Cubelogic Improv

Finally somebody understood the problem from its roots. Why did it take so long? This is a ground-breaking step in US politics. Go Larry.

Technorati Tags: lessig, corruption, lobbying

Two things I can see from the CNN screenshot (taken today Feb 5 around 11:20 PM):
1. People are voting for a candidate who already bailed from the race (Edwards got out a week ago)
   Corollary: Either I am missing something basic (votes for Edwards’ are transfered to whoever he endorses?) or somebody is pretty disconnected from reality.

2. CNN doesn’t even report results for the only “other” democratic candidate around, Mike Gravel.

It has to be said that CNN (and all other mainstream media outlets) has totally ignored Gravel giving him no TV air time, so at least they are coherent bastards. However, how can legit “alternative” candidates like Gravel ever stand a chance if no-one even consider them? Has he lost before even trying, or are we making him lose? Is this democratic? Is this giving everybody a fair chance? I don’t pretend equality, just the fairness of doing your job.

Technorati Tags: mike gravel, cnn, primaries, air time

Net neutrality is a pretty basic subject about the future of the internet. You are either in favor, or not. Why is Senator McCain’s position so convoluted? How about a simple yes or no. (’Cos there’s no maybe, really.)

Question: Let’s talk about net neutrality. It’s probably the most important issue in Silicon Valley, and yet it rarely makes its way to Washington-level consciousness. Barack Obama recently came out saying that he would promise to make it a priority if he became president. What is your position on the net neutrality issue?

McCain Answer: In general, I think we need to move to a different model for thinking about the FCC. I think it should focus on policing clearly anti-competitive behavior and consumer predators. But, frankly, until some foul has been committed, I don’t think it should be interfering in the market, and probably shouldn’t be trying to micromanage American business and innovation. This is a very tough issue, because if you look at the extremes of it, then, obviously it has significant consequences – you can’t restrain the market, you can’t say that people can’t make a living or a profit off of the Internet. That obviously is not the intent of why the Internet was invented, and the reason why it has flourished. So what I would like to do is keep an eye on what goes on with the Internet, whether people are taking unfair advantage of it, whether people are being ripped off, and how this thing progresses. The great thing about the Internet is that it has enjoyed, to a large degree, immunity from federal interference and federal regulation. So, I have a tendency to say, look, let’s see how this thing all turns out, rather than anticipate something that, a problem that so far has not arisen in any significant way. I know that sounds a little bit equivocal, but it has a lot to do with my reluctance to use, my inclination to use government intervention only when it’s absolutely necessary.

Technorati Tags: Net Neutrality, John McCain

A me piacerebbe pure tornare a votare con una legge elettorale decente, ma cosa cambierebbe? Le faccie da votare sarebbero sempre quelle. Se non e’ Berlusconi, e’ Prodi; se non e’ Prodi, e’ Fassino; se non e’ Fassino, e’ Bertinotti; se non e’ Bertinotti, e’ Bonino; se non e’ Bonino, e’ Mastella. E di Di Pietro ce n’e’ soltanto uno.

Servono nuove persone e soprattutto nuovi metodi per controllare ’sta gente in modo piu’ diretto. Devono essere braccio e meno mente.

This election seems to me like an example of direct democracy but you need to be informed for it to work!

• Info for all states (including all electorial contests for direct election of State Senate, State Assembly, Supreme Court and Court of Appeal judges, school and city officials, various municipal directors):
  smartvoter.org
• California:
  voterguide.ss.ca.gov
• MoveOn ballot endorsements:
  snipurl.com/zfke

I just read a few articles about our new ultra-conservative, ex-nazist soldier, scary-looking Pope Benedict XVI, aka Cardinal Ratzinger, and his connections with the Bush family. I’m just gonna write it down. This is really disgusting.

New Pope Intervened against Kerry in US 2004 Election Campaign (Agence France-Presse) [April 19, 2005]
www.truthout.org/docs_2005/042005Z.shtml

Neil Bush and Cardinal Ratzinger, associates in Switzerland, during 2001 [comedonchisciotte.org] [May 3, 2005]
www.comedonchisciotte.org/site/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=949

In 1986, Ratzinger defended violence against gays when he issued the “Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons,”. In the same letter, Ratzinger called gay rights advocacy a threat to the family. [January 13, 2005]
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/04/ratzinger-defends-violence-against.html
http://users.starpower.net/rrosendall/archive/2005/raisingratzinger0113.shtml

Pope Benedict XVI issued an order ensuring the church’s investigations into child sex abuse claims be carried out in secret. The order was made in a confidential letter, obtained by The Observer, which was sent to every Catholic bishop in May 2001. [The Observer] [April 24, 2005]
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1469055,00.html

Ratzinger also has a Fab Club and signs autographs, just like a movie star.
www.ratzingerfanclub.com
www.ratzingerfanclub.com/ratzinger_autographs.jpg

I use this blog as a memory (among other uses). I’d like to remember this explanatory article about why General Clark was a good US presidential candidate. (The article is by M. Moore.)

There is an interesting article with plenty of data and facts at commondreams.org (in my opinion, a very nice source of news), about how the recent presidential elections in the US of A have been manipulated: www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1106-30.htm.
The article also lead me to 2 very important web sites:
1. blackboxvoting.org ## the consumer procection against election irregularities. Started by Bev Harris, a grandmother who started questioning the way elections are being done here in the US. She is my hero now, and a good inspiration.
2. votergate.tv ## a short shoking documentary about how votes can be manipulated without leaving any traces. The short film explains the problems of the current situation in the US, where a corporation (Diebold) makes electronic voting machines, these machines are controlled by proprietary software and do not release a paper trail, this software is considered a trade secret and nobody can look at it to see how it is manipulating the votes, and the government largely adopted this flawed and faulty implementation in the 2004 race. The documentary also shows how a voting result in one county can be completely turned upside down in a matter of 90 seconds. Free download available at the home page. If download doesn’t work, email me.