But since I've written so extensively about the sessions and the speeches, I wanted to wrap up with links to the organizations of some of the amazing people I've met while I was here. It was exciting to meet bloggers whose writing I read every day, and people who are working for organizations and candidates that I admire deeply. Heck, I'm embarrassed to say that this was the first time I'd met my own mayor (ha!). So, this list format is the worst way to do it, but here are some of the organizations from which I was fortunate enough to meet some folks:

1sky
EchoDitto
Friends of the Earth
Grist
Pandagon
RH Reality Check
Sierra Club

And of course, big props (did I just write that?) to Daily Kos and friends for such an amazing community of bloggers, many of whom I was lucky enough to meet this week.

But getting down to the meat of his speech (I really need to find some vegetarian metaphors), he spoke of a National Mobilization for Green Jobs, which will take place on September 27. He said we need to "retrofit, reboot, repower the nation" with green job opportunities, and this day of demonstration will help get us there.

In short, Jones also spoke about environmental justice, fighting pollution and poverty at the same time, and connecting the dots of green business leaders and workers. He said we must start preparing now for our strategy when Obama gets elected so we can prevent stagflation (it's ok...I didn't know what it meant either. Thank you wikipedia).

All in all, a very inspiring speech from a charismatic man I would definitely love to meet some day.

The overarching theme of Lessig's presentation was "9%." He even had us chant it - "nine per-cent." After a few examples, he came out with it - 9% is the amount of people who believe that our government is performing its function to the best of its ability. This particularly had to do with the ability of our leaders to stay fair when money comes into the equation.

He used examples that ranged from the sugar industry managing to make the national standard for daily sugar intake 25% (omg, ridiculous) to Hillary Clinton's change of vote on a bill to crack down on credit card debt after she had received contributions from credit companies.

Then, as many of the speakers at NN08 did, he called on us -- the bloggers -- to take responsibility for calling leaders out on these problems. He said, "You are central to building the solution to this problem" and "remaking democracy."

And finally, he announced a new project that he and Joe Trippi have championed. It's a site called Change Congress, where citizens and candidates can pledge to support any of these four reforms:

- No money from lobbyists or PACs
- Vote to end earmarks
- Support reform to increase Congressional transparency
- Support publicly-financed campaigns

There is also a lot more to the site, including volunteering info, a blog, and a way to contribute to candidates who have taken this pledge. It's a fascinating site, and they are currently mobilizing to put together a blogger council, create a targeted donations project and send messages to all candidates and members of Congress asking them to respond to this pledge.

At the end of his speech, he showed a clip of a video of Al Gore on Ted Talks and had the entire audience chant, "We have to solve the democracy crisis."

And of course, Al Gore showed up shortly after, and his speech was (as always) breathtaking. He began by equating drilling to solve our gas crisis with drinking a beer in the morning to cure a hangover, which I thought was hilariously awesome. And of course he talked a lot about the Alliance for Climate Protection, and their goal to recruit 10 million activists.

One thing I thought was really interesting was when an audience member asked him about the meat industry. He was quite humble and admitted that he perhaps hasn't been as forceful on that industry as he should have, and that probably can be attributed to the fact that he's a meat-eater (people cheered for this...and made me sad). But he concluded by saying that we "have to walk before we can run" and that he's been focusing on the broader concept of a green economy, which I suppose is valid. But of course, many of us would like to see him put pressure on the meat industry.

He also talked about the atrocities that our clients at Care2 are working to stop, such as mountaintop removal mining, liquid coal and e-waste. And he said that nuclear is probably going to see a slight increase, but that he doesn't think it's a good solution at all, mostly because of the expense and scale of nuclear plants.

All in all it was great to see him speak, and he far overshadowed the performance of the speaker.

All in all it was a pretty comfortable and interesting speech. I've been contunially fascinated by the love that the Netroots Nation community has been giving to figures. But with the large Democracy For America presence here, it's not surprising that this one is a warm welcome.

He spoke a lot in his speech about the "50 state strategy," particularly turning Texas blue and that the DNC is going to red states to campaign heavily because no state is off-limits. He also spoke about the idea that one blogger from each state was invited to sit in on the Democratic National Convention and blog about it in relation to their state, which is pretty cool.

There was also of course a lot of talk about Obama's policies, the differences between Republicans and Democrats (he says Republicans are "exclusive" and Democrats are "inclusive"), and about how Obama's idea to sit down with the leaders of other countries makes a lot more sense than stooping to the level of those who attacked us. He also mentioned the human rights violations in Guantanamo Bay, and got a standing ovation.

A few tidbits about the conference in general. It's interesting to hear about the struggles that many people here are going through that I heard a surprisingly small amount of solutions for. It seems the community as a whole is struggling with how to use the tools we have on the internet to actually mobilize change. There's of course a disconnect between the more web-centered folks and those who perfer face-to-face or on-the-street action. There are some great ideas, like those in my previous post, but they still require the cooperation of our leaders, which is possibly one of the most challenging things to harness.

One other observation was that in many of the sessions I attended, their needed to be better (or at least more aggressive) moderation. Many of them either went over time, or one of the presenters got to talk way longer than the rest of them.

Lastly, I also attended "Politically Active Youth on Political Participation and Civic Education: What They Have to Teach Us" and "Marketing and Monetizing Your Progressive Blog," both of which were very interesting, but I don't have much to say about them so I won't put them into separate posts. But more to come...

Here's a photo that my friend Marcos took of my handshake. Blurry, obviously, but it's the proof. ;)

First thought about this session? Wow, that's a long title. :) Many of these sessions have excessively long titles, but this session made up for it. I learned about a lot of interesting tools.

