Well, fellow Deaniacs, it's been five years, more or less, since we cowboyed up and got involved. I'd like to hear from you about what you've been doing and what your experiences have been since you've "answered the call" to get involved. Here's a little bit from me. I wasn't a really super involved Deaniac -- although I supported him, I didn't travel for the primaries or anything like that, and by the time my primary rolled around, the race was pretty much over. However, I attended Democ...

I think the world around us is continually talking to us and showing us things. It's not anything mysterious or supernatural -- on the contrary, it's part of the natural blossoming of things. And to me, the "Miracle on the Hudson" plane event is an absolutely delightful bookending of 9/11. It's got a mysterious sort of symmetry -- a plane, in New York City, near the beginning of a presidential term. But instead of death and destruction we have this miraculous celebration of life. And so fo...

So, I walked four hours at the tread-desk today and I'm getting used to it. I must say that my back feels MUCH better. Usually by the end of a day at the computer I have all kinds of back aches and pains and am stiff from sitting. Today, not so much. I do think I'm getting a blister on one toe or something, though! I got a folding bookshelf I have out of storage and added it next to me so I'd have some more space to put stuff. (Image) I like having more room. I may get a tall table rathe...

I posted on here the other day asking if anyone here has set up a treadmill desk yet and got one response... so I thought I'd share this with the you guys... the new hot trend that's sweeping the web -- haha, well, not really, but it seemed like a pretty good idea when I ran across it. The whole idea is that you can work and walk at the same time -- you walk really slowly, no more than 1 mph, and your general overall higher level of activity means greater fitness. Anyway you can read more abo...

I'm unemployed for 1 month now and I'm having a problem keeping my spirits up this season. I'm sure there are lots of other people out there in my boat. I thought perhaps we could share a thread once a week, or more often if there is demand, to discuss what we've been trying in our job hunt, share tips and tricks, and encourage each other. I'll start: I do user interface design (technical type job for computers) but I'm kind of specialized, so there are very few jobs out there who want exact...

The US Naval Observatory maintains charts that show the length of the day. At , you can put in your location, and it will show you how many hours of daylight you have every day. This time of year, where I live, we have about 10 hours of daylight. That means we have full 14 hours of darkness, every day. Other places, north of here, get even less daylight than I do. Early humans must have wondered, at this time every year, whether or not the life-giving, warmth-giving sun was ever going to co...

There's been an awful lot of tossing around of these terms on DU lately. I think these terms are worthy of some discussion in and of themselves. I'd like to point DU'ers to the wonderful website, The Political Compass, which recommends a rethinking of the whole left-right spectrum, which they posit as strictly "economic" in nature, and they add an additional "up and down" axis of a more "social" nature, which is Libertarian - Authoritarian. From the website: On the standard left-right scale,...

You know, every time the Chimperor opened his mouth (at his rare press conferences, when he wasn't hiding from the nation), I'd get this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. And he usually would not fail to come out with some completely inarticulate statement, or, something worse that made me wonder what horrible thing would befall us next. I mean, I was embarrassed to have the guy as my president. He couldn't think his way out of a paper bag. I would literally cringe at some of the th...

One reason (among others) for Obama's victory is the economic crisis, and the way Obama calmly responded to it, as opposed to the McCain camp's somewhat irrational attempt to make political hay out of the plunging markets. Obama's response, at first, was actually to do nothing for about a week while he studied the problem and decided what would be best to do. Obama was (and is) practicing a simple, rational approach to the problem: get all the facts before you make a decision. In the comin...

It's pretty clear to me that whatever happens Nov. 4th, I will be online less, because I desperately need a break from politics and need to take care of a lot of job and house related duties. So on this beautiful Sunday morning I just wanted to pause and reflect a moment on the last four years. Apologies in advance for the long and very self-indulgent rambling. :hi: I was always the kind of person that voted reliably, in every single election, and kept myself sort of moderately informed, but...

They've been like this for a few days now. Check my journal for past results. Obama 59% McCain 41% McCain States NH NC WV Obama States Abso-freakin-lutely everything else, by ridiculous margins. For example: Ohio 68% Pennsylvania 61% California 64% Texas 61% Hahahahahhahhahahhahahahhaha Enjoy the lovely almost-all-blue map. :rofl: (Link)

Obama: 59.13%, McCain 40.87% McCain States: New Hampshire West Virginia Tie States: Idaho Obama States: Everything else. Hee hee hee. (Link)/ Check my journal for past results.

Check my journal for past results. From (Link)/ Obama: 58% McCain 42% McCain States: Idaho West Virginia New Hampshire Tie: NJ Obama States: Absolutely everyfuckingthing else by freakishly huge margins, including a healthy 59% lead in Texas. Hehehehehehe. I know this doesn't mean anything except that people who buy coffee at 7-11 LOVE Obama, but I surely do enjoy looking at that blue map. Enjoy! (Link)/

As you may or may not know, 7-11 is holding an "election" based on who buys more Obama or McCain coffee at their store. This election has actually been pretty accurate in the last two presidential elections. Anyway, the results two days ago were: (Link) / OBAMA 57% McCAIN 43% In the win column for McCain: NH NJ WV NC KS In the win column for Obama: WA OR CA NV UT CO AZ TEXAS! hahahahahahahah MS IL IN MI OH PA VA FL VT MA RI CT DE MD DC And the results today are: OBAMA 57% McCAIN 43% McCa...

