Lawrence Lessig will speak to the community and students about the importance of taking private money out of public elections at Ramapo College on October 17. Lessig is also sponsoring a conference on the prospect of holding a conference about a constitutional convention this weekend. In a few minutes, the boys and I will be heading up there to join the dialogue.
Lessig of FixCongressFirst.org to Speak at Ramapo College
Posted in All, Gov't & Trade
Tagged big money, fix congress first, private money, public elections
Leave a comment
Lessig’s Conference About a Constitutional Convention 9/23-25 in Boston
My family is going to be a roving video interview team at Lawrence Lessig’s Conversation About A Constitutional Convention in Boston September 23-25 2011, and we’d love to see our friends there as well. It turns out that the people’s will can actually trump congressional law – given that enough states and individuals come together and vote their will at a constitutional convention. Who would have thought?
Posted in All, Change the World, Gov't & Trade, Wei Family
Tagged #rootstrikers, constitutional convention, Lessig, societal change
Leave a comment
Use It or Lose It: The Right to Observe
Veryshortlist.com, a reviewer of the short Stand Your Ground filmed in London, expresses concern over, “the privatization of our public spaces,” which is a growing issue in the United States as well – even if it doesn’t trouble citizens even half as much as it ought to. Meeting up with each other in semi-public spaces with “free wifi” such as Starbucks, restaurants and shopping malls provides us with the illusion that we’re free to meet when and where we want but in reality, this is far from true. At one NY Starbucks I was recently told, “If you want to use the occupy a space at the counter, you’re going to need to consume something,” (as if I wasn’t already consuming – oxygen, for starters), but the barista meant, “You need to buy something we sell.”
Posted in All, Find the Truth, Gov't & Trade
Tagged freedom, London, photographers, privatize public space, right, short film, Warren Buffet
Leave a comment
Obama deserves our trust and praise. He needs our push, too.
It’s great when someone you admire sees merit in you too. Today, I needed an injection of inspiration for finishing up the talk I’m giving next week on @jeffpulver‘s first #140Conf event on a tour bus, and got it when Reda StCyr “fanned” me on Huffington Post. StCyr is the woman who introduced me to the #p2 hashtag and through it provided me with a ready-made mechanism for interfacing on the web with the progressive community. Following links from Huffington’s fan notification took me to an important article about the poverty tour Dr. Cornel West & Tavis Smiley undertook this summer. In it, Smiley says that when the American public pressures Washington to take action on any issue, action gets taken. He gives some examples to prove his case and suggests that we be a lot more vocal about the poor needing help.
Obama’s Positive Accomplishments
I’m an openly enthusiastic fan of Obama. If you’re one of those people thinking that our president doesn’t deserve admiration, maybe an item from the list below will change your opinion. If you’re also a fan, enjoy the read! Continue reading
Posted in All, Find the Truth, Gov't & Trade
Tagged Alan Brinkley, Obama accomplishments
Leave a comment
Christie Claims Budget Cuts Backpedalling As Increases
Republicans are masters of brainwashing.
Christie’s claiming $850 in “new aid” to schools but the reality is that the $850 million allocated includes $820 million Christie’s first budget draft took away from New Jersey schools. This is how Christie math works:
Report on Adolescent Girls and Climate Change
Plan International’s new report,
One Issue Voter
I was chatting with a fascinating guy today. (Son) Ivan and I met him at a Latino culture event at Puffin‘s Teaneck location. Morty was telling Ivan that he should get into ballroom dancing instead of ballet (which Ivan has thought about trying) – said that if a workout is what he’s looking for, doing the Lindsey and throwing his partner out in spins is maybe more physicality than he’ll get in ballet. Impressive statement coming from a guy who’s 80 years old but looks and sounds like someone 20 or so years young. Morty also grows orchids. Wow!
Posted in All, Find the Truth
Tagged Latino culture, one issue voter, orchids, Teaneck
Leave a comment
Christie Declares War On the Poor
I can’t really add anything to this succinctly phrased statement by William Colon. He lays out for easy review, the drastic funding cuts Christie has enacted, which strike blow after blow to the most vulnerable of our state.
Posted in All, Gov't & Trade
Tagged Christie, eliminate funding, Hispanics, Latinos, Medicaid, new jersey, NJ, Poor, slash, Tuition Aid Grant, Vulnerable
1 Comment
Bad News Reporting
This is a companion piece to my post Media Outlets Serving Up REAL News. Bad news are reports that mislead, misinform and manipulate readers and viewers. I realized that it’s just as important to understand what bad news reporting is, as it is to know where to find real news. This post will also be added to over time.