Strategic Voting Link-Fest

In Canada during every election, strategic voting comes up, with people arguing passionately on either side.

Well, things are different this time. Strategic voting has never had the Internet and social media backing that it does now. Canadians are connected as never before and many of them clearly see the threats that a Harper majority represents.

And some people have been working for months to get ready for this.

A member of CRUSH, Michele MacKay, has been on it.

GREAT NEWS FOR STRATEGIC VOTING! I have just finished comparing both Catch 22 and Project Democracy riding by riding, and they have picked the same candidate in every single riding except one (Beauport-Limoilou.) The fact the two sites arrived at the exact same picks completely independently of the other proves they're solid: We can take them to the polls!

IMPORTANT NOTE: the riding projections are up to date on PD, but they are still in the process of updating their candidate picks. Meantime, look ONLY at the riding projections.

Both sites are recommending we check back in May before we go out to vote because things can still change in the last week.

Also, some are too close to call. Yet.

Other helpful sites include Election Prediction Project, which has 61 ridings too close to call.

ThreeHundredEight is tracking polls.

The CAW is following 50 key ridings.

And the ReformaTories are focussed -- when they're not focussed on the economy of course -- on 30 seats.

One more to round out this strategic voting link-fest: Swing 33 has identified 33 ridings where a financial donation could help tip the scales.

Final point: if you vote in one of these swinging ridings, wait until eday. Things change.

Adopt-A-Riding Update

I just love the grassroots CRUSH Adopt-A-Riding initiative.

This was just posted.

Here is an update on our Adopt-a-Riding campaigns:

Completed: Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar: Rosetown Eagle & Biggar Independent (ads appeared Mon., April 18)

Completed: Vaughan & Thornhill: Vaughan Citizen, Thornhill Liberal, & Markham Economist Sun (ads to appear Thursday, April 21).

Completed: West Nova: Annapolis County Spectator, Digby Courier and Yarmouth Vanguard (submission deadline Thursday April 21, ads to appear ??)

Completed: Haldemand – Norfolk: Simcoe Reformer (ad to appear Tuesday April 26.)

Completed: Kenora: -- Three publications, in Red Lake, Dryden, and Kenora (This campaign was supported by an individual CRUSH member -- Thank you!!)

In Progress: Ottawa West – Nepean: – Ottawa This Week - Ottawa West and Ottawa This Week - Nepean (submission deadline Monday April 25, ads to appear Thursday April 28)*

In Progress: Brampton – Springdale : Brampton Guardian and South Asian Focus (timeline – I forget! But coming up soon....)**

CRUSHers, you are amazing!! ♥

Time -- and money, I know -- is short. If you can, please donate.

* Baird
** Defensive move for Lib Ruby Dhalla

Meant to add: Membership on the Facebook page is now over 7,000.

Democracy's Future*

If nothing else, the past five years have shown Canadians how badly broken our democracy is. Until and unless we get some radical electoral and democratic change, it's going to be up to citizens to protect what's left of that creaky old institution.

Luckily, we're a resourceful lot. When Harper prorogued Parliament for the second time, we'd had enough. Unfortunately, over 200,000 of us on Facebook and thousands in the streets didn't seem to impress the politicians much.

But that was just the beginning. More non-partisan or multi-partisan grassroots groups sprang up: Catch 22 Harper Conservatives, Unseat Harper, and a more recent group, LeadNow.

Today I went looking for more, specifically for groups aiming at young voters. Found two.

Apathy Is Boring.

Revolutionizing democracy through art & technology.

Apathy is Boring is a national non-partisan project. Our mission is to use art & technology to educate youth about democracy.

Apathy is Boring aims to meet the following Youth in Democracy Goals:

Increase youth voting rates.
Increase youth engagement in their communities.
Build a sustainable dialogue between youth and elected officials.

It has a dandy facts page with definitions and other helpful info.

OurVote is also targetting youth.

OurVote.ca's goal is to mobilize young Canadians to actively engage and participate in the now declared 2011 Elections for the governance of Canada!

Young Canadians have a decisive voice and interest in determining the direction of Canada and necessary leadership that takes into account our needs & concerns!

Why does does getting youth involved matter?

Because voter turn-out is declining and there's that old saw: 'Low voter turn-out favours the conservative parties'.

Hey, look at this (from October last year).

How Parliament would look if only youth voted .

