The purpose of CoalSwarm is to create a collaborative information clearinghouse for the worldwide citizens’ movement to address the impacts of coal and move to cleaner sources of energy. Containing over 8,000 articles on coal-related topics posted on the SourceWatch wiki, this open-source reference provides a constantly expanding body of information that anyone can utilize and contribute to.
Ranked Choice Voting allows voters to rank candidates on the ballot according to their preference - 1st choice, 2nd choice, 3rd choice, etc. Voters cast their vote for their favorite candidate knowing that if he or she doesn't gather enough votes to win, their vote will count toward their second choice. In a single-winner election, votes cast for the least popular candidate are not "wasted", but rather reallocated to more popular candidates, based on the voters' second choices, until one candidate wins with a majority of continuing votes.
Alternatives to WMC: Community-Friendly Business Alliances
Wisconsin Business Alliance
The Wisconsin Business Alliance is a nonpartisan, nonprofit statewide organization for community-minded business owners and professionals. The WBA does not get involved in electoral politics, but does lobby the legislature on issues such as broadband access, health care, retirement security, renewable energy, clean water, and education. It also provides services to members such as education on regulation compliance and a legal hotline. The Wisconsin Business Alliance website states, “We want policies that help our businesses grow, protect our quality of life, and make it easier for us to do business.”
This organizing guide tells you what you need to know to be an integral part of the Wisconsin Wave's Shut the Chamber campaign to take our democracy back from Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce.
Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce is Wisconsin's biggest and most powerful corporate lobbyist group. Learn more about WMC's spending on elections and lobbying, positions on issues and policies, and the effects of WMC's agenda on Wisconsin.
Check out Fair Election Legal Network's student voting guide for information about voter registration deadlines, how to find your polling location, and other common questions about voting.
This timeline was developed by Jan Edwards of Point Arena, CA. Jan lead the effort to pass the first ever resolution to end corporate personhood in her town of Point Arena, CA in 2000.
This timeline is a great education tool to explain how corporations have used the legal system to gain constitutional "personhood rights" through court decisions and how people have organized to gain constitutional rights through amendments (with a few exceptions).
There are three pdf files which correspond to three print sizes. The content information is the same on them all.
Historians Jim and Tomi Allison have long studied corporate personhood's checkered history. Jim's play, "The Prosecution of Judge Waite" brings their research on the background behind the Santa Clara decision to audiences in an entertaining dialogue with Judge Morrison Remick Waite, who presided over (and who now reconsiders) the decision that was reinterpreted as giving corporations the rights of human beings.
Our preferred strategy for passing resolutions is through the initiative process. Ballot initatives provide the opportunity to build your group's capacity and bring this issue directly to the voters in your community. This will help us build our movement!
Move to Amend organizers are experienced and acclaimed speakers. Currently our primary traveling spokesperson is David Cobb (click here for bio).
David gives a rousing one hour talk telling the story of the American creation myth and the Constitution as it pertains to corporate personhood and illegitimate but legal corporate constitutional rights, followed by about an hour of facilitated discussion / Q and A.
This skit was written by Democacy Unlimited (Humboldt Move to Amend) volunteers to perform at their town's annual 4th of July street fair on July 4, 2011.
Order Move to Amend materials for your group or upcoming event.
All prices include US Postal service shipping charges. ALLOW FOR 1-3 WEEKS FOR DELIVERY!
To place an order please use the online form below or download the PDF and mail in your order. If you have any questions please email us or call (707) 269-0984.
First Tuesday of every month
4pm Pacific / 5pm Mountain / 6pm Central / 7pm Eastern
These online trainings are an opportunity for folks to connect with Move to Amend and learn about organizing tools and campaign opportunities, and to connect with other MTA community organizers across the country.
All are welcome - no past experience required!
To participate you will need a computer and a telephone that can dial long distance.
Refer to these answers if you have questions about affiliating with Move to Amend or taking local action. If your question isn't answered below, please contact us.
WELCOME!
Thank you for joining the movement to amend the Constitution to abolish corporate personhood, remove big money from politics and empower local communities over large corporations!
If you're just getting started forming a MTA group, we encourage you to take a look at our "Five Easy Steps to Get Started."
Click here for a sample resolution that can be adopted by your organiation, town, city, county or state to support an Amendment abolishing corporate personhood.
