Barackface

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Assigned To The Astoria Office

Image representing Reshma Saujani as depicted ...

I have been assigned by Reshma 2010 to work out of the Astoria office the final few days that I signed up to volunteer. I will be making phone calls and knocking on doors. And I will do whatever else I am asked to do. One thing would be boost the morale of the staff/interns/volunteers/gawkers in the office, and any passers by on the sidewalk.

I signed up for Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. But I have a feeling I might show up also tomorrow, Friday. The idea would be to show up after lunch and stay as late as possible.

I have emailed some key people on the staff saying we need a ton of cookies and vitamin water in the two offices. Every time I have sat down to make phone calls, it has felt like a sea voyage. I have labored over it. Phone calls don't come naturally to me. I do much better with small group small talk. Did I say I don't own a phone?

I showed up for the office opening party in Astoria. (Reshma 2010: Queens Office Opening Party: August 9) My first reaction that I shared with many people was, I actually like this office better than the Manhattan office. The Astoria office is democracy, the Manhattan office is capitalism. Voters are not elevator fodder. Voters are sidewalk people.

The Astoria office is on the ground floor. It is at street level. The entire office is see through. People on the sidewalk can see the entire office except the inside of the restroom, and that probably is by design.

I really like that proximity to the sidewalk. You can step out and suddenly you are a man of the people. You could be someone gawking in while passing by.

Before I started volunteering for Reshma 2010, it is like I had never been to Astoria proper. The neighborhoods are so great. They are so very inviting. I mean, I had been to the Beer Garden during Obama 08. Alexis, who was a key Obama person in Queens, was out of there. That Beer Garden place is really something. It has got to be the best beer place in the city, and I am not even much of a beer drinker. It is the setting I dig.

The last time I was at the Astoria office was right after the community conversation event in Queens 10 blocks away. I walked the 10 blocks to the office and picked two more Reshma 2010 red, white, and blue shirts, my uniform for this election season. Right before that 10 block walk, I got lost for a few blocks after I stepped outside the Holiday Inn where the event was. It is much easier to not get lost when you follow the train tracks.

Jon Gardiner in tow, I showed up. My first reaction, we need Reshma 2010 posters all over that thing at the top of the entrance. That is so much wasted free advertising space. That would work 24/7.

NY1, NY1, NY1, NY1, NY1
Roosevelt Island: Community Conversation
Community Conversation: Upper East Side
Reshma's Lower East Side Community Conversation

NYConvergence: Custom Shirts, GPS Dating And Hyperlocal News At The NY Tech Meetup: The NY Tech Meetup celebrated Rosh Hashanah last night the traditional way: hosting 800 people for a full course of startup demos. Thrown into the mix were a presentation by Google and an appeal from Democratic Congressional candidate Reshma Saujani (running in New York's 14th district) to get involved, specifically by voting or volunteering for her. She has emphasized technological innovation and tax breaks for investment in her campaign.

Hillary's Peace Efforts In The Mideast

Time: Hillary Clinton's Risky Return To Mideast Peace Talks: last March, when she called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scold him for a perceived slight to Vice President Joe Biden. ..... see her take center stage in this week's meetings relaunching peace talks between Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas...... she also has the ability to talk to these leaders as a significant political figure in her own right and also as a political figure who can appreciate their dilemmas and can help them work through the tough politics on both sides......Netanyahu and Abbas have agreed to meet every two weeks ..... Behind the scenes, Clinton has been preparing for her new role. She ordered a review of all previous U.S. efforts in the peace process, including analyses of what worked and what didn't.... she thinks it's possible

Hillary was a great choice for Secretary Of State. I rooted for her the first chance I got. For someone who almost became president to agree to become Secretary Of State, I appreciated the gesture.

This Mideast permanent mess is one area where she can rely greatly on her husband. Bill Clinton is the last guy who came really, really close to getting it done. If Arafat had settled for a good peace instead of the perfect peace he wanted, it would have been done back in 2000.

The pendulum swung the other way for a decade. Now it is time to get the pendulum swinging our way one more time. It is time to engage, it is time to talk peace.