Canada’s youth would elect a Liberal minority government, with a substantial increase in representation for the New Democrats, Bloc Québécois, and Greens, according to projections based on recent polls of Canadians between the ages of 18 and 24. The Conservative Party would be severely reduced, virtually wiped out east of Manitoba.

Want to unseat Stephen Harper? Encourage the kids to vote.

(*Cross-posted at Voices for Democracy, Unseat Harper's blog. Good bloggers there. Check it out.)

Ready to Rumble?

If you are one of those 'nobodies' who desperately want an election in Canada, here are some non-party ways to get involved.

One of them is Catch 22 Harper Conservatives campaign.

Our strategy is to focus our efforts in those Conservative-held ridings where voters have the best chance of defeating the incumbent. We are in the process adding additional ridings as it becomes clear where we can best focus our campaign. For details about the criteria we considered in selecting these ridings see "Riding Selection".

Catch 22 has begun to identify opposition-held ridings that are vulnerable to a Conservative take-over. On Feb 28, we added our first defensive campaign - Edmonton-Strathcona. [Linda Duncan, NDP]

Each riding has a group that you can join to discuss the local campaign, and a riding profile with MP information, demographic data, election results, news, maps, links and more! If you are unsure of your riding, you can search by postal code at Elections Canada.

Check the Riding Selection to see if your riding, or one near you, is on the list. In Ontario, I'm gratified to see that four cabinet ministers are targetted: Diane Finley, John Baird, Peter Kent, and Julian Fantino.

Then there's another group that began -- and continues -- as a Facebook group, Canadians Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper, aka CRUSH. You might remember them as that 'radical anti-Stephen Harper group'. Membership has been hovering in the 5,900+ range for months, but lately and unaccountably *cough*, zoomed up to more than 6,100. There is also a website now.

And there's another one, launched recently, called Leadnow.

Leadnow brings generations of Canadians together to take action for our future and hold politicians accountable.

Leadnow was founded in 2010 by a group of young people who care about a wide range of issues and wanted to create a new way for people to participate effectively in our democracy.

Our founding objectives are to deepen our democracy, strengthen our communities, advance social justice, extend economic opportunity and protect our planet. We'll build an independent community that works together to help set the political agenda, take effective action on important issues, and shift elections.

We're inspired by a new model of political and movement organizing that uses technology as a tool to help people organize themselves and strengthen their voice. This model was pioneered by organizations like MoveOn (USA), GetUp (Australia), 38 Degrees (UK), and Avaaz (Global), mobilizing over 10 million people around the world. We hope to bring some of the best of these organizing techniques to Canada, while we adapt them to suit Canada's unique character.

Ooooh, 'shift elections'. I like that.

And finally, a video producing entity called Enough Harper, where I snaffled this HarperGraph,'Conservative Priorities', today.



Enough Harper also has a YouTube channel, with two videos, both of which have appeared here. (I saw another vid there this morning -- reason for starting this post -- but it's gone now.)

Anyway, here's one of the earlier ones.



Time to act. Or at least donate. Or support. Or something.

Let's take our Canada back.

Help Defeat Fantino, Part 2

Pam Allard, one of the admins of Canadians Defending Democracy, formerly Canadians Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper, or CRUSH, reports on the wall at the Facebook page:

I have great news! The Vaughan Citizen has been given the go-ahead to publish our ad this Sunday, before the Vaughan by-election. We are also pursuing some advertising opportunities in the Ottawa Valley in the near future. Please contribute what you can to our ongoing advertising campaign to defend our democracy.

The Vaughan Citizen seems to be part of the Metroland chain that had previously refused to publish the group's ad.

Launched in August of 2001 The Vaughan Citizen takes over where The Vaughan Liberal left off. With a circulation of 31,625 the Citizen is distributed on Thursdays and Sundays to selected homes in the 'City Above Toronto'. It was decided by Metroland's York Region Newspaper Group, that the community was large enough to have its own community newspaper resulting in the birth of the Vaughan Citizen.

Hmm. I'm thinking that some of those 'selected' homeowners who get the Vaughan Citizen might drop into their local Timmie's and leave the paper behind, open to the appropriate page.

Canadians Defending Democracy is a totally grassroots, multi-partisan group, an offshoot of Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament. Remember, it was labelled a 'radical anti-Stephen Harper group' by internal ReformaTory talking points.

What's not to like about that?

If you do like, please send them a few bucks from their still-under-construction new site.

Me, I'm not only radically anti-Stephen Harper, I'm radically anti-Julian Fantino as well.

Help Defeat Fantino

Canadians Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper, or CRUSH, has changed its name and has a new website, albeit still under construction. The old website, its main source of donations, was down for quite a while, just as they're trying to raise dough for the fast-approaching by-elections.

Here's the new site for Canadians Defending Democracy. The goal is the same -- to rid Canada of this plague of NeoTheoCons by getting ordinary Canadians thinking and talking about the damage they've done and continue to do.

The plan was to place an ad in the Vaughan Metro where the odious and absent Julian Fantino is 'running'. But after accepting the ad, Metro decided not to run it, just like in Calgary, where the Calgary Herald and then Calgary Metro both accepted, then refused to run the group's ad.

So, now the only available outlet is the Toronto Star, which is a good deal more expensive. In fact, Canadians Defending Democracy need $3,000 and they need it soon.

Please consider sending a few bucks. Torontonians in particular know what a scary, homophobic authoritarian Fantino is. (I've got a blogpost in the works, just hitting the lowlights highlights of his terrible career.) His political ambitions have to be squashed flat NOW.

CDD is also running ads in Winnipeg in aid of the other by-elections, but for me, Fantino is the much bigger menace. (You should hear my usually good-natured sweetie on the subject.)

Come on, progressives. If Conservatives Against Fantino, run by racist Gary McHale, can register as a third party and spend up to $3,765 to oppose Fantino, surely we can pony up a few bucks to help. My enemy's enemy and all that.

You can see a bigger version of the ad here.

Also, please help publicize the new Pay-Pal friendly site and the Facebook group.

Radical Anti-Harper Group Strikes Again

CRUSH, that radical anti-Harper group, has done it again! Just in time for the billion-dollar boondoggle, we've raised enough dough to put an ad in Saturday's Globe and Mail.

Here's Pam Allard, one of the admins making the announcement:

Because of the generous support and commitment of our members, we are pleased to announce that our latest ad will appear in the Focus section of the Globe & Mail on Saturday, June 26th to coincide with the G8/G20 summits. This ad will stress the economic mismanagement of the Harper government surrounding these summits.

We should all take great pride in this achievement!

It's the ninth ad in what we hope will be a snowballing crusade.

Catch up with the achievements of the totally grasssroots, multi-partisan, all-volunteer gang here. Donate if you can. And check out the de rigeur protest gear.

Beggar Me

Or, make me spend $100.

In my circles I'm known as a tightwad*.

But, over at the CRUSH (Canadians Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper) Facebook page, it was just announced that a donation challenge issued by Lexy Cameron had been met. She had offered to match $100 in donations from NEW donors and now she's going to have to pony up.

I thought that was a good idea, so I just renewed it. Donate here and when the total gets to $100, I'll match it.

You remember CRUSH, that radical anti-Harper group.



*One memorable phrase is 'commitedly thrifty'.

First, you spell his name correctly

Jane Taber continues to cover that 'radical anti-Harper group', CRUSH.

The viewer who inspired a CBC poll on women in politics – and outraged Stephen Harper’s Conservatives in the process – is speaking out, arguing her question was neither partisan nor was it loaded or leading.

Mary Pynenburg, who is a two-time Liberal candidate in Britsh Columbia, wonders why she should have to “identify my party before I speak?”

“As a past candidate, I am very interested in women in politics,” she says.

And that was the subject of very non-partisan, uncontroversial poll suggestion.

So WTF is up with the CBC?

The CBC has dismissed the allegations of Liberal bias against their pollster, Mr. Graves. It noted it doesn’t “generally do a background check on people who have sent us non-contentious polling question suggestions,” but conceded the Pynenburg case “raises a good point about requiring closer attention to the background and affiliation of those who make submissions.”

BACKGROUND CHECKS? By the fucking CBC? To ask a question?

Ms. Pynenburg remains perplexed. First, she says the supposedly “radical anti-Stephen Harper group” is a Facebook group that is pointing out the Prime Minister’s “radical agenda.” She adds: “And that does not make them radicals it makes them caring Canadians.”

More importantly, she is curious as to how she became a Tory target for simply asking a question. “When did it become a cause célèbre in this country to ask a relevant and timely question affecting half the voting public?”

