Religion in Politics

Thursday, Apr. 24, 2014, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

Do you remember when candidate John F. Kennedy said that his religion would not compromise his duties his duties as president? Could Kennedy be elected today? Here are some videos of Kennedy's famous speech, Rick Santorum's reaction to the speech, and an explanation of what changed by Penn Jillette.

I will be on travel next week, so videos will not be shown during the meeting. But we should still have a great meeting since Lowell Sunderland has volunteered to lead the discussion.

Guns

Thursday, Apr. 17, 2014, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

Continuing with our theme of Politics, our next topic will be Guns. Bill Ramsey has volunteered to lead the discussion. Is there some way to balance Second Amendment rights with public safety? Is the NRA too powerful? Was the new Maryland gun law proper? Our group should be able to answer these questions, and more, in just 90 minutes.

To get the conversation started here is a video of gun debate, which is actually civilized:

Sam Harris and Cory Booker Debate Gun Control on Real Time


------- Update 4/16/14 -------

In anticipation for the upcoming challenges to the new Maryland gun law, here are some relevant court cases:

• District of Columbia v. Heller
• McDonald v. Chicago
• Woollard v. Gallagher
• SB 281 LAWSUITS

Maryland and Howard County Politics

Thursday, Apr. 10, 2014, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

We will turn our focus to Howard County and our local districts in the Maryland State legislator. The meeting will be led by Zoom-in member Ken Stevens, who has been active in local politics for many years.

Here a some web links which can provide background;

Find your election districts: http://www.elections.state.md.us/voting/where.html

List of local races: http://elections.state.md.us/elections/2014/primary_candidates/index.html

Howard County Council: http://cc.howardcountymd.gov/displayprimary.aspx?ID=4294968693

Howard County Budget: http://www.co.ho.md.us/current_budget.htm and http://www.co.ho.md.us/Departments.aspx?Id=6442458740

Ken has also recommended these news articles:

ON NEWS ITEMS ABOUT CANDIDATES IN THE HOTTEST LOCAL PRIMARIES

LD12 Delegate candidate news in press:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/arbutus-lansdowne/ph-ca-at-candidate-forum-1120-20131114,0,7005243.story

http://touch.baltimoresun.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-79280201/

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/catonsville/ph-ca-at-district-12-forum-0312-20140307,0,832349.story

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/catonsville/ph-ca-at-district-12-charlestown-0319-20140312,0,331693,full.story

LD13 Delegate candidate news in press:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/columbia/ph-janet-siddiqui-withdraws-district-13,0,7520635.story

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/columbia/ph-team-13-announcement,0,2901301.story

On Columbia Democratic Club forum for Democratic legislative candidates:

www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/columbia/ph-political-notebook-0220,0,2413585.story

On Democratic Council district 1 candidates at Columbia Democratic Club forum:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/columbia/ph-district-1-democratic-candidates,0,6423856,full.story

Schedule for 2014Q2

Here is an outline of the themes that will be covered in the second quarter of 2014. Just like last quarter, we will announce the specific topic for the week's meeting on the blog

• April - More Politics: Our involvement in government and politics

• May - The New Economy: How technology has brought new economic opportunity, challenges and possibly a job crisis

• June - Generational Legacy: What the older generation will pass to the younger generation, both good and bad

Local Government

Thursday, Apr. 3, 2014, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

While the Federal government seems to be in perpetual deadlock, real progress is being made at the local level, especially in large cities. Here is a TED Talk by Ben Barber, which suggests that some global problems are better solved by cooperating cities.

At an even more local level, there is a movement to enable cooperating citizens to fix the problems of their neighborhoods. Here is a TED Talk by Jennifer Pahlka which shows how free Open Source technology is being used to help local government.


------- Update 4/3/14 -------------

Links to the other videos shown at the meeting:

Lecture by Benjamin R. Barber "If mayors ruled the world?"
Catherine Bracy: Why good hackers make good citizens

Why Do They Vote Against Their Own Best Interest

Thursday, Mar. 27, 2014, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

Even with all the money spent on political ads, it seems to be a mystery why so many of the working poor vote against their own best interest. In his book, Deer Hunting with Jesus, Joe Bageant explains that they are trapped in ignorance. They don't even realize what is their own best interest. Bageant was raised in that culture but was able to escape and is now a self proclaimed socialist. Yet he tells the story from the view of the people he grew up with. Here is an interview he gave about the book.

Campaign Finance

Thursday, Mar. 20, 2014, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

We will continue our discussion on democracy in crisis. Last week the issue of campaign finance, made more serious by Citizens United, was raised.

Here is a TED Talk by Lawrence Lessig which makes the case that campaign finance reform is the single most important issue. A longer version of this talk can be found HERE. The talk was based on Lessig's book Republic Lost.