"consolidated-feeds" via Teresa in Google Reader

Changes to the Home Page

2008-07-24T15:13:41Z

If you monitor TeresaCentric via RSS, it might be time to click on through and check out our homepage.

We’ve moved a few things around to display the conversation happening among our wonderful commenters much more prominently. Lower down on the lefthand side, you’ll find a widget from lifestreaming site FriendFeed that aggregates my activities from a dozen different social tools, including Twitter and Google Reader.

Below that, you’ll find Andy’s very own Twitter. That’s right. Andy has a Twitter account, but he needs to step it up.

Feedback is always welcome below.

Wilshire & Washington: Obama’s Trip Abroad, McCain’s Portrayal in the Media and Editorial Judgement

2008-07-23T15:34:19Z

Join Ted Johnson, Maegan and I — along with guests Greg Mitchell and David Horsey — for a discussion on Obama’s trip to Afghanistan and the Middle East, McCain’s portrayal in the media and the judgement of the news media.

Where the Devil is Andy?

2008-07-23T15:29:25Z

I’ll bet a lot of you are asking, “where’s our favorite loudmouthed liberal?”

Andy’s been taking a little break from blogging to get his house in order. He moved last weekend and is also in his second week of a new job. As if that weren’t enough to juggle, he’s also been in a lot of physical pain from a combination of playing sports without stretching and using a less than ergonomic workstation during countless hours of programming at home.

That’s not to say he’s not in good spirits. I spoke to him last night and overall he sounds happier than I’ve seen him in a long time. But doing any more typing than strictly necessary is just not in the cards for him right now.

I’m sure, however, that he’d appreciate getting some love in the comments. So if you have some words of advice, support or just plain love for Mr. Sparrow…give it up!

[Updated with Player Archive] Wilshire & Washington Live Now!

2008-07-23T14:30:09Z

Join us for a half-hour of conversation with Greg Mitchell, Editor in Chief of Editor & Publisher and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist David Horsey, plus the political chatter of the week.

Wilshire & Washington - Jul 30,2008

2008-07-30T14:30:00Z

Wilshire & Washington explores the intersection of politics, entertainment and new media. Inspired by co-host Ted Johnson's Variety blog, the weekly Blog Talk Radio program also features conservative blogger Teresa Valdez Klein and liberal blogger Maegan Carberry. The show airs Wednesdays at 7:30am PST, or you can listen to the archived segments here.

New Startup Aims at Ad-Supported Fuel Consumption

2008-07-23T04:19:28Z

Doesn’t it make you sick every time you pull the receipt out of the gas pump after filling up? Mile after mile you drive! To and from work, school, running errands, meeting with friends, how about everyday LIFE!!! Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a way of compensating YOURSELF for all that driving?

So begins the pitch to drivers for a new venture Gas for Free, which pays drivers up to $299 each month to place advertising on their cars.

I can’t decide what I think about this from a business perspective. It’s entirely possible — although I hope not — that Gas for Free’s founders have hit on the next big trend in advertising and are going to make a mint. It’s also possible that their target driver audience — people who are so attached to their cars that even $4.35/gallon gas won’t make them take the bus — will not be willing to deface their precious shiny automobiles with crass slogans.

From an environmental perspective, this makes me utterly sick. It’s bad enough that this venture aims to artificially support the completely unsustainable practice of driving fossil fuel-powered vehicles everywhere rather than taking public transit. (I love that they call themselves “eco-ethical.”) But on top of it, it further clutters the already overwhelming mental and emotional experience of driving. Billboards are bad enough. Now I have to stare at advertising on someone’s car as well?

This kind of reminds me of the GOP’s ham-handed attempts to reduce gas prices which includes:

A gas tax holiday.
Releasing oil from the strategic petroleum reserves.

and last but not least…

The supply-and-demand-defying Find More, Use Less campaign, which asserts that if we excavate for more fossil fuel resources at the same time that we all voluntarily work together to conserve them, we can keep the price of gas low.

