Miserable Failure

As Joe already noted, I was unable to do my live coverage of the debate tonight. Let me tell you why.



First of all, I no longer have the laptops I used to have, the ones I attempted to use for the VMA show. So I lugged around two tower systems, two laptop bags of audio equipment, and a flatscreen monitor all over the U.M. Campus going through security checkpoints, and facing ridicule of various media people and protesters.



(Why was I carrying all of this by myself? Well, Ricky, once again, was dragging up the rear getting us there this evening, and I got in too late, and discovered upon arrival that neither Leo nor Ricky's press credentials went through).



Secondly, once I arrived, I took about 15 minutes to set up, leaving me about 13 minutes before showtime to go figure out why the network wasn't up.



Upon questioning of the welcome desk, I was informed that I'd have to pay $350 per computer I was hooking up, $200 per phone that I wanted, and an additional $100 for a live audio feed.



Did I mention that I wasn't on the real debate floor? No, I was stuck in a large press room full of Spainards and API wire reporters. The highlight of the evening was when Carl Rove quickly ran through the room.



On the other hand, I did get a recording of the debate from an ambient room mike, and as soon as I fix up the sound levels on it, I'll either post it, or get Smokey to broadcast it.



I'm tired as fsck, and I've still got to unload my equipment. Talk to you in a bit with actual debate commentary.



/rizzn

Absolutely hilarious. Get it from teeshirthell.com 

Presidential Debates

The main two parties are putting up their presdiential candidates to debate this evening.... and I've just been told by the CPD people that I've qualified for press credentials, so now begins the mad rush to get my equipment together and ready it for the debate tonight.

If you were part of my street team and I told you that we cancelled the debate coverage, I'm now rescinding that statement. :)

This means you, tehjeffman.

MADSHOW TEAM, ASSEMBLE!

/rizzn

Soundtrack to My Car or Where Have You Been Rizzn?

I have finally decided to launch my record label.  I always get a bit involved in my music when things get a bit dead at work.  Well right now is no exception.  I have, over the last few weeks, banged out about five or six new songs, remastered a bunch of old ones, and finally finished a couple projects that needed finishing.

Right now, I'm peddling my wares through cafepress, and I'm selling it the cheapie route at first to get it out there.

Pay attention to this site over the next few weeks.  I'll be adding the record label information, and giving away free downloads of the song, for a limited time, and talking about my music and inspirations and such.

Once the record label site goes up, the price of the cd will jump to $9.99 (up a whopping 3 bux from the current 6.99).

If you love me, you'll by my album.  Get it now, while it's hot!

/rizzn

PS: Click here to go get it

URGENT - Call Senators today to stop INDUCE.

This is an emergency alert for everyone who took part in the Save Betamax call-in day: Today, Orrin Hatch will be trying to line up enough votes to get the INDUCE Act (S. 2560) through to the Senate floor. Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee need to hear from you right now.

At the bottom of this message is a list of Senators to call. Please take the time to call two of them, before 5 PM EST today. The bill is scheduled for mark-up on Thursday, so it's very important that you make these calls today.

We need to stop this bill, and we can. Because the INDUCE Act is such a radical departure from two decades of tech policy (set in place by the Betamax decision), a truly unprecedented coalition has formed to stop it. Heavyweights of the technology and electronics sectors are joining public interest groups in fighting hard against the extremely well-connected entertainment industry lobbies (the RIAA and MPAA). Right now there's something of a stalemate-- insiders all say that INDUCE has a 50/50 shot at becoming law.

That's why it's extremely important that Senators hear what you have to say. This email is going out to the over 5,000 people who participated in the Save Betamax call-in day. Tomorrow (Wednesday) the EFF will be running a call-in day for their members, using the software we made for Save Betamax. In just two days Senators could be hearing from tens of thousands of constituents. But we need you to make these phone calls, and spread the word (i.e. on your blog, or in an email to friends) that right now is the time to act.

