Thursday, February 12, 2009
Cure for Oscar Fever
See all 5 Oscar-nominated movies and a bottomless bucket of popcorn this Sat the 21st - $30 at a theater near you! http://www.amctheatres.com/promos/showcase/
Octuplet mom or greedy bankers
What bothers you more? See update on Gender in the News below for some thoughts.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Voting Rights Under the Gold Dome
So, I dropped my work and headed over to the Gold Dome for a subcommittee hearing on voting rights legislation, in opposition to the latest poll tax requirement to add to GA's voter registration. But my efforts were to no avail. Even after taking time out of my day to go down to the Capitol to testify on behalf of the Peoples' Agenda .. as did reps from four other organizations as well, there was NO public testimony allowed. Typical Georgia democracy in action.
HB 139 would require anyone registering to vote to provide proof of citizenship before being added to the rolls. Never mind that non-citizens are NOT voting and there is no proof that the SOS office could present of even ONE case of such. Never mind that a person must sign an affidavit under threat of perjury (a felony) that s/he is a citizen both at voter registration and EACH time s/he votes. Never mind that obtaining a copy of a birth certificate costs money, time and inconvenience. Never mind that poor people, older people, and many more will likely be more adversely affected by this requirement. Putting up a significant barrier to voter registration in the name of "fraud protection" and passing it like a country club with the partisan Secretary of State's office and Republican legislators in lockstep seems to be a way of life in the state of Georgia. Despite the sponsoring legislator's concern that they do not want any more voting rights litigation, we'll definitely be bringing this to the attention of the DOJ Voting Rights Section if they are foolish enough to try to pass it. Even though similar legislation was approved for Arizona, we'll be looking forward to reversing some more bad precedent from the Bush Administration DOJ if it comes to that....
There was a bit of good of news though on two other items of legislation. Bipartisan legislation was passed out of the subcommittee - without any public comment either - on (i) adding photo IDs from private colleges and universities to the requirements for voting (HB 209) and (ii) providing for the availability precinct level voting data for the early/advanced voting period.
HB 139 would require anyone registering to vote to provide proof of citizenship before being added to the rolls. Never mind that non-citizens are NOT voting and there is no proof that the SOS office could present of even ONE case of such. Never mind that a person must sign an affidavit under threat of perjury (a felony) that s/he is a citizen both at voter registration and EACH time s/he votes. Never mind that obtaining a copy of a birth certificate costs money, time and inconvenience. Never mind that poor people, older people, and many more will likely be more adversely affected by this requirement. Putting up a significant barrier to voter registration in the name of "fraud protection" and passing it like a country club with the partisan Secretary of State's office and Republican legislators in lockstep seems to be a way of life in the state of Georgia. Despite the sponsoring legislator's concern that they do not want any more voting rights litigation, we'll definitely be bringing this to the attention of the DOJ Voting Rights Section if they are foolish enough to try to pass it. Even though similar legislation was approved for Arizona, we'll be looking forward to reversing some more bad precedent from the Bush Administration DOJ if it comes to that....
There was a bit of good of news though on two other items of legislation. Bipartisan legislation was passed out of the subcommittee - without any public comment either - on (i) adding photo IDs from private colleges and universities to the requirements for voting (HB 209) and (ii) providing for the availability precinct level voting data for the early/advanced voting period.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Gender in the news
As a gender specialist, different types of news stories catch my attention. They seem to call out the injustices and inequities and hypocrisy in our midst... and then there's the differences in how men and women are socialized. Here are a few "gender" stories (a triple play from Time.com):
Iraqi Women's Minister Resigns in Protest. So what exactly was the "Mission" that we "Accomplished" in Iraq?
What Men Really Think In case you were wondering...
Calling a Truce on the Octuplet Mom. Why has has everyone been hating on her so much? Is it because she had so many kids? Others have been celebrated with gifts and TV reality shows. Is it because she wanted to procreate? Others have done so in the name of an evangelical movement called Quiverful without such vitriol. Is it because she was artificial inseminated? Others, including scads of Hollywood types, have been birthing kids. Could the difference be that she's a single woman? When Ricky Martin had a surrogate mother birth two children he plans to raise alone no one seemed to care. Could it be that she has a foreign/Muslim sounding name? Do we as a society believe that the right to have children is directly connected to the financial resources one has?
