More on 'Click-click Campaigning'

If you've never tried it  - here we catch on film both Neil Armstrong and Sue Goddard in action (wink).

With names popping up at the rate of one every 2 seconds at 7 in the morning - that's 1,800 per hour, and likely to be well over 50,000 per day - maybe 100,000 in a working day -  I like the feeling of being part of a large group of people that all care about one issue.

Stan of Dalton

An amazing man - an amazing project.

Possibly the only one of its kind in the UK:

An organisation that grew out of one man's vision and has been doggedly pursued for the last 35 years by Stan and his group of volunteers. One that is thriving with a turn over of over £1,000 per day in these financially difficult times.

In 1976

"My wife nearly knocked me off my chair and said, " you ought to volunteer" "

Volunteer he did, back then - and he's been working hard ever since - and is still going strong.

Watch both these videos if you want to learn from someone who takes on a vision and not only achieves it but takes on more and more visions into what is possible.

If the vision was to dig a tunnel under the atlantic to New York - Stan would be the one to have in charge if he were persuaded it was a good idea ( may I correct that if Stan's wife had thought it was a good idea and was able to persuade him). I suspect Stan's wife is an equally impressive person - I wonder how much of him she has seen over the years.


I sought out this impressive man over a week ago - one of the people behind the community Baths-Leisure Centre- Cafe´- and now playground project in Dalton. He agreed to be interviewed.

I've now allowed the week for censure to pass and am now making the interview public.

It comes in two halves. Here's the first:

And here's the second.

Here is a view of the park Stan was talking about with the Leisure Centre and Swimming Pool /Cafe´in the distance.

Support Avaaz

At a time when democracy in this country is grinding along at a frustrating pace with no political party apparently in touch with the view of the people, I am gradually being won over to the ideas of Avaaz.

Though a little sceptical, I do think they are a movement for present times.

Please give serious consideration to this worldwide organisation.

They are currently conducting a poll about where to go in the future.

You may wish to participate.

One warning however.

Do not get sucked in to contributing their minimum stated contribution of £3 per week (which is far too much). This is outgageous and their information shows that this produces support from only about 10,000 people. What about the other ten million they say support them?

Better  to contribute a fraction of a pound say £ 0.5 per week - they only collect the money monthly anyway.

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    Democracy is on the march across the world, and our community is at the heart of the struggle, but to win we're going to need to choose our course wisely. Click below to take the annual Avaaz all-member poll, and let's decide together where to focus our energies in 2012.

The poll takes a few minutes to complete, but the more of us take it, the wiser our course will be:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/january_poll_2012/?vl

And if you don't have time to take the poll right now, we can all see the results as they come in here:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/january_poll_2012_people_power/?bv11891

Last year we ran hundreds of campaigns and played a key role in dozens of victories, including:

• Putting a wrench in Media-Mogul Rupert Murdoch's march to world domination
• Breaking the Syria media blackout and supporting courageous democracy movements across the Middle East
• Taking on Italy's Silvio Berlusconi at every turn until his corrupt regime fell
• Blocking the Gay Death Penalty Bill in Uganda
• Stopping a mega highway that sliced right through indigenous protected lands in Bolivia
• Building a massive anti corruption movement in India that has repeatedly forced the government to back down
• Building a global movement for Palestinian independence
• Saving the Kyoto Protocol and UN climate process from polluting powers determined to wreck it
..and much, much more.

With the world undergoing profound change, and our community twice the size it was last January, imagine what this year's list could look like. The challenges may be coming thick and fast, but when we stick together, we can transform them into opportunities to build the world we all dream of. Here's to building dreams in 2012.

With hope,

Ricken, Alice, Benjamin, Diego, Emma, and the whole Avaaz team



Avaaz.org is a 10-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making. ("Avaaz" means "voice" or "song" in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 13 countries on 4 continents and operates in 14 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz's biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.



To contact Avaaz,  write to us at www.avaaz.org/en/contact

Protect the freedom of the Internet

AVAAZ explains that action in the USA can have a real effect on our freedom of communication because so much hardware actually sited in the USA. I suggest that it is very important to support them.

Furthermore the use of AVAAZ to register our beliefs is proving to be a very real power that we as individuals can have on world policies - you can watch the supporters signing up by their thousands:

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Right now, the US Congress is debating a law that would give them the power to censor the world's Internet -- creating a blacklist that could target YouTube, WikiLeaks and even groups like Avaaz!

