The Dreaded Site Meta #4
This is yet another in a continuing series of Meta Posts aimed at fostering a happy, healthy community here at c99.
If you're new to the site, please see the previous episodes to help orient yourself to our community:
There are a couple of things that have come up lately that we'd like to focus on in this essay.
First to get ourselves into the correct framework, here's a concept we'd like folks to keep in mind from Dreaded Site Meta #2:
This site is a non-partisan site. It does not endorse any candidate. This site is issues-oriented and is about the interests of the 99%.
There are people here who support a number of different candidates and there are even some who think that participation in the elections is a total waste of time and effort. Those views are all welcome here.
We have a diversity of opinion and we like it that way. What we are working toward is agreement and action on the 99%'s agenda - not which candidate wins the swimsuit competition. ...
Meanwhile, informed, polite discussion of candidates and issues is welcome here.
Advocacy for candidates is fine, too, with a caveat.
The caveat is that advocacy of candidates cannot be couched so as to state or even appear that it is the site's policy or purpose.
Despite the fact that many people here are focused on the Great Electoral Spectacle of the 1%, this site is not (as some other sites familiar to many here are) primarily a site about elections, promoting the fortunes of the corporate parties of the 1% or their candidates.
The community that initially formed around this site (which, in its current incarnation was breathed into existence by the copious technical skills of JtC /hat tip) has been around for quite a while. Many of the original community were involved with Occupy Wall Street, the anti-war movement and a variety of left causes. Most of us identify with our left/liberal/progressive ideas much more than any party affiliation.
We are reviewing this information because lately we've seen people (both on this site and elsewhere) go to some effort to identify the site inappropriately as a "Bernie site," or an "anti-Hillary" site.
So let us put it in large, friendly letters for people both on and off this site to see and appreciate:
This is a site for the 99%.
We are for the 99%, not any candidate or party.
Because of our orientation, as a practical matter, discussions here will tend to stray far out of the bounds of the rules imposed on partisan blogs. Many people here reject corporate-dominated, corrupt party structures and candidates as an impediment to the interests of the 99%. Partisans may feel uncomfortable with that, but they are welcome here nonetheless provided that they, like everyone else here maintains a civil and polite respect when engaging others on this site.
Now that we've got that out of the way, on to blog wars...
We understand that a lot of people have made their way here from another site and many of those folks feel attachments to that place (whether positive or negative) and seem to want to talk about it and the site's owner.
We'd really like it if folks would please come to a bit of perspective on that site and its owner.
While that site's propaganda naturally tends to toot its own horn about its importance in the political universe as does its owner, in real life, its impact on the public mind is vanishingly small. Large numbers of average Americans and people who pay attention to American politics outside of the US do not, in fact, hang on every word of the site's owner, nor of those who post there.
When was the last time you walked into your local grocery store and found people avidly discussing the content of commentary posted either by that site's owner or by anyone else on that site in the checkout line?
Breathlessly posting about what is going on there assigns significance to the material there that it does not deserve. Furthermore, it tends to signal to people from outside of the community that your focus is on something other than issues:
There really are more important things going on in the world worth paying attention to.
Comments
At some point it's much healthier to stop cruising the
neighborhood of your ex and to move on with an exless life. If you're in exile, whether it's self-created or imposed, start trying to enjoy life on Elba without constantly thinking of what you left behind in France, that's my advice.
I'm loving the smaller, more intimate, nicer world.
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
I laughed out loud,
literally. You have such a great way with words, Phoebe. I am glad that you are here and writing on this site. Well done!
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Gulfgal, your long ago invite to me to check out this site
is why I'm here now. You issued the invitation when the storm clouds of intolerance were only wisps on the horizon elsewhere, but I always felt really good knowing that there was a place with people keeping the light on for wanderers from the status quo - caucus99%, the new Motel Six of the Internet!
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
Thank you for remembering
I always admired your writing and was hopeful you would join us one day. You were one of less than a handful (as less than five) of people I personally invited to join us. Glad you have found a home here.
LOL, we'll keep the light on!
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
morning phoebe...
i couldn't agree more, sometimes happiness requires not standing around torturing yourself over the loss of something you once had.
Too true
I kinda came to this realization today. I need to just walk away from that place, even if I will miss some aspects of it. It's just become way too toxic.
