RTFA: http://www.geekologie.com/2008/02/new_elmo_toy_is_…

The Elmo Live toy due out this fall made an appearance at the 2008 Toy Fair and let me tell you — the little red bastard keeps getting scarier and scarier. He can sit, stand, sing, dance, tell stories and jokes, and all around freak you out. I don’t care what Mattel says, there’s a little person in that costume. And that, my friends, is fucking wrong.

Watch the video. I particularly enjoyed the part where the mad scientist cackles maniacally and says, “Elmo, I love you.” I am not joking, except about the “enjoyed” part, and in that case, I was being sarcastic. Seriously, there’s a mad scientist who interacts with Elmo throughout the demonstration.

This is completely insane.

RTFA: http://lessig08.org/

exploratory
projects - first, a Change Congress movement, and second, my own decision whether to run for Congress in the
California 12th.

I have decided I want to give as much energy as I can to the Change Congress movement. I will decide in the next week or so whether it makes sense to advance that movement by running for Congress.

Many friends have weighed in on that decision - both strongly in favor and strongly opposed. Many more have joined draftlessig.org and a Facebook group asking me to consider it.

Watch or listen and you will understand some of my reasoning. Feel free to send your thoughts or advice to lessig@lessig08.org (though please excuse any slowness in my response).

Wow - very interesting development. I mean, the guy is basically an attorney, so it’s not like he’s a n00b at policy. Also, he started the Creative Commons, which is a profoundly economic contract for the public. He can motivate and mobilize people, and he’s been articulating his ideas publicly, through books and other media, for more than a decade. He has reputation and accountability. Of course, Lessig lives across the bay, and therefore isn’t going to represent me in a direct sense.

RTFA: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=24025

After falling steadily in the index for the past three years, the G8 members have recovered a few places. France (31st), for example, has climbed six places in the past year. French journalists were spared the violence that affected them at the end of 2005 in a labour conflict in Corsica and during the demonstrations in the city suburbs. But many concerns remain about repeated censorship, searches of news organisations, and a lack of guarantees for the confidentiality of journalists’ sources.
There were slightly fewer press freedom violations in the United States (48th) and blogger Josh Wolf was freed after 224 days in prison. But the detention of Al-Jazeera’s Sudanese cameraman, Sami Al-Haj, since 13 June 2002 at the military base of Guantanamo and the murder of Chauncey Bailey in Oakland in August mean the United States is still unable to join the lead group.
Italy (35th) has also stopped its fall, even if journalists continue to be under threat from mafia groups that prevent them from working in complete safety. Japan (37th) has seen a letup in attacks on the press by militant nationalists, and this has allowed it to recover 14 places.