“The believer will open his mind to the truth on condition that it fits in with his preconceived ideas and wishes.
Faith, on the other hand, is an unreserved opening of the mind to the truth, whatever it may turn out to be.
Faith has no preconceptions; it is a plunge into the unknown.
Belief clings, but faith lets go. In this sense of the word, faith is the essential virtue of science,
and likewise of any religion that is not self-deception,” fr. “The Wisdom Of Insecurity.”
Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes.
Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.
We try to pretend, you see, that the external world exists altogether independently of us.
We identify in our experience a differentiation between what we do and what happens to us.
The relationship of self to other is the complete realization that loving yourself is impossible
without loving everything defined as other than yourself.
Underneath the superficial self, which pays attention to this and that, there is another self more really us than I.
You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave is continuous with the ocean.
The trouble is, that we have one-sided minds, and we notice the wave of life when it is at its peak or crest.
And the more you become aware of the unknown self – if you become aware of it -
the more you realize that it is inseparably connected with everything else that is.
I find that the sensation of myself as an ego inside a bag of skin is really a hallucination.
Well actually, when you look out there and see all these people and things sitting around,
that’s how it feels inside your head.
The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.
The Bodhisattva saves all beings, not by preaching sermons to them, but by showing them that they are delivered,
they are liberated, by the act of not being able to stop changing.
So then, in Buddhism, change is emphasized.
You must understand as one of the fundamental points of Buddhism, the idea of the world as being in flux.
The reason we have poverty is that we have no imagination.
There are a great many people accumulating what they think is vast wealth, but it’s only money…
they don’t know how to enjoy it, because they have no imagination.
The reason we want to go on and on is because we live in an impoverished present.
“The more we try to catch hold of the present moment the more elusive it
becomes. It is like trying to clutch water in ones hands. The harder we
grip, the more it slips through our fingers.”
Technology is destructive only in the hands of people who do not realize
that they are one and the same process as the universe.
In known history, nobody has had such capacity for altering the universe than the people of the United States of America.
And nobody has gone about it in such an aggressive way.
What I think we could aim for in the way of human civilization and culture would be a system
in which we are all highly aware of our existing interconnection and unity with the whole domain of nature,
and therefore do not have to go to all sorts of wild extremes to find that union.
A person who is fanatic in matters of religion,
and clings to certain ideas about the nature of God and the universe,
becomes a person who has no faith at all.
To have faith is to trust yourself to the water.
When you swim you don’t grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown.
Instead you relax, and float.
the attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to truth, whatever it might turn out to be.
Faith is a state of openness or trust.
And the attitude of faith is the very opposite of clinging to belief, of holding on.
The religious idea of God cannot do full duty for the metaphysical infinity.
the point is that God is what nobody admits to being, and everybody really is.
nothing – the negative, the empty – is exceedingly powerful.
Buddhism has in it no idea of there being a moral law laid down by some kind of cosmic lawgiver.
Religion is not a department of life; it is something that enters into the whole of it.
My metaphysics, let me be perfectly frank with you, are that there the central self,
you can call it God, you can call it anything you like, and it’s all of us.
Buddhism is not saying that the Self, the great Atman, or whatnot,
it isn’t denying that the experience which corresponds to these words is realizable.
Omnipotence is not knowing how everything is done; it’s just doing it.
If you awaken from this illusion, and you understand that black implies white, self implies other,
life implies death – or shall I say, death implies life – you can conceive yourself.
reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know.
“The only Zen you’ll find on mountain tops is the Zen you bring up there with you.”
~ Krishna from The Bhagavad Gita:
It is better to strive in one’s own dharma than to succeed in the dharma of another.
Nothing is ever lost in following one’s own dharma. But competition in another’s dharma breeds fear and insecurity.
He alone sees truly who sees the Lord the same in every creature…seeing the same Lord everywhere,
he does not harm himself or others.
As long as you have attachment to the body and attachment to objects, fear and suffering will be with you.
Therefore, Krishna told Arjuna to develop his discrimination and rid himself of body consciousness.
He told him that once he was free of body consciousness he would be able to develop integral vision.
