- The website is now running a test in a sub directory, which can be accessed Here! As pages become available, the index will be updated with the list of what links work. So, feel free to test around, and either use the email link on the bottom left of the site or this journal's comment box to give us your thoughts!
- Despite the W3C validations, some browsers still have trouble with the site. Right now, I am aware it works exactly as planned in Internet Explorer 6+ and Firefox 1.5+, Flock 1+, and is usable (but with a few quirks) in Opera. I have not bothered with a Safari, MSN Browser, AOL Browser, Konqueror, or otherwise testing yet, as these browsers combined account for less then 10% of internet users, and the main idea is to maximize the site's usability for the majority (the main browsers accounting for 80%+ of users) ..not to mention, AOL's browser is being phased out by AOL, and MSN's is equally being considered for the ax.
- Lastly, as the site is updated with the needed content, its respective portion in this journal will disappear, the journal eventually serving as an update/news center for deviants. (a much more focused version will appear on the traverse itself in the form of my blog for the company, once time opens to begin designing and tweaking a blog for it!)
- Coders, artists, writers and such: if you're good, and you know yer shit, we could use it. I'll be pitching some ideas in the near future and will need the people who are willing to volunteer the time and work to help bring them to fruition. People who provide serious and worthwhile work will be considered for contract or full time work later on when we have the funding capacity to begin bringing those positions onboard and paying them proper salaries. Until that time, we can certainly use things that help bring about awareness to our organisation itself and the charity services we are focusing on at any given time!


- theTraverse is a rather large scale non-profit effort. The basic goals are to more or less take over in all places charities are currently active, and to bring charity to things that no effective charity is currently in action. Each Division/JumpStart will not only work to raise its own funds and perform its own research and efforts, but will push awareness of other divisions that are relevant to the area they are active in, both in terms of geography and cause.
- It is expected that many of our initiatives, policies and goals will cause a stir. We plan to be much more aggressive then most charities are, and to adopt many Commercial Practices that can be successfully reapplied to a Non-Profit situation. We still suspect that some other Charities, and many Corporations who will have to deal with our Patent, Trademark and Licensing Policies, will voice dissent, and we welcome that, since it just makes us more visible.


- Charities are by law required to be transparent to a certain degree. Most times, we're not satisfied with the level of transparency that is offered. Those who research charities know that while we can see some of where fund raising and administrative costs are going, much is still left unexplained. In the same vein, many charities employee full-time people, and while we often can find out how much they make, we can't always find out what exactly it is they're doing that earns them this money.
- We intend to set a new standard in transparency. From simple things like full financial disclosure, to endorsing our employees and volunteers to speak out, on every level; whether it is positive or negative, if it will make a difference to people interested in investing their money in our efforts, we will look in to how we can make it transparent.
- Lots of little things will be done, from having the Directors and Chairpersons keep publicly visible & comment-able blogs, to a weekly newsletter (web and print) that will go in to our activities in-depth, Publicly visible Quarterly and Yearly reviews, and much more.


- How on earth do we make a charity OpenSource? Well, in the vein of code and such, we'll mostly rely on already OpenSource designs, such as WordPress for blogging, Wikis for Information Dissemination, etc. Where possible, we will utilize Creative Commons licensing on much of our Materials, on those Materials that are too costly for us to produce and give out freely, they will be provided on a Cost+Donation pricing scale.
- For example; A World Aware produces a Photo Book on Indian Culture. We secure 10,000 Educational Purchases and 20,000 Commercial Retailer Purchases. at 30,000, the book costs, in man hours, shipping and materials, $12.00 per copy. For the Educational Purchases, the set price will be $12.00. For Retailers, it will be set at $18.00 (6.00 built in donations.) While retailers will probably mark that up further, we have the power of restricting their markups and creating a concrete price. Since they are standard companies usually, we would price set at $19.95, still far cheaper then the average photo book! Now, lets say another charity wants to use a single photo from that book in their own materials. Cost? none! The photos themselves will carry Creative Commons licenses, with the only restrictions being Crediting The Traverse, and using it for Non-Profit Purposes. What if a Commercial Corporation wanted to use it? A Donation Payment would be negotiated that satisfies both us and the Commercial Corporation, or they would be denied use at all.
- Wikis? Now comes something that is almost entirely new. Our Divisions that are devoted to funding and performing research will provide the research, during and in conclusion, on publicly available wikis, and in published materials. The idea here is that we can prove that, for example, Stop Lyme is in fact making efforts in researching new treatments and procedures, and it can be readily made available to the entire medical community on the drop of a hat. Again, the entire site will revolve on a Creative Commons basis; we do NOT want Pharmaceuticals taking this research and putting their own Patents and Copyrights on it, and then producing these drugs at exorbitant rates. That, as we already know, has put a stranglehold on currently available drugs, where the drug is produced and sold cheaply in one place, but at high cost in others. We will set our own patents and copyrights on High Value materials, and Companies who wish to License them will face strict rules on their pricing and how they market and distribute the Pharmaceuticals.
- For interests where we fund outside research, the same agreements will be set up; the research must be publicly available, and any findings that are of value will be Copyrighted or Patented with strict Licensing Rules. We are not against Pharmaceuticals & Other Commercial Entities making a profit off producing the things our Funding & Research Develop, but we are against them making more then we see as a proper amount.
- Do we fear that these Companies will react by simply refusing to produce the drugs or treatments? Nope. There are Over-Seas Companies who are dying for this sort of licensing, where they can still generate strong profits by mass producing these drugs world wide, and we know they are more then ready to make these sorts of agreements, as it satisfies their desire to produce needed Drugs & Treatments, and it also puts them in a better light then the Corporations who turn down our licensing policies because the profit margin wasn't good enough.
- We expect these, and other "OpenSource Inspired" initiatives to make us controversial, and we welcome any controversy and spin that is thrown our way for it. It's free advertising, after all.


