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Comments Posted By AdLib

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GROW – The Specific Agenda and Tactics

javaz spoke what many of us were feeling and really connected big time.

Namely, the desire to to start doing something about what’s happening around us.

I hope this isn’t misunderstood but a group has to be about a shared sensibility. I think it would be a mistake to base it upon any individual’s sensibility, be it mine, javaz’s or anyone else’s.

IMO, once the idea starts rolling and people come together, it should be the majority’s to shape which is why we’ve had votes each step of the way and should continue to have.

» Posted By AdLib On March 1, 2010 @ 10:35 pm

Agreed, as I mentioned, the majority should vote on and choose the initial issue to commit its activism to, from the ones we suggest here.

Of course, it’s best for the issue that is most motivating to the majority to be the one that’s pursued first.

» Posted By AdLib On March 1, 2010 @ 10:28 pm

I agree that it would be good to assemble a list of goals that we would like to accomplish. I look at MoveOn’s evolution as very instructional.

I know I’ve mentioned it before but for any who missed it, they began as a small group dedicated to protesting the GOP Congress’ drive to impeach Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky “affair”, “Move On and get back to taking care of the business of The People”.

Anyway, they pursued that goal and grew from a small group of friends and associates to the 4 million members they have today.

They do have multiple issues that they pursue now and when issues crop up, they are among the first to jump in on it.

So, I am very much with you on having a broad vision for what an activist group can do as it grows and proceeds.

I think it should be an ongoing thing, that issues and agendas members think should be part of the group’s activism should be suggested at the outset and along the way.

Prioritizing can be left to the membership, MoveOn regularly polls its members to ask them what they think their priorities should be.

So, let’s put a growing “hitlist” together with the understanding that getting a group off the ground will initially require a narrow one-issue focus to make the most out of the membership and resources there are.

As the group grows, the scope of issues and activities related to empowering the people and putting democracy back in their hands, should grow.

» Posted By AdLib On March 1, 2010 @ 10:25 pm

I think this is a great idea. We do have a Twitter account for The Planet but I haven’t had the time to develop it.

I would really welcome any member or members who would be interested in overseeing our Twitter account and helping develop it and followers of it.

Using the Dr. Suits piece as described sounds great to me.

I’m all for doing it.

SueInCA and bito, would you be interested in collaborating on this? Would any other members out there be interested? The more the merrier!

» Posted By AdLib On March 1, 2010 @ 10:07 pm

Vox Populi AfterChat – 2-26-2010

I found this on their website, if this is true and realistic, it could solve the hydrogen car fueling problem too!

Hydrogen Production: Bloom’s technology, with its NASA roots, can be used to generate electricity and hydrogen. Coupled with intermittent renewable resources like solar or wind, Bloom

» Posted By AdLib On February 26, 2010 @ 10:19 pm

That is why if one had an interested party to back such a venture, a co-venture could be pursued with unions, for them to become partners in their own health insurance entity.

Think how crazy insurance companies would be if they lost all those union members and NEEDED to convince their current clients from jumping boat to join the union’s Public Option?

Too cool!!!

» Posted By AdLib On February 26, 2010 @ 10:17 pm

Yes! I meant to respond but Fridays are always a bit hectic, sorry for the delay! Very cool though! Will be responding shortly!

» Posted By AdLib On February 26, 2010 @ 10:01 pm

The main thing is to be able to start with a big base. The unions have that and would profit themselves and their union, meaning their members, from it.

Opening up to the public would affiliate more people with unions and give them greater strength.

As long as they don’t grow corrupt again, unions could again grow to be the cleaver that cuts through corporations to bring more equity to the people.

Hmm…this is an interesting idea…maybe the GROW concept dovetails with this concept.

The stronger that unions could be in America, the more organized more Americans would be to fight for socially and in the business world what the political world can’t do for them.

This is an interesting theory. We’ve discussed creating a group to work for change, what if a collaboration with unions was a path to creating that kind of solidarity among many people quicker?

Are not our objections to corporate power in sync with union members?

Interesting to consider how synergies might work in a number of areas…

» Posted By AdLib On February 26, 2010 @ 9:59 pm

Just checked them out. My process is to look for the tidbit that makes me cringe. The article that speculated on Bill O’Reilly potentially being the Ross Perot or 2012, expressing that he would appeal to independent voters wanting change is so insane that I have to discount this site.

» Posted By AdLib On February 26, 2010 @ 9:51 pm

Yes, I like that idea. But what if you were traveling in another state and had an accident or became ill? That’s why I like the idea of networking, like the way cell phone coverage works.

If you go to another state or country, you still have coverage paid for by your company under the agreed upon terms. They have in the meantime worked out compensation with other companies.

So I do think the Kaiser model is a better way to start, to be a hospital and provider so networking will cover you at all times.

» Posted By AdLib On February 26, 2010 @ 9:45 pm

Now may be a great time for a venture like this, so few areas in the economy that people are confident in. Who wouldn’t see the insurance business as profitable today?

» Posted By AdLib On February 26, 2010 @ 9:41 pm

Exactly! I mean, it’s not like going into the real estate business.

Everyone needs health insurance and if you can provide me with it at a lower price with better coverage, I’ve got no loyalty to the corp I’m paying through the nose to now.

