Would you like to watch a presidential (or vice-presidential) debate while simultaneously reading what people all over the world are, in the moment, writing about that very debate?
(I’m talking about something entirely different than the graphs provided by CNN to instantaneously illustrate the reactions of various voting groups…)
Here’s the deal: on the Current cable television network last Friday they tried an entirely new approach to debate-viewing, called “Hack the Debate.” While Obama and McCain went at it, in almost real-time, on the bottom of the screen, the network displayed Twitter posts (discussed in my “Digital Intimacy” essay of September 15) from folks who were tweeting about the debate. It was a pretty interesting process. A tweet would appear onscreen from someone, somewhere, and then slowly dissolve away while a new one appeared.
I have to admit that, although I found it fascinating, it was also a tad confusing. It was like having subtitles during a movie containing the director’s comments on the significance of the scene. I had a bit of a challenge listening to what Obama and McCain were saying, and how they were saying it, and at the same time reading what everyone else was thinking about what was going on. It was a LOT to pay attention to.
Especially because I was writing comments as well. Yes, I had my laptop in front of me and I was composing my own observations. (As far as I can tell, though, nothing of mine was on the air.) AND, I was monitoring Twitter’s own streaming coverage, with comments very quickly whizzing by at http://election.twitter.com/.
If you want to try a whole new debate-watching experience, catch Biden and Palin (if she’s still the nominee, that is) this week on Current (Comcast channel 107 in Marin). Better yet, get a Twitter account and join in on the fun!
I’m still trying to wrap my mind around what is happening here in this country with regard to the economy. Does anybody out there really get it?
Nobody I know does. And even the “experts” are struggling with their sense-making.
Maybe, if anyone saw this disaster coming, then, perhaps, we might have done a better job of heading it off? Of course, then, well, let me think: Bush is still running the country. So I guess there’s no one really minding the store.
I heard on both NPR and MSNBC this week that we came just this close to plunging into The Great Depression II. And, that we’re not out of this yet…despite the massive $700 billion federal bailout, we’re still looking for more businesses to fail, many more workers to lose their jobs.
I have to admit to being scared. In the post-911 era, it took three years for me to lose the last “permanent” job I had. I’ve struggled with my life, in one way or another, ever since. Then, earlier this year, I lost a double-digit percentage of my AIG-invested retirement funds before I made the move to a more conservative investment strategy. The new approach isn’t really earning me money anymore, but the bleeding, thank god, for the time-being, has been stopped.
What happens to me? ….what happens to us? …if we’re not able to work our way out of this crisis.
Although it’s been 38 years now, I can’t seem to forget this day.
This is excerpted from the Eau Claire (Wisconsin) Leader-Telegram, May 4, 1970…
Non-Silent Minority Opposes New Thrust
To the Editor:
I [must protest] the decision, announced by President Nixon on April 30, to deploy American ground and air combat troops into neutralist Cambodia. This [action … further compounds mistakes] … [already made] by this and previous administrations …
I truly am unable to comprehend how the American people [are able to] tolerate such irresponsibility [on the part of our national leadership] …
American young men are dying in Vietnam, and now Cambodia. For what?
[If] the South Vietnamese people are determined to be free of Communist aggression, they themselves are the ones who must rally forces to fight and defend their land.
[Our presence] in Southeast Asia is unconstitutional … we are engaged in a large scale war operation without a formal declaration of war. [Surely this is a] mockery of the document upon which our form of government was established … !
[Are] not the “brave young men,” including reluctant inductees, dying needlessly [in a part of the world where we have no legitimate business]? I [believe] this [to be] the case and cannot agree with the President’s decision to expand the war efforts in Southeast Asia for any reason or for any length of time. Mr. Nixon, you must bring all the American troops home immediately and call a halt to this immoral, unjust and unconstitutional fiasco.
Respectfully, from one of the non-silent minority,
Kent, Ohio, May 4 -- Four students at Kent State University, two of them women, were shot to death this afternoon by a volley of National Guard gunfire. At least 8 other students were wounded.
