Google and Verizon released a new plan this week for how the Internet should operate (see Susan's post for more background), if they got to rule the world. We'd keep Net Neutrality for the wired Internet (at least for consumers not corporations), but they could set up fast lanes and slow lanes for the wireless Internet. Wireless is of course the future of the Internet, but then again that is exactly the point.

Their proposal has devided the tech industry, as the NYT reported today, with Facebook, Amazon, eBay and venture capitalists raising serious concerns with the Google/Verizon evil deal:

It set off a flood of reaction, much of it negative, from Web companies and consumer advocacy groups. In the most extreme situation that opponents envision, two Internets could emerge — the public one known today, and a private one with faster lanes and expensive tolls. [snip]

The wireless Internet is quickly emerging as the dominant technology platform, said Matt Cohler, a general partner at Benchmark Capital, a prominent venture firm in Silicon Valley that has invested in start-ups like Twitter. “It is as important to have the right protections in place for the newer platform as it is for the older platform.”

The media has trashed their evil deal and over 300,000 people have signed an open letter demanding Google drop this proposal.

It's a giant corporate power-grab and Google who claims to "do no evil" is doing exactly that with this evil plan. That's why MoveOn, the PCCC (where I work), CREDO Action, Color of Change and Free Press are holding a rally at noon tomorrow in front of Google headquarters. The event is at the corner of Amphitheatre Parkway and Charleston Road in Mountain View. Click here to RSVP.

For people in the San Francisco area, there will be a bus leaving from the San Francisco Opera House at 11 a.m. You have to RSVP to get on the bus, as seats are limited.

This deal can be stopped, but only if President Obama and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski understand just how angry we are at the prospect of our rights being trampled online by Google and other corporate giants. So, please join us, or if you don't live in the Bay Area, pass along the info to your friends.

Oh, look. Another phony scandal! And another case of amnesia, as Republicans block all the cases in which they did the same thing from their memories.

Yes, Republicans are gleefully insisting this is a pattern of improper behavior and calling for a special prosecutor. But then again, if President Obama knocked a piece of White House china off the table and broke it, the Republicans would be calling for an investigation to see if he really sold it on eBay and pocketed the cash:

First, Joe Sestak. Now, Andrew Romanoff.

In an emailed statement, Romanoff, the former Colorado House speaker, said that in September, “shortly after the news media first reported my plans to run for the Senate, I received a call from Jim Messina, the President’s deputy chief of staff. Mr. Messina informed me that the White House would support Sen. Bennet. I informed Mr. Messina that I had made my decision to run.

”Mr. Messina also suggested three positions that might be available to me were I not pursuing the Senate race. He added that he could not guarantee my appointment to any of these positions. At no time was I promised a job, nor did I request Mr. Messina’s assistance in obtaining one.”

Romanoff also attached an email from Messina outlining the posts, and said he later left Messina “a voicemail informing him that I would not change course.” He said he hadn’t spoken with Messina or anyone else in the White House since then.

[...] Before Romanoff issued his statement, Texas Republican Rep. Lamar Smith on Wednesday responded to the Romanoff reports by reiterating his call for the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to investigate both the Sestak and Romanoff discussions with the White House.

“I am concerned that the Obama Administration has engaged in a habit of attempting to manipulate the democratic election process to benefit the Democratic Party,” Smith said in a statement. “Such actions are certainly unethical and may very well be criminal. And it makes the recent White House report attempting to downplay allegations even less believable.”

Lamar, you're a lying sack o'fertilizer. Shameless, shameless, shameless!

Having learned their lesson with the Sestak story, the White House responds quickly:

Both sides insist no concrete job offer was made, but Romanoff’s announcement made it look as though the White House and come up with the idea all on its own. The part he apparently left out was that he applied for the jobs at the U.S. Agency for International Development.

“Andrew Romanoff applied for a position at USAID during the Presidential transition. He filed this application through the Transition on-line process. After the new administration took office, he followed up by phone with White House personnel,” said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs in an e-mail statement sent before 6:30 a.m.

“Jim Messina called and e-mailed Romanoff last September to see if he was still interested in a position at USAID, or if, as had been reported, he was running for the US Senate,” Gibbs said. “Months earlier, the President had endorsed Sen. Michael Bennet for the Colorado seat, and Messina wanted to determine if it was possible to avoid a costly battle between two supporters.

