JOYENGINE: cause sharing is cool

At designforobama.org you can download and print a 9 page PDF of the “Abraham Obama” image by Ron English. Put the 9 pages together and you have a 25.5” x 33” poster. Pretty awesome. Other artist posters are also available for download.

Purple politics is out the window until November, it’s blue or red, Democrat or Republican, Obama or McCain. I don’t like it this way, but if you have to choose a side, let’s look at the facts.

On March 9th, 1832 in New Salem, Illinois Abraham Lincoln said, “Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people can be engaged in.” He was only 23 and beginning his political career as he campaigned against 13 other candidates for a seat in the Illinois General Assembly. Later, Lincoln would become one of the most revered presidents of this great country. A man of faith and a man of education, Lincoln as well as other presidents and leaders have proven education is required to lead a country, evidence that resides with monuments and named institutions decades after their service to this nation. To lend empirical evidence to this argument of the importance of education, let us look at educated U.S. cities and their history of political participation in elections. I am going to match up Forbes Magazine’s smartest cities (Dec ‘06) with voting results from the 2004 presidential race.

Number one on Forbes list is Boulder, CO. With a population of over 282,200, 52.9% of the citizens hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. The crime rate is low, there is an award winning state run university, and according to CNN Money, the median family income is $76,043, one of the highest in the country.  So let us look at how the county of Boulder voted in the last presidential election: Bush received 49,534 votes as Kerry received 101,990 votes. The Democratic Party’s nominee received more than double that of the Republican Party’s candidate. Seems like Boulder knows how to elect local government officials successfully, so I would closely look at their voting history on national issues.

Moving beyond Boulder and Colorado and examine some other U.S. cities. Another city on Forbes top ten is Ann Arbor, in Washtenaw County in the state of Michigan. Another place with a government funded institution and highly educated population. The voting results for the 2004 Presidential election saw 61, 425 votes for Bush and 109,872 votes for Kerry. Again, a smart city and overwhelming support for the Democratic Party’s candidate.

How about Bethesda in Montgomery County in Maryland. Bush received 123,472 votes and Kerry received 244,211 votes. Bethesda is second on Forbes list of smartest American cities. San Francisco saw Bush receive 41,157 votes and Kerry 222,013. That’s a landslide. They also have landslides there due to rains from global warming, not recognized by the Republican Party. But, what about the small town folks, the simple citizens of this country. Bridgeport in Connecticut gave Bush 10,326 votes and Kerry 26,280. Again, more than double the support for the Democratic nominee from a small New England town.

So, let us put a simple equation together, one that requires only common sense. There is not much controversy over these cities being the smartest cities (defined by the number of degrees). The voting records for the counties holding these cities are publicly accessible. So, if smart people make up smart towns and cities, and the success of their local governments, economies, and institutions reflect their voting records - I would put a lot of credibility in the national voting record. Need a side? Go Democrat, it is educated.

I photographed Sam Donaldson during the day at Obama’s DNC acceptance speech at Mile High stadium…and this is what he was doing.

Last night I got a sneak peak of the Obama-inspired wall murals in progress by Sam Flores, David Choe, and The Date Farmers for the Manifest Hope Gallery (unfortunately no photos were allowed). Make sure to take some time out of your day and check the pieces out-it will be well worth your time!

The Manifest Hope Gallery will be open Monday August 25th thru Thursday, August 28th between the hours of 10:00 am - 5:00 pm.

2990 Larimer St
Denver, CO 80205

One of these things is not like the other, one of these doesn’t belong - Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Barack Obama. However, according to McCain, they are all the same. This video from McCain (out for about a week), has to be the feeblest attack on Obama, imaginable. Check out the video and the just released rebuttal from Paris Hilton.

Bidding has just closed on Shepard Fairey’s 1 of 3 mixed media stencil collage on cotton rag paper of OBAMA HOPE, 2008. The winning bid is $108,000.00. I guess this goes to show that both Shepard Fairey and Barack Obama continue to gain popularity!

More OBAMA inpired creativity.

Under The United States Code, Title 18, Part I, Chapter XIV, Section 879:

(a) Whoever knowingly and willfully threatens to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm upon—
(1) a former President or a member of the immediate family of a former President;
(2) a member of the immediate family of the President, the President-elect, the Vice President, or the Vice President-elect;
(3) a major candidate for the office of President or Vice President, or a member of the immediate family of such candidate; or
(4) a person protected by the Secret Service under section 3056 (a)(6);
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.

(b) As used in this section—
(1) the term “immediate family” means—
(A) with respect to subsection (a)(1) of this section, the wife of a former President during his lifetime, the widow of a former President until her death or remarriage, and minor children of a former President until they reach sixteen years of age; and
(B) with respect to subsection (a)(2) and (a)(3) of this section, a person to whom the President, President-elect, Vice President, Vice President-elect, or major candidate for the office of President or Vice President—
(i) is related by blood, marriage, or adoption; or
(ii) stands in loco parentis;
(2) the term “major candidate for the office of President or Vice President” means a candidate referred to in subsection (a)(7) of section 3056 of this title; and
(3) the terms “President-elect” and “Vice President-elect” have the meanings given those terms in section 871 (b) of this title.

CALL FOX NEWS AT 1-888-369-4762 select the leave a comment option and tell Fox how you feel about Liz Trotta “joking” about assassinating Osama Bin Laden and Barack Obama and laughing while she said “both, if we could.”

Or, Call Liz Trotta direct: 212-734-7543 (Our guess is this number won’t work for long)

In an ongoing effort to secure Democratic hopeful Barack Obama’s presidential bid, The 008 and Upper Playground have collaborated with Brooklyn-based Morning Breath to create a new limited screenprint of the duo’s portrait of Obama. The Morning Breath poster is part of an ongoing series of artist collaborations in support of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

The Date Farmers, an amazing duo of artists and sons of date farmers, have produced a limited-edition set of 300 campaign posters, to be sold via Upper Playground in support of Barack Obama. All proceeds from the sales of the Date Farmers’ Obama 2008 screen print will go directly to creating more campaign posters that will be distributed throughout Texas. The hand made, limited-edition, signed and numbered campaign posters go on-sale Thursday, February 20th, 2008.

“On March 4th, 2008, Barack Obama has the chance to secure the Democratic Party nomination for President by winning the delegates in both Texas and Ohio. We at Upper Playground are pleased to announce our support of Barack Obama in 2008. For too long we have been plagued by mediocrity and incompetence at the Executive level. As an international company, we feel that it is time to support a candidate that truly embodies the American spirit in both his campaign and his ideologies. We believe that Barack Obama is that candidate. ” - Upper Playground

We’re with UP on this one!