Mario Cuomo is such a likable guy...  He's giving a great intro for Bloomberg.

Ok, Mario, a little over the top intro for Brokaw...   

Brokaw starts off pointing out his change of parties and changing baseball team affiliations.... obviously, this isn't word for word.

Should Lee Bolinger have allowed the President of Iran to speak of Columbia?  Bloomberg gives a supportive free speech answer.   

Should President Bush speak with the President Iran?  We shouldn't be talking to him directly at a high level, but should be talking to every country on the face of the earth at some level.  Inappropriate and incendiary to allow him to leave a wreath at Ground Zero.

Are we safer now than we were in '02 or '03?

Is Rudy Giuliani exploiting his role in 9/11, particularly during the last anniversary ceremonies?
He was invited, as were lots of other political figures.  He was the Mayor at the time and the face of New York at the time... important to have him there.

How are the Democrats shaping up for '08?

I find both parties...  rather... blame ourselves for instant, soundbite answers, allowing candidates to duck tough questions, because the public doesn't demand answers to tough questions.  For both parties, we don't really grill the parties enough.  The press should help us look at qualifications, information.  This country is in big trouble... we've lost relationships.  We've got trade issues.  We're hurting our environment.  We have very few friends in this world.  We have a lot to be proud of and shouldn't be ashamed about what we bring to the party, but we have an arrogance and a go in alone approach.  I don't know what the solution is for Iraq any more than anyone else does, but none of the choices are good... but the real problem is rebuilding relationships around the world and not go in alone.  Why we tried before isn't important, but we can't do it anymore.

We have domestic problems, like healthcare.  Western Europe spends less money than we do and has a higher life expectancy.   What are we getting for our money?  Current plans offered by candidates aren't realistic.  At least they're trying.  Mitt Romney at least instituted a plan.  Socialized medicine doesn't seem to be working so bad in Europe.  If I was a candidate, which I'm not, but you can keep a secret, right...    well, because of the partisanship, there are things that you can't address and if you're running... if you're a democrat you just can't demand troops out fast enough, if you're a Republican, you can't say you want to raise taxes... the result is that we as voters don't get straight answers during the primaries.

Would you order a pullout of troops by April 15, 2008?
If you pull them out quickly, you lead to a massacre and destabilization...  Look we want them out as soon as possible, but picking a date... there are no easy answers here.  We need to find a way to get these people to live together, all the various groups... Jordan is a lynchpin in that region as well.

Does the President have a Plan B for Iraq?
You have to ask the President.  You have to be willing to ask people, try things, but have courage to stick to your instinct.  I wasn't party to the intelligence.  I don't want to talk about how we got there.  I don't know what I would have done.  Congress certainly voted to go to war.   Most congresspeople voted to go to war in the first place. 

Has the President failed to ask this country enough?
One of the worst things we've ever done is treat returning soldiers the way we did in Vietnam.    We have an all volunteer army and they still show up even though they know what they're going to face.  You're right that the rest of us don't really feel the pain of this war, other than the families of those troops.    Bush should find better ways to talk to the public about why we're there, not a partisan thing the way it is now.  We don't trust the military leadership anymore.  In many cases, we're not even supplying our troops with the right weapons systems because even creation of arms is a political activity.   Back in Lexington many years ago, we're now like the British were there...fighting an insurgency... a trained military.

Shift gears...  NYC has the most improved public school system in the country...
Don't thank me... thank the taxpayers, teachers, principals... the public has invested... teachers have gotten a 43% raise.  We have a long ways to go.  For decades, people said black and latino kids can't learn, so we created a two class education system.  I'm very proud of the fact that the gap, even though its intolerable that it exists, is closing.  Its easy to blame the unions for everything.  Generally, the teachers are hardworking, flexible, honest.... I'm glad we have them.  Generally, they're interested in improving the lot of their members.  Truth of the matter is that Randi Weingarten has been able to deliver a lot.  Joel Klein has been able to deliver a lot.  It's been a good balance.  It's an example of the fundamental thing you need to do is having accountability.  We're a lot closer to having accountability than we've ever had.  We're going to deliver report cards on the schools to the parents and sure people are going to scream, but we need to be able to talk honestly about the problems.  Teachers want to work here.  People want to work with an organization that is successful.  We're even giving incentives for the really good people.  Our teachers are working very hard and you can see the results.  The results are there.  Its a big school system. 

