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Repost – Best of Don’t Gel 2009: Loving London

That old rascal Samuel Johnson told us that when we were tired of London, we'd be tired of life
I know it's summer when any city is inviting but this week is cool and
bright and breezy and London is full of British school groups and kids
from everywhere else too, and we have an apartment right in the middle
of Covent Garden (well NOT the market, God forbid, just the
neighborhood) and our older son and his new wife are only 40 minutes
away and we have friends here, too. So how could we be tired?

What you see here is the view from Waterloo Bridge (and yes that's St. Paul's Cathedral in the background.) This morning I went out and walked all along the , over where the trees are, then crossed a bridge just out of view on the right and returned via South Bank,
London's wonderful (relatively) new arts and museum area. My entire
walk was around three miles and I'm realizing that it's much easier to
do the walking when there are new things to look at, not just the old
neighborhood or, as lovely as it is, Rock Creek Park.

The wonder of a great city is that it's always changing, that even the most
trivial journey is full of surprises. On my way home tonight I came
across a group of teenagers – one of dozens of groups we've been seeing
ever since we got here. The reason they're all sitting on the sidewalk
is that they're exchanging addresses and spelling them out – different
nationalities, different spelling. Kind of an EU photo.

Of course there's lots else going on here. Huge waves of immigration, the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, what looks to me to be an appalling
amount of youthful alcohol consumption and unemployment all take their toll. There's something about the
place despite those issues though. The day after the2005 subway bombing that killed 52 people, Londoners got back on the train and went to work. They did that all during the Blitz as much of the rest of the world watched them face down Hitler almost alone.

Cities are supposed to change. That's what makes them exciting. Even so,
London has seen more than its share: waves of immigration that have
transformed it, an early history of wars and fires and plagues,
contemporary royal scandals and of course the "troubles" between
Belfast and the rest of Ireland and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
After all, who would have believed before it arrived to help celebrate
the Millennium, that there would be a ferris wheel right in the center
of town? They call it the London Eye to
make it sound fancy but it's still a ferris wheel, here in same town
that has a real live queen living in a real live palace? It's pretty
amazing.

I'm
thinking that while we're here I can try to get past some of what I've
written here and learn a bit of what it's like to truly live
here. It's got to be different from wandering around with no need to
be on time or face the traffic or crowded mass transit and infinite
numbers of tourists and, incidentally, deal with what appears to be an
enormous amount of alcohol consumption – especially by men. I'm hoping
to keep you posted as I make my way. I hope you'll come along.

RePost: Best of Don’t Gel 2009 – The End of the Berlin Wall: Twenty Years Ago

This is the Brandenburg Gate in the center of Berlin. The first time I saw it, in 1974, there was a wall built right through it.

Here’s a photo of it then, from the Hotel Adlon website. The hotel stood, from 1907 to 1945, when it was decimated by a fire, just to the left of the Gate. It was the stopping place for world leaders and socialites and was rebuilt shortly after the Wall fell.

Because Berlin has such a dramatic history, it was always exciting to be there — maybe more so while the wall remained.

I remember especially coming through Checkpoint Charlie
(that’s it on the left) on a dark fall day (Americans were allowed to
visit for the day after going through this scary border station and
having cars and packages searched) and, as we approached the Gate,
seeing an old man standing, looking over into the West. In his hands,
clasped behind his back, was a rosary. Not so popular in communist
East Berlin. I recall thinking immediately “Oh. His daughter is
getting married in the West today and he can’t go, and he’s standing
there, thinking about her, praying for her.” Berlin in those times
lent itself to imagining such things. The drama was palpable.

The first time we went to Berlin after the wall fell, I remember, it was
pouring. Oblivious to the weather, we walked back and forth beneath
the lovely arches in the now-open gate, kind of giddy at what it meant
to the people of Berlin and all those who care about freedom and, I
guess, redemption. For despite what happened in Berlin during the war
(and we’ve studied it extensively and spoken both with survivors and
those involved in the rebuilding of the Jewish community) the Wall caused immeasurable suffering and was a diabolical slash through the heart of the city and every one of its people.

I’ve written about Berlin before: from its playgrounds to its grim Communist years. We go there often. It seems to pull us back, its intellectual energy
and re-emerging Jewish community irresistible. Once, when we’d taken
our kids there while the Wall remained, one son, around 5, bought a
stuffed wool pig and told everyone he “got it out of jail.”

Here’s one last photo – of two buildings: one redone and the other still old and rickety, in the very cool neighborhood of Prenzlauer Berg, which is in the old “East Berlin” and now, last I heard, had the highest childbirth rate in Germany and was home to artists, writers, musicians and fashionably cool people who don’t have to work. What you see stands for it all: the struggle to renew, still only partly complete.

