Global
I want to thank Bob Fitrakis for putting the truth out there to the
American public about the agenda of the right to alter our elections
secretly via paperless electronic voting machines.
I am an activist that opposed evm's in Arkansas for almost a year, and was successful in persuading our Secretary of State to file the waiver under the HAVA Act, delaying the implementation of these machines until 2006. Secretary Blackwell's insistence to purchase Diebold machines despite the fact that he also requested the waiver is highly suspect to say the least.
I work with activists in other states, including Ohio, to stop the purchase of paperless electronic voting machines. I have never encountered anyone so headstrong to bring disaster on his election process as Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell. This man is unyielding in his stance on Diebold, despite computer security reports, computer scientist's expert opinions on these machines and the general distrust of these machines by his constituency. I ask what's the rush and why the hurry? He filed the waiver which delays the machines until 2006.
I am an activist that opposed evm's in Arkansas for almost a year, and was successful in persuading our Secretary of State to file the waiver under the HAVA Act, delaying the implementation of these machines until 2006. Secretary Blackwell's insistence to purchase Diebold machines despite the fact that he also requested the waiver is highly suspect to say the least.
I work with activists in other states, including Ohio, to stop the purchase of paperless electronic voting machines. I have never encountered anyone so headstrong to bring disaster on his election process as Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell. This man is unyielding in his stance on Diebold, despite computer security reports, computer scientist's expert opinions on these machines and the general distrust of these machines by his constituency. I ask what's the rush and why the hurry? He filed the waiver which delays the machines until 2006.
For 30 months, 9/11 was a huge political blessing for George W. Bush.
This week, the media halo fell off.
Within the space of a few days, culminating with his testimony to the Sept. 11 commission Wednesday afternoon, former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke did serious damage to a public-relations scam that the White House has been running for two and a half years.
We may forget just how badly President Bush was doing until Sept. 11, 2001. That morning, a front-page Philadelphia Inquirer story told of dire political straits; his negative rating among the nation’s crucial independent swing voters stood at 53 percent, according to the latest survey by nonpartisan pollster John Zogby.
On Sept. 12, Bush’s media stature and poll numbers were soaring. Suddenly, news outlets all over the country boosted the president as a great leader, sometimes likening him to FDR. For many months, the overall media coverage of President Bush was reverential.
Within the space of a few days, culminating with his testimony to the Sept. 11 commission Wednesday afternoon, former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke did serious damage to a public-relations scam that the White House has been running for two and a half years.
We may forget just how badly President Bush was doing until Sept. 11, 2001. That morning, a front-page Philadelphia Inquirer story told of dire political straits; his negative rating among the nation’s crucial independent swing voters stood at 53 percent, according to the latest survey by nonpartisan pollster John Zogby.
On Sept. 12, Bush’s media stature and poll numbers were soaring. Suddenly, news outlets all over the country boosted the president as a great leader, sometimes likening him to FDR. For many months, the overall media coverage of President Bush was reverential.
AUSTIN, Texas -- I'd like to thank Richard Clarke for doing the most obvious, decent and necessary thing this country needed from its government after 9-11, and that is to apologize to the families of those who died in those attacks and to admit: "We failed you. ... I failed you." Thanks to former Sen. Bob Kerrey for underlining it.
Coulda, woulda, shoulda is not necessarily a useful exercise, but the 9-11 commission was given that responsibility -- after the Bush administration made every effort to stop it -- and appears to be doing its best. That some members seem more interested in protecting the Bush administration than in finding out what actually happened is perhaps just the nature of politics, but still disappointing.
Coulda, woulda, shoulda is not necessarily a useful exercise, but the 9-11 commission was given that responsibility -- after the Bush administration made every effort to stop it -- and appears to be doing its best. That some members seem more interested in protecting the Bush administration than in finding out what actually happened is perhaps just the nature of politics, but still disappointing.
The global coffee industry has endured colossal changes over the past fifty
years. Production of beans has shifted from country to country. Profiteering
from the product has increased almost exponentially through huge sales at
retail outlets such as Starbucks and Seattle's Best. But not all involved in
the coffee market have benefited equally. Small coffee farmers have suffered
tremendous loss. Environmental degradation has also increased as ancient
forests have been cleared in hopes that the bare land can be transformed
into fertile ground, worthy of growing cash crops. Countries have lost
entire export industries as multinational corporations race to purchase the
cheapest beans they can find. And no country has felt the pain of these
transformations greater than Colombia.
America owes a debt to society, and what a debt.
December 31, 2003 the United States National Debt reached the $7 trillion mark.
President Bush didn’t mention it in his State of the Union speech and the Democrats didn’t bring it up in their response. But the U.S. Treasury’s Bureau of the Public Debt keeps a running tab and lately it’s running like hell.
$7 trillion was hit just 22 months after the debt passed $6 trillion February 26, 2002. It was the first time in U.S. history that trillion dollar milestones were crossed in back-to-back calendar years.
By comparison, the trail of arrears from $5 trillion on February 26, 1996 to $6 trillion took six years.
