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Twitter Down: Twitter Doesn’t Know Why - http://mashable.com/2009...

August 6 from Mashable! - Comment - Like - Share

Svartling, Kol Tregaskes, Daniel Rowley and 46 other people liked this

isn't a joke!! - abdellah

Glad we can talk about this and see the info via FriendFeed - I almost resorted to my bookmarks to check out Mashable and TechCrunch :) - Robert J Taylor

reboot - Kevin Norman

Is it inevitable because of their architecture that they will continue to have these problems until a massive rewrite? - Dusty Edenfield

The world is collapsing for a ton of people right now ;-) - Caio Cesar

i dunno - they were coping quite well with all the growth. They did do a lot of work after thier last set of probloms. Pesonally i think its a data centre failure. Enough of the system ( or just the important bits) got taken down that its useless. - Roberto Bonini

#endoftheworld - carrotmadman6

there's always identi.ca - Imabug

Facebook is having issues for me to post, could it be some form of ajax update that was posted that broke things? - Thomas Vincent

it caused by unfollowing 106,000 people by Robert Scoble))) - obolonskyi

Scoble with his mass unfollow created a "disturbance in the force"..Twitter's servers had gotten used to that load profile and went insane upon the recent change :) Looks like Twitter took down FF with it for a moment as well (for me at least). "Twitter is down" shout outs overload? Or something about the feed input to FF hanging/bursting/etc. ?? - Alex Schleber

It's been having reporting problems for the past week, for me at least, unless I missed some new decision to reset the tweet clock. my 9000+ tweets and dwindled down to just the most recent ones - Melanie Reed

i'm feeling really bad for the bots right now, since they are 25% of Twitter's traffic - Kevin Norman

@cerveau / obolonskyi Haha - we were thinking the same thing simultaneously.. - Alex Schleber

Twitter's blog does mention the reporting problem. I guess this implies I don't have a legitimate account?! ;) - Melanie Reed

Twitter/status reports they're fighting a DoS attack. - Roger Jennings

Thomas Vincent

Off to look at rental properities, this time in Cary (aka Containment Area for Regional Yankees)

June 4 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

I heard it as "Relocated Yankees" which is actually a little more accurate - Dave Slusher

Po-ta-toe, Pot-atoe :-) - Thomas Vincent

Robert Scoble

@zenpundit I blame everyone involved. Pelosi. Democrats. Republicans. Me. You. Everyone. Now, how do we fix it?

September 29, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Charlie Anzman, MVB (Grinch of FF), mjc and 18 other people liked this

Don't blame Greenspan in that list he predicted it in 2005 and asked for tighter rules, come to think of it so did the Republicans http://sistertoldjah.com/archive... - Thomas Vincent

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Let it burn. It needed to. If I am to blame let me get it there and help it go. - Stephan Miller

Damn, you can F5 anything around here without having to duck a blame missile. - Steve Lowe

Let it burn is not an answer to Scoble's question. Besides, you let old barns burn. You don't let cities burn. - JP Adams

First, we admit Fannie and Freddie cannot securtize loans to credit risks. - Morgan Warstler

The problem is in wanting to "fix" it. You build a barn or a city out of matchsticks, slow or fast it's going to burn. - Eric Lewis

Second, pass a balanced budget amendment. We have to shore up the dollar. - Morgan Warstler

It's all my fault. Now, can we move on? - Mark Logan from twhirl

Third, cut capital gains taxes to zero. - Morgan Warstler

Fourth, end corporate taxes. - Morgan Warstler

Close every (yes every) US Military base not on US soil. - Brian Roy

Robert, you're an idiot. :) http://www.youtube.com/watch... - I told you MONTHS ago why Ron Paul was the guy to back. - l0ckergn0me

Hear! Hear! @l0ckergnome - Morgan Warstler

is it just me or did we not try the whole "let it burn" thing in 1929? after the crash in '29, we didn't curtail the bank failures then either. to hell with those fat cats on wall street, smoking their $2 cigars! right? - Karim

"What experience and history teaches us is that people and governments have never learned anything from history...." -- G.W.F. Hegel - Karim

@Karim: Wrong in 1929, the government got involved. See the New Deal. Run from Dems bearing gifts! - Morgan Warstler

L0ckergn0me: Ron Paul's ideas are going to cause the economic ruin of America. We have a credit-based system and he wants to move us to a gold-standard based one. Well, he just might get his wish. That might be nice in 20 years, but right now? It's major stupidity. Karim: right, which is why Ron Paul thinking is the wrong solution. - Robert Scoble

Thomas Vincent, the problem goes well before 2005 - I've seen one commenter trace it back to actions in the Lyndon Johnson administration. - Ontario Emperor

Some of the problems do go back further but it was the actions in '05 with Freddie and Fannie that brought it to a head - Thomas Vincent

morgan - New Deal was in 1933, after the nation had been through years of economic misery. not '29. we only started to dismantle it when we fell in love with deregulation in the '70s & '80s. - Karim

Karim deregulation didn't start until the 80s - Thomas Vincent

Don't blame me, Robert! I don't have any credit cards, and only buy cars and homes that I can afford easily! ;) - Andru Edwards

Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa. - Mistletoe Glen

I agree with the blame placement, but before we start trying to fix it, we had better answer the question "What's wrong with it?" If we don't identify and agree upon that, we aren't getting to the root of the problem - we'll just be hacking at leaves... - Bill Sanders

Thomas, the point about late 70s/early 80s is arguable -- e.g. Marquette v. First Omaha was in the Supreme Court in 1978; Citibank didn't move to South Dakota until early 1980. My first point was that we decided to "let it burn" in 1929 and look what happened. Second point was that the Great Depression was not *caused* by the New Deal in '29, but was a reaction *to* it in 1933. - Karim

Karim, I was thinking more the Federal work on regulation, not the Courts, so I'll give you that - Thomas Vincent

@Robert I am afraid you won't start change until you get away from credit-based economy -- if it was feeding your life for last several/many years, it does NOT mean it will work forever... be flexible, move on, forget credit - or get stuck with it and die together with it. Whatever you do, it is your choice, but keep in mind - it is not the strongest who survive but the most flexible one. - A.T.

@silpol: I totally agree. The thing here is, that people have been living above their standards for years. It has been surprising to me how this has been working for so long. The main reason imho is, that interest rates were too low. Instead of restricting the amount of "cheap" money available the government (and fed) tried to artificially keep your economy running. This can't work in the long run and that is why I think that it is a hard but still economically correct decision.. - Ralf

I'm in agreement. It IS fixing itself. - Francine Hardaway from twhirl

agreed - Greg Bond from twhirl

@Thomas: Don't blame Greenspan!? He's the guy who decided to reinflate the economy after the tech boom collapsed in April 2000. He financed the housing bubble. - Rob Sterling

Dave Winer

WSJ isn't buying McBullshit. http://blogs.wsj.com/washwir...

September 29, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Mike Reynolds, Atul Arora, jcunwired and 7 other people liked this

Wow. That's great. - John McCrea

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Of course the WSJ ignores that the majority party couldn't get enough of it's members to vote to pass it, but why let the truth get in the way of a good story. I'd suspect that was McCain's point - Thomas Vincent

Thomas it must be a liberal conspiracy. - Dave Winer

Naw Dave, just reporter's bias. I am more boggled by how Pelosi let a vote come up without knowing it would fail. As someone who has worked in a Whip office on the Hill it seems either she was dumb, arrogant, or didn't do her proper diligence to make sure she had the votes. I suspect the later, but why? Who knows. - Thomas Vincent

majority party? yeah - what is the minority "report"? - Scott Moskowitz

Thomas, GOP leadership told Pelosi before the vote that they had an additional 12 members in support. - Kevin Bondelli

Kevin where did you see it, because I know Blunt and his numbers aren't wrong, er normally, on Whip issues. I am curious. - Thomas Vincent

That was what I heard on CNN. GOP leadership said after the vote that they lost those 12 members after Pelosi's speech. - Kevin Bondelli

Have to check their website and see if I can't find it, thanks! - Thomas Vincent

hahaha. first the NYT now WSJ. soon the McCain campaign will have to issue press releases along the lines of, "Whatever the [INSERT NAME OF NEWSPAPER HERE] once was, it is today not by any standard a journalistic organization..." :-D - Karim

Thomas: get your starting point right. This was a Republican (Bush executive branch) initiative. He managed to get a larger portion of the democratic side on board than he did of the Rebunlican side. The democrats didn't fail to deliver to the country, the republicans failed to deliver. If you get that starting point then we can serously debate the merits of the bill (I think it had... more... - David HC Soul