Should there be a mix of charter schools and vouchers?
Competition in the public school system is good... even the UFT runs a charter school.  Charter schools are places where you can innovate.  There are things that have worked elsewhere that we're trying... we're trying things, not with public money, where we don't know if they are going to work...  its worth trying.  You take a 2000 person school and break it up into 4 and you get double, triple the graduation rates.  With vouchers, there are just some fights you just can't win.  Plus, I'm not really sure that vouchers really work. 

Why wouldn't you run for President of the United States?
There are lots of candidates out there.  There are other ways to make a contribution.  I've been very lucky and modestly successful in business.  I'd like to able to say that this administration really advanced the ball.  My next career will probably be in philanthropy.  I've got the best job... its a job where you have to deliver results.  If I were to say that I want fifth avenue to run northbound tomorrow, you'd see signs changed and a cop on every corner, it might be a dumb idea, but you'd say it.

Just don't try it on the West Side, please...
Well, you know, we can be a model for everyone else here in this city.  There are only 14 cities in this country with populations of more than 100k that are safer and you've probably never heard of most of them.  We're going to drop the crime rate by a large amount... a record amount.

After Super Tuesday, if you're not happy the choices, are you absolutely ruling it out?
My first priority is a Subway Series...   I'm not a candidate for President.  The right question is what are the qualifications.  We took great pains to have a scorecard of things that I promised... and its never a big story.  People just focus on the things you haven't done.  The public focuses on what does work.  If you want to have a smile on your face, walk out with the belief that things are better than you think and things can get better.  People are coming here and staying here.  Even when countries hate us, people still come here.  Its American freedoms, American science, but people still vote with their feet and they come here.  One year, I closed six firehouses, raised property taxes and put a smoking ban in and if you can do that you can do anything.

Do you know who it is?

I'll give you a hint... he doesn't live in Gracie Mansion.

But... it is, in fact, our Mayor.

Cooper is holding an event that I think is worth pouring into the streets for, because the tix are free if you get there on time.  This line is going to make the line for Shakespere in the park look like a walk in the... um... park.

Yeah, so anyway... here are the details...  See you there!

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and journalist Tom Brokaw at The Cooper Union Dialogue Series, Tuesday, September 25th at 6 p.m.
The event is free but seating is limited. The latest in The Cooper Union Dialogue Series, this event features a conversation between Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and journalist and former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw on issues of national importance. Tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis the day of the event, September 25, 2007 starting at 4:00 p.m. in front of Cooper Union's Foundation Building: 7 E 7th Street, between 3rd and 4th Avenues. The free event begins promptly at 6 p.m. in The Great Hall. The doors will close at 5:45 p.m. Cooper Union's President George Campbell Jr., the host of the event, and former New York State Governor Mario Cuomo will make opening remarks introducing the speakers.

I will pull us out of everywhere and address the world in a live telecast....

"Do whatever the fuck you want, we're out of here."

Then, I'll divert all military spending to spending on alternative energy and big seawalls, for when the global warming floods come.

And on the outside of the seawall, I'll write in big letters:

"Don't let the massive seawall dissuade you from coming, our borders are now open.  We don't like half the people who are already here, so what difference does it make?  Just make sure you pay taxes and don't litter.  No nose picking or loud radios after 10PM either.  People need to wake up early, you know... and we shouldn't need to tell you about the nose picking."

After that, we'll start a government secrets blog.  First post: All about the aliens.  In fact, that's part of why I want to be President in the first place.  Tell me that's not a cool meeting:

"Ok, so give it to me.  What's the deal with the aliens?  Can I see the bodies?  Does the spaceship still work, like in Independence Day?  Oh, and JFK, too.  What happened there?"

