This morning, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy laid out a 12-item "information" (indictment?) against current Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
Within two hours, his lawyer mounted an amazingly brazen "spin" campaign, in which he said the Mayor will be found not guilty. It's also how heavily they quoted the Mayor's "right to his day in court", when the plain fact is he has been show to have lied under oath.
It's hard to believe how one can be found innocent of perjury when both he and his former Chief of Staff plainly gave answers, under oath, that were later found to be demonstrably false.
Once again, lawyers, rise to the task of defending alleged scumbags whose misdeeds have been caught in the glare of public scrutiny.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
E-voting - how much longer do we endure this erosion of democracy?
Sequoia Systems doesn't want an independent test made of their e-voting machines.
This is the same company that made machines that failed to accurately tally election results in recent New Jersey elections, and whose machines have recently been decertified by the California Secretary of State, Debra Bowen.
They are SO afraid of testing that they have threatened legal action against those who would participate in these tests, specifically two Princeton University professors, Ed Felten and Andrew Appel.
Why is Sequoia Systems so afraid of having their machines tested?
What are they afraid will be revealed?
Is it possible that the machines contains flaws that compromise the security and/or accuracy of the election results that provide the basic foundation for popular participation in determining the leaders of our Democratic Republic?
If there would be flaws, isn't it imperative that they be discovered, and the machines upgraded to provide rock-solid, verifiable, and ACCURATE election results, so as to return TRUST to the American election process?
Isn't it mandatory for Sequoia to allow their systems to be verified? If not, who approved a contract that allowed this serious loophole to exist? In what other area of endeavor do we allow "trade secrets" to trump the national security?
Of course, this is just MY opinion - no, wait - it's not...
P.S. Did you notice that Diebold, another maker of e-voting machines whose name was permanently sullied after the many alleged misfires of its voting machines handed the 2004 Presidential election to the non-winner, George W Bush, is now called Premier Election Solutions (formerly Diebold Election Systems)? Makes you wonder if they think they can fool you by changing their name - and the answer if, YES - they do :-)
Also check out www.blackboxvoting.org
This is the same company that made machines that failed to accurately tally election results in recent New Jersey elections, and whose machines have recently been decertified by the California Secretary of State, Debra Bowen.
They are SO afraid of testing that they have threatened legal action against those who would participate in these tests, specifically two Princeton University professors, Ed Felten and Andrew Appel.
Why is Sequoia Systems so afraid of having their machines tested?
What are they afraid will be revealed?
Is it possible that the machines contains flaws that compromise the security and/or accuracy of the election results that provide the basic foundation for popular participation in determining the leaders of our Democratic Republic?
If there would be flaws, isn't it imperative that they be discovered, and the machines upgraded to provide rock-solid, verifiable, and ACCURATE election results, so as to return TRUST to the American election process?
Isn't it mandatory for Sequoia to allow their systems to be verified? If not, who approved a contract that allowed this serious loophole to exist? In what other area of endeavor do we allow "trade secrets" to trump the national security?
Of course, this is just MY opinion - no, wait - it's not...
P.S. Did you notice that Diebold, another maker of e-voting machines whose name was permanently sullied after the many alleged misfires of its voting machines handed the 2004 Presidential election to the non-winner, George W Bush, is now called Premier Election Solutions (formerly Diebold Election Systems)? Makes you wonder if they think they can fool you by changing their name - and the answer if, YES - they do :-)
Also check out www.blackboxvoting.org
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Liars, Damn Liars, and Republicans
when equal is not equal, or "fair and balanced"
Interesting that today, the Republican talking heads are outraged by Barack Obama's failure to throw Rev. Wright "under the bus" of racial politics, while they give John McCain a COMPLETE PASS on his endorsement by a radical Christian pastor...
Oh - how low we have sunk in America
Interesting that today, the Republican talking heads are outraged by Barack Obama's failure to throw Rev. Wright "under the bus" of racial politics, while they give John McCain a COMPLETE PASS on his endorsement by a radical Christian pastor...
Oh - how low we have sunk in America
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Hillary - wake up and smell the conservatives!
An Open Letter to Mrs Clinton:
Dear Hillary -
Can't you see how you are being manipulated?
Conservative pundits send their minions out to cross lines and vote FOR you in the primaries, ONLY to be certain that they set you up to FAIL in the General Election.
You DO NOT have the charisma, or credentials to be President, and so far, all you are doing is tearing the Democratic Party apart, setting us up for a defeat in the upcoming election, when we should be winning in a landslide, considering how eff'd up our country is after 8 years of the idiot boy king from Crawford.
Why not do the right thing for a change?
Give up your dreams of 4 or 8 more years of a return to the White House for a Clintonian residence, and let the Democrats nominate a candidate who can REALLY make a change.
You are NOT the great white hope of the Democratic party - Barack Obama is, ironically!
Dear Hillary -
Can't you see how you are being manipulated?
Conservative pundits send their minions out to cross lines and vote FOR you in the primaries, ONLY to be certain that they set you up to FAIL in the General Election.
