Turns out no one died because of the Fukushima Power Plant Disaster. In fact, no one even got radiation poisoning. A nearly perfect example of neglect of probability when compared to other sources of energy.
Finland gives all new mothers a box full of essential supplies. "It's a tradition that dates back to the 1930s and it's designed to give all children in Finland, no matter what background they're from, an equal start in life."
The Obama Administration now judges the negative externality associated with carbon emissions as 60% higher than last year. Climate change is starting to grow some teeth.
Humans of New York - the Chess Hustler.
A different perspective on the Obama administration "scandals" of the last few weeks.
Cornell West is classy as hell.
I've been ranting for a while now about how full adoption of solar will change our world. Well, the utility companies think so too.
Showing posts with label obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label obama. Show all posts
06 June 2013
24 February 2011
Holy Shit They're People Too?
Debate Problem:
Without using religious/god references (because we're a "religiously free country") how is it possible to defend being opposed to gay marriage without admitting prejudice?
It's cool I'll wait.
Yet supposedly all Americans care about right now is getting jobs. “People that don’t focus on pocketbook issues are frittering away their 15 minutes of attention.” - Fred Sainz
Barack Obama speaking on gay marriage:
“I struggle with this. I have friends, I have people who work for me, who are in powerful, strong, long-lasting gay or lesbian unions. And they are extraordinary people, and this is something that means a lot to them and they care deeply about.”
Without using religious/god references (because we're a "religiously free country") how is it possible to defend being opposed to gay marriage without admitting prejudice?
It's cool I'll wait.
Yet supposedly all Americans care about right now is getting jobs. “People that don’t focus on pocketbook issues are frittering away their 15 minutes of attention.” - Fred Sainz
Barack Obama speaking on gay marriage:
“I struggle with this. I have friends, I have people who work for me, who are in powerful, strong, long-lasting gay or lesbian unions. And they are extraordinary people, and this is something that means a lot to them and they care deeply about.”
17 October 2009
Obama Wins a Nobel Peace Prize
Yeah, I'm a bit late on this one, but I'm busy enough these days that even taking time to do this is taking up time I should be working on some vague architectural assignment.
So Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. I have to admit that it seems a tad premature. He did receive the nomination a mere 12 days after assuming office. Anyways, it seems to have made Fidel happy (as if that alone weren't reason enough... ha), and the right is pissed. Best comment (there's some other gems in there too) - Rush Limbaugh: "Something has happened here that we all agree with the Taliban and Iran about and that is he doesn't deserve the award
." Priceless.
This is Jesse Larner at the Huffington Post speaking of his confusion of Obama's win: "Maybe the more absurd and bizarre it is, the more of a kick in the pants it is to the Bush presidency, of late, unlamented memory. This is how much we hate you, George; anyone who comes after you will win the Nobel prize, just for not being you."
But then Foreign Policy (a great magazine by the way) spoiled the whole thing and listed what Obama had done in his first 12 days in office to deserve a Nobel.
But then Foreign Policy (a great magazine by the way) spoiled the whole thing and listed what Obama had done in his first 12 days in office to deserve a Nobel.
So Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. I have to admit that it seems a tad premature. He did receive the nomination a mere 12 days after assuming office. Anyways, it seems to have made Fidel happy (as if that alone weren't reason enough... ha), and the right is pissed. Best comment (there's some other gems in there too) - Rush Limbaugh: "Something has happened here that we all agree with the Taliban and Iran about and that is he doesn't deserve the award
This is Jesse Larner at the Huffington Post speaking of his confusion of Obama's win: "Maybe the more absurd and bizarre it is, the more of a kick in the pants it is to the Bush presidency, of late, unlamented memory. This is how much we hate you, George; anyone who comes after you will win the Nobel prize, just for not being you."
But then Foreign Policy (a great magazine by the way) spoiled the whole thing and listed what Obama had done in his first 12 days in office to deserve a Nobel.
- January 21: Obama met with the ambassador to Iraq, commander in Iraq, and regional commander to receive a complete briefing on the war.
