Run, Obama, Run
Laloo Yadav: Future Prime Minister Of India
New York Times: Hakeem Jeffries
The Devil Wears Prada
Obama! Obama! Obama!
Barack Hussein Obama And The White Boys In The Media
Money And Manhattan
Laughing Liberally Brings The House Down December 30
Bushism Means No Talk, All Gunfire, Just Flatten Them Out
Barack: Personal Concerns
Rangel, A No Show
Policy Making The Matrix Way
December 12 DL21C Bash
Obama's Weapon On Clinton: Iraq
Obama Will Announce In January
Kentucky Dude, November 29
Eliot Spitzer For Running Mate
A Woman For Running Mate, Perhaps A Governor
Barack Obama: Time For A Generation Shift
No To Neocons, No To Islamists
Drinking Liberally: Session X
New Orleans: 2008 Democratic Convention
Child Adoptions: My Number One Reason To Be For Gay Marriage
Next Stop: White House
On November 7: In Harlem: For Obama
Tomorrow
Democratic Vision For The 21st Century
The Energy Solution: Nuclear Energy
Obama 2006
The Matrix
Events To November 7 Victory
The Audacity Of Gravitas: Restore Intelligence To The White House
Barack Is A Deaniac
Voting Machines On The Upper West
Barack Obama: This Is A New Century
Barack Obama: New Approaches To Old Problems
DFA Event: A Forum On Voting Machines
Switching To Obama
Iraq Movie, Liberally, But Not Drinking
October 5 The World Can't Wait Rally
"First Nancy Pelosi, Then Hillary"
Seaport Diwali
Google Video: Bill Clinton
Hands Off Brooke Ellison
Google Video: Martin Luther King
Google Video: Malcolm X
Hillary 2008: Enough White Men
YouTube: Bill Clinton
Movie: Iraq For Sale
Revver Videos
Indians, Indians
Hillary In The White House, Bill At The UN In 2010
Where Is Da Contract?
Obama In Africa
Advice To Hillary
Race, NYC, Future, Globalization, Internet, Glass, Wealth Creation, Power Creation
Iraq: Dumb War
The South Dakota Event
Famine In South Dakota
Middle East: The Final Map
Nation Building, Israeli Style?
Lamont Victory
Free Trade, Social Segregation, Rising Tide, Iceberg
August 20: India Day Party
Cross Cultural Interactions In A Diverse City
Lamont: The Iraq War Ferment In The Democratic Party
The Thing About Racist Comments
Cloud, Pyramid, Glass
Hillary's Formula For 2006
Right Wingers In Power In Israel And America
Hakeem Jeffries Debate 2
Hakeem Jeffries Debate
Leecia Eve: It’s Time to Reclaim Our Voter Power
Lieberman, Lamont
The Israeli Offensive
America: Number One
Mumbai Train Blasts
August 16
The Dean Machine
Hakeem Jeffries: Principled Compromise
Barack The Glass Walls, Ceilings, Smash 'Em
Three Pillars, Draft 2
Immigration, Duh
Race, A Few Different Angles
DPACNY: The Empire Strikes Back
Murderball
Dean, DFNYC, Daily Kos, Justin, Brooklyn, Nepal
Hillary 2008
Immigrant Power
May 1 Immigrants Rally: Great American Boycott With Jesse Jackson 3
May 1 Immigrants Rally: Great American Boycott With Jesse Jackson 2
May 1 Immigrants Rally: Great American Boycott With Jesse Jackson
Anti War Rally With Jesse Jackson 4
Anti War Rally With Jesse Jackson 3
Anti War Rally With Jesse Jackson 2
Anti War Rally With Jesse Jackson
The First Major Revolution Of The 21st Century Happened In Nepal
MYD Spring Gala
The Unthinkable: Nuclear Weapons Are Not Made To Be Used
Liberally Tipsy
Eliot Spitzer, Aliza Fatima
Eliot Spitzer
Bridge Activists
2008 Countdown: Hillary-Obama
Immigration Makes Economy Sense, Democracy, Justice, Family Sense
Critiquing A Critique Of The Iraq War Critiques
Obama Votes Nay
Hate Speech, Free Speech: Europe Needs To Learn The Difference
Bill Frist's Ancestors Came From The Moon
Can't Take Back Congress Without Strong On Defense
"I've Been To Europe Once, And That's Enough"
Russ Feingold And 2008
Rahm Emanuel: Big Ideas For America
Manhattan Young Dems
Justin Krebs
Drinking Liberally
Long War
Obama, Ethics Reform, And White Dems
DFNYC, Drinking Liberally, DL21C, Cosmopolity
Karl Rove, Hands Off Hillary
Take It Back: Film
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker
Tom Vilsack, Iowaman
Video Blogging For A Living
Hillary In Person
Iraq Intel: The Spy Who Failed Me
blac
My Four Most Viewed Video Clips
Chairman Dean's 2005
The Larger WMD Question And Iran
Complicated Iraq
Sean Maloney
The Jyllands Posten Muhammad Cartoons Controversy
The Spectrum Concept: Wide Applications
A Different Kind Of Campaign, A Scientific Campaign
A Huge Mixer: Happy New Year
The French Revolution And DFNYC
7 Video Clips: Reinvent The Democratic Party
Primitive Liberals Need To Stop Attacking Hillary
Pat Robertson Is Sick, Anti-Faith
Race, Gender, Progressive, Conservative Divides
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
DFNYC, Drinking Liberally, DL21C, Cosmopolity
When I came into town it was like I landed on the DFNYC helipad, no regrets. I am a Deaniac, DFNYC is a great group. But I might be growing out of it. I am looking for other groups more to my bent. DFNYC is too structured for me. I am not aspiring of event planning and stuff like that that the DFNYC leadership folks do. And I am not exactly trying to become a foot soldier, nothing wrong with that.
