Update 10/07/07 - here's the article in the LA Times:

Court bars removal of Santa Monica trees
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer.

Right on! Chris and the gang called me up last night to let me know that all of our hard work paid off and they have a restraining order to protect the trees for three weeks while everything is re-investigated.

I'll have more up on all this soon -- but I must swim before I start working every day - my new rule! :-)

Okay I just wanted to let everyone know -- those of you who've been asking or following this for the last few weeks -- thanks so much for your concern. It's been a great experience...and whaddaya know...

This time we saved some trees!

Here is the full text of the article in case the link goes bad:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ficus6oct06,1,2585776.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=1&cset=true

Court bars removal of Santa Monica trees
template_bas
template_bas
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 6, 2007
Protesters obtained a restraining order Friday to stop the destruction of a stand of ficus trees in downtown Santa Monica that the city had planned to remove starting Monday as part of an $8-million downtown development project.

Local activist Jerry Rubin got the order approved by a judge on behalf of Santa Monica Treesavers. The order prevents the city from removing 54 ficus trees on 4th and 2nd streets unless they pose a danger to the public.

The city planned to remove 23 trees that its arborist considered damaged or diseased and to replant 31 of them elsewhere in the city.

Protesters doubt the trees are damaged and want time to get a second opinion.

"If the trees were truly a danger to the public, they would have been removed already," said the group's attorney, Thomas Nitti.

molly.hennessy-fiske @latimes.com

Hey LA-based tree hugger peeps!

Time to come out in full force tomorrow evening in Santa Monica for a
March to Save The Trees in memory of Gandhi's Birthday.

Chris Paine, and old friend of mine, and Director of the awesome film, Who Killed The Electric Car, has been helping to organize a series of Tree Saver meetings that have been going on over the past few weeks to save over 50 Ficus trees scheduled for removal under the guise of being diseased (extreme disagreement over this point by experts in the community).

There's a Tree Saver Blog where you can get more information about it all.

Below: The Tree Savers Crew

Here's more about Who Killed The Electric Car too! Lots to talk about on this front in the days - and years, to come: Press/Reviews of Film Why Electric Cars Are Better Cool Scenes From The Film I found on YouTube Trailer Buy The DVD

If you're in LA tomorrow night - Thursday, September 27, 2007, please go to the meeting and show your support.

Video footage of the meeting would be highly appreciated too!

The FCC is in the process of rewriting cable law. Unfortunately, what's being "rewritten" is the writing off of PEG channels. PEG = Public, Education and Government Access Channels

As always, this comes to me at the last minute and there's nothing we can do directly besides hassle our Congresspeople to hassle the FCC to leave PEGs alone:

Take 30 seconds right nowto use this form to write them.

Then get the phone numbers it gives you and phone them all and tell them to tell the FCC to "save the Public, Education and Government Channels."

I sent my letters. Now I'll call in the AM.

Now...what is all this really about? Well I hopped over to the FCC website to see what I could see, and it would appear, yes, ladies and gentlemen, we have another Regulatory "Review of the Commission's Broadcast Ownership Rules and Other Rules Adopted Pursuant to Section 202 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996."
word doc    PDF

There's a public meeting on Wednesday, December 20th where I guess the damage can
be done:
word doc   PDF

I'm still reading through these docs now, trying to figure them out. This FCC stuff is such a drag...

Thanks for sending emails and making phonecalls Tuesday!

Update September 27 - I emailed the World Can't Wait folks and they said that the permit negotiations seem to be going smoothly now. Thanks everybody for writing!

Please take a couple minutes this morning to send an email and make a phone call to Gavin Newsome, our sometimes-liberal SF Mayor, and tell him to "grant World Can't Wait their Oct 5 Justin Herman Plaza protest permit." (I have a letter you can cut and paste below)

It's already a little hokey to need to get a permit to have a protest, but it can be a good thing too, in that portopotties and other civic arrangements can be made when everyone knows what's going on that day.

But not granting the permits, or waiting till the last minute to grant the permits, adds an air of uncertainty around the whole thing that hurts the process. I'd like to think that Gavin Newsome isn't blocking the permits on purpose. But at the very least, there is some incompetence going on. And it's really bad timing for it. And it can't be tolerated.

So email Gavin at gavin.newsom@sfgov.org AND call him at 415-554-6141
and for that matter, Fax him at 415-554-6160

thanks!

Here's the letter I wrote - so you can just cut and paste it:

Dear Gavin,

Please grant World Can't Wait its protest permit for the October 5 Justin Herman Plaza event.

I hope this is just an oversight or something, and there aren't seriously people in your administration that are knowingly blocking these permits.

Thanks for your time,

Lisa Rein
address here

OCT 5 PERMIT EMERGENCY

EMERGENCY NOTICE: OCT 5 permits being stalled - call

Greetings!

WCW has applied for permits to rally at Justin
Herman Plaza at noon, OCT 5 to march on Market
Street to a main rally with prominent speakers at
4PM in Union Square, and then to march back to
Justin Herman Plaza for the all-night vigil.

The San Francisco Police Department has denied the
march permit. The SF Recreation and Parks Department
is responsible for permits at the sites and has not
yet granted them.

Everyone who knows how important the October 5
demonstrations will be needs to call and email THIS
MORNING to let SF City officials know you support
the plans to rally, march and vigil on October 5.
Demand that all the permits be immediately granted
for the sites and routes applied for!

Please contact Mayor Newsom to urge him to take
urgent, immediate action to grant all requested
permits for World Can’t Wait on October 5-6. Please
also contact SF Supervisors and the General Manager
of the SF Recreation and Park Department. Letters
should clearly and respectfully state your reasons
for supporting the permit applications from World
Can’t Wait to demonstrate as part of the national
day of mass resistance called with actions across
the country.

Somebody's Name

* CALL NOW!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* CALL NOW!

NOTE: Supervisors Tom Ammiano, Chris Daly, and Ross
Mirkarimi are signators and supporters of the World
Can't Wait Call. Assemblymen Mark Leno and Leland
Yee have also signed the Call, as has State Senator
Carol Migden.

(1) Mayor Gavin Newsom: Phone: 415-554-6141

gavin.newsom@sfgov.org Fax 415-554-6160

City Hall, Room 200

(2) San Francisco Supervisors:

Tom Ammiano: (415) 554-5144 Fax 554-6255
Tom.Ammiano@sfgov.org

Chris Daly: (415) 554-7970 Fax 554-7974
Chris.Daly@sfgov.org

Ross Mirkarimi: (415) 554-7630 Fax 554-7634
Ross.Mirkarimi@sfgov.org

Jake McGoldrick: (415) 554-7410 Fax 554-7415
Jake.McGoldrick@sfgov.org

Michela Alioto-Pier: (415) 554-7752 Fax 554-7843
Michela.Alioto-Pier@sfgov.org

Aaron Peskin: (415) 554-7450 Fax 554-7454
Aaron.Peskin@sfgov.org

Fiona Ma: (415) 554-7460 Fax 554-7432
Fiona.Ma@sfgov.org

Sean Elsbernd (415) 554-6516 Fax 554-6546
Sean.Elsbernd@sfgov.org

Bevan Dufty: (415) 554-6968 Fax 554-6909
Bevan.Dufty@sfgov.org

Sophie Maxwell: (415) 554-7670 Fax 554-7674
Sophie.Maxwell@sfgov.org

Gerardo Sandoval: (415) 554-6975 Fax 554-6977
Gerardo.Sandoval@sfgov.org

(3) Mr. Yomi Agunbiade, General Manager (415)
831-2700

San Francisco Recreation and Park Department

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
World Can't Wait! Drive Out the Bush Regime!
2940 16th Street
San Francisco, California 94103
(415) 864 5153
sf@worldcantwait.org
http://www.worldcantwait.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Read “The Call to
Drive Out the Bush Regime”
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=szqdqybab.0.yavxdtbab.9ii95sbab.2281&ts=S0207&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldcantwait.org%2F)
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the rest of the site!! See today's reason to Drive
Them Out located on the right side of our Home Page.

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I don't want this to be true. But I think it is. Update 5/16/06 - this is true guys. I've found a lot of info on it and will be posting here asap.

Things are getting really freaky. Sure, it happened in Cleveland, but it could happen anywhere, if it's allowed to happen there.

Here's the link from the World Can't wait website.

Defend World Can't Wait Activist Brutalized and Arrested by Police for Postering

This is from an email sent to me:

May 9: Judge Timothy McGinty forcibly incarcerated Carol Fisher in
the psych unit of the Cuyahoga County Jail in downtown Cleveland,
where she now sits for an indefinite period of time.

In a hastily called hearing yesterday, Judge McGinty made a highly
unusual and outrageous decision to force Carol to undergo a state
psychological exam as part of her pre-sentencing investigation. From
the very start of Carol's case, the judge has openly said that she
must have mental problems for resisting an unlawful and brutal
encounter with Cleveland Heights police. He went even further in
yesterday's hearing, saying that her opposition to the Bush regime
makes her "delusional."

