The other day, Newsbusters proved how out of touch the republicans and Palin supporter are as evidenced by a spaz attack spurred by Andrea Mitchell's comment that only uneducated Hillary Clinton supporters will vote for Sarah Palin. In his post, Warner Todd Huston not only railed against Mitchell for her comment:

So, only the stupid, uneducated, working class ninnies will be somehow fooled into voting for the McCain/Palin ticket, Andrea? Them thar smart, educated, upper class women are too smart for that? Is that what we are saying here, Andrea?

he went on to completely miss Mitchell's point by adding:

So, on top of calling any women who might vote for McCain because of the addition of Sarah Palin to the ticket uneducated, Mitchell needlessly strayed off topic to search for some way to make Republicans look mean.

No Mr. Huston, Andrea Mitchell did not indicate that any woman who voted for Sarah Palin is uneducated, she stated that any Hillary Clinton supporter who voted for Sarah Palin is either woefully uneducated as to what Clinton's candidacy stood for or is so inconsiderate of the state of this nation and her responsibility as a citizen that the sole determinant of who gets her vote is the gender of the candidate. If the republican supporters for the McCain-Palin ticket can not tell the significant difference between Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton, one has to wonder why those who were foaming at the mouth to ward off a Hillary Clinton presidency would so readily embrace Ms. Palin.

The only thing I can think of is that, perhaps, the republican party just thinks all women are interchangeable (though, since they tend to think all married women with children should be home raising their babies, one has to wonder why Sarah Palin and the "traditional values" Christotheocracy set would find Palin to be a palatable running mate unless they think the VP actually a queen and that our republic form of government should really be a monarchy).

KULTURE/AMERIKA

Texas National Guard Unit Seizes Bush Ranch in Crawford Texas

AP January 24, 2009

The White house announced today that a small unit of the Texas National Guard, along with military police, today seized the ranch and property in Crawford, TX, belonging to ex-President George W.Bush.

Not much detail was given by White House Press Secretary Kenneth Larios, other than a brief confirmation of the action, and the report that 'all had gone smoothly'. Secretary Larios did go into some details about the reasons for the action, and what the current White House hoped to acheive.

"As you know' Larios stated, 'ex-President Bush left the US sometime in the week or so leading up to President Dialogue's innauguration. Through his contacts in the intelligence community, he apparently became aware that the new Administration was seeking certain information, and the answers to certain questions from him. President Dialogue feels that there are unresolved questions relating to US taxpayer funds, and also military and intelligence activity that could only be answered with the help of ex-President Bush. Apparently, Mr.Bush did not feel like co-operating with the current Administration. In fact, it appears that he was attempting to block the obtaining of certain information. When he didn't appear at the Innauguration ceremonies, our feelings were confirmed. And we also have substantial evidence that there might have been crimes commited that were being concealed, crimes that affected the American people in a serious way. So, President Dialogue, with the cooperation of loyal Justice Dept. officials obtained a warrant for the arrest of George W.Bush.'

'At the present, it appears that ex-Presidnt Bush is in Colombia. We are aware of the fact that the Bush family has extensive property holdings in Paraguay, which is in the same region. President Dialogue has spoken with Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo about this matter, and officials from both countries are discussing the situation to see what we can resolve. We also have spoken with ministers from Colombian President Uribe's staff, but President Dialogue has not yet spoken with Uribe himself. So, the situation regarding the former President remains in limbo for the moment.'

'This being the case, President Dialogue, by powers granted to him under the Warner Act, has ordered a seizure of the Bush ranch in Crawford, TX. A small unit of the Texas Army National Guard was used, because President Dialogue felt this matter was beyond the scope of the local police officials to handle at his time. The ranch has been seized, and investigators from the Justice Depart. are in the process of collecting any computer files and paperwork that may be there. In addition, all financial accounts that can be obtained and identified as belonging to George W. Bush have been frozen, and are currently under the control of the US Government.'

'We have spoken with Mr. Bush's father, George HW Bush, to see if he can be of any assistance in helping us deal with this matter. So far, the elder Mr.Bush has been unforthcoming in our discussions with him. We still hope to obtain his cooperation."

This aricle is 'Politikal Fiktion' copyright 2008 by Frank Dialogue

I have always been interested in the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. I enjoy learning what personality types my closest friends are and how their types typically interact with my own. I also find it interesting that my closest of friends are typically one or two of the 16 different personality types. It's almost as if I could give a stranger the test and if they were a certain personality I would know whether or not they had the potential of becoming a close friend. Anyways, I digress...

Since I find it important knowing my friends personality I think it would be very interesting to know the personality types of our nation's leaders. I think it is safe to say that most politicians would fall under the extrovert type and not introvert. After that though, I think it is pretty up in the air.

Personally, I think Barack Obama would be an ENTP (Extraversion, iNtuition, Thinking, Perceiving). Do you agree?

After reading more about the Myers Briggs Test and the 16 MBTI types I would love to hear what type you think Barack Obama is.

Apparently Denver isn't the only place people will be gathering outdoors to watch Barack Obama's historic acceptance speech. From the Obama campaign website:

In Philadelphia, Independence Mall will be the site of a free public Watch Party. There will be a huge 20’ x 30’ screen on the Mall carrying a live feed from the Democratic National Convention. The Watch Party starts at 8pm and will end at the conclusion of Senator Obama’s historic acceptance speech.

Click here for more details

Local blogger Brian Conley, of Alive in Baghdad was one of two people arrested while reportedly trying to tape protestors in China yesterday. The story first hit my radar yesterday afternoon via a post on Twitter. Details were sketchy, but today's Inquirer has a few more details:

Brian Conley, 28, of West Philadelphia, and Jeffrey Rae, 28, of Wayne, Delaware County, went to China hoping to videotape protests staged by Students for a Free Tibet, according to Conley's wife, Eowyn A. Rieke. (See Conley's video blog at Alive in Baghdad.)

