Political FootBall... follow the ball

North Korea Threatens War

noreply@blogger.com (Political FootBall) — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 11:19:01 -0500

So what was their first clue.

North Korea's ambassador to Australia warns that international attempts to halt his nation's missile tests could lead to war

Happy Father's Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Political FootBall) — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 20:25:12 -0500

For all of you Dads out there I hope you're having a wonderful Father's Day. I know I am.

Related links: fathers day

Karl Rove Debases the Blogosphere Left

noreply@blogger.com (Political FootBall) — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 17:01:03 -0500

Do you think maybe he was referring to the Daily KOS?

According to Karl Rove: “The Internet for the Left…has served as a way to mobilize hate and anger — hate and anger, first and foremost, at this President and Conservatives, but then also at people within their own party whom they consider to be less than completely loyal to this very narrow, very out-of-the-mainstream, very far Left-wing ideology that they tend to represent.”

Related links: political football, news, us-news, in the news, news and politics, politics, political, blog, blogosphere, karl rove

Uber Microsoft Propogandist Scoble Jumps Ship [del.icio.us]

dailyfisk — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 22:01:04 -0500

Scoble was quoted as saying: "I wish to thank Bill Gates for giving me an opportunity at Microsoft catapulting me onto the blogger A-list. But above all I wish to thank my loyal suckup fans who have made this all possible. For without you I am nothing". A

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Killed

noreply@blogger.com (Political FootBall) — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 04:14:26 -0500

At least he still has his head attached, which is more than we can say for his victims.

You live by Violence, You Die by Violence

Related links: political football, news, world news, us-news, in the news, news headlines, headline news

Can any War be Good?

noreply@blogger.com (Political FootBall) — Mon, 29 May 2006 23:10:36 -0500

Blogs for Bush says Iraq is a "A War to be Proud Of".

No matter which side of the fence we may sit, Political FootBall can't help but wonder:

Is there such a thing as a "Good" War?

For to believe in such makes the assumption that we have God and right on our side.

Quick Retort: So doesn't everybody? Oh yeah, I forgot -- we're just more right than they are.

Related links: political football, news, world news, us-news, in the news, news and politics, politics, political, current events, current affairs, society

Enron Chiefs get their Just Deserts

noreply@blogger.com (Political FootBall) — Mon, 29 May 2006 22:40:09 -0500

It's Payback Time! (sort of)

How the pendulum will swing. The scales of justice are finally coming into balance (no pun intended). Corporate crooks are finally getting theirs instead of just a tongue lashing and a golden handshake (with stock options).

Today's Enron decision convicting Skilling and Lay sets a precedent for corporate bosses that the buck stops with them and a severe warning to white collar crooks who think they can fudge the figures and get away with it. Of course we still haven't heard the sentencing phase of the proceedings so I will defer my final opinion until that time.

It will be of little comfort to all those employees who lost their shirts but at least it's a start in the right direction.

Related links: political football, news, us-news, in the news, news headlines, headline news, current events, current affairs, opinion, enron

Crash go the Gates

noreply@blogger.com (Political FootBall) — Fri, 26 May 2006 03:04:47 -0500

No pun intended Bill. I'm no Daily KOSsack fan, but I have to agree with the following statement by Markos Moulitsas and Jerome Armstrong who wrote in their new book, Crashing the Gate:

The fact is that we are part of a truly organic effort that is decentralized. We are no more "leaders" than anyone else who frequents our websites. We have laid the groundwork and helped build the "public square," but it is the community that provides the energy and shapes our agenda.

That's why this movement is so effective - and so threatening to established powers. It is leaderless. It cannot be harness, controlled, or co-opted.

Well said, but when they refer to the "movement" and "community" I hope that they are referencing the wider blogosphere and not just the fringe element who frequent their blogs. One can only hope.

Related links: political football, blogging, blog, daily kos

Colbert Video Pulled from YouTube

noreply@blogger.com (Political FootBall) — Mon, 15 May 2006 03:20:37 -0500

UPDATE: The Colbert video was pulled but you can still find it at the daily FISK.

Related links: political football, us-news, in the news, news headlines, headline news, news and politics, politics, political

Colbert, Mainstream Media and the Blogosphere

noreply@blogger.com (Political FootBall) — Fri, 26 May 2006 03:05:15 -0500

So what do all of these have in common? Well, the recent Colbert Blogstorm has raised some important observations about the fragile (and sometimes volatile) relationship between the blogosphere and mainstream media.

Some say that blogs aren't news sources. It's just a "conversation" and nothing more.

