Eagles Lose!

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It’s a reason why I don’t weblog about my team… I don’t want to jinx ’em! Whadda a rough game (Philly.com)! We had to lose sooner or later. I guess getting it out of the way now is best.

Twenty years ago Trevor Ferrell, an 11 year old boy, my own age then too, asked his parents to drive him down to Center City so that he could give blankets and pillows to the homeless. His efforts inspired many.

People often ask Ferrell how they can help, what they can do. “Spend time with your family,” he tells them. “Raise your kids. Be a parent for your kids.

“One day when I was working construction, I saw a father and his son walk by, and the kid was telling a story. The father wasn’t listening. You could see it in the kid’s face – he knew his father didn’t hear him. I’ll never forget the look of disappointment. And I promised I’d never be that kind of father, that I would always be there for my kids.

“They’re the most important thing in life, not the bills I have to pay or running the shop. If you want your kids to be successful, if you want to make sure they never end up homeless or living on the street, love them by paying attention.”

Today Trevor Ferrell still fights the good fight (Philly.com).

So it’s been over a week and has capturing Saddam help to make us safer? Long term I’m sure of it (VOA). Short term the answer is no as we are raising the alert level (Philly.com) as new warnings come in.

I’m surprised this report slipped thru on CBS’s website, and the liberal media did such a nice follow thru. I mean – wasn’t this story just all over the place? Yeah. Uh-huh. Doesn’t matter much since later reports have a lot of backstepping being pushed.

The further things go along, the more I see Bush getting a Reaganesque landslide in next year’s election. As it stands the Democrats are by far a longshot (NYTimes) at putting forth a winner. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to vote for one however. The Republicans are doing a far better job at communicating what people want to hear.

Could technology empower the end of the two party system in America (Washington Post)?

There was a milestone in flight this week – not just a special anniversary but Wednesday SpaceShipOne broke the speed barrier and made it to 68,000 feet (Slashdot)!

Outsourcing is a problem! Outsourcing isn’t a problem! I guess it counts upon whether you are the benefactor or the victim as to your point of view. India is a rising star (BusinessWeek) anyway you slice it.

We’re going to miss you Dave. At least in the weblogging sense 🙂

I should change my subtitle to the weekend weblogger!

A Great Day For Iraq And The World

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Nice to wake up to some good news for a change:

American forces captured a bearded Saddam Hussein as he hid in a dirt hole under a farmhouse near his hometown of Tikrit, ending one of the most intensive manhunts in history. The arrest, eight months after the fall of Baghdad, was carried out without a shot fired and was a huge victory for U.S. forces. “Ladies and gentlemen, we got him,” U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer told a news conference Sunday…

Read more in Yahoo!’s Full Coverage. It’s times likes these that Yahoo!’s Full Coverage news feature really shines. Stories from multiple sources, pulled together by editorial staff. In contrast… Google News is simply outclassed on breaking news. Over the course of the day, I expect it’s coverage to improve as more links algorithmically point to how big a story this is.

Weblogs with plenty of linkage and commentary: BuzzMachine and ScriptingNews.

The Inquirer agrees with my opinion about Gore’s endorsement of Dean… it’s no surprise at all:

This endorsement is about the Clinton-Gore divorce. Back in the ’90s, when he was a heartbeat away from power, Gore and the First Couple had a close political marriage. But now he’s standing on their lawn, threatening to burn their house down.

This is about a clash of political styles. Gore said several years ago that he was going to get real, that he was fed up with being micromanaged by political consultants – note also that Dean’s whole style is anti-consultant. Bill Clinton, you may recall, once had his pollster decide where he should take his vacation.

Gore’s endorsement of Dean is also about the sharp divisions within the Democratic Party – between the outspoken, Bush-hating, left-leaning antiwar people (who have flocked to Dean) and the more moderate, pro-war, business-friendly people (who dominate the party establishment, which, in turn, is largely controlled by the Clintons). When Gore declared for Dean and said that “we need to remake the Democratic Party,” he was essentially saying, “My way is better than their way.”

The Clintons clearly don’t like Dean’s way. His angry, two-fisted style and his opposition to the war in Iraq are anathema to the party establishment, which fears that Dean will alienate suburban swing voters and wind up as cannon fodder for the GOP. The split on the war demonstrates the divide. On talk shows last week, Hillary Clinton defended her pro-war Senate vote, and even spoke of the need for more U.S. troops. It is notable that a significant number of Clinton administration alumni are toiling for retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who might well emerge as the designated stop-Dean candidate during the primaries.

