buzz-it!

Admittedly I did not apply the philosophy below to my own local elections this year.  But this is the method I followed to help a Progressive Democrat win in Western New York.  The candidate had been posting some things on a site I ran and I noticed his campaign site needed help.

1. Make sure your coding is correct so that the search engines will be able to index your site properly.  Your site should be ready to go before you announce, if not make it a priority ASAP as media articles referring to you will sometimes include links to your site and you don’t want it to look like a mess. Yes a blog is a must.  An events calendar is also very helpful as people feel welcome to join in the fun right away.

2. Post photos of the candidate interacting with people at local events.  At the same time begin advertising the site in every conceivable location, if the site is broken down into issues register those sections of the site with indexes that are related to the topic, register news feeds with aggregate sites and search for local engines and link lists.

A burn mark on the repurp chair, worn fabric at it’s junction points, the soft sound of fingers tapping on an iboard, each wall of the small pyramidal room is lit up in vapors of light.

South – Red

East – Green

North – Blue

West – Gold

It is raining outside, the sound of it bouncing off the thin walled structure is reassuring,  a small man moves positions on the repurp chair.  He has not noticed Eddi.  Silently Eddi moves her eyes around to examine the content streaming seemingly backwards across the walls.  Maps, Charts, Philosophy, Medical Reports, Robot System Requests, Rental Agreements, Ancient Calendars, behind all of that, in another layer almost out of view and on all four screens is a grainy image of a young woman.

The man is standing behind Eddi, he has something sharp pressed against her left ear.

Recently commonscribe posted a simple plea entitled: 14,000 in FEMA trailers on the Gulf. Finish The Job. That post sparked some ideas that are worthy of discussion for the entire group,  it also sparked the following interview:

(discussion follows interview)

This will be commonscribe’s third visit to help rebuild homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina so who better to ask about what is needed than one of our own?

NLOB:   Why did you get involved?

commonscribe:   It was more productive than screaming at the TV. Seriously.

On Friday, November 30th the following story was released, describing how the FCC bent over backwards in order to bypass it’s own rules regarding saturating/dominating local markets in order to please a corporate entity.  The corporate entity in question is Newport Television LLC, which sought to buy up 35 Clear Channel stations.  Well, now they can thanks to the “hard work” put in by the FCC that came up with this nifty idea: Rather than making the corporate entities actually follow the law and risk  losing a financing option or two why not just provide them with waivers?

The sale of the 35 television stations will mean the new owner will be out of compliance with FCC rules that limit the number of stations one company may own in a single market. The market areas include Bakersfield, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Fresno and Monterey in California; Salt Lake City; Albany, New York; Jacksonville, Fla., and San Antonio, Texas.

Way back when you all first stumbled onto a political blog or message board you may have felt overwhelmed with what you didn’t know.  You may have felt it an almost impossible task to get up to date on important topics being discussed so that you too could have something of value to add.  I know I did.  I also felt frustrated because by the time I got up to date, everyone else had moved along to another topic.  The frustration quickly left however when I realized that there were other people in the same situation and that we all needed help.  So I made it my task to ask simple basic questions of the top posters so that the rest of us could understand the material as well.

When others were looking to emulate Wonk in all it’s glory, I saw that as elitist and adverse to the cause of including more voices.

Once comfortable in the community(ies), the facts and information begin to flow quicker, until you feel you are at the same wavelength as the information you are receiving and it is processed in real time.

Occasionally a spark will happen that will galvanize the community.

A mother of a dead soldier stands in a ditch waiting for a President to open his door.

A massive Hurricane strikes and your friends are on the ground there and need help.

Photos of flag draped coffins are deemed unpatriotic.

This is when it is possible to advance to another level.  You go from responder, to actor in the world stage.  People are looking around and wondering what to do, you step up to bat, you realize you must perform to the best of your ability.  Everything you learned about communication skills come into play.  All of your contacts become utilized and turned into resources.  In one hour you can change the world.  Why?

Suggested tools: biscuit joiner, router, drill, table saw, saber saw, wood glue, framer’s square, large wood clamps, trim router, chisel.

1. Go to Lumber Yard

2. Buy Wood – pick up some 5/4″ x 12″ stock, about 36 board feet for the base and 12 board feet for the top.  And another 12 board feet for the bottom. Pick them up in 12 or 6 foot lengths.  Clear White Pine works very well and is available most anywhere.  If you don’t have a board planer at home make sure to get finished wood otherwise you can get rough cut and plane them down yourself.

3. Buy 4 wheels for the base, I prefer the spherical rubber wheels. Buy some piano hinge for the top and some handles for the side.

According to the Great Armando I am a “self-styled” progressive.  Why?  Apparently because I spoke up about how I felt regarding one of Armando’s posts.  

Well Armando, while you feel you are being a true progressive by typing all day and verbally bashing the majority of the members on this web site, I have a different approach:

1. I bought a farm so that I can help to feed my community without pesticides and herbicides.

2. I came out against the War in Iraq one year before the war in Iraq started.

3. I was asked to join the Kerry Campaign because of my skills with web advertising, promotion, construction, and my enthusiasm.  My main goal was to bring in visitors to the Official Kerry Forums.  I brought in over 50,000 people to not only visit but actually register and begin the first real national presidential discussion online.

4. I was the first blogger/web guy to get involved in the Cindy Sheehan March to Crawford.

5. I helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

6. I have personally built over a dozen blogs and websites for other progressives so that their voices could be shared with the world.

7. I am replacing my old Subaru with a new Hybrid car to reduce my impact on the planet.

8. I have posted over 500 links to DocuDharma in various search engines, directories, news services etc.

So, you tell me Armando, am I a real progressive?  

Hello and welcome to the second installment on MMND.  Today we will do things a little differently, due to the Holiday there weren’t many stories released on Friday that would qualify for our regular approach.  Instead, headlines from various news sources across the country will be the focus.  The same basic question will apply however: when will the Corporate Media focus on these important stories?

As a reminder to news editors in Corporate Media establishments.  Well over 2/3rds of us Americans are paying attention.

IndyStar.com has some gut-wrenching statistics posted regarding child-poverty.

The number of Hoosier children living in poverty has increased by nearly 21 percent since 2000, a growth rate nearly twice that of the U.S. average for the period.

If these statistics do not cause a major upheaval in the way Indiana allocates it’s resources, there is little hope for Indiana in the future.

Before Jane’s Addiction and Cake there was Alice Donut

I think I saw them play with the Butthole Surfers…I know the Butthole Surfers guy was in my kitchen sweating and screaming for a while.  It was all a blur.

MADONNA’S BOMBING SARAJEVO

much much more below