I am honored to be included for consideration for the position of Treasurer.
I have lived in Argentina since 1999 and have lived through the major financial meltdown of 2001. Catastrophe and crisis usually come hand in hand with opportunity. Back then that crisis was part of the world events that lead me to try something new. Out of that crisis Sugar & Spice was born and it grew to become Argentina´s first truly gourmet cookie brand, singel handedly creating the local retail gourmet cookie segment and reaching over 2 million pesos in sales this year.
Before I entered into the world of entreprenuership, I was working in corporate sales of Crown Relocations in Buenos Aires, and before that I ran English conversation classes and helped people create their own unique grad school essays.
Throughout the whole time I have been in Argentina I have also been involved with Fundación Leer, which is a local license of Reading is Fundamental from the United States. I saw first hand just how that group affected change, inspiration and hope in the eyes of the children that received their very first, and in many cases, the family´s only book. From that first tear streaked smile of a child hugging her book I was hooked. At first I donated time, and when I started my own company, I set aside a percentage of sales. We know have grown to be able to support a reading corner.
Democrats Abroad Argentina has also ventured into a crisis of its own. I am confident that we can pull it out of that mire and build upon the succesful work that has already been done. We should never forget how crisis and opportunity go hand in hand. I see living proof of that in every supermarket shelf and every child that recieves a book through Fundación Leer, and I would like to have a hand at making sure Democrats Abroad Argentina has a shot at success as well.
This would be something new for me and I would be honored to serve as your Treasurer.
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Showing posts sorted by relevance for query democrats abroad argentina. Sort by date Show all posts
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Running for Treasurer of Democrats Abroad Argentina
As if I didn´t have enough things on my plate right now, I decided to make a run for Treasurer of Democrats Abroad Argentina. For those of you who are not members and would not get to see my post on that website, I offer it to you here:
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Why Should I Vote for Yanqui Mike?
Well here I am on vacation in Villa La Angostura with my 4 and 6 year old daughters and wife and I have had a great time except for one thing; I had to make sure and vote for Democrats Abroad Argentina.
Normally this is no big deal, but this is Argentina and technology is great when it works, and it is the absolute worst when it does not work. I finally got passed that hurdle and put my vote in yesterday after visiting three locutorios.
I have been quite isolated from what has been going on with this race in Buenos Aires. This could be fortunate or unfortunate for me. I don´t know, it´s too early to tell. I read somewhere that there has been some negativity flying around. I have not been able to count on a consistent internet connection and sometimes I can´t even get into my e-mails; I can only read the titles.
Regardles, I just wanted to get something off my chest regarding this whole thing. Our last head chair, Mike Skowreneck, was on the wrong end of a vote of no confidence by his executive board. This guy was the one who I saw work his ass off to create this thing in the first place.
The charges were that he used funs illegally and that he censored a mailing or a post and that he was just a tyrrant.
When I heard about the first charge I took pause and asked him myself. His answer cleared him of any illegal conduct in my book. He basically took the proceeds from the debate party and sent it in to the Obama campaign against the wishes of the other members. This was a group and they were fighting. However, the tag of "illegal" was thrown around with ease.
He sent the money to Obama, he didn´t try to sell the DAA database or buy his wife a leather jacket or anything like that. I was one of the donors and have been throughout the groups existance. Believe me, the option of the money going to the Presidential campaign seemed like a good idea to me.
Anyway, he did have a reason for doing this and he was going to answer all the charges brought against him in a meeting that was first called and then cancelled. He never got to defend himself. The charges against him just hung out there like dirty laundry that was never washed and was forgotten, but was visible for everyone to see. He already posted about this in the DAA board so if you are registered you can see it there. He will also no doubtedly have the opportunity to answer any one else´s question regarding this during the meeting on the 31st.
The censorship charge was just laughable as I understood it. He wanted one word changed from an article, and that word was "oligarch" or "oligarchy". In Argentina it is a word that has a lot of weight behind it. It is not something to be taken lightly. He understood the negative connetations of that word and just did not want it in that article. For one word he was labeled a censor.
As for the tyrannt thing? Well he has never been my boss. I have disagreed with him in the past and I found him to be passionate, but not so stubborn as to insist that his way is THE way and nothing else exists. In fact, I kind of like dissagreeing with him almost as much as I like dissagreeing with him. Now if I can stand up to the Yanq in a civil manner, why couldn´t these four people do it¡?
