1 Year and 1000 Posts on DU--My Current Project and Appreciations

A year on DU and 1,000 posts--two anniversaries in 24 hours! Actually, it’s three one-year anniversaries right about now. It was this time last year that I first spoke with Richard Hayes Phillips, a conversation that ultimately led to my becoming the coordinator of his precinct level statistical analysis of the Ohio presidential vote. (See http://web.northnet.org/minstrel/alpage.htm)

When I began my work helping investigate the stolen presidential election, it sidetracked me from the project I had recently decided would be my life’s work: helping people get involved in social change. I was (and remain) frustrated hearing so many people say they’re “fed up with the way things are and want to do something,” but don’t manage to get active. At the same time, I hear leaders on the left encouraging people to “do something,” without offering any guidance about what sort of “something” might actually be effective. So I had decided to take on the task of helping people figure out what they wanted to do to make a difference, and how to do it. I began that project last fall, and set it aside briefly to fly to Albuquerque to volunteer with the Election Protection Coalition at the election. I watched the election there get stolen from under our noses. I had to take action, which led me both to DU and to Richard Hayes Phillips, and later to join a coalition of election reform activists. After a year of working on election justice issues, my own social change work is coming back around to focus on my “make a difference” project. That doesn’t mean I’m leaving the election reform movement, but that I am doing less than the unsustainable amount of movement work I was doing for several months of this year.

One of the many things I’ve learned this year is that, parallel to the group of people wringing their hands about there being nothing to do that will really have an effect on the world situation is another group of people who know just what to do but NEED MORE HELP. Among those are people I have come to know this year, like Ellen Theisen and John Gideon of http://www.votersunite.org , Sherry Healy and the other good folks of California Election Protection Network http://www.califelectprotect.net , LandShark, the late Rev. Bill Moss (one of the lead plaintiffs in the Moss v. Bush suit challenging Ohio’s seating the Repub. slate of electors), Bob Fitrakis of Free Press, David Cobb of the Green Party, Kip Humphrey of DU and the Election Assessment Hearing, Garybeck of DU and http://www.solarbus.org , Rady Ananda of the J30 Coalition in Ohio, Guvwurld of DU and the Voter Confidence Committee, and many others. We can all do a better job of helping match up people with projects. I definitely want to continue to be a part of that.

At the National Summit to Save Our Elections in Portland, organized by DU’s Amaryllis and others from http://www.oregonvrc.org , I had the opportunity for the first time to bring together my election work with my desire to help people find their own ways to get involved in making change. I led a workshop the last day of the conference called, “Finding Your Niche in the Movement.” About 20 people attended the one-hour workshop, and as far as I know each one (including Dorothy Fadiman, who was there to videotape the workshop) left with a concrete plan about what they would do to get involved, a list of steps they’d take, and a smaller list of steps they’d take within two weeks. I am developing and looking for other opportunities to lead workshops like this one, both as part of progressive conferences and as stand-alone events.

I will be offering a workshop called “From Good Intentions to Powerful Action: How to Make a Difference” in Santa Cruz, CA on January 8. I am also setting up a “teleclass” (via conference call) one-hour version of this workshop, which will be held in December or January. Details will be posted on my website http://www.juiceforjustice.com soon, but you can PM me if you want information sooner.

My newest project is a blog on the topic of how to become involved in social change. I invite you to read it and give me feedback (either by adding comments to the blog itself or by PM). My blog can be found at http://www.writingup.com/juice_for_justice . Please tell the people you know who fall into that category of I-want-to-do-something-about-the-state-of-the-world-but-I-don’t-know-how-to-make-a-difference about my blog and my website. (The website is outdated; I’m in the process of learning how to update it myself so I can keep it more relevant.)

I’m looking for a few kinds of help with my work:
-A name for the whole project (which includes workshops, public speaking, blogging, a website, individual coaching and writing). Because my website is “Juice for Justice,” that’s becoming the default name, but I’d like something more descriptive.
-Leads for opportunities to present workshops, talks, etc.
-Help publicizing my blog and (when it’s updated) website.
-New bloggers. The site where I’m blogging should eventually get me a bit of revenue, which I sorely need these days. I make money on it two ways: when people click on the ads that accompany my blog (no purchase necessary), and when people start blogging at the “writingup” site and identify “juice for justice” as the person who referred them. This can be done by signing up using this link: http://www.writingup.com?referer=304. (PM me if you want to hear about my experience blogging on this site so far.)

I wanted to write some reflections on a year in this movement, but this is getting so long that I think I’ll start another thread about that sometime soon.

This post wouldn’t be complete without thanks to Skids for telling me about DU in the first place and warning me of possible DU addiction (though I didn’t heed his advice soon enough). Thanks to all on the 2004 Election forum (now Election Reform)--especially to those mentioned above and to Andy, DemoDonkey, Junkyarddogg, Einsteinia, Peace Patriot and those I’m forgetting in this moment--for your steadfastness and commitment. Thank you also for your help in the election justice projects I have worked on this year.

