Politics – Page 2 – Stay N Alive

Category: Politics

Please Don’t Vote!

Posted on by jessestay

You’ve probably already seen this, but I feel a responsibility to continue the Meme. Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, or Independent like me, with the looming credit crisis, no matter what your position, we have an even stronger responsibility to vote. While in many states it may not matter your Presidential candidate of choice, there are also congressional seats up for grabs, many of those who voted (or didn’t vote) on the bailout bill recently. We have a responsibility to vote, my friends – please register to vote! You (my readers) are my 5 friends – have you shared this with yours?

Register to vote!
http://mediaservices.myspace.com/services/media/embed.aspx/m=43877316,t=1,mt=video

You can register to vote right here!

House Committee Seeks to Tighten the Content You Can See in Government

Posted on by jessestay

JAC_and_USS_Texas.pngRepresentative John Culberson, the Twittering and Qik’ing Congressman from my good old home town of Houston, Texas, has been on a rampage this morning about a proposed new regulation for the House of Representatives, which, he claims, will require all world wide web communications from the House floor from those in congress to receive “prior approval” from a Democratically-controlled Committee on House Administration before it goes out to the web. From the letter:

“

  • Official content posted on an external domain must be clearly identified as produced by a House office for official purposes, and meet existing content rules and regulations;

  • To the maximum extent possible, the official content should not be posted on a website or page where it may appear with commercial or political information or any other information not in compliance with the House’s content guidelines.

  • Any link from a House website to an external site on which the Member video is hosted must contain an exit notice.

  • CHA, the Office of Web Assistance(OWA), or other designated House entity should maintain a list of external sites that meet whatever requirements are established by the CHA

“

Per the above proposed recommendations, this would rule out any Twitter communication because by law, each Tweet would need to be prepended by a disclaimer, identifying it as being produced by a House office for official purposes and, as Culberson puts it, that will most likely in and of its self exceed 140 characters. Also, it would mean that any Congressman wishing to use a site such as Twitter to share publicly what is going on in Congress with their constituents will have to get prior approval, censorship essentially, before using such a site or technology.

I find it ironic that it is a Republican that is trying to show the Democrats how to use technology on this, but Representative Culberson has a point here, and we need to speak up if we’re to continue seeing social media propagate through our government. Social Media in government means a more open government, and that’s a good thing! I’d like to encourage all that read this to write your Congressman or Congresswoman about this (Pelosi is part of this!) and get them to see things straight rather than requiring censorship of our House floor.

You can read the Proposal here. (Which, were this proposal to take effect, I believe I would be breaking the law by sharing with you)

UPDATE: Want to discuss? Let’s discuss in a nice open format right below this post via the FriendFeed link below!

London Earthquake and Twitter

Posted on by jessestay

As I was blogging about emergencies yesterday, I saw an amazing thing happen today.  I mentioned I am tracking the term, “earthquake” on Twitter.  This evening I started receiving a large influx of Twitters on my cellphone, almost non-stop that an earthquake had hit London.  It was almost immediate, and turning to the news revealed nothing – Twitter had beat the masses that there was truly a 4.7 earthquake in London.

What’s most amazing is that even the USGS’s “real time earthquake tracker” had not yet updated with the information.  Twitter proved an invaluable communication method in the event of a potential disaster, while only 4.7, to let the world know something big was going on.

Twitter as a Tool for Disasters and Emergencies

Posted on by jessestay

First, let me start by apologizing for the silence.  I kind of went dark over the weekend for an all-weekend binge to finish a project developing a Facebook app for a very large client.  I’m actually quite pleased with what we were able to accomplish in just a matter of 2 days! (and no sleep, I might add)  When their application goes public I’ll talk more about it – I really like what we did!

Now, back to the topic.  Recently, my Aunt sent out an e-mail to my extended family’s e-mail list on yahoogroups asking about how she could use Twitter in the event of a disaster, or to prepare for disasters.  My Aunt and Uncle are currently in charge of the Welfare program for the entire country of Chile, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

First, I was taken back that my 60+-year old Aunt even knew what Twitter was, but secondly it got me thinking.  Chile has had some of the largest earthquakes in the recorded history of this earth.  It is not quite at the level of the United States in terms of mass-communication methods such as computers and the internet.  I’m sure there are many areas that do not even have internet.

Because of the inability to get high-speed internet access (or even phone lines, in general) out to remote areas, the majority of people in third-world countries communicate via cell phone.  It is simply easier to give someone in the middle of Chile, or Brazil, or Nigeria, or Burma, a cell phone than to run phone lines and broadband lines around to every remote village in the country.  Not only that, but it’s more expensive to do so!

