Registered to vote? Are you really sure?

Posted on October 3, 2008 by Isaac Bonewits

The Republican Party is in all-out panic mode seeking to stave off their defeat on Nov. 4th by a landslide so huge they won’t be able to rig enough voting machines to stop it. So in nineteen states they are purging tens of thousands of (mostly minority) voters from the poll lists, in violation of a federal law that supposedly makes this illegal within 90 days of a federal election.

Go to www.voteforchange.com where you can fill out an online form to search your state’s voter registration records to see if you are still registered. Do it fast, because if you aren’t, your state’s registration deadline may be in the next few days.

Oh, and be sure to bring several forms of identification, including utility bills or other proof of residence, as well as a driver’s license, passport, and social security card, especially if you use more than one version of your name. Many states have instituted “anti-fraud” programs to make it difficult for even registered voters to actually vote. All this becomes even more important if you are a student, elderly, or a member of an ethnic minority.

College students: it is perfectly legal in most states to register from your dorm or other temporary college residence address. Call your local Board of Elections to make sure what the laws really are, then double check with state authorities.

Pass the word.

UPDATE: Here’s another link to information about voter disenfranchisement and how to preserve your vote.

Posted in Current Events, Politics | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

We gotta get outa this place …

Posted on October 2, 2008 by Isaac Bonewits

We live in one of the most expensive parts of the USA (just north of New York City) and really need to move someplace cheaper, now that Arthur is safely off to Goucher College. We’ve been focusing our hopes on Ashland, Oregon for a few years now. Ashland is a small town just north of the California border near the coast and is home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which runs ten months out of every year. So the whole town is filled with actors, musicians, writers, poets, and other creative folks, while having a large and steady influx of tourists. It’s also Druid Central for the West Coast (hi guys!) with several different Druid groups in residence. Just the place for a couple of Pagan Elders to spend their later years!

The fact that the cost of living is about a third lower than what we’re paying now means that our meager income will stretch much further. There’s a branch of Phaedra’s store just thirty miles up the Interstate in Medford (a city that also has an international airport, so we can quickly and cheaply get there to fly off to gigs). I hope to open a tea and tarot parlor where I can write and teach when I’m not giving readings.

We estimate that the cost to move ourselves, our cats, and literally a ton of books, will be at least $10,000. We have set up a separate savings account into which all donations for this purpose will be segregated from our day-to-day income and expenses. Anyone who would like to help us out can donate using either of the graphics below. As with our general support fund, you can also send money to us at PO Box 1010, Nyack, NY, USA 10960-8010.

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Posted in Money, Personal Happenings | Comments Off on We gotta get outa this place …

Obama: Swifter Action Oriented Focus on Immediate Issues & Needs

Posted on September 3, 2008 by Karen A. Scofield

As I saw it early this morning (news pages have already been changing, but my earlier meanderings did give me a snapshot view)…

As far as online news sites like Yahoo’s or CNN are concerned, Obama is presently relegated to…where is anything on him? I went a couple pages deep and all I saw was Palin, mention that the Cultural War was reignited (which generally is good for the Republican party because it puts attention on their talk), McCain, McCain, McCain, Bush likes McCain, and that Palin’s daughter’s impregnator will attend the RNC like a good boy.

On Obama’s official site’s front page, I see a “Together We Can, Help the Victims of Hurricane Gustav” map featuring the states affected by Hurricane Gustav. I can click directly on a state on the map, I choose Louisiana, and it takes me directly to:

http://www.aidmatrixnetwork.org/CashDonations/Default2.aspx?ST=Louisiana.

Obama and his staff, being more direct and focused, have worked together to exact swifter navigation and, presumably, results.

What you see when you hit McCain’s front page is a plea to donate to his campaign. Continue on to his second page and there is something about Hurricane Gustav included among other titles regarding donating to his campaign, volunteering for his campaign, and wearing Republican campaign T-Shirts. Click the Hurricane Gustav button and you are taken to a third page where you will see a button that will take you to a fourth page so you can read the speech given by Cindy McCain and the first lady. Click a button on that fourth page to go to a fifth page to “Take Action.” You get to choose which state to assist on this fifth page. I choose FL and it takes me to http://www.flahurricanefund.org/, where I have to now navigate that site. There was unnecessary busy work involved and that’s something that creates delays and ineptitude on a governmental scale, such as what did and didn’t happen after Hurricane Katrina.

Posted in Current Events, Political/Cultural, Politics | 3 Comments

Why I am Offended by the Republican Vice-Presidential Pick

Posted on August 29, 2008 by Phaedra Bonewits

I usually leave the politics to Isaac, but this one really got to me.

I’m old enough to remember when women weren’t allowed to drive a city bus, much less run for national office. I remember as a little girl watching a cute TV kid sing a cute song about how “every little boy can grow up to be president” (emphasis mine). I remember being so excited to see women’s names on the ballot I’d vote for any of them, just to shake things up. But that was back in the seventies, and I got over that.

These days I vote for women and men who I respect and who I think will do a good job. I voted for Hillary in the Democratic primary, not because I disliked Obama, but because I like Hillary. I liked and still like Bill, too. I did well during Bill Clinton’s America, and I would be happy to give Hillary a shot at doing the same.

I also liked the idea of a women president, which I had not been certain (and still am not certain) I would see in my lifetime. However, I did not vote for Hillary because she was a woman, or because I wanted a woman in the White House. I voted for Hillary because I thought she would be a good president. I was disappointed when she did not get the nomination, but that won’t stop me from voting for Obama. I think he would make a good president, too, and Joe Biden, also, if — Gods forbid — it came to that.

But apparently Senator McCain and/or the Republican party bigwigs think that I’m still stuck in the seventies. My gal didn’t win, so they bring out their own gal for me to vote for.

I’m sure Sarah Palin is a nice lady. She has a bunch of kids. We don’t agree religiously, but I’ve always said, I won’t force my religion on you, you don’t force your religion on me (oh, wait…). She just finished both giving birth and governing, for two years, a state with a huge landmass and a population that rivals Monaco. Her foreign affairs experience consists of being in binocular distance of Siberia.

This is what the nation wants next in line for the presidency? This is who they’re going to have run with the oldest candidate ever? From the mini-van to the White House?

Thanks, oh you many Mr. Republicans. Thanks for thinking I’m stupid and you can pander for my vote. Thanks for thinking my 85-year-old mom is stupid, too. I’ve got a surprise for you. Although Mom has voted Republican all her life, she told me before the primaries barely began, enough is enough, we’ve got to get rid of the Republicans.

No way. No how. No McCain.

Posted in Current Events | 2 Comments