Electronic Writer

E.D. Hill, anchor at the Fox News Network has apologized for the allegations she made that Barack Obama and his wife were displaying a secret terrorist fist jab at a rally.

See for yourself:

How many days since Barack Obama was nominated? In this news clip from Fox News Network, the anchor E.D. Hill off-handedly links Senator Barack Obama to terrorism–and gets slayed for it on MSNBC.

So, I was scrolling down Electronic Writer, and what to my wonderous eyes did appear? A full motion banner advertisement for John McCain, and I thought, “Oh what a year!”

That’s right, John McCain is running advertisements on this very blog. It certainly has created a great opportunity for me to expound a bit on the man, and ask a few questions.

Let me begin–I don’t know if he will make a good President, or not. Personally, I like his “maverick” style, or just the fact that everyone thinks he is of the rebellious type.

I certainly respect him for his service to our country, and REALLY respect him for his time as a POW.

There is this certain moment at the 2004 Republican National Convention where he awkwardly hugs George Bush. The hatred for Bush (nearly his arch-enemy for the games and political fraud from the 2000 election) is pretty evident. And, yet, George is giggling away like he is collecting on some bet while John McCain is hugging the man. I would have LOVED to be the fly on the wall when whomever (probably Karl Rove) gave McCain his lecture telling him that if he EVER wanted a shot at the Presidency, he would have to swallow his pride and hug George Bush on-stage and on television . . . . I lost a little respect for the guy there.

His policies COULD appeal to me. He is a pretty liberal conservative (or moderate):

• Here is a SLATE.com article from 2002 saying that McCain should run as a Democrat:
  http://www.slate.com/id/2064727/
• Another 2002 article in the Washington Monthly:
  http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0205.green.htm
• A January 2008 blog post from Political Friends on the same subject:
  http://politicalfriends.blogspot.com/2008/01/john-mccain-democrat.html
• And, an Op-ed piece in the Sacramento Bee on the same subject:
  http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/646189.html
• Tom Delay HATES the guy (this is really a bonus for me). In fact, Delay says that John McCain has hurt the Republican Party more than any other politician.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf7e7R3gSos

There is, however, a glaring problem. John McCain supports the war. Actually, he supports 100 years of war!

Web 2.0 has just moved in a new direction–then it signaled a turn, stepped on the brakes, and parked.

kohring is a flash developer from Japan who incorporated google maps in a REALLY fun new application. He coded a driving simulator that uses Google maps as the backdrop.

If your internet connection is fast, the video is nearly seamless (it boasts 40 frames/second). If your reflexes are fast, you can drive through the streets of Tokyo, London, Manhattan, or the Google plex without crashing.

Give it a whirl: http://geoquake.jp/en/webgame/DrivingSimulatorGM/

Please tell me that you saw Barack Obama’s speech yesterday.  I was unable to, and have only heard snippets and overviews.  I will read the full text later today. 

But, the reactions are pretty consistent–at least from some of the news sources that I respect.  The Huffington Post has collected some of the reactions. 

Read them for yourself . . . .

Obama Race Speech Reaction – Politics on The Huffington Post

I have always been a mash-up of things including (but not limited to) literature and video games.  In that lovely space between sleep and awake I have envisioned a Tomb-Raider-esque tours through Dante’s “Inferno” and Homer’s “Odyssey,” and espionage games based upon Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” and Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World.” 

At first, I thought Second Life might provide the answer . . . although the closest that I could find was troupes of Anime fans recreating comic book wars. 

We Tell Stories may be the beginning of something incredible–or, at least something written/created for the target audience where I so happily belong.

Read the review:
Interactive game mixes classic novels with Web 2.0 mashups | Geek Gestalt – A blog by Daniel Terdiman – CNET News.com

Or, play the game:
We Tell Stories

TechCrunch Announces Launch of Blogger & Podcaster Network

This could be the beginning of something great: a network of new media producers, benefits and collaboration, non-restrictive rules, and an encouragement to join. 

Hmmm . . . .

We all thought that the Internet would break the grip of the corporate-controlled media on information.  Were we right?  This article is a review of Project for Excellence in Journalism. Our assumptions, according to their report, have not quite come to fruition as we had expected.  Read the following Coop’s Corner at CNET for the full story:

Were we wrong about tech and the democratization of media?

Were we wrong about tech and the democratization of media? | Coop’s Corner : A Blog from Charlie Cooper – CNET News.com

How do YOU feel about this happening during a recession? Doesn’t it seem odd that a few profit while the rest of us struggle?

Exxon Mobil reports record profit

This guy is a hero! An American born and raised in Texas, Dahr Jamail went to Iraq as an Independent Journalist to cover the war in the most accurate–without the influence of the coporations who are currently running the media in our country.

His perspectives, images and articles portray a dramatically different scene that what any of our media sources have provided.

This is an interview with him, there are clips of his reporting, as well as images of his work over there.

And, the title are his words . . . .