Ditching AAA for Better World Club

About two week ago I was listening to Inside Renewable Energy (my favorite podcast, because I’m a geek like that!) and host Stephen Lacey interviewed Mitch Rofsky, President of the Better World Club, a different kind of auto club (like Automobile Association of America). Mitch explained how AAA actually spends your membership dollars, not on road side assistance, rather on lobbying congress to keep gas prices and gas taxes low, lobbying against mass transit improvements, and lobbying against increases in CAFE standards. Now I don’t own a car anymore, but back when I had one, I joined AAA, and I never canceled my membership because I figured it would be good to have in case of an emergency. Well after hearing this program, and doing a little reading, I canceled my AAA membership and I joined Better World Club. Not only do they provide comparable roadside service, they also provide roadside service for bicycles! And of course plenty of discounts and partner programs. So if you are an AAA member, I suggest you check out BWC and switch your...

Sponsoring Drupal Camps (NYC3 This Weekend)

This weekend is DrupalCampNYC3. DrupalCamps are an fun, interesting, if a bit quirky distributed event that CivicActions has been involved since what we think was the first one last year in SF, we subsequently were involved in sponsoring or planning DrupalCamps in Seattle (2), New York City (2) and Toronto. You can find out all the latest DrupalCamp news on Groups.Drupal.org. Each camp is different, but at its core, I think they all share the same values and the same spirit as the Drupal Project: people come to learn, people come to share. We’re proud to be a part of helping to facilitate that. The Camps provide a great opportunity for all levels of Drupalistas to come together and learn more about the software and the community. A big thanks to all those who have helped make a DrupalCamp happen in your area. And to those who think you might want to plan one, take the first step and post to the Drupal Camp Group, plenty of folks, including myself, can help you get it...

Chertoff Has A Gut Feelling

I was watching the nightly news tonight when I heard about this alarming story. Apparently, Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff has a gut feeling that America might be attacked this summer. On Tuesday, Michael Chertoff, the secretary of homeland security, told the editorial board of The Chicago Tribune that he had a “gut feeling” about a new period of increased risk. He said he based his assessment on patterns of terrorists in Europe and intelligence he would not disclose. “Summertime seems to be appealing to them,” Mr. Chertoff said. “We worry that they are rebuilding their activities.” “Our edge is technology and the vigilance of the ordinary citizen,” he added. While some people might be alarmed that Chertoff thinks America we’ll be attacked. I am alarmed that he is basing this on a “Gut Feeling”. While I can understand, and fully support individuals “trusting their gut” when making decisions, it seems that we as a nation should be relying on more than one man’s gut. The administration, as a whole, has not been so good either at paying attention to their gut, or their gut itself hasn’t proven too accurate these last few years. I think that the Clinton administration was going on more than just its gut when it passed on warnings about Al Queda to the Bush Administration in 2001. Back to the matter at hand. According to the Times article, even though Chertoff has this gut feeling, he hasn’t ordered the “Threat Level” increased from level 3 (and 4 for the airline industry). Maybe the administration would like to invest some money from the the “War...

Save the Internet Before July 16th!

SaveTheInternet.com just launched another great video by Matt Thompson (a Web Of Change alumn). The last day for public comment on Net Neutrality is Monday, July 16th. So take a few minutes to take action and submit your comment to the FCC. One sentence on Net Neutrality: “Net Neutrality means no discrimination. Net Neutrality prevents Internet providers from speeding up or slowing down Web content based on its source, ownership or...