excuse me for not being as prolific in writing on this half of my existence. as i'm a few months away from leaving NYC, i'm spending more time on the luck of seven.

as my world turns one more rotation, i've been contemplating the world though the basic lens of cause and effect.

the past few months have seen unprecedented announcements promoting corporate environmentalism or the popularization of environmentalism capitalism. sadly, these all come with a cost. just like the (red) campaign seem to bring AIDS activism into the act of consumerism. on earth day, PC World featured another disturbing statement of reality.

"Most large enterprise companies have strict rules for IT procurement and deployment, but only vague guidelines for hardware retirement and disposal, [Bob Houghton] said. Many of those companies are glad to make grand statements about upholding their environmental responsibility.... Generating revenue from the process can change the whole equation."

WELL thank goodness things are profitable for hardware recyclers. my good friends at greenpeace have been articulating a similar statement within their ToxicTech campaign.

extrapolating this argument a few steps out... what would happen to profitability when governments forced recycling? would the recyclers become the new barons of the world or worse? would we this be part of a more regimented, regulated society?

tomorrow, my good friends at the change you want to see will host author / filmmaker Heather Rogers and Freegan activist Adam Weissman for a feast of a conversation. we will masticate on the the history and politics of household garbage, and yes, it will be a catered event!

Wednesday, April 25, 7:30pm
84 Havemeyer Street, store front
at Metropolitan Avenue
Williamsburg, Brooklyn 11211
917-202-5479 or 646-221-7845
http://www.thechangeyouwanttosee.org

Technorati Tags: (red) campaign, freegan, greenpeace, heather rogers, not an alternative

my friends and i have slapped together a little podcamp nyc panel. tomorrow, we'll be in the village from 3 - 3:45. be prepared, the room only holds 35 people!!!

Hail to the YouMyWikiTube Chief - Political Participation within the context of Social Media

"Some where between YouTube and the future president of the free-world lies the dynamic political personalites of Nancy Scola (MyDD & Hearing Progressive Voices), Matt Browner Hamlin (Huffington Post & The Right's Field), Phillip Anderson (The Albany Project & Film maker), Fred Gooltz (Advomatic.com & Drinking Liberally) & Noel Hidalgo (Personal Democracy Forum & Noneck.org). The five will speak briefly on the impact of social media in the modern political debate and then debate the future of engagement, empowerment and emedia."

Technorati Tags: barcamp, democrats, future of cities, new york city, personal demoracy forum, podcamp nyc, podcamp

THIS IS HUGE... After spending a week discussing with the global south about the digital divide, I find my self back in NYC, amazed at Council Member Brewer's staff bridging our own digital divide. To reach out to its constituents more effectively, The Council Member's office is not using a multi-million dollar communications platform developed by a government contractor, but by a simple blogspot blog. Tomorrow is the first meeting of the New York City Broadband Advisory Committee, a committee to hear the problems ALL New Yorkers face bridging the digital divide.

New York City Broadband Advisory Committee will hold its first public hearing on Friday, March 30, from 10 am to Noon, in the Gould Memorial Library Auditorium, Bronx Community College, University Avenue at W. 181st Street. (Directions).

Council Member Gale A. Brewer, Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr. and Bronx Community College President Carolyn Williams will all make opening remarks. The Committee will then hear testimony from members of the general public, including concerned citizens and senior citizens from Bronx senior centers. After the official testimony period, anyone from the audience is invited -- and encouraged -- to speak.

If you cannot make it to the hearing on March 30, we still want to hear from you! You can comment about the issue of broadband in New York City by going to the Advisory Committee's blog (http://nycbroadband.blogspot.com/). Comments will then be posted on the Committee's blog for public consumption. Or you can mail any questions or comments to Colleen Pagter, Policy Analyst for the Committee on Technology in Government, New York City Council, 250 Broadway, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10007.

As a former NY State Senate Staffer to Senate Minority Leader Paterson, now Lt. Governor, I feel the pain of the most populous city in America. Even though New York is the third populous state in America and New York City is larger than Los Angeles and Chicago combined, our municipal and state governments still don't have the tools to communicate WITH it's constituents. If you can't make it to the Bronx, post a comment and by all means pay attention to the Albany Project.

Note - This article is cross posted on Personal Democracy Forum, who's founder, Andrew Rasiej is a member of this Advisory Committee.

Technorati Tags: Council Member Brewer, freedom of speach, freelancers union, future of cities, new york city, online advocacy, open government, transparency, web 2.0

over the past month, i've heard a number of books mentioned, sadly there is only one that i haven't read. ;) honestly, it's one of those books that i should be pinched for not reading. Dream: Re-imagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy has been tossed around since last December's rootscamp, and after hearing it mentioned at SXSW and in Salzburg, I'm delighted to have an opportunity to hear author and activist Steve Duncombe!

my good friends at the Change You Want to See are turning this up a notch... forget your laptops and bring your notebooks, by the end of this session your world will change.