The awakened sages call a person wise when all his undertakings are free from anxiety about results.
Abandon all attachment to the results of action and attain supreme peace.
~ J.C. :
I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.
–
If we follow these principles, there is now to be found a short path available to technical mastery of mortality and mortal sufferings for earthlings, a reunification with our environs.
The principles have a simple base:
Do not confuse the map with reality – mind is a powerful map, but it is just a map.
Treat Others as though they were self, for we are all waves in one ocean.
Do not believe, see.
Do not hope, have faith in ourselves and The Allness.
Cynthia McKinney, former U.S. Congresswoman and the 2008 Green Party presidential candidate.
Adam Shapiro, documentary filmmaker, human rights activist and Palestinian rights activist. Adam was a co-founder of the ISM in Palestine. He was filming the voyage of the Arion for the Free Gaza Movement last week.
AMY GOODMAN: Former Congress member Cynthia McKinney arrived back in the United States Tuesday following her deportation from Israel. McKinney was one of 21 activists seized by the Israeli military in international waters last week as they tried to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. Also aboard the Free Gaza boat was Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire. Last week’s trip was the Free Gaza movement’s first since it aborted an attempt in January after the Israeli navy threatened to shoot the civilian passengers on board. That sailing had come just weeks after an Israeli Navy vessel deliberately rammed another of its boats, almost forcing it to sink. Cynthia McKinney joins us now in Washington D.C. We are joined here at the Firehouse by Adam Shapiro. He was filming the Free Gaza trip last week. He is a Palestinian human rights activist and co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement. Both former Congress member McKinney and Adam were detained for the past week and just deported back to the United States.
Cynthia McKinney why did you go? What happened to you in the Israeli jail?
CYNTHIA McKINNEY: I went because there’s a gross injustice being carried out everyday. This is my second attempt to get into Gaza with the Free Gaza organization. And for the two times I attempted to get in, two times I have been thwarted by the Israeli military. The cause is the human rights of the Palestinian people. The world saw the operation Cast Lead where the United States supplied white phosphorus, depleted uranium, cluster bombs, DIME weapons, were rained down on the defenseless people of Gaza. Of course, we desperately wanted to get in to take humanitarian relief supplies. And both times I have tried to go with Free Gaza, they’ve been thwarted—we have been supported thwarted by the Israeli military.
AMY GOODMAN: Now were you on one of the boats that was rammed?
CYNTHIA McKINNEY: I was on the Dignity. And yes it was rammed in international waters…
AMY GOODMAN: When was this?
CYNTHIA McKINNEY: ..This was in December, just a day or so after the outbreak of Operation Cast Lead. I was contacted by Free Gaza and asked to go within 24 hours and I said, yes, I would go.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to play a comment made last week by Israeli government spokesperson Mark Regev who dismissed the humanitarian mission of the Free Gaza Movement.
MARK REGEV: Israel every day is allowing humanitarian support to reach the people of Gaza. Food stuffs, medicines, energy and so forth. This boat was not about that. This boat was about political activists who have been apologists for the Hamas regime who have nothing whatsoever to say about Hamas’s brutal treatment of the people of Gaza.
AMY GOODMAN: Former Congress member McKinney, your response?
CYNTHIA McKINNEY: Well, clearly, we just had a visit to Gaza by President Carter, Former President Carter. Basically, he acknowledged that with the complete and utter devastation that the people of Gaza experienced at the hands of weapons that were supplied to Israel by the United States, he said that unfortunately the Palestinians are treated worse than human beings. I challenge the Israelis to respond to what President Carter had to say.
AMY GOODMAN: Former Congress member McKinney, tell us about the jail. Were you able to reach the Obama administration while you were there?
CYNTHIA McKINNEY: Well, the jail was very interesting. In fact, the first most interesting thing I witnessed was the seemingly endless stream of people of color who are being processed as we were being processed. And on my cell block, there were women from Africa and Asia who thought they were going to Israel because Israel was the Holy Land. And many of them, not all of them, but many of them had United Nations refugee status. They have been certified by UNHCR as refugees, but what they were told as they faced the threats and intimidation from the police is that the United Nations is not in Israel.
