word up

The Wordest Up of Them All

2010-02-06T15:12:00.003-05:00

Blogger tells me that it's not supporting FTP anymore, so this seems as good a place to end this 8-year experiment as any.

Word up to you all. Keep playing that Cameo.

Breaking: Tea Partier Oppose "Profiteering"

2010-01-26T09:57:00.001-05:00

But only when they are the ones being profited off of. I thought this was a grassroots movement that promoted free-market enterprise?

Kenneth the Page

2009-02-25T10:02:00.001-05:00

America will...

2009-02-24T21:54:00.003-05:00

(Click on picture to enlarge)

Transforming America's Housing Policy

2009-02-13T19:42:00.002-05:00

I was given a last-minute invite to live blog for The Next American City's coverage of the recent NYU conference on Transforming America's Housing Policy.

My posts are here.

I think live-blogging is an excuse to be able to repeatedly check your email during a conference while looking engaged, but it did keep me more focused on certain panels. An interesting experience. I'll try dead-blogging next time.

Finally.

2008-11-16T00:21:00.002-05:00

I'll admit it. In 2000, I voted for Nader, but in Virginia, which Bush won by a good 8 points and wasn't even close to a competitive state.

But the reason I voted for him was he was the only presidential candidate to ask for my vote. There was a minimum of campaigning in the state, none of it by the Democratic nominee.

Lesson learned: Politics is not economics--be ambitious. The rational people may be "thinking on the margins," but leaders are thinking ten steps ahead. Boldness matters.

In 2002, it was the nadir (no pun intended). I started this blog as an outlet as I moved to a new city and simultaneously saw my country slipping towards a kind of democratic fascism. I remarked to a friend something like: "Stage 1 is when they accuse the opposition of treason on the legislature floor. Stage 2 is when they accuse the opposition of crimes in a court. Stage 3 is when the accuse the opposition of treason in a court. Stage 4 is when they accuse citizens of treason in a court. In Stage 5, they don't need the courts anymore." Luckily, we stopped before stage 2 became full-blown. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

In 2003, I volunteered for Howard Dean. Not only was he against the war for the right reasons, he was tired of ceeding half the country to Republicans (in many cases the Dems were not even bothering to run candidates for House races). But the campaign was horribly disorganized. He lost because of a lack of discipline, both for himself and for his campaign. It wasn't even clear to those around him that he wanted to be President.

Lessons learned: Discipline and tactical experience matter. Organization matters.

In 2004, I went all out. I recruited tons of people for phonebanking and canvassing in swing states. I canvassed for Kerry in Missouri one weekend and helped run a canvass operation in Bucks County, PA on election day for a 527 group. But it wasn't enough. The campaign in Missouri was horribly disorganized, the voter lists were terrible, and half the progressive infrastructure was not allowed to coordinate with the Kerry campaign. It wasn't enough.

It's not very effective to ring a doorbell and remind strangers to "vote for change" when the candidate himself isn't using those words. It's not very heartening to work for a candidate you don't like.

Lesson #1 learned: You can't function well on a team if you don't like the captain. Motivation matters.
Lesson #2 learned: You can only effectively convince acquaintances to vote for somebody. You can only be an effective cog in the machine if you don't need to persuade. Social networks matter.
Lesson #3 learned: Organization, organization, organization matters.
Lesson #4 learned: Funding matters.

In 2005, I co-organized a jovial fun-raiser for the Democratic city candidates called "Mayoroke". The tune was a little off, because that evening tens of thousands were stranded in New Orleans and hundreds died while Bush looked out an airplane window at the destruction. His Presidency ended that day.

In 2006, I did almost nothing by comparison. I helped organize a website, Do More Than Vote, that connected volunteers to campaigning opportunities. It was the best thing I could have done. We challenged the Republicans everywhere and won everywhere.

Lesson learned: Using your special skills and opportunity matter.

In 2008, it was already done for me. I just had to raise a little money with some friends, make sure my acquaintances were registered to vote, and then remind them to vote. I worked on two local election campaigns, both of which won (my first ever). We challenged the Republicans everywhere and won many of them.

Lesson learned: Barack Obama and his campaign had already learned these lessons, perhaps at the same time as I did.

