The Liberal Patriot Blog
 The Liberal Patriot Blog is dedicated to collecting and sharing information about National and State [New Hampshire] Political Action, News, and Events.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

WHAT! No "GOP Points" for beating up elderly election worker?

Windham state rep to resign as part of a plea deal

Republican State Rep. Christopher Doyle will resign from the Legislature under to a plea agreement that will allow him to avoid being tried on a felony assault charge.

Doyle, 27, is accused of hitting an election worker and knocking her to the ground in March after failing to win reelection to the board of selectmen. He will plead guilty to a lesser charge of simple assault as part of the agreement with prosecutors.

If the deal is accepted by the court, Doyle would resign as a state representative and not seek public office for the next two years. He also would do 100 hours of community service, be evaluated by an anger management specialist and apologize to election worker Gail Webster.

full article @ boston.com


How soon they forget.....

Here come the attacks... Edwards is heralding poverty as an issue, a hugely timely and forgotten issue that as Tom Oliphant of the Boston Glode has said Edwards was talking about when no one else cared. Remember all that crap in the media about American never knew there was poverty like this!!! WELL I WONDER WHY! The dead from katrina haven't even all been found yet and the media and pundits are criticizing Edwards for talking about poverty too much... I only hope in Edwards "One America" these pundits will be forced to WORK FOR A LIVING for a change!!

Potential candidate Edwards remains focused on poverty
By Natalie Gott, Associated Press Writer

John Edwards is still talking like someone running for president, and for him that means talking about poverty in America.

......some wonder if the former senator needs to move outside his comfort zone and start talking about other issues -- such as the war in Iraq and rising gas prices -- if he's serious about another bid for the White House.

The question of whether (poverty) is sufficient is answered with the question ... 'When is the last time you saw John Edwards on the evening news?'" said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University. "I think the answer is, 'It's been awhile.'"
......
Phil Roeder, who runs a public relations firm in Iowa and is active in Democratic politics in the state, said poverty is not a bad issue on which to focus.
......
......Michael Munger, chairman of the political science department at Duke University [says].. The free college program "seemed sort of nice and it's a nice philanthropic gesture, but it doesn't fit with someone" who is trying to build up his foreign policy knowledge, a frequent critique of Edwards during his 2004 campaign.
.......
"He doesn't know anything about foreign policy and this doesn't help," Munger said. "I think it's fairly possible that he just thinks it's the right thing to do."

Full Article from Boston.com

Disclosure: I am supporting Edwards in the pres. primary and I plan to volunteer for his campaign in NH.


Kettle calling pot... a disaster on every level





From AP:
Robert Bork - whose nomination to the high court was rejected by the Senate in 1987 - called the choice of Harriet Miers "a disaster on every level."

via majority report radio blog

Inside the Blogosphere....

David Sirota makes an excellent point..... about being fair, relating to blogs...

Some quotes:

It is these folks who reinforce all the stereotypes about the left being willing to eat its own in order to further this or that individual's ego.

People - many of whom stake their careers to individual causes without regard to anything else - put their own egos over the good of the Movement.

...progressives have every right to their opinions and to push for their candidate, but they do not have a right to dishonestly and disingenuously slander someone like Brown as disloyal to the Movement.


When Bloggers Cross the Line from sirota blog

This serves as a GREAT reminder to us all that we don't serve the movement when we are being driven by our own self serving interests and ego.

Sinking... sinking... sunk

The GOP at this point is seriously out of touch - way more so than they have even been in the past. It is reminiscent of an earlier comment that proves this. Back in May, top GOP Congressman Ray LaHood said of the swirling corruption scandals "There’s not a problem, and the issue does not resonate back home."

full post @ sirota blog

Don't worry LaHood, activists, like myself, will make it our jobs to MAKE those issues resonate. You just keep racking up the scandals.

A Noble Prize Winner, an obsolete hack.... a win for the good guys.

Today, the Nobel Committee issued a strong rebuke to the Bush administration by awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei.

