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During this evening’s Presidential debate in Nashville, I sat in front of my television twittering away. For me these debates are like sporting events. I get excited and cheer their answers, or make fun of them. It’s a good time. But tonight was even better because of the suggestion by Andy Carvin of NPR that we “dialtest” the debate using Twitter, and the support of a new website called Plodt which draws graphs based on Twitter messages. The result of this experiment was this graph:

This was a lot of fun, and I will definitely participate in the next stage of this experiment.

Via a website that is using one of my (CC licensed) photos of the Santa Cruz highlands in the Galapagos Islands, a blog called My Bella Vita, I found out about the TripAdvisor Causes contest. The idea is that TripAdvisor is collecting votes for various causes such as Conservation International, National Geographic, and Doctors Without Borders, and whichever organization wins the most votes will be given a $1 million grant. I voted for the Nature Conservancy myself, but these are all wonderful causes and I would encourage you to vote for whichever one you prefer.

As we enter the final month of the 2008 Presidential campaign, please help me raise money for Barack Obama.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/main/bensons

Obama represents a change of course, away from the path to fascism that the Republicans under the Bush administration have steered us onto. As one whom loves the US and the founding ideals of this nation, I believe that the Republican party must lose, must be punished. Obama’s messages of Hope and Change are a stark contrast to the current environment of Fear, and that is something our great nation needs to embrace again in order to remain a beacon of freedom. Further, Obama stands for responsible regulation while at the same time embracing diversity, civil rights and personal freedom. His focus is on helping the people of the US rather than fighting the rest of the world. I may not agree with all of his positions, and sometimes I wish he would take a stronger stance on important politically-sensitive issues. But fundamentally Obama’s focus on the people is evidence of an evolved mindset, not one stuck in humanity’s primordial past. That is a mind that I can trust.

Senator McCain has recently called for his first debate with Senator Obama to be canceled. (To debate, or not to debate, that is the question)

Wisely, Senator Obama has rejected McCain’s suggestion. (Barack Obama says the show must go on)

The President of the US must be able to multitask several important issues and events. And the people need to see and hear from their leaders during critical times. Canceling the debate to deal with political and economic issues, however important they may be, indicates an inability to serve as President.

Please demand that the debate go on; sign the petition at http://www.demandthedebate2008.com/