Tuesday, 2 June 2009
Taking Turns
We have all heard many times the justification for Affirmative Action.
It is we are informed, corrective action to redress discrimination of the Past.
Well it seems that in the Post Racial Era of the Obama administration that activity has been expanded to include Voter Intimidation.
Makes sense, the Klan did it after all, it is now someone else's turn?
From the Washington Times
Black Panthers had wielded weapons, blocked polls
By Jerry Seper (Contact) | Friday, May 29, 2009
Justice Department political appointees overruled career lawyers and ended a civil complaint accusing three members of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense of wielding a nightstick and intimidating voters at a Philadelphia polling place last Election Day, according to documents and interviews.
The incident - which gained national attention when it was captured on videotape and distributed on YouTube - had prompted the government to sue the men, saying they violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act by scaring would-be voters with the weapon, racial slurs and military-style uniforms.
Career lawyers pursued the case for months, including obtaining an affidavit from a prominent 1960s civil rights activist who witnessed the confrontation and described it as "the most blatant form of voter intimidation" that he had seen, even during the voting rights crisis in Mississippi a half-century ago.
Some time back I heard a radio personality from Cincinnati, Mike McConnell say something I thought very profound.
He said that when we use terms like Reverse Discrimination, it is wrong, because we are accepting something that is not true.
That there is a third state in addition to Discrimination and Not Discrimination.
That is one of the Big Lies that some think can become truth if it is repeated loud enough and often enough.
THIS Man believed differently,
On 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.
Dr Martin Luther King said, I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where
they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
He did not say, "I have a dream that one day it will be OUR turn to intimidate Voters."
It would seem that some Political Appointees in our Government don't know that,
We must remind them.
Sunday, 31 May 2009
What They Don't Tell Us
Clichés are clichés because they express obvious or Universal Truths.
There are two sayings in Politics that I am certain are familiar to all of us.
One person can not make a difference,
All politics are Local.
The first we are continuously told.
The second is an Article of Faith in the Political World.
The reasons for that dichotomy should be obvious, we have power that they do not wish us to realize.
Recent events have proven to me that one person, what they think, do, say, write, can institute change,
Maybe not in the entire system, but in the way people think.
When one person says what others are thinking, people realize that they are not alone in their thoughts, and that together, they DO have a power to initiate Change.
Now it is true that we here on the Local Level can not change the entire system,
But we CAN change what happens in our neighborhood and act as examples to people elsewhere.
When enough neighborhoods take control of their destiny on the Local Level, then the entire system WILL change.
I have presented to Linn County Iowa, the idea that there are things we need to change,
There HAS been a response, People HAVE been listening or rather reading. I can tell that by my server logs.
So we must gather together to address the problems in our neighborhood,
Those of you from elsewhere are responsible for your neighborhoods and your own destiny.
We all change our own backyards for the better, everything change.
Baby steps to start, when we have our side of the street cleaned, then we can move on to the District, State and National Level.
Just remember that bit about one person not being able to make a difference?
Is a LIE.
Where Did My First Amendment Go?
They say you often don't realize how important some things are until they are GONE.
We better start paying attention, because there are some very important things , that the Powers in Office, seem to find inconvenient.
This in from the incomparable Captain Ed Morrissey over at Hot Air
White House: We’ll cut off criticism of Porkulus
I don't know about anyone else but this sounds a lot like
" abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
“First, we will expand the restriction on oral communications to cover all persons, not just federally registered lobbyists. For the first time, we will reach contacts not only by registered lobbyists but also by unregistered ones, as well as anyone else exerting influence on the process. We concluded this was necessary under the unique circumstances of the stimulus program."
Go hither and find out what the PTBs think you no longer need.
Make no mistake friends this is as much of an attack on the basic structure of our Republic as the British attack on Fort McHenry, which inspired these immortal words:
Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
America IS under attack, we must as our forefathers have done down through the generations, spring to her Defense.
I will put my trust in the American People.
Every person in our Military has taken an Oath to:
support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same
25 Million Veterans have taken this Oath and their ranks are swelled by every Red Blooded American who holds the Constitution as Sacred.
and they will speak with one Voice that will resound from Shore to Shore
UP THE CONSTITUTION!
Cross Posted at Committees of Correspondence
Friday, 29 May 2009
You CAN Lie To Computers.
Speaking in passing today with a friend who has been following my Posts, I told him that I would welcome comments.
He then mentioned the registration form in the comments window.
So THAT must be the bottleneck on comments here?
I can understand why some may not wish to fill in their Name, Homepage or Email Address.
Well I have some GOOD News for those who are bothered by that requirement.
You don't have to.
You CAN lie to the Computer and the Blog Software here.
It won't KNOW it.
You can fill anything you want to on those lines.
