-Caveat Lector-
RadTimes # 98 November, 2000
An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.
"We're living in rad times!"
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Contents:
---------------
--Three Billion Dollar Campaign Ends in Gridlock
--Data of Little-Known Service Led to Wrong Call in Florida
--This Just In: Bush Or Gore May Win!
--Overlooked ballot box found in Florida church
--Missing ballot boxes in Dade County, FL
--Florida Sent Duplicate Ballots to Overseas Military Personnel
--Florida Declared Insane
--Africa Offers To Send 'Observers' To Help US End Poll Confusion
--Cuba Says New Elections in Florida 'reasonable,' Offers Observers
Linked stories:
*Gore campaigners bribe homeless voters with cigarettes
*California in frenzy over voter fraud
*Judge rejects ACLU lawsuit over Nader-Trader sites
*Think-tank urges Arafat to use torture for peace
*Americans say big government is number one threat
*Global Voter Frustration: The Inscrutable Art of U.S. Politicking
*Stock trading points to Bush win
*An America divided
*Waco whistleblower indicted
*Problems at Polls Prevent Hundreds from Casting Votes
*More Irregularities Alleged [Florida vote]
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Begin stories:
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Three Billion Dollar Campaign Ends in Gridlock
<http://commondreams.org/views/110800-102.htm>
Published on Wednesday, November 8, 2000
by Mark Weisbrot
If George W. Bush becomes our next president, as appears likely, it will
prove once again that any product can be marketed. I learned this a couple
of years ago when I found some potato chips in the local convenience store
that were made with olestra. Olestra is a petroleum product-- that should
have killed it right there. I mean, who wants to eat oil, the kind that
comes out of an oil well in Saudi Arabia? It can't be digested. But the
makers of this product were required to put a warning on the package: "This
product contains olestra, which may cause anal leakage." Right there on the
package! If they could sell this to millions of people, then-- with a few
hundred million dollars for advertising-- George W. Bush was a piece of
cake. For all his flaws, Mr. W. hasn't caused any anal leakage, at least as
far as I know.
Of course this election was Al Gore's to lose, and he blew it. Sitting on
top of the nation's longest running economic expansion, unemployment at a
thirty-year low, running against someone is not sure whether Social Security
is a federal program-- the pundits surely have reason to shake their heads
and sigh. Who was it that told Al Gore he couldn't campaign on the strength
of the economy, because it was more important to distance himself from
anything having to do with Bill Clinton? And they pay these people for their
advice.
Of course, the gains from this remarkable economic growth have yet to
trickle down. Even during the current expansion, the typical wage has hardly
grown at all-- about 0.3 percent a year since 1993.
Tactical goofs aside, that is the heart of the Democrats' long-term problem:
they have abandoned their base, and replaced it with a wad of corporate cash
with which to purchase campaign commercials. Al Gore offered very little to
the majority of voters, who have literally not shared in the gains from
economic growth. Paying off the national debt over the next 12 years-- a
policy that until recently was advocated only by politicians of the extreme
right-- isn't going to do much of anything for anyone.
So most of these voters stayed home, as they have been doing since President
Clinton pushed NAFTA through Congress in 1993-- thereby giving us a
Republican Congress. The WTO and its expansion this year to include China
gave labor and its allies more reason not to vote.
There are some bright spots on the electoral screen. If George W. Bush wins
the electoral vote but Gore takes the popular vote, we may finally get rid
of the electoral college-- an institution whose main reason for existence is
its originators' fear of letting the people choose the President.
Many people fear that gridlock will result from a Congress that is closely
divided-- as well as a President who lost the popular vote. But gridlock is
not so bad, if we look at the reality of American politics today. As might
be expected after a $3 billion election extravaganza financed mainly by
corporations and rich people, the leadership of both parties has no positive
agenda.
