Earth Hour 2009 is being called the first global election where every human's vote counts. Across the globe, on Saturday, March 28, 2009, the polls are open between 8:30-9:30 p.m., all people are already registered and no special ballots or political parties are needed. To vote, people simply have to turn out their lights for one hour.
Unlike any election in history, it's not about where a person is from, what political affiliation or stance on Earth. In fact, the event is billed as VOTE EARTH, a global call to action for every individual, business and community to take control of the future of the planet. Nearly 100 countries have pledged participation according to project sponsors WWF.
This year, all are encouraged to particpate virtually by submitting photos and videos when the time is right. Additionally, Earth Hour images can be downloaded and shared from our flickr photostream, including Shepard Fairey Vote Earth artwork. And, add your voice on Twitter.
3.28.2009
Vote for Change During Earth Hour 2009 by Shutting Off Lights
2.11.2009
Was Free Newspaper Content a Mistake? Walter Isaacson Thinks So
Walter Isaacson of Time magazine thinks newspapers made a mistake by putting everything on the Internet for free. It's this type of backward thinking that has many print publications in trouble.
The time has come for some major news organizations to take the bold step of trying to return to a system of getting paid by users for the journalism they produce.
Isaacson suggests various ways to monetize the content to offset the ever-growing costs of print publications, including revenue-based rewards for reporters. That sounds like the examiner.com model to me.
The key for attracting online revenue is coming up with easy, quick micropayment methods. We need something like digital coins or an E-Z Pass digital wallet – a one-click system that would permit impulse purchases of a newspaper, magazine, article, blog, application or video for a penny, nickel, dime or whatever the creator chooses to charge.
But John Stewart has other ideas for backtracking: making newspaper print physically addictive. Hey, it worked for tobacco companies, right?
On a more serious note, once something has been done one way, it requires a more complex compensation model to undo what's already been done. Readers have been getting this content for free on a free medium. So why should they foot the bill for mistakes made by short-sighted editors and publishers who believed that the Web was a cute fad that would disappear?
In the end, Isaacson comes full-circle to realize what many have already noticed: readers are tired of being lectured to and want to engage in a conversation.
The best way to guarantee the independence and integrity of all forms of media – new and old – would be to go back to a business model that depends on revenue from the users as well as from advertisers.
Related talkers, watchers and readers:
Walter Isaacson: People should pay for news
Video: Walter Isaacson on The Daily Show Sphere: Related Content
2.06.2009
Schapelle Corby Living Every Traveler's Worst Nightmare
Schapelle Corby is living every traveler's worst nightmare -- convicted in 2005 of smuggling marijuana into Indonesia, the 30-year-old Australian is serving a 20-year sentence in a cramped prison.
A new documentary film series featured on HBO goes behind the scenes at the dramatic trial that gripped Australia, initially strained ties between the neighboring countries and left people asking: "Did she really do it?"
"Australians became so besotted with the case," said "Ganja Queen" Director Janine Hosking. "She doesn't look like how we would imagine a drug trafficker to look; she looks like the girl next door."
"People will speculate forever on this case," Hosking told Reuters last June. She began filming shortly before the trial began -- after Corby had already spent five months behind bars in a country that imposes the death penalty on drug traffickers.
Indonesia regularly ranks among the world's most corrupt countries, a problem its government is trying to overcome.
Here's the official synopsis published on www.hbo.com: http://www.hbo.com/docs/docuseries/ganjaqueen/index.html
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Bali, Indonesia. Schapelle Corby, a 27-year-old Australian woman, languishes in Kerobokan Prison for a crime she insists she didn't commit. Shapelle had flown to Bali in October 2004 to join her sister Mercedes (married to a Bali man) for a two week vacation at the beach. Among her luggage was an unlocked boogie-board bag. When she arrived in Bali and was asked by customs officials to open the tote, she discovered a ten-pound bag of cannabis flattened next to the board. Though she says she knew nothing about the marijuana, Shapelle was immediately arrested, never imagining the firestorm that would ensue.
GANJA QUEEN explores the origins and outcome of this sensational case through in- prison interviews with Schapelle Corby, footage and interviews of her family (mother Rosleigh, father Michael, sister Mercedes, brother-in-law Wayan, and half-brother James) both in Bali and at home in Australia, flashback footage of Shapelle's arrest, and footage taken in and outside the courtroom during Schapelle's incendiary trial. As the sympathetic heroine at the center of the cauldron, Schapelle faces an unknown and unforgiving judicial process that could, potentially, have her executed (by firing squad) if found guilty. For Shapelle and the Corby family, the stakes could not be higher. For the media, in both Bali and Australia, the story could not be more compelling. Schapelle's comings and goings from her prison cell to a variety of meetings and interrogations make front-page headlines for months, with the public jostling nearly every day for a peek at Schapelle as she is hustled by authorities through a gauntlet of reporters and protesters (both pro and con).
In addition to chronicling the public and behind-the-scenes maneuvering by Corby, her family and legal team in the days, weeks and months leading up to her trial, the documentary explores numerous explanations for the appearance of the drugs in Corby's bag. Did this seemingly average young woman actually commit the crime for which she is accused? Did one of her family members put the marijuana in her bag without (or with) her knowing? Was there a connection to the Australian neighbor who grew pot on his property? Or was Schapelle simply the unlucky victim of a domestic drug-running operation? Indeed, with regard to the latter hypothesis, several intriguing developments arise during Schapelle's incarceration. In one report, we learn that Corby's flight occurred on the same day as a large shipment of cocaine was shipped out of the airport by a drug ring involving corrupt baggage handlers. In another, an Australian prisoner named John Patrick Ford comes forward to testify that he overheard a conversation in prison between two men in which they discussed planting the marijuana in Corby's boogie-board bag. Both pieces of news raise hopes for Schapelle's acquittal, as do reports that the marijuana bag had not been fingerprinted, and that baggage-handling security cameras in Sydney had not been working the day of her trip. One thing is certain: The evidence against Corby is sketchy, and most likely wouldn't rise to the level of "guilt beyond a reasonable doubt" required in U.S. or Australian courts. Explaining why she might put a huge amount of marijuana in an unlocked bag, Corby scornfully asks, "Do you think somebody can be that stupid?"
