@paramendra
Paramendra Bhagat Going to find out the state of the union tomorrow. http://t.co/Zu2RP6T1 Riviera Cafe (225 West 4th St.) 7:30 - 11:00 pm
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Monday, January 23, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Barack Obama's Missed Trip To The Moon
Image by penguinbush via FlickrJFK famously sent a man to the moon. When George W Bush became president he imitated JFK. He said he wanted to send a man to Mars. Like Texas were the earth, the moon was Louisiana, and Mars perhaps was Alabama. Not so. Barack Obama ratcheted it down a little. He said maybe not Mars, maybe an asteroid.
That was a mistake. In an era when countries are struggling to even occupy the space between the moon and the earth, a manned mission to Mars is an out of place metaphor.
The mission to the Moon was less about the mission to the moon. It was more about the technological fallouts that benefitted the population at large.
The mission to the moon today would be to take gigabit broadband to every human being on earth. That goal should have been the centerpiece of the stimulus bill of 2009. And it is still not too late. Maybe there will be a push for it in 2013.
Be it global finance, or global warming, or global poverty, or lifelong education or universal health, or global terrorism, universal gigabit broadband touches them all.
America, Europe and Japan might have to pitch in 100 billion dollars each. And that is money that will get paid back in spades. So this is not a foreign aid concept. This is an investment with great returns.
Republican Porridge
One guy won in Iowa. Another won in New Hampshire. A third won in South Carolina. The guy who won in New Hampshire has more money and a better ground operation than the guy who won in South Carolina.
I think I just decided Barack Obama does not need my help in his re-election bid. The opposition is in major disarray. I never doubted the possibility of a second term for Barack Obama, but now I am doubly sure.
I am going to take it easy. Or maybe not. The Occupy movement will herald an American Spring. Let winter pass. The Occupy movement is an unprecedented opportunity to enact a muscular progressive agenda, in this country and across the world. You ain't seen nothing yet. Let winter pass.
The Democratic Party will have a choice to make. Almost all Mayors that expressed physical hostility to the Occupiers across the country were Democratic. That is just a shame.
What the Occupy movement needs is red carpet treatment. You should be able to - come spring - provide a public space in your city where 100-200 Occupiers can camp out 24/7. It is for the Democratic Mayors to arrange for toilets, and public wifi, and police protection. It is for them to pick up the garbage. If not there is going to be rebellion in the ranks.
Occupy was the word of 2011. The Occupier was Time magazine's Person Of The Year. Liverpool had the Beatles. New York City has the Occupiers. Mayor Bloomberg is going to have to measure up. His entire legacy is at stake, come spring.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Hillary Should Stay Two More Years
Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThe Madonna Of Global PoliticsChina is in sight. Russia is rumbling, and China is in sight.
If Hillary had been vice president, she would have stayed eight years. Being Secretary of State is like being vice president. It is a top job. So her leaving after four years is arbitrary. It is not like suddenly she is too old. If that were the case, she would never have run for president. People who think they are going to be too old in four years do not run.
And it is not about Hillary, it is about the world. I am not saying she is indispensable. I am sure there is someone on the Democratic horizon who might be able to step in. It is about continuity at a crucial time. Tunisia, Egypt, Libya have not been small events. But they are small compared to what could still happen. Syria is still in the works. Iran has not happened yet, Saudi Arabia has not happened yet. Russia is rumbling. China has not happened yet.
And America will happen before China will happen. Only total campaign finance reform will quench the Occupy movement. Nothing less will. And once there is total campaign finance reform in America, this country could legitimately ask for democracy in China.
If Hillary ran on the world's schedule, she might have run for president in 2004, and I think she would have won. But Hillary seems to think the world runs on her schedule. So she took her sweet time - prepare? She was ready in 1992 - and ran in 2008 and lost. Bill Clinton tried very, very hard to get her to run in 2004. I remember watching the guy's moves and feeling sorry for him.