Dear World Can't Wait Supporter,
Judge Orders World Can't Wait Activist to Jail Psych Unit
CAROL FISHER REMAINS STRONG AND UNAPOLOGETIC

May 9: Judge Timothy McGinty forcibly incarcerated Carol Fisher in
the psych unit of the Cuyahoga County Jail in downtown Cleveland,
where she now sits for an indefinite period of time.

In a hastily called hearing yesterday, Judge McGinty made a highly
unusual and outrageous decision to force Carol to undergo a state
psychological exam as part of her pre-sentencing investigation. From
the very start of Carol's case, the judge has openly said that she
must have mental problems for resisting an unlawful and brutal
encounter with Cleveland Heights police. He went even further in
yesterday's hearing, saying that her opposition to the Bush regime
makes her "delusional."

The small courtroom on the 21st floor of the Justice Center was
ringed with 5 armed court bailiffs. McGinty started off the hearing
by making Carol stand up and had one of her attorneys read her t-
shirt, which said:

"Wanted for Illegally Crossing Borders: The Bush Regime

"If you are going to insist that crossing borders illegally is a
crime which cannot be tolerated, how about George Bush, Dick Cheney,
Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice (and yes, Colin Powell) and the
rest of that gang, with their highly illegal, and violent, 'crossing
of the border'-into Iraq, among other places?!"

McGinty then said this was proof of her delusion! He also kept
saying Carol "wants" to go to jail, and that she has a "martyr
complex." When Carol tried to explain why she wouldn't take this
test, the judge's only response was, "I do not negotiate with felons."

Does Carol really want to go to jail? No! But she is not willing to
comply with a vindictive court ordered test to "prove" her sanity.
And more than that, she is taking a stand for everyone who is angry
and fearful of a government that, under the rubric of "national
security and the war on terror," willfully and unapologetically
tramples on the most basic rights of privacy. Think about this in
light of the NSA spying scandal, and now Bush wants to install the
head of the notorious NSA to be CIA chief! As Carol said before she
went to jail, "I'd be crazy to go along with this shit! That which
you will not resist and mobilize to stop, you will learn--or be
forced--to accept."

Just look at this whole case: a woman posts a "Bush Step Down" poster
on a telephone pole, being brutalized by the police in the process,
and now not only faces 3 years in prison but also a mandatory psych
exam. As Terry Gilbert, one of Carol's attorneys said, "This is
Gulag stuff--saying that people who are dissidents are crazy." He
further added that in his 33 years of practicing law, he has never
seen anything like this.

Is this the kind of country you want to live in?

On the phone this morning, Carol Fisher stated that, in addition to
sending her to the psych unit, McGinty has also put her on "suicide
watch"! They have taken away her eyeglasses. And if she refuses the
psych exam, she will be forcibly sent to North Coast Mental Institute
for a 20 day evaluation.

Legal challenges are continuing, including seeking a writ of habeas
corpus.

When the transcripts are available to the public, they will show how
outrageous this hearing was.

(Click here for previous news and more information about Carol
Fishers arrest and trial)

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

• Donate to Carol's legal defense. It costs a lot of money
to get transcripts, file appeals, etc. Make checks payable to “Carol
Fisher Defense Fund” and mail to “NION/WCW PO Box 609034 Cleveland,
OH 44109.
• Call Judge Timothy McGinty and express your outrage:
216-443-8758
• Join us at a "Speak Out!" for Carol Fisher - Saturday,
May 13 at 7pm at the corner of Coventry and Euclid Heights Blvd in
Cleveland Heights.
• Get your legal organization to be part of Carol's
defense: make statements, file friend of the court briefs, etc.
• Have your church group, school group, organization or
club join this battle by sending statements of support, donating
funds, etc.
• Request radio stations play any of the following songs,
dedicate it to Carol Fisher and explain what is going on with her case:
• Tom Petty’s “Won’t Back Down”
• Pearl Jam’s “World Wide Suicide”
• Pink’s “Dear Mr President”
• Neil Young’s “Let’s Impeach the President”

• Write letters to the editor of:
• The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Go to website:
www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/lettertoeditor
• The Cleveland Free Times. Email: editor@freetimes.com
• The Sun Press. Email: sun@sunnews.com

• Send this article to your list serves and post to blogs.
• Join the World Can't Wait- Drive Out the Bush Regime!
Contact: World Cant Wait, Cleveland 216-633-6200
PO Box 609034 Cleveland OH 44109
cleveland@worldcantwait.org
www.worldcantwait.org

World Can't Wait
info@worldcantwait.org
866-973-4463
305 W. Broadway #185
New York, NY 10013

Next Tuesday, November 8, California is having a Special Election so that our Governor Arnie can try to pass a bunch of crazy, arguably unconstitutional, legislation.

This is his way of attempting to surpass the checks and balances of our State Senate to quickly enact plans of actions that would never fly, were the public and legislators given the chance to learn about the details.

His first trick is having a Special Election in the first place - few voters actually show up to vote for those. Only the peeps already in Arnie's corner are planning on showing up to usher in their bogus legislation.

The solution is quick and easy - show up and vote NO on everything!

Thanks,

lisa

This thing is funny as hell, but its message is extremely important:
non-organic food can be bad for your health.

It's sad to me that, instead of regulating our "regular" food so it's safe (doesn't contain pesticides, hormones, or other harmful ingredients), we've sort of given up on our regular food and decided to try to start up a brand of "healthy" food that won't hurt us.

STORE WARS

I've written a second letter that I'm sending now to all of the members on the judiciary committee. (Hopefully I'll have a better list by email of them soon...)

Here's a link to the first letter, in case you haven't sent that one yet.

Subject header: Protect Our Troops - Oppose Gonzales Nomination

Dear Senator,

I'm writing you to a second time to request that you vote against the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales as US Attorney General because I feel it is so vitally important.

We must protect the Geneva Conventions, the War Crimes Act, and our diplomatic credibility throughout the rest of the free world. Now more than ever, with an unprecedented number of our armed forces and National Guard forces on active duty all over the world.

Send a message of strength and a clear signal that the abuses of Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib are being taken seriously, and that those days are over. Otherwise, you will send our troops, our country and the rest of the world in a very dangerous direction.

Sincerely,

Lisa Rein

All the senators on the
judiciary committee.

Senator Dick Durbin, (202) 224-2152,

http://durbin.senate.gov/sitepages/contact.htm

Senator Patrick Leahy, (202) 224-4242, senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov

Senator Barbara Boxer, (202) 224-3553,

http://boxer.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm

Senator Russ Feingold, (202) 224-5323, russ_feingold@feingold.senate.gov

Senator Edward Kennedy, 202/224-4543, senator@kennedy.senate.gov

Senator Tom Harkin, (202) 224-3254, tom_harkin@harkin.senate.gov

Senator Jim Jeffords, (202) 224-5141, Vermont@jeffords.senate.gov

Please do this today! Every second counts on this one guys-lr

Learn more via Video, Audio, Transcripts and Analysis of the Confirmation Hearings.

I just realized today that we've found our first bi-partisan issue of this administration: opposing Gonzales as US Attorney General.

Republican and Democrats should be able to join together in opposition to Gonzales for many reasons.

(In case you're not familiar with this situation, Gonzales is the legal counsel that wrote the "torture memo" that declared that the geneva convention was "quaint" in the context of the war on terror. And basically said that torture was OK.)

It's just bad politics to place a man who openly condones torture and provides a legal justification for it as head of our Federal Justice system.

As a Republican, one should be concerned about how an extremist such as Gonzales places the entire Republican party in a bad light. Surely not all Republican's condone torture, but if the Republican-appointed Attorney General condones it, it sure looks like that way.

We have enough bad faith across nations without the man who wrote the infamous "Torture Memo" as head of our Justice Department. Plus, it sends a skewered message to the rest of the world that could put our troops at risk, by suggesting that the Geneva convention is somehow outdated.

Now, more than ever, with our troops spreading out all over the world, we need the Geneva convention to help protect them from being mistreated as POWs in other countries. (Let's not get into whether they should be fighting there or not. The point is they're there, and we need to protect them by keeping the Geneva convention in full force.)

I think that most Democrats would agree with the above reasoning as well.

Basically, anyone against torture and in favor of the Geneva Convention should be in agreement with this objective.

That means, for once, we might be all be on the same page.

Let's take advantage of this opportunity to work together to send a strong message to Congress opposing Gonzales as Attorney General.

With Gonzales on hold, there are a few days to get the word out to our Senators.

Here's a little letter that you can cut and paste and modify for your own letter.

Write as many letters to as many Senators as you can. (Time count: 6 minutes to email/fill out forms for everyone below.)

I'll be posting clips from the confirmation hearings over the course of the day to try to clarify some of the more complex issues.

In the subject header, write "Please Oppose Gonzales And Protect Our Troops."

Dear Senator,

I'm writing you to request that you vote against the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales as US Attorney General. I feel that placing a man with such questionable values as head of our Justice Department will send a very damaging message to the rest of the world and place our troops abroad in unnecessary danger.

