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N-TEN's Katrina ICT Webinar
	N-TEN will host a free Katrina ICT Webinar on Tuesday, September 27. I'm not sure how practical it will be, since it's basically a show and tell by some of the ICT related nonprofits that have responded to the hurricane's consequences. But I'm familiar with the folks presenting and it will be interesting to learn how they frame their work. Posted: 9/21/05; 12:20:14 PM #

Post-Katrina Environmental Catastrophe: A Diary of Toxic Injustice

The federal government uses Katrina as an opportunity for attacking environmental groups (there is evidence that they're looking for cases where flood control projects may have been held up by environmental concerns, rather than by lack of federal funding) and as a chance to practice the withholding of public environmental data, its quickly becoming clear that we have an environmental catastrophe on our hands. People on the Gulf Coast live near some of the most toxic sites in the world. Just as Katrina breached our poorly constructed levies and shattered the delicate social barriers that separate rich and poor, so has it destroyed the containment of these toxic sites and made clear to us how vast are the poisons we have as neighbors. Posted: 9/21/05; 12:16:03 PM #

Project Censored 2006

Every year Project Censored identifies the top stories that didn't really make the news. This year's list is mind boggling. For me, one of the side effects of reading these stories is discovering just how out of touch I am with the news (or the lack of news) that reaches most of my fellow citizens. I despair sometimes of how we can truly make a democracy when there are such disparities of knowledge. Posted: 9/21/05; 12:07:20 PM #

A Misplaced Emphasis on Charity

I'm pleased to read Rick Cohen's analysis of the Disaster Relief Bill. He points out its emphasis on long sought after corporate giveaways and how it further burdens private nonprofits without adequately providing for the collective civil infrastructure which nonprofits require to succeed. And I agree with his central point that the role of many nonprofits at this time is to force the government to do its job, not try to do some fragmented pieces of that job in its place. Posted: 9/21/05; 12:02:10 PM #

It's Time to Mobilize!

In It's Time to Mobilize!, Kenneth Bailey and Najma Nazy’at emphasize collaboration and grassroots participation in our responses to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This closely mirrors my own thinking on the subject and I encourage you to look to this article for ideas on how we might step outside our programmatic silos and make some lasting change in these difficult times. Posted: 9/21/05; 11:56:40 AM #

International Day of Peace - September 21

Today is the 23rd International Day of Peace. There is so much work to be done, so much violence to grieve, but as Thich Nhat Hanh says, peace is every step. In every moment and every decision, we can call upon ourselves to be peacemakers. And whether you tend to the sick, advocate for the poor, or defend the environment, peacemaking is your common bond. To honor that fact and this occasion, I'll be observing a minute of silence at noon (and perhaps at other times over the course of the day). Maybe you can join me? Posted: 9/21/05; 11:51:50 AM #

Third Party Technique - SourceWatch

Source Watch describes the Third Party Technique, whereby corporations develop and support mouthpiece organizations to support their causes, because corporations themselves are too blatantly self-interested to advocate publicly. I understand why they do this. I led a local growth control initiative many years ago that we won, because the more money developers poured into opposing it, the more support they lost. That's how little credibility they had with most people and so it is with corporations at large. What makes me sad is when otherwise legitimate nonprofit organizations get sucked into playing the third party role. Posted: 9/21/05; 11:43:09 AM #