Another ATTACK on the POOR: Digital TV Conversion

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Thursday January 08, 2009 · 8:47 AM PST

2009/01/08 · 08:47

Let us assume the vast majority of those without cable or digital TV sets are relatively poor.

A little while ago the FCC decided to switch all analog TV signals to digital come February 17, 2009. They made a big deal at the time of their decision that they were providing everyone with free coupons for converter boxes to allow their TVs to receive the digital signals.

Now, a little more than A MONTH BEFORE THE DEADLINE, The Consumerist is reporting:

According to surveys conducted by the Consumers Union, a consumer advocacy group that also publishes Consumer Reports magazine, while 90 percent of the nation is aware of the transition, 25 percent mistakenly believe that one must subscribe to cable or satellite after February, and 41 percent think that every TV in a house must have a new converter box, even those that are already connected to cable or satellite.

They've also asked for the deadline to be extended because:

A) The coupon system is bankrupt.
B) The conversion call center is massively unprepared.
C) The awareness campaign has been and continues to be a failure.

Mangala

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Sunday December 14, 2008 · 11:25 AM PST

2008/12/14 · 11:25

I haven't watched TV in a while, and I just turned it on to see "After Party" on CNN which sort of is my dream show.

There's one liberal panel hosted by Donna Brazile (who I LOVE), one Republican one hosted by David Brody, NO IDIOT MODERATORS, and they get to speak freely within their panel for different parts of the show.

I hate the fact that most of the time conservatives and progressives never get a chance to actually argue their real differences with each other. Almost half the country still voted John McCain in the last election, which should be considered mental insanity. I sometimes think if Americans were all in one room most of the time, we could talk out most of our issues (which is sort of Obama's point about "unity"). Do you think this is a good thing, a bad thing?

I haven't watched the Republican panel yet, so who knows if it'll make this unwatchable, but so far I'm liking it.

What do you think?

Update: It's over. Well that was interesting - they get to directly argue at the end. I guess they're trying to bring crossfire back...

Poll

32 votes Show Results

?

32 votes Vote Now!

?

Thumbs Up

16 votes

Thumbs Down

16 votes

Did Canada just shut down its congress?

Mangala

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Thursday December 04, 2008 · 1:24 PM PST

2008/12/04 · 13:24

I'm no expert on Canadian government. I tried reading the constitution for an idea but Jesus, is that thing unreadable. (The founding fathers were pretty clear writers) Anyway, I'm only vaguely aware of the election in Canada but still, this disturbed me to the core:

http://www.nytimes.com/...

So the conservatives try to cut the budget for the other Canadian parties, the other parties threaten a no confidence vote in the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister closes Parliament.

And WTF?

Mr. Harper, who won re-election less than two months ago, acted after receiving the approval of Governor General Michaëlle Jean, Queen Elizabeth II’s representative.

Why the Hell does your country still need approval from the queen?!?

Poll

106 votes Show Results

This is...

106 votes Vote Now!

This is...

Not a big deal

16 votes

A big deal

66 votes

It would be if it were my country, but it's not

24 votes

Georgia voters are hard to call

Mangala

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Sunday November 23, 2008 · 4:56 PM PST

2008/11/23 · 16:56

I just called 20 potential voters for Jim Martin in Georgia, and let me tell you - these people are hard to contact. Now granted, several of the numbers ended up being busy or reaching voicemail, but the people I actually talked to were cranky and weird.

There's this big cultural thing with not even being able to ASK who the person is voting for. I was scolded and hung up on by a couple people for beginning the conversation by asking which way they were leaning:

Me: Hi, I'm calling on behalf of the Jim Martin Senatorial Campaign, are you aware there's a runoff election coming up on December 2nd?

Woman: Yes.

Me: Do you know which way you're leaning for the election?

Woman: How dare you ask me that question. The election has a secret ballot. Good night!