Through DFNYC itself I have bumped into two groups of interest. Drinking Liberally and DL21C. First time was at the Fernando Ferrer's debate with Bloomberg. Then the State Of The Union watch party. I am particulary leaning towards Drinking Liberally. I am not a big drinker. But what I have missed most at DFNYC is relentless, hard core political conversations with no deadlines. I want to be up at 2 AM. Talk is action. I want to blog, and I want to talk, and I want to go back and blog the talk.
I am surprised it has taken me this long. But I am warming up to the idea. I am not walking away from DFNYC. It is just that I am going to be more selective in terms of what events I show up for. And I am going to expand to attending events of some other groups. The Nepal related events themselves are expanding. I am going full time political in a professional way. Make the money, talk the talk. Do the work. Meet the people.
And look what I just found: The Cosmopolity Calendar. I knew there had to be a clearinghouse of this sort. There is. Wow. This Drinking Liberally thing is like having 20 LinkUps a month, and these are probably free flowing stuff.
There is a forest out there. Look.
Click Back America Makes online activism easy and effective. Anonymous philanthropists donate $1 to progressive action groups for every act of one-click participation in web-based campaigns.
DL21C Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century organizes terrific gatherings at which high-profile politicians and authors speak to 20- and 30-something crowd.
Democracy in the Park Putting the grass back in grassroots, this group basks in the sun and shade in the park on weekend afternoons, and uses free weekend cellular minutes to reach out to swing-state voters. A ll you need is a cell phone with weekend minutes and a willingness to spend a few hours under the trees helping uproot a particularly malignant Bush.
Drinking Liberally A weekly Democratic drinking club in Hell's Kitchen, where young progressives share ideas while sharing pitchers.
Move On Encourages its 1.6 million members to join nation-wide petitions, donate money to progressive causes and take individual acts for innovative publicity and fundraising events.
New Democratic Majority New Democratic Majority is a grassroots organization growing out of the energy of the 2004 Democratic Primary. Our mission is to get progressive Democrats elected and get elected Democrats progressive. From our base in New York City, we are dedicated to turning back the tide of the radical right, reclaiming the Democratic Party for progressive values, renewing individual involvement in civic life, and working together to elect candidates to local, state, and national office.
This is looking good. But I am primarily interested in events, not organizations. I just want to show up.
NYC is the progrssive supermarket, not your corner store. There is so much to choose from.
What tops it all is my own little franchise:
A Take Back The White House 2008 Meetup.
Are you the in crowd? Show up. I am barely starting.Whas has it been like in NYC? The day I moved in I felt like I own this city. It felt like breaking the sound barrier: there was too much to leave behind. That feeling never left me. I got this tremendous sense of belonging. I vowed to never again step outside the city boundaries. I once broke the vow and regretted it.
It is not like the evil is gone, it is just that there is so much to choose from. There are people and times that remind me I am right back in Kentucky and Indiana. Like you would be talking to some woman who happens to be white and there will show up some asshole out of the blue who would like to buy that woman a drink, in the middle of your conversation. Dogs claim their territory by raising one leg. How do white males do it? I mean, it is not humanly possible I am romantically interested in every member of the opposite sex I meet. And if white women get treated as territory, it is primarily their problem, not mine.
Or the lousy childhood crowd. Because the guy had a lousy childhood, he feels the strong urge to make racist comments. He never heard of counsellors or therapy sessions. It is not personal, it is purely statistical. If you meet nine white guys, the tenth will be an asshole. You just have to ask them out of your face. I am too busy thinking of fascinating things and prospects. I don't have the time to help cure your sick heart. Go get yourself a doctor. I don't know about Staten Island yet, but the rest of the city is mine. (My Back Against The Wall)
The beauty of the 90-10 rule is the 90. The vast majority of people you meet are just great. Like Brett Buzzini; no, he is not Italian. He emailed me to meet because he had been reading my Nepal blog. He just got his Masters at Columbia. He did a search on Nepal, ended up at my blog, started reading it. And we met over coffee, he bought me coffee.
