Another Way To Use Twitter

“I do not believe in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.” ~ Thomas Carlyle

“The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations” ~ Title of 2004 bestseller by James Surowiecki

I don't remember when Twitter first caught my eye. I saw it referenced in an online article, and whatever was said must have connected with me because I checked it out. If I remember correctly, the journalist seemed to be almost raving about this new social technology.

According to Wikipedia Twitter is a free micro-blogging service “that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. The sender can restrict delivery to those in his or her circle of friends (delivery to everyone being the default).”

It’s easy to do, hence its popularity. There are now purportedly 3.2 million accounts registered, though it’s anyone’s guess how many remain active.

Yes, I tweet. Essentially I’m trying to learn how to use or understand the uses of this new social networking tool, though an email this morning from a fellow tweeter indicated to me that I do not have my Twitter site optimized properly, or something like that. Obviously it is all a learning experience.

Anyways, when you log on, the Twitter interface has a single question that it asks: What are you doing?

It’s a very clever question. It’s a probe of sorts. Everyone who is watching the debate would state not only that they are watching the debate, but would include their feelings, impressions, thoughts about the said event. Some are participating in events (they can use their cell phones to text message their activities) and some are simply active in self-promotion.

It seems to be a great research tool because you can quickly and easily gather a wide range of viewpoints by plugging in to their tweets on various topics. Researchers and writers are able to set up their own mass of info sources, or plug into the automatic feeds on various topics that Twitter collates for you.

Here is an example which I extracted during Sunday’s Meet The Press program in which John McCain was interviewed by Tom Brokaw. Some might complain that it’s a bit jumbled, but despite the noise, when you compare this electronic equivalent of raw footage to the fragment of Larry Rohter’s review of the same show, the gist of what was happening and how it was perceived is not wholly divergent.

Note: Twitter users will notice that I’ve reversed the order of these entries so as to have the flow read coherently for the purposes of this blog entry.

breathmint Watching Brokaw hand McCain his ass on meet the press. 36 minutes ago

mainelife McCain is being crabby on Meet the Press, but he's not afraid to fire off a "my friends" while looking exasperated. 35 minutes ago

wiredbirds »» Meet the Press: McCain refers to Brokaw as "my friend", and is speaking to Brokaw like the man is an idiot. Brokaw knows the gig is up «« 34 minutes ago

SandiLincoln Ohhhh my! McCain on Meet The Press is getting very tough questions from Tom Brokaw. He is doing really bad! He is gettin pissy!! Flip Flopn! 34 minutes ago

yellowmello McCain is on meet the press and his hands and head are not the same color... can you say air brush. 33 minutes ago

JerryStanford Hey, been up for a couple of hours and listening to McCain on Meet the Press. Think I'll Sim a little. 32 minutes ago

SandiLincoln @maddow u watchn McCain on Meet The Press! He's gettn really pissed! (Love ur show btw)! 31 minutes ago

wiredbirds » Meet the Press: "I don't defend her - I praise her" - McCain on Palin [as she is stabbing the man in his 'obviously blind' back] «« 28 minutes ago

wiredbirds » Meet the Press: "We're both Mavericks" - McCain on Palin «« 26 minutes ago

area517 Watching McCain on Meet The Press. Looks very uneasy. 26 minutes ago

mainelife Take away from Meet The Press this morning: John McCain disagrees with the polls, the American people and it appears, reality. 25 minutes ago

realtortweet McCain on Meet the Press right now. He is very uneasy and more Bush like. I think he even said Joe the Biden. 24 minutes ago

wiredbirds » Meet the Press: McCain is ∙<-------- [this close] to losing it. « 22 minutes ago

gregwind Just can't watch any more Meet the Press with J McCain. Too painful. I feel really bad for him. (But recording, just in case.) 22 minutes ago

randomspaces Stunning McCain "senior moment" at 25 minutes into Meet the Press. Brokaw "Try to stay with me here." Get it on iTunes later if you miss it. 21 minutes ago

CanWeBowlPlease rt @mainelife Take away from Meet The Press this morning: John McCain disagrees with the polls, the American people and it appears, reality. 22 minutes ago

randomspaces Stunning McCain "senior moment" at 25 minutes into Meet the Press. Brokaw "Try to stay with me here." Get it on iTunes later if you miss it. 21 minutes ago

sgtret TwitterScoop word "brokaw" just grew rapidly. It would seem McCain is not having a good time of it on Meet the Press. 18 minutes ago

mwurzer Felt bad watching McCain on Meet The Press this morning. He should have been elected eight years ago. 17 minutes ago

To see how this peanut gallery of tweeters compares to the actual news story coverage, you can read this review:

McCain on ‘Meet the Press’
By Larry Rohter

Updated 11:58 a.m. Appearing on “Meet the Press” today Senator John MCain said he does not believe the polls that show him significantly trailing Senator Barack Obama and argued that “we’re going to do well in this campaign.”

