Monday, February 26, 2007

Two Obama Events: Manhattan, Brooklyn



I went to the first Manhattan event for Obama that was a citywide thing, organized by New York City For Obama. First it was slated to be at Rudy's near Times Square where I have been going for Drinking Liberally. But soon too many had signed up and something more spacious was found. You could just feel the energy. We ended up in the East Village, I think.

Then I went to the first Brooklyn event for Obama. It was in Park Slope. I had planned on walking, but with my usual disorganization and last minute catchup, I boarded the train. I got reminded of the Brooklyn appeal. The place was just so much more spacious, the street outside quieter. Manhattan tends to be high tempo, crowded. You could just feel the energy.

Manhattan is for work. Brooklyn is for living.

When I landed in NYC, I sought out DFNYC and that was all good except Howard Dean was no longer running for president. I never got around to getting excited about the many local races the organization specializes in. The mayoral election got me excited, but apparently it did not excite DFNYC.

Since then I have been going to several groups.

Drinking Liberally DL21C Manhattan Young Dems

But only now I feel the energy and the sense of purpose. All these Manhattan groups have been disproportionately white. You can put people in the same room, but the boundaries stay. The Obama crowd is more colorful, more to my taste, more reminding of NYC to me.

I am a Brooklynite. I have been going to Manhattan events, because events by the same groups in the outer boroughs tend to be much smaller. I remember going to a Drinking Liberally event in Williamsburg, since I really like that place, it is more leisurely, it has this Mardi Gras, New Orleans ring to it, but I was a little late, and it felt like noone showed up. I did not meet anyone. Back then I had a car. I readily drove back.

It is that same democratic arithmetic that drives me to the Nepali political events in Queens. And the biggest Nepali events are easily larger than the big events of the major Manhattan progressive groups. Go figure.

http://my.barackobama.com

This is a great tool. Gives Obama 2008 a clear edge. This is The Matrix that I had envisioned, only much better. It is really user friendly. It has also been good for my mailing list.

http://groups.google.com/group/dfAmericana

You add one listserv email address, and the larger ones now are hundreds strong. The largest is 2,000 strong.

I have been making some friends. I have also been pitching my business plan on the side to select contacts.

Obama 2008 feels like Race 2.0. Top income bracket professionals who have come to a strong realization that identity never goes away, is not supposed to go away relate to Obama 2008. It is not even about shared experiences in racism. It is just a realization that race continues to be a reality even when racism might not be around. There is healthy acceptance of one's heritage, a more muscular approach to remnants of racism.

For me it is global from day one. Obama is my Third World guy.

In The News

US says wants "incremental steps" to pressure Iran Reuters
Marriage registration now compulsory in Bihar
'The Departed' wins Oscars for best director, film
CTV.ca
Google freebies give way to fees Seattle Times
Obama Speaks To A Crowd Of 3000 In Kentucky
All Headline News

Rice: Obama's Run Shows Black
Black Star News
Barack Obama Has Breakfast With Sold-Out House In Cincinnati
WXIX
Clinton's too-calibrated response
Buffalo News
Beware the Dreaded "Clinton Machine" New Republic
Clinton-Obama spat 'sad,' Edwards tells ABC ABC7Chicago.com
Abortion Advocates Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton Lead Southern Poll
LifeNews.com
Nepal: Maoists return to camps demanding better living conditions
ReliefWeb (press release)
Strikes Resume In Southern And Southeastern Nepal
All Headline News
Byrd to Take Center Stage in Iraq Debate
Washington Post
5 Governors Agree to Work on Climate
Washington Post
Lalu lives upto expectations of Bihar people
Hindustan Times
Agriculture in Bihar set for a paradigm shift
Hindustan Times
Panel: Military Health System Needs Help
Washington Post
India Inc raises toast to railway budget 2007-08
RxPG NEWS
China's Widening Income Gap
MSNBC
Google planning office war
NEWS.com.au
Google in content deal with media companies
CNET News.com
Google Apps aims beyond Microsoft Office techworld.nl
3 French travelers slain in Saudi desert
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Google Partners With Dow Jones for Video-Sharing Program Editor & Publisher
Video + ads = Google's copyright fix? CNET News.com
Will Facebook hold out or sell out?
CNN International
Facebook Among Many 'Web 2.0' Companies Spurning Buyout Offers FOX News
Facebook.com faces dilemma: build or sell Sun-Sentinel.com
Government Support Critical to WiMAX Adoption in China
WM Experts (press release)
Microsoft buys health Web-search firm BusinessWeek
XM cuts its loss to $263m for quarter MSNBC
Dell to Sell Linux PCs PC World
BitTorrent Opens Online Store PC World
Americans Still Lagging Behind Europeans in Mobile Web Playfuls.com







Visitors

26 February14:40United States House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., United States


26 February14:40Princeton University, Princeton, United States
26 February14:43New York University, New York, United States
26 February14:43Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, United States
26 February14:45Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, United States
26 February14:46Chinanet, China
26 February14:57Morgan Stanley Group Inc., United States
26 February15:27Stanford University, United States
26 February16:35Municipality of Metro Seattle, Seattle, United States
26 February17:12Purdue University, West Lafayette, United States
26 February17:18Voice of America, Washington, D.C., United States
26 February18:24The World Bank Group, Washington, D.C., United States

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

A Rare Email From Bill Clinton



















From a guy who has sent out a total of two emails over a lifetime! This makes it three.