A detailed list of many of the options can be found in this blog post by Josh Taylor and Andrew Nusca.]]> Now more than ever, it's important that everyone votes on Tuesday, November 4 (if you haven't done so already with a mail-in ballot). In addition to the presidential race, there are a number of important state and local issues and candidates to vote on.

For complete, non-partisan information, go to
smartvoter.org, a website run by the League of Women Voters. There you can find out where your polling location is, what's coming up on your ballot, and tons of information (with links to non-partisan and partisan information) about all the candidates and issues.

It's an invaluable tool for all voters.

]]>
If your or my business hit a snag out of no fault of our own, would we warrant such consideration. Let them die, after all the pain, and misery they caused in Junk bonds, selling worthless mortgages, and merger mania that drove the prices up and competition down (eg, chevron/mobil, arco/bp, northwest/delta, etc... ). Let them die! They of all businesses understand survival of the fittest. They have bet on it millions of times.]]> Something we can do in this crisis

If you feel as I do, I hope you'll add your voice.
Friends, compatriots, fellow-lamenters, we are writing to you because of the fury and dread we have felt since the announcement of Sarah Palin as the Vice-Presidential candidate for the Republican Party. We believe that this terrible decision has surpassed mere partisanship, and that it is a dangerous farce-on the part of a pandering and rudderless Presidential candidate-that has a real possibility of becoming fact.

Perhaps like us, as American women, you share the fear of what Ms. Palin and her professed beliefs and proven record could lead to for ourselves and for our present or future daughters. To date, she is against sex education, birth control, the pro-choice platform, environmental protection, alternative energy development, freedom of speech (as mayor she wanted to ban books and attempted to fire the librarian who stood against her), gun control, the separation of church and state, and polar bears. To say nothing of her complete lack of real preparation to become the second-most-powerful person on the planet.

We want to clarify that we are not against Sarah Palin as a woman, a mother, or, for that matter, a parent of a pregnant teenager, but solely as a rash, incompetent, and all together devastating choice for Vice President. Ms. Palin's political views are in every way a slap in the face to the accomplishments that our mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers so fiercely fought for, and that we've so demonstrably benefited from.

*First and foremost, Ms. Palin does not represent us. She does not demonstrate or uphold our interests as American women.It is presumed that the inclusion of a woman on the Republican ticket could win over women voters. We want to disagree, publicly
*Therefore, we invite you to reply here:

womensaynopalin@gmail.com

with a short, succinct message about why you, as a woman living in this country, do not support this candidate as second-in-command for our nation.*

Please include your name (last initial is fine), age, and place of residence. We will post your responses on a blog called"Women Against Sarah Palin," which we intend to publicize as widely as possible. Please send us your reply at your earliest convenience-the greater the volume of responses we receive, the stronger our message will be.

Thank you for your time and action.

Sincerely,
Quinn Latimer and Lyra Kilston
New York, NY


***PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!* If you send this to 20 women in the next hour, you could be blessed with a country that takes your concerns seriously.
Stranger things have happened.
http://womenagainstsarahpalin.blogspot.com/]]>
Are you watching it (or going to watch it)? What do you think?]]>
Official Democratic National Convention Website:http://www.demconvention.com/?gclid=CKz65N...CFQRfagodBl37Qw

I recommend the following keynotes:

Monday - Michelle Obama
Tuesday - Hillary Clinton
Wednesday - Bill Clinton, Joe Biden (2 separate speeches)
Thursday - Barack Obama

After hearing Hillary's speech, I still think she should be pres, and the coverage on CBS said someone from the McCain camp also remarked she should be the one running. Oh well, such is life. I nonetheless still support Barack. We cannot afford to have a third Bush term.

It might have been the hot weather but I actually fell asleep during Barack's speech. I think Michelle and Joe Biden gave excellent speeches though.]]> http://www.mercurynews.com//ci_9092322?IAD...mercurynews.com

According to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, you have to be a U.S. citizen. Don't people need ID's to do things like get a job, bank account, etc.?
http://www.sccvote.org/portal/site/rov/age...h=/v7/Registrar of Voters (DEP)/Register to Vote
]]>
It's still being selected as a convenient date for high impact statements though. Time magazine just published a controversial cover that shows a digitally edited version of the flag raising at Iwo Jima.

It's being blasted as being in poor taste or disrespectful of the US Military. Perhaps, but it seems to fit with the cover story's theme of "Winning the War on Global Warming."]]>
According to Zillow.com, home prices in the Bay Area have more than doubled over what they were ten years ago. In 1998, the average home in Santa Clara County was somewhere around $315,000. Today, it's around $750,000 after already coming down a bit.

Up until recently, there were still plenty of people who were saying that there's no real estate bubble in the Bay Area, but now it seems that just about everyone expects home values to continue falling everywhere, but how far?]]>
Reminder: Vote no 91]]> Voter Registration website.]]>
I don't have anything bad to say about him, I am sure he is a great guy, one of the new talents in the Democratic Party, but I can't believe the support and interest he is generating.

