Most super delegates have a very difficult choice to make. Some will base it on issues, others on charisma, yet others on deep and complex considerations involving constituents, politics and electability.

But not California lawyer and Democratic Party super delegate Steven Ybarra. No, his deep contemplation begins and ends with one thing: cash.

In preparation for an increased effort to support our troops (more on that soon), I am enlisting the help of a small army of my own: the kids in our neighborhood, led by their drill sergeant, my daughter. Their mission: to draw five hundred pictures for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their chances of failure?

That depends upon you...

Yesterday I posted a diary for a contest to put a caption on a Ceiling Cat cartoon for my teaching philosophy. ("My head hurts!" does not work, as jlms_qkw pointed out, since we all know Ceiling Cat is "infallible, omnipotent, omniscient, etc.")

Originally I was going to just select the entry in the comments with the most recs. But that seems to give preference to the earliest submissions, just because of how people visit diaries. SO...I have decided to put the top entries in a poll and let people vote...

Here is the cartoon:

Note that in the final cartoon, the "bubble" will be replaced by the normal way for Ceiling Cat to talk (the big block lettering at the top and at the bottom).

After doing mathematics and science now for close to twenty years, I recently decided to switch gears, and begin preparing the next generation of mathematicians and scientists. So about a month ago I applied for a mathematics teaching position at two private high schools. After interviewing at the first one, the department chairman asked me for a copy of my teaching philosophy. Since I have taught before, I had one, but it was really targeted to university students, and was not specific to mathematics (because I have taught in several fields). So this weekend, I sat down and wrote a teaching philosophy oriented to high school mathematics, one I plan on handing out and discussing with my students on the first day of each course. To end on a light note, I wanted to include a mathematics cartoon on the second page. So I looked around for a copyright-free mathematics cartoon, but was unable to find one I liked. So I made my own...and now I need a little help with it...

Follow me below the fold to give me a hand!

In this area of central Connecticut, the cities feel like small towns. I live in  Plainville, Connecticut, a city of 17,000 surrounded on all sides by larger cities that still pale in comparison to Connecticut's larger cities: Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Stamford, Waterbury and Danbury. To the south lies Southington, population 42,000; to the west, Bristol, population 61,000; to the north, Farmington, population 25,000; to the east, New Britain, population 71,000; and to the northeast, north of New Britain and east of Farminton lies West Hartford, a suburb of Hartford, with a population of 61,000. In many ways, these cities are exactly that--cities--but those of us living here know better.

These are small towns. These are small towns in Connecticut.

And we were reminded of this fact again on March 8th.

IMAGINARY TEXAS LOGO HERE

Please post comments on this diary instead of Rieux's Texas Caucus Open Thread Mothership, so people on dialup can more easily follow the results and post comments.

Do not rec this diary, rec Rieux's Texas Caucus Open Thread Mothership so it will stay on the rec list.

Several times a week I see a new IGTNT diary on the Recommended Diaries list, and I follow the link to read one, or two, or sometimes many more, heart-wrenching stories of more American soldiers whose lives were cut short in Iraq. But each time, before reading all of the memorials to our latest fallen heroes, I first scan the list quickly to see if today will be the day that my fellow Nutmeggers and I will read the terrible news that Connecticut has lost it's thirtieth son, daughter, father, mother, brother, sister or, sometimes, friend.

More below the fold...

My three brothers and I were raised in rural northern California, about an hour north of San Francisco, on six acres of redwoods and--surprisingly--surrounded by both right-wing conservatives and left-wing liberals. Most of the time, we didn't know if we wanted to smoke dope with our hippie neighbors to the north, shoot at our hippie neighbors to the north from the back porch of our conservative neighbors' house to the west, or take refuge from the political chaos with our neighbors to the south.

Our small town was also torn between conservatives and liberals, as well as those who just tried to keep their heads down and stay out of it. A perfect example was when liberals introduced alternative education into the grade school curriculum; immediately, conservatives responded by introducing a 3-Rs curriculum. Of course, the original curriculum was soon squeezed out, leaving nothing but a highly polarized grade school with teachers and curricula competing for their shares of the pie. My parents tried to keep our family out of the academic tug of war--especially after mailboxes began getting smashed and living room windows began getting shot out--and were probably only successful because my youngest brother graduated before the war got to the point of forcing us to choose sides.

More after the fold...

Given that healthcare is one of the biggest issues in the upcoming election, surely there must be a large number of DailyKos members interested in discussing this issue in depth and on a regular basis.

I would like to propose a weekly Healthcare Diary Rescue, similar to the Eco-Diary Rescue every Tuesday night. I do not know which of our fantastic DailyKos regular authors is most interested in healthcare, but given the interest in healthcare, I'd be willing to be there are more than a few who would be willing to take on the additional work this proposal entails.

Let's discuss this proposal here in the comments--if we can generate enough interest and recs, perhaps we can make this a regular feature of DailyKos!

PS Don't forget to hit the rec button as well IF you are so inclined.

We all remember the "Texas Miracle" that President George W. Bush touted as the future of education in the United States: simply put, testing plus accountability equals drastically decreased dropout rates and drastically improved achievement. We also remember that the pilot program's success was due in large part to Rod Paige's leadership of the Houston Independent School District, which was adapted to school districts all over Texas, and held up as a model for the national No Child Left Behind Act. Everyone was most impressed by the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test results demonstrating significant, overnight increases in achievement and reductions in the achievement gaps between whites and students of color. Even more dramatic was the decline in dropout rates, which were quickly reduced to close to zero percent. Surely the real problem in American education was the lack of accountability: hold districts, schools, administrators and teachers responsible, and all our achievement problems will vanish.

It was not necessary to consider this:

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

More below the fold...

The expected finally happened: today, the 1.9 million strong Service Employees International Union endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President. According to the AP, union president Andy Stern said,

There has never been a fight in Illinois or a fight in the nation where our members have not asked Barack Obama for assistance and he has not done everything he could to help us.

Stern also said,

Our members and leaders really feel that America needs profound change and something that engages the next generation.

This endorsement follows by one day the endorsement of Senator Obama by the 1.3 million members of the United Food and Commercial Workers union.

With the retirement this year of Ralph Regula the Ohio's 16th Congressional District seat is wide open for John Boccieri to step in. Considering that the last time a Democrat held this seat was January of 1951, Boccieri may have a steep hill to climb in this R+3 district. Running against him are three Republicans--Matt Miller, Paul Schiffer and Kirk Schuring--and another Democrat, Mary Cirelli. A summary of the five candidates' positions can be found here.

For more about this race and others, see my diary Retiring Republicans.

This is a list of House seats that are open due to retirement, promotion or death, or else due to an incumbent losing a primary challenge. For each I am tracking the Democrats who have stepped up to take the seats, as well as links to their FEC filings and ActBlue contribution page.

This is my first diary, and I hope to keep updating it as additional candidates and information come along. If you have any suggestions or additional information, please pass them along and I'll update it.