Category Archives: Beth Klein Attorney

As I try to talk and reach out, here is what confronts me so.

I watched with dismay as my friend JP posted so many mean things while she was at the Inauguration.  This is what JP says, and it is challenging to hear:

“A crazy woman from Washington didn’t understand why women could support Trump and I set her straight!”

During the Inauguration JP bragged that Bikers for Trump would lock down DC and using the language of the ALT Right bragged that Chris Cox and his 200,000 strong vigilante crew eat “Snowflakes for Breakfast.”   But she complained about the K Street Protesters and media asserting that their threats of violence was the reason why the Inauguration was not well attended.

“Message to Woman’s Marchers- Give the next generation of women a head-start in equality and understanding, self-respect and strength of character by sending the girls and young women in your life to a single-sexed high school or college that will teach her what you marched about & for today!”

But then she writes:  “today is also the day when hypocrisy must end; when bias must be cast out and when we look for the good in each other.  People who claim they want unity and respect for women and for this country are marching in protest of a man whom millions of women supported.”  She decided that the best way to bring unity was to glare at protesters.

But who was leading 8 years ago.  Remember when President Obama was delivering a nationally televised speech to Congress a mere 8 1/2 months into his first term, and South Carolina representative, Joe Wilson, shouted out “You Lie!” on live television?   Why was that the new norm?

Not long after, when Republicans regained control of Congress, Mitch McConnell (R)(Ky.), specifically stated that “my number one priority is making sure president Obama’s a one-term president.” He actually said that. In the midst of a financial meltdown, skyrocketing oil prices, terrorism in the middle east, and impending global catastrophe from climate change, the Congressional leadership put “intentionally obstructing the president” as the single most important issue for Congress to address. Whether Mr. McConnell was serious or just being glib doesn’t matter – the message was that Republicans had a deep dislike of Barack Obama and would do everything in their power to undermine his authority.

Don’t forget about the “birther” movement that launched Trump’s political career claiming that Obama was not American -that he was actually born in Kenya, and his birth certificate from Hawaii was forged. Or the constant insistence that Obama is actually a Muslim, despite his clear and unambiguous relationship with Christianity. Or the attempt to label him as a “communist,” although many of his policies are more to the right of Eisenhower, including his bail-out for banks, the auto industry, and the pushing through of his signature Trans-Pacific Partnership – all pro-business, right-of-center endeavors. And while occasionally being referred to as a monkey, or ape, or other racially incendiary comparison to lower level primates.

The language cannot help Americans reunite.  I heard these words over the last three days, and I had to look up what they mean.

Beta:  Alpha males are leaders, like Trump; beta males are portrayed as weak and emasculated.

Crybaby, whiny: Anyone who disagrees with them or their preferred candidate, particularly protesters and people who complain that the alt-right is embracing racism and anti-Semitism.

Cuckservative, cuck: The term “cuckservative” originated in the alt-right. It’s a portmanteau of “conservative” and “cuckold” used to describe Republicans who are perceived to be emasculated or “selling out.” Frequently shortened to “cuck,” the term has come under scrutiny for its racist implications.

Human biodiversity: Despite the fact that many say racism is at the heart of its platform, the alt-right is very sensitive about being called racist. They use the term “human biodiversity” as a more scientific-sounding way of referring to issues of race.

Libtard: The alt-right revels in the rejection of “political correctness,” so embracing an outdated term for a person with an intellectual disability (“retard”) serves the purpose of insulting liberals.

Masculinist: A word meant to embody the opposite of feminist, celebrating “manliness” and the traditional “heroic” nature of men. To the alt-right, “masculinist” principles are ones that serve and advocate for men. Critics say they primarily reinforce antiquated gender roles.

Multiculturalism (as a derogatory term): A major component of the alt-right platform is white supremacy and nationalism. “Multiculturalism” is used as a negative term for the blending of multiple cultures, as opposed to celebrating the supposed superiority of Western European culture.

Neoreactionaries: Also known as NRx and the “Dark Enlightenment.” A group of people who call for stripping away anything other than supposedly rational thought, as opposed to a “feelings first” mentality. They advocate for libertarianism, traditional gender roles and neofascism.

Political correctness: Anything that challenges an alt-right person’s right to say whatever they want, whenever they want, in any way they want to say it. According to the alt-right, political correctness is responsible for most of society’s ills, including feminism, Islamic terrorism and overly liberal college campuses.

Snowflake: Short for “special snowflake,” a pejorative for an entitled person. Most people protesting Trump are “snowflakes,” according to the alt-right, as are anti-Trump celebrities and most liberals.

SJW: Short for “social justice warrior,” this insult is mostly reserved for young women who try to argue on behalf of liberal or feminist ideas.

White genocide: What many alt-right members feel is the natural conclusion of liberalism and pro-immigrant policies.

Please reconcile for me why being American demands upon me and people who believe like I do to turn the other cheek?   We have a President who models escalation; how can American resist division?

I do not have the answers.

Not far from my home, the remains of Phillip Dick rest in Riverside Cemetery in Fort Morgan, Colorado, (section K, block 1, lot 56) where they were buried next to his twin sister Jane.  No crowds come to honor him as they do Jim Morrison at Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France. Ironically, Phillip Dick was one of the world’s most influential writers and thinkers who is deserving of our thanks.

I wanted to write an electronic memorial to him. When you read the names of his works, there is nothing else that needs to be added to describe his contribution to literature through battles with suspicion of propaganda and government, loneliness, drug abuse, depression and schizophrenia.

“I’m not much but I’m all I have.”

“My schedule for today lists a six-hour self-accusatory depression.”

“Don’t try to solve serious matters in the middle of the night.”

But, during these days as we watch America being degraded by a president elect, Phillip Dick’s words have even deeper meaning.   In “The Man In The High Castle,” Philip Dick wrote about how people judge competing narratives as true or false in the context of what we already believe is true.

In High Castle, he asks us to imagine a world where Nazi power triumphed in WW2, and a world in which the narrative of history was written by the victor. If we lived in that world, how would we know that the lies spun by a Nazi government were not the truth?  Until we see how stories are used to shape our perceptions and reality, we’re vulnerable to continued manipulation. But once we can think critically about the ways that narratives are constructed, and the various agendas they serve, we can begin to assess objectively our own beliefs.

What is red, what is blue, what is real?

We have now seen how a mass communication disinformation campaign can elevate a Putin Puppet to the highest power in a competing state, and to have millions of supporters simply repeat the mantra.  The context of hatred of a conservative or a liberal view now dominates the common hatred of national threats.

Now, with these manipulations, hating or not listening to a competing political view is more important than working together.  The Machiavellian common enemy which typically binds a nation, has now been turned inward upon the US.  If there is a legacy of the Trump movement, it is simply that.  Trumpism is moving a nation to implode by false narratives that are accepted as reality in the context of the right and wrong of red and blue.

“Today we live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media, by governments, by big corporations, by religious groups, political groups… So I ask, in my writing, What is real? Because unceasingly we are bombarded with pseudo-realities manufactured by very sophisticated people using very sophisticated electronic mechanisms. I do not distrust their motives; I distrust their power. They have a lot of it. And it is an astonishing power: that of creating whole universes, universes of the mind. I ought to know. I do the same thing.”

• Blade Runner
• Total Recall based on the short story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,”
• Confessions d’un Barjo (1992), titled Barjo in its English-language release, a French film based on the non-science-fiction novel Confessions of a Crap Artist.
• Screamers (1995), based on the short story “Second Variety”, directed by Christian Duguay
• Minority Report (2002), based on the short story “The Minority Report”, based on the 1953 story “Impostor,”
• Paycheck (2003), directed by John Woo and starring Ben Affleck, based on Dick’s short story of the same name.
• A Scanner Darkly (2006), directed by Richard Linklater and starring Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, and Robert Downey Jr.
• Next (2007), directed by Lee Tamahori and starring Nicolas Cage, loosely based on the short story “The Golden Man”.
• Radio Free Albemuth (2010), directed by John Alan Simon loosely based on the novel “Radio Free Albemuth”.
• The Adjustment Bureau (2011), directed by George Nolfi and starring Matt Damon, loosely based on the short story “Adjustment Team”.
• The Terminator series prominently features the theme of humanoid assassination machines first portrayed in Second Variety.
• The Man in the High Castle for the BBC, in the form of a mini-series.[51] A pilot episode was released on Amazon Prime in January 2015 and Season 1 was fully released in ten episodes of about 60 minutes each on 20 Nov 2015

Phillip Dick was a twin, and his sister Jane died in childbirth.  Her death influenced his placement of the protagonist in two simultaneous realities themes in many of his works.

He believed that existence is based on internal human perception, which does not necessarily correspond to external reality; he described himself as “an acoustic pantheist.  After studying metaphysical realms, Dick came to the conclusion that the world is not entirely real and there is no way to confirm whether it is truly there.  He constantly asked the question: “What is an authentic human being?”  And themes of mental illness, religious, medical and recreational drug use, and divine experiences permeate his work.

In 1974 he had a mystical experience that helped calm his horror of the world, and he wanted to communicate the structure of the calm to others in Vast Acting & Living Intelligence Systems (VALIS).  He felt that something intervened to heal his mind and give him a sense of beauty of the world amid the insanity.

