tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28168550426017859162024-03-07T16:26:36.037-08:00Abolition 2.0Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565214998682254305noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-89271153603186229522018-09-05T14:22:00.000-07:002018-09-05T17:16:27.055-07:00wedding prelim 2018<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565214998682254305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-46194303994612049712013-03-09T15:57:00.001-08:002013-03-09T15:57:50.585-08:00Joining up to promote "A Fierce Green Fire"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJuWPtWw4LtpdOXWYVBpCaKWSf_dxPobzS3qBS7qG1VJZe-X6Z5VQWpOdWP3lkrFTWCwdpzDxR9lrHOvdgLaIjNsTSnAP9paXvWLi7lekBqzb_XqLRcHiDIH4LjkVyJryZn9q2jQQ78Rw/s1600/fierce+green.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJuWPtWw4LtpdOXWYVBpCaKWSf_dxPobzS3qBS7qG1VJZe-X6Z5VQWpOdWP3lkrFTWCwdpzDxR9lrHOvdgLaIjNsTSnAP9paXvWLi7lekBqzb_XqLRcHiDIH4LjkVyJryZn9q2jQQ78Rw/s320/fierce+green.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For a while now, I’ve been looking for a way to join in the
effort to fight back against climate change. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>I’ve discovered what seems like an excellent best
path and I want to offer an invitation to join me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Earlier this week I got a chance to meet Mark Kitchell and
see his feature documentary “A Fierce Green Fire –The Battle for a Living
Planet”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It covers the 50-year history
of the environmental movement and tells the story of how we’ve won past
struggles. As a result, it inspires and shows us how to win the climate change
battle. <cite><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Cara
Mertes, Director, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program says</span></cite><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> “The material is vast and it’s an
incredibly dynamic film. It’s shaping up to be the documentary of record on the
environmental movement. I think it’ll be hugely successful.”</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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This is the critical moment that will decide how successful
the film will be in helping build momentum against climate change. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The film opens in theaters in San Francisco,
Berkeley, and L.A. this Friday, March 15.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you live nearby, or know of anyone who does, you can be
instrumental.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s easy:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Take 2 minutes <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to
view the trailer on the film’s website: <a href="http://www.afiercegreenfire.com/trailer.html">http://www.afiercegreenfire.com/trailer.html</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Go to the event page to find the location, show times, and
special guests. Click the “Join” button and invite susceptible friends on
Facebook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can also buy tickets.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span>San Francisco - <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/496255163744607/">https://www.facebook.com/events/496255163744607/</a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span>Berkeley - <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/398452350250007/">https://www.facebook.com/events/398452350250007/</a>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span>L.A. -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/575815405764120/">https://www.facebook.com/events/575815405764120/</a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<b>Other showings: </b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<strong> San Rafael: Smith Rafael Film Center – opens March 15<sup>th</sup></strong><br />
1118 Fourth St., San Rafael<br />
Showtimes and tickets: <a href="http://cafilm.org/" style="color: #336699; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">http://cafilm.org</a> or call <a href="tel:%28415%29%20454-1222" target="_blank" value="+14154541222"><span class="skype_pnh_container" dir="ltr" tabindex="-1"><span class="skype_pnh_highlighting_inactive_common" dir="ltr"><span class="skype_pnh_text_span">(415) 454-1222</span></span> </span></a> </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<strong> Washington, DC: National Geographic Live! / Environmental Film Festival -- March 19<sup>th</sup></strong> <br />
National Geographic Society, 1600 M St. NW, Washington, DC<br />
7:30pm<br />
<a href="http://events.nationalgeographic.com/events/films/2013/03/19/fierce-green-fire/" style="color: #336699; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Tickets</a> (or <a href="http://www.dcenvironmentalfilmfest.org/films/show/1008" style="color: #336699; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">http://www.<wbr></wbr>dcenvironmentalfilmfest.org/<wbr></wbr>films/show/1008</a> or <a href="tel:202-857-7700" target="_blank" value="+12028577700"><span class="skype_pnh_container" dir="ltr" tabindex="-1"><span class="skype_pnh_highlighting_inactive_common" dir="ltr"><span class="skype_pnh_text_span">202-857-7700</span></span> </span></a>)<br />
Mark Kitchell appears for intro and Q&A<br />
<br />
<strong>Hudson, NY: Time and Space Limited -- March 14-17 & 22-23</strong><br />
434 Columbia St Hudson, NY 12534<br />
<a href="http://timeandspace.org/events" style="color: #336699; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">http://timeandspace.org/events</a><br />
<br />
<strong>New Orleans, LA: Zeitgeist Multi-disciplinary Arts Center – opens March 19<sup>th</sup></strong><br />
1618 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. <br />
<a href="http://www.zeitgeistinc.net/" style="color: #336699; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">http://www.zeitgeistinc.net</a></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
Thanks!</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565214998682254305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-65940211227520830042012-07-23T12:14:00.001-07:002012-09-26T16:23:53.935-07:00Early Lesson Learned<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ4dBgqK82yTuel1RHd_tscZu7Ljnb-t0PiGaRN2w4nOjPjE194LGXOSLtz5obCzEItkCKIfShZmnr3z-iEGZjhoRVqzoemGxCA82FaN3gH2H6ODiTIC-JKd8vv-awyCcMvIm4vqzWXTo/s1600/gradeschool+HA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ4dBgqK82yTuel1RHd_tscZu7Ljnb-t0PiGaRN2w4nOjPjE194LGXOSLtz5obCzEItkCKIfShZmnr3z-iEGZjhoRVqzoemGxCA82FaN3gH2H6ODiTIC-JKd8vv-awyCcMvIm4vqzWXTo/s320/gradeschool+HA.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I was a relatively good student in the Ada, Oklahoma school system. My
older siblings were really smart so our common teachers expected the
same of me: “Oh, you’re Tisha and Jim’s brother.” <br />
<br />
For the most part I performed up to expectations. I remember at home we
had a 20 volume set of encyclopedias on the bottom shelf and I would
stand with my back to it and reach between my legs to randomly pull out
one of volumes and read it from start to finish. In the third grade I
won an award for reading the most books. (I also remember that I beat
out the competition by selecting only thin books with large type and
lots of pictures.) That same year my class was carrying chairs out of
the auditorium and our teacher asked us to be careful, so I walked up
the stairs taking a half step at a time. I liked it when she called out
to the rest of the class to pay attention to my careful method.<br />
<br />
But one day my academic voyage hit some heavy weather. There was a kid
who lived around the corner, Billy Keith Gray, who was not a great
student. His home was smaller than mine and my parents discouraged me
from playing with him. I remember one year he learned I had invited
others to a birthday party and he offered me a dime if I would include
him. I declined. In fourth grade, in Mrs. England’s class, he sat in
front of me. He occasionally tied my shoelaces together. <br />
<br />
We were studying U.S. history, which I loved, and one assignment was
to create maps showing what sort of products came from different parts
of the country. I actually took it step further and used real objects
to represent what was produced. My South was full of wads of cotton
which I took from the medicine cabinet. I procured coal from somewhere.
I thought it was pretty cool.<br />
<br />
Our teacher gave us a Monday deadline and my map was ready to go. But
some students were slow. On Monday, Mrs. England announced that we could
have an extra day. <br />
<br />
Why did that make me so mad? We weren’t being graded on the curve after all. <br />
<br />
“Liar” I heard myself whisper. <br />
<br />
Mrs. England asked me if I had said something. I said no. <br />
<br />
Billy Keith corrected me. “He called you a liar.” <br />
<br />
Mrs. England said nothing for a long moment and moved on to the lesson. <br />
<br />
Later she asked me to stay after class. This made me anxious but I
hoped it was because she wanted to congratulate me on my map. Instead
she told me that I had to tell my mother what I’d called her.<br />
<br />
When I got home I burst into tears. My mother was supportive. She
didn’t think it was that big of a deal. But the episode shook me up.
