Hil dee!
Well you know what has been said about opinions...
I'm sure that you also know that everyone's got one...
I would suggest you read the book titled "The Sorcerer's Stone" or any other legitimate readings that will document the historical significance of Leibniz's (correct spelling) place in the history of philosophy & mathematics... You'll eventually find out that he was no "pretender" at all...
As far as your interest in forming an effective lobbying effort in the Capitol is concerned, I agree with you and I believe there has been an ongoing attempt to do as you propose.
Forgive me for not being able to recall the gentleman's name but, If I remember correctly - this person was the previous head of the Hobart Institute of Welding Technology. Although I have'nt heard much of his efforts lately, I believe he was lobbying to raise the status of welders, fabricators involved in welding from being classified as "blue collar" workers to "gold collar" workers.
I think that the AWS "missed the boat" on this one...
Nonetheless, it was a valiant attempt unlike the present administration's attempt to reclassify certain workers in the service sector as part of the manufacturing sector in our economy!!! "Ishcabibble" I say to that maneuver!!!
Okay, so some of them (the ploiticians otherwise known as our reprehensitives) will not read our mail partly because of anthrax...
However, If we flood them with enough e-mail expressing not only our concerns but also our idea's, sooner or later they'll have to pay attention to us!!! If they choose not to, then we vote them out!!!
Lou Dobb's is one program I rarely miss and his relentlesss pursuit to inform the public about a variety of issues is admirable to say the least!!!
Outsourcing is something we all ought to be not only concerned about it, we also have to pressure our representatives (I agree that some of them are good ones) as they would like to be called - to take action on this issue ASAP before the government and any of the affiliated institutions themselves becomes victims of outsourcing!!! What's next? Here's a scenario that might lead us to take notice: The entire AWS staff has been laid off with the exception of the executives in order to run the organization more "efficiently" and at less cost - is the explanation for this sudden change in the organization.
The staff has been replaced via outsourcing the staff and all of the committees to another country!!! I wonder how the members would react to this??? Scary is'nt it??? Our most private personal informationis also being outsourced as I write about this issue!! Talk about scary!!! This is precisely why we must act on this issue by lobbying our elected representatives to make sure that this scenario NEVER happens and the same goes for any of our institutions that maintain our leadership in a variety of technologies in this world today... The AWS does lobby congress for our interests but, it's up to us as members to define what our interests really are in order to persuade the executive committee what we need to address as legitimate issues!!! "The only thing we have to fear - is fear itself" is a revealing message and too many of us fail to understand what this message really means or the context for which it was applied... We must overcome our fear of not being able to make a difference by expressing our dissent in the actions our governments or their corporate benefactors exercise on an almost daily basis by using our power to vote them out if necessary!!!
Hypocracy goes hand in hand with denial (No - it's not a river in Egypt)... Once one becomes a hypocrit, they end up denying it until the day they die when some of them admit their denial!!! The whiskey rebellion is an example of the hypocritical reaction our then newly formed government showed to the world as was the brutal occupation and eventual theft of the lands once belonging to the original indigenous inhabitants, not to mention the almost complete genocide of that race! The Americans Indians! Now they're laughing all the way to the bank!!!
The Spaniards committed almost identical autrocities shortly after their arrival also!!! I'm not going to get into slavery because it has manifested into more sophisticated forms to this very day!!!
These are some of the dark moments in human history that must not be repeated by admitting our shortcomings and our collective commitment not to make the same mistakes...
What do you think the American Revolution was? An armed revolt!!! The difference was that it was successful!!! I too am not saying that this is the only way to seek change or to get the attention of our leaders -ohhh nooo!!!
Our collective power to vote is our only legitimate weapon in the ongoing battles to change our situations for the better!!!
Beware of false prophets!!!
Steel prices are getting higher as are gas prices folks because our
administration and their corporate benefactors are nervous about losing this election so they gouge prices to get what they can before they lose control!!! Plain and simple! One does'nt need to know calculus to figure this one out... Welding, fabricating and metalworking is my form of stress relief so, I think I'll go weld some more!!!
Respectfully,
SSBN727 Run silent... Run Deep!!!