“Maybe each human being lives in a unique world, a private world different from those inhabited and experienced by all other humans. . . If reality differs from person to person, can we speak of reality singular, or shouldn’t we really be talking about plural realities? And if there are plural realities, are some more true (more real) than others? What about the world of a schizophrenic? Maybe it’s as real as our world. Maybe we cannot say that we are in touch with reality and he is not, but should instead say, His reality is so different from ours that he can’t explain his to us, and we can’t explain ours to him. The problem, then, is that if subjective worlds are experienced too differently, there occurs a breakdown in communication … and there is the real illness.”

Following Orders was impossible for him as he explains in a 1979 interview.

He found that science fiction gave him the means for true expression, but felt that it became silly putty over time without an identity.

How he measured men was based upon acts, not celebrity or wealth.  My favorite quote is:

“The true measure of a man is not his intelligence or how high he rises in this freak establishment. No, the true measure of a man is this: how quickly can he respond to the needs of others and how much of himself he can give.

Shortly before his death Philip offered a list of his own prognostications to be published in the collection Book of Predictions.  Here’s what he predicted courtesy of the PKD Otaku fan zine, issue number 11.  Fill in the blanks yourself about whether any of these modern day quatrains occurred.

1984
The U.S. will perfect a system by which hydrogen, stored in metal hydrides, will serve as a fuel source, eliminating a need for oil.

1985
By or before this date there will be a titanic nuclear accident either in the U.S.S.R. or in the U.S., resulting in shutting down all nuclear power plants.

1986
Such satellites as HEAO-2 will uncover vast, unsuspected high energy phenomenon in the universe, indicating that there is sufficient mass to collapse the universe back when it has reached its expansion limit.

1993
An artificial life form will be created in a lab, probably in the U.S.S.R., thus reducing our interest in locating life forms on other planets.

1995
Computer use by ordinary citizens (already available in 1980) will transform the public from passive viewers of TV into mentally alert, highly trained, information-processing experts.

2010
Using tachyons (particles that move backward in time) as a carrier, the Soviet Union will attempt to alter the past with scientific information.

Now is the time to question the nature of our reality and to stand in principles broader than making the “other” right or wrong.  Thank you  Phillip for cementing these words in story so that perhaps people will create something together rather than invest billions of dollars to destroy capable leaders and ourselves with words and binary codes.

Behold a human powered gym being powered by a spin class in Paris!

A well-conditioned cyclist can produce about 400 watts of mechanical power for an hour or more, but adults of good average fitness average between 50 and 150 watts for an hour of vigorous exercise.

Manoj Bhargava has created a human-powered generator.  The generator, called the Free Electric, that can power a rural household running 24 lights and a fan, while charging a phone, for a day, all from an hour’s work by a single individual.

watts can:

Blender/Food Processor (400 Watts) 1 hour/week
Coffee Maker (894 Watts) one hour/day
Dishwasher (1,200 Watts) one hour/day
Microwave Oven (1,450 W) 30 min./day
Freezer 15 Cu. Ft. (341 W.) 12 hrs/day 124
Refrigerator – 14 Cu. Ft. (440 W.) 12 hrs/day

What is a watt anyway?

Electricity usage is calculated in kilowatt-hours. A kilowatt-hour is 1,000 watts used for one hour. As an example, a 100-watt light bulb operating for ten hours would use one kilowatt-hour.

What is on the cutting edge?

Princeton University engineers have developed a device that may change the way that we power many of our smaller gadgets and devices. By using our natural body movement, they have created a small chip that will actually capture and harness that natural energy to create enough energy to power up things such as a cell phone, pacemaker and many other small devices that are electronic.

The chip is a combination of rubber and ceramic nanoribbons. When the chip is flexed, it generates electrical energy. How will this be put to use? Think of rubber soled shoes that have this chip embedded into them and every time a step is taken, energy is created and stored. Just the normal walking around inside the office during a normal work day would be enough to keep that cell phone powered every day.

This chair knits you a warm hat! Using the energy generated by simply kicking back and relaxing, the “Rocking-Knit” draws yarn from a spool and knits it into a hat right above your head.

A washing machine, a blender, and a socket.  The later is soccer ball by day and a light all night.

The Pavegen tiles were designed for streets, schools, squares where lots of people walk as it transforms kinetic energy of your steps into electricity. The electricity generated can be used for powering up street lamps, to keep advertisement lamp boxes on, and more.

The Kurdish–Turkish conflict is an armed conflict between the Republic of Turkey and various Kurdish insurgent groups that want a separate Kurdish nation or greater rights for Kurds in Turkey.  The main rebel group is the Kurdistan Workers’ Party or PKK (Kurdish: Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan).    The insurgency is mainly in southeastern Turkey and the Kurdish region in Iraq.   What follows is a very simplistic summary of the conflict.

The conflict between the Turks and the Kurds began in 1984.  Former French ambassador to Turkey Eric Rousseau estimated in addition to the 35,000 people killed in military campaigns, 17,500 were assassinated between 1984, when the conflict began, and 1998. An additional 1,000 people were reportedly assassinated in the first nine months of 1999. According to the Turkish press, the authors of these crimes, none of whom have been arrested, belong to groups of mercenaries working either directly or indirectly for the security agencies.

Since the 1970s, the European Court of Human Rights has condemned Turkey for the thousands of human rights abuses against Kurdish people.  The judgments are related to systematic executions of Kurdish civilians, forced recruitments, torturing, forced displacements, thousands of destroyed villages, arbitrary arrests, murdered and disappeared Kurdish journalists. The PKK was responsible for a number of civilian deaths, even though this number is lower than those perpetrated by the government. The number of total civilian deaths perpetrated by the PKK between 1989 and 1999 was determined as 1,205 by the independent Uppsala One-Sided Violence Dataset.

On December 29, 2012, Erdoğan said that the government was conducting negotiations with jailed rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan. Negotiations initially named as Solution Process (Çözüm Süreci).  Assassination of three Kurdish PKK administrators in Paris and the bombings of the Justice Ministry of Turkey and Erdoğan’s office at the Ak Party headquarters in Ankara nearly derailed the peace process.   But despite these attacks on March, 21 2013, a cease-fire that included disarmament and withdrawal from Turkish soil began the conclusion of the 30 year old conflict.

On April 23, 2013, the PKK announced that it would be withdrawing all its forces within Turkey to Northern Iraq.  Constitutional and legal changes towards the recognition of human rights of the Kurds starts simultaneously with withdrawal.

In October 2014, riots erupted in various cities in Turkey after ISIS sieged Kobane. The Kurds accused the Turkish government of supporting ISIS.The conflict between Turkey and PKK escalated following the 2015 Suruç bombing attack on progressive activists, which was blamed on a Turkish ISIL-affiliated group. Turkey bombed alleged PKK bases in Iraq and PYD bases in Syria’s Kurdish region Rojava, effectively ending the cease-fire.

Violence soon spread throughout Turkey. Many Kurdish businesses were destroyed and branches of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) were also attacked. There are reports of civilians being killed in several Kurdish-populated towns and villages. In the spring of 2016 the violence increased and in May, a Turkish Bell AH-1 SuperCobra helicopter was shot down by a PKK-fired Russian made MANPADS.

During the winter there is typically a lull in the violence.  But three conditions indicate that in the Spring of 2017 indicate that the violence may increase:  the deadlock in peace talks , polarised antagonists who believe a military solution is possible, and competition over northern Syria in which both sides are seeking maximum outcomes and competing for US support.

After the attempted coup in July 2016, the violence of PKK tactics increased with the use of  improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and kidnapping, assault and killing of political figures.   Ankara has matched the PKK’s ramp up in tactics, convinced that the group could be defeated militarily. “Ankara has declared an ‘all-out war’, intensifying military operations and advancing its domestic crackdown against alleged PKK supporters,” the ICG stated, citing the recent arrests of pro-Kurdish mayors, the closure of Kurdish media outlets, and the arrests of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers.

In 2016, Turkey suffered 18 major terror attacks, most of which were carried out by the PKK, its affiliate group, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), and ISIS.  In addition to its fight against the PKK and ISIS, Turkey has also, simultaneously, put forward a strong fight against the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), as well as the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) which carried out the July 15 coup attempt.

In 2017, the Turkish government is expected to continue its offensive against the PKK locally and in its cross-border operations, which may include an expansion of cross-border operations into northern Iraq, to fight PKK targets, including the Qandil Mountains and Sinjar, in addition to the expansion of Operation Euphrates Shield into areas held by the PKK’s Syrian offshoot, the PYD, in northern Syria.

In his recent speeches, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has particularly voiced that 2017 will be the worst year yet for the PKK.

“I say clearly that these are their good days. After April, they will be surprised to see what is happening to them, as their end will come soon. We will decisively continue our fight during the winter,” Interior Minister Soylu said on Dec. 8, during his visit to the eastern Van province.

The PKK, distanced itself on the Reina New Years nightclub attack.  “No Kurdish forces have anything to do with this attack,” it said in a statement. “The Kurdish freedom fight is also the fight for democratization of Turkey. That’s why we won’t target innocent and civilian people.”

