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December 31st, 2006

Adding a NewsTrust Rate This button to your site

Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 12/31/2006 - 14:09

NewsTrust is a site where users can submit stories from the news and blog sites to be reviewed for their journalistic qualities. Numerous people have asked about adding links to their stories so that they readers can submit a story directly. There is a link that can be used for this, and with a little work, can be incorporated nicely into one’s content management system.

I am using Drupal for my websites, so my first example is how to do this with Drupal. It is likely to be different for different systems, so hopefully people can use this example to incorporate a NewsTrust link into their own systems. Time permitting, I will try to add a NewsTrust link to other sites that I run and provide examples for those types of content management systems.

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December 30th

JFK in Running Shoes, My New Hampshire Summary

Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 12/30/2006 - 10:21

(Originally posted at John Edwards' Blog)

I hope everyone has looked at various reports from New Hampshire.

mbair’s, nsharma’s, and stevegarfield’s here.

chuckles’ post on DailyKos. My photos.

Yet what is really important to me is the discussions in the local blogs. Jsinclair wrote about the event at BlueMassGroup. Over at MyLeftNutmeg, Tessa wrote this entry about the event. Susan H writes about the event at BelowBoston and links to the great analysis and discussion at BlueHampshire.

These last three posts have great discussions going on about how the real message is about all of us taking action. This was the core of what I was hearing from Sen. Edwards in New Hampshire, as well as on a conference call beforehand. As I commented over in one of the other threads:

The real story is that Sen. Edwards' message is, "Ask not what your country can do for you, and don't stop at asking what you can do for your country. Just Do It!" Sort of like JFK in running shoes.

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December 29th

Sen. Edwards addressing the overflow crowd

Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 12/29/2006 - 13:53

Sen. Edwards addressing the overflow crowd, originally uploaded by Aldon.

Before the Town Hall in Portsmouth NH, Sen. Edwards addressed the overflow crowd outside the elementary school where the event is taking place.

The crowd energy is incredible.

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December 26th

The war on Christmas

Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 10:25

(Cross posted to One America Committee Blog)

Yes, Virginia, there is a war on Christmas. I’ve been there and seen it. It isn’t pretty. But before I tell you about it, let me say a word to my brothers and sisters that seek to be in touch with a greater power through their Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or other traditions, the war is against your faiths as well.

As I went to the shopping center a few days before Christmas, a large SUV gunned it, racing for a parking spot. Apparently they needed to be sure that they would get the shiny trinket before I did. I imagine they were listening to a conservative talk radio host bewailing shopkeepers that didn’t wish their customers ‘Merry Christmas’. They should be complaining about shopkeepers that don’t pay a livable wage or don’t provide healthcare to their employees.

Whether or not people wish us ‘Merry Christmas’ is a distraction from the meaning of Christmas. Instead of focusing name games, we need to focus on helping the people around us and helping bringing peace to our world.

Kim gets this. For Christmas this year, she went to Our Voices Together and donated to Seeds of Peace as her present to me.

Our Voices Together “is a nonprofit organization founded by people who have lost family members or friends to terrorist acts.” Their board includes the Chair of Islamic Studies at American University serving along side an Episcopal Priest.

Seeds of Peace “is dedicated to empowering young leaders from regions of conflict with the leadership skills required to advance reconciliation and coexistence.” We need to be promoting reconciliation and coexistence instead of dividing people based on who says what at the shopping malls.

The war on Christmas doesn’t end on Christmas day. We still need to be working for peace and economic justice every day of the year. So, whether we are donating to international peace organizations or food to local food banks, whether we are helping rebuild the lower ninth ward, or working on electing leaders that will bring about change through their example and through changing policies in Washington, we need to focus on how we help people around us and not simply on word games about how a shopkeeper greets us at the store.

Merry Christmas everyone.

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