Alachua County Voters' Nonpartisan Field Guide

We're down to the wire until the big day: November 4th. Unfortunately, a lot of folks don't realize that we'll vote on a lot more than just the Presidential candidate. I just took a look at the sample ballot for my precinct, and I think the average college-aged citizen in Gainesville has no idea what everything else means. I know I don't, and it's my goal to get educated between now and the election so that I can make an informed decision.

So let's go through a sample ballot for Alachua County, and I'll provide links along the way for your information.


First of all, here's where you can find your precinct, and here's where you can view sample ballots.

PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT

This one is getting all the attention (obviously). Take a look at the full list - I'll provide links to the candidates' web sites:

John McCain
Sarah Palin
REP

Barack Obama
Joe Biden
DEM

Gloria La Riva
Eugene Puryear
PSL (Party for Socialism and Liberation)

Chuck Baldwin
Darrell Castle
CPF (Constitution Party)

Gene Amondson
Leroy Pletten
PRO (Prohibition Party)

Bob Barr
Wayne A. Root
LBT (Libertarian Party)

Thomas Robert Stevens
Alden Link
OBJ (Objectivist Party)

James Harris
Alyson Kennedy
SWP (Socialist Workers Party)

Cynthia McKinney
Rosa Clemente
GRE (Green Party)

Alan Keyes
Brian Rohrbough
AIP (America's Independent Party)

Ralph Nader
Matt Gonzalez
ECO (Peace and Freedom Party)

Brian Moore
Stewart Alexander
SPF (Socialist Party)

Charles Jay
John Wayne Smith
BTP (Boston Tea Party)

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS - DISTRICT 6
(Your district may be different)

Clifford B. (Cliff) Stearns (REP, Incumbent)
Tim Cunha (DEM)

Next are the County Commissioners. You can read the profiles of the incumbents at the Alachua County site. I'll also provide the links for everyone.

COUNTY COMMISSIONER - DISTRICT 1

Kevin Riordan (REP)
Mike Byerly (DEM, Incumbent)

COUNTY COMMISSIONER - DISTRICT 3

Lloyd W. Bailey, Jr. (REP)
Paula M. DeLaney (DEM, Incumbent)

COUNTY COMMISSIONER - DISTRICT 5

Ward Scott (REP)
Rodney Long (DEM)

NONPARTISAN

These are the judges. A lot of these are just questions of retention, and unless you know of someone doing something illegal, or do extensive research on their rulings, you're probably going to just vote yes. However, for your information:

JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT
Shall Justice Charles T. Wells of the Florida Supreme Court be retained in office?

DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
Shall Judge Robert T. Benton of the First District Court of Appeal be retained in office?

Shall Judge Marguerite H. Davis of the First District Court of Appeal be retained in office?

Shall Judge Joseph Lewis Jr. of the First District Court of Appeal be retained in office?

Shall Judge Ricky L. Polston of the First District Court of Appeal be retained in office? (This one's a little confusing to me, because apparently he's been named to the Florida Supreme Court.)

Shall Judge Clay Roberts of the First District Court of Appeal be retained in office?

Shall Judge William A. Van Nortwick Jr. of the First District Court of Appeal be retained in office?

COUNTY JUDGE - GROUP 2
Denise Ferrero
Lorraine H. Sherman

ALACHUA COUNTY SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT - Group 2
David T. Gildart
Todd P. Martin (incumbent; can't find a link for him)

ALACHUA COUNTY SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT - Group 4
Rob Brinkman
Mary Ann Gosa (Incumbent)
(Sorry -- can't find links for either of them).

PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

These are proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution. Here's a good summary for these amendments. It does a good job, so I'm not going to try to recreate it.

COUNTY REFERENDA

Here's another great summary, this time of the Alachua County Referenda.

MUNICIPAL

FOR or AGAINST annexation of property described in Ordinance Number 080137 of the City of Gainesville.

I'm trying to understand what this means (it relates to some property near SW 20th Ave, which is quite relevant to me). This is the legislative file and these are the meeting minutes when it was adopted by the City Commission.