(Link)/ OBAMA 57% McCAIN 43% In the win column for McCain: NH NJ WV NC KS In the win column for Obama: WA OR CA NV UT CO AZ TEXAS! hahahahahahahah MS IL IN MI OH Pennsylvania which I don't know how to abbreviate. VA FL VT MA RI CT DE MD DC

There has been a lot posted on this board about Sarah Palin's far right wing church membership, but it hasn't gotten out into the mainstream much yet. These articles are long and well researched, but I think we need just a Cliff's Notes version, suitable for a quick email forward or cut and paste anywhere. Folks, this woman's religious beliefs are lunacy. Let's get the word out. If anyone would like to add some more points on Dominionism -- I'm sure there's a lot more out there, I have onl...

Let me begin by telling you a story. I live in red state Texas, and one of my dear liberal friends is from a small town outside of Dallas. He still has tons of relatives and friends in this small town. You would not BELIEVE the volume of bullshit email regarding Obama he is getting from these people. I mean, the volume is at ELEVEN. It's the typical RW hate filled lies. Obama is a secret Muslim agent. Obama is not really an American. On and on, it's like a high-volume bullshit propaganda...

As a part of my continuing quest to raise my own food, eat cheap, and eat local, sprouts seem like the perfect answer! So far, I've tried: alfalfa, chickpea, mung bean, and lentil. The alfalfa has been a great success. Tasty on sandwiches and in salads. The mung has also been pretty good, although I've had a bit of difficulty getting the "hull" off of it. Anyone got any good ideas for this? I spent forty five minutes picking them off by hand the last batch But, they don't seem to chang...

My garden -- by the back area near the "outbuilding" (used to be a garage, now storage) (Image) Veggie bed on the right -- all kinds of experiments, tomato, eggplant, beans, (Image) Peppers, beans. (Image) Letting my radish seed out so I can collect it -- we'll see if this works. :) The blue thing is my knee. Haha. (Image) Cardoon, garlic chive (Image) Herb bed in the middle -- all kinds of goodies, rosemary at the back, lemon balm, chamomile, rue, stevia, parsley, fennel. Today I plan...

Email from them: First, a big Thank You! The Rockridge Institute was founded with a mission: to teach Americans about the role of values and framing in political debate, and to help progressives equalize the framing advantages enjoyed by conservatives. With your help, Rockridge has done more than any small think tank could be expected to do. About 1,000 of you have donated to support our efforts. More than 8,000 have registered as members of Rockridge Nation to engage actively with us. And hun...

“Posterity: you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.” (John Quincy Adams) Have we? Discuss.

Two years after I became a precinct chair, it was time for State House elections. One guy stepped up and decided to run for our district. He got in early, was well-liked among the local activists, raised a little money, was a decent candidate, and had many endorsements. He asked me for my endorsement, and I decided to go ahead and endorse him. After all, I couldn't see that anyone else was getting in, and he was a good candidate. Most of the local Democratic establishment (precinct chairs)...

(Image) hee!

All members of the Texas posse on DU are cordially invited to check in on this thread throughout the day to give DU updates from our conventions! Linked to from Texas forum. YEEEEEEEEEEEHAW!

I thought I'd repost this from GDP for those of you who don't go there. Asked about it last week, Reid said he remains convinced the nominee will be decided well before the August national convention. He wore a serene and mysterious smile. But Reid isn't one for lengthy explanations. The conversation went like this: Question: Do you still think the Democratic race can be resolved before the convention? Reid: Easy. Q: How is that? Reid: It will be done. Q: It just will? Reid: Yep. Q: Mag...

People keep telling me our precinct convention went pretty well. Here is a email I wrote to some friends the day after that say WHY it went well. Although we're two weeks out, now, I want to put all of the things I learned up here, for posterity (and so I can find it later, haha). We had almost 400 (to be exact, 397) at our convention at 2228. And there was no blood and very little yelling. And we were done by 9(ish). And we passed four resolutions. Do I get a prize? LOL. Things that w...

Heads up, ya'll, for the second round of Texas caucuses.... the County / Senatorial District conventions, coming to your teevee on Saturday. In these conventions, the delegates chosen at the precinct conventions, on election day, now have another exciting meeting to attend. Once more, the percentage of delegates is determined by Those Who Show Up. People will sign-in and indicate their presidential preference at each convention. The people who show up get the delegate spots for the next lev...

We're having a DSCC town hall meeting today with James Carville, Barbara Boxer, and Dick Durbin. And I'm going. It's free, okay? Besides, I like Boxer. Anyway, if I should *cough* happen *cough* to be near the mic, I know DU would have some choice and pithy things to say to Mr. Carville. Suggestions? Here's my current favorite: "Mr. Carville, I am curious about one thing. In your recent reference comparing Governor Bill Richardson to Judas. Are you implying that Hillary is Jesus?" :rof...

I'm a Democratic activist in a red state that is usually very late in a primary cycle. Let me tell you what this campaign did for us. It brought people out of the woodwork to help. It has forced us to have thousands of organizational meetings that we would have never had otherwise. It has introduced hundreds of thousands of people to each other that otherwise would not have met. In short, it has strengthened the local party incredibly. It has laid the groundwork for a grassroots campaign in the...

I'd previously dismissed this as Internet wishful thinking but today I heard it from a prominent Democratic elected official. Like, from Washington. o.O