Wednesday, May 16, 2007

One National Primary, Monthly National Debates, Videoblogged



Debates Matter: The Election Is On

Bill Clinton has got the hint. He just put out a bio of his wife in video format. He is the narrator of the story himself. Normally candidates do that for their convention. But he has realized that convention time is now. The actual convention will be a mere formality. The country is already tuned in. This might be something to do with the fact that the American people can't imagine how seriously W has bungled up Iraq and the deficit/debt. They want a new president, and they want it now.

February 5, 2008 is when the next President Of The United States will be elected.

I like the monthly debates format. I think handshaking is overrated. They are necessary, and I am so glad it is done, but how many hands can you shake really? It is much fairer to the larger electorate to have monthly debates. If you have monthly debates, you take pressure off those ridiculous TV ads. 30 second TV spots are the bane of civilization.

There is only one kink. Dean needs to go ahead and make sure videobloggers are also allowed into the debates. All debates should also be available in online video. The big networks should not have monopoly on the material. People should have the option to watch the debates as many times as they want. They should have the option to watch it live or later. If we can do just this one thing, we will have it made.

2008 is something brand new. The very architecture of the presidential campaign is being redone. Many of the old rules don't apply no more.

Look at Obama's 16 signatures campaign. To him it is not enough that we are going to take over the White House. We are also going to go after the 16 or 20 Republican Senators who will be seeking reelection at the same time. We are going to expand our majority in the Senate. We are going to work to get a comfortable majority.

Debates Matter: The Election Is On

In The News

A Debate Over Google's Power WebProNews IBM invented new industries, such as software. Microsoft controlled the operating system and extended that power into Office applications, with 90% share in each. Google has, by even the most charitable estimate, 65% of search. ..... Google is a very important company, but it controls less than what Microsoft and IBM did in their hey-days.
10 Mbps WiMAX Deployment in Ontario mediacaster With an extended reach of more than 15 kilometers, speeds of up to 10 Mbps, advanced encryption, quality of service (QoS) controls, VLAN capabilities, and ability to support up to thousands of users on a single base station, RedMAX enables Comcentric and other carriers, mobile operators, ISPs, enterprises other network operators to support heavy data and voice traffic on their networks.
Amitabh Bachchan writes a letter to Deepa Mehta Apun Ka Choice Deepa has been with her widowed mother and avoiding all public appearances since April. .... Mehta says she cannot say ‘no’ to Mr. Bachchan.
Amitabh Bachchan may face the heat from new UP government South Asian Women's Forum It is being reported that his land deal in Barabanki, a district adjoining Lucknow, is being scrutinized by the new government. ...... the new Chief Minister has decided to target the friends of Samajwadi Pary general secretary Amar Singh and Amitabh Bachchan's name tops the 'hate list'. ..... documents of Bachchan's land deal in Barabanki, a district adjoining Lucknow, are being scrutinized by the new government. The matter has been discussed in the first cabinet meeting. .... Mayawati has declared, however, that she will not resort to 'personal vendetta'."
10 Mbps WiMAX Deployment in Ontario mediacaster
Bausch & Lomb agrees to $4.5 billion buyout MarketWatch
GE Recalls 2.5M Dishwashers
MyFox Detroit
Report: New York Sues Dell For Deception CBS News Dell and Dell Financial Services LP have engaged in fraud, false advertising and deceptive business practices ..... attracting customers with misleading financing terms, rebates and other benefits, but ultimately sticking them with high interest on lines of credit ..... Dell avoids giving customers rebates through various tactics and fails to honor warranties and service contracts by misleading customers and making it difficult for them to obtain technical support. ...... combat Hewlett-Packard Co. and other electronics manufacturers who have eaten into Dell's market share with low-cost, low-profit PCs.
Dell to use AMD chips, says profit slumps 18 pct Hindustan Times shares of Intel Corp, AMD's far larger rival and Dell's only chip supplier before the announcement, fell more than 5 per cent ..... Dell said net income declined to $762 million ..... Revenue increased to $14.2 billion .... Round Rock, Texas-based Dell, whose founder Michael Dell changed the computer business by selling PCs directly to customers and bypassing retailers, has stumbled in the past year as competitors including No 2 PC maker Hewlett-Packard Co. offered lower prices thanks to cheaper components and more efficient manufacturing operations. ....... Shares of Dell have plunged more than 40 per cent in the past year as the company three times has missed revenue forecasts. Its stock trades at 16.8 times expected 2006 earnings per share, about the same as Hewlett-Packard, whose stock is up 44 per cent from a year ago
Dell posts another quarter of solid earnings Hindustan Times
Dell’s Indian plant to start working by the end of the year TechWhack
CRN Interview: Dell Chairman & CEO Michael Dell
CRN what you can expect to see is Dell is working with a wide range of partners. ...... there are large range of unique solutions that these partners can provide to customers that would be way outside the range of things we would traditionally do as a company. ...... Dell is the No. 1 computer brand in America. Businesses use more Dell computers than any other brand in America. ....... We have entire countries in our business that are completely indirect and channel-driven ......we're not bound by the past. ..... you'll see Dell showing up in a lot more retail locations ..... Microsoft is one of our key technology partners. ..... When you look at the space that exists between, let's say, a cell phone and a PC, there are all sorts of products that are put out there, proposed, experimented. ...... dramatic growth in next-generation wireless broadband networks. People want to take the Internet with them ...... many of them are adding their value well on top of what Dell has traditionally done. ....... Dell and some other companies have really helped to make the PC inexpensive. That's a good thing. But if you think about all the other costs that go into using computers and managing them, it's still pretty expensive. It's complicated. A lot of organizations are spending 70 percent or more of their IT budget on just maintaining old systems. ......... a shift as we grow the range of technologies we have ...... there's active [information] sharing. We're opening plants in India, Brazil and Poland ...... our businesses outside the U.S. have been growing and developing nicely in the past four or five years " it has doubled in size. So we'll continue to expand everywhere in the world. ....... In the morning when we start, there are roughly 10,000 orders available to be built. But the fact is that we ship 50,000 computers. Where do those 40,000 orders come from? Those are orders we take during the day. They get shipped today. Nobody else in the world does that. Actually, we have a lot of inventory; it just moves very fast. So it's a very different model than you typically see in a manufacturing environment. .......... We have about 350 locations all over the world with spare parts for our products, around all the major cities all over the world to support our product. ...... We started with our Dimension desktops and moved into Insprion notebooks and PowerEdge servers, and now we have OptiPlex desktops
Amazon launches MP3 store Irish Examiner Amazon’s DRM-free MP3s will free customers to play their music on virtually any of their personal devices -- including PCs, Macs, iPods, Zunes, Zens -- and to burn songs to CDs for personal use.
Amazon to sell unprotected music BBC News Many consumers thus argue that DRM effectively limits the rights traditionally enjoyed by listeners to CDs or records.
Microsoft confirms September release of 'Halo 3' Washington Post
RAZR2 – Motorola finally releases the true next-gen RAZR
iTWire the ability to add a 2Gb of MicroSD card ..... the Opera 8.5 web browser for true HTML browsing, 3.5G HSDPA connectivity, the largest in-its-class ‘external’ screen on a phone at 2-inches, an internal screen at 2.2-inches with twice the resolution of the original RAZR, a 2 megapixel camera with a multi-shot feature, the ability to record up to 120 minutes of video, blogging and video blogging features and ‘slimmer, stronger and sleeker’ design. ......... audio improving ‘CrystalTalk’ technology ...... the ultimate mobile experience ...... the RAZR2 has a stainless steel internal frame to provide strength and durability. ..... the “huge exterior lens is made with chemically hardened glass to be more scratch resistant”. ...... letting you search contacts faster, with a customizable main menu ensuring we are never more than 2-3 click away from the applications we want to use ...... The internal ARM processor has been upgraded to a whopping 500Mhz in speed, with Motorola claiming a 10 times speed boost over the original RAZR. ..... improved ‘haptics’ technology, letting you better ‘feel’ what the phone is doing for better phone control, better mobile search capabilities, and on the V9, a ‘see what I see’ feature that lets those on a voice call turn on video streaming, so those with a capable phone can see what the caller is seeing right now. ....... Nokia’s stunning N95 with 5 megapixel camera, better video recording and a better feature set, along with the iPhone, new phone from Sony Ericsson and the Windows world
A Bit of Exercise Improves Fitness For Sedentary Heavy Women MedPage Today
NBC, Always Thinking of Us. But Do We Ever Call?
Washington Post the people who run the television industry are godless people who do not love mothers. ...... 400th episode of "Law & Order" next season: "We are now one year closer to my ultimate dream -- to become the longest running drama in the history of television, beating 'Gunsmoke.' " ...... " 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' is perfect for USA -- smart, character-driven programming that's already a proven hit with our viewers" ....... broadcast Siberia -- Fridays at 10 ..... Every year at this time, an eczema of television suits and Hollywood starlets erupts in Manhattan. ...... hoping to find the next "Heroes," the network went very high-concept, heavy on the space-time continuum ....... about a group of highly successful professional women in New York City.

