Latest Campaigns at ThePoint.com

Olympic Sponsor: Speak Out on Darfur

Joe Harrow — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:38:22 +0000

The Sponsors of the of 2008 Beijing Olympics must condemn China's support of Sudan or else we will not watch the opening ceremonies on 8/8 if 2,008 people join

Why the Olympics?

China provides arms and financial support for the Sudanese government, which is currently carrying out a genocidal civil war in the region of Darfur. China maintains this relationship in the interest of Oil. With the Olypmics in Beijing this year, China is now in the spotlight, asking for the world to come to Beijing, celebrate athleticism together, and spend a lot of money in China. In the midst of this, we must recognize that ultimately some of that money will be responsible for genocide, and have a moral obligation to do something about it.

Why the sponsor?

China is not going to sever its relationship with Sudan (and Sudanese oil) overnight, but we can send a message to the corporate sponsors, who’s only goal is to get some attention associated with their brand. The sponsors are spending millions upon millions for their prized spots and we need to hold them and their brand accountable.

Not a boycott of the games

This is not a boycott of the games, for many reasons. One is that we want to recognize all the positives associated with the Olympics wherever it is held. That unlike warfare, this is a good way for countries to compete with one another. Also, that a boycott of the games would have disastrous effects on the athletes. Boycotting the ceremony means we miss the spectacle, but mostly only hurts the sponsors, and not the athletes at all.

Other resources.

Last year Mia Farrow wrote and article criticizing Spielberg’s involvement in the opening ceremonies, and shortly afterward he withdrew. This proves this type of public criticism can work.

For more information, Mia Farrow’s organization, Dream for Darfur is a great place to start.

NO COFFEE PILLS!

chris castenetto — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:03:59 +0000

stressed employees must stop buying/drinking encapsulated coffee or else we will be full of plastic & low quality caffein addicts if 2 people join

crave your daily promise in not falling into the lazy employee that has to work and therefor can not take the luxury of a real cup of coffee out of the office. Bull-shit, this is exactly the mental trigger for consuming encapsulated coffee on a regular basis.

now that you’ve taken the first fundamental step into acting, re-act and start noting the difference (feeling better with a quick 2 mins. walk down the block? more social? less cardiac or less head-aches?) as a convincing testinonial before describing pros and cons to friends or unconscious consumers.

spread the voice with a real Word Of Mouth Action and leave traces on the theme on the eb (blogs, social networks, personal pages…)

encapsulated coffees make it easier to drink more coffee easily and drive you to be more addictive and workolic for energy resources. Is this why many offices are endulgent with coffee breaks nowadays?

If you succeed or have testiomonials to share, please add on or enlarge the research with any available resource!!

go back to conventional ways of drinking real coffe at home with an italian moka (realy easy to use), The results are great, invite and impress your friends with the art of making REAL coffee, share the pleasnt moments of diversing moka with milk, cream, chocolate, cannella bars…. shakes and you just name it.

Back to an appropriate philosophy that good coffee is good for you (in regular amounts) and it entices socialy.

Boycott Gyms Using ABC Financial Billing Services

deanna briggs — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:07:59 +0000

ABC Financial must not charge me $40 to cancel my membership or else we will never join a gym who uses ABC Financial billing if 100 people join

ABC Financial continues to auto-charge gym-goers after their membership or contract is up at their gym unless they make a request to end the membership via certified mail and pay several additional monthly fees which ABC Financial auto-charges in the meantime.

Right, this must be in the contract in 8-point font. Ending a relationship with my local gym should not be this exasperating. But it is. Apparently, unless you pay the fees they have charged you after your one or two year contract is up, they will continue to charge you on a monthly basis.

The gyms are their primary customer, but aren’t you, the gym-goer, a secondary customer? Yet, they don’t care about you.
http://www.abcfinancial.com/home/abc_hmf.asp
Their mission is “to collect the most money from the most members, every day.”

They’ll keep doing this unless you stop joining gyms that use ABC Financial services for billing. ABC Financial will not achieve their mission if you refuse to feed them your money. Only you, the consumer, can be the roadblock here. End your membership now if your gym uses ABC Financial for billing services.

