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Someone once said that we'll know we've arrived in the information age when our desire for news becomes a continuous stream of information. Even now, I feel at the fringe of such an age. Blogs have inspired meta-blogs, and now even campaigns have been invited to participate in abc's new notepad feature. It's all about increased access to information, which has to be a good thing.

On a related note, my karma at slashdot just hit excellent. And, yes, it's a little geeky, but hey...don't knock it till you've tried it, right? Increasingly, news is becoming more and more slashdot oriented: tiny blobs of information coated with a bunch of greasy opinions. In a sense, the political campaigns are much like a slashdot conversation with the journalists as moderators. Now if only you could have meta-moderation in real life everything would be better.

It's times like this that I find comfort in the cold, calculated neutrality of c-span. It doesn't farcically pretend to be objective, like fox news, or equally ludicrously attempt to be professional, like cnn or even worse, the network news stations. Bias is always going to be there...the only way to deal with it is to either cut out commentary (like c-span) or admit the bias and move on (no takers yet!) When journalists pretend to be "objective" they end up hurting neutrality by advancing tired arguments or presenting outright lies as "the other side" in an attempt to remain neutral. If we're headed for a budget disaster, and one side says we are, and the other says we're not, that's not a matter of opinion. Empirically speaking, the facts dictate one conclusion, and to bring up invalid arguments that strain editor's credibility undermines the objectivity the American public thinks is being presented. End rant.

I'm now having to work on some hourly blog-like stuff for my new website, so I'm probably going to start losing some of the politically themed stuff from this blog to focus more on the personal stuff. I may continue the more radical themes over here (wouldn't want to get in trouble with my boss for "crazy" views like open borders and the like) but the majority should be at the peyser site. Look for it starting December 1.

Until then, though, check out this piece in the Post which mentions, in passing, that Gore has endorsed single-payer as a health care solution. It's about time! From the piece:

But as he began his book tour this week, Gore already was making political news. On Wednesday night, he told a New York audience he has "reluctantly come to the conclusion" that the only solution to the "impending crisis" in health care is a "single-payer national health insurance plan" for all Americans. That marks a sharp break with his past position, pushing him sharply to the left on what could be an important issue in the next presidential campaign.

In the 2000 campaign, Gore battered rival Democrat Bill Bradley for advocating a health care plan designed to move the country toward universal coverage. He said Bradley's bold plan would wipe out projected budget surpluses and damage the country.

Gore offered no details of what kind of single-payer system he favors. Spokesman Jano Cabrera said yesterday that Gore will address the issue in a speech. Cabrera called Gore's comments on health care consistent with his recent vow to "speak from the heart and let the chips fall where they may."

Three cheers for President Gore!