If I Were President...
The question, “If I were President I’d…” implies that if you swap out one leader, put in another, then all will be well with America — as though our leaders are the cause of all ailments. That must be why we’ve created a tradition of rampant attacks on our politicians. Are they too conservative for you? Too liberal? Too religious? Too atheist? Too gay? Too anti-gay? Too rich? Too dumb? Too smart? Too ethnic? Too philanderous? Curious behavior, given that we elect 88% of Congress every two years. A second tradition-in-progress is the expectation that everyone else in our culturally pluralistic land should hold exactly your own outlook, on all issues.When you’re scientifically literate, the world looks different to you. It’s a particular way of questioning what you see and hear. When empowered by this state of mind, objective realities matter. These are the truths of the world that exist outside of whatever your belief system tells you. One objective reality is that our government doesn’t work, not because we have dysfunctional politicians, but because we have dysfunctional voters. As a scientist and educator, my goal, then, is not to become President and lead a dysfunctional electorate, but to enlighten the electorate so they might choose the right leaders in the first place. Neil deGrasse TysonAstrophysicist, Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History, and host of NOVAScienceNOW
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Estonians to vote by smartphone
Estonia is investing in technology that will allow people to vote in elections using their mobile phones. Mobile identification has been used in Estonia for all of the same services as passports except voting since 2007. As of 2011, however, Estonians can vote in national elections using their computers or smartphones with internet access. Police and Border Guard will assign electronic signatures needed to vote through an online application form.
http://news.err.ee/f3dd5939-dbed-462c-8627-d56272317872Rove Rolls Again
Bush strategist Karl Rove is secretly seizing control of the GOP and amassing $135 million to destroy the Democrats. The linchpin of Rove's coup is American Crossroads -- a shadow version of the RNC for the party's richest donors. The group wants to become a fixture in GOP politics: "The idea is that there needs to be an institutional entity that will be there every cycle." The strategic logic is simple: American Crossroads will be where the real money goes to "play." "This is the plutocratic wing of the GOP getting together and deciding that, in the era of unlimited corporate contributions, they don't need a formal Republican Party anymore," says a top Democrat. "It's all about the accumulation of power."
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