Please download this sample resolution and bring it to our organization, local government, union, faith community, business -- you name it -- and get them to put their name on record in support of Wisconsin's National Guard.
Provisional ballots are not counted on election night, but must first go through a qualification process to determine whether or not the voter was eligible 1) to vote at all, and 2) to vote in all races on the ballot that was cast. . . . Observing this process can increase the chances that it is conducted fairly, in part by providing a deterrent to biased decision-making.
What Can an Election Integrity Activist Do On Election Night?
Bev Harris of Blackbox Voting has put out a brief educational video about what citizens who want to ensure election integrity can do. She tells you exactly what to look for and video on Election Night to protect the count. You can take some easy steps to minimize election machine voter fraud.
Your help is needed. Thousands of citizens can ensure a fair election if they get active and involved in working for election integrity.
Argentina www.linesofflight.net/work/rosario_pb_columbia.pdf
Learning Citizenship and Democracy Through Participatory Budgeting: The Case of Rosario, Argentina, by Josh Lerner and Daniel Schugurensky. Analysis of the pedagogical dimension and educational effects of participatory budgeting.
Australia
Active Democracy: Citizen Participation in Decision Making www.activedemocracy.net
Description: Run by Lyn Carson at University of Sydney, this is an interesting collection of mostly Australian case studies and links.
Description: A nonprofit organization that develops tools and provides consulting on achieving greater citizen input into public decision making.
Chicago Area Participatory Economics Society
www.chicagoparecon.org
Description: The Chicago organization dedicated to public education on democratic economic models. Based on "parecon" or participatory economics.
Inter Press Service News Agency -- The Word From the Street: City Voices http://ipsnews.net/new_focus/cityvoices/index.aspDescription: Stories from around the world about local struggles against neoliberalism.
The International Budget Project http://www.internationalbudget.org/
Newsletter with lots of updates on participatory budgeting and other participatory democracy programs.
February 8, 2006: Council Ordered To Address Iraq Issue
Description: A judge orders city council of Watertown, Wisconsin to decide whether it will vote on a resolution to withdraw US troops from Iraq or let it proceed to referendum. The judge found it a legislative matter and proper for the council to consider. Advisory referenda are proper subjects for direct legislation.
From unreliable electronic voting machines and millions of uncounted ballots, to partisan election officials and 10-hour waits at the polls, it is clear that our electoral system is in dire need of an overhaul. To build a more just, secure, and robust democracy, please support the following 10-point Voter Bill of Rights:
1. Pass a Constitutional Amendment Confirming the Right to Vote
Over the past year, campus-based organizers have staged a series of significant mobilizations across the Unites States, including (but not limited to) antiracist rallies, massive antiwar demonstrations, sit-ins and building occupations, labor strikes (by both grad unions and staff), student strikes and boycotts, and Tent State Universities.
As we have written in the past, states have increasingly taken action to stop global trade deals from undermining state authority and state regulations that protect consumers, workers and the environment.
In recent weeks, the debate has heated up over the need to institutionalize the voice of states and protect state authority within trade negotiations. Just last week the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) passed a resolution asking the White House to commit its trade office to avoiding preemption of state authority. The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade also recently held a hearing on the issue of strengthening state voices within the trade negotiation process.
Provide good training to your petition gatherers. Make sure they can explain the basic legal argument of the campaign. Give them info sheets and FAQs.
INSIST that signers print. Consider making blocks for each letter to help people be legible. Because this is not a ballot measure petition, you do not need a signature.
From Saving the News: Toward a National Journalism Strategy
"Journalism is a public good. As a society, we all benefit from quality news and information. But like many public goods, journalism has always been heavily subsidized. The subsidy model that prevailed for the past century — advertising-supported journalism — appears to be dying. If current trends continue, America could soon embark on an unprecedented social experiment by becoming the first advanced democracy to leave wide sectors of society and entire geographic regions without a fully functional, professional press. We are venturing into uncharted territory."
The Free Speech Organizing Toolkit is designed to provide campus leaders and free speech supporters with the tools to work with higher education leaders to remove impediments to a marketplace of ideas on their campus.
This valuable toolkit was produced by the Center for Campus Free Speech. The Center acts as a clearinghouse of information, provides specialized support to campuses, and connects concerned educators, administrators, lawyers and students into a national network. The Center draws advice and guidance from a group of leaders in the higher education and legal communities.