AMY GOODMAN: Adam Shapiro, you are Palestinian rights activist long known for this. You were on the boat. You were roughed up, you were filming when the Israeli military came on board. Describe what happened.
ADAM SHAPIRO: Well, they boarded us, four zodiac ships as well as eight naval warships, they surrounded our boat and can immediately towards the wheel house where I was along with the captain and one other crew member. I was documenting the whole trip and filming as they boarded the ship. Two soldiers came after me immediately, recognizing I think that they don’t want any footage of what was happening and they don’t want the world to know how they behave. I tried to keep the camera as long as I could. But I was pummeled repeatedly in the back and arms and choked and eventually they got the camera out of my hands. They have since taken all of our tapes, all of our flashcards and all of that, so we don’t have a record to show the world of what happened on board. The rest of the time we were detained in one room of the ship as we spent the better part of six hours navigating back to an Israeli port where we were processed and ultimately jailed.
AMY GOODMAN: There was another Al-Jazeera reporter on board as well ?
ADAM SHAPIRO: There was an Al-Jazeera reporter and cameramen. They lost all of their footage and camera as well.
AMY GOODMAN: Their computer was taken?
ADAM SHAPIRO: Yes, it was taken, completely reformatted and erased. And so again, we don’t seem to have a record to show the world what happened.
AMY GOODMAN: Your response to Israeli Spokesperson Regev?
ADAM SHAPIRO: Well Mark Regev is known for his colorful descriptions of how great life is in Gaza as far as Israel is concerned. However, all of the reporting, including the most recent International Committee for the Red Cross, shows the number of trucks Israel is allowing into Gaza is completely insufficient for what is needed. And so yes, it is true, he can say Israel allows foodstuffs and medicines to get in, but two trucks a day or 20 trucks a day is far inferior to what is needed. And we have seen, since the international outcry following January’s attack has subsided the number of trucks Israel has allowed in has decreased. And so, what we are saying, Free Gaza is a humanitarian effort to bring in the kinds of medicines and foods that are needed. But the Free Gaza movement is also a political organization in the sense we are human rights organization, And human rights for Palestinians is inherently political. And we are challenging Israel politically too, and this week I think has been a success for those of us who are fighting for Palestinian rights. We were not able to get into Gaza but we have shown the world the true colors of the Israeli occupation, and the double standard by which the United States and other countries are dealing with Israel.
AMY GOODMAN: Former Congress member McKinney, we only have ten seconds. But, you’ve just been deported. What are your plans right now?
CYNTHIA McKINNEY: Well, I would like to see the children of Gaza have the coloring books and crayons that we had on board with us. I would like to see the houses that have been destroyed rebuilt. I would like to see the lives rebuilt for the people of Gaza and I would like to see the people of Palestine have, and enjoy their human rights.
AMY GOODMAN: Do you think president Obama is headed in that direction?
CYNTHIA McKINNEY: I think you can probably answer that as well as we can, because while we were in detention, the Foreign Ministry of Ireland made protests and asked the government of Israel to release its nationals, several Members of Parliament
AMY GOODMAN: …We have 5 seconds….
CYNTHIA McKINNEY: from the United Kingdom…
AMY GOODMAN: … 5 seconds….
CYNTHIA McKINNEY: …also wanted to censure Israel. Nothing from the United States.
AMY GOODMAN: Cynthia McKinney, Adam Shapiro, Thank you so much. I’m Amy Goodman. Thanks for joining us.
An American hero, she gave her life working towards a day when we
stop paying for shooting children to terrorize whole other peoples for others’ interests.
It hurts deep, life is ever cheaper than cheap; good thing info is even cheaper! media to the people, media to the people! right on!
I thought we would be hearing from our vets in the streets, today’s boys are more savy, they have it on video, and they know how to share it:
New Homegrown Documentaries Industry Makes Timely Agitprop
These films are following a new marketing paradigm for civically focused documentaries.
Eshewing the profits that go with major markets inclined to shut out content like this anyway, they aim for direct sales motivated by hosting free screenings.
