Economy Crisis in the US

Lunch time, thinking time;) Just found Scoble's post and see how upset he is by today's decision of US Congress. I usually do not like to take part in discussions about US politics or economy, still this is a large issue and affects us all, right. Why are we all upset?
Because the decision made by an institution on the other side of the world will affect our lives? ( I really want to have my own house one day, but without my bank's support I can forget about it, etc).
Because the decision was wrong - at least according to specialists and common sense.
Because an average US citizen trust her/his government to make right choices and believes in democracy.

'This is shaking my belief system pretty thoroughly, because I actually do believe that a decentralized system is stronger than one with one guy or gal in the middle controlling everything. But for a decentralized system to work we have to 1. be smart and 2. believe in each other. Those two things are proving to me to be pretty trying right now.'

I know there is a lot of academic discussion about quality or actual power of citizen in the US democracy, but let's put it aside. Let's look at the situation of other democracies too - Poland, Hungary - countries I know - kicked it off so well, and I am not convinced they do it right. Polish reality/economy is not too promising, Hungarian one even more depressing than the typical Hungarian pessimism. I just wonder if there is a perfect, balanced democracy? UK seems a very well working one to me, and we still have leaders taking UK boys to fight wars (why do we need to fight wars at all nowadays? I thought we all learned the lessons from II WW?). It's all down to trust (yes, Scoble is right), common sense, peaceful approach and mutual respect. It's all about working for better common wealth in order to achieve happier private life, right?
Apologies for my idealism, but when we look at it realistically even citizen based systems still depend on part of the society - not always the most smart, knowledgeable and ready to make right choices par of the society.


It saddens me and scares me like hell. That is why I do not post about politics nor economy:)

Chauvinists Earning More?

I have just learned about a research conducted by University of Florida. See the final findings
‘Men in the study who said they had more traditional views of gender roles made an average of about $8,500 more annually than those who had less traditional attitudes controlling for job complexity, number of hours worked and education level.
Delightful.
The situation for women was reversed. More traditional views on gender correlated with decreased earnings — about $1,500 a year less.’
Why am I not surprised? No, seriously, I am not being cynical here!

What I really would like to see though is a study, like this one, showing stats on male and female passion bloggers/web 2.0 bloggers against commercial bloggers. I would be interested in the results.

blogging ethics and 'One Nation Under Blog' - new book about bloging ethics

ted i:I wanted to talk about it since few weeks, but somehow I felt I am not educated enough in the subject of blogging ethics. I read all the main books (Manifesto, Scoble, etc) and followed all the ethical and unethical issues comming up on-line to be able to express my own opinion. Today I was challenged myself, so I think it's good time to put is up.
I think it's a must.
As some of you well know I work in WOM Marketing and my position is very much connected to marketing ethics (engouh if you do a proper Google search) so I really need to separate my private life from the proffesional aspects of it. Nevertheless I blog since 2004 and was always interested in social media to certain extend, so it's dificult to find the balance between work and private interest. I actually think it's great to be able to work in a place where you can use your interest and enhance both your performance, as well as you own knowledge.
This blog however, as well as all other presences of mine on-line are devoted to my private interests and I want to keep it this way. As TechWag is putting it righttly, my blogging is about ambition and 'talks about the things that are important to him (me:)), without advertising, and without an obvious money motive'. Even though some of the topics might correlate with my work, I always make it clear that it's my private place.
So...
Today I was contacted by a very friendly blogger to take part in a project which - based on the first short (via Twitter) description sounded interesting. I like taking parts in different projects, especially when we talk about creativity, activism or social media. I cannot and I do not feel comfortable about taking part in projects involving any material reward and/or sponsored campaigns. I am glad that the approach taken today was personal, friendly and understanding and I am happy that I can use it as an excuse to make this statement.

So yes, feel free to contact me, but be prepared I might have to say 'no' to keep my presence the way I want it to be:)

Blogging ethics is a complicated issue. Each of us has different incetives for blogging and we have different standards too. The gurus of web tried to put together different codes of cunduct and we all learn and try to stay flexible with all the new technologies coming up. Our perception of privacy changes too. I personally think that the blogging ethics has, is and will always stay in the region of common understanding and respect, and will be based on personal agreement.
I also hope we will all stay open for new ideas, and choose the ones we actually find suitable for ourselves.

