University of Texas Students and Alum for Barack

Halliburton has a contract to rebuild Iraq! Is that rebuilding a country or Halliburton pretend they arre not at war just rebuilding Iraqa?

Lillene Ebanks — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:12:19 EST

Rebuilding Iraq or war? CNN said VP Chaney critized President Obama for pretending we are not at war! In Iraq our tax dollars go to private contractors to rebuild Iraq! I understand VP Chaney is on the board of Halliburton that has contracts to rebuild Iraq! Are rebuilding contracts war? Are rebuilding Contracts building? Whose company profits from rebuilding? How are these contracts justified to Congress? Are the on a rebuilding budget or a war expense budget? We can get a lot more oil by rebuilding than war as these countries how been on a surviwal mode since alexander the Great conquered them! What did Alexander do it for? More territory, power, natural resources? We a free to think and listen right but we need fuel how do we best acquire fuel contracts from the Middle East? Libia and Scotland resolved the terriorist delima on that plane crash that killed over two hundred people?They released the terrorist on compassionate ground stating that LScotland tempers justice with compassion!The Libian terrorist release in my opion reduced the expense of war and saved the lives of soldiers and precured the need oil in a less expensive safier manner! But That is my opinion in all this mass communication era! I thought we are rebuilding Iraq so they have a democracy and we can negotiate to get oil from the Middle East safely and cheaply as we can not live without oil! But I am only a listner and I have not real information but I have the same information that most ordinary tax payer funding the rebuilding contracts in Iraq where Alexander the Great built that castle like fort It is a small worl with internet! How far off am I? Some time in 200x - read that the US was helping children in Iraq go to schools as a result of our service and contracts ther! If this is war against Iraq I sing the country song I have Ocean Front Property in Arizona to sell you by Gerge Straight! He and I are both prodegies of South West Texas Stae University I heard! We could rebuild that ocean front property too! I did not see an ocean there but I bet Sen McCain would know about both questions!With misspelling a politic plus I will have to rething my grading scale to account for exeptionl political children or adults! Merry Christmas troops and your families!

Happiness for Christmas 2009 is

Lillene Ebanks — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:54:38 EST

A Tribute to the Armed Forces sponsoed by Busweiser and arranged by Senator McCain for the troops in Iraq and his campaign supporters (I presumed) for Christmas 2008 when it snowed in New Orleans. I was wearing an Army used uniform from Goodwill with an army like camo santa hat to take pictures saluting the troops on the Budweiser truck in front of the New Orleans WW II Musium, saluting the troops in Iraq in front of the US flag as the snow fell on Saint Charles Street, sitting on the Budweiser truck for photoes in the snow by on Bourbon Street by the Cowboy Western Club close to where I hosted the debate party between Senator Obama and Senator McCain and Senator Biden and Governor Palin which was on Canal Street at the Sheraton Hotel, by the trolly cars, standing next to a cannon with a fifty foot Christmas tree withe the famous cathedral in the background.I remember photoes next to the Budweiser clydesdale horses and wagon covered in snow on Les Champs Elysees in Paris, France! I lived in Paris to come into Arkansas where the quota was lower than Houston's as I got me green card and waited 18 years unsuccessfully like my parents have waited sixty years in Houston unsuccesfully to get our citizenship. I got my citizenship quickly in Ft Smith, Arkansas, twenty years ago! After the Buswiser photo opt tribute to the troops I wrote a picture book tribute to the troops inserting the photoes commemerating a political and military bond created between a campaign supporter/writer and a Vietnam War Air Force Prisoner of War (POW), a Budwiser business family, a Senator, a Presidential candidate,Sen John McCain, who put a woman Governor Sarah Palin, into the presidential race in 2008! A Bourbon Street Christmas Eve Wedding!in the same Army outfit with a preacher, a maid of honor as a witness, and a fluggy white shitzu puppy. "Strange" Reba, you are right!! Listening to Alan Jackson singing "When we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be! When we all see Jesus we will sing and shout the victory".This gospil song means so much to me as it reminds reminds me of being rocked to sleep nightly in a hammock and my grand father singing me to sleep in the light of the setting sun on the beautiful shores of the Cayman Island a British Crown Jewel loved and visited by all the royal family and the British Navy sailors with their soccer tean and bagpipe band!.Praises lifted to heaven "Oh Holy Night" sung by the Boys and Girls Choir of Harlem featured on CNN Larry King Live! Carols sung by Brooks and Dunn, and Faith Hill. "Seeing your black dress hit the floor and all I can think about is getting you home" by sung Chris Young and A song that always causes me to get up and dance is " I Just Want to Dance with You!"! Then my favorite memory is "Cowgirls don't cry" by Reba surviving in a shelter after a robbery and my truck being towed with my belongingings and a snow storm in North Carolina, my Georgia Bama sun glasses and meals, my Toby Keith California Cowgirl hat and American Indian and bluegrass outfit with boots on my trip Washington DC in March to advocate for illegal immigrants and to help President Bush feel better after successfully taking us through the biggest natural disasters and terrist attack in resent history by reading Palms 23 after the twin towers and our hearts fell. "The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want He leadeth me beside the still waters. Yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thy rod and thy staff they comfort me" President Bush and Barney and First Lady Laura Bush help provide beautiful educational lessons fron the White House and Oval Office just so no Child is Left Behind! "I turn to You" is when I am most vunerable and need strength I put on my POW army jacket, 9-11 army couage jacket, or my inaugural presidential e-mail thank you letter to acquire courage for whatever situation life may throw in my journey to carve that first woman president face in the side of the Ozark mountain! A old time Country melody on the radio,"There may not be any snow in San Antonio but it feels like a TEXAS Christmas sung with ain a "Southern Voice" like Tim McGraws most historic song! The smell of two eleven pounds of Angus beef roasts baking slowlyin the owen reminding us that there will be a family reunion and a health care bill this Christmas Eve! Everyone chosing their favorite cup for a spot of London Earl Grey tea! Two health care e-mails from President Obama to Lillene entitled "We will Not Back Down" and "Where We Stand"! Notes in my Blackberry of the Democratic Senators working to get Health Care passed on Christmas Eve with the republicans delaying it as they could not stop it if the democrats were united in purpose! They united and many states benefited with extra rewards! A video in support of health care e-mailed around the United States to millions of people and around the globe for hours on the night of 12-20-09 and into the early morning of the day before the senate stayed up all night too on 12-21-09 to get a health Care Bill that secured the 60 votes needed for the 60 democratsto pass health care on Christmas Eve! The video was staring British Barbie and Jamestown promoting health care- Dallas Cowgirl style beauty and Texas humour! A Dutchess Daisy spot of Twinning Earl Grey tea with bourgamont and.a message from London "Enjoy the Experience" "Reward youself" sweetened with Maui Sugar in the Raw stirred with s silver spoon! A slice of a Betty Crocker First Prize Cranberry Fruit Cake.made ny Aunt Dell with her secret ingredients and moms Cayman Heavy Cornmeal Cake made cornmeal and coconut milk seasoned with nutmeg, allspice, vanilla, and cinnamon served on a cake plate with the Eifel Tower in Paris and the Big Bend clock in London! Sometimes I use my Regency tea cups from London a commemerative gift to remember the meeting betwwen President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama and Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace and in Regency Square like on the saucer earlier this year! Little things can trigger an adreline rush that warms the cockels of your heart! A Houston Astros baseball with an entire team's authoraphs and a President Clinton autographed photo baseball! A House of Webster ceramic holder from Rogers Arkansas to hold a dictionary to help me edit my live internet history book;;the pink and white dogwood flowers on the holder is Arkansas state flower. This reminds me of the 58 acres and cabin my daughter and I own in Dutton, Arkansas with the White River running through it and the Ozark National Forest on one side with a private mountain ledge beside the White River waiting for an artist to carve the face of the first woman President and the First Gentlem, First Lady Michelle Obama, and First Lady Barbara Bush who spent the most time in the White House through her spouse as Vice President to President Ronald Regan for eight years and President H W Bush served four years as our forty first president and their son, President George W Bush served for eight years as our forty third President during 9-11-01 attack on the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and a missed attempt on the White House was averted by the cheroic crew who gave their lives in a crash in a field in Penselvania with a total death toll of 3000 people that day and Hurricane Katrina destroyed bew Orleans Ninth Ward and Louisana evacuated with Mississippiand parts of Texas all declared disaster areas! A wooden foot massager and a jar of.Therapy for Aches and pains made with eucalyptus oil and inhaled periodically to relax the body! The six fags over Texas to remind me of how intelligent our third woman Governor Kay Bailey Hutchinson looked and sounded trying to use the Constitution as her reason to remain with her party on Health Care what a job politics is when you can not vote. for the voters needs but must vote your party because of the need for campaign funds! Our United States flag! An acorn sented candle to remind me of squarrels in the large oak tree in my Texas former home office for "They Are Helping People" a nonprofit educational organization! A light pink rose from God! A Jean Lafete Ship book! A Princess Moments figurine of my TV choir prayer partner. A basket of pancies, a pancy frame with President Bush and Jenna in her fish tail wedding dress and a heart shaped box covered in yellow, purple and hot pink pancies like my landlord Chris Owens with her Easter parade on Bourbon Street. A chrystal glass of water in a yellow dog like President Clinton and First Lady Hilary to remind me that was my first vote and only one with a deceased daughter watching in a country church in Pettigrew, Arkansas close to the University of Arkansa Law School where I shook hands with First Lady Hillary Clinton. A Qualla bear to give me a noozle knose kiss from heavenly angels and a memory of DC subway! A little American Indian cow girl with a tooth missing in a blue and white pearl heart frame! A Cutty Shark ship with mutted yellow sail and a British Union Jack flag. Yellow and blew linen napkin a picyure of Queen Elizabeth and Prince William and Prince Harry. A Metal of Honor Portrait of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty to honor out troups signed by Pres HBush with a letter from Senator McCain about his sacrifice as a prisoner of war and who helped him survive. And angel ceramic cookic mold which we will make cookies to eat with my Earl Grey Twinning tea! A Princess Diana book! My US Navy whit hat with black band and te Navy seal sitting on my citizen Navy Veteran brother's head! A Texas Longhorn frame with my long curly hair straight A nephew from Hargrave High dreaming of valadictorian , then a Longhorn football player and I pray a NFL line backer for the Dallas Cowboys with his Captain Sulley winner spirit and republican upbringing! Then ther is Sis my niece and Big boy recuperating from public school pit bull dog assignment growing a foot in two months after President Obama won and sis calling and writing President Obama her life line in their fight to live in Texas! Miley syrus on the backgroung "These are the moments I will remember cause there always gonna be another mountain I gonna want to make it move. Always gonna be another up hill battle somebody is gonna have to lose. It not about how fast I get there,it the climb! Keep moving! Keep the faith" Miley Syrus inspirational help to move that mountain! A window frame with a little baby brother sitting in immigration holding like all the others waiting for President Obama, Speaker Pelosi to fight those republican to pass Health care in the Senate tomorrow on Christmas Eve and then fight to pass immigration reformB A copy of my two health care e_mails from President Obama" We will Not Back down" Dec 8 09 and LWhere We Stand" Dec 21, 09 as a valuable Christmas present that has such historical significance.I will will them to my only grandaughter as they probable could be sold for enough to pay for a house because a copy will be registered in the Library of Congress to preserve them for history lessons! My Blackberry with the pictures of a Texas tribute Senator Teddy Kennedy a funeral on the yaught in Corpus Christi with the World War II aircraft carrier and a US Navy plane on deck and a bouquet of lavender shamrocks gentle placed in the Rio Grand River as a last act to help illegal immigrants and my 200x truck painted in red white on blue with his name on the day he died which later became the Health Care Mobile a cause that he was passionate about and dedicated his life to get passed but he went to heaven after battling cancer to endorse President Obama as president! And I will take them and register them in the Library of Congress our create a Pesident Obama Internet Library to store memobelia and documentsn videosb and magazines. I prefer to have a law school for felons to become attorneys to be public defenders for the indigent to get a trial with a Beyond a reasonable Doubt Standard instead of a plea bargin and excessive bail cause them to agree as they are raped and lied to to get a plea often for crimes they are innocent of and the state knows they will lose in a trail so they offer a plea to rape victims who are innocent since they could not afford the bail and they are raped and assaulted! Yes that is my Christmas jewel laid up in my mansion beyond the Pearly gate! My retirement pearls my red white and blue comfy jeans red leather jacket and stretch no iron white shirt! I am trying to get used to my longhorn color hair Loreal Paris - Lynda Evengilist signiture color 8G! I wanted some Paris Hilton perfume for Christmas but I will get it to celebrate the final passage of Health Care when President Obama gives us a present that will keep on giving forever!

Debates on Health Care on day before the vote by the Senate on Christmas Eve

Lillene Ebanks — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:04:21 EST

Thank you President Obama and the First Family for delaying your vacation in Hawaii until late Christmas Eve so our democratic majority in Congress can give us a nice hope for Christmas! Our gratitute goes out to all the Senators for all helping us get a comprehensive Health Care Bill approved by the Senate to go before the Representatives where anoth compromise will lead to a final vote by the Representatives on a bill to present to President Obama in the first of next year we hope! Some of these senators are:1..Sen Dick Durbin, Majority Whip, 2. Sen Jay Rockefeller, D West Virginia,Commerce, Science and Transportatio Cmte, Chairman Passing Heal Care means 31 million uninsured will have insurance; family dependant children will be raised to age 26; it will protect Children Health Insurance CHECK by covering 7 million and 14 million by 2013; guaranted prevntion like check ups will be covered; we will close the donut hole in Medicare improving coverage where now there is none, it is illegal to impose arbritary or life time limits, stop denials of pre existing conditions. 3. Sen Harry Reid.D 4. Sen Mary Landreau, D. Louisiana, 5uring the discussion Sen Kay Bailey Hutching said it would result in opressive new taxes,and we are forcing burdens on small business so they will not hire new employees she complained that they had to meet two days before Christmas and that they did not have time to read the bill introduced on Saturday. Senm I head it being read aloud after countless months of debate and I know what it covers based on C-SPAN repots on Congressional hearing. The Health Care Bill is unconstitutional by forcing people to buy undesired insurance. It violates the 10th Amendment The powers not given to the federal government is reserved for the states and the people! Texas has taken responsibility for oversight of insurance now we lose that and we mustseek permission from the federal government. The states must justify it before they can get it. What will justify mean will become an encrochment on the 10 *mendment , It is the states that have kept the Federal government restrained! Health Care is removing rights and preogratives. She cited the case law New York vs The United States is a case relating to this issue. She asked the Attorney General to challenge the exemption given to Nebraska from exempting Nebraska from some taxes for health care!The Sen felt duty bounge to question the Constitutionality of the Amendment requested a vote on this question: Does it violates the 10th Amendment of the Constitution? Think about the consequences that will alter the lives of people by doing it fast! Sen John Enseign R Nevada The Constitution limits the power of the national government. Health Care violates Artilcle One of the Constitution! This bill violestes the US Constitution no time has a law forced someone to do some thing when they are doing nothing. This is false as auto insurance is an example to prove we have laws to force us to act when we do nothing. But I agree this will harm poor and I wonder if they will be jailed as a result. This is not free this is another method of reducing the income of poor. I heard him say the limit was 2 percent of their income but I heard it was eight percent of their income before they will be exempted. My uninsured disabled niece who is trying to get social security disability but her presecriptions are not covered returned excited that the UTNB Conroe Clinic in Texas all are excited and are supporting health care bill!!! Sen. Kay Bailey Hutching so you do not represent them and their Constitutional rights as people like you said states had rights so people have rights under the 10th *mendment! . Rep Sheila Jackson Lee try to get the fines removed! 7. Sen Orrin Hatch R utah called it partician hyprocricy, dreconian policy and unconstitutional,Tax payer dollar used to use federal dollars to cover elective abortion- 1976 :yde *mentment prohibits this! But the Sen from Nebraska negotiate with those like me who wa|t abortion paid for with federal dollars to protect butchering of pregnant mothers without anesthesia like I had to endure twice by choice! Well D Senator from Nebraska negotiated that states can chose. Could be Sen Harry Reid who is a D from Nebrasca or it could be Sen Baucus a D from Nebraska as I am confused on this! Just because we have a law in place that denies coverage it does not stop us from abolishing the law any making a new one and I want abortion covered so they can get anesthesia instead of listening ang feeling their insides ripped out in the raw Sen Warren Hatch N You are inhumane to say otherwise as I was in college and I had no extra money for a hospital stay and I was uninsured sen Hatch! Do you not even feel my memories of such horrible pain because I could not afford to be hospitilized for my abortions! I want all women to get federal money for abortions like men get money for vastectomies and we fund contraceptives so all these are a form of aborting eggs sperms or fetuses. Health care should cover every thing doctors do as we are not lisence to help ourselves! Sen John Ensign R Nevada did not refute the tax exemption the Democratic Sen from Nevada got through giving his support! The other could have received perks for votes but chose not to yet they are jealously trying to complain now for using a time held method used to get bill passed! Sen Jon Kyl R Arizona, Minority Whip I could not vote for it unless it was deficit nutral. Well the insurance companies are funding billions in exchange for keeping higher prescription prices rather than allowing us to buy drugs at a cheaper price like Canada and other companies! I still can not get over a R Congresman lying about there is no time in history that we have made a law to force action where ther is none! We are fined and jailed for auto insurance! Why not just say we do not want fines but insted of staying up late to vote on the bill republicians stayed home and complained about having to work before Christmas, Thank you democrats fro going the extra mile and for not going to Hawaii President Obama but seeing Health Care passed by negotiating with willing democrats who stayed up until one in the morning to put together extra perks to ensure the people get health care! Thank you! Thank you Sen Max Baucus D Nevada for getting help for your state. I am proud of you and so are your voters! The Vote on the Constitutionality of the Health Care which will require 60 votes to change the rules. Violates the 5 *mendment Said Sen.Ensign R Nevada demanded a vote on the Constitutionality of health care as a violation of (he 4th *mendment and *rticle 1 4ection 8 of the 9onstitution! Tax for first time in history will do something it has never done by forcing us to act when we did not by forcing us to pay fines for not having inurance Article one Section 8 and *rticle 5 of the Constitution! This Christmas Eve the Republicians complain about meeting but pose delays based on Constitutionality but I say that I thank God their delays will be of no awail as the people voted for more democrats to prevent a bipartician grid lock Sen McCain and do you not hear history calling today Sen Snowe? Sen negative Bacus Brown Kasey Finegold Nelson Udal Landreau and more.The votes that health Care Violated our Constitution included these Yes. Trafune Snowe McCain Hutchinson Kraper Luker Brownback Roberts Inhauf Alexander!BonnHatch Grasley mcconell Bennet. Those voting.No,s.Buy McCloske Udal of Colorado Rockefeller Lautenburg Lyncolyn McCasco No Nelson Cakah Byrd Reid Enoway Frankin Widen Burris No Liberman Bennet Dilabran Murkley Levin Cole Feinsteine Dorgan Rucken Reid Rhode Island Spector Warner Crofman Dodd Boxer Clobochof Menendez Computer glich barred from some names I took these listening without notes so I may have been wrong. Yes 39 No 60 it is Constitutional the delay was unappreciated as we want to go home republicans but be prefer to help people Sen Bob Corker R Tennesse vote against this motion. As it was not funded Sen Max Baucus D said this was a good deal for tax payers. The motion to wave the budget was on the floor. Roll call. If I misspelled names or missed names when a hacker interupted my cell I apologize but I am trying to learn your names and as a project I can correct the spelling later. Vote to kill Sen Cornyn's R Tx motion that it violates budget rules. Do you not think about your poor and uninsured Hispanic. Voters especially who want insurance as they go to emergency rooms and get treatment in life and death situations but not for minor illness . To keep a job you need a doctors letter if you miss more than two days and illness can cause loss of jobs too without a job they will not pay taxes and the budget for unemployment increases the federal budget so your claim is not practical or hummane for your poorer voters Sen Cornyn of Conroe Texas! The motion was defeated by a 55 to 44 votes with the democrats killing the motion! This procedural motion and Constitution motion and the reading of the bill were republican delaying vendictive taactics as the people voted for a democratic majority and a republican minority as we want health care as we voted for it.Sen Leahy D Vermont asked to have the vote today not tomorrow! Sen John Cornyn R TX claim the bill violates budget rules but his claim was killed! Go democrats! Get Health Care for generations to come like social security and medicare the republicans voted to kill them but democrats got them for everyone to enjoy even the republicans who faught against it benefit now as a result like they will benefit from health care they appose now! Irony! Why even vote republican if they oppose all that is great like social security, medicade, and health care! Do you see any wisdom or compassion in their votes?They voted on voting on Christmas Eve rather than change it to tonight! They voted to vote on the bill 57 to 42 motion to table is agreed to ! They will vote today! Then they voted on Sen Hutchinson motion that the bill violated the 10th Amendment of the Constitution! The result was the democrats killed the motion as healh care is constitutional! The powers not delegated to the federal government is given to the states! She said the commerce clause did not cover this and it was the clause it was premised on! Sen Max Baucus said it is a power given to the federal government and does not violate our Constitution as the federal government can raise taxes for services! The Senate voted and killed Sen Hutchinson motion allegging that our health care bill violates the 10th Amendment! The Senate voted by a majority that health care bill was not a violation of the tenth Amendment of our Constitution killing Sen Hutchinson allegation made in an most eloquent but substantively feeble attempt to delay health care for her constitution who make up the grestest percentage of uninsured in any state in the nation! The governorship is sailing away fast if the votes of the uninsure and Hispanic are required to have the third woman governor of Texas! I must try to help a woman and she delayed health care! Oh well I will as women needs out rides any differences in opinion on issues! I am helping you get your governorship I think! If you want lobbying to harm us why worry about ear marks to help people in exchange for senate vot in the en people somewhere benefit but lobbying that funds campaign fund are against people our there would be no need for lobbying for tobacco, gambling, drugs, insurance companies2tcM IntegrityV Rule 22 Sen DeMint so another delay from republicans! Sen Baucus D Montana Purly subjective content as would Senators have to be questioned under oath in order ruin Senator's integrity? Vote on adopting Sen Reid language into the bill! Seems the republican Sen DeMint all of a sudden feined he wanted to be more ethical and did not want ear marks for Senate votes which is a long standing Senate tradition He said Representatives can not do it as tHere is a rule in the House of Representatives but not in the Senate preventing ear marks in exchange for votes on bills in the House! This third delay since midday failed too if they had voted to vote on health care today these delays may have caused the vote on the bill to be so late that if the democrats were not so dedicated and stayed all night before may have left! But Democrats get the job done in spit of republican delays! By a 60 to 39 vote they. Kept the language in the Bill as Sen Reid has it defeating the motion claiming earmarks for states were not ethical in the Senate because the Hpuse can not do that! On the issue that health care violates the Constitution by forcing us to act when we have not acted any no bill in history ever forced us to act B I thought about federal taxes are forcing us to do someting so that is a federal example even if states force us to act to buy auto insurance! I do not want health care fines! Would not paying be a credit problem or a crime? I wish I knew!

Merry Christmas Dirk, Big Boy, Brandon, Those in Immigration jails, county jails, and prisons: What kind of Christmas will you have? Awsome! Which means Put Your Hands Up It Is A Party In The USA!

Lillene Ebanks — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 09:50:00 EST

I prayed and asked God to put in my heart what to write! God told me to name my relatives and reach out to those in the same boat! I cringed thinking it is embarassing possibly to list names, Dirkie! But I know God is wiser than me and I work hard for my mansion in heaven! So I had to shake of all the method people use to break your happiness and steal your smile and hope that God is fighting on your behalf! So I said to myselfM Lillene Put your hands up! It is a Party in the USA! Right Miley Syrus! Awsome! Right away I had God's unspeakable joy! What do you mean it is a party in the USA? Every body can have a party in your mind! Out here the Senate will pass Health Care on Christmas Eve! This is hope as one victory leads to another and like a stack of dominoes we will see blessing of jobs, judicial justice, immigration reform, Constitutional right to vote with voting booths in jails and prisons which will bring justice and equality to the least of these God's children, and healthly disease free lives as we win this war against cancer, diabetes,aids and heart attacks! I said Merry Christmas to you and put your hands up sing "It is a Party in the USA!" Hust Believe with me and God said if two agree as touching anything on earth it will be done in heaven! We want a Constitutional right to vote so we are a group of people politicians want to have their vote which is the fastest way to lead to justice! Yes we want appointed attorneys to be on salary with a budget like the district attorney so the scales of justice are balanced and there will be trials with a standard of "Beyond a Reasonable doubt" prior to prison or jail time andd excessive bail will be based on individual income not an arbritary amount depending on the judge justified by some statement that it is the standard bail for that crimeB No we have Constitutional right to be free of excessive bailB The fact that this is abused for all the poor or those unemployed is a violation of our constitutional right to be free of excessive bailM Dirk while you sit in immigration jail when you came here legally and have an American wifeN children and grand children and brothers and sisters who are citizens who will be hurt if you are seperated from us but you could not get bail as they claimed you were a flight risk when you were trying to stay in the USA but your USnavy brother was given bail and his citizenship too is evidence on blatant injustice and arbritary application of the Patriot Act! This abuse of your Constitutional right to an excessive bail by denying bail all together when you have lived at the same address for thirty years with you brother who was given bail while he waited for his decision from Homeland SecurityB The only difference to me is the fact that he is white and you look Mexican and he make blond hair blue eye children and your look HispanicB But Dirk this is not justice and it will change as President Barack and Speaker Nancy Pelosi with the support of democrats have started a victory that we will preserve and protect so our Constitutinal rights are realized and we have a Constitutional right to vote for All including felons with access to voting boots mandatory even on death row! Yes We Can! I am not alone even though I do not hear any political promice I still believe that just like the gays are a group that gets political favor you too will be a voting factor to appease and to try to win over producing justice that is a right not now a reality for the indogent or minorities! What kind of day are we going to haveV Awsome! What kind of year will 2010 be? Awsome! I know your judgement was deportation while your brother with his Georgia peaches got his citizenship and since you were ine ICE holding center they chained up your feet and did not keep a hand to prevent you from getting hurt and you fell an mashed up your face but justice is on the way Dirk and all those with American Indian blood in ICE Homeland Security even when they came here legally but those who came illegally most have children who have the right to sponsonsor theeir parents to ensure their right to live liberty and the persuit of happiness! Children born in The USA have rights and a clss action suit is possible until two years after they reach twenty I think but I am not an attorney but I do know they right are a factor that should be considered next year when we get immigration reform after our Health Care historical victoryM Immigration reform is not as important as Healyh Care as it does not effect everyone! But it does have historical significance as Central Americans especially Mexicans are almost all American Indidians renamed Mexicans by settlers who wanted to identify them for exploitation of their native Ancestrial lands!

Merry Christmas Tiger Woods Who Credits God with The Blessing of a Swing: You said when you were kicked off the golf couurse at four with the N word it motiveated you! Pains me!

Lillene Ebanks — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:46:19 EST

Thank God for your gift and your praise to God for His blessing to you of the SWING! Changing the world what a team President Obama and Tiger Woods strength and confidence from a mixed heritage! You know what you did and stuck with it Why did the President not invite me before I won rather than capatilize on my Grand Master Victory! I take shots for everything I do and I had just finished a press conference after winning the Grand Masters when I got an invitation from the President that it was so important that Tiger come today but Tiger said if it was so important the President would have invited him before he won(the interview was with Larry King in 1998)! I admire your onesty and strenth to stand up for your beliefs and not be influenced by a call from a President who wanted to captalize on your fame but pretending you were important to him! Awsome Tiger so Awsome! Tiger said you must influence people in general! Awsome idea to let kids get to play for very little money! I love you Tiger now that I heard you God gave you the swing to influence people so your influence is the bigger gift and your swing made the way for you to influence people! I am crying At your genuine self relevation so we can have the strength you grew up with! God work His will through this world creating love in His garden here on earth! Happy Swinging that Godly Influence Changing hearts worldwide!

