David Both

I have not commented on the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico since it started, but I feel it is now time to do so. What a freakin’ mess!! BP — What were you thinking? What are you thinking?

One cannot call this a spill because an overturned glass is a spill; a wrecked railroad car with its contents leaking on the ground or into a stream is a spill, a tanker run aground is a spill. Each of these is inherently limited and thus contains within itself the limits of its potential damage.

The hole in the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico is an unchecked tap into a (according to BP) huge reservoir of oil and natural gas with the potential to poison a huge portion of the planet. This is the largest human-caused disaster in all of history.

As oil keeps gushing into the Gulf and the scope of this human and environmental disaster increases exponentially, I watch the people of the Gulf Coast attempting to cope with it and realize that there is no way that this is going to be stopped any time soon. Nor will a complete cleanup even be possible. The oil is not only present on the surface of the water, in fact the vast majority of it is hidden, unseen beneath the surface, like the iceberg that sank the Titanic.

We have run the ship of our oil dependency upon the iceberg of huge multinational corporations whose greed has run amok and caused them to “drill, baby, drill” without regard for safety, the ecology or the welfare of the inhabitants world’s coasts. Neither land-dwelling nor marine nor human nor plant nor animal is safe. All is at risk.

So-called “Experts” are saying that the effects of this disaster could spread as far as the Arctic. How can anyone believe that this is the limit? Is there any reason not to believe that there is no limit; that all of the world’s oceans and coastlines are at risk? If the oceans are poisoned and the food chain collapses, where will that leave us?

Please see my Facebook group, Boycott BP and join for updates and to participate in planning or taking non-violent, non-destructive, peaceful action.

http://www.facebook.com/david.both?v=info#!/group.php?gid=117870021588108

Unfortunately we will always require petroleum products, if not for fuel then for plastics, shampoo, lubricants, pharmaceuticals and many other products we use each day. Our civilization is built upon the foundation of fossil fuels. While we move our home to another foundation we must take drastic steps to ensure that events like the Gulf Disaster or the Exxon Valdeze can never, ever happen again.

Regulate the Oil Companies

We need to ensure that oil is located, drilled for and produced in a manner that is safe for the workers and the environment. In order to achieve this we need greater regulation of the oil industry and more inspectors who must be given the unalterable authority to shut down any operation on the spot and without any requirement to obtain permission from anyone. This person must be the ultimate authority on site or otherwise.

We also need to ensure that the pipelines and ships that carry oil from well to refinery to distribution centers and on to the gas stations and other outlets are also regulated and made safe.

No oil or chemical-related company or industry should be exempt.

Reducing Our Dependency on Oil

Clearly we must reduce our dependency on oil as we transition to renewable energy. There is no other way. There are many things each of us can do. Here are just a few with which we can start.

• Use CFLs.
• Purchase a fuel efficient vehicle. A REALLY efficient vehicle. To me that number starts at 35MPG and goes up. My Gen1 Prius gets 48MPG on average.
• Walk or ride a bike to the store when possible.
• Turn off lights that are not in use.
• Don’t waste water.
• Don’t leave vehicles running just to keep the air-conditioner of heater running.
• Keep tires properly inflated.
• Keep vehicles properly maintained.
• Replace old hot water heater with on-demand heaters.
• Replace old appliances with new, energy efficient ones.
• Get an energy audit from your energy company (electric or gas) and perform the actions they tell you can save energy.

There are many more but you can start with a few of these.

But remember, I am not laying all of the blame for this at the feet of the consumers. We must regulate the energy companies in order to make whatever energy source we use safe, dependable and clean.

Call your elected representatives and let them know we want clean dependable, and safe energy now and that regulation is the only way to get there. Don’t wait. Do it now! Would the BP Disaster have occurred if we had taken action after the Exxon Valdeze? We can prevent the next one.

Today is Election Day in Wake County. There are some very important races being decided today. If you have not yet vote please do so before the polls close at 7:30 PM.

It is really pathetic that I was voter 38 at my precinct this morning at 9AM.

I feel very fortunate to have been on stage with President Obama today at his health care town hall meeting here in Raleigh. Way kool!

I had made a request for tickets through the normal channels, but never heard back. They only called those who had actually been selected via a lottery. So I thought I would be spending today working as usual. NOT!

Monday afternoon I got an email from the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce. I joined early this year after getting laid off and starting up my own company, Millennium Technology Consulting LLC. Needless to say I called the Chamber as soon as I read the email. They needed to send my information to the White House and told me I could pick up my ticket on Tuesday if all went well. Tuesday morning I got a call letting me know I could pick up my tickets which I did almost immediately.

