Democracy in Question - Sweden

Thursday 25th November 2004 : Democracy in Question - Sweden
Ritt Goldstein

John Zogby, president of the polling firm Zogby International, told IPS he has been calling it "the Armageddon election" for about a year. Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader believes the Republican Party was able to "steal it before election day."

You can find the rest of this post at the above links...

BlogThings Some Fun Stuff

Had to try this one too at blogthings...

You Are a "Don't Tread On Me" Libertarian

You distrust the government, are fiercely independent, and don't belong in either party. Religion and politics should never mix, in your opinion... and you feel opressed by both. You don't want the government to cramp your self made style. Or anyone else's for that matter. You're proud to say that you're pro-choice on absolutely everything!

What political persuasion are you?

Ralph Nader Soars Ahead In Polls

Note: These are not real news notes in this particular post, just a site having fun at the below links.

Ralph Nader Soars Ahead In Polls - I thought this one was fun and they seem to have a whole lot more at the site.

Supreme Court Declares Nader Victory - Another one at the same site...

Note: These are not real news notes in this particular post, just a site having fun at the above links.

I know it's Thanksgiving not April Fools Day but I thought they were funny little spots at this site. I also realize most people will realize these are not real articles but spoofs. I just want to make sure and not confuse folks with the many real posts that do go in this blog.

Happy ThanksGiving

A few Thanksgiving Links:

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Holidays to everyone out here...

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you that celebrate this particular holiday:)

2008 Just Around the Corner

If Mr. Ralph Nader runs again in 2008, I will be supporting him at this point. I figure why not get a head start now. There were some good candidates out there during this 2004 election but my bet was with Nader/Camejo 2004. Why would I vote for a candidate that is almost definitely going to lose, you might ask? This is very simple for me to answer. He seemed like the most honest candidate. His campaign stood their ground closer to my beliefs on many of the issues then any of the other candidates available! It was a simple choice for me during this election because of that. I voted for Nader/Camejo this election and like I stated if they run in 2008 I will most likely do the same again. I was happy with that vote when I made it and I’m happy with it now.

I figure it’s time to get a head start now and start the planning and actions needed for a new America. All of those that compromised to try and make a change, I commend you on your commitments to make change and your actions to do the same. However, I think it’s time in America for a successful and true grass-roots movement to evolve and win the next election. It’s time in my opinion for the people to take their own government back and have the policies reflecting the people’s opinions, hopes and dreams.

I urge anyone that is concerned to start doing research now, to find out what is going on and plan ahead for the next election. I’m not just talking 2008 but look in your local community and start voting out the bureaucrats that are not supporting the people and vote in real grass-roots candidates that want change and reflect your beliefs, each and every election. There are many of these candidates that are honest, hard-working and true out there. A lot of them don’t have the money to compete with corporate powers and it is up to us to search out these candidates that need our support to make good and great changes.

Start building every day and now the foundations that will make this an even greater country in the future!

Nader Press Releases and Headlines

Well here are a few headlines and press releases I can find on the internet about Ralph Nader and other issues I consider related to the subject.

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Nader Asks Bush for Full Accounting of Iraqi Deaths

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You cand find a whole list of press releases here

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You can find audio and video clips here

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Ralph Nader-requested recount to resume Monday

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Ralph Nader: Controlling Corporations And Restoring Democracyposted by alex

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Ralph Nader Takes on Election Day Problems

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Where is Ralph Nader?

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On the Campaign Trail with Ralph Nader

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If you know of any interesting articles, information, sites or anything else about Mr. Ralph Nader related, please feel free to leave that information in the comments or send it to me via email. It can be positive, negative or neutral. I like to add all sides of the issues here. Thanks in advance.

Do you want more blog readers and comments?

Here is another post or ramble that is non specific to this blog theme. I will do this now and then.