And they have a lot of harmful changes they want to make: on the Republican
side, privatizing Social Security and cutting taxes for the richest people
in the country. In the bi- partisan column, increased military spending,
more trade and commercial agreements that will hurt labor and the
environment, and billions to support war and atrocities in places like
Colombia. Partisan fighting and gridlock would be welcome in these and other
areas, and if the Democrats want to play a constructive role in Congress,
they should be prepared to filibuster in the Senate.
The best news is that 2.7 million people voted for Ralph Nader, proving that
democracy still exists in America, even if only in embryonic form. Most of
Nader's support peeled off to Gore at the last minute, as people saw the
election was going to be close. Still, it is encouraging to see that
millions of people were able to vote for universal health insurance,
responsible trade and foreign policy, an end to the brutal and destructive
incarceration explosion in America, and all the urgent changes that the
overwhelming majority of Americans want but never get to vote for on
election day.
If the media had given Nader coverage anywhere near proportionate to his
standing in the polls, there's no telling how many votes he would have
gotten. Nonetheless his showing, which may have made the difference in the
presidential election, may force the Democrats to pay more attention to
their base. And it will give a boost to the Green Party, which will field
increasing numbers of local and statewide candidates in the next few years.
If we're lucky, the United States could become a multi-party democracy.
----
Mark Weisbrot is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research
in Washington, DC. He is co-author, with Dean Baker, of Social Security: the
Phony Crisis (2000, University of Chicago Press).
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Data of Little-Known Service Led to Wrong Call in Florida
<http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/09/politics/09SURV.html>
November 9, 2000
By NEIL A. LEWIS
Much of the seesaw confusion on Tuesday night over the presidential election
returns centered on the Voter News Service, a little-known but influential
consortium of television networks and The Associated Press that in recent
years has become the prime purveyor of voting results to the media.
The quick predictions by the major television networks around 8 p.m. that
Vice President Gore had won in Florida depended partly on calculations by
V.N.S., as the consortium is commonly called. Over the next two hours, the
networks, one after another, contritely withdrew their predictions and said
the state was too close to call. Many news organizations later awarded the
state to Gov. George W. Bush, again prematurely.
V.N.S. said in a statement tonight that it will investigate why models it
said had worked before "did not work properly in this situation." V.N.S.
said its survey of voters polls leaving the polls gave Mr. Gore a small lead
that was borne out by the early returns.
Most major newspapers, including The Times, who are not members of V.N.S.,
are subscribers to the service and use much of the same data.
V.N.S., the only service of its kind, relies on a combination of interviews
with voters as they leave the polls and actual vote counts to help its
members and other media organizations determine as soon as possible who is
winning an election. The organization is composed of CNN, Fox News, ABC,
CBS, NBC and The Associated Press. It is the latest result of the 20-year
evolution of media efforts, especially those of broadcasters, to declare the
winners as accurately and as early as possible.
Martin Plissner, the former executive political director of CBS News, said
that the agreement to set up a single cooperative system grew out of an
assessment by the networks after the 1988 election that it was too expensive
for each to do its own exit polling and predicting.
In 1980, NBC called the presidential election for Ronald Reagan at 8:15 p.m.
Eastern time, based on the networks's own surveys of voters leaving polls,
setting off an intense competition among the networks.
"So in 1984 all of the networks went in for huge exit polling operations"
and maintained those operations in 1988, Mr. Plissner recalled in an
interview. "One result was that the cost of calling elections, which up to
then had been relatively modest, suddenly became huge burdens to the news
departments of the networks."
So in 1990, they decided to create a joint operation.
At least one former network news executive said today that the deeply
embarrassing flawed calls about results in Florida this year were the result
of that cost cutting.
Tom Wolzien, the former executive producer of the "Nightly News" at NBC and
a former network vice president, said the decision to form V.N.S. was
short-sighted. "We're now seeing what happens when you bow to budget-cutting
pressures and end up with a single source that leaves you with no way to
compare and contrast different assessments."
