Tricounty DFA Weekend Pre Election Flash
Hello Everyone;

In This Update for October 30th, 2008:


1. Final Vigil For Peace & Troops Home Saturday, 11am
2. Obama Actions: No Time For Complacency!
3. Yes We Carve!
4. Saturday Night Progressive Film Festival



1. Final Vigil For Peace & Troops Home Saturday, 11am

Six years ago, vigils against the war in Iraq started downtown, started by local peace activists, including our own Bernice Mennis. DFA did not exist then, but we kept them going. Now, with what we expect to be a new Democratic President, those doing the vigil have agreed it will no longer be appropriate to keep them going with a newly elected President committed to ending the war.

Accordingly, we will be holding the very last vigil for peace and to bring our troops home this Saturday, November 1st, from 11am until Noon, at the corners of Bay, Glen and South Streets in downtown Glens Falls, in front of the Civil War monument.

This has been going on for many years, and for old times sake, it would be nice to have a big crowd to show our continuing resistance to the war and those who kept it going! As always, bring a friend and a sign.


2. Obama Actions: No Time For Complacency!

Although the polls are looking good for Obama, let's remember, we've seen that before. Anyone remember how Obama was supposed to win New Hampshire?

It is no time for complacency. If you have free time in the next few days, it's very important not to waste that time-- there are still things that can be done to make sure Obama is the next president of the United States.

I am constantly hearing from people just stricken with anxiety that we will lose the White House again. The only antidote to that anxiety is effective action.


Moveon Party In Schuylerville

There will be a Moveon calling party this evening in Schuylerville at 6:30. This is a very smart, well organized effort to call people in swing states and get them to volunteer for Obama:

http://pol.moveon.org/pac/event/events/event3.html?event_id=82771

Calling

You can still call for Obama from home. By registering with the campaign, you are given instructions and an interactive list of names to call out of state-- the website is terrific, very easy to use, you go down a list of names, and click off the response:

http://my.barackobama.com/modules/votercontact/login_signup.php


Donating

Needless to say, the Obama campaign is still trying to raise money.

https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/standardmagnetalt?source=mainnav_bt_nsu_dg

3. Yes We Carve!

It's Halloween tomorrow! If you haven't carved your pumpkin yet, check out Yes We Carve, for stencils to create Obama themed Jack-O-Lanterns, featuring either the candidate himself, or the Obama sunrise logo. Some of these are great! http://yeswecarve.com/ and http://yeswecarve.com/category/stencils/ and http://yeswecarve.com/category/stencils/page/2/


4. Saturday Night Progressive Film Festival

The Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe will continue its Saturday Night Progressive Film Festival with the very timely:

SAT NOV 1 7:00 pm SATURDAY SCREENINGS ** ELECTION SPECIAL ** Free.
AMERICAN BLACKOUT (2006) Ian Inaba 86 min. RT Rating = 73 %
Ian Inaba's American Blackout is a stylish, intelligent, and provocative documentary that looks at the historic and systematic disenfranchisement of the black vote through the lens of the political career of Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-Georgia). George W. Bush's narrow victory in 2000 launched an historic investigation into Florida's election process. Public focus was on dysfunctional ballots and the Supreme Court litigation, but Inaba's inquiry leads him to Congresswoman McKinney, who investigated the private company hired by the state of Florida to generate voter lists, which effectively shut out the black vote and handed Bush an unlikely victory. While tracking McKinney's career, Inaba reveals a host of ways in which black political power is systematically squelched, ranging from the slander that assailed McKinney when she stood up to the Bush administration on 9/11 and Iraq, to the political machinations that disempowered the black vote in the Georgia Democratic primaries and the Ohio presidential election in 2004. Inaba reminds us that African Americans have long fought a war inside our country for their right to vote, and unfortunately that war rages on today. American Blackout emotionally revitalizes the core of our power as American citizens – the right to vote – and effectively reveals that the fate of black voters is inextricably tied to the fate of all Americans.