@david hc soul amen ... what happened to loyalty? what a political joke - the emperor has no clothes & all the kings horses & all the kings men have yet to call for criminal investigations? must be pretty serious ... who will lead? name a politician? lawyer? who? where is scooter & alberto & harriet? - Scott Moskowitz

David considering Pelosi was the Majority leader and it was a piece of House legislation introduced by Charlie Rangel I don't think I am out of bounds. The original idea was proposed by the Administration agreed, but it's the Speaker's job to lead, which she didn't do and get the votes. - Thomas Vincent

I thought it was McCain's job to lead? Wasn't that what the whole suspension of campaign was about? His grandstanding, his taking credit hours before it didn't pass? Need I point out, you can put lipstick on a pig... - jcunwired

@Thomas are you serious? What do you think the solution is? We understand the hot potato - now what is *your* plan? Do tell - Scott Moskowitz

Completely Scott, my plan they were poorly run, let the market resolve, they fail end of story. But I am former Hill staffer so noone cares what I think, but then no one did when I was there either. :-) All I am trying to do is provide a bit of perspective from someone who has seen how the House operates on a day to day basis. - Thomas Vincent

@Thomas but you are not the "market" - you're a pol who acted on behalf of lobbyists - not Country First - "let em eat cake" gets your head separated from your body - taxation without representation is a historic reality that like gravity will force discipline on your former & current mindset as Hill staffer - i need not say that there is no spin when there is no confidence &/or transparency - entrepreneurs create jobs not government - Scott Moskowitz

Scott that you think I worked for anyone but what I thought was best for the country is a personal insult and frankly I am offended. Furthermore I never worked on banking or morgage issues so you are speaking falsely all the way around. Last I never have presumed government can make jobs, so wrong on all fronts. - Thomas Vincent

@Thomas personally offended? I guess this mess has not been as acute as it is here in Florida Who paid you? My Govt - You worked on the Hill, no? I had lobbyists working for my business & am personally offended by how the federal govt takes advantage of small business - perhaps a lesson for us all - touché - check your facts it is Govt that created jobs all the while running up $10 tril in debt - welcome to the machine err market - where there is no "personal" only jack - Scott Moskowitz

Robert Scoble

Washington DC blogger @agfhome just told me that those who voted against it were up for reelection. Great, burn the country to get reelected

September 29, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Erin @queenofspain, Kenton, S Adler and 7 other people liked this

It's the House the entire body gets reelected every 2 years, politics 101. - Thomas Vincent

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Everyone who voted today is up for re-election, but the 'no's are a who's who of 'targeted' races on both sides of the aisle. - Andrew Leyden

They're all up for reelection, but http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/ says swing state congress critters killed the bill. - Steve Lowe

I can't stand how that is the way it works. It's so bass-ackwards. - Josh Haley

Yup here's a quote from Yahoo Finance: "We're all worried about losing our jobs," Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., declared in an impassioned speech in support of the bill before the vote. "Most of us say, 'I want this thing to pass, but I want you to vote for it — not me.'" - Sally Church

steplew TX, AZ, CO, and CA are swing states, huh who knew... you can see the break down here.... http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congres... - Thomas Vincent

I find it funny that rich people are so into socialism all of a sudden. Let it burn and we will rebuild a better structure. Otherwise, we are just patching a thatch house. - Greg Bond

I wonder what would have happened if this had started in the Senate rather than the House. (Or is this considered a budget bill, which HAS to originate in the House per the Constitution?) If it had started in the Senate, calmer heads may have prevailed. - Ontario Emperor

Ontario, it wouldn't much matter as Pelosi didn't due her due diligence about her Whip count and make sure she had the numbers needed before she brought the bill to the floor. - Thomas Vincent

Are you saying that elected representatives should NOT do what their constituents want? Because you believe that Paulson isn't lying when he says the $700BN will work? Because all of Paulson's other predictions were so accurate? I'm amazed how many people buy this B.S. about bailout. - Joshua Allen

Joshua: listening to the customers is often the wrong thing to do. But, no matter, the system is on fire. How much damage will be done? Who knows. Who is spraying water onto the fire? Why not? What are you recommending they do? Just let the credit system go to hell? Ron Paul all the way! Yeaaaahhhh!!!! - Robert Scoble

To clarify, I meant the ones whose seats are considered "in play" since their districts aren't gerrymandered enough. - Andrew Feinberg

Depending on politicians to not be political, is like giving a gambler a buck believing he/she's going to buy food. - Eric Lewis

Screw that, @scoble. Why should we "rescue" companies that made bad choices. Why should we reward bad behavior? That's crap! This bill did nothing to punish those who caused this mess, it did nothing for those whose houses are on the line (nevermind they mad bad choices as well). And we "the people" who were loaning this money to these crap institutions was getting nothing in return. It was a gift to those financial companies who let greed go to there heads and rolled the dice and lost. - Jason Shultz from twhirl

@Robert: Government of the people is soo overrated. - Eric Lewis

I like the fact that democracy gets its say (for really the first time this decade), and some time to deliberate. Let the markets pout. If the dow is supposed to be over 11,000, it will be again soon. And if the people are threatening to cast out representatives that vote a certain way, well, I can't imagine how listening to their voice is a bad thing. Then the rep makes the call their conscience tells them to. That's vaguely what I remember from civics class (1992, a bygone era, I know). - Christopher Galtenberg

It's the House of Commons that saves us from the Elites. - Eric Lewis

No blanket bailout, case by case basis only. - imran

Scoble: Markets are down because congress held out some bacon and took it away. American people are too smart to throw good money after bad. And as one of your commenters mentioned; credit markets for actual valuable services are functioning just fine. http://caseymulligan.blogspot.com/2008... - Joshua Allen

Listening to the crooks who got us in this mess (Bernanke, Frank, Dodd, Paulson) is a lot stupider than listening to the people. It's like going to a doctor who killed every patient he ever saw. Now that the market is only down 6% after we called Paulson's bluff, that guy should be thoroughly discredited. - Joshua Allen

A trillion dollar toxic hot potato, no politician wants to catch this hail mary pass. - imran

The house is always up for re-election every two years, so only some of the people up for re-election voted no, along with some that voted yes. Just noticed that @Thomas just said the same thing earlier on. - Bryan

Bankruptcy, not bailout, is the right answer. The right view of the financial mess is that an enormous fraction of subprime lending should never have occurred in the first place. Someone has to pay for that. That someone should not be, and does not need to be, the U.S. taxpayer. http://edition.cnn.com/2008... - imran

Scoble, I like you a lot, yet I think you're way off on this one. If it would have passed, we'd surely end up in a major inflationary crisis like never before. All it would do is bail out a few companies, get some guys some severance pay and cost we taxpayers, gazillions! Where do you think this $700-billion come from? Budget cuts? Gold? Where? The Gov & Fed have already spent BILLIONS... more... - Paul Salzman from twhirl

...than bailing out a bunch of cronies who are hoodwinking us into bailing out their banks and stealing other stockholder's companies and selling them to Chase, Citi and the others that make up the Fed. Wake up, Man! This is a SCAM. - Paul Salzman from twhirl

And by the way, you Tweeted about the GM worker getting screwed? You think Chase stealing WAMU from shareholders, by having the FDIC take it over and pass its $350-bill in assets to Chase for $1.9-bill is helping anyone but those involved? I bet you a lot of people, friends, here in Seattle are going to lose their jobs, as will other friends in Irvine & the countless branch closures.... more... - Paul Salzman from twhirl

Think of bailout as Royal Bush Pardons for financial crimes of decade. - imran

I'm with Scoble. Bush and Paulson know what's best for us. They and all their friends wouldn't be so rich and powerful if they didn't know what's best, right? Screw all these fringe constitutionalists who whine about representation and freedom. Just shut up and do what your government tells you. - Alan Cheslow

Whatever the case about the bailout, this is yet another instance of John McCain showing how he plans to behave while negotiating as President and how effective he will be at bringing people together. Not very effective. - Andrew Baron

Bush cannot be trusted in this lame duck session, he has poor advisers and judgment, his tenure of 8 bad years is proof. - imran

"take their fake money and drop it on taxpayers. $700-billion could reduce a lot of personal debts" Yeah, the only idea I could think of that's worse than the bailout is this one. A total sunk cost, a horrible lesson, 1/2 that money wouldn't even re-enter the economy. I'm sure 90% of liberals would still support it (and yet we still lose elections we shouldn't -- a wonder, truly). - Christopher Galtenberg

Rather see it being "loaned" to taxpayers directly to pay their debts, rather than bail out some company that royally screwed up, taking advantage of their deregulated position in the financial well being of this country and affecting the rest of the world. Like the representative from Ohio said, Wall Street wizards mismanage, get greedy and come running home to mama. Let's take our medicine now, get through it sooner than later, and fix the problem so we never deal with it again. - Paul Salzman

Here's a question: would you rather see Warren Buffett or Gordon Gecko (assuming he was not a fictional character) running the Fed? the Treasury? Currently, we have a bunch of Gordon Geckos and their cronies running everything. It's SO clear if you do a little research and follow the money! - Paul Salzman

Me, I'd rather buy securities that are priced at 1/5 of their original value. Oh, and then pass a mortgage insurance bill. Then entertain hoards of buyers. - Christopher Galtenberg

Robert Scoble

Dow down about 500 thanks to Republicans like @johnculberson who blocked bailout. More economic crap coming. Wild times we live in.

