Blog
I worked as a voter protection attorney all day on election day. Nationwide our groups of attorneys logged 13,000 complaints and problems. This doesn't count the 10s of thousands of issues that were not logged on election day. I have long been opposed to machine counting and my opposition was reinforced by what I experienced first hand on Nov. 4. I am relieved that Barack Obama had such a clear victory. I think that had it been close either way we would be hearing protests about election day fraud and our country would have polarized dramatically.
Hand counting of paper ballots is the only way to insure the integrity of our elections. A non-partisan group pursuing this effort is at:http://www.electiondefensealliance.org
Also look at this analysis called true vote.
Local residents are increasingly concerned about the wild proposals Mayor Plusquellic is making in this his 6th 4 year term in office. Rule-breaking is the status quo downtown along with corporate welfare for fat cat developers. The neighborhoods seem abandoned to predatory lenders and a growing wave of crime due to a failure to support citizens in rough economic times and to fully fund our safety forces.
The latest proposal is to do away with the police force. The Mayor cannot do this without a Charter Amendment. Read the language for yourself. Don't listen to the lies being told downtown:
CITY OF AKRON CHARTER
SECTION 68. DIVISION OF POLICE.
The police force shall consist of a Chief of Police and such officers and employees as may be provided for by the Council. For any vacancy in the position of Chief of Police which exists after November 7, 2000, the Mayor shall appoint the Chief of the Division of Police who shall serve in the classified service for an initial term of four (4) years. A Chief so appointed may be reappointed in the classified service for an additional term of four (4) years, with no limit on the number of re-appointments. The Chief of the Division of Police shall be in immediate charge of said Division, shall have jurisdiction over the Police Station and any substation which may be hereafter established, and shall have control over the stationing and transfer of all patrolmen and other employees constituting the Division of Police, under such rules and regulations as the Mayor may prescribe. No special detectives or other special officers shall be employed except upon written authority from the Mayor, and such authority shall be exercised only under the direction and control of the Chief of Police, and for a stipulated time. The Mayor shall have the right, whenever authorized by Council, to appoint substitute or special patrolmen who shall not be considered to be in any sense regular members of the Police Division and who need not be in the classified service. In case of riot or other serious emergency, or at time of elections or for other similar occasions, the Mayor or in his absence, the Chief of Police, may appoint, for the period of the emergency only, additional patrolmen and officers, who need not be in the classified service.
(V 44 p 311; Approved by voters Nov. 5, 1935) (Amendment adopted by electorate 11-4-80; Amendment adopted by electorate 11-7-00)
http://ordlink.com/codes/akron/
""The United States came into being not as a result of nationalism, nor of ethnic or religious unity, but from a common faith in Liberty." James Hepburn (pseudonym)
I have been reading a very interesting and flawed book called JFK: Farewell America. It is available for free on the internet at www.voxfux.com
It has been fascinating reading as I contemplate what we are losing in our terrorized society. Ron Paul is the only candidate paying close attention to issues of Liberty in 2008. I do see it as a central underlying question in our politics that will gain ground over time. Government should leave us alone to the greatest extent possible.
Government is not doing that. We need to rethink government's role. Government should not be tilting the economic scales on the taxpayer's back. From the local to the national level it is actively intervening in our economic affairs, creating winners and losers, raping the taxpayer in the process.
In the name of Security, Government now wants to know who we all are, where we are going, what we are doing. This is happening at the expense of the Rights outlined in the Bill of Rights.
What are the core rights of our citizens that we are ready to defend? Will we step up and defend our Bill of Rights?
I do think government has a role ensuring basic needs are met such as housing, health care, education, a clean environment, decent transport, decent communications, and social security. But to the extent that our Freedoms are destroyed by governmental action I would forego such security.