Art & Photography
Famous local musician and fellow blogger Billy Sugarfix informs me that Friday, May 18 is National Bike to Work Day. He says:
I will do a free theme song for the blog/podcast/ webpage (yes myspace included) of anyone who in fact does give up their car for the day and kicks it pedal style. If interested, let me know. Work on the song will not start until AFTER the 18th when you have completed your two wheeled fossil fuel free commute.
You can contact him at billysugarfix (AT) gmail [DOT] com
The American Friends Service Committee has a really fun tool called Friends for Peace. You can upload an image of yourself holding a sign that has the words you choose before… for Peace.
Friends for Peace is a project of the American Friends Service Committee’s Wage Peace Campaign. Through Friends for Peace, people across the U.S. and around the world can put a face on the diverse majority who want to end the war in Iraq.
People from all walks of life now agree that invading Iraq was a mistake. Friends for Peace is a way to visually connect peace supporters and let everyone show a bit of their personality and individuality.
To join Friends for Peace, download one of our signs. Fill in a word or two that describes you (e.g. librarian, Red Sox fan, mother, etc.) and have a photo taken holding your sign.
So I made a sign with the words “Computer Design Geek for Peace”. Their wonderful online tool helped me put the words before the for Peace part then gave me a pdf to download. I printed out the pdf, took a picture of it with my MacBook Pro camera, then flipped it with Photoshop. The last part was nessesary because taking a picture of yourself with text is kinda like using a mirror for photography. Its all backward and stuff. Man am I a geek for peace or what.
All these pics end up on Flickr. There’s even a RSS feed of all the pics. Thanks to Ruby for showing me this neat activism tool.
On the right side bar of my blog I’ve put up a badge that links to a really interesting campaign. Its called One Million Blogs for Peace. Here’s some more explanation from their site. You can sign up here. Their blog is here.
The Concept
Between 20 March 2007 and 20 March 2008 (the fifth year of the war), we will attempt to sign up One Million Blogs for Peace. By signing up, a blogger is stating his or her agreement with The Pledge below. They will then be able to participate in various challenges launched by One Million Blogs for Peace. They will also be listed on this website with a link to their blog.Bloggers may take The Pledge and sign up before the launch date of 30 March 2007 and will be declared an “Inblogural” (Inaugural Blog) of the movement.
The Pledge
I believe in the immediate withdrawal of all foreign combat troops from the nation of Iraq. I believe in using my blog, in whole or in part, as a tool toward this end.Who’s Eligible
For the official count (toward 1,000,000), a blog must be based in the home country of a nation currently engaged in the Iraq War. As of now, those nations are: Albania, Australia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.Additional blogs from other nations may list themselves as “Support Blogs”. While not counting toward the 1,000,000 count, these blogs will be eligible to participate in some of the challenges and will be listed in their own section.
Don’t forget to show up for a anti-war rally near you this Saturday March 17. Its the beginning of the fifth year of the war in Iraq. What a sad day… Find your local rally here at the United for Peace & Justice website.
Non-profit techies have been dreaming of ways to use new web 2.0 stuff to help good causes. We’re always suggesting people use Digg, Facebook, De.licio.us, Flickr, and YouTube for positive social change work. Problem is they are all separate services with communities that aren’t focused on non-profit missions. What would happen if we mashed all these functionalities together and got non-profit people involved? Enter Change.org. Now we have such as site. Check out the Orange Networking page I created.
HKonJ: Big March in Raleigh Tomorrow
Historic Thousands on Jones Street, aka HKonJ, is tomorrow. Check out this video of Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, President of the North Carolina State NAACP.
From the HKonJ website:
HKonJ: The People’s General Assembly
In order to make substantial and progressive change in North Carolina public policy, we need a movement and not a moment.
HKonJ is a call by the North Carolina NAACP to the progressive and civil rights community to come together to support 14-point public policy strategy that will begin to shift North Carolina political action in a way that will more clearly match our rhetoric with reality.
February 12, 2007 is the 98th birthday of the NAACP, in commemoration of a time when progressive whites and blacks came together to fight racial injustice and social inequality. Today, our challenges revolve around the issues of education, health, labor rights, economic empowerment, civic engagement, and criminal justice.
The goals of HKonJ are to:
* Gather 50-100 people from 100 counties in Raleigh before the General Assembly to embrace a 14-point agenda that we demand the legislature to act upon. We will insert the 14-point agenda in every political debate and discussion until they become a reality.
* Remind North Carolina that the General Assembly belongs to the people, not the powerful; to everyday folk, not just those with the money and the influence.
* Create a statewide network of the progressive and civil rights community which we will build in order to promote a progressive agenda and civil rights in North Carolina .