After that is out of the way I would vote for him based on what he has already achieved:
He created Dems Abroad Argentina
Responsible for the very first DAA elections, a virtual event
Organized Super Tuesday Party, co-sponsored with Expat Connection
“Yes We Span”, worldwide visually symbolic show, invited photographer: Cate Kelly
“Unite for Change”, worldwide reach out effort
4th of July Celebration, co-sponsored with Good Morning Buenos Aires
Film Festival, co-sponsored with INADI (National Institute Against Discrimination), invited film director: Sebastian Cordoba
Cocktail Party Membership drive, co-sponsored with Good Morning Buenos Aires, organized by: Samuel Warde
2008 Democratic National Convention Finale Party, co-sponsored with Expat Connection
DAA represents DA at DNC Delegation in Denver, REMEMBER MIKE WAS THE ONLY BLOGGER IN THE WORLD INVITED TO JOIN THE DEMOCRATS ABROAD DELEGATION
DAA Designs Contest
1st Presidential Debate Watch Party (at Sacramento Bar)
1st Vice-Presidential Debate Watch Party (at Sacramento Bar)
2nd Presidential Debate Watch Party (at Sacramento Bar)
2 weeks rally “Phones for Obama” to all US citizens in Central, South America and the Caribe, organized by: Americans Abroad for Obama
Democrats Abroad Argentina Election Night Watch Party in Buenos Aires (at Sacramento Bar)
Now that I got this out of the way, the second time I post about this election I will write about how I plan to run the Treasury of Democrats Abroad.
Normally this is no big deal, but this is Argentina and technology is great when it works, and it is the absolute worst when it does not work. I finally got passed that hurdle and put my vote in yesterday after visiting three locutorios.
I have been quite isolated from what has been going on with this race in Buenos Aires. This could be fortunate or unfortunate for me. I don´t know, it´s too early to tell. I read somewhere that there has been some negativity flying around. I have not been able to count on a consistent internet connection and sometimes I can´t even get into my e-mails; I can only read the titles.
Regardles, I just wanted to get something off my chest regarding this whole thing. Our last head chair, Mike Skowreneck, was on the wrong end of a vote of no confidence by his executive board. This guy was the one who I saw work his ass off to create this thing in the first place.
The charges were that he used funs illegally and that he censored a mailing or a post and that he was just a tyrrant.
When I heard about the first charge I took pause and asked him myself. His answer cleared him of any illegal conduct in my book. He basically took the proceeds from the debate party and sent it in to the Obama campaign against the wishes of the other members. This was a group and they were fighting. However, the tag of "illegal" was thrown around with ease.
He sent the money to Obama, he didn´t try to sell the DAA database or buy his wife a leather jacket or anything like that. I was one of the donors and have been throughout the groups existance. Believe me, the option of the money going to the Presidential campaign seemed like a good idea to me.
Anyway, he did have a reason for doing this and he was going to answer all the charges brought against him in a meeting that was first called and then cancelled. He never got to defend himself. The charges against him just hung out there like dirty laundry that was never washed and was forgotten, but was visible for everyone to see. He already posted about this in the DAA board so if you are registered you can see it there. He will also no doubtedly have the opportunity to answer any one else´s question regarding this during the meeting on the 31st.
The censorship charge was just laughable as I understood it. He wanted one word changed from an article, and that word was "oligarch" or "oligarchy". In Argentina it is a word that has a lot of weight behind it. It is not something to be taken lightly. He understood the negative connetations of that word and just did not want it in that article. For one word he was labeled a censor.
As for the tyrannt thing? Well he has never been my boss. I have disagreed with him in the past and I found him to be passionate, but not so stubborn as to insist that his way is THE way and nothing else exists. In fact, I kind of like dissagreeing with him almost as much as I like dissagreeing with him. Now if I can stand up to the Yanq in a civil manner, why couldn´t these four people do it¡?
After that is out of the way I would vote for him based on what he has already achieved:
He created Dems Abroad Argentina
Responsible for the very first DAA elections, a virtual event
Organized Super Tuesday Party, co-sponsored with Expat Connection
“Yes We Span”, worldwide visually symbolic show, invited photographer: Cate Kelly
“Unite for Change”, worldwide reach out effort
4th of July Celebration, co-sponsored with Good Morning Buenos Aires
Film Festival, co-sponsored with INADI (National Institute Against Discrimination), invited film director: Sebastian Cordoba
Cocktail Party Membership drive, co-sponsored with Good Morning Buenos Aires, organized by: Samuel Warde
2008 Democratic National Convention Finale Party, co-sponsored with Expat Connection
DAA represents DA at DNC Delegation in Denver, REMEMBER MIKE WAS THE ONLY BLOGGER IN THE WORLD INVITED TO JOIN THE DEMOCRATS ABROAD DELEGATION
DAA Designs Contest
1st Presidential Debate Watch Party (at Sacramento Bar)
1st Vice-Presidential Debate Watch Party (at Sacramento Bar)
2nd Presidential Debate Watch Party (at Sacramento Bar)
2 weeks rally “Phones for Obama” to all US citizens in Central, South America and the Caribe, organized by: Americans Abroad for Obama
Democrats Abroad Argentina Election Night Watch Party in Buenos Aires (at Sacramento Bar)
Now that I got this out of the way, the second time I post about this election I will write about how I plan to run the Treasury of Democrats Abroad.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Goals
It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it.
