Got Honest Elections? Or Got Diebold Set On Default?

WEEKEND UPDATE: Be careful what you study, Big Brother really is watching-even if you are a student! www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-05/12-17-05/a09lo650.htm Agents' visit chills UMass Dartmouth senior-South Coast Today VIA RAW Story

NEW BEDFORD -- A senior at UMass Dartmouth was visited by federal agents two months ago, after he requested a copy of Mao Tse-Tung's tome on Communism called "The Little Red Book."

Two history professors at UMass Dartmouth, Brian Glyn Williams and Robert Pontbriand, said the student told them he requested the book through the UMass Dartmouth library's interlibrary loan program.

The student, who was completing a research paper on Communism for Professor Pontbriand's class on fascism and totalitarianism, filled out a form for the request, leaving his name, address, phone number and Social Security number. He was later visited at his parents' home in New Bedford by two agents of the Department of Homeland Security, the professors said.

The professors said the student was told by the agents that the book is on a "watch list," and that his background, which included significant time abroad, triggered them to investigate the student further.

And more...The professors had been asked to comment on a report that President Bush had authorized the National Security Agency to spy on as many as 500 people at any given time since 2002 in this country.The eavesdropping was apparently done without warrants.

Dearest Readers, if Prissy has "made the list"- know this; we shall all have a huge celebration after Prissy sues them until the cows come home for violation her Constitutional and civil rights. Prissy will be filing a Freedom Of Information Act to find out. Shame on any so-called American who supports this. Very few do...this really is America, after all Dubya and the cabal have put us through.

MSNBC Quick poll:

Was President Bush right to authorize NSA eavesdropping on Americans? * 68371 responses Yes; it was essential for national security-25%

No; it's unconstitutional-70%

I'm not sure-4%

I don't care-1%

Iraq will supposedly decide her own future...like all else where Dubya is involved-we shall see. We can ensure that when the people of any country vote their vote is counted and that the election process is fair and honest through safeguards of the voting process. If it is anything else-it is not Democracy.

Ohio, the Bellwether State

The Democratic party in Ohio is looking for a new Chairperson. Below are some of the candidates in attendance from left to right: Dennis Eckart, Susan Gwinn, Dennis Lieberman, Jane Mitakdes,(Chris Redfern-not pictured)

Betty says she wants to see who else there is to pick from. I believe this is it. Who would Prissy pick? Well, she would like to see more choices too. Most likely to succeed? Our votes go to Redfern or Eckart. Gwinn gets points for being a hard worker. We wouldn't mind seeing the job shared, as it is a big one...

A public forum was a great idea and it is what democracy is all about-the participation of everyday citizens having a say in their government. Kudos and many thank you's to the sponsors of this event. Cliff Arenbeck, a local attorney and Chairman of Ohio Honest Elections Campaign is someone who cares deeply about democracy. (so does his very nice wife!) They work tirelessly doing what they can (which has been a lot!) to keep our voting rights alive.

The forum was opened with the Pledge of allegiance, that was led by a Blue Star Ohio Mother, a member of Military Families Speak Out. This mother's son, the father of three young children, is a reservist in Iraq. His tour just began.

She asked Prissy a very profound question. "When will these people, politicians, war profiteers and the public who wants revenge for the deaths of 3,000 innocent Americans get enough blood? This war has killed thousands more than we lost in the 911 attack, which had nothing to do with Iraq anyway! When, when will their thirst for blood be quenched? Why do they keep insisting my son spill his blood for a country who does not want us there?"

There you have it, my dear readers. Prissy would love to gather all the war mongers in one room, the profiteers, politicians and other public figures who continue to scream that more blood must be spilled to validate the deaths they are already responsible for- and bring this mom in front of them, look them in the eye and demand they answer her. They will not and cannot because the answer is self-incriminating.

More about Ohio turmoil:

House Bill 3 in Ohio will eliminate safeguards, checks and balances in our election and voting process. People who register a voter from a residing county must have a representative from that county to accept the registration. The penalty for grassroots voter registration? A FELONY. The neoRepublicans really hate this American system of voters actually having their say, with a passion...

