Rumble, Rumble... I had a much better day than yesterday, but my stomach is still rocking and rolling.
What I've discovered over the last few hours, now that the event is nearly over, is that many of the panels are being streamed and recorded by ustream.tv. I don't know much about the video website, but they're basic recordings, sound works most of the time, focus is off because they're using basic video cameras, etc. I don't know if this is the first time that they've done this or not, but it can only get better year after year. I see some other events and videos that I'd like to see as well coming up.
Anyway, several things happened that I want to write about. I may have to do this in a few segments, since it's now 10:26, and my stomach ain't calming down, even after hearing the most articulate, and best dressed, speaker of the night go until 10:15. Give it up for Donna Edwards. No, seriously, give it up. She's running again in November, and after that speech if I had the money to max out I would just to her. I just need to save it for this hotel bill...
More tomorrow.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
C-SPAN, get real...
I wonder how much money Real is paying the National Cable Satellite Corporation so that many of the videos posted on C-SPAN.org are only available in Real Player format. I'd really rather not have to install another fricken piece of software on my laptop if I don't absolutely have to.
Netroots Nation, Saturday Morning
I'm on a serious high.
As frustrating as it is for us to hear Nancy Pelosi basically filibuster the questions about impeachment and holding the criminal traitors in the Bush Administration accountable for their crimes, it's still a thrill to be in the same room with one of the most powerful women on the planet. My personal opinion is that she is doing the best she can. She can do better, but only with more Democrats in the House that don't stop her from being bold. Don't stop being frustrated with her, but let's be understanding on what she needs to push HR 676, an end to the war, No child left behind, etc. She needs the blue dogs to lose primary races. She needs Republicans to lose their seats.
Then a question came up about climate change, and the challenge that Al Gore put out on Thursday to produce 100% of our electricity in the US from renewable sources in 10 years. Many people were in on the surprise, but when Vice President Gore walked out on that stage, I finally found the energy to produce more noise with my voice than what was coming out of my insides. I was in tears. Ok, sure, I'm a Gorite. Whatever. I'm still in tears.
It gets better. After the first round of questions, Jeffery Feldman who was fielding the questions saw my hand. So I was able to ask a question. If I can ever find it on YouTube or C-Span, I'll post a link. ((Update: found a c-span page. Video is not up yet, but this is where it will be.))
But, stomach growling to beat the band, I have a serious high going right now listening to Darcy, Dean and David talk about working outside of the box.
As frustrating as it is for us to hear Nancy Pelosi basically filibuster the questions about impeachment and holding the criminal traitors in the Bush Administration accountable for their crimes, it's still a thrill to be in the same room with one of the most powerful women on the planet. My personal opinion is that she is doing the best she can. She can do better, but only with more Democrats in the House that don't stop her from being bold. Don't stop being frustrated with her, but let's be understanding on what she needs to push HR 676, an end to the war, No child left behind, etc. She needs the blue dogs to lose primary races. She needs Republicans to lose their seats.
Then a question came up about climate change, and the challenge that Al Gore put out on Thursday to produce 100% of our electricity in the US from renewable sources in 10 years. Many people were in on the surprise, but when Vice President Gore walked out on that stage, I finally found the energy to produce more noise with my voice than what was coming out of my insides. I was in tears. Ok, sure, I'm a Gorite. Whatever. I'm still in tears.
It gets better. After the first round of questions, Jeffery Feldman who was fielding the questions saw my hand. So I was able to ask a question. If I can ever find it on YouTube or C-Span, I'll post a link. ((Update: found a c-span page. Video is not up yet, but this is where it will be.))
But, stomach growling to beat the band, I have a serious high going right now listening to Darcy, Dean and David talk about working outside of the box.
Netroots Nation, Friday
Lesson number one in Texas. Don't trust the catfish. I'm typing this on Saturday morning because I got hit on Friday "morning" (think 2-3 am) with some of the worst food poisoning that I have ever experienced. I couldn't leave my room for the entire day, and got sleep in fits and starts. During the event with Nancy Pelosi, I was worried that my stomach would drown out the speakers.
So, that was Friday. I don't want to dwell on it.
However, I want to put out a shout to Lynn Allen, someone that I am going to describe here as the Den Mother of the Washington State contingent here at Netroots Nation. She got an email from my wife asking for help, and left the Energizing America panel to find a drug store so I could get some Pepto Bismol. I asked Debi to contact her because I knew she would follow through. And she did. Thanks, Lynn!!!
So, that was Friday. I don't want to dwell on it.
However, I want to put out a shout to Lynn Allen, someone that I am going to describe here as the Den Mother of the Washington State contingent here at Netroots Nation. She got an email from my wife asking for help, and left the Energizing America panel to find a drug store so I could get some Pepto Bismol. I asked Debi to contact her because I knew she would follow through. And she did. Thanks, Lynn!!!
Netroots Nation, Thursday
Two of the exhibitors caught my attention.
The Roosevelt Institution is a nonprofit, nonpartisan national network of campus-based student think tanks. The people behind the table were young guys who could have been part of the LaRouche movement if they had turned off their brains. I'm glad they didn't.
The "Texas Table" was a table where a bunch of Texas nonprofits got together and shared time and space. I think dealing directly with nonprofit organizations is something that the political and activist groups should be doing more and more often.
Thursday for dinner I went back to the Moonshine Bar & Grill, and enjoyed their catfish.
The Roosevelt Institution is a nonprofit, nonpartisan national network of campus-based student think tanks. The people behind the table were young guys who could have been part of the LaRouche movement if they had turned off their brains. I'm glad they didn't.
The "Texas Table" was a table where a bunch of Texas nonprofits got together and shared time and space. I think dealing directly with nonprofit organizations is something that the political and activist groups should be doing more and more often.
Thursday for dinner I went back to the Moonshine Bar & Grill, and enjoyed their catfish.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Netroots Nation, Day 1
Registration went smooth, and I was able to get a good wireless signal to call Oakland Lost and Found. I highly recommend Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill!!! Finally met Charles Chamberlin from DFA, and I'm seeing a lot of people from Washington. We have quite a crowd here, which is good to see. Maybe we should try hosting one of these some year.
I remember one of the Boston events I was at a few years ago, I think January of 2007, where I was interviewed by someone from the BBC. Just an audio interview, and I couldn't find it online. This time, it was Channel 42, KEYE. A full length interview on what blogging means to me and how it grew after the Dean campaign blog in 2004. I hope I did them proud. We'll see tonight at 10.
Howard Dean is giving the keynote speech tonight, and then there is a DFA Caucus meeting between 9:15 and 10:00. Another late night, I think. I am enjoying this, however.
I remember one of the Boston events I was at a few years ago, I think January of 2007, where I was interviewed by someone from the BBC. Just an audio interview, and I couldn't find it online. This time, it was Channel 42, KEYE. A full length interview on what blogging means to me and how it grew after the Dean campaign blog in 2004. I hope I did them proud. We'll see tonight at 10.
Howard Dean is giving the keynote speech tonight, and then there is a DFA Caucus meeting between 9:15 and 10:00. Another late night, I think. I am enjoying this, however.
Netroots Nation, Day 0
Some people flew into Netroots Nation. Others drove or took the train. I decided to make it complicated. At the end of a 2 week visit by my sons, Daniel and Shea, we took the train from Seattle to San Francisco (Emeryville, just north of Oakland), then I flew from Oakland to Dallas/Ft Worth and then to Austin. I love the train.
During the day. At night is another story. I found out that I can't sleep on the train any better than I can sleep on an airplane. It's a 24 hour trip from Seattle to Emeryville, and I think I got about 2 hours sleep. We got in about 8:45, and Sarah gave me a ride to the Oakland Airport. Got checked in and ready to go about 9:30, and waited until 2:40. The wireless was not free in Oakland, so I couldn't access the Internet to find anything. I even tried Clearwire, but no signal. Clearwire outside of Seattle seems to be a bust.
In Dallas, I tried again. Or at least I would have if I hadn't left my Clearwire modem in Oakland. I'm waiting for Lost and Found to get back to me. I finally got to Austin around midnight, and after a little confusion on which Hilton I needed to get to, finally got to the hotel around 2am. Guess what, wireless is not free in the downtown Hilton either. Only in the conference center. Oh well, at least I could sleep.
During the day. At night is another story. I found out that I can't sleep on the train any better than I can sleep on an airplane. It's a 24 hour trip from Seattle to Emeryville, and I think I got about 2 hours sleep. We got in about 8:45, and Sarah gave me a ride to the Oakland Airport. Got checked in and ready to go about 9:30, and waited until 2:40. The wireless was not free in Oakland, so I couldn't access the Internet to find anything. I even tried Clearwire, but no signal. Clearwire outside of Seattle seems to be a bust.
In Dallas, I tried again. Or at least I would have if I hadn't left my Clearwire modem in Oakland. I'm waiting for Lost and Found to get back to me. I finally got to Austin around midnight, and after a little confusion on which Hilton I needed to get to, finally got to the hotel around 2am. Guess what, wireless is not free in the downtown Hilton either. Only in the conference center. Oh well, at least I could sleep.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Ah, Seattle
Pride was cool. Actually it was hot. 91 on Saturday, probably the same on Sunday. Ack.
One thing I want to mention. The City of Seattle had a series of trucks in the Parade. One plug in hybrid, followed by 3 big city light trucks. It was supposed to be for SeattleCAN (Climate Action Now). So here's my question. Why did the city have trucks that get maybe 10 miles per gallon in a parade float series for reducing our footprint? Were they supposed to be balancing out the Prius? I see a logic error there.
Also, how many solar panels have been installed by Seattle City Light over the past month? The past year? The past two TERMS of Mayor Greg Nickels? Don't get me wrong, I think he's a great guy, and a great Democrat. He is a leader in the fight. But, seriously, where are the solar panels? Nowhere. The only set that I know of is at the Seattle Center, and I think they were installed before Greg took office.
Walk, Talk. KnowatImean?
One thing I want to mention. The City of Seattle had a series of trucks in the Parade. One plug in hybrid, followed by 3 big city light trucks. It was supposed to be for SeattleCAN (Climate Action Now). So here's my question. Why did the city have trucks that get maybe 10 miles per gallon in a parade float series for reducing our footprint? Were they supposed to be balancing out the Prius? I see a logic error there.
Also, how many solar panels have been installed by Seattle City Light over the past month? The past year? The past two TERMS of Mayor Greg Nickels? Don't get me wrong, I think he's a great guy, and a great Democrat. He is a leader in the fight. But, seriously, where are the solar panels? Nowhere. The only set that I know of is at the Seattle Center, and I think they were installed before Greg took office.
Walk, Talk. KnowatImean?
Saturday, June 28, 2008
The best networking tools around
Back in 2004, when Meetup.com decided that they would start charging for their services, DFA launched DFA Link to help our members connect with each other and organize at the grassroots level. When Howard Dean moved from DFA to the DNC, he had a new set of these networking tools developed and launched. Senator Barack Obama grabbed the same set of tools, literally from the same vendor, and built My.BarackObama.com to help his supporters organize in order to win the Primary. Now we're going to use them to win the General Election, and we're going to keep organizing after November to continue to build our movement. No more pendulum swings back and forth. We're headed into the future, damn the torpedos, full speed ahead!
What I had not seen yet is a way to bring these tools together. There is a wall between DFA and the other two groups because we are a PAC, but there is nothing preventing links to all tools coming from a single page. Now there is.
Find more Democrats!
The links on this page will take you to all of the websites around the Web that have been designed to help Democrats and Progressives self-organize.
Each of the services give registered users the ability to search for people who live close to them, form groups of people for a specific area or issue, and organize events to bring people together. We encourage everyone to join one or more of these services and start having a conversation with your neighbors on what direction we want the country to go, and more importantly WHY. This is what the grassroots is all about.
The table on that page came from a work in progress that I'm building. You may have seen some posts from me about Wikia, which is a for-profit advertising funded website launched by Jimmy Wales using the same technology as Wikipedia and Dkosopedia. In July of 2006, Wales launched Campaigns.Wikia, a site set up for people to collaborate on campaigns around the country, and actually globally. I signed on as a volunteer admin. I also found that someone had launched Left.Wikia, and had let it lapse. I've been using it ever since.
One of the things that I am using it for is to keep track of the infrastructure of the Democratic Party and Progressives around the country. I built a list of how each and every county in the country, over 3,000 of them, did in the 2004 election for John Kerry. Bush won most of the counties. Whether McCain will follow in his footsteps is up to us.
Each county page being built on Left.Wikia is a place to provide us with information about how the Party infrastructure is organized, who the candidates are up and down the ticket, and how we can find each other and do the campaign work to get those candidates into office. But just like Wikipedia, this resource is being built one edit, one page at a time. I need help. If you would like to help, please create an account on Wikia and start adding information. It's as easy as Edit, Type, Save, and I can answer any questions on what the plans are in the forums. This is not my personal project. If I wanted this to be under my control, I'd be using PHP on my own server. This is a community project, and I'm asking for help.
If we focus our efforts and resources, not just in a 50 state strategy, but in a 3,000 county strategy, we can win the 2008 election in a landslide not seen since 1932. It's not just about getting enough to win 270 electoral votes. It's about winning a supermajority in the House, the Senate, state legislatures, county government and city government. It's about moving into the future, and never looking back, except to learn the lessons of the past when making plans for a future that we can be proud to give to our kids and grandkids.
What I had not seen yet is a way to bring these tools together. There is a wall between DFA and the other two groups because we are a PAC, but there is nothing preventing links to all tools coming from a single page. Now there is.
Find more Democrats!
The links on this page will take you to all of the websites around the Web that have been designed to help Democrats and Progressives self-organize.
Each of the services give registered users the ability to search for people who live close to them, form groups of people for a specific area or issue, and organize events to bring people together. We encourage everyone to join one or more of these services and start having a conversation with your neighbors on what direction we want the country to go, and more importantly WHY. This is what the grassroots is all about.
The table on that page came from a work in progress that I'm building. You may have seen some posts from me about Wikia, which is a for-profit advertising funded website launched by Jimmy Wales using the same technology as Wikipedia and Dkosopedia. In July of 2006, Wales launched Campaigns.Wikia, a site set up for people to collaborate on campaigns around the country, and actually globally. I signed on as a volunteer admin. I also found that someone had launched Left.Wikia, and had let it lapse. I've been using it ever since.