Oh, and I'd promote a la carte, month to month pricing for everything.  Anyone can get any heathcare plan, not just the ones your company picks for you.  Cable, too.  You don't watch that channel, you don't have to pay for it.  Cell phones?  No two year contracts.  No penalties for quitting.  If you get bad service, feel free to leave.

And that stupid "winner of the All-Star game determines the home field advantage in the World Serious"... that goes, too.  Seriously, what the f is that?  If you win 120 games, your team should get home field.

What else?  Oh, yeah... basic parenting classes.  If you need a license to fish, you should need a license to unleash offspring onto the world.  We could make the test pretty easy, but at least just cover the bare minimum stuff.  Kind of like driving.  If you can't identify a stop sign, then you shouldn't be allowed to drive.  Same with kids.  If you don't know that feeding your kid McDonalds each day isn't healthy, sorry but you're going to have to retake this test until you pass.

Speaking of food...   Government mandated portion sizes, particularly for beverages.  Until you learn not to drink yourselves into diabetes with Super Big Gulps of Diet Coke, you just can't have that much.  It's no good for you.

And we'll fix that ridiculous electoral vote process, too.  Person who gets the most votes wins. 

We'll also be taking state by state votes on gay marriage.  To any state that doesn't allow gay marriage, we're going to make them put that big Arnold Diaz "Shame on you" finger on their "Welcome to..." road signs.  We'll also institute a prejudice tax on those states to pay for extra copies of wedding albums from the gay weddings being held in other states.  Albums will be airlifted and dropped on the homophobe  states and should any 'phobes get clonked on the head with an album, well, that's the price of creativity.   That's about as far as I think I can go without making marriage a federally regulated institution, like communications.   Just look at our damn cable and cell phone bills and service.... yeah.. just not a good idea.

Oh, and wiffleball on the South Lawn...everyday.

I just got some politically oriented links supporting John Edwards in my "links for you" section in del.icio.us from "austinforedwards".

The "links for you" section of my del.icio.us account is like an e-mail box, which pretty much makes this spam.  I don't support Edwards for President (he's a good guy, but I'm just waiting for Bloomberg to run... )  So, for one, I'm going to tag this post for:austinforedwards so they can see that I don't want to be spammed.   Two, del.icio.us needs some sort of blocking or report as spam mechanism in that section, because, as of this moment, I have no way to prevent someone I don't know from just tagging a whole bunch of links for me.

"As a company, XM provides customers with tools to control what they listen to on XM." - From XM News Release on Opie and Anthony Suspension

Unless, of course, what you want to listen to is morally objectionable.   Then, you'll just have to go on the internet, where morally objectionable content is pretty much free.  We won't feature that trash no matter how much we're charging you for "premium" radio.

XM just suspended Opie & Anthony (You know those guys who featured people having sex in a church on their show, who told everyone the Mayor of Boston died in a car accident...) for comments made on their show last week by a homeless person who referenced some despicable sexual behavior directed at Condi Rice and the First Lady.

If I was an XM subscriber, I'd cancel my subscription today... not because I find that particular thing funny... I don't... It's wrong and it's awful...    it's the hypocrisy.

The last time I checked, we have Freedom of Speech in this country, right?  Well, sort of.  You're not allowed to scream fire in a crowded theatre, because your speech might cause harm to others.

Well, sort of...  because, it is a fact that when the media portrays high profile murders and suicides, there are identifiable instances of  copycatting that lead to people's deaths...   I mean, we know that the Virginia Tech killer referenced the Columbine kids by name...

But then, we go and cheer on David Blaine when he wants to go jump off the Brooklyn Bridge.  Wanna start making bets on how many kids start jumping off bridges in this country after that gets televised?

So then it becomes more about offending people than causing actual harm to others.  If you are offended by something, and you have a good PR firm working for you, you can basically get anyone else fired or off the air... even if those airwaves aren't public.  Suspending Opie and Anthony from XM is like suspending porn actresses from the Playboy Channel.  Certainly there are lots of people offended by the Playboy Channel... shouldn't we be taking away people's right to smut in that situation, too?

The firings of Imus, JV and Elvis, and now the O&A suspensions are a snowballing witch hunt.  Do I support what those people say?  No...  but I support their right to say whatever I want.  It's the same with flag burning.  I don't support anyone burning the flag in this country, but I wouldn't stand  in the way of anyone's right to burn it.  That's what freedom is.