“But Romanoff said that he was committed to the Senate race and no longer interested in working for the Administration, and that ended the discussion. As Mr. Romanoff has stated, there was no offer of a job,” Gibbs said.

"Media Event". In campaign speak, that's an opportunity for a candidate to shake a few hands in front of the cameras, make a speech on some subject or the other and give the press a chance to see you. Unless you're Meg Whitman running for the governorship of California:

Press shy GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman found herself challenged by reporters today after she announced an "open press" stop in Oakland, then refused to take questions the press -- which was also barred from covering her tour of the port's Union Pacific facility.

Reporters from Bay Area media outlets -- TV, print and radio -- turned up for Whitman's advertised campaign stop in Oakland, where the former eBay CEO had announced a campaign stop and press event.

But once at the Union Pacific Railroad site, the assembled reporters were not allowed to view her tour -- and herded into a holding room instead.

Then came the news that Whitman also wouldn't take questions; reporters had been called in to "see" her make statements on "how she could be helpful as governor" on jobs and the economy, Whitman spokeswoman Sarah Pompei said.[..]

Pompei told reporters Whitman said the no press tour was a Union Pacific call -- that the company's officials did not want media coverage. (Union Pacific spokesman Aaron Hunt begs to differ. He just told us that "we planned, actually, to have press talk with Meg on the tour....we understood there would be media availability and we wanted to work with that.")

It's very possible that Whitman's handlers are nervous about her in front of the press, as her grasp on basic facts seem to be a little skewed, as this ad from California Accountability notes:

As yet, Whitman has still refused to release her taxes for public scrutiny as well, a growing concern as the election ads get progressively nastier.

Given the massive clusterf@#$ that is the state of the State of California (and the fact that not only is California the world's 8th largest economy, California taxes subsidize other states as well), having someone so clearly not-ready-for-prime-time in the Governor's office is a prescription for disaster.

Shopping find of the day: a Pat Robertson voodoo doll is being sold on Ebay, 100% of proceeds to benefit the Red Cross:

After an exclusive deal with devil, we are finally able to bring black magic into your very own home! The lucky winner of this auction will attain the soul of Televangelist PAT ROBERTSON in a handheld figurine comprised of the finest straw, cloth, and other organic natural materials! BID NOW to own your very own physical representation of the dark, dark soul of Pat Robertson.

As of this writing the bidding is up to $520.00.

h/t James Jolly (00Bama), who is still waiting to hear from his relatives in Haiti. Our thoughts are with you and your family, James.

I have a friend who just three years ago was making six figures as a freelance artist. Now he's down to $1,000 a month when he's lucky, has sold everything he owns except his computer (because he uses it for work) and can't move to a cheaper place (he's already living in an efficiency) because he literally can't afford to move. I've been trying to talk him into applying for food stamps; so far, he hasn't.

And I don't think he's all that unusual. Right now, I know people who are selling their blood, lying their way into marketing focus groups, and trash-picking stuff to sell on eBay. (If I don't get a job before the latest unemployment extension runs out, it won't be long before I join them.)

It's really, really bad out here and getting worse. Mr. President, stop giving money to bankers and help our desperate unemployed:

CAPE CORAL, Fla. — After an improbable rise from the Bronx projects to a job selling Gulf Coast homes, Isabel Bermudez lost it all to an epic housing bust — the six-figure income, the house with the pool and the investment property.

Now, as she papers the county with résumés and girds herself for rejection, she is supporting two daughters on an income that inspires a double take: zero dollars in monthly cash and a few hundred dollars in food stamps.

With food-stamp use at a record high and surging by the day, Ms. Bermudez belongs to an overlooked subgroup that is growing especially fast: recipients with no cash income.

About six million Americans receiving food stamps report they have no other income, according to an analysis of state data collected by The New York Times. In declarations that states verify and the federal government audits, they described themselves as unemployed and receiving no cash aid — no welfare, no unemployment insurance, and no pensions, child support or disability pay.

