Obama makes the news

A link to all the inauguration front pages from newspapers around the globe.

Service and Transparency in a new Administration

I thought a lot about the Obama campaign (and wrote a little). This morning there has been a big to do about the shift of the white house web site. I couldn't care less about the graphical layout but I read a new post that was pretty interesting. Reading through, I'm sure it was no coincidence that they talk a bit boastfully about their new administration's approach to communication with the public. Early in the post I read,

Just like your new government, WhiteHouse.gov and the rest of the Administration's online programs will put citizens first. Our initial new media efforts will center around three priorities:

The three new priorities are:

1. Communication
2. Transparency
3. Participation

I must say, I am feeling pretty empowered by what they are saying. But also concerned. There is a fervor right now around Obama, government, change and service. While my current levels of enthusiasm have pushed me to add the whitehouse.gov site to my bookmarks (can we take a moment to think about how profound that action is in itself?), I'm also thinking long term.

Communication and participation are two-way streets and busy ones when operating effectively. I have faith in Obama and the administration right now, but on the flip side, I'm weighing my faith in myself and everyone else in that conversation. Simply put - are we, the people, ready to step up and engage with our leaders to guide and develop change the same way we would engage and guide the paths of our careers, our educations or our families? It's another managerial consideration, another responsibility on our collective plate. Are we going to make time? Are you?

The opportunities are there. An email from the campaign told us to submit ideas for a presidential briefing book prior to the inauguration.

We wanted to tell you about a new feature on Change.gov which lets you bring your ideas directly to the President.

It's called the Citizen's Briefing Book, and it's an online forum where you can share your ideas, and rate or offer comments on the ideas of others. The best-rated ones will rise to the top, and after the Inauguration, we'll print them out and gather them into a binder like the ones the President receives every day from experts and advisors. If you participate, your idea could be included in the Citizen's Briefing Book to be delivered to President Obama.

Now that Obama has taken office, we are given the chance to engage directly with the Office of Public Liaison.

We've all had an epic day. Now what are WE going to do with it?

Our 44th president

I love this photo of Time magazine's recently crowned Man of the Year in college. [from Time via Boing Boing.]

Buttons galore!

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Fifty Obama tidbits

I pulled these top 50 facts you didn't know about Obama directly from the UK's Telegraph paper. They are awesome, but my absolute favorite is that he took Michelle Obama to see "Do the Right Thing" on their first date.

- He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics

• He was known as "O'Bomber" at high school for his skill at basketball

• His name means "one who is blessed" in Swahili

• His favourite meal is wife Michelle's shrimp linguini

• He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father

• He is left-handed – the sixth post-war president to be left-handed

• He has read every Harry Potter book

• He owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali

• He worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager and now can't stand ice cream

• His favourite snacks are chocolate-peanut protein bars

• He ate dog meat, snake meat, and roasted grasshopper while living in Indonesia

• He can speak Spanish

• While on the campaign trail he refused to watch CNN and had sports channels on instead

• His favourite drink is black forest berry iced tea

• He promised Michelle he would quit smoking before running for president – he didn't

• He kept a pet ape called Tata while in Indonesia

• He can bench press an impressive 200lbs

• He was known as Barry until university when he asked to be addressed by his full name

• His favourite book is Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

• He visited Wokingham, Berks, in 1996 for the stag party of his half-sister's fiancé, but left when a stripper arrived

• His desk in his Senate office once belonged to Robert Kennedy

• He and Michelle made $4.2 million (£2.7 million) last year, with much coming from sales of his books

• His favourite films are Casablanca and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

• He carries a tiny Madonna and child statue and a bracelet belonging to a soldier in Iraq for good luck

• He applied to appear in a black pin-up calendar while at Harvard but was rejected by the all-female committee.

• His favourite music includes Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Bach and The Fugees

• He took Michelle to see the Spike Lee film Do The Right Thing on their first date

• He enjoys playing Scrabble and poker

• He doesn't drink coffee and rarely drinks alcohol

• He would have liked to have been an architect if he were not a politician

• As a teenager he took drugs including marijuana and cocaine

• His daughters' ambitions are to go to Yale before becoming an actress (Malia, 10) and to sing and dance (Sasha, 7)

• He hates the youth trend for trousers which sag beneath the backside

• He repaid his student loan only four years ago after signing his book deal

• His house in Chicago has four fire places

• Daughter Malia's godmother is Jesse Jackson's daughter Santita

• He says his worst habit is constantly checking his BlackBerry

• He uses an Apple Mac laptop

• He drives a Ford Escape Hybrid, having ditched his gas-guzzling Chrysler 300

• He wears $1,500 (£952) Hart Schaffner Marx suits

• He owns four identical pairs of black size 11 shoes

• He has his hair cut once a week by his Chicago barber, Zariff, who charges $21 (£13)

• His favourite fictional television programmes are Mash and The Wire

• He was given the code name "Renegade" by his Secret Service handlers

• He was nicknamed "Bar" by his late grandmother

• He plans to install a basketball court in the White House grounds

• His favourite artist is Pablo Picasso

• His speciality as a cook is chilli

• He has said many of his friends in Indonesia were "street urchins"

• He keeps on his desk a carving of a wooden hand holding an egg, a Kenyan symbol of the fragility of life

• His late father was a senior economist for the Kenyan government

Yes We Carve

Can you say commitment? I'm hardcore in my BamaLove, but even I am not going here. There are few things more sacred than Hallows Eve. 

Full site here. 

The Greatest Virtual Community: CHAOS... Citizens Hanging Around the Obama Sign

I completely love this story from, of all places, the Wall Street Journal.

This 16 year-old-kid lives in Washington with his mom, and they put an Obama yard sign in from of their house. Poof- it's gone! They get another one (not an easy task if Pittsburgh is any indication; they go like hotcakes), and again... Poof! At this point, an older person would go with the classic technique and hide behind the tree with gun, but young Preston is an innovator and uses a bit of technology to his advantage.

So he can keep a watch on his sign when he's not at home, he points a web cam at the front yard and continues to monitor remotely. He tells some friends about it. They tell people, who tell people.... so on and so on. Pretty soon there are over 40,000 people all taking shifts to stare at the front yard of this kid's house. When the US goes to sleep, the Euro's pick up the slack. When they finish their shift, the Aussies take over.

But this global community is not just watching, they are participating in Preston's life. If he posts a message during the day, he gets questions about why he's not in school. Chatters make sure Preston isn't talking to any internet weirdos until his mother gets home from school (they know her schedule). I have seen the sign when there is a piece of tape on the window, blocking the sidewalk and reading "Tape is intended to protect the privacy of children walking to school. Will be removed at 3:30."

As I am watching now, there is a bird walking on the lawn, and people are discussing shopping at Costco. It is boring, and yet not. In our word where things can become so de-humanized, this dada-ist webcam sitting and staring through a window is about as real and genuine as anything I've seen.