"You better be good you better not CRY the Cowboys are 17 to 3 in the half time against the Saints on 12-19-09! The Armadillo makes a 1 and the doves make an 8 then a 1!

Lillene Ebanks — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:14:51 EST

The Budweiser clydesdales covered in snow gallop down Les Champs Elysees in Paris, France down from the Arc De Triump where the eternal flames burn in memory of the unknown WW II veterans! Who Dat? It is the French Connection Texas style President Mirabeou! DonKt forget three is the Cowgirl up governor style number Texas! Let's Go Cow Girls we have a governorship to lasso! Armadillo coming at yah!

Congratulations to my US Navy bother on his US citizenship on 12-16-09! He started dreaming of going to the Persian Gulf to use his USCoast Guard Tankerman lisence to bunker down those oil barges for Halliburton! I cried he could think of leaving freely

Lillene Ebanks — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:51:42 EST

Thanks for putting international water thoughts back in my brother! I love you Homeland Security! Then again there is a little Emma to appear but that is not possible as long as Billy is breast feeding! Oh well, little presents in life must be treasured while the opportunity is given to us! I cryed to hear him yearn to get back into the deap blue sea and in the war zone! Thank you For not deporting this US Navy veteran. I will get him his US Navy ring and a US Coast Guard ring for her Merchant Marine service too! Support our troops!

Sen Kay Bailey Hutchinson stands up for the upper middle class who vote but the uninsured minimum wage earner whose federal taxes pay your salary has taxation without representation! I will vote for you and support you as the 3rd governor of Texas! 3 dow

Lillene Ebanks — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:20:59 EST

Three principal proposed by Sen Kay Bailey Hutchinson 1. Tax credits to buy insurance 2. An exchange pool, 3. Medical malpractice reform. Over 60 percent of your voting base for the governor of Texas or for USSenator do not even think about those three principles for several reasons 1. They are earning below poverty 2. Earn minimum wage and are uninsured. 3 Are unemployed. 4. :ave criminal records that make it hard to make a living 5. Are citizen children of illegal immigrants who are struggling to keep food on their plates. 6. Are on medicade from a disability and are covered or are disabled and are not insured as social sexurity will always deny physical disability cases three thime before an attorney can help them get covered with medicade but most give up and remain disabled and uninsured. 7. Are veterans who can not get transportation to get to the VA as they are unimployed and turning to drugs or alchol. 8 Are ex felons who can not get welfare, student loans or jobs but have children and their whole family are uninsured! 10. Are struggling to make a mortgage as a single parent and choose not to buy insurance but go to Mexico to buy antibiotics which are cheaper and will meet all the illness of young healthy children and parents 11. Are students on student loans trying to make it through colle gambling on not getting sick as they are uninsured! Sitting up in Congress for so long you do not have the slightest clue of the needs of the voters you are paid to represent but it appears that you only consider than they do not vote and your upper middle clas voters are the only people you have to represent! But you salary is taken out of the check of each minimum wage worker you choose to ignore! I would do a better job at governor than you but I am writing a history book as my calling and trying to effectuate a real change for those whose needs are over looked because than can not compete with big bucks! God bless you in your fight for governor of Texas as I will always vote for a woman even if I disagree with their views as we minorities must stick together! Woman are the biggest group of minorities and I will start supporting you with my American ride next year when I get an eight to five day job teaching as I am not a night person and my salary is too low that I too am now in the poverty group making less than thirty thousand per year!

911 Colunbus, Texas on the Colorado River bridge on Interstate 10 one armadillo made a one and many doves made an eight then a one!

Lillene Ebanks — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:37:11 EST

I went to put orange flowers on the Water as a token of the suffering of the illegal immigrants who are on their ancestral land and were there long before the illegal immigrants came and slaughtered them to made this country what it is today! The following message was given to me from god before I placed the flowers in the water on 911."On 9 11 09 an armadillo made a 1 then many doves made an 8 and a 1 on the Colorado River in Columbus Texas and it was after twelve I have to look back on my calander to see what time!It was between 2:15 PM and 2:28 PM on the right side of the bridge if you are going to Houston from Seguin.I know it means something but it was not a dream as I was there in person and I saw it unfold before my amazement." What does the one made by the armadillo mean and what does the 8 and the 1 made by the doves mean to us American Indians in immigration jails to be deported seperated from our American born children on our ancestral lands treated like terriorists on the land that was once our fathers hunting gound where the blood of our ancesters cry out for justice! God sent the doves a sign of the Holy Spirit and peaceto make an 8 and a 1 after an armidillo made a 1? It is not clear to me so is it clear to you? I am trying to understand but there are five political interpretations and I ko not have a gift of intrepretation now I do not think so I am praying for understanding! But I will wait on the Lord! His plans ar good and for prosperity as we love Him and we praise Him so His Blessings will chase us down and over take us! I want the Blessings of God to over take me yes chase me down and force it on me blessing that I can not contain and I must give it away! Awsome smiles like gifts of love freely given in the darkest corner of hopelessness over taking them too!

Queen Elizabeth II tells Pres Bush not to divorce over an alleged affair with Sec Rice, and Pres Bush retorted to stop medling; so the insulted Queen replaced PM Tony Blair with PM Brown to pull troops out of Iraq!

Lillene Ebanks — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:58:06 EST

Dutchess Daisy Blarney From Hell Where the Banana Orchids Bloom! Once upon a time in London and in The Garden of the Cherry Blossoms in DC former Prime Minister of Britain Tony Blair said he would have taken the British troops into Iraq even if he had known that there were no weapons of mass destruction . The British want to know if he had asked the Parliment to vote on entering the war would he have gotten the support of the Parliment? However, he was a strong supporter of Pres H Bush to his own political demise but he still holds that he would have followed Pres Bus into Iraq even with the knowledge that there were no MWD the key factor that convinced Congress People to enter the War in Iraq! Remember Senator Barack Obama voted against going to war! According to a TIME and to CNN Pres Obama who is a distant cousin of billionaire Warren Buffet, Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchhill, Brad Pit and Vice President Dick Chaney, and Pres Bush is related to Queen Elizabeth II and to Pres Obama! My Aunt Ludie Farrington, spose of WW II British Prisoner of War in Germant for eleven years, Uncle Eddie Farrington, danced with Prince Charles when he was single and visted Cayman and she kissed his cheek after wards! Well, Uncle Eddie the Prisonr of War, his mom was Daisy and he cried singing "Daisy Daisy give me your answer true I am half crazy all for the love of you. I can't afford a marriage but you look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle made for two." Daisy was a mixed Scotch Irish and black maid to a father of a prominant Cayman politician Willie Farrington and she got pregnant! Willie Farrington went to see the Queen and I think he was knighted for his leadership of Cayman Well, for Christmas I have a Dutchess Made in England tea cup with a Daisy as it symbolisez racism today. When a fat black guy with an ex white wife with mixed children who was a Harvard graduate who played football and lived in Paris like me tried to create a relationship with me in Louisiana when I went to a friends house to publish an inaugural dance for President Obama at Jean Lafette's Workshop in the French Quarter New Orleans. He said he needed a ride hope but just would not tell me where he lived so he asked to stop to eat a pizza and without letting me hear he went to the bartender and ordered a pizza with shrimp! I took off the shrimp but I am deadly alergic to shrimp and I could not breath and my face was swollen! I went to his apartment to get water to take the actifed to make the swelling go down and I saw the French paintings in the hall a political plan for an inter racial marriage. I listened to a movie on the God father like the message the same day that Rev Jessee Duplantis preached on the God Father! My antigue furniture from my cabin in Arkansas was in his apartment and he played the song my daughter danced to the day she was killed in an auto accident! Coincidence? This is Louisiana! Well, I fell asleep from the actifed and when I woke up he was trying to kiss me I screamed, "All my flowers are gone! Where is Barney?" I did not want to be part of any great jobs politically using that method! So I ran out and drove home! The next day the "Chicken Fried" sexy police laughed at me as he knew what happened as it was probably taped so I felt sick and left on a family leave of absence as I could not deal with that and the fact that my Navy brother and my retarded brother were here legally for 40 years had to fight deportation under the Patriot Act that President Bush made after 9-1w. I was copying a picture that President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush autographed to my brother Deal R. Ebanks with a personal letter, "Thanks you Deal R. Ebanks for your committmentment and dedication as a Charter Member of the campaign in Texas. Grassroots leaders like you are the key to building a winning team. Best Wishes Laura bush George Bush" I was also copying photos of President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama "At Last" inaugural dance in her white gown and the inaugural WithPresident Obama and the First Familynext to the white only US Navy band when a little red haired girl who told me that her name was "Daisy" smiled and gave me a card in Kinkos that had a fat black cat that said, "Whenever anyone gives you flowers again I will eat them." I sang "Daisy" to her in memory of my deceased POW War II uncle as her name was Daisy and the little Irish red haird girl was hanging around my computer as her dad used her to create a connection to the "All my roses are gone" Louisiana incident! Well, I thought President Bush's reputation was destroyed to help President Obama win and while he was being destroyed he was helping little Katrina public school children learn to read and to write a tribute to him and his memoirs from the White House using his staff,the National Barks, Christmas in the White House, 9-11 terriorist attack on Anerica, the troops in Iraq, the world leaders who visited the White House, the baseball games that President Bush loved, President Bushes favorite pecan pie recipe, the time that President Bush was reading to school children when he was told that the Twin Towers were hit but he remained calm and finished the short story so the nation could remain calm, the long horn cows on his ranch in Crawford, Texas, and his dogs Barneyand Miss Beasley who had a picture in the Oval Office sitting on a chair like he was talking to President Bush which was the children's favorite picture! President Bush believed in doing every thing to make sure that "No Child Left Behind" was a reality in their education. The Katrina kids were writing a tribute book. The First Lady Laura Bush loves books as she was a librarian! I was unable to let Texas go down without fighting back so I took President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush's picture all the way back to Washington D C to let them know how Texans felt about President Bush and his legacy and the Yellow Rose of Texas! I advocated for the illegal immigrants with Senator McCain's office but I have to set up an appointment if I get money to travel again! Well, I got pretty photos with Louisiana Charter School children in the Library of Congress.I went to research in the United States Library of Congress to verify who created the Patriot Act as a black and Sweedish African born guy called me from Dallas where he said he had a professorship to convince me that President Clinton made the Patriot Act in the 80's. He lied as I confirmed it myself through researching it at the Library of Congress. He too was tried to create a relationship with me on the phone during those final days of prior to the 2009 election! President H. Bush made the Patriot Act that will deport United States Navy patriots! While I was in the Library of Congress I was also taken to a private place somewhere in the tunnels of DC to read and get to use a computer N Thanks for hospatality but the French guy was pushy, but to get me to go through tunnels I quess it was necessary! Thanks for the memory! Hope I turn out to be worth it on behalf of the Civil Rights Movement that does not need more marches but a "Passe de blanche" way of bridging the gap! Well. that's me the American ride- Toby Keith! Well, a book is a book an this one is free but permenant and an undercover detail of the way it was in 2009! Which country is in charge or is it a long standing joint effort of England who maintained indirect control even after losing the war and the Jamestown settlement! Who are Pres Clinton and Pres Kennedy related to? Where did Chelsea get her pretty curley hair? I think she got it from First Lady of Arkansas and the US and Secretary of Statr Hillary Clinton who had curly hair in her early photoes! Pres Bush went with Secretary of State Condelisa Rice to London and made First Lady Laura Bush upset and threatened to divorce the president while in office. The Queen came to the US to urge Pres Bush to stay married but Pres Bush told her to go back and run her country and he will run his. Insulted the queen asked PM Blair, who was a strong supporter of Pres Bush, to pull the British Troops out of Iraq. PM Blair remained loyal to Pres Bush and refused to pull out all o the troops! The Queen replaced him with a new PM Gordon Brown who pulled out the British troops out of Iraq! Publicity is publicity according to People Hollowood style! I even saw where Prince Williams paid Camela Bowles several hundred million to disappear from all pictures of the next royal wedding as it would ruin the royal family photos as the British subjects do not want to display any royal photoes with her ugly face in it! Mom, a proud British Subject whose sister and sister in law won awards in Brisish aristrocracy for good public service and her sister Aunt Let sat next to the Queen on her visit to Cayman. Mom said that was the best first financial decision a future king of Great Britain could make as we all keep the royal family pictures up with our family photoes as a token of sincere love for them so strong that it is impossible to erase the pride we feel as British by birth or by death which ever comes first. Once a Brit always a Brit as they never give up on your British passport even if you naturalize into another country or fight in their military or swear to fight against England! The blood line of the British over rides politics! Remember I am proud to have presented flowers to the Queen's Mother and gave a speech to her on behalf of the West Bay Public Schools on her visit to Grand Cayman, a British Crown Colony. Also, I gave yellow shamrocks to the Duke of Eddingburg on his visit to Hell Hole in West Bay as I held his hand acting as a little tour guide to the famous Hell that we still own! The Duke of Eddingburg is the spouse of Queen Elizabeth II and grand father of William and Harry who are the two children of Princess Diana and Prince Charles, I think by getting a divorce and remarring a divorsee Camella, Prince Charles relinquished his throne and now Prince William will become King when Queen Elizabeth II abdocates or goes to sit at th right hand of God in His Throne with the rest of us who accept the blood of Jesus as our rightousness to cover our sins allowing us to be spotless sin free in the presemce of God! It is a good deal Moslums, Islams, and Jews! Take it as it is easy!I do not know Camela's last name as the wife of Prince Charles as I do not know the last name of the royal family. Long Live the Queen and God Bless America land that we love, stand beside her and guide her through this perilious fight! So Dutchess Daisy AKA General E Leea, Chief Snow and Ice, Tea Cup Princess lived happily on a waterfront Lake home with her military spouse who never beat her and spread awsome smiles to those less fortunate school to prison pipe line victims and foster home disfunctional adults! The squirrels came by as she drink her tea while getting a foot massage and listening to country music as she watched the sunset over the water in a comfy recliner wearing fleecy pajamas and lying on goose down pillows! The end! She never stopped writing her live historical journals or giving a voice to the least of these, the hurting, the poor, the high achievers, the famous, the politicians and the world leaders with her little Schitsu dog, her truck which was some times a health care mobile but always a teaching tool as she lost her back board and her promethium remote which is another Blarney set in Jean Lafette's Black Smith's shop on an 2009 inaugural day on January 19, 2009 near the Mississippi River and the Creole Queen River boats, the tug boates, the foreign flag ships, the cruise ships and the ferry! What a Orchid, CoConut, Zulu, Navy, French, Scotch Irish, Bagpipe, Blues, Pirates,Jazz, razorback Law School, Presidential, Ozark White Water Connection! What about the first woman president? That book has begun already and has been published live via an ingenious tool created by the 44(h President's superior campaign team!

Politics is Very Candid and Trabsparent in the Privacy of a Public Restroom door! No Retaliation is Possible a a Result of Freedom of Political Opposition in Texas! Jail? the LEAP frog? Jazz? musician? Katrina Public School Victims? No

Lillene Ebanks — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:35:14 EST

The issues debated are the war, 9-11 and net profits resulting from the war going to the executive branch, immigration reform for Native American Indians labeled illegal Hispanic Immigrants. Strengthen our borders is one argement. On the other hand those on our southern border are not terriorists but were here long before we came as illegal immigrants two hundred years before! Our southern neighbors are not the terriorists! I would rather lose my son fighting a war in Iraq than take a chance of getting another attack was one argument but the counter argument was that Vice President Chaney profited from the 9-11 War on Terriorists! In Cuba they punish you for speaking out by depriving you of wealth and that is done in Texas too through many organizations using government tax funds to keep democrats poor, uneducated and jailed for misdemeanors on a sliding scale depending on your wealth it determine your punishment. A poor person with an appointed lawyer can get 25 years in jail for a car accident if they were not drunk but people died but Senator Teddy Kennedy can get to live and stay a famous senator doing so much good if he drinks and drives and commits manslaughter or someone dies as a result! Sliding Scale Justice Systems are Unconstitution as a violation of the egual amendment portion of the USConstitutionB There sould not be an appointed legal representative bit a salaried defence to combat the salaried district attorney if justice is our goal otherwise injustice is the result! There is so much injustice in our legal system currently but there will be no changes under President Obama as he appointed as former district attorney to the position f Attorney General! Sorry poor you will have to wait until some better appointment for Attorney General comes along to straighten out our justice Sliding Scale School to Prison System! I would like to believe in change now but my head tells me not yet and I know If we get a woman like Secretary Hillary Clinton it will not happen either as President Clinton bragged about increasing the police force! That is not exactly promoting justice when the appointed attorneys are bought off to negotiate plea bargins agreeing to crimes that could not be proven in a trial beyond a reasonable doubt! Inmates without bail who are innocent as they have not been proven guilty are tortured with rape, sodomy,lied to by the interriogrators who attempt to help their appointed lawyer convince them to agree to the District AttorneyKs plea bargin as the prosecutor can not prove their allegations or the police allegations beyond a reasonable doubt and they do not want it to go to trial so the judges enhance misdemeanors to aggrevated felonies scaring the inmates who are also being beat up by correctional officers shackled until scars are left on their legs stripped naked to humilate and stake their dignity away from them as innocent before being proven guilty too poor to bond out victims of a Sliding Scale Injustice System in a Police State! Well we must wait as Attornry General Eric Holder was aDistrict Attorney and thinks like one so the injustice stays the same as with those who created twenty eight prison using our second woan goivernor as the fall guy knowing she was not running for a higher position! No we need paid salaried defence attorneys preferably training former offenders as attorneys who know how injustice is perpetuated and can provide justice by experience as a proper defence attorney taking everything to trial so our jurors can decide if a crime was committed beyond a reasonable doubt! Why did you select a former District Attorney when you know our prison are over populated with minorities and we need judicial reform in our Supreme Court all the way down as they are all like the executive branch was before this election filled with biased injustice seeking proponants who want nothing better than segregration in suburbs! This is accomplished in the employment arena as the majority of the executives in government positions as well as in private corporations keep minorities out of good positions keeping the prison states busy! I listened to refugees from Fedel Castro's regeme tell the methods used to keep the political opposition poor and I listen to the prisioners and ex felons and those out of jails in Texas and I see too many sililiarities to believe in American Democracy as a superior system to Communistic injustice as in both the poor of political opponant are tortured, kept pooran and are financially deprived of jobs and are hounded by police who help the opposing political parties remain in power! It is a unibersal systen like Sudam and in Iran too! Thank God for Sweeden France and England where it is not so blatant! If you would like to believe in our justice system aske Martin Luter Kingan Abraham Lincoln and wear First LadyJackie Kennedy pink pill bos hat and blood staind brain scattered pink suit to help Vice president look good for his inauguration ceremony when she did not have a chance to cry yet! Justice Dallas syle bluebonnets and American Indian paintbrush red white and blue trail of trears 9-ww Patriot Act style justice for Ubited States Navy and mentally retarded people chained up and fallin in the cement skinning up their face is not patriot after we served in the United States Navt and saved New Orleans from an fire explosion at the gates on the Mississippi River on Coastal Towing with United Stes Merchant Marine ubited Stes Navy Veteran breaking his back to do a six man job! He succeeded and went on to make babies little Georgia peaches! Castro looks good in light of all that I hear and see in the land of the free only difference they have more rich and cars but the methods to keep political opponants financiaaly deprived and imptisoned are the same! Sorry Charlie I tell it like I see it as I am a dual citizen and I can live and have a teaching degree to work any where there is no political financial deprevation! If you donKt want to hear it stop doing it as it is the internet age and it will be as part of our history in the making like Darius Rucker sang! I have attended funerals of billioners and of the poor and the only thing I saw or felt was the little acts of kindness they left behind! A prisoner wispered out through barred door,LI love you" . Scared but the tone was sincere and was not creating a relationship so I said a higher power pays me so I said LI love you too" Thank you Ms Ebanks I love you so much" I never saw his face and I donKt rember which of the billions cell counts he was in but it was my most precious reward for my Awsome therapy program I am paid by the Holy Spirit to give and I hope my little brother feels it in his day of tribulation behind bars 3-11 Patriot Act bars! I love you Dirkie! Yes tax dollars used to promote hostile interview environments in government institutions: jailed jazz musician frogs! Next to the Alamo and the Texas Rangers! Another form of financial deprevation using psychological statements B sorry LEAP Katrina dropouts and sorry President Clinton jazz musician cowboy! What else will they think of next in the name of free speechB the proper venue is not at an ibterviw but on an open political forum like this one I am using ladies! Thank you Alan Jackson for Counting Your Blessings as you give others blessings too! The season of I Need A Liitle Twang is a dying breed and I thank God there are no more like him coming up in the Younger singers like Sixteen and It is a Prty in the USA by Taylor Swift and Miley syrus! Music is God's way of reaching His people and Satan was the best musician with the most beautiful face but Pride comes before a fall to the pits of HELL! It is not a bad word as I was born and raised in Hell Cayman Island and there is a Post Office- Hell Post Office with "I have been to Hell and back" postal stamps! The Bible is laced with that word too!

If this is an indevitable presception that the guy is not up to the task then he will sink! The preception is in your head Foxy Lady as all republicans have jobs so you do not need to fret: we know you do not want to share the wealth by giving democrats j

Lillene Ebanks — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:23:26 EST

Well, if President Reagan turned around our economy by lowering taxes then that strategy could work for republicans as they have jobs! But remember how President Obama won? All those came out to vote as Tinkerbell so aggitatedly put it at the Louisiana dinner with the tobaco lobbist from DC! Well, our option is to wait and continue hoping as there is not hope if Fox and Friends is going to help democrats, Our perception is a liitle povert goes a long way! Merry Christmas every poor, every democrat and those who do what Jesus said share the wealth not just with Fox and Friends but with Democrats too! What do you think Senator McCain did I plum this right?

Dear God I am sinking fast! This is not a funeral i just took down a poster of a dog owner I love!

Lillene Ebanks — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:08:44 EST

Stop my tears! I could not cry at Leila's funeral so not now! I am sick! What is my problemV Just a mountain lonely as al the hopes and dreams are going to firetrucks and greenB It is three AM and I am a little Moore Country than that Cassanova Cowboy! Those water dogs will always make you cry! What is a cure for that? Snow and Ice will will make those slay bells ring, slay dog races and oil pipelines plumbing are you crying yet? No moore tailgating in this town cassanova cowboy! I am praying for a little moore country than that!Pay backs!? Are AB x C B D itch! Se dogs ! Sullendly, I decided , "1e must stop meeting like this" at funerals that is where I needed tears and since when it counted I had no tears like hell if I will let another cassanova cowboy elicit tham now! No I wait on no one but God so the first little special education book that comes my way I intend to sell my tears for a pretty penny this time! I will never give them away again or let them be stolen from me eighter cassanova cowboy for I am a little Moore Country than that tonight! My dad' favorite dog was an Alascan Huskey who ate ribeye stakes as we made $300,000 anually then so I will go right back to a more posperous Gulf Oil Texas Tea period in my history to dry up my tears!

Should countries disclose the cure for cancer and aids or continue to let pharmacutical companies rule the world-Should profits be valued higher than a creating a healthy humanity? Health and Education Summit Dinner on the Mississippi River!

Lillene Ebanks — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:53:14 EST

The menu will include a lavish buffet, an ice carving of the Creole Queen, garnished With American Flags created from Tomato flowerettes and whipped cream and white stripes of wine sauce over Alligator balls baked in egg whites, star shaped scallop and blue crab tinted cold bisque! Souffle with white chocolate, egg whites, vanilla, powdered sugar and strawberries. A Texas Lone Star shaped scone.in a blueberries crepes creating the Texas Flag. Texas smooked BBQ ribs, potato salad, and brown sugar pinto beans. Oyster Corn Bread Dressing with gravy made of turkey stock, heavy cream, wine, scallons and scallops.Turkey slices, Rib Eye smoked steaks, Lobster tails with a sauce of heavy cream, wine, olive oil and feta cheese for the lobster. Baked Plantains with a South Americian goat cheese sauce. Mustard Green Souffle. Green beans with walnuts in a butter olive oil and basil sauce. Pecan Pie.and a flaming Blue Bell Strawberry icecream covered in a souffle type toping drizzled with white chocolate, Georgia peach puree and Canadian maple syrup. Goose crepes with mango, New England maple syrup, pecans and orange sauce. Lamb stew with a rue base, anise seeds new potatoes, carrots,wine riped organic tomatoes, fresh basil, Fresh Gaza Strip garlic, and shallots.over a French Arabic couscous with Algerian bread. New Potatoes and carrots ovals baked and drizzled in butter.with basils. Banana leaves filled with Italian cheese, spinich, Egyptian olive oil, garlic and sun dried tomato feta cheese, arabic black olives and grilled scallops marinated in New Zealand butter, French wine and Mexican key limes combined to a balls with crackers from Finland. Spinich and beef tamalies steamed in banana leaves. Sweet tea from London with raw sugar from Honolulu, lemonade, Cayman rum punch with fresh mangoes and pine apples, Islandic thermal water, Irish cream coffee with whip cream and mint leaves, Earl Gray hot tea from London and French aged Champagne. The Guest List will be international with the goal of reducing global deaths due to diseases. We will invite and provide security for the following guests; British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Prince Charles in a Scottish kilt accompanied with his wife Camella, Prince William and Prince Harry, Secretary Hillary Clinton and President Clinton, the President of Venezula and spouse, Chancelor Merkel and spouse, the President of Afghanistan and spouse, the President of France and his spouce, representing the Cayman Islands'governor is Ernie Scott and spouse, the King and Queen of Jordan, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, SenatorJohn McCain and spouse, former Governor Palin and Todd Palin, high ranking officials, leaders, or ambassadors representating China, Mexico, Spain, Iceland, Greenland, Russia, Japan, Israel, Iran, Holland, Israel, Peru, Nicaragua, Cuba, Korea, Tibet, Sweeden, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Algeria, Portugal, Lebanon,Syria, Croatia, Turkey, Vietnam, Jamacian, Argentina, Columbia, Costa Rica, Tunicia, Congo, Liberia, Kenya, Tunicia, Morocco, Hondorus, Malaysia, the Philipines, Haiti, Libia, Kuwait, Greece, Finland, Norway, Italy, India, Pakistan, Iraq, and Egypt with their spouces, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, President H.W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush. Representing We the People of the United States and the media will be Oprah Winfrey, Anderson Cooper, and Senator Sheila Jackson Lee. I would loke to axt as facilitator for the discussion. The topic will be; "Will every country agree to disclose the cure for cancer and aids or just continue to permit drugs companies to profit from the sale of medicines in order to float the global economy? Will each country agree to a plan of healthy living for consumers through a global organic farm agreement, and create an import and export farm treaty that reduces global diseases in ten years by seventy five percent based on the global death rate, and treatment of diseases with drygs on a long term basis? Does humanity have a right to be free of diseases or will drug companies continue to rule the world and call the shots politically which means a life of continual treatment with drygs or death for tax payers globally? Does the threat of global diseases and a life with medicines deserve a global treaty and a deadline for reduction in the per capita disease rate? Also, will the Oriental and Arabic countries disclose their three formulas for algebra that they teach their children early in life so math is easier for children in the USA? Do we meet to design a global curriculum for Math, Language Arts, Social Studies, Science and Political Science with global exams? Should we create a cyber school with virtual capavilities as an international advancement into the internet age and reduce the cost of internet access so global education for all children will be a human right issue regulated flovally and financed by global funds as an option to improve educational opportunities globally through choosing the simple most effective methods from different countries to use in the cyber school? The music will be jazz and Chris Owens will dance while singing "Rolling on the River". Roll on Old Mississippi! Wishing You an Awsome Holiday Season and a Happy and Prosperous New Year America and all of our International Friends! We love you and want the very best for you! We are committed to do everything in our power to protect your health so we can all start living to be over one hundred years of age most of the tine! We are committed to get "Wisdom , knowledge and Understanding" through sharing the best methods with our friends!