And really, how in the hell does Howard Stern avoid all this?

This is a really dangerous precedent we're setting here.  We expect all this Web 2.0 user generated content to be successful in the face of this culture of fear?  Who in their right mind would opening share their thoughts with the world in this climate.  We're a bunch of crazy people... we must be, because its only a matter of time before the bandwagon shows up at your door.

I mean, as it is, I can never run for President because of this post and I'm sure there are others like it that people could pull apart out of context and fuel the media machine with.

And the worst part about it...  XM and all these other radio stations totally knew what they were doing when they hired these folks... and what you never see are executive's heads roll.  It's not the fault of the talent.  You want to suspend someone... suspend the people that oversee the talent..  because what they realize is that nice doesn't drive revenues on the radio, and these stations are hiring these shockjocks to generate cold hard cash.  It's a business and they knew exactly what they were getting, so they shouldn't act all surprised and offended when stuff like this happens.

Look...  there will be people in your life you won't agree with.  There will be others you will be offended by.  Others will try to hurt you with words.  The best thing you can do is ignore them.  Ignore them and they'll go away.  If people ignored Opie & Anthony they'd be off the air in a heartbeat...  but that's not happening. People are listening.  People want to hear. 

I don't want to be censored, protected, etc...  Just give me the tools and I'll do it myself, because I don't trust the religious right, special interests, or least of all the government to do it for me.

In other news, the Rev. Jerry Falwell was so happy over today's news that he kicked it.  Also, our soldiers are now banned from participation in the conversation, so sit there in the desert and like it and whatever you do, we don't want to here or watch a peep out of you. 

Open?  Participatory?  Free?  Yeah, right.

So Mayor Mike is trying to get the city to go green by instituting the same kind of anti-congestion tax that is currently in place in London, where cars are charged for entrance into the heart of the city during peak hours. 

Why?

Try driving in the city during rush hour.  That's why.

Hey, I'm a car owner in the city and I'm the first one to say that this is a great idea.  We all need to be using public transportation more...  cars are bad for the environment...  and the city is too crowded.  Some people are saying that this tax will hit the working class, but you know what?  The working class takes the subway.  The only people I know who drive into the city during rush hour are the rich suburbanites.  Stand outside a midtown parking lot during rush hour in the morning and look at the cars...  they're Porches, Mercedes, etc...   No family Trucksters here.   I'm all for it.  Bike to work!

Also, friends of mine who work for various political campaigns are saying on good authority that Bloomberg has decided to run for President in 2008.  I hope so.  I love anti-politicians, and he's not some old money rich guy... he's an entrepreneur... a self made guy.  What he lacks in personality, he makes up for in business savvy and I think its about time someone starts running this country with a little logic and practicality.   I'd vote for him.

In 1975, Squeaky Fromme tried to assassinate Gerald Ford.   A Manson follower, she wanted to give old Charlie the opportunity to testify at her trial and spread his message to the world, knowing that it would be covered by the global media community.

If only she had a digital camera and the address of NBC...   that would have made mass distribution of hate much easier.

"After much debate", NBC decided to run clips (of course, spread out over time to get ratings) of the Virginia Tech killer's "Multimedia Manifesto" on national and online broadcasts. 

Right...  As if there was even a chance that NBC wouldn't have posted as much of this "news" as possible.  The twisted reality of human nature is that I'm sure NBC execs can't help but feel a just a little bit lucky it was them that got the video, not Fox, or *gasp* YouTube.  (We all probably would have if we worked there, despite the obviously tragic nature of the events.)  Score one for the peacock.  Because whereas 30 unfortunate students at VT accidently stepped on a landmine, NBC accidently fell into a goldmine.

Explain this logic to me.  If NBC Sports covered a baseball or football game, and someone ran out onto the field naked, they would go out of their way not to record the idiot so as not to encourage that kind of behavior.

Yet, the ravings of a lunatic who clearly references the Columbine killers by name that he learned, that we all learned, through the media...  that goes right up into the ether for mass consumption.

