Sunday, October 12:

martinweiss: *The True Cost of Living The battle between knowledge and dogma is crucial to our survival.

Mark Harris: Where are the Slander Merchants Taking Us? The recent FoxNews investigative report on Barack Obama's "ties to controversial people and radical groups" on Hannity's America was a reminder of the almost startling degeneration of the American media in recent years. With a worsening economy, it's not such a stretch to see the ugly, violent rhetoric of the right-wing devolve even further into more direct, organized assaults on "liberal America."

Dr. Dennis Loo: On Naomi Wolf's Sounding the Alarm An assessment of Naomi Wolf's warning that a coup has taken place.

Saturday, October 11:

Richard Wise: "WE THE (FRINGE) PEOPLE ..." (4 comments) In 2005 – 2006, Maryland State Police infiltrated at least 32 progressive activist groups and added the names of 53 people and groups to terrorist watch lists. The governor's special investigator says the police "overreached" and police have offered to remove the names from those watch lists. This is not good enough.

Grant Lawrence: Move Past the Deception Uncivilize Yourself

Frank Schirrmacher: Assume the Fetal Position (1 comments) Western societies have anticipated many things but not this attack from inside. It is incredibly comprehensive: from the rhetorical preparations for Iraq war to climate policy, the attack on the constitution, the surveillance of all intellectual and scientific endeavors and ending in the implosion of the financial system. This president leaves behind all of the world's democracies in a deeply traumatized state.

Thirty Years' War in Afghanistan The real war is political, ideological, and a struggle for the control of the political and economic sphere. It is also a war of attrition. ... We are running out of time. ... We currently are losing, and the trends have been consistent since 2004.

McCain Camp Ignores Questions About Candidate’s Military Record (1 comments) A 12,000-word attack in Rolling Stone, which portrayed the hard-partying young McCain as a reckless pilot who totaled three jets, and whose career as a pilot was saved only by the pull of his father, commander of the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet during the Vietnam War has garnered 2.5 million hits on the Website since Oct. 6, has been the talk of the liberal blogosphere, but gotten zero attention from the mainstream media.

Joseph Stiglitz: Reversal of Fortune A unique combination of ideology, special-interest pressure, populist politics, bad economics, and sheer incompetence has brought us to our present condition. Bush’s ideology led him to underestimate the importance of government, it also led him to underestimate the limitations of markets.

Frank Rich: The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama Obama is being branded as a potential killer and an accessory to past attempts at murder. “Barack Obama’s friend tried to kill my family” was how a McCain press release last week packaged the remembrance of a Weather Underground incident from 1970 — when Obama was 8. The McCain campaign has crossed the line between tough negative campaigning and inciting vigilantism, and each day the mob howls louder.

Gail Collins: Dear Old Golden Dog Days The Republican campaign strategy now involves sending their candidates to areas where everybody is a die-hard McCain supporter already. Then they yell about Obama until the crowd is so frenzied people start making threats. The rest of the country is supposed to watch and conclude that this would be an enjoyable way to spend the next four years.

David Swanson: Media Criticism of Hate Speech Is Long Overdue And welcome.

Mark Sashine: Ignorance in Heart Rocks? This is not about some lack of knowledge or skills. This is about an incurable disease- the Ignorance in Heart.

The Great Depression The Federal government owes $53.3 trillion in future obligations that it has no ability to pay. The Government Accountability Office has sounded the alarm, but neither the politicians nor the American people are listening.

McCain Linked To Private Iran-Contra Group Barack Obama has his William Ayers connection. Now John McCain may have an Iran-Contra connection. In the 1980s, McCain served on the advisory board to the U.S. chapter of an international group linked to ultra-right-wing death squads in Central America.

Matoska: Hoover's RFC 2.0 Disbursement of funds and implementation of financial support of small businesses, home owners and the unemployed needs to start from the bottom up. Local bodies for disbursement need to be structured in a way to address the brush fires already at work in our communities.

Open Letter to Baldwin, Barr, Kucinich, McKinney, and Nader, concerning the possibility of a unified 3rd-party president From Sean Ryan, who is running for U.S. Congress in Ohio's 11th district.

Herinder Rai: Something Is Rotten In The State of Palin By "taking off her gloves", Palin reveals her true colours; inciting hate campaigns with divisive attacks, she represents the worst of America.

Walter F. Wouk: Massachusetts District Attorneys: Facts: we don't need no stinking facts. If law enforcement officials didn't lie about marijuana, they wouldn't have anything to say.

Interview with Matthis Chiroux CO from IVAW Great hour long interview with Matthis Chiroux. About IVAW's planned action this Oct. 15th at the presidential debates in NY.

Doug Rogers: Get Ready America, for President Ralph Nader (2 comments) Americans, like a former hostage with Stockholm syndrome or freed slaves unwilling to leave the plantation, are unlikely to make the conceptual leap to selecting someone outside of the safe choices of Republicans and Democrats no matter how culpable they are in wrecking the country.

David Swanson: That's Religulous Or is it?

alan k: A nation of faith For the all-knowing people who have made recent major decisions, have not had to show or prove anything before acting in our names with our resources. Truly this is a nation of faith.

Marc Ambinder: Acorn Sets the Record Straight Marc Ambinder passes along a memofrom ACORN about its voter registration process. We urge you to forward this message to your contacts in order to help clear up a non-issue that is getting a lot of attention despite its utter lack of substance.

Dana Gabriel: Chapter 11 of NAFTA Remains a Threat to National Sovereignty (2 comments) NAFTA continues to undermine our democracy and breakdown national sovereignty and was a monumental step towards continental integration. Chapter 11 of the agreement has been the source of much discontent and is a prime example of why so many believe that NAFTA must be re-negotiated.

William Cormier: FEMA Official States Bush Is Planning To Implement Martial Law (3 comments) Now that we know Bush is planning on implementing Martial Law, more than likely to ensure his reign of power, what is the average and especially those who have spoken against him to do?

Stephen Pizzo: It Takes a Village -- The Whole Village.. How do we pull this economy out of the mud? As the US stock market dives to new lows, one nation's stock market is booming -- Iraq's. Why? Franklin Roosevelt would understand.

William Fisher: Immigration: Have the Inmates Taken Over the Asylum? What happens when government lawyers spent eight years trying to make what appears to be a simple rule-change -- and come up with zilch?

Farrakhan on Obama: 'The Messiah Is Absolutely Speaking' (4 comments) Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, another powerful Chicago-based political figure associated with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and other long-time associates of Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama, is leaving no doubt about what he thinks of the leader in the campaign for the White House.

Chris Floyd: The Smokeless Gun of Flagrant Election Fixing There's a pattern of systematic vote suppression in key states, but no one is to blame for it. It's just some kind of rare and unpleasant natural phenomenon, like, say, a boll weevil infestation. Or the war crimes in Iraq. Or the American torture program. Or the destruction of the American economy.

Kevin Gosztola: The October 11 National Day of Antiwar Action The Wall Street bailout and our nation's financial turmoil have become the elephant in the room that will be on the minds of everyone, but today, thousands across America will go out into the streets to once again call for an end to wars being waged in the Middle East.

