It seems fitting that a president who was brought into office because of a scandalous election would enact a law to overhaul the electoral process to make it easier for people to choose their leaders the second time around.  

  But that's not what the Omnibus Appropriations Bill, signed into law by President Bush in October 2002, will do. Instead, the law will force most states to switch from paper balloting to a fully computerized system---one that is currently rife with programming flaws and is incapable of being audited-that could call into question the legitimacy of future local and national elections and put the wrong candidates into office.

  The bill contains $1.515 billion to fund activities related to the Help America Vote Act, a federal election reform bill that provides money to states for the improvement of elections; including $15 million to the General Services Administration to reimburse states that purchased optical scan or electronic voting equipment prior to the November 2000 election.  

In a depressingly symbolic year for climate change, energy policy and public health, just a week after GM recalled the last cars its entire California fleet of 1000 Zero Emission electric vehicles to be destroyed (citing a "lack of demand"), and during the same year by which California air regulators had since 1990 required that 10% of all new cars be pollution free had not Governor Davis lifted the requirement upon taking office -  state air regulators have come out with a new standard for rating new cars that instead re-classifies gasoline-burning engines as "clean."

Say hello to the "Partial Zero Emission Vehicle," ("P-ZEV") a characteristically Moderate Democratic nomenclature to which the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and Detroit automakers have agreed - a watered down version of the "Zero Emmission Vehicles" classification following Governor Davis' post-election decision to eliminate a 1990 requirement that, starting in  2003, 10% of all cars sold in California should have been Zero Emission Vehicles ("ZEV").

Following the Governor's lead, new regulations have been approved that

A national media spotlight has focused on the battle between the Constitution of the United States and some religious fundamentalists who viewed themselves as angels of Montgomery. The removal of a big Ten Commandments monument from an Alabama courthouse on Wednesday was good news for people who prefer democracy to theocracy.

     But as the holy smoke clears, news outlets might want to consider the concepts that have endured on those chiseled tablets -- in the context of the media industry itself.

     Before proceeding with this column, I wish to inform any litigious corporation among ye that I will be utilizing quotations from the Ten Commandments for “fair use” purposes in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.

     Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. should note that while I do not have access to extensive financial and legal resources of the sort available to Al Franken and his publisher, I intend to defend myself fully against any claims that Fox News has a propriety interest in Exodus 20:1-17.

     Furthermore, I would vigorously dispute any claims brought against

Icelandic whalers have begun the take of 38 minke whales announced by the Government of Iceland on 6 August as the start of a so called 'scientific' whaling program. The program will expand to take 250 whales, including sei and fin whales as well as minkes, in 2004. Three small fishing boats have been fitted with explosive harpoons and will hunt in August and September. All the meat from these whales will be sold. Please send a protest now to Iceland's largest embassies at the address below: act.greenpeace.org/ams/e?a=915&s=whl

BACKGROUND

On August 15th a public comment period began on Bayer's (formerly Aventis) petition to the EPA for final tolerances of their herbicide Glufosinate (aka Liberty) for use on rice and cotton. This is the final step in the regulatory process. If their request is approved, GE rice could be planted as soon as 2004. You can read the petition at www.epa.gov/EPA-PEST/2003/August/Day-15/p20897.htm.

PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO THE EPA TODAY!

 * All comments must be received by September 15th, 2003.

 * Comments may be sent by e-mail to opp-docket@epa.gov or by mail to:

    Public Information and Records Integrity Branch (PIRIB) (7502C),     Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW 20460

 * In the subject line put: Docket ID Number OPP-2003-0274.

***SAMPLE TALKING POINTS***

 1) Glufosinate has been classified by the EPA as a "persistent" chemical, and has been found in the edible parts of food, including spinach,