We must protect the Geneva convention and our diplomatic credibility abroad by voting against Alberto Gonzales as US Attorney General.

Sincerely,

Lisa Rein

Here's a list of senators to start with. I'm trying to put together a list of particularly relevant senators, like the one's on the panel asking the questions.

Update 1/24/05 - send letters to these senators on the Judiciary committee.

I know that Dick Durbin and Patrick Leahy are on it, because I saw them during the hearings, so I'm putting them at the top of the list.

Senator Dick Durbin, (202) 224-2152,
http://durbin.senate.gov/sitepages/contact.htm

Senator Patrick Leahy, (202) 224-4242, senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov

Senator Barbara Boxer, (202) 224-3553,
http://boxer.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm

Senator Russ Feingold, (202) 224-5323, russ_feingold@feingold.senate.gov

Senator Edward Kennedy, 202/224-4543, senator@kennedy.senate.gov

Senator Tom Harkin, (202) 224-3254, tom_harkin@harkin.senate.gov

Senator Jim Jeffords, (202) 224-5141, Vermont@jeffords.senate.gov

Alright, back in a bit with some clips and discussion from the hearings...

Rep. John Conyers has been our one friend in congress who has been compelled to investigate the obvious hanky panky that went on during the Ohio election.

He would like to compel the House Judiciary Committee to hold hearings about the 2004 election, but he feels he would need a million emails to turn their heads enough to go for it.

Let's give him two million!

Go here:
http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/contact.html

Type "Ohio Voting Irregularities" in the "Other" box of the form, and then write your own letter, or cut and paste this email in the body of the form, and send it off. (Update: Yeah, the first version of the below letter was corny, so I amended it.)

Estimated time: 30 seconds.

I am writing to urge the House Judiciary Committee to hold hearings as soon as possible on the irregularities of the 2004 election.

There were too many things that just didn't add up, including several precincts where there were more votes for Bush than registered voters.

It is important to know exactly what happened in Ohio, and many other states, so that it does not happen again.

With all this in mind, I ask you to take these discrepancies seriously by holding hearings immediately to investigate them.

More thoughts on this from an email sent to me:

Please spread this message among your list of friends and associates.

There's a growing awareness, with increasing coverage now in national
papers such as the Washington Post and LA Times, that we need an
investigation of the voter suppression and other fraud in Ohio and
elsewhere.

Like Watergate, this issue will build momentum -- and we, the people, to keep it alive until it can no longer be ignored.

This just in from t r u t h o u t
(See the entire article under "More" below, including a letter to Kenneth Blackwell from Rep. John Conyers, Jr., Rep. Melvin Watt, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, and Rep. Tammy Baldwin.

Democratic Representative John Conyers, Jr. of Michigan, ranking Minority member of the House Judiciary Committee, will hold a hearing on Wednesday 08 December 2004 to investigate allegations of vote fraud and irregularities in Ohio during the 2004 Presidential election. The hearing is slated to begin at 10:00 a.m. EST in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington DC...

Any who wish to see this hearing receive wide attention should contact their Senators and Representatives and ask that they attend. Furthermore, any who wish to see this hearing receive wide attention should contact the television network C-SPAN and ask them to broadcast the event in its entirety. C-SPAN accepts suggestions for events to be broadcast at events@c-span.org. The network can also be contacted via telephone at (202) 737-3220.

I just sent the following letter:

Hi guys,

Democratic Representative John Conyers, Jr. of Michigan, ranking Minority member of the House Judiciary Committee, will hold a hearing on Wednesday 08 December 2004 to investigate allegations of vote fraud and irregularities in Ohio during the 2004 Presidential election. The hearing is slated to begin at 10:00 a.m. EST in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington DC.

I hope you will be broadcasting this event in its entirety.

Thanks,

Lisa Rein

Starting Monday morning, when their offices open, I'll be calling every day to say the same thing the letter does. Hope you do the same. (I'll post a reminder here, no worries :-)

Thanks!

lisa

Here is the full text of the entire article in case the link goes bad:

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/120404W.shtml

Editor’s Note | Any who wish to see this hearing receive wide attention should contact their Senators and Representatives and ask that they attend. Furthermore, any who wish to see this hearing receive wide attention should contact the television network C-SPAN and ask them to broadcast the event in its entirety. C-SPAN accepts suggestions for events to be broadcast at events@c-span.org. The network can also be contacted via telephone at (202) 737-3220. - wrp

Also see below:
Letter from House Committee on the Judiciary to Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell •

Conyers to Hold Hearings on Ohio Vote Fraud
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Report

Friday 03 December 2004

Democratic Representative John Conyers, Jr. of Michigan, ranking Minority member of the House Judiciary Committee, will hold a hearing on Wednesday 08 December 2004 to investigate allegations of vote fraud and irregularities in Ohio during the 2004 Presidential election. The hearing is slated to begin at 10:00 a.m. EST in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington DC.

Democratic Representatives Melvin Watt and Robert Scott will also be centrally involved with the hearing. Rev. Jesse Jackson will be in attendance, along with Ralph Neas (President, People for the American Way), Jon Greenbaum (Director, Voting Rights Project, Lawyers Committee For Civil Rights Under Law), Ellie Smeal (Executive Director, The Feminist Majority), Bob Fitrakis ( The Free Press), Cliff Arnebeck (Arnebeck Associates), John Bonifaz (General Counsel, National Voting Institute), Steve Rosenfeld (Producer, Air America Radio), and Shawnta Walcott (Communications Director, Zogby International). Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell has been invited to attend.

The term ‘hearing’ is technically not accurate in this matter, as Conyers and his fellow Representatives will be holding this forum without the blessing of the Republican Majority leader of the Judiciary Committee. Staffers from the Minority office at the Judiciary Committee describe the event as a ‘Members Briefing.’ That having been said, this event will be a hearing by every meaningful definition of the word. Expert testimony will be offered, and a good deal of data on potential fraud previously unreported to the public will be discussed and examined at length.

The hearing came together thanks to a confluence of events, and through the work of like-minded individuals who are deeply concerned about the allegations of vote fraud in the Ohio Presidential election. Tim Carpenter and Kevin Spidel, along with other members of Progressive Democrats of America, went to Washington DC to speak with the Democratic members of the Judiciary Committee about the need for an investigation into these allegations. They found Rep. Conyers, his fellow Judiciary Democrats, and their staffers already working on assembling such an investigation.

The core of what Conyers and his fellow Minority members will be discussing at this hearing can be found in the letter below, which was sent by the Minority office to Ohio Secretary of State Blackwell on 02 December. In the letter, Conyers, along with Reps. Watt, Nadler and Baldwin, outline a broad and detailed series of questions and concerns about the manner in which the Ohio election took place.

I will be traveling to Washington DC to begin t r u t h o u t coverage of this event on Tuesday night, and we will keep you posted on further developments as they arise.

William Rivers Pitt is a New York Times and international bestseller of two books - 'War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You To Know' and 'The Greatest Sedition Is Silence.'

Go to Original

One Hundred Eighth Congress
Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Committee on the Judiciary
2138 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington DC 20515-6216
(202) 225-3951

December 2, 2004

The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell
Ohio Secretary of State
180 East Broad Street, 16th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215

Dear Secretary Blackwell:

We write to request your assistance with our ongoing investigation of election irregularities in the 2004 Presidential election. As you may be aware, the Government Accountability Office has agreed to undertake a systematic and comprehensive review of election irregularities throughout the nation. As a separate matter, we have requested that the House Judiciary Committee Democratic staff undertake a thorough review of each and every specific allegation of election irregularities received by our offices.

Collectively, we are concerned that these complaints constitute a troubled portrait of a one-two punch that may well have altered and suppressed votes, particularly minority and Democratic votes. First, it appears there were substantial irregularities in vote tallies. It is unclear whether these apparent errors were the result of machine malfunctions or fraud.

Second, it appears that a series of actions of government and non-government officials may have worked to frustrate minority voters. Consistent and widespread reports indicate a lack of voting machines in urban, minority and Democratic areas, and a surplus of such machines in Republican, white and rural areas. As a result, minority voters were discouraged from voting by lines that were in excess of eight hours long. Many of these voters were also apparently victims of a campaign of deception, where flyers and calls would direct them to the wrong polling place. Once at that polling place, after waiting for hours in line, many of these voters were provided provisional ballots after learning they were at the wrong location. These ballots were not counted in many jurisdictions because of a directive issued by some election officials, such as yourself.

We are sure you agree with us that regardless of the outcome of the election, it is imperative that we examine any and all factors that may have led to voting irregularities and any failure of votes to be properly counted. Toward that end, we ask you to respond to the following allegations:

I. Counting Irregularities

A. Warren County Lockdown – On election night, Warren County locked down its administration building and barred reporters from observing the counting. When that decision was questioned, County officials claimed they were responding to a terrorist threat that ranked a “10" on a scale of 1 to 10, and that this information was received from an FBI agent. Despite repeated requests, County officials have declined to name that agent, however, and the FBI has stated that they had no information about a terror threat in Warren County. Your office has stated that it does not know of any other county that took these drastic measures.