» Posted By AdLib On February 26, 2010 @ 9:40 pm

The thing about organizations is that they can efficiently communicate with their members and if needed, have votes.

Groups of independent people with affinities would be tougher. I would look at them as more of the 2nd Phase, once your base is in place, self-employed, waiters, etc.will have heard of your group or you could send out sales reps to bring in those with affiliations.

» Posted By AdLib On February 26, 2010 @ 9:38 pm

Not at all, that’s what Kaiser is. So, it does work but I would think that there would need to be some kind of financial partnership or incentive to get something like that up and running with hospitals.

What would be cool is to set up such things at hospitals and practices then once they’re up and running, network them together to create a broader coverage group.

» Posted By AdLib On February 26, 2010 @ 9:35 pm

One more thought on this concept of small non-profit Insurance companies created in the private sector, from Unions and/or credit unions or other meaningful and existing organizations.

Considering how much money is being made in the insurance biz, even if it’s a non profit, wouldn’t that be a good industry to jump into at this point in time? Wouldn’t that be a good investment for a union to provide to its membership…and even help incentivize joining unions?

» Posted By AdLib On February 26, 2010 @ 9:04 pm

I am going to roll it around and when it’s thought out a bit more, try and consider who might be the type of philanthropist or organization to run with this.

» Posted By AdLib On February 26, 2010 @ 8:59 pm

Thanks BT, I saw the comment here by Patsy but will really check it out, very cool stuff.

» Posted By AdLib On February 26, 2010 @ 8:57 pm

That was another cool Vox Populi! Thanks all for making it so cool!

» Posted By AdLib On February 26, 2010 @ 8:56 pm

MUSIC OF THE OLYMPICS

VOX POPULI IS ABOUT TO BEGIN, PLEASE JOIN US FOR A REAL TIME CHAT ON THE WEEK’S EVENTS. CLICK HERE TO GO THERE NOW:

https://planetpov.com/live-events/vox-populi/

» Posted By AdLib On February 26, 2010 @ 6:59 pm

Rashomon 11: Twelve Views of the Healthcare Summit

Heh!

Okay, how about now?

BTW, does anyone else see an “Edit” link in the upper right corner of each comment? Really appreciate your assistance on this!

» Posted By AdLib On February 25, 2010 @ 10:18 pm

I shoulda bought into your website when it was at $50 million!!!

» Posted By AdLib On February 25, 2010 @ 8:16 pm

As mentioned above, I wouldn’t put any weight into info at any of these sites. It’s very iffy for any outside entity to know with certainty how many visits a site has had unless a site provides them access to their server data.

And notice how they say, “Estimated Numbers”?

I’ve browsed these places, some are in the ballpark on The Planet, others like Alexa are way off.

They each use their own formulas and processes to estimate, some work better than others but only your own server or a service you link up with is definitive.

It’s still not perfect.

» Posted By AdLib On February 25, 2010 @ 8:15 pm

Yep, as Nellie says, these sites that purport to reflect the visits and worth of sites are ridiculous and their stats are meaningless.

Despite their self-proclaimed worth of $100 million, their site’s value is highly questionable. I will find this article I posted previously but I believe it asserted that HuffPo only brought in around $300k in 2008 and that’s gross.

That would not justify a worth of even $25 million. They hornswaggled hedge funds into investing misrepresenting the site’s value and the HFs are probably riding them hard to produce revenues.

» Posted By AdLib On February 25, 2010 @ 8:07 pm

Escribacat, I think I’ve fixed that, is the edit button gone now?

NOPE 😆

» Posted By AdLib On February 25, 2010 @ 7:55 pm

I for one am pleased at HuffPo turning around from the constant bashing of Obama. I have a feeling that they have been receiving a lot of complaints and being that they seem most swayed by what produces the most traffic, I wonder if traffic has been dropping off there?

In any case, whether it’s sincere or not, I welcome it.

» Posted By AdLib On February 25, 2010 @ 5:54 pm

Grass Roots Over Washington (GROW)

Corporations are the cockroaches you can’t exterminate.

» Posted By AdLib On March 1, 2010 @ 4:21 pm

Hey! No fair, come back here with the bat and ball!

» Posted By AdLib On March 1, 2010 @ 3:40 pm

I hear you and typically feel the same though in this case, the structure works for me because we establish the group as “Americans” initially then invite “Americans” to join, what’s expressed is that people will be joining a group of people like themselves.

And an extra “American” won’t hurt when corporate interests try to paint GROW as “them damn socialists”.

» Posted By AdLib On March 1, 2010 @ 3:34 pm

Thanks for your patience and input on this (hopefully last) revision of the Mission Statement):

We are a group of American citizens, united to ensure the continuation of our democracy, which is now imperiled by corporate influence and interference in our government.

We stand against the corrupting power of corporate money

» Posted By AdLib On March 1, 2010 @ 3:25 pm

We have an overwhelming consensus on the Mission Statement so we can lock that down. Nellie proposed a small revision of it which I think works very well. What do you think?

We are a group of American citizens, united to ensure the continuation of our democracy, which is imperiled by corporate influence and interference in our government.

We stand against the corrupting power of corporate money

» Posted By AdLib On March 1, 2010 @ 10:25 am