California air board adopts a sweeping plan to curb greenhouse gases - Los Angeles Times

California air board adopts a sweeping plan to curb greenhouse gases - Los Angeles Times

At least someone in Sacramento is doing work. Go Air Resources Board! (Sorry Arnold...making a clock counting down to impending doom does not constitute work. It's an arts and crafts project.)

Revenge of the Nerds - The Daily Beast

Revenge of the Nerds - The Daily Beast

Yes...I'm addicted to this site. I love the fact that eggheads are once again en vouge in DC. I'll be sure to dawn my geek shiek when I'm there next month.

Why Giving Money to Your Alma Mater is Immoral - The Daily Beast

Why Giving Money to Your Alma Mater is Immoral - The Daily Beast

Zac Bissonnette is a financial contributor to AOL, has his own financial blog WalletPOP.com, and is a contributor to the Daily Beast. Oh, and did I mention he's a college sophmore? You might not agree with every thing Zac has to say, but you have to admire the kid's spunk. Check out his November 10th post to the Daily Beast.

Obama's Online Strategy for the Presidency: Real Grassroots Organizing or "Window Dressing?"

Barack Obama's transition team continues to flush out the president elect's future online startegy. Check out the Financial Times article below to see what the Obama team has planned for the internet's political future.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/652a44ee-c566-11dd-b516-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1

A Preview of New Assembly Members

The following is a list of five new California State Assembly members the Sacramento Bee suggests we all keep an eye on:

http://www.sacbee.com/capitolandcalifornia/story/1435186.html.

What will happen to the GOP? What should happen?

Interesting article, more interesting blog roll it inspired.

The key to the GOP "comeback?" Well, do not know if I should be giving free advice, but your story sucks and you need new and younger blood to run your campaigns...cough, cough, slyly point fingers towards teams like ours...

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/internet-rightroots-key-to-gop-revival/

For Those Seeking Facebook Profiles

Make sure to check out these tips from Switched.


http://www.switched.com/2008/11/13/facebook-101-25-tips-and-tricks/

Your online presence is important.

Trouble in Second Life

The legal problems emerging in Second Life abound.


http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/11/14/second.life.divorce/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Don Draper's Guide

On Saturday Night Live several weeks ago, with guest star Jon Hamm, the show ran a sketch, "Don Draper's Guide to Getting Women." Many of the steps, though, were applicable to those who are trying to "get clients."

Step 1: When in doubt remain absolutely silent.

True. Silence can be golden.

Step 2: When asked about your past, give vague open-ended answers.

Never say more than you need to about yourself or your company.

Step 3: Have a great name.

True for any business. Your name and presentation are pretty important.

Step 4: Look fantastic in a suit. Look fantastic in casual wear. Look fantastic in anything, Sound good. Smell good. Kiss good. Strut around with supreme confidence. Be uncannily successful at your job. Blow people away every time you say anything.

Besides the kiss good part, the rest is true.

...Be Don Draper.

Wouldn't hurt. If you are a fan of Mad Men, the character of Don Draper is the quintessential creative guy.

What Went Wrong With the No On Prop 8 Campaign

This is an interesting analysis of what went wrong with the No on 8 campaign, and where the LGBT community might want to go from here...

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-11-11/hollywoodrsquos-race/1/

The Next Step

The numbers are in and a winner has been decisively chosen. The country will certainly be basking in what was in many ways a victory for all of us no matter what side of the aisle you stand on. Now comes the real challenge, taking the next step forward. An election has been won, and now a successful administration must be made. The one thing our new president elect has given most of America is hope.

As the Numbers Roll in, My Predictions on Prop. 8 Come True

Note to campaigns: NEVER underestimate the Inland Empire, the Central Valley, and the deep family values of the majority population in California.

A Victory for Flawless Execution and Strategy

David Plouffe and David Axelrod have run the best campaign in American history. From its flawless execution online to its ability to get youth from around the country to work for free in the last two months to ensure a victory, the "men behind the curtain" pull off a victory tonight.