I don't think there is any debate that a two state solution is where it is at. Even the roadmap is quite obvious. It is the drama of all the intermediate steps that is the challenge.

Could Hillary dance the dance? If she could she will get something Bill Clinton never got, although I can't imagine he did not want to, a Nobel. That guy also wanted Warren Buffett's money.

I am confident she can get it done. For one, she is not starting in the final year of a two term president.

Reshma 2010 GOTV: What Does It Entail?

Image via Wikipedia
I just received an email from Megan Simpson, the Reshma 2010 Field Director. Megan is an Obama 08 veteran, an Iowa native. I have been to Iowa, many, many times. Have you? And I am also an Obama person from 2007.

Momentum is on our side. We received major endorsements from the New York Daily News, the New York Observer, as well as Bangla Patrika and Thikana -- two of the largest Bangladeshi-American newspapers in the entire country.

Since I signed up for GOTV a few days back I have been wondering what GOTV entails. Megan's email tells me it is pretty much the same as canvassing, only more intense, more urgent. You make calls, you knock on doors. I guess now you will be calling people who have already been identified as potential voters. That should be fun.

Weeks and weeks back one day I made 400 calls. But this was a list of everybody. I had it down to an industrial process. I weeded out many wrong numbers.

I guess I get to now show up at the Reshma 2010 headquarters a few days in a row and make a bunch of phone calls. They will give me a phone - they always have - since I don't have one. My phone is my free Google/Gmail/Google Voice phone. I signed up for Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, but I am itching to show up already.

I was exchanging emails with the Pro.Act.Ly dude Jim yesterday. He is flying in from Los Angeles for the GOTV. I am looking forward to meeting him in person. Right now I don't even know what he looks like. Maybe I should google his name up. He reads my blog - this blog - so he knows what I look like. Can't let him with that advantage for when we meet.

The intern who introduces this video below reminds me of when I was doing my final year at high school in Kathmandu. That year I followed Clinton 92 through Time and Newsweek articles. She sure has the political chops.

