Weekend Watchdog

watch me how i disconnect all of them..

i am alone now dont have to answer to no one
my time my place

watch...that is all i have been doing with yourll and yourll me..
not yet..but watch

I'm in Holbrook AZ
On the way to GOtV in NM.
[I'm a little spaced out from driving...]
1) Banks make money right? Different than the money the government makes(prints.)I guess it is not nationalizing if the banks want the gov. to buy in. Kind of like it is ok for the News To lie for the government as long as they are not being forced to.
2) Money really is just special paper. Print up another trillion and fix the infrastructure, health care, new energy and education. There was a bbc news article today about the loss of the worlds infrastructure (i.e. forests, clean water etc.) being more costly than the bail out. Do we need to put a fence around the Brazialn ran forests for them to have "value?"
3)McCain suddenly remembered which side of the Keating 5 he was on.

~`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

WOW!!!!!!!!!

If you can, please listen to his show last night. OMG - he has just become the most important person in the world as far as I'm concerned. He spilled serious kick ass on the lying poisonous right and their talkers. The most important truths this country must understand to move forward.

I can not tell you how many of my fellow Texans should hear his words and hang their heads in shame. He called out racist hate filled weak minded fools for being so simple that these pigs can so easily invade their minds. He called out his own stations if they carry the right wing talking heads that fill our lives with lies confusing every issue.

This was my "I have a dream" speech.

blowback, karma, whatever you want to call it. It is operating now in a big way.

Happe Talk

WASHINGTON — George W. Bush began his presidency with the worst terrorist attack on American soil and he is ending it with the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. In between, he confronted a hurricane that nearly wiped New Orleans off the map as his administration showed ineptitude in its response.

Now, as he spends his last months in office trying to avert a global economic collapse, Mr. Bush has been telling people privately that it’s a good thing he’s in charge.

“He said that if it was going to happen at all, he was glad it was happening under his presidency, because he had a good group of people in D.C. working for him,” Dru Van Steenberg, one of several small-business owners who met with Mr. Bush in San Antonio earlier this week. The president expressed the same sentiment, others said, during a similar private session in Chantilly, Va., the next day.

“He said that whoever was going to take over in January was going to have a huge crisis on their hands the day they come into office,” Ms. Van Steenberg added. “He thought by this happening now, that perhaps everyone could see signs of improvement before the next president comes into office.”

Mr. Bush will spend Saturday as the host of an extraordinary emergency meeting of international finance ministers at the White House. For him, the economic turmoil is the financial equivalent of 9/11 — a bookend to a presidency that has grappled with challenges brought on by terrorists, Mother Nature and two long-running wars. No longer will Iraq be the sole determinant of the Bush legacy; now the president’s fate is tied up in the economy as much as the war.

Mr. Bush has always been confident of himself, even when the American public was not, and that has not changed. Just as he is convinced he did the right thing in Iraq, he is convinced he is doing the right thing on the economy — despite job approval ratings at historic lows and a presidential campaign in which both candidates have used him as kind of a battering ram.

“He seems burdened, and he seems confident,” said David Guernsey, the owner of Guernsey Office Products, who hosted the Chantilly, Va., session. “He seems sort of like a guy who’s saying, ‘Boy, I’m kind of winding this thing down and now this happens, so the next four months are going to be anything but quiet.’ But he seemed very confident that what Bernanke and Paulson and that crowd have put together is the fix.”

Even if burdened, he also has the lightness of a man who knows the burden will soon be lifted. At a closed-door fund-raiser in St. Louis last Friday night, Mr. Bush was humorous and relaxed, said John C. Danforth, the former senator from Missouri, who was there. The president sounded a note about “tough times,” in reference to the economy, and “seemed relieved” that his presidency was nearly over, Mr. Danforth said.

“It was very unusual, I thought,” Mr. Danforth said. “I think it was a man who was relaxed and funny and looked as though he was about to shed this burden of the presidency. In a way, his speech seemed kind of like a valedictory. I took it as though, ‘I’ve done the best I can, I think I made the right decisions and now it’s almost over.’ ”

The White House declined to discuss Mr. Bush’s private appearances. “This is typical New York Times nonsensical pseudo-analysis,” Tony Fratto, the deputy White House press secretary, said in an e-mail message.

From the outset of the financial crisis, Mr. Bush has sought to use his public platform to lay out the gravity of the situation, and to offer reassurance to jittery markets and a nervous public. But while he was able to persuade a skeptical Congress to pass a $700 billion financial rescue package, he has since had to confront what he described in the Rose Garden on Friday, as “a startling drop in the stock market — much of it driven by uncertainty and fear.”

In Virginia, Mr. Guernsey and his fellow business owners told Mr. Bush he needed to do a better job of allaying those fears, and urged him to “share your optimism” by explaining precisely why he thought the $700 billion package would work. The president, Mr. Guernsey said, told them he was waiting for more specifics, such as precisely how the government would buy distressed mortgage assets.

