Neighbours decide when new patios and parking pads approved
But political reps say polling lists are outdated and flawed 
By Kris Scheuer 
(Written Nov. 18 for Town Crier.)  

(CFD.net.au – Contract for Difference, Share, Forex, ETFs, Commodities Traders) –

Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) — Afghan and

United Nations

officials expressed confidence in steps they are taking to ensure the presidential runoff set for Nov. 7 isn’t marred by the widespread fraud that plagued the election two months ago.

“We have learned very valuable and painful nful lessons from the first round,” UN Secretary-General

Ban Ki-moon

told reporters yesterday in New York. “We will try to ensure that all Afghan people should be able to express their own will freely and without any intimidation or threat.”

Ballots were being packed yesterday for shipment to voting sites across the country,

Aleem Siddique

, spokesman for the UN mission in Afghanistan, said in a telephone interview. More than 200 of the 380 district election coordinators for the first round have been fired for complicity in the fraud, and polling stations where irregularities occurred won’t re-open, he said.

President

Hamid Karzai

said yesterday that Afghans will have to head to the polls again after a UN-backed probe found that more than 1 million Ballots, or a quarter of the votes cast in the Aug. 20 election, were suspect. Karzai fell short of the more than 50 percent of valid votes needed to avoid a runoff with former Foreign Minister

Abdullah Abdullah

.

Abdullah called for “a better environment and more transparency in the elections” in a phone interview with Bloomberg Television today, saying there may be a change as a result of the runoff.

coalition government?

“If that agenda was possible to reach through other means, I would have been open to it,” Abdullah said, referring to suggestions that Karzai and Abdullah form a coalition instead of participating in another election. Abdullah said his agenda of change urges a “more decentralized system to get the people of Afghanistan in the political process.”

“But we are left with a few days of campaigning before the election. I’d rather focus on this rather than thinking of other scenarios,” he said in response to a question about forming a coalition.

“Now it is again the turn of the people of Afghanistan to choose one of the two candidates,” Karzai said at a news conference yesterday in Kabul. Abdullah told reporters he had telephoned Karzai to thank him for agreeing to a second vote for which he will be ready, Associated Press reported.

In his interview with Bloomberg Television today, Abdullah pointed out that he is concerned that the same institutions will be dealing with the election and that the short time span and the approach of winter would pose challenges.

Message on Fraud

“There was a strong message to the Afghan people and to the international community that fraud did not decide the outcome of the election,” Abdullah said in welcoming the call for a runoff.

Peter Galbraith

, the former deputy head of the UN mission in Afghanistan who was fired in September over his disagreement with decisions on how to handle allegations of fraud, said the steps outlined by Siddique don’t go far enough to ensure a credible result.

“You need to fire every member of the election Commission staff in places where there was fraud,” he said in an interview. “The UN also needs to stop pretending that anything about the Independent Election Commission is independent except the title. Its members were appointed by Karzai and at every juncture have taken partisan, pro-Karzai decisions.”

The election Commission will count the Ballots with assistance from the UN. The five-member Election Complaints Commission, appointed by the UN, Afghan Supreme Court and the nation’s

human Rights commission

, is empowered to investigate allegations of irregularities and adjust the results.

Violence-Prone Areas

Most allegations of fraud in August came from violence- prone areas in the nation’s south and southeast.

Security to make women feel safer going to polling stations needs to be improved, and restrictions on media coverage of the voting should be relaxed, according to Rachel Reid, a Kabul- based researcher for

Human Rights Watch

.

“Women’s Security wasn’t addressed in the planning until the very last stages of the last election,” Reid said. “Only in the last weeks were women recruited to do Security checks in polling stations, for example, and some women reported that they didn’t feel safe to go out and vote.”

Reid said Afghans should have access to media reports on violence and decide for themselves whether to cast a ballot.

In Washington, President

Barack Obama

welcomed the second round of voting, calling it “an important step forward in ensuring a credible process for the Afghan people.” Obama said he called Karzai to congratulate him on agreeing to the runoff.

U.S. Strategy

Accusations of fraud and uncertainty about the final result have weighed on Obama’s review of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, including whether to commit more troops to the conflict against insurgents there. Obama’s chief of staff,

Rahm Emanuel

, said Oct. 18 that the country must have a “legitimate and credible government” in place and any decisions are tied to an analysis of whether Afghanistan can govern itself.

White House press secretary

Robert Gibbs

said this morning that it’s “certainly possible” that Obama might announce his revised strategy before the second vote.

The greatest concern regarding the runoff is the winter weather, U.S. Defense Secretary

Robert Gates

said. The approach of winter means that snow and cold might limit turnout and block roads needed to transport ballots to Kabul for counting.

Security Concerns

Karzai called for international assistance in securing the country for the runoff election, saying Afghans had gone to the polls “often at great risk.”

Gates said most of the troops added by contributing nations before the first election are still in place and could provide protection.

NATO Secretary General

Anders Fogh Rasmussen

said he is seeking a “higher standard” in the next round of voting. About 67,700 troops in Afghanistan from 42 nations fall under North Atlantic Treaty Organization command.

Karzai didn’t comment on suspect ballots in his name, saying only that some voters in the south were “disrespected.” He had argued any fraud was too limited to interfere with his re-election.

Ban said that “the important thing is that even though, unfortunately, widespread fraud has taken place, the measures which we have put in place worked. We detected the fraud, and we reported this. Now all these measures will be put in place again, so that the mechanisms and measures will continue to work and function properly.”

“Both candidates have spoken against a coalition government,” said U.K. Foreign Secretary

David Miliband

in an interview with the BBC Radio 4’s Today program, adding that despite the serious security situation in the country, it is possible to have a credible runoff election in November.

Miliband said the main reason for military operations in Afghanistan was because the situation in the country posed “a threat to our own security directly.”

To contact the reporters on this story:

Bill Varner

at the United Nations at

wvarner@bloomberg.net

;

Ali Sheikholeslami

in London at

alis2@bloomberg.net

.

Last Updated: October 21, 2009 10:56 EDT

Source: Afghan Runoff Election Prompts Steps to Fight Fraud (Update3)

Massive Election Fraud threw vote count against Hoffman
WIDESPREAD FALSE REPORTS GIVEN TO PRESS, ALL TO DEFLATE HOFFMAN VOTE COUNT

Article: The Post & Email

It looks increasingly that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in her zeal to get the Health Care Federalization Bill passed, may have sworn in an unelected candidate for the NY-23 Congressional District, in violation of the U.S. Constitution and New York State laws.

As a matter of fact, not only has the Secretary of State of New York not certified the election, in which Doug Hoffman and Bill Owens vied in a special election, nearly head to head — after Scozzafava retired in humiliation, having lost the support of conservatives in her district — but that vote count is in doubt this morning.

The Post-Standard of Syracuse published this morning a detailed report which lists all the irregularities; errors of vote counting which were all against Doug Hoffman.

Ryan said an important factor in the decision to concede was the unexpected — and erroneous — close vote in Oswego County, where polls had Hoffman with a double digit percentage point lead heading into Election Day.

“That’s the thing that threw us off,” Ryan said.

Oswego County elections officials blame the mistakes on “chaos” in their call-in center that included a phone system foul-up and inspectors who read numbers incorrectly when phoning in results. Of 245 races in the county — not including the congressional and court races — 84 had incorrect totals reported election night.

In the congressional race, more votes were cast in Oswego County than any other in the 11-county district.

The district’s second biggest voter turnout was in Jefferson County, where Hoffman also has benefited from a turnaround since election night, gaining about 700 votes. Owens led Hoffman by 300 votes on the final election night tally. But after recanvassing, Hoffman now leads by 424 votes, 10,884 to 10,460.

Jerry Eaton, the Republican elections commissioner for Jefferson County, said inspectors found a problem in four districts where Hoffman’s vote total was mistakenly entered as zero.

“Hoffman definitely gained votes where he didn’t have them,” Eaton said.

Since 10,200 absentee ballots were distributed, and more than 1,300 returned from pro-military Jefferson Country alone have not even been counted (a more than 70% return rate on ballots distributed), there is a good chance that Dough Hoffman has won the election.

The consistent errors in the election process against Hoffman’s vote count, can only indicate one thing: a conspiracy to commit election fraud on a massive scale.