Mr. Wolzien said that, for example, if the networks had been doing their own
polls and calculations as they once did, the public might have been given
one assessment that Mr. Gore won Florida, one that Mr. Bush won, and others
that said it was too close to call. He estimated that each network saved $5
million to $10 million this year by pooling their resources.
Mr. Wolzien, now a senior media analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company,
said that the public is generally left to wonder why the networks all seem
to have the same predictions. While the networks and the subscribers to
V.N.S. have their own units to call races, they are all dealing with the
same data, he said. "That's why, last night, most calls were identical and
made within a few minutes of each other," he said.
Mr. Plissner, a former member of the V.N.S. board of managers, said that
exit polls, in which voters are asked how they voted as they leave the
polling places, were used until 1980 as a tool to analyze why elections turn
out the way they do, not to predict their outcomes.
The way V.N.S. works, he explained, is that a random scientific sample of
polling places is made. A V.N.S. worker who has been trained for a few weeks
beforehand stands near the polling place on Election Day, approaches voters,
and asks them to fill out questionnaires, which are then put in a closed
box. Typically there are three waves of exit polls, and as the day goes on,
those numbers are gradually replaced with actual results from each polling
place.
Those results are then analyzed according to statistical models created by
V.N.S., based on several factors, including past election performances.
David Pace, the projections editor at The Associated Press bureau in
Washington, said that he did not yet know what went wrong.
"The system is very good usually for getting accurate and early results," he
said. "But it's based on sampling techniques and the only time you can be
absolutely be sure is to wait to all the votes are counted. But we have such
a thirst to know, so it's based on the best science available."
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This Just In: Bush Or Gore May Win!
November 8, 2000
Dear friends,
It's a cliffhanger!
From my vantage point -- and, hey, whadda I know? -- I'm gonna go out on a
limb and predict that....
EITHER BUSH OR GORE IS ABSOLUTELY GONNA WIN!
And when they do, just as soon as those votes in Florida are recounted
and/or challenged -- and no matter which way the vote goes -- here is the
country we are going to get with Bush-or-Gore (based on their own campaign
platforms and statements in which they agreed with each other):
** Bush-or-Gore will spend billions of dollars more on the Pentagon -- and
God knows, we need more missiles to defend ourselves from ... well, from ...
you know ... all those enemies!
** Bush-or-Gore will continue the death penalty with enthusiasm! Revenge
works!
** Bush-or-Gore will oppose UNIVERSAL health coverage! Get sick? Get f-----!
** Bush-or-Gore will vigorously support NAFTA and WTO and the removal of
even MORE jobs to third world countries! Cheaper shoes!
** Bush-or-Gore will continue the embargo against that scary, scary country
-- Cuba!
** Bush-or-Gore will continue bombing Iraq and keep up the embargo of food
and medicine that costs 5,000 infants and children their lives every month!
Yea! Less Iraqis!
** Bush-or-Gore have promised to expand the War on Drugs that locks up
another million of our citizens who need help with their addictions! And
we'll get the added bonus of our next military incursion ... in sunny South
America!
** Bush-or-Gore are going to raise the minimum wage by a whopping 50 cents
an hour next year! More Hamburger Helper!
** Bush-or-Gore have said it must remain illegal for gays and lesbians to
enter into civil unions with each other (eeeeuuww! yuck!).
** Bush-or-Gore will give us a presidency and a White House that has been
bought with $540 million of "contributions" from the wealthiest 10%. The
rich will have their issues attended to with diligence. The rest of us? We
need to get in that 10% Club!
No wonder this vote is sooooo close. Two guys who promise the same thing
find out that they get the same vote! This system is genius!
In the interests of full disclosure, please note that Gore (who voted to put
anti-abortion zealot Scalia on the Supreme Court) has said he believes in a
woman's right to chose. So that would be "different." And if he follows
through, that would be important.
And, if Bush is the President ... well, uh, look at the bright side: All
Americans will share a common bond. Everyone will be able to say, "I'M
smarter than the President of the United States!" Not bad, eh?
So, cheer up! No matter which way it goes, somebody is going to be
president.