In addition to these contradictions, Warren County officials have given conflicting accounts of when the decision was made to lock down the building. While the County Commissioner has stated that the decision to lockdown the building was made during an October 28 closed-door meeting, emailed memos – dated October 25 and 26 – indicate that preparations for the lockdown were already underway.

This lockdown must be viewed in the context of the aberrational results in Warren County. In the 2000 Presidential election, the Democratic Presidential candidate, Al Gore, stopped running television commercials and pulled resources out of Ohio weeks before the election. He won 28% of the vote in Warren County. In 2004, the Democratic Presidential candidate, John Kerry, fiercely contested Ohio and independent groups put considerable resources into getting out the Democratic vote. Moreover, unlike in 2000, independent candidate Ralph Nader was not on the Ohio ballot in 2004. Yet, the tallies reflect John Kerry receiving exactly the same percentage in Warren County as Gore received, 28%.

We hope you agree that transparent election procedures are vital to public confidence in electoral results. Moreover, such aberrant procedures only create suspicion and doubt that the counting of votes was manipulated. As part of your decision to certify the election, we hope you have investigated these concerns and found them without merit. To assist us in reaching a similar conclusion, we ask the following:

1. Have you, in fact, conducted an investigation of the lockdown? What procedures have you or would you recommend be put into place to avoid a recurrence of this situation?

2. Have you ascertained whether County officials were advised of terrorist activity by an FBI agent and, if so, the identity of that agent?

3. If County officials were not advised of terrorist activity by an FBI agent, have you inquired as to why they misrepresented this fact? If the lockdown was not as a response to a terrorist threat, why did it take place? Did any manipulation of vote tallies occur?

B. Perry County Election Counting Discrepancies – The House Judiciary Committee Democratic staff has received information indicating discrepancies in vote tabulations in Perry County. For example, the sign-in book for the Reading S precinct indicates that approximately 360 voters cast ballots in that precinct. In the same precinct, the sign-in book indicates that there were 33 absentee votes cast. In sum, this would appear to mean that fewer than 400 total votes were cast in that precinct. Yet, the precinct’s official tallies indicate that 489 votes were cast. In addition, some voters’ names have two ballot stub numbers listed next to their entries creating the appearance that voters were allowed to cast more than one ballot.

In another precinct, W Lexington G AB, 350 voters are registered according to the County’s initial tallies. Yet, 434 voters cast ballots. As the tallies indicate, this would be an impossible 124% voter turnout. The breakdown on election night was initially reported to be 174 votes for Bush, and 246 votes for Kerry. We are advised that the Perry County Board of Elections has since issued a correction claiming that, due to a computer error, some votes were counted twice. We are advised that the new tallies state that only 224 people voted, and the tally is 90 votes for Bush and 127 votes for Kerry. This would make it appear that virtually every ballot was counted twice, which seems improbable.

In Monroe Township, Precinct AAV, we are advised that 266 voters signed in to vote on election day, yet the Perry County Board of Elections is reporting that 393 votes were cast in that precinct, a difference of 133 votes.

4. Why does it appear that there are more votes than voters in the Reading S precinct of Perry County?

5. What is the explanation for the fluctuating results in the W Lexington AB precinct?

6. Why does it appear that there are more votes than voters in the Monroe Township precinct AAV?

C. Perry County Registration Peculiarities

In Perry County, there appears to be an extraordinarily high level voter registration, 91%; yet a substantial number of these voters have never voted and have no signature on file. Of the voters that are registered in Perry County an extraordinarily large number of voters are listed as having registered in 1977, a year in which there were no federal elections. Of these an exceptional number are listed as having registered on the exact same day: in total, 3,100 voters apparently registered in Perry County on November 8, 1977.

7. Please explain why there is such a high percentage of voters in this County who have never voted and do not have signatures on file. Also, please help us understand why such a high number of voters in this County are shown as having registered on the same day in 1977.

D. Unusual Results in Butler County

In Butler County, a Democratic Candidate for State Supreme Court, C. Ellen Connally received 59,532 votes. In contrast, the Kerry-Edwards ticket received only 54,185 votes, 5,000 less than the State Supreme Court candidate. Additionally, the victorious Republican candidate for State Supreme Court received approximately 40,000 less votes than the Bush-Cheney ticket. Further, Connally received 10,000 or more votes in excess of Kerry’s total number of votes in five counties, and 5,000 more votes in excess of Kerry’s total in ten others.

It must also be noted that Republican judicial candidates were reportedly “awash in cash,” with more than $1.4 million and were also supported by independent expenditures by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.

While you may have found an explanation for these bizarre results, it appears to be wildly implausible that 5,000 voters waited in line to cast a vote for an underfunded Democratic Supreme Court candidate and then declined to cast a vote for the most well-funded Democratic Presidential campaign in history. We would appreciate an answer to the following:

8. Have you examined how an underfunded Democratic State Supreme Court candidate could receive so many more votes in Butler County than the Kerry-Edwards ticket? If so, could you provide us with the results of your examination? Is there any precedent in Ohio for a downballot candidate receiving on a percentage or absolute basis so many more votes than the Presidential candidate of the same party in this or any other presidential election? Please let us know if any other County in Ohio registered such a disparity on a percentage or absolute basis.

E. Unusual Results in Cuyahoga County

Precincts in Cleveland have reported an incredibly high number of votes for third party candidates who have historically received only a handful of votes from these urban areas. For example, precinct 4F in the 4th Ward cast 290 votes for Kerry, 21 for Bush, and 215 for Constitution Party candidate Michael Peroutka. In 2000, the same precinct cast less than 8 votes for all third party candidates combined.

This pattern is found in at least 10 precincts through throughout Cleveland in 2004, awarding hundreds of unlikely votes to the third party candidate. Notably, these precincts share more than a strong Democratic history: the use of a punch card ballot. In light of these highly unlikely results, we would like to know the following:

9. Have you investigated whether the punch card system used in Cuyahoga County led to voters accidentally voting for third party candidates instead of the Democratic candidate they intended? If so, what were the results? Has a third party candidate ever received such a high percentage of votes in these precincts.

10. Have you found similar problems in other counties? Have you found similar problems with other voting methods?

F. Spoiled Ballots

According to post election canvassing, many ballots were cast without any valid selection for president. For example, two precincts in Montgomery County had an undervote rate of over 25% each – accounting for nearly 6,000 voters who stood in line to vote, but purportedly declined to vote for president. This is in stark contrast to the 2% of undervoting county-wide. Disturbingly, predominantly Democratic precincts had 75% more undervotes than those that were predominantly Republican. It is inconceivable to us that such a large number of people supposedly did not have a preference for president in such a controversial and highly contested election.

Considering that an estimated 93,000 ballots were spoiled across Ohio, we would like to know the following:

11. How many of those spoiled ballots were of the punch card or optical scan format and could therefore be examined in a recount?

12. Of those votes that have a paper trail, how many votes for president were undercounted, or showed no preference for president? How many were overcounted, or selected more than one candidate for president? How many other ballots had an indeterminate preference?

13. Of the total 93,000 spoiled ballots, how many were from predominantly Democratic precincts? How many were from minority-majority precincts?

14. Are you taking steps to ensure that there will be a paper trail for all votes before the 2006 elections so that spoiled ballots can be individually re-examined?

G. Franklin County Overvote – On election day, a computerized voting machine in ward 1B in the Gahanna precinct of Franklin County recorded a total of 4,258 votes for President Bush and 260 votes for Democratic challenger, John Kerry. However, there are only 800 registered voters in that Gahanna precinct, and only 638 people cast votes at the New Life Church polling site. It was since discovered that a computer glitch resulted in the recording of 3,893 extra votes for President George W. Bush.

Fortunately, this glitch was caught and the numbers were adjusted to show President Bush’s true vote count at 365 votes to Senator Kerry’s 260 votes. However, many questions remain as to whether this kind of malfunction happened in other areas of Ohio. To help us clarify this issue, we request that you answer the following:

15. How was it discovered that this computer glitch occurred?

16. What procedures were employed to alert other counties upon the discovery of the malfunction?

17. Can you be absolutely certain that this particular malfunction did not occur in other counties in Ohio during the 2004 Presidential election? How?

18. What is being done to ensure that this type of malfunction does not happen again in the future?

H. Miami County Vote Discrepancy – In Miami County, with 100% of the precincts reporting on Wednesday, November 3, 2004, President Bush had received 20,807 votes, or 65.80% of the vote, and Senator Kerry had received 10,724 votes, or 33.92% of the vote. Miami reported 31,620 voters. Inexplicably, nearly 19,000 new ballots were added after all precincts reported, boosting President Bush’s vote count to 33,039, or 65.77%, while Senator Kerry’s vote percentage stayed exactly the same to three one-hundredths of a percentage point at 33.92%.

