March for Science playlist

Several people asked me about the music we played before the speeches at the March for Science; please enjoy this Spotify playlist with over two hours of sciency music.  (I was sad we didn't get to "Still Alive", personally.)

March for Science Speeches: Dr. Duncan Buell

We are here to celebrate science, to support science, to support the support of scientific endeavors, and to support the use of science, its facts and its conclusions, and its truth (however inconvenient) in the making of public policy.

My expertise is in computation and mathematical analysis and in deducing conclusions from data. I will leave the bench science to those better qualified to speak about that, and will speak about what I know: how to take data and turn it into information that makes sense, how to manage that information, and how to communicate it to those who want it and need it.

The young men and women who come to my classrooms have never known a world without the internet, and yet this is actually a very new thing. The person who sent the first electronic message over a computer network anywhere on this planet is still alive and an active scholar. The former senator and vice president who sponsored the legislation that would give all Americans access to what is now the internet is still writing and speaking. The physicist who invented the world-wide web is younger than I am.

We have always needed good information for our safety and security. We didn’t use to be able to predict the paths of hurricanes and storms with anything like the accuracy we have today, and one of the milestone moments in computing history was the day in the early 1980s when it was possible to simulate 24 hours of weather in the US in less than 24 hours of compute time. Until that day, the best way to predict tomorrow’s weather was to wait until tomorrow to see what happened.

More than ever, we are relying on information for everything, and we are relying on information that is stored digitally.

What this means is that we are relying on the security and privacy of that information about us.

Without support for research in cybersecurity, our income tax databases in South Carolina might well be downloaded to Ukraine.

Oh, sorry, that already happened.

Without support for research in cybersecurity, the federal databases of personal information of people with security clearances, who have access to sensitive and classified information, might get downloaded to a hostile nation intent on doing us harm.

Oh, sorry, that already happened.

Without support for research in cybersecurity, our banking and credit card information might be downloaded for use by criminals, and we would all be targets for identity theft.

Oh, sorry, that already happened.

Some information, like where an aircraft carrier task force is, is impossible to keep secret, but there is other information that we as individuals and that we as a nation need to keep to ourselves.

In my world, it all comes down to information: getting the data, turning the data into information, and making sense of that information.

For that we need science, and we need support for science.

And when the conclusions of science are clear, we need to have public policy based on those conclusions and not on fantasy.

We should not be fudging the conclusions when we talk about coastal habitat change and erosion in the swamps of Louisiana or the low country of South Carolina, or melting of the polar ice caps, or the spread of disease in the annual flu season.

Data can be difficult to deal with. Truth can be inconvenient.

 But making policy based on pure fantasy is like blindfolding the batter and sending her out of the dugout to find home plate by random chance, to know to face the pitcher, and to swing at an unseen pitch.

Taking the blindfold off doesn’t guarantee a hit.

Leaving the blindfold on virtually guarantees failure.

Dr. Duncan Buell is NCR Chair and professor at the University of South Carolina, College of Engineering & Computing. Buell received a Ph.D. degree in 1976 in mathematics from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He was an assistant and associate professor in the Department of Computer Science at Louisiana State University. From 1986 to 2000 he worked on high-performance computing and computational mathematics at the Institute for Defense Analyses in support of the National Security Agency. In 1997 he was part of a team that received a Meritorious Unit Citation from Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet for a stunning achievement that required the largest single computation ever made in the U.S. intelligence community.  He joined the University of South Carolina in October 2000 as a professor and served nine years as chair of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.  He has research interests in electronic voting, digital humanities, and computer science education.

Thanks for marching with us!

The March for Science South Carolina was a great success.  We had about a thousand attendees on a Saturday with many conflicting events who suffered through the heat to stand up for science!  We'll be posting photos and speeches here over the next week or so, so check back regularly!

Photos from the March for Science satellite event at the S.C. State House.
Posted by Greater Columbia Action Together on Monday, April 24, 2017

Action Items: Week of April 13

1.  WHAT WAS THAT?!

Call all your congressmen and tell them that you never want to see another push notice on your phone that oh by the way we just dropped the biggest non-nuclear bomb we have on Afghanistan.

