[sudo-discuss] It's Unconscionable

[Daniel Finlay]

Anca's right, this is a huge opportunity.

Lower dues, anyone?

Here's my caricature of opportunism, feel free to tune down the tone to your tact level of preference:

The admonition of lockpicking classes by the Mayor and Police Chief of Oakland are as unconscionable as the thefts they purport to be in fear of.  While the alarmists claim that publicly available lockpicking classes may promote criminal activity, they lose sight that this class is in the context of a larger public enrichment.
 
Despite being only a few months old, Sudoroom has already made itself host to a wide variety of educational, cooperative, and even marketable skill-building classes and events for hundreds of local residents.  From programming computers and 3-D printing to curing cheese and modifying DNA, Sudo Room is a free, community sponsored place for fostering the collaborative creativity that comes with groups full of intellectual curiosity in a time of as much change and development as this one.
 
In a time where people's opportunities might lead them to crime, perhaps we ought to provide better alternatives rather than stupefying the public as a form of self defense.
 
Let us address the cause of this sickness rather than try to snuff out its symptoms, and give ourselves access to an unfettered flow of knowledge and opportunity.  We encourage you to participate in this local renaissance, by visiting the Sudoroom yourself, and taking part in any of the classes of your interest.  You can always find the upcoming events at sudoroom.org/calendar, or just stop by almost any time to join your neighbors in their curious pursuits.

Feel free to fork it at https://gist.github.com/flyswatter/5070131

-Dan



On Mar 1, 2013, at 11:27 PM, Anca Mosoiu <anca at techliminal.com> wrote:

> 
> On Fri, Mar 1, 2013 at 6:35 PM, Michael Scroggins <michaeljscroggins at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> The sentence implicitly draws a difference of kind between the lock picking class and the other Workshop Weekend classes. Doing so invites the question: What is the difference that makes broadcasting this workshop (in the way it was) regrettable?  In an environment where the mayor, the chief of police and the media have all given the same answer - the class breeds criminals - allowing that question is regrettable.
> 
> It's regrettable because it gave some easy pickings for the people who want to portray Oakland, and the current administration, in a certain way. Many of the people who are upset about the workshop aren't upset about lockpicking, they're upset that Jean Quan appears to encourage crime in her newsletter.
> 
> It's regrettable because it sucked up airwaves and mental effort that might have been better spent.
> 
> Drafting a reasoned and reasonable response lowers the blood pressure of the people who are up in arms just because they aren't informed.  Some of them will come around, especially if they understand the actual intent of the class.  
> 
> Eddan, I'd like to participate in writing a statement. I was really taken aback when I read some of the emails and talked to some of the people who were actually upset.
> 
> The media storm will blow over with the next foot-in-mouth opportunity from a local politician, but we have a great opportunity to reach out while the world is looking.    
> 
> Anca.
> 
>  
> -- 
> -=-=-=-
> Anca Mosoiu | Tech Liminal
> anca at techliminal.com
> M: (510) 220-6660
> http://techliminal.com | T: @techliminal | F: facebook.com/techliminal
> _______________________________________________
> sudo-discuss mailing list
> sudo-discuss at lists.sudoroom.org
> http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/sudo-discuss

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://sudoroom.org/pipermail/sudo-discuss/attachments/20130302/ab04e1c2/attachment.html>