Voting stuff

Please Watch Bill Moyers on PBS tonight I love Bill and he's interviewing Mark Crispin Miller , who I consider a hero fighting for your right to vote and have your vote counted.
Show link here

Block the Vote
Will the GOP's campaign to deter new voters and discard Democratic ballots determine the next president?
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. & GREG PALAST
Posted Oct 30, 2008 11:10 AM

Over several months, the GOP politicos in Colorado stonewalled every attempt by Rolling Stone to get an answer to the massive purge - ten times the average state's rate of removal.

- Since the last presidential race, "States used dubious 'list management' rules to scrub at least 10 million voters from their rolls."


New results middleman spotted - FL, KS, IL, CA, CO, NC, SC, NY, NM, TX
The following locations are using software and, in some cases, hosting voter registration data and results on the servers that belong to a Florida company called SOE Software: (CA) Contra Costa, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Clara, Shasta, Ventura; (CO) Arapahoe; (FL) Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Pasco, Palm Beach, St. Lucie; (IL) DuPage, McHenry, Lake; (KS) Johnson; (NC) North Carolina Board of Elections; (NM) Dona Ana, (NY) New York State Board of Elections; (SC) South Carolina State Election Commission; (TX) Dallas, Tarrant, Williamson.
Headlined on 10/16/08:
by Bev Harris Page 1 of 2 page(s)
www.opednews.com


Ohio Litigating Its Way Through Election Cycle
Partisan Distrust Rampant in Swing State
By Mary Pat Flaherty
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 17, 2008; Page A02

Friday on Bill Moyers

Yaaaay, Bill is interviewing Mark Crispin Miller tomorrow!!!!

Moving on.
hat tip Bradblog
Funniest caption contest ever

grrrrrrrrrrr

They did it again? They're tryin to fix it? I don't know what is going on with blogrolling. *sigh* Damned hackers

Badtux the Snarky Penguin
Constantly Amazed, Yet Never Surprised
Outta the Cornfield
Jonestown
Guys from Area5 1
Welcome Back to Pottersville
Scoobie Davis Online
Ketchup is a Vegetable
ROTUS
Ornery Bastard
Alternate Brain
BlondeSense
johniwanski.com
Dyre Portents
Pooflingers
The Political Cat
skippy the bush kangaroo
They Gave Us A Republic...
The Great Endarkenment
One Pissed Off Veteran
distributorcap NY
The Democratic Daily.com
Monkeyfister
Leftblogistan
WTF is it Now?
INSTAPUTZ
Hullabaloo
The Apostate
The Barefoot Bum


The big kids on the playground that I normally don't link to
Daily Kos: State of the Nation
Feministe - In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set
AMERICA blog
MyDD :: Direct Democracy for People-Powered Politics
Bitch Ph.D.
Oliver Willis
Booman Tribune ~ A Progressive Community
Eschaton
The Daily Dish By Andrew Sullivan
Fire Dog Lake
tbogg


News

Mother Jones
The Nation
Bradblog
TPM
TPM Muckraker
OB Rag
Voice of San Diego.org
San Diego Reader
Crooks and Liars
Think Progress
Huffington Post.com
Alternet.org
NY Times
UK Guardian
LA Times
Washington Post
San Diego Citybeat

PR Consultant Gave Palin a Boost into the National Spotlight

Source: Washington Post, October 10, 2008

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's meteoric rise to prominence on the national political scene after only 21 months in office came about with the help of a media relations and marketing consulting firm hired to draw national attention to the state's proposed natural gas pipeline project. Alaska's Department of Natural Resources paid public relations expert Marcia Brier of Needham, Massachusetts $31,000 to pitch stories to the national media that promoted Palin as the driving force behind the pipeline and getting the state legislature to go along with it. Brier sent press releases to national media outlets portraying Palin as an "upstart governor" and crusader against Big Oil, the same story line Palin now uses in her campaign with John McCain. Some state legislators take exception to the portayal of Palin as the sole force behind the pipeline, when many other people worked on the project. Once the PR campaign began, Palin was away from the Legislature so much that lawmakers started sporting red and white "Where's Sarah?" buttons. Among Brier's past clients is a 23 year-old Saudi prince, Bader al-Saud, whom she helped to get a plea deal in a vehicular homicide case after he was arrested for drinking and driving in Martha's Vineyard in 2005.

