BlogWood: Norwood's Fair and Balanced Nattering

250,000 in the streets

Tons of protest photos and comments at NYC Indymedia.

Oliver Willis has pics of my favorite moment: 1,000 flag draped coffins. He also has the best pro-Bush quote, one which I was gonna include in a post of my own, but since he’s already done all the work for me...

"I left God's country," said Leon Mosley of Waterloo, Iowa, co-chairman of his state party. "They could use a bunch of people from Iowa to come here to show New Yorkers what life is all about, what being patriotic is all about, and what country is all about."

Yeah, Leon, being patriotic is shutting up and putting blinders on as you follow the rest of the lemmings of off the cliff.

Note - I'll be arriving late to the party - had to reschedule due to day job commitments, but I'll have some original insights later this week. If they let me on the plane.

Republicans party, poor suffer

W’s economy has poverty rising, both in Florida and the rest of the nation. Meanwhile, our pResident continues to pursue policies which tend to pull people out of poverty by killing them. Either dead or poor, it doesn’t matter, because hungry, homeless, impoverished people don’t vote.

More Floridians are living in poverty, and Escambia surpassed Miami- Dade as the state's poorest county, according to U.S. Census figures released Thursday.

The state's poverty rate was above the national average, climbing to a three-year average of 13.1 percent last year from 12.8 percent in 2002. That means about 2.17 million Floridians are living in poverty.

Another report from the Census Bureau also put Florida above the national average in the percentage of its residents without health insurance.

While Florida continues to lead the nation in job growth, the poverty rate underscores concerns about the number of low-wage jobs being created. The economy could play an important role in what is now a close race between President Bush and Sen. John Kerry for the state's 27 electoral college votes in November.

``The statistics can be used by the Democrats to make an economic argument,'' said Matt Corrigan, a political science professor at the University of North Florida.

Corrigan said, however, the numbers would have little sway because ``a lot of those in poverty don't vote.'' Although the difference between rich and poor hasn't improved, he said, the rate of poverty wasn't much worse than the rest of the nation.

Nationally, 12.5 percent of the population, or about 35.8 million people, lived below the poverty line in 2003, according to the bureau. That was up from 12.1 percent, or 34.5 million people in 2002. Only eight states showed a decrease in poverty and 19 had a rate that was in the single digits.

Judge strikes anti-recount rule

A judge has overturned the state rule banning recounts of votes from touch screen machines. Now, the rule was universally derided by progressive types, but it had a sort of dark logic in that, in reality, there is nothing to recount in a touch screen machine. That’s the reason we need a paper trail.

State elections officials should not have barred manual recounts for touch screen voting systems, a judge ruled Friday.

The decision came in a challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, Common Cause and others who say Secretary of State Glenda Hood overstepped her authority when she abolished manual recounts for touch screen machines used in 15 Florida counties.

The ruling left state and county officials scratching their heads over their next move.

The ruling might pave the way for paper trails on touch screen machines, said ACLU Florida executive director Howard Simon.

But it is unlikely to have any impact on Tuesday's primaries, though it could affect the November general election.

"We all are of the mindset that there is nothing to recount," said Pasco County Elections Supervisor Kurt Browning.

If he has to print out all the data in Pasco's 1,500 touch screen machines, it would take working 24 hours a day to meet the seven-day time limit for completing a recount, Browning said.

The state might appeal.

"There are no problems with touch screen machines," said spokeswoman Alia Faraj. "They have been used in hundreds of elections since 2000 and were chosen by counties to avoid the problems we had in 2000."

Who the hell is Alia Faraj, and why are her blatant lies being reprinted in newspapers around the state? There are huge numbers of documented problems with touch screen machines. In several instances, the machines were responsible for determining the wrong winner of elections. The machines reported results that were not at all based on the votes that were cast.

Bev Harris, of Black Box Voting broke the story of the problems with computerized voting, and she remains among the best informed experts in the country. Here’s what she has to say:

In the Alabama 2002 general election, machines made by Election Systems and Software (ES&S) flipped the governor’s race. Six thousand three hundred Baldwin County electronic votes mysteriously disappeared after the polls had closed and everyone had gone home. Democrat Don Siegelman’s victory was handed to Republican Bob Riley, and the recount Siegelman requested was denied. Three months after the election, the vendor shrugged. “Something happened. I don’t have enough intelligence to say exactly what,” said Mark Kelley of ES&S.

When I began researching this story in October 2002, the media was reporting that electronic voting machines are fun and speedy, but I looked in vain for articles reporting that they are accurate. I discovered four magic words, “voting machines and glitch,” which, when entered into a search engine, yielded a shocking result: A staggering pile of miscounts was accumulating. These were reported locally but had never been compiled in a single place, so reporters were missing a disturbing pattern.

I published a compendium of 56 documented cases in which voting machines got it wrong.

How do voting-machine makers respond to these reports? With shrugs. They indicate that their miscounts are nothing to be concerned about. One of their favorite phrases is: “It didn’t change the result.”

Except, of course, when it did:

* In the 2002 general election, a computer miscount overturned the House District 11 result in Wayne County, North Carolina. Incorrect programming caused machines to skip several thousand party-line votes, both Republican and Democratic. Fixing the error turned up 5,500 more votes and reversed the election for state representative.
* This crushing defeat never happened: Voting machines failed to tally “yes” votes on the 2002 school bond issue in Gretna, Nebraska. This error gave the false impression that the measure had failed miserably, but it actually passed by a 2-to-1 margin. Responsibility for the errors was attributed to ES&S, the Omaha company that had provided the ballots and the machines.
* According to the Chicago Tribune, “It was like being queen for a day—but only for 12 hours,” said Richard Miholic, a losing Republican candidate for alderman in 2003 who was told that he had won a Lake County, Illinois, primary election. He was among 15 people in four races affected by an ES&S vote-counting foul-up.
* An Orange County, California, election computer made a 100 percent error during the April 1998 school bond referendum. The Registrar of Voters Office initially announced that the bond issue had lost by a wide margin; in fact, it was supported by a majority of the ballots cast. The error was attributed to a programmer’s reversing the “yes” and “no” answers in the software used to count the votes.
* A computer program that was specially enhanced to speed the November 1993 Kane County, Illinois, election results to a waiting public did just that—unfortunately, it sped the wrong data. Voting totals for a dozen Illinois races were incomplete, and in one case they suggested that a local referendum proposal had lost when it actually had been approved. For some reason, software that had worked earlier without a hitch had waited until election night to omit eight precincts in the tally.
* A squeaker—no, a landslide—oops, we reversed the totals—and about those absentee votes, make that 72-19, not 44-47. Software programming errors, sorry. Oh, and reverse that election, we announced the wrong winner. In the 2002 Clay County, Kansas, commissioner primary, voting machines said Jerry Mayo ran a close race but lost, garnering 48 percent of the vote, but a hand recount revealed Mayo had won by a landslide, receiving 76 percent of the vote.

The excuses given for these miscounts are just as flawed as the election results themselves. Vendors have learned that reporters and election workers will believe pretty much anything, as long as it sounds high-tech. They blame incorrect vote counts on “a bad chip” or “a faulty memory card,” but defective chips and bad memory cards have very different symptoms. They don’t function at all, or they spit out nonsensical data.

In the November 2002 general election in Scurry County, Texas, poll workers got suspicious about a landslide victory for two Republican commissioner candidates. Told that a “bad chip” was to blame, they had a new computer chip flown in and also counted the votes by hand—and found that Democrats actually had won by wide margins, overturning the election.
......

According to the Wall Street Journal, in the 2000 general election an optical-scan machine in Allamakee County, Iowa, was fed 300 ballots and reported 4 million votes. The county auditor tried the machine again but got the same result. Eventually, the machine’s manufacturer, ES&S, agreed to have replacement equipment sent. Republicans had hoped that the tiny but heavily Republican county would tip the scales in George W. Bush’s favor, but tipping it by almost 4 million votes attracted national attention.

November, 2003: Officials from Boone County, Indiana, wanted to know why their MicroVote machines counted 144,000 votes cast when only 5,352 existed.

Better than a pregnant chad—these machines can actually give birth.

In the 1996 McLennan County, Texas, Republican primary runoff, one precinct tallied about 800 votes, although only 500 ballots had been ordered.

“We don’t think it’s serious enough to throw out the election,” said county Republican Party Chairman M.A. Taylor. Error size: 60 percent.

Here’s a scorching little 66 percent error rate: Eight hundred and twenty-six votes in one Tucson, Arizona-area precinct simply evaporated, remaining unaccounted for a month after the 1994 general election. No recount appears to have been done, even though two-thirds of voters did not get their votes counted. Election officials said the vanishing votes were the result of a faulty computer program. Apparently, the software programming error and the person who caused it are still at large.

Some voters aren’t so sure that every single vote was accurately counted during the 2002 general election in Maryland.

According to the Washington Times, Kevin West of Upper Marlboro, who voted at the St. Thomas Church in Croom, said, “I pushed a Republican ticket for governor and his name disappeared. Then the Democrat’s name got an ‘X’ put in it.”

No one will ever know whether the Maryland machines counted correctly because the new Diebold touch-screen system is unauditable.
......

Caracas, Venezuela In May 2000, Venezuela’s highest court suspended elections because of problems with the tabulation for the national election. Venezuela sent an air force jet to Omaha to fetch experts from ES&S in a last-ditch effort to fix the problem. Dozens of protesters chanted, “Gringos get out!” at ES&S technicians. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez accused ES&S of trying to destablize the country’s electoral process. Chávez asked for help from the U.S. government because, he said, the United States had recommended ES&S.

Oh, and now Venezuela has a paper trail - printers are attached to the voting machines. What a concept.

There’s lots more - follow the link and read the whole thing. Then request and vote and absentee ballot, or vote early, but use a paper absentee ballot that you can request at your polling place.

Early voting info.

And look here for absentee voting info.

A much more believable Vietnam era memory surfaces

Via Talking Points Memo, here’s former Texas Lt. Governor Ben Barnes on W's National Guard appointment.

Update - stupid mistakes fixed...

