Play Nice

Blogosphere is the New Sandbox

The New York Times ran a story yesterday regarding efforts by some within the blogging community to establish a blogosphere code of conduct.

The voluntary system would be tiered with different levels of enforcements depending on what would or would not be allowed on the respective blog.

One of the big pushers behind this effort is Wikipedia creator Jimmy Wales, the other is Tim O'Reilly who apparently came up with the term Web 2.0.

Just so readers are aware: anything goes here at the Water Buffalo Press.

Examples of the proposed codes of conduct are available here.

Checking Up on Congress

The newest addition to our Links section: OpenCongress.org.

Thanks to RochesterTurning for the heads up on this site which is a joint project between the Participatory Politics Foundation and and the Sunlight Foundation.

RochesterTurning has a great breakdown of the site's features, which includes a link to recent buzz on respective representatives from blogs like the WBP, the aforementioned RochesterTurning and the Fighting 29th.

100th Post: Your 5Linx Story

Takin' it to the Streets

Just over two months ago we relaunched the current version of the Water Buffalo Press. It is now 100 posts later and we would like to thank everyone who visited, read, commented and linked.

Our first post examined the company 5Linx, located in Henrietta, NY, and its worthiness of millions of dollars in funding and incentives given its employment of the suspect MLM business model. Today, this is still our most visited thread with the most recent comments coming just two weeks ago:

dj_paige said...
PyramidSchemeAlert.org? Why didn’t I think of that? This whole thread should be made widely available somehow -- perhaps by putting it on its own page with a catchy title so that Google can search for it, and people can find it.

On that note, with assistance from PyramidSchemeAlert.org, we have begun building a file for review on 5Linx and its business operations. We invite anyone who has had a 5Linx experience, positive or negative, to either post his or her story in the comments section below or email your story to waterbuffalopress@gmail.com.

Once the information is complied it will be submitted to the Federal Trade Commission and Office of the NYS Attorney General for review.

All of our 5Linx stories can be found in the COMIDA section of our archives. We thank you for your input, more to come -

Blogrollcall

Another Centrist! Not a knee jerk liberal, not an out of touch conservative - it's our newest addition to the blogroll: Mustard Street.

Welcome to the middle; it is a lonely, lonely place.

The WBP came across Mustard Street via their analysis of our posting regarding County Executive Brooks' bill eliminating health insurance benefits for future Water Board members:

Over at the Water Buffalo Press there's a pretty insightful take on last night's action by the Monroe County Legislature to approve a Maggie Brooks proposal to freeze -- as the D&C styled it -- benefits for Water Authority Board members.

Thank you. We find your insight on our insight to be insightful.

This observer thinks Water Buffalo is too harsh on Brooks. After all, she didn't have to propose anything.

Actually, given NYS AG Andrew Cuomo's numerous actions indicating the illegality of such benefits, Brooks would have likely been forced to take action had she not done so voluntarily.

However, that doesn't detract from the overall thoughtfulness of the Water Buffalo piece. Its analysis is much more subtle than its title; so read on.

Thank you, keep up the good fight.

States Denouncing Iraq Policy

Online Activism Motivates Legislatures

If fed representatives won't listen, maybe state reps will.

Twenty states have either passed or are considering some form of resolution that opposes troop escalation in Iraq or calls for outright withdrawal of U.S. forces. New York is one of the states currently considering a resolution.

What has motivated these legislatures to weigh in on an issue they have no direct control over? This particular campaign was spearheaded by the Progressive States Network and is an example of the digital media's grassroots 50 state focus. The strategy is widely attributed with the success of the Democrats in the most recent elections and, as a recent article from the Christian Science Monitor suggests, is now poised to overturn the Bush administration's war policy:

The current push at the state level was spurred largely by a mid-January initiative by liberal advocacy groups, including the Progressive States Network and MoveOn.org, with support from US Sen. Edward Kennedy (D) of Massachusetts. Launched as Congress wrangled over whether to debate Mr. Bush's new Iraq strategy, the online campaign urged war critics to bombard their local as well as national elected representatives with calls for action.