" "I chose to change facts, reality, and the meaning of words, in order to make a much larger point." -
Paul RyanJohn Oliver "My once a week visits
remind me of why I left, when I start getting tempted to mourn "the good old days". Like with the local fishwrap, I'm just there to read the comics.
Ha ha! The comics can be pretty good. There and elsewhere
on the Big Wide Web.
Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.
Exactly!!! I totally agree and thanks for the giggle. nt :)
"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison
Role Reversal: "Able was I ere I saw Elba"
If you're in exile, whether it's self-created or imposed, start trying to enjoy life on Elba without constantly thinking of what you left behind in France, that's my advice.
If caucus99percent continues to grow, DK will become Elba.
A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma
Your Kos/Napoleon image is brilliant!
Honestly, I am in awe.
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
Pan to the fire
And hope you don't end up on St. Helena.
Hey, thre's some fine wine in St. Helena.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Thanks Joe!
FWIW, I actually enjoy reading these "dreaded meta" posts.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
morning gg...
thanks!
Morning joe. That seems odd; usually it's, "Evening joe" :=)
Thank you for this timely meta. No idea why it is supposedly "dreaded" when it's always so polite and friendly. You'da made a great Canuck :=)
(By now, I would have put in some code thingy that gave people an electric shock when they mention top. Ah, ptsd...)
About those famous issues...
My 99% issue is resilience and I'm happily discussing that here on c99.
But what on earth are these famous issues?
Resilience apart, I think I see three so far:
Those seem highly pertinent issues to the 99% What else?
In personal resilience, I discuss ancient philosophies as they relate to consciousness, worldviews, morality, and mental strength. I hope those are relevant issues to the 99%
In response to JtC's issues post, I wrote an essay to demonstrate how I reason from first principles to define resilience as the biggest 99% issue. A few dear friends in the choir dropped by to chat, which was lovely. No one else was interested. That's fine, I write first to help me think and to share that process with folks interested in similar things.
But there has been little follow-up by anyone else to JtC's gentle prod of c99ers towards the famous undefined issues. Johnny and the Mods (new band, you'd like them) are not defining the issues for they want them to bubble up from the community.
Could folks be a bit more intentional about what these famous issues are? What do you think are the the top five issues of the 99%?
All right, I've cooled down, back outside :=) Friggin heat this early already. My seedlings are catching up though. Working in a load of soil and manure into the beds for them. And putting up the snow fence around the garden plots to keep out the dog! I'm growing roses though to fence the plots :=)
Enjoy your day, folks,
Resilience: practical action to improve things we can control.
3D+: developing language for postmodern spirituality.
morning gerrit...
gah, i hope to never be morning joe.
and believe me, more than once in my life i have wanted to be a canuck. if the canuckistan wants me, i'm available.
so onward to your main question.
there are a three broad categories of issues that are atop my (personal) list of things that are interests of the 99% - environment, economics and anti-war/anti-imperialism.
i try to cover all of those categories in the evening blues and besides the folks whose writings you have mentioned there are others like gjohnsit who covers economic issues frequently (along with other interests) cassiodorus, who frequently covers environmental and resilience issues (among other interests). big al is probably our most prolific anti-war/anti-imperialism writer along with gulfgal. there are lots of other folks who have contributed interesting material and with any luck once the election brewhaha subsides, we can get back to it.
That's right. BTW, could you mods put up a list of "existing
issue topics & authors under discussion presently," for folks, especially new folks, to check on entry somewhere? Always available for reference.
It would also help focus attention...
Anyway, somehow we forgot this:
Why is that not on the main page? :=)
See you this evening, joe! C99 is the closest approximation of Canuckistan for the moment, eh :=)
Resilience: practical action to improve things we can control.
3D+: developing language for postmodern spirituality.
You left out Labor. JayRaye has an excellent series on that.
There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties.. This...is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.--John Adams
What else?
Antiwar/Anti-imperialism, Peace, Democracy. I think a lot of people just see those diaries and their eyes gloss over.
Morning Al. Mine don't :=) Those are crucial 99% topics.
Resilience: practical action to improve things we can control.
3D+: developing language for postmodern spirituality.
Some proposals for top five
apart from Resilience, which is great:
Information access (education; internet freedom; public records)
Global warming
Health care access
The horsemen of the econopocalypse: Privatization, financialization, global-corporate control of the means of production, offshoring
Reclaiming culture, response to the current systematic RW approach to culture warfare as described in the infamous Powell Memo (http://reclaimdemocracy.org/powell_memo_lewis/) and "Seven Mountains" theology. (e.g., see http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/seven-mountains-dominionism-north-...)
