Jim Flowers: Politics

The polls are down, raise the alert!

Wed, 11 May 2005 09:51:48 GMT

For those that wondered if it were merely a coincidence that every time Bush fell in the polls the Homeland Security status changed, here is an interesting interview:

Ridge reveals clashes on alerts. The Bush administration periodically put the USA on high alert for terrorist attacks even though then-Homeland Security chief ... [USATODAY.com News - Top Stories]

What plays in DC may not play in Peoria (or Tallahassee)

Thu, 14 Apr 2005 22:32:09 GMT

A word to al those budding Republican wannabe Congress people -- you can't behave like its DC until you get there.

Ethics Panel Reprimands Fla. State Senator. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- A legislator serving on the state Senate's ethics committee was formally reprimanded Thursday for soliciting money from lobbyists to help pay for an overseas trip for her and a friend.... [AP Top Political News At 11:50 a.m. EDT]

R's vs. I's - a New Political Spectrum

Sat, 19 Mar 2005 11:05:20 GMT

Cadenhead presents food for thought this Saturday AM...

John Scalzi believes that the real dividing line in this polarized country is not liberal vs. conservative, but rational vs. irrational:

I'm far more comfortable with some conservatives than I am with some liberals, even though my own positions tend more liberal than not. I'm rather more comfortable dealing with someone whose politics I disagree with, but I can see how they got to where they are, than someone who politics are in line with mine but who appear to have arrived at those politics without an intermediary step of, you know, thinking about those politics.

[Workbench]

Can you imagine the vitrol that would be created if some enterprising folk(s) started categorizing pundits, politicos, hacks (the political kind -- a term which predates the Internet), and the politically religious (or is it religiously political?), among others.

Scary thought -- this reminds me of some of the history lessons concerning the extremism found in Europe from the early 1800's til the end of Communism (with Nazism probably being the peak). Large masses of the philosophically ungrounded following extreme, irrational thought leaders hoping to be delivered to a heaven on earth... Hmm...

Sat, 02 Aug 2003 12:56:47 GMT

More e-voting.

Gillmor is sure fired up -- can't tell if its ignorance or bona fide fear.

A Vote for Safer E-Machine Voting. Slate: Hack the Vote - How to stop someone from stealing the 2004 election. The only sure check against an... [Dan Gillmor's eJournal]

Tue, 11 Mar 2003 16:31:49 GMT

Interactive Budgeting...

Maine has an interesting tool encouraging citizens to provide their ideas on balancing the budget. Article found in Federal Computer Week.

Sat, 08 Mar 2003 16:00:48 GMT

Jeffersonian Internet?

Doc Searls' latest post pulls this from the past...

From the mailbag...

A 1995 letter from Al Gore calling for a versatile, general purpose infastructure with a "Jeffersonian" architecture that allows individuals to be producers as well as consumers of information, that enables "many to many" communication, and that provides a "general purpose" infrastructure capable of supporting a wide range of services, rather than one that is capable of providing one-way video delivery but not a broader range of services

Right arm, Al.

Funny, had a conversation with a middle school teacher in a local bar on Jeffersonian Democracy (no, kidding, at 1:00 am -- on a Friday night). We concluded, until voters educate themselves, that concept won't become reality. But, the tools (e.g. blogging) are definitely here to support the concept.

Thu, 06 Mar 2003 13:04:18 GMT

Impact!

NY Times: Online News Shakes Up Korean Politics. "Only 20 percent of the paper each day is written by staff journalists. So far, a computer check shows, there have been more than 10,000 other bylines." [Scripting News]

Heh, de Toqueville would be impressed. This guy blows away the established media and probably had a great affect on electing the South Korean president. Course, wouldn't happen unless folks paid attention to what he and the 10,000 other authors were saying.

Thu, 06 Mar 2003 11:14:50 GMT

A Tech Extension Agent could help...

Congress has created a cybersecurity committee... This quote shows we need a lot more coordination across all fronts on this issue:

Robert Holleyman, president and CEO of the BSA, noted that a July 2002, poll by his group of technology professionals shows a belief that the U.S. has made little progress in the previous year toward closing the gap between the risk of a major cyberattack and the nation's ability to respond. Sixty-eight percent of those responding to that poll said they believe that gap hasn't shrunk since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

"It is very encouraging that this newly created panel of lawmakers is dedicated to helping develop the tools we need to close the gap between the threats to our country's critical networks and our power to defend against them," Holleyman said in a statement.

