i saw this in my inbox and chuckled. lightly humored activism brushes this grain of grass in the right way...

COME MEET SANDOR KATZ, AGRI-ACTIVIST & AUTHOR OF THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE MICROWAVED: INSIDE AMERICA’S UNDERGROUND FOOD MOVEMENTS.

When: June 8th 7-9pm

Where: The Tank, 279 Church Street between Franklin & White
No cover charge, but donations to offset our food costs are encouraged

"Sustainability is Participation," is Sandor’s motto, so please come participate in Eating Liberally’s book party for Sandor. Hear his vision for a sane, humane food chain, and share some sustainable snacks with us!

A sampling of Sandor’s candor:

“Our food system, in which barely one percent of the people produce food for the other 99% to eat, is producing diseased people, diseased land, diseased animals, and diseased economies. We must break out of the restrictive and infantalizing role of consumer. We are all inherently capable of producing food. More of us must make that a focus in order to create better food choices.”

From Amazon:

An instant classic for a new generation of monkey-wrenching food activists. Food in America is cheap and abundant, yet the vast majority of it is diminished in terms of flavor and nutrition, anonymous and mysterious after being shipped thousands of miles and passing through inscrutable supply chains, and controlled by multinational corporations. In our system of globalized food commodities, convenience replaces quality and a connection to the source of our food. Most of us know almost nothing about how our food is grown or produced, where it comes from, and what health value it really has. It is food as pure corporate commodity. We all deserve much better than that.

In The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved, author Sandor Ellix Katz (Wild Fermentation, Chelsea Green 2003) profiles grassroots activists who are taking on Big Food, creating meaningful alternatives, and challenging the way many Americans think about food. From community-supported local farmers, community gardeners, and seed saving activists, to underground distribution networks of contraband foods and food resources rescued from the waste stream, this book shows how ordinary people can resist the dominant system, revive community-based food production, and take direct responsibility for their own health and nutrition.

it's abysmal that in the 21 century Americans still face police brutality. this past week, the LAPD got into the mix and demonstrated their lack of respect for freedom of speech and the press. regardless that this is a FOX news team, i hope you are equality enraged.

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

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

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

The Fight for NetNeutrality is not over. The progressive power gained in 2007 is still subject to the same corporate interest as the last session of Congress. As we settle into another Congressional session, we must be vigilant and ensure that NetNeutrality is a reality.

NetNeutrality is the fight for a neutral Internet. In the world we currently have, no single organization controls the Internet. For the past few years, major media corporations have come to believe the Internet should not be neutral, and should be controlled through corporate benevolence. This benevolence would span every form of entertainment and method of communication you know. Your computer would no longer be a free agent to communicate with whom you desired. From the movies you view to the emails you send, all would have to meet the approval of corporate trusties. Just imagine a world where Internet Service Providers look like cell phone companies - yeah, it's that scary.

A hundred or so years ago, there was a similar debate - to protect our ability to reach for the American Dream, labor unions were created. Then at last year's PDF conference, Congressman Anthony Wiener attempted to moderate Professor Crawford lambasting corporate interest. (download the podcast.) This fight is not just about politics, but a battle for technological control of the Internet. If you are concerned for the future of innovation, you must come and hear Professor Crawford. For anyone who loves gladiator politics filled with facts, figures and concise blows of logic, you must come and hear Professor Crawford. For anyone who cares about the American Dream, you must come and hear Professor Crawford.

This Wednesday come join Blogging Liberally for a special event with Susan Crawford at the Tank.

January 31th 6pm - 9pm, 2007 - NetNeutrality with guest speaker Susan Crawford- at 279 Church Street (btw Franklin & White, 2 blocks below Canal)

In a matter of months, "net neutrality" has gone from obscure telecommunications law provision to one of the hottest topics of debate on Capitol Hill and across the Internet. If you've been wanting to dig deep into neutrality, from its place in the history of the global network to its meaning for the future of communications policy, here's your chance! On January 31, Blogging Liberally will host a discussion on with leading Internet advocate and scholar Susan Crawford (scrawford.blogware.com). Prof. Crawford is an Associate Professor of Law at Cardozo Law School in New York City, where she teaches cyberlaw and communications law. She writes often on communications policy, digital copyright issues and Internet governance, and she is the founder of the annual OneWebDay celebration.

Tags: politics netneutrality freedom first amendment

if you want a quick summation of where the fight for netnutrality stands check out this video.

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Technorati Tags: gothamist, personal demoracy forum, save the internet, technology

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