Any politician supporting these thug tactics should realize their careers will never survive the inevitable backlash if they support this bill. It may not seem like it today if they only read the WSJ, oh, but Prissy promises it will...some neoRepublicans, like the animals of the Tsunami, are already making the run for higher ground.

About the dumb ones who sit down when they should stand up; are they thinking they can fight the force of mother nature? Prissy laughs with mirth at the thought.

Hot Links

www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/051212fa_fact YOUNG OSAMA-How he learned radicalism, and may have seen America.

In bin Laden's day he graduated in 1976 there was a wing for middle-school students, and another for the high school. Between them is a spacious interior courtyard, and from the second floor students could lean over balcony railings and shout at their classmates below, or pelt them with wads of paper. Most Al Thagher students, including bin Laden, were commuters, but there were a few boarders; they lived on the second floor, as did some of the school's foreign teachers. It was in this upstairs dormitory, a schoolmate of bin Laden's told me, that a young Syrian physical-education teacher led an after-school Islamic study group for a few outstanding boys, and it was there, beginning at about age fourteen, that bin Laden received his first formal education in some of the precepts of violent jihad.

thiscantbehappening.net/ From This Can't Be Happening

Here's a real danger.

The role of commander-in-chief is expressly explained in the Constitution as referring to the president's position as top officer of the nation's military. That is an important provision, because it is essential that a civilian have final control over even the highest general if a democracy is to survive. But the title commander-in-chief has no relevance with respect to the rest of society. The president, according to the Constitution, is not commander-in-chief of the Congress, or of the administration, or of you or me. He's just the president, and in three more years, or whenever he's impeached, he'll be gone.

Unless, of course, the Constitution is "just a g***amned piece of paper."

Then all bets are off.

www.afp.com/english/news/stories/051216123635.ge1lvhc1.html French Press-Iraq counts votes after massive turnout

A figure of 11 million voters would put turnout at around 70 percent.

However, final results however are not expected for at least two weeks and the country faces much political horse-trading before a new government is installed.

"Iraqis are ready to determine their future by democratic means through the ballot box," said Kamiran Garadghi, spokesman for Iraq's first Kurdish president, Jalal Talabani.

Shiite parties scored well in their strongholds in the south of the country, while Sunni regions reported strong turnout.

Global leaders hailed the vote, which many hope will end the insurgency raging since Saddam's downfall in April 2003 and pave the way for an exit of US-led foreign troops.

That is some good news out of Iraq...However-if Dubya dares pat himself on the back for this one, surely someone in his staff will make a lunge for him.

http://www.tenerifenews.com/cms/front_content.php?client=1&lang=1&idcat=11&idart=2772ontent.php?client=1&lang=1&idcat=11&idart=2772 NY Sun-Saddam's WMD Moved to Syria, An Israeli Says

The Israeli officer, Lieutenant General Moshe Yaalon, asserted that Saddam spirited his chemical weapons out of the country on the eve of the war. "He transferred the chemical agents from Iraq to Syria," General Yaalon told The New York Sun over dinner in New York on Tuesday night. "No one went to Syria to find it."

From July 2002 to June 2005, when he retired, General Yaalon was chief of staff of the Israel Defense Force, the top job in the Israeli military, analogous to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the American military. He is now a military fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He made similar, but more speculative, remarks in April 2004 that attracted little notice in America; at that time he was quoted as saying of the Iraqi weapons, "Perhaps they transferred them to another country, such as Syria."

The Israeli general's remarks came on the eve of Mr. Bush's speech to the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, in which the president addressed the issue of intelligence and defended the decision to go to war. "When we made the decision to go into Iraq, many intelligence agencies around the world judged that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction. This judgment was shared by the intelligence agencies of governments who did not support my decision to remove Saddam. And it is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong," Mr. Bush said in remarks that were one of a series of speeches he has given recently on the war.

emphasis mine

Always using those qualifier words, aren't they? They will lie us into a war with Syria or Iran, the same way they did in Iraq. Dubya cannot bring himself to let that oil possibly go out of his control. Never mind that Butane Alcohol www.butanol.com/ is cleaner, cheaper and can run in unmodified gasoline engines. Dubya and his buddies know the two largest industries in the world are 1) Oil and 2) Munitions manufacturing-because they own them.

www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2005/1255 The Free Press- by Bob Fatrakis, Attorney

I've seen the future replacement for gasoline, its name is butanol.