You DO NOT have the charisma, or credentials to be President, and so far, all you are doing is tearing the Democratic Party apart, setting us up for a defeat in the upcoming election, when we should be winning in a landslide, considering how eff'd up our country is after 8 years of the idiot boy king from Crawford.
Why not do the right thing for a change?
Give up your dreams of 4 or 8 more years of a return to the White House for a Clintonian residence, and let the Democrats nominate a candidate who can REALLY make a change.
You are NOT the great white hope of the Democratic party - Barack Obama is, ironically!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Modern-day Lynch Mob? oh, please... Kwame, give it up...
In his 2008 State of the City address, Detroit's Mayor-in-distress Kwame Kilpatrick offered the following spontaneous, unscripted comments about his current troubles:
While we may agree that name-calling and personal threats are not in the public interest, neither is your clearly-documented liason with your ex-Chief-of-Staff, nor the multi-million dollar settlement negotiated specifically, it seems, to bury the multitude of text messages that provide the undeniable proof of said liason.
Your deeds have clearly shown that you believe yourself "above the rest", and clearly not accountable to the Detroit residents who elected you (misguidedly, we think) to two terms at the helm of what used to be a beautiful city. Regrettably, it seems you are continuing down the same path of former Mayor Coleman A young, whose most lasting legacy to the Motor City seems to be racial divisivness, and his name plastered on the sign of every City Park and building.
Mr. Mayor, regardless of whather or not your mother occupies a place in the Government, you clearly do NOT. Save Detroit a lot of aggravation, and stress, and step down from the office you are clearly not worthy of holding. respect is not a quality you are born with inherently, it is something you earn by your actions in and out of office.
It is also something you have clearly lost. Don't fight it - just depart, and let someone better take over (maybe Gil Hill can do better)?
Dear Mister Mayor -"...I feel that I cannot leave this auditorium with my wife and my sons sitting there without addressing this issue. In the past 30 days I've been called a nigger more than anytime in my entire life. In the past three days I've received more death threats than I have in my entire administration. I've heard these words before but I've never heard people say them about my wife and children. I have to say this because it's very personal to me. I don't believe that a Nielsen rating is worth the life of my children or your children. This unethical, illegal lynch mob mentality has to stop. And it's seriously time. ..."
—Kwame M. Kilpatrick, 2008 Detroit State of the City Address
While we may agree that name-calling and personal threats are not in the public interest, neither is your clearly-documented liason with your ex-Chief-of-Staff, nor the multi-million dollar settlement negotiated specifically, it seems, to bury the multitude of text messages that provide the undeniable proof of said liason.
Your deeds have clearly shown that you believe yourself "above the rest", and clearly not accountable to the Detroit residents who elected you (misguidedly, we think) to two terms at the helm of what used to be a beautiful city. Regrettably, it seems you are continuing down the same path of former Mayor Coleman A young, whose most lasting legacy to the Motor City seems to be racial divisivness, and his name plastered on the sign of every City Park and building.
Mr. Mayor, regardless of whather or not your mother occupies a place in the Government, you clearly do NOT. Save Detroit a lot of aggravation, and stress, and step down from the office you are clearly not worthy of holding. respect is not a quality you are born with inherently, it is something you earn by your actions in and out of office.
It is also something you have clearly lost. Don't fight it - just depart, and let someone better take over (maybe Gil Hill can do better)?
The Decline of American Civilization as we know it?
I have a theory:
You can monitor the sanity of a society by monitoring its entertainment.
In the waning days of the Roman empire, the "bread and circuses" mayhem of the Coliseum gave a daily indication of the depth of depravity to which the Roman Empire had sunk.
Now, try an experiment - channel surf on American television for a little while and observe how badly we have chosen to use the world's potentially most powerful information dissemination invention: namely, Television.
Are we long for this planet if we value Dancing With the Stars, Americal Idol, and Paris Hilton's latest antics over innovative programming that can educate and inform? (Thank God for the Discovery Channel - hell, even the History Channel had morphed from the "All Hitler All The Time" channel to an informative source of creative programming).
Or is there another reason for the lousy programming we get?
Could it be that we are programmed this dreck because we, as a society, are so overworked, sleep deprived, and beset with financial and personal stress that we can no longer appreciate quality entertainment but need, instead, something that is so outrageous that it overpowers the personal stress we feel within ourselves?
Wouldn't you take a moment to complain, if you knew where?
You can monitor the sanity of a society by monitoring its entertainment.
In the waning days of the Roman empire, the "bread and circuses" mayhem of the Coliseum gave a daily indication of the depth of depravity to which the Roman Empire had sunk.
Now, try an experiment - channel surf on American television for a little while and observe how badly we have chosen to use the world's potentially most powerful information dissemination invention: namely, Television.
Are we long for this planet if we value Dancing With the Stars, Americal Idol, and Paris Hilton's latest antics over innovative programming that can educate and inform? (Thank God for the Discovery Channel - hell, even the History Channel had morphed from the "All Hitler All The Time" channel to an informative source of creative programming).