Update: Apparently I don't live within Gainesville city limits. Great. Here is more information about the pro side. Is there even a con side to this?

And there you have it. Good luck on Election Day, and please feel free to post with any additional information.

Cheers,
Sam

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An Outlet

Well, here I sit. It's August 5th. Melissa is in Mexico on a missions trip, which means I'm alone for a week for the first time in the year we've been married.

I find myself feeling a little reflective. My refuge thus far in my week has been everything I felt a connection with before getting married: Emily Dickinson, Joanna Newsom, Elliott Smith, and a hundred other poems, songs, and artists. But there's this huge gap between where my brain connects with my heart. I can't seem to get back to that place I was back when I was single.

I guess I really am a different person.

I've drifted more and more down to earth in what art (in any form) to which I feel connected. Suddenly lyrics by The Mountain Goats feel more profound than they used to. Earthy. Real. I can't place it.

I've been thrown into real life, and there are very few five-dollar words or lofty treatments of truth and beauty.

"I've stopped looking for royal cities in the air," to borrow a phrase from Josh Ritter.

"I'd ask you about love. You'd probably quote me a sonnet." I've always loved Good Will Hunting, but mainly from the side of a Will-wannabe who tried to understand Sean as best as he could. I spent hours reading and digesting all sorts of knowledge, after some holy grail of what I wanted my life to be like.

And especially what I wanted love to be like. Romeo and Juliet, Amélie, even The House of Flying Daggers (especially that part where he picks up the flowers on the horse). Not realizing the whole time that Sam and Melissa would be every bit as brilliant, every bit as colorful, every bit as creative as any of those stories.

God creates better stories than we do.

I've learned that lofty words don't really mean much. God has given me something that I cannot define -- it defines me. True love, the kind that makes me want to do anything for Melissa at any time, no matter what I think of it. The kind that pushes me and pushes me again to be sacrificial, and any time I want to give up, I find myself once again being pushed.

That kind of love can't really be described. It can't really be put into words. It makes every song or book I've heard or read seem trite or overly simplistic or too idealistic (or too morbid or cynical, for that matter). The pain and the joy that comes with marriage, with one reinforcing the other, can only be experienced.

I recently came across some songs I had recorded a couple of years ago. Well meaning songs, with heartfelt lyrics reflecting real pain. I couldn't help but smile at some and laugh out loud at others. I was so worried about things, and so convinced that so many other girls were perfect for me.

And I was so damn cynical.

Well, that's enough for now. Let me know your thoughts.

Oh, and if anyone wants to hang out this week, give me a call (or an Fbook post). I'm available after 5 any day, and all day Saturday.
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The Media and Ron Paul

Normally I'm not too into conspiracies. If there's anything my experience at UF has taught me, it's that history is complicated. The "official position" of the winners is usually wrong, and the conspiracy theorists are usually wrong. The answer often lies in between.

I can't help but feel like we're in the middle of a conspiracy when it comes to the media's coverage of Ron Paul. Ron Paul is monstrously popular on the internet and with young voters. See here for a YouTube video that represents it pretty well.

Mainstream media coverage of Paul is, well, appalling. His presence in the debates has been laughable. (Incidentally, watch the video at the end of that article and see how uncomfortable the other candidates are while Paul is speaking about the war in Iraq being unconstitutional and the need to address our foreign policy.) This article also sums up the situation nicely.

Seriously, I could go on and on about this. But the straw that broke the camel's back for me was this article from NPR . The article calls Ron Paul an iconoclast and assumes that he is going to get nowhere in the election. Despite this, they offer these stats:

- Last week, he raised $1.85 million in a 24-hour period.
- He's a superstar on YouTube with over 7 million viewers clicking on his offerings.
- Until Tuesday's Florida primary, Paul had beaten former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in Iowa, Michigan, Nevada and South Carolina. Giuliani bested Paul in New Hampshire by 2,092 votes. (Paul campaigned in some of these states, while Giuliani focused mainly on Florida).
- Paul had captured 106,414 votes to Giuliani's 60,220 -- even though the press touted Giuliani as a frontrunner. (See NPR primary map)
- Paul came in second, albeit a distant second, in a field of seven Republicans in Nevada.

