Red Clay Citizen

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The Nine Million Dollar Stimulus Tracker

The nice folks here at Red Clay want you to know that we are looking out for you. 

The fact that $787 billion of your money is being spent by 537 people who have probably never even met you really troubles us.  We think you know how to spend that money better then they do.  The only saving grace in this whole process is the fact that the 537 people were nice enough to give you a website that you can use to track the money, and how it is being spent...Red Clay already knows what the first item put up for tracking will be.  It will likely look like this:

$9.5 million Spent on Stimulus Tracking Web site

It is interesting that this happens at the exact moment when Red Clay is revamping its blog.  I am told that it will be state of the art, and capable of displaying multiple pie charts and bar graphs (and the occasional picture of Bev Pedue as money).  See, we here at Red Clay World HQ think that you deserve to know what is going on in your government and home state.  We do these things because we care.  And by the way, it is only costing us one intern, one Mountain Dew per day, and an Apple Computer (that is called job creation folks). 

Just here to help.

NC Tax Hike Already Costing Money

Even though the proposed tax hikes in the House version of the budget have yet to take effect, the mere mention of it has already caused North Carolina citizens to lose income.  Online powerhouse Amazon.com has notified its web partners in North Carolina that a proposed new tax in the budget is more trouble than they are willing to put up with and they will be ending all agreements in the state rather than collect the tax.

The Greensboro News & Record's Mark Binker has a good summary of the story.  Basically, any websites based in North Carolina that help Amazon.com sell their products by having click through ads will be out of luck and out of cash.

Amazon.com broke the news to their affiliates with the following email message this morning:

“We regret to inform you that the North Carolina state legislature (the General Assembly) appears ready to enact an unconstitutional tax collection scheme that would leave Amazon.com little choice but to end its relationships with North Carolina-based Associates.”

When lawmakers consider new taxes and new sources of revenue, do they ever think about the consequences of strangling the golden goose?  In this case, the bill has yet to pass and has already cost an industry income.  The attitude among several of these professional wealth killers at the Legislature is "So what? What choice does a company have?"  Well, according to Amazon.com, there are at least two choices.  Comply and lose money or pull out of North Carolina altogether and lose less.

So much for seeking those "green" jobs now that the largest online retailer has black balled the state. 

When I first heard about this move by Amazon.com, I mistakenly thought it had to do with the new gift giving tax proposed in the House budget that taxes packages sent via Fedex or UPS.  Maybe the folks at Amazon.com haven't heard about that one yet. But I have a feeling that they soon will.

If you really want to understand viral...

Brian posted a clip of Daniel Hannan giving a speech in the European Parliament. Mr. Hannan in a blog post explains how "My speech to Gordon Brown goes viral".

If you want to understand how important the "new media" is and why MSM is being shown the door you have to read his post to understand the impact. Oh and by the way Mr. Hannan comesfrom the MSM, specifically the Telegraph.

Welcome to the Metaverse

I've always told my friends: "you can't just read about Open Croquet, you have to see it demonstrated."
Now you can.

If you want to read why Second Life Won't Get a Third, I'll tell you. In any case, collaborating freely in co-creative worlds is your future. Get ready.

-Max Borders

Free Muni WiFi - Whither Government?

A company wants to blanket San Francisco in free WiFi -- for FREE. If the private sector is thinking of doing this, why is anyone considering letting government do this, much less with taxpayers dollars?
-Max Borders

Bizarre Virtual Politics

Just when you thought things couldn't get any weirder for '08, the world of emmersive activism heats up.
-Max Borders

Climate Change: Technology or Regulation?

If (and that's a big if) man is causing global warming... and if such warming would actually result in negative or catastrophic consequences, should we allow for technological solutions that will arise from prosperity and innovation, or should we regulate ourselves into an economic recession?
-Max Borders

Gub'ment Bitness: Oxy Moronic

Here's another reason why government shouldn't be in the business of, well, anything. Government's don't have profit motives, which is why municiple wifi may sound great at the face of it -- but the economics are just not there in most cases. If they were, businesses would find a way to offer the service.

It was no good for this California town and it won't be good for N.C. towns either.

Technology Paradox for Conservatives and Liberals

John Edwards is way ahead of the Internet game, according to Rob Christensen. Have the conservatives not learned anything from MoveOn.org and the Deaniacs? 

The irony in all of this is that the conservatives - willing to embrace the dynamism, decentralization, and dexterity of the free market - seem unwilling to embrace technologies that have these characteristics, which could help their campaigns. More ironic still, liberals - willing to embrace dynamism, decentralization, and dexterity for their activism - are unwilling to embrace it in the social order--preferring top-down control.