<br />
<br />
I don’t remember much about the aftermath. I must have been extremely
relieved to have avoided deeper trouble. I later realized something like
suspension was a possibility. At least a B in Citizenship. But it
passed. This shot of humility was undoubtedly a good thing for me then,
and it stayed with me in my later student days. I hope.<br />
<br />
Thank you Mrs. England, and thank you Mom. I appreciate your patience.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01565214998682254305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-1907474004674747782012-03-15T11:29:00.007-07:002012-03-22T09:34:04.205-07:00The Hero’s Journey – The Story of How We Reverse Climate Change<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">What’s the story? Do you feel the dramatic tension at this point in history? Despite years of high-level political struggle against climate change, the rate of carbon emissions worldwide increased 5.8 percent from 2009 to 2010. Even Obama seems unable to make reduction of carbon use a priority and instead calls for the expansion of oil drilling in the Arctic and deep offshore. How will we reverse climate change? The ending of this story is still being written. </span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2cdaf-s3w720YdETYhMKaO-i5ENngX-51Cf6NMAlhj1YLsJkTn1Ag4K-8XLvBisaYHPXM4wDWyotpTDIqxydZRNnheJXxNnBjaHOdvMumOwc_AUUA8-JR21noJqTdX3bznlhU5pkaZamC/s1600/443668-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2cdaf-s3w720YdETYhMKaO-i5ENngX-51Cf6NMAlhj1YLsJkTn1Ag4K-8XLvBisaYHPXM4wDWyotpTDIqxydZRNnheJXxNnBjaHOdvMumOwc_AUUA8-JR21noJqTdX3bznlhU5pkaZamC/s200/443668-L.jpg" width="120" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Long ago, and, it feels, far away, I worked in interactive storytelling and learned about the Hero’s Journey, a dramatic structure identified by Joseph Campbell in “The Hero With a Thousand Faces.” This type of story forms the backbone of countless myths and quite a few movie scripts. In a common plot point, the main character refuses a challenge to act heroically. There’s a problem on the horizon, but the path to action is not clear, or perhaps others will assume responsibility. In Star Wars, Luke initially refuses Obi Wan’s request to join the rebel effort, saying he must tend the farm instead. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5tvflQarBZFUF6dpK4-L2qwBk1wKcl_KPYCh1Ip9SdVf2mN13w8Epx-TIXymaiHDW8kCS0UGLB_UoLSePs3uki7eoaTMjzCpGse_Ug1wfOPm4qV4OvMTGbO92SunAtkAYb7BAmhT-9y17/s1600/inconvient.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5tvflQarBZFUF6dpK4-L2qwBk1wKcl_KPYCh1Ip9SdVf2mN13w8Epx-TIXymaiHDW8kCS0UGLB_UoLSePs3uki7eoaTMjzCpGse_Ug1wfOPm4qV4OvMTGbO92SunAtkAYb7BAmhT-9y17/s200/inconvient.jpg" width="100" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I’m not sure when I first heard about global warming, but Al Gore’s PowerPoint-turned-video “An Inconvenient Truth” was a clear call to action. And in response I recycled more. I drove less. I put in more twisted light bulbs. But I didn’t feel like a hero. The threat was clear but my deeper role was not. </span></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
And I guess I assumed someone else was going to solve the problem. But I’ve lost that sense now. Climate change is not being reversed, it’s getting worse.</span>.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXtfHUdGp-ovpTZcx5PpuM3zCnAkWnrIe51jZdWVtia1A8iaT9kvNu18BazvqpoeiDHKD9vv3sCXonzUsWtlpO3pC1XwYSNIlbbttCxr2vjtBxZUanCX6xaOjq2V8Ablla1ocf4JJ3-Z8U/s1600/solar-panels-school-children.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXtfHUdGp-ovpTZcx5PpuM3zCnAkWnrIe51jZdWVtia1A8iaT9kvNu18BazvqpoeiDHKD9vv3sCXonzUsWtlpO3pC1XwYSNIlbbttCxr2vjtBxZUanCX6xaOjq2V8Ablla1ocf4JJ3-Z8U/s200/solar-panels-school-children.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Last month I heard about a brand new organization, Solar Mosaic, that created a way to for individuals to take matters into their own hands. You can directly reduce carbon emissions by lending money to others to install solar panels. Typically, the panels are installed in community institutions–your local school for example. You and other community members can lend $100 or more to fund an installation. And everyone wins. The school (or other project host) gets interest-free financing for solar panels. Their reduced energy bill pays back your investment over time. And meanwhile, you’ve directly slowed climate change.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">This breakthrough presents a whole new opportunity, a path so clear that it embodies a call to action: “If not you, who? If not now, when?” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiouX1HANUDQYGaaKMES7NUH37YPS4hfhRDjbTgsQXOI4iItGuq81PIUod6ffKz7n3FiDjfDbS_zIcO5S2v87GCd5spp1AQVEFmc_z0hs27M8-iUpGqd9m9nxYkYXMdZkwWXHg13TcxHLQy/s1600/solar+mosiac+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiouX1HANUDQYGaaKMES7NUH37YPS4hfhRDjbTgsQXOI4iItGuq81PIUod6ffKz7n3FiDjfDbS_zIcO5S2v87GCd5spp1AQVEFmc_z0hs27M8-iUpGqd9m9nxYkYXMdZkwWXHg13TcxHLQy/s200/solar+mosiac+logo.jpg" width="140" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Essentially, Solar Mosaic offers you the role of the hero. But in order to fully assume the role, and to reverse the momentum of climate change, mere participation is not enough. Today the hero must also reach out to others and lead them to act, so that each of them can respond to the call and be a hero. Solar Mosaic staff will make it simple for you to recruit your friends and family to join you as investors in an existing project. And they will guide you through the process of identifying a new installation site and organizing a new cluster of community supporters. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">In this way you can be a spark that ignites the struggle against climate change. This is your chance to help create an overwhelming force, like last summer’s Texas wildfires, and cause installations to sprout up around the world, supported by tens of millions of heroes. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">But how will this movie play out? In Star Wars, Luke only accepts the hero’s role after the murder of his aunt and uncle. Will we leave it to others and wait until climate change has caused terrible damage so that reversing its effects is even more daunting? Or will we accept the Solar Mosaic challenge now and embrace the role of the hero? The next chapter is up to you. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Consider taking the first step of the Hero’s Journey: Watch this 1-minute video</span>:<br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-90944295442597332862012-03-01T10:30:00.006-08:002013-05-14T11:35:09.695-07:00Peer-to-Peer Recruitment Via Sub-Communities<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoE3wINZGcUHp_G5AORPi8JJ1uq9KUmneK9mvDB1fa3NkdV8E_jDbf6AnhtbzqY3E9IIYK4o2OMDNRhTH-YvZBe99TSSGuBhXx0UG4DhTcF23yHrmBMrr1Dk7mZp1gvWCUPw_vVmw9KI9e/s1600/hands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoE3wINZGcUHp_G5AORPi8JJ1uq9KUmneK9mvDB1fa3NkdV8E_jDbf6AnhtbzqY3E9IIYK4o2OMDNRhTH-YvZBe99TSSGuBhXx0UG4DhTcF23yHrmBMrr1Dk7mZp1gvWCUPw_vVmw9KI9e/s200/hands.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The most cost-effective way to build an online movement is through peer-to-peer recruitment. The key challenge is to give supporters both an incentive to reach out to others and an effective method for enlisting their sympathetic friends. <ins cite="mailto:Colburn,%20Caroline" datetime="2012-03-22T14:32"></ins>People are more likely to recruit their friends—and friends are more likely to accept—if the cause seems specific to an identity they share.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW09ra_DqtQE1ftqz4W6j2n7-IRMVv8zvmjgaLoZbuYO1NwxxYkZwpbhE-flyUpkh4qHejKQAusq1XqEHVIOSS_AntHbtFIFPh-3UECvl-YxaldYBIoTB8aBfcUFTMrpOVQ-8alsPNt0G-/s1600/domestic-violence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW09ra_DqtQE1ftqz4W6j2n7-IRMVv8zvmjgaLoZbuYO1NwxxYkZwpbhE-flyUpkh4qHejKQAusq1XqEHVIOSS_AntHbtFIFPh-3UECvl-YxaldYBIoTB8aBfcUFTMrpOVQ-8alsPNt0G-/s200/domestic-violence.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Let’s take the case of a national advocacy organization: “Americans Against Domestic Violence.” Building the constituency could be greatly accelerated by creating informal sub-communities of supporters based on a more specific identity. For example, since I grew up in Oklahoma, I would probably have more success inviting my high school buddies to connect with “Oklahomans Against Domestic Violence” than recruiting them to join the national organization. And those who accepted the Oklahoma connection would be much more likely to spread the word to their fellow Oklahomans. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJYnGOQG0W3vtswxSHIqR-Ev0YLuSEc9ffXmp6UW9CeULgNT7BAYlvTSftCwKCbN1kVvqBGKTKw5pSSeK26RnRw6r-WsGlCjusyfZvTYmRbxw7uNKX_fdLv5EAirXC2a6FSTl4lp0pi8D6/s1600/oklahoma-dvdcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJYnGOQG0W3vtswxSHIqR-Ev0YLuSEc9ffXmp6UW9CeULgNT7BAYlvTSftCwKCbN1kVvqBGKTKw5pSSeK26RnRw6r-WsGlCjusyfZvTYmRbxw7uNKX_fdLv5EAirXC2a6FSTl4lp0pi8D6/s200/oklahoma-dvdcover.jpg" width="135" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Continuing with the geographic identity example, once the initial states had been selected, Americans Against Domestic Violence (AADV) could create a Facebook page and online petition site for each state, co-branded with AADV and the state-specific name. Each site would offer members a chance to pledge support for AADV’s goals and to recruit their fellow community members to the cause. AADV could email (and direct mail) its current list in each state to ask supporters to become the charter members for their community and to reach out to people within their state.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Although the recruitment would be state-focused, the goal would be to collect email addresses that could be used for general AADV communication and fundraising. AADV could also post general messages and campaigns on each state-specific Facebook page. In addition, certain volunteers in each state could be given administrative power to post state-specific content <ins cite="mailto:Colburn,%20Caroline" datetime="2012-03-22T14:37"></ins> relevant to</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span>their own communities. <br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">This state-specific strategy offers a great opportunity to concentrate movement-building efforts on those states that are key to passing AADV legislation. Even Congressional districts can be targeted via Facebook ads. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Many people would be motivated to sign up, because taking a stand as, for example, an “Oklahoman Against Domestic Violence” is a powerful way to show pride in the state. A sense of competition can be developed between the states—for example by pointing out that the number of supporters of the Texas fan page has just surpassed Oklahoma’s. The use of Google maps to show the locations of supporters in each state could provide further incentive to join. It could be especially effective to display <ins cite="mailto:Colburn,%20Caroline" datetime="2012-03-22T14:38"></ins>AAD</span>V<br />