One of the things that I am using it for is to keep track of the infrastructure of the Democratic Party and Progressives around the country. I built a list of how each and every county in the country, over 3,000 of them, did in the 2004 election for John Kerry. Bush won most of the counties. Whether McCain will follow in his footsteps is up to us.
Each county page being built on Left.Wikia is a place to provide us with information about how the Party infrastructure is organized, who the candidates are up and down the ticket, and how we can find each other and do the campaign work to get those candidates into office. But just like Wikipedia, this resource is being built one edit, one page at a time. I need help. If you would like to help, please create an account on Wikia and start adding information. It's as easy as Edit, Type, Save, and I can answer any questions on what the plans are in the forums. This is not my personal project. If I wanted this to be under my control, I'd be using PHP on my own server. This is a community project, and I'm asking for help.
If we focus our efforts and resources, not just in a 50 state strategy, but in a 3,000 county strategy, we can win the 2008 election in a landslide not seen since 1932. It's not just about getting enough to win 270 electoral votes. It's about winning a supermajority in the House, the Senate, state legislatures, county government and city government. It's about moving into the future, and never looking back, except to learn the lessons of the past when making plans for a future that we can be proud to give to our kids and grandkids.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Watch your back, Big Eddie
I listen to the Ed Schultz Show in the noon-3 timeslot on AM1090 in Seattle. He announced today that the Jones Radio Network has been bought out by Triton Radio Networks.
- Press release from Jones
- Triton Media Group has their press release embedded into their flash pages.
So I did some research and edited some articles on Wikipedia, and got worried.
About Jones International
Formed in 1969, Jones International™, Ltd. (JI) is the corporate parent of multiple subsidiaries in the Internet, e-commerce, software, education, and entertainment industries. Jones International is wholly owned by Glenn R. Jones who serves as JI's Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President. The JI companies cover a wide range of products and services, from online learning software and the nation's first fully accredited 100-percent cyber university, to television programming.About Triton Media Group
Triton Media Group is the leading supplier of web content, digital products and interactive media tools to the media industry. Its suite of applications, services and content including the offerings of MJI Interactive, Mass to One, Stream the World, and Music To Go, provide proven traffic driving and revenue generating results to broadcasters. Triton Radio Networks is a wholly owned subsidiary of Triton Media Group and is the parent company of Dial Global.About Dial Global
Dial Global is radio’s largest full-service, independent radio network, providing national advertising sales representation for radio programs and networks in addition to Dial Global’s own programming and services. Dial-Global Programming produces and syndicates music programs and prep services in a variety of formats to more than radio stations nationwide including the Jones Digital Formats and the Dial Global Digital 24/7 Network.About Oaktree Capital Management
Oaktree is a global independent investment management firm with over $54 billion in assets under management in specialized investment strategies. The firm emphasizes an opportunistic, value-oriented and risk-controlled approach to investments in distressed debt, high yield bonds, convertible securities, specialized private equity (including power infrastructure), real estate, emerging market and Japanese equity securities, and mezzanine finance. Oaktree was founded in 1995 by a group of principals who have worked together since the mid-1980s. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the firm and its affiliates today has over 460 employees in 13 offices worldwide.
Digging a little deeper, I found this page on Google Finance. Looking at the news articles listed, that's where I started getting worried. This article from Reuters tells some disturbing news:
Oaktree urges Chinese companies to buy U.S. brand names
By Alison Tudor, Asia Private Equity Correspondent
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Investment firm Oaktree Capital Management said it is looking to help Chinese companies acquire brand-name companies in the United States.
Many Chinese companies, starved of capital by tumbling stock markets and turmoil in the credit markets, are looking to private equity firms to help them finance their global expansion.
"It's probably the first time that Chinese companies have had a window of this magnitude into the U.S. market to buy companies with attractive assets, like a brand name," said Bill Kerins, a senior investment professional at Oaktree, during the Reuters Hedge Funds and Private Equity Summit in Hong Kong.
So we have a global finance company trying to help China buy out America now setting up a media company, Triton, that is buying out radio companies like the Ed Schultz Show. As much as I know Eddie will say it will have no effect on the content of his show, it's just another example of how the conservative ideology is selling out America.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
It's election day somewhere.
The sun is hot and the calendar pages are flipping slow
And so am I
Election season passes like molasses in wintertime
But it's July
Registering new voters every hour and getting older by the minute
These candidates just pushed me over the limit
I'd like to call 'em something
I think I'll just call it a day
Pour me something tall and strong
Make it a Hurricane before I go insane
It's nomination day, but I don't care
It's election day somewhere
Well this election is gonna take all year
And half the people (+1)
Come January there'll be hell to pay
Hey, but that's alright
I ain't had a day off now in over a year
My Seattle vacation's gonna start right here
If that email's for me
You can tell them I just sailed away
And pour me something tall and strong
Make it a Hurricane before I go insane
It's only Primary day, but I don't care
It's election day somewhere
I could pay off my tab
Pour myself in a cab
And be back in Pioneer Square by two
At a moment like this
I can't help but wonder:
What would Jimmy Buffett do?
He'd say: Pour me something tall and strong
Make it a Hurricane before I go insane
It's only election day, but I won't swoon
It's inauguration day sometime soon
http://lyricwiki.org
And so am I
Election season passes like molasses in wintertime
But it's July
Registering new voters every hour and getting older by the minute
These candidates just pushed me over the limit
I'd like to call 'em something
I think I'll just call it a day
Pour me something tall and strong
Make it a Hurricane before I go insane
It's nomination day, but I don't care
It's election day somewhere
Well this election is gonna take all year
And half the people (+1)
Come January there'll be hell to pay
Hey, but that's alright
I ain't had a day off now in over a year
My Seattle vacation's gonna start right here
If that email's for me
You can tell them I just sailed away
And pour me something tall and strong
Make it a Hurricane before I go insane
It's only Primary day, but I don't care
It's election day somewhere
I could pay off my tab
Pour myself in a cab
And be back in Pioneer Square by two
At a moment like this
I can't help but wonder:
What would Jimmy Buffett do?
He'd say: Pour me something tall and strong
Make it a Hurricane before I go insane
It's only election day, but I won't swoon
It's inauguration day sometime soon
http://lyricwiki.org
Here's wishing I could drink...
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Living in Allentown
I was barely politically aware at all before the 2000 election. I only got active in 2003. These last few weeks I've been enjoying Pandora.com, and set a "station" to play songs like Elvis Costello. Billy Joel's Allentown came on, but this was a live version that I had never heard before. For the first time, I could actually understand the words...
--
Well, we're living here in Allentown
And they're closing all the factories down
Out in Bethlehem they're killing time
Filling out forms
Standing in line
Well, our fathers fought the second World War
Spent their weekends on the Jersey shore
Met our mothers in the USO
Asked them to dance
Danced with them slow
And we're living here in Allentown
But the restlessness was handed down
And it's getting very hard to stay
Well we're waiting here in Allentown
For the Pennsylvania we never found
For the promises our teachers gave
If we worked hard
If we behaved
So the graduations hang on the wall
But they never really helped us at all
No they never taught us what was real
Iron and coke
Chromium Steel
And we're waiting here in Allentown
But they've taken all the coal from the ground
And the union people crawled away
Every child had a pretty good shot
To get at least as far as their old man got
But something happened on the way to that place
They threw an American flag in our face
Well, I'm living here in Allentown
And it's hard to keep a good man down
But I won't be getting up today
And it's getting very hard to stay
And we're living here in Allentown
--
Thanks Billy, for reminding us of the change we need.
--
Well, we're living here in Allentown
And they're closing all the factories down
Out in Bethlehem they're killing time
Filling out forms
Standing in line
Well, our fathers fought the second World War
Spent their weekends on the Jersey shore
Met our mothers in the USO
Asked them to dance
Danced with them slow
And we're living here in Allentown
But the restlessness was handed down
And it's getting very hard to stay
Well we're waiting here in Allentown
For the Pennsylvania we never found
For the promises our teachers gave
If we worked hard
If we behaved
So the graduations hang on the wall
But they never really helped us at all
No they never taught us what was real
Iron and coke
Chromium Steel
And we're waiting here in Allentown
But they've taken all the coal from the ground
And the union people crawled away
Every child had a pretty good shot
To get at least as far as their old man got
But something happened on the way to that place
They threw an American flag in our face
Well, I'm living here in Allentown
And it's hard to keep a good man down
But I won't be getting up today
And it's getting very hard to stay
And we're living here in Allentown
--
Thanks Billy, for reminding us of the change we need.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Mr. Coleman doesn't believe in Global Warming
RE: http://www.kusi.com/weather/colemanscorner/19842304.html
The issue is not whether Climate Change is due to man’s influence on the atmosphere, sun spots or any other potential source for the hundreds of thousands of variables that affect our global climate. I personally believe that the Industrial Revolution has increased the carbon in the atmosphere from 280ppm to 385ppm over the last 200 years, and this has destabilized our climate. But the important point is that it doesn’t matter.
No scientist, no matter their position on man’s influence on the climate, would argue that the changes we are going to be dealing with are an illusion. Everyone agrees that things are changing, even John Coleman. So how do we frame this?
The crux of the discussion, given Mr. Coleman’s concerns and stand, needs to be whether the Hubbard Peak is real or not. The Hubbard Peak is where we hit the midpoint in oil production, making it more and more expensive to draw oil out of the ground. There are some people who believe that the oil fields are being replenished from even larger deposits that we haven’t found, or that oil is a natural mineral product of the earth and not sourced from the organic material from 200-300 million years ago.
If the Hubbard Peak is real, then we have likely hit the peak and oil will be more and more expensive to discover, produce, refine, etc. If it is not, then Mr. Coleman’s arguments might have weight. Not many people stand with him, however.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil
Here’s another important point. What is the opportunity cost? Of doing nothing, of changing our country to protect the environment, or of continuing to argue instead of act.
If people who believe that man has had an influence on climate are wrong, what would be the result of following the plan, establishing caps on carbon, and the other means of trying to reduce the CO2 in our atmosphere? Stronger infrastructure with rail and renewable able to help us transport people, goods and services from place to place around the country and around the world faster and cheaper than ever. A better educated workforce, more competitive with other nations and able to handle whatever challenge is thrown at them. Moon anyone? And if we’re right, we’ll save the biosphere from destruction.
If people who believe that man has had no influence on climate are right, and we do nothing, what would be the result? The exact opposite, but with the side “benefit” of giving our large energy corporations more opportunities to rip oil and coal out of the environment in order to fill their own bank accounts, and the campaign coffers of the politicians that support them. A Depression that will make the 1930’s look like a joke because the American people will continue to have their social services, safety net, educational foundation and every other legal, financial, economic and social pillar that keeps the wonderful civilization that Mr. Coleman is talking about operational ripped to shreds by the very people, groups and ideologies that the United States of America was founded to throw out of our lives in the first place. If they’re wrong, the biosphere is toast.
Pick the path we wish to walk, and let’s walk together. I’m walking towards Peace on the path of Collaboration and Cooperation. Mr. Coleman is walking towards Power on the path of Control.
The issue is not whether Climate Change is due to man’s influence on the atmosphere, sun spots or any other potential source for the hundreds of thousands of variables that affect our global climate. I personally believe that the Industrial Revolution has increased the carbon in the atmosphere from 280ppm to 385ppm over the last 200 years, and this has destabilized our climate. But the important point is that it doesn’t matter.
No scientist, no matter their position on man’s influence on the climate, would argue that the changes we are going to be dealing with are an illusion. Everyone agrees that things are changing, even John Coleman. So how do we frame this?
The crux of the discussion, given Mr. Coleman’s concerns and stand, needs to be whether the Hubbard Peak is real or not. The Hubbard Peak is where we hit the midpoint in oil production, making it more and more expensive to draw oil out of the ground. There are some people who believe that the oil fields are being replenished from even larger deposits that we haven’t found, or that oil is a natural mineral product of the earth and not sourced from the organic material from 200-300 million years ago.
If the Hubbard Peak is real, then we have likely hit the peak and oil will be more and more expensive to discover, produce, refine, etc. If it is not, then Mr. Coleman’s arguments might have weight. Not many people stand with him, however.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil
Here’s another important point. What is the opportunity cost? Of doing nothing, of changing our country to protect the environment, or of continuing to argue instead of act.
If people who believe that man has had an influence on climate are wrong, what would be the result of following the plan, establishing caps on carbon, and the other means of trying to reduce the CO2 in our atmosphere? Stronger infrastructure with rail and renewable able to help us transport people, goods and services from place to place around the country and around the world faster and cheaper than ever. A better educated workforce, more competitive with other nations and able to handle whatever challenge is thrown at them. Moon anyone? And if we’re right, we’ll save the biosphere from destruction.
If people who believe that man has had no influence on climate are right, and we do nothing, what would be the result? The exact opposite, but with the side “benefit” of giving our large energy corporations more opportunities to rip oil and coal out of the environment in order to fill their own bank accounts, and the campaign coffers of the politicians that support them. A Depression that will make the 1930’s look like a joke because the American people will continue to have their social services, safety net, educational foundation and every other legal, financial, economic and social pillar that keeps the wonderful civilization that Mr. Coleman is talking about operational ripped to shreds by the very people, groups and ideologies that the United States of America was founded to throw out of our lives in the first place. If they’re wrong, the biosphere is toast.
Pick the path we wish to walk, and let’s walk together. I’m walking towards Peace on the path of Collaboration and Cooperation. Mr. Coleman is walking towards Power on the path of Control.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Dear Rep. Burton
Thank you for your speech about ANWR yesterday on the House Floor. The Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge. About drilling for oil in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge. Oil that we will drill using methods that pollute the environment. Oil that we will convert into gasoline by processes that pollute our environment. Oil that we will burn to produce electricity, gasoline that we will burn in our vehicles to help us commute to work, putting the exhaust into the atmosphere.