I went down early and parked at Cameron Village then walked to Broughton High School where the event was held. After waiting for a while outside, we went through security and hung out some more inside. There were about 60 other small business entrepreneurs there and we just hung out until they let us up onto the stage. Security checked our names off the list as we went up. Then we sat around for another hour or so until the program started.

It was so cool being up on stage with President.  I was very fortunate to be able to shake his hand twice; once at the beginning and again at the end.

Of course you can see or read about his health care message, but here is the gist of it in an email I received from the White House a little earlier today. If you care about health insurance and what it means to all of us, please read this message and take action as suggested at the end of his message. I have already visited in person with Brad Miller, our Congressperson, and have already and will continue to call our U.S. Senators, Hagan and Burr. This is important. Please take action now!

If you’re like most Americans, there’s nothing more important to you about health care than peace of mind.

Given the status quo, that’s understandable. The current system often denies insurance due to pre-existing conditions, charges steep out-of-pocket fees – and sometimes isn’t there at all if you become seriously ill.

It’s time to fix our unsustainable insurance system and create a new foundation for health care security. That means guaranteeing your health care security and stability with eight basic consumer protections:

• No discrimination for pre-existing conditions
• No exorbitant out-of-pocket expenses, deductibles or co-pays
• No cost-sharing for preventive care
• No dropping of coverage if you become seriously ill
• No gender discrimination
• No annual or lifetime caps on coverage
• Extended coverage for young adults
• Guaranteed insurance renewal so long as premiums are paid

Learn more about these consumer protections at Whitehouse.gov.
Over the next month there is going to be an avalanche of misinformation and scare tactics from those seeking to perpetuate the status quo. But we know the cost of doing nothing is too high. Health care costs will double over the next decade, millions more will become uninsured, and state and local governments will go bankrupt.

It’s time to act and reform health insurance, drive down costs and guarantee the health care security and stability of every American family. You can help by putting these core principles of reform in the hands of your friends, your family, and the rest of your social network.

Thank you,
Barack Obama

The health care crisis is crippling the United States. We need affordable health care and universal access to single-payer health care.

Go to Change Crew 07 to see what we are doing about it in Raleigh, North Carolina and how you can help.

Yes, republicans, it IS a spending bill. DUH!

The entire purpose of a stimulus package is for the government to spend money  — lots of money — in order to stimulate the economy. The money goes to fund projects that put people back to work. People who work then spend the money, further stimulating the economy and causing more spending.

Of course the republicans seem compulsively obsessed with their pet tax cuts. I understand that some tax cuts may help the economy, but most of us down here on the front lines of the economy understand that we have to work in order to pay taxes in order to be eligible for a tax cut! If one is not working, and therefore not paying taxes, how does a tax cut help us as individuals? Answer me that.

And don’t go telling us about the national debt. We had a very comfortable surplus going into the last republican administration and after eight years of republican control and obstructionism we have a multi-trillion dollar debt. You guys put us here.

I also expect to see some true bipartisanship from the republican members of both houses of the congress. If you all continue your obstructionist tactics we will vote even more of you out of office. Richard Burr, you have only two more years. Why do you never respond to my calls and emails?

With all of the discussion about Obama and his Blackberry I have to add my 2 cents worth.

One reason I voted for Barack Obama is because he is in touch with reality. He sees his Blackberry as a connection to that reality which circumvents the normally insular buffering of the Oval Office.

If our leaders lose touch with the real people and the reality of the United States we get what we have had for the last eight years – and imperial dynasty that assumes it knows best because nobody can get through the layers of protection to tell it that it does not. And what a freaking mess it has been.

Obama is starting from a more populist viewpoint to begin with but we, the people, cannot afford to let any president and his administration fail to hear our voices.

Let the man keep his Blackberry!

Last night we attended a “Change is Coming” party/meeting in our neighborhood — one of many held simultaneously all around the country. This is a very important and exciting continuing use of the organization developed by Barack Obama for his campaign and takes us to the next step, which is actively working for the change for which we voted.

We were really impressed because over 60 people signed up for this event and most of those folks showed up. We all have a great deal of energy in creating this change and so it was a very fun and exciting event.

The basic idea was for us to list all of the things that are important to us and then select the top three upon which we will focus in the coming months. We did choose three and this information will be passed up the communications links to Obama headquarters where they will aggregate it and determine the priorities of the administration.

Our priorities here in North Raleigh are:

• Health Care
• Environment
• The Economy

These priorities go a lot deeper and broader than the list would suggest at first glance. As one example, for health care it is important that we have universal health care that is easily available to all. It should travel from job to job with you, be free of exclusions due to pre-existing conditions and without regard to socio-economic status.

Each of the three items also includes commonalities such as creating new jobs, feeding the hungry, reinvigorating the economy, freeing the United States from the tyranny of dependence upon foreign oil, developing new sources of energy, and ensuring social justice for all.

