Whichever: Paid $3.78 for a gallon of gas
Wherever: Gas Station: On Columbus Ave. in South Philadelphia. Action: On the phone as I drove to the grocery store.
Whenever: April 25, 2008 (for gas and then action)
Whatever: Called the offices of my Members of Congress: Representative Robert Brady, Senator Arlen Specter, Senator Bob Casey. I told them that I am a constituent and am frustrated with the high gas prices. I then asked what the Congressman or Senator was doing about high gas prices.

Congressman Brady: I spoke to the Staff Assistant and she didn't know. She put me on hold and asked a colleague and I think said that the Congressman wasn't really doing anything. She informed me of different bills in Congress...I then asked to be connected to the Legislative Assistant who works on gas prices/energy and left her a voicemail.

Senator Specter: Spoke to the Staff Assistant who didn't know much and then left a message on the Legislative Assistant's Voicemail.

Senator Casey: Spoke to the Staff Assistant who was by far the most helpful of the three gatekeepers. He provided lots of information and his tone spoke to a personal and office-wide concern with rising energy costs. The Senator has been an advocate of a Windfall Tax on the profits by oil companies and is in favor of regulating oil speculators. They will send me a letter (form letter of the office's general position on energy/gas prices) and I was encouraged to check out recent hearings on high energy/gas prices which can be found at c-span.org

August 1st Action:

• $50 donation to Al Franken's US Senatorial Campaign in Minnesota
• Will pitch supporting Franken's campaign with friends who just moved from Minneapolis to Philadelphia
• Looking at AFSC's page on Iraqi refugees. Did not send electronic letter on troop withdrawl. Can write my own letter. Looking for a more concrete action around refugee support.
• Called my Congressman Robert Brady encouraging support for increased funding towards renewable energy, per an upcoming vote on a big Energy bill. I spoke to the Staff Assistant who did not know the Congressman's position initially, but who found out for me, and herself, that the Brady is a co-sponsor of H.R. 969 which calls for increased funding and benchmarks on use of renewables, especially by companies.
  

Whichever: Our continued war and occupation of Iraq, specifically the PR campaign used to dupe the US and some of the world into believing that Saddam was trying to produce WMD's and that a connection existed between his government and Al-Queda.
Wherever: Sitting on my sister's couch in Los Angeles
Whenever: Saturday @ 7:30 am
Whatever: Thank You letters to the authors of Hubris (Michael Isikoff and David Corn). Their book is inspiring me to take some action

Volunteerism and being an advocate/activist is not something Americans learn in school. Therefore, most Americans (and perhaps folks in other countries too) have a limited idea of how to take action on something that has moved them. Many often feel overwhelmed by all of the different issues they want to take action on and therefore often pick one or a couple issues.

Popular Issues:
Illnesses (cancer, diabetes, MS, etc.), Reproductive Rights, Environment, Economic Justice

Popular Actions:

Giving/Raising Money, Voting, Attending a Protest/March/Sit-In/etc., Writing an Op-Ed or Letter to the Editor, Being a Volunteer for that Cause or Organization

While these issues and actions are all super important, I think types of action and which issues is far from finite. Actually, there are an infinite number issues to act on and an infinite number of ways to take action.

You know what issues move you and you know, much more than you think, how to take action and be affective.

Here's my Approach:

Whichever, Wherever, Whenever, Whatever

WHICHEVER issue you want to work on is the right issue.
WHEREVER you are when you take an action is the right place. WHEREVER that issue is happening is the right place.
WHENEVER that issue happens is the right time. WHENEVER you take action is the right time.
WHATEVER action you take is the right action.

Let's put Whichever, Wherever, Whenever Whatever into action.

Last week I was staying at the Congress Plaza Hotel in Chicago. I stored my computer in a locker and then lost the locker key. I had to pay $200 cash to a locksmith who did less than 5 minutes of work to open up the locker. I felt that I was being ripped off so I asked to speak to the manager. I stated that I didn't think that service was worth $200. While I paid the amount to get my computer, I did create a public scene of sorts, spoke to various levels of management, and got their and the locksmith's name. And now I'm writing about it and sharing with you.

So:

Whichever: I felt I was being ripped off by the locksmith, hotel, or both
Wherever: At the Congress Plaza Hotel in Chicago
Whenever: August 25, 2006
Whatever: I argued with Hotel Management because I thought I was being ripped off. I took down the locksmith and manager's name and wrote about this experience on my blog.

Another example:

Whichever: Death penalty reinstatement efforts in Wisconsin
Wherever: Wisconsin
Whenever: Right Now
Whatever: I am taking a year off from grad school and moving from Philadelphia to Milwaukke to work for No Death Penalty Wisconsin