July 20, 2007

Evidently GW Bush is going into the hospital this weekend for a colonoscopy.

I guess things are slipping enough all around that the administration has actually decided to go looking for his brain … though I’m not really sure why.

However, the really big news is that VP Rich Cheney will officially be President for a day or two.

Some concerned citizens have not been taking this news in a nonchalant manner.

.. or Why Canadian Television News Is So Much Better Than American Television News

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Aw, go on .. it’s satire, doncha know.

Thank goodness it’s on every night, or we might go mad.

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I think I may very well head back to Europe in late September for what looks like a delightful 4 or 5 day "conference".

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Welcome to PICNIC!

Uncork your brain at PICNIC’07

It’s PICNIC time again. Time to feel inspired. Time to make connections. And time to play with everything that’s out there. PICNIC ‘07 takes you outside the average, feeds you fresh innovations and lets your creative mind off the leash.

PICNIC is a seductive, exciting, intangible, unpredictable, cosmopolitan and cheerful annual event for and by the creative industry. PICNIC’07 is the year’s leading European event devoted to creativity and innovation.

Amsterdam’s Westergasfabriek hosts PICNIC’07 from 25 to 29 September 2007.

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Written by Aaron Barlow, here (below in block-quotes) is the lead review on Amazon.com  by Reference and Research Book News …

Whether you agree that blogs and other forms of voice on the Web are posing challenge to the established (and by now certainly the default setting) forms and structures of authority or are poised to be eaten by the Wurlitzer and the Spectacle, a lot has happened in a short time.

Much has been said already about the cacophony of the blog world, and many critics have lamented or lambasted what they believe is the flaming, the heaving of one-dimensional ideas back and forth.  Beyond that real phenomenon, I spend a lot of time reading a wide variety of blogs, and I believe I have watched and seen quite a large number and wide range of people grow in awareness.

I recently read a post by my friend Dave Pollard titled Technophilia, Virtual Communities and the World of Ends, in which he has sadly come to the conclusion that there’s little point in the to-and-fro found in the interconnected online world.  He has concluded that the only way real change, the types of change capable of possibly responding to the formidably daunting challenges facing humankind and the inexorable algebra of human growth on the planet proceeds, will happen is in the trenches of face-to-face local community building and the development of local economic infrastructure, presumably stemming from his concept(s) of the Natural Enterprise. 

I differ in my opinion.  I understand and agree with his point that the systems we live in will wind themselves tighter and tighter and that the problems will get more complex, chaotic, unpredictable and probably unmanageable within the frames of thinking and action we now employ.  However, I think he focused too much on the technological capability for disintermediation outlined in the World of Ends premise, which I believe is mainly aimed at the business world and the impact of the Web on traditional business models.

That said, with respect to major societal and socio-economic change, I think it is fundamental that people are able to come to new perspectives, which I submit they can only grow into with new information and awakened awareness.  I believe that the web and the people that activate it every day will play a substantial and critical role in growing the awareness of new possibilities and new ways of doing things .. and that these are necessary precursor to constructive action.

Anyway, I have not yet read the book, but it looks promising .. and there is, I believe, no denying that the serious, purposeful blogs and blog communities active in the political and citizen journal arenas are having major impact, and will have more.

The Rise of the Blogosphere, by Aaron Barlow

“The growing importance of online political weblogs, collectively known as the "blogosphere," has been characterized by many as a fundamentally new development in the American journalistic landscape. But for Barlow, the blogosphere is in many ways a regression back to the early American popular press, which allowed a multiplicity of voices and opinions and helped stimulate democratic debate.

Over the years, the commercialization, consolidation, and professionalization of American public journalism provided fewer and fewer venues for popular opinion and for discussion of issues the professional media considered unimportant. It is the promise of blogs to renew the abandoned practice of citizen journalism, and not some magic technological newness, that have led to the rapid explosion of the blogosphere.”

– Reference & Research Book News

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And just for the heck of it … name that principle

A dynamic two-way flow of power and authority based on trust, knowledge, credibility and

a focus on results, enabled by interconnected people and technology.

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V for Vendetta, the movie …

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Given the developments of the last 18 months or so since this movie was released, it’s interesting to watch it again and consider carefully some of the activities and dynamics (mainly on the part of the government in power) to which it alludes.

Below, from the Wikipedia’s V For Vendetta entry’s section on anarchism and fascism …

As an aside, I interpret "fuhrerprinzip" as not so very different than the continuing claiming by CheneyBush of unitary executive power

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Anarchism versus fascism

The two conflicting political viewpoints of anarchism and fascism permeate the story. The Norsefire regime shares every facet of fascist ideology: it rules by fear and authority and worships strong leadership (i.e. the

Dear American Friends … Welcome To Your New Reality

July 20, 2007 in Main Page | 2 comments

I take this recent development to mean that the coup d’etat begun in 2000 is essentially complete.

If I interpret this correctly, Cheney and Bush can now say to the American people "Bring it on" and "Go fuck yourselves" in the same sentence, and not bat an eyelash.

Via the Washington Post

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Broader Privilege Claimed In Firings
White House Says Hill Can’t Pursue Contempt Cases
Dan Eggen and Amy Goldstein

Friday, July 20, 2007

Bush administration officials unveiled a bold new assertion of executive authority yesterday in the dispute over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, saying that the Justice Department will never be allowed to pursue contempt charges initiated by Congress against White House officials once the president has invoked executive privilege.

The position presents serious legal and political obstacles for congressional Democrats, who have begun laying the groundwork for contempt proceedings against current and former White House officials in order to pry loose information about the dismissals.

Under federal law, a statutory contempt citation by the House or Senate must be submitted to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, "whose duty it shall be to bring the matter before the grand jury for its action."

But administration officials argued yesterday that Congress has no power to force a U.S. attorney to pursue contempt charges in cases, such as the prosecutor firings, in which the president has declared that testimony or documents are protected from release by executive privilege. Officials pointed to a Justice Department legal opinion during the Reagan administration, which made the same argument in a case that was never resolved by the courts.

"A U.S. attorney would not be permitted to bring contempt charges or convene a grand jury in an executive privilege case," said a senior official, who said his remarks reflect a consensus within the administration. "And a U.S. attorney wouldn’t be permitted to argue against the reasoned legal opinion that the Justice Department provided. No one should expect that to happen."

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Update: