Friday, October 24, 2008

Reagan's War

Last night I decided to watch In the Face of Evil - Reagan's War in Word and Deed.

Due to my age, I was not really following politics during the Ronald Reagan presidency, but have seen many people talk good about him, and other people talk about him in a very negative manner. he battle against "evil" seems startlingly similar to what is happening right now in the world, except instead of "communism," the enemy of our time is "terrorism." As I watched it, I pointed out numerous times, "sounds like this year" or "they're still doing it." People like George Bush Sr. and Henry Kissinger are indeed still wielding influence in this country.



Here is the description I read before viewing this DVD.

Two time award winner for Best Documentary of 2004, In the Face of Evil: Reagan's War in Word and Deed is about a man and nation's courageous journey through the heart of darkness and how that journey inspires us today. This film is not a traditional biopic of Ronald Reagan, but a hard-hitting exploration of leadership and moral courage. Based on Reagan's War, Peter Schweizer's acclaimed bestseller, In the Face of Evil, pits the brutality of totalitarian communism against Reagan s inflexible passion to see freedom s light shine on all the people of the world. The film s timeless lessons inspire us as a call to action. Ronald Reagan's legacy gives us courage to stand tall despite our enemy's harshest aggressions and to never waver in the face of evil.

As usual, this DVD is filled with old footage, countless clips from old speeches, and military footage.

I do not like the "good versus evil" attitude he had, and I can see it in the world today. He used the word "god" and "let us pray" way too much to be a President. If he wanted to be a priest, he should have went that route in his career, and not chose politics.

I had to chuckle hearing him refer to himself as a "liberal democrat" though, I bet that speech makes all the Republicans tense up. yes, your hero Ronnie Reagan was a "liberal" until he flip flopped on his party, and decided to drive America into the military industrial complex it is seated in now.

Labels: , , , ,

Friday, October 17, 2008

Uncounted: The New Math Of American Elections

With the excitement building over the upcoming Presidential Election on November 4, 2008, I decided to give Uncounted: The New Math of American Elections a viewing last night.

Here's the brief description I read before I sat down to watch it...
Filmmaker David Earnhardt takes a close look at the state of America's electoral process and presents unnerving evidence that fraud at every level is disenfranchising voters across the nation. Featuring candid interviews with election officials, journalists, statisticians, computer programmers and others, this persuasive documentary also examines the scandals surrounding the 2004 presidential election.

All I knew going into it, was that the documentary was about elections, and the counting of votes using electronic voting machines.

If you are unfamiliar with the controversy surrounding electronic voting machines, the company Diebold, and the 2004 election, you really should check this one out. Diebold received so much negative publicity regarding the voting machines bugged with problems, they have since changed their company name to: Premier Election Solutions Inc.

Uncounted The New Math of American Elections

I understand why the country has begun moving towards electronic voting machines, however, I do not understand why there is no paper trail. The company behind the machines, in this DVD, is Diebold, the same company who makes ATM machines. ATM Machines keep an internal auditable log and can be traced. Why should our voting machines, made by this same company, be unable to be audited or counted if there is an issue. Essentially, once votes are cast, there is no proof of them and no way to verify or count them afterward in the event of a problem.

Electronic voting machines should print out a paper, showing all your votes, you should be able to look that over, and then drop that in a ballot box. Not have it all stored in memory on a machine, that has proven to fail. I am concerned more than ever that the Republican ties to the companies who make these voting machines, has in fact, been used to "flip votes" in favor of Republican politicians. Why would I think that?

The man, Clint Curtis is in the documentary, who was employed to write software for these voting machines blows the whistle in this DVD. He became aware something was wrong when his employer wanted him to make the "vote flipping" part of the software source code to be hidden or non-traceable. He voiced his concern, and was told, "you don't understand, this is to flip the election in Florida." Now, if you remember Florida was the state that basically gave George Bush the 2004 election. If he had not won Florida, there is a chance the entire election would have come out differently.

Other examples of clear vote fraud, is shown in a town where only 800 or so people voted, yet Bush was given 4,200+ votes from that precinct. Something a little strange going on? Certainly, and this DVD will open your eyes to the blatant voter fraud taking place in our modern elections.

Why do electronic voting machines not give us a paper trail? Something we can count afterward? Voting machines are built to the exact opposite of standards that ATM machines are manufactured to. ATM machines can be audited and every bit of info or transaction leaves a record so someone can analyze the machine and its numbers if there is ever a problem. Why would a company, that builds such systems, go out of their way, to make voting machines hold no record, keep no trace or trail of events? There is only one reason, to hide what is going on inside.

In this documentary, you see public officials who have been fired for making inquiries into these voting machines, and you can see many of the connections between certain politicians and the company who makes the machines and more. Bruce Funk is locked out of his office, an elected official, while Diebold denies him access to the machines so they can edit the software and remove the "flip virus." This is an amazing inside look into what is going on in America regarding the vote counting process.

I will leave you with the description from the box:

UNCOUNTED is an explosive documentary that shows how the election fraud that changed the outcome of the 2004 election led to even greater fraud in 2006 - and now looms as an unbridled threat to the outcome of the 2008 election. This controversial film examines in factual, logical, and yet startling terms how easy it is to change election outcomes and undermine election integrity across the U.S. Noted computer programmers, statisticians, journalists, and experienced election officials provide the irrefutable proof.