--Arnold Toynbee
Every month I get together with several other volunteers under the banner of Democrats Abroad Argentina. This is my first dabbling in politics and at first it seemed kind of frustrating. I am so used to a different speed; I am used to making decisions and running with them on the spot. This has been more like watching paint dry, and finally it is starting to look like we are building some momentum.
I approached a fellow expat and local business leader Martin Frankel. This guy is everywhere and his efforts seem to be paying off. He has been holding networking events, meetings for small business owners; he is a partner in Sugar Bar, and now he has a new business called Areatres. This place is a state of the art office rental workspace. The facilities are top notch and he is right at ground zero of the trendiest neighborhood in Palermo Viejo.
Martin has generously offered a couple of months of office space for Democrats Abroad Argentina. I don´t know what we will do after we have gotten so used to such spectacular diggs for our meetings. I for one will go through Areatres withdrawal syndrome.
If you need a temporary office and you like the idea of having a very quick internet connection, wireless printer access, projectors, clean, quite offices, beautiful furniture, entrepreneurial spirit draping everything in sight, then you should check this place out.
Could it have been a coincidence that while we were at Areatres, we finally reached one of our biggest goals this year of filling all the sub-committee chairs? Maybe it was all that efficiency in the air.
Now I could confidently say that pretty soon we will start seeing actual Democrats Abroad Events. Although, it is not the only thing we are planning.
Stay tuned.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Political Drama in Buenos Aires
We just couldn´t let the Republicans have all the fun of political infighting. Could it have been the lack of fight, now that Obama won, that made us turn on each other?
Democtrats Abroad Argentina is now organizing a vote to remove Yanqui Mike from DAA for this Wednesday night at the home of a fellow expat Laura Atkins:
Being a member of Democrats Abroad, I think I have previously mentioned it here, I have received some e-mails on the subject; another expat mentioned those e-mails in her post. And yet, another expat wrote about the same thing, and according to her post, she seemed to have met Yanqui Mike the same way I met him.
For transparency´s sake I have to mention that I consider Yanqui Mike a friend. I have been social with him and his wife and have gone out and shared a beer or two. It should not be any surprise to anyone that I would find all this nonsense unsettling. My very first reaction is to stand up for my friends. What kind of a friend would I be if that was not the case?
My second reaction was to check with him to see if he did anything wrong.
The other two posts on the subject, written by Gina of Buenos Aires Style and Debbie of TangoSpam highlighted the little we know of the accusations. So far, in those accusations, I don´t see any reason to have taken things this far. If there are other reasons I guess I will have to wait to hear what those are at the meeting.
Meanwhile, the accused Yanqui Mike, did write on his blog regarding this turn of events. The very first post on the call for his resignation has him promising to post every e-mail that he receives. The second one is actually a listing of some more e-mails--this guy gets a lot of e-mails. In the third one he is posting information on the meeting and begging people to go and witness and vote. In this one, "Heidi in San Juan" makes an important observation.
"This is more like Democrats Abroad Buenos Aires" since people that live in the interior of the country are out of luck and will not be able to vote unless they travel to the big city.
One other little thorn to this event is the timing. 6pm is very early for Argentina. There will be some people who will not be able to attend becuase they will be either working or stuck in rush hour traffic. However, I have also been calling people and the word on the street is that there is a lot of interest in this meeting and some people are making arrangements to get there. Heck, one guy is coming straight from the hospital after recuperating from surgery and another person is coming from Quilmes just to name two examples.
I wonder how big Laura´s 6th floor really is? We might have to actually use the entire floor.
I will have to take time out of my day. I would rather be playing with my kids, or spending time with my parents who are visiting from out of town, or being in the company of my own wife, getting dinner ready and talking about our day, etc.
I probably echo most of my fellow Democrats when I say the following: There better be some damaging evidence there ´cause what I have seen so far is petty squabbling and if I drag my ass out there to hear whining and little substance I am going to be pissed.
And if that wasn´t bad enough Ian of Goodairs just had to highlight how now it looks like the famous Argentine beef will be a thing of the past much sooner than later.
Democtrats Abroad Argentina is now organizing a vote to remove Yanqui Mike from DAA for this Wednesday night at the home of a fellow expat Laura Atkins:
Being a member of Democrats Abroad, I think I have previously mentioned it here, I have received some e-mails on the subject; another expat mentioned those e-mails in her post. And yet, another expat wrote about the same thing, and according to her post, she seemed to have met Yanqui Mike the same way I met him.
For transparency´s sake I have to mention that I consider Yanqui Mike a friend. I have been social with him and his wife and have gone out and shared a beer or two. It should not be any surprise to anyone that I would find all this nonsense unsettling. My very first reaction is to stand up for my friends. What kind of a friend would I be if that was not the case?
My second reaction was to check with him to see if he did anything wrong.
