1
POPSOakland's Linden Street Brewery hosts "Brats & Beer" benefit - 10/17/2009 More: For $10, attendees will get two tickets for 12 ounces of beer and a souvenir glass. Additional tickets will cost $5 for one or $10 for three. Plates of food will cost $10 and include bratwurst, pork and chicken, as well as side dishes and vegetarian options. There will be mint julep iced tea and fresh fruit ambrosia for children and others not drinking beer. Organized by Rotary member Tom Schmitz of Piedmont, Saturday's entertainment will be provided by blues musician Rick Baskin, a harmonica player. Baskin is donating his time, as is the brewery's neighbor, Swank Audio Visuals, for setting up equipment. Oaklandish is also a sponsor.
2
POPSIt shakes a village: What thousands of individual economic crises mean for an entire community
More: Through the Marin Housing Authority, Fatooh discovered three affordable housing complexes accepting applications -- then discovered a waiting list of three years. She phoned agency after agency, with no luck. Finally someone told her she'd have a better chance getting placed if she and the family spent three months living at a campsite. Meanwhile her repossessed house in Cazadero sits empty, she says. …The TV news reminds us every night: We're in a recession. But often the camera zooms in too tight: the single family facing eviction, the single worker laid off at the plant, the single patient unable to pay for cancer treatments. The panorama of such cases remains hazy: What does joblessness, foreclosure or lack of healthcare mean for entire communities? What happens to town after town of people like Kassy Fatooh? How does a multiplicity of stories like hers tear at the patchwork of agencies and services meant to hold our communities intact?
9
POPSStruggling together towards diversity and respect More: You have your comfort zone, where you are singing in the shower. And you have your danger zone, where someone is physically threatening you and you have to get away. In between are zones of dissonance, where you take risks and where learning happens. In order to learn, you have to be willing to explore those zones of dissonance. Hence, Experience Discomfort. Expect and Accept Non-Closure. It’s hard. My Spanish is pitiful, my Cantonese non-existent, and I don’t like being the one who is struggling to keep up. But it’s essential. To me, my work on intersectionality and race is an essential part of my geek feminist identity. It’s about deconstructing how I feel when I am the marginalized one, and applying those insights to other spheres of my life, where I am the one doing the marginalization. It’s about belonging to a community that does real work and overcomes real challenges. This is what I want for my daughters.
6
POPSOn skepticism and sexism More: Some people wrote in suggesting that the topic wasn’t worthy of discussion, and that Carrie and I exaggerated the problems. Many of the responses showed that on the contrary, we underestimated the problem and were downright wrong to say that the only sexism in the community is unintentional.… Why is it that feminists are so often misrepresented as being too sensitive, when cases like this clearly show the opposite? Neither Carrie nor I ever told anyone “fuck you.” We never called anyone a sexist. We never lost our temper and we gave everyone the benefit of the doubt, assuming or accepting clarifications that an insult wasn’t intended. If only the same could be said for those who took offense to our discussion.
5
POPSJury convicts man of raping multiple prostitutes as his attorney says sluts and whores deserve rape The defense attorney continued with his attempts to slut-shame the women this man had raped: "They are not like your wife, your girlfriend or your daughter," he said. "They are street tramps. And what happened to them was, at least in part, their fault."… Giggenbach said the law protects them from violent crime just as it protects everyone else. "That's a wolf right there," Giggenbach said, standing before Gravely and pointing. "A wolf who attacks the weak, the uneducated and the socially crippled, because he knows they are not going to go to the hospital or the police. "He's a serial rapist, 15 or 20 times in our community," Giggenbach said. "Lurking, stalking, waiting for the weak to come out at night. "You find him not guilty and you tell this man, 'You go right ahead, anybody in this community can do that,' Giggenbach told jurors.
5
POPSChurch gives new meaning to "offering" plate "We've taken $200,000 and spread it out to organizations -- four local, two missions that are feeding and clothing people in these tough times," Slough said. "We've paid utility bills for members of our church that are unemployed or under-employed." His favorite giveaway came three weeks ago. The church gave 1,400 families $50 each and told them to hand it out to someone else. One of the recipients was Katie Lewis. "I've been alone so long. Just to be thought of and to be remembered, to be welcomed -- it's amazing," she said, crying.
