Dissidents’ Library and Conference Center in Dallas

The George W. Bush Presidential Center at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX will host several libraries, including the “Voices of Dissidents” Library. The video below shows former President and First Lady George and Laura Bush talking about this library. Laura Bush also shared with Greta Van Susteren on Friday that a conference featuring Cyber-Dissidents will be hosted at the library in the Spring of 2010. She explained:

There will be specific areas of human freedom. And one thing different about the archives here in the institute is that we’re going to have a freedom repository, and that is a collection of works by dissidents and political prisoners, current ones, or ones like Vaclav Havel, who will be one of our first contributors to the freedom collection, who led the revolution in Czechoslovakia. And he was jailed as a dissident in Czechoslovakia and then finally became president of the Czech Republic after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

So that is going to be very interesting. And our first fellow that we announced that will be part o f the human freedom part and the freedom collection part of the institute is Oscar Morales Guevara from Colombia. He’ll start here in January.

He will produce a conference on cyber dissidents. He’s an engineer in Colombia, but he started a Facebook movement “No Mas FARC” against the FARC in Colombia. So he will be able to bring into the whole idea of dissidents and political prisoners this idea of being able to reach out beyond the boundaries of a tyranny through the Internet.

And so we’ll have a cyber conference here next March or next spring to talk about ways we can increase the voices of people, let people who are shut behind the tyranny be able to reach out to the rest of the world through the Internet.

For updates, and conference details as they become available, regularly check the GeorgeWBushCenter.com Also see EDUCATION, GLOBAL HEALTH, HUMAN FREEDOM, ECONOMIC GROWTH TO BE INITIAL FOCUS OF BUSH INSTITUTE; PROGRAMS TO BEGIN IN 2010 (.pdf)

 

JibJab and OfficeMax are Back with ElfYourself 2009

To continue the tradition of making yourself look funny for the entertainment of your friends (or vice-versa), as well as creating combo-words by removing the the traditional spaces, “JibJab” has teamed up with “OfficeMax” again this year to produce “ElfYourself.”

So be a “WebWarrior” and go try it, at ElfYourself.com, or by clicking on “Get Started” on the image above.

If you’re not quite ready to celebrate Christmas, yet (for example, perhaps you want to celebrate Thanksgiving, first?), check out one of Oklahoma’s favorite (albeit politi-confused) country singers, Toby Keith, using this technology used in American Ride.

Toby Keith   More CMT Music   More CMT Music Videos

 

Hat-Tip TechCrunch

 

New WebWarriors Newsletter

Sign up for our WebWarriors 2.0 News here! You can either click HERE to add our WebWarriors posts to your feed reader, or sign up below to have them delivered to you by e-mail. As information, this feature is replacing the weekly newsletter.

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Church Mice

 

The Church Mice are now on Facebook!

 

Government-Run Healthcare at your fingertips? There’s an app for that (how embarrassing!)

The NRCC pokes a little fun at the iPhone and the proponents of the so-called health-care “reform” legislation being proposed in Congress.

 

Hat-Tip Tech Republican, and Jennifer, via the Web 2.0 Reader

 

The Future of Twitter, by Loic Le Meur

If nothing else, you’ll enjoy the way Loic Le Meur pronounces “Twitter.” Here are his predictions for the future of Twitter (h/t Mashable):

 

Think Social Networking is a ‘Trend’?

Ft. Hard Knox WebWarriors know that we usually steer clear of MMO (Making Money Online) posts, here…not because there’s anything wrong with that (we ARE free-market capitalists, after all), but because there are already enough sites on the line covering MMO, whereas our key focus is on helping conservative activists become more effective online.

That being said, however, I heard this young man on Fox and Friends this morning, and thought several of his ideas about the current state and future of the internet, new media, and social networking are also very appropo to what we’re doing here. Gary Vaynerchuk is the owner of Wine Library, a project in which he took his family’s business online and the author of _blank">Crush it! Why NOW is the time to Cash in on Your Passion. The following is a video interview he did for BigThink.com.

Also see: Three New-Media Lessons from Gary Vaynerchuk

 

(Hat-Tip Mike’s Writing Workshop)

 

Post-Trauma Resources (PTSD, C-PTSD, PTSS)

In the process of providing resources for online activists over the last couple of years, we have discovered many things about online activists. One discovery we’ve made is that folks who are dealing with post-trauma issues (either from incidences occurring during military service or from personal trauma, or from a combination) often find that they are able to be productive and excel in the online environment, and often enjoy online activism as a way to retain their privacy while also sharing the wisdom and knowledge gained from their life experiences.

