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Feds recover emails from Hillary Clinton's private server
The FBI has recovered emails from the private server Hillary Clinton surrendered to the Justice Department back in August, according to Bloomberg. If you recall, Clinton admitted to deleting all her personal correspondences long ago but turned over copies of her work emails (around 30,000 in number) to the government. You can even read thousands of them -- mostly schedules, press clippings, speech notes and the like -- on the State Department's website. However, she decided to hand over her server anyway after the Intelligence Community Inspector General told Congress that some of the work emails she turned in could be classified as "top secret." Now, the feds have managed to salvage those deleted digital missives, though it's unclear if they were able to restore them all or just a few.
Hillary Clinton's emails won't be released until January 2016 (update)
The emails that Hillary Clinton sent as Secretary of State from a private account will eventually be released to the public, but not as quickly as some had hoped. Government lawyers reportedly revealed in new court papers, filed in relation to a Vice News Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, that the correspondence won't be published until January 15th, 2016. That's a long wait, especially as Clinton has already launched her 2016 presidential campaign in the US. Her privately-controlled email address, first revealed by the New York Times, is an issue because she used it for all of her work-related correspondence. Under federal law, emails sent and received by officials are supposed to be archived so that oversight committees, historians and the press can examine them. Update: Another update from Vice notes that a judge has ordered the State Department to release emails on a rolling basis.
US funds shadow networks, builds 'internet in a suitcase' for repressed protesters
Whether a repressive government, a buggy DNS server or a little old lady is behind your internet outage, it can't be much fun, but the US government sympathizes with your plight if you're dealing with reason number one. The New York Times reports that the US State Department will have spent upwards of $70 million on "shadow networks" which would allow protesters to communicate even if powers that be pull the traditional plug -- so far, it's spent at least $50 million on a independent cell phone network for Afghanistan, and given a $2 million grant to members of the New America Foundation creating the "internet in a suitcase" pictured above. It's a batch of mesh networking equipment designed to be spirited into a country to set up a private network. Last we'd heard, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had pledged $25 million for just this sort of internet freedom, and the New America Foundation had applied for some of those bucks -- see our more coverage links below -- but it sounds like the money is flowing fast, and in multiple directions now.
What if politics were more like Pokemon?
If politics were more like Pokemon, we would be campaigning for Meowth. How can you lose when your platform consists of being totally awesome?But we digress ... One gamer has captured his view of this year's election lead-up with a mock Pokemon battle between the three presidential hopefuls. It has an obvious pro-Barack Obama slant and an anti-other candidates bias, but it's still clever enough to warrant a look no matter which politician you're leaning towards. Check it out past the post break as an animated GIF image and its evolved form, Youtube video!
Comedy Central looks at campaigning in the World of Warcraft
Comedy Central's Indecision 2008 blog (humor about the upcoming US elections) has a... well, OK, it's not all that funny, but it's a post offering the three major candidates (Obama, Clinton, and McCain) tips in their strategies to appeal to World of Warcraft players. That's right, we vote, too!Unfortunately, it would probably have been a lot better if they'd gotten someone who actually plays WoW to write it -- there are some OK references in there, but nothing really insightful into the world of Azeroth (and a few just don't make any sense). And none of the candidates are portrayed as Horde (Barack's an NE Druid, Hillary looks like a Dwarf Female Paladin, and Johnny Mac is a Gnome caster of some kind), especially since being Horde has already been proven to be politically popular. Throw in the fact that they missed out on four classes (what am I supposed to know as a Shaman?), and this turns out to be a pretty poor attempt by Comedy Central for a little Warcraft humor. Too bad.[Via Massively]
Barackdown vs. Raw-dham Clinton 2008
Ripped from the headlines: Using WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008's create-a-wrestler mode, THQ has done their own take on the Democratic presidential rivalry. They designed characters who sorta resemble presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, as long as you're told who they're supposed to be first.The two politicians run out and play to the crowd, then face off, totally about to wrassle, when the clip unfortunately ends. We wanted to see what Senator Clinton's finishing move was! We wanted to learn the candidates' positions on the issue of "folding chairs: now or later?"You know, we wouldn't mind fake physical combat as a campaign method. It's not like anyone talks about real policy at debates anyway.