US House adds cybersecurity subcommittee [InfoWorld: Top News]

Thu, 06 Mar 2003 11:12:46 GMT

What we really need is a Technology Extension Service -- for us.

The White House wants to send folks to Senegal to help with technology. I am not denying their need, but there are so many US taxpayers and small businesses that need assistance with access, security, and process change (an important component to realizing the net benefits of technology) that I think our efforts should first be focused at home.

Why can't we support an extension service that helps folks with tech issues -- just like the cooperative extension agents helped farmers in the middle of the last century?

White House launches technological Peace Corps [InfoWorld: Top News]

Thu, 06 Mar 2003 11:09:09 GMT

The myth of technology

We have a state version of CIPA making its way through the legislative process. It is identical to the federal bill and did not make the cut last year. One of the problems is that the proponents believe that filters do just as advertised. And, when you ask them if they would approved tax dollars buying software that only works 75-80% of the time, they respond by claiming protecting children deserves some effort. Course, they don't have a good answer when you point out that the parents complaining of seeing porn sites (and the definition of porn ranges from victoria secret ads to the real stuff) are parents who go to libraries with filter (see, they don't work).

Funny, when you try to get funding for a sound info tech project -- they all say the stuff never works as advertised so why fund it.

Sides Debate Web Access in Libraries. WASHINGTON, March 5 Two visions of the Internet competed today at the Supreme Court in an argument on whether the government can require public libraries to install antipornography filters as the price for receiving federal financing for Internet access. By Linda Greenhouse. [New York Times: Politics]

Tue, 04 Feb 2003 15:51:14 GMT

First Hand Experiences

Will help legislators as they learn that the "moral right" thing to do often has impractical consequences when applied to the virtual as well as real worlds.

E-mail vetting blocks MPs' sex debate. A new system to screen e-mails to MPs for foul language is blocking serious debate over new laws such as the Sexual Offences Bill, it is claimed. [BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]

Fri, 24 Jan 2003 19:14:15 GMT

Interesting piece about Karl Rove

Bush's alter ego with a sense of history. Rove is the modest man in the middle. [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories]

Thu, 23 Jan 2003 13:00:59 GMT

Comain.

So I just learned that this is the first political poster released under a Creative Commons license. Good poster too. Gets CC licensing in front of more folks, especially politicos.

[The Doc Searls Weblog]

Wed, 22 Jan 2003 13:15:11 GMT

More on the GOP's Phony Grassroots Letter-. The astroturf campaign -- phony grassroots "activism" -- apparently launched by the Republican Party to support the Bush economic proposals... [Dan Gillmor's eJournal]

Wed, 22 Jan 2003 13:13:23 GMT

A Business Approach to Education

Interesting that Gerstner has chosen two Democrats, Barnes and Riley, to assist him on his project to improve the educational system. Now, how does that contrast with the Republican Governor of Georgia saying he needs to dis-assemble what Barnes did to improve Education in Georgia. Which is the more business-like approach?

A Quest to Upgrade Teaching. Louis V. Gerstner Jr., the former chairman of I.B.M., has a new mission: to improve teaching in America. By Greg Winter. [New York Times: Business]

Mon, 20 Jan 2003 01:05:44 GMT

Politically Tonedef? or dumb as a fox?

Poindexter's Still a Technocrat, Still a Lightning Rod. The pursuit of a technological solution to the nation's military challenges is nothing new for Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter nor is the attending controversy. By John Markoff. [New York Times: Business]

Poindexter is noted in the article as saying that critics of the Total Information Awareness project are distorting the aims. He says the system will only seek patterns identifying potential threats to the US and will not create a huge datawarehouse of our personal information.

Yeah right. This is the guy that did not understand the laws that a) said no one could sell arms to the rebels in Nicaragua, b) dealing with drug dealers is illegal and c) military arms were not to be traded to Iran.

But, lets assume he is right. What is to prevent someone from tuning his new found "radar" to look for patterns of "political" behavior that oppose the party in power. What then?

Here is a man smart enough to get a "get out of jail free" card from a Congress that wanted to hang him from the highest tree. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, never...

Sun, 12 Jan 2003 14:20:26 GMT

Remember the Contract in 1994?

It's broken in many pieces. Count how many elected in 1994 are still in office, despite pledging, among other things, a 6 year term limit.

Reform? Republicans Take It All Back. On Tuesday, after the new Congress was sworn in, Republican members passed several House rules that overturned some of their old ethical reforms. By Ryan Lizza. [New York Times: Politics]

Principles? Maybe, it's a question of which ones and what year.

