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Who Are You Voting For?

Written by: Bill Lackemacher on Feb 4, 2008 3:28 PM EST

Linked to groups: Sacramento For Democracy

>> Get Out And Vote On Tuesday!!

>> Super Tuesday Results Watching Party http://sacramentofordemocracy.org/?q=node/view/14398

>> SFD Feb. Meeting - Let's Discuss the Primary Results (Will All The Votes Be Counted By Wed.?)
http://sacramentofordemocracy.org/?q=node/view/14365

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Hi All:

Just a reminder to Get Out And Vote tomorrow (Tuesday)!! It doesn't matter who you are voting for, just get out and vote!

If you still have your absentee, vote-by-mail ballot, it is probably too late to mail it in, so bring it to ANY polling place in the county to which you are registered before 8:00 PM on Tuesday. In addition, you can drop it off at your county elections office, but you must also drop it off by 8 PM on Tues. You can find your elections office here: http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_d.htm

Also, if you are registered as "Decline-to-State", you may request a Democratic ballot at your polling place. The Republican Party of CA will not let you vote on their ballot, so if you want to vote for a presidential candidate, you must request a Democratic ballot. If you have any questions on election day, please call the Secretary of State's Office at 1-800-345-VOTE

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Super Tuesday Results Watching Party & Potluck Come watch the Primary returns on Super Tuesday with us!

Host: Eric Sunderland
Location: College Greens Cabana Club
2707 Notre Dame Drive, Sacramento, CA 95826 US

When: Tuesday, February 5, 4:00 PM until ????
Phone: 916-383-7123

Woo Hoo! It's finally here! Super Duper, Super Crazy Voting Day! Join us for a mingling of Democrats of all persuasions-Voters for Edwards, Kucinich, Clinton, Obama and more! We'll gather at the College Greens Cabana Club to watch the returns from across the Country come in live! Come prepared to show your voter stub...do we still get those??? or your "I Voted!" sticker! Bring your own drinks if you please and and a hors d'oeuvre to share if you've got time...If you can't manage either, we'll find someone who'll share with you...so come anyway! It's the day when we all have to come together as one, for King George's rule is coming to an end -one way or another in January 2009! Woo Hoo!

More info: http://sacramentofordemocracy.org/?q=node/view/14398

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The image “http://www.dfalink.com/uploads/events/730m25853.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

What's shakin', fellow SFDers!

Mark your calendars now and make sure you show up for our February Meeting!

WHEN : February 6th 7pm
WHERE: Arden Dimmick Library /
891 Watt Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95864
rsvp here: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=27172

This year, our February meeting falls on the day after Super Tuesday, so expect plenty of conversation on the Presidential Primaries as well as a host of other subjects. Please just consider this a quick heads up -- there will be more details to follow later in the week. For now, our agenda includes:

  • Super Tuesday - observations on the Presidential primaries, including media coverage and the impact on politics in general.
  • Constitution Corner - this month we will discuss the issue of Torture.
  • "Is our children learning?" * - the latest update on the activities of our Civics Outreach working group.
    * George Bush quote - Florence, S.C., Jan. 11, 2000
  • PDA's "Change makes change" project.

and more!

again, please rsvp here: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=27172

Check your inbox for details later in the week. Until then, if you have any questions or comments, please email Rich at r.hundrieser@comcast.net

Thanks, Karen Bernal Steering Committee, Sacramento for Democracy

Tags:
Location: Sacramento, CA 95814

Discuss
 

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By * rdorgan on Feb 5, 2008 8:55 AM EST

8:59 AM EST

Well Bill, since Howard Dean is not on the prez ballot this time around, I'm going to vote for Obama.

Howard, though, has always been first.

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By JudyforDean on Feb 5, 2008 9:44 AM EST

Howard Dean is first and here's one reason why ... I accidentally posted this two threads back.

Howard ... from Geneva

==============
Last Time!! SUPER TUESDAY
Events in Geneva, Zurich and Basel.


A. If you registered for Internet Voting in the Global Primary by the January 31st deadline, you should have received voting instructions from our International Chair Christine Schon Marques in an email.

GO VOTE !! and make Internet Voting a success.

See the Howard Dean YouTube Video, made from Governor Dean’s remarks in Geneva January 23rd, after you vote. You will feel good about making history!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALii8OWkl...

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By * rdorgan on Feb 5, 2008 9:12 AM EST

9:14 AM EST

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080205/wl_afp/usvoteforeign_080205133846

US Democrats living in Indonesia cast their votes in the race for the party's presidential candidate at a hotel in Jakarta. US Democrats abroad grabbed their first chance to vote in "Super Tuesday" primaries. Voting takes place across the world until February 12 with a total of 11 votes at stake for the Democratic Party convention that will eventually choose its candidate.(AFP/Aubrey Belford)

AFP Photo: US Democrats living in Indonesia cast their votes in the race for the party's presidential race

Obama takes first blood as 'Super Tuesday' goes abroad

34 minutes ago

JAKARTA (AFP) - From the Indonesian city where Barack Obama spent part of his childhood to Hong Kong's bars and a Dublin pub, US Democrats abroad grabbed their first chance to vote in "Super Tuesday" primaries.

Voting for expat Democrats is taking place across the world until February 12, as well as online, with a total of 11 votes at stake for the Democratic Party convention that will eventually choose its candidate.

...

In Jakarta, where Obama spent part of his youth living and going to school in Menteng, a suburb of decaying colonial grandeur, Democrats handed him a win over Hillary Clinton in the first result announced, party officials said.

Seventy-five percent of nearly 100 votes cast by expatriate Americans just past midnight (1700 GMT Monday) went to Obama and 25 percent went to Clinton, Democrats Abroad officials here said.

Robert Lamont, a 53-year-old USAID worker in Jakarta, said he chose Obama for his combination of charisma and conciliatory foreign policy approach.

"That means he has more sensitivity to the wider world than someone who has lived in the US her whole life," he told AFP, comparing Obama to Clinton.

It is the first time Democrats living overseas have had the chance to vote in person for their own delegates. The Republican Party, in contrast, does not elect convention delegates from abroad.

...

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By JudyforDean on Feb 5, 2008 10:03 AM EST

Prince Andrew (of all people, LOL( has managed to stir up a tempest in a teapot that's driving the conservative nutjobs crazy.

===========
Prince Andrew rebukes US over Iraq war
Matthew Weaver
Tuesday February 5, 2008

Guardian Unlimited
Bruised Anglo-America relations over Iraq were unexpectedly prodded by the Duke of York today when he criticised the Bush administration for failing to listen to Britain on post-invasion tactics.

In a rare and outspoken interview with the International Herald Tribune, Prince Andrew said the Iraq war had prompted a "healthy scepticism" towards America.

He said there was feeling in Britain of "why didn't anyone listen to what was said and the advice that was given".

[...]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,33237...

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By JudyforDean on Feb 5, 2008 10:05 AM EST

Now from the nutjobs ...