September 29, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Himanshu, Steven Perez, Helen Sventitsky and 3 other people liked this

It actually ended down 777. - Alex Scoble

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Don't know if you saw it, but this tweet elicited a "blame Scoble" from Nicole Ferraro of Internet Evolution. http://www.internetevolution.com/author... She noted that social media spread news of the possible failure of the bailout vote even before voting had concluded, then noted that this tweet served to "keep users informed, as well as stir the panic pot on Twitter." IMHO, both are half-truths. - Ontario Emperor

Republicans and 40% of the Democrats Pelosi didn't due her homework before the vote and make sure she had the votes to pass, which is part of being House leadership. - Thomas Vincent

It's not all the Republicans fault, some of the Democrats turned the bill down, so I blame both sides. - Molly, "sorry"

Start with the first item from Chris Poley - news about the vote was originally transmitted on C-SPAN, and then was transmitted on www.c-span.org (and presumably on other online media services). So why not blame TV? - Ontario Emperor

Thomas, you can't say that for sure. There's nothing stopping any one of them from saying they'd vote for the bill (in order to bring it to the floor) and turning around and voting against it. For those up for re-election, such a strategy would actually make the most sense. - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

Then, regarding the second "stirring the panic pot" - it isn't like you said anything that Bush, McCain, Obama or other bill supporters hadn't said before. The difference is that when one of them says it, it takes a lot of time to round up the reporters and put on the TV makeup. A tweet can be injected into the ether much more quickly. Apparently that's the "danger" Internet Evolution sees, if I'm reading the article correctly. - Ontario Emperor

Why did Pelosi give that speech before the vote? Why didn't the Dems have their house in order? The one thing about a BIG mess, plenty of blame to go around. - michael sean wright

@Scoble, you already agreed to blame the Dems in every post. Scoble, give me your gmail password. - Morgan Warstler

Morgan, chill: this tweet is from 3 HOURS AGO. - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

Stupid Blogger, The entire body is up for reelection it's the House. Second DeLay ran the House on a smaller than a 12 vote margin (How many this missed by) the entire time he was Majority Whip and never had a problem with it, because his people got the research done about how people would vote. Regardless of his politics he knew how to work in that job. - Thomas Vincent

@stupid: tell Scoble to fork over his password! - Morgan Warstler

Pelosi pointed out the surplus we had at the end of Bill Clinton's term. Why does Republican=fiscal conservative when clearly, that's no longer the case? - Cathryn Hrudicka

The market is pissed it wasn't given free money? Now it's lowering prices. Where's the problem? - Eric Lewis

@johnculberson on CNBC right now - Chris Johnston

@Cathryn: You won't like this answer but here's the truth - since 1980, Republicans have intentionally deficit spent everything and anything on non-social services. They did so, because if they didn't Dems would use it to buy votes for themselves. This is why Clinton only got to balance the budget, and why the same thing will happen to the next Dem president. - Morgan Warstler

Maket is down nearly 800. Good! Let them suffer for their stupidity. - Jason Shultz from twhirl

Robert Scoble

@ginakay the economists I talked with say credit overall, even for people with excellent credit, will stop. Economy will tank.

September 29, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Peter Ghosh, Steven Perez, Drew Lucas and cjmart liked this

Odd, I've talked to others in banking who say it will get very tight, but not stop. The risk tolerance has gone down substantially but hasn't reached zero. - AJ Kohn

5 more comments

AJ: that's enough to get millions kicked out of their jobs. Which, by the way, will cost us a lot more than $900 billion in unemployment and other government programs to deal with that. - Robert Scoble

It's easy to find economists who think bad things will happen. Finding ones who know how it actually works are a more difficult breed. - Thomas Vincent

Not only that the first jobs to go are the ones tied to nonessential industry, namely tech. - Aaron Krug

No bail out, must wait till new Prez is sworn in. Stop looting treasury. - imran

Welcome to Fight Club. This is Project Mayhem. Everyone goes back to zero. Cue The Pixies "Where Is My Mind." - Dana D

I work for a bank (one that got out of subprime in 2003) and we continue to lend. If people keep panicking and withdrawing money, THEN we'll have issues. - Peter Ghosh

david weinberger

Barney F on the Reps saying they're willing to tank the economy because their feelings were hurt. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archive...

September 29, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

but how does that explain the 40% of Dems who voted against it? - Thomas Vincent

Nick O'Neill

I think the house is not doing a very good job educating constituents about the rationale & logistics behind this new plan

September 29, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Roney Smith, Molly, "sorry", Eric Ortega and 24 other people liked this

I think they're doing a great job. A lot of so called smart people made stupid bets and now I'm supposed to make my grandkids pay for it. I think NOT! Suffering now will teach us to make wiser choices. - Eric Lewis

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I doubt every Congress man and woman has read the 100+ pages document. Many of them probably voted the same way as the people who sit next to them. It will be a miracle if we can get the bailout plan to pass. - Harry Chen

Agree! Understand that they are pressed, but the comms around the dealings have left a lot to be desired. - Josh Dilworth

FWIW, there is only one bill in which you can basically prove Congressman have read--the Intelligence funding bill. The reason? It's classified and Members have to sign in to read it. How many do? About 14 or so (believe it or not). I worked for Congress a few years back and always found that depressing. - Andrew Leyden

What's the incentive to educate anyone when they KNOW the sheep will continue to vote them in and always vote Dem or Rep? - Live4Emma (L4S)

Eric: the problem is your grandkids will pay for this anyway. What happens if you lose your job? Or your kids lose their jobs? - Robert Scoble

@Robert: that's why we should stop having kids. :-) - Harry Chen

@Robert: I don't have a "job". If I lose my source of income I adapt. Nobody bailed me out when I lost my house. Sure my grandchildren already own a piece of the national debt. But I will not vote $1 more on them. - Eric Lewis

@Tadeu: I'm all for you avoiding pain, but don't pain my grandkids to do it. I agree with you on wars, but personal pain has taught me many lessons. - Eric Lewis

Eric: but when everyone else is out of a job they get unemployment insurance. So, you just voted your kids more debt there too (and far more than $700 billion, especially if this goes on a long time). - Robert Scoble

Robert: So I should steal from my grandkids to avoid others stealing more? You're making my head spin. I can only control me. I won't steal. - Eric Lewis

Eric: here's the problem. Our entire economic system is based on credit now. You do realize that, right? How did I buy my car? Credit. How did the businesses I have worked for get money to hire people, buy realestate, etc, Credit. How did I get my house? Credit. So, if the credit system goes into meltdown (it's very close) then they stop loaning money to EVERYONE, not just "flakes." So, who built the Saturn car I bought on Credit? What happens to their jobs if we can't buy more cars? - Robert Scoble

Eric: If the plan is put together wisely and executed well, taxpayers may actually earn money on this deal. No one is talking about giving away $700B. This is a loan. Worst case scenario is probably that we lose half of that. Most realistic scenario? We probably lose $100-200B. - J. McConnell

If the economy melts down, then tons of people, even those who had good credit, get hurt. What happens then? We all go on unemployment. Your grandkids are going to pay a LOT MORE than $700 billion if that happens because when the economy melts down the jobless will be a lot longer and deeper. You have a chance to head that off now, but you are deciding to watch the entire economy burn, baby, burn. That is NOT prudent. - Robert Scoble

@Robert: I don't understand paying off/guaranteeing the bad debts of bankers as being MY problem. I made some bad financial choices in my day and no one bailed me out. You take your chances, you pay the piper. - Eric Lewis

Eric: you don't fund other people and other parts of the economy. These banks do. That's the error in your thinking. - Robert Scoble

Robert: You're right, I don't. But they lost $1 Trillion. Who made the larger mistake in thinking? If I have a vote, I'm not rewarding that. - Eric Lewis