Roger Kearney of Rhombus Technologies, Ltd., the reporting company responsible for vote results of Miami County, has stated that the problem was not with his reporting and that the additional 19,000 votes came before 100% of the precincts were in. However, this does not explain how the vote count could change for President Bush, but not for Senator Kerry, after 19,000 new votes were added to the roster. To help us better understand this anomaly, we request that you answer the following:

19. What is your explanation as to the statistical anomaly that showed virtually identical ratios after the final 20-40% of the vote came in? In your judgment, how could the vote count in this County have changed for President Bush, but not for Senator Kerry, after 19,000 new votes were added to the roster?

20. Are you aware of any pending investigations into this matter?

I. Mahoning County Machine Problems – In Mahoning County, numerous voters reported that when they attempted to vote for John Kerry, the vote showed up as a vote for George Bush. This was reported by numerous voters and continued despite numerous attempts to correct their vote.

21. Please let us know if you have conducted any investigation or inquiry of machine voting problems in the state, including the above described problems in Mahoning County, and the results of this investigation or inquiry.

II. Procedural Irregularities

A. Machine Shortages

Throughout predominately Democratic areas in Ohio on election day, there were reports of long lines caused by inadequate numbers of voting machines. Evidence introduced in public hearings indicates that 68 machines in Franklin County were never deployed for voters, despite long lines for voters at that county, with some voters waiting from two to seven hours to cast their vote. The Franklin County Board of Elections reported that 68 voting machines were never placed on election day, and Franklin County BOE Director Matt Damschroder admitted on November 19, 2004 that 77 machines malfunctioned on Election Day. It has come to our attention that a county purchasing official who was on the line with Ward Moving and Storage Company, documented only 2,741 voting machines delivered through the November 2 election day. However, Franklin County’s records reveal that they had 2,866 “machines available” on election day. This would mean that amid the two to seven hour waits in the inner city of Columbus, at least 125 machines remained unused on Election Day.

Franklin County’s machine allocation report clearly states the number of machines that were placed “By Close of Polls.” However, questions remain as to where these machines were placed and who had access to them throughout the day. Therefore, what matters is not how many voting machines were operating at the end of the day, but rather how many were there to service the people during the morning and noon rush hours.

An analysis revealed a pattern of providing fewer machines to the Democratic city of Columbus, and more machines to the primarily Republican suburbs. At seven out of eight polling places, observers counted only three voting machines per location. According to the presiding judge at one polling site located at the Columbus Model Neighborhood facility at 1393 E. Broad St., there had been five machines during the 2004 primary. Moreover, at Douglas Elementary School, there had been four machines during the spring primary. In one Ohio voting precinct serving students from Kenyon College, some voters were required to wait more than eight hours to vote. There were reportedly only two voting machines at that precinct. The House Judiciary Committee staff has received first hand information confirming these reports.

Additionally, it appears that in a number of locations, polling places were moved from large locations, such as gyms, where voters could comfortably wait inside to vote to smaller locations where voters were required to wait in the rain. We would appreciate answers to the following:

22. How much funding did Ohio receive from the federal government for voting machines?

23. What criteria were used to distribute those new machines?

24. Were counties given estimates or assurances as to how many new voting machines they would receive? How does this number compare to how many machines were actually received?

25. What procedures were in place to ensure that the voting machines were properly allocated throughout Franklin and other counties? What changes would you recommend be made to insure there is a more equitable allocation of machines in the future?

B. Invalidated Provisional Ballots

As you know, just weeks before the 2004 Presidential election, you issued a directive to county election officials saying they are allowed to count provisional ballots only from voters who go to the correct precinct for their home address. At the same time, it has been reported that fraudulent flyers were being circulated on official-looking letterhead telling voters the wrong place to vote, phone calls were placed incorrectly informing voters that their polling place had changed, “door-hangers” telling African-American voters to go to the wrong precinct, and election workers sent voters to the wrong precinct. In other areas, precinct workers refused to give any voter a provisional ballot. And in at least one precinct, election judges told voters that they may validly cast their ballot in any precinct, leading to any number of disqualified provisional ballots.

In Hamilton County, officials have carried this problematic and controversial directive to a ludicrous extreme: they are refusing to count provisional ballots cast at the correct polling place if they were cast at the wrong table in that polling place. It seems that some polling places contained multiple precincts which were located at different tables. Now, 400 such voters in Hamilton county alone will be disenfranchised as a result of your directive.

26. Have you directed Hamilton County and all other counties not to disqualify provisional ballots cast at the correct polling place simply because they were cast at the wrong precinct table?

27. While many election workers received your directive that voters may cast ballots only in their own precincts, some did not. How did you inform your workers, and the public, that their vote would not be counted if cast in the wrong precinct? How many votes were lost due to election workers telling voters they may vote at any precinct, in direct violation of your ruling?

28. Your directive was exploited by those who intentionally misled voters about their correct polling place, and multiplied the number of provisional ballots found invalid. What steps have you or other officials in Ohio taken to investigate these criminal acts? Has anyone been referred for prosecution? If so, what is the status of their cases?

29. How many provisional ballots were filed in the presidential election in Ohio? How many were ultimately found to be valid and counted? What were the various reasons that these ballots were not counted, and how many ballots fall into each of these categories? Please break down the foregoing by County if possible.

C. Directive to Reject Voter Registration Forms Not Printed on White, Uncoated Paper of Not Less Than 80 lb Text Weight

On September 7, you issued a directive to county boards of elections commanding such boards to reject voter registration forms not “printed on white, uncoated paper of not less than 80 lb. text weight.” Instead, the county boards were to follow a confusing procedure where the voter registration form would be treated as an application for a form and a new blank form would be sent to the voter. While you reversed this directive, you did not do so until September 28. In the interim, a number of counties followed this directive and rejected otherwise valid voter registration forms. There appears to be some further confusion about the revision of this order which resulted in some counties being advised of the change by the news media.

30. How did you notify county boards of elections of your initial September 7 directive?

31. How did you notify county boards of elections of your September 28 decision to revise that directive?

32. Have you conducted an investigation to determine how many registration forms were rejected as a result of your September 7 directive? If so, how many?

33. Have you conducted an investigation to determine how many voters who had their otherwise valid forms rejected as a result of your September 7 directive subsequently failed to re-register? If so, how many?

34. Have you conducted an investigation to determine how many of those voters showed up who had their otherwise valid forms rejected to vote on election day and were turned away? If so, how many?

We await your prompt reply. To the extent any questions relate to information not available to you, please pass on such questions to the appropriate election board or other official. Please respond to 2142 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 by December 10. If you need more time to investigate and respond to some of these inquiries, we would welcome a partial response by that date and a complete response within a reasonable period of time thereafter. If you have any questions about this inquiry, please contact Perry Apelbaum or Ted Kalo of the House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff at (202) 225-6504.

Sincerely,

Rep. John Conyers, Jr.
Rep. Melvin Watt
Rep. Jerrold Nadler
Rep. Tammy Baldwin

Hmmm. Seems like these kids understand the direction of the country perfectly.


Worried students spend night in school to protest direction of country
By P. Soloman Banda for the Associated Press.

At least 85 students worried about war, a return of the draft and the future of the environment staged an overnight protest in the Boulder High School library before leaving peacefully Friday morning.

The students said they wanted assurances from political leaders about the direction of the country. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., met with some of the students for about an hour after they left the library at 7 a.m.

''We're worried that in four years we're going to be at war with five countries and we're going to have no trees,'' senior Cameron Ely-Murdock said.

''I know that's an extreme position, but I'm really worried about the draft,'' he said.

Here is the full text of the entire article in case the link goes bad:

http://www.casperstartribune.net/apdata/wire_detail.php?wire_num=40707

Worried students spend night in school to protest direction of country

AP Photos pursuing

pbde

By P. SOLOMON BANDA

Associated Press Writer

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - At least 85 students worried about war, a return of the draft and the future of the environment staged an overnight protest in the Boulder High School library before leaving peacefully Friday morning.

The students said they wanted assurances from political leaders about the direction of the country. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., met with some of the students for about an hour after they left the library at 7 a.m.

''We're worried that in four years we're going to be at war with five countries and we're going to have no trees,'' senior Cameron Ely-Murdock said.

''I know that's an extreme position, but I'm really worried about the draft,'' he said.

President Bush and other administration officials have repeatedly said they have no plans to reinstate a draft, despite concerns about the number of troops needed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Principal Ron Cabrera agreed to let the students spend the night in the library if they would leave in time for Friday morning classes, which they did. A handful of teachers and parents stayed with them.

''It's become a really large learning event about civics and having a political voice. And you can't beat that,'' Cabrera said.

The sit-in began after school Thursday. The students, who brought sleeping bags and food, said they were not protesting Bush's re-election but were worried about the national debt, Iraq and other issues.

The students said they wanted to talk to representatives of GOP Gov. Bill Owens and U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo. Musgrave sponsored the failed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

It was not immediately known whether either received a request or responded.

This is from the September 13, 2004 program.

Drew Barrymore On The Daily Show (Small - 17 MB)

I was really impressed with Drew and the movie she made (that she ended up selling to MTV). She's trying to educate youth about voting and make politics hip and sexy. Right on Drew!

