MetaFilter posts tagged with 2002

EPIC FAIL: The Astroturf is always greener on the other side.

Skygazer — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 03:07:09 -0800

Rusty Shackleford over at right-wing anti-Muslim jihad blog The Jawa Report has posted that the Obama campaign, in an effort to portray Sarah Palin a member of the secessionist Alaska Independence Party, is engaged in a smear campaign through the use of viral video and astroturf techniques on You Tube. Shackleford claims the narrator of the smear video has worked previously on ads put out by the Obama campaign. And that “This same voice-over artist has worked extensively with [Obama campaign manager] David Axelrod's PR firm, which has a history of engaging in "phony grassroots efforts.” Shackleford also posits that the haste with which the individual who posted the video on You Tube, “eswinner,” or Ethan S. Winner, an executive for the public relations firm Winner & Assoc., removed the video proves an Obama campaign cover up in the works and that Winner & Assoc. were most likely paid by Axelrod to execute an Astroturf smear campaign against Sarah Palin. Axelrod's PR firm had a brief relationship with Winner & Assoc. from a Detroit Mayor's initiative they worked in separate capacities in 1996. Winner and Assoc, work predominately for big oil and utility companies, but also handle political campaigns and initiatives throught a subsidiary: Winner & Mandabach. Shackleford, although he presents the piece as having a high probability of being correct, admits, as his legal team advises him to, that much of it is "conjecture" and "speculation," Yet in his eagerness to expose Obama as a lowdown Chicago style political operator, he fails to discover, until he reads it here, that there is, indeed, an individual with a suspicious and compelling tie to the Winner & Assoc. public relations firm. That person is Sen. John McCain. In 2002 John McCain worked for Winner & Mandabach, a subsidiary of Winner & Assoc., to convince the people of Arizona to vote “YES” on proposition 202. One of three competing Indian gaming initiatives supported by the 17 Tribes coalition of Arizona. The 17 tribes hired Winner & Mandabach to see to it that there proposition was the one that would become law. McCain was brought in by Winner & Mandabach as a third-party player to lend his name and support to ads and mailings. The proposition was opposed by Arizona Christian groups and denied the state of Arizona $300 million dollars in annual taxes annually or imposing greater oversight and regulation. What compensation was made available to McCain for his services? “While candidates, PACs and party committees are held accountable for political funds, Indian tribes file nothing. … Disclosure only comes from those who file reports indicating they received donations from a tribe. … [T]here is no way to double check the accuracy of the reports.” McCain was twice chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, in 1995–1997 and 2005–2007. (On a side note for those who know of him, Prop 202 was also supported by human rights violator and denier of constitutional rights Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio (Previously on Metafilter.)

The Epic Battle of Testosterone

homunculus — Sun, 04 Apr 2004 13:25:05 -0800

The Bushiad and The Idyossey. "Narrative epic poems of 24 chapters each, The Bushiad and The Idyossey use satire and irony to cover events during nine months from December 2002 through September 2003, and were inspired by events as they occurred. Homer would recognize the tale." But where's Hercubush?

Still the Worst?

Dunvegan — Sat, 10 May 2003 15:15:11 -0800

10 Worst Corporations for 2002. Is this list still true in May of 2003, or have other corporations superseded this line-up? Was it even a good list of the best of the worst back in December of 2002? (From Multinational Monitor.)

Village Voice's 2002 Pazz & Jop Poll

boost ventilator — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 19:53:30 -0800

Pazz & Jop 2002 - The Village Voice has tabulated the top albums and singles from 695 critics (and 10,2002 LPs). Some of the ballot-fillers even got a little personal. The usual essays are included. If your fav CD didn't make the cut, perhaps it made it onto the dean's list.

Words of the Year 2002 Awards

Voyageman — Mon, 20 Jan 2003 13:55:38 -0800

Words of the Year 2002 Awards American Dialect Society Word of the Year : "WMD - weapons of mass destruction". Most Unnecessary: "wombanization" . Most Outrageous: "neuticles" . Most Useful (by unanimous decision): "google".....1991 Word of the Year: "mother of all."

dead ... completely

alfredogarcia — Mon, 30 Dec 2002 08:35:11 -0800

list of deaths in 2g2 -win a few of those 'are-they-dead?' arguments in 2g3.

Top Ten Web-Design Mistakes of 2002

riffola — Tue, 24 Dec 2002 03:30:07 -0800

Just in time for Christmas, Jakob Nielsen unleashes his list of Top Ten Web-Design Mistakes of 2002. [via the k10k]

Best Ideas Of 2002

yonderboy — Mon, 23 Dec 2002 10:35:29 -0800

Best Ideas Of 2002: From 'The Ambulance-Homicide Theory' to 'Women Are Just as Jealous as Men', the NYTM 2nd Annual Year in Ideas details 97 recent Gibsonian additions to life in these modern times.