Andrew Hoppin started things off - he's from the NASA CoLab, and has done a lot of work to bring more transparency within NASA. But quickly Micah Sifry took over. Sifry is with the Sunlight Foundation (who are VERY well represented at this conference) and the Personal Democracy Forum. We've worked with Sunlight before, and they're a great organization whose focus is really to improve the legislative process by using the internet and the social web to "shine light" on what goes on in Washington.

He started off by telling us about some fantastic resource sites, much like MAPlight.org, which I just wrote about, that allow you to see various types of information about bills, lobbyists, funding, etc. His particular examples were fedspending.org and opensecrets.org. He mentioned that often this data is not super reliable, either because it's outdated or because the source hasn't exactly been forthcoming.

But what he dove into next was the most interesting - the idea that people really want to share information and opinions (made clear by sites like yelp, amazon reviews, ratemycop, discussion forums, etc.) so why shouldn't we have this type of a feedback loop with legislation and government? This is a potential way for us to improve the legislative process by voicing our opinions. It was frequently brought up that this is not a flawless system just yet - obviously, there's going to be a lot of noise in this feedback, and perhaps the biggest challenge is to effectively filter through this information.

Another interesting site is earmarkwatch, sponsored by Taxpayers for Common Sense. Basically, people can find earmarks to bills, analyze what they actually mean (because they're frequently cryptic), and potentially use it as a tool for exposing shady earmarks. It's a great tool for investigative journalists and bloggers.

He also mentioned that with the growing popularity of sites like OpenCongress, people have begun to use these sites not just to critique bills, but also to share their personal experiences about how the bill is effecting them (he used the example of a bill effecting unemployment). I think this is a fascinating and unexpected use for these types of sites.

Yet another example was publicmarkup.org, which allows people to comment on legislation before it's actually presented to any body. Of course, legislators would have to embrace this and feel comfortable enough posting the draft online, but if many did, it would be a great tool, and could definitely change the way the legislative process works.

Here are some basic points that he talked about next:
- getting legislation and hearings online (and in advance - draft text, three days before they vote on it)
- addressable bill text - different links, sections, etc so it's easy to digest
- doesn't think we need more emails to Congress (uhh...I disagree :))
- forums where people can give feedback, and Congress can check in on it

It's certainly hard to see this being immediately effective and accepted by our government, but if enough people pushed for it, I could see it starting to build a movement.

Next was Jeanne Holm of NASA/Jet propulsion lab and the California Institute of Technology. She talked a lot about how NASA is using facebook, twitter, and Second Life to bring people into the process and make them feel more involved. Interesting, but not particularly relevant to me personally.

One thing I found sadly hilarious was when Justin Hamilton, a senior adviser to Rep. George Miller of CA, mentioned that they did a virtual Congressional session in Second Life, but that they didn't ultimately think it was worth it because there wasn't much interest. I hate to say it, but "duh." I may be wrong about this Second Life thing, but I will be happy to laugh in people's faces if it fails.

There were a few other topics, but the last one that interested me was the idea of putting data together in interesting ways that gets people interested, presented by W. David Stephenson. He showed some interesting examples of data graphs, map mashups, etc. One of them was a map of all the potholes in DC with frequently updated status messages. Useful, I suppose. Then there was illegalsigns.ca, something more close to my heart. This site tracks Toronto's outdoor advertising industry, and posts the locations of illegal billboards. There's also Chicagocrime.org, which is essentially a police blotter on a map.

A very useful and interesting session, even if it was poorly moderated and presenters didn't get their fair time.

"Republicans are consistently better than Democrats at campaign messages." That's how this session started. And I suppose I would agree, even though Republicans consistently use deception and cheap shots in those messages (which they talked about later).

The general idea for this session was that campaign messages should always answer the question, "What does this have to do with me?" and should identify why that particular candidate "gets it,' (whatever "it" may be) and the other candidate doesn't.

I have to say, I found it ironic that a session on message had such a verbose handout (three pages, front and back), but thankfully he didn't go through it point-by-point. It in fact did end up having a lot more nitty gritty than the presentation did, which was good.

Two more key points:
- a message is not a biography
- a message is not a set of policy points

I actually take issue with the idea that we have to make our candidate look like, "one of us." It's my opinion that the president should not be one of us at all, but should be of extraordinary intelligence, enough so that he or she can figure out the solutions to problems that plague the middle class. But I realize that the American public would prefer to have a president that they can drink a beer with, so I digress.

Then they went into the message box, which I'll be lazy and just link to, since it seems to me to be for the kind of person who thinks this way.

I suppose the general idea behind this session was to identify your set of policy stances, and make them into values that the general public can understand. This is where the "elitist," comments come from, and "family values," etc.

The rest of the session, they showed about 20 commercials for local or national races, and how they framed those particular candidates' messages. There was an overwhelming prominence of the "I used to be a construction worker," and "I grew up in a middle class family," angle, which is hard to tell if it is actually accurate, especially considering how our current president manipulated that angle.

Lastly, and the part that I found to be the most practical, was to try to make your campaign messaging hit the left and the right brain of the listener/viewer. It's important not to discount emotion in messaging, but also don't go overboard with it. It's best to have a balance of straight facts, emotion and memorability. That seems logical to me.

An aside - some of these commercials are so cheesy ... maybe it's a generational thing. :)

(As posted on the Care2 Campaigner Blog here...)

Perhaps the most exciting was MAPlight.org. I'm not sure if I just missed the boat on this before, or if it's a fairly new thing, but either way, it's exciting. What they do is basically pull data about bills, financing, etc. and allow you to access the financial contributors, committees, timeline, history, etc. of bills, interest groups and legislators. Basically, this is a campaigner's dream. There are lots of other websites out there like this, but this one pulls information together in a really nice, one-stop kind of way. For example: Care2 did a lot of campaigns on the recent Climate Security Act. Well, look that up on MAPlight, and it comes up with all kinds of info that is really valuable: check it out (particularly the "committees" and "history and status" tabs are useful for this bill).