How can we justify the airing of this video as news?  Is this informative?  It's hard to argue that this won't encourage other troubled kids looking to lash out against the world. 

Kill as many people as you can, send the video to NBC, and become an insta-martyr.  It's that simple.

This is becoming a multimedia car-accident in the worst way...   and onlookers of car accidents often get into accidents of their own as they watch. 

Does the media encourage people to kill?  No...  but does the behavior of the media and borderline glorification of killers 'cause people to want to make a bigger splash--to go out in a blaze of glory killing off as many people as possible...  I gotta say its an awfully compelling argument. 

Isn't this kind of hate poisoning our airwaves worse than what Imus said... or hey, at least as bad? 

This kid committed this act knowing full well the scope of media attention this would draw.   He didn't kill 30 people out of blind rage.  He did it as a calculated statement to the world that he knew we'd all jump at the chance to broadcast.  It's not just NBC.  It's all of us.  Everyone who sticks to NBC over the next few days to see more clips.  Everyone, including myself, who publishes about it.  We are a media machine and Cho Seung-Hui is playing us like a violin.

The interweb did a fantastic job of fingering the wrong killer yesterday in the tragic events at Virginia Tech, due in much part to another Asian VT student's web presence containing photos and notes about guns.    For a day, he became the Richard Jewell of this incident and yesterday, the unfortunate victim turned gun lobbyist issued the following statement:

"I will be available for interview by a news agency to clear my name, talk about the experience, and give my opinion on how the situation could have turned out better if other students were allowed to be armed."

Right... that's what would have made this situation better:  More guns.  I hope no one interviews this guy, because I'd rather not have his 15 minutes of fame remixed and rebroadcast everywhere if he's going to be all gun crazy.  Because, really, the Walther .22-caliber semi-automatic and a 9 mm Glock that made their appearence weren't really enough.   These guns apparently had the serial numbers etched off, meaning that they were probably not purchased at the local Walmart.  Its this kind of thinking that makes people want to arm passengers on planes to fight terrorism, too.  A gun for everyone and no one will get shot, right?

How about making it impossible to get a gun in the first place?   Don't stats show that most gun deaths are either innocent people or victims of accidents, and not intruders/attackers?

Clearly, this guy had some major issues...  and more so than anyone, he himself is to blame...  not the school who was taken by surprise as any other school would have...not the media... not violent video games... but the one thing that sticks out in my head is that it is absolutely too damn easy to get a gun in this country. 

They should make a law that if you sell a gun to someone and that person uses it to shoot someone, you can get charged as an accessory to that crime...    That would lead to some real careful background checking, I think.

Now we have two "n-words".... the new one being "nappy". 

Until this week, I'm fairly sure that I've never even spoken or let alone thought this word before... but now I can't avoid it.  It's on TV left and right.  The fact is, more people heard the term "Nappy headed ho's" spoken by newspeople than heard it spoken originally by Don Imus in the first place.

It was a dumb comment...  It was wrong.  Don Imus was being a bully...  but you know what the best way to deal with bullies is?

Ignore them.

In fact, people were ignoring Imus on their own.  In 2005, Imus in the Morning had half the listeners he had ten years earlier.

When you get outraged over something and you create a taboo around words, you only increase the incentive for someone  looking to draw attention to themselves to use those words.

And its not only about hate...   we have all sorts of taboos in this country that don't reflect our own individual moralities.  We're so scared of the kind of flash mob that went after Imus that we have to make grandiose gestures like firing a guy right in the middle of a radio telethon campaign for charity.  We have taboos about drinking... we push the drinking age to 21 and send our kids off to war before they can nip a beer and then we wonder why college binge drinking is such a big issue.   We've got so many taboos around sex that we can't even have an open dialogue with our kids about it, leaving them largely in the dark about sexual health.  We want to ban MySpace and limit what bloggers can say.  Janet Jackson pops a boob in the Superbowl and we're "outraged".  You think if we weren't so horrified by our own bodies and what we can do with them in this country that w

"Every other day
Another bitch another drop"

- This is Why I'm Hot - MIMS (#1 Rap Song in America This Week)

“... A victory for public decency. No one should use the public airwaves to transmit racial or sexual degradation.”