Back soon...

In my alter-ego as a computer geek, I'm dealing with storm damage at several client offices. With any luck, I'll catch up and start posting away later today.

Troxler taps heels too

Uh, Howard, I appreciate where you’re coming from with this sentiment, but even if W mouthed the words, why on earth would you trust him to keep his empty pledges?

I hereby promise to switch my voter registration from no-party to Republican, and to vote for President Bush's re-election, if he will give a speech something like what follows.

The wondrous and amazing land of W, where if you wish hard enough you can fool yourself into believing anything at all.

(To be fair, I should mention that Howard’s column is actually pointing out W’s cowardice and weakness of character, but seeing as it’s based on the false premise that one could theoretically believe words uttered by the most cynical and opportunistic politician in the country, I have no choice but to dismiss it out of hand.)

Some useful information

Amid a lot of blather that we’ve already heard dozens of times this election cycle, stuff about how infallible touch screen machines are and how, in the event of a close race requiring a recount, workers will go back to the same machines that produced vote totals and get the same totals out again, there is one important paragraph:

The only thing to manually recount in touch screen counties are absentee ballots and provisional ballots, which are cast when it is unclear if the voter is qualified. Both types of ballots are paper, optical-scan ballots.

Create a paper trail of your vote by voting absentee, or voting early and requesting an paper absentee ballot. Here’s how.

And look here for absentee voting info.

W closes eyes and taps heels; Imaginary jobs increase

The Tampa Trib headline screams “Industries Report Lots Of New Jobs”! Hmmm, maybe I’m being too harsh on our pResident. Maybe the job picture is starting to turn around. Maybe the economy isn’t as bad as it seems...

Since last fall, Pasco's County's industrial sector has added nearly 500 jobs with 200 more in the wings for September, according to Bryan Kamm, the industry recruiter for the county's Economic Development Council.

Kamm reported the numbers - the highest job figures in the past three years - at the EDC's monthly board meeting Wednesday. The figures represent jobs businesses pledged to create, not necessarily jobs now filled, Kamm said.

Oh.

Spreading fear and hatred

This is what happens when a right-wing loon with is left with too much time on his hands:

Travelers to Cuba could lose a litany of state benefits including food stamps, Medicaid and affordable housing under a bill that seeks to crack down on those who visit the island.

Under the bill, anyone who has lived in Florida for less than five years and travels to any country deemed by the U.S. Department of State to sponsor terrorism would be ineligible for state services for at least a year.

That would mostly affect travelers to Cuba, said state Rep. David Rivera, a Miami Republican who is sponsoring the legislation. Though the travel is legal, Rivera argues that the money spent on the island only helps to prop up Fidel Castro.

''It's an issue of gratitude,'' Rivera said today. ``People are sick and tired of people living here, taking advantage of taxpayer generosity and then providing support to the Castro regime by traveling back to the island.''

So, who, exactly are these “people” who are so concerned with this “problem”? This guy has been re-“elected” as an unopposed incumbent, and thus is able to file bills early. Couldn’t Florida’s feckless Democrats have mustered at least some token opposition to keep this nutcase busy with something else?

Know your candidates

From the Sp Times, a good overview of who you'll have a chance to vote for in this month's primary.

Remember: vote early and/or absentee and leave a paper trail!

Get Up with MorningWood

Update - the playlist links are fixed, and here's the Paris track I promised. (Right click and "Save target as..." to download to your computer)

Get Up with MorningWood, on 70,000 Watt Community Radio WMNF 88.5 fm, Tampa, and streaming at wmnf.org. 4 to 6 am (eastern) every Tuesday!

Studio line: 813-239- WMNF WOOD

Blogging on the radio

NYC, protests, the RNC, and more. Okay, that’s really all one topic, and this week’s show is dedicated to the upcoming events in New York.

Lots of songs reminiscent of the above mentioned topics along with war and peace, George W himself, and a few oddball selections just to keep everyone guessing.

I’ll throw in some spoken word by Howard Zinn, Christian Paranti, and others, and probably add my own take on whatever topic I end up narrowing in on - Swift Liars who weren't even there? No protest permits for Central Park? Bob Dole the cheap republican slut? I’m sure to pick something, so tune in and listen up.

Lots of RNC related links in the “Action” section to your left.

Playlists

Each week, I bring my planned songs in on CD. I usually end up playing most or all of them in the planned order. But sometimes things go askew. Sorry - no guarantees or refunds.

Warning - many of this week’s songs will be played together or talked over - tune in and you’ll figure it out.

Hour 1 planned playlist

Hour 2 planned playlist

Live playlist

WMNF Community Radio

WMNF is a non-commercial community radio station that celebrates local cultural diversity and is committed to equality, peace and social and economic justice. WMNF provides broadcasts and creates other forums to serve the community by the exposure and sharing of these values.

Welcome back

To Florida Politics who has rejoined the electric grid and is posting again. Oh, and thanks for the plug!

Vote Ed Austin, Hills. Co. District 6

I don’t know if there’s any way to stop Bob Buckhorn from being elected. I do know that Democrats can vote for former Rowdie Ed Austin in the primary instead of Bob, but Bob’s organization and experience will probably see him through to the general election.

Bob likes to legislate morality and has a knack for posing on heavy equipment while knocking down “crack houses”. He’s best known for pushing Tampa’s infamous 6 foot rule, which prohibits any nekkid person from coming within 6 feet of anyone else.

I’ve been worried about Bob and Ronda Storms, the current moral mistress of the county commission teaming up. Ronda is perhaps the most divisive and unquestionably one of the most wacky persons to have ever served on the Hillsborough County Commission. Buckhorn has now confirmed my worst fears.

Buckhorn cites Republican Commissioner Ronda Storms, frequently criticized for her aggressive tactics, as an example.

``I've served with Ronda on lots of boards. I like Ronda,'' he said.

Vote Ed Austin in this month’s primary. He’s also been endorsed by the SP Times and the Sierra Club.

What distinguishes Austin is the unequivocating way he approaches politically sensitive problems, a confidence rooted in rich experience. Austin, 52, emigrated to America from Scotland as a child, was raised and educated in New Jersey and came to Tampa in 1975 to play for the world champion Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer team. Austin later was marketing director for the Rowdies, director of land management and planning for AAA and chief operating officer of the Tampa Bay Mutiny soccer club before becoming an admissions officer at Saint Leo University.

Austin has complemented his varied business career with 25 years of community service. He helped found what's now a bustling countywide youth soccer program. For 20 years, he has served on the board of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay.

Austin would increase impact fees on new construction and channel growth back toward Tampa's urban center. He wants to relieve growth pressure on rural areas, redevelop downtown neighborhoods and use tax incentives to attract investment in struggling neighborhoods.

Austin has a history of improving the image of institutions he represents. His refusal to switch races, after the better-known Buckhorn jumped in, shows an independent streak and resolve. He also does not get sidetracked on smaller issues or make a point of personalizing disputes.

More on Jeb!'s anti-voting campaign

The Palm Beach Post gives some background on the developing “Keep Out The (Black) Vote” campaign being waged right now by State Troopers in Orlando.

What started as an ugly political fight over the Orlando mayoral race exploded on the national scene this week with leading Democrats and civil libertarians branding the state's top cops and Gov. Jeb Bush as racists.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is looking into allegations by the Voter Protection Coalition that Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents intimidated elderly black voters in Orlando to scare them from voting in the November presidential election.

A copy of the complaint has been forwarded to the Justice Department to investigate as well, said Laura Hart, a spokeswoman for the commission, an independent bipartisan agency charged with protecting voting rights.

At the same time, U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, and the leaders of the Democratic National Committee and the Voting Rights Institute issued news releases this week decrying the actions of the Florida police and their ultimate boss, Bush.

"The investigation of elderly Orlando voters during the Florida state primary and a few months before the presidential election continues the perception that voting in Florida is neither free or fair," Donna Brazile, chairman of the Boston-based voting interest law firm, said in a release.

But some in Orlando's black community said those who claim to be protecting their friends and neighbors are not only misguided but misinformed.

"This is being spun into something that Republicans are trying to squelch the vote of African-Americans and it's not that at all," said Thim Love, who described himself as a lifelong Democrat who has never voted for a Republican. "It's not a Democrat-versus-Republican issue. It's not an issue about the November election. It's about the March election."

He said he can understand why people are suspicious. After the state's 2000 presidential election debacle, there were widespread complaints that blacks were discriminated against by police, poll workers and the election system.

Further, recent reports show blacks are disproportionately affected by a Republican-backed system that determines how felons are purged from state voting lists.

But, Love and others insist, in this case, Republicans can't be blamed.

"I'm almost embarrassed to be a Democrat after what I've seen in Orlando," Love said. "It think it's worse that a white man paid a black man $10,000 to manipulate the black vote."

The mayor's 'consultant'

The "white man" is former Democratic state senator and current Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, who avoided a run-off in the March mayoral race by 234 votes.

The "black man" is Ezzie Thomas, a 73-year-old retired TV repairman, whom Dyer paid $10,000 as a "consultant" to get out the vote in the black community.

When one of Dyer's opponents, Orlando businessman Kenneth Mulvaney, discovered Thomas' signature as a witness on numerous ballots, he launched an investigation.

Within days of the election, he filed a lawsuit contesting the results and also filed a complaint with Orlando police alleging that Dyer's so-called consultant had illegally collected absentee ballots from black voters and, in some cases, filled them out himself.

After being called in by Orlando police, the FDLE initially said it found no evidence of wrongdoing.
......

Because it was hot, the agents took off their jackets, exposing the guns they carry.

Alma Gonzalez, who coordinates the Voter Protection Coalition, said the agents were clearly trying to intimidate elderly black voters who grew up in times when white lawmen were known for trying to keep African-Americans from going to the polls.
......

Dean Mosley, who is representing Thomas, said many black voters are scared.

As the Aug. 31 primary nears, "People don't want to participate in the process," he said. "They don't know what the law is anymore."

Gonzalez contends the issue extends far beyond Orlando.

The FDLE has sent a message to blacks throughout Florida, she says, that those involved in get-out-the-vote efforts could be the subject of criminal investigations.