If anyone knows where her movie may be online, please let me know.

The Daily Show (The best news on television.)

Hey folks, just a few words to sort of check in with everyone.

I've been in Europe for the past few weeks, and have made a move from San Francisco back to the East Bay right before I left. So I just came home to an apartment full of boxes and, needless to say, no Tivo or computer hooked up yet. The cable guy comes today, so I should be back in business soon.

My sister and her fiancee, Pete, were kind enough to record all of the Daily Shows and Presidential debates for me while I was away, so those should all be up soon. Bill O'Reilly was on the Daily Show last week, and that will be up next week (it will be on the next DVD they send me, along with tonight's debate).

I'm also taking the plunge and learning how to make .mov files from a DVD source (read: Lisa enters the present -- I know many of you have been trying to help me get there for over a year :-)

So I just wanted to let you know where the hell I've been -- many of you have expressed interest, and perhaps a little concern. Things are well. More than well. I've just been busy doing this european distribution thing for my latest project, Wide Hive Records.

Now, back to the issues at hand...

Last night, on Frontline (PBS), I watched a two hour documentary on John Kerry and George Bush. Damn. I wish I had been recording it. Perhaps one of you have it and can send it to me so I can put it up for everyone. Perhaps it will re-air this weekend or something and I'll have a chance to put it up...but anyway it was an incredible piece.

The show parallelled the lives of John Kerry and George W. Bush from their time at Yale through to the present. Kerry goes to Vietnam, in good faith, even though he knows it's bullshit. He does a great job, but feels horrible about the War and his part in it, and comes back to the states full of information that nobody wants to hear. George W. is basically a networking guy that knows how to take visitors out on the town for a good time, while pumping their heads full of whatever ideas are on his agenda at the time. Admittedly, a useful and valuable skill -- in any industry.

He did get special treatment by several members of our government and Texas National Guard folks by being let into the guard and not having to go to Vietnam. I really wouldn't have a problem with this, to be honest (anyone in their right mind at the time was trying to get out of Nam, and rightly so), HOWEVER, he was still talking like Nam was the right thing to do the whole time, and that pisses me off. If Nam was the right thing to do, he should have suited up and gone over there himself.

His actions strongly parallel the situation now, where we've got Hawks in our government saying Iraq is the right thing to do, while none of their children or people they care about are actually over their fighting it. Plus, these hawks aren't treating the soldiers they've sent over there properly -- not paying them enough, giving them enough supplies, taking care of their families, or even giving them proper medical care when they get back. (See my category Against The War, Support Our Troops for specifics on this.) I don't think there's a single person on either side of this war that would agree with this behavior. It's just plain wrong in the truest sense of the word.

Meanwhile, back to last nights documentary. In the late 60's and early 70's, Kerry is touring the country and talking to Congress and going on talk shows and doing whatever he can to put an end to the war through education and information and public awareness of the situation. He talks about things like "Free Fire Zones" (where soldiers are allowed to shoot anything in the area -- including civilians, women and children, entire villages, you name it) -- and how these zones, by definition, violate the Geneva convention.

This situation also hits home right now with the Iraq war, in that many of the acts that our soldiers are being ordered to carry out can be likened to these Free Fire Zones. We're fencing villages in, leveling them entirely, torturing prisoners, and imposing marshall law where death is the legal punishment for any crime the government sees fit to apply it to. We are the terrorists of Iraq right now, and our boys and girls want no part of it, and they are also literally trapped over there -- in many cases serving against their will, even though their tour of duty has officially ended. At the same time we're sending virtually untrained National Guard troops over there like lambs to the slaughter.

Again, just plain wrong in the truest sense of the word. Oh, and don't forget that the whole war was based on a series of lies -- namely the one big WMD lie, much like the Gulf of Tonkin incident that never happend which enabled us to righteously enter Vietnam in the 60's.

But back to Kerry. It was really the second half of the program I watched last night, combined with a dream I had that I just awoke from moments ago -- when I was sort of hanging out with Kerry at some political event, much like I used to converse with Howard Dean during events last year before this year's primaries. The dream made me want to get up and write some words to you about him. (My server was actually down at 5am this morning when I wrote this, hence the discrepancy in the time stamp on this post.)

Kerry was very involved in the Nuclear Freeze campaign in the 80's. He made it the centerpiece of his political platform, and had some political disappointments as a result, due to his seeming like such a lefty. Incredible that stopping the planet from destroying itself through the use of nuclear weapons is seen as a 'left wing' stance. You would think it was in everyone's interest to not blow ourselves up, but go figure. Anyway, he's on the right side of that issue, and, as the story progressed, he seemed to be on the right side of every issue. Now I know that he hasn't come out as strong as some of us would like on some of the issues, but I have a feeling that he will do so when the time is right, when he doesn't have to play it safe so as not to freak out the moderate voters he's trying to attract away from Bush.

All I'm trying to say is that I feel better about Kerry now that I know more about his history. And I don't feel that he's only the lesser of two evils. Admittedly, that's how I've been feeling these last few months, and why I haven't been more vocal on the subject, to be honest. Well, I don't feel that way any more. I feel like Kerry is a good guy and will make a great President. His morals are in the right place, and you can't say that about many politicians these days.

So I'm getting my equipment back up and running over the next few days, and I'll be posting a ton of important stuff to help get the word out about the issues and help you guys make your case to any moderates you know -- perhaps in your family, for starters. I myself have some moderates on the fence that I am trying to gently persuade. We have two important things on our side: (1) the facts, and (2) their lies coming to light. Nobody likes to be lied to, especially by their leaders, and especially about life and death situations, but Bush and Cheney have been lying to us about life and death situations since their first days in office.

Whether they are lying about the reasons for entering the war, or making up stories about Jessica Lynch that never actually happened, in order to give us some false hero to worship (while ignoring the real heroes of this war -- and yes there are a few, like Sergeant Patrick Miller -- whose story will go up later today). The point is they lie. They lie, and kill people for money, and do it all for personal gain, and now we're back into territory that everyone can agree on is just plain wrong.

But I digress -- which I get to do if I want because it's my blog. And I guess I didn't realize how much I've missed blogging and talking to you guys. It's a form of therapy really. And I'm back on therapy, for the time being :-)

Long story short - these next few weeks are a very critical time. It's a time when we need to get every person over 18 over to the polls on November 2.

Which brings me to my last two points. One is that a number of folks in Europe told me that there are a million plus ex-patriots that are mobilizing to vote for Kerry to help him win. It's actually more than a million -- I think a couple million -- but I can't remember the exact number and I like to round down when I'm not sure about a statistic -- so I can't be accused of embellishment. (There's also the Howard Stern vote -- over 8 million people -- this statistic I'm sure of. Howard is an unlikely ally in this fight - certainly not someone I ever saw myself aligning with - but there he is, speaking the truth about Bush and Clear Channel, and mobilizing his army of listeners to do the right thing.)

BUT -- and here's my last point -- as many have brought to my attention. We are on the electorate system. What does this really mean? How do we get to these people? Assuming that the popular vote is under control, how do we secure the electorates? I'm not sure yet. But I'm going to try to find out. Perhaps you can help me -- and I can publish our findings here.

So that's it guys. I just wanted to catch up a bit, and let you know where I've been, and where I'm going -- on several different fronts. I'm actually going to put my music stuff on hold a bit to take care of what's really important over these next few weeks, and I hope you'll do the same. I'm here if you want to talk -- and please let me know if there's anything I can do to help you help the situation.

We're all in this together.

Peace,

Lisa

P.S.
Side note: I blew it as far as signing up as a poll worker. I hadn't considered how leaving for three weeks in September/October would kind of ruin the chances of being a poll worker. So I apologize for failing in that regard, but I hope that those of you that I might have inspired to be poll workers won't be too mad at me about it. I would of done it if I was able, so if you've signed up, I hope you'll follow through on it. (And please let me know about your experiences so I can chronicle them here.)

Here's footage of the June 3rd eviction of "Bushville," an encampment of 30 homeless families on the outskirts of Jersey City, NJ, who wished to make a statement about the Shrub's policies and how they are slowly killing American families with the lack of affordable housing in this country. They feel that he is wasting billions of dollars on this senseless war in Iraq while millions of families across the country are wasting away.

The Fall Of Bushville (Quicktime - Small - 29 MB)

"The poor in this country are dying under the policies of George W. Bush, and frankly we can't afford to be invisible. Our lives are at stake here as poor and homeless families across this country and George W. is responsible for that and we can't allow it to continue because our very lives are at stake."

Also mirrored here in my own archive. (For safekeeping)
(Note: this won't be up for a few minutes)

The Fall Of Bushville (Newsbrief)

This just in from my pal Bobby Lilly.

Bobby's trying to get the word out about the Million for Marriage.org website and petition in favor of same sex marriages.

It's all from the Human Rights Campaign.

From Bobby: Got this request and am passing it on to friends I think might support the issue. So, if you haven't signed the petition yet, please use the link they offer in the body of the message below and maybe pass it on to a friend.