<ins cite="mailto:Colburn,%20Caroline" datetime="2012-03-22T14:38"></ins>supporters alongside domestic violence crime locations on the same map.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">While geographic communities offer certain <ins cite="mailto:Colburn,%20Caroline" datetime="2012-03-22T14:39"></ins>distinct advantages identified above, it would also be wise to test communities based on other aspects of identity, such as colleges (students or alumni), professional sports team affiliations<ins cite="mailto:Colburn,%20Caroline" datetime="2012-03-22T14:40"></ins>, careers, or employers. All of these examples leverage bonds of shared community and opportunities to express pride in one’s group. Because people are more likely to accept an invitation to join an informal community based on shared identity, this approach encourages effective peer-to-peer recruitment and should result in the rapid growth of an organization’s supporters. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3QbbFrRPrhg-51_CGn67Cg45Zijw9m0CMwSx11nWh6Mxg8fDCrY2gLUq6tYNf249JTHvhCfKF9e_xAEMtG79MFvjfye5hjrAWBDR-HMfKXJX-wonDE0S5BP5xTl33juBaUxR92hlm0DVC/s1600/sf+49ers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3QbbFrRPrhg-51_CGn67Cg45Zijw9m0CMwSx11nWh6Mxg8fDCrY2gLUq6tYNf249JTHvhCfKF9e_xAEMtG79MFvjfye5hjrAWBDR-HMfKXJX-wonDE0S5BP5xTl33juBaUxR92hlm0DVC/s320/sf+49ers.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">S.F 49er Fans Against Domestic Violence? Willing to join?</td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-36336388443648385372012-02-15T12:36:00.000-08:002012-03-08T14:54:59.756-08:00Why Sign? Can Online Petitions Create Change?Many people deride online petitions as <a href="http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/petition/internet.asp">ineffective "Slacktivism"</a> or worse since they might deter someone from taking effective action by giving the false sense that the signer has made an impact. I disagree. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSQ593SRVMHgZcsMuWTWTblPiVq_NrqIj7dxhqbWJfL8xCbQjzBsTpg5eG029XDjmYb-EATfMIUzzPW_3Z9aE0XhjbzW3t2SnaToZwwwpB_jbgN3O90e9pRJZQDnrSZKo_LQpJCt_WYoJU/s1600/images+button.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSQ593SRVMHgZcsMuWTWTblPiVq_NrqIj7dxhqbWJfL8xCbQjzBsTpg5eG029XDjmYb-EATfMIUzzPW_3Z9aE0XhjbzW3t2SnaToZwwwpB_jbgN3O90e9pRJZQDnrSZKo_LQpJCt_WYoJU/s1600/images+button.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Petitions can be a critical channel of communication that can build awareness for many issues. They challenge individuals to decide whether or not to take a stand, and provide an easy way for people to publicize their opinions and recruit others to lend their support. Facebook can be an extraordinary medium to amplify this process because it can leverage an individual’s personal connections to help a campaign go viral and reach people who would otherwise never be touched. How else will my </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Oklahoma </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">high school buddies have a chance to consider same-sex civil rights?</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJtFEMOz8HwA0hQFTjm5jqMiuM23gkFk-F_IOa5GTLdQdPTs0pBCiL4Tsjdb3qKpUSvGmSA011Pi_7SyF8Gg_2Sm-tMXOwiKhjsWrs-2HKTLmjIwSlKk5PWAQQ9JzlbM1s7mB3ZOybcfsq/s1600/Food_Declaration_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJtFEMOz8HwA0hQFTjm5jqMiuM23gkFk-F_IOa5GTLdQdPTs0pBCiL4Tsjdb3qKpUSvGmSA011Pi_7SyF8Gg_2Sm-tMXOwiKhjsWrs-2HKTLmjIwSlKk5PWAQQ9JzlbM1s7mB3ZOybcfsq/s200/Food_Declaration_logo.jpg" width="148" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">At the same time, a petition like the <a href="http://fooddeclaration.org/">Food Declaration</a> can be an extremely effective way to expand your network of supporters who can help apply pressure on legislators and provide financial contributions. And, in my experience, those who sign up online are much more likely to respond to online requests for action than connections made via face-to-face canvassing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">But some petitions are more effective than others. Ideally they demand something that has a good chance of actually being achieved. For example, here's a petition campaign I drafted in response to a request to improve on an <a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-trader-joes-to-stop-wasting-food">existing petition on Change.org. </a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">First, to set the context, here's my wording of the text that introduces the issue on the campaign page:</span><br />
<h1 style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Tell Trader Joe’s: Don’t Dump Good Food</b></i></span></h1><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><i>Every year in America we throw out 96 billion pounds of food, much of it still good to eat. Grocery stores are dumping food every day that could feed hungry people.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><i>This is where we start to reverse this unacceptable waste of food. Trader Joe’s prides itself as “giving back to our local communities.” But the movie “Dive!” shows huge amounts of good food discarded in their dumpsters. </i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><i>Send a message to the grocery stores that you care about the environment and hungry people. Sign this petition to tell Trader Joe’s to act on its principles and cut its food waste in half. </i></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBtnuWzFi4712t7AlYsES8Qt5iIq8vbwWKaGgPf0hzXC1AEPTntU-_5pjT1wADCbE9J5LWdKV0ohS9BxDLz9-JcC_3kX21nFfq2wRkDY-FV4lQDVVmDXvLuZ63ZXvwQY0TKK_gk3QzyT3i/s1600/trader-joes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBtnuWzFi4712t7AlYsES8Qt5iIq8vbwWKaGgPf0hzXC1AEPTntU-_5pjT1wADCbE9J5LWdKV0ohS9BxDLz9-JcC_3kX21nFfq2wRkDY-FV4lQDVVmDXvLuZ63ZXvwQY0TKK_gk3QzyT3i/s200/trader-joes.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The original campaign asks: "</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Please initiate a Zero Food Waste corporate-wide policy!" I Googled "zero food waste policy" and couldn't find a definition for it. It sounded like a reference to a certification program, but I don't think one exists. Hopefully it will some day. In the mean time, Trader Joe's management hasn't responded to the petition even though it has 78,000 signatures.</span><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: inherit;">However, I doubt they ever will, since it asks for "zero waste" which is impossible. But what if we asked for something that they just might agree to? In my work at Roots of Change, I learned that the first step in reducing environmental impact is just to measure it. So my "demand" would be for <b>Trader Joe's to measure food waste and to cut it in half over the course of three years.</b> Not exactly a slogan that would send people to the barricades, but one to which I can imagine the management responding. Here's the full letter I drafted: </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc; text-align: left;"><i>Dear Mr. Bane,</i></div><div style="background-color: #cccccc;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: #cccccc; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc; text-align: justify;"><i>Trader Joe’s has a reputation for being environmentally friendly and supporting local communities. I’m writing to ask you to build on this reputation by acting to help solve an urgent problem: the estimated 96 billion pounds of food that are thrown away in the U.S each year. Reducing this waste would prevent significant damage to the environment and could provide nutrition for millions of hard-pressed citizens. </i></div><div style="background-color: #cccccc; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: #cccccc; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc; text-align: justify;"><i>This statement from Trader Joe’s website is a clear sign of your concern: “We continuously strive to improve our processes in our efforts to reduce food waste and provide hunger relief.” I ask that you establish your reputation as the most socially conscious grocery chain by making this commitment: <b>“to measure the amount of food that Trader Joe’s throws out annually and reduce it by 50% over three years.”</b></i> </div><div style="background-color: #cccccc; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: #cccccc; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc; text-align: justify;"><i>This issue is so important to me that if you’ll take this critical step, I’ll pledge to help publicize your good work and urge my friends to support you. </i></div><div style="background-color: #cccccc; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: #cccccc; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc; text-align: justify;"><i>I look forward to learning about your response through Change.org. With your cooperation, we can work together to maintain a healthier planet and feed more people by reducing food waste. </i></div><div style="background-color: #cccccc; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: #cccccc; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Sincerely,</span></i></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcfIo4F3NjX4LuKGrxzN5C_v59LYkMazhVmYVI5UcpIho83Rmbx-ia9PcGvckF8HHV8mnFkbkzx9knMaqDJazhzgJDpFMqQCdkR8Y0WIKMLQa1oOsiOAyCSdQQrblB2IBCnFqywtPJ44pP/s1600/Dumpster-diving-2-225x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcfIo4F3NjX4LuKGrxzN5C_v59LYkMazhVmYVI5UcpIho83Rmbx-ia9PcGvckF8HHV8mnFkbkzx9knMaqDJazhzgJDpFMqQCdkR8Y0WIKMLQa1oOsiOAyCSdQQrblB2IBCnFqywtPJ44pP/s200/Dumpster-diving-2-225x300.jpg" width="150" /></a><br />
In addition to the specific demand, the overall tone is changed to one of collaboration to solve the problem. And it offers a carrot if they are willing to agree.<br />
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The next draft is the email alert sent to supporters to trigger signatures.<br />
Even though the petition itself sets a collaborative tone, the letter to supporters is more urgent and dramatic. Note that it also clarifies where this particular action fits into the overall effort to reduce grocery store waste. I especially like the subject line - designed to maximize the open rate. <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"></div><h1 style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Subject Line – Stop Trashy Behavior at Trader Joe’s </i></span></h1><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><i>Dear ________, </i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoBodyText2" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><i>Every year in America we throw out 96 billion pounds of food -- much of it is still OK to eat. Meanwhile, people across the country are going to bed hungry. This is unacceptable. </i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">Join the voices that say that tossing out good food is terrible, and take the first step to reverse course. </span>Call on Trader Joe’s to drastically reduce its waste—specifically, to measure the amount of food it throws away each year and <b>cut it in half</b>. </i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><i>This petition was started by dumpster-diving Jeremy Seifert. In his movie “Dive!” Jeremy shows Trader Joe’s dumpsters <i>full</i> of food—a dozen eggs thrown away because one is cracked, a crate of bananas tossed because of a few brown spots, intact packages of fresh spinach stacked in the trash—and says, “it’s about more than not wasting food. It’s about making sure everyone has enough to eat.”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><i><b>This campaign is completely winnable</b>. <b>Jeremy selected Trader Joe’s because the management is sensitive to its reputation for being socially conscious. They will act when they understand the depth of consumers’ concerns.</b> </i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><i>And Trader Joe’s is just the first step. Once it sets a standard for waste reduction, Change.org will pressure other grocery chains to publicly meet or exceed those standards. That way we can destroy the assumption that it’s OK to toss healthy food. </i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><i>Here’s your chance to cause real, measurable change with a simple action. But it can only work if people like you act, and if you ask your friends to join in. Be the spark that changes the world.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><i><b><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-trader-joes-dont-dump-good-food"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-trader-joes-dont-dump-good-food</span></a></span></b></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #cccccc;"><i>Thank you for taking action. </i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Even campaigns that ask for the moon can effectively communicate messages and gather support. But whenever possible, as in this case, why not step it up and demand something that could actually happen? That way the campaign gains credibility--and more support. And it greatly increases the chance of a campaign victory. By referencing that victory, we can undercut the "what difference does it make?" argument and set up even more credible, more powerful follow-up campaigns. </b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-71660305388159489752012-02-15T11:42:00.000-08:002013-05-14T11:35:59.306-07:00How to Leverage Networks and Change the World - with only $5,000<div style="font-family: inherit;">