Alvaro Larrain is actually French. Met him at the Hillary event. Great guy. (Hillary In Person) He actually is from Chile though. He is from the Global freaking South.
I don't have the time to be dwelling much on white racism. We all have our problems, the white people have theirs. What I do have time for is my blacness: blac. It feels like stargazing. Keep your mouth shut. I don't want to watch you eat. I don't have the time to deal with racist comments. I am plenty busy doing other things. Besides, this city is mine. You are just passing through. This is a huge solar system, you speck of dust.
NYC & Company: New York City's Official Tourism Website for ...
NYCtourist.com - Official Guide to New York City Hotels & Tourism
New York City Guide - Recommendations and Reviews by Citysearch
NY.com, The Paperless Guide to New York City
EarthCam - Times Square
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: metmuseum.org
Karl Rove, Hands Off Hillary
I have only one message for Karl Rove: get rid of the term limits thing for the US president and let's go head to head in 2008, or shut up. You are on your way out. He gets touted as Bush' brain. I think he is reflective more of the stupidity index. Like he once famously said, Democrats tend to have Ph.Ds. Not Hillary or me.
Karl Rove will go down in history as the man who cynically played the fear factor to try to win elections. This guy is not worried about your security. But he does seem to realize getting you scared works for him politically.
Karl Rove is the Brigadier General of the Bigots. His specialty is that he can get the fundies organized and riled up enough to go block vote. I have never heard Karl Rove disagree with Hillary on policy. It is because he thinks he has the misogynist card all stacked up. Expose him. When he is talking gender, I want to talk gender, I don't want to talk the weather. When he is talking the politics of personal destruction, I want to talk the politics of personal destruction, I don't want to talk policy. Let's go head to head.
This is not about one person Hillary. This is about the progressive movement. This is about this being 2006. Karl Rove lives in the 19th century. The W campaign ran ads in South Carolina in 2000 that accused McCain of having a black child. It is not possible Rove masterminded everything else but was missing in action on that one. The heck with you, Karl. Shame on you. You play the race card, you play the fear card, you play the gender card. You play the religious right fundies.
Some GOP guy came out a few days back claiming Hillary was "angry." Now Karl thinks Hillary is "brittle." Yes, Hillary is angry, so am I. We are angry at the GOP. We are spirited. The progressives across America are spirited and angry. Karl Rove is plump, he is fuzzy, he is flat faced, flat nosed. He is squishey. Karl, is Hillary still brittle? Because if she is, I am going to have 10 more adjectives down your aisle.
Karl Rove belongs in Texas. How did he ever get out?
In The News
Karl's got Rove-ing eye for me, says irate Hil New York Daily News, NY
Hillary: Rove 'obsessing' about me Newsday, NY
Clinton Says Bush Adviser Obsesses About Her and '08 New York Times, United States
Rove obsessed by me, says Clinton Guardian Unlimited, UK
Hillary will run for White House, says Bush adviser Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom
Clinton will not be pinned down on 2008 plans Independent Online, South Africa
Clinton: Rove obsesses about me USA Today
Sen. Clinton Says Rove Obsesses About Her ABC News
Sen. Clinton says Rove obesses about her Seattle Post Intelligencer
HILL FIRES BACK AT KARL ROVE New York Post, NY
Rove to Clinton: don't flatter yourself 7Online.com, NY
Hillary Clinton Says Rove Obsesses About Her All Headline News
Sen. Clinton Says GOP 'Obsessing' Over Her HomeTown channel.com, AR
Rove and Bush on HRC Human Events
The Empress Strikes Back Human Events
Hillary Clinton says Rove "obsessing" over her KWWL, IA
Clinton: Rove obsesses about me 9NEWS.com, CO
Clinton: Rove obsesses about me WCAX, VT
Karl Rove: 'Brittleness' is Hillary Clinton's Weakness NewsMax.com, FL
Bush, Rove Expect Hillary in 2008 Truthdig, United States
'Brittle' Hillary Clinton snaps back The Age, Australia
Hillary: Rove obsesses about me News24, South Africa
Clinton labels Rove obsessed with her plans Buffalo News, United States
Karl Rove
Karl Rove - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wayne Madsen: Exposing Karl Rove
Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | Who is Karl Rove?
Karl Rove
Karl Rove in a Corner
TIME.com: Person of the Week: Karl Rove -- Page 1
Karl Rove - SourceWatch
What Rove Told Cooper on Plame Case - Newsweek National News ...