Cynics might say that Gore gravitated to Dean only because he was shopping for a fresh constituency. Wrong. Gore has spent the last few years getting back in touch with his inner populist – with the instincts that he inherited from his father, Al Gore Sr., a Tennessee senator who frequently spoke for the little guy and inveighed against the corporate and political establishment.

The Dean endorsement is predictable when you consider Gore’s recent history – starting in August 2000, when, as the Democratic nominee, he chose not to run on Clinton’s pro-business economic record (fiscal austerity, balanced budgets), instead declaring that he wanted to soak the corporations, that he was for “the people” against “the powerful.”

The Clinton camp roasted him for that decision after the election, contending that he wouldn’t have narrowly lost the nationwide suburban vote if he had run on the Clinton record. Bill himself said this to Gore at a stormy post-election meeting; worse yet, in the summer of 2002, his own running mate, Joe Lieberman, blamed the defeat on Gore’s populist rhetoric. (Gore reputedly never forgets an insult. Lieberman’s 2002 attack may explain why Gore didn’t give him a courtesy call before endorsing Dean.)

Read more in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Brookings released a report on Pennsylvania that Tom Ferrick Jr. says could be titled: : “Pennsylvania: Going Nowhere Fast.”. He makes the point that answers to Pennsylvania’s troubles maybe found in Philadlephia’s past.

Did you know that the Supreme Court is hearing a case on Congressional redistricting in Pennsylvania that could have national repurcussions (Philadelphia Inquirer)?

The First Amendment Under Attack And More

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H. R. 3687

To amend section 1464 of title 18, United States Code, to provide for the punishment of certain profane broadcasts, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

December 8, 2003

Mr. OSE (for himself and Mr. SMITH of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend section 1464 of title 18, United States Code, to provide for the punishment of certain profane broadcasts, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 1464 of title 18, United States Code, is amended–

(1) by inserting
(a) before `Whoever’; and

(2) by adding at the end the following:
(b) As used in this section, the term `profane’, used with respect to language, includes the words `shit’, `piss’, `fuck’, `cunt’, `asshole’, and the phrases `cock sucker’, `mother fucker’, and `ass hole’, compound use (including hyphenated compounds) of such words and phrases with each other or with other words or phrases, and other grammatical forms of such words and phrases (including verb, adjective, gerund, participle, and infinitive forms).’.

Yes, it’s real folks. More over at Sound And Fury, Signifying Nothing.

The liberal media sure seem to be all over this don’t they?

You think Gore endorsing Dean (NYTimes) is a surprise? Man the media sure has you fooled. The reason why the last election was so damn close was Gore’s refusal to adopt Clinton’s centrist policies and positioning. Gore leaned left, sounded left, and never took hold of the true center in America – and he paid the price. As did we all.

Efforts to ask the world to help in Iraq by our Administration are pretense (VOANews). If others don’t want to play by our rules – we don’t want their help.

I think Jeff Jarvis is on the right track and is a true booster of democracy in Iraq by trying to find ways to support citizen media.

Hey, do you think that Wal-Mart is good for America (NYTimes)?

A shout out to Mark for his 30th!. I hope your birthday was a great one dude!

Another shout out and congratulations to Mike Cannon-Brookes on his new book getting released!

Wigetopia is a pretty cool site for interface ideas. via dangerousmeta.

37signals has posted one of the very best weblog primers I have read yet.

Did you know that Philadelphia is ranked 7th most dangerous city with a population over 500,000? That Camden is 4th overall?

Eagles Win!

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Who thought it would be by that much (Philly.com)?

A great way to start my now becoming weekly round-up 🙂

India is getting recognized as a real economic partner/threat to the American worker (BusinessWeek).

Time Magazine Blames Bloggers for Rise Of Anger and the Polarization of America (Mike Sanders). Using anger to keep our attention and our pocketbooks. It’s a marketing technique that has run amok.

Ever wonder what BASIC would look like in Java?

We didn’t have specifics before attacking Iraq (Yahoo!).

“This fence is here for your protection,” reads the sign posted in front of the barbed-wire fence. “Do not approach or try to cross, or you will be shot.” There are just too many crazy/frightening quotes to list (NYTimes) in this piece on our tougher tactics in Iraq. via rc3.org.

