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 Buz