iCan is a new website set up by the BBC to let people discuss local issues and team up with other citizens to effect change, by using a clever combination of forums, locational information and databases. Some issues they’re tackling are schools, anti-social behaviour, litter, traffic and so on.
So, why are people whining about iCan? These people say that iCan is merely covering ‘minutiae’ that no-one cares about and should instead be about the war in Iraq or global relations. Whoa there – sure, people care about the war and George Bush. But they also care about litter, graffiti, local crime and traffic – to dismiss them as being minutiae is deeply patronising (a charge they make against the BBC, amusingly enough).
It’s ridiculous to expect iCan to solve all of the country’s problems, and downright foolish to think that it would cover such topics as the war, given that it’s being run by the BBC. However, iCan has the potential to change many other issues that people truly do care about, and that should be enough for anybody.
mssv 
Agreed – the whingers and whiners should channel their energy into supporting the iCan forums. Through local change national change can emerge – and there are so many things that have their roots at a local level. From little acorns, big…. etc.
AVI