It turns out that Pelosi’s swearing-in of Owens had the political effect of garnering the addition Republican vote, of Cao, in the vote for the Health Care Bill, which passed narrowly, 220-215. The election fraud, in the NY-23 district, therefore, puts in doubt the legitimacy of that vote also.

The question of the day, therefore, is: “Was this election fraud organized and directed from the White House, which had everything to gain or lose, based upon a favorable or unfavorable vote tally?”

Hm. Sounds unsurprisingly familiar. Al Franken much?

We’re now in the midst of the Official Canvass, a process that takes place immediately following an election. This process is our time to update voting history in the voter registration database and audit and certify the election results, and must be complete within 28 calendar days.

Until the official results are published in our Statement of the Vote, semi-official results will be regularly posted on our website at www.shapethefuture.org.

During the Canvass, we also take an opportunity to reflect on Election Day and the days leading up to it. Narda Barrientos, Elections Supervisor, once said, “The Elections Office is all about change. We’ve been in a constant state of change, and we will continue to change as long as it makes our processes stronger.”

The biggest change this election? We did away with Receiving Stations. Was it successful? As Mattel’s Magic 8 Ball would say, “all signs point to yes.”

Receiving Stations were like checkpoints. After the polls close, Election Officers would complete closing procedures, seal their supplies, and bring three packages to the Receiving Stations: a Red Supply Case holding the Verifiable Ballot Options (VBOs) which contained a paper receipt for all electronic votes cast at the polling place, a White Judges Booth Controller (JBC) Box containing the electronic data for electronic votes cast, and a Blue Ballot Box containing voted paper ballots. At the Receiving Station, teams (generally about six people) would accept the supplies, scan barcodes to update the AssetShadow tracking system, and then place the various supplies in separate trucks. The Red Supply Case and Blue Ballot Boxes went into a semi-truck, that delivered all supplies to the Elections Office once all precincts reported in. The White JBC Boxes would come to the Elections Office in waves because two-person teams (runners) would go back and forth between the Elections Office and Receiving Station to deliver the boxes as they came in. White JBC Boxes would come sooner because these are the votes that are counted immediately on Election Night for reporting.

Each city would have its own Receiving Station, and all the precincts for that city would report to the one location. While seemingly effective in tracking supplies, the process seemed redundant because the Receiving Station was essentially a middleman that didn’t necessarily have to be there. It also caused some issues with city streets being closed off to the public, and created long lines of Election Officers waiting to be serviced.

What did we do to replace Receiving Stations? We created a new Elections role. Instead of having Election Officers wait in line after working over 14 hours, we had Election Material Couriers pick up supplies directly from the polling places. These two-person Courier teams started at 8 p.m., went straight to the polling place, and gathered the pertinent supplies. Each team was assigned to no more than four precincts, with most teams being assigned to only two or three.

After picking up the supplies, the Courier teams called into our Election Day Call Center and precincts were marked as “checked in” on AssetShadow. Then, the Courier teams drove directly to 40 Tower Road, at which time they were directed to a warehouse dock. At the docks, teams unloaded vehicles and gave receipts for the supplies. The supplies then went through an internal process.

Inside the docks, the White JBC box was scanned into AssetShadow as “at Tower Road.” Auditors then reviewed the JBC Custody Log, which indicates who had possession of the JBC and when, and then pushed it down a conveyor belt. Three stations were set up at the conveyor belt, and each had the responsibility of opening the JBC and removing a “Mobile Ballot Box” (MBB) and placing it in a tray for processing. An MBB is essentially a card that contains the actual electronic data of the electronic votes processed; it’s the electronic storage center for the JBC. Once the MBBs were placed in the trays, MBB Handlers would bring the cards to a central scanning station that would enter barcodes into the AssetShadow again and then await tallying. At designated points throughout the night, our Central Tally Room (a secured area where votes are tabulated) would call the scanning station and have the MBBs delivered for tallying by a two-person team.

Apart from the JBC process, the Red Supply Cases and Blue Ballot Boxes were also scanned in at the docks. However, these boxes went straight to pallets, then brought over to a grid that allows for at-a-glance viewing of supplies in and pending delivery.

The final Courier team called in shortly after 10 p.m. We finally turned off the lights just before 11:30 p.m. In contrast, we’ve stayed here till well past 1:30 a.m. for some elections.

While there are some things we will definitely fine-tune for future elections, such as more in-depth training and stronger coordination of routes with Field Tech teams, the new program was essentially a success.  Feedback has been pouring in, and most of the feedback was constructive and positive. Many commented that the new process really tied in with our goal of ensuring security and integrity of the vote and efficiency by creating a more direct route to the Elections Office for tracking and reporting.

Now, it’s a matter of completing the Official Canvass and continuing the progress towards certifying the November 3 Consolidated Municipal, School & Special District Election.

Voter turnout for election was far greater than what was projected.  Clearly the words and opinions of Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity have been heard.  The path of destruction under democratic party leadership has been derailed, as Republicans are on the rebound with victory  in key states.

As an election judge at our local polls, turnout was better than 50% in our precinct.  Previously a poll observer, this was the first time I have worked as an official.  I have to tell you, props go to ACORN for finding ways to deceive and influence an election because the sanctity of the voting process in our state is as tight as a flea’s ass.   Double and triple checking of id’s, addresses, etc., pissed of one out of thousands of voters.  The machines worked, the ballots were in English and all was fine.

Dropping off the votes was almost like pulling into a FEMA camp with tight security.  Do not exit your vehicle, hand over the master record of the votes, open your trunk for an officer to remove the voting materials, sign here that you verify everything is on the up and up.  Rather an intimidating and successful means of participating in the democracy that makes this nation great.

Congratulations to the winners.  More importantly congratulations to the voters for taking the time to speak out loud and clear in the voting booth against the gross injustices that the democrats have procured upon the United States of America.

Would anyone like to join me for a cup of Tea?    http://www.teapartyexpress.org/

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November 3 is upon us, and polls open at 7 a.m. for voters who wish to cast a ballot in favor of or against measures and/or candidates in the Consolidated Municipal, School & Special District Election.

No county measures exist on the ballot, meaning not all cities are participating in the election. To find out whether or not you are able to vote in this election and to find your polling place, visit http://shapethefuture.org/apps/voterlookup.

What’s happening right now? Almost the entire staff is already in and at work, supporting Election Officers as they prepare for the opening of the polls. The Election Day Call Center, a phone bank that we set up specifically for Election Officers to call throughout the day if support is needed, is staffed with a team of people ready to assist.

At the polls, teams of Election Officers are setting up the eSlate voting equipment, constructing privacy booths for paper ballot voting, and putting up American flags and voter rosters for display at front entrances. It’s a process than can take nearly an hour.

At exactly 7 a.m., one Election Officer from every polling place gets to go outside and announce the opening of the polls.

Are you voting today?

View the Roster of Candidates for Local Offices and the Roster of Certified Write-In Candidates.

List of Measures:

City of San Bruno
	Measure F
	“To preserve funding for general city services, shall the City of San Bruno approve an ordinance amending the San Bruno Municipal Code to increase the transient occupancy tax rate from ten (10%) to twelve (12%) per cent on the rent charged to hotel guests within the City?”YES__ NO___
	Full Text	Impartial Analysis
	Argument in Favor	Rebuttal to Argument in Favor – none submitted
	Argument Against – none submitted	Rebuttal to Argument Against – none submitted
	Voter Approval Threshold: Majority Vote (50% + 1)

City of Brisbane
	Measure G
	Shall the existing transient occupancy tax on the rent charged for use of hotel rooms in the city be increased from 10% to 12%?YES__ NO___
	Full Text	Impartial Analysis
	Argument in Favor	Rebuttal to Argument in Favor
	Argument Against	Rebuttal to Argument Against
	Voter Approval Threshold: Majority Vote (50% + 1)

City of Burlingame
	Measure H
	“To preserve funding for general city services, including maintaining public safety, recreation, planning and library services, and repairing and improving city streets and infrastructure, such as the Broadway/Highway 101 interchange, shall the City of Burlingame approve an ordinance amending the Burlingame Municipal Code to increase the transient occupancy tax rate from ten (10%) per cent to twelve (12%) per cent on the rent charged to hotel guests within the City?”YES__ NO___
	Full Text available by contacting the City Clerk	Impartial Analysis
	Argument in Favor	Rebuttal to Argument in Favor – none submitted
	Argument Against – none submitted	Rebuttal to Argument Against – none submitted
	Voter Approval Threshold: Majority Vote (50% + 1)