Therefore, I can very much see a strong benefit for these countries to utilize services such as Twitter, that have a strong Mobile, SMS platform, to communicate in the event of an emergency.  I mentioned my Aunt’s desire on Twitter, and got this response from @theotherdrummer via e-mail (Please forgive the LDS terminology.  For the non-LDS, a “Ward” is a local congregation.  A “Stake” is a group of those local congregations.  A Bishop is the leader of a Ward.  In LDS culture, LDS refer to each other as “Brother”, and “Sister”, hence the reference…):

My first thought was that it can be used to notify families/stakes/wards of the status of individuals, to serve as a central hub. For example, set up a Twitter account specifically for the Chile 1st Ward. Should something happen, members of the Ward begin texting their status and location to Twitter: “Brother Martinez, at home, OK.”

The Bishop can use this as a starting point to check on people, and can also be used as a source of info for relatives and friends who might be out of the affected area worrying about their loved ones.

The Stake would also have an account to which the Bishops can pass information to.

I thought this was an excellent example of a way to bring people together in the event of an emergency.  Of course, I’ve been in Hurricanes before.  Having grown up in Houston, TX, and lived in Richmond, VA, I know that when emergencies happen, communication lines generally go down.  In cases like that there are better communication methods such as Ham Radio to consider (I’m KC5PZP in case you were wondering…).  There are still often cases where that isn’t the case, and even those that are able to get through can communicate with the world the status of their situation, and where they are.

Twitter as an Emergency Tracking Tool

After this, as an experiment, I started tracking “earthquake”.  There was recently a 6.0 earthquake near us, out in Wells, NV.  I even felt it in my bed early in the morning, way out in Salt Lake City, UT!  This inspired me to follow the term and see where else in the world people were experiencing earthquakes.

Once I started tracking “earthquake” on Twitter I began to realize this was not at all a rare occurance!  Soon I was seeing big and small earthquakes all around the world, from California, to aftershocks around Wells, NV, to Sumatra and Jakarta, Indonesia.  What was fascinating is that I wasn’t only being notified of the earthquakes, but I was also seeing others’ reactions to the events!  I can only imagine what I’d see if I tracked, “tornado”, or “fire”, or “storm”.  It would take just a simple, “help” from someone for me to get into action and communicate via Twitter to find someone to help them.

Now, imagine a tracker that tracked all these terms, and put them on a map, such as the USGS’s earthquake tracker, and added Twitters to the Earthquake Geological alerts.  Add in Hurricane trackers, weather data, and more, and you’d have quite a useful tool that could be utilized by FEMA for tracking where help is needed on an on-demand basis.  FEMA could actually become the first responders with such a tool!

While communication is often disrupted in such events, Twitter can still serve as a useful resource among those that do still have communication.  What suggestions do you have for emergency management and preparedness using Twitter and similar such services?  Any and all comments I will forward to my Aunt for use in Chile.

The Power of the Small Community

Posted on by jessestay

It used to be, one could make a deal on just a handshake.  People could leave their doors unlocked on their homes and their cars without worry of break in.  A man’s word was his bond.  Everyone knew everyone, by name.

This wasn’t the world I grew up in, but I’m told by my Grandparents, and I’ve seen stories of ancestors where this was, at one time, the way things were done in the world.  We just trusted each other back then.

You see, back then, communities were much smaller.  In the days when trust was in its prime, everyone did know each other by name, because they could know each other by name.  Communities were much smaller back then and accommodated this lifestyle much easier.  Crime was much harder to commit because everyone in the town knew you, and you knew them.  Think, the Scarlet Letter – the worst punishment of that time was shame.  There was no anonymity.  There was no privacy.

Sound familiar?  We are quickly overcoming the bonds of large society which put us in this untrustworthy time to live.  The internet came at a time when society wasn’t ready to be exposed.  People enjoyed their anonymity and their sheltered lives.  They were used to contracts, and handshakes never meant what they used to.  Society fought the internet, and it appears, finally, the internet is fighting back.

Social Media is bringing back an era which we thought we would never see again.  People are being held responsible for their actions online, and again, communities are getting much smaller.   Now, circles of friends can virtually know everything about each other, know each other by name, and start to trust each other again.

I argue, the lack of privacy in Social Media is a good thing.  When you know who your friends are, you can build trust with them again.  Contracts are no longer necessary, and back is the handshake and word as a bond.  Small Community has been re-architected through a virtual means which no one saw coming.

Now, imagine the cell phone, when virtual lives become melded with real life.  Virtual “small communities” become real, and back again is the small town, weaved into the fabric of a very large Society.  Social Media is bringing back the days when man could actually trust one another!

Supporting School Vouchers the Social Way

Posted on by jessestay

I know a lot of you bloggers out there are pro-school vouchers. If not, blog about it and link to me! Utah is about to have one of the most heated votes in the history of the state, as it gets ready to allow residents to vote for or against School Vouchers. “Referendum 1” it is called, and if you vote for it, you are for school vouchers.