Senator Lindsey Graham
DC Office: (202) 224-5972
Midlands Office: (803) 933-0112

Senator Tim Scott
DC Office: (202) 224-6121
Midlands Office: (803) 771-6112

Representative James Clyburn (6th District)
DC Office: (202)225-3315
Midlands Office: (803)799-1100

Representative Joe Wilson (2nd District)
DC Office (202) 225-2452
Midlands Office: (803) 939-0041

"I'm ______ and I'm _______'s constituent from ________.  I'm calling to let him know that I was horrified to read that the United States dropped our largest non-nuclear bomb on Afghanistan.  How many innocent people were killed or injured by this weapon?  How many new enemies of America did we make today?  This response is disproportionate, designed to terrorize a population, and unacceptable to me and many other Americans."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/moab-gbu-43b-mother-of-all-bombs-price-weight-blast-radius-afghanistan-isis-a7683101.html

2.  State House firearms safety bills

There are two bills coming up in the state Senate that relate to firearms purchases.  S449 is the Senate version of the permitless carry bill that passed the House as H3930.  It's going to the Senate Judiciary Committee next week.  Call the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee as well as your own state senator (scstatehouse.gov, the link to find your senator is in the lower left corner) to tell them you are strongly opposed to this legislation.

Gerald Malloy 803.212.6172
Katrina Shealy 803.212.6320
Rex Rice 803.212.6100
Mike Fanning 803. 212.6024
Sandy Senn 803.212.6172

"Hi, I'm ______ from _____ and I'm calling because I am strongly opposed to S449, the permitless carry bill.  I am deeply afraid of the consequences of this bill; I would feel much less safe in South Carolina knowing that untrained people could carry firearms openly or concealed in public.  Law enforcement officers agree that this is bad for public safety; I urge you to vote against it."

Please also consider going in person to oppose this bill.  Fill the room April 18 at 3:30 PM in room 308 of the Gressette Building.

https://www.facebook.com/events/112069166012051/?acontext=%7B%22ref%22%3A%224%22%2C%22feed_story_type%22%3A%22308%22%2C%22action_history%22%3A%22null%22%7D
http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess122_2017-2018/bills/449.htm

S159 is the Senate bill to close the "Charleston loophole".  It would extend the waiting period for firearms purchase while improvements in the process are made,  speed up the time given to court officials to record criminal information in the background check database, and create a panel to work to help improve the database.  This bill does have bipartisan support, but we want to make sure it passes.  Call your state senators (scstatehouse.gov) and demand they vote for this bill.

"Hi, I'm _______, Senator _____'s constituent from ______, and I'm calling to urge the senator to vote for S159 which would close the Charleston loophole.  If background checks are used to screen firearms buyers they need to be fast, effective, and comprehensive."

Please also consider supporting this bill in person on April 20.

http://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article137170068.html
http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess122_2017-2018/bills/159.htm

3.  Tax Day rallies

There are several events this Saturday, April 15.

Our Revolution is holding a rally supporting our taxes going to fund universal healthcare across the street from Joe Wilson's office.

Time: 1:3 PM
Location: 1700 Sunset Blvd, West Columbia, SC 29169

https://www.facebook.com/events/2246207002271773/?acontext=%7B%22source%22%3A4%2C%22action_history%22%3A%22null%22%7D&source=4&action_history=null

There is a Tax March at the State House demanding Trump's tax returns.

Time: 2-5 PM
Location: 1100 Gervais St, Columbia, South Carolina 29201

https://www.facebook.com/events/635806333276120/?active_tab=about

There is also a Tax March in Myrtle Beach demanding Trump's tax returns.

Time: 2-5 PM
Location: Valor Park
509 Farrow Parkway, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 29577

https://www.facebook.com/events/1034262193346076/?acontext=%7B%22action_history%22%3A[%7B%22surface%22%3A%22dashboard%22%2C%22mechanism%22%3A%22calendar_tab%22%7D]%7D

March for Science

Greater Columbia Action Together is proud to be your host for the Columbia March for Science!  Watch the March for Science tab  at the top of the page for updates.  We have a great slate of speakers prepared for you and can't wait to see you come out strong for evidence based reasoning on April 22 at 11 AM at the South Carolina State House.