I’ve been trying BlogExplosion with some pretty good success. It is setup with many of the same features as many other traffic exchange programs utilize. There is a 2:1 ratio where you visit two sites and get one site visit in return. You can add unlimited blogs and there seems to be a pretty good ratio where you earn extra credits for just surfing, which improves upon the 2:1 ratio.

There are other ways to improve your ratio of hits to your own blog. You can bid on being a directory sponsor and have your link listed as a sponsor in the directory sections you choose this way with some of your credits. You can also get referrals, which can go down several levels, and definitely brings your ratio of hits up again. The referral setup works well if you signup active user referrals. There seems to be a good amount of blogs and bloggers, yet only a couple thousand so far which tells me that there is plenty of room for growth in the referral section. There are lotteries you can enter with credits to win even more hits to your blog.

The best of all is you actually get traffic back to your site right away for searching through other blogs. I highly suggest you give it a try at B.E. or at least give it a shot. The community that is growing there seems very interesting and fun with some great blogs to look at! You may want to polish up your blog and post some interesting items that you want others to see and see for your self after you do some blog surfing at BlogExplosion what type of response you get! What does it hurt to give it a try, you may have some pleasant surprises.

I’ve found BlogExplosion to be a lot better then many web page traffic exchange systems and I have tried hundreds of them in the past. The blogging community just seems more active then many of the web pages of today. Why I couldn’t give that answer at all. However, this blog exchange definitely let’s you check out a wide variety of interesting blogs to visit!

I’m trying or have used a couple other systems below with some success. Some of them have similar features and others have additional features and benefits. Most of them have a referral system which is a nice thing to add additional traffic to your website or blog. I’ve used ClickThru for years and they have done a recent redesign to add in many auctions, prizes and sales. I’ve tried LinkReferral and they setup a remarks and rating system on their site for visitors to use. I just started trying Links2Blogs and can't say much yet on this one. The best one I used for blog specific appears to be BlogExplosion, so far. I do find the blogosphere community to be very versatile, active and interesting.

BlogExplosion has its commercialism involved but I don’t find it overwhelming as I do at many of the traffic exchanges. At BE I find a lot of interesting blogs, with lots to say on every subject not just get rich quick or marketing schemes, which is a breath of fresh air. Many of the traffic exchanges get overwhelmed with that type marketing and that can make them boring or less fun to use for me.

Buy Nothing Day

I like what they are trying to do here at adbusters so I figured I'll ad few banners and links here in the blog.

Vote Count Watch

Vote Count Watch

"Washington, DC: With reports of problems in the 2004 election—including voter registration problems, voter suppression on Election Day, inconsistencies between the vote count and exit polls and voter trends, absentee ballot, and provisional ballot problems—are resulting in increased reports about the vote count being inaccurate. As a result, the Nader/Camejo campaign will be issuing periodic summaries of vote count issues."

Read the rest at the above link...

The People’s Business

The People’s Business

By Ralph Nader
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Controlling corporations and restoring democracy

The massive corporate wave of crime, fraud and abuse rolls on, is undeterred by regular exposes in the business media itself. My favorite corporate crime journal (aka the Wall Street Journal) is a daily newspaper that never runs out of material.Daily Journal headlines recently alerted readers to: (1) “Lucent Faces Bribery Allegations,” (2) “Companies Sue Union Retirees to Cut Promised Health Benefits,” (3) “How Drug’s Rebirth as Treatment for Cancer Fueled Price Rises,” reporting one capsule for $29 compared to a price of seven cents in Brazil, (4) “A Retired Maid’s Questions About her ATM Card Led Lawyer to Georgia Scandal,” (5) “At Cigna, Some Patients Found Conflict of Interest in System,” (6) “As Corporate Fines Grow, SEC Debates How Much Good They do.” (7) From the Associated Press – “Calif. Insurance Chief Sues Four Insurance Giants in Kickback Probe.” Also in the headlines are the pharmaceutical companies led by Merck’s deadly fiasco with Vioxx.

