CC: Voiceful, Holistic Helping, Suresh Fernando

Thank you to Virmantas Galdikas for an important letter about our
economic thinking which I've placed here:
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?LearningToBeFamily
referencing David Ellison-Bey's words "We have to learn to be family".
I've summarized Virmantas's points with headings. Thank you also to Tom
Wayburn for your comments below on Virmantas's rhetoric which I shared
with him here in Lithuania.

Virmantas notes the conflict between human creativity (mental) and
nature's creativity. He questions the widespread idea that "we need
money to survive". How can we depend on our own creation for survival?
We depend on society, not on money. He proposes that if we distinguish
between human's creativity and nature's creativity, then we will have a
proper perspective on money, and can switch from cheating to sharing. We
can work together to change our thinking.

I add my own first hand experience with the homeless, with the poor in
Chicago, Bosnia, India, Palestine, Lithuania and second hand through our
colleagues in Africa. People manage to "survive" without money or
regular income. They may take handouts, depend on families, scavenge,
collect trash, hustle, grow staples, rob, steal, barter sex for fish or
drugs. They thereby survive for years and even decades, long enough to
have children and even grandchildren, and lead misfortunate or
destructive lives. I've never observed money as an issue of survival,
but rather of dignity, of self-esteem, of inclusion, of security, but
mostly dignity. We equate our physical survival with our psychic
survival (our self-esteem) which leads to absurd results where people
kill themselves because they've gone bankrupt.

I agree with Virmantas that ultimately we can't ever insist on or depend
on technological "solutions" (like money) because ethics is an
individual's foundation for their behavior and is ultimately independent
of our creations, of our surroundings, of our technology. The only real
"solutions" are social ones, which are all about learning to share,
learning to be family, expanding our humanity.

However, I think that the line between human creativity and natural
creativity is very subtle. A turtle has a shell which it depends on.
Every living thing depends on natural relationships. Likewise, we are
part of nature and our artifacts are part of that relationship, such as
a plough, a harness, an apartment complex or an electric generator. Even
our mental constructs (like money) are part of our natural surroundings.

Where the line seems to be is between our creation of a culture of
creativity rather than our subjection to nature. Our mental life is an
arena that we can claim for our own culture our sharing (enjoying our
freedom as a gift of nature) or we can cede our mental life to an
"oppresive" natural world. It's our choice and it's about our way of
thinking. Conceptually, it's about living in the Public Domain,
economically, it's distinguishing between the work we do for money
(external motivation) and the work we do because we care (internal
motivation), and practically, it's about responding to each other as
brothers and sisters.

We're blessed with participants who offer personal angles. Virmantas
Galdikas is an economist and entrepreneur who has experienced the Soviet
and post-Soviet realities. David Ellison-Bey uplifts people in one of
the most dismal neighborhoods in the USA. Leon Benjamin
http://www.winningbysharing.net at the London advertising agency The Law
Firm broke through the corporate wall to provide Minciu Sodas lab's
global teams with corporate work on behalf of Mornflake cereal. Benoit
Couture is a stay-at-home dad who cares for his daughter and wife in
Canada and ponders God's economy.
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?BenoitCouture Tom Wayburn is a retired
chemist who sobers us with the limits of natural economy
http://www.dematerialism.net John Rogers leads us at Cyfranogi
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cyfranogi/ and is a leading expert on
community currency http://www.valueforpeople.co.uk

I'm making a list of venues and conversations about alternative economy,
including transforming corporate economy:
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?EconomyConversations
Thank you to Wael Al Saad for alerting us to Suresh Fernando, the Pooled
Fun Initiative, Open Kollab and Radical Inclusion (see the link above
for further links).

Yesterday I opened our exhibit "May I dream?" for UNESCO Human Rights
month (December) at the hub in Vilnius, Lithuania. Here are pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/50525222@N00/
and I urge us to write about our "dreams-in-life" which we'll be
intensively collecting and with your help creatively expressing:
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Dreams

I also encourage us to work further to consider our economic thinking
and how we might educate ourselves for a culture of sharing.

Thank you!

Andrius

Andrius Kulikauskas
Minciu Sodas
http://www.ms.lt
ms@...
+370 699 30003


Tom Wayburn wrote:
>
> Hi Andrius,
>
> If you ask me (and you didn’t), the following paragraph is a perfect
> turn-off. The writer begins by implying that he knows something I
> don’t know. In fact, with the words “true reasons” he implies that he
> knows better. Notice that I abstain from bringing this sort of
> criticism to the whole group. It’s your group and you like to set a
> tone of agreement. I looked at his website which I found equally annoying.
>

> I would like to ask you at this point to open your minds, to free them
> from all the dogmas you know and have. Please don't say for yourself -
> it is not true, it does not work, I don't believe. Please just read and
> think what is said openly, even if the idea will look against your
> believes and knowledge. This is an innovative approach and it should
> break something what was protecting our minds from the possibility to go
> further and solve the problems we try to solve for hundreds of years
> already.
>
> So lets go step by step towards the true reasons of the problems we are
> discussing here.
>

Yesterday at our chats I signed up Vijay Srinivas for Pamela McLean's
working group Learning From Each Other. (See our transcripts at:
http://www.worknets.org/archive/index.pl?mon=11&mday=3&year=2009 )

Fri, 04 Dec 09 05:45:55 +0000 Vijay: Hi Andrius, It was great chatting
with you on worknets yesterday. I remember you told me that you have
created a page for me to start learners group on food security (This is
what I understood). Could you please give me the link..Also please give
me your preferred email id..

Here is a page for Vijay:
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?VijaySrinivas
and a page for food security
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?FoodSecurity
and some entries below. And my email is ms@...

Andrius Kulikauskas, Minciu Sodas, ms@..., http://www.ms.lt

----------------------------------

Vijay's blog at Dadamac.net
http://www.dadamac.net/blog/vijay

I am from Delhi, India

it is a great feeling to be watch so many people from different
nationalities talking about problems and solutions that are common to
all of us

http://www.km4dev.org/profile/VijaySrinivas?xg_source=activity

* DeepestValue=Spread cheer and confidence: to feel connected, to forge
that connection with one and all in this world.
* Dream= My dream is to spread happiness and cheer among people, and
make the world an oasis of plenty and peace. I would love to be close to
nature. My dream is never to depend on a typical job and follow my
passions.

-----------------------------------------

Andrius, in simple terms, I want to be an enabler for people across the
world to solve their diverse problems. :: from food, water to education
and livelihoods :: I told Pam that I wanted to do something in FOOD
SECURITY :: Do u think worknets and Dadamac can work together on issues
like food security and livelihoods :: right now i am working on a
project that monitors air and water quality in Indian cities and towns
:: the idea of this project is to empower citizens with crucial
information about air and water quality (24x7)

Thanks to Suresh Fernando, I recently joined Open Kollab
http://groups.google.com/group/openkollab
where I learned about a job offer at the University of Westminster. They
need a research fellow to assist for 8 months with a UK social network
that they piloted and are now expanding between the media (such as the
BBC) and academia (Arts and Humanities, but especially, new media
researchers). I share my application.
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?KnowledgeExchangeNetwork

Andrius Kulikauskas, Minciu Sodas, http://www.ms.lt, ms@..., +370 699
30003, skype:minciusodas
------------------------------------------------------------------------


How might creative individuals overcome the "corporate wall" which keeps
them from getting corporate work? Why and how might individuals and
corporations prefer to share creative work as freely as possible and
contribute to the Public Domain? How might social networks "create and
then reflect"? These questions are key for my wish for a sustainable
culture of "independent thinkers". I therefore enthusiastically apply to
work as a Research Fellow in Knowledge Transfer and Public Engagement at
the University of Westminster.

I am an experienced organizer of independent thinkers, social
entrepreneurs and open content activists. I am broad and deep as an
investigator and thus able to engage and promote a wide variety of
researchers. I am an active creative artist and appreciate the
challenges of applying that creativity.

In 1998, I founded Minciu Sodas http://www.ms.lt, an online laboratory
for serving and organizing independent thinkers around the world. We
have more than 150 active and 3,000 supportive participants around the
world. I have served about thirty clients as an organizer, researcher,
programmer, producer, writer, narrator, translator and editor. All of
these projects have led to Public Domain content or open source software.

*** Coordinate feasibility study for road map for knowledge exchange
network. ***

How and why might private interests be motivated to pay for individuals
to work openly on content in the Public Domain? As founder of Minciu
Sodas, I have soul searched for theoretical foundations as well as
accumulated experience from many practical attempts.

In 2001, I wrote reports for Peter Kaminski of Agile Media in Palo Alto,
California to propose the business logic and engineering strategy for
expanding BAJobs.com as a global network of local online job boards. At
the time, Craigslist was just starting. I suggested to combine
impression-based advertising (engaging the unconscious mind) with
community-based matchmaking (engaging the conscious mind).

In 2002, I coauthored (with David Ellison-Bey) "An Economy for Giving
Everything Away".
http://www.ms.lt/en/workingopenly/givingaway.html
I explained how Jesus's principle of "giving everything away" leads to a
criteria of "best use" and a calculus of "minimizing anxiety" that
coexists with and also extends the classical economy of "maximizing
happiness". The multi-dimensional negotiation of "best use" means that
"wealth is relationships" and the latter maxim is a helpful guide in
designing business models, especially those that leverage open content.
  From this perspective, I then analyzed six markets for open source
software and noted the wealth they generated. I won a travel award to
Bangalore, India to present this paper at MIT Media Lab's Think Cycle's
Development by Design conference. Chris Messina later cited this paper
as an influence on the open character of the Bar Camp movement.
http://wiki.factoryjoe.com/So+open+it+hurts

In 2003, I consulted Michael Wolff of http://www.ki-work.com on new
revenue streams for British Telecom as an "integrity bank" for personal
contact information. I also worked for Britt Blaser to implement and
promote his idea XpertWeb of an XML format for a peer-to-peer economic
protocol. I worked for Ian Bruk to design and prototype a Living
Research Report to crowd source and monitor the wisdom of investments.
In 2004, I and my lab worked for Amanda Koh to promote Prodigal Art
http://prodigalart.ning.com by which hosts enjoy and promote the work of
artists and split with them the profits from any sales to new hosts. In
2006, I promoted Nikos A Salingaros's book "A Theory of Architecture",
and more broadly, the pattern language movement. (Nikos is an urbanist,
physicist, mathematician and editor of Christopher Alexander's "The
Nature of Order".) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Theory_of_Architecture

In 2009, I led my laboratory's work for Leon Benjamin
http://www.winningbysharing.net of the London advertising agency The Law
Firm to engage UK online communities on behalf of Mornflake Cereal's
online video contest http://www.mornflakecompetition.com This was a
breakthrough in my lab's efforts to organize global teams for the
corporate world on public assets that benefit everybody. We created, in
the Public Domain, a directory of 500 UK online communities.
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?UKOnlineCommunities We then engaged
about 70 of them and proposed to help them as online volunteers, thanks
to Mornflake's support. In this way, marketing budgets can fuel online
community outreach and service. I'm currently writing a case study about
our work.

Currently, I am leading an art exhibit "May I dream?" as part of
UNESCO's human rights month activities with support through the Human
Rights Monitoring Institute. We are engaging the public at the
co-working hub on the fourth floor of the Gedimino 9 shopping center in
Vilnius, Lithuania. We are collecting people's dreams-in-life, helping
them express them creatively, and working to integrate them and bring
them to life. This week, we successfully made use of the Latvian method
"ideju talka" of visual thinking to make posters of what each of us
wants to do and what help we would like from others. I want to spark an
internal "economy of dreams".
http://www.flickr.com/photos/50525222@N00/

*** Encourage media professionals and academic researchers to
participate. ***

I've personally engaged in conversation and signed up thousands of
individuals for Minciu Sodas working groups (Yahoo email lists). I've
made these contacts by attending more than one hundred conferences,
workshops, seminars, unconferences and other events. I've also
participated in dozens of online groups.

I've taught more than one hundred people how to use our tools such as
wiki, chat, Ning, Skype and video. I've trained others to do so likewise.

In 2008, I led our most outstanding achievement, the Pyramid of Peace,
http://www.pyramidofpeace.net to organize 100 independent peacemakers
on-the-ground and 100 online assistants to avert genocide during the
post-election turmoil in Kenya. I coached our Kenyan leaders with
nonviolent techniques to engage youth gangs and free the roads to allow
food, medicine and refugees to move freely. I led the overall strategy
for the independent peacemakers who we supported in more than 30
locations. I disbursed funds to safer parts of Kenya where they were
used to purchase mobile phone credits and forwarded to hungry people to
barter them for food, as well as to gang members who were willing to
work openly with us. I organized our online system of
chat-letters-wiki-Skype-Ushahidi so that content flowed from
on-the-ground sources to bloggers and broadcasters such as The World.
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?HelpKenyans
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?KenyanCorrespondents
http://www.pyramidofpeace.net/map.php
http://www.pyramidofpeace.net/timebanks/report.php

In 2003, I wrote a proposal "Social Networking Kit for Marginal Internet
Access" on fractal team building which foreshadowed our later achievements.
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?SocialNetworkingKit2003

I foster our chat room as a "help room" that is key for growing a
thriving network. On a recent day we had two chats led by Pamela McLean
and by Rising Voices "Blogging Positively" (with HIV/AIDS) guide author
Janet Feldman. We had participants from the US, Canada, Colombia,
Brazil, UK, Lithuania, Ukraine, Mali, Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya,
Tanzania, India, Taiwan, thus five continents !
http://www.worknets.org/archive/index.pl?mon=11&mday=3&year=2009

*** Communicate research interests and findings more effectively with
others. ***

I've organized Minciu Sodas as an online laboratory so that we support
each other by learning to think out loud about what we don't know rather
than what we know. I've also organized us into working groups based on
the deepest values in life of our leaders. Thus we have:
Franz Nahrada's Global Villages
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/globalvillages/
Janet Feldman's Holistic Helping
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/holistichelping/
Pamela McLean's Learning From Each Other
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/learningfromeachother/
Kiyavilo Msekwa's Learn How to Learn
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/learnhowtolearn/
Edward Cherlin's Earth Treasury http://groups.yahoo.com/group/earthtreasury/
Samwel Kongere's Mendenyo (Motivation through sacrifice)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mendenyo/
John Roger's Cyfranogi (Participatory society, community currency)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cyfranogi/
Eluned Hurn's Fighting Peacefully
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fightingpeacefully/
my own Living by Truth http://groups.yahoo.com/group/livingbytruth/
and for God, Loving God http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lovinggod/
and others.

Over the years, I've collected:
Deepest values from more than 500 people and investigatory question from
more than 200 people.
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Values
More than 100 endeavors which we support and catalyze.
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Endeavors
And most recently, our dreams
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Dreams
along with tasks by which we can support them
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Tasks

I am a Knight News Challenge 2008 award winner for my idea to design an
Includer for our African participants, like Samwel Kongere, who at least
once a week would walk three miles and pay $1 per hour to participate in
our groups, as we are very responsive. The Knight News Challenge
http://www.newschallenge.org is the premier award for the future of
journalism. My idea was to design a simple device, the Includer, so that
at home they could read and write emails stored on their USB flash
drives, then upload and download them when they go to Internet access
points. I was one of 16 winners (including Tim Berners-Lee) out of 2,000
submissions. I received $15,000 to blog about my idea
http://www.includer.org My posts included reports from my friend David
Ellison-Bey's home in the Chicago ghetto, such as his "hardship letter"
in 2008 that we wrote when his house was foreclosed:
http://www.pbs.org/idealab/2008/10/the-includerepisode-5hardship-letter005.html
and a murder right after it happened in the lot next door:
http://www.pbs.org/idealab/2008/10/the-includerepisode-3the-chain-of-angels005.h\
tml
Here I'm communicating David's wisdom which he teaches me. Knowledge
transfer works in both directions.

I've encouraged a variety of investigations, which often go beyond usual
academic research questions and methods. Nice examples are Ricardo's
geeky investigations:
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Ricardo
and Natalie d'Arbeloff's artistic investigation:
http://www.ms.lt/en/natalie/index.html

Pamela McLean (in London) and I contributed "The Logic of the Global
Brain" (about the bandwidth-poor in Africa and the bandwidth-rich in the
West working together through our Public Domain venues) for the book
"Designing Social Interfaces: Principles, Patterns and Practices for
Improving the User Experience" by Christian Crumlish and Erin Malone,
2009, O'Reilly and Yahoo! Press. It's a practical example of the
dynamics of knowledge transfer.

I am ever reaching out to other networks such as Tiffany Von Emmels and
Dreamfish http://dreamfish.com, Michel Bauwens and the P2P Foundation
http://www.p2pfoundation.net, Suresh Fernando and Open Kollab
http://wiki.openkollab.com, Tara Hunt and Coworking
http://groups.google.com/group/coworking, Jonathan Gray and Open
Knowledge Foundation http://www.okfn.org, Vinay Gupta and Global
Swadeshi http://globalswadeshi.ning.com, Jerry Michalski and the Yi-Tan
tech calls http://www.yi-tan.com

My greatest success has been in bringing and keeping together the widest
variety of independent thinkers so that we grow as people, give and get
moral support, leverage more minds, create a shared social framework,
and discover support for our endeavors and resources for making a living.

*** Organize a workshop, an inspiration event, a website of positive
case studies, Web 2.0 tools ***

I've organized many face-to-face events, especially to synergize our
online work.

In 2008, I organized a workshop of COMMUNIA, the European Union's
thematic network for the Public Domain http://www.communia-project.eu We
had 50 participants from around Europe and 50 more locally from Vilnius,
Lithuania. I proposed an innovative theme and format,"Ethical Public
Domain: Debates of Questionable Practices". We organized and webcasted
ten debates. We also included ten Kenyan acrobats who debated and later
performed for us and others in Lithuania, including a school for the
deaf, a village in the countryside, Uzhupis Republic's Independence Day
and Lithuania's national morning television show. I set up a Ning
website to handle registration and (unsuccessfully) encourage online
networking: http://ethicalpublicdomain.ning.com

Our largest online project was "My Food Story"
http://www.myfoodstory.info for Greg Wolff of Unamesa Association in
Palo Alto, California for $24,000. I organized six teams with a total of
100 people (including paid workers in Kenya, Cameroon, Tanzania, Uganda,
Israeli-occupied Palestine, Lithuania, Latvia, Serbia, UK, Finland,
Missouri). We collected 500 food stories on-the-ground and 1,500 more
online.

Currently, we're starting "My Video Story" to collect practices for
Franz Nahrada's Grundtvig seminar on a pattern language for video
communications, which will take place January 2010 in Vienna, Austria.

Since 1994, I've worked as a software developer for databases and
websites. I program in PHP, Perl, Python, MySQL, XML, CSS, RSS, Visual
Basic (Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word). I use Linux.
I have installed and custom programmed Drupal, Plone, TouchGraph, ARSC
(chat room), PmWiki, ProWiki. In 1998-2000, I led a Minciu Sodas
initiative to organize an interchange format for tools for thinking:
http://www.ms.lt/mindset.html with support from The Brain
http://www.thebrain.com and Mind Manager http://www.mindmanager.com

I have also set up a Ning website http://worknets.ning.com which I've
custom programmed to show the latest chat line from our chat room, and
the latest update at our wiki. In general, I'm skilled at creatively
interweaving low-tech tools such as Yahoo! groups, RSS, wiki and chat.

I am fluent in English and Lithuanian, but also know enough Spanish and
Mandarin Chinese to help me organize people in those languages.

*** Case study for "community of innovation" at Media City, Salford ***

In 2003, thanks to Franz Nahrada, I became aware of the key role that
villages play as environments which are small enough for us to impact. A
village can crush a person who thinks differently, but a handful of
people can shape an entire village. An urban neighborhood such as Media
City, Salford may also have that spirit. A co-working center is key for
a "global village" to thrive, for individuals to learn to work in teams
locally, but also globally. http://www.globalvillages.info
http://www.dorfwiki.org

Franz has emphasized the importance of video bridges for a center to
participate fully in global networks. In 2007, I and my team (Zenonas
Anusauskas, Irena Buinickaite and other) organized 12 video bridges with
support from the European Union.
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?GlobalUtopias
Our research motivated the Global Telecenter Alliance's interest in
video bridges:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/globalvillages/message/3484

Franz is also a great fan of Ning http://globalvillages.ning.com and has
championed its use in the Transition Town movement. He is a key resource
as he organizes a Global Village Network around the world.

  >From 1998 to 2007, I had my office at the Folk Creativity Club in the
Pavilnys neighborhood of Vilnius and supported the entire community
center. Currently, I live with Zenonas and his family in the Lithuanian
countryside and support his regional Internet television
http://www.internetinetv.lt

This last year I have grown very close to the Uzhupis Republic, a
neighborhood of artists in Vilnius with its own constitution, flag,
president and Independence day when custom posts are set up for stamping
passports and what not.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U%C5%BEupis
In our Mornflake cereal work, foreign minister Tomas Chepaitis captured
the imagination of UK online communities to good effect. He has
organized a network of 200 ambassadors.