“We made suggestions to him like, ‘Describe this thing in detail, bring it to a level we can understand,’ ” Mr. Guernsey recalled. “He said, ‘You’re absolutely right, I need to do that, I will do that. But right now we’re in the throes of working out the mechanics.’ He said, ‘When I explain this to people, it can’t be merely cosmetic. It’s got to have substance.’ ”

After the private session, Mr. Bush delivered a speech in the company warehouse and took the unusual step of fielding questions from the audience. The questions were plaintive and personal; Mr. Bush was asked if bank deposits were safe (yes, up to $250,000, he said) and if retirement accounts would suffer (yes, he said, at least in the short term).

Mr. Bush was plaintive and personal as well. “I wish I could snap my fingers,” he said at one point, “and make what happened stop.”

But as the markets have grown more volatile in recent days, Mr. Bush seems well aware that he will be dealing with this crisis for the rest of his time in office. “We got a couple more hard months to go,” he said last weekend in Midland, Tex., during a visit to his boyhood home.

After a particularly challenging presidency, Mr. Bush clearly views himself as battle-tested in a way a new president could not possibly match. On Monday in San Antonio, sipping a chocolate malt at an old-fashioned lunch counter called the Olmos Pharmacy, Mr. Bush said so outright — though not within earshot of reporters waiting outside.

“He said, ‘I can’t imagine what it would be like to be brand new and have to deal with this,’ ” said Mark Cross, the general manager of an auto dealership, who attended the private session. “I asked him ‘Are you anxious to get back to Texas?’ He said, ‘I am, but I’ve got a lot of work to do.’ ”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/business/11bush.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ore...

Happe Talk

At the bottom of this story is the link to the official investigative report by the independent counsel on Alaska Governor's ethics abuse of power:
______________________________________________________________

Report stings Palin over Troopergate flap

By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The politically charged investigation into Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is over, and its conclusions are stinging. But the fallout, if any, might not come until Election Day.
ADVERTISEMENT

A legislative investigator found that Palin violated state ethics laws and abused her power by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper.

The next move may be at the ballot box. The legislative committee that released the report Friday recommends no criminal investigation and has no authority to sanction the governor, the Republican vice presidential nominee.

"It is out of the Legislative Council's hands. It goes to anyone's hands who got a copy or clicks the link on the Web," said Democratic state Sen. Kim Elton, the chairman of the committee that released the report. "I can't tell you how the process ends."

If voters believe the report's finding and it tarnishes Palin's reputation as a reformer and a champion for good government, that could hurt Republican presidential nominee John McCain in the final weeks of the race.

The McCain campaign quickly rejected that notion.

"I think the American people can tell the difference between the results of a politically motivated investigation and a legitimate finding of fact," campaign spokesman Taylor Griffin said.

The inquiry looked into Palin's dismissal of Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan, who said he lost his job because he resisted pressure to fire a state trooper involved in a bitter divorce and custody battle with the governor's sister. Palin says Monegan was fired as part of a legitimate budget dispute.

Stephen Branchflower, a retired prosecutor hired to conduct the investigation, said Monegan's firing was lawful. But the pressure Palin and her husband put on him, he said, was not.

Under Alaska law, it is up to the state's Personnel Board, not the Legislature, to decide whether Palin violated the ethics laws. If so, it must refer the matter to the Senate president for disciplinary action. Violations also carry a possible fine of up to $5,000.

By the time that investigation is over, however, the election will be over. If Palin is the vice president-elect, the results will hardly matter. If she loses, she'll have to address the board's findings at home. The national media will be long gone.

Barack Obama's presidential campaign did not comment on the report amid persistent accusations by Republicans that rival operatives were manipulating the investigation to help the Democratic presidential nominee.

Democratic Sen. Hollis French, who oversaw the investigation, contributed to that perception when he said the report could provide an "October surprise" for the McCain campaign.

Elton said partisanship played no role in the report.

"When we began investigating this, we had no idea that Sarah Palin would be a part of the national ticket," said Elton, an Obama supporter.

Branchflower said Palin violated a statute of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Lawmakers don't have the authority to sanction her for such a violation and they gave no indication they would take any action against her.

Palin has recently said that the Personnel Board inquiry is the only one that matters. And McCain's campaign echoed those comments Friday.

"This is the opinion of this Legislative Council investigation," Griffin said. "It's just an opinion."

The report notes a few instances in which Palin pressed the case against trooper Mike Wooten, but it was her husband, Todd, who led the charge. Todd Palin had extraordinary access to the governor's office and her closest advisers and he used that access to try to get Wooten fired.

Gov. Palin knowingly "permitted Todd to use the Governor's office and the resources of the Governor's office, including access to state employees, to continue to contact subordinate state employees in an effort to find some way to get Trooper Wooten fired," Branchflower's report reads.

Wooten had been in hot water before Palin became governor over allegations that he illegally shot a moose, drank beer in a patrol car and used a Taser on his stepson. The Palins said they feared for their family's safety after Wooten made threats against them.
___

Associated Press Writer Adam Goldman contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

Branchflower report: http://download1.legis.state.ak.us/DOWNLOAD.pdf

-

Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- With 25 days before Election Day, a forecasting model that has called the top vote-getter in the last three presidential races predicts a solid victory for Barack Obama.

The Democratic presidential candidate will get about 52 percent of the popular vote on Nov. 4, according to an economic model developed by Yale University Professor Ray Fair.

