GEOpdx

The secret to creativity is curiosity.

We often forget to teach kids to be curious. A student who has no perceived math ability, or illegible handwriting or the inability to sit still for five minutes gets immediate and escalating attention. The student with no curiosity, on the other hand, is no problem at all. Lumps are easily managed.

Same thing is true for most of the people we hire. We'd like them to follow instructions, not ask questions, not question the status quo.

Yet, without "why?" there can be no, "here's how to make it better."

This post by Seth Godin very much struck a chord for me because of my current circumstances.  I work for relatively progressive government agency that hasn't really caught on to open government or the true power of social networking tools.    To give the agency deserved credit they are slowly investigating those things and have loads of talented people.   

I have seen my share of strange looks as I describe government 2.0 ideas.  I don't really blame them because I'm not in a position where people need to listen.   My current job does not entail a government 2.0 projects or disturbing the current order of things.  I'm defeated by silos more often than not and people that are resisting change.

The problem is that I have a warped sense of the way things should work.  People that have some ideas or passion about something should follow their hearts.  I feel like I have something to contribute so I keep trying.  I believe it's important.

I have felt like a fraud lately.  I interact with people that have often been charged with helping to transform government organizations.  When asked who I represent I say I represent myself.  I share stories and write posts that advocate change but I'm mostly stuck in my own bunker.

Am I just feeling sorry for myself?  How do I pitch these ideas without sounding like a loon? Your thoughts would be a great help.

ABC 7, a local news organization in the DC area seems to have reported a starkly different set of events than many other news outlets. They reported that "The gun belonged to a uniformed officer who showed up with his pistol out of the holster -- he did not point it at anyone." They sort of gloss over all of the pictures and videos showing an unidentified man walking around with his gun drawn.  He later identified himself as a police officer himself.

They also state that the crowd was full of anti-war protesters that caused the situation to take a turn for the worse. I have reviewed all of the video posted to youtube and can't see the situation they are describing. You can see an anti-war protest sign in the small group talking to the 2 officers. It's still not clear how this group caused the officer to pull his sidearm. [UPDATED]

The video above has been edited to show a sequence much different than the original video from youtube. To be fair, some of the youtube video has been edited as well to show small snippets. Yesterday I made the point that Mark Drapeau's post on government always being on the record when web 2.0 tools are present was reinforced by this event. Today I feel like the story has broadened somewhat to include the local ABC affilate in DC. This raises some interesting questions about the role of traditional media in reporting on government activities. Web 2.0 tools like youtube and twitter seem to be holding the news media accountable as well.

I wasn't there, so I don't know the exact events. I did see video posted in near real time that appeared to be largely unedited. Did ABC editorialize the news here to present as different event than what actually happened? Many other news outlets were more neutral about the source material or seemed to paint a different picture. Did ABC 7 live up to their responsibility of holding government accountable here? I encourage you to follow some of the links below and read other news reports. What do you think? Who do you beleive?

Related Posts

Related News Stories

Snowball Fight Gun Video: D.C. Cop Draws Gun at Snowball Fight - CBS

Snowballs vs. gun? -- latimes.com

I had just started reading Mark Drapeau's post about government needing to always be on the record in the presence of web 2.0 tools - when I saw a tweet about a DC cop pulling a gun on a snowball fight. The snowball fight in question had been organized via twitter and had started pelting the plain clothes officers maroon hummer with snowballs as it passed. I almost feel sorry for the officer in the video. The picts of him walking through the snow with a gun and video of him responding to irate citizens are sure to hit a broader media audience at some point today.

Mark's post captured a new truth and this incident served to punctuate his point.

More Picts and Related articles (will update with mainstream media stories later):

Twitter Snowball Fight Leads to Cop Brandishing Gun - Mashable

Police check whether officer drew gun during snowball fight - CNN

US policeman 'draws gun' at Washington snowball fight - BBC

D.C. snowball fight 'fun and games' until gun appears - washingtonpost

Snowball Fight Takes Dark Turn - ABC 7 News