Daily Report

Hybrid Sales Grow

Yahoo.com reports that sales of hybrid cars has grown by %960 since 2000.

Insurgents Take Advantage of Governmental Delays

The Christian Science Monitor reports that the Iraqi insurgency is gaining strength, perhaps making inroads towards a civil or religious war.

The attacks have also shifted away from US forces, and US-Iraqi forces seem at times unable to quell the violence.

Agony Of War

This commentary reports on the forgotten casualities of war--civilians.

British Lapdog Faces Heat

The Agence France-Presse reports that Tony Blair is facing scrutiny over accusation that he mislead his country into the Iraq War.

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Weekend Anti-Warriors?

It's a bit odd that some of the best ideas I'm getting about why I do this 'blog and oppose Bush's Imperial policies in general are coming from my college alma mater's sports board.

But when one of the more conservative residents of the board asked me why I do this, my answer alluded to this being a hobby. This got me to thinking, could activism now be a hobby.

It wouldn't be so unusual. Fifteen years ago, fantasy sports was a passtime of a small faction of baseball stats geeks; now you can play virtually any pro sport on-line. Even I'm not immune to this, I'm in a fantasy NASCAR league and will likely re-join a fantasy football league. I've seen web surfing listed on some registration cards for products as a hobby as well.

Of course, this could also be an extension of the way the 'net has made information available. No longer are people forced to swallow corporate media, as sites like BuzzFLash, CommonDreams, and other "Progressive" media outlets have made views that the powers that be could isolate a bit more available.

The fact that the 'net also allows for more rapid response. Sites like MoveOn, Act For Change, and True Majority allow for activists to get their opinions out to those in power. The debate over judicial nominees and the delay in Bolton's nomination to the UN could both be a result of a kind of "MoveOn Effect".

Finally, the fact that activists can use the 'net as a kind of virtual "meeting room" could be a key development. Activists can organize on-line and interact with each other.

Hey, I can think of worse ways to kill time that to try and get involved, and this does apply to the "other side" as well.