NPR says they've received over 200 individual emails complaining about the lack of coverage for Ron Paul (e.g. the fact that he's been mentioned only 160 times in the past six months -- that's not even once a day). Shockingly, they don't offer an apology in this article, they offer a defense:

"Yes, Paul has raised lots of money and has many dedicated supporters," said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. "That's all good, but even Ron Paul realizes he is not going to be the GOP presidential nominee. There is a happy golden mean of major and minor candidates somewhere. No one ever finds it's to everyone's satisfaction. The good news is that news organizations don't conspire."

NPR's Elving, a seasoned veteran of eight presidential races, said he is prepared to give Paul greater coverage when he is no longer an 'also-ran' in Republican primaries. "When and if he becomes an independent or third party candidate," said Elving, "he may become a far larger factor in the eventual general election outcome. At that point, news coverage will increase appropriately."

The number of comments left on the page indicate to me that it's not only conspiracy theorists that are upset with this.

Does anyone else find it strange that an anti-war, anti-tax, pro-life candidate who also happens to have a massive following is being dismissed almost entirely from the media? Whether you agree with his views or not (and I'm sure many disagree, as he can't really satisfy most Republicans or most Democrats), one would think he'd at least get a fair shake. It's not like his only supporters are his family or something.

Anyway, that's my two cents on the subject. I've heard this is also the case with Kucinich, but I don't know the details of that.

Peace,
Sam
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On News of Her Passing

I just read that the wife of a dear friend has passed away. My heart aches for him. After a marriage of somewhere around fifty years, she became ill, and now she's gone.

We prayed for the two of them every night over the past month or two when we heard she was sick. That God would heal her. That God's will would be done. That God would comfort him.

It is especially poignant when here I am, so fresh and new in the world of marriage. I am just becoming accustomed to the joys of knowing Melissa, to the deep, precious friendship that grows stronger every day. She is everything to me. I would do anything for her. And I don't say that in a cliché, romantic comedy kind of way. Because I've learned that "doing anything" for the woman you love means rubbing her feet after you've been at work for 8 hours. It means doing the dishes. It doesn't mean vanquishing evil.

But this is six months, not sixty years. This is infancy, with the world new and bright. Learning to talk, learning to walk. We hold hands and learn the names of things together, and all our plans for our lives are like playing pretend. We dream of our house and children while we sit alone in our one bedroom apartment. We're playing dress-up still, really.

Yet still I cling to her, and love her more than I could think possible. Words fall short. It's a love that describes me, not one that I can sum up with a sentence or a pithy quote. It's part of something greater, something that exists without me, that existed before me.

What was their love? If I am so submerged in this nascent love, what is the depth of a love that has seen so much over so long? Is it a torrent, or a Great Lake?

In the midst of this, I have to remember that it is not just love that conquers all, but Love that conquered all.

"And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For 'God has put all things in subjection under his feet.' But when it says, 'all things are put in subjection,' it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all."

- 1 Corinthians 15:17-28

Grace and peace,
Sam
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Back (Again) with Lots of Thoughts

Hey everyone,

Well, I think I'm back to blogging regularly. It's been a very interesting and exciting first six months of marriage. Allow me to update you on some things...

Books

I've been reading and listening to lots of books on different subjects these days. These have consisted in several books by Dr. Andrew Weil, a few by Jim Cramer, one called Learned Optimism, and many more. They basically break down into finance, health, and relationships.

Recently finished books that have hit me hard include Each for the Other and The DNA of Relationships. Yes, I am in fact a married man now.

School

I am just about finished with school. I'll be graduating in May with my degree in religion. I am finishing up my thesis this semester. It's been a long, slow road, but ultimately a good one.

Career

Many of you know that I've decided to pursue a career in financial planning. This requires becoming certified by the CFP Board. The process includes education, a massive test, and a ton of experience. I'm really excited about it, though. I've really gotten into this kind of thing through podcasts like The Money Guy and The Disciplined Investor.