So, we are beginning a list of free online resources here, specifically for victims and their loved ones who are seeking information for coping with and recovery from PTSD, C-PTSD, PTSS, and other post-trauma issues (either professionally or self-diagnosed). This is meant to be just the beginning of a developing resource, so if you have additional links that you would like to share, either add them to the comment section so we can add them to the post, or send them to me, confidentially, at jennsierra@gmail.com.

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GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT POST-TRAUMA AND OVERCOMING POST-TRAUMA

• Bill O’Hanlon, GetOverTrauma.com (First four links on the right – including videos)
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD Fact Sheet (Good list of resources compiled by the MFSO Spouse Chapter)
• NIMH Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (General Information on diagnosis and treatment
• Facts about PTSD
• Mayo Clinic: PTSD (Definition, Symptoms, Causes, Risk Factors, Complications, Treatment, Prevention, etc.)

RESOURCES FOR AMERICAN MILITARY (ACTIVE AND VETERANS)

• Wounded Warrior Resource Center (Very good list of resources for wounded combat veterans)
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Overview – Military.com Benefits
• Veterans Administration: Resources for Military Personnel, Veterans, and their Families (Comprehensive List of VSO’s and other information and resources)
• VetTrauma.org (Readjustment Support for Military and Civilian Combat Zone Veterans)
• Scientific American: Soldiers’ Stress: What Doctors Get Wrong about PTSD

BIBLICAL/CHRISTIAN RESOURCES FOR OVERCOMING PERSONAL OR WAR-RELATED TRAUMA

• A Biblical Approach to Overcoming PTSD, by William R. Kimball (5 free seminars available for download)
• Trauma in the Bible (A collection of Bible verses online readers have tagged as relating or being useful to cope with “trauma”)
• Hidden Hurt: The Bible on Abuse and Violence
• MilitaryMinistry.com (A list of Faith-Based websites dealing with military-related trauma)

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McCain Still Fighting for Vets – to Become Teachers

Michael Riley of the Denver Post is following a story on two U.S. Senators who would like to pass legislation that would pave the way for more military personnel to put their skills to use in the Nation’s classrooms:

Sens. John McCain and Michael Bennet want to put more battlefield veterans in classrooms as teachers, teaming up as a seasoned senator with military expertise and a freshman lawmaker who was superintendent of Denver Public Schools.

But in co-sponsoring a bipartisan bill known as Troops to Teachers, McCain, R-Ariz., is also handing Bennet, D-Colo., a potential campaign plum, an unusual move given McCain’s role recruiting GOP front- runner Jane Norton to race against the vulnerable Democratic appointee.

[...]

Although it provides financial assistance for veterans to train as teachers, the existing program has tougher qualification requirements and limits the number of schools that can participate.

The senators’ bill would increase the authorized funding from $30 million a year to $50 million. Another 1,150 schools would be eligible to participate just in Colorado, many of them in poor and underserved areas. It also would reduce from six to four the number of years of noncombat active duty someone must serve to be eligible…Continue reading McCain, Bennet on front line to turn vets into teachers >>

 

Also on Don’t Quit U, and The Yorktown Patriot

Religious Student Groups and their Rights in the Public School System

Bob Heath, from Kids for Christ USA sent me this link today. The Rutherford Institute has compiled a comprehensive report which includes information on:

• Religion in the Public Schools (and so-called “Separation of Church and State”)
• Students’ Free Speech Rights
• Religious Expression at Graduation Ceremonies and Assemblies
• Non-Student Expression on School Property
• Teachers’ Rights in Public Education
• “Zero Tolerance” Policies and School Searches

Read and download the .pdf’s HERE.

 

If you haven’t JUST NOW re-set your Facebook password, don’t open that e-mail!

Mashable is reporting that there is yet another trojan horse making the rounds, appearing to be an e-mail confirmation that your Facebook password has been reset:

…This one – known as Bredolab – masks itself as a ‘Password Reset Confirmation Email,’ appears to come from Facebook, and attaches a file that purports to contain a new password.