Jayne Lyn Stahl: Panel Findings Halloween is coming. Somebody had better tell Sarah Palin she's not Joan of Arc soon!

Postponing the election: It's a joke, or is it? (1 comments) When the Boston Globe wrote this article, it's amazing how they left out so much information that bolsters why millions of Americans fear that President Bush will declare Martial Law before or sometime after the November elections. Knowledge is power, and an article that could have been significant was rendered ineffective by the omission of several facts contained in the material they cited which was available - but ignored.

Harold Ford Jr. - Will McCain Do Anything to Win? Although our nation's economic house is on fire, John McCain isn't unveiling proposals to put out the fiscal flames. Instead, he is pursuing the presidency by taking the low road, as he and his surrogates attack Barack Obama in harsh, personal terms. It's hard to believe this is the same man who in 2004 said of the Swift-boat attacks against John Kerry: "I deplore this kind of politics. I think the ad is dishonest and dishono

William John Cox: Economic Chaos and Political Survival (2 comments) No matter how deeply we ordinary citizens dig into our pockets, we cannot financially compete with the powerful special interests. No matter how well we organize, we cannot match the influence of the financial and political insiders. No matter how often we march and picket, they will always beat us through the side door into the corridors of power.

America's Shadow Government: Part Two In dark times like these it is very encouraging that there is more and more attention being paid to the shadow government and Continuity of Government. It is imperative that citizens demand accountability for this largely unknown but long running program along with its ability to spy on Americans using Main Core, contingency plans for martial law and the resultant dictatorship. This from John Whitehead is a timely article.

Donna Brazile: "I'm Not Going to the Back of the Bus!" | Video At last weekend's New Yorker festival, Donna Brazile delivered an impassioned speech about how the McCain-Palin campaign has been using deplorable racial politics and ugly attacks to smear Obama recently.

Why the GOP Is Nuts About ACORN (3 comments) Attacks on ACORN appear to be part of a broader GOP strategy to shrink the number of Dem voters and sow doubts if the election turns out to be close. The claims are that ACORN is engaging in massive voter fraud through its voter registration activities, and -- according to the new web ad - that the group forced banks to take on risky loans that have led to the country's financial crisis

David Swanson: Chicago ACORN Is Braver and Better Than McCain (4 comments) Obama should be proud.

THE GOP MASK SLIPS There are two things I find remarkable about the G.O.P. The first is how wrong conservative Republicans have been on so many profoundly important matters for so many years. The second is how the G.O.P. has nevertheless been able to persuade so many voters to vote against their own interests.

David Swanson: When the Corporate Media Apologizes (3 comments) Don't believe it.

McCain's attacks fuel dangerous hatred From fellow conservative Frank Schaeffer: John McCain- If your campaign does not stop equating Sen. Barack Obama with terrorism, questioning his patriotism and portraying Mr. Obama as "not one of us," I accuse you of deliberately feeding the most unhinged elements of our society the red meat of hate, and therefore of potentially instigating violence.

Mary MacElveen: Is John McCain's quest for the presidency effectively over? (11 comments) One can almost see that he has abdicated this race when he answered a supporter who clearly stated that he was scared of Senator Obama and McCain stated, "He is a person you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States." One must wonder if in that moment in time he somehow realized that his campaign was effectively over.

Frank Murphy: The "Martial Law" Hypothesis: A Closer Look and Some Skepticism Discussion of the Army Times article and other events relating to "martial law" in the U.S.

Lynne Glasner: McCain's Base: From Race Card to Mob Card The politics of hate is back with a vengeance. The McCain campaign has avoided playing the race card, but they have skillfully exploited the mob card.

Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Bigotry trickles down to local elections With a desperate Republican campaign playing fear-mongering card to prop up John McCain, the bigotry and Islamophobia is filtering down to local politics. A Muslim candidate, Todd Gallinger, for Irvine City Council (California) has reported receiving a phoned death threat after being smeared by a council member's Islamophobic remarks.

Andrew Bard Schmookler: Restoring Good Order to a Disturbed Land: Erosion as a Natural Tendency This is the second piece in a series I'm writing making the connection between my working to restore my beloved home in the Virginia mountains, in the wake of six years of neglect and abuse from tenants, and the task that confronts us Americans in repairing our damaged country, in the wake of eight years of misrule by this dark and destructive Bushite regime.

Steven Leser: McCain Backing off from Hate Rallies - is it too late?

Mick Youther: The Rottenness of John McCain • "Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on offices, a rottenness begins in his conduct."--Thomas Jefferson.....Barack Obama wants to be President to make the world a better place. John McCain wants to be President because he wants to be President.

Patrick Mattimore: Education Gap Widens and No One Cares Widening racial gap in educational performance that has become so commonplace that we no longer see it

ALONE: BANKING IS NOT THE CREATOR OF PROSPERITY BUT THE CREATION OF IT From Kevin Phillips, to Paul Krugman, to Noam Chomsky--over the past 3 decades American political economic leadership has been asked to stop hollowing out the U.S. social and health domain by allowing financiers and others in the U.S. to dominate uttering in their bankrupt claims that Americans cannot afford good health care for all or good economic growth for all regions of the USA. Such bad policy has cost America dearly

Friday, October 10:

Rev. Bill McGinnis: Sarah Palin Broke The Ethics Law In Alaska, And Can Be Impeached (28 comments) I might be wrong, but this is the way I read the facts, the law, and the Alaska state constitution.

David Waldman: It won't stop. This is how they do things. (7 comments) It's clearly the right thing to do to demand that John McCain and Sarah Palin's sick incitements to domestic terrorism must stop. But it's not going to. This is how they do things.

Rob Kall: Worldwide, Stock Prices Plummet, Assets Crumble in Days. (19 comments) bad news now and for the foreseeable future.

Paul Craig Roberts: A Solution? (22 comments) Readers have been pressing for a solution to the financial crisis. But first it is necessary to understand the problem. Here is the problem as I see it. If my diagnosis is correct, the solution below might be appropriate.

Robert McElvaine: Going Beyond the Pale-in: (Character) Assassination (11 comments) When does character assassination cross the line and begin to encourage physical assassination?

David Swanson: ACORN Is Not the Nut Here (8 comments) About the attacks.

Steven Saw: And For Other Purposes One of the biggest problems we have is the "for other purposes" clause in every single bill proposed. This has to stop, and stop it must. The fact is, Henry Paulson could choose to buy new shoes for every member of congress with the $700 billion.

Steven Leser: Palin Guilty - Troopergate Witnesses & McCain Campaign Obstructed Justice (27 comments)

Medea Benjamin: Should Henry 'The Fox' Paulson Guard the Henhouse? (2 comments) On Tuesday, October 7, a group of CODEPINK pranksters pranced in front of the New York Stock Exchange. One, wearing an oversized papier maché head of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, grabbed at the purses of the "chickens." "Give me your money; give me your money," he cried. "You might need a new house, but my buddies and I need new yachts." Passersby, read the sign "Henry 'The Fox' Paulson' in the People's Henhouse,"

Sherman Yellen: The dangerous McCain/Palin character assassination of Obama (9 comments) The last best hope of McCain's campaign is to appeal to the racism that still lives on in this country. This isn't playing hardball, its hate-ball. The fascist playbook begins by demonizing your opponent as "the other" – or "that one" or "the friend of the terrorist." In Hitler's case it was the Jews (read elite, or cosmopolitans), the Gypsies and the Socialists who were demonized and then victimized by this rhetoric...