As a marketing strategy this is more concerned with getting out the word than it is effective at turning a profit.
In one of the following clips (Preview of Interview with Robert Greenwald 2:44; of ‘High Price of Low Prices’), Robert Greenwald speaks to the appeal
that being invited to see it by co-workers, freinds, and family has for people who would not want to help fund the film.An exciting new documentary ‘the War Tapes’,made of footage by the troops on the ground, is playing this coming week,
fri oct 6th, thru thurs. 12th, at Times Cinema, at 5906 W Vliet St, Milwaukee, WI., at 7 & 9:00pm, with a 3pm matinee on sunday.
You can see the trailer at thewartapes.com/trailer, and look up screenings atthewartapes.com/screenings;
though it is not nearly as well developed, or populated, as the list for the following one, which is sure to propagate much better online.
Recently released, and aimed effectively at small showings by citizens, is Robert Greenwald’s ‘Iraq for Sale’, Trailers,
hook up with locals who will show it to you at iraqforsale.org/screenings.php.
Go meet new people, or, better yet, buy the DVD (‘Iraq for Sale’), and host a party (screenings.php), where you can meet freinds new and old.
Another similar documentary telling the soldiers’ tale now showing locally is The Ground Truth,
which is also not quite as booked online as Robert Greenwald funded Brave New films’ ‘Iraq for Sale’.
As I have yet to see any of these three, I cannot yet speak to whether the better movie was made by money, or vets, but my opinion is not one that matters.
The Ground Truth screenings can be found here, enter your zip code and radius, or see recent Milwaukee listings here.
There’s more! a film that combines the others’ themes, by focussing on the civilian contractor “vets” perspective. ‘Shadow Company’, the (2:50) Trailer for which is quite promising.
Also, “Soldiers Speak Out” (Trailer 4:51), which appears to have quite the online activist community behind them.
So, we have four videos from those who have fought there, and two on profiteering, one of which is both.
Five fine films due largely to the efforts of those who served.
A Few Thoughts on the Coup in Honduras – Jeremy Scahill Junne 29, 2009 “Rebel Reports” –
There is a lot of great analysis circulating on the military coup against Manuel Zelaya in Honduras.
I do not see a need to re-invent the wheel. (See hereherehere and here). However, a few key things
jump out at me. First, we know that the coup was led by Gen. Romeo Vasquez, a graduate of the
US Army School of the Americas. As we know very well from history, these “graduates” maintain ties to
the US military as they climb the military career ladders in their respective countries.
That is a major reason why the US trains these individuals.
Secondly, the US has a fairly significant military presence in Honduras.
Joint Task Force-Bravo is located at Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras.
The base is home to some 550 US military personnel and more than 650 US and Honduran civilians:
They work in six different areas including the Joint Staff, Air Force Forces (612th Air Base Squadron),
Army Forces, Joint Security Forces and the Medical Element. 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment,
a US Army South asset, is a tenant unit also based at Soto Cano.
The J-Staff provides command and control for JTF-B.
The New York Times reports that “The unit focuses on training Honduran military forces, counternarcotics
operations, search and rescue, and disaster relief missions throughout Central America.”
Significantly, according to GlobalSecurity, “Soto Cano is a Honduran military installation and home of the Honduran Air Force.”
This connection to the Air Force is particularly significant given this report in NarcoNews:
The head of the Air Force, Gen. Luis Javier Prince Suazo, studied in the School of the Americas in 1996.
The Air Force has been a central protagonist in the Honduran crisis.
When the military refused to distribute the ballot boxes for the opinion poll, the ballot boxes were stored
on an Air Force base until citizens accompanied by Zelaya rescued them.
Zelaya reports that after soldiers kidnapped him, they took him to an Air Force base,
where he was put on a plane and sent to Costa Rica.
It is impossible to imagine that the US was not aware that the coup was in the works.
In fact, this was basically confirmed by The New York Times in Monday’s paper:
As the crisis escalated, American officials began in the last few days to talk with Honduran government
and military officials in an effort to head off a possible coup. A senior administration official,
who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity, said the military broke off those discussions on Sunday.