ISIS took responsibility for the bombing.

No end is in sight for the armed conflict between these three groups.

Here is a list of the Electors and their current position on their vote. I have also included whether they are mandated to vote in a certain way. Consider talking to them and please let me know who you called and the results.

Alabama
Electors: 9, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Perry O. Hooper Jr., Pike Road, At-Large
Grady H. Thornton, Birmingham, At-Large
Frank Burt Jr., Bay Minette, CD1
Will B. Sellers, Montgomery, CD2
James Eldon Wilson, Montgomery, CD3
Tim Wadsworth, Arley, CD4
J. Elbert Peters, Huntsville, CD5
Mary Sue McClurkin, Indian Springs, CD6
Robert A. Cusanelli, Carrollton, CD7

Alaska
Electors: 3, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Sean Parnell, Palmer
Jacqueline Tupou, Juneau
Carolyn Leman, Anchorage

Arizona
Electors: 11, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

J. Foster Morgan, Glendale — The youngest elector, at 19.
Walter Begay Jr., Kayenta
Bruce Ash, Tucson – National Committeeman
Sharon Giese, Mesa
James O’Connor, Scottsdale
Jerry Hayden, Scottsdale
Robert Graham, Phoenix – State Party Chairman
Edward Robson, Phoenix
Carole Joyce, Phoenix
Alberto Gutier, Phoenix
Jane Pierpoint Lynch, Phoenix
Arkansas
Electors: 6, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Jonathan Barnett
Jonelle Fulmer
Keith Gibson
Tommy Land
John Nabholz
Sharon R. Wright

California
Electors: 55, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Dustin R. Reed, Concord
Javier Gonzalez, San Jose
Shawn E. Terris, Ventura
John M. Ryan, San Rafael
Mark W. Headley, Berkeley
Gail R. Teton-Landis, Santa Barbara
Faith A. Garamendi, Davis
Ana A. Huerta, Bakersfield
Marie S. Torres, Hacienda Heights
Kathleen R. Scott, Lincoln
Donna M. Ireland, Pleasanton
Robert S. Torres, Pomona
Timothy J. Farley, Martinez
Christine T. Kehoe, San Diego
Dorothy N. Vann, Long Beach
Analea J. Patterson, Sacramento
Vinzenz J. Koller, Carmel – Has indicated that he is undecided, currently suing California over law forcing him to vote for Clinton.
David S. Warmuth, Pasadena
Janine V. Bera, Elk Grove
Andrew R. Krakoff, Orinda
Karen D. Waters, Inglewood
Sandra M. Aduna, Laguna Woods
Katherine A. Lyon, Coronado
Shirley N. Weber, San Diego
Saundra G. Andrews, Oakland
John P. MacMurray, La Habra
Denise B. Wells, Victorville
Jane C. Block, Riverside
Sheldon Malchicoff, Westlake Village
Gregory H. Willenborg, Los Angeles
Edward Buck, West Hollywood
Nury Martinez, San Fernando
Laurence S. Zakson, Los Angeles
Francine P. Busby, Cardiff
Gwen Moore, Los Angeles
Laphonza R. Butler, Los Angeles
Cathy A. Morris, Rancho Cucamonga
Benjamin Cardenas, Montebello
Stephen J. Natoli, Visalia
Jacki M. Cisneros, Los Angeles
Mark A. Olbert, San Carlos
Raymond L. Cordova, Garden Grove
Christine Pelosi, San Francisco – Signed letter demanding an intelligence briefing on the alleged Russian hacking.
Steven D. Diebert, Fresno
Carmen O. Perez, Long Beach
James A. Donahue, El Cerrito
Celine G. Purcell, Redwood City
Patrick F. Drinan, Escondido
Andres Ramos, Elk Grove
Susan Eggman, Stockton
Olivia A. Reyes-Becerra, Stanford
Eileen Feinstein Mariano, San Francisco
Priscilla G. Richardson, Cathedral City
Natalie P. Fortman, Valencia
Steve J. Spinner, Atherton

Colorado
Electors: 9, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Micheal Baca, Denver
Terry Phillips, Louisville
Mary Beth Corsentino, Pueblo
Jerad Sutton, Greeley; has indicated he will not vote for Hillary Clinton.
Robert Nemanich, Colorado Springs; has indicated he will not vote for Hillary Clinton.
Amy Drayer, Greenwood Village
Ann Knollman, Arvada
Sen. Rollie Heath, Boulder
Hon. Polly Baca, Denver; has indicated she will cast her vote for an alternative Republican candidate.
Connecticut
Electors: 7, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Barbara Gordon, West Hartford
Ellen Nurse, Hartford
Edward Piazza, New Haven
Tyisha Walker, New Haven
Christopher Rosario, Bridgeport
Robert Godfrey, Danbury
Steven Jones, Tolland

Delaware
Electors: 3, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Lynn Fuller
Lydia York
Linda Cavanaugh

District of Columbia[
Electors: 3, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Anita Bonds – Signed letter demanding an intelligence briefing on the alleged Russian hacking.
Jack Evans
Franklin Garcia

Florida
Electors: 29, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Tony Ledbetter
Pam Bondi[
Sharon Day
Ade Aderibigbe
Larry Ahern
Brian Ballard
Kristy Banks
Michael Barnett
Lizbeth Benacquisto
Robin Bernstein
John Browning
Dena DeCamp
Nick DiCeglie
Jeremy Evans
John Falconetti
Peter Feaman
Kat Gates-Skipper
Joe Gruters
Debbie Hannifan
Blaise Ingoglia
Mike Moberley
Susan Moore
Joe Negron
Clint Pate
Ray Rodrigues
Carlos Trujillo
Robert Watkins
Susie Wiles
Christian Ziegler

Georgia
Electors: 16, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Bruce Allen Azevedo
Brian K Burdette
Lott Harris Dill
John David Elliott
James Randolph Evans
Bobbie D. Frantz
Linda D. Herren
Rachel Blackstone Little
Deborah M. McCord
Michael Neil McNeely
Mary L. Padgett
Neil L. Pruitt
Joshua Kirk Shook
Frank B. Strickland
Baoky Nguyen Vu (resigned, will be replaced by alternate)
John B. White

Hawaii
Electors: 4, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Electors
John Bickel
Janice Bond
Marie (Dolly) Strazar
David Mulinix

First Alternates
Kainoa Kaumeheiwa-Rego
Eileen McKee
Michael Golojuch Sr.
Yvonne Lau

Second Alternates
Carolyn Golojuch
Julie Patten
Michele Golojuch
Leo Caries

Idaho
Electors: 4, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Layne Bangerter
Caleb Lakey
Jennifer Locke
Melinda Smyser

Illinois
Electors: 20, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Toni Preckwinkle
Carrie Austin
Silvana Tabares
Jesus “Chuy” Garcia
Pam Cullerton
Nancy Sheperdson
Vera Davis
William Marovitz
Barbara Flynn Currie
John R. Daley
Michelle Mussman
Lauren Beth Gash, Highland Park
Kevin Duffy Blackburn, Joliet
Jerry Costello, Belleville
Carol Ammons, Urbana
Mark Guethle, North Aurora
Flint Taylor, McLeansboro
John Nelson, Rockford
Don Johnston, Rock Island.
Shirley McCombs
Indiana
Electors: 11, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Stephanie Beckley, Jamestown
Daniel Bortner, Bedford
Laura Campbell, Carmel
Jeff Cardwell, Indianapolis
Donald L. Hayes, Jasper
Randall Kirkpatrick, Ligonier
Ethan E. Manning, Peru
Macy Kelly Mitchell, Indianapolis
Edwin J. Simcox, Fishers
Kevin Steen, Muncie
Chuck Williams, Valparaiso

Iowa
Electors: 6, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

James Whitmer
Don Kass
Dylan Keller
Alan Braun
Kurt Brown
Polly Granzow
Danielle Massey

Kansas
Electors: 6, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Ashley J. McMillan, Concordia, party vice chair.
Helen Van Etten, Topeka, national committeewoman.
Mark Kahrs, Wichita, national committeeman.
Ron Estes, Wichita, Kansas State Treasurer.
Clayton L. Barker, Leawood, party executive director.
Kelly Arnold, Wichita, party chairman.