“We are doing fine,” he said. “We have closed in the last week, and we’re going to continue this close in the next week.”

He also rejected the idea that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, his running mate, is hurting his campaign.
“I don’t defend her. I praise her. She needs no defense,” he said.

FULL STORY: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/mccain-on-meet-the-press/

On a related topic, the latest use for Twitter has been revealed this week in an InformationWeek story titled, Terrorists Could Use Twitter For Mayhem, Army Report Muses

An intelligence paper outlines technologies that terrorist organizations could use to inflict harm, including cell phone GPS data, voice-changing technology, and Twitter updates.

By Thomas Claburn InformationWeek October 27, 2008 04:04 PM

"Terrorism and Twitter go together like Darth Vader and Tribbles -- the former aspiring to instill fear, the latter chirpy and not very threatening. Yet a draft Army intelligence paper, "Al Qaida-Like Mobile Discussions & Potential Creative Uses," contemplates just that combination."

All I know is... well, let's not go there.

In the meantime, if you're not a terrorist and you happen to be on Twitter, I invite you to follow me @ ennyman3.

The Amateur Economist Speaks

So, it is official. President Bush pulled the contenders out of the ring, claiming "our entire economy is in danger" and there is more important work to do.

OK, and this work is... push through a piece of last minute legislation that will rescue Wall Street and apparently save the world.

According to an AFP story two hours ago, "We're in the midst of a serious financial crisis," Bush said in his 13-minute speech from the White House, after angry legislators on Capitol Hill declared the shock proposal dead on arrival. "Without immediate action by Congress , America could slip into a financial panic," the president said. "Ultimately, our country could experience a long and painful recession."

I suppose if we believe the ominous summons, our banks, retirement nests, homes and jobs are all on the brink of destruction as the world economy teeters on the edge.

How bad is it, really? Lebron James Signed '06 All Star Nike Zoom III Shoes are still going for nearly two grand on eBay. A 1993 Honda Civic DX (with 1984 miles on it) is fetching $10,000.

Companies are still paying six figures for ad space in Sport Illustrated, and thousands for every page in smaller circulation trade journals like National Oil and Lube News or Auto Services Operator. NASCAR ticket sales are still brisk. The shelves of all our grocery stores are still stocked with food. There are still too many TV commercials on network television, which means someone is paying for that air time.

OK, so I am only an amateur economist. I do know there are companies that have been hurt these past couple years. Nevertheless, it's official. They're postponing the campaign to roll up their sleeves and hunker down, Obama, McCain and the President. We'll see how successful everyone is at cobbling together a decision that turns them each into heroes.

No finger pointing now, children.

Where's the Dark Knight when you need him?

The Great Debate In Oxford Town

Presidential elections, fortunately, occur only once every four years. For 2008 it seems the sawdust trail of stump speeches and all that goes with it has been longer than ever. With the conventions now behind us, we’re finally in the last leg of the journey.

This week the real head-to-head action was scheduled to begin. The plan was for a first debate to take place Friday night at Ole Miss in Oxford Town. Yes, the same Ole Miss made famous by its historical refusal to allow blacks as students less than fifty years ago.

The same Oxford Town where Medgar Evers led the fight for voters rights, for civil rights for blacks, and for one James Meredith to be enrolled at Ole Miss.

The same Oxford Town where Medgar Evers, a World War II veteran who put his life on the line for the freedoms we enjoy, put his life on the line for fellow black Americans to become recipients of the rights our laws had promised but failed to deliver in the deep South.

The same Medgar Evers whose life was taken for taking such a stand.

And so it is, all eyes were to be turned toward Oxford Town this coming Friday. Incredible as it seems, a black candidate for the president of the United States was poised to debate another candidate in the very town where a black man could not even enroll as a student. What an awesome twist.

Unfortunately, and it’s hard to say what the fallout will be from this, but John McCain announced today that the debate was off because of our national financial crisis.

Upon further investigation, it appears that both McCain and Obama had agreed that maybe the debate should be put off, but McCain announced it first as if it were his idea.