Another great org's table that I visited was National Popular Vote, Inc. This nonprofit is working to propose a nationwide popular election for the President. (We joked, "what a ridiculous idea!") It wold basically reform the Electoral College so a candidate with the most poplar votes would be guaranteed a majority. It's about time.

And of course, there were a lot of our great nonprofit clients who had tables, including 1sky, ACLU, Alliance for Justice and Public Citizen.

OK, lunch time. (also posted on the Care2 Campaigner blog here...)

The presentation was by Parag Mehta, who was very upbeat and had the rah-rah dance down for the Democratic party, which was amusing. He talked a lot about how we need to support Democrats no matter what, which I think a lot of people in the audience disagreed with, including a woman in front of me who was mumbling under her voice during the entire presentation. But it was interesting that he addressed this fact - that Democrats tend to be much less forgiving with their candidates. Like with Senator Obama's FISA vote, he lost a lot of supporters just from that one vote. He claimed that doesn't happen so easily on the Republican side.

He mentioned that the Republican party plans to spend one billion dollars on this election cycle. Does this seem asinine to anyone else!? Just think of what 1 billion dollars could do to help repair our country (ironically, helping to fix some of the issues the candidates are evangelizing about), but it's going to try to brainwash people, and often get people to believe outright lies. Sickening.

Mehta then talked about 2004. He said that one criticism that he had for the way John Kerry ran his campaign was that he talked more about what was wrong with Bush than what was right with himself. Mehta said that we just can't make that mistake this year, and that it's the job of the party to criticize the Republican candidate (he showed some videos that do just that); Obama should focus on his own qualifications, which he seems to be doing generally.

There was then lots of talk about McCain's votes; that he changed his mind about: torture, immigration, campaign finance, Bush tax cuts...old news.
Finally, Mehta talked about how we can win elections, and detailed Obama's 50-state plan, which is essentially to eventually try to take all 50 states with a Democratic majority (in a nutshell...oversimplifying a bit, of course). He outlined four steps that we need to focus on:

- Take back the white house
- Expand majorities in house and senate
- Pick up governorships and statewide offices
- Build majorities in state legislatures by 2010 (when next map is drawn)

Finally he talked about canvasing, which I think was what he wanted to get to all along. His statistic (and I wish I had written down the actual numbers, but I didn't) was that talking face-to-face with 14 people, at least 3 times, is like making more than 400 phone calls, or sending out more than 400 letters. Pretty amazing. All in all, an interesting session - more of a reinforcement than an epiphany, but still good.

Next up - some tidbits from the exhibit hall, then break for lunch.

(also posted on the Care2 Campaigner blog here...)

Two hours ahead and waking up at 7 is a bit painful, but that's how my Thursday started. First task - coffee. Okay, that's taken care of. Scarf down my bagel, and rush to my first session. My first observation is inevitably the ratio of male to female - it's got to be about 10 to 1, at least in this session. More to come...

(also posted on the Care2 Campaigner Blog here...)

This is one of his blogs:

http://dovaryeh.net/2008/04/25/i-want-the-boys-to-feel-bad/

because it’s fun…” (ten year old girl on the topic of this image on a T-shirt:

Think about this: a picture of a fat, hairy woman, sleeping in a bed. A group of men start making fun of her, saying things like “think about waking up with THAT in your bed!” “disgusting!” “Think about having THOSE legs around you while making love!”

 

Pretty upsetting, huh? This is nevertheless the style a picture of a hairy man sleeping was commented in a women’s group in a debate forum, and when a couple of men got offended and sad by it, they were driven out of the group with insults and mockery… to this day those women don’t understand that it is just as insulting towards a man as it is towards a woman.

That same women chased me out of a Group for posting a post which said: “All Women are Stupid” and didn’t get why I would say such a thing - they didn’t get that I said that exactly to show how they would react if indeed the tables were turned. Their reaction was exactly what I had imagined it would be. They had absolutely no problem badmouthing men in general, mock and belittle their own husbands and boyfriends, but when I said “All women are stupid” all hell broke loose.

Not only are they misandrists and chauvinist sows, they are hypocrites as well.

And here is his final statement in Care2:

http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/809441

I have decided to Delete my Profile and leave Care2 altogether. It's been a roller-coaster 4 years. Years in which I have been participating in debates, discussions, and friendship. It has also been years in which I have been subjected to hatred and abuse, bullying and mindless verbal violence. If nothing else it's been 4 educational years.

Some of you will find that you are now owners of new groups - sorry that I had to dump them on you like this, but I have to get out of here before I go crazy. Those of you who find that you are owners of new groups - you have basically been running the group(s) anyway in the last months, so it's only right that you get to call the shots - at least you won't have to manuever around this cantankerous old bear anymore!

I want to thank those of you who have been my friends for that friendsship - may He Who IS Bless you and Keep you and reward you for your loyalty and love. May it all come back to you three-fold.

Hugs,
Henric

To all those who spat at that man for those four years, I ask, "Are you proud of yourself?" I, who have never been Jewish, Swedish, or a transexual, never allowed any of my differences with him to get in the way of our personal dealings. Even when he and I had disagreements (and some were indeed serious, like on religious issues) I never felt offended by the man's presence because he never seemed threatening to me, and was willing to subject himself to honest criticism and advice. And when he was proven wrong, he openly admitted it, just as I would have. That made him far more credible in my eyes than some who always insist they are right, and thus prove themselves to be idiots. Unlike far too many people in Care2, Henric always tried to follow the Care2 Code of Conduct and strictly enforced it in the groups he hosted, which was another reason he was so resented by those who were filled with hatred for what he stood for.

By losing him, Care2 allowed a gaping hole in itself. There are dozens of abusive @$$holes  who should have been thrown out of Care2 long before Henric was forced to leave it. The fact that they are still there and he isn't is simply injustice. The reputation of Care2 has been badly damaged because of this.

