I just received a contribution request from the Victory Fund, which is an LGBT organization that "provides strategic, technical and financial support to openly LGBT candidates and officials. It is the only national organization committed to increasing the number of openly LGBT public officials at all levels of government."
While this seems like a good mission to me (though I have never heard of them previously), I wonder if they support candidates simply based on the candidate's sexual orientation, or if there is a political agenda they require? Funding somebody only because they are gay seems a bit short-sighted, especially given the complexities in elected office.
I did notice they expect a candidate to:
- Be openly gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender;
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Demonstrate electoral viability;
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Publicly endorse federal Gay/Lesbian Civil Rights Legislation, and similar state and local anti-discrimination laws or legislation;
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Advocate aggressive public policies and positions relevant to HIV/AIDS research, education and treatment; gay and lesbian health and wellness; and women's reproductive freedom.
These are all issues that are very complex and can be understood on many different levels by those of us who are gay or straight. I am not sure there is a single "party line" (as if there is a party) on any of these, so I am still not sure what criteria they are using. Regardless of these issues and where one falls on them, I am not sure what "women's reproductive freedom" has to do with these gay-focused issues. Perhaps there is a larger agenda? After all, the donation request I received was from Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
I wonder if this insistence on advocating a set agenda is any different on the politically left than it is on the politically right? As I try to do for my own piece of mind and my own attempt at critical thinking, should playing the advocātus diabolī be any different here?
So, it seems there is a lot of discussion about Twitter. I blogged about it a few days ago, and even mused about John Edwards who appears to be using it. Beth Kanter, one of my favorite bloggers within the education and training spaces, summarized it nicely yesterday, especially in light of all the Twitter chat that seems to be spinning around SXSW (which I am missing having to, yes, work).
While I have not yet been daring enough to try Twitter on my cell due to my 1000 texts/month and how not everybody has the energy and unlimited tech budget of Robert Scoble (another of my favorites to read!), I am still intrigued by this application. Somehow, I like knowing, a la 6 Degrees, that even now as I write this after midnight in NYC with a list of to-dos still clogging my Outlook, I can look at Twitter and see what Beth or Nancy or Betsy or Robin or Kristie or Lee have been up to, all without their knowing I am thinking about them now. This is not at all lonely; rather, I find it rather empowering to know that I am closer than ever to colleagues around the world in real-time without disturbing or interrupting their own loves. What a way to give voice to one another.
By the way, I just noticed the nifty RSS feed on the Twitter blog (and found Cole's blog in the process). No end to the discoveries, which is good for those of us who are restless . . .
Anybody see this article about the 'Naked ambassador' recalled on the BBC? Poor Israeli envoy in bondage gear, complete with the rubber ball in his mouth. I am not sure what this may say about him, life in El Salvador, the Israeli foreign service, or the price of tea in China, but I found it rather interesting for a Monday morning story.
Of course, with the Israeli President Katzav also having some questionable moral issues, I wonder if and when the conservative religious backlash against anything other than marriage with children will hit.
There, I said it. Vagina.
Did anybody see the interesting article in today's New York Times about three female high school students who were suspended for saying the word Vagina? I did not know this word was so bad or demeaning or cause of the corruption of youth, nor did I know that the book it was taken from, The Vagina Monologues
by Eve Ensler, was so controversial that a single word in it should be censored. As an educator, I bristle when learning is closed in the very place it should be safe to be explored.
No, I never read the book. As a gay male, the topic of a vagina does not ordinarily arise in my conversations, but I hate censorship. I hate being told what I can and cannot say. I hate when my voice is silenced, and whatever the three girls did or did not do, I have great trouble seeing how this will somehow make for a better world. Censorship closes minds because it means that some things cannot be discussed or even considered. I wonder who or what feels so threatened that this was worthy of suspension? At least it reminds us the world is not as open as we may wish or suppose.
It seems John Edwards is on Twitter as, you guessed it, johnedwards. I sent a direct Twitter message to this account, and received this direct message email back:
Yes this is his. So it is official. Staff will monitor the updates and pass along, but he and his traveling aide will update.
John Edwards
If this is really John Edwards, then I am impressed that current social media is being used well. I passed this to a colleague at Personal Democracy Forum as I thought it was interesting.
However, I am a suspicious fellow. How can I be sure this really is a John Edwards' account? How can I be sure this is not somebody posing as him to potentially stir up trouble? I have used Twitter over the past week and like it, but I am not sure how to authenticate any of the people who are there. I could have opened an account using another person's picture and website, so how can I be sure this is true? While perhaps this is not the biggest issue in the world in this case, I think it has large implications for unsavory people who may want to pose as others to intentionally cause deceit.
How can we know the id of those behind social media unless we meet at meetups? The ability to confirm identities is now a topic of conversation, but there is nothing quite in place yet. With the presidential primaries already heating up, who knows what may develop with them? Perhaps to confirm identities we all have to list our own user names on our own websites? John Edwards did not do that with Twitter on his Social Networking page, so again I ask, how do we know?
I started using Twitter, and find it full of possibilities. This is a social media community site where the simple question: "What are you doing?" is given 160 characters (get it? 160 is the texting limit) that in turn sends the comment to anybody entered as a "friend" or "follower." Claimed as a time-waster by some, I have not decided yet, but am intrigued with the idea. BTW, direct texts can be sent to "friends" using the site as well. I have this listed on my site as well to try it out.
I wonder what this may mean for access to information. Isn't knowledge power?
It is lightly snowing in New York City this morning, so I took a few shots with my Palm to share.
Remember this commercial for the former Volkswagen's Cabrio? I was always touched by the song, and just learned tonight that the artist, Nick Drake, committed suicide shortly after he released the album with this song, Pink Moon. Click it to go to the YouTube video.
Ever see the lyrics? They are:
I saw it written and I saw it say
Pink moon is on its way
And none of you stand so tall
Pink moon gonna get you all
Its a pink moon
Its a pink, pink, pink, pink, pink moon.
Quite pretty until I learned they were about a nuclear mushroom cloud. After the recent storyline in 24, this is not so distant anymore.
I have been thinking more and more about the work of our committee, and am wondering if definition of a Scholar-Practitioner from the pending committee charter shouldn't be agreed upon and posted to the main website ASAP. I think this will help us further determine the need for and work of our subcommittees for the coming year, as well as help guide potential researchers with S-P work for this year's research proposal submissions for the 2008 conference.
This may not be a bad idea for all the AHRD committees, as it will help all the committees, members, and potential members know more about what is happening within the organization. Though we as an organization and a field cannot even agree on a definition of HRD, I applaud AHRD for publishing (both to the membership and to the website) the AHRD Newsletter right there on the homepage. Nice communication work there!
Next step, interactivity among the membership and committees throughout the year using blogs, wikis, Moodle, Skype, etc. Nothing like proposing and supporting democratic involvement without having the only collaborative business done at the meeting during the annual conference!
