[pp.int.general] 120 Days Left for Utah in the USA

[Mårten Fjällström]

Gosh Ray,
that sounds like quite the challenge. Freedom of freaking assembly looks  
kind of gone.

Guess if everything was peachy we would not be needed, so don't let it get  
you down.

Ok, concrete advice:
Do build a website, and make sure that website contains empty lists to  
print out. And do not forget to put your adress on them, so that  
supporters easily can print one out, collect their friends signatures and  
send them to you. Lots of our signatories in Sweden were collected that  
way. And it was also how many first came in contact with the party.

When you have a webbpage these intertubes are generally a good way to get  
people there.

I have noted that high school kids are a very sympathetic group to our  
cause (for one, they can not afford all they want so they download). If  
you can recruit a couple they can probably collect their friends  
signatures. Just keep an eye on age limitations. College students is also  
a good group, though they tend to have formed party loyalties already.

Speaking of limitations, I guess you need 2000 Utahians, not other kinds  
of USians? Just checking the obvious...

-- 
Mårten Fjällström
Party secretary Piratpartiet

On Wed, 17 Oct 2007 00:22:56 +0200, Ray Jenson <ray.jenson at gmail.com>  
wrote:

> Jens Seipenbusch wrote:
>> Hi Ray,
>>
>> we have similar problems here in germany, i can only give you the advice
>> to use the web like blogs, bulletin boards, community sites etc. to
>> advertise it.
>
> Been doing that to no avail.
>
>
>> Of course, if possible, get some supporters to check out shopping
>> centers or other crowded places.
>
> People here seem to be afraid of representing us in a state which is
> (and has always been) dominated by one of the two major parties here.
> It's as though we're conspiring to mutiny or something.
>
>
>> Maybe you can contact local groups of linux users or other tech-oriented
>> clubs, which could bring you several signatures at once.
>
> Okay, this just got very long. Apologies to everyone for the length I'm
> about to write. I'm about to explain everything to date.
>
> Tried that, too, and got an icy response from them when they had their
> convention in September. It's as though I was asking them if I could
> come in and advertise Microsoft or something, they simply didn't take me
> seriously. Maybe they thought I was asking them for money. I don't know,
> I can't think of anything else.
>
> In addition, when I tried to get a permit to hold a rally (as I'm
> required to by law because we're not an official political party yet and
> not recognized by Utah), I was told I had to get USD$25 million in
> insurance (which would only have cost me the equivalent of about a
> thousand euro for the one day I wanted to do things). I was also told
> that I wouldn't be allowed to bring in any kind of public address unless
> I also insured it separately, and I certainly wouldn't be permitted to
> give any kind of public address. I would be allowed to merely stand
> there quietly until people came up and talked to me. If I did anything
> otherwise, they would revoke the permit and the police would ask me to
> leave.
>
> I tried to post a paper on the public bulletin board in the town where I
> live (an actual corkboard where I could have a paper), and they told me
> that I couldn't post anything related to politics (though they didn't
> appear to have a problem with the mayor's re-election campaign notice).
>
> When I very first started doing this, I was volunteering at a homeless
> shelter, and I recruited a homeless man to assist me. While out
> collecting signatures for the petition for statehood, he was pelted by
> apples. Walking through the neighborhood, I was not pelted the first few
> times, until I started actively trying to collect signatures at which
> time I was likewise pelted with these apples. The police officer told me
> that although he couldn't prove it, it was likely that their parents,
> who work for the local branch of a recording company and are members of
> ASCAP (per a sticker on their front window), likely put the kids up to
> it. Needless to say, I shudder to think of what lesson those children
> might have learned.
>
> Since then, we've issued 6 press releases, 2 opinion editorials (both
> unpublished), and actually had one saboteur (who succeeded in destroying
> the group that I had created in Utah so far).
>
> Though we get great coverage through technical sources (such as
> Torrenfreak, for example), mainstream media seems to largely be trying
> to ignore us. These are the very people who need our help the most, and
> they don't even know who we are. We need to do something about this, but
> I'm at a loss as to what.
>
> I have a slot at the local library for a two-hour class (just got it
> reserved today, as a matter of fact), though I'm not sure that people
> will even want to pay attention. I hope they will, though I'm not sure
> how to accomplish getting the attention needed for it. We're going to
> have a voter registration drive, and I'm going to give a presentation
> based somewhat on Rick's speeches to Google and at OSCon. However, if
> nobody is there to listen, giving a speech won't be really be practical.
>
> I'm also going to be getting a Utah web site together, just as soon as
> we can get everything else rolling.
>
> There are currently 43 signatures that I've personally collected: not
> quite enough for the 2000 that I need. I want to try a signature drive
> online, as well, though the big issue I have is that the state requires
> a lot of very personal, private information (such as street address and
> voter registration number, neither of which I should think we'd need,
> but it's a matter of ensuring that people don't vote twice, according to
> the Lieutenant Governor).
>
> Also, I was speaking to the Lieutenant Governor's office here, and I've
> been told that the collection of this information is not only mandatory,
> it's the least amount of information that any state in the United States
> collects. Most collect a social number, driver's license or ID card
> number, and the name of the employer as well ("...for security...").
>
> I'm up against a tidal wave of corrupt politics and special interests,
> as well, I've been told that a lobby group here in Utah who has been
> known to favor the positions of the entertainment industry in, spite of
> their claims to be unrelated, have started to try to lobby to prevent
> new political parties from having such an easy time of it in Utah. They
> want to double the requirement to establish the new political party, and
> increase the percentage needed to maintain political party status. In
> addition, this group has also decided that they will never confront me
> directly, and refuses to speak to me. This group has a majority of the
> senate seats already. In addition, they have gerrymandered the state's
> political boundaries so as to maintain their control base.
> Gerrymandering in the United States, by the way, is not only common
> practice but also encouraged because it's not against the law.
>
> I've been speaking to the candidates for political office here, as well.
> Most of them have policies that agree with out positions. However, most
> of them are also against the idea that another political party is
> needed. They are blinded by the idea that their own parties, whomever
> they may be, are the best solution possible to the current situation.
> They consistently try to send me information that will "win me over" to
> their side. Not one of them has offered me any assistance with regard to
> patent or copyright issues, though one has stated that if he gets into
> office, he'd be willing to listen to strategies for reform of the
> current laws, even as he couldn't make any guarantees that they'd change
> a lot because the President of the United States does not make the laws
> for the people here.
>
> The mayor of my city is corrupt. I cannot speak to him.
>
> The person running against him, however, is a former member of his
> cabinet, and she's been pointing out his corruptions, though the local
> newspaper doesn't really care about her either. Speaking to her, she is
> not going to be much better, simply because she doesn't have a concept
> of what benefit transparency has to a local governing body.
>
> Elections are on the 6th of November.
>
> So... now that you know the ENTIRE story, any ideas about what could be
> done will be welcome.
>
> Thanks, and I hope to hear back again soon... with only 120 days left,
> it's going to be a solidly uphill battle to get to the high ground...
> even though the high ground already belongs to me, since I'm working to
> expand the rights of people.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Ray Jenson
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