You raise an interesting point in claiming that OPEC and other oil producing countries would lower their prices if they suddenly see that they have "competition". And so I ask you, sir, how long it would take to bring the oil in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge to the market? How long would it take to bring the oil that is potentially along the continental shelf to the market? I am hearing 4 years before we see anything that could even potentially pull down oil or gas prices. In the meantime, we will see those prices continue to go up and up and up.
$5.00 per gallon? $6? $10? How high will they go? Your position is based on the idea that companies will lower their prices because they don't want to gouge the American People. I don't agree with that assumption. I am of the opinion that if they could get away with it, the gas companies would be charging us $20 per gallon. Because they don't care. And by supporting the gas companies, I question whether you care as well. At least, I question your assumptions.
Not one more gallon of oil should be pulled from the ground. Not one more gallon of gas should be burned in our cars. Not until the carbon level in the atmosphere returns to the safe level of 280 PPM. Not 350, which is a level that might prevent the worst climate change disasters according to our scientists. 280, which was the level before the Industrial Revolution started in the late 1700's. When our global population was a sustainable 1 billion people. We are approaching 7 billion people, on a world that can handle 1.
I believe that the American people understand this, Mr. Burton. I believe that the American people care about our kids. I believe you do as well. It's just that you seem to care more for the profits of our largest and most powerful corporations.
You raise an interesting point in claiming that OPEC and other oil producing countries would lower their prices if they suddenly see that they have "competition". And so I ask you, sir, how long it would take to bring the oil in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge to the market? How long would it take to bring the oil that is potentially along the continental shelf to the market? I am hearing 4 years before we see anything that could even potentially pull down oil or gas prices. In the meantime, we will see those prices continue to go up and up and up.
$5.00 per gallon? $6? $10? How high will they go? Your position is based on the idea that companies will lower their prices because they don't want to gouge the American People. I don't agree with that assumption. I am of the opinion that if they could get away with it, the gas companies would be charging us $20 per gallon. Because they don't care. And by supporting the gas companies, I question whether you care as well. At least, I question your assumptions.
Not one more gallon of oil should be pulled from the ground. Not one more gallon of gas should be burned in our cars. Not until the carbon level in the atmosphere returns to the safe level of 280 PPM. Not 350, which is a level that might prevent the worst climate change disasters according to our scientists. 280, which was the level before the Industrial Revolution started in the late 1700's. When our global population was a sustainable 1 billion people. We are approaching 7 billion people, on a world that can handle 1.
I believe that the American people understand this, Mr. Burton. I believe that the American people care about our kids. I believe you do as well. It's just that you seem to care more for the profits of our largest and most powerful corporations.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Answer to editorial on Clean Elections
Mr. Maurer and Keller from the Institute for Justice lay out the Libertarian position against publicly owned elections very well. But so much of their argument is based in outdated ideology, I just had to respond.
I question their definition of "special interest", and whether it applies to the Institute for Justice and/or to Washington Public Campaigns. I'm sitting in a meeting of the WPC group while I type this, and everyone around the table is focused on the community that our elected officials are trying to serve. Does that qualify them as a "special interest"? Special Interests, at least those that are vilified by all sides of the ideological debate, are lobbyists, groups and individuals that want special favors for themselves or their clients, and advocate for those special favors from the government. I do not see Washington Public Campaigns advocating for anything more than to open the electoral process to anyone who wants to represent their community.
"Traditional campaigns" are typically where candidates are distracted from their important work of listening to the people they are trying to represent and instead spend much of their time "dialing for dollars", trying to keep up with the other candidates in the "horse race", which is the primary object that our media uses to decide who to cover. Issues facing the community take a back seat to the monthly or quarterly financial reports of the campaigns. I don't want any more "traditional campaigns". I want campaigns that push forward candidates that will listen and represent the people in their community. Candidates for office who wish to "fill their campaign coffers" do so only because it is the only way to pay the outrageous expenses associated with running for office in the current media market. Advertising in newspapers, television, radio, and by mail is pushing the limits for anyone who wants to represent their neighbors in the important decisions that affect our lives.
Citizens shouldn't be distracted from the issues that they care about by the candidate asking them for money. With prices going up on everything else, being asked for money should be the last thing we hear from someone also asking for our vote.
Our tax dollars go to many programs that we as individuals disagree with, from both sides of the isle. Examples include the Iraq War, tax breaks for oil companies, welfare and social programs, the interest on the National Debt that we paid $400 Billion dollars toward last year. I would much rather pay a small amount of money to candidates that I wouldn't necessarily vote for through my taxes than have the people in office take so much more of my tax dollars for programs that I don't support because they only listen to the people who finance their campaigns.
Publicly funded campaigns are not financing candidates, as much as they are trying to ensure that the debates we are engaged in are truly fair and balanced. If laws are not enacted to ensure that the resources available to the various sides of the debate on where our community should go are balanced, the side that gets the most money also gets the most media exposure and is thus much more likely to win the election, whether or not it is in the best interest of the community. Let's have a serious debate on the issues, and stop letting money be such a distraction.
I question their definition of "special interest", and whether it applies to the Institute for Justice and/or to Washington Public Campaigns. I'm sitting in a meeting of the WPC group while I type this, and everyone around the table is focused on the community that our elected officials are trying to serve. Does that qualify them as a "special interest"? Special Interests, at least those that are vilified by all sides of the ideological debate, are lobbyists, groups and individuals that want special favors for themselves or their clients, and advocate for those special favors from the government. I do not see Washington Public Campaigns advocating for anything more than to open the electoral process to anyone who wants to represent their community.
"Traditional campaigns" are typically where candidates are distracted from their important work of listening to the people they are trying to represent and instead spend much of their time "dialing for dollars", trying to keep up with the other candidates in the "horse race", which is the primary object that our media uses to decide who to cover. Issues facing the community take a back seat to the monthly or quarterly financial reports of the campaigns. I don't want any more "traditional campaigns". I want campaigns that push forward candidates that will listen and represent the people in their community. Candidates for office who wish to "fill their campaign coffers" do so only because it is the only way to pay the outrageous expenses associated with running for office in the current media market. Advertising in newspapers, television, radio, and by mail is pushing the limits for anyone who wants to represent their neighbors in the important decisions that affect our lives.
Citizens shouldn't be distracted from the issues that they care about by the candidate asking them for money. With prices going up on everything else, being asked for money should be the last thing we hear from someone also asking for our vote.
Our tax dollars go to many programs that we as individuals disagree with, from both sides of the isle. Examples include the Iraq War, tax breaks for oil companies, welfare and social programs, the interest on the National Debt that we paid $400 Billion dollars toward last year. I would much rather pay a small amount of money to candidates that I wouldn't necessarily vote for through my taxes than have the people in office take so much more of my tax dollars for programs that I don't support because they only listen to the people who finance their campaigns.
Publicly funded campaigns are not financing candidates, as much as they are trying to ensure that the debates we are engaged in are truly fair and balanced. If laws are not enacted to ensure that the resources available to the various sides of the debate on where our community should go are balanced, the side that gets the most money also gets the most media exposure and is thus much more likely to win the election, whether or not it is in the best interest of the community. Let's have a serious debate on the issues, and stop letting money be such a distraction.
Articles of Impeachment
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JLf-URIyHv4
http://youtube.com/watch?v=K8ZX4p3KvSI
http://youtube.com/watch?v=q-JrPahY0B4
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4_V_hx2Wxlo
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Vta1B7o576I
Watch it yourself, and comment on the substance of the articles.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=K8ZX4p3KvSI
http://youtube.com/watch?v=q-JrPahY0B4
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4_V_hx2Wxlo
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Vta1B7o576I
Watch it yourself, and comment on the substance of the articles.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
I demand a better future
Please don't tear this world asunder
Please take back
This fear were under
I demand a better future
Or I might just stop wanting you
I might just stop wanting you
Please make sure we get tomorrow
All this pain and all the sorrow
I demand a better future
Or I might just stop needing you
I might just stop needing you
Give my children sunny smile
Give them moon and cloudless sky
I demand a better future
Or I might just stop loving you,
Loving you, loving you
When we talk, we talk to you
When we walk, we walk to you
From factory to field
How many tears must fall
Down there below
Nothing is moving
Oo-o
I might just stop wanting you
I might just stop needing you
I might just stop loving you
I demand a better future
I demand a better future
I demand a better future
For I might just stop loving you,
Loving you, loving you
I demand a better future
I demand a better future
I demand a better future
For I might just stop loving you, loving you, loving you
I demand a better future
Thanks, David. I agree.
Please take back
This fear were under
I demand a better future
Or I might just stop wanting you
I might just stop wanting you
Please make sure we get tomorrow
All this pain and all the sorrow
I demand a better future
Or I might just stop needing you
I might just stop needing you
Give my children sunny smile
Give them moon and cloudless sky
I demand a better future
Or I might just stop loving you,
Loving you, loving you
When we talk, we talk to you
When we walk, we walk to you
From factory to field
How many tears must fall
Down there below
Nothing is moving
Oo-o
I might just stop wanting you
I might just stop needing you
I might just stop loving you
I demand a better future
I demand a better future
I demand a better future
For I might just stop loving you,
Loving you, loving you
I demand a better future
I demand a better future
I demand a better future
For I might just stop loving you, loving you, loving you
I demand a better future
Thanks, David. I agree.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
We need to respect work in this country
Last night, I attended a meeting at the Northgate Community Center. The city is considering changing the zoning in the Northgate area to allow taller buildings along 5th avenue and other areas. Northgate has been going through a lot of changes lately, with the major development south of the Mall, and the new building going up at the corner of 5th and Northgate Way. It's great to see.
I'm trying to find the information I saw last night online. On Seattle.gov, the link to the Northgate plan from the main Neighborhood Planning page, http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Planning/Neighborhood_Planning/Overview/default.asp, is a broken link. It currently goes to http://www.seattle.gov/dclu/Planning/comprehensive/NorthgatePlan.htm. it is supposed to be going to http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/npi/plans/northgate/.
There is no mention of the meeting last night on the Northgate page. In fact, there is no calendar at all. I had to go to the Northgate Activist website to find out that the original comment period ended on May 16th, was extended to this meeting. At the meeting, they extended the comment period again to June 17th. Northgate Activist had a link to the EIS proposal. Finally!
http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Planning/Northgate_Revitalization/NorthgateAreaRezoneProposalEIS/default.asp
Dang, I wish they would include the size of the PDF file with the link so we could decide whether to download it through a slow connection... This thing is 112 pages! 7.355 MB.
Page 19 in the PDF shows what this is all about. There are four options. We can do nothing, do a broad rezone with a focus on residential, do a broad rezone with a focus on commercial, or a focused rezone. The decision will likely be made based on how many jobs opportunities will be opened in the Northgate area by these options. The highest number is 12,000 jobs.
I'm not going to go into the details of the plan. It goes into Parks, Traffic, and a bunch of other details on growth projections and blah, blah. No, what I want to talk about are those 12,000 jobs.
If you walk through a store in the Northgate Mall, you see lots of things. Mostly clothing, made all over the world. Toys made in China. Jewlery made who knows where.
I think there might be a "Made in Washington" shop in the Mall, but I'm not sure. What I do believe is that 99% of the merchandise sold at the Northgate Mall are items made somewhere else. Elsewhere in the country, elsewhere in the world. It's too easy to say that everything is made in China, but who knows. What do you think the percentage is?
Those 12,000 jobs mentioned in the Draft EIS are commercial jobs. Retail, banking, investment, buying and selling over the Internet. They might even be decent paying jobs. But when I spoke to one of the representatives from the city, I asked where the industrial land is. Where are places where people can walk from home to work, and actually build something. Something beautiful. Something they can be proud of. He told me that most new industrial space now is being pushed all the way to Monroe. With probably a few exceptions that I don't know about, the only work done within the Seattle city limits is at the Port of Seattle bringing the crates to shore from the ships. Why can't we have jobs in the city that make things?
I also spoke with the developer of the property at 5th and Northgate Way, and asked him who the main leasers were going to be for at that building. Circuit City and Office Depot. More retail, and competition for the shops that are already in the area like Best Buy and Kinkos. At one point last year, we had a Public Relations retailer rent some space in one of the strip malls. It was either a franchise or a mom and pop. It didn't even last long enough for me to walk in and see what they had to offer.
Where am I going with this? This is turning too much into a rage against the machine. So let me spread this out beyond Seattle and rant about something different but related. I got an email from my father in Centralia for my birthday. He told me that he had cancelled his contractors license because the state government had changed the law so that anyone who did more than one thing in remodeling or construction required a general contractors license instead of a speciality license. More expensive bonding, more expensive insurance, more and higher fees. He's out of business. Out of a job. In an area where the people are still digging themselves out from underneath tons of mud from the storms last September.
Why can't we respect work in this country? Or even in this state? Why can't we make things that are beautiful and that we can be proud of? Why can't we hire people and pay them a living wage to do remodeling work on our homes without driving them out of business because their business is too small?!
This is painful. This is personal. This is not the future that I want to live in. We have to change this.
I'm trying to find the information I saw last night online. On Seattle.gov, the link to the Northgate plan from the main Neighborhood Planning page, http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Planning/Neighborhood_Planning/Overview/default.asp, is a broken link. It currently goes to http://www.seattle.gov/dclu/Planning/comprehensive/NorthgatePlan.htm. it is supposed to be going to http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/npi/plans/northgate/.
There is no mention of the meeting last night on the Northgate page. In fact, there is no calendar at all. I had to go to the Northgate Activist website to find out that the original comment period ended on May 16th, was extended to this meeting. At the meeting, they extended the comment period again to June 17th. Northgate Activist had a link to the EIS proposal. Finally!
http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Planning/Northgate_Revitalization/NorthgateAreaRezoneProposalEIS/default.asp
Dang, I wish they would include the size of the PDF file with the link so we could decide whether to download it through a slow connection... This thing is 112 pages! 7.355 MB.
Page 19 in the PDF shows what this is all about. There are four options. We can do nothing, do a broad rezone with a focus on residential, do a broad rezone with a focus on commercial, or a focused rezone. The decision will likely be made based on how many jobs opportunities will be opened in the Northgate area by these options. The highest number is 12,000 jobs.