A New Gig and New Ways to Make Change – Care2.com

This is pretty exciting. I’m now Managing Editor for all the Causes channels at Care2. It’s a unique organization that provides essential information on critical problems and the people who want to change them. Unlike many such groups, Care2 combines information and action – offering members both the information they need on the issues they care about and the tools to take action on those issues.
I hope you’ll come by and take a look; the issues range from Environment,and Animal Rights to Women’s Rights, Human Rights, Civil Rights and Politics to Health Policy to Global Warming .

I’d be particularly grateful for your observations about the organization and its 11 million members! Comment here or write to me at cindys@earth.care2.com.

Kevin Spacey, David Letterman, Twitter and Moms Rising – All in One Post!!!

OK so I’m in London and a friend posts this on my Facebook page. And I should be telling you more about London and that we’re leaving for Paris this afternoon (on theEurostar!!) for the weekend but this is just fun.

ALSO on that same Facebook page though, from Moms Rising, is this:
Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner “…we are now lagging behind the rest of the world in closing the gender gap. According to the World Economic Forum, the US ranks 31st of 128 countries overall, but 76th in educational attainment, 36th in health and survival, 69th in political empowerment, and 70th for wage equality for similar work. In the representation of women in our Congress, we rank 71st.”

Reps. Maloney, Biggert reintroduce Equal Rights Amendment

So when you’re finished laughing at Kevin and Dave, think what we can do about these devastating numbers! I’ve just gone to work at Causes Managing Editor at Care2 and we have an active women’s rights section there – and we all know plenty of other places to raise some hell. Somehow, seeing it all aggregated like this makes it worse, no?

Online Politics Conference Part 2: Lots of Interesting People

The Online Politics Conference is over and the basic coverage has been excellent. Since I’m late writing these (see yesterday’s post for why) I’m wandering through the two days reflecting on what I saw and heard – so join me.
Here are some of the great personalities who were part of the Politics Online Conference earlier this week. The woman you see here, Debra Bowen, is the Secretary of State of California. She’s also a savvy Facebook and Twitter user and completely accessible. She speaks plain English about policy, politics and just about everything else, including the changes she hopes to make in California in online electoral reform. Later, she showed up at a panel on the youth vote in jeans, her hair pulled back, no ceremony, no nothing. Keep an eye on her – she’s got a lovely future I think.

This is Jeremy Bird, Harvard Divinity Grad and Deputy Director of Organizing for America – the successor to the Obama online campaign. Shrewd, funny and knowledgeable, he echoed something we heard from all the Obama people at the conference: integrate online into every aspect and every major meeting of the campaign. They need to be a seamless part of the team, not stuck in the basement. Keep everyone in the loop and they take ownership. “I”f you don’t know what it’s like on the ground, you will fail.”

These two guys, Larry Irving and Mike McCurry, were part of a broadband panel. Irving ran NTIA in the Clinton Administration; McCurry, of course, was Bill Clinton’s White House Press Secretary and left with his integrity intact. “Broadband and access to broadband is an indispensable tool for every American” says McCurry. The panel basically made a case for broadband as a tool for health care, education, economic advancement and more. It’s not just cool to get Hulu, it’s critical to our growth, the panelists maintain. It can also save considerable money, particularly in health care, by making the best experts available, remotely, to any doctor anywhere.

Things weren’t all nuts and bolts though. One panel, probably, along with a riveting exploration of the youth vote, was my favorite. It’s title: The Visual Frontier: How the Arts, Pop Culture and Business Innovates the Way We Consume and Use Information. So whose eyes are those to the left? They belong to Josh Klein, a “hacker” and wise man of technology. He and the others in this panel have a combination of wisdom, originality and articulateness that made this panel a real pleasure.

Probably the other really intellectually exciting panel was How Are We Changing Because of What We Do Online? Its star: Judith Donath of the wonderful MIT Media Lab. Here’s a bit of what she said:

The information world is making many things no longer ephemeral the way they once were. We used to be a country of constant reinvention (You could move to the west, change your name, and start over.) We’d move around, and if finished college more than five years ago, we lost our old friends and reinvented ourselves. Now that’s coming to an end. Things written on Usenet years ago comes back to haunt us.

Now our online identity is our most long term and long lasting in the world we are building around us. All that we’ve clicked on is retained somewhere along with shopping records and more. What do we do with the vast amount of the past trailing us around, and how does it affect how we see politicians and each other?

So. Plenty to think about from this gifted and influential group – politicians and “big thinkers” alike.

Politics Online Conference: The Political Speakers – A Summary

For the past two days I've been at this Politics Online Conference here in DC.