Click the following link to sign a petition that will be delivered to Congress in favor of same sex marriage:

http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/ct/3daiyNY1FBPx/

****************************
Human Rights Campaign/MillionForMarriage.org
Let's get to a half-million by May 17

http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/ct/37aiyNY1FBP3/

****************************

Dear Bobby,

In just 10 days, same-sex couples will be issued marriage licenses for the first time in Massachusetts. As the newlyweds celebrate their marriages, we know that our ultra-conservative opponents will use this historic moment to viciously attack them and all GLBT families.

We - all of us who support marriage equality - must demonstrate our strength and unity at this critical time. Here's one important way you can help: Right now, almost 450,000 people have signed the Million for Marriage petition. By May 17th, we'd like to get to 500,000 - a half-million people.

Please, take a minute to think of one more person that you could persuade to stand up for equality. Click here to send them a message right now:

http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/ct/37aiyNY1FBP3/

Or forward this e-mail to your friends and ask them to click the following link to sign the petition:

http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/ct/3daiyNY1FBPx/

Our voices - 500,000 loud and strong -- will help counter the right-wing extremists' wave of fear and lies, and will give hope and support to the couples about to marry in Massachusetts. Thank you, as always, for your actions today.

Many thanks,

Cheryl A. Jacques President

**************************** (c)2004, Human Rights Campaign, 1640 Rhode Island Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-3278 Phone: 202/628-4160 TTY: 202/216-1572 Fax: 202/347-5323, membership@hrc.org

Hope I can make it. I wanted to let you guys know about it.

CAN THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE SIMPLY DISAPPEAR BY PRESIDENTIAL ORDER?

NO TO THE "ENEMY COMBATANT" STATUS!

WHEN: TUESDAY, APRIL 20TH, 12 NOON

WHERE: FEDERAL BUILDING, SAN FRANCISCO, GOLDEN GATE & POLK

WHAT: PRESS CONFERENCE IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE DEMONSTRATION AT THE SUPREME COURT IN WASHINGTON D.C., WHERE ORAL ARGUMENTS WILL BE HEARD ON BEHALF OF GUANTANAMO BAY PRISONERS BEING HELD AS "ENEMY COMBATANTS"

Press contacts: 510-610-7070 or 510-684-8270

General information: Larry, 510 684-8270

Bay Area participants and endorsers:

Bob Kearney of ACLU of No. California
American Muslim Voice
Blue Triangle Network
California Interfaith Alliance For Prison Reform
Cecilia Chang of Justice for New Americans*
Global Exchange
Grace Shimizu, Japanese American Community organizer
Gray Panthers
Stacy Tolchin, National Lawyers Guild, Immigration Committee
Not In Our Name
Riva Enteen, Chair KPFA Board*
Refuse and Resist
Reverend Michael Yoshi, Buena Vista Methodist Church*
Sara Olson, Indep. Radio Journalist, author of "Under Attack" 30 min. audio documentary
about attacks on the Muslim, Arab, S. Asian community
Shashi Dalal, Board of Trustees, *Fellowship Church
Rev. Dorsey O. Blake, Sr. Pastor

* Organizations mentioned for identification purposes.

Below is a national call and a list of national endorsers for actions
at the Supreme Court in opposition to the use of Guantanamo Bay as a torture center/prison camp and against the ability of the president to designate persons, including citizens, as in the cases of Yaser Hamdi and Jose Padilla, as 'enemy combatants' and then lock them away incommunicado indefinitely without charges or judicial review:

Can the Rights of People Simply Disappear by Presidential Order?

What does it mean when the President of the United States can on his own designate a citizen in the U.S. as an "enemy combatant" and order the military to hold that person incommunicado, indefinitely, and without charges? The U.S. Supreme Court is now deciding whether the courts even have the right to question the President's action.

What does it mean when the U.S. military internationally can literally snatch people off the street, designate them as "enemy combatants," and assert that they are beyond the reach of either U.S. or international law? Many are transported to a facility under total U.S. control and funded by Congressional appropriations, where they are held incommunicado, indefinitely, without charges, and some are threatened with trials before a military commission that falls short of basic standards of justice.

If the Supreme Court upholds these actions, it will condone the President's claim of virtually unlimited "wartime powers" without a formal declaration of war by the Congress, and with no or extremely limited oversight by the courts or the Congress.

On April 20 the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the President's alleged right to create a "law free zone" at the Guantánamo detention center in Cuba. And on April 28, the Court will hear oral arguments on the President's asserted right to designate citizens as "enemy combatants," hold them at the U.S. Navy base in Charleston, SC, and deny them the ability to challenge the lawfulness of their detention.

We believe that the President cannot be allowed to create a "legal Black Hole" into which people are dropped with no recourse to the courts or to international law. Among us we hold many varied views on how and why this situation has arisen and what is ultimately needed to ensure justice. But we all agree that this dangerous new presidentially designated category of "enemy combatants" who have no legal rights is unjust, illegal, and immoral, and cannot be allowed to stand.

The silence over this perilous issue must be broken, and public opposition must be manifested. Join us in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on April 20 and April 28 to declare a resounding NO!

Our future and the future of hundreds of anonymous detainees now hang in the balance. This is a watershed event in history. What is at stake is just how much the President will be allowed to get away with. Your silence will be taken as assent.

[list in formation]
American Friends Service Committee
Amnesty International USA
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Blue Triangle Network
Cambios Planetarios
Community Solutions Foundation Trust, LLC.
Council on American-Islamic Relations
Equal Justice USA/Moratorium Now!
First Amendment Foundation
Freedom Socialist Party
Guantanamo Human Rights Commission
La Resistencia
Muslim Civil Rights Center
National Committee Against Repressive Legislation (NCARL)
National Lawyers Guild
Oct. 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation
Pax Christi USA
Refuse & Resist!
Solidarity USA

This just in from:

Amnesty International USA
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Blue Triangle Network
First Amendment Foundation
Guantanamo Human Rights Commission
National Committee Against Repressive Legislation (NCARL)
National Lawyers Guild
Refuse & Resist!
Solidarity USA
Communities United Against Police Brutality (Minneapolis)
Greensboro Justice Fund
Elaine Cassel, Civil Liberties Watch
Stephen Rohde, Civil liberties lawyer

Website: http://www.nlg.org/eccases/

On April 20 the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the President'??s alleged right to create a '??law free zone'?? at the Guantanamo detention center in Cuba. And on April 28, the Court will hear oral arguments on the President'??s asserted right to designate citizens as '??enemy combatants,'?? hold them at the U.S. Navy base in Charleston, SC, and deny them the ability to challenge the lawfulness of their detention.

We believe that the President cannot be allowed to create a '??legal Black Hole'?? into which people are dropped with no recourse to the courts or to international law. Among us we hold many varied views on how and why this situation has arisen and what is ultimately needed to ensure justice. But we all agree that this dangerous new presidentially-designated category of '??enemy combatants'?? who have no legal rights is unjust, illegal, and immoral, and cannot be allowed to stand.

The silence over this perilous issue must be broken, and public opposition must be manifested. Join us in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on April 20 and April 28 to declare a resounding NO! Legally permitted, non-violent demonstrations will occur on both days from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm with a program of speakers beginning at 11:am.

Our future and the future of hundreds of anonymous detainees now hang in the balance. This is a watershed event in history. What is at stake is just how much the President will be allowed to get away with. Your silence will be taken as assent.

To endorse this call, e-mail eccases@nlg.org.

Exact email that I received:

Below is a call for protest outside the US Supreme Court on the dates of hearings about the presidentially designated category of enemy combatant. As the call says: Our future and the future of hundreds of anonymous detainees now hang in the balance. This is a watershed event in history. What is at stake is just how much the President will be allowed to get away with. Your silence will be taken as assent. Please endorse this call and start mobilzing for it. Email eccases@nlg.org for more info.

Demonstrate April 20 (Tuesday) & April 28 (Wednesday)

9:30am-12:30pm In front of the US Supreme Court, Washington, DC

11am Speakers. Legally permitted rally. www.nlg.org/eccases/

Can the Rights of People Simply Disappear by Presidential Order?

What does it mean when the President of the United States can on his own designate a citizen in the U.S. as an '??enemy combatant,'?? and order the military to hold that person incommunicado, indefinitely, and without charges? The U.S. Supreme Court is now deciding whether the courts even have the right to question the President'??s action.

What does it mean when the U.S. military internationally can literally snatch people off the street, designate them as '??enemy combatants,'?? and assert that they are beyond the reach of either U.S. or international law? Many are transported to a facility under total U.S. control and funded by Congressional appropriations, where they are held incommunicado, indefinitely, without charges and some are threatened with trials before a military commission that falls short of basic standards of justice.

If the Supreme Court upholds these actions, it will condone the President'??s claim of virtually unlimited '??wartime powers'?? without a formal declaration of war by the Congress, and with no or extremely limited oversight by the courts or the Congress.