James Nimmo: Noted Homo-Hater Named Honorary Gay/Lesbian Person (2 comments) To commemorate National Coming Out Day on Saturday, October 11, 2008, I am exercising my gay genetic heritage and declaring Rep. Sally Kern of Oklahoma an honorary gay/lesbian person in recognition of the fine work she has done to keep our community's issues in the forefront of media attention, both here in Oklahoma and nationwide.

Project Vote: Victory for Voting Rights: Mont. GOP Backs Off Plans to Challenge Mont. Voters (1 comments) Yesterday the Republican Party of Montana announced that it was abandoning its plans to challenge the voting eligibility of at least 6,000 residents of that state-mostly in democratic strongholds-who had filed change-of-address cards with the U.S. Postal Service. In a letter sent to election officials in seven counties, state GOP executive director Jacob Eaton withdrew the party's challenges and said they would be issuing no m

Mark Karlin: The Lynch Mob Politics of McCain-Palin The mainstream media is taking little note of the dangerous, combustible gasoline that McCain and especially Palin are pouring on the raw wounds of racism in America. On Oct 10, the Wash Post published "Anger Is Crowd's Overarching Emotion at McCain Rally." But the clear and present emotion was not anger, but hate. That’s a big difference, and a deadly one.

Rolling the Dice on Derivatives The derivatives markets of today have become a high stakes casino of unimaginable magnitude. Wall Street's bets have gone bad, and now the whole financial system is in peril. In a best-case scenario, it appears, the taxpayers will be required to rescue the system from itself. This is why Warren Buffett labeled derivatives "weapons of financial mass destruction."

Lieberman: ‘I Worry About’ Whether Obama Has ‘The Right Stuff To Bomb Iran’ (1 comments) He’s, he will be the kind of president who our allies will trust, but who our enemies will fear. And in a dangerous world, al Qaeda, Iran, Iran trying to get a nuclear weapons, we want a president who our enemies will fear. I don’t believe that Sen. Obama will be that kind of president.

Jamison Foser: The media's enduring pro-McCain double standard The truth is that when John McCain says "jump," the media still ask, "How high?" Think about this: When was the last time McCain or his campaign has wanted the news media to focus on something, and they have refused? From "lipstick on a pig" to Bill Ayers, the media have scampered after whatever mud McCain has flung, like a puppy dog chasing a stick thrown by its master.

Buckley Endorses Barack Obama Sorry, Dad, I'm voting for Obama. Necessity is the mother of bipartisanship. Let me be the latest conservative -libertarian -whatever to leap onto the Barack Obama bandwagon. It's a good thing my dear old mum and pup are no longer alive. They'd cut off my allowance. The only reason my vote would be of any interest to anyone is that my last name happens to be Buckley-a name I inherited from William F. Buckley.

Greenwald: The Right and mainstream America: a universe apart (1 comments) Two new polls conclusively demonstrate how out-of-touch and fringe the Right has become. Obama's popularity holds steady while McCain's plummets, and Palin is a massive liability for his campaign. Americans see McCain as out-of-touch with their values. The more the McCain/Palin campaign attacks Obama with ugly, despicable smears, the worse McCain/Palin look to Americans.

David Michael Green: This Just In: Greed Is Not Good (2 comments) Underlying the current financial crisis is more than just a lack of regulation. This is rooted in the bankruptcy of America's moral code.

Self Defense Top 5 Self Defense Tips Every Woman Should Know There are simple tips that woman should know about self defense and street safety. With pictures.

(More...)

Sunday, October 12:

Constance Lavender: Despite Weekend Talks, World Leaders Fail to Reassure The world financial meltdown is forcing national leaders to rethink basic assumptions amid a lack of recent historical precedents and in the absence of institutional memory. Despite efforts at international consensus and unity, uncertainty reigns.

Alan Bachers: The Credit Card Debt tsunami already breaking over us and how to fix it The credit card debt tsunami already breaking over us and how to fix it.

Philadelphia Against War: Photo-essay on rally of Oct 10th Philly Against War conducted a spirited rally against the many wars of the Bush Administration in a very cheerful and noisy demonstration. Check out the photos!

Saturday, October 11:

See VIDEO of Gore Ad Rejected by ABC The "Repower America" ad ran on CBS, CNN, CNN Headline News, Fox News, and MSNBC. ABC was the only one to reject the ad, according to the Alliance. The time spot purchased on ABC cost the group nearly $100,000, according to the Alliance. Instead of airing "Repower America," ABC ran the group's "Free Us" ad, which was already running on the network.

ABC deems Gore climate change advert too 'controversial' for TV The ABC network has refused to air an advert produced by Al Gore's environmental group, ruling that its charge of US government favouritism to the oil industry is too "controversial" for television. An unseen narrator states that climate change can be combated through wind and solar power as well as "end[ing] our dependence on foreign oil". Ed. Note: Perhaps it was too "Gore-y" for the fair and balanced ABC...

Western Journalists in Iraq Stage Pullback of Their Own Veteran journalists say stories about Iraq, where roughly 155,000 US troops are deployed and where the United States spends approximately $10 billion a month, have become tougher to get on the air and into print. News coverage that once centered largely on the US military experience is shifting, like the country itself, to a story of Iraqis taking steps toward building their own government.

Delisting North Korea Did President Bush, reeling from the U.S. financial meltdown and continuing misfortune in Iraq, finally relent to North Korean saber-rattling and prematurely "delist" a country he once deemed part of the "axis of evil"?

The Quadrillion Dollar Powder Keg Waiting To Blow It's like a Zippo lighter on high flame lighting the fuse leading to the quadrillion dollar powder keg waiting to blow any day now, and Hanky Panky and Helicopter Ben are running around like raving, corporate fascist lunatics trying to stomp out the fuse before the whole world financial system goes up in a blaze of glory.

Former McCain Strategist Warns Against "Angry Mob" You have changed. You have a choice: Go down in history as a decent senator and an honorable military man with many successes, or go down in history as the latest abettor of right-wing extremist hate.

David Iglesias: Dangerous New Turn in Justice Department Investigation No longer just a civil matter to blithely ignore, this ominous development could result in current and high level officials being indicted for crimes. I suspect the special counsel will "follow the emails" in the way that "follow the money" brought down Nixon's men during Watergate.

Report: McCain Exploded With Rage During Gambling Outing 'DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU'RE TALKING TO?'McCain continued,his voice rising and his hands now raised in the 'bring it on' position.He was red-faced.By this time all the action at the table had stopped.I was completely shocked. McCain had totally lost it,and in the space of about ten seconds.'Sir, you must be courteous to the other players at the table,'the pit boss said to McCain."DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?"

Greg Palast: *Newsnight exposes election irregularities in '00 and '04. 2008?? Watch this 14 minute video from BBC:America Newsnight Friday, October 10.

