Senator Obama’s first act as top Democrat was to bring the clean fund raising policies of his campaign to the Democratic National Committee. Funds from Political Action Committees and registered lobbyists will no longer be accepted at the DNC. As a first move, it makes me very hopeful for things to come. Since moving from Minnesota’s squeaky-clean political atmosphere to the smoggy air of Philadelphia machine politics in 2001, I’ve realized that cleaning up democracy needs to be job one if real progress is to be made on most any other issue. Taking the high ground on campaign funding is a great place to start. It also signals that anyone who wants a job with Obama (particularly Vice President) will need to dedicate themselves to openness and financial disclosure as well.
While reading Sunday’s New York Times Magazine feature on Gary Slutkin and the application of epidemiology to urban violence, I kept thinking of the implications for the media. As a longtime city-dweller, one of my biggest gripes with the media is the way urban violence is covered, in particular by local TV news. If the media were to treat an outbreak like Philadelphia’s upsurge in murders more like a disease or virus outbreak, what would it look like?
Coverage of traditional viral outbreaks certainly has its share of irrational fear-mongering for ratings – think about recent years’ SARS and avian flu coverage. At the same time, I feel like the media also spent quite a lot of time explaining ways to reduce exposure and prevent outbreaks from spreading. This despite the remote chances of exposure to most people.
Typical TV coverage of a violent crime shows a map of the incident (message: be afraid of that part of town) and maybe a sketch, mugshot, or security camera footage (message: be afraid of people who look like that). This limited coverage only amplifies the effects of the crime since virtually no one in the broadcast audience is at real risk of being the next victim. A very small minority of crime victims are strangers who are at the wrong place at the wrong time. Most crimes instead are responses to personal gripes. I’m not sure what kind of information might be more effective in avoiding fear and helping the public assist in containing an outbreak of violence. The Chicago program discussed in the Times article primarily uses specialists to intervene with persons directly associated with criminal incidents, but surely the media has a role in helping communities fight outbreaks of violence.
The tag “700club” on Flickr is an amusing amalgam of Philly hipsters drinking beer at the 700 Club (located at 700 N. 2nd Street) and friends of Pat Robertson’s religious talk show The 700 Club. These are the dangers of folksonomies.
Yikes! I had no idea that Chicago’s electricity was so heavily weighted to the nuclear side until I opened up my latest ComEd bill and was greeted with this pie chart mandated by “the Electric Service Customer Choice and Rate Relief Law of 1997.” That’s the deregulation transition law that had frozen electric rates for the ten years prior to my moving here (nice timing).
I didn’t think the city was powered by magic fairy dust, but did think there would be more dirty coal and at least a little more than 1% renewable energy. ComEd is owned by Exelon, the same not-so-great company that owns Philadelphia’s PECO. In Pennsylvania they offered me an opt-in wind energy program that has seen lots of people electing to pay higher rates for renewable electricity. There seems to be no comparable program here (I think the program was mandated by the state of Pennsylvania). It’s true that anyone can go out and buy green energy credits on their own, but having the option appear on your monthly electric bill surely raises awareness and participation quite a bit. Still, green energy shouldn’t be a luxury item — it should be a mandated part of the mix for the entire system, as it is in some progressive states.
*Technically, the server that hosts this blog is in Arizona. I don’t have the breakdown for that state.
I’m now a registered voter in Chicago and will almost certainly be voting for most of Boss Daley’s surprisingly green Democrats tomorrow. Jan Schakowsky here in IL-9 is one of the most progressive members of the house and this district will probably re-elect her with a very comfortable margin. I’m less enthusiastic about about Gov. Blagojevich, but in our imperfect winner-take-all system I’m hesitant to vote for the best candidate - Green Rich Whitney.
Voters in Minneapolis have the opportunity to avoid that problem - at least in future municipal elections. A charter amendment that would allow Instant Runoff Voting is on the ballot. The supporters created this animated explanation:
The move would create more competitive races between Greens and Democrats in a city where Greens have already made major inroads. Emopage endorses a Yes vote. Hopefully that isn’t what takes them over the top.
