Unconventional Sources

In a rotten attempt to steal the democratic process from the voters of Indiana, Senator Evan Bayh announced today that he will be calling off his re-election bid. It’s just one day before the deadline for candidates to submit petitions for the right to run in the Democratic primary.

Bayh’s timing is meant to ensure that rank and file Democratic voters in Indiana have no voice in who their own political party’s nominee will be. The state’s central Democratic Party insiders will get to appoint a nominee, and they’re expected to try to appoint Congressman Brad Ellsworth, a Blue Dog Democrat and protege of Bayh, who can continue Bayh’s record as the most right wing Democrat in the U.S. Senate.

Progressive Democratic challenger Tamyra D’Ippolito has until noon tomorrow to get 1,000 more signatures in support of her campaign. Expect this to be the hot political story tomorrow morning.

Here’s where you can find out more information about the power play:

- D’Ippolito for Senate campaign site
- D’Ippolito Twitter Updates
- A Good summary of what’s at stake
- How To Help D’Ippolito – from Hoosier Access
- Donate to Tamyra D’Ippolito

Gathering from multiple sources, the Skeptical Introduction to Congress doesn’t seem to be enjoying what it’s finding so far.

A Green Party candidate who may be teetering even before his campaign has begun; John Conyers talking tough with no action on FBI Spying; Congressman Zach Space having a fundraiser held for him by a nuclear energy company — these are not the stories that a satisfied citizen would have heard. For that reason, it’s important that we do hear them.

Thanks to this Skeptic – and keep the survey going.

Ex-Democrat Senator Joseph Lieberman has joined the chorus of politicians well-paid by the medical industry (almost a million dollars in the last five years) who are now saying that health care reform isn’t so important. “I’m afraid we’ve got to think about putting a lot of that off,”Lieberman says.

If you’re one of those Americans who doesn’t have the luxury of insurance companies and pharmaceutical corporations offering you big checks, you know that health care reform cannot afford to be put off again. The last time health care reform was “put off” was 16 years ago.

Americans who suffer under the expensive and unfair current system of health care rationing by insurance company bureaucrats need to speak out strongly so that distant politicians like Senator Lieberman can hear. Wear a button like this one, saying Health Care Reform Now.

You can find this button, and related health care reform bumper stickers and tshirts, at the Health Care Reform – The Time Is Now Shop.

To be honest, I’m not that fond of the Barn Owl Cam over at the Barn Owl Trust. I am, however, quite impressed with the important work of the Barn Owl Trust.

They work in the UK to protect barn owls there. Barn owls are decreasing in numbers as their hunting habitat is developed for human use, and the places they roost in, barns and old snags, aren’t as common as they used to be.

The Brits have also got the Barn Owl Conservation Network.

Here in the US, for more information about the barn owl, you can visit the All About Birds online guide.

I admit it. I love the bicycles by Madsen, because they’re pretty. I love the lines of them, and the colors seem nice… wait a minute. The colors of the web site are nice, and the people riding on the bicycles are pretty, but what about the bikes?

The bicycles are pretty expensive actually, ranging from 1,000 dollars on up. Of course, these bicycles include the trailer parts, built in. Bicycle trailers are expensive in and of themselves, so maybe the Madsen bicycles aren’t so expensive.

But then, the Madsen bikes are awfully long, what with the built-in trailer portions, and that extra length doesn’t appear to be removable when one isn’t hauling kids or cargo. That’s kind of awkward.

I’m of two minds about these Madsen bicycles. Does anyone have any information that would sway me one way or another?

According to testimony given to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs today, we can expect the amount we drive to double by 2030 if current trends continue. That’s not bad for our free time. It’s bad for the environment as well, as pollution from transportation currently accounts for 28 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, a portion that’s rapidly increasing.

Thankfully, there are organizations that are trying to reform American transportation, promoting increased efficiency, community redesign, and increased usage of efficient modes of transportation already available: Walking, bicycling and public transportation. Among these organizations is the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy – check ‘em out.

I love the casual focus on marine biology, which many landlovers follow passionately, over at aquamarines. I’m particularly interested in the article there on a mysterious black swimming thing, filmed in the waters near shore at a sandy beach:

On the YouTube page for the video, one knowledgeable commenter informs the videographer that it’s a “Pacific skirt-fish”. Of course, there’s no mention of the “Pacific skirt-fish” anywhere else, including the Encyclopedia of Life, which nonetheless does have an entry for the Pacific white skate.

The creature in the video looks like a nudibranch to me.

If you’ve ever known an Upstate New Yorker, you know how sensitive they can be about the whole Upstate/Downstate distinction. Say that they’re from New York, and they’ll say, “Yes, but I’m not from that New York.”

They have good reason for being so conscientious with their identity. Upstate New York is a very different kind of place than New York City and Long Island – culturally, geographically, and economically.

So, it makes sense that if there’s going to be coverage of the Green Party in New York State, there ought to be separate coverage for Upstate New York. That’s what Upstate Greens intends to provide, writing about issues and events that matter particularly to Green Party members and enthusiasts in Upstate New York.

Increasing numbers of Democrats are growing disillusioned with the direction that President Obama and the Democratic Congress are taking. Progressive promises are being broken, and replaced with a decidedly non-progressive agenda that looks too much like the politics of Bush for comfort.

So, now is a time when the Green Party could be picking up a lot of new members – if they can take advantage of the political dynamics of the moment. There is no powerful central Green Party organization, so it’s up to Green Party members themselves to make it work, from the grassroots up.

One place Green Party members can start is by going to the Green Party Central discussion boards, introduce yourself, and find out a little bit about what’s going on in your neck of the woods.

If you’re looking for information about what’s going on in Green Party politics these days, you might go to the official Green Party web site, and find something useful there. You’re guaranteed to find useful information, however, day after day, at Green Party Watch. Pay attention, Green Party activists, to the way the creators of the site keep up the effort, day after day. That’s the way to make a change.

As Albert Einstein said, you’ve got to keep things moving in order to stay in balance… or something to that effect