Refugee crisis --- a gobal issue
Analysis of power relationships: for example, who are the people whose decisions really could change the game, what is their world like to them, what are their motives, what would persuade them or failing that, force their hand? Can power be mapped?
Conceptual retooling: for example, in economics is there a more useful way of defining productivity?
New communication tactics: because traditional protest methods aren't doing it
Across boundaries: how to build non-traditional partnerships, including across national and language boundaries, and with all ages and different social classes
OK, that's a bit disorganized and more than five notions.
Please be patient with others reading your work. it's very good. Luckily the rest of us can catch up with you later.
Edit: How to fuckchrissake End War. How could we skip that one?
Euterpe2
good list
I'd add,
race relations
alliances among activist groups
inspection of the 1% and what they're up to
also, speaking editorially, there has to be some effort to find, or come up with, terms that make our issues seem less tedious. For an outside audience, there is a need for what I think of as hand grips, something to hold on to while the concepts are filtering in.
For me, for example, any mention of FDR raises my attention level hugely. My family benefitted dramatically from his reforms and programs, it's HUMAN to me. I have very little ability to understand economic/financial issues, but if it's connected to what happened before, I can get a better grip on it. We aren't in a vaccuum here, this has all happened before.
And that reminds me of another general area of concern
Carceral society: prison and its offshoots, other custodial institutions, culture of mass surveillance, school-to-prison pipeline, police militarization/brutality, civil forfeiture, etc. etc. etc.
Euterpe2
I actually plan on writing on that subject from a LEO's POV.
more in the future.
I wrote one on TOP about my views on policing from a progressive retired peace officers perspective, maybe I will republish it over here as well after some editing.
You would be surprised how many in the LE community support progressive policies, particularly when it comes to the war on drugs, but cannot speak out because it would be tantamount to career suicide at this point. (I am a speaker for LEAP so I plan on writing an Essay on that subject in the near future as well.)
There are so many subjects we need to tackle, but this is a great place to do it due to the diverse points of view as well as the generally respectful and tolerant membership we have.
The more perspectives we have on a subject the better informed our decisions will end up being.
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
Please do!
And BTW another category to think about:
Psychology/philosophy
Gerrit among others has made a terrific start.
This category overlaps with what you're talking about too...for example, what we can learn from the famous Stanford Prison Experiment and Milgram Experiment...their fuller significance...and how it might be applied. One slightly more hopeful take:
http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/the-real-lesson-of-the-...
I read elsewhere that Philip Zimbardo, the creator of the prison experiment, got so entrained in it himself, that a colleague had to shake him awake, metaphorically, and persuade him to blow the whistle on it early.
And all these issues overlap. Seems like that's part of the challenge we have, to sort out the places where finite leverage on the system can influence the totality, instead of the totality acting as immoveable object to damp down all change, as so often we seem to see.
Euterpe2
Cartoonist Scott Adams on Bill Maher's show claimed to be
an expert on persuasion. This is a topic we need to know more about. He says Trump is the best at it and it might very well cause him to win the election (please no). If we can figure out how best to persuade, we may be able to support the next successful-out-of-nowhere politician. It's a fascinating subtopic of psychology.
Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.
Yes! And another aspect is how people come to change their minds
or don't. Reading a book about thi just now.
Euterpe2
I watched that episode, he really did seem to know what he was
talking about.
I wanted to disagree with him badly too, but his arguments and position were pretty unassailable.
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
We could use some of this today.
That's FDR having the CEO of Mntgomery Wards hauled right out of his office.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Women's issues. More seriously than worrying about the
glass ceiling at the WH, native women are disappearing in Canada and women are still undergoing surgeries against their will in Africa and, believe it or not, women have been jailed in the good ole USA for miscarriages. It still ain't over, unfortunately.
Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.
I agree
that this is a very good list. Good job Euterpe2. I especially am interested in information access. A Commons of information, so to speak. With an eye towards making sure said information is good, high quality, as reliable-as-possible information.
Thanks,
I put info first because without it, we're nowhere. Should have mentioned public libraries too.
Euterpe2
Yes to information, yesyes to free information
We have seen how MSM is now controlling the narrative on newspapers and TV, for a price. Price not-information beyond the abilities of those who need it and want it most. I suspect that there are more people hungry for knowledge, for entirely selfish (no problem) reasons. But that is becoming more buried all the time.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
great list!!!