In response, the Secretary of State Rice said in a statement, “I congratulate the International Atomic Energy Agency and its Director General, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, on being awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.” Last year, the administration was less generous with their praise. In fact, it launched a smear campaign to prevent ElBaradei from returning for a third-term as head of the nuclear watchdog agency.

In its efforts to bring him down, the administration leaked false intelligence about Egypt:

Diplomats in Vienna suspect the story circulating in the press about a clandestine nuclear program in Egypt is part of an American-led campaign to oust the head of the international agency charged with preventing the proliferation of atomic weapons. [New York Sun, 1/5/05]

And tapped his phone:

The Bush administration has dozens of intercepts of Mohamed ElBaradei’s phone calls with Iranian diplomats and is scrutinizing them in search of ammunition to oust him as director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, according to three U.S. government officials. [Washington Post, 12/12/04]

John Bolton, recess-appointed-ambassador to the UN, led the charge against ElBaradei and went “out of his way to bad-mouth” him during those months.

Why did the administration want him out so badly? It disagreed with ElBaradei about Iraq’s nonexistent WMD program. ElBaradei, if you’ll recall, turned out to be right.

from thinkprogress blog

A follow up on susi's earlier post. Thanks susi for bring this to our attention.


Kicking Ass: Fighting Democrats

Washington, D.C. - House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi joined House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer at a news conference this afternoon to condemn the Republican abuse of power that occurred on the floor of the House today. The Republican leadership held a five-minute vote on the energy bill open for 45 minutes to twist arms to get their Members to switch votes. Below are Pelosi's remarks:

"What you saw on the House floor this afternoon was a shameless display of the Republican culture of corruption, as it exists in the House of Representatives. It demonstrated once again that the Republican majority will go to any length to satisfy the greed of the energy companies over meeting the needs of the American people.

"A vote that was supposed to take five minutes took more than nine times that long because the indicted Republican leader of the House of Representatives needed extra time to twist the arms necessary to pass a bill that is against the interests of the American people, against consumers, against taxpayers, and against the environment.

"The fact that the Republicans are handmaidens of the special interests is nothing new. The fact that they would shamelessly display their servitude should come as no surprise. But today's extortion is an especially shameful display - a sad day for democracy. The people spoke and the vote was clearly against this bill.

.....

"Democrats have proposed guidelines for how we think the House of Representatives should operate, a Minority Bill of Rights. Included in this document is the declaration that `No vote shall be held open in order to manipulate the outcome.' When we take back the People's House, we will heed that declaration."

full remarks @ democraticleader.house.gov via @ daily kos

THIS VIDEO SAYS IT ALL!!!

Watch the debacle in streaming Quicktime

The vote was held on the “Gasoline for America’s Security Act of 2005,” a provision sponsored by Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) to nominally “expedite the construction of new refining capacity.” But the bill is essentially a giveback to the oil industry — Rep. Ed Markey called it a “leave-no-oilman-behind bill.”

The antics of right-wingers on the House floor today mirrored their previous strong-arm tactics in passing CAFTA and prescription drug legislation – bills that, like today’s, favored large corporations. In July 2005, the House passed CAFTA with a slim two-vote margin after holding the vote open for an hour, 45 minutes. In November 2003, in the dead of night, the House leadership held the Medicare prescription drug vote by five votes after holding the vote open for three hours.

The Center for American Progress released a report today detailing the profiteering of oil executives while American families struggle with higher gas prices.

More info from think progress blog


Quake Kills More Than 3,000 Non-Americans

Quake Kills More Than 3,000 in South Asia

A huge earthquake triggered landslides, toppled an apartment building and flattened villages of mud-brick homes Saturday, killing more than 3,000 people across a mountainous swath touching Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.

The casualty toll from the 7.6-magnitude tremor was rising early Sunday as rescuers struggled to dig people from the wreckage, their work made more difficult as rain and hail turned dirt and debris into sticky muck. The worst damage was in Pakistan, where the dead included 250 girls crushed at a school and 200 soldiers on duty in the Himalayas.

full article @ yahoo news

I apologize to any conservatives who read the blog for this post. I know that your tiny little hearts only care about yourself, your family, and possibly other citizens of this country.