Image via WikipediaIf the world runs on Hillary's schedule, she retires at the end of 2012. If Hillary runs on the world's schedule, she stays in office to 2014. That might be enough time to occupy China. China is the ultimate prize.
You don't change the Secretary of State in the middle of a raging, global revolution.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Mobile Occupy, Dawn To Dusk Occupy
Image by Saint Huck via FlickrEvent: December 12th: Occupy Strikes Back (RSVP for NYC only HERE)Occupy Wall Street Could Legitimately Go Indoors
24/7 camping out in a public place of a few hundred people has been the heart and soul of the Occupy movement. And it will have to return to that. But skipping the winter months would be a good idea. April, anyone?
24/7 can mutate to dawn to dusk, no tents required. 24/7 can mutate to daylong events away from public parks. Flash events, planned events.
This movement went national a long time ago. This movement went global a long time ago. This movement will shake Russia, this movement will shake China.
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Russia's Turn
Image by didkovskaya via FlickrWhen things were rumbling in Egypt I predicted this democracy tsunami is also going to hit America and Russia and China. Well, it did hit America. We call it the Occupy Movement. And now looks like it is Russia's turn. China might have largely skipped the Great Recession but there is no skipping the democracy tsunami. But I think the democracy wave will have to succeed in Russia before it touches China. Just like the wave will have to succeed in Iran before Saudi Arabia is affected.
I am positive. Obama's reelection will not be the biggest news of 2012. 2012 will be the year of the tsunami of democracy.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
The Real Story Behind The European Mess
Image via WikipediaThe market is sending strong signals. The Europeans did the economic union thing, and they did the single currency thing. But they thought they all could still be all these various sovereign nations.
And the market is saying no to that.
The economic union and the single currency needed to be followed with a political union. The Europeans needed to work on that years ago. Not attempting a political union was a mistake. And the Europeans are paying a price.
And if they are not going to go for the political union the economic union is going to unravel. The single currency could fall apart.
This storm is major.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Somewhere To Start
Image by david_shankbone via Flickr(1) A second term for Barack Obama, with a super majority in the Senate and a majority in the House in exchange for total campaign finance reform within the first 100 days of his second term. If that is not delivered, launch a new third political party. This is me saying 2012 is about The Agenda, not Barack Obama. (2) Wealth Equity Tax of 10% on all corporations with a valuation over a billion dollars.
(3) Nationalize Zuccotti Park.
Jeff Sachs: New York Times: The New Progressive Movement: Following our recent financial calamity, a third progressive era is likely to be in the making. This one should aim for three things. The first is a revival of crucial public services, especially education, training, public investment and environmental protection. The second is the end of a climate of impunity that encouraged nearly every Wall Street firm to commit financial fraud. The third is to re-establish the supremacy of people votes over dollar votes in Washington....... The progressive era took 20 years to correct abuses of the Gilded Age. The New Deal struggled for a decade to overcome the Great Depression, and the expansion of economic justice lasted through the 1960s. The new wave of reform is but a few months old. ...... The young people in Zuccotti Park and more than 1,000 cities have started America on a path to renewal. The movement, still in its first days, will have to expand in several strategic ways. Activists are needed among shareholders, consumers and students to hold corporations and politicians to account. Shareholders, for example, should pressure companies to get out of politics. Consumers should take their money and purchasing power away from companies that confuse business and political power. The whole range of other actions — shareholder and consumer activism, policy formulation, and running of candidates — will not happen in the park..... To put it simply: tax the rich, end the wars and restore honest and effective government for all....... Finally, the new progressive era will need a fresh and gutsy generation of candidates to seek election victories not through wealthy campaign financiers but through free social media. A new generation of politicians will prove that they can win on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and blog sites, rather than with corporate-financed TV ads. By lowering the cost of political campaigning, the free social media can liberate Washington from the current state of endemic corruption. .... A new generation of leaders is just getting started. The new progressive age has begun.
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