City of Burlingame
	Measure I
	“Shall the Office of City Clerk of the City of Burlingame be appointive?”YES__ NO___
	Full Text available by contacting the City Clerk	Impartial Analysis
	Argument in Favor	Rebuttal to Argument in Favor
	Argument Against	Rebuttal to Argument Against
	Voter Approval Threshold: Majority Vote (50% + 1)

City of Millbrae
	Measure J
	Shall the ordinance adopted by the City Council increasing the uniform transient occupancy tax from ten percent (10%) to twelve percent (12%) be approved?YES__ NO___
	Full Text available by contacting the City Clerk	Impartial Analysis
	Argument in Favor	Rebuttal to Argument in Favor – none submitted
	Argument Against – none submitted	Rebuttal to Argument Against – none submitted
	Voter Approval Threshold: Majority Vote (50% + 1)

City of Millbrae
	Measure K
	Shall the office of city treasurer be appointive?YES__ NO___
	Full Text available by contacting the City Clerk	Impartial Analysis
	Argument in Favor	Rebuttal to Argument in Favor – none submitted
	Argument Against – none submitted	Rebuttal to Argument Against – none submitted
	Voter Approval Threshold: Majority Vote (50% + 1)

City of San Mateo
	Measure L
	To maintain and protect City services and facilities, such as street and sidewalk maintenance and repair, fire protection and emergency medical services, police protection, neighborhood watch and crime prevention programs, libraries, community centers, recreation programs, and parks, shall the City of San Mateo be authorized to enact a one-quarter cent tax on sales for eight years, with all proceeds placed in the City’s General Fund with independent annual financial audits?YES__ NO___
	Full Text available by contacting the City Clerk	Impartial Analysis
	Argument in Favor	Rebuttal to Argument in Favor – none submitted
	Argument Against	Rebuttal to Argument Against
	Voter Approval Threshold: Majority Vote (50% + 1)

City of San Mateo
	Measure M
	To maintain and protect City services and facilities, such as street and sidewalk maintenance and repair, fire protection and emergency medical services, police protection, neighborhood watch and crime prevention programs, libraries, community centers, recreation programs, and parks, shall the City of San Mateo be authorized to increase the Hotel Transient Occupancy Tax (the “hotel tax”) by 2%, with all proceeds placed in the City’s General Fund?YES__ NO___
	Full Text available by contacting the City Clerk	Impartial Analysis
	Argument in Favor	Rebuttal to Argument in Favor – none submitted
	Argument Against – none submitted	Rebuttal to Argument Against – none submitted
	Voter Approval Threshold: Majority Vote (50% + 1)

City of East Palo Alto
	Measure N – Measure N was a measure placed on the ballot by East Palo Alto. It was removed by the court.

City of South San Francisco
	Measure O
	To provide funding for essential general public services in South San Francisco, including parks, recreation, police, fire, streets, and libraries, shall the existing transient occupancy (“hotel”) tax, paid by hotel guests and collected by hotel operators, be increased by 1%, and modernized by amending the administrative provisions of the tax to ensure full collection for online reservations and to apply the tax to separate charges for vehicle parking at hotels?YES__ NO___
	Full Text	Impartial Analysis
	Argument in Favor	Rebuttal to Argument in Favor – none submitted
	Argument Against – none submitted	Rebuttal to Argument Against – none submitted
	Voter Approval Threshold: Majority Vote (50% + 1)

Town of Portola Valley
	Measure P
	Do the People of the Town of Portola Valley adopt an ordinance that continues the reduced four and one-half percent (4.5%) Utility Users Tax levied on telephone, gas, water and electricity, set forth in Chapter 3.32 of the Portola Valley Municipal Code, for a period of four (4) years from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2014?YES__ NO___
	Full Text	Impartial Analysis
	Argument in Favor	Rebuttal to Argument in Favor
	Argument Against	Rebuttal to Argument Against
	Voter Approval Threshold: Majority Vote (50% + 1)

Town of Portola Valley
	Measure Q
	Shall the Town of Portola Valley adjust the appropriations limit of the Town each fiscal year commencing July 1, 2010 by the amount of money collected from the Utility Users Tax during the time of its levy and collection, provided that authorization to adjust the appropriations limit shall not exceed four (4) years from the end of Fiscal Year 2009-2010?YES__ NO___
	Full Text available by contacting the City Clerk	Impartial Analysis
	Argument in Favor	Rebuttal to Argument in Favor
	Argument Against	Rebuttal to Argument Against
	Voter Approval Threshold: Majority Vote (50% + 1)

Town of Portola Valley
	Measure R
	Only if Town of Portola Valley Proposition Q adjusting the Town’s Appropriation limit passes shall the Town additionally adjust the appropriations limit each fiscal year commencing July 1, 2010 by the amount of money collected from imposition of the 2% Utility Users Tax (for open space purposes only) during the time of its levy and collection, provided authorization to adjust the appropriations limit shall not exceed four years from the end of Fiscal Year 2009-2010?YES__ NO___
	Full Text available by contacting the City Clerk	Impartial Analysis
	Argument in Favor	Rebuttal to Argument in Favor
	Argument Against	Rebuttal to Argument Against
	Voter Approval Threshold: Majority Vote (50% + 1)

Town of Atherton
	Measure S
	“To continue providing funding to maintain neighborhood police patrols and the Town’s ability to respond to emergencies, repair and maintain streets, and repair and construct storm drains, shall an ordinance be adopted to continue the existing Town of Atherton Special Parcel Tax for four years?”YES__ NO___
	Full Text available by contacting the City Clerk	Impartial Analysis
	Argument in Favor	Rebuttal to Argument in Favor – none submitted
	Argument Against – none submitted	Rebuttal to Argument Against – none submitted
	Voter Approval Threshold: 2/3

Town of Atherton
	Measure T
	“In accordance with past practice, shall the Town’s appropriations limit be increased by one and a half times the amount of any voter-approved parcel tax for four years?”YES__ NO___
	Full Text available by contacting the City Clerk	Impartial Analysis
	Argument in Favor	Rebuttal to Argument in Favor – none submitted
	Argument Against – none submitted	Rebuttal to Argument Against – none submitted
	Voter Approval Threshold: Majority Vote (50% + 1)

City of San Carlos
	Measure U
	City of San Carlos Vital Services Measure. To Prevent further cuts and preserve funding for general city services, including fire protection, paramedics and 9-1-1 emergency response; police protection and crime prevention; street repair and maintenance; and avoiding closure or parks and sports fields, shall the City of San Carlos adopt an ordinance enacting a one-half cent transactions and use tax (sales tax), a general tax, for six years with independent annual audits and all funds staying local?YES__ NO___
	Full Text available by contacting the City Clerk	Impartial Analysis
	Argument in Favor	Rebuttal to Argument in Favor
	Argument Against	Rebuttal to Argument Against
	Voter Approval Threshold: Majority Vote (50% + 1)

City of San Carlos
	Measure V
	“Shall the office of City Clerk be appointive?”YES__ NO___
	Full Text available by contacting the City Clerk	Impartial Analysis
	Argument in Favor	Rebuttal to Argument in Favor – none submitted
	Argument Against – none submitted	Rebuttal to Argument Against – none submitted
	Voter Approval Threshold: Majority Vote (50% + 1)

City of Foster City
	Measure W
	“Shall an ordinance of the People increasing the number of terms a Member of the City Council may serve from two full four-year terms (8 years) in succession to three full four-year terms (12 years) in succession be approved?”YES__ NO___
	Full Text	Impartial Analysis
	Argument in Favor	Rebuttal to Argument in Favor – none submitted
	Argument Against – none submitted	Rebuttal to Argument Against – none submitted
	Voter Approval Threshold: Majority Vote (50% + 1)

