Tag Archives: Community

The Most Irking Fact about the Wikileaks saga

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The most irking fact about the Wikileaks saga - Julian Assange image by Abode of Chaos @flickr

Big interests trampling on the "little guy"?

What is the most irking fact about the Wikileaks saga……..

The Wikileaks Players

Wikileaks has been very clear about the fact that it has partnered with a number of the worlds leading media organisations (NY Times etc) and that these organisations are directly  involved in vetting the material specifically to avoid some of the charges (endangerment of individuals etc)  levelled against Wikileaks…

Profiting without sacrifice

These media organisations are using the material to further their business interests and increase/maintain their readership and their positions as leading media outlets.

Extra-judicial attacks

Yet it is only Wikileaks and Julian Assange that have been subject to the ire of politicians and business interests and calls to shut them down, calls for them to be harrassed, intimidated, assassinated and subject to direct action to cut off access to funds etc…

Can you imagine the outrage if…

Why is it that politicians of various colours,  ”powerful” interests (particularly right wing interests) in the US and elsewhere  are not calling on the Owners,  board chairman  or  CEO’s / Chief Editors of these large mainstream media organisations to face the same sanctions as those that they advocate for Wikileaks and Julian Assange? Can you imagine the uproar if an elected politician said in public that the Editor of the New York Times should be assassinated?

Ignoring the big collaborators, Why?

Why is it that organisations like Paypal, VISA, Mastercard, Amazon etc have acted directly at the behest of politicians to impose these sanctions against Wikileaks but don’t undertake the same actions against the large media organisations working in partnership/collaboration with Wikileaks?

Guilty of what exactly?

To date despite a lot of bluster Wikileaks has not been charged or found guilty of ANY offences in the US or elsewhere. It has acted as a media organisation and is simply exposing material leaked to it….

What if it had started with the big guys…

The reality is that the cache of diplomatic cables could have been delivered directly to the large mainstream media organisations  and those organisations could and would have used them. These media organisations often rely on leaks and whistleblowers to provide them with the material for their “scoops”…. would the same hysteria have occurred if this material was being released solely and exclusively by a large mainstream media outlet?

What are the big guys afraid of?

Would the same calls for extra-judicial sanctions be occurring? Would paypal/visa/mastercard/amazon etc come out and freeze accounts and deny access to these large mainstream media organisations just because a few senators urged them to because they were unhappy with something published in the NY Times etc…. unlikely

The most irking factor about this saga

The mosting irking factor about this saga is that it just stinks of attempts to trample on the little guy…. and the big mainstream media are complicit in this because they are benefitting immensely from the risk taking of the little guy and not highlighting the discrepancy in treatment of themselves as major players in the dissemination of the material…..

Is it just that big media interests and political interests and big business interests are TOO closely engaged to upset the apple cart, or is there some other underlying threat that the big business interests are afraid of? If it is because they are afraid of some action or potential action from Government then they should speak up about it…in the words of Thomas Jefferson..

“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”

Are even the extra-judicial sanctions too late?

Is the community outrage at the attacks on Wikileaks a signal that the world has/is shifting. Are Government and business responses  now a matter of trying to close the gate after the horse has bolted??

UPDATE AS AT 13 DECEMBER 2010:

I am pleased to report that the Australian media has taken some action in regards the issue above….. with a letter being sent to the Australian Prime Minister by TV and Radio News Editors and the editors of almost every major Australian metropolitan newspaper.

The letter can be found in full here

In part the letter reads

The volume of the leaks is unprecedented, yet the leaking and publication of diplomatic correspondence is not new. We, as editors and news directors of major media organisations, believe the reaction of the US and Australian governments to date has been deeply troubling. We will strongly resist any attempts to make the publication of these or similar documents illegal. Any
such action would impact not only on WikiLeaks, but every media organisation in the world that aims to inform the public about decisions made on their behalf. WikiLeaks, just four years old, is part of the media and deserves our support.

and also reads:

It is the media’s duty to responsibly report such material if it comes into their possession. To aggressively attempt to shut WikiLeaks down, to threaten to prosecute those who publish official leaks, and to pressure companies to cease doing commercial business with WikiLeaks, is a serious threat to democracy, which relies on a free and fearless press.

R U OK? Please ask this Question!

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What if...

Are you OK?  Three words that could make a huge difference to someone you know.

If you are like me I am sure you know AT LEAST one person who has committed suicide. When it happens it devastates whole communities of people and leaves everyone wondering “why didn’t I do something?”

Thursday 7 October, 2010 is R U OK Day. A national day of action that aims to prevent suicide by encouraging Australians to connect with someone they care about and help stop little problems turning into big ones.

Keeping in touch with others is crucial for our health and wellbeing, helping us to cope with stressful events. And having regular, meaningful conversations is simple; you don’t need special training to do it.

R U OK day aims to inspire all Australians (and lets be honest… ANY ONE ANYWHERE)  that they can have an immediate impact on our country’s shockingly high suicide rate by reaching out and making contact with others.