2/12/09 UPDATE: Now, that more details have been uncovered about the cost of the octuplets and how public dollars will be used for health care, food stamps and disability insurance, the conversation could get more interesting. While I certainly don't agree with what she did, I find it fascinating to see how much newsprint and airtime is devoted to how much she might "cost" the public ($1.3 million over a lifetime by one estimate), compared to the $66 million in bonuses (called retention benefits or something like that) that was paid out by investment banks to 6 individuals, basically from US taxpayer dollars. Seems that a nuttysingle mom is more interesting than the wealthy banker class that's used to mega millions on an annual basis. Interesting morality play.
Iraqi Women's Minister Resigns in Protest. So what exactly was the "Mission" that we "Accomplished" in Iraq?
What Men Really Think In case you were wondering...
Calling a Truce on the Octuplet Mom. Why has has everyone been hating on her so much? Is it because she had so many kids? Others have been celebrated with gifts and TV reality shows. Is it because she wanted to procreate? Others have done so in the name of an evangelical movement called Quiverful without such vitriol. Is it because she was artificial inseminated? Others, including scads of Hollywood types, have been birthing kids. Could the difference be that she's a single woman? When Ricky Martin had a surrogate mother birth two children he plans to raise alone no one seemed to care. Could it be that she has a foreign/Muslim sounding name? Do we as a society believe that the right to have children is directly connected to the financial resources one has?
2/12/09 UPDATE: Now, that more details have been uncovered about the cost of the octuplets and how public dollars will be used for health care, food stamps and disability insurance, the conversation could get more interesting. While I certainly don't agree with what she did, I find it fascinating to see how much newsprint and airtime is devoted to how much she might "cost" the public ($1.3 million over a lifetime by one estimate), compared to the $66 million in bonuses (called retention benefits or something like that) that was paid out by investment banks to 6 individuals, basically from US taxpayer dollars. Seems that a nuttysingle mom is more interesting than the wealthy banker class that's used to mega millions on an annual basis. Interesting morality play.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
SoCon 09 - Still searching ...
"In Search of the Southeast’s Social Media Niche" was the theme for SoCon 09 at Kennesaw State University ...
My motivation for going to SoCon 009 was to figure out how best to use social media tools to further community organizing for social justice and civil rights. And, how to apply new concepts of communicating within diverse communities - in terms of race, gender, socio-economic background, issues of interest, level of participation, etc. In that respect, I felt a little out of place.
The Friday night Big Eating Big Networking Dinner was a nice way to kick off the conference, and I appreciated there being tables for Social Media for Social Good. Unfortunately the $50 price tag for dinner was a bit steep for the typically underfunded "social good" sector. Saturday was reasonably priced, but the distance from public transportation was still a challenge for some.
The good stuff was meeting some cool people, having interesting conversations, learning about twitter basics, and being inspired to start blogging again. One of the most memorable lessons was provided by Jeff Haynie - who bluntly declared "your idea sucks," encouraging everyone to execute rather than hoard ideas.
As a community organizer, however, I was surprised that discussions seemed to begin and end with communicating for communication sake. Only once during the plenary sessions did I hear a term like "social responsibility" and it was by a participant sharing her story about being genuine when joining groups and contributing to them without just expecting to get something back. The more generic communication lessons were certainly applicable to social justice work, such as the recommendation to have a credible consistent champion of a topic, and to engage the community beyond one person.
The low point for me was definitely the "brand Atlanta" presentation that in less than an hour managed to dis Hip-Hop and rap music, ignore the civil rights legacy (that has consistently drawn more visitors than the new aquarium), make a weak joke that accentuated the black-white divide (trying to "balance" the Black Arts Festival with the Dogwood Festival), and insult those who believe that social media is somehow "accountable." Also disappointing was the lack of diversity among the keynote speakers.