City of Redwood City
	Measure X
	“Shall Section 18(a) of the City Charter be amended to create a seven member Library Board, all to be appointed by the City Council; Section 18(f) be added to provide that the Library Board would establish rules for its proceedings and the City Council would set forth the authority and duties of the Library Board; and deleting Sections 19, 19 ½, and 20 in their entirety?“YES__ NO___
	Full Text available by contacting the City Clerk	Impartial Analysis
	Argument in Favor	Rebuttal to Argument in Favor – none submitted
	Argument Against – none submitted	Rebuttal to Argument Against – none submitted
	Voter Approval Threshold: Majority Vote (50% + 1)

City of Redwood City
	Measure Y
	“Shall Ordinance No. 2346 be adopted to increase the rates of Redwood City’s Business License Tax by 16.67% per year (rounded to the nearest whole dollar amount) for each of the three successive fiscal years commencing on July 1, 2010; and then, commencing on July 1, 2013 and annually thereafter, be increased based upon the annual change in the Consumer Price Index?”YES__ NO___
	Full Text available by contacting the City Clerk	Impartial Analysis
	Argument in Favor	Rebuttal to Argument in Favor – none submitted
	Argument Against – none submitted	Rebuttal to Argument Against – none submitted
	Voter Approval Threshold: Majority Vote (50% + 1)

]]> http://ahrcanum.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/vote/ Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:19:38 +0000 ahrcanum http://ahrcanum.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/vote/

Getting a bit personal in advance of election day.  I recall an uncle complaining he had jury duty when I was a teenager.  I got in his face and said it is what you need to do as an American, even though he had already served in the military.  He got out of it somehow.  He is now dead, but the story sticks in my craw.  I have had jury duty twice now and while it is no fun, it is my duty.  In the end, God will  judge us all. 

Tomorrow being election day it is not only my duty to vote,  but my privilege for the first time  to work the election polls as an Associate Judge.  I will swear to uphold the integrity of everyone’s vote.  Our state  pays me to do this, which I personally find abominable, and will probably end up donating the roughly $100.

I would work the polls for for free.  I am blessed to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave.  It is the least I can do for my country, state and neighbors.  Republican, Democrat , Independent, Christian, Jew, Muslim or whatever- on election day, and what should be every day, we are Americans.  

BTW, our ballots are all in the English language! 

While our soldiers fight for democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan to protect what the Obama Administration calls ”The Homeland,” I still call it The United States of America.  For all the U.S.A. stands for, this election day I will serve my country by sitting in a hard metal chair for more than 13 hours to ensure the integrity and privilege  the public to vote.  I will then escort the sealed ballots to their destination for counting, go home, greet my family to explain to the little ones why I wasn’t home for dinner and watch the election returns on Fox. 

The least you can do is VOTE.

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Here’s our weekly roundup of repro health news:

• A bunch of fantastic blogs highlighted our Halloween costume ideas, including Feministing, Salon, Full Womb, SoMi Speaks, and the blog feminist themes. Thanks guys! Let us know if you dressed up as any of the pro-choice costumes! We want pictures!

 

• Additionally, a lot of people are talking about our fantastic event this Wednesday with Gloria Feldt, Lynn Harris and Jessica Valenti. (ps – did you get your tickets yet?)

 

• Newsweek looks at Dane County’s efforts to lower black infant mortality in Dane County, and how Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin’s health centers play a critical role.

 

• Dr. Vanessa Cullins, of PPFA, is quoted in Military Spouse Magazine on effective birth control practice.

 

• Cecile Richards, PPFA president, is quoted in the US News touting Planned Parenthood’s grass-roots efforts on health care reform.

 

• Cecile Richards, is also quoted in a great Salon piece on abortion and health care reform.

 

• TIME’s Amy Sullivan has an article rebutting anti-choice arguments on abortion and health care reform.

 

• The St. Louis Dispatch reports that Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri has filed suit challenging two anti-choice ballot initiatives.

 

• Cecile Richards is featured on Feministing for being honored by National Sexuality Resource Center.

 

• The New York Times had a great editorial on the Oklahoma anti-choice law.

 

• Did you read the NY Times piece on the Obamas’ marriage? It had some very interesting things to say about modern marriage and parenting, many of which Salon explores nicely.

 

• That ebay auction that was raising money for Scott Roeder, the man who is accused of murdering Dr. George Tiller and then trying to argue it was justified? It’s proceeding.Here’s a list of the items for sale.

 

• USA Today has a great piece calling out anti-choicers for trying to stall health care reform.

 

• The Frisky has a fun piece on historic birth control devices — especially ones we’re glad don’t exist any more.

 

That’s all we’ve got. What did you read?

Live option – open for debate and vote

Citizen Mundi is supposed to be a game. I think that the Administrator is too weak. There are clear rules and a mission statement which I read before joining the game. Practically everybody is challenging those rules and objectives before even doing anything with the game.

I for one, accept the rules of the game I joined voluntarily and I hope the Administrator has the balls to implement them fully and stricktly. That’s the whole point, isn’t it? That we can change things only if we are organized and commited enough to do so democratically, from within? I have the feeling that the Administrator has been changing rules just because people have complained about things (example: the word limit on initiatives and specific proposals).

NONE of those things should be allowed to change unless we are organized enough to do it. If not, we are just as corrupt as any other system! If we’re going to have a game worth playing, we must tell the Administration stop right now! Send us our ballots, publish our comments and apply the rules strictly. Stop changing word limits and terminology and rules. Don’t be afraid of being “the bad guy”. A community needs a motive to unite. If we’re not happy with the rules lets unite to change them.

I want to know that nothing changes unless we say so. If something is against the rules, it doesn’t happen, end of story.

On the voting ballot for Senators, students were asked what addition they would have as a student service. I personally did not like many of the options.

Some of the proposals were:

-Hair salon and barbershop-Why in the world would we need to have this on our campus? Seriously. Go get your hair done at the mall or something.

-Skateboard and bicycle shop-A good idea in theory, in reality having a shop on campus would mean ridiculous prices for things you can just buy elsewhere for cheaper. I still don’t see too much relevance as to why this should be on our campus.

-Bicycle Sharing Program-Sounds interesting, unless you think about people with sicknesses and conditions touching all over the bicycle and then you ride it after. A good idea but not really great.

-Mail Delivery and Copy Center-This one is useful! However, there is a Postal Office right across the street from the Marshall Center, so is it really necessary? Can’t you copy things on campus anyway. Why a useful thought, it might just be redundant to make something like this on campus.

My suggestion:

-Arcade-When the new Marshall Center game, the old Marshall Center arcade was wiped away. There really are not many fun things to do in the Marshall Center besides lounge around and play pool at Beef O Brady’s (which is limited). The arcade at the University of Florida is pretty awesome and I think that the University of South Florida should adopt one as well.

President Obama's DOJ "Yes-Man," Attorney General Eric Holder

Justice may be blind to race, but the U.S. Justice Department is not. Eric Holder’s DOJ recently issued a decision that delivers an unmistakably racist message – skin color determines voter turnout, and voter intelligence.

The facts of the scenario playing out in the small city of Kinston, North Carolina – and the inner circles of the Obama White House – depict an administration willing to place a partisan agenda over the will of voters, and twist the intent of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, employing the legislation as no more than a means to a partisan end.

In accordance with the Voting Rights Act, the city submitted the measure for final approval by the Justice Department. The DOJ denied the city’s measure, suggesting that the removal of party labels would limit blacks’ ability to elect the candidates they favor.

Specifically, the DOJ’s Aug. 17 letter to the city said the results of the city’s proposed measure “will be strictly racial.”

“Removing the partisan cue in municipal elections will, in all likelihood, eliminate the single factor that allows black candidates to be elected to office,” wrote Loretta King, acting head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division.

That single factor of a black candidate’s success, according to Ms. King, is the label “Democrat.”

The Justice Department’s decision is blatant in its racist, condescending assumptions that:

• Black candidates are always Democrats;
• If black candidates are not labeled as Democrats on the ballot, whites will not vote for them;
• If black candidates are not labeled as Democrats on the ballot, they stand little chance of being elected on their own merit;
• Black voters always vote for Democrats; and,
• If candidates are not labeled as Democrat or Republican, blacks won’t know who to vote for.

