Activism

20091119th-nuru-logoSummary. Nuru International works to end extreme poverty by focusing on empowering people through programs in agriculture, education, and healthcare, as well as water and sanitation. In the Kiswahili language of Kuria, Kenya, the word Nuru means light.

Ending Poverty to Eliminate Terrorism. Nuru was founded by Jake Harriman, an ex-Marine platoon commander who, after 7 years of military service around the world, observed a strong connection between poverty and the increase in world terrorism and war.

Jake Harriman served over seven years as a platoon commander in both the Infantry and an elite unit of Marines called Force Recon. After completing two tours of duty in Iraq (receiving the Bronze Star for actions in combat) and fighting the war on terror all around the world, Jake came to the realization that the only chance we have of ending terrorism is to end extreme poverty. Jake left his career in the Marines to start an organization to end extreme poverty. He enrolled at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, and with the help of his classmates, professors, and some Silicon Valley venture capitalists, Jake formed Nuru International.

20091119th-us-southern-command-ussc-disaster-relief-el-salvadorA Mightier Military. It’s appropriate that there be an independent civilian non-military initiative such as Nuru, to raise awareness about the effectiveness of humanitarian aid as a means to ending and/or preventing war. Others in the military have also seen the connection between poverty and war. For this reason, official branches of the U.S. military, such as the United States Southern Command, are focusing on humanitarian aid. In November 2009, the US Southern Command delivered over 370,000 pounds of food, water, medical aid, and other supplies to El Salvador as part of a humanitarian aid effort called New Horizons:

Humanitarian assistance exercises such as Neuvos Horizontes (New Horizons) involve construction of schools, clinics, and water wells in countries throughout the region. At the same time, medical readiness exercises involving teams consisting of doctors, nurses and dentists also provide general and specialized health services to host nation citizens requiring care. These humanitarian assistance exercises, which last several months each, provide much needed services and infrastructure, while providing critical training for deployed U.S. military forces. These exercises generally take place in rural, underprivileged areas. USSOUTHCOM attempts to combine these efforts with those of host-nation doctors, either military or civilian, to make it even more beneficial. [source]

Hopeful Future. As millions and even billions of dollars are redirected toward civilian and military initiatives focusing on humanitarian aid and relief, we will get better results (in terms of world peace) for the same money spent. In the future, defense budgets may increasingly be spend on building schools, health clinics, and assisting with agricultural development rather than blowing people up.

Video. Below is a video with Jake Harriman sharing how Nuru began.

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Activism > Environment | Health

20091105th-food-inc-movie-dvd-coverSummary. Food Inc., available on DVD or Blu-ray, is a documentary about the production of food in the United States.

Overview. The movie shares startling facts about the corporate ownership of genetically modified soybeans that represent 80% of the soybeans in the nation. Those who grow these soybeans without authorization, will be prosecuted. Those who speak out against the potential dangers of meat consumption, are also prosecuted. The film also details the political leaders who are regulating the companies they previously worked for.

CommentaryGregory Johnson describes it as, “Muckraking that’s breathtaking. The visuals, graphics. and authenticity are amazing. Not for the faint of heart. An excellent example of documentary that offers discouraging truths, yet hopeful and practical action points people can take to make a difference. What’s most startling is that a company like Monsanto can own the patent to a genetically modified soybean plant, and then prevent anyone from growing it. Presumably this could happen with animals and other life forms. What’s even more disconcerting is that our government is helping defend Monsanto. The agricultural industry also receives substantial government funding. This tax payer funded support of the agriculture industry ends up being a hidden cost we don’t see in the grocery store. This results in nutritious foods being costly while fast food and processed foods are inexpensive. We’re essentially creating a socialist state where we all help fund the meat industry and Mc Donald’s is the one to benefit.”

Official Website. More information is available at FoodIncMovie.com. Below are some excerpts from the website.