``The model has predicted all along that the Democrat will get the majority of the two-party vote, and it's still saying that,'' Fair, who has been forecasting a Democratic victory since November 2006
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aPnl.m5.6Sa8&refer=p...
»

Does McCain Have Cooties?

This is pretty interesting:

[Norm] Coleman told reporters that he would not be appearing at a planned rally with McCain this afternoon. Could it be McCain's sliding polling numbers in Minnesota? His attacks on Obama? Coleman said he needs the time to wo
rk on suspending his own negative ads.

"Today," he said, "people need hope and a more positive campaign is a start."

There are at least three groups of Republicans that might have an interest in distancing themselves from John McCain. Firstly, purple-state moderates like Coleman and Gordon Smith who don't like the campaign's tone. Secondly, the anti-bailout economic populists in the House who might be looking ahead to 2010 and 2012. And thirdly, true conservatives who never trusted McCain that much to begin with.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/

Read It Here:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-10/the-conservati...

-

For years, liberals thought they could catch up in media by playing by conservatives' rules. Rachel Maddow's success proves it's better to just change the game.

"I think I have a fear in general about whether being a pundit is a worthwhile thing to be," Rachel Maddow tells me over dinner at a Latin restaurant in lower Manhattan. It's more than the ordinary self-deprecation of someone who just got her own cable commentary show. It's an insecurity essential to the on-air style that's powered the 35-year-old's rapid rise from a wacky morning radio show in western Massachusetts to the liberal radio network Air America and now to her own prime-time show on MSNBC.
In this, Maddow and Air America mirror the haphazard paths to success taken by several prominent liberal projects of recent years. Like Air America, other institutions were built with the idea of emulating the successful entities of the right: The Center for American Progress, for instance, looked with envy at the Heritage Foundation, with its preference for public relations over actual ideas. But CAP moved beyond its imitative beginnings and evolved into a serious think tank, generating new ideas on poverty and national security and pairing them with a state-of-the-art online rapid response shop. They found a model, in other words, that suited liberalism's strengths. Other new progressive organizations of the last decade have gone well beyond the banal imitate-the-right premises on which they were founded.

Likewise, though Air America thought it wanted to create an analog to right-wing radio, it found its only breakout success in Maddow--the furthest thing from Rush Limbaugh. Rhodes still appears with some regularity on cable news and, as of last fall, had one of the largest audiences of any liberal talk-radio host. Yet, she primarily reaches radio listeners interested in a strident, angry liberal. Because Maddow is now established on cable TV, she speaks to a much larger audience--one that doesn't necessarily agree with her. She may have had to scheme her way onto Air America in the first place, but she is in many ways the network's greatest success story.

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=channel_changer_08

Attack on Woman at Elmhurst College Called Hate Crime

elmhurstcollege.jpgA woman was pistol whipped last night in a basement bathroom of the Schaible Science Center at west suburban Elmhurst College, triggering an hour long campus lock down. The attacker was described as a 5 foot, 8 inch tall male, wearing a black ski mask. The victim -- a Muslim -- says that about a week ago someone had written "anti-Muslim graffiti" and a swastika on her locker. Officials also found anti-Muslim graffiti in the bathroom where she was attacked, and have now labeled the incident a hate crime. The woman's father described the incident to the Tribune:

"[The attacker] said, 'Now who is going to protect you?' " the victim's father said. " 'And she said that, 'God will protect me ... You can kill me, but you cannot take my soul.' She fought for her life, and that's how God saved her."
http://chicagoist.com/2008/10/10/attack_on_woman_at_elmhurst_college.php

Coincidentally enough, earlier that day students had held a "diversity rally" because of what they claim are a growing number of incidents involving discrimination especially towards Muslims -- even though there are only 25 Muslims amongst the 3,300 people enrolled at the school. In light of the attack, students organized a sit-in this afternoon to help convince the college to improve campus security.

Elmhurst College rallies in support of Muslim student attacked by masked man
http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3A...

(McLiar discourages attacking Barack because "he is not an Arab." As for that Keith Ellison guy or those other Arabs, well...)

McCain should have said, "there would be nothing wrong with being an Arab, but Obama is not." The way he put it strongly implied that he had a low opinion of Arabs.

An Arab is a native speaker of the Arabic language, which is akin to Hebrew. The Arab civilization is one of the more glorious in world history, having bestowed on the world great scientific and cultural achievements. Arabic is spoken in North Africa and West Asia by approximately 250 million people, a group only somewhat smaller than the population of the United States.

Arabs began immigrating into the United States in the 1880s from Lebanon, and have been an important ethnic group during the past over a century. They provided everything from auto workers to physicians and comedians. There are probably three million self-identified Arab-Americans, and as a group they are slightly wealthier, younger and more educated than Americans in general. (If we counted everyone with at least an 8th Lebanese ancestry as Arab-American, they would be many millions, but most don't self-identify that way). Arab-Americans are more likely to own a business than the average American. Until very recently, they were slightly more likely to vote Republican than Democrat (they are now trending Democrat). They are potential swing voters in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida.

That confused woman probably did not mean "Arab" but "Muslim." But Arab is a linguistic identity whereas Muslim is a religious one. Not all Arabs are Muslims. The Copts in Egypt (6% of the population) speak Arabic but are Christians. Likewise the Maronites in Lebanon and many Chaldeans and Assyrians in Iraq. About 7,000 Jews living in Morocco speak Arabic at home.

