SpidelBlog

Sorry I have not posted much on the SpidelBlog much.  We kicked off the PAC on Wednesday, and brought on a new client this week via BlueDynamic, so it has been kinda nuts. I am leaving tomorrow to New Orleans, LA for one of our clients to prepare for a national media campaign during the General Election around the issues of Gulf Coast Recovery.

During this past week and while in NOLA I have played and will be playing with some new technology for both SpidelBlog and BlueDynamic. You saw the podcast live on Wednesday night. Not the best quality, but the concept is there. I will be trying to podcast live from NOLA to test the cell phone networks on quality. The goal is to create real time high quality video for our future projects (such as blogging live from the floor at both DNCC and RNC.)

You can see some of this work on the media section of BlueDynamic, but we have a lot more to upload and play around with. You will start to see some of this technology pop up on political sites that are our clients. So stay tuned. Until then… consider SpidelBloe my beta blog to test it all out :)

You will see some of this stuff while I am in NOLA the next few days. Feel free to comment on the quality and provide some feedback overall.

Peace,

Kevin

Below is a great report Center for American Progress / Campus Progress. It argues that the younger generation is one of the most progressive when it comes to economic issues - both currently and compared to other generations when they were young people.

“Millennials’ views on the economy, a majority of 18- to 29-year-olds (our definition of this generation) believe that the government can be a force for good in the economy, and that increased investments in healthcare, education, and other areas are necessary to ensure strong and sustainable economic growth.”

 See the full report here.

Issues › Domestic & Economy › Economy

The Progressive Generation

How Young Adults Think About the Economy

By David Madland, Amanda Logan | May 6, 2008

Young adults today—often known as the Millennial Generation—have decidedly progressive views on economic issues, possibly more so than any previous generation. According to the results of our first-of-a-kind analysis of Millennials’ views on the economy, a majority of 18- to 29-year-olds (our definition of this generation) believe that the government can be a force for good in the economy, and that increased investments in healthcare, education, and other areas are necessary to ensure strong and sustainable economic growth.  Continue reading »

When I was at Amnesty we had an idea for a Gitmo cell tour. It was an concept from our team at Denounce Torture team, which I directed. It is awesome to see it move forward from an idea… to action. Proud to have a small part of this great idea.

See the cell near you. Here are the details:

National Tour Launch Event: 11:30am - 1pm on May 8 in Bayfront Park, Tina Hills Pavilion, 301 N. Biscayne Blvd, Miami, FL

Miami: May 8 - May 11 in Bayfront Park, Tina Hills Pavilion, 301 N. Biscayne Blvd, Miami, FL WITH SPECIAL GUEST MARY ROBINSON ON MAY 10 at 2PM.

Philadelphia: May 30 -June 1 in Dilworth Plaza, 1400 JFK Blvd, Philadelphia, PA

Portland, Maine: June 5 -June 7 in Monument Square, Congress Street, Portland, ME

New York, Clearwater Festival: June 21 & 22, Croton Point Park, Village of Croton-on-Hudson, Westchester County, NY

Washington DC: June 25 -June 30

June 26 Special Event in Washington DC to mark International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

For more information, click here.

See here at 6:45pm AZ time.

Dear friend,

I know it has been some time since you have heard from me. In fact, many people have asked what I’ve been up to since I ran for Superintendent of Public Instruction? I appreciate everyone reaching out to express their interest and support for me after we came so close to victory. Please be assured that my silence has not been due to inaction.

Today I would like to introduce you to AZ School Works.

After processing the realization that we would have to wait another four years to change the leadership and priorities within our state department of education, I knew we needed to continue our movement to ensure all of Arizona’s children are moving forward. Over the past year and a half I have been meeting with educators, community leaders and elected officials to determine our next courses of action Through my previous campaign, and these various conversations, we have identified a significant need to provide Arizona’s educators, parents, students and concerned citizens with an effective vehicle to advocate for financial reasonability and genuine, results-driven reform within our public education system. Continue reading »

That is the new mantra at the Arizona State Legislature.

Last week the state legislature passed a receivership bill for the Phoenix Roosevelt school district, this after showing significant gains by local leadership and management, the Republicans in the state legislature would like to take over the localized control and put it in the hands of the Department of Education. Because, this is the Republican mentality right? Stronger centralized government.

The real agenda for the Republicans (and Tom Horne) is to begin undermining the Public Education system.

Please ask the Governor to NOT sign this bill!

Telephone: (602) 542-1318
Toll Free 1(800) 253-0883
Fax: (602) 542-1381
E-mail address: azgov@az.gov

This last week Gerald Richard, former Director of Legal Services for the Phoenix Police Department, announced his candidacy for Maricopa County Attorney.

His announcement, seen in full below, highlighted his career of public service and key endorsements of Law Enforcement personnel including Former Phoenix Police Chief Dennis Garrett and Buckeye Police Chief Dan Saban.

Download File

A Community Education Forum on the Privacy Implications of Data Mining and the War on Terror

Government-sponsored fusion centers vary widely, but generally are centers intended to improve the sharing of anti-terrorism intelligence among state, local and federal government agencies and the private sector. To date, over 40 of these centers have been established around the nation, including Arizona.

Fusion centers are raising many questions about privacy and government openness and must be carefully bounded and monitored to ensure that they remain a legitimate and effective law enforcement tool.

“We all want our government agencies to talk to each other and share appropriate law enforcement information,” said Mike German, ACLU Policy Counsel. “What we don’t want to see is the emergence of secretive, out-of-control units that collect and sift through masses of personal information on innocent people.”

What: East Valley Chapter of the ACLU of Arizona hosts their annual Lasagna Bash Fundraising Event about the privacy implications of data mining and the War on Terror.

Who: Michael German; Intelligence expert, former FBI agent and ACLU National Security Counsel.

Where?… Continue reading »

We are putting together a GREAT statewide tour of the Education PAC in the next month. I will be back traveling the state soon. Also, some great clients we just signed on… so I will be back in DC and drinking beers at Axis SOON as well as NOLA. If you are in those areas… hit me up. Would love to catch up!