First, I have read his bio, I have read all the info in the official Website. I just don't see the benefit of having a one term US senator being elected President. He is really a one year senator as he was elected in 2004 and immediately started running for President. He probably missed all his responsibilities during this first term which is still active.

For ex: his one commercial running in California is critical of our dependence on foreign oil and the damage to the environment (melting the ice caps). Obama claims he went to Detroit to talk to car makers to solve the problem.
- did he introduce any legislation to achieve these goals?
- has he introduced any legislation for anything? Has it passed?
(again, I read his bio, he passed some US law for Illinois Vets)
- did anything come from his trip to Detroit?
- did he talk to the Foreign Car makers? If only Toyota, the new #2?
- has he sponsored any green legislation? For the US or Illinois?

He was an eight year Senator in Illinois. Did something profound happen under his guidance in Illinois?

I understand if Obama is just a way to keep the other candidates (Hillary) out but some of these supporters are acting like he is the second coming of Jesus. Why? I don't know any Obama Supporters. Any feedback welcome.]]> here by the deadline of Tuesday, January 22nd. You can also use the site to see if you're registered to vote, since some people forget. I already received my absentee ballot so I'm pretty sure I'm registered.

Super Tuesday is February 5th. That's when most of the country votes in the Presidential primaries. Actually, this year is Super Duper Tuesday since it's the first time 24 states will vote on the same day. Ay carumba!

Be a part of the political process! Don't sit idly by and let others make important decisions for you.]]>
This device is placed where a hunter might expect game to be, the motion sensor, if or when triggered -- would take a picture and send as a email attachment via the cellphone.

The hunter would then know if the game that they are interested in is in that monitored spot.

I find this product (and the mindset of designing and using it) rather disturbing. Am I right in feeling this way?

]]>
The government has altered when we change from Daylight Savings Time back to Standard Time. It is now in November:

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Beginning in 2007, most of the United States begins Daylight Saving Time at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and reverts to standard time on the first Sunday in November.

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I like the extra sunlight at night, and I think it is worth the hassle. It will be interesting to see how it 'feels' when we change the clocks back so late in the year!]]>
I think what "we" used to be afraid of is no longer to be feared -- and the nonuse of nuclear is worse.

I heard on KGO radio from Bill Wattenburg that 30 years of nuclear waste for a family of four will fit in a shoe box, a rather small amount I think. He also says that the burning of coal (which is how most of electricity is now generated -- [think about that when you leave your computer monitor running]) releases more radiation into the atmosphere than any and all of the nuclear power plants as uranium and other minerals are in coal. Coal is supposed to be very dirty -- while burning and even the waste after burning.

Nuclear could produce a lot of electrical power, and allow us to not burn coal or natural gas.

Some people say why not solar or wind. Wattenburg reports that solar or wind will only be a tiny amount of the massive power that the modern word needs to operate, and solar is very expensive.

I think that Nuclear power is our best choice for fairly clean abundant power for today's world.
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Here is a blurb from a web site of Wattenburg’s -- pushback.com:

If you think that nuclear energy is dangerous and causes radioactive pollution, guess again.

For instance, our power plants burn billions of tons of coal each year, and since this coal contains radioactive uranium and thorium, burning coal actually puts 2,000 tons of radioactivity into our atmosphere each and every single year!

According to Bill Wattenburg, the Kyoto conference’s goals of reducing carbon-dioxide (CO©¸) emissions can be met by closing down 2–4 coal-fired power plants (out of the hundreds in the US) and replacing them with nuclear power plants, while at the same time reducing total radioactive emissions. Given a typical coal-fired plant, producing 1000 megawatts, it burns 2.3 million tons of coal per year, produces 200,000 thousand tons of fly ash a year, 7.5 million tons of CO©¸ per year, 200,000 tons of sulfur oxide, 25,000 tons of nitrous oxide, and 1000 tons of carbon-monoxide (CO).]]>
Lighting is said to account for 20% of the electric bill in the average household and it's a key area that's being targeted to reduce energy consumption. A couple of governments have already announced plans to phase out all incandescent light bulbs. One of them was Australia. I can't remember the other one.

I couldn't find study information or any supporting data for the figures that were published on that website, but given that the 18 Seconds thing is a major campaign launched with Earth Day and backed by Yahoo and Nielsen, I'd assume that the numbers aren't entirely without merit. Even if the numbers are significantly skewed, I'm surprised that California is so far down the chart. The entire west coast ranks poorly followed by Massachusetts coming in dead last. So much for the environmentally conscious reputations of the more liberal states.

Are you replacing your bulbs with energy saving CFL bulbs?

Here's a link to that website:http://www.18seconds.org]]>