Yours,
Michael Moore
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
<www.michaelmoore.com>
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Overlooked ballot box found in Florida church
Every vote counts for presidential candidates Bush, Gore
November 8, 2000
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- With the outcome of the neck-and-neck
presidential race hinging on the outcome of a recount in Florida,
there may be a few more votes to consider.
The director of a church preschool said she discovered a
padlocked ballot box at the church hall Wednesday morning.
Officials with the Miami-Dade County elections office were said
to be on the way to retrieve the box, which was apparently left
behind by precinct workers.
"It's a very interesting scenario," pastor Nebel Buchanan told
CNN.
GOP presidential candidate Texas Gov. George W. Bush holds a
1,784-vote lead over Democratic candidate Vice President Al Gore
in Florida. Because the lead is so narrow, Florida law mandates a
recount -- which election officials say must be completed by the
end of the business day on Thursday.
Preschool director Tatleen Francis told CNN she discovered the
ballot box shortly after 7 a.m. Wednesday when she arrived at
work.
"It's sad because it shows we're not getting the truth," said
Francis.
"If you're supposed to do a job and represent the country and the
people, it's very discouraging."
Francis said she saw the box through a door window across the
hall from her office. She said she unlocked the door, went into
the fellowship hall where balloting took place, picked up the box
and examined it.
"I shook it. It was full, and it was very heavy," Francis added.
She notified a lawyer she described as someone she knows who
works for a U.S. congressman, Alcee Hastings. She said the lawyer
also works for the Democratic Party.
Francis said the lawyer called an elections official to notify
the board of the ballot box left behind.
"The people who took the time to vote, their votes were not
counted," she added. "It will discourage them."
Buchanan described his congregation and the neighborhood as being
largely African-American and West Indian. He claimed most
residents are registered Democrats.
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Missing ballot boxes in Dade County, FL
November 8, 2000
Before it became apparent how important Florida was going to be in
this election, NBC ran a story on ballot boxes that were temporarily
"missing in action" in Dade County. The boxes were supposed to be
under the supervision of the Sheriff's Department, but they lost
track of them.
NBC only reported the story once and then dropped it like the
proverbial hot potato.
(Traditionally, law enforcement officials are often key players in
election fraud systems. In post War Tennessee, it was the State
Troopers who played a key role in the "now you see them, now you
don't" ballot box shell game.)
We had a similar situation in San Francisco in 1997. The 49er
stadium ballot measure was heading towards defeat and then the
ballot boxes stopped coming in. Where were they? "Stuck in traffic,"
was the official answer. When the late boxes finally re-appeared,
they had just enough votes in them to approve the measure by 00.1%
- a "miracle" (In a separate case, the measure's financial sponsor,
Eddie DeBartolo Jr, plead guilty to giving a former Louisiana
governor a suitcase containing $400,000 in exchange for a gambling
licence.)
Where did the boxes in the San Francisco election go? No one is
saying. A few things we do know:
1. The records of who drove the trucks were inexplicably missing
when they were sought by citizen investigators
2. Some of the late ballots arrived soaking wet and had to be dried
in a microwaved to be counted (The ballots are stored in sealed
metal boxes while being transported - or at least they are supposed
to be.)
3. There were no traffic delays reported at the time boxes were
being transported. San Francisco is only 49 square miles in area.
More here: <http://www.brasscheck.com/stadium>
By the way, ever wonder how and where absentee ballots are "processed."
Two citizens took a camera to a secret plant in Oregon to find out.
One, a slightly built woman, ended up being choked in the parking
lot by an election official.
Pictures here: <http://www.clean.org>
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Florida Sent Duplicate Ballots to Overseas Military Personnel
<http://www.salon.com/politics/feature/2000/11/09/duplicate/index.html?CP=YAH&DN=110>
Defense Department employee
alleges that some co-workers on an air base in England voted twice.
By Carina Chocano
Nov. 9, 2000 | At least five Florida residents serving at a U.S.