But what does it mean? To a public confounded by conflicting facts and competing philosophies, what’s a trillion or two either way?
The answer is interesting.
While the debt itself is a 13-digit string beyond the math of mere mortals, the interest on the debt is quite another story. Like the finance charge on your credit card, it’s the right-off-the-top part of the bill before the principal is touched.
December 31, 2003 the United States National Debt reached the $7 trillion mark.
President Bush didn’t mention it in his State of the Union speech and the Democrats didn’t bring it up in their response. But the U.S. Treasury’s Bureau of the Public Debt keeps a running tab and lately it’s running like hell.
$7 trillion was hit just 22 months after the debt passed $6 trillion February 26, 2002. It was the first time in U.S. history that trillion dollar milestones were crossed in back-to-back calendar years.
By comparison, the trail of arrears from $5 trillion on February 26, 1996 to $6 trillion took six years.
But what does it mean? To a public confounded by conflicting facts and competing philosophies, what’s a trillion or two either way?
The answer is interesting.
While the debt itself is a 13-digit string beyond the math of mere mortals, the interest on the debt is quite another story. Like the finance charge on your credit card, it’s the right-off-the-top part of the bill before the principal is touched.
The king is dead--long live the king! Okay, so the old lefty saw about it-doesn't-matter-who-gets-elected-they're-all-the-same-anyway might have less punch this time around. The Bush-led extremist puppet show that has hacked and brutalized its way into power is so evil, so corrupt, so completely dangerous down to the cellular and atomic level that it would be unthinkable not to wish them gone whatever the cost. Still, preventing evil is not the same as promoting good. A grim duty, perhaps. But hardly one that stirs the soul.
Of course, it doesn't have to be this way. The rigged two-party shell game has, exactly twice, by my count, been forced to slay The Beast, or at least to lull it to sleep for another few decades. Once was the historic liberal-left alliance that produced the New Deal. It was the communist left, in large measure, that organized the CIO and made Roosevelt's mass strategy feasible despite enormous opposition from within the ruling class. The other was the valiant (or tainted, or cynical, depending on your perspective--though certainly belated) attempt to end American Apartheid via the Voting Rights Act.
Of course, it doesn't have to be this way. The rigged two-party shell game has, exactly twice, by my count, been forced to slay The Beast, or at least to lull it to sleep for another few decades. Once was the historic liberal-left alliance that produced the New Deal. It was the communist left, in large measure, that organized the CIO and made Roosevelt's mass strategy feasible despite enormous opposition from within the ruling class. The other was the valiant (or tainted, or cynical, depending on your perspective--though certainly belated) attempt to end American Apartheid via the Voting Rights Act.
AUSTIN, Texas -- Naturally, when I heard President Bush is now claiming to be in the forefront of the fight against corporate crime, I thought it was an April Fools' joke. But no, there it is in print -- he made a big speech about it in Houston, of all places, not far from he Enron building.
"We had to confront corporate crimes that cost people their jobs and their savings," he said. "So we passed strong corporate reforms and made it very clear, we will not tolerate dishonesty in the boardrooms of America."
We did; we won't? Oh, he was talking about the Sarbanes bill, that set of inadequate corporate reform measures that he (SET ITAL) opposed (END ITAL) until it passed the House of Representatives with just a handful of dissenting votes and he couldn't face the political heat any longer. That bill.
"We had to confront corporate crimes that cost people their jobs and their savings," he said. "So we passed strong corporate reforms and made it very clear, we will not tolerate dishonesty in the boardrooms of America."
We did; we won't? Oh, he was talking about the Sarbanes bill, that set of inadequate corporate reform measures that he (SET ITAL) opposed (END ITAL) until it passed the House of Representatives with just a handful of dissenting votes and he couldn't face the political heat any longer. That bill.
Here is an idea for the DNC, MoveOn.org, TrueMajority.org:
Tell the state legislatures that if paper-trail audits are not implemented BEFORE the 2004 election, then they will encourage all Democratic and Independent voters to vote by absentee ballot.
Tell the state legislatures that if paper-trail audits are not implemented BEFORE the 2004 election, then they will encourage all Democratic and Independent voters to vote by absentee ballot.
The reason you can't just print up some money on the office copier is because it reduces the value of all other money. What this means is that money isn't private property, but a form of public commons, just like the road system. What is happening with our economic system is a version of the tragedy of the commons, as it is abused by the few, to the detriment of the many.
It would be one thing if the tax cuts for the rich had some greater long term effect, but all that extra wealth is only creating inflation in the stock markets. Everything being relative, if the value of the underlaying assets are not going up, than the value of the investment capital is going down. Only as much wealth can be saved as can be effectively invested. The economic engine is the borrower, the fuel tank is the lender. Order is top down, but growth is bottom up.
It would be one thing if the tax cuts for the rich had some greater long term effect, but all that extra wealth is only creating inflation in the stock markets. Everything being relative, if the value of the underlaying assets are not going up, than the value of the investment capital is going down. Only as much wealth can be saved as can be effectively invested. The economic engine is the borrower, the fuel tank is the lender. Order is top down, but growth is bottom up.
