The economy is still down. Influenza is getting scary. Still, the optimism of Americans has been rising. In a leader's toolbox, few tools are as useful as optimism. Don't leave home without it. But optimism is a tricky thing for a leader. Like an American Express card, you have to have it, but if you abuse it, you'll lose it.
The Women Who Tech TeleSummit will occur on May 12th. Defying the stereotype that the tech world belongs to pocket-protector toting guys hooked on sci-fi and video games; hundreds of women are gearing up for the second annual “Women Who Tech” telesummit http://www.womenwhotech.com. These are no ordinary women either. The participants are the cadre of women from around the globe who leverage their technology savvy to inspire change and transform the world.
Women Who Tech’s thought provoking panels (held by phone and web on May 12th from 11AM to 6PM EST) offers the latest resources and tools for launching a successful and meaningful campaign from open source content management systems to Wikis or building an online personal brand through blogging and online social networks such as twitter, determining the ROI of an organization’s social media outreach, and more.
It is looking up a bit for women -- twelve of whom around the world now serve as heads of government or heads of state. In Iceland, the Johanna Sigurdardottir, the shy caretaker prime minister, was returned to office Sunday in a coalition government. Financially beleaguered Iceland has a strong tradition of elected female executives. Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, the world's first elected head of state, served as president for 16 years from 1980 to 1996. The percentage of women in the new Icelandic parliament will rank fourth in the world.
In Panama, longtime politician Balbina Herrera has closed the lead held by businessman Ricardo Martinelli, but the candidate of the incumbent party still trails Martinelli by about 11-12 points for the May 3 election. The allegations of Colombian financier David Murcia Guzmán that he "invested" $3 million with Herrera has hurt her candidacy as have allegations of corruption surrounding the current administration. Panama also has a female-friendly tradition; Mireya Moscoso, widow of a three-time Panamanian president, served as president from 1999 to 2004.
Michael Flatley, the creator and star of Riverdance, has said that "without contrast, there is no drama." The stiff upper bodies of Riverdancers contrast with the incredible dexterity and movement of the dancers' feet and legs. What is true of entertainment is even more true of politics, especially presidential politics.
Walking to work this morning, I passed a rowdy group of about 100 young protesters wearing gas masks and capes, chanting "Global Justice Now!"
The scene got me thinking about a simple but complex issue, "What is more effective, changing the system from the inside, or from the outside?" Will the chants of these teens actually change anything? If there were 1,000 of them, would it make a difference?
If you have not already done so, please fill out course evaluations on the Blackboard site for each of your classes.
We use evaulations to track course performance, modify existing courses, identify new course needs, and to help make all of our teaching better. The dean and each program director review the evaluations at the end of each term and talk to the faculty abut the results. We cannot make the programs better without your help!
We are excited to offer two new graduate certificates starting this fall. The first one is campaign strategy, which focuses on how to build a successful campaign plan, including communications, fundraising, and organization. Certificate earners will be ready to hit the campaign trail and manage campaigns successfully.
The second certificate is online politics, which explores the growing importance of online capacity, new media, and mobile technology in everyday politics. Students will be ready to handle new media campaign and organizing after completing this certificate.
Sometimes, the best thing for a political leader to say is nothing. "Silence is argument carried out by other means" said Cuban guerilla Che Guevara. "Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute," said humorist Josh Billings. "No one has a finer command of language than the person who keeps his mouth shut," said House Speaker Sam Rayburn. Rayburn's fellow Texan, Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson said, "You've got to know when to keep your mouth shut. The Senate's the cruelest judge in the world. A man's a fool to talk to other fellows about any subject unless he knows more about that subject than they do."
Hey everyone, I'm writing from The Politics Online Conference, hosted by The Institute for Politics Democracy and the Internet.
The conference is at The Reagan Building in Washington, DC and so far it has been a huge success. From Twitter forums to former secretaries of state talking about web video, the Reagan Building really is the center of online politics for the next two days.
The "handshake problem" is a classic in mathematics. It is also a real problem for politicians for whom the handshake is a standard political tool. Handshakes are a staple of political photographs - even when participants forced to do so by circumstances -- such as Bill Clinton virtually forcing Yasir Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin to shake hands for the camers in September 1993.