- As we grow, we will find ourselves working in the same areas as existing charities and trusts. We will aggressively push to merge them in to our charities, and set our own rules for collaboration. As part of our Transparency Initiative, we plan to be a force in Non-Profit, and we plan to grow enough that we will be a force they have to recognize and deal with. If we see they're doing things that are more effective, we will adopt those means, whether by merging them in to us, or simply taking a cut-throat route and adopting them in to our own.
- Collaboration will be treated with the same strict aggression. While we do welcome all charities to collaborate, and will offer them the "keys to the castle" so to speak, in terms of what methods and procedures we use that have made us cost effective and research/funding effective, we will aggressively push them to meet the same standards in effectiveness and transparency that we have set for ourselves.
- Charity is a noble cause, but not everyone in it today is as civic minded as we believe they should be. We implicitly expect charities to serve noble causes, but we also expect that some people involved may not be doing it for such noble purposes, and we intend to cull those people from every charity effort we can reach.
- Basically we may eventually be running hundreds of charity divisions under our roof, for that, theTraverse itself will stand as a portal of entry, to those looking to assist charities they are passionate for, those wanting to fund them, or those looking for their support, whether it be material, financial, or informational. theTraverse looks to provide a meld of two opposing worlds, the information sharing resources of the open source community, and the effective and successful strategies of major corporations.


- To start, we are opening theTraverse as a basically bare bones idea in dire need of people and funding. There is no money (aside what comes out of my pocket directly) in it at this time, and I'm developing the site and ideas almost alone, and fully with spare time i can squeak around my work schedule. My goal right now is to bring enough money in to set up a trust for theTraverse itself, so that i may devote full time to the project, and begin bringing volunteers on board, as well as converting them to paid, full time employees.
- People wise, what we need now are passionate people with talent. Whether your talent be connections to philanthropists or organizations who give heavily to charities, Strong Verbal and Written Skills, prior Marketing or PR work, Accounting, Law, Promotion or just hard, bare knuckle fund raising. We need everything we can get. Those who shine, who prove themselves in helping bring theTraverse off the ground, can look forward to offers for full-time employment, with pay equitable to the income of the charity and the merit of the work. We will not stiff our people, but we will not pay exorbitantly, you must have the passion to sacrifice the private sector's excess for the charity's passions. Think you have something real to offer? contact me.
- Money wise, every damned penny we can suck up counts. Once the first 100,000 is reached, i will quit my day job and devote full time to this project, and begin to devote full time to roving the world, begging for even more money and hard charging people. If you believe in this (and think you can trust me to honor my words) and have a penny to spare, contact me, and I'll get you the information for theTraverse's PayPal donations.


- A detailed review of what exactly we plan to do, point by point from for pre-federal recognition, early efforts, and continued fund raising efforts. (this will update as it is developed, and a much more in-depth account will be offered on the website.)

1. Fund Raising Drive to (pre) $100,000 mark.
- A. Establish Minimal Funding necessary for 1 year of bare bones operation.
- B. Raise Those funds. (All while establishing web presence and branding.)
- C. Apply for Federal 501c3 Corporation Status through a Specializing Attorney.
- D. While waiting for Confirmation ( 2-10 month process ) Continue Fund Raising and Other Detail Necessities.
- E. Begin Press Release and Online Advertising Campaigns.
- F. Once 501c3 is finalized, submit to Missouri and Illinois State Exemption Licenses. (Required since these are the founding states.)
- G. Begin Applications for State Exemption & Operating Licenses in other states (from the coasts inwards.)
- H. Finalize Federal Status of Slogan, Logo and other Trademarking Materials.