That could have a "chilling effect" on black voters throughout the state, she said.

No criminal investigations were conducted when Martin County Elections Supervisor Peggy Robbins allowed Republicans to take hundreds of absentee ballot requests from her office weeks before the 2000 presidential election to correct pre-printed voter identification numbers, she said.
......

While the governor's and FDLE's representatives insist that Bush has not been involved in the Orlando case, political consultant and former state representative Dick Batchelor said in politics, perception quickly becomes reality.

Bush could change perceptions by sending Hood into black communities in Orlando to assure people their votes will count.

As a popular former mayor who now oversees the state Division of Elections, Hood could assuage many fears, Batchelor said.

"The governor's a big boy, the mayor's a big boy," he said. "But if we're disenfranchising people from participating in the process, that's too high of a price to pay."

Iraq: 5 Americans dead

Shouldn't this be on every newspaper's front page?

5 US Soldiers Killed in 24 Hours, 1 Wounded

Let’s see... if I click on the NYT article with the headline about a freed reporter, and I read all the way to the end of the article, and then I keep reading, there seems to be something tacked onto the very end there...

Five American Marines Killed

In Anbar Province, the heart of the Sunni insurgency, five American marines with the First Marine Expeditionary Force were killed in separate incidents, the United States military command in Baghdad said Sunday.

They even printed another coupla paragraphs, for a grand total of 135 words, including header, hidden at the end of a much longer article about Najaf.

WaPo has nothing at all about Iraq on it’s front web page.

I know that this isn’t exactly a scientific survey, and that headlines and articles may change later today, but this illustrates just how well W’s insistence on symbolically handing “sovereignty” to his Iraqi puppets earlier this summer has worked exactly as planned: American news coverage is down significantly, and with election and Olympics news further sapping attention, odds are that most citizens will remain blissfully unaware that American troops are still being killed at alarming rates.

How alarming? The fatality rate since the symbolic turnover has actually increased to over 2 killed per day.

Jeb! is determined to suppress the Black vote

The GOP in Florida is determined to suppress the black vote. The (mostly) discarded voter purge list is just the most glaring example of this strategy.

Jeb! and his cronies always use the same language in defending their indefensible actions: They act for the “integrity” of the election, or to protect the rights of the voters. These actions have included not only the racist purge list but also tactics designed to discourage and intimidate such as overzealous and illegal interpretations of the “requirement” to show a picture ID before voting. While the statutes require photo and signature identification, generally they also allow people without such ID to vote after signing an affidavit, but people without ID have been turned away by misinformed poll workers (or well-trained GOPers?).

Lately, Orlando has been in the news because Jeb!’s Storm State Troopers have been intimidating investigating black voters as part of a fraud investigation that an internal memo has shown is largely closed.

Armed State Police knocking on doors of elderly black voters and telling the voters that the police are there because the voters voted. I don’t know about you, but if part of the voting process involved having armed government agents entering my home, I might choose to sit out the election. It seems that some black voters in Orlando feel the same way:

The president of the Orlando League of Voters is Ezzie Thomas, who is 73 years old. With his demonstrated ability to deliver the black vote in Orlando, Mr. Thomas is a tempting target for supporters of George W. Bush in a state in which the black vote may well spell the difference between victory and defeat.

The vile smell of voter suppression is all over this so-called investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Joseph Egan, an Orlando lawyer who represents Mr. Thomas, said: "The Voters League has workers who go into the community to do voter registration, drive people to the polls and help with absentee ballots. They are elderly women mostly. They get paid like $100 for four or five months' work, just to offset things like the cost of their gas. They see this political activity as an important contribution to their community. Some of the people in the community had never cast a ballot until the league came to their door and encouraged them to vote."

Now, said Mr. Egan, the fear generated by state police officers going into people's homes as part of an ongoing criminal investigation related to voting is threatening to undo much of the good work of the league. He said, "One woman asked me, 'Am I going to go to jail now because I voted by absentee ballot?' "

According to Mr. Egan, "People who have voted by absentee ballot for years are refusing to allow campaign workers to come to their homes. And volunteers who have participated for years in assisting people, particularly the elderly or handicapped, are scared and don't want to risk a criminal investigation."

That’s from a Herbert column which ran last week. This morning, he delves a little deeper into this controversy.

The state police investigation into get-out-the-vote activities by blacks in Orlando, Fla., fits perfectly with the political aims of Gov. Jeb Bush and the Republican Party.

The Republicans were stung in the 2000 presidential election when Al Gore became the first Democrat since 1948 to carry Orange County, of which Orlando is the hub. He could not have carried the county without the strong support of black voters, many of whom cast absentee ballots.

The G.O.P. was stung again in 2003 when Buddy Dyer, a Democrat, was elected mayor of Orlando. He won a special election to succeed Glenda Hood, a three-term Republican who was appointed Florida secretary of state by Governor Bush. Mr. Dyer was re-elected last March. As with Mr. Gore, the black vote was an important factor.

These two election reverses have upset Republicans in Orange County and statewide. Moreover, the anxiety over Democratic gains in Orange County is entwined with the very real fear among party stalwarts that Florida might go for John Kerry in this year's presidential election.

It is in this context that two of the ugliest developments of the current campaign season should be viewed.

"A Democrat can't win a statewide election in Florida without a high voter turnout - both at the polls and with absentee ballots - of African-Americans," said a man who is close to the Republican establishment in Florida but asked not to be identified. "It's no secret that the name of the game for Republicans is to restrain that turnout as much as possible. Black votes are Democratic votes, and there are a lot of them in Florida."

The two ugly developments - both focused on race - were the heavy-handed investigation by Florida state troopers of black get-out-the-vote efforts in Orlando, and the state's blatant attempt to purge blacks from voter rolls through the use of a flawed list of supposed felons that contained the names of thousands of African-Americans and, conveniently, very few Hispanics.

Florida is one of only a handful of states that bar convicted felons from voting, unless they successfully petition to have their voting rights restored. The state's "felon purge" list had to be abandoned by Glenda Hood, the secretary of state (and, yes, former mayor of Orlando), after it became known that the flawed list would target blacks but not Hispanics, who are more likely in Florida to vote Republican. The list also contained the names of thousands of people, most of them black, who should not have been on the list at all.
......

Meanwhile, the sending of state troopers into the homes of elderly black voters in Orlando was said by officials to be a response to allegations of voter fraud in last March's mayoral election. But the investigation went forward despite findings in the spring that appeared to show that the allegations were unfounded.

Why go forward anyway? Well, consider that the prolonged investigation dovetails exquisitely with that crucial but unspoken mission of the G.O.P. in Florida: to keep black voter turnout as low as possible. The interrogation of elderly black men and women in their homes has already frightened many voters and intimidated elderly get-out-the-vote volunteers.
......

From the G.O.P. perspective, it doesn't really matter whether anyone is arrested in the Orlando investigation, or even if a crime was committed. The idea, in Orange County and elsewhere, is to send a chill through the democratic process, suppressing opposing votes by whatever means are available.

W's surrogates

Dowd

It makes sense for W. to use surrogates to do his fighting, just as he did when he slid out of Vietnam and just as he did when he sent our troops to fight his administration's misbegotten vanity war in Iraq.

Iraq Coalition Casualties

08/21/04 Southbendtribune: Wounded Marine on light duty Anthony Stamper, who received a concussion from an Aug. 12 blast while on patrol with fellow Marines, is now on light duty. 08/21/04 CNN: Sporadic fighting around Shiite shrine U.S. forces and fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr traded sporadic gunfire Saturday outside the Imam Ali mosque 08/21/04 CNN: 2 Additional Polish Soldiers Killed (Not Confirmed) Three Polish soldiers were killed Saturday...Two soldiers were killed when their vehicle exploded. The cause of the blast was unclear, but Iraqi police said there was no evidence of a roadside bomb. 08/21/04 SeaCoastOnline: Airman suicide suspected The U.S. Air Force is investigating the suspected suicide death of a New Hampshire Air National Guard member who returned from Iraq on Tuesday and died a day later at his home in Merrimack. 08/21/04 Iraq Pipeline Watch: #88 - #97 - pipeline attacks confirmations August 20 - explosion at 8:30am on domestic pipeline through which oil flows from Kirkuk to Baiji refinery at point 19 miles (30 km) west of Kirkuk. 08/21/04 LowellSun: Tyngsboro Marine injured in Iraq Marine Cpl. Matthew Boisvert, a 21-year-old Tyngsboro native, suffered life-threatening injuries Tuesday in Iraq when the Humvee he was driving struck a bomb in the road, nearly severing his leg and arm 08/21/04 AberdeenNews: Guards, Reservists speak out The United States may find itself short of National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers unless they get a fairer shake, some area military personnel and their families said Friday 08/21/04 AP: Dayton medics heading to Iraq A large group of medics who work at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base will be sent to Iraq, resulting in a temporary reduction of some surgeries and surgical appointments at the base hospital, officials said Friday. 08/21/04 SPA: Bomb attack sets oil pipeline ablaze Insurgents bombed Saturday an oil pipeline in southern Iraq that had not been in use for several days, setting it ablaze 08/21/04 BBC: Rebels still control Najaf shrine Followers of the rebel Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr are still in control of the Imam Ali shrine in Iraq. 08/21/04 Centcom: One Soldier Killed by RPG - Confirmed One Soldier was killed and two Soldiers wounded when their vehicle was struck by an rocket-propelled grenade today in southern Baghdad around12:30 a.m. 08/21/04 Centcom: 2 Danger Soldiers Killed in Samarra - Confirmed Two Task Force Danger Soldiers were killed and three Soldiers were wounded when their patrol was attacked Aug. 20 by an improvised explosive device near Samarra around 6 p.m 08/21/04 iribnews: Four Iraqis died in separate attacks A senior policeman was shot dead early Saturday in the restive city of Ramadi, while three Iraqis were killed and 11 wounded in three homemade bomb explosions across the country, police and medics said 08/21/04 AFP: Polish soldier killed, six hurt in Iraq car bomb attack A Polish soldier was killed and six others wounded in a car bomb attack nea r Hilla in southern Iraq a Polish military spokesman was quoted by the PAP news agency as saying. 08/21/04 gadsdentimes: Two Marshall County soldiers wounded in Iraq (reg required) Sgt. Michael Austin and Sgt. Daniel Martin, both of Grant, were in Najaf when a mortar round exploded just a few feet away. Martin's injuries were minor, but Austin's were more serious 08/21/04 katu: Solder to come home after neck injury in Iraq Sergeant Justin Little, 24, was on night patrol Wednesday in Mosul, Iraq when the Stryker vehicle he was in went over a 30-foot embankment. 08/21/04 xinhuanet: US soldier killed in bomb attack in Baghdad One US soldier was killed and twoothers were wounded when their vehicle was attacked by rocket-propelled grenade in Baghdad early Saturday, the US military said 08/21/04 breakingnews: Roadside bombs explode north if Iraqi capital Assailants detonated roadside bombs in two separate attacks north of the Iraqi capital today, killing three civilians in attacks apparently aimed at passing US troops, hospital officials said.