Clinton and other senators ask ESRB for review over Manhunt 2
Get the shovel kids, the horse we buried needs some kicking. According to various reports Sens. Hillary Clinton (D), Joe Lieberman (I), Sam Brownback (R) and Evan Bayh (D and who?) have sent a letter to the ESRB asking for a "thorough review" following the whole Manhunt 2 kerfuffle saga. Not only did we think that this whole Manhunt 2 thing was behind us, but we also thought presidential candidate Clinton et. al. had better things to focus on currently -- no need to get into the laundry list, but the least controversial might be fixing the failing dollar.The letter went over the differences between the ESRB and the British Board of Film Classification, which banned the game. The letter was also concerned over the Wii motion controls being used in a game like Manhunt and asked the ESRB to take controls "into consideration" for future ratings. It all boils down to the senators asking for a review and saying, "In sum, we ask your consideration of whether it is time to review the robustness, reliability and repeatability of your ratings process, particularly for this genre of 'ultra-violent' videogames and advances in game controllers." What happened to all that bridge building we saw just last year? The ESRB has yet to respond.
A presidential duo destined for destiny
As Infendo writes about one of the funniest headlines they've seen on the Nintendo News Channel, we imagine the title of this post as being the tag line for one of the greatest movies ever made: Clinton and Gore's Excellent Adventures. Move over Bill and Ted ...Are we nuts, or does it look like they're going to kiss?
Today's most freakin' sweet video: Family Guy, Clinton and DDR
"Hey, do you remember the time I went to Chuck E. Cheese with former president William Jefferson Clinton?"Bill Clinton, Chuck E Cheese and Dance Dance Revolution. O, those manatees doth weave a clever tale. Game site 1P Start proves how fast the internet works by already having this clip from last night's Family Guy uploaded and blogged.We laugh, but only because we can see the actual former U.S. President Bill Clinton playing DDR. Maybe not to an Aqua song, but perhaps .59 or Afronova. Video embedded after the break.
Clinton and Lieberman make nice with ESRB ... why?
GamePolitics reports that Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) in a press conference today at 3PM will announce, with ESA President Doug Lowenstein and ESRB president Patricia Vance, a national campaign to raise awareness about video game ratings. Clinton and Lieberman have both been outspoken critics of the game industry and this certainly shows that a change is in the air.Now is certainly a convenient time for Clinton and Lieberman to bury the hatchet with the gaming industry. Nobody can deny that the political winds in the United States have shifted since the last election and these two have grander ambitions. Lieberman, who originally lost his party nomination in Connecticut, rallied during the election as an Independent to get his seat back -- although he's still a pseudo Democrat at heart. With the House and Senate under Democratic control perhaps he feels he can actually focus on issues that matter, rather than trying to pander to some bizarre wing of his constituency that believes the best way to protect America's youth is by going after the gaming industry. Sen. Hillary Clinton ... well, for you non-Americans out there, she is gearing up to run for President of the United States. However you may feel about this, the point is, the last thing Senator Clinton needs is the youth of America telling their parents that the crazy lady hates video games and not to vote for her. Also, with the average gamer being 30 years-old according to the ESA, there are a lot of gamers out there with the right to vote. People have voted for and against candidates for stupider things and the Democrats want the White House, so it's time to make friends, build bridges in the 21st century and start using the village to raise the children -- that sounds oddly familiar. We'll get more answers about what's going on today at 3PM Eastern.
What the 2006 midterm means for gamers
The US midterm elections have come and gone, and while most to all voters don't consider gaming their primary concern (as if foreign policy or the economy are really more important), how interactive entertainment will be regulated has an enormous impact on who retained, gained, or lost a seat in Congress.Wired's Chris Kohler outlines some of the major elections, in terms of video game censorship and regulation, and analyzes the long-term impact. Those with even a slight concern with politics should check out the article for at least a refresher course on what Congress representative Y has the games industry in his or her crosshairs.
U.S. government to fund studies on video game's effects
On Friday, The Children and Media Research and Advancement Act (CAMRA) was passed by the U.S. Senate. The bi-partisan act introduced, in part, by Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and First Amendment hater Joseph Lieberman (D, sometimes R, but currently I -CT), is designed to research the effects of media on children.The research will be headed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and, if the study finds that video games do in-fact harm the children, the government will be free to impose its will on the industry.One of the major roadblocks to imposing legislation on the video games industry is that every superior court judge that's dealt with the issue has stated that games are protected under the First Amendment and, furthermore, that there is no scientific proof video games are harmful. By proving the latter, these pols hope to overcome the former.(Queue up Night on Bald Mountain from Disney's Fantasia)[Via Next-Gen.biz]