Full article found at Guerrilla News Network

Mishandling Nader

Mishandling Nader
by Kevin Zeese
dissidentvoice.org
November 22, 2004

"Second, strengthening the rights of 42 million non-unionized workers who wish to join a trade union and advocating for a wage all full-time workers can live on at a time when 47 million American workers ­ one in three full-time workers ­ earned between $5.15 and $10 an hour."

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One third of full time workers only making the above wages. That tells me that doesn't include part time, temp, contract and obviously workers making less then that. Yes, there are workers making less then that such as certain farm workers and other exceptions made by the state and federal regulations. That is really staggering, scary and sad numbers for that type of pay in my opinion. Mr. Zeese wrote an interesting article there.

Lot's More Jobs; Yeah Right

Bush Job Plan Features Tax Cuts, Drilling

Sun Nov 21,11:38 PM ET
White House - AP
By LEIGH STROPE, AP Labor Writer

Bush's prescription for job growth includes extending the tax cuts passed in his first term, overhauling tax laws, limiting jury awards in lawsuits and increasing domestic energy exploration and production.

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Don't we all see lot's of jobs from this type planning...I would think this strategy has already proven what it can do in the last four years.

Governor Dean's statement on Ralph Nader

Monday, February 23, 2004
Governor Dean's statement on Ralph Nader
Posted by Kate O'Connor at 12:36 PM

Those who truly want America's leaders to stand up to the corporate special interests and build a better country for working people should recognize that, in 2004, a vote for Ralph Nader is, plain and simple, a vote to re-elect George W. Bush. I hope that Ralph Nader will withdraw his candidacy in the best interests of the country we hope to become.

Is Bush really more sinister.

Calling the Democratic Party to Account
Letter from a Minnesota Highway
By RALPH NADER

The liberal intellectual and political leadership has shown itself un-willing to fight for its beliefs, hiding behind the claim that George Bush is such a unique threat that courage, reason, and studied belief all must be abandoned this year. Is Bush really more sinister than Nixon? More frightening than Reagan with his missiles and unworkable missile defense? Think of those times when the missile-loaded US and the USSR were less than an hour from mutually assured destruction. Will the intellectual leaders of the left feel more comfortable with the next GOP nominee in 2008 or 2012? If not, is it too soon for them to prepare for their next surrender? Is there any end-point logic to the "least worst" candidate?

The American Conservative - Older News

June 21, 2004 issueCopyright © 2004 The American Conservative
Ralph Nader: Conservatively Speaking

The long-time progressive makes a pitch for the disenfranchised Right.
Ralph Nader recently accepted Pat Buchanan’s invitation to sit down with us and explain why his third-party presidential bid ought to appeal to conservatives disaffected with George W. Bush. We think readers will be interested in the reflections of a man who has been a major figure in American public life for 40 years—and who now finds himself that rarest of birds, a conviction politician.

Ralph Nader Takes on Election Day Problems

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOVEMBER 10, 2004 5:46 PM
CONTACT: Vote Nader.org
Kevin B. Zeese 202-265-4000
Amy Belanger 202-265-4000

Ralph Nader Takes on Election Day Problems
“To Create a Vibrant Democracy We Must Face the Irregularities in Our Elections – Not Ignore Them After Election Day.”

WASHINGTON -- November 10 -- Over 2000 citizens including voting rights advocates are urging in writing the Nader-Camejo campaign to help make sure every vote is counted and counted accurately. The Nader-Camejo campaign does not view the election to be over merely because concession speeches, which have no legal effect, have been given. Rather they are over when every vote is counted and legally certified.

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200406\NAT20040603d.html

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/mercurynews/7849090.htm?1c

http://www.notablesoftware.com/Press/Dugger1.html

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/biztech/11/04/e.votingtested.ap/index.html

http://www.votenader.com/media_press/index.php?cid=404

http://www.opednews.com/thoreau_112104_no_mandate.htm

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/112204A.shtml

http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/1110-21.htm

http://www.cpsr.net/oldsite/externalSiteView/issues/vote-o-matic.html

Hello

Well I’m far from perfect or always right, I know that. However, if I do believe in something more then the something else I’m going to stand behind that until I find something better. If someone can clearly show me where I may be wrong I’m going to take a good look at that and very possibly change my mind if the material is convincing enough.

