Obama, Gates and Restorative Justice

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Monday July 27, 2009 · 11:08 AM PDT

2009/07/27 · 11:08

When Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested on July 16th at his house in an apparently over-zealous and possibly racially charged police decision, everyone involved quickly fell into the usual pattern of conflict for these kinds of incidents. Statements were released, lawyers were hired, accusations and implications were flung, and everyone prepared for to defend themselves in battle. The media did its usual thing, egging on the conflict and brinksmanship, interpreting every action and word in the worst possible light, and the parties involved in the fight used those channels to communicate their anger with each other indirectly. When President Obama first got involved, he only escalated the situation by first admitting that he didn't have all the facts, and then proceeding anyway to say that one of the parties involved had acted "stupidly." Awful and disturbing, but pretty much what everyone expected.

But then something curious and possibly amazing happened.

ChrisHardie

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Monday November 17, 2008 · 12:36 PM PST

2008/11/17 · 12:36

The Times has a nice little article about why Barack Obama will probably have to give up the use of his Blackberry - and e-mail altogether - when he becomes President:

As his team prepares a final judgment on whether he can keep using e-mail, perhaps even in a read-only fashion, several authorities in presidential communication said they believed it was highly unlikely that he would be able to do so.

Diana Owen, who leads the American Studies program at Georgetown University, said presidents were not advised to use e-mail because of security risks and fear that messages could be intercepted.

"They could come up with some bulletproof way of protecting his e-mail and digital correspondence, but anything can be hacked," said Ms. Owen, who has studied how presidents communicate in the Internet era. "The nature of the president’s job is that others can use e-mail for him."

Surely there's some middle ground to keep a President as tech-savvy as Barack Obama from being forced off of e-mail altogether? I mean, this is the guy who announced his VP pick by SMS text message, for crying out loud.

Here are some scenarios to explore:

ChrisHardie

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Monday November 03, 2008 · 7:43 PM PST

2008/11/03 · 19:43

Flash mobs are large groups of people who assemble suddenly in a public place to perform an unexpected action, and then quickly disperse. For example, here's a mob hitting New York City:

Flash mobs are interesting to me for a few reasons:

ChrisHardie

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Tuesday September 23, 2008 · 8:43 PM PDT

2008/09/23 · 20:43

Tonight I attended a talk by NPR Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He talked about the current Presidential election and the role the media play, especially when it comes to their participation as news-makers, such as when media personalities moderate debates.

His comments were interesting and insightful, but not necessarily ground-breaking, and when asked to comment beyond what I took to be his prepared remarks, he had some trouble even being insightful. But, I did really appreciate his perspectives on how deferential and petty many members of the media have become, and his advice to politicians and interested citizens to go against the grain more and shake things up a bit.

Though, when I asked my question of him, he wasn't so into the shaking things up stuff:

ChrisHardie

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Thursday September 11, 2008 · 8:06 PM PDT

2008/09/11 · 20:06

Like many people of diverse political affiliations, I bristled during the Republican National Convention when various speakers including VP candidate Sarah Palin made fun of "community organizer" as a worthwhile way of spending time.

It wasn't problematic for me because the attack was being used against candidate Barack Obama, although I didn't find it to be an effective or useful expression of concern about his qualifications. Instead, I think that it was just plain insulting to the many people in communities across the world who devote their time and energy to making their local communities better places to live. Further, I think it was a hypocritical and problematic assertion given some of the other selling points being used to present Palin and McCain to voters. Here's why:

ChrisHardie

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Tuesday August 26, 2008 · 6:52 PM PDT

2008/08/26 · 18:52

This is my inventory of the false or misleading choices presented to us as a part of selecting the President of the United States. They're presented by our culture, our media, our parents, our friends. They're presented as "the way things have always been" and "get on board with this or you'll be left behind" and "don't be an idealistic fool by believing anything else" They're presented with confidence and vigor, and they're spread far and wide:

ChrisHardie

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Wednesday July 30, 2008 · 11:06 AM PDT

2008/07/30 · 11:06

John McCain's presidential campaign is making a big mistake with its television ads that continue to portray Barack Obama as, essentially, too much of a good thing. They reinforce the framing that Obama is a rock star, a mega celebrity, a dignitary on the world stage, and then expect that simply by calling our attention to the contrast between that persona and the image of a stodgy and reserved President who sits in the Oval Office making important decisions all day, they can sway the voters toward McCain.

Huh?

ChrisHardie

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Friday May 23, 2008 · 4:43 PM PDT

2008/05/23 · 16:43

From the "I hope it doesn't happen but wouldn't be surprised if it did" department, I have some predictions and scenarios to throw out there about stuff that could happen sometime in the rest of 2008. I suppose this is mostly just a mental exercise for me, but maybe it'll spark some interesting comments/responses:

ChrisHardie

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Wednesday April 23, 2008 · 9:17 PM PDT

2008/04/23 · 21:17

It was frustrating but not surprising to see today that CNN has joined the list of mainstream media outlets who have adopted the harmful framing offered up in the debate about the U.S. borders, by beginning to use the label of "illegals" in their reporting. It may seem like a relatively small difference between that and other commonly used terms, but I find it to be a particularly dehumanizing one.

ChrisHardie

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Saturday March 01, 2008 · 12:19 PM PST

2008/03/01 · 12:19

When I'm not standing up for truth, justice and other things on Daily Kos, I spend my days as a web developer. Perhaps one of my biggest concerns about working in the Internet industry and website development in particular is my participation in a cultural shift whereby people are now not only just able but clearly expected to look for and find online the information they need to live their lives. Where as it used to be the case that referring someone to your website was a way to complement information you were already giving them, or was just one method of contacting you, the display of a web address is now often the only way that many businesses and organizations make their products and services available. The unfortunate reality is that this is no longer confined to promoting the luxuries and accessories of an upper- or middle-class lifestyle, and it's part of a larger trend of an increasing dependence on highly complex infrastructure to perform basic tasks, fulfill basic human needs.

ChrisHardie

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Saturday January 12, 2008 · 11:12 AM PST

2008/01/12 · 11:12

I attended a presentation recently where the person speaking was talking about when it is and is not appropriate to challenge your host's views, perhaps at a dinner party or other social event. He noted that in some cultures, it's perfectly appropriate and expected to have a heated discussion about the topic at hand, and that it is done without introducing any sense of offense, malice or personal attack. In the U.S., he noted, we tend to make (and take) everything so personal that it is generally not acceptable to challenge someone's views unless (the narrative goes) you are prepared to take extraordinary measures to dance around their ego and perhaps walk away never to speak to each other again.

ChrisHardie

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Sunday November 25, 2007 · 8:42 PM PST

2007/11/25 · 20:42

Until I watched the PBS Frontline documentary On Our Watch, I had only a very general awareness of what people meant when they talked about the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan. It is sobering and sad to know that that even with all of the news and pseudo-news I follow and the "think globally" circles I travel in, it's still possible to not really know the details of a genocide that has gone on since 2003, killing over 200,000 people and forcing the relocation or outright flight of another 2.5 million people.

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Obama, Gates and Restorative Justice

Ways that President Obama could actually use e-mail

Flash Mobs

NPR's Scott Simon on coverage of third party candidates

Making fun of Community Organizers

False choices in selecting the American President

Negative ads, fatal errors from the McCain campaign

Five Geopolitical Scenarios to Consider

Mainstream media adopts the dehumanizing 'illegals' label

For More Information, Visit Us on the Web

To challenge and be challenged

Darfur Genocide, On Our Watch