Comments on: This Election http://nslog.com/2008/10/03/this_election The Weblog of Erik J. Barzeski Wed, 23 May 2012 23:05:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Political Zealotry: Doing More Harm than Good | NSLog(); http://nslog.com/2008/10/03/this_election#comment-50295 Political Zealotry: Doing More Harm than Good | NSLog(); Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:54:21 +0000 http://nslog.com/2008/10/03/this_election#comment-50295 [...] I said in my last post on this election, I am undecided. That's saying a lot consider I tend to align with what have historically been more [...] [...] I said in my last post on this election, I am undecided. That's saying a lot consider I tend to align with what have historically been more [...]

]]> By: Erik J. Barzeski http://nslog.com/2008/10/03/this_election#comment-50030 Erik J. Barzeski Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:16:55 +0000 http://nslog.com/2008/10/03/this_election#comment-50030 [quote comment="50029"]I'm kinda interested to see what you think about the debate last night (though it lacked the oomph I was expecting).[/quote] Debates have always struck me as pretty silly. A whole bunch of rhetoric and bullshitting, and very little fact. I watched the first 30 minutes and will watch the rest later when I have the time, but I don't give it much weight either way nor do I care who "wins" it. pjsnyc said on October 8, 2008:

I'm kinda interested to see what you think about the debate last night (though it lacked the oomph I was expecting).

Debates have always struck me as pretty silly. A whole bunch of rhetoric and bullshitting, and very little fact. I watched the first 30 minutes and will watch the rest later when I have the time, but I don't give it much weight either way nor do I care who "wins" it.

]]> By: pjsnyc http://nslog.com/2008/10/03/this_election#comment-50029 pjsnyc Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:02:00 +0000 http://nslog.com/2008/10/03/this_election#comment-50029 I'm kinda interested to see what you think about the debate last night (though it lacked the oomph I was expecting). And I really hope you do vote. PA is a swing state and all voices must be heard! I'm kinda interested to see what you think about the debate last night (though it lacked the oomph I was expecting).

And I really hope you do vote. PA is a swing state and all voices must be heard!

]]> By: Nathan http://nslog.com/2008/10/03/this_election#comment-49971 Nathan Sun, 05 Oct 2008 06:15:44 +0000 http://nslog.com/2008/10/03/this_election#comment-49971 Okay, one more, and this is the best one yet: Go to <a href="http://hulu.com">Hulu</a> and watch <a href="http://www.hulu.com/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart">The Daily Show</a> and <a href="http://www.hulu.com/the-colbert-report">The Colbert Report</a>. Just for the month of October. It is a quick, painless way to keep up with what is going on and does a far better job than going and reading blogs for the equivalent amount of time. In fact, as multiple studies have shown, it will keep you better informed than spending <i>more</i> time watching any "real" news program or even listening to NPR. If you want to make it even more efficient, than skip the interviews at the end, which cuts them down to around 15 minutes each. In fact, I'd recommend you go back and watch the past couple of weeks, as well. Between that and reading the policy positions of both candidates as linked above, I think you'll have all the information you need to make as well-informed a choice as you can. Okay, one more, and this is the best one yet:
Go to Hulu and watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Just for the month of October. It is a quick, painless way to keep up with what is going on and does a far better job than going and reading blogs for the equivalent amount of time. In fact, as multiple studies have shown, it will keep you better informed than spending more time watching any "real" news program or even listening to NPR. If you want to make it even more efficient, than skip the interviews at the end, which cuts them down to around 15 minutes each. In fact, I'd recommend you go back and watch the past couple of weeks, as well. Between that and reading the policy positions of both candidates as linked above, I think you'll have all the information you need to make as well-informed a choice as you can.