- Rev. Jesse Jackson  on the firing of Don Imus

"When it come down to these hoez
I dont love em....
...And anything fine im bag-gin it
And if she got a man, I dont care...
...Now the moral of the story is cuff yo chick"

- I'm a Flirt - R. Kelly (#2 Rap Song in America)

"...We cannot afford a precedent established that the airways can commercialize and mainstream sexism and racism."

- Rev. Al Sharpton commenting on the Imus Situation

I just want to know what's ok to say and when... that's all...

Although, as John Kerry proved, being "the devil you don't know" won't get you elected... so hopefully we get to know Barak better as this moves forward.  Here's his first step at talking with us:

I had only heard a little bit about the UCLA Tazer incident...   Student fails to produce ID, gets Tazed.

At first I was pretty ready to defend the police, b/c, as a former resident assistant in a dorm, I'm a big believer in strict security regulations on campuses concerning who should be there and who shouldn't.   I remember when Fordham students used to complain when security guards wouldn't let them into dorms they didn't belong in late at night, particularly after they were out drinking.  Some of the altercations definitely got pretty heated, but usually, the security guards stood pretty firm.

To the students, it was an annoyance... but I also saw the other side of it.  What if you let one someone slip by and someone gets beat up or raped?   Now you wish the security wasn't so lax.

But then I saw the video on YouTube...   it's pretty disturbing.

It made me stop and think.  Video is a powerful medium, but it's also a bit misleading.  We only see the Tazer incident.  We never saw the kid being asked to leave before the cops came or how he acted that made someone at the library call the cops.

It's hard not to have an emotional reaction to this.   The kid is yelling and screaming in agony and you immediately have a sympathetic reaction to him.

But then I thought about what he was screaming...  "Here's your Patriot Act..."    Lots of political messages....   I dunno... me personally, I think I'd just be crying my eyes out from the pain.  I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be making it into a political issue on the spot.  To me, here's a guy with a bone to pick with authority.

Ever got stopped by a cop?   Most of us are usually a little bit nervous.  I got stopped in September for allegedly doing (I hate to admit how lame this is, b/c I drive a Mustang with 300HP)... 49 in a 30.  (go ahead, giggle)    But yeah, I was nervous.  The LAST thing I was going to do would be to give the cop a hard time and not show my ID.  I listened carefully and complied.   I did not get Tazed.  That's the way most of us act.

Let's say this kid is there up to no good.  Let's say he's a kid with a history of violence who has been banned from campus who is there to mess with someone... if you're a cop... you just don't know without an ID.   When someone starts resisting, you get suspicious.  

So, I have to be honest, I think I'm ok with the initial Tazing.  If you are somewhere that requires ID, you don't show it, and you do not leave upon immediately being asked to, in today's world, I think you're really rolling the dice.  With all the school shootings and terrorism we have to live with, I think that's just common sense, really.  So, cops, if I'm somewhere I shouldn't be, and I don't listen to you when you ask for me ID, please Taze me. 

And yes, Tazing seems violent, but what are the alternatives?  Should the cops have hit him?  Pointed a gun?  How do you get someone who is resisting to leave?  Should they dress up in those goofy Sumo suits and belly bounce him out the door? 

That being said, I think the cops definitely got trigger happy.   Unless this kid was on steroids, I tend to think that one Taze should do it... and I'm not surprised he couldn't stand up.  That's like kicking them in the shins and threatening to kick them again if they won't stand up.  When you Taze someone, you should be able to yank them out right away and arrest them or kick them out of wherever they are or do what you need to do.  Threatening to Taze them again or threatening to Taze others isn't the right way to do it.  You Taze when you need to, not as part of a "negotiation". 

So, at the end of the day, I think this was a kid with an obvious bone to pick that acted in a way that got him on the wrong side of the law.  Add that to some Tazer happy cops who don't know the appropriate use of a dangerous weapon, mix in some YouTube, and you've got yourselves a mess.