Talking of new ideas...

I am looking forward to see new publication on this topic, book titled 'One Nation Under Blog' described by Jason Falls here. I keep the track of political blogging in the US and I hope we will all come out of it with few learnings. I wonder what this book will suggest...

Update: just found this policy, good to see other bloggers -actually involved in piching - state their ways on-line. Very, very clear!

Amnesty newsletter

Dear Sylwia,

When I took a job in 1976 with a small human rights group called Amnesty International, I had modest expectations. Up to then, I had been a '60s radical dedicated to ending the war in Vietnam and fighting injustice here at home.

But I reached a point where I needed to make some money while I looked for the next big thing. Amnesty International was looking for a press officer, and I signed up.

Early in my career at Amnesty, I had coffee with Pavel Litvinov, a Soviet dissident who had been arrested for demonstrating in Red Square and thrown into the Soviets' brutal gulag prison system for five years. He told me the only thing that kept him going during those lonely years in prison was knowing that Amnesty International was out there working to secure his freedom.




Join me. Become a member of Amnesty International today.
Join amnesty now!

Donate by September 30th, and your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar!

For a young activist like me, it was a startling realization -- that our actions could have real power, that Amnesty could literally open a prison door and save a life halfway around the world.

Amnesty International continues to mobilize thousands of people who have never been tortured or imprisoned for their beliefs to act on behalf of those who have. But we can't do it without you -- become a member today.

The world has changed dramatically since the Cold War, but from Darfur to Burma, people are still being jailed, beaten, even killed for attempting to defend their human rights.

Will you commit to improving human rights worldwide by becoming a member of Amnesty International today? If you contribute by September 30th, your gift will be matched dollar for dollar by a generous Amnesty donor -- up to $130,000.

You'll be joining a movement of 2.2 million people worldwide that produces extraordinary results. Prisoners of conscience are freed. Death sentences are commuted. Torturers are brought to justice. Governments are persuaded to stop their human rights abuses.

We are not waiting for a new administration in Washington, D.C. to reverse U.S. human rights practices. We are the agents of change that will make it happen. And this month, your donation will go twice as far.

If there's one thing I've learned in my 30-year career, it's that no other organization is more recognized for its tireless and effective work to defend human rights worldwide.

Thank you for your continuing commitment to our work.

Sincerely,

Larry Cox
Executive Director
Amnesty International USA

What do you think of death penalty? Please, let me know!

Dear Sylwia,

Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed by the state of Georgia on September 23, even though his serious claims of innocence have never been heard in court.

Take action right now to stop this execution!

Troy Davis was convicted of murder solely on the basis of witness testimony, and seven of the nine non-police witnesses have since recanted or changed their testimony, several citing police coercion. Others have signed affidavits implicating one of the remaining two witnesses as the actual killer. But due to an increasingly restrictive appeals process, none of this new evidence has ever been heard in court.

Take action and then forward this action to ten friends!

On July 16, 2007, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles stayed Troy Davis’ execution, stating that it would “not allow an execution to proceed in this State unless and until its members are convinced that there is no doubt as to the guilt of the accused” (emphasis added). The failure of courts to hear the compelling evidence of innocence in this case means that massive doubts about Troy Davis’ guilt will remain unresolved.

Urge the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to be true to its words and prevent this execution from proceeding!

In solidarity,

Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn
Director, Death Penalty Abolition Campaign
Amnesty International USA

Hunger in Texas - on-line support

Let me quote the site:

'Did you know

• Nearly one in five adults and one in four children in Texas are hungry.
• 41,000 children under the age of 18 in Travis County are confronted with food insecurity every day.
• 82% of Food Bank Partner Agency recipients are food insecure. 49% of recipients experience outright hunger. (Source: Hunger in America 2006: Central Texas Report, in association with America's Second Harvest)
• 61% of Austin Independent School District (AISD) students are eligible for free or reduced lunch.'

I did not. So I posted a comment. I hope it's not a scam - but only because I read about scams a lot nowadays;)

They seems to plan activities on Twitter too.