A quick Google search will turn up plentiful results about how ABC Financial is scamming people, see
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/310/RipOff0310208.htm

Stop Google Censorship

Aaron With — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 17:06:20 +0000

Google Inc. must publicly apologize for censoring Blogger content or else we will all switch to other blog platforms if 300 people join

Google recently suspended several blogs on Blogger.com that were critical of Obama. 7 established and credible blogs associated with the site JustSayNoDeal.com , a coalition of websites and blogs opposed to Obama’s 2008 presidential candidacy, received messages from Google informing them their accounts had been suspended while Google reviewed whether or not their blog was being used for spam.

After bloggers & the media picked up the story, Google reactivated the 7 blogs in question, claiming they’d only suspended the accounts because their automatic spam detection had flagged sites associated with JustSayNoDeal because JustSayNoDeal’s mass emails were sometimes flagged as spam by recipients. However, these mass emails the coalition sends to their supporters never provide links to the individual blogs in question, only to the coalition’s site…so Google’s explanation does not hold up. Somehow, each of these sites must have been individually flagged and suspended.

Essentially, Google got caught censoring bloggers and refuses to own up to it. This event represents a dangerous precedent for free speech, and we need to quash it now and hold Google accountable so they know that they won’t get away with it again.

Whether or not you agree with the content of the blogs that were censored should not matter, this is an issue of free speech and if you don’t speak up for your political opponents’ right to have a voice, one day it may be your voice that gets censored.

We are demanding that Google accept responsibility for censoring the bloggers associated with the JustSayNoDeal coalition, issue a public apology, and pledge never to censor content again.

If they don’t, when 300 people join this campaign we will all move our blogs from Blogger to other non-Google platforms such as Wordpress.

Stop Viacom from invading our YouTube privacy

Aaron With — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 19:51:35 +0000

Viacom Inc. must must allow Google to anonymize its YouTube video data logs before turning them over or else we will boycott Viacom television and film productions if 100,000 people join

Campaign Summary

A federal court has ordered YouTube/Google to turn over information including usernames and IP addresses that have viewed all YouTube videos to Viacom.
This is an enormous infringement on the individual privacy of Internet users.
If 100,000 people join we will boycott Viacom unless they allow Google to anonymize the logs before turning them over.

The ruling against YouTube and why it is dangerous

When you watch YouTube videos, you are doing so privately, right? Well, that’s what we thought, but it turns out we that the records of all our YouTube video-watching history will be made available to Viacom.

Recently, media giant Viacom won a case against YouTube and its parent company Google, which both threatens the privacy of millions of Internet users in the immediate future, as well as establishes a dangerous precedent.

The decision in favor of Viacom’s claim was made by U.S. District Judge Louis L. Stanton, who ordered Google to turn over 12 terabytes of data to Viacom containing information about which users viewed what videos. While Viacom argued that they were not seeking to infringe upon privacy and that privacy is irrelevant in this case, the truth is that these logs include everyone IP addresses as well as their YouTube user names – which often include parts of individual users real names, making it highly easy to determine the identify of the individuals who have viewed YouTube videos.

Viacom was suing YouTube/Google for access to the data claiming that they needed it to show whether their copyright-protected videos are more heavily watched than amateur clips. This ruling is part of a larger legal effort in which Viacom is seeking at least $1 billion in damages from Google, saying YouTube has built a business by using the Internet to “willfully infringe” copyrights on Viacom shows

Regardless of how anyone feels about issues surrounding copyright, the issue of privacy is entirely different. YouTube users view videos under the assumption that their data is private. No one should have any right to that information, regardless of what other legal issues YouTube and its parent company may be entangled in. Our usernames and IP addresses should not be necessary data to determine what Viacom needs to know to proceed in this case! All they are apparently trying to show is whether copyright-protected videos are more highly watched than non-copyright protected ones, which is entirely irrelevant to who is watching what videos. Let these multi-million dollar companies duke it out in court without revealing our private information!

Our demand: anonymize the logs!

Google has asked Viacom to allow them to anonymize the logs before turning them over. This would essentially mean that Viacom would get the traffic information they are requesting to make their case about copyright-protected videos, without giving them the usernames and IP addresses of the individuals who viewed them. Viacom has not publicly responded to this request yet, and unless they do, we will commit to boycott Viacom if 100,000 people join.

Who is Viacom and how do we boycott them?

