Category: Uncategorized (Page 32 of 49)

I think I’ll write him an email:

“The Great Good Place” argues that third places build community, social capital and civic solidarity. Perhaps, but my immediate worry is that they won’t be there for me when I need them.

I suppose a case could be made for the gym as a latter-day third place. Likewise, the beauty salon or the sports bar. But listen to Oldenburg:

“The lure of a third place depends only secondarily upon seating capacity, variety of beverages served … or other features. What attracts the regular visitor to a third place is supplied not by management but by fellow customers. … It is the regulars who give the place its character and who assure that on any given visit some of the gang will be there.”

And that describes perfectly the newsroom of The Washington Post, except that it was — and is — a job site. I need a new third place.

Update: My email to him:

Third places are created, not just pursued

Mr. Raspberry:

I enjoyed reading your column this morning, but I’m afraid you skipped over a concept that is vital to the existence of third places. The idea of citizenship, that people are active participants in their communities, is vital to creating so-called third places. In a sense, third places are populated by citizens, not worker bees or consumers, but rather people engaged in their environment and who feel a sense common purpose. I’ve been reading recently about how some places, like libraries, are well suited to become such centers of civic culture.

I also wanted to say that I’m saddened that your leaving the Post. I began college at Delaware State University’s print journalism program, and the dean there held you up as an example of what a journalist could be. Even though I didn’t end up pursuing reporting, I continue to respect your work.

Thanks and good luck,
Emmett

Talking about community.

Lynn Allen at Evergreen Politics:

…the top down, “you’re either with me or against me” skills of this last era are the wrong ones for what is coming now. Now we need a Party Chairman/Chairwoman who can rally the base for the grassroots and technologically savvy campaign we desperately need to stay blue and extend that blueness into the red and purple areas.

Paul was one of the first Democrats in this state to support Howard Dean, first as President then as DNC Chair. He sees and understands the future but he hasn’t seemed to want to change the way he plays the game. So, even though he’s been a Dean supporter, the state Party has not been in alignment with the changes the national Party is working through.

What I want the next chair to talk about: social software, community, and grassroots.

Paul Berendt will resign, and I’ll miss him. Mostly miss watching both the governor and state Democratic Party chair walk into mass after me, but for other reasons too.

I won’t miss him picking a talk-show host over an already established candidate for Congress though.

What this does give us is a chance to open up the party a bit more. Not that I think Paul was against that, but changes in leadership do offer chances for change. The one thing I’d like to see is a change in purpose with our state website, or maybe a new stand alone website for state Democrats along the same lines as Grow Ohio (or at least what it used to be before Sherrod Brown started running for Senate).

A statewide grassroots community website for Democrats, liberals and progressives to come together, dialog, and organize. All paid for by the state Democratic Party.

When I was at Evergreen, one of the best classes I was in was taught by Doug Schuler. It was about a concept called “Community Networks,” which where efforts to expand social capital online using open and civic minded networking.

I’ve been reading about the concept of using libraries as “third places” in communities and how libraries can use their public education mandate to get into the business of pushing for civic dialogue, and I ran into a reference to the civic/community network movement. That led me to do a quick read-up on community networks, and I discovered that the steam pretty much died down on the movement around the late 1990s. If you take a look at the Seattle Community Network homepage, you will see a somewhat retro looking design.

What seems to have happened is that community networks rose early on in the internet world as BBSs, a free network than anyone could dial into. This was during the time when not every dial-up led to the internet, and providing a free network, accessible to anyone, was of great civic importance. But, when the walls between these networks broke down, access became more easily available and the internet world moved into HTML, the community networks followed. They built lists of civic organizations, gave free web space to worthy groups, and tried to be as open as possible.

But, they didn’t become widespread enough to counter to increasingly commercial side of the internet. And now, in the case of the SCN at least, they seemed to have gotten stuck in that first generation of the HTML world. While social software has taken off, community networks have either died or not moved into this new world. Community is being built on the internet, but not in the directly local fashion intended by the community network movement.

In Doug’s class is some of us tried to start a community network in Olympia. I can’t remember what would have been so hard about that, but we never really got it off the ground. Now, the makings of a community network is starting to be built in Olympia. The most exciting part of the new Olympia Community Network is that it holds most important something that was lacking in those HTML community networks: dialogue.

It’s ironic that because of the limitations of software in the 90s that one of the main ingredients in actual community (talking to people) couldn’t happen easily in community networks. Anyway, at Olyblog.net, the best thing is the back and forth between the folks there. More on that later.

With new, free software now available and a new interest in building community online in the progressive community, would now be a good time to revive the community network movement?

As a side note, Doug’s class did inspire me to do OlympiaToday.com, a community newsite that, for a few months at least, got me some college credit and taught me a lot about community, Olympia, building websites and tons of other stuff. You can still see the remnents of that site here.

I have a neighborhood association. I’m going to their meeting next Tuesday. More on that later.

I’m blogging over at BetterDonkey here. This is going to be fun.

My first post is about Tacoma’s idea to reform their taxing system, repealing much of their existing taxes including B&O, and insituting a wide ranging user fee system. While I don’t mind Tacoma leading the way, I think this kind of system would work in a city with a lot of state government offices that don’t pay a lot in city taxes.

Bill O’Reilly, theologian:

Every company in America should be on its knees thanking Jesus for being born. Without Christmas, most American businesses would be far less profitable…

Or they could, if they were of that persuasion, thank Jesus for being born because he died to redeem us. But, forget that, because Christmas is all about the head door buster deals at Walmart.

Beaumont, Texas:

Beaumont Police spent much of Monday answering questions about the incident Friday that sent Walmart shoppers scurrying for open air. Black Friday became big trouble at the Beaumont Walmart after scores of bargain seekers say they were pepper sprayed by an off duty Beaumont Police officer working security.

Officer Aive Ownby says he warned the crowds several times to get back and stop pushing. Ownby said after his warnings were ignored he was forced to use his pepper spray, an action police say was justifiable.

Grand Rapids:

Police think five people were involved in an assault at a West Michigan WalMart. The same place where several people were trampled when the store opened.

It happened at the WalMart in Cascade Township Friday morning.

Orlando:

In Orlando, a man cutting the line in a Walmart was attacked by a group of angry shoppers. Walmart staff had to be called in to quell the situation.

Thanks Jesus.

For someone who wakes up early enough to watch the garbage guys, this is funny:

We have these cool new trucks in Olympia where there’s an articulated arm like on the Space Shuttle and it grabs the cans and hoists it overhead and dumps the contents into the truck. So, the first can gets emptied, the arm goes halfway down, then back up and waits at the top, and I’m thinking some of the linoleum is stuck in the can.

The guy gets out of the truck, climbs up on top of the truck and starts putting stuff back into the can and I’m thinking, “Oh no, what did I do now? No debris allowed? Is it filled with lead or asbestos? Did the metal strips jam the compactor?” — not likely, I know.

I run upstairs and get on some pants (I’ve already had a cup of coffee, so I’m thinking ahead) and go out and ask the guy as sweet as I can, “Is there a problem?”

The guy smiles at me and says, “No. No problem, unless you count me forgetting to open the top of the truck as a problem.”

I wish Olympia Report had comments, I would comment there.

And I didn’t notice it. Before he quit his race for city council, there was tons of writing from John G. and even a resume. Oh well. From what I can tell, he only blogged about the Olympia City Council once, and not even directly.