New Obama Group Forming 'AmericaNOchange'

Al Boek — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:42:29 EST

Fellow President Obama Supporters and Former Ones"

AS the founder of the Obama Group named YESWECANSOLVEIT...

I have taken the liberty of forming still another group called

AmericaNOchange. I doubt this one gets approved.

Thought I'd better hurry and write this and send it to all groups that

I am still a member of before I am banned here forever. Why would

that happen? you ask. Because I just formed a new group with a little

kid yelling "Hey You" while flipping off the viewer. Hope the president

and his staff gets the message.

The esculation of the war in Afghanistan is the last straw. Three strikes

your out!

First, he keeps the same people on the payroll that got us into this

financial disaster. He let's Bush and Cheney walk scot-free. He continues

to bail out the banks, "all too big to fail" why they screw us in every way.

And tonight on national tv he will try to convience us all that the way to

end the war in Aftganistan is to exculate it. This did not work in Vietnam,

I know, because I volunteered to go there, and it will not work in Aftganistan.

To add insult to injury. The powers that be, the ones backing McCain in

my city in Northern California, are all meeting to determine what the same

good ole boys get to do with local stimulus funds...So my question is?

WHAT THE HELL HAS CHANGED IN AMERICAN PRESIDENT OBAMA?

I am so damned mad right now, I swear, if I could afford it, I'd trade in

my next presidential ballot for a passport.

Al Boek, Ex-Supporter of a One-Term President

earlallenboek@yahoo.com

530-549-4315

Redding, California

GOP Your Fangs are showing! The Republicans are seeing the GOP sink while the people are given life savers by the Democrats on Health Care ; GOP TV ads are biases lies implying that we do not want health care! Shame on you Sen. McCain and Sen. Hutchinson

Lillene Ebanks — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:29:47 EST

Heartless GOP are showing their gangs!

8488 Health Care Bill Passed by a vote of 6o to 39 to move the bill forward to a debate on the floor! Thank you my beloved Democrats! We love you and are crying with thankfulness and love!

Lillene Ebanks — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:13:20 EST

8488 health Care Bill paseed by a 60 to 39 vote and debates will start after Thanksgiving break. All the 39 republican senators in the minority voted against moving the Health Care Bill to a discussion on the Senate floor. This day was like two other historic days when republicans voted against Social security in 1935 and .Medicare in 1965!

Senator Blanche Lincolin votes "Yes" to move health Care Bill Forward but Opposes Sen. Read's Bill with a Public Option that States Can Opt Out!

Lillene Ebanks — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:49:19 EST

It is an all Red White and Blue Base Ball Day Arkansas! It improves acessibility for small business and improve health care for providers out there in rural Ozark backwoods! Hilly Billy Delight for the 450,000 uninsured Arkansans! Go Pettigrew, Duton and my neighbors on highway 1f snuggled in the Ozark with the sweet smelling cold White River running through itB Low taxesB Only about seventy eight dollars on fifty eight acres where neighbors are friendly polite and very niceB True Southern Hositality Hilly Billy style! Weave those ozark oak basket and pick those blueberries! Then go down the Pigs Trail for beer!

Prison reform: Prisioners should be in school every day getting a vocational license and there should be a job waiting for them so recividism is not the best option to survive!

Lillene Ebanks — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:12:53 EST

We should force wardens and governors to enhance society by turning out citizens with licenses to work and have companies set up for them to work in!This can be funded by federal grants as the net profit between the revenue generated by their labor and the cost of the grant to tax payers is lower than the cost of imprisoning them for nusiance misdiminor crimes resulting from unemployment and which are enhanced to felonies. Prisoners should not just play all day in jail as this endangers society when they are released without skills to work and increases repeat encarations as life is not workable without skills and jobs! Putting released prisoners to work will cut down on state expenses and help them balance their budgets!Most programs benefit nonprofit organizations employees not prisoners and do not reduce resiideration significantly! Our tax dollars are to be used wisely to produce productive citizens!

LSU I believe! I stood next to the chrystal trophie and went to get autographs from my LSU principal dad, father of two LSU blitz win players and their pictures are not in my LSU trophy book! I hurt like you will not believe- comforted by their ring!

Lillene Ebanks — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:06:18 EST

LSU thanks for the memory! Look at my campaign polital fund raising picture next to the trophy in my profile! Tears LSU!I remember taking the photo with the little brother of BAMA before their uta Utes game and baby brother wore hounds tooth outfit and I wore UtES for UTAh. I remember wearing!AMA red sunglasses to Washington DC as I sttod in proxy for BiGBoy and sis graduatio they never got because of the bull dogs so home school was their second choice! No Chil Left Behind President Bush. I hurt and they hurt like you will not believe! Where are they now? I hurt like you will not believe President Bush, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchings and Governor of Texas! We need a woman governor of Texas and next time I come. To Austin I want those God awful lipstick on a pig hurting beaver billboards of My blue bonnet Lady Bird Johnson Texas highways as you are making my bluebonnets cry!

Thank you Speaker Pelosi for protecting the weakest and most vunerable amoung us and not yielding to greed and contributions of the pharmacutical like the Republicans who sold us down the tube!

Lillene Ebanks — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:26:44 EDT

Thank you from the people who elected you to protect us! Getting a Bill ready to vote is an achievement.

Thank you Speaker Pelosi for protcting the weakest and most vunerable amoung us and not yielding to greed and contributions of the pharmacutical like the Repuvlicans who sold us down the tube!

Lillene Ebanks — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:41:23 EDT

Thank you from the people who elected you to protect us! Getting a Bill ready to vote is an achievement.

Use the obselete 187 F-22 fighter jets as public scoolvocational education curriculum to teach math, science and mechanics!

Lillene Ebanks — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:01:15 EDT

Congratulations President Obama and Senator McCain for standing up for tax payers to stop making planes we can't use at a price of $350,000,000 each and we have 187 unusable F-22's fighter jets. .

Strip Searching and Video Tapeing the Strip Searches of a Beautiful Fifteen Year old Public School Girl On Seventeen Occasions in Mongomery County Texas Jail and Charging Her Ten thousand Dollars for Truency, Was a God Forsaken Way to Run Texas in 200

Lillene Ebanks — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:33:00 EDT

God forsaken public schhol system:it is a good right she has a mental issue as a direct result!!! I want my law degree so I can mitigate the damage done to Big Boy and Sis and their Navy dad in their fight to live in Texas!! Yes Texans born an bred not imports but born and raised General E Lee's who want to remain in Texas no matterr how painful you make it for them, 'eep up the good fight Big Boy and Sis. Texas killed Your cousin but you are strong United States Navy Bull Dog Cherokee General E. Lee STRONG and Dixie born and Dixie Vred but you will live and not die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes 40! Progressive years President Clinton and one Ozark Mountain carvung later we will reach the promiced land!

Kickoff Success

Lainey Melnick — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:03:30 EDT

Organizing for Austin-Central Texas held our healthcare kickoff meeting tonight and it went very well. Our 15 attendees began the planning process for a health care day of service on the weekend of June 27/28.

We decided that the main problem here in Texas is that we have the highest number of uninsured children. We decided to use this as an umbrella over all our service projects in Central Texas. This way, we can volunteer at Children's Hospital (rock the babies), do something with free immunizations, do a baby food/forumula/diaper drive, etc.

Our group members are setting up an event to create a resource list for uninsured children to distribute at several locations around town. Anyone will be able to print this document and take part where ever they'd like to help. They will be putting information up at barackobama.com if you'd like to help with this event.

I encourage all clubs and Austinites to create your own child centered service project for the weekend of June 27/28 to highlight this national day of service. Of course, if you'd rather do something not child-centered, please do! The point is for us to do a healthcare day of service for whatever needs you are moved by.

To schedule your service event on mybo, go here:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/service

There is still time to get a group together to plan your own service event, please do this with your friends, neighbors, colleages and family by next Wednesday.

To schedule to host your own healthcare kickoff to start planning, go here:

http://my.barackobama.com/hcok-mybo

Thank you for all you do!

--Lainey Melnick

OFA Austin Regional Leader

lainey.melnick@gmail.com

www.LinkToAustin.com

Facebook Group: Organizing for Austin - Central Texas

Twitter: @lmelnick

Investigate Bush/Cheney for war crimes. Petition

Texas_Democrat_06 — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 09:04:41 EST

I will remember the last 8 years of financial destruction here in the US and the bloodshed of millions of civilians on a global scale. most honest political and financial experts consider him the worst leader america has ever had and this is why.

Worst fiscal crisis since the Great Depression
Lied about the war in Iraq
No WMD's found in Iraq
Vetoed health coverage for kids
Ignored law, allowed torture
Illegal wiretapping
Had enough info to stop 9/11 and didn't, hid that fact from the public
Lost Bin laden at Tora Bora
Crassly unconstitutional signing statements
Stripped resources from Afghanistan and sent them to Iraq
Didn't catch Bin Laden
Allowed Al Qaeda to regroup in Pakistan Afghan war out of control
Lied about reducing greenhouse emissions, ignored warming
Muzzled warming scientists in NASA and elsewhere
Political appointments to Department of Justice and political prosecutions
Cheney, Rove, and others in contempt of Congress -- refused to tell the American people the truth
Fooled public into believing Saddam was involved in 9/11 when he knew otherwise
Made light of inabilty to find WMD's

Please sign the petition to investigate Bush/Cheney for war crimes.
Then pass it on to everyony you know that will sign it.

Petition link http://www.petitiononline.com/856798/petition.html

Candidate European Elections June 2009

Unico from Europe — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:39:07 EST

Dear American Friends,

Wish you all a very happy New Year! I am now officially a candidate for the European Elections.

Please look at www.unicovankooten.eu . You can leave a message at 'gastenboek' if you want.

I would like to write a blog about the importance of the American-European relationship and would be

greatful if you would share your views with me on that.

Best regards, Unico

Impeachment NOW

Duane Kuehn — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:40:27 EST

Hi all, it is not over 'til it's over. George Bush is preparing to enact 90 resolutions which will be hard for Obama to clear when he gets into office.

I am sending the following email to Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker and the one who can begin impeachment proceedings. It would be a shame if these two criminals are allowed to leave office with some bogus honorable history.

email:
sf.nancy@mail.house.gov

Dear Honorable Nancy Pelosi,

     With all due respect to your position, intelligence and patriotism. Yet it still escapes me why the legislation to impeach Dick Cheney and George Bush was sent to committee. At least this is what happened to the best of my knowledge.

     I assumed that it was a bad time to be impeaching the executive branch of our government. The controversy would be a bad idea during the campaign of our President Elect, Barack Obama.

     I ask of you, with my heart, mind and soul, to bring impeachment proceedings forward at this time. It would be a shame on this country and this governmental system if Bush and Cheney were allowed to leave office with honor after what they have done to this country and the Constitution.

     I firmly believe that without any political shenanigans, these two will be impeached the mere fact that both are sworn to uphold the Constitution and blatantly threatened military action against other sovereign nations is itself enough for impeachment.

     The founding fathers knew well the possibility of an executive branch, which put military force above diplomatic maneuvers.

     It is also inferred if not out and out written that the Presidents State of the Union address is to be of facts, not to be filled with inferences or out-and-out lies to the people of this country in effort to sway public political opinion.

     It is also without doubt that the President and vice-President used a minimum of three deceptions, which were known by them to have other, countermanding information, which they hide from view.

     It is imperative that bipartisan politics be put aside and honesty, integrity, common sense and intelligence be reinserted into a terribly politicized and polarized Congress.

     Please, do the right thing and impeach the men that their legacy is not left to blot the future governing of this great country.

Yours,
Duane A. Kuehn

European Elections in june 2009

Unico from Europe — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 16:15:55 EST

Dear Democrats,

The Dutch Democatic party D66 would like to learn from the success of the campaign of Barack Obama. It is important that also Europe shifts even stronger towards new policies and real change, on the economy, greening the way we live and use the planet and protecting us from natural disaster.

Sophie in t Veld and running mates like me (unico van kooten) would like to start too a grass root campaign. If you could help us in any way please contact us.

unico.voor.d66@gmail.com

The Dutch D66 www.d66.nl is a more centric party on social economic issues, believing in the power of people and with a strong progressive focus on human rights issues and democracy too. In the period in power (1994-2002) we were the driving force behind organising in law equality between heteros and gays (gay marriage was introduced) and legalising abortion and euthanasia in specific described situations, in order to not criminilize human beings who are compassionate with other human beings and giving people the chance to decide more freely themselves on these issues. But also policies on tax reliefs and support for innovating start up companies was part of the new deal, the third way. This time we think a fourth way should be paved. A sound policy on shifting the economy on greening the way we live. This creates millions of new jobs over the whole world and make our journey in this world more sustainable.

Best regards, Unico

Candidate European Parliament
Unico van Kooten
Unico.voor.D66@gmail.com
http://unicovooru.blogspot.com/

www.linkedin.com, www.facebook.com

Campaign and Communication Advisor

Roeland Scholtalbers
Roeland.voor.D66@gmail.com

THE NEXT STEP FOR CHANGE

Teresa from Allen, TX — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:06:12 EST

http://www.change.gov/

Les Misbarack

Bill Kimzey — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:49:18 EST

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3ijYVyhnn0

check out the winning team!

In 1990 Mandela free, in 2008 America United

Unico from Europe — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:47:24 EST

Dear Americans,

In 1990 I was 18 years old and watched on the Dutch television the historic liberation of Nelson Mandela in South Africa. It was the end of apartheid (unfortunately a Dutch word, meaning separation) in South Africa and the beginning of a United State of South Africa. I always opposed categories as whites, blacks, Asians and Latinos. It does not work, and it is discrimination. People are people and the colour of the skin may never be an issue. It is about who you are and what you do for others!

I, my two younger brothers and my sister we all cried! It was one of the greatest moments that I then experienced.

In these past 20 and more months YOU together with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton did something amazing. And Barack Obama made it his campaign slogan, “Change we can believe in”. You changed America and your standing in the world already before the end of the elections. How?

1. Americans throughout the country know now that EVERY American can become President. You do not have to have a specific colour and be from a specific gender anymore! YOU the American people did this. And I am proud of you.

2. Barack Obama, also Hillary Clinton and YOU changed the standing in the world. I have never seen so much enthusiasm in Europe about an American candidate as about Barack Obama. He is not only inspiring you but us as well. The same goes for the amazing Hillary Clinton. She transformed her personal loss, into a win for the American People. What a character. But it is YOU the American people we are proud of the most. What an wave of positive energy YOU have brought to the world. In comparison to the MC Cain / Palin ticket, I truly get frightened when I watch Mc Cain shouting: “fight for me, fight for me.” He is not a diplomat by heart and America can not afford another war. You go bankrupt and destabilise by that the whole world.

3. But, in essence, it was YOU the American people who believed in change, isn't that what the American Dream is about. It is worth “fighting” for a democracy and everybody can contribute to it. I am tully proud of and amazed by YOU.

Today I got a gift from my colleague. She went to the USA (Washington, NY and Florida) and saw the posters and banners of Barack in every street were she got. She brought me two buttons of Obama. Thank you! I will keep these buttons as reminder in the firm believe of the goodness and strength of the people and good and inspirational leadership, which together makes the difference.

Keep on going; I salute you people of America and especially all the volunteers. I salute you Barack Obama and Joe Biden. And I salute you Hillary Clinton.

To make change a further reality you know you have to make the decisive proposals in the first ¾ year to make it work in time.

Unico from Europe

p.s. only one more blog to come, that will be tomorrow very late.

The American and European Community will celebrate the US election tomorrow in Brussels.

How to celebrate? Salute to all the Volunteers

Unico from Europe — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 09:23:21 EDT

How to celebrate?

Dear Volunteers of the Barack Obama campaign all across the USA.

This European guy would like to thank you for one of the best run political campaigns in election history, I followed so far.

Why did you do so well? I think because it is clear to YOU too, that these elections are about YOU.

I will give YOU a hint how to celebrate:

1. The day before the elections YOU celebrate together the work you did and the experience YOU

gained of working together on common goals. I would start with a couple of beers and some

crispy chips. And maybe some Dutch Gouda chees.

2. On the day of thé election YOU celebrate that VICTORY for YOUR country is close. As YOU do

not know the final outcome jet – but YOU have a good feeling about it – it is important to open

up the bottle of Champagne. Nobody will ever take this celebration away from you again.

3. On the day of VICTORY YOU hug all the people YOU want to and remember each other that

the real work has jet to begin. Because of this particular important election for all Americans and

beyond, YOU deserve it to open up a second bottle of Champagne.

All the best, and do not forget to celebrate, YOUR performance has already been remarkable.

If YOU want to become Friends with me, you can contact me via FACEBOOK:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1430137614

Unico from Europe

Disrespectful and untrue statements of Arnold Schwarzenegger about Europe

Unico from Europe — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 08:30:40 EDT

"I come from Austria, a socialistic country. There you can hear 18-year-olds talking about their pension. But me, I wanted more. I wanted to be the best... Individualism like that is incompatible with socialism. I felt I had to come to America, where the government wasn't always breathing down your neck or standing on your shoes."
http://www.reason.com/news/show/32707.html

Europe and in particular Austria is not a socialist country! The statement of Arnold Schwarzenegger is as untrue as incomplete as saying that Obama is a Socialist. The problems and challenges of American people do not differ from that of people in other parts of the world. The fact of the matter is that Europe in comparison to America is not in a deadlock of solving these problems; we are going forward on the issues. And we are looking forward to an USA President who understands peoples needs and joins in.

If you examine the last elections in Austria, you see that there is tendency to move more in the direction of the centre right. And that is worrisome. Austria has political parties like the Social Democrats and the Austrian People party, who all fit into a mixture of Social Concervatism and Social Democracy taking care of all people, not only the wealthy. Is Arnold talking about himselve being wealthy and that he does not want to pay a little extra for people who really need it! Come on Schwarziboy, don’t act so cheep.

Kids of 18 are not thinking about their pension plans at all. That is a phenomenon you can encounter in all states of the world. What a weird thing to say.
As a matter of fact in countries like the Netherlands nobody until its 27td gets social security, because we believe in the strength of our youth. That Europe respects the hard working elderly more than the USA at the moment is a plus, not a minus. Was Arnold talking about that? We have in a lot of EU states things better organised than the USA at the moment (think about health care, education and pensions for the hard working middle class). A man with muscles does not necessarily has the brains to understand that by strengthening the middle class you strenghten your society.

Arnold is burning his roots and that doesn’t come good in Europe. He started his carrier in Europe, with a huge desire and determination of becoming the best body builder. His family helped him in that respect. And some 30 years ago he got changes in the U.S.A. to show is incredible talent as such on a much broader platform. I believe Arnold is rewriting his own history for political reasons and that is cheep. It is great that an European became so succesful in America, the land we love too. But it is disrespectful and untrue to state that his departure out of Austria has anything to do with SOCIALISM in Austria. As a matter of fact in that time - 30 years ago - social security and especially the pension plans - weren't so sophisticated as they are now today. Arnold: what is wrong with having pension plans managed well for people who deserve it?

His statement is a blunt, untrue and disrespectful statement to the country he came from.

As a matter of fact Austria has a higher GDP per capita than the USA has at the moment.
Austria is better equipped to deal with health and social issues than the USA and the education system is also providing chances for everybody. What is your point Arnold?

Do you not love your country Austria, your roots over everything in the world? I believe Arnold his rewriting his history to depart from Austria for cheep reasons. And that is just the same old politics we want to be liberated from.

Unico from Europe

GENERATION "O"

Teresa from Allen, TX — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:56:03 EDT

THE MEDIA HAS BEEN REPORTING ON THE LACKLUSTER YOUTH VOTE TURN-OUT.....THEY JUST DONT KNOW.....YOU ARE THE SECREAT WEAPON. YOU ARE THE KEY THAT WILL BRING IT HOME.

THE YOUTH OF AMERICA WILL BE FOREVER CALLED GENERATION"O"

YOUR VOTE IS GOING TO MAKE THE DIFFERENCE. YOU ARE THE GENERATION THAT WILL FIND CURES AND PROMOTE SOCIAL JUSTICE. YOU ARE THE GENERATION THAT WILL END WORLD HUNGER.

YOU ARE THE HOPE FOR OUR FUTURE. I CAN FEEL IT IN MY BONES.

GET OUT THE YOUTH VOTE. PROVE THE MEDIA WRONG AGAIN! CAMPUSES AROUND THE COUNTRY MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT. YOU ARE THE FUTURE. YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD.

GENERATION OBAMA.

DONT JUST VOTE. VOLUNTEER ON ELECTION DAY. CALL YOUR OBAMA OFFICE OR DEMOCRATIC PARTY OFFICE FOR YOUR STATE. WE NEED POLL GREETERS AT EVERY VOTING LOCATION ON ELECTION DAY. GET YOUR LAPTOPS AND HEAD TO THE POLLS. YOU MAY ASSIST VOTERS IN LOCATING THEIR CORRECT VOTING STATIONS BY PROVIDING INFORMATION VIA YOUR LAPTOP. THE ONLY RULE IS TO BE 100 FEET FROM THE VOTING ENTRANCE MARKER.

18-35 YOUTH VOTE. IT IS ALL UP TO YOU. YOU WILL DETERMINE THE OUTCOME THIS ELECTION.

VOTE PROUD. VOTE OBAMA!

Watch this, by analist after the speech of 2004_Obama

Unico from Europe — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:58:26 EDT

Dear All,

To understand that at that night Barack wrote history and added something important to the American history, you have to listen to the comments of the annalists just after the speech.

Their spontaneous reactions say it all. Didn't it?

"They did not know him, but certainly do now."

It is not difficult to understand Barack, just watch and listen.

I can not understand that this VIDEO is only watched approx. 60.000 times yet.

You have to store this American history.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36IsXj686Vc

Unico from Europe

In 2004 I hoped that Obama would become President of the USA ones

Unico from Europe — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:38:20 EDT

Dear All,

In Europe we are always well informed about the American elections.
And back in 2004 I watched the speech of the than unknown Barack Obama to me on the Democratic Convention.

What I then saw and heared was remarkable. A young man with strong believes and sound messages, was touching upon the hearts of so many. From that moment I hoped from the bottom of my heart that he would be the leader of America ones.

And four years later he is doing it, for his country with a sound believe in YOU the American people.

This is America at its best. That is the American Dream come true. A dream to be lived by all of us. I will never forget that.

Unico from Europe

2004 Democratic National Conventions Speech Video: Obama speaks at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1772826054/bclid1774292975/bctid791793079

TEXAS HERE WE COME

Unico from Europe — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:52:52 EDT

Road to Change: Texas

Video:
A profile of the movement surrounding Barack's campaign in Texas.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1772824057/bclid1774292969/bctid1442372461

TEXAS YES WE CAN

Unico from Europe — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:28:45 EDT

Already somebody affraid that Obama visits TEXAS and talk to Americans in Texas.

TEXAS is the next state for America and for Obama

Yes we can

Unico

Texas for Obama

Unico from Europe — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:39:10 EDT

Dear American Friends,

President Clinton was in 1992 4% away of winning TEXAS with 35 electoral votes.

In that time also the ECONOMY was the main topic of concern to people.

The difference is however that:

1 Texans are hard hit by the recent storms,

2 The economy is in a worse condition than in 1992.

Obama could win the hearts of the Texan people by showing some interest in the people and assessing the damage done recently by this big storm.

Even Texas is not far away anymore. And I love the Texan people! Everything is possilbe if you work hard and believe in it.

This election is about political change, everything is possible, if Obama keeps focussed on the issues that matter to people and he does.

Go to Texas. A clearer signal to ordinary people is not possilbe, of a man who wants to built bridges and overcome differences.

Unico

Father Protect America's Light

Kentucky Woman — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 04:54:10 EDT

John F. Kennedy was our light, our country's gift from God. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Bobby Kennedy, they were all lights. God gave us these lights as gifts to get us through the darkness. We as a country still need them, and yet we have been without them for so long. I believe we will be given a new light, and we as a country must guard and protect it. Walking around in the dark can keep you/keep this country from getting where it needs to go. I choose to walk with the light. We are one country. We are one race. This country will walk in the light. To walk in darkness is to walk a trail of tears. We must cling to the light.

Former Republican Governor William Milliken is having second thoughts about that McCain endorsement:

MINDY FOR OBAMA — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:28:14 EDT

y: Former Republican Governor William Milliken is having second thoughts
about that McCain endorsement:

"He is not the McCain I endorsed," said Milliken, reached at his Traverse City home Thursday. "He keeps saying, 'Who is Barack Obama?' I would ask the question, 'Who is John McCain?' because his campaign has become rather disappointing to me.

"I'm disappointed in the tenor and the personal attacks on the part of the McCain campaign, when he ought to be talking about the issues.
"

Milliken, a lifelong Republican, is among some past leaders from the party's moderate wing voicing reservations and, in some cases, opposition to McCain's candidacy.

More evidence that the McCain VP pick of a creationist pushing, anti-choice advocate, and otherwise wholly unqualified candidate has scared the living daylights out of the moderate Republicans. Coupled with McCain's embrace of Bush's epic economic failures and there appears to be a full-on fracture occurring within the Republican party.
Governor Milliken is hardly the only one:

"That's not my kind of Republicanism," said Chafee, who now calls himself an independent. "I saw what Bush and Cheney did. They came in with a (budget) surplus and a stable world, and look what's happened now. In eight short years they've taken one peaceful and prosperous world, and they've torn it into tatters.
"

As for McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for his running mate, "there's no question she's totally unqualified," Chafee said.

He had similar reservations about Obama's lack of experience, but said the Democrat's handling of the campaign convinced him he's ready to lead.

Chafee said he has spoken with several other moderate Republican leaders, and "there are a whole lot of us deserting.
"

Thankfully, these moderates appear to be willing to truly put "Country First" by voting for the most qualified candidate to lead America into the future -- Barack Obama. As long as the McCain/Palin campaign continues down the self-destructive path of hate and divisiveness, while offering no real, progressive solutions for the future, look for more moderates to abandon the GOP ship next month and beyond.

Enough is enough -- moderates seem to be getting the message.

http://feeds. dailykos. com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/zk3GKdY_Z_M/626472

KEATING FIVE, E-MAIL NOW!

Ryan from Chicago, IL — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:08:02 EDT

We need to hit McCain now on this. Now! You will see the following week get bogged down in smears.

The Campaign has asked us to forward this link to everyone we knnow. Please forward this link to all your friends. I forwarded it to 157 people.

http://www.keatingeconomics.com/

Now this is very urgent! Let me tell you why: I just watched an hour long documentary by Sean Hannity on his Hannity's America show sliming Barack Obama so much it would make you vomit. The "sources" he used weren't even credible authors, but if you watched that doucmentary and had no other point of view, you wouldn't vote Obama.

So let's get the word out NOW about John McCain. Forward this link now to your friends.

http://www.keatingeconomics.com/

Economists Favor Obama--Letter to the Editor

Anne Miller — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 19:31:58 EDT

PLEASE USE THIS SAMPLE LETTER, COPY AND EDIT, TO CREATE YOUR OWN--SEND TO NEWSPAPERS IN YOUR LOCALE OR REGION. THE FOLLOWING LETTER IS 349 WORDS LONG. MANY PAPERS ENFORCE A STRICT WORD LIMIT, SO CHECK ON THIS BEFORE YOU SEND. ALWAYS INCLUDE YOUR NAME, SIGNATURE (if sending by snail mail), ADDRESS, AND PHONE NUMBER. THEY WILL NOT PUBLISH YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION, BUT MAY CALL TO VERIFY THAT YOU INTENDED TO SEND THE LETTER.