Another promising ingredient is John Caswell's and Group Partner's
Structured Visual Thinking which is used by leaders of the largest
corporations for thoroughly addressing complex issues. He's agreed that
we develop a Public Domain version of this methodology which might be
used by all manner of personal and public initiatives including Media
City, Salford. This can be a way to express deep questions and profound
ideas and apply them to every day issues.
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?StructuredVisualThinking

*** Teach seminars ***

At UCSD, I was senior teaching assistant, responsible for scheduling and
helping thirty teaching assistants. I also taught algebra from my own
notes based on deep ideas and classical math problems. In 2008, I taught
this course at American University in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I markedly
stimulated my students, who were business majors, so that they
appreciated and developed their ability to think mathematically.
http://www.worknets.org/upload/AndriusKulikauskas/precalculus.pdf

In 2006, I gave talks on "fighting peacefully" for three weeks at
An-Najah National University as part of an eight week visit to Israel
and Israeli-occupied Palestine to reach out to Islamic independent thinkers.
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?HawaraCheckpoint

I can teach and assist with all manner of subjects. I've won travel
awards for my papers and presentations in economics, leadership
development, online organizing, online ethics, intellectual property,
architecture and automata theory.

We learn to stick our necks out, Open Culture (2005). Proceedings.
(Travel award to Milan, Italy)
http://www.openleader.com/welearntostickournecksout.pdf

Social infrastructure for virtual flash mobs, Oekonux (2004).
(Travel award to Vienna, Austria)
http://www.ms.lt/en/workingopenly/virtualflashmobs.html

Social hacking: The need for an ethics, Open Contents (2003).
(Travel award to Milan, Italy)
http://journal.hyperdrome.net/issues/issue1/kulikauskas.html

The algebra of copyright, BlogTalk – A European Conference on Weblogs
(2003). Proceedings.
(Travel award to Vienna, Austria)
http://www.ms.lt/en/publishing/TheAlgebraOfCopyright.html

Salingaros's Laws of Architecture (2008)
Presentation at Stephen Wolfram's "A New Kind of Science" summer school.
(Travel award to Burlington, Vermont)
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?LawsOfArchitecture

Organizing thoughts into sequences, hierarchies and networks, with
Saulius Maskeliunas, EMMSAD'99 (1999). Proceedings.
http://www.ms.lt/ms/projects/structurekinds/paper052499.html

Symmetric functions, bi-brick permutations, and Lyndon words, with
Jeffrey B. Remmel. January 9, 2002. Preliminary report.
http://www.ams.org/amsmtgs/2049_abstracts/973-05-1047.pdf

*** PhD and research interests ***

In 1993, I received my Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of
California at San Diego for my thesis "Eigenvalues of the Symmetric
Functions of a Matrix". I discovered a combinatorial framework that
provides insights into the conceptual origin of mathematical objects. I
studied mathematics as "the study of structure" and essential for the
practical formulation of knowledge in general.
http://www.worknets.org/upload/AndriusKulikauskas/AndriusKulikauskasThesis.pdf
http://math.ucsd.edu/~thesis/topic/combinatorics.html

In 1986, I received my B.S. in mathematics and B.A. in physics from the
University of Chicago. There and at UCSD I took many classes in the
humanities and social sciences, including literature, philosophy,
history, music and linguistics. I also worked on my philosophy for one
year at the University of Vilnius in Soviet-occupied Lithuania. It
happened to be the year 1988-1989 before the Berlin wall fell, thus I
was an active participant in the historic movement for Lithuania's
independence. I grew up in a Lithuanian family in the United States of
America. It was for us a miracle that our country became free. I moved
to Lithuania in 1997 and am a dual citizen.

My quest in life, since childhood, was to know everything and apply that
knowledge usefully. In 2009, I created a 10 minute video "I Wish to
Know" which satisfies my wish for a big picture vision of all knowledge
and how it unfolds.
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?IWishToKnow
I'm currently interested in organizing a culture of independent thinkers.

Consequently, I have a deep and broad appreciation of a wide variety of
fields.

I express my philosophical interests and cultural aspirations through my
drawing, painting, sculpture, video, poetry, song, storytelling. This
year I had my first personal show at the Uzhupis Republic incubator's
gallery:
http://www.umi.lt/galera_details.php?id=135

I would like to apply David Gauntlett's methodology of creating and then
reflecting. I imagine that we are doing so as we clarify and collect our
values, questions, endeavors, dreams and try to achieve them.

Theoretically, I'm attracted to the link between technology and culture:
* Industrial production - the ability to create anything without
constraint - leads to modernism (as with skyscrapers).
* When the every day objects around us are all mass produced, then we
recombine and repurpose them, as in post-modernism (as with collages).
* When design tools (computers, cameras, recorders) are freely
available, then we become self-publishers, as in the network society (as
with blogs).
I'm interested in what comes next, what might be relevant for a culture
of independent thinkers, as I'm working to organize, and as expressed by
my draft of the Worknets charter http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Charter

I'm also interested in rethinking education in terms of rapid
self-learning, which is relevant in a world of drastic changes,
including climate change. Mathematical, literary and other forms of
thinking might be grounded in the learning of ethics relevant for a
culture of individual creators.

I'm interested in blurring the lines between the academic world and
self-learners.

Finally, I would be excited to work with the Media, Arts and Design team
of Professor David Gauntlett, Dr Peter Goodwin and Dr Lizzie Jackson and
their linking of theory and practice. This spring I and ten members of
my team visited George Auckland at the BBC headquarters in London. (We
had met earlier as speakers at the workshop "Preserving Quality in an
Open Evironment" in Como, Italy in 2006.)
http://www.dirittodautore.it/page.asp?mode=Convegni&IdConv=142
I was sobered by the challenges of making connections even within the
BBC and so I'm delighted to realize that your efforts are making good
progress there and beyond.

*** Kind Words ***

Doc Searls: "If we want an original take on something, it's best to look
to the peole who look to other people for something completely outside
the prevailing frames of reference, yet deeply personal and grounded in
the real world. So today I turned to to David Weinberger, who today
turned to Andrius Kulikauskas, who is one of the most original guys we
both know. On David's blog Andrius has come through with a brilliant and
truly useful piece of wisdom."
http://doc-weblogs.com/2002/09/22

David Weinberger: "Andrius is enough of an idealist that he is sometimes
shocked by the cyncism most of us take for granted. And lord bless him
for it. And he never lies. This is worth reading."
http://www.hyperorg.com/blogger/archive/2002_09_01_archive.html

Doc Searls and David Weinberger are coauthors of The Cluetrain Manifesto.
http://www.cluetrain.com

On Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 11:47 AM, Andrius Kulikauskas <ms@...> wrote:
> Thanks to Suresh Fernando, I recently joined Open Kollab
> http://groups.google.com/group/openkollab
> where I learned about a job offer at the University of Westminster. They
> need a research fellow to assist for 8 months with a UK social network
> that they piloted and are now expanding between the media (such as the
> BBC) and academia (Arts and Humanities, but especially, new media
> researchers). I share my application.
> http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?KnowledgeExchangeNetwork
>
> Andrius Kulikauskas, Minciu Sodas, http://www.ms.lt, ms@..., +370 699
> 30003, skype:minciusodas
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>


Wow, amazing stuff, Andrius!

Benoit,  What an inspiring miracle! Thank you for including us! I
replied in our chat room:

AndriusKulikauskas: Hi Benoit :: Wow that's fantastic Benoit! :: My love
and amazement to you and Debbie and all of your family! :: I'm grateful
to God for his intercession in your family. :: I've been thinking how to
play with God? what does play mean to God? and I imagine that God plays
with our lives by coupling us with each other. :: And I suppose we can
support his play by encouraging such linkings and couplings. :: Thank
you for including us! ::

And I tweeted:

tweet: Benoit, I just read
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lovingGod/message/712 and your wife's
miracle is a beautiful example of "organic experience of spiritual
unity" from different traditions, East and West.

Simply amazing!  Andrius, ms@..., http://www.ms.lt


Benoit Couture wrote:
> Salut Andrius!
>
> I thought I should come on the chat line and tell you the news first,
> before I post it on Loving God.
> Debbie saw the doctor on Thursday and she was told that she can go
> back to work anytime she wants. She is planning for Feb 1, 2010
> We now need to adjust ourselves into the search and finding of the
> deeper meaning of this whole episode in our lives as individuals and
> as a family.
> I guess that in that sense, it becomes parallel to your Lithuanian
> participation, in search of sobriety
> May our findings be blessed into the completion of God's Holiness of
> our being, having and doings...
> Let us feed on The Bread of Life...
>
> I also reported the news with a bit more info about the healing, to a
> group who prayed with us at the forum of Radically Christian Cafe
> http://housechurch.org/cgi-bin/bbcgi_hc/ultimatebb.cgi/topic/4/11#000013
>
>
> Getting better every day!
>
> My last entry on this thread was in September. The news have changed
> dramatically. Our Lord has decided to heal my wife.
>
> When I first searched google about Watchman Nee and the Local Church
> several years ago, I found myself guided to visit a Chinese
> congregation in Edmonton, Canada.
> We, my wife and I, were then given an address to go for bible studies
> once a week and the host was a Traditional Chinese Medicinal
> Herbologist, from Malasya.
>
> Interestingly enough, one of the participants at the Tuesday meeting
> knew the host for 27 years, and never knew about the host's connection
> to herbology.
>
> After a couple of weeks at home from the hospital, my wife was showing
> very little improvement. We then decided to start using the Chinese
> herbs from our brother and within 3 days, major improvememnts began
> all around.
> After 2 months of combining Western and Chinese medicine, my wife is
> now looking at going back to work by the first of February.
>
> We pray that whatever teaching(s) our Father wishes us to learn from
> that whole experience, that we may finally get it and obey as He
> pleases, so that we may bloom into the fulness of His all-in-all into
> our lives...
>
> - Dear Father, mortality came knocking at our door and You turned it
> away. Thank You!
> Please do guide us to Your pleasure in our life to be lived from Your
> oneness in Your Son Jesus-Christ...Amen to Your Yes in us all... with
> all of our praise and thanksgivings...
> Salut...
>
> ...may all blessings be with us all...
> Benoit Couture
> Edmonton, Canada
>
>
>

This evening I submitted a proposal for the Knight News Challenge which
supports the future of journalism in local communities.  I live in
Lithuania so I propose to do a project here.

My proposal is called "Sviesuoliai" which is the Lithuanian word for
"People of the Light", which is how I talk about "independent thinkers"
here.  I propose to organize many small events around them as original
sources of news about our potential future.  I invite your thoughts here
and also if you go here:
http://www.ms.lt/sviesuoliai/
you'll be redirected and can vote and comment at the Knight News
Challenge website. Thank you!

The deadline is Tuesday, December 15, if you'd like to apply at
http://www.newschallenge.org

I earlier submitted a "help room proposal" and I'm thinking of editing
that so that it would be a local project, perhaps in East Africa.

Andrius Kulikauskas, Minciu Sodas, http://www.ms.lt, ms@...

----------------------------

Project Title:  Sviesuoliai (People of the Light)

Requested amount from Knight News Challenge: 135,000 USD

Expected amount of time to complete project: 2 years

Total cost of project including all sources of funding: 180,000 USD

Describe your project:

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are small Baltic republics which freed
themselves from Soviet occupation in 1991, joined the European Union in
2004 and are now considering a variety of visions for the future thanks
to grassroots "national idea movements". Lithuania has a tradition from
the 19th century of "sviesuoliai" ("people of the light") who organize
schools, champion new ideas, publish, share and even smuggle newspapers.
Minciu Sodas ("Orchard of Thoughts"), founded by Andrius Kulikauskas in
1998, and headquartered in the village of Dukiskes, Lithuania, serves
and organizes such "independent thinkers". Our project is to acknowledge
people as "sviesuoliai" and promote them as original sources of news
about our potential future. We'll promote anybody who is willing to
share in their Public Domain their values, questions, endeavors,
dreams-in-life and work with others to make them come true. We'll
present their life dream as an online portfolio along with an RSS feed.
We'll organize small public events where we film their thoughts and
deeds and publish them as online videos. We'll present their life dreams
with a variety of creative arts and integrate them in an "economy of
dreams" where they come true. We'll discover people in media to voice
their ideas and people in politics to pursue them. Our project will
shift our values from "spreading the news" to "gathering the news", from
"getting attention" to "discovering sources", from "explaining what we
know" to "exploring what we don't know", from "causing a stir" to
"addressing an issue". Our goal is to give a voice to people who
actually have something to say, to link them together through dialogue,
and to "spread the news" to the widest variety of people who might "make
the news".

How will your project improve the way news and information are delivered
to geographic communities?

We're organizing a network of 10 or more cultural hubs in Vilnius and
nearby villages where thinkers can work together at small public events.
At each hub we'll build a "global village" team with two or more
prolific thinkers; an event organizer; a video maker; an online liaison
(possibly a younger person helping older thinkers); as well as artists,
activists, entrepreneurs, academics, journalists and politicians. For
each hub, we'll set up an Internet video channel and online blog, list
questions that journalists and others might help explore, and foster a
non-monetary "economy of dreams" to encourage those who do. We'll
organize 500 events for such investigations where thinkers present,
activists respond and journalists catalyze.

How is your idea innovative? (new or different from what already exists)

We're rethinking journalism as "Who needs to know?" (the ones who help!)
rather than "Who wants to know?" Those who help need to know "What don't
we know?" We're illustrating that with visual thinking, conceptual maps,
text-audio-video interviews and discussion, chat transcripts,
glossaries, artistic visions and to-do lists. Listeners can
think-out-loud alongside us at any part of the process. We'll embrace
journalists as "independent thinkers" so that their investigations might
build on our investigations. We'll include them as catalysts,
facilitators, moderators, matchmakers, problem solvers, and as a last
resort, broadcasters. As we slow down our news, we'll clarify what
challenges are truly newsworthy for all to hear and listen.

What experience do you or your organization have to successfully develop
this project?

Andrius Kulikauskas is a 2008 Knight News Challenge award winner for The
Includer, an idea for a hardware device for African participants of
Minciu Sodas with marginal Internet access. Minciu Sodas's outstanding
achievement was the Pyramid of Peace http://www.pyramidofpeace.net : we
organized 100 independent peacemakers and 100 online assistants in 2008
for two months to avert genocide in Kenya. We effectively integrate
email, wiki, chat, RSS, photos, Skype, video and face-to-face meetings.
One quarter of Minciu Sodas's activity is in Lithuania: 4 email groups
with 40 active writers and 700 readers, a total of 7,500 letters since
1999. We meet frequently and as a team have organized the Global Utopias
video bridge project, the EU COMMUNIA workshop "Ethical Public Domain:
Debate of Questionable Practices", a tour by Nafsi Afrika Acrobats from
Kenya, visits with independent thinkers in London, and an art show and
open studio at the Uzhupis Galera. Zenonas Anusauskas is founder of an
Internet television http://www.internetinetv.lt with 120 videos of local
significance. He's active in organizing TEDxx idea presentations for
Lithuania's national idea movement As Lietuvai. Tomas Cepaitis is
Foreign Minister of the Uzhupis Republic, an artist neighborhood of
Vilnius, and has a network of 200 ambassadors. Andrius Kulikauskas is
collecting, drawing and integrating people's dreams-in-life for Human
Rights Month with support from UNESCO at the Gedimino 9 shopping
center's co-working hub. Minciu Sodas readers include journalists and
members of parliament.

---------------------------------------

Some remarks that didn't fit because of size constraints:

Lithuania has many different newspapers, magazines and online news
portals. However, much content is "news for news's sake": celebrity
news, political squabbles, needless controversy and titillation. Many
papers are aligned with political party cliques. Too often, articles are
"commissioned" by political or economic interests.

We're trying out Jesus's idea of journalism as "winning back your
brother". (If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault
between you and him alone... But if he doesn't listen, take one or two
more with you ... If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the
assembly...)

We're appreciating thinkers as newsworthy because like Jesus their
original thinking goes beyond the news of the day. We've neglected them,
but we'd like them to win us over. We want to listen, not simply hear.
We want to understand so that we can address and expand on their
concerns. We don't need to "capture" an entire "segment" of people. We
need a variety of people. We organize hubs, teams, events as genuine
centers of constructive activity.

I modified my "help room" proposal to focus on Israeli-occupied
Palestine. Thank you to Wael Al Saad and to Baruch for a helpful chat by
Skype which I share further below. Today is the deadline for the Knight
News Challenge http://www.newschallenge.org I appreciate our thoughts,
comments and votes for my proposal: http://www.helproom.org/proposal/
Andrius Kulikauskas, Minciu Sodas, http://www.ms.lt, ms@...
---------------------------------------------------------

Project Title: Help Room for Nonviolent Jihad
Requested amount from Knight News Challenge: 480,000 USD
Expected amount of time to complete project: 3 years
Total cost of project including all sources of funding: 600,000 USD

Describe your project:

The West Bank is fragmented by hundreds of internal check points manned
by Israeli defense forces. Palestinian youth are often afraid to venture
out of a city such as Nablus for fear of being held and imprisoned
without cause. They talk patriotically, but lack practice in “fighting
peacefully” by which Indians, Black Americans and Eastern Europeans won
freedom. Our project is to coach Palestinian youth in at least ten
locations to staff an online chat room where they help Palestinians
locally and globally, help others around the world, and practice
“fighting peacefully”. These locations will be primarily in the West
Bank (Nablus, Jenin, Hebron) and also, as possible, in Israel and Gaza.
We'll coach the youth to know themselves, their deepest values, the
questions they wish to answer, what they would like to achieve, and
their dreams in life. We'll train them to engage each other and address
these issues working openly in the Public Domain, in Arabic and English,
using chat, emails, wikis, blogs, RSS, Skype, audio, video and other
tools. We'll meet regularly at each location and also online as a
network. We'll practice helping others, both locally and online,
especially independent thinkers who have novel ideas for ecology,
economy, culture, faith, education, society, agriculture and technology.
We'll collect their dreams, express them artistically and integrate them
with an “economy of dreams” and practical tasks online and
on-the-ground. We'll develop a theory and practice of “nonviolent
jihad”. We'll practice by helping as online assistants for activists in
Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and other troubled lands. We'll reach out to the
Palestinian diaspora and also Jews in Israel and around the world. Our
work will center around our chat room.

How will your project improve the way news and information are delivered
to geographic communities?

We're showing that we can reshape assumptions of “what is news” by
taking personal intiative: focusing on the value of each individual,
appreciating their self-knowledge, embracing local dreams. Helping
others is a way to let go of victimhood. A network of thriving hubs
changes what is possible. Activity at one hub inspires other hubs. As we
help each other with our own projects, we build teams that help others
around the world. This opens up economic opportunity locally and
globally. Our chat room will allow local groups to participate in global
dialogue, to cultivate relationships with Jews and others, to build
credibility by working together, facing and overcoming practical
obstacles. Such opportunity makes news more relevant.

How is your idea innovative? (new or different from what already exists)

Eluned Hurn of Wales is a peace activist who inspires us with her
deepest value of “fighting peacefully”. We enjoy peace by actively
addressing injustice, by acknowledging, engaging, understanding and
loving our enemy, by looking at everything from their point of view. Our
chat room gives us practice for open dialogue with other people, shows
the ways that we can help others, and builds relationships for ambitious
projects. Meeting locally, we learn to use the chat room and that leads
to the use of all the other online tools by which we circulate content,
respond to it in the many ways we can, and share it further with
bloggers and correspondents. “Nonviolent jihad” is an Islamic grounding
of this dynamic.

What experience do you or your organization have to successfully develop
this project?

Andrius Kulikauskas is a 2008 Knight News Challenge award winner for The
Includer, an idea for a hardware device for our Kenyan participants with
marginal Internet access. In 1998, Andrius founded Minciu Sodas as an
online network for independent thinkers. We have 150 active and 2,000
supportive participants and have written 35,000 letters, 5,000 wiki
pages and 85,000 lines of chat. In 2008, we organized the Pyramid of
Peace www.pyramidofpeace.net of 100 peacemakers on-the-ground and 100
helpers online to avert genocide in Kenya. We shared mobile phone
credits as an emergency community currency. Our leaders overcame tribal
anger, engaged gangs and opened roads for food, medicine, fuel and
refugees, and saved lives. Andrius coached our Kenyan leaders how to
“look at everything from your enemy's point of view” and apply
principles he practiced in Soviet-occupied Lithuania, the Chicago ghetto
and Israeli-occupied Palestine. In 2006, Andrius looked for Islamic
independent thinkers in Israel and Palestine, and taught “fighting
peacefully” for three weeks at An-Najah National University in Nablus,
including practical exercises at the Hawara checkpoint. The Zajel Youth
Exchange Program is excited to help as are Awne Abu Zant and other
students who collected 300 food stories for our work for Unamesa
Association to create www.myfoodstory.info Wael Al Saad in Jenin, who
lived for many years in Germany, is our visionary for a new Palestine
using economy as vehicle for change towards an ecological culture.