Without a Trace: The Smokeless Gun of Flagrant Election Fixing The point is that millions of the poorest,most marginalized Americans are being denied their right to vote for whomever they please.This is,as even the New York Times acknowledges, a federal crime.But it is not,however much the Times tries to obsfuscate the issue,a perpetratorless one.

Vickie Karp and Karen Renick: VoteRescue Radio moving to Global Truth Network! Our show is temporarily off the air. Tho rebroadcasts may be playing on wtprn and show archives are still stored there,the station is actually down.We are very fortunate to have been asked by WTPRN's originator to move our show over to his new network,"Global Truth Network"which could be up and running as soon as next week!On our first show on GTN, if it IS next Friday,October 17th, our guests will be BEV Harris & Paul Lehto.

JGideon: 'Daily Voting News' For October 11, 2008 a collection of local, state, national and international articles on electronic voting and election issues

Dan Lieberman: The Trade Balance and the Limits of the Paulson Rescue Plan

Peter Casier: After the global financial crisis comes the global humanitarian crisis? With the millions, billions, trillions governments now pump into the bailouts, how much will be "left over" for humanitarian aid?

Shelters and Soup Kitchens Hold Crisis Front Lines Homeless shelters and soup kitchens serve more while donations decline.

"Bush has been telling people privately that it's a good thing he's in charge... (1 comments) ...during the country's rough times because he has "a good group of people in D.C. working for him."

FOX Sends Cease & Desist to McCain Web Operator The notification states, "Fox News requests that you immediately cease and desist from any further use of the copyrighted material and that access through the Website to the Material, and any other Fox News materials, be immediately disabled." Two weeks ago, NBC sent a cease & desist to the Obama campaign after it used images of Tom Brokaw and Keith Olbermann in a campaign ad.

Gustav Wynn: Beastie Boys to Headline Swing State Stadium Concert Tour The Beastie Boys have announced a battleground state stadium tour starting Oct. 28 to get out the vote. Joining the Beasties will be Sheryl Crow, Tenacious D, Crosby & Nash, Jack Johnson and others but check out this staggering list of artists who have endorsed Obama or denounced the McCain/Bush ethos: The Stones, The Dead, Dylan, The Allmans, Green Day, Heart, Foo, Stevie, Billy, Neil, Bon Jovi, Bruce, Rage, Pearl Jam...

Saturday Morning Status Report of National Polls Although the pace of new statewide polls slowed a bit yesterday, the latest releases indicate no change in the overall status of the race for President. Obama and Biden continue to hold a strong lead McCain and Palin nationally and within the states necessary to win an electoral college majority.

US Probe Determines Palin Abused Power as Governor A legislative committee has determined that Sarah Palin, US Republican vice-presidential candidate, abused her power as Alaska's governor when she fired the state's public safety commissioner,

Swiss Government Issues Bill of Rights for Plants Revolution is in the air, as the Swiss Government's Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology concludes that plants have rights, and we have to treat them appropriately. A majority of the panel concluded that "living organisms should be considered morally for their own sake because they are alive."

Radio Ads: Now or Never The Nader/Gonzalez campaign discusses the idea of radio ads and explains why ever since the bailout they have become the opposition for Americans to support.

Appeals court sides with Ohio secretary of state A federal appeals court sided with Ohio's top elections official Friday in her running battle with Republicans over how to verify the eligibility of newly registered voters. Brunner argued that it would take two to three days to create the necessary computer programs, and that nothing in the Help America Vote Act required her to do what the lower court ordered. A three-judge panel of the appeals court agreed in a split decisi

Obama fundraiser, convicted of fraud, spills beans Rezko also was friendly with Obama - offering him a job when he finished law school, funding his earliest political campaigns and purchasing a lot next to his house. But based on the known facts, charges so far and testimony at Rezko's trial, there's no indication there'll be an October surprise that could hurt the Democratic presidential nominee - even though Rezko says prosecutors are pressing him for dirt about Obama.

Troopergate Investigator: Palin 'Unlawfully Abused Her Authority' The news isn't good for the Republican vice presidential nominee -- and is an unpleasant reminder of the power abuses of the Bush years, A news round-up on the report suggesting Sarah Palin violated state ethics laws:

Martha Rosenberg: Can In-Class Huckstering Make Milk Drinking Cool? (2 comments) Is there anyone who hasn't posed with a milk mustache except O.J. Simpson and Phil Spector? And they may be looking at the paperwork now.

Friday, October 10:

Justice Department scandal almost buried by financial crisis it mattered not to the Machiavellian Bush Administration that justice was compromised with appalling political interference. It operates under the premise that the ends always justify the means. Look at the pattern. They used fear about nonexistent WMDs as a means to justify invading Iraq. It outed a CIA operative to punish critics, eliminated civil rights under the misnamed Patriot Act to expand executive authority...

GM, Chrysler hold merger talks General Motors has held discussions about acquiring Chrysler, The New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported late Friday.

Bush Just Makes It Worse (2 comments) When it comes to the current financial crisis, it's become pretty clear that an appearance by President Bush doesn't calm nerves. It rubs them raw. With global markets in a state of panic, with the world talking about the end of American capitalism, with ordinary citizens watching in despair as their savings vanish, we could all use some reassurance.

Stephen Fox: BARACK OBAMA On Gandhi's Birthday (22 comments) Barack Obama on the influence of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on his ideas and actions.

Breaking: Gov. Sarah Palin Unlawfuly Abused Her Power Legislative Panel Rules (2 comments) BREAKING NEWS: Gov. Sarah Palin unlawfully abused her power in firing official, legislative panel rules.

Marilou Johanek: *Justice Dept. Scandal Revelation of corruption at Justice.

you tube: Sarah Palin; Secessionist-- powerful new Youtube Video (10 comments) this deserves to go viral

JGideon: 'Daily Voting News' For October 10, 2008 a collection of local, state, national and international articles on electronic voting and election issues

McCain faces conservative backlash over mortgage plan McCain is facing a fresh round of anger from members of his own party deeply opposed to the Arizona senator's $300 billion proposal for the federal government to purchase troubled mortgage loans, on top of the bailout plan. Pointed backlash from several economic conservatives, pundits and bloggers criticizes the plan as a flagrant reward for reckless behavior among lenders.

Barack 'Osama' on NY Absentee Ballots (5 comments) Tho the S and the B aren't close on a keyboard, Rensselaer County election officials and three proofreaders failed to catch the misspelling before mailing the absentee ballots to 300 voters.

U.S. Seems Set to Take N. Korea off Terror List The Bush administration appears poised to provisionally remove North Korea from the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism, perhaps as soon as today, sources close to the administration said. The move would keep alive a faltering effort to eliminate Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs

Fears of Recession Deepen Rout The government took steps toward an extraordinary public investment in U.S. banks, and General Motors stock fell to its lowest price since 1950 on fears it will not be able to weather the downturn. Share prices fell across every industry and for each of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones industrial average, which was down 679 points, or 7.3 percent, to 8579.19.

Justice Department Cleaners Win 15 Percent Raise Under the contract, Justice Department cleaners who earned $15.51 an hour will see that rise to $17.94 by the end of the contract, according to Local 323BJ of the Service Employees International Union. The cleaners are outside contractors employed by Makro Services. They also get 150 percent increase in employer contributions to their pension plan and improved health-care benefits.