There is a lot of information and misinformation in the world today with a lot of access to so much more. The information age is what I call mind boggling at times! So I digest what I can one at a time and move on from there. I don’t just add links and information from the far left, far right or even the center. I add information and links to all of them that I find interesting.

I figure I can add some good information here for others to look at and decide for themselves where they stand. I’m sure I will learn from people that want to add comments. Obviously, it helps to stay civil to one another even if we don’t agree. If people work together with ideas and communicate I figure there is a good chance for a better outcome for everyone involved.

Well this was just a few words I wanted to add to the blog because at times I can be very stubborn and strong worded but did want to let you know that I make every effort to follow a netiquette concept and not flame or insult people personally in any way. This blog is not meant to attack any individuals at a personal level and I understand politics can get to a personal level at times. So I try and tread the waters lightly and not to be politically correct because that I’m not, but to have respect for other individuals which I do believe in strongly.

Another Quiz

Another one of those javascript quizzes and I couldn't resist...I am a Conspiracy Nut

Which America Hating Minority Are You?

Take More Robert & Tim Quizzes
Watch Robert & Tim Cartoons

Democracy in Question

Published on Thursday, November 18, 2004 by Inter Press Service
US Election: Democracy in Question
by Ritt Goldstein

STOCKHOLM - John Zogby, president of the polling firm Zogby International, told IPS he has been calling it "the Armageddon election" for about a year. Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader believes the Republican Party was able to "steal it before election day."

Facts suggest something went very wrong on Nov. 2.

Why Nader campaign wants vote check

Why Nader campaign wants vote check
Kevin Zeese, Press secretary Nader-Camejo Campaign Washington, D.C.
Published: Friday, Nov. 19, 2004

"Your editorial on Nov. 16, “Nader doing voters a favor with recount,” appreciates that our concern is with the accuracy of the optical scan machines used in counting the vote in New Hampshire.However, you underestimate our understanding of New Hampshire politics. We recognize 2000 was not 2004, and there may be reasons for Bush performing better this year.However, enough issues have been raised about the electronic vote count that it is important to rule out machine error. Doing so will give voters more confidence and allow people to understand the meaning of the vote.Of course, if machine error is found, it raises important questions for New Hampshire as well as the rest of the country where these machines are used."

How Low Will the Dollar Go?

Good, bad or maybe indifferent but down, down and down the dollar goes.

Greenspan bearish on dollar Even lower:
The Fed chairman says more foreign borrowing by the U.S. poses risks
By Mark Landler The New York Times

FRANKFURT, Germany - Alan Greenspan came to the home of the euro on Friday and suggested that the relentless decline of the dollar might well continue, offering little relief to those here who worry that the United States is seeking to gain a competitive advantage for its industries from a weaker currency.

Surfing through a Frame Program

If your surfing through a framed program such as BlogExplosion or others and you click on a google ad or try and post in blogger it will try and break the frame. Just use your right click open new window in IE or any method you use to open a new window with your browser and then you will not have to lose the page your at if your making a post or checking the ads. I try to use the target open new window in most of the links but some of them are not that way.

Sheesh, I guess I was into a little ranting and raving

Well I guess I've decided to do a bit of ranting about the way things are going. Well at least I have more text and content then links now and that is a good thing to me. It may not be agreeable to some or many of you but I feel better:)

What can be done?