Train driver in Bihar asks passengers to push Livemint
India's high court suspends arrest warrant against Gere International Reporter
Obama proposes college loan plan
The Post Online eliminate private student lenders from the loan process. ....... his plan would have saved taxpayers nationwide roughly $6 billion this year alone. ...... Student loans — part of an $85 billion industry, according to the Associated Press — come either directly from the federal government or through private loan companies. News reports nationwide have revealed numerous unethical and potentially illegal arrangements between private lenders and universities. ......... At least 200,000 students were qualified to go to college but didn’t because of financial limitations ....... tuition increases over the past five years of 11 percent at private universities and 35 percent at public institutions ...... college loans, climate change, federal debt and globalization.
Nepal PM fails to revive paralysed parliament India eNews.com Nepal's parliament was Wednesday adjourned till May 24 as dissenting MPs continued to disrupt its proceedings, disobeying party orders. ..... The house has remained paralysed for over a month now, first with the Maoist MPs preventing proceedings and then Terai MPs cutting across party lines adding their voices. ...... They want the government to scrap a commission formed to delineate new constituencies for the future elections and a high-level investigation into the violence dogging the plains since earlier this year, in which nearly 70 people have died.
India’s Supreme Court Suspends Shilpa Case Entertainmentwise
Richard Gere, Shilpa Shetty & India's Supreme Court Washington Post the butt of many comedians' jokes ..... a local court ordered the arrest of Gere and Shetty, finding them in violation "public obscenity" laws ...... the 57-year-old actor, who quickly fled the country, has said the controversy was "manufactured by a small hard-line political party" ...... a country that not only wrote the definitive book on sex, but is also pushing hard to shed its antiquated history as a backward third world nation
India Drops Legal Action Against Affectionate Gere NBC5.com

Royal statues razed nationwide in Nepal People's Daily Online
Mayawati will fail in Bihar: Left
Times of India
Bush, Kennedy join forces over immigration law
USA Today stronger border security and more stringent enforcement of laws against hiring illegal workers; a larger "guest worker" program; and a program to legalize workers now living here illegally. ..... Both were mediocre students at Ivy League universities .... Bush gave up alcohol at 40; Kennedy was involved in an automobile accident at 37 that resulted in the drowning of a female passenger. ..... "They're both sensitive people. They both bruise easily and heal quick."
Bipartisan deal on immigration is near WBAY
Senate Immigration Agreement Closer as Negotiations Continue Bloomberg

Students are the backbone of Barack Obama's campaign Seattle Post Intelligencer The ferment may be unparalleled since 1968, when young voters rallied behind Sen. Eugene McCarthy and his anti-Vietnam War platform .... Obama, 45, leads Clinton by 17 percentage points among students, an edge that evaporates among young people who aren't in college ...... on April 22, Obama held a conference call with the heads of campus chapters. ..... student support wasn't enough to elect candidates such as McCarthy in 1968 and Dean in 2004 .... The most important may be technology, particularly the growth of social-networking sites MySpace and Facebook. ..... 75 percent of college students have a Facebook account, and most of them check it daily ..... students make up one of their largest donor groups. ..... The new technology "is what's putting it over the top."
Clinton Tops Obama in Harris Poll Wall Street Journal Mr. Obama leads Mrs. Clinton among independent voters
Clinton's YouTube boost for Hillary Telegraph.co.uk Mr Clinton is due to expand his public role in the autumn to back his wife's bid

Terror Attack Scenario Exposes Deep Differences Among GOP Hopefuls New York Times water-boarding, where a prisoner is strapped down, head beneath his feet, as water is poured repeatedly on a cloth covering the mouth until the person thinks he is about to drown. ..... “My fear is that McCain-Kennedy would do to immigration what McCain-Feingold has done to campaign finance and money in politics, and that’s bad,” Mr. Romney said. ...... “We’ve had a Congress that has spent money like Edwards at a beauty shop,” Mr. Huckabee said to roars of laughter at the allusion to Mr. Edwards’s paying $400 for a haircut. ....... “Mayor Giuliani, I’m going to give you another 30 seconds to actually answer my question,” Mr. Wallace said to laughter and applause.
A feisty Republican debate in South Carolina Los Angeles Times Romney, McCain and Giuliani all endorsed the deployment of additional troops and ruled out the setting of any timetable for withdrawal. McCain reiterated his statement from the first debate that failure in Iraq would mean terrorists would "follow us home" and strike on U.S. soil, a prospect echoed by Giuliani. ..... we are facing an enemy that is planning all over this world and, it turns out, planning inside our country ..... the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics

DJ UPDATE: Motorola Unveils New Phones To Rival Apple's iPhone Onet.pl The phone has up to 2GB of memory and can store about 1,000 songs, the company said. Users will also be able to browse the Web and access email on the phone.
Review: Toshiba adds camera, n and Labelflash Orange County Register
Research: Microsoft Windows Vista Worth $120 Billion To Economy
InformationWeek
Microsoft unveils new VoIP devices
eChannelLine voice is moving from hardware to software. Like the transformation from the mainframe to the PC, software is changing enterprise VoIP and Microsoft is keen to lead the charge. ..... Workers waste 30 minutes per week in phone tag and for 50 per cent of calls workers make they have to look up the number ...... E-mail also has its shortcomings, with information overload and misinterpreted emotion. .... Scheduling, varying online identities, and differing communications technologies. ...... connect the workplace phone to e-mail, instant messaging, real-time presence information, conferencing, VoIP, and mobile communications. ...... all forms of incoming communication -- whether an e-mail, voice message, or instant message -- are posted in his/her Outlook inbox ..... "There remains a heavy reliance on e-mail . . ..... The 15 phones and devices include Internet protocol (IP) phones, Universal Serial Bus (USB) phones, wired and wireless headsets, conferencing phones, LCD monitors and laptops.
Oracle Buys Agile Software for $495M Houston Chronicle Oracle will have spent more than $25 billion snapping up smaller software makers since 2004 in an audacious challenge to Germany's SAP AG, the leading provider of business applications used to automate a wide range of administrative tasks. ....... Oracle muscled into SAP's turf with a just-completed $3.3 billion purchase of Hyperion Solutions Corp., whose products are also widely used by SAP customers. ...... The recent expansion into applications software helped Oracle boost its profit in by 28 percent ..... SAP considered bidding for Agile before deciding it would be better off trying to build a competing product on its own.
Ex-Oracle VP Puts Insider Trading Charges Behind Him for $198K E-Commerce Times
Wal-Mart expands Skype calling options
Blogging Stocks
MySpace weeding out sex predators
Melbourne Herald Sun an investigative company it hired in December of 2006 has ferreted out thousands of convicted sex offenders with profile web pages. ....... The "nation's first proprietary software dedicated to identifying and removing sexual predators from online communities" was created by MySpace and Sentinel and recently installed on the website ...... more than 175 million profiles ..... US law already requires people convicted of sex crimes to register their addresses with local police after they are released from custody.
Miami drivers named the rudest Reuters
Boston is listed third in road-rage survey Boston Globe
Victory gets wireless broadband mesh
Pegasus News
Perot Systems Targets First Municipal Wireless Broadband Mesh ... Broadband Wireless Exchange (press release)

Profiles: The Conciliator: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker He tends to underplay his knowledge, acting less informed than he is. He rarely accuses, preferring to talk about problems in the passive voice, as things that are amiss with us rather than as wrongs that have been perpetrated by them. And the solutions he offers generally sound small and local rather than deep-reaching and systemic. .......... Twenty per cent of our patients who have chronic illnesses account for eighty per cent of the costs, so it’s absolutely critical that we invest in managing those with chronic illnesses like diabetes. ...... In these forums, he is tranquil and relaxed, as though on a power-conserve setting. He paces slowly, he revolves, he tilts his head. He comments in a neutral, detached way. He doesn’t express sympathy for sickness, or scorn for bureaucracy, or outrage at unfairness. He says that the system is broken and needs to be fixed, but conveys no particular urgency. ......... Obama has so far stuck to what appears to be an instinct that white papers belong on Web sites, not in speeches. ....... it’s not just strategy—it’s who he is ....... the mainstream is not ready for a fire-breathing black man ..... the election of a President Obama wouldn’t mean a revolution in race relations, any more than women prime ministers were a sign of flourishing feminism in South Asia ....... how extremely comfortable he is with himself. ...... There is something freakish about Obama’s self-possession—it’s conspicuous, it draws attention to itself, like the unnatural stillness of someone able to lower his blood pressure at will. ........ he may do to the tie what John Kennedy did to the hat ........ Bush can be goofy, Gore can be goofy; Obama is not goofy ....... the young Obama is confused and angry, struggling to figure out who he is, often high, wary of both white condescension and black rage, never trusting himself ........ That angry character lasts from the time I was fifteen to the time I was twenty-one or so. I guess my explanation is I was an adolescent male with a lot of hormones and an admittedly complicated upbringing. ........ When Obama was in law school, just before he wrote “Dreams,” he talked about wanting to be mayor of Chicago ....... ‘If you cannot bear the cross, you can’t wear the crown.’ ...... the third black U.S. senator since Reconstruction ...... the airless parochialism of the small-town Midwest ....... Obama’s other grandfather ..... He took to wearing European clothing and adopted European notions about hygiene and property with a convert’s fervor. ....... Obama’s father was expelled from school, and his father cut him off, but he managed to obtain a scholarship to attend college in America. ....... “In a land where fatalism remained a necessary tool for enduring hardship,” Obama writes, “she was a lonely witness for secular humanism, a soldier for New Deal, Peace Corps, position-paper liberalism.” ........ a second divorce and two bewildered children. ....... “if everyone is family, no one is family.” ....... the constriction of tradition, the weight of history, the provincial smallness of community, settling for your whole life in one place with one group of people ...... “I made a chain between my life and the faces I saw, borrowing other people’s memories” ....... He married Michelle Robinson, a woman who already owned the memories and the roots, who was by birth the person he was trying to become: the child of an intact, religious black family from the South Side. .......... “without an unequivocal commitment to a particular community of faith, I would be consigned at some level to always remain apart, free in the way that my mother was free, but also alone in the same ways that she was ultimately alone.” ........ he arrived at law school, when he was twenty-seven ...... When it seems that history has been defeated, that is only an illusion produced by charisma and rhetoric. ....... the weight of other cultures ....... He distrusts abstractions, generalizations, extrapolations, projections. ...... “I’m probably more humble now about the speed with which government programs can solve every problem. ....... Some of Bush’s top fund-raisers are contributing to Obama’s campaign. ....... Republicans for Obama .. chapters in six states ........ referring to his mother’s second husband as an “Indonesian oil manager” .... mentioning the year after college that Obama spent working at Business International Corporation ........ coming from Obama, the talk about unity isn’t boilerplate—he actually means it, and it’s substantive, which is to say that it has consequences that make people angry. ......... he gives too much respect or yields too much ground to the other side, rather than fighting aggressively for his principles ...... He tends to think of his opponents as deluded and ridiculous, rather than as demons. ...... the more time I spend meeting people in government or in the corporate arena, the more human everybody becomes ...... Even when he was very young, Obama was scornful of, as he puts it, “people who preferred the dream to the reality, impotence to compromise.” ....... ‘The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right.’ ...... Lincoln is famous for believing that there are some principles that you can’t compromise in terms of speaking, but, in terms of what you do, there are pragmatic reasons and sometimes reasons of principle not to act on them. ....... A universal feeling, whether well or ill-founded, can not be safely disregarded. ...... compromise, for him, is not an eroding of principle for the sake of getting something done but a principle in itself—the certainty of uncertainty, the fundament of union ........ how he believes that it is crucial to avoid a Vietnam-syndrome-style retreat into isolation. ........ I would take some of the troops that we redeploy out of Iraq and use them to bolster NATO forces in Afghanistan. I think we still have the opportunity to succeed there. ........ he is not a dove, nor is he averse to thinking in international terms. ...... avian flu and nuclear nonproliferation ..... success is invisible, and failure could mean disaster of world-changing proportions ....... A white father from Winnetka had brought his two sons, the elder of whom, about nine years old, begged to wait as long as it took to spot Obama for even a second. ....... Small town after small town, street after street of one- and two-story houses with lawns, then the commercial strip, the same everywhere, McDonald’s, Burger King, Holiday Inn, Super 8, Wal-Mart, Kmart, Super Target, and then the smaller regional stores with names that rhyme—Rib Crib, Hobby Lobby, Taco Tico, Prime N’ Wine. ........ “Bill Clinton was far more into the tactics of politics” ....... “He was a voracious consumer of polls. Of course, he was so indefatigable that he could do that and still read four books a week and be President of the United States. ....... “Bill Clinton has preternatural ability as a listener,” Robert Putnam says. “Everybody always walks away from him thinking, For the first time in my life someone has actually listened to me ......... He seems to like people but not to need them. ....... his speechwriter, Jon Favreau, who in 2004 wrote speeches for John Kerry ....... “One weekend I was with him they were making a big deal about his school in Indonesia being a madrassa,” Valerie Jarrett says. “I said, ‘How could they have even run with this story? It’s so completely inaccurate!’ He said, ‘You know, we’ve contacted the school and the principal’s gonna explain what kind of a school it is and we’re gonna refute it all. You need to just calm down. This is gonna be fun! Valerie, you’re not a guy but let me explain it to you in sport terms. It’s like we’re in a basketball game, and I’m gonna fumble the ball, and someone’s gonna steal the ball, and I’m gonna miss a free throw, but we’re gonna win the game. You can’t get yourself worked up over every little thing that somebody says about me or you’re gonna go crazy.’ ” ................ “It’s difficult to describe to someone who hasn’t been involved how tough a Presidential campaign is. ...... I’ve seen candidates who, like a deer frozen in headlights, can’t find their way forward and have to be led around by staff. I’ve also seen candidates who, faced with adversity, turn into the stubbornest of mules and can’t adapt or adjust. Most candidates walk into the room asking everybody ‘How’m I doing? How’m I doing?,’ with no ability to look at themselves in the mirror. So the ability that Barack shows in the book to be brutally self-reflective—this is deep stuff.” .......... his talk of unity, his avoidance of blame, and his promise to end the war ...... After Harold Washington died suddenly, in his second term, his achievement, such as it was, fell to pieces almost at once. “There was no political organization in place, no clearly defined principles to follow,” Obama writes. “The entire of black politics had centered around one man who radiated like a sun.” .... charisma is misleading, that revolutions are illusory, that real change is slow ....... If he thought his winning would take a revolution, he wouldn’t have run.