IRAQ: Life During War Time

TWENTY ONE Soldiers have been killed just in the past week. But hey, we killed at least 50 insurgents this week. Do you feel safer? I don't.

full post @ daily kos

New Study Results In!

Euthanizing Right Wing Pundits Would Solve Global Warming

"The report sparked a firestorm of controversy across the nation’s airwaves, even as Revanche sought to downplay its findings. “It’s true that if you wanted to stop global warming, you could, if that were your sole purpose, you could euthanize every right-wing talk show host in this country, and the global temperature would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your temperature would go down.”"

Friday, October 07, 2005




A scathing Indictment of how the Democrats have failed the people

There is an overriding reason that the Democratic Party has become the political equivalent of Betamax, and it has nothing to do with the malevolence of the Republicans or the mendacity of the media. When a political party consistently betrays its own loyal followers, especially in circumstances involving life and liberty, the inevitable consequence is an excruciating descent into oblivion.

An Apology



Somehow it just doesn't seem like enough...

Profile in leadership: Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer


A real example of a red state turning blue is montana. Governor Brian Schweitzer answers questions on daily kos about coal 2 fuel technology which his leadership is promoting.

read more here

Why Democrats lose and Republicans win.

Kevin Drum points out the illogic of the Third Way study:

. . .[I]n Off Center Hacker and Pierson also provide a ton of evidence that, congressional results notwithstanding, Americans haven't become any more conservative over the past three decades. Nor has the activist base of the Democratic party become more liberal. Rather, it's the activist base of the Republican party that's gotten more extreme. The chart on the right, my favorite from the book, shows the startling story: compared to independent voters, Republican activists have gotten far more extreme since 1980, while over the same period the Democratic base has actually become more moderate. In other words, contra Galston and Kamarck, the liberal base is not really the problem a lot of people make it out to be. It's the Republican base that's far outside the mainstream. And yet, Republicans keep on winning anyway. But why? How is it that a party can continue to drift farther and farther from the center of American politics -- the Holy Grail of most political strategists -- and yet continue to be successful? Why is the center no longer holding?

Why do Republicans keep on winning Drum asks. For the precise reason the Netroots has advocated for a Fighting Dems strategy -- Democrats have been afraid to call the Republican Party extreme, even though it is. Democrats have been afraid to fight for their mainstream principles.

full post @ daily kos

Inside the Blogosphere....

Some people are interested in this whole blogo world and what it means.. I am going to start posting items relating to this under this title.

Kevin Drum and Atrios talk about angst within the conservative blogging world over being ignored, while liberal bloggers are embraced by the establishment.....

That's sort of true and not true. As for conservatives [bloggers] being ignored, as Atrios notes, yeah, that part is true. .......

As for Democrats, conservatives like to think that sites like Daily Kos meet weekly with Howard Dean and Harry Reid, as though we're an integral part of some well-oiled machine. And that's also not true.......When they do pay attention, most of the time it's naked attempts to score cash from the community, as though we're some kind of ATM.

read full post from daily kos

Life in War Time; Today in Iraq

Six Marines Killed in Iraq Bomb Attacks

Bomb blasts killed six Marines in western Iraq, and U.S. forces killed 29 militants in U.S. offensives aimed at uprooting al-Qaida insurgents ahead of the country's vote on a new constitution, the military said Friday.

The American deaths brought to 1,950 the number of U.S. troops who have died since the beginning of the war in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Full story @ yahoo news


Police find 22 bodies in southeast Iraq

Iraqi police have found the bodies of 22 men handcuffed and shot dead in an area near the Iran border, officials said on Friday.

Police said the bodies were found near Badra town in Wasit province, 69 miles southeast of Baghdad, on Thursday.

Full story @ yahoo news


American's more worried about BUSH than Terrorism!

