"Undermining my electoral viability since 2001."

Wal-Mart Tries to Be MySpace. Seriously

Advertising Age:

It's a quasi-social-networking site for teens designed to allow them to "express their individuality," yet it screens all content, tells parents their kids have joined and forbids users to e-mail one another. Oh, and it calls users "hubsters" -- a twist on hipsters that proves just how painfully uncool it is to try to be cool.

That's pretty funny.

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Thanks Franz

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Consumerist On Nightline

Shoppers Bite Back

This was out a little while ago, but it bears repeating for a couple of reasons.

  1. Corporations can be just a beureaucratic as government, are fundimentally less accountable and lack even a notional mission of "public service." Remember that when you listen to Republicans talking about how this or that should be privatized.
  2. An increasingly democratic distribution of media power (thanks to the internet, peace be unto It) is the 21st Century's freedom of the Press from a checks and balances perspective. Traditional "press" institutions are clearly failing their role as a Fourth Estate. Better to decentralize and distribute that responsibility now that it's technically feasible to do so on a national or global scale.

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A Note On Hezbollah/Hamas/Israel War

I know I said before was my final word, but I think it's worth noting that about a year ago Iran and Syria signed a mutual-defense pact, so with the Bush Administration and the Israeli leadership doing their best to push this to the both of them, it theoretically doesn't matter who gets dragged in first.

Once this gets going, and I tend to think the odds are that it will, we're looking at an "all in" scenario. The IAF has started hitting Lebaneese Army targets (a distinct group from Hezbollah) after word came that they would resist (rather than assist) a ground invasion by the IDF. Ground invasion is probable.

Maybe I should accelerate that biodiesel plan.

Also, watched at bit of FoxNews w/the Girth this morning. I don't really do cable news, so maybe it's always this bad, but it was kind of shocking. 74% of people still get their news from TV. With this kind of coverage, sufficient support for a bombing campaign can't be too hard to work up.

...Which does without saying would be disasterous. More analysis on that point via billmon.

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