Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Wednesday 6/1/05

[Melissa G]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Wednesday 6/1/05

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

If you can:

1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

2. Post stories using the "Election Fraud and Reform News Sources" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x371233

3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.

4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.



If you want to know how post "News Banners" or other images, go here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=371233#371391

All previous daily threads are available here:
http://www.independentmediasource.com/DU_archives/du_2004erd_el_ref_fr_thr_calenders.htm

Link to previous Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=373864&mesg_id=373864


Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

[Melissa G]

1. Notes and quotes from the Louisiana Legislature

Notes and quotes from the Louisiana Legislature
5/31/2005, 7:01 p.m. CT
The Associated Press

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A state lawmaker dropped his bid to make it mandatory for all women seeking abortions to undergo professional counseling first, after state health officials said it could violate federal law and jeopardize the state's Medicaid funding.

Rep. A.G. Crowe removed that language from the measure, but a House committee still wasn't comfortable Tuesday with a clause that would require a 24-hour waiting period for rape and incest victims who want an abortion, a wait other women in Louisiana must follow.

Crowe, R-Slidell, said the 24-hour wait should apply to all women seeking abortions.

snip
Questions also were raised about whether the language still would get Louisiana in trouble with federal officials or would force the state into a costly lawsuit.

The House Health and Welfare Committee postponed a decision on Crowe's bill (House Bill 242) for a week while it works out language that might be considered more agreeable.
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-16/1117583278247940.xml&storylist=louisiana

[Wilms]

2. Utah decides on voting machines

Wednesday, June 01, 2005 - 12:00 AM

Utah decides on voting machines

Amie Rose DAILY HERALD

It's decided -- next year Utahns will be touching computer screens instead of punching ballots at the polls, but maybe not in Utah County.

Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert announced Tuesday he'd chosen direct recording electronic voting equipment -- ATM-like machines -- made by Diebold to replace the state's punchcard system.
The machines cost more than $3,000 each. Diebold beat out Election Systems & Software for the deal.

But Utah County officials want to make sure going with the state's plan to replace all punchcard machines is the least expensive option, and they plan to get their own bids for voting equipment that complies with the federal Help America Vote Act -- a reaction to voting problems in Florida during the 2000 election. They'll put out a request for bids within the next few weeks, said Utah County Commissioner Jerry Grover.

"We'd like to go out for a (request for proposals) for a true price comparison," he said.

-snip/more-

http://www.harktheherald.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=56339&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Thanks to helderheid for posting the discussion:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x373978

[Melissa G]

3. Plain English About Information Quality Column:- Reprint Koehler article

Plain English About Information Quality Column:
The Silent Scream of Numbers


Column published in DMReview.com
June 1, 2005

By Larry English

In my March column, I reported on the election reform movement that sprang out of problems observed in the 2004 presidential election. As a result, a group called Gathering To Save Our Democracy organized a conference called the "National Conference on Election Reform." I was honored to be invited to speak on how quality principles must be applied to the election processes to produce viable and sustainable election reform. Statisticians, computer scientists, election workers and concerned citizens shared analyses of data that revealed significant problems.

Robert Koehler, an award-winning journalist, editor at Tribune Media and nationally syndicated writer, captured the essence of the conference in this guest editorial, "The Silent Scream of Numbers." Robert has given me permission to publish it here.




The Silent Scream of Numbers
By Robert C. Koehler
© 2005 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

As they slowly hack democracy to death, we're as alone - we citizens - as we've ever been, protected only by the dust-covered clichs of the nation's founding: "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."


It's time to blow off the dust and start paying the price.

snip
For more information on related topics visit the following related portals...
Data Quality.



Larry P. English is president and principal of INFORMATION IMPACT International, Inc., Brentwood, Tennessee, and the author of the widely acclaimed book, Improving Data Warehouse and Business Information Quality: Methods for Reducing Costs and Increasing Profits. English is cofounder of the International Association for Information and Data Quality (www.iaidq.org). English is an internationally recognized speaker, teacher, consultant and author and may be reached at [e-mail] or through his Web site at www.infoimpact.com.

http://www.dmreview.com/article_sub.cfm?articleId=1028653

[Wilms]

4. VerifiedVoting- JUNE 9-14 LOBBYING EVENTS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

JUNE 9-14 LOBBYING EVENTS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

Calling All VerifiedVoting.org Activists!

