Thursday, September 20, 2007

DL at Madison's Grill tonight, 7pm

I'm back from Des Moines and finally getting what it pleases me to call "my act" back together.

The Portland chapter of Drinking Liberally (their motto: "Promoting Democracy, One Pint at a Time") meets tonight at its new meeting place: Madison's Grill, SE 11th and Madison. Plenty of free parking! And bike racks! Yes!

I've got stories and ideas to share from last weekend's Drinking Liberally National Conference--particularly about expanding into the other "liberalies" under the Living Liberally umbrella: Not just Drinking Liberally, but also Eating Liberally, Screening Liberally, Reading Liberally, and Laughing Liberally.

Since this is our first night at the new location, we're hoping for a good turnout to show Madison's we're worth doing business with.

That being said, though, we're also invited to slip over for a while tonight to the open house for Senatorial candidate and May DL guest Steve Novick's campaign headquarters open house only four blocks away. (Drinking Liberally--we're gradually becoming the center of the universe. As it should be.) Thanks to Jake Weigler, Steve's campaign manager, for inviting us.

The more observant among you may have spotted the Backwards Bush Countdown Clock I finally got around to installing in the p3 sidebar (you'll have to scroll down a little). As you'll see, we've got 487 days left until Bush finally leaves office, during which time he may or may not attack Iran's nuclear facilities and suck us into a three-front war for which there is neither popular support nor military wherewithal. (Thanks, Lisa. Salon Premium requires sitting through some ads if you're not a subscriber.)

Join us tonight at Madison's Grill tonight for a great night of politics, conversation, and microbrews.

(And remember: DL encourages everyone to drink, and vote, responsibly.)

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Help Create Democracy 2.0

Week Released: September 17-21, 2007

The Millennial Generation, including myself, is interested in being an
active part of changing public policy. This interest led me to be a part of
Mobilize.org¹s Democracy 2.0 Campaign.

On July 4, Mobilize.org began the Democracy 2.0 project to call attention to
the ways that our democratic process and institutions are properly serving
and failing to serve the interests of Americans, specifically young
Americans. The purpose of Democracy 2.0 is to call attention to the main
problems of our current political system, highlight the distinct
characteristics of the Millennial Generation, and provide guidelines for
change to help cultivate a renewed political process in America.

Currently, our political system is trying to manage a 21st century society
with 18th century political institutions. Democracy 2.0 will upgrade our
current political system, empowering citizens to identify community
problems, propose solutions, be a part of the implementation of these
solutions, and change the way politics is done in this country.

To begin this endeavor, Mobilize.org asked a series of questions and
collected data from youth, ages 16-30 that will be reviewed and evaluated by
Democracy 2.0 Ambassadors at the Democracy 2.0 Summit on October 3, 2007,
with the intention of releasing the Democracy 2.0 Declaration of Our
Generation. The Declaration of our Generation is a short statement of
principles describing a citizen-centered approach to democracy. The
Declaration will focus on three themes: 1) What currently works and what
does not work in our democracy; 2) What defines our generation; and 3) What
Democracy 2.0 should look like.

The Declaration will call attention to areas in which the government is
succeeding and failing to serve the public interest, highlight the unique
and defining characteristics of our generation, and provide guidelines that
will serve as a call to action for American citizens to help create this
renewed form of democracy.

I wanted to mention this opportunity since every posting here has an
interest in this. Mobilize.org is looking for people who want to serve as
Democracy 2.0 Online Ambassadors to be a part of the drafting process. If
you have any questions, please shoot me an e-mail at brendan.chan@mail.utexas.edu.