Grassroots movements, global elites and political economy in times of panic

What a week we have all had. I guess for those of us who make it to the weekend without a single scratch, it will be important to sit quietly in a corner making plans for the future. Obviously the time for tunnel vision and full faith in ‘somebody’ at the top having some mercy on us, must be quickly diffusing into an alternate form of thought. At least that is what I would hope for, because although the social inclination so far seems to be the blaming of a few rotten apples, based on my observations, I have no choice but to accept that the whole apple basket seems to be fairly rotten.

All I have heard on the streets over the last few days are words about the financial crisis. Everyone all of a sudden is concerned about their mortgage, their savings, their retirement, their stocks or more importantly, their jobs. Dismal economic data keeps propping up on every major newspaper and news channel and talk shows are packed with voices talking about the dire straits of this economic Armageddon. Yet, I can’t help ask myself if we are all simply asleep or we are too scared to face the truth.

One nation under capitalism: It’s time for a crucifixion

Proudly surveying our kingdom from atop the capitalist pyramid, we US Americans have deluded ourselves into believing we are at the pinnacle of cultural, social, political, and economic evolution. We fancy ourselves to be so exceptional that we are entitled to a perpetual blessing from “our” Christian God.

Break out the Haldol!

We have afflicted the globe with the fatal contagions of the American Way and corporatism. And all of us, to varying degrees, are culpable. From bicycle-peddling vegans to limo riding corporados, we are each complicit in perpetuating American capitalism, a system so rotten that were it a piece of decaying meat, starving maggots would reject it.

We would have far fewer amends to make if our nation’s impact were limited by the size of our population. Were that the case, we would be a mere blemish on the face of Mother Earth. But due to our extraordinary wealth and power, insatiable avarice, hostility towards life, and obscene appetites for consumption, the United States is more akin to a cankerous fist-sized boil, oozing pus and reeking with infection.

Videos from Ohio Election Protection Conference

As Goes Ohio...Election Protection Conference

Bob Fitrakis and Steve Rosenfeld on pre-Election Day Board of Elections Monitoring Project
Link: Fitrakis & Board of Election Monitoring

Keynote Address - Mark Crispin Miller delivers the keynote speech at the As Goes Ohio...Election Protection Conference, held Sept. 24 and 25 in Columbus.

Miller is a professor of media studies at New York University and author of the books: "Loser Take All," "Fooled Again, How the Right Stole the 2004 Elections" and "The Bush Dyslexicon." He is known for his writing on American media and for his activism on behalf of democratic media reform.

YouTube Link: Mark Crispin Miller Keynote (second one from left)

Mark Crispin Miller Interview:

The 'Trinity' of Reform

Post-Palin feminism

http://mattbors.com

Big presidential vote count error found and fixed in New Mexico

An electronic voting machine test in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, on Friday revealed a programming error that, had it not been caught and corrected before the start of early voting next week, would not have counted hundreds -- or possibly thousands -- of votes for president and U.S. Senate in this Democratic stronghold.

The software error concerned straight party voting, where voters fill in one oval on their paper ballot that indicates they want to vote for all the candidates from a political party. The test revealed that the county's vote-tabulating computer, which scans the ballots and compiles the vote total, was not counting "straight party" votes for president and U.S. Senate.

"It was a simple error," said Rick Padilla, a senior system supervisor for the Santa Fe County Clerk office, which runs county elections. "When they did the programming, they didn't link the oval to the (presidential and senatorial votes on the) straight party ticket."

"It is one of the things that always has to be checked really carefully in a general election," said Terry Rainey of Automated Election Services, the

Vote like Mike

Michael Moore's new book is called "Mike's Election Guide 2008," and it's a nice combination of the comical and the useful. The comical comes first. Chapter One consists of Mike's answers to random election-related questions, and his answers are for the most part funny, insightful, informative, and sometimes brilliant.

The background Moore provides on John McCain's fits of temper is frightening, and includes this "statement from McCain, spoken loudly and freely while riding in 2000 with the press in his Straight Talk Express: 'I hated the gooks and will continue to hate them as long as I live,'" and this one made by McCain to his wife in response to a comment from her about his hair: "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt."

Moore also provides good answers to such key questions as "Is it true Democrats drink from a sippy cup and sleep with the light on?"

But there are some sloppy moments in Chapter One, including a claim that Kerry lost Ohio to Bush in 2004. Later in the book, Moore proposes paper ballots as one of the very few key reforms needed by our nation, and yet

Rainbow PUSH Coalition registers 2090 new voters this week

CHICAGO – With 31 days until the presidential election, Rainbow PUSH Coalition has increased its efforts to register voters. During the past week, they registered 2090 people in the Chicago area.

Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., founder and president of Rainbow PUSH Coalition, opened the international broadcast of Saturday Morning Forum with a call and response chant, “Say: ‘I must register and vote’, ‘register and vote’.”

Rev. Jackson said the next president must correct the financial crisis on “your street and Wall Street.” This week the $700 billion bailout plan was passed by Congress in an attempt to get banks to start lending to each other again.

“This bailout doesn’t include a plan for the 6 million homeowners in foreclosure,” Rev. Jackson said. “When you lose your home, your neighbor’s home loses value, so really, at least 42 million homeowners are suffering. It is time to look at what happens and where we go from here. Where is the hope for the people who lose their homes?”

In his sermon, Rev. Jackson preached about the “middle class” and “working class”, referring to the terms as “buzz words.”

The Fed: The fox in America’s henhouse

Looking for the source of the current financial crisis? It came from Jekyll Island…

“Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to befoul the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.” Teddy Roosevelt, 1906

On the cold Hoboken evening of November 22, 1910, Frank Vanderlip glanced warily at the group of news reporters milling around at the other end of the train platform and darted quickly on board a private railway car parked on a dark siding. The opulently furnished and well-staffed car, its curtains tightly drawn against prying public eyes, belonged to Senator Nelson Aldrich (R-Rhode Island), the presiding ‘whip’ of the Senate, father-in-law of John D. Rockefeller Jr., and a business partner of J.P. Morgan. The two arch rivals were joining forces for their own nefarious common interests.

Known as ‘the Wall Street Senator,’ Aldrich was head of the National

Because we fought for them my daughters have cast paper ballots

My daughters and I have cast paper ballots in the opening days of the 2008 presidential election. It was their first time voting in a presidential election.

That they have only voted with an African-American atop the Democratic ticket makes this doubly historic for them. The issue of race remains a great unknown in how things will turn out.

But so does the question of whether everyone who wants to vote can, and whether those votes will be accurately counted (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHiCFe2GBjk).

Four years ago this county tried to deny me the right to cast an absentee ballot. After four phone calls and some serious politicking, I finally did get a paper ballot, which I hand delivered to the election board. But was it counted?

My twins are now 21. On Friday, October 3, 2008, we drove to Veterans Memorial in downtown Columbus to cast our ballots under unique circumstances. For a full week, Ohio voters have been able to register and vote at the same time.

Brain busters

http://mattbors.com

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