Food, Inc. exposes America’s industrialized food system and its effect on our environment, health, economy and workers’ rights. … High calorie, sugar laden processed foods coupled with our sedentary lifestyles is growing our waistlines and contributing to serious health issues like diabetes, heart ailments and cancers. One-third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. Tell Congress that kids should be served healthy meals, not soda and junk food. … Approximately 10 billion animals (chickens, cattle, hogs, ducks, turkeys, lambs and sheep) are raised and killed in the US annually. Nearly all of them are raised on factory farms under inhumane conditions. These industrial farms are also dangerous for their workers, pollute surrounding communities, are unsafe to our food system and contribute significantly to global warming.

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Activism > Training | Effective Living > Life Mobility

20091031sa-volkswagen-the-fun-theory-initiativeSummaryThe Fun Theory, at TheFunTheory.org, is an initiative of Volkswagen that demonstrates how the enjoyability factor is an essential element in designing products that will inspire and motivate people to use them.

InnovationVolkswagen is to the automobile industry what Apple is to the world of computers and gadgets. Volkswagen vehicles include innovative design elements that are of little or no benefit other than making their cars more fun and enjoyable. For example, the VW Beetle includes a flower vase (pictured below) to bring color and and additional beauty to the inside of the car.

20091101su-vw-flower-vase-captain-oblivious-flickr-photostreamInspirational Marketing. The Fun Theory campaign itself is an example of innovation, creativity, and fun with marketing. It is similar to the funny eTrade baby commercials, where a business will create a non-traditional advertising campaign that entertains or inspires while also spreading brand awareness and affinity. The Fun Theory campaign has the grass roots social action elements of the music video, If Today Was Your Last Day by Nickelback. The campaign proves that, with a little creativity, people can be inspired to do good.

Videos. Below are some of the videos demonstrating The Fun Theory principle. The cost of advertising to reach a targeted captive audience of millions would be very expensive. However, like the eTrade funny baby commercials, these videos have had millions of views on YouTube alone.

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Activism

20091022th-walmart-save-money-live-better-logoSummary. One area of activism involves initiatives to increase value for consumers, improve working conditions for workers, and ensure positive economic, social, and environmental impact from businesses. Such efforts help people save money and live better.

Southpark Walmart Episode. The Southpark episode Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes that originally aired on 3 November 2004, provided a transcendent and comprehensive holistic view of the problems associated with large retail stores. Rather than demonizing Wal-Mart, the episode included the role that consumers play.

Tree Trunk Movements. While grass-roots movements have value, greater impact can sometimes be achieved by working with tree trunks rather than grass roots. The principle is one of leveraging. When a locally owned store decides to promote reusable cloth bags instead of paper or plastic, it has a limited impact. When Walmart decides to promote reusable fabric bags instead of paper or plastic, it has a huge impact. As the watermark of the environmental awareness tide rises, companies like Walmart have been quick to respond to social interests with programs such as the Walmart Sustainability statement. When activists influence big business, it can have a big impact. Walmart is now providing organically grown food as well as clothing.

20091022th-apple-environment-full-life-cycle

Apple Product Lifecycle Environmental Impact

Partnering Rather Than Picketing. Rather than picketing and being angry at big business, savvy activists realize that partnerships with big business can produce better results than creating “us and them” adversarial relationships. When consumers asked Apple computer for more environmentally friendly computers, the company responded above and beyond what consumers could have imagined with the new Apple Environmental standards that look at the full product lifecycle.

Video. Below is a CNBC exclusive video (courtesy of Hulu) describing changes taking place within Walmart that are largely a result of interests expressed by consumers.

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Lifeways

20090923we-postville-usa-book-coverSummary. The Postville community in Iowa is a living example of diversity, vitality, longevity, and resiliency. The book Postville U.S.A.: Surviving Diversity in Small-Town America is a thoughtfully written multi-authored book with several perspectives on the community’s struggles and successes. [Buy]

Our Interest. Because of its cultural richness and historical significance, several stories and first-hand reports have been written and published on the ResourcesForLife.com website about Postville, including:

Who Should Read This Book. This most recent book about Postville offers an in-depth and thought provoking examination of many facets of life, religion, work, community, culture, and national identity. The writing style and stories are engaging. For this reason, just about anyone would enjoy and benefit from the book. It’s an excellent resource for anyone involved in community governance, and small-town revitalization. Learn more at www.PostvilleUSA.com

Video. Here is a brief video about the book.