Even before the current financial crisis, economists at the Tax Policy Center endorsed Senator Obama for President by a 66% to 28% margin. This is a nonpartisan research group including former economic advisers to the White House and Congress under both Republicans and Democrats. Among their reasons for favoring Obama, many cited inaccuracies in John McCain's proposal to slash earmarks: some of his own economic advisers now acknowledge that only a fraction of the amount first claimed could be saved without damaging priorities like military aid to Israel. Others cite the explosion of deficits resulting from further tax cuts favoring the super-rich and eliminating domestic discretionary spending.
Among Obama's supporters are many who oversaw the strong economy of the Clinton years: Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Larry Summers, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volker and renowned academic James Galbraith. Examining the proposals of both candidates, they affirm that Obama's plan gives a larger tax cut to a greater number of Americans—95% of working families—contrary to claims of the McCain campaign. (For graphic, please see http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v254/giveupdefunk/tax_leaflet_back.png) In fact, 100 million Americans receive no tax relief under McCain's proposals.
Now that the Bush Administration is begging for quick action on their $700 billion bailout scheme, Obama has shown the honesty to concede that some of his initiatives on health and energy may need to be delayed. To address the crisis, he advocates common-sense safeguards:

Taxpayers should not fund executives' "golden parachutes."

Power to spend billions in taxpayer dollars cannot be left to the Treasury Secretary's sole discretion.

Taxpayers' investment deserves some return, instead of simply buying up devalued assets.

The solution must also help deserving families facing foreclosure.

By contrast, McCain's philosophy of trickle-down economics was never designed to protect the common wage-earner. Over his 26 years in Washington, McCain's fight for deregulation led to many of the risky dealings that are collapsing around us today. It would be a grave mistake in these troubled times to entrust him with an already teetering financial system.

We need real leadership through these difficult times. Vote Obama for our economic security.

Palin as Post Turtle

Elizabeth D Hoffman — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:10:28 EDT

While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75-year old Texas rancher whose hand was caught in a gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Sarah Palin and her bid to be a heartbeat away from being President .

The old rancher said, 'Well, ya know, Palin is a post turtle.'

Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a post turtle was.

The old rancher said, 'When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a post turtle.'

The old rancher saw a puzzled look on the doctor's face, so he continued to explain. 'You know she didn't get up there by herself, she doesn't belong up there, she doesn't know what to do while she is up there, and you just wonder what kind of dumb ass put her up there to begin with.

Sarah Palin To Be Dropped From McCain Ticket

Ruth Calabria — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:20:09 EDT

Dear Friends,

The guns on the conviction of the sinner, Senator Barack Obama, are about to be silenced. Sarah Palin has done her job of connecting with the everyday people who will make the difference in the election. She has managed to make the Republicans, the party of, by and for the ruling class, the hope of the people in the margin, the smarter evangelicals who might have voted for Obama, the moms who struggle so hard to raise their kids in this mom unfriendly environment, the moose hunters and those Hillary women who can’t distinguish their bras from their pocketbooks.

Palin has also managed to distract us all from the consequences of the hundred billion dollar bank bailout necessitated by the blind greed of Republican mortgage scammers, a grand heist on all who work for a living whose paychecks will be cut in half by the stupendous inflation this will bring about. Stocks, mostly owned by the rich, go up; and the real income of the workers and middle class goes down. This effective transfer of wealth from worker to ruling class is a continuation of the broader capitalist Republican manipulations that have caused worker incomes to drop by 2% in the last decade while those in the top tier went up by 200%.

McCain’s conservative handlers have planned from the beginning to have Sarah leave the scene, once her job was finished, along with the baggage of her Trooper-gate conniving and her obvious lack of qualifications for the presidency. We suspect her coming exit to have been intelligently designed from the start in its reeking of our situation down here in Texas where my fundamentalist mother still tries to control me, a 67 year old woman, from the grave by having left me an inheritance totally controlled by my castrated conservative brother, a lawyer who made it clear immediately after my mother’s death that there’s no way I would ever see a penny of the money left me unless I left my evolutionist professor husband of 35 years who rescued me from this moron, child abusing, family I had the misfortune to be born into. And if I know these scheming conservative game players correctly, Palin’s exit will be blamed on something Michelle Obama said about Christmas or some equally absurd and vicious zinger.

The communists used to say that the capitalists would sell them the rope they needed to hang them. This has proved to be unnecessary. Instead we have seen our greedy pig ruling class hang themselves with their mortgage scam that backfired, and hang all of us in the process. To highlight their lunatic decadence and stupidity, we note the dribbling remarks of an upper class jerk by the name of Wayne Angel, a retired Fed Board member who owns his own seven homes and blames the economic meltdown on unions demanding more money for the workers! Did we really hear him say that!? Such callousness and the fact that he truly believes it (!) borders on a criminality that calls for the forced feeding of cake to Marie Antoinette’s severed head. This bailout grand theft, soft peddled and hidden by media shills whose employment is at the discretion of said ruling class, the same crew of peppy liars who helped sell the War in Iraq that has been used as an excuse for the taking away of our freedom, fairness and justice in America, must be reversed. The upper class must go!

But rather than have the rerun of the French Revolution that these rich pigs so richly deserve, it is much easier to throw them out of power by electing Barack Obama, who, whatever his shortcomings, is a hell of a lot smarter and a hell of a lot more caring than these ruling class wolves and their loathsome surrogate in sheep’s clothing, the truly dippy, smiling lunatic, John McCain, who however he may come off in well edited sound bites on TV, looks in person like he would have trouble finding his way to the men’s room.

Don’t be fooled by kindly Uncle John. Be scared on Election Day, scared enough to make sure you go out and vote. Hidden in briefly appearing stories on the net are the new rules for domestic spying and for FBI surveillance and harassment without due cause, also known as, welcome to the police state. The Republicans are as treacherous in their plans for the coming Inquisition as they are in consistently making black out to be white in presidential campaigning.

And while we are at it, let’s put the blame for the personal unhappiness and heartache of young people where it belongs to make sure they get out and vote. It’s not hard to understand. First turn off Dr. Phil, a castrated propagandist who has enough money to buy a trophy wife to cover up the fact that his fast talking is as cross wired as his face is goofy. The problem of the breakdown of love and happiness in America is not a mental problem.

Rule #1: The ruling class has the power to do whatever they want to do.

Rule #2: What they and their managers want to do is screw all the women, which they do in the workplace and in the schools in various ways.

Rule #3: If you want to keep your job or get an A on that term paper, honey, pull up your skirt, as happens as often as folks drink coffee in the morning.

Rule #4: Every woman comes to know these rules.

Rule #5: No woman talks about them.

Today’s women are a harem for the ruling class. The owners and bosses and the worst teachers and priests get to toy with the women (and with the kids) while the men who fall in love with the women are DENIED ACCESS, crowded out by the creepy lechers whose taking advantage insults the women and destroys the self respect and emotional integrity necessary for successful courtship and love, with the problem made all the worse with the cockeyed morality spouted on corporate run TV. And men being made obedient fools out of by bosses, also as common as morning coffee, doesn’t improve their attractiveness to women. It’s time for a revolution and electing Obama is the first step. We make the case for what we say, as taboo as these truths are in an America where lies rule by swift condemnation of truth tellers as evil or crazy, on www.matrix-evolutions.com where we use a compelling scientific argument based on a mathematical understanding of evolution and information.

Mrs. Ruth and Dr. Peter V. Calabria

PREMIER ELECTION SOLUTIONS aka DIEBOLD

Teresa from Allen, TX — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:11:44 EDT

Premier Election SolutionsFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to:

Premier Election Solutions[3], formerly Diebold Election Systems, Inc. (DESI) is a subsidiary of Diebold that makes and sells voting machines. Another subsidiary selling electronic voting systems in Brazil is Diebold-Procomp.

History

Premier Election Solutions, Inc. is currently run by David Byrd[4]. Previously, DESI was run by Bob Urosevich, who worked in the election systems industry since 1976. In 1979, Mr. Urosevich founded American Information Systems. He served as the President of AIS now known as Election Systems & Software, Inc. (ES&S) from 1979 through 1992. Bob's brother, Todd Urosevich, is Vice President, Aftermarket Sales with ES&S, DESI's chief competitor. In 1995, Bob Urosevich started I-Mark Systems, whose product was a touch screen voting system utilizing a smart card and biometric encryption authorization technology. Global Election Systems, Inc. (GES) acquired I-Mark in 1997, and on July 31, 2000 Mr. Urosevich was promoted from Vice President of Sales and Marketing and New Business Development to President and Chief Operating Officer. On January 22, 2002, Diebold announced the acquisition of GES, then a manufacturer and supplier of electronic voting terminals and solutions. The total purchase price, in stock and cash, was $24.7 million. Global Election Systems subsequently changed its name to Diebold Election Systems, Inc.

In 2006 Diebold decided to remove its name from the front of the voting machines for strategic reasons. CEO Thomas Swidarski announced he would decide in the beginning of 2007 if Diebold stays in the election business.[5] In August 2007 the company changed its name to "Premier Election Solutions".

Software

Together, ES&S and Premier Election Solutions are (as of 2004) responsible for tallying approximately 80% of the votes cast in the United States[6]. The software architecture common to both is a creation of Mr. Urosevich's company I-Mark[citation needed]. Some experts claim that this structure is easily compromised, in part due to its reliance on Microsoft Access databases. Britain J. Williams, responsible for certification of voting machines for the state of Georgia and a consultant to Diebold, has provided an assessment based on his accounting of potential exploits.[citation needed]

The Diebold GEMS central tabulator software, version 1.18.15 is at the center of controversy for apparent irregularities versus the 2004 United States presidential election exit polls. The Diebold AccuVote voting machine has also come under scrutiny especially by Ralph Nader's campaign.[citation needed]

Controversy

Ethical questions about Diebold personnel

Jeff Dean, Senior Vice-President and Senior Programmer at Global Election Systems (GES), the company purchased by Diebold in 2002 which became Diebold Election Systems, was convicted of 23 counts of felony theft for planting back doors in software he created for ATMs using, according to court documents, a "high degree of sophistication" to evade detection over a period of two years[7]. In addition to Dean, GES employed a number of other convicted felons in senior positions, including a fraudulent securities trader and a drug trafficker[8].

In December 2005, Diebold's CEO Wally O'Dell left the company following reports that the company was facing securities fraud litigation surrounding charges of insider trading[9].

O'Dell's fundraising

In August 2003, Walden O'Dell, chief executive of Diebold, announced that he had been a top fund-raiser for President George W. Bush and had sent a get-out-the-funds letter to Ohio Republicans. In the letters he says he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year." Although he clarified his statement as merely a poor choice of words, critics of Diebold and/or the Republican party interpreted this as at minimum an indication of a conflict of interest, at worst implying a risk to the fair counting of ballots. He has responded to the critics by pointing out that the company's election machines division is run out of Texas by a registered Democrat. Nonetheless, O'dell vowed to lower his political profile lest his personal actions harm the company. O'Dell resigned his post of chairman and chief executive of Diebold on December 12, 2005 following reports that the company was facing securities fraud litigation surrounding charges of insider trading.

Security issuesFor more information in the 2004 elections see: 2004 United States presidential election: Specific issues relating to Diebold machines and practices

DESI claims its systems provide strong immunity to ballot tampering and other vote rigging attempts. These claims have been challenged, notably by Bev Harris on her website, Blackboxvoting.org, and book by the same name. Harris claims there is also evidence that the Diebold systems have been exploited to tamper with American elections — a claim Harris expands in her book Black Box Voting.

The controversy regarding electronic voting machines is related to a larger debate concerning the relative merits of open source and proprietary security products. Advocates of the open source model say that systems are more secure when anyone can view the underlying software code, identify bugs and make peer-reviewed changes. Advocates of proprietary systems claim that so-called black box systems are more secure because potential weaknesses are hidden.

Avi Rubin, Professor of Computer Science at Johns Hopkins University and Technical Director of the Information Security Institute has analyzed the source code used in these voting machines and reports "this voting system is far below even the most minimal security standards applicable in other contexts."[10] Following the publication of this paper, the State of Maryland hired Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to perform another analysis of the Diebold voting machines. SAIC concluded “[t]he system, as implemented in policy, procedure, and technology, is at high risk of compromise.”[11]

The company RABA did a security analysis of the Diebold AccuVote in January 2004 confirming many of the problems found by Avi Rubin and finding some new vulnerabilities.[12]

In June 2005, the Tallahassee Democrat reported that when given access to Diebold vote-counting computers, Bev Harris—a critic of Diebold's voting machines—was able to make 65,000 votes disappear simply by changing the memory card that stores voting results for one that had been altered. Although the machines are supposed to record changes to data stored in the system, they showed no record of tampering after the memory cards were swapped. In response, a spokesperson for the Department of State said that, "Information on a blog site is not viable or credible."[13]

In early 2006 the Diebold Election Systems subsidiary came under considerable fire from alternate media sources for creating voting systems without reasonable auditing, no paper trail, security holes, and software bugs. The attention negatively affected Diebold stock (though elections are only a small part of their business) and triggered investigations in several states after insiders revealed irregular practices in Diebold's election division. Diebold was the first major vendor to experience a serious backlash from poor quality, service and preparation in the election industry, and condemnation of Diebold helped to focus attention on other vendors (ES&S). According to Avi Rubin, the Johns Hopkins University computer science professor who first identified flaws in the technology in 2003, the machines are "much, much easier to attack than anything we've previously said... On a scale of one to 10, if the problems we found before were a six, this is a 10. It's a totally different ballgame." According to Rubin, the system is intentionally designed so that anyone with access can update the machine software, without a pass code or other security protocol. Diebold officials said that although any problem can be avoided by keeping a close watch on the machines, they are developing a fix. [14] Michael I. Shamos, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University who is a proponent of electronic voting and the examiner of electronic voting systems for Pennsylvania, stated "It's the most severe security flaw ever discovered in a voting system." Douglas W. Jones, a professor of computer science at the University of Iowa, stated "This is the barn door being wide open, while people were arguing over the lock on the front door." Diebold spokesman David Bear played down the seriousness of the situation, asserting that "For there to be a problem here, you're basically assuming a premise where you have some evil and nefarious election officials who would sneak in and introduce a piece of software. I don't believe these evil elections people exist."[15]

On July 31, 2006 the Open Voting Foundation released a press release which explains, with photographs, how to open the case with a screwdriver and alter the boot configuration of the Diebold TS so as to boot from EPROM, on-board flash memory or external flash memory. The implication is that a previously tested and certified machine could be booted using an unauthorized boot profile, and that such a boot profile could be activated with relatively little technical expertise.[citation needed]

On October 30, 2006 researchers from the University of Connecticut demonstrated new vulnerabilities in Diebold AccuVote-OS optical scan voting terminal. The system can be compromised even if its removable memory card is sealed in place.[16]

On November 2, 2006, HBO premiered a documentary entitled "Hacking Democracy," concerning the vulnerability of electronic voting machines (primarily Diebold) to hacking and inaccurate vote totals. The company attempted to block the documentary prior to its broadcast, but was ultimately unsuccessful.[citation needed]

On January 2007, a photo of the key used to open Diebold voting machines was posted in the company's website. Hackers and just about anyone with a knack for lockpicking were then able to produce their own duplicate key based on the photo. The key unlocks a compartment which contains a removable memory card, leaving the machine vulnerable to tampering. [17]

A report commissioned by Ohio’s top elections official on December 15, 2007 has found that all five voting systems used in Ohio (made by Elections Systems and Software; Premier Election Solutions (formerly Diebold Election Systems); and Hart InterCivic) have critical flaws that could undermine the integrity of the 2008 general election.[18]

On July 17, 2008 Stephen Spoonamore, a longtime Republican operative,[19] made the claim that had "fresh evidence regarding election fraud on Diebold electronic voting machines during the 2002 Georgia gubernatorial and senatorial elections." Spoonamore is "the founder and until recently the CEO of Cybrinth LLC, an information technology policy and security firm that serves Fortune 100 companies." He claims that Diebold Election Systems Inc. COO Bob Urosevich personally installed a computer patch on voting machines in two counties in Georgia, and that the patch did not fix the problem it was supposed to fix.[20] Reports have indicated that then Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox did not know the patch was installed until after the election.[21]

States rejecting Diebold

In 2004, after an initial investigation into the company's practices, Secretary of State of California Kevin Shelley issued a ban on one model of Diebold voting machines in that state. California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, sued Diebold charging that it had given false information about the security and reliability of Diebold Election Systems machines that were sold to the state. To settle the case, Diebold agreed to pay $2.6 million and to implement certain reforms. [22] On August 3, 2007, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen decertified Diebold and three other electronic voting systems after a "top-to-bottom review of the voting machines certified for use in California in March 2007."[23][24]

In April 2007 the Maryland General Assembly voted to replace paperless touchscreen voting machines with paper ballots counted by optical scanners, effective in time for the 2010 general (November) elections. The law, signed by the Governor in May 2007, was made contingent on the provision of funding by no later than April 2008. The Governor included such funding in his proposed budget in January 2008,[25] but the funding was defeated by the state House in July 2008.[26]

Similar concerns have been voiced in other states, including Florida.

Leaked memos

In September 2003, a large number of internal Diebold memos, dating back to mid-2001, were posted to the Web by the website organizations Why War? and the Swarthmore Coalition for the Digital Commons, a group of student activists at Swarthmore College. U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat from Ohio, has placed portions of the files on his websites.[27] Diebold's critics believe that these memos reflect badly on Diebold's voting machines and business practices. For example: "Do not to [sic] offer damaging opinions of our systems, even when their failings become obvious."[28] In December 2003, an internal Diebold memo was leaked to the press, sparking controversy in Maryland. Maryland officials requested that Diebold add the functionality of printing voting receipts. The leaked memo said, "As a business, I hope we're smart enough to charge them up the wazoo [for this feature]".

Diebold attempted to stop the publication of these internal memos by sending cease-and-desist letters to sites hosting these documents, demanding that they be removed. Diebold claimed the memos as their copyrighted material, and asserted that anyone who published the memos online was in violation of the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act found in § 512 of the United States Copyright Act. When it turned out that some of the challenged groups would not back down, Diebold retracted their threat. Those who had been threatened by Diebold then sued for court costs and damages, in OPG v. Diebold. This suit eventually led to a victory for the plaintiffs against Diebold, when in October 2004 Judge Jeremy Fogel ruled that Diebold had abused its copyrights in its efforts to suppress the embarrassing memos.

Stephen Heller (Whistleblower)

In January and February of 2004, a whistleblower named Stephen Heller brought to light memos from Jones Day, Diebold's California attorneys, informing Diebold that they were in breach of California law by continuing to use illegal and uncertified software in California voting machines. California Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed civil and criminal suits against the company, which were dropped when Diebold settled out of court for $2.6 million. In February 2006, Heller was charged with three felonies for this action.[29][30] On November 20, 2006 Heller made a plea agreement to pay $10,000 to Jones Day, write an apology, and receive three years probation.[31][32]

Diebold and Kenneth Blackwell's Conflict of Interest

Ohio State Senator Jeff Jacobson, Republican, asked Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell in July, 2003 to disqualify Diebold's bid to supply voting machines for the state, after security problems were discovered in its software,[33] but was refused. Blackwell had ordered Diebold touch screen voting machines, reversing an earlier decision by the state to purchase only optical scan voting machines which, unlike the touch screen devices, would leave a "paper trail" for recount purposes. Blackwell was found in April 2006, to own 83 shares of Diebold stock, down from 178 shares purchased in January 2005, which he attributed to an unidentified financial manager at Credit Suisse First Boston who had violated his instructions to avoid potential conflict of interest, without his knowledge.[34] When Cuyahoga county's primary was held on May 2, 2006, officials ordered the hand-counting of more than 18,000 paper ballots after Diebold's new optical scan machines produced inconsistent tabulations, leaving several local races in limbo for days and eventually resulting in a reversal of the outcome of one race for state representative. Blackwell ordered an investigation by the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections; Ohio Democrats demanded that Blackwell, who was also the Republican gubernatorial candidate in 2006, recuse himself from the investigation due to conflicts of interest, but Blackwell did not do so.[35]

The Republican head of the Franklin County, Ohio Board of Elections, Matt Damschroder, said a Diebold contractor came to him and bragged of a $50,000 check he had written to Blackwell’s "political interests."[36]

State finance records indicate Kenneth Blackwell has received a total of $40,000 in funds during his 2006 gubernatorial race from Diebold's only two registered lobbyists, Jonathan Hughes and Mitch Given and their wives. The donations were coordinated with the two pairs occurring on the same dates.[citation needed]

KY Going Without

Kentucky Woman — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:35:53 EDT

Many people in KY including myself have been going without electricity. Most of the country only knows that Texas and Ohio have a problem. Ike, in the form of a windstorm, hit KY on Sunday. I did not get power until early morning Wed., and I was lucky. Many Kentuckians, including the elderly, still do not have power. There are still trees wrapped around power lines. I can walk a block in either direction, and there is no power here. Driving down some streets at night can be extremely dangerous because there are busy streets with no lights, and we can't even see the temporary stop signs. By the end of it all some of us will be without power for a total of two weeks. It is rumored, I say rumored because I could not get news without power, that our power company sent their people to help in Texas. Texas needs help and we need help. The way we as a country handle mass emergency needs to change!! What is going on is wrong!!! I walked passed on old man yesterday sitting outside his home. He is a neighbor I never knew I had; he was still without power.

Here is an idea. Why don't we have an emergency response department whose only job is to go around the country and restore power and water resource to hard hit areas. It would be a department that can handle disasters in at least four states at the same time. That would leave power companies to handle only small situations. I know Kentucky's situation was not small; that is why I say this Department of Emergency Power and Water Restoration would need to be able to handle multiple disasters in multiple states at the same time. Heck, it will create more Blue Collar Jobs, and more jobs is good for America.

Obama: Rebuilding and Protecting the Economy During My Presidency : Prepared Remarks, Espanola, New Mexico September 18

Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor New Mexico Sun News — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 23:20:27 EDT

Obama's Remarks in Espanola, New Mexico on Solutions for Financial Market Turmoil
By Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor New Mexico Sun News - Sep 18th, 2008 at 10:14 pm EDT

Comments | Mail to a Friend | Report Objectionable Content
Espanola, New Mexico
As Prepared for Delivery

I just want to begin by saying a few words about the turmoil in our financial markets. We are in the midst of the most serious financial crisis in generations. Three of America's five largest investment banks have failed or been sold off in distress. Our housing market is in shambles, Monday brought the worst losses on Wall Street since the day after September 11th, and the Fed has had to take unprecedented action to prevent the failure of one of the largest insurance companies in the world from causing an even larger crisis. Just this morning, we learned that the Fed had to act with central banks around the world to maintain the functioning of our financial system.

Everywhere you look, the economic news is troubling. But for so many Americans, it isn't really news at all.

600,000 workers have lost their jobs since January. Home values are falling. Your paycheck doesn't go as far as it used to. It's never been harder to save or retire; to buy gas or groceries; and if you put it on a credit card, they've probably raised your rates. In so many cities and towns across America, it feels as if the dream that so many generations have fought for is slowly slipping away.

So I know these are difficult days. And I know there are a lot of families that are feeling anxiety right now about their jobs, about their homes, about their retirement savings. But here's what I also know. This isn't a time for fear or panic this is a time for resolve and for leadership. I know we can steer ourselves out of this crisis. That's who we are. That's what we've always done as Americans. Our nation has faced difficult times before. And at each of those moments, we've risen to meet the challenge because we've never forgotten that fundamental truth that here in America, our destiny is not written for us, but by us.

But another thing I know is this we can't steer ourselves out of this crisis by heading in the same, disastrous direction. We can't change direction with a new driver who wants to follow the same old map. And that's what this election is all about.

My opponent's first reaction to this crisis on Monday was to stand up and repeat the line he's said over and over again throughout this campaig "the fundamentals of our economy are strong." The comment was out so out of touch that even George Bush's White House couldn't agree with it.

But the truth is, John McCain's attitude was nothing new. It reflects the same economic philosophy that he has had for twenty-six years in Washington. The same philosophy he shares with George Bush.. It's the philosophy that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down. It's the philosophy that says even common-sense regulations are unnecessary and unwise. It's a philosophy that lets Washington lobbyists shred consumer protections and distort our economy so it works for the special interests instead of working people.

That's the philosophy John McCain believes in, and has always believed in. He's spent decades in Washington supporting financial institutions instead of their customers. Phil Gramm, one of the architects of the de-regulation in Washington that led directly to this mess on Wall Street, is also the architect of John McCain's economic plan the man John McCain wants to put in charge of the Treasury Department if he's President. You remember Phil Gramm he's the guy who said that we're going through a 'mental recession'; and the same man who called the United States of America a "nation of whiners."

That's who John McCain listens to. He has consistently opposed the sorts of common sense regulations that might have lessened the current crisis. When I was warning about the danger ahead on Wall Street months ago because of the lack of oversight, Senator McCain was telling the Wall Street Journal and I quote, I'm always for less regulation."

Except now, with the magnitude of the crisis apparent even to the Bush White House, John McCain wants to reverse course. Now, all of a sudden, he's unleashed an angry tirade against all the insiders and lobbyists who've supported him for twenty-six years the same folks who run his campaign.

On Monday, he said the economy was fundamentally sound, and he was fundamentally wrong.

On Tuesday, he said the government should stand by and allow one of the nation's largest insurers to collapse, putting the well-being of millions of Americans at risk. But by Wednesday, he changed his mind.

He said he would take on the ol' boy network, but he seemed to forget that he took seven of the biggest lobbyists in Washington from that network and put them in charge of your campaign.

John McCain can't decide whether he's Barry Goldwater or Dennis Kucinich. Well, I have a message for Senator McCain:

You can't just run away from your long-held views or your life-long record. You can't erase twenty-six years of support for the very policies and people who helped bring on this disaster with one week of rants.

What we need is honest talk and real solutions. Senator McCain's first answer to this economic crisis was get ready for it a commission. That's Washington-speak for "we'll get back to you later." Folks, we don't need a commission to spend a few years and a lot of taxpayer money to tell us what's going on in our economy. We don't need a commission to tell us gas prices are high or that you can't pay your bills. We don't need a commission to tell us you're losing your jobs. We don't need a commission to study this crisis, we need a President who will solve it and that's the kind of President I intend to be.

Now that this disaster has hit, John McCain is calling for the firing of the Security and Exchange Commissioner. Well here's what I say: In 47 days, you can fire the whole Trickle-Down, On-Your-Own, Look-the-Other-Way crowd in Washington who have led us down this disastrous path.

Let's be clear: what we've seen the last few days is nothing less than the final verdict on an economic philosophy that has completely failed. And I am running for President of the United States because the dreams of the American people must not be endangered any more. It's time to put an end to a broken system in Washington that is breaking the American economy. It's time for change that makes a real difference in your lives.

It was two years ago that I introduced legislation to stop mortgage transactions that promoted fraud, risk or abuse. It was one year ago that I called on our Treasury Secretary and our FED Chairman to bring every stakeholder together and find a solution to the subprime mortgage meltdown before it got worse. In March, when John McCain was saying "I'm always for less regulation," I called for a new, 21st century regulatory framework to restore accountability, transparency, and trust in our financial markets.

The events of the past few days have made clear that we need to do more right now. We do not have time for commissions and we can't afford to lurch back and forth between positions when dealing with an economic crisis, like my opponent has. That is why I am calling on the Treasury and the Federal Reserve to use their emergency authorities to maintain the flow of credit, to support the availability of mortgages, and to ensure that our financial system is well-capitalized. Tomorrow I will be convening a meeting with my top economic advisors to discuss a plan based on the ideas I've been talking about with former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker and other advisors of mine. Then I'll call for the passage of a Homeowner and Financial Support Act that would establish a more stable and permanent solution than the daily improvisations that have characterized policy-making over the last year. Specifically, it would accomplish three primary goals.