Under the new law, the US could force Internet providers to block any website on suspicion of violating copyright or trademark legislation, or even failing to sufficiently police their users' activities. And, because so much of the Internet's hosts and hardware are located in the US, their blacklist would clamp down on the free web for all of us.

The vote could happen any day now, but we can help stop this -- champions in Congress want to preserve free speech and tell us that an international outcry would strengthen their hand. Let’s urgently raise our voices from every corner of the world and build an unprecedented global petition calling on US decision makers to reject the bill and stop Internet censorship. Click below to sign and then forward as widely as possible -- our message will be delivered directly to key members of the US Congress ahead of the crucial vote:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_internet/
For years, the US government has condemned countries like China and Iran for their clampdown on Internet use. But now, the impact of America's new censorship laws could be far worse -- effectively blocking sites to every Internet user across the globe.

Last year, a similar Internet censorship bill was killed before reaching the US Senate floor, but it's now back in a different form. Copyright laws already exist and are enforced by courts. But this new law goes much further -- granting the government and big corporations enormous powers to force service providers and search engines to block websites based just on allegations of violations -- without a trial or being found guilty of any crime!

US free speech advocates have already raised the alarm, and some key Senators are trying to gather enough support to stop this dangerous bill. We have no time to lose. Let's stand with them to ensure American lawmakers preserve the right to a free and open Internet as an essential way for people around the world to exchange ideas, share communication and work collectively to build the world we want. Sign below to stop US censorship, and save the Internet as we know it:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_internet/

In the past months, from the Arab Spring to the global Occupy Movement, we've seen first hand how the Internet can galvanize, unify and change the world. Now, if we stand together, we can stop this new attack on Internet freedom. We've done it before -- in Brazil and Italy, Avaaz members have won major victories in the fight for a free Internet. Let's take the fight global, and mobilize to defeat the most powerful censorship threat that the Internet has ever seen.

With hope,

Luis, Dalia, Diego, Emma, Ricken, Aaron, Antonia, Benjamin and the rest of the Avaaz team

More information:

Op-Ed: Blacklist Bill allows Feds to remove websites from Internet (Digital Journal)
http://digitaljournal.com/article/313463

Disastrous IP Legislation Is Back – And It's Worse than Ever (EFF)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/10/disastrous-ip-legislation-back-%E2%80%93-and-it%E2%80%99s-worse-ever

Silicon Valley legislators oppose online piracy act (SFGate)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/15/BUO81LV0KI.DTL

House Hearing on Stop Online Piracy Act Scheduled (PC World)
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/243659/house_hearing_on_stop_online_piracy_act_scheduled.html

Growing Chorus of Opposition to "Stop Online Piracy Act"
https://www.cdt.org/report/growing-chorus-opposition-stop-online-piracy-act

The stop online piracy act: summary, problems, and implications
https://www.cdt.org/files/pdfs/SOPA%202-pager%20final.pdf

Why Is Justin Bieber So Pissed Off?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/why-is-justin-bieber-so-p_b_1071055.html 

From Amnesty International

 

 We're all enjoying gorping at the events  in the Middle East on tele.

It's easy to treat the news like an alternative Eastenders.

Here's a chance to be part of the action!

If you think you've got problems - think of these.

(Do you know what it's like to be a refugee ? - I know from experience in 1941, it can be very painful especially returning to this country from France, having lost all our belongings and being treated with great suspicion by fellow English people because my mother was French. The only people to help were the Quakers and one family in particular. Thanks to them we were taken care of. . .  )

Dear Geoff,

Right now, hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing for their lives from violence and persecution in Libya into neighbouring countries. Take action now

We're demanding that EU countries offer meaningful assistance to both the refugees and to countries such as Egypt and Tunisia which are bearing the brunt of the exodus.

The EU bears a heavy responsibility on account of its failure in recent years to acknowledge and take into account Libya’s dire human rights record and because of its proximity to the affected region.

We need you to contact the Foreign Secretary William Hague and tell him to step up efforts to help those affected by the desperate events in Libya.
Send an email: Protect refugees and migrants fleeing Libya
Thank you for your continued support for our crucial work to protect human rights in Libya, and across the Middle East and North Africa region.


Kristyan Benedict
Crisis Response Campaign Manager

P.S. Please visit and bookmark our Middle East and North Africa campaign site to keep up to date with the latest news and actions from the region.