Happy holidays to you and yours! May everyone enjoy love, patience, kindness and joy with a lot of laughter and exercise before, during and after the upcoming feast.
It has been the most entertaining election cycle and I have been watching it like a reality show. I cannot believe how many candidates have turned away from ethics and honestly any semblance of morality, instead they have thrown everything representing good character out the proverbial window to get elected President. I am certain this has been a huge teaching moment for America and I hope it will make the young people watching if they are watching learn how NOT to be.
I cannot believe I am going to say this but I completely agree with Ron Paul regarding the war on drugs. Thank you Mr. Paul for risking your election hopes by voicing the obvious; the war on drugs is a sham and a failure as large as the two wars we are still tangle up in.
Why oh why the republicans don’t give Huntsman more attention is baffling someone suggested he is too intelligent.
I know there are republicans who think and have intelligence, okay maybe it is just Dick Cheney and company that have brains, not true, I kid. Still this crop of characters running for office is shameful excluding Huntsman and someone needs to call them out with the flip flopping, the lies and the misinformation being spread.
Oh and please can’t they stop Norquist already, do you know he does standup comedy?
If you haven’t been watching the debates please do; they are fantastic I urge you to tune in if you want to see how it isn’t done how to sacrifice truth and how to blindly grasp at something at the expense of character.
Every once in a while I watch Fox news to see how they spin things and they do…in fairness MSNBC does the same although I do believe we on the left try to stay on point and in fact we do like truthiness…thank you Steve Corbert.
Life is good, be kind and make someone smile…love to you.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Monsters
What a weird tragic filled week of news and drama first I wanna focus on something Herman Cain’s wife said on the radio this morning about her husband and I quote: She said” Herman would have to be a split personality to have done the things he is accused of” I think she is speaking the truth in that part of her sentence and statement he is split a big wide split that makes sense when you watch and listen to him speak. Also when he speaks he blinks a lot which is a ‘tell’ that we know about in acting it is usually when we are lying and unsure of the territory we are going into we start to blink and cannot control it because it is born this insecurity from the deepest part of our consciousness that cannot tell a lie. Where even Psychotics cannot dupe that part of the cerebral cortex/limbic systems; Monsters don’t think they are a monster which is how they do the damage they do somewhere they see themselves as equal to or worse off than their victims like the pervert Jerry Sandusky. We as a society cannot grasp the depths of depravity people can go and so we deny its existence. Maybe this is a safe guard to defending against uncomfortable feelings but it excludes the most vulnerable of society women and children. I do believe Coach Paterno is guilty as an assessor to Sandusky’s crimes and therefore deserves to be brought up on charges. He protected himself at the expense of hurting severely children; Hitler like in its insensitivity. We are so lucky because two vital examples of monster hood have been outed and that is grace now it behooves us to punish the guilty fair and square.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Protecting institutions...
So the debate was highly entertaining but one thing struck me as extremely important regarding what the republicans are saying and what society seem to be saying; the rape and abuse of women and children is no big deal. So if this is the message I am deeply troubled and I think we have a lot of soul searching to do regarding the above.
I am hoping this is not the case but listening to Herman discuss and defend himself reminds me of the classic abuser who is in denial an there is the outside chance that his split personality may be real and he may not remember especially if it is under the influence of booze his actions. Still I am pretty certain just by the feelings I get in my gut he is guilty as charged.
That this coach defended and protected his program above the welfare of little boys like the Catholic Church and maybe more institutions of abuse is once again unforgivable and systemic.
That Arizona has prisons for profit that supported Richard Pearce who was just voted out of office who has direct ties to white supremacist groups who wrote the "papers please law" that targets ethnics especially Latino citizens and then you see the size of the populations in these prisons which are heavily tilted toward Latino and Black inmates I say HELLO! Close these places down and arrest these men and free the inmates who are not there for violent crimes but because they’re illegal’s? Let them go…where is the over sight?