- January 22: Obama ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
- January 22: Obama signed an executive order explicitly prohibiting the use of torture and ordering all U.S. forces to obey the Army Field Manual. He also ordered a review of the case of Ali Saleh al-Marri, a detainee held on a Naval brig in South Carolina.
- January 22: Obama met with numerous retired generals.
- January 23: Obama rescinded the Mexico City policy, which had prevented nongovernmental organizations from receiving government funding if they supplied family planning assistance or abortions abroad.
- January 23: Obama calls Prime Minister Harper of Canada, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain, and Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations.
- January 26: Obama announced his appointing of Todd Stern to the new position of special envoy for climate change -- recognizing the environment as a pressing foreign-policy concern.
- January 27: More phone calls. This time Obama speaks with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, and Prime Minister Taro Aso of Japan.
But then Foreign Policy (a great magazine by the way) spoiled the whole thing and listed what Obama had done in his first 12 days in office to deserve a Nobel.
- January 21: Obama met with the ambassador to Iraq, commander in Iraq, and regional commander to receive a complete briefing on the war.
- January 22: Obama ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
- January 22: Obama signed an executive order explicitly prohibiting the use of torture and ordering all U.S. forces to obey the Army Field Manual. He also ordered a review of the case of Ali Saleh al-Marri, a detainee held on a Naval brig in South Carolina.
- January 22: Obama met with numerous retired generals.
- January 23: Obama rescinded the Mexico City policy, which had prevented nongovernmental organizations from receiving government funding if they supplied family planning assistance or abortions abroad.
- January 23: Obama calls Prime Minister Harper of Canada, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain, and Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations.
- January 26: Obama announced his appointing of Todd Stern to the new position of special envoy for climate change -- recognizing the environment as a pressing foreign-policy concern.
- January 27: More phone calls. This time Obama speaks with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, and Prime Minister Taro Aso of Japan.
13 September 2009
Videos from The Onion
They're all oddly political and make their point quite well.
Is Using A Minotaur To Gore Detainees A Form Of Torture?
White House Reveals Obama Is Bipolar, Has Entered Depressive Phase
Obama Axes Pentagon Plan To Build Billion Dollar Tank In Shape Of Dragon
9/11 Conspiracy Theories 'Ridiculous,' Al Qaeda Says
Is Using A Minotaur To Gore Detainees A Form Of Torture?
White House Reveals Obama Is Bipolar, Has Entered Depressive Phase
Obama Axes Pentagon Plan To Build Billion Dollar Tank In Shape Of Dragon
9/11 Conspiracy Theories 'Ridiculous,' Al Qaeda Says
11 September 2009
Obama's Health Care Speech
02 February 2009
Dear Mr. Obama
Paul Krugman, this years recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science (funnier version here), wrote a straight forward and compelling article on what must be done to fix the economy. It's peculiar that I liked it; if I hear one more person say "green" or talk about the economy I'm likely to blow up an animal shelter.
But first, shameless self promotion:
"But let's be clear: Tax cuts are not the tool of choice for fighting an economic slump. For one thing, they deliver less bang for the buck than infrastructure spending, because there's no guarantee that consumers will spend their tax cuts or rebates."
Thanks Mr. Krugman!
If you don't feel like reading the article here are the... most interesting parts?
"The U.S. economy needs to add more than a million jobs a year just to keep up with a growing population. Even before the crisis, job growth under Bush averaged only 800,000 a year — and over the past year, instead of gaining a million-plus jobs, we lost 2 million. Today we're continuing to lose jobs at the rate of a half million a month." That means a 9% unemployment rate where about 4-5% is considered "natural". That's 20 million Americans.
"For the past half century the Federal Reserve... has been taking care of day-to-day, and even year-to-year, economic management. Your fellow presidents were just along for the ride."