According to a CBS poll american's say that BUSH is a more important problem than terrorism.


from CBS News [via Majority Report]










U.S. MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM

War in Iraq
Now
18%
9/2005
13%
Economy and jobs
Now
16%
9/2005
14%
Gas/oil crisis
Now
5%
9/2005
9%

President Bush
Now
5%
9/2005
5%

Terrorism
Now
4%
9/2005
6%


NYTimes writer finds connections between bloggers and lawyers.

There is an article in the NYTimes that attempts to make a connection between lawyers and blogs..

Article is here.

You know I can draw all kinds of connections that don’t exist too. Especially if I take a bunch of acid first. The NYT
author only mentions 2 bloggers of any significance Kos from dailys kos on the left and Hendrocket from powerline on the right.

I am sure another hack could easily write an article about authors who do blogs, or college professors, or the unemployed. [I think there is a significant connection between blogging and unemployment.!]

Everybody has their own blogs now. If someone said that software developments or IT professional made up a large portion of bloggers no one would bat an eye. Guess what, I bet you employees at fast food places are largely under represented in the blogosphere.

I did like this quote, though I hate that it comes from hindrocket:

Good lawyers write well, quickly and clearly and do not fear arguments, said Mr. Hinderaker of powerlineblog.com. "Most people's personalities are such that they don't really like conflict and are shy about putting arguments and opinions out in public where they're going to be attacked," he said. "Obviously lawyers do that all the time."

I generally don’t like this article as it artificially over emphasizes the connection between lawyers and blogs. It half heartedly makes the effort to say something about how all bloggers aren’t slackers, but the case against that stereotype has been made and closed years ago.

A real good point about blogs is that they are totally merit driven. You can’t buy your way in. Another good point is that daily kos or atrios get more hits in a day than ANY major news show [excluding the daily show] gets viewers. You won't find those points mentioned in this article.


Dispatch from Bush World: The US has disrupted 10 serious terrorist plots!

In his speech President Bush made a noteworthy claim:

Overall, the United States and our partners have disrupted at least 10 serious Al Qaida terrorist plots since September the 11th, including three Al Qaida plots to attack inside the United States.

Not surprisingly, White House spokesman Scott McClellan was asked for more information. Here’s what he said:

MCCLELLAN: Some of them are known publicly, like the capture of Jose Padilla and Iyman Faris. Jose Padilla, if you remember, was involved in plots involving a possibility of a dirty bomb. And Iyman Faris was someone who had been in contact with people like Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and captured with plots looking at a — blowing up or destroying a New York bridge.

And then there are other incidents that are still classified.

So let’s review what we know about the 10 incidents:

1. Jose Padilla.Paul Wolfowitz, Mr. Rumsfeld’s deputy, stressed on Monday that ‘there was not an actual plan’ to set off a radioactive device in America and Padilla had not begun trying to acquire materials. Intelligence officials said his research had not gone beyond surfing the internet.” Since being detained in O’Hare airport in 2002, Padilla has not been charged with any crime or permitted to talk to a lawyer. [Daily Telegraph, 12/06/02; Washington Post, 9/10/05]

2. Iyman Faris. Faris was an Ohio truck driver who pleaded guilty in June 2003 to two felony charges of supporting a foreign terrorist organization. He was charged with plotting to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge, but U.S. officials admitted that Faris had abandoned the plot because he deemed it unlikely to succeed. “After scouting the bridge and deciding its security and structure meant the plot was unlikely to succeed, he passed along a message to al Qaeda in early 2003 that said ‘the weather is too hot.’” [CNN, 6/19/03]

3-10: Classified.

To recap: One three-year old arrest in a case where no charges have been filed, one two-year old arrest related to a plot that was already abandoned and eight “incidents” the administration won’t tell us anything about.

from think progress


Bush in Free Fall....

37% another new low for President Bush’s approval rating. from thinkprogress blog

Lynch opposes gay marriage & ban on gay marriage

Lynch opposes constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and gay marriage

Gov. John Lynch said he's against gay marriage, but opposes changing the state's constitution to ban it.


from boston.com

[picture: New Hampshire Executive Councilor Raymond Burton, right, poses with U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter, center, and New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch]


Thursday, October 06, 2005

Woman kicked off airplane for Anti-Bush shirt...