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Of Deficits And Republicans
There are fellow Democrats who argue the Republicans are incompetent. If they were better managers, the country would not have the huge deficits. They are missing the point.
The Republicans don't run huge deficits because they don't know any better. They run huge deficits on purpose. It goes with their ideology. In their world, the government is the problem. Their first choice would be if they could get the Dems to come along and together dismantle the federal government. But considering they don't get that, they move on to their next best bet which is to starve the beast. And that is why they run huge deficits.
They would like to keep the Department of Defense and abolish every other. That is who they are. That is what they want.
Either the American people do not know the truth on the Republicans, in which case the Dems are not doing their job, or the American people are okay swiping their children's stolen credit cards, in which case the democracy in the country is working precisely the way it should. Or maybe they stole elections, and the American people got precisely what they did not want. That is why you have the congressional elections on the way to right the wrongs, to get rid of the right to return sanity to fiscal policy.
The record budget deficits go on to prove Karl Rove lacks character. What kind of man would swipe his children's stolen credit cards? Karl, you got it all wrong. It is the US budget that is brittle, it is the American future that is going brittle.
China triggers giant US deficit New Zealand Herald, New Zealand
Fed's Bernanke-would like to see lower US deficit Reuters
US Trade Deficit Hit Record High in 2005 International News Service, Australia
US deficit hits another record – could global warming save the ... Investment & Business News, UK
The Economy | Here's the US deficit, but where's the yelling? Philadelphia Inquirer, PA
Don't worry: The US deficit will fix itself Globe and Mail, Canada
CNN.com - Budget office projects US deficit to hit $477 billion ...
US National Debt Clock
The US Trade Deficit: Are We Trading Away Our Future ...
BBC NEWS | Business | Greenspan warns over US deficit
The Other US Deficit (washingtonpost.com)
US deficit hits a new record
Monday, February 27, 2006
Take It Back: Film
Last night I went to this film event organized by DFNYC: Take It Back (take it back ::: the movement for democracy and howard dean ::: a ...)
Getting there was a minor logistical nightmare. I started out late from home. Then I realized the venue was not neatly off some train stop, and a train change was involved. I figured I will be late. But then it turned out the L train was not running. That added to the delay. So I was running from train to train, then I was running overground from Union Square to the venue.
I got in. First thing I did, I bought the DVD. $50 for Hillary a few days back, $20 for Dean, oh, what the heck. $4 for the train. $3 for the drink. Then $7 for dinner after the movie since there is a great Nepali restaurant not far on the 14th and 1st, and since I was in the area. Then $1.50 for pizza, since after dinner I noticed there was this shop next door that was selling pizza slices for $1.39. Not even Walmart does that. So I went in even though it was right after dinner. As you can see, this movie ended up costing me a small fortune.
I went in. Ordered my drink. And was disappointed that there was hardly anybody. I got fixated on the small screen in the front room. Then the bartender pointed out to me there was an inner room and a bigger screen. I went in. It was a huge crowd, no seats available. Maybe 40 people. Somebody grabbed my hand when my eyes were still trying to get accustomed to the dark. I was startled. It was Lewis Cohen. You find him in all sorts of odd places, in the restroom, in the dark.
I think it was nostalgia that had got the crowd gathered. These were believers. Muhammad came and went, but these people are going to start a religion.
The movie was well done. You mostly saw Iowa. I am so glad I got me a copy. But I drew some different conclusions. Mine was the first and last question during the 15 minute session afterwards.
"The media played the filtered version of the I Have A Scream speech over 700 times. But you had the unfiltered version where Dean is seen trying to get heard over a loud crowd. Why did you not push out that version?"
"Not that he is my hero, but Reagan ran in 1976 and lost early and bad. We all know what happened four years later. Why does everyone in the room think Dean is not running again?"
I am the odd ball out. Noone at DFNYC thinks Dean is running again either. It is because these are Deaniacs. Dean said he is not running, and so Deaniacs believe him.
I don't know. Besides this is a little early. Besides I am a total nobody. Howard Dean does not know me. Hillary Clinton does not know me. Barack Obama does not know me. Not Dean, not Hillary have said if they are running or not in a decisive way. A year is a long time in politics. Two years even longer. We will get a better feel in early 2007. If Dean is running, we will know in early 2007. If he is not, we will know right about then. If Dean announces in the affirmative in January 2007, and Hillary does the same in October 2007, I am on the Dean bandwagon. If Dean is not running, but Hillary is, I am pushing for a Hillary-Obama ticket. But these are heavyweights. They will decide. I am not a factor at all. For now I am just going to prepare. I have a lot of reading to do. I have my finances to get on track, on autopilot. I have a lot of work to do on the Nepal front. I will prepare and maybe my time will come, like Lincoln said.
Some places where I disagree with the Dean crowd.
