Tricounty DFA Update: MLK Day Events Monday, Primaries, Electronic Voting News and more
Hello Everyone!

Special Note: It is now exactly one year until George W. Bush is out of office- January 20, 2009.

In This Update:

1. Martin Luther King Day Commemoration Monday
2. Primaries Continue-- Two Weeks To Super-Duper Tuesday
3. Breaking News From Bo Lipari At NYVV
4. Must Reads: Jim Hightower, Mitt and More
5. Friday Night Film Fest

1. Martin Luther King Day Commemoration Monday

The Greater Glens Falls area commemoration of Martin Luther King Day will be Monday, January 21st.

Courtesy of our hearty Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe host Matt Funiciello:

"Greetings, Local Friends of Civil Rights! Please join our community on Monday January 21st to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King. We meet at City Hall at 4:30 pm for a gathering and some brief remarks from Mayor Akins and Teresa Sayward and then we "march" over to Christ Church so that we can enjoy a full program of music and speakers to celebrate the legacy of one of America's great heroes. Our keynote speaker will be Adirondack native, Dr. Alice Green, a founder of the Center for Law and Justice, a non-profit organization that empowers poor people and people of color. Refreshments and a Book Giveaway will follow in Fellowship Hall (with donations from Rock Hill Cafe, Ridge Street, Kate Austin, Body Relief Spa, Cheryl Inglis and Enid Mastroianni). Full details are listed below. Please, please spread the word as this event has not really been covered very well by the media (as usual). ;-) Thanks and see you there!"

"Peace, Matt

The full listing of events is at the bottom.


2. Primaries Continue-- Two Weeks To Super-Duper Tuesday

In two days it will be two weeks until Super-Duper Tuesday, when 25 states, including New York, have their primaries. Yesterday's Nevada caucuses provided little clarity: Clinton apparently got the most votes, but Obama won the the most delegates. Edwards seems to be on the verge of being pushed out, which is unfortunate, even if you don't back him-- it'd be nice if we could get to say something about all of this first.

Florida and Michigan's delegates will not be seated at the Democratic Convention because those states broke the rules on when to hold their primaries, and they have around ten percent of the votes at the convention. If the candidates are tied, which seems to be the case now, that will make it harder for any candidate to assemble a majority. A hung and then brokered convention could become a real possibility. In that case we might not know the nominee until August.

McCain was the big winner yesterday for the Republicans-- which is raising talk he might chose Joe Lieberman as his running mate. Lieberman endorsed McCain and went to New Hampshire to campaign for McCain, which shows how little party labels can mean today, including Lieberman's rating of 80 from the ADA, 86 from AFSCME and 83 from the ACLU. And yet he might be the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate! It's going to be a freaky year.


3. Breaking News From Bo Lipari At NYVV

A couple of years ago we hosted Bo Lipari of New Yorkers For Verified Voting for a great presentation on the dangers of electronic voting. Bo has been working steadily on beating back the threat of electronic voting machines. Tonight he sent out news we may be finally seeing the threat of computerized vote stealing finally put to rest for good:

"NYS Board of Elections May Authorize Paper Ballots at January 23 Meeting- No DREs in New York State !
"Sources at the State Board of Elections tell me that the Board's inability to agree on Ballot Marking Devices could result in only one system being authorized at the Board's crucial meeting on Wednesday, 1/23/08 - a combination ballot marker and scanner which would virtually guarantee that New Yorkers will vote on paper ballots when lever machines are retired in 2009..."
http://nyvv.org/blog/2008/01/breakthrough-at-board.html

In theory the Legislature threw back to the counties and local elections commissioners the decision on which machines to buy for their communities. But they have to chose from a menu of machines approved by the state. If on optically-scanned paper ballots can't be certified, then that choice is meaningless and we will have, safe, secure, and, most important of all, recountable paper ballots.


