US Presidential Election 2016: Primary and Caucus Schedule

Primaries and caucuses are the mechanisms used by political parties to choose candidates for public office in states across the US.

 
There are three forms of primaries, the direct primary, indirect primary and caucus. In direct primaries, party members vote for their preferred candidates, while in an indirect one, the ballots are for delegates who will in turn vote for their favored candidates.
 
Unlike state-run primaries, caucuses are party-organized political forums which are usually held behind closed doors. Primaries and caucuses are typically held before each state or national level election. 

The first ever direct primary was organized by the Crawford County Democratic Party in Meadville, Pennsylvania, back in 1842. The practice was soon emulated by other political parties in other states across the nation. All fifty states, the District of Columbia, as well as the nine US territories, now depend exclusively on primaries and caucuses to determine a party's election nominee.
 
Election 2016 Primary and Caucus Schedule by Date [Some Dates Still Tentative]

• Monday, February 1st, 2016 - Iowa Caucuses
  
• Tuesday, February 9th, 2016 - New Hampshire Primaries
  
• Saturday, February 20th, 2016 - South Carolina Primaries and Election
  
• Tuesday, February 23rd, 2016 - Nevada Caucuses
  
• Super Tuesday - 12 states will hold primaries or caucuses on Tuesday, March 1, 2016.

From that point on, there are primaries or caucuses almost every week through June 2016. 

To see the complete schedule of primaries and caucuses across the country, go to http://2016.primary-caucus.org

Local Clarendon County Football Team Scores and Schedules - August 28, 2015

The first games for several of the county's high school football teams were held on Friday, August 28, 2015. Here are the results for all Clarendon County local HS Football teams:

• Manning HS Monarchs defeated the Summerton Scott’s Branch HS Eagles 53-12.
• The Clarendon Hall Saints lost to Patrick Henry 38-20.
• Laurence Manning Academy Swampcats defeated Augusta Christian 34-6 on the road.
• East Clarendon HS Wolverines lost to Green Sea 16-14 in an away game.

The following are links to the 2015 Football schedule, roster, and stats for Summerton and other local high schools across Clarendon County, SC:

• Clarendon Hall Saints
• East Clarendon High School Wolverines
• Laurence Manning Academy Swampcats
• Manning High School Monarchs
• Scott's Branch High School Eagles
  

* Check out MAXPREPS, a CBSSports.com web site for team standings and more complete statistics across the state.

Religious Leaders: Speaking Out on US Politics and Public Policy

Editorial: Religious leaders from all faiths should consider taking the opportunity to speak out on a wide range of public policy issues currently being raised and debated by politicians running in the upcoming 2016 Presidential Elections. It could prove enlightening. For example:

• Immigration - Finding a reasonable solution to this issue. Do we want to build a wall? Send all illegal immigrants home, including their children who were born in the US? Providing a workable plan for many of them to become legal residents... The candidates for President are currently all over the board on this issue which effects millions of Hispanic people already living and working in our country. What would be the most acceptable solutions for the Christian and other religious communities to support?
• Womens Rights - What is the right position Christians should take with regards to womens rights in the US? The political candidates are currently all over the map on the issues. Do we think candidates ought to be free to publicly disparage or show disrespect to women? Do we want to curtail healthcare services for women? Do we want government to tell a woman she can never get an abortion under any circumstance? Do we think women's pay across the US is not an issue? What is the role of a woman in US society today? Tomorrow? Religious leaders should probably speak out more about women's rights and their role in our society.
• Environmental Issues - Stewardship of the planet seems to be an issue of prime importance to Christians and other religious believers. The Pope has spoken out forcefully about the environment, but many politicians supported by Big Oil promptly attacked him. What about practices that are leading to destructive Climate Change? Its impact on our weather, food, water, life... Should we encourage drilling for oil in the Arctic Ocean and off our coasts, continue widespread fracking for oil and gas... We could use clear guidance from religious leaders on this crucial issue. It now appears our survival depends on it.

Like many others, I generally stop reading an article when it runs past 1 page. So let me just list some of the other major issues politicians are raising and taking a stance on heading into the 2016 Election. What are our religious leaders advising with regards to sound policies the community should support with regards to:

• Foreign Policy - Sending US troops into wars around the world? Use of drones by the US to kill people in other countries? ...
• Healthcare - Providing access to healthcare for all Americans, including the poor, the elderly...
• Voting Rights - Current efforts by many states to curtail voter registration?
• Gay Rights - Their civil rights with regards to marriage, restricting their access to certain government and businesses and services ...
• Political Campaign Funding - Allowing unlimited campaign funding by billionaires and major corporations to support their candidates?
• US Justice & Prison System - Unfair treatment of black citizens by police; the world highest rate of imprisonment of citizens ...
• Family Values - Sanctity of marriage, adultery run amuck, disrespectful behavior, unchecked greed, immorality in so many forms ...
• Equal Rights - Corporate welfare vs. welfare for poor individuals and families; Big corporations and billionaires owning 90% of all wealth; excessive pay of bosses vs. workers.