All in all, it’s ludicrous. We’re all grasping at straws trying to fix a system whose time is beginning to pass. Let’s pull out our thinking caps and use some of that innovative brain power to actually solve our energy crisis, rather than putting yet another band-aid over a gaping wound.

[Via Mashable.]

Fallujah Gets a Kentucky Fried Chicken

2008-07-22T05:25:14Z

What’s next? Strip clubs?

David Horsey Joins us on Wilshire & Washington this Wednesday Morning

2008-07-22T04:31:27Z

For those of you who don’t know, I’ve worshipped at the altar of two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning Seattle PI editorial cartoonist David Horsey for some time.

Today, he brought us this particularly apropos cartoon given Barack Obama’s calls to draw down troops in Iraq and move them to Afghanistan:

Horsey will be our guest, along with Greg Mitchell, Editor in Chief of Editor & Publisher. Should be a really fantastic show. Be sure to join us.

Obama “Gets an Eyeful” of Acceptance in Iraq

2008-07-22T02:59:57Z

McCain said last week that he expects Obama to get an eyeful in Iraq, including the effectiveness of the surge.

But it looks like Obama’s getting an eyeful of acceptance for his troop withdrawal schedule from the Iraqi government.

I usually have something more insightful to say about stuff like this, but this time, the contradiction says it all: Bush and McCain support staying in Iraq for the sake of staying. Obama proposes leaving and the Iraqi people agree.

Looks like this time around — just like in the runup to the invasion of Iraq — McCain’s experience leaves him on the wrong side of history.

It’s time to give up the ghost, stop wasting time, money and blood in Iraq and bring our people home.

Mulder & Scully are Almost Back!!!!

2008-07-21T03:45:01Z

I really can’t deal with how hot this is:

I cannot wait for this movie to open on Friday.

Joss Whedon Does it Again with Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog

2008-07-21T03:34:15Z

I’m absolutely in love with Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog (iTunes). And, according to NPR anyway, so is half the Web.

Whedon’s knack for producing astute social commentary through fantastical situations is on par with that of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. At base, Horrible got me thinking about the different ways that people react to the destruction and evil in the world . Some of us become bitter and disillusioned like Dr. Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris). Others stick with the status quo like his nemesis Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion). And then there are those sweet souls who devote their lives to helping the unfortunate like Penny (Felicia Day), the woman Horrible worships from afar.

The funny recurring theme in Whedon’s work is that good and evil are rarely clearly defined. And while I’d hate to reveal the conclusion of Horrible, that theme makes its arguably darkest appearance in Whedon’s work to date.

Bottom line: Well worth the $4.00 to download it from iTunes.

Impressions from Obama’s Address to Netroots Nation

2008-07-20T05:43:18Z

Parts I liked:

When Obama subtly tipped his hat to the 24,000-member group on his social network that actively disagrees with him about his FISA vote.
His recognition of just how important bloggers are by encouraging us to reach out to our readers.
His acknowledgement of disagreements he’s had with the blogosphere.

Parts I disliked:

How subtle Obama’s hat tip to the anti-FISA group was. He should have mentioned that My.BarackObama.com is a place for debate and discussion, not just support and fundraising.
The partisanship. I know he’s the Democratic nominee and he has to tow the party line to a certain degree. I expect it, but I still hate it. I’d love to see him regularly mention the names of some Republicans he likes and respects.

What do you guys think?

[Via Maegan Carberry.]

Blog Break for a Couple of Days

2008-07-19T07:23:10Z

Andy is in the midst of moving apartments and I’m helping him. It will be an intense couple of days and I doubt either of us will have time to blog.

If you’re hankering for some interesting reading, you might want to check out this very interesting story about the role my friend Mónica Guzmán has played in the future of newspapers and their relationships to reporters’ unions.

When Pat Robertson Says Outrageous Things, Blame People for the American Way

2008-07-18T04:30:24Z

After all, Robertson himself does.