Finally the people are speaking with their vote, Halleluiah. Still I am worried and don’t want to be smug regarding president Obama’s chances at re-election yet it is looking good for us. This country has a big ask yes job creation and the economy but we have moral and ethical issues too and I suggest we start with our ideas and beliefs regarding the violence toward women and children and then the prison population in Arizona and then I believe we need to outlaw prisons for profit it reeks of Jim Crow.
I can smell Dick Cheney in there call me crazy but something tells me this is his industry and if my memory serves me he invests in prisons for profit, of course he does.
I am hoping this is not the case but listening to Herman discuss and defend himself reminds me of the classic abuser who is in denial an there is the outside chance that his split personality may be real and he may not remember especially if it is under the influence of booze his actions. Still I am pretty certain just by the feelings I get in my gut he is guilty as charged.
That this coach defended and protected his program above the welfare of little boys like the Catholic Church and maybe more institutions of abuse is once again unforgivable and systemic.
That Arizona has prisons for profit that supported Richard Pearce who was just voted out of office who has direct ties to white supremacist groups who wrote the "papers please law" that targets ethnics especially Latino citizens and then you see the size of the populations in these prisons which are heavily tilted toward Latino and Black inmates I say HELLO! Close these places down and arrest these men and free the inmates who are not there for violent crimes but because they’re illegal’s? Let them go…where is the over sight?
Finally the people are speaking with their vote, Halleluiah. Still I am worried and don’t want to be smug regarding president Obama’s chances at re-election yet it is looking good for us. This country has a big ask yes job creation and the economy but we have moral and ethical issues too and I suggest we start with our ideas and beliefs regarding the violence toward women and children and then the prison population in Arizona and then I believe we need to outlaw prisons for profit it reeks of Jim Crow.
I can smell Dick Cheney in there call me crazy but something tells me this is his industry and if my memory serves me he invests in prisons for profit, of course he does.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Voting and early registration issues every where; please copy, paste and post...
This is a report written and compiled by Bev Harris; She give permission to copy and paste and post to all...so please spread the word.
By Bev Harris: Part 2A of a 5-part series on voter list data
There is still time to correct these problems by 2012. This story is not just about Shelby County, Tennessee, where I believe the elections commission is competently addressing these problems for 2012. Last-minute dumps of new voter registration forms was a national problem in 2008, and across America voters reported that when they showed up to vote, their name was missing from the list.
The 2008 presidential election brought millions of new voters to the polls, with enthusiasm especially high among youth and minority voters. Yet in Shelby County (the home of the great city of Memphis), over 15,000 voters, disproportionately young or Black voters, were omitted from the list of valid voters at the time of early voting; by Election Day, the names finally made it to the list.
These omissions correlate with an influx of last-minute voter registration forms. This study highlights the importance of third-party registration groups promptly submitting new registration forms. In some states, 48-hour submission is now a legal requirement, with somewhat draconian fines for failure to comply. Regardless of whether prompt submission is the law, it is important to emphasize the need to educate voter registration groups to promptly submit new registration forms. Like taking checks to the bank for your employer; like an insurance agent who must promptly submit forms for those he insures; like a real estate agent who has to submit bids immediately, voter registration groups have a fiduciary-like duty to the voter, who has every reason to believe they will be registered timely after signing forms and entrusting them to a responsible person.
In Memphis, approximately 30,000 new registration forms flowed in during the last five weeks before the 2008 presidential election. Only half of these made it onto the voter list by the start of early voting. Apparently, the number of new forms being submitted was greater than they could enter into the database on time.
OMISSION OF VALID VOTERS FROM "WHO CAN VOTE" LISTS
In 2008, Actor Tim Robbins showed up to vote in New York, and was told he was not on the list. After asserting his right to vote, his registration was eventually located and he was allowed to vote a normal ballot.(1)
Reports flowing in to Black Box Voting indicate that the "Tim Robbins" problem happened all over America. In fact, it happened right next to me. When I went to vote, the woman beside me was told she was not on the voter list. She was deaf, and the poll worker made no attempt to explain anything comprehensible to her, so I assisted. Instead of telling her to vote a provisional ballot, the poll worker told her to register and come back next year. After I asserted her right to vote a provisional ballot, the poll worker found her registration after all and she was allowed to vote a normal ballot.