Care2 introduces their new toolbar for your web browsers. For every day that their toolbar is used Care2 will make a donation to save 25 square foot of the Amazon Rainforest. Best of all their toolbar uses Google's search engine, so for those of you who already use Google and or Google's toolbar this is an extra added bonus for using Care2's toolbar.

Personally speaking, I love the Care2 toolbar and use it every day. It comes in handy being able to search google without having to go to their homepage, and it is also an extra added bonus being able to have quick access to Care2 petitions straight from their toolbar.

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

Mahatma Gandhi

Take it from Gandhi, you should do something about our messed up planet. The great thing is, the internet makes that easy. There are thousands of political action blogs, organization websites, and social networks that can help you make a difference. Below is a list of ways that you can get involved:

• Contact your local representative about issues that you would like to see changed. Also, contact your senators about the same issues for double the impact. To make more of an impact, visit the following sites to find petitions and form emails (which I recommend editing or adding to, or else no one will read it) that thousands of other people are sending.

-EFF - The Electronic Frontier Foundation has a reference to help your voice matter. I highly recommend at least skimming some of its content. Also check out their Action Center.

-Care2 Action Center - Access hundreds of emails that you can send to your representatives. Additionally, many of the emails are pre-addressed to heads of organizations, companies, and government departments, or other targets for change. Many of these petitions have been signed by over 10,000 people. To make a broader impact, try adding a personal note on all emails where that is an option

-iPetitions - iPetitions allows anyone to create a petition, collect online signatures, and then send the petition to members of congress and other targets for change. Some of the petitions have collected over 100,000 signatures!

• Volunteer for local organizations. To find thousands of teen volunteer opportunities anywhere in the United States try DoSomething.org. Also try REI and VolunteerMatch's volunteer search engine (it found 152 opportunities 5 miles from my house!) If you are a student in MCPS, know that you can earn SSL hours for working with any accredited organization in the area, which, besides for being necessary to graduate, can lead to scholarships and special awards. You can download the SSL form here. Use this tool to find SSL approved volunteer opportunities.
• Wear Your Cause - Show your allegiance with political t-shirts, bumper stickers, hats, and much more. The link leads to CafePress, a website that allows users to create their own designs and make money by selling their designs on various items. For other cool liberal apparel try Bush Humor, Peace, Wildlife, and Equal Marriage categories. For Obama gear that supports his campaign, click here.
• Donate to causes that you care about. Remember to do your daily clicks (especially Five For Fighting, which donates $1 per view!) Also remember to GoodSearch, instead of using Google or Yahoo, to donate 1 cent per search (it adds up). To make a monetary donation to your charitie(s), go to the organization's website or find the organization on this website. To learn about intelligent giving try Charity Navigator.

Have fun making a difference!

The internet is great tool. It's useful, but it's best merit is for entertainment purposes. Below I've compiled an incomplete list (more to come later) of cool sites that are functional and/or fun. Many sites taken from Cool Tools For Online Fools. They are in order of awesomeness (most awesome at top). Have fun!:

• Hulu - Watch your favorite TV and Movies legally for free with limited adds, fast streaming, and great quality. Watch popular shows like The Office, The Simpsons, House, Bones, SNL, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 30 Rock, Heroes, The Colbert Report and The Daily Show (and many more). Watch hit movies like Master and Commander, The Big Lebowski, October Sky, Monty Python's: The Meaning of Life, Lost in Translation, Men In Black and Some Like It Hot. This Summer, something new will arrive on Hulu every day, so check back here every once and a while
• Care2 - Help save the world online with Care2! On the site you can click daily to help raise money to charitable causes, collaborate with other people who care to make a difference, sign online petitions, and learn how to make your life greener. Plus, the site's covered in Obama ads, so it has to be cool. It's fun, and the world will thank you. Make a difference today!
• Expert Village - Ever wanted to know how to do something? learn now at Expert village, a video site where people upload how-to videos. Learn to play guitar, knit, public speak, and much more.
• Adobe Photoshop Express - I've never been a fan of online photo sharing sites, but this might convert me. Adobe offers this free service where you can upload up to 2GB of pictures and edit them with an online photoshop equivalent. Next time you have a party, go on a vacation, or have another experience that you'd like to share, try it out.
• StopForwarding.Us - Do you know someone who constantly sends you chainmail? You can use this tool to anonymously send them a message encouraging them to rethink their emailing habits.
• Fanpop - Have an obsession that you just need to immerse yourself in? Fanpop has collections of video, images, picks (opinion questions that fans pose), forums, and quizzes organized in spots associated with movies, shows, people, sports teams and more. It's fun, a good time waster, and slightly addictive. Check it out!
• Web Canvas - Join in painting the largest collaborative painting. It's riddled with URLs and advertisements, so take a bit of time to add something pretty. You have to register to use it, so use this free, anonymous disposable email service to create a one time use spam email (click the button at the top to get an email).
• A.nnotate - Use this free service to allow multiple people to annotate a document for feedback. It's useful if you want to get feedback from friends on schoolwork, essays, or creative writing.
• All My Faves - Are you too lazy to type URLs, or interested in discovering new sites? Then try All My Faves, a collection of links to popular sites organized by category. You might find something cool, or at least save your delicate fingers.

I hope you find something cool!

The second use for this site is the "click to donate" feature. For this feature, all anyone has to do is go to the top sidebar [as seen on the pictue] and click on the cause you want to donate to, and click on the picture that says "click here to donate" or "free click". You'll totally know.  It's so easy, and it can help so much.

There are lots of great resources on the bill online. While some environmental organizations oppose the bill, many see it as an important step in the right direction. The bill would put in place a cap-and-trade system for heavy emitters, as well as building regulations and efficiency standards for residential areas. Obviously the 500-page bill has more than just that, but that's the centerpiece.