Air Force base in England received two absentee ballots for this
year's hotly contested presidential race, a civilian Department of
Defense employee told Salon. Elaine Gatley, 48, a civil service
executive secretary stationed at RAF Mildenhall in southeastern
England, said Thursday that she and four fellow Floridians who work
in her office received two ballots in the mail from the state of
Florida.
"At first I thought it was just a fluke," Gatley said. "But when
I went to work the next day, I talked to my friends and they said,
'Yeah, I received two also.'"
Gatley, a registered Democrat, completed and returned only one of
the ballots she received. But she said that at least three of her
fellow Floridians, all of whom are registered Republican, told her
that they filled out and returned the second ballots as well.
"These people thought there was something wrong with the original
ballot," said Gatley, who is married to an Air Force serviceman.
"They just sent the second ballot in, thinking maybe something was
wrong."
The duplicate ballots were mailed from election offices in at least
three Florida counties -- Santa Rosa, Osceola and Hillsborough --
according to Gatley. The multiple ballots were sent to registered
Democrats, as well as Republicans, she said.
"But the majority of overseas military people are Republicans,"
added Gatley. "It's usually the spouses, you know, the civilians,
who are Democrats."
One of Gatley's Republican co-workers at the Air Force base confirmed
to Salon that she had received two ballots from Florida. She
requested that her name not be used.
According to Gatley, the majority of the base's staff comes from
Florida. Gatley was formerly employed at Eglin Air Force Base near
Navarre, Fla.
No one from other states with whom she spoke at Milden received
more than one absentee ballot, said Gatley.
According to a Florida Elections Board official, it's common for
counties to send out sample ballots before mailing the official
absentee ballot. The sample should be clearly labeled, said the
official, who requested anonymity.
The official also said that if someone sends in two ballots, election
officials simply void one of them, not both.
But told of this comment, Gatley said she could discern no difference
between the two ballots she received, nor could her co-workers.
She said neither ballot was clearly marked as a sample.
Absentee ballots are still being counted in the controversial
Florida race. Officials say the final absentee tally might not be
completed for another eight or nine days. With George W. Bush
clinging to a razor-thin lead in the Florida recount, the
absentee-ballot tabulation has taken on critical importance.
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Florida Declared Insane
AP-Boca Raton
by Josh Knot
Terrible news today for the mostly peaceful residents of Southern
Florida. It seems that a rare tropical disease has affected most of
the populations of Palm Beach and Boca Raton causing them to not know
what they were doing yesterday. When asked what could have caused
this situation, Governor Jeb said, 'Golly, it's some sort of
obfuscation or anomaly, I'm not sure which.' Today residents aren't
still sure what they did yesterday and Dr. Hlady of CDC and WHO has
been brought in to see if it's the rare disease he's been studying
for the last 17 years known as crocaphobia. If this isn't figured
out quickly it could spread to other parts of the State and, God
forbid, the rest of the country. This disease originated in the
Everglades when White settlers first moved to Florida, said Dr. Gary
and has remained dormant for almost 300 years until yesterday. A
local photographer named Dave took pictures of many of the diseased
yesterday and planned to use them in his new book, 'Distorted
Reality'.
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Africa Offers To Send 'Observers' To Help US End Poll Confusion
Published on Friday, November 10, 2000 by Agence France Presse
PARIS - African nations suggested Friday sending 'observers' to the
United States to help overcome presidential poll confusion as the world's
press argued over whether it was witnessing electoral chaos or simply
democracy in action.
"International observers should be put in place" because "the United
States must join the established democracies," said South Africa's daily
Star.
A top aide to Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe endorsed the idea:
"perhaps now we have reached a time when they can learn a lot from us. Maybe
Africans and others should send observers to help Americans deal with their
democracy."
Others fantasized about observers dressed in Hawaiian shirts and Bermuda
shorts, alongside UN Blue Helmets, investigating Al Gore's campaign
claim there were "serious and substantional illegularities" in the ballot.
