Organizing for America | Whispers in the Wind

Americans are Against the Bailout, Who does Obama represent?

By Mason Dixon - Oct 1st, 2008 at 8:33 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

The majority of Americans are Against the Bailout plan.

Who does Obama represent? Americans or Business?

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America may be learning from its mistakes

By Mason Dixon - Sep 29th, 2008 at 3:24 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

Those Wall Street Muckers thought they could do it again, but it seems as though America may be learning from its mistakes. America wants a government it can believe in, despirately. So much that they put their best foot forward through 911 and Iraq, through Abu Grab and Enron. But nobody really for got about Haliburton, they just wanted to believe.
But as Bush Jr. put it so well, "Fool me once... and you aint gonna fool me again." It's time for America to have a reason to trust the presidency.
Btw, The Economy is more than just Wall Street.

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Republican's are the "Spend" Party

By Mason Dixon - Sep 21st, 2008 at 5:08 pm EDT

Also listed in: 9 groups

In 1981 Reagan, a "fiscal conservative" took office the national debt was at about 1 trillion dollars. By 1990 it had over tripled to 3.2 Trillion. By the end of 2007, after a long string of Republican presidents and congressional majorities, the debt now totals over 9 Trillion. Every Republican president has since Reagan has doubled the national debt. The only reduction we've had since 1980 has been when Clinton was in office.
The current estimated $500 billion bailout will likely push the national debt over 10 Billion.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt Read More »

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Flying Spaghetti Monster endorses Obama!

By Mason Dixon - Jul 22nd, 2008 at 11:50 am EDT

flying spaghetti monster endorses Obama! Arrrrr! Pirates against global warming!

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Digital Protest of the Republican Convention

By Mason Dixon - Jul 6th, 2008 at 7:29 am EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

In the Spirit of 4th of July, this site built a simple web-flooder for the Republican National Convention on Sept 1st-4th. They will even send you a reminder email. Is the fabled "democracy of the internet" finally appearing?

the actual site

the Digg article

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It's the Economy Stupid!

By Mason Dixon - Jul 1st, 2008 at 11:41 am EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

Both mccain and obama have clear social programs. mccain supporters do not doubt he would enact the programs that mccain has stood for consistently over his career. Obama supports are similarly convinced of obama conviction to a liberal agenda. This is why the economy is polling as such a big issue in this election. It is the issue that voters are the most hesitant about when it comes to these two candidates.

The question in most voters minds is not "will these candidates enact the views they are known to have" but "what are they going to do with the failing economy?" And every news report of downward economic trends reinforces this concern.

Obama's challenge is to show that the former administration's policies are exactly what has led us into this recession. As it turns out, carrying a huge national debt is simply not good economic policy. Ignoring environmental change (green house and katrina) is not good fiscal policy. Privatizing basic services (Enron and California brown-outs) is not good fiscal policy. Selling out the future in favor of quick profits is not Good Fiscal Policy, not to mention a bad foreign relations and unwarranted wars.

Obama will clearly be a caring social president. When it comes to the economy, the American people want someone they can trust, but more than that, they want someone that is going to solve the problem. Can a solution be so hard to describe, when the policies that led us to the problem are so easy to name? Ultimately good social policy IS good fiscal policy, and that is the message Americans want to hear.

Building a better society really is in our best economic interest.

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"Keep Chicago Wild"

By Mason Dixon - May 29th, 2008 at 3:09 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

In response to: the recent city council battle over a "Promoter License" and the rare solidarity it created + the overly economic "Land of Opportunity" advertising by Bank of America + "wild cougar" shootings...

============================

"Keep Chicago Wild"

__Why now?

If Obama gets elected & we get the Olympic bid; there is going to be a flood of money into this town, at a time when the rest of the country is seriously hurting.  This whirlwind will make Chicago unbearable; unless we create new & sandbag existing mechanisms to preserve this city's favorable environment for creatives and experimentation.

__What is Wild?

Nearly anyone that has lived in Chicago for a time will remember the PBS show "Wild Chicago."  The Wild-ness of the show painted a picture of the city as a haven for diverse and extreme interests.  The shows segments illustrated how the city contained niche pockets that seemed bazaar to a more mainstream audience.  This kind of wild-ness requires exactly the same laws and enablers which artists and creatives require, without being industry-specific or alienating more family-focused or financially-focused citizens.

