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MOTIVE
TO ENGAGE INTO THE POLITICAL PROCESS, AGAIN ° I ran for a seat in the US Congress in 2002 (FL CD 22),
back then I did it as an INDEPENDENT (NPA, No Party Affiliation), despite that I have
been a registered Democrat all my life. I had to run as NPA because I was
being -then- ostracized by the DNC, in some way similar to what happened to
Bernie in 2016. I was a Democratic Socialist back then, and still am. Since then I have been
teaching Science, most of the time Physics (in Florida's high schools and at
university level [National University of Asuncion, Paraguay]). For the last 14 years it did not
cross my mind to run for Congress again.
° Yet, unexpectedly, Congressman -Patrick Murphy
(D)- announced at the end of March 2015 that he would be aspiring to the US Senate position
made available when Marco Rubio (R) become a candidate for the US
Presidency.
Suddenly, I had this rare opportunity to run
again, and it took me only 24 hours to decide that! Why to
run?
Because ...
for 4 decades I have been and
Environmentalist, and we are confronting serious environmental problems!
- [1] At the local level the discharges
of freshwater from Lake Okeechobee are ruining the ecology of the estuaries on both sides of Florida (Tampa,
and Indian River Lagoon) affecting fisheries, tourism industry, and quality of
life.
- [2] At the national and international
level we are also in huge trouble:
{a} Sea-Level Rise
witch brings Global Flooding,
{b}
Poisoning with CO2 of the air we breath, now at 400 ppm and rising
quick at 3ppm/year (and according to OSHA 1000
ppm is toxic, at current trends we will be there in about 200 years),
Furthermore, we are approaching a 2 degrees centigrade (or close to 3.6
degrees Fahrenheit) over the temperature of the 'pre-industrial era'.
According to Scientists, those 2 degrees will bring an 'avalanche' melting and
dramatic sea-level rise by 2100 (please, watch the movie linked to on the
right column >>>).
{c}
Traumatic displacement of niches caused by the dramatic
Climate Change (Global Warming),
which causes extinction of species, and human migrations like never seen
before. The temperature variation is unrelenting, yet the yearly increase of a
few tenths of a degree escapes the attention
of common folk, however, it is quite noticeable to the trained Scientist.
FURTHERMORE:
1. AMERICA NEEDS MORE SCIENTISTS IN CONGRESS !
- Would you go to a hospital where instead
of Doctors they would prefer to have "jungle sorcerers"? Would you trust
the effectiveness of your prescription drugs if those were made by "medicine men"? Would you expect progress in
Astrophysics
if all NASA needed were people with art degrees?
- We only have
11 Congressmen with
mastery in Science
(out
of a total of 535)?
That's less than
2% of them. In 21st century America,
wouldn't it be desirable to have -perhaps- 50% of Scientist among our legislators?
Mentally organized, capable, resourceful, broad knowledge, ...
- According to a recent PEW report (as well
as an older Gallup poll), almost the totality of our National Academy of Sciences
is made up of non-believers. That probably explains why we have so
few scientists in public office. It is a reality that very religious folk distrust non-believers, and that
is despite that NAS is composed of 2,300 top American Scientists, of which 210 have received
the Nobel Prize.
- The
"non-believer barrier" has to be breached, the environment is
suffering!
- Many in Congress despise science, and are
in denial of Global Warming. That delays progressive action on that area,
and that obtuse-minded people includes the Chair of the Senate Environmental Commission, Sen. Jim Inhofe.
- The environment is paying a hefty
price. We need quick: EQUALITY FOR ALL!!
2.
AMERICA IS MOVING AWAY FROM DEMOCRACY, TOWARDS OLIGARCHY !
- I had a difficult job 14 years ago (during
my 2002 political campaign) explaining to people that being a
Democratic-Socialist, did not mean being a "Commie". That aspect of
my campaign was quite frustrating. Therefore, after that
election, I kissed goodbye to politics. I rather skip running again, than
changing my authenticity.
- (Please, read
article by award-winning journalist -Bob Norman-
"Enter
the Xuna Xone"
from October of 2002 where he calls me a Democratic-Socialist,
a term that -back then- nobody knew what it really meant). In
Europe they use the term: "Social-Democrat". http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2002-10-03/news/enter-the-xuna-xone/
- IF NOT BECAUSE OF BERNIE SANDERS's
INTENTION TO CAMPAIGN FOR THE PRESIDENCY, I WOULDN'T BE RUNNING FOR CONGRESS
! - IT WOULD HAVE BEEN AN EFFORT IN FUTILITY!