Swift, batty veterans spreading hatred and lies

The Kerry campaign is finally responding to the Swift Liars libelous ads:

The Kerry presidential campaign filed a complaint Friday with the Federal Election Commission, alleging that ads from an anti-Kerry veterans' group are inaccurate and "illegally coordinated" with Republicans and the Bush-Cheney campaign.

And this from a Kerry press release: (via Eschaton)

Eschaton

Bush Campaign Busted Passing Out “Swift Boat Veterans for Bush” Flyer Washington, DC - Despite constant denials, the Bush-Cheney campaign today was busted coordinating with the “Swift Boat Veterans for Bushâ€? in their smear campaign against John Kerry. The following press release was issued this afternoon by the Florida Democratic Party. The evidence is attached.

“Bush Campaign Caught Promoting "Swift Boat Vets for Truth"

While National Campaign Denies Coordination, Campaign in Florida Promotes Rally

Tallahassee -- On the same day that the Bush-Cheney campaign repeatedly denied coordinating attacks with the anti-Kerry group "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth," the Bush-Cheney campaign in Florida was caught promoting a rally in Gainesville for the group.

A flyer being distributed at the Alachua County Republican party headquarters, which doubles as the Bush-Cheney campaign headquarters for the county, promotes a weekend rally sponsored by "Swift Boat Vets for Truth, Veterans for Bush, Alachua Bush/Cheney Committee," and others.

From the mighty spork, we get confirmation that at least some local Republican party organizations are fully supporting the Swift Chumps (follow the link to see a screen capture of a Collier County Republican Party web page that promotes the Swift Jerks).

Then, Digby notes that one Swift Asshole was a member of the Bush re-selection campaign as late as August 19.

Of course, throughout this manufactured “controversy” the facts have always backed Kerry’s version of events.

Meanwhile, W continues to deny and involvement with the group, and also refuses to ask the group to stop airing their lies.

Jeb! to blacks: Vote at your own risk.

Let’s see: in 2000, black voters were wrongfully purged from voting rolls. Jeb! really wanted to do that again this year, but too many people were watching, and the state was forced to abandon its list (though individual county supervisors may still use the list if they want to - a scary proposition that has not been addressed by any major media).

Also in 2000, Sheriff’s roadblocks kept some blacks from the polls, and black ballots were thrown out in highly disproportionate numbers. There are plenty of other stories of intimidation and trickery designed to keep voters from voting too. Jeb! dismisses these reports as partisan whining.

Now, in 2004, we have armed State Troopers knocking on the doors of black residents and questioning them just because they had the temerity to cast a ballot in this year’s Mayoral election in Orlando.

The obvious lesson that is being taught is this: Vote, and you will be hassled. Don’t vote, and you will be allowed to go about your daily business. Predictably, Jeb! says that this is nonsense, but others aren’t quite so sure.

Florida's three African-American members of Congress are calling for a federal investigation into complaints that elderly black voters in Orlando were intimidated by Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents.

The call for the inquiry follows accusations from Democrats that agents looking into suspected absentee ballot fraud during the Orlando mayor's race targeted black voters in a bid to suppress voter turnout.

A spokesman for the state agency hotly denied the accusations and said investigators went out of their way to put the voters they questioned at ease.

''Those interviewed were witnesses, perhaps even victims, and that's how we treated them,'' FDLE legal advisor Steve Brady said.

Concern over allegations of the intimidation of black voters has been heightened since the 2000 election dispute when thousands of blacks in Florida complained that their votes were discarded.

In this case, the voters were questioned as part of one investigation stemming from the March election of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, a Democrat and former state senator, whose narrow victory touched off accusations of ballot tampering His challengers have charged that a black activist may have improperly filled out absentee ballots on Dyer's behalf.

It is the door-to-door questioning of some of those black absentee voters -- coming as state officials were forced to scrap a controversial ''felon purge'' list containing a large number of black Democrats -- that has touched off a litany of complaints.

A voting rights group has said the FDLE investigators in suits revealed their sidearms.

''This is just another example in the long list of efforts to stop black folk from voting,'' said U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, a Miramar Democrat, who was joined Thursday by Miami Rep. Kendrick Meek and Jacksonville Rep. Corrine Brown in asking U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to launch an investigation. ``They can't stop us, so now they're trying to scare us. Well, it's not going to work.''

Jacob DiPietre, a spokesman for Gov. Jeb Bush, said the governor is confident the agency ``acted appropriately.''

Well, they’re acting appropriately if their goal is to lower black voter turnout, so I guess that last quote is pretty accurate.

Oh, it also turns out that the investigation has been all but closed by the state, but the intimidation is continuing. Must just be a little snafu somewhere I guess. Here’s more from today’s NY Times:

The smell of voter suppression coming out of Florida is getting stronger. It turns out that a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation, in which state troopers have gone into the homes of elderly black voters in Orlando in a bizarre hunt for evidence of election fraud, is being conducted despite a finding by the department last May "that there was no basis to support the allegations of election fraud."

State officials have said that the investigation, which has already frightened many voters and intimidated elderly volunteers, is in response to allegations of voter fraud involving absentee ballots that came up during the Orlando mayoral election in March. But the department considered that matter closed last spring, according to a letter from the office of Guy Tunnell, the department's commissioner, to Lawson Lamar, the state attorney in Orlando, who would be responsible for any criminal prosecutions.

The letter, dated May 13, said:

"We received your package related to the allegations of voter fraud during the 2004 mayoral election. This dealt with the manner in which absentee ballots were either handled or collected by campaign staffers for Mayor Buddy Dyer. Since this matter involved an elected official, the allegations were forwarded to F.D.L.E.'s Executive Investigations in Tallahassee, Florida.

"The documents were reviewed by F.D.L.E., as well as the Florida Division of Elections. It was determined that there was no basis to support the allegations of election fraud concerning these absentee ballots. Since there is no evidence of criminal misconduct involving Mayor Dyer, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement considers this matter closed."

Well, it's not closed. And department officials said yesterday that the letter sent out in May was never meant to indicate that the "entire" investigation was closed. Since the letter went out, state troopers have gone into the homes of 40 or 50 black voters, most of them elderly, in what the department describes as a criminal investigation. Many longtime Florida observers have said the use of state troopers for this type of investigation is extremely unusual, and it has caused a storm of controversy.

The officers were armed and in plain clothes. For elderly African-American voters, who remember the terrible torment inflicted on blacks who tried to vote in the South in the 1950's and 60's, the sight of armed police officers coming into their homes to interrogate them about voting is chilling indeed.
......

"These guys are using these intimidating methods to try and get these folks to stay away from the polls in the future,'' said Eugene Poole, president of the Florida Voters League, which tries to increase black voter participation throughout the state. "And you know what? It's working. One woman said, 'My God, they're going to put us in jail for nothing.' I said, 'That's not true.' "

More here and here.

Florida residents: Vote Now

Here’s how.

And look here for absentee voting info.

People helping people

Don’t you just love how a natural disaster brings out the best in people?

In a small, stuffy trailer Tuesday, on the northern tip of a decimated island, an international showdown was brewing.

Moments earlier, Mexican Consul General Jorge Lomonaco from Miami walked among uprooted trees, peeled aluminum and shells of homes in the Pink Citrus Trailer Park on north Pine Island, at the mouth of Charlotte Harbor.

A fraction of the park's 500 Mexican residents have remained, finding shade from a scorching sun under broken trees and awnings. Of those, about a dozen swarmed around him.

"The manager said we have to clean," 39-year-old Leticia Blanquel told him. If they don't clean the debris from the park on their own and pay the rent, they'll be out, residents said they were told.

Lomonaco had planned to visit areas populated by Mexican residents after Hurricane Charley passed. His first stop was Tuesday in Pink Citrus, located in a small unincorporated area of Lee County with a population of about 2,000. He was alerted to the park residents' woes through Spanish-language media.

As residents told him their concerns, Lomonaco listened, worried that the lives of these laborers were about to get even harder. Many of the immigrants' homes were ravaged. For some, their jobs were gone, too. But retirees and mariners on the island had something they don't: a Social Security number.

Lomonaco feared that their illegal immigration status would leave the Mexican workers the most vulnerable of all hurricane victims.

"We're concerned about their welfare," Lomonaco told a park caretaker in the cramped trailer after walking through the park in jeans and work boots.

"Yes, as are we," said caretaker Ellie Carrier, sitting behind a desk, legs crossed, an unlit cigarette between two fingers. "Unfortunately, we don't run on thin air."

"Excuse me?" Lomonaco asked, as a large fan labored in another room.

"We need money," she said.

I really feel for this mobile home park manager. After all, she faithfully provided substandard homes at outrageously inflated prices to poor immigrant laborers who have little or no choice in where or how to live. And now those Mexican ingrates expect her to actually clean up and repair her own property and make it fit for human habitation?

The two quickly began talking over each other.

"It's unfair," he said.

"In this part of Florida, there are thousands of homeless people" from the hurricane, she said. "We need the lot rent in order to keep operating."