"Reagan had absolutely nothing to do with [the economic boom of 1984]. It was, instead, the work of Paul Volcker, whom Jimmy Carter appointed as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board in 1979 (and who's now the head of your economic advisory panel). First Volcker broke the back of inflation, at the cost of a recession that probably doomed Carter's re-election chances in 1980. Then Volcker engineered an economic bounce-back. In effect, Reagan dressed up in a flight suit and pretended to be a hotshot economic pilot, but Volcker was the guy who actually flew the plane and landed it safely." This however won't work because:
"[W]hile the Fed can still print money, it can't drive interest rates down. Why? Because those interest rates are already about as low as they can go. As I write this letter, the interest rate on Treasury bills is 0.005 percent — that is, zero." This however hasn't led to lower interest rates as banks are afraid to lend money out, and who's spending (the effect of borrowing)? So basically this crisis is all on the president and legislative branches of government.
"There was, however, a big difference between FDR's approach to taxpayer-subsidized financial rescue and that of the Bush administration: Namely, FDR wasn't shy about demanding that the public's money be used to serve the public good. By 1935 the U.S. government owned about a third of the banking system."
"Conservatives will accuse you of nationalizing the financial system, and some will call you a Marxist. (It happens to me all the time.) And the truth is that you will, in a way, be engaging in temporary nationalization. But that's OK: In the long run we don't want the government running financial institutions, but for now we need to do whatever it takes to get credit flowing again."
"[Y]ou have to get job creation right — which FDR never did." FDR, concerned about budget defecits, also cut spending and raised taxes in 1937. This led to a recession. Learn from this.
"The lesson from FDR's limited success on the employment front, then, is that you have to be really bold in your job-creation plans."
"'Full employment' means a jobless rate of five percent at most, and probably less. Meanwhile, we're currently on a trajectory that will push the unemployment rate to nine percent or more. Even the most optimistic estimates suggest that it takes at least $200 billion a year in government spending to cut the unemployment rate by one percentage point. Do the math: You probably have to spend $800 billion a year to achieve a full economic recovery." Krugman goes on to say that this money should be spent on things of lasting value such as infrastructure. The hard part will be finding where to spend the money. Currently there are only about 150 billion in "shovel ready" infrastructure programs. Money can also go to state governments while tax cuts should go to the poor and middle class who are more likely to spend the extra money.
"Now my honest opinion is that even with all this, you won't be able to prevent 2009 from being a very bad year. If you manage to keep the unemployment rate from going above eight percent, I'll consider that a major success."
"The biggest, most important legacy you can leave to the nation will be to give us, finally, what every other advanced nation already has: guaranteed health care for all our citizens." Krugman advocates a shared payment/subsidized healthcare plan as he thinks a single pay (government) backed health care system, although more efficient, would be unpalatable to America currently.
"[L]et's put the costs of the economic-recovery program in perspective. It's possible that reviving the economy might cost as much as a trillion dollars over the course of your first term. But the Bush administration wasted at least twice that much on an unnecessary war and tax cuts for the wealthiest; the recovery plan will be intense but temporary, and won't place all that much burden on future budgets."
"[The Obama] team is well aware of the need to wind down the war in Iraq — which is, by the way, costing about as much each year as the insurance subsidies we need to implement universal health care."
"There is, however, one area where I feel the need to break discipline. I'm an economist, but I'm also an American citizen — and like many citizens, I spent the past eight years watching in horror as the Bush administration betrayed the nation's ideals. And I don't believe we can put those terrible years behind us unless we have a full accounting of what really happened." He gives the convincing argument that when Iran-Contra was swept under the rug many years ago those involved became responsible for similar transgressions 20 years later... in the second Bush Administration.
At second glance the article appears fairly partisan. But he's advocating better health care, economic recovery, ending pointless wars, and he won a Nobel Prize... I'll listen.
But first, shameless self promotion:
"But let's be clear: Tax cuts are not the tool of choice for fighting an economic slump. For one thing, they deliver less bang for the buck than infrastructure spending, because there's no guarantee that consumers will spend their tax cuts or rebates."
Thanks Mr. Krugman!
If you don't feel like reading the article here are the... most interesting parts?