Thanks everyone! There will be another pre-election update Sunday night. Have a fun Halloween.

Larry

Labels: Democracy For America, Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area, DFA, elections, Iraq War, Michelle Obama, Obama, Obama Phonebanking, Obama rally, vigil

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 2:00 PM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: Vigil Saturday, McCain's Seven Houses, Circuit Breaker
Hello Everyone;

In this update for August 21, 2008:


1. VIgil Saturday, Downtown Glens Falls, 11am
2 The House of the Seven McCains
3. Conservatives & POW's Warn Against McCain
4. WFP Appeals For Property Tax Circuit Breaker
5. Friday Night Film Fest


1. VIgil Saturday, Downtown Glens Falls, 11am

We will be holding our usual vigil for peace and to bring our troops home this Saturday, August 23rd at 11am at the corners of Bay, Glen and South Streets in downtown Glens Falls, in front of the CIvil War Monument. Please come and bring a sign and a friend! As usual, if there are other events downtown, we will relocate to the roundabout.


2 The House of the Seven McCains

It's been a pretty dark week for John McCain, one reminiscent of the gothic gloom of Hawthorne's House Of The Seven Gables. In McCain's case Hawthorne might be paraphrased, Gaffs Of The Seven Houses. Wednesday he was asked by the website magazine Politico how many houses he and his heiress wife Cindy owned. His answer was (and I am not making this up!) "I'm not sure... I'll have to check with my staff."

Obama promptly ridiculed his answer-- McCain wants to run for President and he has to ask his staff how many houses he owns? http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-campaign22-2008aug22,0,751005,full.story

Filmmaker Robert Greenwald has a video out showing some of McCain's million dollar mansions: http://therealmccain.com/?utm_source=rgemail


3. Conservatives & POW's Warn Against McCain

Also, one of McCain's former POW cellmates at the so-called Hanoi Hilton prison in North Vietnam wrote a column for military.com detailing his long personal knowledge of McCain, dating back to when they were both at Annnapolis, spelling out a veteran and former POW's case why McCain should not be trusted with power: http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,164859_1,00.html

Roger also sends along this remarkable piece from conservative CNN columnist Jack Cafferty. "Jack Cafferty says John McCain shows virtually no intellectual curiosity, emulating President Bush" and would be just like him: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/18/cafferty.mccain/index.html


4. WFP Appeals For Property Tax Circuit Breaker

The State Assembly this week passed a property tax "circuit breaker" that would limit property taxes paid by working people by imposing a small tax increase on millionaires. This is a big breakthrough for New York that could do wonders for average working New Yorkers and help revitalize the state economy.

The WFP now has an email campaign to get the State Senate to take up and pass this important bill, which would really beneft huge numbers of people in our area. For the petition and more info: http://action.workingfamiliesparty.org/t/2775/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2280

There's also a calculator to tell you how much you would save. Try it and I suspect you'll see why this really matters.

5. Friday Night Film Fest

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

FRI AUG 22 7:30 pm SUMMER FAMILY FILM FEST (Oft-overlooked free family movies all summer long)
GREGORY'S GIRL (1981) Bill Forsyth 91 min. RT Rating = 92 %
Lanky young Gregory and his schoolmates are just starting to notice the opposite sex. Lacking confidence and unsure of exactly what to do, Gregory sets out to win the heart of Dee, a classmate who unfortunately is much better at soccer than he is. Scottish director Bill Forsyth imbues this small, heartfelt, and singularly quirky tale of adolescent longing with an astoundingly generous dose of sensitivity and true-to-life heart.

Thanks everyone!

Larry

Labels: Democracy For America, Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area, DFA, elections, Iraq War, John McCain, Obama, Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 11:26 PM 0 comments

 
Voting Machine Victory Message From Bo Lipari of New Yorkers For Verified Voting
Hello Everyone!

