scientists for Barack Obama

Science is "shovel-ready" and museums are one of the backbones of science

Norris — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:33:43 EST

I just wrote the following letter to my Senator:

Senator xxxxx,

Museums are one of the backbones of our scientific infrastructure.

I wanted to voice my opposition to the Coburn authored "Limitation of
Funds Amendment No. 175". Although the concept of taking a close look
at any wasteful spending in the stimulus package is certainly
laudable, lumping museums, zoos, and aquaria amongst the likes of
flatscreen TVs and casinos is absurd. Quite the opposite is true.
Funding for museums represents precisely the sort of program that
makes for smart stimulus spending. Museums are among of the most
important infrastructural components to science in this country. Any
study on ecology, biodiversity, evolution, comparative anatomy, or
comparative genomics relies on material housed in research
collections. Museums, zoos, and aquaria are locations where some of
the best science is undertaken and resources on which the best
scientists depend.

Science is "shovel-ready." Numerous quality scientists are
underemployed or forced to seek employment elsewhere due to a shortage
of positions. There are people ready to go to work if their salaries
can be procured. There are quality research projects ready to be
conducted if the funds are made available. Any member of an NSF
funding panel will testify that every round of submissions sees a very
high fraction of rejected research proposals that were deserving of
funding. To issue a blanket rejection of stimulus funds to museums
represents a rejection of some of the very best scientific research
and a missed opportunity to provide jobs and infuse capital into a
sector of the economy that represents both a long-term investment in
our future and a short-term shot in the arm through jobs and money
well spent.

Whether appreciated or overlooked, museums will represent a key
component in the new economy. For instance, study on the effects of
climate change or environmental degradation on the living world would
literally end tomorrow if museums were to disappear. In spite of
their importance, most collections in this country are understaffed,
often deteriorating, and long overdue for upgrades.

I encourage you to not only reject Amendment 175, but to consider
boosting support to NSF and to our research institutions, museums,
zoos, and aquaria.

VIRGINIA! Or: how to volunteer.

Nada — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:31:45 EDT

My friend Pete from DC and I are going to go to Virginia for the week (or so) before the election. Last night we looked over the 2004 presidential election map by county, and the voter turnout in 2006 and 2004, and pinpointed Buchanan and Tazewell counties as areas with Democratic views, medium-high population, and low voter turnout - those are counties in the far SW of VA, where the state makes a little sharkfin shape. This morning, I was able to speak with the Tazewell office directly, and the director there welcomed us with open arms and is making arrangements for us to come. I contrast this with the approach of simply using the "come to Virginia" link or contacting the VA campaign outreach - there we were met with little enthusiasm and a lot of vagueness about what we could do. I would much rather work hard and know I was making a difference, personally, so I'm REALLY EXCITED about this opportunity.

I was also just speaking with Fred Wong of the Tallahassee office in Florida, and he's saying that they're very, very eager for volunteers down there, and will have no trouble hooking you up with work and housing if you need it. It sounds like Florida is gearing up in capacity to handle out-of-state volunteers, but I note that the Florida page doesn't have an obvious "Come to Florida" link. So, if you're interested, I'd suggest that you try contacting Tallahassee directly. ;)

I guess that in sum I would just like to say: it's hard to organize volunteers, especially out of state volunteers. Obama offices want you, and if they fail to respond to your generous offer of volunteering the first time, don't give up. Keep trying, get creative, try to talk to specific people. I know it's more work, but it will pay off - you'll get a more rewarding volunteer experience, the offices will get the help they badly need, and hey, maybe America will even get the president we so richly deserve.

P.S.: If you're in NYC, Harlem4Obama is always looking for more office volunteers. They're located at 2479 Frederick Douglass just below 133rd. You can also call 347.577.7547.

Wearing the Obama hat

WNYmathGuy — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:04:16 EDT

I was at a church function yesterday and I wore my Obama hat partly to hide my “helmet hair” from riding to and from work, but also partly because I thing the soft sell is a powerful thing. By soft sell I mean showing the team colors while being a good person in public; I put other peoples trash in the garbage cans at times, I smile at strangers, I try to make others lives go smoother, and I treat all people as my equal.

A fun side effect is that it draws fire from both people that disagree with you and people that like to “bust your onions.” The onion-busters are quick to move on when they see they can’t get you mad. They are a waste of time to argue with anyway because they are probably on your side but they like to start trouble. The other ones are worth your time. They will pull out every thing in their head trying to win an argument against you, and all you have to do is take your time and mindfully answer all their fears with facts.

Last night I had a doosey! Funny that he got put on me by an onion-buster. This fellow was a Conservative, pious Republican, who has qualms about Democrats voting the party line. His first statement to me was, “what is wrong with voting against a person because of his color? I wouldn’t do it, but I know a lot of people that would.” I smiled and looked at the ground for a second or two and said, “I don’t have anything against that, voting is a personal decision.” I paused momentarily as I watched some of the red leave his face then went on to say, “but I believe that bigotry is morally reprehensible, and it disgusts me personally.” Wow that felt good! Out of the corners of my eyes I could see stealthy eavesdroppers gathering around trying to get close enough to hear the debate but staying far enough away to not get involved. I thought I should speak louder for the rest of the conversation. I then went on to say that I had never paid attention to politics before this year, and that I literally went to Obama’s site to find reasons to make fun of him, but couldn’t and was so impressed by his policies that I joined his team.

He brought “Hussein” into a sentence and tried to make a Muslim connection and I headed back to it later. I said, “you know people named Jeff right?, but you don’t treat them any different because Jeffery Dahlmer was a mass murderer do you? So why do you want to bag on a guy with a funny name?” He thought for a moment then tried his Muslim connection argument. I said, “I’m a Catholic, but you wouldn’t try to connect me to the Ku Klux Klan would you? So why would you try to connect his fathers religion which was the normal religion of that area to him, and to terrorists?” I had him a bit speechless there and I could see his face wanting to change the argument to something he could win.