Oregon woman kicked off flight in Reno over offensive shirt

A Portland woman's flight home was stopped short in Reno, all because the message on the T-shirt she was wearing.

Lorrie Heasley claims it's a freedom of speech privilege, but airline officials say the message brings safety concerns.

full story @ KRNV news via huffington post

I am only supprised that in Bush World they even bothered to land the plane before they kicked her out.


Robert's vs Miers gender stereotyping

Harriet Miers may have broken through glass ceilings on her way to a Supreme Court nomination, but President Bush’s “work wife” has a long way to go with gender stereotyping in mainstream media coverage. Need proof? Compare news coverage in the days after her nomination with coverage this summer of the John Roberts nomination:

ROBERTS : “A career that had been marked by distinguished and relentless advancement.” (LA Times, 7/25/05)

MIERS: “She’s not somebody who is a gossip.” (AP, 10/4/05)

ROBERTS: “Brilliant but self-deprecating, earnest but not humorless.” (Boston Globe, 7/21/04)

MIERS: “She never misses a birthday.” (LA Times, 10/4/05)

ROBERTS: “Exceptional intellect. Exceptional temperament. A conservative judicial philosophy.” (LA Times, 7/25/05)

MIERS: “She makes a wonderful sweet potato pie. Many marshmallows.” (AP, 10/3/05)

ROBERTS: “Disciplined, self-assured and performance driven.” (Chicago Tribune, 7/24/05)

MIERS: “She would look at you blankly if you mentioned the name of a designer.” (Bloomberg, 10/4/05)

MIERS: “A pit bull in size 6 shoes.” (New York Times, 10/3/05)

ROBERTS: Sorry. No word on what size shoe John Roberts wears.

from thinkprogress blog


Out of the Mouth of Dean... TRUTH!


"Well, certainly the president can claim executive privilege. But in the this case, I think with a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, you can't play, you know, Hide the Salami, or whatever it's called."

--Howard Dean on Hardball

Global Warming Watch

Temperature rises to October record on Mount Washington

The temperature at the top of New England on Mount Washington rose to 62 degrees Wednesday, a record for October.

full story @ boston.com


Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Blogs are Destroying America!

Or so Faux News commentator Bill O'Reilly would have us believe.
Blogs. I don’t even read them.

Poor Bill - bloggers keep pointing out his many lies and fabrications! No wonder
he hates them.

Tail of Interest....

An Oregon woman whose doctor convinced her that he could cure her lower back pain by having sex with her is suing him and his medical clinic for $4 million, according to legal documents obtained on Monday.

full story @ yahoo news

Brave New World.... Indiana bans gay pregnancy

Legislation has been introduced in the Indiana legislature that would prohibit gays, lesbians and single people in Indiana from using medical science to assist them in having a child.

The bill has the support of Senator Patricia Miller, the chair of the Health Finance Commission where the legislation is currently being considered.

from huffington post


Life in War Time; Today in Iraq

US says 4 troops die in western Iraq fighting

Four U.S. troops died in fighting in western Iraq on Monday, the U.S. military said on Tuesday, taking to a least 1,935 the number of U.S. forces killed since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

One Marine was killed by an improvised bomb in Karabila, near the Syrian border, during a major military operation called Iron Fist, a statement said.

Three soldiers were killed by improvised bombs in Haqlaniya, in the western Anbar province, the U.S. military said.

Full story @ yahoo news

At Least 25 Killed in Iraq Mosque Blast

A bomb exploded at the entrance of a Shiite Muslim mosque south of Baghdad as hundreds of worshippers gathered for prayers on the first day of Ramadan and for the funeral of a man killed in an earlier bombing. At least 25 people were killed and 87 wounded.

Full story @ yahoo news

Iraq health care so bad that doctors want out

For most of his life, Dr. Ayad Abdul Kadhem kept a laser-like focus on his goal of becoming a doctor. He finished at the top of his class in primary and secondary schools, and proved to be among the most studious of his peers at the University of Baghdad's medical school.