"The Internet is making the 50-state campaigns easier and cheaper," says Christopher Cooper, a political scientist at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C. "This has led to an increasing nationalization of state politics."
-snip-

"State legislatures are the representative bodies that are closest to the people, and they have been hearing from constituents who are frustrated with the war," says Aubrey Jewett, a political scientist at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, in an e-mail. "As more state legislatures take up resolutions on Iraq, it will add to the mounting pressure for the president and Congress to change strategies."

Votes and debates in state legislatures break along party lines, with Republicans saying lawmakers should not waste energy on actions that carry little weight. They also contend that these types of resolutions send the wrong message to US troops. But their clout has waned since last fall's elections, when the GOP lost majorities in five state legislatures. They now control 15 legislatures to the Democrats' 23.

While the politics remain contentious, the technological take-away is simpler: Online activism is pushing national issues to the states.

"The Internet helps decentralize political activism," says John Horrigan of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. "You no longer have to organize a protest in Washington, D.C." to get your point across.
-snip-

The growth in Internet-based grass-roots groups doesn't mean more activists are out there, but it does mean people have found a faster way to reach large number of supporters, Mr. Horrigan says. So far, liberal Democrats have the edge. A Pew study has shown them to be the most likely online activists. "At least [for] now, the Internet is a space where Democrats are slightly busier with online tools," he adds.

In the case of the Iraq resolutions in the states, activism helped give a national debate some local flavor, Mr. Barkin says. The aim remains to make Washington pay attention, but the means of doing so are changing.

"You put in 500 calls to a [legislator in Washington] and you will send a message," says Barkin. "But you put 500 calls to a state legislator and it shakes the whole building."

Do state legislators have a leg to stand on in demanding the Feds take notice? When one looks at the costs to the states and local communities the answer is yes. According to the National Priorities Project, the war in Iraq has cost Monroe County $1,600,000,000 - yes that is billion. This same organization estimates the war has cost New Yorkers $33.9 billion as of September of 2006.

Close Gitmo

The WBP had trouble with post content today, I mean, there is so little going on in the world. We thought about doing a weather editorial, then we thought about doing an editorial about how we hate weather editorials, but both those ideas had been taken. So here is our third idea.

On this day in 1903, the United States purchased the real estate for Club Gitmo. Today, it is the site for one of the world's most egregious human rights violations and the shining example of the Bush Administration's hypocrisy. Join Amnesty International's campaign to close the facility by clicking on the link.



At the Amnesty International website you can also read the latest about the Egyptian blogger who was sentenced to four years in prison for his posts.

Albany Times Union Drops the Ball

Shelly's Fingerprints Everywhere

On February 13th Capitol Confidential, political blog at the Albany Times Union, ran a post by Elizabeth Benjamin under the heading Ball Drops the Ball. Catchy. The WBP commented on the story and followed up by acquiring the list of the 500 delinquent filers from the New York state Board of Elections.

After a review of the list it is the opinion of the WBP that the Albany Times Union and Capitol Confidential, either accidentally or knowingly, reported inaccurate and false information.

In her most recent article regarding the issue, Ms. Benjamin acknowledges that she has not even seen the list of delinquent committees. Why then, Ms. Benjamin, would you file a story regarding a report you have not seen, and where then did you attain this information? Were the parties involved in giving you this story Dem party leaders with an axe to grind following Ball's outburst at the comptroller vote?

A review of the list of delinquent filers, attained on February 14th, shows no listing for Assemblyman Ball or his committee, New Yorkers on the Ball. This supports Ball's statements that he did not knowingly usurp the law and that the BoE was aware of his filing situation. It also makes the Capitol Confidential post a complete fabrication.

However, the Albany Times Union had help in misconstruing the facts. The post also drew attention to the "fact" that of the 500 delinquents, Ball was the only state level legislator. They even had a statement from BoE spokesman Lee Daghlian that "he was aware of no other state-level elected officials whose names are on that list."