Local polls

Couldn't find a debate poll for local CBS (KFMB radio) but this was prominently displayed


Which way are you going to vote on Prop 8?
I'm voting yes, I think gay marriage should be banned. 55%
I'm voting no, same-sex couples should be allowed to wed. 39%
I haven't made up my mind yet. 5%

And this is on the politics page.
If the election were today, who would you vote for?
McCain/Palin 43%
Obama/Biden 50%
Other 3%
I'm not voting this year 4%

local 10 ABC
Who won the third and final presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain?

Percentage of 5333 Votes
Sen. John McCain won. 2275 43%
Sen. Barack Obama won. 2944 55%
I'm not sure. 37 1%
I didn't watch.771%

5 local CW couldn't find a poll but #1 on the "hot topics" made me laugh

Hot Topics for October 15
Finding a Job
Score: Small Business Help
Get a Good Night's Sleep
Walk a Mile in Her Shoes

I couldn't find a poll on the local NBC page, but I spotted this:

Former CIA Director From San Diego Pleads Guilty

Finally, on the local Fox channel website, I couldn't find a debate poll, but I found this:

Race for the White House
The McCain campaign has been accused of using negative ads to distract voters from the real issues. Do you agree?
Yes. The character attacks on Obama are lowball. 66%
No. All tactics are fair as Election Day draws near. 34%

keee-rap, fuckers are getting desperate:

Breaking: GOP Attempts to Disenfranchise 600,000 Voters In Ohio

Experts warn of Nov. 4 voting meltdowns
By BEN SMITH & AVI ZENILMAN 10/15/08 5:10 AM EDT

Bummer, but Scoobie makes us laugh after the bad news

Dow plunges 733 as new data points to recession

Still reading a little history on why this shitstorm may be happening...

Must View -- over at Scoobie Davis Online
Palin and the Chipmunks:

I laughed my ass off.

I love this ad

Ok, so my kid is nineteen, what can I say?

Molly McMooseturd lies

Palin Opposed Plan To Bring Alaska’s Natural Gas To The Lower 48 States

At no time did Palin or her government cite the desire to preserve Alaskan gas for the lower 48 states. The Sempra terminal began operations just four months after Palin announced unconditional support for the Marathon and ConocoPhillips request and a month before DOE approved their plans to export gas to Asia.




(You like picture? Please steal.)



In local gassy news: Regulators Resist Environmental Review of Importing LNG

Sempra Energy, conspiring to increase pollution, crap all over regulations, and hey, they've already proven that they can screw us with higher bills.


Poll: Obama leads in Mich., Wis., Minn., Colo.
Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008
(AP) - MICHIGAN

Acorn bad, why Mcain at Acorn rally?

Russia

Naomi Klein speaks of free market reform in communist countries (9 min video)

Norilsk Nickel: A Tale of Unbridled Capitalism, Russian Style
by Anton Foek, Special to CorpWatch October 9th, 2008

In Russia, grim financial news doesn't keep the rich from spending
Tomorrow will take care of itself, shoppers say. As long as there's cash in hand, the rubles will keep flowing at luxury shops.
By Megan K. Stack, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer October 12, 2008
MOSCOW -- Money or no money, Eduard Strizhev wanted his Porsche.

Russia conducts ballistic missile tests
Agence France-Presse
Published: Sunday October 12, 2008

Canada joined the Group of Six: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States of America.[1] The finance ministers of these countries meet several times a year to discuss economic policies. Their work is supported by regular, functional meetings of officials, including the G7 Finance Deputies.[2]

It is not to be confused with the G8, which is the annual meeting of the heads of government of the aforementioned nations, plus Russia.

Hmm, what do you know? A woman might have prevented this clusterfuck on Wall Street. Why am I not surprised?

The Noxious Fox Fucks continue to blame brown people for the mess that old white rich guys made.

Election 08: The Difficulty Stealing It This Time

Scoop NZ
Friday, 10 October 2008, 3:46 pm
Column: Michael Collins
Election 2008: The Difficulty Stealing It This Time