--------------------------------------------------

[21:06:43] Andrius Kulikauskas: Hi Wael, I'm adapting my Knight News
Challenge proposal for Israeli-occupied Palestine.
[21:07:09] Wael Al Saad: Hi Andrius
[21:07:19] Andrius Kulikauskas: How are you?
[21:07:32] … I wrote a "help room" proposal earlier.
[21:08:03] … http://www.helproom.org/proposal/
[21:08:29] … I'm going to rewrite it tonight so that it is centered
around helping Palestinans learn to help themselves and others.
[21:08:40] … Like for the other proposal we were hoping to do.
[21:08:56] … If you have some thoughts, that's great. I'm stepping out
for 20 minutes now.
[21:09:07] Wael Al Saad: I have added you on faceBook .. I sended you a
link about our Marda Permaculture Farm, group on faceBook
[21:09:28] … Sure.
[21:09:37] … i have a simple basic, and big thought:
[21:10:16] … palestinians and Palestine is something unique which can
not be shaped with a state and borders
[21:12:03] … we are a global entity. But political fragmentation and
blaiming Israel all the time for our miserable situation is making our
collective situation much complicated and our social-building very week.
[21:12:19] … Beside the georgrafical fragmentation
[21:13:11] … the web and bottom up healing economy could be a vision to
bring people together by using the free market and the web to make out
of the fragmented entitiy an interconnected living body
[21:40:05] Andrius Kulikauskas: that's great - I forgot about the diaspora
[21:42:13] Wael Al Saad: it is too sad and emmotional volcano Andrius ..
when tow Palestnians look deep in the eyes of each others and there
hards .. it is too hard to describe the hidden aspirations
[21:42:51] Andrius Kulikauskas: I think even just submitting a proposal
is a small step in support of these dreams
[21:43:57] … Wael, what is your dream in life? May I list it with our
dreams ? http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Dreams
[21:44:24] … What can we call this proposal?
[21:43:03] Wael Al Saad: there is more Palestinian outside WestBank and
Gaza than
[21:43:53] … these people are living at the edge of life just for
livelihood .. they feel sick about traditional political struggle
[21:46:09] … so, my question wheather we are able to develop a platfrom
of meta-collective intellgence to feed local and regional development
with global creativity so that we can develop 21-century borderless
nation open for the world and humanity, from our fragmented network/ but
bounded emotional entity as Palesinian, including a real new meaning in
being Palestinian?
[21:49:04] Andrius Kulikauskas: My basic idea is to organize an online
chat room with a public archive and coach Palestinian youth to link
together at least 10 centers in West Bank, Israel and Gaza to practice
helping others in Palestine and around the world and ultimately,
practice "fighting peacefully".
[21:49:39] … So all who want to help Palestinians, including diaspora,
Jews and others, can get to know each other and practice together on
small local problems and also on global issues.
[21:49:45] … Does that make sense?
[21:49:51] … And what would be a good name for that?
[21:50:09] … Nonviolent Jihad ?
[21:50:12] Wael Al Saad: I would say "emerging together in 21-century
eare peacfully"
[21:50:33] … there is a site "Israeliforpalestine"
[21:50:35] Andrius Kulikauskas: Would the term "nonviolent jihad" make
sense?
[21:51:36] Wael Al Saad: Jihad is basicly, struggling with the SELF
[21:51:47] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes
[21:52:00] … I'm attracted to coopting the term
[21:52:18] Wael Al Saad: but often it is truned into Islamisizing the issue
[21:54:31] Andrius Kulikauskas: I can use the term, yes?
[21:54:36] … "nonviolent jihad"
[21:55:32] Wael Al Saad: the complex question is, how we can build
constructive relationsips between us humans in new way, where we
construct the path for change ourself ..
[21:55:42] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes
[21:55:57] … I'm just double checking about the term because I think it
would be a good title for my proposal.
[21:56:07] … Because its very memorable and potent.
[21:56:16] … And its original - the domain is available.
[21:56:33] … So I would get it unless you think its a mistake.
[21:56:48] … How would it sound to a Palestinian?
[21:56:56] … Because I hope it might have moral authority as a term.
[21:57:15] Wael Al Saad: do you want me to include other new freind into
discussion? It is really worth to look deeper into the term
[21:57:25] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes please
[21:58:49] * Wael Al Saad invited baruchzed
[22:00:20] Wael Al Saad: Andi, Baruch is from
http://www.healingmagic.org/ .. this is our first contact. he wants to
interview me tomrrow for his site
[22:00:37] Baruch: Greetings Andi and Wael
[22:00:56] Wael Al Saad: Baruch, Andrius is re-working his propsal to
create a global help-room for Palestinian ..
http://www.helproom.org/proposal/
[22:01:10] Andrius Kulikauskas: Hi Baruch
[22:01:21] … yes I'm rewriting that proposal to focus on Palestinians
[22:01:40] Wael Al Saad: so he asked me if "nonviolent jihad" could be a
good title for the propsal in the time you wrote me
[22:01:40] Andrius Kulikauskas: My basic idea is to organize an online
chat room with a public archive and coach Palestinian youth to link
together at least 10 centers in West Bank, Israel and Gaza to practice
helping others in Palestine and around the world and ultimately,
practice "fighting peacefully".
[22:01:46] Baruch: It's a great idea...I am reading the proposal
[22:02:27] … I think if all our wars could become online chats...even if
people said terrible things...and didn;t act them out in the physical
world...it would be an improvement.
[22:02:51] … My radio show is http://paradigms.bz if you want to check
it out...
[22:03:10] Andrius Kulikauskas: Yes and here are my letters about my
practice of "fighting peacefully" at the Hawara Checkpoint
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?HawaraCheckpoint
[22:03:12] … Great!
[22:03:54] Baruch: For Dec 20 I am doing a Peace episode with interviews
and music to offer listeners opportunities to imagine Peace.
[22:04:09] Andrius Kulikauskas: Wonderful!
[22:04:12] Baruch: I love your checkpoint idea! It reads easily and
makes total sense.
[22:04:16] Andrius Kulikauskas: Where are you located?
[22:04:34] Baruch: I realized recently that some people simply cannot
imagine Peace, and so they can;t participate in making it if they can;t
imagine it.
[22:04:43] … I am in Vermont in the northeastern part of the US.
[22:04:51] Andrius Kulikauskas: Yes I tried it out and it went very
well. But the Palestinian graduate students in Nablus were too
frightened to try it.
[22:05:26] Baruch: I have been to Israel twice to teach workshops, and
all my Israeli friends were too afraid to cross into the territories
with me...
[22:05:37] Andrius Kulikauskas: But I was able to show that nonviolence
doesn't need to be passive and it doesn't need to be forceful, it can be
fighting spirit.
[22:05:38] … I see.
[22:05:41] Baruch: and I didn;t want to go by myself...so it didn't happen.
[22:06:05] Wael Al Saad: Andrius, I think we should develop something
new, by turing the struggle into internal constructive path, so that we
gain new basic for healing collective action as Palestinian without
making some-one else is responsible for our dilmma .. so we have to do
the best out of the moment, without waiting a third party is going to
shape the change
[22:06:08] Baruch: The warrior does not have to be a killer or an
oppressor or a reactor...the warrior can be filled with love and integrity.
[22:06:17] Andrius Kulikauskas: I was in Israel and Israeli-occupied
Palestine for eight weeks looking for Islamic independent thinkers.
[22:06:18] … Yes!
[22:06:44] … Eluned Hurn in Wales told me her deepest value was
"fighting peacefully" and I have treasured that attitude and I'm
pursuing that here.
[22:06:47] Baruch: Wael yes...the inner work is what changes the outer
world...
[22:07:09] Andrius Kulikauskas: How do you imagine that, Wael?
[22:07:27] Wael Al Saad: so, we are trapped into the victim role .. and
so we reproducing same reality creating or now
[22:07:30] … *our NOW
[22:07:55] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes and that's why I want to encourage
helping others and forgetting about ones own victimhood
[22:08:46] Wael Al Saad: something new need to happen without puting
Israel in the main equation. Cuz you will find 10.000.000 different
relationships to "Israel"
[22:08:47] Baruch: Wael yes...my life work has been as a psychologist,
and this is exactly what you see with strauma survivors who have not
addressed their trauma...identification as victim and then
perpetrator...that, in my opinion, is what drives Israel's
violence...that and the US and many corporations.
[22:09:01] … trauma, not strauma
[22:09:25] Wael Al Saad: Andrius was aking me about my dream:
[22:10:01] … You should make it to WestBank Baruch .. life here is about
commerce and commerce
[22:10:24] Baruch: hopefully I will be back in early 2010...
[22:10:41] Wael Al Saad: if you look into the minds of the people .. the
active part is about how to bring money into own bocket
[22:11:00] … so there is this dammed money box
[22:11:38] … new change course need lot of creativity and collective
colaboration .. expressive energy need to be set free
[22:11:52] Baruch: the poor try to get money so they can survive, and
the middle class try to get money so they can get ahead, and the wealthy
try to get money so they can stay wealthy...and none of those motives
consider the greater good...
[22:13:24] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes
[22:13:46] … How many check points are there in the West Bank?
[22:14:13] Wael Al Saad: so, the basic point to go from is what people
are in NOW, economy! My dream is about designing a new enviornement
using economy as vehichle for change, where within this envionrement
higher levels of cultural memes and value creation is patterned
[22:14:40] … * where people within ..
[22:14:58] … interact
[22:15:20] … I need to formulate it better "sorry"
[22:15:22] Baruch: you would be interested in the work of Dean Cycon who
is a coffee importer in the US, but has created a model of fair trade
with the farmers he works with... http://deansbeans.com
[22:15:56] Wael Al Saad: at the end it is not about trade
[22:16:12] … We live in system of crises
[22:16:24] Andrius Kulikauskas: Designing a new environment using
economy as a vehicle for change, where within this environment we
pattern higher levels of cultural memes and value creation.
[22:16:29] … Is that right?
[22:16:37] Baruch: Dean's work is also about creating a different form
of economy... his interview is at
http://www.healingmagic.org/wbkm/paradigms/august232009.html
[22:16:49] Wael Al Saad: masses are consuming reality and normalities
but co-creating none of them
[22:18:33] … the state model, the borders between nations, the
corrupting authorities and the dirthy politcal mind working for
executive power .. the international law, UN .. and many other concepts
are getting smached on the core of "Palestinian" issue
[22:19:25] Baruch: at this point what's happening in Israel/Palestine is
so deeply part of global corporate behavior, i.e. weapons makers etc.,
that the actual issues have been lost, or so it seems to me.
[22:19:27] Wael Al Saad: this world is the issue
[22:19:41] Baruch: exactly Wael.
[22:20:09] Wael Al Saad: sure Baruch .. there is powers who are
profiting from this reality and con not survive without it
[22:20:11] … BUT
[22:20:32] … these power themselves also need an alterantives.
[22:20:45] Baruch: other than being dismantled?
[22:20:50] Wael Al Saad: they are trapped into somthing they used to
like the masses
[22:20:54] Andrius Kulikauskas: I agree with you Wael.
[22:21:04] Baruch: yes I agree too...
[22:21:17] Andrius Kulikauskas: Wael I will write this as your dream:
Designing a new environment using economy as a vehicle for change, where
within this environment we pattern higher levels of cultural memes and
value creation.
[22:21:23] … unless you correct me
[22:21:25] Baruch: what kind of incentive appeals to people who are
consumed by the desire for wealth?
[22:21:34] Andrius Kulikauskas: Baruch, I'm collecting our
dreams-in-life http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Dreams
[22:21:44] Wael Al Saad: The last couple of years I have stopped to
search for an enemy .. we are all victims
[22:22:12] … I have started to search deep inside me and trying to
understand which change need to take place in the pure human
[22:22:25] Baruch: Andi...cool...can I link to this for my Peace show on
Sunday? each episode of the show gets it's own page, I'd love to have a
link to this on sunday's show.
[22:23:16] Wael Al Saad: Andrius .. we need to put better formulation
[22:24:47] … the concept of "healing" and "riping" are making collisions
[22:25:40] … are we learning to be better humans, or we are healing form
something to get to a status we have been before?
[22:27:33] Baruch: I think of healing as that moment when we feel our
wholeness...when all our "parts" are aligned and we are our truest selves.
[22:28:10] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes please Baruch do link
[22:28:11] Wael Al Saad: it is a status of being
[22:28:33] Andrius Kulikauskas: what do you mean by "riping" Baruch?
[22:28:44] … I mean, what do you mean by "riping", Wael
[22:28:54] … Here are my first few sentences: The West Bank is
fragmented by hundreds of internal check points manned by Israeli
defense forces. Palestinian youth are often afraid to venture out of a
city such as Nablus for fear of being held and imprisoned without cause.
They talk patriotically, but generally lack practice in “fighting
peacefully” by which Indians, Black Americans and Eastern Europeans
triumphed against British, American and Soviet might.
[22:28:56] Wael Al Saad: getting ripe
[22:29:34] Andrius Kulikauskas: I see, you are saying, are we looking
towards the future or the past as our ultimate state?
[22:29:58] … I believe that life looks backwards towards death, but
eternal life looks forward endlessly.
[22:30:34] … Life assumes that God is good, but eternal life
acknowledges that God doesn't have to be good, that there is a lot of
bad that we have to address before we can say that God is good.
[22:30:42] Wael Al Saad: being in whoness alignment is getting the mind
scielent in active awaken intellgence : time is now. future and past are
irrelvent
[22:30:59] Baruch: what Wael said.
[22:31:35] Wael Al Saad: so Baruch. there is nothing to heal it is like
being aligned to the whole or not
[22:31:58] Baruch: past and future are fantasies, and "God" means
different things to everyone.
[22:32:30] Wael Al Saad: But this point is very spiritual and hard to
address in public work .. or building through it relationship to
political acitons
[22:32:31] Baruch: Wael...yes and no...there is no static state of
alignment or balance, we are always changing...but we have moments, and
there are things we can do to foster such moments...and that, to me, is
healing.
[22:33:40] … a way to bring spirituality into politics without turning
people off is, I think, simply to be one's truest self and to be guided
by ethics in one's politics.
[22:33:50] Wael Al Saad: and my point is of desiging the
job-enviornement is to put so much patterns of wholness "holistic
healing green economy"
[22:34:13] … so, when some one is part of this bodey he is in touch of
so much energy of creation at once
[22:34:59] Andrius Kulikauskas: proposal: Our project is to coach
Palestinian youth in at least ten locations to staff an online chat room
where they help Palestinians locally and globally, help others around
the world, and practice “fighting peacefully”.
[22:35:19] Wael Al Saad: over the time we develop a new filter of
thinking and way to look into reality creation
[22:36:33] … Sorry Andrius to drift out of topic .. but you may try to
include new ideas to write something can really make differnt
[22:36:48] … "Baruch
[22:36:51] … nice music
[22:36:56] Baruch: Someone, say, Netenyahu, who is doing things that
hurt people...is it his deepest desire to harm others? Is there part of
him that wants peace between people? Could he have a healing experience
that would alter his point of view and thus his behavior? I used to
think everyone could be healed of their psychological wounds, but I have
come to believe differently. Some cannot, and some will not. So given
the reality that such people are in positions of power, how do we, at
the grass roots level, turn away from the path of violence which is
offered at every turn, and maake something new?
[22:37:15] … Thanks Wael :-) Good music helps people to hear the messages.
[22:37:16] Andrius Kulikauskas: Wael it's all very helpful and please I
welcome your and Baruch's ideas
[22:38:08] … proposal: These locations will be primarily in the West
Bank (Nablus, Jenin, Hebron) and also, as possible, in Israel and Gaza.
[22:38:19] … Is there a site in the diaspora that would make sense?
[22:39:09] Wael Al Saad: Baruch, I am thinking about it .. the issue is
not with Netenyahu or any leader. The issue of mechansim of developing
reality. So the issue is to change the understanding of leadership into
the society.
[22:40:35] … Instead of focusing the energy to unitary leaders, who like
to be heared and clapped, we open the space for our energy for
sustaibale constrcting actions
[22:41:14] … econmy, the web and the free are best tools to get into
such new *experience*
[22:41:35] … free market instead of free ..
[22:41:40] Baruch: Wael...yes! If people started to meet in circles, or
councils, and make decisions for their communities, if this were to
build upon itself, the unitary powers would eventually become irrelevant.
[22:42:24] … One such model, however imperfect, is the Reclaiming
community, which has thousands of people in it around the world, and
works by concensus in local groups.
[22:44:13] Wael Al Saad: the bottom up green association I have in mind
will provide all these innovation, without highlighting the significance
of them. The experiencer should determin the signficance him self and
help developing it
[22:44:16] Andrius Kulikauskas: proposal: We will coach the youth to to
know themselves, their deepest values in life, the questions they wish
to answer, what they would like to achieve, and their dreams in life. We
will coach them to engage each other and address these issues using
chat, emails, wikis, blogs, RSS, Skype, audio, video and other tools.
[22:46:08] Wael Al Saad: ~ the reality the want to create and share
[22:46:31] Baruch: I like your proposal. One thought. When coaching
youth in this way, they are going to have emotional backlash...some of
the stuff that feels bad will rise to the surface as they receive
nourishment...
[22:46:41] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes?
[22:46:57] Wael Al Saad: me also .. why to address youth
[22:46:58] Baruch: I would suggest adding in some kind of support
component, like volunteer counselors (I volunteer!) to be available to
people as needed.
[22:46:59] Wael Al Saad: ?
[22:47:17] Baruch: true for everyone, not just youth.
[22:47:25] Wael Al Saad: I find many youth have more inegerity than many
adults in Palestine
[22:47:38] Andrius Kulikauskas: proposal: We will meet regularly at each
location and also online as a network. We will practice helping others,
both locally and online, especially independent thinkers who have novel
ideas for ecology, culture, society and faith.
[22:47:54] … I should add economy, technology, agriculture and what else?
[22:48:04] Baruch: education.
[22:48:15] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes
[22:48:24] Wael Al Saad: economic social-ecology ~ see our project at
Marda Farm
[22:48:30] Baruch: and if you can get concepts of permaculture in there...
[22:48:38] … social ecology, yes...
[22:48:53] Wael Al Saad:
http://sites.google.com/site/mardapermaculturecentre/home/future-projects/course\
-2010/funder-wanted-letter
[22:50:09] Baruch: Great letter...
[22:50:08] Wael Al Saad: I will prepare indegenious forgetten social
eveneing games to hav eprofit of in the evenings of the two and half
weeks programm duraction
[22:50:29] … I want to show value in indegeniousity
[22:50:45] Baruch: This site sprang out of some urban permaculture work
I did in Holland last year http://urban-permaculture.blogspot.com/ I'd
love to get Marda's stuff listed there.
[22:51:22] Wael Al Saad: We are hidding to build a site .. we need lot
of support to get our plans done
[22:52:21] Baruch: If I had money I'd donate!
[22:52:44] Wael Al Saad: slowly we are on the track .. I wish I could
practice this work full time
[22:53:12] … I am working in our family business "imort/wholetrade business"
[22:53:38] … Starhawk know Marda Farm very well BTW
[22:54:16] Baruch: yes she is the person who told me about Marda...I
almost visited last year but Uri's wife, whose name I forgot, was giving
birth so the timing was not good.
[22:54:58] Andrius Kulikauskas: Wael, Baruch, may I share this chat
through my lab's email groups?
[22:55:14] Baruch: It's fine with me, thanks for asking.
[22:56:21] Wael Al Saad: ok Andrius .. please try to extract the summery
of my thoughts, so that it will help me to present them in better way in
next occacion
[22:57:02] … writing hs never been my streagth .. it works much better
with chating/conversation
[22:57:28] Baruch: I will use the links, thank you both. I also need to
go...and Wael we will speak on Skype tomorrow, about 21 hours from now.
[22:57:43] Wael Al Saad: OK Baruch ..
[22:57:51] … I need to go as well
[22:58:02] … Thanks Andius for openign the space to share
[22:58:10] Andrius Kulikauskas: Thank you!
[22:58:15] Baruch: Anid, great to meet you...If I can help with your
project, let me know. I used to run help rooms for computer users on AOL
[22:58:26] Andrius Kulikauskas: Great!
[22:58:27] Baruch: and may have some ideas which could be helpful.
[22:58:38] Andrius Kulikauskas: Baruch quickly, may I sign you up for
one of my lab Minciu Sodas email groups?
[22:58:41] Baruch: my email is baruch@...
[22:58:55] Andrius Kulikauskas: Do you have a deepest value in life
which includes all of your other values?
[22:59:04] … That's how we organize ourselves.
[22:59:14] Baruch: Love.
[22:59:24] Andrius Kulikauskas: We have one group on "fighting
peacefully". Could I sign you up for that?
[22:59:30] Baruch: Sure!
[22:59:33] Andrius Kulikauskas: May I post that on the web? What do you
mean by love?
[23:00:46] Wael Al Saad: hahha .. you can not use the parts to describe
the whole :)
[23:01:05] Baruch: love is a word...by using it here I mean to say that
there is a substance or energy that connects everything in the
cosmos...that is love...so love is the reality of our interconnectedness.
[23:01:22] Andrius Kulikauskas: the reality of our interconnectedness
[23:01:32] Baruch: yes you can post my email address...
[23:01:33] Andrius Kulikauskas: and what name do I use, Baruch, simply?
[23:01:36] Baruch: yes
[23:01:54] Wael Al Saad: feelings and intutions cannot be objective
simply in worlds
[23:01:59] Baruch: if they want to know more about me you can send them
to http://paradigms.bz or http://healingmagic.org
[23:02:18] Wael Al Saad: good night from Jenin
[23:02:28] Baruch: Bon soir a Vermont!
[23:02:53] Andrius Kulikauskas: http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Baruch
[23:02:55] … Good night!