While others like Bloggers Blog point out:

The New York Times is finally reporting on the growing blogstorm over Stephen Colbert's speech at the White House Correspondents Dinner. This is definitely another incident where bloggers motivated the mainstream media to report on something. It is possibly proof that if bloggers can post enough on a topic the mainstream media will eventually be forced to report on it.

Whilst we bloggers have been trying to define ourselves, some of us are unfortunately looking at this in terms of black and white. The truth of it is it's what I have been saying all along -- it's a bit of both.

Clearly it is a symbiotic relationship and both organisms are feeding off each other. Like it or not, it is a "conversation" that is going on between between both media types. That might not sit well with the snobs, but nevertheless is reality.

Related links: political football

Blog Readers Revealed?

noreply@blogger.com (Political FootBall) — Fri, 26 May 2006 03:05:55 -0500

Is Political Extremeism a by-product of immaturity?

I don't buy this. An unscientific Web survey of 36,000 people by Blogads reports that political blog readers tend to be age 41 to 50, male (72 percent), and earn $60,000 to $90,000 per year. Two in five have college degrees, while just a tad less have graduate degrees.

"These are not people who are politically idealistic and born yesterday," said Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, who runs the popular liberal site DailyKos.

The survey goes on the say:

Blogads President Henry Copeland said the findings represent "the choir" of political blog readers, the most interested and most engaged, "the political geeks who are arguing over the nuances at a press conference or the latest Hillary Clinton pronunciations."

He said Republican blog readers tend to be older, more often male, have higher incomes and less education than Democratic readers -- but only by small degrees.

Why then are so many of the comments at the daily KOSsack so juvenile? That goes for many of the right-wing blogs as well but they didn't participate as much as the lefties did in the survey.

Could that be the reason why the lefties claim they are more edu-ma-cated. People generally exaggerate their stats on surveys anyhow. Especially behind the anonymity of the internet.

So I have a better interpretation:

Political extremeism = immaturity

regardless of the age group!

Or perhaps Carol Darr, director of the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet got it right:

It's a mark of their alienation" from other forms of media.

So the Blogosphere = Alien Nation?

Hmm...

Related links: political football, in the news, news and politics, current events, current affairs, society, humor, media, blogads, daily kos, blog, weblog, blogging

Fear and Loathing, and Oil Prices

noreply@blogger.com (Political FootBall) — Fri, 26 May 2006 03:06:40 -0500

Oil prices are spiralling out of control (again), so what is George doing about it?

In an attempt to dampen the rise in petrol prices, George Bush yesterday announced that the US would no longer buy crude oil for its strategic petroleum reserve in order to ease demand.

In other moves, the US president said he would propose relaxing environmental rules to make it easier to build refineries as a shortage of refining capacity is one of the main reasons for high prices.

So forget about the fact that Mr. Bush has a financial interest in the oil industry, and relaxing environmental controls certainly wouldn't hurt biz either.

But it is, above all, the threat of a military clash between the US and Iran that is pushing up oil prices.

Lest we also forget the fact that this was the same malarkey we were sold before the two previous Iraqi Wars, BUT did the prices come back down again?

NOT!

And why does it always happen just before the summer season when we drive more? Do they really think we're that stupid? Apparently so.

I am so fed up with being lied to by corporations and politicians that have a vested interest in oil prices and their excuses for dipping into my pocket.

Here's a radical thought. How's about Georgey and family pulling out of the oil business altogether and donating their profits to alternative fuel development. What say you George?

Related links: news and politics, politics, political, current events, opinion, society, bush, oil

Iran says: Who needs Nukes?

noreply@blogger.com (Political FootBall) — Fri, 26 May 2006 03:08:09 -0500

All it takes is just One Nutbar at a Time:

According to Iranian officials, 40,000 trained suicide bombers are ready for action to hit British and American targets if the nation’s nuclear sites are attacked.

The main force, named the Special Unit of Martyr Seekers in the Revolutionary Guards, was first seen last month when members marched in a military parade, dressed in olive-green uniforms with explosive packs around their waists and detonators held high.

No wonder they can afford to be so arrogant.

Who's Your Preferred Victim?

At a recruiting station in Tehran recently, volunteers for the force had to show their birth certificates, give proof of their address and tick a box stating whether they would prefer to attack American targets in Iraq or Israeli targets.

Despite reports to the contrary as "fantasyland", leaked reports dating from February this year, confirms that President George W Bush is preparing to strike Iran. “If the problem is not resolved in some way, he intends to act before leaving office because it would be ‘unfair’ to leave the task of destroying Iran’s nuclear facilities to a new president,” the document says.