It could help many people to make a better choice in the upcoming election if religious leaders spoke more to some of these major policy issues and the public positions and behavior of the current crop of political candidates. They don't necessarily need to talk about particular political parties, but should focus on public policy issues and the type of characteristics and behavior we ought to look for in political candidates from all parties.

What do you think? Should religious leaders speak out or remain quiet?

Local Clarendon County Football Team Scores and Upcoming Schedules - August 21, 2015

The following are links to the upcoming 2015 Football schedule, roster, and stats for Summerton and other local high schools across Clarendon County, SC:

• Clarendon Hall Saints
• East Clarendon High School Wolverines
• Laurence Manning Academy Swampcats
• Manning High School Monarchs
• Scott's Branch High School Eagles

The first game for several of the county's high school football teams were held on Friday, August 21, 2015. Here are the results:

• The Clarendon Hall Saints football team had a home non-conference game vs. John Paul II (Ridgeland, SC) today @ 7:30p. Clarendon Hall won 56-12.
• The Summerton Scott's Branch Eagles football team had a home non-conference game vs. Lake View today @ 7:30p. Scott's Branch lost to Lake View 32-12.

* Check out MAXPREPS, a CBSSports.com web site for team standings and more complete statistics across the state.

Renewable Energy Solutions and Micro-Energy Technologies

There are no technological or economic reasons why the US and the rest of the world cannot largely completely replace fossil fuels with renewable sources of energy over the next 20 years.

• A recent study by Stanford researchers found that using existing technology, the world can abandon fossil fuels and adopt renewable energy in as little as two decades.
• The National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) also released a study on Renewable Electricity Futures which found that using a diverse array of commercially available technologies, the US could easily supply 80 percent of its electricity needs with renewables by 2050.
• The Union of Concerned Scientists also recently published a plan for renewable energy to provide 80 percent of our electricity by 2050.

EIA - Energy in Brief As of 2014, Europe accounted for 90% of the installed global offshore wind turbine capacity. China has installed more wind capacity than the US and has half the global market in solar cells. Currently, German and China lead the world in clean-energy exports. US power plants used renewable energy sources to generate about 13% of its electricity in 2014.

With regards to cost/benefits, in addition to curbing climate change causing greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy will also contribute to improved human health. Minimizing climate impacts and reducing health costs would generate trillions of dollars of cumulative savings and generate hundreds of thousands of new jobs.

Cost and political will are challenges that will need to be addressed, but the bottom line is that its going to happen - it's just a matter of time. For all our sakes, though, the sooner the better.

Overabundance of Renewable Energy Germany currently generates about 25% of its electricity by renewable energy sources and expects to generate 35% of its electricity from renewables by 2020. This has created a problem during certain times of day when the surge of solar and wind power flooding into the grid exceeds the demand for electricity, resulting in negative prices. Similar situations are starting to occurr in Hawaii, Texas, New Mexico, etc. - Read "The Zero Marginal Cost Society"

The following are a few selected links to alternative energy sources that we need to consider using in cities and states across the U.S.

• Fuel Cells & Energy Servers
• Geothermal Technology
• Hydroelectric Power
• Micro-Hydro Technology
• Hydrogen Energy
• Ocean & Tidal Energy
• Small Modular Nuclear Reactors
• Solar Power Solutions
• Wind Power Solutions 
  

  • Distributed Micro-Wind Energy

Several alternative energy technologies that are often forgotten in discussions include Micro-Hydro and Micro-Wind solutions. Check out these recent articles:

Micro-Hydro Energy

• US Army extends call for micro-hydropower project at West Point

• Harnessing Hydropower From Urban Water Pipes

• Why has 'microhydro' been neglected as a solution to energy poverty?

Micro-Wind

• Micro Wind Turbines Still In Play As US Wind Energy Vaults To #1 in the World

• Micro-Wind Turbine Array Powers Intel's Headquarters

• Micro-Wind Turbines and Distributed Wind Energy

Finally, South Carolina is actually in pretty good shape as we move forward with the transformation of our state's Energy infrastructure - and our citizens seem to be very receptive to the changes that need to be made. See collection of recent news articles.