SAVE THE DATES - JUNE 9-14, 2005

Join us for three important events designed to pass verified voting legislation in the U.S. Congress and prepare organizers for future lobbying in the states:

1) Lobby Days for H.R.550:

On June 9-10, 2005 a coalition of citizens and grassroots organizations will join forces in Washington D.C. to garner strong bi-partisan support for H.R.550, Rush Holt's (D-NJ) bill that VerifiedVoting.org has called the "gold standard" of verified voting bills. The event, organized by Common Cause, Rock the Vote, VoteTrustUSA, VerifiedVoting.org, and others, includes a Thursday night reception with Representative Holt, a tireless leader in the struggle for voter-verified paper ballots and integrity in the U.S. electoral process.

Rep. Holt introduced the "Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2005" on February 2, 2005. On introduction, there were 50 original cosponsors; at this writing there are 132 cosponsors for this bill. VerifiedVoting.org encourages all members of the House to cosponsor H.R.550.

2) Democracy Days in Support of S.330:

On Monday, June 13, and Tuesday, June 14, VerifiedVoting.org is organizing an advocacy opportunity focused on the Senate in support of S.330.

The "Voting Integrity and Verification Act of 2005" (VIVA 2005), was introduced on February 9, 2005, by Senator Ensign of Nevada. VerifiedVoting.org supports the VIVA 2005 bill and encourages all members of the Senate to become cosponsors.

HOW TO RSVP
For Lobby Days and/or Democracy Days--

H.R.550 is our pick in the House and S.330 is our pick in the Senate.
For more info, see http://www.verifiedvoting.org/legis

Come to D.C. and insist Congress move these bills out of committee and bring them to the floor for a vote! More information will be available as June gets closer, but keep the dates June 9-14, 2005, free on your calendar. Lobbying materials, talking points, and other guidance will be provided.

Please RSVP as soon as possible to our contacts page. Fill in the form with your full name, email address, state of residence, and congressional district (if you can); whether you can make it for all or any of the Congressional visits - indicate that the RSVP is for Lobby Days! Please RSVP at http://www.verifiedvoting.org/contact

3) National Leadership Workshop and Strategy Session

Vote Trust USA is sponsoring a National Leadership Workshop and Strategy Session for state and local verified voting organizers in Washington, D.C. This event will follow the Lobby Days for H.R.550 on Friday evening - Sunday morning, June 10-12, 2005. For this weekend event only, please RSVP to Kevin Zeese at
[e-mail]

Thanks for all of your efforts to obtain verified voting for us all!

PS: Again, for Lobby Days or Democracy Days, please RSVP at
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/contact

http://verifiedvoting.org/article.php?id=5743

[Wilms]

5. Miami-Dade leaders asked to dump 3-year-old machines and buy new units.

Voting machines under fire

Miami-Dade leaders asked to dump 3-year-old machines and buy new units.

The Associated Press
Posted June 1, 2005

MIAMI --

-snip-

Elections Supervisor Lester Sola said in a memo Friday that he reached his conclusion based on declining voter confidence in the paperless touch-screen machines and election-day labor costs that have quadrupled with them.

-snip-

The county would be the first place in the nation to ditch the iVotronics machines for paper-based balloting, said a spokesman for Election Systems & Software of Omaha, Neb., the company that makes the devices.

"In fact, to the contrary, jurisdictions around the country have increasingly seen the value of the iVotronic technology," Ken Fields said.

The machines were heralded as the best way to ensure Miami-Dade would never again bring the nation's election process to a halt. The county was mired in legal fights over hanging and dimpled chads on punch-card ballots in the race that George W. Bush eventually won by 537 votes.

-snip/more-

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orl-locmiamivoting01060105jun01,0,5352168.story?coll=orl-news-headlines

[Wilms]

6. (TX) Feds OK paper ballots for Tuesday's city vote

Feds OK paper ballots for Tuesday's city vote

06/01/2005 Elizabeth Allen and Guillermo Contreras

San Antonio Express-News

The city's June 7 runoff election was pre-cleared Tuesday by the Department of Justice, partly rendering moot a federal lawsuit by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which is seeking to force the city and county to use some electronic voting machines.

MALDEF says the city failed to get clearance from the U.S. Department of Justice when it decided to switch to paper ballots for the election, which will decide the mayor's race and two City Council seats. It's also contesting the change of a polling site.