The next thing he went on to say was, “none of that matters to me anyway, I only vote on one issue, right to life.” Again I allowed him to speak his mind fully. Although it was dark outside I could see that his red face color was coming down to an ordinary complexion white skin. I don’t think he felt too comfortable after he aired his view because he took a new position near me where his back was now up against a giant hedge. He went on to call the appointing of specific Supreme Court Judges that enact his extreme views as the greatest accomplishment of the Republican Party. I told him that I don’t think it’s so easy to define laws because these issues about life are no simple standardizeable matter. Then he started to talk really crazy about nuclear bombs going off killing everybody in some specific city in our state. I said, “now how can you be pro life and talk like that?!” He became immediately embarrassed and began to swerve it back away from crazy passion to his crazy belief that the end times are near. (if I die and go to heaven, I’m going to kick the shit out of the guy that wrote Revelations) As a changeup I pulled one from the Bible; I don’t know the chapter and verse, but I know I read it in the Bible. I said to him, “scriptures have a story that says if you are lost and starving and you come upon a bird and her eggs, to take the eggs and leave the bird alone. I think the reason that is in the Bible is because God can work with a mother to make new eggs, but God can’t work with the eggs without the mother.” Then I went to women’s health issues and how my grandmother nearly died from giving birth to her last daughter that was an obvious health risk because of how the pregnancy developed low in the womb. If God is all powerful, then the soul of my Aunt would have been put in the next conception. I told him that I think both sides are wrong and it is never a simple matter and writing laws that force everybody to live under one groups opinion is not right or doable.

He talked about how Hitler could have possibly fooled all those people into following him, and I said I used to be a Republican and after meeting so many Democrats I believe these people are the least likely to have that happen, but Republicans grab slogans, don’t investigate and fall in line with their leaders. We left that topic quickly.

I began to steer the conversation to economics, and after things calmed down, he thanked me for taking the time to talk to him. I wouldn’t be so bold to think I have converted him to our side, but I may have at least put out the “angry mob torch” he was carrying. He may be more open minded. He may doubt some of the political things that he accepted as a matter of faith. All in all I believe it was time well spent.

Go and get one of these for yourself. I’ll be glad to read your post.

I used to be a Republican

WNYmathGuy — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:37:49 EDT

I was born and raised as a Republican, though I was not registered to vote till after Reagan got in office, and after my contract in the Marines was completed. I listened to talk radio and Rush Limbaugh from about 1987 to about 1997. So what changed and made me a Democrat and nearly a Delegate at this year’s convention?

Towards the end of the 1980's my wife and I had a produce store, a hobby farm and 2 full time jobs. As an adult with so many responsibilities I was learning fast, and I was developing great reasoning skills. I started to find things wrong in what was being said on talk radio. I found that if you want to get on a talk radio show, you have to fit one of two requirements; agree with them with out seeming psychotic, or disagree with them in a lame way that makes their opposition look bad. They will not air a solid argument against themselves because truth has nothing to do with their message. I found that level of deceit deplorable, but never detected it before I grew an open mind and listened to both sides. I was capable of good thinking, but was never in a position to try it.

In the late 1990's I went back to school and studied many things but loaded heavily in Economics coursework. During the first campaign of Lil' Bush, I was phoned by a GOTV Republican party volunteer. I said I wasn't voting for them because it was too much Texas Oil power in one area and that if they won something would happen that would raise the prices of fuel such that Texan's would be able to profit again on their local oil production. I may be a little off, but it was kind of prophetic if not just openly cynical. That volunteer treated me so badly on the phone that I wondered what I was doing in the same party.

I felt like the Democrats had little to offer me at that time. This is because of the persistence of propaganda in the human mind. Old thoughts in the human mind that were learned well remain intact until overwhelming new evidence proves them wrong. Thus I had only heard all of what's wrong with Democrats. That is not an easy hurdle for an ordinary person to get over, and mental assaults don't work; if you meet a person like I was, try calm discussion with the proper rules of debate. If the discussion becomes heated, our brains get into defensive positions and loose the ability to think rationally.

I went to the Denver convention and found that everything I ever heard about Democrats was a lie. I watched the Republican convention and now I am embarrassed that I was ever associated with them; I know good Republicans, but those people are not in any position of power. I'd really like an opportunity to punch a lot of those jack-asses in the face that control the Republican Party.

As a mathematician of sorts, I advise you to whenever you get to discuss anything with potential opponents or undecided voters, get their definitions of what they say they are. As I said in the beginning, I was raised a Republican, but hearing Senator Wexler of Florida go on about fire breathing Liberals, I heard the definition of a Liberal for the first time and realized I have always thought like a Liberal, and I was only against them because I held a mistaken definition of Liberal in my head. Find out what the person you are talking to really wants to happen and you may find out they are on your side, but they don't know it yet.

Good luck to you all, and remember change a mind = change a vote, and that one changed vote = a gain of 2 votes at the booth. The worst you can hope for is an opponent looses their enthusiasm when you shed the light of truth and they stay home on voting day.

Please Stop the Biofuel Scam - My Energy Policy Letter to Obama

Richard Gibbs — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:33:42 EDT

Dear Senator Obama,

My Policy concerning this critical area matches yours accept in one important area, biofuels. We need to honestly assess and correct the misinformation and hype associated with Biofuels. I strongly believe in "Green Energy" concepts including the use of alternative forms of energy (solar, wind, geothermal, EVs, etc.) and energy conservation, but the "promise" of biofuels (Ethanol and Biodiesel) is false. The Biofuel Scam must be shut down so we can focus on viable alternatives.

I am an electrical engineer with degrees in engineering and biology and a strong background in chemistry and physics. All scientific and and economic information I have waded through indicates that biofuels are expensive to produce (require government subsidies), increase rather than decrease atmospheric CO2, increase the cost of food in the 3rd world, and can not significantly reduce our dependency on foreign oil. The thermodynamics, chemistry and economics of biofuel production make it a poor choice as a replacement for gasoline and diesel.

More critically, I am deeply disturbed with how all the political campaigns (including ours) promise to eliminate our dependence on foreign energy (oil and gas). This, to me, is a massive delusion of the American electorate using their fear of escalating energy costs and dependency on OPEC to get votes. As Robert Bryce intelligently illustrates in his book, 'Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of "Energy Independence"', the US and the world are energy interdependent and have foreign dependencies for many other critical commodities. We need to accept the fact that we are interdependent with the rest of the world and stop harping about energy independence.

Energy is traded on a global marketplace and no matter how effective we are in moving away from fossil fuel usage we will continue to remain dependent on foreign oil and gas for decades. We need to move forward on "real" solutions and avoid spending on money and resources on dead-end ideas like biofuels. Please read Robert Bryce's book and take the politically difficult position using knowledge rather than fear to determine our future national energy policy.

Respectfully yours,

Richard Gibbs

Libertyville, IL

Event Security: We the People; To Serve & Protect.

WNYmathGuy — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:25:09 EDT

Hello to all potential Obama Event attenders,

    I have been thinking about this idea of enhanced security for some time and talking about it on rare occasions. Now seems like a great time to SPAM the thoughts to lots of people.

    Professional agents like the Secret Service can prevent nearly any possibility of harm to those they protect. The media and the blog world has been talking about the one possibility that they can't stop; the "Lone Wolf." This type of threat is hard for a professional to detect because their thoughts and plans are likely to be completely personal, thus undetectable. The pro's can do amazing things with geometry and physics to detect any potential long range attack, or stealthy approach. Mapping communication links allows them to guess who is connected to organized threats, and track the movement of the known players of insurgency. I don't believe they can effectively play the "Where is Waldo" game by scanning our massive crowds to find a potential Lone Wolf who looks just like the rest of us. That's where we the normal people come in.

    Early in the primaries when we began to discuss this idea, I suggested attendees of events perform acts of confrontation and heroism should a perpetrator brandish a weapon. Recently I thought security against the potential Lone Wolf doesn't need to be so dramatic.

    Any potential Lone Wolf would be playing the part of a hunter and their camouflage would be pretending to be at the event like we are, but unlike us they would be in total focus on one goal just like a hunter. It would be a terrible problem for them if they were constantly distracted. Since all the attendees that show up for honorable reasons will be friends in spirit or otherwise, their should be nothing wrong with talking to everybody near you even though you never met before. Who could possibly be against a friendly & light conversation at an event? A Lone Wolf would be against light conversation; it would be totally distracting and ruin their hunt. So if you attend a event where the Pros are already on duty, you should be looking around for people that look disconnected, alone, or just out of place and engaging them with a smile and a friendly comment.

    The upside of this security through noise and connectivity is you have the potential to prevent a wrongdoing without even knowing it. The downside to this is you may meet somebody that you really don't agree with and isn't fun to talk to.

    Think of how happy the Pros would be to have between 20,000 and 75,000 motivated and unpaid volunteers helping with security. I think this would also inadvertently fit with the Obama plan for strengthening communities; talking to strangers improves a community (don't tell children I said that).

    If you think this is a good idea, feel free to send it to those you think should read it but haven't gotten it yet.

Sincerely,
Michael Rupp
aka:WNYmathGuy

The Dull Days of Summer

Joshua Schroeder — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:01:09 EDT

There is very little expected to happen over the next few weeks in the American political arena. The current electoral map will probably not show very much activity as the Olympics captivate the media and the candidates more-or-less take a break from the high-profile newsmaking that has characterized much of this campaign. The opposition has settled into a pattern of criticizing the youth, novelty, and popularity of our campaign by spending millions to spread the hateful message of the Celebutantes Attack Ads while emphasizing a "drill, drill, drill" message that is transparently pandering to the lowest common denominator in American politics. Meanwhile, we are on the ground registering voters and trying to connect with people about issues that matter to them whether it be Yucca Mountain in Nevada or the loss of 30,000 DHL jobs in Ohio.

There are two things that we as Barack Obama supporters should keep doing over the next few weeks of dolldrums:

1. Keep registering voters: as MANY as possible.

2. Remind those people who you talk to why this election is so important. Talking to people about the issues will make it clear to them and to us how essentially everybody is on our side: health care, civil rights, economic justice, the environment... My tagline is: "We are all Democrats". This cannot be emphasized enough.

Also, we should plan on supporting a seed-change in Congress and in state and local elections whenever possible. Gaining seats in the House and Senate for the Democrats is expected, but there are places where we should be making real inroads in the polls but have not yet succeeded. Republicans are actively talking about hunkering down to Congressional elections. They are proud of the stunt that the radical right representatives pulled when they refuses to leave for the August recess in order to pretend that offshore drilling was the most important issue of all time. They are taking a tack that they hope will distract from the facts that they are losing politically and have what can be best described as whithering mainstream support. Distracting the voting population with platitudes and appeals to greed and fear are their answer to a message of change and reform.

We can easily establish a proud alternative to these shrill whiners and has-been politicos. All we need to do is hold our heads up high and challenge those we meet and greet to think forward: toward the future and a more just, clean, transparent, and accountable government that can begin to fix the excesses of the nightmarish Bush years.

We need to get Democrats on board!

Joshua Schroeder — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:26:43 EDT

Here is an interesting graph I got from fivethirtyeight.com

What this says is that Obama is doing better than John Kerry did in 2004 with every group but one: democrats! We can probably guess why: a brusing primary and a divided party that has not quite unified. It is important that you talk to your democrat friends and let them know how important and real the distinction between McCain and Obama is. The true Democrat who believes in the principles of human rights, labor rights, stewardship of the environment, and protection of civil liberties should not have a hard choice to decide which candidate best embodies these principles.

Work before politics

Randy — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:50:05 EDT

Well, it was back to the daily grind today and I feel like I should be working less and volunteering more. I know I can't do everything, but still... We do have an organization meeting on Wednesday and the group here in Munich is working it. We got a fantastic group here. We got GOTV events lined up and I can't wait to camp out for three days and register Americans visiting the Southern State Fest. Imagine that, a Souther State Fest in Germany. I will be able to spot the Americans easy. They will not be the ones dressed up like Cowboys and Indians. Hahahaha. I also just started to make chili for a Chili Cookoff competition. We will probably enter it as Team Obama Munich. We should get some press out of it, especially if we win and I do expect to win!

Signed a Tennessean in Germany (and if a Tennessean can't win a Texas Chili Cookoff, then I need to hang my head in shame).

Honest Dissappointment

Jacob Kelly — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:56:53 EDT

I've never said anything negative on this site. I've always kept quiet though I had some growing concern about our candidate. And I'm writing what I'm writing now because I still believe that of the two major candidates, Barack Obama is our greater HOPE. BUT, I feel now is the time two voice at least a little of my concern.

First of all, today, Barack voted in favor of the new FISA Bill sponsored by George Bush and his cronies to protect the goverment and the abbetting telecoms currently participating in large scale illegal domestic spying. He had previously spoken out against any such bill offering this type of immunity. I am very upset. OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES MUST BE UPHELD! This is way out of character and election year pandering. As a friend who's never met you Mr. Obama, I suggest NOW is the time to apologize to your constiuents for this election year garbage. You ARE better than this.

The other issue over which I am concerned has to do with the election year funding. Early on Barack pledged to utilize public funding, resting on the idea that his ideas were more powerful than finances. Recently he aknowledged that unlike McCain he would not be doing this, citing his feeling that it would be unfair as he would not utilize PACs etc. in the way McCain would and would give him a significant disadvantage. I agree with him, to an extent. But a pledge is just that. We need you to stick by your concience even when it seems it will hurt you. That is the definition of leadership.

With that said, I just really hope and pray sir that this slide on your promises for political gain, doesn't compromise who you are. I pray it stops here. I'll be watching and hoping.

Thank you,

Jacob Kelly

HUDSON VALLEY MOVING FORWARD

SHELLYE SCHOONMAKER — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 01:11:49 EDT

WE SHOULD ALL BE LOOKING IN OUR CITIES AND TOWNS, FOR SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER TO OPEN UP CAMPAGAIN OFFICES. WE NEED TO BE MORE VISABLE. IF YOU CAN DO IT EARLIER DO IT. LET THIS COUNTRY KNOW (OBAMA) SUPPORTERS ARE HERE TO STAY. (YES WE CAN) BARACK AND ROLL.
(THE WORLD IS WATCHING)
WHAT WILL THEY SEE

Bush: "We didn't realize...."

Joshua Schroeder — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:36:42 EDT

Bush was quoted in his current trip to England: "“We didn’t realize, nor did anybody else, that Saddam Hussein felt like he needed to play like he had weapons of mass destruction. It may have been, however, that in his mind all this was just a bluff.”

It's about time to get someone competent in the White House. Did John McCain not realize it either? Even with all that so-called "foreign policy experience"? His staunch support of the war seems to be based on a lie that the world is somehow more secure now with Iraq occupied by US troops.

Wake me from this nightmare! Vote Barack in November!

McCain and Bush: Energy through the drill

Joshua Schroeder — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:10:01 EDT

When Tom Daschle was leaving the Senate, he gave an interview where he described meeting Bush for the first time. Daschle recalls that Bush said, "“There’s only one real word for my energy policy, and that’s drill.”

Now McCain seems to have bought this boneheaded Bush policy hook-line-and-sinker.

Gas prices are horrific now. They're hurting people all across the country who are dealing with the recession. But we need to look carefully as to how to responsibly handle the energy crisis. Alternative energy sources can be developed that are sustainable, environmentally sound, and clean. However, Bush and McCain seem obsessed with the idea that we can "drill" our way out of our problems. The newest arugment that this duo is making is that we have to increase off-shore drilling.

Off-shore drilling is an intensive practice that requires the construction of enormous platforms, disrupts ecosystems, and returns fossil fuel energy sources that are non-renewable, heavily polluting, and the cause of some of the worst ecological disasters we have ever known. In the meantime, Bush's administration has cut funding to research and development of alternative energy sources and technologies and there is no indication that McCain will reverse this trend.

If you want to live in a polluted, doomed to bust, energy-starved world that is depedent on invasive, old technologies of the past, then by all means support the Republican energy policy of the drill.

But I won't be joining in on this madness.

McCain's tax breaks for the wealthy.

Joshua Schroeder — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:02:06 EDT

McCain wants to cut taxes and here's how:

1. A reduction in the corporate tax rate to 25 percent from 35 percent

2. Immediate tax breaks for corporate investment

3. An outright repeal of the alternative minimum tax

4. Doubling the value of exemptions for dependents to $7,000 from $3,500

Only the last one arguably might have an effect on lower and income Americans. The rest of it is more handouts for the rich and additional corporate welfare.

Religiously opposed, secularly supporting

Joshua Schroeder — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:40:03 EDT

Much has been made about the social conservative "values" that many orthodox religions adhere to. It is generally assumed that such values cannot align with progressive programs of the Democratic Party. This is not true: in fact such reasoning is an example of the inappropriate mixing church and state.

One can be personally opposed to many things due to one's religion, but that doesn't mean those personal religious preferences should be imposed upon the rest of society. Should everyone be forced to pray in a certain way? Should everyone be forced to keep kosher, fast on Fridays, or go to church on Sundays? I think most people would answer "no", even if they believed personally that their religion required that. Your religion may say who can or cannot participate in worship services or church governance. That does not mean that you want people to stop participating in democracy.

The same thing is true for abortion rights and gay marriage. If you believe that your religion demands that abortions should not occur or that homosexuality is a "sin", you can still oppose making abortion illegal and support civil marriages for gay people. It's a matter of not mixing ecclesiastical law with civic law. In the same way you don't want to discriminate against the practices of people who aren't in your religion, we should also support not discriminating against those whose opinions on these issues differ. At issue is the fundamental human right of freedom. Since both the right to privacy and the right to love whomever you choose are basic rights and freedoms, we should protect them no matter what personal religious preferences we may have.

Holding this administration accountable for its crimes.

Joshua Schroeder — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:18:44 EDT

This Washington Post article details how Representative Kucinich is forcing a vote on articles of impeachment he introduced on Monday.

I think he makes a very strong case for this. The Iraq War that was planned and executed by this criminal administration was not only illegal, but, perhaps more importantly, the damage it has brought upon our world is breathtaking in both its scope and in its heinousness. I believe that the current administration should be held accountable for the acts of violence they orchestrated and the power they abused.

I am proud that Barack is opposed to the warmongering that has been perpetrated by this administration. While I imagine that impeachment will probably not occur, I am hopeful that there will be full disclosure during Barack's administration as to how the current administration committed so many horrors. I would like to see the lot of them convicted for perpetrating war crimes.

Welcome Hillary Supporters!

Jacob Kelly — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:40:15 EDT

I know the past months have been hard on all of us. At times it seemed as though we were two parties in one. We both felt passionately about our cancidates. But now IS the time for us to unite. I and all of us here welcome Hillary supporters to our mutual cause.

I too felt that the Clinton years were much better than these past 8 years of misery. That is one reason why I support Hillary potentially running for VP. I think she'd make an excellent choice. But also, I know from people who were directly helped by her that she cares deeply about her consituents. She IS an honorable public servant. I, for one would love to see her join us in the "dream ticket" talked about so many months ago.

I've not said this til now because I believe Barack is the best situated to both cross lines within our country and without. He is not a Washington insider, but a scholar and an everyday hero. With the backing of Ms. Clinton's hands on experience, we could do wonderfully. Now that we have victory, I want you to know, we love you, our brothers and sisters. WELCOME!

YES WE CAN!! OBAMA and HILLARY '08!!

-Jacob

Red Friday...

WNYmathGuy — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:19:47 EDT

So I rarely post pictures with my blogs, but this time it seemed appropriate.

Back story: Sad but endearing story of a Marine escorting a fallen Marine's remains back home. People on plane moved by the moment decide to wear red every Friday till the troops are brought home. e.g. we quit the dumb war.

I do get symbolic at times, and not at others. This is one of the things I am glad to get behind. Lots of people at work asked about "Red Friday" at work today and you can see why. Some I merely told it's a support the troops thing but not a wrist band. Others I told that it's because the News forgot that their was a war, and I refuse to forget, and I want people to know that I didn't forget.

I am a former Marine, but never saw combat, and was in Electronics Repair, but it doesn't mean I'm not personally and emotionally connected to them, and I am justified in my position to desire a withdrawal of troops regardless of what "face" the Republican's may think we will have in the world. I know that our guys are honorable and respectable, but their should have been other ways to accomplish what we thought they were supposed to do. No more lives lost in Iraq for this administrations profiteering expedition is my policy.

Red is commonly used in the Military to denote lives lost, like the red "blood stripe" on the Marines dress blues. Red is a great choice to bring to the front of our minds that over 4,000 are dead now. On my shirt ($8.00 at Old Navy and $30.00 at the air-brush kiosk) I purposefully had the "i" in Friday made to look like a bullet hole oozing blood. I chose red paint on a red shirt to be a little on the soft-sell side of things. In case the picture is hard to read, the back says, "Red Friday, this is how I cry, for those who die, Semper Fi." (lil' callout to my homies at the end) I wrote that two liner there, so feel free to copy me without a infringement lawsuit on your hands.

Please wear red on Fridays to make a noticeable statement. When the media notices seas of red clothes on Friday's, maybe they will start to cover the story again, and then our elected people will legislate them home as they should have been doing for years now.

Welcome former Hillary Supporters!!

Jacob Kelly — Wed, 07 May 2008 11:12:48 EDT

Just wanted to send out a big welcome to any newcomers coming over from the Hillary camp. We're happy to have you with us. We have so much great work to do, and we'll need the fight you guys have. So thanks ahead of time.

I think it's much like the the Charlie Daniels song 'In America"

LYRICS:

Well the eagle's been flying slow and the flag's been flying low
And a lot of people are saying that America's fixing to fall
But speaking just for me and some people from Tennessee
We got a thing or two to tell you all
This lady may have stumbled but she ain't never fell
And if the Russians don't believe that they can all go straight to hell
We're gonna put her feet back on the path of righteousness
And then God bless America again

And you never did think that it ever would happen again
In America, did you?
You never did think that we'd ever get together again
Well we damn sure fooled you
We're walking real proud and we're talking real loud again in America
You never did think that it ever would happen again

From the sound up in Long Island out to San Francisco Bay
And ev'ry thing that's in between them is our home
And we may have done a little bit of fighting amongst ourselves
But you outside people best leave us alone
Cause we'll all stick together and you can take that to the bank
That's the cowboys and the hippies and the rebels and the yanks
You just go and lay your head on a Pittsburgh Steeler fan
And I think you're gonna finally understand

YES WE CAN!! GOBAMA!

HUDSON VALLEY MOVING FORWARD

SHELLYE SCHOONMAKER — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:49:49 EDT

WE ALL HAVE A LOT TO CRY ABOUT, THE COUNTRY IS IN A ( RECESSION), I THINK BY DECEMBER WE WILL BE ON OUR WAY TO A (DEPRESSION). YES WE ARE BITTER, ANGRY, AFRAID. THIS IS WHY WE NEED TO STAY FOCUS. IF THE PRESS IS SCARING YOU, (TURN IT OFF). WE HAVE TO GET (BARACK OBAMA TO THE WHITE HOUSE.

WE REPRESENT THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. WE BELONG TO A MOVEMENT OF THE PEOPLE FOR THE PEOPLE. WE CAN'T ALLOW OTHERS TO TAKE US OUT OF CHARACTER. WHEN THEY TRY WE MUST ASK OURSELVES NOW (WWBD) WHAT WOULD BARACK DO. WE HAVE TO LEARN TO TAKE A PUNCH AND KEEP ON MOVING. KEEP YOU EYE ON THE WHITE HOUSE, AND GET OUT THE VOTE.

