Archive - 2005

May 11th

Extreme Democracy

Last year, I wrote a chapter for the book Extreme Democracy. My chapter, like several others, dealt with DeanSpace. DeanSpace has now evolved into CivicSpace, and is being used for many non-profits, campaigns, and even businesses. Two examples that are particularly important to me are DeStefano for CT, and Toomre Capital Markets.

The book has been available for download for quite a while. Now it is available as a book at http://www.lulu.com/content/125298. Pick up a copy today!

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May 10th

Homeless Children, International

A key phrase of the DeStefano campaign is ‘Expect More’. He talks about how the only thing that people in Connecticut expect to be number one at is college basketball. We need to expect more in terms of economic development, protecting our environment and open spaces, caring for the health of everyone and so on.

With this as a backdrop to my thinking, I went to church on Sunday. The church we go to is in backcountry Greenwich, one of the wealthiest areas in our country. Megan White, who grew up in Greenwich, went to a top class private school in there and then went on to Harvard, was the guest minister. She is a missionary in Kenya with Homeless Children International. She spoke about how people brought up in backcountry Greenwich have great potential. They have had every opportunity to get the best education and make the best connections. They have learned social graces, but are they living up to their potential. Yes, many of them go on to major roles in business or government, but are they living up to what God would have them do.

May 9th

The Wayside Inn

Monday evening. I am sitting on an antique bed at The Wayside Inn in Middletown, VA. I left this afternoon to drive down to Staunton, VA to pick up my eldest daughter from college. I am still about eighty miles away, but her classes don’t end until tomorrow at noon so I’ll drive leisurely down to the campus. Then we’ll bum around campus for a little bit as she does her final tasks and says goodbye to her classmates. I hope to get back on the road to Connecticut sometime in the afternoon

I’ve pushed the schedule up a little bit so that I can be home in time to get to Mayor DeStefano’s 50th Birthday party on Wednesday which I am eagerly looking forward to.

May 8th

In the News

On the front page of the Sunday Greenwich Time today is an article about blogging. It has a good description of my blog and blogging activities as well as about other blogs like http://benedictblog.com/, http://dumpjoe.com/, http://www.dealydaily.com/, and http://energyoutlook.blogspot.com.

The article mentions that I contribute to several blogs, but doesn’t list them, so for those of you who have stumbled across this blog recently, perhaps an account of the Greenwich Time article, let me point you to Greater Democracy. Most of my coverage of the 2004 Democratic National Convention was done for Greater Democracy.

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May 7th

A tale of two Mayors

(Written on the train into the city yesterday, but posted Saturday afternoon).

It is Friday morning and I am on the train into New York City. It is cool and cloudy today. I had been expecting nicer weather. Perhaps it will turn nice for Mother’s day.

On the train, I read the Stamford Advocate’s coverage of Mayor Malloy’s exoneration. I am pleased. Mayor Malloy has been a great mayor and would be a great governor. Some people have suggested that allegations from an unknown source were a political hatchet job. It sure looks that way to me.

Republican Town Committee Chairman Daniel McCabe is quoted as saying “I certainly wouldn’t consider it a badge of honor that something that intense and dramatic had to take place in the city of Stamford.” In a sense, he is right, and if he has an integrity, he would denounce the person who sent the chief state’s attorney’s office on a wild goose chase and would actively work to have that person exposed.

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