*Registered voters who are told they are not on the voter list may vote a "provisional ballot", an important right, but provisionals are second-class ballots. Provisional ballots are examined after the election and if deemed legitimate, are counted. Unfortunately, poll worker errors sometimes cause these ballots to be rejected; also, poll workers sometimes fail to inform voters of their right to provisional ballots; and provisional ballots are not factored in to Election Night winner projections.
We have not been able to learn much about how these errors take place, or quantify how many people were left off the lists. Until now. I obtained 87 Shelby County voter lists from 2006 through 2010. Examining these lists reveals a staggering scope of voter list omissions. Two and a half percent -- 15,199 total voters -- were left off the early voting list. Of these, 9,080 weren't submitted until the last day of registration.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTING IN ELECTIONS
As a self-governing people, we have the right to authenticate the basic accounting in our own elections. The most essential parts of this accounting are:
1. Who can vote (the voter list)
2. Who did vote (the participating voter list)
3. Chain of custody
4. The count
Obstructions or inaccuracies in any of these four areas can create an unfair election. Inaccuracies in the voter list will certainly affect the count if valid voters cannot vote, and may affect the count if invalid voters can vote (I will quantify invalid votes for 2008 in Part B of this report).
WHY WERE VOTERS LEFT OFF THE LIST?
Voter lists show a "Registration Date." In Shelby County, the last day to register to vote for the 2008 presidential election was Oct. 6, 2008. The later the voter registration forms were submitted, the fewer voters made it on to the voter list at early voting:
By Bev Harris: Part 2A of a 5-part series on voter list data
There is still time to correct these problems by 2012. This story is not just about Shelby County, Tennessee, where I believe the elections commission is competently addressing these problems for 2012. Last-minute dumps of new voter registration forms was a national problem in 2008, and across America voters reported that when they showed up to vote, their name was missing from the list.
The 2008 presidential election brought millions of new voters to the polls, with enthusiasm especially high among youth and minority voters. Yet in Shelby County (the home of the great city of Memphis), over 15,000 voters, disproportionately young or Black voters, were omitted from the list of valid voters at the time of early voting; by Election Day, the names finally made it to the list.
These omissions correlate with an influx of last-minute voter registration forms. This study highlights the importance of third-party registration groups promptly submitting new registration forms. In some states, 48-hour submission is now a legal requirement, with somewhat draconian fines for failure to comply. Regardless of whether prompt submission is the law, it is important to emphasize the need to educate voter registration groups to promptly submit new registration forms. Like taking checks to the bank for your employer; like an insurance agent who must promptly submit forms for those he insures; like a real estate agent who has to submit bids immediately, voter registration groups have a fiduciary-like duty to the voter, who has every reason to believe they will be registered timely after signing forms and entrusting them to a responsible person.
In Memphis, approximately 30,000 new registration forms flowed in during the last five weeks before the 2008 presidential election. Only half of these made it onto the voter list by the start of early voting. Apparently, the number of new forms being submitted was greater than they could enter into the database on time.
OMISSION OF VALID VOTERS FROM "WHO CAN VOTE" LISTS
In 2008, Actor Tim Robbins showed up to vote in New York, and was told he was not on the list. After asserting his right to vote, his registration was eventually located and he was allowed to vote a normal ballot.(1)
Reports flowing in to Black Box Voting indicate that the "Tim Robbins" problem happened all over America. In fact, it happened right next to me. When I went to vote, the woman beside me was told she was not on the voter list. She was deaf, and the poll worker made no attempt to explain anything comprehensible to her, so I assisted. Instead of telling her to vote a provisional ballot, the poll worker told her to register and come back next year. After I asserted her right to vote a provisional ballot, the poll worker found her registration after all and she was allowed to vote a normal ballot.
*Registered voters who are told they are not on the voter list may vote a "provisional ballot", an important right, but provisionals are second-class ballots. Provisional ballots are examined after the election and if deemed legitimate, are counted. Unfortunately, poll worker errors sometimes cause these ballots to be rejected; also, poll workers sometimes fail to inform voters of their right to provisional ballots; and provisional ballots are not factored in to Election Night winner projections.