Reassessing Barack Obama Bay Area Indymedia Obama’s basic sense is that one must take people and institutions where they are, and not impose too radical a change too suddenly. ..... comes off as very thoughtful around public policy, respectful of dissent ..... unlike Bill Clinton, Obama has strong progressive instincts and as President would impose progressive policies if he could ....... He does not appear to be temperamentally suited to standing firm against the rabid opponents of progressive change. ..... The New Yorker article traced Obama’s desire for collaborative over confrontation to his father’s eventual isolation through pursuing the latter approach. ....... Americans deserve a new deal, not reforms around the edges ...... in 1993-4. We were told that any “solution” that rattled the health insurance industry would not fly ...... Obama’s numbers are stagnant or declining in many polls while Clinton’s are stable or even increasing ...... thank goodness California Democrats will finally have a voice in picking the Party’s nominee, which will help move all of the leading candidates to adopt more anti-war, pro-environment, and pro-labor stands.
Obama Visit Overshadowed by Clinton Campaigns & Elections (press release) "Enough with the talk, enough with the speeches," she said. "Let's have an Apollo project that says once and for all that we're going to end our dependence on foreign oil." ..... The New York television stations couldn't stop replaying that one. They also made repeated mentions of the many African-American legislators who were in Albany endorsing Clinton. ..... Bill Clinton, grabbed some of the precious newscast minutes to inform viewers that they could now text message his wife's campaign via YouTube. ..... the relatively sedate Q&A session just couldn't match the Clintons in Albany in terms of television pizzazz, and that was reflected in the roughly two-to-one amount of screen minutes given to front-running Clinton.
Nasdaq plans China office to woo more IPOs San Diego Union Tribune “China is our most promising market at least in the near term” ..... In the first quarter of this year alone, seven Chinese companies have gone public on Nasdaq ..... China, the world's fastest-growing major economy. ..... Nasdaq, where about 3,200 companies are listed ...... India would become Nasdaq's second-biggest source of listings in Asia this year. ....... Five Chinese firms listed on Nasdaq last year, raising a combined $534 million, according to market data firm Dealogic, down from seven companies raising $803 million in 2005. ..... China itself is seeking to keep its start-ups at home. .... China was likely to launch a Nasdaq-style second board by 2008.
Comcentric Deploying WiMAX Networks in Canada Broadband Wireless Exchange (press release)
Dell's Brazilian manufacturing plant open San Antonio Business Journal in Hortolandia, Brazil. ..... to cut costs on transport. ..... "In Hortolandia, we are close to 70 percent of our customer base and to the largest cargo airport in Brazil [Viracopos]," says Raymundo Peixoto, country manager of Dell Brazil. "This will reduce shipping times and costs." ..... a pilot plant for other Dell factories around the world.
Gates calls Vista sales "amazing" Seattle Times has sold nearly 40 million copies since its release Jan. 30. ..... twice as fast as the adoption of Windows XP ...... "In our first five weeks, we've matched the entire installed base of any other provider of similar software," Gates said.

Open-source software violates 235 patents: Microsoft Daily News & Analysis Microsoft Corp. made its broadest challenge to date against open-source software, including Windows rival Linux, claiming that such programs violate 235 Microsoft patents and saying it will seek licence fees....... The packages, which are often available for free, have gained in popularity over the past decade, taking market share away from Microsoft........ called on Microsoft to disclose the patent numbers of the 235 patents it believes are being infringed upon so that the free software community can evaluate its claims.
Obama promises universal health care BusinessWeek bringing 600 union workers to their feet ...... saving $75 billion per year through having more people use regular doctor checkups instead of more expensive emergency room visits, improving treatment of chronic illnesses and relying more on technology to reduce paperwork. ....... medical records can be put onto a digital chip that can be carried around on a key chain ........ "If the credit card company can do it, I don't know why the medical system can't do it" ...... received the backing of two prominent New Jersey mayors: Newark's Cory Booker and Jersey City's Jerramiah Healy. ..... "Barack Obama is expanding a vision for America that's inclusive, that's exciting, that's innovative, that's competitive," Booker said.
Senator Obama Leads In South Carolina AHN
Reassessing Barack Obama - May 15 Beyond Chron his ability to frame progressive positions in non-divisive terms ..... compared to a left-wing Ronald Reagan in his ability to communicate strongly partisan values in nonpartisan rhetoric.