Dear Andrius, Wael, and All,

This is an excellent idea and proposal, and one well worth pursuing! It sounds
very exciting and also invaluable in terms of peaceful ways to address conflict
and development, within and for each individual, and also among and for the
collective.

I have a few questions/observations:

-I wonder if the budget is "realistic", in terms of a proposal that can be
accepted?  My concern is that it might seem too much for something not already
operational. But do you know if Knight can accept the idea, while modifying
(downsizing, if they see fit) the budget?  If so, perhaps leave it "as is", and
see what happens...we may be pleasantly surprised!

-I think you should explain an "economy of dreams", as that might not be
self-evident except to those of us in MS forums.

-I think this project should encourage Palestinians to lead the way on what news
is important to them (both to create and to convey). This proposal does have a
lot of that built into it, of course, but I'm a bit concerned that some of it
appears more "global" than Knight might be looking for, and also more "directed"
or influenced externally (re questions and considerations).

That's why I suggested, a few weeks ago, that health and development topics
might be of ultimate importance, along with peace and conflict issues, of
course. Your idea of reframing how "news" is defined is hugely pertinent in
general--esp with a focus on individual thinkers and personal dreams--but I
wonder if it will "fly" in the context of this particular competition.

Is it possible to tweak it a bit now?  If so, I hope these suggestions are
helpful. With great excitement and all the best of luck! Janet



-----Original Message-----
>From: Andrius Kulikauskas <ms@...>
>Sent: Dec 15, 2009 7:11 PM
>To: fightingpeacefully@yahoogroups.com, minciu_sodas_AR@yahoogroups.com,
socialagriculture@yahoogroups.com, help group <holistichelping@yahoogroups.com>,
risingvoices@googlegroups.com
>Subject: [holistichelping] Proposal: Help Room for Nonviolent Jihad
>
>I modified my "help room" proposal to focus on Israeli-occupied
>Palestine. Thank you to Wael Al Saad and to Baruch for a helpful chat by
>Skype which I share further below. Today is the deadline for the Knight
>News Challenge http://www.newschallenge.org I appreciate our thoughts,
>comments and votes for my proposal: http://www.helproom.org/proposal/
>Andrius Kulikauskas, Minciu Sodas, http://www.ms.lt, ms@...
>---------------------------------------------------------
>
>Project Title: Help Room for Nonviolent Jihad
>Requested amount from Knight News Challenge: 480,000 USD
>Expected amount of time to complete project: 3 years
>Total cost of project including all sources of funding: 600,000 USD
>
>Describe your project:
>
>The West Bank is fragmented by hundreds of internal check points manned
>by Israeli defense forces. Palestinian youth are often afraid to venture
>out of a city such as Nablus for fear of being held and imprisoned
>without cause. They talk patriotically, but lack practice in “fighting
>peacefully� by which Indians, Black Americans and Eastern Europeans won
>freedom. Our project is to coach Palestinian youth in at least ten
>locations to staff an online chat room where they help Palestinians
>locally and globally, help others around the world, and practice
>“fighting peacefully�. These locations will be primarily in the West
>Bank (Nablus, Jenin, Hebron) and also, as possible, in Israel and Gaza.
>We'll coach the youth to know themselves, their deepest values, the
>questions they wish to answer, what they would like to achieve, and
>their dreams in life. We'll train them to engage each other and address
>these issues working openly in the Public Domain, in Arabic and English,
>using chat, emails, wikis, blogs, RSS, Skype, audio, video and other
>tools. We'll meet regularly at each location and also online as a
>network. We'll practice helping others, both locally and online,
>especially independent thinkers who have novel ideas for ecology,
>economy, culture, faith, education, society, agriculture and technology.
>We'll collect their dreams, express them artistically and integrate them
>with an “economy of dreams� and practical tasks online and
>on-the-ground. We'll develop a theory and practice of “nonviolent
>jihad�. We'll practice by helping as online assistants for activists in
>Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and other troubled lands. We'll reach out to the
>Palestinian diaspora and also Jews in Israel and around the world. Our
>work will center around our chat room.
>
>How will your project improve the way news and information are delivered
>to geographic communities?
>
>We're showing that we can reshape assumptions of “what is news� by
>taking personal intiative: focusing on the value of each individual,
>appreciating their self-knowledge, embracing local dreams. Helping
>others is a way to let go of victimhood. A network of thriving hubs
>changes what is possible. Activity at one hub inspires other hubs. As we
>help each other with our own projects, we build teams that help others
>around the world. This opens up economic opportunity locally and
>globally. Our chat room will allow local groups to participate in global
>dialogue, to cultivate relationships with Jews and others, to build
>credibility by working together, facing and overcoming practical
>obstacles. Such opportunity makes news more relevant.
>
>How is your idea innovative? (new or different from what already exists)
>
>Eluned Hurn of Wales is a peace activist who inspires us with her
>deepest value of “fighting peacefully�. We enjoy peace by actively
>addressing injustice, by acknowledging, engaging, understanding and
>loving our enemy, by looking at everything from their point of view. Our
>chat room gives us practice for open dialogue with other people, shows
>the ways that we can help others, and builds relationships for ambitious
>projects. Meeting locally, we learn to use the chat room and that leads
>to the use of all the other online tools by which we circulate content,
>respond to it in the many ways we can, and share it further with
>bloggers and correspondents. “Nonviolent jihad� is an Islamic grounding
>of this dynamic.
>
>What experience do you or your organization have to successfully develop
>this project?
>
>Andrius Kulikauskas is a 2008 Knight News Challenge award winner for The
>Includer, an idea for a hardware device for our Kenyan participants with
>marginal Internet access. In 1998, Andrius founded Minciu Sodas as an
>online network for independent thinkers. We have 150 active and 2,000
>supportive participants and have written 35,000 letters, 5,000 wiki
>pages and 85,000 lines of chat. In 2008, we organized the Pyramid of
>Peace www.pyramidofpeace.net of 100 peacemakers on-the-ground and 100
>helpers online to avert genocide in Kenya. We shared mobile phone
>credits as an emergency community currency. Our leaders overcame tribal
>anger, engaged gangs and opened roads for food, medicine, fuel and
>refugees, and saved lives. Andrius coached our Kenyan leaders how to
>“look at everything from your enemy's point of view� and apply
>principles he practiced in Soviet-occupied Lithuania, the Chicago ghetto
>and Israeli-occupied Palestine. In 2006, Andrius looked for Islamic
>independent thinkers in Israel and Palestine, and taught “fighting
>peacefully� for three weeks at An-Najah National University in Nablus,
>including practical exercises at the Hawara checkpoint. The Zajel Youth
>Exchange Program is excited to help as are Awne Abu Zant and other
>students who collected 300 food stories for our work for Unamesa
>Association to create www.myfoodstory.info Wael Al Saad in Jenin, who
>lived for many years in Germany, is our visionary for a new Palestine
>using economy as vehicle for change towards an ecological culture.
>
>--------------------------------------------------
>
>[21:06:43] Andrius Kulikauskas: Hi Wael, I'm adapting my Knight News
>Challenge proposal for Israeli-occupied Palestine.
>[21:07:09] Wael Al Saad: Hi Andrius
>[21:07:19] Andrius Kulikauskas: How are you?
>[21:07:32] … I wrote a "help room" proposal earlier.
>[21:08:03] … http://www.helproom.org/proposal/
>[21:08:29] … I'm going to rewrite it tonight so that it is centered
>around helping Palestinans learn to help themselves and others.
>[21:08:40] … Like for the other proposal we were hoping to do.
>[21:08:56] … If you have some thoughts, that's great. I'm stepping out
>for 20 minutes now.
>[21:09:07] Wael Al Saad: I have added you on faceBook .. I sended you a
>link about our Marda Permaculture Farm, group on faceBook
>[21:09:28] … Sure.
>[21:09:37] … i have a simple basic, and big thought:
>[21:10:16] … palestinians and Palestine is something unique which can
>not be shaped with a state and borders
>[21:12:03] … we are a global entity. But political fragmentation and
>blaiming Israel all the time for our miserable situation is making our
>collective situation much complicated and our social-building very week.
>[21:12:19] … Beside the georgrafical fragmentation
>[21:13:11] … the web and bottom up healing economy could be a vision to
>bring people together by using the free market and the web to make out
>of the fragmented entitiy an interconnected living body
>[21:40:05] Andrius Kulikauskas: that's great - I forgot about the diaspora
>[21:42:13] Wael Al Saad: it is too sad and emmotional volcano Andrius ..
>when tow Palestnians look deep in the eyes of each others and there
>hards .. it is too hard to describe the hidden aspirations
>[21:42:51] Andrius Kulikauskas: I think even just submitting a proposal
>is a small step in support of these dreams
>[21:43:57] … Wael, what is your dream in life? May I list it with our
>dreams ? http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Dreams
>[21:44:24] … What can we call this proposal?
>[21:43:03] Wael Al Saad: there is more Palestinian outside WestBank and
>Gaza than
>[21:43:53] … these people are living at the edge of life just for
>livelihood .. they feel sick about traditional political struggle
>[21:46:09] … so, my question wheather we are able to develop a platfrom
>of meta-collective intellgence to feed local and regional development
>with global creativity so that we can develop 21-century borderless
>nation open for the world and humanity, from our fragmented network/ but
>bounded emotional entity as Palesinian, including a real new meaning in
>being Palestinian?
>[21:49:04] Andrius Kulikauskas: My basic idea is to organize an online
>chat room with a public archive and coach Palestinian youth to link
>together at least 10 centers in West Bank, Israel and Gaza to practice
>helping others in Palestine and around the world and ultimately,
>practice "fighting peacefully".
>[21:49:39] … So all who want to help Palestinians, including diaspora,
>Jews and others, can get to know each other and practice together on
>small local problems and also on global issues.
>[21:49:45] … Does that make sense?
>[21:49:51] … And what would be a good name for that?
>[21:50:09] … Nonviolent Jihad ?
>[21:50:12] Wael Al Saad: I would say "emerging together in 21-century
>eare peacfully"
>[21:50:33] … there is a site "Israeliforpalestine"
>[21:50:35] Andrius Kulikauskas: Would the term "nonviolent jihad" make
>sense?
>[21:51:36] Wael Al Saad: Jihad is basicly, struggling with the SELF
>[21:51:47] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes
>[21:52:00] … I'm attracted to coopting the term
>[21:52:18] Wael Al Saad: but often it is truned into Islamisizing the issue
>[21:54:31] Andrius Kulikauskas: I can use the term, yes?
>[21:54:36] … "nonviolent jihad"
>[21:55:32] Wael Al Saad: the complex question is, how we can build
>constructive relationsips between us humans in new way, where we
>construct the path for change ourself ..
>[21:55:42] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes
>[21:55:57] … I'm just double checking about the term because I think it
>would be a good title for my proposal.
>[21:56:07] … Because its very memorable and potent.
>[21:56:16] … And its original - the domain is available.
>[21:56:33] … So I would get it unless you think its a mistake.
>[21:56:48] … How would it sound to a Palestinian?
>[21:56:56] … Because I hope it might have moral authority as a term.
>[21:57:15] Wael Al Saad: do you want me to include other new freind into
>discussion? It is really worth to look deeper into the term
>[21:57:25] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes please
>[21:58:49] * Wael Al Saad invited baruchzed
>[22:00:20] Wael Al Saad: Andi, Baruch is from
>http://www.healingmagic.org/ .. this is our first contact. he wants to
>interview me tomrrow for his site
>[22:00:37] Baruch: Greetings Andi and Wael
>[22:00:56] Wael Al Saad: Baruch, Andrius is re-working his propsal to
>create a global help-room for Palestinian ..
>http://www.helproom.org/proposal/
>[22:01:10] Andrius Kulikauskas: Hi Baruch
>[22:01:21] … yes I'm rewriting that proposal to focus on Palestinians
>[22:01:40] Wael Al Saad: so he asked me if "nonviolent jihad" could be a
>good title for the propsal in the time you wrote me
>[22:01:40] Andrius Kulikauskas: My basic idea is to organize an online
>chat room with a public archive and coach Palestinian youth to link
>together at least 10 centers in West Bank, Israel and Gaza to practice
>helping others in Palestine and around the world and ultimately,
>practice "fighting peacefully".
>[22:01:46] Baruch: It's a great idea...I am reading the proposal
>[22:02:27] … I think if all our wars could become online chats...even if
>people said terrible things...and didn;t act them out in the physical
>world...it would be an improvement.
>[22:02:51] … My radio show is http://paradigms.bz if you want to check
>it out...
>[22:03:10] Andrius Kulikauskas: Yes and here are my letters about my
>practice of "fighting peacefully" at the Hawara Checkpoint
>http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?HawaraCheckpoint
>[22:03:12] … Great!
>[22:03:54] Baruch: For Dec 20 I am doing a Peace episode with interviews
>and music to offer listeners opportunities to imagine Peace.
>[22:04:09] Andrius Kulikauskas: Wonderful!
>[22:04:12] Baruch: I love your checkpoint idea! It reads easily and
>makes total sense.
>[22:04:16] Andrius Kulikauskas: Where are you located?
>[22:04:34] Baruch: I realized recently that some people simply cannot
>imagine Peace, and so they can;t participate in making it if they can;t
>imagine it.
>[22:04:43] … I am in Vermont in the northeastern part of the US.
>[22:04:51] Andrius Kulikauskas: Yes I tried it out and it went very
>well. But the Palestinian graduate students in Nablus were too
>frightened to try it.
>[22:05:26] Baruch: I have been to Israel twice to teach workshops, and
>all my Israeli friends were too afraid to cross into the territories
>with me...
>[22:05:37] Andrius Kulikauskas: But I was able to show that nonviolence
>doesn't need to be passive and it doesn't need to be forceful, it can be
>fighting spirit.
>[22:05:38] … I see.
>[22:05:41] Baruch: and I didn;t want to go by myself...so it didn't happen.
>[22:06:05] Wael Al Saad: Andrius, I think we should develop something
>new, by turing the struggle into internal constructive path, so that we
>gain new basic for healing collective action as Palestinian without
>making some-one else is responsible for our dilmma .. so we have to do
>the best out of the moment, without waiting a third party is going to
>shape the change
>[22:06:08] Baruch: The warrior does not have to be a killer or an
>oppressor or a reactor...the warrior can be filled with love and integrity.
>[22:06:17] Andrius Kulikauskas: I was in Israel and Israeli-occupied
>Palestine for eight weeks looking for Islamic independent thinkers.
>[22:06:18] … Yes!
>[22:06:44] … Eluned Hurn in Wales told me her deepest value was
>"fighting peacefully" and I have treasured that attitude and I'm
>pursuing that here.
>[22:06:47] Baruch: Wael yes...the inner work is what changes the outer
>world...
>[22:07:09] Andrius Kulikauskas: How do you imagine that, Wael?
>[22:07:27] Wael Al Saad: so, we are trapped into the victim role .. and
>so we reproducing same reality creating or now
>[22:07:30] … *our NOW
>[22:07:55] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes and that's why I want to encourage
>helping others and forgetting about ones own victimhood
>[22:08:46] Wael Al Saad: something new need to happen without puting
>Israel in the main equation. Cuz you will find 10.000.000 different
>relationships to "Israel"
>[22:08:47] Baruch: Wael yes...my life work has been as a psychologist,
>and this is exactly what you see with strauma survivors who have not
>addressed their trauma...identification as victim and then
>perpetrator...that, in my opinion, is what drives Israel's
>violence...that and the US and many corporations.
>[22:09:01] … trauma, not strauma
>[22:09:25] Wael Al Saad: Andrius was aking me about my dream:
>[22:10:01] … You should make it to WestBank Baruch .. life here is about
>commerce and commerce
>[22:10:24] Baruch: hopefully I will be back in early 2010...
>[22:10:41] Wael Al Saad: if you look into the minds of the people .. the
>active part is about how to bring money into own bocket
>[22:11:00] … so there is this dammed money box
>[22:11:38] … new change course need lot of creativity and collective
>colaboration .. expressive energy need to be set free
>[22:11:52] Baruch: the poor try to get money so they can survive, and
>the middle class try to get money so they can get ahead, and the wealthy
>try to get money so they can stay wealthy...and none of those motives
>consider the greater good...
>[22:13:24] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes
>[22:13:46] … How many check points are there in the West Bank?
>[22:14:13] Wael Al Saad: so, the basic point to go from is what people
>are in NOW, economy! My dream is about designing a new enviornement
>using economy as vehichle for change, where within this envionrement
>higher levels of cultural memes and value creation is patterned
>[22:14:40] … * where people within ..
>[22:14:58] … interact
>[22:15:20] … I need to formulate it better "sorry"
>[22:15:22] Baruch: you would be interested in the work of Dean Cycon who
>is a coffee importer in the US, but has created a model of fair trade
>with the farmers he works with... http://deansbeans.com
>[22:15:56] Wael Al Saad: at the end it is not about trade
>[22:16:12] … We live in system of crises
>[22:16:24] Andrius Kulikauskas: Designing a new environment using
>economy as a vehicle for change, where within this environment we
>pattern higher levels of cultural memes and value creation.
>[22:16:29] … Is that right?
>[22:16:37] Baruch: Dean's work is also about creating a different form
>of economy... his interview is at
>http://www.healingmagic.org/wbkm/paradigms/august232009.html
>[22:16:49] Wael Al Saad: masses are consuming reality and normalities
>but co-creating none of them
>[22:18:33] … the state model, the borders between nations, the
>corrupting authorities and the dirthy politcal mind working for
>executive power .. the international law, UN .. and many other concepts
>are getting smached on the core of "Palestinian" issue
>[22:19:25] Baruch: at this point what's happening in Israel/Palestine is
>so deeply part of global corporate behavior, i.e. weapons makers etc.,
>that the actual issues have been lost, or so it seems to me.
>[22:19:27] Wael Al Saad: this world is the issue
>[22:19:41] Baruch: exactly Wael.
>[22:20:09] Wael Al Saad: sure Baruch .. there is powers who are
>profiting from this reality and con not survive without it
>[22:20:11] … BUT
>[22:20:32] … these power themselves also need an alterantives.
>[22:20:45] Baruch: other than being dismantled?
>[22:20:50] Wael Al Saad: they are trapped into somthing they used to
>like the masses
>[22:20:54] Andrius Kulikauskas: I agree with you Wael.
>[22:21:04] Baruch: yes I agree too...
>[22:21:17] Andrius Kulikauskas: Wael I will write this as your dream:
>Designing a new environment using economy as a vehicle for change, where
>within this environment we pattern higher levels of cultural memes and
>value creation.
>[22:21:23] … unless you correct me
>[22:21:25] Baruch: what kind of incentive appeals to people who are
>consumed by the desire for wealth?
>[22:21:34] Andrius Kulikauskas: Baruch, I'm collecting our
>dreams-in-life http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Dreams
>[22:21:44] Wael Al Saad: The last couple of years I have stopped to
>search for an enemy .. we are all victims
>[22:22:12] … I have started to search deep inside me and trying to
>understand which change need to take place in the pure human
>[22:22:25] Baruch: Andi...cool...can I link to this for my Peace show on
>Sunday? each episode of the show gets it's own page, I'd love to have a
>link to this on sunday's show.
>[22:23:16] Wael Al Saad: Andrius .. we need to put better formulation
>[22:24:47] … the concept of "healing" and "riping" are making collisions
>[22:25:40] … are we learning to be better humans, or we are healing form
>something to get to a status we have been before?
>[22:27:33] Baruch: I think of healing as that moment when we feel our
>wholeness...when all our "parts" are aligned and we are our truest selves.
>[22:28:10] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes please Baruch do link
>[22:28:11] Wael Al Saad: it is a status of being
>[22:28:33] Andrius Kulikauskas: what do you mean by "riping" Baruch?
>[22:28:44] … I mean, what do you mean by "riping", Wael
>[22:28:54] … Here are my first few sentences: The West Bank is
>fragmented by hundreds of internal check points manned by Israeli
>defense forces. Palestinian youth are often afraid to venture out of a
>city such as Nablus for fear of being held and imprisoned without cause.
>They talk patriotically, but generally lack practice in “fighting
>peacefully� by which Indians, Black Americans and Eastern Europeans
>triumphed against British, American and Soviet might.
>[22:28:56] Wael Al Saad: getting ripe
>[22:29:34] Andrius Kulikauskas: I see, you are saying, are we looking
>towards the future or the past as our ultimate state?
>[22:29:58] … I believe that life looks backwards towards death, but
>eternal life looks forward endlessly.
>[22:30:34] … Life assumes that God is good, but eternal life
>acknowledges that God doesn't have to be good, that there is a lot of
>bad that we have to address before we can say that God is good.
>[22:30:42] Wael Al Saad: being in whoness alignment is getting the mind
>scielent in active awaken intellgence : time is now. future and past are
>irrelvent
>[22:30:59] Baruch: what Wael said.
>[22:31:35] Wael Al Saad: so Baruch. there is nothing to heal it is like
>being aligned to the whole or not
>[22:31:58] Baruch: past and future are fantasies, and "God" means
>different things to everyone.
>[22:32:30] Wael Al Saad: But this point is very spiritual and hard to
>address in public work .. or building through it relationship to
>political acitons
>[22:32:31] Baruch: Wael...yes and no...there is no static state of
>alignment or balance, we are always changing...but we have moments, and
>there are things we can do to foster such moments...and that, to me, is
>healing.
>[22:33:40] … a way to bring spirituality into politics without turning
>people off is, I think, simply to be one's truest self and to be guided
>by ethics in one's politics.
>[22:33:50] Wael Al Saad: and my point is of desiging the
>job-enviornement is to put so much patterns of wholness "holistic
>healing green economy"
>[22:34:13] … so, when some one is part of this bodey he is in touch of
>so much energy of creation at once
>[22:34:59] Andrius Kulikauskas: proposal: Our project is to coach
>Palestinian youth in at least ten locations to staff an online chat room
>where they help Palestinians locally and globally, help others around
>the world, and practice “fighting peacefully�.
>[22:35:19] Wael Al Saad: over the time we develop a new filter of
>thinking and way to look into reality creation
>[22:36:33] … Sorry Andrius to drift out of topic .. but you may try to
>include new ideas to write something can really make differnt
>[22:36:48] … "Baruch
>[22:36:51] … nice music
>[22:36:56] Baruch: Someone, say, Netenyahu, who is doing things that
>hurt people...is it his deepest desire to harm others? Is there part of
>him that wants peace between people? Could he have a healing experience
>that would alter his point of view and thus his behavior? I used to
>think everyone could be healed of their psychological wounds, but I have
>come to believe differently. Some cannot, and some will not. So given
>the reality that such people are in positions of power, how do we, at
>the grass roots level, turn away from the path of violence which is
>offered at every turn, and maake something new?
>[22:37:15] … Thanks Wael :-) Good music helps people to hear the messages.
>[22:37:16] Andrius Kulikauskas: Wael it's all very helpful and please I
>welcome your and Baruch's ideas
>[22:38:08] … proposal: These locations will be primarily in the West
>Bank (Nablus, Jenin, Hebron) and also, as possible, in Israel and Gaza.
>[22:38:19] … Is there a site in the diaspora that would make sense?
>[22:39:09] Wael Al Saad: Baruch, I am thinking about it .. the issue is
>not with Netenyahu or any leader. The issue of mechansim of developing
>reality. So the issue is to change the understanding of leadership into
>the society.
>[22:40:35] … Instead of focusing the energy to unitary leaders, who like
>to be heared and clapped, we open the space for our energy for
>sustaibale constrcting actions
>[22:41:14] … econmy, the web and the free are best tools to get into
>such new *experience*
>[22:41:35] … free market instead of free ..
>[22:41:40] Baruch: Wael...yes! If people started to meet in circles, or
>councils, and make decisions for their communities, if this were to
>build upon itself, the unitary powers would eventually become irrelevant.
>[22:42:24] … One such model, however imperfect, is the Reclaiming
>community, which has thousands of people in it around the world, and
>works by concensus in local groups.
>[22:44:13] Wael Al Saad: the bottom up green association I have in mind
>will provide all these innovation, without highlighting the significance
>of them. The experiencer should determin the signficance him self and
>help developing it
>[22:44:16] Andrius Kulikauskas: proposal: We will coach the youth to to
>know themselves, their deepest values in life, the questions they wish
>to answer, what they would like to achieve, and their dreams in life. We
>will coach them to engage each other and address these issues using
>chat, emails, wikis, blogs, RSS, Skype, audio, video and other tools.
>[22:46:08] Wael Al Saad: ~ the reality the want to create and share
>[22:46:31] Baruch: I like your proposal. One thought. When coaching
>youth in this way, they are going to have emotional backlash...some of
>the stuff that feels bad will rise to the surface as they receive
>nourishment...
>[22:46:41] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes?
>[22:46:57] Wael Al Saad: me also .. why to address youth
>[22:46:58] Baruch: I would suggest adding in some kind of support
>component, like volunteer counselors (I volunteer!) to be available to
>people as needed.
>[22:46:59] Wael Al Saad: ?
>[22:47:17] Baruch: true for everyone, not just youth.
>[22:47:25] Wael Al Saad: I find many youth have more inegerity than many
>adults in Palestine
>[22:47:38] Andrius Kulikauskas: proposal: We will meet regularly at each
>location and also online as a network. We will practice helping others,
>both locally and online, especially independent thinkers who have novel
>ideas for ecology, culture, society and faith.
>[22:47:54] … I should add economy, technology, agriculture and what else?
>[22:48:04] Baruch: education.
>[22:48:15] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes
>[22:48:24] Wael Al Saad: economic social-ecology ~ see our project at
>Marda Farm
>[22:48:30] Baruch: and if you can get concepts of permaculture in there...
>[22:48:38] … social ecology, yes...
>[22:48:53] Wael Al Saad:
>http://sites.google.com/site/mardapermaculturecentre/home/future-projects/cours\
e-2010/funder-wanted-letter
>[22:50:09] Baruch: Great letter...
>[22:50:08] Wael Al Saad: I will prepare indegenious forgetten social
>eveneing games to hav eprofit of in the evenings of the two and half
>weeks programm duraction
>[22:50:29] … I want to show value in indegeniousity
>[22:50:45] Baruch: This site sprang out of some urban permaculture work
>I did in Holland last year http://urban-permaculture.blogspot.com/ I'd
>love to get Marda's stuff listed there.
>[22:51:22] Wael Al Saad: We are hidding to build a site .. we need lot
>of support to get our plans done
>[22:52:21] Baruch: If I had money I'd donate!
>[22:52:44] Wael Al Saad: slowly we are on the track .. I wish I could
>practice this work full time
>[22:53:12] … I am working in our family business "imort/wholetrade business"
>[22:53:38] … Starhawk know Marda Farm very well BTW
>[22:54:16] Baruch: yes she is the person who told me about Marda...I
>almost visited last year but Uri's wife, whose name I forgot, was giving
>birth so the timing was not good.
>[22:54:58] Andrius Kulikauskas: Wael, Baruch, may I share this chat
>through my lab's email groups?
>[22:55:14] Baruch: It's fine with me, thanks for asking.
>[22:56:21] Wael Al Saad: ok Andrius .. please try to extract the summery
>of my thoughts, so that it will help me to present them in better way in
>next occacion
>[22:57:02] … writing hs never been my streagth .. it works much better
>with chating/conversation
>[22:57:28] Baruch: I will use the links, thank you both. I also need to
>go...and Wael we will speak on Skype tomorrow, about 21 hours from now.
>[22:57:43] Wael Al Saad: OK Baruch ..
>[22:57:51] … I need to go as well
>[22:58:02] … Thanks Andius for openign the space to share
>[22:58:10] Andrius Kulikauskas: Thank you!
>[22:58:15] Baruch: Anid, great to meet you...If I can help with your
>project, let me know. I used to run help rooms for computer users on AOL
>[22:58:26] Andrius Kulikauskas: Great!
>[22:58:27] Baruch: and may have some ideas which could be helpful.
>[22:58:38] Andrius Kulikauskas: Baruch quickly, may I sign you up for
>one of my lab Minciu Sodas email groups?
>[22:58:41] Baruch: my email is baruch@...
>[22:58:55] Andrius Kulikauskas: Do you have a deepest value in life
>which includes all of your other values?
>[22:59:04] … That's how we organize ourselves.
>[22:59:14] Baruch: Love.
>[22:59:24] Andrius Kulikauskas: We have one group on "fighting
>peacefully". Could I sign you up for that?
>[22:59:30] Baruch: Sure!
>[22:59:33] Andrius Kulikauskas: May I post that on the web? What do you
>mean by love?
>[23:00:46] Wael Al Saad: hahha .. you can not use the parts to describe
>the whole :)
>[23:01:05] Baruch: love is a word...by using it here I mean to say that
>there is a substance or energy that connects everything in the
>cosmos...that is love...so love is the reality of our interconnectedness.
>[23:01:22] Andrius Kulikauskas: the reality of our interconnectedness
>[23:01:32] Baruch: yes you can post my email address...
>[23:01:33] Andrius Kulikauskas: and what name do I use, Baruch, simply?
>[23:01:36] Baruch: yes
>[23:01:54] Wael Al Saad: feelings and intutions cannot be objective
>simply in worlds
>[23:01:59] Baruch: if they want to know more about me you can send them
>to http://paradigms.bz or http://healingmagic.org
>[23:02:18] Wael Al Saad: good night from Jenin
>[23:02:28] Baruch: Bon soir a Vermont!
>[23:02:53] Andrius Kulikauskas: http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Baruch
>[23:02:55] … Good night!
>
>
>------------------------------------
>
>http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?HolisticHelping
>
>Please note our rule: Each letter sent to the Holistic Helping group enters the
PUBLIC DOMAIN unless it explicitly states otherwise.  Thank you! 
http://www.ethicalpublicdomain.org
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

