In September we launched JustCauseIt.com (beta) a social networking website that acts as a companion to a forthcoming print magazine. When the folks at JUSTCAUSE came to us with their idea and told me their mission is (as they put it on the website):

On November 7th, CivicActions launched the WITNESS Video Hub, (more information about the Hub can be found here on our site).

I just discovered this beautiful directory of websites for organizations and causes involved in online advocacy. 744 websites making a difference in the world (and growing)!

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski is taking a week-long challenge to raise awareness about the difficulty of feeding a family on a food stamp budget.

From Yahoo News:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070425/ap_on_re_us/a_week_on_food_stamps

I just downloaded and listened to the new Tom Wiats track "Road to Peace" (i got it free from eMusic.com, you can also get it from Pitchfork Media for free (Waits has released it for free along with a few other tracks). I had no idea what I was in for. The song is a ballad about the conflict in the Middle East, particularly the Arab Israelli conflict and the resent war between Israel and Hamas. It is defitely worth a listen.

It seems like there might be a resurgence of the "political ballad". Earlier this year, Neil Young released an entire album of "war protest" songs called "Living With War". I've got to say though, as much of a Neil Young fan as I am, I found "Road to Peace" to be far more compelling.

As we are a team of independent contractors, we must manage our time very carefully. We work very hard all day. That is why when I sleep I see Drupal, PHP, and talk to Fen about the future of the Internet (after the tubes).

After careful consideration, I have decided to start charging for when I am asleep. I do my best work at that time, and I have found people like my ideas the most during that time. I can also fly, but I haven't figured out how to translate that into services I can share with CivicActions.

You may think it's sad that I enjoy working while I sleep. But I am laughing all the way to the bank, and the CivicActions clients get SO much more value.

I took a minute to speak with Matt Thompson, a documentary film maker and indie journalist who recently complete BEst War Evern. Matt and I met last year at Web Of Change when he was still working with Independant World Television (which became "Real News").

Reports of the death of journalism

may have been exaggerated. Keith Olbermann delivered a presentation Wednesday on his MSNBC Program "Countdown" which transcended modern newscasting completely. It was, unambiguously, Murrow-like. I was transfixed, and if you haven't seen it, please click below and prepare to have your socks knocked off with pure unadulterated elocution. Democrats, wake up. This is the voice of the New American Evolution. Here's a great article about it: Richard Greene's HuffPo blog on the masterful message and the masterful messenger. Waaaaay to go Keith, and kudos to MSNBC for backing their man.