Asymptomatic

I didn't want to vote yesterday. I watched CNN last night, not raptly, but with a sense of knowing what was coming. As a sort of passive observer of the political process this year, it has been interesting to see all of the work finally play out, but I can't help but notice that while, as usual, the election is not really about the issues, it's also no longer about whatever nonsense it happened to be about before.

At a session I attended BlogOrlando this year, a presenter discussed his role in helping change the image of Fiskars, the scissor people, by bringing social interaction to the table to sit beside marketing and branding. In a very compelling part of his talk, he said that the challenge and success was in creating a movement. And yes, apparently, even if delicacy is required, movements can be engineered.

So I'm amused by what I see on TV and in the paper today. I don't necessarily disagree with Obama's policies or ideas for change, but what I do see is a movement for change where perhaps the prescribed change itself isn't the instrument of its creation. I see an engineering of politics that the world has yet to endure - one where social media, an engineered movement, has led people to make decisions that are very large....

This graph shows the time distribution of how I spend my day. In case you wondered.

I had no idea that politics in Downingtown was such a mud-slinging exercise.

I've been getting junk in my door at home, and also in my mailbox (this is illegal, by the way, if you're putting non -USPS mail in my USPS mailbox) touting the virtues of a couple of borough candidates for Mayor.

Personally, I would like to see none of them win. Maybe it's about time the incestuous infighting came to a conclusion. I don't think either of these people have the best interests of our town in mind, they just want to beat the other guy....

I did not receive an email like this today:

Greetings Mr. Winkler,

The Federal Election Commission would like to inform you of an observed non-compliance with FEC election laws concerning the publication of works regarding candidates for federal office.

Your weblog has been selected by an automated system to be evaluated by an agent selected for this purpose. A copy of selected portions of your site has been cached by the FEC system and will be presented to the court upon any findings of non-compliance by the FEC agent.

You will receive additional correspondence from the FEC regarding this matter via registered mail. Please provide any additional requested information about the content of your site, the location of your server, and the visitor logs to the FEC agent upon request.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Scary? more

Ugh. Apart from being one of the most rhetoric-filled "news"-casts on TV or XM radio, Linda Vester's Dayside is also one of the slowest updated shows on the web. As a result, I can't find a reference to today's guest, who was an advocate for censoring television.

The argument of this person, a male book author (I'm listening in the car, so I don't get any on-screen prompts with names or anything), was that the Constitution does not provide a right for citizens to be able to view pornographic programming - in this case, referring to an ad showing Paris Hilton writhing around on the hood of a car. He contends that it is our duty to impose moral standards to which broadcasters can comply so that our children aren't affected by lewd or violent content in the media.

Well, that's utter crap all around, and I'll tell you why. more