Archive for the ‘internet/free speech’ Category

Quick take from the UPCCA forum

Posted: May 25, 2010 by datechguy in blogger for hire, elections, internet/free speech, opinion/news, special events
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I attended the UPCCA ( United PeachTree Corners Civic Organization) candidates forum last night (a bunch of “stock” photos here). I’m in the process of uploading interviews from the Forum and about half of section of the republican candidates for the Ga-7 race. I will post that later tonight. For now I want to give you a quick pan of the area:

Here is an overview of what I saw:

Liz and Cheryl setting up

Cheryl who you might remember from Field Guide to Bloggers, and I arrived almost at the same time although we hadn’t seen each other since I came down here. The event was pretty packed and several candidates had tables in the back. Liz Carter was the only Ga-4 candidate who was in attendance. It was actually the first time we met in person. My interview with her is already posted here,

Liz at the Forumn

so check it out if you haven’t already. She is just as impressive in person as she was over the phone with a fine grasp on the issues and what matters most at this time. I plan on a more complete profile later in the week.

I haven’t met any of the other candidates at this time but I’d say this district would be in very good hands with Liz, particularly if she takes Cheryl with her to Washington. Talk about two strong, bright, hard working women.

The Forum had short sessions with the candidates for state, county and federal offices with a series of questions that went back and forth, sometimes you has as few as two candidates (such as the Sec of State race). For the Ga-7 seat race you had 8 candidates taking up two tables. It was very odd to see candidates who actually stuck to the time limits. I only saw one go over the entire night.

Georiga Sec of state candidates Doug MacGinnitie & Angela Moore


Although on a political level we disagree on several issues, on a personal level I got along famously with Angela Moore, hey we Sicilians gotta stick together! I also give her a lot of kudos as the only democrat that I saw in attendance.

The Congressional seat was the big race I met several of the candidates. I didn’t see a single one that I think would not do a good job in the seat, but it was Mr. Cox’s mother who impressed me the most.

She didn’t want to speak on camera (which seems to be one constant down here, I’ve had a horrible time trying to get people to talk on camera but off camera we had a lovely conversation about her son. She is without a doubt an excellent asset to her son and a fine woman.

Considering the sheer number of candidates the night went forward very smoothly. I would recommend attendance of this event in the future for any local who wants to know a little bit more about the people who represent them.

A few photos from tonight

Posted: May 25, 2010 by datechguy in blogger for hire, elections, internet/free speech, opinion/news, special events
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Here are a series of photos from tonight’s candidate forum.

I’d do more captioning but it’s nearly 2 a.m. I still have video uploading and I’ve been up since 6 so we will schedule this for the morning and pick things up when I wake.

Update: I should inform you that forum was hosted by the United Peachtree Corners Civic Association.

A talk with the Crossroads News

Posted: May 24, 2010 by datechguy in blogger for hire, internet/free speech, media, opinion/news
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Just got back from meeting with Jennifer Parker of the CrossRoads News.

I have to thank her for her time, I arrived uninvited and unexpected yet she made some time to speak me despite the two surprises, the first being my visit and the second being my interest in Ga-4.

Cross Roads News in Ga-4

Her small paper has been here for 15 years and she has seen a lot of things happen but there have been some surprises.

In 2008 she was surprised that Hank Johnson had run unopposed, this had not happened in her memory in the district. (As a Massachusetts republican I envy that). We both agreed that unopposed elections are a bad idea.

She like everyone who I’ve talked to cited the Economy as issue one. There has been slight improvement over the last month but its been an unpleasant surprise at how long things have been so bad.

She keeps the Holy Grail of Journalism the 1st Ammendment on her shelf

Speaking of surprises another surprise is the number of Republicans running for the nomination. Usually a republican runs and is soundly defeated, she is surprised that so many people are vying for the right to have that experience. She mentioned the possibility of the tea parties encouraging people to run. As a person who hosted thefirst candidates’ forum she had met with the candidates but thought none of them would be able to win in a district where President Obama drew his highest percentage of victory even higher than his home district.

She also doesn’t think that either of the democrats running against Mr. Johnson will be able to unseat him, she described it as highly unlikely.

It was an interesting conversation on a district she has covered for years but much more interesting than her take on the district is her paper itself The CrossRoads news. She opened this paper as the internet age was growing and has kept it afloat all these years through boom times and hard times. She works very hard and has made some very tough decisions to keep the paper going. She is an extraordinary woman.

“What if I said it was Jesus”

Posted: May 23, 2010 by datechguy in internet/free speech
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via Hotair and the green room:

That pretty much says it all.

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