-
- It was on March 16, 2015, when at the
DEC monthly meeting (I was then a member of the Democratic Executive
Committee, Martin County) the Chair announced to us that he had received a call from
Rep. Murphy. Patrick indicated his intention to run for the US
Senate, thus vacating his Congressional seat.
- As indicated above, it took me only 24
hours to make up my mind. Within a few days, I did announce to all
Democrats my
intention to run for that open seat. On April
14, 2015, I made the formal announcement at the 'Democratic Spring
Fling Party', where I had 4 minutes to address those attending.
- Sen. Sanders had not announced his
campaign yet, but
the expectation was that he would do that soon. Surely, on May 26, 2015
he made clear his intention to become the next US
President. That was 41 days after I had announced my
campaign for the US Congress (FL-18)
3. WHY TO ELECT XUNA TO CONGRESS ?
- There are many important issues to
focus on, and I COVERED THEM ALL on those many pages of my "legacy
websites" of 2002 (especially on www.Xuna.net [detailed coverage of
issues], but also at www.Xuna.com [progress of
that campaign]). Please, click on the links, or at the button above titled "LEGACY
2002". You can read about the bullets of my platform after
this paragraph.
4. TIME HAS PROVEN
Pr. XUNA TO BE RIGHT! WHY?
My platform has not changed an iota in those 14 years
since 2002. Yet, society came a lot closer to my views:
-
Equal rights for LGBT
(I
strongly supported it, and
it was then a "4-letter" word),
-
End of embargo to
Cuba (in Cuban-American circles was considered blasphemy ),
-
Universal
Healthcare
(Was I too liberal then? Thanks to Sen. Sanders, many more now agree),
-
Dying with dignity
(Euthanasia, is still an issue to be solved, this avant-garde is ahead
of the pack),
-
Maternity leave
(now a few days 'non-paid' in America, not
enough; it is more than 4 months 'paid' -and about a year
'non-paid'- in most of Europe),
-
Ecology,
I've been
concerned with the environment since the 1970's (please, read my letter to Pres.
Carter -and to Congress- dating back to 1979, available in its
entirety at www.OilDepletion.com )
-
Livable Wages (the distribution of wealth is still highly
skewed, more than ever), our country is moving towards a full Oligarchy,
where the rich rein.
-
Common-sense and compassion with Immigrants
(progress has been made, yet plenty of hurdles; the threat of
deporting families is imminent, despite they have -for decades- resided in America).
-
Iraq's war
was
-admittedly- a huge
mistake, and -it seems- I was the only one in Florida against it!
(Please, again, read
article by award-winning journalist -Bob Norman- "Enter
the Xuna Xone")
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2002-10-03/news/enter-the-xuna-xone/
-
Solar energy and
alternatives
are up (good progress, yet we are still behind Germany and many other
Western countries),
-
Middle East peace, I
used to say that it requires "balance" (supporting
"friends" rather than "dignity", is shortsighted and bound to fail).
"NO THEOCRACIES, ONLY DEMOCRACIES"
- was my motto in 2002.
- Etc, etc. (please, visit www.Xuna.net
and check for yourself my "old" platform).
5.
MY MAJOR DRIVER IS THE PLANET'S HEALTH !
- Realtors say: when buying a house
focus on these 3 things "Location, Location and Location". For me
the major incentive to embark on this campaign trail can also be
summarized in 3 words "ECOLOGY,
ECOLOGY and ECOLOGY".
- The damage to our environment is
often irreparable. We live as if we were to be on Earth just a few more
decades, as if "Armageddon", "Rapture" or the "Second coming" was just around the
corner, so... why to bother?
- For me it is of paramount importance to be watchful with the health of
our globe, our flora and fauna are -currently- struggling, many species
are becoming extinct in record time (geologically speaking).
Global policies are short-termed and
inadequate, and huge environmental problems are looming, stalking us
for a chance to jump on. Our long term survival is at stake.
- Therefore, the 2 most important
issues of my 2016 campaign are:
[1]
LOWER CO2, and -in the Treasure Coast- [2]
SAVE THE ESTUARIES also referred to
as: BUY THE
LAND or
SEND THE WATER SOUTH.
- For detail description on those issues,
please click "ENVIRONMENTALIST".
6. HELP ELECT PROGRESSIVES IN FLORIDA, WE NEED THEM!
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