Again, hard to say what is really going on at this point. The New York Times produced an editorial stating that McCain was the better man on foreign policy, the topic of this week’s debate at Ole Miss. In fact, the editorial so puffed up McCain’s dominance in this arena that some felt they were raising expectations for malicious purposes. (i.e., if Obama fared well, then McCain bobbled an opportunity.) You would think, however, that McCain would use this opportunity to show his stuff. Who knows?

As of this moment, I can’t comment on the candidates’ maneuvers, but I can shine a light on Oxford Town. First, Bob Dylan’s tribute to Medgar Evers, Only a Pawn In Their Game. Both the lyrics and the manner in which it was sung, on his Times They Are A-Changin’ album, is on my top ten list of Dylan works.


How anyone can seriously listen to this song without at some point getting tears in his or her eyes over the tragedy of American race relations I will never know. Here are the lyrics.

Only A Pawn In Their Game

A bullet from the back of a bush took Medgar Evers' blood

A finger fired the trigger to his name

A handle hid out in the dark

A hand set the spark

Two eyes took the aim

Behind a man's brain

But he can't be blamed

He's only a pawn in their game.

A South politician preaches to the poor white man

"You got more than blacks, don't complain

You're better than them, you been born with white skin" they explain

And the Negro's name

Is used it is plain

For the politician's gain

As he rises to fame

And the poor white remains

On the caboose of the train

But it ain't him to blame

He's only a pawn in their game.

The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid
And the marshals and cops get the same

But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool

He's taught in his school

From the start by the rule

That the laws are with him

To protect his white skin

To keep up his hate

So he never thinks straight

'Bout the shape that he's in

But it ain't him to blame

He's only a pawn in their game.

From the poverty shacks, he looks from the cracks to the tracks

And the hoof beats pound in his brain

And he's taught how to walk in a pack

Shoot in the back

With his fist in a clinch

To hang and to lynch

To hide 'neath the hood

To kill with no pain

Like a dog on a chain

He ain't got no name

But it ain't him to blame

He's only a pawn in their game.

The day Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet he caught

They lowered him down as a king

But when the shadowy sun sets on the one

That fired the gun

He'll see by his grave

On the stone that remains

Carved next to his name

His epitaph plain:

Only a pawn in their game.

Another evocative tune along the same lines is Dylan’s Oxford Town. At this point there will apparently not be a debate Friday night in Oxford Town. But, here are Mr. Dylan’s lyrics from that time. And in the meantime, this soap opera of a campaign will give us more to talk about tomorrow, I am sure.

Oxford Town

Oxford Town, Oxford Town

Ev'rybody's got their heads bowed down

The sun don't shine above the ground

Ain't a-goin' down to Oxford Town

He went down to Oxford Town

Guns and clubs followed him down

All because his face was brown

Better get away from Oxford Town

Oxford Town around the bend

He come in to the door, he couldn't get in

All because of the color of his skin

What do you think about that, my frien'?

Me and my gal, my gal's son

We got met with a tear gas bomb

I don't even know why we come

Goin' back where we come from

Oxford Town in the afternoon

Ev'rybody singin' a sorrowful tune

Two men died 'neath the Mississippi moon

Somebody better investigate soon

Oxford Town, Oxford Town

Ev'rybody's got their heads bowed down

The sun don't shine above the ground

Ain't a-goin' down to Oxford Town

Copyright ©1963; renewed 1991 Special Rider Music

G O P

Last week, at the end of the Dem Convention, I made the comment that it would be interesting to see how the Republicans positioned their party in the week that followed. Turns out to have been an interesting week as predicted.

The Obama campaign has been very successful at sinking home the message of Change. Time for something new, something different in Washington. I have a friend who said his father, an old man nearly eighty, was for the first time in his life thinking of pulling a lever for a Democrat. He said to his son, "Who does not want change?" The son had no answer.

Well, this week the McCain people addressed this very hunger for change by spinning the campaign theme this way: We are the candidates of change. We, McCain and Palin, are not about going to put up with the status quo politics that has become standard fare in Washington.

I watched from the PR spin angle sidelines and see it as a brilliant position to stake out. Even though John McCain has been a Washington insider for more than a little while, he has a reputation as a maverick. (It was amusing to see a delegate on the floor of the convention in St. Paul holding a sign that read, "Mavrick"... )

The night before, the convention speakers set the table with Palin's achievements. For sure, you could not get further from the beltway with this governor from Alaska. Her reputation was staked out as being one who fights corruption, who is not afraid to take on special interests. She was not afraid of a fight. Of herself she said the only difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom is the lipstick.