Press Release: Brave New Films Sues Shock Jock Michael Savage The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, seeks declaratory relief and damages following improper efforts to silence Brave New Films' criticism of Savage over anti-Muslim remarks he made on his nationally syndicated radio show, The Savage Nation.

Berlusconi Says Leaders May Close World's Markets Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said political leaders are discussing the idea of closing the world's financial markets while they "rewrite the rules of international finance."

Afghanistan 'in dire peril' A draft classified report says central authority in Afghanistan is breaking down, with rampant corruption inside the Government of President Hamid Karzai and escalating violence from militants. Its conclusions represent a harsh verdict on decision-making by the Bush Administration, which in the months after the September 11 attacks made Afghanistan the central focus of a global campaign against terrorism.

Blackwater to check itself on US arms export law Amid a federal probe into whether Blackwater Worldwide smuggled weapons into Iraq, the private security contractor said Thursday it has established a panel of defense experts and former prosecutors to ensure it follows U.S. export laws.

Barack 'Osama' on Ballots Sent to Voters in NY From AP...Who is running for president? In an upstate New York county, hundreds of voters have been sent absentee ballots in which they could vote for "Barack Osama."The absentee ballots sent to voters in Rensselaer County identified the two presidential candidates as "Barack Osama" and "John McCain."

Inciting Hate: Anger Is Crowd's Overarching Emotion at McCain Rally (1 comments) Standing at the center of the crowd, McCain and Palin drew on the crowd's energy as they repeatedly trained their fire on Obama. "Senator Obama has a clear radical, far-left, pro-abortion record," McCain said after being asked about the issue.

Scott Horton: Palin's Talent Scout (1 comments) Kristol is one of the few conservative columnists whose support of Palin has been unflinching.He has used his space as a NYT columnist to tout her candidacy repeatedly.But in the process Kristol has never bothered to disclose his role in the decision making process that led to the Palin pick.Kristol's Weekly Standard has figured as Palin's chief defender,and its writers have gone after even those who dare to pose questions

Bush Says Anxiety Feeding Market Instability "Over the past few days," Bush said, "we have witnessed a startling drop in the stock market, much of it driven by uncertainty and fear. This has been a deeply unsettling period for the American people."

ncvoter: Ohio-duh steals Flori-duh's Butterfly Ballot Design Ohio may go down in history this November when 12 counties use a butterfly ballot. The design is hauntingly similar to the one that made Florida notorious in November 2000. The problem - the design is a modern day butterfly ballot, splitting the presidential contest over two columns on their paper ballots for this November's election.

Sheila Kaplan and Marilyn Berlin Snell: Northern Exposure: Sarah Palin's Toxic Paradise (2 comments) As governor of a state with a birth-defect rate that's twice the national average, and which has the gloomy status as repository of toxic chemicals from around the world, Palin has pursued environmental policies that seem perfectly crafted to swell the ranks of special-needs kids.

Jeremy R. Hammond: U.S. Allies, Defense Secretary Suggest Political Solution to Afghan War While the U.S. presidential candidates both suggest an increase in military forces as the solution for the conflict in Afghanistan, allies and even the U.S. Defense Secretary have agreed that a political solution involving engaging in diplomacy with the Taliban is necessary.

Vultures circle Wall Street, but hesitate to feed Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani's law firm, Bracewell & Giuliani LLP, has formed a task force to help corporate clients understand legislation and regulatory issues related to the bailout, a politically delicate move that Democrats seized on in trying to paint the Republican as taking advantage of the crisis. Republicans called such attacks ridiculous. In a news release on Oct. 7, the firm said one "silver lining" to the crisis

Press Release: Documentary STEALING AMERICA:Vote by Vote Free after October 21 FREE to view, FREE to download! "STEALING AMERICA: Vote by Vote does for American democracy what An Inconvenient Truth did for global warming." --FILM JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

Colin Powell calls Sen. Stevens' word 'sterling' - EarthLink (5 comments) Former Secretary of State Colin Powell called Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens' word "sterling" at the senator's corruption trial. Federal prosecutors have accused Stevens of lying on Senate documents about more than $250,000 in renovations to his Alaska cabin and other gifts from Bill Allen, former head of the oil services company VECO Corp

Your request is being processed... David Brooks: Sarah Palin "Represents A Fatal Cancer To The Republican Party" Brooks praised Palin's natural political talent, but said she is "absolutely not" ready to be president or vice president. He explained, "The more I follow politicians, the more I think experience matters, the ability to have a template of things in your mind that you can refer to on the spot, because believe me, once in office there's no time to think or make decisions."

The Return of Rove (2 comments) Rove is not a genius, or even very clever: He's totally and completely immoral. It doesn't take genius to claim, as Rove ludicrously did last fall, that it was the Democrats in Congress and not George W. Bush who pushed the Iraq War resolution in 2002. It doesn't take brains to compare a triple-amputee war veteran to Osama bin Laden; you just have to be a mean, rotten c**ksucker.

Greg Palast: *BBC TV: "Set up to steal it again" Is 2008 already 'fixed'? On Friday at 6pm and 10pm Eastern Time,BBC America will bust open the story of the systematic[Repub] attack on US voters that could easily cost Barack Obama the White House.Democrats don't have clean hands either,as Palast discloses: from the Acoma Pueblo, we find Natives (almost all Democrats) who've had their ballots illegally junked by local Democrats.But whichever party attacks the poor, it's McCain that's the winner.

the web: Invite: World Can't Wait National Meeting Nov 22-23 Chicago IL Now,more than ever,World Can't Wait is a needed vehicle and we are not going away.If you believe politics as usual cannot meet the enormity of the problem we face,join World Can't Wait in Chicago on 11/22-23.We will examine what we need to do in this next phase to decisively defeat, repudiate,and reverse the Bush program. W

Rise of the machines As election technology blazes ahead, will voters get left behind? Given this pervasive cultural paranoia,it’s ironic that electronic voting machines have enjoyed pretty much a free pass.At least one group of Maui voters isn’t taking this lying down.They’ve filed suit,seeking to clarify the rules governing electronic voting and to ensure transparency&accuracy.you don’t experiment with elections;you have to be certain the technology works before you implement it.There’s no margin for error.

GOP OCTOBER 'SURPRISE' SPREADS TO OHIO: Coordinated Plan to Wreak Havoc, Bring Bogus 'Voter Fraud' Allegations Hits Buck (1 comments) In an update of the AP report,it's noted that Sheriff Fisher is "a Repub,"that Green County is "rich with Dem-leaning college students,"&that Fisher requested the voter information after "he had been inundated with phone calls from people concerned about possible fraud."In other words,no actual evidence of anything,just angry Repubs,fired up by chasing their own tails after Fox/RNC told them too.Smelling the rats here yet?

Fear grips global stock markets In Europe share prices falls have been much steeper. In London the FTSE 100 share index was down 6.9%, Paris was down 8.4%, and Frankfurt was down 8.9%. Finance ministers from the G7 are to meet in Washington later. As well as the G7 meeting, talks will be held at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington.