Viacom owns many TV Channels as well as Film Production Companies. The most significant Viacom-owned TV channels are BET, MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and VH-1, and the most significant film companies are DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures (click here to view their complete list of brands). Participating in this boycott means you will not watch any Viacom-owned TV shows live, nor watch any Viacom-produced movies in the theater. Participants of this campaign may choose to buy or rent Viacom-produced movies or watch Viacom TV shows online or buy or rent their DVD sets…. boycotting them in the theater and when the TV shows air should be enough to significantly affect their revenue.

Peraica Campaign

Curt Mercadante — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 07:29:59 +0000

Tony Peraica, Candidate for Cook County State's Attorney will Axe the Corruption Tax if we raise $50,000

Residents of Cook County, Illinois were recently sacked with one of the highest sales taxes in the country.

Everyone knows these high taxes are used to fund the corruption, patronage, waste, fraud and abuse in county government.

Bottom line: corruption equals higher taxes.

We need to elect Tony Peraica Cook County State’s Attorney so he can prosecute this corruption and Axe the Corruption Tax.

Tony’s opponent is a political insider who is raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign cash. He needs your support today to have the resources necessary to win.

Ethanol Reporting

David Cohn — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:35:24 +0000

Alexis Madrigal will write a feature article on California's biofuels usage if we raise $250

A Bike Lane on Broadway

Vadim Gershteyn — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:31:09 +0000

City of Chicago Department of Transportation must plan a bike lane on Broadway north of Diversey or else we will flood their office with letters if 100 people join

Currently the city of Chicago is planning an expansive new initiative to make biking in the city safer and more attractive. The “Bike 2015” Plan offers to “establish a bikeway network that serves all Chicago residents and neighborhoods” and to “make all of Chicago’s streets safe and convenient for bicycling.”

You can read more about the initiatives here

The Problem

The Bike 2015 Plan does not offer many specifics in regards to which lanes will be expanded and which programs will be entertained.

The most updated map of Chicago bike lanes (and proposed bike lanes) is available here

There is currently no proposed or recommended bike lane for Broadway Ave. from Diversey to Loyola, on the map or on the Bike 2015 website. Broadway Ave. is one of the largest thoroughfares on the North Side of Chicago and goes through two of the city’s most populated neighborhoods. There is no viable alternative for fast commuting in that area without going West on Clark St.

Broadway is not pedestrian friendly and even less friendly to bicyclists. Even a shared bike lane would be extremely helpful for people who commute through Uptown and Edgewater and make it safer for bicyclists and pedestrians in general.

The Action

Chicago is already moving in the right direction for both cycling and sustainability. Lets take advantage of this and make our voices heard.

This is their office location:

30 N. LaSalle Street
Suite 500
Chicago, IL 60602-2570

When this campaign tips I will send out a template to all of the participants who can send it immediately or alter it with a personal message. We should all plan to send it on the same day so they arrive at approximately the same time.

Legalize Online Gambling

Andrew Graham — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:38:56 +0000

House Finances Services Committee (HFSC) must revote on the issue of online gambling or else we will bombard our Reps & the HFSC with 20,000 emails in one day (2 per person) if 10,000 people join

Brief History of Internet Gambling

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) attempts to curb the growth of online gambling by banning online gambling operators from accepting most forms of funds to be used by gamblers on their Website. As a result of this law, many of the more respectable online casinos simply ban users from the U.S. This has made it more difficult for U.S. residents to gamble online.

The passage of UIGEA was blatantly undemocratic. The Act was attached to a bill on the safety of US Seaports that was sure to pass and had nothing to do with network technology or gambling. Not to mention, the vote occurred late at night with many congressmen absent and many failing to even read the Act. The net result of this was that almost no-one actually read the proposed legislation and the thing went through, more or less on the nod, with no scrutiny, oversight or debate. Is that what our democratic system is supposed to allow? Read more about the act and its implications here.

The other question is exactly how legal is internet gambling. The act supposedly is aimed at blocking financial transactions related to gambling but many online gambling casinos and poker sites do not allow US gamblers. Other sites only allow members from certain states. Overall, it is one big, jumbled mess.

