Archive for October, 2008

Avaaz asks Americans to reenter global community for unity, harmony and change in pre-election ad

Published by
Tobias Eigen
October 30, 2008 in Civil Society, Politics, Create Peace and Democracy. 0 Comments

Dear friends across America,

As the barrage of negative ads intensifies, watch this new US election ad
 from Avaaz members calling for hope, tolerance and change.

Watch the Ad now

Amidst the non-stop barrage of negative and divisive advertisements that have defined this election campaign, Avaaz members from the US and across the world have produced a positive and respectful ad before Americans head to the polls next Tuesday.

The advertisement doesn’t tell people who to vote for, but its overriding global message of unity, harmony and change is unmistakable — an antidote to the divisive ads and fear-mongering that will leave a lasting effects among Americans.

Watch the ad, and if you like it, send this email to friends or put the clip on your blog. Watch it here:

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

As we head to the election, the world’s people are watching intensely, looking forward to the day we can turn the page on eight years of damaging Bush foreign policy — from Iraq, to climate change to the ‘war on terror’.

With almost 90% of Americans believing it is important for the world to have a positive opinion of the US, this personal and respectful advertisement should resonate — sending a message that the world shares real respect for the American people, and that the desire for change is about the US government’s foreign policy.

Acknowledging our interconnected future and common ground are part of the legacy we hope a new era will herald — and why this advertisement is so timely as the nation heads to the polls. Enjoy the ad by clicking here:

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

With so much on the line, including climate change, Iraq, human rights and the ‘war on terror’, next Tuesday’s election is an opportunity for all Americans to set things right.

The aim of the ad is not to tell Americans how to vote, or whitewash America’s foreign policy record prior to the Bush administration, but to send out an alternative message of global unity and hope in a election advertising campaign so dominated by negativity and mud-slinging.

Watch the ad, and then send to people you think will appreciate is message before next Tuesday:

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

Don’t forget to vote!

Brett, Ricken, Graziela, Iain, Paula, Alice, Paul, Pascal, Milena, Veronique — the entire Avaaz team

PS: To learn more about previous Avaaz campaigns follow this link:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/report_back_2/

——————————

  —-ABOUT AVAAZ
Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means “voice” in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in Ottawa, London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Sydney and Geneva.

Click here to learn more about our largest campaigns.

Don’t forget to check out our Facebook and Myspace and Bebo pages!

MoveOn.org brings on the Web 2.0 fun and games to encourage Tobias Eigen to vote

Published by
Tobias Eigen
October 23, 2008 in Web 2.0, Politics and Democracy. 0 Comments

I thought this was an enjoyable Web 2.0 gimmick from MoveOn.org to motivate me (and presumably thousands of others) to vote. In it, a fake news program shows talking heads explaining that Tobias Eigen is the single voter responsible for Obama’s defeat in the upcoming election.

This reminded me of an excellent spoof on The Onion about the guy who took down the Internet by doing too much stuff at the same time - but this time it was ME the spoof is targeting!

Good thing I already voted by mail in ballot!

Dear MoveOn member,

Oversleeping. Getting the car fixed. Having to pick up the second-cousin’s stepkids on the other side of town. These are just a few of the reasons millions of Americans won’t vote on November 4th.

It’s not like they hate voting. They want to do it. They know they should. And mostly, they intend to. But some of your friends won’t get around to actually voting because they haven’t been reminded vividly enough.

That’s why we developed this funny, scary video. It shows people what it might look like if we lose the election by a single vote: theirs.

Here’s a version we prepared for you. You’re in it—seriously, you. Check it out—and if you like it, send it to your friends:

[Still from video]

Watch it: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=31274&nid=RBtIiRY7BXiD6LQJVhUW4zc0MjM5OA–&id=14592-1111187-GhNqfqx&t=3

Thanks for all you do.

–Peter, Joan, Carrie, Daniel and the rest of the team

A landslide victory for Barack Obama?