But these days, Kadhem, now a second-year resident at Sadr City Hospital, is looking for a way out of his profession. Recently, he and five of his colleagues applied for jobs at the Iraqna mobile phone company to answer a customer help line--unskilled work he is more than willing to take so he can quit a job he has come to loathe.

"Almost anything is better than being a doctor in Iraq now," said Kadhem, 26, who didn't get the call center job. "The situation is so difficult in the medical field that many of us would quit if we could."

Full story @ yahoo news


Former NH couple knock over table because Pope is the Anti-christ.

DECATUR, Ala. --A former New Hampshire couple accused with two others of overturning the altar at a Roman Catholic church acted on a vision from God and the belief the new pope is the antichrist.

"I had a vision. Lisa and me were tearing a church apart," Turgeon said. "That's not what I did. I just tore up a table that people saw as an idol, kneeling before it and bowing before an idol."

full story @ boston.com

Not that i disagree with their conclusion, but couldn't they have just ripped up his picture instead?


What Would A Conservative Do: Kill People or Feeding the Poor.

Right-wing leaders in Congress are proposing “to slash food programs for the poor by $574 million” this year. The government spends nearly $200 million in Iraq every day. (Via Sploid.)

from thinkprogress blog

He said if you love me, feed my sheep.

Drop Out of High School, get a gun

In the wake the worst recruiting slump in decades, the Army announced earlier this week that they are loosening recruitment standards to accept more high school dropouts:

Army Secretary Noel Harvey and vice chief of staff Gen. Richard Cody said Monday that the Army was using looser Defense Department rules that permitted it to sign up more high school dropouts and people who score lower on mental-qualification tests, but they denied that this meant it was lowering standards.

The Army has a recruiting shortfall of 6,000 to 8,000 soldiers over the past 12 months. It hasn’t fallen so short of its annual goal since 1979, several years after the Vietnam war.

The problem, Harvey said, is “a combination of three factors: a good economy, the war in Iraq and parents reluctant to see their sons and daughters enlist” because of the war.

from think progress blog


Feingold pushes for lobbying reform

Some watchdog groups have complained that former members engage in lobbying on the House floor, despite a prohibition on such activity in House rules.

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) recently proposed a measure that would ban former members from the floor. While it does not explicitly ban House officers from the floor, lawmakers are likely to take issue with the special privilege if the bill gains traction and their privileges are threatened. But many lobbyists holding floor privileges said that such activity rarely occurs and that it would be less likely to occur with former staffers-turned-lobbyists.


from sirota blog


Karen Hughes: Lying her way across the middle east.

As Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes traveled through the Middle East last week seeking to burnish the U.S. image, one of her key talking points was that President Bush is the first president to call for a Palestinian state.

But, oddly, when Bush announced in 2001 that he supported a Palestinian state, administration officials rushed to say that he was simply following a policy articulated by his predecessor, Bill Clinton.

Full story @ Washington post


Miers Led Law Defrauds Investors

According to the 5/1/00 newsletter Class Action Reporter, Miers headed Locke, Liddell & Sapp at the time the firm was forced to pay $22 million to settle a suit asserting that "it aided a client in defrauding investors."

The law-firm admitted that it "knew in March 1998 that $ 8 million in [the company's] losses hadn't been reported to investors" but didn't tell regulators.

This wasn't an isolated incident, either. The Austin American-Statesman reported in 2001 that Miers' lawfirm was forced to pay another $8 million for a similar scheme to defraud investors.

As the 9/20/00 Texas Lawyer reported, Miers' firm helped a now-convicted con man "defraud investors and allowed the firm's [bank] account to be used as a 'conduit.'" The suit said "money from investors that went into the firm's trust account was deposited into [the con man's] bank accounts and was used to pay for his 'expensive toys.'"

If you think Miers wasn't involved in any of this -- think again. Miers wasn't just any old lawyer at the firm. She was the Managing Partner

From huffington post

California pays to save a man's life, so they can kill him.

California is executing a 75-year-old prisoner who recently had a heart attack and underwent surgery paid for by the state of California.

