Category: civic tech

Who Can Sleep When the World is on Fire? With Yolanda Nava, Golda Valez, Jim Driscoll and George Polisner

Some People Sleep, by The Tokens

Sweet harmony amidst the chaos. Some people sleep to the sound of the waves on the shore, some people sleep to the sound of the falling bombs, and some people don’t sleep at all.  A beautiful song written by my Token bro Mitch has a message that reverberates today as much as it did in the late 1960’s, when turmoil kept us awake. But within the turmoil there was harmony.

Some people sleep, some people don’t. Some people remain in their bubbles, others are proactive. Some people believe in lies, others want the truth. Some people believe in science, history, climate change and fair elections. Others prefer to believe in cult leaders and get joy out of other people’s suffering. Some people prefer to take coverage in the Trojan horse, while others take to the streets to protest and make good trouble. I believe that more of us want to do what’s right. We want to have clean air, clean water and clean land, and we want our children and grand children to live in a safe and beautiful world. 

   So the question arises, why can’t we sleep ? I think the answer is that we are hit by chaos in the news without stop, and the world is on fire. We are living in unprecedented times, and we seem more divided than ever. Yet the US along with Canada and Mexico, hosted the World Cup, and even as bombs dropped in wars around the planet, visitors from around the world experienced some joy. Our global visitors enjoyed the good nature of the majority of Americans being helpful and welcoming. Some even became NY Knick fans. People from around the world were expecting the worst, as they cited news reports of the USA being a total hellhole. I cannot dispute that we are living in uncertain and difficult times, but it seems that when the world leaders were mostly absent from the picture, the globe united for a few weeks. So on this episode of TMSOG podcast we talk about the divisions, past history, and what we need to do to take action to save our democracy. We must continue to protest, and perhaps strike. We must all come to the realization that climate change is not a hoax and renewable energy is more important than ever. There are things we can we learn from history of decades past, especially the 60s and 70s?  We discuss these topics and more with friends of the show, Yolanda Nava, George Polisner, Golda Valez, and special guest Jim Driscoll. Jim is a decorated, combat Vietnam veteran with degrees from Harvard and Cornell, who taught at MIT. He is an activist who helped put together the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign and the American Peace Test. Jim worked to Stop the Gulf War, and reached out to veterans to start Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Against the War, now named About Face.  From 2012-2020 he focused on climate change, winning the first local resolution declaring a climate emergency in Montgomery County (MOCO). His accomplishments and resume is too long to list here, and I am honored to have had him on the podcast. For more info go to (NIPSPeerSupport.org), https://civ.works/ https://workers.vc/ and https://www.yolandanava.com/

To help defend democracy please donate if you can to help lawyers defend our constitution by going to:  https://www.aclu.org/  https:/ /www.brennancenter.org/  https://libertyjusticecenter.org/ 

To help protect the environment visit and please donate to  https://earthjustice.org  and https://action.nrdc.org/ Help save a forest by going to https://www.preservebuttonhook.org/

To listen to past TMSOG shows go to:  https://hudsonriverradio.com/https://malcolmpresents.com and https://themanyshadesofgreen.com/

Follow The Many Shades of Green on FB, Threads and Instagram @tmshadesofgreen and on Blue Sky @tmshadesofgreen.bsky.social. Listen to TMSOG podcasts on all major podcast apps.#RaiseYourEco&SocialConsciousness.  

A big shout out to Neil for all his engineering wizardry!

Stop Political Hobbyism: Use Civic Tech with Elisabeth Ashley, Founder of the civic engagement platform CivixThread and George Polisner, Founder of Civ.works

This week’s podcast opens with the Patti Smith tune  People Have the Power which is a rock anthem about collective agency, human unity, and the power of ordinary people to create massive social and political change.  Patti Smith Co-wrote the song with her late husband Fred “Sonic” Smith, and it serves as a timeless rallying cry for activism, hope, and justice. The central message is that true power rests not with governments or leaders, but in the hands of united citizens. The song urges people to overcome apathy, stand against war and injustice, and use their collective voice and collective will to reshape society. 

People have the power, and we need that power more than ever to effect change and right wrongs. We must have conversations about what affects every issue we cover on The Many Shades of Green podcast—from climate change and clean energy to public health, education, politics and our local communities. We need to focus on what we must do to stop the current dismantling of democracy. We can start by being proactive, participating and doing our civic duty to get those in power to defend and uphold the constitution. Democracy isn’t just something that happens every two or four years at the ballot box, and we need to participate daily. It’s built on informed citizens, thoughtful conversations, and being proactive. Democracy doesn’t thrive on its own, as it must be cultivated, cared for, and continually renewed. On this episode of TMSOG we explore why educating, informing, and engaging society is essential if democracy is to remain meaningful and resilient. The power to take action is within us all, and we must use it, or we will lose it. Also be sure to check your voter registration and have a plan to vote!

To get some insight into the need to engage society into being more civic minded, we have two amazing guests on the program who give us great information. Elisabeth Ashley is the founder of CivixThread, a civic engagement platform focused on verified participation. Elisabeth holds a B.S. in Computer Science and is currently enrolled in Columbia University’s Al Engineering Executive Program. She has a full-stack background, with experience as an Application Developer, Database Developer, and is now a Software Engineer. We also have George Polisner on the program. George is the founder of Civ.works and he is our resident political analyst, environmentalist and favorite curmudgeon. 

 We delve into how we can work to create a more meaningful democracy, and we talk about the importance of civic responsibility and education. In addition we discuss the normalization of what is going on in plain sight. We are becoming numb to news of fires, floods, tariffs, war, ICE, the Epstein files and more, as we deal with chaos each day. The most recent health related chaos is lettuce tainted with cyclospora, and the news explaining how it can cause “explosive diarrhea.” That word usage is far from normal. So what we can do to be proactive in making good trouble? A meaningful democracy isn’t someone else’s responsibility, it belongs to all of us. For more information go to: https://civixthread.com/ and https://civ.works/

To help defend democracy please donate if you can to help lawyers defend our constitution by going to:  https://www.aclu.org/  https:/ /www.brennancenter.org/  https://libertyjusticecenter.org/ 

To help protect the environment visit and please donate to  https://earthjustice.org  and https://action.nrdc.org/ Help save a forest by going to https://www.preservebuttonhook.org/

To listen to past TMSOG shows go to:  https://hudsonriverradio.com/https://malcolmpresents.com and https://themanyshadesofgreen.com/

Follow The Many Shades of Green on FB, Threads and Instagram @tmshadesofgreen and on Blue Sky @tmshadesofgreen.bsky.social. Listen to TMSOG podcasts on all major podcast apps.#RaiseYourEco&SocialConsciousness.  

A big shout out to Neil for all his engineering wizardry!