If not all Arabs are Muslims, only a minority of Muslims is Arab. Iranians (70 million strong) are not Arabs. Turks are not Arabs. Pakistanis are not Arabs. Malaysians and Indonesians are not Arabs. Nigerians and Senegalese are not Arabs. But all these national or ethnic groups are predominantly Muslim.

Worse than the lady's confusion between Arab and Muslim were her further obvious confusion between Muslim and dangerous.

Mr. McCain, Arab-Americans and Muslim-Americans are decent, family-oriented citizens. The only thing wrong with calling Obama by either of these modifiers is that it would be incorrect. He is not an Arab ethnically, but rather northern European and Luo (Nilotic). He is not a Muslim but a Christian.

McCain's insinuation that "Arabs" (whether he and his friend actually meant "Muslims" or not) are not decent and not family-oriented and not citizens is obscene.

(ALICE) Ralph Nader, one of McCain's rivals for the presidency, is an Arab-American, and McCain owes Mr. Nader and all Arab-Americans, indeed, all Americans, a huge apology.

As with his self-professed "hatred" of "gooks," McCain's suddenly revealed attitude toward Arab-Americans is extremely troubling.
http://www.juancole.com/

Economy's bust is a boon for military's recruiting effort

WASHINGTON — The economic crisis could help the military recruit and retain troops, Pentagon officials said Friday, potentially ending years of extraordinary bonuses and waivers that have become necessary to keep enough troops to fight two wars
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/53766.html

do u have a link to malloy?

just for you for a limited time only. - LINK

Let me know when you get this.

In praise of ... the International Brigades

Now the Spanish government has awarded citizenship to the few who survive, a handful of Britons in their 90s. It is a small gesture, but a decent one, honouring the 500 who died fighting and those who survived after giving up part of their youth to defend a cause in which they believe.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/11/spain

Austrian far-right leader Jörg Haider dies in car crash
Austrian president says death of controversial politician is a 'human tragedy.

The controversial Austrian far-right leader Jörg Haider was killed in a car accident today, two weeks after staging a comeback in national elections.

Haider sought to distance himself from his right-wing past, which included a comment in 1991 that the Third Reich had an "orderly employment policy" and a 1995 reference to concentration camps as "the punishment camps of National Socialism"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/11/austria-haider

bless you fernando - just got it!!

BAM! Obama TV Ad hits back hard on Ayers smear
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/11/10531/682/57/627442

the link hangs..??no - just got it -

Serious college football! Get your tequila sunrises ready.
It's hard to believe that the Texas-Oklahoma rivalry could get any bigger. - DMN
It's on ABC here.

and if you are there at the State Fair of Texas. Have a Fried Coca Cola for me.

never never would the current AAR have the guts to broadcast the wonderful Malloy of Oct. 10

all by myself. Finally someone posted about the new thread.

I'm asking that everyone try to alert people on the old thread of a new thread as soon as possible. I try to do that.

tD

no one pays attention.

Bush accepts the collapse of the American Empire:
"But some day Cuba will be free."

Bush vows not to lift embargo on "dungeon" Cuba
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE4999B120081010

too true. I thought his show was amazing. I already emailed Novam to thank them for putting him on the airwaves.

I wish they would put Sam on too. His internet show is fantastic albeit so short. Too short.

That link you put up for Malloy didn't work for me. I got a list of a bunch of things including MvS and the NovaM played this morning's show.

What did I do wrong?

just as with m$m, people move to the net for radio....

it was your post that alerted me.

My posts start here if anyone is interested:

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/3925#comment-268036

right click and do save link as

Political Punch
Power, pop, and probings from ABC News Senior National Correspondent Jake Tapper

Palin Parses
October 11, 2008 10:32 AM

When asked by a reporter today, "Governor, did you abuse your power?" Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said, "No, and if you read the report you'll see that there was nothing unlawful or unethical about replacing a cabinet member. You gotta read the report, sir."

It's true that there's nothing "unlawful or unethical about replacing a cabinet member" in principle.

But the report is not as Gov. Palin is presenting it, in terms of ethics laws.

To wit:

"I find that Governor Sarah Palin Abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act...

"Compliance with the code of ethics is not optional...

"The evidence supports the conclusion that Governor Palin, at the least, engaged in 'official action' by her inaction if not her active participation or assistance to her husband in attempting to get Trooper Wooten fired [and there is evidence of her active participation.] She knowingly, as that term is defined in the above cited statutes, permitted Todd Palin to use the Governor’s office and the resources of the Governor’s office, including access to state employees, to continue to contact subordinate state employees in an effort to find some way to get Trooper Wooten fired. Her conduct violated AS 39.52.110(a) of the Ethics Act...

"Governor Palin knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda."

So who needs to read the report?

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/10/palin-parses.html

U.S. takes North Korea off terror list.
North Korea has agreed to U.S. demands for nuclear inspection of its facilities, and in response, the Bush administration has agreed to take the country off its terrorism blacklist. The move was immediately criticized by conservatives, who were concerned about the effect it would have on Iran. “We are also sending a strong message to other rogue nations, such as Iran and Syria, that we will not hold them to their commitments, even as we give in to their demands,” said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL).