Kentucky
Electors: 8, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Jim Skaggs
David Disponett
Robert Duncan
Michael Carter
Scott Lasley
Walter Reichert
Mary Singleton
Troy Sheldon

Louisiana
Electors: 8, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Chris Trahan, CD1
Lloyd Harsh, CD2
Charles Buckels, CD3
Louis Avalone, CD4
Kay Katz, CD5
Lennie Rhys, CD6
Garret Monti, At Large
Scott Wilfong, At Large

(1st-alternate) Candy Maness
(2nd-alternate) Jennifer Madsen
(3rd-alternate) Christian Gil
(4th-alternate) Constance Diane Long
(5th-alternate) Verne Breland
(6th-alternate) Glenda Pollard
(At Large-alternate) John Batt
(At Large-alternate) Raymond Griffin

Maine
Electors: 4

Democratic Party
3, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

(1st) Diane Denk of Kennebunk
(At Large) David Bright of Dixmont
(At Large) Sam Shapiro of Winslow

Republican Party
1, pledged to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

(2nd) Richard A. Bennett of Oxford
Maryland
Electors: 10, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Lesley Israel
Robert Leonard
Lillian Holmes
Salome Peters
Hagner Mister
Claudia Martin
Courtney Watson – Signed letter demanding an intelligence briefing on the alleged Russian hacking.
Karen Britto
Susan Ness
Wayne Rogers

Massachusetts
Electors: 11, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Nazda Alam
Mary Gail Cokkinias
Marie Turley
Dori Dean
Donna Smith
Cheryl Cumings
Marc Pacheco
Curtis Lemay
Jason Palitsch
Paul Yorkis
Parwez Wahid

Michigan
Electors: 16, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

John Haggard
Jack Holmes
Kelly Mitchell
Judy Rapanos
Henry Hatter
Robert Weitt
Wyckham Seelig
Ross Ensign
Michael Banerian
Brian Fairbrother
Ken Crider
Mary Vaughn
Jim Rhoades — Motorcycle lobbyist.
William Rauwerdink
Hank Fuhs
Joseph Guzman

Minnesota
Electors: 10, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Fred Knudson
Roger Gehrke
Marge Hoffa
Raymond Hess
Muhammed Abdurrahman
Betsy O’Berry
Mike Wammer
Mary Murphy
Jules Goldstein
Sherrie Pugh

Mississippi[edit]
Electors: 6, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Ann Hebert
Joe F. Sanderson Jr.
Bradley R. White
J. Kelley Williams
William G. Yates Jr.
Wirt Yerler
Missouri[edit]
Electors: 10, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Tim Dreste (1st)
Jan DeWeese (2nd)
Hector Maldonado (3rd)
Sherry Kuttenkuler (4th)
Casey Crawford (5th)
Tom Brown (6th)
Cherry Warren (7th)
Scott Clark (8th)
Al Rotskoff
Susie Johnson

Montana
Electors: 3, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Thelma Baker
Nancy Ballance
Dennis Scranton
Vondene Kopetski (alternate)
Becky Stockton (alternate)
Thomas Tuck (alternate)
Nebraska
Electors: 5, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Craig Safranek, Merna
Chuck Conrad, Hastings
John Dinkel, Norfolk
Phil Belin, Omaha
Paul Burger, Kearney
Nevada
Electors: 6

Dayananda Prabhu Rachakonda
Larry Jackson
Joetta Brown
Paul Catha II
Greg Gardella
Teresa Benitez-Thompson
New Hampshire
Electors: 4, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

The only all-female slate of electors, all four of whom are the first Democratic women to hold their elected offices.

Terie Norelli- Signed letter demanding an intelligence briefing on the alleged Russian hacking.
Bev Hollingworth- Signed letter demanding an intelligence briefing on the alleged Russian hacking.
Dudley Dudley- Signed letter demanding an intelligence briefing on the alleged Russian hacking.
Carol Shea-Porter – Signed letter demanding an intelligence briefing on the alleged Russian hacking.
New Jersey
Electors: 14, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Alaa R. Abdelaziz of Paterson
Tahsina Ahmed of Haledon — The first Bangladeshi-American female to hold elected office in the nation
Anthony Cureton of Englewood
Lizette Delgado-Polanco of Ewing
Edward Farmer of Piscataway
Christopher D. James of East Orange
Leroy J. Jones Jr. of East Orange
Retha R. Onitiri of Clarksburg
Marlene Prieto of Secaucus
Ronald G. Rios of Carteret
Hetty M. Rosenstein of South Orange
Kelly Steward Maer of Manasquan
Mary Ann Wardlow of Lawnside
Heriberta Loretta Winters of Williamstown

New Mexico
Electors: 5, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Roxanne Allen, a Democratic ward chairwoman in Albuquerque.
Noyola Padilla Archibeque, chairwoman of the San Miguel Federation of Democratic Women in Las Vegas.
John Padilla, a Bernie Sanders delegate to this year’s Democratic National Convention and a ward chairman in Albuquerque.
Lorraine Spradling, a grassroots organizer in Los Lunas.
E. Paul Torres of Isleta Pueblo.
New York
Electors: 29, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

William J. Clinton
Andrew M. Cuomo
Kathy C. Hochul
Thomas P. DiNapoli
Eric T. Schneiderman
Carl E. Heastie
Andrea Stewart-Cousins
Bill de Blasio
Letitia A. James
Scott M. Stringer
Melissa Mark-Viverito
Byron W. Brown
Christine C. Quinn
Basil A. Smikle, Jr.
Melissa Sklarz
Mario F. Cilento
Rhonda Weingarten
George K. Gresham
Daniel F. Donohue
Stuart H. Appelbaum
Gary S. LaBarbera
Lovely A. Warren
Stephanie A. Miner
Katherine M. Sheehan
Anastasia M. Somoza
Sandra Ung
Ruben Diaz, Jr.
Hazel L. Ingram — The oldest elector, at 93.
Rachel D. Gold
North Carolina
15, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Linda Harper
Charles Staley
Karen Kozel
Martha Jenkins
Celeste Stanley
Donald Webb
Robert Muller
Jennifer Dunbar
Andrea Arterburn
Glenn Pinckney Sr.
Mark Delk
David Speight
Ann Sullivan
Lee Green
David Smuski
North Dakota
Electors: 3, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

John Olson
Duane Mutch
Bev Clayburgh
Ohio
Electors: 18, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Marilyn Ashcraft
Curt Braden
Christina Hagan
Lee-Ann Johnson
Ralph King
Alex Triantafilou
Mary Anne Christie
Corey Schottenstein
Jim Dicke II
Cheryl Blakely
Richard Jones
Tom Coyne
Judy Westbrock
Leonard Hubert
Tracey Winbush
James Wert
Brian Schottenstein
Ed Crawford
Oklahoma
Electors: 7, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

David Oldham
Teresa Lyn Turner
Mark Thomas
Bobby Cleveland
Lauree Elizabeth Marshall
Charles W. Potts
George W. Wiland, Jr.

Oregon
Electors: 7, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Frank James Dixon, Portland
Karen A. Packer, Newberg
Austin Folnagy, Klamath Falls
Leon H. Coleman, Aloha
Harry W. “Sam” Sappington III, Albany
Timothy Norman Powers Rowan, Portland
Laura Gillpatrick, Eugene

Pennsylvania
Electors: 20, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Bob Asher
Mary Barket
Robert Bozzuto
Theodore (Ted) Christian
Michael Downing
Margaret Ferraro
Robert Gleason
Christopher Gleason
Joyce Haas
Ash Khare
James McErlane
Elstina Pickett
Patricia Poprik
Andrew Reilly
Carol Sides
Glora “Lee” Snover
Richard Stewart
Lawrence Tabas
Christine Toretti
Carolyn Bunny Welsh
Rhode Island
Electors: 4, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Clay Pell – Signed letter demanding an intelligence briefing on the alleged Russian hacking.
Grace Diaz
L. Susan Weiner
Frank J. Montanaro
South Carolina
Electors: 9, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Glenn McCall
Matt Moore
Terry Hardesty
Jim Ulmer
Brenda Bedenbaugh
Bill Conley
Shery Smith
Moye Graham
Jerry Rovner
South Dakota
Electors: 3, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Marty Jackley
Dennis Daugaard
Matt Michels
Tennessee
Electors: 11, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Beth Scott Clayton Amos, a State Executive Committee member for the Republican party, member of the Board of the Estate Planning Council of Middle TN, At Large
Joey Jacobs of Brentwood as a statewide delegate (Pres & CEO of Acadia Healthcare), At Large
Jason Mumpower (Bristol), CD1
Susan Mills (Maryville), CD2
Liz Holiway (Harriman), CD3
Lynne Davis (Lascassas), CD4
Tom Lawless (Nashville), CD5
Mike Callahan (Monterey), CD6
Pat Allen (Clarksville), CD7
Shannon Haynes (Alamo), CD8
Drew Daniel (Memphis), CD9
Texas
Electors: 38, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Marty Rhymes
Thomas Moon
Carol Sewell
John E. Harper
Sherrill Lenz
Nicholas Ciggelakis
Will Hickman
Landon Estay
Rex Lamb
Rosemary Edwards
Matt Stringer
Shellie Surles
Melissa Kalka
Sandra Cararas
David Thackston
Robert Bruce
Margie Forster
Scott Mann
Marian K. Stanko
Tina Gibson
Ken Muenzter
Alexander Kim
Virginia Abel
Curtis Nelson
Kenneth Clark
Candace Noble
Fred Farias
John Dillard
Tom Knight
Marian Knowlton
Rex Teter
Stephen Suprun Jr.; (Chris Suprun) wrote in the New York Times that he will not vote for Donald Trump
Jon Jewett
Susan Fischer
Lauren Byers
William Greene
Mary Lou Erben
Arthur Sisneros — Vacated the position in late November 2016,[50] stating “Since I can’t in good conscience vote for Donald Trump, and yet have sinfully made a pledge that I would, the best option I see at this time is to resign my position as an Elector. This will allow the remaining body of Electors to fill my vacancy when they convene on Dec 19 with someone that can vote for Trump. The people will get their vote. They will get their Skittles for dinner. I will sleep well at night knowing I neither gave in to their demands nor caved to my convictions. I will also mourn the loss of our republic.”