The residents, who work jobs in landscaping, construction and in citrus on mainland farms, own the trailers, but pay $190 in monthly rent for the lots, plus utilities.

"We're hoping that FEMA comes through for these people," she said. "But, unfortunately, we're not a charity operation."

If residents don't pay the rent, they risk losing their lot, she said.

"That's a threat," Lomonaco said.

The two were pointing fingers, alternately yelling, "Let me finish my sentence!"

"We're not threatening anyone," Carrier barked.

"But I don't think it's fair to be charging rent in a trailer park that isn't running at all," Lomonaco said.

If it's not running, why were there still so many people remaining in the park, she asked.

"They don't have anywhere else to go!" he yelled.

There was no running water, no septic service, no electricity, no security, he said.

"Security for what?" she shot back.

The workers need to feel safe about leaving their belongings in the trailers cracked open by trees so they can go to work or find food and water, he said.

The lack of water and electricity were not the park's fault, Carrier said.

They've been asked to clean, he said, echoing the residents' concern that if they didn't clear the fallen trees and rubble, they would lose their lots. If they stayed back to clean up the park, they couldn't work.

"They've been asked to clean around their trailer," Carrier responded.

Lomonaco told her the park managers should stop thinking about money and give the residents a break until they could get back on their feet.

His office would be asking for copies of leases, he added.

Carrier paused.

"No one who owns a trailer here has a lease," she said.

"I'm going to ask a lawyer to look into this," he said.

Lomonaco walked back outside to visit with residents.

"Don't sign anything," he told them in Spanish.

The owners of the park, registered with the state as Palm Harbor Development Group Inc. of Tampa, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Something to think about

People in SW Florida are really hurting right now. No refrigeration, shortages of basic staples such as water and food, a broken infrastructure, sweltering heat. I could go on and on, but most everyone has an idea of what’s happening and the fact that this is the direct result of an unavoidable natural disaster. (We can argue about population density and placement of mobile home parks some other time, but for now, let’s just say that some serious destruction would have occurred even with better planning or zoning or whatever.)

Meanwhile, in Iraq, millions of completely innocent people are living in similar, often much worse conditions caused by the unnatural disaster that is our president. And those are the lucky ones who weren’t killed, maimed, or arrested during our illegal invasion and occupation of their homeland.

Get Up with MorningWood

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Studio line: 813-239- WMNF WOOD

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Blogging on the radio

Bizy bizy bizy edition... I find myself buried in computer work - my day job - and have fallen woefully behind in my blogging. The near miss of Charley didn’t help much either.

So, I’ll be wingin’ it this morning. I might comment on the NPR headlines, and I might not. I might find something worth ranting about between now and 4:00, but I probably wont.

I do plan to read a little from Arundhati Roy’s “War Talk”. Tune in to see what else I pull out of my, er, hat.

Oh, and since I spotted Michael Jackson being babbled about on some news show this evening, here’s a cool bootleg and another bootleg just as a bonus. I’ll play these cuts to close out the first hour of MorningWood. (Note - to download these files, Right Click the link ane then “Save as...” to a spot you’ll remember in your computer. Then play and enjoy.)

Playlists

Each week, I bring my planned songs in on CD. I usually end up playing most or all of them in the planned order. But sometimes things go askew. (Like last week.) Sorry - no guarantees or refunds.

Hour 1 planned playlist

Hour 2 planned playlist

Live playlist

WMNF Community Radio

WMNF is a non-commercial community radio station that celebrates local cultural diversity and is committed to equality, peace and social and economic justice. WMNF provides broadcasts and creates other forums to serve the community by the exposure and sharing of these values.

Vote early

Starting today. All over Florida.

Beginning today, voters can cast early ballots at several polling places in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties. Early voting for the Aug. 31 primary runs every day, except Sundays, through Aug. 30.

In partisan elections, only registered Democrats and Republicans can vote unless the primary determines the final outcome of the race and there is no write-in candidate. Everyone can vote in the nonpartisan school board and judicial races.
......

Although early voting was scheduled to begin today in all 67 counties, it won't happen in Charlotte County, which was devastated by Hurricane Charley. Election officials planned to hold a statewide conference call today to figure out whether problems exist elsewhere.

Secretary of State Glenda Hood was also planning to assess whether the storm was going to disrupt the Aug. 31 statewide primary for the U.S. Senate and a long list of state and local offices. But the primary was not an immediate concern, Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings said.
......

Early voting was launched two years ago as part of a reform package after the disputed 2000 presidential election.

Early voters can choose between an absentee ballot, which is filled out with a pencil and mailed in, or the usual voting machine methods.

Here’s a hint: if you choose an absentee ballot, you’ll be leaving a verifiable and recountable paper trail.

Where to vote

Jeb!'s jack-booted thugs intimidate black voters

I mentioned this in passing about a month ago, then it was forgotten amidst all the other mini-scandals and stories of pre-voting intimidation. Herbert goes into more detail:

State police officers have gone into the homes of elderly black voters in Orlando and interrogated them as part of an odd "investigation" that has frightened many voters, intimidated elderly volunteers and thrown a chill over efforts to get out the black vote in November.

The officers, from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which reports to Gov. Jeb Bush, say they are investigating allegations of voter fraud that came up during the Orlando mayoral election in March.

Officials refused to discuss details of the investigation, other than to say that absentee ballots are involved. They said they had no idea when the investigation might end, and acknowledged that it may continue right through the presidential election.
......

Back in the bad old days, some decades ago, when Southern whites used every imaginable form of chicanery to prevent blacks from voting, blacks often fought back by creating voters leagues, which were organizations that helped to register, educate and encourage black voters. It became a tradition that continues in many places, including Florida, today.

Not surprisingly, many of the elderly black voters who found themselves face to face with state police officers in Orlando are members of the Orlando League of Voters, which has been very successful in mobilizing the city's black vote.

The president of the Orlando League of Voters is Ezzie Thomas, who is 73 years old. With his demonstrated ability to deliver the black vote in Orlando, Mr. Thomas is a tempting target for supporters of George W. Bush in a state in which the black vote may well spell the difference between victory and defeat.

The vile smell of voter suppression is all over this so-called investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Joseph Egan, an Orlando lawyer who represents Mr. Thomas, said: "The Voters League has workers who go into the community to do voter registration, drive people to the polls and help with absentee ballots. They are elderly women mostly. They get paid like $100 for four or five months' work, just to offset things like the cost of their gas. They see this political activity as an important contribution to their community. Some of the people in the community had never cast a ballot until the league came to their door and encouraged them to vote."

Now, said Mr. Egan, the fear generated by state police officers going into people's homes as part of an ongoing criminal investigation related to voting is threatening to undo much of the good work of the league. He said, "One woman asked me, 'Am I going to go to jail now because I voted by absentee ballot?' "

According to Mr. Egan, "People who have voted by absentee ballot for years are refusing to allow campaign workers to come to their homes. And volunteers who have participated for years in assisting people, particularly the elderly or handicapped, are scared and don't want to risk a criminal investigation."

Florida is a state that's very much in play in the presidential election, with some polls showing John Kerry in the lead. A heavy-handed state police investigation that throws a blanket of fear over thousands of black voters can only help President Bush.

The long and ugly tradition of suppressing the black vote is alive and thriving in the Sunshine State.

What?!? Jeb! suppressing the black vote? Surely, this must all be an innocent mistake...

(More...)

Blogging Charley

Wow. Everyone thought it was coming right up the mouth of Tampa Bay. I’m not looking forward to all the work taking down plywood and such, and I guess I have a lot of food to eat tonight and tomorrow, but I’m so glad we missed the brunt of this storm.

Actually, Tampa missed just about everything. A few stray tornadoes, some rain, but nothing big. Winds are out of the Northeast right now, which tells me just how far away the storm is. I had prepared for winds from the South and Southeast, shifting Southwest based on all the predictions. With the rotation of hurricanes, wind direction is determined by one’s relative position.

Anyway, I’m still expecting some more rain, some heavy storms, but nothing stronger than that which we face every day during the summer rain season.

Charlotte Harbor and points inland from there are really getting hammered right now. Huge winds are reported, and they’re gonna face the same storm surge problems that this area was so worried about.

Our local TV stations are wondering what to do right now, since they planned on being in full Bay Area disaster mode this evening and the storm seems to have not cooperated. Charlotte Harbor is just a little too far South to be considered local. I have a feeling they’ll be returning to regular programming any second now. Interestingly, most stations (all?) never stopped breaking for commercials, and they never apologized for it either. Don’t know if this would have changed as had the storm been devastating to this area.

Blogging Charley

UPDATE - 120PM - Looks like it's rapidly strengthening. Went to a Cat 3 a little while ago, and the NWS is getting ready to make it a Cat 4 - 140 MPH winds reported. Still looking for landfall near Charlotte Harbor. I'm glad I'm not down there.

Looks like Charley’s gonna make landfall South of Tampa around Charlotte Harbor - near Ft. Myers, North of Naples.

Bad news for Charlotte Harbor, but excellent news for Tampa, as this will lessen the storm surge for us considerably.

Blogging Charley

Updated - DOH! I can't believe I've been misspelling the name of the hurricane...

Still waiting for the hurricane...

Very quiet streets. Lotsa people boarding up - I just finished a 4 hour marathon of cutting and drilling.

Businesses and schools are all closed. Many people in close by neighborhoods have been told to evacuate. People are not being forced from their homes, but they’re on their own if they’re in an evacuation zone. See the links for all the little details.

Expecting the wind to pick up soon - right now it’s very calm, and cloudy.

The latest says that the storm will pass by to our West, which will mean a huge storm surge - lots of flooding to go along with 100 plus MPH winds.

Obviously, my electricity is still on, but TECO still plans to cut power at some point to downtown and other South Tampa locales. Being North of downtown, I’m hoping to be spared the planned outage, but I expect to be without power at some point, perhaps for a long time.

I cooked all the fresh food that I could last night - we’ll be feasting on roast pork and chicken and have plenty of canned stuff to see us through.