Sustainability. It's more than just grocery shopping or buying local. It's about how to change things in your own home/area that will improve the world for others.
I have taken on recycling issues at my new job. It's 2016 and so many don't know how to recycle and even though we have signs up... I am now picking out soda cans from the garbage.. ARGH..
I take the stuff that isn't curbside recycling and I take it to the metro recycling center. Like plastic wrap which is a huge part of our "garbage" and styrofoam. It's a small amount but at the end of the month it's quite noticeable. Yes it's more work for me but it's less of an impact on my planet.
"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison
Under Resilience, the bones of the earth seem unstable lately
along with, or maybe because of climate change (ice melting, weight shifting?). There's an article on Zerohedge now about the Cascadia Subduction Zone. It's apparently much more dangerous than the San Andreas fault, and showing worrisome signs - clusters of earthquakes under three local volcanoes, just as were seen before Mt St Helens erupted. The whole of the Pacific Ring of Fire has been unusually active lately. Iceland's big volcanoe is threatening again, too.
Plus the Yellowstone mega-volcano has been odd
Scary stuff. And of course, there are the Oklahoma quakes. Maybe even the center of the continent isn't quite as stable as we thought?
Okalhoma quakes tied to oil and gas drilling
Mostly deep wastewater disposal injection wells:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/wastewater-injection-caused-ok...
https://news.stanford.edu/2015/06/18/okla-quake-drilling-061815/
"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott
Yes, you're right, but there are apparently also underlying
issues there, which make the fracking wastewater injection quakes more alarming. 1) There's the New Madrid fault nearby, movement on which changed the course of the Mississippi in Mark Twain's time IIRC. A really big deal. 2) There was also a report recently that some geologists think that parts of the base rock in the interior of our country may be dropping out deep down. I'm afraid I don't really understand that, or remember the link. Scary stuff, anyway. Even worse consequences of the fracking wastewater injection might be possible.
No Gerrit, you're wrong.
The Resilience thread is important, interesting, useful, valuable, and a treasure trove to be mined on a continuing basis. I go back to old posts frequently and hope to continue to do so. I am so happy that there is a connected library. In short, I just love it. If I don't comment often it's because I am not as prolific as you all here. Please don't underestimate it based on response.
Same here! (n/t)
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
TY rand, as always :=) Which reminds me. Gawd, there I go
again :=) I should work on a more systematic index of resilience posts: something that groups them into logical "issues" maybe. Where's that logical brain of AB? :=) Thanks, mate, it is always profitable to talk with you.
Resilience: practical action to improve things we can control.
3D+: developing language for postmodern spirituality.
Just to clarify
Gerrit, I didn't mean this as criticism, but as appreciation for that thread and all your work. Just didn't want you to misunderstand.
I too love the resilience section, its my favorite thing here!
Although I tend to get fired up and talk more about the primary election train wreck - I spend time on the resilience posts watching/reading and then actually take action in my life - which I think makes it far more important in the big picture than the election drama of the moment.
Just wanted to add my two cents to thank Gerrit and crew for those posts!
Another nudge to Big Picture, thanks.
I was just thinking of the stress and upset now and thought 'in four more years, here we go again'. Not worth the effort and angst. It all ends up closer. So little that we can control.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
I think we all are going to find the Resilience series
is going to be very valuable to each of us in our own way in the next few years.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
I'd like to say thanks for the wonderful support you've always
been to the resilience group. GG, it means a lot coming from you. Enjoy your day, my friend,
Resilience: practical action to improve things we can control.
3D+: developing language for postmodern spirituality.
I enjoy the meta posts too, but now, as I am
a "guilty as accused one" with my previous "kos said this shit" diary, which exploded somehow, I ask myself how do I get over this "guilt" feeling which I have now.
WTF can I write about, as everything I want to read and learn and could may be write about, you guys already know. So, I don't feel to write up something I have read through a book, because I have the nagging feeling that if I tried, all it would mean I get some polite remarks, with ... hmmm....some sort of silent thinking of "we knew that already".
It's easy to say we should stop cruising in our "ex" neighborhood, as Phoebe Loosinhouse said above. Easier said than done, for those who had to do it. What if your ex neighborhood is your Elba island?
There is clearly a strong addiction component to blogging and reading online. It felt so good when I was for four days on the Nader conference. Got a bunch of books too, all good to read. And they are not in boxes yet like all my other packed-up stuff. And here I am looking at the stack of books and write this darn comment here and read some essays, that I actually shouldn't care less about. And still I read and write here.