Or is there another reason for the lousy programming we get?
Could it be that we are programmed this dreck because we, as a society, are so overworked, sleep deprived, and beset with financial and personal stress that we can no longer appreciate quality entertainment but need, instead, something that is so outrageous that it overpowers the personal stress we feel within ourselves?
Wouldn't you take a moment to complain, if you knew where?
1 Billion Plus per week, 5 years and counting
So, how much more?
Original estimates of a reconstruction of Iraq self-financed by Iraqi oil revenues were clearly the product of a massive reality distortion field that somehow sucked in the entire administration, if not all of Washington. In the meanwhile, our actual cash expenditure has become a gigantic flood of dollars which has dragged us to the abyss of nonexistence.
The dollars (and lives) we are uselessly spending in Iraq to prosecute President "W"'s delusional war scenario are now coming back to haunt us - Iraq is doing to the USA what we did to the Soviet Union - bleeding our economy to the point of bankruptcy, and we're getting closer and closer to that event every month this war drags on.
So, ask yourself - how much longer can America do this?
Do you really think that electing yet another Republican will change ANY of this?
Especially one that has already confirmed he will continue George W. Bush's reckless economic and empire-building policies.
Wake up! Vote in someone who will look after all Americans, not just Ame'rich'icans.
Original estimates of a reconstruction of Iraq self-financed by Iraqi oil revenues were clearly the product of a massive reality distortion field that somehow sucked in the entire administration, if not all of Washington. In the meanwhile, our actual cash expenditure has become a gigantic flood of dollars which has dragged us to the abyss of nonexistence.
The dollars (and lives) we are uselessly spending in Iraq to prosecute President "W"'s delusional war scenario are now coming back to haunt us - Iraq is doing to the USA what we did to the Soviet Union - bleeding our economy to the point of bankruptcy, and we're getting closer and closer to that event every month this war drags on.
So, ask yourself - how much longer can America do this?
Do you really think that electing yet another Republican will change ANY of this?
Especially one that has already confirmed he will continue George W. Bush's reckless economic and empire-building policies.
Wake up! Vote in someone who will look after all Americans, not just Ame'rich'icans.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Note to (ex) Governor Spitzer: be sincere
Dear Mr. Spitzer:
If you are, in fact, repentent for your deeds, you should attempt to look it on camera.
Heartfelt apologies are appropriate (especially considering what a big mess you have created), but in today's visual age, when "on camera", it's also appropriate for you to "look" apologetic.
Delivering that heartfelt apology with a face of grim determination, and appearing "pissed off" to have been found out instead of legitimately apologetic, just doesn't cut it in the 21st century.
If you are truly sorry, act like it, don't just talk like it. If you don't know how, learn fast.
We take no joy in your downfall - it's a warning to all who aspire to public office - beware of those who you piss off on the way up, since they will be gunning for you on the way down (or helping you fall, if they can)
If you are, in fact, repentent for your deeds, you should attempt to look it on camera.
Heartfelt apologies are appropriate (especially considering what a big mess you have created), but in today's visual age, when "on camera", it's also appropriate for you to "look" apologetic.
Delivering that heartfelt apology with a face of grim determination, and appearing "pissed off" to have been found out instead of legitimately apologetic, just doesn't cut it in the 21st century.
If you are truly sorry, act like it, don't just talk like it. If you don't know how, learn fast.
We take no joy in your downfall - it's a warning to all who aspire to public office - beware of those who you piss off on the way up, since they will be gunning for you on the way down (or helping you fall, if they can)
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Republicans screech: "Impeach Him" - sound familiar?
While I'm appalled at the monumental stupidity displayed by NY Governor Elliott Spitzer, I'm even MORE dismayed that the screeching that was heard first (and loudest) has (of course) come from Republicans, who are "shocked...shocked" to find shenanigans going on in the governor's office (apologies to Casablanca's writers Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein)
Why do Republicans shout the loudest when Democrats make boo-boos? Repeated cries of "it's not political" merely serve to confirm that it is, in fact, political, and patently so.
Let the Governor figure out how to gracefully solve this stinkbomb of a mess (which his overactive libido has apparently created) and exit the scene. He owes the citizens of New York state at least that much, and I'm sure he's incentivized to do just that. Having to endure yelping voices screaming "off with his head" does no one any good, and only serves to remind us who plays politics louder than anyone else.
But that's just my take on it...
Why do Republicans shout the loudest when Democrats make boo-boos? Repeated cries of "it's not political" merely serve to confirm that it is, in fact, political, and patently so.
Let the Governor figure out how to gracefully solve this stinkbomb of a mess (which his overactive libido has apparently created) and exit the scene. He owes the citizens of New York state at least that much, and I'm sure he's incentivized to do just that. Having to endure yelping voices screaming "off with his head" does no one any good, and only serves to remind us who plays politics louder than anyone else.
But that's just my take on it...
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