=========
US anger at Prince Andrew criticism on Iraq
Has the Duke of York dented Britain's special relationship with America?

[...]
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/2008/02...

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By sandy m on Feb 5, 2008 10:12 AM EST

My hubby and I voted for Barack Obama last Mon.

I live in an apt bldg with mostly older women.  I am driving them to the polls today.  Most are for Obama, not all.  One is 95! she is voting for Barack. Saids what this country needs is new blood.

I had to pick up my friend's son from the airport this morning and take him home, saw lots of Obama signs in the neighborhood.  It is in an area known as Sugarhouse, lots of young professionals.

Yesterday I had the honor of attending a Michelle Obama rally.  She is one special person.  Probably about 1500 in attendance, white, native american, asian, black, young, and old.

My hubby who never ever participates in these events, usually just sits there quietly, actually put on the little sticky Obama thing they gave him.  He actually stood up and cheered.  I must say even though some cynic here will tell me slogans mean nothing.  He was cheering Yes We Can.  I was dumbfounded.

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By * rdorgan on Feb 5, 2008 9:23 AM EST

9:25 AM EST

Dave Matthews for Obama:

http://www.davematthewsband.com/news/view/4632040e011a5afcc7bb1dc714309a4f

A Message from Dave about the Democratic Primary

02/04/2008

Please click here for a message from Dave on why he’s supporting Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary.

Dear Friends,

I hope this finds you well.

A question, a reflection, and an endorsement.

Why is our country divided?
Why has this division been growing?

Can we not all agree that we are a country that supports its families, that protects its citizens and respects its neighbors?
A country that educates its children?
Are we not a country that can lead by example rather than by force?
Is ours a government of the people, by the people, for the people?

I would like to think so.
But I believe that corporate greed and its involvement in policy making, along with political cronyism have made it nearly impossible for the people to govern.
So we fight amongst ourselves over the spin of political slogans and half truths.
And so we are divided.

It is time for a change and that is why I support Barack Obama for President.

Respectfully,

Dave Matthews

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By JudyforDean on Feb 5, 2008 10:13 AM EST

Also from today's Guardin ...

=============
There's been no contest like it
This is not just the most joyously unpredictable election in US history, writes Michael Tomasky. It is fundamentally about whether America is finally ready to give liberalism another chance
Michael Tomasky
Tuesday February 5, 2008
Guardian

[...]
I'm not usually given to hyperbole or (I hope) to purple prose, but I believe this to be absolutely true: There has never been a presidential race quite like this in the history of the United States.

It has genuinely impressive candidates. It has a grand theme. It's really, meaningfully, about something. It may result in a woman or, perhaps more incredibly still, a black person being the president of the United States.

[...]
We head now to super-duper Tuesday. We will probably have a candidate on the Republican side, McCain. On the Democratic side, if Clinton wins all the large states, especially California, she will probably be able, to use a metaphor from American football, to run out the clock on Obama, eventually winning - one officially "wins" by amassing 2,025 delegates, which one does by winning state primaries and caucuses - in March or April.

But if Obama does well tonight, and especially if he wins California, look out. The inevitable candidate, Clinton, will start looking awfully ... uninevitable. It would be fitting to the extent that that's the kind of election it's been. Remember Rudy Giuliani? He led his Republican opponents almost the entirety of 2007, only to experience in 2008 one of the most astounding flameouts in presidential history. Giuliani was on top back when McCain was finished, dead, kaput.

If you've been watching, you know what I mean. And if you haven't - well, start tuning in. This will be one to tell the grandkids about.

[...]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,33236...


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By JudyforDean on Feb 5, 2008 10:14 AM EST

er, that would be *Guardian*

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By * rdorgan on Feb 5, 2008 9:26 AM EST
7.
s m
Tue, 02/05/08

Reply to this

My hubby and I voted for Barack Obama last Mon.

I live in an apt bldg with mostly older women.  I am driving them to the polls today.  Most are for Obama, not all.  One is 95! she is voting for Barack. Saids what this country needs is new blood.

...

IMy hubby who never ever participates in these events, usually just sits there quietly, actually put on the little sticky Obama thing they gave him.  He actually stood up and cheered.  I must say even though some cynic here will tell me slogans mean nothing. 

+++

s m -

Great to hear about you doing GOTV.

As for any who are cynical, ignore them. 

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By * rdorgan on Feb 5, 2008 9:34 AM EST
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By donna in evanston on Feb 5, 2008 9:35 AM EST

I just voted for Obama.  It felt soooo good.

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By Tom Bearse on Feb 5, 2008 9:41 AM EST

Phil wrote "who said it was OK for Huron John to post Frank's trash."

Nobody did.  On the other hand, you said I suck for posting his trash about Dean in response to John, who posted his trash about Obama.  You didn't have any comment to express your disapprobation when John posted.  

I see what you mean.  In fact, most of us do.

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By Sitka on Feb 5, 2008 10:04 AM EST

if we come out of today with a near tie, don't worry seashell your vote will count, and more than one in Iowa

Phil neglects the fact that Sea won't get to vote for her preferred candidate, Edwards, who was driven out of the campaign -- just as I won't get to vote for Kucinich -- nor FRED for Biden.

But Phil got the whole slate of candidates to choose from.  And that's all that really matters. Right?

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By Huron John on Feb 5, 2008 10:07 AM EST

Sequence Check 10:12 am

let's see how deeply this sucker gets buried

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By Sitka on Feb 5, 2008 10:11 AM EST

The interview has riled rightwing opinion in the US.

All you have to do to rile rightwingers is exhale through the wrong nostril. But I hadn't heard about the Prince Andrew thing -- maybe becaue the rightwads are so busy tearing down McCain at the behest of the Bush Mafia that wants to make sure no other Repub wins the presidency before Jeb gets his turn at it.

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By Sitka on Feb 5, 2008 10:13 AM EST

But if Obama does well tonight, and especially if he wins California, look out. The inevitable candidate, Clinton, will start looking awfully ... uninevitable.

And when that's your only "strength"........look out. 

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By Huron John on Feb 5, 2008 10:14 AM EST

Another golden oldie from when posts came up in order!

39.
jaxrook2.0
Fri, 08/27/04

Reply to this

Kerry is gettin schooled.....

i can hear the chorus now

"CLINTON in '08!!"



Electabilty indeed!!

suckers  

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By Huron John on Feb 5, 2008 10:19 AM EST

Another "golden oldie"

Buried at 10:24 am

32.
Phil from Iowa
Mon, 05/31/04

Reply to this

Bush does look a little unstable.

That family has reached its dynasty quota so Jeb is out of luck.

I think an open convention would give it's support to McCain.  

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By Sitka on Feb 5, 2008 10:20 AM EST

If Obama gets the nomination we'll have the unique spectacle of the Clintons and the Bush's trying to help the other side win in order to keep themselves from losing their status as the big dogs of their parties.

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By Sitka on Feb 5, 2008 10:21 AM EST

Another golden oldie from when posts came up in order!

