-shaven and quite pleasing to the eye.

I asked one of the beautiful ladies (who approached me of course) how the campaign was going. She replied, "Like wildfire"... I bet it is... I bet it is.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 02:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 27, 2004

Too Busy To Blog

That’s the consensus up in section 320, 7th floor of the Fleet Center. For those of you on the outside of the Convention-- section 320, 7th floor is where bloggers are making history. It’s the designated space for bloggers, equipped with Wi-fi and some really good insight.

Most of the bloggers I spoke with are saying 320-7, should be called 24-7 because it is non-stop for the newbies.

Mainstream press interviews, security checks, lines everywhere, and a constant cast of new characters on stage has overwhelmed these one-man or woman shows.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 08:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 26, 2004

Pictures On The Inside

I'm no photograhper, but here are some shots I took today.

The Internet Candidate, Howard Dean Working The Room.

On the floor... before getting kicked off.

Excuse me. Have you seen any girlie men around here?

My new office

Al Franken Chillin' With His Crew

Posted by Buzz Webster at 09:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Convention Coverage: Day 1 -- Start Your Engines

Hi, I'm Buzz Webster. Thanks for visiting the new blog of PoliticsOnline. If you were searching for “astronauts” or “dictionaries”, you’ve clicked on the wrong link.

We're kicking off the site with "Live & Online" coverage from the 2004 Democratic Convention in Boston.

This blog's focus is to cover the intersection of Politics & the Internet and all the emerging highways from that joining. During my stay in Boston, I'll be updating daily covering the convention and the Internet's impact.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 07:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 25, 2004

Convention Coverage: Sunday -- The Eagle Has Landed

According to some REALLY important newspapers, because I am a blogger at the convention, I am supposed to mainly tell you about the food I ate at the events I went to and the latest fashion, instead of doing real reporting.

Well, not to let a REAL journalists down (and because I have been traveling all and day don't know the latest political internet buzz… I flew in on a new carrier for Charleston called Independence Air, which I really like. It’s cheap. Dennis Miller gave the inflight instructions. Seriously.

Once on the ground, I took a $50 dollar cab ride to Quincy. It might as well have been Quebec, this town needs more hotels, closer to downtown. Once at the hotel, I had time to reapply deodorant and cheap cologne only to take another cab to Harvard and smooze with the alum at Kennedy School of Government. For all the lefties in town it was quite surprising for Bill O’Reilly to be the most popular guest. Virginia Governor Rick Warner was there too. Warner is one to watch. He has politics and new technology figured out.

Now I’m in the hotel room, reading delegate’s blogs. They are not the most exciting to read, maybe they've been traveling like me, lets hope it gets better or the REALLY important journalists might be right.

And finally for fashion, blue sports coats are “in” at the convention, but this season, the length of the sleeve should reach the end of the wrist instead of the joint of the thumb.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

July 23, 2004

Blogging From Boston

Oh the joys of packing for Boston. Here's my checklist.
- ID
- Computer
- Digital Camera
- Cell Phone
- "Kerry Is My Baby's Daddy" T-shirt in case I need to go undercover and fit in
- One dogged eared copy of Trippi's book "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"
- Change of PoliticsOnline boxer shorts
That should do it.

CyberJournalist.net has a list of bloggers who will blog from Boston. I can't wait to meet the crew. I hope they like me. I'll just die if I don't fit in.

Even outside Boston, the online world is a lively place. This is what you should know:
- Bush's daughters are chatting online today
- KerryEdwards.com received a lot of buzz but no bidders
- The GWU online fundraising primer is a must read
- The bloggers and conservative talk show hosts are giddy about the convention.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 07:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 15, 2004

Developing Late Morning Internet Politics News

Hell hath no furry like...
Influential Hillary Clinton supporters (and Big Kerry Donors) are responding to emails sent this morning demanding a spot for Clinton at the upcoming DNC convention.

I, Robot must vote for Kerry
In this polarized election year even Robots are partisan... and persuading your children?

Deaniacs Dote Dozen
Howard Dean has released another Dozen he supports.

Da Rejection
Online efforts to Draft Ditka in Illinois have failed.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Online "Outing" Claims Success Over Marriage Amendment

Touchy Subject Today - but a great example of online activism
D.C. Political Activist Michael Rogers is very excited about the Senate's rejection of further action on the proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. In fact Rogers is crediting his online effort as part of the reason why the amendment failed to gain traction.

According to the Washington Post his online efforts included sending out more than 10,000 e-mails encouraging and perpetrating outings. The e-mails aksked people to send in names of gay Hill staffers "working for senators and representatives who supported the Federal Marriage Amendment."

Rogers also created a blog last week listing some of those names.

Way to go Rogers, some might say there's nothing like helping gays by getting a few of them irked at you and exposing them to ridicule.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 07:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 09, 2004

I'm Not The President I Just Hug A Lot

lt looks like Drudge has started a web war over some lovely picutures of Kerry and Edwards. Drudge has posted an article with photos showing how Kerry and Edwards "Can't keep hands off each other".

The angryfinger.com responded for the left with a collage of Bush putting the moves on world leaders.

Watch out activists, hugging is the latest politcal weapon.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 06, 2004

Buzz Is Going To Boston

Ladies and Gentlemen the results are in and PolticsOnline has won. That's right we are going to Boston. I just opened the letter verifying my press credititials.

Any ideas on who you would like PolticsOnline to interview or stories you would like us to cover? Email Buzz and we will try to make it happen.