Kudos.

Will the Real Conservative Please Stand Up

This blogger for the Daily Beast make an interesting suggestion. Have we turned conservativism on its ear this election?

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-31/obama-is-the-true-conservative/2/

The End of the Republican Party as We Know It?

http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?source=most_commented&story_id=12470555

In this article, The Economist analyzes the apparent fall of the Republican party. Five days before the election with all of the polls reporting that Obama is going to win, it sure does seem that the once unshakeable GOP has been shaken to its core. Nonetheless, five days is still a long way to go. Anything can happen. I mean, McCain is the comeback kid.

If Obama does win, what does that mean for the Republicans? That is largely up to the party leadership. The GOP will have to reinvent itself, that goes without saying. How long that reinvention will take and what the ultimate reincarnation will be is yet to be seen.

If McCain wins, who knows. Will there be eight more years of Bush policies? Or, will McCain prove to be the maverick he claims?

All that is certain, is that these next several years are going to be interesting.

Don't Stop at the Top

Good advice from this website if you live in California. In a state that is so initiative-driven, do make sure you go through everything that is going to be on the ballot.


http://dontstopatthetop.org/

Possible Democratic Majority Only a Temporary Budget Fix

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-dems22-2008oct22,0,7956359.story

Political analysts are projecting that Democrats may gain a few extra seats in the California legislature this election. If this happens, the battle over the budget may not be as severe next year as it was this year. The article states that remaining Republicans might be more willing to break away from party leadership if their numbers are reduced.

This is good news. I for one breathed a tiny sigh of relief. However, I had to remind myself that the outcome of the upcoming election is still speculation. Who knows what will happen. Also, this would just be a short term fix. Once Democrats start losing seats again, we could potentially be stuck in the same mess. It is time for the legislature to reexamine its approach to the budget so that we might avoid another 85 days without a budget.

Arnold and Warren at the Women's Conference

Some memorable quotes...

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/

Michael J. Fox at The Women's Conference

Michael J. Fox and Russell Simmons engage in a conversation with Deborah Norville. MJF bestowed insight and some great zingers to the crowd.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/806260

Live Blogging from the Women's Conference

http://www.californiawomen.org/liveblogs


Check me out tomorrow!

I signed the Dove pledge...check out the Women's Conference Live Blog to find out why.

The New California Legislative Analyst

Inquiring minds want to know...

http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/1331386.html.

Time to Reevaluate What's Important

http://www.sacbee.com/walters/story/1329798.html

Today, Dan Walters of the Sac Bee wrote about the new developments in California's fiscal crisis. After the election, the Governor is planning to call a special session to address the ever increasing deficit. What will the Governor likely propose? Most likely cuts rather then increased taxes to raise revenue.

Admittedly, there is fat that must be trimmed from some of our state programs. Money is not being used efficiently, or at all, in some. However, the answer is not knee-jerk, across the board, cuts. What would really benefit our great state is asking the legislature to take a long hard look at all of our state programs to get a realistic assessment of what really needs to be fixed and what we can afford to cut.

What we must also come to terms with as a state is the prospect of higher taxes. We all enjoy having roads to drive on and schools to send our children to, but those things cost money and no one wants to pay the price. It is time for all residents of California to sit down and really think about what is important. If we want quality education, it has to be funded. If we want reasonably priced public transportation, it has to be funded. If we want a sense of security from knowing law enforcement is out on patrol, that has to be funded too.

The question is are the citizens of California ever going to be ready to chip in a little more?

UStream for Women's Conference

Check me out tomorrow night and Wednesday live blogging at the Women's Conference. I will post my own video highlights to my UStream Channel:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/christina-gagnier?preview=1

The Millennials--Biggest Issue: The Haves v. The Have Notes

In a recent panel I participated in on the show Speak On It, I commented that the biggest issue with THIS generation would be the split between the "haves" and "have nots."

