Aug 25, 2006 STAUNTON - A man who identified himself as a law student confronted U.S. Sen. George Allen here today, demanding to know if the potential presidential candidate had ever used the n-word. Mike Stark, in his early to mid-20s, also asked Allen, R-Va., why he had a Confederate flag and a noose in his office. The News Virginian confirmed that Stark is a first-year law student at the University of Virginia. An Allen aide asked Stark to leave, while a staff person at the Holiday Inn in ...

Mike is an on-line friend. He is a constituent of Allens who was trying to ask a question. Of course Mike loves to ask questions. Started calling up all the right wing talk show hosts and put up a blog "Calling All Wingnuts" for the audios. Found here: (Link) / When he started law school, he knew he would have to cut back - and he and Sean Hannity actually had a decent conversation when Mike called him to say he wasn't going to be around because he was going to law school to learn how to ...

(Image) When the polls close, we propose that Democrats across the country gather outside their County Election Office for a candlelight vigil to Count Every Vote, all wearing the same color: Blue. Imagine a Blue Revolution, every bit as joyous and historic as the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, the Cedar Revolution Lebanon, the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, and the other democratic revolutions of recent years - right here in the United States of America. More... (Link)

I want to raise a tactical issue I hope will get appropriate attention. I'm talking about planning for the prospect of long lines, long wait times, and the need for serious staying power the evening of Nov. 7th. I suggest we hope for the best, but prepare for the worst... I've done voter registration work. I've done GOTV work. I've done canvassing and cold calling. I recognize how much effort goes into the street presence. I also recognize the importance of a motivated electorate. We need ...

Video the Vote (Link) / Promo Video - Watch and pass along (Link) and (Link)

There are a number of ideas for actions to "Protect The Vote" on election day. I thought it might be a good idea to post them all in one thread and then try to keep it kicked or reposted up to midnight Pacific Time on Nov. 7th. I will post the three I know of in individual replies below. Of course the most important strategy is to Vote and to get everyone you know to vote - nothing can overcome corruption like everyone deciding to take their part in democracy seriously and voting. Some insp...

I translated these from html to DU code pretty quickly so hope all of the links work.... --AZ-Sen: --AZ-01: --AZ-05: --CA-04: --CA-11: --CA-50: --CO-04: --CO-05: --CO-07: --CT-04: --FL-13: --FL-16: --FL-22: --ID-01: --IL-06: --IL-10: --IL-14: --IN-02: --IN-08: --IA-01: --KS-02: --KY-03: --KY-04: --MD-Sen: --MN-01: --MN-06: --MO-Sen: --MT-Sen: --NV-03: --NH-02: --NJ-07: --NM-01: --NY-03: --NY-20: --NY-26: --NY-29: --NC-08: --NC-11: --OH-01: --OH-02: --OH-1...

Yesterday's information on this action can be found here: (Link) Time is critical enough to make this work that I am posting this update in a new thread. Since it is always good to start off with something funny, check out the rave reviews this campaign is getting from the right-wing blogosphere. Hot Air writes: Fascinatingly evil... It takes a devious mind to come up with a convoluted way to rig Google search terms, tie that to Google ads and hope to move democracy your way via onli...

Just wanted to make sure everyone here knew of a new action about to launch. The work started Chris Bowers started the work at MyDD and Daily Kos and will be ready to launch Monday or Tues. I know DUers will be able to help with this. Why According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, the number one way that voters use the Internet for political action is to search for information on candidates. During the final two weeks of the election, it is reasonable to expect that as many as t...

The email below, from Nancy Kile, is to contest a permit applied for by one of the large venue developers out by Bear Butte. Pass along the information or help her as you are able. Her email is beow, with her address. Thank you. Deb =========== Notice is given that Jay Allen, 16399 SE Harrold Avenue, Milwaukie, OR 87267 has filed an application for a water permit to appropriate 0.19 cubic feet of water per second from one well completed into the Inyan Kara Aquifer (1600 feet deep). The water ...

and this is good news. Talking about good books, here is another: (Image) In his new book, Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media, Jeff Cohen takes you inside TV news and the conservative biases, timidity and tabloidism that dominate it. Few media critics have been afforded an intimate, on-the-job view of the outlets they condemn, but Cohen -- who founded the media watch group FAIR -- spent years at CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. He was a senior producer at MSNBC’s Donahu...

My life has been crazy this past year, so have not been around on DU or elsewhere on-line a lot but wanted to share this. xxx- as you can see, the following piece ran today in response to USA Today's editorial that we must continue to fight in Iraq. Please share with whomever you think appropriate, and encourage them to post messages of support if they wish. (Link) Thanks! Michael Mershon, Press Secretary U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) Please Add this blog ad to your blog/website: Link...

In the comments there: Saturday, May 27, 2006 by the Los Angeles Times Strong Signs of Rift Among Democrats Support for a Challenger to Longtime Sen. Joe Lieberman Indicates Tensions Over Iraq War by Ronald Brownstein ... With the involvement of these groups, the face-off between Lieberman and Lamont in Connecticut's Aug. 8 primary has emerged as the focal point of tensions between Democratic liberals and centrists over the party's direction. "This is a fight for the soul of the Democratic...

In looking at how the William Jefferson bribery scandal is related to Halliburton-Dick Cheney shenanigans involving millions of dollars in bribes to Nigerian government officials (and god knows who else), I realize the whole thing might sound outlandish. So as you read on, know that my facts/quotes come from a variety of sources: And Robert Kagan is the co-founder with William Kristol of the Project for the New American Century and he thinks it will be better for America if the Democrats w...