Defenders of Wildlife has also emphasized the important provisions that the bill includes for wildlife, conservation and habitat restoration, all of which are dramatically affected by climate change.

If you'd like to see how your senator voted, visit this Senate webpage. When there is new info, we will definitely have some more info and a petition you can sign to support the passing of this important bill!

Should Barack Obama choose Hillary Clinton to be his running mate? I asked this question at The Care2 Election Blog, you can see comments here and here. What do you think? This will be the topic of today's political blog roundup.

It seems to me that a “dream ticket” is the only way to bring the party together. I also think, if Obama doesn’t choose Hillary as his VP, there is a very good chance McCain could win in November. And McCain (if he’s smart) could end up choosing a woman as his running mate. If he does that, many women would see it as an historic opportunity for them to vote for the first woman VP.

That's what I think. Here is what other bloggers are saying...

From Faye Anderson at Anderson@Large...

Hillary Clinton gave a defiant non-concession speech, but the final curtain reportedly will fall on the Clinton-Obama drama on Saturday. Barack Obama isn'€™t waiting for the lights to come up. He has named Caroline Kennedy, former deputy attorney general Eric Holder and Jim Johnson to lead the search for a running mate.

But Clinton backers are saying: We got your veep and she's "€œabsolutely ready."€ The campaign to put Clinton on the ticket is being led by Lanny Davis, who has posted an online petition.

BlogHer contributing editor, Erin Kotecki Vest (also at Queen of Spain), would like to have been a fly on the wall.

There is news tonight Senators Clinton and Obama sat down and had a chat in Washington D.C.

I have burning questions, and I realize not all of them are about policy or substance.

But...
Was there a hug when they entered the room?
Handshake?
I'm guessing no fist-pound.

Was it cold and formal?
Was small talk exchanged? I'm envisioning something like:

"So, how's the weather here in DC?"
"Oh, did you see those storms we had?"
"Boy, I sure am tired from all that campaigning."
"Tell me about it, I haven't slept in weeks."

I have no doubt when details are released we will get the standard pr push of "In a productive and friendly sit-down, the two Senators were eager to map out the unification of the Democratic party and to continue their hard work for the American people..." or some such BS.

You have to admit, you want to know just how 'friendly' it may or may not have gone.

PunditMom has a post at BlogHer asking the same question, Will She or Won’t She?…

The pundits cannot help themselves. We’ve heard every theory from pundits galore during the course of the campaign. And since the sun came up this morning, cable networks and pundits (myself included!) have been parsing every word, every sign, every move of the candidates and their surrogates about what will happen tonight. Can you say “feeding frenzy?”

(see comments at BlogHer)

READ FULL POST AT THE CARE2 ELECTION BLOG

Also See:

Hillary Will Support Obama's Nomination: In her own words -- and yours.

Can The Healing of The Democratic Party Begin Now?

I have a profile on there as grrrlriot. Feel free to add me on TakingItGlobal.

Here is some information about the website, taken from takingitglobal.org.

We're an international non-profit organization headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, yet we connect youth around the world. TakingITGlobal provides a portal for young people to find inspiration, access information and get involved in improving their local and global communities.

Our flagship program, TakingITGlobal.org, has become the most popular online community for young people interested in connecting across cultures and making a difference. Hundreds of thousands of people visit the site each month to share their unique knowledge, perspectives and experiences.

You know those click to donate buttons? Here's a whole pageful. Click away.

While you're there, check out Care 2 Connect. This is my page. Care2 helps you stay on top of causes, connect to people with common charitable interests, etc. Like today when I signed in, I got a pop-up about an OxFam hunger petition going to Congress. It's kind of a hub you can use for education about issues like hunger, poverty, human rights, animal welfare, green living etc. Anything you can think of. Check it out.

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29 Days of Giving: Be the change you wish to see in the world

I graduate in five weeks, and I’m on the lookout for a job in the public relations field. Call me picky, but before I fire my resume off, a company has to pass a test: it must be socially responsible. And I don’t just mean green. In my opinion, companies have a role to play in fostering human rights, supporting philanthropies, preserving the environment, embracing cultural diversity, and treating their employees well. Corporations can’t act as isolated economic entities detached from broader society.

I’m not alone in believing so. According to a recent study by Care2, 73 percent of workers said it was “very important” to work for a company they believe is socially responsible. In addition, 48 percent of employees say they would work for less pay if they could work for a socially responsible company. Finally, 35 percent report having actually left a company because they believed it was not socially responsible.

Socially responsible companies more often than not enjoy an enhanced reputation, increased customer loyalty, improved employee morale, and greater support from investors.

How important is it for you to work for a socially responsible company? If it ranks high on your priority list, check out Care2 JobFinder. It's the world's largest listing of jobs at eco-friendly, socially responsible, and nonprofit organizations.

I've been spending a bit of time over at a site called Care2. It is a social networking site that is dedicated to socio-political activism. You can check it out at:

http://www.care2.com/

You can check out my profile there at:

http://my.care2.com/clapso

If you like the place and register for an account, send me a friend request. It's about networking after all! On the subject of networking, a remarkable woman named Kirsten sent me a very well written message on the Care2 message system. It made me think so clearly about the issues raised (teasingly) in the title of this post, I have decided to dedicate todays post to one of the best messages I have ever received. Thanks Kirsten for making me think! I have posted the full text of her original message with my response below. Kirsten's words will be in blue, mine will be in purple:

I would like to get to know what motivates your words...who you are and how you have come to understand the self and the all connectedness. I resonate with your drive for activism and have come to understand the many ways in which we can strive for change in ourselves and the world.

Yes! Many issues, many ways to make change! As far as ways go, anyway YOU or anyone else can find to change things is a good way!

