Source: GetEqual (via yfrog)

Today, July 28th, 8 activists associated with Get Equal were arrested today after they began a protest in the Capitol Rotunda. According to Get Equal, Orelia Busch, Charles Butler, Sean Carlson, Shannon Cuttle, Robby Diesu, Erica Knapp, David McElhatton and Zack Rosen (a Netroots buddy, and founder of TheNewGay.net) were detained after demanding that Nancy Pelosi bring ENDA (Employee Non-Discrimination Act) to the House floor for a vote.  The activist held signs, and where heard chanting:

“Speaker Pelosi, I am somebody… And I deserve job protection, right here, right now.”

The eight are currently being detained, and as this story is developing right now, more news will bring more updates to this story.

GetEqual released the letter, signed by the eight, addressing Pelosi and urging her to make a move.

via (MetroWeekly)

UPDATE: here is the Official Press Release from GetEqual regarding today’s sit-in

GetEQUAL Stages Sit-In at Capitol Rotunda, Demanding That She Keep Promise to Pass ENDA This Year

“Your impatience is justified” — Speaker Nancy Pelosi, July 24, 2010 at Netroots Nation

WASHINGTON – Today, GetEQUAL, a national, direct action lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, staged a sit-in inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC protesting in support of a vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) this year.  The sit-in, outside the door to the Speaker’s office, targeted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) by demanding she fulfill her promises to pass ENDA this year.  The group of about 20, eight of which were arrested, also had a signed letter delivered to the Speaker’s office outlining their reasoning for taking today’s action.  The group’s letter referenced Speaker Pelosi’s speech on Saturday to Netroots Nation, stating, “you also told us that we needed to ‘get the drumbeat going’ and ‘make [you] do it.’  Madame Speaker, we are here to do just that.”   The full text of the letter can be read here:  http://getequal.org/2010/07/open-letter-to-speaker-pelosi-from-arrestees/.

Video of today’s Capitol Rotunda sit-in will be available shortly at www.youtube.com/getequal.

On July 14^th, GetEQUAL sent out a national email to its members and supporters asking who their next set of ENDA direct actions should target.  Speaker Pelosi received the highest number of responses.  That email and survey can be viewed in full at: http://getequal.org/2010/07/fight-back-against-the-broken-promises/.  Also, GetEQUAL’s Washington, D.C. based members and supporters met recently to organize a direct action and overwhelmingly agreed on targeting her as well.

“We know that Speaker Pelosi has the political prowess and the political bandwidth to take on ENDA while the Senate is shepherding ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ through the legislative process,” said Robin McGehee, co-founder of GetEQUAL. “We are pressuring Speaker Pelosi to move on ENDA because, while we know that she values the legislation, we have yet to see her show the leadership she’s promised in taking ENDA out of committee and moving it through the House.”

“We are following her advice to ‘make her do it,’ and to ensure that she and the rest of the House see that people’s lives and livelihoods are on the line here,” said Heather Cronk, managing director of GetEQUAL. “As we head into the August recess, we will take the energy of today’s Rotunda action out into the states, and look forward to building popular support for the legislation in coalition with other LGBT organizations. We will concentrate on the districts where Representatives and Senators have not yet found the courage to step forward to support ENDA — both Republicans and Democrats.”

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual employees can be fired from their jobs in 29 states, and transgender or gender-nonconforming employees can be fired in 38 states.

On Saturday at Netroots Nation, Speaker Pelosi repeatedly told progressive activists to “make her” pass progressive legislation like ENDA, comprehensive immigration reform, and a comprehensive climate change bill.  GetEQUAL activists took up that challenge and today’s action builds on prior actions that GetEQUAL has organized or co-organized, including sit-ins in Speaker Pelosi’s offices in March of this year, a shut-down of the Las Vegas Strip last week targeting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), and several rallies at Speaker Pelosi’s district office in San Francisco, including one yesterday.

Last Thursday, GetEQUAL released a timeline showing years of broken promises and excuses from elected officials that have led to the stalling of any federal protections being in place for LGBT workers.  In the timeline, Speaker Pelosi is quoted numerous times promising that a vote on ENDA “will be soon”.  The timeline is available at www.getequal.org/endatimeline.

GetEQUAL is a national, direct action lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization. Emphasizing direct action and people power, the mission of GetEQUAL is to empower the LGBT community and its allies to take action to demand full legal and social equality, and to hold accountable those who stand in the way.  For more information on GetEQUAL, please visit: http://www.getequal.org.  You can follow GetEQUAL on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/getequal, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/GetEQUAL, or on YouTube athttp://www.youtube.com/getequal.

Las Vegas is hot. Some of the locals are saying its one of the hottest weeks of the year in, and it sure feels like it. Between the sessions, hunting the elusive "internets" and the quest for real food, a few of us took the opportunity to catch a tan, a risky maneuver for many of us pasty indoor types. An as I was laying in the sun, I was thinking about how lucky I am to have the community of Bilerico, Mike Rogers, and his LGBT Blogger Initiative, all who made it possible for me to attend Netroots Nation with a generous scholarship. I've learned a lot, met some amazing people, and found a few areas I might be able to lend my efforts.

So thanks guys! (and thanks to Jerame for taking this picture... there's another one after the jump.