Ok. It's a struggle. I just wonder how exploitable we all get or are.
morning mimi...
i have an idea for you.
very few of us had the sort of time to put into checking out that conference and i'm certain that there was a wealth of great information/opinion/discussion there.
how about a series of articles based upon the speakers that you learned the most from?
if that's the sort of thing that you think you could write about, that would be a great service to the community.
yeah, I would love to do that, but someone has to teach
me how I can use the videos of the live streams (not complete even) to cut out each speaker or panel session as a separate video. I need to learn of how to make 10 video clips of one long one. And of course, I need four times as much time to write up something as "normal native English speakers" would need. (There is a statistic somewhere that proves that non native English speakers still read at a speech 30 percent slowlier than the rest of the bunch). And I should read all the books I got myself from some of the speakers!!!
Techie alert!!! One of you clever blokes and ladies please step
up to offer mimi help.
We need to help all our members with the writing tools and skills they need. Which reminds me :=)
We need a writers forum something thingy.
A place where folks who want to write for c99 could get some help with their obstacle-removal.
Dog knows, you're gonna learn to hate the G-man and his never-ending, "Which reminds me."
Some please help mimi!
Resilience: practical action to improve things we can control.
3D+: developing language for postmodern spirituality.
heh...
your first challenge is to get the video on your machine. if you're not a member of the real news, you can't download video directly from their site. you could use a program that grabs video from youtube, though. (you can get it here).
then, if you want to make clips, you can use imovie (comes bundled with macs) or windows movie maker (you may have to download it from microsoft, but it's free if you have one of their operating systems).
When I wanted to imbed a Real News clip
I look on Youtube. Most of the time they are posted there.
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
movie editing
And if you're running an open-source operating system like BSD or Linux, the program you want is called Blender.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
oh, thanks, one of the projects I had in mind
is getting myself a machine running Linux again (going back to what I had 1996) and I never so far took it on seriously, as I assumed there is no good video editing software out that runs on Linux.
I am getting a little shaky here ... I have to make myself a note of all that. Blender. ok, I won't forget that. Thank you, much appreciated.
There is also a plugin for Chrome called Video Downloader Pro
that works well for grabbing most video that isn't behind a pay wall. (It is hit or miss on those.)
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
Video Downloader Pro for Firefox
It's available for Firefox, too. Details here.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Mimi, that is no simple task...
the only video site that I know of that allows you to make clips of longer sessions is Cspan. They have directions there in how to do it and chances are that the videos you are looking for are already there.
Now as far as editing a video from other sources like youtube there's several steps involved. To shorten a youtube video you would first have to download the video onto your hard drive, there are programs out there that allow you to do this. You would then need to import the downloaded video into a video editing program where you can clip the parts that you want. After clipping and saving the video you'll then need to upload it to another video hosting site, let's assume youtube again. Then you will have the shortened video that you can link to anytime and anywhere.
That's a lot of work, no? And you also may run into copyright issues downloading and editing someone else's video. The easiest and best way to remedy what you want to do is just post the full video and note to the readers the exact time in the video that you want to highlight.
also...
if you want to embed a youtube video and have it start and end in certain parts you can manipulate the embed code.
at the end of the video's url in the code you will see, ?rel=0"
let's say the section of the video you want to show is from 2 minutes and 25 seconds to 4 minutes and 20 seconds.
first you have to convert to seconds so, the start point is 145 seconds and the end point is 265 seconds.
then you insert into the code (between the 0 and the ") this:
?rel=0&start=145&end=265"
wow, you are an angel, that is too good to be true
with regards to being a helpful comment. Thanks, Joe. I will try that. Just gimme time.
hmm, so far I haven't gotten it to work
just saying, I am trying, but it looks as if I can just set the starting point but not the end point.
Don't want to disappoint, but that needs more time. I think JtC was right. We will see.
yes, I could do that, if I know how to get
a you tube video downloaded to my hard drive, or if I had it with the right specs. And I was not sure if I am allowed to download from The Real News site directly. Joe mentioned I have to be a member. I donate to them, but have to check if that made me a member.