While the US has issued heavily-qualified statements critical of the coup
—in the aftermath of the events in Honduras—the US could have flexed its tremendous economic muscle
before the coup and told the military coup plotters to stand down.
The US ties to the Honduran military and political establishment run far too deep for all of this to have gone
down without at least tacit support or the turning of a blind eye by some US political or military official(s).
Here are some facts to consider: the US is the top trading partner for Honduras.
The coup plotters/supporters in the Honduran Congress are supporters of the “free trade agreements”
Washington has imposed on the region.
The coup leaders view their actions, in part, as a rejection of Hugo Chavez’s influence in Honduras and with
Zelaya and an embrace of the United States and Washington’s “vision” for the region. Obama and the
US military could likely have halted this coup with a simple series of phone calls.
For an interesting take on all of this, make sure to check out Nikolas Kozloff’s piece on Counterpunch, where he writes:
In November, Zelaya hailed Obama’s election in the U.S. as “a hope for the world,” but just two months
later tensions began to emerge. In an audacious letter sent personally to Obama, Zelaya accused the
U.S. of “interventionism” and called on the new administration in Washington to respect the principle
of non-interference in the political affairs of other nations.
Here are some independent news sources on this story: School of the Americas Watch NarcoNews
Eva Golinger’s Postcards from the Revolution
ALBA representatives reaffirm support to Hondura`s Legitimate Government http://mathaba.net/news/?x=620928
(the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Our America)
Much has been going on in Honduras this month leading up to this,
from a recent coup attempt (ablove), to an Earthquake, an OAS meeting,
and two important futball games.
What is the Peace Justice and Environment Project?
The Peace Justice and Environment Project (PJEP) is a network of networks using the Actions Options Tool (AOT) web-publishing software as the backbone of their websites. Use of the AOT makes publishing web content easy and efficient while encouraging the communication and cooperation of member groups on common projects. Designed by activists and then developed and refined in the field by those using the software, the AOT is currently being used by over 1000 justice, peace and environment organizations in 26 networks or coalitions covering 33 states throughout the U.S.
The purpose of the web application, the Actions Options Tool (AOT), is to facilitate human-to-human communication. The AOT is not about replacing person-to-person communication with web, email or digital features, but is about encouraging human communication through web and email applications. The AOT has resulted in more real time meetings, phone and conference calls between the individuals and organizations most needed to accomplish specific organization goals. This web application facilitates finding and organizing allies and then getting things done by reaching out and taking action.
The Actions Options Tool was designed to encourage organizations to support each other forming connections that strengthen the activist movement. Within each network using the AOT software, organizations post their actions. Actions that garner 55% or greater support and a commitment of participation from 5 other organizations through the AOT action grid will have access to the system’s database for an email blast to publicize their action. That database is created from the emails of those who register or support campaigns on the network. In Illinois, the database contains over 4000 email addresses. Other states have the same potential. Additionally, as the network of activists grows, campaigns travel beyond the borders of a single state.
There is a shift in identification as we experience increased contact with those folks that share our experiences. The AOT provides a window and connection to other activists creating an opportunity to experience our self and those around us as very closely allied or tied. Trust and empowerment are experiential and political descriptions of the same human condition. The AOT is a political empowerment tool that enhances an environment of trust by providing guidance and perspective that comes with connection to other individuals and organizations.
Website Organization/Navigation of the 21 State Network Sites of the Peace Justice and Environment Project
Home Page Under the Network banner, the Home page displays New Actions and new member organizations added to the network. Further down the page are Announcements and News Articles generated by and for network members.
Actions is the home of the AOT Action grid. Here all current actions sponsored by Member organizations are shown on the horizontal axis. A click on each action title will link you to full event details. On the vertical axis, active member groups register their degree of support for the posted actions. A legend at the bottom of the page defines what the degrees of support mean.
Calendar events are shown on a single month expanding grid that displays posted actions and has features for recurring vigils, meetings and other events. Place your cursor on each event for the full title, click on the event for full details.
Resources gives access to links, documents, videos, audio files books and pictures relating to news & opinion; 43 issue categories; peace, justice & environment organization and activist tools. The search feature within the resources section allows for the speedy recovery of files with names or descriptions with relevant key words.