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has moved to the right of the Bush administration, yesterday blasting the anticipated announcement as, essentially, “appeasement.” As recently as July, the White House said that it still considered North Korea a member of the axis of evil.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/10/11/north-korea-list/

Bush ‘relieved’ his presidency is almost over.
Despite an economic crisis shaking the country, President Bush has reportedly been very “relaxed.” Former Missouri senator John C. Danforth was at a fundraiser with Bush last week and said that the President “seemed relieved” his presidency was nearly over. “[He] looked as though he was about to shed this burden of the presidency. … I took it as though, ‘I’ve done the best I can, I think I made the right decisions and now it’s almost over,’” said Danforth. The New York Times also reports that “Bush has been telling people privately that it’s a good thing he’s in charge” during the country’s rough times because he has “a good group of people in D.C. working for him.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/10/11/bush-over/

Update: AP reports that under Bush, "U.S. clout in what it once considered its backyard has sunk to perhaps the lowest point in decades. As Washington turned its attention to the Middle East, Latin America swung to the left and other powers moved in."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_LOSING_LATIN_AMERICA?SITE=FLRO...

Palin’s tenure in Alaska filled with pet projects.
Politico reports on Gov. Sarah Palin’s prolific spending while governor of Alaska. “She supports spending taxpayer cash on initiatives that tickle her fancy,” Ken Vogel notes. “During her tenures as both mayor and governor, operating budgets ballooned by 55 percent in Wasilla and 25 percent in Alaska.” Some examples of Palin’s pet projects:

– $25,000 for the Juneau Christian Center, after Palin started worshipping there.

– $2 million for an academic conference meant to dispel the idea that climate change is threatening polar bears.

– $630,000 for a kitchen in a hockey arena complex the self-described hockey mom built during her second term as Wasilla’s mayor.

– At least $10,000 to help fund the snowmobile race Todd Palin has won several times.

Ultimately, Palin took Wasilla’s long-term debt from $1 million when she entered office to $25 million when she left.” “Anything she proposed is a good earmark,” said Bob Weinstein, mayor of Ketchikan, Alaska.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/10/10/palin-earmarks-governor/

Texas 3
Oklahoma 7

</bluerootsradio>

On that 'earmark' for my favorite science center

By Janet Raloff
Web edition : Thursday, October 9th, 2008

The sound of football resembles the sound of MAYHEM....

It gets all my transmitter substances in an uproar!

Happe Talk

One hell of a game so far.

I usually end up hurling before the end of it. Probably not a good year to break holiday traditions....

I've been following the issue of voter suppression off and on for virtually my entire life. I can remember watching live reports from Selma, Alabama, when I was a teenager. Even before that, I remember the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and its challenge to the seating of the segregationist "regular Democrat" delegation at the 1964 DNC. But my appreciation of the issue was boosted dramatically in 2000 by the publication of Alexander Keyssar's comprehensive historical analysis, The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States, swiftly followed by the debacle in Florida, which revealed various different forms of voter suppression all at work simultaneously.
Increasingly, throughout the 2000s, ACORN and Project Vote have been on the forefront of the struggle to push back voter suppression, and give full voice to those routinely sidelined from participation in our democracy. I'm planning to post a longer diary of my own later this weekend, but to kick things off, I'm posting this diary, primarily composed of a press release from ACORN setting the record straight about just what is going on in the struggle for democracy here at home today.

Paul Rosenberg :: ACORN: Bogus "Voter Fraud Charges" Aim to Camouflage Voter Suppression
ACORN's press release begins:
ACORN (The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) has just completed the largest, most successful nonpartisan voter registration drive in US history. We helped 1.3 million low-income, minority and young voters across the country register to vote.
Unfortunately, just as in 2006, that success in bringing people into the democratic process, have been greeted with unfounded accusations to disparage our work and help maintain the status quo of an unbalanced electorate.

After a similar spate of charges against ACORN in 2006, we learned that then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales had fired Republican US Attorneys because they refused to prosecute ACORN and other voter assistance groups on trumped up fraud charges. This was the heart of the US Attorney-gate scandal that led Karl Rove, Gonzales and other top Department of Justice officials to resign. Because the press didn't catch on until long after the election, it was part of a successful strategy to create an unfounded specter of voter fraud and to suppress voting.

We're quite accustomed to the M$M failing to connect the dots--or not even being able to see them in the first place. But comments here, and even diaries at other progressive blogs show that even progressive activists often have no real grasp of the true picture of what's going on. To inform yourself of the basics, please continue reading on the flip.

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=9008

Happe Talk

Right Wing Rages Against New Voter Registrations:
The ‘Purpose’ Of ACORN Is To Commit ‘Voter Fraud’

This week, the New York Times reported that “tens of thousands of eligible voters in at least six swing states have been removed from the rolls or have been blocked from registering in ways that appear to violate federal law.” But instead of expressing concern about tens of thousands of potentially disenfranchised citizens, what are conservatives up in arms about? The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), which announced that it had registered 1.3 million new voters.