I majored in Communications a long ago. My senior thesis was a film portrait of a United Farm Worker boycott organizer. I was also volunteering to help picket Safeways and liquor stores selling Gallo wine. Later on, I joined up with a well-known documentary filmmaker, Peter Adair, and served as producer for several works he directed under the Adair and Armstrong banner. Until last year, with the exception of a 40<sup>th</sup> birthday surprise for my wife, I hadn’t directed a video since my college days. </div>
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A couple of years ago, the Ohana Foundation, funded by musician Jack Johnson, awarded Roots of Change a grant of $5,000 to help create a more sustainable food system in the U.S. After thinking long and hard about how to use the money to create a significant impact, we came up with the idea of a call-to-action video, presenting some of the sharpest sustainable food issues and offering a brief review of some of the efforts to change course. ROC's key mission, in my mind, is to support the work of other organizations from many issue areas connected with food and farming: social justice groups including labor and healthy food access, environment, and production agriculture. That’s why we decided the video should also serve as a showcase for key food and farming groups and offer viewers a chance to connect with them and support their efforts. </div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ySSbI0ZrNAE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
I woke up with a vision for the video a little over a year ago: just text and still images over a Bo Diddly drum beat. We hired Adam Goldstein to search for and edit the images. At first we tried combining the images and text but Adam convinced me of the wisdom of separating them so that the viewer could focus on one thing at a time. Daniela Aceves and Shoshona Bochner dug for dozens more photos until we were satisfied. Daniela cleared the rights, contacted all the organizations, and set up the webpages. Michael Becker, our composer from the old Adair and Armstrong days, created the sound track pretty much as a favor. ROC President Michael Dimock provided the food system expertise and editorial guidance. The title “Food Movement Rising” was inspired by <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/jun/10/food-movement-rising/?pagination=false">Michael Pollan’s article</a> in the New York Times book review section. He generously allowed us to use the name and Tweeted his support. </div>
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Many people find the video too fast to absorb. My hope is that the speed and power of the images trigger an emotional engagement so that they’ll watch multiple times and spread the word to their friends. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqLhPSPFtWlEEcWWZvdBq5Mq8dov9YLar_hVRre68cSsTPZKjnvA_uMTEVg9buA40v6DCJOOeoSwpc6L0tiVks4OtUNvVpQO-SPKTYi8Z5TKwTC8fCepuxA9LtHsFIFI7esTtMMl3x7NK-/s1600/connect+screen.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqLhPSPFtWlEEcWWZvdBq5Mq8dov9YLar_hVRre68cSsTPZKjnvA_uMTEVg9buA40v6DCJOOeoSwpc6L0tiVks4OtUNvVpQO-SPKTYi8Z5TKwTC8fCepuxA9LtHsFIFI7esTtMMl3x7NK-/s320/connect+screen.JPG" width="320" /></a>To me, the most critical and compelling aspect of this campaign is what happens after the video. ROC offers a web page with logos and descriptions of 26 organizations and the chance to simply check a box to connect with as many of them as you choose. We did this without requiring any of the organizations to promise to publicize the campaign. At the same time we hope these groups and many other people see its value and lend their support: by publicizing this one video and connection page, you are really supporting the overall movement. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">This fits well with ROC’s role to encourage a wide variety of organizations to work together to change the food system</span>. And it communicates our message that all the issues need to be dealt with simultaneously to create very basic, system-level change.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I’ve now moved on from ROC but I'm still supporting their efforts. So far, the video has almost 4,000 hits on YouTube. I’d appreciate any feedback and, of course, any promotion of the video and campaign that you feel you can muster. Here's the link to the ROC - <a href="http://rootsofchange.org/campaign/food-movement-rising">http://rootsofchange.org/campaign/food-movement-rising</a> After the video, click on Connect. Thank you. </span></b></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-34138619582631872102007-11-11T12:13:00.000-08:002011-08-05T11:24:25.496-07:00Online Community Conference - YouTube's Hong Qu<a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2040/1520410341_04307b9c37_m.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2040/1520410341_04307b9c37_m.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 208px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 277px;" /></a>YouTube sent Hong Qu to OCS2007 to talk about their special program for non-profit organizations. (That's me on the left.)<br />
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According to the the promotion on the home page of <a href="http://youtube.com/nonprofits">http://youtube.com/nonprofits</a><br />
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"Your Nonprofit channel includes:<br />
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* Premium branding capabilities and increased uploading capacity<br />
* Rotation of your videos in the "Promoted Videos" areas throughout the site<br />
* The option to drive fundraising through a Google Checkout "Donate" button"<br />
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Apparently approved non-profits aren't limited to 10 minute videos.<br />
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Among the participating partners is one of the organizations that Omidyar Network supports:<br />
<a href="http://youtube.com/youthnoise">http://youtube.com/youthnoise </a> Check it out and you'll get some sense of the possibilities.<br />
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I really liked Hong Qu because he was so humble - the opposite of a public relations person. He's an interface designer. Just like Google/YouTube to send a UI person. For example - when someone predicted YouTube's downfall, he didn’t get defensive, he just said “we’ll have to wait and see.” When asked how non-profits were selected for special promotion he admitted that he didn't know. He shed some light about the management process at YouTube - he said they got a memo that a human had to review all the non-profits before they are allowed to use it – and the memo asked for volunteers.<br />
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Small world: Hong Qu works with Hunter Walk at YouTube. Hunter and I worked together at Linden Lab in the very early days of Second Life.<br />
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At this point organizations must have 501c3 nonprofit status - that means sorry to Canandians and others living outside the USA. But it's a nice start.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-36601249896894955082007-06-29T13:12:00.000-07:002007-06-29T13:35:22.797-07:00Why Second Life Could Help Improve the World<span style="font-size:100%;">Here's a recap and <a href="http://spotlight.macfound.org/main/entry/launching_year_long_exploration_ph">page of resources</a> from the "MacArthur Foundation Enters Second Life" meeting last week - transcripts, video, photos, etc.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I went through the transcript and pulled out some key concepts that made the most meaning for me. </span>Please check the previous post for more context.<br /><br />- ROSEDALE: is Philip Rosedale, the CEO of Linden Lab, the company that created Second Life.<br />- FANTON: is MacArthur Foundation President, Jonathan Fanton.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The idea that SL makes it possible to quickly build trust -</span></span><br /><br />FANTON: When you first started Second Life, did the notion of the public good effect any of your design? Do virtual worlds like Second Life help groups get together, discuss issues, and advance collective vision of the public good? Talk to us a little bit about those issues and activities.<br /><br />ROSEDALE: Well, you know, I think that when we started, I know I, and a lot of us working on the technology, were very focused on the technology of creating a sort of a virtual world. <span style="font-weight: bold;">But as we got it working in around 2003, people really started coming into it, we started to see the effect that being in this kind of very, very empowered, enabled, communicative environment had an effect on people. It made them close very rapidly, and it made them work together in certain ways. </span><br /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">That the transparency of SL makes the most of “People are Basically Good” - </span><br /><br /></span>YOWELL: Here’s a question for both of you from the Teen Grid. How can Linden Lab and residents, especially teen grid residents, work together to make sure this power is used morally, apart from cooperation with MacArthur? And that’s for either Jonathan or Philip.<br /><br />ROSEDALE: I bet Jonathan has perspective on this that’s probably quite unique from mine. <span style="font-weight: bold;">I think what I would say is that we have a deep belief that with the high degree of transparency that exists in the virtual world, I believe that the virtual world is different in an important way, in that it is typically more transparent, more accessible, more communicative, it’s easier to see what’s going on, easier to travel within it than the real world. </span>It is therefore more transparent than the world that we all live physically in today, and I believe, you know Pierre Omidyar, when he started eBay, he made the famous statement that he believed that eBay would work because people were basically good, that the majority of stuff that happened on eBay would be good and legitimate attempts by people to sell things to other people.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;">ROSEDALE: </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">I think the same thing can be said here, that with the additional transparency we have, we won’t need to do anything, from a central perspective, to make people good and just in their actions here. I think they will be, the only think I hope I’ll be able to look back and say we did, was that we simply enabled, using the technology, a very, very, very transparent environment, and that that transparency was beneficial.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">MacArthur’s hopes to have civil rights groups operate in SL -</span><br /><br /></span>FANTON:<span style="font-weight: bold;"> MacArthur supports about 1,000 local civil society groups all over the world: Action Health in Nigeria, working on sexuality education, Resources Himalaya in Nepal, working on protecting some of the most beautiful landscape in the world, the Nizhny Novgorod Committee Against Torture in Russia working against police abuse, or Fundar in Mexico, helping to strengthen the system of human rights ombudsmen. I’m hoping the MacArthur can encourage many of the civil rights organizations that it supports to operate in Second Life and other virtual worlds as well, so that there will be a civil society in virtual worlds that mirrors the civil society in the physical world.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">SL as an empowering environment -</span><br /><br /></span>ROSEDALE: <span style="font-weight: bold;">…</span>So the most common type of content, if you will, in Second Life, is an individual building something that they are giving or showing or selling to the people in Second Life. It’s not a company. <span style="font-weight: bold;">We’re just at the very beginning of that phase where larger organizations are starting to see Second Life as being of value, and I think, when they come, they’ll add a lot to Second Life, as they come. But I think profoundly, at its core, Second Life is an empowering platform, an open environment, for individuals. </span>Historically and statistically, it’s much more individuals and that corporate ownership of Second Life is probably in the low, single digit percentages, in terms of looking at the land.