Links:

TBO.com

baynews9.com

St. Petersburg Times

Herald.com

Blogging Charlie

UPDATED 8:30PM -Tampa, FL - Things have calmed down considerably traffic and store wise. The shelves were empty, but so were the aisles, eerily so, especially after the madness I saw firsthand earlier today.

The surface roads are all but deserted. I imagine the Interstates are still heavy, but I think I was caught in the midst of the Pinellas County evacuation order earlier, sharing the road with 300,000 people who really had no safe choice but to get up and leave when advised to do so.

Most people are battening down and/or packing up to evacuate. I expect another few hours of last minute hoarding before the storm hits tomorrow. Currently, it’s scheduled to pass by the mouth of Tampa Bay at 2:00PM Friday.

This is actually a bad scenario, as the counter-clockwise rotation of the storm will sweep a large surge in to the coast wherever it passes to the West. We are bracing for high winds, lots of rain, and a 10 foot storm surge.

I’m doing my best to completely ignore the local news. They are already in total hurricane mode, repeating the same information over and over and over and over and over and...

Real updates are released every few hours from the National Weather Service, but I know I’ll cave and start tuning in local TV before the end. I just want to hold out for a little while longer.

Oh - the weather? A little breezy, mild, some showers expected tomorrow.

More later, barring the unforeseen.
###

Tampa, FL - 5:30PM - Well, seeing as all my day job work just dried up, at least until the storm passes, I guess I can get back to BlogWood.

What’s it like waiting for a hurricane in the midst of a large population center with close to a million people under evacuation orders? Well, I just got back from running a few errands...

A trip that’s usually like one and a half hours round trip, max, during rush hour, took almost 4 hours in the middle of the day.

Traffic is the worst I’ve ever seen, at least heading inland and North.

Lines out into the road at just about every gas station.

People driving one of three ways: courteously, hey we’re all in this together; bat out of hell mad-driver get outa the way; and panic-slow, I’m old and confused and I usually only take the car out on Sundays...

Actually, I guess that just about covers most days, but right now, there are so many cars on the roads that actions are magnified and repeated, so I swear I got caught behind dozens and dozens of slow movers, took advantage of several courteous drivers, and chuckled on numerous occasions as I overtook and inched past the ones who were outright rude and or dangerous.

Everybody’s on their cel phones, listening to the weather, and dealing with bumper to bumper traffic and other drivers who are evacuating and unfamiliar with the roads they’re driving. It’s really pretty amazing that traffic is moving at all.

The TV news types are creaming all over themselves. I think one local weatherman almost swooned when the 5:00 update came in and the possibility of a huge storm surge increased. News crews are out in traffic and on the beaches, just itching for some photogenic windblown action or automotive mayhem.

Grocery stores, big boxes, and hardware stores are all packed well beyond any fire codes. Water and batteries and plywood and duct tape are all popular items. Panic buying always sets in whenever a hurricane even thinks about threatening our area, but with this threat looking more and more real, well, let’s just say that entering a store and jostling for canned goods or water may be more than some people will be able to handle.

TECO, our local power source, is already making noises about shutting down all power to a large part of Tampa. I’m not sure yet if I’m in the zone. This could happen as early as 10 AM Friday.

I do know that I’m not in an evacuation zone. I live at the top of a hill overlooking downtown, which is basically only a few feet above sea level. As long as my house of sticks doesn’t get blown down, I should be fine.

Frequent updates as TECO and the cable company allow.

No respect

An incumbent Democratic congressman from Louisiana tried some sneaky trickery this week, and it looks like he just may get burned for it.

First, Rodney Alexander has been running for reelection, raising money, wooing voters, asking to be sent back to Washington, as a Democrat. He even filed papers to qualify for the ballot.

Then, at the very last minute, after hitting up Democratic donors for money and volunteer time, he let it be known that he was switching parties and running as a Republican. At least, that was his plan.

Then things started to go very wrong for him: his staff resigned en-masse. His political advisors jumped ship. Hoodwinked financial contributors started demanding their money back. And, as it turns out, trying to qualify twice for the same race in Louisiana is a serious no-no:

A voter in Louisiana is filing a legal challenge to defective Congressman Rodney Alexander's ballot qualification, and seeks an injunction preventing the Secretary of State from issuing ballots printed with his name. The petition, filed by a voter and based on both Louisiana statute and prior precedent, rightly argues that Alexander's SECOND filing 20 minutes before the deadline is in effect a withdrawal of his candidacy under Louisiana law since candidates are prohibited from amending their ballot qualification in any way once it has been made. Others in Louisiana have been tossed for just this kind of behavior in the past.

Who is Porter Goss?

Billmon:

By now you've probably heard the news that President Bush has nominated House Intelligence Committee Chairman Porter Goss to be his new CIA director.

Goss - last seen in Farenheit 9/11 giving out the number to an entirely ficticious civil liberties complaint hotline - is a former CIA operative turned Florida hack congressman who has made himself useful to the administration in ways both large and small, not least by savaging the reputation of the agency he once worked for and now hopes to lead.

In other words, picking Porter Goss to be CIA director is roughly the same as nominating Dick Cheney's little finger

Get Up with MorningWood

Get Up with MorningWood, on 70,000 Watt Community Radio WMNF 88.5 fm, Tampa, and streaming at wmnf.org. 4 to 6 am (eastern) every Tuesday!

Studio line: 813-239- WMNF WOOD

THANKS!

Thanks again to all the loyal WMNF and MorningWood listeners who called in during WMNF’s recent marathon fundraiser for our new building.

Blogging on the radio

Once again, the Tampa City Council is in the news for displaying intolerance and thumbing their collective nose at the constitution.

You may remember that last week I ranted about the Tampa City Council invocation scandal, which made national headlines, and in which 3 council members decided that they couldn’t possibly treat an invited speaker as they themselves would wish to be treated. Their excuse? Why, they’re Christians, and their God is better than yours.

Well, the very next City Council Meeting featured a revival meeting of sorts, as the invited Christian speaker blatantly broke the council’s rules against invoking the name of a specific deity by praying to Jesus.

When questioned after the meeting, God must have told him to lie, ‘cause he claimed that the “J” word just slipped out.

Anyway, I’m still peeved enough about this whole issue that I’m dedicating 2 hours of music to the Tampa City Council this morning. Songs about Jesus and Religion and God and such.

I’m also encouraging all MorningWood listeners and BlogWood readers to email the Tampa City Council and let them know your feelings. I think that they should do away with the Thursday Morning Prayer meeting that starts every City Council session. If they can’t pray nice, then lets quit wasting time and resources and just get rid of the invocation.

You might also want to email Council Member John Dingfelder, and thank him for his courageous decision to invite the Atheist speaker.

I might also touch on other issues of the day. Tune in and listen up.

Playlists

Each week, I bring my planned songs in on CD. I usually end up playing most or all of them in the planned order. But sometimes things go askew. (Like last week.) Sorry - no guarantees or refunds.

Hour 1 planned playlist

Hour 2 planned playlist

Live playlist

WMNF Community Radio

WMNF is a non-commercial community radio station that celebrates local cultural diversity and is committed to equality, peace and social and economic justice. WMNF provides broadcasts and creates other forums to serve the community by the exposure and sharing of these values.

Reading past the headlines

In a weekend article headlined “Absentee Isn’t a Guarantee,” The SP Times seems to be going out of its way to imply problems with voting absentee, despite the fact that their piece fails to back their argument.

Follow the link above to read the article. I’m not gonna bother directly quoting from it - it pretty much shoots itself in the foot every few paragraphs, but here’s a synopsis.

They lead with a story about problems with witnessing absentee ballots - problems that have been done away with through legislation loosening the requirements for a witness’s signature. They admit that absentee ballot requests are up and then quote Leon County Election Supervisor Ion Sancho saying that absentee is the best bet for touch screen voters who are concerned about the lack of a recountable paper ballot.

Finally, in the tenth paragraph of their story, they quote an Ohio professor who believes that voting absentee results in greater disenfranchisement due to voter error.

Once again, though, they are forced to backtrack and point out that he state has fixed the most glaring problems with absentee ballots in Florida, thus making many of the Times’ arguments moot.

After a lot of examples that are no longer pertinent, due to the new legislation, along with a few factual statements that seem to poke holes in their theory, they finish by going back to the story of the woman who did not have her ballot properly witnessed - again, the Legislature has fixed this problem. It wont affect voters this November.

Anyway, despite the fact that her local supervisor had an employee hand deliver a new ballot, this woman, whose vote counted, has lost confidence in the absentee system, so, I guess, readers should also be wary, because, uh, something might go wrong?

Don’t listen to the SP Times. Create a verifiable, recountable paper trail for your vote. Request an absentee ballot. Follow the instructions and fill it out carefully. Don’t end up with something looking like
this.

Florida’s e-voting machines have no auditable paper trail. if you want your vote to count, you must vote absentee via optical scan ballot. This means requesting and filling out an absentee ballot form your county elections supervisor.

Hillsborough County residents

(More information: General Hillsborough County info)

Here’s a link to all of the Florida county elections supervisors. You need to contact your local county elections supervisor in order to request an absentee ballot.

There’s more - click the “continue...” link to see facts about voting absentee in Florida.

From the SP Times article mocked in the main post, here’s a good Absentee Q&A

Q&A: ABSENTEE VOTING

Who can vote by absentee ballot?

Any registered voter. In 2001, Florida legislators dropped restrictions.

How do you get an absentee ballot?

You can request one in person, in writing or by phone from your local elections supervisor, and in most cases online, up to the day before the election. A voter or a member of the voter's immediate family or the voter's legal guardian can request an absentee ballot.

How much time do you have to mail an absentee ballot?

It must arrive at the local elections office by 7 p.m. on election day. Overseas ballots must arrive within 10 days after the election.

What information must be included on the absentee ballot?

Your name, address and date of birth. The ballot must be dated and signed, and the signature must match the signature on file with the elections office. First-time voters who registered by mail must include a copy of a picture ID with the absentee ballot. Alternative identification includes copies of a utility bill, a bank statement, a government check, a paycheck or other government document.