- Dean did not lose in Iowa. He did not lose in New Hampshire. Clinton skipped Iowa, and he lost in New Hampshire in 1992. Dean lost when he skipped the seven primaries after New Hampshire.
- The media played the I Have A Scream speech over 700 times. That is not a problem. That certainly is no conspiracy. The media moguls did not invent the mic that cuts off the crowd just for this occasion. It was Dean 2004 that failed. When you get hit, you hit back. Why did the campaign not put out 30 second spots that showed the unfiltered version of the same event? The footage was available. This movie has it.
- The primary reason for the Dean meltdown was the system melted. The grassroots heat was too much for the system. When you attempt big changes, you should expect it to be not too easy. First attempt failed, that's all.
- With Dean I am part of the in crowd starting out. With any other campaign, I will start out a nobody. How do you get involved?
- Dean is the only one who has the democracy message.
- Dean will authorize hitting hard the right wingers. Got to go after the fundies.
- I want a $10 billion program to spread democracy the progressive way, the war with communications technology way, a project with a deadline, say 2020. Dean will go for this, I think. This is to be my pet project. For this I give Dean my political instincts that will cover all bases and all seasons.
Barack (verb): breaking the glass ceiling in a casual, surefooted way, such that both sides of the aisle fall in love with you.
Howard Dean for America: Home
Democracy For America
Blog for America
Howard Dean - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The New York Times > Howard Dean
WOAI: San Antonio News - Dean: US Won't Win in Iraq
Wired 12.01: How the Internet Invented Howard Dean
Howard Dean Scream Remixes
Dean Nation
Politics1 - P2004: Profile of Gov. Howard Dean (D-VT)
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator from New York
Biography of Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton For President
HillaryClinton.com - Hillary Rodham Clinton for Senate
Hillary Rodham Clinton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hillary Web
The "Unofficial" Hillary Rodham Clinton
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton: Constituent Email Form
Hillary Clinton: "We're Going to Take Things Away From You on ...
Sen. Hillary Clinton
Obama for Illinois
Barack Obama - US Senator for Illinois
Barack Obama - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
BarackObama.com :: Coming Soon
The New Yorker: Fact
OBAMA, Barack - Biographical Information
BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Profile: Barack Obama
Transcript: Illinois Senate Candidate Barack Obama (washingtonpost ...
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| 16:28 | SUNY Brockport, Brockport, United States |
| 18:26 | Starcomms, Nigeria |
| 18:45 | Infocom Pvt. Ltd., Nepal |
| 22:44 | State University of New Jersey, United States |
| 00:57 | Road Runner, New York, United States |
| 09:29 | Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd, Mumbai Bombay, India |
| 14:10 | NTL Internet, London, United Kingdom |
| 15:37 | U.S. Senate, United States |
Friday, February 24, 2006
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker
You need one leader, one program. A 10 point program. But there is only so much to learn from Newt's 1994 fireworks. Actually, only one. That you need a 10 point program.
This one person has to be projected as the next Speaker, and the obvious choice is Nancy Pelosi. But then the parallels end. There has to be this sense of collective leadership under the banner, otherwise you win like Newt, and then you crash and burn. There is not much tangible in terms of what you accomplish in the aftermath, not much in terms of legacy.
As for the method to the madness, you learn from Dean 2004. You do it the grassroots way.
So the overall strategy obviously has to be a hodgepodge. There have to be several strands to the thread.
And although Pelosi is the masthead, people like Dean, Hillary and Obama, and even Bill Clinton, should really be crisscrossing the country like crazy, and that list can be larger. There can be no overshadow fear. It should feel more like we are all in this together. The base is dying for a victory. Feed it some.
On The Web
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, California, 8th District
Biography :: Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, California, 8th District
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nancy Pelosi on the Issues
The Blog | Rep. Nancy Pelosi: Bush State of the Union - It Was a ...
Pelosi willing to give up SF funds for recovery
Nancy Pelosi: Biography and Much More From Answers.com
In The News
Nancy Pelosi, investment advisor Town Hall, DC
Nancy Pelosi: Addicted to Nonsense ChronWatch, CA
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi Slams Hamas AXcess News, NV
US Delegation Promises Electricity AllAfrica.com, Washington
US Pledges More Support to Ellen Liberian Daily Observer, MD
US CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION MEETS LIBERIA PRESIDENT, PROMISES AID African News Dimension, South Africa
US Government Promises to Help Restore Liberia’s Electricity
Searching for the Democrats - Blue Clues OpEdNews
Anti-wire tap vigil in San Francisco features Lady Liberty Mercury-Register, CA
US Pledges More Support to Ellen AllAfrica.com, Washington
US Corporate Council On Africa Holds Roundtable on Investment and ...