Continue reading "Thanks LGBT Blogger Initiative!"...

nobody sleeps here. I’ve been wandering around till 4am, confused by the lights and the ironically perky attitudes of all the bloggers… except for the exciting journey onto the strip to In-N-Out Burger, the lot of us have been burning fumes on overpriced booze and high octane coffee. I need all the help I can get

Sudbay, sudbay sudbay sudbay.... sudbay sudbay.. sudbay sudbay bink. Bink bink bink. Michael cra...bink sudbay....

Oh! And Joe Sudbay said Bilerico! I thought the idea of a moderator was a to moderate and not to steal the show... Poor Michael Crawford was scuttled till the end, the last five minutes were the meatiest when he FINALLY got a chance to talk about his amazing reactivity to the NOM tour and the tactics they're taking to stop the hate in their tracks... literally. I was pretty bummed, I showed up to hear Michael; he's amazingly successful right now and his time to shine was dimmed by an endless rant from the guys who failed. Shoutout to Julia Rosen, she's pretty awesome too and didn't even get a chance to say much either.

I think this panel shows we're still stuck on bruised egos and still a bit confused about what it means to be proactive, reactive, and when to close a chapter and move on to the next chance to save marriage. Sudbay vetted this post in the end when he closed with "this was very therapeutic for me." there there...

this is amazing…. I must have one of these

What happens in Vegas... gets blogged. So far, Its been a stimulating overload of new faces, old friends, and some overhashed discussion.

I love it though and I couldn't be more happy to be be here at Netroots Nations with the Bilerico gang. Day one was the LGBT pre-con, a congregation of over 60 of the nations most fervent bloggers. ENDA, DADT, more ENDA, and Dan Choi still looks hungry.

I admit, aside from all the hotel parties (Mike Rogers sure can throw a boozer), huddle sessions, and card swapping, I had to get away. In a quiet corner in one of the 4 Starbucks at the Rio, I sat with Steve Hildebrand. It was a breath of fresh air.

Continue reading "Netroots Virgin: Liberally Exhausting"...

I don’t think any of the Bilerico Crew have had a decent meal yet. This bloody mary is probably the most nutritious thing I’ve had to eat… and so tasty!!! Netroot Nations is underway, slight WiFi problems here… That’s the silliest thing so far; for being a blogger conference, the internet access has been so dismal… should’ve brought a MiFi card.

first test: hobnobbing with some of the crew, Mike Rogers and Steve Hildebrand in the bunch, hidden from view is Pam Spaulding… I’m already lost in conversation…

In a few hours, I’ll be on a plane to Las Vegas… Not for gambling, not for hookers, not even to strike it big with some high rolling sugar daddy… I’m heading to Netroots Nations 2010.

Thanks to a generous blogging scholarship provided by the National Blogger and Citizen Journalist Initiative (same one that sent me to DC), I’ll be attending my first NN with my friends from Bilerico and the always entertaining always organizing Mike Rogers. Created from the community behind the DailyKOS, Netroots Nation is a giant gathering of progressive likeminded folk, gathered to think, plan, and discuss a liberal takeover.. at least thats what I think it is. The thing is, I could really give two poots about Politics, LGBTBBQ microagendas, and why Neo-African-American republicans aren’t happy with Detroit. However, the whole reason for me going is to try.

If, in the course of the three day conference, I learn enough to peel away my indifferences and apathy (albeit really a general ignorance to it all) to activism related to issues that really do affect me, then I’ll be able to better apply my talents as a writer, designer, etc towards the progressive groups that I casually support. If all I can get from Netroots Nation is a confused perspective and a headache, then I know I’ll be best continuing my selfish path towards techs review and narcissistic life blogging. I shall be recording my experiences here and at Bilerico.com so visit both!

P.S. does anyone know what time its supposed to be in Vegas?

Swype may have been the first really useful keyboard replacement for Android, and it’s being baked into a few Motorola phones, but its not the only qwerty darling in town.

Check out SwiftKey, the culmination of two years of hard work from TouchType LTD,a UK development team. Instead of swiping across the keys, SwiftKey earns its stripes by being really really smart. It can predict the words you want to say, and – if you let it – can peruse your sms history to learn your texting style.

Unlike other word guessing keyboards, Swiftkey gives you only three words to choose from: what you literally wrote, and two good guesses with the most probable choice embolden in the middle.

Once installed from the Android market for FREE, you’ll need to download your language pack of choice, and tweak whatever settings you want. I really like the slider option for the haptic feedback. I enjoy a little buzz when I type, but most keyboards lay it on thick, slowing down my typing and falling out of sync. I set the slider to 15ms, just enough to feel something, but not enough to slow me down.

Alright, so I wouldn’t go so far as to say Graffiti is the most efficient keyboard, but before we had multitouch and capacitive screens, we had the stylus. And with that, we had Palm, in their glory days. And the only way to peck out your notes with speed was to master Graffiti. Palm may be reduced to IP nowadays, but Access holds the keys to the worlds most popular handwriting recognition software.

Also FREE, Graffiti is true to form. Exactly how I used it on my old Sony Clie, it works on my Android phone… except of course that I can now use my finger. I may just break out my handy Pogo Stylus just for some old time nostalgia. In case you need to run through the tutorial again, do a full swipe up on the slate and tap through the guide.