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">SL as a reputation system or network of trust - </span><br /><br /></span>ROSEDALE: …<span style="font-weight: bold;">I think Second Life is already demonstrating an ability to let people build systems for reputation and trust that are effective, fast, and lightweight, and can go beyond what can be done in the real world. </span>It’s a rich topic, I see somebody in the audience saying say more about that. It’s a really rich topic, and one where I think technology will, in the virtual environment, empower us. <span style="font-weight: bold;">If you look at things like Grameen and how microlending is enabled in the real world by a network of trust, I think that the virtual world allows that sort of network to be potentially expanded in ways broader and faster than it is in the real world.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-79329897884081952662007-06-22T12:25:00.001-07:002008-12-08T16:33:01.466-08:00MacArthur Foundation to push the possibilities of Second Life<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp7gnuZA6Id4pQYF22V0o9GSwOFyKSs-L8cwODsBpbaQvE-aKTFEen0EvopWUIg3sxCpchOXLm4gGVAuRQ7Ci-WC1Eq6_KCIrIHjp7Hk4pvuHXC9ilQwDeU7fhTLlxecz7v1OrjQZYVsRn/s1600-h/Snapshot_001.bmp"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp7gnuZA6Id4pQYF22V0o9GSwOFyKSs-L8cwODsBpbaQvE-aKTFEen0EvopWUIg3sxCpchOXLm4gGVAuRQ7Ci-WC1Eq6_KCIrIHjp7Hk4pvuHXC9ilQwDeU7fhTLlxecz7v1OrjQZYVsRn/s400/Snapshot_001.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5078972316652929346" border="0" /></a><br />It's hard to tell from this picture but about 200 people packed a sim to hear MacArthur Foundation President, Jonathan Fanton, and Founder and CEO of Linden Lab (makers of Second Life), Philip Rosedale launch <a href="http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.1074781/k.D7EC/In_Focus.htm">MacArthur's experiment</a> to use a virtual world to help create a better real world.<br /><br />The discussion came across as quite groundbreaking with these two from quite different backgrounds recognizing the potential of working together and introducing a major philanthropic effort in a expanding virtual platform. It was especially encouraging to hear Philip quoting Pierre Omidyar and referencing Muhammad Yunus in describing how SL is transparent environment that empowers individuals.<br /><br />Over at omidyar.net, we've talked a lot about the possibilities of <a href="https://www.omidyar.net/group/secondlife/news/16/">non-profit efforts in SL</a>. Despite the great success of <a href="http://www.marketingvox.com/archives/2007/06/05/second-life-walk-a-thon-raises-real-life-75k/">Relay for Life,</a> the population of Second Life may be still too small for most efforts to efficiently raise funds or recruit from the existing population.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I think non-profits efforts can get the most benefit from SL by using it to create virtual conferences and ongoing meetings so that people around the world who are already interested in a effort can connect, exchange information and work on real-world tasks together.</span><br /><br />This morning about <a href="http://slts.dreamhosters.com/node/104">25 people from around the world</a> - primarily speaking French along with some English and Spanish - met at the Camp Darfur exhibit in Better World Island to organize anti-genocide efforts.<br /><br />Jonathan Fanton suggested the possibility of supporting the use of SL to lobby the US to join the <a href="http://www.icc-cpi.int/home.html">International Criminal Court</a>. This might be a great test case to see how SL could be used as an organizing tool - connecting international members with those in the US and connecting organizers within all 50 states to coordinate their efforts to recruit members in the real world and activate them to put pressure on their representatives.<br /><br />(Disclosure: my employer Omidyar Network, is an investor in Linden Lab - and as a former employee I own stock options.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-34508954642163307882007-06-20T12:42:00.001-07:002007-06-22T12:24:25.856-07:00US States Renamed For Countries With Similar GDPs - and global warming effects<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://strangemaps.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/350816052_0a392a0d28_o1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://strangemaps.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/350816052_0a392a0d28_o1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Thanks to <a href="http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2007/06/10/131-us-states-renamed-for-countries-with-similar-gdps/">Strange Maps</a> - for publishing and to Mark Grimes and Josh Friedman at omidyar.net for pointing to it.<br /><br />I love this map – and find it shocking. How can my home state of Oklahoma – which I remember as cows and oil wells – have the same GNP as Phillipines?<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“Annual GDP represents the market value of all goods and services produced within a country in a year.”</span><br /><br />How can Rhode Island equal Vietnam? Especially considering what half of Vietnam was able to do to France and the US.<br /><br />Illinois and Mexico?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I imagine that to a large degree GDP reflects carbon footprint. Don’t you imagine this angers people in other countries?</span> That one state, Texas, contributes as much to global warming as Canada? Alabama (!) as much as Iran. Arksansas and Pakistan. New Jersey and Russia?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The US is in real danger of being further isolated as the effects and the need to address global warming become clearer.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-3653986982642416422007-02-19T16:22:00.000-08:002008-12-08T16:33:01.837-08:00omidyar.net community member conference kicks off in Gulu, Uganda<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO2Dl3CUf3F-0NzR10lxhdrN4jci0O8WU-Eun8BO9lkTQ2_B0c_0nnaQtvnc_gV1Xl5EIB3a_TW8tfU4mIRNkdwXVYrP7oysjtDCwUgwRg0dfJdro9uaiAbUkL_uHGfbO7vserM8iQ2iOV/s1600-h/mao+gulu+good.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO2Dl3CUf3F-0NzR10lxhdrN4jci0O8WU-Eun8BO9lkTQ2_B0c_0nnaQtvnc_gV1Xl5EIB3a_TW8tfU4mIRNkdwXVYrP7oysjtDCwUgwRg0dfJdro9uaiAbUkL_uHGfbO7vserM8iQ2iOV/s400/mao+gulu+good.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5033412442855754690" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Over 100 omidyar.net community members came together today</span> in war-torn northern Uganda to for a historic conference titled: <strong>Globalizing Local Change Through Online Communities.<br /><br />This is an extraordinary conference in many ways. How often do the attendees convene on the front lines of a struggle rather than in a air-conditioned windowless room that could be anywhere in the world?<br /><br /></strong><strong></strong><br /><strong><br /></strong><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSA-mOE-pmeMBKfYLiveWXBFXe8CHKBYvRfDjxdirIsyXF_Bqt_avvhRtvOQyO_7iwZPfl7Sr1F80Ef2T3DdtZkDJHLvDXzL7NjlTdELefXlXRT23Htbro3eX_AVD6taJyueI8k71UxXTA/s1600-h/100603uganda.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSA-mOE-pmeMBKfYLiveWXBFXe8CHKBYvRfDjxdirIsyXF_Bqt_avvhRtvOQyO_7iwZPfl7Sr1F80Ef2T3DdtZkDJHLvDXzL7NjlTdELefXlXRT23Htbro3eX_AVD6taJyueI8k71UxXTA/s400/100603uganda.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5033413228834769906" border="0" /></a><strong>Heres the <a href="http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/220224/e07334bbb6fe9f7cee3f022ac5c967ac.htm">top news story that came up</a> when I Googled "Gulu". </strong><i>"Starting today, some 560,000 internally displaced persons who are currently living in camps, returning to their homes or resettling after years of displacement will be receiving aid worth US $3.2 million from the ICRC." </i>(Red Cross)<strong><br /></strong> <h2><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPXU7d_M_4pgMcuLM27qUlK35EumQTIcD2R1WZg1Tsz2m37MTmIbtnIJdUrFQsd61Wly76H-0AZoxAh0ASEVR6obvlLfTNL27tg6N4rQktOIzmBK-6MWU4jfrpaO3hgwyeVU-JZDafOpGi/s1600-h/ibc_uganda_abduct6833-pic-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPXU7d_M_4pgMcuLM27qUlK35EumQTIcD2R1WZg1Tsz2m37MTmIbtnIJdUrFQsd61Wly76H-0AZoxAh0ASEVR6obvlLfTNL27tg6N4rQktOIzmBK-6MWU4jfrpaO3hgwyeVU-JZDafOpGi/s400/ibc_uganda_abduct6833-pic-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5033412893827320802" border="0" /></a></h2><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">Here's </span><a style="font-weight: normal;" href="http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/uganda_37926.html">another story that comes up</a><span style="font-weight: normal;">: <span style="font-style: italic;">Teen resumes her education after two years in captivity in northern Uganda. The Government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) have resumed talks in Juba, Southern Sudan, to end the 20-year insurgency that has left over 1 million displaced.</span></span><br /><br />Here's the <a href="https://www.omidyar.net/group/conference/ws/InvitationUganda07/">invitation </a>that describes the event - much open space meeting time coordinated by long-time omidyar.net community leader Ted Ernst. "Open space" takes on a new meaning when the meeting takes place in a room with no walls. It will interesting to see how they pull it off.<br /><br /></strong><strong>Here's list of the <a href="https://www.omidyar.net/group/lia/news/75/">people attending</a> - most of them from Uganda and Kenya - including 45 from the local Gulu community.<br /><br />Keep an eye on <a href="https://www.omidyar.net/group/lia/news/75/">this discussion</a> for the latest reports from the conference.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">(Disclosure: Omidyar Nework, my employer, is the host of the omidyar.net online community and has provided some support for Life in Africa and this conference.) </span><br /></strong>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-78762319161531848342007-02-11T17:48:00.000-08:002008-12-08T16:33:02.229-08:00Preview of the film The Devil Came on HorsebackLast week I got a chance to preview – <a href="http://www.thedevilcameonhorseback.com/home.html">The Devil Came on Horseback</a> – a feature documentary about the genocide in Darfur.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nV8JgU3tWNdwQUV1jWBhVXaBcyoRysLR0Qkk-DFiX1GOYL5EYzWLgb34aG_gjNvKR27IH6fl29Zy7WK5QMoG2BlJhSYEkzxjyqE73CAtpIx07k09msAat3iIWU2Y7e748ykTEWkJ_65V/s1600-h/Brian3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nV8JgU3tWNdwQUV1jWBhVXaBcyoRysLR0Qkk-DFiX1GOYL5EYzWLgb34aG_gjNvKR27IH6fl29Zy7WK5QMoG2BlJhSYEkzxjyqE73CAtpIx07k09msAat3iIWU2Y7e748ykTEWkJ_65V/s400/Brian3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5030462072163478418" border="0" /></a>Here’s a blurb - <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">“THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK will expose the violence and tragedy of the genocide in Darfur as seen through the eyes of a lone American witness. Using thousands of uncompromising and exclusive photographs taken by former US Marine Captain Brian Steidle during his role as a military observer with the African Union, THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK leads you through the tragic impact of an Arab government bent on destroying its black African citizens.”</span><br /><br />(Disclosure: The film is supported by Humanity Unity, a group that is closely associated with Omidyar Network, my employer.)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">It’s a very powerful and well-made film. It would be so easy to really screw up a documentary dealing with genocide. This is why it works so well.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp7Bh_Qa_nr8FAqZZYU2TLUTHHiXLOOrzgJ2rGuUmy-eVOdDlOKmdFQbEkuWhiHE_AdxHePJBqGsGURmq09lyASPOe2R0fdZGnYbhyphenhyphene8q8hZPrHmt-9lM7DeM5VMGoLdvfq0HDI9DXY05x/s1600-h/brian4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp7Bh_Qa_nr8FAqZZYU2TLUTHHiXLOOrzgJ2rGuUmy-eVOdDlOKmdFQbEkuWhiHE_AdxHePJBqGsGURmq09lyASPOe2R0fdZGnYbhyphenhyphene8q8hZPrHmt-9lM7DeM5VMGoLdvfq0HDI9DXY05x/s400/brian4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5030462235372235682" border="0" /></a>In many fictional character-driven plots, the hero faces a dilemma, a call to action, resists it at first and later makes a heroic choice. For Brian the choice was not whether or not to go to Sudan. He was compelled by the financial reward. Brian’s challenge came after he returned to the US: He had the photos and the first hand account but going public with the story would cut him off from the possibility of similar contract work. The State Department also urged him not to rock the diplomatic boat – not to mount a campaign to expose the genocide that he witnessed first hand.