"We knew that the Chinese government is extremely repressive and that they might respond to any effort to get the word out about Tibet strongly," said Rieke, who is a doctor. She is 31 weeks pregnant with what will be her first child. "So I have been stressed and worried, but overall, in the context of things, what he is experiencing is pretty minor compared to what many people have at the hands of the Chinese government ...

Read the entire story at Philly.com

Just wanted to shout out to Above Average Jane on sharing here 2000th post with the Philadelphia community. You've been a daily must read for me and so many to keep up with the political happenings in our region

More eyeballs make all bugs shallow. It's an old saying in open source development circles.

The folks at Young Philly Politics and Hallwatch.org are trying to open up our city's electronic voting results on the Web sooner and to more citizens across the region.

click for more information.

Ultimately, there should be ZERO access to that back end database and a read only version of the results should be published to a public URL. Hopefully by pressing the matter, this will change.

Story Link: Courier Post

Cartoon from Sid in the City

Free the (Schuylkill) River Park Documentary Premier
Followed by Panel Discussion on the Power of Civic Activism

The free viewing of “Free the River Park” will be followed by a panel discussion on the campaign featuring key elected officials and activists. The panel will include Councilman Darrell Clarke, State Representative Babette Josephs and Schuylkill River Park Alliance co-chair Russell Meddin. The movie will be preceded by a light reception.

Date: Thursday, July 17, 2008
Time: 7:30 pm screening; doors open at 6:30
Location: The Academy of Natural Sciences, main auditorium

The film explores a citizens’ ultimately victorious efforts to create and preserve at grade access to the Schuylkill River Park despite the adamant objections of CSX Railroad. The 15-minute film chronicles the protracted grass-roots fight against CSX and their effort to block the community's access to the Schuylkill river, and serves to inspire and instruct other organizations on how to successfully wage efforts to improve and protect their own communities.

Donna Brazile, nationally known political analyst and campaign manager of Al Gore’s 2000 presidential bid, will be the guest speaker at the Pennsylvania Association for Justice (PaAJ) Retreat’s concluding luncheon on Saturday July 12th. As a weekly contributor and political commentator on CNN, a columnist for Roll Call Newspaper and a contributing writer for Ms. Magazine, Brazile will be discussing and sharing her insight into the 2008 Presidential election. The luncheon will be from 12:30 to 2 p.m. at the Sofitel Hotel in Center City, Philadelphia. The event is being sponsored by Consulting Engineers & Scientists, Inc., Citizens Bank, Reliable Copy Services, the PaAJ Women’s Committee and the Women’s Rights Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association. Cost is $85 for PaAJ and AAJ members (which is included in the retreat package) and $100 for non-members.

Phone: 215.546.6451 x101

Some people are being slapped in the face and they don't even know it. It is not just about being black or white. It is also about economics and social stratification. Like Tim Wise said, "divide and conquer." "We were taught to be white." The concept of whiteness didn't exist until after America was discovered. In reality, "America" was taken from the American Indian people. Take a look at some of the videos Tim Wise can be seen on. Some of these videos have been put on Youtube. Tim, thank you for the insights you continue to provide.

Hey Folks,
Media Mobilizing Project put out a press release today urging Philadelphians to call Mayor Nutter on Wednesday. We want people to call-in and ask him to stop Earthlink from dismantling a 17 million dollar wireless network which can be an amazing boon both to city services while working to bridge Philadelphia's massive digital divide. Please join us in calling Mayor Nutter.

When: Wednesday, May 21st 9AM-5PM
Phone Number: (215) 686-3000 or (215) 686-2250

Press Release Below
------------------
Media Mobilizing Project and local broadband activists are urging Philadelphians to call Mayor Michael Nutter on Wednesday May 21, to demand that the city step in to save the Wireless Philadelphia network and keep digital inclusion as part of it's agenda. Earthlink plans to begin dismantling the $17 million network June 12, after failing to convince either the city or a non-profit to assume ownership.

Despite the challenges facing the broadband network, community activists believe it remains a critical asset for helping close the digital divide in Philadelphia-where over half of all households lack a high-speed Internet connection. "In 2005 the city made a promise to provide every Philadelphian, regardless of income, with reliable access to the Internet," says Shivaani Selvaraj of the Media Mobilizing Project. "Mayor Nutter is obligated to
ensure the city makes good on that promise."

The need for digital inclusion is growing exponentially. Today, it is nearly impossible to register for a university course or even check a train schedule without Internet access. Local residents routinely wait two
hours at the Free Library for a 30-minute session on the Web.

Even as Mayor Nutter is prepared to walk away from the WiFi network, his administration committed to making government services available on-line. The Philadelphia Police Department already offers downloadable reports, and the Department of Licenses & Inspections website encourages users to download building permit applications. Residents can even notify the Streets Department about potholes via a hyperlink on that agency's website.
"But without access to the Internet, Philadelphians are blocked from taking advantage of any of these services," says Gwen Shaffer, a doctoral student whose research focuses on broadband policy. "The Nutter administration says it values public participation in the political process. But residents need affordable Internet access in order to be engaged in civic life."

With Earthlink poised to begin taking down the Wireless Philadelphia network June 12, it is critical that local residents immediately pressure the city step in. Concerned residents should contact Mayor Nutter's office at (215) 686-3000 or (215) 686-2250 on Wednesday, May 21st.

Philadelphians will have another opportunity to contribute to the debate about local digital inclusion efforts during a June 3 public forum. The Media Mobilizing Project and Temple University's School of Communication and Theater are co-hosting that event.