You can read more about it at Timesonline...

In the meantime, the Pentagon Preps for Iran:

As early as 2003, even as U.S. forces were on the brink of war with Iraq, the Army had already begun conducting an analysis for a full-scale war with Iran. The analysis, called TIRANNT, for "theater Iran near term," was coupled with a mock scenario for a Marine Corps invasion and a simulation of the Iranian missile force. U.S. and British planners conducted a Caspian Sea war game around the same time. And Bush directed the U.S. Strategic Command to draw up a global strike war plan for an attack against Iranian weapons of mass de struction. All of this will ultimately feed into a new war plan for "major combat operations" against Iran that military sources confirm now exists in draft form.

More reading at the Washington Post...

So where does North Korea fit in the big picture? Well at least they're talking (for now).

Related links: political football, news, world news, us-news, in the news, news headlines, headline news, news and politics, politics, political, current events, current affairs, iran, nuclear, korea

Guy Kawasaki: 120 day Blogging 'Expert' [del.icio.us]

dailyfisk — Sat, 29 Apr 2006 03:32:47 -0500

One of his favorite pastimes is to email everyone that has the misfortune to come across his computer. Then again, Guy has his own unique definition of what constitutes spam. I rather liked Dave Winer's response the best::

noreply@blogger.com (Political FootBall) — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 01:20:55 -0500

links for 2006-04-15

CNN asks: What Happened?

In a letter to Lou Dobbs show today, the writer asks (paraphrased): "Both my wife and I both have to work 60 hours a week at two or three jobs and we can barely survive. What happened"? Well I'll tell you what happened...

(tags: political+football, news, in+the+news news+and+politics, political, current+affairs, opinion, rant, ramblings, random+thoughts, random+thoughts)
Who's also Sick of Party Politics?

All you reasonable bloggers out there unite! Ramble on poses the question: Am I the only person sick of Party politics?

(tags: political+football, news+and+politics, politics, political, opinion, republican, democrat, liberal, conservative)

Who's Sick of Party Politics?

noreply@blogger.com (Political FootBall) — Fri, 26 May 2006 03:08:52 -0500

A Growing Band of Bloggers

All you reasonable bloggers out there unite! Ramble on poses the question:

Am I the only person sick of Party politics? Yes, I think one party is better than the other, and I probably agree with 70 - 80% of their platform. But the rhetoric and bashing is driving me crazy. It seems nothing is about what people want anymore, it's about which party can smear, attack and destroy the other side.

I would like to see one day, just one, where no one in the United States says the words Republican or Democrat. If you think someone is making a bad decision or is doing something stupid, then say that, without using the persons political affiliation or attacking the individual.

The answer to your question is NO, you are NOT the only one who is sick of Party Politics. Political FootBall echoes your sentiments. Heck, maybe we can even start our own political network. A network that began with just two reasonable bloggers who are fed up with the status quo and willing to make a stand.

Come on people. There has to be more of us out there. Are you with us?

Related links: political football, news and politics, politics, political, opinion, republican, democrat, liberal, conservative

The Lost Gospel of Judas [del.icio.us]

dailyfisk — Sat, 15 Apr 2006 12:44:49 -0500

With Easter upon us there is much talk about the lost gospel of Judas, the disciple best known for betraying Jesus Christ. Apparently this manuscript paints Judas in a more favorable light as someone who was only doing Christ's bidding. But does that real

CNN asks: What Happened?

noreply@blogger.com (Political FootBall) — Sat, 15 Apr 2006 12:29:06 -0500

In a letter to Lou Dobbs show today, the writer asks (paraphrased):

"Both my wife and I both have to work 60 hours a week at two or three jobs and we can barely survive. What happened"?

I'll tell you what happened. How was it that my Father could work at a factory job with no education and be the sole supporter of his family with a house, a cottage and automobile paid for, money in the bank and retired at age 50?

The answer is his generation had to fight for their rights at a time when it was even illegal to strike, and many of that generation died creating a middle class.

But what does this generation do? We send our brightest and best young people overseas to die at the hands of religious fanatics, oil companies and demigods.

Today I have to ask myself -- what middle class? If it weren't for credit cards most of us would not 'own' anything today. It is all a mirage and there is in fact no more middle class.

The baby boomer generation are a bunch of pansies. Schwag smoking, aging hippies with flowers in their hair and talking of peace and love man, whilst the corporations with their bought and paid-for politicians stole it right out of their designer jean pockets.