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_3aMzLMjXI9dF0Oa0PwfcUHOi2b-2CMtOCrRrKloRA8N9HtXg68NAMw40irtCa09R9VJoXuDtLK-Fdouu6tVYQuzukdl-6reI_3ltu4CcOS7wMYcNnLSffRZj5U91qzC6BDXj0WnFb9qt/s1600-h/brian5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_3aMzLMjXI9dF0Oa0PwfcUHOi2b-2CMtOCrRrKloRA8N9HtXg68NAMw40irtCa09R9VJoXuDtLK-Fdouu6tVYQuzukdl-6reI_3ltu4CcOS7wMYcNnLSffRZj5U91qzC6BDXj0WnFb9qt/s400/brian5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5030462780833082290" border="0" /></a>Brian is not a slick speaker which is good. He comes across as an ordinary Jimmy Steward kind of character -- reluctantly drawn into a complicated, evil plot. But he really does find his voice when speaking at a rally in Washington last spring. It’s really fun to see someone who you feel like you know getting nervous about addressing the crowd. Then he did such a great job that it sent chills down my back.<br /><br />It sounds like the filmmakers are planning a theatrical release and a grassroots organizing campaign in conjunction. I’m not sure how well the film will do commercially since you’d expect many will lean toward lighter entertainment when facing the choice at the multiplex or the channel changer. Perhaps Al Gore paved the way for some success. Like “An Inconvenient Truth” the filmmakers have made a smart choice to focus on a character. Brian works well as a vehicle for audience members to imagine themselves on the same journey. Hopefully the promotion of the film can focus on this angle, and attract a wide audience.<br /><br />Keep your eyes open for a chance to see it later this year.<br /><br />In the mean time – you can take a look at the <a href="https://www.omidyar.net/group/sudancrisis/">anti-genocide organizing going on at omidyar.net</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-82451963541794717662007-01-28T21:21:00.000-08:002007-01-28T21:40:22.435-08:00Can virtual world protests work?Second Life still has only 25,000 people at a time so one might think that protesting there might have the effect as staging a rally in my hometown of Ada, OK. Yet many of the people in SL are very connected with circles within and without that virtual world and the press has often taken an event in SL and amplified it because of its novelty.<br /><br />Thanks to <a href="http://www.rikomatic.com/blog/2007/01/reminder_virtua.html">Rik </a>and <a href="http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2007/01/avatars_against.html">Beth </a>for the heads up on a anti-escalation protest scheduled tomorrow - Monday at 2 pm PST in Second Life - <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.rikomatic.com/blog/2007/01/avatars_against.html">Avatars Against the War! Actions for peace in the Metaverse Jan 27-29</a></span>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-81487476245596320762007-01-22T20:41:00.000-08:002007-01-28T21:44:46.475-08:00Iraq: More lessons from the Vietnam warPeter Beinart in Time magazine 1-29 edition re: the fear of Iran taking over Iraq: <br /><br />"Americans worried during the Vietnam War that if we left, Hanoi would become a puppet of its wartime patron, Bejing. Instead, four years after the U.S. evacuated Saigon, Vietnam and China were at war. When American troops on your doorstep it's easy to make common cause."<br /><br />In the New Yorker 1-22 reviewing Bush's announcement of escalation: <br /><br />"In a sincere tone of voice, the President also announced a door-to-door campaign "to gain the trust of the Baghdad residents." <br /><br />and later <br /><br />"This was the advice given by McGeorge Bundy to Lyndon Johnson in a memo dated Feburary 7, 1965, concerning an escalation plan for Vietnam that Bundy thought might have as little as twenty-five-per-cent change of success:<br /><br /> "Even if it fails, the policy will be worth it. At a minimum it will damp down the charge that we did not do all that we could have done, and this charge will be important in many countries, including our own.""<br /><br />This advice coming almost ten years before the end of the Vietnam War. Don't tell me there is a chance we will still be fighting in Iraq in ten years.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-2290930027941140022007-01-15T15:20:00.000-08:002007-01-28T21:20:32.698-08:00Various thoughts about IraqTwo of Saddam's associates were hung recently. One of them was beheaded, perhaps accidently. A spokesperson from the Iraqi qoverment said that this execution showed that they were making great progress in terms of exectutions. This may be true considering that Saddam's had elements of being lynched by Shiites. <br /><br />Bush apparently thinks that anything Congress tries to do to cut funding of the increase in troops won't have any effect for at least a couple of month's. He is hoping that he will have some positive results to show by then. If he is right about the timing then the possible upside is that when the lawmakers do get around to cutting funding (and if Bush doesn't have any positive results) that they will be so pissed off at him that they will be talking about forcing an overall withdrawl rather than simply blocking the escalation.<br /><br />In Bush's speech he blamed Iran and Syria for much of the trouble in Iraq. This tactic flies in the face of the independent report that called for us to negotiate with Iran and Syria to help figure a solution. One analyst said that the recent raid on an Iranian embassy was designed to provoke Iran into doing something that the US could use an excuse to retaliate. The scary thing is that if Bush is determined to go his own way despite the lack of public and expert support, then why wouldn't he go ahead and bomb Iran and Syria? <br /><br />Apparently one unit of the Iraqi army that the Iraqi goverment is promising to send to Bagdad is Kurdish. I've long admired the Kurds since they seemed like such underdogs and don't have their own country. But sending them into this mess - where as I understand it they don't speak Arabic and they are hated by both the Shiites and Sunnis - seems like a huge mistake. In a way it's a microcosm of sending US troops in. Both sides will stop shooting at each other and turn their guns on the Kurds and the US troops as soon as we show up.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-20634316714767915672007-01-11T19:57:00.000-08:002007-01-11T21:01:41.156-08:00Dean wants you to write a letter to the editorIn a mass email from the Democratic party, Howard Dean says "The most effective thing you can do right now is send a letter to the editor of your local paper about escalation, and let them know that you demand a vote on any troop increase. Writing your letter to the editor is simple using our PartyBuilder advocacy tools. Just click <a href="http://www.democrats.org/page/speakout/escalation?js=true&zip=94114">here </a>to get started"<br /><br />I did it and it's easy. I sent a email letter to the SF Chronicle and the NY Times in one stroke. Afterwards the site prompted me to email the link to ten friends. <br /><br />This feels more productive than writing representatives somehow. Perhaps because it seems that it's a new thing and the newspapers might respond to hundreds of thousands of letters even if they don't print the one you send.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-74833185288897205682007-01-11T12:55:00.001-08:002007-01-11T21:02:42.590-08:00Feinstein needs a call?My wife went to the anti-escalation rally at San Francisco City Hall at noon today and the word there is that Diane Feinstein has not yet come out against Bush's proposed increase in troops for Iraq. On her <a href="http://feinstein.senate.gov/contact.html">site</a> it lists: Phone: (202) 224-3841 Or in California - (415) 393-0707.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-61269185633417384162007-01-08T21:16:00.000-08:002007-01-11T21:04:16.228-08:00What's the best way to bring the troops home?Bush announced an escalation of the war in Iraq on Wednesday night.<br /><br />For the first time in a long time it feels like history is hanging in balance and that an expression of popular opinion might tip it in positive direction.<br /><br />I'm ready to email my friends and ask them to join in effort to counter Bush's plan for more troops and email their friends as well. But it's not clear to me what's the best action to suggest.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />(Edit on 1-9 - One thing seems clear to me. One person acting won't make any difference. The only way to defeat this is if you contact your friends as well.)</span><br /><br />There is <a href="http://pol.moveon.org/noescalation/">Moveon.org's petition</a> . It automatically sends the petition to your particular representative. You can also make a contribution there to pay for advertising. I signed a personalized note and contributed $25.<br /><br />(Edit on 1-9 - I also found <a href="http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/994055313?z00m=9408955">Care2's petition</a> and signed it. Very easy. The plus is that you get to see the comments from the people who preceeded you. Plus you can see that there is a new one every 15 sec. That helps. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">These efforts are important because I can imagine someone saying "well, we never saw that many signatures so quickly from that group, there must be something going on." </span> <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I encourage you to take advantage of these petitions since they are set up to do this sort of thing at the moment. But I realize that that any message filtered through these groups is suspect from the POV of many recipients of the message. So...)<br /><br /></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">I'm looking for additional actions to take and to recommend to others. What would best get the attention of the people who might stand up and vote down the escalation? I appreciate your ideas. </span><br /><br />(Edit 1-9 - My smart, connected friend (who shall go nameless since she terminated our IM session to take a call) says to focus on <a href="http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2007/01/kennedy_iraq_is.html">Kennedy's effort</a> and use phone calls, faxes, and letters to key representatives, especially those other than Pelosi and the California Senators. So, here's a site of the <a href="http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm">contact info for Senators</a>. And another for <a href="http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/">Congress</a>.)<br /><br /><a href="http://abolition2.blogspot.com/2006/12/exiting-iraq-my-vietnam-experience.html">Here</a> and <a href="http://abolition2.blogspot.com/2006/12/bush-asks-for-bigger-army.html">here</a> are earlier thoughts about getting out of Iraq.<br /><br />(Edit 1-9 - if you act based on this post, please add a short comment - that helps move the thing along.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-77401854349857901112007-01-04T18:24:00.000-08:002008-12-08T16:33:02.442-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Z9ee5DqdRufU52V0b4pttDu-YoJs4046_eBaXwq0yUbi6fxjvzzl9mO6G_s_nfvdQ46dGUMVMZFugSiAo1QbogHIvm_vb0aJcLQsil70SnvyOrYLds3TuhgRNSUd37CsvQwd1szdBZ9o/s1600-h/DSCF3044.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Z9ee5DqdRufU52V0b4pttDu-YoJs4046_eBaXwq0yUbi6fxjvzzl9mO6G_s_nfvdQ46dGUMVMZFugSiAo1QbogHIvm_vb0aJcLQsil70SnvyOrYLds3TuhgRNSUd37CsvQwd1szdBZ9o/s400/DSCF3044.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5016367237742417602" border="0" /></a>Another great way to push commuters out of their cars and onto trains would be to provide a wifi signal.<span style=""> </span> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>I read yesterday that Autonet Mobile is offering a wifi signal for cars for $50 a month and it supports multiple users.<span style=""> </span>Other orgs offer similar services.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Apparently Google already offers a wified van to pool it’s employees who live in SF.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> And here is <a href="http://www.seattlest.com/archives/2005/03/22/homebrew_wifi_on_sounder_train.php">someone in Seattle</a> offering guerilla wifi on a commuter train.<br /></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">It sounds good to me especially on the newer trains that are smooth running and have lots of tables for laptop use. I can imagine current car drivers thinking through the possibility of getting a headstart on their workday rather than listening to the radio whle stuck in another traffic jam.