Utah
Electors: 6, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Cherilyn Eagar
Kris Kimball
Jeremy Jenkins
Peter Greathouse
Chia-Chi Teng
Richard Snelgrove
Vermont
Electors: 3, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Peter Shumlin
Martha Allen
Tim Jerman
Virginia
Electors: 13, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Bethany J. Rowland, Chesapeake
Debra Stevens Fitzgearld, Harrisonburg
James Harold Allen Boyd, Culpeper
Jasper L. Hendricks, III, Pamplin
Jeanette C. Sarver, Dublin
K. James O’Connor, Jr., Manassas
Kathy Stewart Shupe, Sterling
Keith A. Scarborough, Woodbridge
Lashrecse D. Aird, Petersburg
Susan Johnson Rowland, Chesapeake
Terry C. Frye, Bristol
Virginia L. Peters, Alexandria
Vivian J. Paige, Norfolk

Washington
Electors: 12, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Elizabeth Caldwell
Dan Carpita
Peter Chiafalo – Undecided voter.
Levi Guerra – Has stated she plans to vote for a Republican “consensus candidate.”
Eric Herde
Joshua Ivey
Esther John
Julie Johnson
Varisha Khan
Chris Porter
Robert Satiacum, Jr. – A member of the Puyallup Tribe. Undecided voter.
Phillip Tyler

West Virginia
Electors: 5, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Ron Foster
Patrick Morrisey
Ann Urling
Mac Warner
Bill Cole
Wisconsin
Electors: 10, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Kim Travis, Williams Bay, CD1
Kim Babler, Madison, CD2
Brian Westrate, Fall Creek, CD3
Brad Courtney, Whitefish Bay, CD4
Kathy Kiernan, Richfield, CD5
Dan Feyen, Fond du Lac, CD6
Jim Miller, Hayward, CD7
Bill Berglund, Sturgeon Bay, CD8
Steve King, Janesville, At Large
Mary Buestrin, River Hills, At Large

Wyoming
Electors: 3, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Bonnie Foster
Teresa Richards
Karl Allred

Here is a list of the Electors and their current position on their vote.  I have also included whether they are mandated to vote in a certain way.  Consider talking to them.

Alabama
Electors: 9, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Perry O. Hooper Jr., Pike Road, At-Large
Grady H. Thornton, Birmingham, At-Large
Frank Burt Jr., Bay Minette, CD1
Will B. Sellers, Montgomery, CD2
James Eldon Wilson, Montgomery, CD3
Tim Wadsworth, Arley, CD4
J. Elbert Peters, Huntsville, CD5
Mary Sue McClurkin, Indian Springs, CD6
Robert A. Cusanelli, Carrollton, CD7

Alaska
Electors: 3, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Sean Parnell, Palmer
Jacqueline Tupou, Juneau
Carolyn Leman, Anchorage

Arizona
Electors: 11, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

J. Foster Morgan, Glendale — The youngest elector, at 19.
Walter Begay Jr., Kayenta
Bruce Ash, Tucson – National Committeeman
Sharon Giese, Mesa
James O’Connor, Scottsdale
Jerry Hayden, Scottsdale
Robert Graham, Phoenix – State Party Chairman
Edward Robson, Phoenix
Carole Joyce, Phoenix
Alberto Gutier, Phoenix
Jane Pierpoint Lynch, Phoenix
Arkansas
Electors: 6, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Jonathan Barnett
Jonelle Fulmer
Keith Gibson
Tommy Land
John Nabholz
Sharon R. Wright

California
Electors: 55, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Dustin R. Reed, Concord
Javier Gonzalez, San Jose
Shawn E. Terris, Ventura
John M. Ryan, San Rafael
Mark W. Headley, Berkeley
Gail R. Teton-Landis, Santa Barbara
Faith A. Garamendi, Davis
Ana A. Huerta, Bakersfield
Marie S. Torres, Hacienda Heights
Kathleen R. Scott, Lincoln
Donna M. Ireland, Pleasanton
Robert S. Torres, Pomona
Timothy J. Farley, Martinez
Christine T. Kehoe, San Diego
Dorothy N. Vann, Long Beach
Analea J. Patterson, Sacramento
Vinzenz J. Koller, Carmel – Has indicated that he is undecided, currently suing California over law forcing him to vote for Clinton.
David S. Warmuth, Pasadena
Janine V. Bera, Elk Grove
Andrew R. Krakoff, Orinda
Karen D. Waters, Inglewood
Sandra M. Aduna, Laguna Woods
Katherine A. Lyon, Coronado
Shirley N. Weber, San Diego
Saundra G. Andrews, Oakland
John P. MacMurray, La Habra
Denise B. Wells, Victorville
Jane C. Block, Riverside
Sheldon Malchicoff, Westlake Village
Gregory H. Willenborg, Los Angeles
Edward Buck, West Hollywood
Nury Martinez, San Fernando
Laurence S. Zakson, Los Angeles
Francine P. Busby, Cardiff
Gwen Moore, Los Angeles
Laphonza R. Butler, Los Angeles
Cathy A. Morris, Rancho Cucamonga
Benjamin Cardenas, Montebello
Stephen J. Natoli, Visalia
Jacki M. Cisneros, Los Angeles
Mark A. Olbert, San Carlos
Raymond L. Cordova, Garden Grove
Christine Pelosi, San Francisco – Signed letter demanding an intelligence briefing on the alleged Russian hacking.
Steven D. Diebert, Fresno
Carmen O. Perez, Long Beach
James A. Donahue, El Cerrito
Celine G. Purcell, Redwood City
Patrick F. Drinan, Escondido
Andres Ramos, Elk Grove
Susan Eggman, Stockton
Olivia A. Reyes-Becerra, Stanford
Eileen Feinstein Mariano, San Francisco
Priscilla G. Richardson, Cathedral City
Natalie P. Fortman, Valencia
Steve J. Spinner, Atherton

Colorado
Electors: 9, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Micheal Baca, Denver
Terry Phillips, Louisville
Mary Beth Corsentino, Pueblo
Jerad Sutton, Greeley; has indicated he will not vote for Hillary Clinton.
Robert Nemanich, Colorado Springs; has indicated he will not vote for Hillary Clinton.
Amy Drayer, Greenwood Village
Ann Knollman, Arvada
Sen. Rollie Heath, Boulder
Hon. Polly Baca, Denver; has indicated she will cast her vote for an alternative Republican candidate.
Connecticut
Electors: 7, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Barbara Gordon, West Hartford
Ellen Nurse, Hartford
Edward Piazza, New Haven
Tyisha Walker, New Haven
Christopher Rosario, Bridgeport
Robert Godfrey, Danbury
Steven Jones, Tolland

Delaware
Electors: 3, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Lynn Fuller
Lydia York
Linda Cavanaugh

District of Columbia[
Electors: 3, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Anita Bonds – Signed letter demanding an intelligence briefing on the alleged Russian hacking.
Jack Evans
Franklin Garcia

Florida
Electors: 29, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Tony Ledbetter
Pam Bondi[
Sharon Day
Ade Aderibigbe
Larry Ahern
Brian Ballard
Kristy Banks
Michael Barnett
Lizbeth Benacquisto
Robin Bernstein
John Browning
Dena DeCamp
Nick DiCeglie
Jeremy Evans
John Falconetti
Peter Feaman
Kat Gates-Skipper
Joe Gruters
Debbie Hannifan
Blaise Ingoglia
Mike Moberley
Susan Moore
Joe Negron
Clint Pate
Ray Rodrigues
Carlos Trujillo
Robert Watkins
Susie Wiles
Christian Ziegler

Georgia
Electors: 16, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Bruce Allen Azevedo
Brian K Burdette
Lott Harris Dill
John David Elliott
James Randolph Evans
Bobbie D. Frantz
Linda D. Herren
Rachel Blackstone Little
Deborah M. McCord
Michael Neil McNeely
Mary L. Padgett
Neil L. Pruitt
Joshua Kirk Shook
Frank B. Strickland
Baoky Nguyen Vu (resigned, will be replaced by alternate)
John B. White

Hawaii
Electors: 4, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Electors
John Bickel
Janice Bond
Marie (Dolly) Strazar
David Mulinix

First Alternates
Kainoa Kaumeheiwa-Rego
Eileen McKee
Michael Golojuch Sr.
Yvonne Lau

Second Alternates
Carolyn Golojuch
Julie Patten
Michele Golojuch
Leo Caries

Idaho
Electors: 4, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Layne Bangerter
Caleb Lakey
Jennifer Locke
Melinda Smyser

Illinois
Electors: 20, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Toni Preckwinkle
Carrie Austin
Silvana Tabares
Jesus “Chuy” Garcia
Pam Cullerton
Nancy Sheperdson
Vera Davis
William Marovitz
Barbara Flynn Currie
John R. Daley
Michelle Mussman
Lauren Beth Gash, Highland Park
Kevin Duffy Blackburn, Joliet
Jerry Costello, Belleville
Carol Ammons, Urbana
Mark Guethle, North Aurora
Flint Taylor, McLeansboro
John Nelson, Rockford
Don Johnston, Rock Island.
Shirley McCombs
Indiana
Electors: 11, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Stephanie Beckley, Jamestown
Daniel Bortner, Bedford
Laura Campbell, Carmel
Jeff Cardwell, Indianapolis
Donald L. Hayes, Jasper
Randall Kirkpatrick, Ligonier
Ethan E. Manning, Peru
Macy Kelly Mitchell, Indianapolis
Edwin J. Simcox, Fishers
Kevin Steen, Muncie
Chuck Williams, Valparaiso

Iowa
Electors: 6, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

James Whitmer
Don Kass
Dylan Keller
Alan Braun
Kurt Brown
Polly Granzow
Danielle Massey

Kansas
Electors: 6, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Ashley J. McMillan, Concordia, party vice chair.
Helen Van Etten, Topeka, national committeewoman.
Mark Kahrs, Wichita, national committeeman.
Ron Estes, Wichita, Kansas State Treasurer.
Clayton L. Barker, Leawood, party executive director.
Kelly Arnold, Wichita, party chairman.