Our Action

There is something we can do and we can make our voices heard. A bill introduced by Rep. Barney Frank [D, MA-4] was defeated on June 25th, 2008. The bill, which would have eliminated the restrictions of the UIGEA on internet gambling, lost in a 32-32 tie split down party lines. Rep. Frank wrote an editorial on the failure of the bill. It is evident that in this situation if the people voiced their opinions and did it under a coordinated attack we can be heard.

When we reach 10,000 people, we will all send out 2 emails on the same day. One will go to the House Financial Services Committee, the ones who voted against Frank’s latest bill and the one which Rep. Frank is the chairmen. The email will show our support for this legislation. The other one will be sent to your local congressmen voicing your concern, telling him about the numbers we have and that you would like to do something about legalizing internet gambling. You can do that through the Write Your Representative website.

Facebook: please relieve our app-fatigue!

Vadim Gershteyn — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:26:15 +0000

Facebook must offer an application-free alternative or else we will (temporarily) suspend our accounts if 3,000 people join

When it first launched, Facebook was a clean and efficient networking tool used primarily by college students. As the site grew, it began to accommodate high school students and company workers. Currently it allows anyone to join from any network. While Facebook’s expansion is harmless, other developments have sacrificed the integrity and simplicity of the site.

The Problem

In May 2007 Facebook opened up its doors to third party development, likely in response to the sudden influx of new users and the potential profits to be made from letting other companies write programs for the site. Facebook went from looking like this:

to this:

Some applications may be fun or useful, but a glut of applications simply degrades the site’s formerly simple and elegant interface and turns it into a slightly less muddled version of Myspace. Some of the apps are just completely obnoxious and take away from the quality that made Facebook an attractive site to begin with.

The Purpose

This campaign is not asking Facebook to get rid of apps, since there are certainly plenty of people who love them—it is simply asking the programmers to develop a filter that people can use to surf an app-free version of the site. In other words, provide a “simple” interface with applications hidden that users can turn on and off.

The Action

If 3000 people join we will all suspend our accounts on a given day and send Mark Zuckerberg (CEO) asking for a voluntary filter for the site. We will send a message to him via Facebook before deactivating our account. His profile can be found easily by searching for his name, and the ability to send messages is NOT limited to just Harvard students. Anyone can do it.

It is probably not difficult to create an option for a cleaner interface and therefore a small incentive of potentially losing 3000 users is enough.

The Point

This does not require you to delete your account, since that is almost impossible with facebook. Instead we will use an option that deactivates your account but allows you to restore it with all your contacts intact.

This is done by going to “Account” at the top right of the page and down to “deactivate.” Our reason will be “other” with a short message and a link to the campaign.

If we get enough people we can discuss how long we should deactivate it for, but one week to a month should be enough.

Help Us Rebuild After The Iowa Flood

Kari Washington — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:30:37 +0000

Kari Washington will help my mom rebuild after the 2008 Iowa flood if we raise $1,000

Hello,my name is Kari and my husband and I live In Arizona and we ar trying to raise money to help my mom who lost everything in her home and her business from the Iowa Flood. My mom owned her own business which is a CJ’s Sports Bar & Grill and has lived in her home since 1976, which is my childhood home. Her home and business was flooded out to where she lost everything. She also lost two cars. There was nothing to be salvaged at her business and only a few photos at her home. She had no flood insurance on her home or business. Fema which stands for Federal Emergency Management Agency offers grants and helps rebuild but not replace personal items therefore does not cover all expenses. Fema does not offer any grants for business owners which leaves business owners to apply for loans to rebuild their businesses again. My grandmother also lost her home too. We want to make this transition as easy as possible for her and my grandmother.
Every donation will go directly to help my mom rebuild her home and business. The donations will help my grandmother also. No donation is too small. Thank your for all your support!
Sincerely,
Brett & Kari

Scholarship Fund for Des Plaines Boy Scout Troop #160

Joe Jacobs — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:15:03 +0000

Boy Scout Troop 160 will get a Travel Scholarship to San Diego, CA if we raise $500

Help Send Troop #160 on an Amazing Trip

The Trip

We’re planning a trip for next summer (2009) to San Diego, CA for the entire troop to spend time with several United States Navy units. We have already made arrangements to spend time with an anti-submarine helicopter squadron, including possibly riding in the choppers, and the US Navy Seals, and are working on getting access to a submarine based in Pt. Loma. We will also be participating in an overnight program on the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier turned into a museum ship that is docked in San Diego.