I think change is made by every individual that stands up and starts taking action! It is time for that action! There was a chance during this election but it appears the average American is satisfied with some of the longest working hours of any Industrial nation. It appears we are satisfied with some of the lowest vacation and time off in the leading industrial nations. It seems we are satisfied with largest government debt ever produced by any country in the world at any time. I guess we are willing to have even longer work hours with less pay in the near future? It must be ok for millions more jobs to go overseas. It must be acceptable that we have the highest paid CEO's in the world and the difference between their pay and the workers is at the highest level in the world also. The fact that this decline of jobs, education and declining worth of the dollar has been going on for more than 20 years must say a lot for both the Democrats and Republican parties. The fact that Congress pay is at 3 times or more the average Americans pay and climbing states something to me. Privacy disappearing and fear growing in many Americans over intenational affairs and more must also prove the spectacular job that is being done. Keep on doing what we are doing if this is the direction we would like things to stay at.

Or start changing things now at every level and everywhere. I do believe the power is still with the people if we take the stand in large groups. It is time for everyone to write their congressmen and representives and demand changes. It is time to get out and change things right in your own neighborhood. It is time to write to the newspapers, call the radio stations and let them know you want change!

Feel free to add things you think can be done to improve America...

No One Has the Time

Most of the working class don't have the time to fight the fights to protect their own rights. They are working overtime, two jobs and going to school to make things better for their families, friends and self. Guess what no one else is going to fight that fight! Guess what it is going to continue to get harder to make it! The more you manage the more the boss and others will take. So keep on trusting big business, corporations and government to take care of you then! See what it gets you. I don't think it will be a good result for the common American.

Think about the bottom line which is the big companies and corporations are the ones with the time, money and lawyers to have things go their way. They are the ones that can afford to make big donations. They are the ones that can afford to lobby. They are the ones creating today's government. We are the ones letting this happen. Are they going to protect the rights of the average citizen and worker? Of course not, it wouldn't be in the best interest of their business.

Paid for by Who?

It's time to wake up to the truth and that is that many of the people you are voting for are in it for the money and not for you! Are you going to keep voting these same people in to office? Do you want a huge working poor class and a few very rich? Then just keep on doing what we are doing...

AFL-CIO

EPI

TechUnite.Org

It's time to see what is going on in America and take action before it is to late!

Who do you think is bought and paid for?

It was your choice yesterday and still is today!

Work & Wealth Class War

Here is about an hour and half of interesting information about the New Democracy Project: Work & Wealth Class War, Presenter: KEVIN PHILLIPS Commentator: ANDY STERN.
Another very interesting set of information for people to know about and understand at Free Speech TV.

That's Outrageous

There is a very interesting article to give you a feel of today's government concepts and ethics. "That's Outrageous", by Michael Crawley on page 35 of the Reader's Digest. I understand that people you know will get in positions because you know them and trust them. However, they should know something about what they are doing and get paid accordingly. There is just to much corruption going on! As far as I'm concerned this is just another set of information confirming the unreal amounts that are!