Everyone enjoys being called "suckers" by fools who think they're the only ones who get it. 

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By Huron John on Feb 5, 2008 10:23 AM EST

AN INDY CLASSIC

10:27 am

85.
IndySteve
Mon, 05/31/04

Reply to this

The notion that in order to support the troops, you must support the mission is simply a ruse. It is a ruse to stifle dissent, a ruse to make people feel guilty, and a ruse to get those who don't think much about it to "get on board".

I will not fall for it...I support those souls who are in harm's way. But I condemn those who have sent them possibly to their deaths and taken advantage of the patriotism, the energy and the sheer idealism of our youth in this way.

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By Sitka on Feb 5, 2008 10:24 AM EST

I think an open convention would give it's support to McCain.

Might as well try to guess which ear a dog will scratch. 

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By * rdorgan on Feb 5, 2008 10:25 AM EST

10:28 AM EST

viva la France:

http://www.ttc.org/200802050902.m1592uq20963.htm

FRANCE VOTES OBAMA AHEAD OF 'SUPER TUESDAY' SHOWDOWN
 

Received Tuesday, 5 February 2008 09:02:00 GMT

PARIS, Feb 5, 2008 (AFP) - As Democrat rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton head into a 24-state showdown, France is cheering on the Illinois senator's bid to become America's first black president, a poll showed Tuesday.
    

Thirty-eight percent of French people back the 46-year-old Obama's bid for the White House nomination, compared to 36 percent who support the former first lady Clinton, 60, according to a CSA poll published in Le Parisien newspaper.

...

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By Huron John on Feb 5, 2008 10:28 AM EST

And a Sitka classic upper!

69.
Sitka
Sun, 05/30/04

Reply to this

--- Now that Kerry has adopted Howard Dean's entire platform ---

Actually, Kerry is now back pedaling as quickly as he can from the platform he borrowed from Dean just for the primaries.  

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By Tom Bearse on Feb 5, 2008 10:28 AM EST

Roger Simon's insight on the Edwards campaign at Politico.com: 

"I was in New Orleans in late December 2006 when Edwards announced for the presidency in that shattered city, and I later wrote a column praising Edwards for his courage in championing the impoverished rather than the middle class.

"Most Democratic candidates for president pander to the middle class because that is where the votes and the campaign contributions are.

"Yet here was Edwards, not just making poverty the centerpiece of his campaign but asking middle-class Americans to sacrifice to help the poor, including the possibility of paying higher taxes.

" . . . .

"He didn’t stick to it. By early January 2008, before the New Hampshire primary, Edwards was barely mentioning the poor. Instead, he was portraying himself as a tireless fighter for — you guessed it — the middle class.

"Which did not do much for him. And so Edwards began to swing back to being a champion for the poor — again. Which also did not do much for him.

" . . . .

"Maybe Obama found that another inauthentic and self-aggrandizing moment by Edwards.

"And maybe Obama didn’t like publicly being forced to declare his devotion to the poor by a candidate who took up that cause — and put it down — when it suited him."

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By volney simmons on Feb 5, 2008 10:30 AM EST

Hi, all!!

This should be an interesting night. Just wanted to let you know what I see on the ground here in upstate New York.

This is a part of the state that routinely gets neglected by Dem pols. The area is pretty reddish and even if a candidate got all the votes to be had upstate, they could never cancel the votes from NYC and environs.

Part of the reason HC won her original Senate race was she had the good sense to campaign all throughout the state and pretend like she cared. The other part was that Rudy got cancer. But anyhoo.

Running up to today, she has had a kind and gentle TV ad on a lot. No ads for Obama but he opened two offices here a couple of weeks ago. One in the party building used for campaign offices downtown, and another in the African-American part of town.

Last weekend the county party robocalled all Dems and asked them to come out and rally for Hillary. Obama had a rally the same day and I'm not sure how his people got the word out. Neither candidate has come to our area.

BUT. The Hillary rally drew about 50 people. A sad little group on the TV news. The Obama rally was over 500, all ages and races. (Have you been seeing the crowds he's getting? Howard-sized crowds, 15-20k, amazing.)

Since then there have been several large Obama visibility events, none for HC. Small ones for Huckabee and Paul, but I believe the air of inevitability has firmly settled over the GOP.

If Obama can break the 40% barrier in New York today, well, watch out. I'll be casting my vote for him in about 2 hours.

-- volney

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By rae hart on Feb 5, 2008 11:21 AM EST

Young Poised To Make History

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- For those old enough to vote for the first time this election there has never been anyone but a Bush or Clinton in the White House. 

Young voters are excited here in Alaska and across the country, intending to significantly impact the Super Tuesday contests.

http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=7822776

Go ALASKA!

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By Huron John on Feb 5, 2008 10:34 AM EST

FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE NOW DISENFRANCHISED

http://www.alternet.org/election08/75841/

With only seven primaries or caucuses down for the Republicans, and a mere four for the Democrats, most of the original candidates, in both parties, are already gone. Before even the end of January, the Republican field had been whittled down to just four candidates and the Democrats down to just two.

So in the end, tens of millions of voters, in both parties, in more than 40 states, will simply not have the opportunity to cast a vote for their first choice for president.

This disenfranchisement was particularly excruciating, after last Wednesday's withdrawal of John Edwards, for what the late Paul Wellstone called "the Democratic wing of the Democratic party." That wing is hardly insubstantial. Progressive Democrats of America claims to be the fastest-growing political advocacy group in the country. The new Air America radio network is thriving. Millions of "netroots" citizens, every day, not only visit websites like AlterNet, Common Dreams, DailyKos, and MoveOn -- but also use them to generate collective political action.

But not one of us will have the opportunity next Tuesday to express our political sentiments by voting for an unambiguously progressive presidential candidate.

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By Monica Smith on Feb 5, 2008 11:25 AM EST

There's a diary on KOS charging that Michelle Obama is arrogant.  My first reaction was to think: "Damn Right"  Michelle Obama has something to be arrogant about.  See this picture of some of her extended family in Georgetown, S.C?

 

That's just some of them.

While she grew up on the South Side of Chicago, Michelle Obama’s trip this afternoon to Georgetown, SC was really a homecoming. Michelle’s grandfather, Fraser Robinson Sr., was originally from Georgetown and, while she was growing up, Michelle and her family regularly spent part of their summers visiting their extended relatives in the Low Country town.

 

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By Sitka on Feb 5, 2008 10:37 AM EST
<>05/30/04

Actually, Kerry is now back pedaling as quickly as he can from the platform he borrowed from Dean just for the primaries

May 8, 2004

<>John Kerry came to the centrist Democratic Leadership Council here sounding little like the outraged, populist scourge of special interests and big business who fended off challenges from his left in the Democratic primaries......

