What a difference a year makes.   January 20th, 2009 was a day filled with hope and unbridled expectations as the nation's first African American President would take over the reins from a President who left the nation in near financial ruin, and at history's first judgment one of the worst President's in US history.  

I wrote this almost a decade ago and figured I would dust it off, revise it a bit and repost. I still think its relevant today. In my hometown of Philadelphia, over 70,000 people will use the day off tomorrow to volunteer.

For as bad as we think things may be today with a stripped down health care reform ready to become law, a stalled effort on tackling climate change and the lack of true reform in our financial system, it was just a year ago that we were saying goodbye to one of the worst Presidents in American history, George W. Bush.    I have put together a number of postings from crossleft.org that I wrote throughout his second term.  Enjoy.

Much has been written of late regarding the emergence of the so-called Tea Party movement. I experienced it's vitriol last August at a public hearing on health care/insurance reform sponsored by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD)

It looks to me like a lot of angry, frustrated, fearful white folks who having experienced the benefits of our society's public education system, white preference (no matter how subtle) in hiring and housing, and the like want to turn back the clock to the "good old days" of white priviledge. While benefitting from a good public education, they seem to betray it's benefits. Too easily pursuaded by uber conservative talking heads, they simply react rather than proact, becoming a storm troopers movement led by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck and Sean Hannity.

Protests heated up again in Iran over the last few days, and the American media finally started to pay attention to the news last night. This latest round of protests started as a leading opposition cleric died and protesters used the mourning period as time to re-state the case for democracy and fair elections in Iran. While other Western and Middle Eastern news outlets such as the BBC were reporting protests as they started, the American media has been slow to pick up on this significant news item.

Indeed, the problem is not just with the American media, but the American polity in general. It is difficult to understand why the press, politicians and activists from all political stripes are not paying more attention and support the pro-Democracy movement in Iran. Supporting the Greens within Iran should be a top priority because Iran is front and center of our foreign policy. Why?

Over the last few months, I have taken part in a number of ad hoc online discussion on facebook and other places about health care. In a number of cases I was responding to the challenges of conservative friends. I've tried to pull that content together here.

Ethics: Is health care a right or a privilege?
Many folks have said that health care isn't a right. Its an interesting argument. If health care is a privilege and not a right than are conservatives saying health care is only for the privileged? The people without health insurance are not the poor (they are covered by Medicaid). The people without health insurance are working folks who aren't poor enough to get Medicaid and aren't well off enough to afford health insurance. If its not a right, who should go without? Who makes that decision and by what criteria?

With all the talk about social media, Web 2.0, and cloud computing, it can be easy to get caught up in the allure of the promise of how new technologies can empower nonprofit missions. While I love to write about these opportunities, this blog is more of a back to basics on IT Security. In particular, I'll address issues data leakage and how best to protect against it.

Potential Big Issues with Data Leakage

• The US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) - By now, most health service nonprofits have brought themselves into compliance with the comprehensive privacy legislation. However, subcontractors who are not targets of HIPAA law may still be subject contractually to follow privacy regulations. Many smaller subcontractor organizations may be subject to HIPAA and not realize or be prepared for its implications.