Andrew Rasiej’s Campaign
I had a chance to speak with Andrew Rasiej while I was in NYC. I am absolutely convinced beyond a doubt that he should be elected to the position of Public Advocate of NYC. Andrew is challenging the political machine in a campaign that has all of the excitement and enthusiam of Dean.
Why Andrew Rasiej’s campaign is important…he has real ideas for improving NYC. Many of his ideas make use of technology in a way that would seem obvious to most computer literate people but have seemed to escape politicians and bureaucrats. Like creating a simple way to report potholes. Or ensuring that New Yorker’s can use their cell phone to dial 911 in the subway. Ideas that make living in NYC safer and more comfortable. He is embracing a policy of connectedness and empowerment that if successful will turn old school NY politics on its head and could be the roadmap for political campaigns throughout the country. Although Andrew is running in NYC his ideas are universal and that’s one of the greatest things about his campaign, for those of you following on the Internet 
September 18th, 2005 at 2:39 am
It is very sad that you have been taken in on this sham with Andrew. He is actually one of the few “admitted” members of the secret societies bent on enslaving the people. Not suspected, he has admitted this. He found this niche he trys to fill and fails each time. Using the ideals when you have nothing in mind will tend to cause failure. Here is anothers take on his only venture to “help” New York.
Posted annonymously by another reader to me:
“NOT A MENSCH: I know Rasiej personally and I did quite a bit of serious work for MOUSE. I came into MOUSE very enthused about its mission and left it quite disappointed. I eventually began to see MOUSE as a profound ego-trip and little more than a set-up for Rasiej’s future political career. I used to call Andrew, “Mayor.” There is nothing all that wrong with being ambitious and setting up a political career. Almost anyone who runs for office is. But Andrew, the more I got to know him, didn’t strike me as a good guy. The ambition wasn’t in the right place. The organization wasn’t anywhere nearly as useful as it should have been or could have been….
MOUSE HURT KIDS AND TEACHERS: MOUSE’s aim was to wire up NYC public schools. As much as Andrew talked the visionary talk, MOUSE never delivered any real substance or content or educational applications beyond just doing wiring. We were glorified amateur plumbers doing sloppy wiring jobs in schools that needed a new gym or dance class or art class or smaller class sizes or good security a whole lot more than they needed cat. 5 cables dangling sloppily out of ceiling panels. Many teachers agreed but couldn’t say so. The stuff we brought into the schools wasn’t really helping forward kids education or teachers’ jobs in any significant ways. It was like, OK, now we can check sports scores and download music during free period. In two years, I never saw the Internet-enabled computers used for anything more significant than just checking email. Fine. Great. These kids deserve and need to have email. But there was never any significant educational app. In fact, it felt like the entire project was geared towards building Rasiej’s profile in then-hot “Silicon Alley.” Not to get all Buddhist, but it was clear that there was something wrong with the “intention” behind MOUSE. And that really manifested itself in the schools.
ELITISM / TECHNO-UTOPIANISM: Andrews campaign is profoundly disconnected from the issues that the vast majority of New Yorkers need dealt with. Wi-fi is definitely an elite concern and I dont’ think your argument convinces otherwise. Should NYC have free, citywide, wifi? Definitely! It would be a great thing. But is wiring the city going to amazingly solve a bunch of big, intractable, social problems? No. Simply wiring the schools didn’t solve the big problems in the schools either. “
September 18th, 2005 at 3:24 pm
Wow, Andrew Rasiej conspiracy theories. Interesting. On the cover the WiFi plan did mostly appeal to middle class technophiles. But that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have benefited other “classes.” I never asked Andrew personally, but I think sticking to how technology could help empower people was just his ‘niche’ as you say, but if you look at his website he actually had very solid plans for dealing with tons of other issues.
Additionally, you shouldn’t use an anonymous post from ANOTHER blog to help prove your point. That is like starting a debate with “Well, I heard from someone that…” Its a rather weak argument I would say.