Campaigns has details of network initiated actions for members and registered users: Petitions, Boycotts, E-letters and Fundraisers with a summary showing how close (#s of signatures or $ raised) each campaign is to goal
Social Net gives access to the public face of the site’s social networking users along with contact information. Each page has as much or as little information as the social network user desires.
MemberOrgs has a full list of network member groups. Click on any name to access the member group’s page (some used as a group’s web presence). Here are links, logos and contact forms to learn about and get in touch with our participating organizations.
Networks has a full listing and links to PJEP’s 21 network and coalition websites that serve 26 states.
PJEP links to the national website of the Peace Justice and Environment Project.
About has our mission statement and describes the benefits of participation in the PJEP network.
Contact allows for general inquiries as well as a link for groups interested in joining the network.
How Member groups use the Features of PJEP Websites using the AOT
Administrator Control Panel has a menu of interactive features to serve member groups. To get access, the system emails each member representative or administrator (you) a temporary password after the website facilitator enters you into the system. Log in using your email address and password. Here is what you’ll find:
Profile contains your personal contact information. Here you can re-set your password to one you can easily remember. Include your phone number so your fellow admins can contact you.
Organization Information operates as your group’s webpage within the PJEP site. Here you can enter your group’s mission statement, upload your logo and list your group’s website as well as other custom information including links and graphics to appear on theMemberOrg page. Some groups use this space in lieu of their own website.
Edit – If you need the make a change re your Organizational information, just click on the “Edit“ button and follow the prompts. Each Control Panel function allows you to edit your information to correct or change information.
Message Center (Message Transmission)
In addition to being able to contact your network facilitator or and the committee heads if there is a governing body of the network or coalition, the ‘Message Center’ provides each organization’s representative or “admin” the opportunity to email any other admin within the network or coalition. There is even the option for an admin to email all other network administrators simultaneously.
This is not a substitute for a phone call. By far the best way to communicate or solicit support is by picking up the phone and the phone numbers of your fellow admins are located here in the message center.. But sometimes there is no substitute for a rush urgent email transmission to all member organizations. The message center allows you to do so. Use this feature prudently.
Actions (The Actions Grid)
Each time you add an action, your event is posted on the website’s Action Grid, inserted onto the Calendar, listed on the home page and an email goes out to each administrator in the network. Your action can be a vigil, forum, talk, visit to elected official, petition, boycott, film showing, speak out, press conference, editorial board meeting, tabling, fundraiser, e-letter or letter to the editor campaign, mass-phone-calls to elected officials, or mass protest. It is the most powerful function of the network.
Votes
Each vote you make triggers an email notification to the sponsoring organizations and a vote of support or better becomes a small message of solidarity with those who have worked hard to put on an action. A definition of each vote’s degree of support appears in the legend at the bottom of the Action Grid on the website.
Several activists have noted that the time taken within their organizations to note degrees of support for the actions and events of other organizations has positively influenced the culture of their group. What emerged was an awareness of how closely related actions and activists are across the state.
The ‘Actions Offspring’ section provides the opportunity for several closely related actions to congregate in a single area, under a single Action. This section behaves similarly to MoveOn’s programming for multiple location actions allowing the creator of the Action Offspring to note the number of attendees coming to the event, the number of guests allowed and volunteers required. This section of the website can be useful for large organizations with multi location actions.
Campaigns – Petitions, Boycotts, E-letters and Fundraisers –For the most succesful Campaign, we recommend you also post it as an Action with a link to the PJEP Campaign Page. for example, fundraising for a peace scholarship would have an action asking folks to access the fundraising page and support the effort. As well, all campaigns benefit from a vigorous outreach plan to get as broad support as possible
Petitions
By clicking on ‘Add a petition drive’ note the seven steps to a successful petition drive. Petitions are a great way to make connections to organizations in other states. If you create a petition, call the AOT developers at 800 878 1801 and we’ll guide you to organizations in other states that might be interested in sponsoring your petition for that activist community.
