Thursday, January 29, 2009

Final Inauguration 2009 blog post ... See you in 2012.

for other posts, please view:
PoliticiansTV

blogging:
Everybody had a camera. Everybody. No where did you go and not see hands stuck in the air recording everything and anything. Smile! Can I take your picture? Where are you from? Does this diminish the value of any prints out there or make the best ones more valuable? We will never see them all.

This #inaug09 was a full frontal New Media outing (again!). Caveat: It's level of interactivity was minimal - 20% citizen / candidate immersion at best. We witnessed very little contact (organization) with attending citizens on the ground (Citizen interaction was in small defined groups - no large demonstrations or gatherings were visible or audible.) Events appeared to be very much about pomp and the moment.

There was very little intrusion from law enforcement although obvious around an entire perimeter. Witnessed 1 military defensive action. People were cut off from food, water, security and on foot. Metro's were jammed and shut down (Metro Station) with little or no way to figure out what was true or which stations would be affected. People trusted "hearsay," "rumor", and good will. Their seemed to be much hearding going on as people would stand in lines for long amounts of time only to realize the line went no where. This is true everywhere we went. There were no Information booths for people to help you get around or understand what events were happening or when. No vendors of anything visible. No people on loudspeakers to lead. Nothing. Very minimal police / gov / "visible" presence.

update:
Cell phones must have been jammed on a "haphazard basis" as they would go up and down in terms of signal. It could not have just been capacity - their appeared to be no reason why a citizen would call at the same time unless you base it on speaker impact possibilities / potential. Some of the speakers would generate very little interest to begin with. As well, since there was "no" information available to people walking around, nobody knew anything unless they had a “connection” to the outside. The White House and surrounding Mall is on physical / technical lock down.

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ATT signal dropped for a full hour period (1:00pm) and txt messaging went down fully.
Update: ATT Service works again (- 2:22pm) and I was able to "phone" out of state.
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txt msg not working.

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Web access and in turn IM had been disrupted. It seemed blocked and sudden.


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Walking for hours to the farthest MEtro stop to exit Mall area.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Barack Hussein Obama Inauguration 2009 ... blogging

The drive from Philadelphia, PA USA was 2:40 minutes. We saw very little traffic on I95. We continued to Northern Virginia via the Chain bridge and saw large trucks with snow plows positioned off the roads and no traffic. We have been told that bridges would be blocked at 4AM. We arrived by 3:45 and and met up with our host, Washington Bureau Chief Alan Rosnenblatt who has briefed us.

Washington DC is on lock-down, cold, and very quite.

Expected attendance is 2 million and they will spill into the city all at once starting now via public transportation that will be no doubt very slow.

Ongoing.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Hamas rethinks its position. Israel blinks. The world thinks.

blogging:

Has the state of Israel experienced a positive reaction in world opinion on the matter of their right to exist during the war in Gaza? Has the Israelie media team some how managed to shape global expression?
The expected immediate and violent backlash has not happened from the Arab world – yet. Israel seems to have shaped world opinion to believe that it is acting in self defense. This global RS ( Reaction Scenerio) seems familiar to how the United States was perceived immediatly after the World Trade Center attacks. This manifestation and growth of world opinion based on events has happened swiftly and will last for just a few short days. It has happened in the past. Can Israel negotiate swiftly its way out of the conflict with world opinion intact? Will they get what they came for - The complete cessation of rocket and mortar fire into Israel with International assurance that it will not occur? Will a prisoner exhange be part of the negotiation? Will we know?

Has Israel finally taken on the task of engaging with the world community as a debater of its right to exist by taking on the enormous task of speaking to the world in real time - across all platforms, media’s, and possibilities? We think so. But if Israel keeps out world media and produces a carnival of media (cool smart bomb shots posted to the web …) that results in perceived true or not distortions, which they will most certainly be spun into, then make haste or be ready to take on the global swarm.

There's no turning back.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Middle East Links - The Israel Project (TIP)

Post:

The following links are organized to help you learn more about Israel and the Middle East. Click on the headings below to jump to a specific group of links.

end.

Why Hamas can cease fire ...

The Palestinian Israeli conflict reaches a crucial cross-road. Israel is demonstating to its enemies and the world that it will act capably on the ground and thoughtfully in the media by exposing how the untruths of Arab propaganda victimize Arabs first.

Israel has been in a state of war since May 1948. Wars are fought to be won. The scope of anti-Israel militancy has expanded to "Jews" anywhere, any time -- and with disproportionate cruelty to the victims. It was not always like this. This probably did not go unnoticed to Israel's politicians and military of the savagery taking place under the guise of resistance.

Whatever illusions came from Israel's retreat at the hands of Hizbollah, the Israelis are now showing that if Hamas remains incapable of accepting peace and two sates, Israel can destroy them.

Hamas has an opportunity to act and take charge of the bully pulpit they currently claim. They have Hezbollah as an example in Lebanon. Hamas has proven itself as fierce fighters. Standing on the dead bodies of your comrades with everything destroyed around you and rattling your Saber is no way to claim victory. Put down your arms and pick up ploughs and partnerships from whom you choose. Remember the people you are trying to save.


Notes: Jewish refugees fleeing the fighting:
Move to New Palestine and attempt tp take their plight to the heart of the matter.