Their numbers were rising before the recession as tougher welfare laws made it harder for poor people to get cash aid, but they have soared by about 50 percent over the past two years. About one in 50 Americans now lives in a household with a reported income that consists of nothing but a food-stamp card.

“It’s the one thing I can count on every month — I know the children are going to have food,” Ms. Bermudez, 42, said with the forced good cheer she mastered selling rows of new stucco homes.

Members of this straitened group range from displaced strivers like Ms. Bermudez to weathered men who sleep in shelters and barter cigarettes. Some draw on savings or sporadic under-the-table jobs. Some move in with relatives. Some get noncash help, like subsidized apartments. While some go without cash incomes only briefly before securing jobs or aid, others rely on food stamps alone for many months.

The surge in this precarious way of life has been so swift that few policy makers have noticed. But it attests to the growing role of food stamps within the safety net. One in eight Americans now receives food stamps, including one in four children.

As David Neiwert posted yesterday, a group of violent anti-abortion zealots planned to hold an online auction on eBay to help pay legal expenses for Scott Roeder, the man who murdered abortion provider, Dr. George Tiller at his Kansas church. Thankfully, eBay has stepped up to do the right thing and is blocking the auction:

An eBay auction planned by abortion opponents to raise money for the man accused of killing Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller will not be permitted, company officials said Tuesday.

"Based on the details we know about the anticipated listings, we believe these would violate our policy regarding offensive material," the company said in a statement to The Kansas City Star. "eBay will not permit the items in question to be posted to the eBay site, and they will be removed if they are posted."

It its statement, eBay said, “we do not allow items that encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to engage in illegal activity and will not be a platform for those who promote violence toward others.” Read on...

McCainpedia: Count the Lies

The Existentialist Cowboy: When the Sea Walks Over the Land

Talking Points Memo: Keeping the smears straight

CQ Politics: Sarah Palin on Israel: Frightening

collateral news: Jesus was a community organizer, Pontius Pilate was a Governor

The Satirical Political Report: Sarah Palin to put McCain up for sale on eBay

Take action! Email the moderators of the upcoming presidential and VP debates and demand "The Debate We Need"

CBS5 (San Francisco)

The California Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in San Francisco Tuesday on whether someone who posts a defamatory comment by another person on the Internet can be sued for libel.

Two civil liberties groups say the court's eventual ruling, due in three months, could have far-reaching implications for free speech on the Internet.

While the case before the court concerns individuals-a Canadian doctor seeking to sue a women's health activist for posting a third person's comment about him-the court's ruling could also determine whether Internet service providers can be held liable when they knowingly allow defamatory remarks to be posted. (emphasis added) Read on...

In the interest of disclosure, I have to say that I have a connection to this case that makes me less than impartial (and no, I'm not an involved party) and requires me to be circumspect about some information.

While the Court has agreed to hear this case on the very narrow, specific issue (whether the libelous statement is factually true is considered tangential to the issue before the Court), this could have an absolutely chilling effect on bloggers--to be held liable for libel for reposting a third party's words--which is why the EFF, AOL, EBay and Amazon have submitted amicus briefs, defending the right of Internet service providers.

I know that many of us (myself included) have come to rely on blogs to help us get and/or make sense of the news of the day. Although I rarely comment, I get a lot out of the comments made here at C&L, often finding links that help enhance my understanding of events. How much knowledge and information would we miss if sites like C&L had to be wary of potential liability from your posts?

It's a very scary thought.

The Court's decision should be handed down within 90 days.

Ebay re-instates Virgin Mary sandwich!

Video

Diane Duyser from Miami, FL. has the grilled sandwich up on Ebay:Item number: 5535890757 At first Ebay cancelled it saying that they don't allow joke listing, but after further review(did somebody make a call?)they allowed the item to be relisted.

The Virgin Mary sandwich is bid at $99,999,999.00 at this time.

I want to know who is bidding on this!

Trading Spouses: This is a scary video

An emailer sent me this video and it is truly scary. I know Sunday is a day of rest for many of us-so I hope this doesn't ruin it for you. The clip comes from the FOX series called, "Trading Spouses."

Download | play -WMP Download | play -QT (QT will work in a few minutes.)

Do many of you watch these types of reality shows? Jason emailed this ebay item that just sold for 870.00