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Craigslist founder urges activism in UC Berkeley commencement speech
Contra Costa Times ^ | 5/14/8 | Matt Krupnick

Posted on 05/14/2008 4:12:12 PM PDT by SmithL

BERKELEY — Playing to the UC Berkeley's liberal reputation, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark told graduating seniors Tuesday that they will be responsible for "rebuilding" the country after President Bush's term ends.

In a rambling and mostly off-the-cuff speech under a hot afternoon sun, Newmark said he no longer has the energy to save the world but has been encouraged by the drive of the younger generation.

"The bad news is I'm going to ask you to do it," he said. "The good news is you're already doing it."

Newmark founded the eponymous Web site in 1995 as an e-mail list for friends and family members in the Bay Area. It has since become one of the country's most popular Web sites.

Predictably, other speakers at Tuesday's event joked about Craigslist's reputation as a site for arranging sexual liaisons. Darek DeFreece, president of the California Alumni Association, noted the variety of services the site has provided.

"Thanks to you, I've bought something, I've sold something, I've had a missed connection and I've had a casual encounter," he said, referring to categories on the site. "And a couple of other things I can't mention."

About 6,800 seniors were expected to graduate this month, along with about 3,000 graduate students. Chancellor Robert Birgeneau told graduates not to worry too much about getting jobs, and some in the crowd seemed to be taking his advice.

"They say when you graduate from a top school, it makes it easier to get a job," said Kelly Gilliam, a 27-year-old senior from Newport Beach. "We'll see. We feel like we're prepared for the real world."

Like Newmark, Birgeneau also had a political message for the graduates. Undocumented immigrants should be allowed to receive state and federal financial aid to attend college, he said.

"I urge you to urge politicians, both in Sacramento and in Washington, to remove this disgrace from the American landscape," Birgeneau said, attracting scattered applause.

Newmark, meanwhile, urged graduates to use the Internet to become more politically active. Social-networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace can help people connect for good causes, he said.

The November presidential election could be a showcase for the class of 2008, he said.

"I do want you to get out and vote," Newmark said. "I hear that only half of you are doing that, and I really need the other half of you to do that."

The ceremony began with a moment of silence for nuclear-engineering senior Christopher Wootton, who was fatally stabbed May 3. He had been scheduled to graduate this month.


TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Education; Society
KEYWORDS: berkeley; beserkeley; craigslist
A barking moonbat tells a whole bunch of barking moonbats to go out and be barking moonbats,

at a State-run, taxpayer-funded school.

1 posted on 05/14/2008 4:12:13 PM PDT by SmithL
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To: SmithL
We'll see. We feel like we're prepared for the real world." - We will see indeed.
2 posted on 05/14/2008 4:14:04 PM PDT by SF Republican
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To: SF Republican
"They say when you graduate from a top school, it makes it easier to get a job," said Kelly Gilliam, a 27-year-old senior from Newport Beach
So, like ... you've never had a job, dude?
3 posted on 05/14/2008 4:18:03 PM PDT by dk88 (Loud and local)
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To: SmithL

Uh huh. So, after somehow managing to dredge up a billion dollars from the internet in the depths of the Bushitler fascist regime, Craigee doesn’t have enough energy left to rebuild Amerikkka on the glowing radioactive rubble left by George W. Hoover. I guess I get it now.


4 posted on 05/14/2008 4:19:42 PM PDT by Argus (Obama: All turban and no goats.)
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To: Argus

These people are like parasites and they don’t even know from which they feed.


5 posted on 05/14/2008 4:21:40 PM PDT by unkus
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To: unkus

Why are Conservatives giving this Utter Idiot money by selling and buying on Craig’s list?
If you happen to be Elliott Spitzer, it’s awhole nother tune!


6 posted on 05/14/2008 4:30:01 PM PDT by acapesket
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To: Argus
Uh huh. So, after somehow managing to dredge up a billion dollars from the internet...

How does he make money? There is no advertising on Craigslist.

7 posted on 05/14/2008 4:31:00 PM PDT by raybbr (You think it's bad now - wait till the anchor babies start to vote!)
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To: SmithL
Craigslist founder Craig Newmark told graduating seniors Tuesday that they will be responsible for "rebuilding" the country after President Bush's term ends.

Which basically means us young FReepers will have to rebuild it after the B. Hussein Obama reign is over with.

8 posted on 05/14/2008 4:32:59 PM PDT by GOP_Raider (DU: Standing athwart history yelling "$#@$# you mother$#@$#er!")
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To: SF Republican

A 27 year-old senior? Was she on the 9 year plan?


9 posted on 05/14/2008 4:36:46 PM PDT by 12Gauge687 (Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice)
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To: SmithL

I hope he succeeds. I hope he gets his liberal wish. Then liberal ‘price gouging’ and ‘windfall profits’ policies can be applied to his business. My guess is that the profit margin for his business is something north of 25%. I say we urge liberals to attack his business for gouging and ‘excessive profits’. Not only that, attack him for ‘excessive CEO compensation’. That should straighten him out.


10 posted on 05/14/2008 4:41:20 PM PDT by navyguy (Some days you are the pigeon, some days you are the statue.)
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To: SmithL
But this guy is worse than a barking moonbat ~ he's been caught participating in human slavery, baby sales, organ sales, ....... you name the sin, Craig's list has been into it.

Hardly an arbiter of moral standards if you catch my drift.