Image cc
New 2008 Democratic Primary Voters Are The Key to Election Protection
Michael Collins Independent News
(Wash. DC) There's one major obstacle blocking a theft of the 2008 presidential election. It's highly significant and challenges even the most devious minds. That obstacle is the "net new" Democratic primary voters" in 2008. "Net new" Democratic primary voters represent the difference between primary turnout in 2004 and 2008. More on that in a moment.
If you think that 2000 and 2004 were free and fair elections and that the idea of election fraud is specious, that's fine. You might want to review some of the following.
Al Gore won the 2000 election by over 500,000 votes. He did not become the president and was denied a recount by the court that made Bush the president. Stolen election. Case closed.
2004 was not a "red versus blue" election and the winner is still in the U.S. Senate. The red segment of the total vote (the rural U.S.) was down from 23% of the vote in 2000 to 16% in 2004, with two million less Bush votes, in actual terms, in 2004. Bush "won" 2004 through a fictitious increase in "big city" voting ("big cities" are defined in the exit polls as those with greater than 500,000 population).
Bush lost rural ("red") votes, his base, yet won the election. At the same time, we're asked to believe that there was a 66% increase in "big city" turnout in 2004, with Bush doubling his vote total there compared to 2000. This is absurd (the real figure is closer to a 13% to 15% turnout increase for "big cities" according to actual results). But that 66% "big city" turnout increase is what the exit pollsters, sponsored by the major media consortium, had to do to make Bush's reported vote count consistent with the final exit poll reported the day after the election. (See Election 2004: The Urban Legend and Notes from the Underground)
The same people who stole those two elections just took $840 billion of your money and are giving it to their Wall Street donors. They're the same people who started a war with Iraq based on documented lies and who continued it for five years, with a combined death toll of over one million Iraqi civilians and thousands of U.S. soldiers. They are the people who won't correct the lie and insist on more of the same. These people resolutely ignore the looming climate changes to the planet that forecast death to tens of millions and the likelihood of multiple scenes like those after Hurricane Katrina.
Here's the problem for the election thieves. Their strategies all rely on keeping people from registering, keeping those registered away from the polls, and the magic of electronic voting and tabulation. It won't work this time. But first, here's a quick look at the strategies in place.
The most effective and enduring is the disenfranchisement of ex-felons, citizens who have served their time and are no longer charged with anything. Florida, Texas and Virginia account for nearly 1.5 million citizens, largely poor and black who were denied the right to vote. They paid their debt to society but they can't participate as citizens because their vote is stolen by the remnants of a racist inspired post reconstruction movement in both the former Confederate states and cooperating state legislatures across the country.
Voter suppression also includes tactics like false notices announcing changes of election dates; police cruisers at intersections near voting places; threats that voter will be challenged; poorly trained poll workers who send registered voters away; special identification requirements proven to reduce the vote (e.g., photo identification); and much, much more.
The newest rage is "cleansing" centralized registration database. The Florida pre 2000 voter registration purge of tens of thousands of minority voters cost Al Gore the election and inspired federal policies supporting registration cleansing around the country.
Then there are the seemingly endless examples of electronic voting machines improperly recording and counting votes plus security problems. There are no real methods of checking electronic voting. Even if you could and proved fraud, state recount laws are very difficult to invoke and highly restrictive. In Virginia and Florida, for example, it is illegal to recount the paper forms for optical scan voting machines as part of a recount.
What a total mess and a complete mockery of the democracy that we deserve. But when you add up all of these strategies, based on past performance, they work at the margins - maybe a 3-4% shift in votes to the Republican candidate.
"Net New" Democratic Primary VotersThere will still be election fraud at multiple levels in 2008. It's a national tradition dating back to the Whig Party chasing off immigrant voters in the early 1800's. But in terms of outcome, this election can be an accurate reflection of the wishes of a majority of voters even with the typical switched votes and varieties of voter suppression.
The solution to election fraud and the best policy for election protection is voter increases accounted for by those "net new" Democratic primary voters. The voter turnout in the presidential primaries was extraordinary in many states. In some cases, like Virginia, the total voters in 2008 more than doubled the total from 2004.
The surge of voter turnout in the primaries began in the mid Atlantic states and carried on through the southeastern seaboard. In addition, swing states showed the same extraordinary trend, a trend that helped Obama win with "net new" primary voters.
At the same time, turnout in the contested Republican primaries was paltry by comparison. Clearly, Republicans were not motivated.
For example, look at the mid and southeastern Atlantic results, the states that gave Sen. Obama a clean sweep.
Click to enlargeThere were 4.9 million voters in the 2008 Democratic Primary and 2.6 million in 2004. That's 2.3 million "net new" Democratic primary voters for 2008. + North Carolina had state caucuses in 2004. The 2004 Democratic primary figure is an estimate. (Source CNN 2004, 2008)
In the mid and southeastern Atlantic states, there were nearly 4.9 million Democrats voting in primaries compared to 2.2 million Republicans. With the exception of Delaware and Maryland, the states above are traditionally Republican states. Democrats dwarfed Republicans in 2008 primary turnout. In addition, Democratic turnout nearly doubled from 2004 to 2008. Democratic primary votes increased from 2.6 million in 2004 to 4.9 million in 2008 (using the estimate for N.C. 2004), an increase of 2.3 million "net new" Democratic primary voters.
Let's look at the critical swing states. A similar, somewhat less dramatic pattern emerges. The one exception to the pattern is Florida. The Republican state legislature moved the Florida primary back to late January. The Democratic National Committee warned that the election could not be used to select delegates to the national convention. This substantially suppressed turnout by Democrats. While Florida Democrats doubled their 2004 turnout, they were nearly equaled by Florida Republicans who faced the same restrictions on the early primary.