"Suddenly the city decided to switch methods, or election systems, midstream for the runoff," said MALDEF regional counsel Nina Perales.

Changing systems can lead to voter confusion, she said, while paper ballots do not offer vote secrecy for the blind and visually impaired.

-snip/more-

http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=5479

[Wilms]

7. VoteHere Announces Mail-in Ballot Tracker Audit Solution

VoteHere Announces Mail-in Ballot Tracker Audit Solution

Tracks Each Ballot Individually With Complete Voter Privacy Protection

Distribution Source : Market Wire

Date : Tuesday - May 31, 2005


BELLEVUE, WA -- (Market Wire - May 31, 2005) -- VoteHere®, a division of Dategrity Corp., a leading supplier of election audit and verification technology, today announced the availability of Mail-in Ballot Tracker(TM), an audit solution to provide the first ever ability to track individual ballots while protecting voter privacy. Adding to its audit solutions for e-voting systems, the VoteHere Mail-in Ballot Tracker audit solution integrates seamlessly into any absentee mail processing system. Until now, ballot tracking was limited to tracking batches of ballots in order to protect ballot secrecy. As a result, election officials have lacked the audit tools to account for each ballot individually, leading to high-profile controversies in New York State, Washington State and elsewhere.

VoteHere's Mail-in Ballot Tracker can track every ballot while completely protecting voter privacy. VoteHere can deliver this unique capability because of its patented VHTi technology, which enables comprehensive audit and data tracking, while protecting the integrity and privacy of individual data records. VoteHere's software source code is published on the company's website for public examination for unparalleled transparency and confidence.

-snip-

Mail-in balloting is on the rise, especially on the west coast with Washington State voting 70% by mail, California voting 40% by mail, and Oregon voting 100% by mail. Earlier this year, the Washington State Legislature authorized counties to switch to voting exclusively by mail. Furthermore, this legislation encourages the use of ballot tracking audit technology to "determine if mail ballots were received and counted." Only VoteHere's Mail-in Ballot Tracker meets the intent of this law while protecting voter privacy.

-snip-

Founded in 1998, VoteHere, a division of Dategrity Corp., is the industry leader in election audit and verification technology. VoteHere's patented technology has been used in more than 90 elections throughout the United States and Europe for more than 50 worldwide clients and partners, reaching nearly 13 million voters. VoteHere provides election officials with the same standards of verifiable accuracy as banking, e-commerce, credit cards, express shipping and other types of transactions people trust every day. For more information please visit www.votehere.com. For more information about Dategrity Corp., please visit www.dategritycorp.com.

-snip/more-

http://press.arrivenet.com/gov/article.php/645814.html

[Wilms]

8. Judge to decide whether to extend deadlines

Posted on Wed, Jun. 01, 2005

Judge to decide whether to extend deadlines

JOHN McCARTHY

Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A judge planned to decide Thursday whether to approve an agreement to extend the deadlines for selection and certification of voting machine systems for 32 counties that have sued the state's chief elections official.

The counties want a choice of touch-screen electronic voting machines. Currently, only a touch-screen machine made by Diebold Election Systems has met federal and state certification requirements.

Election Systems & Software last month filed a lawsuit to stop Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell from enforcing his directive that systems be certified by May 13. ES&S claims Blackwell's certification deadlines were unfair; Blackwell says all vendors were treated equally.

The two parties have been in discussions, along with the counties that joined the lawsuit, but no agreement on the core issues of the case has been reached.

-snip/more-

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/11790801.htm

[Melissa G]

9. International Lottery & Totalizator Systems Signs Agreement w/ ES&S

Press Release Source: International Lottery & Totalizator Systems

International Lottery & Totalizator Systems Signs Agreement With Election Systems & Software
Wednesday June 1, 3:23 pm ET

CARLSBAD, Calif., June 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ On May 17, 2005, International Lottery & Totalizator Systems, Inc. ("ILTS") (OTC Bulletin Board: ITSI - News) , acting through its wholly owned subsidiary, Unisyn Solutions, Inc., entered into an agreement with Election Systems & Software, Inc. ("ES&S") for ES&S to manufacture and distribute a Precinct Ballot Counter ("PBC") developed by Unisyn. Additionally, the PBC will be integrated with ES&S' vote tabulation and election management software. The agreement has an initial term of thirty-six (36) months and shall automatically renew for an unlimited number of one (1) year terms, unless either party provides written notice of its intent not to renew at least one hundred twenty (120) days prior to expiration of the then current term.
In consideration of a profit sharing formula, ILTS grants ES&S an exclusive worldwide license to manufacture, sell, and sublicense ILTS' intellectual property relating to the PBC and PBC software to ES&S' end customers. ES&S agrees to act as ILTS' exclusive distributor, reseller, on-going service provider, and manufacturer of the PBC and PBC software.

