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Electronic voting machines

*  i live in brasil and was an election observer for their 2002 general election.  they use an electronic touch screen that also gives a paper record and a recorded diskette.  i was amazed at the ease of use and the redundancies to ensure that votes are counted correctly and can be audited.  in that election the polls closed about 8pm.  all votes were counted with 4-5 hours, even from remote towns in the amazon.

*  i hope either you or someone else as interested will contact the brasilian electoral authorities and find out more about the machines.  they cost about $500 each and each polling place had a couple of spares.

*  we don't need a repeat of the 2000 coup d'etat.

Sierra Club board problem

Are you a Sierra Club member?

The future of the Sierra Club is at stake.

Outsiders are trying to take over the Club by placing stealth candidates on the Club's board ballot this year.  This is driven by anti-immigration activists, and their tactics are underhanded -- they aren't declaring their real issue positions to members. They hope that low participation and confusion will allow them to stack the board of directors.

You can stop this, but you must vote now in the Sierra Club board election.  You probably have already received the ballot in the mail.

We've attached below an outreach from Groundswell Sierra -- a volunteer network of Sierra Club members working to defeat this threat.  This outreach includes a list of endorsed candidates. We recommending printing this email and having it on hand as you fill out your ballot.

If you'd like more information on this threat, go to:

http://www.groundswellsierra.org/takeover_index.php

Thank you,

-Carrie, Joan, Noah, Peter, and Wes

SATIRE: 'The things that make men men': Leaked White House Transcript (10)

Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, Ridge, Rumsfeld, Rove

KARL ROVE: Gentlemen, we have a problem. It's called Spain.

PRESIDENT BUSH: This had better be serious, Karl. Your little emergency phone call here is costing me gym time. You know I don't go for that.

SECRETARY RIDGE: Sir, the bombs that went off in Spain killed some two hundred people. It's the worst terrorist attack in the history of Europe.

PRESIDENT BUSH: So?

SECRETARY RIDGE: The entire continent is saddened and traumatized. These were ordinary civilians, with families. Some were children, even pregnant women. Spain has been at peace for a half-century. Blood was everywhere. It's a terrible human tragedy.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Karl, what the hell is this guy whining about? Is there a purpose to this meeting?

KARL ROVE: We lost the election.

VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: We had this timed out pretty carefully, George. Two days was just about the right gap before a national ballot. We figured the bombs would go off, the nation would freak out, be furious with ETA or Al Quaeda or both, and our hard-liners would sail in.

Lying liars . . .

AUSTIN, Texas -- My, we are off to an elegant start here, aren't we?

            First, we have John Kerry in a classic open-mike gaffe referring to his Republican opponents as "crooked" and "lying." While this was not a high point in the history of political rhetoric, Kerry's refusal to apologize for the overhead remark promptly solidified his base.

            "Hey, he's got more guts than I thought," said many a pleased Democrat, convinced the Bushies (SET ITAL) are (END ITAL) all liars and crooks. So he is now free to go forth and talk of health care.  

            Naturally, the Republicans postured in comically pretend outrage and demanded an apology. The indictment brought back happy memories of the Bush open-mike gaffe in 2000, in which he called a reporter "an asshole" and then refused to apologize. But we are now on Election Year Double Standard Time, a time zone in which your side lies constantly and my side is noble, true and brave -- except for those moments when the other side's despicable conduct forces our side to get tough, too.

WARationale!

To support or not to support; the Nader question

Things may be shaping up nicely for Ralph Nader, who could very soon receive an unlikely endorsement from the Ross Perot founded Texas Reform Party. This may prove to be a huge victory for Nader's solo candidacy, as the support from the conservative Reformers could help him gain ballot access for the upcoming November election.

As you well know, Texas is not renowned for its democratic virtues or integrity (remember Trent Lott's legislative redistricting?).  And now Nader faces numerous hurdles as he attempts to get his name on the state's ballot.   Texas requires over 64,000 signatures by its May 10th deadline, and nobody who cast a vote in its presidential primary can sign his petition.   But that's where the Reform Party may lend a helping hand.

