Filed under: Obama | Tags: Obama, Jesse Fox, Sustainable City Blog, Guantanamo, SOTU, State of the Union
Jesse Fox of Sustainable City Blog writes this review of President Obama’s first State of the Union address delivered yesterday evening.
Radiating confidence, Obama detailed his priorities to Congress last night: doubling renewable energy, community service in exchange for scholarships, health care reform. Among other things, Obama pledged to halve the deficit by the end of his first term. And Joe Biden will be the bailout sheriff.
I have to admit that I’m really impressed with President Obama. Not only does he seem like a genuine and real human being, more in touch with normal people than any of those other guys in Washington, I’m impressed with his ability to keep his promises and get things done.
With lightning speed, Obama is steering the enormous, cumbersome ship that is America in a completely new direction. The stimulus bill, Guantanamo Bay, making the banks accountable, investing in renewable energy, mass transit, and the list goes on.
In the period before his inauguration, while he was still President-Elect, many progressive voices were already criticizing Obama for retreating from some of the principles that fueled his campaign. Other voices told us to hold our horses, lower our expectations – after all, Washington is Washington, and there is a limit to how much you can get done in American politics.
But Obama is a sharp guy, with plenty of smart people around him. For anyone who has doubts about this, or wants a bit of insight into the way his mind works, read this extensive interview that the President gave to five newspaper columnists recently.
Filed under: Community Empowerment, Obama | Tags: asheville, send chris to peru
An open letter to WNC for Change from Ian Bryan:
Greetings,
Few of you know me, but I created the original grassroots campaign, then called “WNC for Obama” before turning it over to the lovely people of this region to grow on its own. A debate has risen about whether or not to apply group funds to support Chris Scanzoni’s philanthropic trip to Peru. I rarely shout out, but in this case, it is appropriate.
A little history: When we started this group, at a time when most people in WNC did not even know the name “Barack Obama”, our teensy kickoff crew included Chris Scanzoni. Chris opened doors for bringing youth and general attention into the mix in WNC. We created one of the very first grassroots rallies in the nation – ranked 8th in the nation for timing. Back then, my friends in the campaign in Chicago said that Obama would never visit Asheville and that North Carolina was at the bottom of their priorities. Nobody dreamed we would swing this state.
And from the very start, out of 48 attending the initial rally at Homewood, Chris Scanzoni was one of 7 people who committed themselves to work hard for the campaign by surrendering countless beautiful days in the summer to work on the computers and phones, post fliers and round up supporters. There were several periods of poor response in those early months when Chris, Hugh, Paul, Ronnie and Kate literally held the group together.
But this isn’t a popularity contest, so let’s make a point:
Do we use grassroots funds from WNC for Change to send Chris to Peru?
My guess is that Obama would encourage the group to answer the question: Does Chris’s work in Peru heal and inspire a community that is crying out for change and self empowerment? If so, we should swiftly decide whether or not the group’s funds will be applied or whether the group is willing to use other approaches to helping Chris get to Peru. I’ll let the group answer that. But Chris has won, through his direct actions and big heart, our respect, encouragement and moral support.
Chris, like many of us, is good at helping others but poor at helping himself. This reflects one of the great challenges of our era: we tend to approach abundance thinking from a habitually scarce mindset. But I know that if everyone reading this donated $10 and asked 5 friends to do the same, the conversation would be over.
So I encourage the following thinking:
- recognize that the organization’s bank account isn’t the only option for helping Chris financially
- while we have thousands of citizens who can finance change in our area, Chris is helping a community whose options can be counted on one hand
- think globally and act locally, whatever that means to you.
In addition to our $100 donation already made, I will make this commitment:
Sensible City will financially match any contribution made to Chris’s efforts, dollar for dollar, over the next 72 hours up to $500 ($1,000 total).
You can donate to Chris by clicking here:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=3228111
Filed under: Adora Svitak, Clients In The News, Community Empowerment, Community Service, Education, Obama, Technology | Tags: Activboard, Activclassroom, Activexpression, Adora Svitak, child author, child prodigy, ICT, Interactive Whiteboard, IWB, Promethean, whitney young
Adora Svitak, 11, writes Tuesday about her visit to Whitney Young for her blog.
On Tuesday, February the 3rd, Adora Svitak visited Whitney M. Young Magnet School in Chicago, Illinois, to talk about writing and publishing.
The presentation utilized an Activboard from Promethean, accompanied by Activexpressions (a voting system which allows students to vote, text in in answers, etc.) The Expression technology immediately collects results from students.
When polled, the majority of students believed that the presentation was inspiring, motivational, innovative, interesting, and educational. However, they didn’t all immediately turn into scholars; when asked about their plans for action/publication, they jokingly responded that they would like to sit around watching TV. Adora said, “I read on your school’s website that you have a…100% graduation rate. I guess they’ll have to take out the thirty percent of you that responded [couch] potato.” She added, “I’m glad they still have a sense of humor!”
[ Read Adora's Journalistic Style Blogpost ]
[ BBC Radio Story ]