I said it yesterday morning on Wilshire & Washington and I’ll say it again here: these so-called Evangelical leaders are making themselves more and more irrelevant with every crazy word out of their mouths. I’m starting to get the sense that many Christians are getting really fed up with being represented and led around by these guys.

Let’s hope that trend continues.

The Notion of “Executive Privilege” on Full Display During Ashcroft Hearings

2008-07-18T04:22:25Z

John Ashcroft’s appearance today before a Congressional panel featured repeated refusals to criticize the Bush administration. Even though it’s readily apparent that he’s uncomfortable with torture and domestic spying, he tows the party line, refuses to share what he calls “privileged information” while vigorously defending practices which — behind closed doors — he expressed grave doubts about.

I suppose there are two kinds of Bush officials, the Ashcrofts and the Roves who refuse to talk even if they may be on the wrong side of history, and the McClellans who choose to speak out.

It’s Time for Some Campaignin’

2008-07-17T02:38:11Z

I know Andy says that Barack Obama is nearly impossible to make fun of — unless you’re Dave Chappelle, that is — but JibJab has sure done a great job:

JibJab - Time for Some Campaignin'

Andy points out however, that the funniest part of the video “by far” is when Hillary hits Bill with the frying pan.

Wilshire & Washington: Dr. Karen North, Online Communities, the New Yorker Cover & Obama’s Faith

2008-07-16T15:42:25Z

Join Ted Johnson, Maegan Carberry and I for an interview with Dr. Karen North, head of the USC’s Annenberg Program on Online Communities and former White House staffer on Science and Technology policy. We discuss Barack Obama’s online communities, the New Yorker Cover, and the Newsweek cover story on Obama’s faith.

Wilshire & Washington - Jul 23,2008

2008-07-23T14:30:00Z

Bush Proposal Dresses Restricted Access to Reproductive Health Care in Anti-Discrimination Clothes

2008-07-16T00:55:12Z

The New York Times has obtained a draft of a White House proposal to deny Federal funding to any hospital or health organization that refuses to hire a health care professional based on their personal moral objections to contraception or abortion.

NARAL sent out an alert via text message earlier this afternoon asking members to call the White House hotline and register their non-support for the proposed regulatory changes.

The Bush administration claims that the change is intended to keep people from being forced to perform abortions. But the real aim is much more subtle. It seeks to define abortion and the use of contraceptives as fundamentally different from other kinds of medical care.

Notice that they’re not advancing the idea that Christian Scientists — who believe that modern medicine interferes with God’s will — should not be discriminated against in hiring. Nor are they pressing the issue of non-discrimination against Jehovah’s Witness health care professionals who object to blood transfusions.

This proposal is not about protecting religious freedom. If it were, it would be much more audacious in its scope. The targeting of birth control and abortion alone reveals the real aim: to reduce women’s reproductive health care choices.

Obama Needed to Comment on New Yorker Cover

2008-07-15T05:52:51Z

Michael Crowley argues that Obama campaign is responsible for much of the petty drama now circulating about the New Yorker cover pictured above.

Had Obama simply shrugged it off, instead of having his spokesman brand the image “tasteless and offensive,” I don’t think this story would have blown up so dramatically. It’s the man-bites-dog conflict, the internecine liberal feud, that makes it so sexy to the media–and particularly an outlet like Fox. No tart comment from the Obama camp, no breathless daylong exposure (or far less of it, at least.) I’d say that by denouncing the cartoon the Obama campaign magnified the reach of that image tenfold.

That argument would scarcely have flown in the pre-blogosphere days, and now it’s not even plausible. MSM reporters trying to get a rise out of a candidate will ask about such things, and bloggers routinely chatter on about images less than half as incendiary. Case in point:

I would hope that — at least in private — the Obamas have not lost all sense of humor. Barack and Michelle strike me as the kind of couple who would have a good chuckle over such a cover were they living in less intense times. But publicly, they have to take a stand on imagery like this. We live in an era where some people are so misinformed that they believe Larry Sinclair’s bizzarre rant.

Obama can’t afford to have things like this taken out of context.