Bill Clinton In His Element

Source: CNN

Iran: A Brief Survey Through Time Magazine

Time

E.U. Condemns Plans to Stone Iranian Woman Sep 07, 2010
Iran: Crowds Attack Opposition Leader's Home Sep 03, 2010
Mobs Attack Iranian Opposition Leader's Home Sep 03, 2010
Fears May Be Overblown As Iran Reactor Comes Online Aug 21, 2010
Is the U.S. Pursuing the Wrong Mideast Peace Process? Aug 12, 2010
Is the Middle East on the Brink of Another War? Aug 03, 2010
Is Russia's Backing of Iran Sanctions Starting to Fray? Jul 15, 2010
Sleeping with the Enemy: BP's Deals with Iran Jun 16, 2010
Has Ahmadinejad Weathered the Storm? Jun 12, 2010
Iran: Can Sanctions and Diplomacy Be Combined? May 21, 2010
Iran, China and Brazil Intensify the Nuclear Chess Game May 14, 2010
Hizballah Prepares for the Next War May 10, 2010
Nuclear Gamesmanship: Clinton vs. Ahmadinejad May 04, 2010
Roxana Saberi: An American Journalist Imprisoned in Iran Apr 12, 2010
Hu's Visit: Finding a Way Forward on U.S.-China Relations Apr 08, 2010
Obama's Nuclear Strategy: What's Different Apr 07, 2010
Washington's Shrinking Options on Iran Sanctions Mar 24, 2010
Iraq's Messy Democracy Mar 15, 2010
Iran's Arrest of an Extremist Foe: Did Pakistan Help? Feb 25, 2010
Iran's Opposition: Confrontation or Compromise? Feb 01, 2010
On a Holy Day, Protest and Carnage in Tehran Dec 28, 2009
Yemen: Al-Qaeda's New Staging Ground? Dec 28, 2009
Yemen's Hidden War: Is Iran Causing Trouble? Dec 18, 2009
The Next Round of the U.S.-Iran Nuclear Face-Off Nov 20, 2009
Tehran Braces for a New Political Showdown Nov 02, 2009
Iran's Nuclear Response Creates a Quandary Oct 31, 2009
Behind Iran's Response on the Nuclear Deal Oct 29, 2009
The Reasons Behind Iran's Nuclear-Delaying Tactics Oct 26, 2009
Getting to Know Burma's Ruling General Oct 19, 2009
Iran's Quiet Coup Oct 05, 2009
Talking with Iran: Chances for a Breakthrough Are Low Sep 30, 2009
How Badly Would Sanctions on Gas Imports Hurt Iran? Sep 30, 2009
Ahmadinejad Rejects Obama's Nuclear Warning Sep 25, 2009
TIME's Interview with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Sep 25, 2009
Iran Sanctions: Why Pakistan Won't Help Sep 14, 2009
Back to School in Iran: How to Deal with a Bad Summer Sep 07, 2009
Will Iran's 'Kennedys' Challenge Ahmadinejad? Aug 17, 2009
Sanctions Unlikely to Stop Iran's Nuclear Quest Aug 10, 2009
A Weakened Ahmadinejad Sworn in for a Second Term Aug 05, 2009
A Reporter's Diary: Making a Tricky Exit From Iran Aug 03, 2009
Iran's Leaders Battle Over Khomeini's Legacy Jul 28, 2009
Iran's Opposition Down but Not Out Jul 01, 2009
How Quarreling Ayatullahs Affect Iran's Crisis Jun 26, 2009
Can the U.S. Deal with a Divided Iran? Jun 25, 2009
Iran's Embattled Supreme Leader: A Test for Khamenei Jun 25, 2009
Iran's Crisis: The Opposition Weighs Its Options Jun 24, 2009
Forbidden Iran: How to Report When You're Banned Jun 22, 2009
In Iran Crisis, Paris Exile Group Plays Disputed Role Jun 22, 2009
On Scene: Among the Protesters in Tehran Jun 19, 2009
Iran: Four Ways the Crisis May Resolve Jun 18, 2009
Joe Klein: What I Saw at the Revolution Jun 18, 2009
Iran Protests: Twitter, the Medium of the Movement Jun 17, 2009
Even in a Tainted Election, Voting Still Matters Jun 16, 2009
Who's Fighting Who in Iran's Struggle? Jun 16, 2009
Iran Election: Khamenei Calls for National Unity Jun 16, 2009
In Iran, Rival Regime Factions Play a High-Stakes Game of Chicken Jun 16, 2009
Thousands Rally Again in Streets of Iran's Capital Jun 16, 2009
Can the U.S. Contain Iran's Nuclear Ambitions? Jun 15, 2009
Khamenei: The Power Behind the President Jun 15, 2009
Protesters Cry, 'It's Not Possible' Jun 13, 2009
The Man Who Could Beat Ahmadinejad: Mousavi Talks to TIME Jun 12, 2009
Will Iran's 'Marriage Crisis' Bring Down Ahmadinejad? Jun 09, 2009
Iran's Election: Rallies Reveal a Stark Contrast Jun 06, 2009
Iran's Presidential Debate: Will Ahmadinejad's Attacks Backfire? Jun 05, 2009
Muslims Like Obama's Words but Want to See Action Jun 05, 2009
Full Text: President Barack Obama's Speech to the Muslim World Jun 04, 2009
Meeting High Expectations in the Middle East Jun 02, 2009

Victory Now, Victory This Very Time, Victory On September 14

Image via Wikipedia

This country needs its second stimulus bill now, not two years from now. (Reshma Saujani Is The Second Stimulus Bill This Country Needs) The New Woman needs to show up now, not two years from now. (September 14 Will Birth The New Woman) Obama needs help keeping Congress now, not two years from now. (Obama Needs To Ride The Reshma Insurgency Wave To November Victory)

And still the idiots in the media had to ask Reshma Saujani after the radio non debate - I DEMAND A TV DEBATE! - if she will vote for Maloney in November if she loses on September 14. Idiots. Reshma Saujani will be voting for herself in November.

Maloney Lied Repeatedly In Radio Debate
Radio Debate: Reshma Saujani, Carolyn Maloney
New York Observer Endorsement: Reshma 2010 Now Unstoppable
Maloney Reshma Radio Debate Aftermath
New York Daily News Is Da Bomb
New York Times Also Endorsed David Yassky: Yassky Who?

