Sarah Jessica Parker, or SJP as we like to call her, was phonebanking Friday at the Obama HQ; of course, looking flawless.

New York has the onus of making 2, 000, 000 phone calls by the closing of the polls on election day. Please take some time off and get your arse parked at one of the phone banking locations.  If you have an iPhone, get the Obama phonebanking application, and volunteer from the comfort of wherever you're at the moment.

Why am I posting this video? Not only is it a brilliant juxtaposition to The Hipster Olympics, there is an actual hipster sighting at 0:38 seconds.

Also, it was created by my "find of the day" Make The Road : "Make the Road New York* promotes economic justice, equity and opportunity for all New Yorkers through community and electoral organizing, strategic policy advocacy, leadership development, youth and adult education, and high quality legal and support services."

Yesterday I had a bit of fun at the expense of the Republican noise machines and their efforts to paint themselves already as a loud and marginalized minority in Capitol Hill. I was so caught up on the moment that I didn't blog about it until this morning but Kenneth Quinnell described it as a "Twitter Bomb" and has happy to spread the word :

Twitter Bomb

This wasn't my idea (although I came up with the cool name), I think Liza Sabater was the one who started it, but it's too brilliant to pass up.

Those of you who are on Twitter, send as many tweets as you can over the next few days with #dontgo in them. The conservatives are using this hash mark (like a tag) to spread misinformation about offshore drilling and their latest publicity stunt. What Liza and a few others started doing was to flood that hash with counter-commentary or irrelevant posts. Sort of like a google bomb, this can either disrupt what they're doing or, at the very least, annoy the crap out of them. We can all do this.

Whatever you're posting on twitter, try to fit #dontgo into it. And make sure you include the # sign, which is key.

If you aren't on Twitter, this might be the type of thing to get you into it.

And before I even start to explain, let me break down the lingo for you.

Bumped - Bouldin

Mermaid Parade Queen's Bid To Save Coney Island Gains Support While Coney Sellout Recchia Under Investigation For Conflict Of Interest Loan

NEW YORK – It's been a long, media blitz weekend for Savitri D, Queen Of The Coney Island Mermaid Parade and Director of Reverend Billy and the Church Of Stop Shopping, as her hunger strike to save Coney Island enters its fourth day.

Her vigil without food, while living in the window of the Sideshows By The Seashore building and broadcasting live over webcam, aims to draw New Yorkers to a June 24th Community Meeting at Lincoln High School to halt a reduction of Coney Island amusement space from 60 acres to 9 acres. The hunger strike has won the hearts of thousands of New Yorkers, with appearances on television, print, radio and the blogosphere.

Speaking of the surprise proposal to replace large swaths of Coney Island with high-rise “hotels” and a shopping mall, Savitri remarked in a recent interview:

Last night I saw a flurry of emails blanket my inbox with aq series of "unbelieavable", "still in shock" and the not so occasional "I'm angry".

I had spent most of the afternoon trying to sort out my thoughts fast enough for an Op/Ed, and I would always come back to the misgivings I've had since he took office a little over a year ago. That Eliot Spitzer's problem and weakness has always been his success because he never really needed anything other than a vote from you or me to get elected.

Eliot Spitzer didn't really need a million New Yorkers giving $5 or $10 donations to his campaign to get elected. He never needed to learn how to get people out on the streets to support his campaign to get him elected. He never needed to swallow his pride and shut up and take criticism from his own base in order to gain political influence. And he certainly never had to pound the pavement and get people out on election day to make sure people would get out of their homes and offices to cast a vote.

Crossposted at DailyKos and One Million Strong.

If you want to know where the excitement and enthusiasm are in the 2008 primary race, you need look no further than an Obama event.

If you want to know who brings together people from all walks of life, working toward a common purpose, check out the junior Senator from Illinois and his supporters.

If you want to know what hope looks like, follow me below the fold....


Obama supporters in New York are stepping up our activities as we move toward super-duper Tuesday. We've been registering new voters, signing up supporters and volunteers, distributing literature and stickers and spreading hope.

Yesterday, Lamont, one of my favorite Obama supporters, led a "Walk for Obama" up Broadway from Union Square to Columbus Circle. I'll admit that when I first heard his plan, I thought it might be a bit overly ambitious. But I've learned not to underestimate Lamont.

Crossposted at One Million Strong and DailyKos.

I'm a member of a merry little band of Obama volunteers in New York City. This is the story of what we're doing on the ground.

I'm just one person in a small group in a big city in a very big Super-duper Tuesday state, a state in which the front runner in the race is a popular U.S. Senator.

Our group, Downtown East for Obama, may be a small piece of the overall campaign, but we've had a big impact. I'm very proud of what we've accomplished, and have seen first hand that Obama supporters are the most fired up, hard-working volunteers out there. It's exciting to imagine groups all across this city, state and nation doing their part--just as we've been doing ours--to help Barack win the nomination.

Believe it or not, some people want to know my opinion on things. Some of those things have to do with politics. For months now I've been telling people that Spitzer is not reaching out to the people he needs the most : The activists and advocated who pounded the pavement for him election.

Elizabeth Benjamin published yesterday an article that describes the sentiments of not only Democrats in Albany but everybody I know in the progressive grassroots.

In Clue us in, Democrats growl at Eliot Spitzer, Elizabeth gets on the record what people have been saying on the off since the Troopergate scandal broke off : Eliot has a serious communication problem with his base and this is not a problem we can just lay on his staff.

Here's the gold :

"He didn't consult us before, he didn't consult us now," said state Sen. Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx). "He let me go on the Senate floor and make a fool of myself. Now I have to take the time to stand up, eat crap and apologize. Eat my pride."

Some Spitzer allies saw the driver's license debacle as

Yes, I know. It sometimes seems as if the entire world is going to hell. War, pestilence, mayhem, famine, republicans, it can be too much to absorb on occasion.

Here are two small things you can do that can make a difference.

First, if you haven't registered to vote as a Democrat yet, or need to re-register in time to vote in the Democratic primary on February 5th - I hear anecdotal reports that Greens are coming home to be able to vote for Obama - do so now. The deadline in New York is October 12th, 2007. (Hat tip casperr)

Then, after you do that, stand up and take a stand against the tyrannical régime in Burma. The Buddhist Peace Fellowship is organizing a rally/vigil outside that country's consulate in New York City.

New York -- New York City

Monday, October 1st
Rally for Human Rights in Myanmar Burma
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Permanent Mission of the Union of Myanmar (Burma) to the United Nations 10 East 77th Street, New York, NY (near 5th avenue, east side of Central Park). Closest Subway: "6" Train to 77th St., walk west towards central park
Organized by Amnesty International USA

For questions, contact Matthew Kennis at or 212 633 4200

That's at most two hours out of your day, and you'll have done something real.

If you see me in a suit it generally means one of two things: I am going to a wedding or I am invited to an event with Bill Clinton.

The work I have done for Kiva, both as a lender and a blogger, has gotten some attention. My Kiva diaries are among the more popular ones I write. A little while back I was interviewed by BBC World News as a lender. And most recently, I was invited to a private panel discussion for the release of Bill Clinton’s latest Book, GIVING: How Each of Us Can Change the World. I do not have a copy of this book as of yet so this is not a book review, though that might come. Instead I want to discuss the event and some of the individuals and organizations that were highlighted.