__How it will spread

The term "Keep Chicago Wild" heralds diversity.  No matter how well you know this city, it always has the ability to surprise and amaze.  Anytime you see something here that you have never seen before, you can again assert that Chicago is still Wild.  The phrase is both a celebration of the existing wildness and a call to action to keep those things which allow city residents the freedom to explore our lives in unique and stunning ways.

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The Wright Answer: Obama embraces Rev Wright

By Mason Dixon - May 6th, 2008 at 8:20 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

Chicago isn't a city; it's a family. Reverend Wright is a member of that family, and like every member of our family, he has a voice. And like every voice in our family, chorus Revrend Wright speaks only for himself. We embrace Reverend Wright as I embrace all the members of our family. I listen to their story and strive to understand their struggle. However, as with every family, our ultimate direction is decided collectively, as one nation and one human race, each with a voice.

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planetary lifestyle

By Mason Dixon - Apr 29th, 2008 at 10:14 pm EDT

Also listed in: 6 groups

love

impact

concern

we have progressed

the triangle of fear, darkness, and rain has been broken

can you feel it?

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Help with counter-argument

By Mason Dixon - Apr 19th, 2008 at 2:42 pm EDT

Also listed in: Scholars for Obama

After doing much campaigning and calling; there is still one argument that I am having real trouble countering.
Here is the quote I got last week: "Any system that elected Bush twice is clearly broken. Voting for Barack or anyone else would be supporting that broken system."
While not the largest demographic; those represented by this sentiment will bleed away to the third party / green candidate.
I've heard the argument above put in a number of ways (often combined with election fraud). Any ideas on what an appropriate response would be?

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Obama Campaigns for Human Rights

By Mason Dixon - Apr 19th, 2008 at 2:27 pm EDT

Also listed in: 5 groups

"Obama in Geneva campaigning for Human Rights." I called it first yall. Released at the right time, there are at least 7 solid news cycles there.
Galvanize the base around China. Europe will love it; they want Obama anyway. Careful with the Olympics; they are not to blame. (and Chicago is on the bid)
What we need is not a new 'New Deal' but a new Geneva Convention.
If we cant abide by basic rules of human dignity; how can we ever garner the respect of the other nations on this planet?

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Intervene! Interrupt! Rethinking Art as Social Practice

By Mason Dixon - Apr 19th, 2008 at 2:14 pm EDT

Also listed in: 4 groups

Conferences & Symposia
Intervene! Interrupt! Rethinking Art as Social Practice

Category: Conferences & Symposia [View all]
Posted by: University of California, Santa Cruz
Deadline: 05/15/08

APRIL 2, 2008
Contact: Lindsay Kelley and Sesnon Gallery http://may2008.artintervention.org
Telephone: (831) 440-8964 and (831) 459-3606
Email: interruptions.coordinator@gmail.com

A boat made of flotsam floated out to sea? A stretch limo art bar! A Rant
Recorder, an experimental Green Wedding, an inflatable outdoor museum, art and
films on the streets! It must be the Intervene! Interrupt! Rethinking Art as
Social Practice festival hosted by UC Santa Cruz.

Breaking the boundaries of conventional arts practice, the interventions
festival takes art performance, websites, objects and events out of the gallery
and into other social and public spaces to explore politics and everyday life.
For the month of May 2008, artists will create work up and down the coast from
San Francisco to San Jose to Santa Cruz, convening at UC Santa Cruz for the
first West Coast interventions conference. With the Yes Men, Nato Thompson,
Suzanne Lacy, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, and many more.

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the issues song

By Mason Dixon - Apr 19th, 2008 at 2:11 pm EDT

Also listed in: Big Ideas for Obama

"Lets talk about [the Issues] BabyLets talk about you and melets talk about all the things that we can do..."-salt and pepper

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lost news cycles: need something to talk about?

By Mason Dixon - Apr 4th, 2008 at 5:05 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

Lets talk about this:The US is the cause of most terrorism worldwide.The facts are easily available.The US created nearly every major territorial conflict worldwide since World War II.And we sell the most weapons; and we have the largest prison system;and we have the highest disparity between rich and poor;and we create the most pollution;and we contribute the least to the world energy pool;yet we consume the most energy per person of any nation on earth;and We assassinated the Chilean president! how Hitler is that?
The facts are easily available.Listen to Noam Chomsky. He's on iTunes.