I'm not going to go into the details of the plan. It goes into Parks, Traffic, and a bunch of other details on growth projections and blah, blah. No, what I want to talk about are those 12,000 jobs.
If you walk through a store in the Northgate Mall, you see lots of things. Mostly clothing, made all over the world. Toys made in China. Jewlery made who knows where.
I think there might be a "Made in Washington" shop in the Mall, but I'm not sure. What I do believe is that 99% of the merchandise sold at the Northgate Mall are items made somewhere else. Elsewhere in the country, elsewhere in the world. It's too easy to say that everything is made in China, but who knows. What do you think the percentage is?
Those 12,000 jobs mentioned in the Draft EIS are commercial jobs. Retail, banking, investment, buying and selling over the Internet. They might even be decent paying jobs. But when I spoke to one of the representatives from the city, I asked where the industrial land is. Where are places where people can walk from home to work, and actually build something. Something beautiful. Something they can be proud of. He told me that most new industrial space now is being pushed all the way to Monroe. With probably a few exceptions that I don't know about, the only work done within the Seattle city limits is at the Port of Seattle bringing the crates to shore from the ships. Why can't we have jobs in the city that make things?
I also spoke with the developer of the property at 5th and Northgate Way, and asked him who the main leasers were going to be for at that building. Circuit City and Office Depot. More retail, and competition for the shops that are already in the area like Best Buy and Kinkos. At one point last year, we had a Public Relations retailer rent some space in one of the strip malls. It was either a franchise or a mom and pop. It didn't even last long enough for me to walk in and see what they had to offer.
Where am I going with this? This is turning too much into a rage against the machine. So let me spread this out beyond Seattle and rant about something different but related. I got an email from my father in Centralia for my birthday. He told me that he had cancelled his contractors license because the state government had changed the law so that anyone who did more than one thing in remodeling or construction required a general contractors license instead of a speciality license. More expensive bonding, more expensive insurance, more and higher fees. He's out of business. Out of a job. In an area where the people are still digging themselves out from underneath tons of mud from the storms last September.
Why can't we respect work in this country? Or even in this state? Why can't we make things that are beautiful and that we can be proud of? Why can't we hire people and pay them a living wage to do remodeling work on our homes without driving them out of business because their business is too small?!
This is painful. This is personal. This is not the future that I want to live in. We have to change this.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
The real tipping point
Chalk this up to cynicism.
Saw two articles today with a few minutes of each other.
$130 Oil: Is That a Tipping Point?
and...
Corn price is factor in rising movie ticket prices
So my question is this; Which of these two milestones on our way back down from Peak Oil are going to really catch the attention of the American public?
You can probably guess which I'm voting for...
Saw two articles today with a few minutes of each other.
$130 Oil: Is That a Tipping Point?
and...
Corn price is factor in rising movie ticket prices
So my question is this; Which of these two milestones on our way back down from Peak Oil are going to really catch the attention of the American public?
You can probably guess which I'm voting for...
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Comparisons between 2000 and 2004
I just put together a comparison of how Washington Counties did in the last two Presidential elections.
We need to focus on building the party by encouraging PCO's everywhere, but I'm going to focus on the 5 counties where we lost ground.
| County | 2000 President | 2004 President | 2004-2000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | 28.27% | 25.65% | -2.62% |
| Franklin | 34.18% | 32.11% | -2.07% |
| Pierce | 51.5% | 50.5% | -1.00% |
| Benton | 32.64% | 32.22% | -0.42% |
| Spokane | 43.35% | 43.19% | -0.16% |
| Lewis | 32.99% | 33.08% | 0.09% |
| Grant | 29.72% | 29.92% | 0.20% |
| Grays Harbor | 51.22% | 52.17% | 0.95% |
| Pend Oreille | 36.28% | 37.27% | 0.99% |
| Clark | 45.57% | 46.67% | 1.10% |
| Yakima | 37.96% | 39.12% | 1.16% |
| Snohomish | 51.65% | 53.04% | 1.39% |
| Cowlitz | 49.33% | 50.83% | 1.50% |
| Pacific | 51.42% | 53.4% | 1.98% |
| Lincoln | 27.27% | 29.36% | 2.09% |
| Kitsap | 49.03% | 51.32% | 2.29% |
| Walla Walla | 33.64% | 36.02% | 2.38% |
| Mason | 48.38% | 50.78% | 2.40% |
| Island | 44.78% | 47.24% | 2.46% |
| Douglas | 29.73% | 32.2% | 2.47% |
| Stevens | 30.89% | 33.54% | 2.65% |
| Kittitas | 39.16% | 41.85% | 2.69% |
| Skagit | 45.18% | 48.12% | 2.94% |
| Asotin | 34.26% | 37.78% | 3.52% |
| Clallam | 42.75% | 46.37% | 3.62% |
| Thurston | 51.8% | 55.55% | 3.75% |
| Chelan | 31.72% | 35.62% | 3.90% |
| Columbia | 24.44% | 28.71% | 4.27% |
| Skamania | 41.26% | 46.02% | 4.76% |
| King | 60.02% | 64.95% | 4.93% |
| Wahkiakum | 40.7% | 45.68% | 4.98% |
| Garfield | 22.57% | 27.65% | 5.08% |
| Ferry | 30.68% | 35.95% | 5.27% |
| Whitman | 40.09% | 46.01% | 5.92% |
| Klickitat | 37.53% | 43.69% | 6.16% |
| Whatcom | 46.14% | 53.4% | 7.26% |
| Okanogan | 29.29% | 38.61% | 9.32% |
| Jefferson | 52.3% | 62.37% | 10.07% |
| San Juan | 52.65% | 65.32% | 12.67% |
We need to focus on building the party by encouraging PCO's everywhere, but I'm going to focus on the 5 counties where we lost ground.
Friday, May 16, 2008
I'm running for 7th CD Elector
I'm tossing my hat in the ring for the Elector position for the 7th Congressional District.
Five years ago, I walked into my first Democratic Party meeting. Actually, it was exactly 5 years ago, because it was May of 2003. When I ran for an at-large position on the 46th district eboard during the 2005 reorganization, I was focused on three things.
"Infrastructure, Infrastructure, Infrastructure."
I understood then that change only happens when a strong message is combined with a strong infrastructure. One cannot be effective without the other. The Howard Dean campaign gave a glimpse of what strong grassroots infrastructure could be, and what it could do. So I sat down at my computer in the fall of 2003, and self taught myself everything I could about campaigns from Paul Wellstone, Joe Trippi, Markos Moulitsas, and many others. I read books about the original Progressive Movement in the 1800's, and the one before that (c. 1776). I focused on learning what I could about website design and implementation, using PHP for basic sites, and Drupal whenever I needed a content management system. I'm always learning, and always curious.
I've built the website for the 46th LD into one of the most highly rated party websites in the state. We were the first to post the DNC Charter and Bylaws, something that the national party doesn't even have posted. I found and integrated web services made available by others with precinct maps and election history down to the precinct level for the 46th, then for all of King County, with development underway to expand that to all 39 counties and all 49 legislative districts around the state. This won an national award from BlogPac in 2006.
After the 2004 election, I watched the 2008 presidential candidates and campaigns grow and evolve. I worked on the John Edwards campaign because he was the first to come out with a comprehensive Health Care package. (Health Care is one of my top concerns, since I fought and beat cancer in 2003.) When he dropped out in January, I focused on the upcoming caucuses. On February 9th, I signed in for John, then switched to uncommitted. I was the area coordinator, in charge of 6 precincts, and we had nearly 500 people in way too small of a space. (I actually helped a Republican find their caucus location at Nathan Hale.) The Obama supporters in my precinct approached me, saying that they had saved a slot and asking if I wanted it. That act of openness and engagement still brings tears to my eyes, just as it did then. The Obama campaign is made up of some of the best people that I have ever run across. I know from watching and working with people over the last 4 months that the Clinton campaign supporters here in Seattle are equal to that as well. We can, and will, work together after the convention to give Washington's electoral votes to our nominee in November. And then things really get started in January.
I am involved in progressive politics "local to global". I am on the eboard of the 46th LD and King County Democrats. I'm the webmaster for the State Democratic Chairs. I'm the chair of the Washington State Progressive Caucus. I'm one of the state leaders of Democracy for America, and I'm the lead volunteer coordinator of Campaigns.Wikia.com, a mediawiki website that Jimmy Wales launched on July 4th, 2006 to help track and promote issues and candidates around the world in any language.
I have two sons in California. They keep me motivated to make the future something that I can pass to them with pride. I build and manage infrastructure for the progressive movement and Democratic Party. That has been and will be my focus for years to come. In 2008, that translates in sending Washington's electoral votes to the Democrat on the ballot, and I want to be the person who casts that electoral vote for the 7th Congressional District in Olympia in December.
I'm asking for your vote on Saturday.
Five years ago, I walked into my first Democratic Party meeting. Actually, it was exactly 5 years ago, because it was May of 2003. When I ran for an at-large position on the 46th district eboard during the 2005 reorganization, I was focused on three things.
"Infrastructure, Infrastructure, Infrastructure."
I understood then that change only happens when a strong message is combined with a strong infrastructure. One cannot be effective without the other. The Howard Dean campaign gave a glimpse of what strong grassroots infrastructure could be, and what it could do. So I sat down at my computer in the fall of 2003, and self taught myself everything I could about campaigns from Paul Wellstone, Joe Trippi, Markos Moulitsas, and many others. I read books about the original Progressive Movement in the 1800's, and the one before that (c. 1776). I focused on learning what I could about website design and implementation, using PHP for basic sites, and Drupal whenever I needed a content management system. I'm always learning, and always curious.
I've built the website for the 46th LD into one of the most highly rated party websites in the state. We were the first to post the DNC Charter and Bylaws, something that the national party doesn't even have posted. I found and integrated web services made available by others with precinct maps and election history down to the precinct level for the 46th, then for all of King County, with development underway to expand that to all 39 counties and all 49 legislative districts around the state. This won an national award from BlogPac in 2006.
After the 2004 election, I watched the 2008 presidential candidates and campaigns grow and evolve. I worked on the John Edwards campaign because he was the first to come out with a comprehensive Health Care package. (Health Care is one of my top concerns, since I fought and beat cancer in 2003.) When he dropped out in January, I focused on the upcoming caucuses. On February 9th, I signed in for John, then switched to uncommitted. I was the area coordinator, in charge of 6 precincts, and we had nearly 500 people in way too small of a space. (I actually helped a Republican find their caucus location at Nathan Hale.) The Obama supporters in my precinct approached me, saying that they had saved a slot and asking if I wanted it. That act of openness and engagement still brings tears to my eyes, just as it did then. The Obama campaign is made up of some of the best people that I have ever run across. I know from watching and working with people over the last 4 months that the Clinton campaign supporters here in Seattle are equal to that as well. We can, and will, work together after the convention to give Washington's electoral votes to our nominee in November. And then things really get started in January.
I am involved in progressive politics "local to global". I am on the eboard of the 46th LD and King County Democrats. I'm the webmaster for the State Democratic Chairs. I'm the chair of the Washington State Progressive Caucus. I'm one of the state leaders of Democracy for America, and I'm the lead volunteer coordinator of Campaigns.Wikia.com, a mediawiki website that Jimmy Wales launched on July 4th, 2006 to help track and promote issues and candidates around the world in any language.
I have two sons in California. They keep me motivated to make the future something that I can pass to them with pride. I build and manage infrastructure for the progressive movement and Democratic Party. That has been and will be my focus for years to come. In 2008, that translates in sending Washington's electoral votes to the Democrat on the ballot, and I want to be the person who casts that electoral vote for the 7th Congressional District in Olympia in December.
I'm asking for your vote on Saturday.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Geek frustrations
A long time ago, I bought Adobe Acrobat 5.0. Worked great for converting Microsoft Office files to PDF. Then my system crashed, and I didn't reinstall MS Office because OpenOffice had native PDF export capability. I upgraded Adobe Reader to 8.X, and have been keeping up with the updates like any good citizen. Up until a few weeks ago, I could open files in Acrobat 5.0 if I needed to make some changes to a PDF file that I got from someone else.
This morning, I tried to do that. I needed to delete a blank page out of a PDF file report. So I tried "open with Acrobat 5.0" from Windows Explorer. It opened in Reader 8.0. Then I tried going into my Program Files and opening Acrobat 5.0 manually. It opened Acrobat 8.0. What the hell!
OpenOffice 3.0, which is currently in beta, is supposed to have the ability to import PDF files into Draw, edit capabilities, and then export ability in a hybrid file that should work. That seems like a temporary solution. What we need is an open source program that can manipulate PDF formatted files natively.
Help is on the way. GNUpdf is under development. Let's hope it doesn't take that long.
This morning, I tried to do that. I needed to delete a blank page out of a PDF file report. So I tried "open with Acrobat 5.0" from Windows Explorer. It opened in Reader 8.0. Then I tried going into my Program Files and opening Acrobat 5.0 manually. It opened Acrobat 8.0. What the hell!
OpenOffice 3.0, which is currently in beta, is supposed to have the ability to import PDF files into Draw, edit capabilities, and then export ability in a hybrid file that should work. That seems like a temporary solution. What we need is an open source program that can manipulate PDF formatted files natively.
Help is on the way. GNUpdf is under development. Let's hope it doesn't take that long.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
The path to sustainability
We are going to have to balance two important priorities within the Democratic Party platform. Those priorities are Localization and Unionization.
Localization means what you are describing, and is the best way to foster businesses that we can actually influence into following a sustainable model. I had not heard of the NBIS before now, and I'm really impressed. The story of what is happening in Hoquiam and the surrounding area is a great story that needs to be repeated all across the country. It's what BALLE has been trying to push, and what David Korten describes as an answer and solution to the current problems that are showing up due to inherent flaws in the design of capitalist economies around the world.
Unionization is getting the workers involved in the operation and high level decisions of the company. Traditionally, this is done through a union, thus the name. But unions can and have become exclusive to their membership and separate from their real goal, in my opinion. The goal of a union should not simply be to advance the rights and wages of workers. If that is the only focus, the organization has lost its way. The real goal should be to advance the needs of the community within which a company operates. This includes, but is not limited to, the rights and wages of workers. It also includes sustainability, local business networks, the community service industries, and the health and well being of the environment as well as the people. The conservative frame for unions is "all they care about is higher costs for employers". We must change that frame into "they care about our entire community, not just the bottom line". We have to challenge our business leaders and financial investors to meet goals of a triple bottom line, where profits are balanced with community and environmental gains.