Click to enlargeThere were 5.8 million voters in the 2008 Democratic Primary and 2.7 million in 2004.That's 3.1 million "net new" Democratic primary voters for 2008.(Source CNN 2004, 2008)
These four critical swing states all went Republican in the last two presidential elections. But they show a pattern similar to the trend begun in the mid and southeastern Atlantic states. These primaries saw 5.8 million Democratic primary voters compared to 3.9 million Republicans. The Democrats more than doubled their 2004 primary voter total, 2.7 million voters, to 5.8 million in 2008. That's a 3.1 million increase in Democratic primary voters. These figures are in line with the mid and southeastern Atlantic states.
The critical factor is that these "net new" Democratic primary voters were not turned away from the polls by the traditional election fraud strategies. They're on record as voting in the most recent election, and they're highly likely to turnout for the general election, without any real impediments to vote. It's axiomatic that primary voters do just that.
Newly Registered Voters Increase Substantially But They're Not Enough
One more factor to consider is voter registration in these states. There were major voter registration drives in the southeastern Atlantic states. The least likely Obama state, South Carolina, has seen 240,000 newly registered voters. That figure could approach 300,000. North Carolina has 600,000 new registered voters with 48% Democrats, 21% Republicans, and 31% Independents. There's a strong tilt toward black voters and the 18-24 age group. Georgia voter registration drives have been intense as well. A pattern similar to North Carolina is emerging in Georgia with one county, Bibb, reporting a 20% increase in black voter registration compared to 1% for whites. Of Georgia's 400,000 newly registered, there's an almost even split between black and white registrants. Adding Maryland and Delaware, these states have about 1.7 million newly registered voters. They also have 3.1 million "net new" 2008 Democratic primary voters.
Virginia is now a key swing state. Northern Virginia and the state's major cities statewide are solidly Democratic. Overall, Virginia has 300,000 newly registered voters with 42% under 24 years of age. Ohio has over 660,000 newly registered voters, with 19% living in counties that Kerry won (140,000) and 1% in Bush counties (5,000). There are almost 800,000 new voters in Florida and Democrats predominate, trailed by Republicans, and Independents. The youth vote of registered voters has increased from 4% in 2000 to 14% in 2008. Missouri will have over 200,000 newly registered voters. Combined, these swing states have about 2.0 million newly registered voters and 3.1million "net new" 2008 Democratic primary voters.
These registration trends, particularly in the critical swing states, offer some hope regarding election fraud. Somewhere around 65% of newly registered voters actually turn out to vote. But they're not enough to solidify a majority victory in the reported vote count for the majority voting.
The Net New Democratic Primary Voters Represent the Ultimate Election Protection
Voter registration in the swing states and throughout the country are up significantly and they favor Sen. Obama's candidacy. But there were also significant increases in voter participation and new registrations from 2000 to 2004 with an emphasis on the youth and minority voters. This is very good news since it shows an expansion of citizens exercising their fundamental rights. The 2008 shifts in demographics in the newly registered will benefit Obama's campaign. However, this is an existing trend, not a new wave of voters who can be assured of voting; voters who will face few if any impediments getting into the voting booth.
It is those extraordinary increases in primary voting that represent the new element in the election process. These voters were not seen in the 2004 primary. They were on the rolls for the 2008 primary and, without question, eligible for the 2008 general election. Who are they? We don't know for sure but the simple answer is, they're citizens who were motivated enough to vote in this primary cycle, elections frequently ignored by large numbers of voters.
The swing states had 3.1 million net new primary voters in 2008 and an aggregate 2.0 million increase in newly registered voters. There may be some overlap but the primaries took place at the start of the year in these states and the registration drives for the general election took off after the primaries. So they should be viewed as largely discrete figures.
These net new primary voters create problems for election thieves. If we assume a 20% turnout increase in the four swing states considered, that comes to a total of 23 million voters. The 3.1 million net new primary voters represent 14% of that total. They can all vote. They're all registered and they all voted in the most recent election. They can't be turned away easily. They will be unlikely to become confused or intimidated by the traditional voter suppression tricks.
The only fraud strategies available are through electronic voting machines and outright changes in vote totals. Thus, with fewer tools (disenfranchisement and suppression are out for this group); election fraud would need to wipe out 14% of the estimated vote.
That's to obvious and that's why the "net new" voters from the Democratic primaries in these four key swing states, the mid and southeastern Atlantic states, and any other state fitting this 2008 primary voting pattern represent the best assurance against election fraud available.
Internet researcher anaxarchos made the point in blunt terms in a communication to the author:
"It is not enough to steal votes. You need a place to stuff them. You can sell cocaine but in the end you have to explain how your Starbucks franchise brings in $80 million per year. There will be widespread fraud and caging and suppression but, as of today, I see no possible place to stuff it. It was hard enough in 2004 and that was 'close'."
It's as though the people are looking at the election thieves and saying, "Go ahead. Make my day."
END
This article is dedicated to TruthIsAll, anaxarchos, Mark Crispin Miller, Richard Hayes Phillips, Michael Keefer, Jonathan Simon, and all the other independent election fraud researchers and the election protection activists who exercise their rights as citizens tell the truth about our election system and results. Also, special thanks are extended to Alastair Thompson and all those at "Scoop" Independent News for their years of support for democracy in the United States.
This article may be reproduced in whole or part with attribution of authorship, a link to this article, and acknowledgment of images.
*****************

