My coworker Terrance argues beautifully that it's pretty clear who won the debate. John Kerry.

Seriously. You all should read his post about who won the debate.

What's the best kind of donut?

Not Krispy Kreme. Not Dunkin'.

Not chocolate. Not glazed.

No.

The best kind of donut is a free donut. Remember that.

Cross posted to the EchoDitto Blog.

Death Cab for Cutie, one of my favoritest bands ever, has released a new pro-Democrats t-shirt to help boost voter turnout and their own visibility. The t-shirt smartly plays on the title of the band's outstanding second record, We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes. (ITMS | Amazon)

So, one, I think this is just a cool t-shirt by a band I love.

But, two, I also think this is an interesting example of a commercial entity engaging in political action that is also overtly commercial. This is a cool-looking t-shirt with a great message, but it's also a money-maker for the band and will help them sell more records.

Cross posted to my PurpleOcean.org Journal.

That sign hung in my garage all throughout my childhood. It wasn't until I was 9 or 10 before I knew it was from the teacher strike my dad lead when he was President of the Holly (MI) Education Association (an MEA-NEA affiliate). They striked in 1978 (a year before I was even born!) for higher wages and better health insurance.

And, boy, was I lucky for that new insurance. In 1980, I was diagnosed with a cancer of the kidneys called Wilms' Tumor. An operation and 3 months of chemo and radiation later, and I was a pretty healthy little boy. Because our union had secured high quality health insurance, my parents didn't have to worry about the family finances going down the tubes.

That's a lesson that has stuck with me. As you might imagine I have to be particularly concerned with my health and my health care. That's why I've been certain to work for two employers who offer world-class coverage to their employees. Neither of those jobs have been in union shops, but make no mistake that I owe my top-notch benefits to the long work of the labor movement setting high expectations for employee benefits. That, and overtime pay, the 40-hour workweek, and . . . you know . . . the weekend.

In a very fundamental way, I owe my good health to unions. Heck, if you've got health insurance, you do, too.

EchoDitto is working with former Dean blogger Zephyr Teachout to petition Jon Stewart to formally endorse John Kerry.

Dear Jon Stewart is a pretty cool example of netroots activism. Stewart commands a huge audience of highly-educated, highly-engaged people. His voice, for better or for worse, carries weight. Plus, this thing has a real chance at working. Not with the 500 signatories it has right now, but if it can get 500,000, I'm almost sure Stewart would pay attention.

Your assignment:

1. Sign the Petition


2. Tell Your Friends

Michael Moore is on fire.

First, he reminded us all that John Kerry will win, but only if we stop whining and try to do something about it.

Then, yesterday, he took Bush to task for attacking John Kerry for only ever having the one steady position on Iraq that most of America still holds today. We want desperately to believe that our President is making wise choices that will keep us safe and make the world a better place. We want desperately to believe that our President is smart enough and brave enough to make choices that are not poll-tested or ideologically pure. We want desperately to believe.

In Moore's words:

And you [Bush] have the audacity to criticize John Kerry with what you call the "many positions" he has taken on Iraq. By my count, he has taken only one: He believed you. That was his position. You told him and the rest of congress that Saddam had WMDs. So he -- and the vast majority of Americans, even those who didn't vote for you -- believed you. You see, Americans, like John Kerry, want to live in a country where they can believe their president.

That was the one, single position John Kerry took. He didn't support the war, he supported YOU. And YOU let him and this great country down. And that is why tens of millions can't wait to get to the polls on Election Day -- to remove a major, catastrophic flop from our dear, beloved White House -- to stop all the flipping you and your men have done, flipping us and the rest of the world off.

We can't take another minute of it.

Check out this map that offers irrefutable proof that God hates Republicans.

Detroit's entry in the Arena Football League, the Fury, ended operations today citing declining attendence and mounting losses. Unbelievable, but true.

Actually, this is completely believeable. Who wants to go see second rate sports an hour away when there's a major sport being played in Detroit almost every day of the year. That, and the Fury were terrible, with a combined record of 22-41 over 4 seasons.

