February 2012
8 posts
6 tags
On the Presidential Apology
On February 22, charred copies of the Islamic holy book, the Quran, were found in fire pits at the Parwan Detention Facility in Afghanistan. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which runs Parwan,explained that the burning stemmed from extremist inscriptions written in several copies of the Parwan library’s Qurans, which were destroyed in an effort to curb the spread of radical...
4 tags
Social Media and Polling
It has never been harder to get a person to answer questions over the phone, but millions are eager to share their opinions on Facebook, Twitter, and other emerging social media sites. Figuring out how to analyze this new massive source of information could make conventional polling based on lengthy telephone surveys obsolete.
According to a Gigaom article, IBM is so high on social media...
4 tags
The Robe Adds Ten Pounds
On Thursday, February 9th, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-7 to advance a bill (S. 1945) that would permit cameras to televise Supreme Court oral arguments, with the exception for when it would affect the due process of a party before the Court. A similar measure (H.R. 3572) has been referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary for similar consideration.
Many state courts televise...
5 tags
Racism, Politics, and Money
Last weekend, the political world went into automatic “shocked and appalled” mode after Pete Hoekstra, a Republican candidate in the U.S. Senate race in Michigan, released an ad during the Super Bowl featuring an Asian women in a rice paddy, speaking broken English and thanking Hoekstra’s Democratic opponent, current Senator Debbie Stabenow: “Debbie spends so much American money. You borrow more...
2 tags
On Low Voter Turnout
People who don’t vote aren’t necessarily lazy or apathetic. Some work on hourly wages and cannot justify a trip to the polls over paying their mortgage. Some are discouraged by the knowledge that they live in a town, city, or state so ideologically entrenched that in winner take all politics their vote is rendered meaningless. Many don’t have proper ID. Still, others no longer live in the...
3 tags
Which Countries Have the Most Mobile Phones?
We’re impressed with the Slate/New America Foundation’s Map of the Week this week showing stats on mobile-vs-landline subscriptions all around the world. The map is a bit funky, you have to click around a lot…but the data is interesting.
According to their data, there are now around 50 landline subscriptions per 100 residents in the US. In the Congo, there are almost 400 cell phones vs. each...
6 tags
How Important Is Income Inequality to Americans?
2011 was about the 99% vs. the 1%. The 2012 continuation of that story began with the release of Mitt Romney’s tax returns and President Obama’s State of the Union address. Recently Romney was asked a question about the distribution of wealth, he responded, “I think it’s fine to talk about those things in quiet rooms and discussions about tax policy and the like.” The discussion about income...
4 tags
The Buck Stops Where?
Ownership Society. Personal responsibility. Personal accountability. Tell the truth. These are not difficult concepts to understand. These are not grey issues.
Over coffee this morning I read a Washington Post story about Ron Paul and the “He said. She said.” about whether or not he used racist, anti-semitic and homophobic rants in his newsletters in the 90’s. This led me to then think about...
5 tags
Las Politicas de los Politicos
Hispanics are all the rage today, as far as politics are concerned. As the fastest-growing minority group, Hispanics are the focus of elections, consumer items, and the future as a whole. In general, they are considered a solidly Democratic voting bloc, but there are nuances to this view that come into play when talking about a Republican primary. Hispanic-Americans come from different...
January 2012
7 posts
4 tags
Austin Here We Come! #SXSW
We’re just thrilled to be invited as a finalist in the SXSW Startup Accelerator. Thanks to everyone on the Votifi team and your hard work for the last 14 months to make it this far. And we look forward to meeting all the great people down in Austin.
UPDATE: Our schedule at SXSW
1. TechCocktail StartLife Celebration When: March 10, 6:00 PM- 11:00 PM – Where: Stage on Sixth, 508 East 6th Street...
10 tags
Social Media and Politics: Behind the Numbers
The impact of sites like Twitter and Facebook on elections is difficult to measure, in large part because metrics like “fans” and “followers” say very little about how ardent the support for a candidate might be among social media followers. It certainly doesn’t say anything about who among that follower base actually votes.
Anyone can click the “like” or “follow” button, but might not care about...
4 tags
The Health Care Debate
In a recent op-ed on Bloomberg.com, Andrew Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurant, Inc. (owner of the Carl’s, Jr. and Hardee’s fast food brands), spoke of the effects on job creation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (referred to in the article as “Obamacare”). Puzder recounted his Congressional testimony from July 2011 on the subject and concluded that the PPACA would reduce his company’s...
2 tags
Newt Gingrich is an Alien
Not according to us.
Yesterday we were sitting around with the kids watching Men in Black. The first in the trilogy and, notwithstanding the language which made me question my parenting skills, a very funny movie. Early in the movie K is showing J who all the aliens are who reside on the planet earth. Lo and behold on the lower left screen is the then Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
We here...
5 tags
What Are We Seeing?
New Hampshire has come and gone and the primary maelstrom heads to the Palmetto State (S.C.) where given the absence of snow in the mountains makes some wish we could just go enjoy the beautiful beaches, good food and Darius Rucker music for a spell. That said, there is more afoot than t-shirts and shorts. There is a debate and a fight for the steering wheel for the 2012 vintage of the American...
3 tags
Tim Tebow and the GOP
The first weekend of the New Year has now almost passed and as we sit down to night we know this:
1) College football is still being played and the BCS Championship will not be decided for another 27 hours 2) The NFL Playoffs have begun (more on this shortly); 3) Rick Santorum has proved relevant; and 4) the GOP presidential aspirants have held yet another debate.
From where we sit there were no...
December 2011
1 post
2 tags
Tools for getting involved in campaigns and...
Walksheet.com mentioned us in a blog post today about websites that can help you get more involved in politics this election year. Hudson Baird authored the piece looking at three categories of political websites/apps:
1. Get the facts
2. Support your favorite candidate and
3. Talk to elected officials.
Votifi landed in category one alongside: Politics in Stereo, ElectNext and BallotBook.
The...
November 2011
2 posts
3 tags
@Georgetown University – 21st Century Democracy:...
Lou is speaking on a panel tonight at Georgetown University on democracy and technology in the 2012 election. The event is hosted by the Program on Communication, Culture and Technology. We’re very psyched to be sharing a panel with our friends from Ruck.us and Americans Elect.
You can watch the live stream down below and you can follow the event on Twitter at #2012tech
And if you havent...
2 tags
GWU College Democrats
We spoke to George Washington University College Dems (@gwcollegedems) tonight. Jeremy, our intern extrodinaire, hooked us up with a meeting to talk to the youngins about democracy, technology and how mobile will reshape the 2012 elections.
We also met @MaxSkolnik, who is running for ANC Ward 4 in Washington DC. Great example of a out of town student making DC his home and then working to make...