Suresh Fernando,

I congratulate and all of the thoughtful people you've brought together,
including Michel Bauwens, Sam Rose, Steve Bosserman, Seb Paquet, Nathan
Cravens, Alex Linsker, Phoebe Moore, David Pinto, Tom Crowl, Matt
Cooperrider.  It's quite an achievement to link together people from
different networks.
http://groups.google.com/group/openkollab

I'll fill out my Pooled Fund Project Profile
http://wiki.openkollab.com/wagn/Minciu_Sodas
Minciu Sodas is a business and so I'm interested in your Open Kollab
Pooled Fund
http://wiki.openkollab.com/wagn/OK_Pooled_Fund
a partnership between Open Kollab and Forward Foundation
http://www.forwardfound.org

Do you already have or envisage a source for these funds?  One thought
is that there are existing "good capital" funds like Good Capital (Kevin
Jones et al) http://www.goodcap.net that might be interested in taking
up and supporting your collaborative infrastructure.

Minciu Sodas doesn't need investors but rather clients and paid work for
our global teams.  What might we do to help each other find such
clients?  These clients hire us because they think that it's a smart
investment in terms of their social capital.  Why waste your time and
energy on people who just want a fleeting money-based relationships when
you can have a lifelong personal relationship with people who care about
you and your values?  That's the sell.

I'm glad that you're overcoming obstacles to open, inclusive
collaboration.  I've formulated my thoughts on the minimum criteria for
working together as my draft of the Worknets charter
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Charter

For example, if we're to work together, then I believe that our content
needs to be in the Public Domain for all to use freely.  It doesn't make
sense for me or others to invest ourselves in content that is trapped
under some license, copyright or copyleft.  That is not a "commons" and
it is not prepare for the day when the host shuts down and the content
needs to be hosted by new hosts.

How can we support our internal economy?  I'm trying to organize an
"economy of dreams" where we help each other directly to achieve our
dreams.   This includes a chat room http://www.worknets.org/chat/ which
we staff to work on tasks http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Tasks I
appreciate help to make that work.

I suppose my general question is, How can we include each other's
networks?  How can we tell each other (or even critique each other) so
that we might work together.  For example, I have a need for custom
programmers to help improve our websites as we need for our projects.
Other networks have programmers but that doesn't help us, especially
because they're not interested to do custom work.  Whereas Minciu Sodas
has demonstrated on-the-ground "social good" accomplishments like the
Pyramid of Peace http://www.pyramidofpeace.net and most networks don't
have such conclusive achievements to show, as if they're never
relevant.  What keeps us from working together?

What does it mean for Minciu Sodas to be a spoke of a hub like Open
Kollab?  What are other spokes that we might start working with?

Andrius

Andrius Kulikauskas
Minciu Sodas
http://www.ms.lt
ms@...
+370 699 30003

Janet,

Thank you for your enthusiasm and thoughtful remarks!

It's too late to make changes now, but as we move along in the process,
we can make changes later.  In that case, we should take up all your
points with Wael Al Saad and others and have as much local reality as we
can.

For the budget, I figured that I want an income of $40,000 per year for
three years. (It's of key importance to treat me right. )  Then I
multiplied that by the number of fractal levels that would leverage my
efforts optimally:
* 5 Palestinians at $8,000 per year as trainers, software developers,
organizers
* 25 Palestinians at $1,600 per year to lead the 10 hubs (2 or 3 leaders
per hub) and staff the chat room
* 125 Palestinians at $300 per year to help as volunteers
That would ensure the project's success.  If the success is not
important, (it wasn't with my previous Knight Foundation project), than
we can save money by reducing the number of years.

Andrius Kulikauskas, Minciu Sodas, http://www.ms.lt, ms@...