[CLICK]

And another thing, the list of contacts was nothing but seniors. I've made calls before for Obama in Indiana and North Carolina, and there was always a lot of variety in ages and everything. So I was really surprised to see no voter on my list younger than 45. I'm in my 20's, so I find it usually easier to relate to someone up to their 40's. Older than that, and I end up wanting to pull my hair out sometimes.

Mangala

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Thursday November 20, 2008 · 10:13 AM PST

2008/11/20 · 10:13

I know, I know - Democrats have often acted like sycophantic cowards the last, oh, eight years. And yes, Joe Lieberman called Obama a Marxist/Terrorist and campaigned for the other party (even their senatorial campaigns). But I'm starting to give Democratic politicians some slack on some of these "make do" decisions. We may want blood from the Republicans, but truth is, the senators are the ones who are fighting the real wars face to face every day, and right now, I am actually open to trusting them when it comes to keeping Lieberman fat and happy for now so we can:

Get. Shit. Done.

Please join me after the jump for why I think we're underestimating this latest decision on Lieberman.

Mangala

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Thursday November 13, 2008 · 11:25 AM PST

2008/11/13 · 11:25

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/...

Robert F. Kennedy appears on the surface to be a hero of the progressive cause. He righteously railed against the voter suppression being planned by the RNC on Morning Joe, and he defended against the baseless attacks lodged at ACORN when they were at their peak on Faux News and being parroted by the MSM.

He's also been a great proponent of environmental protection, and has written two books on how the government does not do enough to protect out planet.

Unfortunately, Robert F. Kennedy is also dangerously anti-science and legitimizes a conspiracy-theory issue that has been strenuously fought against by the scientific community time and again. Kennedy believes autism is caused by vaccines, which has become a dangerous rumor believed by low information parents and parents of autistic children.

Mangala

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Saturday November 01, 2008 · 1:37 PM PDT

2008/11/01 · 13:37

And do you know why? All you people in your mom's basements just sit around and read about some stupid super-Pelosi liberal ideas while John McCain and Sarah Palin are trying to make real change in this country. We've got to win Iraq, save America, and drill here, drill now baby!

We're going to bring that peace to America!

We're going to bring Jesus back into the lies of Americans!

And we're going to fight corruption by carrying on the leadership we've sustained for eight years!

Poll

47 votes Show Results

I...

47 votes Vote Now!

I...

...have made at least 5 calls today because I know 6 months into a McCain Presidency I will be screaming at my past self to make calls.

21 votes

...am too scared to make any calls.

26 votes

MCCAIN CAMPIAGN LIES - ON VIDEO

Mangala

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday October 25, 2008 · 8:23 AM PDT

2008/10/25 · 08:23

Mucho apologies if this has been diaried already.

So, we've heard so much about how the McCain-Palin campaign has "energized" their supporters, and about how there is so much "enthusiasm" coming from these people. You can probably guess that this enthusiasm pales in comparison to Obama's supporters. But you're still probably wondering how in the world ANYONE can be excited about an old crotchety senator and a witch-hunting, fundamentalist, secessionist. I mean, who would want to spend their time walking around and knocking on doors like Obama supporters? Who really cares that much about a bunch of lies taped together and sold as a presidential candidacy?

Well, this video seems to explain A LOT:

Poll

30 votes Show Results

I...

30 votes Vote Now!

I...

have made calls on behalf of the Obama campaign through Neighbor-to-Neighbor.

13 votes

have made calls on behalf of the Obama campaign through some other source.

11 votes

have not made calls for Obama and will not make any before the election.

6 votes

have decided that because it's a Saturday, it's the perfect time to make 5 calls. I'm doing that now.

0 votes

am too embarrassed and ashamed.

0 votes

A WARNING. Polls going down...

Mangala

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday October 22, 2008 · 9:03 PM PDT

2008/10/22 · 21:03

I know it's treason to mention any other polling site besides 538.com, but Princeton Election Consortium is a good site, and we need to wake up if it's results are a harbinger of bad news.