Seizing on a couple of reports of apparently fraudulent voter registrations, conservatives began a chorus of accusations, claiming that the “purpose” of ACORN is to commit “voter fraud.” Watch a compilation: at link

It’s important to highlight a couple of facts to correct the right-wing rhetoric:

- Fraudulent registration forms do not constitute voter fraud.

Voter fraud only occurs if someone tries to improperly cast a vote. “It’s not voter fraud unless someone shows up at the voting booth on election day and tries to pass himself off as ‘Tony Romo.’ And who would try to do that?” wrote Rep. Jesse Jackson (D-IL). The Brennan Center for Justice noted that “there are no reports that we have discovered of votes actually cast in the names of [false] registrants.”

- In many states, organizations like ACORN are required by law to turn in every registration card they receive.

As the Wall Street Journal reported, “New Mexico law requires Acorn to turn in all applications, no matter how suspicious-looking, within 48 hours. Elections officials do their own quality control on registrations.” In fact, “under most state laws, voter registration organizations are required to turn in all the forms they receive.” Furthermore, ACORN explained in a statement that “for the past 10 months, any time ACORN has identified a potentially fraudulent application, we turn that application into election officials separately and offer to provide election officials with the information they would need to pursue an investigation or prosecution of the individual.”

When a department store calls the police to report a shoplifting employee, no one says the department store is guilty of consumer fraud. The same principle applies here. The small number of staffers who have submitted fraudulent forms are violating ACORN’s mission. Anyone caught defrauding should be prosecuted, and ACORN says it is assisting in that effort. ACORN should work harder to catch these employees and ensure that they are held responsible.

After years of enacting policies catering to the wealthy, the right-wing seems to be fearful of millions of new low-income voters casting their ballot in favor of progressive policies.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/10/10/acorn-reaction/

good point - mcbush lets his plants disparage obama to make himself look above it all...

about now. Let McCain be the ruler of them and then we can figure out what to do with the remaining blue states. Malloy is so right about how stupid humans can be. Shameful.

Happe Talk

mcbush/failin'

Did you see that?!?!?!?

</bluerootsradio>

gonna hurl. I deserve it. That catch was too dizzy.

10/11: Hotline/Diageo Pres-Tracker: Obama 50%, McCain 40%

10/11: Rasmussen Pres-Tracker: Obama 52%, McCain 45%

10/11: Res. 2000 Pres-Tracker: Obama 52%, McCain 40%

10/11: Zogby Pres-Tracker: Obama 48%, McCain 44%

10/10: Gallup Pres-Tracker: Obama 51%, McCain 41%

- !

I had that comin'!

</bluerootsradio>

Palin Lies About Ethics Report's Finding
Sarah Palin falsely told reporters this morning that the Alaska legislature's ethics report on Trooper-Gate clears her of any wrongdoing. "And if you read the report, you'll see that there was nothing unlawful or unethical about replacing a cabinet member. You got to read the report, sir," Palin said. In fact, the report says that Palin violated the state's ethics codes in bringing pressure upon cabinet members to take retaliatory actions against her ex-brother-in-law.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/10/11/politics/fromtheroad/entry451499...

Obama Thanks McCain For Calling Him A Decent Man
At a stop in Philadelphia this morning, Barack Obama thanked John McCain for telling his own audiences to be respectful, and that Obama is a decent man. "I want to acknowledge that Senator McCain tried to tone down the rhetoric in his town hall meeting yesterday, and I appreciated his reminder that we can disagree while still being respectful of each other," Obama said.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/10/11/obama_thanks_mccai...

Obama In Philadelphia
Barack Obama is touring through Philadelphia, today, holding multiple rallies around the city. Obama held an 8:15 a.m. ET rally at Progress Plaza, a 9:30 a.m rally at the Mayfair Diner, an 11:15 a.m. rally at Vernon Park, and he has one more scheduled for at 1:10 p.m. ET, at the intersection of South 52nd Street and Locust Street. Joe Biden does not have any public events.

MSNBC just now said there are over 20,000 people at Obama's rally this AM in Philly.

anyone?

Poll: Obama Winning Over Groups Once Reluctant To Back Him
By Greg Sargent - October 11, 2008, 9:04AM
The new Newsweek poll, which finds Obama leading McCain by 52%-41% among registered voters, also finds some serious movement among voter groups that had been reluctant to back the Illinios Senator in the past:

He now leads McCain among both men (54 percent to 40 percent) and women (50 percent to 41 percent). He now wins every age group of voters -- including those over 65 years of age, who back him over McCain 49 to 43 percent. Supporters of Hillary Clinton, as many as a fifth of whom had at one point told pollsters they'd support McCain over Obama, now back the Democratic nominee 88 percent to 7 percent.
McCain still retains a slight edge of two points among independents, 45%-43%. But Obama is winning on the character front. His favorability ratings have actually edged up, from 57% to 60%, while his unfavorability rating has dropped a point, to 36%.

Meanwhile, McCain's favorability rating has dropped six points to 51%. And 59% say Obama shares their values, versus only 47% for McCain. So McCain's efforts to paint Obama as culturally out of touch, allied with shadowy figures, including terrorists, and different from you and me in a vaguely sinister way just may be proving to be a bust.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/poll_obama_winni...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b80eCIZnB-k&feature=related

do you really need a brain to see this advocates assassination? I flagged it.

