Ohio's voting machines are now an official crime scene

At least 15 touch-screen voting machines that produced improbable numbers in Ohio's 2006 statewide election are now under double-lock in an official crime scene. And the phony "Homeland Security Alert" used by Republicans to build up George W. Bush's 2004 vote count in a key southwestern Ohio county has come under new scrutiny.

The touch-screen machines were locked up after Ohio's new Democratic Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, tried to vote last fall. On November 6, she spotted a gray bar with the words "candidate withdrawn" in a slot where the name of Democrat Jay Perez should have appeared. Her husband, voting nearby, told her Perez's name did appear, as it was supposed to, on his machine.

Perez had been a candidate in the race for Franklin County Municipal Judge. He withdrew his name after the county had finalized its ballots. But it now appears the ES&S machines left his name on some machines but not on others. Perez, a Democrat, wanted to avoid playing a spoiler in the race. But the appearance of his name on some machines may have helped Republican David Tyack win.

Nonviolent blockade of IRS headquarters

New York, NY - At 8 am on Wednesday, March 19, the War Resisters League along with several other organizations will stage a nonviolent blockade of the national headquarters of the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, D.C., as part of a day of protests on this fifth anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Participants will gather at McPherson Square (15th & K Streets, NW) at 7 am before marching to the IRS (1111 Constitution Ave., NW) to initiate the blockade. While some will attempt to block access to the IRS building, other demonstrators will pass out flyers, carry signs, banners, among other props to illustrate the disparity between spending on the wars and the needs of a faltering economy.

The War Resisters League, an 85-year-old secular pacifist organization headquartered in New York City, will be joined by Code Pink, United for Peace and Justice, Rude Mechanical Orchestra, Movement for a Democratic Society, the Socialist Party, and more than a dozen other organizations.

What else is on?

What happened to the Flower Power of the 70’s? Did we use it all up? Drain our reserves already? Or have we given up on our ability to make a difference? And while burning bras and free love may have not done a lot toward ending the war, at least large groups of people were getting together and believing that they could make a difference. What happened to that drive in America to do the right thing, and not just when election time, or some national disaster, rolls around? I think it’s quite simple. We have lost our faith in our leaders and their desire to listen and respond to our needs. Oh, and we now have “better things” to do.

Way to go Israel!

Dear editor,

Way to go to Israel!

Finally the Israeli army killed the person who is responsible for missile and rocket attacks from Gaza. The suspect was killed by a single bullet to the head by an Israeli army death-squad, and was among 120  killed and 200 injured (many women and children included) in a series of Israeli air raids and ground invasions that lasted for 5 days.

Surprisingly, this earth-moving news was not aired on Fox News, CNN, or reported by other major main stream media. Here is an update about this latest high value target that was executed. The victim was a two week old baby. Israel seems to actually think that this baby is capable of firing missiles and rockets.

Name: Amira [princes in Arabic] Abu 'Assr 
Address: Deir El-Balah, Gaza, Palestine 
Date of Death: March,5, 2008 

Ethanol subsidies

http://mattbors.com

The day after the bombing of Iran

Imagine yourself sitting down transfixed and watching video footage of U.S. bombs hitting Iran. You see children ripped limb from limb, mothers screaming and wailing, people panicked, tortured, traumatized, and killed. Imagine asking yourself at that point: What was I doing these past many months that I thought was more important than preventing this?

Now ask yourself today: What am I doing that is more important than ending the ongoing hell of the U.S. occupation of Iraq?

Are you struggling to support your family? So are many, many other people who still find hours and days to commit. While congress members and senators have the gall to tell constituents that opposing Pelosi or Reid and cutting off the funding lies outside their "comfort zone," citizens are going without sleep, ruining marriages and friendships, losing money, fasting, and risking serious jail time for nonviolent protests. Are those children hit by the bombs living within a "comfort zone"?

Dayton stands (and rocks) for Darfur

DAYTON, OHIO -- Local activists and citizens gathered at the Pearl Nightclub in downtown Dayton Thursday, March 6, to raise funds for Dayton for Darfur. Dayton for Darfur comprises dozens of members working to raise awareness about the genocide in Darfur and to lobby policy-makers and world leaders to stop the killing and enact a lasting peace agreement guaranteeing civilians’ security and human rights.

WA domestic partnership expansion bill signed into law

WASHINGTON – State of Washington Governor Chris Gregoire signed into law on Wednesday a Domestic Partnership Expansion bill that will provide more than 160 new rights and responsibilities to registered domestic partners under state law.  The bill passed the Senate on March 4 by a 29-20 vote.  It passed the House last month by a 62-32 vote.

“The Human Rights Campaign congratulates Equal Rights Washington on this important step forward and thanks Governor Gregoire and fair-minded legislators for taking action that promises real benefits for same-sex couples in Washington and their families,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.  “This new law will provide vital rights and benefits for same-sex couples and their families.  For the second time in as many years, the state of Washington has helped move same-sex couples toward full equality.”

A 2007 law created a domestic partner registry that provided specific rights and responsibilities to same-sex couples as well as opposite sex couples with one partner over age 62.  The bill the Senate passed will expand on the 2007 law.

How to end the war in one day

This week, at hundreds of events across the country, tens of thousands of people will mark the fifth anniversary of the American invasion of Iraq and demand an end to the occupation and the withdrawal of all US troops. They will march, vigil, sit-in, teach-in, write letters, call their Congressman, block recruiting offices, sing songs, wear orange, call in sick, buy Citgo (Venezuelan) gas, all in an effort to get the nation's political leadership to take notice of the 70% of the American people who think this war has destroyed too many lives, done too much damage to our own country as well as Iraq, cost far too much, and gone on way too long.

The fear fundamentalists

It’s 3 a.m. and your child is sleeping. A detainee groans at Guantanamo. On the campaign trail, the Clinton PR team is guzzling coffee, dreaming up new ways to milk votes out of fear.

Why, I wondered, is she going after these votes in the primary? Surely she doesn’t imagine that the fear fundamentalists are part of her constituency: the ones who think a wall across our Southern border, and a macho preener in the White House, will make them safe. Then I thought, oh, maybe it’s that Republican crossover thing. Rush Limbaugh loans the dittohead vote to Hillary so the GOP doesn’t have to run against Obama in the fall, and she eases their journey across the party divide with a little shameless fear-mongering so they feel temporarily at home.

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