In addition we have formed local groups around these items at the top of our priority list and will be working locally on these items as well as nationally. And we will also be working on some of the items that did not make the top three, but with less emphasis; they will not go away and also need our attention.

It is truly exciting to have a voice in determining the directions for the next few years — and hopefully far beyond. We are once again energized and feel empowered by the political process instead of alienated as we have been for the last eight years.

I will post more here as we further refine and define our goals and we begin to act for change.

Yes We Can!

Voting appears to be slow in North Carolina today. Is this because so many people have already voted? Or is it because of the rainy weather?

Whichever it is, there is no excuse for not voting. The lines are currently short and people in many countries must dodge bullets instead of raindrops to cast their vote. And yet they do.

What is your excuse?

Here we are at November 3rd already. Wow time flies by so fast!

We are off in a few minutes to GOTV — Get Out The Vote — for Senator Obama. We will be canvassing today and working phones and doing data entry tomorrow. It is going to be a very hectic two days.

I voted today and Alice voted yesterday. For Barack Obama, of course, and most of the other democratic candidates down-ticket.

It took Alice about an hour to get through the line yesterday afternoon. It took me an hour this morning. When I arrived at about 9:50, there were already hundreds of people in line. The polling place opened its doors at 10:00am and the line moved slowly but steadily the entire time. There were many voting booths set up and crammed into a space that was really too small but things seemed to be going very smoothly despite that.

When I came out the line was longer than when voting started today and more people were heading in that direction. Expect lines to be longer this afternoon and tomorrow.

Have you voted yet? If not get out and do so. There is still time to cast your vote early this afternoon and tomorrow in North Carolina. It also looks like the county Boards of Elections will be extending Saturday hours through 7pm tomorrow. But please check before you go to make sure.

Barack Obama

CHANGE WE NEED

Alice and I were Volunteers at the Obama rally here yesterday in Raleigh, North Carolina. We arrived at about 8:30 and there were already thousands of people in two lines waiting for the security gates to open. Some people apparently camped out overnight to be sure to get a good vantage point.

It was estimated that about 28,000 people attended this rally.

We were assigned by the local Obama Campaign for Change office to work the waiting lines of people along with about 20 other volunteers. After obtaining our credentials our tasks were to inform them of the security procedures to ensure that everyone got through security with a minimum of delay, and to let them know how to deal with medical emergencies and so on. We also urged them to vote early and asked for additional volunteers to assist in further get out the vote efforts.

It was a long day but it was well worth it. We met many wonderful people of all backgrounds while we were working the lines and also saw some friends. We got in to the rally after everyone else but were quite far back. I could not see Senator Obama but could hear him on the PA system quite well.

I was able to hold my camera over my head and take some shots, a couple of which do show Obama. Please click on the thumbnail below for a full sized version of the photo. Senator Obama is very hard to see, even in the full-sized photo but you can see him near the center of the picture. If you have a slow Internet connection the picture, which is 3.3MB in size, will take a while to download.

Barack Obama in Raleigh, NC, October 29, 2008

CNN is reporting a story out of the McCain camp about Palin going “rogue.” According to a McCain staffer who chose to remain anonymous, there are complaints inside the McCain-Palin campaign that Palin is getting off-message and is perhaps more interested in the top of the ticket in 2012 than she is in VP in 2008.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/25/palin.tension/index.html

Sounds like the definition of a maverick to me. Can’t take your own maverick ways, eh, John? I guess we should not expect anything else from a campaign and a political party that are both in meltdown.

This table shows where you stand. A negative number means you get a tax cut – less taxes. A positive number means you pay more taxes.

Give me a break! Under McCain, the Americans that need help the most get only $21 per year? How stupid is that!

It is clear that with McCain’s plan, the rich get richer; the tax breaks for the richest would be the largest by far. The rich would get tax breaks many times the size of a full-year’s earnings for those on the lower income brackets. This is just more of the old trickle-down crap that we have had for as long as McCain has been in the Senate.

Under Obama’s plan, if your income is less that $111,600 you get a larger tax break than under McCain. And only when your income is more than $227,000 per year would your taxes go up instead of down under Senator Obama’s plan.

Do you think it is fair for the lower wage earners to shoulder the tax burden while the rich get richer? I do not! The rich should pay more in taxes, not less.

Here is another link with additional details: http://www.thepoliticalhub.com/list/18.aspx

There are many rumors and myths flying around about voting and voter challenges. The Durham Indy web site link below takes you to a web page that debunks many voting myths and some of the current emails going around that are blatant attempts at voter suppression.

http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A266397

Don’t let one of these myths keep you from voting!