We are still in need of donations for sound system and equipment rental.  Please consider giving to our GoFundMe here.

Our Zazzle store now has some snazzy March for Science shirts! Get one for yourself, for your kids, for all of your gift giving needs!

Action Items: Week of April 3

1.  Call your state reps about "constitutional carry".

H 3930 would allow South Carolinans who are legally allowed to purchase firearms to carry them concealed or openly without a concealed carry permit.  This "Constitutional carry" bill will be debated Tuesday, and debate will be limited to two hours because of a Republican cloture vote.  Call your state representatives and ask that they vote against this bill.  You can look them up at scstatehouse.gov (at the lower left corner of the page).

"Hi, I'm ______ and I'm Representative ________'s constituent from _______.  I'm calling to oppose H 3930.  I feel that gun owners need to have training to safely and appropriately carry concealed weapons in public, and I object to open carry in general.  Please vote against this bill for my safety and the safety of my family."

http://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article142135294.html

http://www.scstatehouse.gov/query.php?search=DOC&searchtext=3930&category=LEGISLATION&session=122&conid=8486372&result_pos=0&keyval=1223930&numrows=10

2.  Keep up with Amy Siskind's Authoritarian List

If you're not following Amy Siskind's enormously focused work in documenting things that are not normal, you should be.  This week in particular has a lot of items that were underreported.  (I, for example, completely missed the removal of LGBT people from the upcoming census.)  Read it, and then go back and read previous lists for things you've already forgotten about; so many things have already become normalized.

https://medium.com/@Amy_Siskind/week-20-experts-in-authoritarianism-advise-to-keep-a-list-of-things-subtly-changing-around-you-so-d73e7ecbb05b

She also posts these lists on Facebook, if that's easier to keep up with.

3.  South Sudan is officially experiencing famine

This story has been relatively under-reported.  Actually, Sudan, Yemen, Nigeria, and Somalia are all facing famine now.  "Famine has a very specific definition. It must meet three criteria before it can be declared: four out of every 10,000 children die each day, one in five families do not have enough food to meet basic human nutrition requirements, and one in three people are acutely malnourished to the point that they are too weak to go to school or work."  The human cost here is immeasurable.  Please consider donating:

International Rescue Committee: https://www.rescue.org/country/south-sudan

Oxfam: https://www.oxfam.org/en/countries/south-sudan

UNICEF: https://www.unicef.org/southsudan/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/ian-wishart/south-sudan-is-officially-in-famine-this-is-what-that-means/

4.  Call your senators to oppose the nuclear option for SCOTUS hearings

There is concern that Republicans in the Senate could call for the "nuclear option", which would kill the filibuster in the Senate and allow confirmation of Gorsuch with a simple majority.  Call your senators and demand they refrain from doing this.  I took and edited down this script from Indivisible:

Senator Lindsey Graham
DC Office: (202) 224-5972
Midlands Office: (803) 933-0112

Senator Tim Scott
DC Office: (202) 224-6121
Midlands Office: (803) 771-6112

"Hi, I'm ______ and I'm a constituent of Senator _______'s from ______.  I'm calling to ask the Senator to publicly pledge that Judge Gorsuch will only be confirmed to the Supreme Court if he receives a filibuster-proof majority (60 votes) in the full Senate.  Please let the Senator know that I expect him to uphold the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees. In the history of our country, every single justice to sit on the Supreme Court has received the approval of a filibuster-proof majority. This is a vital check-and-balance in our democracy, and an important function of the United States Senate. Supreme Court Justices enjoy lifetime terms, and they should not be selected on the temporary whims on on political party or the other."

The Indivisible script is longer and invites more discussion with the staffer on the line; you may want to use that instead.


https://www.indivisibleguide.com/resources-2/2017/2/7/combat-donald-trumps-arch-conservative-scotus-pick