What to do about this... (Score 2)

Does the following blurb sound familiar:

...and in other news, at the *INSERT GOVERNMENTAL BODY HERE*, new legislation was passed that changes your rights *INSERT FUBARED RIGHTS HERE*. While there were a few objections voiced by citizens, elected officials praised the legislation a shining example of democracy in action.

First off, you need to start hitting CSPAN.org and thomas.gov. Those sites offer coverage of the meetings and events that happen BEFORE legislation makes it to the floor, at least on the national level. Some states' cable providers offer televised local and state coverage as well. Then you need to get people to watch those sites. Of course, nobody really watches those sites; given a choice between football, survivor, and cspan coverage, cspan will always be the loser.

Most news media makes no money on letting people know about legislative hearings and sessions before something hits the floor. Part of this is because the news media doesn't want to be in the business of trying to interpret laws for the public. The other side of it is that many of their stories come from governmental contacts and favors- and if you piss on someone's pet project, then you get less help later on (like when you need a building permit to make alterations to your office).

Right now, I am working on the problem of hidden legislation and what to do about it. I just moved to the capitol of my state, and I am finding further problems in that local governments do not offer any of their schedules, legislative copy, or postings in any kind of electronic form. In some cases, "last-minute" notices requesting community input are posted next to the printing office, which is in the basement of a building that you have to pass through a metal detector during business hours in order to reach. It is not as bad with the state, but the level of obfuscation on public hearing locations and names of legislation is truly astounding.

Something else for everyone here to think about- if you are finding it hard to make a living doing tech and science work, maybe you should consider taking a year or two off and going to law school. Really, activism only can go so far, and if it is not backed up with real experience and knowledge it ends up going nowhere fast.