I've seen these two core concepts at odds with each other both within the party and in the outside world. The unions are a great source for fundraising and electioneering. But because we have been subject to the conservative frames for the last 30 years in the media, it's difficult to help them find a bigger goal than just the next contract negotiation or the next election cycle. We need a movement that breaks out of those boxes into the overall mesh of how our communities operate and communicate. The leadership of the party, the union and the businesses are elected or self selected to focus on their specific responsibilities, like contract negotiations, elections and running organizations and businesses. What I would love to see is for the grassroots members of all of these types of structures openly collaborating outside of those boxes. We don't want to, and don't need to, threaten the people in leadership positions when we do that. We just need to be the ones to lead the way, building the foundation for the progressive movement, pulling our society towards a future that we want to live in.
Localization means what you are describing, and is the best way to foster businesses that we can actually influence into following a sustainable model. I had not heard of the NBIS before now, and I'm really impressed. The story of what is happening in Hoquiam and the surrounding area is a great story that needs to be repeated all across the country. It's what BALLE has been trying to push, and what David Korten describes as an answer and solution to the current problems that are showing up due to inherent flaws in the design of capitalist economies around the world.
Unionization is getting the workers involved in the operation and high level decisions of the company. Traditionally, this is done through a union, thus the name. But unions can and have become exclusive to their membership and separate from their real goal, in my opinion. The goal of a union should not simply be to advance the rights and wages of workers. If that is the only focus, the organization has lost its way. The real goal should be to advance the needs of the community within which a company operates. This includes, but is not limited to, the rights and wages of workers. It also includes sustainability, local business networks, the community service industries, and the health and well being of the environment as well as the people. The conservative frame for unions is "all they care about is higher costs for employers". We must change that frame into "they care about our entire community, not just the bottom line". We have to challenge our business leaders and financial investors to meet goals of a triple bottom line, where profits are balanced with community and environmental gains.
I've seen these two core concepts at odds with each other both within the party and in the outside world. The unions are a great source for fundraising and electioneering. But because we have been subject to the conservative frames for the last 30 years in the media, it's difficult to help them find a bigger goal than just the next contract negotiation or the next election cycle. We need a movement that breaks out of those boxes into the overall mesh of how our communities operate and communicate. The leadership of the party, the union and the businesses are elected or self selected to focus on their specific responsibilities, like contract negotiations, elections and running organizations and businesses. What I would love to see is for the grassroots members of all of these types of structures openly collaborating outside of those boxes. We don't want to, and don't need to, threaten the people in leadership positions when we do that. We just need to be the ones to lead the way, building the foundation for the progressive movement, pulling our society towards a future that we want to live in.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
A Day in the Life of a True Conservative
Source
Joe Conservative wakes up in the morning and goes to the bathroom. He flushes his toilet and brushes his teeth, mindful that each flush & brush costs him about 43 cents to his privatized water provider. His wacky, liberal neighbor keeps badgering the company to disclose how clean and safe their water is, but no one ever finds out. Just to be safe, Joe Conservative boils his drinking water.
Joe steps outside and coughs–the pollution is especially bad today, but the smokiest cars are the cheapest ones, so everyone buys ‘em. Joe Conservative checks to make sure he has enough toll money for the 3 different private roads he must drive to work. There is no public transportation, so traffic is backed up and his 10 mile commute takes an hour.
On the way, he drops his 12 year old daughter off at the clothing factory she works at. Paying for kids to go to private school until they’re 18 is a luxury, and Joe needs the extra income coming in. Times are hard and there’re no social safety nets.
He gets to work 5 minutes late and misses the call for Christian prayer, and is immediately docked by his employer. He is not feeling well today, but has no health insurance, since neither his employer nor his government provide it, and paying for it himself is really expensive, since he has a precondition. He just hopes for the best.
Joe’s workday is 12 hours long, because there is no regulation over working hours, and Joe will lose his job if he complains or unionizes. Today is an especially bad day. Joe’s manager demands that he work until midnight, a 16 hour day. Joe does, knowing that he’ll lose his job if he does not.
Finally, after midnight, Joe gets to pick up his daughter and go home. His daughter shows him the deep cut she got on the industrial sewing machine today. Joe is outraged and asks why she doesn’t have metal mesh gloves or other protection. She says the company will not provide it and she’ll have to pay for it out of her own pocket. Joe looks at the wound and decides they’ll use an over the counter disinfectant and bandages until it heals. She’ll have a scar, but getting stitches at the emergency room is expensive.
His daughter also complains that the manager made suggestive overtures towards her. Joe counsels her to be a “good girl” and not rock the boat, or she’ll get fired and they’ll be out the income.
His daughter says she can’t wait until she’s 18 so she can vote for change or go to the Iraq War.
They get home and there’s a message from his elderly father who can’t afford to pay his medical or heating bills. Joe can hear him coughing and shivering.
Joe turns on the radio and the top story is a proposal in Congress to raise the voting age to 25. A rare liberal opinionator states that it’s an attempt to keep power out of the hands of working class Americans. The conservative host immediately quashes him, calling him “a utopian idealist,” and agreeing that people aren’t mature enough to make good choices until they’re at least 25.
Joe chuckles at the wine-swilling, cheese eating liberal egghead and thinks, “Thank God I live in America where I have freedom!”
Joe Conservative wakes up in the morning and goes to the bathroom. He flushes his toilet and brushes his teeth, mindful that each flush & brush costs him about 43 cents to his privatized water provider. His wacky, liberal neighbor keeps badgering the company to disclose how clean and safe their water is, but no one ever finds out. Just to be safe, Joe Conservative boils his drinking water.
Joe steps outside and coughs–the pollution is especially bad today, but the smokiest cars are the cheapest ones, so everyone buys ‘em. Joe Conservative checks to make sure he has enough toll money for the 3 different private roads he must drive to work. There is no public transportation, so traffic is backed up and his 10 mile commute takes an hour.
On the way, he drops his 12 year old daughter off at the clothing factory she works at. Paying for kids to go to private school until they’re 18 is a luxury, and Joe needs the extra income coming in. Times are hard and there’re no social safety nets.
He gets to work 5 minutes late and misses the call for Christian prayer, and is immediately docked by his employer. He is not feeling well today, but has no health insurance, since neither his employer nor his government provide it, and paying for it himself is really expensive, since he has a precondition. He just hopes for the best.
Joe’s workday is 12 hours long, because there is no regulation over working hours, and Joe will lose his job if he complains or unionizes. Today is an especially bad day. Joe’s manager demands that he work until midnight, a 16 hour day. Joe does, knowing that he’ll lose his job if he does not.
Finally, after midnight, Joe gets to pick up his daughter and go home. His daughter shows him the deep cut she got on the industrial sewing machine today. Joe is outraged and asks why she doesn’t have metal mesh gloves or other protection. She says the company will not provide it and she’ll have to pay for it out of her own pocket. Joe looks at the wound and decides they’ll use an over the counter disinfectant and bandages until it heals. She’ll have a scar, but getting stitches at the emergency room is expensive.
His daughter also complains that the manager made suggestive overtures towards her. Joe counsels her to be a “good girl” and not rock the boat, or she’ll get fired and they’ll be out the income.
His daughter says she can’t wait until she’s 18 so she can vote for change or go to the Iraq War.
They get home and there’s a message from his elderly father who can’t afford to pay his medical or heating bills. Joe can hear him coughing and shivering.
Joe turns on the radio and the top story is a proposal in Congress to raise the voting age to 25. A rare liberal opinionator states that it’s an attempt to keep power out of the hands of working class Americans. The conservative host immediately quashes him, calling him “a utopian idealist,” and agreeing that people aren’t mature enough to make good choices until they’re at least 25.
Joe chuckles at the wine-swilling, cheese eating liberal egghead and thinks, “Thank God I live in America where I have freedom!”
The missing pieces in our Educational system
This is from an email I sent on this day in 2005.
I would like to ask our educators about the lack of Critical Thinking, Ethics and Civics in primary, secondary and post-secondary education. While I understand the importance to the bottom line of industry to have students come out of the public school system with the science based knowledge that can help them make money, I think our society has deeply suffered due to the lack of instruction to give people the ability to think critically, establish relationships in an ethical manner and participate fully in our society beyond the simple fact of their economic status.
The basics of Ethics includes Logic, which leads to an understanding of the mechanism behind Math before the students get into memorization of formulas. The basics of Critical Thinking leads to an understanding of the mechanism behind Science, before the students get into memorization of the various scientific facts. And the basics of Civics leads to an understanding of how our society works, which is much more meaningful than the memorization of dates, places and names.
Is it the lack of testing apparatus that prevents these subjects from being taught in our schools?
This got some good responses:
Bravo! I'm going to have to work hard to keep up with you, Jim. But I'll certainly try.
First, I'd like to pass on something a study group I was involved in at the University of Phoenix came up with regarding Critical Thinking. You're welcome to use it if you wish. And everyone else on the list is welcome to use it as well.
http://www.seattlewebcrafters.com/chadlupkes/school/mgt350/criticalthinking.php
I'm going to maintain my thesis that Math and Science must be at least an equal priority to Civics, Ethics, History (thanks Norman, you're right) and Critical Thinking. I will accept the fact that there are many people in the world, and indeed in the United States, that are hungry, and thus need a fish before they can learn to fish. But I have not yet achieved the state in my perception of the human condition within our country to make me believe that this is the prevaling situation for the majority of our citizens. The fallacy that I see in your argument is the difference between an individual who needs to learn how to fish, and a society that needs to learn how to use our resources, whether they be physical, educational, social or political, to lead us into a sustainable future. There will always statistically be those that are on either end of the economic bell curve. I believe that a Progressive stance is to acknowledge that this bell curve exists and that it is the responsibility of the society to reach back with the extra resources that exist at one end to help the people who find themselves on the other end.
We can teach the humanities in school alongside the core subjects of Math and Science, and we must. The question I ask quite often is 'to what end'. What are we trying to accomplish, and why? Are we trying to teach Math and Science to provide a better workforce for the companies that need them? Why? I think the right answer is to give those workers the ability to make a good living and provide well for their future families. The Republican/Conservative answer is to give the companies good employees so they can make more of a profit for the shareholders. Of course, when 90% of the capital in our country is controlled by 5-10% of the population, we're moving toward disaster. Can we teach Math and Science to the exclusion of the other subjects? I don't think so, and if you're teaching Critical Thinking and Ethics, you don't seem to think so either. They are both imiportant. I think the society that we have now is the result of focusing the teaching on one side of that equation, and I don't like it. I never learned Latin in school. I never read the 'real' classics like Plato or Homer. I read some of the 20th century classics like Mark Twain, but until I entered college, I wasn't exposed to anything older than 200 years except in music. I should have. Here's something I wrote in November of 2000:
"Everyone reading this raise your hand if you think the schools are good enough and don’t need more money. I don’t see very many hands. Both sides think that the schools need improvement. Both sides think they need testing from the 3rd grade all the way up to the 8th grade. Makes you wonder how the school administration knows which students to pass on to the next grade. I mean if they don’t have testing now to see how the kids are doing in class, how do they know who passed? The point is that tests happen every day all over the country. I don’t think we need another test. I think we need to go somewhere with the knowledge we have. There should be a standard test required for everyone to get a high school diploma. The subjects should be reading, writing, math, science, sociology, economics, world history, US history, social skills, job skills, resume writing, physical readiness, health, nutrition, sexuality, philosophy, logic, music, art, speech, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, Chinese, ... Get the point yet? Where exactly do we think our children will get taught all the skills that they will need to be in the work force? At home? How many parents out there would be comfortable teaching their children how to solve a geometry problem? Or how to solve that logic equation? Or how to protect themselves from AIDS? When someone reaches the age of 18, we expect them to be ready to fight and defend our country in the armed forces if they get called. How much more important is that than being able to support themselves if they don’t get called? Not very. "
You can read the rest here:
http://chadlupkes.blogspot.com/2000/11/my-take-on-2000-election.html
So, how do we fix the American Business? The distribution of capital must be balanced. FDR started on the right path with Social Security and the SEC, but nobody caught on to what really needed to happen. Question: what is the most powerful statement that you can give an elected representative in a letter or interview? "I am a voter in your district, and whether I support you or not depends on how you deal with my issues." So, we need to make another statement just as powerful. "I am a shareholder in your company, and whether I support your bid for reelection to the Board of Directors depends on how you deal with my issues."
Howard Dean started Democracy for America. We need Democracy for Wall Street.
Chad Lupkes
http://www.democracyforwallstreet.com
I would like to ask our educators about the lack of Critical Thinking, Ethics and Civics in primary, secondary and post-secondary education. While I understand the importance to the bottom line of industry to have students come out of the public school system with the science based knowledge that can help them make money, I think our society has deeply suffered due to the lack of instruction to give people the ability to think critically, establish relationships in an ethical manner and participate fully in our society beyond the simple fact of their economic status.
The basics of Ethics includes Logic, which leads to an understanding of the mechanism behind Math before the students get into memorization of formulas. The basics of Critical Thinking leads to an understanding of the mechanism behind Science, before the students get into memorization of the various scientific facts. And the basics of Civics leads to an understanding of how our society works, which is much more meaningful than the memorization of dates, places and names.
Is it the lack of testing apparatus that prevents these subjects from being taught in our schools?
This got some good responses:
I'm a Math teacher and have a doctorate in engineering and teach critical thinking and ethics.
Critical thinking, ethics, etc. are not solely part of one discipline and not another - they are integral and interweaved in the study of Math and Science. Math and Science teachers teach how to analyze, then how to interpret and form good conclusions, that is, critical thinking is integral to Math and Science disciplines. Philosophy, Political Science, History and other humanities disciplines also teach this and our teaching should complement each other.
