Is Freegate poised to Overtake Google?

I love it when the Wall Street Journal agrees with me.

On the front page of today’s WSJ is a story (subscription required) about how Chinese “hacktivists” are doing an end run around China’s army of online monitors and censored web content provided by handmaidens like Google. Money quotes:

Says Zivn, a Chinese high school student about now blocked news websites:

“…the 17-year old had loved the way those sites helped him put China’s official pronouncements in perspective. ‘There were so many lies among the facts and I could not find where the truth is,’ he writes in an instant message interview. Then, some friends told him where to find Freegate, a software program that thwarts the Chinese government’s vast system to limit what its citizens see.”

Seeing government pronouncements in a new light can certainly help stoke the democratic impulse. Notice that, like their Western counterparts that have given rise to the blogosphere, tech savvy Chinese users do not passively accept filtered and spun news.

“[Zivn] credits his cultural and political perspective to a “generation gap” that has come of having access to more information. ‘I am just gradually getting used to the truth about the real world.”

Unlike Google China users.

(more…)

Gentlemen:

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. Please take whatever action is, in your judgment, warranted for the situation. Remember that wives and girlfriends tend to use phrases like "maybe if you weren’t on that damn website all the time" if your action is insufficient.

Personally, I’ll be taking Redzilla down to Fogo de Chao, where we will gorge ourselves on meat. Dare I ask what Mrs. Gregg is getting for Valentine’s Day?

Krispy Kreme fans in Houston are about to lose the source for their doughnut fix.

Krispy Kreme Takes Bite Out Of Houston Franchises
Doughnut Shops To Close March 8

The struggling doughnut company is trimming its operations and Houston is next on the chopping block. The six area Krispy Kreme stores are currently operated by franchisee Lone Star Doughnuts, (love the name) which says the stores will become Jumbles Dough Factory and Coffee Bar locations.

Mmmmm…..dough factory.

Fire away!

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following was emailed to us by KSEV morning talk-show host Edd Hendee, who is currently on his "second-tour" embedded with American troops in Iraq, and is joined this year by nationally syndicated talkshow host Laura Ingraham.

Read Part I

Read Part II (w/picture of SSGT Christina Martinez)

Read Part III

Read Part IV

Epilogue – Saturday, February 11, 2006

The focus of this trip was to bring you the many faces of Iraq. We met the US & Coalition Soldiers and Marines standing the post quelling this insurgent wave of violent terror. Heroes of varying roles included Helo pilots and crews, military planners & technicians of the “digital division” high tech 4th ID, the patrols of 7/10 Cavalry, the 10th Mountain Division, and the emerging Iraqi Army.

You were there with us as we touched the foreheads of children burning with fever in hospitals whose chances of survival are dampened by the lack of space, personnel, and medicine. We shook hands with a dedicated yet undersized staff of doctors and nurses tirelessly fighting to save their nations children as well as met volunteers at orphanages caring for young kids who have no family. Along the way we met Major Hudson, a proud father of two young children who oversees $250 million of current construction projects targeted toward these needs. But that wasn’t enough for him as he initiated private shoe & clothing drives from his church family back home for these Iraqi kids who have a flickering chance in life but no shoes for their feet. We were there when he presented the director of the hospital with two handmade quilts his mother made to brighten the new wing just being completed.

We met with Iraqi elected officials struggling to manage their cities groaning under the load of services placed on a crumbling infrastructure who see a future along with a struggle. We spent the day with the 10th Mtn Division and the 3rd Iraqi Army 6th Division as they worked through the final stages of their training preparing to take over another Area of Operation in their own country. We had lunch that day with and Iraqi Colonel and his staff who only agreed to a picture if their faces are blackened out because the insurgents have targeted Army leaders. Even under this threat there is no hesitation to push forward every day with their new Army.

And finally we spent every available minute with the average (if there is such a thing) soldier, Marine, Airman, and Sailor who stand up for our freedom every day. One last interview today at BIAP– literally done as we stood ready to walk out to the C130 bound for Kuwait– was with Lt. Gen. Paula Bodi, one of the most impressive people we’ve met in Iraq. She’s a mom of two girls under 10 yrs old, a wife to a retired Master Sgt., a logistics planner in medical facilities and wears her jump wings proudly on her uniform.

She told of her sister from Massachusetts who has little or no contact with the military and supposed that her scheduled rotation to Iraq was a tragedy – bad news that all would be sorry for. Lt. Col Bodi explained to her that this is what she’s trained for – this is what she does. Separation from her family is so hard but she wants her girls to know that her mom proudly did what was needed and what was right. Then she said that the ones who complain about the war aren’t the ones who go to fight it. They sit safely at home spinning the political side of this issue while someone else volunteers to afford them the freedom they enjoy.

Lt. Col. Bodi is one of my new heroes – a precious mom and wife – confident, joyful and attractive – preparing to stand up for the people of Iraq who are just beginning to balance themselves on wobbly new legs of democracy. She is the perfect representative of our US Military – our best and brightest, selfless in their service. They make America proud. I hope you got the chance to meet them on this trip – it was worth every effort to get there.