Diebold demands that HBO cancel documentary on voting machines - "Diebold Inc. insisted that cable network HBO cancel a documentary that questions the integrity of its voting machines, calling the program inaccurate and unfair. The program, "Hacking Democracy," is scheduled to debut Thursday, , five days before the 2006 U.S. midterm elections. The film claims that Diebold voting machines aren't tamper-proof and can be manipulated to change voting results."
Remember to Vote, Hope It Counts - "ON Nov. 7, many voters will encounter new voting machines, new computerized voter lists and new rules regarding registration and ID requirements. As primaries earlier this year demonstrated, local officials and poll workers are overwhelmed by all the changes — some of them engineered by mischievous partisans who have passed laws and rules that would block many eligible citizens from voting. There is a silent disenfranchisement afoot — one that could affect hundreds of thousands of voters. That’s bad for democracy. In the 2004 presidential election, some states were decided by less than 1 percent of the vote. This year, dozens of Congressional races could be close enough that vote suppression would affect them."
Will a shocking new GOP court victory and Karl Rove's attack on Ohio 2006 doom the Democrats nationwide? - "Through a complex series of legal maneuvers, and now a shocking new decision from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the GOP has thrown Ohio's entire process of voting and vote counting into serious disarray. The mess is perfectly designed to suppress voter turnout, make election monitoring and a recount impossible, and allow the Republican Party to emerge with a victory despite overwhelming evidence the electorate wants exactly the opposite."
FEAR AND SMEAR IN BUSH'S AMERICA AS REELING REPUBLICANS RUN SCARED - "They kill, torture, lie and steal. For six years, they have largely escaped accountability for their crimes. Now they find themselves in the last throes of unchallenged power and the Busheviks are acting in pure desperation."
Revenge of the Gay Voters - "Forget the "security moms" and "values voters." New analysis suggests that gay and lesbian turnout increases when gay marriage is on the ballot and that queer Americans may cast the deciding votes in many contested races this year."
What would Democrats do about Iraq? - "For others, the differences between Bush and the Democrats on the big foreign-policy issues are really a matter of details and not starkly black and white. "My hunch is that there wouldn't be a large change in American foreign policy with a divided government because there really hasn't been a deep division over the overall direction of that policy," says Julian Zelizer, a specialist in foreign policy and contemporary American politics at Boston University."
Pentagon Will "Catapult the Propaganda" Via U.S. Media - "The Pentagon has formally declared psychological warfare on the American people by announcing it will engage in propaganda and indoctrination by using the Internet and media to "set the record straight" on the war on terror. Recent history clearly indicates this is just the latest outreach of an insipid brainwashing agenda that is totally unlawful and anathema to the U.S. Constitution. In the past, the military or the government did not announce that they were planting surreptitious propaganda to target U.S. audiences, they did it secretly and for a very good reason - because it was and still is illegal."
Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2006 - ""Each year new countries in less-developed parts of the world move up the Index to positions above some European countries or the United States. This is good news and shows once again that, even though very poor, countries can be very observant of freedom of expression. Meanwhile the steady erosion of press freedom in the United States, France and Japan is extremely alarming,” Reporters Without Borders said." -- The U.S. is 53rd.
Nearly half of Americans uncertain God exists: poll - "Nearly half of Americans are not sure God exists, according to a poll that also found divisions among the public on whether God is male or female or whether God has a human form and has control over events. ... Among the various religious groups, 76 percent of Protestants, 64 percent of Catholics and 30 percent of Jews said they are "absolutely certain" there is a God while 93 percent of Christians who describe themselves as "Born Again" feel certain God exists."
Rev. Sharpton Faults the Christian Right - "he Rev. Al Sharpton criticized the Christian right Tuesday for focusing too much political discussion on abortion and same-sex marriage and said black churches must talk about fighting poverty, equal access to education and other social justice issues."
Cleric: Criticizing Islam threatens peace - "A leading Turkish cleric called criticism of Islam a serious threat to world peace, speaking Wednesday as Turkey prepared for a controversial visit by Pope Benedict XVI later in the month."
Alarm as innocent people fill DNA database - ""When the database was initially established it was to database DNA from criminals so that if they reoffended they could be picked up. There are now hundreds of thousands of entirely innocent people now populating that database, people who have come to the police's attention as a result of being charged with a crime but subsequently released."
How the Web Prevents Rape - "All that Internet porn reduces sex crimes. Really. ... States that adopted the Internet quickly saw the biggest declines. And, according to Clemson professor Todd Kendall, the effects remain even after you control for all of the obvious confounding variables, such as alcohol consumption, police presence, poverty and unemployment rates, population density, and so forth."
Study dispels some sexual behavior myths - "In the first comprehensive global study of sexual behavior, British researchers found that people aren't losing their virginity at ever younger ages, married people have the most sex, and there is no firm link between promiscuity and sexually transmitted diseases."
Abstinence message goes beyond teens - "Now the government is targeting unmarried adults up to age 29 as part of its abstinence-only programs, which include millions of dollars in federal money that will be available to the states under revised federal grant guidelines for 2007. The government says the change is a clarification. But critics say it's a clear signal of a more directed policy targeting the sexual behavior of adults. "They've stepped over the line of common sense," said James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit that supports sex education. "To be preaching abstinence when 90% of people are having sex is in essence to lose touch with reality. It's an ideological campaign. It has nothing to do with public health." Abstinence education programs, which have focused on preteens and teens, teach that abstaining from sex is the only effective or acceptable method to prevent pregnancy or disease. They give no instruction on birth control or safe sex. The National Center for Health Statistics says well over 90% of adults ages 20-29 have had sexual intercourse." -- Humans are supposed to have sex. Period.
Men's testosterone levels declined in last 20 years - "A new study has found a "substantial" drop in U.S. men's testosterone levels since the 1980s, but the reasons for the decline remain unclear. This trend also does not appear to be related to age."
Puberty Hitting Girls as Young as 4 Years Old - "Nearly half of African-American girls start showing signs of puberty by 8 years old, and some American girls are developing as young as 5, even 4 years old, experts say."
Elephants pass mirror test of self-awareness - "Elephants have been found to recognise themselves in a mirror, putting them in an exclusive club of self-awareness whose other members are great apes (including humans) and bottlenose dolphins."
Quote of the Day
"If you want to win an election, you must return to the basics. The oldest weapons in the politician's arsenal are fear and hatred. They are always effective if applied properly."
~ Dr. Michael S. Brown
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