Once I have it, I can edit it. It's a long time ago, I used my video editing software on my computer or at work, and I was going to get back to that here in my neighborhood community TV studio, but then it fell apart last year through personal things out of my control. They also worked all with a Mac and I don't want to get into that. I think I have all I need for it on my PC (it's actually software that is really professional one, but I have lost contact to anyone, who just could give me a quick tip when I get stuck (the way I had it when I was still working). I tried to do some video editing work in their studio and dealing with both systems and transferring from the MAC to the PC was a hassle and I couldn't figure it out. The Mac users also didn't know how to work with their video editing software they had on their Mac on a PC. I want to be able to use my own PC for editing and not having to go to their studio and having to use the MAC.
I was afraid to violate CC rights too, either downloading from YouTube or the Real News Network..
No, it's not a lot of work, at least I don't consider it as such, because originally I was set to work on it after retirement. It just fell apart, or let's say I fell apart. I f I could overcome this whole thing, it actually would me make feel good.
I have to put myself together again. Thanks JtC.
PS: I remember the C-SPAN site and remember you could clip from their site. I haven't checked if this conference was taken up by C-SPAN though. I doubt it.
Before you go to all that work, search YouTube for the same
video. I often find videos of different lengths there, because others have already clipped and posted multiple times. So you might find someone else liked the same clip you wanted to use.
Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.
Oh, BTW, a subject I would love to be written about is
"international comparative constitutional law" and " international comparative electoral law". Since I "read Armando and Adam B", I wanted so much to be a lawyer guy, I couldn't believe it. And Obama is a constitutional lawyer and imo has violated some of them quite a bit. But it's such a difficult subject. I hope somehow to come up with ways to go back to school. Some offer lower tuition or free tuition for seniors. And all I know is that it will have to do with some frigging laws.
I second that.
I would love to hear all about the Nader conference. I meant to go back to that post but got busy. I will do it though because it was very interesting.
Hi mimi, I second joe's idea. I'd read such posts for sure :=)
And not to worry, it's a process for some to wean themselves off of top. Some of us are cold turkey people and some aren't. Having a general list of c99 issues will help with letting go of that abusive site. Try to see it as an abuser; it will help you clear your mind about top. For it is an abusive place. Leaving an abusive place is just as hard as leaving an abusive person.
Tell us all about the Nader conference, my friend; we're all ears and eyes :=) Enjoy your day, eh,
Resilience: practical action to improve things we can control.
3D+: developing language for postmodern spirituality.
Hey
Don't beat yourself up over it. Don't worry, be happy!
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-diB65scQU width:550 height:400]
"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott
Mimi, don't feel guilty.....and
quit beating yourself up. I post very few essays. Like you, I don't feel I have much to say that people don't already know or would care about. But I enjoy the heck out of the essays of others, and I relax in the pleasant atmosphere. We are among friends. Do what you are comfortable doing. You are not the ONLY one having a hard time cutting the strings to dailykos and deconditioning from its rules.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Heh
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
the best thingy on C99p is that you get always,
and I mean, really, always, one of the best musical answers to anything you just have tried to utter in a comment. Thank you NCTim, aside from Joe, you are my musical hero magician (with a bunch of substitute magicians as well) . Whatever it is, it's the right piece at the right moment.
I love you guys for that the most. And then of course I love all those real good news collections. Sigh, I am so much in love these days, that's outright scary in my age.
Please don't feel guilty. I don't think that was the intent.
The tendency to refer to TOP will go away gradually, I'm sure. Keeping it in perspective is the important point, I think.
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Some people say things here that they cannot say there.
You are correct that the impact of that site is much smaller than people sometimes think; however, it is far greater than this site's readership and influence. It's all relative, I suppose.
That is the problem for writers. I can reach 1000 people or more on Daily Kos. 100 or 200 here.
I choose to be here for now.
I think blogs are losing influence as new generations get involved.
I find this better than Daily Kos for now. But if people limit what topics I can write about, through subtle pressure or otherwise, as this post seems to do, there are other places under the sun.
morning tom...
while this site's membership/readership is at this time smaller than the other place, that is not a thing that is guaranteed to remain so.
a major point of this post is to gently nudge people away from behaviors that will tend to limit the growth of this site.
an obsessive focus on some other site is the sort of thing that puts off casual observers without a dog in the fight.
ultimately, our aim as a site is to draw in people who have never participated on that other site and may not even know it exists.
we think that being a site devoted to the democratic party, when the democratic party is just another corrupt institution of the 1% is a losing proposition when trying to organize among the 99%.
yes, you can go over to daily kos and reach 1,000 people. if those are the kind of people who share your issues and will mobilize with you to make change, great!
i can write here and reach a lot of people whose interests are aligned with mine. as we move along we will develop the site and grow the constituency for our issues.
so yeah, it's a big internet.
peace.
