Moving Foward So It's Time To Build a Team.
As the world wakes up from its coronavirus sleep, its a time for new beginnings and fresh thinking.
My third story to NewsBreak is a history of the University of Maine beginning with its founding as a land grant college, which was very controversial in the US Congress, at the time argued to be an instance of the federal government using wealth redistribution to expand its powers beyond those enumerated in the United States Constitution.
Senator John Bell argued that “a hundred million acres of public lands had been given for objects not specifically defined in the Constitution”, setting a precedent for distributing federal wealth to further undefined objects of government.
The story, Maine's Deeply Rooted Cultural and Economic Divide Played Out in the Birth of The University of Maine received a 9 (out of 10) CV rating. That means I am writing the type of content that NewsBreak wants. Whoopie! My confidence level is up, and more than that because I have strongly held beliefs about the importance of local media and how it shapes our society at its roots.
Anyone following me knows that one of my central themes is the importance of Constitutions. There was a time in the early days of the Union when people carried the Constitution around in their pockets, but today people easily forget their Constitutions and then are suddenly surprised if the law happens to apply to them, be it powerful politicians writing laws for special interests or people storming the capital to put an end to a constitutional process, they all share a lack of awareness of the shared social agreement that is the Constitution, as a wide-spread social attitude that has penetrated at every level.
And so it seems my vision of what media should be is somewhere on the same wavelength as NewsBreak, one of the rising new ways of delivering the news. My articles are featured with larger images, reserved for sporadic stories in the NewsBreak (Maine State level) stream. The larger-sized images likely reflect a higher CV score, so one can see which stores have been awarded a CV score of at least above 5 by the size of the picture.
As I am writing this, my fourth story was published with only a CV of 5, generally considered good but a disappointment for me. The display picture is still large, I have heard that 5CV is the line of distinction for a higher rate of pay, wherever one reaches that status, so it probably applies to image size as well. One has to use one’s own instincts as to why the CV is what it is.
I started blogging because I didn’t find the kind of discussion I wanted to see in the local media. Not too long ago, I submitted a letter to Lincoln Country News and the Boothbay Register, about the upcoming Pine Tree Zone legislation. Lincoln County News refused to publish it and the editor of the Boothbay Register, the town where I grew up and Andersen Design was established, asked me where I was from but did publish the letter.
In stark contrast, NewsBreak gives me a CV rating of 8 out of 10 for a story about what happened the last time the Pine Tree Zone was up for renewal. This is a different ball game.
The story about the University of Maine is seeing an increase in views in a one-to-one relationship to impressions, indicating a targeted distribution. My followers are still listed as none but people have told me that they followed me on Newsbreak, not reflected in the dashboard report. You can follow me on NewsBreak on my profile.
In other news, my paper status on Humanities and Social Sciences Communications has moved on to having an editor but so far I do not know who that is- but good to know it’s moving through the process.
Green Party News
On the Green Party front, Justin Beth has been talking with Devyn Cambell, who has expressed interest in another run for Boothbay Harbor Town selectman. Devyn has not committed to running as a Green but the conversations are a start. The Green Party is small and under-financed (donate here) but the people are passionate.
Many people in public offices are retired because retired people have the time to run for office. The Green Party can help any candidate, including working people, to run by giving the candidate support with the time-consuming aspects of running for office.
The Green Party is looking for candidates to support. If you are interested in running, you can fill out this form or you can keep in touch with what the Green Party is doing by filling out this form:
MAINERS COMMITTED TO MORE CHOICE ON THE BALLOT!
Are You Ready For a Change?
If you're tired of seeing the same kind of Red and Blue candidates on the ballot, that can't seem to make progress for the people, you can do something about it. The Maine Green Independent Party is a party for Mainers to get something better out of politics. If you want change in the political gridlock, it's up to you to make it happen! Sign the Form Here!
Update on Forming the Andersen Design Museum of American Designer Craftsmen
Yesterday we had our first discussion with legal counsel over the process of forming an Andersen Design Museum of American Designer Craftsmen, which can have educational and economic development impact. as a 501(3)(C) functioning both as a museum and a fiscal sponsor for the designer-makers community of grassroots entrepreneurs.
Before we can move forward we need to form a board with a minimum of three members because we also need three directors who will also be board members. The directors will have the offices of President, Secretary, and Treasurer. We need to form this board to move forward with the non-profit incorporation. The board is utterly essential. I have gotten to the point where I have the legal support to get through the process, which would be very expensive otherwise, but the museum needs people's support. The Museum should be run by people other than ourselves, not only because Andersen Design as designers, makers, and teachers, needs to be able to apply for fiscal sponsorship through the museum, but because a private entity can be politically involved while a 501(30(C) organization cannot.
The lawyer recommended contacting the Maine Association of Non-profits. I saw a distant relative is on the board and sent a letter of inquiry for support in forming a board.
I wondered why, when we were fiscally sponsored to create a museum through Fractured Atlas, and sought some help in the process from local leaders in government and non-profit organizations, none of the local support systems mentioned the Maine Association of Non-profits to us. One forthright community leader told me that there are so many non-profit organizations in our local region that they are in competition with one another for boards and money and that is why they do not want to support a new non-profit. The kind of people I would want on a board are people interested in the designer-craftsmen process and community. There are many foundations and other sources of non-profit funding available to the hand-crafted community, as well as foundations whose purpose is to fund the real estate needed for a museum. I don’t see our purpose as in competition with other non-profit organizations formed for completely different purposes. We bring our unique assets to the table, which includes our historical provenance which does pull some weight, but we know we need to also have a team who will be on the board and help us to bring a vision into being.
If you have an interest in being part of an interesting new project that involves history, creativity, economic development, and fresh thinking about affordable housing, please send an introduction HERE and tell of your interest and qualifications, including the word Museum in your subject.