The contract also includes a provision for ILTS and ES&S to enter into a software support agreement for ILTS to supply necessary software maintenance and services to ES&S on terms to be negotiated.

Unisyn was formed following the 2000 election to utilize ILTS' secure transaction processing expertise to improve the process by which votes are collected and tabulated. Unisyn has developed several voting applications, including the InkaVote Plus(TM) precinct ballot counter which, when used in conjunction with the InkaVote system complies with the requirements established by Congress in the Help America Vote Act ("HAVA").

http://www.votersunite.org/news.asp

[Wilms]

10. International Lottery & Totalizator Systems Signs Agreement With ES&S

International Lottery & Totalizator Systems Signs Agreement With Election Systems & Software

Wednesday June 1, 3:23 pm ET

Source: International Lottery & Totalizator Systems

CARLSBAD, Calif., June 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- On May 17, 2005, International Lottery & Totalizator Systems, Inc. ("ILTS") (OTC Bulletin Board: ITSI - News) , acting through its wholly owned subsidiary, Unisyn Solutions, Inc., entered into an agreement with Election Systems & Software, Inc. ("ES&S") for ES&S to manufacture and distribute a Precinct Ballot Counter ("PBC") developed by Unisyn. Additionally, the PBC will be integrated with ES&S' vote tabulation and election management software. The agreement has an initial term of thirty-six (36) months and shall automatically renew for an unlimited number of one (1) year terms, unless either party provides written notice of its intent not to renew at least one hundred twenty (120) days prior to expiration of the then current term.

-snip-

Unisyn was formed following the 2000 election to utilize ILTS' secure transaction processing expertise to improve the process by which votes are collected and tabulated. Unisyn has developed several voting applications, including the InkaVote Plus(TM) precinct ballot counter which, when used in conjunction with the InkaVote system complies with the requirements established by Congress in the Help America Vote Act ("HAVA").

-snip/more-

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050601/law113.html?.v=8

[Melissa G]

11. County election board OKs some recanvassing

County election board OKs some recanvassing

By Elizabeth Skrapits, Staff Writer 06/01/2005

The battle isn't over yet for some candidates who failed to receive their party's nomination in the May 17 primary.



On Tuesday afternoon, the Luzerne County Board of Elections approved petitions to re-canvass election returns.
One candidate who sought a recount is Edwardsville Councilwoman Karen Martinelli.


snip
Errors occur when polling place workers aren't paying attention to details or don't follow proper procedure for counting write-ins.
"We have the obligation to make sure every vote counts," Luzerne County Commissioner Stephen A. Urban said of his fellow election board members, Commissioners Greg Skrepenak and Todd Vonderheid.

snip
Luzerne County Director of Elections Leonard Piazza III said certified letters will be sent to candidates either by the end of this week or early next week, after which the recounts will begin, one precinct at a time.

snip
Machines will be opened, paper write-in rolls removed, and the absentee ballots re-counted to see if there are errors.

"We will look at the process to see if votes shifted from election night or not," Piazza said, adding that the process will be easier next year when the county switches from lever to electronic voting machines.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14620324&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=455154&rfi=6

[Melissa G]

12. Absentee ballots could decide GOP nominees for school board.

Jim Thorpe recount may end tie
Absentee ballots could decide GOP nominees for school board.

By Matt Birkbeck
Of The Morning Call

An absentee ballot recount in two voting precincts Monday could break a deadlock in the Republican primary for Jim Thorpe Area School Board.

snip
In the Carbon County judge race, discrepancies over the number of people who voted in the Democratic primary will force the county Board of Elections to recount the votes from two voting machines.

snip
Instead, the recount will provide an accurate vote and hopefully reveal what went wrong on election night.

snip
The results from two voting machines — one in the West Ward in Nesquehoning and the other in Packer Township — revealed 186 more votes were recorded than actually voted.

