Cynicism is for cowards.

Someone I don’t even know very well recently challenged me to name three leaders who were true to “public service”, suggesting there weren’t any and that “those who might have the ability and resources to "change our world" put their professional and personal agendas before the need of those they might help, and therefore the world is screwed and there is no reason for anyone to think they can make a difference.” more

In December of 2007, I spent 10 days in Haiti. Most of my time was spent up in the Central Plateau in a town called Thomonde, near Hinche. I spent a day or two on either end in Port-Au-Prince. I was working on a solar power project with the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, which had paired each church in Diocese with a church in Haiti. more

Timeplots recently released its first project, A Visual History of the Supreme Court of the United States. Nicco asked me to say a few words about why I chose to do it. more

Last month's 350 day of action brought a lot of excitement and energy to the Climate movement (just check out Michael's recent post to get a sense of that energy), and showed us that young people continue to be a dominant force in the grassroots movement around climate policy. more

Cross-posted from Huffington Post.

I didn't even notice my heart pounding until after turning the corner from W 44th street onto Broadway. Displayed on four giant screens -- the hallmark of Times Square -- were the very photos we had just been sorting through and tagging in a dingy, overcrowded campaign office downtown not even an hour earlier. And now they were flashing before thousands of people in Times Square, while Jay-Z's new Empire State of Mind blanketed us in what seemed like a real-life music video.  more

I almost stopped myself from posting this. Because no one likes a cranky-pants. In this rapidly evolving field of online campaigning and "new media", we're quick to exalt and profile massively successful campaigns. When I train others on building effective online campaigns, I like to point to projects like Green my Apple, Invisible Children and Nothing But Nets (among others). more

As campaign builders in the digital age, we at EchoDitto often find ourselves discussing “slacktivism” – the clever portmanteau for slacker-activism that has attained recent popularity among the left-leaning, politically savvy. As with most socially-entwined discussions, we’re not entirely sure what makes it so intriguing. But we do know one thing: it is not a question of why slacktivism exists.more

It’s quite appropriate, in a way, that President Obama's speech last week was interrupted by the outraged Rep. Joe Wilson caught up on one issue - immigration. That unforgettable moment should gear Congress up for a significant immigration debate this fall. more

A friend pointed me to this great post by Danah Boyd on Alternet discussing the implications of the race and class demographic divides between Facebook and Myspace:  more

http://www.alternet.org/media/142356