Daily Digest
John McNamara: How Obama Upended
My Life of Diminished Expectations
and Cynical Regret
I have to say, I’ve been disgusted by most presiden-
tial candidates in my lifetime, bored by the rest and
only impressed by one, Clinton. But with Clinton, you
sensed calculation was the primary motor and every-
thing else – his compassion, leadership, et al – were all
in service of that.
With Obama, I kept waiting for him to finally reveal
himself as one of the two types we’ve all come to know
and loathe – the knucklehead or the sociopath... Jerry
Lewis or Richard III. Reagan, brilliantly, was both –
with the emphasis on Jerry. Clinton also conjoined
the two – with maybe a tip to Richard, while the two
Bushes tried hard for the same splice but never finished
reading the play and seemed gleefully suited to clown-
ing anyhow.
Up and down the long campaign trail, Obama was
tested so we might finally stamp him as one or the other
and get on with our lives of diminished expectations
and cynical regret. And he just kept... rising. It was
and is incredible. Though I admit I won’t really relax
for a while.
We are the children of bullets in 1963 and 1968;
of Watergate; of fake small town morning in America
happy psycho Actor President and so on and on and on.
The best I ever dared to hope for was another shrewd,
liberal, narcissist who’d govern with a reptilian brain
but a human heart.
I never expected to see someone in that job who I
feel is not only smarter, kinder, and more hard-working
than me (trust me – not a high bar) but inspires us all
to be more like him. To actually stop and ask, with
zero irony, how would Obama handle this setback or
that insult? He would assess, be compassionate, strong,
wise, deal with it directly, as if the whole world were
listening... and rise.
Is it possible that the worst presidency of a republic
can lead directly to the best? As I watch Obama rise,
my hopes rising with him, I can only believe what my
head and heart finally say in unison:
Yes.
More on Barack Obama
Obama, Giannoulias Clash On The
1
Court
Barack Obama’s favorite campaign stress reliever,
basketball, was a source of tension between the candi-
date and his friend and frequent playing partner, Illi-
nois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, before the Iowa
Caucuses, Newsweek reports in its exhaustive ”Secrets
of the 2008 Campaign”:
Obama has always been fiercely competitive and not
above stacking his team with the best players. This led
to at least one loud argument on the court with his
friend Alexi Giannoulias, the Illinois state treasurer, in
the tense days before the Iowa caucuses. Obama had
loaded his team with Love and some other hot shots,
and Giannoulias’s team was losing badly. ”So I got
mad and started yelling at him–’I want to win too!’
” recalled Giannoulias. ”And it got under his skin.”
Obama responded, with rare heat, ”I don’t care who I
play with. I’ll play with anybody! You want to switch
teams? We can switch teams if you want!” Giannoulias
declined, out of pique more than anything, he recalled.
”And then he just gave me this smile,” Giannoulias
said, mimicking Obama’s signature smile, teeth flash-
ing, eyes crinkled, chin slightly tucked in, a surprising
gleam of warmth, guaranteed to disarm.
The on-court tension quickly ebbed, as Giannoulias
remained an Obama basketball regular and was among
those who played in Obama’s final campaign trail game
on Election Day.
Watch video of Giannoulias discussing that game.
More on Barack Obama
Tom D’Antoni: A Moment Which Will
Last a Lifetime
How many I’ll-never-forget-where-I-was-when’s are
happy memories? Think about it. From 9-11 on back
to Pearl Harbor, since we’ve had instant mass commu-
nication, none of those moments are happy.
Last night was happy, and we’ll never forget it.
We had some friends and family over last night.
From 11 p.m., when I heard Olbermann announce that
Obama had won, until the middle of the afternoon to-
day, I have been speechless. Me! I get paid for words.
Obama had it exactly right. The night belonged to
us. People of good will never gave up trying to make a
better world and, in the words of Allen Toussaint’s Yes
We Can!:
Make this land a better land
Than the world in which we live
And help each man be a better man
With the kindness that you give.
I’m white. I know what this election means to me,
but I was listening to national African-American talk
radio this morning and one-after-another, callers were
agreeing to a remarkable concept...maybe white folks
weren’t so bad after all.
Funny concept to some. Serious as death to others.
Serious as lynching.