The burst of gunfire came about 20 minutes after the guardsmen broke up a noon rally on the Commons, a grassy campus gathering spot, by lobbing tear gas at a crowd of about 1,000 young people…
The weather this weekend in Marin County, California, was absolutely perfect. Both days were clear, sunny and hot…with temperatures into the upper 80s. However, as recently as a few days ago (and then again today), the daytime highs were in the 50s - and the blustery winds made it feel even colder. Last Tuesday was very chilly. That was the day I was making my preparations to attend the Olympic Torch Relay.
I had a vacation day scheduled for Wednesday, and planned to take the ferry into The City for a day of observing and photographing the event(s). It surely seemed like a day of potential excitement (what with the recent, well, passionate protests in Paris and London)…and one that held some promise for colorful photos of the planned demonstrations.
Ah, but the important question for me: howdo I keep warm? After all, these happenings were to take place along the waterfront in San Francisco…not exactly the most comfy place in the world on lots of days, what with the probability for low temperatures and howling winds. Given the propensity of my body to tighten up with both stress and cold, and the fact that I’d be carrying heavy camera equipment, I would need to dress appropriately for the occasion and take a minimalist approach to packing and toting my gear.
So, folks, this is the most important factor for me these days as I prepare for a day of protesting. How do I keep these old bones and muscles from freezing up?
Well, I came up with some answers.
First off: long underwear. Yes, here it is April in the Golden State, and for the only time this year, I donned a pair of my silk, REI-brand long-johns. Then, of course, SmartWool socks and my ECCO cross-trainers. The rest of the outfit included:
jeans,
a short sleeve t-shirt, covered by a long-sleeved t-shirt,
covered by a North Face fleece pullover, covered by a multi-pocketed photographer’s vest,
all topped off with a baseball-type cap (with a peace sign on it).
Finally, to keep my body even more toastfully comfortable, I wore (underneath everything) two ThermaCare heatwraps: one around my midsection for my lower-back, and one across the tops of my shoulder blades.
I carried my smallest camera bag that held just one body, one lens, an extra battery, and compact flash cards.
And this worked!
I must report total success. I was there wandering around and taking photographs for three and a half hours. I was quite comfortable the entire time (it turned out to be a sunny, not-too-windy day), and survived the adventure in fine form.
One guy about my age, who was carrying a hand-made “Free Tibet” sign, called his wife on the ferry ride home and said that he’d had enough for the day. “My feet are killing me,” he reported.
You’ll remember that two weeks ago, I was eagerly anticipating The Big Peace March scheduled for March 15 in downtown San Rafael. And, indeed, I was in attendance yesterday as a few interested citizens showed up to protest our continued involvement in Iraq.
Several hundred people attended a march and rally in downtown San Rafael on Saturday to protest the continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq, just days before the five-year anniversary of the invasion…
In my opinion, this is truly a misrepresentation of the event.
I was there. I estimated the crowd at between 100 and 200 during the noon-time rally…after which I left. Unless there was a massive influx of participants for the actual march itself, immediately following the speeches, I believe our local reporter over-reached in doing his crowd estimate.
I found the turnout yesterday to be tremendously disappointing. As you may recall, I was similarly dismayed last year in downtown San Francisco when we gathered to protest the fourth anniversary of the war’s beginning.
My observations are more-or-less validated by a front-page article today in the San Francisco Chronicle, which states that…
The war in Iraq has gone on for five years now, but there is almost no sign of it in the Bay Area, a region where 7 million people live…
The Bay Area has a reputation for being a hotbed of anti-war sentiment, the legendary “Left Coast” where all the politicians are liberals and all the citizens are activists.
It is also the home of Travis Air Force Base, one of the country’s largest with a direct role in Iraq, and a place where anti-war protesters plan to mark the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war with parades and demonstrations.
But mostly, Bay Area people seem to have put the war in the back of their minds. They are not indifferent about the war. They just don't want to think about it.
I agree. People seem to have, mostly, put this war out of their heads: we seem to be in a kind of massive, nationwide, State Of Denial that the U.S. has so royally fucked up.
I ask: What will it take to shake us up? When are we ever going to get off our duffs and demand that this insanity stop?
Soundtrack Suggestion
Where have all the soldiers gone? Long time passing Where have all the soldiers gone? Long time ago Where have all the soldiers gone? Gone to graveyards every one When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?
