Coincidentally to RichardH’s previous post, Lawrence Lessig-How To Get Our Democracy Back, I received an email that is more in line with my thinking of how we get our democracy back.

It uses the power of the electorates’ numbers to fight the wealth of the special interests. It requires fewer legal entanglements, but it does require the people to pay the price of using the time and efforts of the many to counter the wealth of the few.

If we don’t have faith that the many can overrule the few, then do we truly believe in democracy?

Steven — As we head into an election year, the new strategy for killing reform is claiming that members of Congress who vote for it will suffer at the polls. For months, our opponents have spread lies about reform to scare voters away. But the simple truth about what reform would actually do — save jobs, guarantee all Americans affordable, stable coverage, and significantly reduce the deficit — is something most Americans strongly support. The question is, come November, will the voters know the facts? OFA supporters have asked for a way to show every member of Congress that if they fight for reform now, we’ll back them up this election season. That’s why we’re launching “You fight, we’ll fight” — a volunteer pledge bank where you can commit your time to back up candidates and officials who fight hard for health reform. We’re shooting for 1,000,000 hours pledged to spread the word to fellow voters. And if we get there, we’ll publish the total hours pledged in USA Today, so there will be no doubt that health reform is both good policy and good politics. Can you pledge right away? President Obama has made it crystal clear that he has no intention of walking away from health reform — and this movement has made its desire to fight on just as clear. And many members of Congress are already working hard by his side to get the job done. But for those on the fence about whether or not to proceed, knowing you are there to back up a courageous stand can make all the difference. Your volunteer hours can have a huge impact no matter where you live. You can make calls into critical districts where health reform champions are in jeopardy, write letters to the editor, volunteer for nearby campaigns, or even just talk to friends, family, and neighbors to help cut through the special interest spin. We’ll offer lots of ways to get involved between now and the elections in November, and you can decide which are right for you — the important thing right now is to publicly show your commitment to fight for those who make health reform a reality. Please help us hit our ambitious goal of one million volunteer hours pledged: http://my.barackobama.com/YouFight We’ve certainly faced setbacks in this fight. But as President Obama told OFA supporters last week, that only means we need to work that much harder. Thanks for making it possible, Mitch Mitch Stewart Director Organizing for America

Paid for by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee — 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. This email was sent to: steve@ssgreenberg.name

I must really be behind the times. I came across a link to the web site congressmanwithguts.com. This in turn led me to the old video above. I had no idea that Rep. Grayson was making such a splash.

After you look at the cartoons below, remember to come back here and visit the link to the story Photos Show Palin To Be a Serial Teleprompter User

Follow this link to the article on Yahoo! news.

I recently received the following email. It has links to the Health Care Action Center. It is really easy to use those links to send a message to your Congress people letting them know how you feel about moving the process along.

Steven — A few days ago, President Obama told a story about an OFA supporter in St. Louis who had volunteered during the campaign and organized her community for health reform, but recently succumbed to breast cancer. She didn’t have quality insurance, so she put off crucial exams and didn’t catch it early enough. And while she fought cancer, she also spent her final months fighting for a chance at health reform so others wouldn’t go through the same thing. The President told this story to remind Congress, the nation, and us: We can’t tell her family we’re giving up on reform because it’s too hard, or too risky. Congress is weighing options and hearing plenty of special interest voices telling them to give up. They need to understand that their constituents want them to keep fighting. So today, we’re relaunching our Health Care Action Center to give you all the tools and information you need to fight for reform. At the Action Center, you can make calls, write letters, speak out in your community, and weigh in directly with Congress. There’s information about what the President stands for, and personal stories that show why reform is so important. So check it out today: http://my.barackobama.com/Action Many of our senators and representatives are working overtime to gather support for a final bill and pass reform, and they should know we’re standing with them. And the rest need to understand their constituents still demand action. We’re so close to real reform — we can’t stop now. Thanks for making it possible, Mitch Mitch Stewart Director Organizing for America

Paid for by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee — 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. This email was sent to: steve@ssgreenberg.name

Follow this link to the story on the Wall Street Journal. Let me know if this link should break.

China heralded a major bust of computer hackers to underscore its pledge to help enhance global online security, with state media saying officials had shut what they called the country’s largest distributor of tools used in malicious Internet attacks.

I am beginning to wonder if my suspicion mentioned in the comment of the post More On Chinese Computer Hacking may have been true, that the recent stories of Chinese government hacking have been propaganda put out by the west.

Follow this link to the article on The Boston Globe’s web page.

How cognitive fluency shapes what we believe, how we invest, and who will become a supermodel.

This little teaser is more realistic than the phony one with which they start the article:

Imagine that your stockbroker – or the friend who’s always giving you stock tips – called and told you he had come up with a new investment strategy. Price-to-earnings ratios, debt levels, management, competition, what the company makes, and how well it makes it, all those considerations go out the window. The new strategy is this: Invest in companies with names that are very easy to pronounce.

This would probably not strike you as a great idea. But, if recent research is to be believed, it might just be brilliant.

I do not know, yet, how this will influence the way this blog is written.

As Nicholas Taleb said in his book The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, people are on much firmer ground when they describe an observation than when they try to explain the reason for it.  The explanations in this article about  why certain behavior might occur look more like confabulation to me than the actual reasons.  So read the article for the description of the phenomena themselves and file the explanations of the reasons for the phenomena in the little round file.

The discussion of picking stocks might be better worded as follows:

If you were going to pick a few stocks for your portfolio by random selection instead of by traditional measures of quality, you would be better off if you at least chose the stocks that were easier to pronounce.  Of course you would be a fool to pick stocks this way.

Follow this link to the article that explains Senator Richard Shelby (R. Ala.) has put a hold on  nominees to be the top Intelligence officers at the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security as well as the number three civilian at the Pentagon.

The reason for the hold amounts to extortion on Shelby’s part.  There is a $35 billion defense contract that he wants in his state and he doesn’t seem to care what he has to do to extort it.

I imagine I am not the only one who is starting to wonder why the Senate has to give in to this crap.

The harm that these rules produce probably far out weighs the harm that they prevent.

Follow this link to see what the White house has to say about this.