This is a diary without much substance . . . YET. The substance will come from the contributions in the comments section by other members.
I am primarily a scientist, both in training and interest. This year I have become more politically active. Because politics is a new area for me, I feel I am lacking in a basic understanding of:
- Political Science
- Economics
- History
- Analysis of political data
- Policy analysis and procedure
- Congressional procedure for creating legislation
- Supreme Court decisions
- Important politicians on both a local and national level
- Methods of activism proven to work that I would be able to participate in (There is only so much time and I want to be effective)
- Many other aspects of related issues
What I would like is help in finding good books, blogs, websites, and resources to gain a better understanding in these areas.
I would also like to know - who is posting at this site that you would recommend? Which members do you find give consistently high quality diaries and comments. As we all know, there is huge volumes of information and only a small percentage have much quality. I would like some help figuring out where that quality is.
So, what would my fellow Kossacks recommend in order to give a basic understanding of these issues? This is not only for me but others that arrived here recently hoping for more understanding. With understanding comes a better ability to improve our discourse, focus and effectiveness. If you could, please supply links to expedite finding the information.
I will start.
I feel that science, and an understanding of how it is done, will be important in helping to understand many important issues. Policies will be made concerning issues such as: 1) Global Climate Change, 2) Stem Cell Research, 3) AIDS/HIV research and treatment, 4) Genetic Manipulation of biological species, 5) Creationism taught in our public schools, 6) Biological and Chemical weapons that may be used by terrorists, and effective ways to protect against them, 7) Alternative Energy sources, 8) Environmental Protection (both habitat and species), 9) Health Care, and 10) many more issues.
Here are a couple of books to help gain a rudimentary grasp on how science works and a controversial author writing about evolution. I love the Sagan book.
Books:
Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan
From the Amazon description:
Carl Sagan muses on the current state of scientific thought, which offers him marvelous opportunities to entertain us with his own childhood experiences, the newspaper morgues, UFO stories, and the assorted flotsam and jetsam of pseudoscience. Along the way he debunks alien abduction, faith-healing, and channeling; refutes the arguments that science destroys spirituality, and provides a "baloney detection kit" for thinking through political, social, religious, and other issues.
The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design
by Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins is not a shy man. Edward Larson's research shows that most scientists today are not formally religious, but Dawkins is an in-your-face atheist in the witty British style:
I want to persuade the reader, not just that the Darwinian world-view happens to be true, but that it is the only known theory that could, in principle, solve the mystery of our existence.
The title of this 1986 work, Dawkins's second book, refers to the Rev. William Paley's 1802 work, Natural Theology, which argued that just as finding a watch would lead you to conclude that a watchmaker must exist, the complexity of living organisms proves that a Creator exists. Not so, says Dawkins: "All appearances to the contrary, the only watchmaker in nature is the blind forces of physics, albeit deployed in a very special way... it is the blind watchmaker."
Recommended Kossians: I do not recommend all of these because I always agree with them, but they are thought provoking or cause lengthy debate or comment. This is just a few of my favorites listed in order of id# because I am anal-retentive.
N in Seattle for wonderful analysis during the Washington election recount.
soj for incredible stories from the Ukranian election and today's diary A Christmas Tale from Romania
kid oakland for thought provoking diaries that are well written and sometimes controversial.
Plutonium Page What more do I have to say? Us nerds have to stick together!
Newsie8200 for the Week's Best Diaries You Didn't Read an incredible gathering of diaries that were overlooked in the rapidly moving list of diaries.
With that, please feel free to add to the list.
And I hope your holidays have been enjoyable, whatever you chose to celebrate.