The other two posts on the subject, written by Gina of Buenos Aires Style and Debbie of TangoSpam highlighted the little we know of the accusations. So far, in those accusations, I don´t see any reason to have taken things this far. If there are other reasons I guess I will have to wait to hear what those are at the meeting.
Meanwhile, the accused Yanqui Mike, did write on his blog regarding this turn of events. The very first post on the call for his resignation has him promising to post every e-mail that he receives. The second one is actually a listing of some more e-mails--this guy gets a lot of e-mails. In the third one he is posting information on the meeting and begging people to go and witness and vote. In this one, "Heidi in San Juan" makes an important observation.
"This is more like Democrats Abroad Buenos Aires" since people that live in the interior of the country are out of luck and will not be able to vote unless they travel to the big city.
One other little thorn to this event is the timing. 6pm is very early for Argentina. There will be some people who will not be able to attend becuase they will be either working or stuck in rush hour traffic. However, I have also been calling people and the word on the street is that there is a lot of interest in this meeting and some people are making arrangements to get there. Heck, one guy is coming straight from the hospital after recuperating from surgery and another person is coming from Quilmes just to name two examples.
I wonder how big Laura´s 6th floor really is? We might have to actually use the entire floor.
I will have to take time out of my day. I would rather be playing with my kids, or spending time with my parents who are visiting from out of town, or being in the company of my own wife, getting dinner ready and talking about our day, etc.
I probably echo most of my fellow Democrats when I say the following: There better be some damaging evidence there ´cause what I have seen so far is petty squabbling and if I drag my ass out there to hear whining and little substance I am going to be pissed.
And if that wasn´t bad enough Ian of Goodairs just had to highlight how now it looks like the famous Argentine beef will be a thing of the past much sooner than later.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Goodbye Democrats Abroad!
Hopefully yesterday was the very last meeting that I participate in with this organization.
For those that know me, it's common knowledge that I did not have such a great time these last two years with regards to Democrats Abroad.
However, I can't help but be grateful for those that, two years ago, took the time to vote me into office.
I wish I could have done more for you.
The people who attended the meeting got a peek into some of the craziness that I have put up with for the past two years.
The ones that showed up to the bar afterwords got more of the details.
I am glad I got to get some of that off my chest at Sugar Bar. I was really happy to see quite a few people show up to have a beer with us.
I also feel pretty bad for those that showed up. Not enough of us made it to the meeting and we needed 25 people to reach a quorum. Sadly, we got up to about 19 people.
I also feel pretty bad for the three brave souls who ran for office.
I wish I could have done more for you too.
As for what's going to happen next with Democrats Abroad Argentina, I don't have a clue. Yanqui Mike has promised to look into the matter and let us all know.
Meanwhile, I am going to take some distance for a while and try to reflect on my DAA experience.
For those that know me, it's common knowledge that I did not have such a great time these last two years with regards to Democrats Abroad.
However, I can't help but be grateful for those that, two years ago, took the time to vote me into office.
I wish I could have done more for you.
The people who attended the meeting got a peek into some of the craziness that I have put up with for the past two years.
The ones that showed up to the bar afterwords got more of the details.
I am glad I got to get some of that off my chest at Sugar Bar. I was really happy to see quite a few people show up to have a beer with us.
I also feel pretty bad for those that showed up. Not enough of us made it to the meeting and we needed 25 people to reach a quorum. Sadly, we got up to about 19 people.
I also feel pretty bad for the three brave souls who ran for office.
I wish I could have done more for you too.
As for what's going to happen next with Democrats Abroad Argentina, I don't have a clue. Yanqui Mike has promised to look into the matter and let us all know.
Meanwhile, I am going to take some distance for a while and try to reflect on my DAA experience.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Decertified?
Yesterday I wrote this post that was basically an emotional response. I should know better, but having received potshots from these people for better part of a year and facing what we thought was going to be desertification without a fair hearing from Democrats Abroad just got the better of me.
I saved that post to remind me of what I should probably not fall for in the future. Yeah, there are some people that constantly look to tear me down. It has happened once before.
So if you would like the cliffnotes version of what all of this is about.....
I ran for office as Treasurer of Democrats Abroad Argentina and won. I had several proposals of mine meet up with resistance from a minority of our executive group, things like participating in an annual 4th of July event that ICANA hosted and having us meet at ICANA for example. I also proposed that we piggyback on events with Internations who love to hold happy hour events around the city. This minority has gone on to press International to de-certify us because according to them these things I proposed are an abomination and they are illegal. My point was that they are not and I was never given a chance to prove it.
Small group politics are boring and this one is no exception. Except that now International has gotten into the middle of this and all I want to know is what are they going to do about it.
So, those of you who already saw the original post will understand why I took it down. The others who chance upon this for the first time can just rest assured that it was not a radical post, but it did target and ridicule slightly the one person who I think is responsible for all of this. But, since I really don´t want to get petty and bring myself down to their level I decided to replace it for now with this.