Molly McMooseturd

A flaming hot turd is crowned.

'Hockey Mom' Palin Greeted By "Resounding (Almost Deafening) Boos" At Hockey Game (VIDEO)

Crappy Fox news smears, Acorn myths debunked (short video)

Blogged by Brad Friedman on 10/12/2008 1:10PM
1.3 Million Reasons the GOP Propaganda Dept. Created the ACORN 'Voter Fraud' Lie
And Some FACTS to Help Counter the GOP's Cynical 'Dixie-Chicking' of ACORN...
By the way, in case you're wondering, this is the real reason --- about 1.3 million of them, actually --- for the GOP's desperate ACORN "voter fraud" scam...

Goodbye Bush

My buddy Anna is the singer on Goodbye Bush. Man, artists are fun aren't they? I really wanted to drive up to LA to see her, because I can't think of anything more fun than seeing silly Disney films with her. She's pretty awesome.

Squirrels and a hawk

This was taken at least a week ago. My neighbors dump food in the grass.


The rodents were not out this morning.
I heard the reason for that before I saw it.

Let's break through the denial, mmmkay?

You're not crazy and neither is most of America. Nor are "they," (yeah, the mythical "they, out there, I don't actually know any of these people, but they're out there, I just know it") nuttier than fruitcakes, or dumber than rocks. The election was stolen in o4.

Hi Mark,
How is it that when "our side" (for lack of a better term) tries to expose the ample and irrefutable Republican thievery and election fraud of recent years it gets tossed aside as "conspiracy theories" and almost no one of relevance gives it any credit--but as soon as the Repugnicans start spreading their thinly-veiled falsehoods of Democratic "voter fraud" not only they're NOT considered conspiracies--oh no no, God forbid! They're actually all over the media as legitimate allegations, plus they get immediate and overwhelming legislative attention, and vote-restricting laws are passed almost instantly to counteract this nonexistent B.S.
I'd sure like to know how they do it, how they manage to be such magicians in manipulation of the public opinion. "We" (whoever that motley crew is) should studiously learn how it's done, and start using the same tools to shoo these slimebuckets back into the holes they crawled out of. Let's make lemonade out of this huge lemon called "American politics".
best,
XXXX


AS GOES OHIO... Keynote Address


Miller on The "Trinity" of Reform



He mentions petrodollars? Man, I can't read any more than three or four pages of this book and I'm crying. No, folks, it ain't some sappy, fiction, love story, I haven't read that crap since I was fifteen, I happen to like real men.

I wonder if some McCain/Palin fans are confusing reality with movies?

These are movies.