Meet Sarah Palin's radical right-wing pals (1 comments) Carter's assertion that Palin was once a card-carrying AIP member was swiftly discredited by the McCain campaign, which produced records showing she had been a registered Republican since 1988. But then why would Carter make such a statement? Why did he seem confident that Palin was a true-blue AIP activist burrowing within the Republican Party? The most salient answer is that Palin was once so thoroughly embedded with AIP fig

Prosecution Rests, Defense Case Begins in Sen. Stevens' Corruption Trial (4 comments) Inouye was the first defense witness called in the trial, now in nearing the end of its third week, and is the first in a string of character witnesses that could include such high-profile players as former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Sens. Orrin G. Hatch , R-Utah, and Patrick J. Leahy , D-Vt. Powell is expected to testify Friday

waronyou: Mutual Fund Withdrawals a Record as Investors Flee (Update1) (2 comments) Mutual Fund Withdrawals a Record as Investors Flee (Update1) Investors pulled a record $52.1 billion from U.S.-managed stock and bond mutual funds in the past week, seeking the safety of government-insured bank deposits as the financial crisis worsened.

Is Gov. Sarah Palin Short-changing Alaska's National Guard? Should Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin do less campaigning and more governing? Some veterans of the Alaska National Guard returning home from the war zone may think so.

OPEC to Meet Nov. 18, `Likely' to Cut Oil Production OPEC is ``very likely'' to cut oil production at its extraordinary meeting in Vienna on Nov. 18 because prices have fallen ``dramatically,'' Chakib Khelil, the group's president, said today. The gathering will ``discuss the global financial crisis, the world economic situation and the impacts on the oil market.''

In Reversal, Democrats Shelve Iran Resolution Falling from shoo-in status to widely rejected legislation within the space of four months, a resolution that opened the door for a naval blockade on Iran was officially shelved after several of its cosponsors withdrew their support. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman has promised not to bring the bill, House Concurrent Resolution 362, before the committee until concerns about the text are addressed.

Thursday, October 9:

Former Republican senator criticizes McCain, supports Obama (1 comments) Lincoln Chafee, a former Republican U.S. senator from Rhode Island, is throwing his support behind Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, saying he is disillusioned with Republican John McCain. Chafee, the only Republican who voted against the Iraq war, was defeated for reelection in 2006 and last year declared himself an independent. He called this year's vote "the most important election of my lifetime.

Inside Account of U.S. Eavesdropping on Americans (2 comments) Despite pledges by President George W. Bush and American intelligence officials to the contrary, hundreds of US citizens overseas have been eavesdropped on as they called friends and family back home, according to two former military intercept operators who worked at the giant National Security Agency (NSA) center in Fort Gordon, Georgia.

waronyou: Illegal Immigrants' Constitutional Rights Violated? A Connecticut federal judge has ordered hearings to determine whether the Constitutional rights of illegal immigrants, some of whom ignored deportation orders, were violated by federal agents who arrested them.

US federal court orders Chinese Muslims in Guantánamo released | csmonitor.com The Uighur muslims from China were captured in Pakistan and have been held captive for 7 years -- dispite being cleared for release in 2004. Now the Justice Department is filing an apeal to stay the court ordered release of the group.

County officials seeking Ohio voters' records Law enforcers in a southwest Ohio county rich with Democrat-leaning college students are seeking information on hundreds of people who registered to vote and cast ballots during the state's weeklong same-day voting window.The window was the subject of an unsuccessful legal challenge by the Ohio Republican Party...Haller said the records request was not politically motivated.

GOP's ACORN 'Voter Fraud' Scam Rolls Out in MO...Right on Schedule... "It's par for the course,"[Ordower] said."When you're doing more registrations than anyone else in the country,some don't want low-income people being empowered to vote.There are pretty targeted attacks on us, but we're proud to be out there doing the patriotic thing getting people registered to vote."Repubs are among ACORN's loudest critics.At a campaign stop in PA,supporters interrupted McCain's speech with "No more ACORN"

Montana GOP Spanked by Judge for Bogus, Illegal Voter Challenges One can imagine the mischief an immature political operative could inject into an election cycle were he to use the statutes,not for their intended purpose of protecting the integrity of the people's democracy, but rather to execute a tawdry political ploy.The timing of these challenges is so transparent that it defies common sense to believe the purpose is anything but political chicanery.-Fed. Dist. Court Judge Donald Molloy

Rob Kall: Will McCain or Obama Challenge Vote Counts? (10 comments) Kerry wimped an quit. Gore gave up when the Supreme court waded in. If the election is close, will Obama challenge the results? Will McCain?

Gene Cappa: FASCISM Came To America-Do You Agree? (27 comments) The ten steps to fascism are now in place, and any crisis, real or make believe, can be used to declare a national emergency leading to martial law and tyranny over the land.

Donna Miller: Ethics Class Led Woman to be a Vegetarian (2 comments) Donna Miller of The Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote about a class called "Animals and Ethics" being taught at the Catholic Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio. I almost cried with joy. If you are an "animal" person, you too will appreciate this article. She also touches on pet obesity and pet killing.

Project Vote: Project Vote & ACORN Complete Historic 1.3 Million Voter Registration Drive (6 comments) Project Vote and ACORN announce the completion of their successful 2008 voter registration drive, which helped over 1.3 million low-income, of color, and young voters complete registration applications.

waronyou: Why Wall Street CEO's Must Go To Jail And Payback Billions In Bonuses (7 comments) Why Wall Street CEO's Must Go To Jail And Payback Billions In Bonuses

Wednesday, October 8:

chris rice: Bail~Outs Were Wrong: How Do We Regain Control of Congress (10 comments) You have ignored the hundreds of thousands of American people who have been calling, faxing and emailing you opposing this bailout at least 100 to 1. You have ignored the almost two hundred economists from around the country that have contacted you and who have no conflict of interest and told you this bill will outright fail. My congressman's web site had a pole showing that 97.3% of his constituents were opposed.

Steph Fauxco: Who do you think won the debate tonight? Obama or McCain VOTE NOW (1 comments) Debate #2 McCain V Obama who do you think will won the debate?

PrMaine: Are trolls effective? (12 comments) Have Republican trolls been trying to influence voters through comments on progressive web sites? If so, are they effective in this effort?

Sunday, October 5:

Paul Kruger: Are we safe from our own military? (48 comments) Would members of our own military refuse an order to turn their weapons against American Citizens on US Soil?

Friday, October 3:

Steph Fauxco: First Bail Out Bill VS New Bail Out Bill? VOTE!!! (17 comments) Should Congress have voted in the less pork Bail out bill of last week vs. the one they have to TODAY?

Lance L. Landon: Biden-Palin Debate, Who Won??? (15 comments) Vote for Joe Biden Vote for Sarah Palin

Thursday, October 2:

Steph Fauxco: Will Sarah Palin say "Alaska" more times than "Hero" tonight? (3 comments) Palin, debate, Funny Poll, Alaska, Hero

Gene Cappa: WILL the Wall Street Bailout Help Or Hurt? (9 comments) Taxpayers are required to borrow $800 billion for Wall Street to cover their business losses. Will this Bailout help or hurt the nation?

