Archived Posts
Fri, 21 Apr 2006
Progressive bloggers discuss plans - 4/21
Wednesday evening, I drove over to Lakeland for a meeting of the < a href="http://quinnell.us/sspb/wiki/index.php?n=Main.HomePage">Sunshine State Progressive Bloggers. Aikane Leo and his partner hosted, providing us with refreshments, wonderful food and the heartfelt hospitality of their beautiful home. Also attending were Kenneth Q. and Rob M.
Here is what I came away with:
We enjoyed each others company and brainstormed for ways that our organization could effect progressive change across our state. We tried to define the capabilities we need to develop, especially the infrastructure for gathering and disseminating information across our proposed statewide network of progressive organizations and individual activists.
We looked at what issues might resonate with the interests Florida's citizens. Providing attainable housing, promoting a living wage, ensuring affordable health care, providing quality public education, managing growth and preserving Florida's environment are among the strongest planks of a progressive platform. Working-class issues and quality of life issues deserve our focus as we move forward with the project.
We agreed that the group must advance solutions, not simply complain about the problems. We must provide Florida's citizens the tools to become effective activists. We need to develop how-to and strategy guides so that average people can get politicians and the media to recognize their concerns.
We have to look beyond the typical blog analysis and opinion. Angry commentary is useless without a plan of action to accompany it. Humor has its place, but snark doesn't contribute toward solutions. We need to have a reasoned tone and a pragmatic approach, if we want to be taken seriously.
We need to recruit more individuals and organizations to participate in the network. Our membership needs to fairly represent Florida's diverse population. Minority issues need to be advocated by authentic voices from their own communities.
We need capitalize upon the writing talent of our members, to produce high-quality opinion pieces and get them published in Florida's papers.
We discussed the practical steps that we need to take and we looked at some of the costs we will incur before the site's official launch. We reviewed our progress toward meeting the goals that were set earlier this month.
On a more personal level, I really enjoyed meeting these people.
Rob M. is a interesting character, replete with anecdotes and good-natured humor and an expansive personality. His shrewd mind and indefatigable energy are worth noting. He avows that he's one of the "furniture people"... one of the working-class folk that the rich disdain, ignore, abuse and mistreat, at whim... but it's very hard to imagine this guy fading into the background, or being treated with the regard one shows an inanimate object.
Kenneth Q. is a clean cut and professional-looking college professor. He has the keen focus and organized mind of an academic. He's used to answering questions. His job has trained him to verify his conclusions and to back them with solid evidence, carefully presented. A natural charisma has served him well during his teaching career and proves another qualifier for his continued position as leader of our organization. His affable sense of humor shows insight, as well as a quick wit.
Aikane Leo proved to be the most calm, reflective and diplomatic member of the group. His contributions helped to clarify and redirect the conversation when we got muddled in the extraneous. He acted as facilitator to the most productive of our discussions.
Aikane and his partner are among the kindest and most gracious folk that I've ever encountered. Seldom have I felt so comfortable in anyone's home. By the time I left, I felt like I was family. The food was fantastic. As we talked, trays of hor d'oveures and other delectable treats kept appearing, fueling our discussion. I want to express my sincere gratitude to them for having gone to such lengths hosting this gathering. I am indebted to them for their kindness, generosity and welcome.
The Itsy-Bitsy Spider
A spider had taken up residence in the switch housing of my well's pump. The arthropod spun her trap well and retreated into a narrow space to await dinner. There, she met her own death when the switch's contacts closed upon her. She fried as 120 volts AC arced through her, at 15 amps of current. The electrical resistance kept the pump from starting. With no water flowing to pressurize the tank, the switch remained closed.
The resulting electrical noise caused my computer's UPS battery backup system to activate, since I keep it set to the highest sensitivity. Under normal circumstances, after a couple of minutes, the computer would perform a managed shutdown.
Normal isn't part of the vocabulary I'd use to describe the computer's usage in our household: Our four children mob the computer whenever it's free from adult tasks. As the bug cooked, they were running ScummVM so that Windows XP would play The Day of the Tentacle (1993), a classic LucasArts game. (I still enjoy the excellent voice performance of Richard Sanders, who was best known for his role as "Les Nessman", from WKRP in Cincinnati.)
When multiple warnings that the system was shutting down interrupted their game, the kids cancelled the shutdown and went back to playing. Finally, the battery backup was exhausted and just quit.
Critical system files were corrupted. The Windows OS was hosed up. I tried the standard fixes, but nothing worked. Rather than devote major time to repairing the current installation, I installed a fresh OS on another hard drive. All my data has been recovered, but I'll have to reinstall and setup all of my programs.
The last time I had to reinstall the OS was after hurricane Charley, when extreme humidity and ten days without power caused my hard drive to fail.
I've contemplated installing a clean, fresh copy of Windows for awhile, but had been putting it off. There are hundreds of tweaks that I need to make so that I can feel at home again. It takes days and weeks to get everything right.
It was hours before I had my system ready to go online. Shielding my system was top priority. I installed and configured all the prophylactic measures and lines of defense, then went online to update them to the latest versions and definitions.
I can check my e-mail, but I can't reply to it yet. I still need to set up Thunderbird.
My to-do list has gotten a lot longer.
I hate it when a bug causes Windows to crash.
Florida progressive voices can harmonize. - 4/16
A new initiative has been undertaken by a large group of progressive bloggers in Florida. Sunshine State Progressive Bloggers is in its early stages, but the site already show great promise.
The blog will feature many progressive writers from across the state, each representing individual views on local, state and national issues. It's focus will be toward facilitating progressive political activism and citizen involvement.
The wiki portion of the project should prove a unique and valuable resource for any of Florida's citizens.
Kenneth Q. (of T. Rex's Guide to Life), is leader of the network, by consensus. The project germinated in his imagination and he has kept it well tended with tireless effort.
Central Florida members of the group will soon meet, on Wednesday evening, April 19, in Lakeland. Aikane Leo has graciously offered to host the gathering.
I'm looking forward to meeting some of Florida's best and brightest minds. I hope I can contribute something useful to the conversation. There is much work to be done, and a great deal of planning, as the organization nears the date for its official launch.
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