As the U.S.A. Turns

“As the U.S.A. Turns”, so what is happening in the average American home lately? Are both adult family members working full time jobs that run well over 40 hours a week? Are college students spending more monies on tuition, books and living expenses, then they can make under the current (lowering) salary scales in the next 10-20 years? Have most retirement funds become stock market gambles instead of a real company retirement programs? Where have all the jobs, trades and professions gone? Anything that isn’t a suit seems to be considered easy and shouldn’t be paid much higher then minimum wage. How many people do you know with BA and MA degrees working in a McDonalds or Burger King jobs? How many jobs are going overseas? How many jobs are being replaced in the USA with other jobs? What is a 25-50 cent an hour raise in today’s economy? Could you buy you and someone else a meal at a restaurant at the end of this week with your $6.00-$15.00 raise after taxes? How many people do you know or think there are making less then $12.00 an hour? Now sit down and figure out a budget for a family of four with that type salary! Almost everyone will get sick sooner or later and even with your medical insurance what is the likelihood that this will drain your entire savings if you had much of one on a salary like the above. How come most politicians are getting paid well above the average citizen in the USA? Why don't Senators and Congressman have to pay social security? Why do corporations have the right to petition and lobby the government when they have millions of dollars, lawyers and resources to do this compared to individuals fighting against them? How many Americans are struggling with paying their bills? How many Americans are fighting to avoid bankruptcy? There are so many bankruptcies happening that corporations and government are considering making it more difficult so people can’t use this law. Do you think most of these people want to go bankrupt and have any other choice? How much are people encouraging more high-tech workers and how many real high-tech jobs are really in the USA? Take a real good look at many of the help wanted ads in papers and other places; many of them are marketing scams not jobs. There are also many jobs advertised that are ridiculous or impossible to fill. Corporations do this so they can cry to congress that they can’t find the qualified people here in the US and need more overseas quotas. It’s not really that there are no qualified workers in the USA it’s just the workers can’t afford to do the jobs they are asking at the amount the companies are willing to pay; they can just pay that much less overseas. How many people with a Masters degree can afford to take a job for 18k a year once they get out of school? Who has the biggest debt in the world? Who will be paying for that for decades or centuries to come? Think about this a country getting in over its head is not like an individual where they can be bailed out by someone else! The US spends more on health care then most industrial companies. However, the US is graded very low in good medical care compared to many of these same countries that spend a lot less.

I’m mentioning only a very few issues and not even really scratching the surface. This hasn’t happened because of the Democrats or the Republicans alone. It has happened over decades of poor politics and the lack of the people taking control and making this a government that really works for the people. If we want to keep moving in the same direction that is changing at an alarming rate just sit back and continue on the path of voting Democrat or Republican.

It’s not that there are no good Democrat and Republican ideas or leaders. There are plenty of well intentioned ideas and hopes by these well intentioned and good people. However, the corruption has become so bad that if it corrupts even the very well intentioned and the only way to change this is make new rules! New rules are not going to take place if the same leaders are running and guiding the same system.

"We wish to control big business so as to secure among other things good wages for the wage-workers and reasonable prices for the consumers. Wherever in any business the prosperity of the businessman is obtained by lowering the wages of his workmen and charging an excessive price to the consumers we wish to interfere and stop such practices. We will not submit to that kind of prosperity any more than we will submit to prosperity obtained by swindling investors or getting unfair advantages over business rivals."

- Theodore Roosevelt, "We Stand at Armageddon", 1912 (http://www.buzzflash.com/southern/2002/08/08_southern.html)


Come on people, we are the only ones that can change what we are doing! We have the means and the power to do it but it is up to us to get out and make the changes. If we want companies and politicians to make all the choices they are going to. However, the changes are not going to be in our favor until we get strongly involved. Ross Perot would have changed America if he was willing to stick it out and had the fortitude and knew of everything he was in for. He showed the world that a grass-root movement would sweep through the USA like wildfire if the right person was there with the money to make the word get out. I don’t blame him for what he did but when he backed out it was an end to that campaign. It’s time for leadership to come forward that wants to make real honest, strong and ethical grass-root changes to our current government and it will spread like wild fire over night once again. It will shock everyone because it is not going to take years, decades or more; it will flash into place almost overnight when it is sparked. It wasn’t this election but I do think this time is nearing soon! You can only suppress and oppress the people so far and then they will break. This time is coming to the American forefront in my opinion.

http://www.hireamericancitizens.org/
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/aug2002/401k-a15.shtml
http://www.walterbrasch.com/unemployment.htm
http://www.bergonia.org/Struggles.htm
http://www.vipcredit.com/!_are_you_struggling_with_personal_debt.htm
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=454121
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Banking/P61277.asp
http://housedemocrats.gov/bigpicture/jobs_and_economy/american_voice_detail.cfm?id=14

recount reveals no surprises

So far, N.H. recount reveals no surprises
November 19, 2004

CONCORD, N.H. -- There is no chance to affect the outcome of the election, but a piecemeal recount of presidential votes began yesterday in New Hampshire at the request of independent candidate Ralph Nader, who was acting on behalf of activists who are attempting to establish ''baseline data" on the accuracy of various vote-counting technologies.