I feel the need to share some of my activist experiences with you and ask your opinion of what I am discovering now. I have partaken in many forms of activism based on opposing and protesting and am now getting to a place where I am discovering that praise and gratitude for the things we want to see in our world is a much more loving and ease full approach...I regularly attend rallies, write activist material, and am involved in organizing actions, but am very conscious that the messages I send out and actions I participate in are focused not on the struggle against something but honoring the integrity of what we want to maintain or create in the world...like clean water, pristine forests, ethical and responsible stewardship of our earth.

Both loving "for" actions and angry "against" actions are part of what I do. I seek BALANCE of hard and soft. Each has it's place and each has it's effect.

This is a relatively new approach for me and I am discovering the immense effects it can have. I find it challenging sometimes to understand that I can have a dramatic effect by placing positive energy into something and have a sort of exchange or flow of energy from that approach rather than expending my energy in the intensity of a struggle. Does this make sense?

YES! This makes total sense! Trust your intuition on this matter. If YOU feel that a softer approach works to bring about the effect you seek, then do that!

It seems to be working for me, but occasionally I really wonder if it just makes me feel better and will not have the kind of intensity that we need to effect change.

Small, gentle change over a longer period of time can have just as great an effect as larger, less gentle change. The question becomes how imperative is the SPEED at which change is needed and which approach soft or hard, will have the SMALLEST NEGATIVE EFFECT. When one to two million people have already been killed in Iraq, we don't have time to be gentle.

I have a feeling that if collectively we could put this energy towards our actions that we could possibly create a new kind of revolution...well not really NEW considering the passive revolutions of the past, but the first world-wide effort for passive revolution. It is hard to trust in this considering what we have at stake. I am not suggesting this to be a blind approach without researching facts and devising strategies but to be conscious of how we take action so that we don't give power to the struggle and create an us and them situation that gives "Them" ground to disagree and oppose peoples efforts for justice.

I can speak only for my self in this. I believe both the hard and the soft approach has it's effect. It is "them" that have killed and exploited "us" over human history , that have created the us/them paradigm. This fight was started way back in history. I am simply tired of seeing Them win while WE lose. Some of the greatest moments in my life have come, when I have been able to convince, through either hard or soft means, an apologist for THEM to at least understand that THEY are not doing right by US.

What do you think?

All the above said, I leave you with this. We Witches are often heard to say "let NO ONE decide YOUR path for you!" Use your own intuition to guide you in these matters. You are the only one who can decide what is right at any given moment...

The real juice I get from the above message is that there are many of us doing things to make change on many issues and in many ways. The all too often unnoticed work of all the people who have toiled for all of human history to improve our lot is made clear to me in reading the above. The secret of making positive change starts with US simply "showing up". This is the real hope, that we that show up get the word out and then others join US and we have a MOVEMENT!

Now on to a couple of examples, one in which the "soft" activism was employed to make change, the other in which "hard" activism was employed to make change:

There was a time, and in our very recent past, when the earth was considered nothing more then our garbage dump. Such things as air and water pollution were hardly ever talked about. Then Earth Day was suddenly created in the late 60's. Since then this "soft" annual observance has done more to bring the destruction of our planet into human thought and activities then any other single event. We have things like growing recycling activities and the ongoing struggle for clean air and water because of Earth Day. As is the way of soft activism, the change happens slowly over a long period of time.

At about the same time as Earth Day was created (the late 60's) there was a perhaps more pressing disaster that activists were working to change. It was the war in Viet Nam. The struggle for change on the issue of the war was met with more of a "hard" activism. Massive demonstrations were organized and carried out. I believe the end of that war was in large part due to the "hard" activism aimed at it.

It must be said that on most issues, including the two examples above, there is a mix of both hard and soft activism aimed at making change. How do you know whether you are involved in soft or hard activism? At events associated with the issues you are working on, if the police show up in riot gear, you are likely taking part in hard activism ;)

As I said above, the real power of any activism is getting people to show up. The more the merrier! If YOU have never taken part in events and activities meant to produce positive change. I suggest you think about things in YOUR WORLD that you are unhappy about, whatever they may be, and take action today on making change. I have found that the rewards of doing so are priceless!

There is only one candidate for president in 2008 who has "stood up" for his entire life and sought to make real positive change. He has been incredibly successful at it and IF YOU VOTE FOR HIM HE WILL WIN! He will then have the resources he needs to TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK FROM THE TWO PARTIES OF THE APOCALYPSE (dems and repubs) and their thieving corpRATeer co-conspirators. When Nader moves into the oval office we will finally have a government OF, BY, AND FOR THE PEOPLE!

VOTENADER.ORG

The Telepathic Crickets on the ClapSotronics editorial board and I hope that you will join us in being ever want to stand up and work to make change. I'm sure all reading this can see that we need such action and it's resulting change in this, perhaps the most trying time in our country's and planet's history...

The scientifically impossible I do right away
The spiritually miraculous takes a bit longer

12am, was online. Joined some networks. Its good. Actually, I google for a list of networks. And found out Wikipedia had a list of networks. Click it. Then, waaaaah laaaah! Every kind of networks were there. Then I browse through. Seeing every one of it and reading the short descriptions, all networks seem the same. But not for specific one, Care2. It is a website where people who loves the nature and cares about the world and also cares about life issues, meet together and from groups and sign petition. Also, there is a section called Click To Donate. It was the main reason I signed up for an account. It is actually like you get to click once a day. And just by clicking some on the problems about the world (Global Warming), wildlife issues (Stop Seal Hunting, Help the Primates etc etc) and human related problems (Poverty, Violence against Women etc etc), and once you clicked, the sponsors of the website will give a donation. Fantastic? Well, it is one of the noblest thing I ever heard a network website can do. Therefore, I din't not hesitate even a single second to sign up. It is absolutely free. And it is for good. There is nothing to lose. Well, if you are someone who actually cares about the environment, care about the world issues, loves the wildlife and have sympathy on unfortunate people and also cares about the happenings of violence/abusive against humans, trust me, sign up. For me, I love the environment and care about the environment. Besides this section, this is also a section where you get to sign petition. I don't really understand this section but I am trying my very best to understand it as soon as possible. Yet, I am sure there is more about this website which is yet to be discovered. My page in Care2 is *Here*.