A recent editorial issued by the News-Record, in Greensboro, NC, said the following of the decision and the value of non-partisan elections in the State –

Most North Carolina municipalities have abandoned partisan elections over the years. The change makes it easier for unaffiliated candidates to get on the ballot, includes all voters in primaries and — maybe — produces better government by breaking down the party lines that always seem to divide Democrats and Republicans in Raleigh and Washington.

Charlotte is the most notable exception. The state’s largest city still elects its mayor and council members in partisan contests.

So does the Lenoir County town of Kinston, even though 64 percent of voters supported an initiative last November to switch to nonpartisan elections.

Incredibly, the U.S. Department of Justice denied the change, citing provisions of the Voting Rights Act.

The Justice Department’s decision – a perversion of the intent of the Voting Rights Act – is also their misguided attempt to guarantee votes for Democrat candidates among a black voter population it views as too ignorant to elect a candidate on a basis other than party.

Under the false umbrella of the VRA, the Obama Administration has employed a new tool in electoral control; a follow-on to the practice of gerrymandering. Let’s call it Holderizing. Yet, despite the national political implications, few media outlets are covering the Justice Department’s August decision to deny Kinston the non-partisan elections it wants.

Even though it’s been more than a month since the decision was issued by the DOJ, the story is just starting to receive deserved attention from only a handful of news outlets and blogs, all conservative-leaning, proving that political labels do indeed account for some choices  – like those made in the world of political news and opinion coverage.

by Martin Sinclair

President Barack Obama said in a written statement on Tuesday that he hopes to provide Equal Weight from office if convicted of murder in the country as it rescued about $230,000.

A strip club worker accused a Palestinian armed group of anonymity because the legal structure of a commitment to have argued that internal probes have shown that the federal government officials said, “There is talking about the United Nations.”

Each side has personally urged Israel to deliberately go after a pool of 55 people, agreeing to make praise for his election prospects.

A jury from the office of the ballots cast members who have not been probing Tuscaloosa. This would have all American combat troops leave Iraq by an independent query, saying that creating a development center is the next step for Kabul, which has been under stress in return for rights groups. Thirteen Israeli officials said a France Telecom has mounted since last week, recommending war crimes allegations against it.

While facing allegations earlier this year, MEND and announced his findings. Goldstone reported that he has pleaded guilty, and that the smear campaign will hold until August.

Jewell died Oct. 2, just hours after the two countries awarded the parking lot thousands of enormous opportunities for Israel. Hardened by demands from the Palestinian officials and Pasta restaurants in Kabul, the men have reported that it began in Afghanistan.

dadanewsdaily@gmail.com

Another parody I wrote (no need to fear this one actually getting sung; no guy in my family can sing).

To the tune of Beer For My Horses:

Joey, man, come on. The mainstream news

Says we’re really hot. They don’t have any clue.

My buddy blew up a building.

My buddy says I’m a star.

My buddy got away.

My buddy didn’t go too far. Yeah.

He didn’t go too far.

.

Grandpappy told my pappy “Back in my day, son

A man didn’t lie ’bout the fightin’ he’d done,

Didn’t promise hope to us,

Not to you or me, round up all of them bad boys,

Make them part of his team. Don’t make them part of your team.

.

‘Cuz substance is the one thing you will never find

If you promise hope ‘n change without them being defined.”

When those ballots settle they’ll sing a victory tune

If ACORN don’t register any loons.

We’ll raise up our glasses against U.S. forces,

Singing “We’re not liable for none of our choices.”

.

Not enough thugs doin’ dirty deeds.

Too many objects to slaking my greed.

It’s time the long arm of the law shut Rush Limbaugh down!

It’s time the great Fairness Doctrine came back around.

You can bet we’ll shut him down.

.

‘Cuz substance is the one thing they will never find

Since we promise hope ‘n change without them being defined.

When those ballots settle they’ll sing a victory tune

If ACORN don’t register any loons.

We’ll raise up our glasses against U.S. forces,

Singing “We’re not liable for none of our choices.”

Singing “We’re not liable for none of our choices.”

The irony is that Toby Keith is a Democrat.

defeated option

If each person in Citizen Mundi could login to their personal home page (like myspace or facebook, etc), where they could see their score/participation table, they could see what actions they have pending, they could have some kind of inbox with the ballots to vote on, that would be great!

Then they could go out there to the public side of the site and, comment, debate, apply for jobs, offer jobs, we could have our internal mini-market (mini version of ebay), all sorts of stuff, we could sell advertising like someone suggested last week and share the profits or we could put the money towards the Citizen Mundi budget, in order to pursue our community objectives with some clout. We could start small businesses like co-operatives where every employee is a player and therefore an owner and decision maker too.  We could really just create a virtual/real society with real jobs, real people a real budget, real laws and a real Constitution, whilst remaining anonymous and democratic.

It’s all about proving that it can be done, proving that we don’t need a new Messiah, that it’s not about leadership or charisma, it’s about simple human beings coming together as just that. No egos, no political parties, just individuals thinking for themselves, voting with their conscience and creating a new reality out of a virtual reality. We believe that it would create a society that is fairer, with better distribution of wealth, higher ethical standards towards the environment and human life and less envy, less anger, no discrimination, etc.

That’s the vision. It’s utopic but could it be achieved? Can the programming be done? I know it can but.. can it be done cheaply?

If you believe it can or even just wish it could, please tell people about it, ask your computer geek friends, help us raise our membership numbers and develope a better online system. It’s worth it. It beats spending hours on facebook playing Mafia Wars or watching Big Brother on tv.

RICHMOND | A federal judge ruled Friday that Virginia violated the voting rights of military service members and other Americans living overseas when electoral officials failed to send them ballots for last year’s presidential election on time.

read more

GAN is requesting that an independent scrutineer be appointed to observe the count at the Green Party Special Convention on Saturday.

GAN spokesperson Arthur Doohan said

“ Given the seriousness of the issue for the party and the country, it is vital that there be absolute confidence in the quality of the result. In light of the confusion surrounding the Athlone preferdum and some other recent ‘counting’ issues within the Green Party, we all need to be clear about this result, whatever it is.“

GAN are open to suggestions as to the person or persons selected and have suggested some names to Party HQ. GAN regret having to go public on this but they got a flat refusal when it was first put to HQ today.

The spokesperson said that it was “a pity that the leadership wasn’t coming up with these suggestions themselves. Clearly, they are busy with other issues but, equally clearly, it is vital that this be done right. This is not about not trusting the leadership. This about showing the country that we are doing this absolutely correctly, in the light of concerns that have been raised about the small number of voters taking this potentially huge decision.”

You can’t miss the signs that state and local elections are right around the corner. Advocates for people with disabilities are hoping to build on the trend that surfaced in the 2008 presidential election: Turnout soared, according to the American Association of People with Disabilities. An estimated 14.7 Americans with disabilities voted in that election, say researchers Lisa Schur and Douglas Kruse of Rutgers University’s School of Management and Labor Relations. In some states, such as Virginia, students can now register to vote and declare their dorm room as their place of residency. Other places require that a permanent home address be designated. Wherever you live, now’s the time to obtain an absentee ballot if you won’t be present to vote on Election Day in your specified precinct.

By Kenoshamarge

It occurred to me recently, while bemoaning the fact that we do not have a viable 3rd party choice in this country that perhaps “I” was part of the problem. Part of the problem because I believed that we couldn’t have a viable party because the “common wisdom”  or   the “experts” tell us so. 

Just as the power of positive thinking works, so does the power of negative thinking.  If we are convinced something can’t happen then we won’t make much of an effort in that direction. No use us “spinning our wheels” is there? The old beating our heads against a brick wall approach that everyone tells us is stupid and not constructive. Add painful.

Remember that old limerick that went something like this:

They told the young man it couldn’t be done

With a smile on his face he went right to it

He tackled that job that couldn’t be done

And you know what, he couldn’t do it.

Thinking about that limerick and how I let that kind of thing insidiously convince me that we couldn’t have a viable 3rd party I realized that I was a knothead. Of course that’s something I all ready knew, but I suddenly realized that on this issue I was more of a knothead than usual.  I was allowing the “common wisdom” and the “experts” to shape my opinion and thus help to make it a self-fulfilling prophecy.  

