Hillary Lipko: Frustrated Bunny

I have been trying to put this into words for so long, I think I might want to kiss this guy for formulating a statement I couldn’t. In his post about Congress’ healthcare “time-out,” Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com said:

“I don’t think the media has a liberal bias or a conservative bias so much as it has a bias toward overreacting to short-term trends and a tendency toward groupthink.”

That’s pretty much the long and short of it. Except for maybe Fox News. They’re just shameless.

In 2006, the Office of Policy Analysis and Research (OPAR), a small department within the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), piloted a conference that brought together researchers, businesspeople and legislators to discuss a handful of issues in the domain of science and technology that was of interest and consequence to the state of Georgia. I was among the small group of interns in OPAR that helped launch this event. The format has essentially remained the same: five or six state legislators, typically associated with Assembly leadership or S&T committees, sit on a panel moderated by a notable research professional from within the Georgia Tech community. OPAR sets the agenda via a handful of policy briefs that provide the framework for the topics discussed by the panel.

Each year, the event has been fine-tuned; repeat panel members seem to have become more comfortable with the format, as have repeat attendees, resulting in a much more interactive (and much more interesting) experience. New to the mini-conference this year, a number of companies with products, services and ideas within the areas of discussion were invited to set up exhibits. The combination of these elements resulted in what I think is the best roundtable event that OPAR has done yet.

This year’s panel was moderated by Dr. Mark Allen, Senior Vice Provost for Research and Innovation at Georgia Tech. The panelists, all members of the Georgia General Assembly, included Sen. Cecil Staton, chairman of the Senate Science & Technology committee; Rep. Amos Amerson, chairman of the House Science & Technology committee (a committee I used to work for, might I add); Rep. Hardie Davis; Rep. Kevin Levitas and Rep. Jimmy Pruett. This year’s discussion topics included the use of virtual worlds (like Second Life) in education, particularly as how it relates to increasing and maintaining interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); state-level legislative analyses of community wireless, innovation and biotechnology; and renewable energy portfolio standards. Many of the topics flowed well into others, which helped the discussion move naturally. Dr. Allen did an excellent job in facilitating this and keeping all of the panelists as well as members of the audience involved in the discussion. (more…)

Some days I don’t have anything substantial to talk about. Ok, most days. But I still find things that are interesting. I usually share them on Twitter (and my latest tweet is always on the left side of the page), but Twitter moves fast. So today, I bring you two links that are merely coincidentally related.

The Return of Clinton Futurism?

The last time the Democrats controlled the White House and both houses of Congress, Gillian Anderson wore pants. There were two Star Trek series at once, which promoted women and minorities and looked at the dark side of the Federation. Cyberpunk reigned supreme. The future was a shiny place — but with dread lurking just beneath its polish. Now that the Democrats have finally scored another grand slam, are we going to see the return of sunny-but-questioning science fiction?

Obama Positioned to Reverse Bush Actions

Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team.

To provide just some brief commentary, both of these notions excite me. To be honest, I’d love to see another Star Trek series, myself–perhaps the upcoming film will breathe some new life into a franchise that has been flailing about since the cancellation of Enterprise. However, I suppose that’s neither here nor there when it comes to the bigger picture of truly thoughtful and intellectual science fiction that is still wildly popular and entertaining, something that there’s been a sore lack of “new blood” in these past several years.

I am equally, if not more excited over the prospect of an administration that values scientific opinion again. I have never much cared for anti-intellectualism, particularly among those who are supposed to be our leaders. I am also delighted that the incoming Obama administration seems to have a better grasp of the executive’s Consitutional powers. President-elect Obama is a Constitutional scholar, after all, which gives me great hope (if you’ll pardon the expression) that the highest law of our land will again be viewed as the foundation of our leaders’ goals rather than as a hinderence to them.

So I just signed up for The Forum at CNN.com, made my badge, and realized that “leaning left” and “leaning right” have more to do with the respective parties’ positions rather than their traditional meanings. On Homeland Security, it seems that this disconnect was the most stark: I am shown as “leaning left,” when my reasoning behind opposing the PATRIOT Act, a border fence and warrantless wiretapping stems from strong beliefs in civil libertarianism (with a small ‘L,’ not to be confused with the Libertarian Party) and fiscal conservatism. The disconnect is also pretty strong on the issue of the economy, as I oppose the Bush tax cuts on the grounds that they are fiscally irresponsible given the government’s expenditures.

I am a registered independent much for these reasons–I was raised in a very Republican family, but the Republican Party no longer holds the positions of traditional conservatism in government that I was raised to respect. The Democratic Party now seems to take the positions that uphold many traditionally conservative ideals, however I still disagree with the Democrats on some of the philosophy upon which some of those positions are based. This is just a matter of a difference of means to achieve the same end, though, hence why I can support Obama, not just as a ‘lesser of two evils,’ but as someone who has a long-term vision for America that is actually in line with my values.

Obama speaks at Georgia Tech, April 2007

This is our moment; this is our time.

I’m excited. His victory speech was very moving and very gracious. Can’t say so much for Hillary Clinton’s speech, which all but sealed my suspicions of her narcissistic personality disorder.

But back to Obama…I’m pretty sure that this is the first time that any speech, let alone a politician’s speech, has nearly moved me to tears. Or maybe I was just so happy to be able to open my bottle of champagne, which was waiting for him to acknowledge his victory.

So yeah…on to Denver, and then…the White House!

(The picture at the right was taken by me at an Obama campaign rally in Atlanta in April 2007.)