After finishing singing up for a few networks, I turn off the computer and watched soccer! Barclay Premier League. Blackburn Rovers was up against Manchester United. I was sure this match is going to be one very nice match to watch. Therefore, I took my opportunity to not miss it. I wanted Manchester United to lose so badly because if they lose, it will be way much more easier for Chelsea to catch up. Therefore, before half time, at about the 22th minute of the match. Rogue Santa Cruz scored for Blackburn Rovers. Woo Hoo! Go on Rovers. Lets not mention how I celebrated. But whatever I did was insane, well at least I was alone. So madness is not restricted to any limits. LOL. It was a indeed a perfect goal. Kuzscak was helpless. Before half time, Blackburn Rovers seems to be dominating the game. After a decent shot by Bently which was denied by Kuszcak. And a few shot which came in from Manchester United was saved neatly by Fridel, Blackburn Rovers. And then it was, half time. Blackburn Rovers is leading by a goal to nil. Second half. Manchester United seems to be dominating the second half. After a shot which came in by Ronaldo which eventually hit the post. And also a shot by Rooney (If I am not mistaken), was denied by Fridel. Though, it was not a neat safe, and the ball almost rolled in, but Fridel was not allowing it. He caught the ball a few inches off them line. Thank God! Fusshh! Manchester United are getting more determined to win the game and snatch the three points off Blackburn Rovers. Although, Blackburn Rovers only manage to come up with only one golden chance by Pedersen crossing into the middle but yet no one was there to direct the ball to the back of the net. But the defenders of Blackburn Rovers played a good defensive game. And the goalkeeper, Fridel was superb! Without him, the score sheet would maybe be 5-1. After denying most of the shots from Manchester United players, including the one-on-one with Wayne Rooney. Finally at the eleventh hour, 88th minute of the game. A corner was awarded. Nani with the corner. Taken fantastically, Paul Scholes with a flick and Teves headed it from a near post range. And it was an equalizer for Manchester United. Whyyyyy? Heartbroken. And then it was 1-1. Final score was 1-1. Noo! But it was of course, a lucky draw for Blackburn Rovers because the tremendous performance by Manchester United in the second half could actually make Manchester United returning to Old Trafford with 3 points. Needless to say, Manchester United should be actually given a few penalties. One for a reckless tackle and another was a handball by Emerton. Also, Sir Alex Ferguson was frustrated the whole game. Mark Hughes was in the exact emotion. But whatever happens now, the score sheet will still remain 1-1. Therefore Manchester United stand a better chance to get the champions title for a second time in a row but Chelsea are still in running for the champions title. But it won't be easy. Next week, will be a decisive match, Chelsea against Manchester United. Match will be played at Stamford Bridge. If Chelsea win, Manchester United will still be top of the table by goal difference. But if Chelsea loses, it is OVER! Therefore, Chelsea shall win and Manchester United shall lose! Wakakaka! Anxious to watch the game. Very very eager to see the match. I bet it would be the greatest match throughout the whole 2007/08 season. At least, I hope so. Cause I am sure both team will be giving their very best to win the match. On 10th of April, Champions League semi finals. Yesh! Can't wait. Chelsea is up against Liverpool. Who will win this time? After meeting twice in Champions League, with both matches going for a win by Liverpool. Will Chelsea change the history and win over Liverpool and later snatch the title? Well, that is not impossible. Manchester United will be up against Barcelona. It will be a great game for sure. Both team of different league and different gameplay, it will be a fantastic match to watch. Anyways, to watch the highlights for the Blackburn Rovers-Manchester United match last night, click here.

Tuition. Today morning was butt gluing day. Getting my butt glued to the chair for 3 hours for Mathematics and English tuition. Started with English. Had to write an essay today. OMG! I couldn't think straight and couldn't find any points to write. It was a big screw-up. Sob sob. Sorry teacher for the horrid essay. Maybe I should read more composition examples. Then it was Mathematics. Chapter 6 : Ratios, Rates and Proportions. This might be the easiest chapter the whole form 2. It is as simple as ABC to get an answer. But to work it out, dang. It is difficult. The are certain ways of doing it. And it can make you go nuts. It is complicating and difficult, but yet, I think I am getting better at it. Wait, am I? Lets the mid-year results tell. And, everyone say BOOOOOO! Middle year exams will be at 5th of May till 16 May. Booo! It was stated in the Takwin (Planning throughout the year). Oh NOOO!! Why? Tell me WHY! Biggest nightmare. Means, I have to start studying from now? Yes if I was to pass with flying colours. And no, if I want to flunk all the papers. And which will I choose? No doubts, yes of course. Education is very important. But will I be able to study everything in time and actually mastering all the subjects? Well, only time can tell.