'Political Baggage' from Ports Deal Could Undermine Bush, Say ... Agape Press, MS
House Democrats Offer 'Grassroots Campaign for Victory' Town Hall, DC
1994 Republican Contract With America
Republican Contract with America
Contract with America - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Contract with America: Implementing New Ideas in the US
The Contract With America
Coalition releases Black Contract with America
newt.org - The Official Home Page of Speaker Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Possible Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich - The Dark Side
frontline: the long march of newt gingrich
GINGRICH, Newton Leroy - Biographical Information
The Secret Life of Newt Gingrich
CBS News | Gingrich Criticizes DeLay | April 14, 2005 10:15:05
Right Web | Profile | Newt Gingrich
Dean 2004 Grassroots Democracy
Democracy For America
Blog for America
People Powered Graphics - Democracy for America
I can't believe it's not a democracy!: Dean for President, 2004
Change for Kentucky: April 2004 Archives
Minnesota for Dean
Dean Launches New Grassroots Group in Seattle
Howard Dean on March 18th 2004 | Democracy for Washington
Columbia Spectator - Trippi Says Dean's 2004 Run Just the Beginning
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| 10:35 | United States (nyct.net) |
| 11:31 | United States (prudential.com) |
| 13:05 | Cisco Systems, Inc., United States |
| 18:26 | Verizon Online, Reston, United States |
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Tom Vilsack, Iowaman
Hillary In Person
Leila Noor was going to make up for the fortune it cost me to attend the Hillary event, and that by a free pass to a Vilsack event. My business ideas can come across as so out of the whack, I can come across as a member of the Starving Artists' Association (SAA). You show up at some fancy Manhattan party dressed up like a dot com millionaire, and people actually avoid you, otherwise my instinct is to work the room. Especially if you also have long, uncombed hair, unless combing with fingers counts. But today I had my haircut from the day of the Hillary event. And I dressed up, or as far as possible. Spickspan shining shoes, man in black trousers, shirt and jacket. But inside the buttoned jacket - one button, double breasted - was an untucked shirt. And there was no way I was going to put on a tie. It might as well be against my religion.
But then my "new French friend" Alvaro from the Hillary event emailed today, and so I put him on Leila's mailing list for the expensive fundraisers I can not make it to: he got the money alright.
So I was going through the flyer for the event. And there she was the Somalian cum American Queen Noor sitting on the committee, again: political animal, Obama heritage - a combo I find fascinating like stars to astronomers, Obama trait. I am telling you, these lawyers have more fun politicking than lawyering. I just need a few hundred of these nationwide to take off: Video Blogging For A Living!
So today I was actually dressed up, but this time the blackness hit me, the way bright colored Indian clothes might hit American eyes. (blac) I did fine the first round. I made small talk. Then there was the event. Vilsack talked, I recorded it all on video. And I remember thinking, isn't video blogging less travel? Then he was done, and I was about to leave, and Noor was at the other end of the room, nearer the gate, away from the stage, where I first saw her. She was perhaps jaded from the more private audience organizers like her had with the Governor right before the event.
That was the beginning of part two of the evening. It culminated in me meeting with an actor who actually has made an apperance in the mega movie Any Given Sunday (Any Given Sunday (1999)): DJ Funny. The guy has met Al Pacino, the American Amitabh Bachchan.
"What is he like in person?"
"He bites nails."
DJ used to work a Wall Street job. He quit that to follow his sartorial dreams.
Robert Smith hosted the event. Towards the end he presented Vilsack with all sorts of "black" books and magazines. It might have been an awkward moment. He also announced the organization endorsing several candidates for the same office, and got one wrong, he got it mixed up between Attorney General and Lieutenant Governor.
I am so glad I stayed on. I got more and more comfortable. I was one of the last to leave. I was getting into the groove. Once I warm up, there is no stopping me. I talk like I blog, impulsive, unstoppable.
Vilsack has an impressive record. He has been both DLC Chair and Chair of the Democratic Governors' Association. Bill Clinton was one, Howard Dean another, I think. I overheard him having spent an hour with the Time magazine columnist Joe Klein. I guess you come to pay your respects. Should not journalists be doing field work instead? Some media types come without term limits!
I got to quiz his staffer. She was taking care of the logistics for his tour. Political work is much physical stamina.
During the first half of the evening before the speech, I bumped into one group, two were for not sparing the rod, one was for no touch, in terms of raising children. I joined the second school of thought, and the vote became 2-2.
I arrived way too early. That gave me time to get a slice of pizza in the neighborhood, read a few stories in the New York Post that I had picked up in the train, the most reading of the Post I have ever done. Then two glasses of coke in the outside bar. Then a glass of pineapple juice downstairs before the Vilsack hubbub began.
On The Web
Office of Governor Tom Vilsack and Lt. Governor Sally Pederson
Tom Vilsack - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Office of the Governor
DesMoinesRegister.com
Tom Vilsack on the Issues
The Fix - Chris Cillizza's Politics Blog - (washingtonpost.com)
Vilsack for Veep?
