Confessions of a ‘Defeatocrat’

Posted in 365 Lessons

The Republicans are running scared. In the White House, on Capitol Hill and on the campaign trail, they’re worried about losing control of Congress. And so the administration and the GOP have launched a desperate assault on Democrats and our position on the war in Iraq. Defeatists, they call us, and appeasers and — oh so cleverly — “Defeatocrats.”

Vice President Cheney has accused Democrats of “self-defeating pessimism.” Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has faulted us for believing that “vicious extremists can be appeased.” The White House calls Democrats the party of “cut and run.”

It’s all baseless name-calling, and it’s all wrong. Unless, of course, being a Defeatocrat means taking a good hard look at the administration’s Iraq policy and determining that it’s a failure.

Confessions of a ‘Defeatocrat’ By John P. Murtha [washingtonpost.com]

Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) is the ranking member on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee and a 37 year veteran of the Marine Corps. Like so many of our current and retired military leaders, he wants us to reconsider our options in Iraq. How do people continue to believe and support Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rove. Of the four, only Rumsfeld ever served in the military.

Don’t get me wrong, I do not believe one MUST have served in the military to be Commander-In-Chief. However, if one has not served, one should listen more closely to those who have. They should not ignore the professionals in their command, as the Bush administration so wantonly and willfuly does.

The Destruction of the Bill of Rights [MSNBC]


20 Amazing Facts About Voting in the USA


Did you know …

  1. 80% of all votes in America are counted by only two companies: Diebold and ES&S.
    http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804Landes/042804landes.html
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diebold
  2. There is no federal agency with regulatory authority or oversight of the U.S. voting machine industry.
    http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0916-04.htm
    http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804Landes/042804landes.html
  3. The vice-president of Diebold and the president of ES&S are brothers.
    http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/private_company.html
    http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804Landes/042804landes.html
  4. The chairman and CEO of Diebold is a major Bush campaign organizer and donor who wrote in 2003 that he was “committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.”
    http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/28/sunday/main632436.shtml
    http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1647886
  5. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel used to be chairman of ES&S. He became Senator based on votes counted by ES&S machines.
    http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2004/03/03_200.html
    http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/031004Fitrakis/031004fitrakis.html
  6. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, long-connected with the Bush family, was recently caught lying about his ownership of ES&S by the Senate Ethics Committee.
    http://www.blackboxvoting.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=26
    http://www.hillnews.com/news/012903/hagel.aspx
    http://www.onlisareinsradar.com/archives/000896.php
  7. Senator Chuck Hagel was on a short list of George W. Bush’s vice-presidential candidates.
    http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_28/b3689130.htm
    http://theindependent.com/stories/052700/new_hagel27.html
  8. ES&S is the largest voting machine manufacturer in the U.S. and counts almost 60% of all U.S. votes.
    http://www.essvote.com/HTML/about/about.html
    http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804Landes/042804landes.html
  9. Diebold’s new touch screen voting machines have no paper trail of any votes. In other words, there is no way to verify that the data coming out of the machine is the same as what was legitimately put in by voters.
    http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0225-05.htm
    http://www.itworld.com/Tech/2987/041020evotestates/pfindex.html
  10. Diebold also makes ATMs, checkout scanners, and ticket machines, all of which log each transaction and can generate a paper trail.
    http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0225-05.htm
    http://www.diebold.com/solutions/default.htm
  11. Diebold is based in Ohio.
    http://www.diebold.com/aboutus/ataglance/default.htm
  12. Diebold employed 5 convicted felons as senior managers and developers to help write the central compiler computer code that counted 50% of the votes in 30 states.
    http://www.wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,61640,00.html
    http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/10/301469.shtml
  13. Jeff Dean, Diebold’s Senior Vice-President and senior programmer on Diebold’s central compiler code, was convicted of 23 counts of felony theft in the first degree.
    http://www.chuckherrin.com/HackthevoteFAQ.htm#how
    http://www.blackboxvoting.org/bbv_chapter-8.pdf
  14. Diebold Senior Vice-President Jeff Dean was convicted of planting back doors in his software and using a “high degree of sophistication” to evade detection over a period of 2 years.
    http://www.chuckherrin.com/HackthevoteFAQ.htm#how
    http://www.blackboxvoting.org/bbv_chapter-8.pdf
  15. None of the international election observers were allowed in the polls in Ohio.
    http://www.globalexchange.org/update/press/2638.html
    http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/10/26/loc_elexoh.html
  16. California banned the use of Diebold machines because the security was so bad. Despite Diebold’s claims that the audit logs could not be hacked, a chimpanzee was able to do it. (See the movie here.)
    http://wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,63298,00.html
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4874190
  17. 30% of all U.S. votes are carried out on unverifiable touch screen voting machines with no paper trail.
    http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/28/sunday/main632436.shtml
  18. All - not some - but all the voting machine errors detected and reported in Florida went in favor of Bush or Republican candidates.
    http://www.wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,65757,00.html
    http://www.yuricareport.com/ElectionAftermath04/ThreeResearchStudiesBushIsOut.htm
    http://www.rise4news.net/extravotes.html
    http://www.ilcaonline.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=950
    http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0411/S00227.htm
  19. The governor of the state of Florida, Jeb Bush, is the President’s brother.
    http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/local/7628725.htm
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10544-2004Oct29.html
  20. Serious voting anomalies in Florida - again always favoring Bush - have been mathematically demonstrated and experts are recommending further investigation.
    http://www.yuricareport.com/ElectionAftermath04/ThreeResearchStudiesBushIsOut.htm
    http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/policy/story/0,10801,97614,00.html
    http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/tens_of_thousands.html
    http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1106-30.htm
    http://www.consortiumnews.com/2004/110904.html
    http://uscountvotes.org/

The Real Frozen Tundra [ESPN.com]

Posted in Bengal Growls

The Real Frozen Tundra

Read & view “The Real Frozen Tundra” over at ESPN.com. This is worth your time for two reasons.

  1. Whether or not you like American football, you have to appreciate the guts of the principal, coach and players for putting this program together in Barrow, Alaska; the northernmost city in the USA. At games, these guys have to keep out an eye for polar bears. Yeeesh!
  2. The site itself uses Flash video in a really cool, compelling way. ESPN.com has always been a technology leader when it comes to the web, this story continues their ground-breaking ways.

Bush - Words Speak Louder Than Actions


A Special Comment About Lying


Again, Kieth Olberman calls out President Bush. Go now. Read “A Special Comment About Lying”.

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