Bloggers and Blue-Collar Workers Unite!!!

(Reposted as part of our staff picks from 2009, originally written by Mitch Malasky on 8/24/2009)











Here are some snippets from an excellent panel at Netroots Nation 2009 in Pittsburgh called, 'Bloggers and Blue-Collar Workers Unite: You Have Nothing To Lose But Wall Street Domination'. The diverse set of panelists was all presented interesting insight from a variety of viewpoints. Present were three labor representatives- the moderator, Scott Paul, President of the American Alliance for Manufacturing, Leo Gerard, President of the United Steelworkers (USW), and Tula Connell, Managing Editor of the Website and Blog of the AFL-CIO, two industry analysts, Bob Borosage, President of the Institute for America's Future and Marcy Wheeler, blogger at Institute for America's Future and at Firedoglake, and one US Congresswoman, Donna Edwards, a Democrat from Maryland's 4th congressional district. (We have already posted videos from Marcy Wheeler, Donna Edwards and another video from Leo Gerard here.)

This group had an obvious pro-labor bias (which we share), but they focused on specifics of how American labor and manufacturing could help America recover from it's current economic situation. They talked about how manufacturing can help to break out of the boom a bust cycle and build a solid base for a sturdy economy. Recognizing that labor and manufacturing have been on the downswing for years, the are looking for ways to revitalize and modernize industry to help build a stronger, improved America. From Cars, to steel, to paper, manufacturing and production employ millions of people and reinvest American money back into the United States in a direct manor.

We will continue to release more snippets and longer versions of panels from Netroots Nation 2009 in Pittsburgh over the next weeks. Keep checking back to our Netroots Nation Page for more blogs and videos.

The Secret Plan to Defeat the Right Forever

(Reposted as part of our staff picks from 2009, originally written by Will Urquhart on 8/23/2009)

One of the panels I attended at Netroots Nation on Day 1, Thursday August 13th, was titled 'The Secret Plan to Defeat the Right Forever'. The panel focused on the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Stewart Acuff does a great job explaining some of the more important details of EFCA:



He also talks a little bit about what it is going to take to get this legislation passed:



And Tanya Tarr explains why EFCA is the secret plan to defeat the right forever:



We've got lots more videos from Netroots Nation available, and we will be releasing plenty more over the coming weeks at the Sum of Change NN09 page.

From Prop 8 to Full Equality in all 50 States

(Reposted as part of our staff picks from 2009)

From Prop 8 to Full Equality in All 50 States - Netroots Nation Day 1 from Will Urquhart on Vimeo.

We at Sum of Change have been releasing lots of videos from Netroots Nation. We have released some 40 highlights videos, but today we release a panel in entirety for the first time. This was the first panel I attended, bright and early at 9:00am on Thursday, August 13th.

From Prop 8 to Full Equality in All 50 States: Fighting for Marriage Equality and LGBT Rights Across America
Thursday, August 13th 9:00 AM - 10:15 AM
Panel, 311
Time: Thursday, August 13th, 9:00am - 10:15am
Room: 311

From the passage of Prop 8 to the election of Barack Obama to the White House, the 2008 election had a profound impact on the fight for full LGBT equality in all 50 states.

This panel will tackle how we win and defend marriage equality state-by-state and how we build momentum for full LGBT equality across America. What are the lessons learned from the Prop 8 loss in California that Maine and other states can learn in their battle for marriage equality? How will we restore marriage equality to California? And how can the netroots help win these battles?

PANELISTS: Pam Spaulding, Monique Hoeflinger, Michael Wilson, Julia Rosen

I hope you enjoy this video. We will be releasing more coverage over the coming weeks. Visit the Sum of Change Netroots Nation page to see all our NN09 videos and a list of every event we covered. We do not have footage up from every event that we filmed yet, but we are making updates every day, and we will have at least one video from every event that we filmed. Once again, you can find a full list of everything we filmed in Pittsburgh at our NN09 page.

Thanks

How to Get The Most Out Of The Polling Data You Read About

There were a lot of good lessons to come out of the Netroots Nation panel, 'How to Get The Most Out Of The Polling Data You Read About'. Today, we present the panel in it's entirety. Our panelists are Greg Dworkin (DemFromCT), contributing editor at Daily Kos, Charlie Cook of The Cook Political Report, Mark Blumenthal, editor and publisher of Pollster.com, Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com, and Charles Franklin, the co-developer of Pollster.com.

Greg Dworkin was not lying when he called these men "experts." It is rare to find this much knowledge and experience with polling in one room. I hope you will take the time to watch this entire panel. Lastly, I will leave you with this brief interview we did with DemFromCT after the panel ended:



For more videos of Netroots Nation, visit our NN09 page. And if you enjoy these videos, sign-up to receive an email alert when we add a new video.

Science Denial and Science Policy

Everyone knows that science and politics (really science and conservatives) have been at war recently. We have all seen the polls. We have all heard the derogatory remarks about "experts." One of the panels I attended at Netroots Nation 09 in Pittsburgh was titled 'Science Denial and Science Policy.' Today, I would like to share a handfull of moments from that panel with you.

We will start with Joshua Rosenau, discussing science's "rightful place" in our country:



Next up is Michael Stebbins on how science and policy is changing under this new administration:



Next, Susan Wood talking about combating the anti-science crowd:



And last but not least, we have Mark Sumner (Devilstower) and Joshua Rosenau discussing the public's stance on science, believing vs. accepting:



I hope you enjoyed the videos. We will be releasing more videos throughout next week, check the Sum of Change NN09 page for all our Netroots Nation coverage.