For the latest news regarding deployments, activation numbers, casualties, and more, direct from the horse's mouth, see: http://www.defenselink.mil/Releases/
For the latest news regarding deployments, activation numbers, casualties, and more, direct from the horse's mouth, see: http://www.defenselink.mil/Releases/
State legislation designed to end National Guard deployments to Iraq and/or Afghanistan and to reform state National Guard law . . .
- 2009 Session -
Note: Legislation is also pending in Alaska, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Campaigns are also underway in California, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Washington D.C..
There are 8000 Soldiers and Airmen in the Massachusetts National Guard, serving in Air Force and Army units, in both combat and support roles.
Deployments: More than 6,500 Massachusetts National Guard Soldiers and Airmen have been mobilized into federal service since 9/11/2001, and more than 5,300 of those served overseas.
Six Massachusetts National Guard soldiers were killed in action in this period.
Countless numbers of Massachusetts National Guard soldiers were wounded in action or sustained injuries, many requiring life-long treatment.
There will be countless Hidden Wounds of War i.e. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in the years ahead. (see Mass. report)
The Center for Campus Free Speech releases there Guide to Student Activity Fees - a primer on the legal issues involved in creating and managing a student activity fee system.
Student fee systems are used by students across the country to provide the resources for a wide variety of out-of-classroom activities.
Students fund everything from service organizations to advocacy to educational forums and guest speakers. They debate and learn about critical issues like multiculturalism, the environment, education policy, conflicts in the Middle East and religion. They learn new skills and create change on major problems the world faces.
Student activity fees give involved students the resources to create a vibrant marketplace of ideas on campus.
The new debate over war powers, defense policy,
and the National Guard
This study memo–maybe more dependent on computer literacy than on a knowledge of Latin legal maxims–consists of three features: The author’s narrative, documents or parts of documents integrated into the syllabus for easy reference, and links to the full texts of these documents as well as to other documents.
Many, many thanks to Ben Manski of the Liberty Tree Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Law School for creating this opportunity for dialogue.
“Bring the Guard Home! It’s the Law.” is a national movement of state campaigns to end the unlawful overseas deployment of our National Guard. There are active campaigns in over 20 states working with state legislators to pass laws that will help keep our National Guard units from being sent to Iraq, and prevent future deployments that are not legal. With this legislation, the states can begin to reassert their historic national defense responsibilities and to honor the Constitution's genius for distributing power over issues of war and peace. This campaign can also help to bring an end to an occupation that has caused incredible suffering and death for untold numbers of innocent people.
This report, by John Schmitt and Ben Zipperer of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, updates an earlier report from January of 2007, which found a steep rise in illegal firings of pro-union workers in the 2000s relative to the last half of the 1990s. It updates the index of the probability that a pro-union worker will be fired in the course of a union election campaign, using published data from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). It also takes into consideration the increase in card-check organizing campaigns that began in the mid-1990s and adjusts the index for this factor.
I want to organize a Voter Assembly in my community, where do I start?
Choose a Good Location and Time
Accessible, public spaces outside (parks, prominent intersections, or in front of civic buildings) are usually a good bet. If you need to use an indoor space then an accessible, public space such as a community center would be ideal.
Amending the U.S. Constitution is a long-term campaign that will require the participation of groups across the country to be successful. Thank you for your interest in working locally towards this important goal, and welcome to the Move to Amend movement!
This toolkit provides guidance on how to organize in your local community, region or state, and how to implement successful campaigns that will move all of us closer to our long-term goals. We invite you to use the suggestions and documents provided in this toolkit and to adapt them to your local needs.
Corporations have gained the legal status of persons, accumulated rights, and now tell the government what to do. Ending corporate personhood and the legal fiction that money is speech is the first step in giving democratic government the legal ability to take a number of actions that are currently "beyond our authority.
Proclaim the independence of all levels of our government from the domination of corporations. Download .pdfs and .doc versions of this timely re-write of the Declaration:
If you're tabling, demonstrating, or hosting an event, you can sign people on to the Move to Amend call for action by downloading and printing our petition.
Historians Jim and Tomi Allison have long studied corporate personhood's checkered history. Jim's play, "The Prosecution of Judge Waite" brings their research on the background behind the Santa Clara decision to audiences in an entertaining dialogue with Judge Morrison Remick Waite, who presided over (and who now reconsiders) the decision that was reinterpreted as giving corporations the rights of human beings. 
Join our monthly Take Action Webinar trainings!