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I’m writing this on the train in fact but no way to post it until I get home. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-14674518046293288402006-12-23T11:04:00.000-08:002008-12-08T16:33:03.700-08:00Empty trains due to lack of secure parking at 22nd Street Station<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8J1-puP0tPMAaP-cgdo8xnxW1F2WUU7-_lxXpSUAiitVSbd_3pOW_kBnRKQALRU4oyw1v4cigUx-3DFBkiVNf4C6UYJF9WLPe5AXCLCsvPP8EjXqa_CB0GARNUM0UJiB-IU4AgaJFCHKt/s1600-h/DSCF2822.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8J1-puP0tPMAaP-cgdo8xnxW1F2WUU7-_lxXpSUAiitVSbd_3pOW_kBnRKQALRU4oyw1v4cigUx-3DFBkiVNf4C6UYJF9WLPe5AXCLCsvPP8EjXqa_CB0GARNUM0UJiB-IU4AgaJFCHKt/s320/DSCF2822.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5011800630147402146" border="0" /></a>I live in San Francisco and drive a couple of miles to the 22nd Street train station to ride to Redwood City. It's the first stop going south out of SF. The train is great but really underused. Sometimes there are only a couple of other people in the front car.<br /><br />Parking at the downtown station costs about $10 a day. Parking here is free.<br /><br />Some of the people at work tell me they decided to take the train but drive by and can't find a parking space so they just hop on 280 and drive the 30 miles to work.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTUgdWEP6oFO8WEfzjlj2SG4xDiU5C_8vceur_YMVFo1tNmtio0CrhmIqBygFLK2BD9pz3XOKm1k0EZei0jeeW97UH1ghQfMPxjxiO0rcuDYv1JvS3IaV2YbA2b7H-3_OgDoLI_yENDaNa/s1600-h/DSCF2765.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTUgdWEP6oFO8WEfzjlj2SG4xDiU5C_8vceur_YMVFo1tNmtio0CrhmIqBygFLK2BD9pz3XOKm1k0EZei0jeeW97UH1ghQfMPxjxiO0rcuDYv1JvS3IaV2YbA2b7H-3_OgDoLI_yENDaNa/s320/DSCF2765.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5011801673824455122" border="0" /></a>Actually there are always parking spaces but unless you get there really early then they are often sketchy. The station is built underneath 280 which is great in the rain but makes the area seem scarier after dark. My car has never been broken into but you can occasionally see the broken glass created by other break-ins.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjopi273CjRcs9Ji8lDBiCnX_iq_j4VwUB0eXYNtEpMqpWgedeMzma97yfjX85ANrKbxcHQbidIJpBM0Ao2XpLbg4GCT4Y-K9dS4vSQjlFqhp0ir00e-1VdzXp2_zzlsexAEXsX1vdL8dn5/s1600-h/DSCF0883.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjopi273CjRcs9Ji8lDBiCnX_iq_j4VwUB0eXYNtEpMqpWgedeMzma97yfjX85ANrKbxcHQbidIJpBM0Ao2XpLbg4GCT4Y-K9dS4vSQjlFqhp0ir00e-1VdzXp2_zzlsexAEXsX1vdL8dn5/s320/DSCF0883.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5011803000969349618" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVk7A2DRsF8AQvsiqQIHfV58I23G6VNqoZSSM5O_Nqzis6Ru0-ZSqiXTPsNf9eYiO9kO8hu0kn5c1GesEsc6Yn_elUdC3xkIZLsPafhy2cretEznTxvp_DHxbUzLCUXcLlO6BlDZIsVQGX/s1600-h/DSCF2785.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVk7A2DRsF8AQvsiqQIHfV58I23G6VNqoZSSM5O_Nqzis6Ru0-ZSqiXTPsNf9eYiO9kO8hu0kn5c1GesEsc6Yn_elUdC3xkIZLsPafhy2cretEznTxvp_DHxbUzLCUXcLlO6BlDZIsVQGX/s400/DSCF2785.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5011801106888772018" border="0" /></a>What we need is some secure parking. I think many would be willing to pay for it. There are three people in my company of 30 who say they would take the train from here if there were secure parking. Lots of youngish people do get on the train here, lots of laptops, Yahoo! backpacks. My brother-in-law at eBay boards here a couple of times a week. I'm pretty sure that the popularity of this station started with the rise of Silicion Valley and it's easy to imagine that the same people who moved into the Mission, Potrero, and Noe Valley because it was the Valley side of SF are the same people taking the train from here.<br /><br />I think that the authorities who are in charge of such things as parking and security and cleaning out around stations haven't really noticed how popular the station is. It could be much more popular.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAT6v4Q6h64z771io6dx3VCA8ayLVrcRFnkGBysmjAy2x40sdvUNhRLJo7Mrb7H684T4jUwhLNfkG8fjzdy3FG5TfFi3XufmphDcGaGtNTKCrJbKbKgTjEsEwN3S8zpZV_vsxeBxYRkl_-/s1600-h/DSCF0925.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAT6v4Q6h64z771io6dx3VCA8ayLVrcRFnkGBysmjAy2x40sdvUNhRLJo7Mrb7H684T4jUwhLNfkG8fjzdy3FG5TfFi3XufmphDcGaGtNTKCrJbKbKgTjEsEwN3S8zpZV_vsxeBxYRkl_-/s320/DSCF0925.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5011801952997329378" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfJIgbd6n7tAaJN-bCc4U2vnCClA66fSMP8hvvMYGq6VhqG6KPdWe5T1Haotye5FxJIy8MmUNpTS9LjAv1bb_Z_DXf47AjiwfFR-WB1wMvA_CMbEQLtVWsX9BwbtEHmnQk_ea6_NjlkLoS/s1600-h/DSCF0927.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfJIgbd6n7tAaJN-bCc4U2vnCClA66fSMP8hvvMYGq6VhqG6KPdWe5T1Haotye5FxJIy8MmUNpTS9LjAv1bb_Z_DXf47AjiwfFR-WB1wMvA_CMbEQLtVWsX9BwbtEHmnQk_ea6_NjlkLoS/s200/DSCF0927.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5012992685435505154" border="0" /></a>One of the guys at work who boards here suggests that a multi-level lot be built over the bus depot next door. There is also a huge nearly vacant parking lot nearby at a company called Trayer that would work well.<br /><br />Anyway, my sense is there are hundreds of people driving to the Valley who would switch to the train if we could figure out how to provide the parking for them. That translates into a quite a few tons of carbon that doesn't go into the air.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-14990444894703682402006-12-20T09:14:00.000-08:002007-01-11T21:04:43.927-08:00Bush asks for bigger armyBush announced he wants to increase the number of troops in the army and marines over the long term. This is a smart move on his part and clearly paves the way for his surge proposal.<br /><br />I think it's a very bad idea because more troops allow the president to get us into more situations like Iraq when we should at least be relying on UN actions. It does somewhat address the problem of troops having to extend their stay in Iraq so it will have public support.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The bright side is that this gives the Democrats a way to prove they are in support of the troops if they should decide to cut funding for Iraq. In that case I think the trade off would be worth it and the "more troops in the long term" decision will backfire on Bush. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-53846159412716335592006-12-17T16:45:00.000-08:002008-12-08T16:33:04.261-08:00Exiting Iraq - My Vietnam experience - 35 years ago<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNuaUBzDTMBj3MPRo-jIhfk6Zo-Ri2J4VJiJ0hu2rt3Ryr_0g8ltgWn0QvgtiCrspIdQ-JVh0XUNzL-WrNGQNCACjZb4-aEDoPwk8CvDCouvO_mIGmDFf9_psyszH0fk9nbLHP6-gxenOI/s1600-h/ou+scholar.JPG"><span><span></span></span></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0QlhOl6MWFOgYOcgA2O7mVPGT6ieQ4_lfpsX_ssifUxV6PUwwwS7Qvw7spNj6PVmNeGT_EDIVAh0B74A4AK91nKKnrxNJCN1kinC3VCTRMre5eRQYWRxOYHABgv19yYJ_Gx5clKxQTct0/s1600-h/protest2.bmp"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0QlhOl6MWFOgYOcgA2O7mVPGT6ieQ4_lfpsX_ssifUxV6PUwwwS7Qvw7spNj6PVmNeGT_EDIVAh0B74A4AK91nKKnrxNJCN1kinC3VCTRMre5eRQYWRxOYHABgv19yYJ_Gx5clKxQTct0/s400/protest2.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5009661985542097186" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I was visiting my parents in my home town of Ada, Oklahoma last summer and ran across this clipping from the Stanford Daily, November 1971.<br /><br />What I find interesting about this photo:<br /><br />1. Where are the women? I don't remember it that way and certainly when things heated up in spring of 1972 that had shifted.<br /><br />2. It's also strange how these two police trusted us enough to mix in with our little crowd. We even lent one of them our bullhorn according to the caption.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitLpA7YE-xHf8uGDdnup-IWCDpIsh2uPNHMdl_QUxZJ8l1aL2O4Aqsbz0c42ORTaQpYF4TXoErKvSpp3rk6t4fsul92hA4pomua-xKs3CK3y6P4gvXx8Rgw_HqRImjPxMdHn4CwwaBu_aJ/s1600-h/sm.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitLpA7YE-xHf8uGDdnup-IWCDpIsh2uPNHMdl_QUxZJ8l1aL2O4Aqsbz0c42ORTaQpYF4TXoErKvSpp3rk6t4fsul92hA4pomua-xKs3CK3y6P4gvXx8Rgw_HqRImjPxMdHn4CwwaBu_aJ/s320/sm.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5009668118755395922" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO2JFzF90jq4IS7q4s4CxYYqp0ykGsBXpTSd86TnX-E_zc9eTir_ZsHyscfc21SomTQTOWbbELVy7bDEOXn7wVfIqX6VVRCYmsfPZaABCtU-fWvBFAvPm6DAzv9YjGmOhqDQSfZe0FFM4_/s1600-h/ou+scholar.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO2JFzF90jq4IS7q4s4CxYYqp0ykGsBXpTSd86TnX-E_zc9eTir_ZsHyscfc21SomTQTOWbbELVy7bDEOXn7wVfIqX6VVRCYmsfPZaABCtU-fWvBFAvPm6DAzv9YjGmOhqDQSfZe0FFM4_/s200/ou+scholar.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5009731645616671122" border="0" /></a>I was part of the group in the photo, a freshman, protesting the war in Vietnam. I'm in the upper left. The year before I played on the state champion football team. But by 1971, even a football player from Ada, Oklahoma knew that we should be out of Vietnam. I got a bad (low) draft lottery number in the summer of 1971 but luckily the draft was winding down and I barely missed that experience. I had no idea of what I would have done.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Iraq makes me very anxious. I protested before we went in, and when we went in.</span> But I haven't done much since. At first it wasn't totally clear that that getting out immediately was the best thing. After all, we brought the war to them and we should stick around to make it right.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Now it's clear that we are just digging a deeper hole. It feels very much like Vietnam where there was a very strong argument that we had to stay to prevent more bloodshed. It's an awful situation but prolonging won't help.</span><br /></div> </div><br />I even remember that we introduced more troops into Vietnam even after the policy of slowly reducing our involvment was announced. As today the justification was that we have to improve the situation to make it possible to withdraw.<br /><br />I was so glad when the Democrats won the House and Senate. The recent report also lowered my anxiety about the war, feeling that there's no way Bush is going to stay the course when so many are against him. I even imagined Bush asking the Iraqis to vote on whether or not we should stay, and justifying the pull out in that way.<br /><br />But now the news suggests that Bush is considering a surge of more troops. Even as public opinion surges against having any there at all.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> I've read some Democrat say that they won't cut funding, that they will wait until the next presidential election. That's too long to wait.</span><br /><br />My memory of the end of the Vietnam war came when Congress cut funding. This is confirmed by <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Wikipedia</span> - <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span> <div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> "In December 1974, the Democratic majority in Congress </span><span style="font-style: italic;">passed the Foreign Assistance Act of 1974, which cut off all military funding to the South Vietnamese government and made unenforceable the peace terms negotiated by Nixon. Nixon, threatened with impeachment because of Watergate, had resigned his office. </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_R._Ford" title="Gerald R. Ford">Gerald R. Ford</a><span style="font-style: italic;">, Nixon's vice-president stepped</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> in to finish his term. The new president vetoed the Foreign Assistance Act, but his veto was overridden by Congress."</span><br /></div> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">I keep asking my friends what they think will happen in Iraq. I haven't heard anything that makes me feel confident about a good solution.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">While I haven't actively pushed against our involvement since we went in, this feels like a historic moment that offers <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">possibilities</span>.