Archive for the ‘Political activism’ Category

Grassroots radio

Friday, July 25th, 2008

I'm in Portland at GRC13 - the Grassroots Radio Conference. So far it's been a great experience. We're at lunch at the moment (2 hours, so plenty of time to meet people and chat, as well as enjoy the fantastic Middle Eastern food provided). The opportunity to meet with people ...

Visiting New Orleans

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

Approximately 225,000 people left New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina flooded most city neighborhoods in August 2005. A sizeable number came from the 9th ward. Some 1800 people died during the floods; later, hundreds more succumbed to stress-related ailments. [Saul Landau] My parents visited the US recently, and we took the opportunity ...

Healthcare provision in the United States

Monday, July 21st, 2008

The American Federation of Teachers - with which my union, the GEO, is affiliated - has voted to endorse a bill to provide Universal Healthcare in the United States: HR 676 would institute a single payer health care system in the U.S. by expanding a greatly improved Medicare system to every resident. HR ...

Overview of Venezuelan media

Monday, July 21st, 2008

One of my colleagues in the ICR, Andrew Kennis, has published an overview of the Venezuelan media system at Narconews. He starts with an analysis of US coverage, such as of the recent decision not to renew the license of one of the independent commercial stations, and moves on to ...

The curious case of Steven Kurtz

Thursday, June 12th, 2008

Back in 2004 I posted an item about an artist who had been arrested and charged with terrorism-related charges. Steven Kurtz had been using (harmless) bacteria as part of various art projects, as part of his work with the Critical Art Ensemble. He has recently - 4 years later - ...

Kucinich introduces articles of impeachment against Bush

Monday, June 9th, 2008

I had heard nothing of this previously, and there's nothing on the BBC News website, which is generally my first destination for breaking news in the US or UK. However, Dennis Kucinich is currently on the floor of the US House of Representatives, introducing 35 articles of impeachment against Bush. ...

Sitting in on the NCMR keynotes

Saturday, June 7th, 2008

As I mentioned in my previous post I'm currently at the National Conference for Media Reform in Minneapolis. Yesterday was designated as an 'evening on the town' by writ of the organizers, and I ended up spending much of it at several of the receptions run by groups like IPA, ...

Grassroots organizing at the NCMR

Friday, June 6th, 2008

I'm at a grassroots action session at the Media Reform conference in Minneapolis. There's some useful tips on productive activity, but perhaps the most useful aspect, for me, is a reminder is of the common aspects across organizing - talk to people, identify goals, set achievable (and concrete) targets. I got ...

Activism compendium

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

A number of items today, from a range of sources. First, the picture to the left is of Labour TD Joe Costello, who for the last 5 years has run a weekly protest outside the Mater hospital, calling for better healthcare. Second, potentially good news for grad employees in private universities in ...

Yes Men bow to BP complaints – in their own way

Monday, March 10th, 2008

To be a satirist necessitates a certain thickness of skin. You're going to be upsetting people (if you do it properly), and need to be comfortable staring them down. So what do you do when you get a letter from a potential target complaining about a satire that never actually ...