Mr. Daghlian did not review the list very closely either, or he has a giant D next to his name and he's helping Shelly's goons who started spreading this in the first place.

The list actually does contain a number of state level legislators. For example, Carmen Arroyo, state Assembly representative for the Bronx. Why was she conveniently overlooked by Mr. Daghlian and the Albany Times Union in multiple posts? I am sure it is because the Times Union and Ms. Benjamin do not check facts before they report something and has nothing to do with Arroyo being a Democrat.

The Times Union also conveniently omits some other groups who missed the filing deadline: Town of Carmel Democratic Committee (Carmel is represented by Assemblyman Ball), Citizens for Fiscal Integrity, Healthy New York PAC and the New York Democracy Project.

The list is too large to post in entirety here, if anyone would like a copy please leave a comment with your email address and I will forward you an electronic copy. This includes you Ms. Benjamin.

UPDATE: (2/19/07 - 7:17am) 44 minutes after we logged this post, Capitol Confidential posted this

A Kick in the Ball

Assemblyman Can't Stay Out of News

Last week we reported on Assemblyman Greg Ball and his strong statements to the New York state legislative body during the recent comptroller vote.

Assemblyman Ball (R-99) is back in the news as the state Board of Elections has reported that he failed to file campaign committee financial reports by the January 15th deadline.

Ball is one of 500 to miss the deadline, but he is apparently the only state level legislator. Ball could be subject to a $500 fine and court fees.

The Ball campaign, New Yorkers on the Ball, are saying it is all just a paperwork mix up. From the Albany Times Union:

Ball’s Chief of Staff Rob DiFrancesco called to say the assemblyman is aware of the problem, which was caused by a paperwork snafu not a deliberate desire to flout the law.

The Ball campaign has switched treasurers (Ball’s father, Robert, had the title, but didn’t want it anymore), and maintains it filed the necessary paperwork to do so.

However, it was unclear, DiFrancesco said, whether the BoE would accept the Jan. 15 filing from the new treasurer, Evelyn Perrault.

Editor's Note: In our previous story regarding Ball we stated that Silver called Ball to thank him for his comments. It has been brought to our attention that it was Spitzer, not Silver, who called to thank Ball. A link to a story about the call can be found here.

Are We Supposed to Feel Better?

The D&C Henrietta blogger has posted his Final Followup on 5Linx and now everything is right with the world. Only -

- Spurred by articles at the Water Buffalo Press, 5Linx has applied for membership in the Direct Selling Association as a response to highlights here on the WBP that non-membership indicated questionable business practices by the respective entity. According to a representative from the DSA, 5Linx will not be accepted for membership as their application did not illustrate practices consistent with the strict guidelines of the DSA.

- As highlighted in our earlier article, Find the Red Queen, the supposed $6 million investment in the community is nonexistent as it can only be assumed, since exact figures are unavailable to the public, that $6 million has been returned to the company in the form of government investments and abatements.

- The championing of 5Linx as a leader in telecom is overstated, as 5Linx reps do not carry inventories; rather, 5Linx serves as a third party marketer providing website marketing materials (at a price) to direct sales representatives whose websites redirect customers to carriers.

- The pyramid nature of the business model is illustrated in the new jobs that will be housed in the expansion: According to Denise Nowak with 5Linx this inhouse sales team "provides quotes to small and medium size businesses that our independent representatives come across that would like to use our GLOBALINX service", (although the acquisition of leads from a supposedly independent representative raises questions about how independent this realtionship is) essentially these business leads are the most profitable and the 5Linx founders (the top of the pyramid, which includes ACN defectors) want to ensure that the profits continue to be weighted at the top of the structure. What is left for the independent reps to market to are private residential clients, undoubtedly less profitable than business sales.

All in all, the type of business that our region should brag about and subsidize?

Colbert Report: The Word on Blogs