The Insurgency has begun!

Something tells me we are going to see a lot more of these!

(H/T to NobleThinking.com!)

by Nick Dranias
Goldwater Institute

The Federal Communications Commission wants to force network service providers–the companies that own and operate the wires, routers and computers that keep the Internet humming–to transmit streaming audio, video and anything else on terms the FCC deems “neutral” regardless of how much bandwidth the data consumes. Network providers say the regulation will eliminate their ability to manage network traffic and effectively clog up the Internet. They argue that such “net neutrality” will deter and destroy private sector investment in the Internet.

But there’s something more important than that at stake. It’s the First Amendment.
 
In Comcast Cablevision v. Broward County, Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks struck down a county ordinance that forced a cable company to give its competitors equal access to its communication infrastructure. Much like advocates of net neutrality argue today, the county government argued that its “open access” ordinance did not offend the First Amendment because it ensured the transmission of more, rather than less, information by more companies. Judge Middlebrooks rejected that argument, ruling that the First Amendment prohibits government from forcing owners of communication infrastructure to transmit information against their will. He also held that government has no power to force the distribution–or “circulation”–of information because “[l]iberty of circulating is not confined to newspapers and periodicals, pamphlets and leaflets, but also to delivery of information by means of fiber optics, microprocessors and cable.”
 
Net neutrality should suffer the same fate. Forcing network service providers to transmit information “neutrally” is actually worse than forcing “open access” on cable companies. Because unlike cable companies, network service providers typically do not enjoy government monopoly franchises. For this reason, net neutrality is even more like forcing a printer to publish books, newspapers, periodicals, pamphlets and leaflets on the government’s terms. And when it comes to government seizing command and control over freedom of the press, the First Amendment is anything but neutral.

Nick Dranias holds the Goldwater Institute Clarence J. and Katherine P. Duncan chair for constitutional government and is the director of the Institute’s Dorothy D. and Joseph A. Moller Center for Constitutional Government.

A recent question by Howard Kurtz got me thinking, is Twitter worth all the hype? His question was this:

“Is Twitter just a fun hangout, or do you buy the Time-cover argument that it’s changing the way we communicate and get information?”

If you have not heard of Twitter you have not been watching television. It seems every journalist, television personality, and celebrity cannot get enough of Twitter. I know a lot of people that are enamored with Twitter. They use it on their blackberry, iphone, laptops, ect…they are “tweeting” all the time. My clients are interested in how to incorporate this nifty, yet oftentimes strategically confusing medium, into a comprehensive campaign strategy.

My personal belief is that we will get sick of Twitter before it can live out its potential. What is its potential? Twitter is a personal communication and collaboration tool. It has the ability to let people communicate in real time with the people all around the world. Unfortunately if you are familiar with Twitter most of the dialogue descends into unimportant babble. Why? Because you are limited to 140 characters. This is the typical Tweet:

Went to dinner at Olive Garden, it was awesome!5:05 PM Jun 5th from TwitterBerry

It becomes difficult to really share your feelings regarding an issue or an event of importance. The bridge that Twitter has yet to cross is to merge e-mail, instant messaging, wiki, and social networking in a real time environment. Twitter is absolutely useful if used correctly, correctly meaning that it is used to announce events, recent news, and make requests. It becomes a bother when it is merely an outlet to describe the last meal you had.

So, should Republicans use Twitter? Yes, but effectively as described above. A carefully designed blogging platform along with other mediums such as Facebook and MySpace is much more effective.

It is sad that the Republican Party is so far behind in collecting the most useful information in politics by not implementing the most advanced methods available. The Arizona Republican Party has a subpar social strategy; they don’t even have a Twitter account which the Arizona Democrats have. ( UPDATE: I guess they do have one but I have not been able to locate it but I stick by my comment because it is not easily found )

A little background on myself. I am in my mid 20’s and I am a social media consultant who also owns a web design firm. Basically, I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about the technological tools that are available to political campaigns, this includes Twitter.

… the US government has intensified its crackdown on political dissidents opposing corporate globalization, and it is using the same intimidating and probably unconstitutional tactics against demonstrators at the presidential inauguration. (The Nation Magazine, January 19, 2001)

http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/10371

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Dissent/Crackdown_Dissent.html

The Canada Free Press is citing one FBI source who is strongly suggesting that those who attended the recent Tea Party may now be semi-celebrities on law enforcement surveillance video tapes.

The second citation provided above is the other side’s story of protest surveillance, those who have been protesting the World Bank, the IMF for years now.  I liked the second story particularly because it was written at the dawn of the second Bush administration.

Keep in mind, Janet Reno was Janet Napolitano’s mentor when Nappy served in the US Justice Department.  Their relationship is well documented.  So we have an idea of what to expect under Nappy’s reign at Homeland Security.  I know for a fact that the MMCDC was infiltrated by the SPLC who provided information on the Border Watch to a government agency.  Yeah, the old folks in lawn chairs sitting on the border in 2004 were the subject of government surveillance.

My point is, rather than sniping at each other as in the cartoon Spy versus Spy, both sides of the political spectrum should be carefully looking at the emergence of a very paranoid centralized government with legal powers not seen in North America since before the founding of our country.

Perhaps those “hidden hands of power” have perfected the illusion of Republican versus Democrat to the point that most Americans view their governance as yet another sporting event.