I do apologize to you my readers for the mix-up. I also apologize to that person I ridiculed publicly. I should have just kept it private. Just keep in mind, that being mixed up is part of life and makes us human. Also apologizing is tough.
Now back to what I should be doing and that is talking to grown up business people about business.
I saved that post to remind me of what I should probably not fall for in the future. Yeah, there are some people that constantly look to tear me down. It has happened once before.
So if you would like the cliffnotes version of what all of this is about.....
I ran for office as Treasurer of Democrats Abroad Argentina and won. I had several proposals of mine meet up with resistance from a minority of our executive group, things like participating in an annual 4th of July event that ICANA hosted and having us meet at ICANA for example. I also proposed that we piggyback on events with Internations who love to hold happy hour events around the city. This minority has gone on to press International to de-certify us because according to them these things I proposed are an abomination and they are illegal. My point was that they are not and I was never given a chance to prove it.
Small group politics are boring and this one is no exception. Except that now International has gotten into the middle of this and all I want to know is what are they going to do about it.
So, those of you who already saw the original post will understand why I took it down. The others who chance upon this for the first time can just rest assured that it was not a radical post, but it did target and ridicule slightly the one person who I think is responsible for all of this. But, since I really don´t want to get petty and bring myself down to their level I decided to replace it for now with this.
I do apologize to you my readers for the mix-up. I also apologize to that person I ridiculed publicly. I should have just kept it private. Just keep in mind, that being mixed up is part of life and makes us human. Also apologizing is tough.
Now back to what I should be doing and that is talking to grown up business people about business.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Good Morning Buenos Aires Party
Samuel of Good Morning Buenos Aires is proud to announce he is hosting a cocktail party to show his appreciation to the International Community of Buenos Aires.
This is no cover charge for this event. Good Morning Buenos Aires does not profit in any way. No kick-backs, no inflated prices, no fuss, no muss, no wrinkles...
There will be 2 for 1 drink specials and 20% off all food items until closing time and several items will be raffled off for free to include:
- A free cultural tour from CULTOURS of Buenos Aires;
- A dinner for two at the Duhau Park Hyatt, Buenos Aires;
- 5 hours of Spanish lessons (or a backpack) from EleBaires;
- A dinner with dessert (no beverages included) at Freak Restaurant on your next visit (depending on attendance levels, Freak will donate more than one meal);
- Free drinks at Freak Restaurant to be used on your next visit;
- Two gift sets from Sugar & Spice (pictured above and normally retails for $40)
- One year membership with South American Explorers...
There will be more details announced leading up to the event date....
Several organizations and companies are co-hosting this event to include: BA Gatos, the BA Insider Magazine, Buenos Aires International Newcomers Downtown Group, CULTOUR turismo con identidad, Democrats Abroad Argentina, Duhau Park Hyatt (Buenos Aires), EleBaires Spanish Experience Program, Freak Restaurant and Cocktails, InterNations.org, South American Explorers, Sugar & Spice, TMT Argentina, Wynn Woods Solutions, yanquimike.com.ar and more to be announced later....
I hope to see you all there.
For complete information on the date and location, please go to the following link:
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Vote For The Smart Guy This Time... Please
I was always the kind that shied away from groups and associations. I especially considered myself not very political. I would follow politics and I would vote, but I never considered myself either a Democrat, Republican or Libertarian.
I have been so disappointed and disenchanted with the US Government, specifically George W's administration, that he has made me run over and join the Democratic party. My own personal reasons for being so against him and what he has done are numerous and I could list them out, but then it would feel more like a rant on my part and quite boring. Let's just say I do have many reasons.
I also have my reasons for being hopeful of a better tomorrow. I hope my country decides, this time, to choose the smart guy, not the guy you could have a beer with. We already gave the job to a "regular Joe" TWICE and that turned out to be a disaster. I would much rather have a guy who is much smarter than me in that oval office than a guy who didn't know squat about Iraq before he invaded it for example.
Is this a case of deja-vu? We have McCain making Bush type mistakes:
“We continue to be concerned about Iranian taking Al Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back,’’ Mr. McCain said at the news conference. Asked about that statement, Mr. McCain said: “Well, it’s common knowledge and has been reported in the media that Al Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran. That’s well known. And it’s unfortunate.”Al Qaeda is Sunni and it would be a stretch to have Iran (they are shia) friendly with a Sunni group. He didn't make this mistake just once either.
So if you are an American citizen, or you know of any in Buenos Aires, please tell them to go out and please vote for the Democrat or at least just vote. In fact, they can go to Sir Will's Pub in micro-centro every Thursday starting at 7pm and Democrat's Abroad will help you in registering to vote. We could also talk politics over a beer or two.
Many thanks to Yanqui Mike for some of these links, banners, and for taking the lead in creating Democrats Abroad Argentina!
Friday, April 15, 2011
Yanqui Mike is Leaving Buenos Aires!