As for social media accountability, I found myself agreeing though for different reasons than the speaker intended. To me, the self-regulating aspect of social media as it now stands suffers the similar problems that mainstream media suffers - the over participation by dominant culture and the lack of awareness of who is not speaking or who is not in the room. For example, a more inclusive approach would have listed MySpace (which has far more minority participation) as well as Facebook and LinkedIn when referring to social networks.
Overall, it was fun to step into another world of people passionate about the power of communication. SoCon 09 was a great motivator and helped open a world of viral communications I'm hoping to put to good use. As for the "southeast's social media niche," only time will tell. Maybe next year, SoCon can take on the diversity challenge by reaching out to to more communities and moving ITP to Georgia State or the AUC.... Hope to see you there!
See AJC article HERE. Visit Twitter room #socon09.
My motivation for going to SoCon 009 was to figure out how best to use social media tools to further community organizing for social justice and civil rights. And, how to apply new concepts of communicating within diverse communities - in terms of race, gender, socio-economic background, issues of interest, level of participation, etc. In that respect, I felt a little out of place.
The Friday night Big Eating Big Networking Dinner was a nice way to kick off the conference, and I appreciated there being tables for Social Media for Social Good. Unfortunately the $50 price tag for dinner was a bit steep for the typically underfunded "social good" sector. Saturday was reasonably priced, but the distance from public transportation was still a challenge for some.
The good stuff was meeting some cool people, having interesting conversations, learning about twitter basics, and being inspired to start blogging again. One of the most memorable lessons was provided by Jeff Haynie - who bluntly declared "your idea sucks," encouraging everyone to execute rather than hoard ideas.
As a community organizer, however, I was surprised that discussions seemed to begin and end with communicating for communication sake. Only once during the plenary sessions did I hear a term like "social responsibility" and it was by a participant sharing her story about being genuine when joining groups and contributing to them without just expecting to get something back. The more generic communication lessons were certainly applicable to social justice work, such as the recommendation to have a credible consistent champion of a topic, and to engage the community beyond one person.
The low point for me was definitely the "brand Atlanta" presentation that in less than an hour managed to dis Hip-Hop and rap music, ignore the civil rights legacy (that has consistently drawn more visitors than the new aquarium), make a weak joke that accentuated the black-white divide (trying to "balance" the Black Arts Festival with the Dogwood Festival), and insult those who believe that social media is somehow "accountable." Also disappointing was the lack of diversity among the keynote speakers.
As for social media accountability, I found myself agreeing though for different reasons than the speaker intended. To me, the self-regulating aspect of social media as it now stands suffers the similar problems that mainstream media suffers - the over participation by dominant culture and the lack of awareness of who is not speaking or who is not in the room. For example, a more inclusive approach would have listed MySpace (which has far more minority participation) as well as Facebook and LinkedIn when referring to social networks.
Overall, it was fun to step into another world of people passionate about the power of communication. SoCon 09 was a great motivator and helped open a world of viral communications I'm hoping to put to good use. As for the "southeast's social media niche," only time will tell. Maybe next year, SoCon can take on the diversity challenge by reaching out to to more communities and moving ITP to Georgia State or the AUC.... Hope to see you there!
See AJC article HERE. Visit Twitter room #socon09.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Archive APN Blog: Good news, bad news day
First the good news: The President signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (the first piece of legislation of his presidency) that returns to the decades-long interpretation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that allows a person 180 days from the last act of discrimination to sue. Under the Bush Administration, the Supreme Court had changed the standard to 180 days from the first act of discrimination. The restoration of common sense and enforceable civil rights affects not only sex discrmination, but also race, national origin, religion, age and disabilities.
Now the bad news: Despite getting NO Republican votes on the stimulus plan, the President and Democrats threw poor women and girls under the bus when it comes to contraceptive family planning. Truly amazing that Medicaid will pay for viagra/cialis/levitra for men but not basic contraceptives for women. Read more about the outrage and how this IS an economic stimulus issue: Women Are Not ‘Pork.“
This post was written by Susan S on January 29, 2009
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