Competitors
I think I've figured out what really bugged me about the ABC debate.
Submitted by Gina on April 25, 2008 - 07:58.
Lingering Thoughts
Stuff still on my mind as we begin a new week:
David Barstow's disturbing piece about a Pentagon psyops program (aka propaganda) aimed at the American media.
The outstanding multimedia presentation detailing Barstow's evidence.
Rep. Chris Murphy on Gas Prices:
"Madam Speaker, people are hurting. Real people, not oil company executives, and we need both sides of the aisle and the President of the United States working to fix it."
Good friend Nicloe Rivera is running for SF-DCCC:
I’m running because I want to share my ideas, passion and action for progressive politics with the California Democratic Party. I am most happy when I work with other activists to create positive change in our political system. My interest in politics is grounded in my commitment to social and economic justice, persistent hope, protecting the interests of working Americans and guaranteeing personal liberties for all.
educationaction's excellent series on community organizing at Open Left
Saul Alinsky and the Idea of "Apathy"
Let me first admit that Alinsky did, in fact, talk a lot about apathy, and about how people were apathetic, etc. But I think one of the best things he said about why people don't act is this:
The issue that is not clear to organizers, missionaries, educators, or any outsider, is simply that if people feel they don't have the power to change a bad situation, then they do not think about it. Why start figuring out how you are going to spend a million dollars-unless you want to engage in fantasy.
Once people are organized so that they have the power to make changes, then, when confronted with questions of change, they begin to think and ask questions. . . . It is when people have a genuine opportunity to act and to change conditions that they begin to think their problems through--then they show their competence, raise the right questions, seek professional counsel and look for the answers. Then you begin to realize that believing in people is not just a romantic myth. (Rules for Radicals, pp. 105-6)
In other words, you don't get people thinking about change by asking them to think or by urging them to act. You get them to think about change by showing them a concrete way that they can actually make change happen.
The coercion, child abuse, and other creepy things going on at the FLDS compound in Texas.
Why every child should have a dog.
Submitted by Gina on April 21, 2008 - 11:11.
Is It Bad Karma To Make Fun Of Someone's Age?
Oh, what the hell. Thanks Aravosis.
Submitted by Gina on April 19, 2008 - 18:36.
Bitter Irony
Submitted by Gina on April 12, 2008 - 12:40.
Slow Surfing Sunday
What's on my mind this Sunday afternoon...
I Am A Man: Dr. King & the Memphis Sanitation Strike
Austin American-Statesman: Progressive bloggers will come to Austin in July
The Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates the event will pump about $3.5 million into the local economy.
Vince Liebowitz: Complaint Against Fero A Wake Up Call For Blogger Rights And Protections
Look now at 255.005, which is perhaps the most troubling statute in question:
255.005. MISREPRESENTATION OF IDENTITY. (a) A person commits an offense if, with intent to injure a candidate or influence the result of an election, the person misrepresents the person’s identity or, if acting or purporting to act as an agent, misrepresents the identity of the agent’s principal, in political advertising or a campaign communication. [Emphasis added]
Note the text in bold above. Read only the text in bold (a violation of which, in and of itself, would constitute a Class A Misdemeanor) and tell me that it doesn’t put every blogger in Texas who writes about politics and does so under the protection of a pseudonym at risk for a criminal complaint.
lifehack.org: How to Be an Expert (And Find One if You’re Not.)
While knowledge is obviously an important quality of expertise, it’s only one of several factors that makes someone an expert in their field…
It can be hard to tell the fake experts from the real ones; many fakes have a great deal of expertise in the field of coming off as an expert!
Andrei Cherny: Candy Bombers Sneak Peek No. 2: A Battle for the Democratic Party's Soul
I couldn't truly tell the tale of how America under President Truman turned around its failing occupation of postwar Germany, inspired people around the world to believe we were a force for good, and generally became the nation we know we need to be again today without looking at what was happening at the very same moment here at home: Harry Truman's miraculous 1948 campaign.
Submitted by Gina on April 6, 2008 - 15:33.
Mini Manifesto: Technology and Politics
Technology has opened up a world of information to regular people. How does the individual make sense of it all? Whoever can help citizens understand the world better, make sense of how we have gotten where we are and provide a path and a model for where we are going will usher in the next generation of politics.
As technology becomes more prevalent, the ability to move people is evolving, becoming more a function of power distributed than power consolidated. People are less likely to trust traditional authoritative models of leadership and so modern leaders must meet people them where they are, respecting each individual’s capacity to choose for themselves how to engage in the political process.