First, it will provide capital to the financial system. Second, it will provide liquidity to enable our financial markets to function. And third, it will do what I've been calling for since I supported legislation on it early last spring, which is to get serious about helping struggling families to re-structure their mortgages on more affordable terms so they can stay in their homes. We've made a good start but we need to do much, much more. We cannot forget that there are many homeowners who are in crisis through no fault of their own, and a solution that does not have them at its core is no solution at all.

To jumpstart job creation, I've also proposed a $50 billion Emergency Economic Plan that would save 1 million jobs by rebuilding our infrastructure, repairing our schools, and helping our states and localities avoid damaging budget cuts.

To help people stay in their homes, I will change our bankruptcy laws, and I'll offer a tax credit to struggling families that will take 10% off your mortgage interest rate. I'll institute a Home Score system that will help every consumer figure out whether they'll be able to make their mortgage payments before they buy their house. And I will crack down on predatory lenders, lenders who all too often target Hispanic communities, with tough new penalties that will treat mortgage fraud like the crime that it is.

But the most important thing I will do as President is restore opportunity for all Americans. To get our economy growing, we need to recapture that fundamental American promise. That if you work hard, you can pay the bills. That if you get sick, you won't go bankrupt. That your kids can get a good education, and that we can leave a legacy of greater opportunity to future generations.

That's the change the American people need.

Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it. I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America. I will eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses and start-ups that's how we'll grow our economy and create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.

I will cut taxes cut taxes for 95% of all working families. My opponent doesn't want you to know this, but under my plan, tax rates will actually be less than they were under Ronald Reagan. If you make less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increase one single dime. In fact, I offer three times the tax relief for middle-class families as Senator McCain does because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.

I will finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. I know this is a critical issue in the Hispanic community, where one in three people don't have health insurance. Under my plan, if you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And I will stop insurance companies from discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most

I will create the jobs of the future by transforming our energy economy. We'll tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced

And now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy. I refuse to accept that overcrowded, underfunded schools are the best we can do for our kids. I refuse to accept four in ten Hispanic students dropping out of high school. I know we can do better than that. So I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. But in exchange, I will ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young American if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.

This is the change we need the kind of bottom up growth and innovation that will advance the American economy by advancing the dreams of all Americans.

Times are hard. I will not pretend that the change will need will come without cost though I have presented ways we can achieve these changes in a fiscally responsible way. I know that we'll have to overcome our doubts and divisions and the determined opposition of powerful special interests before we can truly reform a broken economy and advance opportunity.

But I am running for President because we simply cannot afford four more years of an economic philosophy that works for Wall Street instead of Main Street, and ends up devastating both.

I don't want to wake up in four years to find that more Americans fell out of the middle-class, and more families lost their savings. I don't want to see that our country failed to invest in our ability to compete, our children's future was mortgaged on another mountain of debt, and our financial markets failed to find a firmer footing.

This time this election is our chance to stand up and say: enough is enough!

We can do this because Americans have done this before. Time and again, we've battled back from adversity by recognizing that common stake that we have in each other's success. That's why our economy hasn't just been the world's greatest wealth generator it's bound America together, it's created jobs, and it's made the dream of opportunity a reality for generation after generation of Americans.

Now it falls to us. And I need you to make it happen. If you want the next four years looking just like the last eight, then I am not your candidate. But if you want real change, if you want an economy that rewards work, and that works for Main Street and Wall Street; if you want tax relief for the middle class and millions of new jobs; if you want health care you can afford and education so that our kids can compete; then I ask you to knock on some doors, and make some calls, and talk to your neighbors.

The Hispanic community will play a critical role in this election. Some of the closest contests this November will be in states like Florida, Colorado, Nevada, and here in New Mexico: states with large Hispanic populations.

And if you have any doubt about whether you can make a difference, just remember how, back in 2004, 40,000 registered Hispanic voters in New Mexico didn't turn out on Election Day. Senator Kerry lost this state by fewer than 6,000 votes. 6,000 votes. And today, in 2008, an estimated 170,000 Hispanics in New Mexico aren't registered to vote.

So I'm not taking a single Hispanic vote for granted in this campaign. We're meeting with Hispanic leaders, and reaching out to Hispanic organizations, and holding Hispanic voter registration drives across America.

And if you help me organize and get people to the polls to cast their votes on November 4th, then I promise you we will win New Mexico, we will win this election, and we will change America together.

Barack Obama, a Democratic Senator from Illinois, is the Democratic presidential nominee. Page Printed from: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/obamas_remarks_in_espanola_new.html

see also: McCain Team Includes 83 Wall Street Lobbyists: Even More Corporate Control of Government than Bush/Cheney?

http://www.opednews.com/articles/McCain-Team-Includes-83-Wa-by-Stephen-Fox-080917-377.html

Confronting an Economic Crisis

MINDY FOR OBAMA — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:11:53 EDT

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama—as prepared for delivery

Confronting an Economic Crisis

Tuesday, September 16th, 2008

Golden, Colorado

Over the last few days, we have seen clearly what’s at stake in this election. The news from Wall Street has shaken the American people’s faith in our economy. The situation with Lehman Brothers and other financial institutions is the latest in a wave of crises that have generated tremendous uncertainty about the future of our financial markets. This is a major threat to our economy and its ability to create good-paying jobs and help working Americans pay their bills, save for their future, and make their mortgage payments.

Since this turmoil began over a year ago, the housing market has collapsed. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had to be effectively taken over by the government. Three of America’s five largest investment banks failed or have been sold off in distress. Yesterday, Wall Street suffered its worst losses since just after 9/11. We are in the most serious financial crisis in generations. Yet Senator McCain stood up yesterday and said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong

A few hours later, his campaign sent him back out to clean up his remarks, and he tried to explain himself again this morning by saying that what he meant was that American workers are strong. But we know that Senator McCain meant what he said the first time, because he has said it over and over again throughout this campaign – no fewer than 16 times, according to one independent count.

Now I certainly don’t fault Senator McCain for all of the problems we’re facing, but I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to. Because the truth is, what Senator McCain said yesterday fits with the same economic philosophy that he’s had for 26 years. It’s the philosophy that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down. It’s the philosophy that says even common-sense regulations are unnecessary and unwise. It’s a philosophy that lets Washington lobbyists shred consumer protections and distort our economy so it works for the special interests instead of working people.

We’ve had this philosophy for eight years. We know the results. You feel it in your own lives. Jobs have disappeared, and peoples’ life savings have been put at risk. Millions of families face foreclosure, and millions more have seen their home values plummet. The cost of everything from gas to groceries to health care has gone up, while the dream of a college education for our kids and a secure and dignified retirement for our seniors is slipping away. These are the struggles that Americans are facing. This is the pain that has now trickled up.

So let’s be clear: what we’ve seen the last few days is nothing less than the final verdict on an economic philosophy that has completely failed. And I am running for President of the United States because the dreams of the American people must not be endangered any more. It’s time to put an end to a broken system in Washington that is breaking the American economy. It’s time for change that makes a real difference in your lives.

If you want to understand the difference between how Senator McCain and I would govern as President, you can start by taking a look at how we’ve responded to this crisis. Because Senator McCain’s approach was the same as the Bush Administration’s: support ideological policies that made the crisis more likely; do nothing as the crisis hits; and then scramble as the whole thing collapses. My approach has been to try to prevent this turmoil.

In February of 2006, I introduced legislation to stop mortgage transactions that promoted fraud, risk or abuse. A year later, before the crisis hit, I warned Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke about the risks of mounting foreclosures and urged them to bring together all the stakeholders to find solutions to the subprime mortgage meltdown. Senator McCain did nothing.

Last September, I stood up at NASDAQ and said it’s time to realize that we are in this together – that there is no dividing line between Wall Street and Main Street – and warned of a growing loss of trust in our capital markets. Months later, Senator McCain told a newspaper that he’d love to give them a solution to the mortgage crisis, "but" – he said – "I don’t know one."

In January, I outlined a plan to help revive our faltering economy, which formed the basis for a bipartisan stimulus package that passed the Congress. Senator McCain used the crisis as an excuse to push a so-called stimulus plan that offered another huge and permanent corporate tax cut, including $4 billion for the big oil companies, but no immediate help for workers.

This March, in the wake of the Bear Stearns bailout, I called for a new, 21st century regulatory framework to restore accountability, transparency, and trust in our financial markets. Just a few weeks earlier, Senator McCain made it clear where he stands: "I’m always for less regulation," he said, and referred to himself as "fundamentally a deregulator."

This is what happens when you confuse the free market with a free license to let special interests take whatever they can get, however they can get it. This is what happens when you see seven years of incomes falling for the average worker while Wall Street is booming, and declare – as Senator McCain did earlier this year – that we’ve made great progress economically under George Bush. That is how you can reach the conclusion – as late as yesterday – that the fundamentals of the economy are strong.

Well, we have a different way of measuring the fundamentals of our economy. We know that the fundamentals that we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great –that America is a place where you can make it if you try.

Americans have always pursued our dreams within a free market that has been the engine of our progress. It’s a market that has created a prosperity that is the envy of the world, and rewarded the innovators and risk-takers who have made America a beacon of science, and technology, and discovery. But the American economy has worked in large part because we have guided the market’s invisible hand with a higher principle – that America prospers when all Americans can prosper. That is why we have put in place rules of the road to make competition fair, and open, and honest.

Too often, over the last quarter century, we have lost this sense of shared prosperity. And this has not happened by accident. It’s because of decisions made in boardrooms, on trading floors and in Washington. We failed to guard against practices that all too often rewarded financial manipulation instead of productivity and sound business practices. We let the special interests put their thumbs on the economic scales. The result has been a distorted market that creates bubbles instead of steady, sustainable growth; a market that favors Wall Street over Main Street, but ends up hurting both.

Let me be clear: the American economy does not stand still, and neither should the rules that govern it. The evolution of industries often warrants regulatory reform - to foster competition, lower prices, or replace outdated oversight structures. Old institutions cannot adequately oversee new practices. Old rules may not fit the roads where our economy is leading. But instead of sensible reform that rewarded success and freed the creative forces of the market, too often we’ve excused an ethic of greed, corner-cutting and inside dealing that threatens the long-term stability of our economic system.

It happened in the 1980s, when we loosened restrictions on Savings and Loans and appointed regulators who ignored even these weaker rules. Too many S&Ls took advantage of the lax rules set by Washington to gamble that they could make big money in speculative real estate. Confident of their clout in Washington, they made hundreds of billions in bad loans, knowing that if they lost money, the government would bail them out. And they were right. The gambles did not pay off, our economy went into recession, and the taxpayers ended up footing the bill. Sound familiar?

And it has happened again during this decade, in part because of how we deregulated the financial services sector. After we repealed outmoded rules instead of updating them, we were left overseeing 21st century innovation with 20th century regulations. When subprime mortgage lending took a reckless and unsustainable turn, a patchwork of regulators systematically and deliberately eliminated the regulations protecting the American people and failed to raise warning flags that could have protected investors and the pensions American workers count on.

This was not the invisible hand of the market at work. These cycles of bubble and bust were symptoms of the ideology that my opponent is running to continue. John McCain has spent decades in Washington supporting financial institutions instead of their customers. In fact, one of the biggest proponents of deregulation in the financial sector is Phil Gramm – the same man who helped write John McCain’s economic plan; the same man who said that we’re going through a ‘mental recession’; and the same man who called the United States of America a "nation of whiners." So it’s hard to understand how Senator McCain is going to get us out of this crisis by doing the same things with the same old players.

Make no mistake: my opponent is running for four more years of policies that will throw the economy further out of balance. His outrage at Wall Street would be more convincing if he wasn’t offering them more tax cuts. His call for fiscal responsibility would be believable if he wasn’t for more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, and more of a trillion dollar war in Iraq paid for with deficit spending and borrowing from foreign creditors like China. His newfound support for regulation bears no resemblance to his scornful attitude towards oversight and enforcement. John McCain cannot be trusted to reestablish proper oversight of our financial markets for one simple reason: he has shown time and again that he does not believe in it.

What has happened these last eight years is not some historical anomaly, so we know what to expect if we try these policies for another four. When lobbyists run your campaign, the special interests end up gaming the system. When the White House is hostile to any kind of oversight, corporations cut corners and consumers pay the price. When regulators are chosen for their disdain for regulation and we gut their ability to enforce the law, then the interests of the American people are not protected. It’s an ideology that intentionally breeds incompetence in Washington and irresponsibility on Wall Street, and it’s time to turn the page.

Just today, Senator McCain offered up the oldest Washington stunt in the book – you pass the buck to a commission to study the problem. But here’s the thing – this isn’t 9/11. We know how we got into this mess. What we need now is leadership that gets us out. I’ll provide it, John McCain won’t, and that’s the choice for the American people in this election.

History shows us that there is no substitute for presidential leadership in a time of economic crisis. FDR and Harry Truman didn’t put their heads in the sand, or hand accountability over to a Commission. Bill Clinton didn’t put off hard choices. They led, and that’s what I will do. My priority as President will be the stability of the American economy and the prosperity of the American people. And I will make sure that our response focuses on middle class Americans – not the companies that created the problem.

To get out of this crisis – and to ensure that we are not doomed to repeat a cycle of bubble and bust again and again – we must take immediate measures to create jobs and continue to address the housing crisis; we must build a 21st century regulatory framework, and we must pursue a bold opportunity agenda that creates new jobs and grows the American economy.

To jumpstart job creation, I have proposed a $50 billion Emergency Economic Plan that would save 1 million jobs by rebuilding our infrastructure, repairing our schools, and helping our states and localities avoid damaging budget cuts.

I worked with leaders in Congress to create a new FHA Housing Security Program, which will help stabilize the housing market and allow Americans facing foreclosure to keep their homes at rates they can afford. Going forward, we need to replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as we know them with a structure that is focused on helping people buy homes – not engaging in market speculation. We can’t have a situation like the old S&L scandal where its "heads" investors win, and "tails" taxpayers lose. That’s going to take ending the lobbyist-driven dominance of these institutions that we’ve seen for far too long in Washington.

To prevent fraud in the mortgage market, I’ve proposed tough penalties on fraudulent lenders, and a Home Score system that will ensure consumers fully understand mortgage offers and whether they’ll be able to make payments. To help low- and middle-income families, I will ease the burden on struggling homeowners through a universal homeowner’s tax credit. This will add up to a 10 percent break off the mortgage interest rate for 10 million households. That’s another $500 each year for many middle class families.

Unlike Senator McCain, I will change our bankruptcy laws to make it easier for families to stay in their homes. Right now, if you’re a family that owns one house, bankruptcy judges are actually barred from helping you keep a roof over your head by writing down the value of your mortgage. If you own seven homes, the judge is free to write down any or all of the debt on your second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh homes. Now that may be of comfort to Senator McCain, but that’s the kind of out-of-touch Washington loophole that makes no sense. When I’m President, we’ll make our laws work for working people.

But as we’ve seen the last few days, the crisis in our financial markets now reaches well beyond the housing market. That’s why it’s time to do what I called for last September and again this past March – and it is only more overdue today.

Our capital markets cannot succeed without the public’s trust. It’s time to get serious about regulatory oversight, and that’s what I will do as President. That starts with the core principles for reform that I discussed at Cooper Union.

First, if you’re a financial institution that can borrow from the government, you should be subject to government oversight and supervision. When the Federal Reserve steps in as a lender of last resort, it is providing an insurance policy underwritten by the American taxpayer. In return, taxpayers have every right to expect that financial institutions with access to that credit are not taking excessive risks.

Second, we must reform requirements on all regulated financial institutions. We must strengthen capital requirements, particularly for complex financial instruments like some of the mortgage securities and other derivatives at the center of our current crisis. We must develop and rigorously manage liquidity risk. We must investigate rating agencies and potential conflicts of interest with the people they are rating. And we must establish transparency requirements that demand full disclosure by financial institutions to shareholders and counterparties. As we reform our regulatory system at home, we must address the same problems abroad so that financial institutions around the world are subject to similar rules of the road.

Third, we need to streamline our regulatory agencies. Our overlapping and competing regulatory agencies cannot oversee the large and complex institutions that dominate the financial landscape. Different institutions compete in multiple markets - Washington should not pretend otherwise. A streamlined system will provide better oversight and reduce costs.

Fourth, we need to regulate institutions for what they do, not what they are. Over the last few years, commercial banks and thrift institutions were subject to guidelines on subprime mortgages that did not apply to mortgage brokers and companies. This regulatory framework failed to protect homeowners, and made no sense for our financial system. When it comes to protecting the American people, it should make no difference what kind of institution they are dealing with.

Fifth, we must crack down on trading activity that crosses the line to market manipulation. The last six months have shown that this remains a serious problem in many markets and becomes especially problematic during moments of great financial turmoil. We cannot embrace the administration’s vision of turning over the protection of investors to the industries themselves. We need regulators that actually enforce the rules instead of overlooking them. The SEC should investigate and punish market manipulation, and report its conclusions to Congress.

Sixth, we must establish a process that identifies systemic risks to the financial system like the crisis that has overtaken our economy. Too often, we end up where we are today: dealing with threats to the financial system that weren’t anticipated by regulators. We need a standing financial market advisory group to meet regularly and provide advice to the President, Congress, and regulators on the state of our financial markets and the risks they face. It’s time to anticipate risks before they erupt into a full-blown crisis.

These six principles should guide the legal reforms needed to establish a 21st century regulatory system. But the change we need goes beyond laws and regulation. Financial institutions must do a better job at managing risks. There is something wrong when boards of directors or senior managers don’t understand the implications of the risks assumed by their own institutions. It’s time to realign incentives and CEO compensation packages, so that both high level executives and employees better serve the interests of shareholders.

Finally, the American people must be able to trust that their government is looking out for all of us - not the special interests that have set the agenda in Washington for eight years, and the lobbyists who run John McCain’s campaign.

I’ve spent my career taking on lobbyists and their money, and I’ve won. If you wanted a special favor in Illinois, there was actually a law that let you give campaign cash to politicians for their own personal use. In the State House, they called it business-as-usual. I called it legalized bribery, and while it didn’t make me the most popular guy in Springfield, I put an end to it.

When I got to Washington, we saw some of the worst corruption since Watergate. I led the fight for reform in my party, and let me tell you – not everyone in my party was too happy about it. When I proposed forcing lobbyists to disclose who they’re raising money from and who in Congress they’re funneling it to, I had a few choice words directed my way on the floor of the Senate. But we got it done, and we banned gifts from lobbyists, and free rides on their fancy jets. And I am the only candidate who can say that Washington lobbyists do not fund my campaign, they will not run my White House, and they will not drown out the voices of the American people when I am President of the United States. That’s how we’re going to end the outrage of special interests tipping the scales.

The most important thing we must do is restore opportunity for all Americans. To get our economy growing, we need to recapture that fundamental American promise. That if you work hard, you can pay the bills. That if you get sick, you won’t go bankrupt. That your kids can get a good education, and that we can leave a legacy of greater opportunity to future generations.

That’s the change the American people need. While Senator McCain likes to talk about change these days, his economic program offers nothing but more of the same. The American people need more than change as a slogan– we need change that makes a real difference in your life.

Change means a tax code that doesn’t reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it. I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America. I will eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses and start-ups – that’s how we’ll grow our economy and create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.

I will cut taxes – cut taxes – for 95% of all working families. My opponent doesn’t want you to know this, but under my plan, tax rates will actually be less than they were under Ronald Reagan. If you make less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increase one single dime. In fact, I offer three times the tax relief for middle-class families as Senator McCain does – because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.

I will finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don’t, you’ll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And I will stop insurance companies from discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most

I will create the jobs of the future by transforming our energy economy. We’ll tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I’ll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I’ll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I’ll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy – wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can’t ever be outsourced.

And now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy. I’ll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. But in exchange, I will ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young American – if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.

This is the change we need – the kind of bottom up growth and innovation that will advance the American economy by advancing the dreams of all Americans.

Times are hard. I will not pretend that the changes we need will come without cost – though I have presented ways we can achieve these changes in a fiscally responsible way. I know that we’ll have to overcome our doubts and divisions and the determined opposition of powerful special interests before we can truly reform a broken economy and advance opportunity.

But I am running for President because we simply cannot afford four more years of an economic philosophy that works for Wall Street instead of Main Street, and ends up devastating both.

I don’t want to wake up in four years to find that more Americans fell out of the middle-class, and more families lost their savings. I don’t want to see that our country failed to invest in our ability to compete, our children’s future was mortgaged on another mountain of debt, and our financial markets failed to find a firmer footing.

This time – this election – is our chance to stand up and say: enough is enough!

We can do this because Americans have done this before. Time and again, we’ve battled back from adversity by recognizing that common stake that we have in each other’s success. That’s why our economy hasn’t just been the world’s greatest wealth generator – it’s bound America together, it’s created jobs, and it’s made the dream of opportunity a reality for generation after generation of Americans.

Now it falls to us. And I need you to make it happen. If you want the next four years looking just like the last eight, then I am not your candidate. But if you want real change – if you want an economy that rewards work, and that works for Main Street and Wall Street; if you want tax relief for the middle class and millions of new jobs; if you want health care you can afford and education so that our kids can compete; then I ask you to knock on some doors, and make some calls, and talk to your neighbors, and give me your vote on November 4th. And if you do, I promise you – we will win Colorado, we will win this election, and we will change America together.

White privilege

Elizabeth D Hoffman — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:44:18 EDT

Thought you all would be interested in this article that my dad sent to me:

>> This is right on. It was sent to me by a friend >> who used to be a reporter at the Washington Post. She's black. Alice >> >> >> >> A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION >> >> By Tim Wise >> BuzzFlash.com >> Sat, 09/13/2008 - 3:44pm. >> Guest Contribution >> >> For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, >> or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand >> examples of it, perhaps this list will help. >> >> White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like >> Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and >> that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a >> right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has >> challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar >> "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, >> pathological and arbiters of social decay. >> >> White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' >> redneck," like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how >> if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and >> talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be >> viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law >> to be) rather than a thug. >> >> White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in >> six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed >> out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a >> community college), and no one questions your intelligence or >> commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this >> would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who >> only got in in the first place because of affirmative action. >> >> White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town >> smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a >> state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of >> the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be >> president, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, >> while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and >> constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested." >> >> White privilege is being able to say that you support the words >> "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good >> enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and >> not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after >> all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" >> part wasn't added until the 1950s--while believing that reading >> accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, >> the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law >> school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported >> by mushy liberals. >> >> White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make >> people immediately scared of you. White privilege is being able >> to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political >> party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose >> motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or >> that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely >> fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids >> on the first day of school, people immediately think she's being >> disrespectful. >> >> White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers >> and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the >> right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour >> workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you're being >> pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a >> small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy >> expertise beyond a class she took in college--you're somehow >> being mean, or even sexist. >> >> White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't >> even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and >> your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence >> on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, >> and made them give your party a "second look." >> >> White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support >> your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power >> or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while >> being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line >> political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt. >> >> White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years >> whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely >> criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is >> an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to >> bring Christian theological principles into government, and who >> bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is >> God's punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can >> still think you're just a good church-going Christian. But if >> you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as >> have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that >> terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and >> who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black >> people, you're an extremist who probably hates America. >> >> White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when >> asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter >> for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and >> merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill >> O'Reilly means you're dodging the question, or trying to seem >> overly intellectual and nuanced. >> >> White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW >> has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while >> being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has >> referred to it, a "light" burden. >> >> And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could >> possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with >> George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is >> skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, >> and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just >> because white voters aren't sure about that whole "change" thing. >> Ya know, it's just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four >> more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain. >> >> White privilege is, in short, the problem. >> >> A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION >> >> Tim Wise is the author of /White Like Me/ (Soft Skull, 2005, >> revised 2008), and of /Speaking Treason Fluently/, publishing

>> this month, also by Soft Skull.

Texas Don't Lose Heart, God is with you and so are we.

Kentucky Woman — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 18:55:38 EDT

Texas Don't Lose Heart, God is with you and so are we.

If you are going down to Texas, please be a visible Obama supporter. Wear your pins and your shirts, but don't talk about the election. Let your action speak for our candidate. If you are a victim of the hurricane, don't lose hope. Take your time and vote! Texas has early voting. Before you get to involved with insurance companies, claims and all the other red tape, vote. It will take a while to put your life back together, but you can get voting out of the way now.

Early Voting in Texas

Thank you for your interest in Texas democracy and the election process. The Elections Division has prepared this information for use by citizens and election officials at the state, county, city and other political subdivision levels. It is designed to inform you about the early voting election process in Texas.

The Elections Division of the Secretary of State's office is open from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. weekdays, and during the hours that the polls are open on all uniform election dates (i.e., 2nd Saturday in May and 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November). Answers to questions on election law and procedures may be obtained by telephoning the Elections Division toll-free at 1.800.252.VOTE (8683) or direct at 512.463.5650.

There are two ways to vote early in Texas.1. Early Voting in person-

Early voting in person may be easier than you think. You don't have to stand in long lines on Election Day. Registered voters may vote early at a location convenient to them within their political subdivision. Early voting in person generally starts 17 days before each election and ends 4 days before each election. Early voting for the May uniform election date begins 12 days before the election and ends on the 4th day before the election. If you can drive or if you have a friend or relative who can drive you, you don't even have to get out of the car. Call ahead to notify the early voting clerk that you want to vote from your car. This procedure is called "curbside voting" and is available to any voter who has difficulty walking or standing for long periods. The election official will bring your ballot to your car outside the polling place. Curbside voting is available during early voting and on Election Day. State and Federal law requires all early and Election Day polling locations to be physically accessible to voters with disabilities. Call your election official for information on your particular voting sites.

2. Early Voting by mail-

You may vote early by mail if you are:

going to be away from your county on Election Day and during early voting;
sick or disabled;
65 years of age or older on Election Day; or
confined in jail, but eligible to vote.

Applications for a ballot by mail must be submitted to the early voting clerk on or after the 60th day before Election Day and before the close of business on the 7th day before Election Day. If the 7th day is a weekend, the last day to submit an application is the preceding Friday.

If you are voting early by mail, you must send your application by:

regular mail;
common or contract carrier; or
FAX (if a FAX machine is available to the early voting clerk and if you are submitting your application from outside the county).

Exception:

If you are voting early because of expected absence, you may apply in person for a ballot by mail before the first day of early voting in person.

You may obtain a formal application from the early voting clerk in your county or from the Secretary of State's web site at www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/earlyvoting.shtml or toll-free at 1-800-252-VOTE (8683). You do not have to use a formal application; however, an informal application must be in writing and include:

your signature (or a witness' signature if you cannot sign);
your name and the address at which you are registered to vote;
the address to which the ballot is to be mailed;
the election date and for which election you are requesting a ballot (for a primary election, you must state the political party's primary in which you wish to vote); and,
a reason why you are eligible to vote early by mail (to be eligible to vote early due to expected absence from the county, your application must state an address out-of-county to have your ballot mailed).

The early voting clerk must receive your marked ballot by 7 p.m. on Election Day.

Exception:

If you are mailing your ballot from outside the United States, the early voting clerk must receive your ballot by the fifth day after Election Day. (You must mail it no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day.)

Early voting timeline:

60 days before Election Day-first day to submit an early voting by mail application;
17 days before Election Day (12 days for May election) -early voting in person begins;
7 days before Election Day-last day to submit an application for ballot by mail;
4 days before Election Day-early voting in person ends;
Election Day-marked early ballots by mail must be returned by 7 p.m., unless mailed from outside the United States.