Our most successful petitions were grounded in emerging current events. An Illinois assemblywoman proposed the impeachment of George Bush in a floor bill. A petition to support the bill was posted on four days later. Within eight days 1000 signatures were gathered and delivered to the Assembly Speaker with television and radio present.
Boycotts
By clicking on ‘Add a boycott (located below ‘Boycotts’) note the seven steps to a successful boycott. Although boycotts usually involve strategic long term planning and a multi-state presence, this is not always the case. In July of 2007 it was discovered that British Petroleum had received permission from Indiana EPA to substantially increase its Lake Michigan dumping of ammonia, was already dumping mercury and had applied to increase their atmosphere effluents. Within a week Indiana, Illinois and Michigan AOTs posted boycotts of BP. 700 signatures were gathered in less than a week.
If you have sponsoring partners across several states you can get media attention. Call 800 878-1801 for media consultation.
E-letters
Modeled after the e-letter centers of national organizations, the AOT e-letter functionality offers the admin of any participating organization (you), the ability to compose and post a letter online, except that it can be modified by a visitor and transmitted to the target chosen by the admin.
Stored in the programming are the email addresses of Federal Representatives and Senators or their legislative aides. You can choose the category of target (House members, leaders, etc.) and the AOT software will display that category so a visitor can observe who is being emailed. An upcoming feature will allow you to create a custom target, for example the mayor of a local town, if an e-letter online action requires a localization of the programming.
The e-letter center is perhaps the most complicated to setup of the various features of this site. Call 800 878-1801 if you have any questions or would like guidance to make best use of this feature.
Fundraisers
Organizations can now create online fundraisers. Fundraisers can focus on an event, promote an action, piggyback on an online campaign, or stand alone as an ongoing way to collect funds. The system only allows credit card contributions. Because of Federal election law, we can not manage fundraisers for political parties.
Reporting functionality allows you to analyze your campaign. You can investigate funds collected, obtain specifics on donors and donation amounts, find out when donations came in, etc. Several sorting criteria allow high quality reporting of what works best when using these tools.
PJEP will cut a check for the contributions for your campaign whenever there is over $100 in your account on the 15th of the month for the previous month’s receipts minus the credit card processing fee, estimated at 3%. When people make a donation, they will also be asked if they would like to add a voluntary “tip” to PJEP for providing the service to the network. When the campaign end date arrives, a check will be written for the balance of the funds collected for the fundraiser (minus CC fee).
Calendar
By plugging in a date & time, providing an event name, description and location you can alert users of the website to the events that your organization would like other network activists to be aware of. Actions are automatically posted on the calendar. The system’s calendar allows for recurring events such as regular peace vigils and meetings.
In Pennsylvania, for example, calendar postings were the first text to populate the website. Minnesota’s Coalition uses this feature more than any other section of the site.
Articles and Announcements (Home Page Updates)
Each member administrator may post articles and Announcements on the Home Page of your state network. Don’t like what is currently posted on your network’s Home Page? Here you can keep the home page current by posting text pictures or videos relating to your organization’s actions, events and projects or your favorite analysis of peace, justice or environmental events.
Announcements have a cut of date when the announcement will be removed. An article will move down the page (and eventually into the system archives) as new content is gets posted on top of it. Announcements will have content relating to a timely event, while the information in posted Articles have a lasing effect.
Note the option of using custom formatting, inserting graphics and posting YouTube videos in your Article or Announcement. If you have any questions about this or any other feature of the site call 800 878 1801 and someone will help you.
The Resource section, overseen by a dedicated committee, is meant to be a one-stop-shopping site or online library for those needing information on how to affect change for social justice. Resource content might be a PDF focusing on an upcoming protest or a detailed document offering long-term perspectives on the movement as a whole.
Resources on each network site include general categories available in all states, plus a dedicated section for each site. Admins have the opportunity of adding resources to your state’s resources by following the Control panel prompts. If you wish to submit resources for the general categories, please send an email to laurel [at] pjep [dot] org.