This will be a great experience for the troop. Our objective is for our boys to gain a strong insight into just all our Navy does for our country and to gain some appreciation for the sacrifices the sailors make on our behalf.

How the money is spent

The money raised for this campaign will go into our scholarship fund to fund one scholarship. With the cost of gas rising flights to California are getting more and more expensive. We are trying to make arrangement for this trip far in advance to offset some of the cost, but don’t want to charge the families more than the normal price of Scout Camp ($250 per kid). When this campaign tips we will have one scholarship. At that point we will launch another campaign for another scholarship and so on until we have enough for the entire troop.

Thanks for your support

Reject BOR

Tomasz Olejnik — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:46:21 +0000

Jastarnia City, Poland must reject BOR officers or else we will not come there for holiday if 100 people join

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Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Earth Hour

Amber Smith — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:37:01 +0000

We will not use any electricity from 8-9pm on Saturday, July 19th if 100 people in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC agree to do the same.

Campaign Summary

100 residents living in or near Raleigh, Durham, or Chapel Hill (“the Triangle”) will turn off their lights and use no electricity from 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 19, 2008.
Our actions will contribute to the larger Earth Hour movement.
100 people using NO electricity for this hour will save 92 pounds of Carbon Dioxide from being released.

WHAT IS EARTH HOUR?

Concerned citizens from five continents participated in a global Earth Hour on March 29, 2008, simply by turning out the lights. The movement, started in Sydney, Australia in 2007, aims to reduce energy consumption and raise awareness of global climate change and energy waste.

The Triangle Earth Hour will take place on Saturday, July 19, from 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. in Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill areas. Our region is experiencing rapid population growth as we make transitions from a suburban to a more urban landscape. Because of this it is important now more than ever to begin developing a culture of efficient resource care and use. During Triangle Earth Hour, 100 or more residents turn off their lights and unplug their electrical appliances. By making this small sacrifice you can be a part of a larger movement to directly improve our shared environment!

The Tipping Point for this campaign is 100 people, meaning that no one person is required to take action until the total of 100 people sign on to participate. The participation of 100 of us together will make an impact that can create change and raise awareness in the Triangle Area on July 19.

How does turning off the lights fight pollution and global warming?

The average person’s electricity use amounts to 8,145 pounds of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) per year. That’s 22.31 pounds of CO2 per day, and 0.92 pounds per hour! If 100 people turn out their lights and unplug electrical appliances during the Triangle Earth Hour, together we will save 92 pounds of Carbon Dioxide.

Links and Resources

www.Earthhour.org
www.worldwildlife.org/earthhour/
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/going-green/14155460/detail.html

Adam Walsh Act Unconstitutional

just adadathome — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:13:57 +0000

The Federal Government of the United States Of America must Abolish the Adam Walsh Act (AWA) or else we will See You In Court if 1,000 people join

Americans in every state will take this law to trial, forcing states and the federal government to realize the total unconstitutionallity of the archaic, draconian Adam Walsh Act.

This will tie up uncounted amounts of money in legal fees, and draining money from already economically stressed state legislators.

Latest Campaigns at ThePoint.com

Olympic Sponsor: Speak Out on Darfur

Why the Olympics?

Why the sponsor?

Not a boycott of the games

Other resources.

NO COFFEE PILLS!

Boycott Gyms Using ABC Financial Billing Services

Stop Google Censorship

Stop Viacom from invading our YouTube privacy

Campaign Summary

The ruling against YouTube and why it is dangerous

Our demand: anonymize the logs!

Who is Viacom and how do we boycott them?

Peraica Campaign

Ethanol Reporting

Read more on the Spot.us wiki.

A Bike Lane on Broadway

The Problem

The Action

Legalize Online Gambling

Brief History of Internet Gambling

Our Action

Facebook: please relieve our app-fatigue!

The Problem

The Purpose

The Action

The Point

Help Us Rebuild After The Iowa Flood

Scholarship Fund for Des Plaines Boy Scout Troop #160

Help Send Troop #160 on an Amazing Trip

The Trip

How the money is spent

Thanks for your support

Reject BOR

Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Earth Hour

Campaign Summary

WHAT IS EARTH HOUR?

How does turning off the lights fight pollution and global warming?

Adam Walsh Act Unconstitutional