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />I'm hoping very much that Congress will cut funding and I'll be trying to figure out what the best way to encourage them to do that.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5BCSa6RM8H1aVkHt_RZxd-U2pTT4ySSno8vLMQIq3lT6bzxTZFG0NfxLrnR9udxR51F8Yplm3cyced6eCWogxWrW3zOBEWrWDChG85X720gOS0WvxCAVa3jTmf2uCwWOQJrruaEK3Sxb3/s1600-h/DSCF1515.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5BCSa6RM8H1aVkHt_RZxd-U2pTT4ySSno8vLMQIq3lT6bzxTZFG0NfxLrnR9udxR51F8Yplm3cyced6eCWogxWrW3zOBEWrWDChG85X720gOS0WvxCAVa3jTmf2uCwWOQJrruaEK3Sxb3/s200/DSCF1515.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5009676154639206770" border="0" /></a>An interesting coincidence is that my son is 18 and a freshman in college - the color photo below. I know Bush is resisting starting the draft but if another war starts before we get out of Iraq then he might do it. There is nothing that gets me more angry than the thought of him getting drafted into a war like this.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-59392655210694979982006-12-10T15:46:00.000-08:002008-12-08T16:33:04.773-08:00Perla Ni at the Online Community Summit<span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIkQf8Ht1GJ9Vd9kXpWHpzwLhhzl0rKrugRQoC-82U987KcjWE_DJ2vXp3WR6L7I57lQCqGt5ckzVKq1g0ONILK4Z2g0Kpup7PU4MnzDUKAEee0PLlMixYos_H5b2ULM3A_zWN9HBA2zlb/s1600-h/DSCF2432.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIkQf8Ht1GJ9Vd9kXpWHpzwLhhzl0rKrugRQoC-82U987KcjWE_DJ2vXp3WR6L7I57lQCqGt5ckzVKq1g0ONILK4Z2g0Kpup7PU4MnzDUKAEee0PLlMixYos_H5b2ULM3A_zWN9HBA2zlb/s200/DSCF2432.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5007052160511598514" border="0" /></a>Thomas </span><span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" style="font-size:100%;">Kriese</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> and I were at the <a href="http://influence.forumone.com/archives/83-Online-Community-Summit-Emotional-Web,-Video,-China-and-India.html">Online Community Summit</a> on Oct 5 and 6 where about 75 professionals gather in very cute <st1:city><st1:place><span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Sonoma</span></st1:place></st1:city> to swap stories of online communities .<br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I was very lucky to have Perla Ni </span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">riding shotgun on the rainy trip up. Perla was </span><span style="font-size:100%;">founder and former publisher of the <a href="http://www.ssireview.org/">Stanford Social Innovation</a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.ssireview.org/"> Review</a> among many other famous things. </span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">She was also one of the presenters at the non-profit </span><span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" style="font-size:100%;">pre</span><span style="font-size:100%;">-conference Thursday morning.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">She feels that most non-profit websites </span><span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" style="font-size:100%;">aren</span><span style="font-size:100%;">’t emotionally engaging – offering stock photos and cold information and a “donate here” button. <a style="font-family: times new roman;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSqXUF86e2kzyjigi86nfsUhue8uDgD2ij4L6YHM9nfV-s7-KlYh1qVw2iqAg3eWIvxBpHQ9zz2yY9-8L-E8cSiKq1B9yPdUNEeAdDCkBStJqX77zFsDm6P__uD6agFJsXgnM42bm_aCzi/s1600-h/JeremyDec7+06.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSqXUF86e2kzyjigi86nfsUhue8uDgD2ij4L6YHM9nfV-s7-KlYh1qVw2iqAg3eWIvxBpHQ9zz2yY9-8L-E8cSiKq1B9yPdUNEeAdDCkBStJqX77zFsDm6P__uD6agFJsXgnM42bm_aCzi/s200/JeremyDec7+06.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5007051030935199634" border="0" /></a>She offers a cure: </span><span style="font-size:100%;"> make it possible for the people that the group serves to put up content on the site – either text, video or </span><span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" style="font-size:100%;">podcasts</span><span style="font-size:100%;">.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">She showed a very cool Canadian site - </span><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><a href="http://homelessnation.org/en/video?PHPSESSID=bd401880443ba2004cde445a7106a95e"><span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">homelessnation</span>.org</a> -</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> that puts up new videos portraits of homeless made by volunteers.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">It turns out that most homeless people have very interesting stories to tell. New videos appear each week and Perla returns regularly to see what's new.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Of course nonprofits might fear losing control of the message.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> But direct communication gives the site an authenticity that should more than make up for any uneasiness.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> And it makes it possible for visitors to feel like they are in contact with the real people who they would like to help.</span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p>Perla has also software</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">that allows non-profits transform their websites via the collection and display of user created content. She passed on the chance to toot her own horn in her presentation.<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" face="times new roman"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" face="times new roman"><span style="font-size:100%;">She is also the CEO of a nonprofit called <a href="http://greatnonprofits.org/"><span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">GreatNonprofits</span></a> – taking advantage of the grassroots democratization of the web to aggregate and share information about nonprofits.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiZdhuv9z-Bi4qLmUKs0bJcRRpkXElg-WJHxgBts-Hs5pttwG5n-4NqfvQcEfSn94M_7_qNTcPLjMrRnzdYDaFlVfktY6GLdWNE8VBwuG4mTN7gAMhNUxkOQ9Pu_r6RBcG77ox-8StL4vI/s1600-h/DSCF2442.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiZdhuv9z-Bi4qLmUKs0bJcRRpkXElg-WJHxgBts-Hs5pttwG5n-4NqfvQcEfSn94M_7_qNTcPLjMrRnzdYDaFlVfktY6GLdWNE8VBwuG4mTN7gAMhNUxkOQ9Pu_r6RBcG77ox-8StL4vI/s400/DSCF2442.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5007052654432837570" border="0" /></a><o:p>Here's a pic from the summit: Perla on the left and </o:p></span><span style="font-size:100%;">Gail Ann Williams is the Director of Communities at Salon.com.</span></p> <span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span> <p style="font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816855042601785916.post-65343756379746977322006-12-03T17:35:00.000-08:002006-12-16T20:56:13.250-08:00Being a refugee<span style=""><span style="font-size:100%;">This post presumes familiarity with the 3D online world <a href="http://secondlife.com/">Second Life</a>.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Disclosures: I work at Omidyar Network which is an investor in Linden Lab the company that runs Second Life. I used to work at Linden Lab and have stock options in the company.</span></span><span style=""><br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.cyberlearning-world.com/nhhs/html/ID1.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www.cyberlearning-world.com/nhhs/html/ID1.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a>Years ago, a friend of mine returned from a visit to the <st1:place><st1:placename><span class="highlightedsearchterm">Holocaust</span></st1:placename> <st1:placetype>Museum</st1:placetype></st1:place> in <st1:place><st1:city>Washington</st1:city>, <st1:state>DC</st1:state></st1:place> and described a very powerful interactive exhibit. Visitors are issued an ID card for a real person who suffered in the <span class="highlightedsearchterm">Holocaust</span> and was the same sex and age as the visitor in 1940. Here’s a <a href="http://www.historyplace.com/pointsofview/beckwith.htm" title="">description I found via Google</a>.<br /><br />"I entered the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, I received Identification Card #2855. For the next four hours I became Malvin Katz Fried, a real Hungarian Jewish woman about my own age during the Holocaust.The industrial steel elevator I took to start my tour on the fourth floor immediately seemed as confining as the railroad boxcars that carried so many Jews to their deaths. Then as I threaded my way inexorably downward, through the history the displays recount, I lived Malvin's times and her personal story."<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://secondlife.blogs.com/photos/nwn/neverland_capt_hook_leads.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://secondlife.blogs.com/photos/nwn/neverland_capt_hook_leads.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Two years ago, a group of <span class="highlightedsearchterm">Second</span> <span class="highlightedsearchterm">Life</span> residents created “Neverland,” which recreated <st1:city><st1:place>London</st1:place></st1:city>in 1900. A wonderful part of the environment was the fact that free avatars were available to visitors. You could choose not just a costume but also a set of body characteristics that turned you into a pirate, policeman, or various Victorian characters. So you were essentially transformed and the sense of belonging, of being immersed in the environment, was much richer. Eventually Neverland made the <a href="http://secondlife.blogs.com/nwn/2004/11/neverland.html" title="">New World Notes</a>, was <a href="http://games.slashdot.org/games/04/11/17/1959250.shtml?tid=209" title="">Slashdotted</a> and written up in the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://tech2.nytimes.com/mem/technology/techreview.html&OQ=_rQ3D1Q26resQ3D9A05E7DC1E3CF932A25752C1A9629C8B63&OP=721d3d39Q2FQ2Asc3Q2AZtkcQ7ElaQ2Axk@Q7EmmZ4Q2Am6pkcxkclQ2AkcxQ22hpQ26pQ24PQ2AkcxQ226c,tcsQ2FQ22kaQ26" title="">New York Times</a>.<br /><br /><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.nathanking.tv/images/Darfur%20Chad%20Scanned%20Pics/zam%20zam%20people%20.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www.nathanking.tv/images/Darfur%20Chad%20Scanned%20Pics/zam%20zam%20people%20.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><strong>Consider if these ideas were combined in Second Life as a way to encourage people to empathize with refugees</strong><strong> in Darfur .We could take the stories of real </strong><span class="highlightedsearchterm"><b>life</b></span><strong> refugees, combine elements into ten different lives and create ten avatars to represent them. Visitors could select a character that reflects their own sex and age and transform their regular avatar into that of the refugee.</strong><b><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/africa/darfur/images/refugee.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/africa/darfur/images/refugee.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><strong>After the visitor assumes their appearance, he or she can be directed on a journey through the camp to learn about the refugees’ history – why they came to the camp, their family, and even their personality. At the same time the visitor can learn about the issues camp-dwellers face over the course of a day: food, water, shelter, hygiene, etc. as well as information about what needs to be done to improve the situation.</strong><o:p></o:p></p> <p>The key to Neverland’s success was attracting the volunteer efforts of the best avatar creators, builders and coders in <span class="highlightedsearchterm">Second</span> <span class="highlightedsearchterm">Life</span>. I think this is the sort of idea that would excite them and it would be easy to recruit them to our cause.<o:p></o:p></p> <p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://z.about.com/d/worldnews/1/7/O/1/-/-/darfur_5.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://z.about.com/d/worldnews/1/7/O/1/-/-/darfur_5.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a>I feel like if the idea succeeds like I think it can, it will be extremely popular inside <span class="highlightedsearchterm">Second</span> <span class="highlightedsearchterm">Life</span>. It also has the potential to create a much wider impact through publicity, attract more people to omidyar.net and spark more activism.<o:p></o:p></p> <o:p></o:p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2