One does suppose he despises George Bush.

11 posted on 05/14/2008 4:45:26 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: dk88; 12Gauge687

Assuming Kelly was not previously in the military (fair assumption considering this is Beserkley) or taking care of a disabled relative, etc. the reason for graduating at the ripe old age of 27 may have to do with the “Van Wilder” plan of parties, orgies, and related bacchanalia. Perhaps Kelly has been so traumatized since the 2000 election that he/she/it plunged into a drug-addled haze and has yet to emerge.....


12 posted on 05/14/2008 4:46:58 PM PDT by Enchante (Obama: My 1930s Foreign Policy Goes Well With My 1960s Social Policy!)
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To: 12Gauge687

Probably drinking from the financial aid trough while biting the hand that feeds them. Won’t they be surprised that in order to make the big bucks they think they deserve, they may have to get a job at an evil, moneymaking, capitalist corporation. BWAAHAAHAAHAA!!!!!


13 posted on 05/14/2008 4:48:06 PM PDT by informavoracious (Freedom Isn't Free)
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To: raybbr
How does he make money?

"Even though nearly all listings on Craigslist remain free, it has added modest fees for job listings and real estate brokers in some big cities, and it generates an estimated $80 million to $100 million in annual revenue from those fees, with a staff, based in San Francisco, of 25, including Newmark."

14 posted on 05/14/2008 4:49:36 PM PDT by Argus (Obama: All turban and no goats.)
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To: SmithL

As Clinton was leaving the White House at the end of his term, did conservative speakers at commencement ceremonies mention how relieved they were that he would soon be an ex-president?

Didn’t think so.


15 posted on 05/14/2008 4:50:19 PM PDT by ladyjane
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To: informavoracious

Then he or she can get serious about paying off the student loan.


16 posted on 05/14/2008 5:03:41 PM PDT by 12Gauge687 (Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice)
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To: ladyjane

Moonbats can only “do” if the government is doing it for them.


17 posted on 05/14/2008 5:11:44 PM PDT by rollo tomasi (Working hard to pay for deadbeats and corrupt politicians.)
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To: SmithL
These graduates should be happy they got an edu-ma-cation for a lot less than it really costs in fees/tuition.

The California tax PAYERS (you know, the people that work and pay those high left coast taxes) have taken good care of these little brain washed lefties quite well.

18 posted on 05/14/2008 6:49:40 PM PDT by Trajan88 (www.bullittclub.com)
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To: Enchante

Actually, I was spending time taking care of my sick mother who was dying of cancer.

Btw, where did you graduate? CSUDH?


19 posted on 12/11/2009 3:54:03 AM PST by kellygilliam27yroldseniorNB
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To: kellygilliam27yroldseniorNB

“assuming” you have done what you say, then of course it is admirable to devote so much time and effort to helping to care for a seriously ill or dying family member....

“assuming” that is really the explanation for taking 8-9 years to do a 4-yr degree

btw, I have plenty of admiration for ppl who complete college while working full-time or nearly so, and/or attending to important family needs such as a seriously ill family member, going far above and beyond the usual 18-21 y.o. college life of debauchery..... IF you really fall more into the former category then hats off to you..... otoh, it would be especially despicable to utilize someone else’s illness as an excuse for one’s own weaknesses? But let us assume that is not the case here, even if we have only your “online word” for it..... that in effect you devoted 4-5+ years of your young adult life almost exclusively to caring for your sick and dying mother. That would be most admirable.

However, as (lucky) cancer survivor here, I have known a good number of patients and families, cancer survivors and many so sadly departed, and it would be more than a bit unusual to find a young 20-something who spent 4+ yrs full-time caring for and/or working to support a cancer patient.... but maybe you are one of those remarkable cases.... b/c I sure hope that you are not resorting to the frequently used liberal “pity party” trick of pulling on heart strings whether or not it’s relevant to the issue that was being discussed.

btw, while your snotty reference to CSUDH indicates that you have some big chip on your shoulder about having a Berkeley diploma, maybe some day you will learn to judge people for their character and accomplishments rather than by what degree they may or may not list on their C.V. Since you ask, my graduate degree is from HAHvaaahd (with very high honors and awards), where I put up with enough vapid liberal twits to last a lifetime..... and it’s something I NEVER mention unless someone brings it up, partly b/c I came to detest the place and also b/c it’s not relevant to judging a person’s worth & accomplishments..... but I’d far rather have my degree from CSUDH, or no degree at all, than to be the kind of person who sneers at every CSUDH....

.... oh, and I’d rather not be more like a lot of the clowns who are running and attending the Ivies and Stanford and our so-called “elite” institutions of learning, etc. Oh, I suppose we can allow Berkeley to appear somewhere on that list..... maybe a bit above CSUDH.

I know it may be hard for someone like you (worshiping the Berkeley diploma and sneering at CSUDH) to understand, but I had a huge range of options open to me in the snooty circles you frequent, and I turned my back on it to live and work with many far more *real* and decent people..... some with degrees, some without.... and plenty of the best ppl I know never took a college class....... so I suppose they may even be well below CSUDH on your scale of respect. That’s another reason I decided not to spend too much more of my life around ppl like you.


20 posted on 12/11/2009 10:34:07 PM PST by Enchante (Carter + Gore + Obama added together are not worth 1/1000th of a Nobel Prize ....)
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