Just returned from my local polling place. I exercised my constitutional right to vote. It is a privilege that we take way too lightly here in the United States. It's what separates us from places like, well, um, Iran. When I see pictures of women in other countries wearing burkas, I realize that what separates me from them is my right to vote, even if I am only voting for propositions that I'm not really sure what all they involve. (Of course, the assumption is that they would rather not be wearing the burka. There are days when a burka would be a welcome relief--takes care of bad hair days and fat days.)
At 2:35 pm, I was the 147th person to vote at my precinct polling place. It was a tough moment at the ballot box, as a citizen of Texas and a citizen of Dallas, trying hard to determine what is the best decision both for Texas and Dallas on this controversial issue. I really 'sweated' it out, weighing the arguments in my head one more time. Then I finally made the call. And, I confess, I voted FOR the proposition....Proposition 10 that is....that removes references to the outdated Office of Hides and Animals in the Texas Constitution.
"The Inspector of Hides and Animals is an office created in 1871. This county officer was charged with inspecting certain hides and animals for sale or slaughter. Only some counties had an elected Inspector of Hides and Animals and by the 1990s this office was virtually non-existent through the state. By actions of the Texas Legislature in 2003 and 2006 the office was effectively abolished." (Source: Analyses of Proposed Constitutional Amendments, November 6, 2007, Election, Texas Legislative Council, September 2007)
Citizens of Dallas and Texas can sleep well tonight knowing that ALL references to the Office of Hides and Animals will no longer be included in the Texas Constitution.
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7 comments:
Amazingly, about 20% of the Dallas County voters were AGAINST this. If there was ever anything I thought we all could unite behind, it was this.
Unfortunately, there are forces working to strip us of basics rights such as the right to vote. This became clear with the Bush/Gore election in 2000. All should see the documentary (available at Netflix), 'Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election' (2002)
Through Katherine Harris and Jeb Bush, election fraud evil gave us George Bush instead of Al Gore as President -- a defining moment in U.S. history. With this undermining of the election process, Dub gave us 9/11, herion for CIA financing, Iraq, torture, Black Water and the Patriot act and alienated us from the rest of the world as we snubbed our nose to environmental protection -- a very sad moment in U.S. history.
Unfortunately, this may be only the beginning of widespread election rigging by the NeoCons. We all need to work to keep Diebold-type election equipment out of our voting process. These machines can be programmed to give any desired result, without a paper trial for auditing. Elections MUST have a paper trail, i.e. actual ballots; do not allow any electronic substitute.
Bush - Kerry election fraud moved its center of operation to Ohio. See:
http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2004/03/03_200.html
try this web page instead of the one in the previous comment.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories
/HL0404/S00064.htm
Yes, first Anonymous..."Dub" planned it to be one of the closest elections in American History. The reason why we have to surrender to the new equipment is because apparently your people don't know how to punch a hole into a piece of paper.
Yes, first Anonymous..."Dub" planned it to be one of the closest elections in American History. The reason why we have to surrender to the new equipment is because apparently your people don't know how to punch a hole into a piece of paper.
“The concept is clear, simple, and it works. Computerized voting gives the power of selection, without fear of discovery, to whoever controls the computer.” (James & Kenneth Collier)
It was known from the polls that the 2000 election was going to be very close. The statisticians had reliably pinpointed the COUNTIES that would decide the election. These statisticians are almost always right. The whole 2000 drama began with the one time they were wrong. They had concluded from the exit polling that Gore would carry Florida. But then a funny thing happened. Bush was interviewed at this point and he said he wasn’t the least worried (while his mother giggled). Then remarkably the vote came in and was completely different from the statisticians predictions, and the fraud was on.
Actually, computer voting fraud was taking place before and during the 2000 election. For example, negative votes were tallied for Gore on Volusia County’s computerized voting machines. An investigation after the election determined that a second memory card had been added to the computer sometime close to 2:00 am. This memory card, which subtracted votes from Gore only, was tested to determine if it was defective. It passed the ‘checksum error test’ which indicated (with 99.998% certainty) that it was not defective. Therefore, there was deliberate tampering with the computer to alter the vote count.
No doubt there is a definite problem with the punch card machines. As seen in the 2000 election, there are six different possibilities for a punch vote:
1. Clean Punch – chad is completely removed from the ballot
2. Hanging Chad – one corner of the chad remains connected after the punch
3. Swinging Chad – only half the chad is punched out, leaving two connected corners
4. Tri Chad – the punch goes through one corner leaving the other three connected
5. Pregnant Chad – the punch goes through the chad without disconnecting any of the corners
6. Dimpled Chad – the punch lacks the force to pierce the chad but causes an indentation in the chad
Of course, fixing elections goes way back. In 1979, Ronald Reagan sent George Bush, Richard Allen and Donald Gregg to meet with Manchari Gorbanifar (Iranian arms dealer), Bani Sadr (president of Iran and political puppet of the Kohmeni regime), Albert Hakim (arms dealer) and Hashem (diplomat of the Iranian government). Reagan’s team promised that the U.S. federal government would sell over $1,000,000,000 in American weapons to Iran if Iran would NOT release the American hostages until after the 1980 presidential election. The hostage situation was the deciding issue that led to the incumbent Jimmy Carter’s defeat.
Finally, it is interesting that the 2000 election was decided by one vote – that of Tony Kennedy, who was the swing vote in the 5-to-4 Supreme Court vote that elected Bush. Since then, David Souter has said that if he had had one more day, he believes he could have swayed Kennedy to vote for Gore.
“Those who cast the votes decide nothing, those who count the votes decide everything” (Joseph Stalin)
JiM
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