Miss Congeniality (2000)



Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous (2005)


Sarah Palin is NOT starring in Miss Congeniality 3.

The realities are much uglier.

Republican rallies have adopted an increasingly incendiary tone towards Barack Obama, with shouts of "kill him", "treason" and "terrorist" interrupting speeches by John McCain and Sarah Palin.





Legislative Panel: Palin Abused Authority
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 10, 2008
Filed at 8:48 p.m. ET

Left, William Thomas Cain/Getty; Right, Al Grillo/The Associated Press
A committee investigating Gov. Sarah Palin found that she unlawfully abused her authority in firing Walter Monegan, right, the state’s public safety commissioner.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Sarah Palin unlawfully abused her power as governor by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper, the chief investigator of an Alaska legislative panel concluded Friday. The politically charged inquiry imperiled her reputation as a reformer on John McCain's Republican ticket.

This is what the hate from Right wing talk radio, bloggers and FOX News creates

Crooks and Liars exposes the nasty, hateful, McCain supporters.


NOW PBS Driven to Despair
NOW investigates the connection between high gas prices and the housing crisis.

Tonight on Bill Moyers

Oy. Despite what the right-wing nut-jobs are screaming, here is The Gist of the ACORN Story

I miss my blogroll, dang it

So here is a temporary one.

Badtux the Snarky Penguin
Outta the Cornfield
Jonestown
Guys from Area5 1
Welcome Back to Pottersville
Scoobie Davis Online
Ketchup is a Vegetable
ROTUS
Ornery Bastard
Alternate Brain
BlondeSense
johniwanski.com
Dyre Portents
Pooflingers
The Political Cat
skippy the bush kangaroo
They Gave Us A Republic...
The Great Endarkenment
One Pissed Off Veteran
distributorcap NY
The Democratic Daily.com
Monkeyfister
Leftblogistan
WTF is it Now?
INSTAPUTZ
Hullabaloo
The Apostate
The Barefoot Bum


The big kids on the playground that I normally don't link to
Daily Kos: State of the Nation
Feministe - In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set
AMERICA blog
MyDD :: Direct Democracy for People-Powered Politics
Bitch Ph.D.
Oliver Willis
Booman Tribune ~ A Progressive Community
Eschaton
The Daily Dish By Andrew Sullivan
Fire Dog Lake
tbogg


News

Mother Jones
The Nation
Bradblog
TPM
TPM Muckraker
OB Rag
Voice of San Diego.org
San Diego Reader
Crooks and Liars
Think Progress
Huffington Post.com
Alternet.org
NY Times
UK Guardian
LA Times
Washington Post
San Diego Citybeat

Lakoff and Oliver

Deceiving Images

Source: Link TV
...if you want to understand how rhetorical framing works and how political strategists strategize, this 85-minute video provides some interesting examples.

In other words, the preceding should help you understand the "stupid vote."



Feds question new voter checks in 6 states
By KATE BRUMBACK – 1 day ago

ATLANTA (AP) — Federal officials have asked election officials in six states to investigate whether social security number checks are being improperly run on people registering to vote.

Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue sent a letter Friday to the secretaries of state of Alabama, Georgia and battleground states Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio. The letter noted they had submitted "extraordinarily high levels" of verification requests.

"Such a volume appears to be much greater than one would expect, given that states of comparable or larger populations have a significantly lower number of verification requests," Astrue wrote in his letter to Georgia officials...


10/7/08: Velvet Revolution Calls On John McCain To Fire Michael Connell For Covering Up For Karl Rove In Federal Election Manipulation Lawsuit

Velvet Revolution today issued a press release calling for Republican candidate John McCain to fire computer expert Michael Connell from his campaign for covering up alleged election manipulations of Karl Rove and others. Mr. Connell, the GOP’s top computer expert, was subpoenaed based on a September 19th court order to testify under oath in an Ohio federal lawsuit looking into serious allegations that Mr. Rove has directed a strategy to illegally manipulate elections through the use of computer technology. Rather than cooperate in the investigation, Mr. Connell hired attorneys close to the Bush/Cheney Administration and refused to appear for the deposition arguing client (GOP) confidentiality. Those attorneys have said that they will do everything possible to keep Mr. Connell from testifying before the November general election...


11:54 AM 10/9/2008
Looks like the Islamist dickheads thrashed blogrolling but good, we'll see. They hacked it last night.

Supreme Court hears case Wednesday on Navy sonar, whales

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008
Court hears case Wednesday on Navy sonar, whales
By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court is weighing whether presidential power in wartime can override environmental concerns in a case that pits the Navy's submarine-hunting training against protection for whales.