I am not naive enough to believe that having a 3rd Party choice would solve all our problems. Getting rid of most of the corrupt and corrupted politicians in Washington D.C., while putting the fear of re-election into the rest is what’s absolutely necessary. Add a cease fire with shooting ourselves in the foot by electing the same old pols with our same old partisan votes.

Those woulf be the same pols that disappoint us time and again. As a punishment we re-elect them. Perhaps they packed us in pork and we consider that good governance. We do if we consider getting ours at the expense of the good of the country good governance.  Let me state for the record that I don’t.

My mantra has become “Partisanship is un American and unpatriotic and dammit, it’s lazy too.” Quite a wordy mantra, it definitely needs some work. However, it work for me.

We get so focused on the Democrats and Republicans that we forget how many other parties have come and gone since the founding of our government. 

Most know that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican and that Andrew Jackson was a Democrat. But did you know that Thomas Jefferson was a Democrat-Republican? Perhaps that doesn’t seem so strange given that we basically have the same thing today, they just pretend to be different on television. The two major parties each take a turn to screw the public, steal from the public and score points off their “adversaries” by doing things that will harm the public. Unlike Jefferson, what we have now are Democrat-Republican-Asshats.

 Historical political parties

The following parties are no longer functioning. Some of them had considerable influence. Listed in order of founding.

• Federalist Party (c.1789–c.1820)
• Democratic-Republican Party (1792–c.1824)
• Toleration Party (1816-c.1827)
• Anti-Masonic Party (1826–1838)
• National Republican Party (1829–1833)
• Nullifier Party (1830–1839)
• Whig Party (1833–1856)
• Liberty Party (1840–1848)
• Law and Order Party of Rhode Island (1840s)
• Free Soil Party (1848–1855)
• Anti-Nebraska Party (1854)
• American Republican Party (1843-1854)
• American Party (“Know-Nothings”) (c.1854–1858)
• Opposition Party (1854–1858)
• Constitutional Union Party (1860)
• National Union Party, (1864–1868)
• Readjuster Party (1870-1885)
• Liberal Republican Party (1872)
• Greenback Party (1874–1884)
• Anti-Monopoly Party (1884)
• Populist Party (1892–1908)
• Silver Party (1892-1902)
• National Democratic Party/Gold Democrats (1896–1900)
• Silver Republican Party (1896-1900)
• Social Democratic Party (1898–1901)
• Home Rule Party of Hawaii (created to serve the native Hawaiian agenda in the state legislature and U.S. Congress) (1900–1912)
• Socialist Party of America (1901–1973)
• Independence Party (or “Independence League”) (1906-1914)
• Progressive Party 1912 (“Bull Moose Party”) (1912–1914)
• National Woman’s Party (1913-1930)
• Non-Partisan League (Not a party in the technical sense) (1915–1956)
• Farmer-Labor Party (1918–1944)
• Progressive Party 1924 (1924)
• Communist League of America (1928–1934)
• American Workers Party (1933–1934)
• Workers Party of the United States (1934–1938)
• Union Party (1936)
• American Labor Party (1936–1956)
• America First Party (1944) (1944–1996)
• States’ Rights Democratic Party (“Dixiecrats”) (1948)
• Progressive Party 1948 (1948–1955)
• Vegetarian Party (1948–1964)
• Constitution Party (United States 50s) (1952–1968?)
• American Nazi Party (1959-1967)
• Puerto Rican Socialist Party (1959–1993)
• Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (1964)
• Black Panther Party (1966-1970s)
• Communist Workers Party (1969–1985)
• People’s Party (1971–1976)
• U.S. Labor Party (1975–1979)
• Concerned Citizens Party (1975-1992) Become the Connecticut affiliate of the Constitution Party (then known as U.S. Taxpayers Party) with party founding
• Citizens Party (1979–1984)
• New Alliance Party (1979–1992)
• Populist Party of 1980s-1990s (1984–1994)
• Looking Back Party (1984–1996)
• Grassroots Party (1986–2004)
• Independent Party of Utah (1988–1996)
• Greens/Green Party USA (1991–2005)
• New Party (1992 – 1998)
• Natural Law Party (1992–2004)
• Veterans Party (2003-2008)
• Christian Freedom Party (2004)

Gone and mostly forgotten until Googled at Wikipedia.

The Top Three of the 3rd Parties are:

Constitution Party – socially conservative, fiscally conservative

Green Party – socially progressive, fiscally liberal

Libertarian Party – socially liberal, fiscally conservative

Libertarian Party: Founded in 1971, the Libertarian party is the third largest political party in America. Over the years, Libertarian Party candidates have been elected to many state and local offices.

Libertarians believe the federal government should play a minimal role in the day-to-day affairs of the people. They believe that the only appropriate role of government is to protect the citizens from acts of physical force or fraud. A libertarian-style government would therefore limit itself to a police, court, prison system and military. Members support free market economy and are dedicated to protection of civil liberties and individual freedom.

 Constitution Party

 is a United States political party rooted in the paleoconservative movement. It was founded as the U.S. Taxpayers’ Party in 1992. The party’s official name was changed to the Constitution Party in 1999; however, some state affiliate parties are known under different names. The party’s goal as stated in its own words is “to restore our government to its Constitutional limits and our law to its Biblical foundations.” ^[1] The party puts a large focus on immigration, calling for stricter penalties towards illegal immigrants and a moratorium on legal immigration until all federal subsidies to immigrants are discontinued.^[2] The party absorbed the American Independent Party, originally founded for George Wallace’s 1968 presidential campaign. The American Independent Party of California was an affiliate of the Constitution Party since its founding, but disaffiliated itself after the 2008 Constitution Party Convention to support Alan Keyes and his America’s Independent Party. The Constitution Party’s affiliate in California now bears the name of California Constitution Party.

Green Party of the United States (GPUS)

 is one of the political parties in the United States, and similar in mission to many of the worldwide Green Parties. The Greens, a voluntary association of state parties, have been active as a nationally recognized political party since 2001. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by their corresponding states. The Association of State Green Parties (ASGP), a forerunner organization, first gained widespread public attention during Ralph Nader’s presidential runs in 1996 and 2000. With the founding of the Green Party of the United States, the party established a national political presence becoming the primary national Green organization in the U.S. eclipsing the earlier Greens/Green Party USA which emphasized non-electoral movement building.

I have voted for Green Candidates now and again. Now I’m not sure I want to do that again. Being fiscally liberal is not a good fit for me. And voting for a “Green” is quite often the same as voting for a Democrat. The same skunk with a differant stipe isn’t what I’m looking for.

There are literally dozens of other “3rd Parties”, many whom I must confess I had never heard of before. There is a link below if you want to take a look around and see what’s available.

The problem for most 3rd Party Candidates is getting on the ballot.

In most states a 3rd party candidate must gather signatures from citizens. The number varies from state to state. Here’s just a sample:

Georgia: The legislature passed a law in 1943 requiring that new party and independent candidates submit a petition signed by 5% of the number of registered voters in order to get on the ballot for any office. Previously, any party could get on the ballot just by requesting it. The result has been that since 1943, there has not been one third party candidate on the Georgia ballot for U.S. House of Representatives. 

Florida: The ballot access laws for third parties and independent candidates have been very severe ever since 1931. Since 1931, there have been only two third party candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives on the ballot and only one third party candidate for the U.S. Senate. There has not been a third party or independent candidate on the ballot for Governor of Florida since 1920. Currently, a filing fee of 7% of the annual salary of the office is also required unless the candidate is a pauper, while a third party or independent candidate for any statewide office (other than president) needs 196,255 valid signatures — no independent candidate in any state in the U.S. has ever successfully complied with a signature requirement greater than 134,781 signatures. 

Arkansas: The legislature passed a law in 1971 providing that new parties could not get on the ballot unless they submit a petition signed by a number of voters equal to 7% of the last vote cast. Because this law in 1977 was held unconstitutional (courts have since held that petition requirements cannot exceed 5% of the electorate), the legislature changed it to 3%. No political party has ever succeeded in getting on the Arkansas ballot, under either the 7% or the 3% rule — partly because the state requires that the petition be completed in the four months during the odd year before an election year. 