Also if anyone knows how we can get into the RNC convention let us know. I'm sure someone has an uncle who knows a guy who can do that kind of thing.

Any PoliticsOnilne readers out there who are Skull and Bones Alumni?

Posted by Buzz Webster at 02:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 30, 2004

Republican Survior Getting Funnier

Round four elimination ceremony of Republican Survivor shows Dick Cheney giving his audience some very comical choice words. Let's just say it's an instance of art imitating life.

The group has also launched an effort to send George Bush a Birthday Haiku.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 12:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 25, 2004

I'm Not A Nazi

Uh Oh! It looks like the gloves have come off with the latest ad from the Bush-Cheney '04 website. The ad has clips of Democrats ranting intermixed with the infamous MoveOn Bush In 30 seconds Nazi Ads.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 23, 2004

Bush Is Web Savvy, No Really, He Is

Sure Dean was the Internet Candidate and the innovator and blah, blah, blah, BUT lets get serious. The Bush '04 campaign has taken it to the next level. David Abel, Editor of PoliticsOnline, wrote about this weeks ago in a brief article discussing the GeorgewBush website. I am glad to see at least one news group is finally giving the Bush internet gurus credit for taking online campaigning to the next level. even if it is a few months later.

Don't you love how bloggers assume they are the first to notice everything or are the only people in the world with original thoughts? That's what makes us so special.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 21, 2004

Online Right Speaks Out

Tomorrow RightMarch.com and it's affiliated groups will launch an ad in the USA today. The ad will make reference to Zell Millers speech on the senate floor concerning Abu Ghraib and Liberal "Hand Wringers of America"

Posted by Buzz Webster at 06:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 04, 2004

3 Things To See On Friday

Before you give up your work's high speed internet access and check out for yours home’s dial up modem, take a look at these three webmercials. I call them the Good, Bad, and the Ugly.

Good: Republican Survivor, because it's funny.
Bad: Pessimism Bush Ad, because Kerry's gloom and doom is not nice.
Ugly: For War Years Kucinich Ad, because it's gross and would never be shown on TV.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 04:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 02, 2004

The Education Of A Moncia Scam

I just read the "The Education of Alexandra Polier" article from the New York Metro. After reading it I realized she did get screwed, but it was by the press instead of a well known senator.

Oh what a tangled web internet reporting can weave. I'm putting together a case study on this.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 03:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 27, 2004

GOP Fires Back With Humorous Kerryoply

Hours after the announcement of "Republican Survivor" re: last post, the GOP fired back with their own parody called Kerryoply, using the Monopoly game board idea to high light the high roller lifestyle of John Kerry.

I still think an American Idol or Fear Factor parody would be funnier, but timing is everything and that's a nice rapid response rebuttal.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 07:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Republican Survivor Trailor

The New York Times just published an article on an upcoming "webisode" that promises to be quite funny.

Just in time for the summer re-run season, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is launching a "webisode" Internet parody of the Survivor series, giving visitors to the site at dtriptv.org a chance to vote some of their favorite Republican foes off the island over the next six weeks.

Go watch the trailer, its hilarious, especially Dick Cheney. No Pun intended.

I would love to see the Republicans combat this with an American Idol or Fear Factor Parody cracking on the Democrats.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 20, 2004

Five Things You Should Know Before The Weekend

Only one day until Friday and not too much breaking news over on PoliticsOnline, so I thought I would pass on some advice before everyone's brain shuts down for the weekend. You would think some of this stuff is common sense, but you just never know.

1. If you are a super power envied and or hated by many countries, avoid letting soldiers abuse prisoners, take pictures and then post the photos on the internet...twice.

2. If you live in D.C. avoid blogging your sex tales with married elected officials unless of course you are ready to sell the book and movie rights.

3. If you live in D.C. and are an elected official, avoid having sex with people (especially bloggers) other than your spouse, else you might end up in a made for TV movie that I promise will not help you get reelected.

4. If you live in California or India avoid Electronic Voting Machines that print coupons and the latest pick three loto numbers on the receipt.

5. If you are running for office avoid referring to your website in public as "that big old bunch of broken links" or "the thing my geeky nephew built."

Hope this clears up things for some of our readers.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 23, 2004

Kerry Releases Navel Records Online- GOP demands appendages and organs too

Who would of thought Medical records would be such a big deal? First it’s Bush and the Left questioning his length of service, and then it’s Kerry and the Right questioning his purple heart "worthiness." I feel sad for the people reading the politics section of the newspaper this week because that’s all the substance they got. Those poor schmucks should be reading blogs like you.

But the real story isn't even about the actual wounds he received; it of course in my biased opinion is how he made these records available to the general public. Honestly now, raise your hand if you have ever read a medical record. Ok, and it not your own? Ah hah, that’s what I thought. But seriously, think about this: Traditionally the records are made available to the press. The press then pours over them like hot maple syrup on pancake hoping to find some embarrassing instances such as a bullet wound in the butt, or a rare toe fungus. Next, the media publishes the highlights and one week later they are off to another mindless subject that has nothing to do with real issue American people want to talk about.

But apart from that rant, now the Kerry website has circumvented the press and allowed the general public to access these records themselves. And what is the end result? Free access to more ammo the Right can use to attack Kerry. Sadly, that's all it is. Because in all reality supporters of Kerry don't care about his disk bulges, sprained ankles, and hemorrhoids... Or do they?

Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)