Voting irregularities

November 6, 2012 by eagle

commondreams.org posted this link to rumors of voting machine irregularities.

I was not told that I could have a paper ballot yesterday, which I would have made use of, because that is what I was expecting.

When I went to the machine, the clerk put in my driver’s license number. I couldn’t believe it–how is this legal? If the ballot is supposed to be secret, then why put in that information?

I found this article on the worst places to vote. Unfortunately, Ohio is mentioned several times…

More here from ProPublica.

I can’t find anything on a quick search of putting the driver’s license number into the voting machine…so I’m at a loss to explain the justification of it. If I had to show them my photo ID (which I did), then that is all that they need to know. This really bothers me that my personal information was put into the machine before I voted—and how it will be used.

Protected: Oh beautiful…

November 5, 2012 by eagle

Coming down off the mountain

November 2, 2012 by eagle

Heather posted this on crooksandliars.com –a blog on the Daily Show take on Gov. Chris Christie coming down off bullshit Mountain and Barack Obama finding the f*cking light switch….classic

Thanks once again for making me laugh out loud, Jon.

Saying it like it is…

October 18, 2012 by eagle

…as only Jon Stewart can:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/collection/419350/the-millionaire-gaffemaker/419171

Expanding the Debate

October 17, 2012 by eagle

DN! has again allowed ALL presidential candidates a forum to express their reasons for wanting to be president. I couldn’t listen to the entire debate, as I’m out of time, but this is what I’ve listened to:

Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein’s arrest should send chills down one’s spine. It is absolutely stunning that a person with a legitimate claim as a candidate for political office is arrested for trying to assert the right to debate. And being handcuffed to a chair for eight hours??

As she said, this would not have happened if the League of Women Voters were still running the debates.

To shut them out is weak, in my opinion. If you’re a strong candidate, allowing others in is not going to phase you. What are they afraid of? Legitimizing the Green Party? or Justice Party?

Having to actually answer questions that many Americans want answered?

I would say all of the above. A robust debate helps the marketplace of ideas, but informed voters tend to start asking questions that most politicians would rather not answer.

On to the debate–

Dr. Stein and President Obama touch on keeping jobs here, giving tax breaks to those companies that keep or create jobs here. In the place I grew up in, they were giving tax breaks out the wazoo to companies, at the peril of schools, which suddenly lost the tax base to keep schools running with adequate teaching staff, supplies, etc. And what did these companies do when the mood struck? Left for Mexico, China, etc. Personally, I think when a company gets tax breaks like this, and then packs up and leaves, they should be made to pay back every last cent they took away in tax relief… plus interest.

Thompson cough apologizes

October 17, 2012 by eagle

(Just a little clarification to my post on watching Hotel Rwanda and Schindler’s List–I didn’t mean that I don’t recommend the movies, but rather, I don’t recommend watching them both on a weekend. They’re both very well done, but graphically depict the dark side. )

Tommy Thompson’s son has tried to remove the boot from his mouth, but failed miserably. The President deserves an apology. And no, Thompson’s son is not suffering more than anyone else.

Social Security going up by 1.7 percent

October 16, 2012 by eagle

…your grocery bill, gas bill, etc. will go up by 25 percent…/snark

Link.

See, this is what I don’t get–they were just saying not two months ago that this was one of the worst droughts on record and our grocery bills were going to be severely affected–but this article states that food prices have pretty much stayed the same.

Ahem.

Like I’ve noted in my personal grocery bills, I’ve seen several items jump $1 or $2 per item in a month’s time, which really adds up if you’re on a restricted budget, as folks on S.S. are. They know that every time there’s a S.S. increase, it isn’t enough, and the prices will go up accordingly. (No, I’m not on S.S. or disability.)

I’ve done a quick search of several articles, and they all insist, via the Consumer Price Index that grocery prices have remained the same.

I looked up the table they publish: http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpid11av.pdf for the 2010-2011 price list…and somebody ain’t telling the truth, here…

You have to scroll down to get specifics, and looking at something that most poor folks purchase: ground beef went up 11%. Eleven freaking percent in one year! White bread 5%; Cereal 3%; Bacon 13%; Fresh Fish and Seafood 8%; Eggs 9% Milk 9%; Potatoes 12%; Coffee 14%; Butter 14%; Peanut Butter 6%….and non-food: fuel oil 30%; water and sewage 5%; motor fuel 26% and on…

(note that medical care only went up 3%…well, now, the oil companies aren’t getting nearly as much attention from the politicos as the medical community’s medical costs increases…hmmm…twenty-six percent should garner a little more attention, dontcha think?)

But they’ll give you a 1% increase…

…so you can try to make that can of dog food go a little further…after all, the top 1% need those tax breaks so they can…feed and house their horses…and John McCain needs another house…