"The U.S. economy needs to add more than a million jobs a year just to keep up with a growing population. Even before the crisis, job growth under Bush averaged only 800,000 a year — and over the past year, instead of gaining a million-plus jobs, we lost 2 million. Today we're continuing to lose jobs at the rate of a half million a month." That means a 9% unemployment rate where about 4-5% is considered "natural". That's 20 million Americans.
"For the past half century the Federal Reserve... has been taking care of day-to-day, and even year-to-year, economic management. Your fellow presidents were just along for the ride."
"Reagan had absolutely nothing to do with [the economic boom of 1984]. It was, instead, the work of Paul Volcker, whom Jimmy Carter appointed as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board in 1979 (and who's now the head of your economic advisory panel). First Volcker broke the back of inflation, at the cost of a recession that probably doomed Carter's re-election chances in 1980. Then Volcker engineered an economic bounce-back. In effect, Reagan dressed up in a flight suit and pretended to be a hotshot economic pilot, but Volcker was the guy who actually flew the plane and landed it safely." This however won't work because:
"[W]hile the Fed can still print money, it can't drive interest rates down. Why? Because those interest rates are already about as low as they can go. As I write this letter, the interest rate on Treasury bills is 0.005 percent — that is, zero." This however hasn't led to lower interest rates as banks are afraid to lend money out, and who's spending (the effect of borrowing)? So basically this crisis is all on the president and legislative branches of government.
"There was, however, a big difference between FDR's approach to taxpayer-subsidized financial rescue and that of the Bush administration: Namely, FDR wasn't shy about demanding that the public's money be used to serve the public good. By 1935 the U.S. government owned about a third of the banking system."
"Conservatives will accuse you of nationalizing the financial system, and some will call you a Marxist. (It happens to me all the time.) And the truth is that you will, in a way, be engaging in temporary nationalization. But that's OK: In the long run we don't want the government running financial institutions, but for now we need to do whatever it takes to get credit flowing again."
"[Y]ou have to get job creation right — which FDR never did." FDR, concerned about budget defecits, also cut spending and raised taxes in 1937. This led to a recession. Learn from this.
"The lesson from FDR's limited success on the employment front, then, is that you have to be really bold in your job-creation plans."
"'Full employment' means a jobless rate of five percent at most, and probably less. Meanwhile, we're currently on a trajectory that will push the unemployment rate to nine percent or more. Even the most optimistic estimates suggest that it takes at least $200 billion a year in government spending to cut the unemployment rate by one percentage point. Do the math: You probably have to spend $800 billion a year to achieve a full economic recovery." Krugman goes on to say that this money should be spent on things of lasting value such as infrastructure. The hard part will be finding where to spend the money. Currently there are only about 150 billion in "shovel ready" infrastructure programs. Money can also go to state governments while tax cuts should go to the poor and middle class who are more likely to spend the extra money.
"Now my honest opinion is that even with all this, you won't be able to prevent 2009 from being a very bad year. If you manage to keep the unemployment rate from going above eight percent, I'll consider that a major success."
"The biggest, most important legacy you can leave to the nation will be to give us, finally, what every other advanced nation already has: guaranteed health care for all our citizens." Krugman advocates a shared payment/subsidized healthcare plan as he thinks a single pay (government) backed health care system, although more efficient, would be unpalatable to America currently.
"[L]et's put the costs of the economic-recovery program in perspective. It's possible that reviving the economy might cost as much as a trillion dollars over the course of your first term. But the Bush administration wasted at least twice that much on an unnecessary war and tax cuts for the wealthiest; the recovery plan will be intense but temporary, and won't place all that much burden on future budgets."
"[The Obama] team is well aware of the need to wind down the war in Iraq — which is, by the way, costing about as much each year as the insurance subsidies we need to implement universal health care."
"There is, however, one area where I feel the need to break discipline. I'm an economist, but I'm also an American citizen — and like many citizens, I spent the past eight years watching in horror as the Bush administration betrayed the nation's ideals. And I don't believe we can put those terrible years behind us unless we have a full accounting of what really happened." He gives the convincing argument that when Iran-Contra was swept under the rug many years ago those involved became responsible for similar transgressions 20 years later... in the second Bush Administration.