Most people don’t openly share their feelings, particularly when they’re struggling so don’t wait for a sign – trust your instincts. A conversation could change a life. It’s so simple but in the time it takes to have a coffee, you can start a conversation that could change a life.

If you need tips on how to start an R U OK conversation please leap on over to this page at the R U OK website.

But the challenge is bigger than just participating in this day… WE ALL need to be more aware of what is happening to the people we love and the people we work with and do our part to help support each other.

PLEASE….. use R U OK day to kick start a change in your life by having an R U OK conversation, then make it a mission to have these conversations regularly,  having the R U OK conversations can enrich your life and may well put someone on a path to getting the assistance they really need but have been reluctant to ask for……..

5.5 places to feed your brain

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5.5 sites to feed your brain

Feeding your brain by brain_blogger @flickr

Everyone is busy … but regardless of how busy we are we all need places to head to in order to feed our brain and keep our mental faculties renewed and nourished. Everyone has different needs but I thought I would share with you five places that I recommend to feed your brain .

1. Life Coach Blog: The Discomfort Zone

This Blog is part of Tim Brownson’s overall site A Daring Adventure. Both of the hyperlinks are accurate descriptions of what Tim delivers.

His blog posts are always informative, always thought-provoking and really do challenge you to step outside your own comfort zone into the Discomfort Zone, which we all know is where the real growth occurs. Tim helps you to get going on your own daring adventure.

What I also love about Tim [but be careful, don't let him know I said that, if you drop by his site and leave a comment :-) ] is his broader commitment to delivering to people who are not in a position to use his services, this is evidenced by his work on the How to be Rich and Happy project.

2.  Tiny Buddha

This site delivers great advice in short but powerful pieces. As the name suggests these pieces are inspired by Buddhist thinking, but no matter what religious or other background you come from these pieces are thought-provoking. Even a few minutes a day contemplating the great content this delivers can make a huge difference to how you look at the world on a day-to-day basis.

3.  Indexed

Jessica Hagy uses a couple of typical diagrams over and over again, but they are NEVER the same thing.You may think that you are  familiar with Venn Diagrams and other such tools, but Jessica uses just a few words on these diagrams that often send your brain scattering thinking about the implications of what you have just observed. This site is simple but packs a powerful punch.

4. White Hot Truth

Danielle Laporte clearly demonstrates that she is a keen observer of the human condition, and she has a way with her observations that some times just bowl you over.

5. Psychotactics

It is only fair that I recommend this one with a warning! WARNING..SEAN IS ADDICTIVE.  If you visit this site and look around at Seans free stuff you will be struck by how it will change your thinking. Sean has a few different sites that feed off of this one (and a couple of different membership sites). The bottom line is this site is an entre into a world that contains some pretty amazing information to help you transform your business as well as becoming a part of an incredibly supportive community.

What about site 5.5?

I don’t think I need to list and describe that one…. you’re already here :-)

I’d love to know what sites provide your brain with the most nourishment, let me know by leaving a comment!

Keep up to date with the latest posts and what’s happening at the Mick Morris Musing by signing up to the newsletter HERE

A new paragidm – Election 2010 and social media

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Election 2010, Australian ElectionAustralian Election 2010.

As anyone who follows me on twitter will know I have been actively participating in the #ausvotes commentary about the Australian Election 2010 (Again, apologies to any of my friends on various social media platforms around the world who are not Australians… I’m sure many of my tweets had you confused! Election 2010 has been an interesting time and this post is about my personal perspective on Election 2010 and social media, and a new paradigm that I needed to adopt during the election.

Before I go any further with this post I want to make a disclaimer in relation to Election 2010.

1. I am not a member of ANY political party

2. Comments in this post are my personal point of view.

Contemplating Getting Involved

While I do have an interest in politics until this election I have never been actively engaged in any political commentary or lent my support to any political candidate but have always closely examined the policies of the various political parties involved in the pitch for my vote.

Whenever I look what is going on within the political sphere my thoughts and ultimately my vote are driven by a number of personal values.  Those familiar with this blog will know that they include Passion, Persistence, Patience and Resilience. But my values also include Social Justice, Compassion and as an over-riding position being a Catalyst for positive change in people and systems.

Social Media Community - discussion, access, influence

More so than in any previous election I have been actively involved in a number of social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter. This involvement provided an interesting and different perspective to previous elections. In previous elections my involvement and analysis was based around consuming the dominant “traditional” media and its associated analysis by political pundits and to my own investigation of the various parties websites to explore their policy positions etc.

Election 2010 was really different and the major difference was the ability to follow discussion about the election through a twitter hashtag #ausvotes. The really interesting part about engaging in the twitter stream was the diversity of participants from right around Australia (and even a few from other countries). The stream provided points of view from the far left, the far right and every point of view in between.

This diversity of opinion and commentary provided a lot of links out to interesting reading (both within “traditional” media and lots of “new” media) from the various perspectives, and contrary to what a few in the twitter stream may think, I actually looked at and devoured a lot of material from the various perspectives. I think a lot of people felt that it was OK to put out there a perspective on various aspects of the election campaign and opinions on various candidates.

