ACTION NEEDED: Dailykos is being Freeped in Time poll! Part 2
Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 10:57:55 AM PDT
Kossacks, we need your help. (I apologize about the loud title).
Yesterday I posted a diary about a blog poll at Time online. Dailykos was being freeped by someone and had only a 6 out of 10 rating. We pushed it up to 7 out of 10 and seventh on the list out of 25. However, it has fallen back to 6 out of 10 and number fifteen on the list.
Sitting at the top spot with 4772 16,720 (changed from last night) votes and an eight out of 10 rating is the derisive conservative site Ace of Spades HQ. Ace of Spades recently got its 10 millionth hit being online since 2006. Dailykos does that in about two weeks. So how is it that a second tier blog gets the top spot at Time? A couple of well-designed freep campaigns.
Dailykos is being Freeped in Time poll!
Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 02:05:05 PM PDT
Over at Time, they're doing a blog poll. Currently, conservative blog Ace of Spades is at the top of the list with a ranking of 8 out of 10. Meanwhile, Daily Kos sits at number 14 out of 25 with a rating of about 6. With 3874 votes, they've got a lot more than we do, so obviously they've organized some kind of effort to get the vote out. DailyKos has only 1461. We all know Dems are doing a much better job this year to get the vote out, so let's get over there and show the love for DailyKos!
UPDATE: I'm changing the links to avoid tracking by Time. To spoof the tracking system:
- Open a new browser window
- Cut and paste the links below.
UDPATE2: DailyKos is moving up! It's now number 7 in the poll with a rating of 7 and 1930 votes. Ace of Spades now has 4400 votes. I hope most of the new ones are negative...
Specific links beneath the fold.
Zubrin is wrong: Alcohol fuel won't save us
Tue Mar 18, 2008 at 05:59:05 AM PDT
Robert Zubrin wants to destroy OPEC. I won't argue against that. Whether it is doable is debatable, but using alcohol as the fuel to reduce oil demand is not just a bad idea, it's suicide. Corn-based ethanol drives the cost of all staple crops up. Converting food into fuel will result in hundreds of millions starving to death while a relatively small rich upper class drives (I doubt you will be among them). Converting corn to ethanol actually produces more greenhouse gases than burning gasoline instead. And corn-based ethanol may actually use more energy than it produces.
In his first Dailykos diary, Mr. Zubrin made a lot of claims which were not backed up by any cites, making ethanol out to be a panacea.
Below the fold I examine his post and put his claims to the test.
Caucusing at Stevenson middle school, Honolulu, Hawaii
Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 11:32:01 PM PDT
I drove my wife to yoga (she's Japanese and can't caucus) then took the kids to Stevenson middle school, the location of the caucus. Sign-up was slated to start at 6:30 with the presidential candidate polling due to start at 7:00. I arrived at 6:20, and the school parking lot was packed with a line of ten cars waiting, and the street parking was taken for a quarter mile in both directions.
DKos Gender Poll - Are you male or female?
Thu Jan 31, 2008 at 12:48:55 PM PDT
There's was some discussion in the straw poll results about what percentage of DKos readers are men and what percentage are women. A few years back there was a poll that showed DKos readers about 2/3 male. I wasn't able to find the poll or any more recent ones.
Bill Hicks, we miss you.
Mon Nov 12, 2007 at 02:33:17 AM PDT
WARNING: This diary has a two drink minimum.
Second Warning: Links Not Safe for Work.
Bill Hicks was one of the few openly progressive comedians to ever work in stand up. He remains one of the few people to use his fame to further the progressive agenda.
How did he do this? More below.
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Fed Agent Uses DHS Database to stalk girlfriend
Fri Sep 28, 2007 at 01:55:14 AM PDT
How much damage has the passage of the Patriot Act, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, and the implementation of various illegal wiretapping schemes done to our civil liberties? Here's a story that is neither the first nor the last of its kind. More importantly, how big is the iceberg in relation to the visible tip exposed above the waters of secrecy and authoritarianism?
A special agent for the Department of Commerce is facing up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for using a Department of Homeland Security database to cyber-stalk his former girlfriend.
Read the full story here, and more comments and quotes below the fold.
Miscellaneous Video Clips
Thu Apr 19, 2007 at 05:48:08 PM PDT
Below the fold, I've posted some intersting (mostly satirical) video clips about a variety of subjects including the war, missing emails, religion, presidential hopefuls, and other stuff.
Enjoy!
Global Warming Watch: Getting Desperate
Sat Mar 17, 2007 at 02:18:54 AM PDT
Since most of the world seems unable or unwilling to both reduce consumption of and find alternatives to carbon dioxide producing fossil fuels, scientists are now forced to entertain bizarre ways of counteracting its effects and delaying the inevitable.
Much like a chronic overeater who would treat his obesity with liposuction instead of proper eating and exercise, this article over at Wired has a pretty good round up of some of the ideas being bandied about to help us have our petroleum and burn it too.
