October Surprise: Goverment Computers To Go Offline During Voter Registration Peak
AlterNet
October Surprise: Goverment Computers To Go Offline During Voter Registration Peak
By Wendy Weiser, Brennan Center for Justice
Posted on September 25, 2008, Printed on September 30, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/story/100392/
A recent alert by the Social Security Administration announces that the agency plans to shut down its databases for maintenance from October 11 through October 13. While this might not sound like an election issue, it turns out that this could significantly impede registration of first-time voters as well as the re-registration of eligible citizens.
Here's why. A 2002 federal law, the Help America Vote Act, requires all states to "coordinate" their voter registration databases with the Social Security database (and state motor vehicle databases) for the purpose of processing new voter registration forms. For the millions of voters who do not have current driver's licenses and register using the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, state election officials are required to try to match their voter registration information against Social Security records. But if the Social Security database is down—as it will be for four days—they won't be able to do that. Across the country, the processing of these voter registration forms will grind to a halt for four days.
The Hidden Cost of War
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=c3hp8Qaf_q0
Produced by Matt Owens and the "Athletics".
http://www.good.is/?p=12104
http://athleticsnyc.com/
http://motionographer.com/2008/09/29/good-the-hidden-cost-of-war/
In 2003, Donald Rumsfeld estimated a war with Iraq would cost $60 billion. Five years later, the cost of Iraq war operations is more than 10 times that estimate. So what's behind the ballooning figures? Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilme's exhaustively researched book, The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict, breaks down the price tag, from current debts to the unseen costs we'll pay for many years to come.
Pentagon on 9/11, Shoe Bombing, Bin Laden in the Soviet-Afghan War and More – Additions to the 9/11 Timeline as of September 28,
This week, a massive amount of new entries have been added to the timeline, dealing with a whole range of different issues. We will start with the day of 9/11, in particular the Pentagon, which a fire chief warned could be a target nearly 20 minutes before it was hit. The attack itself created confusion by setting off 300 fire alarms, although some medical workers thought the ensuing evacuation was a drill.
Governor Jesse Ventura Working on New Project for truTV to Investigate Conspiracy Theories
Governor Jesse Ventura Working on New Project for truTV to Investigate Conspiracy Theories
Monday September 29, 2:44 pm ET
Pilot From A. Smith & Co. Productions Begins Shooting Next Month
NEW YORK, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Jesse Ventura, a man who has lived a dangerous life, is about to explore mysteries behind the most compelling modern day conspiracy theories for truTV. Production of a pilot featuring Ventura begins in October. The project comes to truTV from A. Smith & Co. Productions.
Ventura will travel across the country, investigating cases and getting input from believers and skeptics to make a final determination about a theory's validity.
Ventura embodies truTV's promise to bring viewers real-life, high-stakes action and fascinating characters. Ventura was a U.S. Navy frogman/SEAL; a famous professional wrestler; mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minn.; and governor of Minnesota. All the while, Ventura maintained his reputation as a rebel and free-thinker.
Ventura is passionate about the world of conspiracy theories and holds non-traditional opinions on many of them. He has no qualms about questioning authority and seeking truth. No matter how dangerous, who is involved or what is uncovered, Ventura will hunt down answers, plunging viewers into a world of secret meetings, midnight surveillance, shifty characters and dark forces.
Ventura stated "I've been a mayor; I've been a governor. Now, I get to be a detective, and seek the truth."
Bush Had No Plan To Catch Bin Laden After 9/11
Source: ipsnews.net
By Gareth Porter*
WASHINGTON, Sep 29 (IPS) - New evidence from former U.S. officials reveals that the George W. Bush administration failed to adopt any plan to block the retreat of Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders from Afghanistan to Pakistan in the first weeks after 9/11.
That failure was directly related to the fact that top administration officials gave priority to planning for war with Iraq over military action against al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
As a result, the United States had far too few troops and strategic airlift capacity in the theatre to cover the large number of possible exit routes through the border area when bin Laden escaped in late 2001.
Because it had not been directed to plan for that contingency, the U.S. military had to turn down an offer by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in late November 2001 to send 60,000 troops to the border passes to intercept them, according to accounts provided by former U.S. officials involved in the issue.
hoo boy.
For those of you that have not been keeping up with current events, the DOW tanked over 700 points today after Congress refused to authorize the $700B bail-out plan.
This article seems to sum the situation up nicely.
And on a final note, this snapshot from CNBC's website should give you a firm indication of the general public's mindset ...
Silver Lining of the Economic Crash . . . A Window of Opportunity To Plant Seeds of Truth
http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2008/09/economic-crash-is-window-of-opportunity.html
The economic crash - as horrible as it is - has a silver lining.
It is a window of opportunity wake Americans up from their comfortable slumber and make them question their government.
Stalin said that dictatorships only last so long as the dictators keep their people well-fed. Americans have been strongly motivated not to question the government because they have been led to believe that if they just follow the party line, they'll get nice jobs, make a bundle of dough, buy into "the American dream". A crash has the possibility to awaken Americans from their long nap. It has the potential to get Americans to open their eyes and start questioning the lies they have been told by our government and their media lapdogs about virtually everything. Indeed, polls show that the economic crisis has increased Americans' distrust in government.
Congress Ends 9/11 Worker's Health Care Bill
Congress Ends 9/11 Workers' Health Care Bill
By: NY1 News
9/29/2008
Congress has abandoned legislation to provide billions of dollars in health care for September 11th recovery workers.
The program would have provided long term care for workers who were at the World Trade Center on or shortly after September 11, 2001 at an estimated cost of at least $5 billion.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg strongly objected to a part of the bill that would have forced the city to pay for 10 percent of the program, saying it would place an undue burden on city taxpayers.
In addition, the legislation would have reopened the federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, adding around $6 billion to the plan.
The legislation had the backing of several New York congressmen but was overshadowed by negotiations surrounding the financial bailout.
US Banking Collapse a 'Controlled Demolition' (and other tales)
US Banking Collapse a 'Controlled Demolition'
"We are in the middle of a crisis much larger than most Americans could imagine, a portion of America can't even handle it, for that matter. The Bailout is an awful idea, and the majority of Americans realize that. There is even a provision that would grant Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson dictatorial powers, and that is obviously insane, but here we are debating it. It's like asking a dead man whether he wants to be buried or cremated; it's a non issue and Congress is just playing a game to distract the American people. We need to move ahead, and we should begin with taking our country back from the tyrants."
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"Civil unrest resulting from from the financial meltdown is a distinct possibility, given the broad impacts of financial collapse on lifelong savings, pension funds, homeownership, etc.
The timing of this planned militarization is crucial: how will it affect the presidential elections scheduled for Tuesday November 4."
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E-voting Machines are a National Security Threat
"The video is posted in full below with ten short clips for You Tube viewing. This interview is so important and explosive that we urge everyone to watch it. Spoonamore says that the GOP wanted e-voting to steal elections but now foreign governments will be hacking and the winner will be determined by the best hackers. He says that if the GOP wins the hacking competition, McCain will win 51.2 percent with three electoral votes over Obama, and it will be a stolen election."
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DPC Uncovers Widespread Corruption Diverting American Tax Dollars To Al Qaeda
"We received startling and sobering news at the Senate Democratic Policy Committee hearing I chaired on Monday, September 22. Former high-level Iraqi government officials gave first-hand accounts of massive, widespread corruption in the Iraqi government, corruption that has diverted millions of American taxpayer dollars to al Qaeda."
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