Thunder here, thunder there. Shhhh! I am sleeping. Woow. Everyone in Malaysia, were any one of you all awake by the thunderstorms today? I was. I was sleeping soundly. All the sudden, boooooom. Booooom. Wow. Today, it was extremely loud! I mean like real LOUDDDD! Thank God, I wasn't playing that computer that time, if not, waaaaah laaaaah. There goes my computer. Burning in front of me. LOL, fortunately, my sleepiness which got me to sleep and eventually saved my computer, laptop and my internet connection. Thanks sleepiness! I love you so much! =)

Suzi Corner. Tonight, dinner was greaaaat! Took dinner at Suzi's Corner. It was delicious. I took Cheese Naan, and it was filling. I was already bloated before actually finishing the whole naan. But though, I understand that I should never waste food. So I forced myself to eat, and promise to curse myself so badly if I waste it. Finally, after fighting with bloated-ness, I finished it! Cheers for me! LOL. The teh-tarik there was thirst-crunching. LOL. Lets just say everything was delicious. But not something. Not this specific something. That place is a "Smoke-As-You-Please" area. Behind me, on my right, on my right back. Smokers are smoking their cigrattes (Not sure spelling, sorry). And it was smelly. And the fan was blowing the smoke, and directing it to the place I sat. OMFG! The biggest nightmare. Morons. I don't mind if they wanna smoke and die early. Go die! The Earth will be way much better place to live without you all smokers. But the problem is, you are not just killing yourself. You are KILLING others and your are actually killing mother nature. Don't you understand, she is dying. Have some mercy. These smokers are just giving a disgrace to mankind with their selfish and shameful act, which reflects humans behavior as uncivilized and useless creature. Sometimes, it makes me think that being an animal is actually better. Even becoming a pig is way much better. Humans nowadays seem to be cruel, mean, foolish and sometirmes carefree. They take everything for granted and also they only care about themselves, themselves, themselves. Everything is all about themselves. For my point of view, we should not care just for ourselves. We should care about everyone and anyone. Everyone deserves a life. No one has the power to actually force something to go their way. You can't do that. Even if you do that, I don't think you are a human. Are you? Murder cases are increasing. People are starting to kill people brutally and without any humanity in them, kill kill kill. Their life is all about killing. I hate you. I so want to kill you. Die! Drunk driving. Drinking alcohol and later driving. What nonsense? Who cares if you meet in an accident and die? Come on, who cares? It is not our fault. No one cares. But the problem is sometimes, you just don't kill yourself, you get into accident with other cars. And sometimes kill them unintentionally. Why? Even at cases (From Newspaper), drunk drivers drive on sidewalk and crashing everyone on the sidewalk. Yikes! You call that human? Have some mercy people, and think before you do something. Saying sorry after something is done is useless. So think carefully before you plan to do something which will somehow rather brings inconvenient or major problems. Remember, if you are a human act like one. Because, I am a human. And I wish I could be proud to say I am a human. Well, at least now I still am not ashamed to say so. But the future. As I said only time can tell.

Thats all for my post today.
I hope humans could be humans.
Goodbye and goodnight.
Take care!

I end my post with,

I ABHOR SMOKERS!

-WaiMin-

The 2008 Farm Bill has been a hot topic among our nonprofit partners and the news media for months now. But one common complaint among us average folk is that the bill is overly complicated and hard to understand. I’ve had my share of question marks hovering over my head as I read petitions or news stories about the Farm Bill, so I myself was anxious to do some demystifying.

So, with the risk of over-simplifying the issue, I did some research, and I thought I would try to explain at least the two issues that are important to our nonprofit partners, which are commodity payments (and their repercussions for our economy, global hunger and poverty) and conservation programs.

First, a general summary. The Farm Bill is a gigantic bill that affects agricultural business and trade, rural development, research, conservation, food assistance, nutritional programs and more. It’s basically one big bill that has lots of separate laws having to do with either policy issues or budget. Some of these laws need to be renewed (ie - go through a Congressional approval process) every year and others are larger-scale laws that do not need to be approved every year, though these can be changed with subsequent legislation.

Basically, this is one large beast to tackle. Our current Farm Bill passed in the Senate on Dec. 14, 2007. Now, the bill needs to travel through a conference committee that includes House and Senate members. They face many challenges in this process. There are many amendments to this bill that were debated heavily, but President Bush has threatened to veto the bill due to its lack of reform and its reliance on taxes to pay for conservation, nutrition programs, etc. According to many of our nonprofit partners, a veto would be a very bad thing, as that would mean that they bill would return to the debates, and conservation programs would likely be cut to balance the budget further. The best scenario at this point would be for the committee to agree on a reformed bill that includes strong conservation programs, and that would be signed by the President.

Even as we drill down to the details of commodity payments, the issue remains complicated. Commodity payments are cash payments that the government gives farmers for certain crops, namely corn, wheat, cotton, rice and soybeans. Though these payments were initially intended as a safety measure to protect farmers from falling prices, they currently allow large farms to sell these items at a price lower than what it costs to produce them. This causes smaller American farms and farmers in other countries (such as Senegal, Mali, Chad, etc.) to be completely unable to compete with the extremely low prices, driving them out of business and further into poverty.

This is just one of the areas of the farm bill that drastically needs to be reformed, and you can see already that it is an enormous task. Also, many organizations have made it clear that just getting rid of these payments is not going to solve the problem - it's going to take a comprehensive model of supply management and price stabilization. To go into detail here would be excruciating, so I'll leave it at that.

On the conservation side, it's really a matter of funding. There are some great conservation programs available, but the truth is that two out of three farmers who apply for these voluntary programs get rejected because there is just not enough funding. There are 20 programs in the conservation section of the farm bill, which provide incentives for farmers to better manage their land, reduce chemical use and emissions and meet environmental laws on clean air, water and habitat for endangered species. These are all great things, and what environmental groups are pushing for is that all farmers at least have the opportunity to participate in these programs without being turned away.

So, while that's a rapid-fire summary of some of our hopes for the farm bill, hopefully some of the links included will help you get a better grasp on the issue. Here are a few more very helpful resources:

Oxfam's Farm Bill 101

2008 Senate Farm Bill (Environmental Defense)

In the meantime, you can take action and make sure the committee knows that you want conservation programs in the Farm Bill to remain intact: http://go.care2.com/14823610

The bill is back in debate, and a vote could happen any day...although, the timing in itself is up for debate.