]]> By: Nathan http://nslog.com/2008/10/03/this_election#comment-49970 Nathan Sun, 05 Oct 2008 06:05:21 +0000 http://nslog.com/2008/10/03/this_election#comment-49970 Again regarding the campaigns themselves, McCain's campaign has decided they will lose if voters look at the issues. Instead, they are going to launch <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/03/AR2008100303738_pf.html">"a newly aggressive assault on Sen. Barack Obama's character"</a>. They have shifted virtually all of their ad spending to <a href="http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/mccain_campaigns_ad_spending_n.php">attack ads</a>. Whereas over 50% of Obama's ads don't even mention McCain. Bill Clinton <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/25/politics/campaign/25cnd-clinton.html?_r=2&pagewanted=print&position&oref=slogin&oref=slogin">said something 4 years ago</a> that got some play earlier in the year and bears repeating now: "If one candidate is trying to scare you, and the other one is trying to make you think; if one candidate's appealing to your fears, and the other one's appealing to your hopes; you better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope.'' Again regarding the campaigns themselves, McCain's campaign has decided they will lose if voters look at the issues. Instead, they are going to launch "a newly aggressive assault on Sen. Barack Obama's character". They have shifted virtually all of their ad spending to attack ads. Whereas over 50% of Obama's ads don't even mention McCain. Bill Clinton said something 4 years ago that got some play earlier in the year and bears repeating now:
"If one candidate is trying to scare you, and the other one is trying to make you think; if one candidate's appealing to your fears, and the other one's appealing to your hopes; you better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope.''

]]> By: Mike http://nslog.com/2008/10/03/this_election#comment-49959 Mike Sat, 04 Oct 2008 16:41:59 +0000 http://nslog.com/2008/10/03/this_election#comment-49959 Obama's technology policy convinced me, too. I enjoy his speeches, which help to illustrate what he stands for, and his site really completes the picture. Obama's technology policy convinced me, too.

I enjoy his speeches, which help to illustrate what he stands for, and his site really completes the picture.

]]> By: Julian http://nslog.com/2008/10/03/this_election#comment-49958 Julian Sat, 04 Oct 2008 10:35:34 +0000 http://nslog.com/2008/10/03/this_election#comment-49958 "What kinds of change? What goals does he have?" As others have already suggested, I highly recommend you find some time to have a quick read of his plans for various issues on his campaign site, as they're really pretty thorough, especially the aforementioned PDF versions usually linked to at the end. Oh, and as I'm somewhat of an energy geek, in terms of: "Will we be within two years of having cars that run without any gasoline at all after his second term in office?" You're actually there today to some degree with vehicles like the Telsa Roadster and the Chevy Volt (late 2010), as well as the Aptera and the like on the way, but in terms of making them much more mainstream, Obama is a big advanced vehicle fan, and backs it up with some pretty solid policy. Improved fuel economy standards along with helping to develop the next generation of (sustainable) biofuels aside, he aims to get 1 million plug-in vehicles on the road *before* the end of his second term in office (2015), providing a $7,000 tax credit for the purchase of such vehicles, conversion tax credits, loan guarantees to help US automakers retool to build them, alongside a specific focus on R&D in terms of advanced battery technology. He's also committed to convert the entire White House fleet to plug-ins as security permits, and that half of all cars purchased by the federal government will be plug-in hybrids or all-electric by 2012. Just in case you're wondering whether the US grid can handle these million plug-ins, the short answer is that it definitely can. The long answer is that using existing unused night time idle generation alone, the US grid can support more than 40% of US vehicles (cars, pickup trucks, SUVs and vans) as plug-in vehicles today. Since there are more than 200 million cars, pickup trucks, SUVs and vans in the US, Obama's 1 million initial target should work just fine. I'd talk about emissions, about how Obama's cap & trade plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and engage with the international community to really tackle global warming wipes the floor with McCain's, and how Obama's energy plan should reduce US oil consumption by more than current imports from the Middle East and Venezuela combined, only this comment is probably long enough as it is :wink:. http://www.barackobama.com/issues/energy http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/factsheet_energy_speech_080308.pdf http://www.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/avta/pdfs/phev/pratt_phev_workshop.pdf http://www.pnl.gov/energy/eed/etd/pdfs/phev_feasibility_analysis_combined.pdf "What kinds of change? What goals does he have?"

As others have already suggested, I highly recommend you find some time to have a quick read of his plans for various issues on his campaign site, as they're really pretty thorough, especially the aforementioned PDF versions usually linked to at the end.

Oh, and as I'm somewhat of an energy geek, in terms of:

"Will we be within two years of having cars that run without any gasoline at all after his second term in office?"

You're actually there today to some degree with vehicles like the Telsa Roadster and the Chevy Volt (late 2010), as well as the Aptera and the like on the way, but in terms of making them much more mainstream, Obama is a big advanced vehicle fan, and backs it up with some pretty solid policy.

Improved fuel economy standards along with helping to develop the next generation of (sustainable) biofuels aside, he aims to get 1 million plug-in vehicles on the road *before* the end of his second term in office (2015), providing a $7,000 tax credit for the purchase of such vehicles, conversion tax credits, loan guarantees to help US automakers retool to build them, alongside a specific focus on R&D in terms of advanced battery technology.