Peter Dearman: Do something, but ditch the Paulson Plan (4 comments) Should Congress promise to do something major, but ditch the Paulson Plan and start listening to other informed voices?

JC Garrett: Poll: Republican 'Capitalism' or Republican 'Socialism'? (10 comments) The choice really isn't between real Capitalism and real Socialism. The choice is between the reality that occurs by applying the Republican definition of Capitalism and the Republican definition of Socialism. Which would you prefer?

Monday, September 29:

Steph Fauxco: Did the Republicans commit extreme insider trading today? (2 comments) Do you think the Republican's committed extreme insider trading today?

Sunday, September 28:

Rob Kall: After Palin Bombs Debating Biden, & Withdraws from the Campaign, Who Will McCain Pick? (14 comments) Sarah Palin bombed in her interview with Katie Couric and she's going to hit bottom and break into 700 billion ugly pieces when she debates with Joe Biden. Who Will McCain choose to replace her when Palin withdraws to "take care of her family."

Friday, September 26:

Robert Arend: Are The Republicans Gaining Hero Status On The Bailout? (14 comments) Are Democrats risking dilution of the public's blame of the Republicans for current ills of the economy when the Dems support bailing out Wall Street and the Repubs stand against it?

Thursday, September 25:

Gene Cappa: McCain Should Release FULL DETAILS of His Medical Records-Do You Agree? (7 comments) McCain has yet to release his medical records to the public in their entirety.

Wednesday, September 24:

Constance Lavender: Bailout: Post-Bush Speech to Nation (11 comments) Post-Bush Speech Bailout Gauge

Tuesday, September 23:

MedicalWhistleblower: Should Medical Whistleblowers Be Protected? (5 comments) Should Medical Whistleblowers Be Protected?

Kevin Gosztola: How can America recover from the financial crisis? (13 comments) Three prominent politicians (two of them presidential candidates) have plans for how to respond to the bailout. Neither suggest that they would support the Bush administration's or Paulson's proposal, which is being advanced in the halls of Congress right now (despite the fact that many details about the proposal are unknown).

Monday, September 22:

Rob Kall: Screwed or Saved Bailout-wise? (38 comments) will dems pass or fix the bailout, or will Republicans do it? Or will a bipartisan congress screw the taxpayers.

Saturday, September 20:

Gene Cappa: Bush's Legacy: Debt, War, & 9/11-Do You Agree? (21 comments) IS Bush's legacy clear or yet to be determined?

Constance Lavender: Given the economic illness of the United States, What do you prefer to do? (21 comments) Tell the World What Your Future Plans Are Going To Be....

Friday, September 19:

Rob Kall: Has J. Edgar Hoover Styled Blackmail Come Back to Haunt Congress? (18 comments) with all the access to phone tapping, has the Bush admin and its surrogates been digging up blackmail material on Dem leaders in congress?

Constance Lavender: Do you support the government's bail out of Wall Street? (14 comments) Do you support the government's bail out of Wall Street?

Rob Kall: Government Welfare Buyouts and Rescues; Are They Over Yet? (7 comments) Will there be more massive loans or government takeovers that amount to corporations become socialized-- even whole industries?

Wednesday, September 17:

Karen Fish: Did George Bush bail out AIG to save AIG or John McCain and the Neocons? (21 comments) What are the true motives behind the Bush bailout of AIG?

Monday, September 15:

Rob Kall: Diagnose Sarah Palin Poll (38 comments) Which diagnosis do you pick?

Bruce Cain: A 20 Year Moritorium on Legal/Illegal Immigration Into the US (14 comments) The "New Agenda for America" is composed of 10 "Planks." The 2nd plank calls for a 20 Year Moritorium on Legal/Illegal Immigration Into the US. [Goto www.newagecitizen.com/NAA.htm to read the full agenda].

joel kauffman: "Under God," in the Pledge of Allegiance (25 comments) The phrase has presently been held unconstitutional by a California federal district court. The decision is on appeal to the Federal Court of Appeals. In 2006, a Florida federal district court has held that a 1942, state law requiring children to stand and recite the pledge violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments and is therefore, unconstitutional

Greg Purcell: Does Rob Kall look like Tony Soprano? (5 comments) Is James Gandolfini Rob Kall's cousin?? What do you think?

PrMaine: Voting Motivations (17 comments) This poll is an attempt to get some understanding of what is motivating people to vote.

Sunday, September 14:

Constance Lavender: How much faith do you have in the American financial system? (11 comments) Given these extraordinary developments in the American financial system, how much faith do you retain?

Constance Lavender: Is Sarah Palin from the West or the Pacific? Decide where Sarah Palin is from: the West or the Pacific.

Saturday, September 13:

Hal Smith: Independent Candidates (19 comments) Who will you vote for?

Tony Forest: POLL: Will an Obama/Biden Victory Pacify The Movement ? (19 comments) Offset with an inverted question: Will a McCain/Palin Victory Empower The Movement ?

Thursday, September 11:

Amanda Lang: POLL: Should Vote Tampering or Vote Theft Crimes Be Prosecuted As Treason (10 comments) Should the penalty for vote tampering or vote theft be more stringent than it is under current law? Should voting crimes be elevated to acts of high treason?

Amy Fried: Poll: Does Sarah Palin Represent American Women? (26 comments) Does the Republican V.P. nominee represent American women?

Amy Fried: Unsolicited Absentee Ballots (5 comments) Strange stories of unsolicited absentee being received by non-Republicans, are circulating.

Gene Cappa: Congress Should Commence An Independent 9/11 Investigation-Do You Agree (20 comments) Seven years after 9/11 Congress has yet to provide the American people with an independent scientific analysis of the collapses of all 3 World Trade Center buildings.

Tuesday, September 9:

John Wood Sr: POLL: SHOULD WE REPLACE THE "STARS AND STRIPES"? (18 comments) A way to save our Constitutional rights and liberties.

Edwin Rutsch: Is Jim Hightower correct that grasping greed is a failed conservative value? (7 comments) Is Jim Hightower correct that grasping greed is a failed conservative value?

Monday, September 8:

Hal Smith: IN RELATION TO ROB'S POLL, ARE YOU VOTING FOR MCPALIN OR OBIDEN? (8 comments) Poll to see who's voting for whom.

bhwhite: None Of The Above Ballot Option (7 comments) This poll asks voters if they would want a binding Voter Consent option in elections to office. The option, "None of the Above", would appear after the list of candidates for an office, and if it received the most votes, then no listed candidate for the office would be elected, and a new by-election with new candidates would have to be held.

Gene Cappa: A Cowardly Hoyer Thwarts Impeachment - Do You Agree? (16 comments) A cowardly Rep Hoyer steps up to the podium and seeks to table the impeachment bill.

Mac McKinney: Should Outraged Americans Boycott Minneapolis and St Paul until They Drop Charges (11 comments) Should we demand, nationwide, no business as usual with St Paul and Minneapolis until the Twin Cities denounce the major abuse of police power against journalists, legal observers and innocent protestors during the RNC? Should we ask all organizations and businesses to cancel or avoid conventions in the Twin Cities or contracts with the Twin Cities, and ask American citizens to avoid travelling there on vacation until they do?