Published by
Tobias Eigen
October 21, 2008 in Bainbridge Island, Politics, Create Peace, Democracy and Seattle. 0 Comments

 I would love to assume that Obama will win this election in a landslide - but I am uncertain enough of our political system to fear the worst. The MoveOn.org campaign has been pinging me daily to ask for volunteer support for Obama in Seattle and on the peninsula, and they are planning a massive get out the vote effort here. Click here to sign up - or read on for some compelling reasons to do so!

TOP 5 REASONS OBAMA SUPPORTERS SHOULDN’T REST EASY

1. The polls may be wrong. This is an unprecedented election. No one knows how racism may affect what voters tell pollsters—or what they do in the voting booth. And the polls are narrowing anyway. In the last few days, John McCain has gained ground in most national polls, as his campaign has gone even more negative.

2. Dirty tricks. Republicans are already illegally purging voters from the rolls in some states. They’re whipping up hysteria over ACORN to justify more challenges to new voters. Misleading flyers about the voting process have started appearing in black neighborhoods. And of course, many counties still use unsecure voting machines.

3. October surprise. In politics, 15 days is a long time. The next McCain smear could dominate the news for a week. There could be a crisis with Iran, or Bin Laden could release another tape, or worse.

4. Those who forget history… In 2000, Al Gore won the popular vote after trailing by seven points in the final days of the race. In 1980, Reagan was eight points down in the polls in late October and came back to win. Races can shift—fast!

5. Landslide. Even with Barack Obama in the White House, passing universal health care and a new clean-energy policy is going to be hard. Insurance, drug and oil companies will fight us every step of the way. We need the kind of landslide that will give Barack a huge mandate.

If you agree that we shouldn’t rest easy, please sign up to volunteer at your local Obama office by clicking here.

OLPC Update - new upgrade makes computers work better! XOs available on Amazon in Nov!

Published by
Tobias Eigen
October 20, 2008 in Bainbridge Island, Free/Libre Open Source Software, OLPC and Education. 0 Comments

It’s been a while since I’ve written about OLPC computers. There is some news now though - which I thought was well worth sharing. See below and click the links to read the two articles from olpcnews.com about the new XO upgrade that makes the computers actually work properly and the fine news that Amazon is going to be selling OLPC computers starting sometime in November 2008.

One reason for sharing the news is that, as our lives settle down this fall, I’d like OLPC friends on Bainbridge island to start organising ‘OLPC play dates’ - we just need to get them in the calendar and perhaps rotate through homes so we can spread the joy of hosting them. Please ping me if you’d be interested in hosting the first one.

Down the pipe, if enough people on Bainbridge have them and want to enable their children to play with them together, I’d like to explore possibilities for working with the schools to organise more formal sessions… like chess camp. We could combine upgrading, playing and learning about how these machines are used by poor children in the third world. Let me know if you have ideas or willingness to help out in this area.

Now on to the great OLPC news -

It is remarkably easy to install the upgrade, and well worth it. You should carry out this upgrade immediately - I’ll gladly help.. let me know if you need it.The procedure is basically this: download two files from the OLPC Wiki at http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Release_notes/8.2.0 to an empty USB key, press all four game keys on the XO and plug it in, then turn your computer on. Within 5 minutes you’ll have the upgrade completed (warning: your old setup will be completely wiped).

Poking around the OLPC wiki, I also found a number of very nice puzzles, games and interactive activities that my children have been getting alot out of since I upgraded their laptops a few days ago.

So it begins again! There is an opportunity approaching fast to expand our network of friends with these wonderful machines. Tell your friends that it will indeed be possible to get these in time for Christmas, and we can expand our circle of friends that are playing with them. The http://olpcnews.com website is a good place to monitor for news.

Also please be sure to participate in the xobi@googlegroups.com / http://groups.google.com/group/xobi mailing list so we can keep in touch and help each other with our XOs. If you know of others on the island or vicinity that you think would be interested in joining, please feel free to forward this on to them.

 

Google

 

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