A major-- and very favorable-- turning point for our democracy occurred today here in the State of New York. Many of us will recall the presentation two years ago by Bo Lipari of New Yorkers For Verified Voting. Today Bo announced a decisive victory in the New York State Board of Elections-- NY will not be voting on unreliable, unsecure touchscreen voting machines that can be hacked. American democracy may have been saved. Stalin once joked, it's not who votes that counts, but who counts the voters. But we have been saved from that spectre. There will be no stolen elections here.

There were many who worked ceaselessly for this victory, but clearly none contributed more than Bo Lipari himself, and to him a special laurel is due.

His announcement is in full below.

Also in the news tonight: our Kucinich supporters, both from this year and 2004, will be saddened to hear that Kucinich is dropping out of the race for President. Whether one was for Dennis or not is not the issue-- two thirds of the Democratic candidates have now dropped out, with 95% or more of the electorate still to be heard from. That cannot be considered healthy for our democracy. There is still much to be done!

Larry


Begin forwarded message:

From: "Bo Lipari"
Date: January 24, 2008 3:15:58 PM EST
To: "Bo Lipari"
Subject: Breaking News - NY rejects DREs!

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then
you win."
-Mohandas Gandhi

I'm pleased to announce that after five years of hard work on the part of
voting integrity advocates, New York State has rejected DREs and approved
only the Automark and the Sequoia ImageCast scanner/marker for use in 2008
polling places. This momentous decision by the State Board of Elections
virtually guarantees that New York State will vote on paper ballots and
ballot scanners when it finally replaces lever machines in 2009.

Those of you who were with us at the beginning five years ago know what an
enormous victory this is. When I first started traveling, presenting and
advocating in New York, election officials, political parties, and the media
assumed that New York State was going to be a DRE state. Precinct scanners
were not under discussion, and only DREs were offered by vendors. Our
experience over these five years reflects the truth of Gandhi's statement -
indeed we were ignored, then laughed at, then fought bitterly by the voting
machine vendors and their supporters in the election establishment. But
finally, truth has prevailed, and what seemed like an impossible dream in
2003 has been made real by our hard work - New York State will be a paper
ballot state.

Just yesterday, it seemed like high powered lobbyists had scuttled our hopes
once again as they maneuvered to keep DREs in the mix even though they were
in clear violation of New York's laws(see my blog entry describing
yesterday's events at http://nyvv.org/blog/2008/01/breakdown-at-board.html).
But this morning, when the Board reconvened, it was immediately obvious from
the commissioners opening statements that those who were pushing for the
DREs had conceded defeat. No small amount of thanks is due to Commissioner
Doug Kellner (D), who firmly held the line yesterday and during a long night
of backroom political maneuvering, vowing he would never approve the DRE
submissions which did not fulfill the requirements of New York State
election law regarding accessible voting machines.

While technically it is possible for a DRE vendor to submit and win approval
for the 2009 lever machine replacement, this is highly unlikely as at least
half of the HAVA funds will be spent on scanner compatible ballot markers.
Since all the approved systems are components of a precinct based scanner
system the least expensive path, and the only sensible one is for the
counties to complete their HAVA implementation with paper ballots and
scanners. We've learned to never be complacent, but this time we have reason
to be confident that the scanner compatible choices of today will inevitably
lead to paper ballots for all New York voters tomorrow.

My deepest thanks to everyone who fought this long, difficult battle. This
is only round 1, and I promise you we will have much, much more to do to
guarantee that our elections belong to the public, and are transparent and
observable. But for today, let's break out the champagne, relax, and
celebrate this great victory. What was once only a slogan representing what
we were fighting for, has now become a reality - Paper Ballots for New York!

Congratulations friends. Together we have changed the course of New York
States election history, and 12 million registered voters in the Empire
State will vote on paper ballots, not DREs.

-Bo Lipari

Labels: Bo Lipari, elections, Kucinich, verified voting

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 10:43 PM 0 comments