Well, Mary, you might be handicapped by your gender. You know, the Shut-the-Fuck-Up gender.

The canny but poor spellers at CRUSH, leapt on this and issued a press release.

"We were absolutely shocked to see this report" said Tina Naftali, a Montreal resident and spokesperson for C.R.U.S.H., a 3,000+ member group of Canadians organized through Facebook. "This is Canada, isn't it? Since when is it considered radical to criticize the government's performance?"

The group's Facebook page describes their objective as "A group of committed Canadians who want to exercise their democratic right to unseat Stephen Harper in a general election. Our central goal is to get out mainstream media ads that will reach out to as many fellow Canadians as we can and engage them in a discussion about the actions of Mr. Harper's government. The ads will focus on issues of trust, transparency, accountability, and democratic values".

To date, C.R.U.S.H. has published ads in a number of national and local newspapers including the Toronto Star and The Hill Times. The ads are funded solely through member donations. Ms. Naftali pointed out that all C.R.U.S.H. ads are viewable on their website at http://www.unseatharper.ca "I'll leave it to Canadians to examine the ads and decide if they are radical" commented Naftali.

"We are Canadians from all walks of life with members who identify with every political party or none at all" said Naftali, who went on to comment on low voter turnout in recent federal elections stating "politicians are concerned that Canadians are not engaged in the political process, however, it seems that by getting involved and engaging other Canadians, the government then labels you a radical".

In reflecting on this newly earned moniker, Naftali takes comfort in the words of Ghandi: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

Aieeeee.

Radical Rally-ers!

On Facebook.

Really.

The ReformaTories are lashing out at a Facebook group, Canadians Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper, or CRUSH.

The CBC-bashing continues unabated as Tory strategists uncover more revelations of so-called Liberal bias at the network.

Mary Pynenberg, the viewer who inspired a recent poll on women in politics, is not only a former Liberal candidate but is also a “radical anti-Stephen Harper group,” according to the latest internal Tory talking points. Oh, and she has donated $14,000 since 2004 to the Liberal Party.

(snip)

The latest is that Ms. Pynenburg is also the vice-president of the National Women’s Liberal Commission and “a proud member of Canadians Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper (CRUSH), a radical anti-Stephen Harper group,” the Tory missive says.

Of course, we CRUSHers are chortling over it.

And last week, as promised, I sent CRUSH another donation. I took it outta my MASSIVE tax refund, which was very satisfying. ReformaTories aren't going to spend my dough on self-congratulatory advertising. Instead, I get to spend some on advertising intended to help bring them down.

If you haven't heard about CRUSH, go check them out. I think it's a fascinating experiment in multi-partisan grassroots activism.

It's up to us

The mission of CRUSH, Canadians Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper, a totally grassroots, multi-partisan group, is currently to run thought-provoking and revenue-generating ads in local mainstream newspapers (and to raise the dough to pay for them of course).

The group is clearly on a learning curve in media buying.

In March, they thought they had placed an ad in the high-visibility Saturday edition of the Calgary Herald. Expectant CRUSHers searched the rag without finding the ad. After some confusion, a wait until Monday business hours, and a double charge, it was revealed that the ad had run, but in the less-read Friday edition. Discussions -- and learning -- ensued.

Last week, there was another lesson (Scott has the details), this time concerning the Edmonton version of Metro. The group scored a coup in booking the outside back cover for Thursday at a pretty good price -- $1,000. Said price confirmed in writing. Press releases went out. Then, just before it was about to run, organizers were told that the ad was 'objectionable' and would not appear.

Discussions again ensued. Metro backpedalled. It would run the ad -- so how objectionable was is? -- but the price was now $2,500.

Huh?

The infamous/famous line was trotted out: 'Mistakes were made'.

More discussions. CRUSH declined the new offer and got their $1,000 refunded.

Now here's the good part. Organizers put out another press release detailing this adventure. The good people at the Hamilton Spectator sent an unsolicited offer to run a full-page ad at a discounted price.

W00t!

Now here's the ask. They don't have enough dough at the moment to take advantage of this interesting offer.

We realize we've begged on behalf of CRUSH before. Here we go again. If you're able, please consider contributing to this fascinating experiment in grassroots activism.

Our totally fucking useless Opposition isn't doing its job. It's up to us. Here's a way to help.