Still, this makes me wistful for the three-time Arena champion Detroit Drive and the days of grass in the Joe.

Cross posted to the EchoDitto Blog.

I've been saying for months that George Bush is losing the war on terror and is not making us safer.

I'm glad that Joe Klein agrees and has some suggestions on what to do about it.

Read this piece. I think it's terrifically important.

Joe had Todd maintained a running commentary during the second half of today's Michigan Football game via SMS. A transcript follows. All times Eastern

Todd (5:07 PM): Need updates.
Joe (5:16): 9-0 mich at half
Todd (5:20): Super. What's wrong with underwood? Moreover, what's wrong with the offense?
Joe (5:20): Underwood out. That's the problem. Don't know what's up with him.
Todd (5:22); Suck. Seemed like Henne wasn't playing great either. I was tracking by computer, but [am] in the car now How about [that] goal line stand?
Joe (5:24): Goal stand was genius. It's a defense war.
Joe (5:24): 9-7 mich
Todd (5:28): Well, keep me posted. And of course, go blue.
Todd (5:46): Dad called. Nice on the interception. Here's hoping the offense can pick it up.
Joe (5:49): 12-9 mich, but fumble so now nd ball
Todd (5:54): Wait. They got a safety? Make me not worried, joe. Make [me] not worried.
Joe (5:55): Sorry, that's 12-7 mich. Got ball back but now on own 5 yd line.
Todd (6:02): Oh. Phew. Go blue.
Joe (6:07): 14-12 n
Todd (6:12): Fuck. How much time is left? When does guttierez come in?
Joe (6:12): breaston lost his shoe on the return.
Todd (6:12): Dude, I'm so blogging this.
Joe (6:13): mich sacked, and then ran up the middle on 3d and 19. fucking idiots.
Joe (6:13): oh, and then a blocked punt.
Joe (6:14): FUCKING GREAT.
Joe (6:15): 21-12 nd.
Joe (6:15): i'm going to kill myself.
Joe (6:15): i'm going to kill myself.
Todd (6:17): Oh my god.
Todd (6:20): Time? What do we do now?
Joe (6:21): oh, that's a nice 3 and out by henne
Joe (6:22): are we sure he graduated from high school?
Todd (6:25): Time?
Joe (6:30): 8 min left in 4th. nd fumble, mich ball on 50. dear god, do something.
Joe (6:32): that's a nice fumble by mich.
Joe (6:48): i'm dying.
Todd (6:50): ?
Joe (6:52): 28-12, 2:30 min left.
Joe (6:53): lloyd is playing like he doesn't care.
Todd (6:58): It's a sad day for the blue.
Joe (7:01): 28-20 final.
Todd (7:06): Shameful.
Joe (7:16): i hate lloyd.

Cross posted to the EchoDitto Blog.

The Washington Post reports on the success of of Wikipedia today. The article itself is nothing new, mostly comparing the communitarian nature of a wiki with the tightly edited nature of a traditional encyclopedia. But we've been thinking a lot at EchoDitto about how you might use wiki technology for something a little more structured than "A Big Encyclopedia About Everything."

From what I've seen, the folks over at Disinfopedia seem to have some idea how to introduce structure and - get this - some level of organizing into the wiki process. It's clear that wikis aren't going to be the tool we can use to get activists doing all sorts of real-world activism. But we can get a lot of activists to do a lot of research to build the store of information we need to make our real world activism most effective.

Cross-posted to the EchoDitto Blog.

My buddy Alan had a fantastic piece published last Sunday in the Boston Globe about the (internet) future of polling.

Note, however, that when he talks about "internet polling," he's not talking about the non-scientific polls in the corner of your typical website. In this case, the polling company uses some methodology (phone list, email vendors, etc.) to put together a sample and then delivers the poll through the internet.

Respondents can answer questions at their own leisure and are generally considered to be more truthful. Results are then weighted by the pollster to create a representative sample of the population. Throw in a couple of high profile success stories (California Recall, Tony Blair's last election) and you've got yourself a veritable trend.