It is time for Maloney and Rangel to go into retirement.

Maloney Dismantled Glass-Steagall And Gave Us Great Recession
Maloney Should Concede To Reshma Saujani
Maloney's Fantassy: That Reshma Had Not Run
We Intend To Swamp Maloney: The East Side Is Going Electric

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Waiting For Superman: Film

(Via Fred Wilson)
Mobile Web: For Real
Netizen Has Arrived: A Link From AVC

Maloney Lied Repeatedly In Radio Debate

Image via Wikipedia

Maloney spoke a string of lies in her radio debate.

She said she does not own BP stocks, she never has. Factually correct. Her family by now has sold all BP stocks it owned. When the Maloney family owned BP stocks, it was in her late husband's name, not hers.

By that logic, Maloney's net worth is zero dollars. She has not made any money. But the truth is her net worth is 20 million dollars. A-l-l of that came from Wall Street. I don't begrudge her wealth. I wish more of the same on as many others as possible.

But to suggest your family owning BP stocks had nothing to do with your voting the Dick Cheney votes on the oil industry in the early 2000s is hogwash. This is Charlie Rangel behavior.

Maloney's 20 million dollars are relevant in that she played a key role in undoing the regulations in 1999 that made her family a lot of money but that gave America its Great Recession a decade later.

Maloney has been accused of having hosted fundraisers with Wall Street PACs right when she was working on Wall Street reform. In the radio debate she said her congressional staff did not organize those fundraisers she attended. Factually correct. But the truth is she has separate staff for fundraising. Her fundraising staff organized those fundraisers that violate the basic ethics rules of Congress. Is that a problem or is that a problem? Did Maloney lie in saying her people did not organize those two fundraisers?

This is Charlie Rangel behavior.

"She lied," Reshma Saujani said. Saujani was pointing out the obvious. But the Maloney trolls are saying for Saujani to point out that Maloney was lying borders towards the "negative."

Looking the other way while wrong is being done, is that positive? That is not positive, that is irresponsible.

Maloney has lied repeatedly.

The biggest lie though was Maloney saying she had authored "70 bills." What she did not say was she got only three of those passed, one was to do with renaming a post office.

Wall Street Journal: Maloney, Saujani In Primary Debate: "Congresswoman Maloney has failed New Yorkers. She has failed to lead, failed to offer a single new idea in this race, failed to serve responsibly and ethically," Ms. Saujani said in her opening statement. "She says that I'm running a negative campaign. Carolyn, all I'm doing is telling the truth." .... Calling for a House ethics investigation into Ms. Maloney's conduct, Ms. Saujani accused Ms. Maloney of holding fund-raisers with lobbyists for the financial-services industry while negotiating legislation to reform Wall Street..... Ms. Saujani accused her of lying: "You said that your staff and you were not involved in those two fund-raisers. I'm holding the invitations right now and they say checks can be mailed to Maloney for Congress. It's this type of lack of ethics and integrity that people are tired of." ..... Ms. Saujani was scheduled Tuesday night to hold a fund-raiser at the home of Alan Jones, managing director of Morgan Stanley.

New York Tech MeetUp

Radio Debate: Reshma Saujani, Carolyn Maloney

If FDR were around today, he would NOT be doing radio chats. He would disapprove of these two East Side politicians doing a radio chat. FDR would be doing YouTube, like Barack Obama is. I don't understand Maloney's love for radio technology. Or maybe I do.

