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Did 308,000 cancelled Ohio voter registrations put Bush back in the White House?

While life goes on during the Bush2 nightmare, so does the research on what really happened here in 2004 to give George W. Bush a second term.

Pundits throughout the state and nation---many of them alleged Democrats---continue to tell those of us who question Bush's second coming that we should "get over it," that the election is old news.

But things get curiouser and curiouser.

In our 2005 compendium HOW THE GOP STOLE OHIO'S 2004 ELECTION & IS RIGGING 2008 (www.freepress.org), we list more than a hundred different ways the Republican Party denied the democratic process in the Buckeye State. For a book of documents to be published September 11 by the New Press entitled WHAT HAPPENED IN OHIO?, we are continuing to dig.

It turns out, we missed more than a few of the dirty tricks Karl Rove, Ken Blackwell and their GOP used to get themselves four more years. In an election won with death by a thousand cuts, some that are still hidden go very deep. Over the next few weeks we will list them as they are verified.

The Homosexuals

http://mattbors.com

UAE Ports

Civilian prison camps

To the editor:

This regulation provides Army policy and guidance for establishing civilian inmate labor programs and civilian prison camps on Army installations.

http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/r210_35.pdf

Thomas Potter
Olmsted Falls, Ohio

Confessions of an economic hit man

A couple of days ago I was part of  a group that met at the Dayton International Peace Museum to discuss John Perkins’ book "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man” in which he relates his role in convincing various poor nations to accept loans

In the past I had read about various loans from the World Bank and the IMF, which instead of helping poor people in other countries, actually increased their suffering.  This happened because these nations were not able to repay their loans and the banks, in the process of renegotiating them, successfully demanded that these nations reduce or eliminate their small-scale social programs as a part of "structural adjustment." It was  difficult for me to completely understand why they could not repay the loans, although I knew that it was likely that some of the loans had gone into the pockets of the ruling oligarchy in some nations.

Death in U.S. custody

A major human rights advocacy group is charging that of the 98 detainees who have died in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan since August 2002, 34 are suspected or confirmed homicides, another 11 suggest that death was a result of physical abuse or harsh conditions, but only 12 deaths have resulted in punishment of any kind for any U.S. official.

In close to half the deaths surveyed in a new report by Human Rights First, the cause of death remains officially undetermined or unannounced. Overall, eight people in U.S. custody were tortured to death.

The report, entitled “Command’s Responsibility”, says that of the 34 homicide cases so far identified by the military, investigators recommended criminal charges in fewer than two thirds, and charges were actually brought (based on decisions made by command) in less than half.

While the CIA has been implicated in several deaths, no CIA agent has faced a criminal charge, the report says, adding, “Among the worst cases -- detainees tortured to death – only half have resulted in punishment and the harshest sentence for anyone involved in a torture-related death has been five months in jail.”

An idea

Hello.

My name is Aaron Jasper, I'm a twenty year old Ohio man and I've got an idea.

We all know how big this race for governor is. And some of us know the possible future implications should Blackwell win the primary and be on the ballot in November. A few of us know that everything we can do should be done in order to prevent this man from taking office.

Which is where I come in.

After the 2004 election, I was furious. With Inkwell's help, we've got King George for a second stolen term! So I've been reading both sides of every story, keeping a mental tab on stories that surface in the Dispatch and other papers about J. Kenneth Blackwell. To be honest, I don't think this smear campaign is going to hurt him. This man's connections go all the way to the top. We, as individuals, must begin thinking like he does in order to destroy him.

I believe every progressive, liberal, democrat, patriot, concerned citizen, and registered voter should vote Blackwell out of the race. And while we cannot simply raise our hands and ask that he be off the ballot, we can, however, use the voting system against him. Here's how.

Huge march planned for eve of Katrina evictions

A march had been planned for February 28, the eve of the scheduled March 1 evictions of Hurricane Katrina victims.  FEMA moved the evictions to March 15, so activists have moved the march to March 14.  A press conference on Capitol Hill will be followed by a march through Washington, D.C., past FEMA, past the Department of Homeland Security, and to the White House, where a permit has been obtained to rally in Lafayette Square Park until midnight.  If Bush does not meet the marchers' demands, however, many plan not to leave.

The demands are for a serious housing plan for those already evicted and those still in hotels, and an end to evictions.  Another way of putting it is that the marchers will be demanding that the federal government cease violating the law by working to exclude people from a city on the basis of race and class. 

Last night Reverend Lennox Yearwood, whom many saw on television being tossed out of a Congressional hearing for questioning Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, and who has received death threats for his activism, convened an organizing meeting and formed committees to put together as large a march as possible.

Time to disband Homeland security and renew democracy

In the aftermath of 9-11, American politics and government went slightly insane. America turned its collective back on 200 plus years of successful democratic government and turned toward its dark side. The national security state began to be seen as needed and desirable. This insane model of government always puts the State over the Individual and becomes both corrupt and dictatorial. Examples in history are numerous.

The United States of America began as a reaction to corrupt, dictatorial rule from the English monarchy. In modern times, the world has seen “national security” states arise in Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, the Soviet Union, Pinochet Chile, and Franco Spain. Other examples can be found all over the globe. Dictatorial powers were seized by corrupt political figures with ardent followers blinded by ideology following “national security” crises in every example. After 9-11, we started speeding down that slippery slope. It is not too late for us as a nation to come to a screeching halt and return to our American political traditions should we make that choice as a nation.

White House ‘discovers’ 250 emails related to Plame leak

The White House turned over last week 250 pages of emails from Vice President Dick Cheney’s office senior aides had sent in the spring of 2003 related to the leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald revealed during a federal court hearing Friday.

The emails are said to be explosive, and may prove that Cheney played an active role in the effort to discredit Plame Wilson’s husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a vocal critic of the Bush administration’s prewar Iraq intelligence, sources close to the investigation said.

Sources close to the probe said the White House “discovered” the emails two weeks ago and turned them over to Fitzgerald last week.  The sources added that the emails could prove that Cheney lied to FBI investigators when he was interviewed about the leak in early 2004. Cheney said that he was unaware of any effort to discredit Wilson or unmask his wife’s undercover status to reporters.

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