(THE WORLD IS WATCHING, WHAT WILL THEY SEE)

Obama Sweeps New York

Maywa — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 15:35:45 EDT

Today Obama Works officially launched its NYC chapter with an Earth Day-inspired clean-up in Harlem. We were so encouraged by the outpouring of community support that we're planning to make Harlem Sweeps a regular event. See photos of us getting down and dirty here, and stay abreast of future events by joining us at ObamaWorks NYC. We'd love to have more footsoldiers next time---especially when we start including voter registration as part of the effort. Learn more about Obama Works at whyobamaworks.com

HUDSON VALLEY MOVING FORWARD

SHELLYE SCHOONMAKER — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 02:19:28 EDT

THIS MOVEMENT IS BECOMING VERY EMOTIONAL FOR ME. I WOULD FIRST LIKE TO TAKE THIS TIME TO THANK ALL THE FOOT SOLDIER AND TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO SPENT THE LAST FEW WEEKS CANVASING IN PA. BELIEVE ME IT DID NOT GO UN-NOTICE. BECAUSE OF DEDICATED PEOPLE LIKE YOU WE ARE SOARING UP THE POLLS.

NOT SINCE THE KENNEDYS. HAS THIS COUNTRY BEEN SO EXCITED ABOUT A CANDIDATE. MY CHILDREN KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS ELECTION THEN I DO. THEY ARE PAYING ATTENTION WITH OUT BEING TOLD TO. LOL. THIS IS ABOUT THERE FUTURE. WE NEED THEM TO BE FIRED UP. THE FREE RIDE IS OVER. WE NEED THEM INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS.

THE WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY IS OPEN. IF WE DON'T SEE THIS AS A GIFT. WE DESERVE WHAT WE GET. ANOTHER REPUBLICAN. STAYING FOCUS IS A MUST, ALL HANDS ON DECK. (THE WORLD IS WATCHING) WHAT WILL THEY SEE.

Obama's Doctrine: "Dignity Promotion"

Maywa — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:03:43 EDT

From the very beginning of this campaign (which for me, was roughly Nov. '07), the thing that excited me the most about a potential Obama presidency was his foreign policy. He had an approach, I felt, that was fundamentally different than Hillary's even though their plans for, say, withdrawing from Iraq were roughly identical.

In the ensuing months, however, during the exhausting romp from state to state, their distinctions when it came to international affairs appeared to have blurred. In debates, Obama and Clinton---with a few noteworthy exceptions---were toeing the same line.

Now Spencer Ackerman, in this excellent cover story for The American Prospect reminds us all how very different they are. Interviewing members of the Senator's foreign policy "brain trust" he underscores a philosophy that is not only substantially more progressive (and enlightened) than Clinton's but probably more so than any since JFK.

This ability to see the world from different perspectives informs what the Obama team hopes will replace the Iraq War mind-set: something they call dignity promotion (emphasis mine). "I don't think anyone in the foreign-policy community has as much an appreciation of the value of dignity as Obama does," says Samantha Power, a former key aide and author of the groundbreaking study of U.S. foreign policy and genocide, A Problem From Hell. "Dignity is a way to unite a lot of different strands [of foreign-policy thinking]," she says. "If you start with that, it explains why it's not enough to spend $3 billion on refugee camps in Darfur, because the way those people are living is not the way they want to live. It's not a human way to live. It's graceless -- an affront to your sense of dignity." ....

....Without [dignity promotion], the U.S. will never be able to destroy al-Qaeda. Extremists will forever be able to demagogue conditions of misery, making continued U.S. involvement in asymmetric warfare an increasingly counterproductive exercise -- because killing one terrorist creates five more in his place. "It's about attacking pools of potential terrorism around the globe," Gration says. "Look at Africa, with 900 million people, half of whom are under 18. I'm concerned that unless you start creating jobs and livelihoods we will have real big problems on our hands in ten to fifteen years."

When it comes to the (dare I say it? dare I say it? I'm gonna say it) general election, being able to explain to voters why Obama and not McCain is the better "national security candidate" will be crucial for us volunteers. As Ackerman points out,

"It's no secret that McCain, a war hero who is to the right of Bush when it comes to Iraq, hopes to make this a foreign-policy election. Conventional wisdom holds this would give him an advantage over Obama. A Feb. 28 Pew Research Center poll found 43 percent of respondents believe Obama is "not tough enough" on foreign policy. Thirty-nine percent believe Obama's foreign policy is "just right," while 47 percent say the same of McCain.

Some of our task will be convincing skeptical voters that the brawn-without-brains approach is largely responsible for where we are today. Articles like this one provide the history and the language to help make that argument. Well worth the read...and saving for future reference.

best,

Maywa

Comedy Show in West Bushwick to Benefit Barack Obama!

Christine — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:09:48 EDT

Here is a fun, fun event benefiting the Obama campaign. I hope you can all attend!

http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4rgj4

Outsourcing Outrage - Exportation of American Job Technology

Richard Gibbs — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:39:34 EST

Americans should be Outraged by the Outsourcing of American jobs.

If you share my Outrage or or are concerned with the future security of the U.S. or are concerned about the future of the American Middle Class then continue reading and check out the following website:

http://outsourceoutrage.com/

We have been exporting our high tech. knowledge and jobs for the past 20 years, and the rate rapidly increased during George W.'s administration. I am a recent victim of this unfortunate trend after training 1000's of software engineers in Russia, China, India, Brazil, France and other countries to do my job, developing wireless phone software.

I was "laid off" from Motorola's Mobile Device division in Nov. 2007 while performing critical work required to develop furure mobile phones. The Russian contractors in our team (working in Russia), who had almost no written or verbal knowledge of English AND had mediocre to poor software engineering skills, were kept on because they were much cheaper. I spent the last 2 years attempting to train these people to become decent engineers and to help them improve their English skill level.