Kentucky
Electors: 8, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Jim Skaggs
David Disponett
Robert Duncan
Michael Carter
Scott Lasley
Walter Reichert
Mary Singleton
Troy Sheldon

Louisiana
Electors: 8, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Chris Trahan, CD1
Lloyd Harsh, CD2
Charles Buckels, CD3
Louis Avalone, CD4
Kay Katz, CD5
Lennie Rhys, CD6
Garret Monti, At Large
Scott Wilfong, At Large

(1st-alternate) Candy Maness
(2nd-alternate) Jennifer Madsen
(3rd-alternate) Christian Gil
(4th-alternate) Constance Diane Long
(5th-alternate) Verne Breland
(6th-alternate) Glenda Pollard
(At Large-alternate) John Batt
(At Large-alternate) Raymond Griffin

Maine
Electors: 4

Democratic Party
3, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

(1st) Diane Denk of Kennebunk
(At Large) David Bright of Dixmont
(At Large) Sam Shapiro of Winslow

Republican Party
1, pledged to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

(2nd) Richard A. Bennett of Oxford
Maryland
Electors: 10, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Lesley Israel
Robert Leonard
Lillian Holmes
Salome Peters
Hagner Mister
Claudia Martin
Courtney Watson – Signed letter demanding an intelligence briefing on the alleged Russian hacking.
Karen Britto
Susan Ness
Wayne Rogers

Massachusetts
Electors: 11, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Nazda Alam
Mary Gail Cokkinias
Marie Turley
Dori Dean
Donna Smith
Cheryl Cumings
Marc Pacheco
Curtis Lemay
Jason Palitsch
Paul Yorkis
Parwez Wahid

Michigan
Electors: 16, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

John Haggard
Jack Holmes
Kelly Mitchell
Judy Rapanos
Henry Hatter
Robert Weitt
Wyckham Seelig
Ross Ensign
Michael Banerian
Brian Fairbrother
Ken Crider
Mary Vaughn
Jim Rhoades — Motorcycle lobbyist.
William Rauwerdink
Hank Fuhs
Joseph Guzman

Minnesota
Electors: 10, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Fred Knudson
Roger Gehrke
Marge Hoffa
Raymond Hess
Muhammed Abdurrahman
Betsy O’Berry
Mike Wammer
Mary Murphy
Jules Goldstein
Sherrie Pugh

Mississippi[edit]
Electors: 6, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Ann Hebert
Joe F. Sanderson Jr.
Bradley R. White
J. Kelley Williams
William G. Yates Jr.
Wirt Yerler
Missouri[edit]
Electors: 10, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Tim Dreste (1st)
Jan DeWeese (2nd)
Hector Maldonado (3rd)
Sherry Kuttenkuler (4th)
Casey Crawford (5th)
Tom Brown (6th)
Cherry Warren (7th)
Scott Clark (8th)
Al Rotskoff
Susie Johnson

Montana
Electors: 3, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Thelma Baker
Nancy Ballance
Dennis Scranton
Vondene Kopetski (alternate)
Becky Stockton (alternate)
Thomas Tuck (alternate)
Nebraska
Electors: 5, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Craig Safranek, Merna
Chuck Conrad, Hastings
John Dinkel, Norfolk
Phil Belin, Omaha
Paul Burger, Kearney
Nevada
Electors: 6

Dayananda Prabhu Rachakonda
Larry Jackson
Joetta Brown
Paul Catha II
Greg Gardella
Teresa Benitez-Thompson
New Hampshire
Electors: 4, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

The only all-female slate of electors, all four of whom are the first Democratic women to hold their elected offices.

Terie Norelli- Signed letter demanding an intelligence briefing on the alleged Russian hacking.
Bev Hollingworth- Signed letter demanding an intelligence briefing on the alleged Russian hacking.
Dudley Dudley- Signed letter demanding an intelligence briefing on the alleged Russian hacking.
Carol Shea-Porter – Signed letter demanding an intelligence briefing on the alleged Russian hacking.
New Jersey
Electors: 14, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Alaa R. Abdelaziz of Paterson
Tahsina Ahmed of Haledon — The first Bangladeshi-American female to hold elected office in the nation
Anthony Cureton of Englewood
Lizette Delgado-Polanco of Ewing
Edward Farmer of Piscataway
Christopher D. James of East Orange
Leroy J. Jones Jr. of East Orange
Retha R. Onitiri of Clarksburg
Marlene Prieto of Secaucus
Ronald G. Rios of Carteret
Hetty M. Rosenstein of South Orange
Kelly Steward Maer of Manasquan
Mary Ann Wardlow of Lawnside
Heriberta Loretta Winters of Williamstown

New Mexico
Electors: 5, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Roxanne Allen, a Democratic ward chairwoman in Albuquerque.
Noyola Padilla Archibeque, chairwoman of the San Miguel Federation of Democratic Women in Las Vegas.
John Padilla, a Bernie Sanders delegate to this year’s Democratic National Convention and a ward chairman in Albuquerque.
Lorraine Spradling, a grassroots organizer in Los Lunas.
E. Paul Torres of Isleta Pueblo.
New York
Electors: 29, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

William J. Clinton
Andrew M. Cuomo
Kathy C. Hochul
Thomas P. DiNapoli
Eric T. Schneiderman
Carl E. Heastie
Andrea Stewart-Cousins
Bill de Blasio
Letitia A. James
Scott M. Stringer
Melissa Mark-Viverito
Byron W. Brown
Christine C. Quinn
Basil A. Smikle, Jr.
Melissa Sklarz
Mario F. Cilento
Rhonda Weingarten
George K. Gresham
Daniel F. Donohue
Stuart H. Appelbaum
Gary S. LaBarbera
Lovely A. Warren
Stephanie A. Miner
Katherine M. Sheehan
Anastasia M. Somoza
Sandra Ung
Ruben Diaz, Jr.
Hazel L. Ingram — The oldest elector, at 93.
Rachel D. Gold
North Carolina
15, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Linda Harper
Charles Staley
Karen Kozel
Martha Jenkins
Celeste Stanley
Donald Webb
Robert Muller
Jennifer Dunbar
Andrea Arterburn
Glenn Pinckney Sr.
Mark Delk
David Speight
Ann Sullivan
Lee Green
David Smuski
North Dakota
Electors: 3, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

John Olson
Duane Mutch
Bev Clayburgh
Ohio
Electors: 18, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Marilyn Ashcraft
Curt Braden
Christina Hagan
Lee-Ann Johnson
Ralph King
Alex Triantafilou
Mary Anne Christie
Corey Schottenstein
Jim Dicke II
Cheryl Blakely
Richard Jones
Tom Coyne
Judy Westbrock
Leonard Hubert
Tracey Winbush
James Wert
Brian Schottenstein
Ed Crawford
Oklahoma
Electors: 7, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

David Oldham
Teresa Lyn Turner
Mark Thomas
Bobby Cleveland
Lauree Elizabeth Marshall
Charles W. Potts
George W. Wiland, Jr.