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b1_1judgejun01,0,7326225.story?coll=all-newslocal-hed

[Wilms]

13. Is HAVA Being Abused? Part II

Is HAVA Being Abused? Part II

Good for the Goose; Why Not for the Gander?

by Ellen Theisen (pdf)

In spite of the federal government's repeated failures to meet statutory deadlines imposed by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), the U.S. Department of Justice has declared that the States must meet their HAVA deadlines, even without the HAVA-mandated research and guidance intended to help the States comply with HAVA wisely.

HAVA requires the Federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to develop guidance on voting systems standards by January 1, 2004. The standards were intended to guide the States as they upgraded their election equipment to meet the HAVA Section 301 requirements by the January 1, 2006 deadline.

In violation of HAVA, the President delayed the appointment of the members of the EAC for more than nine months after the HAVA deadline — two weeks before the statutory deadline for providing the voting system standards. Furthermore, HAVA authorized up to $10 million for each year from 2003 to 2005 for the EAC to carry out its duties. However, only $2 million was appropriated for 2003 and the EAC was not formed in time to use the funds. Only $1.2 million was appropriated for 2004. "The total operating budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2004 was just $1.2 million."<1>

On April 30, 2004, the EAC reported its concern about this situation to the President and Congress, listing nine missed deadlines caused by the delay in its establishment and the lack of funding. Following the list, the EAC says:<2>

The implications of these delays are likely to include continued problems with election equipment; other unresolved election administration issues such as voter verifiable paper audit; and the likely inability of States and local election jurisdictions to meet HAVA requirements by statutory deadlines.

-snip/more-

http://www.votersunite.org/info/hava-abuse2.asp

Thanks to JohnGideon for posting the discussion:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x374284

[Melissa G]

14. Deep Throating an American President

Deep Throating an American President
Another Patriot Speaks Out Against the Failure of the Corporate Mainstream Media...
We've been reminded, in the hours since the revelation of the identity of "Deep Throat" of the importance of patriotic Americans speaking out, wherever the case may be, in favor...

We've been reminded, in the hours since the revelation of the identity of "Deep Throat" of the importance of patriotic Americans speaking out, wherever the case may be, in favor of truth over lies, honesty over corruption.

We've also noted, with particular respect to both Woodward and Bernstein, their promise well-kept over 30 years to keep their source confidential. That is a promise that we regularly extend -- and indeed to keep -- to confidential sources who share sensitive information with The BRAD BLOG. We have always honored that promise throughout our brief history, and we take this occasion to assure such sources, both current and future, that we intend to guard such confidentiality with the same sort of integrity that W&B guarded the identity of W. Mark "Deep Throat" Felt.

There are other timely matters -- many of them -- that the revelation of "Deep Throat's" identity brings to mind right about now as we find ourselves with another American "President" who seems to disregard the American People and their Constitution with even more cavalier disrespect (if one can imagine it) than Richard Nixon did some thirty years ago. And while Nixon's disregard for the truth and the Constitution ultimately hurt mostly himself and his cronies, Bush's offenses have led quite directly to the untimely deaths, dismemberments and life-long nightmares of thousands of Americans and World Citizens. But more on that at later date...

For now, we'll share a letter written today to Mssrs. Russert and Brokaw by our friend and patriot, Bernie Ellis. Bernie is the organizer of the historic "Gathering To Save Our Democracy - a National Conference on the 2004 Election and the Need for Election Reform" held recently in Nashville.

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001434.htm
DU discussion
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x374294

[Melissa G]

15. Fly By Night's letter

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=374232&mesg_id=374232
Here's an email I just sent to the NBC "Today Show" and to "Meet the Press".

If they respond, I'll sure let you know. But I won't hold my breath in the meantime.
-----------------

To Tim Russert and Tom Brokaw:

This morning, I turned on TV briefly (to catch the weather report, since we really need rain here in Tennessee) and I heard the two of you discussing the self-outing of "Deep Throat" yesterday. At the end of your on-air discussion, you said, "If there's another Deep Throat out there, give us a call, won't you. We're waiting for your call."

Yeah, bullshit. For the past eight months, thousands of people have been sending you information on the 2004 stolen election and you've been ignoring it like a burning herpes sore on your anus when your wife asks you why you just can't sit still. So here's one more attempt to call your bluff. How about contacting Clint Curtis and Sherole Eaton, both of whom have very important stories to tell about the 2004 election theft, and neither of whom is hiding anything (including their identities).