West Virginia: Third party and independent candidates for office (other than president) must circulate their petition before the primary. It is a crime for any petition circulator to approach anyone without saying “If you sign my petition, you cannot vote in the primary.” The law can be enforced because it is illegal for anyone to circulate a petition without first obtaining “credentials” from election officials for this purpose. Furthermore, it is impossible for third party or independent candidates (not running for president) to ever know in advance if they have enough valid signatures because if anyone who signs a candidate’s petition then votes in a primary, the signature of that person is invalid. For candidates, it is impossible to know who will actually vote in the primary, and it is too late to get signatures after the primary.

Tennessee – 25 signatures is all that is required as of 2006 to be put on the ballot for any elected office. A candidate for President of the United States must put foward a full slate of candidates who have agreed to serve as electors (11, at least until the 2010 census). A party must mainatain five percent of the vote statewide in order to be recognized as a party and have its candidates listed on the ballot under that party’s name; the last third party to do so was the American Party in 1968; none of its candidates received five percent of the statewide vote in 1970 and it was then decertified as an official party.

Texas – For a registered political party in a statewide election to gain ballot access, they must either 1) obtain five percent of the vote in any statewide election or 2) collect petition signatures equal to one percent of the total votes cast in the preceding election for governor, and must do so by January 2 of the year in which such statewide election is held. An independent candidate for any statewide office must collect petition signatures equal to one percent of the total votes cast for governor, and must do so beginning the day after primary elections are held and complete collection within 60 days thereafter (if runoff elections are held, the window is shortened to beginning the day after runoff elections are held and completed within 30 days thereafter). The petition signature cannot be from anyone who voted in either primary (including runoff), and voters cannot sign multiple petitions (they must sign a petition for one party or candidate only).

Both major parties make it as difficult as possible for 3rd Party Candidates to get on a ballot. It’s not that they fear that any 3rd party will win,although Ross Perot did give them a scare, it’s that 3rd parties often act as spoilers.    

Perot’s candidacy received increasing media attention when the competitive phase of the primary season ended for the two major parties. President George H.W. Bush was losing support, and Democratic nominee Bill Clinton was still suffering from the numerous scandal allegations made in the previous months. With the insurgent candidacies of Republican Pat Buchanan and Democrat Jerry Brown winding down, Perot was the natural beneficiary of populist resentment toward establishment politicians. On May 25, 1992 he was featured on the cover of Time Magazine with the title “Waiting for Perot”, an allusion to Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot.

Whatever the reason the fact remains that we could have more choices when we vote. We can have more choices if we insist that those choices be made available to us in every election, local, state and national. We owe it to ourselves to look around and see what’s available.

Or we can just make our selection from a very limited menu as usual. Funny thing is, we wouldn’t accept that at a Hamburger Joint but we accept it meekly when it comes to our government.  If we don’t work to change that we have only ourselves to blame.

It doesn’t matter what the experts, the mavens, the pundidiots, and common wisdom is trying to tell us. Because all of the above are so wrong so often that why we listen to them/it at all is a complete mystery to me. A mystery I suspect would baffle the offspring of Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple. And that’s the picture I leave you to try to get out of your head.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_the_United_States#Historical_political_parties

This link is for modern political parties:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_party_(United_States)

Ross Perot link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Perot

Campaign to get 3rd Party Candidates on Every Congressional Ballot

http://www.breakthematrix.com/Third-Party/campaign-to-get-3rd-party-candidates-on-EVERY-Congressional-ballot-in-2010

Getting 3rd Party Candidates on the ballot a difficult endeavor

http://www.satireandcomment.com/sc1007thirdparty.html

Ballot access

http://www.ballot-access.org/winger/fbfp.html

Ballot access laws by state

http://home.earthlink.net/~maxhamforpresident/id28.html

winning option

]]> http://glimpses63.wordpress.com/2009/09/19/t3turban/ Sat, 19 Sep 2009 14:24:51 +0000 Doug http://glimpses63.wordpress.com/2009/09/19/t3turban/

Three Turban Ahmadinejad

—Douglas Gilbert

Poetry by Douglas Gilbert

This is a Swindon DCH Press Release

Swindon Council on September 24^th will decide whether or not to ballot tenants on the proposal to transfer our housing stock to a Housing Association. Despite the fact that the Council’s ruling group decided to halt the process when the government announced that it was producing a consultation document on a new Housing Finance system, they are proposing to press ahead with a ballot before the government consultation finishes (on October 27^th ).

The reason they have given is that the government’s ‘self-financing’ system would, they estimate, mean that our housing debt (currently around £30 million) would be increased to between £150 to £207 million.

We agree with the Council that any new system should not include any additional debt. Swindon’s actual debt is around £12 million. The £30 million is a ‘notional’ figure decided by the government as part of the national Housing Finance system. We understand the Council will make a submission to the consultation opposing any increase in the debt. So why not wait to see what the outcome of the consultation is?

What is curious about the ruling Group’s haste to start the ballot process is the fact that their financial predictions over a 30 year period are based on a proposed Housing Revenue system which is likely never to be introduced. Why do we say this? Because the government has said that in order to introduce the new system there will have to be a ‘one-off debt settlement’ which means distributing £19 billion of ‘debt’ to all the Councils that own their housing stock. This can only be introduced without parliamentary legislation if all Councils agree to the formula for determining how much debt they each end up with. There is no chance of this since most of them face increased debt levels. Unless they all agree then ‘primary legislation’ will have to be introduced. Since the government will not finalise its proposals until January of next year at the earliest, there is little or no chance of this being passed before the General Election which has to be no later than May. .

Given the probability of a Tory government being elected the question of what their policy is in relation to Council housing is something that tenants would like to know. All we know at the moment is they are said to be “sympathetic” to the government’s proposals although apparently concerned about the debt settlement. They obviously don’t want local Tory Councils being loaded up with more debt than they currently have.

It is difficult not to draw the conclusion that the ruling Conservative group in Swindon wants to get the ballot process started before the General Election. Perhaps they know something about national Tory policy that we don’t.

Martin Wicks, for Swindon Defend Council Housing campaign said:

“Having suspended the ‘options appraisal’ process the Council should wait to see the outcome of the consultation process. They were surprised to discover that we would be able to keep all the rent raised from our tenants. So why not wait to see the final proposals?

We, together with trades unions, tenants organisations and Councils all over the country, will be demanding of the government that there be, at least, no increase in debt (there is a good case for writing it off).

David Renard has said that a Housing Association can provide a better service than the Council can. This assertion, though is based on a 30 year projection, which is inevitably wildly speculative. In any case tenants would lose their ‘secure’ tenancy and would lose the right to vote their landlord out of office (you cannot do so with the Board of a business). A Housing Association is a business which has to operate on a commercial basis and borrow money at higher commercial rates of interest. They are currently pushing up rents by use of ‘service charges’ which are not included in transfer conditions.

In the current housing crisis we need more Council housing not less. Should the Council proceed with a ballot we will campaign for tenants to vote against transfer.”

For further comment ring Martin Wicks on 07786 394593

Tenants can contact the Campaign by emailing swindondch@btinternet.com or ringing 07786 394593

Martin Wicks

Swindon DCH and tenant

Acts 1:1-26

1. PROCLAIM THE CONVINCING PROOFS OF OUR LORD’S PASSION (vv. 1-4).

Luke, our writer and historian of the Christ who was born in Bethlehem’s manger, gives us thorough details of the birth, the life, the death, and the resurrection of our Lord.  You can read these details in the gospel of Luke.  The book of Acts is a continued bit of history of Christ, His Holy Spirit at work in the Apostles in the early church.

The Gospel written by Luke is the “former treatise” which he had written to Theophilus.  Luke, beginning the gospel, writes,

“Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,  Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.”  Luke 1:1-4 (KJV)

He writes to an individual who must be of royal or noble family.  The term, “Most excellent Theophilus” seems to be an indication of this.  Luke sees it very important to record the documentation of the eyewitness accounts, and the preachers of the word.  He also records it for the benefit of Theophilus, that he “…might know the certainty of those things…”.

The title “Most excellent” is dropped in the writing of Acts.  It could be that Theophilus has become a believer in Jesus.  Luke writes of the resurrection as those “to whom also He showed Himself alive” (v. 3).  That is speaking of the apostles, and there were many more.