From a generational perspective, research confirms Millennials do not see race to be as much of a "factor" as previous generations. What will be an issue, due to the failure of both our technology infrastructure and education system, will be those who suffer in an advanced information economy: socioeconomically-disadvantaged Millennials of all colors in our poor urban and rural communities.

A Better Ensemble: Sarah Palin on SNL

Sarah Palin's appearance on SNL has received mixed reviews. From a strategic perspective, I just don't think SNL or the McCain/Palin campaign capitalized on the opportunity to gain more credibility for their interests.

For Palin, we did not see her be funny, yet serious, inserting herself into the pop culture of the middle-of-the-road voters watching at 11:30 Saturday night.

For SNL, Tina Fey may be giving the show a ratings boost right now, but SNL generally otherwise resembles the McCain campaign: an old hand in the game, increasingly shaky, and losing what it was always good for.

What both the McCain campaign and SNL need right now is a better ensemble.

Christina Gagnier on Speak On It

Christina Gagnier, reppin' Mobilize.org on Speak On It.

For Travelers Who Want to Get in the Zone

What a find!


http://www.cashuttlebus.com/services.asp

Amtrak is too expensive, the airport is just a hassle, but for Downtown LA or SF folks, under $80 bucks roundtrip.

Likely bring your extra battery pack for your laptop, but great way to travel. Leaves after traffic and misses traffic both ways.

Sound Advice on Using Twitter

With new technology, it is always important to figure out the best ways to use it, whether for growing your small business, or getting across your message to constituents.

From the NY Times:

http://shiftingcareers.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/how-twitter-can-help-at-work/

John Lilly from Mozilla

Free Software and the promotion of free culture

Phrase of the Day

"Civic Hacking"

Larry Lessig on Remix

Watch online!!!

Free Culture Update: Open Source Museum

Also...check out the first Open Source Museum at www.bampf.berkeley.edu.

Updates from Free Culture: Okapi Island

If you are a fan of archaeology and on Second Life, check out Okapi Island. There you can catch a student run archaeology class from UC Berkeley.

Gagnier Margossian at Free Culture

G & M are at Free Culture at UC Berkeley today. Check out the conference online, http://live.yahoo.com/okapi.

We will be live blogging all day from the conference.

John Lilly from Mozilla and Larry Lessig of Stanford and Change Congress to present.

Women's Conference 2008

Live blogging at the Women's Conference 2008 in Long Beach.

http://www.californiawomen.org/

Be your own pollster!

Sweet app.

http://strawpollnow.com/

Election Track

Scott Lay puts together this wonderful campaign finance reporting tool, http://www.electiontrack.com/.

I get updates every night on who is contributing to what. Very telling.

Check it out.

So California Love

Gagnier Margossian will now have camp set up in both Sacramento and Los Angeles.

Life is GOOD

My new favorite thing is the GOOD Sheet, issued by GOOD Magazine.

GOOD Sheets are great! They are newsprint quarter-fold booklets that break down domestic and international issues. I have only seen issues 3 and 4, on Immigration and Gas Prices.

What a great idea! It is small enough to fit in someone's purse and easily digestible information.

Check it out. Grab one at your local Starbucks while you wait for your cup of joe or one of the other mocha fruity frosty concoctions people order.

Our Second Life

A fascinating legal world lies ahead for our firm, and both of us just joined the Second Life Bar Association. Even if the law has not quite caught up to technology, it will be forced to, with both the online privacy issues that emerge with online portals like Facebook or with the property issues that emerge with the virtual items that are purchased on Second Life.

A key question we have: Our legal system has enough problems handling "this life." How will it handle the "second" one?

Website: http://www.slba.info/

Handle

Much has been said and written lately about Sarah Palin's "flubs" in her news interviews. While I will not discuss from a political perspective whether or not I agree with Ms. Palin as a viable candidate, I will say this: the behind the scenes folks at the McCain campaign need to "handle" her public discourse.

As a consultant, campaign aide, or the guy that does the coffee runs, you are responsible for maintaining the public image of the candidate. In this presidential election, one that may mark the beginning of a new epoch, it is especially important that everything behind the scenes of both campaigns be handled with precision and care.