Eric: the thing is, that's not what you're deciding now. Now you are deciding whether the entire economy burns because you want to punish those responsible. There are other people involved here. Get off of the punishment, it won't help you protect your grandchildren. - Robert Scoble

Robert: I'm for punishment?! I'm sorry, from where I sit, loaning money to a losing gambler, because his kids might starve, is not protection I can believe in. I need a better explanation than that. - Eric Lewis

Eric: you are thinking wrong. This isn't a person. It's a series of institutions that loan money to normal people like you and me. If they stop loaning money, WE HURT and the PEOPLE WHO BUILD STUFF FOR US HURT not them. You need to think about the whole economy, not just the jerks who got us here. The one who lit the fire isn't the one who is going to get burned. Put out the fire. Argue about punishment later. - Robert Scoble

FYI, both D's and R's who voted No are from districts that are "in play." When they had to make a tough call that might hurt politically, they chose the safest path for reelection, not for the country. - Andrew Feinberg

@Eric Lewis: Here is a great explanation of why this bill was important and was more than just bailing out a bunch of greedy bankers who made poor decisions: http://www.frontlinethoughts.com/article... - J. McConnell

Curtis: we don't know if it'll work. It's like putting water on a fire. You know it will help and you continue putting water onto the fire until it's out. Andrew: exactly. They are willing to burn down the country so they can get reelected. - Robert Scoble

Andrew: do you have a map that shows that? I want to put that on the top of my blog. - Robert Scoble

Robert: You sure sound panicked. I am not. There will always be people with money who want to make more, by loaning to those with sure plans. I will not throw good money after bad. - Eric Lewis

@Robert: I understand you believe credit will stop, but that's an opinion, not a fact. I'm hearing otherwise. Tightening yes, stoppage no. There are many who believe our grandkids will be *better* off if we ensure proper and last resort bailout is enacted. That both corporations and individuals should be held responsible. In many ways, America as a whole is responsible for not being more vigilant. I'm not the enemy, we simply have differing views on what is best and even brainy economists differ. - AJ Kohn

I've posted that link to my feed so we can discuss it, if anyone's interested. http://friendfeed.com/e... - J. McConnell

Suspending MTM accounting = instant fail. Why would they undermine the entire program by sewing seeds of doubt?? Anyone who is *pro-transparency* should be pretty stoked right now. - Will DeLuca

AJ: well, nothing ever "stops" totally. True. I should use "major slowdown." But, either way, you are deciding to make the slowdown deeper and longer by not putting water on the fire. That's fine, but I wish we would put water on the fire instead of saying "burn baby, burn." - Robert Scoble

Robert: There are also those who think the market will self-correct. Yes, it will be painful, but it will correct. I'm not sure about that, but like you, I don't know all the facts. - Jim McCusker

Heck Pelosi couldn't even explain it to her own party members Nick 40% of the Dems didn't vote in favor of it. If she had done a proper Whip check in advance of the bill coming to the floor she would have known that and dealt with it. - Thomas Vincent

Mark: my minor is in economics and I went to the World Economic Forum this year. Hey, if Palin is qualified to be President because she "lives close to Russia" then I'm qualified to be FriendFeed's economist! :-) - Robert Scoble

'new plan' ... nothing about that reaching the UK news - PaulJohnson

Great NYT article: An interesting historical perspective about the disaster that has befallen Wall Street. http://tinyurl.com/3vzxc9. Sheds some informed light on how we got here. (By noted biographer Ron Chernow). - JP Adams

The government just screwed the country. A lot of people are going to lose their well earned money because they (the government) can't help out. I'll have to say bye bye to the money I invested, which is what I basically life off of, since I can't find a job at the moment. Thanks so much. - Molly, "sorry"

@Robert: I like that terminology far better because I think it's more realistic and doesn't feed into reptilian panic button response that actually helps create runs. I'm interested though, it will certainly make the slowdown deeper - that's pretty clear IMO - but I actually believe that means it will be shorter, not longer. [cont] - AJ Kohn

[cont] A slower correction is like having spyware on your computer. It just gets slower and slower and people give up on the computer in frustration. A short deep correction is like a reboot, you start over but still have faith in the computer. - AJ Kohn

politicians are only being as transparent as is necessary to ensure your vote in a month...there is too much at stake right now for any real bipartisanship to really happen - George Lee from twhirl

I'm embarrassed to be have been oblivious to this entire conversation - Nick O'Neill

Robert Scoble

@spierzchala I don't know that such a scandal would hitMcCain. Bush overturned many American principles and he is unscathed. Torture anyone?

September 13, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Why does congress and the senate get off the hook in the Bush presidency? Folsk always make it sound like these things never came up for oversight vote or review by anyone else. - Soulhuntre from twhirl

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Of course, it was the strategy of the dem controlled congress and senate the last 2 years to let things stay bad and do nothign so as to assure a DNC victory in november - but it has backfired. They have a worse apprval rating that bush does. - Soulhuntre from twhirl

Soulhuntre The Senate is part of the Congress, it's made up of the House and Senate combined - Thomas Vincent

Certainly the GOP dominated congress for most of the Bush administration deserves a huge amount of scorn and they're paying the price back in 2006 and this year as well. The current Dem dominated congress should certainly be viewed with disgust as they've totally failed at doing much of anything they wanted. The primary problem is a complete lack of any real leadership on either side. - Chrimmus Tad

Democrats didn't have enough majority to avoid the vetoes of Bush, hence why nothing seemed to get done on either side. Such are the checks and balances of our system. Up until 2006 the Republican controlled congress never questioned the Bush administration and approved nearly everything. - Bryan

Robert Scoble

I hate NBC. They aren't putting the Olympics on live. That really sucks.

August 9, 2008 - Comment - Like - Share

Jick Nan, accesine, Leslie Poston and 32 other people liked this

How can you not agree with this? Hey, Robert, do you have access to CBC? I've been liking their coverage. - Patricia F. Anderson

39 more comments

It says "live" in teh corner of my nbc swimfeed - Archangel ωαřмaiden

WarMaiden: I already know that Phelps won a goal and set a world record but it won't be on here in California until later tonight. - Robert Scoble

TV is dead. Time delays are dead. In Canada, they don't allow local broadcasting of election results until your region's polls have closed. The Internet has killed that old-fashioned idea. Time delay TV is so 1988. - Stephen Pierzchala

Aaah, gotcha - Archangel ωαřмaiden

We hear this every four years, but if you truly want the Olympcs to be live with the 12-hourdifference, be waring to go at 3 a.m. That said, I notice that at least for the East Coasters are getting some of the big events live while us West Coasters have to wait three hours... But we're used to that... - Chris Reed

CBC is the perfect model. Live, inclusive, no smaltzy profiles, just the sports. - Kathleen Mazzocco

NBC sucks. Why aren't they showing more of the Olympics? At 7 they showed Access Hollywood Weekend, now they are doing "Olympic Zone" live from Downtown Palo Alto??? WTF?? - PC Easy from twhirl

Ben: are you on East Coast? - Robert Scoble

Robert, you sure are in a hateful mood tonight..but I am with ya..so carry on. - Scot Duke

that sucks. here in Detroit we've got the CBC too, although at least on EST, they've had just as much live coverage for the first time since at least '92 - Richard Lawler from twhirl

Scot: I hate it cause people are talking about it on Twitter and I can't watch for three more hours. Sigh. - Robert Scoble

Agreed PC. Their announcers suck, their stupid commercial breaks every 5 minutes suck. Ugh, I want decent coverage of this stuff already. - Dennis Jackson

I am with ya on the Twitter talk about it. I have been trying to watch it online and that sucks as well. - Scot Duke

agreed that the CBC coverage has been great so far...too bad they've lost the broadcast rights for the olympics after this year... - Trent Olson

And it appears NBC may have altered the broadcast of the Opening Ceremony to place TeamUSA in primetime: http://tinyurl.com/5pu92v - Peter Svensk

I am so angry that I can't watch my friends who are racing over there...I have to read about it and hope for youtube. Not angry. Outraged. - Andrew Feinberg

And the MSM wonders why people pirate content and feeds.... - Duncan Riley

gee .. like no-one thought this would happen huh .. a corporation re-writing history to help their bottom line .. I am so shocked <GASP> - Steven Hodson

+1 for CBC - JT Perry

Have you tried the NBC Olympics site? http://www.nbcolympics.com/tv_and_... Some content is streamed live... you may have to adjust your sleeping habits to can the next round of competion in four hours from now. - Anthony K. Valley ©

Robert - Yes East Coast, but they are back to recorded gymnastics. "LIVE" is gone. - Ben Newton