"It is a shameful reflection on our continent that, in the US's hour of
need, we were not there beside our American brothers and sisters to help
and advise where we could," said an editorial in South Africa's weekly Mail.
As the presidential vote cliff-hanger threatened to drag on into next
week, there was widspread surprise this could happen to the world's most
famous democracy.
"An American legend collapses -- suspicions of fraud in US vote," ran
the headline in Turkey's mass-circulation Hurriyet daily.
"Even in the United States there is electoral fraud," the Bulgarian
financial daily Curentul wrote.
Congo's independent La Reference Plus said Thursday the US vote provided
"strong arguments for bad leaders and dictators in Africa."
"If this happens in the United States, how do you want everything to be
clean and transparent in the poor African continent," added the daily.
Portugal's Diario de Noticias also echoed the view that democracy was
being undermined: "In the end, this (US vote) is bad news for democracy in
America. And in consequence, is bad news for democracy."
But the French press dismissed that notion, saying the true winner in
the US presidential elections was, in fact, none other than democracy.
"The current crisis will be overcome," wrote the conservative daily Le
Figaro, dismissing claims the chaos will damage the US.
"In spite of waiting two more days and playing with the nerves of
onlookers, it's only the vote count -- precisely because every vote
counts -- which determines the outcome of the vote. That is democracy."
Democracy is imperfect but "it's worked for two hundred years. And not
that badly," it said.
Britain's press, however, began dividing along party lines, debating the
rights and wrongs of attempts of Democrat Al Gore camp to overturn the
result in Florida, which his Republican rival George W. Bush won by a
whisker, according to the initial count.
"Desperate Al Gore began fighting dirty last night in his bid to snatch
the US presidency," wrote Britain's best selling tabloid, The Sun.
The right-leaning Daily Telegraph echoed this view, saying Gore's team
had "opted to challenge the results rather than concede defeat graciously."
The Guardian, however, came out in support of the vice president for the
sake of US democracy.
"It said there had to be challenges to the alleged "possible willful fraud
and/or gross incompetence" and called for a re-run of the vote in areas
where there had been significant irregularities.
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Cuba Says New Elections in Florida 'reasonable,' Offers Observers
Nov 10, 2000 - 01:03 AM
By Nicole Winfield
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Cuba's foreign minister said a new election in
Florida would be a "reasonable" way to resolve the disputed vote for
U.S. president and offered to send observers to ensure fair balloting.
Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, in New York on Thursday for a
U.N. visit, wondered what the United States would say if the
complaints of voter confusion over some ballots and reports of
alleged irregularities had been registered during elections in other
countries.
"I believe that those in the United States who have always tried to
become judges of the elections that take place elsewhere must be
receiving a lesson of modesty and humbleness," Perez Roque said at a
press conference.
Roque questioned whether in future U.S. votes, "it would be necessary
to have a more rigorous or strict international scrutiny regarding
the transparency of elections."
His comments came as Cuba's Communist Party daily, Granma, blamed the
electoral uncertainty on foes of Fidel Castro, charging that Cuban
exiles in Florida were desperately trying to regain political power
lost with Elian Gonzalez's return to the island.
"A dark cloud today darkens the political scene in the United
States," Granma said in a front-page editorial Thursday.
Perez Roque said a new round of balloting in the state was a
"reasonable suggestion," but stressed it was a decision for the
American people to make. He said Cuba would be willing to provide
advisers if asked.
But he added that as far as Cuba was concerned, it didn't matter
whether Texas Gov. George W. Bush or Vice President Al Gore won the
election, since neither has advocated lifting the nearly 40-year-old
embargo against the island.
"Judging by the statements that have been made by themselves, one is
as bad as the other," Perez Roque said.
The foreign minister was in New York for the annual vote in the U.N.
General Assembly criticizing the U.S. embargo and calling for it to
be lifted as soon as possible.