We’re all looking at each other, and I mean every-
body, in a new way today. Here in the People’s Repub-
lic of Portland Oregon, there’s a quiet sense of relief,
although last night, on my block there were a lot fire-
works exploded and much banging on pots. I know that
these feelings are shared by people of good will all over
the world.
How long will that last? Stay tuned.
But it’s still fresh. And if feels good. And I’m
beginning to be able to talk.
I can say this........WE WON!
Read more reaction from HuffPost bloggers to Barack
Obama’s victory in the 2008 presidential election
More on Obama Election Day
Despite ”Oprah Effect,” Kindle Sales
Won’t Meet Expectations, Analyst Says
Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney downgraded Ama-
zon’s stock to ”Hold” from ”Buy” in his latest report,
despite a surge in shares since Q3 earnings report which
he says is partially due to Oprah’s recent endorsement
of the Kindle.
He cites poor sales data from other online vendors
and doesn’t seem to think the O-Factor is enough to
raise Kindle sales above his previous estimates this hol-
iday season.
Oprah’s 10/24 public endorsement (’It’s absolutely
my new favorite thing in the world’) served as a mate-
rial stock catalyst,” he writes. ”We stand steadfastly by
our ’08 380K Kindle unit forecast. But also by our con-
clusion that it won’t be material to AMZN ’til 2010.”
Read the full story here
-or-
::MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer: Oprah Endorses
Amazon’s Kindle ::How Much Will The Oprah Bump
Do For Kindle?
More on Oprah
2
Malia And Sasha’s DC School: Where
Will They Go?
More on President Obama
Paige Donner: Greening Hollywood:
Staples Goes Solar
California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger trekked
up to the rooftop of the STAPLES Center to commem-
orate the final solar panel installation of the total 1,727
photovoltaic solar panels that now grace the roof of the
Laker’s home court venue.
Lee Zeidman, STAPLES Center General Manager;
Timothy J. Leiweke, AEG President and CEO; Gov-
ernor Schwarzenegger; Steve Kircher, CEO of Solar
Power, Inc.
”Everyone these days talks about some states that
are red, other states that are blue, we here in California
are more interested in building a green state. That is
what this is all about here today,” he said, and joked,
”The outcome of the Celtics and Lakers would have
been different if we had these solar panels two years
ago!”
AEG and Solar Power Inc. worked together to in-
stall the photovoltaic panels on the Staples Center rooftop
which will provide significant environmental benefits
and is part of AEG’s overall sustainability initiative.
The 345.6 kilowatt system will provide environmental
offsets over the next 25 years which include the elimina-
tion of over 10,000 tons of CO2, 27-plus tons of sulfur
dioxide and over 33 tons of nitrous oxide, a principal
greenhouse gas. The net clean energy benefits of the
system equates to the environmental benefits of 170
acres of mature trees.
A view of some of the over 1,700 Solar Panels re-
cently installed atop STAPLES Center’s roof.
AEG is the world’s largest presenter of live sports
and entertainment events; They own and/or control
twelve sports franchises. They are also currently de-
veloping entertainment districts such as L.A. Live, Lon-
don’s O2 and adjacent to The O2 World Arena in Berlin.
LADWP, Mayor Villaraigosa’s office and LA City
Council are working closely together and also with large
stakeholders such as AEG to facilitate this implemen-
tation of solar generated power for our city. The Green
Energy-Good Jobs Initiative was recently introduced
which, when fully implemented, would produce 400 megawatts
of solar power, roughly 3 percent of the total power
generated by the Los Angeles Department of Water
and Power (LADWP). That’s the equivalent of remov-
ing 400,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions from L.A.
air and would provide power to more than 100,000
LADWP customers.
 ”Los Angeles has long been envied for our sunny
weather, and now we are taking the first step toward
an aggressive plan to put that sun to work for us cre-
ating clean energy and good jobs,” said Eric Garcetti,
LA City Council President. Sponsored by Working Cal-
ifornians, the Green Energy-Good Jobs Initiative is one
component of LADWP’s effort to reduce its dependence
on coal-based power. L.A.’s goal as a city is to create
20 percent of our power from renewable energy sources.
The new investment tax credit (ITC) signed into
federal law on October 3rd, has everyone in the indus-
try excited. The new ITC eliminates a 2,000 cap on the
residential incentive which comes into effect in January.
