EP-RANTS!

Dealing with Conservatives And so, those of us with progressive values have been relegated to the status of the underdog. We are in the minority of the house, the senate, and the courts. Our voices are often muffled by the parties in power that administrate the government, control the corporate puppet strings, and speak the angry rhetoric on radio talk shows. The Neo-conservatives have no interest in moderation, and they continue to define the issues as they see fit. It’s an extremist movement that claims conservative values, yet continues to escalate massive government spending and increased control over personal freedoms. Many of us continue to go about business as usual, believing that activism is futile when the powers-that-be continue to hold the upper hand of America’s interests. There was a lot of anger at the current administration on so many different levels, but it’s difficult to argue with a 51% advantage, even if it might have been manufactured with questi...

Post-Election blues image swiped from Sutton Impact Studio There's a lot of very disturbing reports emerging from aftermath of the election. Unless someone has something to hide, there's absolutely no reason to not sign this petition. Let's dig up the facts, and find out if there's any legitimacy to all the different claims. Why did Cuyahoga County, Ohio report 93,000 more votes than actual voters? This is just the tip of the iceberg, I've been told. There's some seriously weird stuff going on...... We DO need better accountability. How about Petition to Congress requesting an investigation into the Presidential Election of 2004? http://www.petitiononline.com/uselect/petition.html The American government has certainly spent a lot of money for seemingly useless investigations over the years. When it comes to confirming the legitimacy of democracy, we cannot afford to compromise on this sort of thing. If you need more information...

Random quotes of the day "You know what the problem is? We're trapped in one of those alternate universes where the South won the Civil War or dinosaurs evolved to be cunning, ruthless dictators. There's no other explanation." - Annalee Newitz, AlterNet, "Suck My Left One"- November 10, 2004 http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/20465 "The president and his people are deluding themselves if they think his victory signified general approval of his record, even within the Republican Party. It was fear of Senator John Kerry's liberal record that brought many critical Republicans back into the Bush camp on Election Day even though they were decidedly unhappy with his record of deficit spending, his increases in the size and scope of the federal government, his lax immigration policies and his handling of postwar Iraq." - Lyn Nofziger, former aide to President Ronald Reagan, New York Times editorial- November 7, 2004 http://w...

Don't Mourn, Organize! A long campaign comes to an end, and there's no shortage of opinion about what went wrong with the democratic campaign. One of the best pieces of advice I discovered on early Wednesday morning as prepared for a work assignment came from Meteor Blades (great name) of DailyKos . To recycle a phrase by IWW activist Joe Hill almost 100 years ago..... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 'Don't Mourn, Organize' by Meteor Blades Wed Nov 3rd, 2004 at 10:10:13 GMT OK. I read thousands of comments and dozens of Diaries last night and this morning. And you know something? I’m going to forget I read most of them. Just erase them from memory along with the names of those who posted them. Chalk them up to adrenaline crashes, too much rage and reefer and booze. Because what I found in my reading was a plethora of bashing Christians, bashing Kerry, bashing gays, bashing Edwards, bashing Kos, bashing America and bashing each other. As we...

It Ain't Over Til It Over- Greg Palast on Election I'm glad John Kerry did not give a concession speech, despite the disapointing election returns at 2:30 am east coast time,11:30 west coast time. This is a tight race, and we deserve accurate figures before anyone's' declared a winner. Yesterday, Greg Palast provided some insight on this election, and why it deserves greater scrutiny. We can wait.... as long as it takes. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * An Election Spoiled Rotten TomPaine.com Monday, November 1, 2004 by Greg Palast It's not even Election Day yet, and the Kerry-Edwards campaign is already down by a almost a million votes. That's because, in important states like Ohio, Florida and New Mexico, voter names have been systematically removed from the rolls and absentee ballots have been overlooked—overwhelmingly in minority areas, like Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, where Hispanic voters have a 500 percent greater chance of their vo...

Bin Laden Plan to Bankrupt U.S. Through War Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden said he is trying to bankrupt the U.S. through its war on terror, a strategy he says felled the Soviet Union two decades ago in Afghanistan, according to a translation by al-Jazeera television of his full, videotaped statement. ``The mujahedeen recently forced Bush to resort to emergency funds to continue the fight in Afghanistan and Iraq, which is evidence of the success of the bleed-until-bankruptcy plan -- with Allah's permission,'' bin Laden said in the video that aired on the Qatar-based satellite network, according to the translation, posted today to al-Jazeera's Web site. The channel aired portions of the statement on Oct. 29. READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE AT: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aQwY7PFwX6oI&refer=us

Songs to Dump Dubya By and other great links Buzzflash has great links with their Afternoon Buzz feature. Here's some great links from today's Buzz: Songs to Dump Dubya By -- The 2004 Election Soundtrack by Maureen Farrell http://www.buzzflash.com/farrell/04/11/far04037.html Gore Vidal, Novelist, Essayist, Playwright, and Provocateur, tells BuzzFlash why George W. Bush is going to lose the election - A Special BuzzFlash Election Eve Interview http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/04/11/int04057.html Remembering Bush's dead on Election Day http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=18003 1123 Official U.S. Military Fatalities, 7532 Wounded in Iraq. Bush Lied, Soldiers Keep Dying. http://icasualties.org/oif/