The nonbinding resolution passed with 167 votes in favor - the
highest margin in the nine years Cuba has brought the initiative to the
United Nations. The United States, Israel and the Marshall Islands
voted against. Four countries abstained.
Deputy U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham said the General Assembly was
wrong to target its criticism against U.S. trade policy toward the
communist island.
"The focus of the international community ... should be on the
continuing human rights crisis in Cuba rather than on bilateral
aspects of the United States' efforts to facilitate a peaceful
transition to democracy in Cuba," he said.
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Linked stories:
********************
Gore campaigners bribe homeless voters with cigarettes
<http://www.themilwaukeechannel.com/sh/election2000/stories/election2000-20001105-222208.html>
Wisconsin volunteers for Gore's campaign were caught giving
packs of cigarettes to homeless voters and then transporting
them to cast absentee ballots. (11/7/00)
********************
California in frenzy over voter fraud
<http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_fosterj_news/20001107_xnfoj_california.shtml>
California Republicans are up in arms over what seems to be an
attempt by Democrats to get non-citizens to cast votes in this
election. Checking voters' identification is sharply discouraged
in the state, raising concerns about fraud. (11/7/00)
********************
Judge rejects ACLU lawsuit over Nader-Trader sites
<http://www.businessweek.com/reuters_stories/ReutersInternetReport/11_06_2000.rwntz-story
bcnetelectionvoteswapdc.html>
On the eve of the election, a federal judge rejected a lawsuit
that sought to force California authorities to allow Web sites
aimed at allowing Gore and Nader voters to swap votes to ensure
the vice president's election while shoring up the Green
candidate's vote tallies. (11/7/00)
********************
Think-tank urges Arafat to use torture for peace
<http://www.independent.co.uk/news/World/Middle_East/2000-11/ruthless061100.shtml>
The Center for Strategic and International Studies has reportedly
urged Palestinian leaders to suppress militants with methods
including excessive force, trials without due process, and
torture. (11/6/00)
********************
Americans say big government is number one threat
<http://www.gallup.com/Poll/releases/pr001101b.asp>
When asked the question, "In your opinion which of the following
will be the biggest threat to the country in the future -- big
business, big labor, or big government?" 65 percent of Americans
surveyed responded that big government was their primary concern,
compared to 22 percent for big business. The concern over big
government has nearly doubled since 1965. (11/1/00)
********************
Global Voter Frustration: The Inscrutable Art of U.S. Politicking
<http://tm0.com/IHT/sbct.cgi?s=80180978&i=274967&d=582716>
PARIS - Europe, Asia and the rest of the world never get the U.S.
president they really want because he is always an American.
********************
Stock trading points to Bush win
<http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeatBIZ.asp?/news/487372.asp>
Stunned investors pushed oil, drug, health care and tobacco stocks higher
Wednesday in tentative trading, reflecting the shaky conclusion that Texas
Gov. George W. Bush will hang on to win one of the closest presidential
elections in U.S. history.
********************
An America divided
<http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/11/09/fp1s1-csm.shtml>
The lack of a mandate for either major party in either
congressional elections or the presidential race may well
paralyze government. We hope. (11/9/00)
********************
Waco whistleblower indicted
<http://www.dallasnews.com/texas_southwest/210575_waco_09tex.ART.html>
In what looks like retaliation against a whistleblower, former Waco
federal prosecutor Bill Johnston, who helped expose a six-year
cover-up of government actions in the Branch Davidian siege, was
indicted on federal charges of obstructing the special counsel's
investigation that he helped set in motion. (11/9/00)
********************
Problems at Polls Prevent Hundreds from Casting Votes
<http://www.herald.com/content/today/docs/067127.htm>
********************
More Irregularities Alleged
<http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/ELECTION_WatchdogPart5001108.html.html>
********************
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-Jim Dodge
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"Communications without intelligence is noise;
intelligence without communications is irrelevant."
-Gen. Alfred. M. Gray, USMC
======================================================
"It is not a sign of good health to be well adjusted to a sick society."
-J. Krishnamurti
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