SENATORS TO CALL

Please call two of these Senators, and if you have time feel free to make more calls. Make sure to look down the list to see if any Senators represent your state. Every phone call counts, but calls from constituents will carry more weight, so make sure to let them know if you're a constituent. Also, the RIAA likes to pretend that all musicians support their breed of copyright extremism. We know that's not true, so if you're a musician make sure to mention that as well.

Orrin Hatch
UTAH
202-224-5251

Patrick Leahy
VERMONT
202-224-4242

Charles E. Grassley
IOWA
202.224.3744

Edward M. Kennedy
MASSACHUSETTS
202-224-4543

Arlen Specter
PENNSYLVANIA
202-224-4254

Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
DELAWARE
202-224-5042

Jon Kyl
202) 224-4521
ARIZONA

Herbert Kohl
WISCONSIN
(202) 224-5653

Mike DeWine
OHIO
(202) 224-2315

Dianne Feinstein
CALIFORNIA
202-224-3841

Jeff Sessions
ALABAMA
202) 224-4124

Russell D. Feingold
WISCONSIN
202/224-5323

Lindsey Graham
SOUTH CAROLINA
(202) 224-5972

Charles E. Schumer
NEW YORK
202-224-6542

Larry Craig
IDAHO
202/224-2752

Richard J. Durbin
ILLINOIS
202) 224-2152

Saxby Chambliss
GEORGIA
(202) 224-3521

John Edwards
NORTH CAROLINA
(202) 224-3154

John Cornyn
TEXAS
202-224-2934

Music on the Turntables Currently: - last.mp3?Session=0f653b3ffe277e4bc5800db3b359e58b

CBS's Document Battle is Over

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/20/politics/campaign/20CND-GUAR.html

CBS News said today that a former Texas National Guard officer had "deliberately misled" it in its inquiry into President Bush's National Guard service by providing it with "a false account" of the origins of documents used to reinforce questions raised about Mr. Bush's activities three decades ago.

"Based on what we now know, CBS News cannot prove that the documents are authentic, which is the only acceptable journalistic standard to justify using them in the report," the president of CBS News, Andrew Heyward, said in a statement issued by the network. "We should not have used them. That was a mistake, which we deeply regret."

The network said the former Army National Guard officer, Bill Burkett, had "acknowledged that he provided the now-disputed documents" and that he "admits he deliberately misled the CBS News producer working on the report, giving her a false account of the documents' origins to protect a promise of confidentiality to the actual source."

In his statement, Mr. Rather said that "if I knew then what I know now, I would not have gone ahead with the story as it was aired, and I certainly would not have used the documents in question."

The seemingly unflappable confidence of Mr. Rather and top news division officials in the documents allayed fears within the network and created doubt among some in the news media at large that those specialists were correct. CBS News officials had said they had reason to be certain that the documents indeed had come from the personal file of Colonel Killian.

Sandy Genelius, a network spokeswoman, said last week, "We are confident about the chain of custody; we're confident in how we secured the documents."

In an e-mail message on Sunday, Mr. Burkett declined to answer any questions about the documents posed by The New York Times.

Mr. Howard also said in the interview that the White House did not dispute the veracity of the documents when it was presented to them on the morning of the report. That reaction, he said, was "the icing on the cake" of the other reporting the network was conducting on the documents. White House officials have said they saw no reason to challenge documents being presented by a credible news organization.

Several people familiar with the situation said they were girding for a particularly tough week for Mr. Rather and the news division should the network announce its new doubts.

One person close to the situation said the critical question would be, "Where was everybody's judgment on that last day?"

Music on the Turntables Currently: The Postal Service - Brand New Colony

Everyone Loves Over-simplification

http://www.loveinwar.com/game.cfm

Apparently, I'm a Middle of the Road Independent.

"You have little conviction and even less loyalty.  You expect politicians to cater to your outsized ego. If they catch Osama, you'll vote for George W. Bush.  However, if you got laid off, you'll vote for John Kerry."

So what happened to the 3-4 well known middle of the road candidates? 

/rizzn