Janet Feldman wrote:
> Dear Andrius, Wael, and All,
>
> This is an excellent idea and proposal, and one well worth pursuing! It sounds
very exciting and also invaluable in terms of peaceful ways to address conflict
and development, within and for each individual, and also among and for the
collective.
>
> I have a few questions/observations:
>
> -I wonder if the budget is "realistic", in terms of a proposal that can be
accepted?  My concern is that it might seem too much for something not already
operational. But do you know if Knight can accept the idea, while modifying
(downsizing, if they see fit) the budget?  If so, perhaps leave it "as is", and
see what happens...we may be pleasantly surprised!
>
> -I think you should explain an "economy of dreams", as that might not be
self-evident except to those of us in MS forums.
>
> -I think this project should encourage Palestinians to lead the way on what
news is important to them (both to create and to convey). This proposal does
have a lot of that built into it, of course, but I'm a bit concerned that some
of it appears more "global" than Knight might be looking for, and also more
"directed" or influenced externally (re questions and considerations).
>
> That's why I suggested, a few weeks ago, that health and development topics
might be of ultimate importance, along with peace and conflict issues, of
course. Your idea of reframing how "news" is defined is hugely pertinent in
general--esp with a focus on individual thinkers and personal dreams--but I
wonder if it will "fly" in the context of this particular competition.
>
> Is it possible to tweak it a bit now?  If so, I hope these suggestions are
helpful. With great excitement and all the best of luck! Janet
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
>> From: Andrius Kulikauskas <ms@...>
>> Sent: Dec 15, 2009 7:11 PM
>> To: fightingpeacefully@yahoogroups.com, minciu_sodas_AR@yahoogroups.com,
socialagriculture@yahoogroups.com, help group <holistichelping@yahoogroups.com>,
risingvoices@googlegroups.com
>> Subject: [holistichelping] Proposal: Help Room for Nonviolent Jihad
>>
>> I modified my "help room" proposal to focus on Israeli-occupied
>> Palestine. Thank you to Wael Al Saad and to Baruch for a helpful chat by
>> Skype which I share further below. Today is the deadline for the Knight
>> News Challenge http://www.newschallenge.org I appreciate our thoughts,
>> comments and votes for my proposal: http://www.helproom.org/proposal/
>> Andrius Kulikauskas, Minciu Sodas, http://www.ms.lt, ms@...
>> ---------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Project Title: Help Room for Nonviolent Jihad
>> Requested amount from Knight News Challenge: 480,000 USD
>> Expected amount of time to complete project: 3 years
>> Total cost of project including all sources of funding: 600,000 USD
>>
>> Describe your project:
>>
>> The West Bank is fragmented by hundreds of internal check points manned
>> by Israeli defense forces. Palestinian youth are often afraid to venture
>> out of a city such as Nablus for fear of being held and imprisoned
>> without cause. They talk patriotically, but lack practice in “fighting
>> peacefully� by which Indians, Black Americans and Eastern Europeans won
>> freedom. Our project is to coach Palestinian youth in at least ten
>> locations to staff an online chat room where they help Palestinians
>> locally and globally, help others around the world, and practice
>> “fighting peacefully�. These locations will be primarily in the West
>> Bank (Nablus, Jenin, Hebron) and also, as possible, in Israel and Gaza.
>> We'll coach the youth to know themselves, their deepest values, the
>> questions they wish to answer, what they would like to achieve, and
>> their dreams in life. We'll train them to engage each other and address
>> these issues working openly in the Public Domain, in Arabic and English,
>> using chat, emails, wikis, blogs, RSS, Skype, audio, video and other
>> tools. We'll meet regularly at each location and also online as a
>> network. We'll practice helping others, both locally and online,
>> especially independent thinkers who have novel ideas for ecology,
>> economy, culture, faith, education, society, agriculture and technology.
>> We'll collect their dreams, express them artistically and integrate them
>> with an “economy of dreams� and practical tasks online and
>> on-the-ground. We'll develop a theory and practice of “nonviolent
>> jihad�. We'll practice by helping as online assistants for activists in
>> Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and other troubled lands. We'll reach out to the
>> Palestinian diaspora and also Jews in Israel and around the world. Our
>> work will center around our chat room.
>>
>> How will your project improve the way news and information are delivered
>> to geographic communities?
>>
>> We're showing that we can reshape assumptions of “what is news� by
>> taking personal intiative: focusing on the value of each individual,
>> appreciating their self-knowledge, embracing local dreams. Helping
>> others is a way to let go of victimhood. A network of thriving hubs
>> changes what is possible. Activity at one hub inspires other hubs. As we
>> help each other with our own projects, we build teams that help others
>> around the world. This opens up economic opportunity locally and
>> globally. Our chat room will allow local groups to participate in global
>> dialogue, to cultivate relationships with Jews and others, to build
>> credibility by working together, facing and overcoming practical
>> obstacles. Such opportunity makes news more relevant.
>>
>> How is your idea innovative? (new or different from what already exists)
>>
>> Eluned Hurn of Wales is a peace activist who inspires us with her
>> deepest value of “fighting peacefully�. We enjoy peace by actively
>> addressing injustice, by acknowledging, engaging, understanding and
>> loving our enemy, by looking at everything from their point of view. Our
>> chat room gives us practice for open dialogue with other people, shows
>> the ways that we can help others, and builds relationships for ambitious
>> projects. Meeting locally, we learn to use the chat room and that leads
>> to the use of all the other online tools by which we circulate content,
>> respond to it in the many ways we can, and share it further with
>> bloggers and correspondents. “Nonviolent jihad� is an Islamic grounding
>> of this dynamic.
>>
>> What experience do you or your organization have to successfully develop
>> this project?
>>
>> Andrius Kulikauskas is a 2008 Knight News Challenge award winner for The
>> Includer, an idea for a hardware device for our Kenyan participants with
>> marginal Internet access. In 1998, Andrius founded Minciu Sodas as an
>> online network for independent thinkers. We have 150 active and 2,000
>> supportive participants and have written 35,000 letters, 5,000 wiki
>> pages and 85,000 lines of chat. In 2008, we organized the Pyramid of
>> Peace www.pyramidofpeace.net of 100 peacemakers on-the-ground and 100
>> helpers online to avert genocide in Kenya. We shared mobile phone
>> credits as an emergency community currency. Our leaders overcame tribal
>> anger, engaged gangs and opened roads for food, medicine, fuel and
>> refugees, and saved lives. Andrius coached our Kenyan leaders how to
>> “look at everything from your enemy's point of view� and apply
>> principles he practiced in Soviet-occupied Lithuania, the Chicago ghetto
>> and Israeli-occupied Palestine. In 2006, Andrius looked for Islamic
>> independent thinkers in Israel and Palestine, and taught “fighting
>> peacefully� for three weeks at An-Najah National University in Nablus,
>> including practical exercises at the Hawara checkpoint. The Zajel Youth
>> Exchange Program is excited to help as are Awne Abu Zant and other
>> students who collected 300 food stories for our work for Unamesa
>> Association to create www.myfoodstory.info Wael Al Saad in Jenin, who
>> lived for many years in Germany, is our visionary for a new Palestine
>> using economy as vehicle for change towards an ecological culture.
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------
>>
>> [21:06:43] Andrius Kulikauskas: Hi Wael, I'm adapting my Knight News
>> Challenge proposal for Israeli-occupied Palestine.
>> [21:07:09] Wael Al Saad: Hi Andrius
>> [21:07:19] Andrius Kulikauskas: How are you?
>> [21:07:32] … I wrote a "help room" proposal earlier.
>> [21:08:03] … http://www.helproom.org/proposal/
>> [21:08:29] … I'm going to rewrite it tonight so that it is centered
>> around helping Palestinans learn to help themselves and others.
>> [21:08:40] … Like for the other proposal we were hoping to do.
>> [21:08:56] … If you have some thoughts, that's great. I'm stepping out
>> for 20 minutes now.
>> [21:09:07] Wael Al Saad: I have added you on faceBook .. I sended you a
>> link about our Marda Permaculture Farm, group on faceBook
>> [21:09:28] … Sure.
>> [21:09:37] … i have a simple basic, and big thought:
>> [21:10:16] … palestinians and Palestine is something unique which can
>> not be shaped with a state and borders
>> [21:12:03] … we are a global entity. But political fragmentation and
>> blaiming Israel all the time for our miserable situation is making our
>> collective situation much complicated and our social-building very week.
>> [21:12:19] … Beside the georgrafical fragmentation
>> [21:13:11] … the web and bottom up healing economy could be a vision to
>> bring people together by using the free market and the web to make out
>> of the fragmented entitiy an interconnected living body
>> [21:40:05] Andrius Kulikauskas: that's great - I forgot about the diaspora
>> [21:42:13] Wael Al Saad: it is too sad and emmotional volcano Andrius ..
>> when tow Palestnians look deep in the eyes of each others and there
>> hards .. it is too hard to describe the hidden aspirations
>> [21:42:51] Andrius Kulikauskas: I think even just submitting a proposal
>> is a small step in support of these dreams
>> [21:43:57] … Wael, what is your dream in life? May I list it with our
>> dreams ? http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Dreams
>> [21:44:24] … What can we call this proposal?
>> [21:43:03] Wael Al Saad: there is more Palestinian outside WestBank and
>> Gaza than
>> [21:43:53] … these people are living at the edge of life just for
>> livelihood .. they feel sick about traditional political struggle
>> [21:46:09] … so, my question wheather we are able to develop a platfrom
>> of meta-collective intellgence to feed local and regional development
>> with global creativity so that we can develop 21-century borderless
>> nation open for the world and humanity, from our fragmented network/ but
>> bounded emotional entity as Palesinian, including a real new meaning in
>> being Palestinian?
>> [21:49:04] Andrius Kulikauskas: My basic idea is to organize an online
>> chat room with a public archive and coach Palestinian youth to link
>> together at least 10 centers in West Bank, Israel and Gaza to practice
>> helping others in Palestine and around the world and ultimately,
>> practice "fighting peacefully".
>> [21:49:39] … So all who want to help Palestinians, including diaspora,
>> Jews and others, can get to know each other and practice together on
>> small local problems and also on global issues.
>> [21:49:45] … Does that make sense?
>> [21:49:51] … And what would be a good name for that?
>> [21:50:09] … Nonviolent Jihad ?
>> [21:50:12] Wael Al Saad: I would say "emerging together in 21-century
>> eare peacfully"
>> [21:50:33] … there is a site "Israeliforpalestine"
>> [21:50:35] Andrius Kulikauskas: Would the term "nonviolent jihad" make
>> sense?
>> [21:51:36] Wael Al Saad: Jihad is basicly, struggling with the SELF
>> [21:51:47] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes
>> [21:52:00] … I'm attracted to coopting the term
>> [21:52:18] Wael Al Saad: but often it is truned into Islamisizing the issue
>> [21:54:31] Andrius Kulikauskas: I can use the term, yes?
>> [21:54:36] … "nonviolent jihad"
>> [21:55:32] Wael Al Saad: the complex question is, how we can build
>> constructive relationsips between us humans in new way, where we
>> construct the path for change ourself ..
>> [21:55:42] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes
>> [21:55:57] … I'm just double checking about the term because I think it
>> would be a good title for my proposal.
>> [21:56:07] … Because its very memorable and potent.
>> [21:56:16] … And its original - the domain is available.
>> [21:56:33] … So I would get it unless you think its a mistake.
>> [21:56:48] … How would it sound to a Palestinian?
>> [21:56:56] … Because I hope it might have moral authority as a term.
>> [21:57:15] Wael Al Saad: do you want me to include other new freind into
>> discussion? It is really worth to look deeper into the term
>> [21:57:25] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes please
>> [21:58:49] * Wael Al Saad invited baruchzed
>> [22:00:20] Wael Al Saad: Andi, Baruch is from
>> http://www.healingmagic.org/ .. this is our first contact. he wants to
>> interview me tomrrow for his site
>> [22:00:37] Baruch: Greetings Andi and Wael
>> [22:00:56] Wael Al Saad: Baruch, Andrius is re-working his propsal to
>> create a global help-room for Palestinian ..
>> http://www.helproom.org/proposal/
>> [22:01:10] Andrius Kulikauskas: Hi Baruch
>> [22:01:21] … yes I'm rewriting that proposal to focus on Palestinians
>> [22:01:40] Wael Al Saad: so he asked me if "nonviolent jihad" could be a
>> good title for the propsal in the time you wrote me
>> [22:01:40] Andrius Kulikauskas: My basic idea is to organize an online
>> chat room with a public archive and coach Palestinian youth to link
>> together at least 10 centers in West Bank, Israel and Gaza to practice
>> helping others in Palestine and around the world and ultimately,
>> practice "fighting peacefully".
>> [22:01:46] Baruch: It's a great idea...I am reading the proposal
>> [22:02:27] … I think if all our wars could become online chats...even if
>> people said terrible things...and didn;t act them out in the physical
>> world...it would be an improvement.
>> [22:02:51] … My radio show is http://paradigms.bz if you want to check
>> it out...
>> [22:03:10] Andrius Kulikauskas: Yes and here are my letters about my
>> practice of "fighting peacefully" at the Hawara Checkpoint
>> http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?HawaraCheckpoint
>> [22:03:12] … Great!
>> [22:03:54] Baruch: For Dec 20 I am doing a Peace episode with interviews
>> and music to offer listeners opportunities to imagine Peace.
>> [22:04:09] Andrius Kulikauskas: Wonderful!
>> [22:04:12] Baruch: I love your checkpoint idea! It reads easily and
>> makes total sense.
>> [22:04:16] Andrius Kulikauskas: Where are you located?
>> [22:04:34] Baruch: I realized recently that some people simply cannot
>> imagine Peace, and so they can;t participate in making it if they can;t
>> imagine it.
>> [22:04:43] … I am in Vermont in the northeastern part of the US.
>> [22:04:51] Andrius Kulikauskas: Yes I tried it out and it went very
>> well. But the Palestinian graduate students in Nablus were too
>> frightened to try it.
>> [22:05:26] Baruch: I have been to Israel twice to teach workshops, and
>> all my Israeli friends were too afraid to cross into the territories
>> with me...
>> [22:05:37] Andrius Kulikauskas: But I was able to show that nonviolence
>> doesn't need to be passive and it doesn't need to be forceful, it can be
>> fighting spirit.
>> [22:05:38] … I see.
>> [22:05:41] Baruch: and I didn;t want to go by myself...so it didn't happen.
>> [22:06:05] Wael Al Saad: Andrius, I think we should develop something
>> new, by turing the struggle into internal constructive path, so that we
>> gain new basic for healing collective action as Palestinian without
>> making some-one else is responsible for our dilmma .. so we have to do
>> the best out of the moment, without waiting a third party is going to
>> shape the change
>> [22:06:08] Baruch: The warrior does not have to be a killer or an
>> oppressor or a reactor...the warrior can be filled with love and integrity.
>> [22:06:17] Andrius Kulikauskas: I was in Israel and Israeli-occupied
>> Palestine for eight weeks looking for Islamic independent thinkers.
>> [22:06:18] … Yes!
>> [22:06:44] … Eluned Hurn in Wales told me her deepest value was
>> "fighting peacefully" and I have treasured that attitude and I'm
>> pursuing that here.
>> [22:06:47] Baruch: Wael yes...the inner work is what changes the outer
>> world...
>> [22:07:09] Andrius Kulikauskas: How do you imagine that, Wael?
>> [22:07:27] Wael Al Saad: so, we are trapped into the victim role .. and
>> so we reproducing same reality creating or now
>> [22:07:30] … *our NOW
>> [22:07:55] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes and that's why I want to encourage
>> helping others and forgetting about ones own victimhood
>> [22:08:46] Wael Al Saad: something new need to happen without puting
>> Israel in the main equation. Cuz you will find 10.000.000 different
>> relationships to "Israel"
>> [22:08:47] Baruch: Wael yes...my life work has been as a psychologist,
>> and this is exactly what you see with strauma survivors who have not
>> addressed their trauma...identification as victim and then
>> perpetrator...that, in my opinion, is what drives Israel's
>> violence...that and the US and many corporations.
>> [22:09:01] … trauma, not strauma
>> [22:09:25] Wael Al Saad: Andrius was aking me about my dream:
>> [22:10:01] … You should make it to WestBank Baruch .. life here is about
>> commerce and commerce
>> [22:10:24] Baruch: hopefully I will be back in early 2010...
>> [22:10:41] Wael Al Saad: if you look into the minds of the people .. the
>> active part is about how to bring money into own bocket
>> [22:11:00] … so there is this dammed money box
>> [22:11:38] … new change course need lot of creativity and collective
>> colaboration .. expressive energy need to be set free
>> [22:11:52] Baruch: the poor try to get money so they can survive, and
>> the middle class try to get money so they can get ahead, and the wealthy
>> try to get money so they can stay wealthy...and none of those motives
>> consider the greater good...
>> [22:13:24] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes
>> [22:13:46] … How many check points are there in the West Bank?
>> [22:14:13] Wael Al Saad: so, the basic point to go from is what people
>> are in NOW, economy! My dream is about designing a new enviornement
>> using economy as vehichle for change, where within this envionrement
>> higher levels of cultural memes and value creation is patterned
>> [22:14:40] … * where people within ..
>> [22:14:58] … interact
>> [22:15:20] … I need to formulate it better "sorry"
>> [22:15:22] Baruch: you would be interested in the work of Dean Cycon who
>> is a coffee importer in the US, but has created a model of fair trade
>> with the farmers he works with... http://deansbeans.com
>> [22:15:56] Wael Al Saad: at the end it is not about trade
>> [22:16:12] … We live in system of crises
>> [22:16:24] Andrius Kulikauskas: Designing a new environment using
>> economy as a vehicle for change, where within this environment we
>> pattern higher levels of cultural memes and value creation.
>> [22:16:29] … Is that right?
>> [22:16:37] Baruch: Dean's work is also about creating a different form
>> of economy... his interview is at
>> http://www.healingmagic.org/wbkm/paradigms/august232009.html
>> [22:16:49] Wael Al Saad: masses are consuming reality and normalities
>> but co-creating none of them
>> [22:18:33] … the state model, the borders between nations, the
>> corrupting authorities and the dirthy politcal mind working for
>> executive power .. the international law, UN .. and many other concepts
>> are getting smached on the core of "Palestinian" issue
>> [22:19:25] Baruch: at this point what's happening in Israel/Palestine is
>> so deeply part of global corporate behavior, i.e. weapons makers etc.,
>> that the actual issues have been lost, or so it seems to me.
>> [22:19:27] Wael Al Saad: this world is the issue
>> [22:19:41] Baruch: exactly Wael.
>> [22:20:09] Wael Al Saad: sure Baruch .. there is powers who are
>> profiting from this reality and con not survive without it
>> [22:20:11] … BUT
>> [22:20:32] … these power themselves also need an alterantives.
>> [22:20:45] Baruch: other than being dismantled?
>> [22:20:50] Wael Al Saad: they are trapped into somthing they used to
>> like the masses
>> [22:20:54] Andrius Kulikauskas: I agree with you Wael.
>> [22:21:04] Baruch: yes I agree too...
>> [22:21:17] Andrius Kulikauskas: Wael I will write this as your dream:
>> Designing a new environment using economy as a vehicle for change, where
>> within this environment we pattern higher levels of cultural memes and
>> value creation.
>> [22:21:23] … unless you correct me
>> [22:21:25] Baruch: what kind of incentive appeals to people who are
>> consumed by the desire for wealth?
>> [22:21:34] Andrius Kulikauskas: Baruch, I'm collecting our
>> dreams-in-life http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Dreams
>> [22:21:44] Wael Al Saad: The last couple of years I have stopped to
>> search for an enemy .. we are all victims
>> [22:22:12] … I have started to search deep inside me and trying to
>> understand which change need to take place in the pure human
>> [22:22:25] Baruch: Andi...cool...can I link to this for my Peace show on
>> Sunday? each episode of the show gets it's own page, I'd love to have a
>> link to this on sunday's show.
>> [22:23:16] Wael Al Saad: Andrius .. we need to put better formulation
>> [22:24:47] … the concept of "healing" and "riping" are making collisions
>> [22:25:40] … are we learning to be better humans, or we are healing form
>> something to get to a status we have been before?
>> [22:27:33] Baruch: I think of healing as that moment when we feel our
>> wholeness...when all our "parts" are aligned and we are our truest selves.
>> [22:28:10] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes please Baruch do link
>> [22:28:11] Wael Al Saad: it is a status of being
>> [22:28:33] Andrius Kulikauskas: what do you mean by "riping" Baruch?
>> [22:28:44] … I mean, what do you mean by "riping", Wael
>> [22:28:54] … Here are my first few sentences: The West Bank is
>> fragmented by hundreds of internal check points manned by Israeli
>> defense forces. Palestinian youth are often afraid to venture out of a
>> city such as Nablus for fear of being held and imprisoned without cause.
>> They talk patriotically, but generally lack practice in “fighting
>> peacefully� by which Indians, Black Americans and Eastern Europeans
>> triumphed against British, American and Soviet might.
>> [22:28:56] Wael Al Saad: getting ripe
>> [22:29:34] Andrius Kulikauskas: I see, you are saying, are we looking
>> towards the future or the past as our ultimate state?
>> [22:29:58] … I believe that life looks backwards towards death, but
>> eternal life looks forward endlessly.
>> [22:30:34] … Life assumes that God is good, but eternal life
>> acknowledges that God doesn't have to be good, that there is a lot of
>> bad that we have to address before we can say that God is good.
>> [22:30:42] Wael Al Saad: being in whoness alignment is getting the mind
>> scielent in active awaken intellgence : time is now. future and past are
>> irrelvent
>> [22:30:59] Baruch: what Wael said.
>> [22:31:35] Wael Al Saad: so Baruch. there is nothing to heal it is like
>> being aligned to the whole or not
>> [22:31:58] Baruch: past and future are fantasies, and "God" means
>> different things to everyone.
>> [22:32:30] Wael Al Saad: But this point is very spiritual and hard to
>> address in public work .. or building through it relationship to
>> political acitons
>> [22:32:31] Baruch: Wael...yes and no...there is no static state of
>> alignment or balance, we are always changing...but we have moments, and
>> there are things we can do to foster such moments...and that, to me, is
>> healing.
>> [22:33:40] … a way to bring spirituality into politics without turning
>> people off is, I think, simply to be one's truest self and to be guided
>> by ethics in one's politics.
>> [22:33:50] Wael Al Saad: and my point is of desiging the
>> job-enviornement is to put so much patterns of wholness "holistic
>> healing green economy"
>> [22:34:13] … so, when some one is part of this bodey he is in touch of
>> so much energy of creation at once
>> [22:34:59] Andrius Kulikauskas: proposal: Our project is to coach
>> Palestinian youth in at least ten locations to staff an online chat room
>> where they help Palestinians locally and globally, help others around
>> the world, and practice “fighting peacefully�.
>> [22:35:19] Wael Al Saad: over the time we develop a new filter of
>> thinking and way to look into reality creation
>> [22:36:33] … Sorry Andrius to drift out of topic .. but you may try to
>> include new ideas to write something can really make differnt
>> [22:36:48] … "Baruch
>> [22:36:51] … nice music
>> [22:36:56] Baruch: Someone, say, Netenyahu, who is doing things that
>> hurt people...is it his deepest desire to harm others? Is there part of
>> him that wants peace between people? Could he have a healing experience
>> that would alter his point of view and thus his behavior? I used to
>> think everyone could be healed of their psychological wounds, but I have
>> come to believe differently. Some cannot, and some will not. So given
>> the reality that such people are in positions of power, how do we, at
>> the grass roots level, turn away from the path of violence which is
>> offered at every turn, and maake something new?
>> [22:37:15] … Thanks Wael :-) Good music helps people to hear the messages.
>> [22:37:16] Andrius Kulikauskas: Wael it's all very helpful and please I
>> welcome your and Baruch's ideas
>> [22:38:08] … proposal: These locations will be primarily in the West
>> Bank (Nablus, Jenin, Hebron) and also, as possible, in Israel and Gaza.
>> [22:38:19] … Is there a site in the diaspora that would make sense?
>> [22:39:09] Wael Al Saad: Baruch, I am thinking about it .. the issue is
>> not with Netenyahu or any leader. The issue of mechansim of developing
>> reality. So the issue is to change the understanding of leadership into
>> the society.
>> [22:40:35] … Instead of focusing the energy to unitary leaders, who like
>> to be heared and clapped, we open the space for our energy for
>> sustaibale constrcting actions
>> [22:41:14] … econmy, the web and the free are best tools to get into
>> such new *experience*
>> [22:41:35] … free market instead of free ..
>> [22:41:40] Baruch: Wael...yes! If people started to meet in circles, or
>> councils, and make decisions for their communities, if this were to
>> build upon itself, the unitary powers would eventually become irrelevant.
>> [22:42:24] … One such model, however imperfect, is the Reclaiming
>> community, which has thousands of people in it around the world, and
>> works by concensus in local groups.
>> [22:44:13] Wael Al Saad: the bottom up green association I have in mind
>> will provide all these innovation, without highlighting the significance
>> of them. The experiencer should determin the signficance him self and
>> help developing it
>> [22:44:16] Andrius Kulikauskas: proposal: We will coach the youth to to
>> know themselves, their deepest values in life, the questions they wish
>> to answer, what they would like to achieve, and their dreams in life. We
>> will coach them to engage each other and address these issues using
>> chat, emails, wikis, blogs, RSS, Skype, audio, video and other tools.
>> [22:46:08] Wael Al Saad: ~ the reality the want to create and share
>> [22:46:31] Baruch: I like your proposal. One thought. When coaching
>> youth in this way, they are going to have emotional backlash...some of
>> the stuff that feels bad will rise to the surface as they receive
>> nourishment...
>> [22:46:41] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes?
>> [22:46:57] Wael Al Saad: me also .. why to address youth
>> [22:46:58] Baruch: I would suggest adding in some kind of support
>> component, like volunteer counselors (I volunteer!) to be available to
>> people as needed.
>> [22:46:59] Wael Al Saad: ?
>> [22:47:17] Baruch: true for everyone, not just youth.
>> [22:47:25] Wael Al Saad: I find many youth have more inegerity than many
>> adults in Palestine
>> [22:47:38] Andrius Kulikauskas: proposal: We will meet regularly at each
>> location and also online as a network. We will practice helping others,
>> both locally and online, especially independent thinkers who have novel
>> ideas for ecology, culture, society and faith.
>> [22:47:54] … I should add economy, technology, agriculture and what else?
>> [22:48:04] Baruch: education.
>> [22:48:15] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes
>> [22:48:24] Wael Al Saad: economic social-ecology ~ see our project at
>> Marda Farm
>> [22:48:30] Baruch: and if you can get concepts of permaculture in there...
>> [22:48:38] … social ecology, yes...
>> [22:48:53] Wael Al Saad:
>>
http://sites.google.com/site/mardapermaculturecentre/home/future-projects/course\
-2010/funder-wanted-letter
>> [22:50:09] Baruch: Great letter...
>> [22:50:08] Wael Al Saad: I will prepare indegenious forgetten social
>> eveneing games to hav eprofit of in the evenings of the two and half
>> weeks programm duraction
>> [22:50:29] … I want to show value in indegeniousity
>> [22:50:45] Baruch: This site sprang out of some urban permaculture work
>> I did in Holland last year http://urban-permaculture.blogspot.com/ I'd
>> love to get Marda's stuff listed there.
>> [22:51:22] Wael Al Saad: We are hidding to build a site .. we need lot
>> of support to get our plans done
>> [22:52:21] Baruch: If I had money I'd donate!
>> [22:52:44] Wael Al Saad: slowly we are on the track .. I wish I could
>> practice this work full time
>> [22:53:12] … I am working in our family business "imort/wholetrade
business"
>> [22:53:38] … Starhawk know Marda Farm very well BTW
>> [22:54:16] Baruch: yes she is the person who told me about Marda...I
>> almost visited last year but Uri's wife, whose name I forgot, was giving
>> birth so the timing was not good.
>> [22:54:58] Andrius Kulikauskas: Wael, Baruch, may I share this chat
>> through my lab's email groups?
>> [22:55:14] Baruch: It's fine with me, thanks for asking.
>> [22:56:21] Wael Al Saad: ok Andrius .. please try to extract the summery
>> of my thoughts, so that it will help me to present them in better way in
>> next occacion
>> [22:57:02] … writing hs never been my streagth .. it works much better
>> with chating/conversation
>> [22:57:28] Baruch: I will use the links, thank you both. I also need to
>> go...and Wael we will speak on Skype tomorrow, about 21 hours from now.
>> [22:57:43] Wael Al Saad: OK Baruch ..
>> [22:57:51] … I need to go as well
>> [22:58:02] … Thanks Andius for openign the space to share
>> [22:58:10] Andrius Kulikauskas: Thank you!
>> [22:58:15] Baruch: Anid, great to meet you...If I can help with your
>> project, let me know. I used to run help rooms for computer users on AOL
>> [22:58:26] Andrius Kulikauskas: Great!
>> [22:58:27] Baruch: and may have some ideas which could be helpful.
>> [22:58:38] Andrius Kulikauskas: Baruch quickly, may I sign you up for
>> one of my lab Minciu Sodas email groups?
>> [22:58:41] Baruch: my email is baruch@...
>> [22:58:55] Andrius Kulikauskas: Do you have a deepest value in life
>> which includes all of your other values?
>> [22:59:04] … That's how we organize ourselves.
>> [22:59:14] Baruch: Love.
>> [22:59:24] Andrius Kulikauskas: We have one group on "fighting
>> peacefully". Could I sign you up for that?
>> [22:59:30] Baruch: Sure!
>> [22:59:33] Andrius Kulikauskas: May I post that on the web? What do you
>> mean by love?
>> [23:00:46] Wael Al Saad: hahha .. you can not use the parts to describe
>> the whole :)
>> [23:01:05] Baruch: love is a word...by using it here I mean to say that
>> there is a substance or energy that connects everything in the
>> cosmos...that is love...so love is the reality of our interconnectedness.
>> [23:01:22] Andrius Kulikauskas: the reality of our interconnectedness
>> [23:01:32] Baruch: yes you can post my email address...
>> [23:01:33] Andrius Kulikauskas: and what name do I use, Baruch, simply?
>> [23:01:36] Baruch: yes
>> [23:01:54] Wael Al Saad: feelings and intutions cannot be objective
>> simply in worlds
>> [23:01:59] Baruch: if they want to know more about me you can send them
>> to http://paradigms.bz or http://healingmagic.org
>> [23:02:18] Wael Al Saad: good night from Jenin
>> [23:02:28] Baruch: Bon soir a Vermont!
>> [23:02:53] Andrius Kulikauskas: http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Baruch
>> [23:02:55] … Good night!
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------
>>
>> http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?HolisticHelping
>>
>> Please note our rule: Each letter sent to the Holistic Helping group enters
the PUBLIC DOMAIN unless it explicitly states otherwise.  Thank you! 
http://www.ethicalpublicdomain.org
>>
>> Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?HolisticHelping
>
> Please note our rule: Each letter sent to the Holistic Helping group enters
the PUBLIC DOMAIN unless it explicitly states otherwise.  Thank you! 
http://www.ethicalpublicdomain.org
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>