There was a great about the need to kind of embrace the "radical ideas" of the left. Some quotes: the GOP knows that the middle DOES matter. They know that by playing to their base in very well-crafted ways, they can shift the very definition of what the middle is. By introducing radicalism into the public discourse (and taking initial heat for it), whatever used to be radical within this context becomes moderate by comparison. Systematically, piece by piece, the GOP takes what h...

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676 --HEALTHCARE-NOW ACTION WEEK -- JUNE 7, 2006 Citizens in Spread the Messsage: "Everybody In, Nobody Out!" On June 7th, events across the country will celebrate the fact that we have a bill in Congress, H.R. 676 that will deal equitably with the healthcare crisis for all of us. We are encouraging everyone to join us in these events by organizing one or joining one already organized in your city or area. ORGANIZE AN EVENT --So, on June 7th, we are encouraging all healthcare activists to ...

Apologies if you all have covered this here, but due to a lot of personal issues and spring planting time, I've had a LOT less time to hang out at DU. There is a guy at Daily Kos, who goes by the handle, dengre. The other day, I caught his diary, and he had a follow up yesterday called, which actually dealt with some of the ties revealed in some of the Abramoff Team plea bargins which relate to the sweatshops. A quote from the first diary: Earlier today, David Swanson posted a Diary, J. Jil...

President Fire Thunder's decision to take the lead on this issue is nothing short of remarkable considering the number of challenges on the reservation. Almost half of all Native American women in South Dakota are poor, compared with approximately 10 percent of white women, according to the Institute for Women's Policy Research report on the Status of Women in South Dakota. Median annual earnings for women in South Dakota rank last in the nation. Furthermore, the unemployment rate on the reserv...

Filmmakers Chris Hume and L. Wild Horse travel to South Dakota, the state that has passed a law banning all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest. But on the Pine Ridge Reservation, tribal president Cecelia Fire Thunder is taking a stand. She is invoking the Oglala Lakota tribe's status as a sovereign nation to surpass state law, by building a family planning clinic on the reservation. President Fire Thunder speaks with t r u t h o u t in this video exclusive. (Link)

No way would I pass laws preventing someone from buying what they felt they needed and could afford, but my progressive conscious would want me to also do what was most helpful for the community. When you consider the resources used for building, maintaining, heating and cooling etc. most, (but not all) of the time, living in a house that is larger than your needs promotes more consumerism than needed for life and a bit of fun and is not a lot different than driving a Hummer. A personal choi...

If you want to mail donations to the reservation, you may do so at: Oglala Sioux Tribe ATTN: President Fire Thunder P. O. Box 2070 Pine Ridge, SD 57770 OR: and this may be preferred, due to mail volume: ATTN: PRESIDENT FIRE THUNDER PO BOX 990 Martin, SD 57751 Enclose a letter voicing your support and explaining the purpose of the donation. Bear in mind, the Pine Ridge Res is poor, so do consider donating funds directly to the tribe as well as specifica...

Cecilia Fire Thunder, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe at Pine Ridge, SD, says that she is going to stand up to Gov. Rounds' ban of all abortion in the state of South Dakota. The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed. A former nurse and healthcare giver she was very angry that a state body made up mostly of white males, would make such a stupid law against women. “To me, it is now a question of sovereignty,” she said to me las...

Cecilia Fire Thunder, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe at Pine Ridge, SD, says that she is going to stand up to Gov. Rounds' ban of all abortion in the state of South Dakota. The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed. A former nurse and healthcare giver she was very angry that a state body made up mostly of white males, would make such a stupid law against women. “To me, it is now a question of sovereignty,” she said to me las...

In case we need to help women get to a place where abortions are still legal. (Link) If you have not signed the Planned Parenthood petiton, please do so now. (Link)

SAVE OUR VOTE. It's now or never! Circulate the SAVE OUR VOTE Initiative petition. If we don't hustle signatures by the end of April to qualify for the November ballot (25,000 is the safe number), we have effectivly lost our county referendum right. Don't let the light go out on your watch. Initiative: the people can propose a new law or amend an existing law Referendum: the people can prevent legislation from going into effect (people's veto) ------------------------------------------------...

THE BLACK HILLS NEED YOUR VOICE! This Is Your Chance to Protect Jewel Cave and Inyan Kara Mountain from Mining COMMENTS NEEDED BY MARCH 8, 2006 Jewel Cave and Inyan Kara Mountain are Irreplaceable. Located in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota, Jewel Cave is the third longest cave in the world—an astonishing 135 miles and 10 feet long. It is also critical habitat for wintering bats. Although protected as a National Monument, the cave itself extends far beyond the Monument boundaries,...

Good idea from a diary at Kos If you are as disgusted with the recent South Dakota anti-abortion legislation as I am, there are things you can do. Sure you can write the Governor's office, but I think you will have far more effect if you contact the Office of Economic Development. You see - South Dakota has been losing people, jobs, and entire communities for most of the past 60 years. They are hurting. (Image) (Image) Although this map shows recent population loss - it misses two thin...

In the 19 mos prior to becoming a Senator, Thune of South Dakota took $220,000 in lobbying fees from the DM&E railroad in SD. In the last moments of the 2005 Transportation Bill, he and Lott slipped in 35 billion for low interest railroad loans, went from 0 to 35 billion. DM&E needs $2.5 billion of this for its' expansion into the coal fields of Wyoming. For eight years they have been unable to obtain private financing. They had been working with Morgan Stanley on this. Voila! No private finan...

Written by Chad on Thursday August 18, 2005 (Link)/ SurveyUSA has released the results of a tracking poll taken in the last week that measures President Bush’s “approval” and “disapproval” ratings. The results are broken down by state, so some South Dakota specific numbers are available. It is no surprise, given the results of most of the major media polls from the past few weeks, that Bush is as unpopular has he has ever been. But the South Dakota numbers are interesting since the President ...