You can even leave them BLANK
and your comment will show up as from "anonymous"
At the risk of being thought as having a Multiple Personality Disorder
I will create a demonstration,
I will coment under the pseudonyms
Demon-in-Darkness
Kumbaiyah-Bambi
Wannabe-Che
and
McLenin
and will leave the fields blank in one comment so you can see what happens with the comment software
Warning the above personas may not agree and you might be intering a Flame War Zone.
So Beware. ;-)
Fiscal Newspeak
Newspeak a creation in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. it's characteristics are
The purpose of Newspeak was not only to provide a medium of expression for the world-view and mental habits proper to the devotees of IngSoc, but to make all other modes of thought impossible.
It was intended that when Newspeak had been adopted once and for all and Oldspeak forgotten, a heretical thought
-- that is, a thought diverging from the principles of IngSoc -- should be literally unthinkable,
at least so far as thought is dependent on words.
Its vocabulary was so constructed as to give exact and often very subtle expression to every meaning that a Party member could properly wish to express,
while excluding all other meaning and also the possibility of arriving at them by indirect methods.
I encountered what might be an example of this during an online debate with one of our local elected officials recently concerning the LOST (Local Option Sales Tax) Ballot initiative.
The Gentleman was delighted and celebrating the Victory of a Tax Increase.
To which I took exception, an occurrence that should come as no surprise to anyone who has been reading the posts on this website.
Now I am sanguine about Tax increases, their major premise seems to have been that it would not have been Fiscally Responsible to NOT support the New Tax since for an estimated $13 Million in Tax Revenue raised the State would remit to the Municipality $20 Million.
Say that again? Spending 54% more than Tax Revenue is Fiscal Responsibility,
In WHAT Universe?
Oh I see, it's fiscally responsible since the extra $7 Million will come from Taxes on citizens who do not live in your Municipality?
Like ME for instance?
My thoughts on these subjects run on the order of
Americans don't save money, as a rule we spend it.
When you spend money, that increases the demand for goods and services.
An increase in demand for goods and services, helps create jobs.
I consider the above on the order of
Run Spot, Run
When you Tax money, the public does not spend it, does not increase the demand for goods and services and does not help create jobs.
But Dan you might say, the STATE and the Municipalities will spend that money and help create jobs.
True, but a portion of it will be absorbed in the Cost of Government.
That will also create jobs, jobs, for Government Employees.
So you can leave the money in the General Economy and create jobs there, or Tax it and create jobs in Government. The size of Government increases in Direct Proportion to an increase in Revenue and Budget,
I know what my choice is..
So to sum up the situation.
This Elected Official believes in
Increased Taxation
Increased Government Spending
Deficit Spending
Spreading the Wealth
An increase in the Size of Government.
For 10 Extra Credit Points, the Conservative Principles enshrined in the above ARE??
Did I mention the person is a REPUBLICAN?
Sigh, maybe it's not their fault. Maybe they just don't know any better.
We must EDUCATE them!
As a start in a Remedial Course in Political Philosophy, I think I will recommend.
I welcome input and comments and you do NOT have to fill out
the registration informaiton in the Comments Box, you will show
up as anonymous .
Thursday, 28 May 2009
I Will Not Be Silent
Word has reached me that some of the events taking place here in Linn County are seen as an embarrassment by some of our GOP Party Leaders in Des Moines.
One of whom called a gentleman here to discuss moderating the tone in order to enhance Party Unity.
One problem, is the Gentleman with whom he was speaking, does not happen to be in charge of any of these events,
Certainly not in charge of what I write,
Now he and another person from the previous Executive Board Circle DO receive from me emails with copies of my posts, but then so do the Present Chair and Co-Chair of the new Executive Board,
This happens AFTER I post my missives.
As I have severe philosophical differences with some of the events that have taken place recently, I will continue to speak out.
To the question, "What does this have to do with electing Republicans?"
My reply is, "How can we as a Party oppose Election Corruption and Violations of the Rule of Law, if we do not keep our own House clean?"
While I was musing on these matters I stumbled onto this song and despite it being from a Hillary PUMA supporter, I find it appropriate.
PUMA for those not in the know stands for
Party Unity My A#%
Now some of the verbiage is WAY past what I would claim, but it is IMO fitting at this cusp
Waif Of The Future
I call this post Waif of the Future, because it contains ideas that will remain orphans without support by the membership
In previous posts we have looked at the Form As that contain the information telling us, who Chaired, Acted as Secretary and those Elected to be County Central Committee Person selected during Precinct Caucuses.
Before the last Executive Board Election the information was assembled into a Credentials List.
I have that file Below
For those who do not have a program with which to view XLS files here is a link where you can go to download a Freeware Viewer
Open the Credentials File above look around in it. Find YOUR Precinct compare the Credentialed Voters listed there with the Form As for your Precinct.
I was contacted by one person about the Form A posts I put online.