Hasta la victoria siempre (ever onward toward victory),

Emlev

<“T>he Wicked Witch laughed to herself and thought, ‘I can still make her my slave, for she does not know how to use her power.’” The Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum

I checked your new blog, it looks great and I have book-marked it and will pass it on two a couple of friends.

I did not realize there was a problem in California. I thought I read somewhere that Arnold signed a law mandating a paper trail just before he left for Japan (or was that China?). I will have to pay more attention to that problems from now on.

Again, contratulations and keep up the good work.

What Schwarzenegger signed was SB 370. Here's a link to info about it:
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=6307

It requires that the voter-verified paper audit trail be used for mandatory audits and recounts. However, California only mandates a 1% audit, so it won't necessarily catch even huge problems. Some counties are mandating larger audits.

California is in really big trouble, in serious danger of becoming "the next Ohio." The California Election Protection Network is the organization I know of doing the most work on preventing this from happening. Their website is http://www.califelectprotect.net.

Glad you liked my blog!

Have you contacted Democracy For America, thats the groups that used to work for Dean when he was running for president. It sounds like something they would be interested int.

I am still a member but I do not go to meetings very often (actually only one since Dean lost) but I will certainly bring it up when I do go, which should be in December I hope.

...but I get them mixed up with PDA. Maybe both are involved.

There have been many threads in this forum on the California situation, so it's also a good place to get info.

I hope you make it to the December DFA meeting and can bring up this situation.

Are you aware of the current situation with Diebold trying to get recertified for use in California? There was a protest in Sacramento yesterday about this. See: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5420010.

For any of you who don't know Emlev, she is one of the real go-getters in the Election Integrity movement who has given her all -- all over this country! She helped organize events from coast to coast and has presented and facilitated at some of our biggest conferences and events, and she is terrific at it.

So congratulations on your anniversaries, go-getter! :yourock:


PS -- now if you happen to talk to Richard, tell him to GO GET that lady from Altoona and send her to me fast; just found out this week that it looks like paperless ES & Ss might be heading for her county and we have to head 'em off at the pass! ;-)

I'm happy to contact Richard about it (or you can, through his website) but I don't know if your cryptic message will make sense to him.

I'm humbled by your description of me. Yikes!

... gave him the information about those horribly strange results in Ohio. Richard told me that what she sent him was so compelling he started looking into things, and well as they say, 'the rest is History.'

Altoona is a town in Pennsylvania's Blair County; in the past few days we have gotten info that Blair is leaning toward paperless ES & S machines.

So if you talk to Richard (and yes I will contact him, too), that's the meaning of the message.

And BTW, I meant what I said about you, every word! :-)

Marybeth


PS - if anyone from Blair County PA, or any other PA counties, happens to see this, please get in touch with VotePA.us and pitch in NOW -- the vendors (especially the 'big three') are pushing hard and we need help because this is coming down to the wire with these machines.

Wrote to him and asked him to have her contact you, if he's still in touch with her.

Thank you for being here.

"Estas son las mananitas que cantaba el rey David --"

:hug:

I wish I could clone you!

peace out, rock on.

gary

:toast:

And, it would be great to be able to read about your "finding a niche" work. Sometimes I feel I'm just scattering buckshot. Can't get south to Santa Cruz but would love to do the tele seminar.

The fine art of collaboration is one of my hobbies. Thanks for presenting an opportunity to learn finer tools.

Beth

Congratulations on your anniversaries. Mine will be coming up in a few days too.

I think this is not allowed on the DU, but I may be wrong.

Good luck!

One of my posts on DU is advertising Google Adsense? Will you tell me what you remember about that--which thread, what it looks like, etc?

If you went to my blog, you would have seen Adsense ads there, because they're placed there by the site I blog on. But that site's not part of DU. Do you think I'm breaking a rule by posting a link to something that then has advertising on it? If so, I need to know.

Thanks.

Emlev

advertising your service with or through Google Adsense.

It is at:

http://www.writingup.com/write_a_blog_make_money

Sorry to put up a fuss, but if nobody else thinks this is against the rules, so be it. Perhaps I have made a mistake.

Forgive me -- happy Thanksgiving and good luck with your efforts!

In peace,

Radio Lady

It's not associated with DU at all, so I don't think I broke a rule. What I did was link to my blog which is not on DU, but which has Google Adsense ads on it. If you find out different, please let me know.

Thanks.

You rock!:yourock:

One of the peculiarities of my work in this movement so far is how quickly I have become seen as a leader--as evidenced by some of the embarrassingly glowing responses on this thread.

While I do think I have demonstrated some decent leadership skills in the various projects I've worked on, I think a bigger reason for my being recognized as a leader is that this movement is in significant part made up of computer experts and statisticians, many of whom don't have a history of grassroots activism and don't have any idea how to create a campaign, much less a movement. They have an absolutely crucial role to play, but we can't expect them to be the leaders of the movement.

If you have leadership skills and using them as well as you could be--particularly if you are deferring to the "big names" in the movement--I call upon you to step forward and lead!