[Melissa G]

16. Arnold’s Faltering

Arnold’s Faltering
The governor spends $5 million on TV ads trying to win back public favor
by BILL BRADLEY



The once soaring action governor keeps running into trouble. Although he is unveiling some progressive environmental positions this week, he remains mired in a swamp of his own creation, his ultrahyped but misfiring “Year of Reform.”

Back from another out-of-state fund-raising swing, Arnold Schwarzenegger finds his California contributions, according to several inside sources, running behind internal projections. Much of the corporate community is not very enthused about his agenda for a special election; the governor says he’ll announce June 13 whether he will proceed with the special ballot on redistricting and budget-fixing measures. Says one business lobbyist: “His initiatives don’t do enough for us to go to war with the unions.”

Despite the welcome news of several billion dollars in unanticipated state revenue, Schwarzenegger is down across the board in new public-opinion polling on most major issues. Some of his numbers are below those of Gray Davis’ final days. Schwarzeneggger’s job approval, according to the respected Public Policy Institute of California poll, is still stuck at 40 percent — which is 40 percent off his record-setting high of late last year. His main initiatives start off well short of a majority, almost always a sign of impending defeat.

Even his strategy of using the so-called paycheck-protection initiative — which would make it harder for public-employee unions to spend money on politics — as a lever to force Democrats to compromise on his special-election initiatives isn’t working so far, despite the threats of his political consultant Mike Murphy. Why not? Because many Democrats think they can flat out beat him.

http://www.laweekly.com/ink/05/28/news-bradley.php

[Melissa G]

17. Dollar hits 2005 low

This story is from our news.com.au network Source: AAP



Dollar hits 2005 low

02jun05
THE dollar hit a low for 2005 overnight after the euro plunged following a Dutch 'No' vote against the European constitution.

At 0700 AEST the local currency was trading at $US0.7492-97, a quarter-cent drop from yesterday's close of $US0.7555-60. During overnight trade, it reached a low of $US0.7476 and a high of $US0.7555.

National Australia Bank currency strategist John Kyriakopoulos said the dollar had initially held ground against major euro losses but succumbed shortly after yesterday's close of trade.

He said the European Union remained in a state of uncertainty about its future as both a political and economic entity. This uncertainty had dragged down the local unit.

"Obviously, there's a lot of uncertainty there and that's not helping the euro," Mr Kyriakopoulos said. "There's a lot of nervousness just about political instability in Europe right now and whether the reform agenda is going forward."

http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,15483803%255E1702,00.html

[Wilms]

18. Remember Why We Really Lost In ’04?

Remember Why We Really Lost In ’04?

By Allen Snyder

May 30, 2005
www.OpEdNews.com

According to the conservative-controlled corporate media machine and assorted annoying right wing-nut flacks and flunkies, it was committed hoards of evangelical Christians flocking from their pews that tipped the scales in favor of the regressive regime we now know as BushCo. The exit polls were skewed, they say, because nothing could have predicted so many would be so taken by BushCo’s Christian purity and moral uprightness (read: the fact regressives despise gays, blacks, browns, women, the poor, government programs, and progress while loving God, guns, and war) that they’d swarm to the polls believing the Rapture was in sight.

If true, then BushCo pulled off yet another brilliant bait-and-switch scam on their most ardent supporters, making them think their radical social agenda (turning the clock back to no later than the 14th or 15th Century) would be enthusiastically enacted when, in fact, BushCo has dropped the whole crowd’s crazier domestic plans like a hot rock, while tossing them an evolutionary fossil or two. BushCo used the fundies politically because they’re so easy to manipulate (they’ll believe practically anything) and so eager to please. It was a match made somewhere just south of heaven.

The fundamentalists’ media-nourished delusions have resurrected several ‘family values’-type creeps ubiquitously waxing psychotic about the imminent demise of Western/Christian civilization and the need to pack Federal courts with right-wing, stone-tablet-hugging, abortion-hating, evolution-despising, corporation-loving ideologues.

Lost in the thick methane fog emanating from this giant pile of Fox-ified horseshit is the first victim in all such conflicts – the truth.

-snip/more-

http://www.opednews.com/snyder_053005_remember.htm

[Wilms]

19. .

[Wilms]

20. .