Could it be that, as the title of Larry Elder’s book suggests, there’s only a dimes worth of difference between either major political party?  Rather, those holding power have utilized the dialectic to herd an inattentive populace into fascism with a happy face?

Perhaps this is what’s behind the government’s paranoia; the people might wake up.  Consider that since at least the Jimmy Carter Administration, fear has been the means of motivation behind many calls for “Change”.

Maybe both sides now should look at their common ground, step out of the sporting event dialectic and as Toto did in the Wizard of Oz, pull back the curtain behind which our nation’s leaders are hiding.

Senate bills No. 773 and 778, introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.V., are both part of what’s being called the Cybersecurity Act of 2009, which would create a new Office of the National Cybersecurity Advisor, reportable directly to the president and charged with defending the country from cyber attack.

These bills include granting the White House new powers to access private online data, regulate the cybersecurity industry and even shut down Internet traffic during a declared “cyber emergency”.

Here’s the question:  Why does Jay Rockefeller feel the need to expand Federal powers over the internet?  Isn’t that sort of what we criticize China for doing?  Will our information become as sanitized as China’s?  And check out this feature of the bill,  the text proposes implementation of a professional licensing program for certifying who can serve as a cybersecurity professional.

Could it be that Jay Rockefeller doesn’t like the organizing power of the internet?

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/?pageId=93966

Here is a link to the latest technology being used in the race for Town Council in Gilbert.

When you click on the link you will see and hear Chandler Councilman, Jeff Weninger, tell you why he is supporting political newcomer, Jenn Daniels, in her bid for Town Council.

Using a product called Talk Fusion Councilman Weninger is able to sit down at his Mac or PC and deliver a video message and within minutes, broadcast it to his constituents or in this case, politically active friends on behalf of Gilbert Town Council candidate, Jenn Daniels.

This form of campaigning is joining Twitter, FaceBook and other technology to get messages out in a flash and at vitually no cost.

I should disclose that I am helping Jenn Daniels in her campaign for one of the Gilbert council seats and urge all our Gilbert readers to do the same.

Jenn Daniels is a new, energetic and savvy resident of Gilbert and will be a great addition to a town that has undergone tremendous growth and change and has a great future especially for young families.

You can find out more about Jenn Daniels by visiting her website at www.VoteforJenn.com or following her on Twitter and FaceBook.

Now for something on the lighter side…

If you are not using Microsoft Office 2007 I have one word of advice – DON’T

I am (used to be) a big fan of Microsoft. I remember the days of Windows 2.0 and 3.1. My first application program was Microsoft Excel 2.0. It included a runtime version of Windows if you were still on a DOS machine. The software came in a suitcase sized box and included instruction manuals. What I liked (past tense) about the programs is each upgrade of Excel and later Office took just a few minutes of transition time. No more. Word is a mess. Try finding the Edit, Find option.

If you must upgrade research your options. You might find another word processor that does everything you need for less money. It certainly will not take you any less time to learn a new program since Microsoft Word and Office have been so drastically altered.

You have been warned.

(This post was written in Adobe Dreamwaever.)

     Congratulations to everyone at Tucson based Raytheon Missile Systems for a well-made product. The SM-3 missile traveled 130 miles before making a direct hit on a failing U.S. satellite. Excellent video of the intercept can be seen at Breitbart TV. It is almost enough to make an adult proud of his/her country. Another great legacy of Ronald Reagan – Missile Defense.

Top that Phoenix!

After reading an article in the Phoenix Republic section of the Arizona Republic bragging about how much traffic the Republic’s blogs are getting (which I don’t read – the formatting on its website is so bad, difficult to maneuver around, and constantly being changed so you can’t bookmark favorites or consistently find anything, that it’s not worth the headache), I decided to research how many people are really visiting its azcentral.com site, which includes its blogs. The article didn’t mention how many unique visitors the blogs are getting, it only referred to hits – which could be grossly inflated if you have the same tech support guys at work and employees accessing the site frequently.

I looked up azcentral.com’s popularity and performance on quantcast.com, and alexa.com, two of the leading website stats trackers. The graph below is from alexa and tracks what percentage of global users are accessing the site over the past 5 years. As you can see, the Republic’s share has been sharply declining.

Quantcast only tracks sites within the past 6 months. Their chart, which tracks monthly unique U.S. visitors, reveals the same downward trend, which buttresses the accuracy of these numbers and this trend.

Below are two more charts from alexa showing how azcentral.com’s ranking among all the websites in the world in terms of popularity has continued to decline, and also its page views.

In comparison, check out the graph for KTAR.com, right wing talk radio that is adapting slowly to the web with news articles:

The Republic’s downward trend started coincidentally around the same time the paper hired Keven Willey as editor, who pushed the paper much farther to the left. It has continued to take a hard left slant under editor Ward Bushee and now Randy Lovely with no sign that the bleeding will stop. Any predictions on how long before the Republic closes its doors? The Seattle Times announced over Christmas that it’s not making it, and they are going to try to cut jobs and change the newspaper, but one of the options considered at this point is shutting down. They’ll probably be gone in a year. Espressopundit has noted that it takes 100 times as many website readers to generate the ad revenues as print readers. The Republic must really be tanking with declining web readers in addition to its declining print subscribers.