Achievement seems to be connected with action.Successful men and women keep moving.They make mistakes, but they don't quit.- Conrad Hilton
Yes, that's right, Yanqui Mike is leaving Buenos Aires. I first heard about him, or actually read his blog back around 2006. He had, and actually still has, a very popular blog.
He has also been very busy in real life. He is a character, and I am glad to have gotten to know him and his wife and count them as friends.
But life is calling for them to move on to greener pastures and I mean this literally not figuratively. He is a cattle rancher, a greengo gaucho you might say; and he's going to be closer to his little dogies (and the rest of his herd). You can read a little bit of background on him from his Huffington Post bio.
Like the bio says, he became the founding chairman of Democrats Abroad Argentina. He reached out to me to be one of the founding members as well.
He eventually roped me into running for office and although I really looked forward to working side by side with him, it was not the greatest experience, but that was not really his fault and that whole experience would require a series of blog posts on their own.
If all that was not enough, he also started the Buenos Aires chapter of Drinking Liberally.
Throughout all of this, he has kept us entertained, informed and has sparked spirited debate several times through his popular blog. If you have never read it you should. Here are just a sampling of some of his posts:
Mary McCunne
The Authentics
Uber Alles
My last post... for my own safety
Martin Varsavsky
The Lexington Incident - This is a four part post on the United States role in the Falklands / Las Malvinas. This is one of my favorite posts.
And the one post that he wrote back in 2007 and makes him look like a sage since it's pretty spot on with how the beef industry has evolved (or imploded might be a better word).
I am become a farmer
So Mike and Alicia, let me take a moment to say thanks and that we will miss both of you around here. I also wish you two the best in your new life out in the campo.
I just realized I don't have any pictures of us, but I do have one of Alicia at least. By the way, she also blogs.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Happy 4th of July!
After all these years in Argentina, last night was the very first time I actually celebrated the 4th of July on the actual day. Normally I would go to the Embassy's gig, but they normally have the full blown affair in March when the weather allows us to celebrate outdoors. It's actually a great event with hamburgers, hot dogs, food vendors, a Scholastic Books tent as well as games and music events. I even got to judge a pie contest one year; but that is a completely different event from the one I went to last night.
I got to catch up with Ian and Cintra from Goodairs. Here is a link to their post on the night. I met up with some other old friends and I even got to meet some that I had only exchanged e-mails with in the past. The get-together, sponsored by Democrats Abroad and Le Merval, was also covered by Clarin.com and you can see a little clip of it below. Yes, I am in it, and you can see me blank out on Obama's name. No I had not had any beers, in fact, I was interviewed just as I arrived. Maybe a beer first would have been a better way for me to go. Ah well, there's always next year.
Oh, and by the way, if you want to see some pictures of Chicago during the 4th of July you can click -here- and see how a future resident of Buenos Aires spends his last 4th of July there, before leaving for Argentina.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Blackness
Okay, I have never been much of a joiner. I have never been much into politics and this year I have Fox Noise to blame as well as the past 8 years of a disastrous manhandling of the country by GWB for getting me all interested in what is going on.
But it´s not fair to be solely motivated by hatred. In fact, I am really liking the hope that I feel for my country and I am not alone. Jessica (high school friend of mine) wrote a great post today that mirrored much of what I feel.
Yanqui Mike has been writing great posts for a while now, and in his tireless efforts managed to organize Democrats Abroad here in Argentina providing me with an outlet for my hatred/hope. Now, thanks to him, I have picked a side.
I also love seeing all the sites that are out there keeping track of the shenanigans of not only fox noise but bullshit in general. Thanks Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Indecision 2008, Media Matters, Crooks and Liars, Pharyngula, and Huffington Post.
There are others, but I do have a life and can´t spend the whole day in front of a computer you know. I have to take over Argentina with cookies and brownies. Speaking of others though. I leave you with this very funny video.
This is from This Week in Blackness.
But it´s not fair to be solely motivated by hatred. In fact, I am really liking the hope that I feel for my country and I am not alone. Jessica (high school friend of mine) wrote a great post today that mirrored much of what I feel.
Yanqui Mike has been writing great posts for a while now, and in his tireless efforts managed to organize Democrats Abroad here in Argentina providing me with an outlet for my hatred/hope. Now, thanks to him, I have picked a side.
I also love seeing all the sites that are out there keeping track of the shenanigans of not only fox noise but bullshit in general. Thanks Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Indecision 2008, Media Matters, Crooks and Liars, Pharyngula, and Huffington Post.
There are others, but I do have a life and can´t spend the whole day in front of a computer you know. I have to take over Argentina with cookies and brownies. Speaking of others though. I leave you with this very funny video.
This is from This Week in Blackness.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
November 2007 Roundup
I don't think I have gone so long without writing and for that I apologize. It's not laziness, writer's cramp or apathy. I just have way too much going on right now. So I thought maybe I could sum it up a little bit in this post.