I'm cool with what you said.
I'm ok with nudges.
There is an influx of people here who may not share the ideology(s) of the founders, at least not completely. It will be interesting to see how they integrate. Kos's big error was to abandon to some degree his relative freedom there for opposing opinions. The "community" there was an illusion. To some degree many here faced that earlier, in 2012 when Obama orthodoxy was imposed. Where the line is drawn is always difficult. For now, this place has much more freedom to speak a variety of ideas.
It also lacks a cult of personality. JtC does not preen for the crowd.
I think it has a lot of potential.
Many new members come here deeply hurt and vent.
I understand your point. Fixating on Kos is a death spiral. There was that blog a few years ago -- the damned or something who had been banned here. They followed dkos obsessively. That direction is error and I agree on that with you.
I go by dkos in the morning and recommend BNR. I'm going to try to just go directly to the BNR page of LP. I see the rec list trying to find it and see the title of Kos's daily screed.
I apologize that my comment was a bit harsh. I;'m just more alert to pressure than I sued to be. I'm sure you just wanted to nudge folks off of self-defeating conduct.
I think that in a few years, Dkos may be like My Space. But whether it is or not does not matter that much.
I wonder about blogs, though. We'll see what happens.
Take care and solidarity.
Hi Tom!
I would just like to add one thing. Those of us who were here for over a year before this place took off were often frustrated that the number of contributing members was so low. I and several others have been writing morning Open Thread essays during that entire time with very little audience participation. But we plugged away at it and we now have developed a robust community of quality contributors in what I consider a relatively short time. Hang in there.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
I don't see this essay
as trying to limit discussion -- but rather to expand it; looking at the Big Picture of getting by in this world rather than a narrow focus on a political race that for all intents and purposes will be over in November.
My main passion is public transportation -- I'm trying to figure out where it would fit on the site. Maybe multiple directions; as climate change becomes a critical issue, we need to get away from our dependence on the single-occupancy vehicle. It could even fall under the category of Resilience -- learning how to get from Point A to Point Z.
I know you're a gifted writer with an amazing brain -- still remember chatting with you in Chicago back in 2007. There must be topics other than politics that tickle your fancy enough to educate us on them.
Given the age demographic of daily kos, and my guess here,
I think blogs have passed their hay day. They may continue to be, but I'm not sure how interested in them the younger generation is.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Then where is the younger generation? Twitter is no place to
have a decent discussion. Or am I missing something?
Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.
Good question...
I have three grandsons ages 18 -21. Not a one of them reads or writes on a blog. It isn't that they aren't into politics or current events. The youngest barely uses social media at all. The middle one is on all of the platforms and is moving out of the country if Trump is elected. The oldest has a FB page that is personal and clean enough not to interfere with employment anywhere. He is moving to Europe. Maybe after one turns 40, blogging starts to appeal to them.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Interesting. I have joined Facebook and see its charms. But
much of the information passed along includes links to blog posts. So when I want to read more about it, I end back up at blogs.
I have included a few blog posts here on my own Facebook page, and they have been the most shared compared to blog posts from (cough) other sites that I might share! It bodes well for here, I think.
Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.
That is absolutely true....
But the interface is totally different. I've often wished I could drop a link into a blog and make a graphic and story instantly appear.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
I think that Daily Kos has become functionally obsolete
due to the fact that its stated mission is to "elect more and better Democrats". The Party has proven itself to be unworthy of such uncritical and unquestioning devotion and has been just as an effective deliverer of 99%-harming policies as its putative ideological opponant. So the core mission of DK is suspect. Plus it leads to every critical essay, diary or whatever being besieged with demands to show your Democratic "papers" and quizzes of "why are you here"? from the self-appointed enforcers and hall monitors. It's tedious and boring and stupid.
So at some point, any critical thinking reader/voter would observe to themselves "They're right. Why am I here?" and would have to seek out some greener pasture somewhere the thought police don't patrol.
I think some blogs are (rightly) losing influence and that other blogs will replace them. Blogs are wonderful places to congregate and share information and knowledge and even just random wool-gatherings.