Let's engage in a little critical thinking here. It is said "give a person a fish, feed them for a day, teach them to fish, feed them for life." The problem with this is a scientific fact called Maslow's theory of hierarchy. In a nutshell, Maslow said that people are going to focus on physical survival needs and have great difficulty thinking of needs higher on the hierarchy until needs lower on the hierarchy are met. In other words, hungry people can't learn. This saying should be revised to "give a person a fish, feed them for a day, then teach them to fish to feed them for life."
Moving on in this argument: Economic needs come first, then human beings can deal with relationships including civics and ethics. We must teach in order for people to work, then working people can deal with civics and ethics and relationships. I deplore the absence of humanities teaching as this impedes our ability to created civilized societies, however Math and Science must assume a higher priority since it is necessary in order for Americans to have jobs.
On a more personal note: I am constantly amazed by my students. Their struggles are amazing. They work full-time jobs and then come to school to improve their lot in life without much assistance. Human beings really do have an amazing capacity to delay gratification for loftier goals. Humans can, for a time, suffer economically to do the right thing. We are very ethical and civic minded creatures.
While business interests are whining about the low quality of American workers, these amazing Americans are improving themselves in the face of huge obstacles. Ask yourself, how does Toyota, Nissan, Honda and, soon, Hyundai produce cars in America using American labor of better quality and higher profitability than our American car companies. Is it American workers? No. Is it poor American work ethic? No. Is it American businesses? YES! Is it conservative policies that promote corporate welfare thus removing the pecuniary motivation for businesses to change to new economic realities? YES!
Jim Sizemore
This is really impressive thinking, by both of you, about the things we need to see in our classrooms. Especially, your thoughts on the importance of logic and critical thinking.
But let me add one more very big "missing piece;" History. One unintended effect of our scrupulous care to make sure that no particular religion is taught in public schools has been that teachers, in their commendable zeal to avoid teaching dogma and doctrine, have often produced a product that is effectively free of values - values shared by the vast majority of people in our culture.
This omission has had a direct impact on the way history is taught. A study of history teaches us why we so highly value freedom of conscience - so highly that uncounted thousands have died for it. I submit that one reason for the success of the neo-cons in gaining the acceptance of the American people for the nefarious intrusions of the "Patriot Act," and the indefinite detentions of "terrorists" without charges or access to courts or counsel, is that the products of our public education system simply don't know how important the liberties are on which this Administration is trampling. Too many don't understand that a denial of your rights puts my rights in peril.
When George W. Bush said, after the mass murders of 9/11, that "everyone agrees that security is our first priority," he was unfortunately nearly right - almost everyone did agree. Only a few were perceptive enough to see where he was leading us, and remembered that our first priority is not our physical safety, but the preservation of our liberties. I suggest that we take a fresh look at how we teach history, and its lessons in how a democratic society comes into being, and how it can be preserved - or destroyed. More critical thinking, buttressed by a better knowledge of history, in which too few students have adequate training, might have produced a different result, both in the congressional elections of 2002, and the presidential contest in 2004.
We've all heard the quote, often attributed to Winston Churchill, that those who ignore history are condemned to repeat it. I suggest the time is long overdue for us to give it greater attention, and greater care, in educating our children.
Norman K. Marsh
Bravo! I'm going to have to work hard to keep up with you, Jim. But I'll certainly try.
First, I'd like to pass on something a study group I was involved in at the University of Phoenix came up with regarding Critical Thinking. You're welcome to use it if you wish. And everyone else on the list is welcome to use it as well.
http://www.seattlewebcrafters.com/chadlupkes/school/mgt350/criticalthinking.php
I'm going to maintain my thesis that Math and Science must be at least an equal priority to Civics, Ethics, History (thanks Norman, you're right) and Critical Thinking. I will accept the fact that there are many people in the world, and indeed in the United States, that are hungry, and thus need a fish before they can learn to fish. But I have not yet achieved the state in my perception of the human condition within our country to make me believe that this is the prevaling situation for the majority of our citizens. The fallacy that I see in your argument is the difference between an individual who needs to learn how to fish, and a society that needs to learn how to use our resources, whether they be physical, educational, social or political, to lead us into a sustainable future. There will always statistically be those that are on either end of the economic bell curve. I believe that a Progressive stance is to acknowledge that this bell curve exists and that it is the responsibility of the society to reach back with the extra resources that exist at one end to help the people who find themselves on the other end.
We can teach the humanities in school alongside the core subjects of Math and Science, and we must. The question I ask quite often is 'to what end'. What are we trying to accomplish, and why? Are we trying to teach Math and Science to provide a better workforce for the companies that need them? Why? I think the right answer is to give those workers the ability to make a good living and provide well for their future families. The Republican/Conservative answer is to give the companies good employees so they can make more of a profit for the shareholders. Of course, when 90% of the capital in our country is controlled by 5-10% of the population, we're moving toward disaster. Can we teach Math and Science to the exclusion of the other subjects? I don't think so, and if you're teaching Critical Thinking and Ethics, you don't seem to think so either. They are both imiportant. I think the society that we have now is the result of focusing the teaching on one side of that equation, and I don't like it. I never learned Latin in school. I never read the 'real' classics like Plato or Homer. I read some of the 20th century classics like Mark Twain, but until I entered college, I wasn't exposed to anything older than 200 years except in music. I should have. Here's something I wrote in November of 2000:
"Everyone reading this raise your hand if you think the schools are good enough and don’t need more money. I don’t see very many hands. Both sides think that the schools need improvement. Both sides think they need testing from the 3rd grade all the way up to the 8th grade. Makes you wonder how the school administration knows which students to pass on to the next grade. I mean if they don’t have testing now to see how the kids are doing in class, how do they know who passed? The point is that tests happen every day all over the country. I don’t think we need another test. I think we need to go somewhere with the knowledge we have. There should be a standard test required for everyone to get a high school diploma. The subjects should be reading, writing, math, science, sociology, economics, world history, US history, social skills, job skills, resume writing, physical readiness, health, nutrition, sexuality, philosophy, logic, music, art, speech, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, Chinese, ... Get the point yet? Where exactly do we think our children will get taught all the skills that they will need to be in the work force? At home? How many parents out there would be comfortable teaching their children how to solve a geometry problem? Or how to solve that logic equation? Or how to protect themselves from AIDS? When someone reaches the age of 18, we expect them to be ready to fight and defend our country in the armed forces if they get called. How much more important is that than being able to support themselves if they don’t get called? Not very. "
You can read the rest here:
http://chadlupkes.blogspot.com/2000/11/my-take-on-2000-election.html
So, how do we fix the American Business? The distribution of capital must be balanced. FDR started on the right path with Social Security and the SEC, but nobody caught on to what really needed to happen. Question: what is the most powerful statement that you can give an elected representative in a letter or interview? "I am a voter in your district, and whether I support you or not depends on how you deal with my issues." So, we need to make another statement just as powerful. "I am a shareholder in your company, and whether I support your bid for reelection to the Board of Directors depends on how you deal with my issues."
Howard Dean started Democracy for America. We need Democracy for Wall Street.
Chad Lupkes
http://www.democracyforwallstreet.com
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Freedom
Bob Barr was on the Thom Hartmann show yesterday, talking about Freedom. He denied that Freedom means anything about economic realities. I thought I'd remind myself what real freedom means. Thanks, Garth!
This ain't comin from no prophet,
Just an ordinary man,
When I close my eyes I see,
The way this world shall be,
When we all walk hand in hand,
When the last child cries for a crust of bread,
When the last man dies for just words that he said,
When there's shelter over the poorest head,
We shall be free,
When the last thing we notice is the color of skin,
And the first thing we look for is the beauty within,
When the skies and the oceans are clean again,
Then we shall be free,
We shall be free,
We shall be free,
So stand straight,
Walk proud,
'Cause we shall be free,
When we're free to love anyone we choose,
When this worlds big enough for all different views,
When we're all free to worship from our own kind of pew,
Then we shall be free,
We shall be free,
We shall be free,
Have a little faith,
Hold out,
'Cause we shall be free,
And when money talks for the very last time,
And nobody walks a step behind,
When there's only one race and that's mankind,
Then we shall be free,
We shall be free,
Listen to what I'm saying to you,
We shall be free,
Cause every night and day I pray it's true,
Together,
Forever,
We shall be free,
We shall be free,
We shall be free,
Stand straight,
Have a little faith,
Walk proud,
Hold out,
We shall be free,
Listen to what I'm sayin' to you,
We shall be free,
Every night and day I pray it's true,
Together,
Forever,
We shall be free,
This ain't comin from no prophet,
Just an ordinary man,
When I close my eyes I see,
The way this world shall be,
When we all walk hand in hand,
When the last child cries for a crust of bread,
When the last man dies for just words that he said,
When there's shelter over the poorest head,
We shall be free,
When the last thing we notice is the color of skin,
And the first thing we look for is the beauty within,
When the skies and the oceans are clean again,
Then we shall be free,
We shall be free,
We shall be free,
So stand straight,
Walk proud,
'Cause we shall be free,
When we're free to love anyone we choose,
When this worlds big enough for all different views,
When we're all free to worship from our own kind of pew,
Then we shall be free,
We shall be free,
We shall be free,
Have a little faith,
Hold out,
'Cause we shall be free,
And when money talks for the very last time,
And nobody walks a step behind,
When there's only one race and that's mankind,
Then we shall be free,
We shall be free,
Listen to what I'm saying to you,
We shall be free,
Cause every night and day I pray it's true,
Together,
Forever,
We shall be free,
We shall be free,
We shall be free,
Stand straight,
Have a little faith,
Walk proud,
Hold out,
We shall be free,
Listen to what I'm sayin' to you,
We shall be free,
Every night and day I pray it's true,
Together,
Forever,
We shall be free,
Brilliant
MoveOn is running a contest called "Barack Obama in 30 seconds". Here are some of my favorites.
Nicely turned.
Gotcha politics? Nah, just hopeful.
Nicely turned.
Gotcha politics? Nah, just hopeful.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Dear Councilman Phillips,
Thank you for attending the King County Democratic Convention on Sunday. It was good to see you, and good to talk with you.
You asked me to send you more information about the Veterans Family Fund (VFF) CD program. You will recall my simple description of these CD's as inviting people to invest in their own future while providing a steady revenue to the Veterans Family Fund, a non-profit organization that helps the families of our service members in times of need. Half of the interest earned by the CD's is sent back to build the balance, and half of the interest is sent upon maturity to the charity.
These CD's are available at a growing number of state registered banks around the state. The program started in Vancouver with the Bank of Clark County. You can read more about how it started here:
http://www.veteransfamilyfund.org/howitbegan
The VFF has a goal of having people in Washington State open CD's with a value of $300 Million Dollars over the first year, which would be met by having 100,000 people opening a CD with a value of $1,000. Some banks have the minimum opening balance as low as $100. This level of savings would provide a steady income of $6 Million per year to the charity.
I can think of a lot of charities that could use a steady income of $6 Million. And that is why I wanted to speak to you about the potential. I have been thinking and blogging about just such an idea for several years, but never had time or connections to pursue it myself. The reason that I brought this up on Sunday is because I see the potential to use a similar funding source for other charities as well. It's this type of system that I think would provide a more complete safety net than any of our current options.
With the King County Council trying to recover from a $20 Million deficit this year and a $60 Million deficit next year, having steady revenue streams available at the same time that people are taking responsibility for their future by investing in their future would be the best of both worlds. Please take a closer look at the program, contact the banks who have branches in King County, and see what kind of ideas you can come up with to increase the number of ways that people can both secure their own financial foundation while at the same time helping the necessary social service organizations develop their own financial foundation to help us all.
You asked me to send you more information about the Veterans Family Fund (VFF) CD program. You will recall my simple description of these CD's as inviting people to invest in their own future while providing a steady revenue to the Veterans Family Fund, a non-profit organization that helps the families of our service members in times of need. Half of the interest earned by the CD's is sent back to build the balance, and half of the interest is sent upon maturity to the charity.
These CD's are available at a growing number of state registered banks around the state. The program started in Vancouver with the Bank of Clark County. You can read more about how it started here:
http://www.veteransfamilyfund.org/howitbegan
The VFF has a goal of having people in Washington State open CD's with a value of $300 Million Dollars over the first year, which would be met by having 100,000 people opening a CD with a value of $1,000. Some banks have the minimum opening balance as low as $100. This level of savings would provide a steady income of $6 Million per year to the charity.
I can think of a lot of charities that could use a steady income of $6 Million. And that is why I wanted to speak to you about the potential. I have been thinking and blogging about just such an idea for several years, but never had time or connections to pursue it myself. The reason that I brought this up on Sunday is because I see the potential to use a similar funding source for other charities as well. It's this type of system that I think would provide a more complete safety net than any of our current options.
With the King County Council trying to recover from a $20 Million deficit this year and a $60 Million deficit next year, having steady revenue streams available at the same time that people are taking responsibility for their future by investing in their future would be the best of both worlds. Please take a closer look at the program, contact the banks who have branches in King County, and see what kind of ideas you can come up with to increase the number of ways that people can both secure their own financial foundation while at the same time helping the necessary social service organizations develop their own financial foundation to help us all.
Barack H. Obama in 1965
My mother sent me a link to a Politico article about an article written by Senator Barack Obama's father, Barack H. Obama in 1965. The title of the article is "Problems Facing Our Socialism," and is a review of a Kenyan government paper from earlier in that year. I've posted a copy of the article (PDF) on my own website.
He talks about how a high population growth rate is detrimental to economic growth, among other things. I'm guessing you didn't actually read this, because many of what he says I've heard in one form or another from you. "The paper states that there are universal desires of societies and these include political equality, social justice, human dignity and freedom of conscience, freedom from want, disease and exploitation, equal opportunities and, lastly, a high and growing per capita income and equitable distribution." Pretty much what I would expect from a Harvard education, and I think Thomas Jefferson would have liked this man. "The question is how are we going to remove the disparities in our country such as the concentration of economic power in Asian and European hands while not destroying what has already been achieved and at the same time assimilating these groups to build one country?" He is speaking in the context of non-violent cooperation.
Some people don't like the word socialism. They run from it without thinking, without considering the context, and they've bought into the illusion that socialism anywhere in the world is a threat to capitalism anywhere in the world. It's completely false. I've written about the subject here.