I'm watching it live right now. Is it a west coast thing? There are tons of live events online this year, even practice sessions. Requires MSoft Silverlight but pretty good quality streams. - Andrew Leyden

I watched the opening ceremony on my TV via Sopcast&Tvants (pc hooked up to TV). Watched it again in HDTV on NBC later that night. This link has all the ways to catch coverage http://howto.wired.com/wiki... - Andrew Leyden

and you are surprised? at all? honestly? - Thomas Vincent

I'm watching CBC in Canada. http://www.cbc.ca/olympics Do you think it would be any different if another network was covering the Olympics in the States? - Phillip Jeffrey

Comcast added two special Olympic channels in the HD section--one for basketball and one for soccer. There is also Universal HD which has some coverage, USA Network, Oxygen, CNBC and MSNBC, and Telemundo. I'd spin around to see if you can find anything live at the moment (I think there is a basketball game on now). - Andrew Leyden

Have you tried nbcolympics.com? I know they are having some events live. Personally I don't have a problem with the delay. With a choice of the races being broadcast live but not seeing them and being able to see the delay I'll take the delay. - ChiliMac

Here is a good list of what is on (all times EDT) across all the networks http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv... - Andrew Leyden

If you want live, unfortunetly the only way is through the web. And they are raw feeds using MS Silverlight. So if your willing to deal with that you can get all of the events in a pop-up window on your computer. : | - Bluesun 2600 from twhirl

On the West coast in .au we are use to 2hr delay for most sporting events, but not the Olympics. Appears to be live at, least on SBS the "complementary" broadcaster, time to settle down for 3 hours of the womens cycling road race. - Nick Cowie

whenever the olympics take place on the other side of the world most events aren't shown live. This is not about broadcasting the olympics as a public service. It's about NBC making their money back. You do understand the relationship between ad rates and prime-time, right? The Internet takes away any suspense about the olympics when they are held on the other side of the world. You ain't gonna get live from NBC. Too much money at risk. - Dave Madison

part of the coverage is live at least on the east coast. there has been some effort to schedule a few important US events in the morning a la Phelps so that they can be seen live on primetime - Ted

Adding insult to injury, my rather capable PowerPC Mac can't even access the Olympics on nbcolympics.com. It's using an Intel-only version of Silverlight. Trying CBC and other foreign networks online all reject me because of my American IP, and I haven't found a successful proxy server that'll let me stream. - Kevin Hessel

loving nbc's use of silverlight working awesome on the macbook pro - adolfo foronda

The BBC have just had to put a bucket into the Olympics studio in Beijing as the roof is leaking! - Rich

@Kevin Hessel: Thanks for pointing that out. Now I'm not happy with NBC either. - ChiliMac

try watching CBC channel 99 on Comcast. I just watched USA creamed China in basketball, live. - ~C4Chaos

NBC focuses too much on the #olympics drama rather than live coverage. bball on primetime? USA already creamed China - http://bit.ly/1cQyX2 - ~C4Chaos

yeah - accesine

NBC sucks. I started a public email protest here: http://n2.nabble.com/NBC-Oly... - please help to spread the word. If more people work together to get their message to NBC, they will have to act. Blogging and commenting like this are just too scattered and too easy for NBC to ignore. - weizpub

Tsega Dinka

Watching the Olympic opening ceremony with lots of oohs and ahhs. What an amazing show.

August 8, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Dileepa Prabhakar, Colide81 (James), Mo Kargas and 8 other people liked this

you know when dudes are like: "i'm gonna take this to a whole 'nother level?" well, china took it there for sure - Cee Bee

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Agreed - Stellar ! - Charlie Anzman

unbelievable. - Robert Scoble

They certainly went all out in the fireworks and torch lighting department! - Melanie Reed

that truly was absolutely amazing. wouldn't expect anything less from the Chinese, really. - ::Kristen::

That was awesome... must admit I got a little misty during the very very brief Aussie part of the parade of nations on US tv. usually supress homesickness pretty well... epic fail tonight. :( - Scott Lockhart

I missed some of the beginning. I did see the torch lighting. Pure Awesome! - Bryan Lee from twhirl

flying around the stadium to light the torch!!! - Nathan Eckenrode

great,i like it - 阿石

China explaining itself to the world. Stunning, beautiful -- beyond expectation. - Chris Baskind

The way the cauldron was lit totally blew me away. Kudos to them - Murali from NoiseRiver

Amazing doesn't describe it. Doubt if any other country can put up a show like this! - Dileepa Prabhakar

Communist countries have always been good at grand theater productions, not sure why that surprises anyone - Thomas Vincent

Leo Laporte

I think we'll look back at this and say, this was when the American century ended and the Chinese century began.

August 8, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

sam sethi, Brian Sullivan, Christine Lu and 33 other people liked this

Really? (Please note that my question was more of a shock reply. I heart Leo but on this one, I just do not see his logic.) - michael sean wright

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Load of crap, Leo! Did you hear the cheering the Chinese had for the USA athletes? - Hal Rottenberg from twhirl

Hoping that we're fast approaching real globalism and a single country can't dominate. I think the more we all rely on one another, the less likely we will try to kill each another. - ·[▪_▪]·

Maybe you will. Sorta doubt I'm going to be dazzled by pretty lights and think it signals the end of America. Don't get me wrong, it was a cool opening ceremony, but I don't think that has much bearing on who's century this is. - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins

Big fan of yours, Leo, but you'd be better served sticking to tech. With all due respect, that's a pretty vapid statement, sir. - Art Lindsey III

What determines the ownership of any century? Is this a national penis measuring contest? :) - Mo Kargas

America may be on the slide a bit with the economy and the current foreign policy, but to say this is the century of China seems like a big reach. As for Globalism, the world has a long way to go. Look at Russia and Georgia. - Matt Leake

I'm just looking for the Human Century. Let's just all join together and live in peace - I don't care who the leader is as long as we aren't killing each other. - Chrimmus Tad

The Pacific Century. Maybe David Wingrove will be right after all. - Akiva Moskovitz

Totally, Leo! Chinese olympiads will kill Twitter. And then Google! - Adam Lasnik

I fear this may be happening as well. It's rare I see people have a contrary position to yours, Leo, but the convo on Metafilter (http://www.metafilter.com/73968...) is also full of insight. - Rick

Wow! I sure hope not. What a loss for humanity if China is *the* world leader. - Brent Logan

No American spirit and wisdom is able to stand as the world leader Leo. Have faith in your own country for Gods sakes! - Colide81 (James)

He's drunk or something folks. Move along, nothing to see here. - Josh Haley

Our country has too long ignored the world whilst also given the world the bank note. I'm with Leo. - Michael W. May

I'm with MWM and thus with Leo. - Akiva Moskovitz

Insightful and provactive comment. China is truly sending a message. - Darrell Bell from twhirl

I don't agree with MWM saying that the USA has ignored the world. Intact we are one of the largest helpers of the world. The USA gives lots of money to poor countrys, we have many charitys that go all over the world helping people. - Colide81 (James)

I can certainly see the sun setting on the US as leading the way toward anything globally useful. China doesn't really have any non-conscripted fanboys, either. Pomp and Circumstance can get you warm and fuzzy, but i'm just not buying it anymore. - ɐ ɯıʞ sıɹɥɔ

wow defensiveness shows weakness and there a lot of defensiveness around this tweet - xavier vespa from twhirl

you people liked this post? that is frightening. hell no! China is a dead end. if it is a Chinese Century it won't be the Chinese in China! too many people you blue state lemmings! they have no resources. they are like the damn BORG! - Noah David Simon

Xavier, wow, what a grossly unqualified, thoroughly baseless, and obviously useless statement to make. People are expected to defend what they say. It's not a sign of weakness, it's a sign of discourse. Sheesh. - Akiva Moskovitz

Chinese century? As america goes so goes the world. So if this is the end of the american century, this is the end of the chinese century as well. - Alex Scoble

Wow, now its a red state vs. blue state thing!?!?! You want to talk about lemmings? - Darrell Bell from twhirl

If China were a stock, I would short it. It is a country poor in natural resources and "rich" in people. Raw ingredients from all over the world are being shipped across the oceans (powered by oil) to be turned into finished products by cheap labor, then shipped around the world (powered by oil). That doesn't make sense in a world of expensive oil. And it certainly doesn't make sense as robotics keep improving and as nanofab becomes viable. - John McCrea

Just to add more fuel to the fire... Why does America owe China so much money? Why are most of the consumer goods made in China? When was the last thing you bought that said, "Made in America?" Sounds like a Global economy to me. The days of America being afforded the luxury of the arrogance of some the comments here are long gone. That is not red state vs. blue state. That is not... more... - Darrell Bell from twhirl