Also at that link is a summary of CRUSH's financial situation, accomplishments so far, and plans for the future.

And kudos to The Spec for standing up for freedom of expression. Well, OK, discounted freedom of expression.

CRUSH Goes Local, now with Paranoid Update

CRUSH, Canadians Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper, is gaining momentum. From its Facebook wall:

Remember CRUSHERS, we have 3 ads in play this weekend.
1. The Calgary Herald (Mr. Harper’s riding)
2. The KW Record (hitting two Catch 22 ridings at once, that of Peter Braid and Stephen Woodworth)
3. A locally funded initiative in the Comox Valley Echo News that targets the Catch 22 riding of John Duncan.

Thank you all for making this happen. Work is progressing on future ads.

CRUSH is the totally grassroots campaign to place ads focusing on Stevie's record and 'trustability'. Originally, the plan was to run huge ads nationally. There was munny enough only for a smallish ad in last Saturday's Star.

Going local is a good idea. We all know the state of newspapers. Apparently, local CRUSHers were able to negotiate some good rates. And people read their local papers. CRUSHers hope these ads will get them talking.

The CRUSH site has downloadable PDFs, tips, and, of course, a way to donate. CRUSH hopes to continue to raise munny to funnel to the local groups and when I get my MASSIVE tax refund, I'm going to send them some more.

What's that reference to Catch 22 ridings, you ask?

Here's one of its organizers explaining at Rabble:

The Catch 22 Harper Conservatives strategy is to target winnable ridings with weak Conservative incumbents, recruit volunteers and communicate with voters before the next election is called. The main premise is that an informed electorate will vote in their own interests, and not strictly in the interests of political parties, politicians and lobby groups. The strategy will benefit some opposition candidates from the NDP, Liberals and possibly the Bloc while remaining independent of them.

Here are the 22 targetted ridings. Are you in one? Near one?

Now, while we're on the subject of targetting, the US National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws is going to make sure that those Blue Dog Democrats who so royally screwed the healthcare reform dealie over abortion PAY.

NARAL Pro-Choice America, which endorsed Rep. Bart Stupak's (D-Mich.) primary challenger Wednesday, is eyeing other Democratic incumbents, too.

NARAL joined Planned Parenthood in backing former Charlevoix County Commissioner Connie Saltonstall in her weeks-old primary challenge to Stupak, a pro-life Democrat who inflamed party activists by holding out for abortion language in the recently passed healthcare bill.

But the group isn't done yet. Asked whether other Democrats who joined with Stupak or opposed the bill should be concerned, NARAL political director Elizabeth Shipp said, "Definitely."

I asked if NARAL was eyeing anyone specifically.

"Yes, but none that I'm ready to talk about yet," Shipp said.

I realize we don't have a primary system here, but man, it would be sweet to 'NARAL' these Harper Liberals:

Paul Szabo in Mississauga South

Dan McTeague in Pickering-Scarborough East

John McKay in Scarborough Guildwood.

Hmm, maybe my MASSIVE tax refund will stretch to funding NDP or Green opponents of these guys. Anybody know who might be running in these ridings?

PARANOID UPDATE:

CRUSH ADMIN NOTE: We have had bad news about the Calgary Herald. It appears from member feedback that the ad did not appear despite assurances that it would and, to add insult to injury, we have been charged twice for the ad. We have been attempting to contact the Calgary Herald all day but it will not be possible to speak with anyone in charge of this until Monday-we will keep you posted and rectify the situation as soon as possible.

I Want to Know . . .

Who the hell are pundits and pols talking about when they airly say: 'Canadians don't want an election'?

I am Canadian and I desperately want an election. So does every single one of my politically aware friends.

Or a coalition.

Mainly, we want someone OTHER than Stephen Fucking Harper in the PMO.

The heretofore bloody useless MSM has started to pay attention to the Harpocrits -- and to us, pissed-off Canadians.

We pissed-off Canadians put our feet on the street in rallies across the country.

Another is planned for March 3 on Parliament Hill.

CRUSH, Canadians Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper, is planning to run that ad up there (or something to the same effect) in newspapers across the country on March 3. They need $30,000 to $40,000 to do it.

Here is the donate link, now with PayPal and hoary but effective fundraising thermometer. Last time I looked, the money-meter read just over $1,000. (I mailed a cheque, so I don't know if my contribution is included.)