40 years and 12,000 miles removed from this election in this time and this place, things are being found to try and hurt the Obama campaign. I just find it ridiculous.
He talks about how a high population growth rate is detrimental to economic growth, among other things. I'm guessing you didn't actually read this, because many of what he says I've heard in one form or another from you. "The paper states that there are universal desires of societies and these include political equality, social justice, human dignity and freedom of conscience, freedom from want, disease and exploitation, equal opportunities and, lastly, a high and growing per capita income and equitable distribution." Pretty much what I would expect from a Harvard education, and I think Thomas Jefferson would have liked this man. "The question is how are we going to remove the disparities in our country such as the concentration of economic power in Asian and European hands while not destroying what has already been achieved and at the same time assimilating these groups to build one country?" He is speaking in the context of non-violent cooperation.
Some people don't like the word socialism. They run from it without thinking, without considering the context, and they've bought into the illusion that socialism anywhere in the world is a threat to capitalism anywhere in the world. It's completely false. I've written about the subject here.
40 years and 12,000 miles removed from this election in this time and this place, things are being found to try and hurt the Obama campaign. I just find it ridiculous.
Friday, April 11, 2008
What's next for the Obama campaign?
We have an opportunity to have an influence on the rest of the campaign. You are each the leaders of your respective LD's. You did the work to coordinate thousands of people to stay involved long enough to increase the number of Obama Delegates to the CD level and to Denver. I would like to believe that this is just the beginning. What I saw 4 years ago from within the Dean campaign was seeds beginning to sprout. We can do this. We can make the change, and we can do it by staying involved after May 17th, and after the State Convention.
August has two incredibly important events this cycle. The first is the National Convention, at the top of our party. The other are the PCO elections, at the base of our party. Both are important.
August has two incredibly important events this cycle. The first is the National Convention, at the top of our party. The other are the PCO elections, at the base of our party. Both are important.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Just found a good HTML editor
I think this is what I've been looking for:
HTML Kit
I'm trying it out on the 25th district site, and it's working pretty well. I'll see if Charley can use it.
Best part? It's free!
HTML Kit
I'm trying it out on the 25th district site, and it's working pretty well. I'll see if Charley can use it.
Best part? It's free!
Who's "Right"?
Who's "Right"? People who want to consolidate power, not share responsibility and be held accountable. People who see the world in terms of us v. them instead of we. People who want to take control instead of cooperating with others. People who see national borders as something natural instead of something artificial and man-made. People who see the Earth as a set of resources to squander instead of as a world that we all share.
Those are the people on the Right. And why I'm proud to be working on the Left.
Those are the people on the Right. And why I'm proud to be working on the Left.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Re: inHuman events
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=25783
Let's review, shall we?
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial branch of the United Nations. The United Nations was formed via treaty in 1945, and the United States is a signer on that treaty. The United States is subject to the International Court of Justice. Period. I don't give a ripping damn what the Roberts' Court says. But here's the trick, and why Roberts, and Bush incidentally, is such a complete and total idiot: The ICJ is for nations to sue other nations about international issues, and is not the correct court that should be drawn upon for the Texas death-row inmates.
Rapists and murderers who cross national borders should be tried under the laws of the International Criminal Court, a DIFFERENT JUDICIAL AGENCY outside of the ICJ and part of a separate treaty. This treaty says that individuals who commit crimes should be held accountable for those crimes. So why can't the Mexican citizens be made subject to this court and tried properly? Because the ICC applies in both directions, and the United States Federal Government is too CHICKEN SHIT to sign the treaty, thinking that US Citizens who break laws and rape and pillage and murder should not be subject to the same laws that they are now trying to apply to the citizens of other countries.
Let's review, shall we?
This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial branch of the United Nations. The United Nations was formed via treaty in 1945, and the United States is a signer on that treaty. The United States is subject to the International Court of Justice. Period. I don't give a ripping damn what the Roberts' Court says. But here's the trick, and why Roberts, and Bush incidentally, is such a complete and total idiot: The ICJ is for nations to sue other nations about international issues, and is not the correct court that should be drawn upon for the Texas death-row inmates.
Rapists and murderers who cross national borders should be tried under the laws of the International Criminal Court, a DIFFERENT JUDICIAL AGENCY outside of the ICJ and part of a separate treaty. This treaty says that individuals who commit crimes should be held accountable for those crimes. So why can't the Mexican citizens be made subject to this court and tried properly? Because the ICC applies in both directions, and the United States Federal Government is too CHICKEN SHIT to sign the treaty, thinking that US Citizens who break laws and rape and pillage and murder should not be subject to the same laws that they are now trying to apply to the citizens of other countries.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Who should be teaching whom?
I had a quirky question come into my head today. "Which states need to learn something from the national coordinated campaign, and which states need to tell the coordinated campaign to shut up and listen to the locals?"
Given the information that I have already collected, which is substantial over the past few years, I searched for the following bits of information:
What is the current level of partisan control in state legislatures in each of the 50 states?
How well did the 2004 Presidential nominee do in each of the 50 states?
Compare these two numbers for each state, and calculate the difference.
Then see who needs to teach whom. Care to see the results?
The data comes from the 2004 election results, available in a bunch of places, and some research done on Wikipedia and through state government websites. I often had to fill in the blanks on Wikipedia with what I found, and there is a great deal left to do. But I have enough to answer my question.
For the states where Kerry did better than the Democrats in the state legislatures, Florida tops the list. Kerry got 47.13% and Democrats only control 35% of the seats in the Florida House and Senate. The difference is -12.13%. Florida is also the only state where the negatives are higher than -10%. Florida Democrats have something to learn from the national campaign and other states.
On the other end, and this isn't really a surprise to me after watching things over the past 4 years, there are a total of 18 states where Democrats control at least 10% more seats than the percent of the vote that John Kerry got in his election. In eight of these states Kerry lost, the Democrats now have a majority. The only state where both the Presidential race and the State Leg seats are Red is in Oklahoma, but even there the local Democrats have a 12.35% advantage over the national campaign.
What is interesting is the state that did the best Kerry had no business losing. Arkansas. I know, there are a lot of "Conservative Democrats", and it's also the state where the Clinton political machine is oldest and strongest. But when the difference is 31.52%, I just shake my head and wonder.
Remember, I'm just looking at the numbers. I have only ever lived in Deep Blue Seattle. But I thought the question interesting, and the results even more so.
The full results are available on Google Spreadsheets. Please feel free to copy and let me know if you find any errors. I gathered most of the numbers from CNN and Wikipedia, since it was easiest to piggyback on research that others have already done. I don't think the statistics will change all that much after any minor correction.
Given the information that I have already collected, which is substantial over the past few years, I searched for the following bits of information:
What is the current level of partisan control in state legislatures in each of the 50 states?
How well did the 2004 Presidential nominee do in each of the 50 states?
Compare these two numbers for each state, and calculate the difference.
Then see who needs to teach whom. Care to see the results?
The data comes from the 2004 election results, available in a bunch of places, and some research done on Wikipedia and through state government websites. I often had to fill in the blanks on Wikipedia with what I found, and there is a great deal left to do. But I have enough to answer my question.
For the states where Kerry did better than the Democrats in the state legislatures, Florida tops the list. Kerry got 47.13% and Democrats only control 35% of the seats in the Florida House and Senate. The difference is -12.13%. Florida is also the only state where the negatives are higher than -10%. Florida Democrats have something to learn from the national campaign and other states.
On the other end, and this isn't really a surprise to me after watching things over the past 4 years, there are a total of 18 states where Democrats control at least 10% more seats than the percent of the vote that John Kerry got in his election. In eight of these states Kerry lost, the Democrats now have a majority. The only state where both the Presidential race and the State Leg seats are Red is in Oklahoma, but even there the local Democrats have a 12.35% advantage over the national campaign.
What is interesting is the state that did the best Kerry had no business losing. Arkansas. I know, there are a lot of "Conservative Democrats", and it's also the state where the Clinton political machine is oldest and strongest. But when the difference is 31.52%, I just shake my head and wonder.
Remember, I'm just looking at the numbers. I have only ever lived in Deep Blue Seattle. But I thought the question interesting, and the results even more so.
The full results are available on Google Spreadsheets. Please feel free to copy and let me know if you find any errors. I gathered most of the numbers from CNN and Wikipedia, since it was easiest to piggyback on research that others have already done. I don't think the statistics will change all that much after any minor correction.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
I'm not a groupie...
Just to be clear, I am not in any kind of worship mode for Obama or anyone else. I'm a grassroots organizer within the Democratic Party in Seattle. I saw 16,246 people show up on February 9th just in my North Seattle Legislative District, and I'm focused on trying to keep them engaged so we can actually get Universal Health Care, Out of Iraq, and everything else. I don't believe we put anyone into an office to solve our problems for us. We put people who we believe might listen to our voices when they make their decisions. Barack Obama is no better, and no worse, than Hillary Clinton. I do believe that he would listen more than she would, but that's my personal observation. Regardless, we need a supermajority in the House and Senate to be able to restore this country from the Reagan/Bush/Clinton/BushII years, and that's going to take a hell of a lot of work at every level of our government. I'm prepared to spend the rest of my life fighting for what I believe in, which is NOT welfare for all nor subsidies for the rich on the backs of the poor. The function of government is to build, maintain and sustain our physical, financial, legal and social infrastructure (the commons) so that people can reach for their potential without worrying about the ground collapsing beneath our feet. It is not to give handouts, nor is it to hold people back. But it's not up to our leaders to do this for us, it's our responsibility to do it no matter what our leaders say or do.
Monday, March 03, 2008
AAARRRGGHHH
Please, if you can spare $5 or $10, please help me boost the candidate running in OH-08. The current holder of that seat is John Boehner, the Republican leader in the House. The challenger is Nicholas Von Stein. His email to use in Paypal is votevonstein@yahoo.com.
Why do I, an activist in Seattle, care about this particular race?
Longshot, yeah. But it still feels good to send my money to the campaign going against the guy who doesn't give a darn about the law.
Why do I, an activist in Seattle, care about this particular race?
The White House branded Pelosi's request for a federal grand jury to enforce the House subpeonas "truly contemptible." Pelosi's House Republican colleagues dismissed her request as "a partisan political stunt." White House spokesman Tony Fratto played the fear card and denounced Pelosi for trying to investigate loyal Americans instead of passing legislation that makes Americans safe by allowing the executive branch to spy without warrants. House GOP leader John Boehner's spokesperson accused Pelosi of making Americans unsafe by "pandering to the left-wing fever swamps of loony liberal activists."
Longshot, yeah. But it still feels good to send my money to the campaign going against the guy who doesn't give a darn about the law.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Understanding Capitalism
Martha sent me a link to a recent blog post on rationalrevolution.net, and it led me to this article about Understanding Capitalism. Highly recommended reading!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Re: Wikipolitics
In response to a post on BarackObama.com
Wikipolitics is not new, actually. We have been out here waiting and building for years. Not me, specifically, since I've only been around since 2003, but the concepts have been there. And the infrastructure has been in development.
Let me recommend a few more books to read.
"The Revolution will not be Televised: Democracy, the Internet, and the overthrow of Everything" - by Joe Trippi.
"The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations" - by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom
"The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to create a world that works for all" - by Tom Atlee
"50 Ways to Love your Country" - by MoveOn.org
In July of 2006, I got an email from Jimmy Wales. Or maybe it was a blog post. I can't remember. Here is what it said:
http://campaigns.wikia.com/wiki/Mission_Statement
I jumped in as the lead volunteer admin of Campaigns.Wikia, and have been pushing Wikipolitics ever since. I'm an admin on dKosopedia, and I keep finding more and more sites out there waiting to be discovered, used and built.
But it's not just about wiki software or Web 2.0. The town meeting where people have a chance to listen to the experts on an issue and voice their own opinions is the same core concept. Party and campaign meetings where people share their experiences and work together towards common goals, it's the same thing. Read Thomas Paine's Common Sense, and you can see the same thing.
I break it down in very simple terms. People are reaching for two possible goals. Either you want peace, or you want power. The path to peace is cooperation. The path to power is control. The Barack Obama campaign represents for me the ultimate collaborative effort to take back our country through the means of cooperation in the pursuit of peace. John McCain represents for me the candidate of control, supported by a political party that wants control of the country's politics in the pursuit of power. Power over what we see, what we hear, what we buy, how we live. They don't want to cooperate with others, they want to control others. We won't let them. Not anymore.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Measuring the Spoiler effect, 2004
On Sunday, February 24th, Ralph Nader jumped into the race for President. I've heard a lot of radio hosts claim or at least imply that he might be a spoiler in the 2008 election. So I did some research.
The table on this Wikia page lists the counties in the 2004 election where the difference between the Democratic Vote and Republican Vote was less than the number of votes for other candidates. I might need to break out how many of those votes were actually for Mr. Nader, since it is a sum of all "other" candidates on the ballot, but let's go with what I have for now.
Please take a look, and let's break down these numbers. There are 63 counties on this list. 33 of these were won by John Kerry, and 30 were won by George Bush. The total number of counties that I have information about is 3113. So, 30/3113 is .009637. Less than 1% of counties were affected by the "spoiler effect" in 2004. The total number of votes that "helped" John Kerry is 21,722. The number of votes that "helped" George Bush is 17,444. So John Kerry was helped more by the "spoiler effect" overall than Bush was.
Still think Nader's candidacy is going to be a problem? I don't.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Random rant
Thanks Mom. You really know how to get me going on a rant.
Iraq's unemployment rate is something like 70%. It's even worse in Afghanistan. It was much worse after we threw a billion dollars to them in the 1980's to defeat the Soviet invasion, then left them to starve in the 1990's. Do you know who trained Osama bin Laden and the Taliban fighters? We did. Then we left them without roads, without schools, without water and without a future. So they're trying to take away our future. What's the best way to change that? To my mind it is to make sure that the young children growing up in those societies have something better to do than march in the street because their schools are shut down. It's to give them roads so they can work on farms and get products to the market. It's to give their families water, electrical power, and the other necessities of a hopeful life. If kids are in school and looking forward to their future, they don't shoot other kids in the parking lot of Northgate Mall, like what happened on Friday night. They don't get recruited as suicide bombers. And they don't hate. The best way to eliminate an enemy is not to let people grow up hating us. We have 2 or 3 generations of people in the middle east and around the world who have grown up hating the Western powers because WE HAVE IGNORED THEM and thrown them to the religious leaders who want nothing but power for themselves. What was the best way for the European church leaders to prevent the uprising that was coming? Send the fighters to Israel so they don't storm the church looking for the money and food that had been stolen from the people to feed the Kings and Cardinals.