Blogger Quiz

You Are a Pundit Blogger!

Your blog is smart, insightful, and always a quality read. Truly appreciated by many, surpassed by only a few.

What kind of blogger are you?

Ralph Nader Jokes

It's always good to look at all sides and why not take a break and see some of the humor that others have placed out there about Ralph Nader:

Ralph Nader Jokes and Campaign Humor at about.com

Maybe some day people of this country will realize that the working class are the majority and if they vote for who they think is the best candidate they don't need any stinking party to win. :)

The people are the power, the strength, the heart and the majority party...

Why The Recount?

Why the recount... to verify our systems and make them more trust worthy to all of us. Why not would be my question right back if anyone asked! It only makes sense to verify any system.
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Nader-Camejo Goes Forward with Hand Recount in New Hampshire

“A hand recount will either rule out the possibility of machine error or show a discrepancy in the Diebold machine and the actual vote – either way voters need to know,” said Nader. “Regardless of whether it changes the electoral outcome, the Democrats should join us in this effort and follow through on their repeated promises to make sure every vote is counted – in Ohio and other states.”

http://www.verifiedvoting.org/article.php?id=5257

http://www.showmenews.com/2004/Nov/20041116News012.asp

http://www.inboxrobot.com/news/RalphNader

Quality Visits

This one is not really related specifically to my blog but I wanted to bring it up. I’ve used a lot of different traffic exchanges and traffic generators for web pages in the past and I must say I’m very impressed with BlogExplosion.

There are actually several reasons I’m very impressed. I’ve never seen one work as well with quality traffic. They appear to be trying to build a community of enthusiastic bloggers that are interested in reading and writing to blogs. It appears to be quality traffic with interesting people involved in using the system. You get hits to your blog right away. Yes, you can win extra hits too. All you have to do is have fun surfing other peoples blogs and you get visitors back!

Well I’m almost done with the free commercial. I just wanted to mention my feelings on the good job I think they are doing over there at BlogExplosion and what ever they are doing I hope they keep it up.

they voted against themselves

Linda Ronstadt, hummin' an outraged tune

Don't get her started on the recent presidential election. "People don't realize that by voting Republican, they voted against themselves," she says. Of Iraq (news - web sites) in particular, she adds, "I worry that some people are entertained by the idea of this war. They don't know anything about the Iraqis, but they're angry and frustrated in their own lives. It's like Germany, before Hitler took over. The economy was bad and people felt kicked around. They looked for a scapegoat. Now we've got a new bunch of Hitlers."

Nader-Camejo Hand Recount in N.H. Begins Thursday

If anything it will be interesting to see how much of a difference a recount makes!

Nader-Camejo Hand Recount in New Hampshire Begins Thursday
Washington, DC: The Nader-Camejo hand recount in New Hampshire will begin this Thursday. Nader-Camejo requested recounts in 11 wards where the results seemed anomalous in their support for President Bush and where the votes were counted on optical scan machines – primarily the Diebold AccuVote Machine. This Thursday five wards in Manchester and Litchfield will be recounted. The remaining six wards will be recounted soon.

Blogging Run

Here is one I found very interesting to watch, while I was on one of my blogging runs this evening. It takes a few minutes to watch this video but I feel it was well worth the watch and well done! It's about some of the happenings at many colleges today.

Brainwashing 101

We all know what happens if you keep borrowing!

Senate OKs $800B Debt Limit Hike

Nov 17, 8:21 PM (ET)By ALAN FRAM

"WASHINGTON (AP) - A divided Senate approved an $800 billion increase in the federal debt limit Wednesday, a major boost in borrowing that Sen. John Kerry and other Democrats blamed on the fiscal policies of President Bush. "

Just Look Around You...