There's the man-made "volcano" that shoots gigatons of sulfur high into the air. The space "sun shade" made of trillions of little reflectors between Earth and sun, slightly lowering the planet's temperature. The forest of ugly artificial "trees" that suck carbon dioxide out of the air. And the "Geritol solution" in which iron dust is dumped into the ocean.
Discussion below.
Global Warming Watch: One Third of the Planet Uninhabitable by 2100
Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 05:13:59 PM PDT
At a time when the Foley scandal and the mid-term elections are (rightly) dominating the media and public discourse, I'd like to make this reminder of a serious long term issue that drives us to vote Democrat. Getting the Democrats into office to stop the global warming denial and corporate control of government is a most important short-term goal. And seeing a vision of the future if we continue with Republican control helps motivate us. Global Warming will be the most destructive long term threat to our nation and all of humankind if no action is taken.
Continued south of the equator.
Global Warming Watch - 12 Year Drought
Thu Sep 21, 2006 at 02:16:27 AM PDT
It just gets worse and worse, doesn't it? If it's not ocean acidification preventing plankton growth or melting tundra releasing millions of tons of methane gas, then it's some other catastrophic change that has negative world-wide implications. Here's the latest:
Future Western droughts could last an average of 12 years, spanning half of the region and severely reducing Colorado River flows that supply millions of people, according to climate projections from a Boulder scientist.
More good news on page 2.
Global Warming Watch: Methane Sea Ice
Fri Jul 21, 2006 at 04:51:40 AM PDT
Methane gas is an
extremely potent greenhouse gas, ten to twenty times more efficient at retaining atmospheric heat than CO2. The good news is that it "only" lasts about 10 years or so in the atmosphere before it breaks down into CO2 (!) and water. By comparison, it will take centuries to get CO2 back to pre-industrial revolution levels, even if we stopped producing any of it today.
As global temperatures rise, it's effects have been felt most in the arctic and Antarctic regions. The permafrost is thawing and is believed to have the potential of releasing billions of tons of methane into the atmosphere in a short span of years, very quickly exacerbating global warming by 10-25%. There is some question about whether the methane will be released directly into the atmosphere or will oxidize in the peat and be released merely as CO2, but the potential for a huge catastrophe is in the making.
As if this weren't bad enough, I'll reveal a new arctic methane threat below the fold.
Global Warming Watch: An Inconvenient Video Game
Tue Jul 11, 2006 at 04:37:49 PM PDT
I came across this article on
buzzflash via
bluesnews. I think that the idea is a brilliant one.
Someone should make a video game of The Inconvenient Truth. The generation of most game-players will inherit global warming's escalating march, and many won't see any documentary, even an excellent one.
Global Warming Watch: Cannibalistic Polar Bears
Wed Jun 14, 2006 at 12:42:39 AM PDT
We recently heard of the
polar bears drowning 60 miles out to sea. Polar bears can actually swim 60 miles (!) but if there's nothing there when they arrive, of course they're too exhausted to either turn back or continue. Global warming is causing the sea ice to recede. It used to be only about 20 miles from shore, so the polar bears could swim easily. Now it's 60 miles or more, too far for some bears to make. There's also speculation that the long swim leaves them vulnerable to rough seas.
The researchers were startled to find bears having to swim up to 60 miles across open sea to find food. They are being forced into the long voyages because the ice floes from which they feed are melting, becoming smaller and drifting farther apart.
SNIP
According to the new research, four bear carcases (sic) were found floating in one month in a single patch of sea off the north coast of Alaska, where average summer temperatures have increased by 2-3C degrees since 1950s.
Global Warming Watch: The Trouble with China
Tue Jun 13, 2006 at 02:11:00 AM PDT
The NYTimes had
this article about Chinese use of coal to power their economic boom on Sunday (sorry, free registration required). With the pollution from Chinese smokestacks causing widespread illness among its population and even reaching the western coast of the U.S., the issue is beginning to garner international attention. In the short term, the Chinese government wants to try curbing sulfur compounds which cause respiratory illness and acid rain. However, although it wasn't the primary focus of the article, what I took away is that China will become
the major nation to contend with (after the U.S.) in reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
NYTimes Review: An Inconvenient Truth
Wed May 24, 2006 at 05:22:39 AM PDT
Global warming is perhaps the greatest threat to the survival of mankind. At best, if ignored, it threatens to set us back 100s of years and kill millions, even billions of people before we adjust to its effects. At worst, it could turn Earth into Venus, extinguishing all life forever. Despite the best efforts of the Bush Administration to pull the nation's head into the sand along with them, the our country as well as the world is slowly waking to the danger that climate change presents. However, like a person with dawn's first light streaming in the window, half dreaming and half awake, an alarm clock is needed to bring full consciousness. That alarm clock for the global consciousness is here: An Inconvenient Truth.
Calling All Democrats
Thu Mar 16, 2006 at 07:31:29 PM PDT
JRandall over at RedState says,
I am dying for an open and honest debate with someone or some people who are Democrats. What I would like to debate is one reason at a time as to why you are a democrat. If you are interested, and a Democrat, give your top reason and why.
