So apparently Sweden is admitting many times more Iraqi refugees than the US, even though our population is roughly 33 times the size of theirs. Meanwhile, Iraqi refugees (many of whom are refugees because they helped US forces) are living in poverty, often in disease-riddled conditions, and at constant risk of being tracked down by the enemies that drove them from Iraq in the first place.

If this is what compassionate conservatism looks like, God forbid we should ever experience the regular kind.

Did you know that last year Congress passed the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFAT Act) of 2006? Once (if ever) this legislation is implemented there will be the creation of a free, searchable website that will list every recipient of every federal award. Did you know that this legislation was co-sponsored by Senator Obama and that he and two other republican presidential candidates are the only presidential hopefuls to sign an oath of presidential transparency? I’m in no way putting my word in for Obama (I personally have not decided yet) but it is interesting to think about the implications of this oath. From bad experience with the present administration, more presidential transparency can’t hurt. But the FFAT Act on the other hand seems positive in theory but will take an estimated $15 million to set-up the actual website. Playing the devil’s advocate, is there such a thing as too much information availability? Or is there a price we should set the cost at? A price we as a society are willing to pay (such as is in tax dollars) that could otherwise go towards say healthcare or reducing our deficit? It’s something worth thinking about.

A few days ago the President announced his intention to veto legislation which would expand health insurance coverage for children. By increasing federal funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), this bill—hailed before as “popular” and “bipartisan”—would cover an additional 4 million children who are currently uninsured.

Today we learned that, inexplicably, over 150 Republicans in the House of Representatives went on the record against protecting the health of poor kids. Poor American kids. more »

Have you ever wondered what our 2008 presidential candidates are actually thinking?? This is a cool article at TIME.com that has an expert facial coder describe what the candidates’ expressions and facial features give away about their inner most thoughts and tendencies.

…Is the title of the latest action-packed epic of heroism to emerge from the traveling circus of wingnuttia that is the Republican presidential primary. Go check it out.

And as a side note, I especially love how this spoofs the typical wingnut fantasy that each and every action they do or do not perform is a unique and beautiful example of American Heroism (TM).

A great place to start is looking at the data:

Gallup Poll “Education” 9-5-07

If you read this Gallup Poll analysis and then come to the PVC meeting I will love you!

Next article: Europe’s bold moves toward parental choice show radical de-bureaucratizaiton (What? Since when am I not allowed to make up words?). What can Americans draw from this “blind man and an elephant” parable to the our education system?

Schools unchained: How to go about giving parents the schools they want

This week in PVC you’re gonna get schooled! …so to speak.

So you’re a member of Cal Dems and you want to make something of membership. THE BLOG! That’s the answer; but you don’t always have time. What do you do?

Easy, sift through the enormity of recent news and general interest articles and post something so we can share in what you have found. Like this:

Hey Democrats! Check this BBC article out.

“Citizens offer new take on news”

And for those weeks where you do have time give us your analysis.

So my Linguistics professor told us a funny story the other day in lecture. Apparently when Senator Larry Craig held his press conference to address the charges of his airport bathroom cruising, the VERY FIRST WORDS out of his mouth were, “Thank you all for coming out today.” Perfect, no? I wonder if he was aware of the awesome double entendre that helped him kick off the press conference with a bang!

Language snarkiness aside, it’s September here at Cal, which means IT’S TIME FOR ANOTHER YEAR OF KICKING ASS! For those of you who’ve been around the block before, welcome back, and for those of you who are newbies (shall we dub thee Baby Dems?) welcome!!

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First of all, I would like to welcome all newcomers to Cal Dems and especially all the eager freshmen who are showing such an early/heartwarming interest in this campus’ greatest club – Cal Dems.

More to the point, the 2008 White House scramble is an attention grabber. Like most recent elections, choosing a president has been a horse race pimped out by the media. Needless to say, it’s harder and harder to choose my bling-adorned candidate.

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