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Effective Living > Music

20090613sa-beautiful-strange-bedrock-jeff-han-multi-touch-screenSummary. The song Beautiful Strange by Bedrock was recently popularized because of its use as a soundtrack to the amazing Perceptive Pixel touch screen technology Brightcove video featuring Jeff Han.

Apple iPhone. When the video first appeared, it was promoted through numerous channels on the Internet. News of multi-touch screen technology was made public just prior to the historic Apple iPhone launch. It was then that the technology was widely released to the public.

Beautiful Strange by Bedrock. Click play below to hear the song Beautiful Strange by Bedrock.

TED Talks. Below is the video presentation by Jeff Han introducing the touch screen technology on TED Talks.

Activism

20090609tu-send-your-love-stingSummary. The music video Send Your Love by Sting shows examples of the future impact of our kindness today. Also known as love activism, this form of outreach is often overlooked or considered schmaltzy. However, it can have a huge impact. Click the play button here to listen to just the song, or watch the video below.

Future impact studies allow us to see the long-term and repercussive impact of the domino effect in activism.

From this perspective, In a sense, time travel is possible. It is possible to travel forward in time and impact a future moment through present action.

This music video is being studied in the course on creative activism.

Lyrics. The lyrics to Send Your Love are below.

Finding the world in the smallness of a grain of sand
And holding infinities in the palm of your hand
And Heaven’s realms in the seedlings of this tiny flower
And eternities in the space of a single hour

Send your love into the future
Send your love into the distant dawn

Inside your mind is a relay station
A mission probe into the unknowing
We send a seed to a distant future
Then we can watch the galaxies growing

This ain’t no time for doubting your power
This ain’t no time for hiding your care
You’re climbing down from an ivory tower
You’ve got a stake in the world we ought to share

You see the stars are moving so slowly
But still the earth is moving so fast
Can’t you see the moon is so lonely
She’s still trapped in the pain of the past

This is the time of the worlds colliding
This is the time of kingdoms falling
This is the time of the worlds dividing
Time to heed your call

Send your love into the future
Send your precious love into some distant time
And fix that wounded planet with the love of your healing
Send your love
Send your love

There’s no religion but sex and music
There’s no religion but sound and dancing
There’s no religion but line and color
There’s no religion but sacred trance

There’s no religion but the endless ocean
There’s no religion but the moon and stars
There’s no religion but time and motion
There’s no religion, just tribal scars

Throw a pebble in and watch the ocean
See the ripples vanish in the distance
It’s just the same with all the emotions
It’s just the same in every instance

There’s no religion but the joys of rhythm
There’s no religion but the rites of Spring
There’s no religion in the path of hate
No prayer but the one I sing

Send your love into the future
Send your precious love into some distant time
And fix that wounded planet with the love of your healing
Send your love
Send your love

There’s no religion but sex and music
There’s no religion that’s right or winning
There’s no religion in the path of hatred
Ain’t no prayer but the one I’m singing

Send your love
Send your love

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Activism

20090609tu-coke-give-a-little-love-advertisement-commercial-videoSummary. In this inspirational animated Coca-Cola commercial, the refrain of the soundtrack is,

You give a little love and it all comes back to you.

You’re gonna be remembered for the things that you say and do.”

Message. It would appear that Coke is in the business of spreading the love. The ad is based on the video game Grand Theft Auto. This is an example of inspirational advertising that carries an additional message beyond the product or service being sold. This advertisement is being studied in the course on creative activism.

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Technology > Video Production

20070124-video-production-pbs-small-house-dsc06356Summary. This document describes an ideal video production workflow and best practices for editing video that will be used for DVD or uploading to streaming video hosting services such as Blip.tv, Vimeo.com, or YouTube.