Think even Nancy Reagan can stop this stupidity and disrespect (SacBee)? I don’t.

Ever wonder what it would look like if one of those Chick Tracts were written in worship of Cthulhu? Now you know.

What are the Twenty Most Annoying Conservatives of 2003 (pandagon)?

What is the Fourth Turning (How to Save the World) and how come this weblog posting kinda scares me?

Did you know that you could compile Flash from a command line? How about from Ant?

Charlie Crystle, a PA Democrat running for Senate, has a weblog!

Another interesting Philly Weblog you should be reading: Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing, from Mary Jones.

Once Around The Philly Blogger Way…

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We’re all over the map here in Philly. You got music, politics, culture. I could limit my weblogging just to Philly folks and be just fine. Here goes a few great posts amoungst the many:

Would you like to hear Ten easy steps to change the world? Then read Slacktivist’s Guerrilla Voter Registration guide. Kick ass post.

There was a peace deal in the offing before the Iraq war (The Pennsylvania Gazette). Reported a while back. No one cares it seems.

Did you know that there is a contest taking place for a new Pennsylvania slogan (The Lighter Side of Rittenhouse)?

Democrats aren’t permanently out of power. But they need to “(as Gingrish proved with the Contract for America) is to put forth a bold vision and run against the opposition’s tangible record.” Otherwise nothing will change (Pandagon).

The move to a major label hasn’t hurt Hatebreed (Cleveland.com) so says Chris Puzak. If you like comics or metal… he should be in your regular rotation.

“Self-perpetuating corporate success machines” is what Jim DeRogatis, music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, calls U2 and R.E.M. in Adam Bonin’s interview with him.

Good economic news == Democratic candidate train wreck? So says Alex Charyna.

The U.S. Consitution at risk? Of WMDs? That’s the scary bit of news that weblog home.

RSS for independent band news? I think it’s a great idea (The Phoenix Trap).

Is there academic freedom on campus? For teachers? There is a price we pay for a kindler gentler campus says Erin O’Connor, Professor of English at University of Pennsylvania.

Is iTunes part of the problem? not so says this review at Crushing Krisis.

The last thing she wants to do today is go to Fishtown (gofish). I can relate.

Nice to read some good Thanksgiving day thoughts (Malcolm Friend).

Ever wonder what it’s like to run the Philadelphia Marathon (Owl-Dragon). I am wayyy to outta shape to even think about it.

The new Nokia 6600 (MobileBurn) looks sweet.

Why should we care about the Economy growing at 8.2 percent (Geof Castle) ?

Fellow Webloggers On Recent Events

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Sometimes it’s just easier for me to point you to the opinions of others I agree with – besides – it’s a popular weblogging technique – so here goes:

Garret says that ‘video game? mentality works against us in gathering intelligence. Technology isn’t the only answer and data alone doesn’t provide clarity.

Oliver Willis predicts where we’re going in Iraq over the next year – just in time for the election. History suggests it’s a very bad idea (CSMonitor).

Jeff Jarvis provides a passionate argument for a living memorial in NY that requires care and maintenance.

Rafe Colburn shares a great Wesley Clark quote. Earlier he mentions that Clark is for a flag burning ban. Clark’s a mixed bag so far. I don’t know what to think.

Shelley Powers makes a great point that to achieve a goal sometimes you can’t be such an ideologue.

And some stories of note:

Do you know what a President Bush advisor recently admitted (Guardian)?

With all the hubbub about gay marriage – hey – what are the real threats to it (Slate)? Amen, Amen, AMEN!

Of course, now most people are trying to find time for love in the age of no time at all (NYTimes).

Do you know how Wal-Mart achieves it’s low-low-prices? They come at a high cost, higher then you can imagine (Fast Company).

So much for techno-weblog-utopia, social systems just spread from one media, to another (Washington Post). human nature being what it is after all.

Do you know how divided we are polically (Pew Research)? Could it be as bad as 1860? (Washington Post)?

It’s easy to become homeless. Real easy. But there are some basic steps you can take to protect yourself (John Grogan, Philadelphia Inquirer).

If you’re still paying attention to terrorism news (and so many I know have just tuned out), you are probably scratching your head over recent attacks. Don’t. It’s not really confusing. Because the enemy isn’t just an organization – it’s an ideology. It’s a brand (Washington Post).

It’s the President’s duty to honor the sacrifice of those who serve (Center for American Progress). How come Bush doesn’t?