Thanks

Bloggers and Blue-Collar Workers Unite!!!

Here are some snippets from an excellent panel at Netroots Nation 2009 in Pittsburgh called, 'Bloggers and Blue-Collar Workers Unite: You Have Nothing To Lose But Wall Street Domination'. The diverse set of panelists was all presented interesting insight from a variety of viewpoints. Present were three labor representatives- the moderator, Scott Paul, President of the American Alliance for Manufacturing, Leo Gerard, President of the United Steelworkers (USW), and Tula Connell, Managing Editor of the Website and Blog of the AFL-CIO, two industry analysts, Bob Borosage, President of the Institute for America's Future and Marcy Wheeler, blogger at Institute for America's Future and at Firedoglake, and one US Congresswoman, Donna Edwards, a Democrat from Maryland's 4th congressional district. (We have already posted videos from Marcy Wheeler, Donna Edwards and another video from Leo Gerard here.)

This group had an obvious pro-labor bias (which we share), but they focused on specifics of how American labor and manufacturing could help America recover from it's current economic situation. They talked about how manufacturing can help to break out of the boom a bust cycle and build a solid base for a sturdy economy. Recognizing that labor and manufacturing have been on the downswing for years, the are looking for ways to revitalize and modernize industry to help build a stronger, improved America. From Cars, to steel, to paper, manufacturing and production employ millions of people and reinvest American money back into the United States in a direct manor.

We will continue to release more snippets and longer versions of panels from Netroots Nation 2009 in Pittsburgh over the next weeks. Keep checking back to our Netroots Nation Page for more blogs and videos.

The Secret Plan to Defeat the Right Forever

One of the panels I attended at Netroots Nation on Day 1, Thursday August 13th, was titled 'The Secret Plan to Defeat the Right Forever'. The panel focused on the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Stewart Acuff does a great job explaining some of the more important details of EFCA:



He also talks a little bit about what it is going to take to get this legislation passed:



And Tanya Tarr explains why EFCA is the secret plan to defeat the right forever:



We've got lots more videos from Netroots Nation available, and we will be releasing plenty more over the coming weeks at the Sum of Change NN09 page.

(VIDEO) The Myth of Post Racial America

To an ignorant few, the election of a black president signals a transition into a period of post-racialism, where all of the racial tensions and struggles of the past have been overcome and racism no longer exists. Even though there are signs of improvement, such as the election of Barack Obama, America is far from overcoming it's embarrassing racial past and becoming a 'post-racial' society. (Some of us hope that we never do become a post racial society. Even though race is a social construct, I believe that especially in America, it is important to understand and embrace our own and each other's racial identities and histories). It is inevitable, however, that we are increasingly becoming (or recognizing that we actually are) a multi-racial society, which can be very uncomfortable to those used to the status quo.

The speakers on this panel at Netroots Nation 2009 in Pittsburgh titled, 'The Myth of Post Racial America", all have front line experience dealing with the issues that arise with this shift of racial influence. Annabel Park is a documentary filmmaker whose new film '9500 Liberty' (www.9500Liberty.com) presents Prince William County Virginia, an affluent suburb to Washginton DC, as a microcosm for how this struggle has and will continue to play out as America progresses. Rich Benjamin (www.richbenjamin.com) traveled to the fastest growing predominantly white communities in America for his book, 'Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America'. Rinku Sen is the executive director of The Applied Research Center (ARC), a public policy institute advancing racial justice through research, advocacy and journalism, and publisher of 'ColorLines', ARC's magazine focused on race and politics (www.ARC.org).

This was a very interesting panel and informative panel and we will be posting a more complete version of the entire session shortly. Keep checking www.SumofChange.com/NetrootsNation for that and many more videos of Netroots Nation 2009 from Pittsburgh.

From Prop 8 to Full Equality in all 50 States

From Prop 8 to Full Equality in All 50 States - Netroots Nation Day 1 from Will Urquhart on Vimeo.

We at Sum of Change have been releasing lots of videos from Netroots Nation. We have released some 40 highlights videos, but today we release a panel in entirety for the first time. This was the first panel I attended, bright and early at 9:00am on Thursday, August 13th.

From Prop 8 to Full Equality in All 50 States: Fighting for Marriage Equality and LGBT Rights Across America
Thursday, August 13th 9:00 AM - 10:15 AM
Panel, 311
Time: Thursday, August 13th, 9:00am - 10:15am
Room: 311

From the passage of Prop 8 to the election of Barack Obama to the White House, the 2008 election had a profound impact on the fight for full LGBT equality in all 50 states.

This panel will tackle how we win and defend marriage equality state-by-state and how we build momentum for full LGBT equality across America. What are the lessons learned from the Prop 8 loss in California that Maine and other states can learn in their battle for marriage equality? How will we restore marriage equality to California? And how can the netroots help win these battles?

PANELISTS: Pam Spaulding, Monique Hoeflinger, Michael Wilson, Julia Rosen

I hope you enjoy this video. We will be releasing more coverage over the coming weeks. Visit the Sum of Change Netroots Nation page to see all our NN09 videos and a list of every event we covered. We do not have footage up from every event that we filmed yet, but we are making updates every day, and we will have at least one video from every event that we filmed. Once again, you can find a full list of everything we filmed in Pittsburgh at our NN09 page.

Thanks