Prepare. Before getting started, you should have the following:

  • Apple Computer. Either the Apple iMac or Mini are fine for use. A notebook could also be used. For doing lots of video projects, it’s helpful to have dedicated computers for importing, editing, exporting, and uploading since these tasks are fairly time consuming.
  • Audio Recorder. To keep things from getting boring, it’s nice to have a variety of camera angles and perspectives. This means you may be backing away from the person speaking. When you back away, the volume of their recorded voice will diminish unless you are using a recording device that stays with them. You could spend hundreds of dollars on a wireless microphone system (assuming your video camera has microphone inputs), or for about $50 each you could purchase the Olympus VN-5200 and the Olympus tie-clip microphone ($20 extra) for exceptional sound. This technique requires and extra step of synchronization and exporting, but is usually worth the effort.
  • Digital HD Video Camera. A high definition video camera with a hard drive is nice because the data can be quickly and easily moved to a computer hard drive. There is also the possibility of recording longer events, such as concerts, without needing to change memory cards, tape, or mini discs.
  • Digital Still Camera. It’s nice to have some high quality photos to include in the video as cutaway images. Photographs are often more thoughtfully composed and are therefor sometimes nice in a video. If someone is stumbling over their words, you can delete what they are saying and put a cutaway image over it (assuming this works for your video project).
  • External Hard Drive. Video production uses a lot of hard drive storage capacity, so it will be necessary to purchase two high capacity external hard drives such as the Western Digital MyBook. One is a primary drive and the other is a backup drive (containing an identical copy of the folders on the primary drive). The folder structure should be something like this (alphabetized but also in order of use):
    • camera-archives. Contains copies of your original video.
    • iMovie Events. Automatically created by iMovie. Contains working converted copies of videos used for iMovie projects.
    • iMovie Projects. These are relatively small files. They keep track of the timeline for your project and what original content is used for the project.
    • supporting-files. These are any photos, music, PowerPoint slides, audio files, or other media used for the project.
  • Lighting. The quality of the video will dramatically improve when lighting is increased. Diffused lighting will create a happier and brighter environment. Pure natural white light will help maintain natural coloring. An overcast but bright day is an excellent environment for video and/or photography.
  • Video Online. After all the time and money you are spending on making videos, you’ll want to share them by setting up video online accounts with Blip.tv | Vimeo.com | YouTube.com
  • Wide Angle Lens. Video recording is often done inside or in tight quarters. So, it’s essential to have a wide angle lens. This also allows you to be closer to your subject which means the camera’s internal microphone will work better and background noises won’t be as intense. A nice wide-angle lens attachment is about $50 and typically comes with adapters to make it work with just about any camera.

1. Record. The video recording process is simply about two things; lighting and sound.

  • Lighting. Make sure to have excellent diffused natural color lighting, if necessary use umbrella reflective lamps like those that photographers use.
  • Sound. In addition to the camera microphone, use several microphones to ensure each person is clearly recorded. These can be pasted in if necessary for clearer sound. An example of an excellent additional audio recording device would be the Olympus VN-5200 and the Olympus tie-clip microphone.

2. Archive. The new iMovie ‘09 has an archive feature to copy all files from the camera’s hard drive or memory stick to the computer’s internal or external hard drive. It’s best to archive after each major event, then backup that archive. Use the working copy of the camera archive for producing the video. When working with video, depending on the anticipated outcome (such as YouTube) we typically would work with video that is 960 x 540 (half of the HD 1920 x 1080P resolution), unless you have a computer that is powerful enough to rapidly work with full HD video. For this reason, once the video is imported/converted from the original HD 1920×1080 size, it’s a good idea to keep the original in case additional work is desired.

3. Import (Event). When importing into iMovie ‘09, the video will be converted to 960 x 540 resolution video and given an event name. Events are comprised of imported raw videos. Here are some information resources for importing.

4. Edit (Project). In iMovie ‘09, the videos you create are called projects. They can consist of event videos from different occasions (although usually they are from the same occasion), still pictures, PowerPoint slides, music, and other media. Online training and tutorial videos are available on the Apple website.