Will I know if my ballot was accepted?

No. Elections supervisors say they do not have the staff to contact voters.

Are there other alternatives?

Yes, early voting. You can cast ballots on the same machines used on election day, starting at least 15 days before an election, at your local elections office. For the Aug. 31 primary, early voting runs Aug. 16-30, excluding Sundays. Contact your local elections office for exact hours and locations.

How do I reach my local elections office?

Here's a list:

Pinellas Elections Supervisor

Deborah Clark

315 Court St., Room 117

Clearwater, FL 33756

(727) 464-3551 Hillsborough Elections Supervisor

Buddy Johnson

601 E Kennedy Blvd., 16th Floor

Tampa, FL 33602

(813) 272-5850 Pasco Elections Supervisor

Kurt Browning

14236 Sixth St., Suite 200

Dade City, FL 33523

(352) 521-4302 Hernando Elections Supervisor

Annie Williams

20 N Main St., Room 165

Brooksville, FL 34601

(352) 754-4125 Citrus Elections Supervisor

Susan Gill

120 N Apopka Ave.

Inverness, FL 34450

(352) 341-6740

And more....

Voting Absentee in Florida

The following list of frequently asked questions is from the Hillsborough County supervisor’s web iste, and is therefore somewhat specific to county residents, but the rules are the same no matter where you reside in Florida - any registered voter can request and vote an absentee ballot. You do not need to actually be absent on election day. So follow this link and contact your own county supervisor and request an absentee ballot today.

ABSENTEE VOTING

Who is eligible for an absentee ballot?
If you are a qualified registered Hillsborough County voter, you are entitled to vote by absentee ballot.

How do I obtain an absentee ballot?
An absentee ballot may be requested for a specific election or for all elections in the current calendar year. The request can be made in person, by mail, fax, E-mail or by telephone. You can also fill out a request on-line by clicking here. The absentee request must include the voter's name, address, birthdate and signature if a written request. Only the voter or a designated member of his or her immediate family or legal guardian can request an absentee ballot for the voter. If the voter has designated an immediate family member or legal guardian to request an absentee ballot for him or herself, the designee must provide the required request information for the voter and the designee's name, address and relationship to the voter.

When are absentee ballots available?
Absentee ballots are mailed approximately 30 days prior to each election to those voters who have requested an absentee ballot. A qualified voter may vote in person at either of the two offices of the Supervisor of Elections during the two weeks prior to an election.

WARNING - In Hillsborough County, this form of in person early voting involves using paperless touch screen machines - the kind that are flawed and leave no paper trail.

For other available early voting sites, please call our office at 813-272-5850 for additional information. Within four days of an election, a designated person may carry out up to two ballots for anyone as long as the required request information is provided and the voter specifically authorizes the person to pick up the ballot in writing. There is no limitation on number of carryouts for immediate family members.

How do I return my absentee ballot?
Absentee ballots must be returned in the envelope provided. The envelope must include the voter's signature, the witness information and signature. Voted absentee ballots must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Election Day at the County Center office of the Supervisor of Elections or not later than 7 p.m. at the Robert L. Gilder Elections Service Center. A VOTED BALLOT CANNOT BE ACCEPTED AT A POLLING PLACE. If you request and receive an absentee ballot and later decide to vote at the polls, take your absentee ballot with you to be cancelled at your polling place.

I'm dead, BITCH

Sorry. I couldn't help it.

Funk legend Rick James, best known for the 1981 hit ``Super Freak'' before his career disintegrated amid drug use and violence that sent him to prison, died Friday. He was 56.

(And for those of you are very confused right now, here's a reference to the bitch thiing - follow the Rick James link)

Jeb! wont even consider paper ballots (unless they are for Repuplicans)

Lots of voters are wondering if their votes will be counted correctly this November. In Florida, every county that uses touch screen voting machines for elections uses optical scan machines for absentee ballots. These counties already have the technology and training to count paper ballots. All they need is a little more equipment to handle the overflow and, possibly, a few extra hours on election night to finish counting.

No, sez Jeb!, because despite the fact that his own party is encouraging their partisans to vote absentee due to the perception of problems with touch screens, his official position is that everything is just fine the way it is.

Two Democratic lawmakers wrote to Gov. Jeb Bush Thursday asking him to order 15 counties that use touch screen voting to give voters a choice in November between the electronic machines and those that read paper ballots.

Senate Democratic Leader Ron Klein of Boca Raton said he doesn't have misgivings about touch screen machines, used in his county of Palm Beach, but said enough people are concerned about the lack of a reviewable paper trail in electronic voting to warrant making paper ballots optional.

"People are nervous about the touch screen voting machines," Klein wrote to Bush in a letter also signed by House Democratic Leader Doug Wiles of St. Augustine.

Klein and Wiles said the 15 counties that use touch screen machines already have paper-based optical scan machines available to read absentee ballots, but conceded they didn't know how much it would cost for those counties to buy additional equipment to give voters the choice of technology.

A Bush spokesman said the governor won't adopt the proposal because he has "every faith and confidence" in both types of voting systems. Jacob DiPietre also said that under state law, officials in each of Florida's 67 counties, not the governor, choose what system to use.

People for the American Way, a liberal group, also wrote to Bush Thursday urging that Florida voters get the same choice.

Earlier this week, Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, asked his county manager to determine whether the county should abandon its touch screens in favor of paper ballots. The idea drew a negative response from the head of Miami-Dade's Election Reform Coalition, who said there wouldn't be enough time to test a new system or train poll workers on it.

Florida’s e-voting machines have no auditable paper trail. if you want your vote to count, you must vote absentee via optical scan ballot. This means requesting and filling out an absentee ballot form your county elections supervisor.

Hillsborough County residents

(More information: General Hillsborough County info)

Here’s a link to all of the Florida county elections supervisors. You need to contact your local county elections supervisor in order to request an absentee ballot.

Follow the “continue...” link to learn more about voting absentee in Florida.

Voting Absentee in Florida

The following list of frequently asked questions is from the Hillsborough County supervisor’s web iste, and is therefore somewhat specific to county residents, but the rules are the same no matter where you reside in Florida - any registered voter can request and vote an absentee ballot. You do not need to actually be absent on election day. So follow this link and contact your own county supervisor and request an absentee ballot today.

ABSENTEE VOTING

Who is eligible for an absentee ballot?
If you are a qualified registered Hillsborough County voter, you are entitled to vote by absentee ballot.

How do I obtain an absentee ballot?
An absentee ballot may be requested for a specific election or for all elections in the current calendar year. The request can be made in person, by mail, fax, E-mail or by telephone. You can also fill out a request on-line by clicking here. The absentee request must include the voter's name, address, birthdate and signature if a written request. Only the voter or a designated member of his or her immediate family or legal guardian can request an absentee ballot for the voter. If the voter has designated an immediate family member or legal guardian to request an absentee ballot for him or herself, the designee must provide the required request information for the voter and the designee's name, address and relationship to the voter.

When are absentee ballots available?
Absentee ballots are mailed approximately 30 days prior to each election to those voters who have requested an absentee ballot. A qualified voter may vote in person at either of the two offices of the Supervisor of Elections during the two weeks prior to an election.

WARNING - In Hillsborough County, this form of in person early voting involves using paperless touch screen machines - the kind that are flawed and leave no paper trail.

For other available early voting sites, please call our office at 813-272-5850 for additional information. Within four days of an election, a designated person may carry out up to two ballots for anyone as long as the required request information is provided and the voter specifically authorizes the person to pick up the ballot in writing. There is no limitation on number of carryouts for immediate family members.

How do I return my absentee ballot?
Absentee ballots must be returned in the envelope provided. The envelope must include the voter's signature, the witness information and signature. Voted absentee ballots must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Election Day at the County Center office of the Supervisor of Elections or not later than 7 p.m. at the Robert L. Gilder Elections Service Center. A VOTED BALLOT CANNOT BE ACCEPTED AT A POLLING PLACE. If you request and receive an absentee ballot and later decide to vote at the polls, take your absentee ballot with you to be cancelled at your polling place.

City of Tampa prays to Jesus

Today’s Christian sermon from the Tampa City Council will be called an invocation. The speaker will not be allowed to invoke the name of any specific deity, uh, unless that deity happens to be Jesus, ‘cause, like, Jesus is awesome, you know, and anyone who says that they don’t like Jesus is just being a contrary sinner and, besides, they need to be saved anyway.

Heads bowed and Jesus was thanked at the Tampa City Council meeting Thursday - one week after a walkout prompted by an atheist's invocation.

``We're back to the status quo,'' said City Councilman Kevin White, who a week earlier tried to stop atheist Michael Harvey from giving an invocation statement during a time usually reserved for prayer.

White and council members Rose Ferlita and Mary Alvarez left the meeting last week rather than listen to Harvey's call for the board to be governed by history, science and logic instead of prayer.

The Rev. Johnny Wright said it was a force of habit, not a response to the invocation dispute last week, when he specifically mentioned Jesus on Thursday in what was supposed to be a nondenominational prayer.

After praying for wisdom and knowledge, Wright closed by saying, ``in Jesus' name we pray, Amen.''

``I'm just used to saying it. I'm not trying to make a statement,'' said Wright, of First Community Christian Church.

City guidelines call for invocations that use universal, inclusive terms for deity instead of proper names.

Alternatives such as a moment of silence are encouraged.

Though some council members objected to giving atheists a turn, Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena, who is Jewish, said she objected to a ``deity specific'' prayer such as the one Wright used Thursday.

``Here we go again,'' Saul- Sena said.

Oh, he's just used to saying "Jesus," and he forgot where he was. That's okay, then.

Look, last week’s speaker was invited, and he broke no rules while giving the invocation. A huge hubbub ensued when 3 council members walked out rather than allowing themselves to be exposed to the words of a non-believer.

I’m sure that there were many knowing nods and chuckles as Wright “forgot” about the rules which specifically prohibit invoking the name of a specific deity, thus excluding every single non-christian citizen of Tampa.