Mr. Kerry has been calling himself an ''entrepreneurial Democrat'' and notably assured an audience of donors three weeks ago that he did not want to soak the rich: ''I am not a redistributionist Democrat,'' he said. ''Fear not.''  <>

 

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By Annilow on Feb 5, 2008 10:37 AM EST

20. The cynic (sp) in me got to thinking this morning that the reason the Kennedys have rallied around Obama is b/c they want to remain the premier Dem family - if Hill gets elected they are in danger of losing their mantle.

JudyforDean -- More power to Andrew. Does anyone else remember a pop/rock song that started out Duke Duke Duke Duke of York York York -- that's all I remember. It would have been maybe C C C C B A A A on the piano.

I could have sworn there was a KOS diary -snarky- about a rich woman "transcending" for Obama that was prolly a takeoff on Maria but the diary is no longer there that I can see -- was going to rec it for Seashell and Linda NM.

bb after class ttfn

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By Monica Smith on Feb 5, 2008 11:29 AM EST

Need I remind you?  Elections are about the voters.

Joe Biden and Chris Dodd and Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich deserve our thanks for energizing the electorate. 

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By Annilow on Feb 5, 2008 10:41 AM EST

Is the blog really posting in order? bbl It's a miracle, a true blue spectacle...(thanks Barry)

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By * rdorgan on Feb 5, 2008 10:41 AM EST

30.

The "low country", everytime I hear that phrase, I think of The Netherlands.  Indeed, it is a "small world afterall".

In fact, off the coast of South Carolina are island residents who speak gullah, a dialect very similar to English creole (aka Krio) spoken in West African english-speaking countries like Sierra Leone.

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By mary vb on Feb 5, 2008 11:33 AM EST

Just received that email telling me that Barack Obama is a Muslim and it was from a Democrat. First of all - why the hell would it even matter if he were a Muslim? Cripes.

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By * rdorgan on Feb 5, 2008 10:44 AM EST

bouncing blog

+++

34.
Monica Smith
Tue, 02/05/08

Reply to this

There's a diary on KOS charging that Michelle Obama is arrogant.  My first reaction was to think: "Damn Right"  Michelle Obama has something to be arrogant about.

+++

The "low country", everytime I hear that phrase, I think of The Netherlands.  Indeed, it is a "small world after all".

In fact, off the coast of South Carolina are Hilton Head island residents who speak gullah, a dialect very similar to English creole (aka Krio) spoken in West African english-speaking countries like Sierra Leone.

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By Monica Smith on Feb 5, 2008 11:35 AM EST

I'm sorry I forgot John Edwards.  But, I think that's because it's my sense that he really wanted to be President.  The others wanted to promote issues and help turn the electorate from the inevitability that the PR pundits and media moguls prefer. 

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By Sitka on Feb 5, 2008 10:47 AM EST

The cynic (sp) in me got to thinking this morning that the reason the Kennedys have rallied around Obama is b/c they want to remain the premier Dem family - if Hill gets elected they are in danger of losing their mantle.

The cynic in me notes that "the Kennedys" are playing both sides of the street. But the "A" ones are on Obama's side of it. 

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By * rdorgan on Feb 5, 2008 10:48 AM EST

9:50 AM EST

36.
Monica Smith
Tue, 02/05/08

Reply to this

Need I remind you?  Elections are about the voters.

Joe Biden and Chris Dodd and Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich deserve our thanks for energizing the electorate. 

+++

and interestingly, 3 out of those 4 states have voters voting in polls today -- JB (New Jersey); CD (Connecticut); MG (Alaska) - yes, kudos to all of them and to DK (Ohio, slotted for 3/4)

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By volney simmons on Feb 5, 2008 10:49 AM EST

36.

That's a horrible e-mail. I got it from a loveable but very stupid and gullible GOP right-wing friend. I was totally appalled that it would matter to anyone what his middle name was or that his father and stepfather were Muslims.

Rationally, that should be a point in his favor, IMO.

I really had no words to tell my friend what I thought. Fortunately, someone else on the distribution -- who wasn't even an Obama supporter -- told her instead.


-- volney

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By Sitka on Feb 5, 2008 10:49 AM EST

The others wanted to promote issues and help turn the electorate from the inevitability that the PR pundits and media moguls prefer.  

I imagine the others hoped they would be the Obama who caught fire. 

Mebw_tinythumb

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By volney simmons on Feb 5, 2008 10:52 AM EST

OK, bloggie just freaked out.

I think it might be when we include reply post numbers. I answered the post that is now "forty" that was "thirty-six" when I answered it. It made my post "thirty-six".

-- volney

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By Pat in Colorado on Feb 5, 2008 11:42 AM EST

Hi Folks,

Caucuses here tonight in Colorado.  Will report in after they are over.

P. 61, The Audacity of Hope

 "Ultimately, though, I believe any attempt by Democrats to pursue a more sharply partisan and ideological strategy misapprehends the moment we're in.  I am convinced that whenever we exxaggerate or demonize, oversimplify or overstate our case, we lose.  Whenever we dumb down the political debate, we lose.  For it's precisely the pursuit of ideological purity, the rigid orthodoxy and the sheer predictability of our current political debate, that keeps us from finding new ways to meet the challenges we face as a country.  It's what keeps us locked in 'either/or' thinking: the notion that we can have only big government or no government; the assumption that we must either tolerate forty-six million without health insuyrace or embrace 'socialized medicine.'"

This echoes Al Gore's book.

Anyway, enjoy, democracy is at work today, at least for 24 states.  Let's celebrate it. 

Mebw_tinythumb

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By volney simmons on Feb 5, 2008 10:54 AM EST

... and made my next post "t h i r t y e i g h t" -- sheesh, outta here.

Later gators.

-- volney

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By on Feb 5, 2008 10:59 AM EST

History Chttp://www.infowars.com/?p=20hannel Admits Anthrax Attacks an Inside Job

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By on Feb 5, 2008 11:00 AM EST


Barack Obama’s 2009 Pakistan War

On Super Tuesday, as Democrats flock to the polls, they should keep in mind that Barack is a warmonger just like all the others

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By Monica Smith on Feb 5, 2008 11:52 AM EST

37.  OK, I think I've figured that out.  Muslim is actually code for those insurgent black people in the sixties that gave the established elite fits.  Those of a certain age remember the Muslim brotherhood well.  They're actually headquartered in Illinois.  And then there's Farrakahn.  Haven't you noticed how Farrakahn and his associates have suddenly disappeared from the national radar?  They know that the "muslim fundamentalist terrorists" are largely an invention designed to tie into historical white fears of a repeat of the urban insurrections that prompted the civil rights legislation of the '60s.

When you consider that Ossama bin Laden was actually a creature of the CIA, then the later identification of him as a Muslim has to be suspect.  The Muslim is the new incarnation of the "Godless communists" which turn out to have been largely a figment of the Western imagination.

You might say that if Barack Obama were an invention, the conservatives have been hoist on their own petard.  That is, he embodies everything they would have invented, if they could, but he's not scary.