Google: 1 in 10 Web pages carry malicious code Monsters and Critics.com “drive-by downloads” designed to automatically implement unwanted additions into a visitor’s system, installing malicious code – including the likes of spyware – while the unfortunate user remained blissfully ignorant to the stealth attack. The study also noted another 700,000 pages were found to contain possibly perilous “bot” codes, which hijack the user’s entire system and turn into a remotely-controlled PC governed by an unknown and unseen third party. ....... efforts to “identify all web pages on the internet that could be malicious” ....... “The user is presented with links that promise access to 'interesting' pages with explicit pornographic content, copyrighted software or media. A common example [of this attack method] are sites that display thumbnails to adult videos.”
Michael Dell’s notebook PC Manila Standard Today the chairman and chief executive officer of the world’s second largest computer manufacturer ..... taking Linux seriously as a viable alternative to Windows ..... a survey last March where 70 percent of 100,000 respondents said they would use such computers at home or in the office. ..... Dell’s announcement will also encourage hardware manufacturers to provide Linux drivers for the devices they sell, thereby removing one of the major obstacles—compatibility—to a wider adoption of the open source operating system. ...... The best argument for going to Linux on the desktop is its stability and its resilience to viruses and spyware that are the bane of Windows computing.
Walking in countryside beats depression Xinhua taking long walks in countryside could help alleviate symptoms of depression. ..... instead of relying solely on drugs people should also receive ecotherapy. ..... After a walk in the country, some 90 percent said they felt a rise in their self-esteem, while 71 percent said they felt less tense and depressed. ...... patients are prescribed agricultural work, to be introduced as a treatment for mental distress.

Barack Obama plays down racial threats Guardian Unlimited
Clinton and Obama Visits Suggest New Clout for Two States
New York Times One black legislator who did not attend the endorsement was State Senator Bill Perkins of Manhattan, an Obama supporter. ..... “I thought it was important to support the person I thought was best for the country, not simply the person from my state,” Mr. Perkins said.
Spitzer endorses Clinton for president Press & Sun-Bulletin a pep rally long on choreography but short on suspense. .... if Spitzer backed anyone but Clinton for president, it would have sent shock waves through the political world. ..... State Republican Chairman Joseph Mondello blasted Clinton and Spitzer for holding the rally on the Capitol steps on a legislative session day. He said the Democrats "wasted the people's time promoting their personal political ambitions."

In New Role, Senator Clinton’s Strategist in Chief New York Times
Pentagon Blocks MySpace and YouTube New York Times

Obama's Sister Debuts As Campaigner Chicago Tribune Soetoro-Ng said she and Obama share the same taste in music, literature and philosophy. ..... Soetoro-Ng, who now teaches history at the private LaPietra Hawaii School for Girls and teaches night classes at the University of Hawaii. ...... "He's always wrestled with difficult questions," Soetoro-Ng said. "Part of his gift is he will grapple with these childhood questions until he finds answers that will work for him. It's important that he's not afraid of these more difficult questions."
Obama Draws 3000 in Missouri TIME
Chelsea Clinton, now grown, remains in political background
Ocala.com Chelsea Clinton now is a 27-year-old single woman working in the financial sector in New York City. ..... those who know her describe an exceptionally bright and grounded young woman who will decide for herself ...... "But Chelsea is such a poised young lady in her own right, if anyone has the maturity to deal with the situation, it's her." ...... the Clintons are mindful of their daughter's privacy and have been determined to protect her from the campaign fishbowl. ....... She recently joined her parents onstage at a campaign fundraiser in Manhattan, but did not address the audience. ...... For now Chelsea is busy with her work at Avenue Capital, a $12 billion New York-based hedge fund run by Marc Lasry, a longtime Clinton donor. ...... Chelsea often is spotted around New York with her boyfriend, Marc Mezvinsky, an investment banker and the son of former Democratic Reps. Ed Mezvinsky of Iowa and Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky of Pennsylvania. ..... Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky have known each other since they were teenagers in Washington.
Bill Clinton -- strategist off camera San Francisco Chronicle Bill Clinton's connections, and his endless supply of chits ...... He is the master strategist behind the scenes; the consigliere to the head of "The Family" ....... So far, his roles have unfolded in private as he provides ideas to his wife and makes sure she paces herself, and as he acts as something of a field general with donors, instructing them on how to talk up Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Eventually, though, he will go public in a big way: Clinton advisers can already imagine a point in 2008 when Bill Clinton has his own campaign plane, press corps and schedule of events in crucial states while Hillary Clinton is barnstorming in others. ....... At a recent gathering at Morgan Stanley, organized by Roger Altman ....... Democrats listen to him with intensity ...... Early on, the Clintons concluded that the former president would not participate in staff conference calls, nor would he call Hillary Clinton's aides directly ....... The idea has been to keep the lines of authority clear, and also to avoid the messiness and leaks that marked his White House. ....... his foibles and blind spots. ...... He can be undisciplined, and his love for the cut and thrust of politics could unleash that side, especially if he believes her campaign is in trouble. ...... "He can definitely help her, but that also means he can hurt her." ...... Bill Clinton is simply too busy with his charitable work to be a full-time candidate spouse at his wife's side. ....... "warm up to her" is the phrase that several friends attributed to Bill Clinton. ...... The Clintons mostly talk about strategy, not campaign management ...... He receives polling data from Penn ...... When need be, she also knows how to cut him off. In preparation for a Senate debate, she more or less ordered him out of the room when he began coaching too much ...... During a policy discussion awhile back about New York issues, when Bill Clinton began to pontificate, she told him that he did not exactly know what he was talking about and to hush up. ..... he wants this for her, so badly. He feels he owes it to her on so many levels, for bringing her to Arkansas in the early '70s and upending her career and everything since
Obama's debate blunder shows lack of experience, gives Clinton boost Chicago Sun-Times Obama's mediocre performance in the opening debate April 26. ...... When asked by moderator Brian Williams what he would do as president if he learned that ''two American cities have been hit simultaneously by terrorists,'' Obama replied -- citing Hurricane Katrina -- that ''the first thing we'd have to do so is make sure that we've got an effective emergency response.'' In contrast, Clinton responded that she would ''retaliate.'' ........ his managers are relying on his personality and biography rather than taking vigorous positions ...... Schwarzenegger has been governing as a Democrat since his re-election on a liberal platform last year. ...... With Schwarzenegger's term as governor ending at the end of 2009, there has been speculation that he might run that year for mayor of Los Angeles. He spends much of his time in L.A. rather than the state capital of Sacramento.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Debates Matter: The Election Is On


Whoever is the Democratic nominee is the next President Of The United States. That is a foregone conclusion. There will be a Republican stand-in for the general election in 2008 because the law asks for it, otherwise it is pretty much a shoo-in for us. It might even feel neck and neck when we are finally up to it, but we are going to win the general. That part is guaranteed. W has created too much of a stink in Iraq, and he has messed up the national budget too much. To the Chinese, every single American owes one, literally. Too much money has been borrowed.

And the Democratic nominee will have been decided by February 5. On February 6 he should decide on his running mate and keep up the momentum. Don't lose a beat. Go right in.

And for the first time, thanks to Howard Dean, we are going to have a true primary season where much of the country matters, it is not just hinterland places like Iowa. I lost some major respect for Iowa in 2004. Yes, I was there when it happened. I was in the state. It was such a f____g anticlimax.