2
POPSTransition Towns wiki More: Cheerful disclaimer! Just in case you were under the impression that Transition is a process defined by people who have all the answers, you need to be aware of a key fact. We truly don't know if this will work. Transition is a social experiment on a massive scale. What we are convinced of is this: * if we wait for the governments, it'll be too little, too late * if we act as individuals, it'll be too little * but if we act as communities, it might just be enough, just in time. Everything that you read on this site is the result of real work undertaken in the real world with community engagement at its heart. There's not an ivory tower in sight, no professors in musty oak-panelled studies churning out erudite papers, no slavish adherence to a model carved in stone. This site, just like the transition model, is brought to you by people who are actively engaged in transition in a community.
3
POPSunicorn chasers, ready for use Feeling down? Been reading too much about politics? Fed up with infighting among community members (whichever community or subculture it may be)? Or maybe you made the mistake of clicking through a link sent by a friend who said "hey, you want to see the worst photo on the Internet?" Here's a list of unicorn chasers for when you need a pick-me-up.
3
POPSThe Africa Vulnerable Children Project Imagine living in a community of 11,000 people (3,000 of them children) crammed into an area of 4 square kilometers. Imagine five people dying every day from preventable causes. Imagine being 30 years old and not once in your life having had a drink of clean, safe water. Imagine knowing that the water you give your children is sickening and killing them, but there is no alternative. Imagine 80% unemployment. Imagine no medical care. Imagine your home collapsing around you during the rainy season. Imagine children playing in open sewers. For the people of Kantolomba, Zambia, this is reality. Now imagine children attending school every day and being given healthy food and clean water. Imagine clean water for the entire community. Imagine a medical clinic. Imagine roofs on the houses so they don't fall down. Imagine job training and support for micro-businesses. This is becoming reality. You can help.
2
POPSLotsa Helping Hands - coordinate caregiving, online, for free When illness or misfortune hits, friends and loved ones often want to help, but coordinating the help that's been offered and what needs to be done can seem overwhelming. This site offers free, online tools to help. Testimonial from one user : Yes, this has been a godsend for us. When I get home from the hospital, I just do one email to everyone. Then when I need help, I just put the date and the tasks and people sign up. This site has made dealing with my wife's cancer doable at all. (I, too, have a chronic, serious disease and can not do very much.) It has also been amazing to count all of our friends--and to give them the opportunity to help.
6
POPSTNH: "Some things I know about moderating conversations in virtual space" It’s an inescapable truth that for some people, the most interesting way to participate in online discourse is to kick holes in the conversation. Others—many of them young, but some, alas, old enough to know better—have a sense of entitlement that leads them to believe that their having an opinion means the rest of us are obliged to listen to it. Still others plainly get off on verbally abusing others, and seek out conversations that will offer them opportunities to do so. Teresa Nielsen Hayden, who has been dubbed "the troll whisperer" for her moderation skills, on the dynamics of trolls and flamers, and how to moderate a discussion to encourage participation and discourage rudeness and abusive behavior.
6
POPSNancy Pelosi: So what are these "San Francisco values", anyway? "Nancy Pelosi said aloud today what everyone knows implicitly and no one ever acknowledges: when the right-wingers talk about "San Francisco values," they're condemning San Franciscans for not spitting on the LGBT community with a wink and a nod." -- from the Jezebel post about this
11
POPSIntergenerational School: Empowers Elderly to Stay Active
K-6th school in Cleveland welcomes volunteers in their 80s & 90s, some with Alzheimer's or dementia. The founders believe volunteering gives the elderly a sense of purpose and happiness, as well as many health benefits. TIS fosters an educational community of excellence that provides experiences and skills for life-long learning and spirited citizenship for learners of all ages. TIS encourages communities to create new environments that empower learners of all ages, as they become life-long contributors to a society. TIS incorporates community volunteers into the life of the school. Volunteers perform a variety of tasks from painting and setting up classrooms to mentoring young readers and writers. TIS is a free public school. Founder of TIF, Peter Whitehouse, believes when some people are diagnosed with Alzheimer's, they feel shame and withdraw themselves from society, so engagement is necessary for older people who have aging-associated cognitive challenges.
Newest Clips
see Newest Clips
1
Latest Pops
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Tags
Print
Save
Turn on live update