Audio Of The Debate
Another Audio

New York Times: Debate In House Race Stirs Big Passions For A Small Audience: a long-awaited radio debate .... abruptly hit Ms. Maloney with a tough question about her ethics..... when Ms. Saujani chimed in that “Carolyn Maloney just lied,” Mr. Louis left the accusation hanging ..... WWRL-AM (1600), which ranks about 50th among stations in the metropolitan area ....... The primary contest has grown increasingly heated as election day draws near, with each woman calling the other dishonest and desperate. ..... refused several invitations to debate her rival on television ..... Saujani had raised $1.36 million ..... Saujani pounded her again and again, belittling her recent legislative record by calling her a “member of Congress emeritus” and denigrating her intellect by questioning Ms. Maloney’s mastery of Wall Street jargon. ..... “If I were to ask Carolyn Maloney what a basis point is, she probably doesn’t know,” Ms. Saujani said. ..... “People are sick and tired of the corruption and lack of ethics and integrity,” Ms. Saujani said. ...... Ms. Maloney seemed to stumble here, saying, “I was not involved in fund-raising,” though she did not deny having attended the two events or that her campaign team, in which she presumably has some role, had arranged them. ......Saujani kept on the attack until the end, accusing Ms. Maloney of doing too little for Queens and of taking sole credit for achievements that were not hers alone, from the Second Avenue subway line to the establishment of a new bank in Queensbridge. And she tried to deflate Ms. Maloney’s passage of credit card reform legislation last year by noting that a delay in its implementation allowed card issuers to raise interest rates.

New York Observer Endorsement: Reshma 2010 Now Unstoppable

Reshma Saujani

Carolyn Maloney has represented Manhattan's old silk-stocking Congressional district—once the home of John Lindsay and Ed Koch since 1992. It seems fair to say that she hasn't had to break a sweat ever since. Token opponents have been swatted away without much discussion or debate. Every two years, voters in the 14th Congressional District on the Upper East Side and in Queens have marched to the polls and given Ms. Maloney virtually uncontested victories. Not this year.

A 34-year-old hedge-fund lawyer named Reshma Saujani has emerged as a refreshing, energetic alterative to Ms. Maloney. We support her bid to unseat the incumbent as the Democratic Party's nominee in the 14th District. Ms. Saujani is the sort of Democrat who understands that faux populism won't bring back jobs to New York. Ms. Maloney jumped on the bandwagon to "punish" Wall Street after the catastrophes of the last two years, supporting job-killing regulation and interference. Ms. Saujani, who has worked for three hedge funds, has a more sophisticated understanding of the relationship between Wall Street and government. She believes New York and the nation will prosper when politicians stop blaming bankers and financial institutions for the country's economic malaise.

Carolyn Maloney has been a capable if unspectacular member of Congress for nearly 20 years. It's time to bring new energy and fresh ideas to the House. Democrats should choose Reshma Saujani.

The New York Observer
The New York Observer’s Primary Choices
Last Word On Reshma/Maloney General Election
Gillibrand To Raise For Maloney

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Crisis: Opportunity For Greatness For Obama

This crisis is an opportunity to take big steps towards an America that is taking clear strides towards a clean energy future where energy is abundant but clean - yes, that's possible - an America that is a knowledge economy with universal 100 MB broadband, a country of 75% college graduates, a country where health care is woven into the social fabric, an America where wellness has become part of the value system, and people eat right and are not overweight, an America that keeps churning the jobs, companies and industries of tomorrow because America forever continues to be a country of immigrants, a country that gets better and better at managing the newest waves of immigration, a country where there is room also for the unemployed, for perhaps there always will be some unemployed, and where there is dignity for those working the lowest paying jobs, a country where the minimum wage keeps rising because those on the cutting edge keep creating the newest waves of wealth, and some of that wealth gets passed on to everybody, because if it were not for the trust that everybody puts into the country's currency there would be no currency to speak of, and there would be no economy, and if it were not for everybody there would be no consumers, no voters, no citizens, no democracy, no economy, no country to speak of, an America that is finally no longer separated from the rest of humanity by two oceans, and shares a humane border with Mexico, an America of lifelong education, of universal health care, an America of total campaign finance reform, an America that is forever making strides, is forever fulfilling the mission it was born with, that of a universal spread of democracy, a country that is not only at peace with globalization, but one that shapes that globalization to make it just not only to technological capital, and financial capital, but also human capital, a country that takes the lead on shaping the global institutions so essential to a global community of nations, a country that has the humility to admit it is but one among many nations, that when it strives for greatness, to be and to stay the number one country, it does not have the intention to push down any other, but knows that in helping all the rest lift up is what makes it so great.

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Thursday, September 09, 2010

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