Not surprisingly, Motorola is now failing to develop new phones that the customer wants to buy. Creative problem solving and inovation have been seriously stifled by the loss of much of the good talent and by the fear experienced by most of the remaining employees within the US.

More recently, a major controversy has been reported by Lou Dobbs and others about the Outsourcing of Military contracts. Please watch the following video to learn about the US Air Force's decision to award a major contract to Airbus (France) rather than Boeing (US). This Outsourcing trend in not only hurting our economy and jobs, it is also risking our security.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2008/03/06/intv.murray.outsourcing.defense.cnn?iref=videosearch

Obama Environmental Policy Video - Cincinnati Rally 2/25/08

Vanessa — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:35:02 EST

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAwLyFiXpM0

Current thoughts in the professional community about the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan

lionanimal — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 11:47:02 EST

the following http://www.west-point.org/publications/AAR122007.pdf is very current thoughts, a report-out of thoughts within the professional community about the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Defining Experience

Norris — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 02:10:16 EST

I thought I would try to address the experience issue with some numbers. I think one of the strongest rebuttals that can be made against anyone who says that Barack Obama does not have enough experience is to point out that Obama has an almost identical record of experience to Abraham Lincoln, our greatest president. At the time of inauguration in January 2009, Obama will have served 4 years in the U.S. Senate and 7 years in the Illinois State Senate for a total of 11 years as an elected official. Lincoln served 2 years in U.S. House of Representatives and 8 years in the Illinois State House of Representatives for a total of 10 years as an elected official.

But surely Lincoln was an outlier, right? One would assume that all of our great presidents weren't so inexperienced. I have investigated this by looking at the top U.S. presidents available here. The top ten list is based on an average of several attempts at ranking conducted by historians. I (obviously) had nothing to do with constructing the average list or any of the individual lists used to calculate the average. I divide experience into two categories: larger-scale experience and smaller-scale experience and calculate those separately. In larger-scale experience I include Vice President, U.S. Senator, U. S. Representative, Governor, and senior Cabinet member. Smaller-scale experience includes State Legislator, Lieutenant Governor, or junior Cabinet member.

Abraham Lincoln had 2 years experience in U.S House of Representatives and 8 years in the Illinois State House of Representatives. Large-scale: 2 years, small-scale: 8 years, Total: 10 years

Franklin Roosevelt was Governor for 4 years, State Senator for 1.5 years, and Assistant Secretary of the Navy for 7 years. Large-scale: 4 years, small-scale: 8.5 years, Total: 12.5 years.

George Washington would bias the results if he were included since the Republic was new when he took office and he had no opportunity be a Senator, Representative or hold a similar office. I have excluded him from calculations.

Thomas Jefferson has above average experience so, even though much of his career is also prior to the formation of the Republic, I include him. He was Vice President for 4 years, Governor for 2 years, and Secretary of State for 4 years. Large-scale: 10 years, Total: 10 years.

Teddy Roosevelt was Vice President for 1 year, Governor for 2 years and Assistant Secretary of the Navy for 1 year. He also had a distinguished military career, and it should probably be noted that I don't include that in my calculations in spite of its potential relevance. Large-scale: 3 years, small-scale: 1 year, Total: 4 years.

Woodrow Wilson was Governor for about 1.5 years. Large-scale: 1.5 years, Total: 1.5 years.

Harry Truman was Vice President for 0.5 years and U.S. Senator for 9 years. He was also an elected judge at a local level (something I am excluding in the calculation). Large-scale: 9.5 years, Total: 9.5 years.

Andrew Jackson was Governor (of a territory) for 0.5 years, U.S. Senator for 1.5 years, and member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 1 year. He also served in the TN State Supreme Court and had a distinguished military career (which I exclude). Large-scale: 3 years, Total: 3 years.

Dwight Eisenhower did not serve in an elected position, but, of course, had a very distinguished military career. Large-scale: 0 years, Total: 0 years.

James Polk was a Governor for 2 years, and was in the U.S. House of Representatives for 14 years. Large-scale: 16 years, Total: 16 years.

I don't really know how to crunch the numbers to include the really big role that Eisenhower played in WWII, Jackson in the War of 1812, and Teddy Roosevelt in the Spanish-American War. Those were certainly relevant experiences and I feel the need to point out that they are not included in the calculations.

The average amount of large-scale experience for great presidents is 5.4 years with a median of 3 years. Total average: 8.3 years, Total median: 6.8 years. If Eisenhower is excluded due to his experience coming from a completely different location, the numbers are: Large scale-average: 6.1 years, Large-scale median: 4, Total average: 8.3 years, total median: 9.5 years.

So where do the top three Democratic frontrunners match up:

Barack Obama will have been a U.S. Senator for 4 years and served 7 years in the Illinois State Senate. Large-scale: 4 years, small-scale: 7 years, Total: 11 years. He has a slightly below average amount of large-scale experience compared to the 10 greatest U.S. presidents. Perhaps more importantly, he has more large-scale experience than the median of these presidents. That means he has more large-scale experience than half of the greatest presidents in our history including Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Wilson, Jackson, and Eisenhower. Meanwhile he has a greater than average amount of total experience whether calculated as an average or a median. This number is greater than Lincoln, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, Wilson, Truman, Jackson, or Eisenhower.

Hillary Clinton will have been a U.S. Senator for 8 years. She was also First Lady for 8 years, which I treat here as equivalent to a junior-level Cabinet position even though there is no election, appointment, or confirmation process involved. Large-scale: 8 years, small-scale: 8 years, Total: 16 years. She is above both the average and the median in all categories. This is true regardless of whether her time as First Lady is included.

John Edwards was U.S. Senator for 6 years. Large-scale: 6 years, Total: 6 years. He is above the average and median when it comes to large-scale experience and below the average and median in terms of total experience.

Biden, Richardson, Kucinich, Dodd, and Gravel all have numbers above the median and averages in both categories.