In August, I was attending a conference of the International Association of Educators for World Peace at the University of San Francisco, when a 1992 Buick rolled up on campus. The sign on its door read, "Powered by: 100% BUTANOL"

Poem of the Day- sent by a Coastie Mom

How the Liberals Stole Christmas (or) A Visit from St. Dick By Kevin Horrigan; ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 12/11/2005

Twas the month before Christmas And as I lit candles, Conservatives stirred - They were onto a scandal.

"They want to kill Christmas!" Came the cry from the right: "They want to axe Bethlehem And O! Holy Night!

"They're after the Christ child And Joseph and Mary And shepherds and wise men; These liberals are scary."

Who? I said. Who Is behind these cruel plots? "Well, we're not really sure, But we heard it on Fox.

"Fox fair and balanced; Esteemed, and most highly. We're not really sure - It was prob'ly O'Reilly."

So I grabbed the remote And clicked over to Fox And there snarled O'Reilly. (Imagine my shock):

"The liberals, the commies, The A.C.L.U. They want to steal Christmas From me and from you.

They say 'Happy Holidays' And acknowledge the Jews By throwing in Hannukah." I was really confused.

"And what's this with Kwanzaa?" The O'Reilly elf said. "Some guy made it up, Made it up from whole cloth.

And somewhere the pagans Are worshipping trees And Muslims turn eastward On rugs on their knees."

"The Democrats did it," He said with a roar. "It was Kerry and Biden And Clinton and Gore."

And then with a smirk He fired heavy artillery: "If you want my opinion, I bet it was Hillary."

I sat there in silence, Stunned in my jammies. My pulse was just racing My hands were all clammy.

Who can save Christmas From plots so barbaric That turn Jesus' birthday To a season generic?

What will happen to Christmas? Should I recycle my creche? And toss out John's gospel Bout Word become flesh?

Should I toss out the angels? They could get me arrested. I was, lo, sore afraid And my soul greatly tested.

Who will save Christmas? George W. Bush? Who will save Christmas When shove comes to push?

We could call the Marines But they've all been assigned. This disaster needs FEMA. Oh . . . never mind.

Then I heard a weird jingling From somewhere in back And grabbed for the pistol I'm licensed to pack.

I pulled back the slide And quick chambered a round And yelled out "Freeze dirtbag! Don't dare make a sound!"

The guy, he was balding And wore a blue suit. He was driving a pickup That said "Brown & Root."

His eyes they were squinting, His voice, slightly nervous Said, "Richard B. Cheney. I'm here, at your service."

I was stunned at the sight Of the man who's the veep. And I thought I was dreaming, In some weird right-wing sleep.

I heard him cough softly Then say, "It's not fiction. "First Comet is venison. "And next I'll shoot Vixen."

"I killed off the reindeer," He softly exhaled. "And I sent Santa off To a black CIA jail.

This secular nonsense, We'll end it, right quick. I've got other priorities Or my name's not St. Dick."

He said, "Christmas's really Just all about loot You can stuff in your bag And then dis-t'-ri-bute

To friends and to donors And pals who are cronies, It's not about children Or Democrat phonies.

"The trick that I've learned," St. Dick said like a Scrooge, "Is avoiding the blame. Instead, get you a stooge,

So the stooge takes the heat As you make dead certain That the goodies pile up Inside Halliburton."

"So we'll blame it on liberals, And commies and gays. We'll blame it on Democrats And folks who don't pray."

We've got Bill O'Reilly To stir up the base While we haul all our loot To an undisclosed place."

Then he turned with a wink, Jumped back into his pickup. He nodded his head And then said with a hiccup:

"I'll tell you one thing Gives me great satisfaction: The liberals stole Christmas' Is a dandy distraction."

The Prissy Patriot will return over the weekend with updates.