So go figure. You thought we were early. We are not early. The election is already on. From now until February 5, 2008 is the general election for all practical purposes. And the monthly debates are crucial. You got to start speaking directly to the national audience right away.

The election is now, and the election is national, so get on it.

Barack is going to have to start to win the debates. He has lost two in a row. He lost the health care one in Nevada. He lost the one in South Carolina. He had the best first quarter of any candidate. Otherwise Hillary has won the two debates. And she has given herself a boost in the polls. Barack, you have disappointed. Stop saying you have had only a few weeks. You have had a lifetime. Now get on it.

Bad MySpace Move By Barack Obama

And give a phone call to that MySpace guy. Send out some positive vibes. It costs only a few cents.

Health Care

What you say is the problem is not that we don't have a great plan. We have had many many great plans. The problem is that we have failed to sell any of those plans to the electorate. The problem has not been lack of policy prescriptions, the problem has been a lack of political selling.

Who did I get this nudge from? I got it from Barack. He is the one who made this observation. But he made it before the Nevada debate. He did not make it during the Nevada debate. During the Nevada debate, he instead made an excuse. He said he had had "only a few weeks" since his launch. Stop making excuses. The camera lights are on. This is prime time already. The election is on.

You offer a basic plan. The plan basically is that you will inject market forces into the health care industry so as to bring the costs down across the board. And that you are for universal health care. And that you will have delivered by the end of your first term. And then you say you expect the specifics of your plan to evolve. But the most important part of your plan is that you are going to involve the American people in the nitty gritty of the health care debate right away.

That political selling part, and that you just need one term is where you distinguish yourself from Hillary. Hillary is stuck with Iraq, and she is stuck with delivering health care over two terms in the White House. The idea of two terms is insensitive. That is too long a wait.

Health Care As A Spectrum

Another 9/11 Style Attack

That is a very real possibility. It could be something horrendous as a dirty bomb in some major American city. It could be an attack in some subway somewhere, DC, New York. It could be some airliner blown over the Atlantic. Likely it will be continued attacks in the other so-called "infidel" countries. Spain, England. Others could follow. Or it could be England again.

You say if there is another 9/11 style attack, the retaliation will be swift and hard. You are running for Commander In Chief. During times of insecurity, the most important role of the president is that of Commander In Chief. Can you provide security?

But here too you have an edge over Hillary. You say you want to finish the unfinished business in Afghanistan, that you already know who will be behind another 9/11 attack if there is one. That you want to get Osama. And there all options are open. That way you are strong on defense issues without having to stop towing your line that Iraq is a "dumb" war. You portray Iraq as the war that cost us the war in Afghanistan. Osama got away.

Iraq will cost Hillary the presidency, though not the White House. She is most suited to be your running mate. She is Lyndon Johnson to your JFK.

Barack Lost The South Carolina Debate

Long Walk To Freedom
Long Walk To Freedom: Just A Third World Guy Dazzled By The City

Muscular Gender Agenda
HillCast

Obama Gameplan: Stable, Democratic Iraq





Facebook And Drinking Liberally



Group:
Drinking Liberally - Rudy's on 9th Ave
Network:
New York, NY
Size:
29 members
I just might have found the best of both worlds, a screentime factime combo. I had not gone to Drinking Liberally in months, and then I went yesterday and the Thursday before. I think I was missing it. But then Drinking Liberally is quite a song and dance. Being "friends with Justin" is a status symbol. Girls ask you if you are "friends with Justin!" The correct answer is Yes.

Last Thursday on my way back I was on the F train. And Ann hopped onto the train a few stations down. I had seen her at Drinking Liberally. She was with this guy who got off the train a few stations down. Then I hollered at her. "Hey, I saw you at Drinking Liberally!" We both moved one seat closer, but still with an aisle between us.

"Are you friends with Justin?"

She lives on Park Slope. I live south of the park in Little Bangladesh. She got off one station earlier than me.

"I went to the one in Williamsburg once. There was literally noone there. I got there at nine," I said.

Ann, a Fordham grad. Yesterday she was hanging out with Devin who is the most permanent fixture at Drinking Liberally I know of. She sure drinks and has no beer belly to show for it. Justin needs to get her onto the Drinking Liberally Board if she is not already on it.

I have often wondered about progressive groups in Manhattan, or events in general. Would it not be nice if everyone got on Facebook? You should not have to exchange business cards in a Web 2.0 world.

Justin is not on Facebook. Ann is not on Facebook.

But Aaron is. That guy is the funniest guy ever. I just have to look at him and I am laughing. He does not have to say anything explicitly funny and I am laughing. And he does make wisecracks.

And Aaron has a major presence on Facebook, I just discovered.

I have asked people about him. This funny thing, is it just me, or does he do that to you as well? I would like to know.

Looks like Aaron has become quite a regular at Drinking Liberally, two Thursdays in a row.

"I don't understand people who are not on Facebook," I wrote to him. Justin Krebs, I don't understand you.

Web 5.0: Face Time
A Web 3.0 Manifesto

I failed to get Krebs excited about my company, and that is okay. He perhaps wants to keep doing full time what he is doing. He is one of the leading young progressives in America. Liberal used to be a bad word.

"I think you can do it," he said about my company.

Yesterday I bought beer. The Thursday before I did not. There's plenty going around. And I try to stick to one glass, if that. I am worried I might end up with a beer belly.

The backyard can get cliquish. There are those who are there not for Drinking Liberally but because Rudy's is such a cool bar. Cheap beer, free hot dogs, Times Square noise: you can hear it. There are those there who are drinking liberally and are Drinking Liberally. Many of them have buttons. Some don't. Justin just gave up on the idea of giving me more buttons. I have a dozen of them at home. I forget to pick one each time. I will try harder next time. I like the button.

Small groups of 3-4 get formed. When it gets crowded, it is harder to move around. I like the idea of moving from group to group, but the options are few. There is a space issue. Sometimes it can feel like white valency. Other times, it is just that the space is taken. And there are girlfriends hanging out with girlfriends, and they are a complete circle, guys need not apply.

Maybe my personality type is suited more for the Obama outdoors events. There is one big one on Saturday, but I can't make it because I am organizing a meeting of all the Nepali organizations in the tri-state area on Saturday. It is to be in Central Park, southeast corner. The idea is to launch an umbrella organization. A lot of Nepalis really struggle with me being a Madhesi. But they might not have much of a choice. They are stuck with me.

David Pollak - after I learned from Justin Krebs that the dude is now chair of the state Democratic Party - I have been "using" that guy among Nepalis. I know David Pollak, who do you know? Get over my being a Madhesi, let's earn voting rights in the city. Let's form an umbrella organization. When that is not enough, I throw Spitzer in. "He might not know me by name, but I think he knows me by face!" Hence the name Facebook. Now get off your butt, and help launch this umbrella organization. And you top it all with Howard Dean. Dean does know me. And at that point you have the floor pretty much. I ask my would be rivals if they know a single person in the city council. The question goes unanswered because the answer is too obvious: no. I don't either, but that fact has so far not surfaced.

