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Contemplative Toolbox: The Social Justice Program
	If you have an interest in cultivating greater mindfulness in your work life or in your organization as a whole, I recommend that you explore the Contemplative Toolbox from the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. With examples from many traditions, it has small and large practices for both groups and individuals. Posted: 1/8/06; 10:40:07 PM #

Microsoft Takes Down Chinese Blogger
	Rebecca Mackinnon has a good run down on how Microsoft is getting into the political censorship game by shutting down a Chinese blogger. It used to be that the Chinese government would block politically undesirable sites themselves, but now they have Microsoft doing it for them. Do you use MSN Spaces for a blog? It's probably time to move. Posted: 1/8/06; 10:35:22 PM #

Wholesale Problems: Retail Changes

Writing in Body Impolitic, Laurie Edison and Debbie Notkin use the mercantile concepts of wholesale and retail to describe different scales of social change and social service work. They pay particular attention to the ways in which people who help others on a small scale can find their work trivialized. I would add that this depends on the circles in which you travel. I have found that different subsectors work very hard to identify how they are different from other organizations, rather than what they have in common or how they depend on each other. Posted: 1/8/06; 10:31:26 PM #

Gay Rights Groups Demand Info on Pentagon Spying

In the wake of widrespread revelations about U.S. government spying on activists and other citizens, fourteen gay rights organizations have demanded information on pentagon activities in order to find out if they are being spied upon. They are filing U.S. Freedom of Information Act requests. While that law still has a few teeth left, I recommend that you ally yourself with your associations and do the same, even if you think you have nothing to fear. You might be surprised. Posted: 1/8/06; 10:24:40 PM #

The Them Me Us

Several recommendations came in this week for Alan Rosenblatt's The Them Me Us, which describe his three categories of journalism and media at the start of the twenty first century. Them Media is corporate mainstream media. We Media is grassroots journalism, the dominant form being weblogs. Us Media includes the newsletters, magazines and email alerts published by associations, non-profits and advocacy groups. He calls it "Us" Media because these organizations represent collectives of members with shared interests and stakes. Posted: 1/8/06; 10:19:57 PM #