It's my sense that a lot of people are just sick and tired of being told to hate somebody. Maybe some of them have figured out that the purpose of this hate was to distract them from the fact that they were being 'had'.

What I also think is that what Obama realizes is that it's not about him.  People want a change for their own reasons.  He's just a symbol of that desire.

The Clintons are entirely too selfish to even recognize that.   

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By linda b on Feb 5, 2008 11:07 AM EST

obama is NOT a muslim but hey if it works for hillary.

at our jj this weekend I wish howard was going to be there. oh I wish.

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By linda b on Feb 5, 2008 11:08 AM EST

there is goes again, THE BLOG IS NOT IN ORDER.

mine is 8 posts too soon.

why even try.

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By on Feb 5, 2008 11:17 AM EST


McKinney to Open 9/11 Event in Los Angeles

Architect Richard Gage and Dr. Steven Jones will put forth a presentation of facts and analysis providing scientific proof that the three World Trade Center buildings were not destroyed by jet impact and fires alone, but by controlled demolition with explosives
McKinney to Open 9/11 Event in Los Angeles


Architects, Engineers & Scientists Examine the Evidence of 9/11

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Los Angeles, CA February 2, 2008 – A growing number of Architects, Engineers and Scientists are finding out that the official narrative about the events of September 11th has been proven incorrect by way of scientific evidence.

To further their cause for a truly independent investigation of 9/11, Architect Richard Gage, AIA and Physics Professor (ret.) Dr. Steven Jones will put forth a presentation of facts and analysis providing scientific proof that the three World Trade Center buildings (buildings 1, 2 and 7) were not destroyed by jet impact and fires alone, but by controlled demolition with explosives.

This presentation will be made available to the public on Saturday, February 23 at the Immanuel Presbyterian Church* located at 3300 Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles. Seating begins at 5PM. And in addition to the presentation by Gage and Jones, Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney will address the audience on her support for a new investigation.

Information on discounted pre-sale tickets is available by calling 805-653-1588 or by visiting GoodKarmaPR.com.

Richard Gage, AIA is the founding member of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth (AE911Truth.org). This organization is comprised of 250 architectural and engineering professionals and 866 other supporters including A/E students who have signed the petition demanding of Congress a truly independent investigation. Gage has been a practicing Architect for 20 years and has worked on most types of building construction including numerous fire-proofed steel-framed buildings. He is employed with a San Francisco Bay Area architecture firm and is currently working on the Construction Documents for a very large mixed use urban project with 1.2M square feet of retail and 320K square feet of mid-rise office space — altogether about 1,200 tons of steel framing.

Dr. Steven E. Jones, Professor of Physics (ret.), has published papers in Scientific American, Nature, and Physical Review Letters. His peer-reviewed paper on the collapse of three World Trade Center skyscrapers (when only two were hit by airplanes) has been widely read and has been translated into Spanish, French and Japanese. It is available at Journalof911Studies.com along with about 100 other scholarly papers regarding the events of 9/11/2001. His ongoing research includes experiments with thermates, along with electron-microscope/energy-dispersive spectrographic analyses of dust from the WTC collapses.

Cynthia McKinney is currently running for President of the United States for the Green Party. In 1992, Cynthia made history when she became the first African American woman to represent Georgia in the House of Representatives. In 1991, after Cynthia spoke on the floor of the Georgia House of Representatives against George Bush Sr.’s bombing of Baghdad, her colleagues walked out on her. While in the U.S. Congress, Cynthia won recognition as an outspoken leader for human rights, an advocate for peace, and a determined voice for justice. She continues to speak out against the current Administration’s occupation of Iraq, has demanded that the Pentagon explain how it "lost" over $2.3 trillion in un-trackable transactions and is still waiting for an answer about the multiple war games taking place on September 11th.

Architects, Engineers & Scientists

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By * rdorgan on Feb 5, 2008 11:15 AM EST

11:08 AM EST

thanks mary vb for sharing this article a few threads back -- anti- dumb war opponents Paul and Obama top donations from U.S. military service personnel:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/02/military-donors.html

Jack Tapper

Military Donors Back Ron Paul & Obama

February 04, 2008 3:19 PM

The Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign cash, looks at the 2007 money-raising and finds the following:

In 2007, the 2008 presidential candidates raised $582.5 million and spent $481.2 million.

In the 4th quarter of 2007, individuals in the Army, Navy and Air Force made those branches of the armed services the No. 13, No. 18 and No. 21, contributing industries, respectively. War opponent Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, received the most from donors in the military, collecting at least $212,000 from them. Another war opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, was second with about $94,000.

Soldiers love Ron and Barack, and lobbyists love Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, the No. 1 recipient of lobbyist cash, receiving $823,000 in 2007 from the lobbying industry, which gave about $2.7 million overall.

Lawyers and law firms have contributed more than any other industry, giving $46.6 million. Democrats got 77 percent of that, with Clinton the top recipient.

Youth vote, shmooth vote, Obama has raised more from retired individuals -- the second biggest donor group -- than any other remaining candidate.

The securities and investment industry, in third place, gave nearly $28.7 million, 56 percent to Democrats, Clinton the top recipient.

...

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By on Feb 5, 2008 11:17 AM EST


McKinney to Open 9/11 Event in Los Angeles

Architect Richard Gage and Dr. Steven Jones will put forth a presentation of facts and analysis providing scientific proof that the three World Trade Center buildings were not destroyed by jet impact and fires alone, but by controlled demolition with explosives
McKinney to Open 9/11 Event in Los Angeles


Architects, Engineers & Scientists Examine the Evidence of 9/11

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Los Angeles, CA February 2, 2008 – A growing number of Architects, Engineers and Scientists are finding out that the official narrative about the events of September 11th has been proven incorrect by way of scientific evidence.

To further their cause for a truly independent investigation of 9/11, Architect Richard Gage, AIA and Physics Professor (ret.) Dr. Steven Jones will put forth a presentation of facts and analysis providing scientific proof that the three World Trade Center buildings (buildings 1, 2 and 7) were not destroyed by jet impact and fires alone, but by controlled demolition with explosives.

This presentation will be made available to the public on Saturday, February 23 at the Immanuel Presbyterian Church* located at 3300 Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles. Seating begins at 5PM. And in addition to the presentation by Gage and Jones, Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney will address the audience on her support for a new investigation.

Information on discounted pre-sale tickets is available by calling 805-653-1588 or by visiting GoodKarmaPR.com.

Richard Gage, AIA is the founding member of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth (AE911Truth.org). This organization is comprised of 250 architectural and engineering professionals and 866 other supporters including A/E students who have signed the petition demanding of Congress a truly independent investigation. Gage has been a practicing Architect for 20 years and has worked on most types of building construction including numerous fire-proofed steel-framed buildings. He is employed with a San Francisco Bay Area architecture firm and is currently working on the Construction Documents for a very large mixed use urban project with 1.2M square feet of retail and 320K square feet of mid-rise office space — altogether about 1,200 tons of steel framing.