All About E-Waste

2008-11-10T23:45:00.001-05:00

Watch CBS Videos Online

Yes We Can!

2008-11-05T22:03:00.000-05:00

"Justice will run down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream" (Amos 5:24).

Paging Chris Katan...

2008-10-10T00:20:00.002-04:00

We need you to stop day-trading in Europe. (Screen-shot from washingtonpost.com)

Typo or Genius?

2008-10-03T17:52:00.002-04:00

Now poverty and economic crisis causing fisherman to turn to piracy is not funny. But the number of NYT headlines about the pirates holding the Ukrainian tank ship hostage that could be Onion headlines is now at least at two and heading higher:

Pirate Talks Continue, But Who Would Pay?

I think they mean "pirate talk continues".

Somali Pirates Tell All: They�re in It for the Money

Apparently they changed this one after the fact.

Must... Tell... President McCain!

2008-10-03T15:19:00.000-04:00

Uncle Sam & 9/11

2008-09-11T22:57:00.001-04:00

Yes.

2008-08-21T22:33:00.000-04:00

NYT: Sprinter's Moment is Foiled by One Step Over the Line

In the meantime, Nina Spearmon, who was watching from a box in the stadium, overheard a man in the suite next door say that her son had been disqualified, or DQ�d.
�My head was so out of it that, to be honest, I was thinking, �Wallace got Dairy Queened?� � Nina Spearmon said.

Ha!

2008-08-19T14:31:00.001-04:00

AP "misfire": Joe Lieberman was a "Democratic Vice Presidential prick [sic]"

Would You Trust This Man?

2008-08-17T23:18:00.002-04:00

Wilco @ the Pool

2008-08-14T20:12:00.002-04:00

I went to the Wilco concert at McCarren Park Pool last night for free by volunteering for the Open Space Alliance. Overall, a pretty good deal. I'm not a big fan of Wilco, but it was fun!

Weird

2008-08-08T12:31:00.001-04:00

Blog about a fictional city.

A Must Watch Video

2008-08-07T13:46:00.000-04:00

Meet the candidate

2008-07-29T22:43:00.000-04:00

Fist-bump ahoy!

Fun with bureaucracy

2008-07-29T17:19:00.001-04:00

I'm not sure how else I would phrase this sentence, but it's pretty funny (it comes from a Housing Authority publication I'm reading for work):

"Now that the Internet is so popular, many residents are requesting more than one telephone line."

Have you heard about that Internet? It's a hoot!

Summer Streets!

2008-07-29T16:13:00.002-04:00

NYC-residing friends get to party three Sundays in August on Park Avenue and vicinity (8/9, 8/16, 8/23), as they are opening the street to bikers and pedestrians. When visiting Dino & Paige in Bogot� last summer, I went to the Ciclov�a events that this event is modeled on and it was a ton of fun.

Here's StreetsFilms' promotional video of the events.

Awesome, awesome, awesome.

2008-07-27T23:10:00.003-04:00

I got paid blogads back up and running. And John McCain is running ads on my website. One of them says something about "$3 million of taxpayer money to study bear DNA". I would think it's a bigger waste to spend $560 billion to support a stupid war.

But then, that's just me.

In case you're not getting this from the mainstream media. John McCain has basically dropped his stance on Iraq and shifted more or less to agreeing with Barack Obama's plans for Iraq and Afghanistan.

Recent Fun

2008-07-27T22:53:00.003-04:00

Dragon Boats at Flushing Meadows Park. And yes, they were actually banging on bass drums to keep the beat.

Visited the Queens Velodrome on the same bike ride:

Helped organize a pedestrianization of Bedford Avenue for four Saturdays, called Williamsburg Walks. The picture below features Yvette Helin's "pedestrian project."

Classic

2008-07-18T13:35:00.002-04:00

While this below graph is not exactly new news, the linked video they posted along with it is. Did you know that Mr. T was one of the first to stand up against Yo Momma jokes? And in music video form, no less.

Feed Me (RSS-wise)

2008-07-06T22:13:00.002-04:00

Some minor housekeeping: while I know I'm not the most frequent poster, if you want to stay updated in all things Word Up, I suggest you subscribe to my RSS feed if you use a blog reader. If you already are subscribed, it will work a lot better if you go to resubscribe with the new RSS feed address provided through feedburner.