And, of course, John McCain, it was repeatedly noted, is himself a fighter... This is where the orchestration comes in. The theme all week of McCain the fighter and maverick all connects to our grass roots "people against the machine" desires. But it was also a setup up for his bearing of the soul to reveal his motivations. Like Obama the week before, McCain told the story of how he came to care so much for his country. He shared how he had been a proud young man, but met his match under torture. What kept him going was having to live for something bigger than himself.

McCain and Palin are now claiming to be carrying the real banner for change, painting Obama and Biden as "more of the same."

GOP originally stood for Gallant Old Party. Somehow over the years Grand Old Party must have sounded better to someone.

Fortunately, there are less than two months now to the election. Hopefully there will be no hanging chads or other disputes when the votes are tallied. But comments on the future of voting (i.e. eVoting) will be saved for another day.

Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Barack Obama Accepts

While normally not a television watcher, I did have the tube on for a good portion of the evening last night, tuned in to the events in Denver where the Democratic faithful have gathered all week. When possible, developing direct impressions drawn from observation will generally be more useful than weeding through other peoples’ interpretations filtered through their own biases. To the best of my ability, I make an effort here to present an unbiased account what I saw and heard last night.

The evening unfolded with many important speakers lauding the hero of the campaign, culminating in the acceptance speech of our first black presidential candidate nominated by a major party. What follows are a few of the notes I took while listening to and watching the final portion of this made for television spectacle. At the end, infinite confetti and fireworks, and a handful of talking heads expressing how they saw it.

Once you cut through those over-the-top light shows and larger-than-life projection screens, you could see that the evening was well orchestrated. By the time Obama took the platform, they had hit all the right notes. And then, for forty-three minutes he shared his vision for the future of these United States.

“It is a promise we make to our children that each of us can make what we want of our lives…” This was the opening line of the video introducing Barack Obama.

The narrator continued. “His childhood was like any other, but it was his search for self that defined him.”

“What he learned is that by discovering his own story he would learn what was remarkable about his country.”

“His grandfather fought in Patton’s army, his grandmother worked on an assembly line…”

From here, we learned about the values his mother taught him, how his relationship with his wife Michelle developed, about his schooling, and how after graduation he came to develop his passion for the downtrodden, needy and forgotten who have taken a hit due to insensitive political and business decisions. “That’s not right, someone ought to work to fix it.”

Other callouts from the intro video:

“In Washington, he would remember who he was fighting for…”

“It is a promise we make to our children that each of us can make what we want of our lives. It is a promise that his mother made to him, and that he would intend to keep.”

“Imagine what it would be like to be in someone else’s shoes. One person’s struggle is everyone’s struggle…. That’s the country I believe in. That’s what’s worth fighting for.”

In an event that is bigger than life, Obama begins the last leg of his journey to the White House, “Change” as his theme.

Barack Obama’s opening sentence to the nation, after much fanfare from the faithful who had gathered for this historic moment: “With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for presidency of the United States.”

Followed by a tip of the hat to Hillary, to former President Clinton, to Ted Kennedy “and to the next Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden,” and to the lovely love of his life, wife Michelle, he declared, “This moment, this election, is our chance to keep the American Promise alive.”

The position Obama seeks to establish is that John McCain is a Republican no different from Bush, and that change is a must, therefore Obama is the only real choice in November. According to Obama, McCain at the Republic Convention in September will strive to give the impression that he is not like George Bush.

Obama’s appeal is to those who are needy, and those who have been hurt by the policies of Big Money and special interests.

Reiterating another message from the intro video, Obama underscored the Promise. “I am my brother’s keeper.”

His goals were specific. “I will cut taxes for 95% of all working families.”

“And within ten years we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East,” he said. “Now is the time to end our oil addiction.” With this, and many other platform initiatives, Obama repeated his edict, “Now is the time…”

Citing Kennedy, he likewise appealed to our personal responsibility if we are to see change. Government can’t do it all. Parents must turn off the television and help their children with their homework. Fathers must help in the home. Mutual responsibility is his appeal.

“This election has never been about me,” Obama said. “It’s about you.”

“The change doesn’t come from Washington. Change comes to Washington.”

“America, we cannot turn back…. And in the words of Scripture, let us hold firmly to the hope that we profess.”

His specific promises are many, and presented clearly. Can he accomplish all this? It will be interesting to see how the Republicans position their man.