Thank you to Jospehat Ndibalema for being active at our wiki! Here's a
letter that Josephat wrote. Andrius Kulikauskas, Minciu Sodas,
http://www.ms.lt, ms@...

http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?SolarEnergyHasPotential



       Solar <http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Solar> Energy
       <http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?EmergencyPreparedness/Energy>
       Has Potential to bring clean,Safe and Affordable Energy
       <http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?EmergencyPreparedness/Energy>

Message from the Director

UYOGA NGO is underway developing a clean and renewable energy project
and on this page we will provide information desplaying a prototype of
the project which is underway,issues which are currenly under discussion
includes clean and renewable energy studies,researching its use in
Tanzania <http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Tanzania> especially the
rural where the project will work, other issues which are being
discussed are seeking consultancy in the field of clean energy,analising
information as regards to solar powered electronic devices which are
emerging in the local market,especially those impoted from China
<http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?China>,studies on how to convert cell
powered devices used in Tanzania
<http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Tanzania> rural settings according to
local needs to solar powered devices by assembling and designing solar
power gargets like solar powered mobile phone charge PV modules and
rechargable battery to power 2,3,4 cell radios, Converting chines cell
lamps to solar lamps by bulding according to local needs.

We are currently collaborating with Graham Knight of Biodesign, who has
provided samples of PV modules and battery to study and find away to
develop our own products and if we succeed to set up a project of
assembling like solar powered mobile phone chargers from DIY Solar
<http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Solar> materials imported from
Biodesign we can inter.

In our initial step of our project UYOGA members are involed,our current
involvement of members consentrate to members with some skills and
experiences in electric field and electronics.Members
<http://w.ms.lt/wiki.cgi?action=browse&id=Members&dgt=192288emq544> of
the project includes; Mark Mtumwa,Lugemwa Primson and Kasim Kibwana.
Mark Mtumwa provides practical training on electricity basics,currently
is leading the class of two people namely Lugemwa Primson and Kasim
Kibwana who is also a trainer in other sector of mobile phone and
computer assembling and repair, the class is currently focusing on
developing and designing solar powered devices like mobile phone
chargers using materials acquired from Graham Knight of Biodesign.

Mark Mtumwa the trainer has got knowledge about electricity and has a
lot of tasks related to energy at his our site and workshop performing
the following activities that are related to energy- Assembling or
building electric inventers,Car bettery charging services etc and at his
home he uses the biogas technology to access energy for domestic use, he
says that his home energy system was build by himself 16 years past,up
to now he has never experienced grid power cutts and rationing.

Wael, Yes!  Thank you for clarifying the new situation.  I did send
those sentences to you during our chat, though.  Let's see if this
proposal is chosen to advance further, and let's look for other
possibilities, too.  Thank you for your leaedership!  Andrius
Kulikauskas, Minciu Sodas, ms@..., http://www.ms.lt

Wael Al Saad wrote:
> something else Andrius. We should discuss the lines about the reality
> on the ground intensively so that the info you are giving is more
> accurate. For example today you can speak about thunders of check
> points.  Today for example you will cross 2 check points with seldom
> stop for control when you travel from Jenin to Nablus or to Ramallah.
> We can go through this when you have the chance to modify your proposal.
>
> Wael
>
>
>     >[22:13:24] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes
>     >[22:13:46] … How many check points are there in the West Bank?
>
>     >[22:28:54] … Here are my first few sentences: The West Bank is
>     >fragmented by hundreds of internal check points manned by Israeli
>     >defense forces. Palestinian youth are often afraid to venture out
>     of a
>     >city such as Nablus for fear of being held and imprisoned without
>     cause.
>     >They talk patriotically, but generally lack practice in “fighting
>     >peacefully” by which Indians, Black Americans and Eastern Europeans
>     >triumphed against British, American and Soviet might.
>

Thoughts on proposals?  I'm interested to submit an idea for mathematics
education. Who might like to work together? Andrius Kulikauskas, Minciu
Sodas, ms@..., http://www.ms.lt

Mandy Dailey wrote (thank you!):
>
> *2010 HASTAC/MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Competition*
>
> We are pleased to announce that all information regarding the* *2010
> international HASTAC/MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning
> Competition—including detailed category explanations and guidelines,
> critical deadlines, application materials, etc.—is now available
> at www.dmlcompetition.net <http://www.dmlcompetition.net/>.
>
> The theme of this year's Competition is Reimagining Learning and there
> are two types of awards:  21st Century Learning Lab Designers and Game
> Changers.
>
> Aligned with National Lab Day as part of the White House's Educate to
> Innovate Initiative, the 21st Century Learning Lab Designer awards
>  will range from $30,000-$200,000. Awards will be made for learning
> environments and digital media-based experiences that allow young
> people to grapple with social challenges through activities based on
> the social nature, contexts, and ideas of science, technology,
> engineering and math.
>
> The Game Changers category—undertaken in cooperation with Sony
> Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA) and Electronic Arts (EA),
>  Entertainment Software Assocation, and the Information Technology
> Industry Council—will award amounts ranging from $5,000-$50,000 for
> creative levels designed with either LittleBigPlanet™ or Spore™
> Galactic Adventures that offer young people engaging game play
> experiences and that incorporate and leverage principles of science,
> technology, engineering and math for learning.
>
> Each category will include several Best in Class awards selected by
> expert judges, as well as a People’s Choice Award selected by the
> general public.  The online application system will open on January 7
> and will include three rounds of submissions, with public comment at
> each stage.
>
> Please see www.dmlcompetition.net <http://www.dmlcompetition.net/> for
> all details.
>
>
> www.hastac.org <http://www.hastac.org/>
> www.dmlcompetition.net <http://www.dmlcompetition.net/>
> www.twitter.com/dmlComp <http://www.twitter.com/dmlComp>
>
>

Hi Pamela,
I"m wondering if you'd like to apply with us next February for travel
money to visit each other in Europe. I share an excerpt from my chat
with Markus Petz. I hope to write more. Maybe John Rogers in Germany
might be interested?
Andrius Kulikauskas


[01:10:03] … so this dream project
[01:10:02] … ?
[01:10:28] Andrius Kulikauskas: "Adult Learning Starts With Dreaming"
[01:10:37] … could be a Grundtvig mobility project
[01:10:47] … if we found four or five partner countries
[01:10:50] … we could travel to each other
[01:11:03] … each partner would organize an art exhibit about "dreams in
life"
[01:11:05] vogelfrei: that sounds like the idea that Eric Schneider
[01:11:08] Andrius Kulikauskas: would collect them from people
[01:11:13] vogelfrei: in berlin has as his key concept
[01:11:26] Andrius Kulikauskas: and then creatively express them
(drawings, music, dance, poetry, however)
[01:11:30] … and try to integrate them.
[01:11:34] vogelfrei: OK
[01:11:41] Andrius Kulikauskas: We were thinking of a target group as
"homebound" people
[01:11:46] … in Turkey could be women
[01:11:53] vogelfrei: did you see I had uzupis put into suomi in wikipoedia
[01:11:54] Andrius Kulikauskas: in Lithuania could be isolated villagers
[01:12:02] … no that's great
[01:12:08] … could be handicapped
[01:12:19] … in Finland I don't know what the target group could be
[01:12:30] … and then the "creative unemployed people"
[01:12:30] vogelfrei: well there has been work with immigrant women
[01:12:35] … that are homebound
[01:12:37] Andrius Kulikauskas: would collect the dreams
[01:12:40] vogelfrei: rural isolation an issue here too
[01:12:41] Andrius Kulikauskas: for example yes
[01:12:49] … so those could be good target groups
[01:13:06] … the Estonians said it was an excellent idea at the
partnership meeting I went to
[01:13:10] … but we need a good set of partners
[01:13:20] … and people who it would make sense to visit each other
[01:13:29] … so for example, You, Pamela McLean in London, us
[01:13:30] vogelfrei: http://www.cityofsanctuary.org/resources/criteria
[01:13:33] … yes
[01:13:39] Andrius Kulikauskas: maybe Franz or somebody in Austria
[01:13:45] … and do you know of more partners?
[01:13:45] vogelfrei: i also think to look at social centres and
alternative places
[01:13:49] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes
[01:13:58] … so might you be interested in general?
[01:14:07] … it would be travel money for our network for a couple of years
[01:14:19] vogelfrei: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_centre
[01:14:29] … yes might be
[01:14:33] Andrius Kulikauskas: and also it would be a bit of money when
we visit each other because we could host each other
[01:14:36] vogelfrei: there is a search for funds here
[01:15:01] Andrius Kulikauskas: and some money for the exhibit hall, for
the art supplies, for art teachers to give us lessons
[01:15:14] … so it makes sense if we have a good set of partners
[01:15:24] … and it would lead to an expanding ongoing exhibit in the
Public DOmain
[01:15:29] … because our works would be in the Public Domain.
[01:15:41] vogelfrei: hmnn we might well take part in that
[01:17:47] Andrius Kulikauskas: ok the application is February 19
[01:18:00] … so that's something we could write up (or I could write up)
in Vienna you will be there, yes?
[01:18:10] … and it would be a great help if you might recommend other
partners
[01:18:23] … who make sense in the long run
[01:17:49] vogelfrei:
http://www.monikanaiset.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=59&Itemi\
d=56

[01:18:08] … is typical with a focus on immigrant women from cultures
[01:18:14] … that women stay at home in
[01:18:27] … and here there are programs to get them into society
[01:21:06] … OK so other partners must be in diff countries right
[01:21:13] … I can recommend
[01:21:33] … but for solidarity reasons I would like the folks from
Hirvitalo to do athat
[01:21:37] … so especially
[01:21:40] … Mikko Lipiäinen
[01:21:48] … Elina Ojanpä
[01:21:56] … and Janne Rahkilla
[01:22:16] … "Mikko Lipiäinen" "elina ojanperä" "Janne Rahkila"
[01:22:30] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes so that's your group
[01:22:31] vogelfrei: all 3 are filling in bids now for money
[01:22:33] Andrius Kulikauskas: one from each country
[01:22:52] … one institution from each country
[01:22:54] vogelfrei: and you have seen mikko when we video bridged last
year
[01:23:01] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes
[01:23:02] vogelfrei: elina has been to uzupis
[01:23:12] Andrius Kulikauskas: yes your group is given!
[01:23:15] vogelfrei: :)
[01:23:18] Andrius Kulikauskas: I'm concerned about other countries
[01:23:27] … we need six or seven partners
[01:23:29] vogelfrei: yes but best is to ask them direct
[01:23:37] … for me I can suggest
[01:23:42] … working with Norway
[01:23:55] … Hausmania
[01:24:00] … Mikko has some connections in Norway
[01:24:05] … and so does sanna
[01:24:26] … there are some other places that are good
[01:24:40] … "cedric anglaret"
[01:24:47] … in Paris might be good
[01:25:02] … http://elephantandcastles.bandcamp.com/
[01:25:07] … is his record label
[01:26:00] …
http://cedricanglaret.canalblog.com/archives/2008/05/15/9184183.html#comments

[01:26:03] … you can see him there
[01:26:21] … Suvi is here now and can chat a bit
[01:26:30] … hi
[01:26:33] Andrius Kulikauskas: it's late
[01:26:34] … hi
[01:26:45] vogelfrei: dreams of life?
[01:26:57] Andrius Kulikauskas: markus it's very late here and I should
sign off
[01:27:21] vogelfrei: it's suvi here let's talk another time then :)
[01:27:30] Andrius Kulikauskas: ok suvi!
[01:27:39] vogelfrei: ok good night

I share a proposal which I sent today to a women'g group in Germany,
"Frauen helfen Frauen".  It will be great fun if they support us because
I will get to spend time with our local youth who could staff our help
room, greet all who come and alert me by SMS if I'm needed.  It would
also lead to a local blog in English, along with photos, which I think
would be good for all of our "global villages" so that we can understand
each other's situations.  Youth may be key for such a blog to thrive
because they may have time and energy to keep it up.  Also, the English
lessons (conversational activities and games) we develop might be part
of Earth Treasury's open source textbook initiative.  P.S. Thank you,
Janet Feldman, for such lovely birthday greetings!  Andrius Kulikauskas,
ms@...

------------------------------

Dear Ulla Feldmann,

I'm writing to ask you and "Frauen helfen Frauen" for support of English
languages for the youth and women of Eiciunai, Lithuania and the
surrounding area.

I propose to organize 24 English lessons between January and July of
2010, typically one per week.  Youth and women are welcome at each
lesson, but typically, each month three lessons will be focused on the
youth and one lesson will be focused on the women.  The youth will learn
and then help include the women at home so they learn, too.  Activities
will include:

Learning to use Internet online tools in English such as:
* chatting in English at http://www.worknets.org/chat/ amongst ourselves
and with other people
* communicating by video using Skype
* editing and creating wiki pages at Wikipedia and other wikis
* writing letters for discussion groups
* writing a blog in English for Vilties Tiltas, including reports from
the women
* uploading photos and videos
* creating Facebook pages
* tweeting with Twitter about Vilties Tiltas activities
These activities will generally take place as part of my Minciu Sodas
online laboratory http://www.ms.lt We have participants from Europe,
Africa, India, US and other parts of the world.

Other activities in English will or may include:
* learning chess and checkers
* learning songs, including gospel songs and popular songs
* praying
* using cook books to cook foods from around the world
* reading and performing plays and creating our own
* listening to songs or watching movies and discussing them
* art activities and discussing art
* creating movies
* nature walks, talking about nature and farm life in English
* humor, jokes and cartoons in English
* sports in English
* hosting English speaking guests
And we'll have more ideas, too.

We will meet at the Eiciunai school and at the Anusauskas house.  Both
places have computers with Internet access and we can link the two sites
with chat and video Skype.   Ieva Anusauskaite (Audrone's daughter) has
agreed to help me organize these events.  I will be physically present
for at least half of them, but as I travel for my work, I will
participate virtually (by video Skype and by chat) for some of the
lessons.  We'll post a photo and at least a few sentences about each
lesson at the blog.  These practical activities will be fun and lead to
useful skills that they will likely continue to develop further after
the lessons are over.

I ask for your support of 500 EUR to my company, Minciu Sodas, so that I
might provide these lessons.  I will use some of this money to pay for
any expenses, such as books or food or art supplies, and also help pay
for Internet access at the Anusauskas house.  I am a native English
speaker.  I grew up in a Lithuanian family in the United States of
America.  I have a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of
California at San Diego.  I have worked in Chicago as a tutor in English
and math.  I live with the Anusauskas family and am there with them
about half of the time, but frequently and rather unpredictably travel
to Vilnius and to other countries.  Your support will allow me to commit
myself to work closely with the local youth and women.  This would be
fantastic for all of us.

I hope you might consider and accept my proposal!

Merry Christmas!

Andrius

Andrius Kulikauskas
Minciu Sodas
http://www.ms.lt
ms@...
+370 699 30003

Yahoo! Canada Toolbar : Search from anywhere on the web and bookmark your favourite sites. Download it now!

Dear All,

I want to take this time to wish everyone the happiest of holidays, and a
new year full of promise, productivity, and a continuing passion for your
"work of the world".

All of you are engaging in remarkable and life-saving endeavors, and your
contributions and activism are inspirational and hugely uplifting.

I wish each of you the best of everything, for this time and for all times,
and extend love and care to you, your families and organizations, your
communities, those you serve and those who serve you.

On a personal note, I want to apologize for my absence this year. I look
forward to more active times ahead, and to sharing hopes, dreams, thoughts,
feelings, spirit, purpose, encouragement...and grant-making schemes on
development themes, among a myriad of other "memes", and with reams of eager
and willing teams :))).

Thanks immensely, and blessings in abundance! Love, Janet

Thank you to Suresh Fernando, Steve Bosserman, David Pinto and all for
encouraging me and all to participate at Open Kollab.  I share responses
from Pamela McLean and Franz Nahrada, two leaders of Minciu Sodas
working groups, Learning From Each Other
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/learningfromeachother/ and Global Villages
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/globalvillages/   I hope to reply to David
Pinto's question "What would you do with $100,000 for the coming year,
what would you hope to achieve?" in the coming days and I encourage us
all likewise. Andrius Kulikauskas, Minciu Sodas, http://www.ms.lt,
ms@..., +370 699 30003

-------------------------

Hi Andrius

Briefly ref

" He's asking:
* How do I get organizations that have high level of convergence and
values to work together in ways that allow them to keep their
independence and autonomy and find points of contact for collaboration?"

and
* How do we get 100,000,000 people to work on an issue such as global
poverty?