Edward Smallwood: Will allowing the drilling for oil in 10 years help us? (7 comments) Can we drill our way out of this oil problem?

Rob Kall: Not Voting for Obama or McCain? What Are you doing? (67 comments) McKinney, Nader, Barr, write-in, not voting?

Sunday, September 7:

Edwin Rutsch: What are Real Conservative 'Small Town Values'? (9 comments) In their various speeches at the GOP National Republican Convention, conservatives made a big point of trying to connect their Failed Conservative Values to Small Town Values. Yes, they never give up on the values debate and always try to add a new wrinkle to their rhetorical values debate arsenal. Here's the question;

Paul Kruger: Did McCain steal Obama's Flags? (11 comments) Did McCain's people steal Obama's flags as a "dirty trick"?

Friday, September 5:

Hal Smith: Are you ready to stand up and take back this country??? (28 comments) Poll to see how many patriots there are actually out there.

Paul Kruger: Am I qualified to be the new FCC chairman? (7 comments) How to evaluate qualifications for government positions. What high position might YOU be qualified for under McCain's guidelines?

Thursday, September 4:

John R Moffett: The "Free Vote" Movement: Is now the time? (12 comments) What is the Free Vote Movement? It is a political movement to help a 3rd party ascend to national prominence by urging voters who live in pure Red or pure Blue states to vote for a 3rd party candidate, since their vote doesn't really matter in the general election. Is this the right time for you to consider voting for Paul, Barr, Nader or McKinney to help build a third political party?

Edwin Rutsch: Should progressives confront Sara Palin and failed conservatives values? (3 comments) Should progressives, liberals and democrats confront conservatives at the values level and say that conservative values have failed?

Mikhail Lyubansky: The one thing that matters to me most (1 comments) This poll measures what independents, moderates, and undecideds consider to be the primary factor in their decision-making process.

Raphael Sidelman: Is it just my imagination, or are many eligible voters living a warped reality? (12 comments) This is an attempt to see how many other conscious citizens are appalled by the outright pandering that is being passed off as legitimate political leadership by the speakers at the republican national convention

Wednesday, September 3:

Rob Kall: Did Sarah Palin Hit a Home Run and Is She a Formidable Candidate? (38 comments) Use this poll as jumping off point to discuss your reaction to Sarah Palin's talk.

Monday, September 1:

Rob Kall: Should The Media, Including OEN, Cover the Question Who is the Mother of Trig Palin? (97 comments) Critics say this is tawdry, tabloid journalism that makes an innocent teenager and single mother a victim. Supporters say that if it's true that Sarah Palin is lying about who gave birth then her lies are key to defining her character and lack of integrity.

Sunday, August 31:

Mike Kimball: Is the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment (Right to Bear Arms) Still Relevant (72 comments) A poll on views on today's relevancy of the Second Amendment.

Saturday, August 30:

Gene Cappa: Katrina Disaster-Myths or Fact? (2 comments) FIVE MYTHS were spun about the Katrina disaster. Are they myths or facts?

Richard McGinn: When Rove speaks, be very afraid - Poll (12 comments) Karl Rove said today that the outcome of the election is so unpredictable that "events" will probably be the deciding factor.

Professor Emeritus Peter Bagnolo: POLL: SHOULD OBAMA DUMP HIS STAFF AND HIRE UNKNOWNS FOR THE ELECTION? (9 comments) At the start of the Primary seasons, despite the negative showing of the Democratic Congress, Obama had a substantial advantage. After the primary it was frittered away and McCain took the lead in most polls. Now, with the presumptive Vice Presidency of Sarah Palin, the Catholic vote which went to Bush twice but to the Dems in 2006, may have flown North to Alaska, to Palin/McCain. What to do, oh what to do? Oh, I know...

Friday, August 29:

Professor Emeritus Peter Bagnolo: Will Sarah Palin Boost McCain's Chances for Victory? (41 comments) Sarah Palin, 44 year old former beauty queen, just two years into her governorship of Alaska. is more than ruffling the feathers of Neo-cons and the corrupt among Alaska's political circles already crippled by investigations, but has been yanking the chains of oil companies, stringently closing loop-holes once the hallmark of weak negotiator's in the past, and more. She plucked $1200 rebates for Alaskans from Big Oil.

Wednesday, August 27:

Professor Emeritus Peter Bagnolo: Are The Missiles in Poland a Plot to Upstage Obama and Give the White House to McCain? (41 comments) I say the missiles of October II is a lame attempt, ala Nixon vs Kennedy and the steel strike fraud and the WMD's, to scare Americans. I don't know maybe the Poles blind or scared, but this looks like a plan to show that a war hero is better prepared to settle the problem than Obama. I think the FIX is in to have McCain settle the Missiles issue and win the White House. What do you think?

Monday, August 25:

Professor Emeritus Peter Bagnolo: Poll: A New Political System in Satire (2 comments) SATIRE: A new political system which replaces the 2 party system which is really 1 PARTY SYSTEM. My system though it appears to be a 3 Party System, But acknowledging that 2 of the 3 are 1, is really back to a 2 party system in which the lies of 2 the 1 party system lie a lot, what you have remaining is either a ZERO party system, a 1 Party System opposed by 2 of 1 half of 1 Parties, so three equals=1=0, I think...???

Sunday, August 24:

Robert N Smith: Personhood of corporations. (26 comments) What status does a corporation have?

John Olsen: The conventions and escort services. (8 comments) A question as to which of the conventions will benefit escort services the most.

Friday, August 22:

Kris Malmquist: Poll: Anthrax Attacks Solved? (9 comments) Do you agree with the government's conclusion that Mr. Bruce Ivins was solely responsible for the anthrax attacks of mid-September 2001?

Gene Cappa: WTC 7 Brought Down By Fire NIST Concludes - Do You Agree? (52 comments) NIST Report on WTC 7 indicates "fire" alone collapsed the skyscraper building in a mere 6.5 seconds.

PeterJ: We're Having An Election! We're Off To See The Wizard, We're Out Of The Woods......Bull! (6 comments) Something must be done. I don't believe that we can accomplish it from the outside in but I do believe that there's someone in our government who's well aware of our plight (as I believe Nancy Pelosi is but is very afraid) who is not afraid but needs our numbers in order to accomplish their goals. We need to let them know we're here and not afraid to stand up. Do you Agree that petitions and rally's will accomplish nothing?

Tony Forest: Johnny Got His Gun (42 comments) Bear Arms or lose the right to vs. Nutcakes arm armed to the hilt

Hal Smith: US Missle shield (20 comments) What are your thoughts on the missile shield? What is it really for?

Thursday, August 21:

Rob Kall: Should The Dems Strip Joe Lieberman of His Committee Appointments? (23 comments) has Lieberman gone too far?

Professor Emeritus Peter Bagnolo: POLL: Is The Two party System Dead in The Water? Lets Use This System Instead! (14 comments) This may be a satire, but am I deadly serious or what? Who the Hell knows. All I do know is that I doubt that three parties are enough, or two many, or too few. So, I bring a few seriously silly points up to prove my own points. No, not the ones on the top of my head, the ones on the top of yours. Hey get over your serious side and have some fun. well, maybe and maybe not. At least have a good day...