The student should be suspended and so should the cops.  If I were this kid's parents, I'd be pissed at the police for not training their officers properly but also pissed at my kid for not listening to authorities from the start.

Ok, so the worlds of finance, tech and probably to a lesser extent politics are still boys clubs, but I like to point out when my favorite gender makes some noise.

Found two cool new female bloggers...

A video blog on finance called Wallstrip hosted by Lindsay Campbell.  She's still looking for a "booyah"-like catchphrase, but Jim Cramer should still be watching his back.

Ashley Cecil paints politics and other newsworthy items... literally.  I'm really tempted to buy the Bubba painting...  Gotta love that little stubby thumbs up he gives...she's captured it perfectly. 

Also, BizDev2.0 is going to feature some very successful women in technology...  Catherine Levene, formally of the NYT Digital and now working with TheFind.com, Tina Sharkey, SVP of AIM and Social Media at AOL, and now a late addition, Zia Daniell Wigder from Jupiter Media.

Now if we could only skew the 90/10 boy/girl ration in the audience.

Some people think this stuff doesn't much matter, but for me, getting perspectives from a wide variety of people is one of the reasons why I blog and participate in these communities.  I hope we can see more of this in the future.

I wonder what would happen, for example, if the United States simply declared North Korea to be an ally, and made a big fuss about it, but didn’t change much else. We could pass a law saying we’ll defend North Korea against foreign attack – knowing that no country wants to attack them anyway. We could keep our military force in the DMZ and redefine it as preventing South Korea from attacking North Korea just as much as the reverse. That would be baloney, of course, but delicious and pleasing baloney.

Source: The Dilbert Blog: Attacking Allies

Here's the rest of what the WTC site is supposed to look like.  If we have to wait any longer, they'll have to retrofit parking on the roof for flying cars.

Two great comments by Gothamist readers:

"I, for one, welcome our new steel and glass monolithic overlords."

powered by performancing firefox

Facebook recently released an Elections section giving political candidates an opportunity to present themselves to the college audience in their own way with Facebook profiles. 

Hmm... let's see...   85% penetration among 4 year colleges+candidate profiles=best opportunity to increase voter turnout ever!

Let's not underestimate what an impact this could be...  if it wasn't for how incredibly difficult it is to get election information. 

In an ideal world, since they already know my address, it should be one click to find out who my current reps are, who's running against them, and where they stand.  I mentioned that to them and they said that would be great if they could find a "find your district" site...

...At first I was kind of annoyed, like they weren't trying... but, actuallly... it is really hard.

Way too hard actually.

I found one here, but you need to know your 9-digit zip, which requires going offsite to the US Postal Service and typing in my address.  You can't even find this district info on the US Gov't's own website.  Its ridiculous. 

Google the word "vote" and see if you learn anything useful.  Its doubtful.  Until we leverage the web to make staying informed about elections less than a second job, we're going to have a very uninformed voter base.

I'm at WeMedia at the moment...

So the other day I ran some things to clean up my laptop...   uninstalling random features I didn't think I needed.  Who would have thought that uninstalling speech recognition features would also uninstall handwriting recognition.  Tablet rended useless for the moment... very frustrating as I try to blog the WeMedia conference.

Listening to the first panel, it makes me wonder whether or not the changing media opens up new opportunities for young journalists who have cultivated WeMedia platforms and technology to create trust.  In other words, is it easier for CBS to put Andy Rooney on a podcast or to hire a true podcaster...  and if they hire a podcaster, what could they actually provide that person in terms of channel support? 

Larry Kramer brings up an interesting point that new forms of media are increasing utilization rates of the newsroom.  Whereas in the past, political staffs couldn't find their way on the air when the station was hyperfocused on one progam, they're now publishing stories and video on the web.

According to Farai Chideya, NPR has a job opening for a New Media Music Editor.  I'll make sure Fred doesn't apply. 

Here's another digital divide:    Political/news engagement and disengagement.   How many people are less interested in the news and politics than they were ten years ago because they have so much other content to consume or because they're more connected to work?  (iPods and Blackberries gaining commuter minutes versus the newspaper.)  How many are more hyperfocused on it because of blogging and access to more and better information?  I feel like there's more of the former than of the latter.

