scifiknitter

I never thought my little town of Russell, NY would go for Obama. Some demographic information about my town, from the 2000 census: * Population of 1,801 in 650 households. * 99% white. * Education of the population that is 25 or older, with national averages in parentheses: 76.2% (80.4%) have a high school degree or greater and 10.6% (24.4%) have graduated from college. * Occupations, with national averages in parentheses: 25.2% (33.6%) are professionals, 23.3% (14.9%) have service occupations, 17.5% (26.7%) work in sales or an office, 2.4% (0.7%) are farmers, 13.5% (9.4%) work in construction or mining, and 19.1% (14.6%) work in factories or transportation. * 29.7% of us work for the government (National average: 14.6%). * 15.7% of the town's families are in poverty (National average: 9.2%). * Median family income is $36,116 (National median: $41,994). Per capital income is $13,530 (National per capita income $21,587). This paints a clear statistical picture of my town. We are p...

he election results were big. Even beyond Obama's win. First, McCain's excellent concession speech. I saw that as Stringfolks tore down equipment at the close of the St. Lawrence County Democratic Committee Victory Party. It stirred me. We got home in time to tune into Obama's speech. I listened to it from the dining room table, running in to catch a glimpse now and then, while I livechatted highlights to a dear friend who does not have TV or high-speed Internet. It worked even without the picture. A moving speech at an amazing moment in time. Beyond that, two very important people won election to the NY state legislature. These two will be champions of the project that Robert heads - they included their support for the project in their campaigns. Because the NYS Senate flipped to Democratic control, the state now will very likely pass the bill needed to take this project one step closer to reality. Robert was following these races even more closely than the Presidential ra...

I have been very unsettled by the reports today of people shouting scary, ugly things at Republican campaign rallies. "Kill him." "Treason." I'm not the only one. From Andrew Sullivan at The Daily Dish : 07 Oct 2008 07:07 pm The "Danger" Of Obama An Israeli reader writes: Your post on "The Danger of Obama" immediately brought to mind what happened here in Israel in the period leading up to Yitzhak Rabin's assassination. Even allowing for the differences in political culture between the two countries, some of the sounds we're hearing in the public debate around the election have a haunting echo. Here no one would have thought it possible that an Israeli Jew would take the life of a high official. There's little doubt that the crescendo of demonization toward Rabin – including accusations of treason, flyers picturing Rabin as an SS officer – and the difficulty, in a society guaranteeing free speech, of 'civilizing' the pu...

So last night I was traveling to Rochester for my annual appointment with my neurologist. I was listening to As It Happens on WRVO on the car radio. As It Happens is a Canadian news program. Last night featured a long story about the impending national election in Canada. Prime Minister Stephen Harper called for the election on September 7, and election day is October 14. Between the Democratic and Republican conventions and the US election, Canada is holding a national election. Whew - what has taken us 18 months is taking place in 5 weeks. And - one of the major issues in the campaign is government support for the arts. Also, there are two debates with the party leaders - one in English, the other in French. I'd like to see our four candidates for POTUS and VP try that. It's a very different election, and a very different place.