In fact, Alan predicts that the sea change in how polls are conducted could come as soon as this year.

The hurrickun hit today.

Nothing too extravagant. Lots of wind. A fair amount of rain.

The storm, did apparently knock out the internet connection to the hotel for 24 hours. Actually, I think it was completely unrelated, but that sounds a lot better, doesn't it?

Now that I'm in my tux and ready for the wedding, it is of course far rainier and far windier than any time previously. Apparently the power is out at the wedding location. We'll see what happens.

Frances is battering West Palm and Daytona. Jacksonville remains virtually unaffected.

Further bulletins as events warrant.

My coworker Garrett says it a lot better than I can:

Throughout this weekend of traditional rest, I'm working on recruiting folks to join Andy [Stern] and some of the founding members of PurpleOcean.org for its first conference call, where he'll lay out the vision for the organization and explain how it's going to work to shape a new economic model for this country.

If you're reading this blog over the next two days, I'd encourage you to RSVP for the call. If you've never heard Andy speak, it's going to be a treat.

Garrett also addresses the current BusinessWeek cover story and the future of labor in America.

Read his post. RSVP for the conference call. Come join the party.

As the hurricane inches toward the Florida coast, your trusty blogger has this morning's HURRICKUN FRANCES UPDATE:

This is Todd, blogging LIVE from the EYE of Hurricane Frances.

That's right, your intrepid chronicler has stationed himself on the front lines of the storm of the century here in Jacksonville, Florida, where he is attending a wedding.

Conditions at present can only be described as "Breezy" and "Drizzle".

Further bulletins as events warrant.

Bizarrrely, TSA has glossed over any sort of policy agenda and spent the majority of this speech viciously attacking John Kerry. That's not very presidential.

I have heard voters all across the country yearning for a new politics of ideas and debate to replace our current system of vitriol and scorn. Instead, Bush makes gotcha and one-liners the centerpiece of his re-election campaign.

Frankly, I don't think it's going to work. I don't think America wants a President who only feels good when he's picking on the smaller kids.

You know, I've felt a lot safer ever since TSA caught Osama.

Oh...

Wait...

Tracy, my Dad, and I participated tonight in Al Franken's Great American Shoutout. We were a little unhappy with our turnout, so we pulled in my mom and my grandma from Iron River, MI over the phone.

Together, we delivered a few choice messages to the leafy streets of Murrells Inlet:

• Fuggedaboudit!
• Oh no you don't!
• Kerry rocks!
• Bush, you liar! Your cowboy ass is fired!

Worse though is that now I have to listen to this bastard.

Two things have happened to me in the last 24 hours that remind us that the internet can't do quite everything. Not yet, anyway.

Number One - Tomorrow, I'm driving to a wedding in Jacksonville, FL (yes, into the eye of Frances). I thought it would be pretty cool to have an FM transmitter for my iPod so I could listen to my tunes on the road.

I checked the web for options. I hit the MacRumors Forums to get opinions from people who had used them. Thing was, no one seemed to like any of the options. They didn't have strong enough transmitters. The sound quality was dreadful. They sucked all the battery power from your iPod. The list went on and on. I was disheartened.

Sure, you've got to account for the fact that people motivated to post about a product have probably had a bad experience with it. And Macrumors Forums are have notoriously overblown and fickle expectations. But really, if all these people are having problems, could they be any good?

Then, I asked the office "Hey, anyone used one of these things?" Justin, our webmaster, piped up, "Sure. I've got the Griffin iTrip and it works great!"

A trip to the Apple Store and $40 later, and I'm happily listening to Keane in my girlfriend's Ford Escape.

The thrill of the chase in Boston

Except for one thing ... I wasn't crazy. [Bill Simmons]

Bill Simmons is one of the most insightful and funniest sports columnists around, particularly when he writes about the Red Sox.

As the official Ambassador of Detroit to Red Sox Nation, let me take this opportunity that my people are proud to join the effort against the Evil Empire by taking one for the team and letting the Sox close the gap last weekend.

That said, next season, when the Tigers roll into Beantown 25 games over .500, you all had better return the favor.