Written by Aaron Paulley on January 15th, 2009
If my memory serves me well, I believe I have not taken a photo on film since 1998. I have been taking photos digitally since my first Sony Mavica camera. This is an interested fact to me because it shows how behind-the-times our government is. President-Elect Barack Obama’s team revealed the official presidential portrait that will be hanging in all Federal buildings across the country, as well as in embassies around the world and who knows where else. Not only is the portrait historic in that it is a picture of the first African American president, but it also marks the first time that a presidential portrait has been taken with a digital camera.
So I guess its official. I’m ten years ahead of our government.
Written by Aaron on June 29th, 2008
For a great read about how Republicans are losing young Republicans, read this.
Written by Aaron on June 23rd, 2008
Japan’s making solar power for regular people cheap.
Tax breaks begin next year.
The prime minister, aiming to take the lead in the fight against climate change as host of the Group of Eight leaders’ summit next month, unveiled on June 9 a long-term goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 60-80 percent from current levels by 2050.
Once again, other developed nations beat the U.S. to the punch when it comes to alternative fuel sources. Our current administration’s big idea is to drill for more oil, an idea that, while I’m not opposed to it, doesn’t solve any problems. It only create more money-making opportunities for the oil companies which are already making 100 BILLION in profit every year.
Bush and Co. have offered no alternatives to oil. Why should he? He’s an oil man. All his friends are in oil. He from Texas for crying out loud!
Several years ago, Bush gave a speech saying that America was addicted to oil and that his administration would work to lesses this addiction. Looking back, I now realize that speec was like a crack dealer telling all his clients they were addicted to crack and that he would help them out by locating more places for them to buy crack.
Written by Aaron on June 23rd, 2008
According to an article published today by the Robin Harris in the National Review (article), the Christian population in Iraq is shrinking very quickly since the invasion and fall of Saddam.
…Christianity now faces extinction. The 1987 census recorded 1.4
million Christians in Iraq. Numbers began to drop as conditions
deteriorated after the first Gulf War. There were, though, around
800,000 at the time of the U.S-led invasion of 2003. Of these, about
half have now left the country altogether, while more than 100,000 are
internally displaced persons.
Harris continues:
Members of all religions have been affected by the violence since the
toppling of Saddam Hussein. But Christians are in a worse position
since they suffer directly because of their Christian faith. Targeted
by Islamist extremists, they are confronted by demands to convert,
death threats, looting of their homes and businesses, systematic
intimidation, abductions for ransom, bombings, and frequently murder.
Because Christians are known to be weak they and their property are
also prey to gangsterism. Churches and church leaders are particular
targets for Islamists.
Someone remind me again why we are there in Iraq?
Written by Aaron on June 20th, 2008
In an unprecedented move, MoveOn.org sent this email to their mailing list today:
For almost ten years, we’ve worked together to change American politics. Millions of us have collaborated to build a new progressive moment, catalyzed by the Internet and motivated by our belief that the country we love deserves better.
Now, in Barack Obama, we have a Presidential candidate who has based his campaign on precisely that kind of new politics—a people-driven politics focused on the outside-of-the-beltway consensus around Iraq, climate change, and health care, not the gridlock in Washington.
Using a lot of the tools and techniques developed by the progressive movement—as well as a visionary approach to leadership—Obama’s brought millions of new people into the process. And, following in the footsteps of Howard Dean, ActBlue, and other innovators, he’s adopted a new way of funding a campaign—relying on a donor base of millions rather than contributions by lobbyists and special interests.
It’s a very exciting moment. And so the time has come to answer an important question: should we make an all-in commitment, together, to this new politics?
While MoveOn Political Action has always been funded exclusively by small donors like you, we’ve held open the MoveOn.org Voter Fund—a separate “527″ organization—which can raise money from big donors. We haven’t actually taken any big-money checks since 2004, when MoveOn members matched big contributors to educate voters about George Bush’s policies. But in light of the new politics offered by Barack Obama, I’ve come to believe it’s time to close the 527 forever—and to challenge organizations on the right to do the same thing.
That means that we won’t raise any money for our election work from foundations, or even individuals who want to give over $5,000. It’s an all-in commitment to the small-donor way of doing things. But the time is right to take the leap.
Not relying on big donors means that all of us, together, have to take responsibility. So before we sign the final paperwork, we need to know that you’re in. Are you?
I’m interested to see what other 527’s do over the weekend and into next week. We’re seeing a shift in politics, folks, and I think people who don’t get one board will be seen as “the old way of doing things” as their power and influence diminishes greatly.