He's also committed to convert the entire White House fleet to plug-ins as security permits, and that half of all cars purchased by the federal government will be plug-in hybrids or all-electric by 2012.

Just in case you're wondering whether the US grid can handle these million plug-ins, the short answer is that it definitely can. The long answer is that using existing unused night time idle generation alone, the US grid can support more than 40% of US vehicles (cars, pickup trucks, SUVs and vans) as plug-in vehicles today. Since there are more than 200 million cars, pickup trucks, SUVs and vans in the US, Obama's 1 million initial target should work just fine.

I'd talk about emissions, about how Obama's cap & trade plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and engage with the international community to really tackle global warming wipes the floor with McCain's, and how Obama's energy plan should reduce US oil consumption by more than current imports from the Middle East and Venezuela combined, only this comment is probably long enough as it is :wink: .

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/energy
http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/factsheet_energy_speech_080308.pdf
http://www.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/avta/pdfs/phev/pratt_phev_workshop.pdf
http://www.pnl.gov/energy/eed/etd/pdfs/phev_feasibility_analysis_combined.pdf

]]> By: Julian http://nslog.com/2008/10/03/this_election#comment-49957 Julian Sat, 04 Oct 2008 08:53:51 +0000 http://nslog.com/2008/10/03/this_election#comment-49957 [quote comment="49956"]That made Slashdot. Someone mailed the campaign and got the reply that the position on net neutrality hasn't changed (and is apparently borne out in a full policy PDF that can be downloaded), but the text has been rewritten to cover more general issues.[/quote] "Barack Obama strongly supports the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet." http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/technology/Fact_Sheet_Innovation_and_Technology.pdf If you're ever looking for more information on an issue than the main issue page shows you, near the bottom of every page you should find a PDF link to the full plan which usually adds a nice bit of detail. Jesper said on October 4, 2008:

That made Slashdot. Someone mailed the campaign and got the reply that the position on net neutrality hasn't changed (and is apparently borne out in a full policy PDF that can be downloaded), but the text has been rewritten to cover more general issues.

"Barack Obama strongly supports the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet."

http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/technology/Fact_Sheet_Innovation_and_Technology.pdf

If you're ever looking for more information on an issue than the main issue page shows you, near the bottom of every page you should find a PDF link to the full plan which usually adds a nice bit of detail.

]]> By: Jesper http://nslog.com/2008/10/03/this_election#comment-49956 Jesper Sat, 04 Oct 2008 08:25:31 +0000 http://nslog.com/2008/10/03/this_election#comment-49956 [quote comment="49947"]And yet, in an episode of Buzz Out Loud, they pointed out that an entire section on Net Neutrality was recently <em>removed</em> from Obama's site. Not that BOL is what I'd call an weighty political arena, but still…[/quote] That made Slashdot. Someone mailed the campaign and got the reply that the position on net neutrality hasn't changed (and is apparently borne out in a full policy PDF that can be downloaded), but the text has been rewritten to cover more general issues. Erik J. Barzeski said on October 3, 2008:

And yet, in an episode of Buzz Out Loud, they pointed out that an entire section on Net Neutrality was recently removed from Obama's site. Not that BOL is what I'd call an weighty political arena, but still…

That made Slashdot. Someone mailed the campaign and got the reply that the position on net neutrality hasn't changed (and is apparently borne out in a full policy PDF that can be downloaded), but the text has been rewritten to cover more general issues.

]]> By: Dave H http://nslog.com/2008/10/03/this_election#comment-49954 Dave H Fri, 03 Oct 2008 23:23:32 +0000 http://nslog.com/2008/10/03/this_election#comment-49954 [quote comment="49944"]I'm not terribly interested in quick soundbites that may or may not include someone mis-speaking. Please don't stoop to that sort of level.[/quote] That's just it. I'm not so sure that it isn't what he really means. I mean there is a reason why Barry Goldwater disliked and distrusted John McCain. Erik J. Barzeski said on October 3, 2008:

I'm not terribly interested in quick soundbites that may or may not include someone mis-speaking. Please don't stoop to that sort of level.

That's just it. I'm not so sure that it isn't what he really means. I mean there is a reason why Barry Goldwater disliked and distrusted John McCain.

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