Fri, 10 Jan 2003 12:11:30 GMT

Recycling

What to Do With That Old, Slow PC. Don't throw away your old computer. Some manufacturers offer trade-ins and rebate programs so you can recycle what you no longer want to use. By Kendra Mayfield. [Wired News]

Wed, 08 Jan 2003 13:48:49 GMT

Work Hard, Follow the Rules, ...

Yeah, that's what folks should be rewarding... What a simple political platform.

NYT. Bush's economic plan. I think it is fairly ironic that the majority of the Republicans I know are people that make below $150k a year. They liked the Republicans because they opposed unrestrained growth in social transfer programs. Now, when it comes time to cut taxes to give back some of the money that had been arrogated by the government, the Republicans don't even recognize that they exist. Bush is giving almost all of the tax cuts to people that make over $1m a year. I guess they think that the rank and file "working" Republicans are merely driven by social and defense issues and really don't care about the pocket book. Poor schmucks.

Personally, I think we are speeding down a path towards a kleptocracy that is enhanced and accelerated by bad tax law and insufficient oversight. The mess we saw at Enron and Tyco were just the tip of the iceberg. It's still going on everywhere. With Bush's elimination of the inheritance tax, elimination of the tax on dividends, and other changes we are now going to see dynasties of kleptocrats.

The thing everyone misses in this is that taxes on extreme wealth and inheritances keep the playing field of life relatively level. Also, regulation of economic behavior allows people that play by the rules to succeed. From everything I can see, we are in a place where a person who is intelligent, works hard, and follows the rules cannot under any circumstances make a significant sum of money on their own. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]

John is on the money here.

Mon, 23 Dec 2002 11:59:16 GMT

I need a new category....

to track this stuff.

Government Spying (on You) Keeps Growing. The Bush administration's ardent desire to spy on us is no longer news. But a New York Times report Friday,... [Dan Gillmor's eJournal]

Mon, 23 Dec 2002 11:51:04 GMT

Drudge, move over

Blogs Make the Headlines. It's been said that newspapers write the first draft of history, but now there are blogs. These days, online scribes often get the news before it's fit to print. By Noah Shachtman. [Wired News]

Mon, 23 Dec 2002 11:43:09 GMT

Heinlein had it right.

An End to the Southern Strategy?. Trent Lott's demise as Senate majority leader is a chance for the Republican Party to decide if it wants to continue to exploit racial inequality. By Linwood Holton. [New York Times: Politics]

Heinlein wrote that "politics ... is sometimes dirty" and is "hard work". Too often the politcally expedient route is taken to the shame of integrity and principle. Politicians play to the emotions of people as that is easier than engaging in an intelligent, thoughtful conversation.

We are seeing such a play take place in Georgia, where everyone from the new governor-elect to the White House are trying to affect the selection of the speaker of the Georgia House. Even thought representatives have publicly declared commitments to one candidate, the Republicans (while supporting the principles espoused by Steven Covey in his books) are telling elected officials it is ok to break their commitment.

And, we wonder why the public is so cynical towards the entire process.

Mon, 23 Dec 2002 11:33:15 GMT

We really need good conversations about surveillance.

Many Tools of Big Brother Are Already Up and Running. The Pentagon's effort to detect terrorism by electronically monitoring could rely largely on technology that is already in place. By John Markoff and John Schwartz. [New York Times: Technology]

The tech community has been talking about surveillance tools for years. But, this conversation needs to go mainstream. It has to be a topic at the kitchen table if we, as a country, are going to make a sensible decision about how the watchers are going to be watched.

Basically, the article says TIA is mostly using commercial tools to create a composite surveillance system. All the Open Systems standards work to create a tool of which we are very wary.

Sat, 21 Dec 2002 12:40:33 GMT

Will they or won't they?

Evidently NY Times got it wrong when they said the Administration would create a central monitoring system for the net. Skeptic says, who do you believe?

InfoWorld: U.S. government denies plans for Net monitoring system. A representative for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security denied a report Friday that the U.S. government was planning to release a proposal requiring ISPs to help build a centralized system designed to monitor Internet use. [Tomalak's Realm]

Sat, 21 Dec 2002 12:36:11 GMT

Intelligence is necessary, but...

A panel decided that none of the 3.400 subjects in the police files should have been there. How do you give law enforcement the freedom to do what is necessary to protect the public while ensuring that that freedom is not used to abuse our own?

Going Electronic, Denver Reveals Long-Term Surveillance. Hailed widely as a major tool in the war against terrorism, police intelligence software has its pitfalls. By Ford Fessenden with Michael Moss. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]