There are many atheist, doubters and sceptics who try and tell us that there is little to no evidence for the virgin conception, and virgin birth of Jesus Christ, and some who even deny He ever lived.  What evidence can there be of the virgin birth?  We have the testimony of Mary, Joseph, and best of all we have the testimony of Scriptures.  The life of Jesus Himself shows us that He was not just another man, born by the seed of man, but by the seed of God.

Luke writes of the “passion” of Christ.  Do you know that Jesus had a desire to go to Jerusalem that final time.  Jesus had His mind set for Jerusalem.  He had His mind set on obtaining the redemption of mankind.  He had His mind set on paying the sin debt owed by all men and women.  If we only had the passion for Christ He has for us; what could be done in this world for His glory.

2. WALK IN THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT AND GO INTO ALL THE WORLD (vv. 5-8).

The disciples had seen Jesus tried, convicted, and nailed to the cruel old wooden cross.  At that time they had been fearful, and fled for their lives.  Jesus speaks to us of leaving with us a “Comforter” in John, chapters fourteen and sixteen.  We also have Jesus’s words that He is going away for a time, and then will return, and Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit [the Comforter] is an “Earnest” payment for the security and guarantee of His return.

Were these words, “but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence…” meant only for the disciples present at that time, or do they have application for His followers today?  Yes and No!  For the disciples then, they did need to do as Jesus had said, and wait for the promise of the baptism of the Spirit.  He had not descended.  For the follower of Jesus Christ today, you and I were baptized in the Spirit of Jesus Christ the day we prayed to receive His free gift of salvation and He saved us.  There are times, however, where the follower of Jesus Christ today, needs to wait and make sure all things are right with and God, and that there are no hindrances to the work of God in our hearts and lives.

Every Christian has been given the power of Christ.  The power to live a life that will glorify Jesus.  The power to be a witness for Him in all our lives and life’s activities.  The power of faith that will move mountains and cast sycamine trees into the sea.  I have not seen any Christian who has that kind of faith today, however.  Oh, that we would just believe God and His Word and trust the work  and power of His Spirit in our lives.

We have been given the “Great Commission” of Christ Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20, and He gives it again before He ascends into the heavens.  He tells the disciples then, “You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit is come on you…”  It was yet a future event for them.  It is an instantaneous event for the man, woman, boy or girl who calls on the name of Jesus for salvation today.  You and I hear things about “Change” today.  There is only one power that can change this world into a better world, and better men, women, boys, and girls; and that is the power of the Spirit of God in His people.

The hope of the world cannot be found in the political arena.  It cannot be found in any political figure, or political promise.  When we put our faith in the promises of men or women, we are bound to failure, and disappointment.  The only hope for individuals, kings, commoners; rich or poor; is the Lord Jesus Christ, and as Christian disciples/followers we have not only been commissioned by our Lord to go and make disciples; He has given us the power to go and do it.

If you want true change in the United States or the world it will come only through the crucified, buried, risen and coming again Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God.

“It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:7-8 (KJV)

3. BE BUSY IN GROWING AND PRACTICE OF FAITH AND IN PRAYER (vv. 9-14).

Those of us who believe that the second coming of Jesus are often accused of having our head in the stars or the sand, and not dealing with the things which really affect mankind.  I would agree that there are factions who claim to believe in the second coming of Jesus, but I have a question, “What Jesus do they believe in?”  Do they believe in the Jesus who said, “I will come again”, but later He said, “No man knows the day or the hour”? or do they believe in the one who professes to have a secret knowledge of God and Jesus, and they know when He is coming?  They might even say, “I am the one who is coming”.

We are told in Scripture, the words of Jesus to “Occupy till I come” (Luke 19:13).  Though the preceding was spoken from a parable, it still has the intensity of the call Jesus has for us.  He is telling His followers to keep at the tasks you have to do, maintain your lives, live and be faithful to the teachings of God’s word and all that He has taught us.  He has not told us to give away all our possessions, sell our homes and go to a mountain top and wait for His return.

I would imagine that as Jesus was speaking to the disciples, and they seeing Him ascend into the coulds would have been standing there in awe of what they had just seen.  For a while they would have put the words Jesus had just spoken to them out of their minds.  WOW! Was probably what they were thinking.  This was men who had seem Him walk on water, calm the storms, cast out demons, heal the sick, make the lame walk, heal the lepers, and raise the dead.  And now, they see Him in a living body of flesh ascend out of their sight, and into the Father’s glory.

“Two men” probably angels confronted their awestruck eyes and minds, with the words we all need to hear, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”  Acts 1:11 (KJV)  The disciples followed the instructions of the men/angels, went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, to the upper room and there they prayed, probably unlike any other time they had prayed.  You will notice all the disciples were present with the exception of Judas who killed himself by hanging, and plunging to the bottom of a cliff.

“These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.”  Acts 1:14 (KJV)

They had not yet received the Holy Spirit for power, witness and living.  They were to wait for the promise, and the promise came.

Continuing prayer is prayer that abides, prayer that is unceasing, prayer that is diligent, faithful, and trusting and believing, that God will accomplish what He pleases, in His time and in His way.  Those praying in the upper room numbered one hundred and twenty.  Of those who were there, other than the disciples/apostles, were Mary the mother of Jesus, and the brothers of Jesus – James and Jude (not the apostles by the same name) – and the women who had faithfully trusted in, and ministered to Jesus.

4. KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THAT NO ONE IS INDISPENSIBLE (vv. 15-25).

In a lot of areas of life, work, and society and culture there are some who feel they are indispensible.  They are badly mistaken, and sadly deceived.  That may have been the heart of Judas, the betrayer, as he went to betray our Lord.  He was in fact fulfilling a role in prophecy.  Nevertheless guilty of sin, of unbelief, of betrayal.

It was Peter who stood up to make the leadership decision of replacing Judas.  The question could be asked and I am asking it; “Why did they need to replace Judas?”.  Maybe “Replace” is not the right term to use, because no one is really replaced.  Someone that would have been a witness of the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus was required.

Peter saw that Judas and his acts, and the end of his life were a fulfillment of Scripture.  David had written about this in the Psalms.  See Psalms 69:25 and 109:8.  There have been many people  who have written of Judas’s; of which I have only heard and not read.  I know there are some who with great assumption consider Judas to have been a genuine saved, follower of Jesus Christ, and that he lost his salvation; however, the losing of one’s salvation just does not fit with all of Scripture.  Judas was just a man who never did see Jesus for who he really was, but was only his meal ticket and possible means of obtaining a high position in an earthly rule.  In verse 25, it reads, “that he might go to his own place”; which seems to be meaning that  he had his own eternal abode.

Now it is time to have someone fill his position with the twelve.  It seems that there has been some debate over whether this was really necessary or not.  There are probably a lot of reasons that could be given to support their installing a twelfth apostle, and I would think that to be to keep the order of twelve.  There are twelve tribes of Israel.  Twelve may be a symbol of a completed rule of government, and when Jesus returns to set up His earthly kingdom, these twelve and those who have believed because of their preaching and teaching will rule and reign with Him.

Each individual is unique within the kingdom of heaven, and the future kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth.  There is, however, no one who is indispensable.  Pride is the only thing that would cause anyone to usurp the authority of their own life over the rule of Jesus Christ, and the Father.  That was so with Judas.

The eleven disciples take a vote [cast lots], and the lot fell to Matthais.

5. LET GOD LEAD AND PROVIDE OUR LEADERS (v. 26).

Both of the men which they must choose from were witnesses of the Lord Jesus, and His resurrection.  That was a qualification of an apostle.  Their life was one of following Jesus, and faithfulness.  These were both well qualified men, but only one would be able to serve as apostles.

It would seem that all 120 people in the upper room had part in making this decision.  Some may argue and say, “Well they should have waited because Paul should have been the twelfth apostle”, but that could not be.  There must be one who was sent to the gentiles, and that was Paul who made a thirteenth apostle.

In the direction of choosing kings, presidents, premiers, and apostles and pastors we must let God lead and direct in that choosing.  He has His way in the ballots, and the lots which are cast.

God places leaders of churches, communities, States and Nations as it pleases Him; and all for His glory.  Trust Him.  He knows what He is doing.  He sees the total picture, and you and I only have a very small view, called today.  Today is the day of salvation.  Tomorrow may not come for you or me.

-Tim A. Blankenship

These are study notes for a sermon I preached September 14, 2008.