Who was covering that Okie receiver? Man was he WIDE open

By Janet Raloff
Web edition : Friday, September 26th, 2008

As I noted last week, advisers to the presidential candidates have been fairly mum about which scientists, medical leaders and engineers have signed on to advise and/or support Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama.

It’s something Albert H. Teich also noted when I contacted this director of Science & Policy Programs at the American Association for the Advancement of Science several weeks back. Observed Teich in August, “You don’t have any really identifiable science people associated with McCain’s campaign, whereas there are quite a few people on the Obama side.” Indeed, he said, “You could say that there is a brain trust of scientists” linked to the Democratic candidate.

Yesterday, Obama’s campaign released “an open letter to the American people” signed by 61 Nobel laureates. All received their award for achievements in physics (22), chemistry (14) or medicine (25).

full article

OU is #1

..and the right to gloat.

</bluerootsradio>
There will be more chances I'm sure....

As governor, Palin at times bonds church and state

By GARANCE BURKE
Associated Press Writer

WASILLA, Alaska (AP) -- The camera closes in on Sarah Palin speaking to young missionaries, vowing from the pulpit to do her part to implement God's will from the governor's office.

What she didn't tell worshippers gathered at the Wasilla Assembly of God church in her hometown was that her appearance that day came courtesy of Alaskan taxpayers, who picked up the $639.50 tab for her airplane tickets and per diem fees.

An Associated Press review of the Republican vice presidential candidate's record as mayor and governor reveals her use of elected office to promote religious causes, sometimes at taxpayer expense and in ways that blur the line between church and state.

Since she took state office in late 2006, the governor and her family have spent more than $13,000 in taxpayer funds to attend at least 10 religious events and meetings with Christian pastors, including Franklin Graham, the son of evangelical preacher Billy Graham, records show.

Palin was baptized Roman Catholic as a newborn and baptized again in a Pentecostal Assemblies of God church when she was a teenager. She has worshipped at a nondenominational Bible church since 2002, opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest and supports classroom discussions about creationism.

Since she was named as John McCain's running mate, Palin's deep faith and support for traditional moral values have rallied conservative voters who initially appeared reluctant to back his campaign.

On a weekend trip from the capital in June, a minister from the Wasilla Assembly of God blessed Palin and Lt. Gov Sean Parnell before a crowd gathered for the "One Lord Sunday" event at the town's hockey rink. Later in the day, she addressed the budding missionaries at her former church.

"As I'm doing my job, let's strike this deal. Your job is going be to be out there, reaching the people - (the) hurting people - throughout Alaska," she told students graduating from the church's Masters Commission program. "We can work together to make sure God's will be done here."

A spokeswoman for the McCain-Palin campaign, Maria Comella, said the state paid for Palin's travel and meals on that trip, and for other meetings with Christian groups, because she and her family were invited in their official capacity as Alaska's first family. Parnell did not charge the state a per diem or ask to be reimbursed for travel expenses that day.

"I understand the per diem policy is, I can claim it if I am away from my residence for 12 hours or more. And Anchorage is where my residence is and I'm based from. And this trip took about four hours of driving time and time at the event, so I did not claim per diem for this one," Parnell told the AP.

Palin and her family billed the state $3,022 for the cost of attending Christian gatherings exclusively, including visits to the Assembly of God here and to the congregation they attend in Juneau, according to expense reports reviewed by the AP.

Experts say those trips fall into an ethically gray area, since Democrats and Republicans alike often visit religious venues for personal and official reasons.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PALIN_CHURCH_AND_STATE?SITE=TXWIC...

as I ask steve to go into the other room....THE NOISE!!

Happe Talk

Laying out like a diver

we wouldn't get to read you and that would suck for me.

How afraid is Karl Rove about Ohio 2004 election fraud evidence coming out?
John McCain's tech guru is the same technician who helped fix the facts around the Ohio 2004 election results. Mike Connell has been a Rove tool for ages, and has even recently been subpoenaed to testify about his involvement in Ohio's vote rigging during the 2004 election cycle. Following in the steps of Rove, Connell has refused to honor the subpoena. Before we get to the latest Rove dirty trick, let's do a quick run-through of the allegations against Connell:

COLUMBUS -- A high-level Republican consultant has been subpoenaed in a case regarding alleged tampering with the 2004 election.

Michael L. Connell was served with a subpoena in Ohio on Sept. 22 in a case alleging that vote-tampering during the 2004 presidential election resulted in civil rights violations. Connell, president of GovTech Solutions and New Media Communications, is a website designer and IT professional who created a website for Ohio’s secretary of state that presented the results of the 2004 election in real time as they were tabulated.

At the time, Ohio’s Secretary of State, Kenneth J. Blackwell, was also chairman of Bush-Cheney 2004 reelection effort in Ohio.

The case took on fresh momentum earlier this year when Arnebeck announced in July that he was filing to "lift the stay in the case [and] proceed with targeted discovery in order to help protect the integrity of the 2008 election." The new filing was inspired in part by the coming forward as a whistleblower of GOP IT security expert Stephen Spoonamore, who said he was prepared to testify to the plausibility of electronic vote-rigging having been carried out in 2004.

