The race between George W. Bush and John Kerry is set to become the most expensive US presidential election in history at $1.2 billion, a report on campaign spending said on Thursday, the Financial Times reported. Taken together, the presidential and congressional elections will cost $3.9 billion, up 30 per cent from the $3 billion […]
Category: Current Affairs
Desktop widget for US elections tracking
With desktop widgets still on my mind – see my post last week about DesktopX and Konfabulator – I came across a rather neat and timely one that might be of interest to my US friends in particular. Here’s Political Meter, a Windows desktop widget that will monitor the predicted outcome of the US elections […]
EU signs new Constitution
European Union leaders today signed the new EU constitution in a lavish ceremony held in Rome. Heads of state and government took it in turn to sign the text in the same room where the Treaty of Rome was signed to establish the EU in 1957. Also present at the ceremony were the leaders of […]
Those Florida voting machines…
With the US elections over and done with, what interest will there be now in anything to do with the electronic voting systems used in many states, eg, Florida? Well, maybe if it’s funny. Humour is always subjective but I bet many of my American friends (especially Democrats, which is most of them, actually) will […]
Those voting machines… again
So maybe my little joke on Friday about the Florida electronic voting machines needs thinking about again. From the Wall Street Journal: COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – 5 November 2004 – An error with an electronic voting system gave President George W. Bush 3,893 extra votes in suburban Columbus, elections officials said. Franklin County’s unofficial results […]
Ukraine blogs
[BBC News image] Headline news items on nearly every TV station and online media site is what’s happening in Ukraine. For instance, this latest report from BBC News. And this from the Kyiv Post. There are increasing numbers of blogs being written by people inside Ukraine and elsewhere, with comments and views that reflect the […]
The changing face of Dutch society
The Daily Telegraph carries a front-page report today about how an exodus of native-born Dutch in search of a new life abroad has reversed immigration flows for the first time since the post-WW2 era. The report says that, last year, more people left The Netherlands than arrived as migrants or asylum seekers, even though unemployment […]
EU commissioner starts blogging
Margot Wallström, the first-ever European Union Commissioner for Communications, appointed last August, will start a blog today. A news announcement late yesterday in the EU Observer said: From Friday (14 January) onwards, the Swedish Commissioner’s thoughts will be aired for all to see. The online journal is to be updated two to three times a […]
Netherlands hard line on immigration
The Dutch government is proposing that people applying to live in The Netherlands will have to take an examination to prove that they understand the language and culture, before they get here. Today’s Daily Telegraph carries a report on proposals that were announced in parliament on Thursday, where Rita Verdonk, the Minister for Integration and […]
EU anti-spam measures face uphill struggle
Thirteen European Union countries have agreed to boost cooperation to tackle unsolicited commercial email, aka junk email and spam. The thirteen are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, The Netherlands, and Spain. InfoWorld says that under an agreement announced by the European Commission yesterday, the countries’ antispam authorities have […]
United Nations Foundation starts a blog
The United Nations Foundation started a blog last week: UN Dispatch is a blog intended to promote thoughtful discussion about the UN, and to provide an outlet for important news and views on the UN. It is administered by Peter Daou, author of the Daou Report, and will feature frequent posts from knowledgeable guest contributors. […]
Blogs: The explosion of free speech
Pithy commentary in Business Week on the fall from grace of CNN news head Eason Jordan over his remarks that US troops target journalists in Iraq: [Jordan] resigned on Feb. 13 after conservative bloggers feasted on a controversial statement he made in late January at the annual World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, about the […]
Transparency leads to genuine debate
A thoughtful view on what the role of a blog sponsored and supported by the World Economic Forum should be and how the blog should develop comes from Lance Knoble writing in his Davos Newbies blog, in specific regard to the effects of the controversial Eason Jordan affair First, a quick recap for anyone outside […]
Outed by the bloggers
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central is a great example of stand-up comedy on the web at its very best. The Daily Show last Thursday was just hilarious, a satirical take on mainstream media and the blogosphere, the fake White House reporter and his naughty secrets and the recent Eason Jordan scalping […]
UK general election called
The UK general election will take place on Thursday 5 May, confirming the date which has been widely rumoured for weeks. Prime Minister Tony Blair made the announcement from Downing Street a short while ago. If the governing Labour Party wins, it will give Blair his third successive term in office as Prime Minister. So […]
Prince of Wales “momentary lapse”
Just catching some of the TV coverage of today’s marriage of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles, I saw a brief BBC TV interview with the Prince’s communications secretary, Paddy Harverson. Amongst the tame chit-chat about today’s event (eg, was the Prince feeling nervous and how many letters of support there have been from the public) […]
Blair and Prescott take to the web in election campaign
With election campaigning now in earnest as the UK general election on 5 May fast approaches, I’m not surprised to learn how the Labour Party is now using its website as an active element in campaign communication. Prime Minister Tony Blair has a dedicated area on the Labour Party website called Tony Blair’s Campaign Diary. […]
Who understands the EU constitution?
So the French voted ‘non’ yesterday to the proposed European Union constitution. That shouldn’t be a surprise, really, given the broad lack of general understanding in Europe about what the constitution means and what all its effects would be. You can’t say there’s not plenty of information about the constitution – take a look at […]
First the foundation, then the PR
What next for European unity, following the rejection of the idea of a European constitution by voters in France and The Netherlands? Stuart Mudie wonders if Europe needs better PR: […] As far as I can tell, many people feel simply that they didn’t understand what they were being asked to vote on and decided […]
Schwarzenegger podcasts
Podcasting knows no boundaries as a communication channel. It was just a matter of time before high-profile and internationaly-known politicians embraced this medium. Via Steve Rubel comes news that Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hollywood actor and current Governor of California, is now offering his weekly radio addresses as podcasts: Podcasting is the latest in on-the-go, on-demand technology […]