Cross-posted from tech.transparency-initiative.org. Successful advocacy takes different kinds of work: persuasive policy analysis, clear communication and savvy use of communications channels—from the press to the web to one-on-one meetings—among many others. Persuasion is as old as conversation, but even though languages and tools change, the rules have hardly changed at all. In policy advocacy as in any purposeful communicating, getting the job done requires that you know your audience, know your goals, and know how to tell a good story. Even if you're telling it in 140 characters on Twitter. Later this month, on September 25, we’ll be hosting a webinar discussion on seamlessly linking digital communications and traditional communications for better planning and more effective outreach. Topics will include choosing tools that suit your audience’s online habits; using different media to deliver the same message; improving your impact by measuring results; and unifying online and offline messages across a…
If you start from the premise that everything has been worse since the 9/11 attacks, then the shootings by the Empire State Building last week look especially sad. It begins a year ago with a guy getting fired, which I suppose happens all the time even in a good economy, but has been much more frequent since 2008. Then you have a gun, purchased legally in Florida but not registered in New York State. An angry, troubled man gets it in his head to go kill his old office mate. Again, hardly specific to our city or century. But then it gets worse. In the heart of midtown at rush hour, the shooter draws on the police. Two cops open fire and in an instant nine innocent bystanders are hurt by the gunfire, though none critically. It's hard to believe that's how it's supposed to go in police training. They…
These are the headlines on CNN.com as of pre-dawn today. I don't see how I even need to editorialize to convey the problem.I've bolded the items that seem newsier.3 killed in shootings near Texas A&MSystem fails to spot man on JFK runwayZimmerman team wants judge removedPolice: Girlfriend locked away for yearsChina's 'most wanted' man killedPolice: Thai pol kills ex-wife with UziWildfire threatens 100 Wash. homesTeacher on FBI child porn list 17-foot python found in Florida'Weirdest thing' floats in South PacificMars 'Mohawk Guy' inspires ObamaPolice: Bride stabs groom in heart HLNIslamic group poised to suspend Syria'Imperial' Egypt leader or step forward?A Saudi city exclusively for women Neo-Nazis flash mobs raid Germany 'Onion Field' killer dies in prisonWhy Brangelina buck tradition Facebook helps free jailed brothers Pit bull adopts goat as puppy YouTube escapes Google crackdownScanners tracking your car? TimeRed Sox legend Pesky diesTricky post-Olympics for U.S. hoopsGreatest Olympian of 21st century?VH1…
If someone who can do this ...... and this ...... exists in the world, then the possibility of divine grace seems a little higher to me.Franklin, Racing Between Races, Squeezes In Gold
Imagine someone saying something in a personal conversation about America's "Anglo-Saxon heritage." Would it be a person you wanted to hang out with? Would it be a person you wanted running anything? A school? A prison? The country?It's at moments like this that I find myself thinking about Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.From Think Progress via Jacob Clifton:Romney Adviser Says Obama Doesn't 'Fully Appreciate' Our 'Anglo-Saxon Heritage'"By Judd Legum An adviser to Mitt Romney told a London paper that Obama has not been an effective partner for Britain because he doesn't "fully appreciate" America's "Anglo-Saxon heritage." The racially tinged comments come hours before Romney lands in London for a series of high level meetings and the opening of the Olympic Games.Jon Swaine of the Daily Telegraph has the story:In remarks that may prompt accusations of racial insensitivity, one suggested that Mr Romney was better placed to understand the depth of ties between…