So homeowners who wait until January can save 9,000
instead of 2,000 on a 30,000 system. The 18 billion
tax incentives package extends the 30-percent solar tax
credit for eight years for residential and commercial in-
stallations and allows power companies to benefit from
the credit for the first time.
”I can’t tell you how exciting it is to be part of one of
the most important global movements that impacts so-
ciety in our lifetime,” said Steve Kircher, CEO of Solar
Power Inc. and added, ”Homeowners are now able to
finance their solar systems directly through their prop-
erty tax.” Solar Power Inc. supplies the pv solar panels
and offers easy installation with their proprietary Sky-
Mount (TM) mounting system. Indeed, the Governor
simply snapped the last panel into place atop the Sta-
ples Center rooftop.
Solar Is Affordable
The perception of solar energy as an expensive form
of renewable energy is no longer valid. The Governor
had the following to say on the topic of affordability:
”With our Million Solar Roofs Plan, people, home-
owners, get a tax incentive which is around 5000 which
is really helpful. And people will find out very quickly
that by installing solar you will bring down the costs
of energy and this will pay back the investment very
quickly. So you will actually get your energy much
more cheaply.
The question really is how do we produce solar pan-
els and solar technology cheaper? And that’s the same
thing as it was with cell phones. That the more you
produce, the cheaper they will get, and the more they
will be affordable. We see already the costs coming
down, and this is why it was important to me to chal-
lenge businesses like for instance, here, the STAPLES
Center, or the State University system, the prisons, the
hospitals, also SoCal Edison, to make deals with land-
lords of the various different warehouses and big build-
ings, government buildings, to really blanket the roofs
of these buildings with solar panels.
The more solar panels we have to produce, the cheaper
they will become, the costs will come down and the
more affordable they will then be for everybody. So it
is like the cell phone. It used to cost 1500 for a cell
phone and now they’re down to 50. That’s the idea.
3
I’m proud of California. I’m proud of the model we
have created for the rest of the world. Go STAPLES
Center and Go Lakers!” concluded Governor Schwarzeneg-
ger.
”Today’s installation is another example of AEG’s
commitment to investing in energy saving technologies
and measures for all of our venues worldwide,” said
Timothy J. Leiweke, President and CEO of AEG.
Timothy J. Leiweke, AEG President and CEO; Gov-
ernor Schwarzenegger.
”We’re going to continue to be in the forefront of
this industry and we’re going to continue to look for
ways to make our facilities green not only in this city
but the rest of the state and all the other AEG facil-
ities we’re involved with,” said Lee Zeidman, General
Manager of STAPLES Center and Nokia Theater L.A.
Live.
Eric Hafter, President of Solar Power, Inc. says that
solar is open to everyone now.
”The savings off of your energy bill will be greater
than the cost of the system with full financing. It’s
open to everyone now. If you have good exposure for
your rooftop, then you could have a solar system in and
literally lower your costs from day one and never put
money out. So the perception of solar as super expen-
sive, we’re well past that. The system is completely eco-
nomic. This system is absolutely an economic choice,”
he said.
SolarCity, the largest U.S. residential installer claims
that their installed costs for their photovoltaic solar
systems are between 14 cents and 25 cents per kilo-
watt hour, including government subsidies. Their solar
modules are supplied by First Solar. For Southern Cal-
ifornians especially, a system that turns sunlight into
electricity makes perfect solar sense.
According to an economic study released last week
by the University of California at Berkeley and Next
10, California’s green policies will create as many as
403,000 jobs in the next 12 years and household incomes
will increase by 48 billion.
More on Green Energy
Cute Furry Bunny USB Webcam Hides
Your True Motivations [USB Webcam]
This bunny USB webcam looks just like a normal
stuffed bunny at first glance (if you ignore the USB ca-
ble coming out of his ass), which is perfect for whatever
clandestine recording opportunities you’re setting up in
front of your computer. Of course, there are much eas-
ier ways of secretly documeting things than putting a
stuffed bunny on your desk or monitor, many of which
our own Sean Fallon is intimately familiar with. Six-
teen bones and shipping gets you this 1.3-megapixel
furry creaturemdash;which actually looks more like a
dog than a rabbit. [Sourcing Map via Shiny Shiny]