Both campaigns...you got only a little more than four weeks. Handle!

Communication Breakdown

No one will disagree that the United States economy is in crisis. However, no one can seem to agree on a solution. Last week, Congress was battling to get a bailout bill through. Monday, after everyone expected it to pass...it didn't.

Members who voted the bill down sited the outrage they heard from their constituents. The cry on Capitol Hill that day was, "How can we bail out Wall Street when Main Street suffers?!" However, when the bill failed the question was, "No what are we going to do?" There was panic. We were dealing with the unknown, and our markets do not function well under those circumstances.

So how did a big mess become even bigger? There was a communication break down. All the public heard about the bill was that it would cost the people $700 billion. There were very few particulars beyond that. Without any other information to go on, the public thought the worst, and expressed their outrage. This was a huge public relations flub. If anyone, whether it be the Bush administration or Congress wanted to get this deal through, they needed to sell it. They failed to do this.

As a nation, we find ourselves asking the collective question, "How did we find ourselves in this position?" We now know the answer: Poor salesmanship.

Is it Time to Change Our Focus?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/opinion/31dowd.html?ex=1377921600&en=2fc2820dadcca789&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Just when you start to lose a little bit of faith in the New York Times, the Op-Ed writers manage to pull out some gems. This is a great commentary, on how unlikely McCain's VP pick is.

Dowd points a blaring light on America's misplaced fascination with a candidate who is a character. This started to become evident with the election and then reelection of George W. Bush. His victories had less to do with what he stood for and more to do with his folksy nature that made him appear to be "one of the guys." Somehow, which candidate the voter was most likely to have a beer with trumped which candidate was most qualified to run the country as the deciding factor. Hmm...I think I missed that day in high school civics class.

This phenomenon is more evident in the 2008 election. Of course, this is a historic election and that has to do with the identity of the candidates. But, once again, who the candidates are has overshadowed what they plan to do for the country. While it's about time that we have diverse presidential candidates, we should be careful to emphasize the character of the candidates rather than the candidates as characters.

Have to Appreciate the Approach

I picked this up off a post on Facebook.

http://www.strausnews.com/articles/2008/08/31/pike_county_courier/news/3.txt

A campaign spearheaded by kids to eliminate homework.

Three boys who set up their own website, created a petition, contacted local media...they have more organizing skills than some people who do advocacy work professionally.

While I personally think the issue is what kind of homework is being assigned not that it is assigned, I have to appreciate the "angle" they took.

Visit their website: http://www.freewebs.com/no4homework/.

The Smartest Guy in the Room...or the Blogosphere

I just finished an exceptional article in Wired Magazine about gossip mogul Perez Hilton. Check it out:

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/16-09/mf_perez

Why I mention this here is my fascination with self-promotion, or, specifically, how easy it could be, especially in the digital age. More musing on this later...

Use of Both Social Portals: Facebook v. MySpace

Fast Company Magazine this month ran a cover story on MySpace and its new (but old) growth model. What was really interesting was a sidebar article, http://www.fastcompany.com/article/facebook-vs-myspace-facts, which compares the two "social networking" sites.

This comparison serves as an illustration of why organizations should use both portals: some of its users are exclusive users of one site or the other, and share the attitudes of their founders. This is illustrates my favorite statement on the differences between the two platforms: "Facebook is exclusive. MySpace is for everyone else."

I am not sure what relevance that comment has, since Facebook abandoned its "college email" only origins some time ago, but a glimpse into the self-perception of its users is important: they feel more like it is a networking tool, as opposed to "self-advertising." This perception has catapulted the number of politicians, professors, and other "Boomers" who chose to use Facebook over MySpace.

On the other end are MySpace proponents. When I asked another colleague why they did not migrate over to Facebook, they stated: MySpace is more grassroots and authentic. Facebook seems more 'constructed'."

Bottom line: There are exclusive users. Do not assume you will hit everyone using one site or the other. Plan and address "social network snobbery."