Motley Moose – Archive

I vote. I take my kids to vote.

Voting is the currency of our democracy.  It’s how we choose our political leaders who represent us.  Voting is what we have.  

We have midterm elections for 435 House seats.  33 Senate seats.  Almost every state house, some of the state senates, some statewide offices, county offices, and many schoolboard offices.  Perhaps some municipal offices too.  In other words, maybe there’s not a president at the top of the ticket, but there is plenty to vote for.  

I believe every vote counts.  I live in Utah, I don’t have the luxury of not voting.  I have voted in elections decided by fewer than 200 votes.  I have watched elections be decided by single digits.  

Salt Lake County had a primary this June, for Auditor on the Democratic side, Assessor on the Republican side, and many school board positions.  Turnout was 9%.  

We have pilot programs for same-day registration in Salt Lake County, and All Vote by Mail in the county to the north, Davis.  

Everything depends on turnout.  Even in Utah.  To hold our State house seats, keep our senate seats, pick up a few more seats, and help the county elections.  

From Maine to Hawaii, and Alaska to Florida, every vote counts.

The highest duties we can do as citizens include helping other people vote.  

We have a couple weeks left for voter registration in most places.  Some places seem to have complicated requirements.  

Then we GOTV and persuade the middles until Nov 4.  

We sleep on Nov 5.  

Today was the National Voter Registration Day.  

We can keep going on this registration through the deadlines, which is Oct 6 here in Salt Lake County.  

Every vote counts.  

I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in “Cheers & Jeers”.

OK, you’ve been warned – here is this week’s tomfoolery material that I posted.

http://aidsa.convio.net/site/T…

Hey, y’all 50 donations of $100 are matched today and tomorrow, so today would be a great one to make a sizable donation. AIDS Walk Austin is in less than a month – on Sunday the 19th. I’ve only raised 61% of my goal of $2,000, so I thought I’d share some music & ask for donations. If you want to skip the U2 song & my babbling, you can make a donation at my AIDS Walk Austin page. This is the 27th year for the Walk & my 27th year of walking it, and I really want step things up this year. And here’s me, talking about why I’ve walked every year of the Walk:

I haven’t forgotten Spike Lee’s School Daze, made in 1988, which took a look at the doings of black students on an HBCU campus during homecoming weekend. Coming to a theater near you on October 17, is a new film, also looking at black college students, but this time on a white campus.

Dear White People, “a satire about being a black face in a white place,” is a film offering from Justin Simien, who is making his directorial debut.  

Winner of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival’s Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent, Dear White People is a sly, provocative satire of race relations in the age of Obama. Writer/director Justin Simien follows a group of African American students as they navigate campus life and racial politics at a predominantly white college in a sharp and funny feature film debut that earned him a spot on Variety’s annual “10 Directors to Watch.” When Dear White People screened at MOMA’s prestigious New Directors/New Films, the New York Times’ A.O. Scott wrote, “Seeming to draw equal measures of inspiration from Whit Stillman and Spike Lee, but with his own tart, elegant sensibility very much in control, Mr. Simien evokes familiar campus stereotypes only to smash them and rearrange the pieces.”

From the White House:

In 2013, President Obama announced a series of executive actions to reduce carbon pollution, prepare the U.S. for the impacts of climate change, and lead international efforts to address global climate change.

At the U.N. General Assembly today, President Obama will participate in the Climate Summit – a meeting of world leaders that will showcase climate action commitments from governments, local leaders, and the private sector.

The President will give a speech at the summit that highlights the ambitious actions the U.S. is taking under his Climate Action Plan, while stressing that all major economies must step up to the plate if we are to avoid the dangerous consequences of climate change.

The single most important thing we as citizens can to do effect change is to vote. Not just in presidential elections but in every single election from school board on up. Elected officials make changes that impact us every day and the only way we can hold them accountable for their actions is to remind them that we vote – and that they are in office to serve us.

In 2008, 6 million Americans didn’t vote because they missed a registration deadline or didn’t know how to register. In 2014, we want to make sure no one is left out.

On September 23, 2014, volunteers, celebrities, and organizations from all over the country will “hit the streets” for National Voter Registration Day. This single day of coordinated field, technology and media efforts will create pervasive awareness of voter registration opportunities–allowing us to reach tens of thousands of voters who we could not reach otherwise.

I’ve dreamed of solar power since I first heard about it, some 45 years ago.  I never really thought I could do it myself but behold –

UPDATE:  The system went live about 2:45 pm 4/24/2014 – and produced 784 watts by just after sunrise this morning even though yesterday was overcast and rainy!

UPDATE 2:  On Friday 9/18/2014 mid-afternoon we logged one megawatt hour of electricity generated!  

Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings diaries give the Moose, old and new, a place to visit and share words about the weather, life, the world at large and the small parts of Moosylvania that we each inhabit.

Greetings continued here: Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania (Part Deux)

With the mid-term elections heating up and a dozen issues being promoted as The Most Important Issue of Our Day, it is easy to lose track of an issue that really deserves our attention: Climate Change. It is, quite literally, an issue that we ignore at our own peril.

In New York City on Sunday, the People’s Climate March will serve to remind people of this vitally important issue and at least get it right-pathed even if it can’t be immediately addressed.

The People’s Climate March

In September, world leaders are coming to New York City for a UN summit on the climate crisis. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is urging governments to support an ambitious global agreement to dramatically reduce global warming pollution.

With our future on the line and the whole world watching, we’ll take a stand to bend the course of history. We’ll take to the streets to demand the world we know is within our reach: a world with an economy that works for people and the planet; a world safe from the ravages of climate change; a world with good jobs, clean air and water, and healthy communities.

To change everything, we need everyone on board.

Sunday, September 21 in New York City. Join us.

The President’s Weekly Address post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

From the White House – Weekly Address

In this week’s address, the President thanked Congress for its strong bipartisan support for efforts to train and equip Syrian opposition forces to fight ISIL. This plan is part of the President’s comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy to degrade and destroy the terrorist group, and does not commit our troops to fighting another ground war. America, working with a broad coalition of nations, will continue to train, equip, advise, and assist our partners in the region in the battle against ISIL.

In the coming week, the President will speak at the United Nations General Assembly and continue to lead the world against terror, a fight in which all countries have a stake.