Oregon
Electors: 7, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Frank James Dixon, Portland
Karen A. Packer, Newberg
Austin Folnagy, Klamath Falls
Leon H. Coleman, Aloha
Harry W. “Sam” Sappington III, Albany
Timothy Norman Powers Rowan, Portland
Laura Gillpatrick, Eugene

Pennsylvania
Electors: 20, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Bob Asher
Mary Barket
Robert Bozzuto
Theodore (Ted) Christian
Michael Downing
Margaret Ferraro
Robert Gleason
Christopher Gleason
Joyce Haas
Ash Khare
James McErlane
Elstina Pickett
Patricia Poprik
Andrew Reilly
Carol Sides
Glora “Lee” Snover
Richard Stewart
Lawrence Tabas
Christine Toretti
Carolyn Bunny Welsh
Rhode Island
Electors: 4, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Clay Pell – Signed letter demanding an intelligence briefing on the alleged Russian hacking.
Grace Diaz
L. Susan Weiner
Frank J. Montanaro
South Carolina
Electors: 9, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Glenn McCall
Matt Moore
Terry Hardesty
Jim Ulmer
Brenda Bedenbaugh
Bill Conley
Shery Smith
Moye Graham
Jerry Rovner
South Dakota
Electors: 3, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Marty Jackley
Dennis Daugaard
Matt Michels
Tennessee
Electors: 11, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Beth Scott Clayton Amos, a State Executive Committee member for the Republican party, member of the Board of the Estate Planning Council of Middle TN, At Large
Joey Jacobs of Brentwood as a statewide delegate (Pres & CEO of Acadia Healthcare), At Large
Jason Mumpower (Bristol), CD1
Susan Mills (Maryville), CD2
Liz Holiway (Harriman), CD3
Lynne Davis (Lascassas), CD4
Tom Lawless (Nashville), CD5
Mike Callahan (Monterey), CD6
Pat Allen (Clarksville), CD7
Shannon Haynes (Alamo), CD8
Drew Daniel (Memphis), CD9
Texas
Electors: 38, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Marty Rhymes
Thomas Moon
Carol Sewell
John E. Harper
Sherrill Lenz
Nicholas Ciggelakis
Will Hickman
Landon Estay
Rex Lamb
Rosemary Edwards
Matt Stringer
Shellie Surles
Melissa Kalka
Sandra Cararas
David Thackston
Robert Bruce
Margie Forster
Scott Mann
Marian K. Stanko
Tina Gibson
Ken Muenzter
Alexander Kim
Virginia Abel
Curtis Nelson
Kenneth Clark
Candace Noble
Fred Farias
John Dillard
Tom Knight
Marian Knowlton
Rex Teter
Stephen Suprun Jr.; (Chris Suprun) wrote in the New York Times that he will not vote for Donald Trump
Jon Jewett
Susan Fischer
Lauren Byers
William Greene
Mary Lou Erben
Arthur Sisneros — Vacated the position in late November 2016,[50] stating “Since I can’t in good conscience vote for Donald Trump, and yet have sinfully made a pledge that I would, the best option I see at this time is to resign my position as an Elector. This will allow the remaining body of Electors to fill my vacancy when they convene on Dec 19 with someone that can vote for Trump. The people will get their vote. They will get their Skittles for dinner. I will sleep well at night knowing I neither gave in to their demands nor caved to my convictions. I will also mourn the loss of our republic.”

Utah
Electors: 6, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Cherilyn Eagar
Kris Kimball
Jeremy Jenkins
Peter Greathouse
Chia-Chi Teng
Richard Snelgrove
Vermont
Electors: 3, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Peter Shumlin
Martha Allen
Tim Jerman
Virginia
Electors: 13, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Bethany J. Rowland, Chesapeake
Debra Stevens Fitzgearld, Harrisonburg
James Harold Allen Boyd, Culpeper
Jasper L. Hendricks, III, Pamplin
Jeanette C. Sarver, Dublin
K. James O’Connor, Jr., Manassas
Kathy Stewart Shupe, Sterling
Keith A. Scarborough, Woodbridge
Lashrecse D. Aird, Petersburg
Susan Johnson Rowland, Chesapeake
Terry C. Frye, Bristol
Virginia L. Peters, Alexandria
Vivian J. Paige, Norfolk

Washington
Electors: 12, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Hillary Clinton for President and Tim Kaine for Vice President

Elizabeth Caldwell
Dan Carpita
Peter Chiafalo – Undecided voter.
Levi Guerra – Has stated she plans to vote for a Republican “consensus candidate.”
Eric Herde
Joshua Ivey
Esther John
Julie Johnson
Varisha Khan
Chris Porter
Robert Satiacum, Jr. – A member of the Puyallup Tribe. Undecided voter.
Phillip Tyler

West Virginia
Electors: 5, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Ron Foster
Patrick Morrisey
Ann Urling
Mac Warner
Bill Cole
Wisconsin
Electors: 10, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Kim Travis, Williams Bay, CD1
Kim Babler, Madison, CD2
Brian Westrate, Fall Creek, CD3
Brad Courtney, Whitefish Bay, CD4
Kathy Kiernan, Richfield, CD5
Dan Feyen, Fond du Lac, CD6
Jim Miller, Hayward, CD7
Bill Berglund, Sturgeon Bay, CD8
Steve King, Janesville, At Large
Mary Buestrin, River Hills, At Large

Wyoming
Electors: 3, pledged but not mandated Federally to vote for Donald Trump for President and Mike Pence for Vice President

Bonnie Foster
Teresa Richards
Karl Allred[

After years of fighting and an incalculable bloody human toll, insurgents agreed to a ceasefire.  Rebels said fighting would end on Tuesday evening and insurgents and the civilians who have been trapped in Aleppo will leave the city for opposition-held areas of the countryside to the west.

What brought us to this war?

Syrians complained about high unemployment, widespread corruption, a lack of political freedom, and state repression under President Bashar al-Assad, who succeeded his father, Hafez, in 2000.

In March 2011, pro-democracy demonstrations in the Arab Spring movement erupted in the city of Deraa. The government used deadly force to crush the protests, but instead of quashing them, the protests grew nationwide.  Assad’s resignation was demanded.

The government crackdown and the unrest grew.  Opposition supporters began to take up arms,to expel government forces from their towns. Assad vowed to crush “foreign-backed terrorism” and restore state control.The violence rapidly escalated and the country descended into civil war.

The intervention of regional and world powers, including Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States escalated the  fighting, and turned Syria into a proxy war zone.

Jihadist groups have also seized on the chaos.  Daisch is battling government forces, rebels and Kurds.

Air strikes by Russia and a US-led multinational coalition intensify the danger.  Russia launched an air campaign in September 2015 with the aim of “stabilising” the government. Moscow stressed that it would target only “terrorists”, but activists said its strikes mainly hit Western-backed rebel groups.  Six months later, having turned the tide of the war in Assad’s favour, Putin ordered the “main part” of Russia’s forces to withdraw, saying their mission had “on the whole” been accomplished.

Shia powerhouse of Iran is spending billions of dollars a year to bolster the Alawite-dominated government, providing military advisers and subsidised weapons, as well as lines of credit and oil transfers. It is also widely reported to have deployed hundreds of combat troops in Syria. Assad is Iran’s closest Arab ally and Syria is the main transit point for Iranian weapons shipments to the Lebanese Shia Islamist movement Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support government forces.Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, which is seeking to counter Iran, has been a major provider of military and financial assistance to the rebels, including those with Islamist ideologies.

Turkey, a supporter of the rebels, has meanwhile sought to limit US support for Kurdish forces battling IS militants in northern Syria, accusing them of being affiliated to the banned Turkish Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Assad says the US is responsible for widespread atrocities and must step down, has provided only limited military assistance to “moderate” rebels, fearful that advanced weapons might end up in the hands of jihadists. Since September 2014, the US has conducted air strikes on Daisch in Syria, but it has avoided attacking government forces.

The UN says 250,000 people have been killed in the past five years. However, the organisation stopped updating its figures in August 2015. One monitoring group estimates 470,000 deaths,.

More than 4.8 million people have fled Syria, most of them women and children.

Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey have struggled to cope with one of the largest refugee movements  in history.  About 10% of Syrian refugees have sought safety in Europe.  Political divisions and nationalism have risen as countries argue over sharing the human burden. A further 6.5 million people are displaced inside Syria.

As people cross the Mediterranean, hundreds drown every week.  Coyotes and traffickers charge enormous sums to transport terrified men, women and children in unseaworthy boats.

The US has essentially denied entry to these terrified people.  And now we have a new policy called “extreme” vetting.

With the fall of Aleppo, people are being shot as they are running.  They didn’t get out in time to cross a sea, walk a continent, or beg for bread.  There is no better circumstance to breed terrorism than in the place of fear and hopelessness.  I hope we can realize this and start a new way – a human way. Not the “Me First” way.

I have watched the desparate social media pleas for help, and I am helpless.

Istanbul is a magnificent city that has seen the rise and fall of civilizations for 3000 years.  It was called Lygos when inhabited by Thracian tribes between the 13th and 11th centuries BC. It was colonised by the Greeks in the 7th century BC.  When the city  fell to the Roman Republic in AD 196 it was named Byzantium.  In 330 AD it was renamed Constantinople and made the new capital of the Roman Empire.  It is the birthplace  of the Greek Orthodox Church. In 1453 Constantinople then became the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

Its inhabitants have worshipped the plural gods of antiquity, The God of Christ, and The God of Mohammed.  Roman bricks still line boulevards, and spice is still sold in baskets the markets.  Laws and leaders have been shaped here. Byzantine emperor Justinian (527-565) extended the Byzantine Empire to its largest boundaries spreading from Palestine to the tip of Spain. He built the Hagia Sophia church and the organized law system called the Codex which was completed in 534.  Emperor Constantine reinvented the city as a thriving center of Christianity. On 29 May 1453, Sultan Mehmed II “the Conqueror”, entered Constantinople after a 53–day siege during which his cannon had torn a huge hole in the Walls of Theodosius II. Istanbul became the third capital of the Ottoman Empire.