UNCOUNTED shares well documented stories about the spine-chilling disregard for the right to vote in America. In Florida, computer programmer Clint Curtis is directed by his boss to create software that will 'flip' votes from one candidate to another. In Utah, County Clerk Bruce Funk is locked out of his office for raising questions about security flaws in electronic voting machines. Californian Steve Heller gets convicted of a felony after he leaks secret documents detailing illegal activities committed by a major voting machine company. And Tennessean entrepreneur, Athan Gibbs, finds verifiable voting a hard sell in America and dies before his dream of honest elections can be realized.

UNCOUNTED is a wakeup call to all Americans. Beyond increasing public awareness, the film inspires greater involvement in fixing a broken electoral system.

You should watch this before the upcoming election if you have concerns regarding electronic voting machines.

Get your copy of UNCOUNTED: The New Math Of American Elections before the election.

Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, October 11, 2008

5 Barack Obama Quotes

Here are five Barack Obama quotes I put together today.

Barack Obama Quotes

1. "It's easy to rile up a crowd by stoking anger and division," ... "The American people are not looking for someone who will divide this country, they are looking for someone who will lead it" - Barack Obama

2. "Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land - enough! This moment - this election - is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight. On November 4th, we must stand up and say: 'Eight is enough.'" Barack Obama

3. "I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton's Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I've gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world's poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners - an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible." from Barack Obama speech on race

4. " It's the politics that uses religion as a wedge and patriotism as a bludgeon, a politics that tells us that we have to think, act and even vote within the confines of the categories that supposedly define us, the assumption that young people are apathetic, the assumption that Republicans won't cross over, the assumption that the wealthy care nothing for the poor and that the poor don't vote, the assumption that African-Americans can't support the white candidate, whites can't support the African-American candidate, blacks and Latinos cannot come together. We are here tonight to say that that is not the America we believe in." from Barack's "Yes we can change" speech

5. "Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters, the negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there is not a liberal America and a conservative America — there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America — there’s the United States of America." from Barack Obama's Out of Many speech

Labels: , , , ,

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

The Weather Underground

After hearing so much about the Weather Underground and William Ayers in the latest mud slinging from the McCain Palin campaign, I decided to watch a DVD that I had intended on watching months ago.

I just finished watching The Weather Underground Documentary, and encourage all who are interested in some great historical footage and info about the radical 60's group known as The Weathermen, or The Weather Underground.

The Weather Underground DVD

The description I read before watching said...

A sobering documentary about a group of 1960s "committed freedom fighters" known as The Weather Underground. A radical offshoot of the Students for a Democratic Society, the Weathermen didn't just march or sit in; they rioted and bombed -- not to change the American political scene but rather to destroy it. The organization was part of a global trend of revolution that sprang from the belief that not acting against violence is violence.

While I was somewhat familiar with The Weather Underground, I always enjoy a good documentary and this one is worth watching. It featured lots of old video clips of student protests, riots, things on fire, and more. It covered how the organization started out as a student group, and morphed into something much darker. But it also shows how there are in fact roots of revolution in America's history and I think all Americans should watch this.

Labels: , , , , ,

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Man Did Not Walk With Dinosaurs

America may be based on religious freedom, but that does not include blatant distortion of historical fact to further the dumbing down of American's in the name of religion.

No true scientist nor real archaeologist believes humans and dinosaurs walked the Earth together. This is a part of Creationism which Sarah Palin wants taught in schools.

Sarah Palin not only believes humans walked the Earth together, she claims to have seen human foot prints within dinosaur tracks as evidence. This is not what we need being taught in American schools, this goes against everything we know about dinosaurs and the 65 million year difference between existence times for humans and dinosaurs.

Jesus Christ Walking With Dinosaurs

The Los Angeles Times has reported:

Soon after Sarah Palin was elected mayor of the foothill town of Wasilla, Alaska, she startled a local music teacher by insisting in casual conversation that men and dinosaurs coexisted on an Earth created 6,000 years ago -- about 65 million years after scientists say most dinosaurs became extinct -- the teacher said.

After conducting a college band and watching Palin deliver a commencement address to a small group of home-schooled students in June 1997, Wasilla resident Philip Munger said, he asked the young mayor about her religious beliefs.

Palin told him that "dinosaurs and humans walked the Earth at the same time," Munger said. When he asked her about prehistoric fossils and tracks dating back millions of years, Palin said "she had seen pictures of human footprints inside the tracks," recalled Munger, who teaches music at the University of Alaska in Anchorage and has regularly criticized Palin in recent years on his liberal political blog, called Progressive Alaska.

The idea of a "young Earth" -- that God created the Earth about 6,000 years ago, and dinosaurs and humans coexisted early on -- is a popular strain of creationism.


Look, if there is one thing Libertarians, Democrats, and Republicans can all agree on, can we agree that the Earth is not 6,000 years old? I mean, come on...

Fossil fuel, you know, the gas you put in your car and the natural gas you heat your house with? Fossil fuel was formed from animals that walked the Earth 300 million years ago, you cannot believe in gasoline and believe the Earth is 6,000 years ago. You'd think Sarah "Big Oil" Palin could grasp this simple fact since she does so much business with people getting rich from fossil fuel.

Labels: , , , ,