Back to some political and human issues…

Management Speak, Political Speak, Double Speak all the wonderful speaks. Just deal with reality and what is and stop twisting and turning every little thing. I’ll take one subject and dissect it a little tonight. Minimum wage can be changed by states and cities to different rates, so let’s say the average minimum wage in America was $10.00. Now that adds up to $400.00 a week and $1600.00 a month. Since most people try to budget and work around a month let’s look at this monthly wage in today’s economy.

I’m using the Charleston SC area for this example but do it for your own area I think you may find it comparable. I’ve lived in a lot of places and many are very comparable. Let’s say this is a young person with only themselves to support. Just out of high school or college.

It’s always difficult to dig these pretty simple statistics up. I wonder why? :)
I’ll just take a sample now and then from some sites I can find the different info at:

$600.00 a month for an apartment (Maybe you can do a little better or worse) http://www.rentnet.com/apartments/fyp/search/matchlist.jhtml

Transportation- America has become the land of the car. Public transportation is very difficult in many areas and this area does not have very good public transportation available. As a matter of fact many jobs require you to have your own transportation to even apply.

So this example needs a car, insurance gas and maintenance. I will be generous and underestimate the true cost of this for most.

Let’s say $300.00 a month for the car, gas, insurance and maintenance. It costs me more then half this for work commute gas alone. I can’t imagine a young person with insurance and a great driving record let alone one with a ticket.

Let’s see I will give $4.00 a day for food and drink. Don’t eat out a lot on this budget you could use it all up at an expensive restaurant in one day. That comes to $120.00 a month for food and drink.

Home - $600.00
Car - $300.00
Food - $120.00

Total = $1020.00 hmm, that’s not bad at $10.00 an hour. Oops did a forget a few things.

Yes, taxes, benefits and a few others but let me try taxes and benefits out first.

(I surely can’t afford a doctor or dentist on this pay so I better have insurance that will pay at least some of it.)

Social Security $45.00
Federal Income Tax $40.00
Medicare $15.00
State Tax $30.00
Med/Dental Insurance $80.00
Life $10.00
Retirement $100.00
Above Total $920.00
( I won’t even add all the other wonderful taxes that popup here and there.)
New Total = $1340

Now this will leave this young person with $60.00 extra dollars a month for any of those extra things like entertainment, buying CDs haircuts, parties, tools, movies, any other possible mishaps, co-pays for medicines or doctors appointments. I’m sure many people could think of a whole lot more to add to this list for the $60.00. Oh yeah add a rainy day savings with that too. We all know you don’t have to pay much for any medical care now-a-days even less with insurance. Of course we can hope you never get sick or hurt either. Young people don’t do that much.

That’s right this is if your making $10.00 an hour. The Democrats or the Republicans do not support or have supported raising the federal minimum wage to any reasonable level from it’s current state of $5.15 per hour. So cut the above income figures in half for those on minimum wage.

There are many millions of people in this country being paid minimum wage or a little more and many of them are part time workers with out benefits.

Since we gave up are old standards of not supporting slave labor and sweat shops overseas expect your pay to even become lower in the future. It’s ethical now for USA companies to pay $60.00 a week overseas or less for a full time employee. How do you think any companies will compete with that if they keep paying you good dollars for a living, they will not be able to and go out of business or pay you much less. Your mothers and fathers made more then you and your grandmothers and grandfathers made more then most Americans now. So are the majority of Americans ready for the new government/corporate welfare programs for your children and probably yourself in the near future?

http://www.politicsol.com/guest-commentaries/2003-07-12.html

http://www.ncpa.org/ba/ba306/ba306.html
(This is just corporate mindset) What is a dollar in reality here!

http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm

http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=985

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage

http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/income03/statemhi.html
(Notice the word household income, which means in many cases two or more workers in the family.) Wonderful how we can skew data any way we want…

Look at the simple realities and you tell me are we ready for what is happening in America today? Are you ready to continue in this direction?

Ralph Nader was one of the candidates supporting:

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