Visit our website for:

Voting by mail has been available to elderly voters and voters with physical disabilities in Texas for decades. In recent years, some candidates have built well-organized campaigns aimed at this segment of our voting population. Many of the legal safeguards designed to protect voters and their ballots are impossible to enforce in the privacy of a voter's home. Scams designed to manipulate the voting process by gaining access to mail-in ballots could become a problem in Texas if voters are not well-informed.

When you vote by mail, you can take steps to protect your ballot and your vote. The most effective ways to protect your ballot are:

1. If you do vote by mail, get your application from the early voting clerk, or from the Secretary of State's office.

You can call the office holding your election and have an application for ballot by mail sent directly to you, or you can call our office and we will send you an application. If you need help filling out the form or mailing it, ask someone you trust. If someone helps you fill out the application, you must write the assistant's name and address next to your signature on the application. The person helping you must also sign the application.

All applications must be addressed to the early voting clerk. Applications mailed to an address other than the early voting clerk will be rejected.

2. Send your application as early as possible.

You may send your application for a ballot by mail up to two months before an election. This will give you plenty of time to receive your ballot, mark it and mail it back to the early voting clerk. If you don't get your ballot or some other problem occurs, this will also give you more time to cancel, if possible, and obtain another ballot.

Your Mailing Address: The general rule is that a ballot must be mailed to the address where you are registered to vote. However, if you are 65 or older or have a physical disability, you may have your ballot sent to a hospital, nursing home or long-term care facility, retirement center, or relative, but you must check the blank on the form indicating which address you are providing.

3. If you need help reading, marking or mailing your ballot, ask a trusted relative or friend to help you.For example:

A stranger might "show up" on your doorstep offering to help you with your ballot soon after you've received it in the mail. We recommend you decline this kind of help for several reasons. If you allow your ballot to be mailed by someone you don't know, it might not be mailed at all. Your ballot will be rejected if a common or contract carrier attempts to deliver it to the elections office from the address of a candidate or a campaign's headquarters. The safety of your vote is best assured by asking someone you know and trust to help you read, mark or mail your ballot. Remember, you must put each helper's name and address on the carrier envelope, which is the one used to return your ballot to the early voting clerk. The helpers must also sign the carrier envelope. Failure to provide required assistance information may constitute a criminal offense.

4. Know your rights as a voter.

It is our hope that the examples in this publication cover most of the fraudulent tactics you may encounter, but if a situation arises and you don't know what to do, please call our office. Our legal staff is available toll-free at 1.800.252.VOTE (8683) to advise you on your rights as a voter.

For more information, Contact: The Secretary of State's office, your County Clerk, County Elections Administrator or the Voter Registrar in your county.

Secretary of State
Elections Division
P.O. Box 12060
Austin, Texas 78711-2060
512.463.5650 or 1.800.252.VOTE (8683)
Fax 512.475.2811, TTY 7.1.1

This pamphlet is available in Spanish, large print, audiotape, or computer disc upon request.

(Este folleto está disponible en Español, tipo de imprenta más grande, cinta magnética para audio, o disco para computadora. Para conseguir una de estas versiones por favor llame sin cargo a la oficina del Secretario de Estado al 1.800.252.VOTE (8683)).

Post-Palin Letter to the Editor, General

Anne Miller — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:30:10 EDT

Feel free to copy this sample letter, edit, and send to a newspaper near you!

Now that Governor Palin has finally given her first interview, could we get back to the issues? Yes, she lobbied for the Bridge to Nowhere before she agreed to spend the federal tax dollars on something else, instead. No, she's never met a foreign head of state, but she has gazed at the coast of Siberia across the water from Alaska.

But what about John McCain, who opposed the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act for women, and twice voted against the State Children's Health Insurance Program? He cast dozens of votes against contraceptive coverage for women lucky enough to have insurance. His plan to cover the uninsured is to send them to hospital ERs, where they just might get treatment after waiting 6 hours.

Despite his own military experience, McCain voted against veterans' health benefits five of the past six years, 2003-2007. In 2008, he ignored 30,000 signatures from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, asking him to back the new GI Bill. He voiced opposition to the bill but conveniently skipped the vote. Then, on the campaign trail, he had the gall to praise its passage, as if he'd supported it. Although he claims awards from every Veterans' organization, he in fact receives low marks from several, including the Disabled Veterans and Vietnam Veterans.

McCain once enjoyed a reputation as a maverick, but he voted with Bush 100 percent of the time in 2008 and 95 percent in 2007.

His record speaks louder than his claims.

A couple of things Obama must to do to win! Illuminate Americans as to the vast disparity in Education between our candidates and theirs...We have to win this election!.

Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor New Mexico Sun News — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:39:34 EDT

1. Please read and comment on my best article in 10 months! http://www.democracyfornewmexico.com/democracy_for_new_mexico/2008/09/guest-blog-by-s.html#more

2. It is long overdue for all of us to hammer the vast disparity in the educational qualifications of our 2 candidates, vs. their 2 candidates' dismal, almost laughable, educational qualifications.

This should be done in very short letters to the editors all over the United States. Thank you,

Stephen Fox
Contributing Editor, New Mexico Sun News Santa Fe, New Mexico

AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL THE YOUNG PEOPLE I LOVE:

Anne Miller — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:15:32 EDT

AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL THE YOUNG PEOPLE I LOVE:

The lyrics to one of the rock anthems of 1970 keep ringing through my mind today. Over the years they have often come back to me when I get discouraged about all the problems we face as a nation—poverty…war… greed…injustice. Those days almost 40 years ago when the song was written were like the ones we’re living through now in ways I hoped I would never see again:

Another Reason to Write the WSJ: Obama's Management of Oil Reserve Plan Published in WSJ, by John Shages, former deputy assistant secretary for Petroleum Reserves at the Department of Energy.

Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor New Mexico Sun News — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:16:49 EDT

Obama Has a Plan To Manage Our Oil Reserve

By JOHN D. SHAGES September 8, 2008

Energy is playing a pivotal role in this year's presidential election. And a crucial aspect of America's energy security not widely discussed is how to best use America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

Sen. Barack Obama is proposing a simple maneuver -- called an exchange, or swap -- that will help lower the price of oil for consumers, increase the amount of oil in the SPR, increase energy security, and leave taxpayers better off by about $1 billion.

His proposal deserves to be adopted.

In 1975, after the Arab oil embargo, the U.S. created the SPR to protect against oil supply disruptions. That reserve now consists of 706 million barrels of crude oil, the largest stockpile in the world. As the steward of that stockpile, the Department of Energy plays an important role in oil markets. Merely announcing oil acquisitions or sales from the SPR moves oil prices. The SPR's drawdown capability of 4.4 million barrels of oil per day surpasses the daily production capacity of Iran, Iraq or Venezuela.

The authority to sell oil from the SPR is contingent on a presidential finding of a "severe energy supply interruption." In the past 33 years, there have only been two sales from the SPR: in 1991 to support Operation Desert Storm, criticized for being too late; and a widely applauded 2005 post-Katrina sale. There is also another, little understood statutory authority that allows the Energy secretary to "exchange" oil from the SPR.

This authority was created to allow the secretary to periodically change the SPR's composition to ensure that it remains useful to refiners and consumers. The Clinton administration used this authority in 2000, exchanging crude for heating oil. Later that year, facing a possible heating-oil shortage, the administration loaned 30 million barrels of oil to the market, which was repaid with interest in the form of additional oil at a later date.

This met two objectives. The swap added oil to the SPR at no cost to taxpayers and it put downward pressure on prices. The Bush administration has used the exchange option extensively. As a matter of policy, however, it has used this option only for minor supply disruptions, and not to intervene in markets due to high prices.

Today, with historically high oil prices, it is time to debate using the SPR. Some argue that the reserve should only be used in emergencies. Others say that we should use all the tools at our disposal to help consumers. Fortunately, we do not have to resolve these philosophical differences. Instead, we can improve the management of the SPR and maximize its value to the taxpayer. The oil in the reserve now is all light crude, which is easier and cheaper to refine into gasoline, a reflection of refining capability at the time the SPR was created.

Over the past three decades, however, U.S. refining capacity has become increasingly sophisticated and complex, because the world's oil is increasingly heavy and harder to refine. Today, about 40% of our refining capacity is configured to handle heavier crude oil. We now confront a mismatch between U.S. refining capacity and the oil mix in the SPR. In a 2007 report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that in an emergency this mismatch could reduce U.S. refinery capacity by 5% or over 735,000 barrels per day in total as some refineries scale back production to accommodate the SPR oil.

The GAO recommended that the Energy Department change the reserve's oil mix to at least 10% heavy oil, roughly 70 million barrels. This could be accomplished through a swap. From a policy perspective, this would enhance the utility of the reserve, aligning its oil with U.S. refining capacity, while also putting short-term downward pressure on oil prices.

From a business perspective, the DOE could craft an exchange to either increase the oil in the reserve, yield a cash bonus, or both. Light crude is more valuable than heavy crude (by about $12 to $18 a barrel), so swapping one for the other could bring in about $1 billion at today's prices.

The House and Senate are considering legislation to mandate such a swap, and Mr. Obama has adopted the concept as part of his energy plan.

The public benefits are compelling. Swaps that help energy security, refiners and consumers should be a routine part of managing the SPR.

Mr. Shages is a former deputy assistant secretary for petroleum reserves at the Department of Energy.

___________________________________________________

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Sen. Clinton Statement

Bianca Walker — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:59:39 EDT

Sen. Clinton StatementPosted: 11:02 PM ET

Statement of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
Thursday, Sep 4, 2008

The two party conventions showcased vastly different directions for our country. Senator Obama and Senator Biden offered the new ideas and positive change America needs and deserves after eight years of failed Republican leadership. Senator McCain and Governor Palin do not.

After listening to all the speeches this week, I heard nothing that suggests the Republicans are ready to fix the economy for middle class families, provide quality affordable health care for all Americans, guarantee equal pay for equal work for women, restore our nation's leadership in a complex world or tackle the myriad of challenges our country faces. So, to slightly amend my comments from Denver: NO WAY, NO HOW, NO McCAIN-PALIN.

Filed under: Hillary Clinton

Senator Obama and the Palin effect

MINDY FOR OBAMA — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:10:21 EDT

Hello Friends,

This is actually a blog I was lucky enough to pick up from a myspace friend-Deepak Chopra. I think it is incredibly insightful and I hope you also enjoy it.

Take Care and Take hope Friends~Change is coming to this world!!!!

Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in the complex affairs of governing. Her state of Alaska has less than 700,000 residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running one-tenth of New York City. By comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin's pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes deeper.

She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and exhorting people to obey their worst impulses . In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of "the other." For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don't want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on the scene.) I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin's message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision.

Look at what she stands for:
--Small town values -- a denial of America's global role, a return to petty, small-minded parochialism.
--Ignorance of world affairs -- a repudiation of the need to repair America's image abroad.
--Family values -- a code for walling out anybody who makes a claim for social justice. Such strangers, being outside the family, don't need to be heeded.
--Rigid stands on guns and abortion -- a scornful repudiation that these issues can be negotiated with those who disagree.
--Patriotism -- the usual fallback in a failed war.
--"Reform" -- an italicized term, since in addition to cleaning out corruption and excessive spending, one also throws out anyone who doesn't fit your ideology.

Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants, being different from "us" pure American types, can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat. The radical right marches under the banners of "I'm all right, Jack," and "Why change? Everything's OK as it is." The irony, of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time. She can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely reversing forty years of feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are millions of women who stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they are voting against their own good. The Republicans have won multiple national elections by raising shadow issues based on fear, rejection, hostility to change, and narrow-mindedness.

Obama's call for higher ideals in politics can't be seen in a vacuum. The shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just conservatives possess a shadow -- we all do. So what comes next is a contest between the two forces of progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive appeal become exhausted? No one can predict. The best thing about Gov. Palin is that she brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming debate honest. It would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose smiling persona was a stalking horse for the reactionary forces that have brought us to the demoralized state we are in. We deserve to see what we are getting, without disguise.

More Hilarity: What does the Washington Post have to say about Alaska Governor Palin (who only this Aug. 4 Endorsed Obama's Energy Plan) ?

Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor New Mexico Sun News — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:37:02 EDT

McCain Picks Alaska Governor; Palin First Woman on GOP Ticket
Democrats Insist Running Mate Lacks Experience

By Robert Barnes and Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, August 30, 2008; A01

DAYTON, Ohio, Aug. 29 -- Sen. John McCain confounded conventional wisdom Friday by announcing first-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate, a decision that guarantees that either an African American or a woman will ascend to the White House for the first time in history next year.

The senator from Arizona lived up to his maverick reputation, bypassing former rivals and more experienced governors to choose the little-known Palin, 44, as the person "who can best help me shake up Washington."

The self-described "hockey mom" brings a blue-collar conservatism and strong antiabortion views to the ticket and appeals to a party base sometimes suspicious of McCain. She made an immediate pitch to female voters, especially those who had supported Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primaries, saying that her selection "could help shatter the glass ceiling once and for all."

But she is also less than two years into her term as governor, and her only previous political experience came as mayor of the town of Wasilla, which has a population of about 6,700. Democrats immediately seized on her lack of political experience, noting that McCain, who turned 72 on Friday, will be confirmed next week as the oldest first-time presidential nominee in history.

After a raucous rally here before what the campaign said were 15,000 supporters -- the largest gathering of McCain's campaign -- the two spent six hours together. They traveled by bus to Pittsburgh, ingratiating themselves to Ohioans as they bought Ohio State Buckeye paraphernalia and stopped for ice cream at a roadside stand.

The trip provided valuable bonding time for two people who acknowledge they barely know each other.

McCain met Palin at a governor's conference in February, and did not see her again until she secretly flew to Arizona on Wednesday night. After a phone interview with the senator on Sunday night, she arrived in the state three days later for a session with McCain's two top lieutenants.

She met with McCain's wife, Cindy, on Thursday morning at the couple's Sedona ranch, then McCain joined them and offered her the job on the deck of the house around 11 a.m. Thursday.

While Palin, pronounced PAY-lin, had been mentioned as a dark-horse candidate for the job, she was never described as being on the shortlist under consideration by McCain. Those who were -- including former presidential rival Mitt Romney, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) -- had spent months doing surrogate duty for McCain around the country, something Palin had not been called on to do.

There were reports of bruised feelings, especially because the McCain campaign's ironclad resolve to keep news of the pick from leaking meant some of the finalists were not told they were not chosen until the last minute.

McCain and Democratic rival Barack Obama, opposites in so many ways, took dramatically different paths in making their vice presidential selections. Obama, 47, a first-term senator from Illinois who is battling the charge that he lacks the experience for the job, chose 65-year-old Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., a 35-year member of the Senate and a foreign policy expert.

McCain, a war hero and world traveler who has served in Congress for more than a quarter-century, selected a woman who has no national or international experience and is younger than two of his children, but who he said shares his belief in reform and relishes the role of outsider.

When he ended months of speculation Friday, McCain did not laud Palin as immediately ready to take over, which he once said was his highest priority for a running mate.

Instead, he called her a partner in reform, who would bring an outsider's perspective and a reputation for bucking the Republican Party and the status quo.

"She's got the grit, integrity, good sense, and fierce devotion to the common good that is exactly what we need in Washington today," McCain said. "She knows where she comes from, and she knows who she works for."

Palin was poised in her first turn on the national stage, with her husband, Todd, and four of her five children -- daughters Bristol, Willow and Piper and 4-month-old son Trig -- behind her. She said her oldest son, Track, enlisted in the Army last Sept. 11 and will be deployed to Iraq on Sept. 11 of this year.

"As the mother of one of those troops and as the commander of Alaska's National Guard,'' Palin said she believes that McCain is the "kind of man I want as our commander in chief.''

Palin did not use her first speech to embrace the vice presidential candidate's traditional role of leading the attack on the opposition. Instead, she left no doubt that being the first woman named to the Republican ticket would be a prominent part of her case to voters.

She spoke admiringly of 1984 Democratic vice presidential nominee Geraldine A. Ferraro as well as Clinton, whom Ferraro supported in the Democratic primaries.

"It was rightly noted in Denver this week that Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America," Palin said. "But it turns out the women of America aren't finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all."

Obama and Biden welcomed Palin to the race, issuing a statement that called her selection "yet another encouraging sign that old barriers are falling in our politics."

But the initial response from an Obama campaign spokesman was much more pointed, saying: "John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000, with zero foreign policy experience, a heartbeat away from the presidency."

Other Democrats were even tougher. "After trying to make experience the issue of this campaign, John McCain celebrated his 72nd birthday by appointing a former small-town mayor and brand new governor as his vice presidential nominee," said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.). "Is this really who the Republican Party wants to be one heartbeat away from the presidency?"

President Bush said in a statement that McCain made "an exciting decision" in choosing Palin, calling her "a proven reformer" and "champion of accountability in government."

"By selecting a working mother with a track record of getting things done, Senator McCain has once again demonstrated his commitment to reforming Washington."

Palin took over as governor of Alaska in December 2006, becoming the youngest person and the first woman to hold the office. A former city council member and two-term mayor of Wasilla, she bested Gov. Frank Murkowski in the 2006 GOP primary and defeated former Democratic governor Tony Knowles in the general election.

On her campaign Web site, she describes herself as a "conservative Republican" who believes firmly in free-market capitalism, as well as a "lifetime member" of the National Rifle Association who has a strong commitment to gun rights. She also said she opposes abortion and believes that "marriage should only be between a man and a woman."

Religious conservative leaders praised the pick in no uncertain terms. In an interview with the conservative Web site Townhall.com, Focus on the Family leader James Dobson, who has been skeptical of McCain, compared his feelings about the choice to those he experienced with the inauguration of Ronald Reagan as president. "That was one of the most exciting days of my life," he said. "I feel very much that way today."

The Alaska governor does differ with McCain on some issues, including his opposition to drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. And while she is considered a crusader for the reform of the state's famously insular political culture, she is also the subject of a state ethics investigation of the involvement of aides and family members in lobbying for her former brother-in-law's removal from the state police force and whether the refusal to do so was connected to her decision to fire the state police commissioner.

Palin has gained a great following in the conservative and evangelical movements by virtue of her strong antiabortion views and the fact that she and her husband, Todd, continued their most recent pregnancy after learning that the fetus had Down syndrome. Their son Trig was born in April.

"How refreshing that now we have a woman who reflects the values of mainstream American women,'' said Janice Shaw Crouse of the conservative group Concerned Women for America.

-----------------------------------------

from Northern Californians for Obama:

why would the governor of Alaska be interested in Kuwait....? Mooseburgers! in Kuwait!??

_____________________________

from Friends of MIchelle Obama: McCain's selection is brilliant for uniting neocons

Hey, I have read this piece and a bunch of y'all answering this and commenting on the dumbest pick for VP since Dan Quayle. And talking about McCain's base...what a hoot! This poor dear is currently under investigation for firing a State Police official relating to a family divorce...in HER family! She was interviewed a month ago about being a possible VP pick and kept asking: "what does a VP actually do?!!!Personally, I just spent most of today working in my local Obama campaign office, in the red state of Tennessee. We had over 80 walk in customers, all WHITE except for one elderly black couple who were so enthused about Barack Obama they picked up an arm load of yard signs. The rest were mostly young white family men who could not stop talking about the fact that they now have hope for the future.We sold over $1,000 of campaign 'stuff', and many more signed up for our huge 'get out the vote drive' for this Labor Day weekend.I am not sure what planet you all live on, but from where I see it, given that all these folks KNOW who McCain picked, the possibility of Obama/Biden taking Tennessee, a state that has not voted for a Dem since....I am not sure when, is looking great! And I cannot wait until the poor dear former beauty queen has to debate a 'experienced' leader who actually knows what a VP is supposed to do and who also knows where Iran is!I think this is McCain's best goof since he couldn't remember where all his houses are!How is that kool aide tastin', y'all??_____________________________Palin Pleased with Obama's Energy Plan
Includes Alaska's Natural Gas Reserves

No. 08-135
August 4, 2008, Fairbanks, Alaska - Governor Sarah Palin today responded to the energy plan put forward by the presumptive Democratic nominee for President, Illinois Senator Barack Obama.
"I am pleased to see Senator Obama acknowledge the huge potential Alaska's natural gas reserves represent in terms of clean energy and sound jobs," Governor Palin said. "The steps taken by the Alaska State Legislature this past week demonstrate that we are ready, willing and able to supply the energy our nation needs."
In a speech given in Lansing, Michigan, Senator Obama called for the completion of the Alaska natural gas pipeline, stating, "Over the next five years, we should also lease more of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska for oil and gas production. And we should also tap more of our substantial natural gas reserves and work with the Canadian government to finally build the Alaska natural gas pipeline, delivering clean natural gas and creating good jobs in the process."
Governor Palin also acknowledged the Senator's proposal to offer $1,000 rebates to those struggling with the high cost of energy.
"We in Alaska feel that crunch and are taking steps to address it right here at home," Governor Palin said. "This is a tool that must be on the table to buy us time until our long-term energy plans can be put into place. We have already enjoyed the support of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, and it is gratifying to see Senator Obama get on board."
The Governor did question the means to pay for Obama's proposed rebate -- a windfall profits tax on oil companies. In Alaska, the state's resource valuation system, ACES, provides strong incentives for companies to re-invest their profits in new production.
"Windfall profits taxes alone prevent additional investment in domestic production. Without new supplies from American reserves, our dependency and addiction to foreign sources of oil will continue," Governor Palin said._________________________from Writers for Obama:

I agree with what you are saying. I somehow fear that we have a Trojan Horse here. If we ignore her, we will be in for some deep trouble from the so-called moral majority.

I believe that you are right in saying that we must congratulate her on her family...all of her family. However, we must be up to date as to our knowledge of disabilities, and the acceptable language. It is very important, especially for parents of kids with disabilities, for example, the syndrome that her baby has is Down Syndrome...no apostrophe. Also, when we mention the baby, it is never the Down baby, but the baby with Down Syndrome. People first language is important, trust me.

Secondly, we need to come across as empathetic, truly empathetic. Each child is special, so I think that we should show real interest in just how this little one is going to get along with a mom as vice president.

My one question is how is she going to take care of a child with D.S.? Often these kids have severe heart problems and other serious health problems. As a mom of six kids and one with severe disablities, I know that they get sick. And sometimes very sick. How is she going to handle that?

I know that this sounds sexist, as dads aren't expected to answer questions like that...but if you are a conservative mom, you believe that the woman has the responsibility to take care of her children, while the man takes care of the finances.

------------------------

and from my brilliant friends at Secular Humanist, posted by Robert Bowman:

> IS PALIN THE WORST VP NOMINEE IN U.S. HISTORY?*
>
> Why or why not?

She certainly is one of the more interesting ones... Given the right
spin, and the Republicans know a thing or two about that, I can see Ol'
Maverick John and The Red Neck Mama going over extremely well in flyover
country. You've got to give them points for balls. I always thought that
Mondale knew full well he didn't have a chance and might as well make a
statement when he picked Ferraro. I don't believe McCain is operating in
that mode.

Or maybe they are just playing a long game. Lose with a flair this year,
hand Obama a shovel and point him at the Augean stables.........

How well do you know Barack?

Steve Jung — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:40:05 EDT

Take the quiz:

http://the-quiz.com/

Medical News Corner: Howard Dean, M.D., as Secretary of Health or FDA Commissioner? / Japanese scientists create stem cells from wisdom teeth

Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor New Mexico Sun News — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 22:07:21 EDT

The Medical Corner of the News: Howard Dean, M.D. as Secretary of Health or FDA Commissioner?

[this article was originally published at my blog on mybarackobama.com; details are at: http://www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=57470&ret=AccountDtl.aspx]

Howard Branch Dean III, M.D., may have higher goals than being Health Secretary or FDA Commissioner in the Obama Administration. He is, after all, the brains behind the 50 state coordinated strategy which might actually bring back a 60 vote filibuster proof majority to the Democrats in the Senate, and where do you go from there, having done that? He might be too smart to be in such a job, so that would be up to him, of course, and to President Obama.

But just for a minute, remembering the speeches we have heard and the letters we have read from Dr. Dean: imagine having a populist consumer protectionist physician of Dr. Dean's calibre (there are no others) at the helm of the FDA, the single most important Federal Agency, since it directly oversees 25% of the American economy, instead of the glut of corporate serving lackeys we have had in the past 8 to 16 years.

Just like I want to see a major internationalist like William Blaine Richardson III as Secretary of State, and the recent placement of his speech at the Democratic Convention proves others are thinking along the same lines; similarly, I want to see a massive overhaul of the American regulatory system in terms of food additives, chemicals, preservatives, sweeteners, etc., as I am sure they killing millions, and not just in the USA.

Further. we need an Attorney General with the positive record and proven stance in protecting consumers rather than corporate bottom lines would be California Jerry Brown, and an Attorney General who will work to restore American Constitutional freedoms and 850 years old measures like Habeas Corpus, instead of tearing them down, and routing them whenever it seemed to suit their fancy or their deluded view of terrorism and national emergencies that they themselves caused, whether directly or indirectly.

I am in the process of determing what Dr. Dean has to say about this, and who the FDA Commissioner is going to be is mighty important to the American people, whether they realize it yet or not; hopefully, it wouldn't be a step down for him to go in to the FDA in January, and start to correct many or all of the ghastly mistakes by the FDA, particulalry the Bush Commissioner, Dr. Andrew Von Eschenbach, in the latter's penchant for coming up with corporate-pleasantries as policy. If it doesn't appeal to Dr. Dean to do this, who would he in turn recommend?

The FDA is a state of abject failure, and a large part of the failure stems from the cozy relations it has with Big Pharma, which unforatunately spills over into the far larger field of Big Grocery, with ghastly consequences for us every time we sit down to eat, or everytime we go to a regular commercial grocery store, to dodge the carcinogens and neurotoxins in the food additives.

The fundamental perspective has to be overhauled in the next FDA: it is there for the consumers, not for the coporations. There are not many people I would trust to put in charge of overseeing and regulating 25% of the US economy, but I do trust Dr. Howard Dean to do that in an intelligent, agressive, and creative manner, just like he has run the Democratic party over the past few years.

IN FACT, HE WOULD BE BRILLIANT.

______________________

THE ENTIRE INTERFACE BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND STEM CELL TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH IS ABOUT TO CHANGE, FOR THE BETTER....

______________________

Japanese scientists have devised a method of creating stem cells from wisdom teeth which would otherwise have been discarded, allowing them to find cures to diseases without the controversy implicit in using embryos. "This will prove to be a major breakthrough," said Dr Hajime Ogushi, from his Osaka laboratory of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.

His team extracted dental pulp from wisdom teeth removed from a 10-year-old girl three years ago and had been stored in a freezer, and from that pulp, stem cells with the ability to develop into replacement human organs or nerves can be grown. Research on stem cells taken from human foetuses has resulted in criticism from the Catholic Church, for destroying human life. The research seeks cures to a range of illnesses, including diabetes and cancer.

"These teeth were extracted three years ago and would have simply been thrown in the rubbish," said. Dr Ogushi. "Skin or bone marrow for this sort of research is quite difficult to obtain but this sort of operation is routine and very straightforward."

The cells were extracted from the wisdom teeth and encouraged to develop for a period of 35 days. Tests then confirmed they were stem cells.

Dr Oguchi said it was also simple to store the cells; he therefor plans to develop a tissue bank - as long as the funding is forthcoming, estimating that will take a decade to achieve, and give future scientists a range of genetic codes that can be matched to a patient to minimise the risk of
transplanted organs of tissue being rejected. Dr Ogushi said that people who have their wisdom teeth removed as youngsters could have them frozen and use them later in life for treatment.

Embryome Sciences develops new medical products using embryonic stem cell technology and is a subsidiary of BioTime Inc., reported on 21 August that the company has licensed a portfolio of patents and patent applications from Advanced Cell Technology Inc with respect to induced pluripotent stem cells and embryonic stem cell differentiation technology.