And of course, I’m a little bit disappointed that I won’t be able to vote against Rick Santorum back in Pennsylvania. I trust everyone back there will be able to do the job - even if Casey isn’t exactly a progressive candidate.
With this week’s announcement that Chicago’s own This American Life is podcasting its new episodes, I now have a nicely well-rounded weekly playlist of sonic ear and brain candy to entertain me while I work. I play wordy brain candy while doing visual/design work:
Economist - more world news from the UK. Ryan recently was raving about the print version - which caused me to add this to my rotation.
Filmspotting - based in Chicago, this podcast discusses film and often has running themes discussed over several weeks (recently: Herzog, Animation, Documentary)
And I play ear candy when I’m writing or doing work that requires a little more attention from the left side of the brain. Actually, when I’m writing I usually turn things way down or off.
In Over Your Head - I actually listen to this more for Julien Smith’s rants from Montreal, but the indie hip-hip tracks he plays are also amazing
…and a handful of random ’song of the day’ or ’song of the week’ type podcasts I’ve run across here and there, making for a nice mix of new music
I really love being able to listen to what I want, when I want and being able to skip ahead, pause, and rewind whenever I feel the need. Sometimes I miss the immediacy of live radio and the surprises that come with it, but since moving to Chicago I haven’t adjusted well to the daytime schedule offered by Chicago Public Radio - though overall I prefer their offerings over Philly’s WHYY.
The 215 Festival is underway back in Philadelphia (where most of the phones answer to that prefix). Take a gander at the impressive lineup pulled together by my good friend Jamie and her team of stalwart programmers (I did my part by sprucing up the website a bit). The fest is a celebration of all things literary - from wordy indie rock to comics, poetry and the common novel. Take a look around and plan your weekend now.
Today is primary election day in Pennsylvania. Progressives statewide have the chance to vote for Chuck Pennacchio (over Bob Casey) to dethrone Rick Santorum in the fall. In Philadelphia, dozens of city races will be decided today for lack of real second-party opposition in November. This year there have been hopeful signs of a progressive uprising against the city machine. Neighborhood Networks is organized around supporting progressive candidates at the ward level, and the very active Philly blogosphere is buzzing about newcomers like Albert Yee (who’s blog I highly reccommend) and Chris Bowers. Get out and vote!
Some fun with panoramic photography from a lazy Sunday at Clark Park last month (click to enlarge). If you look closely, you’ll see that a ghost is doing Rachel’s painting homework for her. The source images were taken on a cellphone camera – believe it or not.
Yesterday, Philadelphia Will Do pointed out Hasbro’s latest effort to modernize Monopoly. This isn’t one of those lame special editions where Boardwalk and Baltic are replaced with locales from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The official Monopoly game is being modernized. Railroads will be replaced by airports. The money will come in increments higher than $500. AND The streets of Atlantic City will be replaced by landmarks from across the US - which you can vote on here.
Unfortunately many of the leading landmarks are pro sports stadiums instead of streets. In Philadelphia we may soon be able to build hotels on The Liberty Bell (how does that work?). On the ballot for Minneapolis’ greatest landmark (sorry St. Paul), Hasbro posted a picture of the somewhat less-historic 3rd Avenue/Central Ave. Bridge instead of the Stone Arch Bridge. Surely this confusion is responsible for Mall of America earning 72% of the vote so far. I demand a new election!
You can attempt to sway the vote by visiting the nifty flash-based ballot every 24 hours through May 12.
P.S. Summit Avenue is in St. Paul and the Mall of America is in Bloomington. Is there no residency requirement here?
P.P.S. How can a bridge that lies well below the modern street level be “the pinnacle of the Minneapolis skyline?”
Update (5/9/06): After sending a comment to Hasbro’s customer service team, I was told their marketing team would be alerted. Lo and behold, a fuzzy picture of the right bridge was added. Still - if the Mall of America wins, I think we should take this to the Supreme Court.
Erik Moe is a writer, graphic artist and web designer. He served as art director/web designer on Chris Dodd's 2008 Presidential campaign, and has written a fair amount on documentary film - most recently at About.com. If you are anywhere near the nexus of media, progressive ideas and the internet, he would love to hear from you at
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