That file is actually a trojan horse that will download a host of nasty files from the Web and infect your computer with them…Continue reading Facebook Password Reset Confirmation Email Contains Virus [ALERT] >>

 

How to deal with e-Mail overload…

243 new messages! Hmmm…I wonder what would happen if I just marked them all as ‘Read,’ and started over?!

I Can Has Cheezburger

 

The Reconstruction of American Journalism

I just read through the document, The Reconstruction of American Journalism by Leonard Downie, Jr. and Michael Schudson. I found it a bit disturbing.

The article discusses the current transition of traditional media in light of the Internet, and the future funding of traditional media.

“As this report will explain, credible independent news reporting cannot flourish without news organizations of various kinds, including the print and digital reporting operations of surviving newspapers. But it is unlikely that any but the smallest of these news organizations can be supported primarily by existing online revenue. That is why we will be exploring a variety and mixture of ways to support news reporting, which must include nonmarket sources like philanthropy and government.” (emphasis mine)

The authors recommend creating government-sponsored news organizations (tax exempt and government funded – in part or in full) as the solution to this problem.

In addition, they want universities to train students in “enterprise and accountability journalism, which by definition bring new information to light, can grow into society-changing work not that dissimilar to academic research that makes original contributions to knowledge in history and the social sciences.” (emphasis mine)

My question is: if government funds the news media, who is going to watch the government? Will we be able to criticize the government if they control the media? Isn’t this a problem in China?

Also, is it the role of news reporting to “change” society? What happened to news reporters simply reporting the news? Using the media to “change” society sounds like propaganda to me. Do we really want government-sponsored, propaganda-based news?

You may (or may not) agree with the current government or like some of the current media offerings, but what will happen when we get a new batch of politicians? How will these people restrict free speech in the process of “supporting” news reporting and “providing” independent reporting. How will this or a new administration want to “change” society using the media or restricting the use of media? You can’t just look at one administration. These rules will evolve as the government evolves, either for good or for bad.

I, for one, am tired of our government bailing out failed and/or outdated companies using taxpayer money. We didn’t bail out the manual typewriter manufacturers or the stagecoach manufacturers. I’m sure jobs were lost, but progress created new jobs in the same or in new industries. If the traditional media dies, a new media industry will take its place. New jobs will be created and media will still be independent of government. Then let’s spend our government money on reeducating those who lost jobs so they can compete in the new industries.

If we keep bailing out automobile manufacturers, banks, and newspapers with government funding, we may keep the same jobs, but will it be worth it? What will we lose in the process?

Update: Snooper has commentary

Originally posted on EmptyNestMom Goes to College

Not News: There’s no such thing as privacy on the web. (Google and Bing are ‘officially’ searching Twitter and Facebook, now.)

Google and Bing have been searching Facebook and Twitter for a long time, in case you hadn’t discovered this by doing routine vanity searches for yourself on Google, Bing, and 123People, etc..

But the search engines this week are announcing new deals and technology that make these searches easier. For more details on that, follow FHK’s Web 2.0 Reader.

Bottom Line

• If you’re using the social networks primarily to keep in touch with friends and family, and want to continue believing that you have some privacy on the web, stay off of Twitter, and use the “just friends” settings on Facebook. According to Facebook, it’s default settings are not supposed to be searchable…yet…I would recommend choosing your own settings.
• However, if you’re using the social networks primarily for online profile management, and WANT your posts, etc., to be viewed in the search engines, you’re in luck. This is happening automatically on Twitter, and on Facebook, you just need to adjust your settings to “everyone” under the privacy features.

 

Attacked by Viral Marketing!

Viruses are in the air. They are in my body and a course of antibiotics will hopefully cure me–but a virus is also in my computer!

Did I infect my own computer?

No, it is not possible to transfer human viruses to machines; at least, not yet. My computer genius, Mitchell Price, tells me that “Malware has destroyed my computer!” This means that a “company has made a false anti-virus application” and then swooped right in ostensibly to protect me from their own spyware.
For a fee, they offered to correct the problem that they themselves had caused. I refused to ransom my computer and so they ruined my hard drive, just hijacked it.

This can happen to anyone of us. As yet, there is no protection against it. Rather, the only protection against it is to never go on the internet. Mitchell advises us all to be “very careful of links that we may in good conscience, click. They may have a bug or a virus.”