The company is applying the license for the commercialisation of products in human therapeutic and diagnostic product markets. The technology covers methods for the transformation of cells of the human body, such as skin cells, into an embryonic and pluripotent state.

Embryome Sciences Inc believes that the licensed technologies could be advantageous in the development of human stem cell products for use in medicine and are, therefore, important advancements in the field. In addition, Embryome Sciences Inc is presently marketing cell growth media, called ESpan, in collaboration with Lifeline. ESpan is designed for the culturing of human embryonic progenitor cells using ACTCellerate technology and other sub licensed technologies.

Red Blood Cells Providing New Incentives for Advanced Cell Technology

Could red blood cells be mass-produced? Advanced Cell Technology (ACTC) is a Los Angeles, California-based company devoted to turning human embryonic stem cells into therapies. On 19 August, the journal Blood published a paper reporting the efficient production of red blood cells from human embryonic stem cells.

Lead author was Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer at ACT (his co-authors are from the University of Illinois, Chicago, and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota). Up to 100 billion cells had been generated from a single plate of stem cells. The cells produced had oxygen-carrying abilities and physiological responses comparable to those of the cells from blood banks used in transfusions.

Advanced Cell Technology has 3 major products in the FDA Clinical Trials Pipleline: one to do with retinal repair, another with myoblast repair, after a heart attack, and the other is a hepatic (liver) repair stem cell product; this latest development puts a very obvious fourth feather in their hat....

The paper "clearly shows that stem cells could serve as an unlimited source of blood for transfusion in the future," Lanza says. "The potential here could be enormous."

"This is a major advance because it shows for the first time that these cells can be expanded; they can create [red] blood cells and they can carry oxygen," says Anthony Atala, the director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. "Blood therapies and blood replacement agents are an area of large need."

While the company searches for a big deal to stabilize it financially, Lanza says, "We are still going paycheck to paycheck." That's a familiar feeling for veterans of the 14-year-old company, he notes. "It's probably the fifth or sixth time we've had the phones turned off. When you get in trouble, that's your first warning." Lanza appeared with Barbara Walters on her show on April 1 to discuss in great deal the future and prospects of the specific stem cell research he directs at Advanced Cell Technology.

Although ACTC has in the FDA Clinical Trials pipeline stem cell products in three key ares (retinal respair, hepatic repair, and myoblast [after-heart attack] repair, Advanced Cell Technology has been living precariously on signing smaller licensing deals.

On 21 August, the life-sciences research company Embryome Sciences, a subsidiary of BioTime, announced a licensing agreement with ACT. Embryome, based in Alameda, California, has licensed a portfolio of patents related to virus-free induced pluripotent stem cells and embryonic stem cell differentiation technology.

Moving ACT's red blood cell method to the clinic, there are also questions about the commercial prospects for a product that would have to compete with freely donated blood.

"It's certainly a very exciting result from a scientific perspective," says Cathy Prescott, the director of Biolatris, a biotechnology and health-care consulting company in Cambridge, UK.

Thanks to the Telegraph, the London newspaper; to Medical News today (UK), and Dr. Catherine Paddock, to Embryome Press release, and to Meredith Wadman's article in Naturenews.

College Students, Let Your Voices Be Heard...

Nicholas Short — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 13:05:00 EDT

Hello, group members and Obama supporters.

I'm doing an article for Urban Influence Magazine about Obama and his attempts to reach young COLLEGE STUDENTS. I would love to do a brief online interview with you (or any of your friends). I just want to talk to you about why you chose Obama, what have you done to help his campaign so far, and/or what will you do for him in the future.

Here are the questions:

1. Tell me a little bit about yourself. (Your name, where you are from, what year of college are you in, etc.)

2. What is your major, what is your goal, and how can Obama help you achieve that goal?

3. Why did you choose Obama? (What does he offer that other candidates don't?)

4. What have you done to support Obama so far? (Have you attended any events, participated in any activities, etc.?) Tell me about it.

5. What do you plan to do for the Obama campaign in the future?

6. What do you say to people who believe that college students are uninformed, immature, and should not be allowed to vote or state opinions about political issues?

7. Why should a college student vote for Obama?

Give me as much detail as you can. And please send me your answers by Sunday evening (before midnight). I have to turn in the article on Monday. Also, I would like your permission to correct any spelling or any other errors in grammar that may be found in the answers you give me. My e-mail address is short_nicholas@yahoo.com. You can also call me at 773-310-6280 if you have any questions. Or we can communicate through this website if you want. And for more info on Urban Influence Magazine go to www.urbaninfluencemagazine.com.

Get back to me as soon as you can.

Sincerely,
Nicholas Short

This Woman has real integrity! Susan Eisenhower Leaving GOP For Good, Cites McCain’s “Rove-Style” Politics

Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor New Mexico Sun News — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:57:20 EDT

Susan Eisenhower Leaving GOP For Good, Cites McCain’s “Rove-Style” Politics National Interest:

I have decided I can no longer be a registered Republican. For the first time in my life I announced my support for a Democratic candidate for the presidency, in February of this year. This was not an endorsement of the Democratic platform, nor was it a slap in the face to the Republican Party. It was an expression of support specifically for Senator Barack Obama. I had always intended to go back to party ranks after the election and work with my many dedicated friends and colleagues to help reshape the GOP, especially in the foreign-policy arena. But I now know I will be more effective focusing on our national and international problems than I will be in trying to reinvigorate a political organization that has already consumed nearly all of its moderate “seed corn.” And now, as the party threatens to trivialize what promised to be a serious debate on our future direction, it will alienate many young people who might have come into party ranks. My decision came at the end of last week when it was demonstrated to the nation that McCain and this Bush White House have learned little in the last five years. They mishandled what became a crisis in the Caucusus, and this has undermined U.S. national security. At the same time, the McCain camp appears to be comfortable with running an unworthy Karl Rove–style political campaign. Will the McCain operation, and its sponsors, do anything to win? Read on…

Eisenhower obliterates the media narrative that John McCain is strong on national security and foreign policy and shows the growing distaste within the GOP for the destructive Rove/Bush, scorched earth politics the McCain camp has unfortunately chosen to adopt. Susan believes the GOP has lost its way and has finally awakened to the destructive nature of the Bush regime - the one her grandfather warned us about all those years ago. http://www.crooksandliars.com/

TAKING A STAND AGAINST NEGATIVITY

MINDY FOR OBAMA — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:14:14 EDT

HI, MY NAME IS MINDY CAMPBELL, AND I'M ADDICTED TO NEGATIVITY...

AND I FELT THE NEED TO REVISIT THIS BLOG.SO HERE GOES...

The first step in quitting something is admitting you have a problem, right? So, here I am! Negativity has affected my life for way too many years, and I'm ready to QUIT! Quit negativity, that is! The campaign that Senator Obama has run thus far has been an eye-opening, life changing experience for me. I have begun to see, even barely, the awesome country we have before us. I see so many inspiring people involved in this campaign for CHANGE, and it has really begun to change my life. And I am so glad for that. Lately, however, I have begun to see the seeds of negativity being sown even amongst us, Obama's supporters. This is frightening, I have to say. We are supposed to be fighting the status quo, not accepting it with open arms! We all know that the media will stop at nothing to bring us down. We KNOW this! We have been told this by Senator Obama, in not so many words. He has told us that as we get closer to victory the voices of dissent will only grow louder and stronger. He has told us that we can no longer afford to traffic in lies, fear and hate-that the time has come to turn our backs on that kind of politics-before the hour grows to late! And yet, it is not uncommon to see people out there literally SWIMMING in fear and hate! Good people who have once again let fear and hate take over their lives.

Well, I say no more! No more fear, lies and HATE! I've lived enough of my life drowning in that, and I'm so tired of it! That's why this campaign speaks to me, to my HEART! Senator Obama has opened a door for us. A door has been opened to live a life full of HOPE, we can close the door on fear. It's had its fun with us. He has shown us the pathway, now we just need to have the strength to take the first step. We are all here because we believe. But do we believe in OURSELVES? Do we believe that WE have the power to shake off the HATE, FEAR and NEGATIVITY that the media is throwing our way? I fear that if we cannot shake off the media lies, we will certainly never turn this country around. We now have the power in our MINDS to show the media it has no consequence in our lives. In school we learned how to get a bully to leave us alone. BY IGNORING IT! I call out to you all, IGNORE THE MEDIA! As I've become involved in this campaign, I have turned OFF my TV, and it has had enormous influence in my life already!

Why do I need FOX lies, and ABC moronic debates to tell me who to support? Do I care if Obama wears a freaking lapel flag pin? Bush wears a flag pin, how has that helped us in any way???? It's all a bunch of fluff, designed to take us away from our real cause, GETTING SENATOR OBAMA ELECTED AND MAKING REAL CHANGE IN THIS NATION AND IN THIS WORLD, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. I know we have the power to do this! I believe it in my heart! But, we will not do this if we are stuck in front of the TV, or computer spilling hatred.

This is the reason I have cancelled all my listservs on this network. Over the past month, I have seen the emails go from terrible to absolutely embarrassing. I used to find uplifting, encouraging ideas from supporters there, now not so much. Well, sorry folks, but if I wanted a life filled with hate, I'd be supporting McSame. That statement might not make me too popular, but I don't have time to worry about that.

Instead of getting involved in hate, fear and the like, I've chosen to fill my time with stuff that actually can make a difference. Writing postcards, making phonecalls, making posters, reading up on Obama's policies, books, etc... There are so many jobs to be done!

So, here it is, my admittance to an addiction of negativity. My rant on why I can't and WON'T stand for it any longer. I hope that some of you understand and see my point of view. I hope that some of you will see the power this is holding on ALL of our lives. As soon as we can see it, we can stop it.

I truly believe that we all have the power within us to become everything that we desire, and I know you all out there are wonderful people. I wirite this as a challenge to us all, that we may overcome the fear, hate, lies and negativity in our own walks of life, and rise up to the challenge of electing a President that will make this Nation the nation is should be, the nation it DESERVES to be. WE will make this nation all that it deserves to be. HAND IN HAND!

TAKE CARE AND TAKE HOPE!

Blogging for Barack, Caroline Kennedy,Michael Moore, Dr. Howard Dean, the failed FDA, and Victory in November

Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor New Mexico Sun News — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:37:02 EDT

I sure like Michael Moore's idea of Caroline Kennedy running as
Obama's Vice President, and tomorrow, Howard Dean III, M.D., is coming to
Santa Fe, and I will have a chance to ask him about my deepest concern,
overhauling the FDA with a true consumer protectionist as Commissioner, not
the corporate-serving lackey we have right now.

I decided to join 112 Obama groups, some at the official website, and
some interesting sounding Obama Yahoo! and one Google group located in
Colorado. I get 1200-2000 emails a day, and it is an amazing flow of
information. Recently, the news about Musharraf “resigning”appeared on the
Net at least 36 hours before it came out in the New Mexican, the "oldest
paper in the West."

On the other hand, my wise friend who graduated from St. John’s College
believes the “cool” or “cold” media, in which he included newspaper,
magazines, and books, ultimately had a much greater effect on the recipient
than the jillions of bits of information pouring in off the Internet.

At times, with 112 groups’ membership, including some strange ones
(LasVegasAgnosticsAtheistsforObama), Secular Humanist (my favorite), some
funny ones (PoliticallyNCorrectisOK), and the high-powered Action Teams in
all of the key states, the flow of information at times resembles looking
up at Niagara Falls, from that little boat below, the Maid of the Mist. At
other times, I notice a real self-congratulatory narcissistic attitude in
the groups, as if to say, “Aren’t we cool?” and not nearly enough of the
real mechanics of politics, the door to door, the articles to hang from the
door, getting the people to the Polls, etc., all of which may be boring to
many, but is the pulse of not only who is in the White House for the next 4
to 8 years, but whether the Senate has a filibuster-proof 60 Democrats. The
people who like that and are good at that are out doing just that, not
yakking it up on the Internet, basking in the ill-founded Kaffee Klatch
milieu that seems to be the result of useless Liberal Arts Degrees from many
years ago.

     It will be a very tight election, because of that supposed 16% of
American voters who are outright or secret BIGOTS, who will vote against
Obama above all, even with all of the bloggers, the right TV ads, the
Unions, the traditional Democrat alliance between Jews, Negroes, Minorities,
Intellectuals, Indians, etc., the victorious debates, as so on. Some say it
is always decided in the last 4 days anyway, which I don’t think is true
with this election. Such a large percentage of Americans recognize the
absolutely calamitous disastrous economic effects of 8 years of
Bushies/Neocons/Cheney/Blackwater/Kellogg Brown and Root/the Pentagon and
the Industrialists, etc.: I don’t see how any thinking American could not
vote for Obama, but, have I been wrong before? Yes.

     The bloggers will get out in due course and eventually Pound the
Pavement; at least, I know for sure that Obama's Campaign Manager, a few
others, and me, will ask them to do that, and I will be sending at least
400,000 people emails with encouragement to get strategic and cut the
yakking till after the Election.

But the observations about the effects of the Internet on Society (more
than Politics) are very compelling and very interesting. Marshall McLuhan
posited many years ago that all of this electronic communication and related
advances would eventually create The Global Village, but obviously, the
cohesion is very thin, if it there at all, eh?

Rather than any advanced form of communication, some see serious
Blogging as a new form of Insanity, recognized by the Medical Profession as
a brand new syndrome, and others see it as just plain old Lemming-like
behavior, especially in the political context. I have a keener perception of
how the Internet has requited at least 50% of the compulsion to read several
daily newspapers, and let me tell you in conclusion: there sure are a lot of
really smart people Blogging for Obama, and I am sure we are going to win.

Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor, Santa Fe Sun News

Top Medical Journal Advises Supreme Court not to bar Lawsuits over FDA-approved Drugs; Obama Urged to Appoint Strong Consumer Protectionist as FDA Commissioner

Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor New Mexico Sun News — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:15:50 EDT

[I strongly encourage Barack Obama to clarify what kind of an FDA he wants: more of the same corporate-serving Big Pharma lackeys, or appointing a real consumer protectionist (How about Howard Dean III, M.D.?) at the helm; the FDA Commissioner over sees 25% of the US Economy, which is either Food or Drugs!-from Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor, Santa Fe Sun News...Thanks to RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR of the Associated Press: he wrote this brilliant article]

and more on Diane Levine at: http://www.pharmalot.com/2008/02/preemption-and-amputation-diana-fights-wyeth/

WASHINGTON-Top doctors at the helm of one of the nation's most influential medical journals are giving the Supreme Court some unsolicited legal advice about a major case. The Food and Drug Administration "is in no position" to guarantee drug safety, the editors of the New England Journal of Medicine said in a friend-of-the-court brief.

Lawsuits can serve as "a vital deterrent" and protect consumers if drug companies don't disclose risks. At issue is Wyeth v. Levine, a case expected to be heard this fall that could have far-reaching implications for litigation over allegedly harmful drugs, such as the painkiller Vioxx.

Diana Levine, a Vermont guitarist, lost her right arm below the elbow after she was injected with Phenergan, a medicine for nausea, and developed gangrene. She sued the manufacturer, Wyeth, arguing that the company had a duty to warn consumers that such injections could have devastating consequences. The courts in her state agreed, awarding her nearly $7 million. But Wyeth appealed, countering that it was protected from such lawsuits.

It argued that the FDA's judgment could not, in effect, be overruled by a state court. FDA scientists had weighed the risks and benefits of Phenergan in approving the drug's prescribing literature, or label, as a guide for doctors. The FDA was aware of risks associated with injecting some forms of Phenergan, but the label did not specifically warn about the technique used with Levine.

Although the FDA is often called "the gold standard" in drug evaluation, the journal editors urged the justices to be skeptical. "The FDA alone simply lacks the ability to serve as the sole guarantor of drug safety," the doctors said in a brief filed Thursday.

Without the discoveries dredged up by plaintiffs' lawyers through liability litigation, "the FDA would be stripped of an essential source of information that the agency has consistently relied on when making its regulatory decisions, and the American public would be deprived of a vital deterrent against pharmaceutical company misconduct."

The medical editors joined 47 state attorneys general and two former FDA commissioners — David Kessler and Donald Kennedy — in supporting Levine's position. Kessler served in the Clinton administration and that of George H.W. Bush. Kennedy served in the Carter administration.

The case is being closely watched because earlier this year the Supreme Court ruled that manufacturers of FDA-approved medical devices were shielded from litigation in state courts.

However, David Vladeck, a lawyer representing Kessler and Kennedy, said the statute that applies to medical devices is different from the law that governs medications.

"The law in the (devices) case had a pre-emption provision," said Vladeck. "Congress has never put a pre-emption provision in the Food and Drug Act."

Nonetheless, the Bush administration is supporting Wyeth's position.

"FDA considers and approves specific labeling for a drug, and the drug manufacturer is generally barred from making unilateral changes to the FDA-approved labeling," Solicitor General Paul D. Clement wrote in the administration's brief.

But journal editor Dr. Jeffrey M. Drazen said in an interview that he hoped arguments over legal distinctions would not obscure the reality that the FDA is overwhelmed trying to keep up with drug safety problems, which can range from rare but serious side effects, to shortcomings in manufacturing plants as far away as China.

"Even if the FDA is doing the best it can, it simply can't see the future clearly enough to pre-empt manufacturers from litigation," he said. "The (court) system represents one of the key defense mechanisms that individuals have if a manufacturer has not made the risks of a product clear to the public."

Breaking News: Bush & Republicans Foreign Policy Nightmare, Bush weeks ago: "Russia is a friend" !!

Tony — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:12:16 EDT

Well, let's start by telling Sen Obama to see how and what kind of nasty people the republicans are, Sen McCain was given Full coverage like acting like presidential by making him talk about the Russian invasion and NOBODY complained as of today, but look at recent past and see the way how they complained with their dirty money at YOU Sen Obama when you went to Europe and millions complained about you being made look presidential, see the kind of worthless people they are and they call us "mindless fans", well Sen Obama I bring YOU quality intelligence information that McCain ,who is in washington and support all Bush says including the 'Russia is a friend" phrase, and the rest of the mostly WASP worthless intelligence agents don't know, and this blog shows us how out of touch with reality they are when I am gonna show a blogger who in July 23, 2008 many weeks before Russia's Invasion is asking and putting to doubt that "Russia is a Friend" phrase, and this blog post from an independent blog (as criticism of America's racism is present there) also tells and ask why is Russia selling weapons to a criminal named Hugo Chavez who unknown to the intelligence community has tried to kill an innocent US Citizen in February 2004 when visiting relatives and when traveling to the Capital to return to US, if the US Embassy in Caracas has good telephone records THEY can see the distress call made at 6am to the US Marine who is 24/7 in that post and the Marine tells this person to call after 8am NOT helping him, then after telling the Marine that he appeared to be in danger and ONLY needed a taxi sent to go to the airport 1 hour away, because the Embassy phones sounded busy all the time after 8am and we now know that Hugo Chavez had been wiretapping all communications from overseas and to Embassies and the phone number from this house was cut off by the government and then the order to kill was sent even to these relatives who once one of them was mentioning to the US Citizen to go to Habana instead of Miami without no explanation and to the citizen's surprise, it is worth mentioning that this neighborghood was infested with so called cuban doctors and workers, and NOW you can see HOW McCAIN WANTS to get all credit for this Georgian crisis when he is all behind Bush failed policies and know nothing about what is happening, he is taking advantage of the situation to make him look good in National Security when they represent NONE and this blog is super evidence of this, additional I am gonna mention that Russia will be defiant as there is a president that has caused damage control to this country by invading Iraq and what comes from the mouth of the Communist Leaders is " American military is a paper tiger now when they could not put up with 30K insurgents in Iraq with 160K soldiers" and now you see the kind of National INSECURITY that has been exposed that is not reported by the worthless media and that is repeated by the America Haters and this blog is and will become heated from now on less than 60 days before election, because what YOU need to do Sen Obama is bring and rest those troops at home and then make them the majority in plainclothes and use intelligence as future wars will be won with intelligence and NOT soldiers in uniform and this is where McCain fails and NEVER will win any war as he doesn't have this idea/strategy and do not let him steal it and say this 1st as they call us "mindless fans" when YOU Sen Obama has super Intelligent people as supporters and I hope You see them, as all McCain thinks is use a plane to bomb civilian targets as the way to win wars and he will be dead wrong..so here is the blog it is in spanish but use Google to translate it or find a spanish-speaking person as I do not have time to translate now....

Here It is:

http://Politico-Digital.blogspot.com

PS: Plz, Don't Forget To Digg it..for heavy traffic...

Obama" No Possible Justification For Russian Offensive

Bianca Walker — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 10:58:23 EDT

Obama: "No Possible Justification" for Russian Offensive

By Shailagh Murray
Sen. Barack Obama delivered a statement from Hawaii about the worsening crisis in Georgia, declaring of Russia's aggression in the former Soviet republic, "There is no possible justification for these attacks."

The Illinois senator interrupted a family vacation to address the conflict and said he had spoken to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to convey "my deep regret over the loss of life, and the suffering of the people of Georgia."

Like Sen. John McCain, Obama called for "active international engagement" to address the dispute, "including a high-level and neutral international mediator, and a genuine international peacekeeping force -- not simply Russian troops."

Russia, Obama continued, must stop its bombing campaign and flights in Georgian airspace, and withdraw ground forces from Georgia. "The Georgian government has proposed a cease-fire and the Russian government should accept it. There is also an urgent need for humanitarian assistance to reach the people of Georgia, and casualties on both sides." He urged the United Nations to send a mediator to join a French and Finnish delegation in Georgia.

"We should also convene other international forums to condemn this aggression, to call for an immediate halt to the violence, and to review multilateral and bilateral arrangements with Russia -- including Russia's interest in joining the World Trade Organization," Obama said.

The Democratic candidate's brief public appearance punctured an otherwise quiet week on the island where Obama spent much of his childhood. The Honolulu Star Bulletin ran photos of the senator walking in the surf with Chicago friend Marty Nesbitt and waving to onlookers after a golf outing. It reported that he had jogged barefoot on Kailua Beach and delivered a gift basket to his grandmother with his wife and daughters. According to the paper, Obama is staying in a private beachfront home.

He sketched out his plans at a 4,000-person rally on the first day:
"I'm going to get a plate lunch. I might go to Zippy's. I might go to Rainbow Drive-In. I haven't decided yet. Get some Zip Min. I'm going to go get some shave ice. I'm going to go body surfing at an undisclosed location. I'm going to see my tutu -- my grandma -- and I'm going to watch my girls play on the beach, and once in a while I might go into the water. But mostly I'm going to watch them."

"Obama's presence caused a stir everywhere he showed up," the paper reported, but one prominent resident wasn't impressed -- Hawaii's GOP Gov. Linda Lingle. "This is not 'American Idol,'" the McCain supporter said of the choice facing voters this year, according to the article. "This is making an important decision on who should lead our nation."

A Texas sized THANK YOU!

MINDY FOR OBAMA — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 23:03:47 EDT

To Barack Obama for making me realize this country is worth fighting for when I'd all but given up. For awakening in me a love for community when I felt like we are all alone. For teaching me what it means to stand up for something when for so long we've been trained to stay seated. For giving me the tools I need to feel empowered in this life. And mostly, for opening up this Nation and showing me just how many awesome, beautiful people live here!

To all you beautiful people out there, Thank You for being! Thank You for believing! Thank You for being an inspiration! We will build this Nation, we will REbuild this Nation, and when we're all old and gray, we can look back on this time as the time when WE repaired our world, hand in hand, and heart to heart.

Bless.

Take care and take hope!

Change is on its way, can you feel it?

Noriega Lays out Comprehensive Immigration/Border Security Plan

Jim "Hussein" Hart — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 13:24:48 EDT

Rick Noriega discussed his comprehensive immigration reform/border security plan in Lubbock, Wednesday. Rick Noriega's Immigration/Border Security Plan

We owe HOW MUCH? And just WHO ran up the bill?

Jim "Hussein" Hart — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:09:09 EDT

I have started a series of articles taking a close look at the U.S. economy. Today's article examines the public debt of the United States, how much we owe, who charged the debt to our account, and what it means to you, me, our kids,... each citizen of our country.

If numbers absolutely bore you, this may not be one you want to read. I do think the data is important. I think we each need to know the facts, and have them available to counter the misrepresentations and misdirections distributed by the McCain campaign.

Taking a look at the numbers

As always questions, suggestions, comments are welcomed.

Jim

Phone Banking for Dianna Maldonado This Thursday!

Williamson County Coordinated Campaign — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:14:42 EDT

Just a reminder that this upcoming Thursday is Dianna Maldonado’s phone banking kick off! Come join the fun at the Williamson County Coordinated office headquarters located at 110. S. I35 in Round Rock 78681 from 6pm – 9pm. Please RSVP so we know how many people to expect. http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/44twd Dianna Maldonado is running for House District 52 in Williamson County. She’s the former president of the Round Rock ISD Board of Trustee’s, and a win for her means Democrats take back control of the Texas House! We have Air Condition! Hope you all can make it!

Directions: from I35 north bound, take 620 exit, take left at stop light. Williamson County Coordinated Campaign office is directly behind McDonald’s in the shopping center.

http://www.dianamaldonado.com/

Phone Calling Tool Up onj Website

Ed in Austin — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 22:59:32 EDT

Many of us got the email but just in case, HQ has the phone calling tool up on the main website. They are targeting four or five swing states right now. This is another thing, in addition to registering voters, that we can be doing. The neighbor to neighbor program is not yet available for Texas. Not sure it will be but we can Hope.

Obama & Faith-Based Initiatives

David C. — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:49:16 EDT

First I would like to apologize to any I might offend by my statements. While I will try to remain even-handed, as a Democrat in Texas I feel strongly about those issues I am about to discuss, having finally gotten a breath of fresh air in the form of the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary.

To all those worried or demoralized by Obama's pledge to keep faith-based initiatives, let me say first that I am one of you. I worry about state money going to churches, although my vantage point is perhaps somewhat different than most - I feel like, if you look at the churches of Europe, that the separation of church and state is as much to the benefit of the church as the state.

I just wanted to respectfully point out the existence of the book "Tempting Faith," by David Kuo, who used to be a part of the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives created by Bush. (kudos to ProgressIllinois.com's post, "Getting Faith-Based Initiatives Right" for pointing it out to me) Even if you don't read it, there are two points, one quite explicit and the other implicit, that can be derived from Kuo's work. The obvious point is that Bush was just using this initiative to score political points with evangelicals and to attempt to chip away at the African-American vote, which is traditionally both Democratic in voting record yet church-attending at rates higher than the national average (of course, along came our senator from Illinois, and hopes of that got dashed for 2008).

The implicit point of this book's existence - and this is the zinger - is that *the government worked with faith-based organizations before President Bush.* Bush's innovation, as it was in so many other areas, was to thoroughly politicize the process for cynical political gain, and to completely subvert previous Constitutional safeguards against the mixing of church and state.

I'd like to say this again: this cooperation between faith-based initiatives and the federal government is nothing new. It existed before Bush, and that means that, at the very least, this was something that President Clinton had at his disposal. If a President Obama does nothing more than reinstate the First Amendment safeguards which Bush called "barriers" and got rid of, he will have been a huge improvement over both the Bush Administration and a theoretical McCain Administration.

(more after the jump)

From the HQ Blog

Ed in Austin — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:37:37 EDT

Lt. General Robert T. Gard, Jr. on Wesley Clark's statements:

"Is what Wesley Clark said true? Let's check some other facts: John McCain made claims about progress in security by walking through the streets of Baghdad. But as I recall, he was protected by at least a platoon of American soldiers and helicopters lying overhead. In matters of national security, as General Clark pointed out, "it's a matter of understanding risk," and it's "gauging your opponents;" and it's also a "matter of being held accountable."

