Friday, July 13, 2007

CNN, Youtube Are Kicking it Up A Notch: An Interactive Presidential Candidates Debate

The Ethernet has truly arrived. CNN and Youtube are getting together to sponsor live and interactive coverage of the upcoming South Carolina Presidential Debate.

CNN's Political Ticker blog reports that people will be able to submit questions via YouTube video. So it's history in the making. I'm visualizing an overloaded system but that may be wishful thinking since I want everyone to be involved in our political processes.

The Democratic debate will be on July 23rd. The Republican debate held in Florida will be on August 17th. We have the possibility of exciting more interest in participation, especially among young people. What do you think of the Youtube web page announcing this? They are clearly trying to create some excitement. They call it 'broadcasting yourself.' I like that sound byte. Hopefully along with the prerequisite fifteen minutes of fame will be some insightful questions! The guidelines for submission of questions can be found there as well.

The deadline for your video questions for the Democratic Debate is July 22nd.

Youtube also has a site called Citizen Tube. This is where we go to watch the debate live and then lend our comments afterwards. Watch this video, they are sounding really grassroots, asking people to be in 'video camera will travel' mode and go to people who do not have access to the Internet and get their questions recorded; then come back and do the submission for them! This is truly wild.

Cleveland Economic News: Automobile Sales Up in 2007

Crains had some positive Cleveland economic news for the auto industry; sales were up 5.5% in our area in 2007. There were 3,269 more cars sold (April,May, June) in 2007 compared to 2006.

Of course I wanted to know more. What kind of car? I went to the Greater Cleveland Automobile Association (GCAA) website to investigate. First, the Toyota Prius sales are up 93.7% this year - more cars sold than in all of 2006. When queried, Prius owners said they wanted to make a statement. This is not new is it? We've always had a need to show our personalities through our cars. The article on the GCAA site said as opposed to a few years ago, Prius owners seem to want to take the lead: I have a hybrid and I'm proud.

But I digress..you know how easy that is on the web. What about NE Ohio sales? I found the article referenced in Crains. It lists the top auto companies that posted increases in 2007 but alas, not the individual models. They DID say the gas guzzlers, especially crossover vehicles, are keeping sales of larger models higher. Crossovers look like SUVs but are built on supposedly more economical 'car' chassis.

So let me get this straight. There is a movement in the U.S. to announce to the world that you own a Prius because you want everyone to start supporting hybrids and lower fuel usage. And there is a NE Ohio need to pretend you still have a 'real' SUV but it's a SUV look alike car? Maybe someone can tell me why this is important. I can dream can't I, that someday we'll all be prouder to wear badges that say 'I leave my car at home and take the train.'

Anyway, here are the auto companies that posted NE Ohio gains in April, May and June:


  • Toyota/Scion - 14.1 %
  • Honda - 11.2%
  • Jeep - 6.9%
  • Nissan - 8.1%

Update and a potential new trend in manufacturing of sorts: Just found this article on the WKYC site about Ford utilizing soybeans in their Mustang car cushions....this will be in 2008 Mustangs and is expected to save mucho barrels of oil. Interesting and maybe worth a trip in 2008 to the showroom to feel the seats :-) They say if it works out they might add them to other models.

Peace Out - 3C