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Stopping Trans Canada's Keystone XL Pipeline--Activism from the trees and on the ground

It seems as though most Americans don’t know that the Obama administration has backed off its commitment to stop a Canadian oil firm from bringing dangerous and toxic tar sands from the fields in Alberta, Canada to oil refineries in Texas. But in East Texas, the farm lands and forests have been seized for the Canadian company through eminent domain and are already being destroyed for the foreign pipeline.

Yesterday, October 24, Leslie Harris of Dallas, Texas and I visited the “boys” in the trees, the great activists who have been living in the trees along the Trans Canada Keystone XL pipeline that is carving a terrible scar in the countryside of East Texas. Earlier in the day we had been meeting with dozens of Tar Sands Blockade (TSB) activists who are preparing campaigns in East Texas and Houston to challenge the XL pipeline.

Activism in the Air

The Tar Sands Blockade (TSB) fellows are living in tree houses built high in the branches of tall oak trees next to the piles of sandy soil that has been dug up and mounded 30 feet high. Huge green pipes lay on the side of the trench sliced deep into the Texas soil.

The indefinite detention of the progressive voter

Earlier this year President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act into law. It allows for the indefinite detention without trial for any U.S. citizen deemed to be a terrorist or an accessory to terrorism.

Some might have thought that there would be wide-spread revolt among people who voted for Obama against legalized indefinite detention. And there was some protest, mostly led by Chris Hedges (who did not vote for Obama), with some legal victories against the law.

But the political success seems to have come from the law itself -- in favor of Obama. Instead of provoking a revolt, the result seems to be this:

Obama is in effect telling his supporters: "You better support me more, because I just signed this law saying the president of the U.S. can detain anyone he wants. Now, do you want me to have this power, or do you want Mitt Romney to have this power?"

And so, perversely, Obama by signing a law most of his supporters almost certainly didn't want, has actually ensured a greater grip on them. He has in effect indefinitely detained them.

The economic consequences of Mr. Obama

When British economist and public intellectual John Maynard Keynes wrote his famous essay entitled “The Economic Consequences of Mr. Churchill” in 1925, the British economy was still suffering the consequences of WWI, and was slowly sliding into the worst economic depression in world history. Today, as the Great Recession continues to devastate millions of people’s lives in the United States, Americans will decide in a matter of days whether they want Mr. Obama to continue on as President for another four-year term, or elect Governor Romney to replace him in the White House. As an economist who is committed to social justice, I would like to offer a brief assessment of President Obama’s economic policies during his first term, and speculate on the likely direction that the U.S. will take under a second term Obama administration versus a possible Romney White House.

The Free Press confirms installation, secret justification of uncertified last minute election tabulation reporting software in Ohio

The Free Press has obtained internal memos from the senior staff of the Ohio Secretary of State's office confirming the installation of untested and uncertified election tabulation software. Yesterday, the Free Press reported that "experimental" software patches were installed on ES&S voting machines in 39 Ohio counties. (see Will "experimental" software patches affect the Ohio vote?).

Election Counsel Brandi Laser Seske circulated a memo dated November 1st renewing the already shaky justification for installing software made by Election Systems and Solutions on vote tabulation equipment used in 39 Ohio counties. The letter to Ohio Secretary of State personnel Matt Masterson, Danielle Sellars, Myra Hawkins, Betsy Schuster, and Ohio's Director of Elections Matthew Damschroder, clarified the dubious justification for not complying with the legal requirements for the examination of all election related equipment.

New demands for an immediate coup in Thailand

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's popularly elected, pro-U.S. government suffered a rude wake-up when thousands of people gathered on Sunday (October 28) demanding the military stage an immediate coup.

"I would love to see a coup, because I know this puppet government is here to rob the country," said retired Gen. Boonlert Kaewprasit, the self-declared leader of a new, attractive, anti-government group called Pitak Siam, or Protecting Siam.

Siam is Thailand's pre-1939 name, and is often used for nostalgic, commerical or other reasons.

"If I had the power, a coup would have been staged by now," said Gen. Boonlert, 69, while calling for the protest which was held in Bangkok's prestigious Royal Turf Club stadium.

With his slick black, front-wave hairstyle and frequent big grin, Gen. Boonlert is suddenly the jittery government's newest enemy.

He projects himself as a defender of the nation and its monarchy, and has powerful connections among politicians who opposed Thailand's elected governments in the past.

Why we fight to prevent stolen elections in 2012 and beyond

With election day less than a week away, the spectre of another stolen election is upon us. The airwaves and internet are at last filling with discussion of this possibility.

When the first stories were broken by a handful of us after the fiascos of Florida 2000 and Ohio 2004, there was a stunning silence, followed by a wide range of attacks. Today the warnings about the possibility of another election theft are taken with increasing gravity.

The question is deep and profound, with a huge body of research and writing surrounding it.

But among the many concerns, two are key: massive disenfranchisement, and manipulation of the electronic vote count.

DISENFRANCHISEMENT:

There is no doubt the Republican party has done much to prevent likely Democrats from voting. This "Jim/Juan Crow" strategy has included legislation aimed at requiring photo ID as a means of restricting the vote. This involves financial and other burdens that would prevent as many as ten million citizens from voting according to the Brennan Center at New York University, the vast bulk of them likely Democrats.

    Will "experimental" software patches affect the Ohio vote?

    Why did the Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted's office, in an end run around Ohio election law, have "experimental" software patches installed on vote counting tabulators in up to 39 Ohio counties? Voting rights activists are concerned that these uncertified and untested software patches may alter the election results.

    During the 2004 presidential election, the Free Press reported that election officials observed technicians from the ES&S voting machine company and Triad computer maintenance company installing uncertified and untested software patches on voting machines in 44 Ohio counties prior to the election. Software patches are usually installed to "update" or change existing software. These software patch updates were considered suspect by election protection activists, in light of all the voting machine anomalies found during the 2004 election in Ohio.

    Want to fight voter suppression and vote tampering on Election Day?

    Here are some things anyone can do on Election Day:
    Document any of these things and let the Free Press know during the day or immediately after the polls close:
    1) Do all machines work at the beginning of the day? Were there any problems getting them to work?
    2) Did any technicians come in to do any "service" on the machines during the day?
    3) Are people being turned away from voting for any reason? Are many people made to vote provisionally for any reason? How many? What are the reasons?
    4) Are there any people hanging around wearing suits, not identifying themselves, or challengers intimidating people, challenging their right to vote, or otherwise interfering with voters? Please take photos of them and their automobile license plates.
    5) Lists of who voted are posted at 11am and 4pm at polling sites. Do those numbers match the print-out at the end of the night?
    6) VERY IMPORTANT: At close of polls, the pollworkers are required to print out and post the results on the outside of the door for the public to view. Document through a photo and/or write down the final polling site results: how many people voted, who they voted for.

    Mr. Mourdock

    Mike Connell: Man in the Middle

    This video is a follow-up to John Ennis' documentary "Free For All" about the 2004 stolen election in Ohio:



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