2. Reach $100,000 mark.
- A. Continue Raising for $1m mark.
- B. Contract Permanent Attorney and Accountant, formulate 3 year plans for first Trust Establishments.
- C. Take on The Traverse Full time (quitting day job, in other words.)
- D. Solicit Volunteers aggressively for development of newsletter and further fund raising campaigns.
- E. Aggressive push of local and internet based media/news outlets.
- F. Establish early communication with Similar Interest Charities.
- G. Aggressively Push and Schedule meetings with High Income Individuals and Corporations with Philanthropic records complimentary in interest to The Traverse.

3. Reach $1,000,000 mark.
- A. Negotiate first full time employees for Web Development, Fund Raising Organization, Etc.
- B. Continue fund raising to $10m mark.
- C. Begin branching fund raising efforts to focus on initial JumpStarts (Stop Lyme, A World Aware, DeTox)
- D. Expand Physical Media and Footwork into states where Operating Licenses are now approved.
- E. Development of Aggressive Media campaigns for The Traverse, Stop Lyme, A World Aware, DeTox.
- F. Establish Physical Main Office in St. Louis or other low cost city.
- G. Establish Out Reach Programs, such as Low Cost/No Cost Web Development and Maintenance for Other Charities. Charity Focused Hosting Solutions, Publication and Media Solutions. (Through A World Aware.)

4. Reach $10,000,000 mark.
- A. Negotiate Full Time Attorney and Accountant (payroll staff instead of contract work)
- B. Expand Employee Headcount in needed/critical areas.
- C. Establish Independent Trusts for A World Aware, Stop Lyme and DeTox.
- D. Assign Dedicated Board Representation for A World Aware, Stop Lyme and DeTox.
- E. Negotiate Early (minimum operating) staff for A World Aware, Stop Lyme and DeTox.
- F. Begin A World Aware, Stop Lyme and DeTox's independent roles as Autonomous Charities with The Traverse Supporting, Directing and Advising efforts.
- G. Review Suggested Charities and Interests, begin Board Discussion and Argumentation for next 3 JumpStarts to establish and aggressively push.
- H. Establish Needed Satellite Offices in Critical Locations.
- Begin Distributions of Research, Educational and Informational Media.
- Establish Databasing Sites tailored to providing the above information in digital formats.

5. Perpetual Plan
- A. Continued Fund Raising.
- B. Quarterly Evaluation of Active Jump Starts.
- C. Quarterly Re-Organization of Focused/Aggressive Fund Raising Efforts (3 Featured JumpStart Charities)
- D. Establishment of Autonomy for each Charity JumpStart as $1m-$5m Trust Foundation Goals are met. (Actual Trust Foundation Goal will vary with the needs of each Charity JumpStart)
- E. etc...

6. JumpStart Plans
- A. Upon Clearance to Operate Autonomously, begin solo Charity Pushes (utilizing A World Aware for media production & development.)
- B. Expand Goals and Presence.
- C. Provide Funding, Research, and other supports as Foundation's Objectives & Goals state.
- D. Participate in Monthly, Quarterly and Yearly Reviews via The Traverse for continual adjustment and plan expansion.
- E. etc...

- Obviously, this is more or less our 5 year plan and parts of the permanent plan, I aim to get Federal and Necessary State recognitions as soon as possible, but in discussion and review of other Charities (and Charity Focused Attorneys) materials, it is now an essential practice to begin fund raising early, so that the needed funds are available for the first year or more of bare bones operation (this is generally rationalized as letting the charity prove it can garner enough interest and support, and proving that the founders are as dedicated and capable as will be needed.)


- The focused charities will be known as JumpStarts when they are first established. JumpStarts will be chosen by incoming requests and suggestions from the public and the donators, the more requests a topic gets, the higher up the list it will go. Each time one of the three featured JumpStarts reaches its Trust Target, it will begin operating as its own Charity, with dedicated people, and the top suggestion will then be introduced as the next Featured JumpStart. The idea here is that we have a revolving door of featured Charities that we are pushing the hardest to get funding for, and have the highest genuine interest from those who will make it happen; the donators.