After the First World War, the Armistice of Mudros decreed that Istanbul would be occupied by Allied Forces. Occupation of Constantinople by Allied forces ended on 23 September 1923.  Six days later the Republic of Turkey was founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Since 2002, the right-wing Justice and Development Party (AKP) has won pluralities in every general and local election. The current leader is Turkish President and former AKP Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.  In the Machiavellian style of the emperors and sultans before him, he is eliminating his opposition.  Kurds, DAISCH, and other groups are speaking through violence.  Last year they targeted Istanbul Atatürk, the eighteenth-busiest in the world.

I last went to Istanbul to depose a key Iraqi witness in a case.   Albert, the witness, bravely boarded an airplane for the first time in his life to fly away from his family and to give testimony about the abuses of an U.S. contractor.  He boarded he plane in Irbil, Iraq, and landed at Ataturk in the dark.  He had to fly at night so his plane would be less likely to be shot down.  And he did this all with faith in a stranger a million miles away to help right wrongs.

We brought Albert to the hotel where he would be deposed.  Albert thought that the minibar stash was a gift, and he took lots of bottles home to Irbil as the fridge was replenished mysteriously by maids every day.  He wandered Istanbul for a day and brought presents for his wife and daughters.  His eyes were alive with the thought of what it would be like to live in peace and safety for his family.  After the case was long over Albert and his family were able to make it to the U.S. where they now live in Detroit.

The Bosphorus River runs through the city, and it is a deep blue.  Walking along Roman roads, the smell of roasting lamb, diesel, and spice takes the mind back to a place and time it knows, but has never been.

Orhan Pamuk wrote Snow. This story follows Ka, an expatriate Turkish poet, as he wanders around the snowy city and gets caught up in the muddle of aimless Islamists, MPs, headscarf advocates, secularists, and a number of factions who die and kill in the name of highly contradictory ideals. Pamuk said:

I strongly feel that the art of the novel is based on the human capacity, though it’s a limited capacity, to be able to identify with “the other.” Only human beings can do this. It requires imagination, a sort of morality, a self-imposed goal of understanding this person who is different from us, which is a rarity.

Among the markets old and new, the seven lane highways, and the political violence, a spirit of  Rumi and his Sufi order  who whirl to remember God.  Reading Rumi shows us that ideas are universal.

Why should I seek? I am the same as
He. His essence speaks through me.
I have been looking for myself

از جمادی مُردم و نامی شدم
وز نما مُردم به حیوان سرزدم
مُردم از حیوانی و آدم شدم
پس چه ترسم؟ کی ز مردن کم شدم؟
حملهٔ دیگر بمیرم از بشر
تا برآرم از ملائک بال و پر
وز ملک هم بایدم جستن ز جو
کل شیء هالک الا وجهه
بار دیگر از ملک پران شوم
آنچه اندر وهم ناید آن شوم
پس عدم گردم عدم چو ارغنون
گویدم کانا الیه راجعون‎
I died as a mineral and became a plant,
I died as plant and rose to animal,
I died as animal and I was Man.
Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?
Yet once more I shall die as Man, to soar
With angels bless’d; but even from angelhood
I must pass on: all except God doth perish.
When I have sacrificed my angel-soul,
I shall become what no mind e’er conceived.
Oh, let me not exist! for Non-existence
Proclaims in organ tones,
To Him we shall return

Thirty-eight people were killed and 136 were wounded on Saturday in two explosions.  One of them was a car bomb outside a stadium that targeted police officers on duty for a soccer game. The second explosion was in a nearby park, and may have been a suicide bomb.

This is the most recent violence, and a continuation of the unrest.   On July 15, 2016 elements of the Turkish armed forces attempted a coup d’état,.  On July 21st, the Turkish government declared a State of Emergency in the country, giving the president and other top leaders extraordinary powers. Now Turkish authorities are carrying out a large-scale purge of people whom they suspect of having felt sympathy for the coup attempt and for allegiance to Fetullah Gülen, the Islamic preacher and business and education entrepreneur.

Gülen teaches a Sunni-Hanafi version of Islam.  Gülen believes in science, interfaith dialogue among the People of the Book, and multi-party democracy. He has initiated dialogue with the Vatican and some Jewish organizations.

Gülen is actively involved in the societal debate concerning the future of the Turkish state, and Islam in the modern world. He has been described as an imam “who promotes a tolerant Islam which emphasises altruism, hard work and education” and as “one of the world’s most important Muslim figures.

At this time Turkey has demanded extradition of Gülen, but the U.S. so far has refused to honor the request.  What will Trump do – align with the purge?  Promote tolerant Islam?  Bridge between religions?

Tolerance and peace are the highest and hardest works of humanity.  The only place to begin is to “identify with ‘the other.’ Only human beings can do this. It requires imagination, a sort of morality, a self-imposed goal of understanding this person who is different from us.”  Today is a good day to start.

History is written by the victors – for a while.  Custer was glorified for his grisly campaign and mourned when he died in the hills in northern Wyoming.  But a new consciousness arose when Helen Hunt Jackson wrote A Century of Dishonor and Dee Brown’s 1970  Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee was published. These books gave a voice to the history of American expansionism and the Native Americans’ displacement through forced relocation and effort to destroy the culture, religion, and way of life.

In the 1968 the American Indian Movement (AIM) was born.Its purpose was to address American Indian sovereignty, treaty issues, spirituality, and leadership, while simultaneously addressing incidents of police harassment and racism.  1969-1971 AIM occupied Alcatraz, and the next year it organized a march on Washington, D.C. “The Trail of Broken Treaties.

Feb. 20, 1962, John Glenn became an iconic explorer.  Breaking the trail into space and advancing technology on earth.  He died today.

Millions of people invented materials, electronics, fuels, and a myriad of binary codes to make Glenn’s three trips around the earth possible.  Five hours on Feb. 20, 1962 was a culmination of all of the technological aspirations of humankind.  The Friendship 7 Mission succeeded, and America showed its strength in invention and vision.  He followed and surpassed Yuri A. Gagarin and Gherman S. Titov, Alan B. Shepard and Virgil I. Grissom.

Behind good men, there are always good women. NASA’s “Computers in Skirts”  were mathematics and physics geniuses who calculated the trajectories for space missions and designed software to make the mission go. Katherine Johnson, a 2016 Medal of Freedom recipient, along with her colleagues Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson, served as the brains behind John Glenn  orbit and his safe return.  Margaret H. Hamilton led the team that created the on-board flight software for NASA’s Apollo command modules and lunar modules.

The contributions of icon John Glenn were watched around the world in 1962 are incalculable.  The quiet support of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn, Mary Jackson and Margaret Hamilton are also ticker tape worthy.  Bill Gates and Steve Jobs stand on their shoulders.   Mark Zuckerberg and the billions of FB’ers owe them all thanks.

The humanity, mastery and heroism of John Glenn are clear when we read his words:

“Zero G and I feel fine.”

“As I hurtled through space, one thought kept crossing my mind — every part of this rocket was supplied by the lowest bidder.”

“To sit back and let fate play its hand out and never influence it is not the way man was meant to operate.”

“I don’t know what you could say about a day in which you have seen four beautiful sunsets.

“If there is one thing I’ve learned in my years on this planet, it’s that the happiest and most fulfilled people I’ve known are those who devoted themselves to something bigger and more profound than merely their own self-interest.”

The words a leader uses, seals his reputation for the ages.  Words make worlds, and as communication technology develops,  words spread faster, and accuracy and clarity matter.

FDR’s radio fireside chats are eternal.  His words bring people together.

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”

TV amplified John Kennedy’s  words as he encouraged America to aim for the stars.

And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.

Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.

Obama, a master public speaker, moved enormous crowds.  He used the Whitehouse Webcam, Facebook, and Social Media to communicate.

“Yes we can.”

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

And now 140 characters is the cutting edge in Presidential communication.  It has not been inspirational.  How can Americans come together in a universe of divided news, smart phones, feeds, and fake news?  We hear only what conforms to our world view.

Who inspires us now and says the words that are worthy of the ages?  Where are Atticus Finch and Churchill?  Or do we live in the cynical  age of the celebrity and the Heisenberg multi-dimensional villain?

But then, I am reminded “never, never, never give up.”  Glenn failed many times, but he never quit.  In 1964, Glenn entered the Ohio Democratic primary running against incumbent Senator Stephen Young, however, an accident forced Glenn to leave the race.  In 1970 he ran for Senate again and lost.  On the third try in 1974, he won his Senate race.   It took a decade of failing and trying.  He tried to become President of the United States, and he failed.  But he became the oldest human to venture into space. He never quit.

There is a lesson for all of us in Glenn’s well-lived life.  It takes time, tries, and failures to make vision into reality.  And it takes the support of others.    It takes words that inspire and bring people together in common goals.

We never will succeed in any mission alone.  We must have  a common vision and the courage to set aside differences so that we can work to a greater end – – for many other than ourselves.  And we need the words that inspire and are worth remembering.