Let's ride this wave of grassrooty citizen activism and show the pols and the media that we really do care about democracy, transparency, and accountability in our government.

This is the Money Test. Are you in?

Feet on the Street? Check. Pay to Play? We'll See.

The creators of the Facebook group, Canadians Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper, or CRUSH, have a new -- and still work-in-progressy -- website.

From it:

Harper’s Offenses Against our Democratic Traditions and Institutions:

o Proroguing parliament to avoid facing a nonconfidence vote (2008)

o Proroguing parliament to avoid answering questions about the government’s handling of Afghan detainees (2009)

o Muzzling ministers, members of Parliament, and government watchdogs; stacking committees with political operatives

o Politicising federal institutions and programs that should represent all Canadians

o Avoiding questions by the media; restricting or denying access to information


o Using obstructionist tactics; employing American “spin doctors”

We progressives/lefties/feminazis don't need no steenkin' links to all those crimes. Most of us have been blogging about them incessantly for four years.

For me, the most recent and craw-sticking examples are the disgusting exploitations of the Owe-lympics and the suffering in Haiti. And the embarrassment and insult of 'our' Olympic Shed too, of course.

This whole CAPP -- and its offshoot CRUSH -- movement is truly grassroots and it's a fascinating experiment in online activism.

It's still being dismissed -- despite the 60,000 feet on the street it organized on January 23 -- by pundits and politicians.

They're right about one thing though -- the next test is the money test.

Can we get pissed-off Canadians to open their wallets, chequebooks, and Pay Pal accounts?

Well, can we?

CRUSH now has a PayPay option.

Oh. Look. Another Shiny Desperate Thing

Totally despicable photo-opportunism.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who has made relief and reconstruction for Haiti a major cause for his government, will travel to the earthquake-ravaged nation on Monday to see the recovery efforts firsthand.

I sooooooo want this goon gone.

If you agree, put your chequebook where your heart and mind are.

And if the MSM had any integrity, they'd ignore it.

Yeah. I know. Fat chance.

You Knew This Was Coming

(mock-up of the proposed ad)


A CAPP offshoot group, C.R.U.S.H. - Canadians Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper, has been created.

A group for concerned Canadians who are committed to exercising their democratic right to unseat Stephen Harper through a general election.

"When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid dissent is frankly when it's rapidly losing its moral authority to govern.” - Stephen Harper, 18 April 2005"

Here is the story behind it.

Ted Chartrand wrote:
Joe Klebanoff asked some questions in a post below that deserve answers and I will attempt to provide more information on behalf of the group that organized this facebook group.

This group was the "brain child" of seven active members on CAPP that felt a focus needed to be brought to the next logical step in our dissatisfaction with the Harper government and that the next logical progression was an election so that the people of Canada could have their voices heard. Bear in mind, that this group was formed only 48 hours ago.

It was immediately seen that the objective of forcing an election needed to be taken outside the realm of simply a facebook group and out to the Canadian population. Two short term actions were identified:

1. An ad in Canada’s three major dailies: The National Post, Globe & Mail and Le Devoir. The focus of the ad would be the need for a general election. This will reach a large number of Canadians that are outside the “internet” world.

2. A national rally day (March 7) to foster active engagement by Canadians at large. The March 7 date was chosen as it will follow the delivery of the Throne Speech and budget but will be in advance of the budget debate and the first opportunity for a non-confidence vote.

Within these 48 hours since the facebook group’s creation, a team of 7 people have worked to create an appropriate ad and to negotiate with all of the named newspapers regarding rates. Others have examined various fundraising options and continue to do so. Both these tasks are nearing completion and will be posted on the facebook group page within the next day or so. While it is always preferable to have involvement of the many rather than the few, we are in a time crunch on this and must move quickly to take advantage of this small window of opportunity. Members of the organizing committee are also meeting with a number of local chapters to gain their support and involvement. This is a considerable amount that has been accomplished in less than 48 hours.

Regarding the use of a pseudonym, no one person alone was responsible for the idea for this facebook group, so, we melded our personae into Liberty Freeman, representing all of us. I am one member of that organizing committee. Increasing amounts of detail will be posted on the group facebook page in the coming days.

OK. Now they need the dough to run the ad. They are in the process of setting up the mechanics for that and need a volunteer lawyer or accountant.

Can you help?