Gift Hub

"Change! Put up or Shut Up, Obama," say the Grassroots

Digby is asking whether Obama will govern his grassroots network, or whether it will govern him. "We the people" once enlisted under Obama's banner may not demoblize as he slides to the center and becomes an apologist for a mildly reformed version of the broken status quo. We see the same old tired Democratic Centrists taking leading roles, because, we are told, they are experienced. "Change!" the nice man said, in his best marketing voice, with sincere intonation. Now, we shall have change whether he and his cohort of DC insiders will lead us there or not. 

Wage Theft

A national crisis. Wage and hour workers stiffed or shorted by employers. Kim Bobo, founder of Interfaith Worker Justice, testifies before Congress.  Her new book on wage theft is here.

US Army versus Demonstrators?

Digby, Dispatches from Torture Nation, how the Army will deploy a unit on US soil, armed to quell dissent should there be any.  The laws against deploying the Army against US citizens were quietly modified. You may not have heard that, since it was not widely covered in the media at that time.

Votes Cast in the Street for Democracy when not on Offer Elsewhere

Amy Goodman:

In Denver, but particularly in St. Paul, dissent was crushed with a massive array of paramilitarized police, operating under the U.S. Secret Service, granted jurisdiction over the “National Special Security Events” that the conventions have been dubbed. Corporations pay millions to the host committees, earning exclusive access to lawmakers and candidates. The host committees, in turn, unleash police on the public, all but guaranteeing injuries, unlawful arrests and expensive civil litigation for years to come. More than just a campaign-finance loophole that must be closed, this is a national disgrace.

Amy's arrest here.

Change in the Wind

"Lord, I pray that you would bring Jews to know Jesus Christ. I pray that you would bring Muslims to know Jesus Christ. Finally, Lord, I pray that you would bring Christians to know Jesus Christ. Amen" - Arthur Burns, a Jew, at a Washington, DC Payer Breakfast among the politicians, cited by Gerald Britt of Dallas Social Ministries. 

Alternatives to Corporate Rule

There is an Alternative to Corporate Rule, by Mark Engler. What he describes may not be philanthropy, but it is certainly civil society.

In truth, a lack of viable ideas is hardly the problem for those who reject both corporate and imperial models of globalization. Whether they are part of boisterous national uprisings or quiet, persistent community efforts to fuel a truly democratic globalization -- a globalization from below -- members of grassroots networks are now engaged in a debate about the proper balance of vision, program, political strategy, and tactics needed to move forward.

Via.

Alternative Media Alternative Realities

Poor People's March at the RNC, with Fox News embedded with the Riot Police. Via.

The Swarm Meets the Powers that Be

The Revolution will Be Twittered on how the DNC protesters are using social media to coordinate and cover their own event. Meanwhile the "real media" stand down under duress. My hope is that for the 2012 conventions that philanthropists will fund Blackwater to patrol the streets to protect the rights of protesters under our Constitution, as they protect democracy in Iraq. 

Who Owns The Water Supply?

Who owns the water? Who negotiates to sell your watershed? As for the air, why not sell that too? Via.

Social Action Wiki

How best use the web in support of social action? That is the question being asked in theory and answered in practice by Peter Deitz and Joe Solomon at Social Action Labs. They have great ideas, are soliciting more, and have a little grant money to bring 3 -5 of the best ideas to life this summer  Contribute your thoughts to their wiki here.  See also.  If bottom up philanthropy/activism makes any sense at all, this is what it might look like.