COUNTER attacks on voting rights, via registration and other subterfuges, taking place in many States.

http://projectvote.org/?gclid=CPO6pPDow6sC...

I have written the following letter to my congress-critters, and would appreciate it if DUers, our friends, relations, and neighbors do the same. I would like to see and hear of other suggestions, to address this critical issue.

Thanks, all.

'I am a strong supporter, and appreciate the work you're doing now and have done over the years.

A most critical matter has come to my attention, I must share it with you, and I must strongly encourage you to address this matter with ALL your Democratic colleagues, and even Republicans who you think might be receptive.

A recent study has come to light, confirming that Diebold voting machines can be EASILY hacked, for about $26 in equipment and with little technical knowledge.

Sir, we CANNOT have another debacle such as we've seen in the past. Its clear Republicans will do whatever they can do to achieve their goals.

Please read the attached, raise the alarm, and protect us from losing our democracy.

Thank you.


http://www.salon.com/news/politics/electio...

An important interview I heard, Heidi Cullen's book about the long-term effects of on all of us seems to me very important. Link includes interview with the author.

'This summer of record breaking heat followed a spring that brought some of the most extreme weather on record. Climatologist Heidi Cullen writes, "It's time to face the fact that the weather isn't what it used to be."

Cullen is the author of the book The Weather of the Future: Heat Waves, Extreme Storms, and other Scenes from a Climate Changed Planet, which has just been published in paperback. She's a senior research scientist with Climate Central, a journalism and research organization.'

http://www.npr.org/2011/07/25/138601271/we...

Link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/25/us/polit...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I am writing to let you know that I am taking a one-year leave of absence from VoteVets.org, because I am being deployed to Iraq in support of Operation New Dawn. I will be back at VoteVets.org in January, 2012.

I know your first question is how does this affect the future of VoteVets.org? The answer is, “It doesn’t.”

The group won’t miss a beat – continuing its work on the same issues of importance to veterans – from veterans health care, to energy independence – with interim Chairman, and Iraq War Veteran, Ashwin Madia, who has been our Vice Chairman since 2009. The rest of the VoteVets.org infrastructure will remain the same.

What we have been able to build, with your help, is a solid organization from top to bottom. With over 100,000 supporters, alliances forged from coast to coast, and a spectacular cadre of staff and advisors, I have no doubt that with your continued support VoteVets.org won’t just survive while I am in Iraq – it will thrive.

I want to say a word about Ashwin, who will be assuming Chairman duties. Ashwin is as an energetic, determined, principled, and skilled person as there is. Before VoteVets.org was even around, Ashwin was fighting for what was right. A lawyer by trade, in the Marines, Ashwin was one of the first military attorneys to successfully defend a gay servicemember from discharge. As someone who ran for Congress, Ashwin also has a keen and personal understanding of how politics works. As Vice Chairman of VoteVets.org, he knows how we operate, and will continue operations seamlessly. I have no doubt that you’ll be impressed with Ashwin as I am, as you get to know him.

In closing, it is somewhat fitting that I am writing to tell you this on Veterans’ Day. In many ways, a veteran’s service never ends. I was in Iraq to start the war, and then came home to form a group that would ask tough questions about the war’s execution. That was four years ago. And, now, I will go back to Iraq, because my country called, and because I so strongly believe in my duty to be there to lead the soldiers in my unit. When I get back, I will return to serving my country, and my fellow veterans, by rejoining VoteVets.org.

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you’ve done to help veterans, and what you will continue to do to keep VoteVets.org the largest and most successful progressive veterans organization in the country.

Sincerely,

Jon Soltz

DEAR DIARY:

I tutor a fifth grader at the Star Learning Center on the Upper West Side. At a recent session, my student told me that his class was going on a trip to Gettysburg, Pa., and he had an assignment to learn the Gettysburg Address. We spent the last part of our session working on this.

My student’s older brother was walking him home, and I was behind them as we headed toward Columbus Avenue. I told my student to show his brother what he had memorized. With great passion and energy he launched into “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent ...” just as we were passing a Chinese laundry. One of the employees was standing in front, having a cigarette.

As we passed, he joined in with equal passion in a Chinese accent: “ ... a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

My student was so surprised, he fell silent, and we listened as the man continued to recite. As we reached Columbus Avenue, we looked back as the man finished.

Sone Takahara

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/05/nyregion...

any on-line reruns of DC fireworks? Missed for first time in 20? years.

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