As you know I am interested in closer collaboration between Dadamac and
Minciu Sodas and related networks/organisations. I am interested in how
we can "rub minds" on inter-related issues like global poverty, climate
change, health, water and sanitation, education/training, Internet use
for learning and collaboration, etc etc.- and not just rub minds but
actively collaborate in practical projects

I have been putting a lot of time and thought during 2009 into effective
UK-Nigeria collaboration (and how to share what we do with others) and
also into experiments with what I want to develop as our online space
(some of this thinking becoming visible at www.dadamac.net and more of
it still in my head or "beind the scenes").

A blog I wrote earlier today may shed a bit more light on this
http://www.dadamac.net/blog/20091223/dadamac-beyond-nigeria
Also there are various on-the-ground Dadamac collaborative projects in
Nigeria that are moving ahead more rapidly now as a result of Marcus'
recent visit to Benin and Nigeria.

Pam.

------------------

Franz Nahrada wrote:
> Hi Andrius,
>
> a very interesting venture indeed.
>
> I feel that the big social scandal of our time is the fact that the money
> that exists is allocated systematically to the most destructive and
> unproductive activities. The whole system of wealth production is badly
> designed and increasingly dysfunctional, in other words it is turning
> against itself. Redundant activities blank each other out, most work is
> not resulting in real wealth but in things and side - effects that cause
> more problems than they solve.
>
> When asked for an explanation of this blunder, most agents of the system -
> be it bankers or politicians - say they simply lack sufficient
> measurement, procedure and evidence to do otherwise. There is no index
> that recognizes the General Social Usefulness of activities. Its hard to
> even calculate such an index, because what is usefulness in a society that
> systematically cretes distorted interests and needs?
>
> One issue out of that dilemma is the clustering of activities in mutually
> supportive cycles - locally or gloablly. We can embody models of a
> different economy and we can fight for the existing forces to not destroy
> them in the first place. Its not about a change of the system; its about
> the possibility of another world to be manifested.
>
> In our yesterdays conversation we have pointed out that even in a village
> economy we need always alternatives so that supportive relations do not
> turn into exploitative ones. On the other side its time to recognize the
> utter necesity to create a resource pool for ourselves and to understand
> each others needs.
>
> One thing that is ot the top list of pushing forward to institutions and
> decisionmakers is that private resources are not the top of the crop, but
> they are the poorest way to make use of wealth. We should honor
> participative resources more than private resources. See the recent
> commons manifesto below!
>
> Knowledge is the most prominent participative resource and its a crime
> against humanity to exclude anyone from the acquisition or use of
> knowledge. But everything else that we produce could be partly a
> participative resource if we find a way for common responsibility and the
> care for this resource. That is the true meaning of the word "Commons",
> common good and system of stewardship emerging from community. Ownership
> has been showing as a partly effective way to assure stewardship. How do
> we turn ownership into true stewardship? How do we assure the voice of
> community is heard? By institutionalising a constant process of feedback
> and resource flows to the owners that take stewardship responsible.
>
> Thats one meaning of your "Economy of Dreams", whilst other people talk of
> "Enabling Economies". Friends organized a conference titled "Enable!" in
> March in Vienna and I will hopefully give an introductory speech about
> "Global Villages as Enabling Environments".
>
>
http://www.liftconference.com/news/enable-profound-innovation-society-economy-kn\
owledge
>
> While currently all my activity and attention is geared towards the
> January workshop (News coming soon here) in the background we also are
> looking for new sites and opportunities to showcase the Global Village
> principle.
>
> Also in Kirchbach there is an interesting development, Franz Rieger is a
> former headmaster of the local school, now retired, and he is gathering
> all the mayors of the region and all the local actors of KB5, our global
> village centre, to negociate a new round of cooperation and respect for
> the resources that people have built in this few years.
>
> I am looking forward to your coming to Vienna in January, and I am glad
> that we will have quite a few visitors from Lithuania at that time.
>
> Franz
>
>
>
> =============================
> Strengthen the Commons - Now!
> =============================
>
>   "Commons are institutional spaces in which we are free."
>
>   -- Yochai Benkler
>
> How the crisis reveals the fabric of our commons
> ================================================
>
> Over the last two hundred years, the explosion of knowledge,
> technology, and productivity has enabled an unprecedented increase of
> private wealth. This has improved our quality of life in numerous
> ways. At the same time, however, we have permitted the depletion of
> resources and the dwindling of societal wealth. This is brought to our
> attention by current, interrelated crises in finance, the economy,
> nutrition, energy, and in the fundamental ecological systems of life.
>
> These crises are sharpening our awareness of the existence and
> importance of the commons. Natural commons are necessary for our
> survival, while social commons ensure social cohesion, and cultural
> commons enable us to evolve as individuals. It is imperative that we
> focus our personal creativity, talents, and enthusiasm on protecting
> and increasing our social wealth and natural commons. This will
> require a change in some basic structures of politics, economics, and
> society.
>
> * More social prosperity instead of more gross domestic product!
>
>   When the economic growth curve drops and the GDP sinks, it seems
>   threatening to us. Yet appearances deceive. The GDP merely maps
>   production figures and monetary flows without regard for their
>   ecological or social value; such numbers do not measure the things
>   we truly need to live, - they may simply count their destruction.
>   Social prosperity cannot be measured through such means. A reduction
>   in the GDP does not necessarily signal a reduction in the real
>   wealth of a society. Recognizing this fact widens our perspective
>   and opens doors for new types of solutions.
>
> * The commons can help us overcome the crisis, but it requires
>   systematic advocacy.
>
>   This is our contribution to give the commons a voice.
>
> What are the commons and why are they are significant?
> ======================================================
>
> * Commons are diverse.
>
>   They are the fundamental building blocks and pre-condition of our
>   life and social wealth. They include knowledge and water, seeds and
>   software, cultural works and the atmosphere. Commons are not just
>   "things," however. They are living, dynamic systems of life. They
>   form the social fabric of a free society.
>
> * Commons do not belong to anyone individually nor do they belong to
>   no one.
>
>   Different communities, from the family to global society, always
>   create, maintain, cultivate, and redefine commons. When this does
>   not happen, commons dwindle away - and in the process, our personal
>   and social security diminishes. Commons ensure that people can live
>   and evolve. The diversity of the commons helps secure our future.
>
> * Commons are the foundation of every economic activity.
>
>   Thus, they must also be the result of what we do. We have to
>   constantly revitalize our commons, because everything we produce
>   relies upon the knowledge we inherit, the natural resources that the
>   Earth gives us, and cooperation with our fellow citizens. The
>   activity known as "the economy" is embedded in our social fabric.
>   Depletion of resources, failures in education, needless barriers to
>   creativity, and weak social bonds compromise the generativity of the
>   whole. Without vital commons, production is impossible. Without
>   commons, companies cannot earn money.
>
> * Commons are often destroyed and thus driven from our consciousness.
>
>   One reason that commons are threatened is because many individuals
>   claim a limitless right to use things. But where fair usage rights
>   to water and seeds are curtailed by economic calculation or through
>   governmental policies, where resource exploitation destroys our
>   natural inheritance, where breach upon breach is inflicted on public
>   spaces, where patenting software limits creativity and impedes
>   economic progress, where reliable networks are lacking, there
>   dependency and uncertainty will increase.
>
> There's something new afoot - a movement to reclaim the commons!
> ================================================================
>
> There is a movement that reminds us of what is worth keeping. A
> movement that seeks to reclaim what belongs to us, that affirms human
> dignity and creates something new. This movement to build and protect
> the commons is expanding the horizon of what is possible.
>
> * Commons are being rediscovered and defended.
>
>   People all over the world are defending themselves against attacks
>   on the web of life that sustains them - against dams and mining
>   projects that destroy life and land. Against a wasteful economy that
>   fuels climate change. Against efforts to turn education and health
>   into profit-oriented thinking. Against the re-engineering of our
>   genetic heritage and overzealous restrictions on access to knowledge
>   and culture. The commoners seek only to reclaim that which belongs
>   to them, whether they are communities struggling to win back control
>   over water utilities, indigenous communities seeking to protect its
>   land in the Amazon Basin, or the worldwide movements for climate
>   justice and an open internet.
>
> * Commons are newly created and built upon.
>
>   Countless people are creating new things for all and meaningful
>   social and physical spaces for themselves. They invest energy in
>   community gardens, carry out sustainable and ecological agriculture,
>   and design intergenerational living and working spaces. They produce
>   free software and free knowledge, and create films, music, and
>   images to be shared. Thus emerges a treasure of free culture
>   available to all. It is maintained and enhanced by many, and it has
>   become as indispensable as Wikipedia. Taken together, scientists and
>   activists, citizens and politicians are developing a robust and
>   innovative commons sphere - everywhere.
>
> * Commons are maintained and cultivated.
>
>   People are fostering neighborhood institutions, looking after
>   playgrounds, running citizen foundations, and creating and sharing
>   stories, culture, and our collective memories. They are engaging
>   themselves, personally and directly, with the common wealth and are
>   pushing the state to carry out its duties to protect the commons.
>   For that they gain something in return, because to live in a culture
>   of commons means both giving and taking. This culture establishes
>   rights and duties equally. The commitment to our common wealth is
>   borne from the awareness that the current economic model endangers
>   our livelihoods - and fails to satisfy us at deeper levels. This
>   commitment corresponds to the wish for creativity and inspiration.
>   It is fueled by our self-directed passions, desire for social
>   conviviality, and a sensitivity and mutual recognition of each
>   other. It's all about a simple idea: the need to learn from each
>   other and to create excellent things for their own sake.
>
> * Commons inspire and connect.
>
>   To take them into account requires a fundamentally different
>   approach in perception and action. Commons are based on communities
>   that set their own rules and cultivate their skills and values.
>   Based on these always-evolving, conflict-ridden processes,
>   communities integrate themselves into the bigger picture. In a
>   culture of commons, inclusion is more important than exclusion,
>   cooperation more important than competition, autonomy more important
>   than control. Rejecting the monopolization of information, wealth,
>   and power gives rise to diversity again and again. Nature appears as
>   a common wealth that must be carefully stewarded, and not an
>   ever-available property to be exploited.
>
> * To live in a culture of the commons means to assume shared,
>   long-term responsibility rather than the pursuit of an ethics of
>   dominance.
>
>   A culture of the commons honors fairness over unilateral benefit
>   optimization, and interdependence rather than extreme individualism.
>
> * The commons helps us confront one of the major social justice issues
>   of our time: no one may extract more from the commons than what he
>   gives back to the commons.
>
>   This applies to market players as well as the state. Whoever
>   replenishes and expands the commons, rather than just drawing from
>   them, deserves social recognition and praise. In the interest of
>   this and future generations, market players, the state, and each
>   individual must align their behavior and thinking with the commons.
>   This must become a fundamental element in any calculation of
>   economic, political, or personal success.
>
> Neither no man's land nor boundless property
> ============================================
>
> * The commons is not only about the legal forms of ownership.
>
>   What matters most is whether and how community-based rights to the
>   commons are enforced and secured. "Property entails obligations. Its
>   use shall also serve the public good" (Article 14 Paragraph 2,
>   German Constitution). This limitation, anchored in the basic law,
>   designates the boundaries of the availability of common pool
>   resources to individuals. This principle helps us recognize that
>   each single use has implications for resources that belong to us
>   all. With my phone I transmit my message through the finite
>   electromagnetic spectrum. My car pollutes our shared air. My work
>   may contain a novel thought, but I also depend upon the commons of
>   culture and knowledge to inform it. The usage rights of fellow
>   commoners are the stop signs for individual usage rights.
>
> * Absolute and exclusive private property rights in the commons
>   therefore cannot be allowed.
>
>   This principle applies regardless of whether the things are of a
>   tangible or intangible nature, or whether they are associated with
>   natural, cultural, or social spheres. In order to avoid overuse and
>   under-utilization - the dramatic plundering of fish or the
>   "orphaning" of creative works, for example - any form of property
>   (itself a creation of the state) has to now, more than ever, be
>   measured by two conditions:
>
>   * Each use must ensure that the common pool resources are not
>     destroyed or over-consumed.
>
>   * No one may be excluded who is entitled to access and use the
>     shared resource or who depends on it for basic needs. Access and
>     usage rights must therefore be designed to assure that the commons
>     can be preserved, maintained, and further developed.
>
>     *These are the principles of fair participation and
>     sustainability.*
>
> * What is public or publicly funded must remain publicly accessible.
>
>   Public research, for example, must be available to everyone. There
>   is no overwhelming reason to grant publishers and pharmaceutical
>   corporations excessive and exclusive copyrights and patents over
>   publicly funded research. Legislatures, at the behest of business,
>   have nevertheless done so, making scientific journals inaccessible
>   and vital medicines overly expensive. Alternatives arise from the
>   commons movement. This is demonstrated by numerous projects for
>   fairer licensing and alternative incentive models in science and
>   culture.
>
> * The commons helps us reconceptualize the prevailing concept of
>   property rights.
>
>   The exploitation of our commons has grave drawbacks for the majority
>   of people living today and tomorrow. This is demonstrated by climate
>   change and the exhaustion of many natural resources, as well as by
>   the financial sector whose private profit motives have become, to
>   the detriment of the commoners, ends in themselves. Our shared
>   quality of life is also limited by knowledge that is excessively
>   commercialized and made artificially scarce. In this manner, our
>   cultural heritage becomes an inventory of lifeless commodities and
>   advertising dominates our public spaces.
>
> * Commons are the basis of life in a double sense. Without natural
>   commons, there's no survival. Without cultural commons, no human
>   development.
>
>   Everyone is directly affected by the issues raised here. Even
>   businesses need commons in order to earn money now and in the
>   future. We all need commons to survive and thrive. This is a key
>   principle, and it establishes why commoners' usage rights should
>   always be given a higher priority than corporations' property
>   rights. Here the state has a duty to protect the commons, a duty
>   which it cannot abandon. However, this does not mean that the state
>   is necessarily the best steward for the commoners' interests. The
>   challenge is for the commoners themselves to develop complementary
>   institutions and organizational forms, as well as innovative access
>   and usage rules, to protect the commons. The commoners must create
>   their own commons sector, beyond the realm of market and state, to
>   serve the public good in their own distinctive manner.
>
> For a society in which the commons may thrive
> =============================================
>
> * Just as commons and people are different, so are the organizational
>   forms of user communities.
>
>   We encounter these forms everywhere and with many faces: as
>   self-organizing groups, civil organizations, private agencies or
>   networks, as cooperatives or custodial organizations, as small
>   neighborhood communities or the international Free Software
>   movement. The rules and ethics of each commons arise from the needs
>   and processes of the commoners directly involved. Whoever is
>   directly connected to a commons must participate in the debate and
>   implementation of its rules.
>
> * Agents of the commons do not have one but many centers.
>
>   We need them locally, regionally, and globally. Conflicts can be
>   resolved directly in well-arranged communities and their commons.
>   But the global commons is an almost insolvable challenge, because
>   where does the "world community" really come together and define
>   itself as such? How should it agree upon the sustainable usage of
>   its shared resources? The more complex the system, the more
>   important it is that there is an institutional and transparent
>   framework for the careful management of the commons. When the state
>   achieves this and protects the commons, government action will be
>   supported by society.
>
> * Commons need more than just rules.
>
>   We must realize that rules require the art of proper application.
>   Commons are driven by a specific ethos, as well as by the desire to
>   acquire and transfer a myriad of skills. Our society therefore needs
>   to honor the special skills and values that enable the commons to
>   work well. A culture of the commons publicly recognizes any
>   initiative or project that enhances the commons, and it provides
>   active financial and institutional support to enhance the commons
>   sector.
>
> * Conflicts are part of the diversity and constant reproduction of the
>   commons.
>
>   In addition to the rule of law, commons in the future will require
>   innovative institutional structures, conciliation and mediation
>   bodies, networks, and interdisciplinary stewards for the commons.
>   These institutions will be constructed again and again from the
>   areas of needs and conflict. Each has a common goal: to raise a
>   strong voice to preserve the commons!
>
> * Awareness of the commons means being conscious of our living
>   conditions and exploring on all levels how much productivity and
>   wealth we create directly from the commons.
>
>   It requires a fundamental shift in thinking about the foundations of
>   society. It means using, sharing, and multiplying our common wealth
>   in a free and self-determined way. This challenge requires a lot of
>   work, but it is also a great source of personal satisfaction and
>   enrichment.
>
> * Our society needs a great debate and a worldwide movement
>   for the commons. Now!
>
> Dr. Frank Augsten (Green Party, spokesman State of Thüringen)
>
> Petra Buhr (Wissenallmende-Report.de)
>
> Dr. Hans-Joachim Döring (Commissioner of the Lutherian Church
> Central-Germany for Development and Environment)
>
> Prof. Dr. Ulrich Duchrow (theologist, University of Heidelberg)
>
> Fritjof Finkbeiner (Global Marshall Plan Initiative)
>
> Lili Fuhr (Heinrich Böll Foundation)
>
> Andrea Goetzke (newthinking communications)
>
> Prof. Dr. Franz-Theo Gottwald (Schweisfurth-Stiftung)
>
> Jörg Haas (Climateexpert)
>
> Benedikt Härlin (Foundation for the Future of Agriculture)
>
> Hermann Graf Hatzfeldt
>
> Silke Helfrich (author)
>
> Kathrin Henneberger (Green Youth)
>
> Gregor Kaiser (Social Scientist)
>
> Dr. Wolfgang Kessler (Chief Editor Publik Forum)
>
> Prof. Dr. Rainer Kuhlen (information scientist, University of Konstanz)
>
> Julio Lambing (e-5 European Business Council for Sustainable Energy)
>
> Berthold Lange (Freiburger Kantstiftung)
>
> Prof. Dr. Bernd Lutterbeck (University for Technology Berlin)
>
> Annette Mühlberg (Network New Media, nnm)
>
> Rainer Rehak (Wuppertal Institut for Climate, Environment and
> Energy)
>
> Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Sachs (Wuppertal Institut for Climate, Environment
> and Energy)
>
> Jill Scherneck (Heinrich Böll Foundation)
>
> Christoph Schlee (Network Basic Income)
>
> Dr. Christian Siefkes (Software Developer, author)
>
> Malte Spitz (Member of Federal Board, Green Party)
>
> Prof. Dr. Ulrich Steinvorth (philosopher, University Bilkent)
>
> Dr. Antje Tönnis (GLS Treuhand/ GLS Trust)
>
> Barbara Unmüßig (Member of Board, Heinrich Böll Foundation)
>
> Translation: Michelle Thorne, Silke Helfrich, David Bollier
>
> The thesis paper was developed in collective authorship in the context
> of the Interdisciplinary political salons of the Heinrich Böll
> Foundation's "Time for commons," 2008/2009.
>
> Published under "Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Germany"
> License, Version 3.0. The copying, linking and creative development of
> this document is explicitly encouraged.
> http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
>
> Contact: Silke Helfrich, E-Mail: Silke.Helfrich AT gmx.de
> ________________________________________
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> * Each letter sent to globalvillages@yahoogroups.com enters the PUBLIC DOMAIN
whenever it does not state otherwise. http://www.ethicalpublicdomain.org
> * If you do not understand a term here, try the Glossary
(http://www.globalvillages.info/wiki.cgi?Glossary) and expand it!Yahoo! Groups
Links
>
>
>
>
>

Dea Maria Agnese and All,

It's so marvelous to hear from you, and know you are back among us!! I'm so excited and uplifted by this, and about your news and particular message. I was just writing to Ken Owino about my hopes for further collaboration in the arts in 2010, and now here you are...great minds thinking alike!!

I'm glad to "meet" Carlo, and interestingly, there are some Brooklyn-based links we can explore, with arts and media activities in Kenya and Uganda! Let alone with Kenya connections in Italy, with Chris and perhaps others.

I look forward to doing so very much, and in the meantime and always, extend very best wishes, blessings, and love to you and all. Happiest Holidays and to a creatively communicative New Year!! Janet

-----Original Message-----
From: Maria Agnese Giraudo
Sent: Dec 24, 2009 9:53 AM
To: holistichelping@yahoogroups.com
Cc: CARLO VALERIO PALMISANO
Subject: [holistichelping] Back for strengthen collaboration

Dear Janet and all!
I'm back in this group to strengthen collaboration  with artists of this forum and other connected with you Janet. I would like to inform you that the artistic event ARTevereWorld09, promoted by 00153 Kreazioni Kontemporanee Art Space  with Gelato! Art Salon of Brooklyn, NY,   took place from 16th to 21st December 2009. The artists would like to organize next year a more relevant  event  in Rome and are interested in contacts with artists.
Please contact:
 Carlo Palmisano <palmisanoinfo@...>  of  00153 Kreazioni Kontemporanee Art Space www.00153online.com
Gelato! Art Salon of Brooklyn, NY  http://gelatoartsalon.wordpress.com/
A Christmas of Harmony and Joy and peace and all blessings for next year!
Maria Agnese Giraudo
Rome, Italy