What are school vouchers? Of course the details haven’t fully been worked out yet, but ideally school vouchers allow those sending their children to Private Schools and paying for school out of their own pocket to collect a “voucher”. Ideally, if you to receive a $3000 voucher that voucher would allow the possibility of paying as little as $100/month to send your child to Private school. Suddenly, a lot more people will be able to afford private school, encouraging more private schools to form to take advantage of this, encouraging competition among private schools and public schools alike. Classrooms will be smaller, and as such, education will be better and more focused for the children we care for.

Why are people against school vouchers? A lot of teachers, due to the smaller class sizes in the public schools, will be forced out of their jobs if they aren’t doing a good job. Because of this, the Teacher’s Unions are stepping up to protect those teachers that maybe aren’t cutting it, and are on the chopping block, were school vouchers to be handed out. Teachers would be forced to actually work and compete for their skills – only the best teachers would be able to stay. This sounds great for our kids, doesn’t it? It doesn’t sound so great for the teachers that are at risk, which is why the Teachers Unions are spending so much money to fight against it and tell us it’s “bad for Utah families”.

As bloggers, geeks, and people who understand the digital world, we have a responsibility here. If you are for or against vouchers, you need to speak up. You need to spread the word online and get it out in full force! Only we have such a capability to spread the truth to such a massive audience. We are the social web and we have a responsibility to start the chains to get the word out!

So I’m publishing a few links for you pro-voucher bloggers out there. This affects even those outside Utah. If vouchers succeed, other states in the Union will be looking towards Utah to see how successful they are here. If you are outside Utah, donate to this cause! Here are some links you should share with your friends and sign up for yourselves:

http://www.votefor1.com/ – the official “pro-vouchers” site

http://www.choiceineducation.org/ – Parents for Choice in Education, the supporters of VoteFor1

http://www.utahtaxpayers.org/

http://www.childrenfirstutah.org/

http://www.citizensfortaxfairness.org/x_home.asp

And of course, my Facebook “Causes” cause (join and spread to your Facebook Friends!): http://apps.facebook.com/causes/view_cause/23050?recruiter_id=6882383

So, if you’re a blogger, blog about this! If you’re on Twitter, Twitter your feelings – twitter this blog entry! Jaiku – Jaiku it! Add the Causes app above and send it to all your friends. This affects everyone, and everyone will be affected eventually. We have a responsibility as Social experts and users to utilize these great tools to pass on the word!

Public Schools the Demise of the LDS Church?

Posted on by jessestay

Okay I missed my Sunday school topic for yesterday so hopefully this makes up for it. Forgive me if I go on a little political rant here. I was thinking about going over “Mormons Exposed”, but Laura Moncur beat me to it. So I came across another ridiculous piece of “Mormon News” today.

It appears the Mormon-oriented “Sutherland Institute” is publishing advertising in the Deseret News and Tribune blaming the need for School Vouchers in Utah on helping to save The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Now I’m a huge fan of School Vouchers, but why did they have to go there? There may be some truth to what they are saying but the fact is there’s so much truth and statistics out there supporting School Vouchers that we don’t need to make up half-truths to argue the point. I mean their “truths” sound quite similar to the anti-Mormon rhetoric that us Mormons try to fight on a day-to-day basis! Sutherland Institute, I suggest an apology and sticking to full truths rather than a blame campaign.

You see, school vouchers, while I’m not aware of an actual school voucher program in the U.S., have statistics behind them to prove they will work. If you look at the test scores, student to teacher ratios, and overall college graduate ratio of Private Schools to Public Schools, you’ll find that despite what the critics say, Private Schools and competition works! The funny thing is the very conservatives that are for Capitalism and small government are the ones pushing the scare tactics on this new bill. You’ll see a lot of critical statements with absolutely no statistics to them – look up the statistics yourself and you’ll find record after record proving vouchers will be a good thing for the people of Utah. Also notice who’s backing the anti-voucher groups – you’ll find that most of them are Teachers Unions, the very people that want to protect the bad teachers we already have in the Utah public school system and keep competition from forcing them out!

So before voting for this referendum, I strongly suggest you do your research – Vouchers are good! Government needs to stay small! Oh, and to the Sutherland Institute, stick to the statistics!

NASA: Just Lose the Shuttle, Will You?

Posted on by jessestay

I was just at Seth Godin’s Talk, and somehow the topic of NASA came up. Seth mentioned that if he were to suggest one thing for NASA, it would be to remove the Shuttle program. He said that the Shuttle program we know is unsafe, costly, and has issues. He suggested that were they to get rid of it, it would create an emergency situation, and the Government and NASA would be forced to enter “A Dip”, and come up with something way better. I think I have to agree with him on this one.

BTW, if anyone is interested in a free copy of the Dip, write me a story of why you want it, what you would do for it, etc. and I’ll post the best stories here and give the best their own free copy.