Why do I get the feeling that the whales are going to lose this one?

Maybe because they're up against the US Navy and if the Navy loses, then the oil companies will feel like they are threatened?

Reading now

Petrodollar Warfare by William R. Clark (c) 2005 New Society Publishers

Page 10 "In general, the ability to produce jobs in the US is deteriorating."

Hmmmm. Don't tell Perino-bot that.

Watch for GOP vote thieves

Blogged by Brad Friedman on 10/7/2008 4:30PM
GOP's ACORN 'Voter Fraud' Lie Ramped Up; State Police Raid ACORN Office in Vegas
I had been intending to post an answer to the ongoing --- and quickly escalating --- ACORN smears being issued of late by the GOP enemies of democracy out there, who have decided to intensify their unsubstantiated assaults on the community organization, given its effectiveness at registering millions of low-income voters across the country...
For Immediate Release: October 7, 2008

ACORN Statement from Bertha Lewis, Interim Chief Organizer, on Incident in Las Vegas:

"Over the past year, ACORN has worked hard to help over 80,000 people in Clark County register to vote. As part of our nonpartisan voter registration program, we have [to] review all the applications submitted by our canvassers. When we have identified suspicious applications, we have separated them out and flagged them for election officials. We have zero tolerance for fraudulent registrations. We immediately dismiss employees we suspect of submitting fraudulent registrations.

For the past 10 months, any time ACORN has identified a potentially fraudulent application, we turn that application in to election officials separately and offer to provide election officials with the information they would need to pursue an investigation or prosecution of the individual.

Election officials routinely ignored this information and failed to act. In early July, ACORN asked to meet with election officials to express our concerns that they were not acting on information ACORN had presented to them. ACORN met with Clark County elections officials and a representative of the Secretary of State on July 17th. ACORN pleaded with them to take our concerns about fraudulent applications seriously. One week later, elections officials asked us to provide them with a second copy of what we had previously provided to them. ACORN responded by giving election officials copies of 46 "problem application packages," which involved 33 former canvassers.

On September 23, ACORN had received a subpoena dated September 19th requesting information on 15 employees, all of whom had been included in the packages we had previously submitted to election officials. ACORN provided our personnel records on these 15 employees on September 29.

Today's raid by the Secretary of State's Office is a stunt that serves no useful purpose other than discredit our work registering Nevadans and distracting us from the important work ahead of getting every eligible voter to the polls."




Q&A: E-voting security results 'awful,' says Ohio secretary of state
October 8, 2008 (Computerworld)
How bad? 'I thought I was going to throw up,' Jennifer Brunner recalls

This article was written by a junior high student. If a kid gets it, why don't adults? Specifically, editors for local news programs.

Electronic voting machines imperfect
October 8, 2008
Editor's note: Throughout October, the Wausau Daily Herald will publish students' columns about this year's elections as part of Kids Voting USA.

Why I'm voting NO on CA Prop 8

Obama McCain debate #2

8:30 PM

Local ABC
Who won the presidential debate between Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama?
Choice Votes Percentage of 10510 Votes
Barack Obama won. 6195 59%
John McCain won. 4056 39%
I'm not sure. 130 1%
I didn't watch. 129 1%

Local NBC
Who won the presidential debate between Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama?
Choice Votes Percentage of 10154 Votes
Barack Obama won. 5975 59%
John McCain won. 3924 39%
I'm not sure. 129 1%
I didn't watch. 126 1%

October 7, 2008
CNN Poll: Obama won the night

If there were polls on the local CW, CBS, and Fox, I couldn't find them. So much for a Red County.

Frankly, McCain saying "My Friends" incessantly drove me out of the room a couple of times.

Damn GOP thieves

Can the GOP Steal The Election Again? You Betcha!

Blogged by Brad Friedman on 10/7/2008 1:11PM
AUDIO: Head-to-Head with the GOP's Hans Von Spakovsky, Vote-Suppressor, Liar
Brad Takes on the Unapologetic Democracy-Hater on Tavis Smiley's Radio Show
PLUS: Taking on John Fund, Another GOP 'Voter Fraud' Scammer, on the Radio, the Following Day... (scroll down for audio clip)


And about that debate tonight...