- Stop Lyme Is one of the first three we will one theTraverse with. Lyme Disease is an often debilitating and difficult to diagnose disease, and is often cited as the "modern day syphilis" due to its ability to give off false negatives, and mimic other diseases and illnesses, and hide behind them. It is considered a new discovery, and has all the controversy attached; it is not recognized as a chronic disorder, so insurance companies don't pay for treatment, and treatment itself is hit and miss, often not effective for many, and for others only relieves some symptoms. The goal of Stop Lyme is to raise research funding to find more effective treatments, tests, and bring affordable treatment and testing to the medical community, as well as an overall higher awareness for what is becoming a prevalent problem in the United States and Britain. As well, it will work to offer relief and respite to sufferers, providing information on their disease, its treatment and how to fight insurance claim denials, and monetary support where possible in their fights for treatment when other options have been exhausted. This basically amounts to our "out of the gate" Medical Fund, with its success will come the introduction of farther reaching, more globally impacting Medical JumpStarts.

- A World Aware will function as theTraverse's permanent media arm, but will begin as its own charity. The drive is to produce educational materials studying human culture and the environment around us. Offered in HD Quality Documentaries, Photo Books, and other Educational Materials, it will aim to provide these materials at cost to educational institutions with courses that are related to the work, and to interested Commercial Venus, for fixed prices that include costs + donation. As A World Aware grows, and theTraverse, it will transition in to documenting all the charities and producing all the media, from promotional, to educational and informational, for all of theTraverse's charities, again at cost, to the people and institutions who need them most.
- Further, A World Aware will be the production arm that offers its services to other charities and non-profits, providing at-cost (but soliciting support & donations) web design, printing, and other media solutions. This is our opportunity not only to lower our own costs, but to help lower costs for other charities.

- DeTox (working name) the world is plagued with problems, not the least of which is human interaction with animals. Particularly, poisonous creatures, from plants, animals, reptiles and insects to fish, cause debilitating injury and death throughout the world. in India, the "Big Four" venomous snakes claim thousands of lives every year, despite the development of effective treatments and anti-venin. On top of this, many medical institutions are confused, as there are many antivenin treatments but few clear cut guides on how and when to use them, worthy examples being Copperhead Snakes and Rattlesnakes; while rarely deadly, they cause excruciatingly painful bites that produce visually frightening results in the early hours of envenomation, As many doctors and staff do not see this often, they can often over-react, giving anti-venin where it may not be needed. The anti-venin for these snakes itself can be even deadlier then the venom itself, as Allergic Reactions are common due to the use of Horses in serum production, but a lack of treatment can allow these bites to cause permanent, and sometimes debilitating nerve and muscle damage. The goal of DeTox is to further research in proper preparation and treatment of toxic bites within the scope of their time critical nature, faster, better testing to provide accuracy in identifying what sort of toxins are present in the bites, alternative treatments to the use of anti-venin, and the production of safer, more effective anti-venin in larger quantities, and providing them to the places they are needed most.


- theTraverse has one major JumpStart that currently is sitting in the back burners due to the amount of funding and controversy it will produce. A Better World is dedicated to being an aggressive competitor and lobbying force in the Pharmaceutical world. The goal for A Better World is to fund and develop the most trademarks, copyrights and patents possible for effective treatment and drugs, and enforce strict licensing rules to restrict profit margins and increase availability.
- We expect a lot of challenges with this particular Division, as many Pharmaceuticals and such will obviously simply refuse to meet the goals and go about producing an alternative solution that they can market with their existing price and profit scales; enforcing their existing structure of faked shortages and biased pricing. We do know there are Over-Seas producers that will meet this effort with open arms, and that through recognizing them as viable alternative producers, we can force the major Pharmaceuticals into a corner; produce the drug with lowered profit margin, or short sell the market with the high end drug where the low cost solution isn't allowed to be imported until it gains the importation permits, or the restrictive patents, trademarks and copyrights fall out and it becomes a public commodity that render their alternative entirely unmarketable.
- A major part of this effort will be the research and funding of research in to new drugs for global or overseas-specific ailments. By taking away their overseas profits entirely, we essentially force them in to a position where they can only work within the countries that frown on the importers bringing their drugs to the Western World, severely smashing their overall profit margin and forcing them to reconsider their position.
- This is intended to be our first major coup d'état, and we intend to use it as a model platform once it is producing results to launch other large scale changes in charity itself and other industries that serve the greater good, but may currently run under heavy profit based motives.


theTraverse.org is the future home to all this,and i am actively building the site now. (we will need full time, talented developers with php, css, ajax and rails competency, as well as people with varied and effective web design skills. again, this starts volunteer, with the opportunity for full-time, paid work, as every charity will have its own connected site, and we will offer at-cost design solutions to other charities!) keep your eyes open there and here for more news, and if you got a spare buck, or some spare time and talent, lend us some help!