I hope to take this certification and start a private practice. Eventually, I would like to merge my interests in religion. It would be ideal for me to get an M.Div. and manage some sort of charitable trust portfolio or become a non-profit financial consultant.

CSN

Christian Service Network has not died. It has just taken a much, much longer time to get it going. Inquire within for details and to help.

That's all for now. Keep checking back. I plan on really using this thing now. I need the outlet.

Sam
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Zaadz = Way Cool

I recently joined the online community Zaadz. It's social networking with a purpose. I'll just let the head honcho describe it:

Welcome! Let's Change the World.

This is Brian, your friendly Philosopher & CEO here at Zaadz. On behalf of our entire team, I’d like to welcome you to our little Oasis on the web. Thrilled you’ve found us. Here’s a quick intro to what we’re up to:

Our Name. We’ll start with the name. zaad. It’s Dutch for “seed.” Amazing how much potential is in a tiny seed, eh? We think so, too. That power reminds us of the amazing potential within each of us. We thought the idea of creating a company that inspires and empowers you to bring your “seed” to actualization would be pretty powerful. So, we created “Zaadz.”

Our Mission. We’re gonna change the world. Our math goes like this: you be the change + you follow your bliss + you give your greatest strengths to the world moment to moment to moment + we do everything in our power to help you succeed + you inspire and empower everyone you know to do the same + we team up with millions like us = we just affected billions = we (together) changed the world.

Our Plan. Ours involves Conscious Capitalism infused with Spirituality and a healthy dose of Enthusiasm, Love, Service, Inspiration, Passion, Humor and Teamwork. People CRAZY enough to think they can change the world, Courageous enough to do something about it, AND Committed enough to stick to it when they feel like giving up.

We’re in the process of building THE most inspired community of people in the world…social networking with a purpose, a community of seekers and conscious entrepreneurs circulating wisdom and inspiration and wealth and all that good stuff. We’re passionate about inspiring and empowering people to bring their dreams to life, learning and growing and getting paid to do what they love, using their greatest gifts in the greatest service to the world. (And having fun in the process!)

Our Community. You (& Your Friends). Yes, you. You want more than the 9-5, the house and the car, the conditioning. The blah! Life is to be lived - Fully. In spirit. In love. In service. In celebration. (You’ve already swallowed the red pill, so let’s go…)

Us. A community of Leaders, Visionaries, Thinkers, Artists, Writers,
Healers, Teachers, Activists, Environmentalists, Conscious Entrepreneurs, and Many (many!) Others. People
of many ages (from 12 to 90), many nationalities, from different countries
(over 110!) and different backgrounds. Some already making huge differences
in thousands of lives, others working to make a difference starting with
themselves.

We’re thrilled you’ve joined us so early on and are excited to change the world together.

Namaste,

Brian Johnson, Philosopher & CEO

What are you waiting for? Check it out!
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Jesus Camp

I'm in Fort Wayne, eating some DeBrand chocolate, sipping some mint green tea, and relaxing. I decided to pop in Jesus Camp, a 2006 documentary about Evangelical (Pentecostal, actually) child-raising. Now, it seems like recently a slew of new media has come out to take on the Christian right. The book Why the Christian Right is Wrong, the documentary With God On Our Side, and a number of other books, movies, and scholarly articles are analyzing the rise of the Moral Majority, the Christian Right, or whatever you want to call it, whether in passing or as the main focus of the work. Some are insightful, some are vitriolic, some are scholarly, some are, well, not scholarly. As a religion major, I'll take what I can get. I can usually find some sort of silver lining to even the most banal treatments of a religious topic. Taking shots at extreme Christianity is about as ubiquitous as Starbucks and as cheap as Raman noodles these days, but even then I can salvage some good, add it to my ever-growing bank of religious knowledge, and move on.