It's been around for a few years now, but this one was huge and rich. Among those who spoke: Politicians: Senator Claire McCaskill (MO), Reps. Steve Israel (NY), Cathy Morris Rogers (WA)and Tim Ryan (OH), Secretaries of State Jennifer Brunner (OH) and Debra Bowen (CA). Their panels were about the uses of mostly social media to maintain consistent and two-way contact with their constituents. It's fascinating to realize that when a congressman shows up at an event, constituents "know what books I've been reading from me Facebook page" and stop by to discuss them. Ryan had an interesting take on it: "FDR had the radio, JFK had the television, and Obama has — you." The confluence between the politician and the tool and the times seems to be of utmost importance.

According to all the speakers, these kinds of interaction have radically altered their relationships with voters, and, according to McCaskill, with staff. The communications staff has no control or prior knowledge of her tweets. As she put it, holding up her blackberry "I'm on my own with this thing." Sometimes, apparently, they aren't thrilled with the result.

The other great political panel was, to paraphrase Spencer Tracy in Pat and Mike, "small but choice." Obama Director of Online Media Joe Rospars (on the right) nd McCain eCampaign Director Michael Palmer (on the left) discussed, and disagreed, with a focus on their work online. There was lots of great information, both anecdotal and strategic, but sadly, the overriding element turned out to be the bitterness Palmer still feels about their defeat. It's tough to let go after working that hard, but, as many observed, this seemed beyond that. Even so, it was revealing to hear Rospars, as he often does, attribute their online success as much to "respect for people and treating them like adults" as to any technological parlor tricks. It's actually consistent with the Obama folks when they're on panels or appearing in public events; they never talks about "I" did this or that. They are all very careful to attribute their success to their team. When complimented for that, the response is usually "but it's true!"

To come: A riveting youth vote panel and one on mobile campaigning, and a look at some of the cool but more esoteric events.

OH and if you're wondering why this post is so late, it's because there was no usable wireless at the Reagan Center and the damn Mac Air has no Ethernet plug! How frustrating do you think that was?

World Water Problems, YouTube and a Great Organizing Tool

Experts tell us water will be the “new oil.” Las Vegas, running out of water, is already paying residents to replant their lawns with desert plants to save water. It’s getting really scary here; it’s been scary in many other countries for a long time. In some of those countries, the situation is desperate. Killer dysentery is rampant; babies die, children die, parents die. And it’s not so hard to help.

Today I received an email from Ramya Raghavan, from “CitizenTube“, announcing some new tools to help deliver video messages for nonprofits. Here’s the example she sent along – it raised $10,000 in one day. “That’s enough to build two brand-new wells in the Central African Republic and give over 150 people clean drinking water for 20 years!”

Ramya urges others to take a look; you can make it work for your nonprofit too. Here’s the link. Some days I really love the Internet. This is one.

Inaugural Reflections and Other Stuff at Blogging Boomers 102

Great minds definitely think in sync, at least some of them. Although this week's Blogging Boomers Carnival isn't "all inauguration, all the time" there's plenty of The Big Day top choose from, although the perspectives differ enormously. Beyond that there's everything from fashion to comic books to retirement in a bad economy. Stop on by.

Obama, McCain and the Power of Words

I'm working on a big new post on a weird topic but in the meantime, the always original David Wescott has done, (at the suggestion of his wife), a very interesting word cloud comparison. Basically, he created clouds for the election night speeches of President-elect Obama and Senator McCain. Both the differences and the similarities are striking. Take a look.

VOTER SUPPRESSION: A REAL WAY TO HELP — TWITTER AND ALLIES FIND A WAY

When votes are mangled on election day, when people are turned away, or misled, or intimidated; when names have been purged without notice or challenged illegally, it’s very tough to protect the outcome because it’s so hard to get to the site of the violation in time to fix it before voters give up. At least it’s always been that way. And because older machines go to poor, minority precincts, and because mean-spirited efforts to defraud less sophisticated voters often affect Democrats disproportionately, as reported in Rolling Stone, any effort that gets help where it needs to be faster and more effectively can make a big difference not only for for Obama but also for down-ballot races.

A crew of some of the coolest nerds on the Web have come together to harness Twitter and other tools to help. It’s really simple; you can tweet (or text) violations, line lengths and other info, and use "hash tags" (these #) so that people following the issue will receive the message on their Twitter readers and send help. If you don’t want to bother with Twitter, text to 66937 and start your message with “#votereport." (That’s a "hash tag" — see how simple?) Bloggers like Nancy Walzman at PoliticsWest, who is based in Colorado where there’s much at stake, and Nancy Scola and Alison Fine at TechPresident can give you more details. Our vigilance can really make a difference.

Just for fun, here’s a diagram of how it works. Basically though, you just text or Tweet this the same way you do anything else. And you should. I also want to renew my plea (easy for me to say since I’m not a lawyer) for you to make yourself available on election day to protect the process, every committed voter, and, as far as I’m concerned, our country.