I agree, Akiva. We should expect people to give a defense of their knowledge and beliefs. We have the choice whether to be persuaded or not. - Melanie Reed

Alex, 'As America goes so goes the world'? That is incredibly apropos. Look at what became of the Roman Empire and the world which followed it. Earth covers earth. - Akiva Moskovitz

China is an ancient culture as regards (and in comparison) to the culture that is currently recognized as America. Both countries have allowed factions to 'push and pull' at their respective mainstream cultures (as has any country, past or present) to define their place on the world stage at any given moment. But it is not linear in description. It more follows an illustration of bread dough being punched and kneaded. No one stays on "top" for any length of time on the world stage. - Melanie Reed

Whilst it may be hard to see the USA losing its global influence; I think that China will begin to exert more influence as it 'catches up' with post-industrialisation, post-modernity and the new digital convergence. If only China could do something about its public relations image. Maybe it should start blogging. - Chris Loft

It's easier to see when these things happen to you personally -that the old phrase "money makes the world go round" gets more true with every passing year. Governments are not the powerful institutions they are perceived as being: it is the money behind them. And that can switch "country" hands in a deal. Hence, the old phrase: "Them that has the gold rules." Not kind-heartedness or intelligence. When times are "peaceful and good" for a nation it is easier to ignore this. - Melanie Reed

Somehow, I don't think that China will be the next global champion of freedom, I could be wrong. - Robert Hafer

As regards the cheering this way or that, I'm a bit reserved on that considering that we had reports that the Chinese people were only days before the ceremonies "being schooled" on what was appropriate behavior and conversation to visitors to their country. There are also issues of imprisoned who are not allowed freedom of religion in China as well. Indeed, visitors were told they would only be allowed 1 personal Bible into the country. - Melanie Reed

As for World Peace, first you have eliminate petty dictators and oppresive regimes; to do that you need a world body that doesn't allow dictators and the like as members. Maybe a body like this will replace the UN some day. - Robert Hafer

What I mean by as america goes...Our economy really drives and is linked to the economies of the other developed countries. You can see this if you watch the markets of the developed countries. They tend to go up or down together. China's economy is inextricably linked to ours, so if our economy begins to fail so too does China's. If Americans stop buying Chinese goods, China will no longer have enough money to pay for their expansion. And not a lot of money from the goods made in China we buy stays there. - Alex Scoble

It's something like for every $100 of Chinese made goods purchased only about $4-6 stays in their country. They are actually more vulnerable to spikes in the price of raw materials because of how their economy is set up. Oh and plenty of things are still made in America...just not a lot of high tech stuff. You can actually find many American made goods if you go to Home Depot or IKEA. - Alex Scoble

People see China as this huge manufacturing juggernaut when really they are just the manufacturer of choice for most companies at this time. But they are actually having to close down factories now as it becomes too expensive to make goods there. And the companies that looked to China to drive down costs will continue to look elsewhere to continue to cut costs, particularly as the price of raw materials continues to rise. - Alex Scoble

Didn't we use to say the same about Japan in the 80's? - Alessio Bragadini

Alex, I want what your on "As america goes so goes the world." Rubbish. China may have need America to where it is today, but a middle class that is said to grow from 100m today to 700m by 2020 drives domestic demand. I only saw a figure yesterday that 90% of wood imports into China remain in China. They may take a hit if America goes under, but they'll still keep growing - Duncan Riley

I, for one, welcome our new ping pong playing overlords. - monkeystick

This is why I love certain people when they talk tech their knowledge of politics is absolutely laughable. - Thomas Vincent

That Leo equates a Communist countries Potemkin theater with the future of a nation is more revealing about how little Leo gives serious thought before making these kind of statements. I can't help but wonder if he would have had that same opinion if he was there suffering through long lines, bad air quality and jet lag to attend in person. But then Leo ought to be smart enough to differentiate between theater and real life or maybe he has been to one too many Steve Jobs keynote. - Thomas Vincent

I remember when the Japanese where going to take over the world. Then, they had a near Depression....... - Dan Sleezer

For those with thoughts about Leo - Ernie Foss from twhirl

Wrong button, about Leo's thoughts on China, I make the suggestion you read the book series The Forbidden Kingdom a three book paperback set, years old now but so advanced in it's true vision of the future. - Ernie Foss from twhirl

I'm not so sure. The mass orchestration of people as "pixels" in the opening ceremonies had a <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title..."></a> "Olympia"</a> feel about it, and the symbolism of the children handing the flag off to the military was (probably deliberately) a bit chilling. It may be my cultural bias, but I'll take the much more inspirational opening of the last summer Olympics in Greece - give me messages of individual initiative any day. - David Lounsbury

Yikes! I better get my family some smog masks stat - Zack W. Handley

If nothing else, China is learning quickly how to play the PR game. They're consistent in their foreign policy (kill all the citizens you want, just keep the raw materials coming), their domestic policy (worship the almighty RMB all you want, just keep the religion and protests toothless), and their national ambitions (R.E.S.P.E.C.T.). Their opening ceremonies were appropriately (for them) massive and intricate. They won't be ignored any longer. - Kawika Holbrook

While you can't exactly stick your fingers in your ears and la la la your way to thinking China's not catching up fast...there are still a lot of areas that the US can remain competitive in. It's not the end of the American century. America needs to reinvent itself. To do so, you need to understand what you're up against. Accepting 3rd party China analysis fed to you by journalists with no China experience themselves isn't going to cut it. Hop on a plane and see for yourself if possible. - Christine Lu

Duncan Riley - First off, use "your" and "you're" correctly if you are trying to win an argument so as to not detract from your points. Secondly, if you have been watching the markets, you can see a direct effect to all of the markets throughout the world, except for those that run counter to our economy (such as Brazil because their economy is based heavily on energy commodities such as oil), from the decline in the US economy. It's direct. It's real and it's measurable. - Alex Scoble

And I didn't make up those numbers on how much money from China's manufacturing actually stays in China. That's from NPR. You can look it up if you want, but don't say that I'm smoking crack without doing your homework first. And what does China's imports of wood have to do with how much they make for goods that they export? Anyhow, think about it. China does not design most of the products they sell. Their factories are mainly contracted by multinational companies to make goods at lowest cost. - Alex Scoble

And it's a fact that there have been a number of factories in China that have had to close down. The fact is that America isn't as downtrodden as people would have us believe...but the outlook ain't all that great either. The world isn't getting any smaller and neither is the pool of available resources. If things continue as they have been, we will all be in the toilet. Americans, Europeans, Chinese and everyone else. But the rich will stay rich. - Alex Scoble

Robert Scoble

@ScrapNancy: yeah, I've already talked with the AP photo desk. They should have them now. By the way, the AP desk is on Twitter too! :-)

August 8, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Andrew Feinberg liked this

It's just a shame they don't actively listen to blogs... - Thomas Vincent

The AP photo desk is on Twitter? What's the user name? - Al Stevens

Robert Scoble

The congressmen are Twittering a filibuster and asking for your involvement. Very interesting. @petehoekstra and @johnculberson

August 1, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Millard Baker, James, Andrew Feinberg and 20 other people liked this

Anyone know what bill the filbuster is for? - Roberto Bonini

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Turns out @petehoekstra isn't following anyone. Usually a bad sign, but I followed him anyway. - Ontario Emperor

Roberto: it's not a filibuster. Congress adjourned for the summer recess. They wanted to vote on the bill lifting the ban on offshore drilling before the recess, a bill that has no urgency. - Mark Trapp

Mark: It has urgency now. :-) - Brent Newhall

Pelosi shut down the CSPAN cameras, turned off the lights and microphones. I think they should vote to decide if there should be drilling. - Caleb Easterwood

It couldn't be a filibuster it's the House members doing this and filibuster is a Senate procedure. There is no filibuster in the House rules. - Thomas Vincent

@Thomas: Good point. Just remembered that myself. - Roberto Bonini

Caleb: no, she didn't. She adjourned the house for the summer recess. When the Congress adjourns, CSPAN turns off and everyone goes home. It's not censorship, it's the Congress going home to their constituents. What's the rush to vote on drilling? It won't have any effect on the summer's gas prices. The twittering/qiking congressmen are playing the social media crowd hard. - Mark Trapp

رونوشت به حسین مزیدی - Shandiz

+1 to Mark. Exactly. - Kevin Bondelli

The outcome of the vote won't have any effect on gas prices for at least ten years. This is pure grandstanding. - Nathan Rein