There where some really interesting discussions and debates to be had over a number of issues  within the #ausvotes stream (unfortunately interspersed with some very low brow and uncalled for personal insults… but hey trolls are everywhere aren’t they?) I think the #ausvotes twitter stream actually encouraged a lot of people to engage in the discussion that may not have otherwise been involved in these types of discussions. I also think the enormity and diversity and to some extent anonymity of twitter gave people some space to engage that may not exist within their usual physical social settings.

Ultimately my position about election 2010 and my choice about participating in the #ausvotes twitter stream were guided by my personal values as outlined above. Participating in #ausvotes was a really interesting and more often than not enjoyable part of election 2010 and provided me with a whole new paradigm about social media access, influence and how it can play a role in so many aspects of life.

In the next post I will continue with an exploration of what the new paradigm meant and how it changed my involvement in the campaign, followed by another post on my thoughts about the Election outcome so far….

Keep up to date with the latest posts and what’s happening at the Mick Morris Musing by signing up to the newsletter HERE

Become part of the tribe.

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I know you want to get better at what you do, whether that is using social media for marketing your bricks and mortar business or whether it is trying to build up you online marketing presence for your blog, we all do.

If you have been on the net and blogging for any length of time then you will have heard of Chris Brogan,Brian Clark, Sonia Simone, Darren Rowse … yeah that’s right some of the gurus (even though they don’t like that title) of this blogging game, but also absolute entrepreneurs with a TON experience to share.

How much would you pay to get coaching by these guys? Truth is most of us simply could not afford it on an ongoing basis, because even a few sessions would cost us a small fortune (Don’t believe me…. go look up ANY business coach and see how much their hourly rate is.

How do you do that at an affordable rate?

How would you like to access expert tips, tactics and feedback from those experts,  without breaking the bank?

You can do it by joining the third tribe (affiliate link).

Why am I promoting this program?

It is simple…. I was an early adopter I got on board this great community very close to when it was launched.  At that stage the price was significantly less than it is today, and I was reluctant about whether I would get any true value from subscribing.

That reluctance was quickly overcome. Why? Simply because from day one the featured content that I had access to started to make a difference to how I was thinking about what I do, and I have learned way more than the value of the subscription rate from the featured content alone.

However,  the Third Tribe forums are great and not only do you get responses from Chris Brogan,Brian Clark, Sonia Simone, Darren Rowse, you also get great feedback and support from a huge number of other content and subject matter experts.

It is only fair to warn you that the price of the subscription has gone up twice since I joined the Third Tribe. But as more people have joined the Third Tribe so has the value of the discussion that goes on in the forums.

If you are not certain that joining the Third Tribe is for, you can try out the Third Tribe free for 30 days…. the process is fully explained over at the third tribe site. As at 1 June 2010 if you join the Third Tribe you get to ……..

Try Out Third Tribe and Keep Over 10 Hours of Seminar Content

you get instant access to over 10 hours of in-depth audio seminars, along with transcripts and next-action worksheets:

  • Product Launch Strategies: What Always Works and What’s Working in 2010
    Jeff Walker & Sonia Simone
  • How to Get Your Customers to Do Your Best Marketing for You
    John Jantsch & Chris Brogan
  • Email Marketing Strategies that Work
    Sonia Simone & Brian Clark
  • Action Email: Copywriting Tips for Insanely Effective Email Marketing
    Dave Navarro & Sonia Simone
  • Internet Business Models: Part One – the Problogger model
    Darren Rowse & Brian Clark
  • Internet Business Models: Part Two – the Chris Brogan model
    Chris Brogan & Sonia Simone
  • Internet Business Models: Part Three – the Copyblogger model
    Brian Clark & Sonia Simone
  • Internet Business Models: Part Four – the Zen Habits model
    Leo Babauta & Darren Rowse
  • The Quick Start Guide to Making Money Online
    Johnny Truant & Sonia Simone
  • Advanced Affiliate Marketing with Social Media and SEO
    Brian Clark & Glenn Allsopp

Join for the content, Stay for the conversation

The featured content is well worth your subscription, but if you come and join me at the Third Tribe I’m sure you will hang around for the value of the conversation that occurs in the Tribe forums.

How do you get a 24/7 access to all this for an attractive price?

You get 24/7 access to the featured content and a community of people to help solve your problems  for the attractive price of $97 per month (which is less that a one hour session with a business coach or consultant) by joining me in the Third Tribe. Just remember the subscription price has already gone up twice an could go up again as the value of the conversations inside the Tribe continues to grow.

BONUS

OK  I’m going to make a little bit of money when you join via my affiliate links, so I want to give you something of extra value as well. If you join via my affiliate link I will help to promote your blog/business by conducting  and posting an interview with you or hosting a suitable guest post from you. What value is that? Well that depends. It has as much value as WE can create out of it.

Come and join me in the Third Tribe community and let’s apply some of the lessons together.