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democracy

By Mason Dixon - Mar 26th, 2008 at 3:40 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

the commerce of our daily life is language more than money. but language is not words alone, it is images, sounds, brands, ideas and techniques. these are the currency which dominates over the dollar. they more directly map that which truly leads people, their hearts and souls, as well as their body and minds. it is in the exchanges between people that we can find a true democracy, and it is in the mind of each individual that judgment occurs.
It is not just education which fuels democracy, as thomas jefferson suggested, but also understanding. For a truly democratic union can not rule until every person has been heard from.
At this turn of the century, we find ourselves in need of a new kind of Democracy. A government that does not rule by dollar, sword, or percentage. Our current economic system creates scarcity and unrest, the roots of which can be found in the charter of every corporation, the value of profit above public welfare.
And the pursuit of the most lucrative sciences has created increasingly powerful destructive technologies. And these technologies are not going away. They can only be improved upon and proliferated.
The only way to save humans is to re-engage what it is to be human with the political landscape. To use the language of our lives, and what it really means to us to be alive; use our language to communicate those things which mean more than money. and to communicate them to all people: especially to those that have turned to hate; and those that have turned to violence to solve their problems...
To all people we must communicate how much we want them to be a part of our society, and part of our America.

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Big Antiwar Protest in Chicago March 19 & 20

By Mason Dixon - Mar 11th, 2008 at 6:57 pm EDT

Also listed in: Chicagoland for Obama 2012 | End the Iraq War

Please forward widely.

Big Antiwar Protest in Chicago March 19 & 20

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19 -- PROTEST!
6 PM rally, Federal Plaza at Adams & Dearborn, and then march from the loop
to the "Gold Coast"

THURSDAY, MARCH 20 -- RESIST!
Participate in a day of creative actions throughout the downtown and metro
area, followed by a permitted "Convergence" at 5 PM at the Federal Plaza.

To learn more visit http://chicagomassaction.org or call 773-536-0098

M20 Chicago Video PSA
Use this link for YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIvfJAFiysY&fmt=18

M20 Chicago Flyer (pdf)
http://chicagomassaction.org/g-08b-flyers/Flyer01.pdf

_

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Obama drawing record crowds

By Mason Dixon - Feb 26th, 2008 at 5:04 pm EST

Also listed in: 10 groups

Clinton’s audiences – of impressive size, certainly drawing more than Republican presidential candidates – are nonetheless dwarfed by Obama’s. And that trend is continuing in Ohio and Texas this week, with an even more disparate ratio.
Obama drew 6,000 people in Cleveland, yesterday. And the Plain Dealer put him on the front page, above the fold, with the headline: “Obama says he’s humbled by response to his candidacy.”
Clinton, in contrast, drew less than half that sized crowd in Cleveland – 2,500 – a day before.
The same thing is happening in Texas, to an even more staggering degree.Last night, Clinton drew 600 (plus “a few hundred” more) to an event scheduled in Houston, a city where Obama packed 19,000 into the his event last Tuesday night.(These are closer to Michelle Obama sized crowds, who drew 700 in Columbus last week, and 600 in Cleveland.)
And Clinton drew just 1,000 in Dallas on Friday, where Obama had drawn 17,000 two days prior.
Selected quotes from: http://ruralvotes.com/thefield/?p=741

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website optimizations

By Mason Dixon - Feb 24th, 2008 at 5:29 pm EST

Also listed in: Website Feedback

two quick recommendations:

1) a person should get points when someone else comments on their blog posts. this means they are really saying something that enabled discussion; and it helps points be based on larger community actions rather than just the ones each individual does.

2) also; would be nice to be able to send one message to all my "friends".

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salt and pepper

By Mason Dixon - Feb 24th, 2008 at 5:19 pm EST

Also listed in: 9 groups

"Lets talk about [Unity]Lets talk about you and meand all the things that we can do..."-salt and pepper
if you know the tune; it sticks. will work wonders for the youth vote. the campaign cant do it officially, but a youtube video made by a supporter could have some real legs among college students.

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salt and pepper

By Mason Dixon - Feb 24th, 2008 at 5:19 pm EST

Also listed in: 6 groups

"Lets talk about [Unity]Lets talk about you and meand all the things that we can do..."-salt and pepper
if you know the tune; it sticks. will work wonders for the youth vote. the campaign cant do it officially, but a youtube video made by a supporter could have some real legs among college students.

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