... not, of course, to imply that there's anything wrong with grandstanding, a glorious tradition in parliamentary politics the world over. - Nathan Rein

@nathan It should have an immediate effect because the prices are at least in part a function of speculation. In the very short term, prices may go down with the promise of more oil in the future. (My own speculation: I doubt that price drop will bridge all the way from now to when the oil actually enters the marketplace. Without the oil actually in the pipes, the prices should creep back up after the initial drop.) - Kirk Kittell

Kirk, no, they won't. Futures speculation is based on the delivery of futures contracts, which must occur within a quarter (more often, within 30 days). Speculation is based on what will happen to the price of oil (more specifically, the production/supply of oil) at the time of delivery. This will do absolutely nothing to speculation or "psychology" until the oil can be delivered to market, which will not happen for several years. - Mark Trapp

A Twitibuster? Err drilibuster? Maybe more accurately, a re-electibuster. - Christian Anderson from fftogo

Mark, very lucid. - Pete Delucchi

Was not a filibuster. Only in the Senate can that happen. House had recessed, so it was more of a sit-in. Still very interesting though. Almost went down to the gallery to check it out. Presser at http://qik.com/johnculberson is cool - Andrew Feinberg

@Mark: So you don't think the prices will come down at all if the offshore ban is removed? - Kirk Kittell

I think it's totally an illusion that gas prices will come down if offshore drilling is allowed. It's a Republican smokescreen. - Cathryn Hrudicka

It'll have no effect on it until the oil comes to market. That's what so silly about this drilling push. Environmental concerns aside, it's a long term solution to a problem that requires an immediate answer. The gas tax holiday, for all its argumentative defects, is more based in reality to solve gas prices now than drilling. You want to bring gas prices down now? Mandate the prices or ban speculation entirely. - Mark Trapp

@Cathryn: See, that response is the reason I have a problem not believing that there is a chance they may be right. I'm a minority: a biker/walker in Houston. I don't want the ban to be lifted. But when it gets pronounced as a Republican scheme only, I try to separate the Kool Aid response from the possibilities. I think the truth is fuzzier than that. I think Mark's explanation is smart, but might only deal with the trades reported to the exchange and that the whole picture might be a little different. - Kirk Kittell

That is: Mark, I think you're right, but I also think that a sufficiently motivated cast of Congressfolk and billionaires can achieve anything that they set their minds to. I can question their intelligence, sure, but I can't question their political and business savvy. - Kirk Kittell

Yeah, business savvy is right. It's all about some extra profit for a few oil companies. At it's max predicted production (which would take 7 years to reach) it would add about 1 million barrels per day... That sounds like a lot, until you realize that's a 1.2% increase in the global supply, and, since oil is a market-traded commodity, there would only be a commensurate reduction in oil prices. Whee... $0.25 less per gallon... in 7 years.... - Jason Carreira

Mark, you now they used this "years" arguement 10 years ago, 20 years ago & even as far back as 30 years ago, meanwhile, we have went from importing 20% of our oil 30 years ago to importing 70% today! The same thing can be said of alternative sources (which no one on my side is trying to block, Bush has subsidized these sources more than any previous Admin), so using your logic we should give up on alternative sources as well! - Brian

Brian, there's solving the energy crisis, and stabbing blindly in the dark because it "sounds" good. Drilling will have no measurable effect on the economy now, and outlooks show that even at peak production, the effect on the oil market will be negligible. So why did it need to be passed before the recess? Why was it so important to have a special session after Congress adjourned? It's political silliness, and they got people to bite via Twitter and Qik. - Mark Trapp

hi , nice to know u ,my name is cici - cici

@Mark: It will have an effect on the economy here in Houston... now, where is that Culberson guy from... ;-) - Kirk Kittell

Robert Scoble

How is technology changing the world of Washington D.C.? - http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r...

June 24, 2008 from Scobleizer -- Tech geek... - Comment - Like - Share

Dru Bloomfield, accesine, Benedikt Koehler and 51 other people liked this

It's amazing how many social media tools I saw in use today. Yeah, it's not changing fast enough for most of us passionate types, but it sure is changing quickly. - Robert Scoble

26 more comments

Cool! I'd love to know what social media tools those folks in DC were using today! - Susan Beebe

@Robert Great post. I loved how Congressman Culberson owned the guy from TMZ. That was a classic. It will be really intriguing to see how committed these politicians are to building relationships using the social media tools that they have at their disposal. - Chris Rodgers

Amazing post Robert. What an incredible day you must have had. Curious to hear what Patrick though of it all too. So envious. I've been looking forward to this post all day as I could not follow you live. We are clearly helping shape the future with our efforts on there here socnets. Wait till GW hears that we are talking to people in Iran on Friendfeed. *chills down spine* - Brian Daniel Eisenberg

Thanks for the DC update - Mitchell Tsai

Wow, this is great story with amazing amount of detailed use of social media tools. who would have known?! shock and awe - Susan Beebe

Great article! I love the bit about the Congressman twittering from the Oval Office. - Michael Zitek

I believe in the tech I was arguing in it's favor 8 years ago on the Hill but until it decides in a House or Senate election, I call bullshit. Robert I believe in the earnest and true honestly of belief of your effort. I am not talking ideology or what the people belief you think but until it decides an election they(DC Hill folks) really won't believe. - Thomas Vincent

Thomas: do newspapers or radio decide House or Senate elections? I don't think so. They sure help, though. - Robert Scoble

True Robert, but more so than internet does yet? But we are getting there soon :-) - Thomas Vincent

Thomas: I think for people passionate about politics the Internet is already having way more impact than any other media. For those who aren't passionate, yes, TV is still the #1 way they get their info, but that's changing pretty quickly too. - Robert Scoble

It is changing things, but you also have to ask it changing things across the whole spectrum of those who are involved in politics, i.e. the rich and the poor, the educated and the not? A system in which everyone has access to this that and the other thing is nice, but you also has to ask who all is included in 'everyone', especially in a country in which many people don't have computers or net access. - Andrew Leyden

Think your theme loses out to Lawrence Lessig's idea on changing Washington.http://change-congress.org/pledge... Don't think it matters if a guy is corrupt and pork barreling and Tweet's or doesn't. The system is bad, not the toys they use to navigate it. - Mark Forman

Perfect no Andrew, but those who have an interest can find their way - Thomas Vincent

Mark: Lessig's idea is awesome, but Culberson disagrees with you. He is of the belief that if you shine light on things that the roaches scatter. - Robert Scoble

Robert-on that point certainly holds validity. That's why discussion is better than a monologue because it allows consideration on more than one point.I think that many different idea and discussions are needed to make DC a little bit better,not even good or passable,just a little better. Ironic that that place was a swamp. - Mark Forman

I worked on a "low-budget" Maryland senate campaign for Allan Lichtman in 2006, fresh out of college, and we were dubbed in an article by Business Week as the first campaign to fully embrace myspace/facebook. We had a staff member who's full time job was adding friends, and other profile management type services. Now, campaigns have full-time departments to do just that! amazing. Here's that article: http://www.businessweek.com/technol... - Brian Ries

There is also a huge divide between the politics of the Hill and the politics of a campaign. The two are very very different things and those who work on the Hill usually don't know the first thing about campaign politics and vise versa. Both worlds will find completely different uses for new technologies - Marco(aureliusmaximus)

I wish @BarackObama would post more from the campaign trail. No, I don't expect to be him personally, but yes, I'd expect him to have a guy or gal to post one thing to Twitter each day. - Kirk Kittell

Kirk. I told Obama's tech guy just that at breakfast. - Robert Scoble

Robert: Did you find out if he ever does it himself? I mean, not all the time, but once in a while is it him who updates it? I guess probably not. - Eric Florenzano

Thanks Robert - However, I might have appreciated it more if you had volunteered me ;-) - Kirk Kittell

I believe the word we are searching for here is "transparent"!! I think everyone wishes that government officials were more transparent with their decision making processes as well as things happening on Capital Hill. Kudos to Scoble for shedding some light on a new wave of thinking from inside the hallowed halls of our government!! Even if the wave is too small to ride yet!! - Nathan Finley

Eric: it isn't him most of the time but he says that Obama is the fastest keyboarder on a Blackberry. I told him (and one of McCain's advisers too) to use these tools interactively. We will see! - Robert Scoble

@scobleizer How is tech changing Washington politics? Interesting FriendFeed discussion here. Thanx! - Barbara K. Baker

too bad there isn't a directory of Govt folks to show who's on online using social networking tools like twitter, FF, Qik, etc. - Susan Beebe

Still pains me to think about how tech-illiterate McCain is-- remember his interview on TechCrunch. The tech future's in much better hands with Obama, but that's an argument for a different time and place. - Harish V