HKonJ will not be a moment, but a movement. This event will bring hardworking, everyday people together and on March 28, 2007 the Second Annual People of Color Legislative Day where we bring hundreds of people together to lobby the General Assembly will be held.
A new social networking site for non-profits and causes called Change.org has launched. It uses Web 2.0 stuff (tag clouds, groups, blogs, etc.) to help people organize around issues and create… Change. (I hope)
Its a beautiful idea that lots of smart people have been thinking about and working on. Nice to see something like this implemented. This could be some really powerful stuff.
On first glance it looks good. I’ll be using it for sure. Ruby is bound to have more to say about it soon. Until then here is a review on Read/WriteWeb that Rabble pointed me to.
Listen to Ruby’s interview on BBC radio about the very successful Second Life Ant-War protest she organized. Radical stuff in more ways than one! Congrats Ruby!
Stan Goff has a article over at the Huffington Post called Unmasking the DLC. Its about the Democratic Leadership Council and pegs just what liberals need to do in America right now.
A strategic imperative for the antiwar movement must be to push for the defeat of any and all DLC supported candidates, and to expose and eviscerate the power of this ruling class committee. This is possible using the communications media available to popular forces through the internet, and combining this networking capacity with aggressive grassroots education efforts.
Check out this great bit of info about the so called New Democrat Movement (aka Right Wing Democrats) over at NNDB.
The right wing current of the Democratic party, characterized by its neoliberal economic policies, support of Israel, desire to increase defense spending, and links to heavy donors and fundraisers.
Believes that “left-wing” positions are not politically viable. Describes itself as “moderate and pro-growth”. Probably responsible for erosion of the Democratic Party’s historical labor and minority base due to support of treaties like NAFTA, lack of support for affirmative action and poverty programs, and their siphoning away of campaign funds from minority groups.
“I’m from the democratic wing of the Democrat Party” –Paul Wellstone, progressive Democrat, criticizing the New Democrat Movement.
“Democrats for the Leadership Class” –Jesse Jackson, progressive black Democrat, describing the DLC.
Support real progressive candidates who have a anti-war voting record! This is the strategic direction we need to put the liberal wing of the Democrat Party in control. Will John Edwards and Barack Obama reject the DLC?
Saturday February 10, 2007 a large coalition of people from all over the state will gather at General Assembly Memorial Auditorium in Downtown Raleigh, NC for H K on J. Arrive at 11:00 am. The Program will be at 12:00 p.m. Thousands will march to Legislative Building on Jones Street. Bellow the fold you can read The People’s Agenda, Fourteen Points that the organizers have put together. This is going to be an amazing event. A milestone in North Carolina Politics. Read more about it over at NC Policy Watch. Here are some pdfs to print out and use to spread the word.
HKonJ Flyer PDF
The Peoples’ Agenda – 14 Points PDF
Continue reading “Historic K(thousands) on Jones Street”
All the presidential campaigns better look into this ASAP.
Update: Read Was I duped by Astroturf?.
Congress to Send Critics to Jail, Says Richard Viguerie
MANASSAS, Va., Jan. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The following is a statement by Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of GrassrootsFreedom.com,
regarding legislation currently being considered by Congress to regulate grassroots communications:“In what sounds like a comedy sketch from Jon Stewart’s Daily Show, but isn’t, the U. S. Senate would impose criminal penalties, even jail time, on grassroots causes and citizens who criticize Congress.
“Section 220 of S. 1, the lobbying reform bill currently before the Senate, would require grassroots causes, even bloggers, who communicate to 500 or more members of the public on policy matters, to register and report quarterly to Congress the same as the big K Street lobbyists. Section 220 would amend existing lobbying reporting law by creating the most expansive intrusion on First Amendment rights ever. For the first time in history, critics of Congress will need to register and report with Congress itself.
via Slashdot from prnnewswire
How exactly will the Feds determine how many people my blog communicates with? Blogtapping? Its technically feasible.
Read more at grassrootsfreedom.com.
Context
Richard A. Viguerie of American Target Advertising, a direct marketing advertising company, pioneered political/ideological direct mail in the 1960s and 1970s. That marriage of direct mail and politics enabled grassroots Americans to participate in the political process to a greater degree than ever before and built the conservative movement that elected President Reagan in 1980. Viguerie’s effort was so important that John F. Kennedy Jr.’s magazine, GEORGE, included it on its list of the defining political moments of the 20th century. In December 1999, Lee Edwards in a WASHINGTON TIMES column listed Richard Viguerie as one of 13 “Conservatives of the Century.” He is now pioneering the use of the Internet on behalf of conservative free-market politicians and organizations.
The WASHINGTON POST called him the “conservatives’ Voice of America.” He has been credited with forming dozens of conservative organizations and with helping them grow stronger through political action, think tanks, publications, and representation in the U.S. House and Senate, state legislatures and other levels of government.
Brian C. Russell 