At second glance the article appears fairly partisan. But he's advocating better health care, economic recovery, ending pointless wars, and he won a Nobel Prize... I'll listen.
23 January 2009
Stuff Worth Reading
Little German kids try to elope in Africa, hilarious photo accompanies.
This is an article about the Obamas from 1996 done by The New Yorker.
Counter intuitive article about intelligence and happiness.
This is an article about fire sprinklers being required in new homes constructed in MN. The debate in my head is over. Economics should now be a required course in school, or rather logical thinking that involves cost benefit, rigorous statistical models, and is devoid of emotional argument. For the money that is to be spent (1 billion over 40 years) it would save more lives, if that is the true motive, to invest in health care, illness prevention, traffic safety, etc. Fires kill very very few people. Last year 19 people died in MN in fires. That many, if not far more, people will most likely die statewide in MN in car crashes this week. A billion dollars buys a lot more than a device that could potentially flood your house... that's right, single largest cost after a fire? Water damage. "But its safer for firefighters!" Five fire fighters died in MN in the last 10 years... all traffic related.
This is an article about the Obamas from 1996 done by The New Yorker.
Counter intuitive article about intelligence and happiness.
This is an article about fire sprinklers being required in new homes constructed in MN. The debate in my head is over. Economics should now be a required course in school, or rather logical thinking that involves cost benefit, rigorous statistical models, and is devoid of emotional argument. For the money that is to be spent (1 billion over 40 years) it would save more lives, if that is the true motive, to invest in health care, illness prevention, traffic safety, etc. Fires kill very very few people. Last year 19 people died in MN in fires. That many, if not far more, people will most likely die statewide in MN in car crashes this week. A billion dollars buys a lot more than a device that could potentially flood your house... that's right, single largest cost after a fire? Water damage. "But its safer for firefighters!" Five fire fighters died in MN in the last 10 years... all traffic related.
20 January 2009
Picturequote
"...we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." - Barack Obama
For the full quote go here.
I use cardboard to dry my photographic enlargements. Specifically, I use USPS flat rate boxes. I was doing this the other day when this fell out of one of them... oops. Hass, I still have your poster.
Also... kind of sort of related to my love of predictions; I pointed out to Susie (my friend who is now an ivy league art historian... wtf?) that Shepard Fairey is crazy famous and his image of Obama has to be one of if not the most recognizable symbol from 2008. The point of course being that he's one of maybe 2 or 3 living artists that I know and like and he just happened upon this... weird.
For the full quote go here.
I use cardboard to dry my photographic enlargements. Specifically, I use USPS flat rate boxes. I was doing this the other day when this fell out of one of them... oops. Hass, I still have your poster.
Also... kind of sort of related to my love of predictions; I pointed out to Susie (my friend who is now an ivy league art historian... wtf?) that Shepard Fairey is crazy famous and his image of Obama has to be one of if not the most recognizable symbol from 2008. The point of course being that he's one of maybe 2 or 3 living artists that I know and like and he just happened upon this... weird.
16 January 2009
The IAT, Racism, and Obama
The IAT is a psychological test that measures your implicit attitudes on a variety of subjects. The beauty of the test is its near perfect external validity. Many psychological experiments, and subsequently findings, have trouble translating to the real world. The IAT, in this case, is used to measure your implicit attitudes towards racism. You can take it here. Once, you get to that site you can take a multitude of IAT tests, but if you scroll down go the second to last one is entitled Race IAT. Take that one.
As an aside, in my final psych. lab in undergrad. we took this test after taking an explicit test about race. I scored the highest on the explicit test (by far) meaning that according to my outward beliefs I was quite racist. I think the other rich white kids were just lying about how they really felt. I was however vindicated by the IAT. I got the least biased score of anyone in the class.