On April 20 the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the President'??s alleged right to create a '??law free zone'?? at the Guantanamo detention center in Cuba. And on April 28, the Court will hear oral arguments on the President'??s asserted right to designate citizens as '??enemy combatants,'?? hold them at the U.S. Navy base in Charleston, SC, and deny them the ability to challenge the lawfulness of their detention.

We believe that the President cannot be allowed to create a '??legal Black Hole'?? into which people are dropped with no recourse to the courts or to international law. Among us we hold many varied views on how and why this situation has arisen and what is ultimately needed to ensure justice. But we all agree that this dangerous new presidentially-designated category of '??enemy combatants'?? who have no legal rights is unjust, illegal, and immoral, and cannot be allowed to stand.

The silence over this perilous issue must be broken, and public opposition must be manifested. Join us in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on April 20 and April 28 to declare a resounding NO! Legally permitted, non-violent demonstrations will occur on both days from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm with a program of speakers beginning at 11:am.

Our future and the future of hundreds of anonymous detainees now hang in the balance. This is a watershed event in history. What is at stake is just how much the President will be allowed to get away with. Your silence will be taken as assent.

To endorse this call, e-mail eccases@nlg.org.

[national and international organizations]

Amnesty International USA

Bill of Rights Defense Committee

Blue Triangle Network

First Amendment Foundation

Guantanamo Human Rights Commission

National Committee Against Repressive Legislation (NCARL)

National Lawyers Guild

Refuse & Resist!

Solidarity USA

[regional and local organizations]

Communities United Against Police Brutality (Minneapolis)

Greensboro Justice Fund

[individuals]

Elaine Cassel, Civil Liberties Watch

Stephen Rohde, civil liberties lawyer

Website: http://www.nlg.org/eccases/

Move On.org's PAC is organizing bake sales all across the country to raise money for the Kerry campaign.

This announcement got me all teary eyed for some reason. Throwing bake sales for democracy in an attempt to at least do something. It's beautiful.

You hear us Mr. Shrub sir?

We may be broke, but there are more of us than there are of you and your corporate fat cats.

We're gonna bake sale your ass right out of the White House.

President Bush presents himself as a man of the people, but a look at his fundraising shows otherwise. Over $95 million of his money has come in the form of bundles of $2000 checks from high-rolling CEOs and lobbyists.

So this week, we're holding a fundraiser that will highlight the contrast between Bush's big-money supporters and the hundreds of thousands of small donors on our side. On Saturday, April 17, MoveOn PAC will hold the world's largest bake sale -- an event which will show the voters and the media that while Bush has the millionaire vote locked up, we've got the grassroots on our side.

MoveOn members around the country will hold Bake Sales for Democracy in their neighborhoods to raise some dough, have some fun, and support our campaign to take back the White House and Congress and elect John Kerry. Sign up here to find a bake sale near you:

http://action.moveonpac.org/bakesale/

Or, to hold your own bake sale, go to:

http://action.moveonpac.org/bakesale/new.html

Here's the entire email that was sent to me yesterday:

Dear MoveOn Member,

President Bush presents himself as a man of the people, but a look at his fundraising shows otherwise. Over $95 million of his money has come in the form of bundles of $2000 checks from high-rolling CEOs and lobbyists.

So this week, we're holding a fundraiser that will highlight the contrast between Bush's big-money supporters and the hundreds of thousands of small donors on our side. On Saturday, April 17, MoveOn PAC will hold the world's largest bake sale -- an event which will show the voters and the media that while Bush has the millionaire vote locked up, we've got the grassroots on our side.

MoveOn members around the country will hold Bake Sales for Democracy in their neighborhoods to raise some dough, have some fun, and support our campaign to take back the White House and Congress and elect John Kerry. Sign up here to find a bake sale near you:

http://action.moveonpac.org/bakesale/

Or, to hold your own bake sale, go to:
http://action.moveonpac.org/bakesale/new.html

You can organize your own bake sale and recruit your friends to help. You can also sign up to bake something and bring it to a sale near you, or just to come by and help out. While we're out selling cookies we'll also be registering voters and passing out flyers on John Kerry's positions and accomplishments. After you sign up, you'll get a kit with everything you need (posters, voter registration forms, John Kerry factsheets, etc.).

And since a bit of competition makes things fun, we'll take a page from the Bush campaign: sell 100 items at your bake sale and be a MoveOn Pioneer. Sell 200 and be a MoveOn Ranger. We've also got a few other tricks up our sleeves, with some celebrities who are going to come to some bake sales--maybe yours! Chip in and do your part:

http://action.moveonpac.org/bakesale/

So far, more than 500 sales are set up, with names like:
-- Mountain Park Patriots Bake Sale, Roswell, GA
--Have Your Cake and Beat Bush Too, Brooklyn, NY
--Cookies for Kerry, Milwaukee, WI
--No CARB (Cheney, Ashcroft, Rumsfield, Bush) Bake Sale, Denver, CO
--Aunt Polly's Warm Scones & Hot Coffee for Cool Democrats, Albuquerque, NM

Whether you prefer brownies or blondies, lemon meringue or apple pie, we can all agree that it's time for a change in our country's leadership.

Sincerely,

--Eli Pariser & Adam Ruben
MoveOn PAC
April 12, 2004

P.S. We’re sad to announce Zack Exley’s departure from the MoveOn team. Zack’s leaving to become Director of Online Communications and Organizing for the John Kerry campaign. As a master of online organizing, he’ll equip the most important presidential campaign in decades with an understanding of the powerful new techniques we’ve helped to pioneer. It’s an exciting development, and one we heartily endorse even though it’s a big loss for our small team.

Federal election laws prohibit coordination between independent groups like MoveOn PAC and the Kerry campaign on media expenditures. And since MoveOn is in the hot seat for this election cycle, we’ve agreed with Zack that we won’t communicate in any way until after the election. But we thank Zack and wish him the best.

----------------------
Bush's amount raised in $2000 checks from Campaign Finance Institute data from 2/29/04, http://www.cfinst.org/pr/pdf/Table1_Feb.pdf

MoveOn PAC retains final control over all funds raised for the PAC that are not earmarked to be passed on to a particular candidate.

Update 8:33 am 2/22/04 - Damn. He's gonna run as an Independent.
Oh well. Let's hope nobody cares.

Update 4:50pm 2/21/04: Nader will be
announcing his plans tomorrow on Meet the Press (8 am CBS). (Yes, I'll be recording it. I'll try to get it up in the morning quick-like. Just play back any old tape of him from 2000. He's saying the same thing. I'm not going to promote him any by re-running the footage.)

I just sent this letter to Ralph Nader's exploratory committee.

The email is info@naderexplore04.org, in case you want to let them know what you think. Please do.

Dear Ralph (and his committee),

Please don't do this guys.

I can't believe you would all risk the safety of our country and the world, by doing anything that could jeopardize removing President Bush from power this year.

Even though I have mixed feelings about his not pulling out the day before the election in 2000, I've been defending Ralph over the last few months, and telling people that he eventually would come out on the side of the Democrats this year in order to help secure the election -- because he realizes what's at stake.

We simply can't afford to fragment the votes against Bush this time.

If Ralph runs in this election this time, I will have to question his ulterior motives for doing so. No "greater good" can ever come from such a thing that can only do damage to the movement in the short term.

If Ralph runs in this election this time, to me, he will have let his country down. (Again.)

I hope you guys will do the right thing.

Thanks for listening.

Lisa Rein

http://onlisareinsradar.com

here's the full text of the article in case the link goes bad:

http://news.myway.com/top/article/id/41576%7Ctop%7C02-20-2004%3A%3A18%3A45%7Creuters.html

Nader to Announce Presidential Plans on Sunday
Email this story

Nader to Announce Presidential Plans on Sunday

Feb 20, 6:27 PM (ET)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer advocate Ralph Nader, whose third party run in 2000 many Democrats say cost Al Gore the presidency, will announce on Sunday whether he will run again this year.

"He will be announcing his decision on 'Meet the Press,"' said Linda Schade, a spokeswoman for Nader's presidential exploratory committee.

She said only Nader knew what he was planning to do when he appears on NBC's Sunday morning talk show.

Many Democrats, still angry at Republican George W. Bush's narrow victory in 2000, blame Nader's liberal, consumer-oriented run as the Green Party's presidential nominee for taking away votes from their candidate, then-Vice President Gore.

The number of Nader votes in key states such as Florida and New Hampshire were greater than the gap between Bush's winning total and Gore's losing total. Gore would have been elected president had he won one more state.

Nader, who turns 70 next week, said last year he would not run again as the Green Party nominee but did not rule out running as an independent candidate. An independent run, however, might make it more difficult for him to get on all 50 state ballots.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe told CNN he had met with Nader several times to urge him not to run. He said he told Nader that his legacy should not become eight years of Bush as president.

"It would be a shame if what Americans remember after a lifetime fighting for working families is the fact that he did not fight on the side of the Democratic Party and its nominee when all of those issues he and us hold dear were at risk," the Democratic committee said in a statement.

Info about today's Special Registration Protest