The Caucus.
October 7, 2008, 2:25 pm
Axelrod Says Obama Will Counterpunch if McCain Raises Ayers
By Patrick Healy
NASHVILLE — Senator Barack Obama is prepared to hit back, including with Keating Five scandal if necessary, if Senator John McCain uses tonight’s presidential debate to attack him over his associations with controversial figures like former William C. Ayers, the former Weather Underground leader, Mr. Obama’s chief strategist said this afternoon.

And if they mention clean coal tonight, just know that at this time, there aren't any clean coal plants in the US right now. Follow the Coal Money

Tomgram: Chalmers Johnson, The Ultimate Election

posted October 07, 2008 10:36 am
Voting the Fate of the Nation

Will Economic Meltdown, Race, or Regional Loyalty Be the Trump Card in Election 2008?
By Chalmers Johnson

... Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal introduced a brief period of approximate democracy. This ended with the U.S. entry into World War II, when the New Deal was replaced by a wartime economy based on munitions manufacture and the support of weapons producers. This development had a powerful effect on the American political psyche, since only war production ultimately overcame the conditions of the Great Depression and restored full employment. Ever since that time, the United States has experimented with maintaining a military economy and a civilian economy simultaneously. Over time, this has had the effect of misallocating vital resources away from investment and consumption, while sapping the country's international competitiveness.

Socioeconomic conditions in 2008 bear a certain resemblance to those of 1932, making a realigning election conceivable. Unemployment in 1932 was a record 33%. In the fall of 2008, the rate is a much lower 6.1%, but other severe economic pressures abound. These include massive mortgage foreclosures, bank and investment house failures, rapid inflation in the prices of food and fuel, the failure of the health care system to deliver service to all citizens, a growing global-warming environmental catastrophe due to the over-consumption of fossil fuels, continuing costly military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, with more on the horizon due to foreign policy failures (in Georgia, Ukraine, Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, Pakistan, and elsewhere), and record-setting budgetary and trade deficits.

The question is: Can the electorate be mobilized, as in 1932, and will this indeed lead to a realigning election? The answer to neither question is an unambiguous yes.

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I'm excited. My friend is almost 60 and she's never registered to vote. She filled out a voter registration form and put it in the mailbox today. I asked her if it was exciting and she grinned and said "Yeah, it kinda is."

Sarah Palin, the trailer-trash beauty contestant

Braizilians get it---

"When cornered, Palin resorted to winks, smiles and other vulgar coquette gestures that must have led to some sort of fascination from the male public— the green line on CNN, which measured the reaction of male independent voters from Ohio, would go up. But the women, represented by the yellow line, were not as fooled."

Matt Taibbi breaks it down--

"And none of it matters, so long as you remember a few months before Election Day to offer them a two-bit caricature culled from some cutting-room-floor episode of Roseanne as part of your presidential ticket. And if she's a good enough likeness of a loudmouthed Middle American archetype, as Sarah Palin is, John Q. Public will drop his giant-size bag of Doritos in gratitude, wipe the Sizzlin' Picante dust from his lips and rush to the booth to vote for her. Not because it makes sense, or because it has a chance of improving his life or anyone else's, but simply because it appeals to the low-humming narcissism that substitutes for his personality, because the image on TV reminds him of the mean, brainless slob he sees in the mirror every morning."

Naomi Klein: Wall St. Crisis Should Be for Neoliberalism What Fall of Berlin Wall Was for Communism

Way to change the Middle East, neocon idiots

Source: Saudi hosts Afghan peace talks with Taliban

Crime up in Afghanistan, as is nostalgia for Taliban

Israel tries to dissuade Russia from selling weapons system to Iran

US-Russia divide allows the Middle East arms race to flourish

Iran, Venezuela sign multi-billion-dollar deals
Sun, 05 Oct 2008 22:03:40 GMT

Chavez defies US by cozying up to Russia and China

America’s ambassadors have been expelled by Venezuela and Bolivia, a move that Brazil has supported. Brazil has also objected to the presence of American warships in the region, warning that his nation would put its own warships on alert in response. Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchener said recently with obvious satisfaction that the First World, which had been “painted as a place we should strive to reach, was popping like a bubble.”

Meanwhile...

October 2, 2008: Clusterf#@k to the Poor House - Bailout Bill Passes


It doesn't matter if you missed the debate, SNL wrapped it up just fine.

Bill Moyers

Good stuff Maynard.

Governor Failin' (debate analysis)

FackCheck.org
Palin 4 corrections
Biden 2 corrections



The Debate: Again, A Pundit/Viewer Divide