They were grateful to find out that they had indeed filed it out as they remembered.
It seems that a person they were certain they had entered as a Central Committee member was not able to vote in the Executive Board Election and someone who Chaired the Meeting voted instead.
The Reason?
Well the ORDER that was on the Form A was altered when the names were transcribed to the XLS Credentials Form.
That was a mistake and happens.
I have had the luxury of assembling this information, in my own time, in my own home, without someone breathing down my neck and objecting to all and sundry entries.
So how do we prevent such mistakes?
Why not use the FORM As?
Not the originals, of course but we print replicas,
Put them in a folder?
Put them in an online resource in the same manner I did?
Works for me.
We can still have the XLS File and print that off for a quick all on one or two pages lookup.
But have the folder of the Printed Off Form A replicas as the Authoritative List.
There are some other very useful attributes of this system.
We use the Form A copies not only to comprise the Official Central Committee Members List,
But with a simple alteration it can also serve as an attendance record.
Take a look at this Form A
Mr Tim Pugh, who is a Committee Member from the 38th Precinct shows up at the Credentials Desk, he is looked up quickly in the XLS File and signs in, then he goes to the person who has the Form A Folder and initials the block for that Meeting.
Notice there are 48 Blocks above? A Committee Person has a Two year Term, or 24 monthly meetings.
We have a record.
There is something else we can do.
After the meeting the Secretary or someone else scans all of the Form As in our Folder.
Those images are uploaded into a Directory
With the SAME File name as the images already in it and replaces them.
Then if for instance someone from Precinct 38 want to see if Mr Pugh is actually attending meeting as representing their Precinct?
There is an online record.
One just like the one I showed you in
Now maybe Mr Pugh is NOT attending meetings as he should?
That person if they are concerned could appear before the Committee and at the least present themselves for consideration as a
Assistant Committee Person,
one who helps the Committee but only has Voting Rights in the absence of a Permanent Committee Person.
I don't really think what I have outlined is that difficult
Since I have in the last few days done pretty much what I have outlined on this website.
What do YOU Think
Comment! You CAN do it anonymously if you so wish.
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
What's So Confusing?
There has been talk about how confusing the Caucus Form As are, even suggestions that they needed to be rewritten
At the risk of being accused of being even more argumentative than I already have been
I disagree.
But unlike others, I will present samples and my reasons.
In a previous post I supplied links to all the Form As from the 2008 Precinct Caucuses, with the exception of 4 that are not available,
So let us look at some, First we have one not filled out, Perhaps there were no Republican there?
r
As you can see, there is a place at the top left for the Caucus Chairman
There is a place at the top right for the Caucus Secretary.
Then there are lines which state
The Precinct Committee persons who will represent Fill in Your Precinct Name here Precinct on the Fill in the Name of Your County here County Republican Central Committee are:
So what's so confusing?
As we will see, there was indeed a lot of confusion, but I do not think it was the fault of the Form A itself.
Let us look at a correctly filled out Form A
It has clearly listed, the Chair, the Secretary, the Precinct County Central Committee Members and is witnessed by the Chair and the Secretary
Now THIS Form A is a WORK OF ART!
Wasn't that nice?
Now let's look at one that is ALMOST perfect
Can anyone tell me what mistake was made on this Form A?
Correct it is the second Committee Person
Which seem to be listed and Alexander & Krista Kaminski
Now I realize the Wedding Ceremony says thing like these
two people are now one, but those Spiritual attributes do not hold for
Elective Office, only ONE of them can be a Central Committee Member
My suggestion to Alexander is to say "Yes Dear" if Krista wants to be it.
I believe we are getting the idea go back to the previous post
2008 Precinct Caucus Form As
Check out some Form As yourself
Remember the Rules?
Chair and Secretary on the Top of the Form where it says to put them
Then below these lines
The Precinct Committee persons who will represent Fill in Your Precinct Name here Precinct on the Fill in the Name of Your County here County Republican Central Committee are:
There should be TWO names, no more and ANY designation of Alternate etc does not exist in the Election Code.
But before you leave and go exploring here is one more example
One of the ways NOT to fill out a Form A Correctly.
Monday, 25 May 2009
2008 Precinct Caucus Form As
These links will take you to the information on 2008 Precinct Caucus Form As I will have a followup post titled
Which will have Samples of Form As
And a discussion on the ones filled out correctly, the ones almost correct and some that are way off base.
Why this is so and the implications
Marion Precincts Linn County Precincts |
Saturday, 23 May 2009
Memorial Day
A Moment of Silence and Peace for the Next Few Days in Respect for the Fallen
Arlington (Trace Adkins)
SOME GAVE ALL
Fallen
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from
time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants
Operation USO Care Package
PO BOX 8069
Topeka, Kansas 66608
1-877-USO-GIVE
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