Link: An Endorsement for Mayor - New York Times.

Mr. Bloomberg has not been nearly as exciting, or entertaining, as Edward I. Koch or Rudolph W. Giuliani. But he has been better at running the city. If he continues his record of accomplishment over the next four years, he may be remembered as one of the greatest mayors in New York history.

I'll just repeat for emphasis, "...one of the greatest mayors in New York history."

The bashed him for his outlandish campaign spending, but I don't really care about that.  He's a self made man and has all this money because he built something that works.

I look forward to the next four years.

Perhaps we should rethink the term limits on NYC Mayor.

What's next?  Senator Bloomberg?

Bloomberg for President?

In New York City, I don't find too many people oppossing the idea that priests should get married.  Its not too often that someone takes the other side and is willing to tell me that we shouldn't allow any combination of two human beings in love to get married either.   

So, as someone who picks and chooses from both sides politically, I find myself arguing most often against liberals...  just because that's who is around me.  I'm quite sure that if I lived in a red state, I'd be on the other side of a lot of typically conservative arguments and get called a liberal.   Instead, I appear more conservative than I really am.

What I am is against politics.  I don't like the idea that all find into one side or the other.  Plus, I don't understand how some of this stuff fits together anyway.  What exactly is the reasoning behind feeling a certain way about capital punishment versus leaning a certain way on expanding social programs?  So, how's it supposed to go again?  Less welfare, more lethal injection, or did I get it wrong?   If I'm anti-war, remind me again how I'm supposed to feel about the privitization of social security. 

I ask a lot of these types of questions because I like to poke holes at things that don't make sense.  I'm an analyst.  I'm a cynic.

So when I get in a really good debate with someone, I love it.  It makes me think.  The tough part is that I think I come off as difficult or dismissive when in reality, I'm challenged and inspired.  Its two in the morning now and I just got off the phone with someone who brings a truly unique perspective to the table and a sincere and respectable conviction to the table on what she believes.  Instead of focusing on our differences, I left the call feeling lucky... lucky that I know such an intelligent and thoughtful person...  someone tenacious enough to come back at me.

Debates make me think.  They make me question.  People don't do that enough when they encounter something different then themselves.  They immediately try and change it or erase it rather than learn from it.  I love learning from other people.  Its an important part of my education and I need to be challenged to sure up my own beliefs.

The best part about the conversation, though, was that we could put it down at the end... that it wasn't personal and that we appreciated each other for our differences.  That means a lot to me as well.  I'm never going to have all the answers, but if I can get someone thinking differently about something, I've done my job.  I also expect that someone will challence me enough to get me thinking differently, and I'll always credit them for that going forward.    I just hope that tonight's debating partner felt as enriched as I did and not just tired and frustrated.

"Do you think you serve your country best by being a critic and using words that tend to enflame and overshadow any information?"

This one comes from YouTube (which, by the way, I find myself watching more and more lately).   

Well, actually, it comes from a Hardball interview with Ann Coulter , but I saw the clip on YouTube.  Chris Matthews went to the audience for a question and the first young woman with a question posed the question to Coulter.

I have to admit that I'm not a particularly political person and I certainly don't follow all the talking heads (at least the non-animated ones), so this may be the first time I've ever seen/noticed Ann Coulter speak.  Is she really this wretchedly awful all the time?  I really dislike anyone who just spews division and polarizes people wherever they go.  Like this young woman pointed out, Ann, you're just not helping.  This country needs more people who bridge gaps and bring people together... not make everything out to be black and white, right or wrong.  And the personal attacks? 

I mean, seriously, where does she come off saying that Bill Clinton is gay?  Is that relevent to any conversation whatsoever?  That would be like someone insinuating that Ms. Coulter is just bitter because she's undersexed... it's totally unrelated and drags someone's personal life into the conversation unecessarily.

Besides, its obvious that her statements and divisive and enflamatory behavior are likely traced to either one of two causes...    her own ignorance or her allegiance to the Almighty Dollar.  It might be both.  Ignorance sells a lot of books.