...Change You Want to See is thrilled to host author and activist Steve Duncombe for a presentation and discussion of his acclaimed manifesto Dream: Re-imagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy. Beyond talk, this is also an applied strategy session – irrigate the irrational, practice your “spectacular vernacular”, exercise your imagination as we craft a creative street action in support of the Coalition of Imakolee Workers' campaign against McDonald's.

Tuesday, March 27, at 7:30pm
The Change You Want to See Gallery, Convergence Stage and Coworking Facility
L to Bedford, G to Metropolitan, J/M/Z to Marcy
84 Havemeyer St, Brooklyn NY 11211

BYOB encouraged, as brainstorm and beer are like butter and bread.

Technorati Tags: coworking, not an alternative, steve duncombe

it's been a while since i've seen a steady paycheck. as of this morning I will start to see one again. after the new york state senate and trellon debacle, i really didn't want to find myself in a world dependent on other people's whims. now after 140 days from my last employer, countless conferences and after digesting a gazzilion journals and books, i have found my calling.

this week, i embark on a research project with NewAssignment.net investigating open-source journalism. this project will take the tools built for assignment zero and migrate them to a multi-story/social networking system. picture NYtimes.com or any other online publication giving ANY reader the ability to comment on EVERY article and asking them to dawn a series of tasks to enhance articles. i originally pitched this idea to a few print publications, but they didn't bite. then after some pro-bono advice to David Cohn and a recommendation from Fred Benenson, Jay Rosen gave me a call.

honestly, i'm overwhelmed by the opportunity to change our perception of participatory culture. after last week's salzburg seminar, the world of web 2.0 died. no longer should we view participatory culture through the eyes of one's web browser. if you think i'm crazy just look at twitter and google's mobile apps... our new world is about convergence - convergence in the mind, convergence in data, convergence in action, convergence in governance and in policy. as these four principles converge on each other, i promise you a resuscitation of a true democracy. bringing profound change into the hands of everyone.

Technorati Tags: assignment zero, economy 2.0, freedom, newassignment.net, open government, salzburg seminar, twitter, web 2.0

Where were you during the first controversy of the 2007 Presidential election? Better to also ask, what side were (or as some continue to ask, are) you on? The situation faced by blogger Amanda Marcotte is not an easy one... She held her line and was then held to a cross by conservatives. If your interested in hearing what she has to say, join us on Saturday for an evening of political conversation and inebriation with blogger Amanda Marcotte!

CAMPAIGNING, BLOGGING AND FIGHTING BACK: Netroots Activism in Presidential Politics
Saturday, March 3 @ 7pm (facebook invite)
The Tank
279 Church Street between Franklin and White
8-10pm Happy Hour with free drinks & drink specials

Pannelist: Amanda Marcotte, Scott Shields, and Ari Melber
Moderator: Nancy Scola

It was no surprise that the first major “controversy” of the 2008 campaign revolved around bloggers. Now that the dust has settled from the John Edwards blog flap, come hear the inside story and discuss what it all means for progressive politics, netroots activism and fighting the hypocritical right-wing noise machine.

Join us this Saturday at The Tank for a night of conversation, drinking, and networking. Panel discussion at 7pm, followed by free drinks and drink specials until 10pm.

If you're looking for background on how this "controversy" came about, read Lindsay Beyerstein's salon.com article.

On Monday, Participatory Politics Foundation and Sunlight Foundation, opened a new spotlight on Congress - www.opencongress.org. When thinking of a member of congress, one no longer has to imagine integrating committee memberships, bills sponsored and co-sponosered, voting history, who they tend to vote with, which blogs and news articles are floating around, over laid with campaign donations. You can now just visit any US Senator or US Representative.

Beyond the integration of Google News, Congresspedia, Technorati, Open Secrets, and Govtrack.us, what's the most glistening part of Open Congress? Is it the plethora of ways for you to access the data, or is it that they are building a network of users to make the next revision better?

Nonetheless, Opencongress.org just installed a new sunroof on the big dome.

Note: PDF Founder, Andrew Rasiej and PDF Co-founder & Editor, Micah L. Sifry are technology advisors to the Sunlight Foundation.

This article is cross posted on the Personal Democracy Forum Blog.

Technorati Tags: Congresspedia, open government, personal demoracy forum, Participatory Politics Foundation, Opencongress.org, Sunlight Foundation, technology, transparency, web 2.0