If you as a writer are concerned about losing eyes and influence, then I think a worthwhile goal is to build this site as a place where unfettered, open communication and discourse will and does flourish. or any other site that you find to settle down in. I also don't see an attempt to corral thought although I do understand the owners concern about having the place stereo-typed as a Bernie site or a Daily Kos malcontent site. Politicians will come and go, but the issues and policies that affect the 99% will remain constant. I think it's natural in an election year that politics and personality will overtake policy but policy in the end will always prevail.
Putting that aside, I also enjoy reading and writing about books, media, pets, cooking, the weather, and lots of other stuff so a well-rounded site that creates community is always nice.
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
I don't know.
I think there is a split, but many people are staying there.
The software is good. Kos put money into it.
What will happen on TOP if/when Bernie endorses Hillary and unifies? I don't know.
I'm not worried about losing eyes. Just used it as an example.
I like being a commenter. So tired of being "TomP." I became trapped by the persona there.
DallasDoc does well and has fun mostly commenting.
When/if I have something to say, I'll do posts here.
I got back into the game on dkos to promote Bernie and raise money (and stand up to Kos because people needed that).
People would email me and thank me. But I never was any different than anyone there. For a few, I channeled their views, fought the fight. But it is a trap over time.
In comments, I can just "shoot the shit." My posts are persuasion, and I have no viewpoint I feel like fighting hard for now.
I'll probably follow Bernie and vote for Hillary, especially is she picks E Warren VP. But I don't see any point to persuade folks here one way or another.
Here's something I considered writing a post on:
http://www.salon.com/2016/05/31/i_am_not_cool_with_donald_trump_and_i_am...
Jill Stein:
A real discussion about her points is useful, but I'm not sure people are ready for it.
What is to be done, which way do we go?
I was with the Greens in 2000 and Dems since mid-2001.
This is so much bigger than Hillary.
What I don't understand is why the folks here who can't be Dems anymore are not promoting Greens? If I leave the Dems, I will do that.
Right now, however, I still walk the Democratic Party road.
I don't think people want that kind of post. Good and evil, simple distinctions rule. Kos understands blogging.
Most of my serious stuff never made the rec list on Daily Kos.
Some ramblings.
Take care.
Can I ask?
How do you know that "many people are staying there?"
I would assume many Hillary fans wouldn't want to be here, because she does get dumped on here (and rightly so, IMO), but for the few times I've looked, I don't see too many familiar names anymore (other than the attack dog pound), all I see are
sockpuppetsnew users. The "community" aspect appears to be on the wane...I see people in BNR say so.
Does not matter what I say. Readership data will tell.
I think it is unrealistic to think everyone will leave.
But I don't have a strong view on it.
I think Bernie has to finish playing out...
Once we the convention is done and if Bernie isn't the candidate or running third party, I think the conversation will move to Jill Stein.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
What people where "aren't ready" for a discussion about
the Greens and Jill Stein? I can't figure out who you could be referring to.
As to why the former and might be former Dems here collectively pushing or not pushing the Greens, I just think that is proof of lack of group think. I've seen plenty of people considering which would conceivably be a better protest vote, writing in Bernie or voting Green or sucking it up and voting Hillary in order to avoid Trump. This is very serious and personal deliberation, but at least no one is in anyone's face bellowing "Supreme Court" or "enjoy President Trump" or reading subsection 32b of the bylaws that says by even uttering the word "Greens" you are to be stripped of your citizenship and put on the next bus out of town.
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
It just surprises me that many talk about creating a third part
when there already is on.
Did you respond at all to what Stein said or did you respond to my earlier comments that you viewed as critical in some way of this blog's members?
That's my point.
Team sports wins everywhere.
See you later. Take care.
You included comments by Stein along with your own
observation that you didn't think people were ready for it and I responded very logically "which people weren't ready" since being ready for the discussion seemed to be your prerequisite to commence.
Then I said there wasn't a team here or exisiting group-think to which you responded that I was protecting the team! (which I already said didn't exist).
Good day to you sir! (Just kidding. There is absolutely no reason for you to take umbrage or to be defensive about anything I wrote in response to you and I don't take any offense at anything you've written in reply to me.)
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
heh...
i've been a green voter for years. if bernie fails, i will be happily voting for jill stein again.
i would consider forming a new party if that is what people are interested in doing. the green party does have some baggage and if a new party is what is wanted, i'm ok with that. what is important to me is that the party both promotes the issues of the 99% (which the green party does) and is a viable party with citizen energy powering it.
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