A cursory look at the worst U.S. presidents shows their experience record to be about the same as the top 10. Harding, Buchanan, Pierce, Andrew Johnson, Harrison, Grant, Tyler, Taylor, Garfield, and Nixon all had a reasonably large amount of experience holding public office or a strong military career to make up for it. I suppose Millard Fillmore was a bit of a lightweight.

Ultimately experience is a threshold question: "Do you have enough?" Once the answer to that question is "yes", there doesn't seem to be any connection to the answer to "how much" and the quality of the presidency. Does Barack Obama have enough experience to be president? According to the top 10 presidents in history, I think the answer is clearly "yes". Clinton's extra 4 years in the Senate and (if one makes the big assumption that being the First Lady counts) her extra 5 total years of experience don't seem to be an indicator of what sort of president she will be. Instead we should be asking which candidate has the integrity, incorruptibleness, foresight, intelligence, inspiration, thoughtfulness, and strength of character of Lincoln, FDR, Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, Wilson, Truman, Jackson, and Eisenhower. Meanwhile we, the voters, should be wary of any signs of the sort of cronyism, hyperpartisanship, lack of integrity, incompetence, overreaching of authority, and dishonesty that marred the legacies of Harding, Buchanan, Pierce, Andrew Johnson, Grant, Fillmore, and Nixon.*

[*Note that these are lists to describe the historical presidents, and do not apply perfectly to Obama and Clinton respectively. I do, however, think that Obama clearly scores much higher marks than Clinton when it comes to being like the first list over the second.]

Getting the straight facts...

WNYmathGuy — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:16:55 EST

Hello Everybody,

I don’t know why I didn’t hear about it from David Plouffe first, but it is great.

http://factcheck.barackobama.com/

Enjoy,

Michael Rupp

aka:WNYmathGuy

Endorsements P.R.

WNYmathGuy — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 15:49:49 EDT

I sent this out to all my listserv's this morning in haste. I dropped the ball on the graphics, and I think I had a lousy couple of settings if you tried to print it.

Click "http://wnymathguy.com/PressReleaseOfEndorsements.html" to get a beautifully accurate reproduction of Rudi's original. It should also print ideally on one page for bulliten board postings straight out of your browser be it Internet Explorer or Firefox.

New York State Important Information Release…

WNYmathGuy — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 00:32:50 EDT

The documents subsequently linked below should be redistributed to any Obama Supporter you know. The documents are the official rules for delegate selection and petitioning in New York State. This is vital to getting our favorite on the ticket for the primary race.

The first in the trio below has blank forms in its pages for delegate hopefuls to fill out and submit in their area post haste!

“The Guide to Becoming a Delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention is at

http://www.geocities.com/wnymathguy/GuideToDelegate08DNC.pdf

“Overview of Becoming a Delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention is at

http://www.geocities.com/wnymathguy/DelegateOverview/siframes.html

and “A Fact Sheet about the 2008 Delegate Selection Plan” is at

http://www.geocities.com/wnymathguy/2008delegateFactSheet.pdf

I noticed this final version of the rules isn’t so long and lawyerly as the proposal was.

Enjoy and good luck to you.

Sincerely,

Michael Rupp

a.k.a. WNYmathGuy

P.S. This information has been blogged on www.BarackObama.com groups as well as list-served to the same because of the vast number of people that don’t read both. Sorry if you receive duplication.

A potentially handy resource...

WNYmathGuy — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 02:41:23 EDT

If you are not a New York Group, or a group with New York residents, I sent this to you in error.

At the end of this past Spring I made a Yahoo!Group for New York Obama supporters.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NYforObama/

Perhaps you ask, "WHY ANOTHER GROUP!"

If you did ask that... The reason is because we have no place on any Obama group or page to store files for redistribution. I have created a PDF of the Delegate rules for New York State and stored it in the files section. Also their is no semi-static place to store important links to outside resources. This group has a links section that is very organize-able. When we post a link in a blog, it gets lost over time as new blogs post. It also has a database, and polls section which could be used to store the name and number of the senior organizer in your district, or the named and accepted delegate for each district.

All these features will make us more effective. The rest of the many features on that group will not. If you are a serious volunteer I urge you to try the group. I tried to make as many features available as I could without you needing a Yahoo! ID, but some may require you to sign in on Yahoo. If you do not have a Yahoo! account, they will let you have one for free, but you don't need to make a new email address to do that. You can just tell them during account creation that you already have an email account.

That's all for now

Ooh-Rah! for Barack!

Michael Rupp
a.k.a WNYmathGuy

P.S. also see
http://www.geocities.com/wnymathguy/DelegateSelection/DelegateSelection.htm
for a web version of the Delegate rules.

A Presidential Race Issue Browser

WNYmathGuy — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 12:53:44 EDT

Hello to all,

Quite some time ago I thought I would be a better Obama volunteer if I knew how Barack's position on the issues compared to the other candidates. I was swimming in information trying to do an objective comparison of our position compared to other candidates. They name their positions different so you can't line them up easily for side by side comparisons. I realized after reading some of the posts before the "Walk For Change" that I wasn't the only one with the desire to study the issues.

I completed this website about 1 day before the walk for change, but chose not to mention it because I felt the sense of urgency was leaving us. I feel the timing is right now to announce the "Issue Browser" that I made. It is a free Geocities page, I built it with information from each candidates website, but mistakes may have accidentially been introduced. Please, please feel free to tell me about any improvements or repairs that I should make to it.

I organized the issues by comparing the US Constitution as it relates to powers of the President and then SUBJECTIVELY slotted each candidates individual issue into one or more of the constitutional powers. Any input from Political Science type people would be really appreciated; I'm a math, finance, mechanical type of thinker, and I am aware their is a LOT that I don't know. I invite help from Communications type people too, as I sometimes don't get my message across clearly.

Please note that free Geocities pages are not allowed to link to anything else on the internet; links only point to files in the pages own directory. I forced in text strings of web sites so you could read them and type them in an address bar if intrested, but I can't make them linkable. I did before and Yahoo! closed down my site and deleted all the files.

Sincerely,

Michael E. Rupp
a.k.a WNYmathGuy