So at one point I get up and go into a corner to make a bunch of phone calls to make sure people will show up for the Saturday meeting. When I am back to the table Stephanie wants to know why I was by myself in the corner. Maybe she did not see the phone. She thought I got outcast for being an Obama enthusiast. Did she? Hey, Obama is popular. Here, there, everywhere.

"This hairstyle inspired by Barack Obma." I wish he had something a little more fancy though.

Mario is a cook. He is from Cuba. I was shooting breeze with him before I got up to make my phone calls. He was talking about girls in the plural.

I might have pushed a few people away talking too excitedly about my company. I should take that enthusiasm to potential angel investors, the professionals. I also have a very detailed business plan still to write.

I met this guy whose uncle has won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. I am like, wow.

Aaron is Jewish. I have learned from some East Europeans that Jewish people like money. That is the stupidest thing you can say. Money is like music. I never met anyone who does not like either. I like money. What does that make me?

Like there was this one guy who kept coming in front of me so as to kick me out of the group sort of, the very first group I chimed into. I was very tempted to tell him, "You mind getting your white trash butt out of my face?"

In The News

Obama To Host Town Hall Meeting In Des Moines KCCI.com
Mrs Obama steps into the spotlight
Times Online
Missouri's Clay, Carnahan Endorse Obama in 2008 NewsMax.com
Hillary Clinton: Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley Endorses Clinton
All American Patriots (press release)
A kinder, gentler Clinton in Iowa
Rocky Mountain News
Clinton Over Obama 56-37, "Experience Matters" New York Press
Clinton brokers deal to cut costs of AIDS-fighting drugs Amsterdam News
Nepal poll schedule soon: Koirala NDTV.com
Nepal Premier in favor of elections in November Islamic Republic News Agency
Mayawati's victory celebrated in Bihar with difference Hindu Mayawati's victory in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election
Journalist? Cover California from India Rediff "Due to California's public access laws, virtually all relevant government documents and meetings are available on the Internet," MacPherson said. ..... Pasadena Now has already hired two journalists at a combined annual cost of $20,800 within two days of the job posting on May 7. ..... The City Council is Pasadena's governing body and meets every Monday night and webcast of the meetings are available on the Internet.
Britain's Brown launches leadership bid MSNBC
Blair frustration with US revealed
The Age
Oral Sex Spreads Virus, Might Lead to Throat Cancer (Update2)
Bloomberg
Oral Sex Can Add to HPV Cancer Risk TIME
Oral sex could be more dangerous than cigars Register
Dell finds place in history museum iAfrica.com
DELL LAUNCHING COMPUTER FOR RS 10000 SDA India Magazine Dell plans to launch a computer that will cost USD 238 (Rs 10,000) in India and worldwide. .... Dell also launched three new laptops for the Indian market in the price range of about Rs 52,000-64,000. ..... CEO Michael Dell said, "We will look at broader opportunities ... sure we will look at low-cost personal computers"...... Mid-March 2007, Dell had wheeled out a low-cost PC for China. The cost of the PC ranges from 2,599 yuan to 3,999 Yuan (approximately USD 335 to USD 520) ...... Dell recently announced that its assembly unit in Chennai, India will go live by July this year and has projected USD1 billion revenues from India.
IPods may interfere with pacemakers CBC.ca
Stifling summers forecast by Nasa for US east coast Independent

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Terry McAuliffe: E=mc^2




Terry Alligator McAuliffe, May 9

So I got to see Terry McAuliffe in person yesterday. When I think Spitzer, I think the word substance. When I think McAuliffe, I think alligator. The image is stuck in my mind. It will never go away. But the actual word is energy.

He is just so very amazing. He just oozes bountiful energy. He started "dozens of companies" and was retired by the time he was 35. Politics is in his blood. It is like he had a tic. "Bill Clinton is the most expensive friend I ever had."

When he came in, it was amazing to see him work the room. He went from person to person, no hurry. He was with who he was with. He has "raised more money than anyone is history."

I am sure he has told the stories many times, but he manages to pour it fresh.

He asked for a show of hands. Only five or six people had read his book. Only one other person besides him was in the "top 1% income bracket." And I doubt that other person was exhibiting the truth.

So McAuliffe is so rich, he might be a Republican! Does he feel your pain?

He poured out a few stories from his book. One was that he was in Korea with Clinton, and you know how "Bill Clinton never sleeps." So, Terry, why don't you come up with me and play cards? 10 in the evening to four in the morning, he is playing cards. Then he begs off. The following day he finds out the Korean Secret Service had cabled their head office saying a "young, good looking man" was in the Clinton room for hours. This was in 1999.

This is an amazing time to be a Democratic Party sympathizer. Good times are here. I was strongly for Hillary. Then I switched to Obama. But that does not mean I stopped liking Hillary.

First quarter fundraising showed Obama doing real well. But Hillary won the South Carolina debate and gave herself a jump in the polls.

2008 is for the Democrats to lose.

The way I am looking at it right now, one of these is going to be President, another is going to be Vice President.

Spitzer came out a few days ago saying he is going to work for gay marriage in New York. He basically walked out of the 2008 race in doing that.

So it is Obama-Hillary or Hillary-Obama. It is one of the two possibilities. Right now it looks like Hillary-Obama.

My favorite story about Hillary is when she and Princess Chelsea made this trip to India. And then went to this remote, remote village. And they got surrounded by all these women. And they said that Hillary has no idea what it means to them that she is here. I agree. Hillary had no idea. Hillary still has no idea.

Hillary as President and Obama as Vice President will mean Obama will have plenty of time to succeed and become President himself, he is more than a decade younger. Plus, people live longer these days. Look at old man McCain. Hillary's is a race against time more than Obama's is.

I like them both. And it is not just gender and race, although that it is. They are both outstandingly able. For a woman and some black dude to go up that high, they have to be oustandingly able by definition.

And they compete with each other, the way political competition should be. There is no bad blood, there are no slimeball attacks at each other. They genuinely like each other.

I am a nobody. I don't get to influence the election one way or the other. Heck, I can't even vote. But I am into it for the sports of it. And the pleasure of rooting for Obama is to realize I am playing shadow boxing with Pele Clinton. The guy does not know I exist. But he does leave footprints. And I get to organize my thoughts and offer counter strategies.

But then there is a genuine competition of ideas and organizational skills. The Clinton Machine is a creation not just of Bill but also of Hillary. Her tapping into it is very fair. She pretty much made Bill Clinton. She is smarter than him. At this point I don't know if that means she also has as good political instincts. She authored "triangulation" while Bill Clinton was floundering after the 1994 defeat.

But then Barack Obama also has many advantages. Hillary has conceded he has more charisma than she does. The guy is smart. He offers a certain freshness. And he had a dizzying first quarter success.

So although Hillary has the lead, Obama has the superior trajectory.

They really, truly are neck and neck. There is no telling which way the wind will flow. Expect Obama to give a much more superior performance at the next debate. Otherwise if he bombs at two to three more debates, he is history. History as in, he is running mate.