He thinks tech isn't important. Obama is going to make this one of a number of issues they nail McCain on. Many in Washington are saddened that he has changed his tone and positions to cowtow to religious right. - Robert Scoble

Robert Scoble

Senator Tom Coburn - http://qik.com/video/112653

June 24, 2008 from Scobleizer's Recent Qik Videos - Comment - Like - Share

Jesse Stay, Susan Beebe, Fred Neil and 2 other people liked this

You did really well Mr. Scoble. He was every bit as approachable as I said right? :) I'd be interested to know some of the behind the scenes stuff... Like, why Coburn? Don't get me wrong... I really like my Senator. Why him? Also, who was there standing off camera from his staff? Lots? Few? Were they wary of you and Rocky at all? (Hoping not) - Gerald Buckley

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Robert, Ihope that you will have a round up post of the DC videos.. I an't going to thru them one at a time... prefer doing a once over o fall in a singe session :)- - Peter Dawson

Peter: I just posted one at http://scobleizer.com -- of course it'll be a couple of weeks until we have all of our HD video up from this trip. What a day! - Robert Scoble

Your doing a good job Robert, looking fwd to being able to view the whole 9 yards of stuff :)- - Peter Dawson

chomping thru Robert's action packed day! wow!! wow! - Susan Beebe

I first met Dr Tom when he worked as a House member in Congress in 96, I respect the man deeply. He has an odd way but it works for him. - Thomas Vincent

Jeff Jarvis

In his decision on campaign funding, Obama is only matching my fears: just another politician.

June 21, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Jack Powers, Jeff Quinton, Ro (Lilyhill) and 5 other people liked this

Isn't this what democrats have been complaining about, not being tough enough campaign wise. I say, use the advantage. - AJ Kohn

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Jeff, you're dead wrong on this. Not only will opting out will allow his campaign to directly respond to the resources that 527 smear groups will devote to attacking him (blah blah muslim blah blah michelle blah *whisper*black*whisper*) but it will allow him to have enough money to campaign for votes IN EVERY STATE, not just "battlegrounds." McCain locked himself because when his... more... - Andrew Feinberg

With the amount of money Obama can raise, why would he want to use restrictive campaign funds? Just because he's working towards being different, doesn't mean he needs to be "stupid." - Vince DeGeorge

politicians not being political would be like oxygen based life forms not breathing. You can avail yourself to the option of not breathing, but it will not produce good results. - Robert Seidman

Jeff, I wonder if you have read Obama's two books, which he wrote himself. I doubt anyone could complete that assignment and still maintain that he is "just another politician." And in fact, the reason opting out of public funding is the rational decision at this point stems from the unique connection Obama made with 1.5 million small donors, a feat which strongly indicates IMO that he is NOT just another politician. - Len Edgerly

Use Google Blog Search to browse the latest posts on these subjects -- Barack Obama AND AIPAC OR campaign finance OR FISA OR Iran War OR unified Jerusalem -- and you will notice that quite a few former Obama enthusiasts are losing their enthusiasm fast. At times he almost seems to be positioning himself to the right of McCain. I think he is making a huge political mistake. Why work hard... more... - Sean McBride

Len, actions speak louder than words. - Jeff Jarvis

Judgment on Obama and campaign funding assumes the system he's bucking isn't rigged and polluted. It is. Give me a break. - Warner Crocker

McCain/Obama: the RNC has 5X what the DNC has to support their candidates so money to offset the RNC line against Obama is important. - Mike Reardon

The 43 previous US Presidents were politicians, so it should come as no surprise that Barack Obama is one too. - paul mooney

Jeff, you'd rather have him lose the election if winning it comes at the cost of shattering your Utopian hopes and dreams? - Robert Seidman

Jeff, and you are surprised? - Thomas Vincent

Please, please, please don't buy the mainstream media talking point. Public funding would be worthwhile if you couldn't just pump the 527s full of money. But McCain didn't want that. So Obama had no choice. BTW, where is the outrage against McCain for accepting public money but going over spending limits? http://www.boston.com/news... - Victor Ganata from Alert Thingy

Obama can raise funds without the 527s and public money... and put McCain in a corner at the same time. Big Mac co-sponsored the McCain-Feingold bill, andhe keeps jumping through the loopholes - Cindy's corporate jet, etc. - Bill Sodeman from fftogo

@jeffjarvis, public campaign finance is most anti-corrupting for incumbents to ensure they focus on the job vs. reelection money - Cornelius Toole

Jeff - I think there are a few ways to look at this. Clearly, the appearance isn't great. But, the reality is that the purpose of public funding is to reduce the influence of special interests. In utillzing the Internet to attract small donors, he's clearly reducing the influence of those interests. At the same time, he has strongly asked the 527s to back off - and we saw MoveOn do that... more... - Barry Graubart from twhirl

Jeff, of course Obama is just another politician, who will do what he needs to do to be in office and remain in office. And I support him, by the way. http://snurl.com/2mx3y - Dewald Pretorius

Obama's campaign has mostly been idealistic so far with sweeping promise of change and new direction - practicality and the "game" will eventually win out - prepare for the two sides of Obama, and prepare for disappointment. - Kevin Cearns

The core subtext here: neocon billionaires, hectomillionaires and oligarchs (McCain) vs. the American people (Obama). The oligarchs are angry about losing their financial grip on the American political process. They are also upset by the declining power of the mainstream media vs. the Internet -- a reality which doesn't change the fact that Obama's neoconish policy pronouncements and... more... - Sean McBride

defining neocon (by the way): pro Iraq War, pro Iran War, pro Clash of Civilizations, pro torture, pro police state methods, pro oligarchy, pro mainstream media monopoly, pro nepotocracy, pro crony capitalism, pro Judeo-Christian fascism; anti Mideast peace process, anti democracy, anti U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, anti Internet media decentralization, anti meritocracy, anti conservatism, anti liberalism, anti libertarianism, anti civil liberties - Sean McBride

simpler description of neocon - massive profit with complete lack of morals, ethics, empathy or humanity. It just so happens that all of the pro stuff Sean listed is the path of least resistance. Fear, uncertainty and doubt. - Chrimmus Tad

Tad -- to further simplify: neoconservatism = sociopathic plutocracy. - Sean McBride

Sean, I really think you need to go look up the history of the Neoconservative movement. I suggest you start with "The End of History" by Francis Fukuyama. What you're describing is classical fascism with a touch of theocracy. - Andrew Feinberg

Yeah, from what I understand, neoconservative is really just warmed-over mercantilism with more powerful guns. - Victor Ganata from Alert Thingy

Andrew -- some of the neocons were my classmates, and I've been reading them from ground zero in journals like Commentary for years. I feel confident that I know them inside and out. They are not very difficult to figure out -- their agenda shouts at one. Subtley is not their strong suit. I recommend reading books by the neocons themselves -- by Richard Perle, David Frum, Daniel Pipes, Michael Ledeen, Benjamin Netanyahu, Natan Sharansky and others. - Sean McBride

Andrew: Here are a few authors who do an excellent job of dissecting the neocons (I've read them all): Alan Weisman, Anne Norton, Craig Unger, Fred Kaplan, George Packer, Grant Smith, Jacob Heilbrunn, James Bamford, Jim Lobe, John Mearsheimer, Justin Raimondo, Michael Lind, Paul Craig Roberts, Philip Weiss, Ray McGovern, Robert Dreyfuss, Stephen Walt, Trita Parsi - Sean McBride

Veronica

omg @garyvee! I can't believe you're resigning! http://garyvaynerchuk.com/2008...

June 20, 2008 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

edythe, Michel Bechelani, Karim and 5 other people liked this

Is that what he said I played it twice and couldn't make it out...bad audio - Thomas Vincent

Evo Terra

Have disconnected brightkite from Twitter. Isolating all services so they can ALL combine at my FriendFeed account. No underbar.” (at 3165 S Alma School Rd, Chandler, AZ 85248, USA)

June 17, 2008 from brightkite.com - Comment - Like - Share

mike "glemak" dunn liked this

So you think friend feed is really your final all in one feed of choice? - Lantrix

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Well, I hate to say that ANYTHING is final, but I have been looking for a big uber life feed for a while. And it's not like I'm abandoning the other tools. Just keeping them isolated. - Evo Terra

I am just not convinced I like the look and feel of friendfeed yet, but I am give it a while before I decide my opinion - Thomas Vincent

I can live with suboptimal look and feel as long as the site works. Twitter's look and feel is fine while the functionality becomes ever more a shell of itself. - Dave Slusher from twhirl

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