Heartland PAC
Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, Democrat
In The News
Insider Interview: Tom Vilsack's Democratic Optimism Washington Post, United States
Vilsack quietly focuses on '08 presidential campaign DesMoinesRegister.com, IA
Candidates address penitentiary issue Keokuk Gate City Daily, IA
Leader Sees Video Lottery Restrictions As Inevitable KCCI.com, IA
Vilsack: Lawmakers could miss ethanol opportunity Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier, IA
Vilsack to lead trade mission to India Cedar Rapids Gazette, United States
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| 21:06 | University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United States |
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Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Video Blogging For A Living
Google's Blogger was not around during Dean 2004. So the idea that you can have your own blog in text for free is kind of recent. The idea that you can have your own podcast for free is even more recent. Google came up with the video option, as have a few others like YouTube.
I moved to New York City this past summer. Why did I move? I needed a place I could call home, something crowded, and diverse, and noisy and a little on the dirty side. Career was a secondary concern. I thought I might cultivate a few business ideas. Instead I was doing the Nepal work days, nights, evenings, and weekends.
I dipped into the storm during the dot com mania, I have been to all 48 states, I have driven overnight through a hurricane, and I am hard core political. And bills have to be paid.
I believe I have found a business model that could work for me. Google Video has announced it will make pay per view possible. If I could produce a 30 minute clip per day and get watched by 100 people per clip on average, at 50 cents a clip you are looking at $1500 a month, still below poverty line, but enough to pay all my bills. At 1000 viewers, that is $15,000 a month though, and that is rich. At 200 viewers you are looking at 36K per year. At 400 viewers 72K, which is ambitious even by NYC standards. There are various permutations and combinations possible. And it does not have to be one loyal band of 500 viewers. It can be a revolving door. Some of my most watched videos for free are those people must have found using the search engine. (My Four Most Viewed Video Clips)
It can not be my Nepal blog (Activism And Entrepreneurship), it has to be my Americana blog. I need a potentially large audience. You do your own marketing. You post a blog entry, and go looking for blog posts on similar topics, read them, leave links to your article in their comments sections, and you get return hits. A few days back I left less than 10 comments, and I had 50 plus page hits the following day, a record for my blog that had 30 plus max on any other day prior. But then the day after it went up to 80 plus without any additional work. With 500 comments, I could possibly hit the magical 10,000 page hits mark. At that point you are really talking. I could be blogging on a daily basis.
The business model is as yet unproven, but the numbers look really good and achievable. And it is appealing so many other ways. This feels like a dot com. This is entrepreneurship. On the other hand, this is politics in a the future is now way, in a politics at the speed of thought way. Blogging dissolves boundaries. Between politics and business, between academia and politics. Heck, I might even write a novel and publish it the same way.
This business model will allow me to do a whole bunch of reading, something I look forward to greatly. Books, movies, music.
This really helps with my political work. I believe I am going to be much more focused on my blog and my MeetUp. My political career does not go through DFNYC. I am going to be much more selective in terms of the DFNYC events I attend. I can not be moving one meeting at a time. I have to move at speeds possible online. And with the online option, you don't meet the geographical bounds. If it were just offline politics, I would feel guilty at some level. What am I doing for my people? My allegiance lies with the Global South.
If you write a blog entry that gets read by 200 people, that is like addressing a 200 strong crowd. I am all set. I am excited.
I have not had to open up those envelopes yet, but if I need venture capital, it comes in the mail in the form of credit card offers, in case the business idea takes a few months longer to take off than I have thought. Now you are really talking dot com.
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| Busiest day so far | 20 February 2006 | |
| Page views | 81 |
| 09:25 | Smart Telecom Holdings, Ireland |
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| 18:09 | Sify Limited, India |
| 18:32 | Rogers Communications Inc., Canada |
| 18:56 | CTX Mortgage Company, Dallas, United States |
| 21:06 | University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United States |
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Hillary In Person
The artist Hillary brought along for the event played hip hop on violin. I had not imagined that was possible.
There are benefits to being on Leila Noor's mailing list. I got invited to this Hillary fundraiser. Cost $50 but more in the priceless category. After making the payment online, I teased her. After Hillary Obama. The reply email said sure, I will put you down for an Obama fundraiser I might be hosting. I was not expecting that. Then I said, after Obama Amitabh Bachchan.
"Who is Amitabh?"
The most recognized face on the planet.
I video recorded Hillary's entire speech which I will display here after uploading. Her basic thrust was it was time to start winning elections again. She did not say as much, but her point seemed to be that Nancy Peloisi should be the next Speaker.
If more 18-35 crowd voted, we would not be in this sorry shape, she seemed to suggest. That was the crowd she was addressing, people who buy cheap 50 dollar tickets.
