And the day before it was "energy." At least it was in the Congressional Record according to the Sunlight Foundation's Capitol Words project.

With all the noise from the people campaigning to govern it is easy to forget that there is still governing going on. So, in the spirit of "policy, not (much) politics," here's a summary of some interesting non-campaign activities of note.

After all, it is Friday afternoon before a three-day weekend. You can afford to take a few minutes to learn more about Sara Palin and maybe have a quiet chuckle...

Matthew Burton has a vision of supporting government with an open software platform managed by a foundation. A "Mozilla for government" if you will. He'll be online today at 2pm answering questions and taking comments about this vision as well as his other projects. Join in!

You can never leave the safety of the beltway without missing something. More twitter-dome news breaks while I'm at the beach. The Gray Lady runs with the story but misses the point. Representative Culberson makes a constructive intervention and apologizes for going partisan. Could this be progress?

Twitter in a teacup is officially downgraded from a kerfuffle to a mere brouhaha. Still, there are lessons to learn about how to communicate with Congress and who owns the infrastructure we use.

Joshua Tauberer, wizard and chief elf behind GovTrack, has added another layer of openness to a site that is pretty much see-through already.

Further proof that what happens in twitter doesn't necessarily stay in twitter is the continuing controversy over the use of new technology by Congresspeople (or over Democratic attempts to silence Republican tweets).

The Open House Project intends to "pave the cow paths" of the US House of Representatives. In the mean time, its email list has timely and stimulating discussion of technology, the House, and more. Project director, John Wonderlich, will be answering your questions live and online on Thursday, July 10.

I finished reading rebooting america on the 4th of July - 44 essays by very thoughtful people. You can read it too on dead tree or electrons. Here are some of my favorite bits.