Fan the Vote

A website has been set up by Crafters United to sell donated crafts: Craft Revolution. All proceeds will go toward Hurricane Katrina disaster relief. If you make any art or craft you can submit it to be sold, or if you feel like buying something your purchases will be for a good cause. Please help. Thank you for your time and your compassion.

Whether you're crafty or not, you can help the cause:



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People wanting to do FTV-style fundraising for the tsunami victims should check out fandom_charity. Thanks for the link, cheshyre.

We will be back in the New Year for a discussion of the future of this comm. The basic decision that has to be made is whether this will be a charity fundraiser, in which case I'd bow out (and I guess direct you to Fandom Charity) or whether it will maintain a political focus. But a lot of members are travelling right now so give it some time.

In the meantime, Happy New Year, wherever you may be.

BTW I put the comm on moderation for the time being.

norah brought the OT posts in this comm to my attention earlier today. Over the summer, I noticed a few off-topic posts, but they seemed to be few and far between, so I let it go. But it got to be too much just before and after the election: sorry I didn't notice; I was traveling as a campaign volunteer and then regrouping.

The way this comm works (unless and until we change it) is described in the userinfo. In excruciating detail. Although the campaign is over, people are welcome to use the same system to raise money for other things, as stated in a prior mod post.

Everything else, except mod-initiated discussion of the future of the comm, is OT, and I'm going back to deleting it.

Completed stories and art that were created for pledges belong in the sister comm, voteworks.

And whatever else you do in this comm, no yelling, and no running with scissors. :) Thanks!

Hello, FTV members.

It's been a month or so since the election, and I know I've been grieving and I'm sure all of you have, too. But it's time to pick ourselves up and brush ourselves off, so to speak. hederahelix suggested that we should continue FTV and use this as a platform for further fannish-political action, and I think it's a wonderful idea. It's true, we didn't win the election, but that doesn't mean our work here is wasted. I believe that good things will come of the energy and motivation that went into trying to defeat George Bush, and we can be part of that. After all, we created an... organization? community? coffee clutch? based on shared affinity and a sense of fun. To salvage the situation, we should try to use that.

So my first question is, is anyone still watching? Would you like to be? I'm posting a "poll" just to get a head count, basically. Please pimp this to let people know that FTV is going back online, and to tune in if they're interested.

One idea that came up in conversation was for FTV to work around issues that hit close to home for us as fans and slashers: civil liberties, defined to include both GLBT rights and things that affect freedom of expression. Please leave comments and suggestions and potential worries.

And a big hug and thanks to you all.



PS: There's also a question about transactions that didn't work out. The whole thing was entirely voluntary, but I still think people should feel free to try to work something out. How about this: amnesty in principle, with the opportunity for others to step in to thank you for what you did in the campaign. If someone didn't do something they said they would, write to them. If it doesn't work out, post to the comm. Say what it was (link if you can, to original offer). And see if anyone else wants to come forward--or if the person still wants to do it but needs more time. Does that sound OK?

ETA: breaking news. The Supreme Court has refused to hear a challenge to Massachusetts' gay marriage law. Yay! And the Red Cross finds torture at Guantanamo. Well, at least they're publicizing it, since we knew it was going on anyway. Go newlypolitical Red Cross go!

For lisa_bee: Five things that Never Happened to Naoe Nagi

For mendax: Plumed Serpent (Good Omens, Crowley in Ancient Mexico)

I don't even know if anyone still reads this comm, but here goes:

trelkez offered to do LJ layouts - and I bid $30 for one. She agreed, but.

After some back and forth, she never did it and now she doesn't respond to my emails asking her what's up.

idlerat suggested I post again and see if anyone would be willing to make one for me.

The $30 has long been sent to and cashed by moveon.org.

Thanks! ^_^

This isn't a ftv offer. But it's relevant, so ...


Last week Drudge put up a bunch of pix of Kerry and Edwards. THEY CAN'T KEEP THEIR HANDS OFF EACH OTHER! screamed the hedline. Mightily amused, and convinced that this was not such a bad thing, I commenced iconification.

Unlike Drudge, I don't mean to gaybait Kerry or Edwards. I only want to point out that K/E IS LOVE.

Take and use.

As our fundraising drive for Kerry winds down (though there's no reason you shouldn't continue to use the comm to raise money for MoveOn, for example), heidi8 has created a new community dedicated to other things we can do to "Show George the Door."

Find the new comm at show_w_the_door
http://www.livejournal.com/community/show_w_the_door/

Donations have continued to come in: I put the current total for Kerry at @$6500. Thou dost rock. All of ye.

Hello Vote Fans!

A reminder--today was supposed to be the deadline for getting contributions to the Kerry campaign. I suppose you can still send money for a couple more weeks, but it's less and less likely to be used effectively since it all needs to be spent by the third week in July.
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An announcement by request of fluffy_angst: she just started an LJ community dedicated to sharing icons and other art with an anti-Bush, anti-war message, not for fundraising purposes, but simply as a way to get the liberal voice heard as much as possible.

The LJ username of the community is artforchange
_____

You have done an amazing job. Our fundraising total for Kerry is holding at around $6000. While this is impressive, I suspect it's low. Frex, one of the contributions that I made, that showed up on my credit card bill, isn't on our Kerrycore list. I guess we'll have to be satisfied with knowing that we raised thousand and thousands of dollars to defeat the vilest of the vile.

There was an article in the New York Times this week about the vast sums Kerry has raised online. At first, some of his fundraisers didn't want to go that route, preferring the traditional methods, but they were proved dead wrong. He's raised something like $140 million, a lot of it online. That's still a lot less than Bush, who has well over $200 million (and another month in which to spend it, because of the late convention), but it's way more than any Democrat has ever had and it will definitely help.

Also in the "helpful" column, I'd put Michael Moore (::smooches Moore::), whose Fahrenheit 9/11 was the highest grossing film in the United States last weekend, shattering prior records for documentaries and selling out houses in Army base towns and "red states" (no, not Cuba--states that went for Bush in 2000, so called because that's how they're colored on the network news maps). If you haven't seen it yet, I recommend it.

Finally, a thanks again to mhari, norah, cathexys, lolaraincoat, lunaris_, and everyone else who helped out with the comm, and triple thanks to everyone who gave their time, talent and money. You are all going to be so happy with your shiny new President! (Well, until the day after he takes office anyway....)