Dr. Steven E. Jones, Professor of Physics (ret.), has published papers in Scientific American, Nature, and Physical Review Letters. His peer-reviewed paper on the collapse of three World Trade Center skyscrapers (when only two were hit by airplanes) has been widely read and has been translated into Spanish, French and Japanese. It is available at Journalof911Studies.com along with about 100 other scholarly papers regarding the events of 9/11/2001. His ongoing research includes experiments with thermates, along with electron-microscope/energy-dispersive spectrographic analyses of dust from the WTC collapses.

Cynthia McKinney is currently running for President of the United States for the Green Party. In 1992, Cynthia made history when she became the first African American woman to represent Georgia in the House of Representatives. In 1991, after Cynthia spoke on the floor of the Georgia House of Representatives against George Bush Sr.’s bombing of Baghdad, her colleagues walked out on her. While in the U.S. Congress, Cynthia won recognition as an outspoken leader for human rights, an advocate for peace, and a determined voice for justice. She continues to speak out against the current Administration’s occupation of Iraq, has demanded that the Pentagon explain how it "lost" over $2.3 trillion in un-trackable transactions and is still waiting for an answer about the multiple war games taking place on September 11th.

Architects, Engineers & Scientists wake up!!!!!!!!!!

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By on Feb 5, 2008 11:17 AM EST


McKinney to Open 9/11 Event in Los Angeles

Architect Richard Gage and Dr. Steven Jones will put forth a presentation of facts and analysis providing scientific proof that the three World Trade Center buildings were not destroyed by jet impact and fires alone, but by controlled demolition with explosives
McKinney to Open 9/11 Event in Los Angeles


Architects, Engineers & Scientists Examine the Evidence of 9/11

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Los Angeles, CA February 2, 2008 – A growing number of Architects, Engineers and Scientists are finding out that the official narrative about the events of September 11th has been proven incorrect by way of scientific evidence.

To further their cause for a truly independent investigation of 9/11, Architect Richard Gage, AIA and Physics Professor (ret.) Dr. Steven Jones will put forth a presentation of facts and analysis providing scientific proof that the three World Trade Center buildings (buildings 1, 2 and 7) were not destroyed by jet impact and fires alone, but by controlled demolition with explosives.

This presentation will be made available to the public on Saturday, February 23 at the Immanuel Presbyterian Church* located at 3300 Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles. Seating begins at 5PM. And in addition to the presentation by Gage and Jones, Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney will address the audience on her support for a new investigation.

Information on discounted pre-sale tickets is available by calling 805-653-1588 or by visiting GoodKarmaPR.com.

Richard Gage, AIA is the founding member of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth (AE911Truth.org). This organization is comprised of 250 architectural and engineering professionals and 866 other supporters including A/E students who have signed the petition demanding of Congress a truly independent investigation. Gage has been a practicing Architect for 20 years and has worked on most types of building construction including numerous fire-proofed steel-framed buildings. He is employed with a San Francisco Bay Area architecture firm and is currently working on the Construction Documents for a very large mixed use urban project with 1.2M square feet of retail and 320K square feet of mid-rise office space — altogether about 1,200 tons of steel framing.

Dr. Steven E. Jones, Professor of Physics (ret.), has published papers in Scientific American, Nature, and Physical Review Letters. His peer-reviewed paper on the collapse of three World Trade Center skyscrapers (when only two were hit by airplanes) has been widely read and has been translated into Spanish, French and Japanese. It is available at Journalof911Studies.com along with about 100 other scholarly papers regarding the events of 9/11/2001. His ongoing research includes experiments with thermates, along with electron-microscope/energy-dispersive spectrographic analyses of dust from the WTC collapses.

Cynthia McKinney is currently running for President of the United States for the Green Party. In 1992, Cynthia made history when she became the first African American woman to represent Georgia in the House of Representatives. In 1991, after Cynthia spoke on the floor of the Georgia House of Representatives against George Bush Sr.’s bombing of Baghdad, her colleagues walked out on her. While in the U.S. Congress, Cynthia won recognition as an outspoken leader for human rights, an advocate for peace, and a determined voice for justice. She continues to speak out against the current Administration’s occupation of Iraq, has demanded that the Pentagon explain how it "lost" over $2.3 trillion in un-trackable transactions and is still waiting for an answer about the multiple war games taking place on September 11th.

Architects, Engineers & Scientists wake up!!!!!!!!!!

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By linda b on Feb 5, 2008 11:15 AM EST

there is goes again, THE BLOG IS NOT IN ORDER.

mine is 8 posts too soon.

why even try.

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By linda b on Feb 5, 2008 11:15 AM EST

there is goes again, THE BLOG IS NOT IN ORDER.

mine is 8 posts too soon.

why even try.

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By on Feb 5, 2008 11:18 AM EST

Test To Track Traffic Using GPS Cell Phones

East Bay Business Times
February 1, 2008



Researchers at UC-Berkeley will join in a field test Feb. 8 to study how traffic flow can be monitored using data from driver’s GPS-enabled cell phones.

The researchers will look at the potential of using cell phone data instead of the road sensors currently used, while at the same time preserving phone users’ privacy.

The experiment, dubbed Mobile Century, will involve a fleet of 100 cars with drivers carrying Nokia cell phones. They will travel a loop along a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 880 between Hayward and Fremont.

The experiment is a joint project between researchers at the UC-Berkeley’s California Center for Innovative Transportation and the Nokia Research Center in Palo Alto.

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By on Feb 5, 2008 11:19 AM EST

FBI wants palm prints, eye scans, tattoo mapping

Kelli Arena and Carol Cratty
CNN
February 4, 2008



The FBI is gearing up to create a massive computer database of people’s physical characteristics, all part of an effort the bureau says to better identify criminals and terrorists.

But it’s an issue that raises major privacy concerns — what one civil liberties expert says should concern all Americans.

The bureau is expected to announce in coming days the awarding of a $1 billion, 10-year contract to help create the database that will compile an array of biometric information — from palm prints to eye scans.

Kimberly Del Greco, the FBI’s Biometric Services section chief, said adding to the database is “important to protect the borders to keep the terrorists out, protect our citizens, our neighbors, our children so they can have good jobs, and have a safe country to live in.”

But it’s unnerving to privacy experts.

“It’s the beginning of the surveillance society where you can be tracked anywhere, any time and all your movements, and eventually all your activities will be tracked and noted and correlated,” said Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Technology and Liberty Project.

The FBI already has 55 million sets of fingerprints on file. In coming years, the bureau wants to compare palm prints, scars and tattoos, iris eye patterns, and facial shapes. The idea is to combine various pieces of biometric information to positively identify a potential suspect.

A lot will depend on how quickly technology is perfected, according to Thomas Bush, the FBI official in charge of the Clarksburg, West Virginia, facility where the FBI houses its current fingerprint database. Video Watch what the FBI hopes to gain »

“Fingerprints will still be the big player,” Bush, assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division, told CNN.