Full story @ sfgate.com


I say he should get the DEATH PENALTY!!!

Government cracks down on spyware operation

Government regulators are trying to shut down a company they say secretly downloaded spyware onto the computers of unwitting Internet users, rendering them helpless to a flood of pop-up ads, computer crashes and other annoyances.

The Federal Trade Commission accused Walter Rines of Stratham, N.H., and his company, Odysseus Marketing, of luring computer users with the promise of free software that would make peer-to-peer file sharing anonymous. The claim was bogus, the agency said, and the software was bundled with spyware that was secretly downloaded onto computers.

Odysseus allegedly used a spyware program called Clientman that spawned downloads of dozens of other programs -- slowing computers down, bombarding them with pop-up ads and redirecting them to fake search engines that were rigged to show Rines' clients first, according to the FTC complaint.

The agency also said the spyware was impossible to remove. Rines, the FTC said, offered his own "uninstall" tool, but it didn't work and actually installed additional software.

The FTC filed its first federal anti-spyware case last fall against Sanford Wallace, a New Hampshire man known as the "Spam King." It accused him of using spyware programs to infect computers and then selling $30 remedies that the agency said didn't work.

Wallace and Rines were partners at one time, the commission said.

full story @ boston.com


Ann finally finds true love!

I am still working on podcast.... heheh

Podcast to come?

I will be late posting the news today as I am working on learning about and starting up a podcast!

Peace, jon

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Electoral Tales of Interest

CONGRESSIONAL RACES IN 2006:

Race

All Candidates

Amount
Raised

District 01

Jeb Bradley (R) *
Peter Michael Sullivan (D)
Gary B. Dodds (D)

$156,207
$0
$0

District 02

Charles Bass (R) *
Howard L. Wilson (I)

$89,800
$0

CONGRESSIONAL RACES IN 2004:

Race

All Candidates

Amount
Raised

Senate
Incumbent
Re-elected

Judd Gregg (R) *
Doris R. Haddock (D)

$3,324,529
$177,594

District 01
Incumbent
Re-elected

Jeb Bradley (R) *
Justin Nadeau (D)

$1,049,832
$334,667

District 02
Incumbent
Re-elected

Charles Bass (R) *
Paul W. Hodes (D)
Richard B. Kahn (L)

$740,299
$467,164
$0

CONGRESSIONAL RACES IN 2002:

Race

Top vote-getting candidates

Amount
Spent

Senate

WINNER: John E. Sununu (R)
Jeanne Shaheen (D)

$3,679,562
$5,821,219

District 01

WINNER: Jeb Bradley (R)
Martha Fuller Clark (D)

$983,458
$3,511,108

District 02
Incumbent
Re-elected

WINNER: Charles Bass (R)
Katrina Swett (D)

$886,765
$1,457,913

CONGRESSIONAL RACES IN 2000:

Race

Top vote-getting candidates

Amount
Spent

District 01
Incumbent
Re-elected

WINNER: John E. Sununu (R)
Martha Fuller Clark (D)

$578,633
$1,136,647

District 02
Incumbent
Re-elected

WINNER: Charles Bass (R)
Barney Brannen (D)

$812,727
$872,115


Gallus supports Burton and accuses GOP senators and congressmen of conspiracy

Republican U.S. Sens. John Sununu and Judd Gregg and Republican State Congressmen, Jeb Bradley and Charles Bass for the resignation of Executive Councilor Ray Burton after he admitted to retaining a staffer who he knew had numerous prior convictions for child molestation.

In the latest allegations, a 14-year-old boy had reported being approached by a man who offered him beer and cigarettes. Seidensticker was arrested and charged with offering alcohol and tobacco to a minor after police found beer, blankets, rope, tape and sexual aids in his car.

State Sen. John Gallus, a Republican from Berlin, said it was suspicious that calls for Burton's resignation "came in the dark of night and all at the same moment."

"Someone was lining things up," Gallus said. "No one in the North Country is calling for his resignation, though ... A mistake doesn't wipe out 30 years of experience and the good he's done."