Un-registered Third Parties are required to garner only 45,540, with a slightly later deadline of May 24th. Independants are not currently recognized as a Third Party, and in Texas only Democrats and Republicans are reserved special access to the state's ballot.

Nader would of course openly embrace the Reform Party's support, but claims

Letter to the Editor- SUV safety

There is a major debate in this country over the costs and benefits of sport utility vehicles. SUV owners want room, safety and power and an ego boost that comes from driving the biggest car on the road, while the anti-SUV crowd claims these vehicles are unsafe for other drivers, the environment and the driver and passengers in SUV.

     Rather than arguing about the value of these popular vehicles, we need to focus on building better ones. The Union of Concerned Scientists has developed a blueprint for an SUV that, for a minimal price increase, could save thousands of lives from rollover and crash-related accidents, get 30% better gas mileage, and not sacrifice an inch of room or an ounce of power. In this era of divisions between the United States and the Middle East, we need to gain energy independence so that we ourselves can be independent.

     SUV drivers deserve better choices. Just like seat belts and air bags were, these improvements are already feasible and long overdue. It’s time Detroit and Washington made the safety of our families and our environment a

Gay marriage: a step back in freedom's faltering march

I'm for anything that terrifies Democrats, outrages Republicans and upsets the apple cart. But exultation about the gay marriages cemented in San Francisco, counties in Oregon and New Mexico and some cities in New York is entirely misplaced.

        Why rejoice when the state extends its grip? Assimilation is not liberation. Peter Tatchell, the British gay leader, put it even more strongly a couple of years ago: "Equality is a good start, but it is not sufficient. Equality for queers inevitably means equal rights on straight terms, since they are the ones who dominate and determine the existing legal framework. We conform -- albeit equally -- with their screwed up system. That is not liberation. It is capitulation."

        So the good news, as my favorite paper, UltraViolet (newsletter of LAGAI -- Queer Insurrection) recently put it, is not that 400 gay couples are now legally married in San Francisco but that 69,201 in the city (UltraViolet's number) are still living in sin.

Abducting Democracy: A MADRE Statement on Haiti's 33rd Coup d'etat

On February 29, 2004, Haiti's first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was overthrown for the second time in 13 years. The opposition gangs that placed millions of Haitians under siege are armed with sophisticated weapons, including US-made M-16s and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. This was no popular insurgency from Haiti's grassroots, but a military operation funded and orchestrated by the US. The nucleus of the armed opposition is the FRAPH paramilitary that overthrew Aristide in 1991. When the US restored Aristide to power in 1994, the Marines were ordered not to disarm the FRAPH. Instead, the death squads were treated as a legitimate opposition and left in the wings to serve as a contingency plan to Aristide. With the implementation of that plan, the Bush Administration offers yet another display of its contempt for democracy, sending a clear signal from Haiti about how it will treat any defenseless country that it cannot fully control.

To view this article in full, visit: www.madre.org/country_haiti_abductingdemocracy.html

FREE '3-STRIKES' VIDEO; 2 weeks left for 'initiative to amend' to qualify

March 6th I videotaped the event commemorating the 10th anniversary of California's 3 Strikes Law at Leimart Park in Los Angeles, which included family members of some of the more than 7500 currently serving 25-to-life sentences under the law.  There were only about 100 in attendance, which is particularly shocking because the initiative to modify the law, so that it only pertains to serious crimes, has only 2 more weeks to qualify for the ballot.

I will be happy to send a copy of the 2-hour videotape of the event, together with a petition to pass, to anyone that will commit to collecting at least a few signatures and submitting them before the April 1st deadline. A donation of $3 to help with postage and materials will be requested but will not be required of those who collect signatures and mail them in before the deadline. Extra copies of the videotape sent at the same time will also be available upon request for an extra $2 each. Please specify the total number of "3-Strikes videos" you would like when you order, and send your remittance after they come. I will include an envelope for your remittance with my address on it.

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