I'll go ahead and say that Jesus Camp is no exception, although it suffers from the fact that I'm getting sick of the subject. The reason I'm writing, though, is because I have a special connection to this particular angle on the matter. Let's review some facts about me and my background:

- I was born into a Christian family; my Mom was raised Catholic and became a Charismatic mostly-Evangelical, while my Dad has remained Presbyterian most of his life.
- I fall into Jesus Camp's statistics neatly: I first "accepted Jesus into my heart" when I was about 5 years old. Do I think it was a genuine conversion? Honestly, yes. Do I have some sort of empirical justification for this? Not really, but do you have some sort of empirical justification for any belief or behavior held at the age of 5? I didn't think so. However, theologically, I don't really believe in a single conversion moment per se. I don't want to get too technical here, though, so I'll just say that I first converted to some form of Christianity - whether socialized or not - at 5, only to adhere to a more personal form of the faith in high school.
- I attended Christian school from kindergarten through third grade.
- I went to, yes, a Jesus Camp when I was eight years old.
- I experienced all those crazy things you see in Jesus Camp: speaking in tongues, falling down, crying uncontrollably, etc. I earnestly believed in all of it...for a period of time.
- During 11th grade, I entered a second phase of my faith, culminating in a dramatic experience around the time of my grandfather's death.
- In college, I ventured over to the Presbyterians, flirting with Greek Orthodoxy and some other things along the way.
- I study Christian history like it's my job. It sort of is for these four years in college.

Now let's review some other facts about myself:

- I like gay people. Imagine that.
- I don't think George W. Bush is a saint.
- I love The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.
- I love NPR, The Nation, and all kinds of other semi-liberal to liberal media.
- I love the Civic Media Center in Gainesville.
- I love America.
- I hate a great deal of things about America.

Now, don't get me wrong here. I am not, by any means, making this a saccharin, bleeding-heart post to say, "Hey! I turned out okay! Those creepy Christians didn't get to me, I'm a liberal!"

No. Not at all - I shy away from a label of "liberal" or "conservative," though we all know I'm no Sean Hannity. But I am writing to say that I simultaneously believe in liberal political causes, conservative political causes, the absolute sovereignty of God, the infallibility of Scripture, the need to love everyone (yes, even gay people - sorry Turlington preachers!), and a number of other seemingly contradictory things. But hey, don't we all? Who tows the party line in every facet of their lives? And don't we live this way regardless of or even because of how we grew up?

What's my point? Well, for starters, it's that movies like Jesus Camp are a tremendous oversimplification. Turning footage of a Pentecostal church camp in South Dakota into an ominous statement about the future of our children is not exactly five-star work. I could do the same thing with a McDonald's around the corner (oh wait, that's been done too).

Clarity: I do think that Evangelical children's ministry and education contributes to a so-called "army of Republicans," but it'll take a while to convince me that it has a role any greater than rampant materialism, socioeconomic disparity, or, of course, the fact that Republican parents often raise Republican children.

Wait a second, can't we make the same argument about liberal parents? About public education? About secular humanism? About YMCA Day Camp!? For goodness sake, any time you teach children something, you indoctrinate them! Aren't we making value judgments here? Now who's intolerant?

On a more specific level, the film is a huge oversimplification of the sociological elements of religious indoctrination. Which comes first: political leanings, socioeconomic status, or religious belief? If you can answer that in less than six pages and a bibliography (and that's being pretty generous), you're oversimplifying. Jesus Camp focuses on the latter without any mention of the other components of moral or religious development.

Come on, folks, let's get real. If there's anything I've learned from my liberal arts education, it's that life is complicated. History is complicated, religion is complicated, and, for crying out loud, the moral and intellectual development of society is complicated.

All of this reminds me of Dr. Sommerville's book The Decline of the Secular University (shameless plug), as well as some of Dr. Richard Horner's work. What is the centering text here? What frames what? Why is it that democracy can frame religion but not the other way around?

My suggestion: read Sommerville and the classic Habits of the Heart.

Okay, the last thing I'll do is criticize the subject of Jesus Camp - Evangelical Christianity as represented in the film. What's my main criticism? There's absolutely no mention of grace, which is probably the defining characteristic of Christian doctrine in the history of religion. But that's for another post.

My next criticism? Politics, of course. But you already knew that.

Peace,
Sam
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