Top 50 albums of 2002

mathowie — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 17:30:38 -0800

And so it begins: while I've already seen half a dozen "best ___ of 2002" lists, the year end list I look forward to, Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums list is out for 2002. It's just the right mix between "so mainstream there are no surprises" and "so indie even your second cousin's girlfriend's brother in that band hasn't heard of them" though perhaps they're leaning towards the latter this year, seeing how I've only heard about a quarter of all the albums listed.

2002's worst Americans...are YOU on the list?

vito90 — Tue, 17 Dec 2002 08:57:55 -0800

2002's worst Americans...are YOU on the list? Whomever could be number #1?

You and me.

the fire you left me — Wed, 04 Dec 2002 14:42:58 -0800

What the World Thinks in 2002. How Global Publics View: Their Lives, Their Countries, The World, America. A global poll from the Pew Reaserch Center. via NPR.

Time Magazine's 2002 Best Inventions

dash_slot- — Tue, 19 Nov 2002 20:26:26 -0800

Time Magazine's 2002 Best Inventions
I love my toys and gadgets, and I especially fancy the Air Surfer, @ $75 it looks like the glider for klutzes like me. However, I'm not ready just yet to take the hoots of derision that this Bluetooth Mobile Phone Headset will bring. This new chip looks set to improve digital photography... I do fancy that! But will Foveon have the muscle to bring the X3 to fruition?
This, though, is as close as we'll ever get to 'vaporware': Nasa's AeroGel... find out what earthly purpose it could serve.
Some on the list are little more than product placements (I'm looking at 'Breathe Strips' and 'Ultra-Cashmere' now), and some - Mr. Dyson's Cyclonic spin vacuum, I'm surprised to see - are hardly new. Others [Nano-Tex, Date Rape Drug Spotter & The Scramjet] I'm sure we've discussed before (but they don't figure in Mefi searches).
How many of these will change our lives - and how many will improve them? Is there something cool missing from the list? - something tells me that their gushing over their discovery of '3D Online Entertainment' ["...you can do it all and more in Second Life, a startlingly lifelike 3-D virtual world now evolving on the Internet"] gives it the Kiss O' Death. [...via blogdex]

Dirjy — Fri, 25 Oct 2002 21:59:01 -0800

Down the memory hole! An eye-opening comparison of how the various media outlets reported the removal of U.N. inspectors from Iraq back in the day (1998) with today (2002, and itchin' to fight).

alms — Sun, 18 Aug 2002 17:39:20 -0800

Apple is at work on the iPhone, if you believe John Markoff of the New York Times. Do you?

dobbs — Sat, 27 Jul 2002 13:08:28 -0800

I posted about it before and there was a mixed response. But Blogathon 2002 actually started this morning at 6 am PST. Bloggers with a gimmick have posted details here and it's not too late to sponsor. Are you watching? And what's your favorite blogger doing?

suprfli — Fri, 21 Jun 2002 01:37:35 -0800

England blew it. Enlgand got off to a 1-0 lead before it was tied by Brazil. Even after Brazil was a man down they managed to score a goal and hold the lead for a victory. I really thought England was going to go all the way.

Bixby23 — Tue, 11 Jun 2002 01:37:52 -0800

Bon voyage, mes amis... France now holds the dubious honor of being the first World Cup champs to drop out in the first round of the subsequent Cup tournament (i.e. Champs in '98/Goats in '02) since Brazil '66. Somebody, strike up Sergio Mendez for me...

yerfatma — Mon, 31 Dec 2001 21:10:51 -0800

Ha! Suckers! The first post of 2002 belongs to me. EST. Screw you Pacific Coast types.

holgate — Thu, 28 Jun 2001 17:56:01 -0800

"The Olympics isn't so much a sporting event as it is an unfolding drama." Not content with denying American viewers the chance to watch the Sydney games in real time during the infomercial hours, NBC now plans to show events from Salt Lake City on a tape delay to viewers on the west coast, in order to reach a prime-time audience. A sign that they're more interested in the ad revenue (or in shaping the Games to their own melodramatic style guide) than in being a broadcaster of record?

Cavatica — Mon, 09 Apr 2001 12:15:52 -0800

Our air and water may be polluted, but by gum, we're going to have smart kids... Bush gives us the new budget, which gives money to Education and the military, but cuts back on Agriculture and the EPA. Guess we're all going to be chewing down on that synthetic corn while wearing gas masks, eh?

foist — Tue, 13 Mar 2001 20:03:39 -0800

Great, but will it work in larger states? "Maine’s Clean Election Law goes into effect for the 2002 governor’s race, establishing public financing for candidates. Political observers are beginning to realize it may cause a revolution. " A green governor? I almost feel ... Canadian.