Critics say employing Seidensticker was more than a temporary lapse, however.

"For 13 years nearly half of his tenure on the council he knowingly allowed a man convicted of a violent sexual assault against a boy to travel with him all over the North Country," the Union Leader said in a recent editorial. "Despite knowing that the man had three times been arrested for failing to register as a sex offender, Burton continued to provide him with credibility and contacts."

Governor Lynch Weights in:

"Yes, he's been a strong advocate for the North Country," Lynch said, the Caledonian Record reported. "However, I stand with Senators (Judd) Gregg and (John) Sununu that Burton broke the public trust hiring a known sex offender. Look at what almost happened in Concord. What if he (Mark Seidensticker) had gotten that boy in his car? We have to protect our kids."

Read more from boston.com articles here and here


Dems need help, they should read Sirota blog

Democrats just don't like conflict. It's just so much easier to never be about anything and try to be likeable... and lose.

Dems' Non-Ideological Case Against Harriet Miers

During the confirmation process of then-Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, Democrats of all stripes had an easy - and credible - way to oppose him: make clear that he had almost no experience as a judge and that he refused to provide much information about his beliefs/record that might have clarified serious questions about him. Beyond any of Roberts' controversial positions on civil rights, privacy or women's rights, the simple shadowy nature of his record provided Democrats a very easy-to-communicate opposition that the American people likely would have backed (Just look at initial polls after Roberts' nomination in which the public overwhelmingly wanted more information).

Sadly, Democrats largely missed that opportunity. From almost the very first day he was nominated, Senate Democrats laid down and died. And they died in the worst way, in that they actually used Roberts' biggest weakness - the lack of clear information about his record - as their reason for supporting him. As Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) said in voting for Roberts, the public can just "take [Roberts] at his word that he does not have an ideological agenda."

The White House's thinking is pretty simple: Democrats have now publicly said that a nominee with a largely unknown record is acceptable, and Miers has that. Should be smooth sailing, right? Wouldn't Democrats look hypocritical to oppose Miers on the basis of her lack of real Supreme Court-qualifying experience or adequate legal credentials, in light of Democrats recent willingness to confirm a nominee with similar drawbacks?

[As I said before the dem YES votes on Robert's HURT the fight for against this nominee, it did NOT help it.]

READ THE FULL ARTICLE @ sirota blog

When, Senator Patrick Leahy voted yes on confirming John Roberts, he said he was taking a leap of faith. And indeed he was. And that was unreasonable of him.

Today, President Bush demonstrates the folly of Senator Leahy. He has presented a candidate for the Supreme Court who has virtually NO record whatsoever. As I explained here, the failure to vote No on Roberts because of the White House stonewall has undermined Democrats' ability to demand full disclosure and forthrightness on the next nominee. Bush saw the opening given and has taken it.

from daily kos

Life in War Time; Today in Iraq

US says 4 troops die in western Iraq fighting

Four U.S. troops died in fighting in western Iraq on Monday, the U.S. military said on Tuesday, taking to a least 1,935 the number of U.S. forces killed since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

From yahoo news

Suicide Car Bomb Kills Two Iraqi Police

A suicide car bomb exploded at a checkpoint at the main entrance of Baghdad's Green Zone on Tuesday, killing two Iraqi policemen and wounding one, police said. The high-security area is home to Iraq's parliament and the U.S. Embassy.

From yahoo news




Iraq Qaeda says 2 Marines killed, US denies it

Al Qaeda's wing in Iraq said on Monday it had killed two U.S. Marines it said it seized in western Iraq, according to a Web posting, but the U.S. military denied it.

From yahoo news


Col. Stephen Davis, commander of Marine Regimental Combat Team 2, which is responsible for much of western Iraq, quoted in yesterday’s New York Times:

We’re not going anywhere,” he told the murmuring crowd, adding that as long as there were attacks against Iraqi or American troops the house searches and roadblocks and bridge closings would continue.

Some of you are concerned about the attack helicopters and mortar fire from the base,” he said. “I will tell you this: those are the sounds of peace.

From think progress blog


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