There’s an easy way to put an end to this silliness: simply stop having prayers before City Council meetings. Yeah, I know they call it an invocation, not a prayer, but the reason that so many twits were up in arms last week was because the atheist speaker did not call to a higher power to assist the council members in their deliberations. In other words, last week’s speaker followed the rules and attempted to present an inclusive and positive statement of hope rather than spewing hateful and exclusionary Christian rhetoric, while this week’s Christian speaker broke the rules by “mistakenly” slipping into denominational prayer.

Email the Tampa City Council and let them know that it’s time to do away with this government approved religious posturing. Tell them to pray on their own dime - the city has no business subsidizing a Thursday morning sermon.

Email John Dingfelder, and thank him for his courageous decision to invite the Atheist speaker to open last week’s meeting.

UPDATE - Here's the email I sent to City Council

Bush answers critics with rare utterance of truth

Update - mp3 here.

Bush Insists His Administration Seeking 'new Ways to Harm Our Country' - from TBO.com

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we," Bush said. "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

No one in Bush's audience of military brass or Pentagon chiefs reacted.

Harris answers critics

“Okay, so I made up the part about the plot and the explosives and the power grid, but a swarthy type was recently spotted in or near Indiana, and if we let brown skinned people just run around free, then the terrorists have won..”

State: Harris now :regrets her tale of terror plot

U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris said Wednesday she regrets claiming a plot existed to blow up the power grid in Carmel, Ind., a notion city officials disputed.

But the Republican from Sarasota stood by her statement that based on classified information, the United States has thwarted more than 100 potential terrorist attacks.

Harris, who as Florida secretary of state was at the center of the political storm over the disputed 2000 presidential election recount, made the comments about terrorism and the plot Monday at a rally for President Bush in Venice and in a subsequent interview with the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

She told the audience that while she was in the Midwest recently, the mayor of Carmel told her a man of Middle Eastern heritage had been arrested and hundreds of pounds of explosives were found in his home.

"He had plans to blow up the area's entire power grid," Harris said, according to the newspaper.

City officials in Carmel said they know of no such plot.

"We're aware of the comments we read in the paper," said Tim Green, assistant chief of police in Carmel, a town about 10 miles north of Indianapolis. "We're not aware of any plans to blow up Carmel's power grid."

Nancy Heck, a spokeswoman for Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard, said, "The mayor never talked to Katherine Harris. They never had that conversation."

Questioned Wednesday, Harris' office issued a statement in which the congresswoman said, "I regret that I had no knowledge of the sensitive nature of this situation."

But Harris stood by her comments to the newspaper that the United States has thwarted potential attacks in the last three years, which she said was based on classified information.

"Actually, it's been more than 100," she told the newspaper. "It's classified ... obviously not classified to me ... but things I can't go into details about."

She said Wednesday in a statement that her comments underscore the need "for each of us to remain alert and vigilant in fighting terrorism."

Piggies on TV

Tonight before 5:30 (probably) on ABC Channel 28, WFTS.

More Piggies!

(I knew the headline on my last post was a blatant lie, but I didn't think I'd be called on it quite so soon.)

Last word on the Pigs?

Uh, probably not. A client just pointed this Sandra Thompson column out to me. I had somehow missed it over the weekend.

Apologies for the light posting activity the last few days. My day job has been screaming for attention, but I'll be back soon with a vengeance. I think.

The party was going strong when we left. We took Columbus, and it was dark and quiet, few cars on the street. We were passing an old bungalow when shining bright pink into the night was what looked like a giant pig vehicle. "Blogwood.com" was painted on the side of the house where it was parked. I should have realized it was Norwood, the WMNF DJ and computer guru who was doing the pigsitting for the TrueMajority's political pigs.

He has a pig log on his Web site. "I may be a little anal and I do have to say that the inside of the van was pretty much a pigsty when I got in this morning," wrote a volunteer pig driver. Another driver reported that the speaker under the pig's head had come loose and dropped off, lowering the decibels on the pig sounds.

And sure enough, Thursday afternoon Norwood had an all-pig hour of music, followed by his hour tribute to Mama Cass, who died 30 years ago that day next to half a ham sandwich.

Get Up with MorningWood

Get Up with MorningWood, on 70,000 Watt Community Radio WMNF 88.5 fm, Tampa, and streaming at wmnf.org. 4 to 6 am (eastern) every Tuesday!

Studio line: 813-239- WMNF WOOD

THANKS!

Thanks to all the loyal WMNF and MorningWood listeners who called in during WMNF’s recent marathon fundraiser for our new building. MorningWood continued a streak of making goal. In fact, MorningWood has never fallen short in any marathon. This time, the goal was shattered, and MorningWood was one of the best performing overnight shows. MorningWood listeners rock.

Blogging on the radio

Ouch - last week, due to technical errors on my part, I was unable to play any of the planned second hour songs. I’ve recycled most of those into this week’s show, including many of the protestrecords.com cuts.

This week marks the thirtieth anniversary of Richard Nixon’s resignation. I’ll mix in some songs for Dick after 5:00.

This morning’s rants should include comments on the Tampa City Council invocation scandal, now on FOXNews.com, in which 3 members decided that they couldn’t possibly treat an invited speaker as they themselves would wish to be treated. Their excuse? Why, they’re Christians, and their God is better than yours.

Fox’s fair and balanced report presents exactly one point of view: that the council members who walked out were more than justified because anyone who is an atheist must be crazy, and, besides, an invocation isn’t an invocation unless you invoke the name of the Christian god.

I’ll also touch on other issues of the day. Tune in and listen up.

Playlists

Each week, I bring my planned songs in on CD. I usually end up playing most or all of them in the planned order. But sometimes things go askew. (Like last week.) Sorry - no guarantees or refunds.

Hour 1 planned playlist

Hour 2 planned playlist

Live playlist

WMNF Community Radio

WMNF is a non-commercial community radio station that celebrates local cultural diversity and is committed to equality, peace and social and economic justice. WMNF provides broadcasts and creates other forums to serve the community by the exposure and sharing of these values.

Jeb! knew of purge list problems

Jeb! knew. He knew that the Florida voter purge list was full of problems. But he went ahead and ordered elections supervisors to use it anyway.

Well before they abruptly discarded it, Florida election officials knew they had significant problems with a database of felons they planned to use in removing voters from the rolls.

Just a week before they directed local election chiefs to begin purging ineligible voters from the list of 48,000 convicted felons, state officials documented two years of failures and breakdowns with the $2.7 million contract with database vendor Accenture.

A May 2 internal memo, ordered personally by Secretary of State Glenda Hood, details a half dozen missed deadlines and broken promises, failed software programs, repeated miscues and personnel problems.
......

Critics who have closely monitored Florida's voting process say the chronology shows that the state was negligent.

''This memo is striking,'' said Howard Simon, Florida director of the American Civil Liberties Union. ``After two years of constant failures and fixes . . . they rushed this out the door.

``We are talking about one of our most fundamental rights, the right to vote. Maybe they should have considered the possibility that accuracy was more important than speed.''

State officials say their intentions were merely to remove ineligible voters. In Florida, convicted felons cannot vote unless the right is restored.

MOVING SWIFTLY

Yet a former official involved in the process acknowledged that the state was moving rapidly.

'We were quickly approaching the `drop dead' date, when we knew it would be too late to put it out there for the election,'' Ed Kast, the former director of the Division of Elections, who retired in June, said in an interview.

''Of course we were frustrated. We all wanted to know why it couldn't get done faster,'' he said.

Executives at Accenture, one of the world's largest technology consulting firms, were caught unaware by the memo when contacted by The Herald. The newspaper obtained it in a public records request.

''We've never seen this document before,'' said Jim McAvoy, spokesman for Accenture.

He acknowledged some ``technical and staffing issues, which resulted in a delay of approximately five months.''

But he said the state asked for many changes that helped exacerbate delays. He declined to discuss specific details of the memo, saying the company intends to discuss them first with state auditors looking into the problems.

The memo came just days before state officials were going to order local election chiefs to use the database to remove thousands of ineligible voters.

The “Timeline Overview,” (pdf link) which appears to be at least part of what The Herald got from the state, makes for fascinating reading, at least for a computer guy like myself.

Database manipulation can be complex and tedious. There are invariably unforeseen outcomes when you try to weed out large blocks of data. I’m not a database expert, but I do know that much.

A quick example: say you want to extract every person from the phone book whose last name is Smith. You design a routine in which the data is read and, you hope, all Smiths are written to a report or a new file. Unfortunately, although you are passingly familiar with databases in general, you have never seen the particular piece of software that you’re using to play with this data. Perhaps due to your lack of familiarity with this software, you leave out an important qualifier in your search for Smiths. Instead of just Smiths, you end up with Smithsons and Aerosmiths, and every other person with the letters “SMITH” located somewhere in their name.

Now, this would probably be an easy enough problem to fix, but you would need time to figure out where you went wrong, and more time to figure out how to do things right. Perfectly understandable.

Unless you’re an international data processing company with a large contract in which you purport to be competent to perform these operations. Then it’s not so understandable.

But wait - what if high level people, both in state government and within the company that is hired by the state, decided to throw a monkey wrench or two into the process. By seeing to it that project managers resign, by assigning inexperienced database administrators, and by endlessly reviewing and re-reviewing change orders and procedures, the work could be delayed to the point that pressure to meet deadline begins to trump quality concerns. Why, if the release date is delayed long enough, there might be so much confusion and competing claims of various levels of reliability, combined with pressure put on elections supervisors to purge purge purge, that all or at least most of the “mistakes” could remain largely unnoticed until well after election day.

Hmmm, that scenario certainly makes Accenture’s apparent incompetence a little more understandable.

Luckily, a court ordered Jeb! to make the originally super-secret felon purge list public, and tons of mistakes immediately came to light. Unfortunately, although the state has officially said that use of the list is no longer required, individual county elections supervisors are still free to use this list as they see fit. They may still choose to use the list to scrub voters from their county’s rolls and to illegally disenfranchise voters who have every right to participate in this year’s elections.

It sure would be nice if a real newspaper like The Herald could write a little article detailing exactly which supervisors still plan to use this very flawed purge list and how they plan to use it.