Uploads
Here you can upload pictures and documents for display on your Action announcement (for event flyers), MemberOrg page or in a Home Page Article or Announcement. Select upload and follow the prompts to add a file from your own computer. Once uploaded, the system will provide you with a system url for your link or page display. Again, please call 800.878 1801 and someone will answer questions and help you upload and insert content.
The Social Networking and Political action Page (SNAPAP)
The social networking and political action page (SNAPAP) offers a host of features never before available in any context let alone a nationwide web of social and political change networks to benefit both individuals or groups.
Toaccess these features, register on the site, after which a password will be automatically issued by email. Then users may log in using their email address and system generated password when first logging in to the site. Upon logging in, SNAPAP users who are not also administrators, will be automatically directed to the SNAPAP controls.
Profile Window is where you can update your personal information for other to get to know you. Here you can re-set your password to one you easily remember.
User Created Resource Center/Favorites Allows users to create a personal digital file library. Here you can search their resources noting only their own contributions or every contribution of every resource or digital file in the system, an alternative universe of left/progressive contributions.
Interactive Message Center
A unique feature of SNAPAP is the text message center allowing the storage of multiple phone numbers making possible a transmission of a single text message to numerous activists to drive them to a spontaneous event. Mass text messaging is unique to this form of software.
Multiple-degree-of-separation software tracks the indirect influence that an activist exhibits when she or he brings in friends to an online campaign and those friends bring in additional participants. When a user participates in a petition, boycott, e-letter or fundraiser the AOT offers three ways to trace indirect participants in that campaign: 1) when a user refers a friend while signing up for a campaign, 2) when a user sends an invitation from their SNAPAP messaging center, 3) when a friend clicks on the word “participate” when investigating the public view of their SNAPAP page. An activist will discover that bringing in three friends to an online action indirectly leads to the participation of many more. Lineage charts display the specific interconnections that descend from every user.
Visit the site for guidance on using these powerful new features or call 800 878-1801 or your facilitator if the information provided isn’t clear.
How the Features Work Together
In October 2006, coalitions and networks in Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota all of whom use the AOT programming joined together, to post a petition which called for the Department of Homeland Security to stop live-fire target practice on the Great Lakes using lead ordnance, potentially dumping 7000 lbs of lead into the Lakes annually. Over 1200 signatures and comments were gathered online through the three AOT networks in less than three weeks. In total, almost 400 peace and environmental organizations had been contacted with dozens working in close cooperation as a direct result of the Actions Options Tool programming.
As a direct result of the campaigns initiated by the activities of the three state coalitions, the number of hearings, which the Coast Guard held on the issue, was increased to seven from the original four. At one of the hearings, of the 52 people testifying, 50 testified against the live-fire practice. Most of these people were contacted through the AOT programming. Information for the media advisory was pulled from the three AOTs. Numerous television, radio and print stories emerged from the hearings where activists and citizens congregated to make their feelings known. The tool notified, educated, organized and directed the members of member organizations to the targeted event.
On December 4, petitions were delivered to Senator Durbin’s aids along with a list of the 37 Illinois organizations supporting the petition. On December 13th the organizers met with Senator Durbin himself. By that meeting, the AOT showed that over 1800 citizens had signed the petition with 44 organizations in support. Durbin supported the activists’ position that the practice should be halted. He said he would set up a meeting to discuss this with those members of the Coast Guard that instituted the policy.
On December 18, the Coast Guard announced that they were discontinuing the program with no more live practice on the Great Lakes. Militarization of the Great Lakes was halted. The Dept. of Homeland Security retreat was directly related to the efficiency and ease of use of the Actions Options tool.
Grassroots Empowerment at its Best
The website software behind the PJEP networks seeks to lower the level of authority to the local grassroots organization, empowering those organizations across the country with unique and powerful communication tools and online resources. With the recent addition of social networking, we’ve integrated social networking with political action lowering the level of authority even further providing individual activists with knowledge and online features never before available at any level.
This is software designed to encourage emerging powerful democratizing forces by enhancing horizontal communication, nurturing transparency and facilitating diversity. By empowering the individual and local grassroots organizations, the AOT seeks to foster creativity where creativity can thrive, with the individual that seeks deep and lasting social change.
Real Fun Is Really Revolution