Slashdot Mirror
One Woman's Fight to Save P2P
jalefkowit writes "I'm a writer for the Online Community Report, and in our last issue we ran a story I wrote that might be of interest to the Slashdot readership. Slashdot has already mentioned the campaign of Tara Sue Grubb to unseat Howard Coble in North Carolina's 6th congressional district. We thought this story merited some deeper analysis, so I put together a piece entitled "Tara Sue Takes Aim" that ran in the latest issue of OCR. I'd love to hear the community's opinion of our take on the significance of her campaign."
No kidding. At LEAST become an "armchair activist" -- you can attempt to change the status quo from the comfort of your computer desk!
Working for Change lets you e-mail the appropriate elected officials for your area. It's easy -- they provide a pre-written, customizable e-mail that you sign. Click send, and it automatically goes to your appropriate representatives. It also attaches your appropriate information (name, address, etc) so they can determine that you're actually a constituant (which is very important to elected officials).
Usually, you'll get a snail-mail reply from the people you write to. It's kinda nice to get something in the mail besides bills, AND feel like you're helping a cause at the same time...
That said....
So when's a Slashdot reader gonna run for office?!? Unfortunately, I'm not quite old enough to run for President yet -- you have to be 35 and I'm about a decade short...
Moderation totals that amuse me for one of my posts: Flamebait=1, Insightful=2, Funny=2, Overrated=1, Underrated=1
They even have a web site that makes it trivial for you to write your congress folk. They supply text which you can modify or rewrite entirely. They then look up your representatives according to your zip code and will send the text for you. Couldn't be simpler.
So what are you waiting for?
Devon
My Senator, Jean Carnahan (D-MO), dodged the question with some flowery language about how she wanted "to encourage the adoption of broadband," which tells me she'd vote for it. (My letter was obviously opposed.)
I just sent an email asking the question point blank to Sen. Carnahan, and also to her Republican challeneger, Jim Talent.
Any reports from other states?
Call (206) 338-5780 COLLECT for information about a genuine BA, BS, MA, MS, MBA, or Ph.D.
Don't forget to pick up a copy of your Ladies of Liberty Calendar...
Are all libertarians this attractive and intelligent or is there something in the water in NC?
...politely and articulately expressing my disdain for the bill he's co-sponsoring and urging him to drop his support. Not surprisingly, I have yet to receive a reply.
What baffles me is that nowhere in Coble's constituency is there the slightest motivation for this legislation. Therefore, whatever, Coble's motivation, it must come from outside his constituency. In a sense, this is par for the course among politicians who seek to grasp and become a part of issues they do not understand so as to bask in the limelight of national publicity.
However, it is also dangerous when politicians allow their personal ambitions to cloud and color their political agendas. Coble has his Democratic counterparts, to be sure (an old and genteel southern Democrat from South Carolina whose name I cannot quite recall at the moment, who clearly does not distinguish between a ram chip and a disk drive, is also using anti-computer, anti-geek sentiment to propel himself into the national limelight. Ok, now I remember. His name is Hollings.)
Anyway, assuming that these people are merely using these issues as political footballs for their own personal gain is the lighter side of the assumption. We're indeed in trouble if there's more to it than that.
As to the Grubb-Coble faceoff, the issue here is really over the Coble legislation. Should Coble quietly withdraw his support, I fear poor Ms. Grubb would soon go unappreciated.
These people are trying to set one up. They're affiliated with the American Open Technology Consortium. If I understand the relationships, it's sort of like the Sierra Club's political wing as opposed to their lobbying/educational wing.
Unfortunately they don't seem to have their act together yet. For instance, I sent the AOTC some seed money about three months ago and the check hasn't been cashed yet. Their manifesto shows them only having received three pledges, which I think means it hasn't been updated in several months. GeekPAC is still working on authority to operate as a political action committee (there's a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo involved), but is taking donations on the assumption that approval will be granted.
And, my final gripe is, the name GeekPAC has to go. It's fine as a nickname among geeks, but outside the community the name "geek" carries some prett negative connotations. Might as well call it "WeirdoPAC" or "GoonPAC" or something.
Don't get me wrong, I hope these are just growing pains on the way to an organization that can play with the big boys and occasionally win.
Someone you trust is one of us.
I've been a /.er for a few years and decided it was time to get involved as opposed to only replying on /. -
See my site at http://victormarks.org - unfortunately you won't see my stance on IP issues/copyright law on that page, simply because as a state representative, it's a non-issue- those laws are made in US congress, not the state legislature.
Instead, state legislatures get to deal with laws concering EULAs, ( http://www.cptech.org/ecom/ucita/ ), laws concerning model health acts , ( http://www.disinfo.com/pages/article/id2454/pg1/ ) and other threats to our rights to live our lives without intrusion.
Tara really latched onto Coble's prominent "I've-been-bought" issue, and has done well with it- however, the Coble bill isn't going to go anywhere- even Republican candidates I know are writing Coble telling him to put it to rest.
Vote Libertarian! http://victormarks.org
Hey I read the article, then went to the Tara For Congress Site.
She's fighting for something I believe in, and I admit I do like her position on other things. I found her Paypal contribution button..
So screw it, I know it's a good cause... I sent her $25 cash via PAYPAL Contribution:
Transaction Details
Web Accept Payment Sent (ID #9WL51528E6024712A)
Name Tara For Congress (The recipient of this payment is Verified)
Email grubbhouse@msn.com
Amount 25.00
Send her some cash guys! Are you waiting for the tooth fairy to fight for you?
If you don't support what you believe in...
then you don't really believe in it, do you?
Mabidex