But he added, “Whatever the biometric that comes down the road, we need to be able to plug that in and play.”

First up, he said, are palm prints. The FBI has already begun collecting images and hopes to soon use these as an additional means of making identifications. Countries that are already using such images find 20 percent of their positive matches come from latent palm prints left at crime scenes, the FBI’s Bush said.

The FBI has also started collecting mug shots and pictures of scars and tattoos. These images are being stored for now as the technology is fine-tuned. All of the FBI’s biometric data is stored on computers 30-feet underground in the Clarksburg facility.

In addition, the FBI could soon start comparing people’s eyes — specifically the iris, or the colored part of an eye — as part of its new biometrics program called Next Generation Identification.

Nearby, at West Virginia University’s Center for Identification Technology Research, researchers are already testing some of these technologies that will ultimately be used by the FBI.

“The best increase in accuracy will come from fusing different biometrics together,” said Bojan Cukic, the co-director of the center.

But while law enforcement officials are excited about the possibilities of these new technologies, privacy advocates are upset the FBI will be collecting so much personal information.

“People who don’t think mistakes are going to be made I don’t think fly enough,” said Steinhardt.

He said thousands of mistakes have been made with the use of the so-called no-fly lists at airports — and that giving law enforcement widespread data collection techniques should cause major privacy alarms.

“There are real consequences to people,” Steinhardt said. Video Watch concerns over more data collection »

You don’t have to be a criminal or a terrorist to be checked against the database. More than 55 percent of the checks the FBI runs involve criminal background checks for people applying for sensitive jobs in government or jobs working with vulnerable people such as children and the elderly, according to the FBI.

The FBI says it hasn’t been saving the fingerprints for those checks, but that may change. The FBI plans a so-called “rap-back” service in which an employer could ask the FBI to keep the prints for an employee on file and let the employer know if the person ever has a brush with the law. The FBI says it will first have to clear hurdles with state privacy laws, and people would have to sign waivers allowing their information to be kept.

Critics say people are being forced to give up too much personal information. But Lawrence Hornak, the co-director of the research center at West Virginia University, said it could actually enhance people’s privacy.

“It allows you to project your identity as being you,” said Hornak. “And it allows people to avoid identity theft, things of that nature.”

There remains the question of how reliable these new biometric technologies will be. A 2006 German study looking at facial recognition in a crowded train station found successful matches could be made 60 percent of the time during the day. But when lighting conditions worsened at night, the results shrank to a success rate of 10 to 20 percent.

As work on these technologies continues, researchers are quick to admit what’s proven to be the most accurate so far. “Iris technology is perceived today, together with fingerprints, to be the most accurate,” said Cukic.

But in the future all kinds of methods may be employed. Some researchers are looking at the way people walk as a possible additional means of identification.

The FBI says it will protect all this personal data and only collect information on criminals and those seeking sensitive jobs.
advertisement

The ACLU’s Steinhardt doesn’t believe it will stop there.

“This had started out being a program to track or identify criminals,” he said. “Now we’re talking about large swaths of the population — workers, volunteers in youth programs. Eventually, it’s going to be everybody.”

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By * rdorgan on Feb 5, 2008 11:17 AM EST

11:21 AM EST

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By Michael Ellis on Feb 5, 2008 11:19 AM EST

If anyones interested........Super Bowl Champion NY Giants victory ticker tape parade from "the canyon of champions" in Manhattan is on live stream on WFAN..................

Enjoy! 

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By Monica Smith on Feb 5, 2008 12:21 PM EST

There's a wonderful article about the campaigns in SC which I intend to steal for hannah when it's back (down for the moment)

You should read it.

 

http://www.thelandofthefree.net/conservativeopinion/2008/01/26/in-south-democrats-tactics-may-change-political-game/ 

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By * rdorgan on Feb 5, 2008 11:33 AM EST

11:39 AM EST

fyi - new Front thread

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By Phil Specht on Feb 5, 2008 11:40 AM EST

Cynthia McKinney isn't the demon MSM portrays her as Daniel, but I'm not buying what she is selling. Wonder if she will win the Green Party bid. She and Ron Paul should team up and start the new Far Out party.

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By on Feb 5, 2008 11:43 AM EST

FBI wants palm prints, eye scans, tattoo mapping

Kelli Arena and Carol Cratty
CNN
February 4, 2008



The FBI is gearing up to create a massive computer database of people’s physical characteristics, all part of an effort the bureau says to better identify criminals and terrorists.

But it’s an issue that raises major privacy concerns — what one civil liberties expert says should concern all Americans.

The bureau is expected to announce in coming days the awarding of a $1 billion, 10-year contract to help create the database that will compile an array of biometric information — from palm prints to eye scans.

Kimberly Del Greco, the FBI’s Biometric Services section chief, said adding to the database is “important to protect the borders to keep the terrorists out, protect our citizens, our neighbors, our children so they can have good jobs, and have a safe country to live in.”

But it’s unnerving to privacy experts.

“It’s the beginning of the surveillance society where you can be tracked anywhere, any time and all your movements, and eventually all your activities will be tracked and noted and correlated,” said Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Technology and Liberty Project.

The FBI already has 55 million sets of fingerprints on file. In coming years, the bureau wants to compare palm prints, scars and tattoos, iris eye patterns, and facial shapes. The idea is to combine various pieces of biometric information to positively identify a potential suspect.

A lot will depend on how quickly technology is perfected, according to Thomas Bush, the FBI official in charge of the Clarksburg, West Virginia, facility where the FBI houses its current fingerprint database. Video Watch what the FBI hopes to gain »

“Fingerprints will still be the big player,” Bush, assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division, told CNN.

But he added, “Whatever the biometric that comes down the road, we need to be able to plug that in and play.”

First up, he said, are palm prints. The FBI has already begun collecting images and hopes to soon use these as an additional means of making identifications. Countries that are already using such images find 20 percent of their positive matches come from latent palm prints left at crime scenes, the FBI’s Bush said.

The FBI has also started collecting mug shots and pictures of scars and tattoos. These images are being stored for now as the technology is fine-tuned. All of the FBI’s biometric data is stored on computers 30-feet underground in the Clarksburg facility.

In addition, the FBI could soon start comparing people’s eyes — specifically the iris, or the colored part of an eye — as part of its new biometrics program called Next Generation Identification.

Nearby, at West Virginia University’s Center for Identification Technology Research, researchers are already testing some of these technologies that will ultimately be used by the FBI.

“The best increase in accuracy will come from fusing different biometrics together,” said Bojan Cukic, the co-director of the center.

But while law enforcement officials are excited about the possibilities of these new technologies, privacy advocates are upset the FBI will be collecting so much personal information.

“People who don’t think mistakes are going to be made I don’t think fly enough,” said Steinhardt.

He said thousands of mistakes have been made with the use of the so-called no-fly lists at airports — and that giving law enforcement widespread data collection techniques should cause major privacy alarms.