There is an example given in Malcolm Gladwell's book, Blink, of a student that takes the IAT every day. And every day the result comes back that he has a preference for white people over black people. Then one day the result comes back that he has no preference. For one day his implicit racism subsides, but thereafter his IAT scores go back to showing a preference for white people. So what happened that one day that changed his actual attitudes? He watched a speech from MLK. The theory goes that when you see someone or something that you may have misgivings about doing something good or being associated with something you consider positive repeatedly it changes your implicit attitudes towards them... no real shocker there.
When Obama got elected I was excited because I thought it would improve race relations, and perhaps more importantly, help black people feel empowered. But how do you measure that? Wheres the proof for that theory? The Implicit Attitudes Test (IAT). I'd love to see those IAT scores charted for a few years before, during, and after this presidency. $20 and my right arm says there's a moderate to large sized statistically significant effect.
For extra credit: will this change the opinion of racist conservative rednecks? I think so. They'll still hate him for being black and for being a "liberal", but they'll also watch him (except for the most extreme cases) acting as the president. And over time the two will become synonymous with one another in their minds.
As an aside, in my final psych. lab in undergrad. we took this test after taking an explicit test about race. I scored the highest on the explicit test (by far) meaning that according to my outward beliefs I was quite racist. I think the other rich white kids were just lying about how they really felt. I was however vindicated by the IAT. I got the least biased score of anyone in the class.
There is an example given in Malcolm Gladwell's book, Blink, of a student that takes the IAT every day. And every day the result comes back that he has a preference for white people over black people. Then one day the result comes back that he has no preference. For one day his implicit racism subsides, but thereafter his IAT scores go back to showing a preference for white people. So what happened that one day that changed his actual attitudes? He watched a speech from MLK. The theory goes that when you see someone or something that you may have misgivings about doing something good or being associated with something you consider positive repeatedly it changes your implicit attitudes towards them... no real shocker there.
When Obama got elected I was excited because I thought it would improve race relations, and perhaps more importantly, help black people feel empowered. But how do you measure that? Wheres the proof for that theory? The Implicit Attitudes Test (IAT). I'd love to see those IAT scores charted for a few years before, during, and after this presidency. $20 and my right arm says there's a moderate to large sized statistically significant effect.
For extra credit: will this change the opinion of racist conservative rednecks? I think so. They'll still hate him for being black and for being a "liberal", but they'll also watch him (except for the most extreme cases) acting as the president. And over time the two will become synonymous with one another in their minds.
13 November 2008
Who Knew?
That Obama was human, and kind of a cool one at that. A newspaper in the UK complied a list of 50 things you might not know about Barack Obama.
Notables among the list:
His favorite music includes Bob Dylan, Bach, and Miles Davis.
He speaks Spanish.
He's read all the Harry Potter books.
His dad was an economist.
He's a lefty.
He's really good at basketball.
And he plays scrabble.
10 November 2008
Obama's Workforce
Obama's workforce of volunteers and his supporter list are fast becoming coveted commodities.
One of my friends, who worked in Obama's new media department, is now part of a group that gets to decide what to do with all that information. More specifically, this group is trying to figure out what to do with this highly trained group of volunteers and the biggest donor list in history.
I think the biggest issue is attrition. A lot of people just aren't going to care now that their man got elected. You have to think a lot of peoples' motives for being involved in this election was that they hated the Bush administration. It would be interesting to know how many people stay engaged in the coming months and years. I thought some sort of forum/blog community type website would be appropriate. Then ask experts to weigh in on given issues and write opposing arguments. Then readers could be given some sort of mechanism to vote and further discuss said issues. There's really more to say here than I care to type, but at the end of the day whatever this becomes it should create transparency and a sense of belonging to a community.
If you have any ideas of your own please post them up. If they're good enough I'll pass them on.
One of my friends, who worked in Obama's new media department, is now part of a group that gets to decide what to do with all that information. More specifically, this group is trying to figure out what to do with this highly trained group of volunteers and the biggest donor list in history.