I managed to loose a long time client and then get them back. I have a client with a chain of locations throughout the city that manages to get into cash flow problems around this time of year. We find out on payday when we get a check payable for 90 days (Ouch!). I overreacted and they didn't take it well and we eventually kissed and made up, all in the same month.
I have been flying to Uruguay, Chile and Cordoba to meet with a mixture of new, current and potential clients. This sounds more glamorous than it really is. I get to experience flight delays on every single one of my flights for example. I also get to go to new unexplored cities (unexplored by me) with only enough time to maybe walk 6 blocks before I have to go do something. They stayed mainly unexplored. I get to take lots of pictures of stores and store shelves and get to wait around for meetings. All of this would be enough to drive me to suicide, but since I am doing this for the sake of my business, I have to admit that my curiosity drives me to do that job well.
I joined a political group called Democrats Abroad. For those of you who know me I can just picture your eyebrows going up. I have never been much of a joiner of groups. However, all the shenanigans that have been going on in the name of my country have just gotten me sick and I felt that I had to do something; voting obviously isn't enough. I guess that if I had written a post on this subject the title would have had been "The Devil Made Me Do It". If you would like to read a little bit about this group you can click - here - for Yanqui Mike's posts on the subject and - here - for 99's posts.
I have a new client! Normally I don't mention this until I have a purchase order in my hands but these guys have been so enthusiastic during the whole sales process that only a natural disaster or an act from God can keep them from following through. The chain is Libertad. It is a supermarket chain that is positioned mostly in the north of the country and they were purchased by Casino (French multinational) back in 1998. They also form part of a large group of supermarket chains in Latin America that are owned by Casino. This should help us get into these other countries. As for Argentina we pretty much have the whole country covered with these three clients (Jumbo, La Anonima and Libertad) now I can focus on exporting. You can insert a big sigh of relief from me here.
I have another new client in Blockbuster Video. No, I am not going into the DVD business. Blockbuster is actually hurting big time from the sale of illegal DVD's. They are forced to think out of the box and try something new. Sure you always had that option of buying some snacks from there to go with the movies but now they are going all out gourmet. There first gourmet store was on Callao (& Santa Fe) and from the looks of their purchases the trial must have worked and they are expanding the concept to other stores. Where else can you get the world's best chocolate chip cookies to go with that movie? If you answered your grandmother's house it's time to get off your lazy ass, get a job and limit your PS2 gaming time, unless of course you are 14 years old.
I managed to read some blogs and managed to be impressed by some of them so much that I want to share them with you:
Taos finds out one of the things that Argentines are super efficient at doing... and that is killing themselves behind the wheel of an automobile. It's actually very tragic and depressing but he's just presenting the facts people. You can click - here - for that article. However, he also finds out that Argentine women love having sex more than women from other countries. He also found that 97.2% of Argentines are literate. Somebody give that guy some Scooby snacks. He is churning out way too many interesting articles.
Pablo in Rosario also touched on a depressing topic in the state of abortion in Santa Fe (The State in which he lives in). He has also started assigning names to the power outages in his city like how they give names to tropical storms. The latest outage is called Carlos. You gotta love that.
Ian finds out why "one should not fuck with the French". This little episode happened in my neighborhood.
Robert Wright has the skinny on the Recoleta Cemetary.
A Texan in Argentina discovers Punta del Este, Uruguay.
I managed to loose a long time client and then get them back. I have a client with a chain of locations throughout the city that manages to get into cash flow problems around this time of year. We find out on payday when we get a check payable for 90 days (Ouch!). I overreacted and they didn't take it well and we eventually kissed and made up, all in the same month.
I have been flying to Uruguay, Chile and Cordoba to meet with a mixture of new, current and potential clients. This sounds more glamorous than it really is. I get to experience flight delays on every single one of my flights for example. I also get to go to new unexplored cities (unexplored by me) with only enough time to maybe walk 6 blocks before I have to go do something. They stayed mainly unexplored. I get to take lots of pictures of stores and store shelves and get to wait around for meetings. All of this would be enough to drive me to suicide, but since I am doing this for the sake of my business, I have to admit that my curiosity drives me to do that job well.
I joined a political group called Democrats Abroad. For those of you who know me I can just picture your eyebrows going up. I have never been much of a joiner of groups. However, all the shenanigans that have been going on in the name of my country have just gotten me sick and I felt that I had to do something; voting obviously isn't enough. I guess that if I had written a post on this subject the title would have had been "The Devil Made Me Do It". If you would like to read a little bit about this group you can click - here - for Yanqui Mike's posts on the subject and - here - for 99's posts.
I have a new client! Normally I don't mention this until I have a purchase order in my hands but these guys have been so enthusiastic during the whole sales process that only a natural disaster or an act from God can keep them from following through. The chain is Libertad. It is a supermarket chain that is positioned mostly in the north of the country and they were purchased by Casino (French multinational) back in 1998. They also form part of a large group of supermarket chains in Latin America that are owned by Casino. This should help us get into these other countries. As for Argentina we pretty much have the whole country covered with these three clients (Jumbo, La Anonima and Libertad) now I can focus on exporting. You can insert a big sigh of relief from me here.