Among Shapelle's most ardent advocates is Ron Bakir, an entrepreneur known to TV viewers for a series of outrageous commercials selling cell phones. Explaining that a nerve was struck when he saw an emotional Schapelle for the first time on TV, Bakir becomes one of her most vocal supporters, and pumps his own money into her defense. However, Bakir ends up crossing the line when (without consulting with her attorneys) he accuses the prosecution team of seeking a bribe to reduce the requested sentence - an unfounded allegation that might cost her the court's sympathy, as well as a more lenient penalty.
Ultimately, Shapelle's fate boils down to the opinion of a triumvirate of judges. Following an explosive trial, delayed when Schapelle collapses at one point in the courtroom, the verdict is finally carried live on television both locally and in Australia. Following the shocking sentence (not to be divulged in this summary), the Court orders the evidence - both the boogie-board bag and the marijuana - burned on a pyre. As a gaggle of police officers smile in the background, we see smoke rising up into the clear Bali sky.
CREDITS: Written, Produced and Directed by: Janine Hosking; Producer: Robin Eastwood; Editors: Janine Hosking and Stephen Hopes; Consulting Editor: Geof Bartz; Director of Photography: Ian Pugsley, A.C.S.; Music: Matt Walker. For HBO Documentary Films: Supervising Producer: Sara Bernstein; Executive Producer: Sheila Nevins.
LAPD Approves Benelli M4 Tactical Shotgun for Officers
While civil-rights activists are up in arms, after two years of testing, Los Angeles Police Department officials approved the Benelli M4, a semi-automatic entry-type weapon, which greatly improves officers' ability to do their job effectively, according to a report obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police's Firearms Committee.
The LAPD has over 9,800 sworn officers and is the 3rd largest Police Agency in the United States.
The Benelli M4 is a semi-automatic weapon capable of handling a variety of shot shell loads, from the lightest training rounds to the heaviest duty rounds. No manual operation of the M4 is required to cycle the rounds.
2.05.2009
FAA Releases Transcript From Hudson River Landing
The Federal Aviation Administration released on Thursday the flight tapes for U.S. Airways Flight 1549 that crash-landed in the Hudson River on January 15, 2009. The tapes reveal a calm piolot in Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger moments before he ditched the aircraft into the river. All crew and passengers survived the crash.
FAA Air Traffic Control communications for USAirways 1549, January 15, 2009: Listed below are the air traffic communications for LaGuardia tower (LGA), Teterboro tower (TEB), and the New York Tracon (N90) in the time period surrounding the accident available at www.faa.gov/
- New York Tracon Audio (MP3, 18.77 MB)
New York Tracon Transcript (PDF, 309 KB)
- Teterboro Tower Audio (MP3, 40.85 MB)
Teterboro Tower Transcripts Local Control (PDF, 533 KB)
Teterboro Tower Transcripts Area Supervisor (PDF, 116 KB)
- LaGuardia Tower Audio and Transcripts
Clearance Delivery Position Audio (MP3, 19.46 MB)
Clearance Delivery Position Transcript (PDF, 74 KB)
Ground Control Position Audio (MP3, 25.85 MB)
Ground Control Position Transcript (PDF, 1.04 MB)
Local Control Position Audio (MP3, 24.14 MB)
Local Control Position Transcript (PDF, 1.17 MB)
Class Bravo Airspace Position Audio (MP3, 42.33 MB)
Class Bravo Airspace Position Transcript (PDF, 100 KB)
Cab Coordinator Position Audio (MP3, 37.73 MB)
Cab Coordinator Position Transcript (PDF, 1.03 MB)
Air Traffic Information System (ATIS) Audio (MP3, 2.71 MB)
Air Traffic Information System (ATIS)--No transcript available
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Rasmussen Survey Finds Stimulus Support Fading
A new Rasmussen survey finds diminished and fading support for the economic stimulus bill currently making its way through Congress. By a 45-34 percent margin, more lawmakers favor a plan that includes tax cuts only. In addition, only 50 percent say the final plan likely to gain approval in Congress may end up doing more harm than good.
Now: 37% favor, 43% oppose
1 Week ago: 42% favor, 39% oppose
2 weeks ago: 45% favor, 34% oppose
Psychobilly: Cramps Frontman Lux Interior and Punk Pioneer Did 'Tear It Up'
Lux Interior, co-founder and lead singer of the Psychobilly punk band The Cramps, died on Tuesday at age 60 of a pre-existing heart condition. In performances, Interior was thrilling: the tall, pale, gaunt zombie-like frontman often appeared shirtless with low-slung black pants as he crawled, writhed and howled his way across the stage.
The Cramps were a part of the late 70s early punk scene and were best known for a bluesy, trebly sound and creepy live shows at Manhattan clubs like CBGB. The band never featured a bass guitarist, a style that resonates in modern minimalist groups like the White Stripes and the Black Lips. The Cramps based their style on '50s rockabilly music to invent a unique, demented sound that fused familiar chords and progressions into something totally new.
This video clip is a great example of their hard-core sound is featured below in the 1981 concert film Urgh! A Music War.
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