Saturday, December 15, 2007

Des Moines Register's Endorsement Of Clinton Is Criminal and They Forgot About The Iraq War!

DMR CHOICE - BIG MISTAKE. But the seeds in the DMR selection of Clinton over Obama, sadly, are summed up in the second paragraph of the editorial: "No fewer than three candidates would, by their very identity, usher the nation to the doorstep of history. Should the party offer the nation the chance to choose its first woman president? Or its first black president? Or its first Latino president?"

In other words gender and ethnicity -- not talent or experience -- played a major role in the selection of Clinton. Three women -- all White -- selected a White Woman who's running for President, then had the wrong-headed action of referring to the choice of picking a Woman over someone Black or Latino. Wow!

The editorial never mentioned the need to get out of Iraq and bring our troups home. In fact, it doesn't even mention Iraq at all!

Senator Barack Obama has been focused on this from day one -- Senator Clinton says she'll do it just to get a vote. The DMR editorial board gave a most criminal endorsement.

Criminal, because according to the New York TImes, the DMR Editorial Board allowed itself to be wined and dined by The Clintons. Normally, journalists don't accept dinner, gifts, and favors at all as it taints their ability to make a reasoned decision about news coverage.

Not this time!

Look at this excerpt from the NY Times:

Only nine days earlier, the Clintons had played host to a few top editors for drinks and appetizers at one of Des Moines’s fashionable new restaurants. But on this visit, Mr. Clinton was the closer in the exhaustive campaign of persuasion. Even after an hour he had not made his full case to Laura Hollingsworth, the new publisher, so he called back later in the day.

“Hi, it’s Bill Clinton,” he said, speaking slowly after reaching only voice mail. “I’m just calling to thank Laura for the meeting today. There was one more point I wanted to make, but I’ll keep trying to find her. Anyway, I enjoyed it, and I appreciate the time. Thanks.”

Two days after the former president dropped by, Ms. Hollingsworth smiled as she played the recorded message for a reporter during an interview in her office.

“It was humbling and I was honored to meet with him, but I wouldn’t say it sways me at all,” she said. “In this whole process, star-struck is the least of it.”


What is this? TMZ? Nuts!

Jodie Foster Thanks Her Female Partner In Public, Thus Highlighting a 14-Year Lesbian Relationship

Jodie Foster received the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award and in giving her speech matter-of-factly thanked her partner of 14 years Cydney. In doing so Foster said indirectly what I thought many knew anyway, so I'm suprised it's news.



I've always thought Ms. Foster was not just a terrific actress, but a true lady. I actually met her in 1993 when she walked into a crowded and sunny Pier 23 in San Francisco unknown to the throng, then there was me. Foster walked by and through the crush of people, then stopped; as she did, I took notice.

So I whispered "Ms. Foster. May I have the honor of buying you a cocktail?" Her response was very nice: "Thanks so much. But we're not staying long at all; I'm just looking for a friend. Thanks." And with that, they left -- her and another woman -- after just 7 minutes of time.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Cloverfield Widget | Get "Cloverfield Widget" Here!

In the latest part of what is just an amazing marketing process for a film, J.J. Abrams, the producer of the upcoming movie "Cloverfield" has invited people like you and me to grab a widget for themselves. You can get one here below this and every post. It contains a brief by Abrams and some great scenes from what promises to be an awesome movie.

Click on the widget below, and grab one for your blog or website!

New England Has Record Snowfall Of Over 10 Inches

According to Reuters , New England's facing a record snowfall of over 10 inches and all that while I am in sunny, warm Oakland, California, where the residents complain that it's cold when the temp drops to 50 degrees.


"Spolied" is the word that comes to mind.

After Iowa Debate Obama Rises Both In Focus Groups And Iowa Poll

The last Presidential Debate before the Primaries and caucases was held today and by the Dems. It's a contest that caught the West Coast off-guard as it happened during working hours.

What we missed was a performance which featured Senator Barack Obama getting in what turned out to be the ultimate sound-bite.



It started as Senator Obama was asked why he had so many former Clinton advisors on his foreign policy team and how would that cause him to really bring change. But before Obama could talk, Senator Clinton was heard with her now-famous cackle stating "answer that" and Obama did; he got in this zinger:

"And Hillary, I'm looking forward to you becoming my advisor as well."

Pow. Right between the eyes. You could say she walked right into that one.

The debate overall was a good policy exchange which saw Obama emerge as a leader. Plus, Senator Clinton did not make enough of a difference to change her sagging fortunes before the Iowa Caucus. Senator John Edwards performed well, but it's not believed well enough to turn the tide totally in his favor. It's still a close race, but vastly different than even a month ago.

Now, Senator Obama's top dog in the Des Moines Register's latest poll. Plus, in another poll, the Newsweek Poll shows Obama's lead actually increased to 35 percent versus 29 percent for Clinton.

Meanwhile, Mike Huckabee's leading amoung Republicans and my guess is because he's the one that seems less threatening. Giuliani's off-politics antics make him seem less presidential. Ron Paul's still a bit too extreme for Republicans. And Mitt Romney - in my view -- comes off as both way too high-brow and mean-sprited. Huckabee seems to be the mostly likeable candidate for the Republicans.

Reddit Web 2.0 Party Gallery Lounge San Francisco



This is a "slice of life" video that gives you an idea of what people actually do at these "Web 2.0" parties. It features a brief talk with Reddit founder Steve Huffman, and a look around an all too crowded Gallery Lounge in San Francisco. We meet programmers arguing and someone who shows us how to make an impromptu NDA in a crowded place. Finally, San Franciscans who get around may recognize a certain person.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Ron Paul - ABC News Fix Has Interview Only On Web

This is a terrible bit of news I got from Andrew Sulivan and which he got from The Huff Post's Matt Simon. Apparently Congressman Ron Paul gave an interview to ABC News' John Stossel -- one that ABC didn't show on television, but confined to the World Wide Web.

This is the latest and ultimate example of a mainstream media fix that has been in the works in different forms, from polling to television coverage. New Media to the rescue as bloggers and vloggers uncover a fix that would have determined the election in the past.

No more.

According to Matt Simon, Stossel wrote this:

Despite relatively low poll numbers, Paul has had a big influence on the presidential campaign. That's in part because he's raised a ton of money, and in part because of the passionate following he has on the Web. It's one reason we're posting my interview with Paul only on the Internet, where the debate about Paul is very active. In fact, he's the most Googled presidential candidate.

Yeah, right.

Any Internet expert know that television drives web searches. If the interview were shown on ABC, it would have compelled many undecided viewers to go to their computers and search for news on Ron Paul.

ABC either knew this and punted, or didn't know this, and still worked to deny the Paul interview full disemenation. In either case, it's wrong what was done. Here's the ABC interview.