The method on this site is to take the most recent state polls (any and all from pollster.com), take the median for each state, then compute a probability plot of every possible electoral combination of the election (Nate just tests for 10,000 random cases). It computed the right outcome for the 2004 election, and whether Nate or Princeton is right, it's important to defend against all election possibilities.

State polls have been updated pretty often recently, so we should be pretty confident this is catching trends well. Anyway, the results:

title=

Poll

489 votes Show Results

I...

489 votes Vote Now!

I...

am extremely confident we will win

204 votes

am somewhat confident we will win

201 votes

am unsure who will win

40 votes

am not confident we will win

18 votes

Pie.

26 votes

I just called for the first time...

Mangala

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday October 18, 2008 · 10:35 AM PDT

2008/10/18 · 10:35

I called through neighbor to neighbor for the first time today. I live in Manhattan, work at a pretty secure and wealthy company, and have given as much as I can to Obama every month. After months of sitting on the sidelines, I actually picked up a phone and called for him. For months now I've been addicted to Obama's standing in the polls. I wake up every day and check 538, princeton election consortium, and DailyKos. But I realized today that being a supporter is absolutely useless if you don't take the time to fight on the front lines. Those of us in New York and California telling our Democrat friends how much we love Obama are NOT doing enough. If we believe in our values and in this campaign, you have to step up and save the low information voters from the Republicans.

I know this isn't a full fledged diary, but I just feel like telling the world about the magical glow I feel surround me when I turned a lean Republican pro-lifer into a "Yes, I will vote for him" Obama supporter, with a simple conversation.

Mangala

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday October 09, 2008 · 5:56 PM PDT

2008/10/09 · 17:56

They're so sad. Tonight, O'Reilly finally came out with why he's been so down lately. The music to end his segment started ramping up and he told his producers "stop the music." He then explained to his two lapdog financial guests from Faux business news that he had lost A LOT from the market just in the last two weeks.

Am I supposed to feel so giddy? Sorry! I just can't help it when O'Reilly and Rove look at each other so depressed about their political, financial, and propagandizing successes failing all around them. I love watching the news (on any channel!) and knowing all these rich media people, who had the GALL to call Barack Obama elitist during the primaries get their damn chickens coming HOOOOME, TO ROOOOST!

Poll

121 votes Show Results

Which LIAR deserved this?

121 votes Vote Now!

Which LIAR deserved this?

Bill O'Reilly

61 votes

Karl Rove

52 votes

John Fund

8 votes

JESUS CHRIST! Obama's a shooting star!

Mangala

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday October 01, 2008 · 7:25 PM PDT

2008/10/01 · 19:25

I trust Princeton Election Consortium more than any polling outfit out there. Sam Wang is entirely right that FiveThirtyEight.com is not as great as the hype it gets. Nate Silver is about as good as trusting Jim Cramer to pick your investments.

A real way to guage who will win this thing is to trust a tried and true algorithm for measuring all types of natural phenomena, from physics to medicine. Take the median of your measurements to prevent outliers, run a probability plot extracted from all 2.3 quadrillion possible election cases, and display the 95% confidence interval. The results make you feel all warm inside when you get some great data:

Obama 2008 (so far)

Kerry 2004

Poll

131 votes Show Results

And the winner is...

131 votes Vote Now!

And the winner is...

538

97 votes

Princeton Election Consortium

26 votes

Real Clear Politics

3 votes

Electoral-vote.com

2 votes

CNN

0 votes

NYT

3 votes

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Another ATTACK on the POOR: Digital TV Conversion

Does "After Party" make CNN watchable again?

Did Canada just shut down its congress?

Georgia voters are hard to call

I'm sorry, but we need Lieberman.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would be a DANGEROUS head of the EPA

Daily Kos Sucks

MCCAIN CAMPIAGN LIES - ON VIDEO

A WARNING. Polls going down...

I just called for the first time...

I feel SO GUILTY watching O'Reilly and the media these days...

JESUS CHRIST! Obama's a shooting star!