I think the biggest issue is attrition. A lot of people just aren't going to care now that their man got elected. You have to think a lot of peoples' motives for being involved in this election was that they hated the Bush administration. It would be interesting to know how many people stay engaged in the coming months and years. I thought some sort of forum/blog community type website would be appropriate. Then ask experts to weigh in on given issues and write opposing arguments. Then readers could be given some sort of mechanism to vote and further discuss said issues. There's really more to say here than I care to type, but at the end of the day whatever this becomes it should create transparency and a sense of belonging to a community.
If you have any ideas of your own please post them up. If they're good enough I'll pass them on.
06 November 2008
Picturequote
"Remember: upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all." - Alexander the Great
Just because we elected the better candidate doesn't mean we get to rest on our laurels. Go out and make something happen.
Just because we elected the better candidate doesn't mean we get to rest on our laurels. Go out and make something happen.
04 November 2008
Houdini Project
This was sent to me via another Obama worker concerning our progress on the Houdini Project.
Basically so many people were using the phone system to call in their polling places numbers that it was dragging down the system and crashed/was killed. Heres my conversation with another Obama worker:
Basically so many people were using the phone system to call in their polling places numbers that it was dragging down the system and crashed/was killed. Heres my conversation with another Obama worker:
me: yea it's been confusing. here's the actual deal.
the phone system did in fact go down, it was dragging down the internal phone system so they killed it around 11am
Sent at 2:33 PM on Tuesday
me: colorado started calling us saying wtf? stop undermining our system... states have been implementing their own system of getting the data to the field workers. theres a websitewatch4barack.com or they can go to their field organizer/boiler room
so since then we've returned to our regular mission of just catching typos and wrong information input and calling the poll watchers and telling them to resubmit their data
Sent at 2:35 PM on Tuesday
me: some places are just more organized than others. there's definitely a lot of info falling through the cracks, but every number i call and get ahold of someone is another 50-300 voters knocked off the list to narrow the sights of the ground team... i'd say we're fairly effective.
christopher: that's more or less what i figured
mostly i just wanted to let you know that you were famous
me: haha
EDIT: The phones (IVR) are back up.
Obama HQ
I've been here since about 5 in the AM. Ick.
I'm working on a project that knocks voters off the ground team's list once they've voted. This campaign is pretty incredable. They've thought of just about everything and they are efficient, well staffed, well funded, and smart. The few hundred people in this office have done a lot to increase the efficiency of the overall campaign to levels that have never before been seen. They are squeezing ever little bit of efficiency out of everything they've got.
This place is really cool.
This place is really cool.
02 November 2008
Interesting Weekend
I have no idea what the focus of this blog is. I think it's morphing into some pseudo diary ranting Nietzsche quote posting forum inhabited by me and read by few. Moving on...
I finally got to see The Kings of Leon at the Aragon Ballroom on Halloween. It was awesome.
Been meaning to do this for a while. This was a poster in the library of South Park Elementary. I laughed so hard when I saw it I just couldn't not make this shirt.
My friend and former coach works for Obama, so I've gotten the chance to volunteer at the head quarters in Chicago on election day... uh yea, pretty psyched. Anyways, I went there for some sort of training and a tour. It's pretty awesome. It's more or less exactly what you'd expect it to look like. Barack stickers, pins, posters everywhere. It's basically a bunch of young, impressive, fun, workaholics doing some really clever stuff. I really really hope they don't steal my camera on Tuesday.
I finally got to see The Kings of Leon at the Aragon Ballroom on Halloween. It was awesome.
Been meaning to do this for a while. This was a poster in the library of South Park Elementary. I laughed so hard when I saw it I just couldn't not make this shirt.
My friend and former coach works for Obama, so I've gotten the chance to volunteer at the head quarters in Chicago on election day... uh yea, pretty psyched. Anyways, I went there for some sort of training and a tour. It's pretty awesome. It's more or less exactly what you'd expect it to look like. Barack stickers, pins, posters everywhere. It's basically a bunch of young, impressive, fun, workaholics doing some really clever stuff. I really really hope they don't steal my camera on Tuesday.
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