There would have been blood in the streets if they tried that with our parents' generation.

There is a predominant attitude by the haves that it is their right to get richer and the have-nots are mere trailor-park trash to serve their needs.

Every day we see white-collar criminals bilking millions of dollars and receiving a slap on the wrist, while lowly shoplifters get the book thrown at them.

The fact is they don't want us to retire with pensions because they know there isn't enough in the kitty. They want us to work until we drop and carry us out with a tag on our toe.

That is reality, and that my dear friends is what has happened.

Now where is my gold watch?

```
* From the history in a nutshell series.

Related links: political football, news, in the news, news and politics, politics, political, current affairs, opinion, rant, ramblings, random thoughts, random thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Political FootBall) — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 01:22:22 -0500

links for 2006-04-12

Iran goes Nuclear

What arrogance. At least the Japanese knew when they were licked. But these Iranians are in a class of their own. Maybe they forgot their history lessons. Do you hear the silos opening? I can. Allah ak bar.

(tags: political_football, news, world+news, in+the+news, news+headlines, headline+news, news+and+politics, politics, political, current+events, current+affairs, iran, nuclear)

Ten Observations of a Rookie Blogger [del.icio.us]

dailyfisk — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 23:57:07 -0500

Whilst perusing Dave Winer's blog I accidentally came across Guy Kawasaki's ten observations that he's learned in his first 100 days of blogging. The ones that are the most revealing are:

Iran goes Nuclear

noreply@blogger.com (Political FootBall) — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 14:54:53 -0500

What arrogance. At least the Japanese knew when they were licked. But these Iranians are in a class of their own. Maybe they forgot their history lessons. Do you hear the silos opening? I can. Allah ak bar.

Related links: political football, news, world news, in the news, news headlines, headline news, news and politics, politics, political, current events, current affairs, iran, nuclear

Campaign Trails Click with Online Technology

noreply@blogger.com (Political FootBall) — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 21:24:10 -0500

The transformation of American politics by the Internet is accelerating with the approach of the 2006 congressional and 2008 White House elections.

Changes are evident in the way campaigns approach advertising, fundraising, mobilizing supporters, and even the spreading of negative information.

Democrats and Republicans are increasing their use of e-mail, interactive Web sites, candidate and party blogs, and text messaging to raise money, organize get-out-the-vote efforts and assemble crowds. The Internet, they said, appears to be more efficient, and less costly, than the traditional tools of politics, notably door knocking and telephone banks.

Analysts say the campaign television advertisement, already diminishing in influence with the proliferation of cable stations, faces new challenges as campaigns experiment with technology that allows direct messaging to more specific audiences and through unconventional means.

Those include podcasts featuring a daily downloaded message from a candidate, and so-called viral attack videos designed to trigger peer-to-peer distribution by e-mail chains without being associated with any candidate or campaign. Campaigns are studying popular Internet social networks as ways to reaching groups of potential supporters with similar political views or cultural interests.

The Internet is now available to 70 percent of Americans. That means, aides said, rethinking every assumption about running a campaign: how to reach different segments of voters, how to get voters to the polls, how to raise money, and the best way to have a candidate interact with the public. Source

Related links: blogging, politics, technology,

noreply@blogger.com (Political FootBall) — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 00:11:37 -0600

links for 2006-03-27

Musings of a non-partisan Canuk

I just received an email welcoming me to the Blogging Alliance of Non-Partisan Canadians. "Welcome aboard" it says, which only proves that misery really does love company, and I'm no exception. It's nice to know that I'm not a lone voice talking to myself

(tags: canadian pundit random+thoughts canada news canadian-news mexico)
Three Stooges of Canadian Politics

I found it on Rick Mercer's blog. It looks like Mercer has picked up where Frank magazine left off, and he's becoming very adept with photoshop don't you think.

(tags: fun funny humor humour canadian+politics canadian-politics rick+mercer)

This Week's Idiot Award [del.icio.us]

dailyfisk — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 04:22:47 -0600

This embarrassing episode is a stain on the entire blogosphere and only proves the Fisk's point. So I'll raise Domenech's ante by saying that I take enormous pride in being a neo-nothing, 'cause to be neo-anything is to be a (not so neo) IDIOT. (Pun inten

Sorry you haven't heard from me lately

noreply@blogger.com (Political FootBall) — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 19:34:30 -0600

I've been busy tweaking and doing maintenance on my blog templates. Crikey, does it ever end?

I will be back to business shortly. Promise.

...tag: political football