  • Supporting Files. During the editing phase, it is common to have other media to be included in the project. Sometime during the import or edit process, if you’ve used additional audio recording devices, you’ll want to transfer the audio from those devices to a “supporting files” folder. A good naming system for the Supporting Files folder on your external drive might be to use the date and then a short name for the project. For example, “20090515fr-imovie-workflow” might be the name for folder containing supporting files for an iMovie Workflow video created on 15 May 2009. Because the project files simply “point to” and reference other files, it is important that the events, projects, and supporting files all stay on the same drive in the same folder names without being moved elsewhere. In this way, the external hard drive can be moved from one computer to another without breaking any links from the project to the video events and supporting media used to create the project.
  • Backup Revisions. As you work, return to the project library periodically. Right click on your project to duplicate it. Give the duplicated project a name extension such as Rev 2 (for revision 2), and continue working with the revision, leaving the previous revision (version) untouched. This is in case along the way something causes your file to become corrupted. If so, you can return to a previous revision.

5. Export. When a project is completed and ready to share, the first step is to export it. There are many export and share options. One of the best methods is to choose Export using QuickTime from the Share menu in iMovie. This will bring up a basic dialog box for saving a file. For Export: option, choose Movie to QuickTime Movie. For the Use: option, choose LAN/Intranet. Then click on the Options button to find the Size button where you can click on Dimensions and set that to Current which should display (grayed out) as 960 x 540. Click the OK button (to confirm the size), then from the Movie Settings menu click the OK button (to confirm all selections), then save the file with the desired name to your supporting files folder for this project found on the external drive. This keeps all related project items in a central location. This should be using H.264 format for the highest quality.

6. Share (Upload). Now you are ready to use online services to share your saved file in step #5. Consider services such as Blip.tv, Vimeo.com, or YouTube.com for sharing files. YouTube.com is limited to 10 minute videos, but Blip.tv and Vimeo.com can handle longer ones. It’s best to post to all three whenever possible for greater exposure and compatibility. Blip.tv and Vimeo.com seem to have better quality video presentation, and each service has its own benefits and drawbacks regarding embedding video on web pages.

7. Backup. Be sure to regularly copy your entire hard drive contents to another drive. As you start a new project, the only files needed to be backed up will be the folders and files relating to the new project (camera archives, events, projects, and supporting files).

This is workflow version 20090608mo1453 for video editing using iMovie ‘09. Contact us you have any comments or suggestions.

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Effective Living > Music

if-today-was-your-last-daySummary. The music video If Today Was Your Last Day by Nickelback (not Nickleback) is an inspirational song and video about living every day and every moment with love, passion, and intention. [ iTunes | MTV ] To play just the song, click the play button below, or click here to play the video. This song is being used in the online course: Activism Training Workshop and Distance Education Course on Creativity and Effectiveness in Activism.

Message. The song begins with these words, “My best friend gave me the best advice. He said each day is a gift but not a given right. Leave no stone unturned. Leave your fears behind, and try to take the path less traveled by. That first step you take is the longest stride. What if today is your last day, tomorrow was too late? Could you say goodbye to yesterday? Would you live each moment like your last? Leave old pictures in the past? Donate every dime you have? If today was your last day.”

Lyrics. The complete lyrics of the song are below.

My best friend gave me the best advice
He said each day’s a gift and not a given right
Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind
And try to take the path less traveled by
That first step you take is the longest stride

live-each-momentIf today was your last day
And tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you have?
If today was your last day

Against the grain should be a way of life
What’s worth the prize is always worth the fight
Every second counts ’cause there’s no second try
So live like you’ll never live it twice
Don’t take the free ride in your own life

tomorrow-is-too-late-wideIf today was your last day
And tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you have?
Would you call old friends you never see?
Reminisce old memories
Would you forgive your enemies?
Would you find that one you’re dreamin’ of?
forgive-your-enemy-wideSwear up and down to God above
That you finally fall in love
If today was your last day

If today was your last day
Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?
You know it’s never too late to shoot for the stars
Regardless of who you are
do-whatever-it-takesSo do whatever it takes
‘Cause you can’t rewind a moment in this life
Let nothin’ stand in your way
Cause the hands of time are never on your side

If today was your last day
And tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?

Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you have?
Would you call old friends you never see?
Reminisce old memories
Would you forgive your enemies?
Would you find that one you’re dreamin’ of?
Swear up and down to God above
That you finally fall in love
If today was your last day

you-cant-rewind