We have not been able to learn much about how these errors take place, or quantify how many people were left off the lists. Until now. I obtained 87 Shelby County voter lists from 2006 through 2010. Examining these lists reveals a staggering scope of voter list omissions. Two and a half percent -- 15,199 total voters -- were left off the early voting list. Of these, 9,080 weren't submitted until the last day of registration.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTING IN ELECTIONS
As a self-governing people, we have the right to authenticate the basic accounting in our own elections. The most essential parts of this accounting are:
1. Who can vote (the voter list)
2. Who did vote (the participating voter list)
3. Chain of custody
4. The count
Obstructions or inaccuracies in any of these four areas can create an unfair election. Inaccuracies in the voter list will certainly affect the count if valid voters cannot vote, and may affect the count if invalid voters can vote (I will quantify invalid votes for 2008 in Part B of this report).
WHY WERE VOTERS LEFT OFF THE LIST?
Voter lists show a "Registration Date." In Shelby County, the last day to register to vote for the 2008 presidential election was Oct. 6, 2008. The later the voter registration forms were submitted, the fewer voters made it on to the voter list at early voting:
Friday, November 4, 2011
Spidey sense...
Signing a pledge to never raise taxes ever at first sounds understandable but then again we have so many loopholes that keep corporations from paying their fair share of taxes never raising them or making corporation pay them sounds ultimately self destructive. This happens because they promise to hire people and build and keep large production facilities in some parts of the US but then again they haven’t always done that. No, in fact they take subsidies and don’t pay taxes and they move off shore…they lie. In fact they all have some part of the corporate hands in tax payers’ pockets and still the rich refuse to have taxes and loop holes made fair. No, seeking a balance, leveling the tax field because life isn’t fair. Someone asked me why middle or lower middle class elders the actually voting majority keep voting against their own interests? Their own issues? Good question in other words why do the poor and the middle class vote for no taxes for the rich and taxes for themselves and program cutting and Medicare cutting which directly affects them?
... A behavior scientist said because everyone dreams of being rich “someday” so they protect the American dream or what is sold to them as that. I wonder if Grover Norquist is breaking the law by making politicians sign pledges for their constituents; I don’t know. I am certain Obama has made huge mistakes but I still feel confident he is better than all of them combined. I also hope he can survive and usher us through another 4 years although I am certain most of don’t deserve his intelligent leadership because in a climate where dumb and dumbest is considered good and intelligence is considered elite we are in trouble. I don’t think being a country bumpkin who is uniformed is safe or smart or funny and I certainly don’t want that representing me in Washington with his hand anywhere near the “Football” I mean the nukes. So I am hoping and working hard to make sure we never have another debacle like Bush in office again and I am also hoping with all my spidey senses that we can impeach congress and make them suffer for hurting our economy and blocking the jobs bill. I think they all should be booted out of the halls of government TODAY! It is a cluster f*&k of the highest order up on the hill and I hope they pay like we have been as main stream or the street or the silent majority. Stay alert people stay alert!
... A behavior scientist said because everyone dreams of being rich “someday” so they protect the American dream or what is sold to them as that. I wonder if Grover Norquist is breaking the law by making politicians sign pledges for their constituents; I don’t know. I am certain Obama has made huge mistakes but I still feel confident he is better than all of them combined. I also hope he can survive and usher us through another 4 years although I am certain most of don’t deserve his intelligent leadership because in a climate where dumb and dumbest is considered good and intelligence is considered elite we are in trouble. I don’t think being a country bumpkin who is uniformed is safe or smart or funny and I certainly don’t want that representing me in Washington with his hand anywhere near the “Football” I mean the nukes. So I am hoping and working hard to make sure we never have another debacle like Bush in office again and I am also hoping with all my spidey senses that we can impeach congress and make them suffer for hurting our economy and blocking the jobs bill. I think they all should be booted out of the halls of government TODAY! It is a cluster f*&k of the highest order up on the hill and I hope they pay like we have been as main stream or the street or the silent majority. Stay alert people stay alert!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