“There are real consequences to people,” Steinhardt said. Video Watch concerns over more data collection »

You don’t have to be a criminal or a terrorist to be checked against the database. More than 55 percent of the checks the FBI runs involve criminal background checks for people applying for sensitive jobs in government or jobs working with vulnerable people such as children and the elderly, according to the FBI.

The FBI says it hasn’t been saving the fingerprints for those checks, but that may change. The FBI plans a so-called “rap-back” service in which an employer could ask the FBI to keep the prints for an employee on file and let the employer know if the person ever has a brush with the law. The FBI says it will first have to clear hurdles with state privacy laws, and people would have to sign waivers allowing their information to be kept.

Critics say people are being forced to give up too much personal information. But Lawrence Hornak, the co-director of the research center at West Virginia University, said it could actually enhance people’s privacy.

“It allows you to project your identity as being you,” said Hornak. “And it allows people to avoid identity theft, things of that nature.”

There remains the question of how reliable these new biometric technologies will be. A 2006 German study looking at facial recognition in a crowded train station found successful matches could be made 60 percent of the time during the day. But when lighting conditions worsened at night, the results shrank to a success rate of 10 to 20 percent.

As work on these technologies continues, researchers are quick to admit what’s proven to be the most accurate so far. “Iris technology is perceived today, together with fingerprints, to be the most accurate,” said Cukic.

But in the future all kinds of methods may be employed. Some researchers are looking at the way people walk as a possible additional means of identification.

The FBI says it will protect all this personal data and only collect information on criminals and those seeking sensitive jobs.
advertisement

The ACLU’s Steinhardt doesn’t believe it will stop there.

“This had started out being a program to track or identify criminals,” he said. “Now we’re talking about large swaths of the population — workers, volunteers in youth programs. Eventually, it’s going to be everybody.”

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By mary vb on Feb 5, 2008 12:30 PM EST

Monica - Someone is pushing your daily kos diary over there.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2...

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By Phil Specht on Feb 5, 2008 11:47 AM EST

 Whenever we dumb down the political debate, we lose.  For it's precisely the pursuit of ideological purity, the rigid orthodoxy and the sheer predictability of our current political debate, that keeps us from finding new ways to meet the challenges we face as a country

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

sorry Daniel, didn't mean that about McKinney and Paul only in Germany do you do five years for denying the holocaust, their views may well represent slivers of the electorate who deserve a hearing before it is rejected at the ballotbox

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By Phil Specht on Feb 5, 2008 11:50 AM EST

 It's what keeps us locked in 'either/or' thinking:

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

Denise or seashell

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By on Feb 5, 2008 11:53 AM EST

Wargames
a. US military and other authorities planned or actually rehearsed defensive response to all elements of the 9/11 scenario during the year prior to the attack - including multiple hijackings, suicide crashbombings, and a strike on the Pentagon.
b. The multiple military wargames planned long in advance and held on the morning of September 11th included scenarios of a domestic air crisis, a plane crashing into a government building, and a large-scale emergency in New York. If this was only an incredible series of coincidences, why did the official investigations avoid the issue? There is evidence that the wargames created confusion as to whether the unfolding events were "real world or exercise." Did wargames serve as the cover for air defense sabotage, and/or the execution of an "inside job"?

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By * rdorgan on Feb 5, 2008 11:52 AM EST

11:57 AM EST

fyi - new Front thread

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By on Feb 5, 2008 11:55 AM EST

Flight 93
Did the Shanksville crash occur at 10:06 (according to a seismic report) or 10:03 (according to the 9/11 Commission)? Does the Commission wish to hide what happened in the last three minutes of the flight, and if so, why? Was Flight 93 shot down, as indicated by the scattering of debris over a trail of several miles?

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By on Feb 5, 2008 11:56 AM EST

11) Insider Trading
a. Unknown speculators allegedly used foreknowledge of the Sept. 11th events to profiteer on many markets internationally - including but not limited to "put options" placed to short-sell the two airlines, WTC tenants, and WTC re-insurance companies in Chicago and London.
b. In addition, suspicious monetary transactions worth hundreds of millions were conducted through offices at the Twin Towers during the actual attacks.
c. Initial reports on these trades were suppressed and forgotten, and only years later did the 9/11 Commission and SEC provide a partial, but untenable explanation for only a small number of transactions (covering only the airline put options through the Chicago Board of Exchange).

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By on Feb 5, 2008 11:56 AM EST

12) Who were the perpetrators?
a. Much of the evidence establishing who did the crime is dubious and miraculous: bags full of incriminating material that happened to miss the flight or were left in a van; the "magic passport" of an alleged hijacker, found at Ground Zero; documents found at motels where the alleged perpetrators had stayed days and weeks before 9/11.
b. The identities of the alleged hijackers remain unresolved, there are contradictions in official accounts of their actions and travels, and there is evidence several of them had "doubles," all of which is omitted from official investigations.
c. What happened to initial claims by the government that 50 people involved in the attacks had been identified, including the 19 alleged hijackers, with 10 still at large (suggesting that 20 had been apprehended)? http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/natio...

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By on Feb 5, 2008 11:57 AM EST

14) All the Signs of a Systematic 9/11 Cover-up
a. Airplane black boxes were found at Ground Zero, according to two first responders and an unnamed NTSB official, but they were "disappeared" and their existence is denied in The 9/11 Commission Report.
b. US officials consistently suppressed and destroyed evidence (like the tapes recorded by air traffic controllers who handled the New York flights).
c. Whistleblowers (like Sibel Edmonds and Anthony Shaffer) were intimidated, gagged and sanctioned, sending a clear signal to others who might be thinking about speaking out.
d. Officials who "failed" (like Myers and Eberhard, as well as Frasca, Maltbie and Bowman of the FBI) were given promotions.

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By on Feb 5, 2008 11:59 AM EST

Attacking the Constitution
a. The USA PATRIOT Act was written before 9/11, Homeland Security and the "Shadow Government" were developed long before 9/11, and plans for rounding up dissidents as a means for suppressing civil disturbance have been in the works for decades.
b. 9/11 was used as the pretext to create a new, extra-constitutional executive authority to declare anyone an "enemy combatant" (including American citizens), to detain persons indefinitely without habeas corpus, and to "render" such persons to secret prisons where torture is practiced.

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By Monica Smith on Feb 5, 2008 12:46 PM EST

Well, the Lessig endorsement deserves to be seen by lots of people.

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By proud2Bliberal on Feb 5, 2008 1:40 PM EST

Who am I voting for - Bill Richardson, who has the best diplomacy skills to keep the US out of war.

Our primary was moved up so that more states could have a say.  Iowa and New Hampshire, as well as Oprah and the mass media, wil not decide my vote.  14,700 people in Florida voted for Richardson even after his campaign ran out of monay to continue.  That shows there are many people who still believe he is the best qualified and the most progressive.

California - I am voting with the students for the community college funding proposition.  The arguments by the opponents base their estimates on the number of young high school graduates, but a large number of community college students are not recent high school graduates. 

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