UNDER THE DOME
Noriega breaks (in) the Internet
Willco what?
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Chat plagued by interference
Toppling Web cams and tidal waves of static laid siege to U.S. Senate hopeful Rick Noriega's virtual town hall meeting with Texans on Friday afternoon.
State Rep. Noriega, D-Houston, started the Webcast by recapping the energy policy he first presented last week, but static soon drowned out his voice and town hall participants in an online chat room started electronically wincing in pain.
Order was restored minutes later, but the Web cam in front of Noriega soon toppled over, a staff member's finger appeared onscreen blocking out Noriega's face, and the static kept coming back, drowning out Noriega's responses to questions posed by chat room participants.
Responses from the chat room: "Who broke the Internet????"
"Has (Republican U.S. Sen. John) Cornyn zapped this conference setup?"
"OH NO static."
— David Shieh
Williamson on a blue streak?
When we noticed a Facebook group for the Williamson County Young Democrats, our first thought was, "Really?" This is a county, after all, where 65 percent of voters supported George W. Bush for president in 2004. Unlike its blue neighbor Travis County, where the state senator and state representatives all have "D-Austin" after their names, WillCo is represented by only Republicans at the state Capitol.
But it turns out that the Williamson County Young Democrats' Facebook group, which had 30 members as of Friday morning, outnumbered the Williamson County Young Republicans' Facebook group, which had seven.
Who knows if that's a signal about the future of politics in the county — or just an indication of who's on Facebook?
— Corrie MacLaggan
Anti-bush bus coming to Austin
The Bush Legacy Tour Bus, sponsored by Bush opponents, is making a stop from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday at the AFL-CIO's Austin headquarters at 1106 Lavaca St.
The tour, financed by Americans United for Change, a union group, began June 24 and expects to visit more than 40 states by Election Day.
The red, black and blue bus is a 45-foot interactive museum to remind Americans with short-term memory loss about the Iraq war, climate change, the aftermath of Katrina and the state of the economy, among other issues.
Really, a bus at today's gas prices? Actually, the bus uses biodiesel (naturally), which is even more expensive than gasoline.
Julie Blust, the on-board press spokeswoman, says she's not sure what a fill-up costs, but she thinks it's north of $600.
"Our bus driver knows the sticker shock," she said. "It's not going on my credit card!"
Maybe next time they should consider a hybrid and a slide show.
— Laylan Copelin