I have another new client in Blockbuster Video. No, I am not going into the DVD business. Blockbuster is actually hurting big time from the sale of illegal DVD's. They are forced to think out of the box and try something new. Sure you always had that option of buying some snacks from there to go with the movies but now they are going all out gourmet. There first gourmet store was on Callao (& Santa Fe) and from the looks of their purchases the trial must have worked and they are expanding the concept to other stores. Where else can you get the world's best chocolate chip cookies to go with that movie? If you answered your grandmother's house it's time to get off your lazy ass, get a job and limit your PS2 gaming time, unless of course you are 14 years old.
I managed to read some blogs and managed to be impressed by some of them so much that I want to share them with you:
Taos finds out one of the things that Argentines are super efficient at doing... and that is killing themselves behind the wheel of an automobile. It's actually very tragic and depressing but he's just presenting the facts people. You can click - here - for that article. However, he also finds out that Argentine women love having sex more than women from other countries. He also found that 97.2% of Argentines are literate. Somebody give that guy some Scooby snacks. He is churning out way too many interesting articles.
Pablo in Rosario also touched on a depressing topic in the state of abortion in Santa Fe (The State in which he lives in). He has also started assigning names to the power outages in his city like how they give names to tropical storms. The latest outage is called Carlos. You gotta love that.
Ian finds out why "one should not fuck with the French". This little episode happened in my neighborhood.
Robert Wright has the skinny on the Recoleta Cemetary.
A Texan in Argentina discovers Punta del Este, Uruguay.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
I Won! Now What?
Sorry. Yeah, I am sorry readers for staying away for so long. I have so much to write about, but I also have so much work to do.
Since my last post finished with me promising to tell you what I was going to do with the treasury, I suppose I should start there.
First of all, I know this is old news, but...
I give my thanks to all of you who voted for me and basically put your trust in me. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
We have had two official meetings already and it is starting to feel like we are pushing this thing off the ground. It´s a slow start, but we had to reorganize and lay the groundwork for growth. The actual money of DAAR was delivered to me and I will be posting the details of the transactions on the Democrats Abroad site very shortly.
We are going to be looking for people to lead standing committees. It will be a great chance for anyone who actually wants to do something, to belong to a movement and to actually effect change in their community. I will let Mike make that announcement though.
As for me, once I post the details of the Treasury, I will have completed a promise of making that transaction as transparent as possible. I am very approachable and I urge any of you to reach out to me with any ideas, doubts, suggestions as to what you want from your Democratic Party in Argentina.
I plan on making this as transparent as possible and representative as possible as well.
Meanwhile, I have lots of pictures to post on my trip to Patagonia; I have several new client announcements for Sugar & Spice; And I could make so much fun of the Republican party right now, but I have so much to do and they are just being so goofy on their own little selves. Well, okay, maybe I don´t have time, but these guys do...
They have a new emperor you know.
And just to remind yourself just who lead the Repubs and the rest of the country into this clusterfuck of a situation, here is a round up of "President Bush´s Legacy: One of Our Greatest Presidents by Jon Swift"--a reasonable conservative who likes to write about politics and culture. Since the media is biased he gets all his news from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Jay Leno monologues.
Politics have never been so funny.
Since my last post finished with me promising to tell you what I was going to do with the treasury, I suppose I should start there.
First of all, I know this is old news, but...
I Won!
I give my thanks to all of you who voted for me and basically put your trust in me. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
We have had two official meetings already and it is starting to feel like we are pushing this thing off the ground. It´s a slow start, but we had to reorganize and lay the groundwork for growth. The actual money of DAAR was delivered to me and I will be posting the details of the transactions on the Democrats Abroad site very shortly.
We are going to be looking for people to lead standing committees. It will be a great chance for anyone who actually wants to do something, to belong to a movement and to actually effect change in their community. I will let Mike make that announcement though.
As for me, once I post the details of the Treasury, I will have completed a promise of making that transaction as transparent as possible. I am very approachable and I urge any of you to reach out to me with any ideas, doubts, suggestions as to what you want from your Democratic Party in Argentina.
I plan on making this as transparent as possible and representative as possible as well.
Meanwhile, I have lots of pictures to post on my trip to Patagonia; I have several new client announcements for Sugar & Spice; And I could make so much fun of the Republican party right now, but I have so much to do and they are just being so goofy on their own little selves. Well, okay, maybe I don´t have time, but these guys do...
They have a new emperor you know.
And just to remind yourself just who lead the Repubs and the rest of the country into this clusterfuck of a situation, here is a round up of "President Bush´s Legacy: One of Our Greatest Presidents by Jon Swift"--a reasonable conservative who likes to write about politics and culture. Since the media is biased he gets all his news from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Jay Leno monologues.
Politics have never been so funny.
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