The interest in Mike Connell stems from his association with a firm called GovTech, which he had spun off from his own New Media Communications under his wife Heather Connell’s name. GovTech was hired by Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell to set up an official election website at election.sos.state.oh.us to presented the 2004 presidential returns as they came in.

Connell is a long-time GOP operative, whose New Media Communications provided web services for the Bush-Cheney ’04 campaign, the US Chamber of Commerce, the Republican National Committee and many Republican candidates. This in itself might have raised questions about his involvement in creating Ohio’s official state election website.

However, the alternative media group ePlubibus Media further discovered in November 2006 that election.sos.state.oh.us was hosted on the servers of a company in Chattanooga, TN called SmarTech, which also provided hosting for a long list of Republican Internet domains.

“Since early this decade, top Internet ‘gurus’ in Ohio have been coordinating web services with their GOP counterparts in Chattanooga, wiring up a major hub that in 2004, first served as a conduit for Ohio's live election night results,” researchers at ePluribus Media wrote.

A few months after this revelation, when a scandal erupted surrounding the firing of US Attorneys for reasons of White House policy, other researchers found that the gwb43 domain used by members of the White House staff to evade freedom of information laws by sending emails outside of official White House channels was hosted on those same SmarTech servers.

So, now that we know what the issues are here (Rove, Chamber of Congress, and Watergate-like dirty tricks), let's examine the latest developments.

More here:

http://www.atlargely.com/2008/10/how-afraid-is-k.html

My (physics-major-turned-engineer) husband was so mad about McCain calling a planetarium an "overhead projector."

And I'm listening to Malloy's show right now, per the recommendations here. I don't usually, but broke down and subscribed a couple months ago to Nova M in addition to AAR, at least until the elections.

>>Mr. Bush has been telling people privately that it’s a good thing he’s in charge.

Why, this economic falloput couldn't have been done without him!

%%%%%%%%%%

thanks for the Malloy link, I am enjoying it vastly.

I just got an email from a guy in Florida I used to do software for that was filled with slur about Democrats, Liberals and Obama. The right passed going over the top a long time ago, this new wave of radicalism is tantamount to a class/race war. Someone on the right better step up big...like yesterday.

</bluerootsradio>
Off to meet the kids for lunch. Good luck Longhorns, but not so much as to actually win the game. ;-)

and is watching Texas v. Oklahoma.

He's rooting for Texas.

And he still hates girls, so I don't have to worry about him being enthralled if any OU commercials have girls wearing tops like that one up there. He'd just say "Ew!"

:-)

Hey, did anyone notice there's some sort of football game on the tube this morning?

there's this one team wearing white and another wearing red.

The red shirted ones are called the `sooners'...so I guess the ones in white are the `laters'?

The guy on the teevee called them `oakies' which I find offensive. they aren't depression era farmers who've been forced from their land by dust bowl conditions. I take exception to the comparison!

Shameful!

I had my eyes dilated this morning.

Things are rather blurry...

>>He'd just say "Ew!"

that's what you think...I've been attracted to women for as long as I can remember. at least since I was 5...

Sorry,if posted before..But,I just have to post this Good news ! :)
And,Palin put out her own version..WTF ?

Ethics investigation finds Palin abused power

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - 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.

Con't-msnbc

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

I don't remember yesterday.

such a blessing.

>>I don't remember yesterday.

I wish I was so lucky...

That's White & Burnt Orange,Chubbs.. ;)

I was born there..Austin..

Texas is doing pretty good considering OK is rated No.1..

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Stupid Pass !

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Whatever..If you say so Ref. ;)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

How come them Longhorns threw the ball to the other team in the N-zone.

BTW -- I strongly object to the racist term ,'N-zone'.

Its shouldn't matter that blacks seem to run the ball into it all the time...

will they call field goals, `honky-kicks' next?

out there. They need to be more respectful.

Mike Malloy from last night's show:

"I will vote for Barrack Obama because am hoping he will turn out to be be who I think he can be."

exactly why I support Obama.

that and I am afraid McCain will be exactly who he has proven himself to be.

Hey Sarah Palin (with lyrics/subtitles)

Hey Sarah Palin (with lyrics/subtitles)

--"I will vote for Barrack Obama because am hoping he will turn out to be be who I think he can be."

exactly why I support Obama.--

Funny Vid.. :)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Exactly why I supported Kerry...
new
Submitted by Alice on Sat, 10/11/2008 - 2:57pm.
*******

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

http://vimeo.com/1919444?pg=embed&sec=1919444

8mm scratch videoclip for the song 'Dogs of Rotterdam' by Melbourne gypsy deathcore band The Barons of Tang. Shot at the Northcote Social Club.

http://www.myspace.com/davidrovics

http://www.davidrovics.com

http://www.museumofbadart.org/images/u-pop-unseen-2.jpg

UNSEEN FORCES #2
Reef Garden
Mixed media on masonite by Hassmer
36" x 36"
Acquired by Scott Wilson from the Salvation Army Store

Here we are, witnessing the staging of a subaqueous musical extravaganza. On a silent cue, one pulsating incubator bursts, hurtling an anxious and curiously aged little merman upwards to the unknown world above the surface. The dancer stares, hypnotizing the viewer. We find ourselves forced to stay -- feel the music or drown.