No matter who gets the top slot, Bill Clinton has to be sent out to work out the final map for the Middle East. He can do it like noone else can. And after he does it, he should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

This is a blessed time to be a Democrat.

And Spitzer as Governor might cook up the best ideas that can then be sent to the rest of the country. I am blindsided he is taking the lead on the gay marriage issue. This is gutsy. I like him even more now.

Spitzer is a Hillary fan. That part is so very obvious.

So McAuliffe finishes his talk. And I am right in front of the stage. We made eye contact a few times. He has a magnetic personality. He lingers on the stage to meet people, sign a few books. I walk away. I take a few steps. He comes from behind me and keeps walking. One step ahead of me he says, "Buy the book!" Could it have been said to me? This is not a self-esteem question. This guy is a national legend. I am just one face in the crowd.

Before the event started, I spotted these three Indian young women. One of them was handing out flyers for the Obama event on Saturday.

"Are you Indian?"

"I am half Indian."

The next one was Sapana. The third said her name was Rachael. She had walked over earlier to the bar table next to me but did not make eye contact. Now this was a race issue. You are a brown guy who probably likes white women. It is really curious how the racial dynamic and insinuations work. In NYC, all that plays out in real small space, and specks of time. So it feels dense.

Elizabeth Caputo was in-charge. I was surprised Dave Pollak was not around. Justin Krebs did not show. Kristina Hoke did not. DFNYC notables did not. Lewis Cohen usually shows up for big wigs like this one. He did not. So I am thinking maybe McAuliffe is in town often.

"This guy is so exciting," I said to Caputo.

"Thanks for coming," Caputo said.

I have been trying to get her to get involved with my startup in some small capacity, so far with no success. My company functions in a Web 2.0 environment almost entirely. For some that is a roadblock.

Back home I pitched her again over email. I said I predicted a "French Revolution" in Nepal a few months before it happened, now I am predicting I have launched a company that will get listed on Nasdaq in five years or less. (The French Revolution And DFNYC)

He is a face time guy. He is vastly inspirational. He is a leader. He is a big catch for the Democratic Party.

My one regret is to not have had a 30 second one on one with the guy. Maybe even try to get him to learn my name.

McAuliffe thought the new primary calendar was "crazy." The contest will be over on February 5. I am so glad the big, diverse states will now matter big time to the outcome.

In The News

Ed Gillespie and Terry McAuliffe Join Campaigns & Elections ... PR Newswire (press release), NY
Q&A with Terry McAuliffe The Brown Daily Herald, RI
Fundraiser Extraordinaire McAuliffe Lives Life with Gusto Voice of America
Hillary Revamps Campaign Strategy NewsMax.com, FL
CHELSEA CLOSER TO HELPING MOM Free Market News Network, FL The New York Post reported Tuesday that Chelsea appeared with her parents at a Manhattan fundraiser Monday night. ...... “[Chelsea] has attended fundraisers in New York from time to time but is focused on her professional responsibilities and has no current plans to be out on the campaign trail.” ..... Chelsea, 27, is currently raking in the dough working at the New York-based hedge fund Avenue Capital Group and, under the likeliest scenario, she would take a leave from the firm once she hit the campaign trail. ...... Chelsea’s participation will not only reinforce Hillary’s image as a mom and a family-focused candidate, it’ll also help Hillary shore up her standing with female voters.
McAuliffe says Clinton knows she’s in a fight Providence Journal (subscription), RI
McAuliffe: Time for new approach to primaries Politics on the Hudson, NY


Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Long Walk To Freedom





Dear Paramendra,

Walk for ChangeFor too many people, politics is a bad word. It's not surprising since for many people "politics" means talking heads screaming at each other on TV, or special interests stacking the deck in Washington.

We have an opportunity to change that. When politics gets local, when the person talking is your neighbor standing on your front porch, things change.

On June 9th, hundreds of thousands of people will have that experience as we take our campaign to the streets in all 50 states for a nationwide neighborhood walk.

We're calling it Walk for Change, and its success depends on you. I'm asking you for something extraordinary. I'm asking you to lead a group of supporters in your community in a neighborhood walk to let people know about our campaign.

If you agree to organize a walk, we'll mail you the materials you need to start a conversation with your neighbors about being part of this movement for change. But it can only happen if you're willing to take the leap and put together a June 9th Walk for Change event where you live:

http://my.barackobama.com/createwalk

It's not common these days to reach out to a neighbor.

We're more likely to nod quickly and smile when unloading the groceries or walking the dog than we are to stop and talk about the things that shape our common destiny.

But the great issues of our day shouldn't just be topics to fill time between commercials on cable news. These challenges -- ending the war in Iraq, solving the health care crisis, tackling climate change -- affect each one of us personally.

And the solutions to each one will require personal investment from all of us.

That's why it's so important to create this dialogue in your community -- to have a serious conversation about what matters most to your neighbors, and to share with them why this movement for change is personal for you.

http://my.barackobama.com/createwalk

We shouldn't be afraid. Americans everywhere are hungry for change, and waiting for someone to show them where change will come from.

On June 9th, if you organize a Walk for Change event, that change will come from your community, and the person showing the way will be you.

Thank you.


Barack Obama

P.S. -- As you read this, people across the country are planning their events using the My.BarackObama.com tools. If you're not ready to host your own walk, there may already be one in your community that you can join. Use our interactive map to search for one near you:

http://my.barackobama.com/walkforchange



Long Walk To Freedom: Just A Third World Guy Dazzled By The City

In The News

I'm off alcohol, soccer great Maradona says Miami Herald
SOCCER: Two daughters give Argentinian soccer legend the will to live U.TV
Maradona says he no longer drinks ESPN
Maradona: 'I'm alive and I want to keep living' San Diego Union Tribune, CA
Maradona: He's off alcohol, plans exhibitions FOXSports.com
Maradona says he's off alcohol, plans to play exhibition matches International Herald Tribune, France
Maradona vows to stay clean Reuters.uk, UK
Maradona vows to battle back from illness ESPN
Maradona vows to stay clean TVNZ, New Zealand
Maradona vows to stay clean ITV.com, UK
Maradona released from rehab clinic Times of India, India
Maradona leaves alcoholism clinic BBC Sport, UK
Maradona released from clinic Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
Maradona leaves psychiatric clinic, goes home Reuters India, India
Maradona released from psychiatric clinic ESPN
Maradona leaves psychiatric clinic, 'doing well' Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia
Maradona released from rehab clinic after two-week stay Xinhua, China
Breaking News Maradona dispels death rumours Fox Sports, Australia

What the Dell? Motley Fool
Astronomers record brightest ever supernova
Daily Mail
MySpace to acquire Photobucket image-sharing site
CNET News.com
A CEO Pitches Universal Health Care
New York Times Thirty-six companies have decided to join forces in a push to extend health insurance to all Americans ...... 18 of the companies are among the Fortune 500’s biggest firms ...... seeking universal health care “not so much out of social solidarity as out of financial necessity”
Corporate America Pushes Healthcare Reform Medical News Today
Reforming health care Washington Times
Most toddlers watching TV, DVDs: survey
CTV.ca
TV toddlers 'become aggressive' Telegraph.co.uk