I wasn't talking about Muslims growing up. I was talking about US growing out of our quest for power and wealth. Wealth we are proving by our actions that we DO NOT DESERVE.
Iraq's unemployment rate is something like 70%. It's even worse in Afghanistan. It was much worse after we threw a billion dollars to them in the 1980's to defeat the Soviet invasion, then left them to starve in the 1990's. Do you know who trained Osama bin Laden and the Taliban fighters? We did. Then we left them without roads, without schools, without water and without a future. So they're trying to take away our future. What's the best way to change that? To my mind it is to make sure that the young children growing up in those societies have something better to do than march in the street because their schools are shut down. It's to give them roads so they can work on farms and get products to the market. It's to give their families water, electrical power, and the other necessities of a hopeful life. If kids are in school and looking forward to their future, they don't shoot other kids in the parking lot of Northgate Mall, like what happened on Friday night. They don't get recruited as suicide bombers. And they don't hate. The best way to eliminate an enemy is not to let people grow up hating us. We have 2 or 3 generations of people in the middle east and around the world who have grown up hating the Western powers because WE HAVE IGNORED THEM and thrown them to the religious leaders who want nothing but power for themselves. What was the best way for the European church leaders to prevent the uprising that was coming? Send the fighters to Israel so they don't storm the church looking for the money and food that had been stolen from the people to feed the Kings and Cardinals.
I wasn't talking about Muslims growing up. I was talking about US growing out of our quest for power and wealth. Wealth we are proving by our actions that we DO NOT DESERVE.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Dear Washington DNC members
Dwight has put up a form for people to use to contact the Washington State DNC Members, and has invited us to communicate our thoughts on who they should vote for at the DNC Convention. I hope that he keeps the form up after the caucus cycle is done so we can stay in touch with our representatives to the DNC.
Here is the letter that I wrote:
I started this cycle as an Edwards supporter, focused on his platform priorities of poverty and giving the power back to the people. It's the same message from Howard Dean that got me involved in the party in 2003 and 2004. I was extremely disappointed that his campaign did not survive the contest, but to be honest I knew last summer that he wouldn't make it. He was focused on Iowa and New Hampshire, to the exclusion of the other states. Washington's campaign didn't even get started until November. I knew he was done, but I stayed focused on his message, built the Washington for Edwards website and worked to effectively use the vote file within his campaign.
I am now a delegate for Obama from the Precinct level to the LD level. I'll probably run for CD level delegate so I can help decide who goes to the National Convention. I am completely thrilled with the amount of grassroots support that Obama is getting from people and groups that have never before been engaged in the political process. I hear from many of them that they will only stay engaged if Obama wins. And I believe them.
Either of our candidates is capable of being a great President. But looking at the situation from the perspective of a party organizer, I honestly believe that the future of the Democratic Party depends on choosing the candidate who will bring new people into the process, not the one who will drive people away. I think Hillary is a great Senator, and I honor her years of work. But I believe that only Barack Obama has the ability to bring our country together in November and win the White House. Not for the Democratic Party alone, but for the people of this country.
Please support Barack Obama with your superdelegate votes at the National Convention.
Here is the letter that I wrote:
I started this cycle as an Edwards supporter, focused on his platform priorities of poverty and giving the power back to the people. It's the same message from Howard Dean that got me involved in the party in 2003 and 2004. I was extremely disappointed that his campaign did not survive the contest, but to be honest I knew last summer that he wouldn't make it. He was focused on Iowa and New Hampshire, to the exclusion of the other states. Washington's campaign didn't even get started until November. I knew he was done, but I stayed focused on his message, built the Washington for Edwards website and worked to effectively use the vote file within his campaign.
I am now a delegate for Obama from the Precinct level to the LD level. I'll probably run for CD level delegate so I can help decide who goes to the National Convention. I am completely thrilled with the amount of grassroots support that Obama is getting from people and groups that have never before been engaged in the political process. I hear from many of them that they will only stay engaged if Obama wins. And I believe them.
Either of our candidates is capable of being a great President. But looking at the situation from the perspective of a party organizer, I honestly believe that the future of the Democratic Party depends on choosing the candidate who will bring new people into the process, not the one who will drive people away. I think Hillary is a great Senator, and I honor her years of work. But I believe that only Barack Obama has the ability to bring our country together in November and win the White House. Not for the Democratic Party alone, but for the people of this country.
Please support Barack Obama with your superdelegate votes at the National Convention.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
LTE: Where were you?
Because of space limitations, the Seattle Times could not print my entire letter on Sunday. Here is the original.
I read with horror the letters to the editor published by the Seattle Times on February 13th. Letter after letter claiming purposeful disenfranchisement of people by the political parties, that the superdelegates have already cast their vote, that the parties are acting in an antithetical way to the American ideals, that the caucus system is designed to help insiders keep a strangle-hold on the primary system, and that there is still confusion about why the primary was held.
The first letter claims that both parties designed the system to limit participation. That is false. The selection of a Saturday afternoon was to maximize the ability of people to participate in the caucus. Caucuses have been held in this state since 1892, our first opportunity to participate fully in the selection of a US President after Washington State was officially incorporated in 1889. Washington's first electoral votes were cast for Benjamin Harrison (R). I find it amazing that people seem to purposefully ignore history in discussions. Washington has been a caucus state since the very beginning, but only now, after 8 years of President Bush, do people realize that there is a political world that needs our attention. Why do we need to fall so far before picking ourselves up?
I know that I can't begin to correct all of the misconceptions and misinformation in a single letter, but I do want to address, in the strongest possible terms that can still be published in a newspaper, the false conclusion that the political parties are the problem, either within this presidential primary cycle or in general.
I got involved in politics after fighting cancer in 2003. I walked into my first local political party meeting knowing nothing. Over the past four years, I have learned a great deal about how the system works. It's frustrating sometimes, but there are reasons for every decision at every step of the process. If you complain about the results without trying to get an understanding of where those results came from, you are letting the process work without you. If you want your voice heard, please get involved. If you don't understand the process, please ask. Hear the call to service, and join in the effort, join in the struggle. I won't say join one party or another, they both need your help.
Get onto the field and help us play the game. Here's a helmet. Here are the rules. Learn by doing, and lead by example. Get engaged, get educated, and feel empowered. Nothing will change in a direction that you can appreciate until your feet hit the ground. Trust me, I know.
Chad Lupkes
King County Rep from the 46th District Democrats
Chair, Washington State Progressive Caucus
I read with horror the letters to the editor published by the Seattle Times on February 13th. Letter after letter claiming purposeful disenfranchisement of people by the political parties, that the superdelegates have already cast their vote, that the parties are acting in an antithetical way to the American ideals, that the caucus system is designed to help insiders keep a strangle-hold on the primary system, and that there is still confusion about why the primary was held.
The first letter claims that both parties designed the system to limit participation. That is false. The selection of a Saturday afternoon was to maximize the ability of people to participate in the caucus. Caucuses have been held in this state since 1892, our first opportunity to participate fully in the selection of a US President after Washington State was officially incorporated in 1889. Washington's first electoral votes were cast for Benjamin Harrison (R). I find it amazing that people seem to purposefully ignore history in discussions. Washington has been a caucus state since the very beginning, but only now, after 8 years of President Bush, do people realize that there is a political world that needs our attention. Why do we need to fall so far before picking ourselves up?
I know that I can't begin to correct all of the misconceptions and misinformation in a single letter, but I do want to address, in the strongest possible terms that can still be published in a newspaper, the false conclusion that the political parties are the problem, either within this presidential primary cycle or in general.
I got involved in politics after fighting cancer in 2003. I walked into my first local political party meeting knowing nothing. Over the past four years, I have learned a great deal about how the system works. It's frustrating sometimes, but there are reasons for every decision at every step of the process. If you complain about the results without trying to get an understanding of where those results came from, you are letting the process work without you. If you want your voice heard, please get involved. If you don't understand the process, please ask. Hear the call to service, and join in the effort, join in the struggle. I won't say join one party or another, they both need your help.
Get onto the field and help us play the game. Here's a helmet. Here are the rules. Learn by doing, and lead by example. Get engaged, get educated, and feel empowered. Nothing will change in a direction that you can appreciate until your feet hit the ground. Trust me, I know.
Chad Lupkes
King County Rep from the 46th District Democrats
Chair, Washington State Progressive Caucus
Thursday, February 14, 2008
H.R. 2702, the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007
Dear Rep. McDermott,
I support our troops, and I know you do as well. That's why I am asking you to co-sponsor H.R.2702, the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007.
Eight million veterans got their education thanks to the World War II GI Bill, which covered tuition, fees, and books, and gave veterans a living stipend while they were in school. A 1988 Congressional study proved that every dollar spent on educational benefits under the original GI Bill added seven dollars to the national economy in terms of productivity, consumer spending and tax revenue.
Unfortunately, the current educational benefits offered to veterans are far lower than the original GI Bill. In fact, they cover only 60-70% of the average cost of four years at a public college or university, or less than two years at a typical private college. Our veterans deserve better.
Please co-sponsor H.R. 2702. Let's give our veterans the support and foundation they need.
Thanks!
Chad Lupkes
Seattle
More information: http://www.iava.org/demandaction
I support our troops, and I know you do as well. That's why I am asking you to co-sponsor H.R.2702, the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007.
Eight million veterans got their education thanks to the World War II GI Bill, which covered tuition, fees, and books, and gave veterans a living stipend while they were in school. A 1988 Congressional study proved that every dollar spent on educational benefits under the original GI Bill added seven dollars to the national economy in terms of productivity, consumer spending and tax revenue.
Unfortunately, the current educational benefits offered to veterans are far lower than the original GI Bill. In fact, they cover only 60-70% of the average cost of four years at a public college or university, or less than two years at a typical private college. Our veterans deserve better.
Please co-sponsor H.R. 2702. Let's give our veterans the support and foundation they need.
Thanks!
Chad Lupkes
Seattle
More information: http://www.iava.org/demandaction
Monday, February 11, 2008
Dear Patty Murray,
Dear Senator Murray,
While I appreciate the fact that both Bush and Congress are in a state of panic about the Republican Great Depression that is coming, I do not appreciate the fact that this Congress continues to refuse to stand up to poor budget decisions. On the one hand, your email report sent today talks about how bad the Bush Budget is for our country, because of the way that it continues to degrade the infrastructure of our country. That infrastructure, which our government is tasked to maintain, includes physical, social, economic and legal aspects. Our financial/economic infrastructure is the responsibility of our Government.
I wrote an email a few weeks ago asking that you include a measure to raise taxes on the highest income earners in order to prevent this stimulus package from putting our country even further in debt. The debt that we carry as a nation, over $9 Trillion now, is the cause of much if not most of our trouble. It is the hole underneath our physical, social and legal foundation that will cause everything that we hold dear to collapse.
I am disappointed that you were unable to push for balancing the budget as part of this stimulus package. I believe that creating a balanced budget will do more to help our economy than $150 Billion dollars could ever hope to do.
Thank you for your service to our state and our country.
Chad Lupkes
Seattle
While I appreciate the fact that both Bush and Congress are in a state of panic about the Republican Great Depression that is coming, I do not appreciate the fact that this Congress continues to refuse to stand up to poor budget decisions. On the one hand, your email report sent today talks about how bad the Bush Budget is for our country, because of the way that it continues to degrade the infrastructure of our country. That infrastructure, which our government is tasked to maintain, includes physical, social, economic and legal aspects. Our financial/economic infrastructure is the responsibility of our Government.
I wrote an email a few weeks ago asking that you include a measure to raise taxes on the highest income earners in order to prevent this stimulus package from putting our country even further in debt. The debt that we carry as a nation, over $9 Trillion now, is the cause of much if not most of our trouble. It is the hole underneath our physical, social and legal foundation that will cause everything that we hold dear to collapse.
I am disappointed that you were unable to push for balancing the budget as part of this stimulus package. I believe that creating a balanced budget will do more to help our economy than $150 Billion dollars could ever hope to do.
Thank you for your service to our state and our country.
Chad Lupkes
Seattle
Friday, February 08, 2008
torn
I just watched the stream from both Hillary in Tacoma and Barack at the Key Arena. Hillary spoke on issues, and took questions because of the smaller crowd. Barack spoke on hope and inspiration, and did not take questions because there were 18,000+ people in the Arena, with another 3K outside. Just based on those two speeches, I have no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow. Just following the issues, Hillary spoke to just about all of them. Her health care plan is better. Not the best, that's Dennis. But I got the sense from both of them that they would BOTH sign HR676 if we can push it through Congress. His ability to build a movement is better. The only thing the right wing has against him are lies and false advertising that he could turn on a dime.
The electoral math is amazing. Hillary got most of the states that will go blue anyway. Barack got states, with blowout turnout, that we haven't seen blue in years or decades.
So here's what it comes down to for me. All politics is local, and all activism is personal. I'm going to sign in for my candidate, John Edwards. Then I'm going to lead my precinct through a discussion, and give people a chance to talk and inspire others. I'm going to base my decision tomorrow morning on the people in my neighborhood who show up. Because that's what this is all about, showing up.
Make it a great day!
--
Chad Lupkes
http://chadlupkes.blogspot.com
The electoral math is amazing. Hillary got most of the states that will go blue anyway. Barack got states, with blowout turnout, that we haven't seen blue in years or decades.
So here's what it comes down to for me. All politics is local, and all activism is personal. I'm going to sign in for my candidate, John Edwards. Then I'm going to lead my precinct through a discussion, and give people a chance to talk and inspire others. I'm going to base my decision tomorrow morning on the people in my neighborhood who show up. Because that's what this is all about, showing up.
Make it a great day!
--
Chad Lupkes
http://chadlupkes.blogspot.com
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