"Now I will have to host a fundraiser of my own," I emailed Noor after purchasing the ticket.
If we can send a man to the moon, we can put biofuel in your tank. That was another point she made.
She also talked about health care for everyone, "starting with me and my throat." She was on the verge of losing her voice.
After getting the wild-eyed personal attention along the rope line I said, "Senator, it is such an honor." Then I requested a photo. Her staffer did the clicking. It's a big deal.
I had been growing my hair all winter. Today I had a haircut for the event.
I met a French guy who is originally from Chile and his job is to order clothes from places like India. He has been in the city three years. We talked much Chile and France politics for much of the evening. Hillary signed her autobiography for him. She made a point to ask him his name. She made him say it a few times to get the spelling right; he was to my right. Authors like the idea of being read, I guess.
Meeting Hillary in person is a big deal. After seeing her on television and in countless pictures, and reading so much about her, as well as reading her writings, listening to her speeches online, I still really really wanted to do this event. You meet in person, and it is like breaking the sound barrier. There she is in flesh.
A few evenings back I watched her appearance in San Francisco recently, archived online by C-Span, to prepare for this event.
The anti-war hecklers showed up again, just like at the San Francisco event. Two young women with alike banners, alike slogans both times ("Hillary, stop the war! Stop the war!"). You would think Hillary were Commander In Chief. Hail Chief, stop the war. Is someone coordinating this? The crowd drowned them out with pro-Hillary cheers. Now that part was spontaneous.American Perspectives: Sen. Clinton (D-NY), Fmr. Pres. Bush, Coretta Scott King
On this week's program, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and journalist Jane Pauley sit down and discuss a variety of political issues. Next, George & Barbara Bush, fmr. President & First Lady, talk about a wide range of topics, including memories of their White House years. Then, a tribute to Coretta Scott King, the civil rights activist who passed away Tuesday at the age of 78.
2/4/2006: WASHINGTON, DC: 3 hr. : C-SPAN
Hillary looked a little tired, with wrinkles she did not have in 1992. A politician's job does ask for much physical stamina. Golley, shaking all those hands, smiling at all those people, endless speechmaking. Talking is hard to do.
To my left was a guy from Ohio who had just moved to the city, four weeks. He was relieved to know I had spent some time in Indiana.
"Everything is three times more expensive here," he noted. He was paying $2800 for his apartment.
Leila and Dana were two DFNYC folks I bumped into. Tonight was also the DFNYC Mixer. We missed it. But that's okay. They are screening a Dean 2004 themed movie in a few days. I plan to show up.
The hubbub of the city has many layers to it, some of it is to do with how much people are making. A lot of money is being made and spent. The caching sound is loud and strong.
Come to think of it, this was the same bar where I showed up for the Lampson fundraiser. (Lampson, Mistry, Dance-a-thon, LinkUp) Crobar. 530 West 28th Street.
My new French friend told me he also attended a Bill Clinton fundraiser for Hillary the same venue. And that Bill Clinton was in Delhi, India, for a wedding as we speak. He told me of privately owned roads in Chile, privately owned pension schemes. We talked Bachelet. (Michelle Bachelet: Yet Another Woman)
Noone I know talks of Hillary without not mentioning 2008 in the same breath. Tonight was no exception. This was a loyal crowd. But Hillary is pragmatic, disciplined. She is focused on 2006. There is no way to guess where she herself stands on 2008.
Hillary Clinton is focused and disciplined, concepts that are alien and imaginative to Bill Clinton.
I feel protective of the Clinton couple. They have done so much already. You really miss them when you are out of power, don't you? One person does make a whole lot of difference. Supporting the leader is part of the package deal of activism. Leadership particularly matters to the Democrats because this party tries to represent the powerless. That is a tricky proposition. There is much infighting you end up dealing with.
At the end of the day I was just thankful. Thanks for making the time, Senator.
Bill Clinton Had Icecream For Lunch
Bill Clinton Has Left The Building
In The News
ABC Asks Bill Clinton To Endorse Hillary's Odd View of Cheney's ... NewsBusters
Poll: Condoleezza Rice Up, Hillary Clinton Down NewsMax.com, FL
President's Day Poll: Hillary Clinton Numbers Continue to Dive National Ledger, AZ
The upcoming Hillary Clinton wreck Wizbang, DC
Hillary Clinton to speak at Latino event New Britain Herald, CT
Purple Heart group gets flak over nod to Sen. Clinton Scripps Howard News Service, DC
Why Hillary Clinton is so disliked Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL
Hillary Rodham Clinton Looks Like a 2008 Candidate ABC News
Magical moments with Hillary Clinton Northwest Asian Weekly, WA
Hillary Clinton Sides with Conservatives in Ports Controversy NewsMax.com, FL
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