So I too honor John McCain. And, like General Clark, I acknowledge his sacrifice for his country. But being a prisoner of the Vietnamese and serving on the Senate Armed Services Committee does not automatically qualify one for the position of Commander-in-Chief -- understanding risks, gauging your opponents and being held accountable does. We must end this glib obeisance to sacrifice and ask deeper questions: is a man who sings "bomb, bomb, bomb ... bomb, bomb Iran" a man who understands risks? Is a man who says that we must keep our troops in Iraq until we achieve an ill-defined "victory" really know how to gauge America's opponents. If we want to hold people accountable, then let's stand behind my friend Wes Clark -- and hold John McCain accountable for what he's said.

Oh, and one more thing: today President Bush signed the GI Bill -- which Senator Barack Obama has unstintingly supported. The bill will spend $63 billion over ten years for increased college aid for military service members and veterans who served after September 11, 2001. Good judgment?

John McCain opposed it."

Link

It's the Economy Stupid!

Mason Dixon — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:41:31 EDT

Both mccain and obama have clear social programs. mccain supporters do not doubt he would enact the programs that mccain has stood for consistently over his career. Obama supports are similarly convinced of obama conviction to a liberal agenda. This is why the economy is polling as such a big issue in this election. It is the issue that voters are the most hesitant about when it comes to these two candidates.

The question in most voters minds is not "will these candidates enact the views they are known to have" but "what are they going to do with the failing economy?" And every news report of downward economic trends reinforces this concern.

Obama's challenge is to show that the former administration's policies are exactly what has led us into this recession. As it turns out, carrying a huge national debt is simply not good economic policy. Ignoring environmental change (green house and katrina) is not good fiscal policy. Privatizing basic services (Enron and California brown-outs) is not good fiscal policy. Selling out the future in favor of quick profits is not Good Fiscal Policy, not to mention a bad foreign relations and unwarranted wars.

Obama will clearly be a caring social president. When it comes to the economy, the American people want someone they can trust, but more than that, they want someone that is going to solve the problem. Can a solution be so hard to describe, when the policies that led us to the problem are so easy to name? Ultimately good social policy IS good fiscal policy, and that is the message Americans want to hear.

Building a better society really is in our best economic interest.

What to do if you get push-polled

David C. — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:33:55 EDT

Push-polling, or more neutrally, "Advocacy Calls," are polls that deviate from the normal polls in that they ask questions that are specifically designed to cast doubts about one political candidate/side or the other, or even plant incriminating notions attacking the other side. They are highly partisan, thus "pushing" the opinions of the caller on you. Here are some excellent ideas, courtesy desmoinesdem and cross-posted across the blogosphere recently, about what to do if you get push-polled.

A summary? Don't hang up. Get pen and paper and take notes in as much detail as you can manage, with as little use of your own intuitions as to who is attacking yo and why as possible, except as commentary. Don't assume the campaign office knows about this just because a lot of people have doubtless been getting these calls.

If it's a person polling you, insist on getting the phone number that is legally mandated to be provided. If it's a robocall, try not to miss that number, as they'll probably be speaking fast. Get that information to your nearest campaign office's campaign manager. Our guy Obama's done a good job about making this stuff comparatively easy to find on the Internet, so that's a good a place as any to start. If you tell the campaign office you got push-polled and you have notes, they'll probably at least give you a number. A copy of desmoinesdem's full post follows the jump.

Great New Green T-Shirts!

Kelly from Barrington, IL — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 13:19:57 EDT

We are happy to offer you what you've been asking for - an Obama t-shirt that you can proudly wear to show your support of the greenest candidate to ever run for president. Enjoy!

Help Me In My FundRaising Goal

Tony — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:06:51 EDT

Barack Obama and I are committed to changing the political process by building a campaign built on a broad base of support from ordinary Americans.

I've set my own personal fundraising goal for the campaign, which you can see in the thermometer to the right.

Will you make a donation to help me reach my goal?

Remember the future of your family and America are at stake, Sen McCain is a war-loving military hawk which none of the US enemies will ever talk to him. This is poised to present a very inflexible and dangerous foreign policy which has a high probability of starting a war with Iran which will be the beginning of War World III as Iran will respond by attacking Israel and the rest you already know what will be. WWIII will be the ruin for America and we and you do not want that and They are already starting with an obsession with Iran and even Bush administration figures like Condoleza Rice mentioned recently the word of WMD (imagine that) and just read the book of McClelland where he says half the truth of the selling of the Iraq War, 1000 lies were spewed to fool the US people to Invade Iraq and now you know the disastrous result...would you like another one like this?, well it's your time to bring a change and you can help and be part of this grassroot peaceful movement by donating whatever you can and be part of history and help me reach my goal to help Sen Barack Obama reach the white house. God Bless you.,

Click Here To Donate, Thanks

Latino Voters and the Inmigration Issue -- Lean Les Interesa

Tony — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:26:00 EDT

I hope if you read this, you please use your intelligence and analyze deeply before placing your vote. DONT BE FOOLED. Sen McCain has NO inmigration policy or ideas or anything related to it. I am telling you Raza this as the inmigration bill was the idea and came from the brain (praying to God that it heals) of my admired Sen Kennedy. Sen McCain was brought in to make it bi-partisan with him but he provided no leadership and help with his own party and it failed, and he has said that he looks for border security first(a broad bogus term) over any reform. Well, by the time elections come the big fence would be built so what is the real inmigration policy??, NADA, NONE, ZILCH, NYET....this is blah blah blah to get your vote and fool us, and we better be prepared. Look now at Sen Obama, the son of inmigrants who would understand better this reality than any other man..this enough said of Sen Obama. Lambasting millions of working people that the US will need in the future, then why do they have a annual visa lottery or the 1000s of skilled worked they ask from other countries, why don't somebody get these people, who are here because of sometimes US bad policies overseas that produces corrupt leaders who mismanage and steal countries resources, and educate and train them so they will replace those asked from other sources?..pretty simple, ehh..

=================================

Oigan raza, si leen esto sean inteligentes, no se dejen tontear el voto. miren quien tiene la poliza de inmigracion quien la tiene o no, el senador Mccain muchas veces cuando lo han entrevistado salta a hablar de seguridad de las fronteras y nada ademas, esto refleja q no tiene la iniciativa de este tema. Nunca la ha tenido y no se dejen echar mentiras que ellos son unos expertos en esto. La iniciativa de inmigracion la tuvo el senador Kennedy y el senador MCCain se llamo para hacerla bi-partidista y fallo con su partido asi q el no tiene ni tendra iniciativa de acuerdo a lo que ha hablado hasta el momento y si votan por el va a ser un desastre. De quien confiar mas de un hijo de inmigrantes como el senador Obama, creo que esto lo dice todo..

Please Respond Swiftly Sen Obama....

Tony — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:38:23 EDT

Well, the latest lies of Sen McCain, comparing the 60s so he is underestimating the terms of John Kennedy and Johnson..LMAO..tell McCain to compare it to Bush 2nd term to Carter term..what a joke, the worst in modern history..he is just spewing lies or fabricating lies I guess is both, but let him keep doing it that it will backfire..like they say in Spanish, "le saldra el tiro por la culata"...

My VP candidates........If I were Sen Obama......

Tony — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:29:41 EDT

Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen John Edwards, Sen John Kerry, Gov, Bill Richardson, Sen. Chris Dodd, Sen Al Gore, Sen Biden, Gov. Kathylin from Kansas,....more to come as I research them.

on the Clintons... to VP? or not VP?

Elizabeth D Hoffman — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 19:29:02 EDT

Maybe HRC should be the VP and bring her 18 million votes with her, but not the Cheney VP kind with all the power --rather, the traditional VP that has no power and does nothing. Universal health care is a good idea --let someone who knows how to run things make it happen; that's not HRC! There are plenty of bad feelings all around. I watched HRC's speech in its' entirety on CNN yesterday. All I could hear was "I, I, I, my, my, my, me, me, me..." ...and when she left the stage, Bill tried to kiss her on the forehead, I guess to show her that she had done the right thing, and she pulled away from him, which I read as she though that it was his fault that she had lost the election... and now the pundits are speculating if he lost the race for her. If Obama is going to win, I think we need Bill Clinton's support as much if not more than HRC's. Just like Gore would have won if Bill had thrown his support behind him and really gotten out and campaigned for Gore, maybe HRC would have done better if from the begining she had talked the way she did on Saturday, pointing out that Bill was the most successful Democratic President in the last 40 years, and that under him we had prosperity and peace. With Bill's help we can win those working class and Southern voters. I haven't forgotten HRC's comments about Barack during the primary. One of the worst ones for me was that she kept hammering away that she had all this experience and he had given one speech. Well, it was much more than just a speech for me!!! I must say that the years of the Republicans: the war in Iraq, Katrina, the environment, our loss of diplomacy around the world, the worsening of the situation in Israel and Palestine, the economy, and the failure of our energy policies has caused me to be quite depressed (I mean I feel it in my bones every time I wait for a crowded bus and I see a limousine pass by). Barack's speech at the DNC convention was like a ray of hope on a landscape which has just been populated by the few, the rich, and the short-sightedly stupid. (...and that means not just the Bush Cheneys, but also the McCains living in 13 houses ---now how could anyone need 13 houses?) And he gave the speech at a time when the press and everyone else was acting like we were living under McCarthy and everyone was afraid to say anything against the government. Barack was not afraid, and he spoke out!!! Free us from the oligarchs, Barack!!!! you can call me sweet-e

Bush's War (on PBS tonight!!!)

Elizabeth D Hoffman — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 19:15:58 EDT

Hi! In my last blog posting, I recommended that everyone see Frontline's show about Cheney, and someone recommended that I see "Bush's War". Well it's on tonight on PBS. Hope everyone, especially those swing voters can see it... i.e. call a Republican and suggest to them that they should watch it! call me sweet-e

Calling on our Leader, Sen Obama, the next President of the USA

Tony — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 15:09:12 EDT

Sen. Obama, you need to respond to the latest dirty tactics which have appeared. This morning sunday June 08, 2008, a spokesman republican senator said on CNN's Late Edition that 'Obama will use LOW LEVEL DIPLOMATS in his foreign policy". I find this to be insulting to us your supporters and you as our leader need to cleanly counterattack this, as they think they are better than us. In Texas I have met previous republicans and they have told me that most of them think they are better than many people because they are mostly wealthy and I have seen and read this with my own eyes in daily life and forums..I think in the end they will be portrayed as the scumbags for bringing ruin to this country for the 1st time, so please in our names, cleanly respond to these tactics..using new people is not LOW LEVELS,but using old ineffective diplomats is, those who have brought a worst foroeign policy and who nobody will talk to them war mongers or military men who only think of responding with force rather than using own intelligence which may be lacking by the way..and the McCleland books tells it all, although I am sure he is telling half the truth, just to hypocritically cash-in.......

The Ongoing Fight On FISA

David C. — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:48:16 EDT

A friend of mine just sent me a couple of links telling me something amazing: despite majorities in both houses, Congress is on the verge of giving the Bush Administration what they want in terms of federal retroactive protection for all companies that do warrantless wiretapping for the government. The first link talks about the lobbying side of all this, while the second link is more an opinion post. I've got to say, while the CQ link is bad enough, the DailyKos link makes a very good point: that telecom corporations are essentially telling us that their legal fees trump concerns for national security, and they want Congress to chip in.

Phonebanking events idea

David C. — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:26:31 EDT

A fellow Obama-supporter from Killeen and me just started a brief conversation about how best to mobilize the people represented by those three or four polls showing Senator Obama within five or six points (or less!) of Senator McCain.

My only idea so far is allowing volunteers to phonebank for Senator Obama without spending their own minutes through this website. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great idea that harnesses those people willing and able to donate that time and that money. But I myself have had a difficult enough time donating less than $50 to Senator Obama, and as heartfelt as I tried to make those $50, my realization that it is just one thing among many that I could do is couple with the realities of my phone plan.

Giving Clinton Her Moment....

Julie Hensley — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:11:19 EDT

PLEASE!!! Watch what you post and blog - content glorying in Obama's win and Hillary's defeat. Items gushing about how inadequate, unpresidential, etc. Hillary might be is JUST THE THING to insure that OBAMA will lose this fall. Do you have any idea how incendiary this is to the Clinton camp???? Do you really think you can afford to drop kick their votes?Clinton is Presidential - if anything she is FAR better prepared in many ways to deal with McCain as an opponent than Obama. Think of the positive campaign Obama wants to run and how the Republicans will (and have already) conducted themselves. Think of what happened to Kerry when he took the 'high road'. He got Swift Boated. Clinton - with her approach is far better able to deal with McCain. I am an Obama supporter because I want it different...but to undermine Clinton only means you are willing to lose the war for the sake of the battle. Obama hasn't won anything yet. Clinton Supporters have a rather squeued view of things indeed.. they overlook that Obama has not exploited Clinton's weaknesses (and the Republicans would) but we are biased as well. We are underestimating and overlooking the 'weaknesses' that will be exploited heavily in the next few months.We need to unite as Democrats. Clinton's supporters are heartbroken. They are proud of a feisty, tough candidate ... one that they are confident is the better choice. Is it so hard for you to empathize? In Obama's glory of being the presumptive nominee - do we need to gloat? Or can we recognize that Clinton is as much a trailblazer as Obama?

"Dream Ticket?" What a Nightmare!

Karen T. Zachary — Sat, 31 May 2008 15:53:29 EDT

Dear Senator Obama:

You cannot, under any circumstances, put Hillary R. Clinton on the ticket as vice president. How could a strong leader such as yourself choose a running "mate" who repeatedly has declared you "unelectable," "not qualified to be commander in chief," and unacceptable to "hard-working white folks?"

What is the function of a vice president -- aside from being there if catastrophe occurs? A vice president must be a loyal, dedicated supporter of the President. A vice president must have no agenda other than the President's agenda. A vice president must have the ability to carry out the President's decisions without question.

Does anyone really think that Hillary R. Clinton wants to serve in that role? No. Does she even have the ability to serve in that role? No. She is defined by her ambition, and that ambition is not to be the second in command (she's already had that job -- from 1992 to 2000).

Senator Obama, you promised us change, and I committed to you because of that. You cannot betray us by putting the personification of the old politics on your ticket.

Perhaps you have no intention of choosing her and I've just been listening to the yappers on MSNBC too long today. But dammit, you have WON this nomination fair and square. Take it. Run with it. Don't let anybody bully you into going against the instincts that have brought you to this victory.

That is all.

Planning to keep the Flame (addressed to Obama Delegates from Texas SD10)

Jim "Hussein" Hart — Sat, 31 May 2008 06:08:13 EDT

I think you, the elected delegates and alternates for Obama, may be the most important people in the recent history of our state. Sure, I know you're going to cast your votes to nominate our next President, but that's really not what I'm talking about. No, you are the torch carriers. You were chosen to be leaders, and much depends on you.

McCain's Nightmare

Ed in Austin — Sat, 31 May 2008 02:15:04 EDT

This is a great 3 minute clip. Needs as much circulation as possible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEtZlR3zp4c

SD 14 Pre-caucus meeting!

Nolli — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:14:07 EDT

TrueBlueAction.com Event : SD14 Pre-Caucus
05.31.2008 @ 6:00pmUnited Christian Church
3500 W Parmer Ln, Austin, TX 787
Austin, Texas 78701SD14 Pre-CaucusSD14 Delegate Pre-Caucus.
1) Delegates get an opportunity to hear national delegate candidates (you will not have this opportunity at the state convention). Pls. RSVP
2) Campaign members will be in attendance to provide strategy information & field questions.
3) National delegate candidates who wish to speak MUST RSVP prior to the event.

Contacts:
dottiefordelegate@gmail.com
allenfordelegate@gmail.com

Visit:
www.allenfordelegate.blogspot.com
www.dottiefordelegate.com

My part to make sure Democrats win the White House...

David C. — Wed, 28 May 2008 05:10:10 EDT

So I got involved in an admirably open-minded attempt by a fairly hard-core supporter of Senator Clinton to keep an open mind. It actually provoked me to do some real soul-searching, as Senator Clinton's EV margin of victory skyrockets and Obama's increases slowly but surely like... well, like the establishment candidate's. If anyone's finding that they're starting to doubt despite themselves, despite reminding themselves that it's still early, and the general election isn't until August, and that going poll-by-pollis an incredibly skeevy way of basing your appeal, maybe my thoughts from this conversation will help - or at least piss you off at my compromising, Trojan-horsed self, which is a good, firm second-best option.

~~****~~

"Actually, I’d like, if you don’t mind, to engage in a little apologia - or amateur psychoanalysis, take your pick - concerning my fellow Obama supporters. Well, I take that back: I myself, at least, do find myself frustrated, though not quite as vulgar as some of this lot, because of what I feel is a reversal of positions: Senator Obama started out as the underdog with a fervent, surprisingly dedicated movement behind him, and it was inspiring to see thousands of people attend his first rally in my home state of Texas (kinda lonely for a Dem or Dem-leaning Indy out here). And Senator Clinton sort of did this thing where she completely rejected acknowledging how her own campaign had its historic, inspiring traits at first. Plus, I have personal qualms about Mark Penn and Harold Ickes, in the 'But he’s *our* bastard' line of [thought]. Anyway, all of sudden, she’s down and out, but it’s like she had this trump card: she suddenly embraces her identity as a woman running for the Democratic candidacy for President, and all of a sudden our movement gets tarred as elitists, our superdelegates become the crushing heel of the establishment overriding the will of the people, our candidate gets guilt-by-associated to hell, and our most important, noticed supporters are the bigots yelling about inherent uterine manipulative domination. Much of this is a reversal of media honeymoons, but the larger electoral politics have nothing to do with the very real sense of double standards, the implication that 'Well I guess she only doesn’t like it when the other side’s got it.'"

(More after the jump)

Signs that I'm now an engaged citizen (or a political junkie)

David C. — Mon, 26 May 2008 04:39:45 EDT

...I just made my first amateur policy suggestion to Senator Obama, complete with researched opinion and links to appropriate articles. I realize this is not necessarily apropos to our particular areas, but I think that I might have stumbled onto a good idea through sheer dumb luck, and I'd like to see if what my fellow Obama supporters think.

This whole thing started because of two articles: the first by Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard suggested five non-major pieces of legislation to attempt to do to the Democrats of the 110th Congress what President Truman did to the Republicans of the 80th Congress, and label them a "Do Nothing Congress."

(http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/143bzrbw.asp?pg=2).

The second was an article by John D. Dingell of the Washington Post about the idea of a carbon tax,and how it's actually more faithful to market principles than a cap-and-trade system:

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/01/AR2007080102051.html).

Calling PR

Ed in Austin — Sun, 25 May 2008 19:51:44 EDT

We've GOT to have some folks on here who speak fluent Spanish.

Spanish Phone banking contact Traci Johnson at San Juan HQ at traci.jeanette@gmail.com

What is Hillary doing?

Vincent Tomasso — Tue, 20 May 2008 11:38:03 EDT

How fiscally responsible of a president would Hillary be if during these trying times she is asking hard working American people to continue to throw good money after bad by donating to her futile effort?

--
Get your Barack and Proud T Shirts now and Represent!

Show your support! Get your "Barack and Proud" Yard Signs, T Shirts, Buttons, Stickers, Mugs and so much more! http://www.cafepress.com/barackandproud

My Daughter left for the Middle East Today

amadeusmax — Mon, 19 May 2008 00:54:19 EDT

My daughter, my only child, left today for the middle east. My daughter has exceeded almost my every wish for her. She is intelligent, strong, and beautiful. She's a 4.0 college Junior, and she will have me on the edge of my seat until her return back to the United States. You know I was always concerned about the middle east and our soldiers there, but when it is your own child, that is in the Middle east, it gives it a more raw directness.

So yes now, I'm really concerned with foriegn Policy. You know I will probably will stop listening to local news and pay attention only to foriegn news. Thank god for the internet, because I now can read the news the rest of the world gets to hear, that somehow gets filtered or censored in the United States.

So yes I believe that I want peace in the middle east. I want news unfiltered. I want my daughter to come home better than when she left, with an experience that will enrich life not jeapordize it.

I want a President of the United States, that the countries of the world want to work with, not like the Current president in which they dispise and don't mind working against.

And Mr (Hopefully President) Obama, know that my daughter is living the life of your promise for the future of America. Right now, we are suffering from that debt of education, sacrafices we have to make to ensure our child gets that better life me and my wife could not have. I'm looking forward to some kind of decent insurance care, because we don't have it now.

Cause right now, everyone in my immediate family needs the promise of the future you speak of. Because we are doing our part to make a better america here at home and abroad. We need a leader in Washington to work with us, to help us make sure it's not done in vain.

More about State Convention (elected positions)

Nolli — Sat, 17 May 2008 19:24:14 EDT

Original post can be found at: http://blog.texansforobama.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1085

Texas State Convention Elected Positions
by: mariochampion
Thu Mar 20, 2008 at 08:09:58 AM CDT

State Convention Elected Positions
What can I run for?
At 3:00 pm on Friday, each Senate District Caucus meets at their posted location in the Convention Center. All delegates are in attendance here, both Clinton and Obama.

At the Convention each Senate District Caucus elects one member to each standing committee and recommendations for Electors and SDEC. It is important to be organized as much as practical BEFORE this convention so that these committee spots are won by our qualified supporters.

(1) Credentials Committee
(2) Platform Committee
(3) Resolutions Committee
(4) Rules Committee
(5) Nominations Committee for SDEC officers and SDEC members recommended by Senatorial District Caucuses, and in presidential years, members of the Democratic National Committee and Presidential Electors
(6) Recommendation for SDEC Committeeman
(7) Recommendation for SDEC Committeewoman
(8) Nominations Committee for At-Large Delegates to the National Convention
(9) Recommendation for Presidential Elector(s) as allotted to those Caucuses under these Rules This year every SD will make on recommendation, and the remaining three are recommended by the three largest districts: SD 14, SD 23 and SD 13.
(10) Delegates and Alternates to the National Convention as allocated to them.

At this point, the Obama and Clinton delegates divide into their respective caucuses to elect their allocated delegates and alternates as determined by the March 4th Primary.

Here is a list of the Committees and a bit about what they do. If you are interested in serving on the temporary committees prior to the Convention, contact the State Party Chair at the Texas Democratic Party.

The duties of the Permanent Committees shall be as follows:
(1) The Permanent Credentials Committee shall make recommendations to the Convention as to the final resolution of all challenges regarding the credentials of Delegates to the State Convention.

Note: The Party Chair will have appointed a Temporary Credentials Committee that will have met prior to the Convention, heard testimony and made most of the Credentials recommendations. This committee serves as the final arbiter if there are still contests.

(2) The Nominations Committee shall nominate the officers of the SDEC and the SDEC members recommended by their respective Senatorial District Caucuses and, in presidential years, the DNC Representatives.

Note: This committee recommends the Officer slate: Party Chair, Vice Chair, Vice Chair of Finance, Treasurer. Each Senate District recommends a State Committeeman and State Committeewoman and the Committee nominates those recommended people to be the Executive Committee. Each Senate District will hold an election at their caucus for these two recommendations. The committee will also recommend nominations for the Texas seats on the Democratic National Committee. It nominates Presidential Electors (each Senate District makes recommendations for Elector).
In presidential years, the duties of the Nominations Committee for At-Large Delegates to the National Convention shall be those implied by its title or as assigned by the National Party Rules.

Note: This committee will meet on Saturday to recommend the 67 At Large Delegates and 3 Add On Unpledged Delegates. After the Senate districts have made their selections to this committee, there will be some Obama supporters and some Clinton supporters elected. The presidential primary poll will have allocated the number of At Large and Pledged Party and Elected Official delegates for Obama and Clinton. Traditionally, the Obama committee members will caucus to recommend the Obama delegates and the Clinton committee members will recommend the Clinton delegates.

(3) The Platform Committee shall write and recommend to the Convention a Party platform for the November General Election.
Note: Traditionally the Chair appoints a broad based committee of interested individuals who meet in the weeks before the Convention to draft a Platform document. This committee takes that draft, and reworks it and make final edits.

(4) The Resolutions Committee shall consider and recommend all resolutions submitted to the Convention, other than those within the proper jurisdiction of the Platform Committee.
Note: There is a temporary resolutions committee appointed by the Chair that sifts through the thousands of resolutions, decides which ones are appropriate topics to be referred to the Platform Committee or the Rules Committee. There are days of logistics work to organize these documents and the temporary committee does that work.

(5) The Rules Committee shall consider and recommend any proposed amendments to the permanent Party Rules and shall assist the Convention Chair and Parliamentarian, at their request, in interpreting the applicability of these Rules to questions of organization and procedure at the Convention.

mariochampion :: Texas State Convention Elected Positions

Bowl-O-bama - downtown Austin on June 21st!

Nolli — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:59:39 EDT

Get the word out Bowl-O-bama is coming!

At Bowl-O-bama bowlers will be able to:
• Get outta the sun and have some fun!
- Award certificates will be given out for most strikes, most gutter balls, and other categories.
• Strengthen our local community by connecting with fellow Austinites!
• Get to know more about Senator, and future President, Barack Obama
- Obama t-shirts and schwag will be available for sale (local vendor)
- Obama literature and information about where Sen. Obama stands on the issues will be provided
- Neighbors can talk about why they support Obama
• Register to vote
- Voter registration forms and information will be available
• Support Obama by raising some funds for his campaign
- Contribution forms will be available (money orders and checks preferred for in-person donations) or even better…
- Laptops will be connected to the MyBarackObama's website for online donations

Event date: June 21st - Saturday, 2-6 PM.

RSVP for event at: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4vt4

I've got a great team of neighbors helping out, but if you're interested in helping out or if you'd like more information, don't be shy…email me.

~Nolli at BowlObamaAustinTX08@gmail.com

How Much Would An Obama Presidency Mean To You, Me, Those Around You?

Julie Hensley — Sun, 11 May 2008 07:40:18 EDT

A new challenge... THREE A DAY TO ELECTION DAY.. when you consider that the recommended daily allowance of fruits and vegetables is five - agreeing to talk to three people a day about Barack Obama seems a minimal goal to say the least.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4wzh

This event looks to each of us to build a cumulative effect between now and November. Simply make the goal to speak to three DIFFERENT people everyday about your support of Barack Obama. Your aren't counting those you convert - just those you speak to.

You might consider using the phone banking system to reach three different people. Or take advantage of Obama gear (like buttons and stickers) to help people approach you. Maybe you will just make a special point to pick up the phone or send an email to friends, co-workers and others you go to church or enjoy a hobby with.

Nothing hardcore. Just a conversation. No major point to make, just give these folks the heads' up that you support Obama and are willing to answer their questions or help them with concerns.

Of course, talking to folks on my.barackobama.com doesn't really count ... unless maybe you are turning them on to the challenge. Talking to 30 people in one day doesn't mean you can ignore the challenge for the next 10 days either. Every morning when you wake up, this challenge has to be as regular as brushing your teeth.

The goal is three conversations. Three opportunities for you to share with someone specific information about Barack Obama so a one way communication (seeing your Obama gear, posting a blog or a comment) doesn't accomplish it.

If you read this and go, wow! Three different people... I don't know if I can be in touch with that many different people! YOU are the one we need most, because if you are that insulated the odds are that the people around you probably are to.

Consider using the phone bank system on www.my.barackobama.com . If that idea sounds a bit ambitious, come join the group Barack's Inspired Phone Bank Army first.. as a way to get advice and support before you pick up that phone. http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/BaracksInspiredPhoneBankArmy

How you do it isn't the critical part. The critical part is that each of us has to be aware that this Election will be won on the ground and between now and November each of us can canvas everyday. Three A Day Til Election Day.

It's about 200 days to Election Day. If each of us committed and achieved our goal, each of us would speak to at least 600 people. Think about that impact and how close past elections have been.

If YOU don't do it. Who will? http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4wzh