4. Must Reads: Jim Hightower, Mitt and More

Drew sends along this piece from Jim Hightower on the slow, grinding down of Democrats by the Congress' failure to deal with Iraq and stand up to the Bush White House:

"The Democrats' fizzle in the face of the power-grabbing Bush administration is doing serious damage to America's political psyche..."
and
"Maybe they think that people aren't noticing this. Maybe they hope that since Bush & Buckshot are so awful, Congress will get a pass. Indeed, Bush's job-approval rating is now down to an all-time low of 24% in the latest Zogby poll. But get ready for a shock, Dems-Congress's job-approval rating is 11%. Eleven! Even among Democrats, the approval rating is a mere 14%. Tellingly, only 10% of union members and 8% of liberals give Congress a positive job-performance score." http://www.alternet.org/story/72875/?page=entire

Dick sends this along about Mitt Romney laying off workers then offering to hire them back at a lower wage: http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/05/31/romneys-business-experience-firing-%20workers-hiring-them-back-at-lower-wages/

I also put an article up on Blog For America and dKos on how progressives' allowing Iraq War to slip off the front burner was unjustified by the nature of a guerilla war, and hurting the chances for progressive reform: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/19/11516/4978/899/439456


5. Friday Night Film Fest

The Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe's Friday Night Progressive Film Festival continues with:

Fri Jan 25
BUYING THE WAR (2007) Bill Moyers 87 min.
Four years ago on May 1, President Bush landed on the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln wearing a flight suit and delivered a speech in front of a giant "Mission Accomplished" banner. He was hailed by media stars as a "breathtaking" example of presidential leadership in toppling Saddam Hussein. Despite profound questions over the failure to locate weapons of mass destruction and the increasing violence in Baghdad, many in the press confirmed the White House's claim that the war was won. MSNBC's Chris Matthews declared, "We're all neo-cons now;" NPR's Bob Edwards said, "The war in Iraq is essentially over;" and Fortune magazine's Jeff Birnbaum said, "It is amazing how thorough the victory in Iraq really was in the broadest context." How did the mainstream press get it so wrong? How did the evidence disputing the existence of weapons of mass destruction and the link between Saddam Hussein to 9-11 continue to go largely unreported? "What the conservative media did was easy to fathom; they had been cheerleaders for the White House from the beginning and were simply continuing to rally the public behind the President — no questions asked. How mainstream journalists suspended skepticism and scrutiny remains an issue of significance that the media has not satisfactorily explored," says Moyers. "How the administration marketed the war to the American people has been well covered, but critical questions remain: How and why did the press buy it, and what does it say about the role of journalists in helping the public sort out fact from propaganda?" Buying the War includes interviews with Dan Rather, formerly of CBS; Tim Russert of MEET THE PRESS; Bob Simon of 60 MINUTES; Walter Isaacson, former president of CNN; and John Walcott, Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel of Knight Ridder newspapers, which was acquired by The McClatchy Company in 2006.

Fri Feb 1 7:30 pm Adirondack Progressive Film Forum
SHADOW BOXERS (2002) Katya Bankowsky 72 min. No RT Rating
Lucia Rijker, an undefeated female boxer, is the centerpiece for this fascinating look at the world of female boxing. Revealing fascinating facts and behind-the-scenes insights into the sport, SHADOW BOXERS also illustrates how much is at stake in this extreme and often brutal world.


Thanks Everyone! Sorry not to get an update out last week-- I was very seriously under the weather. I will try to do at least bi-weekly ones going ahead. See you all soon! MLK events below,

Best,

Larry


*****
"Martin Luther King Day Program - From Dreamer to Revolutionary
in Glens Falls at City Hall and at Christ Church on January 21, 2008
Symbolic March & Gathering

4:30 – 4:45 pm Gather at City Hall
4:45 – 5:00 pm Remarks – Mayor Akins, Assemblywoman Sayward
5:00 – 5:10 pm Brief March to Christ Church
5:00 – 5:10 pm Brief March to Christ Church

Program at Christ Church
5:15 pm People are seated as Doctor King's “I Have A Dream” plays in the background
5:30 pm Welcome and Opening Prayer - Bruce Reese
5:35 pm African American Anthem - All Voices Choir
5:40 pm Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church Choir - Two Selections
5:50 pm Reverend Leonard Oates - “Preaching In The Wilderness”
6:00 pm Full Foundation Church Choir - Two Selections
6:10 pm “Blackbird” (The Beatles) - Neal Herr
6:15 pm Introduction of Keynote - Matt Funiciello
Doctor Alice Green - “From Dreamer To Revolutionary”
6:30 pm “When The Ship Comes In” (Bob Dylan) - Cory Avon
6:35 pm All Voices Choir - “America The Beautiful” & “Let There Be Peace On Earth”

Labels: Bo Lipari, Democracy For America, Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area, DFA, Iraq War, John Edwards, Martin Luth King Day, NYVV, Obama Hillary Clinton, Primaries

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 11:36 PM